A general strategy for Japan (BNW)

[megabearsfan]

Continuing my series of Civ V BNW strategies, I have just published a guide for a legacy civ that received major updates: Japan.
Please check it out at:
http://www.megabearsfan.net/post/2015/01/07/Civ-V-Japan-strategy.aspx

As always, I appreciate any feedback, so please comment, share, or rate the post as you see fit. I also welcome any discussion about the strategy guide or Japanese strategies in general in this forum topic.

Additional strategies for the BNW civilizations can be found at:
Assyria the tech thief
Brazil the jungle king
spicy Indonesia
Moroccan gatekeepers
Poland the progressive warhorse
Portual borrows luxuries
Land-snatching Shoshone
Blindly managing Venice
Beware Shaka's loincloth of DOOM!

Additional BNW strategies for updated legacy civs:
French tourist trap
Spreading faith with Arabian Ships of the Desert
India is misunderstood
German engineering


I have also posted a similar thread on the official 2k forums.

 

[stormtrooper412]

Ouch, did you HAVE to make a screenshot of America nuking Hiroshima, especially since Oda is my favourite hired gun to have nearby because he likes killing people and he likes money to I put two and two together

 

[beetle]

Thanks MegaBearsFan for another great article, I learned a good bit. Not the least of which is that I thought Autocracy’s Elite Forces tenet made wounded units stronger than normal! Even with your write-up, I am still not convinced Bushido makes enough difference to change melee play style, but I very much appreciated the description of how it helps other types of units.

I spotted one error:

keeping some Samurai in your territory will also allow you to replace any fishing boats that get pillaged by barbarians or enemy units.

Barbs do not pillage work boats after they are planted (thank goodness).

 

[megabearsfan]

Thanks MegaBearsFan for another great article, I learned a good bit. Not the least of which is that I thought Autocracy’s Elite Forces tenet made wounded units stronger than normal! Even with your write-up, I am still not convinced Bushido makes enough difference to change melee play style, but I very much appreciated the description of how it helps other types of units.

It doesn't change the strategy much, it just makes it a little easier for Japanese units to survive. They still take about the same amount of damage, but they deal more damage to the enemy units.

So for example: if a Japanese swordsman fights another civ's swordsman. Say they both do 20 damage to each other. If they fight the next round, the enemy swordsman now has a wounded unit penalty and does like 6 or 7% less damage; whereas, the Japanese swordsman still does full damage. The next round, the enemy unit might lose another 20 HP and now has a 33% combat penalty. So even though they were even to start, the other unit begins losing more health than the Japanese unit, so that at the end, the Japanese swordsman can attack and finish off the enemy swordsman without much risk of dying.

And even if you attack the same Japanese unit with multiple units, the Japanese unit will do more damage to each of your units, which leaves those units more vulnerable to counter-attack. So when you combine this effect with defensive, flanking, great general, and fortification bonuses, entrenched Japanese units can be very difficult to defeat without taking a LOT of extra damage unless you can kill them in a single round of combat each. So if you get counter-attacked (even by wounded units), your units are at a disadvantage because they have [cummulatively] less HP.

It's not as big of a bonus as it could be, since the damage penalty is capped at -33%. But that's still up to a 33% bonus, which can be significant.

I have added an additional paragraph of elaboration to the strategy post that will hopefully explain the effect above.

I spotted one error:
Barbs do not pillage work boats after they are planted (thank goodness).

I'm pretty sure that I've had barbarians pillage my work boats before. Is this something that was changed at some point?

 

[beetle]

So for example: if a Japanese swordsman fights another civ's swordsman. Say they both do 20 damage to each other. If they fight the next round, the enemy swordsman now has a wounded unit penalty and does like 6 or 7% less damage; whereas, the Japanese swordsman still does full damage. The next round, the enemy unit might lose another 20 HP and now has a 33% combat penalty. So even though they were even to start, the other unit begins losing more health than the Japanese unit, so that at the end, the Japanese swordsman can attack and finish off the enemy swordsman without much risk of dying.

That’s a really good example. How about fitting it into the article?

And even if you attack the same Japanese unit with multiple units, the Japanese unit will do more damage to each of your units, which leaves those units more vulnerable to counter-attack. So when you combine this effect with defensive, flanking, great general, and fortification bonuses, entrenched Japanese units can be very difficult to defeat without taking a LOT of extra damage unless you can kill them in a single round of combat each. So if you get counter-attacked (even by wounded units), your units are at a disadvantage because they have [cummulatively] less HP.

The exposition about bushido making your opponent difficulty was well done.

I'm pretty sure that I've had barbarians pillage my work boats before. Is this something that was changed at some point?

It has been that way a long while, like a couple of years. I think in vanilla, work boats still get pillage.

 

[megabearsfan]

It has been that way a long while, like a couple of years. I think in vanilla, work boats still get pillage.

I always build a Trireme before building a work boat or caravan so that I can defend them, so I haven't had barbarians in my waters for a long time. So I'm not sure what the rule is.

 

[x2Madda]

I always build a Trireme before building a work boat or caravan so that I can defend them, so I haven't had barbarians in my waters for a long time. So I'm not sure what the rule is.

Easy enough to test out I suppose but I have noticed that enemy barbarian ships no longer beeline my improved fishing tiles instead choosing to hover around my cities instead.

Enemy civs will pillage them freely though.

 

[budweiser]

I'm playing through a game right now as another civ, but I just ended up with Steel in the BCs. It made me think of Japan.

General build was 3 city liberty, libraries & NC late (doesnt matter), Philo>Steel. Had 2 caravans going to bring in extra beakers.