frogbeastegg
04-01-2012, 21:35
No Gun Shogun: a campaign which aims to reject large aspects of FotS' gameplay in a self-admittedly stupid, suicidal bid to hold back the tides of change, and keep Japan locked in the Sengoku. Why? Why not.
This is a game in need of house rules, and I'm hoping people can suggest a few in order to keep it fun. It's going to be less straightforward than I anticipated prior to release.
Background:
When FotS was first announced my reaction was to mutter something about "Don't like guns and pre-modern stuff. Boring. Would much prefer to have another game with swords and melee." Shortly before FotS was released, I saw a few screenshots with samurai in snazzy black and gold traditional armour fighting some modern infantry. "Ah ha!" thought I. "I wonder if it's possible to refuse modernisation? What if I place my destiny where my crazed mutterings are, and stand against the tide in full King Canute fashion? I'll go down in a hail of bullets, but at least I shall be wearing some seriously nice armour when I do!" Then I realised that No Gun Shogun is a catchy title for an AAR, and there we go.
The easy rules:
1. I can only recruit traditional Sengoku units. No line infantry, no artillery, nothing which is obviously modern. Levy infantry are permissible as they are peasants armed with muskets, however they must not form the core of an army. Using them as a main defensive force in a castle is permitted, as that's how I use guns in the Sengoku campaign.
2. I must support the Shogun. I am not allowed to declare war on other Shogunate clans. If they declare war on me, I am permitted to do as I see necessary in order to survive.
3. Agents. I can recruit any type except for the foreign veteran.
4. I will play as the Aizu. Snazzy armour, bonuses to traditional units, natural-born members of the Shogunate - what's not to like?
The parts where I can't decide what to do about rules:
1. Modernisation points. At first I thought it would be easy to keep it at zero. Then I got the game. I now doubt this will be possible for several reasons:
The economy is tight, samurai units are very expensive, and without a bit of modernisation I will not be able to build up. I think that a degree of leeway will have to be applied to economy.
Samurai take 2 turns to recruit, and so it will be very hard to recruit any sizeable force if I do not have a good number of recruitment slots. Most slots come from modern military buildings. I'm not sure how feasible it is to limit myself to dojos only. I could allow a few basic modern buildings and then ignore the units they provide ... but that kind of feels like a fuzzy line.
Research requires modernisation. If I do not modernise a bit I will not get past tier 1, and that means missing out on a lot of economy techs. Also, some techs provide modernisation points. It's easy to draw a line through most of the army techs, but much harder to do the same with the civilian techs. Some, like the tier 3 'tea ceremony', tie in with the traditional campaign nicely.
2. Research. What techs should be acceptable, what should be off-limits.
3. Navies. Even the basic ships are modern. If I play the concept strictly that means I will not be able to have a single navy, full stop. If the AI wakes up and starts sending naval attacks after me, that could be a severe problem. Also, army movement in FotS is pretty slow, and sea transport is one of the cures to that. I may also need to bypass an allied clan blockage if the Shogunate clans expand in the 'wrong' way. However, if I'm messing around with boats, I'll need to keep them competitive with the AI's fleets and that's modernisation. Tricky.
4. Campaign length. I can't decide between short or long. Negative factors being: I'm more likely to survive short, long is more likely to get boring.
5. Ancillaries. Many of the agent and general ancillaries are modern. Should I reject a useful ancillery because it's a modern item, like a British gun? What do I do if I am offered a choice between 2 modern ancillaries?
6. Town buildings. Assuming some modernisation points are allowed, at what point does each family becomes too modern to scape past the rules? Sometimes it is clear, others it is not.
Any ideas? Remember, the aim is fun with the theme whilst surviving for a reasonable amount of time. Dying eventually is acceptable; dying on turn 15 is underwhelming.
This is a game in need of house rules, and I'm hoping people can suggest a few in order to keep it fun. It's going to be less straightforward than I anticipated prior to release.
Background:
When FotS was first announced my reaction was to mutter something about "Don't like guns and pre-modern stuff. Boring. Would much prefer to have another game with swords and melee." Shortly before FotS was released, I saw a few screenshots with samurai in snazzy black and gold traditional armour fighting some modern infantry. "Ah ha!" thought I. "I wonder if it's possible to refuse modernisation? What if I place my destiny where my crazed mutterings are, and stand against the tide in full King Canute fashion? I'll go down in a hail of bullets, but at least I shall be wearing some seriously nice armour when I do!" Then I realised that No Gun Shogun is a catchy title for an AAR, and there we go.
The easy rules:
1. I can only recruit traditional Sengoku units. No line infantry, no artillery, nothing which is obviously modern. Levy infantry are permissible as they are peasants armed with muskets, however they must not form the core of an army. Using them as a main defensive force in a castle is permitted, as that's how I use guns in the Sengoku campaign.
2. I must support the Shogun. I am not allowed to declare war on other Shogunate clans. If they declare war on me, I am permitted to do as I see necessary in order to survive.
3. Agents. I can recruit any type except for the foreign veteran.
4. I will play as the Aizu. Snazzy armour, bonuses to traditional units, natural-born members of the Shogunate - what's not to like?
The parts where I can't decide what to do about rules:
1. Modernisation points. At first I thought it would be easy to keep it at zero. Then I got the game. I now doubt this will be possible for several reasons:
The economy is tight, samurai units are very expensive, and without a bit of modernisation I will not be able to build up. I think that a degree of leeway will have to be applied to economy.
Samurai take 2 turns to recruit, and so it will be very hard to recruit any sizeable force if I do not have a good number of recruitment slots. Most slots come from modern military buildings. I'm not sure how feasible it is to limit myself to dojos only. I could allow a few basic modern buildings and then ignore the units they provide ... but that kind of feels like a fuzzy line.
Research requires modernisation. If I do not modernise a bit I will not get past tier 1, and that means missing out on a lot of economy techs. Also, some techs provide modernisation points. It's easy to draw a line through most of the army techs, but much harder to do the same with the civilian techs. Some, like the tier 3 'tea ceremony', tie in with the traditional campaign nicely.
2. Research. What techs should be acceptable, what should be off-limits.
3. Navies. Even the basic ships are modern. If I play the concept strictly that means I will not be able to have a single navy, full stop. If the AI wakes up and starts sending naval attacks after me, that could be a severe problem. Also, army movement in FotS is pretty slow, and sea transport is one of the cures to that. I may also need to bypass an allied clan blockage if the Shogunate clans expand in the 'wrong' way. However, if I'm messing around with boats, I'll need to keep them competitive with the AI's fleets and that's modernisation. Tricky.
4. Campaign length. I can't decide between short or long. Negative factors being: I'm more likely to survive short, long is more likely to get boring.
5. Ancillaries. Many of the agent and general ancillaries are modern. Should I reject a useful ancillery because it's a modern item, like a British gun? What do I do if I am offered a choice between 2 modern ancillaries?
6. Town buildings. Assuming some modernisation points are allowed, at what point does each family becomes too modern to scape past the rules? Sometimes it is clear, others it is not.
Any ideas? Remember, the aim is fun with the theme whilst surviving for a reasonable amount of time. Dying eventually is acceptable; dying on turn 15 is underwhelming.