thoughts beating the united ronins

[Maltz]

In the new MI/WE 1530 campaign, even the 1550, the greatest challenge is not other clans anymore. It is the supposedly scattered, no-longer-pose-a-threat ronins.

So how about we start a discussion about how to beat these united, aggressive bastids. Allow me to make a simple start:

1) HUGE army approach.

Attack with a HUGE army, 2500:1000. The ronins will retreat! And guess what happens where there is a castle in the province. Ever seen 720 H3 monks starved to death in the Kaga castle, even the quality of our troops is far less advanced

2) Match the power long before the final battle.

The MI/WE AI loves abandoning the province. However, if we match up the number of attack troops with theirs (visualized from the unit bar height), then they will stay, and probably get slaughtered to < 20% left.

3) Ally.

The friendly ally will send an army helping our assault as long as we showed our sincerity by attacking with a good-enough army. But they tend to be idling if their army is bigger than ours. The ally will rush towards the enemy and got slaughtered fast, but the enemy will be divided chasing our incompetent mates out of the map.

4) Starve in the Castle

By attacking a ronin province with a castle, the defeated / retreated enemy will end up in there. The troops in adjacent province now have a higher chance of a united rescue. If we defeat them, many of them will end up in the castle, accelerating the fall of the horde.

5) (Archers & Horses) vs. Monks

For ronins of monks (Kaga, Ise & Yamashiro), it is good to bring a "weaker" army that is archer rich. The monks will actively come to us and shot down ruthlessly.

Chasing the initial fleeing monks out of the map by fast moving troops like horses. Don't move the archers and keep them in the original positions. When the massive, fresh enemy monks are about to appear, quickly draw back all chasing units to original slope. The enemy will come again, get butchered again. (Hopefully the arrow will be just enough to handle the second wave).

I guess this is one of the necessary change of tactics in adjustment to the new reinforcement pattern after patch. Yesterday I beat 1900 (2/3 of them monks) using 900. Killing 1200s, losing 300s.

[solypsist]

i've found it's sometimes easier just to buy them off, either whole or piecemeal, rather than fight them.
but a banner, if it's outnumbered, then retreat to a friendly province, bribe another ronin banner the next year until they're all gone or down to something manageable.