THE Total War Impossible Battle

[@thelonehuntsman1153]

On the 2,797th day. Look to the east.

[@ulture]

aka the Siege of Leningrad

[@LuizAlexPhoenix]

Miyagi wasn't defended in a day - Aizu Domain saying, circa Boshin War

[@noahseltzer2079]

I remember being in high school watching this campaign and being super bummed out when you meet this wall of impossibility. Glad you were able to make a triumphant return. Can’t wait for the continuation of the total war campaign with second greatest mustache. Matsudaira katamori second only to Shingen.

[@theoriesbanana]

I remember being in middle school. Now having gone all the way through high school and almost done with University... He does it.... Mad

[@NoPantsBaby]

We learned that not only does our boy V hold a grudge, he doesn't care that the vengeance isn't just cold. He'll have it frozen.

[@ranfan1820]

In other words, he is Thorgrim Grudgebearer

[@Ye-Hu]

@@ranfan1820 "That's going in the -book- screenshot"

[@Emperor_Atlantis]

😂

[@dfredericks86]

Lol, epically put

[@idontknow970]

"He fights like the devil, dressed as a man" -One of the 3600 routed Jozai probably.

[@thejourney2point0]

The virgin waiting 5 years for hattori to return vs the chad waiting 8 years for aizu to return. Stupendous battle, probably never to be topped. I love that part towards the end. The normally steadfast samurai losing their will to fight as they get swamped by thousands of their own fleeing troops. Reminds me of real world accounts, armies losing heart as their front line crumbles and retreats through them, retreats turning into chaotic routs. Napoleon's exhausted army breaking after seeing his old guard shot down and sent into retreat at Waterloo. So many good moments in this. Balancing act kiting with the general, the yari kachi turning and fighting through units to then rapid advance away from a banzai charging shogitai up a hill, to then turn and charge back down with the advantage of moving down the hill. All this happening while the guns of the fortification are sounding off, blanketing the entire downwind side of the map with gunsmoke. Disciplined, staged withdrawals from one level of the fort to another, making the jozai pay dearly for every inch of aizu ground they take. This is probably the best video you have ever made within the confines of total war. Your laugh of triumph upon hearing "victory is assured sir" lol. Epic battle, worth the wait of 8 years. Looking forward to more Aizu, as I have for the past 8 years :alphaAF:

[@Volound]

you asked for it. and you asked again. and again. and again. gyazo.com/ee133689c4ba455c23b8eb9d991cf5d4 mission accomplished. "we got him."

[@Volound]

How many of you are veterans of the Aizu campaign? I know some of you are out there. Credit to Saif of the Discord server for helping me to route this out over the past few days, he was also the champion of the first monthly Shogun 2 tournament hosted by my discord at the start of the month. Save file is in my discord if anyone else wants to try it and maybe do better than my performance here. I won't be adding this to my impossible battles series, but as a normal but special episode of my Aizu campaign playlist. Here's the link for it: kzbin.info/aero/PLlmEEm6A0j5D8X2R7RZaaes9lWtPiKrJq And don't forget to join my subreddit, it's taking off: www.reddit.com/r/Volound/

[@jessemacaspac443]

Retainer: Volound "Fuck You balance of Power"

[@retvrntotradition4454]

You know Volound, you can portray yourself to be a total expert in total war games, but you need to stop stepping out of your line and thinking you're some genius when it comes to life, ESP when much of what you say or advocate is total utter rubbish of the worst kind. First and foremost you are a Godless buffoon that has been easily swayed by the arguments of Richard Dawkins, a man debunked by all people who worship one God. Second of all (and this is not surprising since you are a Godless buffoon) you believe you are doing righteous action by abstaining from eating all kinds of meat, so much so that you accuse those who eat meat due to their love of God being murderers! This is a travesty and a lie for those who truly love God do not cause undue harm to God's creatures and only do as he commands, tend to the sheep that he grows and eat from His Provisions. You seem to conflate several arguments one being vegan philosophy (rooted in atheist thought) and genuine animal welfare (which is ordained by God). Animal welfare in practical terms would mean only taking meat from locally sourced organic produce. As for you, you claim to be someone who strives to not hurt creatures by becoming a militant low t vegan, but what about the horrible excesses of the modern agricultural industry. What about the millions of "pests" like insects, rodents, fish, birds and even weeds that are killed off by mechanical agricultural tools or chemicals toxic to God's creatures. What do you say then o' Godless buffoon? And finally, you are a ultra progressive ultra leftist that wishes to see all men lose their virility, manliness, honour, culture, traditions. What do you say about the culture and traditions of Scotland, the land of you and your forefathers? Why have you abandoned them for decadent globalisation and cancerous modernity? You shame your forefathers.

[@retvrntotradition4454]

And finally let me say this: May Allah guide you to the truth and may you one day utter the words: There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.

[@Volound]

@@retvrntotradition4454 i have no idea what the fuck this is but part of me thinks i should be framing it and putting it on my bedroom wall.

[@Saif-vh2bj]

That battle setup and execution was so similar to mine holy shit. The only difference being that I put my general on the left side of the fort instead of the right after the enemy general is killed. Sometimes, I would use that same route you did with the general but I didn't have the yari kachi on the rear. That outcome is that some of the katanas would make it up the wall resulting in a loss. If you send your general left he gets sniped by bow ki who have ridiculous accuracy btw. So you end up losing too much of your general to reinforce the yari kachi when the time comes.

[@mohammade.8770]

You freaking decisive, resolute LEGEND.

[@edwardbayfield1401]

You’re genuinely an inspiration to me in terms of Total War. The way you use the land features and various units is incredible. Keep up the good work!

[@owarida6241]

Walls are always your friend in shogun 2 let it be attacking or defending. They're natural choke points and have to be climbed even if destroyed. Unlike let's say rome2 where the wall breach can easily be widened. In shogun 2 and the expansion fall of the samurai, if you're the one attacking in a siege battle expect high casualties just by climbing the wall. That’s also why you should always siege out your enemy and avoid siege battles, to lessen the casualties.

[@coobie3469]

This yet again shows how brilliant a game shogun 2 is when compared with other TW titles.

[@talavb9301]

Brooooo mfw, 8 years later. I watched that campaign, not as it was coming out, but iirc a year later. I'd assumed at that time that you'd given the battle many tries but couldn't pull it off, and that it'd never be coming back. Amazing thing to wake up to hahaha

[@Volound]

got there in the end.

[@talavb9301]

In style, too hahahaha

[@SergeantMild]

A castle stands amidst the plains; Its banners wrestle the wind Of a coming storm The sky grows dark Within the tenshu A warrior anticipates his trial; His mind strains over the passing of years He grows uneasy His sword has sailed upon many red oceans And yet, Now he can only imagine drowning As the tempest shakes him His ship will overturn, The levees will collapse; The tortoise shell will break upon the shoal Even so, A warrior persists: If the tides will have him, They must first come in And take him So he rides the waves, As shipmates bail out heaps of water And the tempest roars And the tides come in The ocean claims many lives As the deck of his ship Is gradually submerged Yet he remains afloat His ship carves the tides apart, The levees stand as torrents break; The tortoise drinks the sea A river flows from the end of his sword The warrior had heard the voice of fate It whispered: "You will not outlast the storm" He whispered back: "I am the storm" And his voice was thunder Amidst the plains Where a castle yet stands Its banners ride the wind Of a coming storm

[@eviltrain24]

I am literally slow clapping over this performance. It's just pure inspiration watching this stuff. It just stops being a game and turns into art.

[@corrivalnumber]

Can't believe that for some reason this video went under my radar and just found it today. I remember watching this back in the day and being reluctant to believe this couldn't be done, yet I was always expectant that you would find one completely crazy yet totally reasonable way to win this battle, and now ages later you finally did it, you awesome bastard, you actually did it. Top-tier work as always man, and as always, keep it up!

[@Hasnotalent]

Hey man, I've been really enjoying all your uploads lately! I wanted to say "thank you," your critiques inspired me to take a stand for my own beliefs, and tell a video game company I was working with that I disagreed with their design philosophy so much, that I didn't want to be associated with them any longer. I also found it to be incredibly unenjoyable and defeating, and a detriment to my mental health. There were a lot of nice people there, but I also got fucked around a lot too. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration and keep up the good work.

[@Volound]

hey todd, nice to hear from you and hope youre doing well. and yeah, its just not worth it, man. our passion is our craft. once thats gone, its over. im sure you did the right thing. at this point all i want is good games that i can do good things with. everything else is bullshit.

[@alphaman03]

This is the most insane total war victory I've EVER seen, and I've been watching total war videos since the early days of PrinceOfMacedon...

[@FURYCHAOS184]

This has seriously brought back my love of Total War which was practically gone for years now

[@Bigus-Brainus]

I love how he giggles like a child when he wins, it's great lmao

[@STRZB001]

The fact that you don’t use “slow motion” in your videos makes me happy. I’m so embarrassed that I did this shit like seven years ago. You’re my fucking Total War hero. PS I’ve watched this video about seven or eight times.

[@Volound]

thanks meng. and yeah ive always avoided slowmo. i take the challenge and i take it head-on. we are all learning, all improving. just keep aiming higher and higher.

[@GeeNo_]

"I will not fail!" Immediately fails. Never change ninja! lmao

[@David_Brinkerhoff93]

"hopefully Im going to continue the campaign" fck yeah!

[@SGProductions87]

I have watched every episode from start to finish. Please finish this amazing campaign.

[@Abdu_401]

Am I the only one feeled so bad that he didn't kill as much as he can after the battle ended? I know he can do it again but still I think that's a missed aportunity

[@Volound]

it completed the humiliation. they ran in droves while they now outnumbered the heroic aizu by 7 to 1.

[@Abdu_401]

@@Volound I see

[@MANIKO5]

@@Volound Fucking ridiculous.

[@Jcraft153]

Dude, I was in college watching this original campaign when you met this wall of death. So happy you managed to beat it and I look forward to the continuation of the campaign.

[@theoriesbanana]

I FUCKING KNEW YOU'D GET THIS ONE ONE DAY. EIGHT YEARS OF WAITING AND BLUE BALLS AND THE MAN ACTUALLY DID IT. HISTORIC

[@Renyth]

Hiroshi's face seeing those 39 units "Bruh..."

[@LilithNerevarine]

I got goosebumps at the victory screen, Man! Fantastic job!!

[@nutty9614]

this is probably the best comeback i've ever seen, and how you maneuver all of these troops too. This is legendary

[@Svenner.]

Can't wait to see more of the Aizu campaign, loved watching this when it first came out. Glad to see you win this fight, great work as usual.

[@LuizAlexPhoenix]

I'm not stuck in Miyagi, YOU are stuck in here with me. - Matsudaira

[@ryandavis7986]

the greatest total war video ever. even watching closely i could barely tell how you did it. I guess three kingdoms taught you the most valuable tactic in your career. run the fuck away until the AI scrambles

[@kentpoos]

Just imagine what's going through their heads when they see their men running away.... Holy shit my cheeks have never clenched so hard, what a battle!

[@MalcadorTheSigilite]

I remember doing a 1v3 defence seige and lost my Daimyo Uesegi Kenshin but man when those 10 Yari Ashigaru left standing it was hard core

[@julianbelkan2384]

This video even gives inspiration to anyone even outside the game, this is absolutely incredible, you're amazing!!!!!!!

[@lonewanzerpilot]

18:26 In the distance one can see the scenic blue waters of the Volound-gawa, seen in high tide rapid flow during the defense of Miyagi.

[@dragontear1638]

Maybe it's sleep deprivation, but it seems rather surreal to watch thousands of men who were just shy of running roughshod over a fort, to running from a few hundred exhausted defenders.

[@sambone2809]

Love this video, an impossible battle that you've been trying to beat for years and you did it using sound tactics and minimal and arguably no cheese at all

[@paulcar2356]

Really glad you finally did it, was watching your aizu campaign last year and thought it was a bummer that you abonned it. Looking forward to the rest of it then!

[@ivansalamon7028]

That was legendary. Never seen a rout that big.

[@matthiuskoenig3378]

that column of retreating soldiers with your generals cavalry with it reminded me of a pow column

[@sunscape6241]

One of the greatest Total War videos I’ve ever seen

[@TimmacTR]

Dat fleeing blob, that's quite a scene.. xD

[@paradiseisland69]

Imagine this Battle as attacker and the Enemy also has the 2 wooden Cannon Units.

[@tomdudley5314]

unbelievable, awesome battle!

[@buschacha]

Commenting at the start, because I'm genuinely curious how the fuck you clutched this. Edit: Oh so that's what happens when autoresolve feeds an entire stack to the void

[@owarida6241]

There are a few unwritten rules in playing shogun 2. 1. Don’t freaking attack a castle, just siege them out unless you have siege units. 2. Don’t freaking buy siege units unless you’ve converted to christian. 3. Don’t freaking auto resolve.

[@RG-hx8uc]

Perfect. Amazed by the dedication.

[@jackgu4978]

I actually learned a new strategy from you. So you need to bait enemy cav and general with your own general at the beginning of the game and lure them close to your gun units on the wall. You do this to make sure the shattered units don’t come back again right?

[@Volound]

aye. and it would be a tactic* not a strategy

[@jackgu4978]

@@Volound yesss! I used the tactic today and baited 3 generals to my tercos! guns go boom

[@DafuqModeOn]

mike is a weewee looking lad

[@Volound]

:WeeOne:

[@brandonganz190]

Damn, Very nice tactics. Nicely done. Can't wait to see the video where they send two more stacks to retake it.

[@steretsjaaj2368]

This game is the best out of TW series. My current Otomo playtrough I did every thing wrong at the start - nanban, 2x leased land, no income, 2 rebellions, enemy metsuke ravaging trough my priests, 3 neighbouring fronts.. and I wanted to restart. But I had few yari and yumi units and I managed to pull through because of superb shogun mechanics where we stand a chance if we can utilize all the battlefield bonuses and tricks. Now 40 or so turns later I am enjoying carefully planned conquest of the whole island. Shogun really is great fun despite being outdated and lacking faction/unit diversity.

[@Volound]

well shogun 2 actually has the greatest variety* because the units have proper differentiation. modern total war games pretend to have differentiation because they change skins and tweak some numbers. that isnt orthogonal differentiation. ive explained this in my "total decline" critique series.

[@steretsjaaj2368]

@@Volound yeah I watched those videos.. we would rather have 6 different unit variations with working mechanics than 50 different broken clones

[@xleftsidex1627]

I don't think it's outdated at all. The game looks great even now in 2022 and has the best animations out of all tw titles. It only needs the same quality dev team that can grab the same engine and just improve it using the capabilities of the current tech. I think the results would have been tremendous. Imagine 100 thousands troops with 202X graphics and smooth animations like in shogun but even better - that's how I imagined the future of TW playing shogun in 2012... And somehow Shogun 2 runs pretty well on my pc with a garbage integrated intel graphics, yet Rome 2/Attila, which looks just a tad better only in terms of texture details, runs miles worse or just unplayable. Sadly, there are no games from any other studios that could compete with it. Basically, nobody else makes such games for some reason - maybe that's also why I can't objectively say that shogun 2 isn't outdated though :)

[@tsardripolasii1116]

2:14 “I will not fail!” Fails “You fucking suck”

[@AvianAfficionado]

Instructions unclear: Ran my general in and used flame of the phoenix

[@jamiegee123]

The Blob of troops running was absolutely crazy! interested to see how the following battles play out.

[@1iRa]

Fellow hc Shogun 2 fan here. Baitin units with cav is one of the necessities in defending impossible siege battles. Sadly, my units sometimes bug as when I draw them from the outer circle to the inner one. They oftentimes just stand around, unresponsive to commands. I def dont use the rapid advance as efficient as you do. Great fucking stuff

[@df6597]

Damn, I miss these days of Total War. Back then I envisioned an infinite future of Total Wars, each one better than the last and improving on the formula. You could pull off stunts like this, and then half the time you'd have to do it again the next turn, except half of that time that one turn was enough to get your reinforcements just out of range of the battle, and finally the other half of that time those reinforcements would actually be in range.

[@ballbatboy]

Incredible

[@tingting6317]

Aizu and Impossible Battles - name a more iconic duo

[@STARS_Redfield]

Gg, i love when it happens. You think you're gonna loose the entire campaign and somehow you survive. With lucks you might even be able to Ask money for peace xD Btw, would you mind to upload you save before battle ? I would love to try it too

[@antarcticaresearchprogram8349]

They fear him, like a force of nature; a dealer in fire and death!

[@jessemacaspac443]

Mad Lad did it again.

[@benjaminjeffery6873]

Aside from the 1v1 solider mechanic, Shogun 2 really is one of the best total war games! I love the siege battles and the soundtrack is raw!

[@unitariansavage8513]

"Impossible is a word only found in the dictionary of fools" Some Japanese guy, 1866.

[@TempestInMe]

The sabotage would only work if you were the attacker. Best defence ever though hopefully will inspire you to finish this campaign.

[@floppacultist954]

Vol likes his own videos

[@Volound]

hell no, thats unseemly and unbecoming

[@floppacultist954]

@@Volound you just liked your own comment

[@Volound]

@@floppacultist954 what nope

[@crazyfishmonster459]

Legendary victory! More FOTS would be excellent, particularly a traditional campaign like the Aizu one.

[@oneagainsttime]

As the historical recap concluded, goosebumps start and I'm thinking, "Awe man, this is going to be good."

[@MANIKO5]

Brilliant upload.

[@Erik_Arnqvist]

This should not have been possible, spectacular.

[@MsSirAndy]

You are insane! I would never with such odds

[@decus9544]

20:25 It's usually at about this time that my game would decide to CTD.

[@beetheimmortal]

What a legendary video.

[@Vsko478]

Does anyone know what happened to Cosmic?

[@ineednochannelyoutube5384]

How did you get the AI to overcommit their general? I've veen practicing fighting the AI outnumbered six to fourteen, and I can easily draw their cavalry onto spears, and bait out their missile troops to be murdered, but they religiously keep their general behind their yari line, and I have to screw around with hidden units or try and flank with my bodyguard to get at him at all. Or is it only a thing in sieges?

[@Vinokurchik]

Bravo! 👏

[@Deadizen]

That was incredible. I really enjoy conducting defensive sieges with as minimal units as possible, this is like gazing on a Rembrandt.

[@brucelee12]

Subscribed because of this video, holy shit!

[@skorupomaniaksenpai6096]

5:37 - Adolfo Hitohiro

[@CatnamedMittens]

Why did they reinforce whilst being sabtoaged?

[@iancorder6133]

You absolute chad of stoic determination. The likes of Saigo Takamori, Sun Tzu, Hannibal Barca, Napoleon, and many more commanders are smiling in whatever afterlife they live in watching you enact your strategies. Seriously, keep up the good work Volound. Your content gives me life and a good bit of happiness, and inspiration in my own campaigns.

[@jonathanlee5314]

now THESE are impossible odds! Epic battle!

[@safarfsaf]

LETSSSS GOOOOOOOOOO! "Now this is podracing!" -Anakin Skywalker.

[@psyc9173]

That's damn fucking impressive. Take my subscription lol.

[@Hidole555]

I look forward to seeing the Aizu prosecute this war and the episode where the last Jozai settlement falls. Use this victory, O Hannibal of the Rising Sun.

[@EverydayGamer84]

Did you read the Art of War - Sun Tzu for this? What you did there is really...strategic

[@RG-gw2sp]

How was that no Heroic Victory??

[@ericrobicheaux736]

@Volound I have been watching your videos about your grievances with the modern total war game and agree with some of the points you make. What do you think about mods like DEI, Radious or SFO? In your opinion do these mods fix some of the issues you've discussed or are the games still broken beyond repair?

[@matthewct8167]

That was f#### epic!!!!!!!!!

[@EdgarStyles1234]

volund would you do a Divide and Conquer Mod campaign? are you into Middle Earth?

[@Osvath97]

Wait, how is it a Decisive Victory rather than a Heroic Victory with those odds? I mean, Heroic Victory works as Decisive Victory but with the initial balance bar being past a certain point, right? So how could this possible be counted as a Decisive Victory?

[@pikie1011]

Nice tactics, no single entity cheese.

[@MrKYT-gb8gs]

Won't they just attack next turn?

[@petruluca6124]

Rewatching this again. The game should have a mechanic here where it prizes you with something superior to heroic victory. LEGENDARY VICTORY Instantly giving the general lvl 6 and max level instill fear A diplomatic bonus of +50 called something like, respect bro, we are scared of you. And a foreign power installing a unit of their infantry as garrison, permanently on this city If only anyone else could accomplish this...

[@SB-vl3ws]

Masterful 👏

[@burntthetoast]

Only took ya 8 years and tens of thousands of hours. SoOo worth lol. but congrats, i've never played this game and I still enjoyed the video.

[@zac3473]

I remeber this Aizu campaign. Convinced me to get FOTS

[@NTLuck]

You sir are insane. Still no Heroic Victory for you

[@KvltKommando]

Surprised we haven't seen a cowboys and indians mod with the revolver cav.

[@PhilipCripe]

Did you intentionally not give your generals upgrades in 2013?

[@QUAKERSATTACKS97]

How do you put units in a single deep line? Great battle!

[@Volound]

same in every case. click and drag.

[@rodrikofharlaw6848]

AI had their next turn all planned and had to wait 8 years to do it

[@mmei15]

I am not crying, you are crying!