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I am the Real Shogun! - The AAR
Update 2: The Hosokawa and the Heir - Part Six​

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Some might have called my plan genial, I admit it worked out quite well. In the west two of the provinces besieged by our and allied forces had fallen to overwhelming numbers, assaults had been launched on my command. Despite the lack of breaches they were successful. In such a short time our clan, under my rule, had grown almost as much as it did under the rightful Shogun himself. The provinces are handed over to be ruled by Ashikaga Chikayuki, a loyal courtier in the young Shogun's court.

Unfortunately no plan is perfect and certain losses must always be expected. I had hoped to avoid it but it didn't cause too much of an issue, the Hosokawa had rallied what troops they could and were assaulting my forces in Kawachi. They had a huge numerical advantage that forced me into a retreat from both Kawachi and Tanboku.

Fortunately most of my sieges were reinforced by my allies, sparing more losses. The Hosokawa ended up splitting their forces and in the end all I had to do was move in and restart the sieges.


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As always, with good news comes bad. On the 17th June, 1480 the Shogun had to meet his first major event as the head of the clan. His brother known to most only as Number 2, who his father had sent off to Kurita, died. The Shogun's reaction was strong, as any empathic and kind person's reaction would be, despite never having known his brother. He was truly saddened by yet another loss in his family. I appointed Ashikaga Harutsugu to form the head of a court that would rule Kurita from now on.


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The siege at Otagi had not progressed as I had hoped, it had barely gotten anywhere, I decided that abandoning Kadono would not be worth it. With the siege at Otagi lifted I had freed 1800 men that would serve to slow down the siege at Kadono by killing as many besiegers as possible. And so I sent them on their way to fight a losing battle.

As expected it did not go well but the Hosokawa army had lost a little more than one third of their siege force. Perhaps realizing the futility of their war, they decided to lift the siege at Kadono to pursue my wounded army purely out of spite. The battle that came after was naturally another loss, I did however manage to retreat before they destroyed us completely and because my army consisted mostly of retinues they would recuperate quite fast.


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3rd September, 1480: In the south the sieges at Izumi and Nishikibe have reached results similar to those of the western ones. Assaults led by my men have breached and destroyed the garrisons putting these provinces firmly in my grasp. Nishikibe is given to the shogun's younger brother Ashikaga Hachiro.

The plan is progressing smoothly. So far every province I had planned to take, with the exception of Asukabe, has been besieged or conquered by me.

6th November, 1480: Tanboku falls which leaves us with 5 Hosokawa provinces west of our territory. The Hosokawa army that was besieging Kadono has moved onto besieging Shimakami.


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Otori, Asukabe and Kawachi falls, the Hosokawa have certainly lost the war and they know it. Their garrisons are surrendering one by one, or holding out and getting trampled by our assaults. 2 provinces remain in the west, to the north there are still a few provinces that aren't under siege.


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There may have been such a thing as honor in Japan before this war but as it stands right now it's every man for himself, every clan must do their best to secure their own future. And so I must choose to be greedy, with the western provinces secured I split my forces and send troops north, the same strategy that worked in the west will work there.

23rd February, 1481: Manda is conquered, that leaves us with 1 province left in the west.


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With a fairly large pool of money saved up in case of random events or other catastrophes I feel confident in finally investing in my first guild. The strategy for these is fairly simple, I put up a theatre in each province, this lets you maintain 7 provinces on your own. After that I put up a barracks in each one which significantly raises your maximum retinue size, then you either choose to go for infantry or cavalry and you pop down whichever guilds boost your choice. I do not recommend going for a balanced setup as you have a limited amount of guild slots. Your cavalry army will wreck other armies, your infantry army will walk all over forts.

Once the Christians show up you'll naturally want to add the sexy gunpowder using superunit, that means you will need to produce rifles. So you'll need one or two of those guilds.

20th March, 1481: The last Hosokawa province west of our territory falls, Otokuni is ours.


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The Hosokawa may have lost all their provinces in the west but they still have an army laying siege to Shimakami, with Otokuni conquered I now have a sizeable force free and ready to bring the fight to them. I attack.

The battle goes well, their army is completely destroyed and Shimakami is safe.


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31 December, 1481: Ashikaga Yoshihisa, the Kind Shogun, has come of age. The Most Loyal Vassal Ashikaga Harutane's time as a leader is over, he served the clan well but now it's time for the Shogun to rule. Ashikaga Yoshihisa is diplomacy embodied, he is already known far and wide as an honorable man. If anyone can make the clans of Japan subject themselves to the authority of the rightful Shogun it ought to be him.


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My first action as ruler of the Ashikaga clan would not be a military one, nor a very honorable one. With the Hosokawa about to fall it is time to prepare for the aftermath. In the west the Ouchi have come out of the war in a very strong position, I have a feeling it won't work very well against an enemy who can gain so much honor through the use of coin yet I must try. I send my Master of the Guard to sow dissent in Abu where Sugi Fujiatsu resides. He is Ouchi Masahiro's most disloyal vassal, with some luck he might try to split off and form his own clan.

After that is done I must look closer to home to my neighbour in the east, Rokkaku. They may be weaker than us on their own, but if I do not ensure that my borders are protected they will gladly pounce on us as we're fighting someone else. So I arrange a marriage between the Rokkaku heir and my sister, hopefully a happy marriage. I may be a kind man but certain things are essential and above me, the security of the clan is one of those.

26 March, 1482: Otagi and Shiga are conquered with the same strategy as before, allied forces launch bloody assaults against fortified positions. The provinces are given to the Kokujin of Kurita.


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3 days later Takashima falls. The last of the Hosokawan provinces in the west has been conquered, the war is over for our part. In the east they still hold a few provinces but they won't be able to hold onto them, our side has won. The western allies won't remain allies for very long, with the Hosokawa defeated the status quo has been utterly destroyed, Japan is now truly embroiled in a full scale civil war.

Because there are no immediate threats and because I have some funds to spare I take the time to disband all my infantry retinues and recruit cavalry instead. Infantry are nice for assaults but in my coming wars the battles will probably be more important.


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The far north still remains mostly unchanged, Ando has taken one province but that's about it. In the east Uesugi has been slightly splintered, the split with Nagao led to a situation where Satake managed to solidify their position a bit, as did Mariyatsu. The smaller clans in the area are still alive and kicking. Imagawa has lost most of their territory to Ogasawara, who in turn have had a vassal rebel against them.


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Shiba have lost their southern holdings to Isshiki and a rebellious vassal, Oda, who've also taken some provinces in the north. Toki dominates this area.


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The far south is much like the north, more or less unchanged. The former Hosokawa territories are divided among Ouchi, Yamana, Takeda and Kono. Ouchi is the strongest clan in the area but this could quite easily change.

As you can see we have lots of opportunities for expansion but in Sengoku every opportunity is also a threat. The Ōnin War may be over but the civil war has just begun.

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End of Update 2
 
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Infantry are nice for assaults but in my coming wars the battles will probably be more important.
I would be careful with that. You win wars by capturing territory, not winning battles. I learned it the hard way in my AAR. Levies and retinues can be raised again, but by losing territory you lose a part of your potential (MP and gold).
 
This is an excellent and very enjoyable AAR! I thought I'd take the moment as well to point out that you've been nominated for the AARtist of the Month for October and congratulate you on it!
 
This is an excellent and very enjoyable AAR! I thought I'd take the moment as well to point out that you've been nominated for the AARtist of the Month for October and congratulate you on it!
Oh nice, thank you!

Edit: Didn't realize that being nominated actually meant winning! I will have to begin my search tomorrow! =D
 
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Oh nice, thank you!

Edit: Didn't realize that being nominated actually meant winning! I will have to begin my search tomorrow! =D

Lol, sorry, perhaps I should have been clearer. ;) You've got a whole month to search, so no worries!
 
Because of this AAR, I finally bought the game :p
 
Because of this AAR, I finally bought the game :p
Where's my commission? =D

On a more serious note, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that no one will have to wait for the next update, the sad news is that my HDD took it's last breath yesterday morning and I did not have a back-up. So... I no longer have the save. Now I could play another game when I buy a new HDD and just continue the story from the end of the war but it wouldn't really be the same. I think I will probably just stop here, and make a new one in the future instead.
 
Where's my commission? =D

On a more serious note, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that no one will have to wait for the next update, the sad news is that my HDD took it's last breath yesterday morning and I did not have a back-up. So... I no longer have the save. Now I could play another game when I buy a new HDD and just continue the story from the end of the war but it wouldn't really be the same. I think I will probably just stop here, and make a new one in the future instead.

Another bites the dust....
 
On a more serious note, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that no one will have to wait for the next update, the sad news is that my HDD took it's last breath yesterday morning and I did not have a back-up. So... I no longer have the save. Now I could play another game when I buy a new HDD and just continue the story from the end of the war but it wouldn't really be the same. I think I will probably just stop here, and make a new one in the future instead.

but hard drives and corrupted saves are the enemies of too many AARs

Sorry to hear this, but it did inspire me to write a guide on how to protect your save games on the internet, which I posted here: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...ow-to-protect-your-save-games-on-the-internet