Sengoku Rance:Commander Tips

Summary table
Different troop types with the same stats will work out differently. The troop type bonus for each of the four battle parameters is ranked in the manual from A+ to C.

Note that various costs may be affected by other factors such as items or satisfication bonuses.


 * Attack formula = base attack of unit + captain's attack * 10
 * Defence formula = base defence of unit + captain's defence * 8
 * Magic Attack = base attack of unit + captain's intelligence * 10
 * Magic Defence = captain's intelligence * 7 (ignores Foot Soldier's guard bonus)


 * Max troop size is based on difficulty and the number of provinces controlled. Vassaled provinces are not counted. The base value is then multiplied by each unit's troop ratio.


 * Recruit cost goes up by 20 when troop size is 500~999. Recruit cost goes up by 40 more (base + 60) when troop size is 1000~?.
 * The attack power of new troops goes down with increased numbers.

Warrior (武士/Bushi)
The Bushi is the classic samurai. They are the masters of swordsmanship, focusing on offensive skills. At low difficulty levels, they are a typical player's main source of damage. However, as they often receive counterattacks from enemy troops they face, their usage becomes severely limited when the enemy greatly outnumbers them, as often is the case for higher difficulties.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 力を貯める (Gather strength) - Passive skill, raises damage by 70%. By spending one move, all your future attacks are stronger (unless an enemy tactician removes it). Also has less delay than a regular attack.
 * 迂回突撃 (Flank Charge) - Special attack, prevents counterattack. While it costs two moves, it keeps your troops unharmed to perform the next attack. Especially useful for slow Bushi units (if they weren't going to use up their moves anyways).
 * 手� 減攻撃 (Light Attack) - Special attack, chance to capture is increased, 0.2 damage. Any enemy being hit by this attack (even if this isn't the attack that finished them off) have a higher chance to be captured at the end of the battle (you still need to defeat their unit).
 * 武将突撃 (Captain Charge) - Special attack, captain attacks, then unit attacks, cannot be counterattacked. The captain's first hit deals 20 damage plus 3 damage per level of the captain. If the enemy is behind a defensive barrier, it will only block the captain's initial attack and not the unit's follow-up attack. Unfortunately, the captain's and the unit's attacks don't reduce guard rating separately.


 * ランス Rance: The main "protagonist" of the game. His passive skill "Auto-heal Sill" initially regenerates 30 troops every turn. Also, there are satisfaction bonuses that can increase his moves and stats. Apart from Kentarou, he is the only character who can reach level 99. His Rance attack acts as a captain charge attack in troop battles, and in dungeons deals twice the damage as his normal sword attack. GAME OVER if killed in battle. Seems unusually resistant to assassination attempts. Also, Rance gives a +1 affection point to a cleared character he goes into battle with. Not sure the exact order he gives them to, but definitely prioritizes pretty ladies first.
 * 乱丸 Ranmaru: Probably your best unit at the start of the game. However, she is outclassed as the game wears on. If character cleared, she gains a visible buff to ATK and DEF if deployed alongside Katsuie. Since she loves Katsuie, she cannot go above 'Trust' for Rance.
 * 上杉謙信 Uesugi Kenshin: A very useful unit. Her passive skill Military God's Aura (軍神の威光) results in opponents having one to two less moves in a battle and gives a battle result bonus. She has Captain's charge as well, not to mention a darn high starting level, making her a great killer for dungeons.
 * 小川健太郎 Ogawa Kentarou: He shares numerous similarities to Rance; for instance, he is the only other character that can acquire level 99. He is the single best damage-dealer in dungeon battles (when maxed level of course). Also, after he becomes a demon, he is able to negate a number of attacks from certain dungeon monsters. Unfortunately, useless in troop battles unless you really buff him.
 * 徳川家康 Tokugawa Ieyasu: One of the prime dungeon heroes, he has a 1-cost piercing charge-attack that does double the damage of his normal attack. Also very useful in troop battles; with Charge, Full Power Warrior Attack 2, and 5 actions, he can power himself up and deal huge amounts of damage. He's also really big and has whiskers. Only available from the 2nd game on, and you must choose between him and Senhime.
 * 明石風丸 Akashi Kazemaru: Though weak to begin with, he has some potential. Through completing his events, you can acquire Hibachi as a sub-captain (Passive skill Hibachi grants +50 enemy deaths on attack), as well as +2 to all combat stats that are less than or equal to 6 at the time. Kazemaru with Hibachi is required for capturing Nogiku from the One-eyed House. However, his level cap is only at 40. Even with Hibachi upgrade, his stats are less than all 6s and the +50 enemy death is hardly useful. Good for capturing Nogiku but is otherwise outclassed by many other Bushi with less unique skills. It should be noted though that the Hibachi upgrade does not affect his Cost: if his stats are at 6 when he gets it, he skyrockets to 8, while retaining a low NP cost.
 * 毛利元就 Mori Motonari (uncursed): Tough to get hold of, but decent if you can.
 * 独眼流政宗 One Eyed Masamune: The youkai king with a 70 level cap and all 6 moves. He's got very powerful initial stats, but comes with no special attacks, which may be a good thing and a bad thing... Good: you can customize his skillset freely. Bad: If you don't have time for upgrading skills, he's less useful. Still, very useful in captain battles due to his high level cap.
 * Daidoji Komatsu - Captain with an unique skill, Fan Club, which allows her to gain 20 troops every turn. So very useful if you get her early on, or if you plan to take your time with a particular playthrough.
 * 森田愛 Morita Ai: A decent New Game + bonus character due to her decent stats, starting with Shouting Charge, and the fact that she has 5 action points (very useful for dungeons - or would be if her level was higher). Prioritise Elina over her though. Don't expect her to survive a magic attack though, as she's as thick as two short planks (INT 2!).
 * Ouka Toki - Another New Game + bonus character. Although her battle stats (except intelligence) are lower than Ai's, and she starts with only 200 troops, she has better search/neg/const stats and a much higher starting level/cap. Only 3 action points however and for some reason (possibly her age) she cannot be cleared.

Foot Soldier (足軽/Ashigaru)
The Foot Soldier constitutes the main force of most armies. What they lack in quality, they make up in quantity. Foot Soldiers are the the most cost-effective troop to heal and expand, plus they have the fastest growth. Their guard ability allows them to cover other allies while their defense is doubled. Building the Foot Soldier Training School in Mamushi Oil Field lets all foot soldier units of yours grow by 5 soldiers per turn automatically, and 5 soldiers per special visit to the school. The leaders of foot soldier units are spear-wielding Bushi who can also guard their allies in singles/dungeon fights.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 味方ガード (Ally Guard) - Support skill, increases the probability of blocking an attack on an ally of the same row by (int*20)%, and defense is also increased by that percentage (100% or more doubles defense). This skill defines the foot soldier's purpose of existence.
 * 味方ガード改 (Ally Guard+) - Support skill, increases the probability of blocking an attack on an ally of the same row by (int*30)%, and defense is also increased by that percentage (100% or more doubles defense). An improved version of the previous skill. A foot soldier with even crappy int stats can become a semi-decent blocker with this skill.
 * 全体ガード (All Guard) - Support skill, increases the probability of blocking an attack on any ally by (int*10)%, and defense is also increased by that percentage (100% or more doubles defense). This skill allows you to place only one foot soldier and still have both the front and back rows covered. Due to the low guard rating of this skill, it is highly recommended to be used with the next skill.
 * 強化初期ガード (Strengthen Initial Guard) - Passive skill, starts battle at 120% row guard rating.
 * 反撃率アップ２ (Counterattack Rate Up 2) - Passive skill, counter attack damage is tripled. Using this skill, combined with a high attack stats, allows the act of guarding to effectively serve as regular attacks. Enemy Bushi units can easily attack themselves to death. Only 2 commanders have this skill.
 * 柴田勝家 Shibata Katsuie: While he's overall quite under par, he's unusually reliable. His stats can be improved through a satisfaction bonus. In IF routes, he can get Kouhime as a sub-captain (gives +1000 troops). If you have cleared Ranmaru, deploy them together for attack and defense buffs.
 * 前田利家 Maeda Toshiie: Pretty useless compared to Katsuie to begin with, but if you can be bothered to spend two satisfaction bonuses (make him an actor, then tell him to stop) then he becomes quite decent since he gains +3 on Attack and Defense. He also gets an awesome wig in battles.
 * 戦姫/千姫 Senhime: Good all around stats and seems to deal more damage than you would expect from a Footsoldier unit. Also has Automatic Recovery. Of course, can be problematic to keep to start with, since you need to keep using her in battles (she doesn't appreciate peace-time, and will leave if she doesn't fight for 3 turns). This can be avoided by clearing her.
 * 野菊 Nogiku: The Foot Soldier with the highest starting stats. She's also one of the special few with Automatic Recovery.
 * 毛利てる Mori Teru: Eldest of the Mori sisters, one of two units that comes with Ally Guard+(makes up for her low Int), Plunder and Counterattack Rate Up 2. She has a lethal feather duster. Be sure to give her the Dragonfly Cutter for beastly counterattack damage.
 * 島津ヨシヒサ Shimazu Yoshihisa: Eldest of the Shimazu brothers, one of two units that comes with Ally Guard+, Plunder and Counterattack Rate Up 2. He's a terrifying presence on the battlefield.
 * Moscow Fuyushougun: One Eye Foot Soldier with a massive troop size but only two actions. Worth capturing to avoid fighting him but not worth hiring as his stats are pretty bad.

Shrine Maiden (巫女/Miko)
As the only units with the ability to heal your troops, Mikos are crucial to every army which wishes to save on troop replenishment costs. They are also useful in battles where you're outnumbered, as Miko Storm will likely always outdamage more regular attacks in such a situation (assuming you can protect the Miko's for long enough... back row footsoldiers with enhanced initial guard are probably a good idea).

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 巫女の舞 (Miko's Dance) - a very useful healing ability, especially when facing opponents that deals heavy damage.
 * 治癒の霧 (Healing Mist) - only several hero captains have this skill, and for good reason. Heals all troops for a lesser amount than Miko Dance and takes up 2 action points, but still worth it.
 * 巫女の嵐 (Miko's Storm) - a devastating attack that deals damage based on 10% of opponents' max troop size. In higher starred games, this skill can turn the tide of a battle and soften the opponents to boot!
 * 出張巫女 (Business Miko) - Automatically buffs male units at the start of combat since all of the Miko's sell their services as 'working girls', if you catch the drift. Each 250 Miko's == 1 buffed male unit. Decent when you are low on Tacticians to provide starting buffs.
 * 玉籤風華 Tamagushi Fuuka: Distinctly average, but quite possibly your only Miko for some time. Give her Healing Mist as a priority to make her less sucky. Necessary to open the dungeon to the most powerful dungeon boss in the game.
 * 足利超神 Ashikaga Supergod: Sucks completely (with ZERO in atk,def,int), the only good thing you can get from him is the Emperor Ring. He's also required for Akihime's character clear. After that, do fire him, he takes up 4 national power for nothing...
 * 名取 Natori: She has the special skill Miko's Storm 2(巫女の嵐２) which deals damage based on 30% of opponents' max troop size, could be very crucial in a castle siege. Her usefulness increases with difficulty, due to her attack being based on troop size.
 * 小早川ちぬ Kobayakawa Chinu: The only Miko that has the special skill Poison(毒殺) that deals damage based on 50% of the opponents' current troop size. Her main weakness is that she is abit slow that she might get hit multiple times before she unleashes the attack. To make up for this, she requires two Ninja attacks before her preparation is canceled. Another weakness is that the attack counts as a physical attack, so foot soldiers with guard up will get less damage.

Musketeer (鉄砲/Teppou)
The Musketeer units are offensively the most powerful units, pretty much able to ignore their opponent's defense completely (except foot soldiers in guard mode). Their guns are already loaded when going into battle, and they are often among the first units to strike a deadly blow against their enemies. The downside is most of them are only capable of firing one shot in battle, and even those who can fire multiple shots tend to have a long reloading time for their guns. They are also extremely vulnerable to enemy attacks, so make sure to cover them with a good foot soldier unit. They also cannot kill more troops than their own troop size per attack. (needs confirmation) Due to the novelty of muskets, musketeer units are expensive to expand, and grows rather slowly. Building the Musketeer Training School in Tamba lets all musketeer units of yours grow by 3 soldiers per turn automatically (further expanding the training school increases the growth rate to 5 soldiers per turn).

Overall not very useful, as their troops cost a fortune to buy. And they only gain 2 troops per battle. However, if you get the item Captain defense team, it's not a bad idea to put it on a Musketeer.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 引き付け (Get Closer) - Support skill, boosts attack by 70%. This skill takes zero moves, and significantly boosts the attack power. You'll probably only get one or two shots, might as well make them count as much as possible.
 * 貫通射撃 (Penetration Shot) - Special attack, costs 1 action, hits front and back rows, 50% damage. While the net damage you have dealt is the same, the penetration effect means your attack won't be redirected by a foot soldier's guard ability, and will hit who you intend to hit. The upgraded version, Penetration Shot 2 deals 70% damage, but costs 2 actions, which is arguably a worse deal.
 * 必殺　国崩し(Special Cannon) - Special attack, can only be used by Ootomo Sourin (a Shimazu musketeer). Hits all enemy units for full damage.
 * 柚原柚美 Yuzuhara Yuzumi: The only musketeer unit who has the "射撃＋狙撃 (Shoot + Snipe)" skill which is capable of instant-killing enemies.(Give her the working bee and she'll be able to assasinate captains 3 times!) If you wish to use her, strongly consider capturing her in battle rather than conquering Tamba (although you'll capture her either way). Musketeers are expensive to buy, and gain troops very slowly. If you have a Book of Skill 2 give it to her and she can potentially one shot two units a battle. A good candidate for the Popularity Staff.
 * 島津トシヒサ Shimazu Toshihisa: One of the few musketeer who have 2 moves, he also has incredible stats.
 * 種子島重彦 Tanegashima Shigehiko: The leader of the Tanegashima House, another musketeer with 2 moves, but still by no means as strong as Toshihisa.
 * 大友 宗麟 Ōtomo Sōrin*: Musketeer unit with generic appearance but has the 必殺　国崩し (Special Cannon) skill which is devastating if he can use it. All Guard Shikigami is a good defense.

Monk (僧兵/Souhei)
Monk is a utility class. They are comparatively cheap to expand, and are completely healed at the beginning of each turn, making them cheap to build into quantities to fight with (many have self-healing too, producing self-sufficient fighters). Most of them are capable of completely removing the guard of enemy foot soldiers, allowing the rest of the party to hit their intended targets. Their normal attack can remove 1 buff from an enemy unit. Finally, certain monks are capable of restoring movement of allies, allowing other party members to pull off more big attacks.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 活動転換 (Convert action) - Support skill, restores one action for ally. This is often combined with powerful skills that use up all flags for repeated fire. And because of the combination with skills that use up all moves, the upgraded version Convert Action 2 is often more wasteful and less desirable.
 * ガード解除 (Remove Guard) - Special attack, removes all guard status of enemies. The signature monk skill that can greatly change the flow of battle.
 * 妖怪退散(Youkai Exorcism) - Not very special unless you're fighting Youkai troops, where it deals 3x normal damage, though it is considered a ranged front-row only attack (similar to Musketeers' regular attack).
 * 延長戦 (Extend Battle) - Prolongs the battle. Along with the Monk's buff-removing normal hit, this is a counter to the Tactician and their Time advance skill. Mainly used to allow slow units like Miko or Mages to get some more actions out. It can also be effective to allow a slow Ying Yang unit to pull off two Shikigami attacks in one battle.
 * 性眼 Seigan: His special attack, "死神の鎌 (Death's Scythe)" reduces all enemy troops by 25% of their maximum, producing devastating damage when the enemy greatly outnumbers your forces.
 * 卑弥呼 Himiko: With 6 moves and 7 speed, she can rapidly remove enemy guards in battles. In dungeons she has six shots of Convert Action to allow allies to use their powerful attacks. A generic general, she starts off working for the Miko Institute. She can work as battle general or just an utility officer in search/negotiation.
 * 朝倉義景 Asakura Yoshikage: He looks kind of craggly, and his stats are kind of bad, but once you clear him all of your territories' Nation Power will increase by 1. You need to get him up to Normal from Hate pretty quickly if you want Yukihime (only if you've beaten the game at least once). Each time you Talk to a cleared Yoshikage you get a random increase (1-4) affection point for your generals: Maximum of 1 for Yoshikage, the rest spread across the other generals (some may get 2). Useful if you got few +Sat items but spare command fans.
 * 魔窟堂野武彦 Makotsudono Takehiko: With a 9 in attack and 8 in defense, he can be used as a Bushi who self-heals fully at the beginning of each turn. A well-timed Convert Actions 2 allows an ally to keep fighting after throwing out a major skill.
 * 油娘道三 Aburako Dousan: A monk that's possible to get early on through the Satisfaction Bonus. Starts with Youkai Exorcism and Convert Action 1, a good combination is to use her to charge and abuse Uruza's or Natori's special skills. She's got pretty high priority on pre-turn harem-event with Rance once she's cleared. And her quote is funny. On the other hand she's quite costly in term of command fans: one fan to get purple event of Mino Three, 3 fans to get them, then one fan for Sat bonus that call her. It's said that the Mino 3 will join Ashikaga house (thus capturable) if you leave them alone enough, but in that case you got crippled strategically since you cant capture Mamushi Oil Field for a long time. Furthermore, I suspect she's got messed up in CG with Yodokun Gosai. Aburako get generic CG while Yodokun got an un-generic CG.

Tactician (軍師/Gunshi)
If there is a single unit that can turn the tides of an entire battle, here it is. Relatively weak in every respect, their main purpose is to make the rest of your troops exponentially stronger. They also counter Tactician-aided enemies by debuffing them, leveling the playing field. In defensive battles, they can strip away the time and make full use of the home-field morale advantage before being overrun. In offensive battles, they can push the morale meter in their side's favor and capture victory even if the entire enemy force is untouched. Friendly troops start combat with random tactician buffs already cast when a tactician participates in combat. This is also true in dungeon battles. Conversely, tacticians are among the slower troops to move.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 合戦戦術 (Strategy) - The buffing skill. It originally buffs the entire team, and can be upgraded to either have greater effects on all, or buff a single target fully. Usually the all-buff is more versatile unless your Tactician has many uses and max speed.
 * 状態解除 (Remove Buffs) - Takes All buffs from a certain number of units.
 * 時間経過 (Time Advance) - Used to shorten the length of the battle, thus saving you from additional pain.
 * 戦果ダウン (Battle Result Down) - Boosts the morale meter in your side's favor. If you can't manage to kill your enemies, this is a good alternative to winning in attacks.
 * 明智光秀 Akechi Mitsuhide: Your starting tactician. He's pretty awful, but at least he starts with Strategy All C. You'll probably be forced to use him until someone better like Naoe Ai can join.
 * ウルザ Uruza: She is the sole user of a blowgun, and consequently 精密射撃 (Precision Shot), a skill that attacks all enemies and removes one of their moves (even if they're at one). Her blowgun also amounts to massive damage hits in dungeon battles. Also has a level cap of 75, probably the highest in the game next to Rance and Kentarou. Also starts with the highest stat for tactician though weak skills.
 * 真田透琳 Sanada Dourin: Comes with the passive skill, Fuurinkazan, which grants him all 4 buffs at the start of every battle (Dungeon OR Troop battle). He also starts with Strategy A and Battle Result Down 2. The latter can be abused if used well.
 * 一休 Ikkyuu: His stats are not that impressive, and his level cap is pathetic, but in battle he is the only one who can use "Reversal of Fortune", which inverts the current state of the battle result gauge (can only use thrice in the entire playthrough).
 * Kurosaki Ichiya: One of the more useful bonus captains, specifically for early game Battle Rating Down 2 and Strategy Single.
 * 直江愛 Naoe Ai: Comes with second highest stat for tactician. Also starts with Remove Buff B and Strategy B.

Yin-Yang Master (陰陽師/Onmyouji/"Diviner")
With the ability to hit one or all enemy units at once and to create a barrier to protect one or all your troops, the Yin-Yang Master is probably the most versatile troop you can have. Their attack being magic means Honeys are immune, a fact of note when fighting the Imagawa House and in dungeons. Unlike some unit types, generic Ying-Yang captains tend to be as useful as special ones in dungeons (assuming they are same level), as they retain their shikigami ability as well as guard shikigami in dungeon battles. They tend to be among the first units to move, but since their primary attack requires preperation, you will likely not be able to use them to deal significant damage first.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 防御式神 (Defense Shikigami) - A barrier is created, allowing a unit to not get any damage. A captain charge will do damage to your troop, even with this on a troop. The reason for this is that the first attack by the captain will break the barrier and then the troops will then attack, damaging your troops. Assassination skills (gale force, assassination, snipe+shoot) will go through the barrier, possibly killing the captain in the process.
 * 全体防御式神 (All-Defense Shikigami) - This skill creates a barrier for all the troops.
 * 式神 (Shikigami) - A spell that hits all troops, ignoring the defense of the troops. This is very useful as damage isn't reduced when a foot soldier has his guard up. The major weakness is that if a yin-yang is slow, it will take a long time before his/her turn is up on top of the fact that it will always take at least one full rotation before he/she unleashes the attack.
 * 鬼を召喚 (Oni Summoning) - An attack that hits one unit. A useful magic attack that ignores defense.
 * 北条早雲 Houjou Souun: 8s in all stats. He comes with an attack similar to Oni Summoning Plus, but with only 1 action cost instead of 2.
 * お町 Omachi: She is the best yin-yang captain, and one of the most broken commanders in the game. She has two INT-based skills which can damage all enemy captains in battle. Her first skill (50% damage) doesn't require preparation, while the second one requires one turn preparation (but requires 2 ninja attacks to cancel) to deal higher damage (150% damage).
 * エリナ Elina: Should probably be mentioned. Quite possibly the best bonus starting character you can pick in a New Game +, since you cannot get a good diviner for a long time. She is only really outclassed by Souun and Omachi, and in any case starts with All-Guard Shikigami, which is amazingly broken to use in the beginning of a game and always remains useful.
 * 山中子鹿 Yamanaka Kojika: Unavailable until you beat Mouri. She has great skills, All-Guard Shikigami, Summon Ogre Plus, Healthy Body, and no base upkeep. On the other hand by the time you can get her she might not really be useful, although she has a pretty decent level cap for a diviner.

Knight (騎士/Kishi)
The Knights of Leazas have the offensive strength comparable to the Japanese Bushi, and the ability to guard their allies. The knights maintain a fit and healthy body making them very cheap to heal also.

Important Skills: Important Captains:
 * 親衛隊突撃 (Royal Guard Charge) - Special attack, when enemy has more troops, deal double damage. Even though knights face counterattack just like bushi, the double-damage dealt is worth it and can be abused - all it takes is 1 more unit on the enemy side for the double damage to apply. Very effective on crowds and many bosses who more than often have a thousand troops.
 * レィラ Leila: The only Knight unit in this game... She's gorgeously golden, with a little bit of orange. Seems to have a strange property that prevents units smaller than hers dealing any damage at all when they attack her?? Royal Guard Charge is especially useful in higher difficulty games.

Cavalry (騎馬/Kiba)
Cavalry is perhaps the strongest melee unit in the game, with a base attack of 80, 20 higher than Knight and Bushi while maintaining the same defence. They also have the ability to attack from the backrow (or against opponent's backrow). The downside is that it's attack is treated as melee attack, thus suffers from counterattack. Only Takeda starts with Cavalry (except with 2nd game bonus). They tend to be among the first to move and move often. Surprisingly cheap to hire but have very slow growth per battle.

Important Skills:
 * 突進 (On Rush) - Aside from dealing extra damage, this will remove one move from your target, even if they are at 1.
 * 後衛潰し (Rear Crush) - Double damage to backrow range units. Good way to prevent back support.
 * 追い討ち (Follow-through) - TRIPLE damage if you are currently winning the battle.

Important Captains:
 * 馬場彰炎 Baba Shouen: While his stats are not particular impressive, he starts with Fuurinkazan, which allows him to start with all 4 stat bonus. In addition, he is the only cavalry with the captain's charge. Furthermore, he starts off at level 50 with an impressive cap at 68. Finally, his Battle Rating Up skill tilts the battle rating bar for your side(more useful for higher difficulty games). One of the most overpowered captains in the game.
 * 山県昌景 Yamagata Masakage: The most powerful melee captain in the game. Starts with all stats with all 8s. Also comes with Fuurinkazan, making his first attack an instant death when fighting against him. Also has battle result 2 to help with difficult castle seiges. His downside is the low level cap at 34.

Ninja (忍者)
Ninja are fast and benefit from being rather good at dealing hit and run damage without retaliation. You need them to prevent preparation by spell-casters (all their shuriken skills have that particularity, even during dungeons), and some Ninja can also attempt to instantly kill an enemy unit with their Assassination Skills. Building the Ninja Mansion in Yamato lets all ninja units of yours grow by 5 per turn automatically, and 5 per special visit to the school. They tend to be among the first to move and move often, but their damage leaves much to be desired.

Important Skills:
 * 暗殺 (Assassination) - Has a chance to insta-kill an enemy unit(chance increases when the captain has "assasination 2" instead). However, it seldom works unless the Ninja unit is larger than the enemy unit. It also always uses all of the actions of the Ninja unit, regardless of outcome. Beware of Goemon using it for the enemy team (his version seems to have a disgustingly high fixed success rate since he starts with assasination 2).
 * 音速手裏剣 ([mach speed]Sonic Shuriken in english patch 1.04) - Very effective skill for a Fast Ninja Unit (like Kanami), as theres a good chance you will get two free attacks before the enemy forces can even attack once, as it has practically zero-cooldown time. Hence, extremely handy for eliminating undesirable enemy units quicky (hello enemy ninja's with Assassinate 2, please go away) or taking out the enemies back line before they can start guarding it with footsoldiers.
 * ちゅんちゅん手裏剣 (Chun-chun Shuriken) - Unique to Suzume, its basically like Yamamato Sweeping Fire, just the Shuriken version (though, not actually as good, because it requires 2 actions). Could theoretically prevent two enemy units preparing at once, but thats pretty rare.

Important Captains:
 * 鈴女 Suzume: She's basically the only required unit besides Rance, so you may as well use her. That said, she may well be a prodigy as an individual kunochi, but her unit is actually fairly average. She can learn Chun-Chun Shuriken,which consume 2 actions when she only has 4 to spare (can be increased with action book 2) but is piercing and can cancel preparing attacks even while their user is guarded. She has a decent success rate with Assassination(starts with assasination 2) and is good for scouting, she is also decent co-ordinator for dungeon battles to switch out your exhausted forces simply because she's a Ninja. Nin-nin? Will cost a lot of money and skill books if you wish to make sure useful beyond the beginning of the game.
 * Kikkawa Kiku - Powerful all-around ninja. Starts with high 7/7/6/7 stats, along with Assasinate 2.
 * Kousaka Yoshikage - Probably the best ninja in the game, and incredibly powerful like his Takeda breathrens. All 7s in stats, Assasinate 2, and the awesome Fuurinkazan.
 * 見当かなみ Kentou Kanami: She's not that great in other areas, but boy is she fast. She's basically guaranteed to go first unless the foe also has fast ninjas, making her ideal for Sonic Shuriken takedowns. Also a great dungeon co-ordinator because of her speed (she has basically no cool-down time when you use her to make other exhausted units switch... very handy).
 * 犬飼 Inukai: Being the top Ninja of Japan, he naturally has the best stats. He also has 101 Wanwan, which deals 101 damage to all enemy units. Can be upgraded to 201 damage to all units.
 * 折女 Orime: Ninja captain with the best starting stats (if you take into account that she has more actions than Inukai), and one of the special few with Automatic Recovery. She does not come with Assassinate, thus making her a candidate for learning Sonic Shuriken. Unlike most ninja captains, she has a sword attack in dungeons, and is considered a Youkai. This does not seem to do anything special but does seem to justify the fact that she has the highest HP of all ninjas in the game in dungeons (often about twice as much). This, along with fact that she also has the 2nd highest level cap of all special ninjas in the game, makes her one of the best dungeon running ninjas (too bad she cannot cancel preperation in dungeons I believe).
 * 月光 Gekko: You get him from picking the same New Game + bonus as you get Shizuka from. He cut off his arm and adopted a Loli girl (Shinobu) to be his Right Hand in its place. The two appear in battle together (but strangely, he appears alone in Dungeons). He's got poor defence but is brutally powerful with 6 action points! He also has Assassination Skill +, which gives you 100% chance to kill an enemy which run out of actions. If you also get him to learn Assassination 2 then he becomes possibly the best assassin in the game.
 * ゴエモン Goemon: He's the only ninja which starts with both Battleground Preparation 3 and Assassinate 2, very versatile on the battlefield.

Archers (弓兵/Kyuuhei)
Archers main advantage is the ability to strike from either row without having to worry about counterattack. Due to their weak defence, that means put them in the back row. That said, though you wouldn't think it, the specialised archery unit is only marginally better than Miko's and Tacticians using their bows, although they are cheaper, grow faster, and are capable of much larger maximum troop sizes. Still, beyond the early/mid game, you'll probably not have too many of them (Yamamoto is usually the only one worth keeping under most circumstances). They are also notably worse in dungeons than ninjas.

Important Skills:
 * 一斉射撃 (Volley) - Hits all foes, but uses all the archery units actions and is a physical attack. Perhaps decent for cleaning up stragglers. Unfortunately, you have to go through Untrained Volley to get it.
 * 忍者狙い (Ninja Killer) - Probably only actually useful in the hands of Yamaguchi Tamon or another fast Archer to take down undesirable enemy ninjas (hello Goemon).
 * 山本弓掃射 (Yamamoto Sweeping Fire) - Unique to Yamamoto Isoroku, its a very nice attack that hits an entire column for 0.9x damage and can't be guarded against for just 1 action. Probably the best attack useable by a Archer unit because it brings a vast damage increase over a regular attack.
 * 疾風点破 (Gale Force Strike) - Also unique to Yamamoto Isoroku. Its the archery version of assassinate. Has a lower chance, but you're more likely to have a bigger archer unit than a bigger ninja unit, so whatever. Also only uses 2 actions instead of all of them...

Important Captains:
 * 丹羽長秀 Niwa Nagahide: Ridiculously awful, but he's your starting archer and he does start with lots of troops. Also notably, he starts with Defeated Warrior Hunt, allowing you to capture enemy captains more easily. You can dump him fairly early.
 * 山本五十六 Yamamoto Isoroku: She has fairly average stats, but two skills which are unique to her. Yamamoto Sweeping Fire is sufficiently effective to make her the best archery captain. She also has Whirlwind Shot, which has a 'fixed' chance of instant death to one captain at 2 action cost. Because insta-kill chances are based on troop sizes, she is actually more useful as an assassin than ninjas, due to archers gaining troops so easily. Boost her attack to 9 and give her the Ryuuguu Sword and she can demolish a row of enemies with ease. Sweeping Fire also makes her one of the few units able to ignore guard, making her useful against back row units using preperation moves (like Diviners).
 * 原昌示 Hara Shouji: You can capture him fairly early, and he does start with Volley, so if you want that without the pains of training for it, then use him.
 * Inoue Shigemi/Shigeyoshi and Yamaguchi Tamon: Subordinates of Yamamoto Isoroku. Both of them will join your army if you bring Isoroku to trust and have spare nation power (7 nation power). They also can learn Yamamoto Sweeping Fire but unlike Isoroku they had to learn Bow Attack Plus first before Yamamoto Sweeping fire is available.

Magi (魔法/Maho)
Only available through calling for reinforcements from Zeth and/or new game + bonus. Nevertheless, pretty worthwhile if you're patient enough to train them, as they ignore physical defence and the footsoldiers guard, and can also hit multiple targets without a charge up time. Their defense is though below average and their speed is quite pathetic. Remember that buffing INT is more important than STR in this case. Most mages have high action points but tend to only move once or twice per battle, so using them in a battle with fewer captains on each side may let you move them more often. Their attack being magic means Honeys are immune, a fact of note when fighting the Imagawa House and in dungeons. In dungeons they also have relatively low HP despite their high levels, which leads to them being easily knocked out without the help of items.

Important Skills:
 * 白色破壊光線 (White Destruction Laser) - Is a piercing attack that hits an entire column for 1.5x the damage of a normal fireball (hence, deals a total of 3x damage), its pretty devastating. It does use all the actions of the mage unit though.
 * Ａカッター (Angel Cutter) - Unique to Rizna. Interesting because it hits all enemy units without a charge up. However, unlike the White Destruction Beam, it typically deals alot less damage (0.5x). Supposedly deals fatal damage to Monks and Monsters, but I didn't notice any effect against Youkai units.

Important Captains:
 * リズナ Rizna: An old heroine returns. Probably your first mage unit and possibly the worst, even though she can learn her hit all attack. Her speed is one of the worst you can find in the game as there will be fights where she'll only act once. But you must call her to have Uruza and Magic.
 * マジック Magic: Not actually much better than Rizna to begin with, since she comes untrained as well. Though her ability to learn White Destruction Beam is probably better than Angel Cutter.
 * 魔想志津香 Masou Shizuka: Probably the best mage, but only available with a New Game + bonus, and then only after recruiting Maria. Starts with White Destruction Beam and also has the rather useful Sticky Ground, which increases your chance of capturing enemy captains automatically. Also, always Hates Rance; you can never get her up to Normal/Trust/Love.

Cannoneers (砲兵/Houhei)
Cannoneers combine the power of musketeers with the placement versatility of archers and mages. Hence, they can benefit from a very high power without having to actually sit in the front row and endanger themselves, making them very useful for sniping at enemy units. They also cannot kill more troops than their own troop size per attack. (needs confirmation) A few of their drawbacks however, include their poor speed and inability to ignore footsoldier guard. Despite the name, they're actually a unit of girls with rocket launchers!

Important Skills:
 * チューリップ連射 (Tulip Rapid Fire) - Double damage, but uses all actions.

Important Captains:

マリアMaria: The second reinforcement you get from Leazus after Kanami and probably the only Cannoneer you want to use (Kasumi is pretty inferior to her boss). Probably a good choice for the +2 ATK item, if you get it. Due to the extreme high cost of cannon troops, you should give her the popularity staff to make sure useful.