Total War Shogun 2 Best Strategy

[Catrin Muzquiz]

1830 hours. Roughly 115 days with sleep. An ungodly amount of time to dedicate to any one game, especially one that is a decade old and has countless follow-ups. But in my mind Shogun 2: Total War is unrivalled. A perfect mixture of fascinating mechanics, beautiful combat and engrossing historical realism makes it a game I literally cannot stop playing.

Without delving too much into the technicality of it all, the game came with an improved Warscape engine that made for almost beautiful combat between warriors. It means the clashing of two units amounts to thousands of engrossing one vs one duels that are amazing to watch.

In a series used to brutal warfare, capturing that fluidity of classic samurai combat is a massive test which the developers passed admirably. More than just making the combat better though, these fluid duels embody the ideal of Japanese samurai and bushidō. Put simply, it perfectly captures a somewhat romantic ideal of what it was like in feudal Japan.

It added a patchwork diplomacy system, where you find yourself making agreements with countless minor factions in a more transparent and understandable way than in either Empire or Napoleon: Total War. Its economy, too, involves enough complexity to remain interesting but strips away the more superfluous parts of the previous games.

I love Napoleon: Total War, Empire: Total War and the rest of the modern history entrants as much as the next guy, but they never properly functioned. I would lose count of the number of battles where immaculate lines of high-quality riflemen would just decide against firing their guns for reasons beyond mortal comprehension. The bugs were endless.

But the standalone Fall of Samurai expansion is another matter. Not only are gun units actively more deadly than in Napoleon or Empire, but their functioning diversity allows you to build up a much more complex strategy around how you position and use different gun units. The campaign depicts a culture clash and pits modernity against tradition. As a result, the units are massively diverse.

That means you find yourself having to plan your armies and battle strategy prepared to confront not just other riflemen in stale shooting matches, but hordes of angry samurai. Or even bowmen that have longer range than riflemen, which can pepper your army from just out of reach.

Fall of the Samurai could have been its own game and it would still be one of the better entries in the entire Total War canon. A mixture of complex battles, a genuinely hard-to-master strategic campaign, a swathe of new units, complex fighting, a strong theme and powerful historical narrative really puts Fall of Samurai into its own.

Add to that its series of historical battles that follow the story of legendary warrior Saigo Takamori (the actual last ever samurai warlord). They are both genuinely challenging while their interweaving historical narrative makes them a highlight of the game rather than an ignored extra.

And that brings me to maybe the best thing about Shogun 2 and its expansions: its sheer futility. You can spend the entire game building alliances, vassals, trade networks and a stable economy, only for it all to disappear. Capture enough territory and you enter the Realm Divide phase, where every other faction immediately declares war on you. War is inescapable.

Generals can be the most important units in your army. Outside of their very presence providing a stat boost to your units, they have access to special skills that can be a saving grace in the heat of battle. For instance, say one of your units is low on morale. They're at their breaking point and ready to run away. If you have a general with you, you can use their inspire ability to boost their morale and keep them in the fight. These abilities and the various stat boosts a general provides can be upgraded as they gain more experience in battle. Generals can also be proficient fighters if the need should arise. Usually mounted on horseback, they can attack in the much the same fashion as cavalry.

They also share many of the same weaknesses though. Do not send them into battle against spear infantry, and be forewarned. There is always a possibility that a general could be killed if sent into battle. The entire unit doesn't need to be destroyed either. If they die, you lose all their knowledge, skills and stat boosts.

You will have access to spear units from the word go, and throughout the course of the game they'll serve one of the sturdiest foundations for your armies. Spear units come with some fairly clean cut strengths and weaknesses. Any time you're on the defensive they're a necessity. A tightly knit wall of spearmen will halt an enemy charge and render cavalry all but useless. Their defensive role is accentuated by the "spear wall" ability which packs them into a super tight wall of spears.

Spear units are not without their weaknesses. While they are superior defenders, their offensive capabilities are fairly average. They are weak to sword troops, and while their defensive skills will hold off most melee attackers, they are as susceptible to arrow fire as anything else. It's also important to note that there are different types of spear units, with varying strengths and weaknesses. A Yari Samarai (yari meaning spear) for instance, can hold its own better in close combat as compared to more standard units like the Yari Ashigaru.

Whereas spearman are best used on the defense, the strength of sword units lies in their offensive capabilities. The point of a spear formation is to hold your foe off, keep them battering uselessly against a wall of spears. Sword units work by fighting there way into and breaking up formations

The best way in our opinion to employ sword troops is to trick your enemies into committing against a defensive unit (spears!) and then hitting them from behind with a sword attack. Pull that off and watch the enemy units crumble.

Sword units in general are strong against spear units. Again, there is some variance from unit to unit. A Yari Samurai for instance will be able to hold its own fairly well against your basic Katana Ashigaru. That said, if your enemy has a strong spear line. Get your sword troops in there to counter. Where their weaknesses lie is in fighting cavalry and archer units. While a sword unit can hold its own against cavalry in a protracted battle, they are vulnerable to cavalry charges. If you enemy employs hit and run tactics they may be able to whittle your sword troops down. In the case of arches, while sword troops will decimate them up close they have no defense against them at range. As such it's best not to assault archer units unless you have a distinct numerical advantage.

Units falling under the heavy infantry class are useful do their multi-role combat capabilities. While not predominantly powerful in either defense or offense, they can do both effectively. In turn they are useful as foundation units to help keep your army in the game should you find yourself facing a foe that has you outclassed in terms of a certain type of unit.

Their failing of is that while being generally good fighters they tend not to excel at anything in particular. They might be able to hold their own against a sword unit, but they'll never be as good as one. They might be able to stop a cavalry charge, but a dedicated spear unit would do better. This shortcoming doesn't belittle their usefulness though, and any army should have at least a few heavy infantry units in its ranks.

Archers in many ways are the weakest units in the game. Unskilled in melee combat, they'll be routed by just about any concentrated melee attack. Moreover, they are horribly vulnerable to cavalry. That said, they have the distinct advantage of a ranged attack , a skill that often makes them the deadliest and most valuable units in any army. A large force of archers protected by a strong a defensive line can decimate an opposing force and often turn the tide in an uneven battle.

For all the usefulness of archers however, it has to reiterated just how fragile they really are. Even when put into melee mode archers, no matter what kind, will almost always lose when attacked. They should always be in running distance of your defensive line and you should always leave a unit or two in reserve to intercept any enemies trying to rout your firing line.

In addition to archers, you'll also gain access to rifle man, aka matchlock infantry. Armed with primitive muskets, these ranged fighters have some advantages over archers. Most basically, their guns pack a bigger punch than an archers arrows. Moreover, where archers fire at an arc and can sometimes have trouble hitting moving targets, rifle units fire in a straight line. Concentrated musket fire can outright destroy an advancing army.

Their firepower comes with some downsides though. They're more expensive to produce than archers, and their attacks come more slowly. In the time that it takes a rifle unit to reload after firing, your archers will be able to fire multiple times. They also carry many of the same weaknesses as their bow and arrow counterparts. At range there's no soldier deadlier, but up close rifleman are at the mercy of your average spear and sword unit. Cavalry is similarly devastating.

Infantry units are generally slower than dirt. Even sprinting, they'll crawl across the map and possess the overall maneuverability. Warriors mounted on horses, cavalry are some of the most valuable units in the game largely because they are fast moving. A cavalry unit can travel the same distance as an infantry formation in a mere fraction of the time, making them useful as quick reinforcements and for making split second changed to your battle strategy. Their charges are devastating to ground units; knocking most infantry off their feet and often causing instant death to at least a portion of the soldiers in their path. Archery units in particular are vulnerable to cavalry. If you find an enemy archery unit exposed, run it down immediately and watch the massacre ensue.

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