Campaign diary - Guide for new players

[crzyrndm]

Hello all, just a quick introduction before I get started
I'm currently living in New Zealand, which is not a part of Australia , and I'm in my first year of university, studying Engineering. I first started playing TW games ~2009, when I picked up the TW anthology (Shogun->Medieval 2, with expansions) in my local games store, and I haven't stopped playing since. This forum, its guides and the knowledge of its users, helped me up the learning curve in Medieval 2, and I hope this diary/guide will give other new players the help they need to be successful in Shogun 2.

Some notes about the diary
- I've tried to put my thought process on paper for all the decisions I will make in this campaign. Sometimes this may get a little long winded, so if you understand why I've done something, feel free to skip to the next point.
- Especially early on, I’ll be quite specific on what I’m building and recruiting. What you should be examining is not what I’m doing, but why. There is normally a good reason for everything I do, but what I do will change depending upon the current circumstances.
- I'll be using replays instead of videos for displaying my thinking on the battlefield. Primary reason is that I can't make videos. But there are others. With replays, when you press spacebar, you can see the commands I make. You also have full control over the camera, and can pause at any time to move around the battle and get a feel for how I've done things. The one disadvantage is that results can change. Everyone will see something slightly different, but the overall idea should come through.

Some notes about the Campaign
- The campaign will be a long campaign played as Shimazu, on normal difficulty. There are a few reasons for this. The difficulty is what many new players will experience, so everything I say and do will be relevant to those players. Most of what is done will also translate well to higher difficulties. The second reason I chose normal, is that I don't want everything to collapse half way through (that would look really bad). Shimazu is a good clan for beginners, and is an easy one to demonstrate ideas with, which is why I'm playing with them.
- Early on, I'll be converting to Christianity. Again, there are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, I dislike naval battles, and Nanban trade ships allow me to have easy control of the seas. Second, churches give a 50% greater chi research bonus than Buddhist temples, and I like my chi arts

Using replays
The replay files will need to be unpacked into your shogun 2 replay folder. The location of this folder (in win 7 atleast) is
C\Users\Your User\Appdata\Roaming\The Creative Assembly\Shogun 2\replays

If you can't see the Appdata folder, you will need to unhide it. You can do this by going to folder options (in the quicksearch bar), the view tab, and change the hidden files property to show. Then go to your user, right click on appdata, go to properties and uncheck the hidden property at the bottom of the pane. Once that is done you can rehide the other folders if you so wish without appdata dissapearing.

Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed to my ability to play Shogun 2 through their ideas and advice. Specifically, Daniu with his inspiring let’s play series, Wealthmonger for breaking the limits of possibility with his experiments, Chedric and Tephros for their detailed analysis of markets and tax rates, frogbeastegg from .Org who wrote the most comprehensive guide for Shogun 2 yet (if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do so), and all the users of Total war center forums.

Ok, formalities are over, let’s get going


Turn 1 – Spring 1545
- Begin dismantling of sword dojo – Samurai are expensive, so I won’t want to recruit any of these for a while. I intend to replace it with a first tier market which is the best economic building in the game (excluding farms). Economy before military.
- Begin researching Chi – The Chi technology tree contains all the economic tech’s. The most important of these is the enabling the building of higher tier farms. More farms gives more food, and food is a big driver of economic growth.
- Attack Osumi – Replay attached - Expansion is needed to grow your empire and keep your economy afloat. As the Shimazu, you begin with a big enough force to take Osumi in the first turn. If you are confident in your ability as battlefield commander, the basic attack and capture will work just fine. If you are new however, the odds of success may be too even for your liking. This is fine, there is a second way to capture any castle, which is by besieging it. In this case, the AI will likely sally on its turn enabling you to fight them on the field, or, the reinforcements may retreat, allowing you to easily capture the settlement in the next turn.
- Upgrade both farms – Farms give food. More food means more money, which is always a good thing.
- Upgrade the port at Satsuma – Getting trade ships as quickly as possible will really help my early economy. This improvement also provides a small growth boost.
- Recruit Yari Ashigaru (YA) in Osumi – I’m at war with the faction adjacent to this province, so I will be expanding from here. There is no advantage to recruiting in Satsuma because the smithing specialty only affects samurai until upgraded.
Thoughts on the battle
- The first siege is always a little touch and go, and the result can depend a lot on luck. I was facing a bow Ashigaru (BA) and a samurai retainer in the castle with a light cav and 2 YA reinforcing. I had hoped to deploy between the reinforcements and the castle, thus splitting their forces and making the battle much easier. I deployed on the wrong side however, so the next best option was to capture the keep by running the timer down before the reinforcements arrived.

Turn 2 – Summer
- Recruit two BA in Osumi – While I wait for some of the casualties of my battered little army to restore, I fill the ranks with fresh recruits. I try and aim for an army with about the same number of melee troops as ranged troops, but never more ranged than melee because defending the bows can be a little difficult if they have cav or lots of melee troops.

Turn 3 – Autumn
- Begin research of Tokofuden – 5% may not sound like much, but money is tight in the early game and that can make a lot of difference to how your economy is faring. It’s also a pre-requisite for the farming tech’s which are very important economically.
- Upgrade port at Satsuma – A trading port allows me to recruit trade ships. Trade ships give me resources that are extremely valuable when on-sold to other clans. I also have been given a mission to build a trading port which will reward me with 1000 koku which makes the choice even easier.
- YA at Osumi – Build up that army

Turn 4 – Winter
- Build Market at Satsuma – A first tier market is the best economic building in the game. It gives a boost to wealth which can be immediately taxed, and a boost to growth, which will give me more money in the long run.
- BA at Osumi – I could probably attack now. But doing so would result in winter attrition, so it’s best to wait another turn. The final unit will give me an attacking army of 1 general + 5 melee units + 4 Bow’s in the spring. The other consideration for attacking now is that the resistance to invaders has reached or is about to reach zero. This means I can take the entire army to attack and don’t need to leave a garrison.

Turn 5 – Spring 1546
- Begin building a market at Osumi – Economy before military
- Move army to attack – see attached picture for army – Just as attacking too quickly is a bad idea, leaving things to long is not the best idea. You allow your enemy to build up defences, and your economy will stagnate under the pressure of a growing military.

Feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Fuyff]

wouldn't upgrading your castle in the province you are going to produce katana troops (actually all your melee troops), your specialty make more sense? instead of destroying and rebuilding it later?

[RandarKal]

wouldn't upgrading your castle in the province you are going to produce katana troops (actually all your melee troops), your specialty make more sense? instead of destroying and rebuilding it later?

Upgrading a castle costs some twice as much as what he immediately adds into that place...and while it might cost more in the long run, the difference is growth of the economy...

Example1: Upgrade Castle, Build Market: Cost, 2000ish, time? Not 100% sure, but I'm going with 6 turns...economic increase from province (excluding other factors) during those six turns: None

Example2: Kill Dojo, Build Market: Cost, 800ish, time 3 turns, increase in income during those six turns: marketx3 (and as stated, markets are superior to most anything income wise).


The effect: the more rapid growth of income permits more upgrades and building of markets and armies...

Note below (each represents growth over 3 turns, adding 2 each time a market is completed)

3+3+5+5+7+7+9+9+11+11 = 70
3+5+7+9+11+13+15+17+19 = 99

Fairly simple example, but notice the difference...assuming each increase is more in the hundreds, plus more rapid expansion, you can easily make up for destroying the dojo.

[crzyrndm]

wouldn't upgrading your castle in the province you are going to produce katana troops (actually all your melee troops), your specialty make more sense? instead of destroying and rebuilding it later?

I actually don't like satsuma much as a recruitment province. It's too far from the front lines by the time it's usefull. Also if I did want to make use of it, upgrading the castle later is much better economically especially with the market I replaced the sword dojo with. Also once I go past 5 provinces, upgrading the castle will have a greater negative effect than the market I upgraded for due to the increaed food cost.

Turn 6 - Summer
- Attack Saito - I'm slightly outnumbered (see attached screenshot) and an assault would likely end in failure. But, I am sure I could beat this army if it sallies so I continue the siege.
- Begin researching Zen - Churches will be needed once I convert to christianity to quickly convert the population. In a buddhist campaign I would get equal fields first for the economic benefits, then zen for the research bonus.
- Upgrade blacksmith to armourer - Generals spawn in satsuma, and I prefer leader style generals so living longer is better than killing more. The upgrade also allows my ashigaru to be affected by the smithing specialty.
- 2 YA in Satsuma - My next conquest will likely be the province bordering Satsuma. I begin building a second army in Satsuma because it is the only unguarded border at the moment, and because it is closest to the target.
- Defend the sally of the Ito garrison - See attached replay and screenshot for army post battle - I crush the army sent against me, so I capture the province and will recieve tax income from it this turn. The only downside to besieging was that I didn't get the choice to build anything that turn, but as I am converting, that spot will be a church anyway so it makes no difference.

Thoughts on the battle - Defending a sally has one difference to defending a land battle. Your ranged units can not deploy their shield structures. Because of this, my melee units will have to be the shields, with the archers doing the actual killing. In aid of this, I deploy my army on top of an unforrested hill with the archers near the summit, and the Yari's near the base. Because of this, my archers can fire into the melee and cause less friendly casualties because of their elevated position. This strategy is the same one I use to defeat samurai with my ashigaru, and this battle is almost a perfect example of how well it works.

Turn 7 - Autumn
- Make trade agreement with Otomo - New neighbor, make trade agreement with them.
- Queue trade ship - Money will flow quickly once I start filling those nodes
- Build Nanban trade port in Satsuma - This will serve as the church in Satsuma and rapidly convert the populace without requiring me to upgrade the castle or destroy the market. It will provide a large boost to economic growth also.
- 1 YA in Satsuma - Army building

Turn 8 - Winter
- Move tradeship and queue another - The first trade ship on the incense node caused my income to jump ~300 koku/turn. That's a massive boost to my early treasury and more ships will give a bigger boost. Nodes with ships on them also provide resources that I will require for high tier buildings later in the game. The more ships you have on each node, the more money you can get. Having all 4 nearby nodes full (10 ships) will give you a profit in the region of 20000 koku. That's a lot of money in this game. However, you will have to defend those trade fleets from marauding Wako(pirates) and enemy clans and, because you control all the resources, the AI will be reluctant to trade with you so make sure you have lots of trade agreements early before you go grabbing all those nodes
- 2 YA in Satsuma - More army building

Turn 9 - Spring 1547
- Begin researching Equal fields - Food equals growth which leads to money. This research is vital to any economy.
- Tradeship to node, another queued - I'll keep doing this until I have three or four nodes full, but I won't mention it from now in this guide.
- Otomo are destroyed by Shoni - establish a trade agreement with Shoni. Sold resources makes a lot more money than unsold resources. The more people you trade with the less resources will be sitting idle each turn. This trade agreement is giving me 450 per turn and while I had to pay 600 to get the agreement, it only has to last two turns to make a profit.
- 2 BA Satsuma, YA Hyuga, BA Osumi - With Shoni now at my borders I need to get bigger rapidly and to do that I need a military. The forces at Osumi will be combined with the satsuma army before they attack, and in the same turn I will attack shoni at the province bordering Hyuga because they are allied with the other one I'm going to attack, so will declare war on me when I do. I'm going to reduce their strength while growing mine when they do declare war.

Turn 10 - Summer
- More recruitment - Aiming for the almost equal mix of BA and YA
- Upgrade the port at Osumi - I have some spare money, and a single Bow kobaya can go exploring and find me some more trade partners because I'm about to declare war on my current ones

[Fuyff]

Upgrading a castle costs some twice as much as what he immediately adds into that place...and while it might cost more in the long run, the difference is growth of the economy...

Example1: Upgrade Castle, Build Market: Cost, 2000ish, time? Not 100% sure, but I'm going with 6 turns...economic increase from province (excluding other factors) during those six turns: None

Example2: Kill Dojo, Build Market: Cost, 800ish, time 3 turns, increase in income during those six turns: marketx3 (and as stated, markets are superior to most anything income wise).


The effect: the more rapid growth of income permits more upgrades and building of markets and armies...

Note below (each represents growth over 3 turns, adding 2 each time a market is completed)

3+3+5+5+7+7+9+9+11+11 = 70
3+5+7+9+11+13+15+17+19 = 99

Fairly simple example, but notice the difference...assuming each increase is more in the hundreds, plus more rapid expansion, you can easily make up for destroying the dojo.

And all that growth will be almost nothing compared to trade income from the 4 nodes you next to you which once filled will allow you to host 2 -3 stacks of katana samurai with +5 armor (thanks satsuma) AND set taxes to minimum (there is your growth) while you go on rampage. Dunno you can do it your way i guess

[RandarKal]

And all that growth will be almost nothing compared to trade income from the 4 nodes you next to you which once filled will allow you to host 2 -3 stacks of katana samurai with +5 armor (thanks satsuma) AND set taxes to minimum (there is your growth) while you go on rampage. Dunno you can do it your way i guess

And yet, the growth I'd be getting would still be quite a bit...all income helps, while Katana Samurai are not needed until later, and would require more tax if you wished to have the same number of units as Ashigaru

[wealthmonger]

I've never posted a replay so hopefully this works. Try this when attacking Osumi, although I still made a couple small blunders(I let their general get away, oops) and it's rather long so you might want to up the speed.

I usually keep the dojo if I'm doing a fast expansion. slow expansion destroy it and replace with market or leave the slot open for a church.

[crzyrndm]

Watch this before you attack Osumi to get you in the mood 37:00 to 41:00 min. star trek DS9 S. 5 ep. 21
http://www.videobb.com/watch_video.php?v=LsempMZtEg9C
I've never posted a replay so hopefully this works. Try this when attacking Osumi, although I still made a couple small blunders(I let their general get away, oops) and it's rather long so you might want to up the speed.

I usually keep the dojo if I'm doing a fast expansion. slow expansion destroy it and replace with market or leave the slot open for a church.

I'm going slowish because it's a guide, and I'm building the nanban port in Satsuma so I won't need the slot for a church. Question, if I upgrade a nanban port to a quarter, will I be able to make another NTP into a quarter as well? Having two would be nice but I don't want to fuss around like you did

[wealthmonger]

Question, if I upgrade a nanban port to a quarter, will I be able to make another NTP into a quarter as well? Having two would be nice but I don't want to fuss around like you did

I think the only ways to get a second Nanban Quarter are 1)build one let the province rebel then build another one somewhere else and then recapture the first 2) build a Nanban port in a previous clans capitol then let it rebel, clan arises then converts and builds the nanban quarter then you take it from them 3) capture an additional Quarter from someone else, in this case probably Otomo or whoever controls Bungo province.


Here's the reverse situation with Ito attacking Satsuma(using all clans playable). Well you can't attack on turn 1 but you can attack Satsuma on turn 2 with a YA and BA. That attack was boring just killing the Samurai retainer with arrows but here's the Shimazu rebels counterattack. I did okay but I lost my YA I hope it shows correctly since it was a close victory. My Sam. Retainer, 1 YA and 1 BA vs. 2 generals, 2 YA's, 1 Yari Samurai and 1 BA.

[crzyrndm]

Turn 11 - Autumn
- Prepare to attack Sagara in Spring - Last recruitment in Satsuma, move Osumi forces towards the border. By moving now I can attack early in the year rather than in autumn/winter.
- Not much else to do - This is the point where you know you have to expand. You have money, but nothing much to spend it on. If you don't expand soon, your economy will stagnate, profits will near zero, etc. That's the indicator that I use that I need to expand in any campaign where I'm not blitzing.

Turn 12 - Winter
- Move Satsuma army to join Osumi army - They fall well short of the border, so my attack will be posponed to summer. By moving right next to the border before declaring war, I minimise the distance my armies have to travel and the time the enemy has to prepare. I also keep trading with them for another turn.
- recruit bow kobaya to search for more trade partners - I'm in the final prepatory stages for knocking off my current partners. If I don't do this my economy could get very close to making a loss when I do attack

Turn 13 - Spring
- Move Satsuma army to border, but not across - Attacking next turn. Everything is ready, but I don't want to stop trading yet.
- Move bow kobaya towards straight between Shikoku and the mainland - This was a mistake. When I declare war on Sagara, Shoni will come to their aid and shoni control this portion of the sea. I should have gone round the top of shikoku or waited another turn before attacking.

Turn 14 - Summer
- War is declared on Sagara, Shoni join them - Move Satsuma army towards their settlement
- Move to attack Bungo - I'm now at war with Shoni, and bungo is undefended(seen because of trade route).
- Start recruiting in all provinces to prepare for conversion - Converting to christianity causes your Daiymo to lose 2 honour, which causes a loss of 2 points of happiness in all settlements. I need to be above that two point mark before I convert, because it is an instant penalty.
- In a buddhist campaign I would be upgrading roads for faster travel, and replenishment of casualties. The second upgrade also contributes to growth.
- After the turn ends Shoni destroy my exploration ship. Don't do this the same way.

Turn 15 - Autumn
- Attack Bungo - My archers make short work of the single sam retainer. Just stand them outside and give them some target practice. No casualties are taken. I didn't make a replay of this one because it really was just stand and shoot.
- Attack Sagara - When I do this, a Shoni stack tries to reinforce (see attachments for picture). Instead I besiege and go to diplomacy and demand vassalage + trade agreement + 5500 koku (second picture). If you can't win with force, see if diplomacy will suffice. Once I've crushed Shoni and converted to christianity, I'll come back with a missionary and revolt the province so I don't take the diplomacy hit for betraying a vassal(Securing Kyushu as entirely your own gives you a much more solid power base than if I leave them there)
- Exempt Bungo from taxes, move army to attack next Shoni settlement - I lose about 300 koku in income, but I get to move my entire army on to quickly crush Shoni. If I waited Shoni could build up and it could be a long time before I get to finish them

[crzyrndm]

Turn 16 - Winter
- Move both armies to Shoni border - It's winter so I don't want to cross into enemy territory yet
- Terrace farming in all except Hyuga - The money I got(extorted) from Sagaraallows me to upgrade 3 farms. Hyuga is the lowest quality farming, so dosen't recieve an upgrade yet.
- Convert to Christianity - Now things are going to get interesting. The conversion drops my daiymo's honour from 4 to 2, but because of my preparations I am able to keep all provinces at or above zero happiness without exempting them from taxation. Religious unrest will rise 1 point each turn until it reaches it's maximum value, so I'll still have to recruit more in many provinces. Use the finances panel to keep an eye on how your provinces happiness is looking. Recruit YA to keep it above 0 where possible and exempt from tax for as short a period as possible.
- Chapel in Hyuga - Increased conversion speed means I won't have to suffer the highest levels of unrest, and unrest will drop faster. I'm going to need a lot of these, or else..., because of all the revolts if I don't keep happiness above zero.
- Research essence of the spirit - Higher tier churches convert faster and have a bigger research bonus. To get them I need to research the left most chi arts of which this is the first one. This is also good as a buddhist because of the research bonuses, but not essential like for a christian.

Turn 17 - Spring
- Attack Buzen - Undefended, so same as before. Just sit outside and shoot the garrison. However this is a stronghold(2nd tier fort) and has towers which inflict quite a few casualties on my archers(74). Loose formation and lots of archers will keep your casualty rates to a managble level.
- Dismantle stables in Buzen - This is a crafting specialty province, so I keep the bow dojo for the increased accuracy the province will give any archers recruited here. The stables makes room for a chapel to be built next turn.
- Second army towards Hizen - Tsukushi is open to both armies once I have Hizen. If I attacked Tsukushi, the same army would then have to move back and attack Hizen. Think about the positioning when moving your armies to attack.You want the best overall strategic position, not just the one that is most advantageous for that army.
- Exempt Bungo from tax - I don't have enough money to recruit a YA here this turn, and if I don't exempt the happiness will go negative. To make sure this is short term I move a YA from bungo to make up for the unrecruited YA.

Turn 18 - Summer
- Assault Hizen - Another undefended stronghold, another time to shoot fish in a barrel. Again the towers inflict a small number of casualties.
- Dismantle sword dojo and stables - This isn't going to be a recruiting province (for land units anyway), so these slots will be better as a market and chapel.
- Trade agreement with Mori - I had to pay 800 koku for 3 turns to get this. However it is worth 795 per turn so I barely lose any money in the short term and will gain money in the long run.
- Trade agreements with Chosokabe and Ouchi - Same as above except I didn't have to pay anything for these.
- Note on post conversion diplomacy - Everyone hates you after you convert (-40 religious differences), however on normal and easy they will normally still trade with you. On hard and above you will have to work to get any agreements, either by getting them before converting or by paying the other faction. Getting alliances is almost impossible however, unless you already made them prior to conversion or you offer some very satisfactory terms. Military access can be used if you don't have enough money, and use marriges and hostages to secure long term agreements(hostages give a boost for 8 turns, marriges until you go to war)
- Chapel in Buzen - Keep pumping these out if you convert.
- Keep recruiting YA to quell unrest. You want to stay ahead of it, so if your financial situation changes you can survive another few turns.
- Shoni blockade my port after the end turn. That cost me ~1200 koku because I wasn't trading with Mori and Chosokabe that turn.

Turn 19 - Autumn
- Attack Tsukushi - Destroy Shoni. Port unblockaded. Either army could do this. but be careful with happiness levels (make sure to leave enough of a garrison to keep happiness positive) NOTE: Any army outside a factions final province when it is captured will disappear. Armies inside the border will become faction rebels (Shoni rebels in this case). These rebels will always attack the province, no matter what the odds of success are.
- Chapel in Hizen

Turn 20 - Winter
- Chapel Tsukushi
- Some hidden Shoni rebels appeared during the end turn, but were unable to reach Tsukushi. I attack with the Buzen army(used to capture Tsukushi) with the other army reinforcing. The army is: Gen + 5 Bow samurai + 4 YA + 1 light cav. In contrast with the Ito army I beat on the field previously, this is a skirmish heavy army and I am the attacker. Attacking bow heavy armies is always going to result in heavy casualties, so prepare for the worst. Always try and outnumber them in melee forces, and don't bother duking it out with their archers, you'll only suffer many casualties. I made a bit of a hash of the attack, with my generals way too far behind, so half my infantry line collapsed. See replay for more details.
- Missionary Hyuga - Faster conversion, and agents are useful anyway.

[Fuyff]

Turn 11 - Autumn
- Not much else to do - This is the point where you know you have to expand. You have money, but nothing much to spend it on. If you don't expand soon, your economy will stagnate, profits will near zero, etc.

sorry what?

[crzyrndm]

No trade partners, and I may have forgotten to build trade ships a few times. I'm also at only three provinces so the two 3/4 stacks are hurting a little.

[Fuyff]

you are next to 4 nodes and you have no trade income: good guide

[crzyrndm]

You do realise that those nodes are completely unneccesary. I've completed a shimazu campaign on Hard where I was at war with a coalition of 4 clans that controlled the entire map except Kyushu without any trade nodes at any point other than when I wanted master dojo's and legendary buildings and I conquered all of Japan before 1585. I was making a lot of money too, because of the emphasis I put on growth enhancing improvements. Those nodes can make the game both easier and harder, and if you become too reliant on them you can't do without. Also if I controlled all 4 nodes, I wouldn't be able to get any trade agreements (and no, I'm not going to use an exploit to get trade agreements)

[daniu]

He does have a point though. You at least want to mention the possibility in a guide for beginners
Also, even if you don't do the trade ship spam, you might consider putting a ship on a node providing resources you can't get anywhere else (like silk), just to be able to build everything.

Otherwise, good read, +rep.
It's fascinating to have the game segmented by turn like this, I never really pay attention to what turn I'm in...

[crzyrndm]

I did at the start when I got my home province to a trading port. I emphasized how good they are and said I'd be doing the same thing as much as I could. I just got a little distracted with the problems caused by christianity

EDIT

Turns 8 & 9 I mention the trade ships/nodes, although looking at it now I don't think I said enough. I've gone back and put a lot more explanation in on turn 8 about how good they can be

[Fuyff]

You do realise that those nodes are completely unneccesary. I've completed a shimazu campaign on Hard where I was at war with a coalition of 4 clans that controlled the entire map except Kyushu without any trade nodes at any point other than when I wanted master dojo's and legendary buildings and I conquered all of Japan before 1585. I was making a lot of money too, because of the emphasis I put on growth enhancing improvements. Those nodes can make the game both easier and harder, and if you become too reliant on them you can't do without. Also if I controlled all 4 nodes, I wouldn't be able to get any trade agreements (and no, I'm not going to use an exploit to get trade agreements)

So is infantry cavalry and anything else in the game if you really set your heart to it but in a Guide for new players you need to specify "OK I am gonna do this without trade nodes because i don't want extra 10000 koku per turn" - You said yourself about this guide being valid on higher difficulties:

But the way of thinking is the same. Everything is slightly more difficult, but how you make decisions is exactly the same.

[crzyrndm]

So is infantry cavalry and anything else in the game if you really set your heart to it but in a Guide for new players you need to specify "OK I am gonna do this without trade nodes because i don't want extra 10000 koku per turn" - You said yourself about this guide being valid on higher difficulties:

I did say put ships on the nodes, and keep doing it until they are full. I just forgot to keep doing so. I never said to stop

[Fuyff]

Upgrading a castle costs some twice as much as what he immediately adds into that place...and while it might cost more in the long run, the difference is growth of the economy...

Example1: Upgrade Castle, Build Market: Cost, 2000ish, time? Not 100% sure, but I'm going with 6 turns...economic increase from province (excluding other factors) during those six turns: None

Example2: Kill Dojo, Build Market: Cost, 800ish, time 3 turns, increase in income during those six turns: marketx3 (and as stated, markets are superior to most anything income wise).


The effect: the more rapid growth of income permits more upgrades and building of markets and armies...

Note below (each represents growth over 3 turns, adding 2 each time a market is completed)

3+3+5+5+7+7+9+9+11+11 = 70
3+5+7+9+11+13+15+17+19 = 99

Fairly simple example, but notice the difference...assuming each increase is more in the hundreds, plus more rapid expansion, you can easily make up for destroying the dojo.

Sorry didn't see your post until now. There is a slight problem with your mathematics. While it is true that building a castle and a market takes 6 turn it is also true you need to first destroy a building to make a market and not only that you need to research a Chi art to be able to build one. So it will take 5 turns to build your market not 3. I fail to see how that one turn difference will make up the cost of building a new sword dojo in a blacksmith province with a faction that has bonus to katana samurai unless of course you not gonna use those.