I am by now playing the hard level and everything is different now. All clans are more aggressive and alliances are volatile while the supply production is so low my 2 Takeda armies are almost always out of supply calling for a more defensive play. I noticed the structures by each castle are different every new game you start. That calls for a different strategy every time, it's just perfect.
Too soon to assess the capabilities of the AI and the overall level of gameplay now. I think an option to semi-randomize character statistics would REALLY benefit this game. I have NEVER played a civil war game (got all of them) with fully revealed statistics before, part of the good commanding strategy is to put the best man in his most suitable position and semirandomizing + hiding statistics makes all games more challenging because you come to know of their stats only after they get involved (in combat or by some other mean). This is another thing that would keep longevity very high. Anyway it was just an observation, trial and error makes the game much much harder for any player but you know that governor might NOT revolt, that general might NOT be so good.... every game = totally new game, and new quest to discover who's the best man for the best job.
1) I have noticed that now the mons appear on the character banners and in the field they are correctly represented with an exception... the red ones. There's many red banners on the field and very little difference between them. I think we need more banners, with different colors to help making things different and divisions more clearly identifiable. What I am saying is that all mons correspond to each div correctly but the red ones don't because they are too similar, that's all. Better use some other color instead of drawing new mons. That saves time and is a resource effective solution.
2) CTL A (select all divs) is still not working after the patch. On the other hand we could use a CTL+key to select all troops of the same kind. CTL Y (yari ashigaru) CTL C (cavalry) CTL M (Archers) CTL K (Kachi samurai). The 1 2 3 etc keys work perfectly and the CTL+banner correctly selects multiple divs. It would be great at this point to have a CTL1 to build a group you can call with SHIFT1. It's basically the same as TW engine but still retaining standard 1 2 3 etc keys to call on a single div, CTL+number builds the group and SHIFT+number selects that group. TW engine also has CTL+H for hand to hand troops, I would skip that but in our case it would do CTLC+CTLY+CTLK... essentially everything but archers would be selected.
3) Some DIVs regardless of their initial stance do not want to move after the army mode order is given. They are generally the ones in the back of the deployment line. It's proper that the general guarding the flags does not move but all other divs should move by that order... well some of them, just don't.
4) I've noticed we are not told when the General routs. He just disappears and of course all of the troops rout immediately thereafter. I think the player should be warned that his general is routing. It's not a minor event to pass unreported.
5) I think we really need a key button to stop and another to deselect a division. In the middle of the fray it's hard to move the mouse everywhere, select this and that, try not to make mistakes and key shortcuts always help. A button I would find particularly helpful would be the "go to army mode".
6) Driver problem? Sometimes I've noticed after rebooting ... that the screen starts in 1024x768. Never happened before to me. I'm not saying when I quit the game, it's ok it goes back to 1440x900, just next day as i start the laptop sometimes it starts in 1024x768. I would love to try the game in my standard resolution... unfortunately in last patch it didn't work... since I saw nothing about it in this latest patch I haven't tried yet... will let you know, most likely it would solve this very minor problem.
7) Thought about a CTLT to increase speed in the battle mode?
9) It's nearly impossible to select multiple divs or even a single div if the HOLD LEFT MOUSE + DRAG is not really precise... precise to the last man.
10) Considering the hard level is really tough on supplies, maybe the supplies at normal level aren't being used at all? This is truly worth checking.
11) Engagements. Armies didn't always fight on first sight. I know the timeline is seasonal and not daily... but I wish to move an army to block some other army's path without engaging it. Unfortunately as soon as the 2 armies get in touch I am always asked if I want to fight or simulate but not if I want to wait and see what happens. If I manage to block a mountain pass or a road, it's the enemy who's got to engage me and I am on defensive instead of offensive which is a big difference. Is it possible to have a button that says WAIT instead of just YES play the battle or NO simulate it?
That being said, let me go and play now bc this game is really too addictive!
Just thought about reporting my impressions now that I have 80% of the game functions in my grasp. Ming I hope you take this list as it is: Totally constructive critic to make the game even better than what it is: The best in his segment!

