Is there any point in creating ninjas?

[Brian_]

I ask the question because I've never had any success with them. I've tried starting them on the lowest level targets possible, to try and build up their experience but they never get past 2-3 before they are killed themeslves.

Does anyone think these units are worth the expense to build?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Mostly just for fun. It's possible to train honor 3 ninja with the right province/building though.

[Togakure]

You could try playing a difficult clan in an Expert Sengoku campaign and forbid yourself geishas. Ninjas become the only way to get rid of the nasty enemy kunoichis which eventually appear, aside from destroying the Geisha House where they are being trained.

Build as many as can be afforded, as early as possible, and level them up by training them against emissaries, priests, and one- or two-star generals. As Sasaki mentioned, you can train +3 ninja with Geisha Houses in either Yamashiro or Iga. I use Iga; Yamashiro is the only province capable of training +3 Yari Samurai and I tend to focus any given troop-training province on one troop type (producing one per turn whenever possible). This is necessary because I tend to employ a constant and relatively rapid expansion/conquest strategy, which requires a regular flow of new troops.

Or, just try to win before an enemy clan is able to produce the hairpin-throwing biznatches.

All in good fun.

[Brian_]

Or, just try to win before an enemy clan is able to produce the hairpin-throwing biznatches.

I've wondered the same thing about these gals too. What I mean is that it seems that by the time I can develop Geishas--I've already won.

[Togakure]

I've wondered the same thing about these gals too. What I mean is that it seems that by the time I can develop Geishas--I've already won.

Heh, that's a good thing--enemy geishas can really be a pain in the butt if they are not checked. Best way to check them is to win before the enemy can put them to use.

[Yesugey]

The success percentage of the Ninjas is extremely low, but any higher could make the game really easy. And a ninja can take a well protected Daimyo without the good luck is not realistic.

So dont take the Ninja attacks as your primary battle plan. Train Ninjas constantly, and send them to enemy one by one, until one of them take the enemy Daimyo suprizingly.

Remember: the game engine just dont want you to able to train a "Super Ninja" who can take out any Daimyo. It is what Geisha's for.

[gollum]

Mostly for fun, but they can prove crucial under certain circumstances, as that one campaign that i was grinded as Imagawa by the Hojo (horde) until one of my ninjas got a lucky shot at the heirless Hojo Daimyo.

Feeew!

Also your only life line if another clan has geishas and you dont; Ninjas have a relatively high rate against them, even if they lack in experience.

[Jef Costello]

Ninja can be fun although I just lost a level four and a level five ninja and the latter was on a 96% chance of victory.

Does anyone know the rules for castle infiltrations? The chances seem to go up with time, is this as you secure control of the province or as the garrison weakens. I find a few castle infiltrations on garrisons that are about to fall can help to bump up a ninja's level quite quickly.

[chaouki]

i just managed to end acheive this about two times, but was nice in any case because i could attack further withour waiting much longer

a thing i never witnessed up to now is actually fighting for a castle as the attacking side in a siege. i remember back in rtw you had the possibility to click the "attack the city"-button while in stw there seems only to be sieges you can't control yourself. ok it's nice because you don't lose a single unit, but fighting myself would be a more pleasant option
on the other hand i saw a couple of screenshots by people who fought castle sieges themselves. am i simply too stupid to find the according button or what is the problem :D

[Jef Costello]

Select an army but instead of moving it to a province move it over the castle. The colour should fade a bit (like a emissary or ninja when you choose a mission) and then let go. You'll get a battle confirmation screen like with other battles and at the end of the turn you'll fight it. You can only use one army afaik so put all the troops you want to use into one army before you select it. Depending on the troops castle defence can be costly. If it's after a batttle there is usually a good mix, if the enemy just retreated to the castle then you might find the defence is all archers or warior monks and you can select the relevant troops. There's nothing more fun that lining up your archers carefully outside a castle and shooting down an army withot a single casualty.
the troops in the castle rarely make a break for it, although sometimes the enemy will station troops outsde the castle.

[A Nerd]

I never like Geisha. Seemed sort of cheating to use their 100% kill rate to win the game. I hate it when the AI uses one. One time he used a geisha and killed about 2 of my heirs. Fortunately, I had about 8 ninja nearby. They all had an honor of about 0-2. I threw all eight of them at her and after about 4 failed the 5th or so killed her. It was oh so satisfying. I proptly attacked my 'dishonorable' foe who used one and wiped him off the map. Again, oh so satisfying!

[ReluctantSamurai]

You can 'remove' geisha from the game by editing the building preference directory. I've forgotten which line in the file you edit (I believe there is/was a discussion thread on this) but the general idea is to bump the geisha dojo to the end of the preference queue, giving it the lowest priority. However......

.....if you then use geisha yourself, the AI will counter with its' own.

In the 1580 campaign's, infrastructure is much more advanced and you will see geisha from just about every clan not far into a campaign.

I prefer to win or lose on the battlefield, and not by cheese, so I don't use them or permit them.

[chaouki]

Select an army but instead of moving it to a province move it over the castle. The colour should fade a bit (like a emissary or ninja when you choose a mission) and then let go. You'll get a battle confirmation screen like with other battles and at the end of the turn you'll fight it. You can only use one army afaik so put all the troops you want to use into one army before you select it. Depending on the troops castle defence can be costly.

hey cool, thanks, will try it the next time i'm playing

[A Nerd]

Geisha are indeed cheese! I never use them either. I check on that file, but I usually only play the traditional campaign, I don't know how to spell it, the one where every clan has a number of territories and there are limitied ronin provinces. Mabey a harder campaign in the future though.

[ReluctantSamurai]

To "remove" geisha go to the building_choice.txt in your STW main directory. The 15th value for every clan is the Geisha House. Reduce it to 0. I suppose one could go all out and do the same in the unit_choice.txt but I've never found that necessary.

[chaouki]

wow finally i managed to storm a castle :) thanks again

i thought this "end siege" button would abort the siege like it does in rtw. so hojo campaign ended, let's see who's next

[A Nerd]

Fare the well geisha, fare the well...