Mongol Invasion Campaign

[Drisos]

Drisos Mongol Campaign: Part 2

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Turn 21 - Turn 40

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Turn #21:

Yeah! Some action at last. They attack Iwami. 870 vs. 2535. Should be winnable though.

My deploy:
first line thunderbombers and skirmishers
second line korean melee inf
third line mongolian light cavalry

heavy cavalry on the flanks.



Looking good on the hill.

...


They close in until my light cavalry start firing. Sadly they didn't come close enough to let my korean ranged units take a shot.. aw well. After some engagements on the flanks with my heavy cav, his leftover army is a chaos, and there's not much to stop my cavalry. So, I rush in my light cavalry. Now all of his 1st wave is routing. Chasing them down now. I might retreat my Heavy Cav to keep them from tiring too much. There'll be 2 more waves maybe.



Luckily, their reinforements are a mess. One-by-one slaughter instead of a second wave. Tried to take a screen of thunderbombers firing on some... kinda missed.



Trying to keep my army together. I'm losing way too much this battle. Expensive losses! A unit of CA routed through my thunderbombers, leaving only 9 alive. I lost lots of HC agains the first wave. And CA and other ranged are going to take some kills in the last stage of battle probably.

Here I just sent a unit of HC to kill another of those lonely reinforcement units..



...

Still destroying units one by one... here my thunderbombers take a good shot at a unit of YS. This screen was timed better.



...

Victory at last! I had a comp crash two days ago, had to reinstall STW. Because of that, time limit was on. (Btw, another thing, I forget to patch to 1.02. Now I have cavalry units with over 48 men. I'm afraid that might cause trouble if I went back to 1.02. So I'll finish this campaign on v1.0.)They ran out of time. I killed pretty much all of their army though. Should give me some space in the West for now.

Results:


Attacking Aki now, with 2 Light and 2 Heavy Cavalry. I hope they don't invade Iwami this turn too, that would make things problematic. Main goal is to destroy the port and gain the money from that. I'm not sure If I'll hold on to Aki for now. Will have to keep looking at loyalty.

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Turn #22:

Wow! This attack on Aki had surprisingly cool effect! Their Daimyo moved into Aki, making the battle 240 vs. 313. I must say that my cavalry was devastating in this battle! The Hojo moved to my deploy on a small hill (while they were defending!), I started firing. The only units that approached were a YS unit and a YA unit. His daimyo and ranged units stayed behind. I attack both Yari units from front and rear the same time, after some movement. Both rout, and his Hamamoto moves in. I managed to do the same to that one. The die surprisingly soon, including Mr. Hojo himself. The leftover Ashigaru Crossbowmen are an easy prey for my cavalry... I even manage to kill most of their CA unit with my light cavalry. Killed 303, lost 23. This conquer gave me a nice amount of koku too. Going well, I'd say.

So, their Daimyo is killed. I wonder, how much heirs does he have? And most of all, where is Takazaki Suenaga? He was in western Honshu before the attack on Iwami. I recall that I killed the attacking general in Iwami, but I'm not sure if it was him. I don't see him anywhere now, so good chance that it was him. So, killed their two best generals + two family members in two turns. Not to mention the severe losses they took!

Btw, looking at the map, it's quite impossible that Suenaga is still alive. Because, their armies have 1 star or less generals. Formerly he could've been in the same army with his Daimyo which would've caused him to be invisible, but the Daimyo's army is now trapped in the Aki castle.

I'm surrendering Aki for now. If I place a large enough army there to maintain loyalty, the Hojo army in Bingo can outnumber me, by attacking in Iwami or Aki. They won't get new units by revolt anyway, because they have men left in the castle, and the region will be theirs again, by default.

Plans... wait for reinforcements, lower the garrisons in Kyushu to 60 men and invade Shikuko.

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Turn #23:

Hojo indeed have Aki back. Minor glitch: their forces in Aki are shown as an 'attacking army', while they're just standing in their own region. Weird.

Still on 2-3-unit loyalty-keeping armies in Kyushu. It's increasing slightly though.

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Turn #24:

Again, nothing is happening. Got some bad news, a child of Hojo has come of age and is now one of his generals. Though, it said, that's his only heir. So there's only two family members left. Conquering Japan from the rebels will be easier than defeating the Hojo, so I hope that their family members come to fight at the front.

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Turn #25:

I'm going to give it a try: 1 unit of Korean Spearmen in the Kyushu regions. All regions were 'Green' so I thought it could be done now.

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Turn #26:

Going fine. All is green still.

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Turn #27:

All going fine still. 120 men in Satsuma and Osumi. The rest of the regions 60 men. Bungo has quite an army.

Scaring: Their army in Suo has grown a lot after some troop movements. I'm afraid they might attack Nagato. That would be horrible. It would cut off Iwami. I don't dare to move troops from Iwami into Nagato either. That would make my army too small there.

Turn #28:

Attacking Iyo with my army from Bungo. The Hojo in Suo haven't moved still.

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Turn #29:

Ha! Very good news!! Reinforcements in Wakasa. And not just a few, full stack!

Battle in Iyo: 528 vs. 540.

I attack on a Sunny day.
Gah. They're making it too easy. Their army is mainly Ashigaru crossbowmen. 2 units of CA and one YC unit. Only need my cavalry, frontal charge on their cuddled-up ranged units, and I attack his gen. YC unit in the rear. All routs after a short fight, and I kill nearly all. 528 kills, 49 losses.

Moving some Korean Spearmen into Iyo to keep loyalty, and attacking Tosa now.

In Central Japan, I take about half of my new army from Wakasa to attack Yamashiro. Will give a lot of money if I conquer that. + Fewer troop training abilities for my enemy.

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Turn #30:

There was no one in Yamashiro to defend, and in Tosa they gave up. This gave me lots of money! So, there'll come loads of reinforcements?

Moving more men from Kyushu towards Shikoku, I should be able to keep loyalty there as well.

Still concerned about Nagato indeed, Martok. Yet, I don't know a good alternative to just wait and see what happens. I hope that if they attack they don't bring their entire army, and I might be able to get another miracle victory. (Those Mongol Cavalry seem to beat anything, lol )

In central Japan I'm not conquering other regions, at least for now. Conquering more would mean more regions to defend, if they move in some troops. And there's no 'important' regions neighbouring Wakasa or Yamashiro, I guess.

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Turn #31:

Nothing happens...

Turn #32:

Loyalty in Kyushu is over 150% everywhere it seems. I think it's safe now. Moving my armies towards Honshu and Shikoku now. (that'll help the Suo-Nagato situation )

Moving some troops into Iyo, my Iyo army into Tosa, and attacking Awa with my army from Tosa.

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Turn #33:

They give up in Awa.
Loyalty in Kyushu is staying perfectly fine.
And my army in Nagato has grown. I don't think it'll be easy to conquer anymore.

Turn #34:

Kyushu is now cleared of all armies. Because of that, I have quite some troops in Shikoku. Moving some korean inf. into Awa, and attacking Sanuki with my 'elite army'.

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Turn #35:

They give up in Sanuki. Conquered Shikoku in very few time, and loyalty is 'Green' as you can you see. Seems like the campaign's progress is going lots faster now. I still don't dare to move my Iwami army though.
I'm now thinking of invading Iga. They have a castle there and at least 1 dojo, because they're training troops. I don't want to devide my 'Central-Japan-Army' into too small parts, but they don't seem to bring in reinforcements anyway.

Turn #36:

Nothing happens, except for:
Attacking Iga now:

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Turn #37:

Wicked! Reinforcements in Noto and Dewa. In Dewa a 180-men Rebel army decides to defend. Hopeless. I have 240 Heavy Cavalry, and easily defeat the with a simple frontal charge. Lost only 1, killed 178. Dewa's mine.
In Noto it's only thunderbombers and 'Korean Naginata'. Too few to keep loyalty high enough. So, I have them all move to Sado, and send in some reinforcements from Dewa. Sado has no army, but I just want to have enough men to keep up the loyalty. So, I'll have Dewa and Sado in the north, Wakasa, Yamashiro in Central Japan, and the entire islands Kyushu and Shikoku.

Iga loyalty is questionable. However, revolts are unlikely. I hope the Hojo/Rebels attack Noto, btw. Otherwise revolts will give Hojo more troops.

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Turn #38:

Loyalties in Shikoku are high enough... I'm lowering armies from 180 men to 120 men. Attacking Bizen with my 'elite army' now.

As you can see, Noto is still mine. Though loyalty is below 50%, no revolt yet. Probably next turn.
Iga, Sado and Dewa are all 'yellow'.

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Turn #39:

They gave up on Bizen.
Still no revolt in Noto. For a moment I considered moving in some troops to ensure loyalty. But that might bring Sado/Dewa in danger. Best not try.
No further movements/events.

Turn #40:

Iga, Sado and Dewa are 'Green' now. The Hojo attacked Noto so I actually lost it without revolt. Good.
No further movements/events.

[Drisos]

Drisos Mongol Campaign: Part 3

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Turn 41 - Turn 60

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Turn #41:

More good news, more reinforcements arrived in Chikuezen en Hizen.

Wow! Their second big attack on Iwami! Quite similar to the last one: 720 vs. 2140. Let's hope my best is good enough, once again.

My deploy, roughly similar to the first big battle in Iwami:



...

They move to my flank, instead of attacking from the front. I rotate to keep facing them. So, we're about to engage here:



...

On the right flank I used 3 units of HC to sandwich a unit of YC and a unit of CA. Here, the YC are already routing. The CA will soon follow. But enemy YS are closing in. I will have to hurry. Even worse, I may be too late to avoid engagement already.



...

Gah, I wasn't paying attention. Got caught on the right flank anyway. However, their YS are routing now, and the rest of his army is exposed to my 3 units of HC. Hehe.

Left flank, a unit of YC closed in. I caught them with a unit of 'Korean Naginata'(Someone please tell me the correct name for those! ) and attacked them in the rear with a unit of HC. They rout. Here too, YS are engaging. I rush in a unit of Light Cavalry to finish them soon. Don't want to take too much cavalry losses.



Feeling like a great charge now would rout all remaining enemies. They won't get within shooting range of my Skirmishers anymore anyway.

...

Some of his ranged units already started to rout.. time for a mass charge:



...

Soon enough, their entire army routs. Soon later, most of them are killed. More good news: I trap the Hojo Daimyo, and he also is killed in battle.

Chasing the last infantry down with some HC:



...

Totally destroyed 1st wave. I'm regrouping on the same hill, while Hojo reinforcements appear on the edges of the map.



...

Their reinforcements are simply slaughtered one by one. Too bad though, time runs out before I can slaughter most. Still got a lot of kills though:



Ah. This gives my some breath in the West.

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Turn #42:

His last family memeber appears to be in Harima.
No really important/exciting events/movements.

Turn #43:

I decrease the army size in the Shikoku Regions, move some infantry into Buzen, and attack Mimasaka with the army from Buzen. Mimasaka has a large castle and at least a few dojo's. (The Hojo starts with that.) It'll be a nice and easy target.

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Turn #44:

A Ninja makes an attempt on my rank1 general in Dewa. Failed.
The Hojo give up on Mimasaka. Another 1K+ Koku for me.

Their armies in the north and centre are increasing. (Echigo, Noto, Omi, Mino, etc) I hope they don't grow large enough to attack before I can get some reinforcements to back my armies up.

Turn #45:

No really important/exciting events/movements at all.

Turn #46:

No really important/exciting events/movements at all.

Turn #47:

Intresting. Another Ninja appeared in Dewa. This time succes, my general was murderder. But weird is: I got the movie for an ordinary general being killed in a field camp. (You're supposed to get a movie with a mongolian field camp where the ninja kills the general that's sleeping in a chair?)

Furthermore, no intresting events/movements...

Turn #48:

No really important/exciting events/movements at all.
The Hojo's armies are growing and growing while I keep waiting for those blasted reinforcements..

Turn #49:

Gathering my Shikoku troops(korean infantry) for an attack on Awaji.
Furthermore.. nothing intresting.

Turn #50:

About time for some action. Invading Harima and Awaji now.

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Turn #51:

They give up in both regions.
Time for more action. Attacking Suo from Iwami, with my entire army.

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Turn #52:

Suo: 781 vs. 1045.
Light Rain.

Got my army into order and moved forward. Both armies on a hill now, neither dares to move, I guess.



He's moving forward 1 unit of SA. Weird. I'll be able to destroy it with some cav if it keeps closing in. On my right flank there's also a 1-man unit of Cavalry. that one might be useful in messing up their situation/position/formation.

...

Killed that unit. Yet, I lay under heavy fire. Killed 1 unit of SA, lost 9 cavalry. I'm not sure if that's a good deal.

He's moving more archers forward now. Might go for a charge with my light cavalry this time.



...

As said, I used the light cavalry this time. Couldn't chase those archers down to the last man, as his YS were close behind. I'm rushing back. Battle will be easy when the enemy has no ranged.



...

Their yari's went after my cavalry, soon to be shot down. My skirmishers got in a few shots as well.

The rest of their army seems to be retreating. Time for a charge.



...

Gah! Timing wasn't good. Lost too many in short engagement. Winning battle though.



...

After a lucrative chase, battle was over. No sign of their reinforcements. Victory.



So, the rest of them is trapped in the castle and will die soon. Severe blom to their troop amount in Southern Honshu.
Looks like the ball is rolling now... attacking Aki this turn:

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Turn #53:

They didn't give up on Aki. Some reinforcements showed up by the port(they had rebuilt it), and it was about 360 vs. 330. Easy though. I had only cavalry. Enemy was hiding in a forest, yet, moving my units in and out of their range, the SA come out and I could engage them outside of the forest. Then, the rest of his army came to attack me, but the cavalry was too fast. Their main position was 'sandwiched' and soon routed. The rest routed along pretty soon. Killed 280, lost 28.

No further movements/events.

Turn #54:

Gah! All of a sudden, Awa, Iyo, and Satsuma have turned yellow. Seems unlikely that this is the work of Shinobi, since I have no ports in Kyushu. (I don't have any ports, of course) And the surrounding regions aren't affected. I should keep an eye on this. Moving 60 men into Awa for now.

Attacking, Bingo, btw. The men in the Suo castle are already dead.

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Turn #55:

It may be a shinobi after all. Now Bungo turned yellow. Iyo and Awa are back Green.

In Bingo, another small fight. However, they retreat at the start of battle. My cav get in there fast enough to chase some down, however, they also take a few losses. killed 128, lost 8. Good news though, the general is now 4 star. I have a Light Cavalry unit with honour 6 now.

Btw, where are all those reinforcements I should get? I've been conquering and earning money a lot lately...

Turn #56:

Gah, another death in the north. Now my general in Sado was killed. He was 0 star anyway.. but annoying still.

More attacks... Now invading Bitchu and Kawachi.

Turn #57:

W00t. Reinforcements. Few though. I don't understand one bit of this system.

First battle, Hoki, 120 (reinforcements) vs. 120 Hojo.
Easy. They only have AC. I simply charge with my 60 light cavalry. killed 113, lost 14.

Second battle, Bitchu. Another very easy one. They have ranged only.. I simply cross the bridge and engage. Killed 215, lost 4.

The Hojo attacked Bizen... and I had nothing there. Lost the region. I should take it back right away to prevent them from walking into Shikoku. Btw, I abandoned it because I thought Bitchu was begin conquered, so there were no neighbouring Hojo regions anymore.

Third battle, Inaba. 100 (reinforcements) vs. 114 Hojo.
Once again, AC only. One unit of HC does the job. Killed 93, lost 7.

Fourth battle, Kawachi. 300 vs. 271. May be hard.
First I try the 'bait' trick with a unit of korean infantry. Yet, his YS don't come to chase me away. The ranged fire does so instead. gah. Then I simply crossed the bridge with my cav. Easy win, but their YS killed quite some. Killed 240, lost 53.

Fifth battle, Wakasa. They're attacking from Mino and Omi. 200 vs. 600.
Damn, this will be hard. Koreans only. 1 unit of all four kinds. May be intresting. I pick a minor hill far away from their deploy area... they'll be tired when they get here.
Gah. Too many AC. I managed to destroy a unit of YC and a unit of YS. (love the thunderbombers. ) But then I was almost surrounded by AC. In attempt to pull off a mass rout on them I actually pulled a mass rout on myself, lol. Good kills ratio still though, 125 vs. 53.
So, my forces retreat to Yamashiro. I should be able to hold on to that, now.

Furthermore, I'm moving 60 men into Sanuki from Awaji, to block the Hojo in Bizen. And I'm attacking them with 120 Light Cavalry from Bitchu. Moving some troops around in an attempt to keep loyalty everywhere. (Inaba and Hoki are red now)

See for yourself

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Turn #58:

Bizen was easy, of course. Killed 82, lost 10.

Hard to keep all regions happy. I hope I won't get any revolts...

Turn #59:

Can't say that I'm satisfied with the way things are going. Conquering a lot, but barely have enough men to keep the loyalty up. I haven't had any proper reinforcements in ages.
Can't do more right now than keep armies moving to the right places to prevent revolts or attacks from Hojo... it's hard though.

Turn #60:

Things start looking better. No red anymore. Any help at all from Mongolia would be appreciated though.

Btw, the Rebels and Hojo are in a tough war in the North! Seems like the Rebels are causing them serious trouble, and probably they're really decreasing their income this way. Rebels control Echigo and Mutsu now, and as far as I can know, I think they have at least Kozuke and Hitachi as well.

[Drisos]

Drisos Mongol Campaign: Part 4

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Turn 61 - Turn 80

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Turn #61:

Good news and bad news. Finally some reinforcements. Not as much as would be logic. (I got more with less conquered money earlier in the game... weird) But, still good news. They arrived in Inaba.

Bad news... they're attacking Yamashiro. I should've known. Well, I'll make the best of it. it's 360 vs. 681. Not even 2 to 1... should be doable. Hehe.

Wow. Went well. Shot down their 2 units of YS with my skirmishers, and then created a mass rout of hundreds of AC with only three units of light cavalry. Chased down almost all. Killed 675, lost 23.

Weird. Almost all of Kyushu and Shikoku turned yellow now. I'm rushing in some Korean Spear Infantry.

While my lands in Honshu were suddenly green... loyalty is shifting back and forth...

Ahem. On the attack, once again. Izumo, Tajima and Tamba all in the same turn.

Turn #62:

First battle: Izumo - 420 vs. 301.
Easy one. They have ranged inf and YC only. My HC charges in and routes most of their ranged. They YC manage to get a few kills with a good flanking move, yet they're soon overrun. (I actually used korean spear infantry in this battle! I rarely do. )
Killed 279, lost 14.

Second battle: Tajima - 420 vs. 420.
Gah. Took too many losses, my own fault. My growing arrogance is causing problems. I thought some YS in the forest would rout when I'd attack them from all sides, but no. They killed quite a lot. I made it up though by killing them to the last man. Killed 420, lost 60.

There was no army in Tamba, so, that's mine too.

Unfortunately, the Hojo Daimyo fled into Wakasa. He must have foreseen this.

Hehe. I'm going to use all those Korean Spear Infantry to get 60 men in all regions I conquered so far. I wonder if I even had enough of those. Well, if I even get close, I can move them around now and then, I'll get more insurance that the lands I leave behind will stay mine...

Attacking Wakasa now... let's keep pressure on the Hojo.

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Turn #63:

They give up on Wakasa.
Moving around a lot to keep loyalty... but no important events...

Turn #64:

Loyalty in Kyushu is really becoming threatening. I don't understand. What could trigger this? It was perfectly fine for a while, then starting decreasing again?

Nothing interesting happening, btw...

Turn #65:

In Kyushu regions are yellow even with 60 men in each region. Frustrating.

Also, some more reinforcements would be nice.

I can't do anything but move around and prevent revolts... Hojo is gaining more strength again, of course.

Turn #66:

Ok, things are improving. No more red. Still, I'm not going to conquer more. Again, where are those blasted reinforcements?

Turn #67:

Nothing intresting/important happening.

Turn #68:

Nothing intresting/important happening.

Turn #69:

Reinforcements in Wakasa. Yet, only 3 units. That won't help much. But I'm on the attack again. Omi is my next target.

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Turn #70:

Small fight in Omi. Yet again, they have AC only. Easy win. Killed 240 (all), lost 6.

Attacking on... I'm invading Yamato now.

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Turn #71:

Yet another easy battle in Yamato. I have Light Cavalry only. The enemy hides in a forest, and fires at me when I get in range. I fire at their YS, which has it's effect. They come out of the forest. I sandwich them, and then soon charge the rest of his units, causing a mass rout. I don't recall the kill ratio, but it was as usual.

Attacking Kii now.

I wonder is there's some sort of cyclus in this loyalty stuff.. Entire Kyushu turned from Green last turn to entirely Yellow this turn. Too much coincedence.

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Turn #72:

Battle in Kii, the enemy retreat soon after the start of battle. I catch a few before they reach the border. Killed 31, lost 0.

That's all...

Turn #73:

Waiting, waiting, waiting... fine though, Hojo's are starving, trapped in their castles.

Turn #74:

Nothing happening...

Turn #75:

Same story...

Turn #76:

All regions not neighbouring the Hojo have a 60 men army now. All korean Spear and Naginata units are used up for that. I might even need to start sacrificing my skimishers.

Those Ninja's are causing me a serious headache. A two star general was killed in Omi. I hope that my two 4 star guys will survive for a while..

Attacking Ise now.

Turn #77:

Easy win in Ise. Again, they retreat at the start of battle. I catch most of them. Killed 399, lost 17.

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Turn #78:

Nothing happening...

Turn #79:

Loyalty is ok everywhere... time to attack. Next target: Mino. Their daimyo is there. Would be nice to kill him. I have 80 thunderbombers, so I'm attacking in Sunny weather.

Turn #80:

Gah. Didn't get a chance to use my thunderbombers, sadly. Very easy battle though. Created an early mass rout of his ranged infantry, and then his Daimyo got caught up in battle and was surrounded and killed. Killed about 400, lost two dozens or so.

So, I thought, Hojo gone, but no, appears that he had produced another son. I haven't been paying attention to messages about that, I guess.

Attacking Echizen now.

[Drisos]

Drisos Mongol Campaign: Part 5

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Turn 81 - Turn 110

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Turn #81:

They give up in Echizen.

Attacking Owari now. Important region for them. 1K+ income, + troop training abilities.

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Turn #82:

Easy win in Owari. They decided to deploy at the riverbank betwee the two bridges... not good plan. I crossed both, then sandwiched them. Mass rout, and chased down most of them. Killed 597, lost 15.

The Hojo attacked Sado. I had only 120 korean infantry there, so I retreated to Dewa. I hadn't been paying attention to the size of the army in Noto, I guess.

Turn #83:

Nothing happening...

Turn #84:

Attacking Kaga now.

Turn #85:

Nice battle in Kaga. I took the high ground and made sure they attacked me, instead of the other way around. However, I was too optimistic about an attack on their flank with my HC, and his YC killed quite a few. When my main army charged it was soon over, though.
Killed 386, lost 64.

I can finally get the Hojo's southern border and Dewa in one screenshot now.

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Turn #89:

Nothing happens.
The Hojo have quite an army in Mutsu. I might lose Dewa soon.

Turn #90:

Ah, as expected, they attack Dewa. 322 vs. 1164. Will be hard, I guess.

Not as expected, I win this one. The first few incoming units run away after one thundervolley, after which I rush in and kill the enemy Daimyo with some heavy cavalry. Mass rout, and in the chase I kill anything without a horse.

Reinforcements are dealt with with my thunderbombers and heavy cavalry as well.

Look at the kill ratio of the 'alive' thunderbombers unit. Lovely!



Yet another Hojo son takes over the command.

Furthermore, nothing intresting happens.

Turn #91:

Nothing happens.
Hojo's armies are growing bigger and bigger. If no reinforcements show up I can't win in the long term.

Turn #92:

Next attack in Dewa. 244 vs. 1000.

Same story as previous battle. I kill yet another Hojo Daimyo. I wonder if he has another son ready?



Ah yes, another son. Ok, the 'kill their family' thing isn't going to work...

My army in Dewa is getting really small now. I'm going to lose it anyway. Let's cause some trouble with it while I still can. Invading Mutsu with it now.

Turn #93:

Hmm, they moved in quite some reinforcements. I ended up fighting against 800 men. Yet, I still won.
Didn't kill his daimyo this time, though.



Wow. That gave me A LOT of money. Now moving on, into Shimotsuke. I hope that I can win another.

Turn #94:

They give up in Shimotsuke. Another nice amount of money is added. Now invading Kozuke...

Turn #95:

They moved in some men. Battle of almost 150 vs. 250. Killed 221, lost 11. Another nice amount of money, and invading Musashi now.

Turn #96:

Short but though engagement at the river bank. Killed 73, lost 27. Yet another nice amount of money is added.

Invading Kai now.

Turn #97:

No troops in Kai. Another nice amount of money. Invading Sagami now.

Turn #98:

No troops in Sagami, so yet another nice amount of money. Invading Izu now.

Turn #99:

They give up in Izu, so another nice amount of money is added. Invading Suruga now.

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Turn #101:

They give in Suruga. Next up is Totomi. That army surely is on a rampage.

Turn #102:

Nothing in Totomi to stop me. Another huge amount of money. Rough estimation of money gathered with this army is the past years: 35K.

Now going for the mission impossible in Shinano.. aw well, not too impossible though, might send some reinforcements from Mino.

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Turn #103:

Most bloody turn in the entire campaign I guess. I'm attacked at all fronts.

Defending Echizen: 540 vs. 1079.

Deploy:



...

A group of a few units has moved to my left flank. Running in skirmishers and heavy cavalry to take care of it..



...

The skimishers did well. The group is now routing, and soon most will be dead.



...

A few more volleys, followed by a massive charge. Most of their army routs.



...

Ha. Victory.





Next is: Defending Mino. 325 vs. 501.

Easy battle. They have mainly cavalry, but my thunderbombers (I had 88 of them) were devastating. I lost quite a few of them, but they destroyed and routing anything that came near. A cavalry charge+chase finished it off. Killed 358, lost 37.

Next... defending Owari. 180 vs. 600.

Simple matter of letting them cross a bridge, then sandwiching, crossing the bridge, routing the remaining units, and then chasing everything down. Killed 452, lost 57.

Last, attacking Shinano, though I have a great army I mess up and get caught in a tough engagement. Killed 200, lost 45.

Ok, so another nice amount of money. I like this rampage style, so I take my army to invade Echigo. I depleted the armies in Kaga, Hida, Shinano and Mikawa in one turn. Their only big army remaining is in Suruga, (that's huge though) which has no port. Echigo will be an easy target probably.

For a moment I consideren going on full attack. Now their armies are weak, I could advance further, using the 1-unit-armies in my conquered regions to provide me with enough to maintain loyalty.
However, I'm not going to try it. If it goes wrong, I will loose much of what I've achieved so far. Let's wait for reinforcements... if money is at all linked to reinforcements, I should get loads... But that logic hasn't been working all that well in this campaign.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn #104:

Nothing to stop me in Echigo, so yet another nice amount of money added.
Invading Dewa now. Seems like they've already built a mine there. I'll see if I can move to Sado and Noto etc.

Turn #105:

They moved their huge armies into Shinano. So, Mino might be attacked. I gather most of my forces there.

They gave up on Dewa. Invading Sado now...

Crap! Massive attack on Mino. 820 vs. 2382. It's kinda my last significant army. If it can't hold, nothing will.

Deploying on the great hill of course... Korean ranged in front, moving some light cavalry to the left side of them, heavy cavalry behind them.



Enemy archers open fire... don't know what to do really. Thunderbombers/Skirmishers? Or just wait, or tickle them with some heavy cav? Hmm, no, not the cav, they won't get back up the hill too soon after such a charge. I'll wait some. If they don't progress, I'll open fire too.



The hill after my I gave my thunderbombers 'fire at will'. The enemy's main infantry waited too long, I got impatient and shot down his archers. Then the infantry came rushing uphill as well, and were shot down just as hard. General is alive but routing. Killed loads! Too bad I got two hits on my own units. Lost 12 of those bombers... aw well, cost-effective like this, you'd think.



Sending the thunderbombers to retreat. The skirmishers are my next welcome for anything that comes uphill.

Lol, again, I got impatient. Their archers were killing men of mine that didn't even resist... Couldn't watch that any longer and rushed some cavalry down. Mass rout of the remained army, slaughtering those now. Will try to regroup uphill.



Ok... didn't bother to take further pics, because it were all mini-confrontations. I was afraid of too much energy loss, but no it kept going quite well. Retreating the thunderbombers was a mistake though, they got attacked by some 'reinforced' YC. Too bad. Well, I gave quite a hard blow to their army, as you will see below. (*proud of nice result*)



So... now both Hojo and I have very few armies left. With some reinforcements I could overrun them, it seems. But same goes for him.

Result of my 'roaming army': They gave up on Sado, got some koku from there. Men trapped in the castle, but I don't dare to stay there and have 'em killed, because my army might get trapped between Noto and Dewa. Advancing to Noto... a fortress there, so it might deliver another nice amount of Koku. + the way will be open for either Kaga or Etchu(and Shinano after that. (ambitious though))

Turn #106:

Another 2000 Koku from Noto. I wonder what's Genghis doing with those huge amounts of money I'm sending... Anyway... I leave Noto and proceed to Kaga. A small army there, they might put up a fight. (I hope so, because the army looks slaugterable.)

Note: EEK! Osumi is yellow loyalty now. While there's a 60-men stack there all the time. What's with this... :(

Turn #107:

They gave up on Kaga... 230 men trapped in the castle, worth the siege, I guess. Got to move on though, if I want to burn Shinano. Leaving 2 units in Kaga, moving the army from Echizen there too. I hope that'll be enough. Attacking Hida with the roaming army. (The plan is, next turn move on to shinano, reinforced by some troops from Mino... Shinano is probably a VERY advanced region)

Osumi back green btw.

Turn #108:

Crap, they're moving in quite some reinforcements to Kaga. Not quite outnumbered though. 505 vs. 638. My army is quite less strong then usual though. Ah we'll see.

Wow! Kaga has a nice spot for ranged defense! Don't recall defending this one before. Nice.
Hmm, they came from the side, and I kinda messed up micromanaging. Lost too many because of that. (Eventually it was just face them H2H head on) Killed 494, lost 50.
Even worse, my army to attack Hida somehow didn't progress. (They're back in Kaga now)
AND- a big Hojo army has showed up in Noto. Probably the army that persued my roaming army. It doesn't look friendly.

And there goes my plan to attack Shinano on two sides. Aww. Well, attacking Shinano from 1 side then. 300 Cavalry from Mino. Let's see. I'm leaving the roaming army(+even reinforcements from Echizen) in Kaga to beat the crap out of that approaching army from Noto.

Screenshot of the map:



I'm still dying for reinforcements.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn #109:

Ah. Seems like I'm getting a good chance in Shinano, but losing Mino meanwhile. They're attacking Mino from Hida and Mikawa. It's 140 vs. 383. I have 120 skirmishers and 20 thunderbombers. I can't win, I guess, but I'll see if I can take some heads. Will deploy very close to the border to make a very short retreat possible.
Crap! Loads of Ashigaru crossbowmen. Perhaps I should retreat right away. I'll wait some longer, maybe their Yari's will advance along.
Yes. Mission accomplished. Killed 44 YS of them, lost 0. Lost battle of course, though.

Now Shinano. If I loose all these men die, which would bring me great trouble. 300 vs. 351. I'm curious.
Attacking in thick fog. (not intentional) Find the enemy at the big hill in the back of the map. I move to their side, micro-manage a nice attack on the flank of their YS-units, and most of them rout within seconds. Killed 308, lost 13.

Lol. I must have conquered Shinano before. Nothing there. (something though, but not as much as expected.) My mistake. Since that army is now cut loose too, I'm moving it to/attacking Hida. No attack yet in Kaga, I might come in time to reinforce. However, same time Hojo has cut trough to Mino and can take other regions. I simply don't have much of an army left after so many years of fighting.

Turn #110:

Hojo Daimyo presses on to Echizen from Mino. Again, my 120 skirmishers and 20 thunderbombers may give it a try, knowing though that victory is nearly impossible.
Lol. They actually won! After a long wait the enemy finally approached. Thunderbombers once again were no use. (weather... crap!) But after a short ranged engagement I killed 42 and lost only 3, so their ashigaru's had seen enough and went home. Nice.

Now then more important: Defending Kaga. You could call this outnumbered: 515 vs. 1024. However, I've done it before. I'll do my best.
Ha. Another nice victory. Killed 653, lost 41. My Light Cavalry and Skirmishers got some nice volleys, and after that they soon broke to a massive cavalry charge. The chase afterwards didn't go too well, apparantly. Still happy about this one though. The rest of their army is trapped in the castle! Very nice. A pointless death for all of them.

They gave up on Hida. Destroying the stuff there. 73 men in the castle, yet I can't stay, because it will probably cause a revolt. (=more men for Hojo) So, moving on to Etchu. (There's 100% farming there etc.)

[Drisos]

Drisos Mongol Campaign: Part 6

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn 111 - Turn 150

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn #111:

Ah. Seems like I'm getting a good chance in Shinano, but losing Mino meanwhile. They're attacking Mino from Hida and Mikawa. It's 140 vs. 383. I have 120 skirmishers and 20 thunderbombers. I can't win, I guess, but I'll see if I can take some heads. Will deploy very close to the border to make a very short retreat possible.
Crap! Loads of Ashigaru crossbowmen. Perhaps I should retreat right away. I'll wait some longer, maybe their Yari's will advance along.
Yes. Mission accomplished. Killed 44 YS of them, lost 0. Lost battle of course, though.

Now Shinano. If I loose all these men die, which would bring me great trouble. 300 vs. 351. I'm curious.
Attacking in thick fog. (not intentional) Find the enemy at the big hill in the back of the map. I move to their side, micro-manage a nice attack on the flank of their YS-units, and most of them rout within seconds. Killed 308, lost 13.

Lol. I must have conquered Shinano before. Nothing there. (something though, but not as much as expected.) My mistake. Since that army is now cut loose too, I'm moving it to/attacking Hida. No attack yet in Kaga, I might come in time to reinforce. However, same time Hojo has cut trough to Mino and can take other regions. I simply don't have much of an army left after so many years of fighting.

Turn #112:

Hojo Daimyo presses on to Echizen from Mino. Again, my 120 skirmishers and 20 thunderbombers may give it a try, knowing though that victory is nearly impossible.
Lol. They actually won! After a long wait the enemy finally approached. Thunderbombers once again were no use. (weather... crap!) But after a short ranged engagement I killed 42 and lost only 3, so their ashigaru's had seen enough and went home. Nice.

Now then more important: Defending Kaga. You could call this outnumbered: 515 vs. 1024. However, I've done it before. I'll do my best.
Ha. Another nice victory. Killed 653, lost 41. My Light Cavalry and Skirmishers got some nice volleys, and after that they soon broke to a massive cavalry charge. The chase afterwards didn't go too well, apparantly. Still happy about this one though. The rest of their army is trapped in the castle! Very nice. A pointless death for all of them.

They gave up on Hida. Destroying the stuff there. 73 men in the castle, yet I can't stay, because it will probably cause a revolt. (=more men for Hojo) So, moving on to Etchu. (There's 100% farming there etc.)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn #113:

This 'trip' to Shinano, Hida & Etchu gave us thousands more koku. Still wondering where all those thousands of reinforcements are...

Moving the army in Etchu back to Kaga. (loyalty there was BAD, so I'm trying to save it now.) Same time, I try to stop Hojo's moving back into my territory. Sent some of the '60-men-loyalty-garrisons' to the front line regions bordering Mino.

Turn #114:

Nothing special happening. Hojo isn't attacking, but gathering forces. It's just damn plain now. I need reinforcements, otherwise he'll slowly continue breaking my territory down. I don't have any idea what to do about it. I'll just wait and pray.
Loyalty in Kaga is better now. In the backland it seems working still too.

Turn #115:

Same story.

Turn #116:

Attacked in Owari. 108 vs. 1001. I retreat. There's now hope in such battles.

Time for another screenshot.



As you see, the army in Kaga is my last 'significant' army. I don't know what to do with it though. You can also see I'm using more and more of those '60-men-loyalty-garrisons' in the line of defense. Won't help though. Hojo can bring up big numbers in no time, and my army is only decreasing and decreasing...

Turn #117:

No changes.

Turn #118:

Hojo armies rapidly growing. No further changes.

Turn #119:

No changes.

Turn #120:

No changes.

Turn #121:

No changes.
Surpising loyalty in the backland. (Where the small loyalty-garrisons left all's still ok.)

Turn #122:

No changes.

Screenshot:



Huge army in Noto as you see. An attack will come. Even if I win, there's no hope. They will eventually break through. Only a going stream of reinforcements on my side could conquer Japan.

That's it for tonight. Kinda hopeless situation. :(

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn #123:

No changes really.
Going to reduce the amount of units in the backland significantly. Have to try to minimize Hojo progress westwards, while waiting for reinforcements.

Might take that 'big' army in Kaga to push into enemy terrority one last time. (Send them towards Kozuke/Shimotsuke/Hitachi/Shimosa/Musashi/Kai/Kazusa/Sagami etc.) Would be nice if I defended Kaga once before that, so that these huge armies are decreased. If my army would walk away now they'd walk over my leftover garrisons in no time.

Turn #124:

No changes.

Turn #125:

No changes.

Turn #126:

Finally, there they come. Attacking Omi. I have only few Korean units. 240 vs. 720 it is. Again I will see what they can do before retreating.
Good result again. Shot quite some YS with my skirmishers. Killed 174, lost 13.

Also, they attack Kaga. At last. 680 vs. 2383. Let's kick some ass.

My simple deploy:



I get in some very nice shots with the skirmishers and thunderbombers. Their infantry is decimated. I take quite a few losses by their ranged fire meanwhile though. When most of their infantry was dead or routing I gave them the heavy cavalry charge... of course that routed all the rest. Chasing them down now.



Again, rest of battle wasn't really intresting. One by one killing off groups of enemies with my cavalry. Went well.



Leaving Kaga now... and attacking Hida. Planning to go to Shinano-Mikawa-Totomi-Suruga-Kai-Sagami-Musashi, etc. (Quite ambitious eh )
Also attacking Omi. Who'd expect that? It's meanly Korean infantry what I have. It might prove a total mistake to even try this... but who knows?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn #127:

Lol! They assasinate a general of mine in Echizen. He was rank -1. Why on earth would they want to do that?

They attacking Ise from Omi and Owari... few men remained in Omi, so they gave up on that. Ise is 300 vs. 386. (Including their Daimyo) *I realise all of a sudden that eliminating their family would be VERY useful at this point, may want to try killing their Daimyo in this battle. I recall killing loads of generals in battle, so who knows how few heirs he has left*

Hmmm, not a chance. Still won though. Killed 178, lost 60. (Bad result, I know, I was too busy with luring his daimyo) Lost quite some by ranged fire. Anything that came near was killed by my skirmishers.

They gave up on Hida. 400 men in that castle. After a great doubt I decide to stay there for a while. Almost all of my cavalry is in that army. Only 1 unit (a 4 star general) is sent to Echizen.
I'm also in doubt about an eventual attempt to wipe out the Hojo family. I'm attacking Owari. (Daimyo's there now... who knows)

Sceenshot:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn #128:

Attack on Owari. 451 vs. 426. Don't feel confident about this.
Hmm, simple victory. Crossed both bridges same time, he was defending further backward. Came to me and opened fire. Skirmishers soon scared them off. Suprisingly soon they routed. Chased some of them down with my single cavalry unit. Killed 199, lost 13.

One second I had the hope that his daimyo was trapped in the castle... but sadly not. He's in Mino. Ghehe, another plan: surround Mino and then conquer it. Would be hard though. I'm attacking Shinano now with my 'roaming' army from Hida. Moving some other troops into Hida to let those men in the castle die. Also keeping a garrison at Owari for that purpose.
Loyalty is still ok, everywhere. Keeps surprising me.

Turn # 129:

They give up on Shinano. 100 men in castle, but I can't wait, because his 'Huge Noto army' is now in Etchu. They may take Shinano back anyway. So, moving on to Mikawa now. I give up the plan of surrounding the enemy Daimyo, for now.
The castle in Hida was conquered... so I retreat back to echizen, moving more troops back to my line of defense. (Echizen/Wakasa/Omi/Owari)
The conquering of Omi, Owari, Hida and Shinano already gave me another load of koku.

Turn #130:

Ouch, they're defending Mikawa. 526 vs. 370. And I have to win, for Shinano is conquered back by them behind me. Let's hope I don't take too many losses.
Ah, good enough, I guess. Killed 264, lost 31. The first unit to cross lost lots, but when they broke through I could kill many in the chase.
Moving on to Totomi right away.

I'm leaving Echizen now too. Turning my 4-regions line of defense into one of 3 regions.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn #131:

Crap, didn't work. They moved so many troops into Mino that I didn't even bother trying. Retreating to the Wakasa/Omi/Owari line.

They gave up on Suruga. Moving my troops to Kai now. I notice that Izu is well advanced as well. May move there after Kai.

Turn #132:

Crap... second defense against my roaming army already. 495 vs. 480. No doubt that I might win, but if this continues I won't get very far.
Ok, nice. They routed at the start of battle. Another victory for my general, and no losses on this quest.
Moving on to Izu now. Sadly I have to leave the castle with 480 men alone... Still a full stack in Shinano and I don't want to do that battle.

Screenshot:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Turn #133:

Conquered Izu, now moving to Sagami.
No further changes.

Turn #134:

Awww, they probably thought they gathered enough troops now to continue taking territory back... they attack Wakasa. It's 440 vs. 753. Will be hard.
Hmm, only had to shoot some infantry off with thunderbombers (they killed 16 of their own, pity) and counter some cavalry with korean infantry. Wen well. 183-30.

Crap, they moved a big part of their Shinano army to Kai. Let's hope they don't block my roaming army in time. Also, they moved some troops to Sagami. Still gave up though. Moving on to Musashi. (had to leave yet another big army trapped in a castle alone... too bad)

Turn #135:

Crappy! Again I'm forced to attack a river. 495 vs. 480 in Musashi.
Use the same unit as bait, and same method. Shot down his yari's a bit, when shot down enough, I engaged them, they soon routed, and I could rush my cavalry to his ranged units, routing the entire army. Chase wasn't super effective, but still killed 299. Lost 19.

Moving on to Kozuke.

No further changes.

Turn #136:

Ha! They give up on Kozuke, another nice amount of Koku. (I deliver 10.000 in one year this time, just to give some numbers)
Rebellion in Musashi. Non-Hojo, so I'm only happy with that. Hojo's enemy is my friend.

Moving into Echigo now. Watchtowers in Kozuke told me that it has rebuilt some expensive buildings.

Turn #137:

No resistance in Echigo. Dewa shows 'mine income', so I'll move by there too.

The rebels now own Musashi.
No further changes.

Turn #138:

No resitance in Dewa. Moving on to Mutsu.
No further changes.

Turn #139:

No resistance in Mutsu, much koku from there. Moving on to Shimotsuke.
No further changes.

Turn #140:

Next attack on Wakasa. 410 vs. 1198. Going to deploy close to the border...
Hmmm, another simple victory. They routed pretty soon. killed 531, lost 68 or so.

Pretty much resistance in Shimotsuke, 476 vs. 817.
Simple case of micromanaging in a mayor engagment. Killed 638, lost 40.

Moving on to Hitachi now.
This year I brought in 10.000 again. Just to be sure I'm giving numbers.

Enough for today.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I've been watching for heirs with my 'roaming army'. Haven't found any. I might give killing that Daimyo a few more chances.
But with the current amount of troops I have left, I can't defeat the remaining armies on the map, I think. Not even if they turn Rebel and no new enemy troops are made.

Turn #141:

They give up on Hitachi. 5000 koku from that. Moving on to Shimosa.
No further changes.

Turn #142:

They move in some men to Shimosa... have to attack. 436 vs. 420.
They start to retreat when I cross the bridge. Chase them of course. Killed 172, lost 5.

Move 2 units into Kazusa. Don't dare to go there with my entire army, because the Hojo might then retake Shimosa and I would have only one way out: trough attacking a full stack behind a river. I hope to hold Shimosa 2 turns and then move back westward.

Turn #143:

Aw. Major attack in Shimosa. 431 vs. 1548. Most men sent in my port.
Lol. Shogun: Total Slaughter.
First wave was drama! Shot down dozens of ND, then blocked the bridge with 2 units of Heavy Cavalry. Lost few, killed loads, especially because they were so many that they could easily run away from the bridge. After that, slaughtered some individual units here and there, and voila
Killed 994, lost 16.

My Kazusa-attack was automatically cancelled. Trying again now.

Turn #144:

Lol! Once again. Now: 415 against 1607. (Gah, my Kazusa-attack is cancelled again )
Same story. Killed 1110, lost 23.

Trying Kazusa for the third time now...

Turn #145:

Finally. Kazusa. 112 vs. 120.
Simple. Killed 114, lost 3.

Moving the units back to Shimosa. New harbours are emerging already. I think I'll take my army and go back westward, towards his daimyo.

Turn #146:

Moving into Musashi

Turn #147:

Resistance in musashi. 389 vs. 180.
They retreat when I cross the bridge. Lose 4 in the chase sadly, but kill 99.

Moving to Sagami.

Turn #148:

They gave up on Sagami. Moving to Kai. (Izu has nothing to pillage, Kai has mines, and Sagami had harbour)

Turn #149:

Major attack on Omi. 446 vs. 1078. With only 2 skirmisher units and for the rest weak infantry I don't know if it's winnable. I'll go for it though.
Tough battle. Killed 435, lost 189. Their reinforcements killed a lot. The first wave was pretty easy with a few volleys and a charge. (they even rout from a infantry charge )

The give up on Kai. Invading Shinano now.

Turn #150:

Resistance in Shinano: 385 vs. 397.
Enemy retreats when I come close. Manage to chase some down still. 81 kills.

Going to give surrounding his Daimyo a try. Attacking Mino bigtime, and leaving my army in Shinano at the defense. Will be hard to get this done, but maybe it'll payoff.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I played on for many more turns after this. Yet, the last stages of campaign were very boring, so much that I didn't even finish it, and last dozens of turns weren't as intresting to read.
Two tings went 'wrong'.
- No reinforcements. While I sent tens of thousands of Koku. This is not normal. Bug?
- Infinite Hojo Family. As said, I made plans to start killing off their family. And I went to execute that plan. I killed his Daimyo in battle 9 times. While I kill the enemy general in battle like 2/3 times, so lots of heirs should've already been dead. It became clear that those heirs just 'appeared' when the Daimyo died. Probably because it's better for this campaign that the Hojo family does not die out. Feature?

At my line of defense I was pushed backward step by step. The Hojo kept making huge armies in no time. My kill ratio was awesome throughout the campaign, but even if it is 10:1, you can't win if you don't have any source of new troops and the enemy makes hundreds each turn. It was quite intresting though, struggling with very few troops to hold them off long as possible. Something I haven't done in a campaign before, I guess. I might have hold out of 10 more years or so, I wouldn't know. But the Hojo would've won. That's clear.
Very enjoyable campaign though. Most battles were too easy, but on the strategical map it was all quite intresting.

Thanks for reading! I'm sorry that I couldn't finish the story.

[patdj]

Sorry for the "bugs". Perhaps you try playing the Hojo site and go berserk with all the heirs you find. Then you see if you die out some day.

Was indeed interesting to read, I would love to have these kill ratios. Am I just bad or do the Mongols have such superb units?

For a while I thought of making a campain story myself, too. Just started a Hojo campain from 1530. But I don't think I would have the time for this atm, additionally I would have to make up the last 20 years or so and you all would have to participate in my relatively poor strategic skills.

Anyway, was fun reading. I'm looking forward to the next one.

[Drisos]

Was indeed interesting to read, I would love to have these kill ratios. Am I just bad or do the Mongols have such superb units?

These units are superb indeed. And they got better and better... at the end my cavalry was h7-h8. That makes a HUGE difference.

...or so and you all would have to participate in my relatively poor strategic skills.

Hoho! That's not a reason to not do it. If you'll write on a campaign people will ask/advice/give tips/etc... It's very helpful when you're new! When I first came here I could barely win on 'Normal'... and the people helped me bigtime in getting better.

Just tried the Rebels & Ronin campaign in Sengoku Jidai for 15 minutes or so. Quite intresting too. But I'm not yet sure which campaign will be the next I play 'seriously'.