Hojo...

[caravel]

Hojo/1530/Huge Units/Hard

I can't remember the last time I played a Hojo camapign, so here it is. (Actually I've had this one going about a month but have hardly played in the last 2 weeks). I'd had enough of Expert difficulty from my last few campaigns, the modded stats make the hard difficulty balanced enough and I got sick of having to butcher every last man because they refused to rout. Anyway on to the campaign so far.



The current Daimyo Hojo Ujitsuna, with holdings in Mikawa, Totomi, Suruga, Izu, Kai and Sagami - and ambtions to rule all of the Kanto region - is faring quite well so far. The lord is aging however and it will soon fall to Ujiyasu to lead the clan. The latter, lord of Kofu castle in Kai, is already showing promise as an excellent general.

The latest obstacle, the Uesugi clan are only holding out in Musashi province and another remote outpost in Chikuzen (inherited from the Imagawa clan). All of the lands north of Musashi are ronin lands. The Imagawa and Takeda are gone. I decided to instigate a war with Uesugi then on weighing up the odds of winning the invasion of Musashi decided to withdraw. A river battle against all of his YA and SA would be a huge waste. It is preferable that Lord Uesugi throw his men at the Hojo defences first, or weakens the Musashi garrison by invading neighbouring ronin lands. Musashi is an important acquisition before the push for Shinano can occur.

The alliance with the Oda clan persists for now, though Lord Hojo won't be redeploying the 780 man Mikawa garrison any time soon.

[caravel]

1547 - after months of uncertainty, Lord Uesugi finally takes the bait.


Positioning his forces on the high ground, the Nodachi in the woods, the inexperienced taisho by the name of Sadamasa awaits the enemy advance. The ashigaru lose heart when faced with superior numbers and flee. The rest of the army collide with the enemy the rout begins.


Lord Uesugi's honour deserts him...


Sadamasa is relieved, in reality it was a half decent victory - Uesugi attacked when not expected and while his taisho was in Kai.

[Kagemusha]

Beautifull Asai sama

[caravel]

1548 - The Hojo forces led by Hojo Ujiyasu, move into Musashi. Ujiyasu brings along nearly 1400 men swelled by reinforcements diverted from the Sagami garrison.


Despite fielding around 200 capable archers of his own, Ujiyasu waits for a particularly heavy mid afternoon downpour before approaching the bridge. The Yari troops march quickly across, the Uesugi forces retreating to higher ground - a catastrophic error of judgement by the Uesugi taisho.


Quikcly surrounding the enemy's position and moving in, the Hojo forces rout the Uesugi army - Lord Uesugi abandons his honour and flees.


Another decisive victory for Ujiyasu. Leaving Kai undefended was a risk, but the risk has now paid off handsomely. The victorious Hojo army surrounds Edo and begins to lay siege. The Hojo clan's ambitions of becoming Lords of the Kanto are now a step closer.


The following year Shinano falls without striking a blow - the ronin in those parts preferring to vanish into the hills. Perhaps Ujiyasu's reputation precedes him?

---------------------------------------------
Thank you Kagemusha-san, though the last installment was a little rushed to say the least. (I will tidy it up a bit).

I will post my next account soon. I have done a lot of infrastructure building, teppo training and have raided the ronin provinces to the north in preparation.

[caravel]

1560 - 10 years of relative peace ensue after the final removal of the Uesugi. There is word of a Uesugi fief in southern Japan, perhaps in Kyushu, but they are too far to trouble Daimyo Hojo Ujitsuna's thoughts at present. Now 69 years old the great lord has overseen many social and economic changes during his time, not in the least important of these, the widespread adoption of the jesuit religion imported by the european traders along with the guns that are now commonly seen carried by the ashigaru through the streets of Edo, Kofu and other towns. The Kanto region is now a rich "trading belt" with the merchant class of all of Japan and the rest of the world passing through to peddle their wares. The sake shops are numerous, the temples even more so and the whore houses, well, infamous and every kind of weapon, armour, textile, spice or oddment can be bought and sold.

Apart from some successful raids into Kozuke, Shimotsuke and Hitachi in the last few years to wipe out the troublesome bandits that have plagued the border towns there, there has been an uneasy peace in the southern lands, the relationship with the Oda clan seems cool at best, but war seems even more unlikely. Shimazu is too far away to worry about. The arrival of a new clan, the Tokugawa has generated some idle gossip in the sake shops of Edo and Odawara - in Mikawa and Shinano the peasants along the bordering villages are already packing up and moving out. At present the Tokugawa are focusing their attentions on the Oda clan, with the siege of Inabayama being on every peasant's lips.

Ujitsuna puts down his brush to reflect on all of this. It has been more than a year since he'd heard from Ujiyasu, the intended recipient of, the communication he has been busy penning. A war with the Oda would be a big step, but the opportunity seemed too good to miss out on. The new Tokugawa fief in Echigo had already expanded northwards, young Ujimasa in Shimosa was more than capable, and is safe for now, but it again would fall to Ujiyasu in Shinano to fight the Tokugawa as he had the Uesugi 12 years before.

Ujitsuna again set to writing, finished the letter and called the servant in.

[Gregoshi]

Ten years of peace! Nice, refreshing move Asai. You are indeed enlightened.

I eagerly await your next steps.

[Drisos]

I'm not sure how others play, but I move through a campaign in "surges". I tend to to expand all at once in several directions, taking key provinces and securing choke points. After this I have those troops "dig in" and then invest heavily in infrastructure for several years before moving again.

Woah! I've always been the same '2 turns a year' kind of guy. This sounds as an intresting alternative. :)

PS; As much as I love my country, the Dutch do arrive way too late. :P If only we could modify shogun to let them come earlier... I very rarely work with the Portugeze, the 'deal' they offer doesn't seem really intresting actually... (I'm curious, do you feel it made your campaign any easier? I never did.) Though, 132k sounds like a lot of money!

Anyway, nice campaign!! :)