First off, you should know exactly what the penalties and advantages are according to the calculations that the engine makes during the game.
First I will give a brief run down of how the hand-to-hand calculations work; for a more in-depth analysis visit the statistics section. In the units section you will have seen numbers given to each troop type. Each unit has an attack factor and a defence factor. When a unit attacks another unit, the defender's "defence factor" is subtracted from the attacker's "attack factor". Then other bonuses from different situations or terrain factors are added and subtracted. The number that is left is used to determine whether the attacker either kills or pushes back the defender. The higher the number, the better the chance.
Fighting on Flat Land
If you engage the enemy on flat land there are obviously no terrain advantages for either side. It comes down to hand-to-hand combat skill, honour, and other factors. If you feel you have the stronger force, then by all means engage the enemy on flat land. Never be too confident however, as simple tactics involving flanking can still be used to overcome your force. But if your force is weaker, try not to engage the enemy on flat land, you will be better off trying to take a position on a hill. The units that work best on flat land are your cavalry units.
Fighting on a Hill
If you are defending, then placing your defence on a hill is a must. You will gain bonuses according to the height advantage you have over your enemy and your enemy will incur penalties. The steeper the hill is the more bonuses you get. Their are many more advantages than your attack bonus. The first is that you can see a lot further so you will be able to see the enemies units should they try and flank you. Your archers gain the advantages of being able to shoot further, and of having their arrows inflict more damage. The enemy has to walk up the hill to approach you, meaning that they will become more fatigued. They move slower coming up the hill, meaning your archers can inflict more damage. If you wait until the enemy is just before you, you can make a fast charge down the hill, giving you a charge bonus as well. A classic defensive move is to place your archers at the highest point on your hill with infantry in front of them ready to charge. Another option is to put your archers and infantry in loose formation, and put the infantry behind the archers and behind the hill, out of sight, ready to charge over and between the archers and engage the enemy by surprise.
Attacking an enemy on a hill is a lot harder. What you have to do is to try and engage the enemy from an angle, to lessen the height advantage. Usually hills are quite long and the enemy is on one part of it. Your aim is to get on that hill as well from the side, and attack him from the flank. He will probably turn his troops to face, which will put them is disarray. Always try to get on even height with him or as close as possible. There is usually a way. Never try to attack straight up a hill, even a small force can defeat you. If you don't believe me, try it yourself. A few words on units. The naginata is a really tough unit, good for defense and good for absorbing arrow fire. Don't send lightly armoured troops such as warrior monks first, they will be targeted and destroyed. Yari Ashigaru are weak, but by putting them in the front lines they will take the arrow fire, and although you may lose them, they are very cheap.
Forests
Forests can be used to conceal troops, and to protect troops from missile fire. A risky defensive tactic is to hide a few units in a forest somewhere remote in the map, and delpoy your main force predictibly on a small hill. When the enemy have engaged your main force, the concealed troops can come out of hiding behind him and charge the rear, where he might have kept his general. If your enemy has cavalry troops, draw them into the forest. This gives them a -2 attack bones and your infantry a +2 attack bonus.
Rivers and Bridge Battles
Bridges are great for defence. Using lots of archers is important, and you should also have a few units of infantry, naginata and yari samurai are both effective. The attacker will most likely deploy his archers along the river side, trying to kill as many troops as he can. Keep your archers back a bit, so that they can shoot at enemies as soon as they step on the bridge. When the enemy is on the bridge, he moves slower and his troops are packed together, which will give you many kills for your archers. Once the enemy reaches the other side, charge your infantry unit and engage. Sun Tzu said that you should engage the enemy when one third was on your side, one third on the bridge, and one third still on the other side. Just make sure you don't leave it too late! Your troops have a +5 bonus defending a bridge. This means your naginata or yari samurai are just as good at attack as warrior monks. If he retreats do NOT pursue, fall back and take original positions. Do not allow your troops to venture onto the bridge, as he is only trying to draw you out.
Attacking a bridge is a lot more difficult. First of all you should line the river banks with your archer units, stretched out as far as they can be so that they may all fire at once. You will not be given very long to fire so it is best to maximise the number of troops who can shoot. Try to get the enemy onto the bridge as much as possible by charging across, stopping and retreating. Use cheap troops such as yari ashigaru, which you won't mind losing. This will waste his arrows if the limited ammo option is on. Each time you do this you will lose troops, but he will either be drawn out or will stop paying attention. Then you charge across completely when he is no longer coming forth with his troops to counter your feigned charges. Then you simply must get as many troops over there as possible, so have them all ready to go.
Castles
Castles are usually built on top of hills, so a defender should follow the same basic principles as defending a hill. But you have more of an advantage as there is only one gate through which your enemy can pass. By placing archers inside the walls and strong infantry inside the gate, you should be able to repel a force. Eventually the attacker has to come through the gate, so make sure it is heavily guarded.
As the attacker you should try and draw out the defensive troops as much as possible. Remember the arrows of your enemy are limited, so get him to waste it on cheap troops or heavily armoured troops on loose formation. If the limited ammo option is not on (it should be!) then use archers yourself.
written by dan 27th november 2000