Rurouni Benshin

If you take Sensei Yu in our game tonight, I am going to sulk... a lot... I guess it depends on if I decide to play Brewmaster as a Gremlins Master or a TT Master then.

So I have a question about Sensei Yu running with Brewmaster. Say if Sensei uses Brewmasters "Drinking Contest" (0) action, and an enemy model happens to be within 3" of both him and the Brewmaster, would the model have to test twice before getting to take it's intended action?

Being out activated hasn't really hurt me all that much, to be quite honest. Most of the games I play I am out activated, by about 1-2 models on average (I bring anywhere from 7-8 models to start, 6 rare occasions). Usually about halfway through Turn 2 though, I've caught up to my opponent. Unless they're playing a summoning Master, it's rarely ever been a problem for me. Case and point: The last game I played Mei Feng was against Hamelin. The game ended in a 10-10 tie. In hindsight, I did make 1-2 tactical errors, but it does go to show that even when outactivated, your chances of winning aren't dramatically different. And to comment on "unspent stones being wasted", I haven't lost/won a game where each stone used wasn't prudent, and there've been plenty of games where I had stones left over. The important turns to know when to use them are usually during Turns 2-4. It's those critical moments between deciding if you want to draw extra cards in the beginning of the turn, or if you want to reflip initiative. That's when choosing to use a stone or not becomes critical. And if you end up winning with a stone or two left over, does it really matter if it's unused at that point? I mean, you still won, right?

I like this idea better than "Mimic's Blessing/Useless Duplication", personally. Keeps the two of them together for a solid "1-2 Punch" against models that needs to be taken down, and saves points on upgrades that could probably be better spent on other models. That said, I'll just echo what everyone else has said about the Viks. Being able to ignore all those regular defenses is what makes them so "killy" in the first place. When I face them, I do my best not to bunch up my models together, although that can't always be helped. Another nice model that I've found to have immense use is Sloth (from the Crossroads Seven). As a 9 ss Merc, his "Just Lay Down" Df trigger is very handy for stopping people dead in their tracks. And while the Viks dish out a lot of damage, they're essentially glass canons themselves. Df 5 and 6 aren't hard to hit, and they only have 7 Wds each, with a starting Cache of 1. They'll be soaking up damage quickly and spending stones to prevent them too. With the Viks, it's usually wiser to play a waiting game to see where they commit, and if you end up having to lose 1 or 2 models to their sling shot, it should optimally leave you with a few behind that are still able to attack them.

Shadowopal, that site you provided looks like it's exactly what I need. When I uploaded a sample image, it came out pretty clear on the "design" portion of the screen, but the image is only 44 Kb. Do you think it'll print alright, even though it shows up clear from my point of view? And thanks for the free image, SuperFly. Worst case scenario, I can probably bring that to Staples and have them make a custom banner for me there. Thanks again everyone!

Hi everyone, I'm wondering if any of you have had any experiences with making your own custom vinyl play mats for the game. I recently went to Staples, and they do vinyl printings for approximately $38/mat (tax and shipping included) when printed in 36'' x 72'' increments. I'm looking for some pictures that I can use for the mats, but they recommend photos close to at least 600 megapixels. I'm confident I don't need a picture that big in size, but if any of you have any insight you'd like to share, it'd be very much appreciated. And yes, I'm well aware of numerous sites out there that offer some really nice playmats at decent prices. I'm trying this out in an effort to save money, and to do something fun for myself. Also, if you know of any companies that could do custom vinyl banner printings, please share. Thanks again!

I've had some success with Jorogumo. Got to use him a couple of times with the "Smoke & Shadows" upgrade, which proved very useful too. Compared to the Dawn Serpent, he might not be as resilient, although with Hard to Wound and Hard to Kill, and "Eat Your Fill", he's pretty close. That said, I've yet to play him without a Last Blossom Master/Henchman though, and I don't see myself taking him in games without one.

It's most popularly used with crews lead by Ramos, or any Outcast crew that has an Obedient Wretch. It's their one niche way of summoning more models with each turn.

Completely agree. It should and ONLY should provide a reliable way for her to Rail Walk from construct/scrap marker to construct/scrap marker. Anyone attempting this in a casual game would determine whether or not I play this person again in the future. For purposes of a tournament, I'd make it my every effort to minimize the amount of time being wasted on the effort, and then having a lengthy discussion with the TO about it after the round is over. That said, I don't believe it to be OP. It doesn't change the way Mei Feng is played, and you're equally as likely to burn through good cards as you are bad cards. It's a pittance of a legitimate tactic at best, and a stall tactic at worst.

Depends on which Master I'm playing. For Yan Lo, I bring Izamu, b/c I can summon him back if he dies. For Nicodem, I use Rogue Necromancy, but only through summoning him with the "Spare Parts" upgrade. With Kirai, Ikiryo is generally more than enough, since she can be summoned repeatedly. As far as heavy hitting minions, I like Punk Zombies for their "Flurry". Crooked Men and Drowned, while not as offensively strong, are pretty resilient, and have "Finish the Job" which is great for certain schemes.

I've played Colette with just her box crew, plus the Coryphee Duet, and I've had great success with them. Having a Mannequin is really good for placing Scheme Markers far away on Turn 1, and it helps being able to mass drop them in various locations for Colette to take advantage of later. While 2 might not be necessary, I would still recommend using at least 1. Mechanical Rider is strong and durable, especially towards the end game. If I ever play her with another model though, I'll chime back in and talk about my experiences with it.

Payment's been sent! My name is Ben, btw.

Thanks, guys. Figured as much!

I keep a full 7, but then again I do that with just about all my Masters, save for Misaki, who I keep about 4-5.

Hi all, Just wondering about what the ability can target. We know that attack actions can target friendly models, but can they target the model making the attack? I've heard that attack actions must target other models. I was then told that because "Airburst" is a Cast Action, Sensei Yu can target himself with it. The Captain's "Airburst" is similarly worded. So I guess my question is: Can Sensei Yu target himself with "Airburst"? Thanks everyone!

Against Ressurrectionists and Arcanists, Mei Feng & Co are my "go to" crew. Kang's built-in hitting and damaging alone is great. The upgrade "Hard Worker" is also practically tailor-made for fighting against them.

Great, please sign me up then! My name is Ben, and I'll be sending payment shortly.

Are proxies allowed for models that haven't been made/released yet?

Thanks, D! I figured as much.

Hi all, Just looking for some clarification on Yan Lo's Chi collecting abilities. 1. Does "Harvest Chi" stack with "Revitalize"? If I were to kill an enemy model with Yan Lo while within 8" of it, does my Chi increase by 2, since they're seperate abilities? 2. Would I get +2 Chi from "Revitalize" from dealing severe damage AND killing the target on that same attack? My initial guesses are "Yes" and "No" respectively. But clarification would be appreciated. Thanks! :)

If you ever plan on expanding to other factions, it's a good deal. If you only plan to play Guild and ONLY Guild, there's no need for it. When I bought the Generalist Deck, I was missing both the Neverborn and Gremlin decks, and Wave 1 of Guild. I don't play either of the first two (yet), but I'm glad I picked it up because Wave 1 Guild was on back order for so long. For me, I thought it was well worth it. Now all I have to worry about is getting the M2E edition to all the models and I'm set.

I just played Yan Lo for the second time (2nd time as TT Master, as well), and he did more than well. The trick really is to just get him in range so he can enough "Harvest Chi" early on. I didn't take all of the Ancestor models, but it honestly wasn't necessary for it to work. I brought Sensei Yu, who honestly was the unsung MVP of my list, even though he was the only model to die. Izamu and Yin were great at alpha striking and tarpitting the opposition, and my one Onryo did all scheme running I needed (Plant Evidence and Take Prisoner were my Schemes). The upgrades I took on Yan Lo were Reliquary, Brutal Khakkara, and Recalled Training. Never got to use either of the first 2 because 1) None of my Ancestor models died (even though Izamu took plenty of damage) and 2) Never got in range of anyone to hit with the attack. On Turn 1, I used Ascendance to gain Ash Ascendant, mainly for "Impossible to Wound". On Turn 2, I managed to kill 1 model on 2 hits (one for Severe Damage), and that managed to get my Chi up to +3. From that point on, I didn't have to use Ascendance until the last turn for Spirit Ascendant so I could get to the model I needed to Take Prisoner easier. At first, I thought that because I needed to use "Instill Youth" to heal my models, I wouldn't get many opportunities to use "Ascendance". To my surprise though, I found that I really didn't need to. By the end of the game, after using "Ascendance" for the 2nd time, my Chi was still at a +7. So yeah... Yan Lo as a TT Master is pretty badass.

Shenlong does not excel well in Reckoning, based on my experience with playing him. He's great at board manipulation and buffing his crew, but his damage output is not amazing, hence my opinion on him in Reckoning. Misaki and Mei Feng are far better suited for that. That said, between the 3 Masters you have, you can accomplish all 5 Strategies as well as most Schemes. It's more about how you build the crew to cater to the rest of the mission.

If you're not running Oiran, why would you have "Hidden Agenda"? Granted it's a 0 ss upgrade, but it seems a bit out of place if you don't have any Oiran in the crew. I would also spend the 1 ss to put Vapormancy on Mei Feng. That way you could at least trigger Vent Steam off an attack if you needed to.

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