SinJ

For Misaki, the Freikorps Librarian is your best bet. As Misaki is dual faction TT/Outcasts the Librarian can heal twice an an action.

I think Wastrels are pretty underrated models for the cost, but for Chi farming on my own models I'd much rather take a Komaimu. They can actually survive the two severe that you want to inflict onto them. Yan Lo really isn't looking to do a whole lot on turn one other than move forward. Getting that chi faster really accelerates Yan Lo's upgrade equipping. On a side note I've been play-testing an Obsidian Oni with Yan Lo and Komaimu. It's a pretty hard-hitting combo for so few stones (see Burning synergy). When Yan Lo gives the Oni Armor it greatly increases his survivability as well and at the end of day he's a minion with some good versatility.

The Pathfinder is not a merc, just dual faction Guild/TT. The Pathfinder is a cheap shooter that ignores Armor on trigger. He "can" also create clockwork traps which can be a royal PITA. I find myself reaching for the Katanaka sniper when I know my master will likely die (Misaki) or with Shen Long. Otherwise Trappers are generally a very solid choice.

I think you have the right of it with Necropunks, the Mech Rider plus Metal Gamin and A&D. I think the best models for hiring after that would be Soulstone Miners, the Valedictorian, and Ryle/Lazarus. The Ryle/Lazarus tag team combo is pretty solid overall for additional shooting threat. Teddy plus a summoned Metal Gamin isn't too bad either but you really should be pushing for scheme runners. I would skip the Desolation Engine. Unless you are doubling down on Desolate Soul with Rusty Alyce it's really not super feasible to summon. In general, Leveticus is the gun you are bringing to a knife fight. He and his waifs will attract most of your opponent's attention. This gives you the breathing room you need to complete your schemes and strats with the other models in your list. I personally love the Valedictorian as it can shut down triggers and murder lower scheme runners. Ashes and Dust can also control a flank and complete objectives.

To be honest McCabe makes pretty much anything great. Glowing Sabre is an amazing upgrade. Oiran really come into their own with the Hidden Agenda upgrade. You could absolutely get work out of Oiran combined with McCabe's pushes and buffs. They are solid all-rounders with some slightly different tech and abilities than other minions in their point bracket. I think you could pretty easily build a list with a couple Oiran and Ama No Zako with Hidden Agenda and Smoke Grenades/Recalled Training as a solid core.

Unimpeded is really not an ability I would underestimate and they hit plenty hard when pushed and made fast by Toshiro see Flurry. I find that Unimpeded is extremely useful when playing on a well apportioned Malifaux table.

In general I think that Ten Thunders is also very aesthetically hit or miss. Most of the other factions have sectors of very different looking models with an overall unifying theme. As previously mentioned Ten Thunders is more of an "answers" faction as we have a lot of models that greatly assist with entire factions as a whole. I think this is pretty valuable as another faction can't really do that vs you should you announce Thunders.

I ran Yan Lo last night with Misdirection, Fortify the Spirit and Recalled Training against Guild Perdita. He was such a tarpit/tank that he easily allowed the rest of my crew to complete my schemes and strats. I think that if you aren't running Brutal Khakkara then Misdirection plus Fortify the Spirit is excellent for having two triggers on hand. With Chi +2 or 3 even throwing moderate tomes is like having Severe cards played. Would have won if I didn't make the silly mistake of misunderstanding the center line location (Flank).

Honestly once you start putting him on the table you will discover things for yourself. The main reason Yan Lo is so discounted as a master is because he doesn't look powerful on the surface. As long as you have the mentality of not being afraid to get him involved he will provide a solid game. Play with what you have and don't get too frustrated if it doesn't all come together at first.

Keep in mind that Komaimu do make decent scheme runners with Yan Lo as they are also spirits for the purposes of Fury of the Yomi. I think that your best option is probably number 1 but two punk Zombies is pretty overkill with Izamu also on board. In general I would never go below 5 cache with Yan Lo. If you take the Emissary you can build a more elite list of specialists. As you are going to be building up Yan Lo for Hunpo Assaulting I usually focus on upgrading and getting my pieces into position early turns. This list is also fairly versatile for accomplishing most Strategies and Schemes. In general Enforces are a lot more strong in GG2016. I do think the Emissary kind of forces you to make weird list choices as you want to bring as many models with upgrades as possible, but he can't push and make Yan Lo fast as that's what you really want. For this reason more than anything you will want to be building Yan Lo to Hunpo Assault so that he can place, do some damage and go defensive or just be a very hard to kill tarpit. My Yan Lo Emissary list looks like the following: Yan Lo - 6 Cache Misdirection, Brutal Khakkhara Shadow Emissary - Ancestral Conflux Lust - Recalled Training +Provides Draw and can deal heavy damage on a good opportunity The Lone Swordsman - RT +Versatile scalpel or scheme runner Freikorps Librarian - RT +Can heal Yan Lo and adds some CA with Blasts Shadow Effigy +Early game Chi punching bag, accomplishes schemes with Tengu later. Into Shadow excellent on Yan Lo Tengu +Good cheap scheme runner, can also provide Regeneration

Thanks for the heads up on that. Rules!

@OneLittleThunderDeleted my comment due to rules misreading.

I think you've got the most of it. Yan Lo definitely wants to focus on building defenses then becoming a very difficult to remove thorn in your opponents side. I personally never pay stones for Komaimu or Ashigaru as I'm generally taking Toshiro to create them himself. At the worst they cost one stone and a higher card in hand. In my lists Punk Zombies do most of the heavy lifting under Toshiro. Obsidian Oni have really good synergy with Komainu as well for how cheap they are. I would highly recommend you pickup Tengu for scheme runners. Fury of the Yomi with Tengu will secure you wins via finishing schemes your opponent didn't see coming. I usually take two, the Effigy and Chiaki to run schemes. Also I've got nothing against Sensei Yu I just feel that he is a very expensive support piece. I find that the Emissary is a much more effective supporter that also brings a solid attack. Downside is you will need to proxy a model until his release hopefully this summer. The Emissary's buff to Brutal Khakkara really is a game changer especially if you want to keep a model locked into combat and you have a high card in hand. In addition I frequently bring a Freikorps Librarian for healing and additional casting power with Recalled Training alongside the Emissary. One last thing for Yan Lo especially as a newer player. Play at least 5 stone cache if not full stones at 7. The power to reduce damage further onto Yan Lo is crucial and you usually are going to be stoning for cards most turns. I really try to bring Sue in my lists with Yan Lo as well to help protect vs casting attacks and for draw.

Hey I'd check out the existing thread on Yan Lo as it covers a lot of strategy with him. In general though Yan Lo doesn't do most or any of the killing he enables your army. He is a position dependent master and you have a few different mechanics to build for in your lists.

It also works on the approach so you can Misdirect onto one of your own hard to kill models for example. The Shadow Effigy is great for this. They can absolutely ignore Yan Lo, but if he's Hunpo Assaulting all their little guys or even just engaging them he's buying me points for Interference. I've found that when opponents read everything Yan Lo can do they will try to kill him for what he can give my army.

I meant that it helps mitigate against CA attacks as Misdirection can redirect to another model within 2" assuming you have a mask and they want to discard two. Yan Lo doesn't really have a lot of help vs Casting other than stones to prevent damage and Impossible to wound if you have the upgrade.

Here's an expanded post on my current thoughts on Yan Lo. My best tip for Yan Lo is to figure out how you think your turns should go when building a list for him. Specifically how you will utilize the Chi that you gain each turn. Which models best assist you in accomplishing this will determine what you choose. There are a few different avenues in list building with Yan Lo, and as usual they generally build best toward specific schemes/strategies. Yan Lo can exceed at Interference, Take Prisoner, Covert Breakthrough, Convict Labor or any other scheme where your opponent is relying on positioning to win him the game. I would generally avoid schemes that you HAVE to kill your opponent’s models as he works better as a healer/enabler and tarpit. Also many of the lists I like with him contain many minions. If Hunting Party is in the pool you will probably need to accept you are giving your opponent points each round or focus on protecting your own models. This really just means that Yan Lo can adjust on the fly with his options to best respond to your opponent or force them to make some awkward choices. For upgrades I almost always take Misdirection and Recalled Training. Rarely due I take Reliquary due to it's very card and activation intensive nature. The first big decision that you need to explore is if you are taking Brutal Khakkara or not. This will push you right into your first list choice of taking Shadow Emissary with the Conflux upgrade. Shadow Emissary has done a lot for Yan Los game in that Brutal Khakkara is now much more than just a tool to engage multiple models and threaten damage disengaging strikes. The bonus to MI for Yan Lo is significant as a table buff so long as the Emissary isn’t dead. This also enables Yan Lo to mulch through cheap summons or low soul stone minions. It is fairly easy to Hunpo Assault between two or more targets, and inflict significant damage. With his upgrades attached, soulstones in your cache and one or more defensive triggers Yan Lo will take a significant concerted effort to even potentially remove. With Yan Lo engaging and whittling down your opponent's chaff the remainder of your list can focus on schemes. With the Emissary, bringing Enforcers with Recalled Training is an effective way to fill out the remainder of the list. Shadow Effigy gets a special mention here as giving Into Shadow to Yan Lo then chain activating him is excellent. If you are not taking Brutal Khakkara then your list needs to bring both elements of scheming and killing. I really like Toshiro and a punk Zombie or two for this role as you will be working to set up and execute big Lightning Dances on your opponent’s models. A Dawn Serpent for ranged blasts could also work well in this set up to combo with Toshiro. Double positive flipping Punk Zombies are scary as they will eat your opponent’s hand lest they risk big severe damage. In this setup Yan Lo will look to Lightning Dance/heal and buff your frontline models. For mercenaries, in general Sue is an extremely solid choice for Yan Lo. He brings card draw and some decent deterrents to Ca which really keeps Incorporeal from being a bad upgrade choice. Freikorps Librarian is also solid for an additional heal and one that can target Yan Lo. I usually bring a Librarian with Recalled Training if I choose the Emissary.

Misdirection is a fantastic upgrade for a couple reasons. First is that you can pitch or flip any mask if your opponent doesn't have enough cards to counter the effect of hitting his own model, this is essentially a "block" of sorts. Second is that if your opponent does want his attack to go through he is going to burn cards to do it. By diminishing his control hand you are gaining advantage. I almost always take it as Yan Lo's DF and WP are below average and even with Impossible to Wound and Incorporeal having a way to negate an opponent's damage is very powerful. This is also useful before you have upgrades equipped as passing damage off onto a hard to kill model is effective mitigation. Yan Lo really should be played aggressively after you equip upgrades and get in the thick of it. Misdirection combined with stones and a solid hand will go a long ways especially against spell slingers.

Yan Lo is my current master I am focusing on with Ten Thunders. I will bring a much bigger write up to follow as I think he is probably the most undervalued Master in the next faction next to Brewmaster. For now some easy points to take away is that Fury of the Yomi to give three spirits a 1 AP action is amazing on turns you want to drop scheme markers to score an easy take Prisoner/covert breakthrough etc... Tengu are the best option here. Do not underestimate healing with Yan Lo as it will be the primary way you keep those big beaters alive, or heal new summons from Toshiro. Reliquary isn't bad, but you should almost always take at least Misdirection. If I know Yan Lo is going to be gaining lots of chi and tarpitting I also take Fortify the Spirit to have two triggers on DF. Cache for damage prevention is also big.

Just to reiterate Torakage, Wandering River Monks, and TTB are really just better at different things. We know that TTB are useful for holding down that marker you want to stay, or reach out and engage to deny large areas of movement. The Torakage are much better for schemes like Exhaust their Forces or anything when staying in combat is detrimental. Torakage are also less card dependent compared to TTB or Wandering River Monks. While it's likely that you will flip what to you need to leap, having to cheat that is a bit frustrating. TTB can put you in weird spots as well if you hand doesn't give you exactly what you want for their stances. My meta seems to really enjoy running cheap fragile scheme runners, for that reason Torakage generally excel due to their more impressive combat abilities.

Thunders has quite a few options for resilient minions. I would just add to Paradigm's suggestions Illuminated. With armor, regen and a heal they are usually very hard to put down. While more expensive than an average line trooper they also bring versatility with a ranged attack and the ability to hit very hard. Rail Workers are also very solid I would definitely take them over Gammin now that they have been toned down. I will also second the shadow effigy suggestion, especially with Mei Feng who likes to get into the fight.

I wouldn't really call Izamu the Armor a beater. Overall he appears to be better at tarpitting. While he has melee expert it doesn't go that far in the grand scheme of things. Leveticus doesn't have a whole lot of tools to make a model hit more accurately and Izamu whiffs for me a lot. Izamu could be decent should you pair him with Dead Doxies, as he needs help with mobility. To me the biggest "beaters" I would want to bring for Levy staying in your theme: 1. Outcast - Taelor or Ama No Zako 2. Iron - Teddy, fun with Mech Rider and Metal Gamin 3. Bone - Bete Noire or Valedictorian

I went with Bushido's Kano and intend on painting a chipped rock effect on his skin.