Overview
Ever get tired of getting beat by Fall of the Samurai users with your outdated Shogun 2 army?Your melee core not working against that gun army?Look no further, this is the guide you have been looking for.
Video
This video pretty much sums it up.
Go to around 6:30 to see it in action against a high level.
If you get tired of my voice skip to the next part of this guide.
In text
Bear in mind, you can vary from this as much as you want and as what you see is fit.
1. Bring ashigaru units! these are the most cost effective units (especially with the right retainer) that can function as meat shields.
- 2 units of yari ashigaru – no upgrades or +1 moral
(these guys will be being shot so they don’t need good attack or defence) - 2-3 units of bow ashigaru – no upgrades or +1 accuracy/reload
(they will act as a secondary meat shield so it’s ok to upgrade them some, but not too much)
2. Next, the core of your army, Bow Warrior Monks.
- 2 units of bow warrior monks – upgrade +2reload, +2accuracy, and highly recommended range
(You want a high killing rate with these guys, yet you still want them to be as cost effective as possible, so I suggest no more than 5 upgrades.)
3. To fend off FOTS melee infantry, Nodachi Samurai.
- 2 units of nodachi samurai – no upgrades or your preference (these units are vital, yet as stated for other units, you shouldn’t spend too much on them)
4. You need to push forward, you need Calvary!
- 3/4 units of yari calvary – I personally woudn’t upgrade past rank 5 (speed and attack works well for me)
- 1 unit of bow calvary – +2 accuracy (accuracy helps with hitting moving enemy calvary better than reload does)
5. The calvary needs support.
- 1 unit matchlock ashigaru – no upgrades or +speed (they will be running with calvary so they need to move fast)
- 1 unit of naginata samurai or yari ashigaru – no upgrade or upgrade speed and moral if you have enough resource left to spend
Formation
This is best illustrated by the video so look there.
How to use this army
This is basic but also a good reminder.
1. Focus bow warrior monks’ arrows in priority of this list
- melee infantry(only if charging forward) > Carbine/Revolver cav > gun infantry
- of course the higher ranked units should be prioritzed in their respective category.
- Example: 2 katana katchi are charging forward, one has 19 attack and the other is vanilla.
2. Protect your bow warrior monks.
- rotate meat shield units (if one side of your army is getting hit harder than the other, swap meatshield units)
- if meatshield units are dead, move nodachi samurai in their place.
- if a dojo is close, hide bow warrior monks behind it to protect them.
3. Kill melee infantry first.
- aim bow warrior monk fire on melee units before gun units especially if they are charging.
- charge nodachi samurai forward (Try to time your charge. You want them to meet right before they get to your yari ashigaru, that way they are get hit by as many as arrows as possible)
- if all else fails, use cavalry to fend off melee infantry and have bow monks retreat to better position.
4. Getting cavalry dominance
- Always prioritze your matchlocks and bow cavalry fire on carbine or revolver cav.
- be agressive by pushing with your infantry designated to assist cav.
- Enemy ranged cav can’t stand a chance against both matchlock fire and your bow cav fire.
Final tips
- If the enemy has a lot of ranged cavalry put your cavalry units in loose formation
- leadership general works well with this build
- if you don’t want to bring increase ranged bow warrior monks, bow samurai actually have better stats and are cheaper when upgraded with +2 reload +2 accuracy + increase range (except for moral)
- If you get cavalry domanince, flank behind his lines and attack, but don’t leave them in extended combat, pull them through and charge again.
- Always us terain to your advantage, even with your meatshields, a hill is still better.
- This may sound cliche, but never give up. There are plenty of times I thought I would lose, but i kept trying and won: using my meatshield to the last man, charging my bow cavalry in, using my matchlock that I brought against his gun units, and even charging my bow warrior monks in when they were out of ammo!
Thanks for your time.
If you have any questions or suggestions post them and I will get to them as soon as possible.