Rurouni Benshin

It's not the size, bro... That's what she said...

Considering how big that gun is on his model, you'd think it would do more damage.

I'm a big fan of the old metal Rogue Necromancy, actually. So much, in fact I bought 2 of them. As for their use in a game with Nicodem, I've managed to summon one on turn 3 before, with significant effects in the game. I could've summoned him on Turn 2, but it was less prudent at the time, due to some other circumstances on the board. Most likely would've been able to summon a second one, but my opponent conceded by end of turn 3. At any rate, my favorite summons for Nicodem are Crooked Men and Drowned, mostly for "Finish the Job" though. Situationally, the Students from the University of Transmortis are great, depending on who you're facing. In the game mentioned above, I summoned a Student of Viscera on Turn 1 (facing the Viks), and managed to tarpit the "sling shot" a bit. Of course it didn't stop them all together, but it bought me some precious time in that they were busy attacking a summoned model vs a model I paid for for the crew. Worked out for me in the end, and since then I've been sold on Rogue Necro's for Nicodem.

Additionally, if you play as Ironsides, Warding Runes is a great upgrade to stop any built-in casting triggers.

Ah, so a tactical error on his part. I've only used Imbued Energies once or twice for the "Fast" condition, largely because "Frame for Murder" is usually on the table when I decide to play it. I think I've always benefited more from the card draw now, that I think about it.

Here, here.

Seems to me the person you were playing against either wasn't fully aware of Langston's abilities, or was planning rather poorly on his game play. Not having 2 soulstones or 2 cards in your hand to prevent Assassination on Turn 2 speaks more about the player than the models doing the work, IMHO. That said, nothing's impossible in this game. If you target models with the right attack against the right defense, it will die. The game favors offensive abilities over defensive inherently, so beatsticks will win in the long haul usually more often than others. I like Arcane Reservoir and Under Pressure as my two staple upgrades. I've also used Seize the Day with him before, and it's worked out well with him. Otherwise, I tend to switch between Imbued Energies every now and again, depending on the strat/scheme pool.

You're welcome.

He's an auto-include for me for a few Masters, but not all of them. His other under-appreciated ability is that his Ml attack ignores Df triggers, and gives out Burning, Poison, or Slow after dealing damage. The man is a lot more fierce than he appears. Which is weird, because in the fluff, he's such a nice guy.

I've only played Francisco with Perdita, so my experiences with him and other Masters is minimal. However, that said, I've had great success with him as a buffer and as a close combat specialist. It is true that putting "El Mayor" on a priority target (Masters, some Henchmen/Enforcers) is usually easiest in the first couple turns of the game, but a lot of it also depends on variable factors as well (ie - Strats/Schemes, deployment, position of other crew members). If you're playing him with Perdita, more than likely you're also running the Enslaved Nephilim, who can provide great positioning support with his "Shackled" ability. And if you're not playing him with Perdita, I would imagine "Hermanos de Armas" would make a great upgrade to keep him close to people who can benefit most from "El Mayor" or just people who want to get to combat faster (ie - Lady J.) Personally, I'd willingly run him with Lady J in a game, if anything to make better use of her "Riposte" trigger. And being that it is likely that they go to close combat together, it's likely she can benefit from "El Mayor" more frequently. For other Masters that don't get into close combat as much (Sonnia, Hoffman, and Lucius), Francisco wouldn't be as practical of a choice since their playstyles contrast to his abilities more. And as for "Wade In", I wasn't sold on that upgrade when I first tried playing the box crew, but I've realized it is well worth it's 1 ss cost. Having a (0) action heal is a lot more useful than you might think, and unless you're facing a crew that can ignore it, having Hard to Kill is never bad.

Yeah, I can see how that'd definitely be ridiculous. So the only thing he can't do when he's summoned is Interact then, with the only exception being on his first activation on the turn after he's summoned.. Essentially, you're getting 2 activations out of him each turn (provided he dies anyway). Wow... *lol*... I feel kind of bad that I know all of this now...

lol, I totally read that with his voice in my mind too... Wow, these are all great tactics, guys! Thanks! However, I do have one question... If he's immune to all conditions, what would the benefit be for using Rusty's "Burn Out" on him? Other than needing him to die, so that Ashen Core and Dust Storm appear, is there another benefit?

I'll be sure to check it out!

All this talk about robotic limbs and cybernetic enhancements... Is it just a coincidence I watched the "Skin Game" episode from Archer last night...

I whole heartedly agree. And I'm flipping out in my mind that someone else reads "Questionable Content"! I've been following this for the past 4 years now, and have probably reread them all at least three times now.

Wow... I never thought about that... And Scramble would just go back and forth between them, wouldn't it? Holy....

lol, *whew*, for a second there I was scared that I had derailed the conversation... Glad to see we're all being productive in our own way.... Even if it's dreaming about politicians...

I've yet to use Ashes and Dust, but I keep hearing all these amazing things about it. Could some of you share your experiences with the model, and how he works with Levi? I've read his card over and over again, and it certainly fits the theme for Levi. I'm just not seeing how powerful he is, I guess.

I've yet to play him with Pariah of Bone yet, but Rotten Belles would make his crew scary, I'm sure. I just can't say no to the Mechanical Rider, is all. I hadn't realized it wasn't a Rare upgrade. For some reason, since I only had one copy of the card, I imagined only 1 of them could use it. But the Rotten Belle strategy does seem to work nice though... Thanks guys!

Hi everyone, Wondering who you'd put the "Desolate Soul" upgrade on. I've only played with the upgrade once so far, and it was on Levi, who unfortunately never got the chance to use it during the game. My logic for putting it on him was the fact that he can ignore Hard to Kill and Hard to Wound with his ranged attack, and he's got choices for all suits on triggers with it. I imagine that having Rusty use it would be a good idea as well, so long as I had the right suit to finish the target. Coupled by her ability to Rapid Fire, it would've seemed like a "no brainer" to put it on her, but despite that, I still put it on Levi. Looking for some insight as to how you've used the upgrade, and who you find benefits most from it. Thanks!

I agree. The difference between missing and hitting can be pretty key. Makes him a Sh 6 in my eyes, anyway.

Morning everyone! How's everyone doing? I played my first game in a fixed faction league last night, and it was against the Neverborn player that beat me in the last tournament. He brought Collodi again, with one minor change to the list. This time instead of Shenlong, I took Mei Feng and Co, and completely redeemed myself from the last time I played against Collodi. Granted, I totally top-decked on a couple of damage reduction flips (Collodi shot her twice for 3 and 4 damage, and I flipped mod and severe on damage preventions), but after turn 2, it was pretty obvious where the game was going. Handily won the game 10-1. #honorrestored

Against Misaki, your best bet against her is gang tactics, which Perdita & Co. are pretty good at. Francisco and Perdita Companion'ing together in melee against her will definitely put her on edge, even with her on Df when she's out of Soulstones. As a Misaki player myself, I know that I tend to spend my Soulstones a bit more liberally, and once she's out of Soulstones, keeping her alive is all dependent on how soon you can get Shang in range to heal her. Frank and Dita going at her in a chain activation should be enough, but obviously that requires both to be alive when she's engaged with you. As for upgrades, I like "Aura Ancestral" a lot. For only 1 SS, all your other "Family" members get +2 Wp, and "See the Unseen" makes her immune to Horror Duels and Manipulative. Well worth 1 SS, IMHO.

Interesting... You'd think they'd learn from their own history about invasion tactics.

I played Yan Lo as TT once, and it was with mixed results, although I attribute that more to my inexperience more than anything. I ran 3 Ancestor models with him (Izamu, Yin and Toshiro), but I did bring along some cheaper minions to help with Scheme running (IIRC, I brought 2 Onryo and 1 Punk Zombie). In hindsight, I probably could've done without Toshiro, since I didn't have that many minions close by him to take advantage, which also would've meant I'd need a replacement for the Punk Zombie. I'm sure I could've brought better models, but as a TT Master, I'd be more than willing to give him another shot.