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Battle of Sekigahara
Sekigahara in Samurai Warriors 4
Date October 21, 1600
Location Sekigahara, present-day Gifu Prefecture
Result Victory for the east and the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate.
Forces
Western Army Eastern Army
Commanders
Mitsunari Ishida Ieyasu Tokugawa

The Battle of Sekigahara (関ケ原の戦い, Sekigahara no Tatakai) is largely considered to be one of the most decisive battles in the late Warring States period. Essentially, it is a power struggle for the right to rule the land after Hideyoshi's death. The Western Army was plagued by disunited forces, and many key positions and allies deserted or defected during the battle, resulting in a decisive defeat.

Other battles considered a part of this campaign are the siege at Fushimi Castle, the second siege at Ueda Castle, the Uesugi-Date conflict at Hasedō, the clash at Ōtsu Castle, and the Kyushu campaign at Ishigakibaru. The armies led by the main commanders first clashed at Kusegawa, but this battle decided the fate of both armies.

Role in Games[]

Samurai Warriors[]

There are many possible outcomes to this battle in Samurai Warriors 2, but there are also certain events that remain consistent in most scenarios. Near the start of the battle, each army desires to protect their cannons while claiming the opposing army's artillery for their own. Ieyasu will order Magobei Fuse to fire at Mount Matsuo, in which Hideaki Kobayakawa remains indecisive in a garrison. If the ploy fails, he will send Hanzō to threaten the man. If the Eastern Army succeeds in any of these schemes, Kobayakawa will defect and the morale for the Western side will decrease dramatically. Players are additionally given the option to allow or prevent Hidemoto Mōri and Hiroie Kikkawa switching allegiances by dealing with Ekei Ankokuji. Ginchiyo will also choose to charge the Eastern camp from the north, which may hamper the Eastern army's progress.

Officers for the East may also choose to protect Naomasa Ii and Masanori Fukushima as they perform an overzealous charge against Mitsunari; losing them will lower ally morale. Yoshihiro will decide to retreat and pave his way through the Eastern Army if the Western Army begins to crumble. He will instantly route any NPC officer that he runs into, warning them on each instance to get out of his way. Defeating him is optional and he will die if the player chooses to do so. The East claims victory on Mitsunari's death and expand the Tokugawa's influence, eventually leading to the Siege of Ōsaka.

Generally, the Western Army officers will be given the chance to route Ieyasu's forces by countering the Eastern Army's strategies. Ina will await in the upper-left garrison and charge downwards for the Western camp after some time passes. If the Eastern Army fares badly, Tadakatsu will ride to the center of the battlefield to raise the morale of his comrades. During this time, every Eastern officer will be in hyper mode and Mitsunari orders the player to stop Tadakatsu. Following his defeat, they can also pursue him at Edo Castle. There is also the instance where Ieyasu also dies upon his defeat such as in Motochika's story mode.

Musashi begins his story here as a warrior on the fallen Western side and has to fight for his survival. During the fighting, Kojirō Sasaki will assassinate Tamehiro Hiratsuka and Hirotaka Terasawa.

Major differences can also occur in certain characters' dream stages such as Yukimura, Nene, Masamune, Hideyoshi, Motochika, and Yoshihiro's.

Sekigahara also acts as the final showdown for Kenshin and Shingen in their respective storylines: On Kenshin's story, Shingen managed to gain the loyalty of the Tokugawa and they will arrive to assist the Takeda, however the Uesugi gained reinforcements of their own and defeated the Takeda; On Shingen's story, while battling Kenshin, Oda officers arrived as a third party under the flag of the Azai and the Asakura, and when Yoshikage retreated, Oda and Azai officers joined Kenshin's forces, while the Tokugawa led by Tadakatsu also joins the Uesugi. Sekigahara is also the location for Nagamasa's dream stage: After assisting the Oda in Kanegasaki, Nagamasa became Nobunaga's most trusted ally and helped Nobunaga defeat a 3 army coalition of the Takeda, Date and the Uesugi.

In Samurai Warriors 3, the battlefield is shrouded in a fog of war. Masanori and Naomasa will arrogantly try to charge for Mitsunari while Sakon rains cannon fire on the battlefield. To get Hideaki to join, the player must succeed in all green-colored objectives for the following characters.

  1. For Mitsunari, Ieyasu, Masanori, and Gracia's story, Hideaki's defection is scripted and cannot be avoided.
  2. For Tadakatsu's story, the player must defeat 200 enemies, prevent Yoshitsugu Ōtani from reaching Masanori, stop Hiroie Kikkawa and Hidemoto Mori's advance on Ieyasu, then finally defeat Sakon Shima and Yukinaga Konishi within 2 minutes.
  3. For Mitsuhide's story, Hideaki will refuse to defect and will attack Ieyasu once the opportunity presents itself.
  4. For Sakon and Muneshige's story, Hideaki will remain loyal if the player stops Kanbei from meeting with him.
  5. For Okuni's story in the expansion, the conditions for Hideaki's defection include defeating 100 enemies to clear away the fog, prevent Kikkawa and Mori's advance on Ieyasu, protecting Masanori from Ginchiyo and Mineshige, and defeating Sakon in 3 minutes.

Mitsunari, Sakon, and Muneshige gets the Western side as part of their story, while Ieyasu, Tadakatsu, and Mitsuhide gets the Eastern side. Yoshihiro also gets the Western side as part of his story, except that his version is exclusive to him. Instead of defeating Ieyasu, Yoshihiro must escape to the Southwestern Garrison with Muneshige.

In the expansion, Okuni and Masanori gets the Eastern side as part of their story. Gracia also gets Sekigahara as part of her story, except that it is hypothetical, as Mitsuhide's army clash with both the Western Army and the Eastern Army to control the land. Gracia must also protect all allied officers, including those that defected to her side, as a single allied officer defeat counts as a loss. Motonari is also present for Okuni's story, while Kiyomasa is present for Masanori's. Any of the following officers listed must not be defeated alongside Ieyasu, or the stage will fail. Okuni must also prevent Mitsunari from reaching the escape point once the gate to the enemy main camp opens.

In Samurai Warriors 4, both the Western and the Eastern Army are playable during the Land United storyline. For the Western Army side, Mitsunari Ishida, Yoshitsugu Otani, Koshosho, Ginchiyo Tachibana, Yoshihiro Shimazu, Toyohisa Shimazu, and Sakon Shima are available as playable characters. However, Sakon Shima and Yoshitsugu Otani cannot be selected together as playable characters, while if you choose either Yoshihiro or Toyohisa Shimazu as the first playable character, you must select the other one. This is due to the fact there are three different version of Sekigahara for the Western Army.

In the battle, the player need to deal with Masanori Fukushima and his generals on the front lines and also watch out for Naotora Li as well. During the battle, the player can also have an option to help out other allied generals as well as dealing with Hiroie Kikkawa, who is the first one to defect to the Eastern Army during the battle so that the Mori can support the Western Army. After a while, Ieyasu will order his men to shoot cannons, causing Hideaki Kobayakawa and his generals to defect to the Eastern Army and attack the Otani Garrision, where Yoshitsugu is standing. Takatora Todo will also support the traitors to try and get Yoshitsugu to surrender.

If the player chose Yoshitsugu as one of the playable characters, he will get an objective to deal with Takatora and the traitors while protecting his officers. Otherwise, if he is not a playable character, he is slained as a result. The player will then need to prevent Takatora and the traitors from reaching the Western Army main camp instead.

After Hideaki's defection and either Yoshitsugu's army is saved or killed, Sakon will launch a counterattack against Ieyasu. If the player didn't select Sakon as a playable character, he will reappear near the Eastern Army main camp to launch an ambush, only to be killed as a result. Masanori, Kiyomasa, and Takatora will reappear and all three must be defeated instead of Ieyasu in order to claim victory. If he is one of the playable characters, Tadakatsu will show up in front the main camp and must be defeated instead of Ieyasu to claim victory.

If the player selected both Shimazu as playable characters, both Yoshitsugu and Sakon will be slain during the battle, though Sakon reappeared after being wounded by gunfire and is killed on the front lines instead. The Shimazu will need to defeat the Eastern Army officers to draw their attention to them. Tadakatsu will show up near the end and must be defeated instead of Ieyasu to claim victory.

In the Eastern Army scenario, Ieyasu Tokugawa, Tadakatsu Honda, Masanori Fukushima, Takatora Todo, Naotora Li, and Kiyomasa Kato are the option as playable characters. The player will start by dealing with Yoshihiro and Toyohisa Shimazu, who is charging toward the allied main camp. After that, Hiroie Kikkawa will tell Ieyasu that he will defect and join his side and must be escorted so that he can slow down the Mori reinforcements that support the Western Army. At the same time, Yoshitsugu Otani and Sakon Shima will persuade their generals, causing them to appear. The player will need to deal with them and protect the allied army officers while Ieyasu is setting up the cannons. After the allied officers are protected, Ieyasu will order his men to fire the cannons, causing Hideaki Kobayakawa and his generals to defect to the Eastern Army and attack Yoshitsugu, who must be slained. Mitsunari will also advance to support Yoshitsugu as well. After Yoshitsugu is slained and Mitsunari withdraws for a while, the Mori will show up on the battlefield, only for Hiroie to turn against them if the player successfully escorted him earlier. The player will then need to defeat the Mori. At the same time, Sakon and his generals will charge toward the allied main camp, while Yoshihiro and Toyohisa will reappear to try to leave the battlefield, only for them to be defeated, causing Sakon and Toyohisa's death. Mitsunari will then reappear and the player will need to defeat him once more to slay him and bring victory to the Eastern Army.

In Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3, the protagonist fights for the Eastern side alongside Ieyasu, Munenori, and Takatora as they fight the Western Army lead by Mitsunari for the control of the land. However, when the protagonist fights for the Western Army, it is a what if scenario where both Masanori and Kiyomasa appeared as reinforcements for the Western Army instead of fighting for the Eastern Army. In addition, Nobuyuki also shows up as part of the Eastern Army near the end and ends up as a commander alongside Tadakatsu. The protagonist, together with Mitsunari, Masanori, and Kiyomasa, will need to defeat both Tadakatsu and Nobuyuki instead of Ieyasu in order to win the stage.

On Naomasa's tale in Samurai Warriors 4-II, Yoshitsugu suddenly detects Ieyasu's attempt to make Hideaki defect and has him executed before ordering Hidemoto Mōri and Hiroie Kikkawa to attack the Eastern Army. Similarly, in the Trials of Trust campaign, Nobuyuki and Ina arrive with late reinforcements with Ieyasu reporting that Hideaki, the Mōri and the Kikkawa have all refused to defect, and are now threatening the Eastern Army's main camp. Takatora's tale has him already take into account Hideaki's betrayal, but only the Kikkawa remain with the Western army, Yoshitsugu will also be promoted to the Western Army's commander once Mitsunari leaves the battlefield. In Sakon's scenario, the battle plays out closely from the original Western Army's side of the battle, but instead of fleeing to the escape point, the objective changes to launch an attack at Ieyasu after helping the other officers evacuate. In Yoshitsugu's scenario, Hideaki's false loyalties are already known, and Yoshitsugu positions himself closer to Hideaki. Once Hideaki defects, Yoshitsugu will immediately intercept the betrayer along with Takatora who suspected a possible intervention in the scheme. After the Kobayakawa unit's defeat, Yoshitsugu immediately moves to rescue the Kikkawa and the Mori to keep them from defecting as well.

A what if scenario for the Western Army also appears as a DLC stage as part of Flights of Fancy storyline. In this scenario, Mitsunari Ishida, who has already lost Sakon Shima and Yoshitsugu Otani, is being overwhelmed by Hideaki Kobayakawa's forces in the allied main camp. However, Yukimura, alongside Kanetsugu and Kagekatsu, arrives as reinforcements and save Mitsunari and turn this battle around. Yukimura Sanada is the main playable character, while the player can also select Kanetsugu Naoe, Kagekatsu Uesugi, Ginchiyo Tachibana, or Muneshige Tachibana as secondary character. After rescuing Mitsunari, Masanori Fukushima and Takatora Todo begins to charge to the allied main camp, in which the player must defeat. After defeating both of them, it was revealed that Sakon and Yoshitsugu was captured by them and was alive all this time. Mitsunari promises that he won't lose them anymore, so the player will need to protect all three of them in order to avoid defeat. Kanetsugu then announce that more Uesugi reinforcements will arrive from the north and suggest that they fight wildly in the center area to lure out the Eastern Army officers from the north. At the same time, the Northwestern Garrison, guarded by Naomasa Li, will open, with Mitsunari suggesting that they can either defeat him or leave him be. After the player successfully lured the Eastern Army officers, the Uesugi reinforcements has arrived and begins to head to the enemy main camp. Naomasa, if still alive, will then withdraw for a moment. At the same time, Tadakatsu Honda, who is residing at the Northeastern Garrison, will head to take on the Uesugi reinforcements, in which Sakon suggest that they can have option to either take down Tadakatsu first, or just focus on attacking the enemy officers in front of the enemy main camp.

After the enemy officers guarding the enemy main camp is defeated, Hidetada Tokugawa and Nobuyuki Sanada has arrived with enemy reinforcements. If Tadakatsu is still alive by then, the Uesugi reinforcements will retreat back to the northern part of the map and he will withdraw for a while. The player will need to take down the enemy reinforcements. Yukimura will also get an exclusive objective to personally defeat Nobuyuki as well, while if the player select one of the Tachibana, they can get an objective to defeat certain enemy officers to summon their own army. In addition, the player can also can capture the Southeastern Garrison to summon the Mori army as well, who will attack the enemy main camp from the south. After both Hidetada and Nobuyuki's defeat, Naomasa and Tadakatsu will reappear. If the player didn't defeat then earlier, Naomasa and Tadakatsu will urge Ieyasu to retreat and the victory condition will change to defeating Naomasa and Tadakatsu. Even after Naomasa and Tadakatsu are defeated, Mitsunari is not satisfied with his victory since Ieyasu got away, but Yukimura convince him that a victory is a victory.

If both Naomasa and Tadakatsu was defeated earlier, the Uesugi reinforcements will continue to head to the enemy main camp. However, Masanori and Takatora will reappear instead and the player will need to defeat them in 2 minutes. After both of them are defeated, Mitsunari will launch a full attack for the Western Army, while Naomasa and Tadakatsu will reappear and guard the enemy main camp, in which they need to be defeated once more. After both are defeated, the enemy main camp opens, and Ieyasu will have his last stand. Defeating Ieyasu will seize victory for the Western Army, with Mitsunari being satisfied with his victory.

After the battle is over, Mitsunari thanks Yukimura and Kanetsugu for the reinforcements, as well as thanking Sakon and Yoshitsugu for standing by his side. Sakon also says that the road to protecting the peace created by the Toyotomi is still a long way to go, with Yoshitsugu also saying that Mitsunari has many allies by his side, yet even some Eastern Army officers, like Kiyomasa and Masanori, will help as well. Mitsunari agrees with Yoshitsugu, saying that some Eastern Army officers are not really enemies to the Toyotomi and says that the priority is to protect the peace created by the Toyotomi. He then once again ask to provide and lend him strength in order to achieve his goal.

In Spirit of Sanada, Sekigahara uses the Nagashino map, and only the Western perspective is available. The battle first starts with the Western and Eastern armies' vanguards facing each other and Naomasa and Masanori's group of forces must be cleared. Once the Eastern vanguard is defeated, Tadakatsu will have Nagamasa Kuroda's riflemen appear and attack. Once the musket unit is defeated, Takatora appears and initiates the betrayal of the Kobayakawa and Kikkawa units. Masanori and Naomasa then reappear while Tadakatsu begins charging, and the objective changes to protecting the evacuating allied officers. Seeing that things had gone awry, the late Muneshige Tachibana aids the western retreat. Each of the playable members in the Western army has their own unique feat:

  • Mitsunari must personally defeat Masanori in his second appearance.
  • Yoshitsugu must defeat Takatora
  • Sakon must defeat various officers with a Musou Attack
  • Yoshihiro must defeat Tadakatsu
  • Toyohisa must defeat Naomasa after his second appearance.

Once the remaining officers have evacuated, Ieyasu finally responds to the Western army's valor by charging forth. After he is defeated, he has his reserve forces encircle the remainder of the Western army. If the Western army fails to push back Tadakatsu and the rest of the Eastern Army's vanguard by night, the objective changes to escaping through the main camp instead.

The following stratagems are also available:

  • Sakon will disrupt the rifle unit with false information
  • Yoshitsugu will call upon Hidemoto Mōri's forces to aid the retreat after the Kikkawa unit's defection

Warriors Orochi[]

During Wu's story in Warriors Orochi, Sun Ce has just failed to rescue his father from Orochi. Called a traitor by his siblings, he confronts them here to work out their differences. Sun Ce's army starts in the center of the field, surrounded by cannons and four generals. Ina, as Sun Shang Xiang's friend, appears to test Sun Ce's resolve twice. Convinced that the older brother is truly thinking of his family, Ina decides to believe in his integrity. After some time passes, Sun Shang Xiang and Da Qiao appear to fight the ally forces. Sun Quan and Zhou Tai will also enter the fray after some time passes. After the battle, Sun Shang Xiang and Ina joins Sun Ce's forces. If Ieyasu is a part of the player's party, he will be able to demoralize Ina in her first attack.

In Warriors Orochi 2, it will serve as the final stage for the Samurai story mode. Sakon will lead the united Oda, Takeda, Uesugi, and Wu forces to defeat the resurrected Orochi. A mist surrounds the battlefield and clouds the players vision of the map in the pause menu. With Sakon's forces crowded in the center, Masamune orders his troops to unleash their cannons. With barrage ensuing, Keiji springs an ambush on Shingen, who guards the main camp. Da Ji causes an illusion of falling rocks to disturb the army at Mount Matsuo, which Fu Xi volunteers to dispel. As the cannons and the aforementioned threats are dealt with, Sakon's army gains a significant morale boost. Da Ji tries to summon phantom soldiers to thwart the coalition's advance and a nearby Fu Xi will manipulate them for his own use. Defeating the vixen disperses the fog over the field and triggers the last push the army needs to charge. Completing this stage will unlock Kiyomori Taira.

Musou OROCHI Z offers a new dream mode stage with Yoshitsune, Benkei, and Kiyomori forming a Genpei era team against the heroes of the other time eras. Their allies are other notable figures from the Three Kingdoms era, such as Liu Biao, Gongsun Zan and others. With He Jin acting as the main ally leader, the Genpei team need to defend him while they defeat their other rivals. Many of the ally generals are not pleased to be teamed up with the player's party. Dong Zhuo falters against the Uesugi army's charge, Yuan Shao avoids Kiyomori's advice and is ambushed by Shingen, and Meng Huo and Zhang Jiao are "fished in" by Yoshihiro and Ieyasu's trap. Defeating the enemy generals that trap ally generals rectifies their weariness and restores morale. Nobunaga then orders Masamune and Yoshimoto's cannons to fire. Stopping all three cannon positions opens the gates to Nobunaga's fort. After the battle concludes, Yoshitsune renounces his temporary alliance with Kiyomori and leaves with Benkei.

In Warriors Orochi 3, Hanbei and company head here to rescue Da Ji from Nezha and the Mystic army. Players must come to Da Ji's aid as soon as possible or the battle will prematurely end in defeat. Lu Bu will momentarily arrive to distract Nezha before being warded off by the latter.

In Ultimate, Nezha, Susano'o and Shennong reimagine the chase in the area had Susano'o accepted Shennong's treatment after being wounded by the Hydra. Once the chase begins, Nezha encounters Achilles who will move to slow the advancing Mystic army. When Achilles is defeated, Himiko arrives with Kai and some members of the coalition as reinforcements for Da Ji, but Mystic reinforcements also arrive to help Susano'o. Once Himiko and the rest of her reinforcements are defeated, Motonari will lead the Mystic troops into an ambush to stall for more time. During the battle, Lu Bu appears suddenly to challenge Nezha and must be defeated to continue the chase. Once the Mystic army finally catches up to Da Ji, Hanbei and Kaguya appear to try to talk Susano'o into stopping hostilities but are attacked as well. Still, the interval brought by Kaguya still allows Da Ji to escape, and Shennong leaves Susano'o to help the humans instead.

In Warriors Orochi 4, the Coalition initiates their plan of distracting the Shu forces serving Athena to buy time for the ninja unit rescuing Liu Shan at Odani Castle. Guan Yu, Guan Yinping, and Guan Ping will tackle Zhao Yun's forces which make the bulk of the Olympian army's front. After pushing back Zhang Bao, Guan Xing and Guan Suo, Zhao Yun deifies himself to face Guan Yu and Guan Yinping, but the latter is able to use her Arm of Ouroboros to match the general. As the rages on, however, Liu Shan and Xingcai arrive to aid the Coalition. Seeing their lord safe, the Shu forces of Athena immediately switch sides and defeat the goddess. Seeking to make an opportunity, Ares, Hideyoshi, and Cao Pi also make a move for the allied main camp but are defeated and forced to withdraw as well.

The stage reappears as a side stage where a magical fog has caused the armies of Mitsunari and Ieyasu to attack one another. Seeing that their friends seemed possessed, Zhang Chunhua, Lu Meng and Nene leave and begin attacking both armies to beat sense back into their allies. Although Mitsunari and Ieyasu call upon Cao Pi and Liu Bei for reinforcements respectively, they are all defeated and return back to normal. Once both armies regain their sanity, Kiyomori arrives with the rest of the demons and is revealed to be the culprit of the fog. Enraged by what the sorcerer had them do, both Mitsunari and Ieyasu work with the rest of the Coalition to defeat Kiyomori.

During one of the DLC stages, the mixed forces within Xu Shu's ranks must face the combined Takeda-Tokugawa army in a mock battle.

Kessen[]

In Kessen, this battle will decide who lives or dies for the remainder of the game's campaigns. The concepts of the Western and Eastern army remain after the battle's conclusion. In the Tokugawa camp, the pre-battle cutscene dramatizes the former Toyotomi general's reasons for joining Ieyasu. Moments before the battle commences, Ieyasu sees a vision of Nobunaga bidding him to continue his legacy. Determined to win, Ieyasu draws out his sword and, whilst declaring his desire to rule, cleaves the mist enshrouding the battlefield. Scoring a victory in this battle acts as the first step for Ieyasu's path as shogun.

By contrast, the Western Army scenario touches on some of the generals' conflicting feelings regarding Mitsunari. Undeterred by news of betrayal amongst their ranks, Mitsunari marches into battle. He swears to protect the Toyotomi family and repay his debt to the late Hideyoshi. If Mitsunari wins this battle, he will pursue the fleeing Ieyasu with reinforcements from the Sanada troops. Losing any major battle after this will usually result in Mitsunari, Sakon, or Ōtani's deaths. Winning every battle for the Toyotomi side will secure their family's reign by Mitsunari's hand.

Depending on the actions of the player, the armies will fight at Sekigahara again as their final battle.

The area serves as a battle ground twice in Kessen III. While escorting his sister to her future husband, Nobunaga has to simultaneously protect her from his rivals. He returns here once more after the incident at Honnoji to "revive" his name to the public eye and surprise the Akechi troops.

Harukanaru Toki no Naka de[]

The backstory for Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 5 mentions the battle as the driving cause for the Four Gods' corruption and separation from one another.

Saihai no Yukue[]

Sekigahara is the main setting for Saihai no Yukue. The player sees the game from Mitsunari's point of view which antagonizes Ieyasu. The story explores characters and famous events before the main confrontation. Though Mitsunari is routed by Ieyasu, he escapes capture and reappears with three generals. With two additional generals as reinforcements, he turns the tide of the battle and ends the conflict by sunset the same day.

Historical Information[]

Gallery[]

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