Total War: Shogun 2 Heaven

While a lot of people would probably swear by Darthmod if it is giving you issues then playing the vanilla unmodded game is perfectly fine, and enjoyable. Not to mention Darthmod for Fall of the Samurai doesn't exactly make playing as a Traditionalist particularly balanced, last time I checked.

I believe Rise of the Samurai shares the same Realm Divide as Shogun 2, while Fall of the Samurai's Realm Divide is refreshingly different. Unless you feel like taking the whole Ezo Republic route, siding with either the Imperialists or Shogunate factions will see take part in factional warfare. Which basically boils down to, you have friends and allies to help you this time round.

As for which Clans to use during each era, that is a matter of personal opinion and somewhat dependent on the difficulty level. Some harder clans can be fun, yet absolutely hard to survive with, using some of the harder difficulty levels. The Oda's ability to mass produce many Ashigaru armies helps when it comes time for Realm Divide in Shogun 2. Or you could try the Date, Chosokabe or Shimazu to provide natural defensive barriers or only one avenue of attack against your foes. I would say you could choose any faction which takes your fancy for Rise of the Samurai as they all can be just as hard in my opinion.

Fall of the Samurai faction selection will firstly come down to whether or not you want to start out as part of the Shogunate or Imperialist faction, and then which clan bonuses you like the most. I started my first campaign as the Toza due to their naval bonuses and my want to try out the new and improved naval mechanics in FotS. Difficulty level could also play a part in Clan selection since some clans get much harder to play on harder difficulties due to their starting position.

Due to their island locations I would say the Toza and Satsuma may be the best to start out with if you want to be part of the Imperialist faction. Despite the fact you will have notched up a fair few hours already just by playing RotS and Shogun 2 I would advise an easier clan for FotS while you get accustomed with all the changes and improvements, I know I found FotS harder at first until I got accustomed to how it plays.

Do write an AAR, we could do more of them .

What Scipii said.

Personally, I quite liked the Hattori for S2TW and the Tosa for FOTS.
The Hattori's abilites were great fun but they are hard if own supports the Aizu, which will lead to a fairly ealry death almost unquestionably.

The Tosa because I like boats. The Satsuma might also be a good idea because their island offers plentiful resources for a boomer.

Haven't played ROTS, and probably never will.

I reccomend the hattori for awesome ninjaness the takada for so awesome ambush spots and the date for the fun of charging with the no-dachi

I too never completed a Shogun 2 campaign because the realm divide became too frustrating. Please try Fall of the Samurai, the realm divide is dropped for an interesting civil war and you have dependable and loyal allies. You feel like you are a part of a large conflict in Fall of the Samurai, striving to lead your cause to victory! Its great fun!

Rise of the Samuri has started

After turn 36, I own 8 provinces. I'm the guys in the top right, and kept having a four-way tussle with some minor clans for this one settlement that has changed hands four times. Quite annoying- for a long time I had only 2 provinces.
But suddenly I and my other family clan broke two of the others' backs, enabling me to go and vassalise them both. I converted the third player's settlement, and suddenly I've got 8 provinces.

Currently building up my infrastructure before I go against the blue major clan- I'm starting to get samuri and stuff but most my research has gone into the economic side of things,

I tell you what, I'm liking this campaign. I've had a hard slog against several clans as people kept turning on me, and my economy goes down the drain. But I've found if I manage to move my troops out of there and stretch the enemy I can nip in after and take it back within a few turns.
Gradually rolling down from the north- where the Hojo start in the original game I'm down to there.
I really need to get more familiar with the names...

It sounds like your campaign as the Fujiwara is preceding well then honourable EoJ. Which prestigious family (clan) are you playing as? The Kubota Fujiwara (Green and White mon) or the Hiraizumi Fujiwara (Green and Yellow mon)? The dishonourable, or honourable depending on how you look at it, Minamoto would be the major blue clan(s) you are referring to.

Green and gold
My computer conked out though because I think I overheated it, so I need to get it fixed now
Give you guys an update on thursday

The damned Minamoto must be sending Monomi to slow down your speed of success. Looking forwards to an update.

Well, the uni's tech place isn't open until the 11th again, so I'm still kicking around until then. I'll probably have it done by the 15th...
However, Fall of the Samurai arrived today (I spotted it cheap on amazon), and it's sitting there. Taunting me.
Does look rather epic in its own right.

Good news- it started working again!

So, now I actually start to pick up some names. I'd badgered the Minamoto to such an extent that I'd taken both clans' homelands, leaving only the Kiso Minamoto alive. They're now holed up in the mountains with two provinces left- I was marching on them, but they had one decent-sized army left, which they were using to strike back towards their homelands. I effectively outmarched them in the mountain passes to have one army in front, and one behind and crushed them (my armies in this game seem to be a bit small compared to everyone else, but they get the job done).

After this defeat I thought about taking them out, but realised if I did that then there would be nothing between myself and the real big boys- the Taira. These two clans are bossing the scene. One of them (the Yashima) are actually on good terms with me and indeed with most of the map but the Fukuhara are a giant sprawling monstrosity that have Koyoto and everything. So, I've constructed a wall of allies for the most part, with a solid Fujiwara-supporting minor clan on the se coast and made the Minamoto my allies as well- they were all too pathetically happy to be my meat shield. They border the Fukuhara, so let's see how long they last.

Also, the Inoue have been harassing the coast for a while- they took one of the clans I was tussling Fukashima out after I made them my vassal, even going as far as taking the other Fujiwara clan to a single province. However, they overstretch and tend to do badly after a single defeat. This time, however, they marched down to Fukashima. I crushed them, and decided to finish them off- their coastal settlement taken, it's time to hop over to their island and get some lovely gold...

I went through an economic crash as the Fukuhara and a minor minomoto clan, the Oghara, declared war on me and started pirating the hell out my trade This is worrying, because I had a very small localized navy anyway, and I had to sacrifice those ships in order to keep above water (heh) while the Fukuhara by themselves actually are starting to blockade my ports now. Also, a trading partner that's on good terms with me is also "threatening to attack", which is annoying- they're bringing a ship round and I think they mean to land in Fukishima land or even more northwards...

An intriguing turn of events there EoJ. Hopefully the eventual and inevitable fight you will have with the Taira will fall in your favour. Then hopefully it will be a case of mopping up the stragglers to secure your victory.

Scip refers to the fact the Taira all declared war on me and then started steaming through my ally wall to come and get me. However, they look a bit brittle this side of Koyoto- I could only see 2 stacks, with a third about to be dealt with in the north.

Unfortunately, it got a bit complicated. I defeated the southern army of Tairas but lost a bit too much of my army in the process to launch a campaign against another fullstack-guarded area- and then I found the other Taira clan that had only just declared war was steaming in with two full stacks to compliment the other Fukuhara stack I'd seen before. So after my most advanced army wiped the trading partner's sneaky stack that landed near my capital out, they have to trek all the way to the other end to assist my rather outnumbered (and possibly outclassed) southern army against these guys. They also need to pick up some reinforcements, too, before they get overwhelmed.
Up in the north, the fukuhara outmarched me and ended up being intent on piercing the soft underbelly of my lands. I managed to distract their army but when I closed on them I found their army is actually better than mine- so many Nagiata attendants it's actually scary. In my first battle against the Fukuhara I used a refused flank attack to flank and pick them off, but this army's bigger and my one's smaller.

Still, I have horses and they don't. Bring it on!

It sounds like a bit of a do or die battle to the death is occurring currently in your campaign EoJ. Sounds like you will need to strategically, perhaps more importantly to preserve soldiers, and tactically outmaneuver your enemies with the skill of Sun Tzu.

On a side note I was inspired to start a new co-op multiplayer campaign with a friend as the Taira clans in Rise of the Samurai. Since we haven't finished a Rise of the Samurai campaign yet due to previous desynch issues, prior to the latest patch, and our previous Fujiwara campaign was quite the intriguing epic.

this is getting intersting

i think the next campagin will be more so tho

It sounds like a bit of a do or die battle to the death is occurring currently in your campaign EoJ. Sounds like you will need to strategically, perhaps more importantly to preserve soldiers, and tactically outmaneuver your enemies with the skill of Sun Tzu.

Perhaps I could roll in on one side, retreat, take out the chasers, and repeat until I've rolled up the line?

If you have any mounted samurai you might even be able to bait enemy units out of formation without even getting close to engaging in melee. The ol' bait and switch sounds like a decent idea to try, a refused flank bait and switch perhaps. Otherwise the AI will possibly just keep rotating it's army if it thinks you are trying to flank it, without giving it something else to think about and pin it in place.

Personally I love how Samurai in Rise of the Samurai are expensive elite "generalists" units, well unless they are facing cavalry on foot due to the usual lack of Yari or Naginata on them (IIRC).

Well well well. I decided that the northern buggers were too much for me (I played the battle once and tried to lure people but just got steamrolled!) and decided to shadow them instead. But on that turn, I realised I had a few diplomatic options open to me, namely making a few key alliances to protect my borders a bit more and strangely a cease-fire with the Fukuhara!
So off the enemy scuttles, away from my lands. It lasts all of .3 of a turn, though, as when I clicked end turn they declared war on the Mino peeps, which I kept on as an ally due to their continued usefulness. So we're back at square one again.

In other news, I found a ninja bloke and had a relatively high-level geisha-equivalent in the settlement he was attacking, so I seduced him for a hefty 3K- and boom! I've got myself a top-level ninja. OK, he's 55, but he's got a good few years left in him

And now we get to the business end of the campaign- Realm Divide!
I defeated two Yashima Taira armies on the south east coast in such a way the Yashima were compelled to ceasefire with me, and then pushed my way in towards the main fulcrum of Japan- you know, the area with the big bay near the Kyoto bit in the middle of Kanto. As I defeated another two Fukuhara armies and took four more territories in my push, I was declared an enemy of the state! Yay!
My agents are seducing people, gunning people down, converting or just plain encouraging my armies. Briefly I had three armies in that one area, as the one that was in the mountains managed to defeat another Fukuhara and break through to link up with the other two, but has since left to chase a Fukuhara army that has left to run into the middle of my lands. My heir is getting rather hardened now- he's a 5*'er. Remarkably I still have allies for now- my northern two allies have kept their promises, but the other Fujiwara clan has declared war on me. This means that the army with a wild goose chase will be needed over that way soon, and I'm recruiting another with the proceeds of reducing admin costs to protect my rather vulnerable capital. It's going to suck, though- though they're rather poor (I made them declare war on everyone so they're a bit strangled) they've got a couple of old-way troops about, including the Oni-Bushi heroine. Erk.

I've worked out that though samurai are excellent, Nagiatana attendants are pretty amazing troops, so I have to outnumber every single Taira army as their main infantry of line seems to be them. Oh, and they're also recruiting Nagiatana cavalry, too, in greater numbers- these buggers have bonuses against cavalry and infantry, so I'm hoping to shoot them down with massed bow levys.

I'm hoping my allies will stay loyal long enough for me to wipe out the other Fujiwara family and that wandering Fukuhara army and return to the front lines. I'll get a warning with any luck before they actually attack, but right now I rather need them to have my back. I'm also thinking of fighting defensive action using my general's ability to Night Fight in the bay area while my agents stabilize people's loyalties and then find out how much firepower the Taira are going to bring to bear on me, before going for their troop centers.
Kyoto's within reach, but I'm seeing more full stacks heading my way. Also I need 20 more territories and I'm turn 110

I apologise for not updating you all on this, some twit (cough, Scipii) got me hooked on CK2. I left it at a rather large-looking battle between four or five stacks near Kyoto, so I think I'll AAR it

I shall be looking forwards to it EoJ.