I'm calling it. The Oda are the easiest clan

[Prussian to the Iron]

I just started a Darth mod campaign as the Takeda and just met the Oda clan after giving them a stinging defeat. I never really played them or fought them in Vanilla, so I wasn't expecting much trouble from them. It turns out that Darth Mod makes the Ashigaru 2x more reliable and combine that with the upkeep and morale bonus from the Oda clan...they are absolutely beastly.

With Darthmod on they are one of the most easiest clans, just due to how fast and cheaply they can whip up those Ashigaru stacks. The Ikko-Ikki never seem to keep the Oda in check but then I have not seen them survive for even that long.*Wonders if he is the only person who beelines researching Essence of Spirit first*

I need to play the Oda clan sometime...

Yeah I never played them before Darthmod, so I don't really know how they are without it. but with it I think it really captures the essence of what they were meant to be.

Let's not forget that the man who unified Japan during the Sengoku Jidai, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was born in Owari, the home of the Oda, started off as an Ashigaru soldier in the army of Oda Nobunaga, and rose through the ranks to become a general and lead the Oda clan to victory over all Japan. So it almost seems appropriate.

[Jungle Rhino]

I think your major problem here is Darthmod. While great for Empire I don't think DM is necessary for Shogun2 - the vanilla game is really nicely tuned as is. Ikko Ikki DLC adds A LOT of fun (trouble) to the center of the map and will force you to invest in some monks to try and stop their religion if they get going. Oda have a tough few opening turns but once you have established a few provinces I believe they can be very secure. You can conquer all the way down the coast until you reach Takeda which is a very safe route for expansion. Likewise South Shinano is a perfect chokepoint province to hold before you look at expanding into the region around Kyoto (where it gets funky).

I wouldn't say they are the easiest, but definitely not as hard as some as their Ashigaru are rather bonkers.

[faker01]

Then you have a stack in a unfavorably position the get them back. it needs a year to get them back to your starting province. it's better to let them there, while you try to solve some problems with diplomatic and get new stacks near your starting province.

[Shigemasa Oyamada]

The Oda in my opinion have the hardest first few turns. Its one wrong move and you lose. Luckily the strategy I've developed after a few failed games now works almost every time. Take your initial army, crush the rebels but make sure its still close enough to the castle that it can defend it. The next turn Tokugawa Hidetada and his army come up, and after defeating him pursue him and destroy him, likely leaving you in Mikawa. Mikawa in all likelihood is completely undefended, so its an easy grab (As a note, if you make the Tokugawa vassals, the Imagawa usually uses it's ships to land an army in Owari, so be prepared). During all this you should have been creating as many Ashigaru in Owari as possible, because probably by now the Saito will be attacking (Cheap Ashigaru make this multi-front warfare trivial). If you can repel them Mino is practically yours. The Imagawa shouldn't prove too difficult to follow up on, and after that its up to you.

After those first few turns the Oda are probably one of the easiest, as cheaper and better Ashigaru are a massive bonus. I don't have the Ikko-Ikki DLC, but I imagine if any clan can take on them its probably the Oda ( Nobunaga didn't like monks after all, let alone heretic monks...).

[Jarmam]

Called it - even with the Chosokabe mentioning, since Chosokabe is not really a faction but more a practice kit in all the basics (trade nodes, Christianity, longterm planning, shortterm invading, all present but easily accesible and not very punitive).

Nothing beats the Oda Zerg. Its true on normal and its twice as true on Legendary.

[faker01]

With Oda you can also begin with 2 Stacks (one strong, one weak) and then attack the rebels with both stacks. I'm not sure if you have to kill all in one battle, but i think you don't need to. the weak Stack should have some losses and the strong stack at least as possible. with the weak stack you can take mino.(only one unit defending, so 2 weakened units still win). with the strong stack you have to defend your starting province.
I'm not sure with the details, but I think you have to split the weak stack and don't use all movement range of the strong stack.
That tactic I use on legendary.