Help need strategy tips.

[jomni]

Im playing Takeda in SP and I control only the southern island and the unproductive southern tip of the mainland. There's only one enemy clan left (Uesugi) and of course he doesn't want to make peace. He has guns and I don't have since I'm not christian. I tried converting but all my provinces revolted so I opt not to do it again. I don't think the dutch will arrive soon because I'm playing the earliest campaign.

Any suggestions on how to win the game? I just hope he attacks me and I kill his daimyo and he has no heirs so they all become ronin. = )

Will ninja and shinobi help? Or should I still concentrate on building up my defense?

[BSM_Skkzarg]

Hmmmm.. sounds like you have gotten yourself into a pickle! For now, concentrate on defense - however u do want to try and take the northernmost province off of ?Kyusho? - should be Nagato if memory serves - it is the most northwestern province that has an Iron Sand deposit. U need that to be able to produce the quality troops you are going to need to beat back Vesugi.

Hold that province - preferably with archers and spears - and conduct a minor offensive into the southern island - taking the 4 provinces there. That will give you a defensive line of only 3 provinces - and at this point you need all the choke points you can get to maximize the effectiveness of your limited men.

Now - you should have a shinobi in every province - they are not expensive and well worth the cost. Create and extra one - and try to build a balanced army as large as feasible. If possible - upgrade it at your armory if you have the time. Move it into a province - and create another, small defensive army. Post it with your prepared "offensive" army. Now - build a port in that province - and send the spare shinobi (or emissary if you want to use that) thru to a far western port. The next turn - send the army thru the port and conduct a port invasion if the enemy has a poorly defended province. Usually the AI does not guard well against port invasions. However, your army needs to be balanced as it will NOT take long before the AI counterattacks. Don't worry about holding the port province - just pillage the province for all you can - ie - tear down every building for money. This will help your finances greatly (u can get 5k koku per season depending on the enemy infrastructure). Use that to create new armies - while running your first group around doing as much damage as possible. Avoid fights when you can - instead invading the easiest provinces if need be. Remain vigilant in your defense from before - and concentrate on raiding. If the AI was particularly engaged with you to start, you can even split that first army into 2 or even 3 pieces and really spread out like fire. Don't stay still at first - just run and pillage like a Demon from the Abyss. Once your finances are healthier from all that, send in a couple of stout armies, one for defense - one for offense. Use the offensive one to take Shinano, and use the defensive one to hold it! The offensive army sometimes must be used to bolster the defense of Shinano as it is often THE most contested province. If you can hold it, take the river north and south of it. At that point, take Dewa and Sado, making Sado your other defensive choke point. Once you do this - hold the line and slowly take the east away from the enemy. U can launch raids as needed to fund the operation and slow the AI's troop building rate. Once you have conquered the East, you will have Vesugi sandwiched between YOUR forces, and you will have a greater income per year than he does. Remember during the gaining of ground to always place a couple of shinobi in each province to insure their loyalty. I personally strive for 2 shinobi and a border fort in every single province, as this gives me GREAT security from uprisings, spies and ninjas.

The hard part is survival right now. If you can manage that - then you have hope.
Depending on your difficulty level and the options chosen, if you have limited ammo then use lots of arrows and spears (or naginata when they become available) for defense. If you have unlimited ammo, 5 archers are sufficient for ANY defense except when facing hordes of heavy or naginata cav. In your conquest of the East, you may luck out and capture a trading post - if so - use it!
Qapla!

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BSM_Skkzarg
"A mind is a terrible thing to taste."

[solypsist]

while I advocate the Port Invasion tactic, you may find many people consider it cheating, and no more sportsmanlike than simply using the money cheat.

but BSM's tips look like good ones. Incidentally, Uesugi tends to *really* like archers, so if your Uesugi is the same as mine, then I recommend you invest in a lot of horse dojos and create unbalanced all-horse armies to combat his unbalanced all-archer armies that you will inevitably run into. One all-horse army should be able to wipe out three to four all-archer armies before it's depleted to a few units.

[Gothmog]

Agreed.

Actually there are ways to break through the enemy front lines without resorting to port attack. And it brings more fun and satisfaction.

Note that with a full banner of well-balanced army and a rank 6 general, there is no such a thing called un-crackable nut. And there are some neat trick/tactics when assaulting. Here are a couple:

1) if your offensive army's size is less than that of the enemies (say 14-16 when there are more than a full banner of defenders sitting in the province), the defending enemy might even be stupid enough to to attack your invading force on the battle field.

2) When you attack and find that the numbers are not in your favor, you can simply call off the attack, and this would neither register as a defeat on your general's record, nor would register as a victory on the enemy general's record.
(On the other hand, if the AI attacks you and call off the attack, it's considered a win for you).
You can feint attacks this way.

There were a couple of times I took the heavily guarded Shinano this way. Once I kept feinting attack to Shinano and calling off, until once the Hojo emptied the province to launch an all-out attack on Takeda. Hojos never made their way back

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Once you have penetrated the weak spot of AI's front line, you can use the tips BSM mentioned to raze behind the enemy line, all the way till you reach a port province. At that time, you can either choose to sail back home, or ship in reinforcement so that you can hold that province, forcing the AI to fight a two-front war.

[This message has been edited by Gothmog (edited 10-18-2001).]

[BakaGaijin]

Ah, the old "attack and cancel" method. It works very well against the AI. Often, they'll draw troops away from other provinces to guard the one you're feinting an attack towards. If you're REALLY lucky, the enemy might try to attack the province from which you're launching. This probably happens most often when you move all of your forces out. The enemy thinks he's getting a free province, but then you cancel your attack and decide to stay... OOPS! Of course, this technique *MAY* backfire and the province could be attacked and occupied without a fight even if you call off your attack. For that reason, it's best to use this method only if the targetted province borders a friendly province other than the one from which the attack is being launched.

I usually employ this method against Musashi when playing as Takeda. The bridge is too difficult to take without heavy losses, so I make false attacks with all of the entire garrison of Sagami, hoping to draw Hojo out from behind his defensive wall. Another good way to accomplish the same thing is to draw all but one unit back to Izu, then wait for the enemy to attack Sagami. Retreat into the castle, then move the Izu army back to break the siege! I'm sure you can find some place on your front with Uesugi where a similar tactic can work.

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Disappear into the Darkness!!

[jomni]

thanks for the tip guys, I guess I'll try the port attack trick and wreak havoc behind his lines.

[Vanya]

A strategy taken from the headlines might be just what the doctor ordered for ya...

Just sit tight and pray to Buddha. Reassure your men, who lack the will and courage to fight on, have been beaten to a pulp by a superior enemy, whose weapons have been broken and rendered useless, and whose homes have been pillaged or burned to the ground that Buddha will drive the infidel invaders from your lands. Tell them there is no buddha but Buddha, and your local warrior monk is his prophet. Incite them into a religious frenzy and brainwash them into thinking that dying for Buddha is the duty of every devout buddhist, and that the reward for your earthly sacrifice will be Nirvana, where you will never have to worry about reincarnating as a rat or a cow or a chicken and you will be teased by the women of paradise (to which Buddha will inevitably say will lead to suffering, so "you can look... but not touch. You can touch... but not taste." LOL Buddha will claim to be a 'humanist'...). Do this, and no invader will be victorious in your lands. Your armies will sweep over the land and plunder the riches of the infidel hordes. And those fortunate enough to die in battle for Buddha will become martyrs in this holy war of yours. Do this, and victory is assured -- in this life or in the thereafter.

May Buddha's compassion go with you.

[jomni]

I won the campaign. Uesugi attacked me and I killed his daimiyo. No heirs so they all become ronin. I won!!!