How is your first campaign going?

[Zarky]

I actually lost a campaign. More like I gave up after realizing there's no way I'm bouncing back from this. And this was on normal!!!
Uesugi, the situation with all the provinces to my south was so messed up that I didn't have the guts to declare war on anyone there, leaving me with just expanding east/west options. This then backfired when I was declared war on and within 2 turns would have lost my capital and other most developed province.

Uesugi are really hard just for that you don't know where to expand with them.

[Zim]

Started my first game on Normal as Chosokabe. It's been pretty challenging so far. I took most of my starting island (with Myoshi reduced to a single province vassal and keeping Iwa as an ally) then invaded Kyushu, only to find a very large Mori was eating it from the other end. The Shogun decided Mori was getting too big and requested they be attacked, but I preferred allying with them to split up the Shoni...

So far I'm very impressed. Even on Normal the game has been a challenge from time to time. I suppose now I have to up the difficulty and try someone on the mainland.

[Kagemusha]

I actually lost a campaign. More like I gave up after realizing there's no way I'm bouncing back from this. And this was on normal!!!
Uesugi, the situation with all the provinces to my south was so messed up that I didn't have the guts to declare war on anyone there, leaving me with just expanding east/west options. This then backfired when I was declared war on and within 2 turns would have lost my capital and other most developed province.

Uesugi are really hard just for that you don't know where to expand with them.

As Uesugi i have come to a conclusion that you have to go after Takeda just like what happened in history. I have a campaign now going pretty well, when i dealt Jinbo quickly and then immediately turned against Takeda, while making alliances with Ashina, Mogami and bit later Ikko Ikki. If Takeda or anyone in the South grows too powerful playing Uesugi can turn into a nightmare. I have now destroyed Jinbo and Takeda, while Takeda destroyed Anegakoji before i could intervene. It was not easy to take out Takeda, but after destroying Takeda i secured an alliance with Imagawa and took Noto from Hatakeyama and destroyed Kiso while my allied Ikko Ikki declared war on their allies the Saito. Now i am balancing my economy with several options for invasions bit later.

[Zarky]

As Uesugi i have come to a conclusion that you have to go after Takeda just like what happened in history. I have a campaign now going pretty well, when i dealt Jinbo quickly and then immediately turned against Takeda, while making alliances with Ashina, Mogami and bit later Ikko Ikki. If Takeda or anyone in the South grows too powerful palying Uesugi can turn into a nightmare. I have now destroyed Jinbo and Takeda, while Takeda destroyed Anegakoji before i could intervene. It was not easy to take out Takeda, but after destroying Takeda i secured an alliance with Imagawa and took Noto from Hatakeyama and destroyed Kiso while my allied Ikko Ikki declared war on their allies the Saito. Now i am balancing my economy with several options for invasions bit later.

I actually woke up early today and am now 70 turns or so into 2nd campaign as Uesugi. I allied Takeda and managed to deal with everyone around them, they got North Shinano and went to South Shinano and then west, eventually (with me pressuring them) declaring war on Imagawa and circling back to Kai from south.
Everything went fine so far, starting to enjoy warrior monks and then I realized that when Realm Divide hits I need to take North Shinano when Takeda betrays me and I'd only need to hold 3 choke points to prevent any incursions from west and defend 2 cities from Date who I probably could trust for a few more turns. Unfortunately my reputation was very near full and I started preparing for the inevitable, when my fresh puppet Hojo captures a rebel held province triggering Realm Divide (didn't know this could happen!!!) and then promptly declaring war on me... Of course Takeda join in on the fun and 2 turns later Shingen and 2 stacks with largely Samurai composition assault Uesugi Kenshin at Echizen. The battle could have been epic but it was just a massacre on both sides, yet the ending was obvious from the start.

I haven't had so much fun with a faction in any TW, ever. And these are from losing experiences. Hardest clan so far.

Uesugi are so complicated to play. Victory conditions point you south, wanting to fight a single front war points you to east before else and wanting proximity to Kyoto before Realm Divide points you to west.

[Monk]

On my fourth campaign now: Chokosabe H/H going for long victory conditions.

This was also the campaign i mentioned in another thread, and have shown screenshots about, but i haven't had the chance to talk about it much. Basically i wanted to try surviving a little longer than normal, and instead for pushing toward Kyoto and Honshu (after securing Shikoku) I decided to go in the opposite direction and subjugate Kyushu. It proved to be a very hard fought battle, not the least of which because nearly the entire island had converted to Christianity. Town by town Chokosabe Motochika converted the people back to the one true faith, just as town by town he liberated the island and added it to his own domain.

This campaign was relatively slow and reasonably entertaining. Once i'd managed to unite Kyushu I sorta felt like my daimyo was a bit of a hero. He'd driven gaijin influences from the Western Japanese islands and united the clans under his banner for the greater good. Food surplus was up to 12 and the Chokosabe enjoyed immense wealth thanks to their many trade connections - if you were a kingdom in the east that traded with Japan, you dealt with the Chokosabe. Motochika even secured an alliance with the powerful Oda daimyo, Oda Nobuhide, two years before the later declared himself Shogun and effectively brought all of the eastern clans under his control.

By 1570 warfare in the Japanese islands at ceased, but an interesting schism was emerging. Motochika ruled in the western islands from his capital at Tosa and held parts of the west tip of Honshu, there he had brought a number of clans under his protection who now served as his vassals. The Oda Shogunate had suceeded in bringing down every major clan. Except the Chokosabe.. in 1571 a dispute with the Hatorri clan lead the Chokosabe to declare war. At first the Shogunate supported Motochika's right of conquest, but as tales of the Chokosabe heroism spread through Honshu, whispers of jealousy surfaced in Kyoto. The Shogunate was unhappy with the control of the Chokosabe, indeed, he ruled nearly all of Honshu, why should Kyushu and Shikoku be different?

When the Chokosabe captured a number of hattori provinces in west Honshu, provinces which had long served as trading stops for Oda merchants, the Shogunate declared war on the Chokosabe, bringing with him his Yamana and Uesugi allies..

It's been seven years since the declaration of war and what started as a realm divide event has exploded into full on East vs West civil war. I'd love to claim that this has been one sided and i've been whooping Oda behind, but that just isn't the case. Fighting has bogged down in western Honshu between my alliance (Chokosabe, Oushi, and a few other small vassals) and those loyal to the Shogunate. Every time one side gets a big victory they capture 1-3 provinces, only for the counter attack to dislodge them and return to the status quoe. Thousands of samurai are dead in what is turning out to be the final culmination of the Sengoku Jidai.

[Kagemusha]

On my fourth campaign now: Chokosabe H/H going for long victory conditions.

This was also the campaign i mentioned in another thread, and have shown screenshots about, but i haven't had the chance to talk about it much. Basically i wanted to try surviving a little longer than normal, and instead for pushing toward Kyoto and Honshu (after securing Shikoku) I decided to go in the opposite direction and subjugate Kyushu. It proved to be a very hard fought battle, not the least of which because nearly the entire island had converted to Christianity. Town by town Chokosabe Motochika converted the people back to the one true faith, just as town by town he liberated the island and added it to his own domain.

This campaign was relatively slow and reasonably entertaining. Once i'd managed to unite Kyushu I sorta felt like my daimyo was a bit of a hero. He'd driven gaijin influences from the Western Japanese islands and united the clans under his banner for the greater good. Food surplus was up to 12 and the Chokosabe enjoyed immense wealth thanks to their many trade connections - if you were a kingdom in the east that traded with Japan, you dealt with the Chokosabe. Motochika even secured an alliance with the powerful Oda daimyo, Oda Nobuhide, two years before the later declared himself Shogun and effectively brought all of the eastern clans under his control.

By 1570 warfare in the Japanese islands at ceased, but an interesting schism was emerging. Motochika ruled in the western islands from his capital at Tosa and held parts of the west tip of Honshu, there he had brought a number of clans under his protection who now served as his vassals. The Oda Shogunate had suceeded in bringing down every major clan. Except the Chokosabe.. in 1571 a dispute with the Hatorri clan lead the Chokosabe to declare war. At first the Shogunate supported Motochika's right of conquest, but as tales of the Chokosabe heroism spread through Honshu, whispers of jealousy surfaced in Kyoto. The Shogunate was unhappy with the control of the Chokosabe, indeed, he ruled nearly all of Honshu, why should Kyushu and Shikoku be different?

When the Chokosabe captured a number of hattori provinces in west Honshu, provinces which had long served as trading stops for Oda merchants, the Shogunate declared war on the Chokosabe, bringing with him his Yamana and Uesegi allies..

It's been seven years since the declaration of war and what started as a realm divide event has exploded into full on East vs West civil war. I'd love to claim that this has been one sided and i've been whooping Oda behind, but that just isn't the case. Fighting has bogged down in western Honshu between my alliance (Chokosabe, Oushi, and a few other small vassals) and those loyal to the Shogunate. Every time one side gets a big victory they capture 1-3 provinces, only for the counter attack to dislodge them and return to the status quoe. Thousands of samurai are dead in what is turning out to be the final culmination of the Sengoku Jidai.

I guess you are playing sort of Segikahara campaign, the differnce being that not half of your "western" forces are not turncoats really loyal to "East".

[Monk]

I guess you are playing sort of Segikahara campaign, the differnce being that not half of your "western" forces are not turncoats really loyal to "East".

The historical parallels haven't escaped me and is half of what makes the fight against the shogunate so fun.

I have the Realm Divide mod which softens the blow of the event, but pretty much all of my eastern allies (I was allied to Uesugi and a few minors) abandoned me. Likely because they didn't want to cross Oda, who was also allied to them also. It was like Oda sent a message when he declared war, choose your side!

[Chimpyang]

Date H/H campaign. I've got to the point where Useugi and Takeda are sending full stacks ever 2 turns to the 2 different stacks that I have hidden inside a fortress. Currently saving enough money for a 3rd stack so I can start turning the tide a bit, as right now it's just siege siege siege.

[Rothe]

The historical parallels haven't escaped me and is half of what makes the fight against the shogunate so fun.

I have the Realm Divide mod which softens the blow of the event, but pretty much all of my eastern allies (I was allied to Uesugi and a few minors) abandoned me. Likely because they didn't want to cross Oda, who was also allied to them also. It was like Oda sent a message when he declared war, choose your side!

I am also playing the Chosokabe campaign (H/H) and I also first conquered Shikoku and then went west to attack Shoni and the others on Kyushu. It seems natural to secure trade nodes by going that way. Also, you can keep the two isles all to yourself without still triggering the divide.

After that, I started to go to Honshu and eat it up from the western end, only to stop right before the divide to gather forces and money.

I am actually liking the divide event. It gives you a new challenge once you get to be a major force. Without the event, I would just eat up all of Japan easily.
I already now have 130k koku and my income is 12k/season and the year is still 1568.

I kind of decided that 1570 is when I just go berzerk and start going for Kioto no matter what. I try to keep Date as my ally as long as possible (with diplomacy tech and payments) to keep a trade partner. Currently my army costs 12k/season and my tax is 13k/season, so I should be able to hold on long enough with my huge "slush fund".

I still don't have much of a defensive force on Shikoku, but I have slowly been importing matchlocks to get a cheap castle defense force to a few of the provinces, and I am prepared to move one of my three major armies (probably the ashigaru heavy one) to there if someone tries to attack me there.

[Daveybaby]

Just had the divide event on my second game (shimazu, hard, 40 provinces). I knew it was close, so i'd turtled up to reinforce my economy and troops before the onslaught. To my surprise it occurred anyway due to me winning a *defensive* battle. I'd assumed it was purely down to number of provinces owned but it seems there are other factors involved.

Happily my three allies (chokosabe, amako and mori) and three vassals decided to stick by me. There's about 120 turns to go and i've got 25 provinces (including kyoto) left to capture, should be doable, as long as my vassals dont get there before me.