Regarding the supply of heirs

[scheveningen]

Bit of a newbie question here but I cant find much info regarding 'heirs' and Shogun: Total War (Warlord Edition).


I'm playng Single Palyer as Shimazo at 'Normal' level. I make reasonable progress,
managing to surround the lake just south of the Wakasa area. However, I've taken a while to do
this and my initial stock of six heirs has dwindled to one, aged mid-forties. It doesn't look
like my Daimyo's going to be a daddy again any time soon, so, barring assassination or illness it
looks like I've got to conquer the remianing 20+ provinces at a rate of over one a year.
Again. So I'm going to lose again. Probably.

I've kept the daimyo and his heirs away from touch and go situations wher ethere might have been a
risk of being killed but I still run out. So I was wondering whether this situation can be avoided by
means other than attempting to blast through the game at top speed?

I read the heirs are produced totally randomly but they do seem to stop at apx. six.
Of the six, none of them seem to reproduce at all. If they do, they game doesnt tell
you and they dont count anyway which is a shame :-D

Are there are conditions in the game that can be created which will encourage your Daimyo
to breed? :-D Like moving him to a comfy Godlen Palace or something, out of harms way.

Or is it just a case of playing the game faster.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

The heirs arrive historically, but I believe the heirs of your heirs are random. Kill of your daimyo and your remaining heir should start to have sons. This late in the game watch out for geisha...

And yes a little faster could help the devs put things in the game to end it even though there is no time limit really.

[scheveningen]

The heirs arrive historically, but I believe the heirs of your heirs are random. Kill of your daimyo and your remaining heir should start to have sons.

Hmm...didnt think of getting my Daimyo to commit seppuku thanks for the tip

This late in the game watch out for geisha...

And yes a little faster could help the devs put things in the game to end it even though there is no time limit really.

Part of the reason for the lack of speed is I tried to build a couple of provinces up to being Geisha capable. Strong enenmies seem to churn them out pretty quickly so I thought I'd better be prepared. Net effect was, though, that my armies weren't as far along the tech trees so progress was a bit slow. And I'm cautious....being a newbie

Thanks again

[Ludens]

The STW Center provides a list with heirs of each faction, so I don't think it's random. You can find a link to the Center here: STW Center.

[SHONEN]

Don't Sweat It....here's You Solution.
Earlier In The Game, Keep Your Heirs As Units That Are... More Or Less... Non-combatants. Early In The Game And Depending On Your Clan I Would Suggest Archers. But Before This, It Is A Matter Of Being Attentive. Keep A Close Eye On Your Heirs Age, Know When They Are About To Turn 16. At That Point, Clear Off Your Training Ques In All Of Your Provinces (which Wont Be Much In The Earlier Stages) And Make Sure That The Only Unit Or Unit Type To Be Trained Is A Non...or Less Combatant One.
Heirs Are Often Your Most Skill Generals. They Come Out Of The Gates As Rank 2,3,4 Or Even 5 Generals And Thus, Are Very Useful Early On For holding Your territory. I Emphisize "holding" Your Territory Because In The Earlier Stages Of The Game You Should Not Be Trying To Expand... You Simply Havn't The Numbers. You Must Fallow The Teachings Of Sun Tzu In This Matter. You Do Not Attack Outright Unless You Have At Least Twice Your Enemies Force, Or A Equal But Vastly Upgraded Force. I.e, A Well Balanced Army Of Monks, Archers, And Cav With Legendary Armour And Weapons Against Ashigaru And Archers And Monks With No Upgrades.
Basically What I Am Saying Is That If You Heirs Are Not High Ranking Generals, Don't Even Put Them In An Army And Make Sure There Are Border Forts, Shinobi...or Some Kind Of Security Force In The Province They're In To Keep Them Safe. And If They Are High Ranking General Keep Them Out Of Battle, Build Well Rounded, Basic Forces To Protect The Lands You Have...and Upgrade The Ba-jesus Out Of The Heirs And The Daimyo's Armies And Then...when You Do Declare War On Your Neighbors, You Wont Be Worried About You Heirs In Battle.
Heirs Should Only Be Combatant Units When You Can Put Them On Fully Upgraded Heavy Cav.
With All Respect,
Shonen

[scheveningen]

Thanks for the tips/hints/pointers folks :D

"Excellent News!" - I've just won

Bit of a sweat because I had no heirs and there were c ouple of provinces (notably Hitachi) that were difficult to crack. My adverseries jus ran around in circles trying to tire my Ashigaru and Monks out.

Took my apx 100 years which isnt fast but was considerably faster than the last time before my daimyo died.

My (unskilled) approach was to get Geishas out there as quickly as possible while I worked my way through technology trees in a couple of strategic provinces relatively early on. Taking out generals and other daimyos led to clans effectively wiping each other out leaving the board with lots of groups of ronin.I could take out lots of provinces at this point as they were poorly defended and, in many cases not hugely advanced.

The down side to this approach seemss to be the time it takes though - bit of a risky business. I reckon my Daimyo must have been in his 80s by the time he became Shogun

Cheers

[Ludens]

I almost forgot: you can lose heirs be letting them fight in the same battle as your daimyo. I noticed this when I had my daimyo command a battle to defend Hitachi together with his heir, who was in command of a units of samurai archers. After the battle, my heir was gone, but none of the archers had suffered a casuality. It has been a while since I played STW though, so it may be this happened only in the unpatched version.

[shogunKatzumoto]

i mean i know the point is to win the game but stil.....
i would not feel like i upheld the honor of my samurai clan if no members of the clan were in the battle.i take a different approach to my heirs.i don't keep them hiden like cowards.i watch their age and when their time to come to age i produce my most offensive unit or if i am far enough along i kinda try to make them like their daddy...heavy calvary...or atleast calvary of some sort so if they do get in trouble they are quick enough to escape certain death.i do protect my daimyo untill i get an heir.and then i give my hier his own army to command and when the second heir comes i give him an army and then i build a kill squad of my most aggresive units and give them to my daimyo.then it's time for war
i send each "army" on a path with defensive units behind them and "blitz" build blitz bulid blitz and it makes for a quicker game the major problem i run in to is not having perfectures that are fully upgraded.i build a port as to make troop movement quicker to try to help this.
another thing that helps is to "flood" a place with shinobi and kill the rebels.
this technique helps when you want a place and you are allied with the one who owns it and you are not strong enough to take him head on.
ok kinda off track but i don't play too defensive."don't raise troops twice"
i make them and use them.
last thing: which would be more honorable?:
dying of disease......dying in battle upholding the honor of my clan....
i grab my swords and mount my horse knowing this is my last day.

[Togakure]

As clan leader, your first priority should be assuring the survival and growth of your clan. Being a good clan leader is a bit different from being a good swordsman, or tactical general.

When I play "seriously," I play as you do, Shonnen. I play it as a strategy game, not as a means of exercising my tactical skills via a series of AI-generated battles.

When I'm in the mood to focus solely on tactical excercises, then I play as you describe, Katsumoto.

Ultimately, it's just a game--so have fun.

[shogunKatzumoto]

i've read two very good points by TogakureOjonin today.

...(i do spell it with a "Z")....