Tenka Fubu : Nobunaga's Ambition 14 Oda Clan's AAR

[Drakken]

"If the cuckoo doesn't sing, kill it." - Oda Nobunaga
"If the cuckoo doesn't sing, make it slowly commit seppuku and languish in front of other cuckoos." - Drakken

As the interest of some of you has been titillated by Tecmo-KOEI's announcement of the incoming translated English version this September, I will do a AAR of Nobunaga's Ambition 14 with PUK. I will play as Oda Nobunaga, starting in April 1551 at Oda Nobuhide's death.

Yes, yes, it's in Japanese. Just roll with the storyline. Don't hesitate on the questions, if any.

Settings :
- Rice, Gold, and Labor advantage to the AI
- Troop Recovery standard for me and the AI
- Unit Damage Standard
- Siege Length Slow
- Medium militantism for the AI
- Highest AI Difficulty level, because I'm that good (That fourth "super-difficulty" is available with this week's patch)
- Standard Delegation rules (Beyond a certain range from my Home Castle vassals become autonomous, so I'll be obligated to delegate some of my vassals as Daimyos)
- Player historical objectives and Historical events on (I like to play more or less according to history)
- Princesses as Battle retainers on
- Historical lifespan, with Officers death in battle on
- Additional DLC retainers on
- Character use their real name (not their legendary name)

In the meantime, enjoy the view of my first objectives, Kiyosu and Inuyama Castles, from my fort Nagoya Castle and its castle town. Currently under the control of my soon-to-be-dead uncle, Oda Nobutomo, and my brother Oda Nobukiyo.

[Drakken]

Current Retainers and Castles As of March 1556

Owari

Kiyosu Castle (HQ - Main castle)
- Oda Kazusanosuke Nobunaga (Daimyo)
- Ban Naomasa
- Ikoma Chikamasa
- Kuwayama Shigeharu
- Hachisuka Koroku (added April 1551)
- Yasuke (Oda Nobunaga's real-life African slave) (added April 1551)
- Yagyû Hyôgonosuke (added April 1551)
- Takigawa Masushige (added April 1551)
- Maeda Toshihisa (added March 1552)
- Tokichiro Hideyoshi (added March 1552)

Nagoya Castle
- Oda Nobuhiro (Heir - Brother) - Lord
- Niwa Nagahide - Administrator
- Hachiya Yoritaka (turned coat June 1552)
- Maeda Toshiie (added March 1553)

Inuyama Castle
- Oda Nobumitsu (Heir - Uncle) - Lord
- Takigawa Kazumasu
- Sassa Narimasa
- Murai Sadakatsu - Administrator

Suemori Castle
- Kichô (Wife - historically known as Nôhime) - Lady
- Tokichiro Hidenaga (added January 1555)  - Administrator
- Shibata Katsuie (surrendered January 1553)
- Hayashi Hidesada (surrendered January 1553)
- Mori Yoshinari

Marune Castle
- Sakuma Nobumori - Lord
- Sakuma Morishige
- Kawajiri Hidetaka - Administrator

Kutsukake Castle
- Ikeda Tsuneoki - Lord
- Koide Hidemasa (added March 1555) - Administrator
- Mori Shinsuke


DECEASED/LEFT SERVICE
- Hirate Masahide (Slitted his belly to piss me off in February 1553)
- Inoe Sadamune (defected to the Kitabatake clan in October 1553)
- Yanada Masatsuna (defected to the Kitabatake clan in April 1555)

[Drakken]

April - September 1551 - Nagoya Bean Counting


Bitterly divided Owari Province, as of September 1551

Our situation at after taking the mantle off poor old father Oda Nobuhide is abysmal. The four castles of upper Owari are spreaded among relatives and in a state of disunion, with myself having only Nagoya Castle. The Imagawa occupy the remaining two castles in lower Owari. Our gold income and rice yield are both poor, and with only 3700 soldiers we won't last long if the Imagawa attack us. Even some of my own retainers are not as loyal as I would like, especially those who haven't liked me doing that whole "throwing the incense at the coffin" thing at my Dad's funeral. If we don't pacify them we risk losing some to our rivals, or worse them being "convinced" not to participate in battle or even turn against us in the middle of the battle.

The good news is, we are allied with my brother Nobuyuki (not for long though), and I am married to Kichô, the daughter of oil-peddler, turned samurai retainer, turned usurper head honcho of Mino, turned Pit Viper, Saitô Dosan. This secure the Northern frontier from Owari. Plus, we have a lot of very good retainers.

First things first, I recruit four new retainers : Hashisuka Koroku; Yasuke, my faithful old African slave; Yagyû Hyôgonosuke, the famous sword-teacher; and Takigawa Masushige. Its costs me around 1000 gold pieces, but it builds me an even nicer pool of retainers (and that slave is a killer Japanese Django in the game).

Early in April I've send Takigawa Masushige and Ban Naomasa to "survey" the castles Kiyosu and Inuyama for my further operations; they've been back within the month. More long-term, I send Hachisuka Koroku to Odani Castle to increase my relations with Asai Hidemasa and increase trade with the Asai clan. This, however, costs me a good 600 gold pieces a month. Hideously expensive right now... but I can sell some rice if the selling price's good enough to make ends meet. Finally, I give a sword to that flunk Sakuma Nobumori, to increase his loyalty. I cannot afford any retainers with bad faith.

I personally take the role as Administrator of Nagoya Castle, as Nobunaga has the bestest POL stats so far, and I begin developping the rice output until September; the logic being that harvest is due this September, so I wish to upgrade output ASAP to sell the excess rice until I feel strong enough to attack Kiyosu. In the same vein I build a village headman inside one of my paddies which is developed enough to be improved, so as to increase the yield of its immediately surrounding paddies. Finally, I order Hirate Masahide to improve the roads between Nagoya and the Tokaido highway, and Niwa Nagahide to do the same between Nagoya and Kiyosu. This costs me ALL my treasury, thus forcing to sell 3940 bushels of rice for at 1 gold piece per bushel, which is extorsion.

In other "international" news, reaching September 1551 the infamous Sue Harukata from Suo province heads a putsch inside the Ouchi clan, drives the bumbling fool Ouchi Yoshitaka to suicide, and takes effective control giving "guidance" to his friend Ouchi Yoshinaga at the head of the clan. This doesn't bode well... but it's so far away so who gives a fuck?

Harvest arrives. We gain 4032 bushels of rice, while our Kokujin allies send us 1194 gold pieces as tribute. (More on that later).


Our budget sheets as of September 1551. Income on the left, spendings on the right.

[Razgovory]

Question:  Can you read Japanese?

[Drakken]

Question:  Can you read Japanese?

Hai.

[The Brain]

Interesting. Keep it up!

[Drakken]

September 1551 - March 1552 - Moving the desk to the Head Office Part I

Now that our improvements in our rice production has payed off somewhat, we have sufficent food supply to actively prepare us moving out to settle Nobunaga, the rightful Oda heir, back at the main, ancestral castle at Kiyosu. For that, we need troops (and also, tanegashimas).

One big additional use of increasing our development in Food production is that it allows us to increase the amount of Soldiers we can hold at Nagoya. Those two stats are intimately linked by design; if your Rice output is relatively low, the number of soldiers you can billet in your castle with be limited. However, right now with the current development of Nagoya castle we can go push up the drafting of troops, which we will be doing for the next months until we reach between 4500-5000 troops. So Nobunaga himself will be put to the task of working his smooth ways to develop our Draft rating, which will increase the max number of troopss in Nagoya.


Nobunaga raising the support amount to 3880 troops. More will come to arms soon...

Why 5000? Because from our recent reconnaissance around Kiyosu and Inuyama, the Kiyosu-Oda clan can muster right now around 2800 in total from both castles. Kiyosu's defence endurance lies at around 1000, but Inuyama 4000! To besiege with inflicting damage to the besieged's morale, the amount of soldiers besieging must be equal or superior to the amount of soldiers inside the castle PLUS the endurance of the castle. Otherwise, nothing will happen... and the enemy might even sortie! So Inuyama will require at least 5000 (plus allies) and 1000 rifles and horses. I plan that we will be ready to advance (with enough rifles and suppport) by Spring 1552.

As Nobunaga increases the Draft rating its reaches a level where I may build a new building mprovement, this time in a Troop zone (all castles have a number of zones of either Gold, Food, or Troops; which can be developed, improved, and with more population zoned.) I decide to build a Shrine to the memory of our illustrous father Nobuhide in Nagoya. Shrines improve a castle host's siege capability, but even more important it increases the maximum Order of its castle, here from 60 to 62. Order works as a multiplier for calculating troops... and the more troops we have, the better.

Additionally, I try to create a divide amont the mostly unloyal officers at Kiyosu to create wedges to exploit in battle. One of them, Hachiya Yoritaka, seems to have a very low Loyalty rating (indicated in Red). I send Takigawa Kazumasu to approach Yoritaka and scheme with him. If Yoritaka's Disloyalty rating grows high enough (max 100) and his Loyalty remains Red, I can make his troops turn-coat or have him even open the gates at Kiyosu! Much worth the expenses to be tried...


Three plots available to me and Yoritaka when time is right... Ignore orders; Turn coat and fight along my side;  Defect and join my side.

Now that trade relations have been established with the Asai I call back Koroku to send him to meet up the insignificant Nagano clan in Northern Ise, and send Hirate Masahide to pay a curteous visit to my father-in-law Saito Dosan. His help might be needed when we drive all the way to Inuyama.

To be continued later tonight...


Guess who's coming to bear my sandals this Spring...?

[Drakken]

March - August 1552 - Moving the desk to the Head Office Part II

Reaching March 1552 my Human Resource department adds two new recruits to my motley crew : Maeda Toshihisa, the older brother of Maeda Toshiie, and my favourite peasant sandal-bearer Tokichiro Hideyoshi, who will become the Taikô, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. But right now, he starts at the lowest echelon as one of my (talented) retainers of the Oda Clan in Nagoya. With his stats, Hideyoshi has also a knack for "interpersonal relationships and networking", and so will be quite useful to convince other retainers to work with us... or at least not against us.

Given that Kazumasu is working so well on Hachiya Yoritaka, I set the date of our "resettlement" in Kiyosu Castle on April 1552. In the meantime, I set Koroku on his way to the mountains of Kai to meet with the famous Takeda Harunobu (known as Shingen). His attitude towards us seems rather positive, so I feel that we'll reach a trade agreement within a few months and boost even more our monthly trade income. Also, I sell some rice from our granaries and set to improve the recently-built Nagoya Shrine in honour to my father Nobuhide, making it a Hachiman Shrine to honor him as a God of War! This will boost the besieging ability of Nagoya's troops even more, and increase our Max Order at 65! Construction will take 23 days; after then he will bring us fortune in reclaiming his domain and cleaning his house.



In April, we finally begin to march: Teki wa Kiyosu ni ari! I mobilize 75% of Nagoya's host, 3500 men with 900 horses and 900 muskets, and set to move on Kiyosu Castle. I also spring the plot I've been scheming with Hachiya Yoritaka, and order him to turn his coat and fight along my side for the next three months!



I take personal control of the army, with my sandal-bearer and my African slave as lieutenants. Each army unit can have as much as three officers, but at least one Commander is required. I want to dish out as much damage as possible with the least casualties, so I go in with the iron fist : Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and my personal scary black dude bodyguard.

The siege of Kiyosu begins quickly; they send Inoe Sadamune with 1000 troops to attempt to harass us, but our allies from the local Nagashima kokujin send us 1200 troops in reinforcements as well. Just as Sadamune retreats Oda Nobutomo attempts a quick sortie, but is rapidly fended off. Another raid by Sadamune to slow us down gets easily swiped, and by June 1552 Kiyosu falls after a quick siege of two months. Hei! Hei! Hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! 



My uncle Nobutomo, who leads the Kiyosu branch of the Clan, has been captured in the aftermath of the siege. I have the choice to free the him, or... 



I push the humiliation further, by writing his own death poem : No family of mine, who turns against me, remains a friend of mine. Let it sink in his mind as he makes the first cut into his belly button...

The rest have fled to Inuyama Castle. Kanamori Nagachika who was a mere ronin at the start of the game has taken over the clan leadership, setting aside my clan members, and use MY crest with the now-named Kanamori clan! The pig! This is even more insulting to the memory of my father : A ronin, a no-name wanderer becomes an usurper, taking over the House and puppeting my clanmates! Gekokujo indeed. There will be blood, he will not be spared either. By this winter Inuyama will have fallen and I will have that hare-lip impudent slit his belly with a bamboo sword!

Saru, bring me my Sennari water gourd! 

For now, I set my headquarters in Kiyosu where it should belong and start moving in my retainers. I leave my brother Nobuhiro as Lord of Nagoya Castle, with Niwa Nagahide, Mori Yoshinari, and Hachiya Yoritaka, who made the smart choice to help us, staying behind to help govern and develop the castle town. The first priority for Nagoya Castle is to become a wealthy source of income to back our expansion. The more Gold we have, the better. I feel I might even petition the court in Kyoto for a title...

In more ominous news, Takeda Harunobu of Kai, Hojo Ujiyasu of Musashi, and our "friendly" neighbor Imagawa Yoshimoto have concluded a tripartite marriage alliance. That leaves the Imagawa clan free hands on their borders to make a move soon toward Kyoto... only me can stop them, if they should ever come. At least we receive some good news : Yoshimoto's old mentor, the old retainer Taigen Sessai, a genial councillor of his own, has departed this world for the void of the Buddha. One less nail to worry about.

[Drakken]

I'm reading on Kanamori Nagachika... that curr descends, branching by the Toki Clan, from the Seiwa Genji line; the same line as the Minamoto shoguns of the Kamakura era.

That won't save him. But I'll make certain the dull blade of the wooden sword will be of a very, very old tree.

[Drakken]

August 1552 - March 1553 - Cleaning the House, kabukimono-style

I am not waiting on Kanamori Nagachika to finish his party with his geisha and celebrate sitting on his ill-gotten gains. As soon as the harvest season comes and this year's rice enters our granaries, I set march on Inuyama Castle.

The main army will leave from Kiyosu with 4500 men led by myself, while Niwa Nagahide and Mori Yoshinari will take another route to flank them by the southwest. With 5500 men it should be sufficient to lay siege to the Castle and bring it down.



Inoe Sadamune puts a token resistance outside the gates, annihilated within days before retreating inside the castle keep. With more than 3 months of supply left we have ample food to keep the siege, and no help is forthcoming. I predict that before the coming of winter Inuyama will be mine. In preparation we send Murai Sadakatsu, who is a talented administrator, to improve the road network between Kiyosu and Inuyama.

Finally, in November 1552 Inuyama surrenders... and both the Kiyosu-Oda scions and its Kanamori usurper are now within my hands.


It will take a while to clean this mess...

Kanamori Nagachika is made to slit his belly with a wooden sword made of the oldest tree in the province, in front of all my retainers drinking sake while he quiver on the floor, while Oda Nobukiyo and my uncle Oda Nobuyasu are simply put to the sword for being both traitors and woefully inadequate at being traitors. Only Iio Sadamune is offered a position among my retainers, which he gracefully bow to accept, while the rest are simply dismissed, to be banished from Owari. I give Inuyama to my uncle Nobumitsu, with Takigawa Kazumasu, Sassa Narimasa, and Murai Sadakatsu as retainers.

No sooner the gates to the inner keep are surrendered and the heads of Nagachika, Nobukiyo, and Nobuyasu are presented to me in a porcelain bowl, a messenger arrives in haste from Kiyosu... My brother Oda Nobuyuki in Suemori Castle, driven by my father's old advisors Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada (and in real life, my own mother!!!), has decided to break his alliance and all relations with me. Suemori Castle is now mine, all I need to do is to swipe it in my hands.

I return quickly to Kiyosu to regroup, and immediately launch the final offensive to quell any last resistance to my rule from within my own family with my A-Team (A is for ashigaru) of Nobunaga, Hideyoshi (to carry the sennari gourd), and Yasuke (to scare the hell out of them). It seems to have worked! both Katsuie and Hidesada don't put a defence on the field and decided to hole themselves up inside the castle. The siege lasts a mere month. Just after New Year's Day 1553 Suemori falls. Shibata Katsuie makes his submission and gives me my brother without shedding a drop of blood. The Oda Clan stands now united under the rightful heir : Oda Nobunaga.


If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally.

I decide to be merciful : Only Nobuyuki will be executed. I leave Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada at Suemori and decide to set my own wife, Kichô, as Lady of Suemori Castle accompanied with Inoe Sadamune. All the castellans in northern Owari are now closely linked to me, either by blood or by marriage. For good measure I reward Katsuie for his good sense of going where the wind blows; I give him one of my most prized swords as a gift for his newfound loyalty.

Soon after coming back to Kiyosu, Hirate Masahide comes to annoy me with unsollicited advice again, this time not to abuse my newly-found power after successfully reuniting all my father's domain under my lordship. As usual, I told the old fool to piss off.

Then a few days after, I received a letter from one of his personal assistants, by Masahide's own hand. In it he severely remonstrates me for being a whiny little cunt, a canterkerous young sod, a fool who stupidly dressed in kabukimono (which would be in Sengoku like calling him a douchebag from Jersey Shore  today). He hates my guts and my lack of consideration so much, he carries it to heart so bad, that he tenders me his resignation and slits his own belly to teach me a lesson! Damn... he sure meant business.


Those little yellow men... don't wait upon formalities, do they.

Even worse, Imagawa Yoshimoto has decided that me uniting half of Owari has become a threat on his western frontier, especially on Marune and Kutsukake castles which control Owari's southern peninsula. I stand now in the way between his capital, Sunpu, and taking the Imperial capital and setting his flags over the Seta bridge.

We have to be ready, but our cash supplies are woefully lacking and our 11000 men (with now four castles) won't stand in front of the 27,000 men the Imagawa can muster from their three provinces. Thus I set onto a program to significantly increase our revenues throughout the province. We need rifles, we need fresh horses, we need stronger castles and more rice in our granaries. Plus, we need some national recognition and prestige! I plan to send an envoy to the Imperial court to announce that I, Oda Nobunaga, really is governor (shugo) of Owari Province in title as much as fact now, and that soon enough I will be ready to make a little "contribution" to the Imperial coffers... in exchange for a suitable rank, of course.

Now a map on the present situation in central Japan by March 1553. Up north the Nagao clan is cleaving its way inside Etchu. If they succeeds in crushing the Jinbo clan's remnants in that last castle the province is to be splitted between Nagao Kagetora (the future Uesugi Kenshin) and the Ikko-Ikki sect of Honganji in Kaga!

[jimmy olsen]

You're doing well.

[Josquius]

I tried to play this once but my Japanese was too awful. Looks cool.

[The Brain]

I can't wait for the English version.

Edit: of the game! It wasn't a comment on your writing skills, Drakken.

[Drakken]

I tried to play this once but my Japanese was too awful. Looks cool.

If it can console you, you are not alone. Even among native Japanese some have trouble with it.

Thank God I have a New Nelson kanji dictionary.

[Drakken]

March 1553 - October 1554 - Kiyosu Gold Coin Counting

Okey, this one will be a really slow and boring one... yet a necessary one. To trigger the event for the battle of Okehazama I need only to besiege Marune Castle. I could do it right now! However, I am not in a hurry, and frankly the state of my affairs are in dire need of attendance. Even the Saito clan right now is stronger than me (but not by a lot).

No battle, no action, as of yet. It's spreadsheet time! From Nagoya to Kiyosu to Gifu all the way to Kyoto, sometimes we have to stop for a while and sow earth to reap gold. This is one of these stops.

1553-1554 is mostly about consolidating my domain in northern Owari, especially financially and in numbers of muskets: Developing my castle towns as much as possible to increase my treasury, with occasionally boosting my Draft zones in Inuyama and Suemori where they were left dubiously wanting by the previous incompetent-Oda branches' administration. With the leftovers in my treasure I purchase as few muskets as I can afford, slowly rebuilding my armory. In Nagoya I build another improvement in a Economy zone: A Tea House, which boosts my Gold rating and my Creativity slightly (more on that below). Same in Inuyama, where the presence of an "Attraction Landmark" in the vicinity makes a good place for tourism and for a Post Station, significantly boosting the castle town's economic rating AND its monthly population increase.

[Explanation about Resources : Castles gets assigned either none or a random number of Resources of different types. Most of these are left undiscovered at the start. When a castle is newly conquered, you can assign a retainer to survey it, which can uncover Resources, Gold or Silver Mines, secret routes, or more often than not nothing at all. Depending on the type of zone (Economy, Agriculture, or Draft), having resources around your castle allows the building of speciality buildings. In this present case after taking Inuyama Castle I immediately assigned Hideyoshi to survey it, and he uncovered the resource "Attraction landmark" inside a developed Economy zone. This made available to choice to to build a Posting Station, which is a single-tier improvement. Had it been a Draft zone, I would have been able to build a "Large Garden" instead.]


Resources are visible on the map as well... here is the "landmark", which appears like a pagoda temple.

March 1553, two ronin come into Nagoya Castle for a job application. One of them is the famous Maeda Toshiie. Younger brother of Maeda Toshihisa, like Hideyoshi he is a samurai promised to a very, very bright future (seriously read on him, or better still watch the jidai geki series "Toshiie to Matsu"). I immediately recruit him, and leave him to Nagoya to serve under my brother Nobuhiro. The other one is a mediocre prospect with average stats, so I politely wish him good luck in his future endeavors.

Kiyosu has  three Economy zones developed from the start, all clustered near one another. With the right improvements this will allow Kiyosu to morph into one of the richest castle towns in all of Japan.


Kiyosu's current zoning configuration.

My plan here is simple:  Improve each of these three clustered zones with Farm Markets (which significantly improve the rating of an Economy zone), then when allowed improving those to their 2nd tier, to "Merchant Guilds" (which improve the rating of the Economy zone AND the immediate Economy or Agriculture surrounding zones' rating). Thus their bonuses will overlap one another - plus with Merchant Guilds the Agriculture zone right above two of them. By late 1554, after constant monthly investments ordered by Nobunaga to improve the economy of Kiyosu all these improvements have been built in all three zones. Kiyosu is now already a booming, thriving commercial city.


Kiyosu castle town's Economy zones after building ALL these improvements. Kiyosu is already above 3600 in Economy rating, which is the highest in Japan right now! And yes, the little black lines on the map are people walking around the city.

With more money now available, I decide to start improving the castle itself which has been until now a bare wooden hut with a moat over a hill. I commission Maeda Toshihisa to build a two-story wooden inner keep and earth walls to improve the perimeter and increase its garrison.

In April 1553, my daddy-in-law, the Pit Viper of Mino Saito Dosan himself, pays a suprise visit to the so-called "Fool of Owari" who succesfully united a long divided clan. They meet in Shotoku-ji, midway on the highway between Mino and Owari.


Guess who's coming to diner tonight?

Like all father-in-laws he expected to meet a no-good, deadbeat stepson... and instead he leaves for Mino convinced that this son-in-law of is will, one day, unite this land under his rule... and that he is one he must not be fucked with. So much so, that in his will Saito Dosan will name his son-in-law heir to Mino Province after his death, which would have tremendous consequences for the future of Japan. But we are not there yet...

Later that July we receive another surprise guest, this time Lord Nagano Tanefuji, our neighbor of Northern Ise. He asks for a pact between our two clans for a length of 12 months.



Surely he must fear my newfound strength... or want to rely on it to defend himself. I have no hostile intentions toward Ise... at least not yet, so I accept if only to preserve our trade interests and a rather inoffensive tampon-state at our Western border, beyond Nagashima.  My eyes are focused east...

All is not rosy, however. My decision to concentrate on domestic issues has been perceived as too passive and has left doubts among some of my retainers who are eager for battle and cutting enemies' heads for glory and reward. In October 1553 Inoe Sadamune, who had fought us and we had mercifully spared, defects to the Kitabatake clan in southern Ise. I send Mori Yoshinari from Nagoya to Suemori to replace him.


"Screw you Nobunaga. I'm going to Ise. Kitabatake-dono is the one to unite this Realm, yo."

However, that defection is a red flag that something must be done. Inoe Sadamune was superfluous and rather expendable; others of my wavering retainers are not. I regularily send my intermediaries to visit merchants guilds all over my domain. I sell rice, a LOT of rice to purchase all valuable items that are made available, so I can give them as rewards for their loyalty : a horse saddle to Maeda Toshiie, a warhorse to my slave Yasuke, a precious parchemin to Hayashi Hidesada, and a teapot to Niwa Nagahide. I sold so much rice, that by the harvest of 1553 I had not enough rice to feel all my troops! Had the Imagawa attacked, then and there, we would have been in dire straits. Thankfully fall arrived, and our granaries were full again.

My income now well within profit, I decide to proclaim a new policy under my vermillion seal.


Also Sprach Oda Nobunaga.

I select "Tenmasei" (highlighted above on the pic, which I roughly translate by Post Riders System). It increases my trade income from other provinces and makes it easier for me to increase Economy, at the expense of making Agriculture harder to increase and a 520 gold monthly costs, which now I can easily afford. It also gives me a bonus of +5 Max Order in all my castles.

That policy is available to everyone who has the means, but most policies are restricted by the Creativity rating of the clan, depending on their Creativity category. Policies can also be revoked at any time.

[Explanation on Creativity : Creativity lies between 0 and 1000. It can increase or decrease, depending on buildings, the Doctrine stance of retainers under me, and some types of actions) : 0-299 are deemed Conservative clans, 300-699 are Moderate, and 700+ are Creative. Each officer has a personal Doctrine stance, and mismatches can lead to more difficult relationships. In the Oda clan most famous retainers (and Nobunaga himself) are of Creative stance, so I wish to maintain my Creativity as high as possible. More powerful policies require higher monthly costs AND even higher Creativity, sometimes even having a policy already pre-selected. Of course, all costs add up, and policies can give a real edge on the battlefield even to mediocre clans.]

To increase the benefits of this policy, I send Hayashi Hidesada to Southern Ise to establish more trade relations with the Kitabatake clan (despite welcoming Inoe Sadamune; I will keep this in mind for later), then with the warrior monks at Ishiyama Honganji (where lies Osaka today). The more profitable relations we have, the more income will enter through our customs.

Hideyoshi presents the monthly budget sheets of the Oda clan at the council meeting of October 1554.



By October 1554 I finally see the fruits of my domestic efforts and my economy policies; at harvest in September 1553, my tax collectors had brought me around 3300 gold pieces in both income and tributes; one year later, that amount has reached nearly 5700 gold pieces (with over 10000 bushels harvested)!

The name of Oda Nobunaga travels now fast throughout the Realm. We need to send an envoy to the Imperial Court in Kyoto to request recognition of our fame and efforts to bring order and prosperity in Owari. I sent good'ole Hachisuka Koroku, now a seasoned diplomat, to Kyoto to meet with various kuge courtiers and lobby for a rank, in exchange for a contribution to the Imperial treasury which are always empty. That, however, took months; nobles in Kyoto are slowwwwwww to win over! That said Koroku is good, so by October 1554 he returns with good news: The Emperor (through his emissaries of course) is ready to hear my humble request...