One piece of advice

[Sasaki Kojiro]

If you could give just one piece of advice to a new Shogun player to, what would it be? In other words what do you think is the single most important thing a player should know or do?

I have MP in mind mostly, but you can give a separate piece for the campaign game.

[ichi]

For MP

Learn the strengths and weaknesses of each unit

For SP

Keep working on getting the Geisha House built, stay on schedule with this.

ichi :bow:

[UglyandHasty]

For the new player in MP, my first advice would be to learn to group and move his army. Once a player know how to face, change direction, move grouped, things go pretty smoothly. After that, experience will do the trick. Learning to avoid the double team, choosing a good army for your style of play, those kind of things come with playing time.

[AggonyDuck]

Use your units together in unison and do not send them to one-by-one to the slaughter... ~;)

[R'as al Ghul]

Perhaps useful:
1. After moving my army into place as one large group,
I ungroup all units. This I do because I've the habit
to ctrl+double click certain types of units (select all musks).
If they are still in one group, ctrl+double click selects the whole
army. If you don't realize that (happens easily in the thick of the fight) and change for example the facing,
your whole army will move when you only wanted to change the facing of your musks.
Probably it's just me but I made the mistake several times. It's just so
convenient to move your whole army as a group that I sometimes forget
to ungroup. :wall:

2. Another bad mistake is to commit your general to early.
Losing your general means a serious morale drop in most
of your units. This can lead to a mass rout.

3. Move your infantry line as a whole for the units to support each others
flank and to keep their morale stable.


~:cheers:
Itto

[Togakure]

For MP: open your mind and let go of any preconceptions you've developed from playing SP, read the wealth of information here on this forum, ask questions of those who know, practice and experiment what you learn using SP Custom Battles, and play others online as much as possible (systematically focus on improving your gameplay as you have fun playing others).

Oh, and don't forget to eat, sleep, socialize and take care of business ... .

[Irinami]

Timing and patience. I've RARELY found a use for grouping, moving, and changing facing of the entire army in single-player. I'm not so good at these RTS'es, I'm afraid. The one thing I've learned that's really helped is to be patient and develop a sense of timing. 4 Yari Samurai against one Warrior Monk unit can have drastically different results depending on where and when the WM's are attacked. Pin them in front, then have the patience to move your other men to their flanks and rear, then hit the flanks just before you hit from the rear. Compare that to 4 YS charging headling into the WM's. Your losses will be much different with the two methods.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Get Warrior Monks, Light Cavalry, Archers and then Geishas in order of importance. Though Geishas are great fun they are not nearly as useful in conqureing as a solid balanced army and you should be able to build the required buildings for them with very little delay even as you build up three or more provinces for your military units.

[Drisos]

Since I'm quite MP addicted now:

For MP:

1) Be honourable and nice.
2) Find out all basic stuff.
3) play a lot, have fun!

I'm busy with this myself too. ~:)

Hello '1Pain1 Duck'. I guess you are now 'Aggony Duck'? In that case I want to thank you for the nice 2v2's saturday. See you around.

:bow:

[Wilbo]

Each army will function better if designed with a certain task in mind, for instance taking into account: battle terrain; season & weather; attack or defense; the tactics & units you will likely face.

[Drisos]

Glad to see you in Sword Dojo again, Wilbo. You haven't checked the MP campaign's thread in ages. I hope you're still intrested.

~:)

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Use the technique of visualization. Picture the battlefield in your mind and run through hypothetical scenarios. Do this when planning a new tactic, when replaying a defeat to determine the reason for your loss, and during the battle when you are deciding which course of action to take. You can learn just as much from these battles of the mind as you can from the real battles. I've fought many more battles in my imagination than I have on the battlefield.

[screwtype]

Keep working on getting the Geisha House built, stay on schedule with this.

ichi :bow:

I've never even built a Geisha house!

The strategic unit side of the game never interested me much.

For SP, I guess my advice would be, get your unit balance right. Keep a balance early in the game between yari ashiguru as cheap garrison troops, and yari samurai (backed up by the odd archer unit) as your main battle unit. As your armies grow larger, try to include one or two of the cheaper cav units in every battle for running down routers, you can massively increase enemy casualties by doing so.

Meanwhile build toward a buddhist temple so that by the midgame you can churn out buddhist monks, they are the best combat unit in the game IMO. As a general rule don't bother with swordsmen, they are too vulnerable to ranged fire and always seem to take heavy casualties.

Also, specialize your provinces. Archers from one province, monks from another etc. Pay attention to the special bonuses of provinces, and try if possible to build up your best infrastructure in provinces with iron sands, they are the only provinces that allow you to build troops with armour upgrades.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Though I generally disdain assassins the Geishas are extremely handy even if you get them late game when you can roll over any enemy army anyway.

Great advice Kojiro, I use that a lot. Just don't get too hung up on vulnerabilities, it is quite likely that they will not be exploited and should not stop you from using a new tactic. Sometimes the most dangerous plans work the best.

[L'Impresario]

Use the technique of visualization. Picture the battlefield in your mind and run through hypothetical scenarios. Do this when planning a new tactic, when replaying a defeat to determine the reason for your loss, and during the battle when you are deciding which course of action to take. You can learn just as much from these battles of the mind as you can from the real battles. I've fought many more battles in my imagination than I have on the battlefield.
:bow:
This is one of the greatest piece of advice anyone is likely to get. I can talk from the VI multiplayer's perspective where it surely applies as well.
Though the ability to determine cause and result, and deduct conclusions, is largely dependant on experience and understanding of the game workings; not necessarily mechanics-wise, but rather develop a "feel" for it.
Then you'll be able to predict your and your allies' shortcomings, although I think that even if you can imagine quite successfully how a situation will develop, many times you'll repeat the same mistake for no good reason at all- maybe it has to do with character traits heh.

As I 've often said during the initial Commod games period, I've started playing satisfactory the mod in question after visualising a thin (red I think ~:) ) thread connecting all of my units, with it becoming weaker or thicker according to their moves (already made or perceived to occur in the next few minutes), the relative positioning of the enemy, the terrain features and the dynamic developed between all those elements. When the thread was broken, either by an enemy move or my own controls, morale was broken and a rout occured...after that, the rallying and the counterattack was almost always more chaotic and instinctive, though the "book" also has some standard procedures for those moments --- and yes, before Cbr ascertains this, I was smoking good stuff , so what ~D

[Irinami]

Hey, that's pretty good, L'Impressario!!

I tried imagining John-Madden-esque chalk plans on the screen, but I couldn't figure out where the football would be. ;)

[Togakure]

LOL ... smoking good stuff has never been helpful in perception and control on the battlefield, but for visualizing exercises it can offer perspectives that the unaltered mind would never have considered.

Indeed, excellent advice Sasaki. I tend to do this while in battle (well, before the thick of an an engagement, when assessing possibilities and probabilities etc.). Developing the ability to visualize rapidly while maintaining awareness of what's actually going on at the same time is an invaluable ability in any game (or real-world scenario) like these.

[Drisos]

I have been doing this lately too. Great advice, especially for new players I guess.

*****

Know the map, know your army, know your enemies army, know the best tactik.

Then apply Toga's quick dozen.

~:) Have fun kicking the AI. ~:)

[Just A Girl]

My advice...

MP
Spend your money on honour 1st Dont worry much about weapon and armour bonuses,
Learn how much Honour each unit needs for YOU to be able to utilize it in the way you wish,
Dont give Muskets Weapon bounus As it dont do squat.

SP,
Strat. Make shure you have enough units on each of your provinces So you can have HIGH taxes without rebellions.
Also when yo begin a game Read about the difrent factions before you chose 1.
They have their own traits and stuff.
I beleve Usegi get Cheaper archers that dont cos as much to maintain,
Mori do well with muskets i beleve.

"this is for new players right"

Oh and my bigest tip must be.
Dont smoke "good stuff" lol
Every time i do that I end up loosing all my muskets cos i didnt see that attack coming OR leaving again. becous i was trying to make my cav Stand in a nice line :)

[Just A Girl]

Thing posted twice :(...

[Ludens]

Strange. The forum said Just a Girl posted in this thread a few hours ago (at 4:59 GMT), but I see no new posts.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Strange. The forum said Just a Girl posted in this thread a few hours ago (at 4:59 GMT), but I see no new posts.

I was messing around with the "bump" feature ~D

[Tomisama]

(Guess I could trot this old thing out, for those new to multiplayer team play.)


The 10 “always” Basics for Multiplayer Teams.


There are exceptions to every rule. Discuss the exceptions in deployment, but other than those temporary agreements, consider the following rules as always being understood.

As much as possible:

1. Always stick together.
Move to link up, then move together as one coordinated killing machine.

2. Always take the high ground first.
The “number one” objective is to provide this base of operations. If there is a highest hill, you must have it, victory will follow.

3. Always protect our generals.
As much as possible, keep them out of the action. The loss of your armys leader lowers your whole army’s morale for the rest of the battle. Keep him safe.

4. Always look to double team a single, or triple a double.
The old hammer and anvil. One or two armys fix the enemies attention, while the others out flank and smash them.

5. Always leave the isolated enemy army until last.
This is pure logic, go after the most of them with the most of your own. The straggling enemy army presents a juicy target but don’t be fooled. The battle is where the majority of the enemy is.

6. Always remember that you may have to become the rear guard for the group.
Moving to link up always leaves a part of the front empty. The army on the most exposed flank will be at risk of being out flanked. If that should happen, it could mean disaster for the whole team. Be ready to fulfill the rear guard roll should it fall to you. Consider it in your deployment, and stand ready to move toward the center quickly and face the flanking enemy as the others move forward, if the need arises.

7. Always regroup before entering another phase of the battle.
Don’t get carried away with small victories. Whatever kills might be earned in chasing are offset by the fatigue it cost you. If you get a moment to breath, take it and regroup.

8. Always keep some units ready to help a team mate if needed.
Be ready and looking for the need long before it happens. It will take you time to get there.

9. Always consider that the battle will be long and difficult.
Keep an eye on your energy bars, and always consider fatigue a major factor in you plans. And never underestimate your enemy, no matter who they are. Consider all who oppose you, heavily armed, and extremely dangerous.

10. Always trust that your team mates have done the best that could be done, according to the battle as they saw it. Each of us comes with different experience, and each has a unique point of view of the battle. Each has different skills and different weaknesses. It is in “teamwork” that these things get welded together to the advantage of all.

:knight:

[Togakure]

Well "spoken," Tomi-san. I add: play 2v2 (or whatever form of multiplayer) often with your team mate(s) of choice. After a time you will begin to synergize if you are both/all thinking and acting as a team. It is the true delight of a multiplayer team when you can play out the majority of a battle without needing to communicate much--indeed, "without thinking" much. When "no mind" happens consistently, you know you've got a good team.

:bow: to All Friend Anskar (who is probably laughing as he reads this; we still communicate a lot on the battlefield--well, kind of--mostly it's me panicking and yelling at him for HELP!, hehe).

[Ludens]

I was messing around with the "bump" feature ~D
Ah, I see. Whenever I try to to bump a thread, or use any of the other new features, I get a message that I do not have permission to access the page.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Ah, I see. Whenever I try to to bump a thread, or use any of the other new features, I get a message that I do not have permission to access the page.

Weird, they all work for me. The "make thread older" option is pretty useless though, since it only takes off a day at a time (100+ times to knock it off front page).

[Boromir Of Gondor]

I'll try to scratch the annals of my mind for any tips.

Regarding 1v1 on MP, most of the time, even against an experienced pro, your opponent will show a weakness during his attack, be patient, watch out for it and exploit it.

Certainly, grouping and turning I feel is very important, amongst many other things.

The thing I love about about STW MP is the fact that even playing the same opponent again and again on the same map, even with the same armies, you never have exactly the same battle. Which is why another key point and do what Luke Skywalker did and 'feel the force' and be able to react to each scenario.

[Devastatin Dave]

Press Pause alot!!! J/K:laugh4:

Flow like water. If you do this with your armies, you will be victories in the majority of your engagements. Thank you Sun Tzu!!!:2thumbsup:

[Puzz3D]

Flow like water. If you do this with your armies, you will be victories in the majority of your engagements. Thank you Sun Tzu!!!
Mizu