PREVIEWS
This hardly seems the time
for a fireworks display.
Realm Divide in Fall of the Samurai involves
making a difficult choice. If you fancy it,
you can leave the Shogunate and
Imperialist factions to fight amongst themselves and go it alone as an independent
republic. Alternatively you can accept the
responsibilities and regalia of Shogunate or
Imperial “Vanguard” (the choice will
depend on your current allegiance).
By the time of Realm Divide, your troops
will be doing most of their slaying with
Western-designed rifles and artillery
pieces, rather than cold steel and arrows.
Shipping forecast
Improvements in naval leadership sound
even more substantial. Lead Campaign
Designer Janos Gaspar described how com-
puter-controlled admirals now have a much
more sophisticated understanding of geog-
raphy and, thanks to a new taskforce
system, are much better at setting up fleets
and dealing with several tasks simultane-
Ponderous or ill-timed invasions will
be costlier than ever.
ously. Expect to see enemy ships sagely
switching from blockades to bombardments, and dashing off to help with troop
transportation when the need arises.
Away from battlefields and brine,
Creative Assembly has actually been lobot-
omizing their AI. Apparently, in the
current build, silicon powers are far too
efficient at managing their economies and
will routinely outproduce most players by
30 to 35 percent.
BISH BOSH BOSHIN Boshin War basics
1854:
After 200 years
of isolation, Japan
is bullied into
accepting interna
tional trade, whic
opens the door to
modernization.
863:
he Emperor sides
ith the growing
nti-foreigner move
ment, a move that
uts him at odds
ith the progressive
hogun.
864:
enophobic attacks
rompt retaliatory
ombardments by
oreign powers. An
mperial rebellion
gainst the Shogun
ails.
865:
he Imperialists
pdate their armies
with British and
merican help. The
hogun looks to the
rench for training
nd supplies.
866:
ttempting to crush
second uprising,
hogunate armies
re defeated by a
hoshu force
ecretly allied with
earby Satsuma.
867:
weakened Shogu
esigns his powers t
he Emperor, but th
hogun’s family
the Tokugawa)
etains political
nfluence.
868:
ension between
he Imperialists and
he Tokugawa
rupts into conflict
fter the Imperialist
ttempt to consoli-ate their power.
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