SHOGUN: TOTAL WAR WARLORD EDITION UNITS FAQ 6/16/02 Version 1.0 By Megat Saiful. Email: Light_of_hope@hotmail.com Copyright 2002 Megat Saiful Copyright Notice: I've worked hard for this FAQ, so I'm not just going to let other people rip it off. Under no circumstances shall this document be circulated around without my permission. Currently, I have this FAQ posted only on www.GameFAQs.com. Should you be interested in posting it on your site, please contact me. As long as you don't claim it as your own, there won't be a problem. Shogun Total War and the Total War logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Dreamtime Interactive Pty Ltd. ===================================================================== Table of Contents: 1.Introduction. a)Update notes 2.The Japanese Army: Foot soldiers: -Yari Ashigaru -Yari Samurai -Samurai Archers -No-Dachi Samurai -Warrior Monks -Naginata -Arquebusiers -Musketeers -Kensai -Battlefield Ninja -Ashigaru Crossbowmen (Mongol Campaign only) Cavalry units: -Yari Cavalry -Cavalry Archer -Naginata Cavalry -Heavy Cavalry Diplomacy/Espionage units: -Ninja -Shinobi -Emissary -Priest (Christian Daimyo only) -Legendary Geisha 3.About the Mongol Campaign. 4.The Mongols Army: Foot soldiers: -Korean Spearmen -Korean Guardsmen -Korean Skirmishers -Thunder Bombers Cavalry units: -Light Cavalry -Heavy Cavalry 5.Frequently Asked Questions 6.Author's Note. 7.Credits. ===================================================================== INTRODUCTION You're Daimyo, a warlord during the feudal age of Japan. Your ultimate goal is to conquer all of Japan and unite it under one rule, and the ruler shall be you. You have many samurai at your disposal, ready to die for you. With them, you will lead your clan to victory, and become the Shogun! Shogun: Total War (S:TW for short) is a very innovative game. Different from other strategy games, S:TW is very realistic and you virtually need to think like a real military commander. Careful management of every aspect, be it economy, diplomacy or military, is crucial. In this FAQ, I will mostly talk about the military part, and the specifics of the units. A)Update Notes: 6/16/02: Finished this guide and submitted it. 5/7/04: I'm SO sorry for the time I took to update this FAQ. But really, there's not much to add anyway. And there's hardly contributions to point out any misinformation/mistakes in this thing. By all means, please don't hesitate to tell me how I can improve this guide. :( ===================================================================== NOTE: -A clan specializing in a certain unit will pay 25% less than that unit's usual price. -I play the game with the unit size of 60,so I only need one season to train a group of units. Every unit that is mentioned in this FAQ is trained within one season, unless stated otherwise. The price of koku might also differ. And Dan Lebreck emailed me an interesting point: "I noticed that if you set your default unit size to 80, they cost a bit more. But they take 1 season to train, like a default unit setting of 60. 100+ unit setting will take 2 turns to train." -The province of Yamashiro provides +1 honor for ALL units being trained there. With that said, I won't include it in every unit's specifics. ===================================================================== THE JAPANESE ARMY (foot soldiers) Yari Ashigaru Cost: 100 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Oda. Production building: Spear dojo. Provinces with honor bonus: Tosa, Owari. Comment: The cheapest foot soldier of all. They are weak, both on the offensive and the defensive, and their morale is terribly low. Their usefulness wears out after several years, when stronger units are being used. Unless you give them maximum upgrades and train them in the provinces that provide them with +1 honor, you're better off with the yari samurai instead. Yari Samurai Cost: 200 koku Clan that specializes in them: - Production building: Spear dojo. Provinces with honor bonus: - Comment: Stronger than the yari ashigaru, the yari samurai will be a large part of your army due to their versatility. They are extremely effective when used against cavalry units. Then again, they are still quite good when going against other type of troops. Mix a few groups of them with samurai archers and you have an army decent enough to guard a province. Still, you will need to have good commanding skills when your yari samurais face stronger units such as the warrior monks. Samurai Archers Cost: 300 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Uesugi. Production building: Archery dojo. Provinces with honor bonus: Totomi. Comment: These guys will be your main ranged units. They serve as support fire when mixed with melee troops. They are a vital component for a balanced army. Remember that they must ALWAYS be protected, considering the fact that melee combat is not their specialty. Watch out for yari cavalries, since they can devastate your samurai archers if you're not careful. No-Dachi Samurai Cost: 300 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Shimazu. Production building: Sword dojo (Appears only after legendary swordsman event). Provinces with honor bonus: Satsuma. Comment: Very lethal, the No-Dachi samurai units are best used on the offensive, considering the fact that their attack rating is quite high. However, they are lightly armored, and can fall prey to archers. If possible, try to train them in provinces that have the armory so that it is harder for them to get killed. Warrior Monks Cost: 500 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Mori. Production building: Buddhist Temple. Provinces with honor bonus: Kii, Kaga. Comment: Arguably the most powerful foot soldier in the game, next to the kensai. The warrior monks' attack rating is very high. Additionally, they carry with them portable shrines. This somewhat lowers the morale of enemy troops when they engage the warrior monks. However, the shrines do not affect the troops of a Christian Daimyo. Regardless, these fanatical soldiers are to be feared at all times. If your economy is stable, have at least ONE province concentrate on training these units. They're definitely worth it. Naginata Cost: 400 koku. Clan that specializes in them: - Production building: Famous spear dojo, with armory. Provinces with honor bonus: - Comment: Heavily armored and thus having high defense rating, the naginata should be used defensively. Put them in front of your archers to protect them, or make them bear the brunt of an enemy charge so that your other melee units can engage the enemy with fewer casualties. Avoid having them march for a long distance, as this will cause them to get tired easily. Bad weather such as heavy snow or rain can also have adverse effects on the naginata. Arquebusiers Cost: 100 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Oda. Production building: Dutch/Portuguese trading post. Provinces with honor bonus: Tosa, Owari. Comment: The basic gunpowder unit. I don't really like to use them, seeing as how they reload slowly and can hardly kill a decent number of enemy troops. They need to be protected, as they are lightly armored, and can easily be killed if enemy melee units get to engage them. Furthermore, they are just conscripted peasants like the yari ashigaru. That means that they can easily flee when things aren't half as awry as they might think. Note: Unlike musketeers, the arquebusiers CANNOT use their weapons while it is raining. Musketeers Cost: 175 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Oda. Production building: Dutch trading post (They will appear as the game progresses), Portuguese trading post (You will need to build the cathedral). Provinces with honor bonus: Tosa, Owari. Comment: An upgraded version of the arquebusiers, these guys are supposed to be stronger and better trained. Personally, I still don't think they are worth the koku spent on them. Give me samurai/cavalry archers any day and I won't even care to build these musket-carrying peasants. Kensai Time needed to train: 4 seasons. Cost: 600 koku. Clan that specializes in them: - Production building: Legendary Sword Dojo. Provinces with honor bonus: - Comment: The kensai is aptly named "The sword saint". This unit's mastery of the sword is AMAZING. They can easily engage one whole group of enemy troops all by themselves. Yes, I'm talking about one kensai going against AT LEAST 60 melee units. Give them maximum upgrades, and you'll have one heck of a killing machine. But be warned! Do NOT allow enemy archers to fire upon them continuously, or you'll find your 600 koku wasted down the drain because the kensai died before he could engage the enemy. Battlefield Ninja Time needed to train: 4 seasons. Cost: 600 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Imagawa. Production building: Battlefield Ninja dojo. Provinces with honor bonus: Iga. Comment: The battlefield ninja can be classified as "Special Forces". They're experts in the arts of stealth, virtually invisible even in open space, and thus it is really hard to engage them on the battlefield unless they are really close. Their shurikens are extremely deadly, and they can eliminate key units like the Daimyo or the leading general with relative ease. Be on full alert and protect your Daimyo/general if you ever see a small group of units that somehow disappear from one spot and later appear a short distance away. Those are the battlefield ninja, and you'll never know when they might sneak up on you. Dan Lebreck suggested a strategy for these trained battlefield assassins: "I also noticed that you can take the battle field ninja unit you can make them run up to a castle and take out the front unit guarding the castle. you will take 0 casualties if their is one unit in the castle. You will probably take more if they have a group of archers. The ninjas are not that stealthy if they have to walk up a hill. It would be a good idea to have a group of Calvary archers go up to the castle wall and kill the samurai archers before you have your ninja unit invade." Ashigaru Crossbowmen (Mongol Campaign only) Cost: 100 koku. Clan that specializes in them: - Production building: Archery dojo. Provinces with honor bonus: Tosa, Owari. Comment: These ashigaru troops carry simple crossbows that can take out almost anything that they hit. The ashigaru crossbowmen are supposedly the replacement for the warrior monks, which are not present in the Mongol Campaign. Unfortunately, like other ashigaru units, they have their considerable share of weaknesses. The crossbows they use are rather damaging. But due to the slow firing rate, their stopping power is somewhat limited. Their morale level is not exactly desirable either. I highly suggest that you train them in their bonus provinces, along with maximum upgrades. Not much of a replacement, huh? ===================================================================== THE JAPANESE ARMY (Cavalry units) Yari Cavalry Cost: 500 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Takeda. Production building: Horse dojo, with spear dojo. Provinces with honor bonus: Shinano. Comment: The yari cavalries are extremely fast and can be said to be "lightning raid" units. Lightly armored and armed with spears, they are best suited to kill those pesky samurai/cavalry archers. They are somewhat effective against other cavalry units too. Also, you can use them to hunt down those fleeing enemy troops, due to their speed. Other than these, it is not advisable to use them in frontal assaults against other units, such as the yari samurai. Cavalry Archer Cost: 500 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Takeda. Production building: Horse dojo, with archery dojo. Provinces with honor bonus: Shinano. Comment: These mounted archers are stronger and have a longer range of fire than the samurai archers. Additionally, they have more speed and thus can outrun most foot soldiers that try to catch up with them. If you have the koku, train them instead of training the samurai archers. Beware of the yari cavalry though, since they can easily rout your cavalry archers. Naginata Cavalry Cost: 450 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Takeda. Production building: Famous horse dojo, with spear dojo. Provinces with honor bonus: Shinano. Comment: These are the cavalry version for the naginata infantry. Their weapons are stronger than that of the heavy cavalry's. However, they are slower, and have less armor. I don't really recommend you to train them, considering the fact that the heavy cavalry is better all-around, and the latter will only cost you an extra 150 koku. But if you're really short on koku, and you need a cheaper substitute for the heavy cavalry, then they are your answer. Heavy Cavalry Cost: 600 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Takeda. Production building: Famous horse dojo with armory. Provinces with honor bonus: Shinano. Comment: The deadliest of the deadly, the heavy cavalry units are your elite troopers. They have strong weaponry and heavy armors. Hardly anything on the battlefield can stand up against them, with the exception of yari units and the musketeers, and even these two will need a good commander to be of a threat against the heavy cavalry. Train them whenever you have the chance and koku. They will be an extremely valuable addition to your army. ===================================================================== THE JAPANESE ARMY (Diplomacy/Espionage units) In every war, not only soldiers on the battlefield are needed. Intelligence gathering must be done, so that valuable information can be yours to use against your rival Daimyo. And if a certain general becomes an undeniable threat to your cause, assassination can be the easiest way to get rid of him. Here in this section, I will elaborate about units needed for such operations Ninja Cost: 200 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Imagawa. Production building: Ninja house. Provinces with honor bonus: Iga. Comment: The ninja can be used in many ways. You can have them act as spies in enemy provinces. You can also have them counterspy in your own provinces, as to capture and kill enemy shinobi or ninja that are lurking somewhere. They are also capable of assassinating enemy generals. As for myself, I prefer to use them to unlock the gates of the enemy castles which I lay siege to. This will save precious time because huge castles like citadels can take years to fall. Ninjas are indeed versatile, but you will have to be somewhat careful in using them. If an assassination fails (which will be most likely to happen if the ninja has low honor), the enemy will kill that particular ninja. Also, avoid sending them to enemy provinces that have border forts, as they can be discovered and killed easily. Shinobi Cost: 100 koku. Clan that specializes in them: Imagawa. Production building: Teahouse. Provinces with honor bonus: Tajima. Comment: The shinobi is identical to the ninja, with several differences. First, they CANNOT assassinate generals or open castle gates for you. Second, they can instigate rebellions in enemy provinces. This is useful to keep your rival Daimyo occupied with such rebellions. Finally, they can raise the population loyalty in your own provinces. Thus, you can increase the tax rate without worrying about your people getting unruly. Emissary Cost: 100 koku. Clan that specializes in them: - Production building: Tranquil garden. Provinces with honor bonus: Kazusa. Comment: The emissary is your negotiator. Trained in the arts of diplomacy, he is the only unit that can make it possible for you to forge an alliance with another clan. In times of war, he can try to propose a cease-fire between you and a rival Daimyo. The emissary can also act as a spy in neighboring provinces or attempt to bribe an enemy general to join your side. There are certain things that you need to consider when sending your emissary to perform a mission. When you propose a cease-fire, it is possible that the enemy Daimyo will not only reject the proposal, but also might decapitate your emissary and send his head back to you as an insult. And remember that if it is easy for an enemy general to be bribed to join you, it will also be easy for him to betray you. Priest (Christian Daimyo only) Cost: 50 koku. Clan that specializes in them: - Production building: Church. Provinces with honor bonus: - Comment: Nothing much to talk about the priest, really. He's very similar to the emissary, with one main difference: If you send him to an enemy Daimyo who is ALSO a Christian, your priest won't be killed by him, even if the Daimyo rejects your proposal. Legendary Geisha Time needed to train: 8 seasons. Cost: 500 koku. Clan that specializes in them: - Production building: Geisha house. Provinces with honor bonus: - Comment: The legendary geisha is the ultimate spy and assassin. It will take quite some time for you to train her, but she's worth every single koku and season. She can still miss her target, but she will NOT be killed like the ninja. What makes her even better, from my experience, is that only another legendary geisha can kill her. Border forts can't stop her and ninjas who try to go after her tend to fail, unless their honor level is far higher than hers. I highly advise you to train at least ONE geisha if you have the opportunity. Update: It seems that a ninja CAN kill the geisha. Either by luck, or if the ninja has high honour. (Thanks to whoever emailed this to me. Sorry I lost your name because my previous hard disk was out of commission. Email me to be credited!) ===================================================================== About the Mongol Campaign This campaign takes place in the thirteenth century, when Kublai Khan attempted to invade Japan. He was almost successful in doing so, but a typhoon, named "The Divine Wind" by the Japanese defenders, destroyed his fleet before they could land on the soil of Japan. The Mongol Campaign is mostly how the invasion would've been, if the typhoon disaster did not happen and the Great Khan managed to get his forces to march on the Land of The Rising Sun. Here, in this section, I will talk about the powerful units of the ruthless conqueror. Note: I will NOT elaborate much about the Mongol units because most of them, except the thunder bombers and the Korean skirmishers, are similar to their Japanese counterpart. Furthermore, specifics like cost, clan specialization, production building and honor regions are not applicable for the Mongols, because you'll receive your troops from Kublai Khan every summer, provided that you've sent enough koku as a tribute to him each autumn. ===================================================================== THE MONGOLS ARMY (foot soldiers) Korean Spearmen Comment: These are the basic infantrymen for the Mongols. They are better than the yari ashigaru, but slightly weaker than yari samurai. Best used against cavalry. Korean Guardsmen Comment: The Mongols' answer for the Japanese naginata. They both seem to be equally strong, but perhaps the naginata troops are a bit better armored. Best used to bear the brunt of enemy charge, just like their counterpart. Korean Skirmishers Comment: They carry with them large shields and a limited supply of spears. It seems to me that they can withstand missile weapons like arrows quite well. They are supposed to be ranged units, but their firing range is shorter than that of an archer's. However, their spears seem to be rather damaging. I don't really use them, though. If you want to try them out, make sure they're protected at all times. Like archers, they're pretty much doomed if a group of melee units catch up with them. Thunder Bombers Comment: These guys are EXTREMELY dangerous, both to you and your enemy. They twirl a type of grenade in their hands and then throw them at their opponents. The resulting explosion can cause serious casualties. If you're not careful, you might even kill your own units with these explosives. Even worse, if one of them got killed while trying to twirl a grenade, that grenade of his will explode RIGHT AWAY, killing other thunder bombers, and possibly start a HUGE chain reaction of explosions. Handle them cautiously. They're risky to use indeed, but if you know how to command them properly, they can wreak serious havoc on your enemy. Be reminded that their grenades won't work while it is raining and thus they're useless during that time. ===================================================================== THE MONGOLS ARMY (Cavalry units) Light Cavalry Comment: Very impressive, to say the least. The light cavalry is MUCH better than its Japanese counterpart, the cavalry archer. They have a longer range of fire, and when they run out of arrows, they can act as melee units and engage enemy troops. Strong with both ranged and melee attacks, the light cavalry is definitely a unit of versatility. Heavy Cavalry Comment: I'm not exaggerating when I say that the Mongols' heavy cavalry is the strongest unit in the game. Even yari units seem to have problems dealing with these fearsome warriors. Have them charge with wedge formation and see how they slam against those Japanese troops and make the latter look like rag dolls being scattered around. Like the light cavalry, they are undeniably superior when compared to their Japanese counterpart. ===================================================================== Frequently Asked Questions Q: Which clan is the best? A: Ask any experienced player, and he'll tell you that no clan is "the best". It really does depend on your playing style. You like cavalry? Takeda is the way to go. Fond of archers? Let's pick Uesugi. However, some clans DO have several advantages at the beginning of a game. But usually, it is about their position or the provinces they first have. The Uesugi clan in the "Sengokou Jidai" period has an almost unfair advantage over other clans because they hold 3-4 rich provinces right away. ===================================================================== AUTHOR'S NOTE Well, I guess that's the end of my FAQ. It's my first effort, so I'm really sorry if it is not exactly satisfactory. If you can find mistakes or inaccuracies, please send me an email. My address can be found at the beginning of this FAQ. I'll answer your questions too, but DO read the FAQ thoroughly before asking me. And to the veterans of the game, please send me an email if you have great tips about the usage of S: TW units. It's a great game, but with the new concept and all, some might find it hard to adapt. Your help would be most appreciated. Yeah, credits will be given. Don't worry. ;) ===================================================================== CREDITS -Dreamtime Interactive for producing such a GREAT game. -CjayC for posting this FAQ. -Vets on the Shogun: Total War board on www.GameFAQs.com for helping me out when I was just a newbie. -Dan Lebreck, for the pointers about the Battlefield Ninja and unit production. -You, for reading this FAQ! Copyright 2002 Megat Saiful