Having forged an early alliance with Portuguese traders, The Otomo Clan reaps great economic and military benefits from its wealthy, gun-toting ally and in doing so, the clan has allowed Catholicism to flourish among the people of its domain.
Key Features:
- Clan Trait: Master Gunners
- Can Recruit Cheaper Gunpowder Units (-10%)
- Missionary Actions Are Cheaper (-15%)
- Improved Conversion to Clan Religion (+2)
- Faster Import Of Matchlock Ashigaru Units (-3)
- Can Recruit Cheaper Gunpowder Units (-10%)
- New Units
- Portugese Tercos (foot, Ranged, Melee)
Armed with matchlock rifles and swords, clad in iron breastplates and Spanish Morion helmets, the Tercos can lay down withering hails of fire, and give a solid performance in melee. - Otomo Donderbuss Cavalry (mounted, Ranged)
Mounted troops armed with the fearsome, fluted Donderbuss rifle – the forerunner of the modern shotgun. These ranged units can be swiftly positioned to gouge at an enemy’s flanks, or punch the wind out of his cavalry charges before they even arrive. - Otomo Matchlock Ashigaru (foot, Ranged)
Armed with matchlock arquebuses to unleash massed volleys of long-range gunfire upon the enemy, these units fight with religious fervour, which increases the accuracy of their fire and enables them to reload at a faster rate than standard Matchlock Ashigaru. - Otomo Matchlock Samurai (foot, Ranged, Melee)
With their accurate volleys of rifle-fire, Otomo Matchlock Samurai are ideal at weakening enemy units before a charge. Benefitting from their Samurai training, they fire with greater accuracy and reload more swiftly than their Ashigaru brethren. - Otomo Matchlock Kobaya (naval, Ranged)
A very light and fast ship carrying a small detachment of musket-armed soldiers whose Christian fervour and familiarity with matchlocks enables them to shoot more accurately and reload at a faster rate than standard Matchclock-bearing Kobaya.
- Portugese Tercos (foot, Ranged, Melee)
- New Buildings
- Leased land
One building slot per city can be handed over to Portuguese control for them to do with as they wish. In return, the clan gains a large amount of money, enabling it to ramp up its war efforts at pace. - A new subchain of Jesuit buildings (Hospital - Jesuit Seminary - Jesuit College) replaces the Chapel building subchain (Mission - Church - Cathedral):
Each building will progressively aid the conversion of the Japanese to Christianity, increase unit replenishment, economic growth and the happiness of the Christian populace. They will also progressively improve the rate at which the arts are mastered and allow a besieged army in the same castle town to hold out for longer.History Of the otomo
Master Gunners
Coming to prominence during the Kamakura Shogunate following the Gempei War, the Otomo clan has remained at the forefront of Japanese feudal politics for almost four hundred years, through the transition to the Ashikaga Shogunate and on to the present day. Alongside the Shoni and Shimazu, the Otomo are one of the largest clans on the southern island of Kyushu, and therefore were amongst the first to make contact with the Portuguese, establishing trade links soon after the Europeans were shipwrecked near the tiny fishing port of Nagasaki.
Their daimyo, Otomo Sorin, sees the benefits to both the clan’s economy and the military advantages that trade with the West can bring, making good use of their emerging gun technology. As a result, the Otomo can recruit cheaper gunpowder units more quickly that other clans, as well as more advanced specialist rifle-bearing units. Following the arrival of the Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier and their subsequent meeting, Sorin has showed tolerance towards Jesuit conversion of his subjects to Christianity, and may even consider conversion himself if it becomes expedient to do so. As such the actions of Jesuit missionaries are cheaper to perform, and the population can be converted to Christianity faster.
Yet their policy of religious tolerance has brought the Otomo into conflict with their neighbours, the strictly Buddhist Shimazu. If they can be defeated, the Otomo may be able to control Kyushu in its entirety, meaning there is a chance that Japan may yet see its first Christian Shogun!
