In this guide I will try to show you how the teachings of Sun Tzu can be used in Shogun 2 Total War. I used the Dover edition of "The Art of War" from 2002 as a base for making this guide. I wil use the same chapters as used in that version of the book. Although not all information and advice given by Sun Tzu is usable in Shogun 2, I did my best to use as much of his ideas as possible.

When reading this guide, please keep in mind that English is not my native language.

I hope this text will provide you with some new ideas to use in your gameplay.

Regards,


Fritz Derochebrune

Update March 2021: Thank you for your continued support of this guide. I appreciate your comments, ratings and rewards! I hope this guide has helped many of you. It has been quite some years since I made this guide and eversince my life has gotten a lot busier. Unfortunately, this means I am unable to read/reply to your comments on a regular basis. If you have a question, you can send me a friend request and message me.

Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin.

When deliberating on making war, one must take into account five constant factors: Moral Law, Heaven, Earth, The Commander and Method and Discipline.

Moral Law is the loyalty and morale of the people and the soldiers, and the chance of them following their leader regardless of their lives. In Shogun 2 you must ask yourself: is your population loyal? Is your soldiers morale high enough to keep them from routing? And are your generals loyal enough to keep them from turning against you?

Heaven signifies the time and seasons. In Shogun 2 you must ask yourself: Is there time to launch a campaign against an enemy? Is winter coming? Attrition will cause loss of manpower that can easily be avoided.

Earth comprises distances and strategic locations. In Shogun 2 earth is important during battles and on the campaign map. Is there any high ground? How long will your unit need to go from point A to point B? In the campaign you must take into account the distance an army can march, and look for strategic bottlenecks to halt your enemy.

The Commander stands for wisdom, sincerity and courage. As a general needs these virtues, you as daimyo need to have them as well. If you know when to fight and when not to fight, you will be victorious. The aim of this guide is helping you in making this descision.

Lastly, Method and Discipline signifies the marshaling of an army in its proper subdivisions and use of officers. In Shogun 2 you this means you must have a balanced force to defend and to attack. A good army consists of swordsmen, spearmen, bowmen and cavalry, so every enemey threat can be countered.


In order to forecast the outcome of a battle, Sun Tzu advices to use these 7 questions:

1) Which of the generals is imbued with the moral law? What army will have a higher morale due to its generals rank, the quality of the troops and morale bonuses?

2) Which of the two generals has the most ability? Ensure that you know what the strenghts and weaknesses of the enemy general are. If he is a good attacker, force him to defend. If he is a good defender, force him to attack.

3) Who has the advantages derived from heaven and earth? Who holds the high ground? Whos units are more effected by the weather?

4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced? Who has the more experienced units? Units with higher experience are less likely to rout during a battle..

5) Which army is stronger? Who has the most soldiers?

6) On which side are the soldiers most highly trained? Which side has the better veterans, which side the better units?

7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment? In Shogun 2, this question is not relevant.

He who knows the answers on these questions, knows when he will be victorious and when he will not. In the next chapters I will explain how to use Shogun 2 features to ensure victory.

When laying plans to attack a clan, gather as much information on them as possible. Use your agents to spy on enemie castles and armies. Use their special abilities (see chapter 13) to gain information and advantages over the enemy. Use the diplomatic option to discover who are the allies and enemies of your target and use that information to your advantage.

Sun Tzu said: "When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, the men's weapons will grow dull and their ardour will be damped."

In Shogun 2, time is very important. Before you start playing a game, you must chose not only the lenght of your campaign, but also the lenght of every battle. When chosing these, keep in mind that this will have a great effect on your gameplay. Short campaigns are easier to win, but it will be harder to get the late-game units. Long campaigns give you the time to build up your forces, but your enemy will do the same. Even more important is the time limit for battles. Chosing no time limit makes attacking easier, but defending harder. Whereas with a time limit, your units only need to defend until the timer runs out, without a limit they will have to kill or rout every enemy. A good way of chosing the time limit is basing it on your style of playing the game. If you favour to be a defending party in large battles, a short time limit might be a good idea. If you favour to be the attacking side, a longer time limit might be the best idea.

When playing the campaing map, time is essential too. When war is declared, attack as fast as possible. Try to deregulate as much of the enemies military and economic capabilities sooner rather than later. Keep in mind what season will be next, so winter cannot surprise you.

During battles, time is mainly tied to the battle time limit described above. However, striking fast at the begining of a battle is essential. Take the high grounds. Hide your men in the forests. Attack isolated groups of enemies, like small groups of allies joining the battle. Send your skirmishers to harras the enemy and if possible split them up.

Sun Tzu said: "In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so profitable."
When entering an enemy province, I assume you are trying to conquer that province. However, before attacking, you must ask yourself: "Can I hold this province?" Are enemy forces nearby that threaten your conquest? If not, you should capture the province. If so, you should try to cause as much damage as possible before you retreat.

As Sun Tzu said, when you capture a province, it is better to take it intact. Raiding buildings and sacking cities might earn you money at once, but it is not profitable on the longer term. Using siege weapons makes it easier to take castles, but it will also damage them. This does not mean those options are not adviced, as getting instant money or an advantage in a siege battle can be necessary. Sun Tzu advices to take an enemy's land with as little bloodshed as possible. Besieging a castle is a way to potentially conquer without a fight, though you must watch out for enemy reinforcements. A siege will continue multiple turns, with at least one turn of winter. Attrition will cause the loss of soldiers, so you have to decide if fighting or besieging will cause the lowest amount of casualties. A good general will think about these options before attacking.

When attacking by stratagem, a general must remember some victories are worse than defeats, and some defeats are better than victories. Destroying an enemy army at the cost of the largest part of your own army is a Pyrrhic victory at best, which will halt all your plans for further advances. However, when a general makes other goals for a battle than winning it, the tactical battle may be lost but a strategic victory might be won. For example, if the goal of the battle is to kill the enemy general who is becoming a great threat, you can reach that goal without winning the battle. An other example is taking out siegeweapons. By doing so the enemy will lose a large part of its offensive capabilities against castles, but it won't win you a tactical victory.

Sun Tzu said: "It is the rule of war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army in two. If equally matched, we can offer battle, if slightly inerior in numbers, we can avoid battle; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him."

The strength of an army is shown on its banner. Never judge your army and the enemy's on the strenght as shown on its banner though. Strength does not garantee victory, but will help in achieving it. Though in Shogun 2 quality is more important than quantity, Sun Tzu's idea of surrounding an enemy is a great tactic in Shogun. Samurai warrios are better equiped and better trained than Ashigaru units, however, when attacked from four sides they will be less likely to win.

Sun Tzu said: "The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy."

To avoid defeat a skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy. A good, standard setup for your army is composed of a center made out of infantry, with spearmen on the sides and archers up front. The cavalry is devided in groups on the flanks of your army, and a few units are kept in reserve to plug any gaps, especially where your lines are consisting out of Ashigaru soldiers. Ensure Ashigaru do not hold key positions, and place units of samurai between them. This is only a standard setup, a skilled general ensures his troops are set up to counter an enemy attack based on the situation.

When looking for opportunities to defeat an enemy, one must keep a close eye on the enemy army. During the skirmishes before the battle, this gives you great opportunities to weaken them. When the enemy army is on the move, the units are vulnerable to attack. Try to flank the enemy with a small force. Often they counter your flanking attempt with a few units. Harras these units to draw them away from the main forece and take them out. Look for weak points in the line, where Ashigaru are plenty. Weaken these points even more by attacking them with archers. Do not waste arrows on heavily armoured Samurai.

When the actual battle begins, target the same weak spots with your main force. Attack with great zeal, do not let the enemy regroup and reinforce these points! Flank the enemy with your cavalry to keep them busy and lower their morale. Even the best infantry's morale will drop, once encircled!

When enemy units start routing, capitalize on that succes! Use the units attacking the fleeing enemy to put more pressure on the remaining enemy units, and use your cavalry to ensure the enemy keeps fleeing. Routing units deplete the morale of their fellow units. When several units rout at once, push the enemy even harder to initiate a mass rout!

Sun Tzu said: "The control of a large force is the same in principle as the control of a few men. It is merely a question of dividing up thier numbers"

There are not more than three primary colours, yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever be seen. There are not more than five tastes, yet combinations of them yield more flavours than can ever be tasted. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?

Combining units of different types into your army is the way to victory. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy and does not require too much from individuals. Know the strength of each of your units, and its weakness. Combine your units so they can negate each others weaknesses and reinforce each others strength. For it is the nature of a stone to remain motionless, and to move when on a slope. Every unit has its own nature, and the general knowing this nature will be victorious.

Sun Tzu said: "The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him."


In chapter four I discussed the use of weak points during a battle. In the previous one I discussed the weak and strong points of units. In this chapter I will discuss weak and strong points in general.

Before battles, you must gather information on your enemies forces. He who lets his enemy surpise him, allows the enemy to impose his will on him. Discover where enemy forces are concentrated and attack on the other side. Discover what units make up their armies and make sure your units are adapted to counter theirs. Discover which castles have a strong garisson, and attack the others. Knowing the strong and weak points of an enemy on the campaing map, can decide the outcome of a battle before it is fought. Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks, numerical strength from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.

Both during the campaign and battles, use subtlety and secrecy! Use agents to map enemy movements (more on this in chapter 13). During battles, use forests and cover to hide your units, so they can flank the enemy when he is not expecting it. For should the enemy strenghten his van, he will weaken his rear, should he strenghten his rear, he will weaken his van. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will be weak everywhere.

For exploiting an enemies weak points during battle, please see chapter 4.

Sun Tzu said: "Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with an undiciplined multitude, most dangerous."

Maneuvering on the campaing map. If you set a fully equiped army in march in order to snatch an advantage, chances are that you will be too late. Different units have different ranges they can travel in one turn. An army fully equiped with siege weapons will take much longer to reach its destination than an army without siege equipment. Armies compose solely out of cavalry will have a further range than armies with infantry in them. Know what your goal is, and if you need to get there fast or well prepared. For a fast army can snatch an advantage, but it might not be able to hold it against a better prepared army if they do not get reinforced.

When in battle, make sure your units stay together when moving. Cavalry moves faster than infantry, infantry moves faster than siege units. Do not let your units get separated! An isolated unit is vulnerable, and your enemy will attack it. Ensure that units vulnerable to cavalry attacks like bowmen and siegeweapons are defended by spearmen or other units.

Sun Tzu said: "The General who thorougly understands the advantages that accompany variation of tactics knows how to handle his troops."

The general who knows when to alter his plans, will be victorious. The student of war who is unversed in the art of varying his plans, even though he be acquainted with the Five Advantages (see chapter 1) will fail to make the best use of his men and thus be defeated.

When undertaking action, make sure you can recall that action. In battles, this simply means to keep an eye out for enemy threats during the battle, and redirect your troops if necessary. On the campaign map however, this is important too. Never march your armies the full distance they can march when going into enemy terrain. When exhausted, units will be unable to flee. A wise general lets his army march only a small distance at a time, so he can evaluate the situation and choose his next action. The same can be said about attacking an enemy army. Do not attack unless you know for certain the area is clear of other enemies. Once you are in the area of influence of an enemy army, you won't be able to get out of it.

Sun Tzu said: "When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance to meet it in midstream."

Of Sun Tzu's advice in this chapter, only a small fragment is usable in Shogun 2, notably where to attack and where to defend. When attacking an enemy province, try to avoid bottlenecks like valleys. Scout the area ahead of your advance to make sure you will not be ambushed. When attacking, use your navy to deploy armies behind enemy lines.

When defending a province, encamp your armies at bottlenecks. Use forests to your advantage and set ambushes for the enemy. Be on the lookout for enemy navies carrying armies and counter them with your own navy before they can land the troops.

Sun Tzu said: "The natural formation of a country is its best ally."

In this chapter, the way to use Earth and Heaven from chapter 1 in Shogun will be explained.

When deploying an army to the field, ensure the terrain you use is suitable for your units and hindering for your enemies. When using many archers, fight in the hills. When using much cavalry, set up your army in the plains. The terrain where your army stands on in the campaing map is the same as the terrain during a battle. Use bottlenecks to your advantage, like descirbed in the previous chapter.

Weather is an important factor in a battle. The attacking army may choose when deploying their troops to wait for different weather. Use this option well! Bad weather, like rain or thunderstorms mainly affects ranged units. Generaly they will have decreased accuracy, gunpowder units will be slower in reloading and archery units will not be able to use flaming arrows. Buildings and ships will take longer to set on fire. A wise commander will use the weather to his advantage, attacking during rain when enemy ranged units outnumber his, or attacking when it's calm when his ranged units outnumber the enemies. Do not forget however, that units take longer to regain fatigue when it is raining!

Do not fight in mist or fog. Not only does it decrease the line of sight of his units, it will also hinder his own vision of the battlefield! The enemy however, will not be affected by the sight restrictions, as he is AI. Fighting at night will cause effects similar to those of fighting in mist, though the penalty to accuracy is less. For the commander, it will be hard to see the battlefield at night. Fighting at night will cause a morale bonus for armies without generals.

Sun Tzu said: "The art of war recognizes nine varieties of ground: dispersive ground, facile ground, contentious ground, open ground, ground of intersecting highways, serious ground, difficult ground, hemmed-in ground and desperate ground."

In this chapter, I describe how these varieties are translated into Shogun 2, and when given, what advice Sun Tzu gives on them.

Dispersive ground is ground whereon a daimyo is fighting in his own territory. Expect replenishment of troops and fast reinforcements. Sun Tzu advices to ensure you will not have to fight on dispersive ground.

Facile ground is ground where the general has penetrated enemy provinces, but not by far. The army can quickly return to the own territory. Sun Tzu advices armies on facile ground to press on deeper into the enemies lands.

Contentious ground is ground the possession of which imports a great advantage to the holder. Think about bottlenecks, but also about povinces with special resources/buildings. Sun Tzu advices generals not to attack enemies on contentious ground (bottlenecks).

Open ground is ground on which eather side has the liberty of movement. Provinces you have military acces to and open plains.

Intersecting Highways is the ground that forms a doorway to three or more provinces, therefor, he who holds it can quickly enter all those provinces. Sun Tzu advices to ally with one of the other provinces to ensure you have a firm grasp.

Serious ground is ground whereon an army has penetrated the heartland of the enemy lands, leaving behind them several enemy cities. Sun Tzu advices the general to plunder the area and leave before the enemy gathers the strength to strike at you.

Difficult ground is the ground which is reached through valleys and bottlenecks. Sun Tzu advices not to let enemy armies get behind you to isolate your army from your provinces.

Hemmed-in ground consists of bottlenecks, in which a small number of men can halt a large body of men. Sun Tzu advices to resort to stratagem when facing the enemy on this kind of ground.

Desperate ground is ground which can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay. Sun Tzu advices to fight!

Sun Tzu said: "When attacking with fire, one should be prepared to meet possible developments."

In this chapter Sun Tzu focusses on using fire as a weapon. Although these are not usable in Shogun 2, some are, when adapted a bit, good advice.

Disrupt enemy economie as much as possible. Blockade ports, raid traderoutes and target wealthy cities first. Raid buildings that present the enemy with bonusses. Make sure the purse of the enemey is empy, so he cannot raise new armies.

Hurl fire into the enemies lines. Use siegeweapons and flaming arrows to frighten the enemy and cut down morale.

Sun Tzu said: "Hence it is that with none in the whole army are more intimate relations to be maintained than with spies."

The spies as described by Sun Tzu consist of several agents in Shogun, all with their own abilities. These agents can be used to spy on the enemy and map their movements in advance of your attack. Then can also be used to weaken the enemy before your attack.This is a list of agents and their abilities:

Ninja: The spy and assasin, a ninja cannot be seen by the enemy (but can be spotted by other characters). Ninjas are excellent scouts and can spy on cities and armies in detail. A ninja can also support an attack by assasinating key enemy figures and sabotaging buildings. Sun Tzu advices to use ninjas to gain information on your enemies strenghts and weaknesses, and then use him to support the attack.

Geisha: Much like a ninja, a geisha can spy and assasinate people. Although her subterfuge is high, she is not invisable on the campaing map and can only be recruited from high-level buildings.

Monk & Missionary: While being able to spy on the enemy, they will not be able to give as much details as the ninja. When attacking, these agents can demoralize enemy forces and incite revolts. Sun Tzu advices to use them to support your advance by inciting revolts so the enemy has to split their forces.

Metsuke: More of a defending agent, these policemen can be used to clear an enemy province of agents that can harm your attack. Sun Tzu advices to use them to smoke out ninjas.

The images used in this guide are from the game Shogun 2 Total War itself.

The ISBN of The Art of War is 9780486425573. The text is can also be found on the internet.