War with the Mori



Good news, Mori has moved his big army out of Wakasa and into Echizen to mount an attack on Kaga. He seems to be treating me as an ally. Well, that will change.



Perfect! Mori has taken Yamato. Now he is within striking range. I send a tiny force to take Kii, my heir to take on Lord Mori, and 4 yari samurai + one of my new yari cavalry to take kawachi. Should have some spring rain and I can send the cavalry over to distract the enemy while my infantry charge. The elimination of Lord Mori will deprive them of their best general and might send their interior into revolt.



In the west the situation is dire. I have a limited capacity for troop training with only one province even having a castle. The Mori armies grow larger by the day. If one of my guardian armies break I stand to lose the whole of kyushu to the wretched Mori.

Kawachi



No good at all. The AI deploys right up on the bridge, something they do in bad weather at times. I shouldn't have chosen heavy rain, now my yari cavalry is useless instead of being a battle winner.



Still, 4 yari samurai should be able to take out an ashi and 1 ys.



More like "wannabe hideaki"!

My hope is to kill Lord mori in battle but he retreats after losing 60 men to archer fire. Kii is defended by a 45 man yari sam unit and is taken after a tough little battle.



Lord Mori is free of the trap and my lines are looking thin. The defeat in kawachi could be very costly. I have to take it now.

2nd battle for Kawachi



Lord Mori invades yamashiro and leaves a small garrison. I was very happy to see these nodachi...my archers get them down to 2 men and then we charge across. Anticlimactic, but I'm just happy to have the province. Killed 63 lost 71. Mori decides not to press his luck in yamashiro.

Battle for Buzen



Mori invades with his full strength. He has 700 men to my 460. And he actually has a substantial number of yari samurai.



He sends two ashigaru on a flanking maneuver, however I have yari samurai hidden in those woods so they are no threat. I order my archers to fire first at the ashigaru, then at the enemy taisho.



Even before I outflank the enemy line their taisho flees from a combination of archer fire and fleeing ashigaru. Rather cowardly in any case. I kill 374 and lose 68.



However, my situation is hardly improved. There is still a large army in nagato and an even larger one in Iyo, under a four star general no less. I begin making plans for if my armies should fall.



In the east the situation is not much better. I have 5 provinces on my front and am outnumbered by the Uesugi and Mori. Troop training will be a priority next year. Unfortunately I am still forced at this time to keep my taxes on lowest due to not training many shinobi and being forces to defend kyushu.

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This is one of my favorite campaigns so far--usually in shogun the first couple years are challenging and then you get on a roll and no one threatens you. Not so here!