Units who've won you over?

[Monk]

For me it's gotta be Naginata Samurai.

I almost never used them in the original shogun, preferring the No-Dachi/Yari samurai charge to anything else. But I find myself really enjoying the Nagitana in shogun 2, i find it a very versatile weapon in the current game balance. While not as effective against spears as swords, and not as good against cavalry as a yari, i still find it a great all purpose weapon. If my line looks like it'll breach then its time to send in the Nagitana to reinforce and get the job done.

What are some of the units you find are making it into your armies, perhaps more than you thought?

[Zarky]

For me it has to be Naginata Warrior Monks. Partly because of the naginata versatility, but more because of War Cry, which I exploit to the fullest by pinning down enemy samurai with other units while my warrior monks rout enemy ashigaru without breaking a sweat and then charging the enemy samurai in the rear, the rear

One other reason is that lately I've been developing my commanders more and more towards Infantry Leader (Stand & Fight + more melee attack) So that I can focus encampments and blacksmiths towards armor upgrades that the warrior monks need. With these bonuses they will defeat most enemy units with ease as long as I have a good strategy. Only downside is their cost and the research you need to put in to even get them in the first place.

[Kagemusha]

Yari and Yumi Ashigaru. I love how they are presented.

[A Nerd]

I have formed a fondness for Katana Samurai. Excellent melee, readily available, (they look nice), and I always liked the sword infantry of other TW titles. Also, I installed a mod that unlocks all the units that are available in custom battle and mp, you can produce them in your castles for use in the campaign. There is one unit, you can only have one of them in all your armies, ie. just one unit, no more, that are women with naginata. I can't remember what they are called, but they are tough. I have come across a few in AI armies and they destroyed a unit of Naginata I had fighting them. Another time, I had a unit of these ladies surrounded an all sides and they fought to the very last man, er, woman! I have one in an army, but have yet to use them on the field. That army was tied up in a siege of Kyoto. Now that I have the city, they are on thier way to the front! :D

[Monk]

I have formed a fondness for Katana Samurai. Excellent melee, readily available, (they look nice), and I always liked the sword infantry of other TW titles. Also, I installed a mod that unlocks all the units that are available in custom battle and mp, you can produce them in your castles for use in the campaign. There is one unit, you can only have one of them in all your armies, ie. just one unit, no more, that are women with naginata. I can't remember what they are called, but they are tough. I have come across a few in AI armies and they destroyed a unit of Naginata I had fighting them. Another time, I had a unit of these ladies surrounded an all sides and they fought to the very last man, er, woman! I have one in an army, but have yet to use them on the field. That army was tied up in a siege of Kyoto. Now that I have the city, they are on thier way to the front! :D

Onna Bushi is the name you're looking for. In fact, they are one of the avatars from Shogun 2 soon to be added to the .org for selection *tease tease*

[A Nerd]

Those are the lovely ladies! :)

[Monk]

I'll second the Nagitana Monks as well. I like to keep at least 2 units of monks in each army, who help form the solid core for the stack. Toward the end of my chokosabe they really proved to be the difference, weak defense nor not, they pack one heck of a punch

I've only fought against the Onna Bushi once and that was when i stormed Kyoto.. but wow, you're not kidding. If i had the ability to recruit them they'd be in my main stack for sure.

[econ21]

Yari and Yumi Ashigaru.

Seconded.

Wait - there are other units than these?

Hmm, maybe I should tell my Oda Daimyo...

[Dead Guy]

Onna Bushi are spawned as retainers for castle/citadel siege defense, no?

I've never really seen them put to the test except at walls etc so I can't tell just how good they are.

As for OP, definitely naginatas. They can do anything. I'm constantly surprised at how well they do in any situation I throw them into.

[HopAlongBunny]

Bow samurai.

They shoot arrows and wield a mean sword; always use a cpl to back up my main line.
Game winners? No, but they are flexible and tough, allowing my heavy hitters to do something besides "line maintenance".

The fearless ladies are great! Had some on a castle defence and they just killed anything thrown their way. The only time I faced them on the field I turned every bow available on them :p

[Zim]

I ended up with a unit of those in a defensive siege battle. They really impressed me.

Onna Bushi is the name you're looking for. In fact, they are one of the avatars from Shogun 2 soon to be added to the .org for selection *tease tease*

[Gregoshi]

I can't say yet. I've only scratched the surface of the available units and so far I've been able to send them all into the meat grinder.

[Dead Guy]

All this talk of Naginata Samurai, it just occured to me that I'm quite certain I've never seen the AI field a single unit of Naginatas...

[Monk]

All this talk of Naginata Samurai, it just occured to me that I'm quite certain I've never seen the AI field a single unit of Naginatas...

The AI seems much more fond of Katana and Yari samurai than anything else, i've found. Also matchlock samurai in the very late game.

[antisocialmunky]

I've seen it. They are pretty good at murdering everyone during castle defense.

[Rothe]

I also like the Naginata monks. They actually don't have a poor defense. Their melee defense is one of the highest in the game, but their armor sucks. That means they are actually really good at frontal melee, but you have to avoid them getting flanked or reared and most of all you have to avoid archer fire. In forest fights the monks kick serious ass because archery is crappy. If I have a monk heavy stack, I try to make my assaults in rainy weather also, any conditions that are bad for archery are great for naginata monks.

[edyzmedieval]

Takeda Yari Cavalry. Flank or attack from the rear and say goodbye to the defending unit.

Takeda Katana Cavalry. Throw them in and watch how they slash to pieces the enemy.

Katana Samurai. Excellent melee units.

Those are my three favourite units that are always in my battle lineup.

[seireikhaan]

Yari Ashigaru. A useful peasant infantry?!

[Marshall Louis-Nicolas Davout]

Katana Samurai hero and Takeda great guard

[Graphic]

Horse archers. They're not killing machines like in Medieval 2 and Rome, but they're really good for peeling off a portion of the AI's main force.

[Azi Tohak]

Ashigaru, both yari and bow, are actually worth something! I love it.

Also, I'm really enjoying sea battles, even if they seem pretty simple right now: if you have a higher melee score for your ship, board! If not, run!

[econ21]

Talking of sea battles, those cannon barge things are insane.

It's like having the Merrimac or Monitor cruising off coastal Japan.

[Cecil XIX]

Talking of sea battles, those cannon barge things are insane.

It's like having the Merrimac or Monitor cruising off coastal Japan.

I hope to get some for myself someday. Before I was using Medium Bunes in SP and my naval tactics consisted of charging the enemy and taking it straigt to them. Great for XP, and the CAI doesn't prefer the right ships to counter it or the BAI doesn't know how to keep smaller faster ships away from them. I did end up losing my main admiral and most of my fleet once though, not quite sure why. Then in MP I discovered how great Matchlock Kobayas are, take five of those and have them circle along the enemy at length and they can really do damage. Ever since I discovered them my win rate has been 100% against foes without Cannon Bunes and 0% against foes with them.

[Zim]

How are they compared to the Nanban Trade Ships?

Talking of sea battles, those cannon barge things are insane.

It's like having the Merrimac or Monitor cruising off coastal Japan.

[Monk]

Talking of sea battles, those cannon barge things are insane.

It's like having the Merrimac or Monitor cruising off coastal Japan.

Just don't try to throw them at the black ship

That monster is still ruler of the waves. Had it in my recent chokosabe campaign and was sending full stack fleets to the bottom of the Sea of Japan, without so much as a single unit of backup.

[Samurai Waki]

Bow and Yari (an eventually Yumi) Ashigaru are my bread and butter, every other (Samurai/Monk) Unit I add is totally dependent on the strategy I wish to employ with Ashigaru.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Early in my Uesugi campaign I attacked the island of Sado to grab that gold mine. My army was mostly ashigaru bow & yari units, 1 naginata monk, with a couple of light cav. Numbers were even, but the Sado yari ashi's were 4 & 5 chevron units. They attacked me upon landing, uphill, and they kicked my butt. They got my respect.