@panther I have only just gotten into playing HOI4 at the moment
Samurai Swords AKA Shogun
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You do bid every turn. It’s use it or loose it with the Ninja. Some people do bid on it every turn though just to maintain control of it. But, bidding on the ninja reduces the cash you have to spend on troops, so it’s usually the guy with the most money that gets the Ninja. Definitely a big part of the strategy. What is really rough is if you bid on the ninja and his attempt fails! Your guaranteed to get retaliated on in some way.
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Yet another catch 22… If the ninja’s attempt fails, doesn’t the target player get some kind of counter-attack for it? Or am I just hallucinating?
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Hmm… can’t remember, but my spidey sense is tingling so it might be true…
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Yup. If the would-be assassin misses, the target rolls a die. On a 9 or higher, he picks one of your generals for head chopping.
Great game.
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Historically, that doesn’t make much sense. I’m pretty sure that the traditional ninja would’ve committed hari-kiri upon failing his mission.
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Historically, that doesn’t make much sense. I’m pretty sure that the traditional ninja would’ve committed hari-kiri upon failing his mission.
Well, you might consider it a counterattack after your assassination attempt failed. I imagine it’s more of a game balance - keep people from going overboard on the ninja.
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I know I already said it on this thread, but I NEED to czech to see if the game is available at my shop…
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That is true; people don’t easily forgive an assassination attempt on their daimyo’s life. However, I’ve seen that people will bid on the ninja, succeed, and just hold on to it “until the moment is right”. Is that correct? Can someone really keep the ninja for the whole game if they want?
I thought bidding happens every round? That is…if you get him on one turn, and don’t use him, you wasted your money. But it’s been a while since I’ve played.
Jerma, actually, that’s not correct. If you don’t use the ninja to assassinate your opponent’s general, you get to use him to “peek” at one of your opponent’s purchases before you have to make your purchases – a little espionage, if you will. That way, you know how much you have to pay to out-bid that opponent for either the sword choice OR the ninja. If you are in the lead, it makes good sense to out-bid everyone else for the ninja because, chances are, you will have more of your generals (probably all) still alive, making you the most likely target of a ninja attack. So you buy it up to make sure your opponents don’t. Then, you use him for espionage. I only use the ninja myself if I am trailing and trying to knock off the leader.
I’ve played this game several times with my nephews when they’ve visited in the last year. It’s still just as much fun as it was 20 years ago in college!
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That’s right, I forgot about the “espionage”, I’m going to have to set up a game of this next month some time…
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That’s right, I forgot about the “espionage”, I’m going to have to set up a game of this next month some time…
Yeah, me too. Thanks, Gamer.
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Muhahaha… May 6th Shogun baby looks like a full house too… Go ahead envy me…
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Muhahaha… May 6th Shogun baby looks like a full house too… Go ahead envy me…
Oh man…can we say identity theft? 8-)
Did you ever name your play group?
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Nope… I am in the process of geting into a new house, when I do I want to set up a server and build a website. Then I will have a reason to come up with a name. Until then I’ll keep considering.
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Great game what i can remember.
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So let’s talk Shogun strategy a second. Besides discussing the Ninja, that is. Who typically invests in fortifications? Do you find them useful to your strategy?
Personally, every time I have bought forts, I have lost. Virtually every time I did not buy forts, I won. Through experience, I have found the key to survival is mobility of your armies. If one of your armies is stuck on a fort, it is a sitting duck, IMHO. I can almost always kill an enemy army sitting in a fort by attacking with two armies against that one army (assuming I have two decent sized armies). This is especially true after my armies reach level “2” and can move two territories a turn. That is an AMAZING level of mobility when you consider you can attack from an adjacent territory. It is the equivalent of moving 3 spaces in the combat phase in Axis & Allies.
That’s it for forts. Any thoughts on purchasing strategy? I will hold back my thoughts as I want to hear other perspectives before sharing my own. :-)
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As I recall, (and it’s been AWHILE since I last played) I would build fortifications on turn 1, definitely. (Probably even on turn 2) The location would of course be where my forces had their natural stronghold.
As far as units, I would always make it a point to max out my imperial armies (the ones with the little ensign guy holding a flag) with bowmen. Then, they would be prime for kicking a$$ with the whole first-strike ability. Gunners are key too, for the same reason.
And Ronin are also useful, because as I recall, you would purchase X amount, place them on one of your face-down territory cards, and reveal them when that territory is attacked. X surprise swordsmen popping outta nowhere to slice n’ dice your enemies is nothing less than awesome. (especially when you see the look on their face when you announce the Ronin coming out of hiding) :wink:
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… and sorry, but to reply to Gamer’s point, it is best, in my opinion, to keep your armies mobile. The ONLY way for them to gain that experience is to get into combat, so just go for it!
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Man…I haven’t played enough, or recently, for that matter, to really remember my strategies.
I would always try to set up my main armies in areas that they could converge on. Mobility, I agree, is key. Most of the time people spent a lot of effort trying to assassinate high level generals, so no one really took a clear lead.I happen to like fortifications. I would place them on a port territory that I expected to be attacked to create a solid defense. I would always prefer to spend money on my army, so it usually came at a crucial time or when I had some money to spare.
I liked trying to take the island groups as a defense buffer, but attacking the main island could be a pain - but usually you have enough options to field some armies there anyway.
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Wow, it’s been a long time, but I seem to remember everyone wanting to get forts early. I need the refresher though, I am suposed to play this coming weekend…
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For what it’s worth, I agree with Agent Orange about the ranged attack units (the archers and gunners). They give you what Imperious Leader calls “preemptive fire” meaning their casualties don’t get a defense roll. So I focus my early purchases on maxing out my archers, then my gunners. I buy as many archers as I can, even dumping them in my provincial forces (since there is a limit to what you can add to your armies each round through purchases) and then soak them into my armies at the first opportunity. Then, I converge at least two armies with 5+ archers and 5+ gunners total on an enemy army and just watch that army melt away! (With or without a fort, I might add). The small forts add only 4 spear chuckers (I forget their official name) and the big forts give you 5 Ronin swordsman. But if they get no defense, who cares?
The key to the game is killing armies. The Ninja is one, very risky way to do it. I prefer speed and overwhelming force. Oh, and after I max out my range pieces, THEN I buy up the Ronin to add that extra punch to my attacks. Again, sitting still is a recipe for getting killed. The forts just don’t add enough defense, especially since the attacker gets to decide when he attacks (which will be before the defender can reinforce it if the attacker buys the sword!). Keep those armies moving!
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