Advanced Matchlock Guide (The Three Firing Methods)

This guide covers subjects like Fire by Rank Vs Non-Fire by Rank, 3 Firing Methods, time it takes for Matchlocks fire, how to use them effectively & combos that you can do with Matchlocks which were deteremined by conducting tests.

Short Introduction

Matchlocks can be confusing and some even argue that Fire by Rank is broken, so I have conducted several tests to figure out what is really going on to determine the most effective use of Matchlock Units.

The test results will be listed below at the end of this guide.

About Matchlocks

Matchlocks have the Unique Advantage that they ignore almost any Units Armour, they will one shot kill anything that they hit besides the Bullet Proof Samurai.
This makes them an ideal sniper unit, be it Generals, Samurai, Monk or Heroes whatever comes their way, they are equally effective at taking them down. And as an added bonus, they deal out allot of moral shock upon friend or foe.

Their downside is their range and reload speed, making them ineffective to skirmish against traditional bows and are late-game units.
*With the exception of the Otomo Clan or getting an early Nanban Port

Fire by Rank

This mode causes allot of confusion, on first glance, it would seem to be bugged because the units using Fire by Rank take a really long time to start opening fire.
Some times, you even can get outright charged without even firing a single bullet, or you watch in despair and in frustration as the enemy advances upon your matchlocks, and they seem to do nothing even though the enemy is clearly in firing range...

Fire by Rank is an ability that causes your Matchlocks to fire at the same time, dealing more moral shock than firing without it.
Once the unit is reloaded, the first rank all make their volly at the same time, they then knee down in order to provide a clear vision for the second rank and begin reloading. Then the second rank fires and does the same and finally the third rank fires.
*This only works up to Three Ranks, the Third Rank does not Knee, and any further rank Will Not Fire.

There is Two Ways of using Fire by Rank, one is to leave the Matchlock unit stationary (which is the version that people tend to believe is bugged.)

However there is a reason for it being so slow, if you recall watching movies where there are line battles, you will remember the Captain Yelling his loungs out:
"STEADY!!!, STEADY!!! STEAAAAADY, FIRE!!!"
This is essentially what happens here, your Matchlocks will withhold their fire for a bit, allowing the enemy to close in, so that their vollies are closer and thus more effective.

You can put them in Fire by Rank and Double Right Click to Attack a enemy unit. This is much much faster, however this Will Not work if the enemy is already in range, you must attack Before they enter firing range.

Important Note:
Because they fire at the same time, it is best used immidately or not at all, because if you activate it while even just a single unit shot, they will wait untill that unit is reloaded, so even if 159 out of 160 is reloaded and ready to fire.
After doing some Fire by Rank Vollies, it is however viable to switch it off and let your Matchlocks fire on their own.

Guard Mode

It is highly recommended that you place your Matchlocks into Guard Mode as this will prevent your Matchlocks (or Archers) from pursuing an enemy if it has been locked into Melee.

This means that if your Matchlocks were engaged and got locked into Melee, if they win that fight, (or the enemy route) they will remain in position and will immediately resume firing after the enemy begins its retreat.
Allowing them to get some juicy back shots.

Of course this is only useful if you want your Troops to maintain position rather than retreating or using Skirmish Mode.

Rapid Volley and Reload Skill needed for a Fourth Volley

The Rapid Volley always gives you an Extra +15 to your units Reload Skill.
In order for a Matchlock Unit to deliver a Fourth Volley before an Enemy Melee Infantry Unit engages with it, it needs to have a Reload Skill of 37 or Higher. *Using Three Ranks

The Standard Matchlock Ashigaru has a reload skill of 10.
The Ikko Ikki get a negative -5 while Otomo and Oda gets a plus +5 to their reload skill.

Ikko Ikki, Standard, Oda or Otomo Ashigaru Matchlocks even when fully experienced, do not have a higher Reload Skill than 23, 28 and 33 respectively and therefore Cannot preform a Fourth Volley on Even Ground when charged by infantry melee units.

Update 31.07.2019
Using your Generals Stand and Fight! or Inspire Ability, your Otomo and Oda Matchlock Ashigaru Units can preform a Fourth Volley on Even Ground while being fully experienced.

Stand and Fight! (Update 31.07.2019)

Stand and Fight is when your General dismounts, and takes a seat to overview the battlefield, while this makes him unable to utilise any other abilities and renders him immobile, units within his area of influence will get the following:

+5 Reload
+2 Melee Attack
+General morale boost (Aura)

This means that having a fully maxed out Otomo or Oda Matchlock Ashigaru while using the Stand and Fight ability, will give them a total of 38 Reload Skill.

And since this is a Reload Skill higher than 37, it means you can actually pull off a Forth Volley using a maxed out Otomo or Oda Matchlock Ashigaru even when placed on Even Ground when using Attacking Fire By Rank.

Inspire (Update 31.07.2019)

Generals can use the Inspire Ability on a single unit, it gives them the following:



+3 Melee Attack
+10 Reload Skill
+15 Accuracy

Since we are interested in Matchlocks here, we can see how this can benefit us, it gives us twice as much reload skill as Stand and Fight and the +15 Accuracy is going to make each of our vollies much more devastating.

Since Matchlocks have much more Fire Power (1 shot kills) compared to bows, and since it takes a really long time to reload after you fired 3 or 4 vollies one can argue that this is one of the best buffs for Matchlock Units.

The downside being that its for a single unit only.

The Three Firing Methods

Matchlocks have three ways of opening fire, these are:

• Free Fire (Fire at Will)
  
• Attacking Fire by Rank
  
• Stationary Fire by Rank

And each of these firing methods have different respond times when they start to open fire.

Test Setup and Conditions

Unit Size is Ultra.
No Generals present on either side.
Matchlocks have clear vision, no obstacles or trees limiting vision.
Each test is repeated 3 times.
Results are concluded after Defeat, or Victory Pop-Up.

Faction: Shimazu
Units:
1x Matchlock Ashigaru, [160 Units], (No Experience)














Enemy: Uesugi
Units:
1x Katana Samurai, [160 Units], (No Experience)













Map: Rice Fields (For Flat Land Tests)
Day time, Dry
Difficulty: Normal

Map: Gifu Crossing (For Hill Tests)
Day time, Dry
Difficulty: Normal


Important Notes:
Results will vary for the Otomo and Ikko Ikki clan and were not included in this test.
*Since this test was using Matchlock Ashigaru vs a tier 2 Katana Samurai, firing on Cheap Ashigaru Units are much more effective and devistating.
This guide does Not cover Matchlock Warrior Monks.

Free Fire

Time to Open Fire:

• 1.56 (Average) Seconds when target is within range.
  
• +24.73 (Average) Seconds for first Rank to reload and land another volley if positioned on a hill.

The Free Fire method basically means not using the Fire by Rank Ability.

Positives:

• This method is really fast, your Matchlock will almost immediately open fire when the target is within range.

• Most effective against Cavalry Charges

• Good if you need to land a Volley in a hurry.

• Sustained Fire

• Any Matchlock can preform Free Fire.

Negatives:

• Only the First Rank can fire, minimises damage potential.

• Inconsistent Fire reduces demoralising impact.

Update 23/08/2019
There is actually two versions of the Free Fire Method.
Stationary and Attacking, they have different behaviours, the difference between them is their tracking.
If you leave them stationary and they get dragged into melee, they will try to maintain their position, regrouping and so forth, this is terrible if you got charged by Cavalry as they will be more interested in trying to maintain their position than actually fight.
If you make them attack a unit and they get dragged into melee, they will likewise try to reform and maintain their position, but they will reform in a manor that allows them to directly face the enemy that they are in combat with, allowing them to open fire.
This is effective mainly against a Cavalry Unit that has charged you.

Important Notes:
Since only the First Rank can fire using this method, you want to stretch out the formation as long as possible for maximum damage.

There may be a way to do an "About Face" 180 degree turn, where you place the Back Units as the Front Units, to allow them to fire as well, I did this once somehow (I think) but I cannot reproduce it. Unlike in Rome Total War II, the key "J" does Not preform an about face move.







As seen in this picture, they do not fire in unison, therefore the moral shock is not as devastating.
















Damage after first rank has finished firing before melee commenced.
21 Killed, 139 Survived from 160 Katana Samurai. (Click on image to enlarge)

Attacking Fire by Rank

Time to Open Fire:

• 5.26 (Average) Seconds for first Volley when target is about to come Into Range.
  
• +3.8 (Average) Seconds for second Volley
  
• +4 (Average) Seconds for third Volley
  
• +14.3 (Average) Seconds for first Rank to reload and land another volley if positioned on a hill.

Attacking Ranked Fire is when you set your Matchlocks into Fire by Rank and then Right Click (Attack) a target.
*This method will not work when target is already in range, if within range, Matchlocks will react like in Stationary Fire by Rank.

Positives:

• A solution to the slow Stationary Fire by Rank, using this method, your Troops need only half as long as in Stationary Fire by Rank to open fire.

• Best Volley Fire, each Rank fires a volley at exactly the same time.

• Most effective when positioned on a hill, your Matchlocks have actually enough time to land an Extra volley before melee commences.

• Highest Damage Output from all firing methods. (When on a Hill, or using Rapid Volley)

• Highest Demoralising impact per volley.

Negatives:

• Will Not Work if target/s are already within Firing Range, must attack before target/s are within range.

• Requires extra microing. (Extra management)

• Slower than the Free Fire Method.

• Not effective vs Cavalry on Even Ground and only minimal damage vs Cavalry when positioned on a hill.

• Can't be used with Matchlock Warrior Monks

Important Notes:
You want to have Three Equal lengthed rows for maximum damage.
This is because if you stretch out your Matchlocks as wide as possible, the third rank gets shorter.
As the enemy charges you, the third rank fires when the enemy is the nearest, having lesser men in the third row is a disadvantage as lesser Matchlocks fire at a closer enemy and a closer enemy is easier to hit.

As seen in this picture, the entire first rank fire all at the same time, this is the maximum amount of moral shock you can do with a Matchlock unit, and is also the smoothest method, as the first row will proceed to knee at the same time without having to wait for anyone else in their row.





Damage after all three ranks has finished Fire by Rank before melee commenced.
68 Killed, 92 Survived from 160 Katana Samurai. (Click on image to enlarge)

Alternative Attacking Fire by Rank (Discovered by Qirn Update 22.11.2022)

Qirn from the comments section, found a new way of using the Attacking Fire by Rank that allows the Matchlocks to use the Attacking Fire by Rank method inside the firing range.

This new method, retains all the advantages of the Attacking Fire by Rank method, of a faster firing solution, smoother volley fire transitions between the ranks and greater moral shock.
Unlike the Attacking Fire by Rank, your matchlocks do not need to target an enemy outside of their firing range, therefore eliminating the need walk towards them and as a result maintain your armies formation.

Usage:

• First disable "Fire At Will" which is always enabled by default.
  
• Enable Fire by Rank.
  
• Recommend that you use "Guard Mode" and use a Three Rank Wide Formation.
  
• Wait until the enemy is within firing range. (Whole unit is inside the red arc.)
  
• Double Right-Click on the enemy that you want your matchlocks to fire on.

Positives:

• Retains all the advantages of the Attacking Fire by Rank Method.
  
• Matchlocks do not need to move and thus maintain your Army Formation.
  
• Allows for timed Volley Fire (Delayed Point Blank Volley fire).

Negatives:

• Disabled "Fire at Will" means you may accidentally not open fire.
  
• When fielding many matchlocks, it may be difficult to issue every one of them the firing order, as you will be issuing orders at a closer range than the regular Attacking Fire by Rank Method.

"Fire at Will" disabled.
Double Right-Clicking when the enemy is inside the firing range.

Stationary Fire by Rank

Time to Open Fire:

• 10.56 (Average) Seconds for first volley when targets enter firing range.
  
• +6.33 (Average) Seconds for second volley
  
• +5.53 (Average) Seconds for thried volley

Stationary Fire by Rank is when you set your Matchlocks in Ranked Fire mode and keep them stationary, making them only open fire when the enemy enters their firing range.

As you may have already noticed, they take an extremely long time to open fire (which is why some people claim it is broken) with this method, but it does offer some rather interesting advantages.

Positives:

• Best method used against Infantry units on Even Ground when using Matchlock Ashigaru, as the delayed first volley will be closer than using Attacking Fire by Rank, where you can't reload fast enough on Even Ground for a Fourth volley.

• Due to the long time needed to start firing, a charging enemy will be at an effective firing range, making each volley more effective before melee commences.

• Less micro intensive than Attacking Ranked Fire method.

Negatives

• Extremely slow to open fire.

• Utterly useless Vs Cavalry, you will be charged even before being able fire a single volley, even if you are positioned on a hill. As well as ineffective Vs Yari Samurai, Monks & Oda Long Yari Ashigaru as these Units reach you faster than other types, allowing only a partial 3rd Volley.

• Vollies are not as smooth and even as the Attacking Fire by Rank method.

• While dealing more demoralising damage than the Free Fire Method, this method does a bit less demoralising damage than the Attacking Fire by Rank.

• Can't be used by Matchlock Warrior Monks

Important Notes:
Like with the Attacking Fire by Rank method, you want to have Three Equally lengthed Ranks for maximum damage potential.
This method is best used with Ashigaru Matchlocks, due to the delay in opening fire, the Third Rank will deal especially allot of damage due to the enemy being so close.
It is also a good option when you do not want to micro too much.

As seen here, they fire nearly all at the same time, but not as coherently as they would with the Attacking Fire by Rank.








Damage after all three ranks has finished Fire by Rank before melee commenced.
93 Killed, 67 Survived from 160 Katana Samurai. (Click on image to enlarge)

Imported Matchlocks, Samurai and Portuguese Tercos

The Difference between Imported Matchlock Ashigaru and the Regular Matchlock Ashigaru is mainly the Unit Size, Reload Skill, Accuracy and Moral.

On Ultra Unit Scale, they have 40 men less than their regular counterpart, but have +5 Reload Skill and +5 Accuracy.
They also have -1 to Moral to their moral which is pretty bad, but it should not matter too much if you do not engage in melee or take too much skirmishing fire.

The main issue here is having fewer men, otherwise the added Reload Skill and Accuracy makes them as good as the Otomo and Oda Clans Matchlock Ashigaru.
Be also aware that they cost slightly more in Recruitment and Upkeep cost.
It also takes 4 turns* to recruit one of them, so you want to setup your Nanban Port either in your Capital or in a province where you have High Tier Castles so that you can recruit multiple units at once when this is possible.

Here is a brief overview of the Unit Size on all Unit Scale options compared to Regular Matchlock Ashigaru:

Imported Matchlock Ashigaru:
30/60/90/120
Matchlock Ashigaru:
40/80/120/160

Update 22.08.2021
*Note that if you are or have converted to a Christian Clan the time it takes to Recruit Imported Matchlock Ashigaru is halved and takes only 2 turns.
The Otomo Clan has a Clan Bonus (Faster import of matchlocks) that allows them to recruit Imported Matchlock Ashigaru in just 1 turn.
















Even when using Samurai Matchlocks, or Portuguese Tercos, using Three Equally lengthed Ranks with Attacking Fire by Rank and the Rapid Volley ability will outperform a wider Two Ranked formation.
This also applies for Stationary Fire by Rank.















When using Samurai Matchlocks with +One Level Of Experience, using this Attacking Fire by Rank with Three Equally lengthed Ranks and the Rapid Volley ability, you will be able to get in Four vollies on Even Ground.


Damage after all three ranks shoot their volley and first rank fired another partial volley after having finished reloading before melee commenced.
104 Killed, 56 Survived from 160 Katana Samurai. (Click on image to enlarge)
















For Portuguese Tercos (No Experience) with Three Equally lengthed Ranks with Attacking Fire by Rank and the Rapid Volley ability, you will get Five vollies, usually annihilating Infantry before they even reach you on Even Ground.


Damage after all three ranks shoot their volley and first and second rank fired another volley after having finished reloading before melee commenced.
125 Killed, 35 Survived from 160 Katana Samurai. (Click on image to enlarge)


Samurai Matchlocks, or Portuguese Tercos will benefit more from the Attacking Fire by Rank method when using the Rapid Volly ability, however, they too can be used in this Stationary Ranked Fire method for less microing, but they will miss out on a extra volley.
Especially the Samurai Matchlocks (With +One Level Of Experience) as they are able to just about to be able to get in a Fourth volley on Even Ground.

Giga Matchlock

The highest Reload Skill you can achieve is as follows:

Maxed out Portuguese Terco = Reload Skill = 53
Inspire = +10
Stand And Fight! = +5
Rapid Volley = +15

For a grand total of 83!

Nearly nothing can survive this, the best option here is to out range them, as they will shred anything before them.


(*This is for custom battles only.
I'm pretty sure we can push it further in the Campaign Map with the Generals Abilities and Building Upgrades.)

In the picture below, I had a simple general with Inspire and the Stand and Fight! Ability and one Portuguese Terco's.

I ordered them into Guard Mode and set them to Ranked Fire.
Just before the enemy was about to get into the line of fire, I used my generals Inspire Ability first, then immediately used his Stand And Fight Ability, next I selected my Terco's and used the Rapid Volley Ability and used the Attacking Fire By Rank on the enemy Katana Samurai.
They shot five vollies before contact (that's the most you can get on Even Ground), but the Reload was so fast that by the time the Third Rank Finished their volley the first was already reloaded.

Upon contact there was only a handful of Katana Samurai left and they shattered instantly.
The Terco's proceeded to fire volley after volley without ever having to wait for the first rank to be ready to fire after the third rank finished firing.

Damage after all five vollies.
159 Killed, 1 Survived from 160 Katana Samurai. (Click on image to enlarge)

*Note: The one Katana Samurai only survived because the game gave me the Victory Menu, the Portuguese Terco's were already loaded and took aim.
He can be seen near the Terco's to the left side seen in this picture.
Talk about The Last Samurai huh?
The Victory Pop Up Menu is what really saved Captain Nathan Algren after all.

Giga Matchlock in Campaign Mode (26.08.2021)

I wanted to see just how far we can push the Matchlocks in terms of stats, and I believe I finally now have the answer.

Above we can see the Default Stats for the Portuguese Tercos.
This is how they arrive if we just merely recruit them after having built the Powder Maker without any additional buildings that may give us any stat boosts.

Having the following buildings:
Arsenal
Hunting Lodge
Legendary Kyudo School
Master Bowmaker

We can really push the stats of our Tercos upon recruiting them.
Note that the Legendary Kyudo School is really an overkill as it takes ages to research and only gives us +2 Accuracy, regardless, here we just want to see how far we can push this unit.

Needless to say you need allot of Arts Researched and Buildings Built so this is pretty unrealistic to pull off in a Campaign.

(Click the Image on the right to enlarge it)
By having the Structures listed above we have some pretty significant Changes:

Accuracy 65 -> 92
Reload Skill 35 -> 39

92 Accuracy off the bat, now that is impressive, and we haven't even touched Experience/Rank or any General Skills and Buffs.
Lets see what that is going to look like.




I found Rank 9 very difficult to obtain, since if you take too much damage to a unit, the fresh recruits that fill their ranks will actually lower their Experience/Rank, so you have to ensure that you take minimal casualties but even so, you will usually average out at Rank 7.

To get to Rank 9 more reliably you should auto-resolve with a second army reinforcing, that way you take very few loses and the losses are evenly spread out allowing you to reach Rank 9.

Now things are getting interesting, and clearly getting to a point where its becoming overkill.
108 Accuracy, I do not even know what this really means, will every shot hit? Will anything over 100 even do anything for us at all?

This is something I will have to investigate at a later time.
More than 50 Reload, there is not even a real need for the Rapid Volley Ability, and we are still not done yet!




And finally we arrive at the point of how the stats look with a General that has Infantry Leader Lv.3, and where we use the Inspire, Rally and Rapid Volley Ability.

We managed to get with everything 4 more Reload Skill (87) than in Custom Battles (83), and over 123 accuracy. I say over because these are screenshots that I took before I noticed that the Legendary Kyudo School gives is 2 more accuracy, so the final and grand total Accuracy is 125.

I think this is the most that one can push the best Matchlock Unit in the game.
Now there is an interesting argument that one can make, as it very well may be the case that having any stat over 100 may not give us any further benefit at all, and if this is true, the Matchlock Ashigaru/ Ikko Ikki Matchlock Ashigaru may be better in the end than the Portuguese Tercos as they have 160 or 200 men respectfully, 40 to 80 more men.

Something that I will have to look into.

Matchlock Ashigaru Variants (22.08.2021)

The Matchlock Ashigaru has the most variations of any Matchlock unit type.

Below is a overview of the key differences between the many variations of this unit.

Standard Matchlock Ashigaru:

This is the default Matchlock Ashigaru that we will compare every other variant with.

Unit Size (On Ultra Settings): 160
Recruitment Cost: 300
Upkeep Cost: 100
Melee Attack: 2
Charge Bonus: 2
Bonus vs Cavalry: 0
Range: 100
Accuracy: 30
Reloading Skill: 10
Ammunition: 15
Melee Defence: 1
Armour: 1
Morale: 4

Recruitment Time: 1 Turn
Requires Tech: Gunpowder Mastery

Imported Matchlock Ashigaru:

Unit Size (On Ultra Settings): 120
- Decreased unit size by 40 Men
Recruitment Cost: 450
- Increased purchasing cost by 150 Koku
Upkeep Cost: 125
- Increase seasonal upkeep cost by 25 Koku per turn
Accuracy: 35
+ Increased accuracy by 5 points
Reloading Skill: 15
+ Increased Reload by 5 points
Morale: 3
- Decrease in moral by 1

- Longer Recruitment Time: 1-4 Turns
For Non-Christian Clans = 4 Turns, Christian Clans = 2 Turns, Otomo Clan = 1 Turn
+ Does not Require Gunpowder Mastery
Requires instead a Nanban Trade Port which can be obtained much earlier in a campaign than having to research Gunpowder Mastery.

Hattori Matchlock Ashigaru:

Gains the Following Abilities:

+ Kisho Training
Can Deploy almost anywhere on the map
+ Hide in Long Grass
Easier to conceal than their Regular counterpart

Ikko Ikki Matchlock Ashigaru:

Unit Size (On Ultra Settings): 200
+ Increased unit size by 40 Men
Melee Attack: 1
- Decrease of melee attack by 1
Charge Bonus: 1
- Decrease of charge bonus by 1
Accuracy: 10
- Massive decrease of accuracy by 20 points, 66.66% reduction at base experience
Reloading Skill: 5
- Reloading skill Halved by 5 points, resulting in a 50% decrease at base experience
Morale: 4
+ Increase in Moral by 1

Oda Matchlock Ashigaru:

Recruitment Cost: 250
+ Decreased purchasing cost by 50 Koku
Upkeep Cost: 75
+ Decrease seasonal upkeep cost by 25 Koku per turn
Melee Attack: 3
+ Increase in melee attack by 1
Charge Bonus: 3
+ Increase in charge bonus by 1
Accuracy: 35
+ Increased accuracy by 5 points
Reloading Skill: 15
+ Increased reload by 5 points
Melee Defence: 2
+ Increase of melee defence by 1

Otomo Matchlock Ashigaru:

Recruitment Cost: 250
+ Decreased purchasing cost by 50 Koku
Accuracy: 35
+ Increased accuracy by 5 points
Reloading Skill: 15
+ Increased reload by 5 points

+ Does not Require Gunpowder Mastery
Requires instead the Lower Tech (Attack by Fire) Powder Maker Building

Campaign Map Skills and Buildings for Matchlocks (Update 26.08.2021)

When your playing a Campaign, these are some useful General Skills and Buildings that you can take advantage of to make your Matchlocks even more powerful and to gain access to them faster.

Faster Research:

Unless you are playing with the Otomo Clan or get lucky enough to get an early Nanban Port, getting access to Matchlocks takes a really long time.
So we need to speed up the process of unlocking them. We can do this a few ways.

You want start researching Calligraphy(to unlock Confucian Academy) or immediately start researching for Gunpowder Mastery.

Next you want to get as many provinces as possible that contain the Philosophical Tradition Buildings (Schools +10% Research Rate). These you want capture and guard as well as upgrade to the Library which gives you +20% to your Research Rate and if you Researched Calligraphy you can upgrade further to get Confucian Academy which gives you +33% to research rate.
If you capture all the provinces (excluding the Ashikaga Shogunate), you gain the following research rate speed bonuses depending on the tier of the buildings:

• School = +50% Research Rate
  
• Library = +100% Research Rate
  
• Confucian Academy = +165% Research Rate

In the picture below, you will find the provinces and the clans controlling the Philosophical Tradition Buildings(6 in Total).
*Note that the Ashikaga Shogunate controls one of the Philosophical Tradition Buildings, and it is not wise to try getting this early in the Campaign unless you are fine with Realm Divide.

With Zen Researched, you will want to build 5 Buddhist Temples and get yourself 5 Monks, level them up to get more Way of Chi research speed bonus by going with the Pilgrim Route when going for Calligraphy(for Confucian Academy) and Chonindo(for Master Bowmaker).

Your Generals can be leveled up with the Poet Route, this will increase your Bushido Research Rate and will also help you get Gunpowder Mastery faster.

By doing these, we can considerably reduce the time required to finally gain access to Matchlocks and naturally it will speed up every other research as well.

Otomo Chapel's (Update 29.08.2020)

When playing with the Otomo Clan, you want to get as fast as possible 5 Chapels, (5 is the max stacking) as each one gives you +5% Research Rate for a total of an additional +25% Faster Research Rate.
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General Skills:

Both these skills require your General to be Rank 4.

Religious:

What would interest us here is the added effectiveness of the Inspire Ability.
Since we already know that this increases our accuracy (+15) and reload time (+10), investing in this skill will improve it up to 30%.

*For the Ikko Ikki the Religious Ability can be obtained already at Rank 2
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Infantry Leader:












This one is straight forward, this skill gives us access to the "Stand and Fight" ability, which improves our reload skill by +5, you only really need the level 1 version of it.*
*When going for the Line Infantry Doctrine (See Matchlock Doctrine Section) level 3 version of this skill is advised.

Buildings:

Here are some Buildings that can further improve our Matchlocks.
Unfortunately for us, all of these buildings are rather high tier and take a really long time to research.

Hunting Lodge:
This one is the easiest one to obtain, it requires "Heaven and Earth" to be researched.
Its also really useful as its not exclusive to matchlocks and is versatile since it gives us the option to build the "Encampment" building, which can be further upgraded in various other buildings to suit your needs including the Hunting Lodge.

But for Matchlocks you of course want to go with the Hunting Lodge upgrade which gives us +5 Accuracy.
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Arsenal:
This ones a high tier building, but if your planning to focus on Matchlocks mainly in your campaign, then its a natural step as you require the research "Attack By Fire" and also the "Gunpowder Mastery" research, this gives us the option to build and upgrade to the Arsenal.
It also gives us access to the Fire Rockets, which is an excellent Siege, harassment and Anti-Cav unit.

Just make sure your the first to build it, otherwise you will not get the %10 reduced reload time bonus.
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Master Bowmaker:
This is one of the best buildings to make as it gives us a whooping +20 to our accuracy!
*Even though its called Master Bowmaker, any ranged unit will get this bonus.

The downside is that its a special building of which there are only four of them spread out on the campaign map.
You also require the high tier Research "Chonindo".
(The Artisan Buildings second upgrade "Fletchers" does not require any additional research and still will give you +10 Accuracy.)

The good news is that both the Otomo and Ikko Ikki Start with having a province which contains the artisan building.
The Mori and the Hojo are also positioned really close to these strategically vital provinces.

In the map below you can see them under "Crafts".
These provinces contain the "Artisan" building which you can upgrade to get the Master Bowmaker.
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Legendary Kyudo School (Update 26.08.2021)
Unlike the other buildings listed above, this one is more of a bonus and an overkill, it is only included for the sake of completion.

You have to go out of your way and start researching Way Of The Bow arts and unlock the very high tier "Kyujutsu Master" art to build it.

It is really not worth while or feasible however it does give us an additional +2 to our Accuracy.

Matchlock Doctrines (Updated 25.08.2021)

Here I will discuss some ways that we can take full advantage of our Matchlocks in the Campaign.

Elite Marksmen Doctrine

This guide has mainly focused on this doctrine to make our Matchlocks the best and fastest gunslingers out there.
This will increase their Accuracy and Reload Speed to gun down advancing troops.

For this we need the following:

• Access to any Matchlock Type
  
• Hunting Lodge
  
• Master Bowmaker
  
• Arsenal

It will give us the following:
-10% Reload Time
+25 Accuracy

Line Infantry Doctrine

In this doctrine we will make our matchlocks strong enough to hold their own in melee, so that not only do they gun down advancing troops, but will also be strong enough to be viable melee troops.
A Katana Samurai has 12 Melee Attack, a Matchlock Samurai has 6, with the upgrades listed below we can make our Matchlocks Samurai just as strong as the Katana Samurai.
Going with this Doctrine, we can turn Shogun 2 Vanilla into Fall Of The Samurai, as your Matchlock Samurai will turn into Line Infantry Units essentially.

We need the following:

• Access to Matchlock Samurai (or better)
  
• Master Weapons Smith
  
• Jujutsu Dojo
  
• Arsenal

It will give us the Following;
-10% Reload Time
+6 Melee Attack

27.08.2020 Update Notes:
We can further improve this Doctrine by giving our Army a General with the Infantry Leader Skill.
By upgrading the General to have Infantry Leader Level 3, we can get an additional +3 Melee Attack, and this applies to any Infantry Unit, including Matchlocks.
This means that your Matchlock Samurai will actually be stronger than a Standard Katana Samurai.

We can get a Total of +9 Melee Attack with this Doctrine.

Anti Skirmish Doctrine

This doctrine is if you want to fight off Bow Units, as its focused on defence, and as such you can withstand more Arrow Damage which will allow you to close in with more ease and taking less casualties in the process in order to start gunning the Bow Units Down.

We need these:

• Access to any Matchlock Type
  
• Master Armourer
  
• Armoury
  
• Arsenal

It gives us the following:
-10% Reload Time
+5 Armour



Additional Accuracy / Legendary Kyudo School (Update 25.08.2021)

You can gain an additional +2 Accuracy by researching the Kyujutsu Mastery and building the Legendary Kyudo School (found on the Bow/Archery Skill Tree), this is utterly unfeasible considering how much time is already required to Unlock Gunpowder Master, but for sake of completion I wanted to include this small bit of information.

All Rank Volley (Update 22.08.2020)

It is possible to do an All Rank Volley, there are a few Units that can do this, as a matter of fact any Matchlock Unit that has a maximum of 80 men (On Ultra Unit Scale) can do it.
So Which Matchlocks have 80 Men max?
There are three:

The Shimazu Heavy Gunners, Tokugawa Mounted Gunners and Otomo Dunderbuss Cavalry. As you may already have noticed, unfortunately for us, all of these Units are Faction Specific, so only these Clans can do a All Rank Volley. It may seem Obvious at first, that the Cavalry Matchlocks can fire all their guns at once, but here is the catch: If you dismount them, and set them even into a 3 Rank Formation, they still will fire all their guns.

Compare that with a 160 Matchlock Ashigaru, essentially you can fire half the amount of guns at once.
Or to view it somewhat differently, the Tokugawa Mounted Gunners for example, when dismounted, effectively gives you a Matchlock Samurai Unit with 40 men less, but with the ability to fire all their guns at once.

The Shimazu Heavy Gunners work a bit differently, they can fire all their guns at once as well, but only against Buildings, Gates or Walls, so killing enemy units can only be done by means of blasting off the wall sections that they stand on, when using their All Rank Fire ability.

Why would we give up mobility though? I think the major advantages here would be that your formations are more dense and compact, and that you are not as big as a target as you would be on a horse. With that said, the point here is really is only to highlight that you can do a All Rank Volley Fire, even when dismounted.

Bamboo Wall (Update 25/08/2020)

This is another one of those Abilities that can cause confusion, because it clearly states that Matchlocks have access to this Skill but it does not state specifically how it gets activated:




The Bamboo Wall is a very Specific Ability that needs to meet the following conditions in order for you to be able to access it:

• Must be playing Campaign Mode
  
• Must have Not Moved your Army for 1 Turn*
  
• Must be a Field Battle (Will Not Work During a Siege or Ambush)
  
• Must be the Defender / Must get Attacked
  
• Must be Deployed on Flat Terrain (Will Not Work on Steep Hills and in Forests)

*Tip: Select an Army on the Campaign Map and Press "Backspace" to cancel any planned movement.

Since its so Specific it is a very Rare Ability that is hardly, if ever used.

There are ways to make this work though, usually a good idea is to Position your Army in Strategic Choke Points, such as Bridges, or Natural Bottlenecks, or by having Multiple Generals blocking off larger passages.

The issue with this is that it relies on the enemy to attack you, and you give up momentum.
Also if your Army is Stronger than the enemies, then of course they will not Attack you.

One way to bait the AI to attack you regardless is by presenting a weak Army and having your Main Army hidden in a forest in Reinforcement Range.

Finally let us address what this actually does for us.
It gives us Deployable Bamboo Walls that can be set up during the deployment phase.
The main advantage here is that we can fire through the Bamboo Walls while the enemy cannot attack and charge us head on, and is forced to flank.



This protects our Matchlocks from being Charged and Locked into Melee, making it much more easy to retreat, and of course, we do not have to worry about Frontal Cavalry Charges.
The problem is that while this gives us allot of protection from Foot Soldiers and Cavalry, it is useless vs Archers, as they will simply Out-Range you and the Bamboo Wall offers essentially zero protection against incoming arrows.

With that said, if you have some long range weapons, such as Bow Warrior Monks, Fire Projecting Mangonels, European Cannons, Fire Rockets or Hojo Hand Mortars you can make up for this weakness, and combine the Bamboo Wall with some of the Unconventional Tactics discussed in this guide to give you a really massive advantage.

Formations

This section will discuss some of the Formations you can use that will take advantage of your Matchlocks.

Legacy:

A = Any Melee Infantry or Bow Infantry
M = Matchlock
Y = Yari
C = Cavalry
G = General

Checkerd Offensive Formation:

This Formation can surprisingly work if you have allot of matchlocks, best used against AI though, as a player can just attack the matchlocks, however against the AI you can overwhelm them with superior firepower if you have a long front line with melee and matchlock units. Expect losing some matchlocks and make sure your General is not behind a Matchlock Unit just in case that unit breaks. You will definitely want to make use of your generals buffs, especially Stand And Fight to boost your matchlocks reload rate which also strengthens your center.

A---M---A---M---A---M---A---M---A
C-------------------G------------------C

Checkered Defensive Formation:

Using this formation will give your Matchlocks a clear line of sight past your yari troops, and the yari troops will lock the opponent into melee allowing your matchlocks to continue firing. Its risky to use if the enemy has bow superiority and is skirmishing you. Make use of your cavalry to harass enemy bowmen if that is the situation.

-------Y--------Y---------Y---------Y-------
C-----Y--------Y---------Y---------Y-----C
------------M--------M--------M------------
-------A---A---A---G---A---A---A--------

Checkered Trap Formation:

Using this formation will give your front line troops matchlock fire support. Make sure there is space between between your front line units so that your matchlocks have a field of view.
It may happen that an enemy unit slips past your front line units and starts going after one of your matchlocks, if that happens let them engage that matchlock and lock the enemy into melee, now just select the two adjacent matchlocks and turn them towards the enemy unit that slipped through and shot them into oblivion.

-----Y----Y----Y----Y---Y----Y----Y------
--------M---M---M---M---M---M--------
C---A---A----A---G----A---A----A----C

Hill Defence Formation:

This is a simple formation used on hills exclusively. You can start by having your matchlocks in front of your yari troops and then retreat them after a few shots when the enemy is charging behind your yari units at an elevated level which is higher than your yari units.
This way they can fire above your yari troops while the enemy is locked into combat.

-----Y----Y----Y----Y---Y----Y----Y------
-----M---M---M---M---M---M---M------
C---A---A----A---G----A---A----A----C

Anti Cavalry Defence Formation:

This formation is when your opponent has cavalry superiority.
It is a bit difficult to display with just text, so I included an image just below it.
The "X" marks the kill zone.
You create two open triangles with an opening on either side with yari troops or any other available units and place your matchlocks in within it.
You position your matchlocks in a manor that if any enemy unit tries to come inside it gets blasted into bits from every direction.
You want to be using the Free Fire Method here since Cavalry can charge past the kill zone if using Stationary and Attacking Fire By Rank Method.

-----------------Y-------Y-----------------
---------Y---M------------M---Y---------
--------------X---M-M---X---------------
---------Y---M-----G-----M---Y---------
-----------------Y-------Y-----------------

Click this image to enlarge it.

Matchlock Ambush (Update 23.09.2019)

Here is a Defensive Ambush Tactic that really any unit can do, but is especially effective with Matchlocks and Cavalry.


Phase 1:
You carefully select your area of ambush, set up your Main Army and your Ambush Forces.
For the Ambush Forces, you want to have a few Matchlocks/Cavalry and some Yari Units to protect them in case the Ambush fails.
As soon as the battle begins you want to move your Main Army, shift and rotate them so that you create a space between your Main Army and Your Ambush Forces, by doing this rotation, the enemy will hopefully rotate his as well to be facing you directly, thus successfully setting up the Ambush.

Phase 2:
If the enemy rotated and matched his armies direction with yours, if he tries to do a flanking manoeuvre, or if you can bait your opponent, by shifting or creating a deliberate weakness in your Main Armies flank which is nearest to your Ambush Forces, then the Ambush is set and ready to spring into action.

Phase 3:
Once the enemy flanks or takes the bait, you begin your ambush attack, by either directly attacking the flanking unit, or splitting up your Ambush Forces and attack from two sides.
*If they do a All-Out general attack, you can attack them right in their rear with your Ambush Forces as the battle is taking place.

Phase 4:
This assumes you split your Ambush Forces, now you can attack the Unit that was caught in your trap from two sides, or you can press on into the enemies main force if there is a weakness that you can exploit to your advantage.

Phase 5:
With the enemy flanking unit broken shattered or destroyed, you can press on the general attack, your Main Force will strike head on and and your Ambush Forces will attack them in the flanks.
*If the enemy decides to reinforce the Ambushed Unit, you can take advantage of his now weakened flank.

Flanking Fire

Just like Cavalry Units, you can use your Matchlocks in a similar fashion and get similar great results when firing into the enemies Flanks.

If you have a regular army and the enemy is charging you, you can use any of the Firing Methods we discussed above to commence firing.

Then once you dealt as much damage as you could and just before the enemy is about to engage in Melee with your Matchlocks, bring them behind your Melee Troops for protection, while the enemy is then occupied dealing with your Spears or Melee Units, get around the Flanks like you would with any Cavalry Unit, use your Matchlocks to take shots into the Flanks of your enemy for devastating results.

Be aware of enemy Cavalry though, make sure they are busy or harassed by your own troops or Cavalry before proceeding to flank.

Firing From Hills

If you are able to draw the enemy to attack you and you place your Matchlocks on a Hill, using the Attacking Fire by Rank, you will be able to land in an Extra Volley before melee commences, this even works with the Standard Inexperienced Ashigaru Matchlock's, allowing you a Fourth Volley with them.
*Not tested for the Ikko Ikki

Update 31.07.2019
Forgot to point this out, but it is possible to fire above and over your melee infantry when placed on a hill and you position your matchlocks on a higher elevation than your melee troops, allowing your Matchlocks to fire upon the enemy while they are engaged in battle with your lower positioned troops.
Just make sure you are positioned high enough from your front line units and have a clear line of sight.

Castle Defence (Update 22.08.2021)

Placing Matchlocks in Castles, moving them near the walls, or gates where they get extra protection make them a force to be reckoned with.

They are highly effective in such a defensive situation and will deal a great amount of damage to any unit that is climbing up on your castle walls within their line of fire.

Don't be afraid to leave them there as long as the first enemy soldier climbs the castle walls.
And do not be afraid of taking some casualties from Archers as long as there are targets to fire at.


Update 22.08.2021
I have yet to definitively confirm this but I read that putting Matchlocks on the Castle Walls as Defenders may give them a slight Reload Skill Boost.
On Average a Standard Matchlock Ashigaru without any Experience at all will reload their gun in 24.7 seconds after they fired it when situated on the field.
I clocked the reload time at 23.9 seconds when they were placed on the Castle Wall as a defender.
This seems to suggest (as there is no visible stat changes) that they may get a 3.33% Reload Buff as they fire 0.8 Seconds faster.
I am unwilling to call this a definitive fact (as there is no stat changes and the difference in firing speed is so minimal) so if anyone can confirm this please write in the comment section.


Important Notes:
As VEF215 (from the comments section below) correctly pointed out, when placing your Matchlocks to the wall, only the First Row will open fire, unlike archers, the second or any more rows will Not fire.
Therefore, to maximise your damage potential, you want to stretch them as Wide as possible.

(I cant remember right now exactly, but if you hold CTRL or Shift while dragging your units when placing them to the wall, you can change their formation into a single row.)

Unconventional Tactics Part 1

Oda Long Yari And Shot:

This one is not so unconventional technically speaking, but its unconventional in Shogun Total War 2 since its not the real historical setup, and it was never intended or ever used by the AI.

The actual military tactic was called Pike And Shot.

The tactic was a mixture of long pikes and muskets, the soldiers would use the muskets to fire on enemies while being protected by the pike men who would keep enemies at a distance and protect them from cavalry charges allowing the musket men to continue firing freely.

I tried to replicate this by using loose formation but this will not work as only very few matchlocks will fire due to blocked line of sight, and the loose formation of both your units will allow your opponent to slaughter them with ease.

But you can sort of pull of this tactic and it does work, you do this by stretching out your Oda Long Yari Ashigaru as wide as possible, set them into Guard Mode and into Spear Wall Formation.
Then just in front of them place your Matchlock unit stretched out as wide as possible and set them also in Guard Mode. Make sure your matchlocks are within the spears.
I tried using this with and without Fire By Rank, either will do well, but with Fire By Rank you will get two vollies rather than one, the 3rd row of your matchlocks will not be able to fire because their line of sight will be blocked.
When the enemy charges you, you will be able to fire a volley or two, and when the enemy finally reaches your matchlocks, the Oda Long Yari Ashigaru Spear men will support your Matchlocks in melee, both your Spear men and Matchlocks will take some damage but its really minor.

Keep in mind that this is a really defensive tactic and it is difficult to maneuver around using it, for the most part it leaves you rather static which the opponent can exploit with cavalry if you are not vigilant.
The fact that your units are so tightly packed also means that this tactic is lethal to the user if the opponent has bow superiority.

Note that, this tactic is also viable with regular Yari Ashigaru, but it is far more effective with Oda Long Yari Ashigaru.
It's also really effective with Matchlock Warrior Monks, as they are very accurate, have extended firing range and cannot use Fire by Rank anyways, so you can place them really close to your Yari Infantry.

Fire and Advance (Attacking and Defensive):

This tactic involves using a minimum of at least Two Matchlocks, and is best used against other Matchlocks or Bow Units when a Skirmishing Battle is taking place.
You can opt to use Fire Fire or Fire By Rank, both work well, Free Fire for releasing a Faster First Volley and Fire By Rank for dealing More Damage.

Position your Matchlock in the Front Line and right behind it place another Matchlock unit.
Using Fire by Rank, having just one Matchlock behind your First is sufficient, when opting for Fire Fire, having more than one extra Matchlock behind your First is viable.
Engage your enemy, when your first Matchlock is Finished Firing (using either Free Fire or Fire By Rank) you can do one of the following:

Attacking Variant:
Move your Second Matchlock in front of your Matchlock that just completing firing. You now have moved closer to your opponents army and your Second Matchlock can resume the firing, when they are done firing, position your First Matchlock in front of them again, and do this as many times as you like or is possible.

Defensive Variant:
Just like with the Attacking version, here you want to repeat the same steps, with the exception that you do not move forward, but backwards. So once your First Matchlock completed firing, move them behind your Second Matchlock, this will allow your Second Matchlock to open fire if the enemy is within range, this version is best used if the enemy is pressing the attack as you may end up being out of range of your opponents Matchlock and Bow Units when falling back this way.
*Note that if the enemy is charging at you, your First Matchlock will want to use Free Fire, as the second or third matchlock may not have time to do a Fire By Rank this way.

Stacking:
This Defensive Tactic is not exclusive to Matchlocks but is most useful with Yari Ashigaru and Matchlock Units, its a really simple but effective tactic if you have allot of Matchlock Troops in your army.

You essentially just place a Matchlock within another Matchlock.
I found that the best results are up to 3 Matchlocks, so by that I mean you place a Matchlock then put two more Matchlock Units into that Matchlock.
You want to carefully place them so that the Front Rows are placed in a manor that your Matchlocks are Standing next to each other(Use the Space Bar to better see their positioning).
Surprisingly they do not block each others vision that much and do not prevent each other from firing.
This works in all sorts of ways, for example, you can use loose formation or even Fire By Rank.
*Do this only however if they have similar stats, or they will block each other.

The Advantages are that you combine their firepower, this is really great if you tend to field a massive amount of Matchlocks, as it usually means that your Front Line tends to be stretched really wide, wide enough in most cases that you reach one side of the boarder to the other end.
By using this tactic, you no longer need to stretch your army that wide, simply stack them together.

Using this tactic, you can also leave gaps in your melee infantry, place your Matchlocks behind them in this manor for continuous fire support when using Free Fire.

The disadvantage is that it is difficult to maneuver this way, it renders you static and you are left vulnerable to Bow Units.

Needless to say that you can combine this tactic with the Oda Long Yari And Shot as previously stated above, making a really nasty and impenetrable front line.

Above is an example of Proper Spacing.

Unconventional Tactics Part 2

Otomo Donderbuss Cavalry and Tokugawa Mounted Gunners Fire Support:

An interesting and effective tactic that involves placing your Mounted Matchlocks behind your Front Line Troops that allows them to fire above and over them allowing your Mounted Gunners whilst being protected to fire freely at the enemy.

You can also combine this with the Yari and Shot and Stacking to make a front line assault suicidal to an enemy.

[UPDATE 25/08/2020]
Additional Point Blank Volley:

I found this recently, what you need is a minimum of 2 Matchlocks, works even Matchlock Monks*.
Downside as with most of these Unconventional Tactics is that its very dependent on proper positioning, making it defensive in nature and leaves you vulnerable to Archers.

(Feel free to click on the image to enlarge it.)


*With Matchlock Monks, you need at least one Matchlock that has access to Ranked Fire besides the Matchlock Monk itself.

What this does is give us an Extra Volley at extreme close range.
So after firing your standard 3 Ranked Volley, we can get an extra 4th one, with Any Matchlock!

How this works is as follows:

First we want to position our Matchlocks Carefully, like in the picture seen below, you want the Ranks Width to be the same, so in this example both are set in a 3 Rank Formation.
The First Matchlock Infront is set to Ranked Fire, the Second is placed so, that its First Rank is Inside the First Matchlocks 3rd Rank and set into Free Fire Mode, in a manor where they are next to each other. (Use the Space Bar to help with the positioning.)

When done correctly, this is what happens:

Your Matchlocks which are infront, will do their 3 Ranked Volley Fire, and as the volley fire progresses to the 3rd Rank, the 2nd Matchlock which is set in Free Fire Mode (This is why this Matchlock can also be a Matchlock Monk) will open as the 3rd Rank begins firing, giving you an Additional Volley at extreme close distance!
This Additional Close Range Volley means that it is entirely possible shatter an advancing foe completely as the 4th Close Range Volley gives the final moral shock and damage to crack the target, rather than just whittle them down, provided you have good enough accuracy.

Be aware though that you are giving up Potential Damage as you are forced to set the 2nd Matchlock into Free Fire Mode, meaning you miss out on 2 volleys, but gain for that a close range volley in return.
This means that its best used when fielding allot of Matchlocks, in bottleneck positions, areas where you have limited space or if for whatever reason you prefer Free Fire over Ranked fire, Matchlock Warrior Monks really fit into this role, however they do miss out an extra volley as their Increased Range ability does become useless, unless you use that ability first and then immediately retreat behind your Ranked Firing Matchlock. Although this tends to be micro intensive.

As seen in this image below, the Ikko Ikki Matchlock Ashigaru's 3rd Rank and the Matchlock Warrior Monks 1st Rank merge, and as the Volley Fire progresses to the 3rd Rank, both Matchlocks fire on the 3rd Volley as the 2nd Rank Knees Down and no longer Blocks the Vision of the Matchlock Warrior Monks.

Unconventional Tactics Part 3

Three-Volley No-Dachi Banzai Charge:

A really dangerous combination is a 3 Ranked Matchlock Volley, Retreating the Matchlocks while simultaneously issuing a No-Dachi Samurai Banzai Charge.
Unlike most of the Unconventional Tactics so far, this one is Offensive rather than Defensive.
The Matchlocks thin out the enemy forces and disrupt their formation this in turn makes it really easy for the No-Dachi Samurai to chop up the rest into sizeable portions.

Using Attacking Fire by Rank will give you more time to retreat your Matchlocks compared to Stationary Fire by Rank.
It can help to set the Matchlocks into Skirmish Mode after the 3rd Volley has been delivered to retreat and using Loose Formation to allow the No-Dachi Samurai pass more easily through.

Human Bamboo Wall:

This tactic involves placing "volunteer" infantry units(preferably cheap ones) that you don't mind losing, it will delay or outright stop your enemies advance since it acts as a sort of web that will interlock them into melee.

The idea here is to make a wall of sacrificial troops in loose formation.
Placing your matchlocks right behind them will give them extra time to continue firing since the loose formation of the wall will allow your matchlocks to fire through it.

You can also place your Matchlocks in the beginning in front of the wall, give off a few shots and then retreat behind it.
The loose formation of the Human Bamboo Wall will allow your matchlocks to retreat more swiftly behind them.

The strength of the Human Bamboo wall will depend on the unit that you choose to be the Human Bamboo Wall, with that said, don't expect a cheap Yari Ashigaru(in loose formation) to last longer than a few extra vollies and your Matchlocks will fire irregularly and can and will cause friendly fire every now and then, giving your Human Bamboo Wall moral penalties.

Nonetheless, if you have exceptionally well trained Matchlocks, this is a viable tactic.

Fire Bomb Throwers Combination:

If you don't mind taking some "friendly" fire and want to use allot of Gunpowder Units,
you can position Fire Bomb Throwers just behind your Matchlock lines.

Then allow your Matchlocks to engage in Melee and let hell loose on both the enemy and your matchlocks with some Fire Bombs.

This will only really work if your first three vollies done enough damage, but if they do, the Fire Bomb Throwers should give the final moral shock to shatter the enemy.

Timed Volley

If you know the exact timing of how long it takes for the First Volley to fire, you can set your Matchlocks on hold fire and open fire at the right moment to dish a Three Ranked Volley which will be more devastating.

Example:
On average it takes about 10 seconds for your Inexperienced Matchlock Ashigaru to open fire when using Stationary Fire By Rank.
You will notice that the enemy is actually within their line of fire for some time before your Matchlocks open fire.
Observe when your third row finishes firing and how much distance there still is between you and the charging enemy.
If there is ample space, count how long it takes them to engage you in melee, it should be a few seconds after your Matchlocks unloaded their third volley.
Lets say it took 4 seconds to reach you thereafter.

Assuming it was 4 seconds, what you can do is set your Matchlocks on Hold Fire, wait till the enemy is within your line of fire, count 3 (minus one second so your Matchlocks can fire before they are charged) seconds while they are charging you, then untick the Hold Fire, now the enemy will be much closer as your matchlocks fire their volley salvos, making them all much more effective as the enemy is closer, especially the third volley, as it will be at point blank range, right in the enemies face.

However this is highly situational as the time till impact varies from unit to unit and also depends on the level of experience and charge stats of the enemy unit as well as the terrain elevation.

Regardless, this tactic can be used in super rare situations where you need every bit of little advantage to turn the tide of battle in your favour.

Best if you memorise one or two enemy types, ones that are either very common like Yari Ashigaru, or enemy units that are troublesome to you, that way this unconventional tactic becomes on rare occasions viable.

Useful Matchlock Tips and Tricks (Update 29.08.2020)

In this section we are going to cover some general useful tricks that you can use to take more advantage of your Matchlocks.

Second Nanban Trade Port

It is possible to have more than one Nanban Trade Port, especially when playing as the Otomo, to do this, you want to Lose your Settlement/Province deliberately which contains the Nanban Trade Port.
Then of course you can build a new Nanban Trade Port elsewhere and Recapture the previously lost Settlement and thus have now 2 Nanban Trade Ports.
*This is also possible to do with other Factions once you convert to Christianity.

Always being the Defender

As Matchlocks preform much better being on the Defensive rather than being on the Offensive, we of course would prefer being the Defender in a given battle. A simple way to force the AI to go on the Attack, even if you are the Attacker, is by bringing Siege Equipment.
Be it Mangonels or European Cannons, the enemy will rather attack you than allow itself to be Out Ranged, even if they are not actually in range.
Downside here is that, by bringing such Equipment, it reduces your Armies Campaign Movement Range.

Force a Sally Forth

Like with "Always being the Defender", when using allot of Matchlocks, it can be difficult to to take on Fortifications when undertaking a Siege. In most cases, as the Besieger, your Matchlocks become almost entirely useless, as they cannot really Fire into the Castle Walls, causing only minimal damage while being completely exposed to counter fire.
Unless you have Shimazu Heavy Gunners that is... ;) Otherwise:

Siege Expert Level 2 is a Rank 6 General Skill that can reduces a Siege Length by 3 Seasons.
This is a Skill to keep in mind if you plan to use allot of Matchlocks in your Campaign, as Matchlocks are a Late Game Unit, it is pretty useful to plan your Generals Skill tree progression in Advance for Siege Expert Level 2, making Sieges when you finally Unlock Matchlocks really easy, as the Enemy is Forced to Attack you in one or two Seasons the most.

Fast General Leveling Up

Since getting Siege Expert with a General takes a long time, or any Rank 6 skill for that matter, here is a way to Level Up your General more easily:
Pick a Province/Settlement that you do not really care about, it can be a settlement that belongs to you, an enemy or even of a neutral faction.

What you need to do is to cause it to revolt.
If its your own, you can do so by increasing the Tax Rate,
if its an enemies, just let it revolt after you have taken it,
if its a neutral faction you can incite a revolt by means of a Monk or Jesuit.

When the Rebels take over, fight them and try to not kill them immediately, leave enough alive that you can attack them again.
Also do not repair the Settlement and continue to let it revolt and just keep farming the Rebels for continues XP.

Easy Bamboo Wall

When you field allot of Matchlocks in an Army, the AI does not really treat them as a high threat, even if you are fielding 8 or more. So you can just wait a turn and they are more than happy to Attack you. This of course means you have access to the Bamboo Wall which can give you a serious Advantage, even when the odds are heavily against you when you employ some of the Unconventional Tactics discussed in this Guide.

Attack Move

There is no actual Attack Move in Shogun 2 like in other RTS games, however we can recreate this in Shogun 2 by means of a "Group Attack Order", to do this, you make a Group by selecting the Units that you want in the group first and then by either Clicking the Formation Button found on the Bottom Left Corner of the Screen or by pressing CTRL+G.
Alternatively you can press CTRL+ a number, ex. CTRL+1.
Just make sure the group is locked, you can see this by a lock sign above the group in the interface.

Then with your group selected, you Double-Right-Click on a Enemy Unit and your Group will attack anything in their path.
This sort of works and can make Matchlocks more Offensive, but usually only when fighting an Army with not many Units, as several of your Matchlocks tend to end up firing on the same enemy Unit, while ignoring the Charging Enemy right before them.
In other words, they do not necessarily fire at what is directly in front of them.

Compensating for the Matchlocks Achilles' Heel

I found that Matchlocks can hold their own very well, be it against Infantry or even Cavalry when they are used correctly and with the appropriate Tactics. The only Major weakness they have is their limited Range vs their Bow Wielding Counter Part. The issue is that by the time you can get the enemy Archer into Firing Range you are already being pummeled, and the fact that the Archers have a much Higher Rate of Fire just makes things worse.
To make up for this weakness, using Fire Rockets is Highly Advised, 2 to 4 of these bad boys will compensate for the Matchlocks Range, and you can wield the rest of your Army with nothing more than your General and Matchlocks and win battles vs Conventional Armies.

Easier Battle Formation and Movement Management

To make your life a bit more comfortable when Managing Matchlocks, tweak a few Keybindings, go to:

Options -> Controls -> Battle -> Unit/Group Controls

And assign the following:

Rotate unit/group right
Rotate unit/group left

Step unit/group forwards
Step unit/group backwards

Increase File
Decrease File

To something that you like to use and can quickly access.
It really helps allot and makes it much more easier to Maneuver your Army in a Battle in general,
especially when dealing with Precise Matchlock Formations.

I personally use the Arrow Keys for Step Forwards, Backwards, Rotate Left and Right.

Interesting Facts (31.08.2021)

Matchlock Buffs

Any Matchlock besides the Ikko Ikki Ashigaru Matchlocks, without any experience at all,
if they are stretched into three equally lengthed rows and use the Attacking Fire By Rank method even on Flat/Even Ground,

if you use your Generals Inspire and Stand And Fight! Ability on one of them, they become strong enough to be able to defeat a Katana Samurai 1 on 1, if they can defeat them they can nearly defeat any other melee based unit in the game, probably with the exception of units with very high moral, as the Katana Samurai do manage to make contact, but even then they shred a unit, usually killing up to 75% of them before melee ensues.

Unfortunately for the Ikko Ikki, their Accuracy and Reload Skill is not enough even with the buffs and bigger unit size. Their accuracy is the main issue, too many of their shots miss their target.
With that being a fact, a fully experienced Ashigaru Matchlock, even the Ikko Ikki Matchlocks with the previously stated buffs can take on any Unit in the game, besides ranged units or cav.

Update:
I tested this out vs Naginata Warrior monks and they can defeat them when they are not experienced, however they cannot win vs a maxed out Naginata Warrior Monk which has 21 Moral.
But they did kill 119 of them before melee commenced confirming my previous suspicion that they may not necessarily win, but will shred them regardless.

Hero units while having insane high moral (46 Moral Maxed Out) simply do not have the numbers to even come close to a Matchlock Unit.

Its daunting to see a cheap regular Matchlock Ashigaru Unit that costs a measly 400 Koku can effortlessly defeat a Maxed Out Katana Hero which costs a staggering 2830 Koku.

Hattori Matchlock Ambush

Something that is worth mentioning is that with the Hattori Clan, Matchlocks can be really effective due to their Kisho Training, this makes them really easy to hide, on top of that you can deploy them almost anywhere.
A Matchlock Ambush directly into the enemies Rear Flank is absolutely devastating!






Here we can see that the Hattori can hide them also in Long Grass, which is pretty insane, meaning you can hide them with ease and open fire at point blank ranges, which is great when facing the enemies Bow Units, as they must close in too see you, rendering their range advantage useless unless they conduct proper scouting.
Naturally the Hattori can do this with most of their units, but if you succeed flanking with Matchlocks you can route an entire army very quickly.

*In the first picture above they are indeed hiding in Long Grass.

Wide Rank Fire Power Loss (Update 31.08.2021)

Ever wondered how much Fire Power you are Sacrificing when you stretch your Matchlocks as wide as possible and do not use Fire by Rank?
Well here are the statistics sorted by Group Size (*Based off Ultra Unit Scale):

200 (Ikko Ikki Matchlocks)
First Rank: 67 Men
Second Rank: 67 Men
Third Rank: 66 Men
Front Rank Firepower: 33.5%
Fire Power Loss: 66.5%

160 (Regular Matchlocks)
First Rank: 67 Men
Second Rank: 67 Men
Third Rank: 26 Men
Fire Power: 41.8%
Fire Power Loss: 58.2%

120 (Samurai, Ikko Ikki Matchlock Warrior Monks, Portuguese Terco's)
First Rank: 67 Men
Second Rank: 53 Men
Fire Power: 55.8%
Fire Power Loss: 44.2%

80 (Shimazu Heavy Gunners)
First Rank: 67 Men
Second Rank: 13 Men
Fire Power: 83.75%
Fire Power Loss: 16.25%

40 (Tokitak's Tanegashima)
No Fire Power Loss as entire Unit can be placed into a Single Row

Short Summery On Which Method To Use In Various Situations

When on Even Ground Vs Infantry Melee Units:

• Three Equal Rows + Stationary Fire by Rank (For Ashigaru Units)
  
• Three Equal Rows + Attacking Fire by Rank (For Matchlocks with Fire by Rank and Rapid Volley)

When on Hill Vs Infantry Melee Units:

• Three Equal Rows + Attacking Fire by Rank (For any Matchlock)

When on Even Ground or on Hill Vs Cavalry:

• Wide Stretched Rows + Free Fire (For any Matchlock)

Free Fire

• Best used Vs Cavalry
  
• Fastest firing solution.

Attacking Fire by Rank

• Best used on Hills
  
• Best on Even Ground for Matchlocks with Fire by Rank and Rapid Volley Ability

Stationary Fire by Rank

• Best used for Ashigaru Matchlocks on Even Ground.
  
• Good option for less microing.

Matchlock Unit Types, Pros and Cons (Update 22.09.2020)

In this section I will personally give my own Opinions on the Strengths and Weakness of each Matchlock Unit.

Imported Matchlock Ashigaru:

Pros:

• The fastest way of getting a Matchlock without needing any Research
  
• Stats are almost as good as the Oda and Otomo Matchlock Ashigaru

Cons:

• Fewer Men and Guns to their Regular Counterpart
  
• 4 Turns or an Entire Year is required to recruit a Single Unit.
  
• Price-Preformance Ratio is Questionable
  
• Low Accuracy.
  
• Low Reload Rate,
  
• Super Low Moral
  
• Low Melee Attack.

Summery:
The Imported Matchlock Ashigaru is a good way to get Matchlocks really early on in a Campaign without needing any research, their stats are actually good, basically comparable to playing as the Oda or the Otomo Clan with their Bonus Perks, but the time required to recruit them and 40 men less (On Ultra Scale) compared to their regular counterpart make them only worth while if you do not intend to research Matchlocks in your campaign.

Matchlock Ashigaru:

Pros:

• The most quickest Matchlock Unit to get with Research.
  
• Has the largest amount of Men, 160 Standard and 200 Ikko Ikki Variant.

Cons:

• Low Accuracy.
  
• Low Reload Rate,
  
• Low Moral
  
• Low Melee Attack.

Summery:
I actually think that the Matchlock Ashigaru has the potential to be among the very best Matchlock type, due to their numbers alone.
Once you Level them up and use Abilities such as Stand And Fight, and or Inspire, specialise them by means of the Elite Marksmen Doctrine, the shear amount of men and guns they have, give them an immense initial 3-4 volley fire that can completely wipe enemies out.

Matchlock Samurai:

Pros:

• Good Accuracy
  
• Decent Reload Rate
  
• Good Moral
  
• Acceptable Melee Attack
  
• Access to Rapid Volley Ability

Cons:

• High Tier Research Required
  
• Less Men and Guns than Ashigaru Matchlocks
  
• Melee Attack is just average on its own without any upgrades

Summery:
Samurai Matchlocks are pretty average on their own, but once you set a Doctrine on them (see Matchlock Doctrines Section) they can become your backbone of your army as essentially line infantry, being excellent Marksmen and Swordsmen.

Matchlock Warrior Monks:

Pros:

• Superb Accuracy
  
• Very Good Reload Rate
  
• Superb Moral
  
• Access to Increased Range Ability

Cons:

• Exclusive Unit to the Ikko-Ikki Clan
  
• No Fire by Rank Ability
  
• Less Men and Guns than Ashigaru Matchlocks

Summery:
I am pretty split about the Matchlock Warrior Monks, while I appreciate the Increased Range, I really dislike the fact that they do not have Fire By Rank, this means that they lose out on so many options (See Unconventional Tactics Section) without this ability. However the Increased Range allows them to deal with most Bow Equipped Units and it does give them enough time to fire two vollies rather than just one, and of course these are really well aimed, accurate volley shots.

Portuguese Tercos:

Pros:

• Outstanding Accuracy
  
• Outstanding Reload Rate
  
• Outstanding Melee Attack
  
• Very Good Moral
  
• Access to Rapid Volley Ability

Cons:

• Exclusive Unit to the Otomo Clan
  
• No Bamboo Wall Ability
  
• Less Men and Guns than Ashigaru Matchlocks

Summery:
These Units are by Far the best in the game, without a doubt and without a question. The only downside is that it is Exclusive to the Otomo Clan. They are already really deadly by default, but specialise them in a Doctrine and they become a Elite Force Capable of Fighting any Unit, be it Melee Infantry, Traditional Bow Units, even Cavalry or Heroes, used correctly they have no equal.

Shimazu Heavy Gunners:

Pros:

• Good Accuracy
  
• Decent Reload Rate
  
• Good Moral
  
• Acceptable Melee Attack
  
• Oversized Bullets that cause Knock Backs
  
• Can Destroy Gates, Towers, Castles and Walls

Cons:

• Exclusive Unit to the Shimazu Clan
  
• Very Low Amount of Men and Guns
  
• No Special Ability such as Increased Range or Rapid Volley
  
• Must have an Armoury, Limiting Specialisations

Summery:
The Shimazu Heavy Gunners are only Second to the Portuguese Tercos, the Fact that they have access to Fire by Rank and cause Knock Backs, means they really shred, slow down, disorganise, sometimes outright even halt and demoralise a charging enemy and puts them in a state of disarray. They do this even with the low amount of men that they have in a unit.
The fact that they can destroy walls means that you can take out an entire unit of archers if you just blast the wall section they stand on. The only real downside is that you must have an armoury, this rules out doctrines like the Elite Marksmen and Offensive Doctrines, meaning that you can either do a mixture of skills or you go with the Anti-Skirmish Doctrine for maximum defence.

Tokita's Tanegashima:

Pros:

• Best Accuracy
  
• Outstanding Reload Rate
  
• Best Melee Attack
  
• Best Moral
  
• Increased Firing Range without the need for Increased Range Ability
  
• Access to Rapid Volley Ability
  
• Increases Nearby Friendly Units Moral
  
• Best Armour

Cons:

• Pathetically low amount of Men and Guns
  
• Highest Tier Unit

Summery:
While Tokita's Tanegashima have so many pros, their few cons, more exactly the low amount of men make this unit to me personally useless.
No matter how fast they fire or how accurate they are, they have only 40 men. Compare that to a Standard Ashigaru of 160 Men and Guns.
You see the thing is, no matter how Elite they are, they will never have more than 40 men.
A Matchlock Ashigaru might be horrible in the beginning but can become a really excellent unit around rank 5 capable of holding their own against any enemy unit type, and thats 160 guns blasting, with only a single bullet needing to reach its mark to kill.

Dunderbuss Cavalry:

Pros:

• Entire Unit can Fire at the Same Time
  
• Devastating Spread Weapon that ensures almost 100% hit Rate.
  
• Outstanding Melee Attack
  
• Superb Moral
  
• Outstanding Armour

Cons:

• Exclusive Unit to the Otomo Clan
  
• Limited Men and Guns
  
• Hopelessly Short Firing Range
  
• High Tier Unit

Summery:
These Dunderbuss Equipped Soldiers are also easily amongst the best Matchlocks, despite the absurd short range, they make one of the best castle wall defenders, and are perhaps the best unit for hunting down routing enemies. Used Carefully, they will also obliterate any Melee Infantry by simply firing and retreating, destroying Bow Units by means of Charging, and can weaken a charging enemy cavalry with a volley to the point where it can win with ease.

Mounted Gunners:

Pros:

• Entire Unit can Fire at the Same Time
  
• Good Accuracy
  
• Decent Reload Rate
  
• Good Moral
  
• Acceptable Melee Attack

Cons:

• Exclusive Unit to the Tokugawa Clan
  
• Limited Men and Guns
  
• High Tier Unit

Summery:
More or less, these Mounted Gunners are Matchlock Samurai with 40 Men Less, that are of course Mounted on Horses and with the ability that the entire unit can fire at the same time. What I really like about the Mounted Gunners is that you can have a second Matchlock line (See Unconventional Tactics Part 2) that can also fire, they fill this role better than their Donderbuss Counterpart as they have the standard Firing Range

XP Required For Matchlocks to Defeat Unit Types (Update 21.08.2019)

Tests done to see how experienced your matchlocks must be to win a 1 on 1 fight vs various unit types.

(In the future I will probably make the same tests with Samurai Matchlocks.)

These Tests are conducted with the following rules:

• No Generals on either side.
  
• Enemy Units have No Experience.
  
• On Flat Terrain.
  
• Always using Guard Mode.
  
• Always using Three Equally Lengthed Ranks (With few exceptions, like vs Cavalry.)

Battles were repeated until the Matchlocks were able to win with the minimal required Experience with at least over 60% or more surviving whenever this was possible.

Legend:
FF = Free Fire
AFR = Attacking Fire by Rank
SFR = Stationary Fire by Rank
MI = Melee Included
XP = Experience

Standard Matchlock Ashigaru:

*Not including Ikko Ikki, Oda and Otomo Variants. These preform worse and better, and thus require more or less experience respectively.

Spear Infantry:
Vs Standard Yari Ashigaru = 1XP, MI, SFR
Vs Oda Yari Ashigaru = 2XP, MI, SFR
Vs Ikko Ikki Ashigaru = 2XP, MI, SFR *Can win with 1XP, but inconsistent.
Vs Oda Long Yari Ashigaru = 3XP, MI, SFR *Spears reach you faster, 3rd Rank can't fire properly.
Vs Yari Samurai = 5XP, MI, AFR *Due to "Rapid Advance" 3rd Rank does not fire in time with SRF.
Vs Yari Ronin = 0XP, MI, SFR *70% killed before contact, low unit sizes makes them vulnerable.
Vs Naginata Samurai =6XP, MI, SFR *Can win with 5XP, but inconsistent.
Vs Warrior Nuns = 0XP, MI, SFR *80% killed before contact, low unit size makes them vulnerable.
Vs Naginata Warrior Monks = 5XP, MI, SFR *They charge fast.
Vs Ikko Ikki Marathon Monks = 2XP, MI, AFR *Small Unit Size, Monks are really fast at charging.
Vs Date Bullet Proof Samurai = CANNOT WIN *The best you can do is kill half of them with 9XP.
Vs Yari Hero = 0XP, MI, AFR *AFR due to "Rapid Advance", but SFR will also work. Too low unit size.
Vs Benkei's Blades = 0XP, SFR *Obliterated, too few men.
Vs Gozen's Hime Heroines = 0XP, SFR *Obliterated, too few women.
Vs Naginata Warrior Monk Hero = 0XP, SFR *Obliterated, too few men.
Average Experience (Excluding Date Bulletproof Samurai & Heroes) = 2.6 Round up = 3.

Sword Infantry:
Vs Mori Wako Raiders = 3XP, MI, SFR *They surprised me lol, deploy away from the edges.
Vs Loan Sword Ashigaru = 5XP, MI, SFR *Large Unit Size and Katana's means trouble.
Vs Katana Samurai = 5XP, MI, SFR
Vs Katana Ronin = 0XP, MI, SFR *Low Unit Size makes them Vulnerable.
Vs No-Dachi Samurai = 8XP, MI, SFR *Very difficult foe, their "BANZAI" makes them super powerful.
Vs Seigen's Swordmasters = 0XP, SFR
Vs Takakatsu's Tetsubo Warriors = 0XP, SFR
Vs Katana Hero = 0XP, SFR
Average Experience (Excluding Heroes) = 4.2 Round Down = 4

Bow Infantry:
*Note: When the AI realises that it can no longer win the skirmish, they will charge you.
Vs Hottori Bandits = 2XP, AFR
Vs Bow Ashigaru = 0-2XP, AFR *No Fire Arrows = 0XP, With = 1-2XP
Vs Bow Samurai = 2-3XP, MI, AFR *No Fire Arrows = 2XP, with = 3XP.
Vs Bow Ronin = 3XP, MI, AFR *High reload skill makes up for their lower numbers.
Vs Chosokabe Daikyu Samurai = 2XP, MI, AFR *They will charge you rather than to shoot.
Vs Bow Warrior Monk = 5-9XP, MI, AFR No Reliable Data
(They could win against you with ease, if they kept skirmishing, however if your XP is 5 or higher, they will decide it is a better idea to charge you, which results in their death. If your lower than 5XP, they just skirmish you to death, so the safe option is to have 7 or higher XP in order to win, and your Matchlock Ashigaru is still cheaper than the Bow Warrior Monk.)
Vs Bow Hero = 0XP, AFR *They just charge you, they don't fire a single shot.
Average Experience (Bow Warrior Monk = 7 & Excluding Heroes) = 3.16 Round Down = 3

Firearm Units:
Vs Matchlock Ashigaru = 1XP, AFR
Vs Matchlock Samurai = 5XP, AFR *They use "Rapid Fire" only when they charge, silly AI...
Vs Ikko Ikki Matchlock Warrior Monks = 3XP, AFR *Does not take advantage of "Increased Range".
Vs Portuguese Tercos = 6XP, AFR *They do not take advantage of "Rapid Fire".
Vs Tokitaka's Tanegashima = 0XP, AFR *Does not shot, charges, Heroic Victory.
Vs Shimazu Heavy Gunners = 1XP, FF *Must use free fire with wide stretched ranks to win.
Average Experience = 2.6 Round Up = 3

Cavalry:
*Important Notes:

• Always use Free Fire & Wide Ranks vs Cav, Attacking & Stationary Fire by Rank are too slow.
  
• 9/10 times you will get charged, and when you are charged, your units will rotate their formation.
  
• Always have Guard Mode on, if they opt to cycle charge, you will shoot them while they pull back.
  
• Attacking gives your matchlocks better tracking than just leaving them stationary!

Vs Common General = 0XP, MI, FF
Vs Light Cavalry = 0XP, MI, FF
Vs Bow Cavalry = 1XP, MI, FF *They do not retreat to out range you, you can use AFR safely.
Vs Katana Cavalry = 3XP, MI, FF
Vs Donderbuss Cavalry = 4XP, MI, FF *Won't Fire, will instead charge you.
Vs Naginata Warrior Monk Cavalry = 4XP, MI, FF
Vs Tokugawa Mounted Gunners = 0XP, FF *Will shot at you, but won't retreat to reload.
Vs Yari Cavalry = 3XP, MI, FF
Vs Takeda Fire Cavalry = 3XP, MI, FF
Vs Great Guard = 9XP, MI, FF *These guys are a nightmare, its not worth fighting them.
Vs Yoritomo's Yabusame Cavalry = 0XP, MI, FF *They will fire a single volley and then charge you.
Vs Kiyosama's Katana Cavalry = 0XP, MI, FF
Vs The Spears of Shizugatake = 0XP, MI, FF
Average Experience (Excluding Heroes) = 2.7 Round Up = 3

Stealth and Siege Units:
Vs Fire Bomb Throwers = 0XP, AFR
Vs Kisho Ninjas = 0XP, AFR
Vs Fire Projecting Mangonels =0XP, FF *Used wide Ranks, no need for volley fire here.
Vs European Cannons = 0XP, FF
Vs Hanzo's Shadows = 0XP, AFR *Heroic Victory
Vs Fire Rockets = 0XP, FF *Use FF and Wide Ranks to deal damage fast, & to limit your casualties.
Vs Hojo Hand Mortars = 0XP, FF *Likewise vs the Fire Rockets, FF & Wide ranks.
Average Experience = 0

Combined Total Average Experience
(Bow Warrior Monk = 7, Excluding Date Bulletproof Samurai, Heroes & Stealth and Siege Units)
= 3.027

Conclusion:
3 Experience is sufficient against most Yari, Bow and Cavalry Units.
5 Experience is optimal against most Samurai and Sword Units.
Heroes, Stealth and Siege Units stand no chance.
The Date's Bulletproof Samurai's Amour actually works.
Oda Long Spears and the Rapid Advance Ability means you must use Attacking Fire By Rank.
Warrior Monks are really fast at charging, meaning Attacking Fire By Rank is advised.
Matchlocks can take on Cavalry pretty well.

*I am aware that I may have missed some units and did not include all clan specific unit versions, for example Takeda Yari Cavalry or Chosokabe Bow Samurai etc.

Testing Results (Shot Version + Link for Full Report)

Here I will list a short verion of my results during testing.
For the Full Report, click on this dropbox link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/stb59rurx2vabe6/Matchlocks.txt?dl=0 (Link is dead and I can't seem to find the original file anymore, but your not missing much, its mostly the same as the summery listed below.)
*There are probably countless spelling errors in the report, but I am too lazy to fix them.

Reload Skill Stats

Fourth Volly Required Reload Skill = 37+
Rapid Volly Ability Reload Skill Boost = +15 Reload Skill

Ikko Ikki Ashigaru Matchlock's Base = 5
Ikko Ikki Ashigaru Matchlock's Maxed= 23

Ashigaru Matchlock's = 10
Ashigaru Matchlock's Maxed = 28
Samurai Matchlock's Base = 20
Samurai Matchlock's Maxed = 38

Otomo Ashigaru Matchlock's Base = 15
Otomo AshigaruMatchlock's Maxed= 33
Otomo Samurai Matchlock's Base =25
Otomo Samurai Matchlock's Maxed = 43 (+6 Experience Required for 37 Reload Skill)
Otomo Portuguese Tercos Base 35 (+1 Experience = 37 Reload Skill)
Otomo Portuguese Tercos Maxed= 53

Battle Tests Results:

Test A 3 Equal Rows with Ranked Fire
Setup:
3 Rows (All rows equal at length), Ranked Fire, Guard Mode
(No Attack Order has been issued, Units fires when enemy comes into Line of Fire.)
Condition of Troops = Fresh

Result 1:

• 103 Kills, 121 Deaths, Battle Lost
  
• 10.4 seconds for first Volly (countdown begins when Batte drums are heard), +7.9 for second, +4.4 for third.

Result 2:

• 110 Kills, 111 Deaths, Battle Lost
  
• 10.5 seconds for first volly, 5.9 for second, 5.8 for third.

Result 3:

• 128 Kills, 112 Deaths, Battle Lost (Enemy Broken though)
  
• 10.8 seconds for first Volly, +5.2 for second, +6.4 for third.

Averages:

• 113 Kills
  
• 10.56 seconds for first volly
  
• 6.33 seconds for second volly
  
• 5.53 seconds for thrid volly

Test B Three Rows with Maximum Lenght
Setup:
3 Rows (Max steched, third rank shorter), Ranked Fire, Guard Mode
(No Attack Order has been issued, Units fires when enemy comes into Line of Fire.)
Condition of Troops = Fresh

Result 1:

• 103 Kills, 188 Deaths, Battle Lost
  
• 9.7 seconds for first volly, +5.9 for second, +6.6 for third.

Result 2:

• 94 Kills, 106 Deaths, Battle Lost
  
• 10.9 seconds for first volly, +6 for second, +6.5 for thrid.

Result 3:

• 106 Kills, 119 Deaths, Battle Lost
  
• 9.6 seconds for first Volly, +6.2 for second, +7.2 for third.

Averages:

• 101 Kills
  
• 10.06 seconds for first volly
  
• 6.03 seconds for second volly
  
• 6.76 seconds for third volly

Test C Free Fire
Important Note: Without Ranked Fire, only the first row can really fire, so like in Test B, I will use maximum row length for maximum fire power, ignoring equal row lengths, and having no more than 3 rows (minimum amount of rows.)
Setup:
3 Rows (Max steched, third rank shorter), Free Fire/NO Ranked Fire, Guard Mode
(No Attack Order has been issued, Units fires when enemy comes into Line of Fire.)
Condition of Troops = Fresh

Result 1:

• 81 Kills, 109 Deaths, Battle Lost
  
• 2.3 Seconds for first Volly, +24.5 seconds for reload and getting in another volly.

Result 2:

• 85 Kills, 99 Deaths, Battle Lost
  
• 1.2 seconds for first Volly, +24.8 seconds for reload and getting in another volly.

Result 3:

• 84 Kills, 103 Deaths, Battle Lost
  
• 1.2 seconds for firs Volly, +24.9 seconds for reload and getting in another volly.

Averages:

• 83.33 Kills
  
• 1.56 seconds for first shots after drum is heard.
  
• 24.73 seconds for reload and second volly.

Test D Three Equal Lenght Rows Ranked Fire While Attacking
Setup:
3 Rows (All rows equal at length), Ranked Fire, Guard Mode
(Rushing the Enemy by double right clicking on them)
Condition of Troops = Fresh

Result 1:

• 143 Kills, 93 Deaths, Battle Won
  
• 5.6 Seconds for first Volly (Countdown began when enemy units where within range, in the red line), +3.9 for second, +3.6 for third, +14.1 for reload and getting in another volly.

Result 2:

• 128 Kills, 119 Deaths, Battle Lost (Draw)
  
• Even though the battle was lost, the enemy was shattered, so technically a draw, but our Troops Shattered first.
  
• 4.5 seconds for first Volly, +3.3 for second, +3.8 for third, +14.6 for first row to have reloaded again and fired off another volly.

Result 3:

• 120 Kills, 101 Deaths, Battle Lost
  
• 5.7 seconds for first Volly, +4.2 for second, +4.6 for third, + 14.2 for first row to have reloaded again and fired off another volly.

Averages:

• 130.33 Kills
  
• 5.26 seconds for first Volly
  
• 3.8 seconds for second Volly
  
• 4 seconds for third Volly
  
• 14.3 seconds for fouth first rank reloaded Volly

Test E Three Equal Lenght Rows Ranked Fire While Attacking Without Guard Mode

Result 1:

• 133 Kills, 45 Deaths, Battle Won
  
• The firing times are indentical to Test D, so I won't list it.

Result 2:

• 106 Kills, 125 Deaths, Battle Lost

Result 3:

• 136 Kills, 42 Deaths, Battle Won

Averages:

• 125 Kills
  
• While not as consistant as Test E, Units can win more often in Test D.

Test F Disabling Ranked Fire During Melee

Result 1:

• 149 Kills, 92 Deaths, Battle Won

Result 2:

• 112 Kills, 112 Deaths, Battle Lost

Result 3:

• 119 Kills, 98 Deaths, Battle Lost

Averages:

• 126.66 Kills

Test G Three Equal Lenght Rows Ranked Fire While Attacking Without Guard Mode and Toggling Melee during Melee

Result 1:

• 113 Kills, 122 Deaths, Battle Lost

Result 2:

• 127 Kills, 110 Deaths, Battle Lost

Result 3:

• 149 Kills, 31 Deaths, Battle Won

Result 4:

• 135 Kills, 32 Deaths, Battle Won

Result 5:

• 102 Kills, 113 deaths, Battle Lost

Result 6:

• 120 Kills, 113 Deaths, Battle Lost

Average:

• 124.33 Kills

Test H Timed Ranked Fire

Result 1:

• 128 Kills, 43 Deaths, Battle Won

Result 2:

• 129 Kills, 107 Deaths, Battle Lost (Draw)

Result 3:

• 99 Kills, 102 Deaths, Battle Lost

Average:

• 118.66 Kills

Final Words

This was my first written Guide, I hope it proved helpful and shed some light on the Fire by Rank Vs Non-Fire by Rank modes clearing up some of the confusion surounding it.

If you find any spelling mistakes, I don't mind those being pointed out so I can fix them as I am not natively from a English speaking country. (I won't bother fixing the full testing report though, which is in the dropbox link)










I would also be greatful for any feedback or information and or discoveries you may have found on Matchlocks that you are willing to share.
Feel free to share and I would appriciate if you could rate so others may find this guide as well.











Thank you for taking your time and giving this guide a read.

Happy Hunting!

[Flightless]

Meanwhile the matchlocks in FOTS with similiar stats to Vanilla fire almost immediately.

[Ajax28542]

Reading this guide makes me want to give matchlocks another try. Fun read

[aethel27]

Ty to both XallZall for the wonderful guide and Qirn for the extra info!

[MightyPantsu]

Incredibly comprehensive guide to such a specific topic.
Was very fun to read, thanks a lot for the effort :D

[KingOfHearts454]

Man this was cool, it was a bit like reading a real military combat assessment report. I'm a bit dubious on the use of the matchlocks, the timing and micro requiered to make it effective is tough but I'm going to give the line infantry strategy a try along with Superior Morale Oda Ashigaru and full armor Oda Ashigaru. Wish me luck!

[Dr.Siberian]

Bible of the Otomo Clan

[XallZall]

@Qirn
No need to apologies, it is really up to you ultimately if you want to make videos or not.
As for my name, yeah its something like that :)

[Qirn]

How do you pronounce your name, by the way? Is it "zahl-zahl"?

[Qirn]

Ya, sorry it's taken so long. Both my interest and time availability to dedicate to Shogun 2 and youtube waxes and wanes over the years, but I never really do set it down forever. I happen to be in a waxing part right now, and doing a bunch of other related testing for an overhaul mod I'm working on.

[XallZall]

And hey @Novitrix nice to see you again, you have been here since the very humble beginnings of this guide, looks like there is yet more for us to learn and discover :D