Patzer

It looks like a really neat combo on paper, but I am suspicious to how that transfers onto the board. The Monk must stay alive (which should be that much of a problem) and within 6" of Shenlong if you want three cards and the move. However, the big thing for me is that a crew with both Emissary and Yu might be too heavy on support. Especially since Shenlong is mostly a support master himself. Shenlong's crews also got Condition Removal and can dish out Fast. I usually pick Yu or Emissary because of this in other crews, and feel that is very much true with Shenlong as well. Maybe its too good of an action to pass on and both can function, or that Yu is the one who should go.

If your meta got plenty of Lynch players; Sue is an ace against Huggy.

Interesting point on Yan Lo, I am trying to carve out a home for him. This could work. Usually I play Lynch in those strategies; try to kill the opponent with strong hitting power as well as having Depleted tank away. Having the place-tricks of Yan is very nice though, especially at such a high possible cast. I have a similar approach to Misaki, but my approach is a bit different. Misaki often wants to play a three turn game of super aggressive play. If the swings go right she will probably walk out alive of most fights with the most important enemy models. There are some finesse to that playstyle, like identifying which of her attacks is best choice, selecting good targets, and having friendlies to keep up with her in order to get off attacks onto them, heal her, or buff her in some way. If one manages to do that well, she can also stay around for the whole game too. I think that ultra-aggression can be quite allround, if you bring the right crew around her.

Do you consider it a strong choice for McCabe or situationally great? Its synergy with Yan seems so darn good! Havent tried it, but it has really got me interested in Yan Lo. Dont know really how it fits with Shenlong. The card draw seems so neat, but the crew already got condition removal and sports a ton of support already. Dont know if it is good enough to be in instead of Yu either. I really like it with Misaki. It boosts a second model who can then alpha strike with Misaki. Its personal push is great, makes it a lot more aggressive and the model works better as a standalone as well as support piece. The Misaki-aura is nice for turn two to four if the fight is in the middle, but I have rarely got a lot out of it. For me you take one of them. Yu if scheme markers are a premium or if you want to load out on Stitched and relibly win most of your duels thanks to dubbel Mulligan. Otherwise the dubbel push (plus card draw!), Fast, and its Attack too good to pass over.

Great write up and good job representing the Thunders! You ran some very interesting lists, which I liked. Cool that you ran that many different masters too. In which scenarios do you think Misaki and Yan Lo are the best choices?

Have you tried to give Huggy Fast and push him twice (8") and just chuck him into one of the most important opposing models (and have Lynch get him back later, of course)?

This thing keeps on impressing me with Lynch and Misaki. Its just solid, and such a force multiplier. How is it working for everyone else?

If you like the look of Tosh and Izamu; Yan Lo is their native master and probably the best way of playing thematically. He is a neat jack of all trades kind of master. Can do a little bit of everything. Don't know which master got the most raw power from a theme point of view. Maybe Misaki since she is kind of in charge, or Shenlong due to his tyrant status.

My experience as well. Also agree on the Misdirection point. However, SaS is certainly more interesting with Jorogumo. Just the threat of that happening should throw some wrenches into the opponents planning. With that said, still think its too unreliable.

My best advice, give this a listen: http://schemesandstones.podbean.com/e/episode-25-master-spotlight-ten-thunders-jakob-lynch/ I usually run something like the following: Jakob Lynch -- 5ss +Recalled Training - 1ss +The Rising Sun - 2ss Hungering Darkness - 0ss +Hidden Agenda - 0ss Lazarus - 11ss +Recalled Training - 1ss Shadow Effigy - 4ss (or another Depleted) Shadow Emissary - 10ss +Conflux Of Hunger - 0ss Stitched Together - 6ss The Depleted - 4ss The Illuminated - 7ss or Jakob Lynch -- 6ss +The Rising Sun - 2ss +Recalled Training - 1ss Hungering Darkness - 0ss +Recalled Training - 1ss +Hidden Agenda - 0ss Shadow Effigy - 4ss Shadow Emissary - 10ss +Conflux Of Hunger - 0ss Stitched Together - 6ss (or Mr Tannen) The Illuminated - 7ss The Illuminated - 7ss Wandering River Monk - 7ss Huggy is my cruise missile. Emissary can give it Fast and Push it 4-8". That is a tone of movement, possibly: deployment+4"+4"+6"+6"+3"(engagement range) for a whooping 23" charge range. Huggy will get almost anywhere thanks to Incorporeal too. It packs enough hitting power to put down most models by turn 2. If Huggy dies, it doesn't matter, it will come back later. Emissary can push friendlies and enemies which is nice, can hit pretty hard, and the Fast is gold. Lynch mostly stays back for the first three turns, and then engages in order to get Huggy back. If Huggy is keeping on trucking even then, I would play him more cautiously. Lynch is great by just being alive thanks to his card tricks, he will only get his hands dirty when I feel it is needed. As you said, Lynch can dish out a tone of damage and can out right kill a lot of models. Minimum damage 4 is really solid. The overall strategy for scheme running is shoot first, put down scheme markers later. I wouldn't prefer to have any interact heavy schemes (Exhaust, etc), but scheme markers should be more than fine. Tannen's Chatty can be pretty neat at times, so can Effigy's Remember the Mission. Ten Thunder Brothers are models that could be added for holding points, but I haven't mapped out a list for them yet. Sensei Yu with Wandering River can still give Huggy Fast while also adding some Scheme marker manipulation. Yu also brings another Mulligan which is nice.

Cant remember what I did in that instance. Maybe a peasant gave him Def +1. Edit. No couldnt be that either. Since it doesn't work. I Guess I only healed Shenlong up to 6 then. Really, the game was ages ago, cant remember.

Then you are missing out on making it an ancestor, which is a big thing for taking it with Yan.

I played quite a lot of Daw last summer, most of my thoughts about Daw are there.

When you start out with Misaki, I think you can do pretty well with something like this: Ten Thunders 50ss Crew Misaki -- 4ss +Misdirection - 2ss +Recalled Training / Cutpurse / Smoke and Shadows - 1ss +Stalking Bisento / Disgusie - 2ss Shang - 3ss Katanaka Sniper - 7ss Katanaka Sniper - 7ss Ototo - 10ss Shadow Effigy - 4ss Torakage - 6ss Torakage - 6ss So your initial purchase would then be Misaki's box, Shadow Effigy, and Katanaka Snipers. That is an allround list with who will do ok in most strategies. Its should get you started. Then you will definitely want Ten Thunder Brother's once they hit the store; Johan is a great addition and a merc for all your coming crews; Temple of the Dawn box will give you Misaki's best friend forever Sensei Yu and another fun master Shenlong; Yamaziko is a good henchman for Misaki; Mr Graves is a solid beater who can also help Misaki move around. Hopefully the Emissaries will turn up soon too, and the Shadow Emissary is gold with with Misaki. If you can't wait, go and find a fitting dragon proxy (Bushido got a great one). A great tactica on all things Misaki: https://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/M2E+Misaki Some additional general notes: Risky Ventures is nice, but Misaki will need to prevent a lot still, and she loves high cards and have the ability to reflip initiative. 4-6 Soulstones is her mark. Misaki can kill things, but she is great at getting killed too. With the above crew in mind this means two things. Remember to keep Misaki in line of sight of the Snipers in order for them to get Reactive if she goes down. Since the above base crew lacks ways of moving Misaki, be sure to keep her safe and don't rush in with her heads on by herself. She needs some back up. If anything just to throw Misdirection unto your own models if things go south (Shang and Effigy is great targets for this).

One in most cases, two might sneak in at times. They are really good minions for a decent asking price. Hard to Kill and 6 wounds makes them quite hard to get rid of, and they are a lot faster than the first seem like. Certainly a model that grows on you the more you play it.

No particular synergy. My Daw crews are usually top heavy, thus in dire need for some cheap significant models.

Its a great filler for Jd. Its more or less my totem with him.

My understanding is that his (3) action doesn't work with Scout. Since Scout would only work with Stand and Shot, not the following attacks. What is your reading of it?

Which are, and why?

TT got plenty of scheme marker removal and manipulation. Even though Colette can be played in other ways too. Dealing with the Duet, ignore Armor, or kill one of the Coryphees before they can merge. Lone Swordsman, and Samurai can do this. What masters do you play?

I really like Scout the Field. Especially with Lazarus, Misaki, Rusty Alyce, and Strongarm Suit. Misaki loves the first turn push, and the mind games she can pull off with being able to charge anything really within 15" is stellar. Strongarm likes it for similar reasons. I have mainly played SaS with Daw who can push it about a ton on turn 1. This have lead to a handful of killed Riders and other bigger models on turn 1-2. Lazarus loves to get a first turn addition to his movement, and a Focus shot without needing LoS from Laza is pretty brutal. Rusty with both Oathkeeper and Scout the Field is a formidable foe. She is out right scary. I would recommend any Outcast crew to add her with those upgrades!

1. Do your prep before the game. It is important to have a grasp of what he can do and the timing or requirements of his abilities or actions. I would recommend that your should start out with throwing around two upgrades between him and Yu. Might be hard to get the whole set up/prep stages early, and if you don't do it properly it will lead to inefficient play. 2. He excels at support, board control, and killing targets (preferably henchmen and masters) that has been softened up by something else. He can tank away pretty good if Yu got Low River Style while he is sporting Misdirection. 3. As tomjoad said, play a bit nicer while your friend is learning. Once he gets the basics of the game and a pretty complex master you can take the gloves off. 4. TTB would be a great buy, fantastic models for Shenlong. Shadow Effigy is an outstanding filler. Tengu are great runners.

Pretty much my experienced summed up too. It is a little more interesting with the Jorogumo out. Who will do another job than Torakage. Smoke markers can be pretty good against shooting, like Guild or Trappers. Problem is that you have to guess correctly if you are going to face some shooting or not, might not always be worth the gamble.

Wandering River Monks are great, yet pricey runners. More or less ninja-Silurids. 7" Leap is gold. High River Monks... Might be ok with the Emissary since it can lower defense on stuff that is burning. They are ok otherwise, but for 5ss you will get a TTB (which are better) and for 7ss you will get a Wandering Monk (which are better). If you want a mid-tier beater, for 7ss you got The Illuminated, for 5ss you got Railworkers and Komainu. They are simply stuck in the middle. Low River Monks. I am not a fan since I prefer models that can kill stuff. If you want condition removal Chiaki or Johan are way better choices. 4ss filler, Shadow Effigy or I would even say the very underrated Wastrel.

The Ashigaru can't interact if they are summoned the same turn! Interesting stuff otherwise.