Yee-Yee-Oh!: Mori (Legendary, Domination)

[Maltz]

Yorinobu: "The Bow Kobaya's are defeated and surrendered! The Medium Bune are here!"
Jake: "We can board them with our Sengoku Bune!"

[Maltz]

Yorinobu: "One tries to get away!"
Jake: "The wind is right - we can use our fastest ship!"
Yorinobu: "Release the rope! Got them!"

[Maltz]

Yorinobu: "Ha! Nobody escapes this time! In your face, Imagawa!"
Jaku: "Good job! Our only mistake was to let a Fire Bomb Kobaya accidentaly sail into the arrows of the enemy. Fortunately, they did not flee even if there were 5 men left!"

[Maltz]

Yorinobu: "Great, we can hire a Nanban retainer... he is a... Shipwrecked European. When are we going ever defend at sea? And it is a bad omen."
Jaku: "But the alternative is also very bad."
maltz: "Let's fight the battle again and get some other retainers..."

[Maltz]

Yorinobu: "Got one retainer for land defence +1 command!"
Jaku: "Great, now we can chase down the only fled ship!"
Yorinobu: "Huh? Somehow I thought we got them all... but how do I do that? Our ships are low on fuel... I mean low on man power - they need a break, too."
Jaku: "Didn't you just capture 5 ships? The survivors are all very fresh."
Yorinobu: "You want me to fight a battle with those sea scrap?"
Jaku: "Why not? There is no way you can lose it..."
Yorinobu: "Can I pay poker on the lower deck?"
Jaku: "Ok go ahead. I will take care of them..." (auto-resolved)

[Maltz]

Hidesato (Admiral #3 in training): "Look at Imagawa! Now they are willing to sell their sons and daughters... but they don't have any."
Atsuyori (Admiral #2 in training): "That's what they get for being a crazy dog! This should teach them a lesson! I say let them become our vassal!"
Motonari: "Ha. Good riddance. But we seriously need to stop expanding or we would trigger the Realm Divide. So we cannot ask Imagawa to become our vassal."
Atsuyori: "Hm... how about asking them to break the alliance and trade treaties with both Takeda and Hojo?"
Motonari: "They will have to agree, but that does not mean too much to us."
Hidesato: "What means more to us?"
Motonari: "Japan is now broken down into just a few great powers..."



Motonari: "The most powerful clan is actually us! The second and third most powerful clan are Hojo and Takeda, and they are allies. If we want to secure our front-runner position, we have to break apart the Hojo-Takeda alliance by befriending just one of them. There are other smaller powers, but none of them could make a significant difference."
Hidesato: "So which one should we pick? Hojo or Takeda?"
Motonari: "Takeda is closer to us, but Hojo is more powerful, it is a hard choice. But there is a one good difference - Takeda has a daughter who has not married yet, making them a lot easier to befriend. Let's go after Takeda!"
Atsuyori: "So we ask Imagawa go break all their ties with Hojo only, and hope that Hojo will attack them?"
Motonari: "Yes. And Takeda will force to choose to lose honor or stay with Hojo. And let's hope Takeda picks Imagawa!"

[Maltz]

Hidesato: "And how do we befriend Takeda other than marrying one of our clan's bachelors to them?"
Motonari: "We just lost trading relationship with Takeda because they lost connection to their only port province - yet again... So we must repair our trade promptly."
Atsuyori: "But they do not have a port..."
Motonari: "Now we have land route - from Totomi!"



Hidesato: "So we do not abandon Totomi? I thought we already incited a rebel force for a smooth exit..."
Motonari: "That was an oversight. We will ask Admiral Yorinobu to take care of the rebels."

This concludes chapter 8 of our story.

[Maltz]

Naval Tactics #3: The Wall of Arrows

When fighting a fleet from an AI clan in early game, we often see an even mixture of fast and slow ships, such as Bow Kobaya and Medium Bune. Their difference in speed means that we will face the Bow Kobaya first, and the Medium Bune later. The farther back we deploy, the farther apart they are.



We could still set up traps for kobaya, but traps are rather an overkill on these weak ships. We can easily weaken or rout them with overwhelming arrows from the Medium Bune. They can be boarded quite easily when they enter the gaps between our Medium Bune. Note that it is better to fight the battle during the day, as the shooting sailors' visions are not impaired.

After dealing with the Kobaya, the slower Medium Bune arrive (you might see trade ships, but they are way too easy to kill). The Medium Bune probably will stay back and just shoot at us. We will have to go back to our tactics #2 - surround them and board them in a chaos. The same principles apply.

What we can do to make the commands easier here is to deploy Sengoku Bune on both sides, and while our Medium Bune's line push forward to provide damage support, we flank the enemy's Medium Bune with the boarding specialists and take them out them one by one. Before boarding begins, remember to activate War Cry from a nearby Medium Bune.

Note that you still need to protect your Kobaya - they would die very quickly if you issued a wrong command to let them suddenly sail past the line and become the only target of all enemy's ships. They just need to stay in the back and fire. Once an enemy starts routing, they can be used to board - the target will give up immediately.

[Maltz]

Chapter 09. Disappointed sailors

Hidesato: "My lord! Our Metsuke in Kyoto reported that the Ashikaga Shogunate is really nervous about our expansion. If we take any other province, we will be declared the enemy of the Shogun!"
Motonari: "Don't we have a 22-province quota? We have only 21 provinces now."
Hidesato: "Hm... maybe we got the extra fame from battle victories... we do have 2 landmarks for crushing Amako and Matsuda. And we just killed 4600 Imagawa men while losing only 35. Maybe that meant something."
Atsuyori: "So we got penalized for doing well?"
Motonari: "Yeah. If you are doing not so well, you are treated more nicely. If you are doing great, you would like some extra challenge. Friendly world."
Hidesato: "Ok..."
Motonari: "But right now, our tax income is not high enough to support our army and navy. We have to stop and develop."
Atsuyori: "How do we make our tax income catch up?"
Motonari: "We have started the research of Chonindo, which will complete in 5 seasons. Then we can upgrade the farms with Land Consolidation. The construction itself takes another two years. Then our towns wil start growing very fast."
Hidesato: "So we will wait for at least 3 years."
Motonari: "Ha! That's only the start of the town growth! While the rapid growth of towns kicks in, we research advanced Naval arts to upgrade our navy, and Essence of Spirit to build Monastry to train some Warrior Monks. When those are done, even if our towns are not big enough, we should have enough savings to declare war on the Ashikaga Shogunate."
Atsuyori: "Sounds like a long time. I am not suggesting something terrible would happen, but my Lord, you are already 60 years old. Don't you want to become the Shogun in your lifetime?"
Motonari: "If our agents could weaken our opponents quickly, maybe we can start the war a little earlier."
Atsuyori: "We better be careful. Taking on too many enemies at once could be more than we could handle."
Motonari: "We might be able to pick up one more ally. We have already planned to grab Takeda. If we can get just one more, we should be able to tip the balance."
Atsuyori: "Who should we grab as a second ally?"
Motonari: "Let's take a closer look..."



(1) Yamana is allied with Ashikaga

We either bribe Yamana to our side, or be prepared to fight them. Yamana is too close to us, so there is no reason to let them live within our territries. Yamana is a primary target for our agents.

(2) Hatakeyama is allied with Honma

Honma is aggressively shipping invasions to Hojo's back. So far I have not seen Hojo taking any action on Sado island - maybe they will never be able to eliminate the pesky Honma. Hatakeyama is our neighbor and needs to go down fast. So we either bribe Honma to our side, or prepare to see annoying sea invasions later. It is quite impossible to eliminate Honma by agents, as Sado island always have a good garrison. So it might be better to bribe Honma to stay on our side as long as possible.

(3) Hattori, Ikko-Ikki, Chosokabe, Imagawa has no friend

It is unlikely these weaker clans will survive for long. Our agents have been working on Chosokabe. Once Chosokabe, Yamana, and Hatakeyama is mostly dealt with by rebellion, our agents can move on to Hattori. Ikko-Ikki and Imagawa could remain as destractions to our primary targets.

Atsuyori: "So many targets for our agents... why not Hojo?"
Hidesato: "I thought Hojo is our biggest threat?"
Motonari: "They are indeed big, but let's look at it this way. Any clan that we do not befriend will become allies against us after Realm Divide. Hojo or others, it matters little. So if we want to weaken Hojo, we want to do it when the others cannot simply fill in the gap. Hojo has no immediate conflict of interest with us, so they are not our primary target. We can even consider allying with them to delay their hostility, if things go bad. But then Takeda's powerful army will have nothing to do."
Hidesato & Atsuyori: "Got it!"

[Maltz]

Hidesato: "My lord! Ikko-Ikki has declared war on Yamana!"
Motonari: "When they are fighting almost everyone, they may as well fighting exactly everyone. The pain is shorter that way."
Atsuyori: "So... do we help Yamana or not? We are their allies, but Yamana is our primary target..."
Motonari: "Or we can look at it this way, if Ikko-Ikki makes advances on Yamana, we will simply turn Ikko's provinces to rebel. This clan or that clan, whoever gets close to us, it makes no difference. So we may as well do what is more respectful."



Atsuyori: "But Ikko-Ikki has two fleets coming our way. And our two fleets are not nearby."
Motonari: "Then block the three entrances of the Seto inland sea with Bow Kobaya, and call back both fleets! Atsuyori - you lead one of them!"
Atsuyori: "Definitely! Finally I get to lead a real battle!"

[Maltz]

Ninja: "So we have to clean up the mess we created in Totomi. I took care of their general. The rest is yours!"
Yorinobu: "These peasant rebels are not the match of our professional army!"

[Maltz]

Ninja: "Wow, nice one. Did you er... take a nap?"
Yorinobu: "Nope. I actually enjoy the fight." (manual battle)



Ninja: "So what did you do to cut down losses?"
Yorinobu: "The usual stuff. They camped on a hill. We first lured all of their Yari Ashigaru into our trap. Then we fish out some of their Bow Ashigaru and routed them in archers' duel. Finally, they launched the final attack. Their cavalry found our spears, and their arrows deflected on our Naginata samurai's extra-thick armor."
Ninja: "Good for you!"
Yorinobu: "Now my job is done, and there is no Imagawa or Hojo invasion from the east. I am going to train in Migawa with rebels. What are you going to do?"
Ninja: "I'll keep an eye on Imagawa. Go and have some fun!"

[Maltz]

Monk: "General Takakage, after I incited a rebellion in Tosa, Chosokabe got really mad and declared war on us! Please be careful!"
Takakage: "Ha! We have been waiting for this day for a long time. So I will simply lay an ambush in the forest in Sanuki and wait for them to come."
Monk: "Good luck! I will go scout ahead and see if I can stir up another revolt in Awa. (grin)"

[Maltz]

Motoharu: "Hm... where do these Ikko monks' ships come from? Why are they chasing me? I am just using it as a transport to Shikoku to train with my younger brother! This strait is too narrow! I don't want to become fish food~"
Captain: "You can do it! Just maximize your manuever space!"

[Maltz]

Ninja: "General Takakage, Chosokabe is not coming our way! Instead, their army is heading to Tosa..."
Takakage: "So they declared war on us, but immediately move their army away and leave a defenceless castle in their last province?"
Ninja: "That's pretty much it. Hm... You would expect people have brains in their head..."

[Maltz]

Atsuyori: "We are a little far from the Ikko fleet, but here comes some Wako to catch!"
Captain: "6 trade ships? Easy job! I can handle them for you."
Atsuyori: "No no no, this is my first real battle! Let me do it!"

[Maltz]

Atsuyori: "OK! Let's charge them!"
Captain: "No no no, admiral. We don't win battles by brute force, but by tactics. There is a small island on our left. We can use that as an obstacle and let the Wako slowly approach us one by one."
Atsuyori: "So we can destroy them one by one? Nice plan!"

[Maltz]

Atsuyori: "Buhahaha... these Wakos sailed into our crossfires one by one!"
Captain: "Yes. We only need to surround them from the right. That really made our life easy. Now go board their last ship!"

[Maltz]

Atsuyori: "Ha! We kicked their butt! None got away! But how come there wree still three ships reamining?"
Captain: "That's one of the seven mysteries of the Seto inland sea. Let's just call it a feature."
Atsuyori: "Okay... Let's get the ships repaird and head for that big Ikko fleet, shall we?"
Captain: "Of course! Lord Motonari has actually ordered one Sengoku Bune and one Medium Bune from Bingo. They will reaplce the two Bow Kobaya that's not doing too much."
Atsuyori: "Great!"

[Maltz]

Monk: "Rebellion incited, at their door!"
Ninja: "Army Sabotage, in their face!"
Takakage: "What a quick end of Chosokabe's resistance. What a shame that we never get the chance to face their huge Bow Samurai army."
Ninja: "General Takakage, Sun Tzu's Art of War teaches us that the best victory comes without a battle."
maltz: "But battle is half of the game!"
Takakage: "Kick this crazy retainer out!"

[Maltz]

Captain: "Admiral Kobayakawa, the Chosokabe navy is threatening one of our Seto Strait entrance blockers!"
Atsuyori: "Our first navy is returning from Totomi! They will deal with them!"
Captain: "Likely not. We just received the update of Shikoku. This is going to Chosokabe's last move..."
Atsuyori: "What a pity. We would really love to fight that fleet..."

[Maltz]

Captain: "Admiral Kobayakawa, the large Ikko fleet is attacking us again!"
Atsuyori: "Retreat into the inland sea and let them in! We will take care of them in the spring!"



Note: But of course the Ikko fleet retreated to far, far away when Admiral Kobayakawa's second fleet got close to them.

[Maltz]

Hidesato: "My Lord! Ikko Buddhist are here to plead for peace! They are willing to pay 3100 koku!"
Motonari: "Huh? They have only one province left? Must be Hojo's work."
Hidesato: "I heard that we have just incited a rebellion in Echizen, their only province left..."
Motonari: "That means we lost the chance to crush and sink two Ikko fleets. What a pity. Let's take Ikko's money then."
Hidesato: "Wouldn't that make Yamana think we are an unreliable ally?"
Motonari: "So? Our agents will be all over them next year."



Hidesato: "How sad - our invincible navy has no opponent..."
Motonari: "Let's get them ready for the Black Ship, then. Tell Atsuyori to go back to southern Kyushu!"
Hidesato: "What's the ideal fleet composition against the Black Ship?"
Motonari: "Good question. I have no idea! Fortunately we will have a lot of spare parts to figure it out."

[Maltz]

Takakage: "Brother, you have joined us!"
Motoharu: "Good to see you again!"
Takamoto: "Indeed, we three Mori brothers are gathered together, under the castle of Awa, to run away from the rebels!"
Takakage: "They have two units of Light Cavalry, and we have already taken care of one of them."
Takamoto: "Then it will be easy for us three to break the other!"



Takakage: "Hm... a strange result... killing exactly 1 enemy and won a heroic victory."
Motonaru: "We had a perfect timing and position to charge into that Light Cavalry unit all together, but somehow the sky turned dark..."
Takamoto: "I guess we will have to kill them again next season..."

[Maltz]

Hidesato: "My Lord! The Wako is here to threaten us again! But if we again er... invest in them, we could earn another two years of extra trade profit!"
Motoharu: "The old one has not even expired yet! Of course a big YES!"
Hidesato: "It would be great if they keep coming back to us for this deal~"

[Maltz]

Jaku: "Welcome, Admiral Kobayakawa! I am captain Jaku Subalo. The first navy just got transferred to your command as Admiral Kuchiba is now training in Owari."
Atsuyori: "Great! I heard you guys kicked Imagawa's butt on the sea. So what's our assignment?"
Jaku: "Now that Ikko-Ikki is no more, we have no official enemy on the sea. So all we need to do is to keep the trade routes free from pirates and maybe, and hopefully, fight the legendary Black Ship!"
Atsuyori: "(tears in eyes) I... I have the honor to fight the Black Ship?"
Jaku: "For now, yes. Lord Motonari might take over you once he finished training in Hyuga."
Atsuyori: "Let's hope the Black Ship come soon, then! Oh, and here comes some Wako!"
Jaku: "Let's go!"

[Maltz]

Atsuyori: "Wow... the wind is not favoring us. What should we do, captain Jaku?"
Jaku: "We can hide behind that small island! The wind won't be so strong, and we can probably funnel the enemy to us one by one!"
Atsuyori: "Ok! We will line up the Medium Bune and put the Sengoku Bune outside!"

[Maltz]

Atsuyori: "It worked! The Wako ships are trapped in our mines and crossfire!"
Jaku: "Some of our Medium Bune are too far away from the Wako ships. We should push forward our line!"
Atsuyori: "And we can now swing out the Sengoku Bune to board their routing ships!"

[Maltz]

Hidesato: "My Lord, the aliance between Takeda and Hojo is broken! Hojo declared war on Imagawa, and this prompted Takeda to side with the latter. So Hojo and Takeda is at war now!"



Motonari: "That's exactly what we wanted by cutting Imagawa's tie with Hojo but not Takeda, isn't it?"
Hidesato: "So Takeda and Hojo will fight! This gives us a lot of breathing room."
Motonari: "Unfortunately, Takeda's large army are all staying in the Kinki area. We have to encourage them to return to the east."
Hidesato: "How?"
Motonari: "It could be difficult, as they are not as smart as us. We can start by forcing their generals in Kinki to retire, or return to Kai on a stretcher. Then they will probably call up some army to lead there."

[Maltz]

Hidesato: "My Lord, thanks to the Kyoto monks, we have trained a Metsuke who is very specialized in Town Management! (4 stars + 6 stars in skill tree + 2 stars from retainer = 12 stars)
Motonari: "Good, send him to our richest province Iwami!"