Talking Strategy

[critviz]

So I finally installed S:TW on my Win 7 and it works!! I was so excited I played the whole campaign in one day. I had almost gotten rid of all the other clans and only had the green one left. (sorry I don't know know their names yet) When I was about to take them on...My daimyo died!!! I was playing in easy ofcourse so now I want to play for reals but have being thinking on what strategy to use. I was playing as the blue clan on my last campaign and would use worked but i dont know if it would work now. I would get a big army and then attack the closest clan until I destroyed it. But I'm not sure If that will work this time. BTW I did save the game before my Daimyo died so I was wondering if I can keep playing or if he will die when I click the next season button.

[caravel]

When your daimyo dies without an heir, the game is over. This is why you need to safeguard your heirs. In STW heirs don't get special units they are born and just come of age at fixed dates and take over the next unit in the training queue - this could be a unit of Heavy Cavalry or a unit of Yari Ashigaru...

For this reason you need to keep an eye on the heir parchment to keep track of your heirs, their ages and when they will come of age. When that occurs you need to clear your training queues and just train one unit of the desired type in the province where you want the heir to appear. In terms of which units are best for heirs, that's a matter of quite some debate. Personally I favour cavalry units for this as they have that vital mobility to get out of harm's way quickly. The worst choices for heirs in my opinion are No Dachi (kill fast esp when attacking the flanks/rear, but also die fast) and any Ashigaru (not samurai, thus morale problems). Warrior Monks are also a bad choice in my opinion, due to their "front line" nature, though some may disagree. Najinta or Yari Samurai are acceptable if nothing better is available. It's also a good idea to stack heirs in separate provinces as the last thing you want is a defeat (or even a victory) where two or more of your heirs die.

[critviz]

The thing is that you dont get one very often and I only got two during the whole game. I think that I might have accidentally killed them withouth knowing. I'll be wiser the next time. But what do you think is the best way to go about attacking other clans?? I really didn't keep an army inside of my territories but keep a huge one on what would be the "frontier" of my dominion. Is that good?? BTW is there a way to boost the production of heirs??

[ReluctantSamurai]

But what do you think is the best way to go about attacking other clans??

That all depends on four things:

1. Which clan you are playing as...

2. Your style of play...

3. The difficulty level you are playing at...

4. Which time period you start in...

Clan selection has a major impact on strategy. Shimazu is safely tucked away at the southern end of Japan and so you will not have to fight a multi-front campaign. The other end of the spectrum is Oda or Takeda. Both have clans on on all sides and so you will likely have to fight on multiple fronts. Imagawa and Takeda both have campaigns that have a split empire, so there's difficulty in uniting your lands. Starting clan also affects your income, and hence your ability to wage war. Some clans, like the Hojo or Uesugi have starting provinces (or quick access to) that have rich farmland.

Your playstyle affects your strategy. Are you a cavalry enthusiast? Do you prefer walls of spears or hordes of archers? Or do you prefer a blend of all of them? Are you adept at using teppo, and will you convert to Christianity to get them before anyone else? Do you prefer blitz tactics, or turtling?

The difficulty level affects your game, as well. At the higher settings, losing a battle(s) can put a quick end to your campaign, while at the easier settings, the game is more forgiving.

Starting date affects strategy due to slightly differing starting positions, whether you have a long time to build up fighting rebels before taking on another clan, and the level of infrastructure already in place. The 1530 campaigns start with little infrastructure and large spaces between clans, allowing you time to develop. The 1580 campaigns start with extensive infrastructure already in place for most clans, and close borders. You will be facing advanced units and large armies very quickly.

There is a lot of information in the STW guides, and I would suggest a browsing of other players AAR's (After Action Reports) for many of the campaign's. Hope some of this helps........

[critviz]

The last campaign I played was on easy and I played as the Uesugi. It was preatty easy to go attacking one clan at a time but I found it annoying that I had to build castles and all that stuff for each territory I conquer. What is the advantages of Christianity?? Is it worth it? I really like a combination of cavalry and archers. BTW how do I build a trading post??

[caravel]

The last campaign I played was on easy and I played as the Uesugi. It was preatty easy to go attacking one clan at a time

The Uesugi on the easy difficulty is quite arguably the easiest campaign you can play in STW. The Uesugi on the whole are an easy clan.

If you're playing the Warlord/Gold/Mongol Invasion Edition, make sure you install v1.02 patch and move to at least the hard difficulty and once you're comfortable with that move on to expert - or try the old unit stats and stick with hard.

If you're still with the original STW, ensure you install v1.12 patch and try the hard difficulty.

but I found it annoying that I had to build castles and all that stuff for each territory I conquer.

That's how the game works, later games are much heavier on the micromanagement, resource management and RTS style base building, etc - so if you think that's a bit much then maybe avoid the later games... For most provinces which you conquer, you should only need the minimum watchtowers, castle and farmland improvements (if the base farm income warrants it). You don't need to build every kind of building in every province. Later on you may want to build trading posts and churches in those provinces, more on that below.

What is the advantages of Christianity?? Is it worth it? I really like a combination of cavalry and archers.

There are two main advantages, namely: Wealth and guns. There are other advantages also in that being a different religion to your rival clans makes your territory harder to conquer. The morale penalty when fighting Warrior Monks is apparently also negated for Christian troops (though I've never really noticed this myself).

Adopting the Arquebus/Musket does not make archery obsolete. The Arquebus' main advantage is that it demoralises the enemy and can cause a mass rout. It's also devastating if used correctly. If you just take it into battle and expect it to point, shoot and win a battle you will be very disappointed. Guns and their tactical usage are a whole new topic of debate however. If you want to learn how to use them effectively have a search through this forum's archives. Personally I favour the cavalry/yari/guns approach to warfare above all else in STW.

To switch your clan to Christianity you must accept the offer of the Portuguese when they arrive (evidenced by the ship which will appear on the strategy map and begin traversing the coast). From this point onward you will be able to build (Portuguese) Trading Posts, Churches and train Christian Emissaries (Priests) and your Daimyo will become a Christian. The presence of Priests and Churches in your provinces or in your rivals' provinces serves to convert the population to Christianity. Once you have built a certain number of Churches (forgot how many) you will be able to build the Cathedral which will then produce an income from every Church in Japan (including those in rival clan territory). Combined with the trading post income and later on the Dutch trading post income, we are talking serious koku...

The downside to converting is that you will be unable to build Buddhist temples without losing your Christian status.

Buddhist Temples and Buddhist Emissaries also propagate Buddhism, so if you have them in your provinces they are reversing conversion...

For examples of the ridiculous amount of koku you can make through conversion have a look at these:

Christian Hojo campaign: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...hp?130517-Hojo

Christian Takeda campaign (finishes post #16) https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...1219-Decisions

BTW how do I build a trading post??

There are two types of trading posts. Portuguese and Dutch, with the former being available first. In order to build Portuguese trading posts you must first accept the offer of the Portuguese (which means accepting Christianity) and to build the Dutch trading posts you need to accept the Dutch offer (no strings attached). You also need to satisfy the build requirements: port, etc (see tech tree).