ODA ~ From Such Humble Beginnings

**Wishazu** · 01-15-2009, 14:23

ODA ~ A Knife In the Back

Autumn, 1550 As promised, Katsuie has retaken the castle in Aki but reports that the enemy burnt everything to the ground. He has begun rebuilding, but it will take a few years to get Aki back in shape.

Spring, 1551 Nobunaga has reached the age where he can now be of service to me. I have given him command of a small army in Owari with orders to move into Ise in the winter.

Winter, 1551 Nobunaga has taken Ise with no difficulty. I will expect great deeds of him in the future.

Summer, 1552 I have honoured them for years now but my alliance with the Hojo has outlived it`s usefulness. I have sent an emmissary to find Lord Uesugi and see if he is still keen to join forces. I will need strong allies soon to counter Shimazu expansion. Nobunaga reports that he has finished building a castle in Ise and that the province is now firmly under our control.

Autumn, 1552 Again we were caught off guard this season, Katsuie left Aki to attack Bingo but was forced to call it off and move to Iwami. Two days after he left Aki, Samurai in the service of the treacherous Lord Shimazu, disguised as common sailors were able to come ashore undetected. The garrison realised something was wrong but my Ashigaru were no match for Shimazu`s elite No-Dachi swordsmen.

This blatant treachery has resulted in both Hojo and Takeda breaking contact with Shimazu in favour of myself. I suppose I make a usefull buffer between the Shimazu and their lands.

Winter, 1552 In an attempt to throw Shimazu off balance I ordered Hiraga Genshin to invade Kyushu. I doubt Shimazu believed us possible of such an attack and hopefully this will give him pause for thought, we need time to reinforce. Though Hiraga was able to quickly conquer Buzen, I ordered him to remain there, I dare not risk his army being cut off in Kyushu. Katsuie has easily retaken Aki and will hold their for the time being.

Summer, 1553 Lord Shimazu has personally taken Bingo province, he is closing in on Aki.

Autumn, 1553 In an attempt to kill the betrayer, Katsuie launched a surprise attack into Bingo which completely surprised Shimazu, however, Shimazu and his army managed to escape to Bitchu. His time will come. Genshin successfully fought off an attempt to push him out of Buzen, though he reports heavy casualties. I have told him to hold for the time being but to return to Nagato at the first sign of a major attack.

Spring, 1555 It has been almost two years and their has been very little development in the war with the Shimazu, though Genshin was finally forced to yield Buzen and has now returned to Nagato. My spies report that Shimazu is planning a massive assualt across the water into Nagato within a year or two. Genshin will make whatever preperations he can.

Winter, 1556 I have cancelled my alliance with Lord Hojo, though not due to a new alliance with the Uesugi - he refuses to meet my emmissary, but because of a new conflict between themselves and the Takeda. Genshin abandoned Nagato last week. A massive Shimazu army landed on the coast and rather than risk a costly battle Genshin is going to head back to Aki where he and Katsuie can unite and launch a counter-offensive to drive the Shimazu back into the sea. I trust Genshin`s judgement and have absolute faith he will achieve this. In the meantime he has left a network of spies in Nagato to stir up as much trouble as they can for the invaders.

Spring, 1557 Katsuie and Genshin have joined forces in Aki to prepare for the coming battle.

In Nagato, my spies have arranged for a huge revolt, the loyalists are ready to attack the Shimazu forces immediately. I do not hold out much hope for their success but whatever they can achieve by way of damage to enemy forces will greatly help the war effort.

A message arrived from my agents deep behind enemy lines. The entire island of Shikoku is now in open revolt! It would appear that my former ally is now stuck in Honshu, If I could just track him down...

Summer, 1557 Genshin has taken overall command of the situation in Aki and has retaken Suo. Shimazu was unable to stop this as his forces were busy in Nagato with the rebels, sadly all my loyalists there were wiped out. Katsuie remains with a smaller force to defend Aki. Closer to home, the Asakura clan have employment many warrior monks in their bid for power and recognition and have attacked Mitsuhide in Echizen. Mitsuhide was victorious but at great cost. He reports that he will not be able to stop another such attack and may be forced to abandon the province next season.

Autumn, 1557 As predicted the Asakura have once again attacked Echizen and Mitsuhide was forced to beat a hasty retreat to Mino.

Spring, 1558 In an attempt to stre

**patdj** · 01-15-2009, 16:10

THRILLING!

Looks like Shimazu was a bit overconfident. Could be your chance to kick him seriously. Still he seems to have massive armies though and the rebels cause a lot of trouble. Do you have enough forces left to stand your ground or even expand? There's a bit of a cash flow problem, isn't it?

Good luck then!

PS: There is a bit missing of Spring 1558.

**Wishazu** · 01-15-2009, 16:46

Originally Posted by patdj

THRILLING!

Looks like Shimazu was a bit overconfident. Could be your chance to kick him seriously. Still he seems to have massive armies though and the rebels cause a lot of trouble. Do you have enough forces left to stand your ground or even expand? There's a bit of a cash flow problem, isn't it?

Good luck then!

PS: There is a bit missing of Spring 1558.

Yeah, since I lost Aki twice everything I built there is ruined so producing troops is going slow. In Owari everything is cool but I cant produce enough troops for my whole empire from there.

What is missing in Spring 1558?

**Wishazu** · 01-15-2009, 21:47

Gah! My campaign has taken a massive turn for the worse. My invasion of Kyushu backfired, I`ll post the update tomorrow probably.

**caravel** · 01-16-2009, 00:04

Campaigns get interesting when they take a turn for the worse. I hope to see some screenshots and a report of your progress in turning it around. Don't give up!

-Edit: I lost Aki twice in that Takeda campaign as well. In the end I gave up trying to hold on to it and moved into the Shimazu land.

Sometimes losing a province you've invested time and money in can be disheartening. But I find that it's always a lesson and I end up kicking myself for not protecting my important provinces better or for over-stretching too much.

**Magraev** · 01-16-2009, 13:19

Very interesting AAR. I wish someone made a mod of Shogun using the M2tw engine. I just find the old shogun too limited to play now (it's on the shelf but off the hd).

**caravel** · 01-16-2009, 16:17

There is a very good Shogun mod of MTW and I believe there were/are some Shogun mods being worked on for RTW. I'm not sure what stage they're at however as I haven't heard much about them lately. As for me I prefer STW for the simplicity of the campaign map game and better tactical battles.