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[Doom]

Rance's unit was exhausted from fighting last turn before we got it, so I use the Happy Pokkuru on him for +1 Level and the +Attack textbook to go from 5 to 6 Attack, reaching the Stat Textbook 1 cap of 6 points.

: As the main character and due to limitations of the dungeon combat system I'll discuss later, Rance is the best choice for all +Level items for the entire game. His level cap of 99 is something most other units don't have, even unique commanders like Katsuie and Ranmaru will cap around 40, so leveling Rance makes him very powerful in dungeon battles. Rance's level is also very beneficial due to *PLOT* later.

Alright, replenish our troops, use our items. For this playthrough I've decided that Ashikaga House should die first, but I have a bit of foresight here.

If Rance enters combat against Ashikaga House on Offense or Defense, Isoroku will attempt to assassinate him once, causing an instant defeat as your troops freak out and retreat. If you don't use Rance before you capture Isoroku or defeat Ashikaga House, the cutscene won't occur. A saved Action Fan! I want to recruit Isoroku and one other unique commander, so let's invade Ashikaga land and do a bit of reloading!

I also have the option with a Negotiation of 18 to demand Ashikaga's surrender, but that's not on the table with Choushin. You can demand a Surrender from many Houses(not all), and it will dramatically affect what happens to the House as opposed to taking their land and burning down their castle. It's how you Vassal a country, but I'm not interested in that.

Storming into Ashikaga land minus Rance, we witness a little scene...





Choushin's charm passed on to his men. In a game of heroic rapists it weirds me out to see somebody get gung-ho about lady commanders. Isoroku's unit is the strongest in Choushin's shitty army.



Pay-dirt! As an adviser, Ikkyu enters battle as a Tactician. And he has given Isoroku... +attack, +defense and +speed. Yipes.



Ikkyu rides two men dressed up as his mother's puppet as a horse into combat. Because. Also, Isoroku's opening volley Alphas the hell out of Fuuka.





Lot of fighting, bit of healing, and...



FUCK.

*reload*

FUCK.

*reload*

FUCK.

*reload*

FUCK.

*reload*

FUCK.

*reload*

FUCK.

*reload*

FUCK.

*reload*

FUCK.

*reload*

FUCK.

*reload*

After about 20 instances of such nonsenses, mostly scouting an alternate unit comp that is Isoroku guarded by two generic Foot Soldiers, I decide to just accept my no-frills victory and take 1/3 of Ashikaga's land. I used a Fan to get Rance's satisfaction bonus, so Turn 6 is done.

[Doom]

Oh.

Right.

Isoroku can't be captured until after the following cutscene, triggered by defeating her once in battle. Before then, she's tagged as immune to capture and... *bangs head against wall*







Lead us, Choushin-sama!

[Doom]

As promised, Purupet!




The mysterious traveling salesman offers to buy... The Emperor's Ring!!! from Choushin. Choushin mentioned three sacred treasures earlier, and he clearly possesses one of them. He tells Purupet to get lost before he forgets how handsome he is and has him executed. No sale!

New neighbor introduction. This time... Takeda House D: !

All cavalry in Alternate Fantasy Japan are lizard-bird chocobos.





The genius that has never lost a battle, Takeda Shingen.



Excitable giant, Baba Shouen. He's such a big, bad dude he has to ride two chocobos at the same time into battle.



Old ninja, Kousaka Yoshikage. Probably the greatest ninja in Japan, even compared to the Ninja King.



Genius tactician, Sanada Tourin.



Angry guy that is inexplicably as strong as Baba in battle, Yamagata Masakage.







Takeda House is one of the few opponents I genuinely fear.

[Doom]

Oh, Suzume has returned! She joins our army, citing that service in Iga feels too confined and icky compared to the antics of the Oda family. And Rance's unit.



With 6 Defense and 5s across the board, Suzume out-classes Takigawa easily. As a unique NPC, Suzume will also learn Suzume-only moves that make her one of the best Ninja units in the game. She's Exhausted when she joins, so we can't use her this turn. She joins us with Assassinate 2, which is Assassinate with better odds. Expending all Action Flags, she will attempt to instantly annihilate a single enemy unit. The odds are reduced based on how much HP the stack currently has, but it's still a strong 50/50 against most units and it can even work on uniques and bosses and such. A great strategy is to throw Shurikens to your last flag and then go for broke with Assassinate.

Using all but one of your flags and then using an All-Flags move is a good idea in general, but you must pay attention to how many turns are left and turn order or you won't even reach your last flag!

Let's storm some more Ashikaga land!



Check out the loser squad sent to try and stop me from taking the second part of Choushin's last province. Dunked easily, I now have 2/3 of Choushin's last province and only need to seize his remaining castle.



Realizing the end is near, Choushin desperately seeks the aid of a noble family in Kyo. They do not reply to his letter. 

[Doom]

Welp, I've driven Choushin back to his last castle, but I'm going to hold off on capturing it. Why?!

First of all, I'd like to kick his ass with Rance. No strategic or mechanics reason. I just want to, so I want to capture Isoroku and skip losing a flag to the assassination scene. Second off, there's no real penalty to beating a House down to it's last zone in it's last province and then squatting. In fact, their infrequent and sissified attacks will give you a steady source of prisoners, affection points and Max HP boosts, so as long as you can spare 2-6 guys to handle a single defense each turn it's very low risk and consistent rewards.

Third, I failed to get him earlier, but I want to recruit Ikkyu. Why? Can't I see how creepy and terrible he is?

Ikkyu isn't important enough to be captured through plot and I believe will float around the rest of Japan as a mercenary unit, randomly appearing in non-stock army battles if I wipe Ashikaga House without capturing him. He's an above-average tactician with terrible starting Max HP, but that's easy to throw gold at. He's actually an above-average bureaucrat despite uh, all evidence to the contrary. So he's generally useable and useful, but he's still really creepy, right? What makes Ikkyu incredible is his Ikkyu-only move, Witty Comeback, that replaces the standard Tactician Buff move.

Three times over the course of the entire game, Ikkyu can use a length Preparation period to reverse the Battle Meter. A 10% loss becomes a 90% win, and so on. There aren't many catches to it, it's exactly what it says on the tin. I've noticed that if you activate the Preparation period and don't actually cast it, the charge will still be consumed. Charges aren't listed anywhere, but Ikkyu will tell you in battle once he's out, and Witty Comeback will become the standard Battle Strategy buff-set all tacticians have.

Walling up with 3+ Foot Soldiers and Ikkyu in the back and casting Witty Comeback to win a difficult castle siege is one way to break incredibly difficult battles, such as against Takeda House. So I figure if I go do some other things, Ashikaga will eventually try to attack me with Ikkyu and Isoroku and I can snatch them at my leisure.

And luckily, I have other things to do! With one Action Fan left for Turn 7, let's go talk to 3G about rumors.






Why... it's free. Boi-oi-oi-oi-io-io-iong.

[Doom]

Inukai laments the loss of the only other good commander in Iga and orders his subordinates to handle the situation, reflecting on the fact that they will probably die against Japan's greatest kunoichi.

Agh Choushin is attacking again, let's see what he's got.



The Big Man himself! Choushin is classified as a Miko unit for reasons I don't want to think about, and his stack size is gigantic! I'm also an idiot and put my tactician in the front row, but at least he's with a Foot soldier unit. But the enemy has enough men in that Warrior stack to actually threaten me. WHAT AM I GONNA DO




Choushin is not only an asshole, he's an idiot. He has the worst stats of any commander in the game and all he does this battle is take double damage from all sources(due to his insanely bad Defense) and contribute maybe 20 units a Heal to his allies(due to his insanely bad Intelligence.) His stack is so huge that hitting him is free morale. I have Maeda build Guard until he's overwhelmed and Akechi gets roughed up for my screw-up, but neither die due to RNG luck. Choushin's presence made it easy to rain arrows and shuriken down at random and still beat his morale due to my Defender's advantage.

Sengoku Rance OST - Mars

W.. woah?! Who is this, and why is their music so great!? We're not even adjacent to them, but here comes...



A noble house of great warriors and tacticians, Uesugi stand as eternal rivals to Takeda House and tend to interfere in their affairs in the name of JUSTICE. They favor Women fighters.



Uesugi Kenshin is hailed as the Goddess of War because of her amazing hat and theme music. Her best friend Naoe Ai is a cunning tactician.









Believing that aggression is evil, Kenshin will now randomly assist any defending army, including our own if the enemy attempts to take our territory. This can make budget defenses possible and very easy, or make easy offenses into hard battles, as Kenshin is one of the best Commanders in the entire game.

[Doom]

Time for Turn 8. I burn 5 National Power to construct the Foot Soldier Training Area, which will boost the Maximum HP of every Foot Soldier Commander I have by 5 each turn. A great money-saver across 3 or more Foot Soldiers and a fantastic idea overall.



I toss Rance an intelligence book to bump him from 5 to 6, another cap reached. I probably got that book as random loot in an attack or defense. And... since Suzume is no longer exhausted, we can finally use the Worker Bee Pin!



Suzume's only weak spot is that her starting Max HP sucks, so you have to invest money into her unit. But before we do that, look at this cursed Bee Pin! Look at it! +2 Action Flags, but we'll lose half the unit's Max HP. Which we can then buy back, but that's expensive, so it's best to pick a unit you want to wear this thing forever. And speaking from experience, I know I want Suzume to have those extra actions! So we toss it on, buy as many new Ninjas as we can(60 -> 92) and start using her in fights to build her HP passively. Let's go bully Hara House!



Mmm, six flags. Suzume can interrupt multiple casters over a battle, whittle down Guard meters, or Alpha weaker units. And once you get her Stack size up, she'll be as strong as an Archer! We're fighting losers again so I'll demonstrate something...




Rance Attack is a mild variation(the name is different) of Commander Charge, a move that only a rare few unique commanders can use. It's the mark of an incredible leader, a move where the entire unit is filled with unstoppable spirit and attacks without being counter-attacked. It's two part: your Commander shouts a battle cry(RANCE ATTAAAAACCCKKK!) and unleashes about 150 Damage on their own, no counter-attack damage from the enemy. Then your actual unit attacks at their appropriate damage, again with no counter-attack from the enemy. It consumes all of your Action Flags, so it's a perfect Last Move turn if the battle is about to end or your unit is down to it's last flag... or it can be a masterful Alpha, used to dent a very dangerous enemy stack before they can Alpha. In this case you have to weigh how important the lost flags are vs letting that enemy unit get off full HP Alphas.



Woo. Another day of taking things from other people for being next to me, another turn done.

[Doom]

Submitted without comment, a Tokugawa family moment.



Oh ho, Choushin has finally sent a pretty attacker.



OOHHH WHAT THE?! This enemy Foot Soldier is unusually talented and has upgraded to All-Guard, which lets her protect both vertical rows(Front and Back), but at the cost of her Guard Actions only building her Guard Gauge 40% at a time instead of 80%. Another tactical consideration... your Guard meter can be blown through twice as fast and will be under 100% more frequently, but you can cover 5 people with a single Foot Soldier unit. Ideally... we want two All Guarders in the future. Fufufu.





Beating her army to death the old-fashioned way, we manage to capture Isoroku while defending!

Mr Burns - Excellent

[Doom]

Hara House wants to voice their displeasure that I am occupying their land.

I respond in the usual manner.





Oh, ho, new neighbors. Once again we're not next to these guys, but we seem to be witnessing all the players in the huge war that has consumed Eastern Japan.




Houjou House are the divine keepers of the legendary Tri-Force, containing the virtues of Courage, Power and Wisdom. Uh, I mean, Houjou House is the House of Japan's Diviners, sworn to travel to any part of Japan to defeat evil youkai, primarily Ogres who always seem to be tripping through holes in Hell and ending up in the Japanese country-side, where they can't help but eat livestock and people.



Houjou Souun is the House Lord, a very talented Diviner who pushes himself tirelessly to serve the people.



Ran is an up-and-coming Diviner and Souun's fiance. She feels slighted by his needs to run a nation, but wants to better her Divining powers to help carry his burdens.



Daidouji Komatsu is a talented Bushido idol.





We begin Turn 9 with a rumor from 3G that the people actually like Choushin because he keeps taking the ugly women in town as his mistresses. Dohohoho.

[Doom]

I give another five generic losers in prison their walking papers and Rance Pokkuru's up to Level 42. Let's recruit Isoroku!



Oh my. I can't! There are two types of Search/Negotiate/Construction tasks. Most green-labeled ones can be whittled down. If you send 12 Search worth of dopes to a Green 15 Search task, they'll report failure, but the task will become a 3 Search one, so you can pick it up with another Action Fan. Prison Negotiations tend to be all or nothing deals, and even with my best Negotiate possible I can't recruit Isoroku yet. Boooo! Somebody, fetch me an Amazing Old Man!




We give Suzume a tea cup and a drum and she gains 6 Affection Points. Then we'll click on Oda's home district...



And see a cutscene with her! We could see this cutscene earlier, but now that she's 7/7 we can enhance her abilities.

Two options here I haven't mentioned. If you go back to Rance's Place, Rance will bang a lady in his Harem for +1 Satisfaction. It's a lousy conversion rate of Action Fans this early in the game, but it can be used later for Character Clears and the like, which are basically getting a character to maximum Trust/Love with you through the Dating Sim elements. Rance always bangs the ladies in a set order and the ladies in his harem are based on who you've conquered or character cleared so far. If all else fails he'll bang Sill.

Game Progress Report is only available after you beat the game. It shows what you've completed and have available to complete, including seeing cutscenes, clearing characters, clearing alternate paths of the game, beating the game with semi-unique rare mercenary NPCs, and so on... it catalogs your descent into madness if you go for 100% completion.






Woo. Status Up would be +1 to Atk, Def, Int or Spd, our choice. Gain Ability would let us teach Suzume to turn invisible(+70% Defense) or to alter the battlefield(+Morale.) Not worth it right now. The second gain ability will let her choose a Passive, which are useful, but not for us right now. +Troops is +Max Troops, and +2 Levels is a super bad deal, almost never take it. Suzume is already level 39 with a cap of 49, so we can't twink her for dungeon fights to begin with.

So, we're here to boost her Shuriken attack!



By default, Ninjas throw Shuriken at one target for average damage. Cancels Preparation status on Caster Units, even if you only deal 1 damage. Suzume and every other ninja can learn Shuriken 2, which is a 1.2x damage modifer... but Suzume can learn Chun Chun Shuriken, which makes her Shurikens deal .9 damage... but also gain the Penetration trait. Oh no, not my butt?

Penetration ignores Guard(cannot be intercepted) and strikes the horizontal row... or the unit in the front and in the back. Suzume can damage two units at once, ignore Guard and All-Guard when targeting casters or weak units, chip away two Foot Soldiers Guard meters at once, etc. The only downside is the slightly reduced damage and that Chun Chun Shurikens cost 2 Action Flags instead of 1, but we've already twinked her with the Worker Bee pin! This will let her attack three times a battle, or attack twice and then go for an Assassination. With her natural Ninja turn order boost and good stats, Suzume should always get to wreck havoc in any battle she is in!

[Doom]

One Action Fan left.



This sounds like a good option.








We demand our Miko from the management and the expected happens with a substitute Miko, leading to Satisfaction +5.

[Defenestration]

So he's a complete sociopath

[Doom]

So he's a complete sociopath

Yes.



Ohh, Yoshikage is a pretty nice ruler. So unfishlike.




Hara is the only House to send troops to register their displeasure with us this turn so I toss a 6 unit steamroller at them. Here's the Chun-Chun in action!



And another Rance Attack to finish.

As Turn 10 begins, I notice that I can't actually declare war on Takeda House yet. Which is just as well, as I hold no death wish. Let's take another piece of Hara land.



What a surprise! I didn't expect to see these guys until later armies.

Monks are holy warriors infused with the divine strength of the Tenshi religion. They are Melee units with above average attack and average everything else. They can use a powerful healing spell on themselves and only themselves for 2 Action Flags, or learn a few overly specific moves that suck, such as Hanni Smashing Kick... which lets them use a very weak ranged attack that deals extra damage to the weakest units in the game. Their real appeal is Guard Cancel, which lets them remove the Guard Meter from every unit on the enemy team for a single Action Flag. Although Monks have some uses, such as being able to Melee well and remove enemy stat boosts on hit(or striking without regard for stat boost, the translation confuses me a bit, either way they're good vs stat boosted units), they tend to be a pain to keep alive and thus work best hiding in the back of an army, tanking ranged attacks with their self-heal and using Guard Cancel to Paper your enemy's defensive Rock.

Three guesses how this battle ends. The loss of half of the province leads to a shockwave in the Hara household.






Hara Shouji will begin entering Hara battles on offense and defense with an uncapturable tag.

[Doom]

OK! We'll just take another piece of Hara land and...





FUCK




Shouji's stats aren't great but as you can see in his sprite, his terrible marriage has filled him with homicidal fury and he can unleash it with his unique Volley skill, attacking all units on the field for reduced damage at the cost of all his Action Flags.



More pressingly, Kenshin's unit is very strong, her presence gives a dramatic bonus to the enemy's morale and makes all of my units start with -1 Action Flag. Using her Commander Charge(ala the earlier explained Rance Attack), we don't stand a chance. Nobody dies, but that's Turn 10 over with a wet flop. Fortunately we were on the offense so we don't lose any land.

[Doom]

I've decided that I want to limit the amount of save-scumming I do here. The game isn't going to be as fun as it could be for me or the LP as fun as it could be for you if I just sit there for an hour reloading until everything falls perfectly into place. I'll still mention when I juggle loads around to get around some of the horse-shit that exists in the game and why. Just know that if you're getting your ass kicked, you can always juggle loads and see if your enemy decides not to attack you between turns or something. Always keep multiple saves!

Turn 11! Attacking Hara again, no Goddesses to stop us this time!




I now possess 3/4 of Hara's single province, meaning I can storm their castle and sack their House in a single Action Fan at my leisure. But I won't for another ten turns because of the whole threat of Iga thing and not wanting to start more wars than I can handle, when I can handle. Right now it's childishly easy to repel simultaneous attacks from Ashikaga and Hara.




We blow a Fan to send Rance back up Miko Mountain(that's three Action Fans so far) to see Natori and Ruma again. Natori lets Rance bang Ruma, but denies that she sees any men herself. Ruma claims that Natori only sees... very important men. Sure enough, Rance now has all the justification he needs to conquer a benevolent neutral territory. Yup, it takes three fans to be able to declare war on the Miko Institute, and a fourth to actually do the declaring.

And now for a familiar face, last seen being thrown out by Choushin. She has hiked all the way to Iga's province.







Giving all of her money to an old man who leads them back over the mountain they just climbed, things look bleak. Stay strong, Kojika!

[Doom]

Ashikaga attacks us again.




This story always seems to end the same way, doesn't it?

With Turn 11 ending, we get a nice little story cutscene. Celebrating the New Year or something. Whatever, it's a party!





Nobunaga with sage wisdom that Rance doesn't get.

[Doom]

As Turn 12 begins, we are now squatting on Hara and Ashikaga House's last province. We just need to remember to keep about 5 units available for defense between turns.

If we wanted to, we could lobby Ashikaga or Hara House to surrender to us with 18 Negotiation. Forcing Choushin to surrender is a boring neutral loss(he vanishes instead of being captured... with the Emperor's Ring!) and forcing Hara House to surrender... well...





And we can't force levies out of Vassal Countries, so screw Diplomacy! Let's move on to my actual Turn 12.



Consequences are for lesser men.

I had to use 5 Units to declare that war so I'm not going to attack yet, as I'd have no defense force left... Miko Institute has a Declare War Negotiate of 18 because as 3G said, we must be crazy. Crazy like a fox!

Hey, we've got an easy Search 5 to locate a Dungeon. Takigawa has Search 6, let's go find that!



And just like that, we get a Battle Option to go explore the 0/5 Floors of the Miso Katsu Dungeon. But we're out of Action Faaaaaaaaans so turn over.

[Doom]

Takeda House reflects on what a wacky foreigner and reckless military power I am. Houjou, Uesugi and Takeda are locked in a very long stalemate of a war: it's possible for somebody to win due to events and *PLOT* and what-not, but you'll frequently see random little scenes were Kenshin or a Takeda commander ride out for another round of pointless warfare.



Takeda hopes we'll kill one of their rivals, but I'm busy with my own pointless grudges! The Miko Institute attacks us! What a bunch of war-mongers, am I right?



Because Uesugi Kenshin thinks I'm right. Being completely fair to the point of absurdity, Kenshin rushes to help me defend myself from the benevolent neutral group I declared war on. I dump some gold into Rance to get him to 400+ dudes and decide to defend on a budget.



Oh balls, Natori herself is here. She's a Miko unit and functions much like Fuuka, up to and including being able to cast Miko Storm... 2.

Yes, we're invading the Miko Institute for the same reason Rance is. We must have Natori. Miko Storm 2 functions the same as Miko Storm 1, but deals 30% Max HP Damage to a stack. Not current. Max, every time, every unit, no restrictions. It makes Natori "only" the second best caster in the entire game!



Bwarghhh my HP oh God. If her unit comp wasn't terrible I'd actually be in trouble, but we can brute force this.



Swish! After battle, we get a cutscene at the institute. They must have run back up that mountain very quickly.




Natori states that she'll be gone for a few days and charges her subordinates to defend against Oda. And then... Ashikaga attacks me! WHAT A TWEEST!




With one hand behind my back, chump change.



And we go from 19 to 24 Satisfaction with a playful bang with Suzume. Forgot to mention the +1 I got from my second visit to the Miko Institute before I declared war on them. Satisfaction Bonus time! Hmm... we'll send a letter to Zeth asking for a new unit.

[Doom]

Let's wrap up Turn 13 here.



Check out the names of these defenders! They like to shout "Don't destroy our paradise" when they attack.



Three Foot Soldiers in a single row should have been hell to break, but my own risky unit comp leads them to stab Rance with spears three times in a row, forfeiting their Guard meters to make me forfeit my life. Shit has just gotten real.



I have Rance attack a weaker stack so that Sill will use her heal, then Rance Attack a huger stack at 2 flags so that he won't take counter-attack damage, will actually deal a set amount of damage to it, and get another heal. It does the trick...



As I wail away on the unguarded back row and score a Morale victory. 1/3 of Mikoland is mine!

New Miko cutscene.






Ah, I'm invading a benevolent institute that prevents the world from ending.

[Doom]

Miko Institute wants to reclaim it's land and sends... a semi-unique NPC. Wait, what's the difference? Alright, clearly somebody like Suzume gets lines and cutscenes and H-scenes and unique moves like Chun Chun Shuriken. But Himiko here is part of a roving group of semi-random NPCs. She'll always show up randomly in Miko Institute fights, but will become "mercenary" and show up in random armies after we defeat the Miko Institute. There's at least two dozen of them and they don't get scenes or lines, but they tend to have above average stats and a few have unique portraits. Himiko here has six(!) action flags as a Monk and if I liked Monks I'd definitely want to bring Niwa and his Defeated Warrior Hunt to try and catch her.



Cripes, notice how good the Monk is at actually taking a hit compared to undefended Warriors, and returning one to Katsuie and ignoring his natural Foot Soldier defenses.



But it's not enough with the useless Miko-heavy comp. I'd like Mikos more if their Healing wasn't so weak, it's really a bad gimme for all but the absolute best Mikos and we're recruiting Natori and Fuuka for their offensive spells anyway. Having attacked with 4 and defended with 2, like I said folks, go hard or go home. You can accomplish a lot more than you'd think with a lot less than you'd want to in the early game.



More semi-unique Mikos enter the possible Miko Institute battles as Natori's sisters beg to join the fight.



Tokugawa's Racoon Dog Festival! Yay!

ohnoAshikaga... oh, what's this?



I'm really on a budget here. Two generics and Fuuka is capable, but not Offense heavy. I'd actually lose this one without good play or the defender's Morale bonus. I have Maeda turtle up and decide to go for the Ikkyu capture...



And as the enemy caps out on flags against Maeda's shield wall, Fuuka uses Miko Storm to overkill on morale.



Mr Burns Movie Auditions