With your army, march north into the Ito province. Send your newly recruited Bow Kobaya to capture the trade point directly south of your port. Build a trading port in Satsuma to continue towards the recruitment of trade ships. Train another unit of Yari Ashigaru in Osumi to help stabilize the province.

Take both the daimyo and general with you, but leave one unit of Yari Ashigaru behind and exempt the city from taxes to keep the populace under control. Osumi should be stable enough to move your army on. The first big battle you’ll fight against the Ito when you attack them. This will complete the mission “Establish a Foothold” which gives you one extra recruitment slot in all provinces for four turns. With numbers and topography on your side you can beat them with minimal casualties before capturing the castle. If you then deploy on the right-hand side of the map you’ll be able to cut of the re-inforcements before they can join the castle defenders. To minimize your casualties, you should assault immediately. As you’ll see, there’s a small garrison and a bigger army nearby. Send your daimyo from your capital to join your army, then march towards the first Ito town and besiege it. After that this guide contains more general directions for the rest of the campaign. When you’ve completed those you’ll be on your way to controlling the trade points around the south coast, you’ll have eliminated the Ito, and you’ll have started recruiting the Katana Samurai backbone of your armies. The first six turns are described on a turn-by-turn basis. Below you’ll find a walkthrough to help you make the most from their huge potential. In the far south of Japan, the Shimazu have an excellent starting position: quick access to the trade points, an easily defensible island as home region and some nice clan bonuses they’re a popular choice among Shogun 2 players. For tips on Legendary difficulty, see Swra Latckretcnin’s forum post.

Other difficulty levels may pose different challenges, but this should work as a guideline in all cases. This guide was written and tested while playing on Very Hard difficulty.

Total war shogun 2 guide