{"id":14809,"date":"2012-01-17T09:57:25","date_gmt":"2012-01-17T14:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=14809"},"modified":"2012-01-17T09:59:23","modified_gmt":"2012-01-17T14:59:23","slug":"josh-plays-shogun-2-part-11-border-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/?p=14809","title":{"rendered":"Josh Plays Shogun 2 Part 11: Border Wars"},"content":{"rendered":"

splash_shogun2_josh.png<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Many apologies for all the missed deadlines and delays with this series of late. Last month saw a furious storm of activity at work right around the time everyone else was taking time off. Needless to say, I’ve been hard pressed to find both the time and the will to play any significant portions of Shogun 2 until recently. In the coming weeks I hope to build up a backlog of a post or two written in advance of the post date so that I don’t end up missing many more deadlines. I’ve already played this campaign quite a bit further than this post will cover (Spoiler: Nobunaga is crowned King of Prussia and America invades), so hopefully things will be back on track from now on.<\/i><\/p>\n

shogun11-1thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Now for a quick recap: Last post, we had the Kiso on the run and had backed a Murakami invasion force into a corner.<\/p>\n

The Murakami try to evade Nobuhide’s army, but between the harsh winter conditions and lack of significant nearby roads or trails, they can’t get far.<\/p>\n

shogun11-2thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Nobuhide’s attack is swift and merciless, slaughtering many of the enemy troops and scattering the remainder to the wind, never to reform. With the immediate threat eliminated, Nobuhide can now begin his march into Kai province.<\/p>\n

And the coming of Spring brings more good news.<\/p>\n

shogun11-3thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Oda Nobunaga, nearing his 18th birthday, has come of age and is now ready to join his father’s armies as a general. For the time being, he will remain in Owari and command the western garrison, ever vigilant against the encroachment of the Hatakeyama.<\/p>\n

shogun11-4thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Our other general, Takayama Tadamoto, has pushed his forces into South Shinano province. Unfortunately, he can’t quite make it to the castle gates this season. The siege will not begin until the summer.<\/p>\n

shogun11-5thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Nobuhide, on the other hand, does manage to reach the Kai-province capital of Kofu, and lays siege. I would have ordered him to take the castle this turn, but there is a sizable Murakami force not far from the castle that could reinforce it and inflict more casualties than I’d prefer to risk. My hope is that they will come around and attack me next turn, allowing me to deal with them as I deal with most threats: by sitting on a hill and laughing as the AI charges up it.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, in the way history actually played out, Nobuhide died on April 8, 1551 \u00e2\u20ac" in Shogun 2, this very turn. Fortunately for us, he’ll be sticking around for a while yet.<\/p>\n

shogun11-6thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Summer rolls around and Tadamoto has reached the gates of South Shinano’s castle, laying siege to the fortifications. To my dismay, it becomes clear that the Kiso have not been idle in the months since their defeat at Mino, and have managed to recruit an impressive three katana samurai units, along with two cavalry units and a mismash of ashigaru. My infantry are already partially depleted from the engagements Tadamoto was involved in on his way here, and a three katana samurai main-line could prove problematic. Still, I have an overwhelming missile advantage, and that could easily be a deciding factor in the upcoming engagement.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Murakami force in Kai has retreated rather than trying to dislodge us, effectively abandoning it to Nobuhide. He quickly storms the gates, taking the castle without shedding the blood of a single troop under his command.<\/p>\n

shogun11-7thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

The news of Kai province’s capture only adds to the furor our reputation has evoked amongst the other great clans. We’re more than halfway to realm divide, and we need to end these border wars soon, or the Shogunate will move against us before we are ready to move against it.<\/p>\n

shogun11-8thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

One step towards stabilizing our realm lies in trade. Our economy – until now, largely based on the income gained from taxation of rice farms – has been pushed to its limits with all of the troops we’ve been levying. With some reluctance, I secure a trade agreement with the Hatakeyama, who now own most of the land surrounding Kyoto. I will, of course, need to conquer them in due course, but for the moment, we need the trade. A few other agreements are made with minor, neighboring clans and we finally begin to make some money again.<\/p>\n

shogun11-9thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Uesugi, our neighboring allies, have seen their realm begin to rapidly implode. Pressure on either side from the Murakami and the Hojo has led to a loss of many of their recently conquered provinces, and the Date to the north have managed to take their original home province of Echigo. It may be wise to open negotiations with the Date soon, in order to secure an alliance that might stave off their ambitions.<\/p>\n

shogun11-10thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

It is late fall when the Kiso finally sally forth from their castle in order to break Tadamoto’s siege. My strategy in this battle does not waver from my established doctrine \u00e2\u20ac" I find a hill near the edge of the battlefield and arrange my forces in a defensive position atop it.<\/p>\n

shogun11-11thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Recenly, I’ve come to the belief that the AI assigns movement orders to every unit in a formation as one, without concern for when each unit will reach its destination. This would, at least, explain why the enemy cavalry and one of its generals arrived so far in advance of the rest of the army. They stop just outside archer range, but a bit of baiting with my general convinces them to charge my spear wall.<\/p>\n

shogun11-12thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

If this were a player I was facing, I’d call this good baiting. But since it’s the AI, I’ll just chalk it up to my own sloppiness. The enemy infantry comes roaring across the field to reinforce its cavalry, almost catching my entire infantry line out of position. I manage to rout the enemy general and light cavalry unit, but I’m force to pull my infantry back up the hill before I can rout the enemy katana cavalry. This is much to my own dismay, as the katana cavalry are probably the biggest threat in their army aside from their three katana samurai. They’re a cavalry unit that is extremely good at standing and fighting, rather than relying upon the typical charge and retreat tactics that most other cavalry units require. If they were to get past my infantry and into my archers, they could start a mass rout.<\/p>\n

The enemy katana samurai and yari ashigaru rush up the hill to attack my own line, and the battle is joined proper.<\/p>\n

shogun11-13thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

The battle on the main line is furious, and my center begins to collapse as I commit too many units to combating the enemy’s attacks on my flanks. I get lucky, however, as one of the units I send to attack the enemy’s left flank grabs the attention of the enemy general, and I manage to pull him into a melee fight. He doesn’t stick around long, but I do a respectable amount of damage to his bodyguard.<\/p>\n

shogun11-14thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

I begin to encircle the remaining four enemy infantry units and reinforce my center with one of my few remaining unengaged spear units. I catch the enemy general again, and this time he doesn’t get away. The battle comes down to the wire as I throw everything I have at the enemy katana samurai – even my own general – trying to break their morale before they break my own.<\/p>\n

shogun11-15thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

Eventually, it comes down to a contest between three heavily depleted spear units, my general, and the last katana samurai.<\/p>\n

I win, narrowly, but my infantry line is completely devastated.<\/p>\n

shogun11-16thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

The game rightly labels this a Pyrrhic victory \u00e2\u20ac" I lost nearly as many men as the Kiso did, and two whole units were completely annihilated. It’s a sign of the times to come \u00e2\u20ac" the AI is beginning to field large groups of samurai in their armies, and my ashigaru armies won’t be able to compete for much longer. I need to recruit newer, more powerful troops, and I’ll need to build an infrastructure that can support them.<\/p>\n

shogun11-17thumb.jpg<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/p>\n

South Shinano falls in short order, and with little further bloodshed. For the moment, at least, we have the manpower necessary to rebuff anything the Hojo or the Murakami can throw at us. And we now possess every province required for my northeastern defense strategy \u00e2\u20ac" there are now only three points from which we can be attacked by anyone from the east. And with our borders finally secured, we can turn our attention west, towards the final prize.<\/p>\n

The Shogun’s gaze may be focused upon us, but our gaze is just as focused upon him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many apologies for all the missed deadlines and delays with this series of late. Last month saw a furious storm of activity at work right around the time everyone else was taking time off. Needless to say, I’ve been hard pressed to find both the time and the will to play any significant portions of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[188],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spoilerwarning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shamusyoung.com\/twentysidedtale\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}