Strategists wanted - what would you do?

[Zane]

In my current game as Oda, I am at a pivotal point where my next decision could mean game over if I make the wrong strategic choice. I thought it would be interesting to see what others would do if faced with the same problem. I attached the current clan map. Here is the situation:

Attachment 149776

I am Oda (yellow). I've had a steady alliance with Hattori (black) since the very beginning however I suspect the only thing which has prevented them from backstabbing me has been a long drawn out war they've had with Hatakemya (3 light green territories north of me between Hattori and Takeda). Hattori and I are both at war with Ashikaga/kyoto but they have been facing the brunt of the attacks.

Hatakemya (3 light green territories north of me) have been at war with me off and on. I've moved in to support Hattori preventing them from being crippled but I haven't been interested in aqcuiring their land because it would leave me stretched too thin. Instead I've taken their southern territories. We just signed a peace treaty however if the pattern repeats itself, once they rebuild their army, we will be at war again.

Urikama?(4 green territories to the west) are unfriendly but haven't been focusing westward. I fear that won't last long. They are allied with Ashikaga and at war with Hattori.

Kiso (1 green territory to the east) is neutral. They are at peace with all surrounding clans and I suspect that is the case because of the giant army stacks in their province. They have been building up from the beginning of the game but haven't made a move.

Takeda (Red territories) are at peace with me but we are not allied. They have been expanding north and eastward which is where the majority of their military is stationed. They have just conquered the Usegei clan. They are allied with Hojo(blue). We are trading but it is an uneasy peace. They have few options left for expansion but they are not my biggest concern.

Hojo (blue) has just defeated the Date clan. They have but one more territory to consume before I fear I am the next target. They are allied with Takeda and have been for a long time. Like Takeda, their armies are far east and north of my borders.


I have 3 standing armies.
One on the southern border of Hojo and Takeda.
One bordering Takeda and Hatakemya in the north.
One in the southeast bordering Urikama.

So what is my next move?
1) Preemptive strike on Hojo - I could do some damage because their armies are far from me however this would bring Takeda down on me and eventually the full might of Hojo.

2) Preemptive strike on Takeda - Same as Hojo. I could take fewer territories initially but I would face their full armies sooner and would inevitably have Hojo on me.

3) Finish off Hatakemya - This would be easy but would stretch out my lands and make it difficult to defend. Also this could lead to Hattori deciding to be ambitious attacking my undefended territories which border their lands.

4) Take Kiso - This could slightly weaken my forces and wouldn't help me with the inevitable war against Takeda and Hojo. They might also prove a useful ally when the war starts.

5) Attack Hattori - They are my only ally and help keep the western clans at bay but I fear it is only a matter of time before they betray me. Should I spread eastward, I will anger the shogun causing them to turn and I would be extremely vunerable to their invasion with my armies far away.

6) Build a navy and invade the islands or Urikama.

[-Duke Nukem]

7) Do you have a bridge?
Defend a bridge.
Hey it worked at RTW!

[Puzzlemaker]

6.

[Jean-Roch Coignet]

3. as you told hattori is in war with the clan north of its territories, if you take out hatekayama they wont risk a 2 front war with you and Urikama. but i would suggest prepare for a war against hojo/takeda sooner than later. try to take the 2 starting positions of the Hojo, Sugami has armorsmith and in both of my campaigns as i played with takeda they upgraded Sugami really well. from there you can buy good troops.

[Tepok]

1.) If what you say is true, their main forces are up north, so you can make a blitzkrieg or a scorched earth tactic by capturing many territories in few turns, sacking everything and destroying all the buildings, except farms (or you will be in trouble) and let the whole lot get captured again. If they want peace, turn them into a vassal for now, and problem solved.

If the regions rebel/are re-captured, don't worry too much. After all, you sacked them all anyway, and they won't be a threat for a bit of time.

Din't attack kiso though, its not too easy to defend from the south.

[SnowRaven]

I would say ally with kiso build up alittle relations with them if they arent allied with takeda and hojo. After which hit Hojo's gold mine province down south if you can kill off any stack they send your way it means the next few lands eastwards are gonna be very lightly defended.

If takeda declares war check if Kai is heavily defended if it isnt take it and dig in. If you can ally with Kiso and they join your side when takeda declares war they would either serve as a buffer or they would hit northwards and take some land for themselves. This would either reduce the huge stack they have or stretch their forces thin.

Place one stack west to prevent any attacks from your western neighbours concentrate on your western neighbours if you can take echigo build a ship load up and head to the island north of that province if you can take it that would give you 2 out of 3 gold mines in the entire japan. Huge boost to your income i must say.


Lastly what difficulty are you playing on?

[Naked Emperor]

I suggest you just capitulate......resistance is futile

[Othniel]

I think I'm starting to favor a scorched-earth strategy myself. Finish off your current enemy (or reduce him to a vassal), and then attack whichever seems the greater threat (keep a defensive force on your other border if need be). Capture a few of their more important provinces, and loot as many of the rest as you can. While looting, demolish all of their buildings and then give away the provinces. To whom probably doesn't matter. Might catch them off guard.

[Spartan262]

1- Finish the Hatakateyama and Gain their provinces to keep money coming in.

[hippacrocafish]

Take Hatakeyama's territories in the south while keeping a reasonably-sized army near the Hattori. Once you've taken all the southern provinces and feel that you can hold them well request peace with Hatakeyama then betray the Hattori and eventually move on to Kyoto.

And you betrayed the Kitabatake? You bastard!

[Outlaw]

I'd rather be the black clan, make alliance with yellow and green, fight red and blue, all the time taking those lands behind you

[Zane]

SnowRaven - I am playing on very hard difficulty.

So what I decided to do was attack Hojo. The plan was to ally with Takeda and convince them to break their alliance with Hojo while I move my forces in for an invasion to the south. What prompted me to take this approach was Hatakeyama began attacking Takeda from the north. This would give me some breathing room should they side with Hojo. Also I had to act fast because Hojo had just taken the last providence in the east. Hattori secured my western border.

I first allied with Takeda. They accepted with little convincing. All the while, I set in motion an two pronged attack. I moved one army (diaymo Nobuhide) on Hojo's southern border and sent another(Nogabunaga) by boat into the bay that has easy access to 3 territories for invasion by sea. I could not get Takeda to break their alliance.

I took the first territory with ease. Takeda of course sided with Hojo following my declaration of war. Hojo had one large stack hidden under the fog but they were all inexperienced troops and died a quick death. My invasion by sea was a success too. I captured 5 territories in just two turns. They had however a large fleet and sunk my smaller, less experienced one. There was no escaped for Nogabunaga now if things went sour.

As anticipated, Takeda sent two multi-starred veteran stacks south lead by Shingen to aid Hojo. They headed for the southern bridge into Musashi(sp?). I pulled back my two armies to defend on the other side of the bridge. Shingen had the defensive advantage because he was stationed closer to the bridge forcing me to cross it if I attacked first. Both of our armies held their position. I began sending reinforcements.

Meanwhile Hattori moved east to aid me. They took Kiso first as both clans were already at war with one another. I moved a smaller force north noticing Takeda's capital was lightly defended. With the help of a large Hattori army, I took Kai. By this time Takeda moved another full stack of veteran troops down, now heading for the northern bridge to outflank me. I also spotted the beginnings of Hojo's main army approaching fast.

Just as things seemed bad enough, Musashi revolted. Now I had 3 takeda stacks, one rebel stack, and two Hojo stacks within two turns striking distance. The revolt actually turned out to be my saving grace. They appeared at the northern bridge. Takeda would have to face them in order to flank me, and that is what they did. This weakened their third army. Hattori was now in striking range. I moved both armies close to theirs. Hattori attacked the northern army and I joined in. then we struck the remaining two Takeda armies and one Hojo stack.

Now Takeda is severly weakened. I am bracing for a full invasion from Hojo while also having to rush back and support my borders with Hatakeyma. They invaded Hattori and are now dangerously close to splitting my territory in two!

[Katsuhisa]

Hmm... i would fall back into a easy-to-defend location. Hijo are masters of castles and probably have some nasty stuff to ruin your forts and castles so hiding in them would make a big difference. As someone mentioned earlier here, find bridges or narrow mountain passes where you think the terrain can help you out. Im not overly familiar with the Hijo so i dont know how they mix their armies, but from a few custom matches im guessing they are using a mixture of those grenade throws along with arches and basic infantry units. Or you could just start pushing out cheap troops and move your armies in stack formation, having like 4 stacks walking in a square so if there was a attack on one, all would be in the fight. Other option would be to either move towards them and ambush them (not familiar how its done here) or try to take some lesser defended cities, preferably their capital. See how they react, maybe you can negotiate a treat or something.

[SnowRaven]

SnowRaven - I am playing on very hard difficulty.

So what I decided to do was attack Hojo. The plan was to ally with Takeda and convince them to break their alliance with Hojo while I move my forces in for an invasion to the south. What prompted me to take this approach was Hatakeyama began attacking Takeda from the north. This would give me some breathing room should they side with Hojo. Also I had to act fast because Hojo had just taken the last providence in the east. Hattori secured my western border.

I first allied with Takeda. They accepted with little convincing. All the while, I set in motion an two pronged attack. I moved one army (diaymo Nobuhide) on Hojo's southern border and sent another(Nogabunaga) by boat into the bay that has easy access to 3 territories for invasion by sea. I could not get Takeda to break their alliance.

I took the first territory with ease. Takeda of course sided with Hojo following my declaration of war. Hojo had one large stack hidden under the fog but they were all inexperienced troops and died a quick death. My invasion by sea was a success too. I captured 5 territories in just two turns. They had however a large fleet and sunk my smaller, less experienced one. There was no escaped for Nogabunaga now if things went sour.

As anticipated, Takeda sent two multi-starred veteran stacks south lead by Shingen to aid Hojo. They headed for the southern bridge into Musashi(sp?). I pulled back my two armies to defend on the other side of the bridge. Shingen had the defensive advantage because he was stationed closer to the bridge forcing me to cross it if I attacked first. Both of our armies held their position. I began sending reinforcements.

Meanwhile Hattori moved east to aid me. They took Kiso first as both clans were already at war with one another. I moved a smaller force north noticing Takeda's capital was lightly defended. With the help of a large Hattori army, I took Kai. By this time Takeda moved another full stack of veteran troops down, now heading for the northern bridge to outflank me. I also spotted the beginnings of Hojo's main army approaching fast.

Just as things seemed bad enough, Musashi revolted. Now I had 3 takeda stacks, one rebel stack, and two Hojo stacks within two turns striking distance. The revolt actually turned out to be my saving grace. They appeared at the northern bridge. Takeda would have to face them in order to flank me, and that is what they did. This weakened their third army. Hattori was now in striking range. I moved both armies close to theirs. Hattori attacked the northern army and I joined in. then we struck the remaining two Takeda armies and one Hojo stack.

Now Takeda is severly weakened. I am bracing for a full invasion from Hojo while also having to rush back and support my borders with Hatakeyma. They invaded Hattori and are now dangerously close to splitting my territory in two!

wow sounds epic try another drop behind their lines and take lightly defended castles to buy you some time to shore up your front?