Shocking units/abilities

I'm a very slow player. I usually only play a few hours a week at most and I want to play out all my battles. So I haven't gotten really far in my campaign yet.
I just came in a situation where I was flanked by a unit of revolver cavalry. Nothing alarming as I had a veteran unit of Yari Kachi nearby which I charged them with (with speed ability on). Before my samurai could fully engage them, more than half my kachi unit was killed. A shock and a blow as it will take more then 20 turns until the unit is again at full strength. I counted on some casualties but this caught me completly by surprise. Revolver cav re to be approach carefully and could be far superior to bow cav if used correctly.

Secondly I had just research the kneel ability and I activated it once the lines of my army and that of my enemy were pretty much set. I anticipated a long firefight but I made surprisingly (again) short work of the opposition. By now, I won most of my battles against equal or slightly superior armies but it was always a very close affair until one side routed. Only clever use of generals, naval bombardments and artillery saved the day. The kneel ability gives a huge advantage.

Any other units or abilities that may surprise/shock when first used or encountered?

From reading a comment by frogbeastegg I knew that the kneel ability was pretty devastating, but I haven't payed much attention to the calvary units. I mostly use saber cav, but now I'll have train some revolver cav.
I think that carbine calvary is an upgrade beyond revolver calvary - I imagine they pack a punch.

Ironclad - I knew it would be a powerful unit, but I didn't realize just how quickly it could rout/sink an enemy fleet.

Armstrong guns: Their high rate of fire and accuracy can rout infantry units in a very short time
Elite rifle infantry (US Marines, Royal Marines, Infanterie de marine, Imperial or Shogunate Guard): They have a ridiculous rate of fire and accuracy.
Kotesu class ironclads: Really annoying, they make short work of anything that is not an ironclad itself and have huge range.
Explosive shots for ships: Basically, as soon as everyone has this technology, you might as well start naval battles with everything already on fire, it will make little difference.
Torpedoes: 2-3 of them sink anything except for maybe ironclads, but sometimes even them. It takes a lot of micro/luck though to actually hit something.

Some units that have quite the opposite effect.

Gatling guns: Surprisingly mediocre with very little ammo.
Sharpshooters, Tosa Riflemen, and whatever else there is that has longer range than standard line infantry and fancy camo bonuses: Surprisingly useless once the bullets start flying in both directions.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sp4

Gatling guns: Surprisingly mediocre with very little ammo.
Sharpshooters, Tosa Riflemen, and whatever else there is that has longer range than standard line infantry and fancy camo bonuses: Surprisingly useless once the bullets start flying in both directions.

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I use Gatlings to protect the other artillery. On occasion it outkills the Parrotts and Armstrongs. I think the biggest factor is how long they can engage before a rout leaves them without targets. If the enemy stands for it Gatlings can do great execution. Typically, though, guns hammer the enemy on the way in, the Gatlings fire a bit, targets promptly rout beyond Gatling range and the guns continue to paste them.

Gatlings and sharpshooters are great for attacking fortifications from beyond the range of the defenders. They can cause lots of casualties without risk to themselves. Flanking from woods is also a useful ploy with sharpshooters but one does need to use care as they fire more slowly and don't melee very well.

Archers can hit targets in a siege assault that rifles cannot. Very useful.

For anyone who hasn't used kisho ninja to sneak into a castle, they can do so very quickly and open gates and capture towers before the garrison is wise, provided that the garrison doesn't or can't cover every approach.

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Originally Posted by phred

From reading a comment by frogbeastegg I knew that the kneel ability was pretty devastating, but I haven't payed much attention to the calvary units. I mostly use saber cav, but now I'll have train some revolver cav.
I think that carbine calvary is an upgrade beyond revolver calvary - I imagine they pack a punch.

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I haven't been able to field carabine cavalry or encounter one so take this with a grain of salt. The reason why revolver cav is so devastating despite it's short range is because of it's great volume of shots it can put out in a short amount of time. They can just swoop in, quickly take multiple shots and run to safety again to reload before the enemy can react. Unles carabines can fire just as fast, I don't see them as an upgrade (eventhough they'll probably have greater range).

Carbines have greater range but for harassing, I'd say bow cavalary is better.

Revolver cav can be sent in to obliterate a flank once it is engaged.

i find the gatlings quite devastating if used right, obviously really only good in defence or in attack when assaulting a castle as mentioned above, especially useful if the besieged enemy has reinforcements coming and u can set up the gatlings to cover the entrance they will use. If using in defence in a field battle and i have a line of battle which i usually do it is well worth going first person on the gatling guns so u can personally mow down any cav that is trying to get to your gats too quick (not to mention a hell of a lot of fun!!!), u have to be careful of the terrain though when u set them up as it can be difficult to see what your shooting at in first person when the enemy is quite far away. massed cannon in defence on field battle can do crazy amounts of damage b4 the enemy even gets near and then one round of rifles on kneel ability and they are off on their toes. it can get a little boring though when it gets like this i find. plenty of cannon when assaulting castles is a must also if u want to save your men, i let em have it till ive run out of ammo( which can be a while if u bring foreign vets which can increase your ammo)and then go in and mop up, a few times there have barely been any units left to fight when i have assaulted!

My favorite is the Gatling on 1st person view. Wow it's so mind blowing watching Yari ki or the Generals body guards charging your Gatling and you are mowing them down as they come at you. One simple advice, always fire low, cos Gatling has a tendency of missing at extreme range and bullets flying high above the charging enemy, so therefore fire low and the effect will be devastating!! So much fun!! lol Now wishing for a Roman Gatling in RIITW..lol

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Originally Posted by Sp4

Armstrong guns: Their high rate of fire and accuracy can rout infantry units in a very short time
Elite rifle infantry (US Marines, Royal Marines, Infanterie de marine, Imperial or Shogunate Guard): They have a ridiculous rate of fire and accuracy.
Kotesu class ironclads: Really annoying, they make short work of anything that is not an ironclad itself and have huge range.
Explosive shots for ships: Basically, as soon as everyone has this technology, you might as well start naval battles with everything already on fire, it will make little difference.
Torpedoes: 2-3 of them sink anything except for maybe ironclads, but sometimes even them. It takes a lot of micro/luck though to actually hit something.

Some units that have quite the opposite effect.

Gatling guns: Surprisingly mediocre with very little ammo.
Sharpshooters, Tosa Riflemen, and whatever else there is that has longer range than standard line infantry and fancy camo bonuses: Surprisingly useless once the bullets start flying in both directions.

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Very informative. I like to add few more.

* Samurai Hero is almost immune to arrows. Ten times tougher than Hatamoto units. Don't know against the firearms though.

As opposite effect:

* Kisho Ninja gets beaten even against a little experienced Spear Levies. They actually are only an assassination & shocking unit.