There are also many non-playable factions in the game. The base game features a total of nine playable factions, each with a unique starting position and different political and military strengths. The player takes on the role of one of these warlords, with the goal of dominating other factions and claiming his rule over Japan.
The country is fractured into rival clans led by local warlords, each fighting for control. Shogun 2 is set in the Sengoku jidai, 'the Warring States Period' (16th-century feudal Japan), in the aftermath of the Onin War.
