Two enemies on the field...

[Moriboy]

I was playing in campaign mode last night and sent in forces to take a particularly tempting ronin province. When I clicked the end turn icon, I found that a rival Daimyo (with whom I was at war) had designs on the same province and sent in waves of his own troops. I whipped the rival, who had curiously detached 1/4 of his troops to attack the rebels, then went on to throw the defenders, and three units of reinforcements off the map. I thought this was it until, Damned if I know where they came from, but the rebels sent in about 350 fresh troops en mass. My too tired to spit guys were crushed in short order.

I'd saved the game beforehand and thought such a cool coincidence would be fun to try again. This time I didn't engage the rival Daimyo, and marched my troops to the other side of the map to wait until he shot his wad. This was a poor strategic choice. The rival apparently had the same idea and just sat there for the duration, doing nothing save sending in a few cavalry archers to harass the defenders. With about ten minutes to spare and being tired of waiting I drove off most of the defenders, hoping this would spark the other enemy's offensive, but it didn't. The clock ran out, and at the end of the turn we both lost out. I'll Try it again tonight just to see what happens. Any suggestions guys?

[The Scourge]

Try it with the timer turned off?
Thats about all i can think of.

[BanzaiZAP]

Either kill the timer, or you can sometimes lure an army out using some cavalry, or fast-moving infantry. Having them dance about just outside of range can someitmes pull some enemies out of their positions. Be careful that your dancing unit doesn't panic, so use a higher honor unit. Otherwise, keep a few units as reserves when you engage, so if you get surprised, you'll still have some fresh troops. Keeping some troops lined up just outside the melee can give your men a morale boost, and also (A) keeps some fresh troops to chase routers (B) leaves you ready for flanking maneuvers.

-- B)

[Moriboy]

Thank you both for the suggestion. This was an odd spectacle. The half of the rebel army I didn't destroy, was in fact "dancing" up to the rival Daimyo, marching right up to the woods where his entire army lay in wait.Who knows, maybe he was retaliating for the cavalry archer strike. Nevertheless, Hojo didn't budge. This was the closest I've ever seen two armies get without bloodshed. I'll try the timer thing and let my army rest between "feedings".

[ShaiHulud]

I've seen this before. I think the AI splits its force to trade for time. You and the rival force will have to fight, the Ronin won't interfere.

When it happened to me, I first finished the rival, then had to CHASE the Ronin. Very tired troops then engaged the Ronin, when from the flanking hills, the rest of the Ronin joined in. It was touchy. His having monks will make it VERY touchy. The best tactic has already been given, have a reserve. Secondly, flank the buggers. Kill the first group fast, prepare for the second. Failing that, flank both after the 2nd group has engaged.

------------------
Wind fells blossoms, rain
fells steel,yet bamboo bends and drinks

[Moriboy]

I tried your suggestion about the timer last night. This time things went a bit differently. I rolled up the rebel left and strangely enough, the rest of the army stormed and routed Hojo's boys who were waiting in the woods on the right. Why they turned their backs to me I can't say. I'm sure my troops welcomed not having to fight a fresh army. I just followed the rebels into the woods to finish the battle. It was weird watching my army advance on the rear of another army, routing another army! I took the province with 300+ causalties. That was much better than before.

[BanzaiZAP]

I wonder if the AI can detect whether or not the timer is on. Maybe it will intentionally stall for time if it detects the timer..... Another reason to turn it off.

-- B)

[solypsist]

I think maybe it can. Only when the timer is on have I seen enemy units hiding in woods while the main body waits on a hill for me to engage them - I know this because in my early days of STW I played with the Limited-View function off.
Now when I play with no timer, I will sometimes see the same set-up as before, but the enemy always brings in that hidden unit from the trees once the main armies clash; it never did this with a timer on.