Hey, thanks for the kind words! I love the film. And it is definitely intended as a coffee-break game.
To answer your questions, left bracket does speed the game up. You do need to tap the key a few times, rather than hold it down, which I should probably make a note of.
Farmers do attack bandits, often successfully! But there are some complications. One is that they won't attack if they're afraid. They become afraid if they can't see a samurai in their field of vision. The other is that five of the bandits are wearing armor and carrying better weapons, and the farmers aren't much of a match for them. Armored bandits are a serious threat and are best dealt with by luring them into positions where they can be struck twice in one turn.
Unit stats (as damage/life):
- farmer: 1/1
- bandit: 1/2
- armored bandit: 2/3
- samurai: 2/2
The odds are always against you in this game, as the war-weary Kambei would tell you, sighing and rubbing his head...