Iga Ninjutsu is Good (Hattori: Legendary, Domination, V5445)

[Maltz]

Yasunaga: "As to how to discourage Oda from attacking Hattori... at least now we are glad to see Oda's attitude returning to neutral. Now let's restore trades with them! And don't forget to renew 20 turns of military access. "

[Maltz]

Yasunaga: "Takaoka have declared war on Urakami! Since these two clans were allies not very long ago, Takaoka has suffered another serious diplomatic hit with all other clans in Japan. It won't be long for Takaoka's relationship with Hattori dips to the negative side. Get ready for their 3rd dishonourable betrayal!"

End of Chapter 9

[Maltz]

Chapter 10. Dawn of Naginata



Chisato: "Goemon, I've had this question in my mind for very long."
Goemon: "Go ahead!"
Chisato: "Where does Wako come from? Wako is literally short bandits. They are named after the... not very tall Japanese at the time. But I have never heard about a Wako base in Japan."
Goemon: "I don't know... I only know they are now doing charity, donating trade ships from time to time..."

[Maltz]

Chisato: "Goemon, I heard there are large construction projects going on in Satsuma. What is it about?"
Goemon: "They are upgrading the castle to a... castle, from a fortress. The tensho will bigger. Essentially for increased unit recruiting capacity."
Chisato: "Hm... when I visit castles around Japan, one common feature keeps popping up. They are all hit by lightning and burnt , and later rebuild."
Goemon: "And that provides employment for the civil engineers!"
Chisato: "What kind of soldiers are Hattori recruiting?"
Goemon: "Primarily Naginata Samurai, with state-of-the-art armor. The Hattori line will take ages to break!"

[Maltz]

Chisato: "Why does the Hattori line will be formed by Naginata Samurai? I heard Date uses No-Dachi Samurai for that role, and it is the most feared in Japan."
Goemon: "Well, Date gets cheaper and better No-Dachi Samurai. But seriously when there are a lot of men involved in battle, it will be difficult for a commander to issue charge orders to each unit individually. A passive line is more managable in a large-scale battle."
Chisato: "Hm... I heard legends that thousands of soldiers could receive their orders simultaneously. How can they do that?"
Goemon: "It won't happen here~ well maybe our enemies can do it."
Chisato: "And now we have Naginata Samurai, what will happen to our old line - the Yari Ashigaru?"
Goemon: "We don't need their service anymore. They will be fired."
Chisato: "Even if they are in the middle of the sea?"
Goemon: "Yeah. Swim home!"

[Maltz]

Chisato: "But now Master's First Army has sent all its Yari Ashigaru swiming home. Can he still take Harima?"
Goemon: "Ranged unit is all he needs to assault the rebel castle. Plus he will get helps from some garrison units in Kinki. He will do fine."
Chisato: "But there is a huge rebel garrison in Harima. How about we pay a visit to Master using our accumulated vacation time?"
Goemon: "Sure~ There is not much to do besides vandalizing castles gates anyway."

[Maltz]

Chisato: "Master, how have you been? I hope you allow me to observe the siege of Harima castle."
Sandayu: "Huh? What siege? Oh... you mean that target practice. It is over already."
Chisato: "So quickly?"
Sandayu: "Yeah. The corpses are all piled up there, go take a look if you want."
Chisato: "Two large piles of corpse..."

[Maltz]

Chisato: "So how many men we have lost?"
Sandayu: "You mean died from the battle? No... it was only a target practice. A few of them twisted fingers, that's it."
Chisato: "No casualties..."

Note: Apart from the "Defender's Bane" featured in the previous video, a few other castle designs contain terrain features friendly to the attacker. This particular design contains a high walkway to the back of the castle, accessible if the attackers circle behind along the shore. At first and second levels (Fort and Stronghold), the patrolling defenders come directly in front of the attackers to get shot at.

[Maltz]

Chisato: "Master, now we have Harima's trade port, which clan is our sea trade partner?"
Sandayu: "Unfortunately we have not met new clans we a trade port. The only candidate is the Ikko Buddhists."
Chisato: "But they are unfriendly with everyone."
Sandayu: "Actually they are willing to sell their pants to trade, just like Hojo!"
Chisato: "How much savings do they have?"
Sandayu: "Only about two thousand koku. In order to make them feel better about us, we give them 6633 koku first, which they will give right back to us. Now they are very friendly with us, and our trade relationship can probably last a few more turns."

Note: This proves to be a damaging move as there is a -20 diplomatic penalty on "attacked a friendly clan". When another clan declares war on Ikko-Ikki, they will hate Hattori as well.

[Maltz]

Minamoto Tomokata: "Welcome back to Chugoku, Chisato. We missed your scout reports. Is it time to take Iwami?"
Chisato: "The rebels have overrun the province. But please be careful as the garrison is quite powerful."
Tomokata: "No problem! I will supervise the assault personally!"

[Maltz]

Tomokata: " Haha, this is nothing!" (manual fighting)
Chisato: "Why bother building castle... a big death trap "

[Maltz]

Hattori Yasunaga: "Hm... it looks like we have a visitor. Oda's army wants to take Omi? If I go to battle, they will shatter the small rebel armies."
Ninja: "Why not? Then we will own Omi province."
Yasunaga: "Omi is a dangerous place. If we own this province, we should be prepared to be attacked by Oda and possibly other eastern clans from Mino and Echizen. We are not ready for it yet. On the other hand, if we maintain the siege on the rebels, Oda's ambition in the west is indefinitely paused at Omi."
Ninja: "I see. So unfortunately my lord's training here has come to an end."
Yasunaga: "It looks like I can use a classified ad to look for a new general..."

Note: The trick was mentioned in my earlier stories. As the AI's army acts after the human's, they are unable to assault the castle. However, since the rebel's garrison acts after the AI clan's, when they sally at the end of the turn, the human general can retreat and come back at the beginning of the next turn. This results in a permenant siege on the castle by the human. The Oda will never get a chance to take Omi. And the AI is not smart enough to realize this.

[Maltz]

Chisato: "Goemon, what does the Ikko-Ikki export to us?"
Goemon: "Buddhism scultures? Echizen is the home of fine craftsmen. Last time I checked there were lots in the shop where you get 15% discount."
Chisato: "Great! I always wanted a Bishamon (God of War) statue!"



Chisato: "DOH! They have sold out. The new shipment is on hold because the castletown in Echizen is besieged by Takeda! "

[Maltz]

Chisato: "Goemon, what's the mission of this season? Bruning another Urakami castle?"
Goemon: "Urakami clan? It does not exist anymore."
Chisato: "Huh? What happened to their last provinces?"
Goemon: "Takaoka backstabbed them. Very good ally, huh?"
Chisato: "Now there are only three clans in western Japan - Hattori, Takaoka, and... Ouchi."
Goemon: "It is time to close the door and beat up Ouchi."

Note: Long time ago there was an opportunity to sell military access to Ouchi, but I purposely avoided it in the fear that Hattori will have to declare war on it later. The rebel army incited in Nagato are is usually not very functional.

[Maltz]

Chisato: "But Ouchi has a full stack defending Nagato. I don't think general Minamoto's Second Army has that many archers."
Goemon: "Don't forget that's only half of the Second army. The other half is under Sawada's command in Buzen. His army will sail to the siege!"
Chisato: "Must be a huge battle! Let's go take a look!"

[Maltz]

(auto-resolved)

Chisato: "What do you mean it is already over... more than 3000 men died?! "
Sawada Takamochi: "The HQ asks us to make a serious cut after this battle, so we figured it is probably easier to just pile the corpses and re-group the survivors."

[Maltz]

Chisato: "Goemon, I heard Takeda has taken Echizen. Has Beshamon statue been restocked?"
Goemon: "Nope, our trade with Ikko-Ikki has been cancelled."
Chisato: "But Ikko still has a functional trade port in Wakasa..."
Goemon: "I know. Somehow our trade deal with them specify Echizen to be the trade port..."
Chisato: "Hm... so the HQ could at least re-establish with Takeda, who know owns Echizen."
Goemon: "And they did!"
Chisato: "So what can we buy from Takeda?"
Goemon:

Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan Hello Kitty~

Note: I took this picture when I travelled to Japan in '08.

[Maltz]

(In the meantime, Nagato Castle)

Takamochi: "Congratulations, Minamoto, for the successful merger and... weight loss of our Second Army!"
Tomokata: "Indeed, Sawada. I wonder what the HQ will asks us to do next."
Chisato: "Generals, there is a small broken rebel army wandering in the wild. They beg us to take them out, for they have been lost in the wild for years..."
Takamochi: "Poor rebels..."

Note: That rebel army was incited a few years back, but never had a chance to take the castle as Ouchi's full-stack defended in it.

[Okinage]

awesome stuff, man!!! been trying this strategy xD but I may need to chant more Iga Ninjutsu is Good for it to work properly xD

[Maltz]

Chisato: "Takaoka's castle in sight! How do you like to have it cooked? All charcoal or medium?"
Goemon: "That has to wait. There is an urgent request from the HQ."
Chisato: "Let's hear it!"
Goemon: "The Hattori clan's advance in western Japan has alarmed the Ashikaga Shogunate. We shall take two more provinces, and then we stop completely. The HQ is undecided about which two provinces to take and requests more information from ninjas and monks."
Chisato: "Hm... I think the bigger and richer the provinces, the better."
Goemon: "That's from an economic perspective. What if the clan will be rich enough? Any recommendations for military?"
Chisato: "I heard that Hoki is famous for its bow crafts, and Inaba is famous for its shipyards. There is an extra trading port in Inaba, which shares a tiny border with Harima, so the trade port should be functional for trading purpose."
Goemon: "Sounds good."
Chisato: "But we are already building up Buzen and Hizen for ranged units and ships. Do we need a second base for that?"
Goemon: "Normally we don't. But if we really want to rush-produce a large number of high-end units to take over Japan, this is the way to go."
Chisato: "Are we rich enough for it?"
Goemon: "Our foreign trades should be able to support the construction fee. The HQ should hire accountants to figure out how much army our economy will be able to sustain..."

[Maltz]

Chief Accountant: "My lord, we estimate that the Hattori clan's economy will be able to sustain five full-stack armies, three of them consist of elite soldiers, two of them are made up by ashigaru."
Hattori Yasunaga: "That should be enough to conquer Japan!"
Chief: "My Lord, we are meeting in Settsu! The Shogunate's spy is all around us!"
Yasunaga: "I mean we will have enough soldiers to join the New Year parade. What about our recruitment process?"
Chief: "We approached the problem this way. Each recruitment center, at the Castle level, provides 3 recruitment points per season. A full stack army, if all Ashigaru, requires 10 recruitment points for melee and 9 recuirtment points for ranged units. This way we can figure out (1) whether our current recruitment centers for melee and ranged units will provide enough recruitment points to meet our desired army composition; and (2) when we will accumulate enough recruitment points for five full-stack armies."
Yasunaga: "And the answer to the first question is..."
Chief: "We need a second recruitment center for ranged units."
Yasunaga: "That's not a problem, we will build up Hoki to be the second recruitment site for ranged units. That means we will also take Inaba to connect Hoki. Send orders to the Second Army!"
Messenger: "On my way, My lord!"
Yasunaga: "And the answer to the second question is..."
Chief: "We need 24 seasons to complete the recruitment process."
Yasunaga: "So we will trigger Realm Divide 24 seasons later! I mean to join the parade 24 seasons later. "

End of Chapter 10

[Maltz]

Chapter 11. 24 Seasons Later

Chief: "My Lord, but that does not include shipping..."
Yasunaga: "Why didn't you just tell me?! We have released that in the news!"
Chief: "It is a rough estimate anyway...

***

Goemon: "Looks like your advise was highly valued, Chisato. The HQ wants Hoki and Inaba!"
Chisato: "And here goes Takaoka fertile attempt to stop the rebels in Hoki!"
Goemon: "The HQ also released a 6-year ban of aggression with the exception of the above two province."
Chisato: "That should make the Shogunate more comfortable."
Goemon: "But doesn't that also tell the Shogun that we are coming to get you 6 years later?"

[Maltz]

Chisato: "I wonder what's going to change in Japan over the next 6 years. Will the eastern clans unite under one banner? Or will they stay divided and fighting each other?"
Goemon: "So far the only big clans at war are Hojo and Date, as we expected. Let's hope for more drama. "

[Maltz]

Goemon: "The Second Army has taken Hoki. Our monk has worked out a rebellion in Inaba. Our new mission is to sabotage Takaoka daimyo's army so it cannot interfere. "
Chisato: "Any thoughts on how?"
Goemon: "Hm... isn't Takeda going to wipe out Ikko-Ikki in Wakasa? How about an imminent attack of Takeda from the east?"
Chisato: "Rumor is not very convincing..."
Goemon: "How about hiring farmers to pretend to be Takeda soldiers to appear on Takaoka's border to Wakasa?"
Chisato: "That would work!"

[Maltz]

Yasunaga: "How's financial situation?"
Chief Accountant: "Everything goes well, my lord. We are now saving up funds for a clan-wide land consolidation. This will not interfere with the army recruitment."
Yasunaga: "Excellent work. By the way, do you want to be promoted to a House Officer of the Hattori clan? Besides a raise in salary and 1000 koku of sign-on bonus, your family also enjoys medical benefits should you... er, did not make it during a battle."
Chief: "Certainly, my Lord! It is my dream to become a samurai!"

[Maltz]

Yasunaga: "And what's your name?"
Chief: "Abe Noriaki."
Yasunaga: "Ok Abe, welcome to the Hattori clan! Here is your first assignment. Replace me in Omi province. All you need to do is to maintain a siege on the castle. When the rebels sally, you run. When they return to the castle, you return."
Abe: "Sure. For how long?"
Yasunaga: "About six years."
Abe: "So that's what a samurai does?"
Yasunaga: "You are very important! You alone is equivalent to a full stack army defending against Oda. Keep it up and we might have some more exciting tasks for you later!"

[Maltz]

Minamoto Tomokata: "That's it ~ the 22nd province of Hattori. Hail to the 5-year long vacation!"
Chisato: "My lord, the HQ has a new order for you. Please report to the training center in Mimasaka. Your training is to run in front of the rebels for 5 years."
Tomokata:

[Maltz]

Chisato: "Goemon, it looks like Takaoka is taking our fake Takeda army seriously. They are preparing for an attack to Ikko-Ikki's last stand, Wakasa."
Goemon: "Good. I heard that the HQ is working out a trade agreemtn with Ikko-Ikki again."
Chisato: "Why is it good? There will be no Ikko-Ikki to trade."
Geomon: "But remember they always give us all their cash in signing the trade deal~"
Chisato:

Note: I have yet to figure out what causes AI clans willing to pay everything to trade with human after a certain point. Could it be a specific resource? Or the economic/military strength of human?

[Maltz]

Yasunaga: "Welcome to the spring festival meeting of 1553! First let me announce an important diplomatic breakthrough..."

(drum roll)

Yasunaga: "We have finally met every clan in Japan! And here is our assessment of what is going to happen in the next few years."

(1) Date to be defeated by Honma and Hojo

Date has learned to dislike Hattori before we even met them, because Hojo is very friendly to Hattori. This means that we also have something to gain from Date's downfall.

(2) Takeda and Takaoka to declare war

Takaoka had taken out Ikko-Ikki, making it a direct neighbor of Takeda. Since Takeda is allied with Hojo and Oda, the only way Takeda could expand is into Takaoka, a notorious backstabbing-my-best-friend clan for the rest of Japan. Strangely, Takaoka's army has left the province immediately after it took Wakasa. So Takaoka seems to have no ambition expanding into Takeda. Maybe it has its eyes on Hattori? Our ninjas must keep a good eye on them.

(3) Hatakeyama to declare war on Takeda

Hatakeyama has nowhere else to expand (or regain its past glory) except into Takeda. But it is likely that it will be destroyed by Takeda's famous super stack bundle - not if the bundle already travelled to somewhere else.

(4) Oda trapped in Omi, war with Hojo uncertain

Oda might declare war to Hojo if they can manage a second army to go east. Or maybe that second army will be trapped in Omi, too.

[Maltz]

Abe Noriaki: "My Lord, did you summon me? How can I be of service?"
Yasunaga: "Last time you tell me that we are planning for a clan-wide Land Consolidation project, right?"
Noriaki: "Yes. It will commence 6 seasons later."
Yasunaga: "What kind of arts should we research afterwards?"
Noriaki: "Right now we still lack the arts to recruit Bow Warrior Monks, Kisho Ninja, and Hattori Bandits. The monks are very useful units in any circumstance. The ninja is... just for show. The Bandits are an interesting replacement to Bow Ashigaru."
Yasunaga: "I heard about Bandits... they robbed our house when I was 3. But what can they do in the army?"
Noriaki: "They can shoot whille under cover, so the enemies can't see who made the shot... if they are sufficiently far away. They are also slightly more accurate than the Bow Ashigaru, but with 25% less men in the unit."
Yasunaga: "Hm... I don't like last bit. This makes them inferior to Bow Ashigaru's damage output in most situations. Change the recruit plan! We will hire Bow Ashigaru first!"
Noriaki: "Yes, my lord~"