Help.

[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 )