Welcome to another developer diary for Sengoku. Todays subject will be rebels. And not just any rebels but...
"Ikko-ikki were mobs of peasant farmers, Buddhist monks, Shinto priests and local nobles, who rose up against samurai rule in 15th to 16th century Japan. 1488 brought the first major organized uprising, when they overthrew the samurai rulers of Kaga Province, and took control of it for themselves. This represented the first time in Japanese history that a group of commoners ruled a province.
Towards the end of the 16th century, however, their growing numbers and strength caught the attention and concern of the great samurai leaders of the time. Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the Ikko-ikki of Mikawa in the Battle of Azukizaka in 1564...
...and the stronghold Hongan-ji came under siege from the forces of Oda Nobunaga in 1576, but managed to hold out for eleven years, making this the longest siege in Japanese history. At the time of the surrender, the entire temple complex was set aflame. According to some sources, this was done from within, to deny Nobunaga any true material gains from having defeated the Ikko-ikki."
So how then is all of this represented within the game Sengoku? After 1480 Ikko-ikki revolts may happen in in provinces with high revolt risk or that belongs to rulers who are at war or have very low honor. Unlike normal rebels the Ikko-ikki will spawn in much greater number and be a bit harder to beat in battle. But what really sets them apart is what happens if they manage to siege down and take control over a kori (province). The Ikko-ikki might decide to make the kori a stronghold, which means that they will build up the infrastructure, especially the castle, making it much harder to recapture from them. And if you think that this will be a handy way to improve one of your koris before taking it back, forget it. Because just like Nobunaga, you will see all their improvements go up in flames when you defeat them...
A stronghold will also start to add more troops over time, which means the longer you wait to deal with them, the stronger they will get. The Ikko-ikkis establishing a stronghold also means trouble for neighboring koris, as the Stronghold will try to spread its influence and take political control over the whole kuni (a number of provinces under a daimyo title) by spawning new rebellions around them. So before you laugh too hard about your annoying neighbor getting a visit from 15,000 angry Ikko-ikki rebels, make sure you don't owe any kori in the same kuni... And to make things worse, once western influence has spread to a kori controlled by the Ikko-ikki they will build gun manufactories and start to arm themselves with arquebuses...
There is no formal requirement to beat down these Ikko-ikki risings to be able to claim the Shogun title, but personally I wouldn't be able to call myself Shogun with pride unless this rebel scum has been dealt with!
This is the last developer diary for Sengoku as the game is released now on Tuesday the 13th. I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as we have enjoyed writing them. Stay tuned though as we might do some shorter feature-of-the-day posts in the coming days.
Ikko-ikki
"Ikko-ikki were mobs of peasant farmers, Buddhist monks, Shinto priests and local nobles, who rose up against samurai rule in 15th to 16th century Japan. 1488 brought the first major organized uprising, when they overthrew the samurai rulers of Kaga Province, and took control of it for themselves. This represented the first time in Japanese history that a group of commoners ruled a province.
Towards the end of the 16th century, however, their growing numbers and strength caught the attention and concern of the great samurai leaders of the time. Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the Ikko-ikki of Mikawa in the Battle of Azukizaka in 1564...
...and the stronghold Hongan-ji came under siege from the forces of Oda Nobunaga in 1576, but managed to hold out for eleven years, making this the longest siege in Japanese history. At the time of the surrender, the entire temple complex was set aflame. According to some sources, this was done from within, to deny Nobunaga any true material gains from having defeated the Ikko-ikki."
From the Wikipedia article on Ikko-ikki.
So how then is all of this represented within the game Sengoku? After 1480 Ikko-ikki revolts may happen in in provinces with high revolt risk or that belongs to rulers who are at war or have very low honor. Unlike normal rebels the Ikko-ikki will spawn in much greater number and be a bit harder to beat in battle. But what really sets them apart is what happens if they manage to siege down and take control over a kori (province). The Ikko-ikki might decide to make the kori a stronghold, which means that they will build up the infrastructure, especially the castle, making it much harder to recapture from them. And if you think that this will be a handy way to improve one of your koris before taking it back, forget it. Because just like Nobunaga, you will see all their improvements go up in flames when you defeat them...
A stronghold will also start to add more troops over time, which means the longer you wait to deal with them, the stronger they will get. The Ikko-ikkis establishing a stronghold also means trouble for neighboring koris, as the Stronghold will try to spread its influence and take political control over the whole kuni (a number of provinces under a daimyo title) by spawning new rebellions around them. So before you laugh too hard about your annoying neighbor getting a visit from 15,000 angry Ikko-ikki rebels, make sure you don't owe any kori in the same kuni... And to make things worse, once western influence has spread to a kori controlled by the Ikko-ikki they will build gun manufactories and start to arm themselves with arquebuses...
There is no formal requirement to beat down these Ikko-ikki risings to be able to claim the Shogun title, but personally I wouldn't be able to call myself Shogun with pride unless this rebel scum has been dealt with!
This is the last developer diary for Sengoku as the game is released now on Tuesday the 13th. I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as we have enjoyed writing them. Stay tuned though as we might do some shorter feature-of-the-day posts in the coming days.