Instead they’re an absolutely essential part of your war machine, with combined arms being a practical necessity if you want to win battles against traditional samurai armed with sword and bow, never mind an opposing modern army. It’s an outstanding game, combining the best features of Shogun and Napoleon while adding not a few new elements itself, and one of the results is that cannon and fleets are no longer an interesting sideshow used for cracking forts and blockading ports. This little saga neatly sums up Fall of the Samurai. After over a year of warfare, Buzen has fallen. The peasant levies of the Tsuwano are scattered by shot and shrapnel, and the fleeing survivors are put to the sword by sabre cavalry. His army is now supported by cavalry and cannon the supporting fleet of Admiral Sukena has doubled in size and is now equipped with explosive shells. Takamori makes his third attempt to take Buzen, and this time he isn’t messing around. Takamori’s ground forces retreat from the battlefield without firing a shot. After crushing the Tsuwano fleet in a pitched naval battle around the straits of Hyuga Admiral Sukena is now in a position to provide Takamori with some naval fire support, but without explosive shells the salvos prove ineffective, killing barely fifty of the enemy. Unfortunately the Tsuwano have likewise reinforced Takamori is now facing a gargantuan army of 4500 men. Takamori’s force has reinforced itself to a strength of 1800 and ventures back up the road towards Buzen. Late summer, 1865: Second battle of Buzen. Takamori is forced to withdraw from the siege and retreat back to Buzen to rest and rearm. It’s a pyrrhic victory, however, as every unit that was on the main line of battle has come out of it completely gutted with less than half of its men remaining. Apparently unsettled by having five-sixths of his hatamoto gunned down in under thirty seconds, the opposing general flees taking most of his army with him. Things are desperate enough that Takamori is forced into a course of action that Wellington would find displeasing: he orders his sharpshooters to start sniping at the enemy commander. Takamori is forced into a desperate defensive action, where the attacking spear levies tie up the line infantry in close combat while the muskets pound, pound, pound away with massed fire. Buzen is garrisoned by 2600 men mostly spear and musket levies, but they still outnumber Takamori’s small force of 1200 professional line infantry and sharpshooters by more than two to one. He’s taken Hyuga and Bungo in a lightning campaign, and after weathering a harsh winter in Bungo his army has marched further northwards to take Buzen. General Takamori’s army is pushing up the eastern coastline of Kyushu.

Early spring, 1865: First battle of Buzen.

Fall of the samurai gameplay