General's Bodyguard are a type of general in Fall of the Samurai.
Description[]
It is not a general's place to fight. He has a battle to organise.
Armed and equipped in European style, this general’s bodyguard unit are there to keep their commander from being personally bothered by enemies. His job is to move along the line of battle, issuing orders and offering morale support to his troops. His special abilities more than make up for the unit’s lack of direct, concrete fighting strength. It is most definitely not his task to get involved in fighting the enemy. The small numerical size of the bodyguard means that the general will not survive for long in close combat, even though his men carry sabres. It is also a good idea to keep the general out of range of enemy sharpshooters and artillery: death does not respect the gold braid on a general’s epaulettes.
While 19th Century generals were killed in action, the size, scope and range of activities carried out by a modern army of the period meant that being in the thick of things was the one place it made little or no sense to be. A general needed to be mobile, and to keep his wits (and possibly a good telescope) about him if he was to have any chance of controlling a battle. While divisional commanders might lead a charge, it was now the army commander’s job to supervise and co-ordinate. This was a pattern of command that Napoleon had understood perfectly years earlier, but it applied more than ever.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- General provides morale bonus to nearby units.
- Lots of powerful special abilities.
- Short range.
- Weak in melee.
- Weak against missile attacks and spear units.
- Very good morale.
General Information[]
General's Hatamoto automatically upgrade to general's bodyguards when a faction has sufficiently modernized. While General's Bodyguards have fewer men per regiment, they are armed with pistols and have arguably more useful abilities. General's Hatamoto that are enchanted or persuaded by geisha or ishin-shishi/shinsengumi continue being hatamoto, but they automatically convert to general's bodyguard when clan development advances to level 3 or 4. A general's hatamoto enchanted or persuaded after a clan reaches level 4 development therefore stays a hatamoto forever and cannot be changed into general's bodyguard.
Like general's hatamoto, general's bodyguards come with the abilities of inspiring, rallying and regrouping troops. General's bodyguards lose the ability to use Stand and Fight, a static ability that can be toggled on or off at will to increase the stats of nearby units, and gain access to Ganbatte, an ability that similarly increases the stats of nearby units, but grants a bigger boost around a larger radius at the cost of being a temporary ability instead of a toggled one. However, ganbatte quickly recharges, allowing generals to use it multiple times during a battle.
In combat, general's bodyguards act as undersized revolver cavalry regiments. In a direct fight against General's Hatamoto, they lose due to their greatly inferior numbers; however, they benefit from the flexibility of having a ranged attack. Properly micromanaged, general's bodyguards can fire with impunity on melee infantry or on enemies that are distracted by other units, causing fair casualties despite the small number of men thanks to the rapid firing rates of revolvers. However, if caught in a melee or targeted by gun or artillery fire, general's bodyguards can die very quickly.
Generals are recruited in five ways: first, they can be sons of a daimyo that come of age (a rare to non-existent event for most factions as Fall of the Samurai takes place in a much shorter time span than previous games); second, a random event may trigger giving the player the option to hire a new general for 1000 gold. Armies that do not have generals that win victories may also trigger the same event. Enemy generals can also be bribed by ishin shishi, shinsengumi or geisha to betray their faction and join the player's faction. Finally, should a faction's daimyo and all of his heirs die, he is replaced by a distant cousin to become the new daimyo, who is automatically a general. With the exception of bribed generals, all generals spawn outside the capital of their clans' home regions. Generals gain whatever combat bonuses their region offers: Satsuma, for example, has a home province with a smithing tradition, and so new generals it recruits have heightened armor and accuracy stats.
| Skill | Effects | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Defender |
Level 1
|
An enemy who comes forward to be killed should be welcomed. |
| Aggressor |
Level 1
|
An enemy who waits to be killed should be hunted. |
| Covert Operations |
Level 1
|
Not everything worth doing is worth doing openly. |
| Scouting |
Level 1
|
The man who does not know where the path leads goes only to his death. |
| Logistics |
Level 1
|
No man fights if his belly is empty and his feet unshod. |
| Raiding |
Level 1
|
Let the enemy pay for the war. |
| Inspiring Leader |
Level 1
|
The right word will send thousands, willingly, to their deaths. |
| Guardian |
Level 1
|
Look to the defence of others. |
| Vanguard |
Level 1
|
There is virtue in being first. |
| Indomitable Warrior |
Level 1
|
Nothing can move the heart that has a noble purpose. |
| Honour |
Level 1
|
The world turns, but there must be a still centre. |
| Presence |
Level 1
|
Command without words. |
| Provision |
Level 1
|
Rice matters as much as bullets. |
| Alacrity |
Level 1
|
Speed is not the same as haste. |
| Offense |
Level 1
|
Faint hearts fear the dawn. |
| Precision |
Level 1
|
Measure twice, cut once. |
| Audacity |
Level 1
|
Boldness confuses the enemy if they expect caution. |
| Dread |
Level 1
|
The enemy's fear is a great ally. |
| Paragon |
Level 1
|
Fire forges the sword; war, the soul. |
| Legendary Commander |
Level 1
|
Legends cannot be destroyed. |
| Scourge |
Level 1
|
"Cow after cow, pig after pig..." |
| Fall of the Samurai Cavalry | |
|---|---|
| Generals | General's Bodyguard • General's Hatamoto |
| Sword Cavalry | Republican Guard Cavalry • Sabre Cavalry |
| Spear Cavalry | Shogunate Guard Cavalry • Yari Ki |
| Missile Cavalry | Bow Ki • Revolver Cavalry • Carbine Cavalry • Samurai Hero • Imperial Guard Cavalry |