The Nihon Maru is a heavy ship in Total War: Shogun 2.
Description[]
This mighty vessel is the Shogun’s personal flagship, and his presence at sea encourages nearby ships to fight hard and with great courage.
The Nihon Maru is an extremely heavy ship. It is, in fact, the largest ship used for naval warfare. Looking very much like a vast floating fortress, it has a massive superstructure with an impressive three-storey keep as a centrepiece. It is a physical manifestation of the Shogun’s power, and its presence is enough to raise the morale of nearby friendly ships and keep them fighting. It carries a large number of soldiers for boarding actions, but its sheer size and extravagant design makes it a slow and cumbersome vessel.
Historically, the Nihon Maru was a huge, three-decker flagship, built for the daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1591. It was a lavish masterpiece that symbolised Hideyoshi’s wealth, power and ambition and it was decorated with Shinto designs and a brocade curtain. Although built to impress visitors, it did see action during the Korean War of 1592 when the Koreans attacked the harbour of Angolp’o. The Nihon Maru had just returned from battle and was an irresistible target for the Koreans’ fire arrows. Fortunately, the ship’s three-fold curtain functioned as an arrow catcher, and a team of carpenters kept the ship seaworthy by quickly repairing damage caused by Korean cannons, ensuring the Nihon Maru survived the onslaught.
Strengths & Weaknesses
- Encourages nearby friendly units.
- Very large crew, in particular melee troops.
- Slow and not very manoeuvrable.
- Vulnerable to cannon fire.
General Information[]
Only the shogun's faction can build the Nihon Maru. After a new shogun is declared, he is immediately granted the Nihon Maru for free, even if he does not have the required building. The Nihon Maru spawns alongside a few free Bow Kobayas in the waters closest to Kyoto. Should it be destroyed after this, it is difficult to replace as it requires the final tier of dock building to build.
The Nihon Maru is a powerful ship, boasting a very large crew of swordsmen and archers, as well as a very elevated platform that gives its crew a height advantage during combat. It also has the ability to rally nearby ships in a similar manner to how generals rally nearby units on land. Its weakness is its very slow speed, which can be temporarily countered somewhat by its battle speed ability.
Despite being one of the strongest ships in Total War: Shogun 2, the Nihon Maru is no match for European ships such as The Black Ship or Nanban Trade Ships.
The Mori Clan, despite having superior versions of almost every ship in the game, does not receive any bonuses to the Nihon Maru. Game files indicate that they would have had access to an improved variant with +1 morale that costed 800/250 to build and maintain, respectively, but this was cut before release for unknown reasons and requires a modification to restore.
| Total War: Shogun 2 Ships | |
|---|---|
| Light Ships | Bow Kobaya • Fire Bomb Kobaya • Matchlock Kobaya |
| Medium Ships | Medium Bune • Siege Tower Bune • Sengoku Bune • Wako Medium Bune |
| Heavy Ships | Heavy Bune • Nihon Maru • O Ataka Bune |
| Cannon Ships | Cannon Bune |
| Galleons | Nanban Trade Ship • The Black Ship |
| Trade Ships | Red Seal Ship • Trade Ship • Wako Trade Ship |