Ikko Ikki Military.

[Daddy ♥♥♥ Cannon]

Ok, so I was wondering this a little while ago. I know some people who've played the Ikko without using military force, witch isen't as hard as you'd think. But, I was wondering, what's your opinion on Ikko Military tactics? So Ronin are quite obviouslly less powerful and usefull then Samurai are, but does the badass Loan Sword Ashiguru balance this in your opinion? And the Warrior Monk Garrisons?

I was just wondering your guys opinions.

[Teh_Diplomat]

The Ikko Ikki's unique units give them quite an edge during the early and mid-game. Not only do you possess the ability to create swordsmen, but you have access to a smith and nearby Iron asset via the North trade node. Combine this with your capital having the accuracy upgrade and your Military options start to look enticing.

In the early game money is your chief limit, so producing Ashigaru swords to compliment your spears helps overwhelm nearby nations like Takeda, or Hattori; who have to move up the tech tree to see any true advantage.

In mid-game your ability to produce capable infantry in the Ronin Samurai, and Monks helps to combat other specialty units which will begin to appear on the campaign map. Once again, also backed up with Master Armour and Encampment, Monks with 8 Armour are a force to be reckoned with, but mostly avoided all together.

But the time you get to the end game, your ability to destabilize regions akin to the CIA allows you to either: Capture provinces entirely - and effortlessly, or require they first tackle the rebels before your army stack; and at the very least an easier time capturing, and having control over newly conquered provinces

[Ghadaro]

To start with a TLDR: Ikko are more specialised than other armies. They can kill a lot of men fast but are vulnerable to archer fire.


Defensively you are almost unmatched.
You should be building temples on every border province to spread the religion anyway and temples give monk garrison units. I've had a naginata monk reduced to 36 men from archer fire hold off 2 units of yari samurai on the walls so to get them for free every seige defence is very nice.

Loan sword ashigaru are more expensive than yari ashigaru but have a lower upkeep. Balance the two to reduce costs early. Yari are better at recieving a charge, swords are better at making a charge.

Ronin units are stronger than the samurai counterparts but smaller groups. A yari ronin for example has higher melee attack, defence and morale. So basically Ikko troops are more specialised to their intended role.

What this also means is that with larger but weaker ashigaru, smaller but stronger samurai and a focus on monks as elites you are weak to archer fire.

Key unit of note however is the ikko Ikki bow warrior monk which only needs the temple to train. Bow warrior monks have longer range than bow samurai, whistling arrows but most importantly for Ikko Ikki you will be able to build them pretty much anywhere. If an enemy manages to slip a force around the back by sea you can have all nearby provinces rush bow monks to push up your defensive strength.

The Ikki Ikko matchlock monks are also good if you like gunpowder units.

Another thing to note is that if an Ikko Ikki revolt succeeds you get the province and remaining rebel troops. The best gain I've had cost 1,000 roughly for the mission and gave me 6 monk cavalry and filled the rest of the stack with ashigaru. The cavalry alone would be worth something like 5,000

[Daddy ♥♥♥ Cannon]

Originally posted by Ghadaro:

To start with a TLDR: Ikko are more specialised than other armies. They can kill a lot of men fast but are vulnerable to archer fire.


Defensively you are almost unmatched.
You should be building temples on every border province to spread the religion anyway and temples give monk garrison units. I've had a naginata monk reduced to 36 men from archer fire hold off 2 units of yari samurai on the walls so to get them for free every seige defence is very nice.

Loan sword ashigaru are more expensive than yari ashigaru but have a lower upkeep. Balance the two to reduce costs early. Yari are better at recieving a charge, swords are better at making a charge.

Ronin units are stronger than the samurai counterparts but smaller groups. A yari ronin for example has higher melee attack, defence and morale. So basically Ikko troops are more specialised to their intended role.

What this also means is that with larger but weaker ashigaru, smaller but stronger samurai and a focus on monks as elites you are weak to archer fire.

Key unit of note however is the ikko Ikki bow warrior monk which only needs the temple to train. Bow warrior monks have longer range than bow samurai, whistling arrows but most importantly for Ikko Ikki you will be able to build them pretty much anywhere. If an enemy manages to slip a force around the back by sea you can have all nearby provinces rush bow monks to push up your defensive strength.

The Ikki Ikko matchlock monks are also good if you like gunpowder units.

Another thing to note is that if an Ikko Ikki revolt succeeds you get the province and remaining rebel troops. The best gain I've had cost 1,000 roughly for the mission and gave me 6 monk cavalry and filled the rest of the stack with ashigaru. The cavalry alone would be worth something like 5,000

This is why some people tell me they don't even bother with Military. They just spam Monks/Ninja's. High level Ninja's constantlly saboutouge armies so they can't even move, and by the time the can move all there provinces have been taken by Ikko rebels.

Although, Ronin are really good, but are easilly swamped in some situations. Just trying to get better at Ikko, thanks guys!

[Ghadaro]

Honestly I generally skip Ronin for the most part. Warrior monks are weaker to arrows but if you time warcry chains properly (especially linked with whistling arrows) you can cripple the enemy army once you reach melee. Provided you keep the ashigaru from fleeing they make good meat shields to cover the monks

[Daddy ♥♥♥ Cannon]

Originally posted by Ghadaro:

Honestly I generally skip Ronin for the most part. Warrior monks are weaker to arrows but if you time warcry chains properly (especially linked with whistling arrows) you can cripple the enemy army once you reach melee. Provided you keep the ashigaru from fleeing they make good meat shields to cover the monks

The only way to get around the poopy Morale setback is using your Daimyo as your main General. This will increase his Honour slowlly over time which will increase unit Morale darastically. Also, you can get some pretty good Retainers for your Daimyo which is just awesome.

This does it for me most the time.

[Ghadaro]

I always use the Daimyo as leader of my main stack. If you are facing a lot of archers taking a general along as well gives you 2 units that can use inspire to restore a big chunk of morale.

Oh I mentioned the defence strength. If you have your temples up the garrison alone can wipe out a full stack of anything vs AI. Just have to juke a bit if they come archer heavy