chris_havoc

Well assassinating the leader of the Resser crew is one of the best ways of handling them. So Misaki is pretty great against them. Obviously Seamus is problematic here. Also Misdirection is great dropping in a Summoner's control area. You can waste cards and distribute damage.

OK thought so!

I just had a question about Misdirection with Yan Lo. If i misdirect an attack onto another player and it dies, does that trigger Yan Lo's Harvest Chi? I have a feeling that it is no as it would technically be the friendly model's action that killed it, right?

I have to be honest if I see Assassinate I am taking it with Misaki. I have played Misaki a fair amount and I don't think I have lost a game since the end of the first Beta where I took Assassinate. I don't even really care if I give up 3VP in the process. Misaki is a model that absolutely thrives on disrupting a crew and so allows the rest of your crew to win the game while she engages the majority of your opponent's crew. I am generally lucky to get some Crows in my hands playing her but the tactic I use is to take 4-5 SS Pool and Misdirection, Stalk the Master/intended target, wait until I have Crows in my hand, and then charge into a group and go ballistic with her. I don't try to get her out of combat I just aim to burn through resources with Assassination. Then as attacks come in burn SS to Misdirect as you will have burned through cards you are controlling that group of models for a turn or two. In that time Misaki will likely kill the master and your other models will have been able to run objectives. Granted it's not as simple as that with Wp attacks and such but her willpower is pretty great too. Masters that are card or SS dependent like summoners are the absolute best for this tactic.

I am going to try out the following list tonight or next time I play based on some of the stuff you've said. Nice thing about McCabe having Promises is that he gets positives on his attacks too. Also, trying out Misdirection to get him into some combat and really throw around some damage. I would run Smoke and Shadows on Ototo but I find it gets in the way of Misdirection in Misaki games at least. McCabe - Badge of Speed (for Ototo), Misdirection, and Promises. Ototo - Call the Thunder Mr. Graves - Recalled Training The Lone Swordsman - Recalled Training Torakage x 2

Next time I'll beat you.! ^-^

I think of all the masters the one that I find most likely better in their alternate faction is Yan Lo. Unnerving Aura is golden on Yin and Izamu. Decaying Aura is not bad either on either of them or even Toshiro with his wall of Ashigaru to take advantage of it. Even then, if the Generic Upgrades stay the same in Wave 3, I think 10T is as good a place for Yan Lo. That negatives on Sh attacks is amazing for Toshiro. Misaki works, from what I understand, as well in both her factions. Though for purposes of fluff 10T is her home. So many of the models are a great fit with her. Also being a melee assassin she LOVES Misdirection. I usually move her up Turn 1 and Stalk a model that I know has activation priority among a group of models and then second turn she Stalks forward and either Walks and Charges or just Charges into a group of enemies with her 4 attacks and Misdirection. Lynch is great wherever he is he does have a lot of models in the Never born faction though but Illuminated are 10T so he doesn't need to worry too much about that. I have discovered that the conjunction of Broken Promises on Terrifying 12 (All) Hungering Darkness is basically ensuring that your Df 3 monster will last a turn under heavy fire.I've not heard of much other direct synergy with 10T in particular though. Mei Feng also LOVES Misdirection. Where Misaki is better at focussing her attacks on the biggest guy around Mei Feng just kicks in all the faces she can with her abundance of attack actions when she's done she's likely not killed them all but left most of them limping so having the ability to then use your enemy's attacks against them makes for a powerful combo. There are a lot more construct models in the Arcanist pool and the +2 Df upgrade so she could be considered as good in either faction. There are quite a few off-fluff models Mei Feng can use from 10T too. The Dawn Serpent and Monks of the High River dish out Burning quite effectively also Komainu are quick and durable constructs who also have the ability to give out burning. McCabe is pretty great at supporting minion models and I think in Guild that is good but in 10T it is golden. 10T have amazing minion models that benefit greatly from what McCabes upgrades have to offer. One of my favourite little tricks is to give a Ten Thunders Brother Defensive with Luna's (0) action. With Misdirection McCabe can also become a threat as a combat Master with Df 6/7 while engaged. Some of the Hanchmen/Enforcer options also help McCabe be great. Toshiro adds a big punch for melee minions and against Undead/Constructs Kang is great. Ama No Zako is also a great addition with her speed, durability, and damage output. Then there are also the Guardsman options that are also cool. The Brewmaster I can't really speculate on because I've never seen him on the table. He does seem to function as a great support master regardless of whether or not he is supported by Tri Chi models though. He can also get Monks of the Fermented River in 10T.

Except the Viscera and Valedictorian I will summon either Punk Zombies or Iron Zombies as needed. Now that Viscera is a minion I will often summon him rather than hire him. The Valedictorian is amazing.

What Eternal Void said! Devour is a corner case thing but one that she can take advantage of should it happen.

Ama No Zako is also a great addition for McCabe. She can take advantage of Paralyzed and heals effectively with Nimble and Regen she is lightning fast and crazy tough. She is also a girl I think... a girl demon/oni/thing? Good stats, very fast, good abilities, good damage, and versatile actions. *thumbs up*

Playing a melee based crew The Specialist is always a good target for attacks. You neutralize one of the major ranged threats by doing so. I've not really looked intensely at the cards but the Freikorpsmann is actually pretty nasty in close quarters and probably best dealt with at range. The Librarian is a key target regardless. Losing the heal is important. Honestly I've found the best way to play against Von Schill is to group up a bit so you can gang up on single models. That's also another reason why it is so important to get rid of the Librarian and Specialist.

I've not used them in a while because I was waiting for models but I love the Monks. Never used Tengu but they are obviously better at Objective running and even denying opponents' objectives. However, they are so obviously the objective runners that they have a target on their back from the word go. They are survivable to a degree but 5 Wd and Df/Wp 4 will go down pretty quick. They are very quick though. The Monks are really really survivable. A 4 point Minion model with 5 Wd and Df/Wp 5 is pretty good. They are by no means slow but compared to Tengu they are. They gain defensive without the use of cards and in groups with Ca actions they heal themselves very well. Basically they hold objectives like nobody's business with the right crew and scheme pool. But they are not at all a threatening card and so your opponent will likely leave them be to accomplish their objectives. Especially in a Misaki cre where she is committing distracting murder somewhere far away.

Take Back The Night is pretty cool on Killjoy because of how good he is at wiping out models. I think you are underselling The Valedictorian a bit there. She is by no means slow and she is tough and able to kill. 3" Ml Rg on a 50mm base means she controls a huge area of the board too, basically an 8" control area. Her Triggers are both useful in different situations and she can stop models from declaring Triggers pretty darn effectively. She is a great model to take because whatever role you assign her in a game she is more than capable of accomplishing it and with two upgrade slots to flavour. Also.... HAVE YOU SEEN THE MODEL!?

Yeah Samurai ignore armour too!

Oh yes! I must have been thinking Anathema.

Sorry if I am raising this topic from the dead but I had a game recently with Mei Feng against aNicodem and the general synergy of Mei's Foundry models toward getting rid of undead is impressive. Kang is obviously useful and a very big target but Mei being immune to Slow and Paralyzed means that only The Hanged bother her and even then 6 Wp is a solid stat to start off with. The Rail Golem really works well against undead with their relatively low Df stats and his abundance of attacks and high damage render the undead into dust pretty quick. Not to mention that Hard Worker's bonuses make a massive portion of undead lose their core defensive ability. Rail Workers also ignore it even if out of LoS of Hard Worker. So against any undead crew Mei Feng is a solid bet almost regardless of scheme pool. Thunderous Smash is also an amazing upgrade that I had dismissed in the past but it basically undermines your opponents schemes and counters. In essence vs. a construct heavy or undead heavy faction Mei Feng is a great choice. Her models are tough and dish out good damage so are good for Turf War and Reckoning and should work with Squatters Rights given that they need to be close to one another but not bunched up. Reconnoiter might be a struggle though. Aside from Mei and the Rail Golem though they are not the fastest crew around and so schemes that require being a distance out of the Deployment Zone can be tricky.

Why did I read 2!? Man... cheated myself.

Yeah with tomes and ascendant upgrades Yan Lo is really hard to actually touch and even harder to kill. However, I think the max bonus for Fortify the Spirit is +2 so you'll be on 7 rather than 8 but still in really good stead.

Chiaki is also an ancestor. I think you may be confusing the Ascendant upgrades for Ancestor upgrades. Unfortunately Yan Lo is the only one who has access to this via his Chi Mechanic. I've also only just got this crew so some experience would be appreciated! Though I have been eyeing them for ages so my theoryfaux is strong. My only experience is as 10 Thunders but Ashigaru are basically a spiky, impassable wall with Toshiro giving positives and Yan Lo healing. Toshiro's upgrade allows you to bring them back too should they die. I've tried this out and it was very good. With Toshiro though beware those things that ignore Hard to Wound. This is theoretically sound though I've not tried it yet but using Onryo in conjunction with Izamu and Komainu is also a good option because when the Onryo suffer damage they give out a condition that gives bonuses to friendly Spirits. It's also obviously useful when Yan Lo turns things into Spirits. With the appropriate order of activation it s possible to have two Ashigaru with Fast from Toshiro. Which can equate to 3-6 attacks per Ashigaru depending on your success and ability to charge. Yin is a great control piece in that she can hold models in place if she is engaged with them or if she uses The Fear Behind the Eyes. Gnawing Fear is just great for Yin herself as well as the Spirit Porter and Chiaki who can then give Chi out more reliably. She is also tough. Chiaki is a very good support/control piece with her ability to hand out Chi and remove conditions/heal. She is also frustrating to go after with her high Manipulative but she is very soft but not usually high priority. A trick with her if you need to heal Yan Lo and don't want to lose the Chi condition is that you can give him Slow with her upgrade's ability and remove that instead. The Soul Porter is great for upping the mobility of your Ancestors and also pretty damn decent at generating Chi for them. Just be careful because he can be killed really, really easily. He also helps against other models that would remove Chi from your ancestors. Yan Lo is quite an odd master because he starts out the game pretty average but becomes ridiculously powerful through Chi. What I learned from playing him is that it is a good idea to spend Chi on defensive upgrades earlier in the game and then focus on building Chi up to up your Ca. Fortify the Spirit is an awesome upgrade and can really toughen him up. Essentially Tomes are worth two more than the card says. Instill youth is very good once you have some Chi and expensive but useful if you don't. Spirit Barrage is great but has relatively low damage output for a master while Brutal Khakkahara is less reliable but, as the name suggests, brutal. Great against low Defense models. Reliquary I think i actually pretty great considering that with Chi it is easier to cast and Enforcers/Henchmen are brought back for a pretty low cost. They're all tough and/or useful so it is good. Unless you have stacked up defensive upgrades and Chi for Fortify the Spirit Lightning Dance can be a risky move but it is very good for getting enemy models into trouble. Same with Hunpo Assault what is nice about this ability is that for high Df/low Wound/ Spirit Barage works a charm and for low Df/high Wound/high Armour/hard to wound models Brutal Khakahara is amazing.

Onryo are Retainers I think?

YAY! I won my first game with McCabe! Against a good opponent and a tough Seamus list. I took out Sidir for two 10T Brothers and also three wastrels. McCabe died in Turn 2 but he got all his upgrades out and scored 2 Cursed Object VP. So the one brother because of Nimble scored 3 points and laid down two Sabotage markers. The other 10T Brother got the actual Sabotage marker back after it was removed. Ama No Zako prevented Contain Power by not dying super good. I think it ended 9-7 in my favour. Thanks again for your advice.

I think Toshiro is just great in general. Especially because he buffs minions who McCabe focuses on. Kang could also prove useful because of his buffs.

Yeah I have also been considering taking Sidir out of the more melee focussed lists. I could get 4 dogs for his cost basically. Or 10T Brothers. I agree that mixing it up would likely yield better results. I am just not familiar enough with the models to know what works with them. McCabe is a bit unlike the other 10T masters who are a bit more out of the box in terms of synergy. All my other crews I do better with and I think it is because the masters act in a more obvious way. I think it may be that I am over-investing in Henchmen as you've pointed out. I think limiting myself to one Henchman and filling the stones in with some more minions to give my lists versatility.

<moan>Urgh. Third time trying this post a third time. First my router reset itself second I had a power failure and my browser didn't save what I'd typed...</moan> ANYWAY! I am playing him as 10T and have had a bit more success with some newer lists I drew up but not exactly winning success... I am still struggling with when to throw McCabe himself into the fray. I have about 3 variations of the list now with Ama No Zako as a replacement for some of the minions I was playing before and one list with Dashel. Theses stay the same: McCabe with Elixir, Badge, and Sabre. Luna. Sidir (usually with Promises and By Your Side). Ama No Zako (usually with Recalled Training to take advantage of Promises). Then I add either: 4 Hounds and the Shadowy Effigy who work well together, 3 10T Brothers who benefit a lot from Luna's Bark (may work better with Ottoto rather than Sidir), 4 Wastrels who are just generally pretty good, OR 2 Pathfinders and 2 Traps (this is the only one I have actually tried). The other list idea consists of McCabe, Luna, and Sidir as above but with Dashel and 3 Riflemen.

Hey there, So I've been trying to get McCabe down since his final rules came out and I've not been very successful. I've tried a couple crew styles out but none have seemed to click yet. So I wondered if I could pick at your collective brains on how to approach different victory conditions and opponents. Much appreciated! Chris.