Results 1 to 1 of 1

Thread: Otomo guides, hints and tips

  1. #1
    pardon my klatchian Member al Roumi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Sogdiana
    Posts
    1,720

    Default Otomo guides, hints and tips

    I'm creating this guide for the otomo clan as there doesn't seem to be one yet. I'm not going to pretend to be a genius, I haven't exhaustively researched the strategy but having played a few Hard campaigns as the Otomo i feel I can offer the following suggestions. I'm generaly a cautious player and prefer to fight defensive battles on terrain of my choice - this does influence my strategy. I also like to turtle and avoid initiating the Realm Divide event until my clan is developed and strong, financialy and militarily.

    Introduction
    The Otomo are a faction available to play if you have the Otomo clan pack DLC. Historicaly, they were a powerful clan on the Kyushu island and were among the clans most closely linked to Christianity and trade with the Portugese. In TW:S2, the Otomo campaign is rated Hard. The Otomo clan are Christian and benefit from early access to nanban trade and technology, however this association with the Nanbans and their different religion, as for the Ikko Ikki, causes a significant diplomatic penalty. The Otomo can also lease land to the Nanban, receiving a decent profit, but incurring -1 honor to the Daimyo.

    The Otomo unique units include Portuguese Tercos and Donderbus cavalry, as well as variants of the standard Teppo armed troops and ships. These troops lend themselves to defensive and or flanking battle tactics, where you use the morale hit of gunpowder weapons to break melee troops engaged with your main line of battle.

    The starting set up

    Infrastructure
    The Otomo campaign begins with the clan owning two provinces to the east of Kyushu, both are already mostly Christian. The Otomo capital, Bungo, has a Nanban trade port but is otherwise undeveloped. The second province, Buzen, has an archery dojo and the entry level crafts resource which grants missile accuracy bonii.

    Units
    Starting forces include one Otomo Matchlock Kobaya off the coast of Buzen, a bunch of Yari and Yumi Ashigaru as well as two matchlock ashigaru. These land forces are split between Bungo and Buzen, under the command of the Daimyo and his Son/heir in the respective castles. the Otomo also begin with one agent - a Christian priest, based in Bungo.

    Diplomacy
    The Otomo begin their campaign with 1 trade partner, the Ito clan in Hyuga province, and with active wars against the Ouchi (acrross the narrow sea on the south western tip of Honshu) and the Shoni in Hizen and Tsukushi (North and NWest Kyushu). One further land border is shared with the neutral Sagara clan in Higo. The other great clan on Kyushu, the Shimazu, begin in the south western province of Satsuma.

    Starting strategy

    Summary
    Starting out with the Otomo is a challenge, but your initial priority is clear: defend Buzen. The Ouchi and Shoni both threaten this province from the off and could catch you in a pincer. Once you have seen to the defence, you can start pushing your enemies back, using Buzen itself as a staging ground.

    The Ouchi
    Fortunately, you are well equipped to hold off the Ouchi by blocking the straights between Kyushu and Honshu. Your starting ship, the matchlock Kobaya is powerful and the Ouchi do not have any starting ships - so you can block the straights immediately. You should also get a few turns warning about approaching Ouchi land forces as the terrain on their peninsula is bad and will take their forces at least a turn to approach the crossing. This can be crucial later, once the Ouchi start launching ships and you find you need to both fight a naval battle and leave a blocking ship on the straight at the end of a turn.

    When the Ouchi do start launching ships, try as hard as youc an to capture them. I usually recruit a couple of box Kobaya's to support the matchlock kobaya. With these three ships, you should be well equipped to take down whatever the Ouchi can launch within a single turn. If that includes a medium bune, make sure you keep your distance and snipe the hell out of anything on it's deck. Try to absorb damage in your bow kobaya's rather than the matchlock as it's easier to replenish them. Providing you can capture and repair most Ouchi ships launched against you, should within a few turns have appropriated a decent small fleet. If you have a spare general, it might be worth planting him on the fleet as admiral to gain experience and buff your units. Resist the urge to auto-calc, you will do much better fighting these small naval battles yourself. The risks are highest at the begining of the game where the slimmest of margins can makle all the difference. Come what may, if you see an Ouchi army near the crossing, you HAVE to end the turn with at least 1 ship blocking the straight.

    The Shoni
    Bottling up the Ouchi with your navy lets you focus on the Shoni. My opening move is usually to send all available troops (bar the Daimyo) to Buzen, recruit a couple of bow and Yumi ashigaru in Buzen and Bungo respectively. I send my priest to preach and spy on the Shoni in Tsukushi. Once I've gathered my forces, I wait until spring and attack Tsukushi with all my forces in Buzen. From this moment on, you really need to make sure you keep the Ouchi out of Kyushu! Using your Monk to either demoralise the Shoni force or boost your army's morale, it shouldn't be too hard to rout the Shoni and clear the way to capture Tsukushi castle in one or two turns.

    Once you hold Tsukushi, you may find the Shoni remnants raid Tsukushi's farmland, which is over the river to the south. This is ideal - the Shoni cannot heal their troops, leave themselves vulnerable to a blocking force on the bridge and leave their capital in Hizen near undefended. What stops you immediately following up on victory in Tsukushi is resistance to your conquest and discontent among the raided buddhist populace. Your Heir's army can quell that unrest by being based in Tsukushi, but that means you can't either capture Hizen or block the river crossing. Juggling the 1 turn grace you usualy get with unrest before it sparks a revolt may allow you to march off from Tsukushi, providing you can return a suitable garrison by the end of the next turn, but I've found it hard to do more than posture on the bridge until the population is sufficiently christianised.

    Meanwhile, the Shoni will be recruiting troops and either sending them to their field army in Tsukushi or holding them in Hizen. Do what you can to block these and pick off small groops with overwhelming force. The goal here is to keep the shoni army weak and isolated while you shore up your conquest of Tsukushi enough to go back on the offensive. If you managed to keep the Shoni force over the river, you could go for the dirty trick of capturing Hizen, thus annihilating the clan and causing the isolated stack to (usualy) evaporate. I'd recomend this as even if the stack doesn't disappear, you can repeat the bridge blocking and garrisoning you did for Tsukushi but now for Hizen.

    Other clans
    While you are fighting for your survival/conquest with the Ouchi and Shoni, you really don't want to start any other wars. At least, not until you've knocked out the Shoni - I've found I can keep the Ouchi at bay almost indefinitely. To that end, gift or sell military access to the Sagara and Ito, particualrly the former. The Ito have never backstabbed me and are instead usually overrun by the Shimazu within 10-15 turns. Worry more about the Sagara and, if you can spare the cash, build up a defensive force in Bungo as this is your soft underbelly and a possible attack route between Higo and Bungo. Fortunately, your main army that has been fighting the Shoni will be poised (once they are despatched) to defend your northern provinces from the Sagara. You should treat the Shimazu similarly once they knock out the Ito: sell/gift them military access and prepare defenses in Bungo.

    Overseas, you should try to establish what trades you can but above all, avoid entering into conflict with anyone. You will meet the Mori fairly early on but as they are a trade partner of the Ouchi, they will be reluctant to trade with you. I would advise against getting cosy or trading with Mori enemies as the Mori fleets could pose a significant headache and clear the way for that Ouchi stack to cross... The Chosokabe may be unfriendly - they could also declare war if you aren't careful. If that happens, defend at sea and prevent landings at all costs.

    You may be able to acquire silk and cotton from the north and western trade nodes but until you finish off the Shoni or have a navy adequate to defend them, you will find that your trade ships become targets for Shoni navies. Until you take Hizen, you'll aslo be without a trade port close enough to repair defensive or trade fleets. Do what you can but don't invest in anything you can't afford to defend.

    Over the hump

    So it may not be over the hump, rather strapped in to the rollercoaster. Once you've knocked out the Shoni, you will want/have to deal with the Sagara and then Shimazu. You could also invade the Ouchi lands in Honshu, but personaly I'd not recommend adding to your land borders until you've consolidated Kyushu. Tempting targets include the Chosokabe lands in Shikaku, if not the entire island. Holding both smaller islands (Kyushu and Shikaku) before realm divide would give you a strong defensive position from which to pause and prepare for the steamroller to Kyoto.

    Once you hold at least Hizen, if not the rest of Kyushu, you will have good access to the 4 trade nodes around the island. You should also have a decent navy of around 2 fleets to protect yourself and your trade nodes. Unless you managed to grab and hold any nodes early on, some may be controlled by other neutral clans. You could declare war for the nodes but I'd not bother unless a single clan holds 2 or more. You will also by now have made contact with a bunch of Honshu based clans, so should be able to set up some trades. The usual guidance (Maltz's) applies - try to pick partners wisely, but be aware that Central and Northern Honshu will be a mess of clan alliances, ascending and vanishing.

    If you keep your territorial expansions to Kyushu and Shikaku, your navy will continue to be your first line of defense. Develop and resource it well - including ports for recruitment and repair. Getting some Nanban ships (1 per fleet) will significantly tip things in your favour. You ought to be well placed to capture the Black Ship too. You should keep a fleet near the Kyushu/Honshu crossing, irrespective of who holds that province, to protect Buzen.

    Expect naval invasions from central/Northern Honshu clans. This could include existing trade partners and allies who are bottled up by alliances with their neighbours and looking for an outlet. If you can see a fleet loaded with troops, be vary wary and take steps to intercept it before the army is landed. If you're lucky, they may even declare war before landing troops on your island(s)...

    Realm Divide

    To my mind, the best scenario for Realm Divide is to build up to the line through a series of conquests, then turtle - take a step back and focus inwards on developing a strong internal economy as well as doing as much trading as possible in order to build up a suitable war chest. So much so different from everyone else, I imagine. To give yourself even more room to breathe while you prepare, you could use your priests to create Christian uprisings in neighbouring clans' border provinces.

    Once you initiate the RD event, your navy will be very busy guarding the flanks of your armies, preventing landings in your rear while you roll up Honshu. You'll probably want to have at least 2 fleets either side of Honshu, one main fleet and a backup.
    Last edited by al Roumi; 07-02-2014 at 14:37.

    Member thankful for this post:



Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Single Sign On provided by vBSSO