Oda 1550

[Sasaki Kojiro]

In my Imagawa campaign, I found a way around one of the problems that can make Shogun campaigns boring: the set path to victory (first turn send troops from Kai and Sagami into musashi and move troops from west into aki etc etc). But the problem I was left with was that the battles were too easy and that the best strategy was to pump out as many samurai archers and yari samurai as possible.

So in this campaign, I seek to rectify both of those problems. First, I went into troopstats.txt and gave all units +4 morale and +2 defense (except gunners who I gave -2 morale and defense). Basically, I was sick of the enemy armies routing before I'd even finished my flanking maneuver.

Second, I decided to not train any yari samurai, samurai archers, warrior monks, or naginata cavalry as those are the best units in the game. Muskets are powerful too but I weakened them a bit and they have novelty value anyway.

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https://img140.imageshack.us/img140/...0000004fh7.jpg

Excellent, I'm burning a 4 star general and two 3 star generals

I send Nobuhiro and four units of ashigaru to Mino.

https://img140.imageshack.us/img140/...0000011vz8.jpg

Love the 120 man units! My spears make short work of their cavalry. I get a legendary swordsman in the first battle! Lucky, without monks I'll be needing the nodachi.

https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7160/00000015me7.jpg

I plan to get Naginata infantry asap. I'll need them against the monks.

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The next couple years are building years. With the horse dojo complete in owari, I train my first unit of cavalry archers. I also get my first heir, Oda Nobunaga, a 5 star general. Imagawa has left Mikawa lightly guarded in his attempts to take Shinano. I will take the chance to secure the border.

I send my daimyo over to distract them and then charge over the armored ashi's and cavalry archers. I send the ashi's after the lone yari sam unit, my daimyo into the enemy taisho (I forget how much weaker the hatamato is on the 120 man unit setting), and my cavalry archers into another archer. I don't like the matchup much but they have 2 weapon upgrades and I don't want them showering my ashigaru with arrows. I'm impressed by the way the battle goes, the fighting is slower (no doubt 120 man helps as well as the beefed up defense) and the units don't rout to fast.

https://img228.imageshack.us/img228/...0000024bx2.jpg

I kill 430 and lose 174.

Arrrg! Oda Nobunaga died in the battle for Mikawa. Often happens when have an heir fighting under a daimyo. But I wanted to use the cavalry unit. Oh well.

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Totomi is next. I don't intend to keep it but I need 1 more win to get my daimyo to rank 4 and the koku from burning the buildings should come in handy. I lose 48 men and kill 251, including Lord Imagawa.

https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2338/00000038pe7.jpg

The koku from totomi pays for a citadel in Owari. I am training naginata in Mino and the takeda have abandoned shinano to attack etchu so I will take it. I would like some heavy cavalry. I take shinano without a fight--unexpected good luck this is.

https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/947/00000042qn6.jpg

Well, here's some bad luck. Rebellion in Mikawa and the ronin invade Mino. My ashigaru can't possible defend. I lose the armory, the famous spear dojo, and the unit of naginata I was training, 1650 koku!

https://img156.imageshack.us/img156/...0000048ys9.jpg

Terrible, absolutely terrible. 1800 koku worth of buildings destroyed, 1500 koku spent on citadel wasted, 1000 koku on cavalry archer unit being trained lost, and I miss the visit from the portuguese. Well they say a rocky start makes a good campaign.

Caravel you tried to warn me but I didn't listen! I forgot the ronin are much more aggressive when not playing sengoku jidai. Well I won in mino so we'll see if I can knock them out of owari.

[Thermal]

your lands have either rebels emerging or attacking from nearby provinces, get your tea houses and shinobi to maintaince order, maybe you could start from scratch if it means keeps Owari. As it will be an invaluable facility for you

You could withdraw from shinano, or use some of the troops there to attack hida perhaps? or mino to omi? it may distract the rebels and it is poorly guarded.

[caravel]

Caravel you tried to warn me but I didn't listen! I forgot the ronin are much more aggressive when not playing sengoku jidai. Well I won in mino so we'll see if I can knock them out of owari.

You have made a better start than I had, though taking Mino so early was probably the one mistake. If you head for either Ise, Mino or Omi you will be attacked the following turn by hordes of monks. The most realistic option is to head for Imagawa first and then Takeda. In most campaigns you'd certainly go for the ronin from the off, but in this one they are far too strong.

[Adam99]

Think you went for Shinano a little too early as well, a little too rapid in expansion rather then settling into to the new areas. The ronin really are a handful.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

The Attack on Owari--rebels have 900 troops I have 1000.

https://img514.imageshack.us/img514/...0000051va7.jpg

I send my daimyo and a CA over the bridge to distract the enemy. They chase with one of their three monk units. The key this battle will be spreading out the enemy so I deal with the monk units one by one. The enemy blocks the bridge with a yari sam unit before I can get the second CA over.

https://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1618/00000053lz4.jpg

Success! You can't see it, but the enemy monk taisho is chasing one of my CA units over to the other side of the map. My second CA is shooting at the monk unit and my infantry is pouring over the bridge. The other monk unit and archers are distracted by my ashi troops pretending to attack the second bridge.

https://img124.imageshack.us/img124/...0000054dd6.jpg

The first monk unit gets mobbed and routs. The yari sam already fled.

https://img124.imageshack.us/img124/...0000056ct9.jpg

After making short work of the archers I gang up on the 2nd monk unit. You can see the taisho is way off in the background. After this one routs he decides to withdraw and most of his unit gets cut down from behind by my cavalry.

https://img513.imageshack.us/img513/...0000059kb6.jpg

A nice solid victory. Need to remember to quit treating my daimyo like superman though. Note to self, 11 heavy cavalry cannot defeat 120 archers.

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That's cleared things up nicely--although I do have to retake mino since the ronin attacked it again. After that Ise will be my target, for the rich farmland and buddhist temple I want to destroy. Next I might try to conquer Kii and then Kawachi, hopefully getting the yamashiro monks to attack me there. I'm sending my emissary over to scout.

https://img117.imageshack.us/img117/...0000067xz6.jpg

My emissary reports that yamashiro has 4 warrior monks and 3 archers. Apparently there is a famous buddhist temple in the area because the monks are honor 2. My daimyo invades Ise. The garrison in Shinano has been bolstered to discourage invasion by any of the other clans. The army in Ise declines a fight and retreats to the castle. My men torch the temple.

https://img117.imageshack.us/img117/...0000070vj8.jpg

Hmm, the garrisons of Kii, Yamato, and Iga all invade Ise. Much better than the sengoku campaign where the ronin will sometimes send one unit to an empty province. I must build my army for a counterattack.

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A year later I invade. The ronin retreat however, leaving nearly 400 men to rot in the castle. Fine by me. However, I'm not going to be able to follow through with my plan to conquer kii and kawachi due to the presence of the army in Omi. I'll have to attack omi and then yamashiro directly. I train some naginata infantry in preperation.

https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/...0000075qe1.jpg

After the siege is over (I assault on the last season as usual). I have taken Omi, the ronin retreated to Wakasa.

https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/...0000080el8.jpg

The emperor backs the oda clan! The ronin retreated from yamashiro without a fight. I burn the famous temple.

https://img519.imageshack.us/img519/...0000082ym6.jpg

Ah, of course. The counterattack. I was prepared for it though, I moved most of my Omi troops into yamashiro including my third unit of naginata infantry. It all comes down to one epic battle!

[Wishazu]

You have made a better start than I had, though taking Mino so early was probably the one mistake. If you head for either Ise, Mino or Omi you will be attacked the following turn by hordes of monks. The most realistic option is to head for Imagawa first and then Takeda. In most campaigns you'd certainly go for the ronin from the off, but in this one they are far too strong.

Just look at what happened to me in my oda campaign

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Battle for Yamashiro



I deploy my cavalry archers up in front and the rest of my army at the very back. They have over 800 warrior monks.



One of the samurai archer units gets too far ahead of the rest and I destroy it with my cavalry. Now they are massing monks on my right flank so I send two cavalry archers over that way. The other lines up on the left and tries to shoot the monk taisho, he is too well protected by archers though.



My archers do a nice amount of damage. Now my naginata charge in to hold the enemy while the ashigaru flank them.



On the other side my men rout an enemy ashigaru unit and then go after the archers. I can't afford to let the archers shoot at my ashigaru. One of their monk unit takes the bait and chases my cavalry archer.



These monks are weakened by archer fire, overwhelmed by numbers and outflanked by ashigaru. They rout after a little while, after inflicting heavy casualties.



On the other side, my men are outmatched by two full strength monk units and under heavy archer fire. My cavalry archers swoop in on their archers and my infantry from the right flank charge them as well.



Nooo! Thankfully only the left side of my army routs. I still have 2 ashis, two cavalry archers and two naginata.



My men make mincemeat of their archers while the monks chase my fleeing troops.



All over now.



Huge field of corpses!



Heavy casualties taken, but the ronin are all but wiped out. Central japan is mine for the taking.

[Adam99]

Very nicely done, looked like an epic battle. Guess the plan is to roll up central Honshu, but then East or West?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

10 Years pass



The great victory in Yamashiro was a victory over all of central japan. Six undefended provinces were there for the taking and the Oda clan quickly took them. Oda marched next into shikoku, meeting very little resistance there, not a single Oda warrior lost his life. At this point Lord Oda ordered a the a halt on all conquests. The Oda had only attacked until they had the backing of the emperor and Oda felt that the other daimyo's would accept his governance in time. He built up infrastructure all throughout his lands and soon his clan was the richest, strongest and most technologically advanced of all clans. The others did not accept his rule however. The Uesugi had become arrogant after defeating the Hojo...




(the plan is to attempt the "keep your clan alive for 70 years" victory)

[Wishazu]

Good luck mate, I`m looking forward to an epic battle report from Shinano there.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I'm getting sick of defending Shinano, I'll think I'll abandon in a couple years when I have a new heavy cavalry producing place. Maybe I can get the AI to attack me in totomi instead. The problem with the uesugi is that they never field enough melee infantry.

[patdj]

Why abandon it?
This looks awesome. Uesugi is burning all his koku there... Totomi is crappy to defend, or am I wrong?

Hm? A two men Kensai unit? Can you merge them?

[ReluctantSamurai]

A two men Kensai unit? Can you merge them?

No. He's playing on Large unit setting. This is double the normal size, hence the two Kensei....

I'll think I'll abandon in a couple years when I have a new heavy cavalry producing place.

But where to? It seems your heavy cav is producing the better part of your kills, and Shinano is the place for cavalry?!?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Shame to give it up since I just built the legendary horse dojo there. But I have a legendary armory in omi and could build a famous dojo easily. Besides, maybe my infantry would actually get to fight

patdj, I'm tired of defending shinano. Same battle each time, my muskets shoot them up from the cliff and the AI struggles to climb the hill, getting caught in the corner. Massacre.

[patdj]

I think I must get used to the fact that you have done too much campains already to just fight for winning, it's more about HOW you win, right? :D

Hm, I'm confused about the Kensai. Iirr I played my Shimazu and my Hojo campain on large size, too but did not train 2men-Kensai units. I'll check on that.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I think it was changed in the patch.

[zyxophoj]

One advantage of the 2-man kensai is that you can see what formation it's in.

Do 1-man kensai still get the benefits of formations?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I can't imagine loose formation gives them any benefit lol. I don't really see the point of any other formation, kensai come with like 20 attack points.

[patdj]

That's what I wondered about too. When my single Kensai were under archer fire, I still used to put them in loose formation.

Hm, but somehow it seems that my patch did not work. I think I need to reinstall.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Well shogun tracks each projectile and records a kill when it hits something. Loose formation works because when an archer misses he's less likely to hit another guy by accident. That's why bridges are such death traps

[caravel]

I'm getting sick of defending Shinano, I'll think I'll abandon in a couple years when I have a new heavy cavalry producing place. Maybe I can get the AI to attack me in totomi instead. The problem with the uesugi is that they never field enough melee infantry.

Keep going, the enemy will have no men left soon by the looks of things.