Shogun II - where to start

[undercovergeek]

Was all set to pull the trigger for Shogun and then saw Fall of the Samurai - an entirely separate game - where would you guys suggest starting. Vanilla Shogun II and working on up?

[Sir Slash]

Do you mean buying or playing? You have to have Shogun 2 in order to play FOTS so buy them both if they're cheap. Also there's Rise of the Samurai set in medieval times too. Playing- probably start with vanilla Shogun. The add-ons will be more familiar to you then. It's longer than FOTS and so a little less hectic. Beware the dreaded "Realm Divide" where everybody will turn on you at once so I'd start-out on the easy level(no shame). There's also some great mods that improve the game alot.

[Shelldrake]

Yeah that realm divide is a killer!

[undercovergeek]

Do you mean buying or playing? You have to have Shogun 2 in order to play FOTS so buy them both if they're cheap. Also there's Rise of the Samurai set in medieval times too. Playing- probably start with vanilla Shogun. The add-ons will be more familiar to you then. It's longer than FOTS and so a little less hectic. Beware the dreaded "Realm Divide" where everybody will turn on you at once so I'd start-out on the easy level(no shame). There's also some great mods that improve the game alot.

Purchasing. Thanks for your advice - is it playable from the get-go, i know Empire needed the troops to be slowed down a little

FWIW Steam say FOTS is entirely stand alone and the original game is not required:-

"Notice: DOES NOT require the base game Total War: SHOGUN 2 in order to play."

[eyebiter]

With vanilla Shogun 2, Shimazu or Date are good starting clans.  Since they are at the edge of the map, fewer AI enemy clans in close proximity.  One takes you down the Christianity/gunpowder tech tree, the other relies on traditional units. Once you have the combat/trade/diplomacy/honor system figured out, then try a clan near the center for added challenge.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I'd recommend downloading a battlefield speed mod as the default troop speeds are still a little fast IMO.

[Nefaro]

Do you mean buying or playing? You have to have Shogun 2 in order to play FOTS so buy them both if they're cheap. Also there's Rise of the Samurai set in medieval times too. Playing- probably start with vanilla Shogun. The add-ons will be more familiar to you then. It's longer than FOTS and so a little less hectic. Beware the dreaded "Realm Divide" where everybody will turn on you at once so I'd start-out on the easy level(no shame). There's also some great mods that improve the game alot.

Purchasing. Thanks for your advice - is it playable from the get-go, i know Empire needed the troops to be slowed down a little

FWIW Steam say FOTS is entirely stand alone and the original game is not required:-

"Notice: DOES NOT require the base game Total War: SHOGUN 2 in order to play."

You are correct:  Fall Of The Samurai is a Standalone.  Think of it as the NTW to their ETW, at least in regards to CA's release habits.  Rise Of The Samurai requires the original S2TW - it's DLC.  FYI.  CYA.  HFY.

[Sir Slash]

I did not know FOTS was stand-alone. Sorry for the mis-info. I personally liked FOTS better because of the newer units and more modern setting. It's a shorter campaign and you have to be very aggressive to win. But the Realm Divide is much more on your side than Shogun. In Shogun, I always found the clans close to the Trading Ports to have an advantage. I play with the Darth mod which greatly increases the AI capabilities and makes the battles much tougher. But I like the look of the Radious mods many new units for all 3 campaigns.

[undercovergeek]

thanks guys - im thinking a play thru of the vanilla campaign with a slow down mod and then ill check out the big mods

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

You might also want to look into one of the realm divide mods.  I like the one that still gives you the big initial hit but doesn't keep hammering your relations until everyone hates you and declares war.  With the mod, if you have a strong enough alliance when the realm divide hits, your allies will possibly stick with you.  Makes more sense to me.

[sandman2575]

I'd recommend downloading a battlefield speed mod as the default troop speeds are still a little fast IMO.

It never occurred to me to look for one of these.  This is probably the single biggest reason I haven't sunk much time into Shogun2.  Everything moves just too damn fast!  Trying to keep tabs on everything moving so quickly, I wind up panicking even before my troops do.  This could be just the thing I need.

Shameful Display!!

[Nefaro]

You might also want to look into one of the realm divide mods.  I like the one that still gives you the big initial hit but doesn't keep hammering your relations until everyone hates you and declares war.  With the mod, if you have a strong enough alliance when the realm divide hits, your allies will possibly stick with you.  Makes more sense to me.

Same here.  One that's a bit easier on the continual drop after the event. 

I know they slowed down the unit movement in one of the S2TW updates, but they may still be olympic sprinters in full gear.  That is something that always bothered me about ETW & NTW too.  So a movement decreasing mod was always a nice way to keep the battles from being too click-festy. 

I've not played it in awhile, but some of the battle voice-overs would fire wayyy too damn much.  As in you'd hear some dude yelling the same phrase over & over - often overlapping instances of it.  There was an old Proper Japanese Language mod that fixed that, shortly after the game came out, but it may not be compatible anymore.   :-\  Shamefur Dispray!  Shamefur Dispray!

[undercovergeek]

You might also want to look into one of the realm divide mods.  I like the one that still gives you the big initial hit but doesn't keep hammering your relations until everyone hates you and declares war.  With the mod, if you have a strong enough alliance when the realm divide hits, your allies will possibly stick with you.  Makes more sense to me.

do you have linkys?

[Gusington]

You should able to find almost anything you need mod wise over at Total War Center...www.twcenter.net.

[Nefaro]

You should able to find almost anything you need mod wise over at Total War Center...www.twcenter.net.

That place can be looking for a needle in a haystack at times, though.  :(