Starting next campaign based on units/bonuses/starting pos: Few Q's

[zorphon]

So I lost my most recent campaign and am looking to start a new one.

I'm interested in Imperial factions, and I do have the Tsu clan from pre-ordering on Steam.

That being said, I can't decide between Satsuma, Choshu, and Toga based on their special units (The three 'bears' for example) and starting position.

I really like the idea of the Tosa Riflemen, I heard they're really good. At the same time, I've also heard the Red Bears are the worst out of the three Bear line infantry, in terms of gunfire.

But the Satsuma ONLY have the Black Bears, so that kind of draws me away from them.

The Choshu have White Bears who are apparently a middle-ground (?), and the Elite Kihetai whom I have no idea what they are.

Anyway, any tips or suggestions on these faction choices? Should I go Tosa even though the Red Bears are worse than White and Black in terms of reload and accuracy?

Any advice appreciated! Thanks guys.

[Thaded]

Well the Tosa Rifleman are fantastic enough to make up for the bears tbh. You should be fielding full imperial infantry anyway late game so the Bear infantry aren't especially important. The one thing I will say is that as far as colour schemes go I like the Satsuma the best out of the 3. The Tsu are pretty nice imo, but they are very different in terms of starting position and if unique units are your thing then you wouldn't want a Tsu campaign.

If you pick based off of aesthetics realize the Tosa rifleman are one of the best units in the game at the moment. Tosa can be a rough campaign at times though so keep that in mind as well. I'm convinced that the Aizu and Tosa's starting difficulties were reversed accidentally on the clan selection screen. The Choshu have the best access to railways and therefore to kyoto though, and are an interesting faction to play for this aspect alone. Ultimately you need to decide what is most important to you; starting position, difficulty, colour scheme, and quality of the army. Tosa has the best troops in my opinion, but have a rough campaign at times. Satsuma has been relatively smooth sailing in my campaigns at the expense of unique units. I have yet to play Choushu so I can't really comment on them, maybe someone else can help you out with that. Hope this helps!

[metziih]

How does one actually lose a campaign in FotS? Unless doing one certain, but rather insane challenge-playthrough. Oh well, whichever clan provides the best bonuses for a rifle-artillery based army.

[Brain_in_a_vat]

Well the Tosa Rifleman are fantastic enough to make up for the bears tbh. You should be fielding full imperial infantry anyway late game so the Bear infantry aren't especially important. The one thing I will say is that as far as colour schemes go I like the Satsuma the best out of the 3. The Tsu are pretty nice imo, but they are very different in terms of starting position and if unique units are your thing then you wouldn't want a Tsu campaign.

If you pick based off of aesthetics realize the Tosa rifleman are one of the best units in the game at the moment. Tosa can be a rough campaign at times though so keep that in mind as well. I'm convinced that the Aizu and Tosa's starting difficulties were reversed accidentally on the clan selection screen. The Choshu have the best access to railways and therefore to kyoto though, and are an interesting faction to play for this aspect alone. Ultimately you need to decide what is most important to you; starting position, difficulty, colour scheme, and quality of the army. Tosa has the best troops in my opinion, but have a rough campaign at times. Satsuma has been relatively smooth sailing in my campaigns at the expense of unique units. I have yet to play Choushu so I can't really comment on them, maybe someone else can help you out with that. Hope this helps!

Tosa have the easiest campaign of any faction. Once you conquer Shikoku which is only occupied by 2 weak clans then you're pretty much set to conquer Japan. Nobody pays attention to you due to you having no land borders and you'll be reaping around 2500-4000 koku a turn if you upgrade the right buildings. Not to mention Tosa riflemen.

[Thaded]

Tosa have the easiest campaign of any faction. Once you conquer Shikoku which is only occupied by 2 weak clans then you're pretty much set to conquer Japan. Nobody pays attention to you due to you having no land borders and you'll be reaping around 2500-4000 koku a turn if you upgrade the right buildings. Not to mention Tosa riflemen.

My point is more that the beginning of the campaign can be rough, whit it really can be. Once you do conquer shikoku, the campaign will indeed become quite easy as long as you maintain a sizable navy. Its just getting started as Tosa that makes it rougher than others which therefore causes some people issues. People do pay attention to you though, at least in my campaigns. Perhaps you aren't playing above hard?

[Thaded]

you can run out of time=P

[Frei]

Kihetai are just really good line infantry, better than the stock Imperial Line, and you get them sooner. They stay the best until the Imperial Guard infantry or whatever it is they're called.

[zorphon]

Kihetai are just really good line infantry, better than the stock Imperial Line, and you get them sooner. They stay the best until the Imperial Guard infantry or whatever it is they're called.

So if this is true, would there ever be a reason to using White Bears?

*EDIT* And yes, I kind of don't want to do Satsuma because it'll be almost entirely non-unique units, and I like the idea of the Tosa Riflemen; but I did indeed lose a campaign as Tosa already so need to figure out a way to NOT lose.

[Frei]

So if this is true, would there ever be a reason to using White Bears?

*EDIT* And yes, I kind of don't want to do Satsuma because it'll be almost entirely non-unique units, and I like the idea of the Tosa Riflemen; but I did indeed lose a campaign as Tosa already so need to figure out a way to NOT lose.

In my campaign, I didn't use White Bears at all because you get them either at or around the same time as kuhetai.

[Lazarus]

I find Tosa are the best Imperials. You've just got to make sure you influence the clans on the mainland near Shikoku to be Imperial aligned, otherwise you could face trouble. The Red Bears are indeed the worst Bear infantry, but unless you plan on going to war with Satsuma or Choshu, that wont be a problem. The Tosa riflemen are godly with their great reload rate.

IMO if you want to do a republic playthrough, Tosa is the best Imperial and Aizu is the best Shogunate to do it as - simply because they're the easiest and have decent units that wont be replaced.

[DeliCiousTZM]

Both Shogunate and Imperial play throughs offer no challenge. Like Lazarus says the most intressting one is realy republic.

[zorphon]

Bump. Any additional input?

[Kinjo]

I thought all of the bear infantry had the same stats in the single player campaign?

Tosa is my favorite imperial faction plus having the extra range for naval bombardments is useful.

[Cathal]

Why would anyone want one of the Bear infantries? I don't know if you get them earlier or at the same time as Imperial Infantry, but the Bears are worst than the Imperial Infantry. Other than looking different, what would you recruite them? I was using the Satsuma faction, so I looked at the stats between the Black Bears and the Imperial Infantry.

[Gaizokubanou]

Why would anyone want one of the Bear infantries? I don't know if you get them earlier or at the same time as Imperial Infantry, but the Bears are worst than the Imperial Infantry. Other than looking different, what would you recruite them? I was using the Satsuma faction, so I looked at the stats between the Black Bears and the Imperial Infantry.

If you are planning to go republic when RD event goes off, having an army that won't disappear is nice

[Thaded]

You get them 1 building level earlier.

[zorphon]

Hmm. So I guess the verdict is Tosa?

[Timox]

Hmm. So I guess the verdict is Tosa?

Nearly finished Tosa campaign of hard - seems to be one of the easies choices mainly due to the starting position.

First of all - naval control, the first two provinces (granted you take out your first enemy) allow you to effectively have two fleets that with careful positioning can dominate the region. Second with fleet support you are free to take any provinces that you deem necessary. And then you have your riflemen that can score up to 500 kills per battle, never even got to imperial line due to that.

[zorphon]

Nearly finished Tosa campaign of hard - seems to be one of the easies choices mainly due to the starting position.

First of all - naval control, the first two provinces (granted you take out your first enemy) allow you to effectively have two fleets that with careful positioning can dominate the region. Second with fleet support you are free to take any provinces that you deem necessary. And then you have your riflemen that can score up to 500 kills per battle, never even got to imperial line due to that.

Interesting, that's a lot of kills haha!

[Timox]

Interesting, that's a lot of kills haha!

If anyone is willing to clarify this but using those guys from the flank yields tremendous results.