Help.

[gollum]

Takeda may be a bit premature, as they are split as you know. Hojo on the other hand have to turtle early on to consolidate their rich lands and then take on the uesugi (usually). In other words a perfect set up for a newer player.

That is of course not to say that you shouldn't go for it if you feel like it!

[jedi121212]

I will probably go for Hojo. I like how they can make castles cheaper.

[DEB8]

Re Clans to play:

The Prima Strategy Guide lists the following difficultly levels for the Clans:

Mori ( Red ) : Medium
Shimazu ( Green ) : Easy
Imagawa ( Mid Blue ) : Medium
Oda ( Gold ) : Hard
Takeda ( Black ) : Medium
Hojo ( Purple ) : Medium
Uesugi ( Dark Blue ) : Hard

I have played and won ( @ Difficulty = Normal ) with : Mori, Imagawa, Takeda, Hojo & Uesugi.
I found Mori & Hojo the easier of the medium ones ( and Uesugi to be easier than Takeda ! ).
In my opinion, you should be happy with your playing standard before moving onto trying the "split" clans of Imagawa & Takeda.

Enjoy.

[caravel]

The Prima Strategy Guide lists the following difficultly levels for the Clans:

Mori ( Red ) : Medium
Shimazu ( Green ) : Easy
Imagawa ( Mid Blue ) : Medium
Oda ( Gold ) : Hard
Takeda ( Black ) : Medium
Hojo ( Purple ) : Medium
Uesugi ( Dark Blue ) : Hard

I'm afraid the Prima guide is perhaps somewhat 'misguided'. I would definitely rate Uesugi as easier than Hojo and Imagawa are definitely harder than both. Personally I also find Mori quite easy.

It would be interesting to see players rate the factions in terms of difficulty.

[DEB8]

I'm afraid the Prima guide is perhaps somewhat 'misguided'. I would definitely rate Uesugi as easier than Hojo and Imagawa are definitely harder than both. Personally I also find Mori quite easy.

It would be interesting to see players rate the factions in terms of difficulty.

I would point out that the difficulty level in playing a game depends as much on the strategy chosen as the clan. The book provides two to four strategy options dependant on the clan you play. How we ( as players ) perceive the difficulty level is based on how our chosen strategy works. The book presumably rates according to the clan only, taking ALL strategies into account.

Personally, I would rate ( based on 1 game at each ):

Mori ( Red ) : Easy ( Easy to Medium dependent on Strategy )
Shimazu ( Green ) : N/A
Imagawa ( Mid Blue ) : Hard ( Medium to Hard dependent on Strategy )
Oda ( Gold ) : N/A
Takeda ( Black ) : Medium ( Medium to Hard dependent on Strategy )
Hojo ( Purple ) : Easy ( Easy to Medium dependent on Strategy )
Uesugi ( Dark Blue ) : Easy ( Easy to Hard dependent on Strategy )

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Starting with the easiest, assuming you do the "ideal" strategy:

Hojo
Uesugi
Takeda

Shimazu
Imagawa

Oda
Mori

The takeda, hojo, and uesugi campaigns are the same after the first 5 years. If you start as takeda, you wipe out the hojo and then the uesugi. If you start as the hojo you take out the Uesugi. If you start as the uesugi you take out the hojo. Anyway you slice it you end up with a ton of money and a narrow front to attack.

Shimazu and imagawa are basically the same, conquer kyushu then expand.

Mori and Oda, whenever I played them I would conquer the center of the map, then get the urge to tech up for a couple decades. Then I would fight one battle with my muskets/heavy cavalry/honor 5 monks or whatever, get bored, and geisha the rest of the clans.

I think the only campaign I ever lost was as Oda, back on old shogun. I took the middle 10 or so provinces and sat and waited for the hojo horde. Got both a shimazu horde and a hojo horde, then shimazu got assassinated and left all his men to hojo. Then my daimyo got assassinated

[Togakure]

...
It would be interesting to see players rate the factions in terms of difficulty.

Hmm. Off the top of my head, I'd say, from hardest to easiest and generally speaking:

1. Oda
2. Imagawa
3. Mori
4. Takeda
5. Shimazu
6. Hojo
7. Uesugi

It depends a bit on the campaign and difficulty level being played too.

[gollum]

When i play STW now i do so with v1.12, although i have played 1.02 and 1.02 with altered stats quite a lot in the past.

I fully agree with Sasaki's list.

However, the Imagawa can be played differently than taking on Kyushu which is the safe choice ie, take out the Oda (or at least take Owari from them to secure that flank and get the income), and then take on the Takeda, then the Hojo, then the Uesugi. This route is far more risky but if it suceeds its usually shorter. It also depends on taking out factions by killing the daimyos before they can have heirs and this can be a double edged knife in 1.02 because of the re-emergences (that do not happen in 1.12).

A good illustration of this route can be seen in the Maltz warstories (obviously the one he plays Imagawa).
http://www.totalwar.org/hosted/maltz.../Imagawa01.htm

Btw extreme blitzing carries a risk element and it doesnt always work smoothly as in that campaign.

Originally posted by Sasaki Kojiro
Mori and Oda, whenever I played them I would conquer the center of the map, then get the urge to tech up for a couple decades. Then I would fight one battle with my muskets/heavy cavalry/honor 5 monks or whatever, get bored, and geisha the rest of the clans.

This can happen with all the other clans too in 1.02/MI because builds cost half the money and take half the time than the old version. As such you can turtle and become very rich from any part of the map, which wasn't possible with the old shogun because the money floating about and the build times were not permitting the player to build everything.

Originally posted by Sasaki Kojiro
I think the only campaign I ever lost was as Oda, back on old shogun.

I'm impressed; i lost far more campaigns than one in the old STW and MI. Certainly one doesnt become most feared player for nothing!

[ReluctantSamurai]

I would tend to agree with Sasaki's list. I might add that the starting date has an impact on difficulty, as well, with the 1580 campaign's (especially Oda's!!) being, in general, more difficult. Some of the historical campaigns will have you cursing at your computer screen, as well

Several people avoid the "Japanese" ones as they cannot get to grips with them. I started with them and find them more suitable than the "European" ones I have tried. I haven't mixed them up though so can't really comment on that.

I find the pre-made formations pretty useless. I just wish one could place units on the map as the attacker just like you can as defender. Perhaps it's just my style of play. I tend to use CA quite a bit and they are rarely at the front of any of the classic formations...which is where I want them. I also am a bit of a micro-manager so I use the 'draw-out' method a lot anyways.

[Martok]

Nice campaign, jedi121212. Looks like you've got pretty defensible frontiers for the most part.

Are you planning on expanding northeast (Hitachi, Mutsu, etc.)? Or are you going to return your attentions west towards Shinano and the Imagawa?

I'm afraid the Prima guide is perhaps somewhat 'misguided'. I would definitely rate Uesugi as easier than Hojo and Imagawa are definitely harder than both. Personally I also find Mori quite easy.

Yeah, I would have to disagree with how Prima ranks the playable clans. They're definitely a bit....off.

It would be interesting to see players rate the factions in terms of difficulty.

Personally, I rate the clans as follows:

Hard
1.) Mori
2.) Oda

Medium
3.) Imagawa
4.) Takeda
5.) Shimazu

Easy
6.) Hojo
7.) Uesugi


(Note: This list is based on the standard Sengoku Jidai campaign under the Warlords Edition. I usually play on Hard difficulty with Normal unit sizes.)



In regards to formations, I generally make my own, especially in offensive battles. I do sometimes employ the Keyhole formation when I'm the defender, however.

[jedi121212]

Yeah I am planing on taking the northeast. My armies are consisting of YS, YA, YC, AC, WM.

[caravel]

Well and army made up of Yari Samurai and Monks should dominate. YS are probably my favourite unit (apart from teppo of course). Like Sasaki said earlier in the thread they make up the backbone of your force. Players more familiar with MTW's spearmen types should not confuse YS with those units. They are much more capable. Yari Ashigaru are less dependable. Use them to pad out your armies and as cheap garrison units but don't rely on them too much.