There is a madness in his method

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Rumor had it that Takeda Nobutora was insane. He had miraculously survived the geisha assassination attempt but the poison had supposedly affected his mind. The generals he had called to a meeting were apprehensive. The fact that he was stroking his ear with a feather and chewing on his pinky while his top general advised him did not ease their anxiety.

"My lord" his advisor said, "an empire divided can not stand"

Nobutora nodded his head in agreement. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all the generals thought. His advisor relaxed a little and continued:

"We should abandon Aki to the Mori and launch an all out assault on Musashi. With you leading us we will secure the rich farmland that is worth more than Aki Bingo and Bitchu combined!"

"Nonsense!" said Nobutora. "It is quite clear that we must conquer the provinces in between. Japan must be split in half, straight down the middle, the pigeon god demands it!"

One of the generals protested, and was immediately killed by the daimyo's bodyguard. The others agreed that the plan was excellent. Mimasaka, Harima, Tamba, Yamashiro, Omi, Mino and Shinano would connect the two halves once conquered. A mere 7 provinces the most optimistic of the generals said. The more realistic minded thought to themselves that such a chain would be indefensible. Suo, Kozuke, Shimotsuke and muwa would complete the split of honshu, and then all that remained would be awaji, sanuki, iyo, bungo, and chikugo would complete the split. It was a daunting task but the generals had no choice other than to make the best of it and wait for Nobutora to die. The rules he had laid out were that no other provinces were to be occupied although they were allowed to raid, that they were not to assassinate the royalty of other clans and were to leave them alive on the battlefield if possible. As for nobutora himself he declared that he was to old for battle (despite being in his 30's) and that he would not leave the castle in Kai.

(Sengoku Jidai, Expert, conquer japan or last 70 years)

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Starting of the campaign I decide I must face the mori first. Taking and holding shinano would require all my strength and lord mori will be coming for me on day one. I build a gold mine in Kai, an archery dojo in Aki, and train an ashigaru in Kai. Shifting troops over to the west.



Not a great start. Mori had 300 troops vs my 180 in bingo and if I recall correctly the Mori don't have many ashigaru. I decline combat. He sends a yari samurai and an archer unit against my CA in Bitchu which I wipe out with a loss of 1. I see that Mimasaka is empty, it won't be for long of course but I can wipe out a couple infantry units with a cavalry archer. I send it into Mimasaka and the bulk of my troops into bingo. Hopefully I can destroy the buildings of Mimasaka and cripple the mori early.



Ouch. Lord mori himself defends Mimasaka. Impossible to win but I can't retreat since the Mori army has taken bitchu. I take out half the ashigaru unit accompanying lord mori before routing. My only ranked general gone. I simply can't let them get entrenched in bitchu though, especially since it's one of the few decent koku value provinces over here.



Youch, not used to losing battles on shogun. Mori moves to defend bitchu and brings troops with him. I have about a 150 less than them. I try my luck anyway and get defeated, about 150 lost for 90 killed. I'm going to have to settle back and build up. Fortunately things are going well economically, gold mine in Kai and a silver mine in Aki. Only managed to get one alliance (hojo) before my emissary was assassinated though.


Invading Suo. Can't have the Mori training troops over there and need to close down that front as much as I can (hah). Not my best battle, I'm a bit rusty I'm afraid, lost a unit of CA. I've been training archers and Aki and cavalry in Kai and sending them over, reinforced Kai a bit as well.



Hmm, Mori suggests peace...


To be continued...

[Wishazu]

Looks like fun lol

[Sasaki Kojiro]

It seems Lord Mori's two victories over my armies have made him over confidant. His army in Bitchu is no stronger than mine. Or perhaps he thought I would accept his offer of peace...

Mori's army in Bitchu had many half units in it from my last attempt. A cavalry unit that was charged over the bridge distracted them and spread out their army, lord mori fled with most of his troops.



Seeing no advantage in remaining stationary and allowing Mori to build an army I invade Mimasaka as quickly as I can...unfortunately my build up of troops in bitchu had tipped my hand to him and he sent heavy reinforcements to the province. I am outnumbered two to one...

He is deployed directly in front of me, with three yari samurai on his right and three yari ashigaru on his left. I move to the left naturally, and take the high ground with my cavalry while my archers march straight up the middle.



As my cavalry came into position my archers suddenly shifted to the right and took the high ground as well. I aim to destroy the ashigaru quickly.


One of his archer units wander to far and I take it out with my cavalry. Too late, his army makes a dash for the woods. I chase down his last archer unit, now I can sit back and shoot at will.


The young taisho's inexperience shows as he is unable to organize his men. Arrows rain down upon them.




Yukitora has reached rank 3. 200 men are trapped in the castle, from the looks of things they are the majority of the Mori troops. They are expected to sally forth, and this time mori himself will have to be dealt with. I have begun to train shinobi as they will be essential in keeping my populace happy and in creating rebellions among my enemies. In the east a fortress is being constructed, soon to be followed by a mine complex...the daimyo's son will come of age soon as well, no doubt he will have his sights set on shinano.

[patdj]

I'm curious how the non-crusader version works out. Nicely described, good to follow, but: is anything happening near the Kantô?

[zyxophoj]

The others agreed that the plan was excellent. Mimasaka, Harima, Tamba, Yamashiro, Omi, Mino and Shinano would connect the two halves once conquered.

I suppose that's one way to deal with the divided starting position. This should be interesting.

[Thermal]

I suppose that's one way to deal with the divided starting position. This should be interesting.

but look how vunerable it would make you defensively? good luck!

[Wishazu]

I can`t wait for the next bout of madness

[Adam99]

I think its genius! Its certainly different to the usual abandon either the east or the west strategies. Very risky though, will leave a massive defensive line and will probably need a few good sized garrisons, but if you manage it it will leave Mori and Oda in a mess.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Btw, does anyone remember the key you hit to zoom out on the campaign map? I remember it being page down and page up but they don't seem to work...

Sorry about the large image size of the last two posts, I'd forgotten that I could convert the tga's to jpeg. Paint shop pro lets you do it in batch. I'm on day 1522 of 30 day trial

***************

The Mori will surely sally forth from the castle bring in more troops for support. I bolster Mimasaka as much as I can and send a few dozen men to bizen to raize it to the ground if they abandon it.



Mori doesn't even attempt to rescue the troops in Mimasaka. 200 die in the seige. I invade Harima and they give it up without a fight. The mine is still there, nice! I forgot that invaders don't autopillage mines. I can see the Mori has many more troops than I thought though, doubtless they will attack Harima.


Or perhaps they'll invade bitchu instead

I move half the harima army back to Mimasaka in readiness to attack bitchu. Send raiders to hizen again.


Gah! Shimazu has invade suo with a yari samurai and two ashigaru. Killed many but didn't handle the battle that well. Thought I could rout the yari sam taisho, should perhaps have drawn back and attacked the ashigaru. Tea house destroyed but they will not hold the province.


mmph. Shameful. I optimistically defend Bingo hoping for some ashigaru units. But they are all samurai. Mori's hatomato unit catches the yari samurai in the woods and ties both of them up. Things are not going to well.



The large castle is complete in Aki. It must be defended, the troops sent from back east will help. Suo must be retaken as well and the tea house rebuilt. The shinobi have demonstrated their usefulness with a loyalist revolt in bitchu. My raid on bizen was forced to withdraw when they moved troops in.


Hah, another loyalist revolt! My army in bitchu is ready to strike. Suo has been retaken.


I drive Mori out of bingo. My shinobi cause a revolt in hoki. Things are looking good, he does not have the manpower to strike at any of my provinces and he has to be hurting for money.


They finally invade harima. Archers prove their worth yet again. Mori is certainly hurting for men now...


The rebels have taken hoki and inaba and my shinobi are taking up position in other provinces. I'm positioning my best generals in places of need. My finances are in excellent shape.


Perfect. A failed invasion of bitchu.


Shingen! As well as naginata cavalry. A potent combination. Now the question is, do I continue to push past Harima to yamashiro, or do I build up an army with Shingen and take on Shinano?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I'm curious how the non-crusader version works out. Nicely described, good to follow, but: is anything happening near the Kantô?

So far nothing happening in that region. Built the mine complex asap. Now I have 2000 koku a year from mines.

I think its genius! Its certainly different to the usual abandon either the east or the west strategies. Very risky though, will leave a massive defensive line and will probably need a few good sized garrisons, but if you manage it it will leave Mori and Oda in a mess.

The shinobi are turning out to be my greatest ally. With the rebellions they caused plus a couple key defenses the western portion is safe. The east will be trickier since those clans are much richer than the mori...

[ReluctantSamurai]

An approach certainly to be commended for its freshness. Now the question is.......sustaining your hard-fought gains

[Thermal]

you've had that area of land like a yo-yo glad to see its secure now though, shinobi are so underrated

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Bad news--Lord Uesugi has lost a battle and was forced to commit seppuku. The Hojo are becoming very powerful.



It takes a couple years to get Shingen's army ready because of the size of Hojo's forces in Musashi.


Easy as pie.


After the siege is done Shingen invades Kozuke.


And then Mutsu to take away the troop production and link up with the monk producing facilities in Aki.


The Hojo have other plans! Nobutora will have to rouse himself for battle...


The hojo general is an idiot...instead of heading right up the hill into the cover of the woods he circles the base of the cliff while getting torn apart by arrows. A commendation for Hiraga Nobuharu, I believe each man in his unit killed enough to be considered a legendary swordsman...


Raiders are sent to raize Musashi and then Shimosa...they will finish up by destroying kazusa, burning the port behind them as the leave. The loss of the hojo army in the attack on Kai has crippled them.

The shimazu make an attempt on suo but are thrown back easily.


Kozuke is conquered, Dewa is destroyed, and Shingen is preparing an army for the attack on Mino...just 4 provinces left to slice honshu in half.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Invasion time! I really have no idea what kind of forces the Oda have.


Shingen moves quickly to grab the high ground in the middle of the map and the Oda army retreats to a ridge at the back.


Unfortunately for them this position is not a strong one and Shingen outflanks them


Seeing this the Oda taisho withdraws his troops


Not quite quickly enough however...the two naginata units were especially easy to chase down.


After years of getting plenty of koku I am struggling...the high cost of garrisons in east is hurting me. I build improved farmland in mutsu.


The Oda interior seems to be deserted. Shingen will wait to finish the siege but the invasion of tamba can begin now.


Perfect! Mino is one of the easiest provinces to defend. They bring 1500 to my 800. The Oda general in Tamba retreats in the face of my army and the Shimazu attack on Harima is beaten back with no trouble


I deploy up close, and hide two naginata cavalry in the woods to the right. Have just about the perfect army for this map--perhaps a CA in place of one of the yari sams.


Hmm, it seems lord imagawa has taken the opportunity to invade as well...they don't seem to be very coordinated though!


Imagawa has moved around to the flank, but oda has marched in two quickly and been destroyed by arrow fire.


The monks charge down one side of the hill and rout the oda...


Then down the other to route the imagawa...half my cavalry chase down the oda and deal with some archer reinforcements while the other half come out of hiding. One of those units distracts some imagawa infantry while the other hits the archers.



A crushing defeat for the enemy...about half my casualties came from carelessly chasing down a unit of withdrawing yari samurai with my cavalry. Seems they still wanted to fight.



So, two decisive battles in mino plus a castle siege end up costing the enemy 2000 men...really eases the pressure on my garrisons.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Yukitora has been promoted to rank 4, good to see. He was the man responsible for defeating the Mori. The koku situation is bad so I send raiding parties into owari and totomi. I'm also massing my shinobi in tamba, I will use there skills on the lightly defended oda territories. For a long time I had 8 shinobi in nagato, they caused many rebellions there but the shimazu have built up enough of a force that they are no longer effective. Most of them are honor 3 or 4 now though. I assume this improves their effectiveness. I send half of these 8 to kyushu and half to the oda area.



The invasion of Owari is a breeze...



As is the defense of Mino, even without shingen...



The totomi raiding party withdraws since they were outnumber two to one and facing a four star general. Shinobi cause a rebellion in Chikugo as soon as they arrive. Sending more into kawachi. Shingen invades Omi. On a roll now. Their armies are really no match for mine.


Shinobi cause revolts in Higo and Kawachi. Omi province has been conqured.


More revolts in kyushu as well as an ikko ikki revolt in yamato. The rebels have taken kawachi and Iga has been raized. The conquest of yamashiro will split honshu in half.


Like this:


Victory! Who would have known that crazy Nobutora's plan would pay off. The emperor demands that all the other clans unite behind a takeda shogunate. Normally they would refuse but they have no choice in this case. The hojo's armies have been crushed and their best provinces burned. The oda lost thousands of men in Mino and half their provinces have been conquered by rebellions started by takda shinobi. The Mori and Shimazu attempt an unholy alliance but are still unable to make a dent in the garrison at Harima (seriously, have you ever seen the Shimazu and Mori allied?). The Imagawa are still in decent shape...perhaps they are waiting...



Victory! Who would have known that crazy Nobutora's plan would pay off. The emperor demands that all the other clans unite behind a takeda shogunate. Normally they would refuse but they have no choice in this case. The hojo's armies have been crushed and their best provinces burned. The oda lost thousands of men in Mino and half their provinces have been conquered by rebellions started by takeda shinobi. The Mori and Shimazu attempt an unholy alliance but are still unable to make a dent in the garrison at Harima (seriously, have you ever seen the Shimazu and Mori allied?). The Imagawa are still in decent shape...perhaps they are waiting for a time when the takeda lords are sleeping soundly...

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Very enjoyable campaign! Makes a nice break from the usual conquer all of japan mode which I'm pretty tired of. I have to say it turned out far easier than I thought it would. It started out tough, the Mori had an edge on me for a while until the shinobi turned the tide by starting two rebellions for me and causing 3 in mori territory. After big victories defending Harima and Bitchu they were finished. During the period where Shingen was building his army the task still looked daunting. But then during a 4 year period the takeda armies killed 5000 enemy troops in battle, burned 5 of the richest enemy provinces and sent several more into rebellion. The combination of shinobi, raiding, and archers and hilltops was too much.

[zyxophoj]

I think I've been upstaged.
Great job, and a good demonstration of playing to hurt your enemies.

[Wishazu]

Brilliant, now do it with Imagawa and i`ll be doubly impressed. I love reading these kind of campaigns as i`m pretty much a hardcore turtler.

[patdj]

Very enjoyable to read. Congratulations!

[Adam99]

Brilliant!! Very novel approach, looked shaky at the start but pulled around nicely.

[Drisos]

Lol! That's some true madness indeed! :P I'd never pull off such a wicked goal in so few time! I'm always amazed how you manage to keep loyalty, defend, and even conquer with so few troops!
It's hard enough to go through Shinano, Oda, and Mori lands, and as shown here the Shimazu and Hojo on the edges just can't be ignored. However, you seem to pull off any kind of outnumbered battle, making such path for the clan possible. :)

Nice story too. Lightweight but fun. Fun part that the lazy daimyo is forced to do battle and then killed 97 with his bodyguard. lol. :)

In short: Thanks for the story! :)