Pagans' Requiem: Shimazu (Domination, Legendary)

Table of Content

Introduction

Book 1 - Libera Me Domine
Chapter 01. Saving precious honor
Chapter 02. Death by one too many alliance
Chapter 03. Bait, not hidden
Chapter 04. Rebellion doomed by incompetency
Chapter 05. The contraction before born again

Book 2 - Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
Chapter 06. Gospel of chaos
Chapter 07. Dodging the sharpest arrows
Tactics: "Bait and not hidden"
Chapter 08. Technological Gap
Chapter 09. Long shot to redemption

Book 3 - In Paradisum
Chapter 10. Prosper in heavenly peace
Chapter 11. Ashigaru versus samurai
Chapter 12. Our loyal samurai, Takeda
Conversion to Christianity - Pros and Cons

INTRODUCTION

Hello, Daimyos! :bow: This is my second story of STW2, aiming at finishing a Shimazu campaign (Domination + Legendary). Many of the strategic and tactical discussions are based on the first story (Chosokabe, here is the link).

In fact, I seriously hate the Shimazu clan because they are usually hardly any strategy required to win with them in any Sengoku game. Maybe I can make this one a little harder.

Premises

(1) Must convert to Christianity. Shimazu's family crest is the Christian cross. So we must convert.
(2) Must use tactics favored by the historical Shimazu clan "Bait and Hidden". Please see explaination below.
(3) Must figure out an effective field tactics with guns, like the historical Shimazu.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...9&d=1329709398

The above diagram shows what "Bait and Hidden" basically is. I am not sure why Shimazu made such a big deal out of this to give it a unique name and became famous for it, because this tactic is nothing but luring an enemy into a trap - any 1-star general should know this trick. :sweatdrop: But apparently Shimazu's opponents were all dumb enough to fall for this elementary-school trick again and again. Maybe not marching into a likely trap is a sign of cowardness and dishonor?

Or maybe Shimazu's large number of guns requires this tactics, because guns cannot be used behind their main line - the straight-travelling bullets would shoot their own men's back. Shimazu had to arrange the guns on both sides so they could shoot the enemy's side and back. Instead of crediting Shimazu's cunning tactics or their enemy's incompetency, maybe it is Shimazu's only choice. If they win, it is because they managed to move the guns to the sides. If they lose, maybe their line did not hold long enough for their guns to rout their enemy.

Let's get started!

I'm curious how you'll succeed in this.

Book 1 - Libera Me Domine

Chapter 01. Saving Precious Honor

Daimyos! My name is Shimazu Takahisa, the daimyo of the Shimazu clan. :bow: From now on I will proudly present the glorious story of Shimazu. Let me start with introducing our clan.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...0&d=1329715011

First, Shimazu has absolutely the sickest location nihon. We have few powerful enemies, but we are so close to all trade nodes. As long as we are not complete idiots, we should be able to defeat one enemy after one. The only reason for us to fail is that we expand too slowly and allow another clan to unite pretty much the rest of Japan. This is pretty much what happened in the history.

Shimazu has the best Katana Samurai in Japan, although in a closer look you will see that they are not really that much better than the rest. This sword light infantry is excellent in offence, but has relatively poor melee defence and armor. Certainly, we would train them using the expert armorers stationed in Satsuma to improve their longevity on the battlefield. We also have to accompany them with Yari Ashigaru early on, and Naginata Samurai later on.

Shimazu is the only great clan that is blessed by the option to construct a Nanban Trading Port from the start. The Nanban Port will allow us to import Matchlocks to train Matchlock Ashigaru. After the conversion, we will be able to upgrade the port into a Nanban Quarter to import European Cannons and Nanban Trade Ship. Since all of the above imports are ranged units, we are curious that if we build in port in Buzen, our "imported" units would receive the accuracy bonus of the province. We will have to find out.

Converting to Christianity definitely has its drawbacks. I will be veiwed as a dishonored daimyo (-2), which could have widespread negative consequences. Other clans will dislike us (-40) simply because of the religious difference. We will need some extra time to convert all our provinces to Christianity before we can move on. So this means that we will expand more slowly. But when we do, maybe we will be so powerful that nobody can stop us! :evilgrin:

You know, I have always heard people commenting that my face really resembles the Chosokabe Daimyo, the Mori Damiyo, the Takeda Daimyo, the Uesugi daimyo... OK, maybe we are all clones. Let's switch the topic to how to better prepare for a seamless conversion to the Nanban religion.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...1&d=1329715013

Saving Precious Honor

The most important thing about preparing for the conversion is Honor. My personal honor is important in three ways, the happiness of my people, the diplomatic popularity of the clan, and the loyalty of my generals.

For the happiness of my people, Honors have the following effect:

Honor = 1 or less: -2 penalty to happiness
Honor = 2: -1 penalty to happiness
Honor = 3: no effect
Honor = 4: no effect
Honor = 5: +1 bonus to happiness
Honor = 6 or above: +2 bonus to happiness

So I should at least avoid my honor to drop to 2 or below.

The effect of my honor on diplomatic popularity is quite random. At really high honor, it is possible to obtain up to +60 relationship from certain clans, although it is more reasonable to expect +30 or less (often there is no effect at all). Also, even for the same clan, in different seasons they tend to view honor differently. It is hard to predict. Let's just aim to increase Honor as much as possible.

The effect of my honor on general's loyalty is of little concern here, since we Shimazu clan is famous for our loyal generals. They will forgive me for beliving in even the flying spaghetti monster.

Since converting to Christianity reduces Honor by 2, I have to look for ways to restore my honor and hopefully still reach the maximum of 6. So I will be looking for five points of extra honor.

Here are the ways to improve Honor:

Default (+3) - Just like my clones everywhere in Japan... I start with 3 points of personal honor.
Arts (up to +1) - Tea Ceremony
Skills (up to +2) - Honorable, starting at level 4
Vassal (up to +1) - Only one is needed
Retainers (up to +3) - at level 2, 4, and 6
Random event (up to +1) - when another clan has a terrible harvest, donate 2500 koku to them. This may not happen at all.

What's no longer/will not be available:

Heroic victory (+1) - this has probably been taken out by patching
Polite Wife (+1) - sadly, I have to be polite to my wife in exchange for a quiet evening.
Order a disloyal general to commit Seppoku (up to +1) - our clan has extra-loyal generals, so this won't happen.

The earliest available honors are Vassal and Retainer at level 2 (20 experience required), for a total of +2 Honor. This will offset my Christianity conversion penalty and brings my Honor back to +3, the minimal Honor to avoid penalty.

When I reach level 4 (120 experience required), I will be able to obtain the Honorable Skill and another Retainer for up to 3 more honor points to push my Honor to max (+6). Or I can save one point of skill but research the art of Tea Ceremony, which is a pre-requisite for other arts that boost our diplomatic standing with other clans. We could really use those positive quirks in diplomacy to improve our anti-Buddha image.

So we could convert to Christianity as soon as we have a Vassal and I reach level 2. However, the instant diplomatic penalty might not be worth the risk. We need to establish all the trade relations first. Maybe a more reasonable timing is until I get to level 4, and have a robust economy supported by prosperous trade network.

I will discuss the other preparations for conversion later.

I am now 31 years old, but I still recall the days I was young and passionate... :sweatdrop:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...2&d=1329715013

So now I have three sons aged at 12, 10, and 8! I have heard that other daimyos's kids joining the clan affairs as early as 14 years of age. So very soon the Shimazu clan will have a lot of generals running around. We probably have the best family roster among all clans in Japan.

Our first objective is to occupy the Osumi province, which is right beside Satsuma. We should be able to reach the castle there in the same season. Upon completion of the objective we will be rewarded by a year of increased recruitment capacity.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...3&d=1329715013

The Osumi province is owned by the Ito clan, which is already at war with us. Fighting them is quite the obvious choice.

Right now we only know two clans: the hostile Ito clan to the east, and the neutral (but trading) Sagara clan to the north. While Ito has two provinces and Sagara only one, Ito's provinces range from average to poor, and Sagara's Higo is one of the richest provinces in Japan. However, there is one port in Ito's provinces, but none for Sagara.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...4&d=1329715013

As I have been living in Satsuma for 31 years, I of course have heard the existence of other clans in Kyushu island. Currently, the Shoni clan owns two very rich provinces in the north. The Shoni clan is probably going to war the Otomo clan in the east, if they have not already. Otomo's Bungo province already has a Naban Trade Port. We will avoid capturing this province before building our own Naban Trade Port in another province (we are planning for Buzen).

While in history the Otomo clan will become a great power in northern Kyushu, here Otomo is likely to fail in no time, because they are diplomatically imcompetent idiots. Very soon they will go to war with pretty much everybody nearby, and while one army marches toward their castle, they will promptly empty the castle to invade the opposite direction. So they are strategically incompetent morons as well.

Otomo's inevitable complete failure in diplomacy might be a result of their Nanban religion. Let's hope we will not end up like them.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...5&d=1329715013

Let's deal with Ito's Osumi province first! Did someone mention Shimazu is so darn easy? Surprisingly there were not even a general there to defend. The defenders have one more Bow Ashigaru unit, light cavalry and samurai retainer, but we have two generals and Yari Samurai. We can still expect an easy win here.

The Osumi is located beside the coast. Anyone who has a basic sense of direction knows that the coast is to the southeast. Since on the battlemap the coast appears on the top, we know that Ito's reinforcement, which is located northeast of the castle, must appear the bottom-left of the battlefield. Right?

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...6&d=1329715013

Wrong! Apparently the battleifled is always arranged with north on the top. This means that Ito's reinforcement will appear on the northeast. Maybe the local coast has a strange twist so the ocean appears to the north - something like this:

*****
****
***
**
*
* **C**
*******
******
****
**
*

Oh wait the second - the Osumi castle is not even located by the coast on the campaign map! Maybe the water on the battlefield is just a wide river. Anyway, we successfully intercepted Ito's reinforcement by deploying on the top-right. (Lesson learned: Army's campaign map layout matches with the battlefield reinforcement direction - north is top) Their Light Cavalry foolishly charged at us, right into our yari infantry. They were routed very quickly.

Our own reinforcement, which is ME alone with my bodyguards, appear on the top-left of the battle. There is actually a shortcut from top-left to top-right along the coast. So I ordered my men to ran on the beach. Nice sand.

So this is probably not a river. Hm...

After routing Ito's Light Cavalry, their Yari Ashigaru charged at us, so we charged at them!

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...7&d=1329715013

They have two units of Yari Ashigaru. We also have two units of Yari Ashigaru plus one unit of Yari Samurai. So we are bound to win this encouter. Besides, my general is going to perform a back charge on them immediately.

Ha! Ito's Yari Ashigaru routed even before my general's bodyguards' katana cut their fat arses into four. Seeing all its comrades fleeing, ito's Bow Ashigaru is about to lose its will to fight!

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...8&d=1329715013

That's right, my general will charge them next!

The moment my general made contact, Ito's Bow Ashigaru started fleeing toward the beach, hoping to make their way into the Osumi castle.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...9&d=1329715013

Oh, they don't know what's waiting for them on the beach. :laugh4:

Note: It seems that patches have made fleeing reinforcement flee into the castle, instead of fleeing out of the battlefield. This could get them all killed badly should their fleeing route is blocked by the attacker's army.

The beach is quite wide, but strangely Ito's fleeing men prefer to make a straight long line.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...0&d=1329715013

At the moment I was rushing ahead to intercept the fleeing Bow Ashigaru. Ito's fleeing Light Cavalry bumped right into me like a traffic accident - none of them survived the collision. :sweatdrop:

When the collision happened, some of my bodyguards were jammed on the scene, and I actually rode off with the rest of the bodyguards without waiting for them.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...1&d=1329715013

This was a pure accident. I only realized all this when my bodyguards told me about it (watching the replay) later. :dizzy2:

My general also had a hard time catching the fleeing Bow Ashigaru. Apparently these runners liked to hug the cliff also in a line, even though there are so much more space on the beach.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...2&d=1329715013

But here comes another collision! :wall:

No! One of them got away! Don't let him escape!

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...3&d=1329715013

Ranged units retreating back into the castle is bad news for us.

Great! None of the reinforcement made into the castle. Now we can take our time with our Bow Ashigaru to shoot the defenders...

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...4&d=1329715013

Wait, who left the battle timer on 20 minutes?! We only have 10 minutes left?! :wall: (Note: it was also a pure accident.)

So we have to rush the rest! The yari units are used to distract the defenders, while our Bow Ashigaru shoot their back. But many of them are sheltered by structure, so we failed to kill most of them before we decide to proceed with the storm directly.

(Note: if we have more time, we can re-position the army to encourage the defenders to regroup and pick another spot, so hopefully everyone of them will be exposed.)

After we burned down the castle gate, the defending Samurai retainers attempted to block our entry.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...5&d=1329715013

But we encouraged them to move away with 3 volleys of arrows - which failed to kill any of them, by the way. :shout:

So it is time to storm in! As there were no spear units inside, my general and I also joined the battle, one responsible for each unit along with one Yari Ashigaru.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...6&d=1329715013

I lost 9 bodyguards to those samurai retainers! :sweatdrop:

Not a great victory due to our mistake on forgetting battle timer (no wonder it was so dark on the battlefield) - but at least the Osumi province is ours.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...7&d=1329715013

The resistance was a little high in Osumi, so we will have to stay here for the summer to wait for three units of Bow Ashigaru to arrive from Satsuma.

In the meantime, let's get an alliance with Sagara so they don't attack Satsuma while our army is away to deal with Ito.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...8&d=1329715013

They are willing to pay 6 koku for alliance! That will shift their ambition elsewhere.

We also sold military access to them. In spring they paid 490 koku for 5 turns of military access. In summer they paid 2150 koku for 10 turns of military accesss (which is only 6 more turns). Nice!

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...0&d=1329715013

Now we have the cash to hire more soldiers and improve some of our infrastructure. Of course, we rushed for a Harbor in Satsuma so we can reserve the four trade nodes west of Kyushu.

Just when we were eager to sell 20 turns of military access to Sagara in autumn, Otomo the moron declared war on Sagara! Because I cannot afford to lose any honor, I have to join the war on Sagara's side. This automatically grants Sagara indefinite military access to Sagara.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...1&d=1329715013

Can't sell military access anymore! :wall:

Anyway, at least Sagara is occupied by Otomo and is unlikely to betray us.

As we marched toward Ito's capital in Hyuga, we met their small army on the road close to our border! So Ito's daimyo was foolish enough to attack us with that small army? We already managed to recruit two more units of Yari Ashigaru in Osumi, so we are now a lot more powerful than Ito.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...2&d=1329715013

As a result the Ito initially retreated, but they can't run far! We chased them and force them to fight!

Victory was certain, so let's ignore the details (auto-resolved). This also allowed us to interview a large number of retainers. I made sure that I get the retainer that offers +1 honor. My general picked up +10 accuracy from ranged units.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...3&d=1329715013

Now that Ito's capital must be shaken in fear. Our army will certainly reach them next spring.

But that also gives us a better idea. Hyuga is THE poorest province in Japan - no resource, barren soil, no port... simply garbage. If we own this province, we will at most make 200-300 koku from tax...

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...4&d=1329715013

But since Ito is so scared that they are willing to do anything for us, we can turn them into a vassal and trade with them. The trade income will bring us way more koku from the province, and Ito can act as a buffer between us and the crazy Otomo who attacks everybody. (Soon they started fighting with Ito, too.)

In order to improve our relationship with Ito, we also asked their daimyo's daughter to marry into our clan to an unnamed bachelor (probably my cousin's cousin).

Another Honor point, to a total of +5! We have taken two steps toward the conversion - although we do not have this option yet. We need to own a province that has a high Christian population. And we are certainly going to work on that next.

This concludes chapter 1 of our story. :bow:

Chapter 02. Death by one too many alliance

Welcome back, daimyos! I am Shimazu Takahisa, now a little more honorable than before.

Now that Ito has become our Vassal, our Shimazu army can find another direction to expand. Now our indefinite military access to Sagara (due to our mutual enemy Otomo) can be used to our advantage as well. We will simply march across Sagara's territory to find another clan to attack.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...1&d=1329796647

There is really no better victim than Shoni (just like the Chosokabe campaign). They have taken Otomo's Buzen (as usual), holding three great provinces: Hizen, Tsukushi, and Buzen of northern Kyushu. Let's steal their richness!

As our army marched in front of Sagara's emptied Higo castle (Sagara launched an attack on Otomo when Otomo's army is away to attack Ito), we met Otomo's Nanban missionary. Our ninja had a chance to end his service, but since we would like to convert later, we will let the missionary live to save some work for us.

While Sagara has become our ally for a year and half, we learned a new complication: Sagara has a new friend, Shoni, probably because their mutual dislike of Otomo.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...2&d=1329796647

So when we declare war on Shoni, there is no guarantee that Sagara will help us.

But if we stand in Sagara's shoes, we realize Sagara faces a much worse dilemma. When one ally attacks another ally, they will have to make a difficult choice. If they stay with Shimazu, they will lose honor (for failing to defend another ally) and fight a rich and powerful clan. If they stay with Shoni, they will instantly lose their only province, as Shimazu's army is right beside its castle! (Important: with a military access treaty in effect, when war is declared between the two clans, the foreign army within the border is not bumped out of the border.)

So Sagara's over-alliance has accidentally created a very bad situation for them. Who could have thought that Shimazu would use their temporary military access to attack another clan on the other side? :sweatdrop:

Well, it seems that Sagara thinks honor is more important than lives! They chose to stay with Shoni!

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...3&d=1329796647

That's also a good news for us - because we will glady take their castle. There is also no diplomatic penalty for us to attack a former-ally, as in a sense it was Sagara who betrayed us.

And we will galdy march into the almost empty Higo castle. We did not even have to break the castle gate, as our arrows can easily kill the Samurai Retainers in a manual battle.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...4&d=1329796647

Lucky for Sagara - their army has not left the border of Higo. (If they had left the border, the army will instantly vanish.) So we still have to deal with them. This is still not a bad news for us, as we will receive a military crackdown bonus to the population happiness in Higo when we put down Sagara's army.

Sagara's army has shown up and set a fire to the farms.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...5&d=1329796647

At the same time, we noticed that Otomo has invaded Ito (just crossed the Bungo-Hyuga provincial border), and Ito might be a little too weak to repel Otomo's invasion. Not only will we lose a vassal, but our capital will also be threatened.

Hm, maybe we can trick Otomo into peace since now they probably have no defenders in Bungo.

Did someone say Otomo are idiots?

They actually agreed to become our vassal! :laugh4: Why not? We can use half of their income on any day. And if anybody could declare war on Otomo, it would be Shoni, which we are already at war with. So there is no additional protection duty. You have a deal!

Note: Otomo actually has one little accomplishment - they rushed to the cotton trade node before we did.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...6&d=1329796647

Strangely, Otomo and Shoni are not at war at this moment - so how did Otomo lose Buzen to Shoni? Maybe they have reached peace after that.

As our vassal, Otomo presented their map, and we were introduced the Chosokabe clan in Shigoku. They have quicky expanded to own three provinces! Maybe they will soon invade Kyushu.

We have to delay that - not until we are ready - like having a Nanban Trade Ship to sink their full stack before they lands on our shore. :grin3:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...7&d=1329796647

Doesn't Chosokabe's daimyo have a daughter Nana? Let's propose a marriage! They agreed to pay the boat fee, too! But strangey Chosokabe has absolutely no interest to trade with us. We will need to send a scout ship to meet with more potential trade partners in the east.

Note: Poor Nana, she also married to an unnamed second cousin of the Shimazu daimyo.

As we took Otomo as our second vassal, we instantly received the recognitiion from the emperor.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...8&d=1329796647

We have not even fought a difficult battle, and we already have 3 provinces and 2 vassals. :sweatdrop:

Here is a chance to prove ourselves! The Sagara army is camped very close to the Higo castle.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...9&d=1329796647

Quite an even match! We have the same number of cavalry (2:2) and spears (6:6, we have slightly better quality), and we have a slight ranged advantage (8:6).

The Sagara army did not actively march towards us (probably because our ranged advantage was not very obvious). So we will have to go to them to see if we can "lure any of their army into our trap".

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...0&d=1329796647

Sagara put their spears at front, so we moved our bows to the front to take some free shots. The Sagara bow gladly took the challenge for a duel. But what are they thinking here - 2 vs. 8? :bigcry: In a short time, most of these two units' men were pinned down on the spot. But nobody was lured into our trap.

When both of their bow ashigaru units were gone, Sagara's Yari Ashigaru was exposed to our arrows. They were ordered to charge us (and yes - into our trap!), but they turned around even before making contact with the trap.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...1&d=1329796647

In the meantime, Sagara has moved up the rest of their Bow Ashigaru to duel ours.

Sagara's general managed to rally their fleeing spear units. Very soon, they issued the charge order to all their melee infantry. Since we have the same number of units, we can assign our own to match them one on one, with one more spear on the far right flank.

Note: It seems that the AI always like to have a wide and shallow formation (especially when they have a lot of archers), so it is hard to surround them without more units.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...2&d=1329796647

However, the chaotic spear matches also created a gap of our line. The Sagara general took the risk and charged into the gap, toward my general!

My spare Yari Ashigaru is too far away to help. So I had to order two nearby Bow Ashigaru units to throw their lives at the Sagara general. They will be slaughterd, but they will buy some time for me and my bodyguards to arrive on time. And we will attack the Sagara general together!

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The other Sagara general has curiously charged into our Yari Ashigaru's spears in the middle. At least try to circle to the flank or back... but then our spare Yari Ashigaru will find his arse. :rolleyes:

We were definitely winning every single local match. The other Sagara genera who charged into our spears died in no time. One after another, the Sagara units fled the battlefield.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...4&d=1329796647

The Sagara general has to fight four Shimazu units together. He did not last long.

What a great battle! We earned a landmark for this decisive encounter, too!

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The remainder of the Sagara army dissolved on the stop. Military crackdown for extra happiness! We can safely leave no garrison in the Higo castle, and march our 4/5 stack to the border - very ready to attack one of Shoni's defenceless castles next spring.

By now we already have two Ninjas, and they are invaluable in helpin us to moniter Shoni's move.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...6&d=1329796647

In response to our pending invasion, Shoni marched its menacing full stack into a forest just west of the road. They probably attempted to ambush us, but their location is off by a little - we can still march on the road without triggering the ambush. Or they are just here to lure us to attack. They seem to be camped on a hill.

Well, that's why we have brought ninjas! The fact that Shoni's full stack is out means that Shoni must be relatively defenceless in its castles. We can Hizen has 0 garrison.

So why don't we happily receive Shoni's gift to us through the hands of our ninja? :grin3:

"My lord, our army has been sabotaged by Shimazu ninja!"

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"My lord, our Hizen castle is under siege by Shimazu army!"

"My Lord, our Tsukushi castle is under siege by another Shimazu army!"

"Darn! We have to rush back to take back the lost castle!"

"We cannot move this season, my Lord!"

"But they can move before us next season and take our last province?"

"Yes, my Lord! We are doomed!"

"NOOOOOO~~~~: :bigcry:

We received a mission to blockade any hostile clan's port.

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The nice thing about this mission is that we only need to temporarily blockade a port - we can cancel the blockade immediately afterwards, not even before ending the turn. So we easily accomplished this mission by doing nothing meaningful.

This is the result of our attack on Shoni's last castle in Buzen (auto-resolved, for it is a Stronghold with arrow towers). We had to leave half of the men in Tsukushi due to the unrest, but what we have is certainly enough.

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Shoni's full stack vanished in Hizen before they could move again!

Ten dramatic seasons - we are now the only power in Kyushu!

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It is a good time to cocoon up and develop - and actively prepare to convert to the Nanban religion. When we emerge from the cocoon, we will become a force to be feared by all.

This concludes chapter 2 of our story. :bow:

Another very informative and polished write-up, Maltz, thanks. :thumbsup:

Legendary or not, I pity the remaining AI factions. They must be looking anxiously west to Kyushu. :sweatdrop:

I said I would be following this and it has both been entertaining and educational.

Chapter 03. Bait, not hidden

Welcome back, daimyos! :bow:

Now we have Kyushu under control, we can shift more attention to conversion.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...9&d=1329956189

Honor

As discussed, it is better for me to reach level 4, so I will have one more retainer and skill. The fastest way to reach that is to hop on a Bow Kabuya and run in circles for the Ouchi fleet to chase after in vain.

The Wako pirates have appeared to harass our trade fleet. However, once we ordered all our slow trade ships to retreat and leave only the Bow Kabuya, which we purposely left to "protect" the fleet, the Wako Pirates would only exhaust themselves in the resuming chase. Our trade fleet is therefore competely safe.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...0&d=1329956189

Note: The third western trade node (incense) features lots of lands but little sea, and even a Bow Kabuya will have a hard to surviving the naval battle there. So battles should be avoided there. A full-stack trade fleet is more than enough to prevent the Wako from attacking (as they will lose in auto-combat).

After a few failed attempt to catch me on the water, the Ouchi clan daimyo launched a full attack on land. Although we can easily block the strait with our invincible Bow Kabuya, why don't we accept the challenge since we have nothing else to fight anyway? If we win, we might be able to force Ouchi to sign a fat peace treaty.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...1&d=1329956189

Right now Ouchi's stack is slightly more powerful than ours. We should be able to soften Ouchi a little - our Ninjas are always prepared for actions! :yes:

Both Ouchi generals suddely collapsed from tea poisoning on the same day! It is our chance to strike!

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...2&d=1329956189

Ouchi has one more Bow Ashigaru than us, o they probably will not actively march to us. Their two extra spear units could also pose problem should they find our cavalry. We can't engage them blindly.

The Ouchi army formed a very long and thin line and camped on a small hill. But it does not really matter, because we have no plan to simply attack.

The Ouchi army put their Yari Ashigaru at front. Let's see if we can use a little bait...

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...3&d=1329956189

Indeed, when our Bow Ashigaru got just close enough to start shooting at their spear units, 4 units of Ouchi Bow Ashigaru marched forward. This is good - we can win a duel 8:4. Now we only need to back up a little, so the rest of Ouchi army will stand and watch. That's... really stupid, by the way.

Note: Alternatively, we can back up really far away, and charge the lured units with cavalry. But sometimes the lure units will not fall for it, as they soon turn around and return.

The 8:4 fight went well - especially when some of them tried to shoot our spear units, who were running around to waste their arrows.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...4&d=1329956189

70% of those 4 units of Bow Ashigaru are now corpses on the ground! The rest routed. We suffered very reasonable losses in the meantime.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...5&d=1329956189

So we only need to repeat this lure and... well, we are not hidden. We are out in the open. :sweatdrop: Here comes another 2 units of Ouchi Bow Ashigaru. Not a problem! The only concern is that we had to back up far away enough so they do not receive shelter from a few trees in the middle.

Here comes another 2 units! So that leaves only ONE (9-4-2-2 = 1) Bow Ashigaru on the hill.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...6&d=1329956189

After we routed these two, Ouchi was on a definite disadvantage of ranged power. But they still stood stil.

Two of our Bow Ashigaru units ran out of arrows, so now they become our new reserve. After a bit of rest, we made the move - the same old luring routine. But this time we seemed to have attracted the attention of everyone! The Light Cavalry charges ahead of spears (who have become quite tired as they remained in spear wall formation since the beginning - what are they thinking?)!

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...7&d=1329956189

So we rushed our spear wall forward and set the Bow units on skirmish!

Of course we have recalled the once targeted Yari Samurai. The Ouchi light cavalry picked the wrong place to charge! But just to be safe, we will add in the no-ammo Bow Ashigaru reserve anyway.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...8&d=1329956189

And our spear wall has been setup - ready to hold their Ouchi counterparts!

repeated post.

Although Ouchi's Yari Ashigaru had all their numbers intact, they still had very poor morale due to the loss of their Bow comrades. Soon after impact, they started wavering. The mass route followed momentarily, carrying the last unit of Bow Ashigaru on the hill with them. It happened sooner than we expected - our cavalry still needed a few moments to start charging their back yet! What a pity. :laugh4:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...9&d=1329956189

That's it - a classic bait and... not hidden tactics! :sweatdrop: Let's see if we can ever find something to hide inside later.

A nice victory!

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...0&d=1329956189

And there were just enough Ouchi men exiting the battlefield so we can have another easy battle for experiences gathering.

repeated post.

After extensive interviews, I picked up another retainer who makes me more honorable with an extra bonus on attacking on land.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...1&d=1329956189

Note: The maximum number of honors received from Retainers and Skills combined is 3. So after picking up two +1 honor retainers, I only need to spent 1 skill point in "Honorable".

Normally we would happily counter attack to take both Ouchi's defenceless provinces, but for the sake of conversion, we do not want to over-stretch. We have two vassals at home, who have been rapidly raising a large army. We have to stay in Kyushu for now.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...3&d=1329956189

Ouchi's daimyo still appears uncomfortable from the tea poisoning. Well, now all his army is gone, he is more than happy to sign a peace treaty with all he can offer.

We also signed a trade deal with Mori.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...4&d=1329956189

However, soon Mori defeated the severely weakened Ouchi. Somehow that also broke our trade deal with Mori. How the hack did that happen? It is still a myth. :sweatdrop:

For now we have no enemy. Let's get back to the topic of preparing for the conversion.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...5&d=1329956189

Nanban Trade Port

As planned, we started working on the construction of a Trading Port in Buzen. The reason we waited for Buzen is that we expect to receive up to 25% Accuracy bonus for Imported Matchlock Ashigaru (and later on European cannons) in this province. This is true as confirmed later. What a HUGE bonus for these miserable inaccurate guys! They will aim better than Matchlock Samurai (accuracy 60 vs. 50)!

Once we convert, we will immediately upgrade that to Nanban Quarters.

Planning for Guns

There are four types of gun units:

Matchlock Ashigaru: the imported version (35 accuracy, 15 reload, 100 range) has slightly better stats, and is available as early as Nanban Trade Port. Ours will have 45 accuracy at start, and 60 accuracy later. Very nice!

Matchlock Samurai: (50 accuracy, 20 reload, 100 range). Requires Gunsmith. Gunsmith is unlocked by the Bushido Arts Gunpowder Mastery, one of the second-last-tier Bushido Arts.

Shimazu Heavy Gunner: (50 accuracy, 20 reload, 125 range). Better range than Matchlock Samurai. Requires Gunsmith and Armory (one of the upgrades of Encampment). So they are essentially the replacement of Matchlock Samurai.

Firerockets: (25 accuracy, 15 reload, 250 range, 5 ammo). Very good range, but very few ammo. Requires Arsenal, the ugprade of Gunsmith. It won't be available until the very end of the campaign.

Obviously, Imported Matchlock Ashigaru is only the way to go before we pause just before the Realm Divide. Then we rush for the Gunpowder Mastery art to train an elite army of Heavy Gunners from Buzen (+25% accuracy).

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...6&d=1329956189

Research

Since we need to rush a very high-level tech Gunpowder Mastery to unlock better guns, we need to simplify the research on anything else. Essentially we will only have 4 goals after getting the basic and fast techs:

(1) Essence of Spirit - required at the beginning of the conversion so we can build second-tier Nanban temple called "missionary".
(2) Heaven and Earth - for Encampment and improved quality soldiers for the second wave of expansion (from conversion to the pause before realm divide)
(3) Equal Fields -> Chonindo - for a trade-independent economy.
(4) Gunpowder Mastery - for the elite army after Realm-Divide.

Agents

5 Ninjas -> 5 Metsuke -> 5 Missionaries: We only have six provinces, so we need to carefully consider the build order of agent buildings. First, we build 5 Sake Dens for 5 ninjas. Then we demolish the Sake Dens and build 5 Markets and hire five 2-star Metsuke from Tsukushi. Metsukes are excellent agents to increase happiness levels, which will come in very handy when we start the conversion. This way we will be able to easily have the provinces under control. Then, we demolish the markets and build Chapels for 5 missionaries.

Training missionaries to become competent converters could be tricky, when we do not have a rebel province to generate infinite save points.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...7&d=1329956189

Oh great, trade bonus!

The Yamana clan took the Warhorse trade node easily. So they would PAY us sell them to us (because we pretended we did not have Chinese silks and Indonesian incense :laugh4:). Why not?

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...8&d=1329956189

Unfortunately, Yamana soon lost their port to trade with us, and was unwilling to resume trade. Trading diplomacy needs to become more reasonable and predictable. :rolleyes:

My second son turned into adult before my oldest son! What an impatient dude. Let's get him a wife to put his passion into good use. After some asking around, only the weak Ashina clan has a un-married daughter. Why not? She is a shrewish wife... so my second son will be whipped to travel a little bit (5%) further. The loyalty drop is not a concern at all, since we Shimazu generals are very loyal anyway.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...9&d=1329956189

By the way, we have enlisted another general about a year ago. He has been training with the Wako pirates for a while. Picked up a useless little knife as his first retainer, though.

The Nanban trade port is completed! Can't wait for our extra-accurate Matchlock Ashigaru! But since we will convert very soon, maybe we will put this on hold, and focus on getting the Bow variety first to ready our second army.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...0&d=1329956189

We also need to upgrade the Buzen castle all thew way to... a castle (level 4), so we will have 3 recruitment slots and +2 experience bonus on Ashigaru. We are rich now! Wohoo! :laugh4:

Oh what is this? We received a warning that one of our vasslas, yes the more stupid one, is planning to attack us! :confused:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...1&d=1329956189

Is that for real? Let's get our army and ninja ready for action again! :smash:

This concludes chapter 3 of our story. :bow:

I'm reading this with a blocnote in hand. I'm learning a lot. A bit to much powergaming for my taste though.

So your tactic is:
1) take out enemy ranged units with superior numbers of ranged units of your own
2a) go nuts on the rest of the opposing army until they charge
2b) use fast cavalry to lure enemy units out of formation
3) flank and destroy isolated units.

Glad my old MTW tactic (on the attack) is still succesful.
Any chance you could give your favourite early army?
How will you adjust your tactic when fitting in matchlocks and cannons?

In older TW games, a great way to route the enemy quickly is to have at least ONE more melee units to effectively backstab an enemy stack, rout them, free up two stacks, and continue the chain reaction. Your tactics 2b and 3 are also very good examples of what works.

But the Legendary mode in STW2 makes these practices really difficult for average-speed fingers like mine. Since we cannot issue any command on pause, not even moving the camera, and without slow motion, managing lots of individual units is quite difficult. Usually I would leave a cavalry to be charged by spears, or allow some melee to chase routed units fruitlessly.

So naturally brining more ranged units make the battle more managable (but less variable).

Chapter 04. Rebellion doomed by incompetency

It is hard to believe minion Otomo would want to revolt against *cough* master Shimazu AFTER we have controlled all of Kyushu. But we must still give credit to the warning from the mysterious voice from heaven. It would be nice if this warning comes every time before somebody declares war on us.

So to better prepare for Otomo's betrayal, I marched my full stack south from Buzen, and hid in the forest north of Bungo. Since Otomo is our vassal, we have infinite military access to their land. Should Otomo declared war and attack north, we can intercept and ambush them on the way. Should they march west or south, we will steal their Bungo castle easily.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...7&d=1330093105

Indeed, Otomo broke free!

And very strangely we were declared war by the Imagawa clan, which is half a Japan away. We have just met them a few seasons ago.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...8&d=1330093105

Why? Did they make a typo in the war declaration press release? :inquisitive:

Maybe it is not a mistake. Imagawa shipped their full-stack army with a half-stack fleet. And they have made their way to the north shore of Kyushu! But why would Imagawa want to attack someone who has absolutely nothing to deal with them?

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...9&d=1330093105

And judging from the distance of our exploring Bow Kabuya to Imagawa's territory, it seems that Imagawa launched the invasion the monent they met us. What kind of greeting is this? :furious3:

Note: Maybe (some?) AI is cripted that when it runs out of other AI clans to fight on land, they must launch an invasion on the human player - no matter how far away they are. This could be very important if we want to detect/prepare for invasion later. Maybe we should always leave a Ninja defending home so we can freeze them indefinitely. It will be even better if they declare war before the landing, so our future Nanban fleet can come in for the scream. :laugh4:

Another interesting news is that the Ouchi clan has revived themselves in Suo. Maybe Mori did not leave enough garrison in the province.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...0&d=1330093105

You would think that they would become automatic enemies with Mori as they had to at least fight Mori the occupier to take back their province. But strangely they are not at war with Mori. Maybe they signed a peace deal immediately after? Anyway, they are no longer our enemy, either. So we can charge them to trade with us.

Yet another trade partner. It is rare to see Honma on Sado island actually ships out its army to attack someone. Honma is willing to pay us so much, because we later found that they have occupied the northeastern Iron trade node. Having access to Honma's foreign iron also enables us to upgrade the Armorer in Satsuma.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attac...1&d=1330093114

Kyushu has 5 ports, and 2 of them can be upgraded to have 2 (Nanban Trade Port) and 3 (Nanban Quarters) trade routes. So in total we can have 8 sea trade partners in a short time. We will easily afford anything we need for the conversion.