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Thank for Let's Playing Shogun 2 for us. Do you plan on LPing Rome 2?
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Apr 1, 2014 01:53
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I hope no one leaves the thread before your second big announcement.
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Apr 1, 2014 02:19
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It isn't the game that needs to be polished, it is the LP itself. You've produced some top quality updates and I hope that you continue, either with this game or the next! (Although I really really hope you change your mind and finish this up. I don't think there will be another one as good as this one for any of the Total War series.)
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Apr 1, 2014 02:40
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shalcar, thanks for all your effort on the Shogun 2 LPs. They were an enjoyment to read and follow. Is it possible that you could leave us a save file, so that we can continue the Hattori saga (in our heads)?
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Apr 1, 2014 03:03
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shalcar posted:After Prior Reflection I'm Leaving, Finally Overwhelmed Onto Leaving Shogun. To quote the game, "OUL GENHALAL IS IN GRHAVE DANGA! Our men are running from the battlefield! Shamefur Dispray!" FredMSloniker posted:I hope no one leaves the thread before your second big announcement. Yes, looking forward to this one. I suspect this big announcement has to do with the day...
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Apr 1, 2014 03:30
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Thanks for this, Shalcar. I was wondering what was up with the tourney, nice to see it's still ongoing.
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Apr 1, 2014 03:48
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Eh. Both this game and your writing are thoroughly mediocre, so really, nothing of value will be lost.
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Apr 1, 2014 04:16
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Black Balloon posted:Eh. Both this game and your writing are thoroughly mediocre, so really, nothing of value will be lost. Indeed, and your use of acronyms was atrocious.
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Apr 1, 2014 04:42
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This was the worst el pee of Medieval total war I ever saw. You never even got to Scotland!
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Apr 1, 2014 04:44
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It's a sad day to see this thread go-I'm looking forward to that SimEarth LP. Goddammit, shalcar, why must you suggest such an awesome LP idea as an April Fool's joke!? 
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Apr 1, 2014 05:04
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shalcar posted:After Prior Reflection I 'm Leaving, Finally Overwhelmed Onto Leaving Shogun. Thank you everyone for playing along with my little joke! I'm most certainly not quitting the LP and I'm excited to show off realm divide, continuing the story of Yasunaga, Taketoshi, Chisato, Masanari and others! Updates will resume in the next day or so, so stay tuned to see how we handle being caught on the hop by the Amako! E: typo shalcar fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Apr 1, 2014 |
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Apr 1, 2014 05:10
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Dr. Snark posted:
The best tricks have truth mixed in :shhh:
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Apr 1, 2014 05:25
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Kind of sad there won't be remakes of the other Sim games.
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Apr 1, 2014 06:28
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Scalding Coffee posted:Kind of sad there won't be remakes of the other Sim games. After the steam turd that was SimCity 2013 with always-on DRM and poop agents... I'd say no, let us never give EA/Maxis the idea of ruining other franchises. Also, I'm enjoying seeing how to recover from a crisis, since more of a learning experience than steamrolling over Japan.
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Apr 1, 2014 08:27
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shalcar posted:After Prior Reflection I'm Leaving, Finally Overwhelmed Onto Leaving Shogun. The bolded part tipped me off, haha.
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Apr 1, 2014 08:33
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I'm pretty sure you're still now committed to running a Sim Earth LP 
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Apr 1, 2014 14:00
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I'll admit it, had me totally fooled. I was disappointed as hell to think we would be left with such a cliffhanger. Well played sir.
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Apr 1, 2014 21:40
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Oh man, ya got me 
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Apr 2, 2014 04:02
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Hahaha, I can't win. My Video card decided today would be a great day to go to the big video card place in the sky, so the LP is back on hiatus until I can get it replaced. On the upside, it means even higher details on the videos! On the downside, it packed it in while I was uploading the last video for this update, so I'm this close, drat it.
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Apr 3, 2014 11:11
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Screw the video, post the update! I'm Sengoku Jonesaing here, man!
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Apr 3, 2014 11:24
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 Completely fooled, well played.
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Apr 3, 2014 12:08
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Any day without an update, is another day that Chisato lives! Feel free to take your time getting things back on track. Also, well played on the joke, Sir. You got me as well.
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Apr 6, 2014 11:57
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You got me and I was most worried, glad to see I was a fool.
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Apr 6, 2014 15:13
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A Desperate Gamble Autumn of 1551 (Cont)  "I've always thought that yellow on black is a horrible eyesore" mused Tokiyori. "The Ikko Ikki have no taste and no style." "Sir?" questioned the second mate. "What orders to the fleet?" "Let's go burn some flags" laughed Tokiyori. "All ships full speed forward, let's smash this blockade!" The blockade of the Ise port must end if we are to maintain any semblance of profitability with extraordinary measures required throughout the empire. Luckily for us, our freshly built Medium Bune brings our forces up to 2 Medium Bune and 1 Bow Kobaya against 1 Medium Bune and 1 Bow Kobaya. The Ikko Ikki picked on the wrong clan, even reeling from mighty hits by the Amako, we will not go down quietly. Besides, our eastern fleet is still quite weak and we could always use some more ships!  Click here to see the battle! "All ships full sail ahead!" thundered Tokiyori. "A koku to the first man to board their ships!" Tokiyori strode to the bow of the ship, raising his bow. "Sir, you should stay in the back, the fleet needs leadership more than another bow!" cautioned the first mate at his side. "Then you haven't seen me shoot!" grinned Tokiyori, his first shot landing true and ducking at the return fire. "Give boarding orders to all ships! I want to make these bastards pay, up close and personal!" No finesse in this map, just wide open ocean. Our superior firepower means we are best served by punching hard right down the middle, although we may need to use the superior mobility of our Bow Kobaya to lock down the opposing Bow Kobaya. Regardless, there is little the Ikko Ikki can do against a force that is as superior as ours.  The hulls slammed together with a mighty crash, the Hattori grapnels binding the Ikko Ikki ship like a serpent's embrace. Tokiyori was the first onto the Ikko Ikki deck, his sword carving an arc through a surprised sailor. "I'm Tokiyori of the family Sakgami!" he bellowed. "By order of Yasunaga, this port is now open!" Drawing his dagger in his off-hand, he leapt into the fray. Complete and utter victory. While our Medium Bune sustained moderate casualties, they are both still combat effective and the prize was mighty indeed, the recovery of our trade lanes in addition to two new ships! Although we can't afford to build them, the treasury will probably stretch to keeping them, if for no other reason than to give us a solid fleet for defending against further blockades.  The Ikko Ikki sailors threw down their weapons and knelt in surrender. "An impressive victory" noted the first mate. "But was that really necessary?" Tokiyori wiped his dual blades on the clothes of a fallen Ikko Ikki soldier. "Not at all" he replied. "But I'm in charge, so we do things my way. Nothing makes you feel alive quite like being close to death." Some solid experience to all of our ships which will dramatically increase their combat effectiveness compared to fresh crews. Ships are, if not more so, dependant on good morale management compared to land units, so casualties can be hugely reduced by knowing when to go for the throat and force a surrender instead of plinking away at range. Unfortunately for us, the blockade has already done it's damage, costing us just shy of 2000 koku this turn. The treasury has barely enough for our desperate gamble and the cheapest of options.  The whispers of the peasants had been of a large Hatakeyama force on manoeuvres in the northern grasslands had borne fruit, the large force unable to conceal themselves from the skill of Chisato. The encampment had harldy been trying to conceal itself while in friendly territory and the lax guards had made reconnaissance a simple task. Even so, the force was a complication to an already chaotic war. Something would need to be done. Scouting is free, however and with the Hatakeyama at war with us, it would be foolish to not find out what sort of opposition is likely to throw itself at the freshly captured Kaga. The news isn't good, with a large Hatakeyama force sighted nearby and all hopes of bringing Yasunaga home with a commanding force dashed.  The Hatakeyama force of 3 Generals, 9 Yari Ashigaru and 3 Bow Ashigaru is substantial and will require a solid force to overcome or defend against. Given that the Hatakeyama have 3 provinces, I'm expecting another, equally sized force nearby. In addition, Hatakeyama fleets patrol the waters off Echizen and are likely to soon begin a blockade, stopping any northern naval control before we start it.   "It's too heavily guarded to get the Daimyo or his family, but there is more than one way to weaken a foe" thought Chisato as she watched the guards perform their patrols. Moving swiftly and silently, she slipped down a wall of tents, silently counting. "Follow five and left" she thought. "Two more and to the right, here we are." The tent was more ornate than the others, a sure sign of the rank of the man inside, but troublingly was lit from the inside edge so as to conceal shadows of those within. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Chisato drew her blade and slipped in. With the coffers nearly bare, I have no option but to go for the second most likely and cheapest option, the assassination of a general. While it's not going to be anywhere near a decisive action, it is cheap and every small change to our enemies strength is to our benefit.  Click here to see the mission!  Her eyes widened as a half dozen men were clustered around a table playing cards. Cursing and cards filled the air as the men stood upright, drawing weapons. "Ninja!" yelled one man, throwing himself at Chisato, his blade swift. Chisato rolled backwards underneath the blow that would have decapitated her. An authoritative voice bellowed for the guards and the camp erupted like a hive of ants. The chaos was as much to her advantage as to anyone else's, leaving the search disorganised and poorly managed. Unseen once again, Chisato slipped back into the night. But it was not to be. Chisato's excellent skills did help her evade capture and detection, so she lives to fight another day. This force is a real problem though, as if there are other stacks in the area, Chisato will be needed in the north here to ensure they are kept under control. Yet another critical asset tied up by the rapidly deteriorating situation we find ourselves in. Can none of our heroes bring a stop to the Amako?   "By now you have heard the rumours of an attack upon our western provinces" announced Yasunaga. "I can confirm that these rumours are true." Soldiers exchanged worried glances. "That is why the best soldiers I have are coming with me, back home" stated Yasunaga, his eyes steely. "My family, your family, our family will not be allowed to be in danger while we draw breath. Should I find out so much as a hair has been disturbed on their heads then I will watch them all burn." Even forced to leave his army behind to defend Kaga, there are those who know their duty is to the homeland and the people who dwell there. Yasunaga leads his force of hand picked troops, powerful cavalry, mighty samurai and lethal ninja towards the Amako and the remaining Ikko Ikki. We will have to hope that somehow he can gather a force suitable to bring him back into combat effectiveness. Regardless, Yasunaga will not let any harm come to Masanari and the homeland, not as long as he draws breath.   "You can't be serious" hissed the guard captain. "What you are talking about is rebellion!" "It's called 'restoring rightful rule' and you will be well rewarded for your loyalty to the Hattori" noted Fuyusuke, his blade suddenly against the guard captain's throat. "The people here are still Hattori but whose blood am I about to spill, Amako or Hattori?" "Hattori! Hattori!" hissed the guard captain. "All right, I'll introduce you to the right people. I just hope your purse is as deep as it needs to be." "Thank you for your co-operation" smiled Fuyusuke, icily. There are no options. The Hattori are burning. The Amako run roughshod over everything we hold dear and are poised like a dagger at the throat of one of the most critical provinces we own, Kii. I have but one trick up my sleeve, that the AI hates having forces at its back. If we can take Settsu from under their noses, they might just turn around and take it back, buying us time, time for a miracle. Only one man is capable of taking it back without heavy losses. That man is Fuyusuke. It's everything on this move, an all or nothing gamble on 40% chance of success costing nearly our entire income this turn of 1800 koku. If we do succeed, at least we trade Kii for Settsu. Yasunaga trusts his agents with the life of his child and I hope such trust is not misplaced.  "The Amako loyalists have been gathered in the adjacent tavern" noted the guard captain. "That's quite the feast you put on for them." "Anyone critical to the Hattori cause in there?" asked Fuyusuke. "Are your men at the gates and the palace and do you have that squad I requested." "None, They are and I do respectively" noted the guard captain, ordering his men to assist Fuyusuke in any way they could. Fuyusuke walked outside calmly, followed by the men until he was outside the Amako tavern. "Barricade the door and window" he ordered and the men sprang into action. Cries of alarms started to come from inside the tavern, but Fuyusuke paid them no heed. "Torch!" he ordered and a guard handed him one. "On my mark!" "Now!" he yelled, throwing his flaming torch on the roof, the flame lapping at the straw greedily. Men rushed in with oil an straw, throwing them all over the door and the base of the building, then setting it alight. The air filled with screams. "These men are Amako traitors!" bellowed Fuyusuke. "All those who oppose the Hattori, all those who betray the Hattori, all those who work against the Hattori, WILL BURN!" Spinning on his heel, he beckoned for the guard captain to follow him. "Let no-one attempt to extinguish the blaze" Fuyusuke ordered the men. "Our work here is done." Such faith is not misplaced at all, Fuyusuke gets results! At the very least, we have ensured that we trade Kii for Settsu, a far more valuable trade than losing Kii for nothing! We might not have turned the tide, but we have bought valuable time.  The walk back to the Tenshu was silent. Behind them, thick black smoke billowed into the sky. Such acts of heroism and mighty deeds are worthy of a great man and it's obvious Fuyusuke is more than he lets on. The first of our Metsuke to hit rank 3, I can think of no finer candidate than the agent who pulled our bacon from the fire.  "I know more about anyone than you could possibly imagine" stated Fuyusuke, flatly. "I do what needs to be done." We invest a single point in Secret Policeman which gives us a small bonus when overseeing armies, but the real reason is that it is a pre-requisite for Censor, the best Metsuke skill in the game. In fact, we only spend a single point on this level so that when we hit rank 4 we are able to put a full 3 points into Censor. It's that good.    "If the Amako come back, we will all die on these walls" noted the guard captain. "No amount of intimidation will sway them." "You picked a poor time to worry about backing out" noted Fuyusuke. "Don't you worry about it, I have it on good authority that there are reinforcements coming soon." Fuyusuke now has 6 stars in overseeing settlements, adding an impressive 30% to the tax rate (effectively doubling the base tax rate of the province). While we don't have a stable home for him just yet, that bonus is going to come in incredibly handy stabilising our financial position.   "I don't care if you are think it's a trap or not" bellowed the captain. "Korekata's orders stated if we didn't get to Settsu before the season was out he would see me buried in an anthill. I'm not risking it for you lot!" With Settsu under our control we need to start the second phase of our desperate gamble, completely stripping Kawachi of all of it's garrison forces and sending them to Settsu. This serves several purposes. Firstly, it gives the Amako a target other than Kii to attack and Kawachi is worth about one fifth of Kii, so we would much rather lose that. Secondly, if the Amako still go for Kii then we can hold Settsu against any minor forces nearby and lastly if the Amako do decide to retake Settsu, it ensures that we can bleed them, hopefully hard enough that they lose their appetite for expansion. This gamble is setting me back far more than it's setting back the Amako, but I'm hoping my superior logistic train will help us swing the tide.   "With Kawachi's garrison in Settsu on your orders, it will be a death-trap if the Amako should decide to attack it" noted the ashigaru captain. "We wouldn't stand a chance." "Yes" stated Korekata. "We would all die. But I have ordered those men to their deaths to save thousands more. The risk we face is far less and we are honour bound to accept it. We will not fail." Korekata moves into Kawachi. This puts him at serious risk of death should the Amako go for Kawachi, but at least he will die defending the homeland.   "You wanted a good fight and now we are going to get one!" grinned the samurai captain. "Welcome to the best front in this blasted war!" Our freshly recruited Hattori Katana Samurai also moves into Kawachi. Kawachi would still fall under an attack, but it would bleed the Amako heavily. Their only soft option is now Kii, but that's also the hardest to expand out of, especially with their reinforcements cut off.   "You have to save our people" stated Masanari, his serious face looking at the ashigaru captain. "I can't help them, you have to help them." "My Lord, we will do what we can" replied the ashigaru captain. "I fear we will be too late." More troops pour out of the homeland, ready to bolster the hastily constructed line. Autumn of 1551 (Enemy Turn)  "They are what?" exclaimed Hidetoki. "Why?" "The Ikko Ikki are launching an attack on our position, sir" repeated the scout. "They will be here shortly." "If they want a fight, I'll give them one" noted Hidetoki. "Lock the gates and issue the call to arms!" The Ikko Ikki launch a lightning attack against our western province of Omi, which I luckily had the foresight to not only have upgraded into a Stronghold but also garrisoned Katana Samurai there against this very event. Their forces of 1 General, 1 Yari Ashigaru and 3 Bow Ashigaru against our 1 Hattori Katana Samurai, 3 Hattori Yari Ashigaru, 1 Hattori Bow Ashigaru and 1 Samurai Retainers is hilariously optimistic to the point of madness. They can't possibly win this.  Click here to see the battle! The arrows raked down from the sky as Hidetoki took cover. "What's the situation?" he bellowed. "What's happening?" "Under fire sir" replied a sergeant. "Seems most of their force is archers." "Can't sit here getting sprouting feathers!" Hidetoki yelled. "Form up, we sally forth!" A fairly simple defence, we can wait until they get close and then sally forth, we won't even need walls (although we will use them anyway because why not let them kill themselves for free?)  The doors burst open as the Hattori forces surged towards the Ikko Ikki, Hidetoki in the front. "Let the bastards have it!" he bellowed. "Give them hell!" Well, they lost 4 soldiers for every one of ours, making this the sort of victory we expected. For once, at least, things seem to be looking up.  The Ikko Ikki forces recoiled, like a struck snake, before shattering into a thousand pieces, the men overwhelmed by ferocity of the Hattori counter-attack. "A great victory sir!" announced an ashigaru captain. "They won't be back." "We didn't get them all" noted Hidetoki. "This won't be the last of them, you mark my words." Every non-garrison unit did good work, the Hattori Katana Samurai gaining 3 levels and only losing 19 men, actually increasing the combat potency of the unit, despite the losses!  The alarm bells rang throughout the province. "Amako forces, sir" reported the scout, his face green. "Your orders?" "Bring everything you can inside the fortification and bolt the gates" ordered Sanetada. "We make them pay for every blade of grass." "We, we are going to win, right sir?" asked the scout, his youthful features naked with hope and dread. "Yeah, we got this" replied Sanetada, with the confidence he didn't feel. "Now follow your orders!" Sanetada watched the youth run off. "At least he won't live long enough to hold that lie against me" he thought, before turning his thoughts to his wife and young daughter in Kawachi. "I'm sorry" The Amako took the bait and turned around, launching their attack on Settsu! Despite the similar numbers, the quality disparity is immense, with a full third of their forces being deadly veteran Katana Samurai. With our forces of 5 Hattori Yari Ashigaru, 3 Hattori Bow Ashigaru and 1 Samurai Retainers against their 3 Generals, 4 Katana Samurai, 2 Yari Ashigaru and 4 Bow Ashigaru, they have us at a very solid disadvantage. Both sides are going to bleed heavily, of that there is no doubt. Settsu may fall, but the Amako will advance no further. ...I hope. Sneak Peek: To the death...
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Apr 8, 2014 16:17
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 Can't wait to see how this fight goes, it's going to be incredible.
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Apr 8, 2014 18:19
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Holy poo poo, a Metsuke did something besides sit in a province all game tax botting. This is not the Shogun 2 I know! But seriously, that was a drat fine trick you pulled. I assume that the reason the Amako turned around was that the AI doesn't like to be cut off and is trying to re-establish clean borders?
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Apr 8, 2014 18:25
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Seconded.
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Apr 8, 2014 20:23
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So, under normal circumstances, how does one prevent this situation from happening? It seems like going for the military techs to field a similar samurai force would just have left you without the economic techs to actually afford said force, so I'm not sure how you could have avoided this problem.
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Apr 8, 2014 20:37
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The Sandman posted:So, under normal circumstances, how does one prevent this situation from happening? It seems like going for the military techs to field a similar samurai force would just have left you without the economic techs to actually afford said force, so I'm not sure how you could have avoided this problem. The big problem is that he's playing Hattori, who's units cost around 25% more in both recruitment and upkeep in exchange for kiso training. This goes even for ashi. So while any other clan in the same position would be able to afford a larger, more samurai heavy army, shalcar has to keep up a delicate balancing act. It's the reason (I assume, any way) that Shalcar ran for Chi arts so quickly: to make up that difference.
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Apr 8, 2014 21:30
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Woo, way to buy back a province. At least, if Settsu does fall again, you'll probably have put a big dent in their forces. Have you got a castle there, or just a stronghold?
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Apr 9, 2014 02:04
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Ouch, buffed archers in that attacking army. Against all those ashigaru defenders, that extra bit of murder spread across four hundred guys could do some hurt. Gotta give the AI credit for rubbing it in as hard as they can.
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Apr 9, 2014 02:42
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Welp, looks like Settsu is going to get creamed again... Nice job with the Metsuke bribe to get the settlement back, forcing the Amako to abandon their attack on Kii and march back to take it back, but the ashigaru you shipped to your new province are likely to not be much more of a speedbump to the samurai in the Amako stack, along with the improved accuracy bow ashigaru they've got in that army as well... Oh well, you'll manage to bleed them some in this attack, which is the best you can hope for here, I guess.
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Apr 9, 2014 05:28
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Hate to ruin the suspense, but the AI is so bad at sieges that that should be a fairly easy win
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Apr 9, 2014 08:34
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Teddles posted:Hate to ruin the suspense, but the AI is so bad at sieges that that should be a fairly easy win This is true, but it really is a fight where he could simply get out ground. The AI has four bow ashi with upgraded accuracy, and since we have no samurai those guys will murder ashi. He also has more bows than we do. We only get the wall advantage until the enemy starts scaling them, at which point Shalcar can either pull them off the walls (leaving them susceptible to get rained on by arrows themselves) or leave them on the walls (where they'll get murdered but hold off the charge a bit.) Either way, the enemy is most likely going to retain bow superiority over us. Beyond that, those samurai can cut through ashi like butter (they're wounded but also vetted, so it's kind of a wash there) and to top it off, gets some extra ashi to pad up the numbers and make a chain route that much more unlikely. tl;dr - It's by no means unwinnable, but I think "fairly easy" is rather generous.
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Apr 9, 2014 08:52
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Sydin posted:This is true, but it really is a fight where he could simply get out ground. The AI has four bow ashi with upgraded accuracy, and since we have no samurai those guys will murder ashi. He also has more bows than we do. We only get the wall advantage until the enemy starts scaling them, at which point Shalcar can either pull them off the walls (leaving them susceptible to get rained on by arrows themselves) or leave them on the walls (where they'll get murdered but hold off the charge a bit.) Either way, the enemy is most likely going to retain bow superiority over us. Beyond that, those samurai can cut through ashi like butter (they're wounded but also vetted, so it's kind of a wash there) and to top it off, gets some extra ashi to pad up the numbers and make a chain route that much more unlikely. There's no chain routing on the upper Tenshu though and ashigaru in spear-wall are the (budget)kings of a grindfight as long as they don't rout and are properly positioned. It's definitely a losable fight and suspenseful due to it's strategic importance but it's certainly a lot more in Shalcar's favor than either the power bar or first impressions would suggest. Autsj fucked around with this message at 13:19 on Apr 9, 2014 |
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Apr 9, 2014 13:08
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Glazius posted:Woo, way to buy back a province. Just a Fort, so only the most rudimentary of fortifications. The Sandman posted:So, under normal circumstances, how does one prevent this situation from happening? It seems like going for the military techs to field a similar samurai force would just have left you without the economic techs to actually afford said force, so I'm not sure how you could have avoided this problem. As Sydin so kindly posted earlier, its got a lot to do with the extra cost of being Hattori and the double whammy of being in central Japan. Other clans have much smaller fronts and so can more easily amass their forces, although this can cause problems when troops are too concentrated and the rear provinces are left open for naval invasion. Sydin posted:Holy poo poo, a Metsuke did something besides sit in a province all game tax botting. This is not the Shogun 2 I know! That's right, the AI places a high priority on having provinces be adjacent to each other (although this doesn't mean that they have roads directly to each other, just that they border touch at some point). The exception to this is naval invasion forces, which operate purely on the softest target with some factor for distance (which is why some provinces seem to attract more than their fair share of naval invasions).
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Apr 9, 2014 15:47
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shalcar posted:That's right, the AI places a high priority on having provinces be adjacent to each other (although this doesn't mean that they have roads directly to each other, just that they border touch at some point). The exception to this is naval invasion forces, which operate purely on the softest target with some factor for distance (which is why some provinces seem to attract more than their fair share of naval invasions). Yeah, that's what I thought. It makes sense from a programming standpoint: if you didn't have that, the AI clans would just have a checkerboard of territories and it would be frustrating for the player to wage war on them. Autsj posted:There's no chain routing on the upper Tenshu though and ashigaru in spear-wall are the (budget)kings of a grindfight as long as they don't rout and are properly positioned. It's definitely a losable fight and suspenseful due to it's strategic importance but it's certainly a lot more in Shalcar's favor than either the power bar or first impressions would suggest. I was talking about their guys routing, not ours. But you are right: the power bar is a pretty poor indicator of combat strength. Of course, we all know what's really going to happen. We're going to win by the skin of our teeth, and two seconds later the Amako are going to march a second doomstack out of the fog and burn the crippled Settsu to the ground.
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Apr 9, 2014 19:06
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As a regular EU4 player, I approve of the AIs all being members of the Pretty Border faction.
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Apr 9, 2014 19:51
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To the Death Autumn of 1551 (Enemy Turn - Cont.)  Click here to see the battle! "Here they come!" bellowed Sanetada. "This is it! We stand here together or we die alone!" The swoosh of arrows signalled that battle for their lives had begun. "Fight for your families!" ordered Sanetada. "Fight for the man beside you. Fight for your lives." Suddenly a heavy blow staggered him back, pain blurring his eyes as he focused on the arrow that seemed to sprout from his right shoulder, his sword dropping uselessly to the ground. "Sir, you are wounded, you must fall back!" urged an ashigaru captain. "The men can't see you unable to fight" Sanetada bit back curses and drew his dagger with his left hand. "Who said anything about unable to fight" he spat. "We need every man out there and I'll take those bastards with me yet." Our plan here is simple. Survive. Bleed them for everything we possibly can. Break their will, their spirit. Use our walls, our capacity to bring power to a point and force them to flee. We can't outrgrind them, but we can rely on our troops to fight to the last man, an advantage the Amako do not have.  The fighting was bloody and brutal, blood flowed freely from a vicious gash on Sanetada's head. "Focus on their samurai!" he ordered. "The honourless dogs can't handle a Hattori soldier!" An Amako samurai swung his katana, but the stroke was wide and clumsy, Sanetada sidestepping the blow and counter attacking with his dagger, forcing the Amako samurai back. "They retreat!" a voice bellowed. "The Amako are falling back! Hattori! Hattori! Hattori!" Sanetada smiled, hope beginning to swell in his heart. "You hear that? You have lost. Run, run and you will live." The Amako samurai paused for a moment and then launched a heavy strike. A badly needed ray of sunshine in the dark times that the last few turns have been! Our desperate gamble has not only paid off, but hit the jackpot! Although our forces are completely decimated, the Amako have also been slaughtered to the last man, their forces no more. If this buys us just a few turns of peace, our eastern front will never be threatened again.  Sanetada tried to sidestep the blow, to turn it aside, but he was too tired, too weak. The blade found its mark carving deep through his armour. Sanetada fell. "LOOSE ARROWS!" bellowed the ashigaru captain and a dozen arrows skewered the Amako soldier. A cold, dark void began to fill Sanetada's thoughts. "Ako, I'm sorry I won't see our daughter grow up" he thought, before the blackness took him. The power of veterans in Shogun 2 could not be more clear than in these numbers. Although our forces are heavily damaged, they are victorious and have inflected catastrophic damage on the Amako. Without the extra offensive and defensive power of our veteran ashigaru, there is no way we could have won with anything resembling an army intact. Winter of 1551  "The ninja clans of Omi have recognised the superiority of the Hattori clan" noted the province administrator. "Their best and brightest want a piece of the action and their help is greatly appreciated." Our Sake Den is completed in Omi, not only increasing the value of one of our powerhouse provinces (slightly) but also allowing us to take advantage of the Burakumin Village speciality building there and recruit highly skilled Ninja agents, as well as allowing us to recruit one more Ninja agent.  "I have not been your Lord for long" boomed Yasunaga. "Yet I expect you to all uphold your oaths and duty, as I have sworn to do for you. You families will be protected as long as you are faithful to the Hattori." We need troops in numbers rapidly, although no longer with the desperation that we had while the Amako were rampaging through our lands. If we are to weather the storm that is Realm Divide, we need to take advantage of the current veteran boost event our ashigaru get so that we can staff our fortifications with the troops that will be required for when the world turns hostile against us.  "The Hattori have long been masters of attack" noted Yasunaga. "We strike without warning, with ferocity and with skill. But the war tests us in many ways." "As you say, my Lord" noted the head ninja. "If the first blow is not enough, you must be able to avoid the retaliating strike." "Exactly" noted Yasunaga, nodding. "It has been a hard and bloody lesson to the Hattori, but we have learned and learned it well." This will certainly help us indeed! Granting us an extra +1 defence to all our troops, it helps our forces live longer. Even if the other clans have this art (and most of them will, it's a fairly low level one), the extra defence means that fights will last longer, making fatigue play a bigger part which favours the defender. With the entirety of Japan soon to kick down our door, that's an advantage I will most happily take.   Ingame encyclopaedia - Strategy of Defence posted:A successful commander must know the proper times to attack, and when it is prudent to fall back in defence. Every battle ebbs and flows to its own tides: to ignore these signs is to court disaster! Those who read the signs and mount a stout defence at the proper moment will be well placed to unleash a devastating attack. This art will allow all units to better defend themselves when they are required to do so.   "I need to see them!" insisted Masanari. "They are sick and need my help!" "You are not Lord of the Hattori yet" noted the province administrator. "You can not risk yourself to this terrible disease. Young and old alike die." "But we have to be able to do something!" demanded Masanari. "We have to!" "There is nothing we can do" the administrator noted, sadly. "We quarantine, wait for it to pass and mourn the dead. These are trials from the gods and no mortal can change them." "I promised to protect them" Masanari urged. "I promised." Not all the news is good however, with our capital of Iga inflicted with a devastating disease, dropping the happiness of the people and striking a blow against our recruitment machine with more expensive troops. Luckily the extra unhappiness is not a problem with Iga being the beating heart of our territory, but the effective loss of troop production there will moderately impact our ability to have elite ashigaru at the heart of our empire.   "I'm glad you survived" stated Fuyusuke. "It wouldn't be the same without you." "I'm glad you survived too" noted the captain of the guard. "My life wouldn't be worth much if you got killed in the fighting." "Looks like the excitement is over" replied Fuyusuke. "It's time to get back to work." In the cold light of day, the damage of the Amako attack becomes obvious and long lasting. Settsu, once one of our richest provinces, has been devastated by the Amako forces, dragging it down to moderate wealth, at best. Unfortunately, it would take 4 or 5 turns to get Fuyusuke to one of our high wealth non metsuke provinces and I simply need the extra koku too badly to spare him for that long. Fuyusuke is therefore sent into Settsu to boost the tax rate and give us some critically needed extra income. Although we are trading long term wealth for short term gain, being able to secure our borders quickly will do far more for our worth than an extra 200 koku a turn.   "Let's see the Ikko bastards try to stop us now!" boasted the admiral. "Full sail ahead!" Our newly repaired eastern fleet is a now a force to be reckoned with and sails to take the fight to the Ikko Ikki fleet that is harassing our eastern trade lanes.  "With Settsu now firmly back in Hattori hands, I offer you the chance to partake in the great wealth of the Hattori" stated Korekata. "The Ito will have access to our goods and markets, while the Ito make other concessions." "What concessions would these be?" asked the ambassador. "The wealth you offer is substantial." "Money. You pay us enough to rebuild the damaged Settsu and we make you rich" replied Korekata. "Otherwise, we blockade your ports with the western fleet and burn everything you hold dear to the ground." "Ah" the ambassadors eyes narrowed. "When you put it like that, we can't really refuse, can we?" "No" Korekata responded. "Your boat is ready, you should leave now, it's a long and dangerous trip." With Settsu liberated, we now have our trade routes available again and can start rebuilding from the setbacks we have suffered. Over to the far west are the Ito, isolated from expansion and trade by their allies the Christian Otomo. Luckily for them, we are more than willing to trade with a minor clan... for a price (and what a price!). The Hattori are Mighty and Affluent, who would possibly say no?   "You will be the representative of the temple to the Hattori" ordered the head monk. "You will obey their orders as you obey heaven and you will find your own path." "I don't understand" replied Nakasada. "Why not a more experienced brother? Why did you choose me?" Ise produces a new type of agent that we have never seen before, the Monk agent. Monks are the counter to Metsuke and are weak against Ninja. Monks have several uses, the most common is to convert provinces to Shinto-Buddhism and this is what Nakasada's primary mission will be. With the Ikko Ikki provinces needing huge garrisons to pacify combined with our larger than normal unit upkeep, the war with the Ikko Ikki has the ability to bankrupt us in short order. In addition to province conversion, Monks can demoralise enemy troops, raise the morale of your own forces, cause a peasant uprising in enemy provinces, raise happiness in towns based on Shinto-Buddhist population and convince enemy agents to retire from active duty to contemplate their existence. Thanks to the Holy Site in Ise, Nakasada starts at rank 2.  "Heaven chose you, Nakasada" responded the head monk. "You are wise beyond your years and people feel inspired by you. Temple life was never for you anyway, you are forever looking at the birds. You are not the first monk with wanderlust." "Even if I do wonder what it must be like for the birds, how can that be a reason to choose me?" questioned Nakasada. "Because the answers you seek are in the world, not in these walls" answered the head monk. "Go out and bring good into the world, serve others and ponder the mysteries. You need to seek the inward by looking outward." With the opening monk skills being rather underwhelming, we opt instead to set up Nakasada for his duty of converting provinces, taking Inspiring to make the populace happier as he converts them away from Ikko Ikki faith and also take a point in Pilgrim to begin going down the left tree towards the province conversion skills (and which also boosts Chi art research!).        Both these retainer choices are absolutely amazing, but Nakasada has a mission to do and so the choice is obvious. Even so, it really hurts passing up on such a good retainer.  The bitter winds lashed at Nakasada's face, the biting winds driving him to the safety of a nearby cave. "This is madness" he thought, building a fire. "How can a man survive in this?" Almost absent-mindedly he pulled out the ink wash painting that had hung in his room in the temple. The strokes were of a tree, but it looked barren and jagged, the lines seeming to be the hard edges of winter itself. There was a message in the changing nature of the ink, but Nakasada could not decipher it. Although Nakasada only converts provinces to Shinto-Buddhism at a rate of +3 a turn, it's important to note that by default, provinces only convert to your clan religion at a rate of 0.5! Combined with his ability to make towns happy, demoralise enemies and incite uprising, The winds of change are blowing.  The monk skill tree is the most sparse in the game by a solid margin (Even the elite Geisha has more skills!), but most of the skills are incredibly solid and those which are less than ideal are made up for by only being a single point each. This makes monks exceptional generalists, as you can easily skill a monk in every action bar one or two (Usually this is converting provinces, since you often won't be fighting Ikko Ikki or Otomo). The left hand side provides a solid boost to Chi arts as well as some province conversion, but has the demoralise armies skill popped in there too. The middle tree is a mishmash of character conversion boosts and province conversion while the right side of the tree boosts town happiness, army morale and inciting unrest. The nice thing about the tree is that you are not locked in anywhere and can change your monk as the situation changes, but the downside is that it's difficult to make a monk specialise in any one thing.   "Tameshige, your talents have been recognised by the Hattori clan and you are required to perform special services for them" stated the lead ninja. "You must do what other can not and bring glory to both the Hattori and our brotherhood." With Omi now able to make elite ninja agents, it's time to start cranking them out and show our enemies that Chisato is not the only one they need fear!  "Your skill with assassination is second to none" the ninja continued. "While your other areas are acceptable, they pale into significance to your capacity for ending lives." "Inhumantion is quite simple" replied Tameshige, smiling coldly. "Simply insert the blade and twist. It's even better when they are not expecting it, the look on their faces is quite delightful." Chisato is a jack of all trades, able to do anything and if not succeed, at least survive. Her biggest weakness is being able to assassinate hard targets and this is something that Tameshige will help recitfy. Taking 2 points in Assassin and a point in Exotic Weapons, not only is Tameshige highly competent at eliminating key threats, but those who he fails to strike a lethal blow on will take longer to recover. We won't always have someone to stab though, so we take a point in Saboteur in order to bolster his ability to burn down granaries. Every Hattori ninja has a secret hatred of these silos of grain and all are equipped to see the vengeance of Nakamitsu done upon them.        Mad Man Disguise - +10% to not being detected on mission failure.  While the retainers here are solid choices, one defensive and the other offensive, Tameshiga is designed to murder the living hell out of everything that pisses us off, which leaves us only with one choice.  "Good luck out there" stated the head ninja. "The path is dangerous, but some things must be done." "Oh, I think it will be rather fun" stated Tameshige archly. "So many ways to kill people and so many to practise on." Already as good at assassinations as Chisato, there can be no doubting that Tameshige is built for one thing (and one thing only). While not the most useful when we are caught on the hop, there is always some general who would serve the Hattori cause by commanding daisies. Sneak Peek: The Hattori Ascendant... shalcar fucked around with this message at 14:58 on May 15, 2014 |
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Apr 19, 2014 09:24
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 11:25 |
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It's back! Glorious day! And HOLY poo poo, that defense. Your command was excellent and I am duly impressed; anyone can fight well on an open field, but winning with inferior numbers with your back to the wall is no mean feat.
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Apr 19, 2014 10:55
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