Nighmare mode: 1582 Sanada max settings - complete!

[Dancing Dragon Games]

Took 28 years but my old boy Masayuki did it.

Screenshot of Mega-Sanada and Mega-Shimazu both eating up the remnants of Toyotomi and racing toward the capital!

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/268337494158292904/ECE6670BD2C8DDFC764772D9259C87F776C55BCE/

Phase 1: Survival vs Tokugawa

Quickly go through the quests to build up alliances that change with the wind. Not too long from the start, you'll be irrevocably thrown into war against Tokugawa, who outnumbers you a bazillion to one. VS Tokugawa:
-Quickly take Komoro Castle before the bulk of his army can react.
-Call reinforcements from Uesugi. He's quite helpful!
-This cannot be won without clever use of "Cunning Fox." You cannot possibly win a brawn vs brawn war. You have to maneuver at least 2 large enemy groups into one battle and get them to cut each other to pieces. Yukimura's skill is your best bet if you need raw power.
-I just take one castle and pray. Eventually, the 6 months will end and you'll be saved by the quests.

Phase 2: Slow careful expansion to the East

Since this is max settings, the big fish are swallowing up the little fish at breakneck speed. And you can only possibly beat up the small fish at first, so you have to act with great speed. While maintaining careful alliances with Uesugi and Hojo, I first took Matsukura, popped increased labor, and built 2 new fortresses. At this point you're desperate for more raw power so it's a welcome boost. Matsukura served as my extreme western frontier for the entire game until the very end.

My first major boon was using Hojo as cannon fodder to conquer all of Shimotsuke. Hojo took all of Hitachi in the process. I can't believe I got all the fortresses in the Shimotsuke, but I did. Then built 2 more. Finally I am not completely destitute and have some real juice going. Except one problem...

Phase 3: Hashiba is on the march, Sanada takes on the Mogami

As Sanada you're not exactly in a position to sweep the country at breakneck speed. It's slow and deliberate and careful because one false move and you're done. But while I'm slowly expanding, Hashiba has overcome his rivals in the country's core and is now coming after my big comfy allies, Tokugawa and Uesugi. Shibata is also big, and an enemy of Hashiba, but not an ally.

Shibata forms a coalition against Hashiba. Tokugawa, Uesugi, and Hojo join, so obviously I join as well, not that I can contribute much to the fight yet. I'm still rocking little armies of 3k while Hashiba is blasting through Japan with his massive 100+ stat 10k armadas of doom. Only my big buddies can slow him down. I CAN, however, use my boy Masayuki, the Cunning Fox. I pair Masayuki up with "Inspire" and "Swift" and rush him to the front lines with Tokugawa's big armies, so I can control his troops and save him from annihilation.

Meanwhile, I have all of Shimotsuke and some okay officers from those defeated clans, and it's time to march on, or else I'll never win this thing. I make an alliance (not a marriage, just an alliance) with Date. Mogami is stronger than I am, but he's poorly-distributed and his one possible friend, Date, has been taken out of the fight. With Yukimura as my vanguard, I inch forward, bit by bit, eating Mogami's land. I take Yamagata castle, and finally get Mogami cornered in his last stand in Rikuchu. I finish off Mogami and finally have another top tier general in Yoshiaki Mogami.

Back west, Masayuki has done his best, but it's just not enough. Tokugawa's troops don't grow on trees, and mine CERTAINLY don't. Masauki's little force keeps getting whittled down piece by piece until it becomes too impractical for him to use Cunning Fox regularly. He keeps going back and grabbing more troops from Shinano and Matsukura, but it's just enough to truly defeat Hashiba. Even worse, stupid Uesugi asks Masayuki to defend one of his castles in the North. I can't possibly save it - it's surrounded by 20,000 elite Hashiba troops and he has nothing there I can use. For fear of betraying him, I refuse his request. This is very important in the next phase...

Phase 4: Hashiba on the verge of victory, Uesugi's downfall, Sanada's desperate gambit

Shibata is dead meat. Hashiba has absorbed his officers and land, though Uesugi was able to secure everything east of Kaga, because the bulk of Hashiba's troops were busy with Tokugawa and one certain little Masayuki mucking things up for him.

Amazingly, Tokugawa hasn't lost any land, save for a couple castles in South Shinano that change hands back and forth. (Whenever Hashiba is looking at overtaking South Shinano, that's when I go into full panic mode and throw everything at him to keep Tokugawa firmly in control there. If Hashiba gets into North Shinano, it's GAME OVER MAN.)

Hashiba gloats about his successes and renames himself Toyotomi. Psh.

Time for a new coalition. This time, I have to start it, and I've made buddies with Mori, who is cleaning up the West alongside Shimazu, who will inevitably be his main rival. Mori is the strongest of Toyotomi's possible enemies, so I put him in charge of the coalition. Tokugawa, Hojo, and Date join the coalition.

...Uesugi does not. Because of my "past behavior."

This is a very bad move. You see, HOJO is sitting there, not even fighting Toyotomi. His 175,000 soldiers are hungry, and Uesugi is the only meat he's allowed to eat. So then he goes. And so does Date.

Since I've been playing this game for a while, I know that Uesugi's reluctance to join the coalition is pretty much going to spell our doom and Toyotomi's victory. Uesugi's strength is taken completely out of the fight as Hojo rages North, easily sweeping up all of Echigo. Date takes a few fortresses as well. Hojo seems satisfied with Echigo and doesn't bother Kaga, Noto, and Ecchu, but that leaves a greatly weakened and completely isolated Uesugi powerless to stop Toyotomi's advance from Echizen.

Thanks a lot, Hojo. You just f-ed yourself and the rest of us. ...Well, almost. Because little Masayuki will try to save the day. Again.

Predictably, Toyotomi takes advantage of the situation and makes significant gains North and East. The Cunning Fox has been used up completely (other than my Eastern armies, who are still making gains) and Tokugawa is outright defeated. Mikawa falls, followed by Totomi. Only 3 major objectives still stand before Toyotomi is able to deliver the final death blow to the coalition by pushing into North Shinano. Those 3 objectives are Sunpu, Takato, and Matsukura. The survivors of Tokugawa are holed up in Takato and Sunpu, and I have built up a mighty defense in Matsukura. So mighty in fact, that Toyotomi doesn't bother with it. He's too busy eating up the carcass of Uesugi.

And wouldn't you know it, Nanbu decides it's time to get uppity and sends 25,000 troops to confront me in Rikuchu. Yukimura is still up there with my Eastern army, but with something like 7-8000 troops. Not the best odds when I'm trying to conquer the North, and quickly.

At this point, I have some choices to make. Do I send Little Masayuki to the East to try and take on Nanbu? Or do I keep him in Tokugawa's last holdouts to buy some time? Do I ask Date for help against the Nanbu? If I do that, Date will easily win, but then Date will expand where I absolutely must expand. And I can't beat Date by myself yet. I have to keep him contained for now.

I'm staring 300,000 Toyotomi in the face. They're not too far from North Shinano. I've got to do something big, and right the f now. ...It's time to bring in the Hojo. (I've been hesitant to bring in Hojo, because they will eventually get way too strong for me) I call for reinforcements to Sunpu, and sure enough, the ground shakes as the Hojo finally go on the move.

And little Masayuki goes with them to assure their victory against Toyotomi. Leaving Yukimura to handle the North alone.

Phase 5: Turning the tide, Sanada subdues the North

Finally a stroke of luck - I am able to make Kakizaki (in Hokkaido) a Vassal. He's not much, but he can distract Nanbu for a little while. Because of this, Yukimura makes short work of the inferior Nanbu troops, though outnumbered. I finish up my conquest of Ugo and Mutsu, and the North is firmly in the hands of the Sanada!

Except of course, this is just assurance that if I actually survive Toyotomi, I might have a chance at ultimately winning later on. The trick now is, again, to survive. Just like in the beginning against Tokugawa. Vastly outnumbered with nothing but Little Masayuki's cleverness to get us through.

Hojo and Toyotomi clash like 2 massive waves. The battles are huge and bloody, and the front doesn't move much. Masayuki commands where he can, but the battlegrounds are so massive, he can't be everywhere at once.

I look at the West. ...Toyotomi is absolutely wrecking Mori's face. I can't believe it. He's unstoppable. Mori is pushed all the way back to Bicchu, and doesn't have the strength to put up a fight.

Little Masa keeps up the fight. Meanwhile, the rest of the Sanada clan is quickly seeking to rebuild its ranks and consolidate the North. Masayuki and Hojo are slowly but surely pushing the battlefront west. Hojo has taken over Totomi and secured South Shinano. But troop counts are not looking good. Hojo has dipped below 100,000 and I haven't had enough time to build up my economy. And once Toyotomi's Western efforts are re-distributed back East, I'm not sure how we're going to deal with it.

Well, fortune favors the patient it seems. Because...

Phase 6: Death of Hideyoshi, Sanada takes on the Date

Like a gift from the heavens, Hideyoshi himself finally passes on. Like dew he is born, like dew he passes, and like dew (whatever that means) so will pass his empire. ...Eventually. Hideyori takes over and suddenly the Toyotomi clan's AI becomes pathetic and passive. Little Masa no longer has to scramble around from battlefield to battlefield, hoping to command Hojo's troops before they are destroyed.

It just... stops. Toyotomi's relentless march. Just stops.

Except... oops. I just created a monster. Hojo may be weakened, but Hojo's leader is aggressive and smart. Smartly, Little Masa abandons the western front and goes home to rebuild. Predictably, Hojo handles himself just fine, and in fact, slowly makes further gains into Mikawa and Kaga.

Finally, for the first time since the start of the game, I have time to breathe. Hojo isn't making incredible gains, he's mostly just holding the front. Mori seems to have survived as well, though Shimazu is quickly gaining on him.

I take a few years, maintaining my marriage with Hojo and alliance with Date. During this time, I am furiously building up, trying to increase my troop counts. By the end of this build up period, I finally have what you would call real armies. Real forces, real economy. Finally I can kinda sorta stand on my own.

Yep, it's time to prepare for the inevitable clash with Hojo. And Date is the key. The moment the last coalition fades, I already have 3 armies comprising 20,000 troops personally commanded by Masa, Yukimura, and Mogami. Plus another 30,000 or so auxiliaries commanded by my officers in the North.

I SLAM through Iwaki and Rikuzen like a bat out of hell. Of course, Hojo is right on my tail, hoping to eat up some Date bases before I do. Ha, as if Little Masa is going to allow that. I successfully conquer 100% of Date's clan, and immediately force one of my daughters onto Masamune, making him my new god tier pawn.

Phase 7: A very, very tenuous peace

It just never ends. I can't get a moment's rest. Seriously. I just want to build up, but Mecha-Hojo won't let me.

I get a tremendous boost from taking over the Date clan. FINALLY I have passed 100,000 troops. Toyotomi is over there sitting on 500,000, and Hojo is somehow still pushing Toyotomi back with his 300,000.

So what else would Little Masa do? Ally with the Toyotomi, obviously!

I do so, and build build build BUILD. A let a few more years pass, with the country in nearly total peace. Shimazu and Mori are staring at each other over there, Toyotomi is navel-gazing, and Hojo by now has conquered Kaga and is pushing into Echizen. It's a slow, peacemeal war between Hojo and Toyotomi, but I see where this is going. Mecha-Hojo is quickly becoming problematic.

It's about 8 years after Hideyoshi's death. I'm now sitting on 250,000 troops. North Shinano and Shimotsuke are completely surrounded by Mecha-Hojo. Sanada has the rest of the North.

I'm still gaining on Hojo - I'm not sure he can get much stronger. But then he decides to finish off Tokugawa. Remember him? Sittting in 2 castles and about 60 officers, many of whom are god tier? Mecha-Hojo wants them.

But Little Masa is faster. I kick Komatsu to the curb and betray my old buddy Ieyasu. It doesn't feel right. It feels dirty. But it's necessary. I take both Sunpu and Takato. Tokugawa and his officers are now mine.

Phase 8: My first real war! Time to confront Mecha Hojo

Nothing special here. I just take on the massive giant known as Hojo. I focus my defensive efforts in Shimotsuke, and hope just to hold the line. I'm very very slowly losing ground there, but very quickly gaining ground in Echigo, Kaga, Ecchu and Noto.

Of course this is much easier because Toyotomi finally got off his idle butt and decided to help me fight Mecha Hojo.

Long and bloody war. But Little Masa is no stranger to being outnumbered. And being outnumbered 2:1 are VERY GOOD odds for Little Masa.

I conquer the West and cut off Toyotomi's progress. Only Kanto remains. Mecha Hojo's strength has been sapped and Kanto falls easily.

Phase 9: Masayuki Sanada, Shogun of Japan

Little Masa is little no more. BIG MASA now stands astride his foes like a giant, with 800,000 elite Sanada troops.

30 castles are secured, all that's left is the capital. But with my 3 army elite force of 70,000 backed up by Tokugawa himself commanding the rest of my army as a regent, Hideyori Toyotomi is nothing but raw meat.

Big Masa, Masamune, and Tadakatsu pierce through Owari, taking tens of thousands of Toyotomi troops down along the way.

Oh how times have changed. I'm not buzzing around like a bee anymore. I'm a behemoth, using nothing but raw power.

Nijo Palace is mine.

But... how will Little Masa rule the country? Probably ally with China one day, Korea the next, and so on.

I love that Little Masa is part of the cinematic ending credits. He did good. *sniff*

[monkspider]

Wow, that is amazing. Congrats! I think Yukimura would be proud of you.

[Imptrooper]

Congrats! Did alot better than me. I've tried 10 times on normal and always fall somewhere.

[Daimyō]

Thoroughly enjoyed that. I just started playing legit again (MAX, no in-game edit, etc)

Thinking of doing a MAX / No fictional maiden playthrough, so alliances are super hard to come by.

[Dancing Dragon Games]

Originally posted by flaviusthelewd:

GG I have wanted to try one of the single castle clans during the later scenarios but am just too scared...

I honestly don't think it's possible unless you use created officers and fictional maidens.

Little Masa is a beastly daimyo with one of the best tactics in the game and has Yukimura there to provide the muscle if needed. Plus easy quests that hand you marriages on your lap.

[Kak]

Wow, that was a really nice read, actually! Especially after I just lost my hard campaign as the Date.

I made lots of progress, spending all of the early game and most of the mid allying with the Uesugi and eliminating everybody in the north. By the time I wanted to confront Hojo, they had all of Kanto and half of Echigo under their control.

A massive war broke out as I tried to push in Shimotsuke, and after about a year of constant fighting at the border, I made a little progress. Still, I was going nowhere fast.

I decided to ally with Hideyoshi, who was no on the Hojo's western doorstep. Together, we took Hojo down. Hideyoshi got nearly all of Kanto, but I got shimotsuke and the Satake lands (name escapes me).

After a few years of developing, hoping to take on Hideyoshi myself, as I'm the only clan in the east now. Hideyoshi dies, and I hope to take advantage of Hideyori's incompetence by taking Kanto. But it doesn't work. All of my forces get crushed by the 10:1 odds of the ensuing battles. Toyotomi then proceeds to take all of my Kanto gains, and then all of the north, eventually finishing me in Mobe Palace on Ezo.

Damn Toyotomi.

[Daimyō]

Originally posted by harmonic42:

Originally posted by flaviusthelewd:

GG I have wanted to try one of the single castle clans during the later scenarios but am just too scared...

I honestly don't think it's possible unless you use created officers and fictional maidens.

Little Masa is a beastly daimyo with one of the best tactics in the game and has Yukimura there to provide the muscle if needed. Plus easy quests that hand you marriages on your lap.

I actually couldn't even hold Ueda and Numata for 6 months. But I contribute that to my dumbassery, I'd never played the scenario before and had no clue what was coming my way, so I spent the early game building a marriage alliance with Kagekatsu (waste of precious gold?) and working on economy (to increase population - didn't work as well as I thought it would)

What I did was ally with Kagekatsu just moments before the quest's deadline even though you can do it much sooner, thought I'd just bide my time and just initiate it as soon as the Tokugawa showed hostility so I can benefit from a longer time of building my bases up, with the whole 2 year ceasefire thing. I had no clue that I'd be expected to hold both Ueda and Numata for six months.

Ueda is... OK, I have Masayuki, Nobushige, and guns - just make the enemies fight each-other and use Nobu's skill to do a crapton of damage while you're not being attacked. But Numata? a 70 LEA/VAL officer with 1700 troops vs 20,000 Hojo?

fml.

[Dancing Dragon Games]

Use Uesugi reinforcements for Numata if needed. I was able to lure everything to Komoro castle where many of them cut each other to pieces because of "Cunning Fox".

Then you must marry Hojo asap or your ass is grass :D

[Daimyō]

Oh so you took Komoro before allying with Uesugi? I tried Uesugi reinforcements but they were too busy fighting Shibata and only sent Kagekatsu with 500 troops. :(

[Dancing Dragon Games]

Yes, I think Komoro is a bit more "out there" and thus a viable target for everyone. That's the key is to get all the bad guys clumped together. Save your money and repair Komoro's walls AT ALL TIMES.

I don't think it's physically possible to defend Numata otherwise, unless you get lucky and Uesugi has the juice to send you some serious forces. Even then he'll still lose, but not if you control his armies as Little Masa :D

[Daimyō]

I don't like the fact that some Sanada officers aren't actually available for little Masa.. I think one of his uncles - Nobutada - is serving the Hojo at the beginning of the scenario - and his loyalty is pretty high so you can't make him defect mid-battle.

[Daimyō]

Update: I survived the 6 months because Kagekatsu decided to defend Ueda with all he has, and Ieyasu decided to attack Kagekatsu and Ueda.

-- Numata wasn't attacked. I married into Hojo and then attacked the Sano, Mibu, and Yuki. Mibu allied with Sano and tried defending them. I got Karasawayama from Sano, and decided to move on to Yuki territory... But Yoshishige Satake showed up and ruined my plan, and then Kagekatsu decided that, well, he didn't like little Masa. I had to retreat and deal with that.

My plan was: nab Koga/Yuki from the Yuki clan, and Mibu, Utsonomiya, and Moka from Mibu, and then fight the Satake.

How it played out: Hojo beat me to Moka and Utsonomiya, and I had Mibu secured. By the time they surrounded Utsonimya I had enough trust to request reinforcements on it, and sent in some battered 200-soldier unit to aid in surrounding it (So it would count as my capture / I'd get the officers) and it worked.

The Satake were aggressively expanding north, but the Hojo didn't like that. I am now married into both Tokugawa and Hojo (And I'm fighting most of my wars without horses or guns - just tactics cos poor from diplomacy) - The Hojo zerg-rushes Satake land and I manage to get no castles, Karasuyama, now somehow the last bastion of the Satake, is surrounded by Hojo.. But, what is little Masa doing there?

I get trust up to 40 in the nick of time, request reinforcements on Karasuyama, and join the surrounding army - and again, I get to capture the officers.

I now have Yoshishige Satake AND Sukemasa Ota in my army. Both very, very capable officers - though I'm positive Sukemasa dies before we reach the 1590s so I won't be getting him to his (absurd) full potency.

Kagekatsu is still trying to erase me from existence. Hojo stomps him whenever he thinks of attacking Numata without even me asking for reinforcements, and I keep asking Tokugawa for reinforcements. Tokugawa and Shibata are faring quite well against Toyotomi.

Next step: Ally/Marry into:
Mogami, Date, Shibata, and form a coalition against the Toyotomi. I'll keep using coalition commands to attack Toyotomi, while I nibble away at bases and fortresses in the west. Date has beat me to Iwaki (Iinodaira) and they now surround Gongendo - which I really wanted because the Soma clan has a lot of useful potential, even though it's late in the game now and Akitane is gone - Toshitane is a very solid officer and it'll only take a few years before he's available.

Edit: Sorry for hijacking your thread and thanks for inspiring me to do this! Little Masa will now become a NA meme, or something. It'll be a rite of passage - Sanada on max.

[Dancing Dragon Games]

Ha yeah. The name just fits. He's like a little buzz buzz bee running around fixing problems desperately.

[Daimyō]

Frustration! My coalition has Date, Shibata, Tokugawa, and Hojo. I am now at war with Mogami and Uesugi.

My plan: Use the coalition to keep pressure on Wakasa, Owari, and Mino, while I ask for Date and Hojo reinforcements to help me deal with Uesugi - my main goal: Uesugi's Aizu domain, which will act as a springboard to invade Echigo.

How it went: The coalition is being beaten back at Owari, Mino, and Wakasa specially. The Ukita and Hosokawa fell to Toyotomi - Mori is almost defeated, Shimazu only needs to deal with one more clan in Kyushu.

I have two provinces: Daimyo province: Ueda, Numata, Karasawayama, Mibu, and Yoshishige Satake (I couldn't get his son, Yoshinobu :[ - He's with Hojo) has a province of: Utsonomiya, Karasuyama.

I started my incursion into Aizu, I couldn't ask for any reinforcements on Kurokawa - my main goal (I try to shoot for more cities to boost my pathetic income - I still can't afford to deploy horses or muskets regularly) - and this is when SHTF. I asked for reinforcements on Shiono and Aizu-Shingu from Hojo and Date respectively, while I ask Yoshishige Satake's district to rush Kurokawa, with the troops from Mibu and Karasawayama. Surely enough, I received my reinforcements and Shiono fell in no time. Hojo handed it over. Date, however, they zerg-rushed Uesugi - beat me to both Kurokawa and Inawashiro - AND kept Aizu-Shingu. I tried diverting my attention immediately to Echigo but not only did they beat me there, Hojo was also pummeling Uesugi into oblivion.


So I thought... Well, might as well take on Mogami with the help of Hojo - Except Yoshishige's AI went full ♥♥♥♥♥♥ and Hojo wasn't able to help me - while little Masa is in Owari to hold against the onslaught of 15k deathstacks with only 1k troops of his own. Tokugawa already lost what little gains he'd made in Owari, and Shibata is losing his brief grasp over Mino..

Little Masa is really angry at not having Aizu. It would have been PERFECT to have. I'm frustrated by the AI (I have area of control on normal or whatever) and can't afford to use Direct Daimyo Rule.