Night battles... how?

I've never had the option to have a night battle (boats excepted), nor have I ever been 'forced' into one by the AI...

How do you get the ability to have night battles? Is it a tech, or a general's ability? Or som't else? Or is it not possible?

You get ability as a result of putting three points in the "stealthy" talent for generals. Once you have that, when you attack, you get the option for a night battle.

It's very useful for the late game if the AI has two or more stacks mutually supporting each other, as they can't reinforce at night. A ninja can get the same result by successfully sabotaging an army but you don't always have a ninja to hand; he may fail; and even if he succeeds, it seems a little glitchy (I think reinforcing can still happen, e.g. if adjacent to a settlement).

Ah, thanks - never gone down that road with my generals, which would explain why I hadn't seen it before.

Playing a Hojo campaign at the moment, and their Daimyo starts with the night-fighting ability, so at least I've been able to give it a go now...

Some generals get the "Night fighter" trait when they are spawned as well. I believe the Daimyo of the Mori clan starts with it by default.

So has anyone fought a night battle yet? What is the advantage?

Well the big thing is, the enemy (and you, possibly) can't use any reinforcements, so it's ideal for picking off a small stack when a full one is lurking behind. Though in Medieval, I think, if the reinforcing general also had the night-fighter ability, they could reinforce. Less of an issue here with fewer generals having the ability.

Apparently all units get lower visibility, but I don't how this works exactly - is it just that all missiles get a penalty? You can still (I think) see all the enemy units on the map like normal, but maybe I'm imagining that.

Btw, has anyone ever had the AI force them into a night battle?

I read that the reduced visibility makes hidden units harder to detect, units probably have to get closer the hidden ones to see them. And ranged units also have lower accuracy, not sure how much though. There is also a morale penalty for the army whose general doesn't have the night fighter ability.

There is a thread at .com discussing the weather's effects on battles.

All Hattori generals get Night Fighter to begin with. Came in very handy, too.