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Thread: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

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    Weird Organism Senior Member Drisos's Avatar
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    Default Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Hi all,

    Imagawa is probably among my least favorite and least played Clans. Maybe not so much because I dislike their starting positions or their intended strategy, but because I feel like I've never played them the way they are intended. I don't use ninja's or shinobi much in any campaign. I always play a bit of diplomacy, but don't think too much about it. I always focus on the same: Income, high quality unit production, and which areas are strategic to conquer or to put up a defense. Imagawa campaign seems to be intended to require more diplomacy, and incentives use of Ninja's and Shinobi (lower costs, start with Ninja House).

    My last Imagawa campaign (Expert, Sengoku Jidai), I trained two more SA in Totomi, before shipping all my troops to Hizen and burning down everything in the East. That funded improved farms and some troop production in the South. I crushed Shimazu and proceeded to play as if it was a Shimazu campaign (except without the focus on No-Dachi). I might as well play Shimazu in the first place, or play those first few years of Imagawa, and then just call it quits. Not sure if I ever did a succesful Expert campaign keeping both fronts, but I definitely never did a succesful Expert campaign using a lot of Ninja's and Shinobi instead of my regular strategies.

    Now, how do I change this? Simply forcing myself to pump out Ninja's and Shinobi, while I use my regular stratgies to conquer Japan (albeit on a slightly decreased budget), isn't what I'm looking for. I might as well come up with any type of arbitrary financial handicap (e.g. always set Taxes to Very Low). I want to actually use the agents as vital part of my strategy. But is that even possible? Let me think out loud for a few moments on their uses.

    - Emissaries
    1) Propose ceasefires, propose alliances. When successful, might deter other Clans from attacking you. And might cause them to join your attacks on common enemies. I would love to know how big the effect is on the likelihood of Clans attacking you. I know it doesn't do much if you're the only neighbor they have left, but when they have several options, could this turn you from their most likely target to their least likely target? Perhaps. I do get the impression they guard shared borders less well if you're allied. This could be potentially be used (or perhaps, abused), to 'weaken' each Clan before you play to invade their territory. You could attempt to attack regions together (ie ally with Takeda, then attack Shinano), and ensure that Takeda sacrifices most of his army in the battle. That could set you up to take Shinano much more easily, or to retreat and attack Takeda instead (if he's been thoroughly suicidal).
    2) Spying. I tend to prefer Border Watch Towers over Emissaries, but I do prefer Emissaries over Shinobi (or Ninja's). I definitely do get some value from Spying, as I frequently adjust what troops I bring for a fight, based on their army composition. However, that's still very much the same as what I always do in campaigns.
    3) Bribing armies. Never used it much, it seems ridiculously expensive (much cheaper to train the troops yourself). Might be an interesting Challenge though. Focus hard on income early on, and expand by bribing armies instead of developing your own troop production? Is it even possible? It is just too expensive?

    - Shinobi
    1) Counterespionage (1/2). Kills enemy Shinobi and Ninja's, preventing them from spying on you. I think this is largely useless, because for one thing, they will mostly spy on you with Border Watch Towers and Emissaries anyway. For another, I have my doubt on much spying helps the AI.
    2) Counterespionage (2/2). Kills enemy Shinobi, preventing them from causing revolts. I don't think the AI has ever successfully used Shinobi to cause revolts in my regions. But I could be wrong, I do get revolts sometimes.
    3) Spying (1/2). See Emissaries, which I prefer for this purpose. Shinobi often get killed for free.
    4) Spying (2/2). Travel to enemy regions with few or no troops, to cause revolts. I have used this tactic from time to time, especially with large groups (4-10) Shinobi, especially later on in a campaign when a very strong enemy Clan controls a large area. I move into his 'safe regions', and cause 1-2 revolts every turn by moving around the Shinobi. It never felt very strong to me. I do sometimes cause the enemy to lose a few regions, but the revolts are quite small. Often they don't conquer a region, and if they do, they're wiped out again soon after. It can however cause the loss of many buildings, sometimes in highly developed troop production centers. It might be especially strong in regions like Kii or Kaga. But could this ever be successful enough to decimate entire clans?

    - Ninja's
    1) Counterespionage. See Shinobi. Even worse, as Ninja's are more expensive.
    2) Eliminating Geisha. Rarely ever necessary, I nearly always finish campaigns before any Clan manages to train one. At that point, (well-trained) Ninja's become essential for your survival. Unless victory is near, or you're willing and able to produce your own Geisha.
    3) Eliminating strong generals. Likely quite valuable. Killing a 2/3 star General clearly decreases his army in value, killing a 4/5 star General even more so. It seems very hard to do though, especially 4/5 star Generals.
    4) Eliminating generals before a battle. If done successfully in the same turn, the army's morale is supposedly decreased. I wonder if anyone knows how much that actually is? Equivalent to losing the General during battle? Equivalent to being shot by Teppo? Equivalent to being surrounded, or losing half the unit? If it's substantial, I could see a campaign where I spend less on armies, and more on killing enemy generals to decrease bonus honor and decrease morale. --- Even crazier, as part of such a strategy, you could field insane armies of mostly Teppo (for their effect on Morale), Battlefield Ninja's (to attempt to assassinate the new general during battle), and Cavalry, to chase routing troops. But I guess, even if you kill every 2+ Star General you would encounter in battle, some units will be produced with Honor 2-3, and it will be hard to rout them regardless.
    5) Opening the gates during a castle siege. If I'm not mistaken, this results in an automatic win for whatever army you have in the region. Never used it (after a few attempts long ago), I prefer just waiting out the siege. That's zero losses, and you need an army in the region for a bit anyway, because of population loyalty. Plus, even if it were useful and doable, it'd mean I'd still be largely using my regular strategies, except a little more efficient in ending sieges. --- I just tried it, just in case. Had a siege on a Fortress, with 80 men remaining, having 1020 mostly strong/expensive in the region. Success chance of 50% for Honor 3 Ninja's. When one succeeded, I automatically captured the castle, taking 68 losses in the process (small numbers from each unit). I wonder if you could make this more efficient by leaving something like an army of 60 YA in the region...? If the win is indeed guaranteed, doing this would greatly decrease the potential for losses. Perhaps the losses are actually determined as a set % of your troops in the region (ie the less troops the better)?
    6) Eliminating Clans (partially). Assassinate a Daimyo or his heirs to end a Clan, or bring them one step closer.
    7) Eliminating Emissaries/Priests. In a short trial Campaign I just started, I did notice I could effectively stall my enemies from forging alliances. My two starting Ninja's must've killed 5 or so Emissaries in the first few years. The only Clan that managed to successfully propose alliances was Shimazu (to Mori and Uesugi, iirc). This might be especially interesting, considering the observations in this old thread. One of the posters mentioned he took control of Uesugi regions and forces by allying and then assassinating them. That makes me wonder: Can this strategy be pursued with any significant chance of success? Even better, can I do it to Uesugi first, and proceed do to it to others? That would be a radically different way to win the game.

    Interested to hear if and how people use the above capabilities of the agents. And if you think they can be the main factor in your victory. For instance, could I survive without producing much troops and conquering many regions? Could I pump out enough ninja's to assassinate all other Daimyo's, before being defeated by their growing military?

    Thinking of setting up a Challenge like: Win an Imagawa Campaign on Expert (let's assume either Sengoku Jidai or 1580), with victory condition "Eliminate your rival Clans" enabled, with an added handicap:

    A) Without ever attacking any region in the conventional sense. To conquer additional territory, you can ally Clans and assassinate their leaders, or bribe regions.
    B) Without increasing the quality of produced troops, i.e. you're only allowed regular Archery Dojos, Spear Dojos, Horse Dojos, Sword Dojos and Buddhist Temples. No upgraded version, no Armories, no Swordsmiths. If you conquer regions with such buildings, burn them down instantly. This might tip the balance in favor of using agents, because your armies will be unusually weak. You can bribe high quality troops, however.
    C) Without training troops in any regions other than one region you designate as your troop production HQ (i.e. Totomi). Similarly, this might tip the balance in favor of using agents, but I wonder if the effect is strong enough.
    D) Without (intentionally) declaring war against any other Clan, and forcing yourself to constantly attempt to establish ceasefires and/or alliances with every living Clan. So, start by minding your own business, forging alliances and attempting to assassinate people. Let's say Takeda invades Suruga. Defend the region, if you can. Send an Emissary to attempt to establish a ceasefire. If it fails, feel free to invade his regions. If it succeeds, attempt to establish an alliance. Back to minding your own business. Not sure how much of an effect these rules would have, compared to my regular playstyle. It might end up being you vs. 1-3 very strong Clans, who will insist on fighting you no matter what, and won't want ceasefires anymore.

    Interested to hear if anyone ever played in a way similar to one of the proposed challenges, or which you think are possible to win, if you have any tips, or which one(s) you would most like to see me try? =]

    Last edited by Drisos; 01-23-2020 at 02:03.
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    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    My last Imagawa campaign (Expert, Sengoku Jidai), I trained two more SA in Totomi, before shipping all my troops to Hizen and burning down everything in the East. That funded improved farms and some troop production in the South. I crushed Shimazu and proceeded to play as if it was a Shimazu campaign (except without the focus on No-Dachi). I might as well play Shimazu in the first place, or play those first few years of Imagawa, and then just call it quits
    Pretty much my strategy, and same conclusion...might just as well play Shimazu from the start.

    Tried playing the split empire, but never seem to have enough resources to compete at both ends. Had one campaign where I suffered 5 consecutive years of poor harvests, and I didn't even have enough koku to repair damaged units let alone build up infrastructure

    I ended up sending out my ninja's to assassinate every single general that bore a star no matter friend or foe. It made battles easier to win, but made the game boring.

    Travel to enemy regions with few or no troops, to cause revolts
    I do this all the time no matter the clan with what I call "shinobi swarm". Send 10-20 shinobi to a province (usually a backwater one far from the front, as the AI 'front-loads' it's provinces). After it revolts, move them to the next province. If you can cause a cascade effect, keep sending more shinobi and branch out in several directions. Many get caught by enemy shinobi or border forts, but enough survive to create havoc. And they gain stars every time they survive the forts. Not uncommon to have valor 5 or 6 Shinobi, as a result.

    The down side is that you can create experienced enemy generals that move to crush the rebellions, so you have to be prepared to move in to take control. Fun way to invade a province without having to go to war with the clan the province belonged to You get very fun three-way battles if you invade the rebels at the same time as the former owners do. Even more fun if it's a river province with bridges....

    As to your proposal of getting all provinces to rebel, or assassinating all heads of clans.....seems like an impossible task to me And doing it without the benefit of upgrades...
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    Weird Organism Senior Member Drisos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Quote Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai
    As to your proposal of getting all provinces to rebel, or assassinating all heads of clans.....seems like an impossible task to me And doing it without the benefit of upgrades...
    I meant them as four separate challenges. ;) So if I were to go for A, the 'pacifist' challenge (which I think is hardest but most interesting), I could still train high quality troops, in multiple regions, in order to create strong defensive armies. If I were to go for B, I could still declare wars and invade regions, but I couldn't improve troop quality. Etc...

    Quote Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai View Post
    Tried playing the split empire, but never seem to have enough resources to compete at both ends. Had one campaign where I suffered 5 consecutive years of poor harvests, and I didn't even have enough koku to repair damaged units let alone build up infrastructure
    I did win a very easy Takeda 1530 campaign by expanding on both sides. However, that's infinitely easier than when using Sengoku Jidai. The initial army in Aki is enough to keep Rebels from invading, and no clan will show up at your borders for a long time. I could simply build a mine and mine complex there, and then build it up as secondary/tertiary troop production (Aki has an Armory too!), slowly taking some Rebel regions until I had more or less conquered what is Mori's starting territory during Sengoku Jidai. I think Imagawa Sengoku Jidai is doable by allying Shimazu, improving farms, and keeping the minimum of troops there to prevent him from invading. That'll be a decent income boost for your adventures on the mainland. Still one of the harder campaigns probably!

    Quote Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai
    I ended up sending out my ninja's to assassinate every single general that bore a star no matter friend or foe. It made battles easier to win, but made the game boring.
    Well, that at least proved it was possible, and it would definitely be different from my regular playstyle. =]

    Quote Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai
    Send 10-20 shinobi to a province
    I gave this two more tries recently, and just found out more Shinobi seems to be strongly correlated with larger rebellions. I had used it before, mostly going for 4-5 Shinobi per region, but the rebellions were often so small the Clan could easily defend or instantly retake the region. On my last campaign, I 'created' several Rebel stacks of 500-600 for sure. That's interesting for my challenges... Decently sizes Rebel armies pop into existence, which you can bribe afterwards...

    Little resource I just assembled for this, Clans, their Daimyo's, and their heirs. (@ Sengoku Jidai)
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Shimazu:

    Shimazu Takahisa, Daimyo, 16, ***, Satsuma
    Shimazu Yoshimoto, Heir, Comes of age in 1532

    Mori:

    Mori Motonari, Daimyo, 33, *****, Mimasaka
    Mori Yoshinari, Heir, Comes of age in 1539

    Oda:

    Oda Nobuhide, Daimyo, 30, ***, Owari
    Oda Nobuhiro, General, 16, ***, Tamba

    Takeda:

    Takeda Nobutora, Daimyo, 37, ***, Kai
    Takeda Shingen, Heir, Comes of age in 1537
    Takeda Nobushige, Heir, Comes of age in 1544

    Hojo:

    Hojo Ujitsuna, Daimyo, 39, ***, Shimosa
    Hojo Ujiyasu, Heir, Comes of age in 1532

    Uesugi:

    Uesugi Tomooki, Daimyo, 39 Years, ***, Mutsu
    Uesugi Tomosada, General, 16, ***, Shinano
    Uesugi Norimasa, Heir, Comes of age in 1538
    Uesugi Kenshin, Heir, Comes of age in 1546
    Last edited by Drisos; 01-25-2020 at 02:17.
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    Toh-GAH-koo-reh Member Togakure's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Glad I dropped in. Was very pleasantly surprised to see posts from you here, Drisos. Hope all has been well. It's been quite a while.

    I remember the Tokugawa Campaign (WE Imagawa replacement, 1580 option) being particularly challenging and fun (Expert, also). For me, use of agents and Battlefield Ninja--and much patience--were key to dominance in that scenario. One of my favorites to play.
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    While others aspire to perform meritorious services
    Concentrate on purity of intent
    While those around you are beset by egoism


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    Weird Organism Senior Member Drisos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Ah yes, that one certainly looks tough, starting with 3 regions, no guns, and a Clan-specific discount that seems much weaker than most others (Uesugi, Oda, Takeda, Mori, ...). But that might just be my rigid strategies, hence the topic. ;)

    How should I use Battlefield Ninja? I used them briefly during a few campaigns iirc, but wasn't very impressed. I guess I was using them as an awkward replacement for shock troops (= No-Dachi/Warrior Monks), even more vulnerable, actually unlikely to beat any units 1on1, but with the perk of frequently killing generals. Now and then, I could use the ranged attack to decimate a unit, when AI was being silly and just standing there. That's about it. Probably not using them to their full potential...?
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    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    How should I use Battlefield Ninja?
    Wooded areas and fog are your best friends when using BFN. I set traps for the AI by using a unit or two to step outside a wooded area to draw attention, then ducking back in to waiting units of my BFN. Bridge crossings get almost too easy (especially in bad weather) by sending BFN across first (you must remove the fire-at-will option) and have them wait at the flanks of enemy units. Send a unit or two to the bridge which starts enemy movement, then have the BFN crash the flanks.

    In some of my "just for kicks" campaign's, I would have an entire army of BFN's led by a Kensei general. THE best "bridge-buster" army bar none. Send all the BFN's across the bridge, and when they are in position, have the Kensei step forward onto the bridge and watch utter mayhem ensue. I don't know if cigars were present in Japan at that time, but if they were, your Kensei should have one ready, as smoking one will be just about all he'll have to do....
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    Weird Organism Senior Member Drisos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Just won an Imagawa 1550 campaign, without ever attacking any region. Fought only 4 or 5 defensive battles, all except one against the Mori in the endgame. The caveat: I did use Geisha's. Gained control of Oda and Takeda lands after assassinating them. Keeping them as allies was easy enough, except early on, when Takeda really likes attacking Suruga. Most unique about the campaign was the lack of income early on, as I couldn't conquer Owari or other profitable regions. I survived on three regions, quickly building harbors, until I had finally killed Oda's entire family. From there it was kind of easy, Uesugi and Shimazu died without allies, I gained Hojo's lands (only 3), only Mori left (who controlled half the map). If I'm not mistaken, I assassinated 11 Heirs/Daimyos in total. Can't shake the feeling that would've been impossible using Ninja's only. Though in the early stages, I easily would've survived even if it had taken longer to deal with Oda & Takeda. And after that, the Uesugi and Hojo posed no threat at all. But the Mori... They ended up invading 1 or 2 regions a turn, with armies over a full stack in size. Not sure I would've been able to hold him off very long. Perhaps I could've retreated to (Owari-)Mikawa-Shinano-Echigo-Sado... The lands northeast of that still provide plenty of income, 3 Armory's, Shinano & Totomi bonuses, ...

    Quote Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai View Post
    Wooded areas and fog are your best friends when using BFN. I set traps for the AI by using a unit or two to step outside a wooded area to draw attention, then ducking back in to waiting units of my BFN.
    So, do you keep the BFN waiting in the Forest? Do they charge the enemy eventually? What enemy are they fighting, what Honour/Armor/Weapons do the BFN have, and what's the result?

    I have an easy enough time on River Crossings nowadays, I'll often use 8-12 SA's, send across 1 Yari Samurai (or Naginata Samurai, if I have them). Shoot whatever they send to attack them, pull back the unit before they engage, rinse repeat. I'm curious for the BFN strategy, but at best it'll be an alternative for the lategame.
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    Senior Member Senior Member ReluctantSamurai's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    So, do you keep the BFN waiting in the Forest? Do they charge the enemy eventually? What enemy are they fighting, what Honour/Armor/Weapons do the BFN have, and what's the result?
    Yes, the BFN remain hidden...fire-at-will is off, hold formation is on (being primarily a skirmisher unit, they will fall back in the face of an advancing enemy unit...something you don't want for your ambush to work).

    They are subject to the same Weapon/Armour upgrades as any other unit, as well as Honour bonuses. Being a skirmisher unit, their primary weapon is the shuriken which is thrown at the enemy and has a much shorter range than arrows or musket ball. Secondary weapon is a sword.

    Actual stats are something like this: (Accuracy/Reload Time/Range/Projectile Power)

    BFN----80/3/1200/10
    SA---60/6/5000/5
    Musket---17/24/5000/40

    So much shorter range, very high ROF, twice the hitting power of Samurai Archers, but much less than muskets.

    Actual battlefield results vary, but the idea is something like this...BFN wait with fire-at-will off, hold formation on; a unit like Ashi lures the enemy towards your BFN; when the enemy gets within range, turn fire-at-will on (helps to have the BFN grouped so with one click they all begin to fire at once). Rinse and repeat. Enemy units often lose men at such a rapid rate (due to the high ROF and accuracy of BFN) that they rout quickly.

    I have an easy enough time on River Crossings nowadays
    I only suggested the Kensei/BFN army as a fun alternative. It's actually quite hilarious to watch the utter mayhem if you mange to get fog conditions because the BFN are virtually undetectable by the enemy.

    I assassinated 11 Heirs/Daimyos in total. Can't shake the feeling that would've been impossible using Ninja's only
    Probably true. Did a similar thing in the Imagawa campaign I mentioned earlier, though I stuck to my rule of no Geisha. Lost a few Ninja's, but oh well...rules are rules
    Last edited by ReluctantSamurai; 02-08-2020 at 15:26.
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    Weird Organism Senior Member Drisos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Quote Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai View Post
    Probably true. Did a similar thing in the Imagawa campaign I mentioned earlier, though I stuck to my rule of no Geisha. Lost a few Ninja's, but oh well...rules are rules
    Just won another. Imagawa Sengoku Jidai, no Geisha's this time, decided to keep both fronts, though I never conquered anything on Kyushu. This got quite close to the pacifist challenge I proposed (= never attack any regions, other than with bribed armies), I am now convinced it's actually possible. I turtled up for a long time, building Ports, Farmlands, and a Citadel + Geisha House in Totomi, and increasing my armies as a deterrent (almost all Honor 2-3 SA's from Totomi). Other Clans were fighting a lot, especially over Shinano. I think none attacked me for a very long time, except for Shimazu once (I crushed him once, then he accepted a ceasefire). I got nervous (don't remember the rationale anymore tbh), at some point I invaded Kai, and started building Mines + another Geisha house there. Around that time, I started putting my Ninja's to work. I assassinated the Oda Daimyo at the time, but sadly his lands went to the Rebels, not to me. Significant setback, and things were getting scary, as Mori started to dominate Shimazu, he would certainly control half the map again, soon enough. After doing Oda, I tried to assassinate Hojo (while allied). But he repeatedly declared war. I decided to off him anyway, because he was getting scary as well (Sagami-Musashi-Shinano-Mutsu). Killed one heir and then him, his lands went to the Rebels, as well. Soon after, I invaded Izu (where the Takeda Daimyo had been stuck), which was my second and last normal attack on a region. Won that fight, and in the same year I got news that Shingen had gotten defeated and killed (presumably in Noto), ending the Takeda. Using the cash that had been slowly accumulating during my Ninja shenanigans, I succesfully bribed Sagami, Musashi & Shinano, greatly increasing my income. Meanwhile, Mori had finally defeated Shimazu, and starting attacking Chikuezen. At this point, I probably would've won, regardless of being able to defend the Kyushu front. I had so much cash, and enough troops on Honshu to hold him off while I would track and kill his family. However, I beat him in Chikuezen 4 or 5 times, probably delaying his march significantly. I later found out there was also a full stack+ of high quality rebels in Tosa (!), also keeping Mori's troops away from my vital regions. Meanwhile, I had the Uesugi family assassinated (including the 6 star Kenshin !). For the second time, I didn't gain any regions after the death of my "ally". Too bad, though I was still in great shape. I had already killed one Mori heir before he ever declared war. Mori Motonari was his only remaining family member, but he was another big target, 5 stars, think the Honor 2 Ninja's had 7% chance. That seems terrible, but actually, it's not all that bad. Even just two of those ninja's per turn will kill him, on average, in 5 seasons, in other words, it takes about 10 of them. I had the money at this point to produce lots more, but I didn't bother. It took +/- 10 to kill Motonari, but an Heir of his reached adulthood meanwhile, so Mori lived on. He did end up defeating me in Mino (which I ended up bribing as well, mostly because it had a large army and it's nice to defend), showing up with over a full stack. That would've been scary, were it not for my knowledge that he was, again, down to one family member, this time only a 3 star Daimyo. He died before I lost any more ground. Game could've ended there under one of the secondary victory conditions, but I decided to bribe my way to 40 regions anyway, just to prove once and for all there's no point playing on vs. only Rebels, not even if they control 49 Regions and have much larger armies than you. =]

    So, TL;DR: Imagawa on Sengoku Jidai, Expert. No Geisha's. 8 Heirs & Daimyos assassinated, 2 regions invaded, 4 more regions bribed. Eliminated all 6 other Clans. Producing Ninja's from two regions only, mostly Honor 2. I bet I lost +/- 30 of them, and I think I got lucky overall (especially on Kenshin - not that Uesugi posed any threat at that point, it just would've changed the numbers).

    Thanks for the tips on BFN! =]

    Edit: Forgot to mention, I also 'attacked' Suruga twice (iirc) after losing it to Takeda, after they won a battle, my troops routed to the castle, and laid siege to it. I moved out of the Castle and supplemented with troops from Totomi. I considered just taking the loss, and leaving the troops to die, ... But I was convinced the campaign was lost if I allowed that to happen. Takeda seemed like a big threat at the time, having a large army in Shinano, if he attacked Totomi and won (quite likely, mostly Cavalry vs. SA), it would've definitely been game over. --- Still, I got much much closer to fullfilling the pacifist challenge than I would've imagined.
    Last edited by Drisos; 02-09-2020 at 14:31.
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    Weird Organism Senior Member Drisos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Some more tidbits on early Imagawa Strategies (@ Segoku Jidai).

    I can't get Takeda to accept an alliance no matter how many times I offer, it seems. I think that might have something to do with his wish to invade Suruga. However if you abandon Suruga he'll accept a ceasefire and alliance afterwards, which can be still long before his first heir comes of age (so you can assassinate him for a chance to get his lands).

    Hojo seems a better target, although he'll often refuse an alliance early as well. I just kept trying until he did (I'm convinced it's partially determined at random), while producing ninja's and moving them to Shinano (Hojo's Daimyo will sit in Musashi early on). I think he accepted on the third or fourth try, iirc I had 7 ninja's sitting ready (produced 1 in Totomi every turn), then immediately assassinated him and gained all 6 of his lands. Pretty spectacular. Keep in mind you need garrisons in Shimosa and Kozuke because of loyalty early on.

    I tried Shimazu too but it's harder. He always accepts an alliance, but the route your ninja's have to take to his daimyo (Bungo) is longer, so you can send less at him before his heir comes of age.

    To expand upon my earlier post, both the Shimazu and Hojo heirs seem to come of age in Summer 1532.

    Btw: In trying to test the Strategy of going for Shimazu, I ended up reloaded the game a couple of times, to the turn where a bunch of ninja's make their attempt (at 7%). I didn't get a successful assassination after what totaled to like 80 attempts. Seem like either the chance shown (7%) isn't accurate, or it's not purely random. It could be that some factor that is already decided goes into the calculations. I would love to know. I thought the investment wasn't all that bad, 5-6x 7% is a significant chance. I should replay that opening and see if the same phenomenon happens again.

    Meanwhile, the Hojo Daimyo (also 7%) fell to the first ninja I sent at him.
    - Chu - Gi - Makoto - Rei - Jin - Yu - Meiyo -

  11. #11

    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Quote Originally Posted by Drisos View Post
    Some more tidbits on early Imagawa Strategies (@ Segoku Jidai).

    I can't get Takeda to accept an alliance no matter how many times I offer, it seems. I think that might have something to do with his wish to invade Suruga. However if you abandon Suruga he'll accept a ceasefire and alliance afterwards, which can be still long before his first heir comes of age (so you can assassinate him for a chance to get his lands).

    Hojo seems a better target, although he'll often refuse an alliance early as well. I just kept trying until he did (I'm convinced it's partially determined at random), while producing ninja's and moving them to Shinano (Hojo's Daimyo will sit in Musashi early on). I think he accepted on the third or fourth try, iirc I had 7 ninja's sitting ready (produced 1 in Totomi every turn), then immediately assassinated him and gained all 6 of his lands. Pretty spectacular. Keep in mind you need garrisons in Shimosa and Kozuke because of loyalty early on.

    I tried Shimazu too but it's harder. He always accepts an alliance, but the route your ninja's have to take to his daimyo (Bungo) is longer, so you can send less at him before his heir comes of age.

    To expand upon my earlier post, both the Shimazu and Hojo heirs seem to come of age in Summer 1532.

    Btw: In trying to test the Strategy of going for Shimazu, I ended up reloaded the game a couple of times, to the turn where a bunch of ninja's make their attempt (at 7%). I didn't get a successful assassination after what totaled to like 80 attempts. Seem like either the chance shown (7%) isn't accurate, or it's not purely random. It could be that some factor that is already decided goes into the calculations. I would love to know. I thought the investment wasn't all that bad, 5-6x 7% is a significant chance. I should replay that opening and see if the same phenomenon happens again.

    Meanwhile, the Hojo Daimyo (also 7%) fell to the first ninja I sent at him.
    This is all fantastic information. Someday I'll have to give an Imagawa campaign another go.

    I really like the way you've analyzed your chances of success versus each of your likely early game targets. This is something I didn't consider. I figured the first stage of this campaign would be to hole up and tech up before starting ninja aggression at some point in the early-mid game. You've decided to get a early strike in before building up much of anything I reckon.

    I've played two Imagawa campaigns using this playstyle. My first one went quite well. My peak moment was assassinating the Mori when they were quite large but just before they were likely to go to war with me. Because we were still allied I inherited a lot of their lands, say a quarter of the map. Epic stuff.

    My second attempt was my youtube campaign and while I did win it eventually my attempt at using ninjas was just a disaster. I'm still kind of sour about it - ugh my ninjas just couldn't kill anything! Eventually I'll get around to playing a Imagawa 1530 campaign and when I do I'll have to revisit this thread.

  12. #12
    Weird Organism Senior Member Drisos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Thanks!

    With this strategy I produced nothing but ninja's in Totomi for the first 5 turns. I took Owari turn 2 so eventually I caught up on troop production doing OwarI+Totomi each turn, but it's still an awkward start. I had some improved farms in Kyushu but that's about it. It's probably stronger, and surely more reliable to just build up more income, troop quality, and troops, before going into ninja's later. However, killing off all other clans with ninja's in the mid-/lategame is relatively easy, makes for uninteresting campaigns. The one I decribed above went just that way: I killed off 6 of the clans with Ninja's (Oda died in battle somewhere), and even killed Takeda a second time after a resurgence led by Shingen. I wasn't even close to owning half of the map, so it was quite a grind vs. the Rebels to finish that. I kind of regret not stopping with the Hojo, or maybe Hojo + 1 other strong clan in the midgame (like you did with the Mori).

    The early game is exciting though, I never tried this before either, just figured "hey, I don't just have a discount, I start with 2 ninja's and a ninja house already". I think it's definitely a more unique opening strategy for Imagawa. And when you do get Hojo's or Shimazu's lands, that makes for a very different (and easier) campaign of conquest through regular armies.

    More info on the odds: You can have 7 ninja's in position before Hojo's heir comes of age, or 6 when you go for Shimazu. You could add another ninja house and improve your odds further. Adding a Ninja House in Hizen can increase the ninja count to 10 for Hojo, or 9 for Shimazu, for a cost of 850 total. Adding a Castle + Ninja House in Mikawa or Suruga only allows for 1 extra ninja on the Hojo attempt (cost: 800). Doing the same in Chikugo or Chikuzen allows for 2 extra ninja's on the Shimazu attempt (cost: 950). I don't think there's any way to do both (add Ninja House in Hizen AND another region). Even adding 1 is very costly.

    The Honor 0 ninja's have a 7% chance on either daimyo, and according to my high school level understanding of maths that amounts to the following chances of success:

    - 6 Ninja = 35%
    - 7 Ninja = 40%
    - 8 Ninja = 44%
    - 9 Ninja = 48%
    - 10 Ninja = 52%

    If that's correct it's quite unreliable even with another Ninja House in Hizen. And when the clan dies I don't think you're guaranteed to get their lands. I'm not sure how that works.


    Edit:

    Quote Originally Posted by Drisos View Post
    - Shinobi
    4) Spying (2/2). Travel to enemy regions with few or no troops, to cause revolts. I have used this tactic from time to time, especially with large groups (4-10) Shinobi, especially later on in a campaign when a very strong enemy Clan controls a large area. I move into his 'safe regions', and cause 1-2 revolts every turn by moving around the Shinobi. It never felt very strong to me. I do sometimes cause the enemy to lose a few regions, but the revolts are quite small. Often they don't conquer a region, and if they do, they're wiped out again soon after. It can however cause the loss of many buildings, sometimes in highly developed troop production centers. It might be especially strong in regions like Kii or Kaga. But could this ever be successful enough to decimate entire clans?
    Khan of Steppe demonstrates another interesting use for agents in his Imagawa campaign, using Shinobi on recently lost regions to cause Loyalist revolts, a.k.a. spawning free armies out of thin air! =]
    Last edited by Drisos; 09-11-2022 at 00:13.
    - Chu - Gi - Makoto - Rei - Jin - Yu - Meiyo -

  13. #13
    Weird Organism Senior Member Drisos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    I've speculated at times about an Imagawa strategy to rush for control of Iga, and I've seen others mention it too, ... Today I felt the urge to test it. Ran two Sengoku Jidai campaigns, although I think similar strategies can be done on the '1530' and '1550' campaigns.

    First one: Abandon Kyushu, forfeit Suruga to Takeda, hold Totomi-Mikawa-Owari and expand to Iga. Ally Hojo & Shimazu (Shimazu after ceding Kyushu to him), then use the Ninja's from Iga to try and kill one of them and gain their lands, which puts you in a commanding lead in the game.

    Oda was a pushover. Easily took Owari, then focused on my mission (Iga), but later finished him (in Mino) because it required little effort anyway. Also nice: I could send large armies to Ise and later Yamashiro to have them retreat to their castles and starve, beats the SA vs. WM shenanigans. ;) Took Kawachi from Mori when he left a garrison with only 1 SA, I didn't really want war but having Kawachi as a border instead of Kii+Yamato is so much better. Felt like I wasn't that fast in expanding, and low Koku delayed my Ninja plans further. It all worked out eventually, just slower than I was aiming for. See attachment #1 for what it looked like (Summer 1536).

    Hojo (as usual) quickly started pummeling Uesugi and Takeda. Takeda happily accepts a ceasefire after taking Suruga and doesn't bother with Totomi. In this situation though, Uesugi does insist on attacking you (Mikawa or Totomi), that kept happening, even though he was spending what little garrisons he had left and should've used to hold off Hojo. Oh, well...

    Hojo seemed to pose more of a threat (would declare war on me earlier, I thought), and also I decided his lands would be a bigger benefit than Shimazu's. So I went with him. His only heir died on the first turn to the horde of ninja's I had produced. His Daimyo wouldn't cooperate, however, think I lost another 10 on him. By 1540 he did finally die, and I gained all of his lands (we had been allied since turn 3, and he had no other allies). See attachment #2 for the moment I assassinate Hojo (Autumn 1540).
    My income jumped to 13.000 right away, and after 2 more years, I controlled everything North-East of my original position. Game is pretty much over. The only opposition is Shimazu (Mori is alive but has 1 region only), he'll be a pushover. Already beat him a couple times in Tamba & Kawachi, my income is much higher, and there is no way he'll break through my garrisons since I my armies returned from conquering the North-East. See attachment #3 for the point where I called it quits (Winter 1543).
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    Last edited by Drisos; 10-07-2022 at 12:31.
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  14. #14
    Weird Organism Senior Member Drisos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

    Second one: Hold Kyushu and upgrade farms, forfeit Suruga, and a little later Totomi and Mikawa too. Use what troops you have to take and keep Owari+Ise+Iga. Ally Hojo, and either Mori or Shimazu (or both, if possible). And again, try to kill one and gain their lands.

    Owari was easy again. The Ise garrison was very small, and I kept the Bhuddist temple in there this time. I had pretty wacky armies, I spammed nothing but SA early on, later on nothing but YA (Owari) with a few WM's whenever I felt rich. See attachment #1 for the situation after my first few victories (Summer 1533).

    I still managed to expand in central Japan without much trouble (even though I had left 4 units in Kyushu at the start this time). Money-wise this was easier, so I'm guessing it the more reliable of the two strategies. I did start increasing my garrisons in Kyushu after a while, but I'm sure that only costed a small fraction of the income (100% Farms in all three, eventually ports too). This time I didn't finish Oda, but rather allied with him (I had 5 allies at some point). After he broke it to take MIkawa (which I had left empty --- it's awkward, these two regions just sat there empty for a long time, eventually lost Totomi to R&R after being on Very High Taxes for years on end), we allied again, and he functioned as a barrier to the clans in the east (mostly Takeda, in this case).

    I started with Hojo, again, but this time Takeda gained his lands. This was one of those rare times that these two weren't fighting, it might have something to do with my unusual opening. Rather than going for Takeda, I switched to Shimazu. His lands went to Uesugi. Finally, when I assassinated Moro Motonari (a lot harder! Honor 1 ninja's have 0% on a 5* Daimyo, so you can't just spam them), I hit the jackpot. See attachment #2 for the result! (Winter 1541). As you can see, the Takeda have started to eat away at my buffer.

    I played a bit more, and Takeda has killed Oda, I've wiped out Uesugi and Rebels in Kyushu and Shikoku. Uesugi survives in 5-6 lands in the North-East, but Takeda is much stronger. I've gotten my first win vs. him (conquered Mino). I think I set it to conquer 40/60, I might just run a few more big battles vs. him for the official win.

    PS: The difficulty of these openings will vary widely, what happens between Oda and R&R seems to work out differently every game. I've seen Ise with a small garrison and Iga completely empty, yet I've also seen Oda locked into Iga with a large garrison.
    It seems like Oda produces a port in Owari turn 1 most of the time (if not all of the time?), so I'd advise to either take Owari turn 2, or to wait until Summer 1531 to send in your army (it will complete before the battle occurs). You can check if he's building it with a ninja/emissary of course. I specifically mention it, because in the second scenario, you destroy your own Port in Totomi and abandon it, it's a big bonus to keep the connection to Kyushu.
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    Last edited by Drisos; 10-07-2022 at 12:35.
    - Chu - Gi - Makoto - Rei - Jin - Yu - Meiyo -

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