and I'm a map strategist and by no means a battlefield tactician.
3 battles is all it took. The defense of Chikugo, the defense of Hizen, and the counter-attack on Chikuzen.
Everything rides on the defense of Chikugo, since the Mongol AI will throw the majority of his troops there. And you must set your defenses up so the Mongol will only send in 960 troops. Why? because this random placements of reinforcements just plain bites.
The first couple of battles at the bridge I got my butt spanked. I could throw back the first assault of MLC and KS, but by the time the KG came across, it was goodnight VoodooChild.
So after a reload, I stacked my defense heavy with AX and SA. Sure enough the ranged itself threw back the sorties across the bridge. Each unit had panicked and ran away so many times, that one salvo for any of my range and they would flee again. But then came the reinforcements, and from every side. I was easily crushed from all sides.
So for my next try, I had to come up with a bridge garrison where the AI would only send in 16 units. The core of the group has to be 3 AX. These guys are great for a bridge defense. Lots of ammo, lots of moral impact, and can move out of the way quickly. I think for melee troops I had 3 YS, YA, @ YC.
The battle was simple enough even in the light rain. Set up the AX in an arc where the mouth of your side of the bridge is in their optimum range. When the first wave of KS form up on your side, send in the YA. The KS will rout, and the YA can charge into a MLC. Several units of MLC will be trying to get across the bridge, but your not going to allow that. send in a YS into the front of the enemy line, and bring in the other two from the sides. Eventually the Mongols will break.
After that its all downhill. The Mongols will reform and come back a unit or two at a time, but the AX will take a couple of shots at them and they will flee. After enough attempts they will give up and give you the victory.
The defense of Hizen was an odd battle. Both sides had lots of range, and only three units of melee. I had the upper hand since two of the Mongol units were KS which are worthless. I spent most of my time in the clump of trees exchanging range attacks. Every time the KG got into range I would target them with everything. After most of my YA were out of arrows, I did some encirclement maneuvers until the moral broke.
Originally the counter attack of Chikuzen was a feint to try and stop the reinforcements in Chikugo. But with even odds and still lots of retreating Mongols from my other two battles, I went ahead. Another quirky fight. I had lots of range and only 2 YS, YA, @ YC vs. lots of KG.
Figuring the Mongol to be aggressive even in defense, I just waited at the starting position. Sure enough a MLC came running up. I spent a long time exchanging range with this one unit.
After getting concerned with my ammo supply, I began encircling the MLC with a YS and YA. If you manage to get the YS behind the MLC, just charge the YA at the MLC. The MLC will start to back up right into the advancing YS.
The rest of the battle was just pouring all my range into the KG waiting in a clump of trees, while my melee unit began to encircle the rear unit. Once it panicked, it started a chain reaction with the other units. Soon after the Mongols were running for the sea. This time I had a fast unit so, I kept the chase on to prevent the Mongols from rallying.
Three epic battles, that when added up meant victory for the Hojo Hoard. Tomorrow, I'll try and repeat and refine my tactics, then its onto Hard. More later.
cheers,
-VoodooChild
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