Samurai Warlord's Troop Types

[Tomisama]

http://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/Yari Sam.jpghttp://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/Sam Monk.jpghttp://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/No Dach.jpg
http://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/Nagin.jpghttp://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/Sam Archer.jpghttp://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/Gun.jpg

Was just working with some pictures and thought that there may be some who have never played Shogun or Samurai Warlords, who might like to see some of the troops.

If you would like to see more and learn more, I intend to make a serious study, even make some movies when I get the chance :yes:

[R'as al Ghul]

Excellent idea Tomi. We always assume that everybody is familiar with Shogun. Here's a little copy and paste for starters (I could add pictures later):


Yari Ashigaru

Good Vs: Fairly good against Yari Cavalry and Cavalry Archers.
Bad Vs: Everyone else!
Tactical: Yari Ashigaru are peasants and do not provide a lot of muscle to your army. However they do provide numbers, which can win a battle for you. Ashigaru can be used initially to run down routed troops, as they are the fastest unit early on before you have cavalry. They are useful for diverting an enemy's attention and pull him out of formation allowing you to take advantage of him. Yari Ashigaru are very cheap and therefore expendable, use them to take a bridge or rush a unit of pesky archers. They can be saved until the end of a battle and rushed in to provide a little punch to turn the war in your favor. The Oda clan can recruit and maintain Yari Ashigaru for less than the other clans.

Yari Samurai

Good Vs: Yari Ashigaru, Ranged units, Cavalry Units
Bad Vs: No-Dachi Samurai, Warrior Monks, Naginata
Tactical: Yari Samurai are the mainstay of your army. They are highly trained Samurai with long spears. These are your professional soldiers who fit well in almost any situation. Since they are very skilled warriors they will rout less quickly than your Ashigaru units.
They work best when kept in close formation and are not spread out. Yari troops are very good at stopping a charging cavalry unit.They also make a great bodyguard for your Archer units. When a unit gets to close to your archers have Yari Samurai unit head them off.

No-Dachi Samurai

Good Vs: Yari Ashigaru, Yari Samurai, Ranged troops
Bad Vs: Cavalry
Tactical: No-Dachi are trained samurai who use a big two-handed sword. They are very destructive but lack a good defense so use them wisely. Work best when sent in to break up a tight enemy formation. Do not rush these warriors into a battle where a lot of arrows are flying. They wear very little armor and will suffer high casualties. The defensive group will suffer most of the hits and your No-Dachi will be able to get to the archer unit and clean them up with little trouble. This can work to your advantage as they will often chase down targets and pound them mercilessly. However, they may often break from your designated orders to pursue and enemy so keep a close eye on them. Keep them away from charging cavalry! The Shimazu clan can recruit and maintain No-Dachi samurai for less than other clans.

Warrior Monks

Good Vs: All foot soldiers, Cavalry Archers
Bad Vs: Yari Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry
Tactical: These are fanatical Buddhists who chose to fight with a big sword naginata. They are very much like No-Dachi Samurai except they have a better defense. However, their idea of armor is a tightly wrapped shirt so there armor is still pretty low. The same things apply to Warrior Monks as No-Dachi above with some additional things. Warrior Monks are extremely feared by any Buddhist. It is seen as sacrilege to kill a Buddhist monk, so when Monks charge into battle they get a bonus when attacking other Buddhists. Careful though, the same bonus applies to the enemy who attacks you with Warrior Monks. Warrior Monks seem to fare a little better against Cavalry Archers then do the No-Dachi, but still, its best to keep Monks away from Cavalry and arrows. The Mori clan can recruit and maintain Warrior Monks for less than other clans.

Naginata

Good Vs: Foot Soldiers, Yari Cavalry, Cavalry Archers
Bad Vs: Heavy Cavalry
Tactical: Naginata are the most well protected unit in the game. They have a high defense factor and a very high armor rating. Due to their high armor rating they can withstand an extreme amount of missile fire from an enemy. So lead them into the battle in loose formation in front of your troops and they will absorb a lot of the initial attack. They are very good to use when taking a river province, march them up the center of that bridge to take on the missile fire and march a more offensive unit like No-Dachi or Monks in behind to break through the lines. On the other end, Naginata are great at defending a river province. Put them at the beginning of the bridge and order them to hold formation and position and they can hold any unit at bay while your Samurai Archers pound them with arrows.



Samurai Archers

Good Vs: Yari Ashigaru, Yari Samurai
Bad Vs: All others (hand to hand)
Tactical: Samurai Archers carry a large bow, which rains down deadly arrows, but also have the ability to fight hand to hand when the enemy pressures them. Archers do not need a direct line of site to shoot the enemy b/c they can arch their arrows. Put the Archers in a straight-line formation of 2 to 3 deep. This allows for less friendly fire deaths and a greater amount of arrows flying at the enemy at once. Use the Archers as your first strike. They have great range and can seriously deplete an enemy force before any hand-to-hand combat even occurs giving you a great advantage. Place Samurai Archers on op of a hill so they can have a height advantage over the enemy. This allows for a greater field of vision as well as greater damage to their strike. Keep Archers away from Cavalry. They will get killed VERY fast by cavalry units. The Uesugi clan can recruit and maintain Archers for less than other clans.

Arquebusiers - Portuguese Teppo

Good Vs: None (hand to hand)
Bad Vs: Everyone (hand to hand)
Tactical: The Arquebus is a crude version of a musket. They are not very accurate and not very powerful and don't have a long range. The Arquebusiers are Ashigaru trained to shoot; they are much less skilled than Archers. They were popular because you could train a peasant to shoot a gun in a very short period of time while it took years to produce a skilled Archer. The key to making this unit successful is to compensate for their weaknesses by having lots of them. Arquebusiers fire Very slow so put each unit in rows of 3 or 4 to have a fairly consistent rate of fire. They are also not very powerful at long range. So for a quick punch, put them in a long single or two-row line and fire when the enemy is really close. It will take a while to reload from this tactic so be ready to move the Arquebusiers out of the way after this executing this tactic. Keep them out of hand-to-hand combat. These are Ashigaru who are not well trained and are carrying the equivalent of a big club if they are forced to fight. Gunpowder weapons do not fire in the rain or snow so be aware of the weather when using them.

Musketeers - Japanese Teppo

Good Vs: None (hand to hand)
Bad Vs: Everyone (hand to hand)
Tactical: Muskets are a big improvement over the Arquebus. They have a little better range, are more accurate, do a little more damage, and fire faster. However, the same rules apply to Musketeers that apply to Arquebusiers. Keep this in mind: Musketeers are a little better than Arquebusiers, when your unit fires as a whole the effect can demoralize the enemy and cause them to rout.

Yari Cavalry

Good Vs: Samurai Archers, Musketeers, Arquebusiers, No-Dachi, Warrior Monks
Bad Vs: Yari Ashigaru, Yari Samurai, Naginata, Heavy Cavalry
Tactical: Yari Cavalry are the mainstay of the Cavalry. They are the fastest unit in the game and can cause serious havoc to certain units. Being the fastest unit in the game allows them to run down routed troops and rid you of some unwanted enemies. Yari Cavalry are invaluable when faced with Cavalry Archers. They are the only unit that can run down these pesky enemies. Yari Cavalry will also make pretty short work of No-Dachi and Monks. Use Yari Cavalry to out flank your enemy with speed and attack from the side or behind. This gives a bonus to your attacks. Be careful, Horse doesn't mean invincible. Yari Cavalry will suffer casualties when attacking any unit. They are not heavily armored. Keep away from Yari troops. When Cavalry meet a group of organized Yari troops the result is a LOT of dead horses and dead riders. Watch your terrain. Do not run horses up and down hills or through trees. They get tired very quickly and will rout. Like all cavalry, they are very susceptible to missile fire.

Cavalry Archers

Good Vs: Samurai Archers, Arquebusiers, Musketeers, No-Dachi
Bad Vs: Yari Ashigaru, Yari Samurai, Yari Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry
Tactical: Cavalry Archers are simply Archers sitting on horse. They are not as accurate as their Samurai Archer counterparts but still have their own unique abilities. Cavalry Archers are great to use in skirmish mode. They can fire away at the enemy and when they get too close, the Cavalry will run away to anew position. Unless the enemy is chasing you with Yari Cavalry, you will never be caught. This tactic can wear an opponent down, both in numbers and morale. Cavalry archers make great scouts too. Send them around the bend to see where that enemy is or to just hit a few of their troops to break up their formations. Cavalry Archers do have swords and can be used in hand to hand against weaker missile troops. However, keep them away from the Yari, Monks, and Naginata. Just like all Cavalry, watch your terrain. Do not run horses up and down hills or through trees. They get tired very quickly and will rout. Like all cavalry, they are very susceptible to missile fire.

Heavy Cavalry

Good Vs: Everyone!
Bad Vs: Yari Samurai, Naginata (but not that bad)
Tactical: Heavy Cavalry are tanks, plain and simple. They can take on any unit in the game with their power and defense. Keep the Heavy Cavalry on flat ground when attacking the enemy. Only a very high honor and armor Yari Samurai unit or Naginata unit has the slightest chance at taking them out. Your best chance at beating them is to hold them with a good Naginata unit and fire at them with your missile units. Just like all Cavalry, watch your terrain. Do not run horses up and down hills or through trees. They get tired very quickly and will rout. Like all cavalry, they are very susceptible to missile fire

Battlefield Ninja

Operating in small groups, the Battlefield Ninja are one of the most powerful units in the game. Their ability to hide, even in relatively open terrain, and their astounding combat abilities make them ideal for eliminating enemy generals on the battlefield and taking out key enemy units.

Naginata Cavalry

Naginata Cavalry are heavily armed and well armoured cavalry, designed for assaulting strongly defensive troops. They are slower and less well armoured than heavy cavalry, but are more offensive in mellee, their heavy weapons being able overcome even highly skilled and heavily armoured opponents.

Master Swordsman - Kensai

The Master Swordsmen is an exceptional individual who's martial prowess makes him almost invicible in battle. He is capable of taking on whole units of enemy troops and is ideal for taking and holding key positions such as castle gates and bridges.
P.S.:I'll edit this later as some passages don't apply to SamWars.

[Tomisama]

R’as to the rescue!

Thanks, an excellent start on this :smile:

Am thinking of producing an individual cameo of each troop type (with better contrast and sizing than the ones above). And a full unit picture, full frontal view, straight on against a blue sky (will have to find a mountain top or cliff to shoot these).

Will PM the link when complete :bow:

[Jochi Khan]

A suggestion.... for clarity for those unfamailiar with Shogun types.

Could you place the unit type heading...with a pic of individual troop ... and then the write up information below this.

Example....

Yari Samurai

https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f177/JochiKhan/Yari20Sam.jpg

Good Vs: Yari Ashigaru, Ranged units, Cavalry Units
Bad Vs: No-Dachi Samurai, Warrior Monks, Naginata
Tactical: Yari Samurai are the mainstay of your army. They are highly trained Samurai with long spears. These are your professional soldiers who fit well in almost any situation. Since they are very skilled warriors they will rout less quickly than your Ashigaru units.
They work best when kept in close formation and are not spread out. Yari troops are very good at stopping a charging cavalry unit.They also make a great bodyguard for your Archer units. When a unit gets to close to your archers have Yari Samurai unit head them off.


The pic needs to be resized smaller to take up less room. This is just to illustrate my suggestion.

[Noir]

A correction to Ra's' list: Warrior Monks fight with the Naginata, and not with a big sword. This can be seen in the unit sprite too. In fact the invention of the Naginata as a weapon is credited to them. The weapon evolved from the combination of spear/staff techniques with the slight alteration of broadening and curving slightly the two edge cutting blade. The result is a weapon that gives the advantage of striking distance in slashing, thrusting and mixed techniques.

All in all - katanas (standard samurai swords) rose into prominence during the Tokugawa/Edo period as "the soul of the samurai". Sengoku Jidai dictated primary melee weapons that outranged the sword in striking distance and saw combined arms in the battlefield by shooters (guns and archers), spears/pikes and fast cavalry raids/charges/flank attacks equivalent to that of the Napoleonic period in use.

These all are reflected nicely in the gameplay, in fact skirmishes in mp replays are trully impressive with the CA and YC at their best along the lines of the gunners. Unfortunately the AI cannot play with his gunners out of skirmish mode and so such gameplay does not enter the SP game from both sides.

It will be interesting to see how CA treats the issue in Empire TW that essentially presents similar gameplay elements on the battlefield.

[R'as al Ghul]

A correction to Ra's' list: Warrior Monks fight with the Naginata, and not with a big sword. This can be seen in the unit sprite too. In fact the invention of the Naginata as a weapon is credited to them. The weapon evolved from the combination of spear/staff techniques with the slight alteration of broadening and curving slightly the two edge cutting blade. The result is a weapon that gives the advantage of striking distance in slashing, thrusting and mixed techniques.

Arg. :hide:

Erm..I just copied this over from the Shogun section. I don't even know who wrote that.
Of course you're right. I also noticed some other odd things and will correct them later.

[Noir]

No problem Ra's,

i recognised parts from the STW unit description texts - i realised that you didn't write that.

Noir

[Puzz3D]

YC won't beat warrior monks.
All teppo have the same range.
SA are worse than YS in melee.
YC are equal HC in melee.
NC are equal HC in speed.

[Tomisama]

[Just the basic idea. Did not read through the text (please edit), and don't remember the cost (1000 ?). Have to go cut the grass :sad: Cya!]

http://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/YC Banner.jpg

Yari Cavalry

Good Vs: Samurai Archers, Musketeers, Arquebusiers, No-Dachi, Warrior Monks
Bad Vs: Yari Ashigaru, Yari Samurai, Naginata, Heavy Cavalry
Tactical: Yari Cavalry are the mainstay of the Cavalry. They are the fastest unit in the game and can cause serious havoc to certain units. Being the fastest unit in the game allows them to run down routed troops and rid you of some unwanted enemies. Yari Cavalry are invaluable when faced with Cavalry Archers. They are the only unit that can run down these pesky enemies. Yari Cavalry will also make pretty short work of No-Dachi and Monks. Use Yari Cavalry to out flank your enemy with speed and attack from the side or behind. This gives a bonus to your attacks. Be careful, Horse doesn't mean invincible. Yari Cavalry will suffer casualties when attacking any unit. They are not heavily armored. Keep away from Yari troops. When Cavalry meet a group of organized Yari troops the result is a LOT of dead horses and dead riders. Watch your terrain. Do not run horses up and down hills or through trees. They get tired very quickly and will rout. Like all cavalry, they are very susceptible to missile fire.


http://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/YC Pic.jpg

Yari Cavalry (YC)
----------------------
Men: 60
Cost 1000
Charge bonus: 4
Attack factor: 2 (6)
Defense factor: 2
Armor: 3
Morale bonus: 6
Walk speed: 10
Run speed: 24
Charge speed: 26
Cost:

Melee performance vs target [+=advantage with charge]

..........YA......SA......YS......ND......NA...... WM.....CA......YC......NC......HC

YC.......E........A.........E........B.......D.... ....D.........A.......C+.......B.......C+

[R'as al Ghul]

A good template, Tomi. I'll see if we can get the image and the text onto the same height. Next to each other.
Now we need to work on those texts parts. Some are horribly wrong.

[R'as al Ghul]

Like this perhaps?

Yari Cavalry (YC)

http://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/YC%20Pic.jpg| ||http://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/YC%20Banner.jpg
Men| 60 | |Mounted Samurai armed with Yari spears.
Cost| 1000 | |This is the fastest cavalry unit in the game. The
Charge bonus| 4 | |only unit able to catch Cavalry Archers.
Attack factor| 2 (6)| |Like all cavalry units it's susceptible to missile
Defense factor| 2| |fire and doesn't fight well on wooded terrain.
Armor| 3| |Due to their long Yaris they have a bonus against other cavalry
Morale bonus| 6| |units. They also have a strong charge and can do heavy
Walk speed| 10| |damage to missile units. Keep them away
Run speed| 24| |from spear units like Yari Ashigaru and Yari Samurai.
Charge speed| 26|


Melee performance vs target [+=advantage with charge]
|YA|SA|YS|ND|NA|WM|CA|YC|NC|HC
YC |E|A|E|B|D|D|A|C+|B|C+




R'as

[Jochi Khan]

Good work Tomisama.
Very neat layout R'as. I like it. :2thumbsup:

[Tomisama]

This is going to take more time and energy than I have right now (today anyway), but will continue to collect pictures as I can. Until then, I took these snapshots this morning :smile:

http://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/Troops.jpg

http://www.clanwarscomp.org/samurai/Clans.jpg

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

I need this infro, since I forget what's good against what. Thanks :-).