[Guide] Fall of The Samurai Legendary

Overview

This guide is for people who want to have a chance to beat Legendary in FoTS.

Foreword

This guide is written with Pro-Shogunate/Imperial in mind and might not work very well with going yourr own path.

Please note that the images taken are also from the Satsuma playthrough and won’t reflect that good based on building/skills choices recommend here compared to the buildings/skills I built in the Satsuma’s playthrough.

Also, this is my second time writing a guide, if you have any feedback please feel free to give me.

Another note is that this guide is ongoing, and I’ll update it as I have time. For now, it’s only lacking in Navy.

Lastly, English is not my primary language, so you will most likely find a lot of gramma mistakes and weird English.

Purpose

The reason I create this guide is because I just want to share my knowledge and nothing else, I haven’t checked other guides, so there might exist a guide that already cover everything I’m about to write and might do it much better than me.

1 The Basics

In this section I’ll go through the basics of the game. If you are already familiar with the game, then by all means skip this section and jump right to section 2.

1.1 Province Overview

In order to have a chance of winning, first one need to have an understanding of the province as it’s one of the main sources of income to allow one to maintain one’s armies.

1.1.1 Summary
List the province’s allegiance. Hovering over the percentage will display further information about the factors concerning the influence in question.

1.1.2 Public Order
Show happiness in a province (Positive factors and negative factors). Hovering over the icons will provide further details.

There are many things that affect the happiness of a province, here are the following list that I can remember:

• + Garrison Level
• + Having units stationed inside the town (The more units the higher the happiness)
• + Agents
• + Daimyo Honour (Having high Daimyo Honour)
• + Generals traits
• + Art Masteries
• + Events (Temporary)
• – Tax (The higher the tax-rate the higher the unhappiness)
• – Number of territories (The more territories the higher the base unrest on conquered town)
• – Daimyo Honour (Having low Daimyo Honour cap at -2)
• – Newly conquered province (Decrease by 1 each turn to a fixed amount based on territories)
• – Modernisation (based on the buildings within the province)

Negative happiness will result in mounting unrest then rebel if the issue remains unsolved. Player usually has one turn to handle unrest before rebel.

1.1.3 Wealth
Shows Province Wealth, Tax Rate and the Income generate by that particular province.

Farm and Commerce are base income and will always stay the same unless the player decided to demolish/upgrade the building in question.

1.1.3.1 Town
This value will increase or decrease each turn based on the Town’s Growth. A province with high number in “Town” will generate more income. Looting will damage a province’s “Town” greatly but provide a lot of Koku.

1.1.3.2 Province Wealth
Display the total amount of Wealth the province has.

1.1.3.3 Tax Rate
Display the tax rate in that particular province. Hovering over the percentage will display further information on what is affecting the Tax Rate in that province.

1.1.4.4 Income
Shows how much money you will get from the province each turn.

1.1.5 Town Growth
Display the positive and negative factors to determine whether the Town Growth will grow or decrease each turn.

Note that some events will greatly decrease the Town Growth such as unrest or random events.

1.2 Finance

The next essence step is to understand Finance as this will allow you to make critical decision that either lead to success or failure.

1.2.1 Taxes

Here you will get an overview of your clan’s overall happiness by each province but also the tax level, as well listing the income and expenses of your clan.

• Green means happiness above 1.
• Yellow means happiness at 0.
• Red means Happiness is below 0 and will cause Unrest then Rebel if the problem is unsolved.
• Black means the province is exempt from taxes.

Consider exempt a province from taxes to help with PO, this will also let you move on with your army faster. This is important in the beginning of RD.

1.2.2 Trade

1.2.2.1 Resources
Display what your clan are producing, importing and have yet to acquire.
Hovering over the icon will shows how much of the product in question is being sold. A product with 100% export means all of it is being traded away, this is what you want to make the most money out of it. It also displays how much the product is worth.

1.2.2.2 Trade Partners
Display whom you are trading with, whether by sea or land and how much you make from the trade. A boat icon means trading by sea else a cart means trade by land. A stroke on the boat icon means that the port is blocked and neither you nor your trade partner receive trading money from the trade.

Note that the longer you’re in trade with the other party the more income it will generate and also has a positive effect in Diplomacy.

When striking a trade deal, try to sell it instead of just accepting it. This means you will be able to get quite a bit of extra koku. There will also be some case where you have to buy the trade deal as well.

1.2.3 Summary

A more detailed version of your income and expense. This tab will display the current expected income and expense and the previous turn’s income and expense.

1.3 Diplomacy

For the next step we are going to look into the Diplomacy to get a better understanding.

While playing FoTS Pro-Imperial/Shogunate, I do not feel diplomacy plays a majour part at all but more of “it’s just there for the sake of being there”, unlike RoTS where diplomacy plays a majour part. Maybe diplomacy is more important if you go your own path?

On this tab you will get an overview of your clan’s power, current standing amongst other clans, allies, trade partner, vassals, enemies and the information of the other clan in question.

• White means your provinces.
• Green means friendly (The darker the green the more they like you).
• Red means hostile (The darker the red the more they hate you and if there’s a double sword crossed it means you’re at war).

1.3.1 Power
This display your clan’s Military Power and plays an important part whether or not another clan will declare war on you. The weaker your Military Power the more likely the AI will declare war on you.

1.3.2 Attitude
Display your standing towards the clan in question, whether or not they like you, neutral or not.

1.3.3 Temperament
The playstyle of the clan in question, whether they play defensively or aggressively. By defensively they are more prone to defend their provinces than expand, while aggressively are more likely to declare war on other clans to expand their territory.

1.3.4 Integrity
The reputation of that clan in question. The higher (Dependable) the reputation the more likely they will assist you in battle if ally and stand by your side in the event of some other clan declare war on you, though this is intertwined with their attitude toward you. The lower (Questionable/Treacherous) the more likely they will backstab you.

1.4 Clan Management

Before we dive deeper into the guide, it’s important to understand your clan and how to manage it effectively.

1.4.1 Summary
Here you will get an overview of your clan, such as its trait, victory condition, fame, diplomacy, mission etc.

1.4.1.1 Clans Trait
Here lists the current trait of your clan, each clan has a fixed trait and more can be gained through masteries and events (Temporary for events).

1.4.1.2 Fame
How famous you are, this also determine what kind of threat the other clan sees you as. The higher the fame, the higher are you as a threat to the other clan. Once reaching Legendary, most clan if not all will declare war on you unless you managed to keep them on the good side. Or they are on the same side as you. Depending on the path you choose.

1.4.1.3 Details
Lists important information such as your capital (Stronghold), Allegiance, etc

1.4.1.4 Victory Condition
What you need to do to achieve victory.

1.4.1.5 Diplomacy
An overview of whom you’re ally with, your vassal, trade partner and enemy.

1.4.1.6 Current Mission
These are special mission that usually provide you with benefits if you decide to complete them.

1.4.2 Family & Council
Here lists an overview of your clan’s family tree and your generals. Your Daimyo’s Honour, your general’s royalty. Here you can also let go of a general if you wish and also arrange marriage for your daughter. Adopting etc.

The most important element in this section is the Commissions. There are only 4 Commissions, hovering over them will display further information.

The higher the level of the general, the higher are the benefits provide by the Commission. Each Commission provide a +1 to general loyalty to the general in question. However, if a general is strip from his Commission, he will suffer a -2 penalty to loyalty.

When adopting, creating a new general through event or recruit an enemy’s general. All the existing general will gain -1 to their loyalty.

2 Agents

There exists different type of agents within this game and they are very important toward your clan.

When performing actions; In case of a failure action, it will result in half of the initial cost being deduced and possibility of Diplomacy Penalty (DP) occurring. If the action is successful, the full amount will be deduced and a possibility of Diplomacy Penalty occurring.

Each town and army can have a maximum of 3 agents stationed within and if the town or army has more than 1 General then only the first one is affected.

You can only have a maximum of 5 agents of the same type. With final level of specific buildings, you can increase that number by 1.

When using agents, do not use them on enemies you have no intention to wage war with, but only on those who you want, plan, or at war with. This is because it cost money and possiblity of DP.

Agents are also very powerful to use to control the enemy’s movement and power.

Shinobi is the only agent that’s hidden by default from enemy unless discovered.

Agent last for the whole playthrough unless getting killed, so recruit once and they are there till the end.

Each agent has 9 skill points at max level, level 2 and 3 gives 1 point each, level 4 and 5 gives 2 points each and level 6 gives 3 points.

Specialising in a Tree increases the chances of the said action, this doesn’t prevent the agent from doing what they are intended to do. Depending on the situation, you might want to consider picking different perk compare to the one I recommend.

2.1 Geisha

• Echant: Seduce an enemy’s General or Agent to join your clan. General who join your clan through this way will suffer -1 loyalty, the lower the loyalty the higher the success rate.
• Inspire: Raise the morale of your army and probably increase the first General’s loyalty by +1.
• Distract Army: Prevent the enemy’s army from moving the next turn, run away if attacked or join as reinforcement.
• Entertain Nobles: Add town growth to the province each turn while also gives +1 to royalty to the first General stationed within the town.

2.1.1 The use of Geisha
I consider there are 2 ways to specialise a Geisha but you can mix them however you want.

• Temptress: The Offensive Geisha; Use to distract, tempting (converting enemy General or Agent to your side) enemy and inspiring army.
• Entrepreneur: The Defensive Geisha; Use to boost town’s growth and keep people happy.

2.1.2 Temptress
Useful to seduce high level General/Agent to join your cause, or to buy you enough time to mobilise an army to counter an invasion through distraction. Or increase your troops moral during battle and your General’s loyalty. This can also be use to control enemie’s movement and power. Through distraction one will prevent the enemy to reinforce critical area/conquer new provinces by denying their army’s movement. For this, chose the Blue Tree in the picture bellow, this will increase her chances when Distracting and Enchanting.

2.1.3 Entrepreneur:
Useful when wanting your town to grown faster, thus generate more income. With some point in the distraction tree this will also help her to distract army and buy you enough time to defend your province where she is presence. For this choose the Orange Tree in the picture bellow. This will also increase happiness in the province once certain skills are mastered (+2 to happiness).

2.1.4 Limitations and Strength

• Cannot enchant enemy’s Geisha, Shingsengumi and Ishin shishi.
• Cannot seduce enemy’s Agent if the maximum amount of X agent has been reached.
• Strong against Foreign Veterans.
• Weak against Shinobi.

2.2 Shinobi

• Establish Spy Network: Increase the province line of sight. Increase the chance to detect hidden armies or Agents and reduce the chance of successful revolt incitement.
• Scout Army: Increase the army’s line of sight and allow the army to march further.
• Spy (Passive): Reveal unit type and amount in an Army if close enough.
• Sabotage: Sabotage a building or an Army. If building, disable it until it’s repaired. If army, prevent the Army from moving 1 turn, run away if attacked or join as reinforcement and cause casualty.
• Assassination: Assassinate a General or Agent and remove them from the campaign.

2.2.1 The use of Shinobi
I don’t really consider there exist any special build when it comes to Shinobi, so spec him as you wish.

Playing as Pro-Imperial/Shogunate, I don’t use Shinobi that much or at all. This is because there are Faction Specific Agent and Foreign Veteran, and Shinobi also requires an additional building that I do not consider in my playstyle.

If there must be a build, then I would probably build him somewhere in the middle of everything he’s good at. For this go with the Blue Tree.

2.2.2 Strength and Weakness

• Vulneable against Faction specific agent
• Strong against Geisha

2.3 Ishin Shishi

• Rally Populace: Increase happiness of the province based on the province’s allegiance. The higher the allegiance toward your faction the more happiness.
• Persuade: Persuade the enermy’s army to join you, usually majority of their units joining you.
• Instil Fervour: Increase Charge of the units within the embed army.
• Incite Revolt: Causing Rebellion.
• Assassinate: Remove the enemy agent or General from the campaign.

2.3.1 The use of Ishin Shishi
There are two ways of specialising Ishin Shishi:

• Assassination/Revolt
• Influence/Persuasion

2.3.2 Assassination/Revolt
Useful when wanting to weaken an enemy without the need of going to war. Can even wipe out an entire Clan if do correctly, and getting rid of troublesome character such as high level General or Agents. For this build go with the Orange Tree.

2.3.3 Influence/Persuasion
Useful when wanting to spread the allegiance faster and happier populace. With persuation, you can buy upp their army and then use it to defend your province or conquer their province, note that going this route cost a lot of money. For this go with the Blue Tree.

2.3.4 Strength and Weakness

• Strong against Shinobi (Detect Shinobi) and Foreign Veterans.

2.4 Shinsengumi

• Subdue Dissidents: Increase repression of the province based on the province’s allegiance. The higher the allegiance towards the enemy faction the higher the repression.
• Coerce: Coerce the enermy’s army to join you, usually majority of their units joining you.
• Instil Discipline: Increase melee defence of the units within the embed army.
• Incite Revolt: Causing Rebellion.
• Assassinate: Remove the enemy agent or General from the campaign.

2.4.1 The use of Shinsengumi
There are two ways of specialising Ishin Shishi:

• Assassination/Revolt
• Influence/Coerce

2.4.2 Assassination/Revolt
Useful when wanting to weaken an enemy without the need of going to war. Can even wipe out an entire Clan if do correctly, and getting rid of troublesome character such as high level General or Agents. For this build go with the Orange Tree.

2.4.3 Influence/Coerce
Useful when wanting to spread the allegiance faster and happier populace. With coercering, you can buy upp their army and then use it to defend your province or conquer their province, note that going this route cost a lot of money. For this go with the Blue Tree. For this go with the Blue Tree

2.4.4 Strength and Weakness

• Strong against Shinobi (Detect Shinobi) and Foreign Veterans.

2.5 Foreign Veteran

• Supervise Recruitment: Decrease recruitment cost and increase troops experience with time.
• Train Troops: Increase troops experience with time.
• Sabotage Building: Damage and disable the building in question until reqaired.
• Harass: Cause attrition and reduce morale.
• Challenge to Combat: Try to kill the enemy General or Agent in a duel.

2.5.1 The use of Ishin Foreign Veteran
There are two ways of specialising Foreign Veteran:

• Duel/Harrass
• Supervise

2.5.2 Duel/Harrass
Useful when taking out troublesome General and Agents as well as weaken the army before battle. For this build go with the Blue Tree.

2.5.3 Supervise
Useful to train troops in the Military province as well as your army. For this build go with the Orange Tree.

2.5.4 Strength and Weakness

• Weak against Geisha

3 Economy

To have a strong economy is very important in this game since money can solve almost if not everything. It will also allow you to cover all your expenses whatever you choose to do.

In this game I usually divide the economy into 3 parts;

• Tax: Comes from taxing provinces.
• Trade: Wealth gain from trade with other clans and western.
• Temporary Income: Wealth gain from temporary means, such as raid, selling trade right, sacking a province, selling military right, ect.

When it comes to province, it’s generally divided into 2 type of provinces. One that is Economy while the other is Military. Build military building on Military provinces only otherwise you won’t have enough koku to cover your expenses.

3.1 Economy Buildings

Before we go any further into economy, we have first to talk about the economy buildings in this game since they are more or less your main income.

3.1.1 Business and Industrial Chain

3.1.1.1 Inn
For the Inn when choosing the Gambling Den chain, I will consider it generating 0 public order since they cancel each other out, the happiness and repression.

3.1.1.2 Cottage

3.1.2 Farming and Port Chain

3.1.2.1 Farm
The farm here are counted as its base value without any multipliers. For fertile or very fertile, you can take the base number and multiply by 2 respectively 3 to get the final wealth the farm gives.

3.1.2.2 Dock

3.2 Special Buildings

In this game there exist province specific building and I’ll call them special buildings. Most of the province has them.

I’ll divide them into 3 sections; Cost Reduction Buildings, Commerce Buildings and Military Buildings.

3.2.1 Cost Reduction Buildings

3.2.1.1 Clay Chain building:

• Generate some wealth (100, 200, (400, 600))
• Generate some growth (1, 2, (5, 3))
• Reduce building cost (5%, 10%, 15% on province and 5% clan wide)
• Can give modernisation (3)
• Can induce happiness penalty (-2)

Even though it stacks with multiple Clay Chain Buildings (Clan wide) and if one were to build this to the highest tier before building Mid Game buildings, it will mostly break even or one get a small gain but also benefits oneself in the long run but I still personally don’t see its worth. This is due to after Real Divide (RD) the clan will generate so much koku that this building is obsolete since there are so much money laying around. However, do consider upgrading this to the max tier if you have money to spare to save you some money when building buildings in the new conquered province.

3.2.1.2 Coal Mining Chain building:

• Generate some wealth (200, 400, 600)
• Generate some growth (1, 2, 5, 3)
• Reduce ship cost (5%, 10%, 15% on province and 1% clan wide)
• Generate modernisation (2, 3)
• Induce happiness penalty (-1, -2)
• Generate coal to trade

Upgrade Coal Mining Chain to the max before starting to build navy. The base wealth it gives will mostly cover for the garrison units needed for PO penalty with a bit of loss but not much. Do also remember that this also generate coal to sell and coal has the highest price in the game. There’s also the growth it gives. Therefore, max it out on 1-2 provinces where you plan to make Navy Military Base. The more navy bases you have the faster you can muster a Navy. For other surplus provinces, if you’re trading coal at 100% then go ahead and upgrade to the next tier, else leave it be since it’s not worth it because it gives penalty to PO.

3.2.1.3 Copper Mining Chain building:

• Generate some wealth (100, 200, (400, 600))
• Generate some growth (1, 2, (5, 3))
• Reduce mordern unit cost (5%, 10%, 15% on province and 5% clan wide)
• Can give modernisation (3)
• Can induce happiness penalty (-2)
• Generate copper to trade

Copper Mining Chain building is questionable, it might be good to upgrade but can also be a waste of money.

Before upgrading to tier 2, check your trade. If you’re trading copper at 100% then go ahead and upgrade to the next tier. Otherwise don’t even bother. The wealth this generate doesn’t give that much in the Net Tax at all. The growth is also low.

The pros here is that modern unit become cheaper, and at last tier it gives a discount of 5% clan wide and they stack if you have multiple Copper Mining buildings. However, the cons here is that it cost a lot of money to upgrade to the max tier and the discount aren’t even worth it. You will mostly make a lost since you should recruit your units at a province with a blacksmith instead.

If by chance you’re at trade and you trade at 100% even after tier 2 upgrade, then do go ahead and upgrade the building to tier 3 but take the one that doesn’t give PO penalty since modernisation shouldn’t be a problem. You will get more trade income, some Net Tax and getting the discount bonus.

3.2.1.4 Iron Mining Chain building:

• Generate some wealth (100, 200, (400, 600))
• Generate some growth (1, 2, (5, 3))
• Reduce building cost (5%, 10%, 15% on province and 5% clan wide)
• Can give modernisation (3)
• Can induce happiness penalty (-2)
• Generate Iron to trade

For Iron Mining Chain, it’s the same as Copper Chain.

3.2.1.5 Holy Site:

• Increase unit’s charge (5, 10, 15)
• Reduce Traditional unit cost (5%, 10%, 15% on province and 5% clan wide)
• Reduce modernisation (-1, -2)

I have no opinion of Holy Site since I I do not even use it at all.

3.2.2 Commerce Buildings

3.2.2.1 Gold Mining Chain:

• Generate wealth (800, 1400, (1700, 2000))
• Can give modernisation (3)
• Can induce happiness penalty (-2)

I recommend upgrading Gold Mine to at least tier 2, since the cost and revenue ratio is good. As for tier 3 do consider carefully before upgrading since It cost a lot to upgrade to the last tier and the wealth it gives from tier 2 to tier 3 is not great.

Consider upgrading this to max tier only if you have money to spare and if you decide to upgrade this building do check your province’s PO first since you get to choose a wealth gain of 300 koku or 600 koku with PO penalty of 2. Which translate into Net Tax of 84 respectively 168 koku. If you choose the 600 when your PO is 0 then you will make a lost since you will need 2 units for garrison.

3.2.2.2 Silk Chain:

• Generate wealth (350, 700, 1000)
• Generate some growth (1, 2)
• Generate Silk to trade

I recommend upgrading Silk Chain to at least tier 2 since the cost and revenue ratio is very good. This also gives more silk to trade and thus generate even more koku with 0 cons. As for the final tier, check your trade, if you’re trading silk at 100% then go ahead and upgrade this building to the last tier or if you have koku to spare.

3.2.2.3 Tea Chain:

• Generate some wealth (400, 700, 1000)
• Generate some growth (1, 2)
• Can give modernisation (3)
• Can induce happiness penalty (-2)
• Generate Tea to trade

I recommend upgrading Tea Chain to at least tier 2 since the cost and revenue ratio is very good. As for the last tier, consider carefully before upgrading. Check your trade and province’s PO first, if you’re trading tea at 100% and your province’s PO is in the positive then do upgrade else don’t since this will result in a PO penalty of 2 which translate to unit for garrison and a loss of Net Tax of 196 koku.

3.2.2.4 Smuggling Chain building:

• Generate some wealth (300, 500, 900)
• Generate growth (4, 8, 12)
• +1 to geisha rank

As for Smuggling Chain, I don’t consider this to have a good ratio of cost and revenue, it does give a lot of growth but the wealth it gives is kind of low on the first jump. So, upgrade if you have koku to spare.

3.2.3 Military Buildings

3.2.3.1 Blacksmith:

• Increase unit’s accuracy (5, 10, 20)
• Can increase/decrease modernisation (3/-2)
• Can induce happiness penalty (-2)

Do upgrade Blacksmith to the last tier and chose the one that gives 20 accuracy. It will make your unit more deadly. Even if it gives PO penalty, it’s still worth it.

3.2.3.2 Railway Chain:

• Generate some wealth (200, 460, 900)
• Generate growth (4, 8, 12)
• Induce PO penalty (-1, -2)
• Give modernisation (2, 4)

For Railway, upgrade this to the second tier, as for the last tier it’s not needed. The reason here is because it will let you mobilise your army and agent very fast. Usually 2-3 stop depending on unit type, each stop covers about 2 provinces. This is a must if you’re playing as a clan on the mainland. The wealth gain should cover most of the cost for the new unit that’s need for garrison due to PO penalty and there is also growth, with enough time, the growth should cover those expenses.

4 Mastery of Arts

To master the right arts at the right time is critical for your campaign. Since these arts provide bonus to your clan but also provide better units and etc.

To be clear, unlike the base game Shogun and RoTS, I find most arts here useful, but some are more important than others.

4.1 Civil Policy
This section help boost your economy but also unlock the western units, additional military building and provide bonus tax and tax reduction.

Most of the time, I would recommend focussing your attention on this tree. To at least get the important arts that I consider to be important.

For those arts I consider to be important in the Civil Policy are marked with Blue.
For the Orange Tree, they are additional arts that’s good depending on the situation. Take these if you want to spread your influence faster or want your Geisha to succeed more.

4.2 Military Policy
This here will let you upgrade higher military buildings which also means better unit available to recruit.

I would recommend focussing on this tree only when you have researched the majority of important arts in the Civil Tree.

Those that I consider to be important here in the Military Policy are marked with Red.

5 Game Phase

I will divide the game into 5 phases, early, early+, mid, mid+ and late game. Here I’ll go through what I consider is good to build during those phases and will try to explain their pros and cons.

Also note that I’ll use shortened terms to make it easier to write the guide so here they are:

• Koku (k)
• Growth (g)
• Happiness (h)
• Modernisation (m)
• Generally tax is around 28%

To keep public order, I’ll use the lowest upkeep unit which is 98 koku.

5.1 Early Game

This here is the beginning of the game and is also very critical since a strong foundation is required to succeeed in Legendary. For starter I’ll count Resistance to Invader (RTI) as -1. This is the penalty you get for provinces you conquer after the first 3 provinces. This is also where your fame goes up to the next level. Which means you’re holding a total of 6 provinces. Since I start of counting RTI as -1 I’ll also assume you have researched the first happiness technology.

This counting of early game applies to the Satsuma only else you can count this phase as Early- Game if you’re playing another clan with 1 province since Satsuma start with 2 provinces and 1 vassal. So it’s already counting as 3 provinces. If you’re playing as another clan that starts with only 1 province then this phase gives you +1 to public order if you reserched the happiness technology in tier 1 technology.

To advance to the next technology you only need 4 modernisation and thus result in a penalty of 1 happiness.

5.1.1 Happiness
Public order is very important in this game as it directly affect your economy but also keep your province in check, otherwise there will be revolt.

Public Order (PO):

• Stronghold: 4
• Technology: 1
• Total: 4

Public Order Penalty:

• Resistance to invader: -1
• Tax: -4
• Total: -5

Final: 0

5.1.2 General Buildings (GB)
The buildings I consider to be the foundation across different builds.

Port + Subsistence Farming:
Total: 550k, 2g, 0h, 0m

5.1.3 Specialise Buildings (SB)

Inn:
Toltal: 360k, 0g, 1h, 0m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 910k, 0g, 1h, 0m
Gross Tax: 910 * 0,28 = 255k
Public Order Upkeep: 0k
Net Tax: 255 – 0 = 255k

Cottage Industry:
Toltal: 560k, 0g, -1h, 1m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 1110k, 2g, -1h, 1m
Gross Tax: 910 * 0,28 = 311k
Public Order Upkeep: 98 * 1 = 98k
Net Tax: 311 – 98 = 213k

Note: If you’re playing a faction that start with 1 province then this phase gives you +1 surplus in happiness if you researched the tech that gives happiness. Which means Cottage Industry gives the most Net Tax here.

5.1.4 Analyse
Remember that this is early game so you will only have 1 slot to build for now, so you have to choose between Inn or Cottage.

As you can see, if you were to build Inn in every province in early game you won’t be able to advance to the next level of technology as it lacks modernisation and it’s game over for you.

Then what about Cottage Industry? It gives a bit of modernisation, surely it’s a good call, since it allows you to advance to unlock the next level of technology and counts towards your Military Might since you now have to recruit 1 units for garrison, so it’s good right?

5.1.5 Conclusion
For very early game (This means the first 3 provinces you have but you will need 1 to build military building so you are left with 2 buildings) build Inn but do not upgrade it yet, as to why, I’ll explain in the later phase of the game, with this it will allow you get the most income you can possibly get without spending additional funds to buy units for garrison but instead allows you to recruit them to your army to conquer other provinces.

If you are playing a clan that starts with 1 province then consider building Cottage instead on the third province as you will need the Inn in the second to let you move on to another province faster.

Past that (Referring to province 4+) build Cottage Industry to let you unlock the next tier of technology, this also counts towards your Military Might and will play a major role in other clans whether or not going to declare war against you.

While Port cost money to upgrade and doesn’t give any wealth except growth in return but it does let you trade with other clan by sea, which gives you about 100-150 Net Koku in early game, and that’s a lot.

5.2 Early+ Game

This phase will build further on our early game phase and resist to invader here will be counting as -2 which means you are in control of about 9 provinces.

If you’re playing another clan that starts with 1 province then count this as Early Game, thus, I’ll assume you have reached tier 2 of technology with PO penalty of -1 and you have researched the related technology that gives another +1 to PO. Therefore, I’ll count that you only have 6 provinces instead of 9 which means RTI is still at -1. This means you’re at a surplus of about 1-2 PO then wait with upgrading Stronghold to Fortress until the next phase if not needed as chokepoint.

5.2.1 Happiness
Here I will also assume you have unlocked tier 3 of technology already which gives a penalty of -2 to PO, but also have researched the PO related technology that gives another +1 to PO.

Public Order (PO):

• Technology: 2
• Fortress: 6
• Total: 8

Public Order Penalty:

• Resistance to invader: -2
• Tax: -4
• Large Town: -1
• Technology: -2
• Total: -9

Final: -1

5.2.2 General Buildings (GB)
Port + Subsistence Farming:
Total: 550k, 2g, 0h, 0m

5.2.3 Specialise Buildings (SB)

Gambling Den:
Toltal: 600k, 1g, 2h, -1m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 1150k, 3g, 1h, -1m
Gross Tax: 1150 * 0,28 = 322k
Public Order Upkeep: 0k
Net Tax: 322 – 0 = 322k

Market:
Toltal: 720k, 2g, 0h, 1m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 1270k, 4g, -1h, 1m
Gross Tax: 910 * 0,28 = 356k
Public Order Upkeep: 98 * 1 = 98k
Net Tax: 356 – 98 = 258k

5.2.4 Analyse
With this phase we will be upgrade the Inn and as you can see Gambling Den (BD) gives the most gain from our Inn at 255 koku to 322 koku. However, what about modernisation? It does give -1 to modernisation. Doesn’t this mean game over? Since we can’t unlock the next technology tier?

Then Market should be an obvious choice. Although it only gives a Net Tax gain of 3 koku from our Inn, but it gives 1 modernisation and count towards our Military Might since we need a unit to maintain PO as well as more growth. Right?

5.2.5 Conclusion
While Market is the better choice at this phase, however, it doesn’t generate good income in the long run. While GD is a worse choice at this phase, but it does generate more income in the long run.

The set back of GD here is modernisation since it gives us negative value, however, before upgrading the Inn be sure to upgrade the Town to Large Town, this will give you 1 modernisation and 1 additional slot which will let you build Cottage on previously provinces that only has Inn, and -1 to happiness but GD does give you +2 to happiness so it will cancel each other out. With this your modernisation shouldn’t be an issue.

Once you have upgraded the Inn or build Cottage don’t forget to upgrade Stronghold to Fortress as Fortress gives 2PO which will prepare us for the next phase. With this you will get a Net PO of 1 otherwise you will be at -1 PO and thus require unit for garrison which means less unit to conquer other provinces.

5.3 Mid Game

This phase will build further on our early phase and Resist to Invader here will be counting as -3. This means you are in control of about 12 provinces with a good margin before hitting Realm Divide (RD).

5.3.1 Happiness
Here I’ll assume you have unlocked the third tier of technology which gives a penalty of -2 to PO. However, while upgrading you will soon hit the last tier of the technology which gives a penalty of -3 to PO, so let’s assume the worst and I’ll also assume you have researched the PO related tech that gives about another +4 to PO.

Public Order (PO):

• Technology: 6
• Fortress: 6
• Total: 12

Public Order Penalty:

• Resistance to invader: -3
• Tax: -4
• Large Town: -1
• Technology: -3
• Total: -11

Final: 1

5.3.2 General Buildings (GB)
Trading Port + Tenant Fields:
Total: 1600k, 6g, -1h, 2m

5.3.3 Specialise Buildings (SB)

Financial District (FD) + Cotton Weaving Shed (CWS):
Toltal: 2460k, 7g, -2h, 5m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 4060k, 13g, -2h, 7m
Gross Tax: 4060 * 0.28 = 1137k
Public Order Upkeep: 98 * 2 = 196k
Net Tax: 1137 – 196 = 941k

Richi Mahjong Parlour (RMP) + Cotton Weaving Shed (CWS):
Toltal: 2200k, 5g, 1h, 2m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 3800k, 11g, 1h, 4m
Gross Tax: 3800 * 0.28 = 1064k
Public Order Upkeep: 98 * 0 = 0k
Net Tax: 1064 – 0 = 1064k

Financial District (FD) + Craft Workshop (CW):
Toltal: 2510k, 5g, -1h, 4m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 4110k, 11g, -1h, 6m
Gross Tax: 4110 * 0.28 = 1151k
Public Order Upkeep: 98 * 1 = 98k
Net Tax: 1151 – 98 = 1053k

Richi Mahjong Parlour (RMP) + Craft Workshop (CW):
Toltal: 2250k, 3g, 2h, 1m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 3850k, 9g, 2h, 3m
Gross Tax: 3850 * 0.28 = 1078k
Public Order Upkeep: 98 * 0 = 0k
Net Tax: 1078 – 0 = 1078k

5.3.4 Result

FD + CWS vs FD + CW:
FDCWS Net Tax = 941k, 13g, 7m
FDCW Net Tax = 1053k, 11g, 6m

RMP + CWS vs RMP + CW:
RMPCWS Net Tax = 1064k, 11g, 4m
RMPCW Net Tax = 1078k, 9g, 3m

5.3.5 Analyse
As you can see, building FD gives the least net tax but it counts toward your military might since you will need to recruit a lot of units to garrison your province for public order. While RMP gives more net tax but count less towards military might since you don’t need as many units to maintain public order.

5.3.6 Conclusion
Here you can either choose to build RMPCWS or RMPCW, one gives less Net Tax but more modernisation and growth while the other gives only more in Net Tax. As for me, I’ll go with RMPCW, even if it gives a bit less growth.

As for FD build, I don’t consider it to be that good, while it counts toward your military might but you will end up with a lot of units that you can’t “use” because they have to garrison your province and they are not strong enough to prevent an attack since the AI will come with full force. But also they gives the less Net Tax imo. While RMP gives happiness, which makes it more flexibel for you and when conquering new provinces you can also move on faster. Another reason is due to Marrket, FD and CWS cost more too build and takes 1 turn longer to complete compared to their counterparts. Thus you will have to pay for the price differences and losing income of 1 turn.

Example: FD takes 7 turns to complete and cost 600 koku more compared to RMP which takes 6 turns and 600 koku less, if we translate this into profit it would be you losing 1 turn of incom from RMP which is an addition of 400 * 0,28 = 112, which gives us a total differences of 712 koku loss. However, FD does gives 39 koku more each turn and also a 2 more growth. This means the differences will become null at about 18 turns, with growth taking in consideration. Which means any money after 18 turns after it’s being built means more income. And the game usually last for about 180 turns for me. That’s when I have all the whole Japan either Pro-shogunate or Pro-Imperial.

Note: Consider upgrade to Commercial Farming (CF) at this phase on provinces that are fertile or very fertile since it multiplies the income by 2 respectively 3. This means Tenant Fields that gives 900 koku actually gives 1800 koku respectively 2700 koku. Upgrading to CF gives a base of +500 koku so multiple that by 2 or 3 and you will end up with 1000-1500 extra koku. Be sure to upgrade the farm in the order of fertility, so very fertile, fertile, etc.

5.4 Mid+ Game

This phase is a bit special because there are a few ways to go at it. You can either go with upgrading Tenant Fields (TF) to Commercial Farming (CF) and Cottage build to Factory. Or upgrade your Large Town to City and build Police Station and upgrade it to Magistrate. Or skip this phase all together and just save up some koku for RD.

When you’re at this phase try to be at peace, preferably not at war with any clan at all. This is because at this phase we are preparing for RD. Strike peace is the most important here and not to enter RD at any cost. Public Order from the previous phase applies. I’ll also assume you have researched the necessary tech needed for Factory.

5.4.1 General Buildings (GB)
Trading Port + Commercial Farming:
Total: 2100k, 7g, -2h, 3m

5.4.2 Specialise Buildings (SB)

Financial District (FD) + Factory (F):
Toltal: 2960k, 9g, -2h, 5m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 5060k, 16g, -3h, 8m
Gross Tax: 5060 * 0.28 = 1417k
Public Order Upkeep: 98 * 3 = 294k
Net Tax: 1417 – 294 = 1123k

Richi Mahjong Parlour (RMP) + Factory (F):
Toltal: 2700k, 7g, 1h, 2m
Final (GB + SB + PO): 4800k, 14g, 0h, 5m
Gross Tax: 4800 * 0.28 = 1344k
Public Order Upkeep: 98 * 0 = 0k
Net Tax: 1344 – 0 = 1344k

5.4.3 City and Magistrate
When upgradde Large Town to City you will earn;

• 2m
• -1h
• 2% tax

While Magistrate gives;

• 2PO
• +1 to agent (Ishin Shishi/Shisengumi)

This means we will go surplus on PO by 2 and +2% on tax, which gives us on a province that has about 4000 koku in wealth of a Net Tax about 80 koku.

5.4.4 Result

FD + F vs RMP + F:
FDF Net Tax = 1123k, 16g, 8m
RMPF Net Tax = 1344k, 14g, 5m

City and Magistrate Net Tax = 80 + 1078 (RMPCW Net Tax) = 1158k, 2h, 2m

5.4.5 Conclusion
Since we went with RMP the FD build is already obsolete because as you can see here RMPF gives a much higher net tax compared to FDF, this means less unit station inside a province and more unit for army to conquer other provinces.

Depending on whether you build RMPCWS or RMPCW you might want to consider skip upgrading to Factory and CF but instead upgrade your Large Town to City and Build Police Station then upgrade to Magistrate instead.

Alternatively you can mix these 2, on provinces previously build RMPCWS you can go ahead and upgrade to Factory and CF since this will gives the most Net Tax, while on provinces you previously build RMPCW then go ahead and upgrade Large Town to City and Magistrate instead, since this allows for conversion (and) recruit agent. Depending your path.

I would advise to go with City and Magistrate if you’re going to switch side. This will help you restore PO the fastest but also allows to recruit agent depending on the path you choose.

You can also decide to skip this phase and just save money for RD which reduce the length of the game quite a bit.

For me, I would probably build Magistrate on 1-2 provinces instead of cottage since I will not change side, this will also let me have 1-2 agents. Once RD kicks in I’ll always build police station on newly conquered provinces anyway to help with PO and there I can then recruit agents if I so desire. This means I will skip this phase and build Factory if I have koku to spare or needed it. Usually I will just sack a few provinces right at the start of RD which should gives me 1-2 hundred thousands koku in about 1-2 season.

5.5 Late Game

This phase means we are entering RD and are ready for it. It’s time to conquer JAPAN!

Here just go ahead and continue to upgrade the buildings you have already built to make even more income if you have money to spare, usually getting new province will give you quite a bit of extra net tax so continuing to upgrade your provinces is kind of unnecessary.

If you need a lot of koku then consider sacking the province which usually gives a lot of koku right away. Do note that doing so gives penalty to your Honour and high public unrest. However, Honour shouldn’t be a problem since it can be earned through many different ways and sacking max out at -3 Honour. As for PO penalty, let the rebel take over the town and fight them again and reclaim it or also kill them before they take the town, this will give you about 5PO towards Military Crackdown and decreases by 1 each turn.

6 Military Base

As mentioned before, there are generally 2 kind of provinces, one that’s Economy and one that is Military, in this section I’ll cover the Military Province.

6.1 Tera Base
When building Military Provinces, it’s recommended to build Military building in a province that has a Blacksmith combined with Training Camp upgrade to Firing Range result in your modern units being deadly since they will give a total of 35 accuracy extra.

You would also want to build your Artillery here as well since they will also get a plus to their accuracy which makes them even more deadly.

Which means a military province needs to be upgrade to atleast to City, consider upgrade Stronghold to Fortress as well for the extra repression since modern building will result in PO penalty.

6.2 Navy Base
For navy, upgrade Port to Military Port and then Drydock in a province that has Coal Mining, this will reduce the cost needed to recruit ships, which should save you some money since ships cost quite a bit of money. Though 1-2 Navy base is enough. You might not want to build this in your Tera Base because you wont be able to recruit Foreign units, which are the best units in the game.

7 Army and Battle

Having the best unit combination but also the cheapest upkeep might be hard. Here I’ll try to break it down for both Naval and Land armies.

7.1 Tera Army and Battle

When attacking the enemy, consider using Agents to make the battle even easier, especially if you do not wish to go to war while still being able to claim new provinces. By using Ishin Shishi or Shinsengumi, you can incite revolt on other provinces, this means you don’t need to declare war on another clan if you wish to control a province that’s in the possession of another clan. You can also use them to buy up their army and turn that against them, but playing like this requires a lot of koku.

Before attacking an army, I would recommend using Foreign Veteran to harass the enemy and Assassinate their General with a nother agent. Harassing cause attrition and reduces morale, therefore, making the battle even easier for that mass rout.

Early-Mid Game:
In early game, I would recommend skipping Levy Infantry or just get about 2 of them, this is due to their very low accuracy and reload rate, but they are also much worse in melee. The only thing they are good is to inflict moral penalty since gun reduces moral quite nice. Therefore, go with Line Infantry until you get better gun units.

Now, this means to buy Line Infantry, you need to have at least Cadet School (CS) so just burn down a building in your “temporary” military town to build CS for now. Because once the AI got Line Infantry, it will be quite a tough battle if you’re still running around with Spear Levy and Levy Infantry since Line Infantry melee combat is more or less quiet even with Spear Levy.

I would recommend going with 6 Line Infantry + Spear Levy + 2 Parrot Gun + 2 Cavalry (You should get Parrot Gun and Cavalry as you enter Early+ game or Mid game and you don’t even need a full army either). The reason for this is because in the Early – Mid Game, there are a lot of things happening. Everyone is at war with each other, therefore, the AI usually running around with Line Infantry or Levy Infantry. This also means more income for you to build and expand your economy provinces instead of putting in a lot of money in military and on expensive units that’s unnecessary.

What about Katana Kachi, Yari Kachi, and Sharpshooters? Since they are much better than the units I recommend in Early+ – Mid Game.

For Katana and Tari Kachi, I consider them End Game units and so I’ll get to that later. As for Sharpshooter. If you need additional army in Early+ – Mid Game and has already secured a province with a Blacksmith and got your permanent Military Province then by all means, do go for Sharpshooter since they are much more deadly compare to Inline Infantry and they only cost a slightly more. Otherwise your army consist of Inline Infantry should be enough to carry you to Mid Game. The reason I do not recommend going with Sharpshooter is that you will need to upgrade your Cadet School, which means it cost money to which later you will have to burn down because it’s not build on a province with a Blacksmith, and in Early – Mid Game you will need all the money you can get.

Late Game:
Remember that you can only recruit a maximum amount of 8 units of the Elite Infantry, this means you can only have 8 Guard Infantry and 8 Marines.

For late game unit composition, I would recommend having at least 2 Armstrong + 2 Calvary + 6 Infantry + 1 General, the rest are up to your taste.

But why those units? Why not other? Well, you can build whatever you want, but for me, those gives the best result based on my playstyle.

Armstrong are used to get the enemy to attack you instead of you having to run towards the enemy, they are also very deadly in Siege Battles. Especially if they are built in a province with Blacksmith and Training Camp. This means when the enemy are close to you, they already suffered causalities and maybe with luck even their General got killed off.

Unlike Shogun 2 where I use Cavalry as flank, kill General, engage archers and chasing down fleeing units, I only use Calvary to chase down fleeing units in FoTS so I don’t have to spend additional action points after the battle to chase and finish them off. This is because using Armstrong and Infantry, it’s enough to shatter the enemy, and depending on the combination, you could even rout them before they even get close to you.

As for my preference, I have tried different built on my Satsuma and Saga playthrough, on Satsuma I went with 2 Gatling + 2 Armstrong + 2 Cavalry + 8 Infantry + 1 General + 5 Spear Levy which saves me some income and allows me to have 2 armies and 1 Navy for RD + 1 mid-tier Garrison Army, then later I expand to 4 Navy and 4 Armies . While on Saga I went with 3 Gatling + 4 Armstrong + 2 Cavalry + 6 Infantry + 1 General + 2 Yari Kachi + 2 Katana Kachi, which gives me 2 armies 0 navy and 2 mid-tier Garrison armies. To which I prefer the Satsuma build better since IT gives me more money to build Navy, and Navy is a must in FoTS or else you will have 0 Sea control and it’s quite the pain in the ***.

If I were to recommend a build, I would recommend going with:

• 3 Armstrong
• 6 Infantry (Use elite ones if you can, they are even more deadly)
• 2 Cavalry
• 1 General
• 8 Spear Levy

Alternatively, 6 Katana Kachi and 2 Yari Kachi instead of 5 Spear Levy. You can also take 4 Armstrong and 6 Infantry and 2 Gatling if you like gatling gun more.

The reason I favour Katana and Yari Kachi less is because they require additional building and takes longer to recruit but also cost a bit more, although with the Katana and Yari Kachi, Siege battles does become a bit easier but not so much, since Infantry can still go melee and remember, you still have Armstrong and the AI usually just spam low tier units even in Late Game, except their core army which have Katana to it.

In siege battles, when using Armstrong on their units that’s stationed to the wall, don’t shot on that unit but shot on the wall instead, try to get the wall destroy evenly and once they explode, the unit is more or less dead. Also, even if a wall is at 100% damage, you can still target it if you target it correctly. This is what you want to do instead of attacking the unit. The splash damage from the cannon ball is enough to kill of a chunk of the unit, with only 1 hit from a canon you usually got a lot of kills. This means it will be a lot of micromanagement, but you will get the most kill out of it and also allowing you to move up your army in a safer way.

7.2 Navy and Battle

To be added…