Iga Ninjutsu is Good (Hattori: Legendary, Domination, V5445)

In Japan 500 years ago,
a young man began his journey from Kyoto.

Little did he know,
the brutality of the outside world;

Much will he grow,
to cast Iga Ninja's darkest shadow.

His name was thousand miles,
Chisato.

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_000.jpg

Hello,

This is my fourth story/AAR with the ORG. My inspiration comes from writing an almost RPG story from the eye of a single character, while making harmless parody of a certain famous religious group. I will try to make appropriate English adaptations to cater to the international readers and add some exclusive content. :yes:
Welcome suggestions and comments.

Clan: Hattori
Version: V1.1 5445 (Chapter 1-11), 5520 (Chapter 12-)
Difficulty: Legendary
Length: Domination
MODS: None
DLC: Hattori, Ikko-Ikki, Sengoku Jidai units, Blood Pack

Table of Content

Chapter 1: Journey of Thousand Mile
Chapter 2: One Step More
Chapter 3: Race for the Hill
Chapter 4: Beach Drops
Chapter 5: Evasive Invasion
Chapter 6: Shadow's Call
Chapter 7. Friendly Neighborhood
Chapter 8. Dark and Darker
Chapter 9. Dishonourable Bastards
Chapter 10. Dawn of Naginata
Chapter 11. 24 Seasons Later
Chapter 12. Musashi Gathering
Chapter 13. Angel of the Night
Chapter 14. Unlikely Enemy and Ally
Chapter 15. Endurance beats Might
Chapter 16. Revenge of Iga Ninjutsu

List of Videos
Chisato's Assassination #1 & Battle of Kumamoto
Chisato's Assassination #2 & Siege of Oko Castle
Kyoto Night Battle
Black Ship Battle
Chisato's Assassination #3-5 & Battle of Fukushima
Review of Hattori Campaign

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One. Journey of Thousand Miles

About five hundreds years ago, Japan was deeply divided by its warring clans. Yet one place was relatively sheltered from the devastation - the imperial palace in Kyoto. The emperor of Japan was still respected by all clans, possibly because he did not possess any actual power.

Chisato, literally "thousand miles/kilometers" was a 20-year-old young man who had just passed his exam to become a restroom manager(janitor/servant) in the imperial palace. It was a decent and stable job, and he surely studied hard for it. However, like many young man, he dreamed of doing something great, something to make his ancestors proud. In spring 1545, his fate will be forever changed...

Emperor: "ARGH!~~ OOMPH!~~" :on_tears:
Chisato: "Your majesty, do you have constipation again? :Please let me help you :on_thumbup: dig it out!"
Emperor: "Thank you, Chisato. But I think I will handle this myself in the future, so that people don't the wrong idea. Actually it is not constipation this time."
Chisato: "What is it? Can I help?"
Emperor: "You have always been so nice, and since you are not one of the Ashikaga, why not?... The Ashikaga Shogunate has been increasingly impolite recently. They often just throw me documents to sign without asking my opinion. I am just a stamp to them! How could they do this to me?!"
Chisato: "(Haven't the Shogunate been doing this for hundreds of years?) :on_furious: Cursed Ashikaga rats!"
Emperor: "It will be great if we find a replacement of the Shogun. But I have little knowledge of the outside world... I don't know who can be trusted."
Chisato: "Your majesty, how about I take a look of the outside world for you? I will find a suitable replacement of the Shogun!"
Emperor: "This is a good idea. Let's just say your great grandma suddenly died and you need to take a long leave..."

The journey of Thousand Miles (Chisato) began. He travelled to quite a few towns in the Kinki area (surrounding Kyoto), but everywhere he went, people instantly recognized that he was with the imperial palace. Chisato did not gather a lot of useful information if people had to be careful about what they speak to him...

(The Province of Iga, Spring 1545)

Chisato: "Sigh, I am just not good at this... How can I face the emperor's high hope on me? :on_sleep:"
Momochi Sandayu (33 years old): "Come! Come! :on_lol: Today is the grand opening of the the Iga Ninjutsu school! Hey young man, interested in Ninjutsu?"
Chisato: "Sir, could you tell me what Ninjutsu is about?"
Sandayu: "Ninjutsu is the skills of endurance. Iga Ninjutsu is especiall good because we are truly good at endurance. Graduates of the Iga Ninjutsu school will become a certified Ninja and receive a guaranteed life-long career with the Hattori clan! However long your life is."
Chisato: "Hm, I have never heard of Ninja. People who specialize at endurance... sound like self-torture artists to me. Could you tell me what a Ninja does exactly?"
Sandayu: "Business secret! It is the most exciting career one can ever imagine. There is nothing about self-torture that's for sure. In fact quite the opposite. :on_harhar: I have spoken too much."
Chisato: "I just want to learn about the clans in Japan. I am not into torturing or being tortured."
Sandayu: ":on_furious: Ninjutsu is not like that! Hey, you are from the Kyoto palace, right? How about I give you a special royal discount? Free tuition! And I pay you 50 koku and you become my student, how's that, huh?"
Chisato: "NOOO~ How come everybody knows I am from Kyoto?! :on_tantrum:"
Sandayu: "Ha! First, you speak standard Japanese. Regular folks all carry their regional accents. Second, you walk with your bum shaking left and right. In other parts of Japan only prostitute girls do that, but in Kyoto this is normal for men. Third, the chrysanthemum flowers printed on your robe is the royal seal, and regular people will get their head chopped off if they wear it. Fourth, you have some black tooth. Dying teeth is a common practice only in the palace. Fifth, you are too polite but you are not crazy. Six, you still wear that red dot right in the middle of your forehead. That's just too obvious..."
Chisato: "I forgot to wipe it off... Wow! This is impressive! :on_aww: If I study Iga Ninjutsu, will I become as observant as you? Will I be able to collect very useful information about clans?"
Sandayu: "Collecting information is Ninja's specialty! But it just a desert compared to the main entry, which is murder and arson. :on_sing:"
Chisato: "You are very good at joking, too!"
Sandayu: ":on_sweat:...yeah, anyway, Congratulations, you are a member of Iga Ninjutsu!"

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Hattori Yasunaga (daimyo of the Hattori clan, 33 years old): "Momochi, how's today's progress? Did you find any talent?"
Sandayu: "My lord, I got my first student signed up! This is Chisato!"
Chisato: "Very nice to meet you, my lord!"
Yasunaga: "Wow, a young man from Kyoto! Welcome to Iga!"
Chisato: ":on_wait: I will work hard to learn Iga Ninjutsu from master Momochi!"
Sandayu: "Actually, Iga Ninjutsu is all about learning from practice. So... you are ready to take on your first assignment!"
Chisato: "But I haven't learned anything yet! :on_eeek:"
Sandayu: "No worries, you will learn along the way. We will give you appropriate assignments and lessons. You will be perfectly safe."
Hattori Masanari (son of Yasunaga, 4 years old): "But :on_huh: how come the big brother we sent to Ise did not return?"
Chisato: "Huh?"
Yasunaga: "Ah... don't listen to kid's crazy talk. Masanari, go play with your mother."
Sandayu: "Chisato, your assignment is go to Yamato, and find out how much army the Tsutsui clan has. Once you get there, stay there and a messager to get in contact with you."
Chisato: "Er... can I see my room and office first?"
Sandayu: "You are a ninja! A person who endures! Truly good at endurance! The world is your room! Go now! :on_getsome:"
Chisato: "But... everybody can tell I am from Kyoto!"
Sandayu: "Ops, I forgot about that. on_sweat: You should wear this ... Iga Ninja's all-black uniform. Very good taste, right?"
Chisato: "But this makes me even more stand out from the crowd..."
Sandayu: "Who says you will stand in a crowd? You are a bloody Ninja! You walk in the woods and sleep on people's roof!"
Chisato: "This is so different from what I imagined...:on_beg: "

Note: Many of us heard about "Hattori Hanzo". There was even one in the movie Kill Bill. Hanzo is a name that is passed down through the Hattori clan; every Hattori clan lord is a Hattori Hanzo. The most famous Hanzo is Masanari (who is only a little child at this point).

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(Province of Yamato, Tsutsui Clan)

Chisato: "After 20+ mosquito bites, finally I am here at Yamato..." :on_tears:
Ishikawa Goemon (10 years old): "Psss... Iga Ninja Chisato? Come here!"
Chisato: "What's wrong, little boy?"
Goemon: "Don't call me that. I am employed by the Iga Ninjutsu, just like you."
Chisato: "So you are my contact?"
Goemon: "Exactly. From now on, I am the middle-man between you and the HQ."
Chisato: "Why use a middle man?"
Goemon: "You must be that naive dude from Kyoto. This way they can easily deny any involvement and knowledge of your missions."
Chisato: "What?! So they are not going to try to rescue me if I fail?" :on_scare:
Goemon: "Actually, they only deny involvement when you succeed. If you fail, you will be tortured and reveal everything anyway. Just like the last guy they sent to Ise, he told every thing after taking just 50 beat-ups. :on_yawn:"
Chisato: ":on_bibber: I can't believe they do not arrange ransoms..."
Goemon: "Ha. The things ninja break often cost more than 1000 koku. It is hardly worth it. It only costs 500 koku to hire a new Ninja."
Chisato: "500? I only got paid 50 koku..."
Goemon: "Hey! I have to eat, too. But where does the other 440 koku go? Did Momochi take them all?!" :on_furious:
Chisato: "Hm... anyway, my assignment is to figure out how much army the Tsutsui clan has in Yamato."
Goemon: "This is easy. You just stand in town square and count the number of soldiers when they patrol by. After several days you will have see them all."
Chisato: "But that's very tiring..."
Goemon: "You are a person who endures! A Ninja! Just do it!" :on_getsome:

Note: Goemon is a very famous Iga ninja/thief from the period, stealing from the rich and help the poor like Robinhood. He was finally caught in 1594 and got cooked alive in a big wok. I played video games featuring him as the main character.

Chisato: "After standing 7 days in the market square, I have become familiar with of each Yamato soldier's face! I can count there are one unit of Bow Ashigaru and two units of Yari Ashigaru!"
Goemon: "Not bad. But I would simply steal their paylist and figure that out. Anyway, you have a new mission now! Burn down the Tsutsui castle!"
Chisato: "What?! Didn't they say my mission is completely safe? :on_scare:"
Goemon: "You don't have to literally burn it down to ashes. Breaking the lock of their front gate will work. This way they will be busy repairing the lock and temporarily forget about hiring new units... somehow. Let me help you!"
Chisato: "OK..."

***

Goemon: "OK the guards have past! Go Go!"
Chisato: "What if innocents get hurt if I break their front gate?"
Goemon: "How can that happen? You are a Ninja! You don't care about innocents! :on_furious:"
Chisato: "I can't! Breaking other's property is wrong!"
Goemon: "Ok, ok, I promise you nobody is going to get hurt. Well even if they do get hurt, they will grow back in the next season. :on_sweat: And the gate will be repaired. There is no hard feelings."
Chisato: "Ops, the gate caught my torch's fire!"
Goemon: "Run!~~"

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Goemon: "Ha! Look at the dark smoke rising from Tsutsui castle. Good job." :on_lol:
Chisato: "I wanted to do something to benefit all Japan... But look at me now, I am an arsonist, a criminal! :on_sleep: How do I face the emperor and my parents?"
Goemon: "Well, my goal of life is to become the greatest thief of Japan, so I can steal from the richest rats and redistribute their fortune to the poor."
Chisato: "That's a great goal! But you are still a thief."
Goemon: "...Yeah and we do not murder people like ninjas do. :on_furious: So you can do something to make the ninjas proud, too!"
Chisato: "All right, I will use my torch to burn down all the incompetent clans of Japan to help end the meaningless Sengoku Jidai! This will honor the emperor and my parents!"
Goemon: "That's a positive thought. I will reflect your goals to the management so they assign you more appropriate tasks to increase your productivity."
Chisato: "Thank you!" :on_aww:

Chisato: "There is something that I am not sure I should ask... why do sabotage Tsutsui castle?" :on_huh:
Goemon: "Clan strategies are shared on a need-to-know basis. You are a ninja. You do not need to know."
Chisato: "You are a messenger. So you do not have the need to know, either?"
Goemon: "You do no need to know whether I have the need to know."
Chisato: ":on_beg: I am an official agent in the family!"
Goemon: "Hm... yeah you deserve some reward for your hard work. Well, if you ever get caught, would you swear that you will not reveal anything?"
Chisato: "I swear in Buddha's name!"

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Goemon: "Ok. The secret is we Hattori clan plans to attack Kyushu."
Chisato: ":on_angry: What? Not taking the Kinki area first?"
Goemon: "Probably fine for Oda's cheap Ashigaru, but Hattori clan's soldiers are too expensive to support wars on so many fronts. It is better to get to the edge of Japan first and work our way to the east."
Chisato: "So we do not attack any clan east of Iga?"
Goemon: "Precisely. We will establish trade with every clan to our east, for example, the Ashikaga Shogunate, and hopefully sell military access to them."
Chisato: "No attack on Ashikaga? How do I face the emperor? :on_crying:"
Goemon: "Not now. But eventually we will. When we are powerful enough to face the rest of Japan all united together."
Chisato: "I see..."

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Goemon: "For now, we can sell military access to both the Ashikaga Shogunate (5 turns in spring, 10 turns in summer, and 20 turns in autumn) and the Asai clan in Omi. That's a lot of koku for us to recruit Ashigaru and feed them."
Chisato: "Are we going to attack every province one by one until we reach Kyushu?"
Goemon: "That's too slow. We will load all available armies on a ship and take northern Kyushu as soon as possible."
Chisato: "But we do not own a port yet!"
Goemon: "That's right, we need to take a port first. The port in Settsu, more specifically. We will take Yamato, then Kii, then Kawachi, then Settsu."
Chisato: "That means we will challenge the alliance of Tsutsui and Hatakeyama. They have four provinces; we only have one... :on_scare:"
Goemon: "I did not say it will be easy. We have to outsmart them. Yet we have one important weapon - ninja a.k.a. you. Each time you sabotage a castle under recruitment, you reduce their stregnth by one to two units of Ashigaru."
Chisato: "Didn't realize I am this important! Wait... how do you know about this?"
Goemon: "You do not have the need to know." :on_whistle:
Chisato: "..."

(Summer 1545)

Goemon: "Chisato, guess what, the HQ gave you a new mission!"
Chisato: "What's the new mission?"
Goemon: "Sabotage Tsutsui castle."
Chisato: ":on_hypnose: That's the same as last season's mission..."
Goemon: "That's not the correct attitude of a professional! You should be resistant to repetition!"
Chisato: "You are right! I will treat every sabotage with passion!"
Goemon: "Yes! Call up your arsonist spirit!" :on_furious:

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Chisato: "The familiar black smoke rises from Tsutsui castle... Again I broke someone else's property. I am worthless..." :on_beg:
Goemon: "Cheer up! Look at it this way - in 16th century, the forestry industry in Japan is fully environmentally sustainable. So all you did was to create a new contract for the handyman to repair the door and thus increases the GDP figure of Japan. Isn't it nice? :on_idea:"
Chisato: "What are you talking about? You are a 10 year old!":on_furious:
Goemon: ":on_sweat:... By the way, congratulations! You are now a level-2 ninja of Iga! The HQ just mailed you the certificate for you to sew it inside your Ninja suit."
Chisato: "What kind of previlege do I have as a level-2 Ninja? Access more secret information? :on_love:"
Goemon: "Not just this - you can hire a retainer yourself!"
Chisato: "Nice! What kind of choices I have?"
Goemon: "You can either choose a bag of clothes of a regular town man, or... ME! I am good at remembering roads, so once you and I join an army, we can help them march further."
Chisato: "The first option is silly... Let me hire you, then!"
Goemon: "Good. I am your official retainer! 10 koku, please."
Chisato: :on_tantrum:

(Autumn 1545)

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Goemon: "Chisato, did you hear the news?"
Chisato: "Yeah, Tsutsui clan decided not to build a Sake Den in Yamato and many are disappointed."
Goemon: "Blah! :on_furious: Hattori declared war on Tsutsui! Hatakeyama declared war on Hattori!"

Note: It is better to declare war in the fall, so Hattori will have 3 units of Bow Ashigaru instead of just 1, making the castle assault a lot easier.

(Autumn 1545)

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Yasunaga (daimyo): "Ha, the Tsutsui clan was caught by surprise! Start the assault!" :on_lol:
Sandayu: "Chisato, come and watch us take the castle!"
Chisato: "What an honor to be an observer!" :on_aww:
Sandayu: "No, actually we need more people to carry water. Come!"

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Chisato: "My lord, the Tsutsui Bow Ashigaru is defending the wall! What should we do?"
Yasunaga: "There are four walls in the castle, but only one is manned by Bow unit..."
Sandayu: "Let's shoot them from behind!" :on_sing:
Chisato: "Won't they simply turn around and shoot us?"
Sandaru: "Er... strangely, they won't." :on_sweat:

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Sandayu: "This is a good angle! Fire!"

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Chisato: "Many arrows struck the lantern pole... many Tsutsui soldiers are spared!"
Sandayu: "Let's move them to another spot!"
Chisato: "How do we move them?"
Sandayu: "We will move, and they will follow us!" :on_idea:

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Sandayu: "No poles, no obstacles, and they have regrouped to form crowd together again. Fire!" :on_lol:

Sandayu: "All of Tsutsui's Bow Ashigaru is killed! Let's shoot the rest of them!"
Yasunaga: "Let's inspire the soldiers together!... what's the slogan?"
Sandayu: "Iga Ninjutsu is Good!"

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Soldier 1: "I chanted Iga Ninjutsu is Good, and my kidney stone is flushed out!" :on_whistle:
Soldier 2: "I chanted Iga Ninjutsu is Good, and my incompetence has disappeared! I now have a baby boy!" :on_love:
Soldier 3: "I chanted Iga Ninjutsu is Good, and my wife has disappeared! I live happily ever after!" :on_lol:
Hattori Soldiers: "Iga Ninjutsu is Good! Fire!"

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Sandayu: "I chant Iga Ninjutsu is Good, and the enemy shows their bums to me! :on_sing: Fire!"

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Yasunaga: "I chanted Iga Ninjutsu is Good, and we run out of arrows..." :on_sweat:
Sandayu: "There are only 30+ Hattori soldiers left in the castle. Time to storm!"
Yasunaga: "Yari Ashigaru in spear wall formation! Burn down the gate! Go!"

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Chisato: "Look, a Tsutsui ashigaru gracefully died on top of the sea of Hattori soldiers."
Goemon: "That's probably because he died on a slope..." :on_sweat:

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Yasunaga: "Time to charge in! Bodyguards, get off your steed and come with me!"
Chisato: "Watch out, the Tsutsui daimyo is coming!"
Yasunaga: "Let's fight!"
Bodyguard A: "Don't leave me!~~" :on_crying:

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Tsutusi Junsho (daimyo): "Come, let's fight!"
Yasunaga: "Why did I get off the horse... :on_tears:"

Note: Normally it is OK to just let Yari Ashigaru to handle the rest, but I wanted to take a screenshot of the Hattori daimyo in action. :on_sweat:

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Tsutusi Junsho (daimyo): "NOO~~ how could I lose to that cue ball..." :on_dead:
Yasunaga: "It is good to bring bodyguards... Good! We have taken the Tsutsui castle! Take a good rest and we will hold a meeting tomorrow morning!"
Sandayu: "Chisato, you are invited to the meeting! Don't forget to arrrive 10 minutes early at 4:50 AM!"
Chisato: "What an honor!" :on_aww:

End of Chapter 1

Chapter 2. One step more

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Chisato: "So Goemon, can you tell me more about Ninja?"
Goemon: "There are three types of Ninja. The Upper Ninja are like master Momochi, who makes strategic decisions. He is the leader of Iga ninja, which operates under the Hattori clan."
Chisato: "Why do we Iga ninja listen to the Hattori clan?"
Goemon: "Becasuse they pay us nicely... we get 1 year paternity leave! The other clans only give 6 weeks."
Chisato: ":on_bird:Why would a 10-year old care about paternity leave... so how does the Hattori clan get their money?"
Goemon: "Samurai Clans are the actual rulers of the lands. The incomes mainly come from tax and trade. But from time to time we get extra incomes. For example, now we have Yamato, we can sell military access to the Kitabatake clan."
Chisato: "Nice!"

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(Kawachi province)

Chisato: "Goemon, I heard town folks chatting about a Hatakeyama army gathering here in Kawachi."
Goemon: "Can you verify it?"
Chisato: "Let me climb a watch tower and see... yeah, I can see their banners. They are here!"
Geomon: ":on_aww: Good eyes! Let me report this to the HQ!"

*** a few days later ***

Goemon: "Hum, the HQ thinks Hattori's power is too weak to take on Hatakeyama. But Hatekaya has 3 provinces here; Hattori only has 2. If we can reverse the situation, we will have an upper hand as time goes on."
Chisato: "So what do I do?"
Goemon: "Lord Yasunaga is leading an army to attack Kii, the richest Hatakeyama province. It must be relatively defenceless. But he requires your guidance or the army can't reach there within this season."
Chisato: "I am on it! But I have never been to Kii myself..."
Goemon: "You are a ninja! Just use your superior vision :on_swoon: to scout the road!"

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Chisato: "My lord, just keep going west on this road, you will reach the Kii castle."
Hattori Yasunaga: "Good job, Chisato! The castle is in sight! Only the regular maintainance crew is in side. Attack!"

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Yasunaga: "There is no place for the defenders to hide! Bow Ashigaru, fire at will!"
Chisato: "Hm... there is a house nearby. Why don't the defenders seek shelters inside the house?" :on_pillow:

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Goemon: "Very well done, Chisato! Even a small mission could make a great difference."
Chisato: "Piece of cake! :on_charm: By the way, what was the long line up in front of the Kii castle this morning?"
Goemon: "They were here for the interview."
Chisato: "What interview?"
Goemon: "Lord Yasunaga is hiring a retainer."
Chisato: "Like I hired you?"
Goemon: "Similar. But retainers for Daimyos are different, though. Finally a veteran captain got the job. He was pretty famous in his time... so now the Hattori clan not only fairs better on the battle field, but also looks better among its generals and people."

Note: While there are multiple +1 Honor/Loyalty retainers, only some carries a low chance to have an additional +1 attack attribute.

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Chisato: "Oh yeah, Goemon, last time you told me about the Upper Ninjas, the decision makers. What about the other two kinds of ninjas?"
Goemon: "Standing in the middle of the tier are Middle Ninjas, field agents who perform away from the spotlight, just like you."
Chisato: "How many of us are there?"
Goemon: "I heard that a clan can have mostly 5 Middle Ninja. I am not sure what keeps them from hiring the sixth. Maybe too many Sake Den is bad for farmer's health?"
Chisato: "Am I Master Momochi's first student?"
Goemon: "He said that to everybody. But you are the first student who survived the first year..."
Chisato: :on_angry2:
Goemon: "The Iga ninja clan is actively looking for new talents. I think they just hired a new guy named Sanetomo..."
Chisato: "Named after Shogun Minamoto no Sanetomo? (note: the son of the first Kamarura Shogun Yorimoto, as seen in the DLC Rise of the Samurai)"
Goemon: "Maybe or maybe not. There are many Kanji words for the same Japanese pronunciation anyway..."

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Chisato: "Let me guess... the third class must be the lower Ninja, right?"
Goemon: "Indeed. The Lower Ninja are soldiers who join battles. We won't see them in action until much later... for now, the HQ has a new mission for you!"
Chisato: "What is it?"
Goemon: "Lord Yasunaga is leading a surprise attack to Kawachi, and he needs you to create a distraction for the Hatakeyama army just outside the castle, so they cannot join the battle!"
Chisato: "How do I do it?"
Goemon: "How about mixing some... not exactly digestion-friendly herb exatract into their drinking water? So they will be busy looking for place to... :on_panda:"
Chisato: "That's mean! Anything less harmful?... How about making dead knots on their shoe laces while they are asleep?"
Goemon: "That will take forever..."

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Chisato: "OK, here is an idea that works fast and is clean. First, we buy some high-quality spears and bows from local weapon stores, and we rent several dunkey-pulled wagons. Then we approach the Hatakeyama army as weapon merchants. We show them our spears and bows and offer them as free samples. We then offer them to upgrade all their weapons within a week for a cheap fee. The spears and bows come with a life-time warranty. We require payment only at the delivery. The only condition is that they give us the weapons so we can upgrade for them!"
Goemon: "What a fantastic scam! Nobody can resist free samples and life-time warranty! :on_glaugh: Plus they don't even have to pay first! Just the spears and bows, of course. All we need to do is to write a proposal to the HQ so they give us the budget to purchase the spears and bows..."

*** a few days later ***

Chisato: "Buhahaha, the Hatakeyama soldiers are happily waiting for their shiny new spears that will take a week to arrive. :on_lie:"
Goemon: "I am signalling the HQ to attack Kawachi!"

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Momochi Sandayu: "Good job, Chisato. :on_thumbup: Because of you, the Hattori army was able to take Kawachi with ease. Now let me present you this certificate..."
Chisato: "I am now a level 3 Ninja?! Great!"
Sandayu: "Keep up the good work and prusue higher levels!"
Chisato: "What will happen when I reach a higher level?"
Sandayu: "Iga Ninjutsu is Good. Iga Ninjutsu is very rich and complex. You will know when you get there."
Chisato: "You can try to explain that to me in simple language..."
Sandayu: "Now your level is not enough, so you cannot understand. Iga Ninjutsu is about learning through practice."
Chisato: "You don't have to use English. Japanese is fine..."
Sandayu: "私はあなたが理解できないと述べた!" (I said you cannot understand!)
Goemon: "Master Sandayu, you left this... the Iga Ninja training plan on you desk!"
Sandayu: "Ops! Er... I have an important appointment with Lord Yasunaga. See you~"
Chisato: "It is all explained on the plan... I understand every word..."

***

Goemon: "There are three career paths of a Middle Ninja. One can either become a professional assassin, a escape expert, or an improvise master."
Chisato: "Improvise?"
Goemon: "Ever watched the show MacGyver?"
Chisato: ":on_furious: That show won't air 440 years later!"
Goemon: "so basically it is about reaching your goal without expensive operation fee."
Chisato: "Sounds interesting! I am going for it!"
Goemon: "Actually all future Iga ninjas are trained on this path. This could save the Hattori clan thousands of koku every season."

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_031.jpg

Goemon: "Just got the news, the HQ hired a third Ninja called Yukimune."
Chisato: "So basically all Middle Ninja will have the same skills and... Buddha forbids we even all look the same... :on_tantrum:"
Goemon: "Yeah... but you can always stand out from the crowd by being special!"
Chisato: "How do I do that?"
Goemon: "By approaching your tasks in your unique style! Have it your way!"
Chisato: "Yes! I will be a unique Iga Ninja! Sabotage with passion! Restore Japan's order for the emperor! :on_angel:"

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_032.jpg

Chisato: "What are you reading, Goemon?"
Goemon: "The Iga ninja just started to circulate a small newspaper called the Pocket Times. While marketed at the general public to spread propaganda in favor of the Hattori clan, orders for ninjas are actually hidden in some articles."
Chisato: "Neat! Any hidden order in this issue?"
Goemon: "You have already done something this season. Take a fishing trip on Lake Biwa! :on_bath: Oh... look at the news - the Omi province has been taken down by the Ikko monks."
Chisato: "So the Asai clan is destroyed?"
Goemon: "They spent all their first-year budget to purchase our military access, so the Ikko nailed them easily..."
Chisato: "And the Ikko started with a larger army, too."
Goemon: "In fact, when our ninja reported the Ikko invasion coming, we quickly managed to sell Asai inifinite military access right before it gets destroyed. :on_lalala:"

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_033.jpg

Chisato: "Now Ikko buddhists have become our new neighbor with a large stack of army. The HQ must be worried about this."
Goemon: "A little maybe. They are happier to find a new buyer of our military access!"
Chisato: "So now the Ikko will have no fund to expand further..."
Goemon: "Yeah... then maybe we will have a new neighbor to sell military access to!"
Chisato: "Being Hattori's neighbor is a curse... :on_fly:"

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_034.jpg

(Summer 1546)

Chisato: "It looks that the Hatakeyama army is re-supplied with weapons."
Goemon: "In the meantime Hattori has also gathered enough soldiers. A heated battle is breaking out!"
Chisato: "Do you think Lord Yasunaga will allow us to observe the battle?"
Goemon: "Don't ask, just find a large tree so we get a great view!" :on_aww:

End of Chapter 2

As always, very educational and entertaining.

Chapter 3. Race for the Hill

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Chisato: "Now here we have a good view of the battlefield. From the number of banners they seem to be evenly matched! It all comes down to tactics!"
Goemon: "There is a high hill in the middle. It looks like whoever controls the hill will have literally the upper hand..."

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Goemon: "Hattori's hill is higher, and it has lots of trees."
Chisato: "What an excellent defensive position..."
Goemon: "If the Hattori soldiers use their stealth and arrive early on this high hill, they can hide themselves well within the trees. Without knowing this, the Hatakeyama army might decide to rush for the hill without a proper formation...:on_idea:"
Chisato: "So they will be easily defeated?"
Goemon: "Only the first wave is easily crushed. But Hattori's reinforcement is coming from behind. If they can run fast enough, the Hatakeyama army will be hopelessly wrapped in the middle. :on_rolled: That will break ashigaru's morale."
Chisato: "Sounds like a good plan! Should I inform master Momochi?"
Goemon: "I think he already thought about this. Look carefully, Hattori soldiers are already hiding under the trees!"

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Chisato: "The Hatakeyama army is rushing toward the high hill! Two generals left behind their ashigaru infantry!":on_football:
Goemon: "A perfect setup to kill their generals!"

Note: After the FOTS patch (v5346) the AI loves high hills - even if the human player already has an army on it.

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Goemon: "The Hatekayama generals bumped into yari ashigaru's spear wall!"
Chisato: "Don't let them escape!"
Goemon: "They are not trying to escape... marching to the hill continues... :on_idle:"

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_039.jpg

Goemon: "Nice, the Hattori spearwall routed the Hatakeyama generals. The Hatakeyama infantry started their uphill charge!"
Chisato: "And the Hattori Yari Samurai lead the charge downhill! :on_picknose: Easily a winning match!"

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_040.jpg

Chisato: "The Hatakeyama ashigaru have arrived! They outnumber the Hattori ashigaru! The Hattori reinforcement is still on their way..."
Goemon: "This could be dangerous. We need something to distract them."
Chisato: "Master Momochi is the distraction! :on_hero: He is leading a flanking enemy away so our line hold up!"

Note: AI likes to chase our cavalry with yari infantry. But since this requires micromanagement, the reinforcement stood on their destination for a few seconds.

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_041.jpg

Goemon: "The Hattori Yari Samurai has routed their match. Now they charge into Hatakeyama's Bow Ashigaru!"
Chisato: "The Hatakeyama Yari Ashigaru line is broken - they flee downhill!"
Goemon: "Master Momochi led the reinforcement. The final wrap up begins!" :on_lol:

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_042.jpg

Chisato: "The Hatakeyama army is completely broken. :on_injured: They flee for their lives!"
Goemon: "That was quick work!"

Note: An effectice tactics for the Hattori clan is to predict which hill the AI is going to rush to (usually the tallest hill on the battlefield with trees), then deploy and hide durable infantry to trap the AI trying to claim the hill. The rest of the army can then wrap up to deliver the final blow. We will see another example in chapter 6.

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Goemon: "The once formidable Hatakeyama clan is largely defeated in the Kinki area. But three hundred men fled the battlefield. We can't let them move around free."
Chisato: "So there is going to be another battle?"
Goemon: "Yeah. Master Momochi probably wants easy battle command experience..."

Note: The battle was manually played to the end to make sure that some enemy do escape. This gives another battle and allows Momochi to reach level 2 and pick a better retainer. He eventually got +10 Bow unit accuracy (rubber bow), one of the better retainers out there.

After the FOTS patch (v5346), if one loads the auto-save file prior a battle, the resulting retainers are no longer randomly selected. A work around is to generate another save file before the battle. On Legendary this can be done by hitting End Turn, which generates an auto-save before the turn ends.

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Goemon: "Indeed, Master Momochi leads the second attack. Lord Yasunaga is the reinforcement this time."
Chisato: "So this way Master Momochi will be the chief commander even if he commands no army?"
Goemon: "Yeah. Apparently experience is also about fame. :on_shrug: So whose name goes on the front page matters..."

Note: Actually for the AIs, all participating generals, no matter they are an reinforcement or embedded in an army, receive the full (or more than full) experience. This is why we see so many high-level AI generals.

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Chisato: "Shall we go ahead and observe that battle?"
Goemon: "You can go if you want... I think I will fall alseep during a one-sided massacre."
Chisato: "Ok... see you later."

***

Chisato: "Darn, it was over before I got there! There goes my precious Sunday vacation!" :on_bash:
Goemon: "Yeah. Some things can happen instantly. Oh, by the way, HQ reveals a new mission for you - go meet up with Lord Yasunaga's army and lead them to attack Settsu this season!"
Chisato: "They have already fought two battles. Do they still have the energy to march that far?"
Goemon: "They don't. Your mission is to give them the last push."
Chisato: :on_down: "I need a push myself..."

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Chisato: "Lord Yasunaga, the Settsu castle is right west from there!... I think."
Yasunaga: "Good! Use your last bit of energy to claim Hatakeyama's last province!"

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Chisato: "It is getting dark, my Lord. Shall we wait till tomorrow?"
Yasunaga: "This is the last day of summer - we have to attack so we get something else to do in the fall."
Chisato: "Hm, but the Hatakeya soldiers are defending in the castle."
Yasunaga: "Yeah... judging from the height of the walls, this could be a problem..."

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_048.jpg

Chisato: "Er... my lord, you can take off your telescope."
Yasunaga: "Huh? They are not hiding inside the high walls?" :on_sing:

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Yasunaga: "That was easy work! Thank you, Chisato. We rushed two provinces because of your help." :on_lol:
Chisato: "No problem! All I need is to climb up to a tall tree and the castle sticks out like a sore thumb."
Yasunaga: "Yeah but regular samurai are not insured on falling from trees..."

Note: There are two kinds of level-1 castles where the AI defenders tend to march out of the gate. One is the "+" shaped castle, seen in Settsu, Kai, and a few other provinces. The other is the dumbbell "|-|" shaped castle, seen in Tosa, etc. Both types of castles allow us to easily lure them into traps and destroy. The rest is also easy work by arrows.

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_050.jpg

Chisato: "So does that mean I am insured on falling from trees?"
Yasunaga: "And falling from castle walls."
Chisato: "Sounds dangerous..." :on_bibber:
Momochi Sandayu: "If you practice often, you will not fail! Now go and sabotage some nearby castle gates!"
Chisato: "Yes master. On it!"

***

Yasunaga: "So Momochi, we won three consecutive battles this season! That's not an easy feat."
Sandayu: "Yeah. Let's spread the legend that Lord Yasunaga is the avatar of Amaterasu!"
Yasunaga: "Amaterasu, the great god of sunshine?"
Sandayu: "Yeah! Every summer the people loves you more and fights better!"

Note: The +1 happiness bonus applies to the summer season. However, since the game looks at the happiness of each province at the very beginning of a season, we have to consider the happiness effect during spring. For example, if we project a loyalty at -1 during spring, it will become +0 in the summer. But if we project a loyalty of 0 during summer, it will become -1 in the fall and town growth gets a -25 penalty from unrest.

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Goemon: "Good work, Chisato. The Hattori clan has forced a peace treaty with Hatakeyama. We now have no enemies."
Chisato: "But I cannot relax. Master Momochi asks me to keep improving my skills. It will be terrible to fall from castle walls or trees..."
Goemon: "You know, the official doctrine of the Iga Ninjutsu is "Chant Iga Ninjutsu is Good; the master's spirit protects you. If the power of faith helps you, go ahead."
Chisato: "Yeah I have heard testimonies. Some guy released his kidney or bladder stones when he chanted that. Master Momochi is great! :on_aww:"
Goemon: "Ok~"

End of Chapter 3

Chapter 4. Beach Drops

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Chisato: "Goemon, what's new this season? Any new orders?"
Goemon: "Not really. Keep breaking Hanato's castle gates."
Chisato: "But they keep repairing it... I feel that my life is going nowhere. I am only wasting the clan's funds." :on_corner:
Goemon: "That cannot be farther from the truth. By sabotaging a new neighbor clan's castle, you prevent their recuirtment. If they do not have enough soldiers, they will not declare war on us. In addition, since they cannot recruit more soldiers, they will have more funds leftover and will pay more for our military access. Your missions are definitely profitable."
Chisato: ":on_aww: That's great!"

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Chisato: "Since the clan is also selling military access to the Bessho clan, I guess we also have a Ninja there?"
Goemon: "Exactly. Yukimune is taking care of them as we speak." :on_groucho:
Chisato: "So if we keep sabotaging all our neighbors' castles, we do not even need garrison troops."
Goemon: "Exactly. We can get away with no defending army for a while. But sooner or later the weakened neighbors will be replaced, and we do not have an unlimited supply of Ninja. So this strategy is only a short-term solution."
Chisato: "So what's a long-term solution?"
Goemon: "Expansion!"

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Goemon: "Chisato, you are invited to the birth party of Lord Yasunaga's newborn daughter! A Hattori clan general meeting will follow."
Chisato: "Great! What kind of gift is appropriate for a baby girl?"
Goemon: "You have a bright future, young man." :on_hmm:

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Hattori Yasunaga: "Welcome to the Hattori clan general meeting of Winter 1546. First, let's take a look at the known clans of Japan in Kanji. If you can't read Kanji, you will have to listen to me. :on_sweat:"

To the north of Hattori are the Ikko buddhists in Omi. Omi is the common destination of all eastern clans' westward expansion, so it is best for us to avoid taking possession of it. All we want is to maintain peace with whichever clan that owns Omi. Ikko buddhist currently have other enemies, so their eyes are not on us. Ninja Sanetomo is closely monitering the situation there.

Sanetomo: "The Ikko clan has marched their army away to attack Mino. There is little to worry about."
Yasunaga: "Very good."

To the east of Hattori is the weak Kitabatake clan in Ise. The Kitabatake clan was quite unfriendly to us, so we need to send a Ninja there as soon as possible so they do not have enough army to invade us.

Momochi Sandayu: "We need to hire more ninja!"
Yasunaga: "The Sake Dens are under construction. We will get two more ninjas soon."

To the west of Hattori is the weak Bessho clan in Harima. Bessho is at war with Kikkawa, but it looks like Kikkawa has more enemies.

Sandayu: "If we keep Bessho as a buffer, we should be safe from another powerful enemy."
Yasunaga: "Indeed. We have to use our ninja to control the size of their army - just enough to survive, but not enough to expand. That probably means just a couple of units short of a full stack."

To the northwest is the weak Hanato clan in Tamba. Hanato is sealed off by the successful Takaoka clan. While these two clans just cancelled their alliance. The downfall of Hanato seems unavoidable.

Sandayu: "Takaoka will eventually defeat Hanato. We should find some way to befriend Takaoka."
Yasunaga: "Takaoka's lands are mostly poor - it is not our interest to fight them. Our primary interest lies on the west - the hottest moneymaking spot of Japan - Northern Kyuhu!" :on_sung:
Sandayu: "I will personally lead a full stack of army to start our Kyushu campaign, starting in the northern province of Tsukushi and complete in a counter-clockwise circle."
Yasunaga: "Chisato and Yukimune!"
Chisato & Yukimune: "Here!"
Yasunaga: "You two will board the ship with Momochi. The prosperity of the Hattori clan lies in your hands!"
Chisato & Yukimune: "It is an honor, my Lord!"
Goemon: "Looks like that Chisato is not the only one who offered gifts... :on_hmm:"

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Chisato: "I will be part of the great western campaign! I am too excited to sleep!" :on_skip:
Goemon: "But it won't happen until next Summer... 200+ nights away."
Chisato: "Why wait this long? The ships are ready in a season."
Goemon: "Because we do not have one full stack of army yet, and we can use those army for garrison back home. For now, just keep burning down Hatano's gates."

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Goemon: "Hm, I heard that Momochi recruited two more Ninja, Masataka and Mitsukata, from Iga."
Chisato: "Now there are five of us!"
Goemon: "Yeah. Three Ninjas defending home (by sabotaging neighbor's castles) should be a safe bet. Now the HQ must be thinking about hiring monks."
Chisato: "But the Hattori clan only owns small lots in the towns, and they have been used to build Sake Dens".
Goemon: "Yep. The Sake Dens will be demolished to make room for Temples."
Chisato: "No more pubs to go?" :on_scare:

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Goemon: "Look at this frontline news on [i]Pocket Times[/b]!"
Chisato: "Town folks protest Sake Den demolition? I already read it."
Goemon: "That's on the last issue. This one says the traditional Buddhist rebels in Omi have taken over the province while Ikko Buddhists looked away!"
Chisato: "Wow. I did not know repeatedly burning down castle gates could make people this mad." :on_bash:

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Chisato: "Anymore news from Pocket Times?"
Goemon: "Hm... Hattori has established sea trade with Takaoka through Settsu's port. Not a bad start of a long-term friendship."
Chisato: "Why do we want to befriend Takaoka?" :on_huh:
Goemon: "Because we will have no army in Kinki for a while. We want to befriend everybody. The smaller clans only has one province, so we can temporarily stop their expansion by sabotaging their castle. The largest clans are producing new units anyway, so we better make them like us quickly."
Chisato: "I see..."

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Chisato: "Lord Yasunaga mentioned he will stay and defend Kinki. How does he do that without army?"
Goemon: "Quite similar to what a Ninja does. He picks a castle and constantly harasses it. I think he is on his way to Omi."
Chisato: "What if the rebel sally from the castle?"
Goemon: "He will run around until the rebels get the dinner call."
Chisato: "What if another clan attacks the province?"
Goemon: "They will have to wait until we cancel the siege. Which will never happen."
Chisato: ":on_gjoy: So Omi will be forever a rebel province?"
Goemon: "Exactly. That made our Kinki defence 25% easier. The other three fronts are now maintain by three Ninja."
Chisato: "So we can throw all units at Kyushu!"

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Momochi Sandayu: "Chisato! nice to see you arrive so early."
Chisato: "Yes, I was very excited about this mission. I arrived last night and slept on the deck."
Sandayu: ":on_sweat: Good, good. Well, you must be tired by now. Shipping more than two thousand soldiers with a Bow Kobaya is not an easy task. So you can go ahead and take a nap in the lower cabin."
Chisato: "It is OK. I heard it will take more than 200 days to sail to northern Kyushu. I can rest later."
Sandayu: "This is the inland sea, not the Atlantic Ocean! :on_furious: We will wake you up when we arrive."
Chisato: "Huh...?"

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Chisato: :on_yawn: "Hm... too many people chatting, can't sleep for long. Are we there yet?"
Sandayu: "Not yet. We just discovered that the Ouchi clan is an ally of our target, Shoni clan. Luckily we have prepared gifts to forfeit their alliance."
Chisato: "Ouchi's friendship is quite cheap..."
Sandayu: "Yeah. They are not to be trsuted in the future. Now go back to get some more sleep. We will wake you up when we get there."

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Chisato: :on_yawn: "Are we there yet? Huh? How come I am lying on the sand?"
Goemon: "We tried to wake you up but you slept like a pig. So I carried you down the ship."
Chisato: "Abandoned by the clan? :on_beg: Please give me one more chance!"
Goemon: "Calm down... We were dropped on this beach because Tsukushi beach is too small. We will simply meet up with the army later."
Chisato: "I see... oh, isn't this Yukimune?"
Yukimune: "And you must be Chisato. Nice to meet you! Master Momochi let me tell you that your mission is to accompany his army, while I make sure eastern Kyushu is under control."
Chisato: "It looks like I will see most of the action!"

Note1: Using the ship relay method, it is possible transport an army instantly from one end of Japan to another as long as the relay chain connects. In short, it works like this:

1. Army boards Ship A
2. Ship A sails and merges with Ship B. Important: Ship A must have a little movement left.
3. Ship A sails away, army now with Ship B
4. Ship B sails and merges with Ship C, and son on.

Note2: When unloading units and agents on a beach, if we unload the entire army at once, both the ship and the army will lose all of their movement points. Any agents would be stuck on the ship for another season. However, if we first unload the agents (as in the story), the ship can still use its remaining movement points.

Note3: When unloading units, it is better to unload most, but not all, units first. This way, the general leading the landed unit frequently has a tiny movement left just enough to lay siege on a nearby castle.

In the campaign, Momochi's army left the Settsu port, switched two ships, landed on the beach north of Tsukushi, and took the castle all within the same turn.

End of Chapter 4

Chapter 5. Evasive Invasion

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Goemon: "Chisato, Lord Yasunaga just got another baby girl."
Chisato: "But I am on a beach in Kyushu..."
Goemon: "You can always prepare a gift and ask someone to bring it back."
Chisato: "Yeah. I heard that the Chinese silk is being traded in Hizen. If I can get silk baby clothes..."
Goemon: "I like your taste!"

Note: In this campaign I tried to find out the mechanics of baby makings in the game. Here are the things I found:

1. Babies are born randomly at the beginning of a season. If we can generate a new random seed (such as by loading a new game save), there is a chance of having a baby born in the next season.

2. Babies cannot be born at the beginning of the game for a number of turns. In this game I could not get a baby until turn 7. I wonder whether this is related to the number of territories and number of existing generals.

3. Subsequent babies cannot be born within less than a year.

4. In this campaign, the most (re)productive Hattori Yasunaga I could achieve was to have a new baby on Turn 7, 11, 15, and 19, four autumns in a row. I did not really need so many sons and daughters - just to see what's possible.

Note: Manually fighting a battle generates a new random seed even if you do not load a game - I guess the game is still "loaded" at the end of the battle.

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Chisato: "Ah... I miss the Sake Dens in Kinki. How did the demolition go?"
Goemon: "I heard the temple has been completed in Yamato, famous for its Buddhists roots. The first Hattori monk, Michiharu, is heading to Kyushu."
Chisato: "Oh? What for?"
Goemon: "So many things for monks to do! :on_sing: We will see... "

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_066.jpg

Chisato: "Master Momochi! It is good to see that you took the Tsukushi castle with ease. What is your order?"
Sandayu: "We took Tsukushi easily because Shoni's army is not around - they are somewhere south. Your mission is to report their exact numbers. We will beat them!"
Chisato: "I am on it!"

***

Chisato: "Master Momochi, Shoni's army is just south of Tsukushi. Their army consists of a large number of samurai."
Sandayu: "Samurai?! We... cannot beat them. :on_sweat:"
Chisato: "So what should we do?"
Sandayu: "The Hattori army will directly attack the Hizen castle! You can do whatever you want."
Chisato: "But what about Shoni's army?"
Sandayu: "They will disappear in Tsukushi. :on_panda:"
Chisato: "oh?..."

Note: The #1 cause of death of Shogun 2 AIs is having their home stolen when their army is away in another province.

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_067.jpg

Chisato: "Shoni's samurai army is away, so it looks like Master Momochi took Hizen easily, too."
Goemon: "According to Pocket Times Momochi did not command the castle assault. Let me read the paragraph here..."

General Momochi selflessly allowed his trusted second-in-command, Yari Samurai captain Sawada Takamochi to lead the assault of the castle. The Hattori army fought fiercely under Sawada's command and scored a flawless victory against Shoni's samurai defenders in Hizen.

Chisato: "There are only 45 samurai defenders against two thousand Hattori soldiers... :on_waterfall:"
Goemon: "The general public does not have to know that. Here is another paragraph..."

Being a loyal samurai of the Hattori clan for three generations and a faithful practitioner of Iga Ninjutsu, Captain Sawada has been formally promoted to the rank of family officer."

Chisato: "So this Sawada practices Iga Ninjutsu?"
Goemon: "Maybe? The Pocket Times tends to link any nice person to Iga Ninjutsu anyway. You don't have to take their journalism seriously. :on_shrug:"
Chisato: "Anyway, It is good to see the Hattori clan getting more powerful by the day."

Note: There is a chance to promote a new general after a battle is commanded no existing generals. Conditions:

(1) The scale of the battle is not too small
(2) There cannot be any formal general participating, even as reinforcements
(3) The clan must have more than 1000 in the treasury

The best bet to get new general is to save the game before auto-resolving an easy castle assault. The only drawback of having more generals is that previously promoted generals will receive a loyalty penalty for each additional general promoted after them.

Sandayu: "Welcome to Hizen, Chisato."
Chisato: "Master Momochi, it is good to see you again! Any mission for me?"
Sandayu: "There is always a mission for you. Travel to Higo and try to locate Sagara's army. Sagara is our next target!"
Chisato: "Ok!"

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_068.jpg

Goemon: "So this is Hizen, the richest place in Japan..."
Chisato: "Huh? I thought Kii or the Gold-mine provinces had the highest profit potential."
Goemon: "Hizen is famoous for its foreign trade. Taking control of this province is taking control of the nearby trade nodes. Even with no trade partners, trade profits easily approaches 10,000 koku per season." :on_love:
Chisato: "No wonder the Hattori is upgrading the trading port here... Do we have so much money for all these construction?"
Goemon: "We do not. So we are extending the military access with the Ashikaga Shogunate. They never leave Kyoto anyway..." :on_sweat:

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_069.jpg

Chisato: "Nice, the first trade ship has returned with famed Chinese silk!"
Sandayu: "This is the beginning of Hattori's endless prosperity. :on_lol:"

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_070.jpg

Chisato: "Where have you been, Goemon? We are leaving for Higo soon."
Goemon: "I just returned from the clan meeting."
Chisato: "You were invited?"
Goemon: "Nope. But the security was loose enough so I pretty much eavesdropped the entire session. Mostly boring common sense..."
Chisato: "So what are the decisions?"
Goemon: "The HQ wants the first army to complete the conquest of Kyushu in the counter-clockwise order."
Chisato: "That's not news... :on_sweat: anything else?"

Goemon: "Grab as many trade nodes nearby and flood them with trade ships."
Chisato: "That goes without saying. What else?"

Goemon: "The HQ noted that the Chisokabe clan is about to unite the Shigoku island. So Hattori must launch an attack to Shigoku in the near future."
Chisato: "But we only have one army, and we still have a number of clans to clear up in Kyushu..."
Goemon: "So there must a second army soon!"

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_071.jpg

Chisato: "There is no sighting of Sagara in Higo! Better report this to Master Momochi. By the way I broke their gate lock as usual."
Goemon: "Not necessary! Look who is here!"
Chisato: "Master!" :on_aww:
Sandayu: "Chisato! Congratulations for providing an excellent service to the Hattori clan. I am here to present you the certificate of level 4 ninja!"

Chisato: "Thank you!"
Sandayu: "From now on, you proudly wear... this additional black cloth to cover your mouth."
Chisato: "Huh? That's a reward to achieve a higher level?" :on_Mad:
Sandayu: "The key to survival as a great ninja is low-key, Chisato. For your own protection, you should avoid being identified."
Chisato: "That makes some sense. But why do the high-level monks expose more of their body?"
Sandayu: "They do that? :on_totallove:"

Sandayu: "Oh by the way you can still get another retainer. I give you two choices. Either this wonderfully designed disguise makeup kit to becoming a geisha, or this carefully poisoned dagger. Hm... they are not exactly retainers..."
Chisato: "Why do I want to disguise as a geisha?"
Sandayu: "Sometimes some people like to cross dress, you know? It always gives me the extra pleasure... :on_blush: Er... you didn't hear anything."
Chisato: "I will pick the dagger then~"

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_072.jpg

Chisato: "Goemon, have you heard about other ninjas in the family?"
Goemon: "Sure, from time to time their reports get circulated on Pocket Times. Not long ago there was Masakata's report from Ise, that an large Asai army was spotted and was about to run over the Kitabatake clan, which was chronically weakened :on_injured: by our ninja."
Chisato: "Isn't Asai clan from Wakasa? How did they get there?"
Goemon: "Invasions can go mysteriously ways. Let's hope Imagawa :on_bash: is already defeated by Oda."

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_073.jpg

Chisato: "Poor Kitabatake. They had the funds to hire more troops, but their castle gate is constantly under repair." :on_soul:
Goemon: "Definitely they could donate the extra funds to Hattori before they go out. We will make good use of them."

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_074.jpg

Goemon: "Chisato, did you hear the news that Hattori monks have arrived in Kyushu?"
Chisato: "Makes sense, the rapidly expanding Nanban religion in Kyushu is seeding unrests."
Goemon: "Actually they are here to create unrests." :on_glaugh:
Chisato: "Oh?"
Goemon: "Brute expansion easily gets other clans angry... although apparently it only applies to us. So we need to avoid taking provinces from another clan."
Chisato: "Then how do we expand?"
Goemon: "We take it from the hands of rebels, who replafce the clans."
Chisato: "Wonderful diplomatic agents!" :on_angel:

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_075.jpg

Chisato: "Goemon, so what's the HQ's response of the new neighbor Sakai?"
Goemon: "Other than selling them military access? I guess Masakata will keep breaking their castle gates..."
Chisato: "I am glad I did not get assigned to that boring job..." :on_sweat:

@Maltz

This clearly deserves more attention.
Mind if I dedicate a new article on this and post the story again in the AAR section of the mead hall?

Of course - thank you!

http://ccc-ccc.ca/tmp/temp_2012/stw2...attori_076.jpg

Goemon: "Chisato, Hattori has declared war to Sagara! Momochi's army is at the border of Higo."
Chisato: "Sagara's ally Ito has also declared war on Hattori. Must let Master Momochi know!"