How to start as Tosa?

[Cruz / LastSpartan]

I have a neigbour to the north who spams Yari Kachi and Yari Ki and I don't know how to beat that combo with line infantry + spear levy. I always end up in an unwinnable melee battle. I can't do hit and run tacticts with line inf because Yari Ki always end up killing any stragler units I send out, so I have to keep my army together and near general for morale boost, but then Yari Kachi just annihilates my lines in melee as I have to keep my spears on flanks in case of Yari Ki attacks.

Is there no easy fast win situation here? Do I just have to chill the first 10 turns building up an actually large army to take out this guy (and the guy next to him)? I mean I could but I really don't see any advantage, as then I would really be struggling to build any kind of navy which I obviously need as Tosa.

[Ëvïlnïck8 ゴゴゴ]

Engage the melee with your spear levy and make your line inf support them from affar.
In general friendly fire is quite low so you dont need to worry about killing more of your own then then the enemy. (but dont put your line inf directly behind the spear levy since them their line of sight is blocked)
You could besiege the enemy castle, make them attack you and defend on a hill, that way line of sight for the line inf isnt blocked.
When your spear levy's are engaged in melee your line inf can shoot above them and fire down on the enemy melee inf.
The spear cav in general is weak againts inf so even your line inf will againts them.
Finaly, use your general(s) as heavy flank cav in areas were your men are losing.
But be carefull about this since spearman will wreck cav and be carefull not to get catched by the spear cav.
Thats how i managed to win the first battles, and hopefully you to.
Best of luck!

[Ready. Steady. Fighty.]

What I do for Tosa start.
Turn 1: Load up Daimyo and his army as well as his son and his army onto the corvette, disband the matchlock Katchi. Send the corvette West and North to Iyo, send one gun boat west to explore Kyushu (Scuttle it after it's done exploring), Scuttle the last gun boat. Put your Geisha and your general into your city. Start research to adminstrative training. Don't build any structures yet.

Turn 2: Corvette continues to move towards Iyo. Recruit two Line Infantry units.


Turn 3: Move corvette past Iyo towards the beach to the east where you can land.

Turn 4: Ozu army should invade and either move towards your farm or towards your city. Move your corvette near the beach but don't dismount your units yet.

Turn 5: Spring. Ozu might damage your farm, don't repair yet. Land your units on the beach.

Turn 6: Move your Daimyo from the beach towards Iyo, move your corvette to Iyo as well to support. Ozu main army will move towards your capital. Ozu reinforcements will move into your territory as well

Turn 7: Ozu might lay siege to your castle, merge with reinforcements or move back towards their city. Attack Iyo. You can autoresolve and win with acceptable casualties. Ozu military in your territory dissapears. There might be a straggler rebel unit in Iyo province. Move your Daimyo's army towards the rebel. move your general from Tosa into your ally territory towards Sanuki. Demolish Barracks in Tosa, repair castle and build police station and port in Iyo.

Turn 8: Destroy the rebel. Recruit 2 Yari Kachi from Iyo. Build Inn in Tosa.

Turn 9: Maragume might declare war on you, don't ask your allies to join the war. Your general should be right on the boarder of Sanuki. Move your Corvette towards Sanuki, don't bombard his military.

Turn 10: Maragume moves into your province. Recruit an Ishin Ishi and another Yari Kachi. Move your general towards Sanuki.

Turn 11: Maragume will either move towards Iyo or Tosa. If it moves towards Iyo which is more likely, keep your Daimyo army there. Attack Sanuki with your General. Maragumi military disintegrades and you now have 3 provinces. At this point I move my Ishin Ishi to the Tokushima border and watch for an opportunity to start a rebelion there while they are fighting the caln on Awaji. Occasionally they may declare war on you. Start trading with Imperial clans.

By around turn 14-15 depending on what Tokushima does you should have the entirety of the island under your control. You can demolish all your military buildings and replace them with economy buildings. Inn>Craftworks.

4 Yari Kachi, 4-6 Yari levies and your 2 Line infantries can win against most ealry game armies your opponent throws at you.

Don't neglect your navy, as the loss of ports can tank your income hard.