STW campaign AAR: The way of Takeda

[Fincuan]

1532
Spring
We start building improved farmland to Sagami. We also attack Kozuke from Musashi, but there's so many enemies I call off the attack. Another attack from Shimosa to Shimotsuke with one(1) Cavalry Archer is a success as the enemy retreats and we take the province without a fight.
In the west Lord Mori finally attacks Aki and doesn't call it off. It'll the first larger scale battle of the campaign, and pretty vital to the success of the campaign.

Aki defense
I forgot to grab screenshots from the set-up phase, so you'll have to imagine it: This is taken from behind the enemy after my CA have totally flanked them and are going for their general. You can see the whole enemy army here, while my own is set up on a hill in front of them. The banners are barely visible. There's one unit of SA and one unit of YS visible on the hill, while two YS units are hiding in the forest on the left. The plan was simple: Harass them with CA, let the archers shoot at them and when they get close charge down the center while simultaneously flanking right.


Here I've already initiated the flanking movement. In the background my CA are still battling the general's unit


The enemy's right flank(from my pov) quickly crumbles and we start enveloping his forces in the middle


Meanwhile I forgot to babysit the CA and they manage to get wiped out by YS.


What would have been crushing victory if I hadn't screwed up with the CA. Well, the stats still look pretty nice


Summer
Mori again attacks Aki but calls it off.

Meanwhile I really have to do something about the loyality problems.


Autumn
An Oda-clan emissary arrives proposing an alliance. I immediately accept as they have common borders with pretty much all the clans I'm at war with. This should help ease up the pressure a bit.

Winter
We start building an armoury to Aki and a castle to Hitachi to speed up troop training.

[Fincuan]

Originally Posted by HunterICX

OT: (my favorite STW mobilize song) you would catch me singing ''yo ho ho ho'' behind the monitor.

I really hope they introduce the same appealing music in STW2

HunterICX

Haha yeah that's a classic. Another great sound is the ROOOOOOOOO when you charge a unit at the enemy. Combine that with Heavy Cavalry or Warrior Monks and damn...

[Fincuan]

1533

Spring
Time to go on the offensive again. We attack Suruga and Shinano from Kai. The enemy in Suruga retreats and we walk in, but the enemy in Shinano turns out to be too powerful so I call it off. Mori also attacks Aki yet again, and again call it off. The idea in going to Imagawa's lands is to destroy his ability to build troops and thus make sure he doesn't attack us, not to to hold the land as that would overextend our troops.

Summer
We start building a Spear Dojo in Hitachi and continue the offensive from Suruga to Totomi. Again the enemy retreats and we walk in.

Autumn
We do a small reconnaissance attack from Hitachi to Mutsu, but the enemy proves to be too strong and we call it off. We also abandon Totomi after destroying all buildings there and pillaging a bunch of koku. Imagawa shouldn't be a problem for a few years to come.

Winter
Loality is looking good thanks to recent successes and the work of our Shinobi, so it's time to raise taxes back to normal


We also start building an armoury to Hitachi and a Large Castle to Aki and Kai. We also move all our forces from Suruga to Shinano, and the enemy wants a fight so he'll get one. On the western front Mori again attacks Aki with a sizeable force, so it's time or another "big" battle.

Aki defense #2
Again I forget to take pics of the set-up, so you'll have to check the minimap. This time I have a bit more troops so my center-force consists of one SA covered by two YS, while one YS hides in a forest on the front, in hopes of the enemy passing them unnoticed, and two on the left. CA flank and harass again.


My YS trying to be a hole in the woods while the enemy army marches by


No good, they were spotted and had to retreat towards the center force. The enemy in his foolishness followed them up with a few units while the rest danced around not knowing what to do. I made the choice for them: The retreating YS charged downhill at their followers while my flanking YS charged from their forest and the center YS charged down the center. The enemy general immediately routs his forces


A nice victory. Note the four-man CA unit taking 63 heads while losing none


Shinano attack
The enemy force consists of Samuri Archers only, but they managed to rush a huge hill before my troops get there. I risk it with the CA and send them after the enemy general


The risk doesn't pay off as my general almost dies without taking his opponents head, and my forces briefly rout. I managed to rally them and we climb up the enemy's hill to a position above him. A charge traps most of his troops against a rocky cliff and they're mercilessly slaughtered.



Victory at a price again

[Fincuan]

1534
Spring
We start building a castle to Shinano, a province which will be developed to our primary cavalry training area. We attack Kozuke with troops from Musashi and Shimotsuke, while Uesugi attacks Hitachi with a sizeable force.

Attack on Kozuke
Slight numerical advantage here


The enemy daimyo gets among our CA and inflicts heavy damage


Some of my units rout and others take heavy casulties. I don't remember exactly what happened here, but judgin by the casualties this was one crappy attack.


Hitachi defense


My main force sits on top of a hill while Cavalry archers go on recon together with the daimyo. The enemy daimyo doesn't fancy this at all and starts to chase them


Uesugi daimyo getting surrounded in a forest


Gotcha, although his son soon took over. My other CA unit has also routed at this point


Another nice victory

[Fincuan]

Summer
We drop taxes to "very low" again in order to prevent revolts, but too late: Shinano revolts. We attack Mutsu with all forces from Hitachi and Shimotsuke.

Loyalist revolt in Shinano


We set up on top of a hill right next to the enemy's starting position. CA take the frontline while YS wait in case enemy spearmen get close. Another YS flanks left.


We use rain arrows on the enemy until gets very close, then intiate a charge by all units


The enemy quickly routs, gets chased down and killed


Attack on Mutsu


The enemy sets up behind a forest on a hill, and puts some ambushing troops in the forest. We anticipated this and catch them with a wide pincer movement by the infantry while CA constantly harass them. Here we can see the enemy already routed and being chased


Victory!

[Fincuan]

Autumn
We start building a Spear Dojo in Shinano and receive an emissary from Lord Mori. He proposes a cease-fire and I promtly agree as I have no intention in expanding to Mori's lands anytime soon.



Winter
We attack Echigo from Kozuke and Dewa from Mutsu. We also start building a Sword Dojo in Aki in order to get some proper shock troops, No-Dachi Samurai. In Mutsu the enemy takes advantage of our weakened garrison and tries to break out of the siege.

Attack on Echigo


The enemy has one unit of archers, so not much to do here except to run into contact as fast as possible


My YS takes some casualties before the CA manage to charge the enemy's rear. After that it's over for them.


Attack on Dewa


I have no idea where the enemy is, and I'll have to search around for a bit due to all the fog and snow. After I climb the highest hill nearby and find nothing they suddenly appear on the plain, far below us. Some luck! Foolishly enough they charge up the hill towards us, and we return the favor with some added flanking.


The inevitable result



Mutsu break-out


I set-up in a long line on top of a hill with YS covering the CA behind them. The enemy comes up right down the middle of my formation, so I quickly bring in the flanks to envelop him.


The daimyo tries to flee...


...but gets caught


A crushing victory


That's the end of Uesugi. I now have all his lands, just as planned. Time to start looking towards west!

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Fincuan

That's the end of Uesugi. I now have all his lands, just as planned. Time to start looking towards west!

[Fincuan]

1535
Spring
We start building a Large Castle in Shinano, a Famous Tea House in Kai and improved farmland(+20% production) in Musashi. We also attack Suruga from Kai, and get a freebie as the enemy retreats.

Summer
We drop taxes to "low" and attack Totomi, Mikawa and Echigo. All attacks are called off all attacks due to heavier than expected enemy forces present at all provinces.

Autumn
We attack Totomi with a major force and Mikawa with a smaller one as a feint.


Attack on Totomi
Totomi is real tabletop terrain with not much in the way of anything, so my CA should have a good day.


As expected the YS don't even get to the action before it's over and the enemy routed. Quite heavy casualties in two of the CA units, but other than that a good result.


Winter
We start building a Famous Spear Dojo(produces YS +1 honor) in Aki, a Ninja House in Kai, an Archery Dojo in Hitachi and Superior Farmland(+40% prod) in Mutsu. Kai will be our main production province for "special units", ie. ninjas, shinobis, geishas etc. Hitachi will focus on archers and later arquibisiers, Shinano on Cavalry and Aki on infantry.

Attack on Mikawa
Another river province, and this time the enemy sets up so close that I don't dare to try and rush cavalry over. Instead I rush over a few YS who try to hold the bridge open


They take heavy casualties but manage to buy enough time for the cavalry to get over and start working on the enemy's flanks. In short order they corner the enemy daimyo and kill him.



A costly but necessary victory. Now I've got an easily defendable river province on my side of the border.


Meanwhile there's extremely worrying news from Totomi: The enemy is trying to break out of my siege!


SPLAT


The end of Imagawa

[Fincuan]

1536
Spring
A period of teching up and strengthening our curren position. We start building a Horse Dojo in Shinano, a Castle to Mikawa(in order to build a port there), Superior farmland(+60% prod) in Sagami and Musashi and Border towers in Dewa(to prevent enemy spies and ninjas from entering and to give us in intel on their lands). Overall things are looking good at the moment:


There's also great news on the home front:


Summer
We start building a Large Castle in Hitachi.

Autumn
We bring taxes back to normal

Winter
We start building an Archery Dojo in Shinano and a port in Mikawa. Troop production has been runnig at full speed all the time for next few years planned offensives in north/north-west

[Fincuan]

1537
Spring
We attack Etchu and the enemy retreats in front of us.

Summer
We start building an armoury in Shinano and also receive a message telling us Oda has the biggest armies at the moment. In the north we attack Noto from Etchu, finding the province empty.

Autumn
We start building a Famous Sword Dojo in Aki

Winter
We start building a Famous Archery Dojo in Hitachi. We also try to kill a Mori emissary with a ninja but fail. Good thing because next the proposes an alliance to us, and we agree. Hopefully this upsets Oda a little.

In the home provinces our own "gestapo" is at work:

[Fincuan]

1538
Spring
We start building a fortress to Kai and attack the island of Sado in the north. This is our first brush with Shimazu.

Attack on Sado


Again it's a rush for a hill. I climb the majority of my forces up towards the forest on the right, while a sizeable portion will flank left. The enemy forces are seen going up the other side.


We gain a nice uphill advantage by going through the forest, and once the flanking force is in position it's business time


Relatively low casulties given the size of the enemy forces


Summer
We start building a fortress in Shinano and a Famous Armoury in Hitachi. We also break the siege in Noto where the enemy garrison is less than 60 men.

Autumn
We start building Exceptional farmland(+100% prod) in Mutsu, Musashi and Kozuke and a Swordsmith in Aki. We attack Kaga and Hida which are both loaded with warrior monks. My forces just aren't good enough against them(except for anything with a bow), so I expect a LOT of casualties.

Attack on Kaga


The enemy is set up on the forested hill in the background. With no way of gaining an advantage on them this is going to be a tough one. I divide my forces in two and approach the hill.


After a huge melee I've taken a lot of casualties, but so has the enemy. Looks like we'll barely make it.


A first one: Our casualties are higher than the enemy's. On the other hand we now have Kaga, and Warrior Monks trained there get a +1 honor bonus.


Attack on Hida


Again the enemy hides in a forest


I walk my forces above him


Some monks run out from a nearby forest and my YS and No-dachi steer to intercept, while my arches pound the monks below us.


A slightly less costly victory than the last one. Still the WM are a bitch to fight against if you don't have some of your own, or Heavy Cavalry.


Winter
We keep training and expanding units, while there's a rebellion on the island of Sado.

Rebellion in Sado
The enemy consists of just Yari Ashigaru and one unit of No-dachi


I set my archers up on a hill, covered by a unit of Yari Samurai. The No-dachi Samurai wait for their turn on the flank while Cavalry Archers have gone ahead to harass the enemy.


CA are pounding the helpeless enemy No-dachi. The worst part for them: there's absolutely nothing they can do about it


The enemy finally arrives in front of the position of our main force. The No-dachi are down to four men from their original 60.


The last No-dachi, the enemy general, gets killed while the YA are getting mercilessly pounded by our archers. Not surprisingly they immediately rout and the cavalry goes to work.



My first ever perfect score(if you don't count that one-man battle): All enemies killed and no friendly casualties

[Fincuan]

1539
Spring
There's a rebellion in Noto. I'm guessing mainly Warrior Monks, so my forces will consist mainly of archers.

Noto rebellion


The enemy consists of one unit of Warrior Monks and one unit of Samurai Archers. Standard set-up for us: Archers protected by Yari Samurai and No-dachi Samurai wait up on a hilltop while cavalry archers harass the enemy.


Cavalry is doing a great job: The WM are down to just eleven men even before they get within our archer's range.


A clean victory


Summer
We start building a Legendary Tea House(Shinobis +1 honor) in Kai, a Swordsmith(all units from the province get +1 attack) in Aki. We also go to war with Oda by attacking Owari and Mino.

Attack on Mino


Stupidly the enemy sets-up behind a ridge. We seize the opporunity and rush the top before the enemy, and the our No-dachi shine in the resulting melee against enemy Warrior Monks(see the pile of bodies on the left)




Attack on Owari
Owari is a province with two bridges. We send a small force of Yari Samurai protected by archers over the other bridge. When the enemy reacts to them they pull back and our main force crosses unopposed using the other one. When the enemy again reverses the whole "feint force" comes across and the enemy gets sandwiched.


On the home front Gestapo is doing its job

[Fincuan]

Autumn
We start building a Famous Horse Dojo(Heavy Cavalry baby!) in Shinano, a Famous Archery Dojo in Totomi(a good province to produce archers), a Famous Armoury(+2 defense) to Aki and a Swordsmith(+1 attack) to Hitachi. We attack Echizen and the enemy pulls out without a fight. We also defend Mino as the forces in the castle try to break out with outside help. Mori is also spying on us... I plan to weaken Oda just a little bit more, then try to negotiate an alliance and attack Mori.


Mino defense


We set-up on the same ridge as the enemy did, except on a wider front. The enemy tries to come down right down the middle, and even though we're a bit light on archers they get crushed. Our YS have to fight against Warrior Monks and one Yari Cavlary gets caught up in the melee and those units take heavy casualties. Other than that it's a clean affair.



Winter
We build an Infamous Ninja House(Ninjas +1 honor) in Kai. We also attack Wakasa and the enemy retreats without a fight.

[Fincuan]

1540
Spring
A period of consolidation and counter-insurgency. Our Shinobi's are spread around the recentlry conquered provinces in order to prevent rebellions, and we also lower taxes a notch.

Summer
We build a Tranquil Garden in Kaga(to be able to build a Buddhist temple and train Monks) and a Famous Armoury to Shinano. We also send our emissary to Oda's territory. In the west Mori attacks Shimazu. Excellent!

Autumn
Another emissary goes to find Lord Shimazy an propose an alliance. We start building a Legendary Armoury in Aki, a Citadel in Kai, Legendary Farmland in Mutsu, Musashi and Kozuke and a Castle in Wakasa(in order to build a port there).

Winter
We start building a Large Castle to Kaga and a Famous Spear Dojo to Hitachi.

1541
Spring
We start building a port in Wakasa. Our emissary finally finds Lord Oda, but somehow I feel the negotiations didn't go very well:

Summer
We start building a Legendary Armoury in Shinano and a Famous Swordsmith in Aki. We also retaliate against Oda by attacking Omi and sending a bunch of Shinobis to their western provinces in order to start rebellions there.


Attack on Omi
The enemy hides in two forests a few hundred meters apart.


We circle above the other forest and attack from above, while CA and Heavy Cavalry keep the other force at bay(in the background)


A bloody battle but a clear victory


Autumn
We start building a Legendary Farmland in Sagami and Superior Farmland in Dewa and Echigo. Our Shinobi-campaign immediately yields results:


Winter
We start building a Buddhist Temple in Kaga(Warrior Monks!) and a port in Hitachi.

1542
Spring
Oda quickly puts a stop to Imagawa's reappeareance:

Our Shinobis have already moved on to other provinces and again we get immediate results:

In Aki we have a hellish loyality rating:


Summer
We attack Yamashiro with feints towards Tamba and Iga. Surprisingly Oda immediately pulls out of two of the three provinces and only fights for Iga. We start building a Geisha-house in Kai. Meanwhile the Shinobi-campaign goes on. I wouldn't want to be Oda at the moment:


Attack on Iga
This was supposed to be a feint, but given the weak enemy forces we decide to go ahead with the attack


A bunch of Yari Samuri hidden in a forest. Our Cavalry Archers go to work while the main force starts marching


Our Yari Cavalry finds an unprotected unit of Samurai Archers behind the forest. The archers try to flee into the forest but aren't quite fast enough.


A unit of Warrior Monks is spotted and taken under fire:


The WM are quickly routed by the constant archer fire, and they take the rest of the enemy with them. Our cavalry goes to work and keeps the enemy's speed up




Oda's daimyo gets killed because he didn't fight and we cut his retreat route by taking Yamashiro. How stupid is that? Since he has no heirs the clan is eliminated:


As we take the Emperor's home province, Yamashiro, we also receive an expected message:


Autumn
We start building a Swordsmith in Shinano and a Mine Complex in Aki.

Winter
Moving forces around for next year's offensives. The men in pyjamas start moving towards Mori's territories:

[Takeda Shingen]

Hehehehe. 'Men in pajamas'.