Rurouni Benshin

The order did contain Aionus, but to my understanding, the orders would still be processed without the model, and it would be sent at a later date. Prior to Aaron's clarification yesterday, I'd have presumed that a response email would have come at it's usual response time. And then after reading it, considering that Aaron had mentioned that packages would still be processed, I assumed it only logical that mine would be. So when I hadn't heard anything, naturally I was disconcerted. Thank you for the further clarification on the matter.

I made 2 orders to Wyrd, one of which arrived yesterday, with everything intact. The other, however, seems to have yet to be shipped. I've emailed Wyrd twice now, but have yet to even hear a response about it. Pretty sure I've been sending the emails to the correct form (General Feedback), and they've historically all responded within a reasonable time frame (1-2 days at most). Last email I sent was on Monday, after having sent them one last week (Friday?). This has been the longest I've had to wait for a response email, and I sincerely hope that there's a legitimate reason for it.

Hi guys, Just wanted to get some feedback on what some of your favorite Henchmen are for "Henchmen Hardcore" matches. I realize that some TO's play with different parameters (different model compositions, upgrades, etc), but overall I would think that the opinions on Henchmen and their effectiveness don't generally change. That said, I'll start off with mine. My top two are Ama No Zako and Yamaziko. 1. Ama No Zako: The last HH I played it, she was my leader (however this was as an Outcast leader). I would imagine though that as a TT leader, she's equally effective, but in different ways. Her ability to create her 4" aura of hazardous terrain was what ultimately won me the tournament, having done about 8 Wds of damage per game on average alone, and is great at locking down opposing models. With the right sequence of activations, her crew is very effective. 2. Yamaziko: Although a rather fragile leader, her saving grace is that she brings a cache of 6. Paired off with another Henchman that can dish out damage and soak a bunch (ie - Fuhatsu, Kang), those stones could come in very handy for a lot of stuff.

For general tactics, I find that https://pullmyfinger.wikispaces.com/ is very helpful. I'd suggest starting there, and then if you have more specific questions, ask here. To answer your question concerning "Stake a Claim" though, I like Von Schill and his Freikorps crew. Combine that with the Emissary, and you have yourself some great mobility to get around the board and do all the necessary interactions you need. Good luck!

Yes, he does. Although with his other abilities, my initial thoughts for him would be to send him against the opposition, and running strategy/schemes as a secondary.

Or pretty much anyone with Nimble, at this point.

With Colette, I find that her box crew and the Coryphee run very well together. Substitute one of the Mannequins for Angelica, and you have a very thematic, yet effective list for quite a few different missions. Wouldn't recommend bringing her for Reckoning (amongst the other Arcanist Masters, anyway), but for the other 4 strategies and any scheme requiring scheme markers, I like this crew for them. Here's what mine would look like most of the time: Colette: (Cache: 5) - Cabaret Choreography - Nothing Up My Sleeve - Arcane Reservoir Cassandra Angelica Coryphee Coryphee Performer Performer Mannequin My usual strategy is starting the first turn by summoning 1 or 2 Doves. Arcane Reservoir helps with card draw, so having a couple of low cards early on isn't too bad since they can be used for "Nothing Up My Sleeve" to add a soulstone. The majority of Colette's AP's after that are spent "Prompting" the Coryphee/Duet to move and attack. Along with Cassandra's "Prompt" trigger, that's potentially 7 attacks with the Coryphee when it needs to really kill something. Performers and Mannequins help with scheme running, and Angelica is there for back end support, or dropping scheme markers for Colette to escape to when she's in a jam.

6 models seems a little scarce for a 50 ss list, but that's just my opinion. You could probably do without Ototo in this particular case, since you're bringing so much offense between Misaki and Fuhatsu already. For what the crew seems to "want" to do, replacing Ototo with Yamaziko and Smoke and Shadows would serve the same purpose. That way you've got 3 ss left over for Shang. As much as I like Recalled Training, it's been wasted on Sensei Yu, in my experience playing with it on him. The only time Sensei Yu ends up with Recalled Training is when he picks it up via Promising Disciple after Shenlong has used it. Otherwise, I find that I'm using him to push models more than going after enemy models to make the best use of it. Again, that's just in my experiences with him and Recalled Training. If you've experienced positive results with it, please do share them though. Although I've yet to play Misaki with "Disguised" and Sensei Yu together, I find that they're "bread and butter" tactic is with "Stalking Bisento". I used to fall into this trap, of trying to have my crew do a little bit of everything, instead of trying to specialize them and cater to their strengths strictly. Misaki is good with "Disguised", but is far better with "Stalking Bisento", especially if Sensei Yu is with her. She's a glass cannon, for sure, but she'll go down fighting, and hopefully do enough damage before she's taken out. Past couple of games with Misaki, I've actually managed to keep her around to the end, and that came with practice in tactics. At this point, I think I've gotten to the point where I'm comfortable with her playing style.

I second this. Queeg is a good carrier for it if you're having trouble with making room for other models. Even at 7ss, he's pretty reliable for a Henchman.

lol, to be perfectly honest, for me at this point, it's more about "which Master does this better than Perdita?" That said, for "Stake a Claim", I would definitely give the nod to McCabe, but only because I've never played as Hoffman yet. Luna is an amazingly good totem, especially in games where scheme markers are needed. Can't go wrong with 2-3 Guild Hounds in the crew for them, although 2 and Luna should be plenty already. Leaves plenty of room to bring along some beatsticks to come and keep the opposition preoccupied. Executioners are good to bring along, especially with their ability to use Scheme Markers to make extra actions. Basically, any model that can have an easy time keeping pace with McCabe going towards combat are the models you'd want to bring along with you. Add Francisco for extra lulz.

Oops... Forgot Langston. That should round it off to a full 50ss. Funny, since I know I mentioned him later in my explanation, but just forgot to list him with the crew. Thanks!

Great, that's what I had thought as well. Thanks for clarifying guys!

My questions about the trigger and how they work are: Suppose Nino is currently losing the duel by 1. Nino elects not to cheat, and the opposing model elects not to cheat. Assuming nothing denies Nino of his built in suit, could Nino then declare the "Precision" trigger? "Precision" says that the result of the duel is immediately increased by 1 for each in the final duel, so I'm lead to believe that Nino doesn't have to be winning the duel prior to the "trigger declaration" part of the duel in order to declare it, since not all Triggers require that the duel be won in order to be declared. Am I wrong for presuming "Precision" can be triggered here? Thank you!

Torakage cost 1 ss more though, so it depends on how the rest of the list works. If they were the same cost, I'd take Torakage all the time though.

It's the "Last Blossom" characteristic that they have that makes them work with the list. Nothing against TT Brothers, but they're not Last Blossom (anymore, from what I understand).

The few times I've played as Ramos, this list has worked very well for me. Ramos (Cache: 7) - Arcane Reservoir - Under Pressure Brass Arachnid Joss - Bleeding Edge Tech Mechanical Rider Mobile Toolkit The list basically works off summoning off of the scrap markers that are initially generated by from Joss attacking the Mobile Toolkit. I take a full cache and Arcane Reservoir on Ramos because I highly value the extra card draw on him, since he really needs that 11 to summon maximum Spiders each turn. IMO, Combat Mechanic is a bit wasted, unless he's healing himself. Thankfully I've never had to do that yet, since every game I've played I've managed to keep my oppositions' crew preoccupied with Spiders and Spider Swarms. Joss has always been the one to carry "Bleeding Edge Tech" since he's more likely to be closer in combat with the Spiders than Ramos is. By Turn 3, I usually have 2 Swarms and at least 2 more spiders running around, accomplishing schemes and strategies already. Mechanical Rider summons his own Spiders each turn, or Metal Gamin if I'm facing Constructs. The Brass Arachnid has been a great totem for me each time as well, usually giving "Reactivate" to whoever it suits the best at the moment. Early game, it's usually Howard or Joss, but later on the Mech Rider has been Reactivated a couple of times.

In the games I've played using the Last Blossom theme, here is how the list generally looks, when catered to the right schemes and strategies. Misaki: (Cache: Potential 7) - Stalking Bisento - Recalled Training - (Open Slot, depending on which faction I'm facing) Shang Yamaziko - Smoke and Shadows Sensei Yu - Wandering River Style Shadow Emissary - Conflux of Thunder Oiran Oiran The open slot on Misaki is dependent on whether or not I'm playing against Neverborn or Ressers, since there are a good number of Terrifying models from those factions. If I'm facing them, then I take "Untouchable" for the ability to pass Horror Duels without needing to cheat cards. If I'm not facing either of those factions, then "Hidden Agenda" goes on Misaki. In the past, I've had moderate success with Hidden Agenda on her, since she's usually always in the thick of battle, and the Oiran generally have an easy time keeping LOS of her. Two Oiran are more than enough for the list, I find. They and Yamaziko are the primary scheme and strategy runners, while Misaki and the Shadow Emissary keep the opposition preoccupied. Sensei Yu is there for the extra pushing and faster movement that's needed for the crew. I had previously liked running a low cache with Misaki, but have since started playing with a larger one, and have just adjusted my soulstone usage a bit more liberally. Otherwise, depending on what the scheme pool is, a Shadow Effigy could work well with this list, although I find that the 2 Oiran usually suffice. A Monk of Low River for condition removal would work just as well. If you want a long range damage dealer for Hidden Agenda though, Fuhatsu is a great candidate for that. He's Ht 3 and has a good chance of hitting most things, so good chance you'll be getting your Focus & Fast from him.

No, Sensei Yu does not require to have an upgrade to start the game, but he does need "Promising Disciple" in order to get the upgrade that Shenlong discards. The only model between the 2 that requires one to start is Shenlong, since he MUST have a limited upgrade on him already before he can attach a new one. That said, Sensei Yu, can not only pick up the limited upgrades that Shenlong discards, but ANY upgrade as well. So if you were to put any of the other Ten Thunders upgrades that are discarded upon use on Shenlong (ie - Broken Promises, Recalled Training, Servant of the 5 Dragons), Sensei Yu can pick them up after he's used them, all the while ignoring upgrade restrictions. My personal tactic at the start of every game is having the one Peasant I purchase for the crew perform an Interact action to summon the second Peasant, and then on Shenlong's first turn, he uses "Monks of Many Styles" to gain a new style, and give Sensei Yu the upgrade he discards.

And just as a quick note, assuming he can actually benefit from "Finish the Job", are people really going to put that 1 upgrade on him just for that? Because in all seriousness, there are better ones. "Oath Keeper" has been primarily used for "Fast" in just about every game I've played against and as an Outcast Master.

I think we're splitting hairs as to what "placing" and "dropping" mean here, but to clarify this further, I went back to the corebook, and found this under "Corpse Markers". "When a model with the Living or Undead characteristic is killed, the model's controller places a Corpse Marker in base contact with the model before it is removed. Corpse Markers are technically dropped by every Living and Undead model when it dies. However, it is not necessary to place these Markers if neither player has a model that would interact with them. Players may safely agree to not have models drop Corpse Markers in games where neither Crew will be making use of them." That's taken straight from the book. (It's also similarly worded under "Scrap Markers" as well, in case you were wondering.) So going by what it says in that text, I'm pretty sure that when the rule was created, "placing" and "dropping" markers are synonymous to each other in what their intended meanings are.

The good thing about Disrupt Magic is that it doesn't need to go on Sonnia though, so you could take all 4 in theory.

Perdita's close attack is still Sh, so Riposte shouldn't work on her. Otherwise, the Emissary looks like MVP. And this is the most work I've seen a Papa Loco do in a game ever. Wow, I totally missed that. Thanks for the tip! I'm normally not a fan of Papa Loco since he's pretty fragile. I was pretty lucky with him the one time he attacked though (flipped Severe twice on a to wound). Since we were playing Turf War, I figured it wouldn't be hard to get him close to a bunch of enemy models. And yeah, the Emissary is pretty badass with that damage spread and the auto suit for "Never Bluff a Six-Gun".

Someone's not played enough Lynch and Huggy...! lol, very true. Admittedly, I've only played Lynch once, and yes, Huggy is very much indeed important to Jakob. I don't think of their relation to each other much though, since every other Master has it's own unique and separate Henchman and Totem.

HI all, Been awhile since I posted a Battle Report, and since I took the liberty of taking photos of the game I played, thought I'd share them along with the BR, and some comments and thoughts for it. All photos were taken at the end of each turn. Strategy: Turf War Deployment: Standard Scheme Pool: Line in the Sand, Distract, Assassinate, Plant Explosives, Spring the Trap My Schemes: Assassinate and Plant Explosives His Schemes: Distract and Assassinate My Crew: Perdita Ortega (Cache: 7) - Trick Shooting - Aura Ancestral - Dampening Field Enslaved Nephilim Francisco Ortega - Wade In Santiago Ortega - Hair Trigger Papa Loco Brutal Emissary Brutal Effigy His Crew: Lady Justice (Cache: 7) - Implacable The Judge Executioner Executioner Hunter Hunter Brutal Effigy Turn 1: We both deployed our forces roughly in the center of our deployment zones as close to the Turf War marker as we could. Papa Loco starts by giving "Hold This" to Perdita, and hanging out behind the Emissary. Francisco is next to act, and gives "El Mayor" to Perdita, and moves up behind some cover in the middle of the board. The Emissary boxes Papa, and moves up as well. Enslaved Nephilim "Shackled" Santiago and Perdita towards Francisco. He moves his Executioners and Hunters up towards the middle, heading towards cover as well. One of his Hunters takes a pot shot at Francisco, but misses due to the cover. Both of our Effigy's use "Fear Not the Sword" on our respective Leaders, and move up towards the middle. Perdita relocates towards Francisco, walks once, and then charges the Hunter that shot at Francisco, after using "True Mark", and kills it on 2 attacks. The Judge then moves and pulls Lady Justice within LOS of Perdita, who eventually charges in, but misses on all 3 attacks, thanks largely to "El Mayor". Santiago moves closer towards the middle, and shoots at his Effigy, triggering "Trigger Happy". Fortunately I was able to cheat up to severe damage on the first shot to bring it down to 1 Wd, and then managed to kill it on the "Trigger Happy" attack. Turn 2: Lady Justice starts by swinging at Perdita, and manages to clip her once for 3 Wds, after some damage reduction from soulstones. My Effigy then gives her "Fear Not the Sword" and goes off to the far right. He then moves The Judge just opposite of Perdita, to keep her from relocating. Perdita then goes, but only manages 1 hit on Lady Justice, and takes a couple of hits from her "Riposte". His first Executioner walks up towards the center and camps there. The Enslaved Nephilim then walks and "Shackled" the Emissary towards Francisco. His other Executioner then charges the Emissary, and deals 3 Wds to it. Francisco gives "El Mayor" to Santiago and charges the Executioner that charged earlier, knocking off 6 Wds. His last Hunter walks up closer and just camps on the middle, since he doesn't want to risk shooting into melee. Santiago walks off slightly to the right to take a pot shot at Lady Justice, but misses. The Emissary then finishes off the Executioner that charged him, and releases Papa Loco from his box. Papa Loco then gives "Hold This" to the Emissary, and shoots the Hunter with his "Throw Dynamite". Flipped severe damage, and managed to clip the other Executioner within the 2 blast markers. Score after Turn 2 is 1-1. Turn 3: Lady Justice kills Perdita on 2 attacks, moves up to engage Santiago, and heals herself back up to full Wds. Emissary shoots at Lady Justice with "Rule of Law" twice and manages to damage her for 10 Wds (with help of RJ on damage flip) after soulstone reduction. I then "Companion" Francisco, give "El Mayor" to the Emissary, who then charges Lady Justice, and kills her on 2 attacks, after spending 2 soulstones to add additional Rams to my attacks. The Judge then charges Santiago, and brings him down to 3 Wds. Papa Loco gives "Hold This" to the Emissary again, walks up slightly, and drops a Scheme Marker between the remaining Hunter and Executioner. His Executioner flails at my Emissary, thanks in part to "El Mayor". My Effigy drops a Scheme Marker right by The Judge, then moves a little closer to the middle of the board. His Hunter moves up to engage Papa Loco to interact with him for Distract. Finally, the Enslaved Nephilim moves up twice, and Santiago manages to disengage from The Judge, moving towards the middle. Score after Turn 3 is 7-4 my favor, since we both accomplished Assassinate, and I accomplished "Plant Explosives". Turn 4: His Executioner leads off and interacts with the Emissary for Distract. My Emissary then goes, and attacks the Executioner with "Rule of Law", triggering "Never Bluff a Six Gun" to take the attack on the Hunter after damaging it for 4 Wds. I kill the Hunter on the triggered attack, and then kill the last Executioner on the next attack. Lastly, I use his "Tyranny Lights the Way" (0) action to let 2 other models activate. Papa Loco shakes off the Distract, now that he's no longer engaged, and Santiago "Rapid Fires" into The Judge. Triggers "Trigger Happy" on first shot for 5 damage combined on the two attacks. Hits on the second attack, and I flip RJ on the damage, triggering Hard to Kill. At this point, we call the game since it's pretty likely The Judge isn't going to live long between 4 more potential attacks from Santiago and Francisco. Final score ended up at 10-5, since I had Turf War for all 4 turns to his 2, and since he didn't manage to get any for Distract. My thoughts: For my first game with the Brutal Emissary, it worked out as best as I could hope. Being surrounded by models that I could trigger off onto helped a ton, since I could've in theory, taken a shot at each model within 4". His "Tyranny Lights the Way" couldn't have come at a better time, allowing Papa Loco and Santiago to go first before him getting activate anyone else. Francisco proves, yet again, how powerful "El Mayor" really is. I made one tactical error, in not having Perdita relocate sooner when I could have "Accompliced" her with the Brutal Effigy. It would've forced Lady Justice to charge a second time, and thus negating her positive damage flips. Otherwise, the game went as well as I could've probably planned for. Thanks for reading, everyone!

The league was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad I had the time to participate in it! Can't wait to see the finished plaques that were made!