wtf^10 hojo is the devil

[Sabretache]

ok....i started my first campaign game yesterday, set to easy. i played all night...i just quit about 15 minutes ago, so i imagine i played for 10 hours straight. it's down to me (mori) and hojo. basically north japan is mine and south japan is hojo. so i go to spy on the enemy units that hojo is prancing around my borders....and there are 2 or 3 differnt armies of 1400-1600 units. i read some about the ashigaru hordes that happen, but only about 1/3 of these are ashigaru. the rest are samurai and calvery. in any case it kind of annoys me that i spent all night playing this campaign only to lose because hojo is obviously using the rectum of some kind of dimensional gate to pull troops through. AND THIS IS THE EASY SETTING. if anyone knows why this is happening to me that would be nice. sorry if i seem bitter, but i really enjoy this game and if the singeplayer campaign is unbeatable then that's going to put a serious limp into the errection that total war provides me with.

[theforce]

Well you can win him man. You can make strong amries on your borders and he shall attack you man. Then after his troops are lees make the attack. Remember to send troops now and then in the first line to cover casualties. Also make ports if your castles are far away from there u fight.

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Don't use only honour, use theforce, too.
http://darksideclan.fateback.com
Enter the Darkside...

[CaptMac]

Sabretache;
Welcome to S:TW
You haven't lost!
It is a new challenge..The Horde. It provides you the opportunity to readjust your strategic and tactical thinking against a single strong enemy vs the many smaller/weaker that you have been dealing with till now.
You may spend many turns fighting over a single province at the tactical level, but you must keep close attention to the overall strategic(campaign) to take advantage of weaknesses/opportunities as they appear.
Search the forum for strategies dealing with the Horde(s, and employ one that meets you needs or style.
At first meeting the horde may seem frustrating (did to me), but it drew me in just like the game as whole does. Just don't focus only on the current battle at hand, or the one that is to come right after you select end turn and you may be declared Shogun.
10 hours first time playing...that's about average from what I've read
They need to put a warning lable on the box. WARNING: May cause sleep deprivation!

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The only thing you have to regret are the chances not taken.
Expect the unexpected and take in air.

[BanzaiZAP]

One thing to remember about that horde: it's usually mostly ashigaru, who panic easily. If you have a strong, professional army, you should be able to drive them off before they can use their numeric advantage. If the vanguard routs, then the whole army runs away! It's very satisfying to be menaced by an overwhelming army, and then drive them into the sea!

-- B)

[Laertes]

Hojo starts out the wealthiest clan, and if he can quickly grab the valuable Uesugi lands he's even wealthier.

Don't forget that neither you nor Hojo can bring more than 16 units into a battle in their first line -- if you can break the first 16, any reinforcements can be dealt with piecemeal. And if you break a force that has no friendly neighboring provinces where it can retreat, the entire force vaporizes.

Defensively, examine the terrain in your front line and see whether you need to fall back or change army composition. For instance, Mino and Kaga both feature substantial cliffs -- these are good for archer-heavy armies, backed by melee infantry, and are absolutely horrible for cavalry. Some provinces have single-bridge rivers, where a small force can inflict grievious casualties on a large force, since the bridges make great choke-points for archers. Open plains are harder to defend against a superior, more mobile force so there you may need more cavalry and spears to hold 'em off.

Conversely, when attacking, maximize every advantage. Again consider terrain and army composition -- you should be using border towers, border forts or shinobi so you should know what his armies have. Consider using ninjas/geishas to eliminate his better generals. And remember that numbers aren't everything -- particularly when you can manuever and concentrate your force on weak points in his formations.

Don't just select all and charge, for instance. Likewise, you don't have to use a simple symmetrical line; on offense, I often gamble with a reinforced wing and an oblique approach towards a weak flank, combined with a yari cavalry force for end-runs or Taisho-killing when opportunity arises. Also, play with the timer off, which allows time for more pre-contact manuevering. You can sometimes force significant shifts in enemy positions without actually attacking. I've even occasionally won a battle without a single attack... not sure why, but sometimes the AI will turn tail and run.

So, at least against the AI, and especially on Easy where it shouldn't be getting significant combat bonuses, if any, you should often be able to beat superior numbers.


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He is justly served; It is a poison temper'd by himself.

[Sabretache]

ok thanks a lot for all of your advice. my army has no ashigaru...except for the one unit ashis i use to keep ronin from just marching into a province. a citadel is being built. once i get it built i'll need a geisha house and then i can start picking people off. at this point in the game the ninjas i make only have a chance against negative ranking generals.

[solypsist]

another newbie bites the dust with the Hojo. a vicious cycle, one that has trained so many to cry "Horde!" at the sight of purple banners....

hehe

[EuroSan]

Its lovely to meet the horde
I meet an 30.000 at Harima as Shimatzu on Expert...let him attack you and Kill as many you can when they attack ... you can do it in the long run...remember your guys get higher and higher honour when they win those battles... and when your archers have shoot finished, withdraw them and make sure you have more archers or Inf´s to replace those guys.. If you dont have strong guys enough at the time he comes, let him attack, make him run and then chase him off the map untill you got stronger units in that province he is attacking...you need to have ports to take the Horde out

Good Luck!!



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May the honour be with you all..........EuroSan the reborned spirit of LinkSan