\"Hard\" setting - problems

[Grymwish]

I can beat the game fairly easily now in "normal" difficulty mode. I have a fairly major problem with the campaign mode set to "hard" however. I am playing the Mori clan. I can sustain a fairly long existence, but after a certain time (usually when I am completing my second or third buddhist temple), the Hojo clan appears on my doorstep with 10,000 men. Elimination follows. This has now happened four times. No matter what I do, this always seems to occur. Any suggestions/advice?

[The Black Ship]

This is the Hojo horde everyone talks about

Here is a quick run-down of "how to beat the horde":

First of all I'm assuming you know to build up your economic infrastructure, with Mori it's mines and ports, then...
1) Anticipate the horde, build forces with it in mind. On hard and expert level a horde will appear every game. Safety in numbers. Keep your front as small as possible, and anchoring your defence with a river province never hurts either
2) Don't be intimidated by it's size, the AI can only bring 16-units at a time at you. Rout the AI and remain close to where his reinforcements enter the map so they turn tail at the sight of you

OK that's all an "ironman rules" player would allow you to do But for the rest of us mortals there are a few shortcuts

3) Drop an assault force behind the AIs front, to destroy his infrastructure and gain you some of those sweet Eastern provinces. Use the port-to-port method (God I can hear some of you guys cringeing).
4) Kill off his heirs and daimyo with strategic units- ninjas and geishas. The map will go Ronin, but hey it's a liitle better than the rampaging AI.

God I feel so dirty

[solypsist]

oh yeah. the advantages the AI has over a human player have been listed on this forum's previous incarnation several heated times.
the most important one, though, is this one: the AI is able to deficit spend, which means that it continues to build after running out of koku, while you of course must wait until you have a positive number in your bank account.
so in Hard mode, not only do you get less starting money, but your opponents are better developed (large castles, better dojos, etc.) and will never fall behind on their bills.

[Grymwish]

Sheesh. You mean I actually have to be challenged by strategic considerations now?!

Thanks for the tips. Hopefully I will be able to beat the horde!!!

[solypsist]

I play the campaign in Expert mode, which is a real b----. Here's what I can advise:

1. play well. The fact is no matter how many men Hojo has on your doorstep, there can only be a maximum of 16 units on the field of battle. Make sure you rout these units early. The alternative is to try and outmaneuver the enemy until the time is up (if you play without a timer, you shouldn't be playing on difficult mode).
2. if desperate, use the port attack tactic. Some people still think this is cheating, but I've seen the AI use it (not for invasions, but so what) so I think it is a valid move.
3. fall back to a river province if you dont think your defenses are up to snuff. once again, the clock can make a difference in holding your land against an invasion.
4. if you can hold on or a few years, you should have time to build a geisha house. Then it's just a matter of picking off the daimyo and heirs, until all you've got is a bunch of ronin to deal with. These ronin will still probably have good experience and healthy provinces/army, so they game isn't necessarily an instant win for you.
5. oh yeah. make sure you have the latest patch(es). apparently one of them evens out the Hojo problem.

duh. i just noticed this is pretty much the exact same info B.S. advised (i should read his posts before replying next time). great minds think alike, i guess....



[This message has been edited by solypsist (edited 11-07-2000).]

[The Black Ship]

That OK soly,

I have two daughters...they don't listen to me either

One further piece of advice, if you can: upgrade economic infrastructure first, weapons/honour second. You'll need the koku.

[Grymwish]

I presume the "port attack technique" being referred to simply means using one of your ports to transfer a lot of units into a battle?

[solypsist]

port attack means moving your troops from your port into an enemy port (preferably far behind the front lines).

[JoBeare]

Build one temple and tech it up as far as you can before building the second one. The second or third temple are of little use, since Mori can't afford to produce 8 or 12 monk units in year.

Try using some YA's with your monks. They are a lot cheaper and as quick as your monks. A famous spear dojo and palace in Tosa can kick out +2 honor YA with decent morale.

[solypsist]

I've been having fun lately using ashigaru armies, mostly. Eventually I can afford to add two or three monk units and such, but the backbone has tended to be ashigaru.
By fun I mean a challenging game, and it's gotten pretty close in some fights...