Chronicles of the Takeda Clan- 1545-1546

 Taking advantage of the inefectual rule of the Ashikaga Shogunate in Kyoto the provincial warlords of Shinano lead by the Murakami decided to pray upon Takeda lands.

It is sad to see such offenses to the laws of Heaven being commited by the very same men tasked to be their keepers, but such is the way of men.

Now more than ever this proves a new shogunate must rise, and who would be more worthy than the Takeda to receive such honor?

However every voyage begins with a single step, and the first step in this voyage were the Murakami upstarts.

1545 was starting out to be a good year for our clan. The Imagawa alliance was further reinforced with a trade agreement, which assured a greater bounty for our clan and secured thwe southwest border.

It was late spring that news of the Murakami incursion reached Kofu. It was a mere raiding party, but an agressive one, lead by an Ogasawara of no special lineage, but eager to show himself better than he was.

Lord Shingen's first action was to send word to lord Nobushige, with the main army, of the incursion.

After careful evaluation the hills north of  Kofu were chosen as the ideal battlefield to defeat the Murakami bandits, with Nobushige providing the main battleforce and serving as a decoy, while Lord Shingen's retinue would strike from ambush.

 There isn't much to say about the battle itself. Lord Nobushige adressed the troops in a short speech, after wich the Murakami raiders were soundly beaten with Lord Shingen's providing the killing blow with a flank attack.

 A few reprobrates escaped the main battle but the Warfare Commisioner pursued and destroyed them in details.

A young warrior distinguished himself as a spearmaster in this battles and was raised by commissioner Nobushige to is retinue as a spear instructor. I can attest that the spearmen in Nobushige's contigent are indeed a cut above the rest.

By the summer it had become obvious that the only way to secure Takeda lands would be to control North Shinano, so arrangements were made to destroy the Murakami.

The council of elders also suggested the further development of our already fearsome Cavalry.

Within three months Takeda forces sieged Matsumoto and by the end of fall North Shinano was ruled by Shingen when the Snake Yoshikyo fell to Takeda spears.

Let it be said though that Yoshikyo was not without courage. He died charging his hatamoto into an ashigaru company. He was certainly foolish, but not without courage in charging commissioner Nobushige's Spearmen.

 A welcome side-effect to the conquest of Northern Shinano was the boost to the economy that followed. Many say that samurai should not be concerned with such matters, but the wise general know this is not so.

 Politically, Lord Shingen managed to secure Imperial recognition of his deed and was gifted a Koi Carp by the Imperial Court, a great boon.

This further help cement trade relations with the Yamanouchi Uesugi, and the Jimbo, which also allowed Lady Tomie to join our family.

1546 was thus a year of consolidation. Our southern borders became fully secured through an alliance with the Odawara Hojo. It may be be a doomed alliance as the Hojo will have to contend with us if they have design of their own onto the Shogunate, and their lands are far to valuable for the Clan to ignore, but this alliance serves our mutual interests for the time. A trade agreement was also brokered with the Uesugi of Echigo, which allowed to plan the war against Anegakoji of Hida, enemies of our relatives the Jimbo.

1546 was also the year that saw the coming of age of Lord Nobukado and the submission of the Northern Shinano samurai to Takeda rule, with Suwa Ujinari gaining a commision as Metsuke for our clan.

1547 was promising to be a great year.

Historical/Gameplay Notes: There isn't actually much to comment on as the Takeda clan is one of the most well known and studied samurai clans. At this point the most salient note is that Shingen hadn't yet taken vows, and as such was known as Takeda Harunobu. I also don't know if the displayed daughter's anme is accurate. His first wife's name is certainly not known, only that she came from the Sanjo family.

However Shingen's brothers, Nobushige and Nobukado, and first son, Yoshinobu, are correctly named.

Yoshinobu would later plot against his father and forced to commit suicide, hence the sucession by Katsuyori (which wasn't born at Shogun's starting date), in a move not dissimular to Shingen's own rebellion against his father who favored Nobushige.

Another salient absence is the lack of gold mines in Kai, which proved to be the proverbial bread basket for the Takeda war machine. I suppose there were balance reasons for CA not coding a gold mine in Kai, possibly the fact that there is one in Izu, and that Sado, Kai and Izu could easily become a economic engine for one of the Eastern clans, but the trade hubs near Kyushu are, in my opinion, a reliable counterpoint, and the Takeda are in a less than ideal strategic position.

An interesting sidenote is that the Takeda was the first Japanese clan to use matchlocks in battle, altough not the Portuguese style introduced in Kyushu in 1543, but chinese style matchlocks. Sadly, but understandibly this is also not modeled in-game.

Incidentally, the Uesugi clan at this point would still be called Nagao, the true Uesugi being the Ogigayatsu and Yamanouchi clans. In-fighting and Shingen's assaults would end up driving the true Uesugi into Kenshin's hands who had himself adopted and made heir by the Uesugi lord.

Game-wise I intend to focus on the Cavalry and gunpowder lines in the Bushido Arts, after developing the Tax Reform and Equal Fields Chi arts. Archery and Ninja arts will receive a secundary focus.

On the tactical side of things I intend to go for a mixed Ashigaru/Cavalry style army, altough I suspect this might prove inappropriate to perform siege operations. If my economy is good enough Yari Ashigaru will certainly be replaced by Naginata samurai. The Takeda army is an expensive one.