Conquests: Sengoku strategy/tip thread

[BrianJ]

I'm creating one thread per conquest in order to discuss strategies and experiences with each conquest. I'm curious to see what people think is the best civ to play for each one, as well as the easiest and toughest. I'd like to see some straegies and tips for each civ.

 

[player1 fanatic]

For extra challenge add NoAIPatrol=0 line in your conquests.ini, and see what real barbarians are.


Try making many contacts and research non-military techs (like Alphabet or Masonry) and trade them for military ones and AI workers if possibile.

 

[player1 fanatic]

One question:
What's are best early moves in this conquest?

Since you can only support 2 units per city in this scenario, does it pay off to put some cities at wealth at some point?

 

[barryrf]

Not all starting postions have iron...make sure you get it early ..build bushi warriors with the iron.. and use them to conquer your neighbors that dont have iron...this will get you off to a big lead.

 

[Jurimax]

Depending on the difficulty level, use your daimyo to scout the huts and kill off the barbs, the AI will always fortify their daimyo in their capital.

Greetz Jurimax

 

[Kime11]

I played it once,didn't conquer,think it's inposibile,won on points,did pretty much the same as Jurimax said... (and had lucky with good luxury resources near me....)
This is scenario with most war time,I would say;it is made (with many units and little science discoveries) for war...

 

[Cuivienen]

This scenario is completely broken unless you mod it to remove Pillaging from the Yamabushi. Wait until the mid-game when everyone has Yamabushi, sign some close-by AIs against some far-away AIs and watch the AIs pillage each other into the Stone Age. Win easily afterwards, as the AIs won't be able to research or support decent armies.

 

[Sobassis]

Use Daimyo to kill barbarians and the use him to crush your enmies in very quick order, (save before you attack their Daimyo incase I am wrong), once there Daimyo start looking powerful, wait until you have samurai warriors and the go and kill some more people. I win that level alot when I play as Date

 

[Rik Meleet]

My tip:
Don't put your Daimyo in recently captured cities; in case they flip.


Yes, it has happened to me ...

 

[scoutsout]

Regicide and the Ninja stealth/amphibious attack are borderline unbalanced. Any AI with a coastal capitol is vulnerable to an amphibious stealth attack in which the ninjas simply eliminate the AI daimyo, ending that civ's existence in a single turn. Want to win this by conquest? Build lots of Ninja.

This scenario does have some interesting combined arms possibilities. The rocket cart and fire cannon with a range of 3... I love Samurai Archers. I've never had any luck bombarding with Samurai Horse Archers; I suspect this unit is 'broken'. Concur with Cuivienen on the Yamabushi, crossing six tiles into enemy territory as if they were roaded tiles... unbalanced.

 

[Oddible]

Samurai Horse Archers don't bombard. WAD. The Yamabushi thing you describe is a bit weird. Never really seen that. Mostly Yamabushi come in and get trounced by local defenders after a single pillage or two. The fact that there is so much warring in this scenario means that its going to be expensive to build enough Yamabushi for an AI to completely pillage another AI. Sucks that this happens tho I guess.

As far as the "Ninja Exploit" goes, I don't really see that as very unrealistic. I mean the Ninja can sneak right into the capitol if you don't have any Yamabushi around. so you'd better build a screen of Yamabushi to protect yourself. Same goes for coastal - better have ships to prevent a ninja amphibious. Though the suggestion is of course that the AI don't do so - which stinks but hey, so role play it a bit and don't kill them that way. I wouldn't say unbalanced, but it is lame if the AI don't compensate. Like the way AI don't use artillery well. Oh well.

Strategy: Yes, better get the iron quickly. Horses not so important early but later when the Yamabushi start showing up and ninjas, horses are great interceptors. Get the Jade or you won't have any Ninjas. Also remember to upgrade your Daimyo.

With so many 7/7 units and wars of even attack and defense, it is essential to have mixed stacks - bring archers or bombards along to help in defense at the very least.

 

[scoutsout]

Samurai Horse Archers don't bombard. WAD.

WAD? What do you mean by that?

 

[Bloodied66]

Use your daimyo early in the game. Its an advantage over the AI, since they never move theirs. I try to avoid simply heading for the AI's capitals with ninja since I think its too easy. I like domination better, especially since the units are all so cool looking.

 

[CarnDaWoods]

I only used my Daimyo to scout early on. Then plonked it my capital, and rarely moved it, except to temporarily cover empty cities.

You need Iron in the early part, so you can expand militarily early against the weaker civs without Iron. Iron is more important than horses, but you want horses later on.

The range of the artillery is brilliant (if you remember to make use of it). Else you chew up a lot of Samurai Horseman taking capitals. Next time I play, I am going to go artillery mad.

Enemy capitals become very well guarded early in the game.

 

[Nori Nediam]

I found the non military techs of low value since I had to trade 3 or more to get a military tech. I think it´s better to research military techs and trade them for non military since you can get these and some extra cash.

Yamabushi are great offensive units when used against low defensive units. As soon as I get yamabushi I crush the ones without techs/iron/money easily as they dont have bushi or sperman. They are fast as the wind and they also retreat when loosing!

 

[Bluemofia]

I simply build hugely huge SODs of Samurai Arqubushers, and then load them on 30 transports filled with them and armies of them to go and storm their capital, as well as 5 transports filled with fire cannons.

That way, you will be able to use the cannons as primary bombardment units, and then the arqubushers are secondary bombardment units, only if the cannon fire isn't enough.

And on a side note, bringing along a Yamabushi army for pillaging, and a few Arqubushier armies for just plain destruction doesn't hurt much.

And don't forget to initiate siege on their capitals if is too hard. I once needed to destroy a capital that is size 13, and a direct assault was too costly. -- I already lost 10 transports filled with Arqubishers and only killed 10 of theirs. So, I blockaded the ocean, pillaged the land, and then starved it down to size 1, shooting at them all the time with cannons and arqubushers.

Then I killed them with hordes and hordes. (I think 200 arqubushers, or something.)

 

[Nori Nediam]

An excelent tactic for pillaging!

Combine yamabushi with ninjas. The Ninja does the pillaging and the yamabushi protects the ninja from attacks. This can be done along the border, without rop. With rop I have taken all the resources and luxuries from others with this tactic. They eventually get furious just because they dont have the resources and if you dont trade any spares you have. In the meanwhile they produce inapropriate units and lots of workers that are also taken!! But they never started a war for this.

I have seen that sometimes they ask for me to leave immediately or they declare war when i dont have a rop signed. My ninjas in this ocasions will be exposed. In one occasion two enemy workers attacked my ninja of course they lost...but they shouldn´t be able to atack in the first place

 

[Bluemofia]

They can only because of the submarine bug on land. They attack, but lose. (since thye have zero attack)

 

[madviking]

Use your daimyo to eliminate one of your rivals*.

Use CxxxxxC, yes I said it, OCP. Its actually useful as you want to grab as much land and then fill it a city between them (ie CxxCxxC).

Screw the other cities, send all of your units to the capital, find daimy and smack him. Grab all the land.

*This only really works on Monarch and lower.

 

[7ronin]

This is a fun scenario but unfortunately it is a poor simulation of either Japanese warfare or history. What we need is a Japan scenario on the order of Pinktilapia's Rise of Rome.