A few misc. questions

[Brian_]

Here's a few more questions;

1. Do units ever recover fatigue through rest? In other words, if I pull a unit out of the battle, can I expect that they'll recover any of their lost energy points?

2. I've used Shinobi in enemy provinces to lower peasant loyalty and increase the odds of an insurrection. Is that strategy worthwhile in Rebel provinces? From what I've observed, the loyalty level will go no lower than 100 in those provinces.

3. It seems like the overall skill level of ronin/rebels is quite poor. But if they possess a general with say, four stars--can I expect that they and their units will have the same skill/morale as an army from a named clan having the same level of general?

4. How do Shinobi gain levels of experience? Is it by residing in enemy provinces or by discovering ninja?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Here's a few more questions;

1. Do units ever recover fatigue through rest? In other words, if I pull a unit out of the battle, can I expect that they'll recover any of their lost energy points?

Yes, I think they will recover some fatigue, I wouldn't recommend pulling them out of battle though. The only thing you really have to know about fatigue is that you shouldn't march quickly when you don't have to, that taking long flanking maneuvers might not be worth it in winter, and that very tired/exhausted troops are weaker and less brave and should be treated as such.

2. I've used Shinobi in enemy provinces to lower peasant loyalty and increase the odds of an insurrection. Is that strategy worthwhile in Rebel provinces? From what I've observed, the loyalty level will go no lower than 100 in those provinces.

No, rebel provinces can't rebel.

3. It seems like the overall skill level of ronin/rebels is quite poor. But if they possess a general with say, four stars--can I expect that they and their units will have the same skill/morale as an army from a named clan having the same level of general?

Yes, in fact some of the ronin can be quite dangerous, especially the monk armies.

4. How do Shinobi gain levels of experience? Is it by residing in enemy provinces or by discovering ninja?

It works the same way general upgrades do I think. Catching an enemy agent or causing a rebellion counts as 1 "win".

So rank 1: 1 win
rank 2: 2 wins
rank 3: 4 wins
rank 4: 8 wins

Although with ninja, killing higher honor generals gets them promoted faster, and something like that might occur with shinobi.

[Brian_]

Great answers. Thanx Sasaki-san.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Managing fatigue becomes quite important in very large battles with multiple stacks. Although troops will never regain enough energy to get to the 'fresh/quite fresh' stage, even 'tired' will do for troops with moderate honor (like 2 or 3) and well led.

The trick in defensive battles is to make the best match of what you have against what the enemy currently has on the battlefield. In the meantime, rest the troops you won't be needing for the current stage of the battle.

There is a tendency to overwork cavalry in long battles, and I certainly did (and still do, to some extent) when I was learning to fight these types of battles. It's verrrry inticing to chase every router off the field with your cavalry but after the 2nd or 3rd wave should be avoided because fatigue will slow them considerably and they might easily be caught by fresh enemy cav entering the field.....and trust me....I learned this one the hard way

Another thing to manage is formation for depleted units. As an example, your yari spear unit has been reduced from say 60 to 30. If the unit started the battle in four rows, they may be in only three or even two rows now. Not good for resisting a cavalry charge. Reconfigure them back to four rows. Yes it shortens the line which might allow a 'wrap-around effect' but I've found deeper ranks resist charges better than shallow ones. This is most certainly true for ashi units who prefer the 'comfort' of mass.

Be picky about which units you choose to withdraw from the battle. Even archers with depleted ammo can be of use if they can attack downhill or hide in forests. I rearrange mine into 5 rows (from the 3-deep formation they use when shooting) and put them somewhere to rest until needed. On more than one occasion they have helped plug a hole in the line that might have spelled defeat had they not been there.

A bit of a ramble, I know, but just topics I thought went hand-in-hand with managing fatigue

[Brian_]

Another thing to manage is formation for depleted units. As an example, your yari spear unit has been reduced from say 60 to 30. If the unit started the battle in four rows, they may be in only three or even two rows now. Not good for resisting a cavalry charge. Reconfigure them back to four rows. Yes it shortens the line which might allow a 'wrap-around effect' but I've found deeper ranks resist charges better than shallow ones. This is most certainly true for ashi units who prefer the 'comfort' of mass.

Interesting. What about when the enemy has no cavalry to be used against me? What is the best depth for Yari lines?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I've always used the default, which is 4x15 I think. Not really concerned about a wraparound effect, and stretching the unit out makes it hard to fit through the gaps in the enemy line in order to flank them.

[gollum]

There is no optimal depth for all situations really, what ReluctantSamurai says is that depleted units of spears are best given some depth as otherwise you are risking them routing upon being charged.

When YariSam are fesh (and sometimes even when they are not) you can take a lot of space deploying them in 2-3 ranks; even engage two enemy units with one yours. This in turn frees one of your units for flanking purposes or to hold in another part of the line. If you want them to hold for longer under such conditions put them in hold position or hold position/hold formation.

PS And of course what Sasaki says its true about long lines getting stuck and being unable to flank; in cases that you wantyour troops manoeuvrable a stocky rectangular formation (approaching a square but not exactly) is best.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Yup, if you have a yari sam and a no dachi vs two yari sam for example, you can put your yari sam in an extra long formation and then flank with the no dachi. Just don't try that if they have warrior monks

I usually find better ways to flank, or soften them up with arrows first and rout a weak unit.