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Wako Raiders S2TW Icon

Mori Wako Raiders are a type of katana infantry in Total War: Shogun 2. They are available to the Mori Clan with the Sengoku Jidai Unit Pack DLC.

Description[]

Piracy prepares men to fight unfairly and with deceit. A wise commander uses these skills.

These wako raiders are lightly armed and wear little armour, which contributes to their ability to move with stealth and remain hidden. Indeed, wako raiders can hide almost anywhere: an enemy may end up convinced that they can hide behind every rice stalk! They can also move without revealing their position, making them useful for tactical surprises. Best of all, for a commander, before the battle they can actually be positioned outside the army’s normal deployment area. That they also have a good close attack, and good morale makes them even more useful as a weapon.

As far as the Chinese were concerned, all the Japanese were pirates, or in league with pirates. It wasn’t surprising that the Chinese were angered and frustrated. The Shogunate refused to address the problem, and the local lords were cheerfully profiting from piracy. The Chinese banned trade with Japan, but to no effect. Even punitive attacks by the Chinese failed to solve the problem of piracy. The Japanese had no real wish to rein in their pirates, for how else would they get stolen Chinese goods so cheaply?

Strengths & Weaknesses

  • Can deploy outside the deployment zone.
  • Good melee attack and morale.
  • Weak melee defence and armour.
  • Vulnerable to cavalry and missiles.

General Information[]

Similar to kisho ninjas, Mori Wako Raiders may deploy anywhere on the battlefield except the deployment zone of the opposing army. This gives them potential to be good ambush units. They are the only land units unique to the Mori Clan.

Wako Raiders are quite cheap, with recruitment and upkeep costs more in-league with ashigaru units than samurai. Despite their low cost, they can defeat YariKatana, and Naginata samurai in evenly-matched battles. However, they have very poor armor, making them highly vulnerable to archers. They have no bonus against cavalry, either, making cavalry a good choice for fending them off. Finally, their recruitment requiring ports make them harder to obtain than most other units.

Mori Wako Raiders benefit most from being trained in provinces with a blacksmithing tradition, either to maximize their potential as surprise attackers or to shore up their weaknesses with their poor armor. As Wako Raiders require a military port to recruit, the only blacksmith specialty provinces they can be recruited from are the Shimazu Clan's home province of Satsuma, at the south-western tip of Kyushu, and Sagami, one of the Hojo Clan's home provinces in south-east of Honshu, both of which are unfortunately very far away from the Mori Clan's home province of Aki. Nonetheless, should the Mori Clan be able to obtain either of these provinces, they can create Wako Raiders that are essentially cheaper but superior Katana Samurai, with the added bonus of flexible deployment through their kisho training.

A more accessible alternative would be to train Mori Wako Raiders in regions with a Holy Site specialty. This grants them greatly increased morale, a useful trait given that their kisho training deployment could leave them isolated from the rest of the army and thus more vulnerable to drops in morale. Aki, fortunately, has both a port and hallowed grounds.

Total War: Shogun 2 Infantry
Sword Infantry Katana Dojo SamuraiKatana HeroKatana RoninKatana SamuraiKatana WakoLoan Sword AshigaruMori Wako RaidersNo-Dachi SamuraiSamurai RetainersSeigen’s Swordmasters
Spear Infantry Date Bulletproof SamuraiOda Long Yari AshigaruYari AshigaruYari Ashigaru GarrisonYari Dojo SamuraiYari HeroYari RoninYari Samurai
Heavy Infantry Benkei’s BladesGozen’s Hime HeroinesMarathon MonksNaginata SamuraiNaginata Warrior Monk HeroNaginata Warrior MonksNaginata Warrior Monks GarrisonOnna BushiTadakatsu’s Tetsubo WarriorsWarrior Nuns
Bow Infantry Bow AshigaruBow Ashigaru GarrisonBow Dojo SamuraiBow HeroBow RoninBow SamuraiBow WakoBow Warrior MonksChosokabe Daikyu SamuraiHattori Bandits
Matchlock Infantry Imported Matchlock AshigaruMatchlock AshigaruMatchlock SamuraiMatchlock Warrior MonksPortuguese TercosShimazu Heavy GunnersTokitaka’s Tanegashima
Special Infantry Dojo Fire Bomb ThrowersFire Bomb ThrowersHanzo’s ShadowsKisho Ninja
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