Total War: Shogun 2 Fall of

the Samurai Guide

Ver 1.0.2

Author: Allan Curtis

Welcome to my guide to Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai. In these pages you’ll find a wealth of
information about the game, how to use every unit, tactics to consider during battle and
everything you need to know to win at FOTS land battles.

This guide was written entirely by me, Allan Curtis. If this guide has helped you I would
appreciate you leaving a positive review on Amazon. If you found a mistake in this guide
please contact me at Proudnerd255@gmail.com so I can correct it. Please don’t flippantly
leave poor user reviews. I spend untold hours making guides and selling them for a fraction
of the cost of commercial ones like Primaguides. I would like a chance to fix any problems so
I can improve my work!

Enjoy the guide and good luck in battle!

Contents
Glossary ................................................................................................................................................... 3
General tips ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Morale ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
 Positive Morale Effects ....................................................................................................................... 8
Negative morale effects ...................................................................................................................... 9
Veterancy .............................................................................................................................................. 11
Unit Abilities .......................................................................................................................................... 12
Bows ...................................................................................................................................................... 17
Line Infantry .......................................................................................................................................... 19
Marines ................................................................................................................................................. 25
Matchlock ............................................................................................................................................. 26
Skirmishers ............................................................................................................................................ 28
Melee Troops ........................................................................................................................................ 29
Swordsmen ....................................................................................................................................... 31
Spearmen .......................................................................................................................................... 33
Ninja ...................................................................................................................................................... 35
Ranged Cavalry...................................................................................................................................... 37
Melee Cavalry ....................................................................................................................................... 39
Heroes ................................................................................................................................................... 41
Generals ................................................................................................................................................ 42
Artillery ................................................................................................................................................. 44
Credits ................................................................................................................................................... 46
Glossary

Flank: The sides of a unit. Also a verb meaning to attack a unit in the flank.

Kachi: a name given to traditional foot units like Katana troops. It means “Foot Samurai”.

Ki: a name given to cavalry units that use traditional weapons. Probably a shorthand version
of Kiba (horseman) or Kibatai (cavalry).

Routers: Fleeing enemy soldiers. You’ll usually want to kill these.

General tips

Remember that gunpowder ignores armour. It doesn’t matter what troops you’re using
you’ll still take the same number of causalities from gunpowder all other things being equal.
A unit’s armour has little to no effect on missiles except for arrows.

Remember that as long as a unit isn’t completely destroyed or takes over 95% causalities it
will replenish its soldiers for free. Thus if you see a unit taking a serious pounding and it only
has a few soldiers left, withdraw it from battle so you won’t have to pay for a new unit if it is
destroyed.

When an enemy unit has taken serious causalities and is down to 50 or so men remaining
switch targets to a unit with more men. If you keep firing at a small group of soldiers like
that more of your shots would miss than if you were firing at a full unit.

Be aware that just because a bullet misses the unit it was aimed at doesn’t mean it won’t hit
something else. Bullets are only stopped if they actually hit something or they reach their
maximum range. A unit of spearmen just behind musketeers being shot could have soldiers
killed by wayward shots and even your general can suffer from bullets that miss line infantry
he’s behind, killing his bodyguard instead. It’s best not to keep units you care about close
behind units you expect are going to take a pounding.

Don’t be a in a rush to get to the best units in the game. Basic units of spearmen and line
infantry can do most of the heavy lifting in any army and fancy, expensive Shogotai melee
troops die just as easily to bullets as basic spearmen.

Remember that melee forces can react much more quickly to changing battlefields than
firearm units. Melee troops don’t need to line up or reload and are simple to use. If you
need something defended or distracted right now use melee troops.

Know what units are best at. Don’t send units with superior shooting stats into melee if you
have more expendable or better melee units in your army. Likewise, don’t leave strong
melee line infantry in a wasteful ranged fight where they will suffer. This guide helps you
with just that.
Hills

Take full advantage of hills. Hills block gunfire since firearm units can’t arc their shots over
the hill. Parking troops on the side of the hill prevents anyone on the other side from
shooting at them. The enemy is forced to march over the hill to get your troops in their line
of sight. This means that melee troops can be sheltered until the enemy is very close and
then charge into them as they crest the hill without having to expose themselves to fire and
that gun units can get the first volley in against enemies who march over the hill before they
get a chance to halt and fire back.

Archers can fire over hills with no problems, so it’s possible to leave archers on the side of a
hill and have them fire at the enemy, who won’t be able to shoot back. This can be
extremely effective.

Hills also tire troops out who have to climb them so, if you can, make the enemy climb uphill
before attacking your men. This really only matters if using melee troops, as gun armed
troops aren’t affected very much by fatigue. Charging downhill is more devastating so attack
down hills when possible.
Forests

Forests provide a hiding place for any units besides the general and artillery, neither of
which can hide. This lets you conceal troops from missiles as the enemy must be able to see
your troops to order his men to attack. Even if you men are seen, forests still provide cover
from incoming fire and units in forests should take fewer casualties from missiles. Thus it is
good to keep melee forces safely inside the forest where they will be safe from the majority
of enemy fire. This can help entice the enemy to charge into the forest after your melee
troops, where they can be easily sliced up.

Cavalry suffer major penalties from fighting in forests, so much so that they are nearly
useless in such terrain, you should never send cavalry into a melee in a forest.
Siege Defence

Defending during a siege is pretty easy if you have the right troops. Ideally you want a few
units of line infantry to shoot from the walls to thin out enemies before they get into your
city.

Make sure to aim for enemy melee troops, as these are the threats. Enemy ranged infantry
will often stand outside and attempt to shoot back at the line infantry on your walls and will
be cut to pieces by your men as the wall will protect them.

You also need a fairly large amount of melee units. 6 or so strong melee units like Katana or
Yari Kachi is ideal. Levy Spearmen might do in a pinch, but they may not be strong enough to
fight off enemy melee troops. Use these melee troops to meet enemies at the top of the
walls. It is imperative that you meet the enemy at the top of the walls before they get too
many men into your city, as this way you catch them outnumbered and the enemy can’t do
anything about it since troops need a few seconds to reach the top of the wall in sufficient
numbers to fight back effectively.

If you keep killing men as they reach the top of the walls, there is little the enemy can do
but be crushed. You should pull your missile infantry away from the walls when enemies
reach the top so they aren’t slaughtered in melee.
The artillery in the distance can’t hit any of the men in this picture!

If the enemy has artillery, a very useful tactic is to position units you want to keep out of the
fire behind the central keep in the city, keeping it between them and the artillery This blocks
any artillery fire and the artillery will stop even trying to shoot at them. This is very useful to
stop your general being killed off.

Fatigue

As a unit moves and fights it becomes tired. Fatigue affects unit movement speed and
morale and probably melee skills, although I am uncertain of this. Missile units aren’t really
affected by fatigue much. Since all their fighting is done from a distance it doesn’t really
matter so much if they are exhausted, since it’s really just about standing there and
shooting, rather than swinging a heavy weapon around.

Melee forces are the ones who suffer the most from fatigue. Not only are they constantly
moving, they need to charge enemies, which tires them further and their morale is often
tested at the best of times, since they spend much of their time being peppered with bullets
and are often right in the thick of the fighting.

The levels of fatigue are Fresh, Winded, Tired, Very Tired and Exhausted. Units slow
noticeably at very tired and at exhausted their morale is affected and they slow down
further still. When melee units become very tired you should let them rest as soon as
possible. Low morale units like levy should be rested especially, as the morale penalty is
quite substantial for them.
Morale

Morale represents a unit’s willingness to fight. It is raised by being led by a good general,
researched technology, unit experience and succeeding in battles. Morale is lowered by a
bad general and some general traits, battlefield stresses like causalities and certain types of
attack such as fire based ones and the death of your general among other things

There are seven states of morale: Eager, Confident, Steady, Shaken, Wavering, Broken and
Shattered.

Every state above broken keeps you in control of the unit and it will fight and move as
normal. Once morale dips too low from negative morale effects, the unit breaks; the unit
runs away, becomes uncontrollable and will continue running until their morale recovers
enough that they rally and become controllable again. Units that rally become controllable
again and will fight as normal, but their morale often is still a bit fragile, so be careful with
them or they may rout again. Usually a broken unit will rally once they are far enough away
from the enemy and aren’t being shot.

If a unit is broken badly enough, say the final thing that pushes them over the edge is
something big, like a lot of causalities at once or heavy artillery fire, the unit may shatter.
Shattered units will never rally; they are fleeing for their lives and play no further part in the
battle.

Positive Morale Effects

Winning current combat: Units that are winning their current fight against a unit get a
morale boost as long as they are considered winning. Mouse over the unit in melee to see if
it is considered winning or not. If a unit is shooting an enemy who isn’t firing back that is still
considered combat and they will be wining. The boost from winning combat is high and
units will rarely rout while actually winning a fight.

Charging: A unit in the act of charging another, but yet to make contact gains a high morale
bonus. This makes charges hard to break with gunfire before they hit home.

Inspired by nearby unit: Khetei, Azure Dragons, Samurai Heroes and some elite units can
inspire units around them, giving them a morale boost. Make sure you keep inspiring units
near the middle of your formation so you can affect as many units as possible.

Routing enemies: a unit that can see fleeing enemies gains a bonus.

General’s Rally: The general’s Rally ability gives nearby units a big boost. As long as they are
within his circle of influence, there is no limit to how many units you can affect with Rally.
This is a great way to shore up wavering units.
General’s influence: Even if the general doesn’t use Rally, just his mere presence close to a
unit will boost their morale by a lot. Whenever you’re trying to take on tough enemies with
inferior troops try to keep your general right behind them and they will fight for much
longer.

Fortifications: A unit inside a castle town during a siege defence is nearly unrountable. They
have very high morale and will fight to the last man to defend their town. This means you
should almost always keep your troops inside the fort when you’re attacked as your troop’s
nearly limitless, morale will often let them outlast panicked enemies.

Superior local force: an army that greatly outnumbers their enemy will get this tag on every
unit in their army.

Secure flanks: if a unit has allied units on both sides of it protecting their flanks they will get
a morale bonus. This bonus is why you should put lower morale troops like levy in the
middle of your line as they can gain support from surrounding units. Units on your extreme,
flanks don’t get this bonus, so put your tougher, high morale units there if you expect
trouble.

Negative morale effects

Losing combat: Units being defeated in battle suffer lowered morale. Note that this means
the combat they are personally involved in, not the overall battle. Sometimes this status
appears and disappears during the ebb and flow of combat, but only if the unit naturally has
very low morale or has taken serious causalities will this rout them alone.

Under fire: Units under fire take a minor morale penalty. Note that even if the incoming fire
isn’t killing anyone it still affects their morale.

Under artillery fire: units that are hit by artillery suffer a pretty major morale drop. The
more causalities the attack inflicts, the bigger the morale drop will be. Note that even if an
artillery strike doesn’t kill anyone, but still hits the unit it will still lower morale.

Fleeing units: Other units routing tends to lower the morale of those who are still fighting.
This is one of the most common causes of mass routs where your entire army flees. It is
important to not let a unit rout when using low morale troops like Levy, as their morale is
not up to seeing their comrades flee.

Threatened flanks: if an enemy is on a unit’s flank, even if they haven’t attacked but are just
there it will lower your troop’s morale.

Dead general: the death of a general is what decides a lot of battles in FOTS. The side who
loses the general suffers a huge, army wide morale drop, usually enough to rout pretty
much every unit on that side. Even Samurai will usually rout unless they are already wining
their current combat. You should always go after the enemy general if you see an
opportunity as he is weak and will die easily if he is caught in melee. At the same time you
must protect your own general and constantly know where he is and what he’s doing.
Anything from errant musket fire to lucky artillery could put a quick end to the battle if you
aren’t careful.
Veterancy

As a unit fights and survives battle it gains experience which boosts most stats. Melee and
ranged attacks are boosted, as is morale and defence. Veterancy is shown on the banner a
unit carries. Veterancy has a huge effect on combat; the stat boosts it provided makes units
much more effective and a few levels of veterancy will let them wipe out no veterancy
versions of themselves or units that would normally counter them with little causalities. This
means that a unit of Levy Spearmen will be able to kill other Levy Spearmen with nearly no
loses. Yari Samurai that are experienced enough can cut down Katana Samurai and so on.
You should always keep your veteran units safe and let the noob troops die in their place.
Keeping veteran units in Shogun 2 tends to be fairly easy if you keep then away from heavy
melee. If they are taking too many losses from gunfire it’s easy to just pull them away from
the battle. Units never lose veterancy even if there are only a few men left, so don’t worry
about letting them replenish. Only if you’re careless enough to let a unit get completely
killed will you lose veteran troops.
Unit Abilities

Most units in Shogun 2 have a special ability, from a different formation to boosting another
unit. Some have more than one.

Kneel Fire

A hail of pure, leaden death

Kneel Fire is used by all types of line infantry, not levy or sharpshooters. It causes the first
rank of the unit to kneel while shooting so the second rank can fire over their heads. Unlike
Rank Fire in earlier games this does not cause the unit to fire in ranks; the men simply fire as
fast as possible. Kneel fire is utterly devastating; it doubles the firepower of line infantry and
turns them from pretty good to a truly deadly force than can dismantle melee units before
they even get close and cause terrible damage to matchlocks or levy that try to fight them
head on. Note that the unit cannot move while in kneel fire mode, so only turn it on when
your unit is already positioned and be very careful of flank attacks. Make learning kneel fire
your top priority.

Note that Kneel Fire needs a bit more preparation time than normal shooting and the unit
won’t react as quickly if the threat is in another direction. Turn this ability off if it is
imperative that troops fire at once.
Skirmish

Skirmish is used by Archers and Sharpshooters. When in skirmish mode units will pull back
when enemies get too close to them. They will run backwards until they get a bit of distance
between them and their foes. Skirmish mode is really only useful for cavalry. Infantry
skirmishers tend to be too slow to skirmish well. The best use for skirmish is when you are
using a formation with a few gun or archer units at the front and a large melee force behind
them. Put the missile units on skirmish and they will shoot until the enemy get too close.
They will then duck behind your melee troops and the enemy will hit them instead.

When using skirmish with cavalry it is much more effective. Missile cavalry is very fast and
they should have absolutely no problems keeping away from melee infantry trying to attack
them. It’s best to keep missile cavalry on this setting unless you need them to stay still for
some reason.

Rally

Rally is exclusive to generals. Rally boosts the morale of surrounding units in the general’s
area of influence by a lot, enough to stop units wavering. This is a must use ability when
using inferior troops like levy. If you see a unit wavering, just get close and use this and they
should calm down and fight, at least for a bit longer. You should put your general in the
middle of the battle to get as many units in his influence as possible. Just be careful when
using Rally as you must be close to the unit and this puts your general at risk.

Inspire

Inspire is used by generals and raises the attack and defence of the targeted unit. The unit
will fight better and is unlikely to rout while under its effects. This is always worth using.

Gunbatte

Gunbatte, which translates roughly to “Do your best!” is much like Inspire expect that it also
expands the general’s area of influence, so he can affect a wider area with other abilities.
This is great for rallying troops from a safe distance or just keeping an entire army steady.
It’s used by modern generals.

Banzai

Banzai is used by the elite Shogitai swordsmen and the Shinsengumi Police. It makes them
unroutable for the duration of the skill and raises their attack and defence. This still doesn’t
help them at all against incoming gunfire, but if they are fighting in melee this will give them
a huge boost and cause them to pretty much destroy everything they reach melee with.
Stealth

Stealth is used by Ninja. It lets them stay hidden while running or walking as long as enemy
units are far enough away. It’s useful for slipping unseen into forests, circling around behind
enemies and escaping when the ninja are in danger.

Blinding Grenades

Used by ninja; Blinding Grenades lower just about every important stat an enemy unit has
and also slows them down. It renders any enemy unit a punching bag for the duration of the
effect.

Swooping Crane

The Swooping Crane is used by cavalry archers. In this formation they gallop around in a
small circle, shooting all the while. This constant motion is supposed to help them avoid
incoming fire while still being able to shoot. In practice however this ability is almost never
useful. Cavalry under fire take casualties very quickly and it’s unlikely you’ll want to risk an
expensive unit like bow cavalry getting shot up.
Stand and Fight

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!

This ability is used by traditional generals. When used, the general and his guard dismount
and form a square with the general in the centre. All units in a wide area around him gain
increased melee attack, fire rate and morale, making your army a lot more effective. The
general is entirely vulnerable for the duration of the ability, which lasts until you disable it.
He is sitting still on a seat, surrounded by a very thin square of his bodyguard. He cannot
move while doing this and is entirely at the mercy of incoming missiles. Melee enemies have
few problems reaching him though his guard as well. While this ability is powerful and can
tip the balance in your favour, you must be very careful when using it as sudden artillery fire
a flank attack or anything reaching the general will likely kill him. To move the general again
you need to end the ability, which will require him and his guard to mount their horses
before they can move.

Killing Zone

Killing Zone is used by some artillery. It increases the accuracy of their fire. That’s about it.
No reason to not use it.

Shrapnel Shot

Shrapnel shot is used by modern artillery, Parrot Guns and Armstrong Guns. When used it
fires an area effect shell that damages everything in the area it hits. Fire this at the biggest
concentration of enemies you can find and watch the carnage.
Suppression Fire

Used by all line infantry, suppression fire increases the unit’s rate of fire, but reduces
accuracy. Enemies hit also have their morale lowered and move more slowly. It’s great to
use when enemies are very close since you should be able to get more shots in. It is
amazingly effective against charging melee troops since it slows them down so they take
longer to reach you where they can inflict damage and it wrecks their morale, making it
more likely you’ll break their charge. When enemies are trying to run away from your troops
this is useful for preventing them from escaping as well. It is less effective at maximum
range where too many of your unit’s shots will miss.

Rapid Advance

Rapid Advance is used by Kyoto Police and Yari Kachi. When used the unit runs faster and
does more damage when charging the enemy. It’s a no brainer to use this when your spear
units are closing in on enemies, since the faster they get to the enemy the less time they
spend being shot.

Wedge Formation

Used by melee cavalry, this ability forms your cavalry up into a narrow triangular formation
with a point. A wedge punctures enemy formations better and you’ll often see cavalry
emerge from the rear of the unit as they charge thought them. This can be useful since the
cavalry that reach the rear of the enemy units can attack individual soldiers from behind.
Unfortunately melee cavalry themselves are nearly useless, so this formation won’t be used
much.

Flaming Arrows

Used exclusively by Bow Kachi, Flaming Arrows lower morale and can set fire to buildings
they hit. This can be effective for shooting at fort gates as the fire arrows can set it on fire
from a distance, leading to fewer causalities than if you sent some fodder up close to throw
torches.
Bows

Because sometimes the old ways are the best.

Archers may seem quaint in a game full of rifles and cannons, but they still pack a punch and
have some unique attributes which makes including a few units of bowmen in your armies a
more than enticing prospect.

Unlike bullets, arrows are stopped by armour. This means that more heavily armoured foes
like any Samurai unit can shrug off arrows and will take a lot less causalities than they would
from bullets. You can still kill Samurai with arrows, but it will take a lot longer. This mostly is
a problem when you’re trying to take down Samurai Katana or Yari troops before they reach
melee. If you only have archers you shouldn’t expect them to kill more than a few enemies
before the enemy reach your lines. Against unarmoured line infantry and the like bows are
much deadlier, but they still don’t kill as effectively as bullets. This is never really an issue as
you should always have gunpowder infantry in your armies as well, so you can just get them
to take out the Kachi.

Bows can arc their fire unlike guns. This means you can sit your archers behind you line
infantry and they can fire over the heads of the troops with no problems into the enemies
beyond. This is incredibly useful as you no longer need long unwieldy lines of troops and the
archers are much less vulnerable to melee attackers with the meatshields in front of them.
They can also sit behind hills and fire over them while gun units are unable to fire back at all
until they crest the hill. They have very long range, longer than gun units so they can easily
sit behind your other troops and fire at enemies before they can even shoot back. The only
danger the archers face is the occasional stray bullet meant for the line infantry that hits
them instead. Archers rarely cause friendly fire problems, as their arrows tend to bounce off
allied melee troop’s armour and archer units are highly accurate so there is less chance of
wayward shots hitting allies in the first place.

Archers can’t really replace guns entirely as they lack the raw deadliness that guns have, but
3 or 4 units of them behind your front lines can make a huge difference.
Bows are less deadly than guns however; they produce fewer kills with each volley and they
don’t really get deadlier at close range like guns do. Bowmen also take two turns to train
rather than one, so if you need troops right away guns are still a better option.

Bows really benefit from experience. Since they are often out of the firing line they can
easily rack up very high veterancy and this makes them far more deadly. Always protect
your archers.

Bow Kachi

Melee: 6 Charge: 6 Accuracy: 35 Reload: 50 Defence: 2 Morale: 7

Bow Kachi are pretty well balanced stat wise with good reload and accuracy and just about
tolerable melee. They can defeat line infantry in melee, although they will take serious
losses doing so. Of course if you are using them correctly this shouldn’t matter.
Line Infantry

Doing most of the dying, but also most of the killing.

Line infantry will make up the majority of most armies in Shogun 2, unless you’re building a
force of nothing but traditional units. They have the most varied stats of any troop type in
FOTS, but they almost always have solid accuracy and reload speeds. They tend to be rather
poor in melee and usually will suffer badly at the hands of dedicated melee troops, even
levy spearmen.

When using these troops you want to stay as far back as possible and blast the enemy with
gunfire. Depending on their reload times these units take anywhere from a few seconds to
10-15 seconds to reload their weapon after shooting. The actual time varies from soldier to
soldier in a unit. This means you should never move a unit that hasn’t fully reloaded. There
is no better way to get a unit killed than to run up to an enemy and expect them to shoot,
only to have them begin reloading and spend ages being shot before they can shoot back.
Shogun lacks any way of telling who in a unit has reloaded save zooming in close and seeing
if anyone is still loading their weapons. Line infantry cannot reload on the move, so you
must halt them to allow them to reload. If you interrupt the reloading the men will have to
start from scratch next time, including the animation for opening the gunpowder, so try not
to move them until they are done.

For most of the game you should deploy units of line infantry in as thin a formation of
possible. Only the front rank of men will shoot, so the longer this front rank is the more
bullets you can put into the air. Three ranks is usually a good number. Two makes the unit a
bit too unwieldy and any more will lead to too much wasted firepower.

When you finally research kneel fire you still should keep them in much the same
formations. Two is still the best since kneel fire causes the first two ranks to fire and three is
fine as well. Four is still good enough against less able enemies, but don’t deploy in less than
three if you can help it.
Something that is very important to understand about line infantry is that their angle in
relation to enemies plays a huge part in how devastating they are. The main thing to
remember is that the more towards the centre of their firing arc the enemy is the more
devastating your units fire will be as more men have a good shot at the enemy. If they are
off to the side a bit and at the edge of the firing arc a lot of men in your unit will be either
too far away to shoot at the enemy or at a poor angle so they will often miss. Always try to
line your unit up so as much of the enemy is in their firing arc as possible. Don’t be afraid to
do this even if your unit is being shot at. Just drag out a new formation and your men will
rearrange themselves quickly.

You should deploy line infantry in (surprise) a long line with as many units beside each other
as possible. How you should react to the enemy movements depends on what they are
using.

For melee troops its usually fairly simple if you’re the one with the gun equipped units As
the enemy gets closer and you work out where their troops are going to attack you can
move the flanks of your line inwards to provide withering crossfire. Say the enemy attacks
the centre of your line. Once you are sure they are committed to attacking there, you can
move units that aren’t involved in the melee and arrange them at a 90 degree angle to the
rest of your line that are going to be charged so they can shoot the enemy. If the enemy is
advancing on a narrow front you can also turn your end units inwards at a 45 degree angle.
This lets them shoot at the enemy as well. If you left them where they were they might not
be able to focus all their guns on the enemy.

You should always try to have musket units shoot into melee. This is important if your
troops are outclassed, such as spearmen being attacked by katana using troops. Shooting
into the melee will even up the battle by killing enemies before they even get a chance to
engage your own soldiers. Note that this almost always results in at least a few friendly
causalities, so only use this when you don’t care about losing men. Using more accurate
troops such as line infantry rather than levy will help prevent this as there is more chance
that the troops will hit the enemy they aimed at. Obviously you should only try this from the
side or rear of the melee so your soldiers have a clear view. Trying to shoot from the side
your men attacked from will just get them pelted with gunfire.

Lien infantry get deadlier the closer they are to the enemy. If it is safe to do so move close
before shooting.

Azure Dragons (Aizu)

Melee: 6 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 40 Reload: 35 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

The first of Aizu’s many animal named troops. Despite their powerful sounding name the
Azure Dragons are only slightly better than normal line. Use them in the same way.
Black Tortoise Force (Aizu)

Melee: 4 Charge: 10 Accuracy: 30 Reload: 30 Defence: 2 Morale: 6

The Black Tortoise are nothing special and are identical to the normal Line Infantry that
every faction has. See that unit for details.

Imperial Guard infantry (Imperial only)

Melee: 11 Charge: 20 Accuracy: 65 Reload: 60 Defence: 6 Morale: 12

Imperial Guard are the last word in infantry. With high stats all round, superb morale and an
inspiring presence, the Imperial Guard Infantry will destroy anyone at range and will stay in
battle until they are decimated. They’re very expensive and require a ton of expensive
buildings to recruit, but they will conquer the world for you.

Imperial Infantry (Imperial only)

Melee: 6 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 45 Reload: 55 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

Imperial Infantry are very strong troops, head and shoulders above normal line. They have
excellent shooting skills, but are only average in melee, so you should use them to just shoot
as much as possible and let other troops like spearmen handle the melee. When you learn
Kneel Fire these guys will be your main killers for imperial factions. Sure, Guards are better,
but plain infantry are easier to train and require fewer buildings.

Kihetai (Choshu)

Melee: 10 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 55 Reload: 40 Defence: 5 Morale: 10

Kihetai are elite line infantry and replace Imperial guard Infantry for the Choshu. They are
much better than normal line in every way with high accuracy and fast reloading, but they
pale severely to Imperial Guard infantry and are kind of inferior to plain Imperial Infantry
and this is all that Choshu has. Use Kihetai in much the same way as line. They are expensive
compared to normal line, so make sure you get good use out of them. They are also good on
the flanks, as their morale is high and flanking cavalry won’t rout them as easily. They are
luckily only slightly more expensive than Choshu’s Imperial Infantry, so it’s easy to use a lot
of them to compensate a bit for their late game weakness.
Levy Infantry

Melee: 3 Charge: 8 Accuracy: 10 Reload: 5 Defence: 1 Morale: 4

Levy Infantry are the first musket armed troops you’ll have access to in the campaign. They
are all round pretty poor troops, with very low accuracy, low morale and no melee skill to
speak of. They work tolerably well for shooting down enemy troops that are distracted, but
will lose badly in a head on duel with line infantry or anything stronger. They work much
better when you’re under siege, since they can sit at the top of your walls and spray down
the enemy from the relative safely of your battlements. Keeping them in the fort also guards
against their very low morale and allows them to shoot enemies that make it inside from
close range, compensating for their accuracy somewhat. If you are using Levy away from a
fort, make sure to keep your general right behind them or they will rout in short order. You
should never use Levy without a general in the army, as their morale is too low to stand for
any length of time.

You should use Levy to garrison towns, for battles very early on in the campaign and as
fodder for destroying castle gates and distracting the enemy as they are the cheapest troops
you have. Just keep them far away from cavalry as they are completely useless against
horsemen in melee. As soon as you get your economy going and can start recruiting Line
Infantry you should start phasing out levy as much as possible. They are not cost effective at
all compared to standard line. Even using them as fodder is mostly a waste since you have
other troops that are only slightly more expensive and can do other things as well.

Once Kneel Fire is commonplace levy become completely useless. They are destroyed in
seconds by a few volleys of Kneel Fire using line and become a complete waste of money.

Line Infantry

Melee: 4 Charge: 10 Accuracy: 30 Reload: 30 Defence: 2 Morale: 6

Line Infantry are your mainline troops for most of the campaign. They are pretty accurate
and fire quickly. A few units of them will make a horrible mess of any melee troops. Having
enough line in a battle makes an army of katana and spearmen pretty useless as they will be
shot to bits before they get close enough to fight back. Line are much less able to handle
themselves in melee, so you should keep them well away from anything stronger than
opposing line or Levy Infantry. Use your line as the main “filler” for your army; a solid,
dependable force of men who can do anything required.
Red Bear Infantry

Melee: 6 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 40 Reload: 35 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

The Red Bear are stronger than line infantry with very good gunnery skills for their price.
Stats wise, they are halfway between Line Infantry and Shogunate Infantry. Their morale is
also extremely high for basic line, since these guys are all the sons of samurai and are thus
too proud to break and flee. Their melee is average for line and despite being related to
samurai they are best kept out of it. Red Bears are available from the start of the game and
require no buildings to train, which is a huge, huge advantage in the early game. You can
crank these troops out from the start of a campaign and march them off to devastate the
melee heavy early armies of other factions for the first few turns. Their cost is rather high
for early in the campaign, so make sure to recruit a few units of spearmen to fights other
melee nemeis and keep the Red Bear out of melee. Even though they are pretty good in
melee, you still will get much more mileage out of them if you let them shoot rather than
get whittled down in a melee.

Republican Infantry

Melee: 6 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 45 Reload: 55 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

This infantry is only available if you decide to go it alone in the campaign and become a
republic. They are identical to the Shogun and Imperial infantries and you can be sure you’ll
use plenty trying to fight off the rest of the world after you go independent.

Shogunate Infantry

Melee: 6 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 45 Reload: 55 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

Shogunate Infantry are exactly the same as Imperial Infantry, expect they are used by
Shogun supporting factions. Like the Imperial infantry, they should replace any standard line
infantry as they are much stronger in all ways.

Shogunate Guard Infantry (Shogunate only)

Melee: 11 Charge: 20 Accuracy: 65 Reload: 60 Defence: 6 Morale: 12

Just like Shogunate Infantry, these guys are the same as Imperial Guard Infantry and are just
as deadly.
Shinsengumi Police Force

Melee: 10 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 40 Reload: 35 Defence: 8 Morale: 10

The Shinsengumi are very powerful troops only available to Shogunate supporting factions
they are quite a bit better than normal line at shooting and are very deadly in melee for a
unit you’ll get so early on. They have the Banzai ability which makes them unroutable and
increases their melee skills & charge, so they are very deadly in melee if they get a chance to
enter it. While they should be phased out for the stronger Shogunate infantry for the most
part, keeping a few units of these is still worthwhile as they give you strong melee ability
and they inspire troops around them, which is very useful.

White Bear Infantry (Choshu)

Melee: 6 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 40 Reload: 35 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

The White Bear are just like the Red Bears but are used by a different faction.

White Tiger Infantry (Aizu)

Melee: 6 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 40 Reload: 35 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

Another one.

Vermillion Bird Force (Aizu)

Melee: 8 Charge: 20 Accuracy: 50 Reload: 40 Defence: 6 Morale: 12

The Vermillion is the final unit in the animal unit food chain and are much better than the
others. They have stats that are slightly lower than Shogunate infantry so they still aren’t
that much use, but their very high morale can make them handy.
Marines

Marines are elite foreign troops you obtain by trading with other countries, namely the US,
England and France. After you complete the research you’ll be asked by a random country if
they can establish a trade post in your lands. If you agree and build it you can then recruit
these elite infantry units.

Marines function like line infantry on speed. They reload very quickly, they’re incredibly
accurate, their morale is very high and they are pretty good in melee as well. Each unit
wields breach loading rifles so they reload in a second or two after shooting and they can
use Kneel Fire, giving them a devastating rate of fire. This coupled with their very high
accuracy lets them dismantle anyone that dares to stand against them. Just one unit of
these men can make a huge difference in battle.

You should use marines to shoot as much as possible as they are mostly wasted in melee
since they can dish out so much more damage with their guns.

Infanterie de Marine

Melee: 11 Charge: 20 Accuracy: 75 Reload: 70 Defence: 6 Morale: 12

The French marines have insane reload speed and very high accuracy, the best of the three
foreign units. You should keep them out of melee if possible since they are so expensive and
so skilled at shooting. They are the weakest in melee among the marines and won’t last
against dedicated melee troops.

Royal Marines

Melee: 12 Charge: 20 Accuracy: 70 Reload: 65 Defence: 7 Morale: 12

These marines are similar to the French ones, but with slightly less shooting skill and more
melee skill. They are still too precious to risk in a melee.

United States Marines

Melee: 13 Charge: 20 Accuracy: 65 Reload: 60 Defence: 8 Morale: 12

US Marines are yet another unit of tough troops. They are the strongest in melee and the
worst shooters. They still won’t be beating Katana Samurai, so it’s still best to keep them as
ranged troops.
Matchlock

Sometimes the old ways are the best. But not this time.

An ancient weapon, Matchlocks are used exclusively by the Matchlock Kachi, a unit
recruited from the Traditional Dojo and the only gunpowder using traditional unit. They are
considered skirmishers so they have a smaller unit size than line infantry. Compared to the
more modern guns used by line infantry, matchlocks are slower to reload, have a shorter
range and are less accurate. You need to get very close to shoot with matchlocks and this
does help their aim somewhat. It also leaves them incredibly vulnerable to prepared musket
and bow troops, since the matchlocks need to run into range and will receive a volley or two
from the longer range line.

When using matchlock troops you want to approach gun armed troops from the side or
flank if possible to minimize the amount your men are shot before they can shoot back. If
you run up to an enemy head on its likely at least a quarter of the unit will die before they
can even shoot. Try distracting the enemy or sending the matchlocks to the flank after your
main army engages.

You can also have them fire one volley then charge them into the melee where they will
dominate most line infantry.

Matchlocks are better in melee than all line infantry up to guard level troops and they have
heavier armour than most other gun units since they wear the traditional samurai armour.
They still can’t really stand up to dedicated melee troops because of their small unit size but
they should be able to give line infantry a shock. Their heavy armour also gives them good
protection against archers and they will take a lot less causalities per volley than modern
line infantry.

Matchlocks excel in defeating archers. Their heavy armour protects them and they will take
minimal casualties from arrows. This lets them run in close with little danger and blast the
bowmen with their guns. Their low accuracy and reload skills means it takes them awhile to
wipe them out, but they will whittle down the bowmen eventually. Matchlock are much
cheaper than bowmen, so you’re defeating annoying, expensive enemy units with a cheap
one. They are just as weak to gunfire as other units however.

This combination of good ranged attack and melee ability makes them very valuable during
sieges as they can shoot enemies outside of the castle and fight them off when they reach
the top better than line infantry can. Their good morale also keeps them in the fight after
line would have already routed.

Use matchlocks as garrison troops and as a jack of all trades when you want to have some
melee ability but don’t want to use spearmen.

Note that when line infantry gain the kneel-fire ability matchlocks becomes nearly useless.
They never learn that ability and they simply can’t stand up to that volume of fire. Once
kneel fire is commonplace among the clans you should relegate matchlocks to siege defence
and never use them on the field.

Matchlocks are important when playing as the Aizen as they get veterancy bonuses and a
recruitment discount. This usually leads to them being mainline troops along with bowmen.
If you use a lot of them like this they become more disposable as they are so cheap to
recruit. Their bonus veterancy really helps them along and means they can often stand up to
line infantry as long as they are not the same veterancy. When Kneel Fire comes along
however they will still be crushed.

Matchlock Kachi

Melee: 6 Charge: 6 Range: 100 Accuracy: 25 Reload: 25 Defence: 2 Morale: 7

Matchlock Kachi are the only Matchlock using units in the game. As said above they have
tolerable shooting skills and better than average melee skills for gun using troops, so they
can pick off enemies with a volley, and then charge into the melee better than any unit of
line besides the Guard level ones. They excel at garrison duties because of their dual talents
as well. They are cheap and are available in the traditional Dojo. This means they are the
only gun armed units you can use if you want to keep your faction 100% traditional.
Skirmishers

I call hax!

Skirmishers have a long range, equal to bows and longer than line infantry. This makes them
good to have just to counter archers. It also of course lets them fire at enemies with
impunity as long as they keep their distance. They are poor in melee, and nearly helpless
against cavalry that make it to melee.

Skirmishers are best deployed on hills behind your line infantry. Their elevated position lets
them fire over the infantry’s heads and into the enemy without shooting your line. If there
are no hills you should deploy your skirmishers ahead of you line and have them peg
vulnerable enemy units. When doing this, it is best to have a unit of spearmen move with
the skirmishers and stationed close by while they shoot to intercept any cavalry attempting
to kill your skirmishers off. The AI loves to target you skirmishers with its cavalry, so never
send them out by themselves.

Forests are another friend of skirmishers; the trees impose a harsh penalty to any cavalry
that enter them, making it harder for them to kill your men and the trees help shield them
from any incoming fire.

When picking targets for skirmishers you should target their general first if he is within
range. A few volleys should see him dead if the enemy doesn’t move. The next targets are
tough melee troops like Katana Kachi or Shogitai. This lets you whittle them down before
they reach melee where they are a threat. Barring either of those, just target enemy line
infantry, preferably those who still have most of their men alive so the skirmishers have
more targets.

You should make sure your skirmishers never get pulled into a straight shootout with
enemies. They reload their guns more slowly than line infantry and don’t have the morale or
numbers to absorb losses like line infantry does. If the skirmishers begin to be fired at you
should run them away from the enemies ASAP. This doesn’t really work if the enemy is using
kneel fire, since half the unit will be dead before you can do much.

Sharpshooters

Melee: 4 Charge: 10 Accuracy: 45 Reload: 25 Defence: 2 Morale: 6

Sharpshooters are the skirmishers available to most factions. They are about as accurate as
line infantry, but reload more slowly. They are poor in melee. They are deadly as long as you
keep them out of return fire.

Tosa Riflemen (Tosa)

Melee: 6 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 45 Reload: 65 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

These ones are exclusive to Tosa and are much better than the standard Sharpshooter unit
by a large margin. They reload incredibly quickly and are better in melee than standard line.
Their high reload lets them kill off enemies very quickly, even those shooting back. They are
also great for quickly killing off charging cavalry, as they reload fast enough to fire several
vollies that should dismantle the horsemen before they become a threat.

Yugikitai (Juzai)

Melee: 6 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 55 Reload: 30 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

These guys are the opposite of the Tosa; high accuracy much slower reload. This means it’s
an extra good idea to keep them far away from enemies while they shoot as unlike the Tosa
Riflemen they can’t fire quickly enough to spray down enemies at close range and thus will
take even more damage from return fire. If you keep them as far away from the enemy as
possible it doesn’t matter how long they take to reload. They can move and fire while
hidden, so stick them in a forest to help mask their tell-tale smoke and they will get a few
extra vollies before the enemy notices where the bullets are coming from and hunts them
down. If you do this during a large melee there’s less chance they will break off units to
track them down so they can shoot without interruption.

Melee Troops

Melee is split into two types, swordsmen and spearmen. Both are quite different, but there
are some core concepts that apply to both.

First is that melee troops should be kept out of gunfire if possible. None of the melee troops
in this game are heavily armoured enough to resist bullets to any useful degree and indeed
a few vollies from halfway decent musketeers will usually kill half of a melee unit. This
means that melee units are liable to get pulped very quickly if you aren’t careful with them.
Most of the time you want to flank with your melee units, or just have so many of them that
they can reach the gunners with little damage. Gun units can’t arc their fire, so keeping a hill
between your melee troops and the enemies will keep them out of harm’s way as well
Anything tougher than levy spearmen have the morale to ignore causalities from gunners
for long enough to reach melee, as long as you have a general close by but even then they
will be so weakened by the losses that they will suffer in melee and will probably lose.

Second is that melee forces are great for reacting quickly. When compared to gun units that
need to be deployed in long lines and need a moment to stop, set and prepare to fire and
may need to reload, melee troops just need to run up to a target to attack it.

This means that melee troops need no “set up” or reaction time and you can just select a
whole bunch of swordsmen and charge them at one unit without worrying about range or
friendly fire. This makes them excellent for reacting quickly to changing battlefield situations
like hidden units or sudden flank attacks.

Third, melee troops get most of their use early in a campaign. Later on when elite line
infantry are commonplace and technology is researched melee troops get more and more
disadvantaged. Make a lot of them early, but only use a few late in the campaign.
Swordsmen

HASSAN CHOP!

Swordsmen are your main attacking melee troops. They are head and shoulders above
spearmen when it comes to attacking; with devastating melee skills and decent amour they
are the main force of a traditional FOTS army.

Use swordsmen as your attackers, sending them charging into enemy lines to hew the
enemy like wheat in the spring. You should never use swordsmen defensively, always charge
the enemy. Swordsmen should defeat the majority of enemies in melee; only guard level
line infantry will have a chance of fighting them off, all other things being equal.

Swordsmen are vulnerable to cavalry charges. You should let spearmen receive charges
rather than swordsmen. When it comes to actual melee the swordsmen can cut up cavalry
almost as well as they can infantry, it is only the causalities they receive from direct cavalry
charges that causes problems.

Swordsmen, like all melee infantry are incredibly vulnerable to being killed off by gunfire
before they reach the enemy. You should never charge swordsmen right at enemies,
although being samurai they can ignore the morale loss and reach the enemy without
routing, they will have suffered too many casualties to be effective. Always try to charge the
swordsmen in from the flank or at less skilled gun units like levy. Once the swordsmen fight
off the levy it becomes much easier to attack other enemies since they are already so close.

When fighting other infantry you should deploy swordsmen in two ranks. This gets the
maximum amount of men into melee and lets more men hit home with their charge bonus
so they stand a good chance of killing the first rank of the enemy instantly, giving them an
advantage in the ensuing melee.
You shouldn’t let swordsmen be charged by cavalry but if you must have them receive a
charge, try to draw your unit up in 4 or 5 ranks. This gives the swordsmen some weight
which helps to absorb and stop the cavalry’s charge. Once they have charged into your
swordsmen, the denseness of the unit should make it hard for the cavalry to move or
withdraw and your men should slice them up easily.

Katana Kachi

Melee: 15 Charge: 10 Defence 4 Morale: 8

Katana are the most common unit of swordsmen. They are a common sight in any clan’s
army and have a very high attack and good defence. They have the morale to handle head
on charges against gunfire and are very reliable troops when the battle is going against you.
They are unlikely to rout unless they take crippling losses or your general dies. Katana are
extremely effective in siege battles and make excellent garrisons.

Shogitai

Melee: 19 Charge: 15 Defence: 6 Morale: 12

Shogitai are by far the deadliest melee unit in the game. They have a fearsome melee attack
and the highest morale in the game, save for Samurai Heroes, so they are pretty much
unroutable until there are only a few of them left. Even then they have the Banzai ability
which makes them unroutable and raises their charge and melee attack. Use it just before
they begin their charge. They are utterly devastating in melee, able to cut their way through
any other unit in the game and fight for a long time despite crippling losses. They have next
to no armour however compared to most other melee units and so they get chewed up
even faster by gunfire. They are also incredibly expensive to recruit; as much as elite line
infantry and they are far less versatile than them. Unless you desperately need melee troops
it’s unlikely you’ll really have a use for the Shogitai, even though they can be fun to use.
Katana Kachi already have all the melee ability you’ll ever need out of a unit. They are
available only to Shogunate supporting clans.
Spearmen

The endless appeal of men with pointy things stabbing each other!

Spearmen are much more multipurpose than swordsmen since they can cut up cavalry and
infantry alike. While they do excel at defeating cavalry, their main use will be serving as a
solid force of infantry early on in the game. While muskets and rifles will eventually
dominate the battlefield, early on in a campaign a large force of spearmen is powerful. They
can tear levy infantry apart and basic line infantry will be defeated soundly by them, as even
the most basic Levy Spearmen are better than basic line in melee.

Spearmen are also useful as an anchor to take and hold tough melee troops like Katana so
you can shoot them with your line troops to whittle them down. They are useful for
protecting Skirmishers and excel at keeping your flanks secure as they do not need to line
up like line infantry do they can react most quickly to sudden flanking attacks. As said above
spearmen are good at any kind of combat so you can feel free to use them for any purpose
and they should be at least decent at it

Spearmen are by far the best troops in the game vs cavalry, sending a unit of them after the
enemy general will kill him quickly and they murder Sabre Cavalry. Just don’t bother sending
them after missile cavalry like cavalry archers as they will never catch up to them.

If you have a lot of spearmen you should use them in an alternating line with your line
infantry. When the shooting starts you can send these spearmen at the enemy without
them getting in the way of your firearm infantry. This way they can fight the enemy while
your line causes their morale to drop and when the enemy routs your spearmen will be able
to kill many fleeing enemies before they escape as they are so close.

If you just have a few spearmen put them all on one flank. When the shooting starts, send
all your spearmen at the unit on the enemy’s extreme flank. They should rout that unit very
quickly. As soon as they do, send them at the next unit. Since your line is shooting their line
the whole time they are being flank attacked by your spearmen this usually leads to a quick
rout.

Spear Levy

Melee: 4 Charge: 6 Defence: 7 Morale: 4

Spear Levy are basic spearmen with fairly balanced stats. While their melee attack looks low
their defence is high and it is more than enough to slice their way through basic line infantry
and other levy. They are outmatched badly by any other melee infantry, especially katana. If
you must face katana units with them, make sure to use as many spearmen as possible and
have some gun armed troops shooting the katana at the same time. Their morale is fairly
low, so they will rout quickly if they are shot too much. Make sure to keep your general
close behind them and to use them smartly as described above.

Kyoto Police (Only recruitable from Kyoto)

Melee: 8 Charge: 8 Defence: 10 Morale: 6

Kyoto Police are elite spearmen that can only be trained in Kyoto. They have well balanced
stats with high attack for spearmen and they are more than tough to take down with their
very high defence. They are more than effective for both garrison duties and back up for
your line infantry, as even late in the campaign they are very strong in melee. They can use
Rapid Advance.

Yari Kachi

Melee: 10 Charge: 10 Defence: 10 Morale: 8

Yari Kachi are very powerful spearmen. They have higher attack than the other two and the
same defence as Kyoto Police. This makes them more than a match for any other until in
melee besides swordsmen and their high morale makes them more than tough to rout.
Most of the time this unit and your Katana Kachi will be your main “tough” melee troops
you send in to carve the enemy up. They can use the Rapid Advance ability which raises
their charge and movement speed. Use it whenever you attack with them. It’s also handy to
help them close the distance faster with firearm troops.
Ninja

Bombs: They’re stealthy.

Ninja couple strong melee stats with area effect grenades. When you tell the unit to attack
they will spend a few seconds winding up and then unleash a torrent of grenades at the
enemy. These will generally kill 20-30 men with a volley. Their range is extremely short, but
they have the ability to hide while walking and they run very fast compared to other infantry
which helps them run up close to enemies without being blown away.

Ninja can use the stealth ability. This causes them to be hidden always no matter if they are
running or walking. This is useful for using just before you enter a forest as the enemy will
not be able to see where your unit entered it and thus will have a harder time guessing
where your ninja are and for trying to escape from a battle gone bad. If an enemy unit can
see you when you enable stealth the ninja will not hide until they get far enough away from
enemies so it is not perfect for escape.

Ninja can also use blinding grenades. These lower pretty much all of the target unit’s stats;
they will be next to useless in melee and in ranged combat for the duration of their effects.
This is great for using on strong units like Shogitai to neuter them.

Despite all this they are of limited use in FOTS. They cost an insane amount to recruit and
there are only 60 men in the unit so if they are caught they’ll usually be crushed easily and
you’ve just wasted a load of money. They can be effective against strong melee units but
there’s little need when firearm units can just spray melee units down in seconds. There’s
just no need to use them for anything when you have all the guns and artillery you could
want. They are still a lot of fun to mess with however and they can be very useful during
sieges, weakening enemies that come over the wall with their blinding grenades and
hacking them down. You can also send them out covertly to take out artillery shelling you.

Kisho Ninja

Melee: 15 Charge: 20 Accuracy: 40 Reload: 60 Defence 8 Morale: 12

Ninja have great stats all round but with only 60 men in the unit they tend to get crushed in
melee by anything tougher than Spear Levy, unless you use blinding grenades. and will be
shot down in two or so vollies.
Ranged Cavalry

It doesn’t get more hardcore than akimbo from horseback

Ranged cavalry are the epitome of harassment troops. The way to use them is to gallop into
range, unload a few vollies of withering missiles and then withdraw away from the enemy
before the cycle starts anew. This tactic is extremely devastating to melee infantry who
cannot hope to catch up to the horsemen and will be relentlessly pelted with bullets/arrows
until they rout. It is harder to use against ranged infantry as the horsemen are extremely
vulnerable to incoming missiles and will be destroyed with 2 or 3 vollies from line. If you’re
facing a lot of ranged infantry just flank them with the cavalry and fire into their backs,
preferably while they are in a shooting match with your own infantry. The enemies are then
stuck in a meat grinder of death from both sides and they will rout in short order.

Because these men are on horses and thus higher off the ground than infantry the missile
cavalry have no problems firing over friendly infantry in front of them. If you like you can
have the cavalry sit behind your line and add their fire to that of the infantry.

Most missile cavalry only have a small amount of missiles. Make sure you have a good
chance of hitting something before you carelessly tell them to fire.

Bow cavalry are a special case. While they aren’t as powerful as guns, their very long range
can make them a real menace to infantry and they have the speed to keep well away from
them. They are excellent at a lot of things, including sniping at the enemy general, picking
off artillery, thinning the ranks of elite troops, especially Shogitai because of their low
armour and generally harassing the enemy. Their bows let them arc their fire over hills so
you can hide your cavalry behind hills and they will be protected until the enemy crests the
hill. Bow cavalry will be defeated by foot archers because of the large targets presented by
their horses, but other than that this unit can be a real problem to catch.
Bow Ki

Melee: 5 Charge: 10 Accuracy: 50 Reload: 35 Defence: 2 Morale: 10

This unit, as described above, is very useful if used correctly. They really cannot hold their
own in melee, so keep them far away from enemies. They are one of the very few units that
can use the Swooping Crane ability, but it’s better to just keep them out of fire altogether.

Carbine Cavalry

Melee: 13 Accuracy: 30 Reload: 75 Defence: 8

Carbine Cavalry are remarkably deadly cavalry who unsurprisingly wield carbines. They have
a long range, reload extremely quickly due to their breach loading weapons and have no
problems reloading on the move, even at the gallop. This lets them pump out withering
vollies of pretty accurate fire that decimates anything in it in seconds because of their huge
rate of fire. They work well for speedily killing routers as well since they can gallop behind
them and spray gunfire until they get close enough to cut up the rest of the runners with
their swords. Their range is so long they are pretty much impervious to any number of
enemy melee units since they simply can’t catch them. Incoming missiles are as deadly to
this cavalry as they are to any other, so try to keep them out of missile fire.

Imperial Guard Cavalry

Melee: 15 Charge: 20 Accuracy: 40 Reload: 80 Defence: 10 Morale: 12

Imperial Guard Cavalry are Carbine Cavalry on steroids. They are way more accurate and
reload like lighting. Basically if this unit isn’t shot up by something it wins, if it is shot up it
loses. They are deadly against melee infantry and pretty much anything that doesn’t shoot
back at them as they are just as vulnerable to incoming fire as Carbines. Fear these men.

Revolver Cavalry

Melee: 10: Charge: 8 Range: 70 Accuracy: 15 Reload: 30 Defence: 3 Morale: 6

Revolver Cavalry have an extremely short range, but they are truly devastating within that
range. They fire about once every two seconds and since they are so close to the enemy
they are very accurate. They cause fearful slaughter; often killing 20-30 enemies with one
volley. Nothing works quite as well for darting in, literally slaughtering an entire unit in ten
seconds and then running away. The problem is revolver cav have almost no ammo at all,
only 6 or so shots a man so they can empty their guns in a few seconds and then cannot fire
for the rest of the battle. Once their guns are empty Revolver Cavalry become useful as light
cavalry for chasing down routers and artillery emplacements.
Melee Cavalry

Also known as bullet magnets.

Melee cavalry are cavalry that rely on charging to be effective; this makes them very
vulnerable indeed to the large amount of projectile units in Shogun 2. Cavalry are especially
vulnerable to missiles as their horses are big targets and they will take a lot of casualties
from a volley, way more than infantry would. Cavalry are also very weak against spearmen,
so most of the melee troops in the game are also cavalry killers.

This leaves melee cavalry with a rather marginal role. They cost a lot of money to recruit and
are liable to get crushed by the majority of troops in the game.

What can these outdated cavalry do well then? They are great for hunting the enemy
general. Send a unit of cavalry or two at the small general’s bodyguard unit and he will be
killed quickly if he is caught. They are also great for charging into the side or rear of enemies
as they fight your own troops in melee. Just make sure to pull the cavalry back quickly if the
enemy don’t rout, as leaving them in melee often gets them killed.

They also excel at killing off artillery shooting you, as they can circle around to it faster than
any other units.

In the end though melee cavalry are extremely marginal and you shouldn’t use more than 2
or so units of them. They’re just too one dimensional to be much use.
Sabre Cavalry

Melee: 18 Charge: 10 Defence 7 Morale: 10

Sabre Cavalry have very high melee stats, but an average charge. They should be used as
described above. Keep them well away from spearmen. They have some of the highest
morale in the game but it won’t do them much good because they will take so many
causalities.

Yari Ki

Melee: 10 Charge: 15 Defence: 4 Morale: 8

Yari Ki are anti-cavalry cavalry and that’s about it. They wield spears so they will go through
opposing cavalry like a hot knife through butter, but their average stats make them pretty
useless for much else. Use them for chasing artillery and routers.

Shogunate Guard Cavalry

Melee: 16 Charge: 30 Defence: 6 Morale: 12

Nowhere near as useful as the Imperial Guard Cavalry, this unit is just a powerful version of
Yari Ki. They die just as easily to missiles as any other cavalry and their defence isn’t really
very good for a unit that costs as much as this one does. Just pass on this unit.
Heroes

Unfortunately economics and technology trumps heroism.

There is only one hero unit in the game and that is the Samurai Hero.

Samurai Hero

Melee: 9 Charge: 10 Accuracy 80 Reload: 60 Defence: 2 Amour 6 Morale: 20

The Samurai Hero is better as a support unit than anything else. While they are very skilled
at archery, there are only 30 men in the unit and they are unlikely to make much of a dent
in enemies with that few bows firing and they die just as easily as anyone else when they
are shot at. They are much more useful for their Second Wind ability that restores the
stamina of surrounding units. This is great to use after a major melee to let your army keep
attacking without resting first. It also comes in very handy when you need to run up a hill or
something to reach the enemy They are extremely costly and if you must use them don’t let
them get anywhere near a melee. Their stats are quite weak and you really don’t want to
lose a unit that is this expensive. In the end this unit is really not necessary at all. They are
staggeringly expensive and rather useless compared to other units. I’d rather have a unit of
plain old line infantry than these guys.
Generals

Packing heat, at last!

Generals in Shogun 2 come in two varieties, both are just as vital. Generals are used to
inspire your army, bestow bonuses and otherwise lead armies, not fight. A general has an
area of influence shown by a blue circle. Any unit in that area benefits from much increased
morale and is far less likely to break and flee. Units outside the area still benefit a bit by the
general’s mere presence on the battlefield. Both types have only 40 men in them and if they
are caught in melee you shouldn’t expect them to do much more than keep the general
alive for a minute or so. Bodyguards aren’t for attacking, merely dying so the general
doesn’t.

The modern general is the one you’ll most commonly see. They have a western style
uniform and wield revolvers and sabres, the first time a command unit has had guns in a
Total War game.

Some armies have a general with samurai style armour, a sword and bows.

Generals are vital to your success in Shogun 2 and every army you send out should have a
general leading it. Armies without generals have very poor morale and do not benefit from
the bonuses from generals. If you run into an army led by a general when your army does
not have one you are sure to lose.

A general’s skills are based on his command stars and what traits and retinue you have
picked for him. There are a large number of skills to pick from, both defensive and offensive,
so make sure you try to match what that general’s job will likely be with his skills. This
means that a highly ranked general may not be the best one for a given battle, such as if
you’re fighting a siege defence with a general who’s picked only attacking skills.
Generals have several abilities for helping their army, see Unit Abilities at the beginning of
this guide for more information.

General’s Bodyguard

Melee: 18 Charge: 15 Accuracy: 40 Reload: 45 Defence: 10 Morale: 12

Modern generals can be very useful if you keep them out of gunfire. Their revolvers have a
very short range, but they are quite accurate, reload nearly instantly and the general has
plenty of ammo. The damage they can cause is staggering if you let them use their entire
ammo supply. This isn’t nearly as good as Revolver Cavalry, since the general’s bodyguard
has a much smaller number of men in it than the Revolver cav. You should use modern
generals for surgical strikes, sending them around to the rear of engaged units to shoot into
them. This is quite safe since unless they suddenly stop fighting and attack your general
instead he is in little danger. This can tip the balance of melee very effectively.

General’s Hatamoto

Melee: 14 Charge: 15 Defence: 8 Armour: 5 Morale: 12

The traditional unit on the other hand isn’t quite as useful since they have bows instead.
Bows can still inflict casualties, but they don’t have the raw damage and armour penetration
of revolvers. If you are using this bodyguard to attack try to target unarmoured troops like
line infantry and attack from the rear.
Artillery

Either really awesome or really useless.

Artillery is fairly common in FOTS and you’ll see it much more than in the other Shogun 2
games.

Artillery is great for picking off enemies long before they can reach you in melee, annoying
the enemy general and whittling down his bodyguard, intimidating the enemy and making
them come to you and destroying towers and walls before you send your siege force in.
Artillery as a whole is used to control the battlefield and force the enemy to play on your
terms or be shelled.

The biggest change from previous games for artillery is that gunners seem to learn from
their misses. The first few shots from a cannon may miss, but each one will be closer and
once they hit the target exactly gunners have little problems consistently hitting that same
target again and again. This is in sharp contrast to previous Total War games where gunners
didn’t seem to compensate for their misses at all. Thus even Wooden Cannon can hit a
target squarely if you give them a while to get their eye in.

Gatling Guns are a special case. Gatling Guns are much like large machine guns. They fire
constantly and steadily at any unit that comes into range. The gun will not stop shooting
until it runs out of ammo as long as a unit is close enough. They are rather deadly, usually
killing a man a second and will completely dismantle anyone who’s silly enough to get too
close. Gatling Guns have fairly short range for artillery and thus you really want to use them
defensively. They will pretty much deny the area of the battlefield they are aimed at to any
enemies since anything that enters their range will be shredded in short order. Watch out
for incoming artillery fire when using Gatling Guns, they cannot shoot back at other artillery
because their range is so short.

Veterancy is very valuable to have for artillery; a few levels make them much more accurate
and they can constantly place rounds exactly where you want them. Take good care of
veteran artillery crews.

Wooden Cannon

Melee: 2 Charge: 4 Range: 500 Accuracy: 10 Reload: 10 Ammo: 8 Defence: 2 Morale: 2

Wooden Cannons are the first pieces of artillery you get and are by far the worst. They have
poor accuracy and do little damage to men. They are tolerable against walls and against an
enemy that has no artillery they can inflict a few losses. They have the lowest morale of any
unit in the game, so keep enemies well away from them. They only have 8 shots before
running out of ammo, so if you are under fire from them it’s easy to just weather the storm.

Parrott Guns

Melee: 4 Charge: 9 Range: 550 Accuracy: 25 Reload: 25 Ammo: 25 Defence: 4 Morale: 4

shrapnel

Parrot Guns are proper cannon with a long range and decent accuracy. They cause a lot
more damage than Wooden Cannon if they hit and are great for taking down towers.

Armstrong Guns

Melee: 4 Charge: 9 Range: 550 Accuracy: 30 Reload: 50 Ammo: 10 Defence: 4 Morale: 4

Armstrong Guns are the next unit in the cannon food chain and are better in all ways than
Parrot Guns. They do immense damage to anything they hit and will kill dozens of troops
with a direct hit and destroy gates and walls in one or two shots. They are slightly more
accurate than Parrot Guns, but don’t expect consistent hits unless the unit is not moving.

Gatling Guns

Melee: 4 Charge: 9 Range: 250 Accuracy: 20 Reload: 75 Ammo: 500 Defence: 4 Morale: 4

Gatling Guns are nothing like the other artillery in FOTS and rather than firing one long range shot
they act like short range, oversized machine guns. A Gatling Gun will shoot continuously as long as
something is in range and that fire is utterly devastating. Pretty much any shot that hits a unit will kill
a soldier and they fire so quickly a unit can go from zero causalities to dead in a few seconds. They
are quite accurate and the majority of their shots should hit something. Their only weakness is that
they tend to run out of ammo fairly quickly There is little to say about Gatling Guns except set them
up so they cover your line, wait for the enemy to get close and they will be chewed up. Keep your
own men well out of the way and remember that enemy artillery can take out your guns from far
away, so don’t neglect other types of artillery.

Version Info

1.0: 3rd August 2013: First release.

1.0.1: 31 December 2013: Typo fixes.

1.0.2: 22 March 2014: Typo fixes.

Credits
My Girlfriend for her love.

GIMP, for providing such a useful image editor.

You for buying this. Thank you very much!