Imagawa Campaign - Strategies & Challenges

[ReluctantSamurai]

So, do you keep the BFN waiting in the Forest? Do they charge the enemy eventually? What enemy are they fighting, what Honour/Armor/Weapons do the BFN have, and what's the result?

Yes, the BFN remain hidden...fire-at-will is off, hold formation is on (being primarily a skirmisher unit, they will fall back in the face of an advancing enemy unit...something you don't want for your ambush to work).

They are subject to the same Weapon/Armour upgrades as any other unit, as well as Honour bonuses. Being a skirmisher unit, their primary weapon is the shuriken which is thrown at the enemy and has a much shorter range than arrows or musket ball. Secondary weapon is a sword.

Actual stats are something like this: (Accuracy/Reload Time/Range/Projectile Power)

BFN----80/3/1200/10
SA---60/6/5000/5
Musket---17/24/5000/40

So much shorter range, very high ROF, twice the hitting power of Samurai Archers, but much less than muskets.

Actual battlefield results vary, but the idea is something like this...BFN wait with fire-at-will off, hold formation on; a unit like Ashi lures the enemy towards your BFN; when the enemy gets within range, turn fire-at-will on (helps to have the BFN grouped so with one click they all begin to fire at once). Rinse and repeat. Enemy units often lose men at such a rapid rate (due to the high ROF and accuracy of BFN) that they rout quickly.

I have an easy enough time on River Crossings nowadays

I only suggested the Kensei/BFN army as a fun alternative. It's actually quite hilarious to watch the utter mayhem if you mange to get fog conditions because the BFN are virtually undetectable by the enemy.

I assassinated 11 Heirs/Daimyos in total. Can't shake the feeling that would've been impossible using Ninja's only

Probably true. Did a similar thing in the Imagawa campaign I mentioned earlier, though I stuck to my rule of no Geisha. Lost a few Ninja's, but oh well...rules are rules