I'm not very good with guns

[wealthmonger]

I started a Date campaign on hard difficulty, took miyagi then I waited for uesugi to attack. A year later they attacked and I defeated them then I moved my forces in to attack fukushima. I sieged them, they sallied and I got a gloriously ugly victory. I lost one yari ashigaru, I almost lost masamune and the rest of my units were badly tore up.

So I'm wondering if someone that's good with ranged units can do this battle and tell me what you did or post the replay so I can understand how to use my gunners to best effect.

My forces-Date Masamune, Katakura Kojuro, 2 date ashigaru sharpshooters, 1 date matchlock ashigaru, 5 yari ashigaru(2 have taken previous casualties)

Their forces

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The packs I'm using
.9b main vid, borders, map, .9b main, .9b faction pack 1, .9b main database

[Erwin Rommel]

Be guided by the fact that you can never have enough guns.

2 date ashigaru sharpshooters, 1 date matchlock ashigaru

Too little. Unless you managed them skillfully, being deployed initially at the center ranks then be redeployed at the flanks when the enemy's forces are all engaged and cannot react to shots being fired at the sides.

[SanadaErik]

he might also be saying what how to field musket units to use them for their full effectness

[Crazyeyesreaper]

i use a simple yet very effective method,

S = sharpshooter M = matchlock A = yari ashigaru G = general

A_S_A_M_A_S_A
_G____A____G_

in the above formation i use my generals to increase the effectiveness of the sharpshooters using the Inspire ability. from here i wait for the enemy to apporach after which i move the Ashigaru forward and then widen their ranks this way they catch the enemy units by deploying a spearwall at the last moment, this lets the gunners fire through the gaps i then wheel the Generals around and use them as teppo generals to fire into the enemies rear. If executed properly youll sustain heavy ashigaru casualties but missle units will be relatively unharmed this is an acceptable trade as ashigaru ranks refill extremely quick. Eventually replacing the regular yari with the long yari makes this far more effective. You need to remember Mounted Gunners and Teppo Taisho units can fire over their comrades, so make use of that as well in later battles a few mounted gunners stretched behind your infantry can aid in demoralizing the enemy, while they get hammered with arrows and regular teppo fire. just before melee is joined,

[Lokgar]

I find bows are better in limited numbers, but muskets really shine when you have 5+ troops of them. Doesn't matter what type to an extent, with that much firepower, you can easily focus down the important samurai units the enemy has before retreating behind your ashigaru.

Initially, I have my muskets form a semi circle with the the sides facing outwards. This way 2 or more front line musket troops can face any ranged troops, and then the 1-2 troops on each flank are angled slightly to catch and cavalry trying to flank. If no Cavalry is present, I move the flanks up to make the semi-circle face inwards. I disable fire at will, and focus on the samurai / high damage troops first. Once they are about to charge, I turn on fire at will, turn off ranked fire and retreat behind my Yari Ashigaru who are in spear wall. Once the enemy is engaged, I carefully move my muskets around both sides of the melee and start firing into the backs of the enemy. If I can, I try to have at least one Yari samurai troop on both sides of the melee to protect the muskets. At that point, the enemy can usually only send his main general out to hit the muskets, or lone squads which can easily be decimated by microing your musket squads.

When Defending on a hill. I like to place yari ashigaru at the base of the hill. One line of 2-3 musket troops above them on the middle of the hill. Then another line of musket troops on the top of the hill. This will allow for awesome ranked fire to decimate the enemy, and all your troops can fire over each other without having to be spread out. I'll keep some samurai or extra ashigaru squads near the flanks and my general at the top too.

[wealthmonger]

When Defending on a hill. I like to place yari ashigaru at the base of the hill. One line of 2-3 musket troops above them on the middle of the hill. Then another line of musket troops on the top of the hill. This will allow for awesome ranked fire to decimate the enemy, and all your troops can fire over each other without having to be spread out. I'll keep some samurai or extra ashigaru squads near the flanks and my general at the top too.

That's pretty much what I tried in the above situation. Unfortunately I didn't have enough units to give me the firepower I needed and I was receiving to much counter fire from them.

I tried the battle again except this time I ran to the hill in the far corner. This gave me extra time to get my generals behind the enemy formation and blast away at their general. They sent a couple units after my generals while their general was still alive. I circled around them and shot their general again killing him. After that the formation worked because they ran fairly quickly. The only problem being that to many escaped but at least the casualty count that I got was 2 1/2 to 1 in my favor, that's better.

I'll have to try it with gaps and using flanking fire better.

[Lokgar]

Yeah, getting muskets behind the enemies while they are busy facing a spear wall will crush their morale very quickly. Bonus points for taking off the spear wall once they start wavering and charging right through them.