Mori Zennousha
08-13-2003, 16:26
OK, so one of the problems I've had lately has restricted my online play, but it has given me an opportunity to explore the campaigns a bit... I had never tried as Takeda, so i gave it a shot. One quick note, in case you're wondering: this campaign was played at expert level; anything less just isn't as challenging and, therefore, not as fun. Oh yeah, and the period was Sengoku Jidai...
One thing that really made this one fun was the fact that the Takeda, like the Imagawa, are split in two, so at the start of the game you immediately share borders with the Shimazu, the Mori, the Imagawa, the Uesugi, and the Hojo. In the first year, if not the first season, you're at war with at least one of them, and for me it stayed that way pretty much through the entire campaign. The Mori were the first to offer an alliance, and as is typical, were the first to break it (it seems that an offer of alliance from Lord Mori is a prelude to battle). Through the years, I was allied with all the other clans at one time or another, and all broke their alliances eventually, except the Uesugi. The Uesugi never attacked me, nor I them. Even when they were on the brink of destruction, I kept my alliance with him, declining alliances with other, stronger clans that were at war with him. Just when they were resurging, and really kicking the Hojo around (which was a great help to me), Lord Hojo started sending Geishas out, and they quickly did a lot of damage. The Geishas got several of my generals and two heirs before I was able to construct my own Geisha house and combat them directly. Lord Uesugi was not so lucky, and he was assassinated, leaving behind no heirs. The interesting thing is that I got all but one of his provinces, with their armies still intact. The only one I did not get (Kozuke) was under seige by the Hojo when Lord Uesugi died, and it went rebel (it did not go to the Hojo). I assume that my unbending alliance with the Uesugi was the reason i got all of their lands; in the past, defeated clans had always gone rebel, unless I had completely surrounded them before killing the Daimyo. This was a great twist in the game, and I thought it was over then, but it went on for years...
Like I said, the evil Hojo had gone the way of espionage and intrigue, so I had to develop Geishas myself... and I used them... first to kill his Geishas, then to avenge the dishonourable deaths of my generals and heirs. The Hojo I destroyed like they destroyed my ally; Lord Hojo met his death at the hands of my best Geisha. But then I put my girls on a shelf, in defensive mode, and kept them there. I figured the Takeda would win Japan on the battlefield, not in the bedroom, so the Geishas just hung out with my Daimyo, Takeda Shingen (more on him in a minute), and I resolved to building up for a final sweep of the realm...
But things were tougher than I thought. Since I had been in battle during almost every year of my campaign, I had been forced to spend most of my koku on troops. The Imagawa, Mori, Uesugi and Hojo were gone, leaving only the Oda, Shimazu, and myself. The Shimazu were reeling, and I was allied with the Oda, so I committed a lot of koku to developing better buildings. Well, apparently, the Oda had had a pretty easy time, and had been able to develop some serious troops. Next thing I know, he's broken the alliance (well before the Shimazu were dispatched, by the way) and, worse yet, his armies are very large and very well developed! You know, I'm expecting the size; huge armies of Oda Ashi's, right? Um, no... huge armies of Oda Cav, Oda Monks, Oda Musketeers, Oda No Dachi's, and all of them are well armored, well equipped and of higher than usual honour. They caught me so much by surprise that I almost was overrun! I was able to stabilize my borders, but he dug in deep in Buzen and Mino, at one point having some eight or ten thousand troops in Buzen, and another six or seven thousand in Mino. This meant that I could not squeeze the middle of Japan as I had wanted too, and would have to begin wearing them down. One more quick note: I don't use the tactic (cheat?) of sending an emissary or shinobi in through a port and then attacking there, behind the enemies lines. I figure that if the comp can't do it against me, then it's not fair for me to use it either.
Mino was the best target, as I was better fortified on those borders. The battle for Mino took years; how many I'm not sure, but it was at least four or five. At first it seemed futile; the kill ratios were pretty close, and each season he'd send in more troops... seemed like his numbers would perpetually restore themselves. But finally, with the help of the weather (Oda had gone Christian, and had Arq's and Musk's), I was able to wear him down! His other borders were weakened as troops were sent to Mino, and at last I launched a huge assault, breaking his lines and pushing him across the middle of Japan. Lord Oda finally met his demise on the battlefield, as it should be, in Kawachi. The rebels, though numerous, were no match for my highly disciplined armies, and the rest was conquered in two more seasons. But by then it was into the 1620's...
... which gets me back to Takeda Shingen. He was my second Daimyo, taking over after his father died. Forgive me for not knowing my history, but did this guy live forever, or what? Believe it or not, he remained Daimyo through the end of the campaign; he was 103 years old when the campaign ended! Amazing! And what a general he was... because Kai is so vulnerable, he personally fought some forty odd battles, was a six-star general (although he came out that way), and had risen to an honour rating of seven. It was too cool to lead one of his armies out onto the battlefield; just his being there raised their honour so that before battle even began, I'd have H5 and H6 troops ready to engage the enemy! Often, by the end of the battle, honour ratings would be up in the seven, eight, and even nine range... fascinating! Men fighting 'til they are dead, and I mean down to the last man! Heavy cav's, totally exhausted, still killing with fury... a beautiful sight, to be sure! This is something you just don't get without battle-tested troops! By the end of the campaign, I had guys that were H5 with no general present, a testament to their many battles. And old Shingen stayed alive long enough to become Shogun, inspiring troops for 85+ years!
In summary, the Takeda campaign was the best yet... long, and very violent! I was in battle every year, if not every season, with every clan except the Uesugi. Other campaigns involved years of building up upgrades and troops, then fighting for a few seasons, then back to building up. This one was a "fight now, build when you can" kind of campaign, and it was great! I wish I had kept track of how many battles were fought in this one (I fight all the battles manually... what's the fun in letting the comp do it?), but alas I did not record them anywhere. I dare say there were more in this campaign than any other, maybe even more than all of them combined to this point! And those battles with the Oda in the end were epic; one of the best was nearly a one-to-one kill ratio, both sides losing ~900 men before time ran out, mostly in hand-to-hand combat (neither side would rout, mine or his... the battle raged over the entire map, retreating troops regrouping to attack once more)! All in all, this campaign was so much fun that I almost regret winning it; now it's over... what to do?
OK, so there's my boring notes on my Takeda campaign. It's a long post, I realize... but hey, who else am i going to tell about it? LOL!
May your men fight with honour and your Daimyo live to 103,
Z
One thing that really made this one fun was the fact that the Takeda, like the Imagawa, are split in two, so at the start of the game you immediately share borders with the Shimazu, the Mori, the Imagawa, the Uesugi, and the Hojo. In the first year, if not the first season, you're at war with at least one of them, and for me it stayed that way pretty much through the entire campaign. The Mori were the first to offer an alliance, and as is typical, were the first to break it (it seems that an offer of alliance from Lord Mori is a prelude to battle). Through the years, I was allied with all the other clans at one time or another, and all broke their alliances eventually, except the Uesugi. The Uesugi never attacked me, nor I them. Even when they were on the brink of destruction, I kept my alliance with him, declining alliances with other, stronger clans that were at war with him. Just when they were resurging, and really kicking the Hojo around (which was a great help to me), Lord Hojo started sending Geishas out, and they quickly did a lot of damage. The Geishas got several of my generals and two heirs before I was able to construct my own Geisha house and combat them directly. Lord Uesugi was not so lucky, and he was assassinated, leaving behind no heirs. The interesting thing is that I got all but one of his provinces, with their armies still intact. The only one I did not get (Kozuke) was under seige by the Hojo when Lord Uesugi died, and it went rebel (it did not go to the Hojo). I assume that my unbending alliance with the Uesugi was the reason i got all of their lands; in the past, defeated clans had always gone rebel, unless I had completely surrounded them before killing the Daimyo. This was a great twist in the game, and I thought it was over then, but it went on for years...
Like I said, the evil Hojo had gone the way of espionage and intrigue, so I had to develop Geishas myself... and I used them... first to kill his Geishas, then to avenge the dishonourable deaths of my generals and heirs. The Hojo I destroyed like they destroyed my ally; Lord Hojo met his death at the hands of my best Geisha. But then I put my girls on a shelf, in defensive mode, and kept them there. I figured the Takeda would win Japan on the battlefield, not in the bedroom, so the Geishas just hung out with my Daimyo, Takeda Shingen (more on him in a minute), and I resolved to building up for a final sweep of the realm...
But things were tougher than I thought. Since I had been in battle during almost every year of my campaign, I had been forced to spend most of my koku on troops. The Imagawa, Mori, Uesugi and Hojo were gone, leaving only the Oda, Shimazu, and myself. The Shimazu were reeling, and I was allied with the Oda, so I committed a lot of koku to developing better buildings. Well, apparently, the Oda had had a pretty easy time, and had been able to develop some serious troops. Next thing I know, he's broken the alliance (well before the Shimazu were dispatched, by the way) and, worse yet, his armies are very large and very well developed! You know, I'm expecting the size; huge armies of Oda Ashi's, right? Um, no... huge armies of Oda Cav, Oda Monks, Oda Musketeers, Oda No Dachi's, and all of them are well armored, well equipped and of higher than usual honour. They caught me so much by surprise that I almost was overrun! I was able to stabilize my borders, but he dug in deep in Buzen and Mino, at one point having some eight or ten thousand troops in Buzen, and another six or seven thousand in Mino. This meant that I could not squeeze the middle of Japan as I had wanted too, and would have to begin wearing them down. One more quick note: I don't use the tactic (cheat?) of sending an emissary or shinobi in through a port and then attacking there, behind the enemies lines. I figure that if the comp can't do it against me, then it's not fair for me to use it either.
Mino was the best target, as I was better fortified on those borders. The battle for Mino took years; how many I'm not sure, but it was at least four or five. At first it seemed futile; the kill ratios were pretty close, and each season he'd send in more troops... seemed like his numbers would perpetually restore themselves. But finally, with the help of the weather (Oda had gone Christian, and had Arq's and Musk's), I was able to wear him down! His other borders were weakened as troops were sent to Mino, and at last I launched a huge assault, breaking his lines and pushing him across the middle of Japan. Lord Oda finally met his demise on the battlefield, as it should be, in Kawachi. The rebels, though numerous, were no match for my highly disciplined armies, and the rest was conquered in two more seasons. But by then it was into the 1620's...
... which gets me back to Takeda Shingen. He was my second Daimyo, taking over after his father died. Forgive me for not knowing my history, but did this guy live forever, or what? Believe it or not, he remained Daimyo through the end of the campaign; he was 103 years old when the campaign ended! Amazing! And what a general he was... because Kai is so vulnerable, he personally fought some forty odd battles, was a six-star general (although he came out that way), and had risen to an honour rating of seven. It was too cool to lead one of his armies out onto the battlefield; just his being there raised their honour so that before battle even began, I'd have H5 and H6 troops ready to engage the enemy! Often, by the end of the battle, honour ratings would be up in the seven, eight, and even nine range... fascinating! Men fighting 'til they are dead, and I mean down to the last man! Heavy cav's, totally exhausted, still killing with fury... a beautiful sight, to be sure! This is something you just don't get without battle-tested troops! By the end of the campaign, I had guys that were H5 with no general present, a testament to their many battles. And old Shingen stayed alive long enough to become Shogun, inspiring troops for 85+ years!
In summary, the Takeda campaign was the best yet... long, and very violent! I was in battle every year, if not every season, with every clan except the Uesugi. Other campaigns involved years of building up upgrades and troops, then fighting for a few seasons, then back to building up. This one was a "fight now, build when you can" kind of campaign, and it was great! I wish I had kept track of how many battles were fought in this one (I fight all the battles manually... what's the fun in letting the comp do it?), but alas I did not record them anywhere. I dare say there were more in this campaign than any other, maybe even more than all of them combined to this point! And those battles with the Oda in the end were epic; one of the best was nearly a one-to-one kill ratio, both sides losing ~900 men before time ran out, mostly in hand-to-hand combat (neither side would rout, mine or his... the battle raged over the entire map, retreating troops regrouping to attack once more)! All in all, this campaign was so much fun that I almost regret winning it; now it's over... what to do?
OK, so there's my boring notes on my Takeda campaign. It's a long post, I realize... but hey, who else am i going to tell about it? LOL!
May your men fight with honour and your Daimyo live to 103,
Z