| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rvwznqm.jpg]] |
| 2 | ''[[caption-width-right:350:"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."]]'' |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"Turning the snow pink; in the absence of springtime; I create blossoms."'' |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ''Total War: Shogun 2'' is the seventh full installment in the popular ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' series of strategy games. Like its predecessors, it features a mixture of turn-based strategy on a campaign map and real-time tactical battles. As a sequel[=/=]remake of the very first game of the series, ''VideoGame/ShogunTotalWar'', the setting returns to FeudalJapan and the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod of civil war. Starting in the 1540s, the player takes control of one of the powerful clans struggling for superiority in Japan, with the eventual goal of uniting Japan under a new shogunate. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | Two expansion packs were produced, introducing new campaigns to the game: |
| 9 | * The first, ''Rise of the Samurai'', is set during the Genpei War of the late 12th century, which led to the decline of the Chinese-influenced Imperial Court, the rise of the first shogunate and the dominance of the Samurai class in Japanese society. Unlike the basic game, the major clans are split among three families and the igniting event of the conflict ''will'' occur (Emperor Takakura is pressured to abdicate by the Taira and his toddler grandson Antoku is placed on the throne), setting off war between the three families and probably their aligned minor clans with them - the pressures of this war will create an emphasis on the usage of agents to aid your cause without even more fighting. The religion mechanic has been adapted to "influence" of the three major families which will be a core mechanic to deal with constantly, since Junsatsushi agents can convert provinces with a majority of influence aligned to your family without a fight - especially helpful with the war certainly occupying your troops elsewhere. |
| 10 | * The second new campaign came in the form of a stand-alone expansion, ''Fall of the Samurai'', which depicts the [[UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration Boshin War]] of the 1860s between the Tokugawa Shogunate of Edo and the resurgent Imperial Court in Kyoto. As a result of Japan's opening and contact with Western influences, Japanese society is changing rapidly, spelling the demise of the feudal rule under the Samurai which has been in place for almost 700 years. "Modernization" serves as the technology trees and buildings involved in the main strategic mechanics, which will naturally improve your clan greatly to procure...at the cost of citizens becoming increasingly unhappy with their lives being turned upside down by foreign influence overtaking traditions. The influence mechanic replacing religion remains from ''Rise of the Samurai'', instead split between Imperial and Shogunate alignment. Unlike the other campaigns, Realm Divide here will have the Shogunate and Imperial forces openly declare their loyalties and fight against each other with you forming the vanguard of one of them - or you may instead choose to fight off ''everyone'' again by forming an independent republic! ''Fall of the Samurai'' was later split off into the ''Total War Saga'' subseries and rebranded as ''A Total War Saga: Fall of the Samurai'' in 2019, seven years after the expansion's original release and includes all the expansion's DLC for free. |
| 11 | ---- |
| 12 | !!This game provides examples of: |
| 13 | |
| 14 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 15 | |
| 16 | [[folder:A-C]] |
| 17 | * AchievementMockery: There's an achievement for sinking or capturing a particularly powerful ship. Possibly due to a programming oversight, you still get this achievement if it's ''you'' who loses the ship in question. Similarly, in Fall of the Samurai, it's possible to get another achievement involving ships if you [[EpicFail ram your own ships.]] |
| 18 | * AdaptationDistillation: ''Fall of the Samurai'', beyond simply covering the Boshin War, also incorporates elements of both the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration and Satsuma Rebellion. |
| 19 | * TheAlliance: And one you'll hate with every molecule of your being. Realm Divide in ''Shogun 2'' and ''Rise of the Samurai'' is essentially TheAlliance of clans who aren't you, desperately fighting your titanic might from occupying Kyoto and declaring yourself Shogun. In ''Fall of the Samurai'' however, unless you decide to take the Republic route, you will ultimately find yourself the leader of one of the two alliances that form, the pro-Imperial and the pro-Shogunate. |
| 20 | * AllianceMeter: Diplomacy is governed by several factors that can increase or decrease another clan's fondness for your own which are then summed up to get their final disposition for your clan. Positive factors include having a particularly honorable daimyo, having good trade relations, [[EnemyMine having mutual enemies]] and having {{Arranged Marriage}}s with them. Negative factors include having a dishonorable daimyo, being known to be untrustworthy, being aggressively expansionist, trading or allying with their enemies and being at war with them. |
| 21 | * AlternateHistory: |
| 22 | ** As with most TW games, this is pretty much inevitable, even playing as the Tokugawa. Who knows what would have happened if Oda Nobunaga never rose to power, if the samurai order was overthrown by the Ikko-Ikki, or Christianity (specifically Catholicism) supplanted Shinto-Buddhism? |
| 23 | ** ''Rise of the Samurai'' gives you the option of letting the Taira attain supremacy or even allowing the Fujiwara to return from obscurity. |
| 24 | ** ''Fall of the Samurai'' makes it possible to see how Japan might turn out had the Shogunate won or if Sakamoto Ryoma's dream of an American-style Japanese Republic had come to fruition. |
| 25 | *** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', it is possible for factions to use railways in the 1860s; historically, the first Japanese railway wasn't constructed until 1872, when the Shimbashi-Yokohama railway was opened. |
| 26 | * AmazonBrigade: |
| 27 | ** The onna-bushi ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin warrior women]]), heavy infantry units that [[NaginatasAreFeminine fight using naginata]]. Only available when defending a province with a high level castle (''Shogun 2'') or a high level Koryo dojo (''Rise of the Samurai''). |
| 28 | ** [[WarriorMonk Warrior Nuns]], available from high level Buddhist temples. |
| 29 | ** ''Rise of the Samurai'' adds Onna Bushi Heroines, highly skilled cavalry equipped with naginata and bows. |
| 30 | * AnachronismStew: |
| 31 | ** If you have both ''Shogun 2'' and ''Fall of the Samurai'', it is possible to take an army of 16th century samurai and ashigaru and fight an 1860s army of riflemen, cannons, revolver/carbine-armed cavalry and [[GatlingGood Gatling guns]] during online multiplayer matches. There are achievements for winning a match using an army from either end of the TimeyWimeyBall against an opponent roughly two centuries ahead or behind you technologically.] |
| 32 | *** It can be taken further if you have ''Rise of The Samurai''. The 16th century Samurai armies can also bring late 12th century army units, widening the potential technological gap to nearly 700 years. |
| 33 | ** ''Fall of the Samurai'' features the Boshin War, which took place in a chaotic era for weapons technology. Both the Imperial and Shogunate armies snapped up whatever guns were available and for sale, meaning that each side's personal weaponry varied wildly. A soldier (if he even had a gun) might have carried anything between an 18th-century muzzle-loader to the most modern rapid-fire breech loader. |
| 34 | * AnnoyingArrows: PlayedWith. Units with heavy armor like Naginata Samurai will shrug off a lot of arrows, but more lightly armored troops will likely get mowed down. |
| 35 | * AntiCavalry: |
| 36 | ** In the Sengoku Jidai campaign, spears (''especially'' [[CannonFodder Yari Ashigaru]] in Yari Wall formation), archers and guns will cause chaos amongst cavalry units, who aren't nearly as powerful as in ''Medieval II'' and are far more vulnerable to missile fire. If you're a swordsman, on the other hand... cavalry, while not as capable, are still formidable on the frontal charge against the right unit type and can be quite powerful [[HitAndRunTactics continuously charging engaged units (even spearmen) from behind and disengaging]], making anti-cavalry more relevant. |
| 37 | ** ''Rise of the Samurai'' lacks yari units, but archers and naginata are sufficient to deal with the cavalry they have to fight against. In particular, the weak armor of Heian-era units and the small size of cavalry combine to ensure that cavalry (even the almighty [[LadyOfWar Tomoe Gozen]]) need to get out of the line of fire when archers are shooting at them as well, in spite of their speed. |
| 38 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', in the early game, a cavalry charge (whether to front or flank) can kill Line Infantry rather effectively, but traditionalist spearmen (the Yari Kachi or even Spear Levies) will clear them off the field rather swiftly. Later in the game, the more powerful domains will have developed artillery and modern rifles and sabre cavalry will become virtually useless. |
| 39 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: In the original game, contact with Europeans only happens after a random event, preventing players from both building European trade outposts and using firearms, while obviously not allowing access to Christianity too. In particularly weird situations, event spawning Dutch traders would happen before the forst contact with the Portuguese, completely shifting the game dynamics in that regard (the Dutch traders instantly unlock access to both gunpowder units, without any religious restrictions). In the sequel, the game starts in 1545, three years after first contact with the Portuguese, Nanban ports are possible to build from the start (but it will take almost a decade in-game to reach that point of infrastructure) and the only thing that’s random, is the eventual arrival of the Black Ship, which can be completely ignored if you don't plan to capture it. The Otomo clan also starts as Christian and with related infrastructure already in place. |
| 40 | * ArmorPiercingAttack: |
| 41 | ** Certain fortifications designed to provide cover against arrow fire are much less effective against matchlock shots. |
| 42 | ** Cannons are available in the main game for those who cultivate ties to the West and are available to pretty much everyone in ''Fall of the Samurai''. Heavy armor may as well be tissue paper against these attacks. |
| 43 | ** Ironclads and armored ships are best handled with armor-piercing shots. |
| 44 | ** Guns go through armor like butter. |
| 45 | *** InvertedTrope by the Date's Bulletproof Samurai - their armor uniquely is one of the only kind that can stand against gunshots and so they get a reduced damage modifier against gunfire that allows them to survive being shot by muskets. [[note]]A General's Bodyguard can also survive gunfire, but that is for the much more game-y reason that they're the only land units which each have 1 health more than the 1 damage any single hitting attack does[[/note]]. |
| 46 | * ArrangedMarriage: You can use your daughter in your family as a political tool when dealing with other clans (marriage between clans yields a whooping +100 relation points). On the other hand, if a clan has a daughter, you can marry her to one of your sons. |
| 47 | * ArrowCam: Press 'Insert' while selecting a missile unit to enable a chase camera on one of the projectiles it fired. |
| 48 | * ArrowsOnFire: A special ability that archer units can use, provided the right technologies have been researched. They're the only way to take out buildings from a distance without siege weapons, so if you aren't going that way, you'll definitely want to research them. |
| 49 | * ArtificialBrilliance: |
| 50 | ** The AI is generally agreed to have improved greatly in ''Shogun 2'' over previous games in the series. While not perfect, it is definitely a far more capable opponent and ''will'' ruin your day on the higher difficulties, both on the campaign map and on the battlefield. |
| 51 | ** Ranged units make a fairly honest effort at avoiding friendly fire. Yes, they can accidentally shoot allies, but they will also prefer to pick off enemy soldiers that are exposed, or even hold fire instead of trying a low-percentage shot. |
| 52 | * ArtificialStupidity: However, the AI is still prone to the occasional moments of jaw-gaping stupidity. |
| 53 | ** The AI often doesn't understand the importance of keeping Generals alive. It will routinely have its General charge directly into combat, often right into a spear wall and sometimes far ahead of the rest of their advancing army. This can result in the general getting killed very early in the battle, giving the player a huge advantage. |
| 54 | ** An AI opponent will usually stand idly by, as archers outside of an AI defended castle shoot their troops to pieces instead of sallying out. (There is a reason for this, though it doesn't make the action any less stupid. Units inside walls get a large morale bonus and the computer is unwilling to sacrifice that bonus for ''any'' reason. Too bad that morale bonus doesn't protect against projectiles...) |
| 55 | ** If you get two missile units in a duel with one another (one isolated missile unit attacks another isolated missile unit in the field) then you'll sometimes be treated to the sight of archers and gunners forgetting about their area of expertise altogether and [[LeeroyJenkins charging into a wall of bows]]. Utter slaughter is, naturally, inevitable. |
| 56 | ** It's perfectly possible to take a bridge, rout the opposing army and then turn right back around and amass a staggering number of taken heads as the enemy's reinforcements arrive, presumably meaning to outflank you on the ground you have just left. If their comrades have already routed, they will first attack you and then try to run away across the bridge you are now guarding; the result can be some fairly skewed kill ratios. |
| 57 | ** While computer-controlled clans are not affected by upkeep, they're woefully incompetent at managing provinces and local infrastructure. Such is the case when you capture provinces with only one or two building slots in the mid or late stages of a campaign. |
| 58 | ** The AI doesn't know how to get through its own gates if you capture them and will stubbornly refuse to go around. If you're besieging an enemy castle and they have reinforcements inbound, it's entirely possible to storm their walls, capture the gates and watch as the entire reinforcing army, intent on reaching their allies, crowd around the gates that refuse to open and just mill around looking like idiots while you capture the tenshu or use them as target practice. |
| 59 | ** If you are defending a fort and the AI manages to destroy one of your gates with artillery, it will then decide that the best tactic is to send ''all'' of its troops through that one gate. If this happens in ''Fall of the Samurai'' where cannons are more common, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx6fOh-jozw a mere handful of any rifle infantry surrounding the gate will mow down each invading unit]] as they enter one at a time. |
| 60 | ** Clans which do something innocuous on its own, such as revoking military access, can go into a downward spiral of decaying relations where they end up breaking other agreements, which then causes them to not like you, which then causes them to break ''more'' agreements. This is especially annoying in Rise of the Samurai, where your first enemy might end up being a former ally simply because they revoked a trade agreement with you to trade with someone else, and now they hate your guts. |
| 61 | ** When defending a castle, the AI will muster its forces in such a way to counter the greatest concentration of enemy forces. If the bulk of an attacking army sits on one side of the castle just outside of arrow range, the defending army will all crowd to the walls on that side of the fort. While this is happening, a small unit can flank around to the other side of the walls and be completely ignored. This means that a unit of firebomb throwers can be blowing open a gate on the fire side of the fort and the AI will never think to turn their archers around or sally out a fast unit to run them down, allowing their entire defense to be compromised. |
| 62 | ** Here's an important rule of thumb to remember in Campaign Mode: Don't Auto-resolve Naval Battles as the calculations can be skewed and unreliable. To note: |
| 63 | *** Example 1: You have two Nanban Trade Ships against one Bow Kobaya. If you fight manually, the Bow Kobaya will never survive or even inflict any damage. If you Auto-resolve, the Bow Kobaya will inflict minimal casualties and hull damage on one Nanban Trade Ship. This stacks up over time to the point where you will end up wasting massive amounts of koku conducting repairs you wouldn't have needed had you fought the battles manually. |
| 64 | *** Example 2: You have eight Medium Ships against one Large Ship. If you fight manually, the Large Ship will surrender or be sunk with minimal or no casualties to your fleet. If you Auto-resolve, you will lose at least one Medium Ship. |
| 65 | *** Large, slow ships are strong in manual battles but fare poorly in Auto-resolve whereas small, fast Ships will get crushed in Manual Battles but seem to tip the odds more favorably in Auto-resolve. |
| 66 | ** When defending a fort against archers, enemy archers will advance to the wall while shooting at anything within range. Back up your army far enough and the archers will climb the wall and focus on capturing the tenshu, rendering them much less dangerous. |
| 67 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', defending AI ships tend to just sit on their side of the map and only react to your maneuvering ships by turning to present a broadside. They will only react when your ships enter their combat range or when their ships enter yours. With this in mind, it's possible to simply position your ships toward one extreme side of the enemy ships' line after which your forces can then approach the enemy's ships individually and deal with them one-by-one. |
| 68 | ** Horse Archers can reliably hit any enemy infantry that are fleeing on level ground or uphill but they cannot hit them when they're going downhill. This is because archers will always shoot at an arc that compensates for the distance to the target which, in the case of a steep downward incline, causes the arrows to fly harmlessly over the enemy. |
| 69 | ** Naval battles have a tendency to drag out for much longer than they need to be, due to archers constantly missing their targets and even trying to shoot at enemy crewmen that are safely located in a part of the ship where arrows can't reach them. |
| 70 | ** The AI for naval boarding tends to be wonky at times. It is possible for the soldiers to jump at a surrendered ship while they are disengaging, resulting in small deaths of men. This can affect the player also. |
| 71 | * ArtisticLicenseHistory: Much of the game stays true to the history of the samurai and feudal Japan. That said, there are still some liberties taken for the sake of gameplay. |
| 72 | ** In the game, your Samurai units will specialize in only one weapon, while in real life, Samurai were JackOfAllStats proficient in the spear (yari or naginata), the bow (yumi) and the sword (katana or tachi). The sword was usually a back-up weapon for when your bow or spear was broken or discarded, rather than being a main battlefield weapon the way it is for Katana Samurai and Katana Cavalry in the game. Even the legendary UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi strongly advises against CripplingOverspecialization through the exclusive usage of just one weapon. |
| 73 | ** In real life, the 1868 Boshin War was a small-scale conflict that ended with just 8,200 deaths. In ''Fall of Samurai'', the Boshin War is depicted as a large-scale conflict that can last up to a dozen years and involve a death toll closer to that of the American Civil War (which had over 600,000 deaths). Also players have the ability to recruit regiments from foreign armies, such as US Marines or British Marines. While foreign powers did play a role in the war, no troops from their armies were involved in it. |
| 74 | ** The Ikko-Ikki are presented as a unified faction following its own religion that poses a valid threat to the Japanese social order. In real life, the Ikko-Ikki 'movement' was, at best, a regional rebellion consisting of two provinces and a trio of (very centrally located) monasteries that followed a slightly more radical interpretation of Buddhism than the average. |
| 75 | ** Pretty much everything about the Hattori clan is this. In real life, UsefulNotes/HattoriHanzo was a samurai retainer who served UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu who became legendary for his battlefield prowess and numerous daring raids and unconventional actions outside the battlefield, which made him closely associated with the ninja myth. In the game, the Hattori clan holds the daimyo position over the whole Iga province, which in real life was held by independent warrior-peasants. In fact, everything about the game's portrayal of the ninja is rooted in common, historically-inaccurate tropes. |
| 76 | ** The Chosokabe would not overthrow the Ichijō and take control of Tosa province until 1574, well after the campaign's start date. |
| 77 | ** Many other playable clans also suffer from varying degrees of this. In addition to the aforementioned Chosokabe, the Tokugawa were known as the Matsudaira until UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu changed his name in 1567 and the Otomo were far from dominated by Christianity in 1545, their daimyo only converting to Roman Catholicism over three decades later. |
| 78 | ** The Post Roads and Stations level of road upgrade was not only established after the establishment of the Tokugawa Shogunate and a unified government (and thus after the fighting) but also would depend upon a monopoly to not utterly backfire and just drive outside trade through your rivals. |
| 79 | ** The Hatakeyama clan is treated as a single clan that starts with several provinces spread throughout Japan. At this point in history, the Hatakeyama clan had been split into several rival branches acting independently of each other. In no way did they form a unified political entity. |
| 80 | * ArtShift: This is played with in the aesthetics of ''Shogun 2'' but is most evident with ''Fall of the Samurai'', which has old-style photographs and Victorian-esque illustrations standing in for the usual Japanese stylings of the main game's interface. ''Rise of the Samurai'' meanwhile goes the opposite direction, showing a more archaic and stylized art direction compared to the main game. This is to match the setting of the Genpei Wars, centuries before the Sengoku Jidai campaign of ''Shogun 2''. |
| 81 | * AscendedExtra: |
| 82 | ** As in previous ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' games, a successful low-born captain may be promoted to the rank of General and even be adopted into your clan, to the point of potentially becoming Daimyo. For a historical example of this happening, see UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi. |
| 83 | ** Your Daimyo's wife, who otherwise is more or less irrelevant, will take over if your Daimyo dies and you have no heirs that are of age yet. This can actually be a good thing if your Daimyo had low honour, since she doesn't even have that stat. |
| 84 | * AttackAttackRetreatRetreat: A favored "tactic" of many Ashigaru units. Their relatively low morale means they'll often charge across the battlefield, lose half their company to your archers, and then rout before even making contact with your infantry. Hopefully you have some cavalry on hand to run the cowards down... |
| 85 | * AwesomeButImpractical |
| 86 | ** Fire Bomb Throwers are, well, [[StuffBlowingUp exactly what their name implies.]] Too bad they have a tendency to kill [[UnfriendlyFire just as many of your own men]] as they do the enemy's. When defending castles from the walls, they often blow themselves up. Also, they have the lowest range of any unit in the game (half of that of matchlocks and a third of that of most bow units). This, combined with their ashigaru tier armor means they tend to get slaughtered before they even get into range. |
| 87 | ** Most Siege Units with the possible exception of the Firerockets. While the European Cannon and Fire Projecting Mangonel have insane range and can kill many enemies per volley, their horrific accuracy means they tend to miss any target smaller than a full stack army. They also slow down campaign movement, meaning having them in your army literally slows down your conquest of Japan. |
| 88 | ** Hero units. You have to spend a lot on building and research just to be able to make them in the campaign. And chances are by the time you are able to get them, you probably won't need them anymore. |
| 89 | ** Kisho Ninja are only good for scaling castle walls, making surprise attacks and butchering units that are poor in melee, weakened by casualties and/or already tied up in melee against another friendly unit. If they try to wage a fair fight by themselves against a full-strength unit that is strong in melee, they'll get their asses kicked badly. |
| 90 | *** However, they also have grenades and flash bombs. Unlike the above fire bomb thrower, the Ninjas can use their stealth to actually get close enough to use their bombs without being turned into pin cushions by enemy archers. |
| 91 | ** In ''Fall of Samurai'', you can upgrade your castle archery towers to matchlock gun towers and eventually Gatling gun towers. However, this upgrade takes up a province building slot that would probably be better used for something else, since your constantly expanding borders will often render a specific province's castle defenses moot. Chances are by the time you upgrade your towers all the way up to Gatling guns, the castle in that province will no longer be on the edge of your border and thus no longer faces much threat of attack. However, the only thing that doesn't make them mostly useless is the occasional enemy fleet that sneaks by your fleets and makes an amphibious landing deep in your territory. |
| 92 | *** To add insult to injury, the Gatling gun towers are ''so'' pathetically weak and have such a low rate of fire (in fact, from a purely numerical perspective, their killing power is slightly less than that of a single unit of levy infantry... which can be recruited anywhere, in one turn, for a minuscule fraction of the cost) that to this day some players are certain it has to be a bug or a programming oversight. It's just inconceivable that something so far up the tech tree and which also requires such a massive investment would be so worthless. Mods to increase Gatling tower firepower to a level more in line with that of battlefield Gatling guns, conversely, makes them dangerous enough to practically change siege combat dynamics as machine guns did in real life, by making it suicide to try and approach fortifications before bombarding them with artillery. |
| 93 | ** Cannon Bune are strictly late-campaign support units that can reduce the morale of enemy ships through hull damage but can't sink them outright. They can tip the auto-resolve balance in your favor but are almost useless in manual battles. |
| 94 | * AutomatonHorses: AvertedTrope by one degree - cavalry units that dismount can expect the din of battle to eventually scare off some or even all of the horses left alone. There tends to be no issues with cavalry controlling their horses otherwise. |
| 95 | * BadassFamily: Given that many of your generals in ''Shogun 2'' come from your family, this can easily result in this trope. |
| 96 | * BadassPacifist: Monks and Missionaries (as either Buddhist or Christian specialists, respectively). While Geisha and Ninjas assassinate agents and generals, Metsuke try to execute them under the pretense of crimes against your people, Monks and Missionaries instead [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath convince them to step away from their politically-charged life]]. |
| 97 | ** Averted if Monks or Missionaries incite riot. |
| 98 | * BattleInTheRain: Fighting a battle in the rain is a possibility. It prevents fire arrows from being used (or rather, [[GoodBadBugs it's supposed to, as while the developers correctly disabled the ability to deploy them manually with left-click, they forgot that you can also order your troops do so automatically by right-clicking the button.]]), consequently making it harder to set buildings alight. In addition, reload times for gunpowder units take a hit and it takes longer for tired units to get their breath back. |
| 99 | * BayonetYa: For unknown reasons, despite being present in the game files, bayonets never made it into the final release of ''Fall of the Samurai''. However, they can be modded back into the game, arming rifle-armed units with them. However, due to the lack of bayonet combat animations, the only viable alternative was the yari animation set which may leads to a [[http://i.imgur.com/fgr0N07.jpg hilarious but awesome moment]] when a line infantryman kills an on-charging enemy by [[ImprobableUseOfAWeapon hurling his rifle javelin-style]]. |
| 100 | * BeingGoodSucks: |
| 101 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', making alliances with minor clans is a bad idea that can backfire as the clans will usually go to war against each other despite being on the same side, forcing you into a lose-lose situation that permanently damages your clan's diplomatic standing and honour, through a betrayed alliance. |
| 102 | ** Sparing a clan by making them your vassal increases your daimyo's honour, gives you a new trade partner and ally and is obviously the kind, merciful thing to do, right? Well, unfortunately for you, your vassals don't see it that way come Realm Divide and will betray you just as readily as anyone else. (Unless, [[GameBreaker you vassalize them again]] ''[[GameBreaker after]]'' [[GameBreaker Realm Divide happens, as they don't have the Realm Divide diplomatic penalty.]]) |
| 103 | * BilingualBonus: While your advisors will speak in [[JustAStupidAccent heavily-accented English]], your generals, agents and soldiers will generally speak Japanese. |
| 104 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'' however, everyone else is doing accented English as well. Must be from Japan opening its borders. |
| 105 | ** The Portuguese Tericos unit present in the Otomo DLC recycles most of the voice lines from the Royal Marines in ''Fall of the Samurai'', resulting in a Portuguese unit speaking British-accented English. |
| 106 | * BloodlessCarnage: |
| 107 | ** Despite the fact that he just ''disemboweled'' someone, the Takeda samurai in the intro sequence of ''Shogun 2'' has not a speck of blood on his sword. |
| 108 | ** Without the ''Blood Pack'' DLC, the game plays this trope straight. ''With'' the DLC, it goes [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank ''Way'' into the opposite direction]]. |
| 109 | * BloodKnight: You can pick this up as a trait by intentionally engaging in [[PyrrhicVictory meat grinder battles]] and sticking your general in the thick of it. By the time your general has reached the "blood soaked" level most low morale units will [[TheDreaded voluntarily rout rather than fight him.]] |
| 110 | * BodyguardingABadass: Your generals are all elite warriors in their own right, but they still have bodyguards to protect them on the battlefield, as well as on the homefront against assassination attempts. When a ninja attempts to assassinate a general, sometimes the cutscene will show the general personally thwarting the assassin's plans after he makes it past the guards. |
| 111 | * BoringButPractical: Basic starter units never quite go obsolete, and in fact can be surprisingly effective, especially as they gain experience and receive province-specific or ranked general boosts. [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous Samurai are more interesting, varied, and technically more powerful]], but that doesn't mean a lot when yari ashigaru available from everywhere can still best them, especially with a well-utilized yari wall (think along the lines of European pikes). On a similar note, bow kobayas are the only boats you really need to win just about any naval engagement, especially after you research fire arrows. What bow kobayas lack in boarding capability, they make up for with high maneuverability that allows them to kite many boats that are slower. (Sengoku bunes are one of the few boats that can outpace them, but only if the wind is in their favor.) Any other boat, no matter how big and imposing, can eventually be burnt to destruction. For ''Fall of the Samurai'', the situation is similar to the base game, at least in terms of land battles. You can win with nothing more than spear levies and line infantry, both quite rudimentary units. If you want to research artillery, you never need to go past the early availability of Parrott guns, as they are already quite effective. |
| 112 | ** Ashigaru are not particularly strong or tough units, being relatively unskilled and prone to LosingTheTeamSpirit unless they are clearly over-matching the enemy. However, they come in large units which can swamp the enemy with numbers, are great for holding down flanks and defending walls, plus they are cheap to recruit and maintain, can be recruited anywhere without any special buildings and replenish their numbers quickly between battles. |
| 113 | ** Line Infantry in ''Fall of the Samurai''. Recruitable from cadet schools (the 1st tier infantry building) at the beginning of the campaign, they start out ''far'' more cost-effective than Levy Infantry, and they are the cheapest infantry to benefit from Foreign Veterans and researched upgrades. It can be hard to justify building toward Bear Infantry, Imperial/Shogun Infantry, or Foreign Marines when Line Infantry has much lower upkeep, yet still puts a lot of bullets downrange. |
| 114 | *** It's generally best for your armies to have a core of a few elite units (Foreign marines, Guards, Red Bears etc.) supported by lots of line infantry. |
| 115 | ** If you prefer traditional armies in ''Fall of the Samurai'', Yari Kachi are recruited from the 1st tier Traditional Dojo and stay relevant for a long time. Their strong morale allows them to tolerate charging into a wall of guns, and their melee ability will cut levies, line infantry, and cavalry to pieces. They have counters -- Katana Kachi, artillery, high-tier Line Infantry (Imperial, Shogun, Nagaoka, Western Marines) -- but the AI doesn't field these in high enough numbers for well over 100 turns. |
| 116 | *** A mix of Line Infantry and Yari Kachi makes for an army that lacks any real flavor or style and is essentially a one trick pony, but that one trick is incredibly effective and reliably counters just about any early game foe. |
| 117 | ** Out of the three foreign ironclads available in '"Fall of the Samurai", The United States's Roanoke class is perhaps the most dull. Three cylinders slapped on top of a dinky floating platform, compared to the goliath British Warrior class or the black terror that is the French L'Ocean. However, what Roanokes lack in pomp, they make up in practicality. Roanokes have the same amount of guns and more crew than the French L'Ocean and are more maneuverable and cut a lower profile than either the Warrior or L'Ocean. They're also the cheapest of the three, meaning you can field more of them on the campaign map. |
| 118 | ** Light Cavalry in ''Shogun 2'' is pretty much the only Cavalry unit that you can field in appreciable numbers without having to draw heavily on your clan income. |
| 119 | ** It is possible to reach Realm Divide without having to fight too many clans at once, by ''inciting riot everywhere'', causing EnemyCivilWar. Sending endless wave of monks/missionaries and triggering riot everywhere, chance that most of the clans will be destroyed by the rebel forces (easier if there is difference in religion, for example, Ikko vs. Shinto-Buddism or Christianity vs. Shinto-Buddism), and when your force reaches Kyoto, most of Japan will probably fall under rebels' rule. This method, while effective and possible, is boring, frustrating and surely not in favor of those who prefer ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption. |
| 120 | *** Christian clans seem to fit with this strategy more than others (either Otomo or any clan that switches into Christianity), as most of Japanese clans are Shinto-Buddism, making missionary's jobs become easier, and only Christian clans can recruit Nanban trade ship, the most powerful warship, second only to the Black Ship, that somehow never get a scratch from auto-resolve battle, allow you to exert naval dominance. |
| 121 | *** If you managed to literally ''wipe out'' everyone when the Realm Divide triggered using this method, the game would become an elaborate children's coloring book, with you slowly but inevitably painting your clan colors across the map. |
| 122 | * BossInMookClothing: It is not rare in any campaign for a "minor" clan to expand massively, swallowing up many "major" clans in the process. The Imagawa, Hatakeyama, and Amako seem to be the clans most prone to this. |
| 123 | * BowAndSwordInAccord: Some archer units are quite capable in melee. The Bow Samurai and Bow Hero units in the main campaign have this as their personal operating philosophy. Switching to melee mode leaves you at least with a chance against charging melee units. This trope is taken up to eleven with the samurai units in ''Rise of the Samurai'', which are equally highly skilled with bow and sword. They're some of the best units at range ''and'' in melee in the Genpei War campaign, although they will predictably lose out when [[AnachronismStew put up against 19th century riflemen]] in multiplayer. |
| 124 | * CameraAbuse: Subtle, but present. At the fully-zoomed-in level, the camera will bounce and shake whenever a nearby unit is on the move, as if the ground itself shakes at their advance. |
| 125 | * CannonFodder: |
| 126 | ** Ashigaru units are cheap and easy to recruit, numerous, and die quickly. However, they can be deadly if employed properly, particularly if they have [[MauveShirt gathered some experience]]. Their use should not be underestimated. Oda ashigaru in particular are a subversion of this, proving to be ''terrifyingly'' powerful combatants, with their DLC Long Yari Ashigaru being more than a match for samurai under the right conditions. |
| 127 | ** Levies in ''Rise of the Samurai'' are pretty much this, being ineffective fighters even at the best of times and only dangerous in numbers. However, castles have larger garrisons than in other eras, requiring subversion by [[SecretPolice junsatsushi]] or invasion in force to take. |
| 128 | ** Levy Infantry in ''Fall of the Samurai'' aren't useful for much more than this, having less accuracy than ''matchlocks'' and generally existing to take bullets so that your more useful troops don't have to. Spear Levies, on the other hand, are vital in the early campaign (where they begin with an experience bonus), make for excellent AntiCavalry against sabres and can take down even Line Infantry if they manage to charge home. They can still be used to fit this trope, but they have far more uses than just that. |
| 129 | * {{Cap}}: Certain units are limited to a small amount (such as heroes being limited to one, or various elite units being limited to four). All agents are limited to five of a kind - this notably prevents Shirabyoshi and Geisha from seducing a small army of agents to you off of the enemy as you are prevented from seducing while the targeted agent(s) are already at the limit for your faction, forcing you to disband one of your current agents of the kind to try seducing any of them again. In ''Fall of the Samurai'', foreign ironclads are limited to 2 (except the British HMS ''[[GameBreaker Warrior]]'', which is limited to 1). Japan's own ''Kotetsu''-class ironclads (technically, French-built) are limited to 6. |
| 130 | * ChildSoldiers: The Aizu domain in ''Fall of the Samurai'' can field the White Tiger force, a reserve militia made up by samurai children who infamously committed mass suicide after their homeland was taken by Imperial forces in real life. |
| 131 | * ChristianityIsCatholic: Justified since the predominantly Catholic Portuguese are the only Europeans to frequently appear in the game outside of the United Kingdom, France and the United States in ''The Fall of the Samurai'' DLC. |
| 132 | * ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: |
| 133 | ** Enemy generals who have been bribed to your side have a penalty to their loyalty rating for "disloyal tendencies", increasing their likelihood of being bribed or interfered with again. |
| 134 | ** The campaign AI in general (whether through typical stupidity or incomprehensible brilliance) likes to make alliances or trade agreements with you, just to declare war a few turns later. |
| 135 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', it is wise to never take your neighbours, immediate or distant, as trustworthy allies for they can switch sides and turn hostile at the drop of a hat. |
| 136 | ** It's not uncommon for low-loyalty generals to switch sides just before a battle, taking a sizable chunk of your troops with them. A good way to combat that is to get close to the enemy army, then send everyone ''except'' the general into battle. Troops will never defect without a general, and you'll still have the general show up as reinforcements. |
| 137 | * ChurchMilitant: ''Shogun 2'' has both Sohei {{Warrior Monk}}s (which the Uesugi clan specialize in) and the Ikko-Ikki faction, which is basically an organized peasant rebellion that follows a different sect of Buddhism from everyone else in Japan. There's also the Otomo Clan and their Portuguese allies who seek to spread Christianity across all of Japan with both Missionaries and Matchlocks. |
| 138 | * ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: The zeal rating of Buddhist/Ikko Monks or Christian Missionaries protects against ninja assassination attempts. |
| 139 | * ClownCar: Like in the previous installments, even the most immense of armies in Shogun 2 can be transported on a single tradeship that realistically should not be able to carry thousands of men. Given the undeniably obvious fact that all naval units are pulling double-duty as a warship and a troop transport, this just begs the huge question of how it's even possible to carry a full-stack army of at least 2000 men on something so tiny as a Kobaya. |
| 140 | * CoolButInefficient: Late-tier markets and castles, due to their food consumption. It costs a lot of time and money to build them, they provide proportionately less to you for their cost with each rung on the ladder and a food surplus increases that quantity for economic growth in ''all'' of your provinces meaning once you have enough provinces, consuming food will hurt you economically in the future (potentially making it worthwhile to ''demolish'' these buildings even if you got them for free from capturing their province) and their technology requirements make it unlikely you'll even be able to build them before they get decisively inefficient. Castles are only useful for their defensive benefits because the repression and buildings slots (you only need a few buildings to specialize a province for building some particular units and perhaps one more for keeping order in it) are probably superfluous, the replenishment rate can be gotten much cheaper with a Barracks and/or improved roads, and the growth and money you'd save by not building them can be spent on more units (that can actually move around) anyway. |
| 141 | ** For example, building a Merchant Guild over a Rice Exchange gives 500 more income and 10 more growth to the town, but costs 1 food and 3400 koku to build - and after the time it takes to be constructed, you'll still have to wait nearly 2 years to get the improved income to pay off and if you have more than 10 provinces, you'd get more growth just by saving your money for something else! |
| 142 | * ColorCodedForYourConvenience: While it's in a sense on par with the rest of the ''Total War'' games, ''Fall of the Samurai'' has this completely played straight for the unit cards: modern units wear blue uniforms while traditionalist ones are in red outfits. |
| 143 | * ColorCodedMultiplayer: Most of the ''Rise'' and ''Fall of the Samurai'' factions have traits which exclusively affect their performance in the campaign and there are very few unique units in either expansion. Consequently, faction choice in multiplayer skirmishes largely comes down to what colors you want your troops to be wearing. |
| 144 | * CombatPragmatist: Modernization in ''Fall of the Samurai'' often revolves around using tactics that are effective but not necessarily "honorable" like some traditionalist fighting techniques. A major theme is using long range weaponry like naval bombardments, cannon artillery and gatling guns to kill enemies long before they can hope to lay a sword on you. Other technological advancements can also count, like firing long range torpedoes or explosive shells to deliver infrequent but devastating attacks at sea, or even just ramming straight into the enemy if cannons are too slow for you. |
| 145 | * TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: |
| 146 | ** On hard and legendary difficulty, the computer controlled clans will use their recruitment discounts to recruit full stack armies and fleets at any time on every turn. Even if a computer controlled clan has only ONE province left, they'll have at least one full stack at ready to make a counter-attack or a last stand despite the obvious fact that their province can't even make enough money to pay for their upkeep. |
| 147 | ** Even on the easier settings, the AI abuses TheAllSeeingAI to the Nth degree. And they tend to spawn so many navies it's hard to keep up. |
| 148 | ** If the AI loses their daimyo and all his heirs, a new one will automatically be generated in their home province. |
| 149 | * CoolHelmet: The famous Kabuto helmets worn by Samurai units are (obviously) on parade, along with notable or famous examples from history belonging to the Daimyos of the great clans. Of particular note are the crescent-moon helmet of the Date and the "rolling waves" helmet of the Oda. |
| 150 | * CoolOldLady: At age 70, your Shirabyoshi can still seduce enemy generals and distract armies. |
| 151 | * CoolShip: While none of the ships available are terribly uncool, the Roanoke, Ocean and Warrior class ironclads in ''Fall of the Samurai'' still outpace everything else by dint of their staggering firepower. Expect to pay through the nose for each one you purchase, though. |
| 152 | * CrackDefeat: Is a distinct possibility. One example is the historical Battle of Okehazema, where UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga beat an Imagawa force ten times the size of his own. |
| 153 | * CripplingOverspecialisation: |
| 154 | ** The Ikko-ikki specialize in Warrior Monks, which are more powerful than any normal clan's warrior monks except the Uesugi, and the Ikko-ikki have a much easier time recruiting them than other factions. However, the majority of their non-monk units are significantly weaker in some respect than regular clans' equivalent units: monk archers (unlike samurai) are useless in melee, and naginata monks are dead against archers unless [[EliteTweak properly kitted out]]. |
| 155 | ** In ''Rise of the Samurai'', the Kiso Minamoto move their armies faster than anyone else and recruit samurai at double speed. However, their civil technological development takes a major hit. In a game where gold is stronger than steel, this is a bad quality to have; their swiftly-recruited elite troops will quickly become too expensive to maintain with their backwards economy, and their domain will be vulnerable to enemy agents. |
| 156 | ** The Takeda Clan's specialization in horse-riding allows them to recruit cavalry that is better and slightly cheaper than their normal equivalents. Unfortunately, cavalry is still an expensive investment that can be blunted rather easily, and any cavalry forces that the Takeda manage to field are unlikely to be significantly more substantial than those of other clans. |
| 157 | * CriticalAnnoyance: |
| 158 | ** "[[LargeHam Our men are running from the battlefield! Shameful display!!!]]". The battlefield advisor says this whenever a unit routs, a fairly common occurrence in larger battles. In ''Fall of the Samurai'', the equivalent exclamation is "Damn lily-livered cowards! Your men are running, sir!" |
| 159 | ** "Master, we are not making enough trade infrastructure in this province". The advisor will say this even for provinces where upgrading trade infrastructure is no longer an option. |
| 160 | * CriticalExistenceFailure: Your agents and generals only serve you better as they grow older and more experienced, right up until they pass away of natural causes. |
| 161 | * CultureChopSuey: The overall aesthetics of ''Fall of the Samurai'' increasingly give this impression, with its mix of 19th Century Western and Japanese styles, such as Victorian style photographs for the unit portraits, and the unit control interface looking more "Western". This is also reflected in the soundtrack, which likewise combines traditional Japanese instruments with European orchestral motifs. |
| 162 | * CuttingTheKnot: Subverted. You'd think destroying the Ashikaga Shogunate and presumably the Shogun before Realm Divide kicks in would stop it, but you'd be wrong. |
| 163 | [[/folder]] |
| 164 | |
| 165 | [[folder:D-L]] |
| 166 | * DarkerAndEdgier: ''Fall of the Samurai'' has a noticeably darker and more ominous tone compared to both the Sengoku campaign and ''Rise of the Samurai.'' |
| 167 | ** Even the faction colors are darker without the DLC factions, especially among the historically victorious Imperial clans. The somber blues of the Satsuma and muted grays of the Choshu stick out as especially grim, since they're the descendants of the Shimazu and the Mori, who marched into battle in vivid green and brilliant scarlet during the Sengoku Jidai. |
| 168 | * DawnOfAnEra: ''Rise of the Samurai'' is well...about the rise of the samurai class and the establishment of the very first shogunate in Japan regardless of which faction you choose to play as. |
| 169 | * DealWithTheDevil: |
| 170 | ** The DLC content features a new building called Land Lease which gives you a one-time lump sum of 4500 gold but permanently reduces your Daimyo's honor. It's bad enough that you're in league with the Portuguese and helping to further their invasive agenda of aggressively spreading Christianity but do you really need to piss off the tenets of Bushido and Shinto-Buddhism even further AND promote sentiments of betrayal among your generals... just for a quick injection of cold cash? |
| 171 | ** Ironically, even merely converting to Christianity could be considered a DealWithTheDevil. It will cause a diplomatic penalty with all non-Christian clans (which will probably be most of them) and a hefty reduction in Honour points for your Daimyo (which also has impacts on the loyalty of your Generals). What's the benefit? More trade income and some stronger weapons for the wars you will almost certainly have to get involved in. It's a question of whether you're willing to trade the goodwill of other factions (and to some extent your own faction) for an edge in warfare. |
| 172 | * DecapitatedArmy: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. The loss of a general in combat is not necessarily an InstantWinCondition for that battle, but it does cause a huge morale shock to the side that loses them, potentially causing them to [[LosingTheTeamSpirit break and flee]]. Sufficiently dedicated troops can withstand this and fight on anyway, though if the general is dead he was either making some very questionable decisions to put himself in harm's way, or the battle was already all but lost to him anyway. |
| 173 | * DemotedToExtra: The Imagawa Clan were playable in the original ''Shogun: Total War'', but are now NPC-only in ''Shogun 2'', albeit still a relatively large rival for several of the playable clans in their campaigns. |
| 174 | * DifficultButAwesome: |
| 175 | ** Bomb Throwers have short range and a long wind up time, so despite their explosive damage and morale shocking ability, they are usually either pincushioned by enemy archers before they can get close or cut down by an infantry charge before they can get their bombs into their targets. However, if they can be properly positioned, say either at the top of fort walls with the enemy passing below or hiding in a forest until the enemy has passed them by and is committed to their position, can allow the bomb throwers to hit the enemy with several devastating salvos that will wreck their numbers and confidence. |
| 176 | ** Fire Rockets. They're expensive, deep in the tech tree and usually unable to kill enough people to justify their costs. But if you know how to use them properly, they [[MacrossMissileMassacre shred armies and castles alike like they were made of wet paper]], and the surviving soldiers can easily be mopped up by the screening units. |
| 177 | * DisasterDominoes: Battles with forces of similar total strength tend to end this way. One moment, the outcome is uncertain, with both forces clashing violently, then [[LosingTheTeamSpirit one unit will decide it has had enough and flees]]. Then, the next regiment over will see their flank is now unsecured, so they become worried and start to fall back, which leaves the other regiment near them with open flanks, and so on. |
| 178 | * DiscOneNuke: |
| 179 | ** The Ikko-ikki have access to Loan Sword Ashigaru. These boys pack almost as much killing power as Katana Samurai (though without as much staying power), but aside from being cheaper and quicker to recruit, they require ''no'' infrastructure or technology; you can throw together a large force of swordsmen right at the beginning of the game, when most of your adversaries' armies will be made up of Yari Ashigaru. Loan Sword Ashigaru cut through enemy ashigaru like butter, which allows you to take a strong lead in the early game while you build the necessary infrastructure for warrior monks. |
| 180 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', Parrott guns can be obtained somewhat early in the campaign and can be fairly devastating in terms of their potential kill counts. Naval bombardments are also available early and can be devastating as well, but their effectiveness is much more random and the AI can be smart enough to scatter when the shells are incoming anyways. By contrast, the AI is significantly less able to counter land-based artillery shells, especially if they are unfortunate enough to get caught in an open field (though artillery can still prove quite useful during sieges of course). Given enough time and accuracy, Parrott guns can snipe generals or even rout entire unit stacks. If the opposing army is sufficiently small, a single Parrott gun unit can rout the entire enemy army without any losses on your side. |
| 181 | ** In ''Rise of the Samurai'', if you have the proper technology researched, acquire a province that specializes in artisans and build a Master Bowmaker, a Hunting Lodge, and a Bushi School in that province, you can begin recruiting Foot Samurai in the early part of the campaign with a whopping '''86 accuracy'''. And since siege weapons didn't exist at the time, this is the closest you can get to having the equivalent of a mortar with satellite-aided targeting. And if you want to sweeten this deal further, build pastures in the same province. This will enable the recruitment of Mounted Samurai which ''also have 86 accuracy'', essentially turning them into highly mobile horseback snipers. |
| 182 | * DistantFinale: The ending, in a nod to the original ''Shogun''. [[spoiler:The cinematic ends with a transition of your daimyo's statue in a park at the middle of a very modern Japan... with your clan's emblem proudly displayed in the background, implying that your efforts continue to live on well into the present. [[note]]If you achieve victory with the Tokugawa clan, [[ShownTheirWork the statue it shows exists in real life at the Maruyama Park in Kyoto. Ironically, one of the statues depicted Ryoma Sakamato, who would later attempt to overthrow the Tokugawa by end of the Bafuku period]][[/note]].]] |
| 183 | * DistractedByTheSexy: One geisha assassination involves this. |
| 184 | * DoWellButNotPerfect: Many examples. |
| 185 | ** Taking territory imposes a diplomatic penalty with all clans, though in itself it's fairly small. While it's theoretically possible to have this penalty reduce back down to 0 over time, in practice you can (and probably should) expand faster than the penalty decays. This results in the penalty inevitably growing over time, often eventually becoming quite significant. As such, sometimes it's better not to take more provinces for a while to allow for at least a little decay or maintenance of a certain status quo, especially when you are around a diplomatic breakpoint (such as Indifferent->Unfriendly or Unfriendly->Hostile) and tipping further than that could cause a downward spiral of bad relations. |
| 186 | ** There's also the matter of Realm Divide. Taking territory, establishing vassals, and even winning battles such that you earn statues on the campaign map all increase your fame meter. When you max out the meter, you enter a state of permanent war with all non-ally and non-vassal factions still alive, and your allies and vassals are likely to turn on you eventually. Suffice it to say, entering this state before you are ready for a never-ending onslaught of war can easily spell disaster, such as by gaining many strong enemies at once and/or collapsing a trade-heavy economy. On a lesser note, there are fame breakpoints prior to Realm Divide that influence the resistance to invaders penalty, which influences how expensive it is to keep newly conquered territory sufficiently repressed. |
| 187 | ** It is possible to trigger Realm Divide early by taking Kyoto before you've maxed out your fame. Doing this haphazardly early could also spell your doom even if it's technically possible to do with clans like the Oda and Hattori. |
| 188 | ** Funnily enough, even the AI can suffer a bit of this. Clans that seem to be doing exceptionally well can be marked as a target by the incumbent shogunate, granting some rewards if territory is taken from them. Whether it's the shogun's spurring or just general AI fear that triggers it, the targeted clan can get utterly wrecked in a multi-front dogpile war afterwards. On a different but related note, individual generals can be targeted for death via missions if the game deems them "too successful". |
| 189 | ** Sometimes it might be best to leave a successful general out of the fighting for a while if the daimyo hasn't caught up to their skill just yet. Not doing so can inflict a delusions of grandeur penalty towards loyalty, increasing their capability to get bribed or to defect. |
| 190 | ** You'd think that utterly destroying an enemy army in one battle would be ideal, but that's not how the XP system for generals works. Any normal victory, no matter how big or small the enemy army is, tends to grant a certain fixed amount of xp. Thus, there is incentive to defeat an army over two battles to double the xp, and sometimes you might even be able to fight them over three battles! |
| 191 | ** Bizarrely, partial success for agent missions can actually end up more effective than a full success. Full success removes them from play, easily being able to be replaced shortly thereafter, especially if they are low rank and fairly expendable. However, partial success means they are still alive, they just can't be used for a certain amount of time and they teleport back to their clan capital. There are agent leveling options that can extend their timeout, and if the capital is far away that can effectively put them out of rotation for much longer than a removal would. |
| 192 | ** Though they can be difficult to acquire, traits related to winning pyrrhic victories can be more useful than those related to winning normal or heroic victories. Instilling fear into the enemy can be more valuable than boosts to the morale of your own troops. |
| 193 | ** Though ambushes seem like an ideal way to leverage an advantage against the enemy, you can actually potentially end up taking more casualties that way than if you just fought a normal battle. Effectively encircling an ambushed enemy pretty much requires splitting your forces, and even then there can still be outs for them. Additionally, while the victim of the ambush doesn't get time to form up in a deployment phase, even quickly forming up where they start can increase their capacity to protect themselves a lot. Unless you have cavalry that can charge in quickly or units with kisho training that can deploy practically on top of the enemy, ambushes just might not be worth ever bothering with. Splitting your forces weakens them as a whole, and unless you have multiple generals in your army some of your units will have less morale than others. |
| 194 | * DragonInChief: |
| 195 | ** It's possible to play as a clan that controls half of Japan's provinces, has numerous armed forces at their disposal, maintains access to limitless resources, and all while technically being a vassal to a smaller, less powerful clan. |
| 196 | ** In ''Rise of the Samurai'', the Fujiwara serve as this to the Emperor, having historically kept themselves close to the Imperial House as regents and influential advisors. |
| 197 | ** Potentially, your clan in ''Fall of the Samurai'', should you choose to lead the Shogunate or Imperial side after Realm Divide. Whether the Emperor or Tokugawa Shogun emerge victorious, their respective endings imply that you would play a major role shaping in Japan's future. |
| 198 | * TheDreaded: Commanders can attain certain attributes or items that will reduce the morale of the enemy units that he fights against. Amusingly, in ''Fall of the Samurai'', two of said items are a Prussian Spiked Helmet and an Accordion! |
| 199 | * DrivenToSuicide: Generals and even your own kin can be ordered to commit sepukku when their loyalty drops to dangerous levels. In the Shogun 2 campaign, when a Great Clan is destroyed, a cutscene is shown depicting the defeated daimyo offing himself in an act of harakiri. |
| 200 | * EarlyGameHell: |
| 201 | ** The game seems to progress from early game hell, to middle game heaven, and then to late game hell with "Realm Divide". At the start, you'll struggle to balance fielding an army and developing your provinces as your aggressive neighboring factions torment you relentlessly. Expect to be short on funds as you exempt newly acquired provinces from taxes to maintain public order and field armies of mostly ashigaru units to ZergRush your enemies. Eventually, once you've carve out a nice territory and establish trade relations, your economy will rebound so you can start to produce stronger units and develop your cities. Things will go swimmingly for a while as your high grade troops carve through Japan like a warm knife through butter...then Realm Divide will kick in and ''everyone'' will be against you. |
| 202 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', if you can just survive to Realm Divide then your chance of a campaign victory goes up quite a bit. Suddenly, you are best friends forever with half of Japan, and your only new problem is the occasional enemy army attacking by boat. Choosing to form a Republic keeps things challenging, but in some respects it's not quite as hard as the classic campaign. Yes, everyone hates you, but they have their hands full with the enemy faction. |
| 203 | * ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Samurai and warrior monks are tougher and look cooler, but heavily relying on them is an easy way to quickly go bankrupt or end up woefully undermanned. Ashigaru look simpler, are weaker, and are prone to dying or routing in droves, yet they are a much more sensible option for basing the main bulk of armies around. On a similar note, generals and their bodyguards look cool and unique among the crowd of warriors, but actually using them to fight in the thick of things is a good way to them senselessly killed. |
| 204 | * EliteArmy: |
| 205 | ** Monk clans (which means the Ikko-Ikki and Uesugi) in the original are going to have this, as Warrior Monks are a cut above the norm both in power and price. |
| 206 | ** The Minamoto in Rise of the Samurai are almost certain to rely on this, as samurai units (which the Minamoto specialize in) are small, expensive and devastatingly powerful. The Taira and Fujiwara can go this way if they want, or they can choose to rely on traditional Attendant forces (and the Taira gain benefits for doing this). |
| 207 | * EliteMooks: |
| 208 | ** The Otomo Clan Pack introduces the Portuguese Tercos in the most recent DLC: armored European infantry who can stand their own against at least a good chunk of Japanese units, but their low number still makes them vulnerable in melee combat. |
| 209 | ** The foreign units in ''Fall of the Samurai'' (who come in British, French and American flavors) are as powerful as, if not even more so than their most modern Japanese counterparts (with Guard Infantry being the local equivalent), not to mention are apparently immune to winter attrition. |
| 210 | ** The Bow Warrior Monk has excellent accuracy, superior range, good rate of fire that can be enhanced even further with appropriate buildings and arts, but the downside is: they have low armor (very vulnerable to cavalry charge, melee combat and enemy return fire), and high morale (they would fight to the last man rather than run away if players did not pay attention to their position, making losing an entire elite monk warrior unit possible). Only Chosokabe Daikyu Samurai can match those elites in term of range, but as Samurai, they have better armor and melee stats. |
| 211 | ** Nanban trade ship: most, if not all Japanese traditional naval units is nothing when facing those behemoths (the Black Ship is a Leviathan in this case). |
| 212 | ** All specialist units for each clan (Shimazu Katana Samurai, Date Nodachi Samurai, etc...). They are slightly better than their normal counterparts. |
| 213 | * EliteTweak: Warrior monks with proper armor, which requires you to upgrade a province with smiths to Master Armourer level and preferably have an Encampment with an Armoury as well, completely nullify the big disadvantage of warrior monks (their vulnerability to archers). Of course, these are expensive, but you don't ''need'' giant armies of these to deal with most threats. |
| 214 | * EndOfAnAge: A constant theme among the campaigns. Most blatantly, the first technologies available to be researched in the trees of the two later-setting campaigns are the ultimate technologies of the previous period's. |
| 215 | ** ''Rise of the Samurai'' starts off at the twilight of Japan's "classical" Heian period, marked by the Genpei Wars as well as the titular emergence of the Samurai. This could be partially averted, however, if you opt to play as the Fujiwara and attempt to restore some semblance of the Heian Period's status quo. |
| 216 | ** The vanilla campaign chronicles the twilight of Japan's Muromachi period (the Ashikaga Shogunate), following the Onin War that caused a headlong plunge into the ''Sengoku Jidai'' and a lawless, mad struggle for dominance (as narrated by the campaign intro). Without a powerful Shogunate to keep the daimyo in check, the most powerful daimyo gained the submission of the weaker daimyo and maneuvered to depose the Ashikaga and reunite Japan under a new shogunate. |
| 217 | ** ''Fall of the Samurai'' starts off at the very twilight of the Edo period (the Tokugawa Shogunate), with the Boshin War, Meiji Restoration and Satsuma Revolt as its backdrop, clashing the old order against the sweeping tides of Westernization and the country being re-opened to participate on the world stage. This can be partially averted if you choose to play as a pro-Shogunate faction like the Aizen or the Sendai and prevent the Emperor from regaining power. |
| 218 | * EnemyCivilWar: In ''Shogun 2'' and its expansions, you can actually cause civil wars with Monks/Missionaries (''Shogun 2''), Sou (''Rise of the Samurai'') and Ishin Shishi/Shinsengumi (''Fall of the Samurai'') agents, who rally the populace of a province in an attempt to overthrow the clan that currently is in control. |
| 219 | * EpicFail: |
| 220 | ** ''Do not'' try to storm a gate in ''Shogun 2'' while firebombing it at the same time. The gates are MadeOfExplodium, and if you're foolish enough to have anyone directly in front of the gate, ''they will die in spectacular fashion.'' Read: flaming bodies flying across the map as if shot by a catapault. |
| 221 | ** A ninja is inside a castle perched upon a cliff. His target is at a balcony looking out over the garden. Ninja takes a running start and attempts a flying kick to his target's head. Target ducks. |
| 222 | *** The same ninja who was descending from the tree to cut a general's throat. The sword suddenly got loose from scabbard and fell to the ground, alerting his target. The next moment, the ninja is cut down. |
| 223 | *** The same ninja who failed to do his task and was trying to escape by scaling the wall. The other side of the wall is... well, falling from the high ground is never a good experience. |
| 224 | *** Assassinating someone from above, then when landing, he somehow hit his head into something and perished. |
| 225 | * ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Both the ''Rise of the Samurai'' and ''Fall of the Samurai'' expansion packs of ''Shogun 2'' tell you exactly what will happen if you choose to go down the historical path for each specific faction's campaign. |
| 226 | * ExclusiveEnemyEquipment: |
| 227 | ** Wako Pirates and Kaizoku Pirates will randomly spawn on the campaign map with their own ships which you can use for yourself if you capture them after a battle. However, the Wako Medium Bune and the Kaizoku Medium Ship have inferior stats when compared to their regular equivalents. Ironically, the Wako Trade Ship and Kaizoku Light Ship have superior stats compared to their equivalents, making them the exceptions. |
| 228 | ** The Black Ship is an exclusive naval unit of the Portuguese Traders and cannot be built or bought. Only captured. However, it arrives to and departs from Japan on few occasions and will cost you a lot of ships to successfully fight one. |
| 229 | * {{Expy}}: Foreign Veterans from ''Fall of the Samurai'' (especially American ones) are based on Creator/TomCruise's Nathan Algren from ''Film/TheLastSamurai'' with the SerialNumbersFiledOff. |
| 230 | * EtTuBrute: In ''Rise of the Samurai,'' your chosen clan starts off closely allied to one run by the same family as you. But as you rise up in power and Realm Divide kicks in, don't expect familial ties to keep them from turning against you. |
| 231 | * FacingTheBulletsOneLiner: Or close to it, anyway. When the player's clan is destroyed (and thus the daimyo dies), he recites a historical "death poem", written by samurai before they either committed {{seppuku}} or went off to a LastStand. |
| 232 | * FactionCalculus: Usually doesn't apply, but in ''Rise of the Samurai'', the lines can be (roughly) drawn between Minamoto (Powerhouse), Taira (Balanced) and Fujiwara (Subversive). Note that the Fujiwara do ''not'' employ the ZergRush; instead, their strength is in their civil technology, and especially their agents. |
| 233 | * FamedInStory: The Historical Battles in ''Fall of the Samurai'' all involve Saigo Takamori in some significant role, given his role in the Meiji Restoration and eventual downfall in the Satsuma Revolt. |
| 234 | * FelonyMisdemeanor: The historical Battle of Sekigahara. A short way into the battle the Shimazu forces that promised their aid to the player's forces (which is the side that historically ''lost'' the battle) refuse to help...because the messenger that came to them to ask them to attack ''didn't dismount from his horse when he arrived.'' |
| 235 | * FemmeFatale: Geisha are highly effective super-assassins, whose main modus operandi is to seduce their targets, then brutally murder them. |
| 236 | * FirearmsAreRevolutionary: In the trailer for the ''Fall of Samurai'' DLC, a traditional samurai practicing archery is juxtaposed with a bombastic American arms dealer praising the advantages of a Gatling gun. |
| 237 | * TheFourGods: The Aizu have four modern infantry units named after the Four Gods. |
| 238 | * FragileSpeedster: Revolver Cavalry in ''Fall of the Samurai''. Fast-moving as horsemen are apt to be and ''[[GunsAkimbo dual-wielding]]'' revolvers that have a rather short range, a high fire-rate, and not much ammunition to go with it, they'll either probably shoot up nearly the entirety of any unit in short order that they get to fire off all their rounds at, get shot to pieces trying to get in range or shredded in a melee. |
| 239 | * FriendlyFireproof: Averted, though ranged units do try to avoid hitting friendlies, especially riflemen. If they don't stop in time, though... |
| 240 | * FriendOrFoe: Your units do ''not'' like this - being subjected to friendly fire causes a fairly significant morale penalty that's equivalent to being attacked at the rear...which is basically that with different words. |
| 241 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: It's very odd but not unheard of for you to have to deal with a minor clan that acquires more than 10 provinces in a campaign game. It can get even more odd when that minor clan becomes the vanguard for either the Emperor or the Shogun. |
| 242 | * FrontlineGeneral: |
| 243 | ** Army generals and their bodyguards are a unit on the battlefield, roughly equivalent to katana cavalry. Units within the general's command radius get a morale bonus, so the game provides strong incentive to keep him close to the front lines. |
| 244 | *** The generals of ''Rise of the Samurai'' are particularly good at aiding the frontlines, as them and their bodyguards are armed with bows. |
| 245 | ** Subverted at modernization tier 3 in ''Fall of the Samurai'. The general's bodyguard gains revolvers, but are sharply reduced in number. Their flavor text changes to remark that the general's job is organizing the battle, not fighting it. |
| 246 | * FullFrontalAssault: One geisha assassination cutscene involves the geisha stripping naked to distract her target, then attacking while she's still nude. |
| 247 | * FunnyForeigner: |
| 248 | ** The Western soldiers from ''Fall of the Samurai'', in an unusual inversion. The Americans, for instance, are very Christian and hammy [[BloodKnight blood knights]], while the British are indifferent and rather [[StiffUpperLip detached]] eccentrics. |
| 249 | ** Shinobi, Shinsengumi and Ishin Shishi can acquire a retainer which allows them to disguise themselves as a westerner. |
| 250 | --> ''"I'm from [[UsefulNotes/{{Wales}} Swansea]], [[UsefulNotes/BritishAccents look you]]!"'' |
| 251 | * GameplayAndStorySegregation: |
| 252 | ** In the Rise of the Samurai campaign, Taira factions still face the Realm Divide event even when a relative of theirs is on the Chrysanthemum Throne- who in real history was a puppet of the Taira. (Even in game there's a bit of contradiction, as the Taira face diplomatic penalties with other clans when he is installed as Emperor reflecting how unpopular their control of him made them.) |
| 253 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', the Secret Society and Military Society's flavor text indicates that it ought to be an Imperialist building, as secret societies were nationalistic and loyal to the Emperor. In gameplay, both are actually Republican buildings, separating Japanese ultranationalism from the Imperial side. |
| 254 | * GenghisGambit: |
| 255 | ** Inevitable in the main campaign: when you control about 1/3 of the landmass, the Ashikaga Shogun will sic everyone in Japan who is not you, at you. It's called Realm Divide, and is the sole reason you [[GottaKillThemAll kill everyone on your way to the throne]] instead of [[BeingGoodSucks sparing them by making them vassals]]. Same thing happens in ''Rise of the Samurai'', only it's the Emperor himself calling the rest of Japan down on you. |
| 256 | ** The effect is less strong in ''Fall of the Samurai'' in that you can opt to lead either the Shogunate or Imperial forces all over Japan. But should your clan [[TakeAThirdOption say "screw it"]] as its Realm Divide choice, ''everyone'' is out to kill you. |
| 257 | * GangUpOnTheHuman: "Realm Divide" is essentially this trope as a legitimate gameplay mechanic. Basically, once your clan controls about 15 provinces (out of 65), ''every other clan'' will ally against you. You're also given a severe diplomatic penalty, meaning your former allies will abandon you and you'll be unable to establish trade relations, killing your economy. To make matters worse, the clans allied against you [[NotPlayingFairWithResources will be given large stacks of veteran units every turn]]. To add insult to injury, [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules AI players never trigger Realm Divide]], no matter how many territories they own. |
| 258 | * GatlingGood: Gatling guns are present as a late-game unit in ''Fall of the Samurai''. Getting within range of one typically results in a rather grim recreation of ''The Last Samurai''. Spamming them is basically an 'I win' button in the campaign. Kotetsu-class ironclads are also armed with a pair for close-range defence, which have a [[CurbStompBattle predictable result]] on enemy crews[[note]]In RealLife, during the Battle of Miyako Bay, the Ezo Republic warship ''Kaiten'' attempted to ram and board the ''Kōtetsu''. The crew of the latter used the Gatling guns to repel the boarders, inflicting heavy casualties[[/note]]. |
| 259 | * GlassCannon: |
| 260 | ** The No-Dachi Samurai from ''Shogun 2'' have a very powerful attack, a large charge bonus and an ability that gives them unbreakable morale for a short time. However, they lack any kind of melee defense or armor, so one must get them into combat with a charge (preferably into the enemy's flank or rear to better rout the enemy before their fragility becomes a liability) or watch them get slaughtered. |
| 261 | ** Fire Bomb Throwers and Kisho Ninja. Able to dish out truly frightening levels of damage (often breaking their targets' morale in a single volley), but if any other unit as much as sneezes in their general direction... this (and their very short range) makes Fire Bombs somewhat AwesomeButImpractical, but the Kisho Ninja can use their stealth ability to actually get close enough for the cannon part of the trope. |
| 262 | ** Warrior Monks will wreck enemy units in large numbers with the Bow, Naginata and Matchlock. Unfortunately, their lack of armor means that they are easy prey to cavalry and missile fire. |
| 263 | ** Later artillery units in ''Fall of the Samurai'' (Armstrong cannons, Gatling guns, etc.) can be ''very'' powerful...until they engage in melee or take heavy amounts of small arms fire. |
| 264 | ** Cavalry armed with ranged weapons (bows or guns) can be absolutely devastating if kept away from melee units and out of the range of enemy archers. However, if engaged by enemy cavalry or spear infantry, they'll get cut up like wet tissue paper. They are also highly vulnerable to enemy bows and guns as their large horses and elevated riders make easy targets when the unit is standing still. Needless to say, proper use requires significant micromanagement. |
| 265 | ** The Ikko-Ikki's Loan Sword Ashigaru hit almost as hard as Katana Samurai. But they still take damage like ashigaru. |
| 266 | * {{Gorn}}: The ''Blood Pack'' {{DLC}} is explicitly designed to put this trope in the game. |
| 267 | * {{Gotterdammerung}}: The backdrop the Genpei Wars in ''Rise of the Samurai'' still has traces of what Heian period Japan was like even as it comes to a violent close. This is reflected in the stronger emphasis on agents and the leading three clans originally from the Imperial court in Heian/Kyoto rather than from among the Samurai, as well as loosely-organized formations of the in-game units. |
| 268 | ** ''Fall of the Samurai'' has the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate with introduction of western weapons, leading to the end of the Samurai with the coming of the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration. |
| 269 | * GunsAreUseless: |
| 270 | ** While the Matchlocks units are generally well balanced (and have been considered overpowered at points) in the main campaign, the one cavalry unit that uses matchlocks doesn't go into battle loaded and reloads ''very'' slowly only once an enemy is within its range. The Donderbuss cavalry from the Otomo Clan Pack DLC are a lot stronger, however. Things are quite different in ''Fall of Samurai'', where Revolver and Carbine cavalry gun unleash devastating rains of rapid fire. |
| 271 | ** ''Fall of the Samurai'' plays with the trope. Japan is in the transition period between pre-isolation and the Meiji Restoration, so while guns are very much not worthless, it'd be wise to back them up with melee units in the beginning of the campaign; spears and swords are not out of the running just yet, and if you're not ready, they'll be more than happy to validate this trope for you. |
| 272 | * GunsVsSwords: As in real life 16th century Japan, this becomes a major issue after being visited by foreign traders in the main campaign. After this, the you can decide to convert to Christianity, which will give you access to powerful gunpowder units such as European cannons. However, doing so will cause you to lose access to some of the best melee units, such as Warrior Monks. |
| 273 | ** Converting to Christianity also means becoming TheQuisling to the western traders and dishonouring yourself... [[CombatPragmatist but victory can wipe away dishonour]]. |
| 274 | * HandCannon: Otomo Donderbuss Cavalry and Shimazu Heavy Gunners, while not traditional "massive pistol" hand cannons, both wield firearms that straddle the line between small arms and man-portable artillery. The havoc they can wreak with even a single volley must be seen to be believed. |
| 275 | * HardCodedHostility: Unlike the other factions in the game, Wako Pirates will automatically attack your ships and you can't engage in diplomacy with them. |
| 276 | * HarderThanHard: Legendary mode takes away the pause part of the RealTimeWithPause, removes the save function - except autosaves after turn passages and battles - to foil SaveScumming and you still have to deal with the rules of Very Hard. As this can make coordinating your forces an absolute nightmare, and there are no second chances, even hardened veterans can find this difficulty mode a struggle. |
| 277 | * HeelFaithTurn: Your monk/missionary can enlighten the agents of another clans, effectively disbanding them from their service to their lord. You can even do this to ''{{ninja}}s''... if you can spot one. |
| 278 | * HighlyVisibleNinja: Despite their 'stealth' skill, all the ninja (both campaign agents and battlefield ninja) dress in the Japanese stagehand costume associated with them instead of [[BeneathNotice simply dressing unremarkable]] like historical ninja would do. Averted with some retinue characters that have Ninjas in disguise which lower assassination likelihood. |
| 279 | * HistoricalInJoke: |
| 280 | ** The Oda clan's tendency to develop the "Rude" trait in their family members is likely a reference to UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga and his famously abrasive personality. |
| 281 | ** One of the first clans to get knocked out in campaign tends to be the Tokugawa, despite being the real life victors of the Sengoku Jidai and the last Shogunate. Even more hilariously, this is usually at the hands of the Oda, their historical allies. |
| 282 | *** Metsuke technically did not exist during the Sengoku Jidai, as the office was established by the Tokugawa Shogunate some 200 years after the war. However, the fact that the agency would be their creation translates to the Tokugawa being the only clan with an inherent bonus to their Metsuke. |
| 283 | ** Playing as the Kamakura in the ''Rise of the Samurai'' start date will probably have you subsume the neighboring Takeda clan with your starting Junsatsushi in spite of how anyone who looked at the main campaign will see the Takeda will persist to the Sengoku period. |
| 284 | *** Another minor clan who will often quickly be snapped up by the Minamoto in the ''Rise of the Samurai'' start date via Allegiance mechanics are the Ashikaga, who players will immediately recognize as the reigning Shogunate from the Sengoku Jidai period and the clan who succeeded the historically victorious Minamoto to the position. |
| 285 | ** Similarly, some minor clan can take out the Shimazu fairly early too, despite the Shimazu historically being powerful, distant, long-lived, and independent enough that even the Shogunate hesitated on oppressing them all that much. [[note]]The Shimazu are one of the few clans that still exist to this day, along with the above mentioned Tokugawa. So two of the most common victims of DeathByAdaptation are two of the few who actually endured[[/note]]. |
| 286 | ** Playing as the Tokugawa forces you to play as a vassal to the Imagawa, reflective of the fact that, for much of his early life, Tokugawa Ieyasu was held as a noble hostage in order to force his father to obey the wishes of the Imagawa. Unfortunately, there's no ability to have Oda Nobunaga liberate your son and free you from your obligations as happened in real life. |
| 287 | * HopeSpot: Most of the cutscenes shown when a clan is destroyed have one. |
| 288 | * HundredPercentHeroismRating: Among its other advantages, having a daimyo with a high honor rating gives a clan-wide boost to happiness. Even conquered provinces who resent being under the heel of a distant clan are somewhat soothed by knowing that at least their conquerors have a reputation for valor, fairness, and honesty. |
| 289 | * ImplausibleDeniability: When you're faced with the need to expand your borders but the only available provinces are controlled by neighboring Clans that are both powerful and at peace with you AND you really can't or don't want to fight any of them, your only best option is to incite a rebellion (will cost you a small amount of money to pay for your agent), hope that the rebels take the capital, and then go in and claim the province for yourself by defeating the rebels. Simple? Not really. Inciting a rebellion results in a diplomatic penalty labeled "sabotage attempts", or "revolt incited" or something like that, since the previous clan that owned that province will suspect you as responsible for instigating the rebels. With that being said, it is still way better than declaring war on said clan and suffering diplomatic and economic repercussion, like losing Daimyo honor for backstabbing an ally, or losing a valuable trade partner, or make other clans hate you because you suddenly declared war on a "friendly" clan, and so on. |
| 290 | * InstantDeathRadius: If you are lucky and skilled enough to capture the Black Ship, you can expect to enjoy naval dominance for the entire duration of the game. Anything within its cannon range is usually pulverized within seconds. |
| 291 | ** Getting within the firing arc of the Otomo Donderbuss Cavalry tends to result in nothing but a sudden burst of scarlet spray and the terrified screams of dying men. The same applies for the Revolver Cavalry of the Boshin War. |
| 292 | * InstantWinCondition: |
| 293 | ** Even if the last garrison unit is destroyed during a siege assault, the defender can still win if that very last unit manages to rout the attacker's last unit. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzV6D1TkjrM This video]] is a very rare and amazing example of that. |
| 294 | ** If you have battle time limits turned on, the defender will always win if the time expires, regardless of how bad they are losing before that. This rarely happens, as the time limit is quite long, at least by default. |
| 295 | ** Although it's rare to actually see it trigger victory, the attacking side in a siege battle can win by capturing the tenshu, regardless of how many defending units are around or how big a reinforcing army might be making its way to help. Playing as the defender, it's a pretty dumb move to let your tenshu get captured in this manner, but it can still happen if you aren't paying attention or if your forces are too overwhelmed. Playing as the attacker, the AI will generally refuse to let you get a victory this way without first attempting a desperate last ditch fight. Units may crowd around the tenshu voluntarily, but if they aren't doing it automatically they tend to come running as soon as you start triggering the countdown. |
| 296 | *** Winning by capturing the Tenshu is a viable tactic when there is a small garrison with a large reinforcing army. Rushing the walls and getting troops on the Tenshu will usually give you just enough time to win before the enemy reinforcements can get to the castle in force enough to stop you. |
| 297 | * IslandBase: It's quite possible and definitely helpful to take full control of the islands of Kyushu, Shikoku or Ezo (available only in ''Fall of the Samurai'') since you will be able to build your armies and economy in peace with the ability to prevent or quickly respond to invasions. In ''Fall of the Samurai's'' case, upgrade your ports even further and naval invasions won't even be a possibility any longer. |
| 298 | * JackOfAllStats: |
| 299 | ** Naginata Samurai are intended to be this. They are not quite as strong against cavalry as Yari Samurai, and are not quite as strong against infantry as Katana Samurai, but they can reasonably handle both infantry and cavalry. Their heavy armor also makes them more resistant to arrows. |
| 300 | ** Samurai units (Foot Samurai/Mounted Samurai) are this in general in ''Rise of the Samurai'', being good archers and melee combatants while having the best armor. If they also had naginatas, one would probably need no other units. |
| 301 | * JerkAss: Almost InTheBlood for the Oda clan, as their Daimyo begins the game with "Rude" as a trait, giving him a whopping -20 to diplomacy. His sons seem to be quite prone to developing the trait as well. |
| 302 | * JidaiGeki: The base game is set during the Sengoku period. ''Rise'' and ''Fall'' are set in the Genpei War and Bakumatsu era, respectively. |
| 303 | * JustAStupidAccent: The Japanese-accented English used by the advisors in ''Shogun 2''. By ''Fall of the Samurai,'' however, just about ''everyone'' is given the same treatment which is only slightly justified due to the presence of the Western powers (America, Britain and France). |
| 304 | * KatanasAreJustBetter: |
| 305 | ** Katana samurai are arguably the best general-purpose melee units in the game,[[note]](certain other melee units might be situationally better but can also be situationally worse).[[/note]] and will carve their ways through almost any other unit type if they get into range. |
| 306 | ** In the opening cinematic, a katana-armed samurai duels with a naginata-armed Sohei. Not only does the katana cut through the naginata's shaft fairly early on in the duel, but the killing stroke against the sohi manages to slice through the monk's torso armour. |
| 307 | ** Averted in other places. Katana Samurai will struggle against cavalry units, while Portuguese Tercos have nearly identical melee stats to Katana Samurai with their sabres. |
| 308 | *** A ''Fall of the Samurai'' trailer starts with a montage of the Japanese narrator describing the forging technique of a Katana, the skill it takes to use and its potential to even cut a cloud in flight... then it jump cuts to footage of a Gatling Gun tearing through traditional Samurai warriors like a hot knife through butter, with an American narrator describing how a team of four soldiers with one gatling gun can do the job of eighty riflemen. |
| 309 | * KeystoneArmy: It's possible to destroy an invading army without fighting them if you capture their clan's last remaining province. If the army was outside its clan territory, said army will disappear into thin air, no matter how numerous or fearsome it was. However, if it was within its home territory, it will just turn into a rebel army and attempt to recapture the province. |
| 310 | * LadyOfWar: Onna Bushi are among the garrison of castle or citadel-level fortifications. They are well-acquainted with the use of the naginata and will put up a good fight against most attackers. |
| 311 | * LargeHam: The battlefield advisor. ''"Our men are running from the battlefield! Shameful display!!!"'' |
| 312 | * LeeroyJenkins: The Date clan has this as their specialty: They gain a bonus to charging units and their specialty unit is the No-Dachi samurai, a unit that's most effective when charging an enemy unit. Funnily enough, their Sendai clan descendants have bonuses toward the opposite sort of mindset, with a diplomacy bonus, easier control of opposite influence in their cities and starving out cities by a siege faster. |
| 313 | * {{Leitmotif}}: In ''Fall of the Samurai'', each foreign veteran gets one depending on who they belong to. France gets a excerpt from "La Marseillaise", the UK gets "God Save The Queen", and the USA gets "The Star Spangled Banner". |
| 314 | * LosingTheTeamSpirit: Like all ''Total War'' games, morale is a huge factor in battle. If you can cause the enemy to waver and break, you have swung the battle to your advantage even if the enemy still has substantial strength left. Having other units in close support range, outnumbering the enemy, and having the general nearby are just a few of the factors that govern morale. [[note]]In total, the positive factors are: In a secure fortification (less if breached), winning combat (more for more significantly), in a deep formation, flanks are secured by allies, general alive, general nearby, on a hill, charging. Negative factors are: Losses incurred (increasing with how badly), routing allies, army destruction, fatigued (more and more from tired to exhausted), under friendly fire, losing combat (more for more significantly), fighting cavalry, attacked in flank (more when attacked in rear), general dead or fled, under projectile fire[[/note]]. |
| 315 | [[/folder]] |
| 316 | |
| 317 | [[folder:M-Z]] |
| 318 | * MacrossMissileMassacre: The faction that builds the Arsenal has access to [[KillItWithFire Fire Rockets]], which are ''more'' powerful than European cannons, often causing enemy troops to be launched into the air when they hit. |
| 319 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', Parrott and Armstrong guns have access to shrapnel shot, which like canister shot from ''Empire'' and ''Napoleon'', turns the artillery pieces into giant long-range shotguns. |
| 320 | * MadeOfExplodium: Explosive Shells are downright murderous against wooden-hull ships since they catch fire easily. |
| 321 | * MadeOfIron: Naginata Samurai have 9 Armor which makes them really annoying to kill with anything less than Katana Samurai. And even then, they'll still have a hard time taking them down. If you recruit Naginata Samurai with a province that has both a Master Armourer and an Armoury, their armor is upgraded to 14 which allows them to laugh at almost everything. Arrows, Katanas, Cavalry, and even matchlocks. |
| 322 | * MagikarpPower: |
| 323 | ** The Otomo Clan are surrounded by enemies and normally die a painful death before they can properly bring their clan bonuses into play. Being able to quickly recruit Imported Matchlocks helps, but that's often not enough to stave off the opening wave of enemies. If they survive long enough to climb the tech tree, however, they can conquer Japan with a wave of cheap and powerful matchlock armies and the spread of Christianity. |
| 324 | ** Likewise, the Hojo Clan bonus applies to siege units, but the most powerful siege units are pretty deep into the tech tree. Should the Hojo get access to the Arsenal, however, their [[MacrossMissileMassacre hand mortar and fire rocket troops]] shoot with bow-like accuracy and utterly demolish both gates and enemy formations. |
| 325 | ** The Uesugi Clan's strength lies in their Warrior Monks which, unfortunately, costs a lot of time and money to research the proper technology and build the infrastructure needed to recruit them. Their exceptional ability to dominate the battlefield with the Naginata and Bow is offset by their [[GlassCannon lack of armor]] and high recruitment and upkeep expenses, but once you have the infrastructure in place to take away these weaknesses, their armies can utterly demolish any other force in the game. |
| 326 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', the Nagaoka start in an inconvenient position, and their bonuses support reliance on modern units, which only become really good after you climb the tech tree. On the other hand, once you acquire modern rifles and build some markets, their armies are probably the most elite in Japan, and they can make ''good'' money from building lots of financial districts. |
| 327 | ** The Tosa's strength lies in their Naval Tradition which, unfortunately, isn't very helpful at the start of the campaign since you don't have the proper technology or infrastructure to properly exploit it. It's only when you get a Drydock and several Ironclad ships up and running that this bonus finally comes into good use. |
| 328 | ** In terms of units, ashigaru seem to be little more than conscripted peasants meant for CannonFodder and little else. However, if they survive battles to attain veterancy and get led by a progressively more-experienced general, they can become a formidable fighting force capable of standing up to the more elite samurai. This all can happen without changing their cheap cost to recruit and maintain, so ashigaru can eventually become a cost-effective yet deceptively powerful strategic option for armies. |
| 329 | ** The Bow Kobaya is incredibly bad at the start of the Sengoku campaign as it's only strong enough to go 1-on-1 with a Trade ship with a certain chance of winning. Fighting another Bow Kobaya is a 50-50 chance and trying to fight a Medium Bune or anything heavier is pretty much suicide. It's only when you have access to fire arrows that the Bow Kobaya can become strong enough to make a difference against unfavorable odds. |
| 330 | * MasterOfNone: Yari Samurai are decent enough units in single player, but suffer from having no role in which they excel and are trumped, even in their own supposed specialties, by other units. Katana Samurai are superior one-on-one fighters and mainline infantry, Naginata Samurai's heavy armor make them vastly better at absorbing and breaking cavalry charges, even Yari Ashigaru are better anti-cavalry thanks to their yari wall formation. This leaves them without a niche in a game where every unit has a clearly defined purpose, relegating them only really being used by people looking for a challenge. In multiplayer, they are more useful as enemy players will not sucidially charge their calvary into Yari Walls like the [[ArtificialStupidity AI does]], so the Yari Ability to sprint and actually catch enemy calvary creates a small niche. |
| 331 | * MasterOfAll: The Onna-Bushi Heroines in ''Rise of the Samurai'' are elite hero units equipped to counter every single enemy in the game: they're mounted on fast horses with a powerful charge (against archers), are armed with naginatas (against other cavelry) and carry bows and arrows (against infantry, although their range is rather short) - on top of having the usual heroic inspiration aura and the very useful ability to temporarily ignore morale penalties. Unfortunately, they also have a build limit of 1, are extremely expensive to recruit and maintain, require very advanced technologies and construction to even unlock, and have so few troops in their unit that every single loss can be disastrous, making them AwesomeButImpractical more often than not (especially when compared to their counterpart, the Samurai Heroes, who, while being much weaker in melee, make up for it with immensely long arrow range and great accuracy, allowing them to serve as mobile ranged units in a way that risks them individually far less). |
| 332 | * MauveShirt: Automatically generated captains can lead armies and navies if no official general is present. They have no real special skills to speak of like generals, and can die just as readily as RedShirts, but you can get attached to them nonetheless if you recognize their name over time. Their names also seem to be associated with the geographical area and/or clan they were recruited for, giving them that tiny bit of flavor over the nameless hordes of unknown soldiers. Army captains also have the chance of being promoted into full-blown generals for their victorious efforts, though TallPoppySyndrome will make doing this cause a loyalty reduction to your standard generals. |
| 333 | * MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The series as a whole almost always stays on the realistic end, mods excepted. However... |
| 334 | ** One of the traits a geisha can have in ''Shogun 2'' is "fox lady", and it's unclear whether this is meant [[DarkActionGirl metaphorically]] or [[AsianFoxSpirit literally]]. |
| 335 | ** One of the skills ''Fall of the Samurai'' generals can get in Avatar Conquest is "Last Man Standing," preventing the general from being killed while anyone in his unit still lives. The description is vague on if it is actually magic or the general is just really lucky. |
| 336 | ** Some of the two-choice dilemmas mention the sighting of a creature from Japanese folklore, such as a nine-tailed fox or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-legged_crow Yatagarasu the three-legged crow]], which is mentioned to be a sign of good fortune and grants your clan a bonus for several turns. Is the creature real, or is it just a nice story that inspires your clan to work harder? |
| 337 | ** Very rarely, you may pick a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_rabbit Moon Rabbit]] or Dragon Scale as a retainer for Generals and Monks, respectively. The artwork and flavor text seem to treat these things as genuine. |
| 338 | * {{Megacorp}}: The Zaibatsu Fields structures probably become these post-game. |
| 339 | * MoreDakka: Hits probably the franchise's zenith in ''Fall of the Samurai'', where proto-UsefulNotes/WorldWarI weaponry makes its debut. |
| 340 | ** Case in point, in the historical Battle of Hakodate, a small three-regiment force you control (600 riflemen) is charged by a force five times larger if they're not helped. Properly placed, even in higher difficulty levels your force has about an even chance of mowing down the entire attacking force before running out of ammo. |
| 341 | ** Unlike Levy and Line Infantry, high-tier Guard Infantry units, as well foreign marines, are equipped with breechloading rifles, which are faster to reload. This also means that even a single contingent of them can pour down signinificantly more firepower per minute than what had been previously possible. |
| 342 | * TheMusketeer: All ranged units are capable of fighting in melee but most are rather poor at it. This is the one thing that makes [[AnachronismStew the traditional vs. modern]] multiplayer battles reasonably balanced. However, some matchlock/rifle units are better in melee than others. |
| 343 | ** If you convert to Christianity, you can recruit Portuguese Tercos infantry - European soldiers in heavy armor, carrying muskets and swords. They are point by point the best unit you can field and work great both in melee (with similar melee stats to Katana Samurai) and ranged combat (with accuracy and reloading stats that are almost as good as the Matchlock Hero). Nothing Japanese have can even compare in being this versalite and in the same time powerful. |
| 344 | ** Matchlock Samurai are quite effective at both ranged and melee combat with their Tanegashima guns and Katana swords. |
| 345 | ** Imperial/Shogunate/Republic infantry, their elite Guard variants, and the foreign marines in ''Fall of the Samurai'' are all rather capable in melee, and actually have some very good charge bonuses, to the point where they can outclass certain melee units like Yari and Katana Kachi later in the game. |
| 346 | ** The Shinsengumi Police in ''Fall of Samurai'' are a special unit of "Battlefield Police" who are armed with both Katanas and modern rifles. |
| 347 | * NeutralityBacklash: In ''Fall of the Samurai'', breaking a military alliance with a clan that calls upon you for help will inflict a penalty to your diplomatic relations. A premature termination is even worse: Your Daimyo's honor goes down which will also drop public order in your provinces and the loyalty of your generals. |
| 348 | ** This also applies to that campaign as a whole. While it's debatable whether or not becoming a republic is "neutral" or actually just the beginnings of a third "side", it still fits the trope. By supporting neither the Shogun nor the Emperor (the two major sides), you'll make enemies of them both. |
| 349 | * {{Ninja}}: |
| 350 | ** Recruitable as agents and as battlefield units. In keeping with the emphasis on realism, these act mostly as spies, saboteurs, and occasionally assassins, going into enemy territory in the RiskStyleMap and compromising them behind the lines. Kisho Ninja can also be recruited as a battle unit. They will get swamped in open combat, but they can use an ability to hide in plain sight for a short time, climb castle walls quickly and safely, and use blinding grenades to stun foes and finish off critical targets, making them an excellent utility unit in the right hands. |
| 351 | ** The Monomi in ''Rise of the Samurai'' are the predecessors of ninja, but are not widely used; they can only be recruited from special buildings or a random event. Kisho Ninja don't exist yet. |
| 352 | ** Shinobi and Kisho Ninja return in ''Fall of the Samurai''. They are traditionalist units; broadly speaking, SecretPolice are more useful, but shinobi are still fine assassins and kisho ninja are useful for trick plays. |
| 353 | * NinjaRun: Unsurprisingly used by ninjas. Justified in the case of Kisho Ninja, as the low stance reduces their visibility profile, allowing them to flank the enemy unnoticed among the chaos of a battlefield. |
| 354 | * NinjaPirateZombieRobot: There's nothing stopping you from fielding ninja warriors (kisho ninja) and sending them on a pirate ship. In fact, this is an effective combination if you want to strike a general who hides behind several layers of thoroughly garrisoned territories. Barring mods though, the game doesn't have zombies or robots. |
| 355 | * NintendoHard: |
| 356 | ** The Hattori Clan can be considered one of the top worst clans to play in the Sengoku Jidai. They start in the very middle of Japan with strong neighbors and a home province that is easily defensible but has limited income potential. Exacerbating their situation is that most of their infantry roster has Kisho training which, although allows them to be deployed outside the standard deployment zone, increases their upkeep costs by +25%. This ends up hurting their economy and military potential badly in the long run as they can't risk fielding many units and armies without going into bankruptcy. But having too few units will put them in serious danger of being steamrolled if a neighboring clan decides to become hostile and send a full stack army in their direction. |
| 357 | ** Many can agree that the Uesugi clan's starting position is very unpleasant. Echigo province has way too much territory than can be considered convenient because it takes at least 2-3 turns for an army to travel from the castle town to a neighboring province. And in those 2-3 turns, the neighbors will have built up their armies to a sufficient level that will make a field battle or siege assault a risky or unwinnable proposition. Further complicating their situation is their vassal clan, the Yamanouchi, who can be considered a dangerous liability as they might drag the Uesugi into a war that they're ill-prepared to help them with. |
| 358 | ** The Tokugawa are an unremarkable clan that start off as a vassal to the Imagawa and have to deal with the Oda who have a stronger army than them. Unless they betray the Imagawa immediately or wait for them to be destroyed, they have no options to expand their territory since they can't declare war on other clans. Sadly, their specialization in Kisho Ninja is actually a flaw as Tokugawa Kisho Ninja are inferior to standard Kisho Ninja. This is due to an error that was never corrected[[note]]. Though there are mods that fix the error and give Tokugawa Kisho Ninjas a sizeable stat boost to make them almost as good as Hattori equivalents, so the clan becomes just DifficultButAwesome instead[[/note]]. |
| 359 | * NonCombatEXP: Foreign Veterans can train troops that are stationed in cities or out on the field, increasing their experience with every turn. |
| 360 | * NormalFishInATinyPond: |
| 361 | ** The Nanban Trade Ship is a European-designed vessel that can't even be used for trade: it's literally just a top-tier warship to the Japanese factions despite being weaker than actual trade ships in other Total War games. In ''Napoleon'', you can get a Merchantmen for 400 gold and 50 upkeep. They can be built by pretty much any faction in the game at any Trading Port (a tier 1 building), and are considered "defenseless" despite having 12 guns: for comparison, the weakest warship in that game is the Sloop which has 18 guns. In Shogun 2, Nanban Trade Ships cost 1500 gold and 250 upkeep, can only be built at a Nanban Quarters (a tier 4 building with a one-per-faction limit) by a Christian clan, and can annihilate entire Japanese naval stacks with just 10 guns. For comparison, most Japanese warships are simply floating platforms for soldiers to shoot at each other or attempt boarding. The only Japanese ships that have actual weapons (the Cannon Bune) are a late-game unit that can only has 8 cannons, can only be built by a Drydock (tier 4 building) and has a unit cap of 2. |
| 362 | ** The trope gets even crazier with The Black Ship. This European trading ship has only 20 guns (again, barely more powerful than the weakest warship in ''Napoleon'', and not even half as powerful as that game's 58-gun Indiaman trade ship), but is the ultimate naval encounter for the player here. In addition, The Black Ship is wholly unique. It can't be built (you have to capture it in battle to get it), is limited to one ship per playthrough (it is forever lost if destroyed) and costs 1200 upkeep. |
| 363 | * NotPlayingFairWithResources: The AI gets discounts on unit recruitment on Hard, Very Hard and Legendary, allowing it to assemble larger armies than the player. |
| 364 | * NotTheIntendedUse: An emergent and game-y tactic in ''Shogun 2'' is to decide that a difficult home start doesn't matter if you can just take Kyushu, which is absolutely prime territory both due to its corner position and its control of the majority of Japan's foreign trade. So prime Uesugi and Oda players often pack it out of their barren lands in Echigo or their endangered home in Owari and take over the southwestern isle. |
| 365 | * NothingIsTheSameAnymore[=/=]GameChanger: |
| 366 | ** This is in a sense what ''Fall of the Samurai'' is in a nutshell, no matter how you play it. The TimeSkip to the 19th Century reintroduces some elements from ''Empire'' and ''Napoleon,'' particularly if your chosen clan decides to follow the tides of modernization. But once you gain access to naval bombardments, gatling guns and rifle infantry regiments, there's ''really'' no turning back. |
| 367 | ** The end of the Genpei War led to the establishment of the Minamoto Shogunate which became the major governing power over all of Japan. The war also gave rise to a class of privileged, professional warriors who would come to dominate Japanese culture for nearly a millennium. No matter what clan you pick, the new Samurai units '''will''' come to form the core of your armies and the Minamoto actively specialize in totally replacing Attendant units with them, uprooting the old ways and redefining Japanese society. Hence, ''Rise of the Samurai''. |
| 368 | * ObstructiveBureaucrat: The Kubota Fujiwara have a flaw called "Bureaucratic" which adds +10% to the recruitment cost of Levy and Attendant units. Apparently, they have an arrogant sense of superiority that results in abrasive relations with non-Samurai people. And all of that extra spending can hurt their economy in the long run. |
| 369 | * OffWithHisHead: With the Blood Pack DLC active, one of the kill animations that can be seen in a fight between two sword-armed units is a decapitation move. Also, in the Sengoku campaign, defeated playable clans will have a cutscene where the daimyo commits seppuku before an aide beheads him. |
| 370 | * OneHitKill: Hitting a steamship right in the midsection, where the boilers are usually positioned, is invariably fatal. |
| 371 | * OneHitPolykill: The Shimazu Heavy Gunners are a borderline GameBreaker since their bullets will go through everything that's in their path, resulting in multiple kills per volley. These [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i39yRAFgsqg two]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m40_15w63yE videos]] show how ridiculously devastating the unit can be. |
| 372 | * OnlyAFleshWound: When your Avatar General 'dies' in a Multiplayer Match. |
| 373 | -->"Our general has been injured my lord. He lives, but must now leave the battle." |
| 374 | * OnlyInItForTheMoney[=/=]NotInThisForYourRevolution: Some of the upgradable traits for the Foreign Veteran in ''Fall of the Samurai'' suggest outright that he's likely more interested in his paycheck and [[GloryHound promises of fame]] than any actual loyalty to his assigned clan. |
| 375 | * OnlySixFaces: There's a pretty limited amount of faces that are used for the 3D models. It gets real obvious in ''Fall of the Samurai'', where units' portraits are actual pictures of a 3D model of the unit. |
| 376 | * OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank: The ''Blood Pack'' {{DLC}} invokes this trope. The units bleed freaking ''gallons'' of blood which splash all over the combatants, their armor, their weapons, [[CameraAbuse the game's camera]]... |
| 377 | * OverratedAndUnderleveled: Samurai Hero unit from ''Fall of the Samurai'' is supposed to be the greatest traditional unit. It requires to build a Legendary Dojo (which requires silk to even try) and obviously not advancing too much in technology, or you lose the nice starting experience and morale bonus... only to get downsized Bow Ki unit with unremarkable stats that performs ''worse'' than the regular equivalent due to smaller size. You can only ever train one unit of those. [[PowerupLetdown Oh, and it takes 16 turns to finish the required dojo itself, while you also can only build one of those]]. Arguably, the building is worth more due to the +1 experience bonus to all trained units than for the Samurai Hero. |
| 378 | * PaletteSwap: Played with. As appropriate for a civil war in a somewhat-isolated monocultured island every clan effectively fields the same roster of units with the major playable clans having some advantage or bonus to a particular unit (Shimazu Katana Samurai, Chosokabe Archers etc.) or style of warfare (Uesugi Warrior Monks etc.) to distinguish them. This becomes less aparent with the DLC clans like the Otomo (who have converted to Christianity and have an easier time importing firearms) or the Ikko-Ikki (who forego traditional Samurai for more varied Ashigaru and Warrior Monks) and the specialist units for some of the major clans like the Oda Long Yari Ashigaru. |
| 379 | * PintSizedPowerhouse: The Chiyodagata Gunboat can be equipped with torpedoes once you research the needed technology. Doing this will change what is obviously the weakest naval unit in ''Fall of the Samurai'' into an extreme-range equalizer that can [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPdHYotX-Rk sink an Ironclad with one shot]]. |
| 380 | * {{Pirate}}: In the Sengoku Jidai campaign, Wako Pirates will occasionally appear to raid trade routes and attack small trade fleets. Unfortunately, there is no way of effectively eliminating them permanently and they spawn fleets on random parts of the map. If you're playing as the Mori, you can even recruit units of them in the form of Wako Raiders, lightly armored and stealthy swordsmen who make life for your opponents archers a living hell. |
| 381 | * {{Plunder}}: Captured settlements can be subjected to a sack, which will provide you with a tidy sum of ''koku'', at the cost of your Daimyo's honour that is. |
| 382 | * PromotedToPlayable: Historically, the Fujiwara clan never had any major involvement in the Genpei War. Yet they're introduced as the third faction in Rise of the Samurai. |
| 383 | * PropagandaMachine: The police station subset of buildings has a specific type especially for the Republican factions implied to be this. |
| 384 | * PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Downplayed example in the anchronistic use of the term Burakumin Village instead of the historically accurate but derogatory terms meaning "abundance of filth". Their villages contributing to taxes is also a slight inaccuracy. The caste was exempt from taxation. Although given that gold is paid for the upgrade this may imply either deals or [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe willing assistance to daimyos whose officals treated them with atypical levels of respect]]. |
| 385 | * PowerUpLetdown |
| 386 | ** ''Fall of the Samurai'' introduces some new retainers that are actually harmful than beneficial. |
| 387 | --> Glass Plate Camera: +5% to this agent's chances of being killed in single combat. |
| 388 | --> Opium Pipe: -5% to the chances of escape following an unsuccessful action. |
| 389 | * PyrrhicVictory: Almost inevitable, given the nature (and the design) of the game. In ''Shogun 2'', it's actually called a Pyrrhic Victory if you have a ''lot'' of casualties in a battle you won, though depending on the circumstances, this can be a mere [[WeHaveReserves annoyance]]. |
| 390 | * QuantityVsQuality: In the Sengoku Jidai campaign, all clans (except the Ikko Ikki) will have the choice of filling their armies with ashigaru or samurai units. Ashigaru have larger unit sizes, are cheap to recruit, replenish quickly and are instantly available for recruitment without any building or tech requirements. However, they are prone to [[RunOrDie running away immediately]] when the battle starts to go south. In contrast, samurai are very capable soldiers but are expensive, have smaller unit sizes, replenish slower and require certain buildings and or technologies to be recruited. While samurai units will rip through their ashigaru counterparts in a 1 v 1 fight, ashigaru can actually hold the line with adequate support from their generals, long enough for a flanking force to slam into the rear of their enemies. Also, depending on the clan's state of finances, it might actually be more viable to [[WeHaveReserves send out more ashigaru armies]] rather than funding a fully samurai army. The loss of an ashigaru unit is little to fret about compared to losing a samurai unit. |
| 391 | ** In fact, the meta generally favours the BoringButPractical ashigaru over the samurai, provided the circumstances are right. This is what actually makes Oda a top-tier clan, as their bonuses are all about making ashigaru units ''better'' as well as cheaper. |
| 392 | ** You can also TakeAThirdOption with WarriorMonk units. Warrior monks with naginatas are actually a cut above naginata samurai in terms of melee capabilities (with higher melee attack and melee defence) and a unique War Cry ability to break the morale of others first. Warrior monks with bows (and matchlocks, if you are playing as the Ikko Ikki) have superior range, accuracy and reload speed to their samurai counterparts. And both have greater morale than samurai too - samurai rarely run away but will if the situation is clearly hopeless, whereas monks fight like fanatics and will fight practically to the last man everytime. However even besides the steep research prerequisites, their low armour leaves them vulnerable to archers and cavalry. [[EliteTweak This can be rectified somewhat]] by a Master Armourer (and an Encampment optionally) leaving the monks tougher than samurai to boot. Late-game Uesugi and Ikko Ikki armies with monks are smaller than other clans', but their troops can be ''very'' decisive. |
| 393 | * TheQuisling: |
| 394 | ** The Otomo Clan DLC has hints of this, depending on how you play the aforementioned faction. If Christianization and prolific matchlock access don't give this away (among other things), then the ability to deploy Portuguese Tercos (i.e. ''European'' infantry) against your foes and lease out land to foreigners definitely will. |
| 395 | ** The Satsuma Clan from ''Fall of the Samurai'' gives impressions of this, having the biggest favour with all three of the foreign powers. |
| 396 | ** The Todo Clan of Tsu Domain in ''Fall of the Samurai'' are stated to have previously served the Tokugawa family since the battle of Sekigahara and were rewarded with lands in the heart of Honshu. Yet, as soon as they saw the way the winds were blowing, they switched sides to support the Emperor without a second thought. |
| 397 | ** The Saga Clan ''[[RunningGag from Fall of the Samurai]]'' are slightly more direct that the Satsuma, being the only faction in the game who begin with foreigners already actively trading with them. Appropriate, as their home province of Nagasaki was traditionally the only port where European trade ships were allowed to do business. |
| 398 | * RammingAlwaysWorks: Two of the ironclad types, the French ''L'Ocean'' and Japanese (historically, also French-built) ''Kotetsu'', are equipped with a bow ram that can allow them to sink enemy ships by hitting them at full speed. However, this largely tends to be useless, as they can frequently sink most wooden ships well outside ramming range by hitting them with explosive shots, and trying that with ironclads is likely to end with ''your'' ironclad getting pulverized with volleys of armor-piercing shots before it gets close. |
| 399 | ** However, it should be noted that ramming attacks are a OneHitKill that will destroy any vessel, no matter how heavily armoured or undamaged it is. The best compromise to avoid getting peppered with shot when making the charge across the water is by letting the enemy come close to you before you go in close and personal. |
| 400 | * SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: |
| 401 | ** More than half of the failed assassination/infiltration videos involve the would-be assassins/spies getting caught doing something fairly obvious and getting killed instantly. Especially notable in one of the geisha assassinations, where the geisha approaches two guards with polearms armed with two very short daggers. If successful, she kills both of them, while if unsuccessful.... |
| 402 | ** Invoked in one of the promos for the ''Fall of the Samurai''. The video spends considerable time talking about how awesome and powerful a well-trained samurai is and what it takes to be one, eventually just turning into an incoherent droning of the overlapping praises... only to cut to a single Gatling gun effortlessly turning the samurai charge into a massacre, while in turn a thick-accented American arms dealer starts his sales pitch of the brand new gun. |
| 403 | * RealMenWearPink: The Tsu clan certainly believe so, marching to battle in white uniforms emblazoned with bright pink emblems and trim. |
| 404 | * RecycledSoundtrack: Some of the tracks in the ''Rise of the Samurai'' DLC were either repurposed or updated versions of ones from the original ''Shogun: Total War.'' |
| 405 | * ReformedButNotTamed: The monk agent in the base game may acquire as a retainer a (mostly) Reformed Ronin, who complains he's trying not to use his sword and significantly diminishes his chances of being assassinated. |
| 406 | * RevolversAreJustBetter: Revolver Cavalry can absolutely decimate enemies with a massive barrage of rapid fire. The downside is that the short range of the guns means that the Revolver Cavalry have to get dangerously close to use them. |
| 407 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: The Choshu clan in ''Fall of the Samurai'' qualifies. They surrendered to the Tokugawa clan without a fight and as a ''reward'' were stripped of their possessions, including the famed Osaka castle and given the economically poorer Choshu province. Now [[BestServedCold 250 years later]], they're determined to dismantle the Shogunate. Their faction perks are called "Emperor's Fury" and when controlled by the AI, Choshu typically becomes the Imperial Vanguard. |
| 408 | * RockBeatsLaser: |
| 409 | ** This happens almost any time a melee unit engages in close combat with a matchlock Ashigaru unit. |
| 410 | ** Traditional units will walk all over modern units in the early portion of ''Fall of the Samurai''. This usually gets subverted when they have to deal with artillery and modern rifles, but even late in the game traditional units can still have a place on the battlefield. Spear units can help protect the flanks and artillery units from cavalry attack, while traditional cavalry units like Yari Katchi can ride around enemy armies and take out artillery units in the rear. Units like Katana Katchi and Shogitai are good to have on standby behind your riflemen in the event the enemy tries to overwhelm you with a bayonet charge. Kisho Ninja look massively out of place on a battlefield dominated by riflemen and artillery guns, but between their speed, stealth and incredibly high melee attack, they will fillet line infantry and even put up a mighty fight against elite riflemen and Western troops - all while being a third of their unit size. |
| 411 | ** The one advantage that bow units have over rifle units is plunging fire. This capability allows bow units to fire from behind the safety of an obstruction, such as a hill, whereas rifle units need a direct line-of-fire to attack. |
| 412 | * SameCharacterButDifferent: The Shimazu, Mori and Date from the core game are still around as the rulers of the Satsuma, Choshu and Sendai domains in ''Fall of the Samurai''. They're completely different, though; the Shimazu's specialization in katana is replaced by a grab bag of abilities, while the Date's [[TheBerserker Berserker]] army style is gone and Sendai is one of the most diplomacy-oriented factions in the campaign. The naval-oriented Mori have turned into Choshu, a domain of looting specialists focused on adaptability. |
| 413 | * SaveScumming: Nastily averted in [[HarderThanHard Legendary]] difficulty; the game takes the power of saving away from you and puts you in the hands of the autosave, which saves too often to get much mileage out of SaveScumming, though thankfully, you only need certain provinces and arts to hire better agents. |
| 414 | * ScaryImpracticalArmor: Out on full display, [[TruthInTelevision as per history]]. While most samurai armor is practical, it is often decorated to look impressive, and for some clan leaders this can go almost over the top. Kawari-kabuto can get especially elaborate, and many samurai wear an [[RageHelm oni mask]] over their face. |
| 415 | * SecretPolice: |
| 416 | ** The metsuke in the Sengoku Jidai campaign, bureaucrats who also double as inspectors and spies. They can arrest enemy agents, increase repression in cities by [[{{Unperson}} removing dissidents]] and tax income by [[InternalAffairs rooting out corruption]], protect armies from {{Ninja}} sabotage, [[ThePoliticalOfficer reinforce generals' loyalty with their presence]], and [[EveryManHasHisPrice bribe armies and settlements to join you]]. While they can't be normally dealt with by armies, they can be neutralized, [[HeelFaithTurn one way]] or [[{{Ninja}} the other]], by enemy agents. |
| 417 | ** In ''Rise of the Samurai'', these are at the height of their importance, and there are never enough to go around. The Junsatsushi do everything that the metsuke did (except instead of arresting enemy agents, they bribe them to retire), and they also convert provinces to support their ruling clan, and can convince provinces to pledge allegiance to their clan (which can conquer minor clans without a fight). |
| 418 | ** ''Fall of the Samurai'' introduces UsefulNotes/TheShinsengumi and Ishin-Shishi, who can convert provinces, bribe armies, incite rebellion, and assassinate enemy agents. They are essentially the roles of Monk/Missionary and Metsuke combined into one agent, or a weaker form of junsatsushi. |
| 419 | * SelectiveHistoricalArmoury: In ''Fall of the Samurai'' the vast majority of line infantry units are armed with the Enfield Pattern 1861 musketoon, a shorter version of the Pattern 1853 rifle intended for use by cavalry and artillery units. The original full-length version of the weapon, along with others such as the American Springfield and French P1851, all of which would have been far more common in Japan at the time are nowhere to be seen. Smoothbore more advanced than matchlocks are also noticeably absent. |
| 420 | ** The artillery present in the game has a similar issue. There's absolutely nothing between the borderline-useless wooden cannons and state-of-the-art Parrot and Armstrong guns you can recruit to represent the large amounts of military surplus (especially from the American Civil War) that were being sold off in Japan at the time. |
| 421 | * SelfImposedChallenge: In ''Fall of the Samurai'', the Traditionalist Challenge: unite Japan (ideally, under the Shogunate) while only using traditionalist units. Different players have different views on what's permissible tech-wise; the common challenge is "no modernization," but others prefer climbing to Tech 2, because of the traditionalist arts not available at the first tech tier. |
| 422 | * SemperFi: The USMC are recruitable if you build a US military mission in ''Fall of the Samurai''. Of the three foreign marine choices they're the cheapest and strongest in melee, but are balanced by being poorer shots. |
| 423 | * {{Seppuku}}: |
| 424 | ** When a major clan is destroyed, the recent events feed will have a unique video of the clan's daimyo reciting a death poem and then stabbing himself. This occurs even when the daimyo was killed in battle. Try not to think about it too hard. |
| 425 | ** You can order any general (except the daimyo) to commit seppuku by disbanding their general's bodyguard unit, complete with self-stabbing animation on the campaign map. One of the most likely reasons to do this instead of a UriahGambit is if the general has low loyalty, which puts him at risk of randomly defecting before any given battle. |
| 426 | * ShotgunsAreJustBetter: The Otomo Donderbuss Cavalry are the only unit in the game to be armed with the Donderbuss, ancestor of modern shotguns. In comparison to other missile infantry or cavalry, the death toll from the gunfire of these horsemen is staggering. Entire units can be halved due to a single volley. |
| 427 | * ShoutOut: |
| 428 | ** Players will sometimes get the option of adding [[Film/SevenSamurai Kambei and Kyuzo]] to a general's retinue. The latter is a "Hyoho Niten Ichi-Ryu Duelist," which is probably a reference to his ''Anime/SamuraiSeven'' incarnation. |
| 429 | ** One of the random retainers for the Monk agent is the Bo. The caption reads "[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings You wouldn't deny a holy man his only support]]". |
| 430 | ** Another potential monk retainer is an [[BlindSeer Itako]] companion. Her flavor text is [[Film/EventHorizon "Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see."]] |
| 431 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', the Foreign Veteran agent can acquire a "Hungarian Phrasebook" which tells him how to say "[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus My hovercraft is full of eels]]" in Japanese. |
| 432 | ** ''Fall of the Samurai'' has [[MoreDakka Gatling Gun]] units with an inscription on the body which, upon closer inspection, reads [[WebVideo/AutotuneTheNews "Hide your kids, hide your wife, and hide your husband."]] |
| 433 | ** Listening closely to routing Black/White/Red Bear Line Infantry in ''Fall of the Samurai'' can allow you to hear some of their retreating dialogue. One of which is a panicked yell of [[Music/IronMaiden "Run to the hills! Run for your life!"]] |
| 434 | ** Diplomats from other clans in ''Shogun 2'' will sometimes praise your diplomacy as a "good conversation" with nearly the exact same pronunciation and intonation as [[Creator/KenWatanabe Katsumoto]] from ''Film/TheLastSamurai''. |
| 435 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', one can recruit Kyoto Policemen units if they control the province of [[UsefulNotes/{{Kyoto}} Yamashiro]], after which they can be deployed on the battlefield at the player's leisure. And what's their favourite line? [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers "Wot's all this then?!"]], of course. |
| 436 | ** Similarly, the description of the high-level metsuke trait "thief-taker" (which improves arresting ability) has the FlavorText [[Series/TheSweeney "get your kimono on, you're nicked!"]] |
| 437 | ** The "Realm Divide" mechanic's reasoning (your daimyo is so skilled and powerful that you are declared a threat to the realm and an outlaw) is ''very'' similar to the overarching storyline of ''Literature/{{Shogun}}'' -- and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sekigahara history]]. |
| 438 | ** FlavorText for ''Fall of the Samurai's'' Gambling Den declares, "Bet now, bet now! Betting ends!", which was also the catchphrase that closed out the "betting phase" of the Fox network's very short lived Japanese-style gameshow Banzai. |
| 439 | * ShownTheirWork: |
| 440 | ** Both the main game and ''Rise of the Samurai'' use distinct woodblock printing art styles all over the place to reflect the respective eras covered. Creative Assembly had their artists study traditional techniques for over a year to get it right. |
| 441 | ** The [[TakeAThirdOption Republican path]] in ''Fall of the Samurai'' takes inspiration from the "Republic of Ezo" founded by former pro-Shogunate samurai loyalists. |
| 442 | * TheSiege: As to be expected, a majority of land battles involve surrounding settlements and either directly assaulting their defenders or waiting for them to bring the fight to you. Siege assaults are unsurprisingly costly affairs due to the fortifications and it's almost always a better decision to wait for the inevitable sally forth instead. |
| 443 | * SilverVixen: Shirabyoshi/Geisha are implied to age rather gracefully, considering how ones in her 50's or 60's will be ''better'' at seducing enemy generals and agents than far younger ones. |
| 444 | * SimpleYetAwesome: Despite their cheapness and minimalistic equipment, Spear Levies can and will carry the day in the early-game of any ''Fall of the Samurai'' campaign, provided that they have the support of their commander. Before the AI can gain accuracy upgrades or recruit more effective modern units, the Levies can take a beating long enough to charge home and cut the enemy to ribbons. |
| 445 | * SmashCut: The trailer for ''Fall of the Samurai'' begins with a philosophical and peaceful, yellowish introduction of the process of forging and wielding a Katana, as well as its strong and ancient cultural ties to Japan. It stops abruptly in the very middle, and then cuts to a bluish view of the same samurai from the intro [[CurbStompBattle being mowed down]] by multiple ''[[GatlingGood Gatling]] [[MoreDakka Guns]]'' handled by Imperial Japanese soldiers, with a [[LargeHam hammy]] [[{{Eagleland}} American]] voice-over elaborating on the technological aspects of these brand new engines of death and pressing home a sales contract like he was simply selling a car. |
| 446 | * SnowMeansDeath: |
| 447 | ** The opening cinematic has a Takeda force attacking an Ikko-Ikki fort in the middle of winter. Both sides send out champions to fight in swirling snow. When the champions duel, the backdrop transforms to a beautiful cherry blossom meadow in bloom until the Takeda champion strikes a killing blow - vapor appears as the Ikko-Ikki champion breaths and clutches in pain, and then the snow reappears as he falls dead to the ground. |
| 448 | ** Winter is never a good season to start invading a neighboring province as any attacking armies in hostile territory will suffer winter attrition. |
| 449 | ** As part of its general DarkerAndEdgier theme, ''Fall of the Samurai'' begins its campaign in the bleak grip of winter, as opposed to the base game and ''Rise'', which begin in spring. |
| 450 | * SoLastSeason: |
| 451 | ** In the base game, Shih and Epic Architecture are the final technologies in military and civilian tech tree. In ''Fall of the Samurai'', they are the first technologies in their respective trees to develop and are completely outdated by the standards of the era. This is reflected in the opposite direction in ''Rise of the Samurai'', which has Way of Chi and Way of Bushido, the baseline game's starting technologies, at the top of its own respective tech tree. |
| 452 | ** More concretely, the different army compositions and the varying worth of certain styles of units over the different periods truly demonstrates just to what extent Japanese warfare has evolved over the centuries: |
| 453 | *** During the Genpei Era, armies consist mostly of attendant and levy troops, who are so unskilled and unprepared for combat that the latter are prone to breaking and running away if the enemy so much as looks at them funny. The idea of professional warriors, in the form of the eponymous samurai, is still relatively new in Japan and this is reflected in the fact that samurai in this campaign will absolutely wreck any other kind of unit that isn't a warrior monk, with each being easily the match of dozens of levies. They're balanced, of course, by the fact that, as a new innovation to warfare, they're also very expensive to recruit and maintain. They're also a new enough concept that they're completely unspecialized: every samurai unit is both an archer and a swordsman, varying only in level of skill (and whether or not they have a warhorse) - making them flexible but further adding to their immense cost. |
| 454 | *** Comes the Sengoku Era and the samurai who ruled over the battlefields of the Genpei Era are now a standard complement of every sensible fighting force, supplemented by regiments of ashigaru peasant soldiers who are now actually disciplined enough to be able to offer a meaningful threat to samurai in sufficient numbers - a hint of things to come. Being a much more common feature of the battlefield as they are now, samurai are now more specialized, allowing them to be feasible to field in vastly larger amount than in the Genpei armies and resulting in tactical dynamics that revolve not around who has enough resources to support the larger force of strictly ''better'' units, but by who can best leverage the individual advantages provided by different weapons and tactics - your naginata samurai don't need to also receive extensive training in or carry bows because you can deal with enemy infantry by fielding a separate group of equally affordable katana samurai (or bow ashigaru). Matchlock firearms appear towards the end of the era but are still crude enough that between the exorbitant cost, low firing-rate and low accuracy, they're a very circumstantial weapon for very specific occasions. |
| 455 | *** Finally, comes the Boshin Era and the cumbersome matchlocks of the Sengoku Era have evolved into rifles equipping vast armies of western-style line infantry. In the early game, traditional warriors can still hold their own against modern infantry and samurai archers have the advantage over riflemen in range and accuracy, but they're expensive, not as cost-effective and fewer in number. Training a samurai with bow and sword takes years of investment (as is reflected by their in-game cost), which is simply not worth it when a conscript trained in a couple of weeks can reliably shoot them dead from across the battlefield. As the game progresses, combat comes to be increasingly decided by who can bring to bear more and more advanced artillery technology and "traditional"-style units are left long, long behind in history's dust. Even the heroic samurai at the very peak of the traditional tech tree, legendary warriors who would've dominated the Sengoku battlefield and be an absolute force of nature had they participated in the Genpei War, can now do very little for their astronomical logistical requirements besides gettting disintegrated by an explosive shell or shredded by gatling gun fire before they've gotten close enough to so much as put an arrow to a bowstring. |
| 456 | * SpitefulAI: In Fall of the Samurai, the AI has been seen to ''ask you for all your money'' in return for a trade agreement. Sometimes they then [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder break the agreement THE VERY NEXT TURN]]. |
| 457 | * StandardSnippet: The exceedingly famous, and ubiquitous, tune of "Sakura" shows up regularly in the strategic map music. |
| 458 | * StealthExpert: Kisho ninja, who (as long as they are moving slowly) can move about the battlefield undetected and scale castle walls quickly and safely. While individually skilled, their small numbers and lack of armor means they tend to get smashed in a stand-up fight, but their stealth allows them to do things like capture and unlock castle gates for the rest of the army to pour through or ambush a small, high-value unit (like an enemy general) when they are isolated. |
| 459 | * StrongerWithAge: Expect to laugh gleefully as you see your highest-level {{Ninja}} skillfully fillet enemy Daimyos... at the age of ''65''! Really, ''every'' character you have will inevitably be this if they last. They'll gain ranks as they get to work and time passes by, and [[CriticalExistenceFailure never lose effectiveness]]. |
| 460 | * StuffBlowingUp: |
| 461 | ** Most siege weapons are based on this, be they bomb throwers or mangonels launching earthenware pots filled with black powder, or even rocket-firing squads for those that can manage to get them. The Hojo clan in particular seems to specialize in this, gaining hand-mortar squads in addition to the above. |
| 462 | ** Main weapon of kisho ninja isn't their swords or even stealth. It's the whole squad pelting the general area with grenades. Most of the troops die in droves after being hit just by a handful of bombs, so imagine what happens when entire "volley" strucks particularly crowded spot. |
| 463 | * SuicidalOverconfidence: While generally considered a vast improvement over its ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' predecessors, the campaign AI is still prone to making some suicidal decisions. For instance, "minor" clans with only one or two holdings will suddenly decide to raid the shipping lanes or destroy the rice paddies of their much larger, much more powerful neighbors for seemingly no reason. The AI on the battle map, just like the previous games, averts this by making much more intelligent decisions. |
| 464 | * SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder: At first glance, Yari Ashigaru are just CannonFodder made to hold your frontline cheaply, but every experienced Shogun 2 player knows that they're practically a GameBreaker due to their immediate sheer availability, numbers/replenishment rate, and shocking cost-effectiveness as long as they are put into Yari Wall and not flanked - just make sure they don't get all shot up by arrows for no reason. Additional upgrades, ability/generals'/arts bonuses, and experience can all further their comparative cost-effectiveness due to their large unit size and how most bonuses are directly additive (thereby giving a proportionately greater effect on a smaller stat it improves, combined with how these improvements are stacked onto more individuals as well) - Yari Ashigaru can last players ''very'' many battles with experience and other bonuses propping them up, and are arguably still more important than units which later replace them since those units could never help the player out of EarlyGameHell. |
| 465 | * TacticalRockPaperScissors: |
| 466 | ** ''Shogun 2'' has a clear-cut case in the specialist characters on the strategic map: Ninja/Geisha beat monks/missionaries (they can't detect ninja, ninja/geisha are hard to convert, monks/missionaries are vulnerable to assassination, ninja scouting armies makes them harder to demoralize), monks/missionaries beat metsuke (monks are hard to arrest and metsuke are vulnerable to conversion, adding monks to armies make them harder to bribe), and metsuke beat ninja and geisha (are good detectors, ninja/geisha are vulnerable to arrests, metsuke are harder to assassinate and overseeing armies make them resistant to assassination and sabotage). |
| 467 | ** In the Sengoku campaign, as a general rule spear infantry beat cavalry, cavalry beat sword infantry, and sword infantry beat spear infantry, but the sheer mind-boggling amount of units available renders this somewhat moot in most combats. For example, in the right situations archers can defeat all three of the previously mentioned unit types, but in the wrong situations would lose to all three. |
| 468 | * TacticalSuperweaponUnit: Capturing [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Black Ship]] is an entirely optional naval encounter and sometimes you'd be lucky to even see it. It's the single toughest ship in the regular campaign and it carries a hefty economic toll just to pay its upkeep. But if you can handle the capture and maintenance cost, you'll have a fairly powerful weapon at your disposal. |
| 469 | * TakeAThirdOption: While your chosen clan in ''Fall of the Samurai'' can side either with the Shogun or Emperor, it can eventually opt to basically say "screw it" as its "Realm Divide" choice and go against both of them as a Republic. |
| 470 | * TakeItToTheBridge: Like prior Total War installments, bridge battles can be initiated and are an excellent opportunity to defend yourself against numerically superior foes. |
| 471 | * TeamSwitzerland: Portugal (known as the European Traders in-game). Even if you were to sink one of their ships, this won't provoke them to declare war and you can still purchase gunpowder weapons or recruit Portuguese Tercos. |
| 472 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: In ''Rise of the Samurai'' and ''Fall of the Samurai'', the situation is such that you'll be competing for territory with the others even though you're supposed to be on the same side. |
| 473 | ** The Minamoto, Taira, and Fujiwara clans are all divided into two branches which are the Kamakura & Kiso, Yashima & Fukuhara, and Hiraizumi & Kubota. They are all obliged to work with each other at the beginning as diplomatic relations will slowly deteriorate between them if they just stand around doing nothing helpful for the other. But as only one clan can establish itself as Shogun, they will have to commit the necessary evil of eliminating the other branch. |
| 474 | ** Until Realm Divide comes, the Imperial and Shogunate factions will fight each other unless they choose to make alliances and reach an agreement not to break them for any reason whatsoever. Unfortunately, this tends to be easier said than done. |
| 475 | * ThereWasADoor: For some reason, even if fortifications had their gates sabotaged by ninja or damaged in a previous battle, AI armies will always choose to scale the walls instead, despite charging through the open gates being a safer alternative. |
| 476 | * ThievesGuild: ''Shogun 2'' has the [[DenOfIniquity Sake Den]] and its upgrades, which let you recruit both Ninja agents and Kisho Ninja units. The buildings also improve happiness and economy in the province. In addition to the standard building chain, there is a specialty building chain in some provinces which can be upgraded to a Smuggling Network or a Ninja Fortress. |
| 477 | * ThrowDownTheBomblet: Bomb Throwers, who do [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what they sound like]]. Notably, they have a long wind up time and short range on their attack and their small numbers mean they are easy prey in melee, but when their attack connects the effects are devastating on structures, men, and morale. They are best employed as sappers to open fortress gates, defenders to rain DeathFromAbove on fortress walls, or ambush units set to hide in forests. |
| 478 | * TimedMission: You have 200 Turns to win when playing on Long or Domination Campaign. Researching all of the Technologies, unfortunately, requires more than 200 Turns. Short Campaign gives you a research bonus but far less time to work with. |
| 479 | ** This is extended to 300 turns in ''Fall of the Samurai'' since 24 Turns equals a year and there are 6 turns per season. |
| 480 | * TokenMinority: |
| 481 | ** The Otomo can recruit Portuguese Tercos. |
| 482 | ** In ''Fall of the Samurai'', you can recruit a Foreign Veteran as an agent, as well as foreign marines (British Royal Marines, French Infanterie de Marine or U.S. Marines depending on who you establish a military mission with). |
| 483 | * ToWinWithoutFighting: In ''Rise of the Samurai'', it's possible to knock out a one-province minor clan without fighting them by causing their province to pledge allegiance to you. This is probably the favored way to expand in the early game, especially for the Fujiwara. |
| 484 | * TranslationConvention: The cutscenes feature Japanese-accented English and the same goes for the advisors. By ''Fall of the Samurai'', everyone is doing it. Averted in the base game and ''Rise of the Samurai'' where the generals, agents and soldiers speak Japanese. |
| 485 | * TruthInTelevision: People tend to criticize the melee combat in ''Shogun 2'' because the soldiers are seen strictly fighting one-on-one. The truth is that it is usually impractical for two or more soldiers to double-team (a.k.a. gang-up) one enemy because the more soldiers that are involved in trying to engage one target with a simultaneous attack, the more likely they are to get in each other's way and, in turn, make themselves vulnerable to the target or even friendly fire. |
| 486 | * UnwinnableByDesign: If you fail to win the long campaign by the game year of 1600, you can still keep playing, but you won't get to see the ending, even if you wipe out all the other clans and take over Japan. |
| 487 | * VestigialEmpire: |
| 488 | ** In ''Rise of the Samurai'', the once-powerful central government of the Heian Period has crumbled outside of Kyoto and the provinces under Fujiwara control. |
| 489 | ** In the Sengoku Jidai campaign, the Ashikaga Shogunate is likewise reduced to Kyoto and a handful of loyalist clans, though that changes once Realm Divide kicks in. |
| 490 | ** By ''Fall of the Samurai'', the Tokugawa Shogunate is in a similar situation in terms of actual power. |
| 491 | * VideoGameCrueltyPotential: You can be an absolute sadist after conquered a province. Rather than occupying it, you might choose to make vassal (provided that the province is the former capital of a clan), and immediately after that, send monks or missionaries to... stage a rebellion, watch them utterly crush the poor clan to dust (you might opt to add salt to injury by having your ninjas assassinate either the new shogun or the new heir). Next turn, send your army to destroy the rebels, maybe using your metsuke to bribe some of the rebel's units, and... make the poor clan vassal once again, and once again, let your monks, missionaries and ninja do your dirty jobs. Repeat this, and you will highly be profited by being a VillainWithGoodPublicity: you won many battles, your honour increased (due to having vassals), you gain an unit from your vassal to replenish your force (either a yari ashigaru or yari samurai) your units, generals and agents gained experience from continuous battles and agent activities. |
| 492 | * VideoGameDelegationPenalty: |
| 493 | ** Due to the way Auto-Resolving Naval Battles is calculated, it is ''highly'' recommended that you play them all manually. Otherwise, as described under ArtificialStupidity, you risk losing battles that would be easy victories if played manually (and/or you take more ship damage and casualties than you would manually). |
| 494 | ** Having even a single nanban ship in your fleet will usually push the balance bar massively in your favor. Sounds great, right? Auto-resolve a battle with (highly experienced) Black Ship in your fleet and instantly reload the save, because you've just lost said ship. |
| 495 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: It's possible to have over 6 honor despite bonuses not extending into higher numbers. With careful manipulation of what gives honor, it's entirely possible to counteract the stain of converting to Christianity and/or heavy looting despite those being said to be very dishonorable. If you can manage to accrue 9 honor in total, you can loot to your heart's content as the maximum honor penalty for that is -3, still putting you in range of 6 for maximum honorability. On a lesser note, you can still be seen as very honorable even if you're regularly ordering the assassination of enemies with ninja, apprehending peaceful monks with metsuke and sending an endless wave of monks/missionaries to trigger rebellion everywhere. |
| 496 | * ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: |
| 497 | ** Played straight with the "Realm Divide" event. Once you have control of about one-third of the map, the Shogun will send ''EVERYONE'' against you. All of the remaining clans (except those allied with you, but don't expect them to stay that way for long, as even your vassals will turn against you eventually) will also promptly stop fighting each other, ally with one another, and declare war against you. And they'll often send full stack armies of 20 units ''each'' (of varying degrees of quality) at a minimum. At this point, diplomacy is both worthless and amusingly impossible. Clans which you have never met before will quickly declare war on you because of the "Realm Divide", then because ''they started a war with you'' they will really hate you. |
| 498 | ** Downplayed in ''Fall of the Samurai''. After Realm Divide, unless you decide to [[ICanRuleAlone declare a Republic]], you can still engage in diplomacy with your own side (Imperial or Shogunate). |
| 499 | * WarriorMonk: Sohei warrior monks can be recruited by the Uesugi and Ikko-Ikki factions. |
| 500 | * WarriorPoet: [[TruthInTelevision Unsurprisingly for a warrior tradition that values the arts]], generals can actually invest skill points in composing poetry. Mechanically, this helps a clan advance in [[TechTree the Bushido arts]]. |
| 501 | * WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: Downplayed compared to other ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' titles. You may adopt unrelated generals into your clan's ruling family for almost no penalty (just slightly offending any existing sons), which means that any son, brother, or general is ''somewhere'' in the line of succession. If you lose every male on your clan page, a distant cousin will instantly spawn at your capital and become daimyo, but with a devastating penalty of -4 happiness in all provinces for several turns. On higher difficulty levels, this likely renders your campaign unwinnable. |
| 502 | * WhamShot: The Fall of The Samurai trailer. It starts with an elegant voice over and montage about the samurai, before a SmashCut to them being mowed down by a Gatling gun. |
| 503 | * AWolfInSheepsClothing: In purpose and essence, The Red Seal Ship is the Japanese equivalent of an Armed Merchantman. The idea is to replace the regular Trade Ship, which is highly vulnerable to being attacked, with a ship that looks like a Trade Ship but has a highly formidable crew that can defend themselves and even attack if necessary, freeing up the dedicated warships that would be allocated to escort duty (defending a trade fleet as it's sitting on a trade node) to patrol other areas and fight on the front line instead. |
| 504 | * WouldHitAGirl: In ''Fall of the Samurai'', geishas are particularly vulnerable to death at the hands of shinobi. |
| 505 | * WouldHurtAChild: If your daimyo's sons are still in their childhood, they can be given to other clans as hostages for 8 turns, giving said clan assurance that you will not renege on your dealings with them. However, if you do (or the AI factions [[JerkAss decide to declare war on you without provocation]]), they will kill the child without any qualms. |
| 506 | * WouldntHitAGirl: |
| 507 | ** A ''Level 6 Ishin-Shishi/Shinsengumi'' still has a very low chance of assassinating a '''Level 1 Geisha'''. |
| 508 | ** Foreign veterans flat out ''can't'' do anything to a geisha, being convinced they are in a MightyWhiteyAndMellowYellow scenario. Because of it, geisha gains a ''massive'' bonus against foreign veterans. |
| 509 | * YouHaveResearchedBreathing: |
| 510 | ** In ''Fall of Samurai'', you have to research "kneel fire", which simply involves the front rank of an infantry unit taking a knee so the soldiers behind them can shoot. That's right, simply going into a kneeling position is something that has to be researched, and it's not an early thing either. It's actually very far down the tech tree. On top of it, Japanese developed fire by rank via kneeling natively all the way back during Sengoku period and kept the practice for it going for centuries.. and yet the matchlock kachi not only don't start with kneel fire, but the technology explicitly doesn't provide the ability to traditional units. |
| 511 | ** Also in ''Fall of the Samurai'', you can research "censorship", which grants increased repression in your cities. In a nation that has always been an autocratic dictatorship for its entire existence, you would think all the governments in Japan would already know how to do that. Even better, Metsuke have a "Censor" ability! Apparently no one asked them to write down their practices. |
| 512 | * ZergRush: In ''Shogun 2'', this is required in the early game on higher difficulties. You need to get an army out, and get it out quickly, otherwise you will be overwhelmed. Ashigaru, thankfully, are pretty good for being the [[CannonFodder bog-standard cheap units]]; use this to your advantage to get an army out quickly and get in the face of your rivals. In a single battle, Zerg rush works just fine throughout the game. In Fall of the Samurai you can even buy one army of cheap, low-tech melee spear and sword units and pit it against another consisting of modern artillery and machine guns for the same amount of money. Even if you have them fight in a situation that favors the missile units; open, flat terrain, fighting during the day and in clear weather the melee army can rush and defeat the missile units. |
| 513 | ** Subverted in ''Rise of the Samurai''. Despite the inevitable war that will break out among the major families, overemphasizing your military will leave your troops flatfooted as they must garrison a territory of majority enemy influence to keep it in order or quite slowly replenish their numbers for most of the game - be sure to leave yourself enough income to make regular use of agents to lessen your armies' dirty work. |
| 514 | [[/folder]] |
| 515 |
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FollowingContext VideoGame / TotalWarShogun2
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