First thing first let’s get to know the Date clan

Basic traits

1. Charge bonus to all units

2. Reduced cost and upkeep for all No dachi Samurai

3. Can recruit superior no dachi samurai.

As you can see from the game's description the Date clan is a military based clan. Its basic traits allow you to recruit superior samurai and your charge bonus will make them even more formidable in battle. The Date are located on the far north region of the map which is ideal for you to start your campaign, as your only way of travel is south.Once you manage to secure the first northern provinces then you don’t have to worry about anything else, except what happens further south. Also you have an extra bonus as being the top war dog by having a trade station close to you, which is ideal for your income in the first few rounds of the game and later on when your trade begins to roll. And last but not least your daimyo is none other than Date Masamune[en.wikipedia.org] himself ( a fighting legend and one of the fiercest mfs you have ever encountered ^^)

Weaknesses

Like with almost every military based clan in shogun 2, besides your warfare attributes you don't really excel in anything else. Your navy and economy are decent but that’s about it. Also once you start your game you have to face two different enemies. One, your own In Clan rebels, which really want to see you fall and secondly on your left there are the Mogami, which you must crush before you start planning anything far ahead. Furthermore one of the most common mistakes people often do with shogun 2 is that they don’t pay close attention to their starting provinces in terms of size. When you begin with the Date note that your province is too big which means that it takes a lot of time for an army to cross it especially when you don’t have roads and your general isn’t fit to travel long distances. You may find it really simple but when you want to attack and find yourself in the middle of winter then you will remember these words.The Date need PLANNING and a really good planning in that matter. Unlike other fighting clans you can't rush in to conquer everything especially in the first rounds when you begin to create your army.

As I stated in my previous guide about the Shimazu, I love katana samurai. Seriously I do. That is why I really enjoy playing with the Date, but with one major difference. Here I only use no dachi samurai. Katana samurai would be nice but if you take the clan's traits into account for almost the same money you could have superior fighting power with relatively small price. The no dachi samurai act like the regular katana samurai, but with a major difference. They offer superior power, especially during a charge but with an increased armor reduction cost. Their armor is really low and they can be wiped out easier than the katana samurai if you aren’'t careful. As usual on the battlefield they are your number one fighting force and if you can utilize them properly you can make them the best and I mean the best fighting unit you can assemble. Depending on your style I would suggest you take the blacksmith upgrade to increase their armor in order for the them to be less vulnerable to archers and cavalry and by all means utilize a melee buffed general and see your blue giants hack your enemies into pieces.

So now lets move on to your army synthesis. Like with the Shimazu I will try to offer you what I think in my opinion is an overall best army structure to cover most situations on the battlefield. As always your own gameplay style is the one that will make the difference in any situation but here is how I like to do things. So your main army should consist off:

1. General (Date Masumune or sm1 with melee focused traits)

2. 6 units of no dachi samurai and later on Date No dachi samurai

3. 4 units of Ashigaru bowmen and later on bow samurai

4. 3 units of Ashigaru Yari and later on Yari Samurai

5. 4 units of Cavalry

6. 2 Special units of your liking (I usually preserve them for heroes and matchlock units).

Another suggestion is to remove yari ashigaru and have 4 units of yari cavalry. When it is done u can use the alternative 4 slots to your advantage with warrior monks or fire bombers.

If u feel like spicing things up a bit, you can try for a more direct and brutal approach but this is something I don’t recommend for players who aren’t experienced with the battle system of shogun 2. Instead of cavalry, change your army to 8 no dachi units. Keep your bowmen the same and add 2 more units of Yari Samurai. This is a more aggressive melee style only suitable to people familiar with real time battle tactics and should not be considered for starting players. This particular synthesis is the one I call the Crimson blue charge.

In order for this strategy to work you move your archer units( C ) to the center of your army, while having the yari units ( A ) advance in front along with your general. Have your dachi samurai ( B ) split in groups of 4 on the right and left and have them stick closely to your sides.


When u reach close enough to the opposing army drop everything and charge. During the charge, place your general between your archers and your melee lines and watch as true havoc begins to unlock. In order to do this, you need to be extra careful, because until you reach the opposing army there are many things that could go wrong. First of all you need to have great army movement and never lose your focus until you reach closely to the enemy lines. Be careful of your general, as his position between the frontline troops makes him an easy target for opposing archers, but he is essential as he provides bonus to morale. Thirdly you should be ready to face grievous losses if your facing lots of archer units and the most important bit is to be extra careful when you charge. Do it too soon and your army will be dead tired before they reach the enemy making them easy targets. Do it too late and your troops will be butchered before you even begin charging. Also this is obviously not recommended for sieges or truly open field battles vs a lot of cavalry and archer units.

If you do manage to execute it, then you are in for a treat as your awesome infantry kills everything in its path and makes your enemies flee like dogs. After you are done trust me the only thing standing will be your blue samurai coated with the blood of your enemies. It has a success rate of around 75-80% if done properly. Try it and you will have a blast ^^

It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.
Sun Tzu, the art of war


For the Date warfare is everything. They are one of the most aggressive clans in the game and they can rush early to conquer everything due to their good army and their clan traits. But in order for you to do that, you need to have a good source of income before you try anything else. I would normally advise for you to go for the bushido tree in the beginning of the game, but considering the vast areas you have to cover and the speed you need to do it, i would recommend you start looking for the financial and agricultural side first.

So in the beginning go to Way of chi--> ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥-->Equal Fields.

When u have secured a good source of food to support your army, switch to the bushido and focus on making your no dachi samurai an indestructible force.

Therefore switch to

Bushido ---> strategy of attack ---->way of the sword

After that focus on making your samurai even more powerful, so Form ---> Sword expertise is the way to go.

Now that you can cut everything in your path with ease, focus on making the road ahead of you a little clearer so Sake Den is essential after you have progressed further south. After this point you need to proceed with caution due to vast areas you have to cover. Make sure your ninjas do the scouting for you while you move forward and attack. Finally when your eyes and ears are set go for the heaven and earth upgrade in order to make your recruiting grounds easier to handle. When you are done its up to you to continue as you wish.

Unlike other clans who are bombarded from the beginning with both religions, this is not the problem here. You don’t face religion problems until you have progressed really southward but by that time you will have enough monks so altering your region's dogma shouldn't’ be a problem. Also, by having ninjas as agents you can eliminate any priest that comes your way and you can sleep safe and sound knowing that your provinces wont rebel due to the influence of another religion or agent.I usually stay true to Buddhism, but if u feel like playing as a Christian to unlock additional options feel free to do so. Just be sure to do it when you have enough manpower to sustain your provinces cause the amount of rebellions you will have to face will be really hard to maintain, due to the vast areas you have to travel in a really short time.

Like i mentioned in the beginning, playing with the Date can be really funny and easy if you know how to do things,but it requires a lot of planning cause the areas you have to cover are vast and you can't make the mistake of turning back every once in a while.That said you should always remember you have an unstoppable army in your disposal and the only things keeping you back are your own limitations. That said you have two play style options with the Date. You can either rush to conquer everything or follow a slightly more slowpaced path and do targeted strikes and attacks. Also the fact you have both of these options is what makes the date one of the easiest campaigns to play. W/e your playstyle might be, do note that both of these techniques require extremely well planning and require your undivided attention to the map and your alliances more so than many other inland clans.

As you begin your main focus should be to clear both the rebels and the Mogami before you do anything else.Securing your western flanks and the areas the Mogami cover, you get a vast gold mine which will provide the essentials for your campaign and by making a few trade ships in the beginning of your turns you can expand your economy with trade agreements by occupying the northern trade station above you. After that you need to move your thoughts further south and start building your empire.

One of the most debatable areas about the initial steps with the Date is whether or not you should make an alliance with the Takeda. In my opinion (based on my 3 runs with them), the Takeda have proven to be a valuable ally/friend and one you can easily manipulate with wedding proposals. Their armies always helped my own and i never had to worry about them leaving me even during a realm divided. Based on more thoughts on various total war forums people felt the same way as i did, but there were also strong indications that this doesn't work always like i mentioned. Befriending them or conquering them is all up to you and how you want play.If u do befriend them then your next step should be the subjugation of the Uesugi and the capturing of Eichigo.
After this point this is where the game becomes tricky. Choosing the way to go can leave you with open wars in 3 fronts and that is something you cannot afford at least for now. Befriending them or conquering them, then your next step should be the subjugation of the Uesugi and the capturing of Eichigo.
Having secured both those areas, the north half of the map is yours and the only thing not covered in blue is the Sado island. I suggest you make that your next target cause it's a really nice base for scouting/source incoming(mainly tons of gold)/ raiding area and for some unknown reason it's an island where nobody attacks(I know it sounds cheesy but i have never seen it harassed in all my campaign turns).With sado safety locked in blue you can proceed with ease knowing nothing stands between you and the southern provinces.

Now after this stage its all up to you how you want to play and what to do. The only things you should have in mind are these:

1. Utilize all of your generals. The Date are a military clan.That said their best strength lies in their army. When you are strong enough and wealthy to sustain two or more full armies don't be afraid to do so.Fighting is what the Date are all about.

2. Choose a route and don't try to conquer random provinces that leave u exposed in between. Your campaign map should have a constant blue line in order for your troops to safely move and resupply.That means either you open war in all fronts so you don't have to worry about leaving anything to chance or choose and split the map in the middle(Take everything in middle and below or everything in up and middle) as you move closer to Kyoto.

3.Dont leave vassals in between your provinces and your advancing army. Around 80% of the time those vassals will betray you when the realm divided status is earned and you will have to face more than one enemy at that time. Always try to make vassals clans in front of you and conquer them before you move forward as well. Its bad but its a safety measure you will realize as you play more and more.

4. Before you move to capture Kyoto, be damn sure that you haven't left anything in your back that its not blue.Its always best to have an escape route for your army whether you attack via sea or land.

Well, thats about everything you need to know about the Date. I hope you have lots and lots of fun playing with them and become Shogun with ease. Remember the One Eyed Dragon is watching you!!!



P.S For any additional informations, corrections feel free to comment and pm me :)