Need help for expanding my kingdom

[zelrar]

Picked this mod up a few weeks back, and I am enjoying it immensely. In my current save, I am about 240+ days in. RtR of 54. Renown of around 700+, party size of around 150. Saw that Kashima castle held by Ryuzoji in the south had a very low garrison, and the Ryuzoji clan(I think) were quite weak, so I took the chance and took the castle. My problem is that I don't know where to go from now. I have no vassals and only 2 fiefs. Mori Clan took out Hirado Castle, so Ryuzoji only have Nagasaki and surrounding villages left. I don't have enough vassals or a big enough party to take Nagasaki. I am at war with only Ryuzoji as of now. Should I promote some companions to become vassals(I think I have all the companions in my party) or should I bide my time? Help is appreciated, thanks.


EDIT: Ryuzoji has offered peace terms, and I managed to negotiate for Hirado Castle. So now I have Hirado Castle too. Not in any wars now.

 

[howyouknow215]

-make peace and take advantage of it by building your resources (ie troops and money)
-promote some companions and give them as many troops as possible
-don't be in a rush to go to war. your empire has only just begun. solidify its foundations. put some troops in your garrisons, maybe 300-500. don't have to be elite.
-when war time comes, go for towns. that's where the money is.
-don't war with everyone around you. see if you can ally with all your neighbors aside from the one you're going to attack beforehand.
-now's the time to start grooming companions for either a promotion (prisoners, healing, troop numbers....) or tailor them for a specialized role in your party (inventory, healing, engineering, tactician, prisoners etc)
-don't go promoting people willy nilly. keep in mind that you'll need some people to hang around.

PS don't use the cheatcode to infinity rank any companions. that'll drive their price waaaaaaay up.