What Kat- :hmmm:

Oh thaaat, sorry, was distracted. :O:

Is clan enrollment still open? :salute:

It is. Join the steam group and choose the group as your clan from the clan tab in-game. :up:

Posted it in the wrong thread...

Right, attempt #2; one of the clan team-battles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeYK8ZgVcj4

It's listing the clan as having zero members....

You picked the right steam group? Tho, the clan stuff is kinda wonky atm in Shogun 2, so wouldn't be surprised if it's just broken for you. :88)

Well, if "Subsim Official" is the right group, then yes. :p

It's not, check my sig. The group is Kami no jishin. :DL

Since oddly enough I trust the opinions of crazy fools like Dowly and Arclight, lol.

I haven't even so much as touched the demo, and I only seen one video on youtube thus far about this game.

How would you guys say it is compared to EmpireTW?

Er... well the regions are divided similar. There's a fort that can be upgraded, with 1 or more slots to build stuff like dojo's and markets. There's also slots for things found in the province, such as farms, ports and industry (a lot of regions have special resources such as superior stone or wood, giving bonuses when exploited).

There are more types of agents iirc, and there's a greater number of actions for them. So that element got a little deeper gameplay. Agents and generals earn 2 points which you can spend in a skill tree every "level".

Tax is still global, and you can exempt regions that are being difficult. Trade slots are present again, much the same as you know.

The research tree is a little different, in that there are 2 main flows: military and... the other stuff (bonuses to income and happiness, not sure of proper term). Unit selection depends on what buildings you build, some of which have an "Art" requirement (you unlock "Arts" in the research tree).

There's some more details sprinkled in, such as attrition, random events and missions you can complete for temporary bonuses. All things together work nicely to give the game a solid, slightly deeper gameplay.

The Ai seems far more capable. For example, the AI combines depleted units into larger units and they do naval landings. I even had an occasion where an enemy army was marching towards 2 of my cities. I blocked their path by combining the 2 garrisons, and they stopped moving. Just stopped there, waiting. 2-3 turns later a fleet comes into view carrying reinforcements. Clever, imo.

The improvements are reflected in the battle AI, though you can still mess with it. Retreating archers behind a spearwall sees them walking back into position for example, letting you shoot them in the back all the way. But that's only if they hold high ground/an advantage; if they're at a disadvantage they will engage you in melee before you can harass them to pieces. AI will definetly take advantage of terrain when on the defensive.

I really think it is Total War back on track. It just works so much better when you "limit" it to Japan (the map still feels pretty darn big though), and the sword-and-bow gameplay. The AI has its flaws, but thus far I find it an enjoyable challenge for the campaign.

Multiplayer... well what you know from the previous games works fine (host a game, invite people). The new coop or versus campaign works great too (that's hosted by one of the players after all). But the matchmaking for climbing the ladders is just very flaky at the moment. And my stats and points I win for the clan just never register.

Along with the matchmaking, the almost gauranteed crash when I alt+tab out of the main menu or MP map is a big annoyance. Works a treat once on campaign map or in battle though. Those 2 things are really all that could keep me from playing.

They don't, so imho Shogun 2 is a rather enjoyable entry in the Total War series.

I'm really loving the Battle UI. It's super slick.

Got half an hour in game with Shogun 2 last night. Looking forward to starting a campaign tonight. Hope the gameplay trumps Empire and due to the smaller theatre and focused approach CA have taken I think I'll like Shogun 2, at least as much as I liked Medieval 2.

Are you guys playing the clan thing? I joined the SimHQ clan but there's no one fighting but me, would love to take part in a more active clan.

Simply love the Avatar Conquest... not perfect but a very nice twist to multiplayer.

Yes, Castout made a clan called Kami no jishin, roughly 300 in-game members atm and we're being promoted to the next tier after this round. :up:

Steam group:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/kaminojishin

Forums:
http://kaminojishin.forumid.net/

Hahaha I messed with the AI last night. The AI army consisted of 3 light cav and a general vs my 5 Yari Ashigaru, 5 bow ashigaru and a general.
Pull back to the rear of my deployment area. Set up the archers in the middle of a Yari wall of spears. Archers told to hold fire. Calvalry charged straight into the wall and died. The general required a flanking manuever of getting 1 unit of yari into his back. Army destroyed. No more Miyoshi and Shikoku is mine. The Chosokabe march onward to victory.