AIZU CLAN OVERVIEW - Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai!

Get Shogun 2 here: tinyurl.com/y9... and Fall of the Samurai here: tinyurl.com/y8... (use discount code "SmartDonkey" on checkout for an extra 10% off)
Merchandise US: shop.spreadshi...
Merchandise EU: shop.spreadshi...
Welcome to my Clan Overview of the Aizu on Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai! In this Clan Overview I cover the topics of; Clan Traits, Campaign, Clan Unique Units & Army Composition.
Watch the entire Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai Clan Overview series: • Clan Overviews - Total...
Music:
Derek & Brandon Fiechter: / @derekbrandonfiechter
Mods:
Extended Camera Minimod: steamcommunity....
-----
Want more similar content, have a look at these series:
Fall of the Samurai: Top X series: • Top X - Total War: Sho...
Shogun 2: Top X series: • Top X - Total War: Sho...
Shogun 2: Clan Overviews: • Clan Overviews - Total...
-----
Keep in touch with MrSmartDonkey!
Patreon: / mrsmartdonkey
Discord: discordapp.com...
Twitter: / mrsmartdonkeylp
Twitch: / mrsmartdonkey
-----
Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai Gameplay Information:
The standalone expansion to the award-winning Total War™: SHOGUN 2 explores the conflict between the Imperial throne and the last Shogunate in 19th century Japan, 400 years after the events of the original game. A dramatic clash of traditional Samurai culture with the explosive power of modern weaponry.
Guide ancient Japan into the modern age, as the arrival of America, Britain and France incites a ferocious civil war which will decide the future of a nation.
-----
Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai Features:
Dramatic 19th century Japan setting
Based on the backdrop of the Boshin War period, the new campaign starts in 1864, a time of growing resentment against Western colonial power and influence. As Japan begins to modernise and industrialise, the inevitable social and economic changes lead to increasingly militant nationalism and antipathy towards the Shogunate.
6 new playable clans
Play as a clan supporting the Imperial throne, or the last Shogunate:
Shogunate clans: Aizu, Nagaoka, Jozai
Imperial clans: Choshu, Satsuma, Tosa
New foreign powers
The American, British and French nations play an important part in the story of the Boshin war, and your relations with these foreign powers will be integral to unit recruitment and to advancing your technology trees.
New 19th century Japan campaign map
The new island of Ezo extends the SHOGUN 2 campaign map northwards.
Fully refreshed towns and other campaign map features reflect the new time period, with railways making their first appearance in a Total War title.
Campaign map railways
Develop your own railway network to move armies and agents between your regions.
Railways can be sabotaged and transport can be blocked by enemy armies who take control of parts of the line or stations.
39 new land units
Including modern ranged units - such as the Gatling gun and Armstrong gun - controllable in a new third-person mode.
New units can also be recruited from foreign powers, including the British Royal Marines, US Marine Corps and French Marines.
10 new naval unit types with a total of 21 ships
New steam-powered warships, heavily armed with modern artillery.
This new battle type triggers when attempting a naval assault on an occupied enemy port.
The attacking fleet must sail into the harbour and capture the port, running the gauntlet of coastal gun defences.
-----
For more information on Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai, check out these links:
Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai Official Website: wiki.totalwar.c...
Download Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai on Steam: store.steampowe...
Official Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai Trailer: • Video
-----
Total War: Shogun 2 - Fall of the Samurai is developed by Creative Assembly.

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

You forgot the huge defensive bonus that is the increased attrition in Fukushima province, due to radiations.

[@ashina2146]

Aizu Army Composition: 1. 1 General + 19 White Tiger Force 2. 1 General + 19 Black Tortoise Force 3. 1 General + 19 Azure Dragon Force 4. 1 General + 19 Vermillion Bird Force

[@Sharnoy1]

Donkey's clan overviews are very close to being the best thing on youtube imo. They do indeed inspire me to keep playing Shogun 2. Looking forward to Choshu and Nagaoka overviews :)

[@machaiping]

Wait, I remember that Vermilion Bird Force also has morale boosting aura like Takeda Fire Cavalry too. So that's another point over SIR Infantry. But the rest is quite accurate.

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

Yeah, you're right, forgot to mention that.

[@brainwasher9876]

Hang on, I thought the Kihetai had that but the VBF didn't?

[@andrew2353]

Vermilion Birds are good but SIR infantry's much faster reload gives them the edge in killing power, still Vermilion Birds are great as they won't abandon you if you change allegiance. Kihetai are still better tho.

[@historytank5673]

@@MrSmartDonkeyLPwhen’s the rest of the fall of samurai clan reviews? Please?

[@abthedragon4921]

Wait a minute... White Tiger, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon & Vermilion Bird. I thought these sounded familiar, the four Chinese constellations. The Black Tortoise of the North, the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South and the White Tiger of the West, whoa, small world. Which is also funny because the constellations are Chinese and this game is Japanese.

[@desertdevil6451]

Cultural influence.

[@mr.notsonice]

Even the old gates of Kyoto were called with the 4 constellations

[@NapoleonBonaparde]

Korea,Japan were both influenced by the Chinese

[@alibekmurataliev9979]

Andrew Burton Japanese hieroglyphs are Chinese ones.

[@mikeangelo2886]

@@alibekmurataliev9979 Used to, like 2000 years ago. Just like roman alphabet used to be similar greek. The days of similarity are long gone.

[@christianblessingbalbio5007]

Of all the clans of the game, the Aizu was one of my favorites. I haven't played the game in person but this is clan that I wanted to control because I got intrigued mainly on the Shogitai, the Shinsengumi Police Force and the White Tiger Force. I wish he could upload a 'Shinsengumi-Only Challenge' sometime.

[@ZeroDarkOmega]

Aizu is a major meat grinder campaign ive spent a few days methodically fighting through traitorous shogun allies, imperial dogs and rebel scum just to gaim a solid foothold. I planned to turtle up and go republoc for realm divide and had to wage a massive land and sea war against mega Satusma and what was left of the other factions. Things eventually improved when I finally captured Kyoto with my daiymo's elite army then my heroic daiymo got assassinated by imperial agents everything went to shit again as I only had to loyal generals left and half my provinces ready to revolt during the regency

[@Icagel0]

I didn't know about this clan, but I love that their special units reflect the four symbols, definitely have to try them sooner than later

[@enminghee2926]

Favorite clan. No ranged infantry/sharpshooters but the cheaper line infantry units make up for it so much. Plus the ability to go Republic without losing too many units.

[@MrHarumakiSensei]

Huh. I've played Aizu dozens and dozens of times, and never noticed they couldn't recruit sharpshooters.

[@MrPathorn]

Yeah, like Sharpshooters are any way useful in campaign.

[@MrHarumakiSensei]

@@MrPathorn I guess that's why I never noticed I couldn't recruit them. Playing Tosa now during the lock-down. That's a clan that knows how to do sharpshooters! :)

[@articusramos808]

@@MrHarumakiSensei so do the Jozai and Their gorilla units which I cant spell dispite playing the game many times. I just call them ninja snipers.

[@ohauss]

@@MrHarumakiSensei Love the Tosa. You have the Tosa riflemen for precision work, and a nice extra range for naval bombardment to literally shake the enemy up a bit.

[@MrHarumakiSensei]

@@ohauss That plus two range is my favourite clan trait in the whole game. Once I had a Tosa daimyo with that, plus two from the regular level up tree, and a further plus one from those lucky objects/retainers you get to pick from on a level up.

[@Rouhollah74]

In my Aizu campaign things got ugly pretty fast. (My first FOTS campaign BTW) I began pushing south not wanting to betray my fellow shogunate supporting clans. Well, almost all of them betrayed me as soon as they had no one else to attack and I ended up fighting a very long war of attrition on multiple fronts with pretty much every other clan I had encountered, even those shogunate loyalists, because somehow they decided they should join the war against me because their imperialist "allies" had asked them to XD I prevailed and recovered eventually but yeah seriously, don't go south.

[@k3x7z]

Having played this a couple of times. Id like to say that the Sendai are dicks and will betray you 3/4 times when you're expanding southword. A northward expansion makes sense

[@LocoMotive931]

I am currently playing as Aizu and boy it is hard. It took me 3 attempts to finally have a secured and stable territory. The reason why it took me to this third attempt was I dont have a secured front that I can put away my attention. Either I was backstabbed by the Jozai in the south or attacked by Matsumae in the north even though I have an alliance with them. Thankfully in this 3rd attempt I finally had a break, the Jozai didnt backstabbed me so I had all my focus north and with some struggle with the Matsumae, I finally conquered all of the provinces north including the whole Ezo island. As I have no enemies or any hostile neighbors, at this point my focus was 100% building up my economy before going for the republican route

[@ReviveHF]

The game will forces you to modernise even though you're traditionalist.

[@TheSimmr001]

how you chose to modernise though, thats entirely up to you.

[@sirpasta4927]

You can slow down and even halt modernization by constructing buildings that subtract from modernization, like traditional dojos and gambling dens.

[@james-97209]

Hey nice video now I was thinking if you can make faction overviews for other total war games

[@absolutelyflawless5173]

That'd be great. Maybe I could have my grandkids watch that

[@CATDABOSS]

@@Fonzy23890 what are you talking about? Im pretty sure tge longest ive seen without a video is 2 days... Maybe

[@CATDABOSS]

@@Fonzy23890 I hate to break the news to you my guy, but the name of this channel is MrSmartDonkeyLP. LP's are kinda what he does, these clan oveeviews are great videos but they a side dishes to be enjoyed during the full FotS LP

[@IDONTGETTHEPOINT]

The Vermilion Bird force does not use modern rifles, like SIR infantry does. That, combined with their lower reload speed, makes them fire almost three times slower than SIR infantry. They may be more skilled in everything else, but the weapon they use kills this unit for me and I never recruit them.

[@MrHarumakiSensei]

Does this mean you can't trust the reload stat when making decisions in FOTS?

[@IDONTGETTHEPOINT]

@@MrHarumakiSensei Well, you should see it like this : Type of weapon + reload skill = fire rate. The weapon the Vermillion Birds use is rather slow to reload by itself, but their reload skill kind of makes up for this. The weapon SIR infantry use is very quick to reload itself. Combine that with their reload skill and they fire much faster then the Vermillion Bird force.

[@MrHarumakiSensei]

@@IDONTGETTHEPOINT So do I just have to read the written description of each unit to find which have the faster rifles? I'm guessing that's all the SIR infantry, Tosa Riflemen and Kihetai. Don't have the game to check, I uninstalled it so I could get some work done. ;)

[@IDONTGETTHEPOINT]

@@MrHarumakiSensei SIR infantry for sure. Guard infantry as well and all the foreign units too. Not sure if there are more, since I generally only use levy, line and SIR infantry for my pew pew line.

[@MrHarumakiSensei]

@@IDONTGETTHEPOINT A while ago, I did a few tests, and found (I hope I remember this number correctly) that a reload of 44 enabled line infantry to get off three volleys before melee troops could close. That was always enough for me, so I didn't test the better units too carefully. I was trying to understand the reload stat and use it to evaluate the cost effectiveness of units. I wish I'd realised the type of guns was a factor as well as reload skill at the time.

[@Stepan308]

I'm a simple man: see the video - like it.

[@alengagic20]

Realy nice video as always. Too bad you're taking a break for shogun 2 but it's all good. Keep up the good total war work. Btw keep sebdibg those medieval 2 total war vids. Best mod out there.

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

Shogun 2 Let's Plays should be back soon enough.

[@alexanderabramov2719]

I don't think you added the video to Clan Overview Playlist ^^ Chosu and Tsu next!

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

Done now, most of my playlists add my videos automatically, but I didn't set it up for this one.

[@AvengerAtIlipa]

I argue you should scrap the 4 yari ki and replace them with 4 more Armstrong Guns (for a total of six). Change my mind, Donkey. The armstrong guns will kill half the enemy before they even close to engage and the vermillion birds will shatter everything else. The double line with the bow kachi is an interesting idea.

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

As I said, I’m not building the best army for these videos, I’m sticking to the theme. 6 Armstrong Guns isn’t very thematic for a clan known as the traditionalists.

[@diazkachannel926]

Btw, the Azure Dragon Force hats is similar to Satsuma tall Conical Hat in real life counterparts

[@AzoiatheCobra]

YEAY SHOGUN 2 CLAN OVERVIEW

[@R3GARnator]

Hope to see other game faction overviews!

[@machaiping]

Just tried Aizu on Hard mode during New Year break, while I haven't finished it yet, leaving Uzumiya alone is quite a good idea while you expanding Northward as you said. I simply parked Daimyo in Fukushima with a couple of Spear Levy and let them hit the fort with Levy Infantry hordes repeatedly. 20 or so turns later, My Daimyo got +6 Honor and thus +2 Happiness to all provinces, which help a lot in conquest as I don't have to park my army over the conquered town for several turns anymore. All thanks to AI Levy Infantry and Strength rating stacking of gun unit vs traditional non-gun unit despite them climbing the wall to meet the pointy stick one by one. Seriously, the guy in Uzen is actually more challenging due to the fact that he sic Katana Kachi at your Spear Levy, which can't really compete at all without fort due to lack of Yari Wall in FotS.

[@KittenCritters]

He listened POGGERS

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

Not really, but my views have been shit lately so I had to do something to get them back up. 😝

[@KittenCritters]

MrSmartDonkeyLP yeah no worries. Im personally mostly here for Shogun 2 content so its hard for me to follow along with all these other series especially games I cant connect to very well but I can understand if youre a bit burnt out on shogun atm

[@drkinferno72]

I just rush to take hokkaido as them and go my third way

[@Bynji91]

How to get a decent start going: sell military access to all your neighbours. As Aizu you can easily make about 10-16k in the first turn to get your economy and some defences going like this

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

I consider selling military access as cheese so I don’t promote it.

[@benrevell349]

could u please do more of these clan overviews for all the clans from each shogun and samurai games and could u also do the same for the other games in the total war series

[@DarthWillSmith]

I secured the southward was far out as Edo and Echizen before going north... bad idea but I pulled it off somehow

[@csflanigan]

Is the song in the background supposed to be a Japanese version of the Vampire Coast Shanty or am I just hearing things?

[@bf2142Fallensoul]

Idk, its a base background music for Fall of the Samurai

[@KonaFanatiker]

Don't the Aizu also have an infantry which boosts morale of nearby units ? Or do all other clans get access to them ?

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

Yeah, Vermilion Bird Force, that's something I forgot to mention.

[@diapason89]

The Force names sound like super sentai groups.

[@savageassassin8548]

i feel like donkey will have a lot to say about the tosa

[@bskorupk]

(Army Composition) hmm... Let's see... double firing line of Line infantry and Bow Katchi, melee arm relying on Yari Katchi and Yari Ki, a spare artillery piece... so it's the "I just unlocked this" and/or "I hate the 150 range unit spam meta" FOTS Avatar Multiplayer Army Composition then? :)

[@CMDRFandragon]

The FoTS era is an era I definitely need to learn more about. It legit makes no sense to me. The Shogun, the Imperialists, the Emperor, one side hates the modernization, another is fighting against it.........who is who and why.... I thought the SHogun was the emperor, and why would he be fighting with himself?

[@Kalyosa]

CMDRFandragon tldr: shogun is the biggest of daimyos (warlords) while the emperor is more of a symbol of past power(emperor was in power before the daimyos became too powerful). After the events of fall of the samurai the emperor became de facto ruler of japan once more

[@CMDRFandragon]

@@Kalyosa So Shogun is just the biggest baddest warlord on the block, ruling Japan from Tokyo, and the Emporer also resides in Tokyo under the thumb of the Shogun? And in FOTS, the Emperor put on his big boy pants, like we see in the end of the move "The Last Samurai" and said "NO!" Now we have WW3 in Japan?

[@muhamadrizal4]

@@CMDRFandragon amazing right? And i am more amazed that japan isnt ruining them self after all of that "civil" war

[@machaiping]

@@muhamadrizal4 A year late, but the Boshin War, which is the real life civil war that Fall of the Samurais based on, isn't on the scale depicted in the game. The real life casualties on both sides combined didn't even reach 10,000. While in this game it could easily reached ten times of that figure depending on the unit size setting you used. And Japanese population at the time has very high literacy rate, so them recovered from the civil war and rapidly modernized into modern major power in the pacific in less than a century wasn't that surprising.

[@muhamadrizal4]

@@machaiping haha, yeah. Year later i learn a lot about meiji restoration era. While its not surprising, it is still fascinating.

[@jasonchan1181]

Hey, can u please make a video talking about the strategy of turning to republic and the composition armies of the republic? Thanks

[@brainwasher9876]

From what I've read: Stop expanding right before realm divide, ideally after conquering a corner of Japan (Ezo/Kyuushu); consolidate lots of wealth. Replace all SIR infantry/guard/cavalry with non-shogunate/imperial stuff. Destroy all the buildings that increase shogunate/imperial influence and replace them with the basic-tier buildings that don't increase anything. Make sure each region you want to hold on to is decently happy. On the turn of realm divide, simultaneously invade and conquer a bunch of territories. Trigger RD; start building all the republican-allegiance structures at once, train all republican infantry/guard/cavalry at once. Prepare for everyone to hate and attack you.

[@machaiping]

@@brainwasher9876 To add to this comment: If it's your first time going republic, I suggest avoid playing Nagaoka, Sendai, Tsu, Jozai, Saga and Obama as you'll be forced to use regular Line Infantry to hold off AI's SIR Infantry which can be quite difficult. Or just fill of your army with at least 6 - 8 full accuracy build Armstrong guns, AIs'll hardly get in range to shoot at your Line Infantry, if at all.

[@yodaanyo]

Great video. Would love if you would complete the list. No pressure though. Keep it up!

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

I will, don't worry.

[@MrYuhuyuhuyuhu]

Hey there SmartDonkey, been watching you for 1 year now, on and off. Nowadays it seems like you moved on from Shogun 2. Just wondering if you'll ever come back and play it? Also are you considering doing legendary campaigns for all FOTS factions? And what about ROTS?

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

I made a video on this a week or two ago, just taking a bit of a break from Shogun 2, was getting a bit burned out. It will be back in all it’s glory soon. I am planning on playing all FotS clans on Legendary at some point, not RotS though as I don’t really like it.

[@MrYuhuyuhuyuhu]

@@MrSmartDonkeyLP Haha, guess I missed the video. Thanks

[@erikgust2]

Could you make a video actually pointing out what the optimal army is for those who want to min-max?

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

General, 2-4 armstrong guns, 4 revolver cav, and the rest whatever the latest game infantry you can recruit. It’s pretty straight forward.

[@shingeovanny508]

Nice vid .. please man, can you make a TOP SHOGUN 2 HERO UNITS?

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

It's been requested a fair bit but to tell you the truth I don't have enough experience with them to form a fair list.

[@shingeovanny508]

@@MrSmartDonkeyLP I understand man ..... But that TOP would be amazing ...

[@gravitational8245]

How do you manage to keep so many campaigns going at once? Feels like that would take a lot out of someone to keep all that going in your head but what do I know.

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

It's my full-time job.

[@Monika-ok6lp]

Tosa next

[@k3x7z]

Why do the Aizus line infantry names all sound like junior league Chinatown basketball teams.

[@IAmTheStig32]

Old comment but still replying because it's actually very interesting. They are the four divine figures of an ancient Chinese system of geomancy and astrology that was imported into Korea and Japan - and I do mean ancient, there is evidence of this belief system found in archeological finds predating the foundation of the Chinese civilization (!). There are twenty-eight constellations visible in the sky, each under a quadrant under the domain of one of four gods. The Azure Dragon (Seiryū), Guardian of the East and representative of Spring. The Vermillion Bird (Suzaku), Guardian of the South and representative of Summer. The White Tiger (Byakko), Guardian of the West and representative of Autumn. and the Black Tortoise (Genbu), Guardian of the North and representative of Winter.

[@k3x7z]

@@IAmTheStig32 damn this is the most interesting and useful response I've ever gotten on a KZbin comment. Bravo sir

[@TheTowerDefender]

why no orange hoodie? how am I meant to feel like the ikko ikki?

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

Unfortunately not my choice, colours are up to Spreadshirt, if there’s no orange it means they don’t have it. That said, most of the designs have orange in them and orange on orange wouldn’t look that good anyway. I recommend black or dark grey personally.

[@SiodogRehane]

Nice work but all the "clans" in the expansion are not really a clan just the name of their home province

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

You sound like you're trying to sound smart, but the Aizu province is called Fukushima, the Sendai home province is called Miyagi, etc. so I'm not sure where you're getting this from.

[@thatoneguynextdoor8794]

@@MrSmartDonkeyLP Haven't played FotS in some time but if I remember rightly, Fukushima, Miyagi..... are the castles names, while the province with the castle/capital Fukushima is called Aizu for instance. I think he meant that

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

I checked those too, they have completely different names as well.

[@thatoneguynextdoor8794]

@@MrSmartDonkeyLP Okey, then i got no idea.

[@anotaku77]

@@thatoneguynextdoor8794 it's a clan name. but the clan are ruled by smaller house like jozai are ruled by the hayashi etc.

[@legoman7041]

What do you think is the hardest clan to play as in Fall of the Samurai.

[@MrSmartDonkeyLP]

Probably the Tsu, althoug I haven't played all yet so I couldn't know for sure.

[@MrHarumakiSensei]

I find Nagaoka really hard to get off the ground on Legendary. Echigo is a serious aggression magnet.

[@legoman7041]

Same you're getting attacked by so many clans all at once. It feels like an impossible start cause the province isn't rich enough to get you the troops you need.

[@Keevas2123]

no katana kachi?

[@ashina2146]

Katana Kachi is considered weaker than Yari Kachi in this game. Unlike Yari Samurai, who's more focused on defense(6 Attack 8 Defense), Yari Kachi more like "Jack of all Trades" Unit, having 10 Attack and 10 Defense. Katana Samurai have 12 Attack and 4 Defense, while their Kachi Counterpart have 15 Attack and 4 Defense. Katana Kachi might be 50% better at killing units, but they don't last for too long, especially against cavalry, Yari Kachi in the other hand have the rapid advance, Anti Cavalry, and doesn't have to face Yari Ashigaru in FoTS(Ironic). The Point is that, in FoTS, Cavalry is easier to come by than Shogun 2, Katana Kachi might be good against Line Infantry, but they will get killed rather easily, while Yari Kachi might be slower at killing Line Infantry, but they can rapid advance their way to close with them and with their 10 Defense, they will keep hitting the enemy while evading attacks.

[@Keevas2123]

What about shinsengumi? Aizu created shinsengumi irl

[@ashina2146]

@@Keevas2123 yes, you're right, But I think what MrSmartDonkey thinks about this Clan is their Capacity of being the best Clan for Republican plays. Shinsengumi is a Shogunate Unit, and if you go republican that's a ton of money and resources wasted, since the Shinsengumi isn't easy to get(High Level Traditional Dojo+Shinsengume HQ). on the other hand, Vermillion Bird Force or even Azure Dragon Force is easy to get, and can have their recruitment base be stationed anywhere, unlike the Shinsengumi(you can only make it in one province), while still having a solid unit. Vermillion Bird Force is by far more flexible than the Shinsengumi, they're like a more Formal Shinsengumi, having good Melee stats(Mostly to defend themself), and Ranged Stats, without the need to be a Shogunate faction.

[@GreatHipHop12345]

First d=^)