How is your first campaign going?

[Ituralde]

Seems like I'm on top for now. Increased my holdings to 14 provinces by sweeping through undefended Hojo lands. They tried to hold me back with a full stack of Samurai (Archer, Yari, Katana), but I was able to hold them off during a bridge battle where they got totally swamped. The Shogun is now irritated at me, which means that I'm already gathering forces in Fukushima for the eventual Date treachery.

The Hojo are down to two provinces, even lost one to rebellion. The Imagawa have taken Kai and together with the Tokugawa they are probably my next target. The other real problem is the Amakawa clan, which controls most of Southern Honshu and parts of Kyushu. Realm Divide will kill me, but it's not far off and I have only 8 more years to become Shogun. Serves me right for choosing a Short Campaign to get started!

[phonicsmonkey]

I lost my second campaign too - Takeda on VH/N again...20ish turns this time. I need to get a lot better at battles if I'm going to succeed with this one..

[HopAlongBunny]

Haven't lost yet! I simply re-started 3 times :p

Should be a ton of re-play value; different starting points => different threats=> different priorities

Present campaign might get finished; doesn't look like I'll win but no huge mistakes...yet :)

[Zarky]

I actually lost a campaign. More like I gave up after realizing there's no way I'm bouncing back from this. And this was on normal!!!
Uesugi, the situation with all the provinces to my south was so messed up that I didn't have the guts to declare war on anyone there, leaving me with just expanding east/west options. This then backfired when I was declared war on and within 2 turns would have lost my capital and other most developed province.

Uesugi are really hard just for that you don't know where to expand with them.

[Zim]

Started my first game on Normal as Chosokabe. It's been pretty challenging so far. I took most of my starting island (with Myoshi reduced to a single province vassal and keeping Iwa as an ally) then invaded Kyushu, only to find a very large Mori was eating it from the other end. The Shogun decided Mori was getting too big and requested they be attacked, but I preferred allying with them to split up the Shoni...

So far I'm very impressed. Even on Normal the game has been a challenge from time to time. I suppose now I have to up the difficulty and try someone on the mainland.

[Kagemusha]

I actually lost a campaign. More like I gave up after realizing there's no way I'm bouncing back from this. And this was on normal!!!
Uesugi, the situation with all the provinces to my south was so messed up that I didn't have the guts to declare war on anyone there, leaving me with just expanding east/west options. This then backfired when I was declared war on and within 2 turns would have lost my capital and other most developed province.

Uesugi are really hard just for that you don't know where to expand with them.

As Uesugi i have come to a conclusion that you have to go after Takeda just like what happened in history. I have a campaign now going pretty well, when i dealt Jinbo quickly and then immediately turned against Takeda, while making alliances with Ashina, Mogami and bit later Ikko Ikki. If Takeda or anyone in the South grows too powerful playing Uesugi can turn into a nightmare. I have now destroyed Jinbo and Takeda, while Takeda destroyed Anegakoji before i could intervene. It was not easy to take out Takeda, but after destroying Takeda i secured an alliance with Imagawa and took Noto from Hatakeyama and destroyed Kiso while my allied Ikko Ikki declared war on their allies the Saito. Now i am balancing my economy with several options for invasions bit later.

[Zarky]

As Uesugi i have come to a conclusion that you have to go after Takeda just like what happened in history. I have a campaign now going pretty well, when i dealt Jinbo quickly and then immediately turned against Takeda, while making alliances with Ashina, Mogami and bit later Ikko Ikki. If Takeda or anyone in the South grows too powerful palying Uesugi can turn into a nightmare. I have now destroyed Jinbo and Takeda, while Takeda destroyed Anegakoji before i could intervene. It was not easy to take out Takeda, but after destroying Takeda i secured an alliance with Imagawa and took Noto from Hatakeyama and destroyed Kiso while my allied Ikko Ikki declared war on their allies the Saito. Now i am balancing my economy with several options for invasions bit later.

I actually woke up early today and am now 70 turns or so into 2nd campaign as Uesugi. I allied Takeda and managed to deal with everyone around them, they got North Shinano and went to South Shinano and then west, eventually (with me pressuring them) declaring war on Imagawa and circling back to Kai from south.
Everything went fine so far, starting to enjoy warrior monks and then I realized that when Realm Divide hits I need to take North Shinano when Takeda betrays me and I'd only need to hold 3 choke points to prevent any incursions from west and defend 2 cities from Date who I probably could trust for a few more turns. Unfortunately my reputation was very near full and I started preparing for the inevitable, when my fresh puppet Hojo captures a rebel held province triggering Realm Divide (didn't know this could happen!!!) and then promptly declaring war on me... Of course Takeda join in on the fun and 2 turns later Shingen and 2 stacks with largely Samurai composition assault Uesugi Kenshin at Echizen. The battle could have been epic but it was just a massacre on both sides, yet the ending was obvious from the start.

I haven't had so much fun with a faction in any TW, ever. And these are from losing experiences. Hardest clan so far.

Uesugi are so complicated to play. Victory conditions point you south, wanting to fight a single front war points you to east before else and wanting proximity to Kyoto before Realm Divide points you to west.

[Monk]

On my fourth campaign now: Chokosabe H/H going for long victory conditions.

This was also the campaign i mentioned in another thread, and have shown screenshots about, but i haven't had the chance to talk about it much. Basically i wanted to try surviving a little longer than normal, and instead for pushing toward Kyoto and Honshu (after securing Shikoku) I decided to go in the opposite direction and subjugate Kyushu. It proved to be a very hard fought battle, not the least of which because nearly the entire island had converted to Christianity. Town by town Chokosabe Motochika converted the people back to the one true faith, just as town by town he liberated the island and added it to his own domain.

This campaign was relatively slow and reasonably entertaining. Once i'd managed to unite Kyushu I sorta felt like my daimyo was a bit of a hero. He'd driven gaijin influences from the Western Japanese islands and united the clans under his banner for the greater good. Food surplus was up to 12 and the Chokosabe enjoyed immense wealth thanks to their many trade connections - if you were a kingdom in the east that traded with Japan, you dealt with the Chokosabe. Motochika even secured an alliance with the powerful Oda daimyo, Oda Nobuhide, two years before the later declared himself Shogun and effectively brought all of the eastern clans under his control.

By 1570 warfare in the Japanese islands at ceased, but an interesting schism was emerging. Motochika ruled in the western islands from his capital at Tosa and held parts of the west tip of Honshu, there he had brought a number of clans under his protection who now served as his vassals. The Oda Shogunate had suceeded in bringing down every major clan. Except the Chokosabe.. in 1571 a dispute with the Hatorri clan lead the Chokosabe to declare war. At first the Shogunate supported Motochika's right of conquest, but as tales of the Chokosabe heroism spread through Honshu, whispers of jealousy surfaced in Kyoto. The Shogunate was unhappy with the control of the Chokosabe, indeed, he ruled nearly all of Honshu, why should Kyushu and Shikoku be different?

When the Chokosabe captured a number of hattori provinces in west Honshu, provinces which had long served as trading stops for Oda merchants, the Shogunate declared war on the Chokosabe, bringing with him his Yamana and Uesugi allies..

It's been seven years since the declaration of war and what started as a realm divide event has exploded into full on East vs West civil war. I'd love to claim that this has been one sided and i've been whooping Oda behind, but that just isn't the case. Fighting has bogged down in western Honshu between my alliance (Chokosabe, Oushi, and a few other small vassals) and those loyal to the Shogunate. Every time one side gets a big victory they capture 1-3 provinces, only for the counter attack to dislodge them and return to the status quoe. Thousands of samurai are dead in what is turning out to be the final culmination of the Sengoku Jidai.

[Kagemusha]

On my fourth campaign now: Chokosabe H/H going for long victory conditions.

This was also the campaign i mentioned in another thread, and have shown screenshots about, but i haven't had the chance to talk about it much. Basically i wanted to try surviving a little longer than normal, and instead for pushing toward Kyoto and Honshu (after securing Shikoku) I decided to go in the opposite direction and subjugate Kyushu. It proved to be a very hard fought battle, not the least of which because nearly the entire island had converted to Christianity. Town by town Chokosabe Motochika converted the people back to the one true faith, just as town by town he liberated the island and added it to his own domain.

This campaign was relatively slow and reasonably entertaining. Once i'd managed to unite Kyushu I sorta felt like my daimyo was a bit of a hero. He'd driven gaijin influences from the Western Japanese islands and united the clans under his banner for the greater good. Food surplus was up to 12 and the Chokosabe enjoyed immense wealth thanks to their many trade connections - if you were a kingdom in the east that traded with Japan, you dealt with the Chokosabe. Motochika even secured an alliance with the powerful Oda daimyo, Oda Nobuhide, two years before the later declared himself Shogun and effectively brought all of the eastern clans under his control.

By 1570 warfare in the Japanese islands at ceased, but an interesting schism was emerging. Motochika ruled in the western islands from his capital at Tosa and held parts of the west tip of Honshu, there he had brought a number of clans under his protection who now served as his vassals. The Oda Shogunate had suceeded in bringing down every major clan. Except the Chokosabe.. in 1571 a dispute with the Hatorri clan lead the Chokosabe to declare war. At first the Shogunate supported Motochika's right of conquest, but as tales of the Chokosabe heroism spread through Honshu, whispers of jealousy surfaced in Kyoto. The Shogunate was unhappy with the control of the Chokosabe, indeed, he ruled nearly all of Honshu, why should Kyushu and Shikoku be different?

When the Chokosabe captured a number of hattori provinces in west Honshu, provinces which had long served as trading stops for Oda merchants, the Shogunate declared war on the Chokosabe, bringing with him his Yamana and Uesegi allies..

It's been seven years since the declaration of war and what started as a realm divide event has exploded into full on East vs West civil war. I'd love to claim that this has been one sided and i've been whooping Oda behind, but that just isn't the case. Fighting has bogged down in western Honshu between my alliance (Chokosabe, Oushi, and a few other small vassals) and those loyal to the Shogunate. Every time one side gets a big victory they capture 1-3 provinces, only for the counter attack to dislodge them and return to the status quoe. Thousands of samurai are dead in what is turning out to be the final culmination of the Sengoku Jidai.

I guess you are playing sort of Segikahara campaign, the differnce being that not half of your "western" forces are not turncoats really loyal to "East".

[Monk]

I guess you are playing sort of Segikahara campaign, the differnce being that not half of your "western" forces are not turncoats really loyal to "East".

The historical parallels haven't escaped me and is half of what makes the fight against the shogunate so fun.

I have the Realm Divide mod which softens the blow of the event, but pretty much all of my eastern allies (I was allied to Uesugi and a few minors) abandoned me. Likely because they didn't want to cross Oda, who was also allied to them also. It was like Oda sent a message when he declared war, choose your side!

[Chimpyang]

Date H/H campaign. I've got to the point where Useugi and Takeda are sending full stacks ever 2 turns to the 2 different stacks that I have hidden inside a fortress. Currently saving enough money for a 3rd stack so I can start turning the tide a bit, as right now it's just siege siege siege.

[phonicsmonkey]

Haven't lost yet! I simply re-started 3 times :p

to be fair I haven't seen the losing video either - I just quit when I believe the campaign is lost (ie. I have no troops left, just two provinces and massive stacks are coming from all sides)

[Prodigal]

Not officially my 1st campaign more like 3rd, but so far it's proving to be a hoot; Japan is utterly perfect for TW, it's like having a mass brawl in a telephone box. Finally went with Hojo, (only n/n), having to whack my 5 star gen. came as something of a horrifying shock, I've had my proverbial handed to me in a battle I thought would be a cake walk, held a castle against overwhelming odds, lost & regained territories, (not a biggy but can't remember it happening much in earlier versions of TW).

My only concern atm is that the clan's conquests have happened so fast that currently it feels like winning is simply logistics rather than any great challenge. Planning on restarting with a "hard" clan on h/h and see if that maintains the mid/late game pressure.

Load times aside, it's great, the AI seems immensely improved, lvl progression's a great addition, the constant twists in clan development keep me worried that a false move will wreck everything, and the diplomacy works.

All in all a very worthy successor to the original STW, they've not sullied its memory & that's about the highest praise I can think of.

[Rothe]

The historical parallels haven't escaped me and is half of what makes the fight against the shogunate so fun.

I have the Realm Divide mod which softens the blow of the event, but pretty much all of my eastern allies (I was allied to Uesugi and a few minors) abandoned me. Likely because they didn't want to cross Oda, who was also allied to them also. It was like Oda sent a message when he declared war, choose your side!

I am also playing the Chosokabe campaign (H/H) and I also first conquered Shikoku and then went west to attack Shoni and the others on Kyushu. It seems natural to secure trade nodes by going that way. Also, you can keep the two isles all to yourself without still triggering the divide.

After that, I started to go to Honshu and eat it up from the western end, only to stop right before the divide to gather forces and money.

I am actually liking the divide event. It gives you a new challenge once you get to be a major force. Without the event, I would just eat up all of Japan easily.
I already now have 130k koku and my income is 12k/season and the year is still 1568.

I kind of decided that 1570 is when I just go berzerk and start going for Kioto no matter what. I try to keep Date as my ally as long as possible (with diplomacy tech and payments) to keep a trade partner. Currently my army costs 12k/season and my tax is 13k/season, so I should be able to hold on long enough with my huge "slush fund".

I still don't have much of a defensive force on Shikoku, but I have slowly been importing matchlocks to get a cheap castle defense force to a few of the provinces, and I am prepared to move one of my three major armies (probably the ashigaru heavy one) to there if someone tries to attack me there.

[Daveybaby]

Just had the divide event on my second game (shimazu, hard, 40 provinces). I knew it was close, so i'd turtled up to reinforce my economy and troops before the onslaught. To my surprise it occurred anyway due to me winning a *defensive* battle. I'd assumed it was purely down to number of provinces owned but it seems there are other factors involved.

Happily my three allies (chokosabe, amako and mori) and three vassals decided to stick by me. There's about 120 turns to go and i've got 25 provinces (including kyoto) left to capture, should be doable, as long as my vassals dont get there before me.

[Monk]

Just had the divide event on my second game (shimazu, hard, 40 provinces). I knew it was close, so i'd turtled up to reinforce my economy and troops before the onslaught. To my surprise it occurred anyway due to me winning a *defensive* battle. I'd assumed it was purely down to number of provinces owned but it seems there are other factors involved.

Happily my three allies (chokosabe, amako and mori) and three vassals decided to stick by me. There's about 120 turns to go and i've got 25 provinces (including kyoto) left to capture, should be doable.

Heroic victories also contribute to your clan fame if i recall, although not as much as taking provinces.

[Ituralde]

My Uesugi campaing is nearing the end.

Despite loosing my home province and all may generals early on I have made a successful recovery. The Kanto is mine! After that I paused a little bit and tried to get my farm infrastructure going as I was raking in 4k a turn from trade. I wanted to have a good economy before Realm Divide hits. I couldn't hold off my offensive too long, as I could see the Hojo home province empty and the Imagawa lands undefended. I couldnt' resist and have torn through the Southern provinces all the way to Realm Divide!

My Date allies in the North are still faithful, but barely. I have an army in the region, which just conquered Sado. That gold mine, plus the one in the Hojo home province is financing my war efforts. My main enemies are the Shokugawa, which hold South Shinano and all the provinces between me and Kyoto, and the Amakawa, which control all of Western Japan except the islands. There some smaller clans are also busy fighting against me. I only need three more provinces including Kyoto. Hope I'll make it, before my undefended hinterland gets pillaged and burned!

[A Nerd]

I've been doing something interesting in my latest Hojo campaign. I wanted to maintain trade with some smaller factions but I also wanted to take their provinces. So, I have been using monks to incite rebellions and when the rebels take the castle, I then take the castle from the rebels. More territories and I maintain trade with the other clan. I've taken a number of castles that way thus far. Despite the success precentage being around 30%, they still seem to incite rebellions quite often. It might affect relations though, I am not sure, but most of the other clans are hostile toward me.

[quadalpha]

Only failed agent actions affect relations. It should be under "Sabotage Attempts" or "Hostile Agent Actions" in the diplo tooltip.

[Monk]

Nearing the end of my Chokosabe campaign. A hard push and a capture of Kyoto, back and forth fighting (kyoto exchanged hands 3 times) and my Daimyo is now officially Shogun. The Oda are reeling from the loss of power and are on their heels, scrambling for defense. Their army quality is steadily dropping as they lost the ability top field heavy hitters. I'm up to 37 provinces, 3 away from victory.

All i have to say is what a game. When realm divide hit and the game turned into East vs West I didn't think I'd ever be able to finish, we were completely deadlocked. However, a few acts of heroism from my generals, key assasinations, a well placed uprising from a Monk and a couple allied armies to my rescue gave me the upper hand. I really don't like using the word, but the only way I can describe the ending of the game is epic.

Tens of thousands of men died in the war for Kyoto, the heroes of the Kyushu campaign among them. Even Chokosabe Motochika was counted among those who fell. Oda Nobuhide and Nobunaga both met their ends in the disaserous war for control of the Shogunate. New heroes arose for the Chokosabe time and time again, even when things were at their darkest and i'd been pushed back three or four provinces, there was always a chance to rebound. My vassals even surprised me, riding to my defense numerous times when the fighting reached its apex around Kyoto and the former lands of the Asai. I even began to dread certain generals on the other side, trying to out manourver them rather than fight them. Osaka became littered with the dead, as I fought six battles near the city. I can only imagine that locals are now telling tales of the angry spirits of the dead, roaming the countryside at night and continuing the battle fought in life.

All in all.. i think i'll need a break from Shogun 2 once this is all done. Not because I'm tired of the game, but because this one campaign has given me so many vivid memories, i'd like time to reflect on them all.

[andrewt]

I started as Chosokabe on N/N. I conquered Shikoku and then started with Kii on the mainland. I didn't know this at the time but that was a good choice since this area is one of the most fertile in the game.

I hit realm divide when one of my trade partners in southern Kyushu declared war on me and I started conquering their provinces. Eventually, I vassaled them, hit realm divide, then had them turn on me immediately. Everybody except my allies, the Shoni, turned on me. They had roughly 11 provinces and I had 2 stacks tied up on my borders with them for their eventual betrayal.

It was just a matter of slowly pushing east, consolidating, then beating the Shoni when they betrayed me. It also helped that the other power is the Date. They didn't bother me for a while after I beat the initial armies they sent after realm divide.

Right now, I'm just turtling at 59 provinces trying to fully explore the tech tree.

[Leptomeninges]

I'm really enjoying Shogun 2 also. This is my second try as Shimazu/Hard/Long and after a lucky set of AI decisions I was able to roll up the starting island and get a foothold on the mainland fairly quickly where the Mori and (green tree faction -- name forgotten) had split the peninsula along the mountain line. The Shoni have typically been a big headache in my Shimazu games, but in this case they inexplicably headed to the mainland leaving a Christian Sagara (they had conquered Bungo) to face me alone. Not sure why the Shoni never joined the alliance war unless the diplo hit from Sargera's conversion contributed to it. Regardless, the power vacuum allowed me to roll up the island and pick up all four trade resources. I was quickly running a huge trade surplus which allowed me to build big armies and upgrade the island's economy.

There were essentially two main alliance blocks in my game -- Mori/Green Tree in the south (the map rotation is confusing) and Jinbo/small clans in the north. These two blocs were linked together with a Mori/Jinbo alliance. Initially I ignored the alliances and declared war on Mori, but when my trade income fell apart, I selectively reloaded and noticed that the Jinbo were willing to abandon the alliance for some cash. With significant although reduced trade revenues still coming in, I stayed up until around 2:00 am last night and pushed to a Hoki/Aki line with some room remaining in my reputation bar before deciding that I needed to go to bed or I'd be a wreck today. My plan is to pick up Mimasaka and possibly Bizen also before declaring peace and turtling for a bit before realm divide.

I agree that realm divide is a little "gamey." Stopping conquest specifically to plan around it seems unnatural, but the mechanic has the huge saving grace of making the end game interesting which often disappoints in empire building games like these.

The far north (Date/Uesugi) seems to have really fallen apart. The provinces are rebel controlled (Jinbo is now rolling them up) but I'm not sure why they just disintigrated. Jinbo will be the big player in the north together with some medium sized factions (Hattori, Hojo, and a couple minor clans that expanded to 3-5).

Thinking of trying Uesugi next although I may not finish this game until later this weekend. The monk focus and complicated starting position seem interesting. I'd be very interested in any tips people have from their Uesugi campaigns.

[The_Emperor]

Hi guys.

I recently got the Shogun 2 bug as well.
My first campaign is Shimazu Normal and my god I feel like I have been away for too long, I started off strong taking out the enemy clan in the first few turns and then getting an economy going by pushing trade spots. Right afterwards the Sagara to the north allied with the Shoni in addition to me. Sadly war broke out between me and the Shoni and the Sargara chose to side with them. As you can guess my war economy has tanked while the Sagara has a very large stack within striking distance of Satsuma.

Doesn't bode well for my first try playing a TW game since MTW:2.

[Monk]

Welcome back The_Emperor. Good to see you posting again. S2 is a welcome return to form, yes?

Thinking of trying Uesugi next although I may not finish this game until later this weekend. The monk focus and complicated starting position seem interesting. I'd be very interested in any tips people have from their Uesugi campaigns.

Complicated doesn't say the half of it! But if you can survive those first few turns it becomes very interesting. Sadly i've not been able to make it out of the first 15 turns as Uesugi yet. A sad fact considering they are my all time favorite right back to S1.

[econ21]

I'm having a blast as Oda. I had an ashigaru fuelled breakout from the initial position. But then I ran into a lack of nearby enemies. Being a decent sort of daimyo, I did not want to start a fight for the sake of it with my amicable neighbours. So I sailed over to Bungo and Bizen to liberate a smith and a naval tradition province from an AI faction described as aggressive and ruthless (hey, it could not have happened to a nicer guy!).

It was a big mistake. I am now positioned like Takeda in STW1 - divided lands, with half my holdings in the west, half in the east. Realm divide is approaching and the prospect terrifies me. It's not a question of fighting a war on two fronts. It's fighting two wars, each on two fronts.

I'm trying to consolidate and also making a play for the trade nodes. I have three, which may not be smart given that Oda is probably the worst placest faction to hold on to them.

I have no allies, no financial surplus, almost no samurai.

But heck, is it fun.

[The_Emperor]

Welcome back The_Emperor. Good to see you posting again. S2 is a welcome return to form, yes?

Hey Monk, yes I agree it is a cracking return to form. Talk about a challenge, I went in half cocked expecting it to be like Rome or Medieval 2 without reading up.

I am going to try again with the Shimazu, I think I should focus on building a bloody good economy but I know that the Shoni and sargara can build up a decent sized force if left unchecked. (I guess their provinces must be rich)

Interesting stuff!

[Monk]

I'm having a blast as Oda. I had an ashigaru fuelled breakout from the initial position. But then I ran into a lack of nearby enemies. Being a decent sort of daimyo, I did not want to start a fight for the sake of it with my amicable neighbours. So I sailed over to Bungo and Bizen to liberate a smith and a naval tradition province from an AI faction described as aggressive and ruthless (hey, it could not have happened to a nicer guy!).

It was a big mistake. I am now positioned like Takeda in STW1 - divided lands, with half my holdings in the west, half in the east. Realm divide is approaching and the prospect terrifies me. It's not a question of fighting a war on two fronts. It's fighting two wars, each on two fronts.

I'm trying to consolidate and also making a play for the trade nodes. I have three, which may not be smart given that Oda is probably the worst placest faction to hold on to them.

I have no allies, no financial surplus, almost no samurai.

But heck, is it fun.

That sounds like some great fun Econ! Maybe offer up some gold in exchange for a few alliances to soften the blow of realm divide? If you can get one position decently secure you might be able to fight off the hordes.

[Gregoshi]

My Mori campaign slowly grinds on. I picked the short campaign and have 10 years, 10 provinces and Kyoto to go. Tonight I managed to get realm divide and I really sweated it out because of my Ouchi allies. They have been my ally from the beginning but have gone Christian and our relationship went from "very friendly" to "friendly" to "indifferent". Plus we share a rather awkwardly divided Kyushu - with me having the "awkward" part. Miraculously, they stayed with me along with my Chokosabe in-laws, so it is western Japan vs eastern Japan. In my first battle at the top of the Shogunate's "Most Wanted" list, I managed to snatch defeat fromt the jaws of victory defending in a bridge/ford battle. I mauled not only the whole army but my only heir of age.

Mori Daimyo "Capital" Takakage - son of the late Mori Motonari (KIA), younger brother of the late Mori Motoharu (KIAed with dad) and father of the very late adopted Mori Tomonari (KIA) - surveyed his three remaining generals. It pained him to think he'd have to adopt again but he had little choice if he wanted to insure the Mori clan's survival should he ever decide to step foot outside the capital of Aki. It was indeed getting dangerous out there. His eldest true son too far from manhood and too concerned with what is inside his nose to leave the clan to him. So that left him here, pacing back and forth, studying his generals. While the Mori Daimyo paced, the generals sweated. "Please, not me - I don't wanna die", was the mantra that ran through their head. That "honourable death" crap was for the common soldier...

I also fought a full fleet vs full fleet naval battle. What a mess. It was like a traffic jam and bumper cars combined and somehow in this fiasco I won an overwhelming victory. Go figure. I am presently rebuilding another large army for the meat grinder in the provinces around Kyoto. Oh, and Mori Amsterdam, er, Iemitsu was the unluck general to be adopted. He was last seen hiding in Kyushu...

[The_Emperor]

My second stab at a Shimazu campaign is going well.

I have just taken complete control of Kyushu, it was made easy by the sargara actually going to war with another clan nearby! I now have 3 of the main trade routes with a healthy stack of trade ships on each so money is flowing in. The trouble is diplomacy is awkward for me with so many clans being indifferent and also refusing to accept trade agreements. Still have more to learn but I seem to be in a strong position to expand.

So now I am pondering my next step.

[Monk]

My second stab at a Shimazu campaign is going well.

I have just taken complete control of Kyushu, it was made easy by the sargara actually going to war with another clan nearby! I now have 3 of the main trade routes with a healthy stack of trade ships on each so money is flowing in. The trouble is diplomacy is awkward for me with so many clans being indifferent and also refusing to accept trade agreements. Still have more to learn but I seem to be in a strong position to expand.

So now I am pondering my next step.

An invasion of Shikoku!

It'll be a hard fought campaign but if you can manage to secure the island, it's very easy to defend. Provided you have a strong navy of course.

My Mori campaign slowly grinds on. I picked the short campaign and have 10 years, 10 provinces and Kyoto to go. Tonight I managed to get realm divide and I really sweated it out because of my Ouchi allies. They have been my ally from the beginning but have gone Christian and our relationship went from "very friendly" to "friendly" to "indifferent". Plus we share a rather awkwardly divided Kyushu - with me having the "awkward" part. Miraculously, they stayed with me along with my Chokosabe in-laws, so it is western Japan vs eastern Japan. In my first battle at the top of the Shogunate's "Most Wanted" list, I managed to snatch defeat fromt the jaws of victory defending in a bridge/ford battle. I mauled not only the whole army but my only heir of age.

Don't for a second think your allies won't betray you if you're not wholly ontop of it! Eventually, as you win greater victories against the Shogunate, they will come to fear your power and will strike!

Keep them happy with gifts, 500-700 koku per turn usually is enough to keep them from switching sides. If not then a half stack sitting on the boarder for insurance will go a long way, if they strike, you may as well be prepared.