Night battles... how?

[Fridgebadger]

I've never had the option to have a night battle (boats excepted), nor have I ever been 'forced' into one by the AI...

How do you get the ability to have night battles? Is it a tech, or a general's ability? Or som't else? Or is it not possible?

[econ21]

You get ability as a result of putting three points in the "stealthy" talent for generals. Once you have that, when you attack, you get the option for a night battle.

It's very useful for the late game if the AI has two or more stacks mutually supporting each other, as they can't reinforce at night. A ninja can get the same result by successfully sabotaging an army but you don't always have a ninja to hand; he may fail; and even if he succeeds, it seems a little glitchy (I think reinforcing can still happen, e.g. if adjacent to a settlement).

[Fridgebadger]

Ah, thanks - never gone down that road with my generals, which would explain why I hadn't seen it before.

Playing a Hojo campaign at the moment, and their Daimyo starts with the night-fighting ability, so at least I've been able to give it a go now...

[Monk]

Some generals get the "Night fighter" trait when they are spawned as well. I believe the Daimyo of the Mori clan starts with it by default.

[Hosakawa Tito]

So has anyone fought a night battle yet? What is the advantage?

[Fridgebadger]

Well the big thing is, the enemy (and you, possibly) can't use any reinforcements, so it's ideal for picking off a small stack when a full one is lurking behind. Though in Medieval, I think, if the reinforcing general also had the night-fighter ability, they could reinforce. Less of an issue here with fewer generals having the ability.

Apparently all units get lower visibility, but I don't how this works exactly - is it just that all missiles get a penalty? You can still (I think) see all the enemy units on the map like normal, but maybe I'm imagining that.

Btw, has anyone ever had the AI force them into a night battle?