Five gourds lock you into a route. Which routes exist, which one your first save forces, and the clan conquest order that makes it work.
Sengoku Rance Routes and Clan Order: How to Win
Sengoku Rance routes are not picked from a menu at the start — they are chosen by which five gourds you break. A fresh save always lands in Official History (True), four of six routes can actually be beaten, and two cannot. Losing a boss drops you at Alice's Mansion, where 4 score points buy a retry; the run does not end.
Sources: the AliceSoft community wiki — Walkthrough, Game mechanics, Clans — which documents the 2006 Japanese original (v1.04) and the MangaGamer 2019 English release. The Steam build (released 2026-10-01) is the same System 4.0 engine, re-translated and rated lower. As of 2026-10-03 there are no official patch notes and no Steam walkthrough, so treat this as a reliable rule map not yet re-verified in the official build.
Official source: Sengoku Rance on Steam — dates the release 1 Oct 2026, but carries no route or conquest-order documentation at all. Every gourd and clan-war rule below is community-sourced, not publisher-sourced.
What the gourds actually control
Five clans hold gourds. Conquer or vassal one and its gourd breaks — and it breaks even when a third-party clan takes them. Press F5, or the objectives button on the map screen, to see who still has an intact gourd.
The game sets the pace too. Gourd 1 always breaks by turn 15 at the latest. If you have not broken two gourds by turn 30, three by turn 50, four by turn 70, or five by turn 90, a start-of-turn event breaks one for you, prioritising Takeda > Mouri > Houjou > Uesugi.
Kenshin, Ran and Isoroku conditions must be met before the Honnoji Temple event locks the route choice, and they are unreachable from a fresh save. Official History is not a difficulty choice — it is the only outcome.
All six routes, and which ones you can finish
| Route | How you get in | Winnable? | NG+ points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official History (True) | Forced on any fresh save; default elsewhere | Yes | +5 |
| Kenshin | Conquer Uesugi and Ashikaga, hold Kenshin and Ai at Trust, then take the Sado command | Yes | +5 |
| Isoroku | Recruit Isoroku Yamamoto and finish her second event before the route locks | Yes | +5 |
| Ran | Recruit Souun Houjou and route away before five gourds break | Yes | +5 |
| Monkeyslayer | Needs the "Can kill Toukichirou" bonus, so a second playthrough; pick it in Owari from turn 7 | Sandbox ending, no story | 0 |
| Archfiend | Entered by failing a forced story step (Hirami Lemons, or finding Miki) | No — guaranteed Game Over | 0 |
Only the four real routes pay. Monkeyslayer and Archfiend add nothing to your spendable points in the New Game Plus bonus shop, where available points equal your best score plus 5 per real route cleared.
Losing a boss costs 4 points, not the run
Almost every boss is a commander battle, and losing sends you to Alice's Mansion: retry for 4 score points, or take the Game Over. This is the most misread mechanic in older guides — a first playthrough starts on 60 points and loses 1 per turn, so four points is four turns of runway, not the run.
Two caveats. Each mansion visit during the four-fight Honnoji assault drops Xavier's level by 10, to a floor of 20, and refills your units. And several fights skip the mansion for an instant Game Over: Kenshin losing an Emperor Race duel, Rance's unit being annihilated, or the Archfiend route. Those are covered in the combat guide.
A conquest order that survives the race
No official order exists — this one is derived from each clan's scripted triggers, so it is defensible rather than asserted.
- Turns 2-8: Hara and Ashikaga — the opening plan covers the per-turn actions; this is the order and the reason. Hara (Ise) opens at turn 2 for 10 Negotiation and is one province; the automatic capture of its leader unlocks the prison. Ashikaga (Kyo, Viper Oil Field) is the cheapest declaration in the game at 8 Neg from turn 3, and taking it breaks gourd 1 on your terms.
- Then Iga, from turn 8. Suzume's arrival unlocks the declaration. Field her in the last-territory battle or Inukai revolts and retakes Yamato about a dozen turns later. If Iga lives past turn 55, an invisible start-of-turn event fires every turn and silently blocks lower-priority events.
- Then Uesugi, early. While you have never warred with Uesugi, Kenshin may reinforce whichever side is defending. Six Negotiation buys two provinces and stops that.
- Tenshiism comes to you. War starts on a start-of-turn event shortly after your second gourd, adjacent land or not. Clear the riots it spawns and keep Cost under National Power, or income halves.
- Mikawa is a chain reaction. Holding Mikawa makes Imagawa declare; war on Takeda makes Tokugawa declare even while vassaled. Do Imagawa first at 10 Neg, or accept both wars at once.
- Never open the south out of order. War on Akashi while Tanegashima is neutral hands Tanegashima to Mouri, and the reverse hands Akashi over. Take one, then the other.
- Leave Takeda, Mouri, Houjou, Takuga and Dokuganryu for the back half. You need troop counts and captured commanders before their scripted multi-wave attacks land. See the commander picks and capture rules.
Clan tiers, war costs, and who comes for you
Tiers are this guide's ordering, built from each clan's declaration cost, scripted wave attacks and forced-loss events in the community walkthrough — not an official difficulty rating. Province lists come from the Locations table; the wiki's National Mode ratings measure a different axis, how hard a clan is to play as rather than to conquer.
| Tier | Clan | Provinces | Declare cost | If you sit at peace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hara | Ise | 10 Neg, from turn 2 | 50% end-of-turn chance to declare, if you war on Ashikaga |
| 1 | Ashikaga | Kyo, Viper Oil Field | 8 Neg, from turn 3 | Demands gold at random; refusing declares. Also auto-declares if you war on Tenshiism |
| 2 | Iga | Yamato | 15 Neg, from turn 8 | Only at peace with everyone, after turn 29, once Inukai learns Nobunaga is well |
| 2 | Uesugi | Sado, Maso | 6 Neg after introduction | A few turns after Azai-Asakura falls; else end of turn 101 |
| 3 | Tenshiism | Naniwa, Mikan | forced | Start-of-turn event shortly after gourd 2 — unavoidable |
| 3 | Miko Union | Yamatai | 18 Neg, after three local events | Never declares, cannot be vassaled; gates Orochi's Pit |
| 3 | Tokugawa | Mikawa | 13 Neg after introduction | Declares whenever you war on Takeda, even while vassaled |
| 3 | Imagawa | Tokaido | 10 Neg after introduction | Declares the moment you or a vassal holds Mikawa |
| 4 | Tanegashima | Tamba | 16 Neg after introduction | Never declares on a first save |
| 4 | Akashi | Himeji | 13 Neg after Kazemaru appears | NG+ on 2-star and up, or after Mouri falls; also after turn 50 while at peace with all |
| 4 | Takeda | Shinano, Kairapace | 6 Neg after introduction | First save: declares if they conquer Houjou or Uesugi. NG+: preparation from turn 72 |
| 4 | Houjou | Edo, Kazusa, Saitama, Shikokalamity | 12 Neg | Declares if they conquer Takeda; Ran joins their attacks after two turns at war |
| 5 | Mouri | Izumo, Battleship Nagato, Redhelm, Chuu-earth | 12 Neg after their fight with Akashi | On Isoroku, almost immediately on entry; else NG+ only |
| 5 | Takuga | Shikokalamity, Chuu-earth | 16 Neg after introduction | NG+ only: five-turn preparation once you war on Mouri or Houjou |
| 5 | Dokuganryu | Ezo, Oshu | 13 Neg after a Saitama duel | Never declares; cannot be vassaled |
| End | Monster Army | Cairo, Morocco, Amazon, South Africa | n/a | Appears 7-10 turns after your first Xavier fight, on three routes |
Long peace is not a strategy. Events are scripted to end it, and one repeatable branch rewards never conquering anyone from turn one, handing you the Popularity Staff.
What actually ends the run
On the Official History route you need Cairo, and in practice Morocco. Conquering Morocco unlocks the Tenma Bridge command: six monsters in an army battle, then the final commander battle against a level 98 Xavier (2010 HP) with a level 25 bodyguard and a level 30 Toukichirou. Rance must be in the fight or Xavier takes no damage.
Two traps: operation permits used against Monster Army territory in Battleship Nagato, Cairo, Morocco or Amazon always fail and get confiscated, and the Shimazu ambush reverses the battle that triggered it — lose the first army battle, not the second.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I reach a different route on my first playthrough? No. Official History is the only route available before you hold a cleared-game save, and the game warns that the other routes' conditions cause a Game Over or stay inaccessible. Plan the first run for conquest and score, not branching.
Does losing a boss fight end the game? Usually not. You retry at Alice's Mansion for 4 score points or take the Game Over. Several specific fights skip the mansion and end the run outright.
Why does the game declare war on me when I did nothing? Most clans run a timer rather than reacting to you: Tenshiism after gourd 2, Akashi from turn 50 on harder difficulties, Takeda from turn 72 in a second game, Uesugi at end of turn 101. A few react to neighbours — Tokugawa to Takeda, Imagawa to Mikawa.
Is the Archfiend route worth chasing? No. Entering it guarantees a Game Over and awards no points. It is the failure state for missing a forced story step, not a challenge.
How long should the first run take? See the length estimate for the honest range, and the difficulty ladder before picking a star rating — stars change starting score and enemy scaling, not route rules.
More Sengoku Rance Guides
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The first playthrough forces the canon ending. Here is what unlocks after it, how ending points work, and what still takes several runs.
Rough hours for the mandatory first route, what forces a second playthrough, and why 100% takes far longer than the first clear. Numbers, not vibes.
Capture odds are a 1-in-n roll, and n is 1, 2 or 5. The two skills that set it, the prison cap that blocks it, and how to raise the odds.
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There is no Steam Workshop for this game. What the well-known external total conversion adds, and what to check before you install anything.
Points come from your best score plus 5 per winnable route. What to buy first, the roster cap that can kill your units, and National Mode.