Yeah, I always thought that was a bit silly too, they've got this massively long weapon but somehow can't fight back effectively against men on horseback.
@@elgostine Bracing against the ground to counter charges wasn't done. Pikemen maybe did it (we're not sure) and if they did it was more about holding up the pike rather than resisting an impact. Horses won't run into pointy objects, cavalry charged against flanks or against broken units: the main reason infantry became the dominant force on the battlefield during the modern era has been, simply, increased discipline.
@@FrankPapaya i can tell you thats an urban myth myth, they can force their horse to charge if they wished french gendarmes once hit a landsknecht pike formation on the front and rode right through to the back without any casualties but those guys were admittedly in head to toe plate armour with armoured horses to boot the bigger issue is tha generally pikes outrech lances and unarmoured horses hitting pikles doesnt end well so they pull away, its not that they cant its because theyre seeking a better opening
@@elgostine Yes it could be forced, if men and, most importantly, horses were highly trained. Still, I doubt that a frontal charge against pikemen which maintain formation could end without casualties. Even if fully armoured, launching yourself on a pike with the mass of a ironclad knight plus horse... would end badly. Many chronicles describe charges like the one you cited, but we cannot take them at face value. Going back to the original point, would nodachi samurai negate charges? I don't know, dipends on the training of japanese cavalry during the sengoku jidai, of which I don't know a thing. I have to say that holding a long sword offers less confidence than holding a long spear, so... it could be both ways. who knows? Not me.
Ive never tried the hand mortars. But if you want to see carnage on a scale yet unseen. Make an army entirely of Donderbuss cav and defend a castle with it. Dismount most of the army and put them on the walls. Then place the mounted ones in a ring around the castle right up against the walls. Then place a line of dismounted ones in front of the mounted ones. Whatever is left over, ring them around the building in the middle of the castle. I did this against a full 40 stack army of ashigaru and samurai, and sweet god it was a bloodbath and a meat grinder. Donderbuss cav are so OP its insane, and my new favorite unit.
I think they're meant to be a mobile siege piece: to destroy buildings and gates in support of advancing infantry instead of like real mortars used as anti-inf
@@alexanderrahl7034 Did it work when enemy have archer? But I can image how fun it is when playing Donderbuss in custom battle against enemy without any archer.
@@eggtat7746 they are still a cavalry unit. If played right you can probably counter ashigaru and samurai archers. But i havent tried against warrior monks. They are basically shotgun cavalry. So archers will likely get 1 volley off before you can close the gap, and i'd wager that the same time they fire. So will your cav, to much greater effect. In a defensive battle archers outrange them by about 50 - 70% more. But if youre fighting ashigaru or samurai even, the walls of a castle will shield you from the worst casualties. And you can plau smart by hiding some of your Donderbuss in the forests to spring them out once the enemy's archers are vulnerable.
I wonder, if you place a 2 rank deep line of matchlock Samurai directly in front of a Yari wall with their spears just in front of the gunners, and then place loan swords behind them (like the Tercio) how effective would it be?
0:40 to 1:00 that one Date katana samurai on the bottom left is some kind of sword god, parrying 2 giant spiked clubs the size of his torso with a katana and somehow overpowering the other guy in the clash.
Actually if you look closely enough, he was fighting against only one person, the first swing was directed to the other samurai but the camera angle can make it look like as if he was parrying it, sadly i don't think there is any animation of one untity fighting more than one entity at the same time which makes it impossible.
What I saw is I was having fight with shimatzu army with katana samurai few yari cav n archer I was good in defense will yari formation n some long yari behind them so I focused my general n light cav On his yari cav who was going for my general until I look back I saw about 6 4lv ashigarus were shattered n long ones were running I had pretty heavy losses
@@pranishvajarinkar8145 Shimizu is strongly a katana samurai faction. That's quite unlucky of you. What faction were you exactly? If you want the best ashigaru faction it's Oda clan. The boosts actually makes a big difference. To beat the shimazu you'd want to be fighting weaker factions to get more experience for your ashigaru before fighting the Shimazu clan. Plus your samurai troops won't compare to them due to the buffs they get for the faction. But experienced troops means alot. Lvl 4 or 6 isn't much if they were maxed level or so units they'd might stand a chance
Hmm, one thing that I would like to see is a ranked list of troop upgrades. The armor vs melee attack debate never had a widely accepted answer that I found, plus the lesser used options like morale or charge bonus.
it completly depends on context and play style, if you have a unit like naginata samurai you're better off with attack practically wise since you already have plenty of armour
Best combination with the Nodachi Samurai is to typically have them behind your archers and frontline by a tiny bit and wait for the enemy to charge. Once you do that, you send them in to yeet the enemies stuck on your front line. That way, they’re basically free from archer fire.
I love using ikko ikki just for the loan sword ashigaru, they're the best units and gives you space to build an awesome fleet with the money you are saving!
The katana hero samurai has saved my campaign before in legendary. For those really hard fights when you’re fighting 2-3 armies, and you have survivors have to turn around and face the next army that’s rushing you. While your cavalry mops uo as best they can. That hero unit, in the right position, can kieep you line from breaking first. Positioned correctly their small number isn’t so bad. Nestled in between other units they hold the line while your no dachi and cavalry hit them hard.
Loan Sword Ashigaru: + Are cheap to recruit and have low upkeep + Efficiently defeat Yari Ashigaru/Bow Ashigaru in melee ++ Can defeat Yari Samurai (that's 2 points since most clans will start fielding them) + Become dangerous with a general's Ashigaru Commander skill (+morale) + Can be recruited alongside Yari/Bow Ashigaru = Have the same armour as other ashigaru - - Are FACTION SPECIFIC (why is beyond me) - Are not efficient in general, meaning without expeerience, traits, and retainers, struggle unless in numbers - Are at a serious disadvantage against samurai cavalry - Are prone to routing if they are hit in the back, hit by friendly fire (matchlock, artillery, fire arrows?) - Are prone to causing morale debuffs across your army once they start routing - Become less useful in the late game Katana Samurai: ++ Are efficient against infantry (which is so underrated as most of the time you fight more infantry than cavalry) + Can roughly beat two Yari Samurais, one Naginata Samurai/Monk + Have armour to survive multiple units in melee or at range (specifically, bows) + Are effective mainline infantry + Indirectly synergize with cavalry + Can be used throughout the campaign (!!!) = Have the same morale as other samurai - Struggle outside of 1v1s against samurais, monks, bow units at range - Are slower than ashigaru (according to the database but I've never noticed a difference) - Will lose against Katana Cavalry - Get hit as hard as ashigaru when dealing with matchlocks (they do 2 damage, most bows do 0.6, Daikyu Samurai do 0.7) Being disappointed about Katana Samurai losing to Loan Sword Ashigaru is an understatement because I've become accustomed to using them in my campaigns. No, not everyone plays the Ikko Ikki in every campaign, and although I think its probably the best DLC, they are definitely not the best faction in general. Everything else makes sense, but the Katana Samurai got robbed.
That's right I forgot about Toyotomi banning them in 1588. Since the Ikko Ikki are *peasant rebels*, it makes sense. The problem though is that the campaign takes place before he comes into power. You bring up a good point though.
I don't think Mori raiders have difficult recruitment requirements, but yes, their starting position combined with their recruitment requirements makes it a pain for them to have good upgrades (especially those not from the training ground). They technically can be upgraded by being recruited near the starting Mori position in the Aki province (which has the hollowed ground building chain). But that upgrade would be to morale. And they already have good morale, so I don't think that boost would be very helpful.
Playing a recent campaign with the Otomo clan I got a event message saying a group of wondering Ronin seek anew master and I got a Katana Ronin in my army and they really hold there own in combat.
I'm divided, Otomo have the coolest colours, (blue and white FTW) but I love the idea of a peasant revolt (IKKO IKKI) damn history gets way cooler the further you go when it's people hitting each other with things rather than signing treaties.
4:58 One thing that always confused me in S2 is that sword units will beat spear units most of the time. In reality, the yari has reach. That alone gives them a huge advantage over any sword, possibly with the exception of the No-Dachi.
Yeah, the katana was almost exclusively a back-up weapon on the battlefield, but obviously for balancing reasons they can't make it too realistic. If Yari Samurai were both the counter to cavalry as well as other infantry there would be no reason to ever recruit anything else anymore.
Play any Greek culture faction in Rome 1, and you'll have a good time with those pointy stick units massacring cavalry as well as infantry throughout your campaign.
Another guessing game, sadly I never used most of them. Ronin and Heroes are too small to be effective. 1st place for Loansword is a given, they outperform yari ashigaru and are only worse than yari wall. Wako seem to have better cost/performance than Katana Samurai. Probably: 1. Loansword Ashigaru 2. Wako Raiders 3. Katana Samurai 4. Nodachi Samurai 6. Katana Ronin 5. Seigen's Swordmasters 7. Katana Hero 8. Tadakatsu's Tetsubo Warriors
MrSmartDonkey, if I have ready access to Naganata Warrior Monks do Kitana Samurai become redundant, or do they maintain their use into the late game? They both preform similar roles; heavy hitters who flank the enemy line or reinforce your own while the Yari Ashigaru and Naganata Samurai bear the brunt of the punishment. (I am currently playing as the Mori).
I honestly never understood the point of No Dachi samurai. I get their "thing" is charge bonus. But horses do that better. The other argument I hear is: Horses can't charge into spears, No-dachi can. Which is true... except, so can regular samurai. So they are worse than cavarly, and NOT better than regular samurai in most engagements.
So my prédiction order : 1-long yari ashigaru 2-yari ashigaru 2bis- katana warrior Monk maybe ? 3-portuguese tercos 4-katana samouraï 5-no dachi samouraïs 6-loan Sword ashigaru 7-wako raider 8-singen no dachi 9-hanzo shadow 10-samourai héro 11-shinobi 12- all ranged infantry .....what ? Tercos, Yari and long yari fight with katana when they are at close range so that's legit......why ashigaru are first ? Because they have pointy sticks against cavalry compare to the other ^^
I’m clearly not including those though, I included units that use a katana as their main weapon. By your logic you should almost every infantry unit in the game. Bow units all grab a katana up close as well.
I know but i found this funny to try to take in count all Unit that use katana but it's too hard so i will stick to this prédiction without the range and yari unit even if i'm not really sure^^.
Once fought a takeda full stack of katana samurai with fire cav and damn they are unbeatable af with my ashigaru army (playing as oda) tho i managed to crush that stack after resorting to my castle and matchlock ashigaru
In truth, Katanas weren't designed for urban combat, but for ship combat and for cavalry. In fact, one of the reasons the mongolian invasion of Japan was so costly was, apart from the storms that wrecked the mongolian fleet, the fact that the Samurai had developed katanas specifically to fight aboard the tight confines of ships, where the big swords and ranged advantage of mongolian archers were negated.
Actually Katanas started out as commoner infantry swords, the real sword samurai used during their early half of their existance in Japanese history was the Tachi, as the Bushi nobility caste of Japan initially fought as mounted archers whilst their commoner retainers where infantry. The early Katanas were known as Uchigatana and during the Kamakura Period Uchigatana were usually of low quality. It was only during Muromachi Period did the Samurai started using the Uchigatana to supplement the longer Tachi and as a result the quality of the blades began to improve. It was only during Azuchi-Momoyama period did the Samurai stopped usage of the Tachi and the Uchigatana became the sword of the Samurai although swords were never the primary weapon of the Samurai until the Edo preiod when all internal conflict in Japan came to an end and Samurai became glorified magistrates.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP Do you know to what extent? Would 1 melee defense be better than 1 armor in melee? Does armor have a cap? Sorry, I have tried to look this up a few times but I can never find a good thread about it.
Unfortunately it seems to be impossible to find a definitive answer to that question. That's the downside of Total War games, you never really know what any of the numbers mean. "The numbers Mason, what do they mean!"
Yari ashigaru is insanely strong when putting in yari wall formation, they can hold up against most of the melee unit, there should be no argue on that, if one unit is not enough, then just stack another unit behind, it is so cheap anyway. The same principle apply to loan sword ashigaru, cheap and reliable, if one is not enough, then just use another one.
Going for armies with ashigaru naginata 5 yaricav and about 2 no dachi is probably the best composition over all for the amount of money you are spending. excluding the loan sword ashigaru. The only unit that is not replaceable are no dachi. Because of that they take rank 2 imo. Wanna use katana ? why not naginata.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP me neither, I think the factions play too similar to each other. Also the unit's formation seems weird compared to Vanilla and FoTS. So why are you not a fan either?
"Katanas were only used outside of war" Nah fam, they were used on the battlefield, but were a backup weapon. Once had someone tell me that swords were way better than pole arms, and the only reason they didn't just give everyone a sword as a main weapon was money and training Lmao
Swords are better in some circumstances such as naval engagements but other than that I'd take a spear to war any day since the maintenance is too much on a sword for my tastes, if a spear breaks you can still bludgeon someone to death with it, if a sword breaks then you have a short blunt unbalanced bar of dead weight. Plus you can make and carry a few extra and now a "pure melee infantry unit" has some range.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP i looked it up an i found katanas were side arms that were used once the main weapon was lost, or as he said it, as a backup weapon, so he was right it seems.
Yeah, my reply seems like I disputed all he said but I think it was more meant in reply to the second part of his message. He’s right about it being a backup, it would make no sense if they had nothing to fall back on.
To get an answer to that question you're better off using Google, I'm not sure if there's any videos on the subject. Basically, imagine a line of men wielding a long spear (yari) and then imagine a line of men wielding a sword (katana) charging the men with spears. The sword wielders die before they even get close enough to smell the spear wielders. There are many books, and websites that explain this better than myself, but that's the gist of it.
Probably a bit too late but maybe i can still help you out. The Katana is just like the sword for the europeans a backup and self defense weapon but more importantly a status symbol. If your yari or spear gets broken or you lose it you switch to your backup. A european sword could even be used as anti armor weapon if you use it backwards to hit with the pommel or crossguards unlike the katana which was pretty useles against heavy armored enemys.
They're unique to the Ikko Ikki, so you need the Ikko Ikki Clan Pack DLC to be able to use them. When playing as the Ikko Ikki they're available everywhere from the basic fort building.
is it legal if i alter the data so i can play loan sword ashigaru without dlc? loan sword ashigaru is the same as other ashigaru.. in the end ashigaru win.
I don't recall doing that, no. I think the downsides of going Christian negate the upsides and then some, so I tend to just stay Buddhist. That said, it'd be easy to go Christian and win.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP I am not sure if it would be easy. Matchlock units always seem too late to be useful. In one campaign, Christian rebels revolted in three provinces, which made it easy for me to take over them. What are the benefits of converting to Christians exactly?
So far not yet, and I hope never to do so, these are the lifeblood of my channel. :D That said, if Three Kingdoms strikes my fancy I'll have plenty of ideas for edited videos on that too.
So does every artillery unit, cavalry unit, etc. but obviously that’s not what I’m talking about with this video. Just units that are dedicated swordsmen, I figured that would be obvious.
What the fuck is comment begging? I just know a lot of people have different opinions and it's nice to see what others think the list should look like.
it's also absurd that the Nodachi samurai don't have a bonus against cavalry when the Nodachi was an anty cavalry weapon
Yeah, I always thought that was a bit silly too, they've got this massively long weapon but somehow can't fight back effectively against men on horseback.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP because you cant brace a nodachi against the ground to blunt a cavalry charge
@@elgostine Bracing against the ground to counter charges wasn't done. Pikemen maybe did it (we're not sure) and if they did it was more about holding up the pike rather than resisting an impact. Horses won't run into pointy objects, cavalry charged against flanks or against broken units: the main reason infantry became the dominant force on the battlefield during the modern era has been, simply, increased discipline.
@@FrankPapaya i can tell you thats an urban myth myth, they can force their horse to charge if they wished
french gendarmes once hit a landsknecht pike formation on the front and rode right through to the back without any casualties but those guys were admittedly in head to toe plate armour with armoured horses to boot
the bigger issue is tha generally pikes outrech lances and unarmoured horses hitting pikles doesnt end well so they pull away, its not that they cant its because theyre seeking a better opening
@@elgostine Yes it could be forced, if men and, most importantly, horses were highly trained. Still, I doubt that a frontal charge against pikemen which maintain formation could end without casualties. Even if fully armoured, launching yourself on a pike with the mass of a ironclad knight plus horse... would end badly. Many chronicles describe charges like the one you cited, but we cannot take them at face value.
Going back to the original point, would nodachi samurai negate charges? I don't know, dipends on the training of japanese cavalry during the sengoku jidai, of which I don't know a thing. I have to say that holding a long sword offers less confidence than holding a long spear, so... it could be both ways. who knows? Not me.
Date no-dachi samurai recruited at the home province with the blacksmith specced for armor become an absolute monster of a frontline infantry.
i just looked they would have more armour than a katana samurai lmao
Katana samurai in the upgraded blacksmith shimazu location too after the armour encampment bonus
What do you mean no unit is useless? Hojo hand mortars. I rest my case
Ive never tried the hand mortars. But if you want to see carnage on a scale yet unseen. Make an army entirely of Donderbuss cav and defend a castle with it.
Dismount most of the army and put them on the walls. Then place the mounted ones in a ring around the castle right up against the walls. Then place a line of dismounted ones in front of the mounted ones. Whatever is left over, ring them around the building in the middle of the castle.
I did this against a full 40 stack army of ashigaru and samurai, and sweet god it was a bloodbath and a meat grinder.
Donderbuss cav are so OP its insane, and my new favorite unit.
I think they're meant to be a mobile siege piece: to destroy buildings and gates in support of advancing infantry instead of like real mortars used as anti-inf
@@alexanderrahl7034 Did it work when enemy have archer? But I can image how fun it is when playing Donderbuss in custom battle against enemy without any archer.
Tokugawa's broken kisho ninjas.
@@eggtat7746 they are still a cavalry unit. If played right you can probably counter ashigaru and samurai archers.
But i havent tried against warrior monks.
They are basically shotgun cavalry. So archers will likely get 1 volley off before you can close the gap, and i'd wager that the same time they fire. So will your cav, to much greater effect.
In a defensive battle archers outrange them by about 50 - 70% more. But if youre fighting ashigaru or samurai even, the walls of a castle will shield you from the worst casualties. And you can plau smart by hiding some of your Donderbuss in the forests to spring them out once the enemy's archers are vulnerable.
#1 Loan sword ashigaru in yari wall.
Edit: Wow, I was actually right...kinda!
Great Shogun 2 video as always!
I wonder, if you place a 2 rank deep line of matchlock Samurai directly in front of a Yari wall with their spears just in front of the gunners, and then place loan swords behind them (like the Tercio) how effective would it be?
Wait wat
0:40 to 1:00 that one Date katana samurai on the bottom left is some kind of sword god, parrying 2 giant spiked clubs the size of his torso with a katana and somehow overpowering the other guy in the clash.
Actually if you look closely enough, he was fighting against only one person, the first swing was directed to the other samurai but the camera angle can make it look like as if he was parrying it, sadly i don't think there is any animation of one untity fighting more than one entity at the same time which makes it impossible.
Who needs this nonsense when you have yari ashigaru and long yari ashigaru?
He had to make the list. For the unenlightened ones
Ive only played the demo and Yaris are god tier
What I saw is I was having fight with shimatzu army with katana samurai few yari cav n archer I was good in defense will yari formation n some long yari behind them so I focused my general n light cav On his yari cav who was going for my general until I look back I saw about 6 4lv ashigarus were shattered n long ones were running I had pretty heavy losses
Bows and Matchlocks: BONJOUR
@@pranishvajarinkar8145 Shimizu is strongly a katana samurai faction. That's quite unlucky of you.
What faction were you exactly?
If you want the best ashigaru faction it's Oda clan. The boosts actually makes a big difference. To beat the shimazu you'd want to be fighting weaker factions to get more experience for your ashigaru before fighting the Shimazu clan. Plus your samurai troops won't compare to them due to the buffs they get for the faction. But experienced troops means alot. Lvl 4 or 6 isn't much if they were maxed level or so units they'd might stand a chance
Hmm, one thing that I would like to see is a ranked list of troop upgrades. The armor vs melee attack debate never had a widely accepted answer that I found, plus the lesser used options like morale or charge bonus.
it completly depends on context and play style, if you have a unit like naginata samurai you're better off with attack practically wise since you already have plenty of armour
Best combination with the Nodachi Samurai is to typically have them behind your archers and frontline by a tiny bit and wait for the enemy to charge. Once you do that, you send them in to yeet the enemies stuck on your front line. That way, they’re basically free from archer fire.
I love using ikko ikki just for the loan sword ashigaru, they're the best units and gives you space to build an awesome fleet with the money you are saving!
The katana hero samurai has saved my campaign before in legendary.
For those really hard fights when you’re fighting 2-3 armies, and you have survivors have to turn around and face the next army that’s rushing you. While your cavalry mops uo as best they can.
That hero unit, in the right position, can kieep you line from breaking first. Positioned correctly their small number isn’t so bad. Nestled in between other units they hold the line while your no dachi and cavalry hit them hard.
Loan Sword Ashigaru:
+ Are cheap to recruit and have low upkeep
+ Efficiently defeat Yari Ashigaru/Bow Ashigaru in melee
++ Can defeat Yari Samurai (that's 2 points since most clans will start fielding them)
+ Become dangerous with a general's Ashigaru Commander skill (+morale)
+ Can be recruited alongside Yari/Bow Ashigaru
= Have the same armour as other ashigaru
- - Are FACTION SPECIFIC (why is beyond me)
- Are not efficient in general, meaning without expeerience, traits, and retainers, struggle unless in numbers
- Are at a serious disadvantage against samurai cavalry
- Are prone to routing if they are hit in the back, hit by friendly fire (matchlock, artillery, fire arrows?)
- Are prone to causing morale debuffs across your army once they start routing
- Become less useful in the late game
Katana Samurai:
++ Are efficient against infantry (which is so underrated as most of the time you fight more infantry than cavalry)
+ Can roughly beat two Yari Samurais, one Naginata Samurai/Monk
+ Have armour to survive multiple units in melee or at range (specifically, bows)
+ Are effective mainline infantry
+ Indirectly synergize with cavalry
+ Can be used throughout the campaign (!!!)
= Have the same morale as other samurai
- Struggle outside of 1v1s against samurais, monks, bow units at range
- Are slower than ashigaru (according to the database but I've never noticed a difference)
- Will lose against Katana Cavalry
- Get hit as hard as ashigaru when dealing with matchlocks (they do 2 damage, most bows do 0.6, Daikyu Samurai do 0.7)
Being disappointed about Katana Samurai losing to Loan Sword Ashigaru is an understatement because I've become accustomed to using them in my campaigns. No, not everyone plays the Ikko Ikki in every campaign, and although I think its probably the best DLC, they are definitely not the best faction in general. Everything else makes sense, but the Katana Samurai got robbed.
Yeah, I agree with you ... Katana samurai must be no 1
Loan Sword are faction specific because of historic reason. Peasant had no right to bear swords.
That's right I forgot about Toyotomi banning them in 1588. Since the Ikko Ikki are *peasant rebels*, it makes sense. The problem though is that the campaign takes place before he comes into power. You bring up a good point though.
Katana Samurai have better stamina than Loan Sword Ashigaru, despite slower.
For each Katana Samurai you can field 3 Loan Sword Ashigaru, I rest my case.
Mrdonkey man I haven't played shogun 2 in ages and still i keep watching your videos. Keep it up.
8- wako raiders
7-katana héroes
6-tanakeshami tanakashima
5-the legendary thing
4-katana ronin
3-nodachi samurai
2-katana samurai
1-loan sword
Antlantis 123 lol wako raiders can 1v1 a general
@@shemyyyshemyyy727 most of the units can😂
Predict loan sword will be first
Yep
MSD just loves quantity ;) For good reasons tho.
“Quantity has a quality of its own.”
- Joseph Stalin.
Who else would it be?
@@thepebbleinstitute7702 Hey how do you recruit loan swords
@@charlieeldridge867 they’re unique to ikko ikki, as peasants (ashigaru) could not own swords under feudal Japanese law.
I don't think Mori raiders have difficult recruitment requirements, but yes, their starting position combined with their recruitment requirements makes it a pain for them to have good upgrades (especially those not from the training ground). They technically can be upgraded by being recruited near the starting Mori position in the Aki province (which has the hollowed ground building chain). But that upgrade would be to morale. And they already have good morale, so I don't think that boost would be very helpful.
1. Loan Sword Ashigaru
Just, the 50 Upkeep, and 9 Attack
Naginata Sam + Katana Sam + Bow Monk + General who had Stand and Fight ability + some Cav basically are guarantee against any Armies
Playing a recent campaign with the Otomo clan I got a event message saying a group of wondering Ronin seek anew master and I got a Katana Ronin in my army and they really hold there own in combat.
no1 is yari ashigaru
I'm divided, Otomo have the coolest colours, (blue and white FTW) but I love the idea of a peasant revolt (IKKO IKKI) damn history gets way cooler the further you go when it's people hitting each other with things rather than signing treaties.
4:58 One thing that always confused me in S2 is that sword units will beat spear units most of the time. In reality, the yari has reach. That alone gives them a huge advantage over any sword, possibly with the exception of the No-Dachi.
Yeah, the katana was almost exclusively a back-up weapon on the battlefield, but obviously for balancing reasons they can't make it too realistic. If Yari Samurai were both the counter to cavalry as well as other infantry there would be no reason to ever recruit anything else anymore.
Play any Greek culture faction in Rome 1, and you'll have a good time with those pointy stick units massacring cavalry as well as infantry throughout your campaign.
@@fachriyulfiansyah1927 Greek cities and armoured hoplites, that’s all you need to win
all a swordsman has to do is close the distance
when i played Mori and tried only recruiting wako raiders, crushed the campaigns really easily on hard -_-
Another guessing game, sadly I never used most of them.
Ronin and Heroes are too small to be effective.
1st place for Loansword is a given, they outperform yari ashigaru and are only worse than yari wall.
Wako seem to have better cost/performance than Katana Samurai.
Probably:
1. Loansword Ashigaru
2. Wako Raiders
3. Katana Samurai
4. Nodachi Samurai
6. Katana Ronin
5. Seigen's Swordmasters
7. Katana Hero
8. Tadakatsu's Tetsubo Warriors
I think it was pretty close.
Indeed, very close, even got the heroes right.
swamidude. Wait, I think you meant to comment this somewhere else...
Funny how the 3 wako units wrecked havoc aganist 1000 samurai vs 479 or more or less wako pirates
MrSmartDonkey, if I have ready access to Naganata Warrior Monks do Kitana Samurai become redundant, or do they maintain their use into the late game? They both preform similar roles; heavy hitters who flank the enemy line or reinforce your own while the Yari Ashigaru and Naganata Samurai bear the brunt of the punishment. (I am currently playing as the Mori).
best way to use No-dachi is keep them in loose formation, it keeps them safe and then when they are getting close return to normal formation
I honestly never understood the point of No Dachi samurai. I get their "thing" is charge bonus. But horses do that better. The other argument I hear is: Horses can't charge into spears, No-dachi can. Which is true... except, so can regular samurai. So they are worse than cavarly, and NOT better than regular samurai in most engagements.
Katana ronin can be recruited via event in base game without dlc by any faction
So my prédiction order :
1-long yari ashigaru
2-yari ashigaru
2bis- katana warrior Monk maybe ?
3-portuguese tercos
4-katana samouraï
5-no dachi samouraïs
6-loan Sword ashigaru
7-wako raider
8-singen no dachi
9-hanzo shadow
10-samourai héro
11-shinobi
12- all ranged infantry
.....what ? Tercos, Yari and long yari fight with katana when they are at close range so that's legit......why ashigaru are first ? Because they have pointy sticks against cavalry compare to the other ^^
I’m clearly not including those though, I included units that use a katana as their main weapon. By your logic you should almost every infantry unit in the game. Bow units all grab a katana up close as well.
I know but i found this funny to try to take in count all Unit that use katana but it's too hard so i will stick to this prédiction without the range and yari unit even if i'm not really sure^^.
Shimazu katana samurai
Please a video about encampments that gives buffs to your units like hunting lodge.
I second this motion!
Once fought a takeda full stack of katana samurai with fire cav and damn they are unbeatable af with my ashigaru army (playing as oda) tho i managed to crush that stack after resorting to my castle and matchlock ashigaru
In truth, Katanas weren't designed for urban combat, but for ship combat and for cavalry. In fact, one of the reasons the mongolian invasion of Japan was so costly was, apart from the storms that wrecked the mongolian fleet, the fact that the Samurai had developed katanas specifically to fight aboard the tight confines of ships, where the big swords and ranged advantage of mongolian archers were negated.
Actually Katanas started out as commoner infantry swords, the real sword samurai used during their early half of their existance in Japanese history was the Tachi, as the Bushi nobility caste of Japan initially fought as mounted archers whilst their commoner retainers where infantry. The early Katanas were known as Uchigatana and during the Kamakura Period Uchigatana were usually of low quality. It was only during Muromachi Period did the Samurai started using the Uchigatana to supplement the longer Tachi and as a result the quality of the blades began to improve. It was only during Azuchi-Momoyama period did the Samurai stopped usage of the Tachi and the Uchigatana became the sword of the Samurai although swords were never the primary weapon of the Samurai until the Edo preiod when all internal conflict in Japan came to an end and Samurai became glorified magistrates.
Hey I know I'm super late to the video, but what map is this? It looks like a custom but it looks super nice for testing out units.
Search "flat map" in the workshop in steam, you will find it very quickly
Top 10 most powerful/strategic/best provinces on campaign map
Iwami, Izu, Sado, Tsukushi are the richest provinces on the map.
Could you do a naginata list?
Shimazu Katana Samurai are insane. Once in mid-game you can get them where they're better than nodachi samurai.
Does armor only affect how resistant they are to missile fire and not affect melee combat at all?
Yeah I think so. Melee defense is what counts in melee
Armour counts in melee too.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP Do you know to what extent? Would 1 melee defense be better than 1 armor in melee? Does armor have a cap? Sorry, I have tried to look this up a few times but I can never find a good thread about it.
Unfortunately it seems to be impossible to find a definitive answer to that question. That's the downside of Total War games, you never really know what any of the numbers mean.
"The numbers Mason, what do they mean!"
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP FOR THE LAST TIME! STEINER WAS AT REBIRTH ISLAND, WE HAD TO KILL STEINER!
Heavy Infantry next I suppose? (Assuming you mean to continue these lists)
I will, last few categories are Melee Cavalry, Naginata Infantry, and Siege Units, or Siege and Stealth Units, not sure how I'll name it yet.
how do you like naginata units?
Still waiting on the best Naginata units list :(
Do top 10 FOTS boats
I would like to see top _ non-missile cavalry ( Yari, katana, etc.)
In Darthmod AI uses yari wall. I still want you to do dathmod campaign...come on do it!!
Yari ashigaru is insanely strong when putting in yari wall formation, they can hold up against most of the melee unit, there should be no argue on that, if one unit is not enough, then just stack another unit behind, it is so cheap anyway. The same principle apply to loan sword ashigaru, cheap and reliable, if one is not enough, then just use another one.
Cheaper armies all the way, If they win great they become even more deadly, if they lose just make two more stacks.
Going for armies with ashigaru naginata 5 yaricav and about 2 no dachi is probably the best composition over all for the amount of money you are spending. excluding the loan sword ashigaru. The only unit that is not replaceable are no dachi. Because of that they take rank 2 imo. Wanna use katana ? why not naginata.
Date No Dachi Samurai
Maybe do some of these for Rise of the Samurai
Loan swords are so good you can entire armies of them and still win in campaign. Nothing else.
You're planning on reviewing clans and unita of Rise of the Samurai?
Not at the moment, I'm not a big fan of Rise.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP me neither, I think the factions play too similar to each other. Also the unit's formation seems weird compared to Vanilla and FoTS.
So why are you not a fan either?
Best total-war game 🖒
"Katanas were only used outside of war"
Nah fam, they were used on the battlefield, but were a backup weapon.
Once had someone tell me that swords were way better than pole arms, and the only reason they didn't just give everyone a sword as a main weapon was money and training
Lmao
"Once had someone tell me"
He's wrong, you're wrong, look it up.
Swords are better in some circumstances such as naval engagements but other than that I'd take a spear to war any day since the maintenance is too much on a sword for my tastes, if a spear breaks you can still bludgeon someone to death with it, if a sword breaks then you have a short blunt unbalanced bar of dead weight. Plus you can make and carry a few extra and now a "pure melee infantry unit" has some range.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP i looked it up an i found katanas were side arms that were used once the main weapon was lost, or as he said it, as a backup weapon, so he was right it seems.
Yeah, my reply seems like I disputed all he said but I think it was more meant in reply to the second part of his message.
He’s right about it being a backup, it would make no sense if they had nothing to fall back on.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP oh i see
Donkey. Why katana wasn't very used in battle? I didn't know. If you can link a video about that, I will be pleased.
To get an answer to that question you're better off using Google, I'm not sure if there's any videos on the subject.
Basically, imagine a line of men wielding a long spear (yari) and then imagine a line of men wielding a sword (katana) charging the men with spears. The sword wielders die before they even get close enough to smell the spear wielders. There are many books, and websites that explain this better than myself, but that's the gist of it.
Probably a bit too late but maybe i can still help you out. The Katana is just like the sword for the europeans a backup and self defense weapon but more importantly a status symbol. If your yari or spear gets broken or you lose it you switch to your backup. A european sword could even be used as anti armor weapon if you use it backwards to hit with the pommel or crossguards unlike the katana which was pretty useles against heavy armored enemys.
I am super confused, how the hell do you recruit loan sword ashigaru i cant get my head around getting them
They're unique to the Ikko Ikki, so you need the Ikko Ikki Clan Pack DLC to be able to use them. When playing as the Ikko Ikki they're available everywhere from the basic fort building.
bow samurai is the best they perform much as yari samurai but they can alter to arrow and immediately change to mele
No Tachi Shimazu?
Can someone tell me what loyalty for generals is for and what happends when it goes to 0?
tol asian they will betray you if they have low loyalty ..
Nobody would use a sword as his/her main weapon, expect from some great swords in europe. The katana is a sidearm
Wrong, lots of people used swords as their main or only melee weapon historically.
@@stochastic24 He very clearly means beyond duelists.
@@7777-z7p I'm not speaking only of duelists.
@@stochastic24 Name me a non duelist who used a non-greatsword like weapon and wasn't killed.
@@7777-z7p sword and shield (not in Japan tho)
Ngl i thought Shimazu Katana samurai is gonna be here why they are not here?
is it legal if i alter the data so i can play loan sword ashigaru without dlc?
loan sword ashigaru is the same as other ashigaru..
in the end ashigaru win.
In my opinion you could include kisho ninja
I could have, but I figured they’d make more sense in the siege category.
we get it you like ashigaru we get it!!!
ps all ashigaru are great
#1 Gatling gun
Loan sword ashiragu is downright broken. 12-year old me is able to beat the game on VH/VH for the first time by spamming nothing but them.
I am so disappointed ... Katana Samurai must be no 1 ! ...
No shimazu katana samurai?
Virgin Samurai VS Chad Ashigaru
Could you do a video about best units in rise of the samurai
Non of samurai units can beat the naginata warrior monks, but not nodachi
ASHIGARU POWER!!!
Yari ashigaro will be the best
Spoilers for siege xD
1 rocket launchers
2 hanzo shadows
3 kisho ninja
4 "grenade throwers"
5 trebuchers
6 bombard cannons
7 hand mortars
Well, I would say I was amazed by how close you were, but it IS true that Donkey's opinion on mist units is pretty well known
MOD YES?
Top x are back i hope
I have watched this video since I was not sure if there are more than 8 sword units in shogun 2.. to be honest, I am still not sure.
Why not? I showed all of them.
you are dutch, i can hear it
Pretty silly you need a dlc to make a dlc faction viable.
ronin (worst)
big wood stick guys
saigen sword masters
katana hero
katana samurai
no dachi
katana ashigaru (best)
1. Katana yari ashigaru
I predict katana samurai will be #1 and katana heroes to be #8
Top ships?
Black ship with European trade ships.
They are not useless, no unit is
Cough Cough, mangonele Cough Cough
Sword ashigaru ftw
who else want Shogun 3
Umm samurai retainers? Best unit ever..
Have you done a campaign where you converted to Christianity and won?
I don't recall doing that, no. I think the downsides of going Christian negate the upsides and then some, so I tend to just stay Buddhist. That said, it'd be easy to go Christian and win.
@@MrSmartDonkeyLP I am not sure if it would be easy. Matchlock units always seem too late to be useful. In one campaign, Christian rebels revolted in three provinces, which made it easy for me to take over them. What are the benefits of converting to Christians exactly?
Top x hero units when donkey
I thought it was katana hero
Have you ever run out of shogun 2 ideas? :D it’s not sarcastic :P
So far not yet, and I hope never to do so, these are the lifeblood of my channel. :D
That said, if Three Kingdoms strikes my fancy I'll have plenty of ideas for edited videos on that too.
Every infantry have sword tho
So does every artillery unit, cavalry unit, etc. but obviously that’s not what I’m talking about with this video. Just units that are dedicated swordsmen, I figured that would be obvious.
Do top 10 worst melee units
I pressed the like button because of the "in real life" point about the usage of katanas :)
>historical setting
>longsword (well, katana's pretty short and fits a sabre description) as a basic weapon of the unit
Gets me every time lol
Yari ashigaru wall
Just like you mentioned with the first place xD
1:35 that is some pathetic comment begging.
What the fuck is comment begging? I just know a lot of people have different opinions and it's nice to see what others think the list should look like.
xdd