afeinman

S&S is a mainstay of my Misaki list. Take it with at least two Torakage. (I haven't tried it yet with Jorogumo, and I rarely shift Oiran around, but it's nice to have the opportunity.) What S&S provides is tactical flexibility. You get to decide where your ninjas land, after a turn is already over but before scoring. This is huge! Some uses: 1. In Reconnoiter, park a model near the seam between quarters, then drop a ninja in whichever quarter needs numbers. 2. Drop a ninja (or two!) around the enemy leader to Deliver A Message at the start of the next turn. 3. Decide where to reinforce. If you've got two or three one-on-ones happening, as often happens when TT minions tie up enemies, have a Torakage drop in to swing the balance of power. 4. Drop into engagement with two or more enemies. Odds are next turn you'll get a chance to Exhaust, Distract, screw them over for Interference, or whatever it is you want to do. If one of the enemies walks away, you can exhaust the other one and still skidaddle out of combat. Worst case, the enemy model ends up turning around and killing your torakage instead of doing whatever they were going to do. 5. Drop an Oiran in a forward location to lure people sideways. 6. Drop an Oiran or Torakage in a hard-to-reach location for things like dropping Stash markers. 7. Leave a Torakage deep in your own zone for things like Power Ritual, then have them teleport to a more useful position after luring enemies toward them. The key is to think about what other models need to be positioned first. I'll sometimes throw Misaki forward her full movement (or kill someone on the way, yay) just to have an anchor point for Torakage to roll in. And yeah, you need a decent Mask in hand. If you don't have it, give up on S&S for that turn and accomplish something else. Come back when the cards are there.

I haven't played around much with Burning style, it's true. Suddenly having an effective 9 in a stat is awesome! As for damage, I come from playing Misaki, so Shenlong's inability to vaporize enemies is surprising to me. Every time he's charged into combat he's failed to kill his target; he's tanked pretty well, though--as you point out, between Defensive, Low River Style, and good Wd/Df, he'll survive for a while. The downside is he's gotten TOO stuck in. Last game, for example, he couldn't manage to disengage from a Student of Viscera that got summoned on top of me--three times. Eventually I had to resort to having the Kamaitachi push him out of there. As you both say, so many options. 10 games has really just scratched the surface.

Observations using Shenlong I've played 10 games with Shenlong now, and am starting to see some patterns. We had a local fixed-Master league, which really forced me to explore the model's capabilities. The Big Guy Shenlong is a "do everything" master, with 6s across the board and a "decent but not awesome" approach to everything else. His strength is in being able to pivot to a new purpose instantly; if you time it right, he can even serve two purposes in the same turn. Turn 1 is often a big turn for Shenlong. With his ability to push up to 3 models forward and give 2 of them Fast, a first-turn alpha strike is totally possible. Coupled with quick engagers and some pushers (Wandering River Monk, Lust, Oirans) and you can often pounce on a forward enemy model early. One major weakness: Shenlong eats cards. His Words On The River upgrade helps with card management a little bit, but uses up a valuable (0) action. Usually I save it until I have Poison or Burning +3, which means I haven't switched to those styles at all during the game. He doesn't seem especially Soulstone-dependent, so I find myself routinely stoning for cards or initiative. Support Master As a pure support master he's pretty cool; cycling between Wandering River (air: push people and make them Fast or Slow) and Low River (earth: heal / remove Conditions) lets him keep his crew working efficiently. Couple this with his amazing 6" bubble and his troops become worth 1-3ss more each while they're near him. The downside is that that is all he's doing, and he and his crew need to stay tight--preferably with everyone within 6" of the Dragon, of course. Focus as (0) is really brutal with ranged attacks. Archers get Focused +2 for a (0), which means [+] into cover; and the Katanaka Sniper really benefits: if they're Fast the snipers can throw out two Focused 28" shots. Ouch. And charging models that start near him can get one Focused attack. The (0) Defensive bubble is nice but burns through cards like crazy. Samurai and Monks of the Low River don't have to discard, tho, so...yay. Defensive +2 plus Armor +2 = durable damn Samurai. Especially if you take the +3Wds upgrade. You generally have to remember to do the Defensive Stance before you move, since you'll often be moving out of the 6" aura. Solo action As an Action Master, Shenlong is not great. He's basically a 6-7ss minion as far as killing stuff; his Fury Of The Dawn attacks don't have good damage spread nor exceptional stats. And because it's so useful to push people around, he's rarely actually Focusing. He's less of a waste when taking down other Masters and Henchmen. He can halt Soulstone use or remove beneficial conditions like Reactivate, basically turning many Masters into Enforcers. Likewise, Drunken style is good against Masters like Nicodem, since it turns Hard To Wound to his advantage. And the Burning style is good for crowd and board control...I hope. Finally, he can serve as a great scheme runner (assuming you're Wandering), moving 18 and then dropping a scheme marker all in one turn. If you couple this with a push from the Kamaitachi, by switching to Wandering at the start of the Turn, you're off to the races. Great for late-game Entourage, etc. Monks The monks are supposed to synergize with Shenlong, and they kinda do and kinda don't. Other than benefiting from the obvious 6" bubble, their powers don't mesh well with his. I was hoping for things like bonuses to hit Burning models, but the High River monk isn't even immune to fire damage; nor does Shenlong have a way to give the drunk monk more Poison. The monks do synergize well with the Shadow Emissary, however, so I think that's the way to go going forward. Also with Sensei Yu; I'll have to try that. In increasing price: Low River Monk -- These are awesome 4ss models even without Shenlong. With him they can go Defensive +3 in a single turn, no discard necessary. Probably excessive. Condition removal is neat, but mostly they just occupy territory--one of them held off two minions for three turns in the last Stash mission I played. Fermented River Monk -- have NOT figured this guy out. For 5ss was hoping for more. Basically he goes out and dies. Best idea is that he needs to beat up weak enemy minions, getting drunker as he goes, and then Reactivate to finish the job (either kill stuff or drop a scheme). They're fragile and don't hit well. High River Monk -- Has the potential to be a super damage-dealer, but they chew through cards like crazy. Killer move: take the (0) to push two inches out of combat, then discard to charge-plus-flurry, which is amazing...except their min-damage is 1. Except they automatically hand out Burning, so it's *sort* of like min-damage 2. With an attack stat of 6, it may just be that my luck is crap with them. Wandering River Monk -- Super-useful. Fragile scheme runners, yes, but with Leap plus the ability to relocate models in melee (and min-damage 2!), or push them 3" at range 8, you can really mess with opponents' plans. Their Butterfly Jump also eats cards, but means you can hang them out to dry without as much risk--as long as you stay near the edge of a building or something. If Shenlong makes one Fast, it can go 22" in a turn; if I can then goad you into attacking it, maybe an extra 3" or drop a scheme marker. Sweet. Ten Thunder Brothers (honorary monks) -- TTB are just damn good minions. With Defensive as a (0) they become even more useful. In one turn: gain Defensive, move up, and then drop a scheme marker the opponent can't remove. If you're fast, move *twice*. The only downside is that their rather-useful (0) action overlaps the free Defensive, so you have to think about what to use. Other models Kamaitachi -- Invaluable! It hangs out near Shenlong and makes him better, and has a vicious set of claws for stubborn enemy models with a few wounds left. It can push folks around (costs a card tho), or set them on fire (cards, cards); but mostly it's the passive abilities that matter. When switching styles, Shenlong (or Yu) will heal 2Wd, be pushed up to 3", and draw a card. For free. Potentially in the Initiative phase! Oiran -- Defensive and Focus for free? Okay! Just hope you have a decent Crow in hand. Couple their Assassin's Gift / Flutter with the plus-flip from the Shadowy Emissary and...yikes. Torakage -- They don't synergize well with Shenlong, and that's okay. They do what they always do, work alone and screw up enemy plans. Thunder Archers -- Focus becomes double-Focus, for free. Then Hail of Hamaitachi becomes sick. Or shoot into combat and help those poor monks out. I've been experimenting with Blot The Sky and 2-3 archers as a moving artillery platform... Katanaka Snipers -- A great model stays great. More of a threat at range with (0) Focus; and great at killing nearby, as always. Downside: You pay for From The Shadows, but I don't always use it, because I want him to start within 6" of Shenlong. Samurai -- Great combo with Shenlong. 'Free' Defensive stance; plus the possibility of being pushed and gaining Fast, which can get that Daito into combat sooner. Now that I have 3 assembled, I'll try that out. Lust -- I tried Lust for a few games, and her ability to move people around the board was very useful. She doesn't combo especially well with Shenlong, but her bubble of frustration provides some comfort since you need to be near Shenlong anyway. Shadowy Emissary -- As mentioned above, it has a 10" bubble that makes one 'element' better. Depending on the upgrade you take, it may also either take the place of Words + the Kamaitachi, or make your Minions get plus-flips. Both are awesome. It's also got a vicious attack which works up close or at mid-range, with a sweet 6 Severe damage and a repeat trigger. And it can push and Fastify Sensei Yu, or a Samurai, or Mr. Graves, ... Weird combos Mr. Graves -- The big bouncer is a bit slow, and Shenlong can help with that. Couple in the ability to heal at range, and Graves gets even more annoying. Plus he can push people around. It'd be interesting to see if he plus Yu are a thing. Ama No Zako -- I've only tried this a few times, and it kinda works. As with Misaki, the crew's stones suddenly have a purpose, with Zako so suit-dependent. A Fast, Focused, Flying, fearsome Oni is a sight to behold--against Collodi she was able to swoop forward, use Whispers to get a Stitched Together to gamble half of Vasilisa's life away, and then eat her up with the other two AP--all while healing! Unexplored areas Peasants -- Haven't used them. They seem good for Scheme missions and for pushing people off of Stash / etc. Having more (0) actions would also make Shenlong more powerful; but really you're "investing" for a future turn of additional (0) actions. Sensei Yu -- Mini-me (or is it Maxi-Me?) is another way to get Shenlong goodness. Copying the (0) is useful, but having two styles active at once is huge (especially Low River + Wandering River). Yu can't charge, so that'll be interesting. Once I find a decent model I am going to town on this combo, expensive as it is. Toshiro the Daimyo -- His abilities seem to overlap those of Shenlong, making Minions better, handing out Fast and Focused, and pushing them around the field. This might free up the Dragon to go do other things. That's all for now!

Looking forward to this. Any luck at pulling in people from Central MA, say, the Hadley crew?

Thanks! ...shameless plug: if you like my writing, I have a pair of novels published as well. You can find more info here: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/alexfeinman

Alex, isn't that the way I ruled it...for the reasons Tuttleboy and The Godlyness mention. Yup, you nailed it at the time. I was just curious what everyone else thought, and also wanted to publicize your decision as I feel it was the right one. Plus, it was hilarious.

I've been running the Serpent in my Misaki crew. Decent, not game-changing; probably need to use it differently. Calls To The Chi makes the darn thing very resilient, especially when you're mixing it up with a pack of enemy casters (e.g. Neverborn). Breathing fire works quite well, especially if (unlike me) you remember the built-in trigger to hand out Burning--decent mid-range plus flight = surprised opponents, and you're durable enough to take the return attack. Counterspell is really useful, especially against Obey crews. And yeah, minion, so when I slip Toshiro in the list things will get ugly.

Here was an odd situation from the tourney yesterday-- I'd waded Ototo into a pack of enemies, and he was gonna die. To avoid my opponent killing him (Reckoning), I hit him with the Dawn Serpent's flame--intending to cheat up the damage and land some bursts all around. So I elected not to relent. The randomizing flip went great, but when I flipped for his defense Ototo flipped the Red Joker. Ordinarily you can't cheat against the Red Joker, right? What made things really interesting was I had the Black Joker in my hand. So the question was--could I cheat Black onto Red? The TO ruled (in the moment) that yes, I could, because my opponent hadn't flipped the Red Joker, and that's how it reads. (Also, because it was hilarious, and I was losing badly anyways...) What say you? Can you cheat Black onto your own Red?

Pretty easy to simply *not* take advantage of it while it's up in the air. Just don't take the action twice.

W00t.

Can you explain the synergy with McCabe? Toshiro's stuff only seems to affect minions...

My take: 1) A Leap Model with Charge 6 is in base contact with a HT 10 Tower that is 4 inches across. a) Can you move straight to the other side of the tower ignoring the tower's HT? Fall Damage? Yes, because you ignore intervening terrain. You take no Fall damage because you ignore intervening terrain. b ) Can you leap to the top of the tower ignoring the vertical distance? No, because the end point of your movement is on a different height, and height matters when figuring out how far you can move. If you were Cg10 then it'd be fine. 2) A Leap Model with Charge 6 is on a HT 4 Wall and wants to get to a scheme marker at HT-0 5" away behind another HT 5 Wall. a) Assuming you move the full 6 Horizontally would you need to take fall damage? No, because you ignore intervening terrain. This one's a bit grayer in my mind. I do see that Leap as a result is extremely powerful...

I like playing around with unusual choices... Ama No Zako has been a beast in my Misaki list, adding capabilities I didn't have before--an Obey-like action, flight, and of course a bit more killing power. (Though honestly she does her best killing using opponents against each other) Toshiro looks like he might provide the same sort of "missing piece" functionality, but I haven't gotten the chance to include him. Boosting the fighting power of Torakage or 10T Brothers, with plenty of killy on his own, that's just adding strength to strength. But more interesting are the (0) actions. War Fan looks crazy--I am always longing for Fast, especially on Torakage or the Katanaka Sniper. (A move plus a focused shot gets me good field position from which to burn a bunch of cards.) And handing out Focused gets very useful with the Sniper or a gang of Archers. Anyone pulled this model in? How'd it go?

My Oiran has killed more than a few models, and tanked Huggy for three turns. Not to mention ruling the battlefield in the one Shindig we played. They're not any one thing. Like Torakage, their value comes from their versatility. Lure if you happen to have the high suit. Move around providing a WP buff (key against, say, Pandora). Defensive stance and cover if you need to drop objectives or just want to make people come after you. And, if a minion does happen to engage you, the sharp bits *do* kill stuff, especially 5-6 Wd models. A silurid was rather surprised that his objective-running days came to an end; like that. Don't expect them to Lure like a master nor tank like one. But for a low cost, they can be pretty useful. Maybe skip 'em if you're playing Reckoning, though.

A few typos and tweaks 'ere and theer: but she’d would forgive me -> she would "That noise somehow triggered drew the attention of a bigger scavenger, it seemed." -> you don't need the weasel words ('somehow', 'it seemed'). "screamed uselessly" -- or maybe "screamed futilely"? "It was the same thing I was supposed to guard." -> don't need 'same' here. Is this part of a larger narrative? It feels like I should know more about the protagonist...