Best way to use Kisho Ninja?

[Starvosk]

How am I supposed to use Kisho Battle Ninja? Why wouldn't I be better off with say..like..another unit of cavalry instead?

I get that they have stealth, I but I'm not sure I have any use for it, honestly, what can you do with 20 seconds of stealth?

[Breeze]

I cant answer you exactly but to say they are high damage dealers from when I use them on the field they seem to do well against anything that comes their way I usually use them as an assist group so I throw some spear men to lock up a group and then use the ninja to inflict alot of damage and finish them fast

[homefry]

Very nice distraction. 2 strategies i use depending on my army vs ai.

1. i'm outnumbered. then my ninja go for the banzai. i deploy them behind enemy lines and time their attack on the general to be 20-40 seconds ahead of my main line attacking force. so when i attack the general to hopefully get a general kill, the ai will reinforce the general with some forces from the main battle line to make it a more even fight at least for a little while on the main line. ninja is guaranteed to be dead or rout.

2. i outnumber the ai and will win regardless. this time, i time the ninja attack on the general to be about 20-40 seconds ater the main battle line attacks. i also send a cavalry unit to reinforce the ninjas after the general charges the ninjas.


but yeah, against the ai, you are probably better off with another elite unit. but the ninjas do bring a "fun factor" and open up new strategies.

[Dileos]

They can screw up enemy flanks, annihilate enemy generals, quickly remove ranged troops and sneak around the back door of a castle and wreak havoc.

They can be extremely useful if you know how to work their strengths into your battle plan

[Chewie]

hide them, wait for battle lines to meet, rush in with super stealth ability to throw bombs into enemy blobs. Or use them to kill any elite unit.

[DerWish]

Board them on a ship and board nmy ships. Watch the fun.

[Blackthorne]

Board them on a ship and board nmy ships. Watch the fun.

So do units on board ship appear in naval battles? I can't wait to try that one.


I use Kisho in seiges mostly, they're a great way to take a castle without losing half your army. Just send them around the back while the rest of your troops attacks the front.

[Sinan]

So do units on board ship appear in naval battles? I can't wait to try that one.


I use Kisho in seiges mostly, they're a great way to take a castle without losing half your army. Just send them around the back while the rest of your troops attacks the front.

huh ? No way ?

[homefry]

so only kisho ninja units appear on naval battles?

[Blackthorne]

so only kisho ninja units appear on naval battles?

I'd like to know this too. This post:

Board them on a ship and board nmy ships. Watch the fun.

suggests to me that they do appear in naval battles but I didn't think land units could take part. I've certainly never seen it and I don't think it was in Empire. Can anyone confirm/deny?

[IGdood]

Troll?

Anyways, the Kisho Ninja do have nukes...err...I mean grenades that are like the bomb throwers.

[jimpalus]

errrr the kisho ninja is primarly used to sneak into undefended castles. Lure the units away from the "tenchu" rush your ninjas stealthy and climb the wall closest/undefended. place your ninjas at tenchu circle and voila you won with maybe 10 units killed, probably by tower fire. works incredibly often.

ps place your ninjas as close as you can before starting the siege/battle

[TheJian]

I keep a unit next 2 my Gen. I kill so many of my own men if I use the grenades (you see how far the guys fly in the air its so funny) im still thinking its ETW perhaps.

[Amaranthen]

I use them to flank their rear. When battle lines collide, I sneak them across the back and start stabbing away at their spearmen and yashi garu.

Or, I use in castle defense, throw grenades down the walls to demoralise the climbing enemy.

[Battlecry]

I generally use a few of them in front of my melee units. Kept in loose formation (so melee can run through them better) 3 or 4 can bomb the best enemy units, making them rout very easily once the charge hits. While the main melee is happening, you can throw so bombs over the fight against units behind, like the general. Just don't hit your own.

One really good use was to bomb a "hole" through an enemy line (use all 4 against one or two enemy units) then your cavalry can rip straight through the center without injury. Really just a faster and more direct way to get your cav behind the main enemy line. Fire bombers can do this too, but the enemy will see them coming and attempt some sort of counter.

[blixs89]

They are completely useless for their intended roles. Too slow to react and easily spotted, by the time they can throw their bombs the enemy is already upon them and they're often ripped to shreds because there's too few of them. Like all gunpowder units their bombs have little to no effect on the enemy morale.

My only real success with using them is to use them as skirmishers, hit the enemy lines as they approach yours then withdraw.

[Xelathur]

They are completely useless for their intended roles. Too slow to react and easily spotted, by the time they can throw their bombs the enemy is already upon them and they're often ripped to shreds because there's too few of them. Like all gunpowder units their bombs have little to no effect on the enemy morale.

They are completely useless if used wrong; I agree. If used properly they do give your army some nice damage and a way to easily flank the enemy battle-line. Just don't use them in prolonged melee and you are golden.

[blixs89]

They are completely useless if used wrong; I agree. If used properly they do give your army some nice damage and a way to easily flank the enemy battle-line. Just don't use them in prolonged melee and you are golden.

I would like to see an example of Kisho being used correctly. I've tried everything with them but the only thing that works is to use them as front line skirmishers.

[Tepok]

Capturing objectives/gates/towers

[Cruzz]

They're actually really strong on castle defenses on the walls. The fire bombs are quite nasty against the AI's habit of first piling units at the base of your castle before starting to climb, and the ninjas are pretty strong man to man so they hold well against climbers.