Christian clans can be very powerful, especially with the Otomo now. I think Otomo and Ikko are very similar. If you know how to effectively use the religion, it can be very effective.
I'm using H/H as the baseline to compare all clans (and I'm ranking on how easy it was for me to stabilize 10 or so regions b4 RD). I think geography, economics, and diplomacy plays a big factor on how easy/hard a clan is for me.
Manageable - few war fronts, access to rich province, etc.
- Shimazu, Date, Mori, Hojo
Average, but can be easy if you make full use of their bonuses (religion, cheap Ashigaru, spam archers).
- Otomo, Ikko, Oda, Chosokabe (could be considered easy, but after taking island, securing mainland is kind of difficult and wary of island invasion)
Hard (crappy diplomacy and starting position)
- Hattori (hate the unit price), Uesugi (tough start), and Tokugawa and Takeda.
I'm starting to put Uesugi and Tokugawa near the top because some of their unique units (like Tokugawa gun-cavalry and Uesugi Monk) come so late in the game. A lot of other clans get their specialty units much earlier.
I don't understand how people think Oda is hard. They have better and cheaper ashigaru so it's the easiest clan initially. They say you are at war on two fronts, yes, but the clan to your north has no army, so you can literally take his castle in the first turn, then you redirect your armies south and eradicate Imagawa. It is really easy for me. I played with my mate for like 4 hours today and I got 12+ settlements, 3 fully stacked armies with 2.5k income each turn. It's really easy.
Easiest factions: Shimazu, Date, Chosokabe, Mori
Average factions: Oda, Hojo, Takeda
Hard fations: Hattori, Ikko Ikki, Otomo, Tokugawa, Uesugi
I always Play on Hard difficulty, but I have tried and won a few Legendary campaigns (with Mori mostly). So let me explain.
I rank the easiest factions because of their safest starting position. So for Shimazu and Choso, once the player captures their island and some trade nodes, they have a strong economy and only one front to go. Same with Mori, although they have a two front war at first 10 turns, if they make it, then they can just capture the islands and march to Kyoto. Plus their cheap and stronger navy is a huge plus (you can autoresolve a lot of naval battles and get a win, so you don't have to waste your time there). With Date you can literally blitz almost till Kyoto, plus the regions you conquer are more fertile, so you don't have to rely on trade, like the Western clans.
The disadvantage of the clans I think average, is the fact that they are kinda in the middle of the map. Sure Hojo controls the gold mines and Oda has the best early units, which you can easily keep till the end and win the campaign with those ashigaru, but if things don't go your way, you can find yourself early against 4 clans for example attacking you with full stack armies early on. Sure you will probably be able to defend yourself, but that doesn't happen to the "easy" clans. I place Takeda at this category, because if the player expands South early, it's like playing a Hojo campaign.
And now the Hard clans. Hattori simple because their units cost 25% more. That is just so restricting. Plus they are literally in the middle of the map. Tokugawa, because although you might think their campaign is the same with Oda, the whole Imagawa vassal thing makes things a bit complicated. Uesugi because their home regions is 3 turns aways from all other regions, so you can't expand fast early on. Although if you go North, it might feel like playing an easy Date campaign. Ikko Ikki and Otomo, although they are definitely fun, and the Otomo gunpowder units can be really really devastating at defensive sieges, the different religion penalty, just makes everyone attack you, especially at legendary. And I mean everyone.
In my opinion they are all easy in vanilla even in legendary except maybe Ikko Ikki, mainly because of the risk of early chain war declarations due to their religion and location but especially because they cant have metsukes which are one of the most powerful tool at your disposal (multiplies tax rate by a huge amount in your 5 richest regions, specced magistrate then censor) alongside selling military access ( 5 turns at a time every turn then from 17 to 20 turns to maximize profits).
Alternatively you can always relocate with them, just board 10-12 units in a ship in Echizen and relocate somewhere else in Kyushu or in the north. They also have cheap katana ashigarus which beat most units when vetted, just mass produce them.
Uesugi can sell tons of access early on as well (just ally with Takeda early, build harbor from turn 1 and invade Sado before turn 10-13 and you win) and get many Trade agreements, same for Takeda. Otomo have access to trade nodes and firearms from the start ( cant possibly lose a siege defence if used right.). Hattori are in the richest and central area with lots of clans around to sell access to as well, you only ever need to spam ashigarus to win so a slightly higher price doesnt really matter. Tokugawa are in the safest area on the map, doesnt matter if you have a diplomacy penalty once Oda is crushed in the first few turns and after breaking vassalage. Hojo can sell tons of access as well and get cheap castles..
Not sure why people find the Takeda hard.
1) You can protect the South with an alliance with the Hojo and the Imagawa.
2) Kiso will attack you, you can take them out early and sell access.
3) Meanwhile push North into Higa, Etchu, Noto, for ports.
4) The Ikko Ikki won't resist attacking you, you take Echizen and Kaga for stronger units and income.
After that, it's an easy sweep. I'd say the biggest limitation is that they aren't overly rich, and cavarly isn't great in Shogun 2 due to the abundance of yari units.
Based on the initial challenge:
Hard: Otomo, Tokugawa, Mori, Uesugi, Ikko Ikki
Average: Chosokabe (selling access prevents expansion on Shikoku, big limitation), Date (poor), Hattori, Hojo
Easy: Shimazu, Oda, Takeda
Last edited by Basil II the B.S; September 27, 2018 at 05:02 PM.