Any good FOTS tips? I can't seem to succeed.

[Eat3n]

I've read guides and i still have trouble with this game.

I understand that you want military buildings in a few regions, economy everywhere else, just like Shogun 2 but i can't seem to get it to work (unlike Shogun 2 which i can manage fine). Everywhere i've read says build: Police station, Inn, and Cottage Industry...which requires building a city. Unfortunately all of those things require a ton of money (more so than in Shogun 2) which i don't have . I lowered my tax rate to boost growth...which hasn't had any real effect. I've also heard you have to move quick-quicker than in Shogun 2-to take nrew regions or you will be behind in a blink of an eye. I get the cheapest units, and the smallest army i can while still having an army to win with, PLUS 2-3 units for a garrison and i'm still making next to nothing and i have to sit for 5-6 turns to get enough money to try and build anything.

I'm playing Saga and i have 3 regions. The city you start with and 2 islands (the one to the West, and the one to the North with the gold mine). I'm stuck because i want to attack north from my starting city but my dirt cheap army isn't enough because the city north of me has a full stack with cavalry and line infantry and a fully upgraded city somehow despite having trade with only me, having a single city, and being at war.

I barely manage and i get stuck. What am i doing wrong? Am i just supposed to sit and build for 10 game years before going on the war path?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Zonda Zecarius]

I haven't played much FOTS campaigns or one as Saga yet, but since Saga start on the island of Kyushu, you should be fine if you take complete control of the island and aim for Shikoku and the smaller islands afterwards, since you shouldn't be getting into that many wars with offlanders.

Usually in campaigns I focus on a quick invasion of the weaker provinces close to me, then focus on economy once that isn't really an option, and leave military tech at whatever is able to hold off invasions.

Use underhanded tactics such as waiting until enemy armies march off to invade something, then come in and capture their castle while its weak. If the clan only has that one province, their units will either disappear completely, or become rebels and die after one siege deffence. You can do this by either being at war with them and trying to risk it, or be friendly, get military access, and then declare war once they leave and capture it in one turn.

Of course, don't listen to the guy that doesn't play FOTS campaigns that much, Though HeirOfCarthage has done a letsplay series as the Saga, may be worthwhile watching to see how he acted, may have to restart.

[rory.b.p]

There are multiple ways to play but I find the best way for a new player is to capture 4 regions minimum ASAP then rapidly rush up your modernisation, don't bother much early on in those regions with happiness let them revolt to vet up your army.
Spam trade agreements to increase your income and ♥♥♥♥♥ out millitary access everywhere but stay on guard.

[EoNightcore]

Learn how to play with Line Infantry, they'll be the main infantry of any Modern Army (barring elite Line Infantry). An exprienced group of Line Infantry can decimate mostly everything that charges at them from the front in a field battle. Make sure to place them in a line, usually long ones that allow every soldier to fire their weapon. When Kneel Fire is researched, it's better to place Line Infantry in rows of 2 men deep and activate their ability. Always make sure your Line Infantry is on the move to fire on another enemy unit after the previous enemy unit they have been firing upon is routing or has been shattered, unless positioning the Line Infantry to wait in preparation for the rest of the army or for the enemy to charge again.

Bring a Navy along the shorelines close to your Armies, using your Navy to bombard enemy settlements before you siege said cities. This will cause enemy walls to be damaged, allowing your Line Infantry to take easy potshots at the enemy. In fact, Navies can even bombard the enemy during battles, allowing your line infantry to get into position or even taking out an entire unit with a lucky shot on the walls. The more cannons and ships there is in a navy, the more firepower there is in a bombardment.

Recruit Foreign Agents to add experience to your units outside of battles and to give passive buffs from Agent traits and retinues. Remember to always move your agents back into your armies if both are in a settlement and you've moved the army out of the settlement. I'm not sure if Foreign Agents in settlements add experience, but they do add lowered recruitment costs for units from the settlement they're currently in.

Lower tax rates will improve town wealth growth, but that's a long-term investment for peacetime. During a time where you have to rush or grow quickly, you'll want to have normal or higher taxes to pay for unit upkeep and build up your infrastructure. Only after you have secured your position should you lower taxes.

As you are playing on the island of Kyushu, I recommend building your military buildings at Satmasu Province, as they have a Smith that can improve the accuracy of your modern units. You'll have to build up your military infrastructure at Saga before you can even think about attacking Satmasu though.

[EoNightcore]

Don't use Levy Infantry if you can afford not to, they're incredibly inferior to Line Infantry.

Spear Levies are a different matter due to their spear walls. Think of them as more expensive Yari Ashigarus with higher Melee Defense.

Infantry with longer range (ex. Sharpshooters) are useful for sniping enemy units, especially during siege battles due to a flat 25 longer range. This means while you can kill the enemy on their broken walls, they can't do anything because your units are out of range.

Artillery is king, especially in siege battles. Gatling Guns will decimate just about anything in field battles.

[shiggies713]

sell military access. In FOTS you can net a ton of gold selling it to clans, even if they aren't friendly as long as you have a road connection. Sometimes you can sell if for 20 turns for 6k-8k depending on the clan, per clan so it can be really lucrative. That is plenty to build up a bunch of towns and cadet schools.

You basically have to do that on legendary just to survive with about half the clans lol.

i guess saga isn't a great clan to do it with, especially if you expanded only to two islands, but still, you could have gotten a few thousand gold and upgraded some things by now.

[Eat3n]

Thanks people. I'll definitely try to apply these. If you got any more, anything related to economy, i'll take it.

[EoNightcore]

Originally posted by -EAT3N-:

Thanks people. I'll definitely try to apply these. If you got any more, anything related to economy, i'll take it.

Farms are awesome. Just like in the vanilla Sengoku Jidai, try to research technology related to it early on so you can build better farms. It'll be expensive, but it'll payoff in the long-run. Also, you don't have the food surplus thing that comes in ROTS and the Vanilla Sengoku Jidai, so you can't get extra town wealth from the farms, but you can upgrade all your settlements to the very max... assuming you have the wealth to do so of course.

[shiggies713]

Farms get the bonus for fertile, very fertile as well, even though it isn't listed, if you check the city stats you will see it. To be honest, i would actually recommend to ignore all farms except fertile/very fertile for awhile. Its much better to use money on troops or even an inn/cottage industry than to upgrade a desolate farm. The fact that the food surplus isn't an issue reinforces that notion even further. Not to mention a level 3 farm upgrade cost 5000 gold, simply not a good investment compared to upgrading one of the regular economic buildings.

If you ever want i pretty much exlusively play legendary coop campaigns these days, you can add me and ill show you the way. Me and a few other guys even play shogunate traditional units only, and limit ourselves to development 2, on legendary if that gives you any idea of the learning curve you might encounter :)

[Eat3n]

Originally posted by shiggies713:

Farms get the bonus for fertile, very fertile as well, even though it isn't listed, if you check the city stats you will see it. To be honest, i would actually recommend to ignore all farms except fertile/very fertile for awhile. Its much better to use money on troops or even an inn/cottage industry than to upgrade a desolate farm. The fact that the food surplus isn't an issue reinforces that notion even further. Not to mention a level 3 farm upgrade cost 5000 gold, simply not a good investment compared to upgrading one of the regular economic buildings.

If you ever want i pretty much exlusively play legendary coop campaigns these days, you can add me and ill show you the way. Me and a few other guys even play shogunate traditional units only, and limit ourselves to development 2, on legendary if that gives you any idea of the learning curve you might encounter :)

The farm thing is interesting, i haven't tried playing without upgrading farms because it seems like an easy way to get money without any of the negatives like unhappiness. Since farms are expensive it seems like a reasonable thing to try going without them.

[shiggies713]

well with the caveat that fertile/very fertile are worth it for sure, and average is about like it says, average. Anything less i think relative to investment the economic chain is better.

[GAMER01]

I only bump up my tax rate when I am boosting my military and I always have a police station,inn and matchlock towers in my cities

[GAMER01]

because you dont need a certain amount of food for upgrading in FOTS (unlike Shogun2) farms are usually the last thing on my to do list

[shiggies713]

i don't understand all the love for police stations. You really only need a couple early to mid, sure maybe i have 5 near the end game, but only for the agents.

If you ever play on legendary you might understand, economy is so fragile early something like a police station is a complete waste compared to a cottage industry or inn.

[rory.b.p]

Inn is definetly a better choice over police station early game but when I am planning on going republic I do eventually plop down a magistrate anywhere I can just to speed the transition and make up for all the lost Isshin/Isshi type agents.

[Voltronjeremy]

First, make sure you're choosing the proper faction. I would recommend the Tosa, since they also have an island they can easily take and they have the most/best unique units.

Once the game begins, immediately start to fill out your army with cheap units and rush to take the nearby provinces. If you're starting on one of the islands then you're pretty much in the perfect position, since you can take the entire island if you move quickly enough. You want to grab at least 4 or 5 provinces though and you want to do it before the other factions fill out their armies. Bringing along your newbie navy is a necessity, since naval bombardments can completely shift a battle.

Your first buildings should be inns. They give you extra happiness, extra money, and extra geishas (who give you more of the above as well). After that go for cottage industries and after that go for police stations. Don't waste turns waiting for extra income; if you have a financial building you can afford to upgrade then do so. Eventually the money will start to stack up and you can afford to start upgrading the other buildings.

Depending on your difficulty you can wait on building military buildings but if you start near a province with a blacksmith, make sure to build your level three buildings and your foreign trade port there since the +20 accuracy is no joke. Especially when it's on hero units or high level artillery.

Don't be afraid to sit around and build up your empire either, since having a substantial base can give you a huge advantage against other factions. Also, make sure you're spamming trade agreements to every faction you meet. It gives you more money and it makes them less likely to attack you.

Finally, if you're still having trouble, then try checking out the Steam Workshop. Sometimes there's a mod that will change an aspect of the game you're having trouble with.