Total War: General discussion.

It's "overseeing cities", which increases the tax income of a given city.

They can also improve a general's loyalty by overseeing an army, but that's about as unlikely to be great as sabotaging buildings and never worth improving specifically.

All right here's a situation. There's this minor clan named Honma. Power is pretty weak, but one of its cities are located in a small island. Which has a FUCKING GOLD MINE (Sado). It's at peace though. Is this a perfect target of "Hey you, wanna war?"

I say go for it. It'll help your cash flow, but that clan has a tendency to build up a stupidly huge army without leaving the island.

If they say "No", do it anyway.

Oh, god, yes, the Honma. Every single campaign, the entirety of Japan burns, and the Honma are perfectly content to sit on their golden island doing f*ck all. Well, except that one time where I was playing Chosokabe, and they got dragged into a war with me. By the time the original war was long over and I had forgotten to actually make peace with them, they suddenly landed an entire army on my coast. That was a weird surprise. Also very annoying.

Yeah, the Honma are always a good target, though conquering them has a way of ending up a little more complicated than expected. Fist there is the fact you need a navy to ferry your troops across. Because of this, you likely haven't send a Ninja ahead to scout them out. And then you arrive, where it turns out that in between the gold mine and AI cheat money, they managed to recruit a full Samurai army and build a Citadel to defend their property.

So scout them out first, I'd say. Then go nuts.

I actually got to visit Sado once! The gold deposit wasn't discovered until 1601 or so, IIRC.

Huh. And here I thought that it was originally silver that was changed to gold for gameplay purposes.

Must've been thinking of some other region.

Units can get retainers. What's the best retainer an agent (usually ninja) can have? I have Madman's Disguise and Shuriken as options for now.

It mainly depends on what you want that agent to specialize in.

Wanted to attack the Honma, and yet they kept allying with Hatakeyama and might damage my income.

I might as well restart. And note to self, METSUKE FIRST. LOADSAMONEE.

The retainers are totally randomly received, so the best one depends entirely on what you can actually choose from.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's a comprehensive list of retainers anywhere. You'd just have to try your luck with reading a bunch of Google results.

Edited by VutherA on Jul 14th 2018 at 12:29:56 PM

Okay next question: Army composition.

Lots of armies seems to drain my resources. Ashigaru units are the definition of Boring, but Practical unit (what's the equivalent for katana users?). So ideally, what should be the ratio of 'special unit'-yari ashigaru-bow ashigaru I should build up so I also don't drain my money too much?

EDIT: I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Ashigaru are your main unit pretty much through the entire game. However, the "perfect ratio" depends entirely on where you are in the game and what units you have to stiffen them up.

For much of the early-to-mid game, after you are ready to support some samurai, I'd say about four Katana Samurai and two to four Yari/Light Cavalry should serve yours needs for stiffing up the Ashigaru line quite splendidly. As your income grows you can start fitting in more speciality troops, like a couple of Bow Samurai, No-Dachi Samurai or Naginata Warrior Monks. Don't replace all your Bow Ashigaru with Bow Samurai, though. Bow Samurai are great for softening up units with strong armour, but Bow Ashigaru will get more kills on their fellow peasants.

Never been a fan of Yari Samurai, though. Yari Ashigaru serve the purpose of warding off cavalry perfectly well for half the money, and Yari Samurai still get murdered by Katana Samurai, so I haven't been able to find a proper niche for them to fill.

In completely different news, my campaign is just about to reach its climax. I'm playing Shimazu, since I felt like playing a relatively relaxing campaign to get me back in the groove.

I suffered an awfully slow start. The Ito should have been an easy victory, but after I conquered the province next to my capital, the geography got really in the way. Due to a well-placed mountain and river, I could never reach them once they began threatening one of my cities, and when I moved to intercept them, they moved to threaten the other instead. They went left, I went left. Then they went right, and I went right. This continued for a while and that's how I got stuck with two provinces for way too friggin' long.

In hindsight, I probably should've just split my forces and garrison both cities. I've been playing too much Total Warhammer and forgot that was an option. Alternatively, I should've just let them take the lesser city, and retake it the next turn. I've been playing too much Total Warhammer and forgot you don't have to rebuild the entire sodding city every time it gets captured.

Then the Shoni came in and murdered the Ito from behind, as well as my trading parter. This was not ideal, since the Shoni had been conquering the entire island while I was busy playing tag with the Ito, and grew pretty strong from it. They sent a large stack of Ashigaru my way. Though I couldn't match them in numbers, in the time that I was stuck I had been recruiting a couple of Katana Samurai. They had a lot of fun that day, once I managed to lure them into an ambush.

With the Shoni's first army demolished, the Mori felt emboldened enough to attack the Shoni from behind. This confusion allowed me to take one of their cities. Unfortunately, the Shoni had converted to Christianity, and along with them a good chunk of their populace, thanks the Nanban Trade Quarter they took from the Otomo. I could've pressed on and knock the Shoni out then and there, but I'd be risking religious riots in the cities I left behind. Plus, with the Shoni weakened, the Mori would've had an easy time conquering provinces on Kyushu, which I'd rather prevent.

So I gritted my teeth, and sent them a peace treaty. Ten more turns of doing very little other than keeping my population under control and preparing for the next push while the Shoni and Mori managed to fight each other to a perfect stand-still. Once the truce was over, I had the Monks and Metsuke to keep any would-be rioters under control, and rolled right over the Shoni.

With Kyushu firmly under my control, I was faced with my next problem. Going through the Mori into Honshu would've been the most obvious path towards expansion, but the Mori had been using their time better than I did, and were straight-up stronger than I was. Now, I probably could've taken them in a straight-up land war eventually, but Mori did as Mori does and had built and impressive navy where I had none. This would make defending my borders impossible, and they would conquer my stuff a lot faster than I would theirs.

So, after beating on the same enemy for such a long time, I decided to make friends instead. They were hesitant about a military alliance, but they welcomed the Trade Agreement that came with it and even gave me some pocket change in return. With that trade agreement I opened up more of the map, which means even more trading parters. Looking at the map, the lines seemed drawn pretty clearly: The Date were by far the the strongest faction (they gave me 25000 for a trade agreement. Ka-ching!), taking a firm hold of the north. If it were a player, they would've triggered Realm Divide by then. Going south, you had the Takeda, Oda, Hattori and Hatano battling it out with no clear winner in sight. Then there was the Mori trying to break through the Hattano to get to Kyoto, and finally me. Meanwhile, on Shikoku, were the Chosokabe, who reached an impasse fighting the Miyoshi.

So there I was, sitting on a giant pile of money I gained from peddling trade agreements to all these fine people, with more coming in every turn, a friend with a big strong navy to make sure that it stays that way, and an easy target one boat trip away. Kyushu is also home to provinces with speciality upgrades to melee infantry, cavalry, bows and even navies. I couldn't have asked for a better position to make up for all the lost time. I invested the money in my infrastructure, built a navy, began recruiting a nice new army, and invaded Shikoku.

The Chosokabe managed to put up a surprisingly good fight. I had sent over my Daimyo who was still using mostly Ashigaru troops, with a quartet of Katana Samurai and some Yari/Light Cavalry. I assumed that would be enough to take over three provinces, but cheating AI money got in the way. I took one castle by surprise, but the Chosokabe had nearly two full stacks of Samurai units to take it back. Luckily, they were too far from each other to reinforce, had no cavalry other than their generals, and I brought two units of Imported Matchlock Ashigaru.

Now let me tell you, those matchlocks can really turn a fight around. Bow Samurai may have their advantages, but in a shooting match with matchlocks, they get completely demolished, especially when they'd rather aim at the Yari Ashigaru behind them. I attacked the weaker army on my turn, took pretty bad losses, and retreated behind the walls to welcome the next army.

Now that was a hard fight, since the Chosokabe love themselves some bow samurai. They accurately shoot you with arrows until they run out of arrows, and then you still have to content with a marginally capable melee unit. Not a good sight when you need to defend a fort with half an army. Thankfully, my Katana Samurai managed to beat off their Yari Samurai despite the numbers, and the matchlocks were good for nearly four hundred kills, largely on Bow Samurai. By the end, my army was mostly gone, but theirs was just a little bit more gone than mine. After a few turns of recruiting and replenishing I easily took their last holdouts.

Next were the Miyoshi, a minor clan with only two provinces. Big stack of Yari Samurai, but by that then my new army with all the latest upgrades had finished, so it was a pretty easy war. My navy was also coming along nicely, and I decided to break relations with the Mori. Now, to their credit, the Mori were not stupid. They saw right through my plan, and instead of having their navy piddle about blocking trade ports on the other side of the country, they immediately recalled all of it as soon as I broke the alliance.

Towards the end of the truce, I was starting to feel nervous about this. My fleet matched theirs when it came to ships, but the Mori are really good at shipbuilding, with more men available on each ship. Also, I suck at naval battles (with no desire to get better, because naval battles suck) so they would doubtlessly win in the end. My plan was to sneak three armies in different spots on their territory, and hope that my navy would hold out long enough against theirs before they could throttle my trade, but it was an uphill fight. I was going to need a serious lucky break to pull it off.

And then, two turns before the truce would end, the Black Ship arrived and would pass by my fleet of forty ships the next turn.

Opportunity came for a visit, and brought twenty-four cannons to get the party started.

With enough numbers, capturing the Black Ship is a pretty easy matter. Just shield your main ships with Bow Koboyas on the approach, and once you've closed in, keep boarding it until they finally run out of guys. One turn of repairs later, my new flag ship went to town on the Mori. With the seas firmly under my control, I landed my armies and proceeded to kick ass.

And now, I'm at the doorstep of Kyoto, Realm Divide has hit, and I find myself completely walled by the Oda, Takeda and Date. My three armies have taken defensive positions around Takeda-held Osaka, and I'm stuck in a stalemate a stone-throw away from the main prize.

I think I already know how I'm going to break through. Two turns from now, I'll have researched Gunpowder Mastery. Being able to recruit Matchlock Ashigaru (which I believe are strictly better than the Imported variant) from any castle is already huge, but not as huge as what else I have in mind.

Fun fact: the accuracy bonus units gain from the Master Bowcrafter also applies to Matchlocks and Mangonels. Darnedest thing, really. With this, plus the Hunting Lodge and experience bonuses, I'll be able to recruit Matchlock Ashigaru with nearly 60 accuracy. If I spring for a few Matchlock Samurai, that number would go over 70. A front-line of these puppies, backed up by the famed Shimazu Katana Samurai and some Yari Cavalry to ward off enemy cavalry charges should absolutely obliterate the many Yari Samurai defending Kyoto. I might actually bring a couple of Mangonels. The walls around Kyoto are a real pain to break through, the marching distance penalty should matter what with the seas under my control, and surely having double accuracy would matter at least a little bit, right?

Yeah, this is gonna be a good one.

Edited by Kayeka on Jul 15th 2018 at 12:28:11 PM

Well, after discovering that the other L Ls you recruit in Mortal Empires apparently don't get their own quests, I've gotten all the requirements needed to get Archaon all of his gear. Once I do that, and after some buildup across all of my different armies to get them quality units aside from Norscan Marauders, I'll begin the march south.

I should probably start training more agents to spread Chaos Corruption around and get me some rebel armies to help.

Here's a suggestion for army comp at 5:03

If you liked that, you can watch the rest of the video for a general campaign guide too. I'd also suggest MrSmartDonkeyLP's clan overview videos if you're just wondering what to play next in Shogun 2.

Edited by VutherA on Jul 15th 2018 at 10:15:29 AM

I'll check the general campaign mode. I have prepped a backup save file that lets me start way back from the beginning.

Well, right now, I just took on the other castle from Mogami. I hope that when I accumulate enough happiness, I can bring enough force to beat the crap out of it, instead of having the Honma take their other castle.

As usual, Metsuke was build at Iwate. So what should the other Province be focused on, between Monk and Ninja? (And until what level should I upgrade my Castle? I have Stronghold...)

Is there anything I should watch out for market tier buildings? I heard I shouldn't upgrade way too far.

Also I just remembered. I have two harbors. If I have both of them send trade ships to Ainu, can I double my trading profit? Or just 1 trade ship is enough?

Also about Charging. I'm not sure what it meant, does this mean that infantries needs to run forward and attack instead of waiting for the enemy to attack and goes "COME AT ME BRO"?

Now let's imagine that my 2 katana infantry are charging to an enemy yari ashigaru... but that yari ashigaru is backed with a cavalry... This is where I say... "Fuck. Where are MY yaris!?", but if it's you experts out here, what would you do?

Edited by ChrisX on Jul 17th 2018 at 2:19:34 AM

You upgrade your castles as needed. If it's in a province with unit recruitment bonuses (blacksmith, stables, fletcher), you upgrade so that you can build all the recruitment buildings you need. If it's in a contested border region or a conflict is coming up, you upgrade to make it more defensible. Otherwise, just build markets and upgrade them for the income bonus. Castle and market upgrades both cost food, so keep an eye on your surplus and avoid falling into negative numbers.

Charging is done by double right-clicking on an enemy unit. You'll hear the unit's battle cry in confirmation and see them rushing forward, weapons at the ready. They gain a bonus to their melee values for ten seconds or so, after which the values return to normal. Cavalry units and the No-Dachi Samurai have limited melee/armour values but high charge bonuses, so they deliver most of the damage on the charge and will suffer in prolonged fights. Either use them to flank, or charge another unit in so they'll have the space to withdraw and make another charge.

, but whatever

Whether you want a Ninja or a Monk depends on whether you need a scout or a Public Order dispenser. When I'm making a push for conquest, I like having my armies followed by one or two Metsuke and Monks, who then work together to bring up public order in newly conquered provinces so that my main army can move on quicker, giving the enemy less time to recover. This is a pretty good strategy to apply when you have multiple castle towns close to each other so you can take one province each turn, and retreat if things go south.

But, since you are playing the Date, I believe that caste towns tend to be rather far away. It's dangerous to have your army walk that kind of distance without first scouting out the enemy to see whether they are threatening your borders elsewhere. In this kind of situation, a Ninja would probably serve you best.

Upgraded markets, like castles, consume Food Surplus. Not only is it rather dangerous to balance on the edge of negative Food Surplus, since the enemy only has to raid or sabotage one farm to give you serious trouble, but Food Surplus also gives a global Economic Growth bonus.

Take, for example the first upgrade to your market: the Rice Exchange. It consumes 1 Food Surplus and stimulates economic growth by 10, plus some added fixed wealth each turn. If you have fewer than ten provinces, this is a pretty good deal, since 1 Food Surplus gives 1 point towards growth in all owned provinces. However, you won't have only ten provinces for very long, and once you do, the Rice Exchange actively gets in the way of your total economic growth.

Giving you more exact details would involve math, and it's my day off, but in general upgraded markets are good for more money right now, but for the playing the long game you would probably prefer to have many, smaller markets instead spread around for a stronger economy.

How many Trade Ports you have should not matter for Foreign Trade Nodes. However, you want to send 10 trade ships either way to the Ainu to maximise profits. Make sure you build a navy capable of protecting the Trade Ships before you actually start relying on this income.

Yes, charging means that your dudes run at their dudes.

It is generally a good idea not to commit all your units at once. Leave some troops in reserve to respond to enemy actions like that. For example, if you charge your Katana Samurai in first, in may want to have a unit of Yari Ashigaru wait right behind then to either join the battle if the enemy charges in their cavalry through their own men, or to run and screen the Samurai's flanks when the cavalry tries to move around.

Alternatively, you can have the Yari Ashigaru walk in front and set up a Yari wall. Yari Wall is an excellent special ability unique to the Ashigaru, that nullifies the opponent's Charge Bonus, allowing the Ashigaru to hold out basically forever. By the time the enemy finally manages to chew through your Ashigaru, they will be dead-tired, and your fresh Samurai will have a very easy time carving through them.

Personally, I like having some units of Yari Cavalry of my own to intercept any cavalry trying to be sneaky. They are also really good for killing Generals.

In unrelated news Fire Mangonels are still stupid.

Edited by Kayeka on Jul 16th 2018 at 10:18:33 AM

When's a good time to charge? Is it when the enemy is nearing or we can charge from far away? Because fatigue is a thing. Maybe charging too early would be bad when you're not a cavalry.

Also one thing that bugs me is the way infantry lines up. Which one is better for their starting position: If they're forming a thin line like an arrow, or if they're forming a wide line? Because for the former... well I thought it would make them take longer to fully deal their damage. I may be wrong in this so please CMIIW at if how a unit lines affect their performance.

Also when I am in siege and hovers my mouse on the gate, it sometimes turns into a square. What is that, actually?

If you want to take the fight to the enemy, then you should wait with actually charging until you are in range of there arrows. Until then, just walk to lessen fatigue. Running is only for charging or taking a favourable position before the opponent does.

Try not to charge uphill. If the enemy is on a hill, try to draw them out with arrows instead.

It is generally better to form wider lines, though you don't want to overdo it. As a rule of thumb, you want your line to be as wide as the opponent, plus a bit more.

Infantry units can down a gate, allowing your own troops to march through. That's the mouse-over icon you're seeing. This is very useful for an attacker. Don't try to have all your troops storm the gate, however. Arrows are still a thing, and the enemy will try to block you, resulting in a giant brawl that will probably not be in your favour and take ages to resolve. I generally send two Katana Samurai through the gate, and have some Yari Ashigaru climb the walls to divert the opponent's attention and silence bowmen.

Edited by Kayeka on Jul 16th 2018 at 4:10:11 PM

That square icon sometimes appear even when the gate is still standing and closed. Can it be used in that state or I have to resort to burning down the gate?

So as a rule of thumb, the climbers should be the distraction while the main force tries to break down the gate?

Yeah, you want to send your katana/nodachi at the gate because they'll be able to actually get a charge bonus out of it, where the first wall-climbers certainly won't.

Okay. Another thing for Siege. What should I do against those archers lining up behind the wall and shooting at me? Shoot them back with my archers? Sounds like a waste of time... But those are getting annoying.

Well, that's just how I do it, and it seems to work okay. The thing is that the people climbing the wall will be fighting at a serious disadvantage. Katana Samurai could probably actually win if wall is guarded by Yari Ashigaru, but take heavy losses which are somewhat difficult to replace. The big brawl for the gate suits them far better.

If, for whatever reason, you find yourself attacking a castle with substantial defenders, your best option is to burn down multiple gates and send some reliable melee troops through. Probably Katana Samurai, but Naginata Samurai or Warrior Monks should also do nicely, if not better. I personally don't have much faith in Nodachi Samurai to hold out once their charge bonus runs out.

Try not to go through the gates simultaneously, but let the defenders blob up on the first gate before marching through the second and third. While marching through the second, send Yari Ashigaru up the walls for a little more distraction.

With luck, this would allow some of your units to pass through and form up undisturbed, allowing them to capture arrow towers and the main keep before charging into the backs of the defenders at the gates.

Or you can just starve them out. Not as fun, but it works.

You should indeed send up your Bow Ashigaru to shoot back at them before sending up anyone else. This is not because they would win the shooting war, but because a defender shooting at your Bow Ashigaru is a defender not shooting at something that actually matters. Once the actual fighting starts you can send Yari Ashigaru up the wall to silence them.

EDIT: Of course, if you can shoot at them from a 90-degree angle, that would be even better, because then they can't shoot back.

Edited by Kayeka on Jul 16th 2018 at 4:40:31 PM