You may recruit the following units in SJ:
Jige-Yari - 2%, 1 day, 6,000 men/unit - Peasant militia with no training and only a short
yari spear for protection. While they make good cannon fodder and can tie up enemy units at chokepoints, sending them up against veterans, heavy cavalry or, even worse, samurai will just result in a lot of peasants becoming widows at the end of the day.
Yari Ashigaru - 4%, 3 days, 5,000 men/unit - Infantry conscripts armed with the
yari, a Japanese spear with varying length (some are as long as 20 feet or 6 meters, though most are only about 3 meters long). They make good anti-cavalry units, but being conscripts should not be relied on to turn the tide of battle or to survive a battle with samurai.
Yumi Ashigaru - 4%, 3 days, 5,000 men/unit - Infantry conscripts armed with the
yumi, an asymmetrical Japanese bow usually about 2 m in length. They will be your basic ranged unit, and while they can turn most enemy soldiers into pincushions with their stinging arrows, they should be kept well away from the front line. 4%, 5,000 men/unit.
Kodachi Ashigaru - 4%, 3 days, 5,000 men/unit - Infantry conscripts armed with the
kodachi, a Japanese sword too short to be considered a katana but too long to qualify as a dagger. They can handle themselves in close combat against anything but samurai.
Teppo Ashigaru - 5%, 3 days, 5,000 men/unit, requires Teppo -Infantry conscripts armed with the
teppo, a Japanese arquebus. While their firearms can punch through even the toughest samurai armor and turn unprotected heads into a pink mist, they are inaccurate except at close range and so should fire in volleys, and it doesn't help that like Yumi Ashigaru they are helpless in close quarters either.
Ninja - 14%, 5 days, 100 men/unit - Covert agents now serving as battlefield assassins, able to hide anywhere and use various tools (from wires for strangling, to daggers for slashing throats, to
metsubishi or 'black eggs' for blinding opponents) to kill your enemies before they even realize they're under attack. However, ninjas are not flying supermen, and should never be deployed for open combat - they are best used for killing enemy commanders or in skirmishes.
Ronin - 8%, 4 days, 1,500 men/unit - Masterless, disgraced samurai armed with the
katana now serving as mercenaries, sometimes seeking to regain their place in society but usually just trying to make a living doing what they do best. While they are not as skilled as proper samurai, they are cheaper and faster to train, and can be useful if you don't have the money or the time to raise units of proper samurai. You need a Tavern to hire them.
Yumi Ronin - 8%, 4 days, 1,200 men/unit - Masterless, disgraced samurai armed with the
yumi bow and the
katana now serving as mercenaries, sometimes seeking to regain their place in society but usually just trying to make a living doing what they do best. While they are not as skilled as proper samurai, they are cheaper and faster to train, and can be useful if you don't have the money or the time to raise units of proper samurai. You need a Tavern to hire them.
Hatamoto - 12%, 5 days, 1,000 men/unit - Samurai fighting on foot with the famous
katana. These well-armored and highly trained men are truly warriors without peer, capable of cutting everyone to ribbons except other samurai.
Yumi Hatamoto - 12%, 5 days, 1,000 men/unit - Samurai fighting on foot with the
yumi bow and the famous
katana. These well-armored and highly trained men are truly warriors without peer, despite being archers first and foremost they can still hold their own in close quarters.
Kiba Ashigaru - 8%, 4 days, 2,500 men/unit - Lightly-armored mounted ashigaru armed with
yari lances and the
tachi (a Japanese saber). They make for good shock cavalry and can mount a powerful charge with their lances, but are not particularly good at prolonged melees and will be cut to ribbons if they ever have the misfortune to go up against samurai.
Kiba Hatamoto - 15%, 7 days, 1,000 men/unit - Mounted samurai armed with a
yari lance and the famous
katana. These warriors are heavily armored, highly trained and highly disciplined, they are truly men without peer and can make mincemeat out of everything short of other samurai.
Kiba Kyuuhei - 15%, 7 days, 1,000 men/unit - Mounted samurai armed with a
yumi bow and the famous
katana. These warriors are heavily armored, highly trained and highly disciplined, they are truly men without peer and despite being ranged troops, they can hold their own in close quarters.
Kensei - 25%, 10 days, 100 men/unit - The elite of the elite, Kensei ('sword saints') are the few mighty samurai who have established themselves as the best swordsmen in all of Japan, and whose deeds and swords will soon become the stuff of legend. Despite their small numbers, their skill and equipment is so great that they can take on small armies with only limited support, and not even the ordinary samurai are a match for them save in large numbers. The presence of such heroes in their ranks also provides a morale boost to your troops. You may only have one unit of Kensei at any time, and they can only be recruited once you have built a Tavern.
The following units can only be purchased from a Buddhist Temple:
Sohei - 14%, 5 days, 1,000 men/unit - Warrior monks armed with the
naginata (similar to a European glaive). Highly disciplined and utterly merciless on the field of battle, the Sohei make for excellent shock infantry and frighten enemy units with their mere presence, though they should not be expected to survive a protracted melee due to their relatively light armor. The length of their weapons also provides them with some measure of protection against cavalry.
Yumi Sohei - 14%, 5 days, 1,000 men/unit - Warrior monks armed with the
yumi bow and a
kodachi sword. Highly disciplined and utterly merciless on the field of battle, these Sohei are superb archers and can handle themselves in melee, although like their
naginata-armed comrades they should not be left in close quarters for too long due to their light armor. The length of their weapons also provides them with some measure of protection against cavalry.
The following units can only be purchased from a Christian Church:
Portuguese Mercenaries - 12%, 5 days, 1,000 men/unit - European soldiers of fortune who are crack shots with a musket. They are highly disciplined ranged units whose fire is more accurate and even more deadly than that of the Teppo Ashigaru, but who are still vulnerable in close quarters. Unlike Teppo Ashigaru, they bring their own muskets to battle and so do not require Teppos to train.
Kiba Kuge - 14%, 6 days, 1,000 men/unit -Nobles who have converted to Christianity and now ride to battle in the style of European cavalry, wearing medium armor and armed with two wheel-lock pistols and a
tachi saber. They are well-disciplined and well-trained soldiers who move at half-gallop towards their enemies, fire their two pistols as they approach and finally break out the sabers before charging home. While they are good melee fighters and shock cavalry, the samurai still outclass them.
The following can only be built with a Teppo Factory:
Tetsuho - 20%, 6 days, 20 cannons/unit - Mighty heavy artillery that can reduce castle walls to rubble with a sustained bombardment and blow enemy formations away on the battlefield, but are sluggish and especially vulnerable to enemy cavalry.
Also, 3 types of ships (all ships come in groups of 15):
Shuinsen - 5%, 4 days - Armed merchant ships that trade armor and firepower for speed and maneuverability. Can carry only one land unit.
Atakebune - 10%, 8 days - Medium warships with much more firepower than the
shuinsen, but which are still faster than the infamous
tekkosen. Can carry three land units.
Tekkosen - 20%, 14 days - Massive warships boasting an impressive arsenal of various cannons and iron plating. However, they are extremely slow and limited to coastal operations. Can carry five land units.
Upkeep will always be 1/2 of your units' original cost.
Battles will be fought in the classic style - I'll put up a map and troop strengths, you are to send in your orders by PM and hopefully I'll have the results up in a day or two at worst. Please,
please include a map showing your troop deployments and movements, it would make my life so much easier
If both parties wish it, they can have their character personally enter combat and do some RP while the battle rages. In this case, their conflict will play out much like an IH RPG (such as TLW), although I still require orders from the players for the overall battle.
The Sengoku Jidai - a 1550 Japan IH
