YARI :wub:*** samurai!@#$@%!@#????

[A_Su]

Just starting a legendary campaign with Takeda. Usually I can capture north shinao somewhat easily, however, soon after I become overwhelemed by one province losers who can somehow field a half stack of yari samurai. how to kill them? Three ashigarus barely can defeat one unit of yaris, and it takes too long for me to get katana samurai to do anything to their vast numbers.

[weirdoascensor]

Ah, Legendary...in that difficulty level, The AI Cheats by replacing a lower-tier unit with higher-tier units...

Those Yari Samurai are actually mere Yari Ashigaru in Campaign Map...however, at the instant when you Enter the Battle...

[Sylon]

Just starting a legendary campaign with Takeda. Usually I can capture north shinao somewhat easily, however, soon after I become overwhelemed by one province losers who can somehow field a half stack of yari samurai. how to kill them? Three ashigarus barely can defeat one unit of yaris, and it takes too long for me to get katana samurai to do anything to their vast numbers.

Step 1: Arrange your yari ashigaru in a straight line, facing the enemy.

Step 2: Select all your yari ashigaru, and use the yari wall formation.

Step 3: Engage the yari samurai with your ashigaru (Or let them engage you) and watch as your yari ashigaru slaughter their yari samurai in 1-on-1 melee.

Yari wall basically turns your yari ashigaru into a pike phalanx- as long as the enemy is unable to break through your front ranks, they cannot harm your ashigaru. A fresh unit of yari ashigaru in yari wall will beat a unit of yari samurai, while an upgraded unit of yari ashigaru (+5 armour, 3-4 chevrons) have a good chance of beating a unit of katana samurai. This is why so many legendary players don't even bother training any samurai units- Yari ashigaru are cheaper and just as good.

Just watch out for enemy archers (the tightly packed formation causes more arrows to hit their mark) and being flanked. Also, highly promoted katana samurai can and will cut through your lines, though they'll take great casualties themselves.

Ah, Legendary...in that difficulty level, The AI Cheats by replacing a lower-tier unit with higher-tier units...

Those Yari Samurai are actually mere Yari Ashigaru in Campaign Map...however, at the instant when you Enter the Battle...

It doesn't. At they very least, by the time I started playing (After the release of FotS), the Legendary AI simply trained its troops from its own provinces. All AI units can be traced back to the province they came from- an AI clan without a katana dojo will not have katana units, unless it bribed them or used to own a province with a katana dojo but lost it.

Similarly, all AI units with upgrades can be traced back to the province they were trained from. If a unit has armour bonuses, you can trace it back to its originating province and take a look at the buildings there yourself. Or, to use a rather unusual example, I once encountered several AI bow samurai with +5 charge bonuses during my Mori legendary campaign. I beat them and continued expanding into eastern Japan, and sure enough, I found a province with a bow dojo and a proving ground.