• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Cybvep

Field Marshal
May 25, 2009
8.465
127
Hello!

This is my second AAR, the first one being the Black Crusaders in HOI3. As the game is new and there are few AARs around, I think of myself as a sort of pioneer =P I'm really enjoying it so far, as it's a challenging game if you are playing as a small or medium-sized clan. While it has some UI and balance issues, it's fully playable ATM, which is... unusual in case of PI's titles ;)

I will play as Clan Otomo. It will be a Gameplay AAR with interactive elements. From time to time, I will ask the readers to decide what to do next and, in a truly democratic fashion, the opinion of the majority will determinate the decision. I made some small changes in several game files and I will comment on them occasionally as the AAR progresses.

Naturally, comments and suggestions are much appreciated.

I hope that you will enjoy it :)
 
The first steps




Otomo is not a sizeable clan in western Japan - a thing we intend to change. Its leader is uninspirational in the sense that he has no strong points. He even has a weakness - namely, his martial attribute, which is important for warfare. However, he is also old and his son - Otomo Doronosuke - will surely make a better leader.

Chikashige's demesne is small and consists only of two kuni. He has several vassals and one of them even has more kuni than him, which will prove to have immense consequences in the near future.





Diplomacy is an important aspect of the game. If you make wrong decisions early on, you will quite surely be wiped out by one or several of your neighbours. The nature of the game demands expansion, but it must be done in an intelligent way.

My biggest and most powerful neighbour is Clan Ouchi. They are currently busy with their wars, so they probably won't bother us ATM, but I want to make sure that we are on friendly terms so that they will be less inclined to eat me as soon as they conclude their conflicts. Therefore, a first marriage is arranged. Otomo Hisa will be married with Sue Hiromori as soon as he will reach adulthood. Sue is the Kokujin of Kumage.





My western neighbour is the Shoni Clan and I do not plan to wage war with them ATM. Therefore, I'm more than happy to exchange hostages with Shoni Noriyori in order to make any belligerent actions less likely to happen. At the same time, I order my Master of the Guard to sow dissent in Takaku, which is controlled by one of the Noriyori's vassals - Saigo Hisayoshi. Their relations are already tense and I intend to keep them that way. IMO Sow Dissent often takes too long to produce any effects, which makes it of limited usefulness, so one of the changes I made was to decrease the base mean_time_to_happen from 120 to 90. It still won't be very quick, but this change should make it a bit more tempting to use.

The other Masters are improving my villages and castles, which is a standard procedure in the early game. I intend to focus on the castles especially, as it's one of the few ways to stop large armies of the bigger clans.





One of the random events fired and I had to spend some gold in order to prevent a big delay of the construction of my castle. It put me into negative treasury. Since I had a deficit, my provinces were more likely to rebel. However, at the same time my inn was constructed, which soon put me into positive income again. I need to increase my treasury if I want to do some early expansion.





Meanwhile, I continue my diplomatic efforts with the Ouchi. I want to create a dynasty composed of Ouchi and Otomo members in order to keep the relations high and maybe even gain some land by peaceful means. Otomo Masachika will marry Ouchi Furni as soon as she comes into adulthood. Ouchi Masahiro is a young leader, so I will likely see him for quite a while. Some gifts probably will be in order. Ouchi is THE clan in the region, after all.





I plan to attack the Kikuchi soon, so I order my Master of Ceremonies to squeeze more income from Oita. I chose Oita because I already built an inn there, so it has a higher base income than Hayami. Here you can see another little change I made - Collect Taxes give +60% tax income instead of +50%, but at a cost of 4 revolt risk instead of 3 revolt risk. Nothing drastic, but I just wanted to make it a bit more risky without using Restore Order option (it's a nice little synergy) and at the same time a bit more rewarding. As you can see, I use Restore Order, too, so that revolt risk is a non-issue.





Preparations for the war continue. I already mobilised most of my levies and trained my retinue. I have 39 gold in the treasury and a monthly deficit of -0.02, which is a safe position. I also have 46 honour, while DOWing the Kikuchi will cost me 16, so I will still be far from the dangerous <= 25 honour threshold.

Moreover, Ouchi wants to keep it safe by exchanging hostages frequently. I concur. It's best for both of us, but especially for me. In fact, his timing couldn't be better!


War with Clan Kikuchi





The war is declared. As you can see, the region is rather mountainous and heavily forested, but coastal provinces consist mostly of plans, which make them poor for defence. Both armies are quite evenly matched, but the Kikuchi are more scattered. The AI will most likely play the cat and mouse game with me by avoiding early battles, merging their armies and attacking provinces which I cannot defend. I intend to outmanoeuvre my opponent and destroy the bulk of his force quickly while advancing near the coast, so that I both retain the initiative and keep expanding.







As expected, the Kikuchi merged their armies in Takuma and attacked the undefended Hita. I faked an attack on Hita and they escaped back to Takuma, where they combined their armies to create an even larger force.






Now comes the important part. They attacked Aso, which was besieged by a small army of 1000+ men. I knew that I couldn't win this battle, but at least they couldn't escape while my troops were nearing their positions. As you can see on the second screenshot, Shoni don't want to bother with us ATM, so he offered to exchange hostages with me. Obviously, I agreed.






I attacked the enemy and won, but it was a costly and evenly matched battle. However, the enemy has no almost reserves, so I moved my army to Takuma, where my vassals were already besieging the enemy castle. We will be safe together.






I conquered Takuma, reorganised and attacked the enemy in Mashiki while still besieging Tamana. The enemy was escaping to isolated Ashikita, which was absolutely perfect, because he will suffer from crossing penalty if he dares to attack me in Mashiki. Since I controlled the north, too, at this point I was certain of my success. The Kikuchi had only two provinces that were safe and they were far from each other. I could deal with all their potential reinforcements easily.





I started thinking about my post-war situation and invested in Court Rank. Not for the current leader, because he is old, but for his son. On this screenshot you can see one of the changes I made - the benefits of the ranks are halved. I did it for balance purposes, because they were too powerful IMO.


The uncertain future





Just when I was celebrating my nice early successes and was thinking about my future actions, something bad happened. Kamachi Yoshihisa was bold enough to break free from my clan. I lost half of my provinces and was still at war with the Kikuchi. So, here comes the big decision. Should I allow the Kamachi to leave peacefully, continue my conquest of the Kikuchi and decide what to do with the Kamachi later? Or maybe should I attack the Kamachi now, when I still outnumber them, but risk the attacks of the Kikuchi?

What will it be?
 
Last edited:
Will it cost you honor to attack your former vassal? If that's the case, it might put you in dangerous honor territory and I would advise against it. If, on the other hand, there is no heavy honor penalty, I'd suggest crushing your disobedient vassal now. Make an example of him. You seem to have clan Kikuchi down for the count, so they shouldn't require too much of your forces.
 
Very intriguing, i think i'll go buy Sengoku right now

Nice AAR

I'll be following this, i really enjoyed your HOI3 AAR
Thanks! IMO the game is good. Definitely one of the most polished PI releases.

Will it cost you honor to attack your former vassal? If that's the case, it might put you in dangerous honor territory and I would advise against it. If, on the other hand, there is no heavy honor penalty, I'd suggest crushing your disobedient vassal now. Make an example of him. You seem to have clan Kikuchi down for the count, so they shouldn't require too much of your forces.
No, neither of the available actions involve any cost in honour. If I don't attack them now, then I will have to pay the regular honour cost later, but it's manageable, I think. I have no doubt that they will be more developed then. On the other hand, attacking them now, in the middle of war, is risky, as I will have to use all of my forces to destroy them, while the Kikuchi still have 2000+ men. Moreover, when I conquer Kikuchi first, I will have the benefit of increased income and manpower. It's quite tricky.
 
The Otomo have a pretty strong starting position (or perhaps more fairly, the Ouchi have a terrible starting position) so you should hopefully be able to prosper. The rebellious vassal is a real pain in the ass though, good luck convincing him to behave.
 
I realy enjoyed reading about your clan battles , i hope you will write as often as you can ...

Now my vote is for you to let your vasal make his new clan finish the war and then plot your revenge on your vasal .

Woth respect
Ciphas
 
Going well. Since you have mobilised all your levies the break-away clan will not have any troops to draw from except for whatever has regenerated and their own retinue. Now is the chance to take them down. Even if you just use a small force to hold them off while your main force finishes the Kikkuchi. Then you can turn around and start seigeing them.

I did notice that no one is supporting them in their breakaway attempt. This is your chance!
 
The rebellious vassal is a real pain in the ass though, good luck convincing him to behave.
The question is - when should I do it? ;)

Now my vote is for you to let your vasal make his new clan finish the war and then plot your revenge on your vasal .
Yes, this is one option. He may get more powerful with time, though.

Going well. Since you have mobilised all your levies the break-away clan will not have any troops to draw from except for whatever has regenerated and their own retinue. Now is the chance to take them down. Even if you just use a small force to hold them off while your main force finishes the Kikkuchi. Then you can turn around and start seigeing them.

I did notice that no one is supporting them in their breakaway attempt. This is your chance!
Some of my forces joined their side. Don't remember if they were retinues, though. Anyway, they are certainly not harmless, if that's what you are thinking :)

Never open a second front if you can avoid it, unless of course, you can't apply all your force on your current front, I.e. only front is a strait.
Hmm... Well, they can always get around the strait if they really want to. It just takes more time.


Thanks for the comment, guys. I will update the AAR tomorrow OR the day after tomorrow, so you can still give suggestions!
 
The Subjugation of Clan Kikuchi





Since most commenters were undecided and the people who voted seemed to be slightly in favour of the separation, the Clan Kamachi was allowed to separate.





Meanwhile, we continue to battle against the Kikuchi. The enemy was blinded by his numerical superiority and foolishly attacked us in Mashiki, where the terrain favoured the defenders. This was one of the crucial points of the campaign, as the enemy lost a possible strategic advantage he might have had.





Another blow was dealt in Takuma. Note that their forces are separated from each other and that they cannot hope to achieve even local numerical superiority.





Tamana and Mashiki were conquered. The enemy is concentrating his forces for a possible attack on Mashiki, so I am moving my forces there while continuing to besiege Aso.

Additionally, since my economic situation is good, I ordered the court Masters to improve our infrastructure. I can afford it.





I won a battle in Tamana, but the enemy surprised a small retinue of one of my vassals in Taguchi. As a result, the vassal's forces were decimated.





It is now clear that instead of taking Mashiki, the enemy wants to take Taguchi. He concentrated all his forces there and my exhausted soldiers are still besieging Aso.





I continue to improve the relations with the Clan Ouchi. They remain the most powerful clan in the region... at least for now.





This is another important moment of the campaign. I conquered Aso, while the Kikuchi conquered Taguchi and enjoyed a local numerical superiority for a while. However, they didn't want to attack my soldiers in harsh terrain and they split their forces. It's hard to say what could happen if they attacked me and managed to score a victory.





I pursued the enemy relentlessly and destroyed his small army in Oita. My northern army is moving to Aso, while the enemy is moving to Kuma to relieve the siege of his castle.





Despite the fact that the forces of our vassals fled before the battle began, I still managed to defeat the Kikuchi in Kuma. Again, terrain advantage proved to be of utmost importance. After this battle, the enemy lost all hopes of victory.






Interesting diplomatic developments in the north. The Shoni attacked the Ouchi with considerable forces. I will watch the progress of this war closely, as it can very well change the balance of force in the region. I tried to marry the daughter of one of the Shoni's vassals to the clan leader in order to improve my standing with him, but he refused.






The situation is getting even more interesting in the north. The balance of force is changing rapidly. A new clan called Clan So has been formed and is now fighting with the Ouchi. Keep in mind that the Ouchi are still fighting their war in central Japan, so they cannot focus entirely on the Shoni and the So.

I decided to play safe. I arranged a marriage with Shoni's daughter and accepted the Ouchi's proposal of exchanging hostages.






The enemy was defeated in Ashikita and Mashiki. His forces are protecting Kuma, while my forces are besieging the castle in Ashikita. It may look strange to you, but Kuma has very powerful fortifications, while Ashikita is relatively weak, so I decided to conquer Ashikita first.





The situation in the north has just become even more interesting. Ikko-Ikki rebels took Iki and have about 12k men at their disposal. With such army, they are dangerous, indeed.





Meanwhile, my demesne was greatly expanded. I control 5 provinces personally now. Also, the heir of the clan leader gained a better court rank. Chikashige is very old and will probably die soon, so I won't allow him to get any ranks.





Finally, after years of struggle, the war with Kikuchi came to an end and I made Kikuchi Shigetomo my vassal. It was pointless to wait for Kuma to fall, since the castle could defend for years.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





In 1482, western Japan is very different than it was several years ago. The Ikki-Ikko rebels took Iki and adopted the wait-and-see approach. Clan Yamana was reduced in size and power. Clans Takeda and Kono became dominant regional powers, while Clan Ouchi is losing its strong position. Clans So and Shoni are expanding and their intentions remain unclear, but instincts say that they will continue to be aggressive. It seems that they will try to go on expansion spree and take Ouchi holdings. Then, they will be able to turn on us. So Akimoto even hired a ninja which damaged my relations with the Shinto faction, which proves that is he trying to undermine my position.

And where is the place of Otomo in all of this? What should be done next? Should I proceed to finish the unfinished business and conquer the rebellious Kamachi? Maybe I should attack Clan So or Clan Shoni, taking advantage of the fact that they are already at war with the Ouchi? Another possibility is a potentially dangerous attack on Clan Shimazu, which, while powerful, remain passive. Or maybe I should avoid warfare for the moment and concentrate on improving infrastructure?

What will be the destiny of the Clan Otomo?
 
suscribed, great writing, you should defeat the So, such arrogance is a stain on your honour.

Btw, the Ikko-Ikki will remain passive, unless you take command of them >:)
 
Just judging from the blobs on the map, Shimazu looks like too big to take down right now. Maybe after you clear up that mess of little statelets in the north (including Kamachi - they do make your borders very irregular: I'm sure that's not appropriately Feng Shui, or whatever they do in Japan).

Take down the smaller fry first. That also has the benefit that it'll isolate Shimazu even more, assuming they stay passive throughout.
 
Definitely deal with the Kamachi first. They're not too big so a war with them won't make you a target for the Shimazu. If you attack the Shoni I can definitely see the Shimazu taking advantage to attack you while your armies are occupied.

Also the Kamachi make your borders very ugly. They must be destroyed!
 
Traitors, imperialists and backstabbers





Just when I was preparing to deal with the Kamachi, my southern neighbour decided that I grew too powerful and declared war on me. So be it! I started by ignoring the siege of Kuma, because the province has massive fortifications, and moving my armies to Usuki in order to deal the first blow to the enemy.





It was a good start, as I scored a victory and the enemy lost 2300+ men. Additionally, I exchanged hostages with Shoni in order to secure peace between the two clans. I don't want to bother with them ATM.





The enemy fled from Kuma when his scouts spotted my armies. I decided to ignore the forces in Ashikita and pursue him to Mashikita. The rest of my army besieged Koyu.





Otomo Chigashige died at the age of 72. It was a good age to die. From now on, Otomo Masachika will be the clan leader. Shoni Akikage immediately sent a proposal that we exchanged hostages and I agreed.






I caught the enemy in Takuma and scored another victory. ATM the odds of winning this war are high. We have the initiative.

In the north, Clan Ouchi is reconquering its lost land. It seems that Clans Shoni and So miscalculated and are about to be defeated.





Ninja activity is increasing. I will have to do sth about it. The growing Ouchi threat in the north is worrying to me, because the clan leader has terrible diplomatic skills. It decreases our relations with pretty much everyone.





The enemy rallied more levies and scored a victory in Kuma. This is unfortunate. It seems that this war will be longer than I previously thought.




I lost two provinces - Ashikita and Mashiki - and lost another battle in Taguchi. Moreover, Kuma is besieged.

I do not want to abandon the sieges of Usuki and Koyu, so I decided not to engage the enemy at once.





However, this doesn't mean that I will miss opportunities for easy victories. Therefore, I defeated the enemy in Kunisaki, taking advantage of the fact that he was besieging my provinces and couldn't reinforce his northern army.






Usuki and Koyu were conquered and I immediately moved my armies to Kuma in order to relieve the siege of the province's castle.

In the north, Clan So was reduced to just one isolated province, while the Shoni were making their last stand in Sonoki and Takaku. Not only the Ouchi reconquer their lands, but they managed to expand by swallowing the lands of the Clan Shoni.





The enemy lost at Kuma and I was besieging Mashiki. It seems that I'm regaining the initiative. Unfortunately, the ninja hired by me failed to weaken the defences in Mashiki.





Mashiki was conquered and I won two battles at Koyu and Murakata. At this point, the Shimazu were definitely on the losing side and I was quite sure of eventual victory. Later it became clear that I was... overconfident.






I sent a gift to the Ouchi in order to improve my relations with them. Fortunately, they didn't seem very interested in attacking me.

In the lands of the Clan Shimazu, however, the situation wasn't so bright. I lost an important battle of Kuwahara with a terrible casualty ratio of 1:3.





The Shimazu were besieging Kuma again. I was still besieging Murakata and didn't have the manpower to deal with the armies at Kuma. However, I was pursuing the enemy to Mashiki.

Ninjas attacked me again. Fortunately, they failed to achieve their objective.





The clan leader gained a "Charitable" trait. It was good news, because this trait improves the diplomatic rating. I also hired a ninja to protect me against future ninja attacks.





Slowly but surely, I was regaining the initiative for the 105156th time. The enemy lost at Tamana and Kozuma and I conquered Murakata. He lost several provinces, so I had much greater resources at my disposal than him. Then, however...





... this happened.

You have the war with the Kamachi that you wanted so badly, I guess ;)
 
Last edited: