So

[William Shakens]

So... I'm So. The little Daimyo in the Island of Tsushima near Korea.

This is the situation.

Goals:
- Being a super rich smuggling and trading pirate nation with as few lands as possible and those being only islands.
- Getting independence from Japan. No aspirations whatsoever to unite Japan.

What I've done so far:
- Developed my province to level 52 being the first Asian by far to get Renaissance and close to colonialism now.
- Focusing on Navy, navy and navy..
- Being lead by mutineers because my rep tradition is way too low.
- Trading and privateering the heck out of Beijing. Raiding coasts a lot.
- Fended off the attacks from the mainland during the Sengoku Jidai
- Started colonizing Taiwan. Mostly so I can reach moar coasts to raid. Money is good.

Now what worries me is the situation in mainland Japan. The Shogun Ashikaga has given me a couple of claims in Korea and Ryukyu but he's not going after them. Uesugi and Hosokawa, who rivaled me early on, have grown to be buddies and together they're evenly matched with the Shogun. Should I be concerned about being diplo-annexed at some point? Is there a way to DoW the Shogun and getting independence without taking the capital? My fleet is good and I'm confident it can defend Tsushima but attacking any of those guys with actual troops... not a chance.

Ideas? Suggestion?

 

[Sidolowka]

So... I'm So. The little Daimyo in the Island of Tsushima near Korea.

This is the situation.
View attachment 624570

Goals:
- Being a super rich smuggling and trading pirate nation with as few lands as possible and those being only islands.
- Getting independence from Japan. No aspirations whatsoever to unite Japan.

What I've done so far:
- Developed my province to level 52 being the first Asian by far to get Renaissance and close to colonialism now.
- Focusing on Navy, navy and navy..
- Being lead by mutineers because my rep tradition is way too low.
- Trading and privateering the heck out of Beijing. Raiding coasts a lot.
- Fended off the attacks from the mainland during the Sengoku Jidai
- Started colonizing Taiwan. Mostly so I can reach moar coasts to raid. Money is good.

Now what worries me is the situation in mainland Japan. The Shogun Ashikaga has given me a couple of claims in Korea and Ryukyu but he's not going after them. Uesugi and Hosokawa, who rivaled me early on, have grown to be buddies and together they're evenly matched with the Shogun. Should I be concerned about being diplo-annexed at some point? Is there a way to DoW the Shogun and getting independence without taking the capital? My fleet is good and I'm confident it can defend Tsushima but attacking any of those guys with actual troops... not a chance.

Ideas? Suggestion?

Normal independance wars have the war goal as your capital. Daimyo independance wars however, are also Shogunate usurpation wars, meaning that the war goal is to take Kyoto, which Ashikaga holds. Uesugi and Hosokawa will also join the war against you, along with any external allies Ashikaga has. (Disloyal subjects will not move their armies to defend their overlord, but their navies will still do so for some reason) You will be completely alone, since Daimyos cannot recieve support for independance. If Ashikaga starts annexing you you're screwed.

Unless Uesugi or Hosokawa declares war on Ashikaga first, your best chance right now is to make an exodus to the New World. DO NOT COLONISE TAIWAN. Your goal is to make it impossible for Ashikaga to have coring distance on you. After you have a province colonised in the New World, declare war on Ashikaga. Cede Tsushima to them, and colonise the New World until you get a sufficient power base to reattack Ashikaga.

If you're feeling confident though, you can probably outmanoeuvre the AI if you stack enough Heavies. (Depending on who Ashikaga allied that is. If they allied Ming just give up) Both your naval and land force limit should be around 17. Max out your land army. For your navy, considering how you'll also need transports, you could roll 15 or so Heavies along with enough transports to stack your entire land army in. Upon war declaration immediately wipe and enemy navies you see, followed by sieging down whoever Ashikaga allied. Best cases Scenario Ashikaga allies Ainu, which means you can trap their army up North. Follow up by sieging Kyoto while the Ashikagan army wastes away in Hokkaido. If they allied one of the Manchu tribes, focus on peacing them out first. You should be able to 1:1 them if they haven't got too large, since you can peace them out instantly by sieging their capital. Next try to land your army in Ise. You do not want to cross Hosokawa/Uesugi territory, but Echizen starts off with a fort, meaning that landing in Ise will be the fastest way to Kyoto. Siege Kyoto down, and peace out for your independance, or if you're feeling frisky, the Shogunate.

 

[William Shakens]

Damn I need a regular independence war.

I'm confident in my navy, 21 force limit and going up, I have a flagship and everything. So national ideas are all naval focused plus have completed maritime ideas. Attacking them in land that's a different matter tho. Isolating their armies in Hokkaido would be nice, but Ashikaga has no allies as far as I know. No Ainu or Ming or Manchurian horde. Best hope that Uesugi or Hosokawa go for the Shogunate.

Have I mentioned I've developed Tsushima to 52 dev? I'd rather commit seppuku than give it up?

 

[Sidolowka]

21 force limit and going up

Yeah no you might want to check how many ships Ashikaga/Uesugi/Hosokawa has. As I said, navies of disloyal subjects will still join battles, meaning that even if you have land superiority over Ashikaga your navy is probably outmatched unless you run full Heavies.

Attacking them in land that's a different matter tho

As long as Hosokawa/Uesugi are disloyal you should be fine. Just go over force limit and hire a morale/discipline advisor. Hire a few mercs if you need to.

Best hope that Uesugi or Hosokawa go for the Shogunate.

If they do, you'll automatically be called on Ashikaga's side of the war, meaning you can't declare your own independance war until the previous war ends. If they declare before you you're screwed, because Hosokawa will most likely full annex you in the peace deal.

Have I mentioned I've developed Tsushima to 52 dev

One province with 52 dev is far less effective than 4 different 13 dev provinces. You honestly would've been better off using that mana to conquer Kyuushuu and block the straits with your navy.

 

[William Shakens]

Yeah no you might want to check how many ships Ashikaga/Uesugi/Hosokawa has. As I said, navies of disloyal subjects will still join battles, meaning that even if you have land superiority over Ashikaga your navy is probably outmatched unless you run full Heavies.

Hmm, not sure about their level of loyalty. I'll have to check that out

As long as Hosokawa/Uesugi are disloyal you should be fine. Just go over force limit and hire a morale/discipline advisor. Hire a few mercs if you need to.

Yeah money is not a problem I am a rich person who can afford to hire Samurai.

If they do, you'll automatically be called on Ashikaga's side of the war, meaning you can't declare your own independance war until the previous war ends. If they declare before you you're screwed, because Hosokawa will most likely full annex you in the peace deal.

Oh yeah you're right I didn't remember I was going to be called to defend Ashikaga

One province with 52 dev is far less effective than 4 different 13 dev provinces. You honestly would've been better off using that mana to conquer Kyuushuu and block the straits with your navy.

Absolutely, but in this case it was something I did on purpose because my goal was not to go into war and take any provinces in this particular campaign I wanted to stay in my island, now I'm seeing how being a vassal is going to make that problematic. If I was independent I'd only have to worry about defending my home island.

 

[mysticdueler]

Do.




Sorry, music-nerd humor, couldn’t resist

 

[William Shakens]

Man I'm already in the war and it could hardly be more frustrating. Naval superiority is total. Their navies are gone. But there's no way to take any provinces and block the straits before they get there, not even no-fort ones. I've distracted them by taking one in Sapporo and then disembarking in Kyushu while they go take the one North and they still get there and back in time to crush my army before I take the two provinces I need to Isolate Kyushu, they must be traveling by car, I swear.

Update: I've been soooo close to have their whole army stuck in Kyushu but I couldn't take one of the straits provinces on the other side on time. On top, their only vassal Uesugi who was disloyal so wasn't doing anything during the war now is loyal again. They can't touch my territory but there's no way I can win the war either, and white peace means I remain a vassal, they keep diploannexing anything that moves. It is the first time there's a war against Ashikaga. This mus be the first time I see no Daimyo really oppose them. They're at 60k with Uesugi my limit is 12k

It's like this all the time

 

[William Shakens]

Longest war ever. No chance of winning. Accepted a meager peace giving them reparations and had to declare bankruptcy.... and it was the WRONG war all along. The only thing I needed was to them complete the annexation of Uesugi so they were able to unify Japan and after that NOW I can declare a regular independence war where the war goal is to defend my capital. What a waste.

Lesson learned at a high price: Damiyo wars vs Shogun are for the shogunate so wargoal is Kyoto. Ih the Shogun unifies Japan without annexing you, then they are just regular wars for independence and all you need to do is to be able to defend your capital.

PS: So is finally free

 

[William Shakens]

There is one thing tho, that I find puzzling. How did they unify Japan after annexing all other Daimyos without annexing me (they didn't even try) but kept me as vassal? I think the options to unify require either diploannex of all daimyios OR letting the remaining ones go as independent after you get 25 provinces, OR being the only remaining Japanese culture nation and the way they did it with me remaining a vassal doesn't seem to match any of those