Total War: SHOGUN 2 1vs1: Shimazu Heavy Gunners vs Matchlock Samurai

Total War: SHOGUN 2 1vs1: Shimazu Heavy Gunners vs Matchlock Samurai
Clan: Shimazu vs Takeda
Battle Difficulty: normal
Player: Shimazu Heavy Gunners
**Note: Both units did not use Fire by Rank.

For most factions, Matchlock Samurai are the best, but most expensive, unlimited matchlock units available to most clans. Matchlock Samurai have inferior numbers compared to Matchlock Ashigaru, but have superior accuracy, reload skill, melee skill, defense skill, armor, charge bonus, and morale. They also possess the Rapid Volley ability, pushing their reload skill temporarily far beyond what matchlock ashigaru are capable of. Despite the buffs to melee statistics, Matchlock Samurai are still very weak in melee combat, and are no match for dedicated melee troops. Without DLC, Matchlock Samurai are the best matchlock units available. With DLC, however, they are outclassed by the likes of Portuguese Tercos and Shimazu Heavy Gunners. When trained by the Date Clan, Matchlock Samurai have +2 charge bonus. Hattori Matchlock Samurai have kisho training, allowing them to be placed anywhere on the battlefield except the opponent's deployment zone during the deployment phase of a battle. They can also hide in light scrub, as well as long grass. Otomo Matchlock Samurai are cheaper to recruit at 600 koku instead of 700, and have +5 reload skill and +5 accuracy. The Otomo clan has access to better matchlock units however, in the form of Portuguese Tercos. Portuguese Tercos are also available much earlier than Otomo Matchlock Samurai.

Shimazu Heavy Gunners fire bullets that not only kill their targets, but also knock over men that are in their way. This slows down targets as they need to stand back up and regroup every time they suffer a volley. While Shimazu Heavy Gunners deal unremarkable damage over time, especially considering their steep requirements, they can buy valuable time for other units to inflict kills or maneuver. Shimazu Heavy Gunners also deal very heavy damage to buildings, making them a powerful tool to use during siege battles. On the defense, the knock-back that Shimazu Heavy Gunners cause delays enemy units from climbing walls and capturing towers or gates, giving other units more time to deal damage. Shimazu Heavy Gunners can utilize Fire by Rank. While the ability is very slow and is usually inferior to the default firing mode among matchlock units, Fire by Rank for Shimazu Heavy Gunners can prolong the amount of time they can slow down and disrupt their targets. Shimazu Heavy Gunners are statistically near-identical to Matchlock Samurai. However, they have only 2/3rds of the men, and cost much more to train and maintain. Their steep requirements relegate them to the mid-late game at earliest.
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