Hey guys, I was playing a really epic battle in Total War: Shogun 2 and I figured I would share the basics of the strategies used by me and my enemy (who did very well)
The battle was for Hokuriku Crossing, I was the attacker. The major difference between our armies was that he used matchlock warriors and had more spear men while I had more cavalry. Otherwise our armies were effectively equivalent.
I was the Oda(yellow) they were the Chosakabe(red).
After the initial deployment/maneuvering this is how we ended up. If I were him I would have taken the bigger hill where my 2nd army is. Because he took the “worse” of the two positions and that he had his entire army in one place, I assumed he was a relatively unskilled player. Anyway, as you can see I have him surrounded on three sides.
(The first and second armies are infantry and the third and fourth army are cavalry.) My plan at this point is to engage with my first army and second army, tying down all his spear men and then bringing my cavalry onto his unprotected missile units. Thus leaving his infantry unsupported and hopefully cause a quick collapse of his army,
So far I had been making all the choices, I had wheeled him into a trap. I decided to pull my cavalry closer to the river, but still out of archer range. He knew they were there anyway. As they were doing this most of his army charged down the the hill and across the river, engaging my first army (who were outnumbered like 3 to 1.) He clearly was planning to knock my first army out while his first army held my second army at bay. He also left a small facade of men at the edge of the woods facing my cavalry. I had know way of knowing if there were more men hiding in the trees or not. Obviously my opponent was not as stupid as I thought.
I knew that if I didn’t get support for my first army soon, I would lose the game. I ran both divisions of cavalry across both spurs of the river. They were under archer fire from the enemy but I knew it was necessary. I also pulled back my first division to the top of the hill to buy time and to pull the bulk of his second army onto the banks of the river so I could sweep it with my cavalry. At this point it is still any mans game. However he has the initiative and I know that i have to steal it back.
I charged my third army into his unprotected flank and also engaged fully with my first army. We were still outnumbered 2 to 1 on that front, but my infantry was fighting downhill and my cavalry had success trampling exposed katana samurai. Meanwhile I charged my 2nd army directly at his first army. Knowing that I didn’t have time to spare. I also closed his flank on this front with my fourth army. At this point I knew that I was going to lose my first and third army. My only hope was to take out his outnumbered first army and then garrison that hill.
the battle went exactly as I expected it. Here he made a mistake, instead of regrouping on the hill behind him he charged directly at me. I think he was hoping to attack me before I was fully deployed. At this point we had roughly the same number of troops. But I still had cavalry and a hill advantage. His only real hope to win would be defending the hill. He probably underestimated how many men I had left (I was hidden in the forest)
So now there was no hope for him. He was fighting uphill and against an equal force (sorry about the picture, the sizing isn’t exact) and once I brought my fourth army around his flank he collapsed almost immediately.
Well I hope you guys enjoyed this battle. I enjoyed playing it, especially since my opponent played very boldly. If not for my cavalry he would have won for sure. That’s why I love cavalry so much 
I may do more of these if people like it. Please share any of your Total War battles. I would love to read/watch them.
its a free coop version