Takeda campaign [Archive]

zyxophoj

01-24-2009, 12:27

(Takeda, Expert, Sengoku Jidai, Warlord edition)

I'm trying this to see if I can use cavalry effectively. I don't normally use them much, but this campaign will be different. Takeda starts with a horse dojo, and his armies can be very nasty if the enemy is not prepared for them.

:charge: Let Total War begin. :charge:

Summer 1530

https://img185.imageshack.us/img185/5345/1530sumapqu1.jpg

I will attack Suruga and Musashi. Musashi is the main objective here because it is high-income and easy to defend. It will also be tough to take unless I take it early.
Kai isn't really undefended because it is building something. In the western provinces, I abandon Bitchu and move the garrison there to Bingo.

Mori attacks Bingo and Bitchu at the end of the turn. I can't say I blame him - that's what I would do.

Bingo

Mori attacks Bingo with 300 men - 1 archer, 1 YA, and 3 YS.

https://img294.imageshack.us/img294/983/1530subingo1ta0.jpg

My cavalry archers harass the enemy from high ground. The presence of enemy archers makes this difficult. I take the cavalry archers off skirmish mode and skirmish manually, to keep them out of enemy archer range. This works until...

https://img240.imageshack.us/img240/2773/1530subingo3md4.png

My archers mysteriously rout. I think I tripped the Benny Hill detection code. :oops:
I really don't see a way to win this now. (And to be honest, there wasn't much of a chance before.) So I send the rest of the army running off as well.

https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7018/1530subingo4wr4.jpg

As defeats go, this wasn't too bad.

Musashi

Lord Takeda himself leads this attack, suported by cavalry archers and 2 groups of yari samurai.
The defenders are led by Lord Hojo. He has 3 infantry groups with him: archers, yari samurai, and yari ashigaru. The numbers are exactly equal. Our force is of higher quality, but the bridge gives the defenders an advantage. The weather is unpredictable: rain with bright patches.

https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/7936/1530sumusashi1ta1.jpg

Running the archers up to the bridge lets me get a few cheap shots off at the enemy YS. Due to the rain, they don't get many kills.

https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2582/1530sumusashi2gb7.jpg

Maybe this rain can work to our advantage, then: Lord Takeda charges across the bridge and runs off to the right. He is chased by the enemy daimyo, the YS and the YA. (The ashigaru unit is the one barely visible behind the map). With the majority of the enemy distracted, the cavalry archers run across the bridge, closely followed by the two yari units.

https://img160.imageshack.us/img160/8209/1530sumusashi3vw7.jpg

No plan survives contact with the enemy. The cavalry got across, but Hojo ran his own unit back to the bridge. Hojo and his giant red umbrella now block the path of my yari units. Hojo's unit is "winning" at this point. To make matters worse, Hojo's ashigaru now pile onto the bridge as well.
Still, it's not all bad. The more dangerous YS is nowhere near the action, and the enemy archers are now sandwiched between two cavalry units. I hit the archers in the back with one, then as they turn round, I hit them in the back with the other one. They take massive casualties and rout in seconds. There are no survivors.

https://img530.imageshack.us/img530/9921/1530sumusashi4ew6.jpg

I park the CA behind the enemy, and then charge the daimyo unit into the back of the ashigaru. When the status goes down from "winning easily" to merely "winning", I pull the daimyo back, change to wedge formation, and charge again. The picture is from between the two charges. The ashigaru unit doesn't like this treatment and soon routs. Hojo fights on for a while, but he can't defend against two YS at the front and Takeda's unit at the back. Soon he runs too.

https://img242.imageshack.us/img242/3872/1530sumusashi6bt9.jpg

One of the yari samurai stabs him through the back as he tries to flee. All that remains is this one enemy YS. I shoot it until it routs (which really doesn't take very long), then give chase.

https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/732/1530sumusashi7xd8.jpg

Out of 191 enemies, only 7 got away with their lives.

Suruga
The enemy retrated without a fight. Perhaps I should have attacked with fewer men.

Summary

Killed 246, lost 42. The Hojo clan is no more and their remaining lands go rebel. I also get the legendary swordsman event. This was probably caused by one of the cavalry units backstabbing numerous fleeing enemies in a totally legendary manner. In the west, all my forces are stacked in Aki (some of them moved twice in one turn thanks to a feature).

Shinano is next on the target list. That will be in the next post.

zyxophoj

01-24-2009, 17:31

Autumn 1530

https://img525.imageshack.us/img525/5645/1530aumapaw0.jpg

Lord Imagawa insults me by leaving Totomi undefended. He will pay for his insolence. I send one unit (CA) to attack.
The real purpose of this is to reduce his forces in Shinano.
I'm also making an opportunistic attack on Inaba with one unit (CA). Mori left it undefended. I'd like to grab it at the end of the year when taxes are calcualted; he can have it back after that.

Totomi

The plan was to make Imagawa send more than 60 units into Totomi or to take it for 1 turn and pillage everything. It looks like I will get both results: Imagawa defends with 1 YA and 1 YS.

The ashigaru unit attacks first. I shoot it, it takes huge losses, and routs.
The samurai unit is next. I just put the archers on skirmish and watch for a while. I briefly take control to stop them getting caught at the edge of the map. Once it takes about 50% casualties, it goes to "Marching quickly". Away from me. Towards the rout point.
I don't have many arrows left, so I just follow them. Sure enough, they run all the way off the map. If they had chosen to stand and fight, I would have had no chance.

https://img240.imageshack.us/img240/2039/1530autotomiwr8.jpg
Flawless victory!

Inaba
Mori gets it right. He defends with 2 units: archers and spearmen. Trees and rain make matters worse. I am unable to take a shot without return fire from the archers. Killed 6, lost 3. Kill ratio is unacceptable, so I withdraw.

Shinano

https://img178.imageshack.us/img178/7851/1530aushinanomapik7.jpg
That is... considerably more resistance than I was expecting. We are facing 3 Yari samurai, 2 samurai archers, and the daimyo's unit.

https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6729/1530aushinano1fj6.jpg

I climb up the hill on the right. Imagawa's army goes up the other one. Except for these bozos. The archers make use of the massive height advantage.

https://img525.imageshack.us/img525/6080/1530aushinano2ly7.jpg

Aww, this almost makes me feel guilty. The AI is having trouble with impassable terrain. But it eventually figures it out, and sends the 3 yari units up the side of the mountain. My side of the mountain, in fact.

https://img525.imageshack.us/img525/3723/1530aushinano3px4.jpg

I charge my yari troops down into them. The daimyo hits them from the side. This will not be enough, so I take the 2 archers and run them around the fighting so that they are behind the first enemy yaris.

https://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1283/1530aushinano4jq0.jpg

The first yari unit is surrounded. It routs, taking the other two with it. But my problems are not over. Imagawa is marching himself and his archers up the other side of the mountain!
So now my cavalry runs back the way they came, up to the top of the hill again.
Imagawa's daimyo unit charges down into my yaris. The yaris are tired, depleted, and their formation is messed up. They take losses, but they hold.
My three cavalry units form up, ready to charge. The daimyo unit will go for its opposite number, and the rest will hit the archers.

https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/3019/1530aushinano5wt2.jpg
For great justice.

The enemy archers take horrible losses and soon rout.

https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4249/1530aushinano6te6.jpg

...leaving the daimyo on his own. He tries to run, but he's totally surrounded with nowhere to go.

https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2573/1530aushinano7id4.jpg

301 more heads to add to our collection.

https://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2479/1530wimaployaltyse6.jpg

Totomi is under siege. I pillage everything except the port.
Even at the lowest tax rate, I'm pretty unpopular. The peasants have revolted in Musashi.

Summary

Killed 381, lost 68. Imagawa is dead. He didn't have time to ally with anyone so his lands go rebel as well.
Uesugi is my only real opponent in the west.
All that pillaging gives me a reasonable budget for next year.

patdj

01-24-2009, 19:09

Very nice report, I think I can learn a lot here. You are being really "effective". Looking forward to more.

Wishazu

01-24-2009, 19:58

Blitzkrieg is definately the way to go with Takeda. Their cavalry gives them a great advantage early in the game which you are taking excellent advantage of. A pity about Hiraga Genshin fleeing from battle. He was a great hero in my Oda campaign lol.

Good report so far. :2thumbsup:

zyxophoj

01-24-2009, 21:42

Their cavalry gives them a great advantage early in the game which you are taking excellent advantage of.
Caralry archers are particulary nasty. The proper counter is yari cavalry - but nobody can build them yet(except me of course) because you need a large castle and a horse dojo. Even in warlord edition, building those two takes a while.

The bad side of Takeda is the awkward starting position: two groups of provinces, both stuck in the middle of things.

Good report so far. :2thumbsup:
Thanks. More craziness is coming, especially on the western side of the map. :yes:

Sasaki Kojiro

01-24-2009, 22:08

Nice report zyxo :2thumbsup:

zyxophoj

01-24-2009, 23:24

Winter 1530

It's time to do something about the situation in the west. Conventional wisdom is that Takeda should abandon the west on turn 2, and use the extra troops to crush the rebellions and then kill off Uesugi. That is sensible, conservative and safe.

And boring.
https://img88.imageshack.us/img88/558/1530wibyeportyp2.jpg
The emissary is trying to make peace with Mori, and the army is heading west. Mori will surely grab Aki soon. I see no reason to grant him the port income.

In the east, I withdraw from Totomi. The besieged rebels will auto-recapture, which means no revolt. (Loyalty in Totomi was 27%; the other 3 disloyal provinces were at about 70-90%)

Suo
I attack with 235, Mori defends with 118.
It's nice to have superior numbers for a change. My main objective in this battle is to keep it that way. I don't really care about damaging Mori right now; I just want to win with as few casualties as possible.

https://img509.imageshack.us/img509/3278/1530wisuo1iw7.jpg
Spot the enemy taisho. (Or just look at the map). Taisho is 58 archers. My YS are moving to positions on either side of it.
But where's the other unit?

https://img509.imageshack.us/img509/5820/1530wisuo2tp7.jpg
Oh, there it is. An enemy ashigaru runs out... into the middle of my YS units. Ashigaru do not have the training and discipline of the true samurai. These guys also do not have the common sense of the samurai.

https://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1599/1530wisuo3tw9.jpg
The ashigaru unit is hit from both sides and shot at by 2 archer units. The result is predictable. I let it go and try to get the YS units to either side of the enemy archers. They fight bravely for a bit and then run for it.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4259/1530wisuo4kq3.jpg

Musashi
The cowardly rebels run away without a fight.

Loyalty remains troublesome. I get a peasants' revolt in Suruga and then this happens in Shinano. Ouch.
https://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4208/1530wishinanorevoltwj1.jpg

Spring 1531

I decide to withdraw from Shinano and tackle the revolt in Suruga first.

Nagato

https://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9793/1531spnagato1ke5.jpg
Shimazu has 1 archer unit and 2 ashigaru units. My own yari samurai move forward to tackle the ashigaru. The cavalry waits out of range... they will move when the enemy archers pick a target.

https://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5356/1531spnagato2id3.jpg
I don't know why they routed, but they did. H0 ashigaru can be pretty flaky, although normally you have to put at least one unit somewhere near them to make them run. The one thing they are good at is running away - their superior speed exposed the backs of the more valuable archer unit.
This battle was over before it really began.

https://img164.imageshack.us/img164/8789/1531spnagato3oy7.jpg
All casualties here are from the enemy archers.

Suruga
https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/7328/1531spsurugamapju3.jpg

And so the stage is set for an epic battle. Lord Takeda himself arrives to defend his land against the horde of three hundred rebels. Here we will be tested like never before. Both strength and skill will be needed to defeat this numerically superior force.

https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4162/1531spsuruga1ky3.jpg
Or not. The revolt consisted entirely of H0 ashigaru, led by a H0 general.

Summer 1531

https://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2263/1531sumapnf2.jpg
The revolting peasants have been dealt with and loyalty is back at reasonable levels. It's time to take back Shinano.

https://img140.imageshack.us/img140/9195/1531sumap2xs3.jpg
In the west, the crusade continues.

Shimazu is badly outnumbered in Buzen. His army retreats.

Shinano
https://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5215/1531sushinano1ez1.jpg
This is the first good look I get at the Uesugi army. He's deployed very strangely: the cowardly archer taisho hangs back while the rest of his 300-man army climbs a hill. The enemy has 2 archers and 3 ashigarus.

https://img129.imageshack.us/img129/4199/1531sushinano2cy3.jpg
..so I send 2 units around the left side to ambush the taisho. The rest of my army goes up the hill on the right.

https://img129.imageshack.us/img129/8813/1531sushinano3fe4.jpg
View from the "ambushing" cavalry. But the sneaky taisho has moved next to his yari units. The ambush won't work now. I guess we just shoot at them then. The height advantage really helps - even cav archers can shoot at foot archers without taking any return fire.

https://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4569/1531sushinano4zo9.jpg
Bizarrely, the taisho continues to advance. He's there at the right edge of the picture. Lord Takeda has run around him and is waiting behind him. Who is the sneaky taisho now?
I have 2 full cavalry units just offscreen to the right. They are the ones getting shot at.

https://img232.imageshack.us/img232/4233/1531sushinano5dv2.jpg
Another sandwich. The ashigarus follow their leader's example and rout along with him. The rest is mop-up.

https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/3253/1531sushinano6ct1.jpg
These archers are the last remaining unrouted unit. The rest of my cavalry is chasing the routers.

https://img504.imageshack.us/img504/954/1531sushinano7sp1.jpg
Uesugi gets 16 free men off the revolt, and he kills 2 of mine.

Events

The Uesugi clan is now the richest. I really need to do something about that.
The emperor now backs the Oda clan. This message generaly indicates that Oda has finished expanding inwards and will soon start expanding outwards. I'd like to take Mikawa off the rebels before he does.

Summary

Killed 706, lost 38.
This is nowhere near as good as it looks, because 600 of those guys were free reinforcements generated by revolts. Still, I have dealt with the revolts and can concentrate on Uesugi now.

caravel

01-25-2009, 01:56

You should probably train up some Shinobi to stabilise your recently conquered provinces. :bow:

Thermal

01-25-2009, 03:51

Great campaign, easy to read and suits my preferences of lots of pictures without excessive text, I'll be following this :beam:

zyxophoj

01-25-2009, 12:53

Autumn 1531

https://img261.imageshack.us/img261/5458/1531aumapgx4.jpg

I attack Totomi and Kozuke.
I want to keep Totomi. I don't care much about the province of kozuke, I just want to kill off some of Uesugi's forces.

At the end of the turn, Mori grabs Aki. Finally. I really needed him to do that before I ally with him, so he won't be tempted to break the alliance over it.
Good newsin Totomi: The rebels abandon it without a fight. So I get it immediately without having to waste a turn on siege.

Chikuzen
The crusade hits a problem: the rebels combine their forces from two provinces here to stop me.
https://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6223/1531auchikuzenmapys1.jpg
There's no turning back now. We'll fight them.

https://img105.imageshack.us/img105/2447/1531auchikuzen1yw9.jpg
2 YA and 1 archer group advance on my position. The rebels have 2 more archer groups - they are barely visible here, hiding near the trees. I'll try to rout the taisho unit first.

https://img105.imageshack.us/img105/6544/1531auchikuzen2wh0.jpg
View from the back. The rebels very helpfully put their taisho unit in front. My 2 yari groups are going for the sides, and the cavalry goes at the back.
I'm taking a risk here charging cavalry archers into non-routing YS.

https://img258.imageshack.us/img258/5724/1531auchikuzen3az5.jpg
They rout when the cavalry hits. Now I need to sort out my units before the next YS arrives.

https://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2035/1531auchikuzen4bt3.jpg
I am nearly sorted out here. One Ys is holding, the other is moving to flank. The cavalry is disentangled and ready to go round the back of the archers. In fact, they rout before the cavalry gets there.

https://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6461/1531auchikuzen5nh9.jpg
The first part of the enemy army has been dealt with. Now it's time to regroup and deal with the remaining archers.

https://img49.imageshack.us/img49/3346/1531auchikuzen7cg0.jpg
The archers in the foreground have been wrapped up and are now running. The other group is still trying to skirmish.

https://img239.imageshack.us/img239/4230/1531auchikuzen8bi4.jpg
Only 8 rebels got out of this battle in one piece.

Kozuke

I attacked with 103 men: 92 cavalry archers and Takeda's own unit. Imagawa had 120 Yari samurai.
There's really not much to report here. It took me a while to find the enemy, and when I did, they were already leaving. Since they were withdrawing and not routing, the best I could do was shoot some arrows in them as they left.
I only got 6 of them.

Winter 1531

https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/8441/1531wimapeu4.jpg
The daimyo moves back to Shinano, in preparation for an attack on Hida. Hida has a castle, and hopefully the rich Uesugi has been spending his koku on something I can pillage.

Hizen

https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/8937/1531wihizenmapsj6.jpg
The crusade finally reaches its destination.

https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/347/1531wihizen1fq8.jpg
It turns out that those 127 men are 60 YS, 60 YA(taisho) and 7 archers. I'm shooting at the taisho here; my Yari units are trying to flank the enemy YS.

https://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2730/1531wihizen2gz5.jpg
The enemy charges into the space between my two units.

https://img205.imageshack.us/img205/425/1531wihizen3zy2.jpg
They get badly mangled.

https://img292.imageshack.us/img292/3605/1531wihizen5wd9.jpg
The horses run down the fleeing ashigaru. In fact, they get every last one of them. All that remains is to mop up the tiny archer unit.

https://img292.imageshack.us/img292/7743/1531wihizen6zn8.jpg
Mopping successful! Every last rebel is dead, which means no siege.

Kozuke
Uesugi wants to take this province back. Since he's attacking, there will be no revolt here. Lord Uesugi really has no idea how much he's helping me.

Uesugi has 3 archers and one YS unit. The YS is the taisho, and it hangs back while the archers advance. I get a few shots off as they approach.
https://img186.imageshack.us/img186/1673/1531wikozuke1tt3.jpg
Once the enemy starts shooting, my cavalry runs round to the back of the enemy taisho.

https://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5130/1531wikozuke2ve6.jpg
The first group is in position and the second will arrive soon. The AI now makes a fatal mistake, by chasing after my horses. It should have moved the yaris and archers towards each other.

https://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9165/1531wikozuke4gj9.jpg
The taisho's position is now hopeless, stuck between 2 groups of cavalry archers. I just leave them both on skirmish and watch the fun. The enemy unit routs, rallies, and routs again, permanently this time.

https://img101.imageshack.us/img101/6107/1531wikozuke5mt6.jpg
I now go for the archers. This won't be pretty, but I just can't pass up the chance to kill off 3 groups of archers.

https://img522.imageshack.us/img522/5153/1531wikozuke6ut2.jpg
I was expecting to lose and leave Uesugi with a pathetically small garrison... he'd probably get a revolt if that happened. But now Kozuke is my problem.

Summary
Killed 628, lost 96.
The crusade has succeeded, thanks to AI stupidity in Chikuzen. Hizen has decent farmland and a port. The plan is to hold it for a while, reinforce it through the port, and then expand from there. This has to be better than trying the same thing starting from Aki.
Now I need to focus on weakening Uesugi.

zyxophoj

01-25-2009, 13:05

You should probably train up some Shinobi to stabilise your recently conquered provinces. :bow:

I will do. In fact I made a mistake here: starting income is 1000 koku. I thought that would be exactly enough for 2 cavalry archers in the first year - but I forgot about the takeda discount! :oops: I could have built 2 cav archers *and a castle* in the first year, which would have given me shinobi 2 turns earlier.

Adam99

01-25-2009, 14:35

Unlucky frgetting about the castle, but a great blitz, Hojo and Imagawa gone out the game nice and early. Very novel idea of going for Hizen, not thought of going that way before.

Drisos

01-25-2009, 20:37

Godlike campaign! You risk a lot with the mini-garrisons you find enough, but it's paying off very well since you keep pulling it off on the battlefield! A few intresting moves in battles... So it's an intresting story!

I also never played with the idea of making the southern part of the Takeda army a crusaders/roaming army. I think it was a good move!

Oh, and, I never came of the idea of catching a region before the end of the year, then in the new year abandoning it again, and in that way, getting the tax money.

So, thanks for intresting ideas... Nice story so far! :book::2thumbsup:

Sasaki Kojiro

01-25-2009, 21:18

Crusade is an interesting idea...holding on to the top 3 provinces over there would more than half shimazu's income I reckon.

zyxophoj

01-25-2009, 22:34

Spring 1532

https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8211/1532spmapgj8.jpg
I attack Hida and abandon Kozuke. Hopefully, someone will grab Kozuke, which will prevent a revolt.

Hida
https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/3964/1532sphida1tv9.jpg
Archers are hiding in the trees. But I only spot 2 units. There are 240 defenders, so where is everyone else? I send my cavalry to the sides to look for them.

https://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8553/1532sphida2bi3.jpg
An ashigaru unit comes out of the forest on the right. Takeda runs across the battlefield to help out the cavalry archers. The ashis rout when takeda gets behind them - he didn't even have to charge!
The morale effect of cavalry behind a unit is often much more dangerous than any attack the cavalry might make.

https://img185.imageshack.us/img185/3100/1532sphida3hw0.jpg
On the other side of the map, a third archer unit comes out to play. With seconds to spare, I remember to put the cavalry back in close formation before it hits. :wall:
My timing is bad here. The Yari unit is moving to hit the archers in the back, but it will take a long time and the cavalry will suffer losses.

https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6336/1532sphida4xm5.jpg
With the stray units taken care of, it's time to deal with the taisho camped in the trees.

https://img110.imageshack.us/img110/7886/1532sphida5ju7.jpg
Cavalry may be unable to fight well in trees, but morale penalties still work normally.

https://img253.imageshack.us/img253/8936/1532sphida6et5.jpg
1 man got away :(. My army autopillages, giving me 300 koku and depriving Uesugi of 2 buildings.

Summer 1532
https://img253.imageshack.us/img253/5767/1532suhida1manarmytb5.jpg
What troops? :laugh4:

I accept a cease-fire from Shimazu. Nothing really exciting happens in summer. I abandon Hida to avoid having to deal with the inevitable revolt.
This is a little bit dirty. Revolts depend on (among other things) how long the previous owner had the province. Conquering, abandoning and reconquering appears to reset the count. Still, my main reason for hitting Hida was the killing and the pillaging, so I do have a legitimate reason for this as well as a dirty one.

Autumn 1532
https://img175.imageshack.us/img175/1791/1532aumapey5.jpg
My attempt to weaken Uesugi is working: he's now under siege by rebels in Hida and Etchu. I'm invading Kozuke (again) and Shimosa

Shimosa
https://img244.imageshack.us/img244/2107/1532aushimosa2zu1.jpg
Yari troops go across as bait.

https://img244.imageshack.us/img244/3296/1532aushimosa3pa1.jpg
..and soon they come back. That was pretty dumb - one unit would have done just as well. Still, both side's archers were shooting into that mess, and the rebels have taken some casualties.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3353/1532aushimosa4zv3.jpg
Some of the rebels try to cross the bridge. They get shot up and rout. Here, the enemy archers are trying to pick a fight with all 3 of my CA groups.

https://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4750/1532aushimosa5sx1.jpg
Ugh. I can't think of a way to make more progress, so I withdraw.

Kozuke
The rebels leave without a fight.

Winter 1532

Mutsu
This was another stupid battle in which the enemy (all yaris) just walks away.
Killed 45, lost 0.
My army autopillages... something, for 125 koku. Probably a dojo. I manually pillage the port in Mutsu as well.

Hizen

Shimazu isn't very good at keeping his promises. He invades Hizen with 225 men. I have 184. (I replaced the damaged CA here with a fresh one, which shows how much I trust Shimazu's word.)
https://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3183/1532wihizen1ms4.jpg
I deploy on a hill with CA out in front.

https://img88.imageshack.us/img88/130/1532wihizen2bi9.jpg
Shimazu has his own daimyo unit, 2 archers, a YS and a YA. The ashigaru unit comes out in front, gets shot at, and routs. It will rally once it's behind the rest of the army.

https://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1056/1532wihizen4vx0.jpg
Here I am about to strike. One archer unit is badly shot up and is ready to rout. My cavalry is just offscreen to the right.

https://img523.imageshack.us/img523/2025/1532wihizen5gr8.jpg
Splat! Everything except the daimyo routed at once.

https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4923/1532wihizen6gm9.jpg
Rather annoyingly, Lord Shimazu gets away. He is the first daimyo to ever survive a battle with Takeda's forces.

Events
https://img168.imageshack.us/img168/2627/1532wioda1in1.jpg
https://img168.imageshack.us/img168/1921/1532wioda2en8.jpg
What?? I suppose the good news is that my emissary gained honour.

Summary

Killed 753, lost 135. About 60 of those losses were stupid and unnecessary.
Good harvest this year. Harvest income is 2824.
Pillaging income is 800. That's 2 more cavalry archers, all paid for by Uesugi!
Uesugi is now wrecked, probably because I killed most of his army. All of his forces that I can see are under siege. I'll probably abandon the siege in Mutsu, but I'm happy to let the rebels continue the siege for me in the other provinces. They are so helpful!
Shimazu has been badly weakened by the failed attack on Hizen. His garrisons are pathetically small, and I'm seriously thinking about expending from Hizen next year.

The rebels are weak and I am in a great position to gobble up all the rebel lands to the east. I just need to win at Shimosa.

Thermal

01-26-2009, 00:42

alot of fights, very entertaining :beam:

Wishazu

01-26-2009, 05:02

Nice and fast, at this rate you`ll be finished before 1540 lol I don`t know how you do it but I can never leave freshly conquered provinces empty, they constantly revolt.

Magraev

01-26-2009, 10:44

Very interesting - I'm tempted to reinstall Shogun.

zyxophoj

01-26-2009, 12:56

I don`t know how you do it but I can never leave freshly conquered provinces empty, they constantly revolt.

Leaving them empty is often better than trying to keep them under control. If there is a castle, the besieged forces will auto-recapture, so there is no revolt. If there isn't a castle, then the AI will probably grab the undefended province. This is a bit of an exploit: the AI only knows the province will be empty because it cheats by looking at your moves.

The other thing about capturing and abandoning is that it resets loyalty. Revolts depend on how long the previous owner had the province. If I capture, abandon, and then retake the province on the next turn, then the previous owner only counts as having held the province for 1 turn so revolts are much less of a problem.

Very interesting - I'm tempted to reinstall Shogun.

Do it .. do it ... do it ... doooo iiiit......

patdj

01-26-2009, 13:43

I am flabbergasted because of this total effectiveness :dizzy2: . I take Wishazu's bet and say you're finished before 1539! :laugh4:

zyxophoj

01-26-2009, 17:44

Spring 1533

https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/3050/1533spmap1xb8.jpg
Takeda moves back, preparing to take Shimosa next turn. Going back via Shimotsuke will hopefully prevent a revolt. Mutsu won't revolt because of teh castle.

On the other side of the map, Chikugo is weak. I invade now, since this will be a pain to take later if Shimazu reinforces it.

Chikugo

https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6221/1533spchikugomapls1.jpg
Weather forecast is rain with bright patches. If they have spears, I'll wait for the rain to stop, and then shoot. If they have archers, I'll wait for rain and then hit them with the cavalry.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5906/1533spchikugo1fd1.jpg
It's archers. My cavalry goes across first.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/57/1533spchikugo2kx6.jpg
The cavalry circles around and waits for the yaris to get into position. The enemy archers' loose formation is really not going to help once the charge hits.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8350/1533spchikugo3vq1.jpg
They all die.

Shinano

Bad news. I've left Shinano poorly defended. Rebels atack with 120 men.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4935/1533spshinano1mc5.jpg
I shoot until the enemy gets close.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9537/1533spshinano2tb6.jpg
Charge! :charge:

https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2808/1533spshinano3cy0.jpg
That was probably winnable, but not the way I tried to do it.
The rebels take Shinano and burn down my spear dojo!

Summer 1533

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5008/1533suschikuzenmapzt0.jpg
Shimazu's garrisons are a joke. How can I not invade here?

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7498/1533sushimosamapos1.jpg
It's time to hit Shimosa. This is the only place in the west with any real resistance. I'm also retaking Shinano.

Chikuzen
Shimazu retreats without a fight.

Shimosa
I have 301 vs 291 rebels. Weather is rain with bright patches.

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4015/1533sushimosa1eo0.jpg
Once again, I get some cheap shots in before the rebels sort themselves out.

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/8225/1533sushimosa2gq9.jpg
Under cover of rain, Takeda gets across without taking casualties.

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/9274/1533sushimosa3zn6.jpg
Takeda is chased by 2 spear groups and this depleted archer unit. He manages to dodge the spears and hit the archers.

https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1009/1533sushimosa4mm6.jpg
Enemy spears are too close to the bridge. I send my spears out first. In retrospect, should have tried sending 1 as bait instead of 2 to hold.

https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/2956/1533sushimosa5au4.jpg
Takeda disengages just in time.

https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5992/1533sushimosa6vx5.jpg
The fight at the bridge is taking its toll. Charging the daimyo unit into the back should finish this.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4379/1533sushimosa7jb2.jpg
The enemy at the bridge routs and my cavalry surges across. The spears that Takeda managed to distract are still miles away.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2685/1533sushimosa8wh3.jpg
As the weather clears, the enemy heads for the trees.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/4189/1533sushimosa9uk3.jpg
The archers don't quite make it in time.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6624/1533sushimosa10ha0.jpg
One YS is mobbed by my mini-units. It is routing here. The taisho unit is disposed of in the same way.

https://img294.imageshack.us/img294/5792/1533sushimosa12ny4.jpg
Every least rebel is dead. My army autopillages 2 buildings for 325 koku. A single spear dojo survives the orgy of destruction.

Shimotsuke?

I'm not quite sure where this little scrap was fought.
I deploy my archers on the side of a hill. The archers come up to me.

https://img294.imageshack.us/img294/3117/1533sushimotsuke1xl3.jpg
I shoot at them. They get into range and shoot back.
I go loose formation to reduce the damage. They do the same.
Big mistake.

https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9775/1533sushimotsuke2io3.jpg
SPLAT!!
Archers in loose formation are absolutely hopeless at stopping a cavalry charge. Notice the neat line of corpses here - the entire front row died on impact, with the exception of the taisho.
They rout immediately. Killed 53 (all of them), lost 0. My first perfect score.
That's what I should have done at Shinano.

Shinano
I take this back without a fight. Since I hadn't started construction of the large castle, losing this isn't a disaster, but it's still annoying.

Autumn 1533

https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/4272/1533aumaprb0.jpg
With the rebels defeated, it's time to mop up.
I invade Echigo, Hitachi, Mutsu, and Kazusa. Two of these are empty, and the others are very weakly defended.

Mutsu
I have 89 vs 107 of Uesigi's forces.
Uesugi has all spears, I have all cav archers. This is a repeat of the previous stupid "battle" in Mutsu. Killed 23, lost 0.
...and I gain another 100 from pillaging.

Hitachi
I have 88 vs 60 rebels.

https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4803/1533auhitachiwy4.jpg
...and it's archers. They have no chance. Killed 60, lost 11 archers. Sloppy. I should have let the daimyo absorb the arrows.

https://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7056/1533auharvestlo1.jpg
..and now the western part of the map turns black. My shinobi are doing a great job keeping loyalty up.
In other news, Oda has lost Owari!

https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6852/1533auloyaltymv6.jpg
Position at the end of the turn.
Those red provinces are only barely red. I deploy the shinobi and troops to the problem areas and hope for the best.
Shimosa is building ashigaru to keep the revolting peasants happy.

Summary

Killed 574, lost 127.
This is going very well. I'm sitting on most of the rich provinces on each side of the map. Dewa is empty and so I'll take it when I can deal with the loyalty problem.
Shimazu is really, really weak.

caravel

01-26-2009, 18:02

STW has a way of surprising you with sudden drops in provincial happiness which are invisible to you as they occur between turns. I've had my entire realm go into revolt once or twice and I had to click through about 20 revolt messages once and lost most of my provinces. This usually occurs when your Daimyo dies in battle.

It's a good idea to have at least an Ashigaru garisson, a castle and 1 or two Shinobi to hold the provinces down. Your yellow and red provinces are vulnerable to factions reappearances so I wouldn't go wiping out Uesugi just yet. Any reappearance force will run all over your unmanned provinces. A reappearance by Hojo may be still a possibility however as he may have had an under age heir at the time.

:bow:

patdj

01-26-2009, 18:12

Killed 53 (all of them), lost 0. My first perfect score.

"perfect" means all enemies dead, no loss? because you already had a 0-loss-fight in Totomi in Autumn 1530. You see, I'm literally absorbing your descriptions. :2thumbsup:

Adam99

01-26-2009, 22:26

Brilliant campaign so far, think some shinobi/ ashigaru to stabilise the conquered regions is a must, as is smashing Shimazu off Kyushu. looking forward to the rest of is.

Sasaki Kojiro

01-26-2009, 22:31

Nice progress! Watch out for the terrible (-50%) harvest though, that can really damage loyalty...

Thermal

01-26-2009, 23:46

Most daring and exposed campaign ever, only a military genius can pull that off, it's quite insulting that you still have very little money though, seeing as you have so many territories and quite a small army.

zyxophoj

01-27-2009, 18:37

Autumn 1534
I'll skip ahead a season or two because nothing interesting happened.

https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4710/1534aumapeastfz8.jpg
In the east, my vast empire is finally turning green. I might even be able to raise taxes soon.

https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7280/1534aumapwestcu4.jpg
Last season, I invaded bungo, and Shimazu retreated without a fight. It's time to finish the job.

Bungo

https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7672/1534aubungo1zt5.jpg
The enemy taisho was extremely tough and killed 7 of my men! This is the first battle with a kill ratio of less than 1:1. Sanada Banzan got rank 4 off this.

https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7020/1534auharvesttg8.jpg
It's harvest time, and my economy is starting to make a difference.

Winter 1534
https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3897/1534wimapeastbb0.jpg
Hojo's lands are now green, which means no chance of a reemergence.
I invade Mikawa and Etchu. Etchu keeps getting invaded by monks from Kaga. I usually shoot them full of arrows and then retreat, then I have to take it back.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9606/1534wimapwestso6.jpg
My shinobi are dong a fine job here as well. I'm sending small army to Satsuma.

Higo
Shimazu retreats.

Buzen
60 foot archers vs 60 of my horse archers. Once they go into loose formation, I charge. They fight for a bit then rout. Killed 60, lost 6.

Mikawa
I have 338 vs 137 defenders.
The rebels have mostly archers, some spearmen, and 4 monks.

https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/6114/1534wimikawa1um0.jpg
Once again, running the CA up to the bridge lets me get some free shots in.

https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9782/1534wimikawa3ku2.jpg
I aleady sent Takeda over the bridge and off to rhe right. Now the rest of the cavalry runs to the left.

https://img136.imageshack.us/img136/8039/1534wimikawa4wc9.jpg
I hit the smaller archer group.
This was not a great idea, as the spears in the centre are now going to hit my cavalry in the back.

https://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2450/1534wimikawa6th6.jpg
The spears do a lot of damage, until I hit them in the back with the daimyo unit. The last of my forces arrive on the rebels' side of the river and hit the taisho unit. Once it routs, everything else goes with it.

https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8563/1534wimikawa7cp3.jpg
One got away. Those CA took an avoidable beating.

Etchu
The cowardly monks retreat.

Spring 1535
https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8096/1535spmapwestqa3.jpg
Time to hit Satsuma.

In the east, a watch tower in Mikawa gives me some valuable intelligence: Oda has a huge stack of archers in Mino. The rebels in Owari have almost all spears.

Satsuma
I attack with 221 vs 180.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3832/1535spsatsuma1em2.jpg
Shimazu defends with 2 archers and 1 Yari samurai. I'm winning the archery duel here.

https://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2481/1535spsatsuma2tz7.jpg
I'd like to hit these guys in the back with my cavalry, but trees and enemy spears are a bit too close for comfort.

https://img175.imageshack.us/img175/9645/1535spsatsuma3eo7.jpg
What do they think they're doing? The enemy army marches past mine and gets shot at. My CA are set to skirmish with the spears, so they'll be fine if the taisho decides to attack them.

https://img120.imageshack.us/img120/22/1535spsatsuma4pd8.jpg
...but they just walk off the map, getting shot in the back the whole time.

https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2914/1535spsatsumapillagepp6.jpg
My army turns itself invisible and trashes Sarsuma.
I don't think Shimazu can recover from this.

Summer 1535

https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/654/1534sumapwestdf6.jpg
Rookies continue the siege in satsuma while ranked generals go after what's left of Shimazu's army.

In the east, I invade Owari with a big pile of archers.

Satsuma
Shimazu wastes everyone's time by sallying and then retreating before combat.

Hyuga
Mop-up continues. I invade with 79 vs 109. Enemy is all spears, I have cavalry archers. Killed 41, lost 0.

Buzen
I have 54 CA vs 60 archers.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3628/1534subuzensz5.jpg
Don't try this against a human player. The AI leaves its archers on skirmish, so I can safely approach through the trees.

They refuse to go into loose formation but I charge anyway.
The victory screen says I killed 59 and lost 12. There were definitely 60, so one must have shot one of his buddies in the back of the head.

Owari
I attack with 269 vs 429.

https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9421/1534suowari1vr1.jpg
They have 26 archers. The other 403 are spears and monks. My foot archers can even get a shot at the enemy from my side of the river!

https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/8561/1534suowari2ga4.jpg
They just sit there and take it. I was enjoying myself tremendously here. :laugh4:

https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9482/1534suowari3ev4.jpg
So many corpses. I run out of arrows before I run out of targets. It was probably possible to rout the remnants but I didn't want to risk it.

Position in Autumn 1535:
https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/7458/1535aumapwestqr5.jpg
Lord Shimazu is feeling very lonely. I don't really want to attack him because his unit regenerates, and I'm not quite ready to kill him.

Summary
Killed 706, lost 83
Shimazu is badly messed up, but he has very large garrisons in Nagato and Iyo. I have no idea why he didn't use them to defend his home provinces. Mori is weak in the west and he's going to get a nasty surprise very soon.

The blitz is slowing down a bit as I run into large garrisons in the centre of the map. But I have built a few dojos with my large income.. a second wave is coming.
It looks like my main oppenent now is Oda. He has a large army, and that's just what I can see in Mino!

Adam99

01-27-2009, 19:55

Going well so far. Shimazu is looking like he's on his way out, maybe a few reinforcements might be an idea though if he has troops waiting elsewhere.

zyxophoj

01-28-2009, 12:12

Autumn 1535

Oda splits his stack in Mino. This is the perfect chance to invade.

Satsuma, castle assaut
I attack with 129 vs 60. This is not going to be pretty but I need the castle and I need it quickly.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/4476/1535ausatsuma1dr7.jpg
My archers shoot ineffectively through the open door while the enemy archers shoot through the wall with great accuracy. :angry:

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5619/1535ausatsuma3kg4.jpg
The first yari group arrives, and gets beaten up pretty badly. But at least now it's possible to flank the enemy.

https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/2408/1535ausatsuma4uf3.jpg
We make some progress but now the enemy archers draw their swords and attack.

https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/7646/1535ausatsuma5be3.jpg
:furious3:

...
But they rally! I shoot at the remnants of the enemy yaris. They fall one by one until only one remains.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/2579/1535ausatsuma7cn4.jpg
That one man has hundreds of arrows sticking out of him but he's still standing.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/510/1535ausatsuma9cs0.jpg
Kryptonite-tipped spears are always a good investment. Finally, he goes down.
Ugh. I take the castle and spear dojo. I can build some replacement yari samurai now.

Osumi
I corner some stragglers. They have nowhere to go and will disappear if I can beat them. Which I do. Killed 68, lost 16.

Buzen
Shimazu attacks my CA with the daimyo and some archers. I withdraw.

Mino
Oda retreats without a fight. 600 koku pillaged.

Winter 1535

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3795/1535wimapeastmu3.jpg
Here's the reason he retreated. He sent half his force from Mino to grab Owari, following my "defeat" there. What was left behind had no chance.
Bah! I'll fight them in Owari then.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7976/1535wimapeast2lz7.jpg
At the end of the turn, he invades Mino, and then retreats from there to Omi, which he has just grabbed.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3795/1535wimapeastmu3.jpg
...and this has the hugely irritating side-effect of pushing *my* invasion force back to Mino!! :furious3: All that is left is an archer unit that invaded from Mikawa.
They fire off all their arrows but it isn't enough. Killed 26, lost 0, defeated.
Oda completely outmaneuvered me this time.

Hida
The rebels walk away while getting shot at. Killed 67, lost 1. Friendly fire?

Spring 1536
https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2359/1536spmapwestwj7.jpg
Shimazu's goal of reunification of Kyushu will soon be realised.

There is no resistance at Bungo. At Buzen, he puts up a fight.

Buzen
https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/103/1536spbuzenyo7.png
Yet another demonstration of the perils of loose formation. They never learn. Kiled 60, lost 2.

Omi

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2715/1536spomimapsq0.jpg
I nearly called this off. I'm so glad I didn't.

https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/1286/1536spomi1bx7.jpg
Oda's force is huge. He ignores my tiny army and advances on the rebels, I take up position behind him. These half-ashigaru units on the hill are easily routed.

https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/4788/1536spomi2tw7.jpg
This looks like a good spot to watch Oda and the rebels fight. A sneaky ashigaru rallies and charges. It routs again before it hits.

https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/5751/1536spomi3at4.jpg
The rebels have monks, and they are really giving Oda a hard time. Monks' big weakness is archers. Let's see if I can distract some of Oda's archers.

https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6773/1536spomi4qj5.jpg
The archers chase me for a bit. Once they go loose, I charge and kill them all. In the background, the monks have routed most of Oda's army.

https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/8250/1536spomi5qn3.jpg
I shoot at what's left of the rebels but don't have enough arrows to finish them. I should have chased after Oda's army when it routed; I'd have got a lot more kills that way.
What's not shown here is the massive damage that Oda and the rebels did to each other.

Owari
Finally, I take owari. The rebels are massively outnumbered so they retreat into the castle.

The Emperor backs the Oda clan. Again. I'm starting to think that Oda hasn't quite dealt with the problems inside his borders.

Summer 1536
https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/4411/1536sumapwestaf8.jpg
This is what we're up against in Iyo. Why did Shimazu let me take over with my tiny armies?
Still, this army isn't that scary... Massive cavalry archer spam is probably the correct strategy here. Wait, isn't that my only strategy?

On the other side of the map, Uesugi moves to Echizen. (He's been holed up in the island of Sado up until now). A great opportunity for me to grab Sado and the port that just got built there.

Sado
https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/1846/1536susadoyx0.jpg
I'm pretty sure this is winnable. Killed 50, lost 2, pillaged 200 koku.

Buzen
Yet again, Shimazu attacks with 1 unit of archers. Yet again, I kill it with minimal losses. Killed 60, lost 6.

Mori takes Wakasa off Oda. Maybe I should just build watch towers and watch my enemies kill each other.
Rebels retreat from Omi and Ise. 875 koku pillaged at Ise.

Autumn 1536

https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/5558/1535aumappz1.jpg
With Owari taken, reinforcements can come in through the port.

Rebels retreat from Iga without a fight. 425 koku pillaged.

https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1849/1536auharvestrs8.jpg
There's a big difference between farm income and total income. Pillaging income for this year is over 2000 koku.

Summary

Oda is sneaky and repeatedly avoids a big fight. It costs him a few provinces, though. This is really annoying, because my strategy so far has been to attack armies and pick up the provinces later. I decide to go after Mori and Uesugi, since their armies can't retreat so easily.
Oda is not the great threat that I thought he was. He's fighting Mori and Mori appears to be winning. He is also having a hard time with the rebels.

Sasaki Kojiro

01-28-2009, 20:00

heh, the AI and their love of ashigaru/archer armies never gets old. So much fun when you have a couple cavalry archers.

zyxophoj

01-28-2009, 22:13

Winter 1536

https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4980/1536wimaptn3.jpg
Mori has a huge stack in Wakasa. It's time for the first big battle.
I also invade Kaga with a few CA. I have no chance of winning; I intend to kill some monks and then retreat.

https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3325/1536wimapwestdz9.jpg
Reinforcements finally get to buzen. Time to hit Nagato.

In other news, a horse dojo is finished in Shinano.

Nagato
502 vs 458

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6793/1536winagato1yq8.jpg
They deploy sideways. Their general is the one on top of the hill. I'm trying to get my CA behind them.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7102/1536winagato3us8.jpg
My first good look at the enemy. They have turned to face me but the units are in the same relative positions... which leaves the ashigaru general a little bit exposed.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/1751/1536winagato4xh5.jpg
It had to happen. Massive chain rout happened while I was deciding on my next move.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7271/1536winagato5pt6.jpg
This marks the first appearance of my yari cavalry on the battlefield. They did OK.

Wakasa
I have 656 vs Mori's 689.

I did not do a good job of getting screenshots here, probably because the enemy caught me with my pants down.
I sent out scouts and found an ashigaru general unit hiding in the trees. I decided to deal with him first, then go look for the rest of the army. So I sent my army over that way.

https://img101.imageshack.us/img101/7930/1536wiwakasa1zo9.jpg
Suddenly, hundreds of enemies emerge from the trees! My scouts must be pretty blind to fail to notice 600 men camped in the forest.
My army is in complete disarray. I send my yari samurai in to try and stop the tide, and run some cavalry around the back.
My only chance now is to focus all archer fire on the enemy ashigaru general, which is stupidly out in front.

https://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9440/1536wiwakasa2bh6.jpg
It routs.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2479/1536wiwakasa3fz9.jpg
... and the army collapses in a chain reaction spreading out from the centre.

https://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8996/1536wiwakasa4ma2.jpg
I can't believe I got away with that.

Kaga
I have 251 vs 714. Lets see how many monks I can kill.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7718/1536wikaga1wx5.jpg
They have enough archers to make this annoying. Still, some monks have been seperated from the main group.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8042/1536wikaga2up7.jpg
Oops. These guys are paralysed by immovable terrain. They are trying to skirmish but they can't move back. It might have been possible to save them by taking them off skirmish, but I didn't realise what the problem was until too late.
The monks wipe out the entire unit, leaving a big streak of corpses on the edge of the rock. Not a good start.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8118/1536wikaga4hd4.jpg
Taisho unit comes out to play. He's a rank 4 general, so it really would be nice to kill him.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6727/1536wikaga5iq7.jpg
:gah2: That didn't quite work out the way I planned it, and the monk general is still alive.

Spring 1537

https://img230.imageshack.us/img230/5729/1537spmapwestei0.jpg
With the big garrison in Nagato taken care of, it's time to hit Mori hard. Reinforcements will soon arrive through the port.
My triumphant return to Aki is close.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8205/1537spmapeastqx8.jpg
Uesugi is trapped. I'm also making a very opportunistic attack in Tajima. If I win that one, I can reinforce through the port and hit Mori just about everywhere.

Iwami
I attack with 220 vs Mori's 180.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4585/1537spiwami1ir1.jpg
They are all archers, and all hiding in the trees. This could be tricky. My cavalry archers will not win a shooting match against all of them at once.

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4271/1537spiwami2em1.jpg
"Oh, hi there. Listen, I can see you guys are busy shooting at those horse dudes, so just ignore us and carry on doing what you're doing. We are totally not going to stab you in the back"

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/4889/1537spiwami3cb0.jpg
They move forward a bit... Once they're out in the open, the cavalry hits. This results in a mass rout, and I'm not really sure why. Killed 179, lost 15, pillaged 225.

Tajima
Mori grabbed Wakasa back this turn so there is no possibility of retreat. He reinforces this province with 120 men.
Can 58 CA beat 120 YS?

https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/806/1537sptajima1wy1.jpg
This battle is a benny-hill-esque chase around the map, with me shooting up the enemy taisho the whole time. Eventually, it routs, but I don't have enough arrows to do the same to the other unit.

https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/6405/1537sptajima2hp2.jpg
So I hit the routers in the back. Once the taisho dies, the other unit routs. A good thing, too, as they were getting very close.

https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/4092/1537sptajima3lw6.jpg
..and the cavalry chases them all down as is standard procedure. 125 koku pillaged.

Rebels retreat at Ise.

Echizen
I attack with 640 men. I am up aginst the entire Uesugi army - all 889 of them.

https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/5566/1537spechizen1qh3.jpg
Enemy sighted. They are almost entirely archers. My own archers run to take up good shooting positions.

https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3843/1537spechizen2dk1.jpg
On the left side, yaris charge down on either side of this truly stupidly deployed archer unit. Cav archers also hit it in the side. (That's their side, and my front)

https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8345/1537spechizen4gy1.jpg
On the right, my cavalry sweeps round to try to hit them in the back. More YS will take care of the front.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9009/1537spechizen5pu7.jpg
They are routing at both sides now. I stop the cavalry from chasing the routers on the right and hit the centre.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/787/1537spechizen6pn3.jpg
Lord Uesugi's first battle with Takeda is also his last.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7568/1537spechizen7yn5.jpg
Also, 525 koku pillaged. Uesugi is gone and what's left in the castle goes rebel.

Summary
Last 2 seasons were pretty busy. Killed 2119, lost 364. Uesugi is gone and Mori is badly hurt. Oda has next to nothing left (I have Mori to thank for that)
Oh, and Satsuma just built some cavalry archers.
https://img520.imageshack.us/img520/6451/1537sushingenmw5.jpg

:charge::charge: Let the reaping begin! :charge::charge:

zyxophoj

01-28-2009, 22:28

heh, the AI and their love of ashigaru/archer armies never gets old.

Just like their love of ashigaru generals. I've been lucky to see some extreme AI stupidity recently.

Sasaki Kojiro

01-29-2009, 00:13

Once again demonstrating how useful mastery of the cavalry archer is, well done. Have fun with kaga, those battles are always my favorite.

zyxophoj

01-29-2009, 23:43

Autumn 1537
https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3418/1537aumaprs5.jpg
Shingen will go after Mori while the daimyo deals with Oda.
The invasion to the west continues, and it's feeling like mop-up. Mori is mostly retreating without a fight

A ninja kills my emissary! I'm surprised he lasted this long - one of the advantages of killing Imagawa off on the second turn, I suppose.

Yamashiro
I had 298 vs 154, so I thought this was going to be easy.

https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6615/1537auyamashiro1fs9.jpg
Oda has mostly archers.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6776/1537auyamashiro2qb5.jpg
My cavalry goes for the front. This is dumb, I should have waited to get the yaris into position.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8656/1537auyamashiro5hz3.jpg
The yari cavalry took heavy losses when they tried to fight uphill. I bring the daimyo round the back of the enemy.
Yaris arrive and give the archers a hard time.

https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/151/1537auyamashiro6ns8.jpg
Oda charges himself into Takeda's back. Hey, that's my trick! It's very effective: the bodyguards are almost all down and a tiny enemy force is holding off my yaris.

https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/151/1537auyamashiro6ns8.jpg
Eventually the yaris hack their way through to Oda.

https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9886/1537auyamashiro8it2.jpg
Takeda extricates himself and Oda is mobbed. I should probably put my archers on "hold fire".
Eventually, Oda falls but there is no victory screen.

https://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8440/1537auyamashiro9rz8.jpg
I lose on time limit. Oda denies me a victory by hiding 9 ashigaru in some trees. He wins the battle but loses the war, as he has no heir.

Tamba
Mori retreats to Kawachi. He is rapidly running out of provinces to retreat to.

Winter 1537
https://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1594/1537wininjayo0.jpg
A ninja tries to asassinate Takeda Shingen. Guess what happened next.

This time we will take the emperor's province for sure! Sure enough, they retreat without a fight and the emperor backs the Takeda clan!

Spring 1538
https://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4097/1538spmapwl8.jpg
Attackers pour into Kawachi. I can fit all the action into one picture now.

Kawachi

https://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4717/1538spkaawchimapei0.jpg
If I were smart, I'd have grabbed this first to avoid having to deal with Mori in a river province.

https://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1665/1538spkawachi0vm6.jpg
Yari cavalry goes across first. It is chased by the daimyo and some spears.

https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7127/1538spkawachi1hm0.jpg
A second cavalry unit gets across. The first one loops back, and it is just visible in the background.

https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9058/1538spkawachi2cm3.jpg
With the archers... distracted, infantry runs across the bridge. A tiny yari unit is giving me some trouble.

https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/912/1538spkawachi3dv2.jpg
Mori tries to block the bridge, but his yaris rout. The cavalry behind them might have had something to do with that.

https://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4337/1538spkawachi4eb6.jpg
Not bad at all for a bridge attack.

Kii
https://img443.imageshack.us/img443/6240/1538spkiimapdj9.jpg
60 vs 240? Sure, why not?

https://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5798/1538spkii1un9.jpg
1 archer group, and 3 ashigaru. I shoot at the nearest ashi, hoping to rout it.

https://img443.imageshack.us/img443/9941/1538spkii2jf2.jpg
Eventually, it goes.

https://img443.imageshack.us/img443/7412/1538spkii3if7.jpg
I let it go and take aim at the next group.

https://img443.imageshack.us/img443/2039/1538spkii4ok0.jpg
Once all 3 groups are running, I get behind them and chase.

https://img120.imageshack.us/img120/4664/1538spkii5im7.jpg
A few of them escape off the edge of the map. there's no castle so they will disappear anyway.
All that remains is the archers... Pretty soon, they go into loose formation. I charge, they die.

https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/9533/1538spkii6qf1.jpg

Autumn 1538
https://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5936/1538aumaptf9.jpg
Mori retreated to Sanuki. He has nowhere else to run.

patdj

01-30-2009, 00:26

By Masamune's Swords! You are really finishing this off before 1540!

Sasaki Kojiro

01-30-2009, 01:14

236:6 eh ~D

I wonder if crippling the Shimazu actually helped you out. Ideally you would have hurt them just enough that they would have been equal strength to the mori...made for an interesting campaign though.

zyxophoj

01-30-2009, 11:16

By Masamune's Swords! You are really finishing this off before 1540!

It's looking that way. I took a lot of risks at the beginning and it seems to have paid off. There are two big rebel armies that could still act as major speedbumps.

zyxophoj

01-30-2009, 23:40

Autumn 1538

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6046/1538ausanukimaplc1.jpg
Time to finish Mori.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4688/1538ausanuki1xe0.jpg
They deploy strangely. I go for the high ground.

https://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2716/1538ausanuki2cz8.jpg
Archers get a bit too close. I whack them with cavalry and then pul back.

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3017/1538ausanuki3xx5.jpg
That could have gone better. My cavalry is getting tangled up in enemy spears and a mass rout is imminent.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5145/1538ausanuki4ci0.jpg
Come back and fight, you cowards!
My big mistake here was sending in the cavalry before my infantry was in position to support them.

https://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9515/1538ausanuki5wq9.jpg
My routing cavalry easily outruns the pursuing enemies. Once they are far enough away, they rally. The tides turn as the pursuers find themselves surrounded.
Mori is fighing some cavalry archers. I send yaris in after him.

https://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4876/1538ausanuki7eh6.jpg
What's left of Mori's army is easily mopped up.
Mori himself is proving rather resilient.

https://img149.imageshack.us/img149/5964/1538ausanuki8qs3.jpg
Once Mori dies, it's all over.

Etchu
https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6370/1538auetchumapai7.jpg

Monks from Kaga invade Etchu. I have been leaving small garrisons next to Kaga in the hope of tempting them. They just took the bait.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/640/1538aukaga1cn3.jpg
I deploy on a ridge and wait. Soon enough, monks arrive and I start shooting them full of arrows.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2258/1538aukaga2andahalfyq5.jpg
This will be a lot easier if I can kill that rank 4 general.
I manage to get his unit down to one man, but then I have to move back as yaris advance.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/4046/1538aukaga3ad6.jpg
I've lost one CA unit - it got trapped between a YS and a YA and died horribly.
But the rest of the advancing spears are routing now. I chase them down.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/888/1538aukaga4dd7.jpg
Chasing routers has taken my archers a long way from the monks.
As they make their way back, enemy units attack one by one. They've been watching to many Bruce Lee movies, I think.
My YS unit is doing a great job tiring the monks out.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6461/1538aukaga5zp0.jpg
My cavalry is exhausted and wavering but they manage one last charge.
I dodge these spears and hit the enemy general. He dies instantly, and everything else routs.

https://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4152/1538aukaga6qg7.jpg
The monks have taken massive losses.

https://img231.imageshack.us/img231/3310/1538auharveston6.jpg
Average harvest and very good pillaging income, mostly thanks to Mori.

zyxophoj

01-31-2009, 12:46

Winter 1538

https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1562/1538wimapeastsu2.jpg
With the garrison weakened, it's time to take Kaga. Forces invade from all neighbouring provinces.

On the other side of the map, Shimazu is next. Shingen will take care of him while the daimyo marches into Awa.

Iyo
I attack with 773 vs Shimazu's 877.

https://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8311/1538wishimazutz4.jpg
Such cowardice... the army just walks off the map. Half of them pile into the castle and the rest disappear.

Awa
The tiny garrison retreats without a fight.

Noto
The rebels invaded Noto with 120 archers. They are easily dealt with (killed 120, lost 1) by the large force there, but this does prevent those soldiers from attacking Kaga.

Kaga
https://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6558/1538wimapkagary3.jpg
We will go ahead without the reinforcements from Noto.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/8453/1538wikaga1hs3.jpg
Thanks to their speed, the monks attack first.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/6931/1538wikaga2vz5.jpg
One monk unit is running; the other will follow soon.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1269/1538wikaga3md6.jpg
Some monks find their way to the back of my yaris. Ouch. foot archers are firing over their heads into the ashigaru general's unit.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9853/1538wikaga4fc4.jpg
At least these archers are easy to deal with. With the archers gone, the rest of the rebels have no defence against my horse archers.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9164/1538wikaga5ti7.jpg
The taisho routs and is run down.

https://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3097/1538wikaga7hz7.jpg
The cavalry is exhausted and a bit mangled by monks which routed through them. But they got the job done.

Spring 1539

Here's what we're up against in Tosa.
https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/5773/1539sptosa1yi0.jpg

There's a few more in the castle, too. I can't help but notice that the rebels shouldn't be able to build kensai without a bigger castle.
https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/4326/1539sptosa2yk1.jpg

Since Shimazu was helpful enough to build a port in Iyo, everything in Iyo can attack the rebels, while reinforcements arrive by sea to continue the siege.
I attack with 1138 vs 884.

https://img136.imageshack.us/img136/3479/1539sptosa3cf2.jpg
Cavalry archers begin the harassment. The main targets are those high-honour no-dachi.

https://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4120/1539sptosa4eh0.jpg
They fire off their arrows and then withdraw. The rebels just stand there and take it.
But when I bring the rest of my army up, the four kensais attack!

https://img136.imageshack.us/img136/9964/1539sptosa5ml1.jpg
All my Yaris are now fighting kensais. They do massive damage.

https://img292.imageshack.us/img292/6042/1539sptosa6hk0.jpg
The no-dachis attack next. Those that survive the hail of arrows find themselves surrounded, and they pay the price for their horrible defence.
https://img292.imageshack.us/img292/3484/1539sptosa7ri4.jpg
Hurry up and die, you ridiculous overpowered 1-man unit! :furious: This is the last kensai left.

https://img292.imageshack.us/img292/5968/1539sptosa8fs4.jpg
The rebels are getting desperate now. Their reinforcements are arriving but it's mostly ashigaru. I'm starting to worry about the time limit.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/81/1539sptosa10jh6.jpg
The remnants of the rebels hide in the trees. My yaris are depleted and very tired, so I'm also committing my archers to the melee to finish this.
The taisho waves his giant red balloon defiantly while the rest of his army runs.

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5080/1539sptosa11ed9.jpg
That might have gone a bit easier if I remembered that I brought reinforcements, too.

Summer 1538
In just 9 years, the Takeda clan has gained control of every province in Japan.
Rather annoyingly, even when the win condition is "Take every province of Japan", you still have to kill off all the other clans.

https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7150/1539sushimazugv8.jpg
The garrison here is "about to fall", thanks to Shimazu's cowardice. So I click on "End turn" to win the game.

https://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2690/victoryxa1.jpg
It looks like the game resolves sieges before advancing the date counter, so I get to call this a win in Summer 1539.