Morale and Winning Battles

[Diamat]

After having played Multiplayer for several days now, I have come to the conclusion that morale is truly everything in this game. Yesterday I played no. 1 ranked [TWC]GambleFish and saw my units routing almost 10 seconds after the initial clash even though I had used rally and inspire (He was level 10 general I was only 4), even though strength-wise, my units would have defeated their enemies had they kept fighting.

So, what strategies do you guys have to maintain high morale and lower the enemy's morale? What retainers do you use? What units? How do you develop your general accordingly?

[dmcheatw]

well in another post you said you used almost pure ashigur armies so i would start there...

[Diamat]

well in another post you said you used almost pure ashigur armies so i would start there...

I don't do that anymore. Ashigaru armies, I personally think, are only feasible with smallest funds.

@Bobba-Job: thanks for posting link to the guide. i completely missed it. should be stickied. (rep)

[Stil]

Pressure builds
Spike builds

I'm about to go so I'll comment more later

[bushranger]

wait to you get to 22k then it's all about tactics and most importantly strat.
Once you are there its vet and hero units smashing into one another, moral is what it was at ETW/NTW still important but not the be all ends all.
Anyone one who disagrees is just upset there melee rush armys arnt winning anymore.

[Cahoma]

wait to you get to 22k then it's all about tactics and most importantly strat.
Once you are there its vet and hero units smashing into one another, moral is what it was at ETW/NTW still important but not the be all ends all.
Anyone one who disagrees is just upset there melee rush armys arnt winning anymore.

I'm still at 10K funds... Took me 3 losses to figure out that an army of loanswords beats an army of samurai.

[bushranger]

I'm still at 10K funds... Took me 3 losses to figure out that an army of loanswords beats an army of samurai.

Well with the vets and the rock paper siccer thing going combined balance is a bit iffy.once it comes to 22k its all about your vets and heros and your strat at the start of the game.Also alot of the retainers become more important.

So start making smart choices about how you vet up your units now while you can,because once the game matures you wont get a chance.

[nkbz]

wait to you get to 22k then it's all about tactics and most importantly strat.
Once you are there its vet and hero units smashing into one another, moral is what it was at ETW/NTW still important but not the be all ends all.
Anyone one who disagrees is just upset there melee rush armys arnt winning anymore.

Are you joking?

22k funds removes morale as a factor in the battle. How does reducing the effectiveness of flanking, focusing down individual units to cause morale damage, and hiding units to attack generals magically increase and promote use of tactics and strategy? At that point in the game everyone is just fielding the highest tier troops.

22k funds also nullifies the use of the large majority of troops, especially ones using morale shock like matchlocks, ninja, and firebomb throwers--the few units that required skill, positioning, and careful usage to get an advantage on the enemy.

[The Bobba-Job]

After having played Multiplayer for several days now, I have come to the conclusion that morale is truly everything in this game. Yesterday I played no. 1 ranked [TWC]GambleFish and saw my units routing almost 10 seconds after the initial clash even though I had used rally and inspire (He was level 10 general I was only 4), even though strength-wise, my units would have defeated their enemies had they kept fighting.

So, what strategies do you guys have to maintain high morale and lower the enemy's morale? What retainers do you use? What units? How do you develop your general accordingly?

You should check my guid to `Generals regarding morale` it should answer a few of your queries.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=437794

Don't fret about loosing to a 10star when your a 4star, its pretty impossible to win in that circumstance anyway.

[removeduser_45762834756]

Don't fret about loosing to a 10star when your a 4star, its pretty impossible to win in that circumstance anyway.

mm really? dunno but having a general that costs 1800 in a med or small founds battle vs a guy whos gen costes less than 800( has unblocket the mainly units and has some few low level vets) is not exactly the easiest thing in the world...

low stars complaing about having to face hight stars guy... but it should be us the one complaining!!!

[Diamat]

mm really? dunno but having a general that costs 1800 in a med or small founds battle vs a guy whos gen costes less than 800( has unblocket the mainly units and has some few low level vets) is not exactly the easiest thing in the world...

low stars complaing about having to face hight stars guy... but it should be us the one complaining!!!

Are you sure? Count up all the morale bonuses available to you at that level and compare it with those available to a level 4 guy. You might be right, but to me it seems that there is an advantage to a level 10 guy if he knows how to use it right.

[removeduser_45762834756]

Are you sure? Count up all the morale bonuses available to you at that level and compare it with those available to a level 4 guy. You might be right, but to me it seems that there is an advantage to a level 10 guy if he knows how to use it right.

there are not such lot of advantages. the retainers for example, i have to use 1 or 2 retainers just go get a discount on units costs other way forget about geting an army of more than 5 units in med...

veterans... yea they are awesome when u face ashigary units... but when u face someone with non-veterans samurais armyes or a little veterans samurais units, and u are outnumbered 1-3 or more, the morale really dosent help... or when u meet someone with a big bunch of archers and sits until u come to them in a top of a hill, super samurais katana nor super awesome monks helps....

so yea i am shure of what i am saying...btw, i do win 90 % of those matches but damm.. sometimes at the end of the match i just sit and wonder how the hell was that posible... and from that 90% of victories, most of the time i have a sole almost dead unit remaining.....

[Sharpe's Rifles]

lol bush ranger sound lik a gu who goes wit all fully maxed out elite hero units wit arty camping teh top of teh hill in teh forrest and calls it "good taktiks and strategy"

[dmcheatw]

bushranger is a very good player actually.

but yeah i don't agree with large funds games which promote camping and reduce shock (read: offensive) tactics. armies also don't fit as well on the map when you get so many men. the maps are probably optimized for med/large settings which is a good compromise settings anyway.

[the42up]

22k and 5k are the two least strategic settings....22k is really the worst.

[GambleFish]

After having played Multiplayer for several days now, I have come to the conclusion that morale is truly everything in this game. Yesterday I played no. 1 ranked [TWC]GambleFish and saw my units routing almost 10 seconds after the initial clash even though I had used rally and inspire (He was level 10 general I was only 4), even though strength-wise, my units would have defeated their enemies had they kept fighting.

So, what strategies do you guys have to maintain high morale and lower the enemy's morale? What retainers do you use? What units? How do you develop your general accordingly?

Hey, that's me!

Just to make you feel better, I was using units with instill fear, along with my general who gives -2 moral to your guys, and I flanked you with cavalry which causes at least -1 or 2 moral. Looking at your units, all it would take was a few casualties and one or two guys to start the rout and it's all over. Oh, and my katanas all have upgraded charge, usually from 30~35. Pretty devastating.

Also, I lost to dako93 (I think? steam is yellow virus) today on 22k setting. It's really a whole different experience, as moral become almost negligible until about 70 ~ 85% of the army is dead (except for our tiebreak 3rd match, where I lost horribly to his naginata monks, only killing like half his army. Damn those lvl 9 monks!). Gonna be practicing some more on that!

Interesting how moral becomes so crucial at low levels. I only deploy 4 units, including my general, when fighting small funds matches. I count on my micro, their (usual) lack of reaction speed, and their piss-poor moral to pull through. Tough having a general cost 1800!

You should check my guid to `Generals regarding morale` it should answer a few of your queries.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=437794

Don't fret about loosing to a 10star when your a 4star, its pretty impossible to win in that circumstance anyway.

Nice guide.

Also, I beg to differ. Being a rank 1 or 2 facing a rank 10 is the absolute perfect time to steal a huge upset win. Luckily, most players aren't skillful enough to manage it. Even total war vets can lose, as going from ETW or NTW to shogun is quite a jump.

I'm still at 10K funds... Took me 3 losses to figure out that an army of loanswords beats an army of samurai.

Not at all. I use a base of 4 samurai (katana or naginata katana mix), 1 fire rocket or gun monk, 2 Great guard and a yari cavalry on 10k. I'm always outnumbered (usually 2 to 1) and trust me, the charge and combat bonuses of the katana combined with good use of inspire and stand & fight enable those 4 samurai to easily, easily handle twice their numbers. I'd say 4 of my vets could handle 10 loan swords if my general was around.

[Kazuma Ieyasu]

I learnd that starts really don't matter much in this game in my opinion, I'm only a two star, but today i won a heroic victory against an 8 star guy with this crazy long name i can't remember, ill see if i can find that name again and edit this post with it. It was merly a 30 second battle (not including the marching up to the enemy) all i did was charge his general with my 3 light cav at the flanks and sent my general with the bowman skill to basicaly machine gun his army down. Also had 4 archers fireing arrows at the hill at him (since he only had matchlocks as firepower, which has smaller range than my bows) But it all happend so quick after his general died his entire army just routed. So my point, its not all about stars, its about being fast, making the enemy suffer with moral, and useing quick flanking and chargeing tatics to reap his general to his death.

[xccam]

General sniping sux bro

[Tepok]

general sniping sucks when it's with canons/high range units. Arrows on sieges too. If he can't defend himself from a cav charge, too bad for him.