I never used Ashi except to fill in gaps.

Mid- to Late-Game, the key is upgraded Monks with good Cav. The key is quality regardless of cost. If you have a full stack of good quality troops you can win any battle, even if your enemy has five full stacks defending. Only the first stack ever gets a chance to fight, and with an edge in quality you will win even if you're a sucky general.

But the key is high quality in YOUR stack. Ashis may be cost effective, but they just don't cut it in absolute terms.

..

Generally, though, I think you guys could be very right. I never saw much in Ashis except as stop-gap, but I never really experimented. I did use alot of them as Oda.

DA