Real problems with Date

[Palandiell]

Hey, trying to play Date and it seem to be impossible on hard. I just manage to get the four north eastern provinces and then I have 2 big clans declearing war on me! now it was the hojo (8 provinces) and takeda (9) with a vassal army (just one province, far away, but he sent a full stack!) gang up on me. and the north isnt really that rich. it is really hard to get anything done! any tips?

[Brusilov]

I'd start by looking at the part of the forum that deals with strategy......

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=433610

[Palandiell]

uups, close plz!

[M2TWRocks]

Date suffers from the same problems as any clan in the Eastern portion of Japan: the distance between each town. It takes sooooo long to get any where that anything you do is a great gamble. You can advance with your army to take whoever's lands, but the enemy may be marching towards yours in a completely different side of the island. But you're so far away there's nothing you can do about it.

Compare that to my Oda campaign where I was attacked by 4 different clans simultaneously. I simply waited it out in my castle for the onslaught, then charged each of their towns. They were literally within one turn of each other, so I had taken over 3 towns within the first 4 or 5 turns. With my Date campaign, I hadn't even run into the enemy yet at that point. It's a severe disadvantage due to the game mechanics. And I will most likely not play as Uesugi or Date anymore for this very reason. Too much frustration.

[Crazyeyesreaper]

doesnt help theres no trade nodes in northern japan fail game mechanics in that only 1 trade node exists there while theres what 5 in the south. meaning

Chosokabe, Shimazu, Mori have massive advantages in the early game if they get some trade ports going. other clans well there pretty much screwed.

[KyD[A]]

@Crazyeyesreaper
lol stop crying, date is one of the easiest factions in game...


to the @op
you might want to save some cash to bribe them, turn them against each-other. it works most of the time.. Date is super-strong clan, and fun to play!

dont be afraid to exchange hostages, you will get them back actually

[InF3sTeD]

I'v been playing as Date on legendary and it is brutal. I had 4 provinces at one point but have been pushed back and now only have the 2 most northern. Barly holding on with Takada attacking me almost every turn.

[KyD[A]]

ye I failed at Legendary too

but on hard, please someone agree with me lol, its just steamroll once you get 10 tradeships on the north tradenode... remember to upgrade your streets, and trade with west clans (just send one ship to make contact)

[RoyceGa]

Date isn't hard on legendary. It's helpful to play as Oda first so you know the strengths of your ashigaru. Allies and paying clans to break alliances is helpful.

[Harry Lime]

Moved to Shogun: Gameplay & Strategy

[MisterV]

Date could be hard only in the beginning. If you manage to get 4 northern provinces + the gold island, you can sit there and weather out any attack. I turtled there until around 1570, and afterwards I could steamroll anything I wanted (only stopped before the realm divide to consolidate).

[themichaelx]

Upgrading roads in the mountainous areas (Date start zone) actually are a priority instead of a "back-burner" task.

Also invest in campaign movement increases for your armies.

[St. Cyr]

The disadvantage of their big provinces is far outweighed by the benefit of them being the Eastern most clan, gives you protection. Any faction that is in the middle of Honshu is harder.

[somrak]

playing on H/H
1st - ally with Hatakamayo (or what's their name - your only friend in the begining), send 2-3 bow ships to the far west trade nodes
2nd - capture north trade node, buy trade ships every turn and fill the captured nodes
3rd - destroy Mogami
4th - get the golden island Sado
5th - concentrate on your economy, possibly ally with Takeda, keep an eye on pirates
This will secure your base, you're save from all sides, huge advantage coz you don't have to keep a big army and can spend money elsewhere. Later you start naval invasions - the choise made by actual situation.
It takes time but I like the low-profile start being the "mountain monkey" as they call you. after some 20-30 turns, the king kong comes.

[gonzo90806]

i am playing on hard and long campaign. I suggest playing on long campaign. Playing on short is tough because you do not have a lot of time.

1. What i did was take the trade nod. I think I had about 5-6 trade ships on the trade nod.
Build 2 bow ships. Send 1 along the northern coastline and 1 along the southern coastline.
2. Try to encounter all the clans so you can setup trade agreements.
3. Build up your ports so you can have more trades.
4. Be willing to pay some gold for clans to accept trade agreements.
5. Research the CHI that gives 10+ diplomatic relations.

7. take the 3-4 provinces in the northeast (forgot the names).
8. Try to ally with one of the dominant clans near your borders. It was hojo and takeda for my campaign. I allied with the hojo. It will give ya time to build up your economy and army before your allied clan cancels thier alliance with ya.

Ill post some screenshots of my campaign later on. To give ya a idea of what I did. My campaign on hard is going well so far.

[Toorima]

Haha, you wouldn't want to know what I first thought reading the thread's title...

[cajen53]

6. Build a master weaponsmith which will make your archers really powerful.

Does Master Weaponsmith improve archers? I thought it only affected melee?

[gonzo90806]

I was wrong only upgrades melee i thought it was both

[Gaizokubanou]

It only affects melee attack. What you see on your archer is their melee attack upgrade. Only accuracy/reloading speed can be upgraded for range units in the game atm, and master weaponsmith affects neither.

[Jeicker the Bastard]

I won the short campaign with Date yesterday on H/H. At the beginning, yes it's tough because of Hojo and Takeda. I was actually very lucky because although Takeda and Hojo were allied with Satame (I was in the point of having already captured Mogami's provinces and Hatakeyama's one) only Hojo declared war on me. I managed later on to break the alliances of Takeda and and have them join me. And I can tell you that Takeda is strong. My game was much easier with the help of them. I easily destroyed Hojo (they also lost 2 of their territories to Anegakoji and one to Takeda) and Satomi. So, I was in the middle-game with 11 provinces and further expanding to the west.

I think you have to make an alliance with either Hojo or Takeda. They are really strong as enemies and as allies. On my campaing I chose Takeda over Hojo because the latter really pissed me off when they joined Satake in war and sent me a full stack (funny thing with wars is that you can bribe a clan to stop the war, send their full stack away from your provinces and still in 2-3 turns they declare war on you and have to move their army again. At least it saves you some time to prepare)