Shogun 2 Campaign. The Frequently Dead and the Alive and Well.

[Evanescent]

In the first few years of the campaign, there are numerous factions vying for supremacy, each struggling to eat the other guy and not get eaten. I've played about thirteen complete campaigns since I started playing Shogun 2 a couple of weeks ago, and I can't help but notice a few clans that always seem to disappear in the first few turns (Toku*cough*gawa*cough*)

For me so far, the only "pattern" that I was able to observe in the campaign was:
Tokugawa dies. ALWAYS. Not once did the clan survive past the dreaded turn 3. In all my thirteen games--wait, no, twelve, discounting my Tokugawa campaign--without fail, the Tokugawa managed to die on turn 3, as if that was their ultimate destiny.

Other things are quite varied, really, and this is what I like about the campaign in S2. It seems that any clan, with some luck, could develop into a powerhouse by late game. The Chugoku and the Kansai regions have the most interesting political landscape I think, where it's the Amako in one campaign, the Mori in another, and the Ouchi or the Kikkawa in yet more campaigns. Oh, and there was also a game where the Hatakeyama actually managed to become a major power, holding most of Kansai, expanded far into Chugoku, while managing to keep its far-flung provinces and even adding a couple more provinces to them.
The Chubu and the Kanto region by comparison is not that interesting, since Oda and Takeda usually manage to become big and strong, gobbling up the small fries around them rather quickly. I still had an interesting game, where: the Satomi killed the Hojo, the Takeda, and kicked the Uesugi out of their home region, becoming a monstrous minor clan whom I allied to stall the Oda as I prepared to take Kyoto (First Shimazu Hard campaign).

Anyway, from my experience, I learned that there were a handful of 'frequently dead' clans in my campaigns in general. Tokugawa, of course, is forever enshrined in my memory as a clan that never manages to get past turn 3, except for in my most recent Takeda campaign where I brought them back as vassals and gave them Mikawa and Totomi, having them patrol the southern coasts in my stead.
Then there is the Uesugi, who, for some reason, never quite seem to get past two or three provinces in my games. The Date, too, usually perform dismally, and get annihilated (almost always to rebels, too... interesting) before 1560. The Shimazu also have a tendency to disappear early quite often, especially when I play as a clan on the eastern side of the map.
The Mori usually seem able to put up a fight until 1550-ish, then they suddenly get swamped by their minor neighbors and then get a case of being dead. The Hattori are quite unpredictable; sometimes they dominate the Kansai region and beyond, sometimes they are just like a minor clan fighting for its life. The Ikko Ikki usually perform well early, expanding out with ease, but then they usually declare war on me in their war high and then get crushed, getting torn to pieces (literally) by all the clans that pounce on them while they move their gigantic stacks towards me against all reason.
Of course, we cannot forget about all those smaller factions whose names people seem unable to recall due to their insignificance (We have crushed these insignificant insects!)

Compared to the aforementioned roster of frequent losers, the roster of frequent winners (that is, until they declare war on the player) is very small.
The Oda, who, apparently, used to be one of the frequent losers according to the older posts on the web. I, being a new player (to S2 and irrelevantly, TW series), see them simply as OMGHAX. Their neighbor, the Takeda, also fare remarkably well almost always, under the leadership of Shingen. Hmm. I also feel compelled to include the Hojo here as well, since they usually (read: all the fudging time) allied to the winners, the Takeda, and do moderately well themselves as well.

All other clans have their days. A few interesting cases of rare winners:
The Honma. Yes, those guys that usually sit on Sado and pick out real estate for future prisons. In my Oda campaign, they managed to unify the entirety of Tohoku region under their banner before I decided I wanted Echigo and Sado.
The Hatakeyama and the Satomi. Mentioned earlier.
The Ouchi. In my Date campaign, they overran Kyushu, held most of Chugoku with their ally the Kikkawa, locked in a battle for Shikoku against the Chosokabe, and had even forayed into Kansai region when I got there, holding Kii and Setchu.

These are all from playing in normal/hard. I am just wondering if higher difficulties result in a more diverse environment, since the AIs get substantial bonuses to 'improve' their performance... and the player penalties... *mumble* this is deity difficulty level all over again...

If you have had any interesting developments while playing the campaign, please share!

[Lord Golog]

Hattori always does well in my campaigns. It frustrates me, seeing a DLC clan I can never play and never even had real significance in real life roll over Oda and co. I wish mods would include an option to turn them into rebels for those of us who don't want them in our games.

[Humble Warrior]

Other things are quite varied, really, and this is what I like about the campaign in S2. It seems that any clan, with some luck, could develop into a powerhouse by late game.

That`s what i`ve always liked about these kind of games. You never know what history might have branched into if allowed another rerun and so I enjoy all campaign games that allow for this possibility, no matter how minor.

Just because it became stone in reality and our past, doesn`t mean that`s how it had to turn out.