Here's the situation: I had Lord Shimazu surrounded; he was holed up in a fortress with only 250 guys, but I had taken the province and had like 10,000 guys crammed into that province. The program kept saying he'd last "for a couple of years." Well, I was forced to storm the castle, since time was of the essence (his heirless daimyo was in there, and if I wiped out those troops, his clan would be gone, but he had a son that was 14 and would mature in two years).

So every turn I dumped all my troops onto the fortress to "end siege." The problem was that this province (Shinano) bordered on other provinces in which Shimazu had a few troops here and there. So every turn he would send in a 200-300 guys against my 10,000. Then, the program would say "Lord Shimazu has decided he cannot win the battle and is retreating," referring, presumably, to the issue of his 200 guys challenging my 10,000.

Unfortunately, when the program cancels the battle under such circumstances, it seems to "forget" that you ordered the castle stormed in the first place. His "retreat" apparently cancels ANY battle in that province for that turn. As a result, I could NEVER storm the castle.

In this particular case, although I ordered the castle stormed on every single turn, TWO YEARS went by like this with me getting nowhere, and his heir eventually came of age, thus cheating me of my fair chance for a quick victory.

I guess my question is: has anybody else experienced this, and if so do you know how to get around it?

Because now I'm thinking this is a good strategy thing to know: if you have guys surrounded in (at least) a fortress, keep invading the province with 60 guys. When it comes time for battle, click on "call off the attack." Due to a programming oversight (?), your opponent will be unable to EVER storm the castle and will have no option other than wearing you down.



[This message has been edited by Darth Wart (edited 12-15-2000).]