Sengoku Jidai Campaign as Takeda: Starting move

[jskirwin@yahoo.com]

Hello
I've just completed a campaign as Shimazu and am now giving Takeda a crack... With Shimi I was able to consolidate my holdings quickly then expand on a limited number of fronts. With Takeda you start off with two separate areas - one in the Gifu/Nagoya area and the other in the mountains of Western Honshu.

I'm thinking that I should pull out of Western Honshu, giving up to Mori by pulling my troops out of the territory through the port then pillaging the port. This allows me to keep my gold mine, and attack Hojo immediately to my east without risking being too weak to be picked off by Uesugi.

How do people usually handling this start as Takeda?

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The Buddha is a gyoza. If you find the Buddha, eat him.

[ishikawa2]

James, I have had quite good success in consolidating my troops in Aki and keeping it. Even if left ungarrisoned, the other provinces around it may contribute "loyal samurai" rebellions when Mori takes them with small forces. Even if you choose to abandon the province once again, those new forces can be quite useful in building up your strength in the area. You can even feed troops to the east to help hold off Hojo.

The last time I tried this technique I actually had good success in building up an army in Aki capable of taking the whole area from Mori (... and taking Nagato from Shimazu before offering a cease-fire). Mori and Oda were at war and I wound up taking almost all of his territories before butting up against Oda coming the other way.

Off-topic: BTW, thanks for the tip on Ms. Rowland's books. I'm halfway through "Shinju" and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

cheers.

[jskirwin@yahoo.com]

In Expert mode Mori comes on strong. Can you really hold Aki? There's no dojo there. I'm wondering if it's best to hit Hojo while he's weak and consolidate towards the East, then eventually swing nortward to get Uesugi and move west. Maybe after playing Shimizu I'm still in the "strike fast-never rest" survival mode that you have to be in order to avoid getting "Hojo'ed".

I read Bundori first then Shinju - backwards I know but each book stands on its own. As I state in another post, I had given up reading fiction until my wife convinced me to read her. In Shinju her description of Yoshiwara is simply amazing, and I love the detail she gives regarding why there aren't many bridges and ox carts are banned (makes it harder to transport large amounts of arms).

I'll be looking for her 3rd book "The Way of the Traitor" this week.

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The Buddha is a gyoza. If you find the Buddha, eat him.

[ishikawa2]

I think I *may* have moved a unit or two from the east to Aki to help hang on until the dojos were turning out troops, but soon Aki was the premiere troop-generating province. With the revised quicker building times in WE, it didn't seem to take long. A few extra units from a "loyalist revolt" certainly helped, and I know it helped that Mori was also battling Oda.

[Hosakawa Tito]

I would also suggest abandoning Bingo and Bitchu in the first two seasons,and consolidate those forces in Aki.Build a spear dojo in Aki immediately so you can develop enough troops there to hold it against Mori.At the same time attack Hojo in Musashi the first season,you should be able to hold it.Imagawa and Uesugi usually are fighting over Shinano so you shouldn't have to worry about them immediately.Getting Mushashi in the first season will more than make up for losing Bingo and Bitchu.If you really feel daring try attacking Shimosa right after taking Musashi.You won't be able to hold it,but you can destroy Hojo's troop training dojo's and then immediately pull back to Musashi.Hojo will be on the ropes then,and he will fall behind in troop production,giving you time to consolidate in Musashi.With any luck you should be able to eliminate Hojo by the 3rd year.

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Diplomacy is the art of telling someone to go to hell so that they look forward to making the trip.

[Kiwi]

My way is very similar to the last post. In the west consolidate your troops back to AKI. You must keep this as it has the iron-sand so you can easily get an armoury. You also have a mine. This is a very important site to keep. It also p*****s off Mori no end if he has to keep troops surrounding you and face Oda.
Hit Musashi first turn and then go for Shimosa and kill the Daimyo (Hojo) next turn. It is pretty easy you just have to keep your taxes low. This has the added bonus of giving you a good chance of getting a few revolts when Mori takes Bitchu and the other one.
Once you have Musashi and Shimosa you can build up Musashi and your home base enough to keep Imagawa from attacking you from Shinano. He will if you are weak.
Then when you can hit Hitachi (iron sand and lots of Koku) and the rest of the game is easy. You become the horde

p.s. I keep the hell away from Shinano - even though as Takeda you get the bonus on cheap horses and Shinano is good for the bonus on horses - it is not worth the effort early in the game to try keeping it. Get rid of Hojo and Uesugi first.
p.s.s. Sorry about the spelling on the names - I do not have the game with me at work.
Just my two cents worth.

[This message has been edited by Kiwi (edited 09-11-2001).]