Updated to v081, changelog:
-Added chapter 5.
-Reverted armor knights to only use lances.
-Added the Templar class, which promotes from armor knights and gains staves.
-Non-playable units can gain exp when I want them to.
-Playable thieves can steal items from NPCs (you don’t get a thief yet, this is for later).
-Non-playable units also get droppable items when they kill.
Info on Chapter 5
Map with highlights
PS : Player start.
PA : Player ambush. These units are set during preparations and will be hidden when the chapter starts. They will re-appear when an enemy destroys a snag near them, stunning most of them for 1 turn.
T : Target. The objective of this chapter is to make it so at the end of the turn count, this unit is being rescued either by a playable unit or NPC.
B : Bandits. If you pay them 2000 gold at the start of the chapter, they will become NPCs and assist you in this chapter, rescuing the target it possible. If you don’t pay them, they will become enemies and aim for the village, and may even attack the target.
Defeat condition: You fail this chapter if an enemy escapes with the target to the south, if a bandit kills the target, or if, at the end of the turn count, the target is being rescued by an enemy or no-one.
The orange zone in the middle is where the enemies will start, and the red arrows are where enemy reinforcements will come in from.
Historic overview
Based on the abduction of Matsudaira Takechiyo (later known as Tokugawa Ieyasu) as an infant, when he was being transported from the Matsudaira clan to the Imagawa clan, in 1548.
Gameplay overview
Unlike the previous chapter, the objective of this one is straightforward. An unusual objective, that to my knowledge has not been done before in a hack, which is based on competing with the enemy to be rescuing the unit at the end.
The village near the starting point can be destroyed by the player if they feel like the extra path is worth it (the 3 tiles behind the village are shallows, not river, so all units can cross them if it’s not raining), but you will lose the village’s reward in exchange. If the player neglects the village, eventually the non-bandit enemies might grow desperate and try to destroy it.
For 2000 gold, you can turn the bandits (4 brigands, 1 pirate and 1 thief, which spawn 3 turns in a row) into NPCs. Whether because you want to play it safe and have more allies, or to use them as bait, or to have them take the penalties for rescuing instead of one of your units, or to make a diversion for the enemies, or to simply not have to worry about them destroying the village, it’s a choice you can consider. On the other hand, the NPC bandits may steal or take droppable items from enemies, so there’s another reason against doing it, other than having to spend 2000 gold.
The units set in the bushes (which are actually roof terrain) will be hidden after preparations and will spring into action when an enemy destroyed a nearby snag. When this happens, most enemies will become unable to move, abruptly ending the enemy phase, and will give you (and the bandits, if you’re allied with them) one turn to attack them when they’re unable to counterattack and dodge with a +30 bonus to crit rate. These are key opportunities, so don’t waste them.
I hope that those who play have fun, and a reminder that I made debug mode set to on so you can skip directly to any complete chapter with autoleveled units and (most) items you would have gotten in previous maps. Feedback is greatly appreciated.