Oda guides, hints and tips

[Jarmam]

Puncturing the Myth - the Oda Legendary Long/Domination cakewalk campaign


It seems to be a general consensus that Oda is either fairly hard or really hard, and given that I feel the exact opposite (only Chosokabe is easier) I've updated and clarified a post I once made in an attempt to make a simple-to-execute strategy guide on how to dominate with Oda in a fairly easy manner. It involves low teching, no ricing, no fleets, low diplomacy and a lot of casualties hopefully resulting in a quick win without too much trouble.

The basic ideology behind the approach is this:
Since you start in a barren wasteland of mediocre to weak provinces (except your capitol) and hostile, very aggressive neighbors (Ikko and Hattori seem to hate everyone in every campaign) there is little sense in attempting a Choso/Hojo/Shimazu ricing-style of building up a solid infrastructure and slowly creeping forward with solid development until you snap-rush up to whereever the narrowest choke (like with Shimazu to Buzen province, el oh el) is and staying there for 40 turns building up the 2-3 deathballs to go to Divide and beyond. The way of the peasant will put this approach to shame (unless you're biased towards lategame deathballs, you Shimazu dog.

Oda is the faction with the biggest beard, the Ax'iest of the Axe, and is all about aggression from turn 1 and never (rarely) looking back. Your Ashigaru are so stupidly powerful that you should have taken out Tokugawa, Saito and have Imagawa on 1 province in turn 8 (6-7 if you're better than me at not losing troops needlessly and can tolerate a revolt). And since you have no need for a strong infrastructure to support your dirt cheap easily-replenishable troops you can just keep going. These concepts will dictate the strategy presented in every aspect.

Ill start out by outlining the basic structure of our strategy and what makes it work. I have drafted a detailed guide on the mythical first 5-8 turns that seem to give a lot of people problems in the post after this one.

Arts:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Let us start at the beginning - turn 0. What we want to accomplish is a win (40+ provinces) in 80-90 turns. This means that everything we do, from building (or not building) infrastructure, to recruiting troops, to teching Arts, to waging war has to align to this philosophy. Everything you do has to be lean and crisp in the sense that it makes sense in the overall strategy. We cut away everything unnecessary to get what we require so much faster. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Arts.

Start with researching all the Chi arts you'll need - this means Way of Chi and Todufoken. Thats all the Chi Arts you'll need from now 'till the 40 province-mark. I used to also get Equal Fields, but this is a colossal flaw and is wholeheartedly suggested to cut out. Tax Reform is much better, and since Tax Reform is expendable (yes it is strong, very strong, but as Oda it is skippable) you can rush for Heaven and Earth - supplementing Yari+Bow Ashi core armies perfectly - then get Way of the Spear if you wish. Joking aside, we do not get Way of the Spear as it is a complete waste of 7 turns. 1 xp for your Yaris will translate into roughly 15 Katana kills (xp ranks get exponentially harder to get so the first rank is naturally the weakest) and the 1 unit you get in reward is an insult. Cancel this mission in turn 1 and forget it exists, it will never help you. All of this builds up to our midgame plan, which is to rush Gunpowder Mastery absurdly fast. We cut everything that isnt needed or worth our time to get this Art. Even Zen. Leave an inexperienced metsuke or yari troop in those 1-invasionresistant provinces and save the 3 turns to get your real Arts faster - your daimyo's honor will eventually do Zen's job in those provinces. You want Gunpowder Mastery and you want it fast. We only grab the Arts that are so efficient and fast to research that skipping them would be silly. This means WoC->Todufoken->Bushido->SoD->HaE->SoA->AbF->5 Elements->Gunpowder Mastery. Why this ordering is my preferred I shall elaborate in the Army Guide

Why And How It Works:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In the first 15 or so turns (approx) your units are so much stronger than anyone else's that you can just roll through the south while turtling in the north in Saito's town and your main. Additionally, your core units (yari and bow ashis) are so cheap in cost and upkeep that you can rally stacks of armies in a matter of a few years. You are independant of structures, arts and province specialities. Every single unit in your army is quick to replenish and cheap+easy to replace.

The strategy is this: Attack attack attack. Ideally you will reach Hojo/Takeda (thus eliminating Imagawa) in 10-12 turns while having gotten rid of Saito in the north and possibly already started clashing with Hattori and/or Ikko. If you can, seek allies beyond these clans. The AI will gladly ally with you if it feels threatened on its existence by the clans you're at war with, and will forgive your daimyo for calling their troops a bunch of field-work no-good squabblers represented in the -20 rep trait.

This Gunpowder Mastery-rush works primarily due to these factors:
The reason we can take 2 Chi Arts and never consider any of them again is fairly simple: We dont need Merchant Guilds. We dont need Terrace Farming. We dont need Monasteries. We dont need Criminal Syndicates (or even Gambling Halls). There is no money for any of this, and our troops cost such a small amount of upkeep that you're much better off just rushing for more troop stacks than trying to develop real infrastructure. Developing economy with Oda is like rushing Bow Arts as Date - it's counterintuitive and goes against the flow and strength of the faction. Also, remember that provinces encourage war with the enemy - but more units discourages him. Having 4 stacks in turn 30 will make even the most aggravated AI more hesitant to wage war and when we aim at winning before turn 90 every turn counts.
The reason we dont upgrade Way of the Spear or any direct unit upgrade before Attack by Fire is because its worthless. Ashigaru benefit the least from these upgrades, and they can hold their own well enough that we dont need to invest in them. Remember, researching Arts is an investment of time (which is quite a finite resource). Any choice is a loss of something else. And there is no choice to trump just getting our Rifles fast. The only upgrade you'll miss is Form and you can get that after Gunpowder Mastery.

I would try to manage the Imagawa-front more carefully as any province you take beyond the river will open you up for backstabs from Takeda or Hojo - you will need 2 full stacks to take care of both of them - but you need 2 (or even 3) stacks absolutely asap in the west since Hattori and Ikko are much deadlier and more important enemies than Takeda and Hojo (heck, trade and ally with the east if you can). Hattori's ninja provinces are very hard to assault since they're spread out and lack roads to connect them quickly until Hatakeyama's provinces, but once the 5-6 provinces south of Kyoto are secure it becomes much simpler to defend and the income bonus from Burakumin villages will make it laughably easy. And as anything with Oda: The sooner you try to conquer something the easier it is. So prioritize this front.

Once this area is secured you might want to consider stalling for your Matchlocks. Takeda and Hojo should either be trusted allies or eradicated (preferably you have Hojo's 2 provinces as both are excellent to hold) and Hattori should be gone with Ikko to follow. This is the one period of time where I would consider stalling for Matchlocks. If you trigger Divide before Gunpowder Mastery you risk getting into a world of pain. Once you have them, though, I'd blast east, west and whatnot with a reckless pace.

Diplomacy and construction

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I strongly suggest you search out an alliance with Kiso as soon as possible. Kiso is usally dependable to sit on his 1 town and trade with you while being a buffer to the east and the rampaging Takeda. The fewer fronts you have in the earlygame the better (this will lose importance later). This is why going nuts towards the south in the first 15 turns is completely acceptable and even encouraged, since it opens up no new fronts to protect. You can also ally with the friendly folk in the West, but be warned that 9 games out of 10 these guys will be trampled in seconds by Hattori and you must go to war on their behalf (and thus not when you want to) or you will suffer Dishonoring Treaties which will be punitive when coupled with the -20 diplomacy from your rude daimyo.

Developing your cities is straightforward enough: Don't build anything but Markets and Sake Dens. 1:1 until you reach 5 Sake Dens, then only Markets. Dont upgrade your forts - ever. If you have food to spare this goes into upgrading Rice Exhanges in your rich provinces (as these can be equipped with a r4-r5 Metsuke in the midgame to produce breathtaking profit). Never upgrade the Sake Dens, never upgrade your Ports. Simply put there is no way this can ever earn enough income to warrant its cost - and even if it could we need the money for units now and not for floating 30.000 koku later. In fact, the Sake Dens exist solely to keep order in the permament-1-resistance-to-invaders-provinces (saving us 59/turn in upkeep) and to field Ninja (absolutely critical for this strategy).
A noteworthy exception would be in the cities that you choose to develop, should you decide to use a deathball-stack (you wont have time or resources for more than one). In that case I would get a Fortress in such cities to speed up production and leave room for Encampments->your preferred upgrade. An obvious example would be Ikko's two cities (notice that Hunting Lodges and +acc province specialities affect gunpowder units) or Hojo's capitol.

Generals

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One of the reasons why this is so effective is the experience system. Your units will skyrocket to xp5 or better in no time, but more importantly your generals will accumulate massive amounts of xp in no time. Expect to field at least 4 r4 generals within 40 turns, and probably 2-3 r6 generals by the end of turn 80. This ties in nicely with our overall structure. In no time you will have general access to Stand and Fight, effectively making your Ashigaru fight like Samurai for less than 1/3 the cost. As a bonus, at r5 you can upgrade the +4 morale to Ashigaru, which I strongly recommend. Both rifles and Fire Bombs adversily affect your own morale, so the +4 morale is never wasted. We outlast and break - if you want to steamroll and grind the enemy ranks down with superior quality melee, Shimazu, Uesugi or Date is probably what you're looking for.

Army guide
Early:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Start with armies of 1:1 ashi yari to ashi bow. Dont go higher than 6 archers - their purpose is to defend newly taken castles and forcing engagements with your superior Yari Ashis, not to win the battle themselves. Just stack out with yari ashis. In the first 20 or so turns (unless you're extremly unfortunate with a 10+ katana army in turn 20 - it can happen) this army composition will wreck absolutely anything the enemy throws at you. However once Samurai cores become more abundant we need something to back up our Yaris - this is why we take Strategy of Attack after Heaven and Earth - unlocking Fire Bomb Throwers. Add 2 Fire Bomb Throwers when you can - these replace 2 Yaris. FBTs require some babysitting and might take you a few battles to get used to, but they *wreck* morale and our biggest advantage is morale. We win by standing our ground. This is why I find FBTs complement the Oda battlefield strategy perfectly.

Add cavalry as you wish. There are 2 places with cavalry specialization in close proximity to Oda's starting province, so you should be able to field upped Light Cavalry relatively easily if you prefer them with the charge bonus, I cant really tell the difference. We lack morale destroyers apart from FBTs and cavalry fit this perfectly - they also secure easy wins against otherwise frustrating Samurai/Ronin archer cores from Hattori, Ikko or Hatano. I have seen Hatano with a 14 Sam Archer army and it was nigh impossible to defeat outside forests with my Yari+Matchlock Ashigaru stack. Add however many you need - I personally prefer 3 cavalry units to support my general. This army will demolish anything that isnt a "Sword School in turn 6-stack" for a long time. Engaging is simple. Either clash in favourable terrain (like forests) and run him over if he has archer advantage, or exploit your archer advantage to pick holes in enemy melee before running him over. If melee is engaged and your FBTs didnt throw yet then toss those bombs into the melee. Your Ashigaru will thank you. Or they will fly. But we replenish faster than the Samurai they're locked in melee with.

Late:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I'd replace the Light Cavs with Yari Cav first (or Katanas if you prefer those - I actually am starting to like Katanas over Yaris more and more). Most importantly I'd phase out archers completely except 5+xp ones, and replace them with Matchloch Ashis - preferably from Echizen (Ikko's capitol), since they benefit a lot from the +10 acc on top of the +5 from a hunting lodge. 6 matchlocks per army is core. Dont get me wrong, you'll have at least 4 stacks by now and Matchlocks can come from anywhere, but prioritize making them in Echizen since you need the tech anyway for your pseudo-deathball + Arsenal bonus. This is our common stack core and what we will rebuild in a couple of turns, should one of our stacks suffer a massive defeat. You will lose battles and you will lose stacks, but as long as your general is alive its not a problem - advantage comes from fielding a new stack at the front in 3 turns. The reason we want Matchlocks is that our Yari Ashis simply cannot hold up with the enemy Katanas and Naginata anymore and our Bow Ashis, even with their xp8 bonuses, are struggling heavily against enemy archers and their arrows barely scratch the heavily armored Samurai cores anymore. But as the Heavy from TF2 has so wisely taught us - "I have yet to meet someone that can outsmart bullet"! Matchlocks will make minced meat of heavy infantry, heavy cavalry and even enemy samurai archers if they fight in a forest. If you're unsure on how to fight with Matchlocks in your army, I suggest searching for a few guides (Ill try and find some links for this guide) or ask away. It takes some finesse and gets significantly more effective with some micro but its not terribly difficult - just remember to shoot at angles and never directly into the melee as that will only ensure that your 30 remaining Yari Ashis will wonder where all their friends suddenly went. Its also almost always worth it to use ranked fire.

As for deathballs, I'd say you only need a single pseudo-deathball army for Kyoto and to spearhead the western dominators (usually Hatano and Chosokabe+Shoni post-Divide). Ikko's and Hojo's old lands hold a smith which I'd use with an armory to get the +4 armor bonus (+5 is too expensive and requires trade or trade ships - ships are for Mori or Christians, trade is for Uesugi and our post-Divide vassals). Make Naginatas from this province to replace the Yari Ashis in your "deathball". Use Echizen to make your Gunsmith->Arsenal and get 6-8 Matchlock Samurai from there with the +15 acc (if you can get the +20 acc province structure... then you have Chonindo... why do you have Chonindo, you Chosokabe dog?). So instead of Ashi Matchlocks/Yaris and Light Cav, we have the upgraded version of each which is what our Arts and tech supplement perfectly + of course our trusted 2 FBTs. After this is done just use the provinces to churn out Ashigaru with the bonuses - Matchlock Ashigaru with +15 acc and Stand and Fight's reload bonus (all your 4-5 generals are at least r4 by now, preferably all r5 for the +4 morale) + arsenal bonus are monsters disguised as men. Try giving them Inspire for fun - preferably on a wall ^^ Yari Ashigaru with more armor than a vanilla Katana also fare decently well against archerfire, so remember to churn out of your +armor towns if you're not in a hurry with replenishing lost stacks.

You dont have time for a second deathball. Its also not necessary. 5-6 self-replenishing stacks rampaging east and west will utterly dwarf 2-2½ strong stacks running from town to town to defend. It does require strong ninjas - from those Sake Dens you rushed 40 turns ago - to manage enemy stacks via sabbing (an ashi stack will not hold up against 2 enemies fielding 20 units each at the same time). Ninja are vital for scouting ahead to ensure you dont get sandwiched between 2 different enemy stacks and at sabotaging enemy stacks close to their friends, so that you may pick them off one at a time. They can also ensure that should the enemy throw a Samurai stack at you with a r4+ general, they might show up with a captain in command. If at any point you have 10 or more provinces, but you dont have 5 Ninja scouting, sabbin' and stabbin' away and 5 Metsuke either r4 in your rich towns or r1-3 at the front heading for r4, then for the love of your daimyo's daughter recruit them and get to work.

Just field a couple of Yari Ashis and 3-4 Matchlock Ashis in any city you feel threatened in. The enemy will need either a full stack or some really insane troop quality to break Oda's rifled peasants behind walls. I have held off a r3 general with 10 Yari Samurai and 4 Bow Samurai with just Sam Retainers, 6 Matchlocks and 3 Yari Ashis with ridiculous ease. This makes holding multiple fronts in the midgame much simpler than with archer ashis.

Now you're set. Take Kyoto while... laughing at him? (since you're not awesome and playing Tokugawa, and therefore cannot have a Geisha taking out all of Kyoto's generals for the sake of it). Then just take whatever the enemy gives you and 40 provinces roll in easily. Remember that Vassals count towards your provinces so making a few in the east to stall Date/whoever has Date's lands is fine. They also let you profit on all those trade goods you'll have by turn 70-80. Plus its nice to have "friends" post-Divide - just be warned that they seem very eager to stab you in the back after all these patches, so I would generally advise against having more than 2 with 1 province each.

A couple of screenshots against 75+% Samurai armies using rifled peasants and highly ranked generals:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

My general giving his usual encouragement

And they did

All so much easier when your troops do exactly what they're told

Ashigaru Matchlocks can dwarf even Uesugi Bow Warrior Monks in killcounts if given the opportunity