Mori, the Road to Kaga, take 2 (1550)

[TWD]

Hello, all !

I posted a few turns of a Mori campaign some times ago and left it unfinished, not being able to handle the 120 men units setting I was experiencing for the first time.
Well... The idea to re-do that campaign with 60 men units has crossed my mind but I didn't find it so glam to post the same screenshots twice...

So,
Here's another go at the Mori, 1550 campaign. Mori starts with a unique province but well developped and, as in the SJ, a good army :



Settings : Expert, Control 40 provinces/Eliminate rival clans.
Promise I'll play slowly to allow for some interplay comments.

However, I've my idea for how to start the first few turns :
1- There are more than 10 provinces in the peninsula that would NOT pay for themselves before being completely pacified. Mori should not try to conquer them early but rather focus on koku producing provinces. I think trying to hold those provinces early is the single major mistake that could be done in this opening.
2- Conveniently enough, Aki has a Citadel, a Mine, some Famous Armoury, Spear Dojo and Archery Dojo and even a regular Horse Dojo. That makes it an obvious place for production.
3- Bizen has a Port and is adjacent to : Sanuki, Harima and Bitchu, all rich provinces. Those provinces are also in the direction of some more rich land, be that of Oda, or that of Tosa/Iyo. In other words, Bizen allows a lot, giving kokus + strategic options. This makes of Bizen the single most important objective in the early game.
4- Points 1-3 imply starting with a Port in Aki for troops transport.
5- Diplomacy management... Avoid making a superpower in the East. Nothing as fancy as in the SJ campaign.

Rules :
1- Mori does not replay (although you can't check :P) ;
2- Mori neither uses gunpowder, nor trades with foreigners (not sure that's a good idea, but... well...).

...
Let it roll !

Summer 1550
Build orders and trainings :
Aki starts a Port.
An heir is unnassigned, so a Samurai Archer (SA) is ordered in Aki. A Yari Ashigaru (YA) is queued.
--> 1150/2000 Kokus
Troop movements :
1 Mori heir remains in Aki while the Daymio and the rest of the clan invade Bingo.
The Emissary also heads for the Port of Bizen.

Autumn 1550
The Rebels in Bingo have fled, so the path to Bitchu is openned. Taxes are set to Punitive.
Troop movements :
A unit of YA remains in Bingo for this turn. The rest of the army invades Bitchu.

Winter 1550
Mori has 1196 koku and can hope to capture some more from the castle of Bizen. Taxes are back to Very low.
Build orders and trainings :
A Mine Complex is queued in Aki.
4 YA units begin their training.
-->900/1196 kokus.
Troop movements :
Mori starts a YA bridge from Aki to Bingo to Bitchu (1 unit in each province).
The Daymio and the Emissary finally invade Bizen.

Everything looks good except for the loyalty in Bingo :



Spring 1551 :
Luckily, the Rebels chose to invade Bingo. Mori retreated, of course (in Aki, unluckily), and thus avoided a rebellion. Then came the battle for Bizen : 311 men vs 300.
A combined charge of the Daymio hatamoto and Naginata Cavalry against their leading unit swiftly made the opposing army flee. 137 kills vs 7. The attack yielded 325 kokus.



That is the first stop.
Incoming :
- The assault of the castle of Bizen.
To be decided :
- Where to ship the Emissary ? Totomi and Sagami have harbours in the east. Who is the best ally ?
- Where to conquer next ?
- What to build in Bizen ? The province has a spear dojo, an archery dojo and the port.
- Maybe I'll move the YA in Bitchu to Bizen, in case the rebels gang up against me... Shall I ?

I intend to play rounds of roughly one year. Next stop should be in winter, though, when the income comes in.

[A Nerd]

A met a strange Mori, he made me nervous! Fun read!

[TWD]

2nd round, to Winter 1552.

Spring 1551.
Two alliances have been concluded between :
- Hojo and Uesugi ;
- Oda and Imagawa.
Imagawa also happens to be at war with Takeda. The Takeda clan could then be a valuable ally for Mori, ensuring a balance of power in the east. The Emissary will therefore head to the port of Sagami.
Troop movements :
The Daymio and his army attempt to take Bizen's castle.
The emissary is shipped.

Summer 1551.



Bitchu is invaded by 180 men, so the YA unit retreats to Bizen.
The castle there is taken with moderate losses : The daymio unit drew the ennemy fire, then Mori archers depleted an ennemy unit. In the end, casualties were mostly suffered by the YS unit (23).
Imagawa sends an emissary, proposing an alliance, but since the plan is to help Takeda against him, his offer is politely refused.
With only two provinces, taxes are set to punitive.

Troop movements :
The emissary in Sagami heads for Kai, hoping to find the Takeda clan leader.
Now... Summer is the best time for invasions... With 180 men in Bitchu, better be cautious, though. The Port in Aki will be completed next season, meaning reinforcements will come in Bizen.
A castle has been built in Suo, west of Aki, but I don't think it is possible to pillage some kokus there, not yet.
- A YA from Aki invades Bingo (not to be kept, but will yield some kokus and may "protect" Bizen from an invasion) ;
- 3stars SA and the Naginata invade Harima ;
- 4stars Horse Archers and YS invade Sanuki ;
- The Daymio remains in Bizen with a unit of YA and the Naginata Cavalry.



Autumn 1551.
Badly managed battle in Sanuki cost the lives of 42 Horse archers... eek.. Fortunately, the battle for Harima was easier.
Our emissary in Kai found lord Takeda, good news !
The Port in Aki was completed : reinforcements !
With those new provinces and little garrison capability, taxes are back to very low.

Build orders and trainings :
We have 600 kokus left from last winter's budget. That could be a mine in Harima but the rebels hold 6 provinces next to it... High risk of invasion. Instead, we start a Tea house in Bizen to help with the loyalty issues.
Mori also decides the clan does not need an Archery dojo in Bizen. Destroying it allows to start a farm in Sanuki.
With 300 kokus left, a YA is ordered in Bizen (written but... forgot :P) and a SA in Aki (replaces YA).
--> 1400/1421 kokus.
Troop movements :
The Emissary proposes an alliance to Takeda.
YA in Bitchu retreats to Aki.
Lord Mori and the two units accompanying him head for Sanuki.
3YA and the 3stars SA heir are shipped from Aki to Bizen.

Winter 1551 :
Takeda accepts our alliance, yeah ! He holds Kai and Shinano for all I know.
Peasant revolt in Bitchu.
No major invasion.
New treasury : 1374 kokus.



So... some of the questions left unanswered last round have met their end :
- Takeda is our ally. He still is at war with Imagawa. Oda (allied to Imagawa) has signed an alliance with Uesugi. And Shimazu has signed alliances with Takeda, Oda and Uesugi (allied with Hojo). Plenty of alliances, little wars.
Maybe an alliance with Oda or Shimazu could work, next. There is a Port in Hizen.
- Expansion-wise : I moved the Daymio into Sanuki with the idea to lock that island for myself first. It is rich, easily defensible and Tosa is great for YA production, not to mention it helps keep Shimazu in check. All in all, it makes a good base to invade Kawachi-Yamashiro.

[TWD]

Round 3. 4 turns, up to winter 1552 (got confused last time, year changes during the spring).
Objective : secure Tosa/Iyo.
Harima may fall in the hands of the Rebels but Aki and Bizen must hold.

Winter 1551.
Build orders and trainings :
Aki starts 4 YA. Mori needs numbers and can't afford quality right now.
Bizen starts 1 YA. The Tea house will complete next season and then Shinobis will be trained.
--> 500/1374 kokus.
Troop movements :
1YA is shipped from Aki to Bizen.
2YA from Bizen go garrison Sanuki.
The Daymio and the army in Sanuki invade Awa, aiming for Tosa next season.
To strenghten Bizen a bit, a YA there swaps with the Naginata in Harima.
There's a port in Owari, now, but the Emissary heads to Shinano to have a better view of what clan owns what province. Which means that Oda is preferred to Shimazu as the second ally. Shimazu would be fine but I'd rather not give him so much income that he can expand to my borders super quickly. Oda, on the other hand, typically has a lot of troubles fighting the Rebels.

Spring 1552.
Bingo is lost to the Rebels. Peasants revolt in Harima... Errr...
Awa is conquered without a fight.
The Tea house in Bizen is completed.

Build orders and trainings :
Mori starts building border watch towers in Bizen. As soon as the south will be secured, expansion from there will restart.
3 shinobis are ordered in Bizen.
--> 800/1174 kokus.

Troop movements :
The SA and YA stationned in Harima retreat to Bizen. No point in fighting there.
2YA from Bizen go garrison Sanuki.
2 YA from Sanuki go garrison Awa.
The Daymio's army invades Tosa.



In the east, Imagawa owns Totomi, Mikawa and Suruga ; Hojo has Sagami and Musashi ; Uesugi holds Echigo and Kozuke. Omi is a rebel province and our emissary is sent there.

Summer 1552.



The Rebels in Tosa (60) retreat in the castle. Mori pillages 325 kokus. The province has a swordsmith and a spear dojo.
Rebels from Iyo (121) invade Sanuki (120). They are a 1 star general YA, a SA unit and a lone YA. A combined charge of Mori king runners decimates their leading unit, following soon in the retreat of their whole army. Losses : 26. Unlocked the Legendary swordsman event, not that Mori needs it...
Harima is lost to the Rebels.

Troop movements :
In the east, Oda doesn't seem to own a lot. The emissary is sent to Owari.
The shinobi from Bizen goes to Sanuki. The first 4 shinobis will contribute to the island's loyalty. Hopefully, taxes will be raised soon.
Securing Tosa and Iyo now would be a good move. The army in Iyo is depleted thanks to the successful defense of Sanuki.
Hence, Lord Mori, 30 YS and 60 YA assault Tosa's castle.
The 4 stars Horse archer leads the Naginata cavalry and 30 YA from Sanuki against Iyo.
A YA from Aki reinforces Bizen while a YA from Bizen goes garrison Sanuki.

Autumn 1552.
The battles for Tosa and Iyo were pretty easy.
On the other hand, Bizen was invaded by 1SA, 2YS and a YA unit coming from Bitchu and Harima. Fortunately the rebels didn't send their whole troops. The defense was successful, our YA unit taking most of our losses (around 50, including 30 or so YA) :



In the east, our emissary found Lord Oda. He has a massive army of around one thousand men but holds only one province.
In the west, Lord Shimazu conducts a siege against Bungo's castle. Mori made it just in time to secure Shikoku.
Other news : the mine complex in Aki and the farm in Sanuki were completed. Income is coming ! As well we finished the border watch towers in Bizen. After a successful defense, the neighbouring armies aren't really impressive.
With shinobis incoming, the tax level is raised to normal.

Build orders and trainings :
With 699 unused kokus, there is some margin to start new buildings :
A mine is started in Iyo and a YA is ordered in Tosa.
--> 800/899 kokus.

Troops movements :
Shinobis : Bizen --> Sanuki --> Iyo (lowest loyalty).
The emissary in Owari approachees Lord Oda for an alliance.
Lord Mori falls back to Awa and the 4 stars general to Sanuki. The latter should go back to Aki for retraining. YA units take their place in the west.

Winter 1552.
That was a calm season.
Lord Oda accepted our alliance proposal. No invasion occured.
New treasury : 2198 kokus.
Lowest loyalty province : Awa (90%).
Takeda has made peace with Imagawa, which means no there is no war anymore amongst the major clans. Shall Mori seek a new alliance ? With who ? Is it safe to ally Shimazu and/or leave him in peace ?



Rich land is secured (total income 2900 ; total expenses 660), so it is probably the right time to start farming heavily.
Where to expand next ? Harima or Kawachi (via Awaji, of course) ? What about Bitchu ? I would like Mori to control central Japan as soon as possible.

See you in 1553.
TWD.

[ReluctantSamurai]

The biggest strategical decision, as I see it, is whether to leave Shimazu uncontested on your southern flank, or strike for richer lands further north. My own personal preference is to avoid two-front wars, but ironically, my favorite faction to play (Oda) is always involved in them

With a 1550 starting date, and Shimazu's tendency to be the first AI faction to accept Christianity, you will likely be facing the arquebus at some point, which in itself isn't a big deal, but if you are still employing lots of YA, they could present a morale problem.

At the least, I'd send scads of shinobi into Shimazu lands to create rebellions, and a ninja to deal with the higher honor generals that result....something to keep him busy, for the moment. An alliance with Shimazu is sure to lead to war, as you will have common borders in two places, eventually.........

So when do the first sohei appear?

[TWD]

Thank you for your input, Reluctant Samurai :)

Oda is also the faction I'm the most used to, even though that's in the easy SJ campaign. Hence the heavy number of YA I train, I guess.
Sohei... They cost 375 kokus and the temple is especially expensive, so I need more income to afford them. I can see a temple started in 1553-4 and warrior monks in the field from 1555... No sooner, I'm affraid.
Right now, a few SA units are what I feel I need the most.

@Shimazu :
Lucid points :) Sending shinobis in his peninsula to delay him sounds like the best solution. I'm not keen on using my still light military to fight him when Harima/Kawachi/Yamashiro/Kii/Ise are uncontested.
I'm not used to gunpowder fights... How to best deal with teppos ? Regular (flanking) charges ?

[Gregoshi]

Very nice write ups TWD. I look forward to more.

[TWD]

Thank you, Gregoshi,

Regarding the year 1553, I'll attempt the conquest of Bitchu (4men, honour -1 general), Harima (3 units) & Kawachi (3 units as well, I guess. At least there are 3 at the beginning of the campaign) a bit later in the day.
3rd and probably last alliance should be with Imagawa.

I noticed I have 2 SA units in Aki, so one could move. There's also the castle of Suo I left unchecked for several seasons, now. I hope I can gain some kokus if I send an invasion force, there.
The budget is still quite tight and income remains my primary concern for now (a mine in Harima and farms in Tosa, Sanuki, Kawachi & Bitchu already amounts to a 1600 kokus investment...). Fortunately, I'll have some ashigaru reinforcements from Shikoku now that the island is secured, so maybe I don't need to train a load of units this year.

@Sohei again : I guess I need a net income of 3000-4000 kokus to afford the buddhist temple. If the above objectives are met, then starting it in 1554 and recruiting a few WM in 1555 should be tight but doable.

[ReluctantSamurai]

The budget is still quite tight and income remains my primary concern for now

Always the early problem with Mori

A suggestion, if I might, about farm & mine upgrades......

I once did a mathematical analysis of the return rate on upgrades, but for the life of me, I can't find it Basically, if a province yields 200 koku or less, it takes 20 years or more just to return your original investment. Hardly worth it. Farms in the 250-350 koku range are worth a single upgrade; 350-450 a second upgrade, and anything above that is worth the maximum. If you have excess koku, as is usually the case much later in a campaign, you can go back and apply more upgrades as you see fit.

A similar situation applies to mines. Copper mines are hardly worth the mine-complex, silver mines when you have koku to spare, and gold mines always.

I tend to build a lot of ports. I guess that's a by-product of playing lots of Oda campaign's where I want multiple training centers for teppo Since your main training center is in Aki, at the moment, I might consider a port in Iyo (to be able to transfer troops there quickly in case Shimazu gets aggressive) and one in Kawachi (when you get there, of course). This would connect your seat of power in Aki with both ends of your empire. The 200 koku income per port will return your original 750 investment+50 in 4 years, which is excellent. But that's just me......

Personally, I'd leave Suo to the rebels, for the moment. The province is dirt poor, and if you don't plan on keeping it, you will likely just create a much larger rebel force when you leave. And at expert setting, the AI will more than likely nestle into that big, commanding, wooded hill in the center of the map that can't be flanked, making for you an uphill battle all the way. Not so great with YA...........Suo and Nagato can be a short-term buffer against Shimazu, as well.

Heading north to Kawachi, and securing Harima would be my primary, short-term goals.

As to dealing with teppo, you probably won't be facing muskets anytime soon, even if Shimazu accepts the Portuguese offer. Arquebus are much shorter range and can be dealt with by using SA. Cavalry will chew them up pretty quick, as well. Against a human player, cavalry is a bit dicey because they will likely be covered by spears, but the AI, even at Expert setting doesn't handle them well and will often leave them exposed.

Anyway, looking promising, so far......

[TWD]

Round 4. To winter 1553.
With Shikoku secured, the goal for this round is to conquer rich provinces, namely Bitchu, Harima and Kawachi. Mori already has 3 castles and only needs more farms/mines to accelerate its conquest of Japan.

Winter 1553.
Given the high level of loyalty, taxes are set to high for this season.
Build orders and trainings :
I would like to keep 1000 spare kokus for infrastructure in Harima-Kawachi-Bitchu. This leaves 1198 kokus to toy with.
Farms are started in Tosa and Sanuki.
A shinobi is ordered in Bizen an 1 YA in each of Tosa and Aki.
--> 900/ 2198 kokus.

Troop movements :
A lot of unit shuffling, here.
First, the shinobis take position in Tosa, Awa and Sanuki.
Second, 1 YA from Tosa goes to Awa while the other 2 go in Iyo. In Iyo a 2 stars general remain and the other YA goes garrison Sanuki.
The Daymio in Awa and the Naginata cavalry from Sanuki invade Awaji island while the remaining forces in Sanuki fall back to Bizen, aiming for Harima next.
A SA from Aki also is shipped to Bizen and a 3 stars general in Bizen is sent to take over Bitchu's bridge.
Finally, the emissary in Owari is sent to Mikawa, in search for lord Imagawa.



Spring 1553.
Bitchu and Awaji were conquered without a fight. Unfortunately, it seems the rebels in Awaji retreated behind Kawachi's bridge rather than in Harima's flatland...
Taxes are back to low.

Build orders and trainings :
2 YA are ordered in Aki.
A farm is started in Bitchu.
--> 450/1298 kokus.

Troop movements :
The YA from Tosa goes reinforce Iyo.
Both YA units in Sanuki and Awa go garrison Awaji while the shinobi from Sanuki is sent back to Bizen (aiming for Harima/Bitchu).
63 YA and the Naginata from Bizen are sent in Bitchu (20% loyalty).
The Daymio's 140 men meet with a SA from Bizen in Harima.
Finally, a YA from Aki is shipped to Bizen, swapping with a shinobi (aiming for Suo), and the emissary continues its way to Totomi.

Summer 1553.
The rebels made their moves ! They emptied Harima to invade Bizen.



The attack was easily repelled (hill archers rule) but this will delay the arrival of our SA in Kawachi... hum...
Which is more a force sallies from Kawachi and takes on Awaji ! 2YA and a SA against Mori's 2 YA... That is a bloody battle but a victory !



Of course, Harima is taken without a fight and... a good news shines upon the clan : an heir is born ! Will Japan be united before he matures ?
Taxes are set to very low. Harima is at 46%...

Build orders and trainings :
A mine is started in Harima. Security is needed.
--> 600/948 kokus.

Troop movements :
The emissary in Totomi finds Imagawa and proposes him an alliance.
Shinobis : Aki --> Suo, Awa --> Awaji and Bizen --> Bitchu. Just as planned.
A YA from Aki is sent to Bizen.
Now... This is summer and Kawachi should be invaded. However Harima and Bizen can't be left unprotected... It would also look bad if the rebels decided to invade Awaji... What to do ? What to do ? Net income amounts to 2500 koku a year (very low taxes)...

The answer is simple : here's the time to gamble !
Another YA is shipped from Aki to Bizen (remain 2YA and a SA in Aki).
A YA from Iyo is sent to Awa. Those aren't the frontlines, right, but my concern here is primarily to be able to stop the rebels, should they avoid a fight on the frontlines and attempt to break through.
The 3 stars SA in Bitchu falls back to Bizen. The force that defended Bizen this season goes protect Harima. And, finally, all forces in Harima and Awaji invade Kawachi.



Autumn 1553.
Shimazu is invading Chikugo/Bungo... We still have some time before he becomes a threat.
We invade Kawachi on a foggy day : 201 vs 146. Without any ranged units, our Daymio drew the ennemy fire while WM forbid us to cross the bridge (lost 6). Then Mori lured the sohei on our side of the bridge to decimate them. The rest of the battle was an easy matter.



Yet some good news : Imagawa accepts our offer of alliance !
Mori's total income amounts to 4600 kokus with punitive taxes and 4000 with very low taxes. Total expenses are 720 kokus... Nice !
Minor point : the spy in Suo reveals 2 units and a Spear Dojo... Maybe next year Mori will pillage it.

Build orders and trainings :
A farm is started in Kawachi.
--> 250/348 kokus.

Troop movements :
The emissary in Totomi is shipped to Owari. He will scout the rebels' lands (Yamashiro). For now, Kii, Yamato and Iga are undefended !
The shinobi in Suo falls back to Aki's port.
The YA in Awa retreats to Iyo now that the eastern border is secured.
Finally, 60 SA from Harima swap with 60 YA in Kawachi.

Winter 1553.
Peasants revolt in Kawachi.
New treasury is 3443 kokus.

The lay of the land :





Situation looks good.
I guess Aki, Tosa and Bizen will produce troops at their maximum capability next year.
It will also be possible to enhance the infrastructure (don't worry about the sohei, Reluctant Samurai, the Buddhist temple won't be off schedule).

Cheers,
TWD.

[TWD]

A suggestion, if I might, about farm & mine upgrades......

I once did a mathematical analysis of the return rate on upgrades, but for the life of me, I can't find it Basically, if a province yields 200 koku or less, it takes 20 years or more just to return your original investment. Hardly worth it. Farms in the 250-350 koku range are worth a single upgrade; 350-450 a second upgrade, and anything above that is worth the maximum. If you have excess koku, as is usually the case much later in a campaign, you can go back and apply more upgrades as you see fit.

Hum... I've never played vanilla Shogun but I've seen that the prices of the buildings were higher. Maybe that's where your thoughts/fears come from ?
A 20% increase out of 200 kokus is +40 kokus a year. If the farm costs 250 kokus, it will pay off in around 6 years.
That's ok with me.
Another thing that is not apparent if you just calculate your return of investment is that boosting your income, even if if does not pay off in the short run, gives you : additional security and a margin to manoeuver.
e.g. you need to pay for units upkeep. Say you have 500 kokus and lose 20 kokus a year. No big deal, right ? There's a reserve. But you can't invest in anything either. Or you could invest in a farm that would not pay for itself but stop the bleeding.
There are also good and bad seasons. And also it is ok to recruit cheap units at the beginning of a campaign, but later on, you may want to recruit something more expensive. In those situations, saving money isn't sufficient, increasing your income is better :) Or so would I guess.

I tend to build a lot of ports.

Agreed, the port is good. But I tend to consider it is broken, because the AI SHOULD do port attacks while it does not.
Therefore... I'm not enthusiastic at the idea to spam ports.

@Suo : I'm not interested in keeping the province.
Ideally, they would retreat in the castle, then take back the province when I would leave. But... yes, I can see your point.

Thanks for the rest. Especially the gunpowder part.
TWD.

[ReluctantSamurai]

A 20% increase out of 200 kokus is +40 kokus a year. If the farm costs 250 kokus, it will pay off in around 6 years.

No it doesn't. I don't want to hijack your thread with a boring discussion of economics, so I'll keep it short and concise.

Take a 100 koku producing region with no upgrades. 1st year=100...5th year=500...10th year=1000...20th year=2000. These are net values assuming average harvests, and accumulating from one year to the next.

Now with 20% upgrade at 250 koku. 1st year=(-130)...2nd year=(-10)...3rd year=110 (first year with a profit) 5th year=350...10th year=950...20th year=2150.

If you did nothing, you'd make 2000 koku over 20 years. With a 250 koku upgrade, after 20 years you made 2150 koku. A net profit of 150 koku. You still have another 5 years to go to pay off your original investment. You have to compare what you make with an upgrade vs. what you'd make if you did nothing. Now do the same calculations for a 1000 koku producing province (no province in STW has a base farm income that high, so it's just to keep the math simpler) and you will see how much quicker an upgrade pays off. So with your 200 koku example, it takes 15 yrs. ( or 60 turns) to pay off a 250 koku investment.

In those situations, saving money isn't sufficient, increasing your income is better

Cash flow vs real profit. This might work...until you get a string of poor harvests. But still, the idea that investing in any farmland whatsoever increases your income appears good, but is not really the case when you use the above calculations.

Therefore... I'm not enthusiastic at the idea to spam ports.

Ports provide static income regardless of weather. I've had campaigns nearly wrecked because of a string of bad harvests. Some players say that's just tough luck, but after spending many hours conducting a campaign, I hate to have it ruined by a whim of the AI. Like I said, that's just me.

Hum... I've never played vanilla Shogun but I've seen that the prices of the buildings were higher. Maybe that's where your thoughts/fears come from ?

No. I play the WE. My thoughts were developed over a stretch of time when I first started, of going broke because I developed everything without regards to cost.

Anyway, I'll stop hijacking your thread and get back on topic

So far, so good. I see Shimazu is "observing" Iyo, and his emissary is headed someplace, but where? The rebellion in Kawachi doesn't look promising, especially if a chunk of that stack are sohei

[caravel]

Interesting campaign TWD, keep us updated.

I concur with RS with regard to the farmland improvements.

[TWD]

Thank you, Asai,

Next set will probably be played in 10 days or so, no sooner, I'm affraid, as I have some summer obligations (playing isn't so super time consuming but writing the stuff and uploading images is more).

Objectives for the next year would include :
- the conquest of Mimasaka. It would act as a mini buffer to protect Bizen and allow smaller garrisons ;
- the scouting of Yamashiro with the emissary. Yamashiro is the next big military objective and I'm affraid my military is too light to take it right now ;
- maybe the invasion of either Kii/Yamato/Iga. Probably not all three provinces since troops are far away. I'd like to invade those with 2 YA units per province. Hopefully, rebels from Yamashiro/Ise will strike back, weakening their home province. It's a shame Oda has been so passive so far as it leaves Mori all the hard work ;
- amassing larger forces on the frontlines.

So that would be a rather peaceful year, geared towards a military/infra build-up.

@Ports & Farms :
In fact we all agree :) I don't plan to build farms in 100 kokus provinces, but from 200 kokus I consider the first upgrade pays for itself.
Tosa and Harima will host ports. Any other troops producing province should also get a port. Logistics prevail.

[Wasp]

This takes me back! Very nice write-ups, TWD. I'll be enjoying reading about the rest of your campaign.

[TWD]

Thank you all, it's nice to hear the rounds aren't too repetitive !

Here's the 5th round, to Winter 1554.
Objectives for this round are modest and stated in my last post, so here we go !

Winter 1553.
Time to make a budget for the year. Kokus are still scarce and this implies to make choices.
The Buddhist temple and an increase of the total income are the main objectives. YA production is very important as Mori's territory grows. The initial expansion left us with a very little available army and plenty of border provinces.
The tax rate is back to low.

Build orders and trainings :
Aki : Buddhist temple (750)
Farms are started/queued in Sanuki (450), Bitchu (350), Tosa (350), Harima (250) and Iyo (250)
--> 2400 kokus.
4 shinobis are ordered in Bizen and 3 YA in each of Aki and Tosa.
--> 3400 kokus/3443.

Troop movements :
The emissary in Owari heads to Mino. He notices that Ise has fallen to Oda's troops. Conquering Kii becomes more pressing but maybe we can let him conquer Yamato/Iga/Omi, all bordering Yamashiro.
A YA from Aki is shipped to Bizen ; a YA there replaces a YA in Harima that reinforces Kawachi.
The shinobi in Awaji goes to Kawachi to help with the loyalty issue. Meanwhile, the shinobi stationned in Tosa heads for Bungo to scout Shimazu's forces, via Iyo.
Finally, a YA in Bizen swaps with the Naginata from Bitchu.

Spring 1554.



Kawachi's defence proved to be pretty easy, facing only low honour YA and SA.
Oda kept on expanding, conquering both Yamato and Omi !! Now is the time to capture Kii. He has his Daymio and a solid 300 men army in Omi. Will he assault Yamashiro ?

Troop movements :
The shinobi in Iyo arrives to Bungo and the emissary in Omi reaches Yamashiro
Forces in Bizen invade Mimasaka.
The shinobi and 87 YA from Kawachi invade Kii. A 1 star YA from Harima strenghtens Kawachi.
The shinobi in Aki scouts Suo. Maybe next season Mori will invade...
The YA produced in Tosa goes to Iyo.
Finally, the shinobi from Bizen heads to Awaji (lowest loyalty), via Harima.



Summer 1554.
The battle for Mimasaka was badly managed, which cost a YA unit. On the plus side, Kii yielded 125 kokus.
2WM and 4 SA guard Yamashiro. It seems the rebels took back Omi ! Lord Oda has fallen into Ise.

Build orders and trainings :
A YA is queued in Aki.

Troop movements :
The shinobi from Bizen goes to Mimasaka (54% loyalty) ; from Suo back to Aki (3 rebel units) ; from Harima reaches Awaji
The YA from Aki and Tosa respectively go to Bizen and Awa, to the east. 5 YA guard Iyo, against 2 Shimazu units in Bungo. That will do for now.

Autumn 1554 :
That was an uneventful season.
Bungo is still lightly garrisoned. The situation didn't change in the east.
Taxes are set to normal.

Troop movements :
YA chains are set up, going from Aki to Bizen to Harima to Kawachi and from Tosa to Awa to Awaji.
The shinobi from Bizen is sent to the rebel port of Hizen to watch Shimazu's progress.

Winter 1554 :
We expected an income superior to 4500 kokus but the year was especially good and... all crops yielded a harvest superior by 25% to what was expected !!
New treasury is : 5761 kokus ! May the name of Mori resound through the land.

700 rebels guard Hizen. Shimazu won't take that province before long. There's a 3 stars general, plenty of SA and 3 units of cavalry (2 Yari and 1 archer).
Shimazu starts producing some cavalry.

Oda took Iga. Not sure what his army looks like.

Our lowest loyalty province is Mimasaka, above 90%. Shinobis do wonders.

The lay of the land :





It may take a while before Oda fights the Rebels, maybe Mori should do the first move towards Yamashiro. I also grow tired to keep garrisons in Bizen, Bitchu and Harima... Errr... What to do ? What to do ? Breaking Oda asap is also appealing.
The new budget will allow plenty of things, including the recruiting of elite units and the building of ports in Tosa (much needed) and Harima (cheap).

Mori's initial expansion (Aki --> Bizen --> Shikoku) proved successful but has come to an end during this round. Objectives need to be reassessed now that we can manoeuver freely again.
I just (editing) considered bribing the rebel army in Yamashiro... That would not be super expensive : 3300 kokus. That is 1300 kokus more expensive than if the units were built in Aki but it also saves me 6 seasons... Maybe that's what Mori needs to restart its agressive expansion. Not sure about the infrastructure... Is it pillaged when a castle army is bribed ? Is it kept untouched ? There wouldn't be any wrong option, here, though.

[caravel]

Looking good. Your forces seem capable and are not overstretched. At the moment the AI clans will be occupied with the ronin, but once Oda and Shimazu start to swallow territory you will find them breathing down your neck on two fronts, especially in southern Honshu where your territory is more fragmented and easily attacked.

You have some interesting options as well. You can take advantage of Kii and start turning out +1 honour monks or you can accept the Portuguese and develop Tosa for +1 Teppo units.

Yamashiro could prove to be too dangerous at this early stage. The Monk and SA garisson shouldn't be that much of an issue but you will have to invest troops in securing it. When you do it, it will probably become even more of an Oda target and surrounding ronin provinces may counter attack the next season to lift the siege.

If you intend to go to war with Oda anyway, it may be better to let an Oda force take the province, or at least soften it up, first and then invade after Oda has done most of the hard work. If Oda is already in Omi and Iga then it's worth the wait, if not you could try moving against it sooner once you have men available.

[TWD]

So you would backfill some provinces around Mimasaka, right ? (in the short term ; time to bring some elite troops to the frontlines)
I'm not sure I'll go this way, since the last round was... hum... not so bold.

Diplo & territorial ambitions :
West : Keep Shimazu a non-issue for as long as possible. Shinobis are great for this and Hizen is already heavily fortified. I anticipate this will be an easy task.
East : Keep Takeda and Imagawa as strong as possible, so as to minimize the danger Uesugi and Hojo represent. This is my main concern, even though it's the longest term.
Center : Destroy Oda. Yes, that is mean but Oda just stands in the way. Had he been neighbouring a powerful clan, I'd have let him live happily, but that is not the case. Ise and Owari are very important provinces to hold if Mori wants to earn (much) more than the eastern clans. To put it otherwise : diplomacy in Shogun is about "balance of power". In this scenario, Oda only balances Mori's and Imagawa's power... which are both bad things (especially the Mori thing).
(I speak of "West-East" as in the strategic map, not real Japan. But I'm sure you already figured that out.)

I won't have time to play today, but I'm thinking more and more about bribing the Rebels in Yamashiro. 3300 kokus is not "huge" if we consider that army (2WM & 4SA ; decent honour, armoury bonus) could give Mori the means to secure central Japan AND still invest 2000+ kokus in infrastructure.
Oda's army is large but fragile...

I'll ponder this a lill' bit more and see if I go for a gutsy or secured move :)

[caravel]

If you advance into the south as far as Nagato (taking, Hoki, Izumo, Bingo, Iwami and Suo in the process - and optionally building ports in every one to generate income) you will be in a very strong position, and a good garrison in Nagato will secure Honshu from any Shimazu surprises. Leaving those provinces rebel runs the risk of Shimazu moving in. If Imagawa are eliminated (happens quite often) they could reappear in force in their former provinces, including those in Kyushu such as Hizen, Chikuzen and Chikugo, producing a second enemy on your southern front. Remember that AI clans in STW/MI may seem stagnant for the first few years of the campaign, but can suddenly explode in size to present a real threat.

[ReluctantSamurai]

I think you are playing with fire to leave Shimazu unmolested. As Asai has stated, clans have a tendency to be somewhat dormant for a time and then explode across the map. Shimazu is one of those clans, especially after he starts training Nodachi. And he has not one, but two emissaries in Iyo And they are in, what I call the "hunkered down" position which means they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. In my experience, that is the prelude to invasion, as the AI likes to opt for "cheap spies" that bypass local security. It might come soon, or it might not, but the AI is definitely looking in that direction.

That rebel garrison in Hizen looks formidable...the Mori garrison in Iyo looks much more vulnerable And he appears to already have NC, which will not be fun to defend against in the rolling, non-forested, terrain of Iyo, and also means his infrastructure is getting well developed...ie--he has a sword dojo and a famous horse dojo, somewhere.

My fear would be to continue to stretch north, only to have the "Green Horde" come knocking at your southern flank. Several Kyushu provinces would yield as tidy an income as any in central Japan. Chikuzen, Chikugo, and Hizen all have a base farm income above 300, and would yield well with an upgrade or two.

I realize this is probably the "ho-hum" boring way, but you have to fight Shimazu at some point----his only way to expand is through you. Better to do it before he gets developed, IMHO. Rather than eliminate Oda, I'd keep him as a buffer against whoever comes south from the Kanto. A rather temporary buffer, to be sure, as an AI-led Oda rarely can hold up to Takeda or Hojo.....but I've seen it happen, just the same.

Just my 2koku...............

[caravel]

Yes, it has been all but proven that the AI cannot actually invade a province without gaining intelligence first, so it needs to build watchtowers in it's own province that borders the target or send in Emissaries, priests, shinobi to have a look. The AI does this because "looking" at your army is fundamental in how it makes it's calculations as to whether to attack or not. If the AI attacked blindly, the campaign game would be a mess.

In a nutshell Shimazu is scouting Iyo, like RS says, but doesn't attack yet as he's still building up troops. Your Shinobi in Bungo may also cause Shimazu to increase his garrison to compensate for a lowered provincial loyalty. Once the Bungo garrison goes above a certain size, Shimazu will probably hit you. The other problem is that if Shimazu spills through into Nagato your regions there will be very vulnerable, forcing you to divert troops.

I do think however that this makes for a much more interesting scenario than the usual approach of establishing choke points and/or taking all of Kyushu first.

[TWD]

Thanks, both of you. Your input is appreciated.

I feel I can still let Shimazu unmolested for some time. My preference goes to dynamic games and for dealing with him the current plan is :
- A garrison in Iyo (only YA at the moment, but as soon as Tosa will have a port, it will be easier to vary the troops) ;
- Shinobi actions in his inner provinces (point taken, the shinobi in Bungo is counterproductive).

Meanwhile...
- Nagato would be left unchecked. Shimazu can take it but it acts as a buffer for now ;
- Yamashiro ! I'll try the bribing. Speed is essential at the start of the game and even though I "waste" 1000 kokus, I "gain" 6 seasons training troops in Aki. Given the current income, I think it is worth it.
- From Yamashiro, I'll backfill a few provinces, starting with Tamba and along the coast towards Mimasaka. This will have the same effect as aiming for Nagato in terms of reducing the frontlines and the number of garrisonned provinces, BUT Yamashiro is much more interesting than Nagato to launch invasions.

Greetings, the above is the plan for round 6, up to winter 1555.

Winter 1554.
Build orders and trainings :
Saving 3300 kokus to bribe the rebels leaves 2461 spare kokus. They'll mostly be used for infrastructure.
Farms are queued/started in Sanuki (500) and Kawachi (350).
A port is queued in Tosa (750).
A castle is started in Harima (250). Thinking about the port next.
--> 1850/2461 kokus.
3 YA are ordered in each of Aki and Tosa.
--> 2450/2461 kokus.

Troop movements :
The shinobi from Bungo falls back to Iyo. The one in Hizen is shipped back to Bizen. Then the shinobis in Bitchu/Mimasaka go scout the rebel armies in Hoki and Inaba while those in Awaji/Bizen respectfully join the frontlines in Kawachi and Harima. Finally, the shinobi in Kii scouts Oda's army in Yamato.
The emissary is asked to bribe the rebels in Yamashiro's Castle. Lord Mori goes there to take the lead of that army.
The YA chain from Awa-Awaji heads towards Kawachi.



Spring 1555.
The plan worked partly, but the result is awesome !
First, the minor news : Shimazu attempted an invasion on Hizen and retreated. Oda got invaded in Iga and retreated ! Yes, invaded. The rebels avoided Mori's emissary and fled from Yamashiro, joining up with a bigger army there ! Meaning... That Lord Mori and his 10 honour 6 heavy cavalrymen... conquered the province !!



How sweet... A Buddhist temple remains there for cheap honour 1 monks.
The army in Iga is dreadful : 660 men, including 300 WM, 300 SA and 60 YS... Yamato... 220 well trained men. Oda has WM, probably from Ise. The rebel armies around Mimasaka are so small I should take them on with YA only.
The army you can see in the screenshot is the garrison in Iyo, by the way. Shimazu's border.

Now the budget is good to be reworked

Build orders and trainings :
Tosa : a port (750) ; Sanuki : a farm (500) ; Bitchu : a farm (450) ; Kii, Awa and Bizen : the first farm upgrade (750).
Also, the Legendary archery dojo is started in Aki.
--> 2850/6211 kokus.

Aki : 2 WM (750) and a SA (300).
Yamashiro : 3 WM are ordered (1125).
Bizen : 3 shinobis start their training (300).
Tosa : 3 YA units (300).
--> 5625/6211 kokus. A port could be started in Harima with the spare kokus but we'll see that in due time.

Troop movements :
If Mori keeps Yamashiro for one season, everything will go fine. Hence :
All troops from Kawachi but a 2 stars YA general go to Yamashiro.
The YA from Tosa is sent to Iyo.
4 YA from Aki are shipped to Bizen (remain a 2stars SA and 2 YA). The mop up will (hopefully) start next season.
Shinobis in Hoki-Inaba now cover Inaba-Tajima.
The emissary cancels his mission and heads back to Yamashiro to help with the loyalty/gain a more central position. The shinobi from Yamato does the same.
Finally, the shinobi in Bizen heads for Mimasaka (80% loyalty) while the one in Harima goes scout Tamba (meaning three provinces to mop up will be scouted next turn).
Conveniently enough, the rebels have no army in Wakasa. Let this last !

Summer 1555.
And that was a quiet season ! Even though Shimazu moves a lot of units at the border... The port in Tosa will complete next summer and hopefully he won't move before then.

Build orders and trainings :
The castle in Harima is completed, so Mori starts a port.

Troop movements :
Summer time, invasion time.
- 7 YA units now garrison Iyo.
- the 2 YA in Kawachi meet up with a SA general (heir) from Harima to invade Tamba. 30 YA from Kii are sent to garrison Kawachi.
- The 80 men in Mimasaka invade Inaba, joining up with 60 YA from Harima.
- The 4 YA units in Bizen are split in two to reinforce both Harima and Mimasaka.



So... We trust Oda won't invade Kii this season :)

Autumn 1555 :
The 2 battles in Inaba and Tamba were easy, facing low honour generals. 90 rebels were killed in the process, mostly archers.
We get our 2nd 4 stars general and then, another good news shines upon the Mori :



May I ask : is it any wonder ?!

Troop movements :
It would be nice to defeat the remaining rebels : 300 men under the command of a honour -2 general... Mostly we should deny them the opportunity to take another province.
- The YA in Tosa reinforces Iyo.
- 60 YA from Yamashiro and a shinobi invade Wakasa. In the current situation, Echizen may be easier to conquer than Owari. A pity, but... better keep options open.
- 150 men from Tamba, 100 from Inuki and 120 from Harima invade Tajima. 60 men from Mimasaka reinforce Harima.
- The 60 YA remaining in Mimasaka join up with another 60 YA from Bitchu to invade Hoki.
- Finally, 120 men from Aki (a SA and WM) invade Bingo. 2 shinobis from Bizen head to Bitchu in to help garrisonning next turns.



Winter 1555.
The rebels retreated from Bingo and Hoki. Wakasa was taken without a fight (Oda is in Mino and rebels in Echizen). The battle for Inaba occurred and... it was a slaughter since the rebels started to flee from the moment Mori's YA entered the melee. Then they had no province to flee to.
Bad news balance a good year : the harvest has been bad and all crop incomes are down by 25%.
Still... Mori's position is now very strong. Less frontlines, more and better troops (1313 total expenses).

Mori clan's territory :





Notice an interesting rebel castle in Izumo (and don't forget the sleeping castle of Suo).
The port of Tosa will be complete next summer.
What about expansion ? Shall we forget about Oda for the moment and head straight for Echizen/Kaga ? That would open a path for the invasion of Echigo (that happens to have a river and a port). Given the strength of the rebels in Iga, maybe Uesugi is a better opponent than Oda... hmmm...

[TWD]

Round 7, to winter 1556.

Winter 1555.
Mori needs to garrison its borders in the north west. 3YA in both Hoki and Bingo, 2YA and a few other units in Aki should do the job.
The other need is to send reinforcements to Wakasa to start conquering provinces towards Kaga, going through Echizen. Mori expects to be unstoppable once it holds the Buddhist temple of Kaga and has a port established there.
Given the bad harvest and the military needs, emphasis this year will be put on troop production rather than infrastructure.

Build orders and trainings :
4 YA in Tosa (400), 4 shinobis in Bizen (400), 4 WM in Yamashiro (1500) and... 4 SA in Aki (1200). SA lack in Mori's army but they help a lot to reduce the casualties in any given battle. Fielding expensive WM means we need to protect them.
--> 3500/4468 kokus.
A farm is queued in Kawachi (450)
A famous horse dojo is queued in Aki (400)
--> 4350/4468 kokus.

Troop movements :
A SA in Bingo swaps with a YA in Aki. The YA from Bitchu also goes to Bingo (now 3YA).
A YA from Inaba goes garrison Hoki (now 3YA).
2 YA from Iyo are sent to Sanuki, aiming for Aki. The one in Tosa takes his garrison in Iyo.
Shinobis chain move from Bitchu to Echizen. The shinobi from Bizen is sent to Harima.
The shinobi from Aki goes scout north in Iwami and will follow investigating the castle of Izumo. Better be sure our garrisons in Bingo and Hoki are sufficient.
All troops in Tajima (4 stars SA general) move along the coast to Wakasa. Most probably, some of them will help garrison Yamashiro to free some WM.
In Harima, the 4 stars HA goes to Bizen, aiming to be retrained in Aki after the horse dojo is upgraded (we'll see the cost ; there are 16 men remaining). The remaining YA unit joins up with a wounded YS from Yamashiro to defend the bridge in Kawachi.
Finally, a WM and SA from Aki are shipped to Bizen ! They'll go straight for the frontlines but it will take some time.

Spring 1556.
Oda sent armies in both Iga and Echizen... and retreated. I fear he hasn't fought the rebels even once but merely overwhelmed them with numbers so they kept retreating :
4 Yari cav, 2 Horse archers, 1 WM, 2 SA and a YS guard the province ! Making a powerful 600 men army.

Troop movements :
Shinobis keep on chain moving towards Kaga. The hills of Hida also belong to the rebels.
The shinobi in Iwami discovered 2 SA units and heads to Izumo.
4 stars HA in Bizen goes to Aki. The 2 YA units in Sanuki continue their way to Aki while the WM and SA in Bizen head for Harima.
A 3 stars heir in Wakasa goes take his command in Kawachi. 2 WM units and 2 YA also swap between Yamashiro and Wakasa.

At this point I'm not sure Mori will be able to invade anywhere this season. Thus, the emissary is sent in Yamato to get information about Oda's forces. We will invade in the east, where resistance is the lighter. Hopefully, Mori will not have to wait for reinforcements to come.

Summer 1555.
Oda fought and lost in Echizen. The rebels there had reinforcements and are now 700 men. Meanwhile, Kaga is also heavily garrisonned with 420 men, almost only WM. The good point is that besides the 2 stars general in Echizen, there are no able generals on the rebels' side.
The rebels in Izumo have a strong position, with 400 men including archers and naginatas (there is an armoury).
The port in Tosa is finally completed.
Mori thinks again about invading Oda. Yamato is lightly defended with 250 men. Scouts will be sent in Owari/Ise. Mori's income is becoming stagnant, which is a bad thing. Owari/Ise would do wonders at bumping our income far above 5000 kokus (now 4700, after considering the 1600 kokus needed for maintenance).
By the way, no invasion means the taxes can be raised to Punitive. Which will gain us some 600 kokus.

Troop movements :
The shinobi from Bizen is asked to gain intelligence in the port of Owari. The emissary is sent to Ise. Finally, the shinobi in Wakasa scouts Omi.
The Heir in Yamashiro reaches Kawachi.
3 SA from Aki are shipped to Bizen. Aki is reinforced with a YA from Tosa and another from Bizen. All remaining troops in Bizen and Harima head towards Tamba.



Autumn 1555.
Oda fought and lost for both Iga and Echizen. Good news. Bad news are the assassination of our emissary in Ise and the capture of our shinobi in Omi... Owari, with full farms upgrades and a port, yields 1500 kokus a year. We want it !! It also happens to be lightly garrisonned.

Build orders and trainings :
It seems there was an error in the initial budget, as Mori isn't rich enough to afford a SA in Aki. It is swapped for a YA.
After investigation of the error, a Famous spear dojo was queued in Tosa and wasn't counted. Oh, well...

Troop movements :
The shinobi in Owari is sent to Ise. The one from Bizen is sent to Tosa (next one should go to Aki).
The YA from Tosa is sent to Aki.
Troops from Bizen-Harima-Tamba head towards Yamashiro.
Finally, a SA from Aki is shipped to the port of Harima, now complete.

All troops are ready for an invasion next winter.

Winter 1556.
Oda didn't fight much.
We have another poor harvest but thanks to the taxes, we still get a decent amount of kokus :



It seems Ise is very lightly defended. On the other hand, Lord Mori has amassed a very capable army in Yamashiro :



Other troops are :
Wakasa : 1 SA general, 2 WM units, 2 YA units and half a naginata unit.
Kawachi : 30 SA, 15 YA and 90 YA.
Tamba : 1 YA unit.
Harima : 4 SA units.
Kii : 1 YA unit.

We know Oda has around 250 men in Yamato, 100 in Ise and 250 in Owari. Mino and Omi may be more heavily garrisonned, though.
After this uneventful year, we will try in 1557 to spell doom on the Oda clan's fate.

[TWD]

Long time, no update. I'll come to why during the description of the events that affected the Mori clan in spring 1556. But for now, let me present you :

Round 8, to winter 1557.

Objectives for this round are the conquest of Ise and Owari. There are a few interesting ways to do so, though. That is where Shogun's strategic map really shines. First off, let's analyse what we know of the armies.
Most of Mori's forces are in Yamashiro and Wakasa. Reinforcements will come in numbers from Harima.
Oda is present in light numbers in Ise and Owari. Yamato is a bit more garrisonned without being impressive. We assume the bulk of Oda's forces are in Omi and especially Mino. It is mainly from these two provinces that Oda leads his assaults against the rebel forces in Echizen and Iga.
The rebels... The 3rd party. Interestingly enough, their armies are the strongest in the area. Assume Mori invades Yamato and Omi, what happens with the rebels in Iga ? Will they invade those very same provinces ? Or strike Ise ? Or Yamashiro ? A reason why Mori's position is so comfortable at the moment is that it has very few provinces bordering rebel armies : Wakasa borders Echizen ; Yamashiro borders Iga. That is all. Any expansion plan should aim at keeping a comfortable position, well, comfortable.

Simple enough, right ? The conclusion is that we should strike Iga first. The cons of not doing so are obvious : Mori would get swamped. What are the pros ?
- Oda may join the fight ! Yes. We'll see, but he has already attempted some assaults on Iga. If he sees his ally moving, chances are he'll come ! (I didn't read about it recently but I believe the AI makes its decisions after the player ; that would make the above guess a pretty certain thing) Then, Mori can «#manage#» to some extent the casualties Oda would suffer (while lessening his own).
- Iga borders Yamato, Omi and Ise. Invading Iga first does not delay Mori's expansion but it does delay the war declaration against Mori. Strike Ise on the 1st season and Owari on the 2nd ? Yes, please !


Winter 1556.
Build orders and trainings :
This year as well, military production takes priority. Hopefully, pillage will allow the building of some infrastructure.
Bizen, Tosa and Yamashiro train troops at full capacity (2300). In Aki, we retrain the 4 stars HA then ask for 2 Yari cavalry and, concession to infrastructure, 1 YA to be trained (1466). The Yari cav are ordered in anticipation on the invasion of Echizen.
→ 3766/5652 kokus. 1850 kokus remain available for infrastructure.
A legendary farmland is queued in Kawachi (500) and Yamashiro, Tamba and Kawachi start the first farm upgrade (750).
On the military side, Aki starts the Legendary Armoury (600).
-->5616/566 kokus.

Troop movements :
Shinobis from Ise, Tamba and Kawachi move towards Yamato. Next season, 4 shinobis will be ready to spell dissension in Yamato. Hopefully, that will reduce Oda's ability to move troops.
Troops in Yamashiro invade Iga.
All troops from Tamba and Kawachi reinforce Yamashiro, while the Samurai Archers in Harima move into Kawachi.
Finally, there are some minor moves (the YA in Tosa is shipped to Harima, the Shinobi in Bizen also moves there).

Spring 1557.
As expected, Oda joins in the fight for Iga:



Actually, this battle I have replayed. I fought it once last week and won but suffered very high casualties (around 400). I didn't take any advantage of Oda's army being in the field and got stuck in the central woods of Iga :P I don't mind to mismanage a battle here and there, but this battle is crucial to Mori's ambitions. So I replayed it...
I did a little better job, but oh ! How bad am I at managing a large battle ? Casualties near 300 men... Well, maybe Lord Mori couldn't avoid to shed so much of his clanmates' blood.



75 rebels remain trapped in the castle of Iga, under the command of a -1 honour general.
The tax rate is back to normal.

Troop movements :
Now we should declare war onto Oda. But first, some moves are executed behind the frontlines :
The 4 stars HA is sent to Tosa and will take the command of the garrison in Iyo next season.
The YA reinforcements go along the Tosa-Harima-Tamba line. They'll be able to garrison either Yamashiro or Wakasa next season, according to the clan's needs.
War moves :
4 shinobis enter Yamato. So do the SA from Kawachi and som YA from Yamashiro.
Lord Mori's army in Iga attacks Ise, supported by the YA in Kii.
2 YA from Yamashiro are sent for garrison purpose in Iga.
Finally, Omi is invaded with most forces in Wakasa and a WM from Yamashiro. The 3 stars general in Yamashiro takes command over the YA remaining in Wakasa.



Summer 1557.
167 men remained in Yamato. They seemed to be willing to engage Mori's forces but fled when they saw them. If Ise is taken... they will have nowhere to retreat to !!
Omi was invaded 328 men vs 209, our 4 stars general facing a 2 stars taisho and... the same scenario as in Yamato was repeated !! Those troops will fall back either into Omi or Owari, though.
Finally, Lord Oda retreated from Ise to Owari. But, this time, he didn't grant my general a free victory. Some kokus were pillaged but I didn't keep track of how many. Anyways, Mori has 300 spare kokus to spend.
Yamato appears to have a +40% farm. Ise has a spear dojo and a palace. Finally, Omi has a border forts built. That is very nice since it will allow to scout Oda's armies in Mino and Owari.

The war being declared, Imagawa decides to cancel his alliance with the Mori clan.

Build orders and trainings :
A YS is ordered in Iga and the YS queued in Aki is changed to another YS unit. After around 30 seasons played, those are the first YS that Mori trains... Oops !

Troop movements :
Having retreated so much, Oda is far from being defenseless :
2 stars Daymio commands 300 men in Owari and... his 5 stars heir commands 1100 men in Mino. That is an impressive army.
Lord Mori (455 men) launches an attack against Owari but the province is likely to be reinforced and he will retreat. The priority here is to gain some time to secure Omi and Wakasa.
120 men from Yamashiro and Tamba make their way to Wakasa. 1 unit there fakes an attack against Mino, seconded by another unit from Omi.
The YA in Iga manage to arrive in Omi while the army in Yamato dispatches its troops into several provinces to ease the logistics next season.
Other than that, the usual reinforcements are made.

Autumn 1557.
Oda sends an invasion force into Wakasa, but fails to overwhelm us : that is 255 men against our 208. We lost some troops (77) but that allowed us to take 225 heads. What happenned here is exactly what Mori needs : Oda must split his troops !
Owari wasn't super heavily reinforced but still, the 450 men of Lord Mori would assault the two bridges against 430 men led by the 5 stars heir... Given our shortage of SA, Lord Mori chooses to call off the attack. Next season, next season...

Good news shine upon the clan : we are the most advanced... not that we care so much.

Troop movements :
Now, Lord Mori's army is stronger by 2SA units and 1YS. He marches his troops against Owari again.
The usual reinforcement chain makes its job and Wakasa is heavily reinforced.
730 men in Mino ; 430 in Owari... We've sent 660 in Owari and should send some into Mino as well... Those will be 1 unit from each of Wakasa and Omi. It is hard to afford more right now (250 men remain in Wakasa and 460 in Omi).

Winter 1557.
Now, Oda made a "sensible" move. Or at least a bold move since it may mean he will lose everything : he sent a 800 men invasion force into Omi, led by his daymio. Of course, Mori will defend the province !



Notice how Oda left Mino undefended. Mori took position on the right back hill. Oda started circling around but we could present a unified front anyways. A downhill charge proved to be enough to cause his YA heavy army flee. The battle for Omi was won. Now, if Owari falls, Lord Oda will have nowhere to retreat to. Leaving Mino undefended really was a mistake.

Mino is conquered, yielding 325 kokus. There remains an improved farmland and an armoury.
Finally, thanks to the battle for Omi, the fight in Owari will be our 635 men vs 377 Oda men. Lord Mori and a small taskforce took over the west bridge while the bulk of our archers/WM hold the eastern bridge. The sacrifice of a YA unit was enough to claim the victory ! The conquest of Owari yielded 800 kokus. The infrastructure is that of a clan's capital : archery dojo, famous spear dojo, armoury, golden palace, drill dojo, watchtowers, port, legendary farmland... Yummy !

Now... Lord Oda has died in Omi. His heir Nobunaga is the new daymio but he is trapped in Owari's castle... That is the end of the Oda clan.
Imagawa is present in Mikawa (400 men) and Takeda holds a castle in Hida. Interestingly enough, Uesugi has just declared war onto Takeda and holds Shinano while Takeda has retreated to the castle. Hmm...

The lay of the land :
Things didn't change much in the west :


And in the east :


Notice the indecent treasury : 10.000 kokus.
Expenses now amount to some 2000 kokus but the net income has risen above 11000 !
Owari, Yamashiro, Bizen, Tosa and Aki now make 5 troop producing factories. I think I'll have Mino produce samurai archers non-stop from now. Harima could also be used for that purpose. Maybe get a few ninjas in Iga but I'm not keen on going heavy into ninjas right now. Tajima enhanced shinobis may be worth it, though... In Ise, I guess I'll burn the military infrastructure soon and focus on farms instead. I'll see how things balance first, though. I guess the Mori clan can now afford to spend some 5000 kokus a year recruiting troops.

The garrisons in Echizen and Kaga are still impressive but I believe those provinces should be the next military objectives for the Mori clan.
From there, striking on Echizen will be possible. Before or after conquering Shinano. That would depend on who holds the province. The alternative objective to Echizen is Musashi. Another high yield bridge with, probably, a well developped infrastructure.
Shimazu is more and more likely to ba a non issue (remember : win at 40 provinces) but conquering Bungo may be wise nonetheless. I'll build up slowly the army in Iyo, sending SA.
Imagawa and Takeda have done a great job at slowing Uesugi and Hojo. I hope Takeda will hold a little longer against Uesugi. Imagawa... We should propose him another alliance as soon as Oda disappears.

[caravel]

Very nice TWD, you are in a very strong position and a hefty treasury (even the peasants must be growing fat?). It looks like you removed Oda at the right time. I also note that Shimazu's garrison in Bungo has swelled somewhat.

[TWD]

Thank you, Asai.

You are right about Shimazu ; I should send shinobis in both Hizen and Bungo to see what troops he has and how he fares against the rebels. I anticipate he got stuck against Hizen's defenses, though.
Right as well about Oda... That is why I replayed the battle for Iga (speeding the capture of Owari by a year, maybe... or maybe not, I don't know :) I feared my losses would delay me too much, in any case) : Takeda is just starting to fall. If Mori came into the position I'm at some 4-5 years later, then there would be a unified opposition and the campaign would prove much harder. Hojo/Uesugi must have a lot of troops in their core provinces but as long as they don't control much land, there is no real danger.
The "Road to Kaga" in the title is all about that rush eastwards, although in this campaign 2 years were devoted to the capture of Shikoku (and I think it was worth it ; Oda has been so passive in the early game).

Regarding the peasants, haha ! I doubt they will grow fat ! It is scaringly easy to spend money !

[TWD]

Round 9, to winter 1558.
Military objectives for this round are the conquest of Echizen and Kaga.
We also want to reform the alliance with Imagawa and get some more (military) infrastructure.

Echizen : 630 men under a 3 stars general. 4 SA, 4 Yari Cav, 2 HA, 2WM and 2YS. That is a dreadful army.
Kaga : 420 men under a 0 stars general. 6 WM and a SA. Much less impressive but requires to be handled with care.
Mori could try to conquer those the fair way : fortifying Wakasa and Mino heavily and overwhelming Echizen, suffering plenty of losses, reinforcing then invading Kaga and facing yet again a promoted general...
Or Mori could try to be sneaky, leaving Mino only lightly defended to bait the rebels into it, so that they split their forces. Yes, we'll go that way.

From now on, I won't mention the military moves behind the frontlines. Suffice to say that 3/4 of what is trained goes to the front and the rest goes either to Iyo, Owari or Aki.
Shinobis try to cover the whole territory (1 shinobi per province) and, when I'll have a surplus, I'll mention it.

Winter 1557.
The budget nears 10.000 kokus... We should get some farms in Oda's territory, upgrade our current training centers and... we can afford 1-2 more castles.
Oh ! Our lowest loyalty is 130% : taxes are raised to punitive.

Build orders and trainings :
Omi and Ise start an improved farmland, Kii goes for a superior farmland and Bitchu for a Legendary farmland (1350).
Yamashiro starts a Fortress and Aki a Citadel (2250).
Harima starts an Archery dojo (400) and a Castle is started in Wakasa (250 ; and later a port to move troops from Yamashiro).
Tosa, Bizen and Yamashiro train troops at full capacity ; Aki goes for 1 emissary and 3 Yari Cavalry (3900)
--> 8150/9982 kokus. We'll stop here for now. We will have 1832 spare kokus to spend.

Troop movements :
Lord Mori remains with 450 men in Owari. Maybe next season he will assault the castle, since there are no ranged troops, there. But Lord Oda has a 60 units hatamoto... eek.
Meanwhile, Wakasa is 600 men strong under the lead of our 4 stars general.

The lone YA in Mino fakes an attack against Echizen.
Shinobis are sent to Hizen (now Shimazu) and Bungo to gain some intelligence.

Spring 1558.
Lots of troop movements in the east, as you can see in this screenshot (after we retreated from Echizen :



Takeda has lost Hida, he has taken Shinano back and the rebels split their forces ! Great news !!
Our shinobi in Bungo was caught, though. Maybe there's a fort, there.

Troop movements :
Lord Mori attempts the assault of Owari's castle. He has 5 SA units, after all... And those archers are much needed in the north.
Near 600 men in Wakasa invade Echizen.
Meanwhile we move some small stuff around : The YA in Mino fakes an attack against Hida and a few troops in Omi reinforce Mino.
Our emissary in Aki heads for Totomi, in hope to find lord Imagawa.



Summer 1558.
The rebels in Echizen retreated. There really didn't remain a lot of them (most are in Hida). 230 remained in Kaga. Takeda invaded there but, fortunately, chose to retreat. 543 rebels are massed in Hida so our YA retreats wisely into the woods of Mino !
The assault of Owari's castle proved pretty easy. We lost some 15 YA.
So Oda is no longer and... Lord Imagawa appears to be in Totomi, perfect !
The Mori clan has a new heir matured... a 2 stars YA from Tosa, eek. The two other heirs are a 2 stars SA and a 3 stars SA... Maybe I should use them more.

Build orders and trainings :
The archery dojo in Harima and the castle in Wakasa are complete.
We start a port in Wakasa (750) and ask for 2SA in Harima (600).
We get 375 kokus for burning the spear dojo and palace in Ise, so that we can start a Large castle in Harima (500) and order 2 YA from Owari (200).
2050/2207 kokus available. 157 kokus remain available.

Troop movements :
Now is a good time to reinforce Mino. It is Lord Mori who is gifted with that task.
Anyways, all troops in Echizen invade Kaga. We lack SA, but so do they !!
Finally, the 3 stars heir and some 260 men invade Hida. Maybe they will retreat, that will depend on the rebels' moves.

Our emissary proposes the alliance to Imagawa.

Autumn 1558 :
Takeda joins in the fight for Kaga. As a consequence, the rebels retreat into the castle. I didn't hope it would be so easy to capture this province. We pillage 200 kokus.
Our forces retreat from Hida. We are 267 vs 346 (elite) rebels.
Imagawa rejected our alliance proposal. Hmm...
A shinobi of ours was caught by Shimazu. He is done conquering his island. Does he hold Nagato ?

Build orders and trainings :
We burn the border forts and watchtowers in Omi to gain 300 kokus.
An Archery dojo is started in Mino.
--> 400/457 kokus.

Troop movements :
Our emissary asks again for an alliance with Imagawa. Who knows ?
Lord Mori invades Hida with 500 loyal men.

As you can see below, Takeda holds Noto. Uesugi still has control over Echigo, though. If Mori can conquer Etchu next season, then Echigo will fall to his hands !



Winter 1558 :
The rebels in Hida retreated but, unfortunately for them, Uesugi conquered Etchu, depriving them from any province to go to. That is very nice to us, since, had it been Takeda who conquered Etchu, we'd have been forced to declare war onto him.
The castle in Kaga will fall soon (it lost 1/3 of its men). There was an earthquake, there, so we don't get income from the province but, fortunately, no building was damaged. Only a Buddhist temple remains in Kaga, but it is a Famous one (meaning honour 2 WM).
Our troops are massed on the eastern borders and ready to strike.
In the west, Shimazu holds Nagato. There are very few buffers between us, now, but Iyo is already being reinforced with archers from Harima.

The new treasury is 11.000 kokus.



--> Incoming next year, the war with Uesugi !
Troops : 500 in each of Hida and Kaga, 300 in each of Echizen and Mino. 400 in Owari. 480 in Aki. 540 in Iyo.

[TWD]

I'm unlikely to have time to play another round for some 10-15 days, so here's a second round for today. I'm also a bit frustrated there weren't many interesting battles in the last round (although Takeda made some nice moves... which served Mori more than him, but... well... that couldn't be helped, I suppose).

So here is :
Round 10, to winter 1559.
In this round, we want to crush Uesugi. Mori has 1000 men stationned at his borders, including his 5 stars Daymio and a 4 stars general. Reinforcements are very close and of good quality (we're done fighting with Ashigarus alone).
This round really should be the round that explains all the others. Why didn't we push to the east, not even invading Suo ? Why did we focus on kokus so much ? Why did we get Bizen first, leaving all provinces bordering Aki to the rebels ? Well, that was for this round to happen.
Note I'm a poor field commander, although I hope I do a sensible use of the strategic map. I've tried to rush to this position but a better player could do so much faster.
When Mori holds the Owari-Kaga line, he can claim Shinano any day he wants. If Hojo is the threat, he'll aim for Musashi. If it is Uesugi, it will be Echigo. That is a great position for map control.
Once again : the reason for this campaign is this round. I believe most Mori/Shimazu campaigns are all about "when you get past Oda, you're facing the Hojo/Uesugi hordes and the game is very tough". Mori and Shimazu income potential are overlooked, I believe, so are their map control potential.

Let it roll !

Winter 1558.
Time to make a budget.
Build orders and trainings :
We'll start queueing farms in Echizen, Tamba, Kii, Ise and Omi (1750).
We leave 1550 kokus available for Yamashiro, Harima and Aki (Buddhist temple, Archery dojo and Horse dojo).
A large castle is queued in Mino (500) and a famous swordsmith is started in Owari.
Finally, Watchtowers are started in Iyo (200) : we need to know what Shimazu is doing in Bungo. Also, a castle is started in Tajima to double our Shinobi production.

In the troops departments :
Owari, Tosa, Yamashiro, Bizen and Harima work at full capacity (3900). Aki starts 4 Yari Cav (2000).
--> 10.750/11.004 kokus.

Troop movements :
All 1000 men from Kaga and Hida invade Etchu under Lord Mori's command. Uesugi will retreat in Echigo, right, but we will conquer Echigo no matter what.
Troops from Echizen and Mino move into Kaga and Hida. Meanwhile, Mino is lightly reinforced (240).

Spring 1559.
Hmm... a bad thing happened.
Uesugi retreated from Etchu, which is alright, but Takeda invaded Echigo and now holds the bridge while Uesugi has a few men trapped in the castle. Maybe it isn't appropriate anymore to consider the Takeda as our ally. He has a 650 men army, more than half of it being cavalry... eek. (yes, most conveniently, Etchu has watchtowers.) His army in Shinano isn't very impressive (340), nor is that in Noto (330). Hmm... We will wait for one season. If it seems Takeda will take Echigo, we will declare war on him. Takeda, after all, is a very valuable ally and the war against Uesugi would be much easier if he could help Mori.
In other news, Bungo now has a port.

Build orders :
Yamashiro starts a Tranquil Garden (250), I forgot that was a requirement for the Buddhist temple...
We're now running at a deficit, unless we pillage something.

Troop movements :
Just strenghtening a bit the borders.

Summer 1559.
Good news : Uesugi took Echigo back. He has around a 1000 men there.
Shimazu has taken Suo and shipped troops into Aki (declaring war !) but retreated without a fight.
Our watchtowers are done in Iyo... 1100 men of a well balanced army are massed in Bungo, against our 720 in Iyo, but more are coming.
Build orders and trainings :
A WM is trained in Kaga. Yet increasing our deficit...

Troop movements :
A shinobi from Aki sneaks into Suo : we want to know what Shimazu has, there.
Lord Mori leads 1100 men into Echigo. We hope for the assistance of Takeda.



Autumn 1559 :
Takeda came ! Which is more, Uesugi Kenshin left the province and went into Mutsu (Kozuke also is a Uesugi province), which will make the fight much easier. Doesn't he know that once Mori holds Echigo he will never let it go ?



We attacked under a very heavy rain, which fits Takeda's cavalry much more than Samurai archers. Takeda made a great job at sending his cavalry accross the bridge and drawing the ennemy fire... Meanwhile, our archers supported him. When Takeda's general started to flee, our Daymio took command over the assault but all resistance was already broken. It was just a matter of mopping up.



We pillaged some 125 kokus. Not enough to make up for our deficit.

In other news, Hojo retreated from Kozuke. That explains Uesugi's weird move : Hojo has finally made his move and is at war against both Uesugi and Takeda. May I say this fits perfectly our ambitions ?

Incredible : Uesugi, who appeared so strong just one season ago is now finished : He has 260 men (mostly SA) trapped in the castle of Echigo, 420 men in Kozuke, which is a fair army size and his Daymio is in Mutsu, leading 240 men. What about Dewa ? Dewa... as in... Dewa, the richest province of all Japan. Well, 30 rebels hold it, under the command of a honour -1 general. What happenned around here ?

In the west, Shimazu nears 1300 men in Bungo and has a 400 men army in Suo, led by his daymio and including a heir (mostly naginata cav and SA).

The port in Wakasa is finally complete. This will ease a lot our troop movements.

Build orders and trainings :
The YA in Tosa is cancelled. And the Legendary horse dojo isn't started in Aki. That is the cost of our deficit.

Troop movements :
We send 200 men take control over Dewa.
3 stars heir and 260 men from Etchu take command in Echigo.



In the west, Aki is reinforced heavily.

Winter 1559.

Lord Uesugi protected himself the province of Kozuke. Lord Mori being outnumbered, he called off his attack.
Meanwhile, both Dewa and Mutsu were conquered without a fight. 450 kokus were pillaged in Mutsu.

An average harvest brought our treasury to 12.500 kokus.





Lord Mori has control over 32 provinces amongst the 60 that Japan counts. Victory is enabled for the control of 40 provinces (I believe I stated this before ; I don't enjoy mopping up). Closing in.

[Gregoshi]

This last few turns have been very interesting. Well done TWD.