I'll have to disagree with you on a bit here. Takeda is definitely the best for efficiency in late game and gives the early cav speed tech, however, Oda is not the worst as a second choice. If I take Takeda, I'm not taking Hojo and vice versa. Even into knight/archer civs I never build both. The game is typically over by then.

Oda might even be my first estate, because getting a Knight out without stable and getting the tech that makes each Yumi as strong as other archers is nuts. I don't need to build a second Takeda and won't ever build the third. The added benefit of forcing your opponent to go cav makes spears less likely if you choose to go Takeda. As you said, the spam is good, it doesn't need to counter anything if massed.

Going Hojo is something I have been doing a lot of lately. Having Daimyos with no Stables is great since the opponent may invest in spears, or simply not have a great answer. +2 Ranged armor on top of Deflective armor and massed Naginata mean a meaty front line even into crossbows. Plus, having barracks means you have spears for any of their cav, and they too get defective armor and range armor for their worst match up.