Shogun 2 2500 against 6000

Tonight, after a difficult day of work, I resolved myself to return to Shogun 2. Often I find myself after a day that exhausts me that I fancy anything other than an RTS game. RTS is, in itself exhausting. Or, occasionally, exhilarating. Both of which are the same thing, depending on when you come.

So, in Shogun 2, for those who have some familiarity, has an event called Realm Divide. It occurs after you become the most powerful faction in the game. Its consequence is that every faction goes to war with you. As a result, you find yourself in battles like I did tonight; Oda and 6000 troops against my 2500.

Once I read on a forum that you should recruit cavalry - that mainstay of crushing battlefield victories - because you risk the multitude of sieges battles in which they are useless. The truth is, though, that the battles often fought in the campaign often require you to pause your expansion and consolidate your economy. Although that has cost me something like 12 hours and 30 mins of research time, it does mean that often I can have armies filled with cavalry sieging towns that are compelled to attack me.

The reverse happened this evening. After a busy day filled with the intensity of teaching with the gut, I had not time for the joy of war. However, some mental impetuosity remained enough to try to fight the battle I had saved on: 2500 samurai against near 6000 of the opponent's.

I expected to fight a battle where I might (hopefully) decimate 3000 or so my opponents army before being overrun. The outcome was different.

Initially I positioned my samurai on my left - next to woodland - while my archers took the open centre ground. My cavalry - 340 strong Katana cavalry - took a right near some woods. The enemy was initially comprised of some 2000 Ashigaru (militia)and about 800 samurai.

To my luck, the enemy marched his front line of archers, and one of his three generals, towards my far right. I should say that Shogun 2 is accurate in the sense that an army will crumble if its generals fall. And that, as a result, the AI will be rather too bolshy with its generals.

Therefore, when the battle started, I was surprised (although not non-plussed) to see a general supporting his Ashigaru archers. I waited, somehow, until he advanced until he had no chance of retreating, and streamed my cavalry from the woods. One of his generals was swarmed, and cut down in short order. Although his archers shot many of my cavalry from their horses, they weren't enough for me to storm and rout 700 of his Ashigaru.

While I was awkwardly micromanaging this one-sided battle, my samurai began to charge a more even battle in the woodland. While his massed archers were attempting to fire upon my elite troops, they were protected by the woodland.

I should have perished on that field. However, the fact that one of his generals had died, and that I had recently slaughtered 800 of his men, meant that his right flank had entirely surrendered. I moved my morale-busting troops - ashigaru bomb throwers - up to support, but without careful managing they were caught by a unit of Yari Samurai (elite spearmen) and annihilated. Against a more worthwhile opponent (read 80% of the multiplayer component of Shogun 2) I would be dead. Against my happy level, though, I was still in with a shout. My cavalry marched against their right, and along with my general's presence somehow routed their entire 3000 army. Perhaps it was the ability to crumble and roll up this flank, but his army was shattered and fled.

For the first time I faced an entirely new army of 3000 troops with less than 1200 of my own, exhausted, men. However, my advantage was that he was marching on in a line. A human opponent would have surely have formed his lined and crushed me carefully. The computer AI, of course, simply formed his four most elite units and charged. Although he should have routed me, my general somehow convinced my men to stay their ground. Like with all such conflicts, the fact that my fewer men managed to stay sooner shattered the morale of his stronger troops. That, and the fact that I managed to surrounded and rout two of his units in quick succession.

In all, I managed to kill 4000 troops for the loss of 1500 of mine. The game told me this was costly victory. I knew otherwise. For me, it was a game that someone I managed to speculate on a battle when the odds were far worse than I had ever played. And I won. I even watched the replay afterwards.