Nobunaga's Ambition: SOIA Created Forces Guide

Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere Of Influence Ascension is a monster of a game.  Ambition accurately describes what you'll need a lot of to beat it.  Your goal is to conquer all of Feudal Japan, one castle at a time.  For strategy game fans, it's quite the experience.

While simply playing the game is ambitious, there's nothing more ambitious (and rewarding) than going at it with a created force.  The thought of building a force from the ground up and thrashing Japan's greatest generals is a thrill that's beyond thrilling.  It's also impossible for a first-timer who doesn't know how the game works.

The first thing you'll notice after plopping down your created force is how much weaker you are than everyone else.  It doesn't matter if you put one measly scrub in your ranks or 300 gods with maxed out stats.  You start with ONE castle, while everyone else usually starts with a higher soldier count and some daimyos start off with lots of castles.

Of course, as mentioned before, that's a part of the fun.  Turning a staggering disadvantage into a baffling victory is the ultimate experience.  In order to do that, however, you need to learn how to survive.  These are just a few tips to start you off and make your conquest a little easier.

1.  An Exclusive Club

Make sure the people you want to use are set to "active".

Before you even plop your force down, you have to determine who's going to be in it.  A force of between 15-25 officers of varying quality to start is good if you want to play fair.  You also want to make sure they each have high loyal (a low Req. Loyalty score) to keep opposing forces from simply stealing them away.  Nothing sucks more than having your best warrior stolen by a nearby daimyo and having them march on you with a 5000 soldier unit a few months later.

2.  Your Wish Is Their Command

While it may be tempting to be a retainer, playing as the daimyo give you ultimate control right away.

Will you start off as the daimyo or as a retainer?  Starting as a retainer will enable you the build an army quickly.  But you'll have no control over where you march, only if you march if you're called by the daimyo.  Being the daimyo, on the other hand, gives you the ultimate control.  When you march, who you march against, who leads the march, and who you befriend is totally up to you.  Being a retainer and climbing up to reagent will give you the same authority over YOUR troops, but your daimyo will still have his own army which you won't have control over.  Also, you can only claim castle you take from the enemy your daimyo orders you to attack.  You can still attack the castles you aren't ordered to attack, but your daimyo will control them, not you.  You can grovel to your daimyo for control over castles and officers, but that's just extra hassle.  For this reason, I recommend starting off as the daimyo yourself.  It's harder starting, but you'll have all the control when you finally do grow into a powerhouse.

3.  Location, Location, Location

You can plop a castle down on any white spot, but be aware of who your neighbor are.

Easily the most important part of your conquest is where you start.  Do you pick a big city that will develop quickly, but is near a major daimyo?  How about a small city in the boonies that develops slowly, but won't get attacked by a castle-devourer within six months?  Most places have their advantages and disadvantages.

4.  No More Lonely Nights

Build up trust and become allies with more powerful forces before they attack you.

Created force almost always start as the weakest force on the map.  If you start off near powerhouses like the Hojo and the Date, you'll be raped and killed.  This is where alliances and coalitions come into play.  If you plop down near a major force, this is the only way you'll survive until you get strong enough to challenge them.  This is also how you keep from getting castles taken away immediately after you conquer them and keeping your own castle safe after you've committed to a march.  Remember, you can have more than one ally.  Just make sure you can afford to keep it going.

5.  Come Back When You Grow Up

When you first start off, you won't be able to march right away (or you won't if you're smart).  Your starting force is so paltry, even a weak daimyo can fend you off with ease.  As a rule of thumb, you should only march on a weak castle (3000 HP or less) after you've gotten at least 1700 soldiers.  To take stronger castles (over 3000 HP) you'll want 4000 soldiers.  For mega castles (7000 HP and higher) don't even try unless you have multiple castles (perhaps 3 castles and 9000 soldiers) or have powerful clans as reinforcements.  Getting the aid of small tribes (not clans) can help your numbers (especially during early marches and defense), but they tend to be unreliable.  Long story short, don't march until your force is ready.

6.  The Way To A Man's Heart Is Through His Stomach

As you can see, conscripts (the hut icon) will only grow as large as supplies (the bales icon).

To build up a high soldier count quickly, you may be tempted to plop down two or three Warriors' Quarters and let the soldiers march in.  However, you need the food to feed them.  Your conscripts (soldiers) will stagnate when your supplies (food) stop growing.  Three farms or two paddies (if you have the good fortune of being near a river) will be enough to build a decent force.  Make sure to Invest in your food makers and Warriors' Quarters to squeeze out all the food and soldiers you can.

7.  Know Your Enemy...And His Friends

Check to see who else you could be fighting before committing to a march.

Marching on a weak daimyo or powerful but small daimyo can be tempting.  Before doing so, it's recommended you check to see who they are allied with or you could be in for quite the war.  For example, you may find it tempting to wipe out the Tendo clan early on.  However, they happen to be a vassal of the monstrous Date clan.  That means if you're going to fight the Tendo, you'd better be ready for a potential fight with the Date.  Or the Ashikaga clan have everyone in the middle of the map as an allies, so starting a fight with them could large to a huge war that you can't possibly win in the early game.  Wait for some of there alliances to end or get some decent backers of your own.

8.  Carving Out Your Slice

Once you've built up your force and created some alliances, your next goal should be to get four or five castles under your control quickly.  The major daimyos will only get stronger as time goes on, rarely getting weaker.  Establishing a five castle area will aid you in greatly with your economy, food for marches, and troop strength.

9.  A Well-developed Body

As you can see, this daimyo has five castles, making him a force even the big boys have to worry about.

Once you've got five or so castles, you can attempt to take on the big boys (the Date, the Ouchi, among others).  Before doing so, however, you'll want to upgrade your castles to get the most out of them.  Your starting castle should have at least 4000 soldiers, 5000 HP, and your best warrior.  Your other castles should have at least 2500 soldiers, 3000 HP, and good warriors.  Good warriors (officers with high LEA and/or VAL scores) can make the most of soldiers and make life miserable for enemies.

10.  Look Before Crossing The Street

From here, you can decide who, how, and when to attack.  You're off to a solid start.  Which direction you go from here is up to you.  Good warriors, troop strength, and alliances are your best friends.  Try not to take on too much too soon and even godly daimyos, like the Hojo, will crumble before you like stale crackers.

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