Tokugawa guides, hints and tips

[Madae]

I'll throw in my 2 cents on this one too since I started playing again...

I rarely used Metsuke until I played Tokugawa, and I've found that they are amazing agents, and would be better than Ninja's if it weren't for the latters' sabotage army. Apprehending is just as effective as assassinate, and better because it doesn't cost anything, but has the same results (wounding/death vs. jail/death).

Diplomacy has been my strongest ally with the Tokugawa (and is something the Tokugawa excel with). The only downside is that your Daimyo has a negative honor penalty vs. other clans, which kind of offsets the bonuses you receive. You will be stuck with this penalty until Ieyasu comes of age and your current Daimyo dies off or gets killed in battle. The problem with sacrificing him is one that many clans face - he doesn't start with many children, and it may take awhile for them to come of age. If you do get rid of him, you'll be spending money that isn't necassarily easy for the Tokugawa to get. Rushing trade posts is a good idea, but only if you're secure in your position, which leads to...

They are in a slightly better position than the Oda, but they will ultimately suffer from the same problems once the Oda are dealt with. You only have one avenue of expansion at the start, which puts you in Oda's precarious position right after that. I would recommend against expanding past Imagawa, as you will want to give them a reason to attack something other than you. They also provide a good buffer against Sagara, Hojo and Takeda. Takeda is almost always the powerhouse of the games I play, and Sagara, depending on what happens, can be powerful in their own right. Being stuck with Oda's position and having to worry about the western clans can mean a quick end if you anger the east. Whatever you decide to do, foster relations with one side or the other, and expand in the appropriate direction, taking care to not make more than one or two enemies at a time. I leave Takeda with their own business until I'm forced to deal with them, and I was able to keep them from attacking me after a few threatens by just giving them gifts. It won't work forever, though, so be prepared. If you keep good relations with Imagawa (which isn't really that hard, it just takes time to lose that 'past grievances' thing), you'll find that they are more than willing to assist you. Unfortunately, if they get pounded enough on the east end, they'll eventually turn into a backwater with no army. However, they are still useful for ship defense of my borders, which is practically the only thing that kept me from taking their lands.

Back to Metsuke... Bribery is an amazing ability that I've put to use quite often in my campaign. It has often been the deciding factor against my enemies, as I was able to bribe and recruit some of their forces that consisted of troops that were otherwise more experienced than mine, or simply a type of unit that I did not focus on building. I went the route of defense with spears and didn't build a sword school or archery range for quite a long time, so being able to snag katana's and bow samurai was a very useful thing. Unfortunately, it will require a lot of money to use this ability effectively, so be sure to make an attempt at those trade posts soon before they are taken by other clans. I grabbed cotton (for the yari building upgrades) and silk (for future ninja upgrades, and it just so happened to be the most expensive at the time) before the rest were taken.

In the mid game, I've taken over much of that area south of Kyoto, but I've left the Hatakeyama to their own devices. They will probably turn on me eventually, but I've, so far, kept them relatively content by watching my expansion penalties on diplomacy and giving them some money every now and then. At this stage in the game, however, I've finally been pulled into war with the Takeda. They had expanded all the way to the doorstep of the Date, and eventually took everything on the eastern end. But fortunately, their armies were very spread out and likely up in the north, and their border provinces were left quite undefended. It was very easy to steamroll North and South Shinano, and then grabbing whatever was left on the west to keep from being attacked on both sides. With North Shinano, I've effectively made only one avenue for them to come at me, which has proven to be quite a relief. If it weren't for the many full stacks of armies they're throwing at me, I would say I was in a pretty good position.

The unfortunate reality of letting Takeda have free reign in the early game has set in at this point - their armies are experienced and not easy wins. I was able to take out a few larger stacks, but it required some very tactical gameplay with my ninjas and metsuke, as well as slideshow battles (half speed) to make sure I'm responding to gaps and morale drops in my front line, and keeping an eye out for sneaky horses moving in for flanks. Most battles with the Takeda have been very costly, but victories nonetheless. Keeping many ninjas on the front has allowed me to sabotage multiple armies so that I can funnel them in one by one. I've often let full stacks of armies stay stuck in my territory (through army sabotage) for 10+ turns, and the winter attrition softens them up a bit before I move in for the kill.

That's something I haven't mentioned yet; Ninja's. I'm making very good use of the Tokugawa bonuses, which is contrary to what the guy above said (at least for the early game). I've found Ninja's and Metsuke to be incredibly valuable. With Iga under my control, as well as the province next to it, I'm able to create skilled ninja, and even though my Metsuke are not quite up to par yet, the free apprehension attempts and the chance of bribing extra units to bolster my side is invaluable on the front. Monks have not had much use in my game, or at least until I was able to capture the two provinces nearby with monk bonuses. Still, they have turned the tide in a few battles as well by demoralising more experienced and stronger armies, and that tiny bonus to morale can easily tip the scale what with the way most of these battles have gone so far (neck to neck slaughter houses).

Speaking of slaughter houses; I had very interesting experience with the Shoni in my game. For some reason, and even though they are on the other side of the map and out of my threat range, they decided to declare war on me, and, in that very same turn, drop a massive stack on one of my isolated provinces (Hojo home province that Imagawa had taken but lost to Sagara, and then was taken by me right after for that gold mine). I had a small force of 3 ashigaru spears, 4 ashigaru bows, and 2 naginata's - about 700 men vs. his 2200. The battle was very, very tough, but I somehow managed to almost completely wipe them out with such a small force. I had a good laugh from it and a "valiant defeat", where close to 2000 of Shoni's men fell in the battle, with all 700 of mine being killed outright. If that isn't a brave and noble samurai death, I don't know what is. Bushimonten was pleased, I think.