Best Shimazu Strategies? Tried the Board Game?

**Just A Girl** · 02-01-2006, 06:22

How do you guys manage to build gun factorys and geishas and stuff so easily and say there essential?

Ive always taken over the whole map before i can build any of those.

and ive never built a cathedral,
And i dont even build churches.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Any way I dont see why you need to buld a church or a gun factory.
Theres adequate money in the land without needing churches.
and if you play the game agressivley,
the game will be won before you manage to build a gun factory or geisha house.

**matteus the inbred** · 02-01-2006, 12:18

I like using ninja and spies, it adds flavour, and i miss the cutscenes too! after all, the AI certainly uses them, and there's nothing more annoying than having a campaign wrecked by a rampant high honour Geisha which you can't do anything about cos you haven't bothered to build any yourself.

How do you guys manage to build gun factorys and geishas and stuff so easily and say there essential?

The farming income you get from having conquered nearly half of Japan before you come face to face with a big eastern clan means you can easily tech up to these things if you get them going fairly early on. But i agree with Sasaki, a fast start with Shimazu is very possible as all the clans you face early on are weak and divided (Imagawa, Takeda) or at war with one another (Mori/Takeda, Oda with someone, usually Mori). Don't usually bother with guns, archers are good enough, and churches are a waste of money you could spend on better troops.

**Drisos** · 02-01-2006, 16:25

It must be about my style that I find the Shimazu campaign so hard - I'm very slow, and all of you tell me to go fast..

perhaps I should try again sometime.

**matteus the inbred** · 02-01-2006, 16:43

Originally Posted by Drisos

It must be about my style that I find the Shimazu campaign so hard - I'm very slow, and all of you tell me to go fast..

perhaps I should try again sometime.

nah, i think to just try and complete the campaign as fast as possible with no frills is missing out on the details and depth that make TW games so much fun...but that's (obviously) just my opinion. and yes, i have played campaigns where i've tried to get the victory conditions as fast as possible!

**Martok** · 02-02-2006, 07:57

Originally Posted by Drisos

It must be about my style that I find the Shimazu campaign so hard - I'm very slow, and all of you tell me to go fast..

perhaps I should try again sometime.

I think that's pretty much the same reason I've always had trouble with the Shimazu as well. I'm simply not the type to wage an immediate war of agression. I will "blitzkrieg" if I'm sufficiently provoked and/or threatened, but I almost never attack anyone right away. I guess the Shimazu simply aren't suited to my playing style very much.

**Drisos** · 02-02-2006, 15:55

Originally Posted by Martok

I think that's pretty much the same reason I've always had trouble with the Shimazu as well. I'm simply not the type to wage an immediate war of agression. I will "blitzkrieg" if I'm sufficiently provoked and/or threatened, but I almost never attack anyone right away. I guess the Shimazu simply aren't suited to my playing style very much.

OK there's at least one person who has the same... indeed Martok - Shimazu doesn't fit to my playing style... I bet you don't really like the Oda either?

**Martok** · 02-02-2006, 20:14

Originally Posted by Drisos

OK there's at least one person who has the same... indeed Martok - Shimazu doesn't fit to my playing style... I bet you don't really like the Oda either?

Actually, I kind of like the Oda. I don't play them as much as the Hojo, but they're still rather fun. They're in an interesting strategic position, being in the middle of Honshu. Unlike the Shimazu, however, you don't always have to start attacking everyone right away. Oda's lands are decent enough that if given the chance, you can develop them first and build up your clan before expanding. This is assuming, of course, that the other clans leave you alone for a little while--something a wise daimyo never counts on.

**Drisos** · 02-03-2006, 07:35

Originally Posted by Martok

Actually, I kind of like the Oda. I don't play them as much as the Hojo, but they're still rather fun. They're in an interesting strategic position, being in the middle of Honshu. Unlike the Shimazu, however, you don't always have to start attacking everyone right away. Oda's lands are decent enough that if given the chance, you can develop them first and build up your clan before expanding. This is assuming, of course, that the other clans leave you alone for a little while--something a wise daimyo never counts on.

Well personally I like developing my HQ a lot, so I can train elite troops... I thought you would dislike Oda for their ashigaru as you seem to like being slow and training strong units as well, but Oda has its positive point as well I see.

**Martok** · 02-03-2006, 22:27

Originally Posted by Drisos

Well personally I like developing my HQ a lot, so I can train elite troops... I thought you would dislike Oda for their ashigaru as you seem to like being slow and training strong units as well, but Oda has its positive point as well I see.

Well the Hojo are still my favorite clan, as I also like to build up first just like yourself. The Oda are actually pretty fun, however. They usually provide a good challenge, but without being overly-frustrating. Other clans like Shimazu and Mori are simply frustrating, at least for me.

**Drisos** · 02-04-2006, 21:43

Yeah Shimazu is a true pain for me playing at expert..

but lately I had a very enjoyable campaign with the Mori. (expert, sengoku jidai) was a lot of fun fighting with the red buddist guys and upgrading my daimyo both in rank and in honour way too much

ik guess I am more suited for Mori then shimazu, as the campaign went quite well.. don't know why though.

**phred** · 03-21-2006, 19:18

I always preferred the western clans over the eastern clans - I like having that nice, secure Kyushu as Shimazu and all those armory provinces as Mori. One problem with Mori and Shimazu is that you can secure the western provinces with fewer troops, but once you move east, your front changes from a two-three province front to a four-five province front, and I find I often don't have enough troops to properly cover my front.
That can make for some fun defensive battles, though.
Actually, some of my favorite Total War battles were defensive battles in STW where I was outnumbered because I stretched my forces too thin.

**Papewaio** · 05-04-2006, 08:57

Anchor your front at three provinces and then go deep with an expeditionary force with your best troops to go heir hunting. Go out in a loop of provinces and come back to your own provinces with your battered army, replenish and send them out again.

It's not about keeping provinces it is about destabilising your opponent to the point that he cannot attack you and keeping him like that long enough for your forces to change from holding a three province wide front to a four then a five. This way avoids being too static and losing valuable experience and it avoids an arms race where both you and your opponent are building up.

The Oda are great because of the way Samurai ignore Ashi running away. A two line army of Ashi spearmen followed by Samurai spearmen get all the benefits of morale and the Samurai step up if the Ashi run. The Samurai will at this point be fighting a worn down opponent and the Ashi get to run and fight another day. If you go the other way round the Samurai run, the Ashi run and both get run down at the same time. High honour Ashi make them worthwhile frontline troops as half the price as regular spearmen.

When on the attack I take one or two missile units, a couple of cav possibly only a heir and the rest spearmen. This is a force that is best moving forwards and can run down retreating enemies while being easily rebuilt in minimal upgraded provinces.

On defence I like to use Nags and missile units with a couple of spearmen in the back flanks to counter cav. That is when I sit tight and let my missile troops do the talking. A core of 6 or 8 gun units can sit all day until they run out of ammo.