How is your first campaign going?

[Monk]

First true stab at a campaign was with the Hojo on H/N, after a few experiments with Oda and Date to get my TW sense back. (Note: I was bouncing back and forth between Hard and Normal battle difficulty trying to get a sense for how the differences play out. So far.. i haven't noticed much of one. At least in terms of decision making.)

Started out securing alliances with both Takeda and Imagawa to lock down my western borders while I dealt with the Ogigayatsu. With money rolling in from trade and a steady stream of recruits it wasn't hard to knock them out, but when I secured their last province (putting me to 3) i realized just how large my 'ally' Takeda was getting. He was already up to 4 provinces and was threatening war with the Uesugi. I'd need some support. The Satomi clan who were my trade partners, decided to make them vassals of the growing Hojo clan, only one problem. When i declared war upon them the Ashina, the Satomi's number one trade partners and the real power in eastern honsu, declared war right back.

The Ashina already held 5 provinces and had the muscle to back it up. Worse yet, even though I secured aid from the Takeda, Takeda Shingen was apparently in the midsts of one of his legendary fueds with Uesugi Kenshin, as Echigo was changing hands back and forth at rapid pace. I'd be going it alone. Thankfully I had a decent 3-star general who spear-headed the attack into Shimosa province. After an entire year's worth of maneuvering and battles I was eventually repulsed back to Musashi. The Ashina and Satomi pressed their advantage at the Battle of Edo in 1548. My general however proved the deciding factor and won the day with a rallying charge at the 11th hour. I was impressed and had my daimyo adopt him into the royal family. Hojo Ujitane, the hero of Edo. It took a year of rebuilding before my troops were ready to move out, back into Shimosa. This time I won easily, and after pushing further south I vassalized the Satomi. Though now I had a fairly big problem: Ashina. Even though i'd decimated their forces at Edo they were still the big dogs in east Honshu.

The Ashina campaign took a collected 4 years and 16 turns, providing back and forth fighting until I was able to get the upper hand near Tochigi, shimotsuke. The Ashina Daimyo fled north while I hunted down stragglers in my newly aquired province. During this time I also managed to head south to Hitachi, the town was left basically undefended thanks to the battles fought in the north and it was an easy victory. I didn't have the men to garrison the town effectively so I allowed the Satake to come back as my allies/vassals. I then marched north, however, my best general Hojo Ujitane had by now grown incredibly disloyal. 5 years of campaigning against the Ashina, taking orders from a far away lord who never ventured to the battlefield... he was growing restless. However I decided to let him have another chance. What a terrible decision.

At the Battle of Shimotseku fields in 1553, Hojo Ujitane betrayed his clan and joined the Ashina forces, taking with him fully half of the army. The veterans who had followed him through hell on the fields at Edo and Shimosa obviously feeling more loyalty to him than some far away Daimyo. They slaughtered my men and forced a route. Now I'm scrambling to muster a counter attack. It's doubtful I'll be able to save Shimotseku before Ashina Ujitane arrives. I'll likely force a confrontation on the bridge leading to Shimosa. A very fun campaign just got a whole lot more interesting...