>>3270027I feel like to balance it you'd have one big sword required as your anchor, and then when your tantou get thrown sideways by the waves the big sword "catches them". You'll still want the speed of smaller swords, especially if there's night battles (as if they'd add boat battles without night or rain somewhere), but you need to pull through an anchor to stop anyone falling overboard, like it's an extra pre-battle effect dealing damage to anyone not close enough to the anchor. Put your uchi and waki further from the anchor than your tantou because they're a little hardier. Kiwame oodachi would have an advantage at passing a bullshit stormy night climatic map. Also the waves deal more damage if there's rain because fuck you and you can't catapult on a boat so we have to replace it somehow.
If they just pull a reversal of night conditions for oodachi speciality maps (day battles but your tantou are extra dead?) then it'll add to Katsugeki saniwa's tally of dumb things, but I'll bet they intend something more complicated as we go forward even if it isn't this. Jurakutei was a mess but it shows ambition to change gameplay up.
>>3270029Since there's different eras of boat warfare it'd make perfect sense to separate a world map and an event map by what tech's meant to be there. The world map could be full of musket fire, while the event has an older theme and reflects it with heavier use of archer troops. Scouting bonuses for sea themed swords works for older boats too, if you're passing node to node in a little vessel and trying not to crash on rocks when you visit islands for resources. God, I wouldn't even be mad if we had to roll dice to explore islands and go pirating, but a regiment battle would capture the idea of sea rations and fleets better.
My history knowledge is terrible but there's plenty samurai associated with naval feats to use. I know Yoichi did archery at sea but I'm pretty sure there was a guy who rode his horse onto a boat no fucks given.