FOTS Strategy help

[Offy]

Hello everyone, was wondering about some strategies in FOTS, because I seem to be struggling a bit. The two clans I've tried, Tosa and Satsuma, start out nicely because they're relatively safe on an island. However, by the time I've conquered my starting island, the other clans on the mainland have already reached "terrifying" power, taking like half of Honshu. Any advice on how to actually stand a chance mid-late game as them, or should I try a mainland clan instead?

[THEDOSSBOSS]

Go for kneel fire and line infantry asap. Once you do that, game over

Be quicker in conquering and generally everything related to clan management. As soon as a province has stable public order, move onto the next one (or move on straight away if you are confident in your defending abilities. Hire a levi infantry and spear levi to help defend against the rebellions).

Go for armstrong/parrot guns and line infantry. This will make up the bulk of your army from early to late game. Line infantry with kneel fire can defeat any single unit the AI throws at you easily, and in a defensive siege having a few of them will make a 5v20 easy

Just generally be a fast player. Shogun 2 has time limits associated with the campaign requirements and so encourages fast expansion and severely punishes mistakes. Expanding fast leaves you vulnrrable, but you make up for that vulnerability with strategic and tactical prowess on the battlefield, being able to handily defeat any invasion force or rebellion with a handful of units defending a castle.

Try to tech up fast as well. Modernise at a rrasonable rate, but not too fast. Researching takes time, but just make sure you give yourself plwnty of research options at any given time anyways.

The biggest tip is to just be better at battles. If you are excellent at battles and know how to expand fast on the campaign, you can be terrible at every other aspect but still power through a campaign easily

Have forsight. The AI is predictable, so always plan out several turns ahead with every decision. A skilled vet woll be able to plan out everything for turns ahead in just a few seconds of quick-scanning the current situation on the campaign map. After experience it becomes second nature.

Know how to manage economy and general settlement management. This is quite a large umbrella, but since it's shogun 2 the settlement management system is rather simple and on anything lower than VH managing settlements requires little effort

[shiggies713]

i mean you really just need a solid 20 stack of troops and the ai will crumble if you are good in battle.

[THEDOSSBOSS]

Originally posted by shiggies713:

i mean you really just need a solid 20 stack of troops and the ai will crumble if you are good in battle.

You really only need 1 of those things. Either a 20 stack or be good in battles. Having both just means the AI is extra screwed

[EoNightcore]

Line Infantry is the bread and butter of all modern-based armies. An army composed of mostly Line Infantry can take on most other armies with few losses and are incredibly cost-efficient.

Most other gun units in FotS are just better Line Infantry, feel free to recruit them if needed, but there's no need to do so if your battle-hardened Line Infantry have better stats than newly-recruited Elites. Elites do have an advantage in that they don't suffer winter attrition though.

Control of the sea is not entirely vital, but still incredibly useful in this game. Fleets are incredibly deadly in land battles, due to the naval bombardment mechanic. Just by toting a fleet consisting of ironclads with a ♥♥♥♥-ton of cannons along the coast at the same pace as my army, I could literally wipe out most of an enemy army without suffering a casulty during land battles by calling a naval bombardment a few meters ahead of them.

It's especially useful when the enemy engages the line infantry, as they have telepathic power that makes them automatically flee from the naval bombardment circle before the shells hit. If the enemy uses line infantry, they're forced to relocate, thus allowing the player's line infantry to get more hits in before the enemy can reorient themselves.

As the THEDOSSBOSS said, having Kneel Fire with Line Infantry will beat any combination of units the AI throws at you. They're not an instant I-win button though. Always be aware of your surroundings, and always have those Line Infantry either constantly moving, firing, or waiting for the enemy to get into position. A Line Infantry who isn't doing one of those 3 is a Line Infantry not doing their part. This is especially prevalent in Line vs Line battles, as the player can turn flanking Line Infantry inwards to focus more fire on the enemy.

In Siege Battles, there tends to be high ground. Utilize it and stick your parrot/armstrong guns on there. This will allow the artillery to shoot inside the enemy castle. This is especially deadly in some cases cause the enemy army often bunches up together.

Levy Infantry and Wooden Cannons have little use. Levy Infantry does offer more guns at a cheap cost, but fire too slowly and will get overrun by better units in a melee. Usefulness is mostly as cannon fodder or as militia. Wooden Cannons can kill a couple units, but don't have the killing power of the more advanced artillery guns. However, it's usefulness comes in the fact that it can shoot upwards instead of forwards, meaning it can serve as some sort of awkward improvised mortar in a siege offense or defense.


Tosa and Satsuma are some of the easiest factions to play with, due to the fact that they're located on islands. Surely the faction controlling half of Honshu seems scary, but if they can't retaliate effectively against you, it's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ joke. Placing a gunboat in every port will deter most enemy fleets, meaning that often the only enemy pathway into your lands is through the landbridge, which can easily be cut off by placing an army there to defend the way.

[Ashina]

1 General,8 Line, 2 sharps, 5 Cannons, 4 Cav
That's probably IMO is the most standard modern army.

[Ashina]

But if you want to go Combined force route(Tradition and Modern)
1 General, 5 Line, 5 Kachi of any kind(Bow is better in late game), 5 Cannon, 4 Yari Ki

[THEDOSSBOSS]

That traditional legendary challenge though, gotta love it

[THEDOSSBOSS]

Though the defensive siege bug for macs makes it unwinnable sadly

[shiggies713]

5 cannon? I never have that much in a single army, cost too much. Honestly once i get 1 parrot gun i don't think ive ever lost a campaign lol. On high difficulty levels they just cost too much, I generally have 2-3 per army.

I'm with the boss though, I've ascended to a point in this game where i do traditional legendary long campaigns and actually win it. Tom Cruise MF's. The true master of japan lmao

[waxman80014]

OK I have 2 Yari Calv units, 2 Gatling gun units then the rest half heavy infantry IE republican or shogun troops and half Yari spear men or shogitai.

[THEDOSSBOSS]

Is this in campaign? By the time you reach SIR (shogunate/imperiaal/republican) infantry, there is almost no need for melee troops. Even then, you only need the spear levi as a flank protector and possible enemy-holder in the extremely unlikely chance that anything makes it into melee. SIR infantry with kneel fire and guard mode will destory any melee infantry charging towards it, especially since you have artillery. I personally believe armstrong guns are still better than gatling guns.

So yeah, a few yari spears, 2-4 artillery, and the rest SIR infantry is the way to go