House Rules: The Game Within the Game

[Monk]

It's something that gives a certain flavor to a game, victory conditions that we as players set for ourselves outside of what the game expects for us - as well as auto-lose scenarios where if an event takes place, it means you lose. Even if the game says otherwise.

I just ran a game with the Chokosabe on H/H with a simple one: Maste rof the Isles. I wanted to lockdown both Kyushu and Shikoku, doing so i'd consider the game won. I've been having real trouble making it out of the 50 turn range alive, so i thought if I could do this i'd be ready for one of the harder clans.

I can say proudly I've managed to not only secure my home isle, but I imposed a semblance of order upon the Chaos that was Kyushu. Otomo and Shoni both converted to Christianity and were waging bitter war for control when I landed in 1551. It was a rough battle but after 19 years of hard fighting, the Chokosabe reign surpreme in the outlying islands of Japan. Not only that, but my Naval power has grown to an impressive degree and i'm currently raking in 8k per turn (4k profit). Finally seeing those islands turned Chokosabe black was incredibly satisfying. I think i'll continue the game, but in my books I've already won.

What are some of your house rules that you enjoy experimenting with?

[Gregoshi]

I'm going to finish a campaign or two before I think about such things. Though unofficially in my first (and current) campaign, I had set an objective of "survive as long as I can". I've lasted a lot longer than I thought I would in those first 10-15 years of the game.

[Monk]

I'm going to finish a campaign or two before I think about such things. Though unofficially in my first (and current) campaign, I had set an objective of "survive as long as I can". I've lasted a lot longer than I thought I would in those first 10-15 years of the game.

I'm almost embarrassed to say that learning how to survive is a challange in of itself. Forget being shogun... I guess years of walking through total war dulled my strategy senses. The CAI can be downright brutal, y'know?

[Rothe]

My personal house rule:
Don't shoot the enemy general. It is way too easy to fire a couple of hundred arrows into the careless AI commanders... Too easy.
In siege defense it might be a hard thing to avoid, and I don't care if my fire at-will units sometimes shoot at them, but not by intent.

I think for the campaign I might try a game without having trade nodes. They make the game way too easy.

[al Roumi]

I'm now in the later stages of my Kirishitan/Ashigaru Oda campaign, which is more of a scenario than a limiting rule, but has been fun. Basicaly I've played Oda, turning Christian as early as possible and ensuring my amies are composed of 60-80% Ashigaru troops from beginning to end. I have also never used Heros or Kisho ninjas but am perhaps having rather too much success with my agents -crippling armies and causing revolts in enemy regions.

If I were to think of house rules to limit myself, Rothe's suggestion of no/only a few trade nodes (I'd probably need at least one!) is an option. Another would be the number of armies/stacks you use (more challenging in the centre of Honshu as there are many more axes of conflict, whereas if rolling up south western Honshu, you only need 2 stacks).

Or, the size of the war-chest you give yourself before facing the Realm Divide event... In an early Chosokabe campaign, I had about 80k but was still pulling in 8k a turn after realm divide. In my Oda campaign, I had about 200k stowed away, but am now barely turning a seasonal profit of 800 -eating through my reserves at a fast pace modernising captured provinces. Maybe a tech cuttoff before taking the realm divide "plunge" would also be workable?

[Centurion1]

i turtle extremely long. thats more than enough to limit me.

[Gregoshi]

i turtle extremely long. thats more than enough to limit me.

A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle...III?

I'm kind of a turtler too. In my first/current campaign (I've not played in a week due to other things), I couldn't make any progress for the longest time which made this turtler happy. However, things opened up suddenly and I was grabbing a province or two every turn it seems for the last year or so and I'm uncomfortable about it and feeling too stretched. Must resist temptation to grab just "one more" lightly defended province.

Other "house rule" kind of things that just occurred to me: I try to avoid min/maxing. I enjoy reading the posts on how the various parts of the game work, however, I try to avoid hard and fast rules as far as efficiencies (build this, not that). I also try to avoid any gamey actions to intentionally trigger or not trigger an event or feature.

[Centurion1]

gregoshi you have nothing on me haha!

i loath making any moves unless my troops are at full strength i have to have a general in as many cities as possible (i rarely play games too long because when theres no extreme challenge i resign myself to defeat. havent even reached realm divide i just igure i win by 10 provinces hahaha probably doesnt work that way in this game though) i dont like to make armies until i have full power upgraded troops in every way. i love inhabiting strategic locations like islands and peninsulas. i love money and hate spending it. i would rather control the seas over land.


i turtle like a pro.

[Gregoshi]

I bow to your Superior Turtleness.

[Centurion1]

HAHAHA for example in my mori campaign it is 1560. i have 6 provinces. I have an army of fully teched up nagi monks and monk archers with huge morale and exp bonuses. and another stack of archers with like +40 accuracy haha from master bowmaker and hunting lodge. and like 3 full stack fleets and 4 trade nodes. along with 80k.

whats holding me back? the rebellions i incite on kyushu province with naval tradition special location cannot take the city and i dont want to war with sagara who own ALL of kyushu except the northernmost province which i do.

[Rothe]

gregoshi you have nothing on me haha!

i loath making any moves unless my troops are at full strength i have to have a general in as many cities as possible (i rarely play games too long because when theres no extreme challenge i resign myself to defeat. havent even reached realm divide i just igure i win by 10 provinces hahaha probably doesnt work that way in this game though) i dont like to make armies until i have full power upgraded troops in every way. i love inhabiting strategic locations like islands and peninsulas. i love money and hate spending it. i would rather control the seas over land.


i turtle like a pro.

This is precisely why I like the realm divide. It means you can have a beginning part where you only have an enemy clan or two, but at the end it is you vs. pretty much everyone else (some exceptions exist) and that should at least give a few more memorable battles.
You are not definitely winning when you get 10 provinces, that is for sure (my first game on H/H showed me that).

[phonicsmonkey]

I'm almost embarrassed to say that learning how to survive is a challange in of itself. Forget being shogun... I guess years of walking through total war dulled my strategy senses. The CAI can be downright brutal, y'know?

I'm really happy to hear someone else say this...I was feeling like such a dunce..

[Nelson]

I observe two house rules:

1) Never pause except for real life interruptions
I start the fight and go with the flow.

2) Never reload just to avoid a bad result
I will reload for experimentation after saving to get back where I was before the reload.

[Prodigal]

Sorry, off topic...But all the talk of turtling begs the question. Has anyone made it to 1600? Do you auto lose if you've not completed by then or can you continue? I really want to explore all the tech tree.

[Zim]

I ran out of time on the short campaign. There was a "You lose" screen but it gave an option to continue the campaign.

Sorry, off topic...But all the talk of turtling begs the question. Has anyone made it to 1600? Do you auto lose if you've not completed by then or can you continue? I really want to explore all the tech tree.

[Centurion1]

you can continue. i consider the game giving me a win screen isnt winning. itw when im the undisputed master of japan

[A Nerd]

I never use field artillary. I like to fight my battles without them. That's really all I can think of.

[Nelson]

I never use field artillary. I like to fight my battles without them. That's really all I can think of.

I don't either. So I guess I have 3 house rules not 2.

If something strikes me as out of place for the Sengoku era I generally won't use or build much of it.

[MCM]

I'm going to try a campaign with no ashigaru. That's where the real challenge lies, I think. :)

[hamysho]

How do you play without ashigaru? So in the beginning you'll have one yari samurai to guard your town? Maybe you can train them to throw their spears. =)