kkmo, I like your descriptive stats, but some of the things I'm reading about myself and my neighbors seems to be at odds from what's going in the stats. In particular, it seems like your stats are based to "future" events, especially the result at Okehezama, and are overly generous and favorable to Oda at the expense of Imagawa. I do not know if the problems noted in Imagawa's description about internal turmoil of their vassals is true, but I do know that the chronicles note that Yoshimoto was able to muster ten times Nobunaga's number when he marched into Owari province, and that there was talk amongst Oda's vassals and advisors of submission and surrender (all ignored by Oda of course, but the point remains).
I'm willing to play the hand I'm dealt, of course, but the histories I've read seem to indicate Imagawa at the beginning of 1560 to be brimming with confidence and at the high tide of its ambitions, especially after many victories over the Oda in just the past year (including taking Otaka and Terabe castles), resolving even to march on Kyoto when the time comes. Imagawa's description seems to indicate more a regime beset by doubt, and rotten at its core. Which is true?
All are good points and questions, Kraznaya. I hope I can answer them suitably.
In the face of the Imagawa threat, Oda's vassals did indeed see submission and surrender as an option. However, that does not mean that they would not have gone with Oda until the end or even died for him. Oda's vassals centered in Owari Province were remarkably loyal. A few here and there faltered, of course, but none of these defections were major or serious enough to seriously bruise the Oda. Perhaps the most serious loss to the Oda before our game begins is Saito Dosan. That seriously complicated things for the Oda family, and surely at the start of this game, the Oda are in a precarious situation. If I remember correctly, the Oda had obtained a couple vassals in Mino province, and those definitely abandoned Nobunaga as the Saito reclaimed the entire province.
The Oda's stats reflect this. Their domain is small, but they have extremely loyal retainers in Owari, and a capable military (though I haven't posted Army stats, and you will see how tiny their army will be from the start - I am going to more or less give them the historical, fateful number).
Onto the Imagawa. The Imagawa are definitely at a turning point, and have a large domain and a formidable military. Indeed, the Imagawa family itself is brimming with confidence, hence their attempted march onto Kyoto. The Imagawa's flaw at this time was perhaps over-confidence, but we both know that. Many Imagawa retainers thought that, as well. Yoshimoto faced scandal after scandal since he had become daimyo, which is a huge reason why he gave political power to his son - and also because he wanted to focus on expanding Imagawa's domain. This was two years ago from our start date, if I remember correctly, and the exchanging of political power to the son has left some retainers uneasy. In addition, the scandals Yoshimoto was involved in have weakened the morale of retainers (nothing too insane, but he apparently was rather "absent" from domestic affairs, and there were even reports sometimes of Imagawa vassals having their rice farms raided by Imagawa troops). The main point here is that these "scandals" caused retainers to question whether the Imagawa were capable of acquiring and utilizing political power in Kyoto in the first place.
I hope you don't see what I wrote as saying the Imagawa are evil or anything. I actually explicitly tried to avoid that, and have a more realistic approach, but one that reflects all the different goings-on. I think they are seen as villains in popular fiction, but really they were not. I never understood that - Nobunaga is just as much a villain as Yoshimoto, in many different ways (especially when he traps entire buildings full of monks and burns them). Anyway. Even Yoshimoto had decent intentions when he wanted to and came from an interesting background. But still, there were things going at this time that were plaguing the inner workings of that clan. It was easy for the Imagawa military to muster, many believe, because the Imagawa military was a bit supreme. It is said many of their commanders were corrupt. None of these are serious enough to inhibit you, as the Imagawa player, from changing history. The chances in our game of the Oda winning an immediate victory are just as low as they were in real life at the time. Also, your 4/4 retainers, while a bit severe, is nothing to hold you back. You, Kraznaya, can change history with your actions.
Which descriptions/stats of your neighbors were troubling to you? I can examine.
had some difficulty from telling the various colors from eachother.
