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.

[caravel]

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

Thanks Gregoshi-san,

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.

I had a small army of 3 x Naginta Cavalry, 1x Yari Cavalry and 2x Nodachi led by a 0 star taisho. During peace time I sent that small army thinning out the ronin to good effect. He's now a 3 start Taisho (In Etchu). The method in the madness behind this strange army composition is simple - they're killers not conquerors. They still managed to win every battle however, even when outnumbered and faced with YS and monks. The Nodachi I used, to keep any YS busy, while the Naginta cavalry took care of everything else. YC as reserves to pursue routers.

In Mino, the Oda had already suffered one rebellion (Oda is Christian as well) which they had easily put down. I simply seized the advantage and dropped my Shinobi in there... the result after a further two seasons of revolts was the reappearance of Imagawa, now Tokugawa, with Ieyasu himself.

I now have some interesting choices. The game was getting a bit sparse of actual clans so the appearance of Tokugawa has made things interesting. Most of the map is still ronin. Shimazu are expanding into Honshu and Shikoku, so this could turn into a Hojo Vs Shimazu 50/50 scenario which would be boring. Anyway...

The way I see it I can either lift the siege for Oda (my ally) and try to keep them in the game, in the process going all out against the Tokugawa, or I can betray the Oda clan, invade Owari and watch them fall apart?

[TWD]

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.

Usually, I dream about games heavy on infrastructure but can't seem to play any other way than rush type strategies.
I wish I had the patience to develop peacefully in Shogun, though. Your campaign looks very enjoyable :) It is very nice that Imagawa "revived". It is a pity that clans in the 1530 campaign start so weak they die to the rebels.

The bad point about rush strategies in Shogun is that, in many cases (e.g. Uesugi/Hojo/Takeda in the Sengoku Jidai), the player can break the balance between the clans on the very first year, gaining an advantage that will render any competition meaningless.

I'm thinking about an Imagawa/Oda campaign after my Mori one and hope I can find a campaign that does not make a rush too easy :)

Please, keep us updated,
TWD.

[caravel]

The winter of 1560 - Ujitsuna at the head of one thousand men, heads into Owari province to break the siege of Unuyama. Further north, Ujiyasu is leading his army into Mino to lift the Inabayama siege. Using overwhelming numbers, this will be a show of force to cause the Tokugawa clan to think again...


Delayed, Ujitsuna's men meet up with the fleeing stragglers of the Oda troops emerging from thick fog. It appears that the Oda taisho is dead and the Tokugawa soliders are close by! Immediately realising the possibility of a surprise attack, Ujitsuna orders his men to wait, after a few minutes the Tokugawa army appear over the crest of the hill and are cut down from all sides.


Finally Ieyasu himself is slain and it is over.

Ujitsuna's men return to Mikawa victorious - the Oda now very much in their debt. Word arrives from Ujiyasu that the Tokugawa when faced with the combined Oda/Hojo force beat a speedy retreat. The Tokugawa are no more, their supporters in Echigo melt away, becoming ronin, bandits or joining other clans.

The Tokugawa clan elimated, Ujitsuna now turns his attention to the smaller clans and ronin lands in the north.


1571 - the tide in the war against the ronin and Ikko-Ikki in Mino, Echizen and Kaga has turned. After the razing of Inabayama and ousting of the Oda garrison by these powerful and influential fanatics, it fell to Ujiyasu, now the effective leader, to quell the uprising and take overall control of the province thus stablising the region. Now only the mountain strongholds in Echizen remain.

Ujitsuna, now in his 80th year and becoming frailer, is confined to Okazaki castle in Mikawa. The last 11 years have seen much progress under Ujiyasu's firm but fair administration, the Cathedral in Shinano finished, the northern provinces absorbed and everywhere new fortifications are going up or something is being built. It is impossible to go anywhere in the country without seeing large numbers of troops marching along every road.

Only two clans remain as the major contenders for the shogunate: The Hojo and that distant clan of Kyushu, the Shimazu. The latter have recently moved into Wakasa province. Though allied to the Hojo, there is much talk on the streets that war could break out once again. Shimazu Takahisa has good relations with Ujitsuna and the Hojo clan, but on the death of either of these great men, this could change.

[Gregoshi]

You are in very good shape and you have an nice store of koku should you need to crank out a lot of units. Have you scouted the Shimazu to get an idea of what state their lands and armies are in?

[caravel]

So far I haven't scouted the Shimazu lands so I've no idea what I'm up against. I see a classic "Osaka vs Edo" situation developing however. After taking Owari and Echizen, I plan to halt for a few years and build up troop numbers to the support limit. After which I will probably push for Yamashiro and beyond. My plan is to enter the Shimazu heartland through Shikoku and strike at Satsuma early on, rather than taking the longer route through south-western Honshu.

[Gregoshi]

Good plan. I approve...which should cause you some concern about the soundness of it.

[caravel]

1580 - There is much rumour of defeated Shimazu soldiers fleeing into or hiding out in the mountains. Packs of ronin are now a common site in every town, on every road and staying in roadside teahouses. The Hojo Samurai are seemingly omnipresent and have what would appear to be an endless supply of ryo with which to enlist these men. The defection of Kurayoshi garrison in Hoki is the talk of the town.

Ujitsuna, now at an advanced age, can still be seen leading battles. This has led to speculation and gossip that it is not Ujitsuna himself, but a double that has been seen riding into battle with his retainers.

With all of Shikoku overrun, the Shimazu situation is looking precarious. None of the Samurai want to be on the losing side, so defection is now the biggest worry on Shimazu Takahisa's mind.

[caravel]

1583 - With only the Oda of Hizen and a few stubborn ronin remaining, Ujitsuna makes the final moves to unite the country.


It has been a long journey for Hojo Ujitsuna.

[Kagemusha]

Great campaign Caravel!

[Gregoshi]

132,000 koku in the treasury??!!!!! Inconceivable! Congratulations on your victory Caravel.

[gollum]

There was a bug in v1.0 that would reset the treasury to nil once a player had reached 1,000,000 koku. It was fixed in v1.12 and subsequent - probably for the people who use cheats :)

A Christian Hojo horde - absolutely dreadful... nice campaign, thanks for sharing ;)

[caravel]

There were a few epic battles against the Shimazu but all in all it became quite dull after a while. My mostly, heavy cavalry, naginta/ys, archer and teppo armies were more than a match for Shimazu's assorted rabble. I managed to bribe quite a few shimazu stacks and Shikoku was easily overrun. Shimazu also left a lot of provinces empty, including Satsuma, so I could have invaded through his ports (the one feature I hate in STW) and wreaked havoc, but held off.

The cathedral/church income was massive, which is what enabled me to easily outpace my opponents. In my next campaign - no christianity.

By the way, the Dutch arrived about 2 seasons before the campaign ended. Just thought I'd drop that in there for those that prefer to wait for the Dutch.

[A Nerd]

You make it look sooo easy! I'm jealous! :P :) Fun read though! Thanks for posting your campaign!

[gollum]

Really? The Dutch show up past 1560? And since when the Hojo need Christianity to make a large income? They own all the northeastern rich part; even the clan intro screen says so "...they do not trust rivals or foreigners, but prefer to rely on their prowess and the great wealth of their lands..." :)

Just kidding, just kidding :) thanks for sharing. You play cautiously, stability and development are your priorities, and in any case, by the time one starts to roll towards Kyushu there is no stopping anyway.

[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!! :)