Shafaar

23 minutes ago, gribble said:

To help me decide, is Toshiro enough of a beater instead of Izamu? Considering I'll be taking him alongside the Emissary? Or do I really need a second heavy hitter? How about if I'd rather use Ashigaru than Punk Zombies (even though the zombies might be better, I much prefer the Aesthetic of the Ashigaru, particularly given I won't have to buy another box of minis to use them) - then is it better to ignore Toshiro and go with Izamu (or maybe the Charm Warders) instead?

Punk Zombie close to Toshiro gets + attack flip and they have one + build in, and Toshiro can (0) Fast him, so positioned correctly with 2/4/5 dmg (and possible Flurry) he can always score a kill, placing marker that Toshiro can use to summon Ashigaru. I have total of 4 Ashigaru for summons, they are really underrated in my opinion, very solid models, they can catch in engage and hold for two or more turns most normal models and then you can summon them again... 

Problem with Izamu is that he is a killer with 3" engage and works like a magnet - your enemy usually will try to kill him asap and most likely do that as he is not so tough. From the other hand, yesterday Izamu + 2xKomainu + Sun Quiang creates an unkillable bubble in a middle of Nicodems' party

27 minutes ago, gribble said:

Goryo

Seishin - not sure whether it would be better to pick up the Kirai or Datsue Ba box for these... I figure I won't need 3 - even with 2 Goryo - so the Kirai box is better value... but then if I do end up playing Yan Lo and Kirari in Resurrectionists, I'll want Datsue Ba anyway, right? Will I use Onryo when I have Goryo?

From there, other models I'm eyeing up are Shadow Emissary, Izamu, Toshiro and Charm Warders (once available - do we know the release date yet?). If I was only going to get 2 of these four, which would you recommend? I'm leaning towards Charm Warders and Toshiro for flavour, but it seems I will need a beater in my crews, so probably should include one of Emissary or Izamu?

Is there anything I'm missing that I really should pick up?

 

Goryo at the moment looks like a very solid option. 
Onryo are very situational, however if you manage to combine them with Komainu and Izamu to spread Adversary condition they work well for their cost. 
Emissary is mandatory, and then you need to decide if you go for Toshiro or Izamu cost-wise. Let's say that Toshiro works miracles with Punk Zombies, and Izamu can combo with Komainu and Goryo/Onryo + Fury of Yomi to create a killing bomb

Just now, Adran said:

If you score VP at the end of the turn you do it at the same time. If you are scoring VP some other way,, then when you score the VP you gain the chi. Likewise with Feigned weakness if when your opponent scores 1 or more VP and they have more VP than you then you get to summon. this might eb at the end of the turn (when you all score simultaniously) or during the turn (Eliminate the leadership for example)

thanks, clear enough

so, where are we here? Footsteps said "whenever..." so it differs from Feigned Weakness, so we score Chi BEFORE the end of the turn, in the moment when opponent declares VP?

On 9/28/2017 at 6:09 PM, Nikodemus said:

I wouldn't go so far as to say 'massively', but it is a good upgrade. I prefer Equality on him. If I take Izamu it's for his tanking/tarpitting, moreso than killing models. That perspective in mind he already gets +flip to disengaging strikes and df4 with a +flip is still df4. Sure, if Yu/Sun/Toshiro are in the crew then they'd get Peaceful Waters instead of Izamu.

agree, plus Smoke Grenades works also nice on Izamu.

On 9/30/2017 at 3:40 PM, Tris said:

What do you think about the Terracotta Warrior for Yan Lo - upgrade swapping seems difficult with yan los transcendency upgrades?

Or would you use him just for his protection?

Terracotta works well while using new Crime Bosses and/or Sun - they are (situational) awesome but lacks protection badly, so Ancient Protection on them. Also swap upgrade on YL is a (0) so you should always do that. I tend to start with Misdirection/Fortify and swap to Reliquary/+1Wp while needed. 

amazing... need to find a way to fit him into TT crew

Fantastic article and a very good overview. You was able to mention all pros and cons I found playing Yan last several months. The only one I could somehow disagree is Transcendence - I found it quite mandatory while having Izamu who mostly work like a magnet for all armor piercing stuff the opponent can have.

Also, worth mentioning is a Chiaki-Emissary combo: 1) activate Emissary, use Rites on Chiaki to give her Fast then complete activation as u wish 2) activate Chiaki, do anything but pass Fast to Yan, 3) activate Yan with Fast condition, 2x(0) + 4AP help a bit but anyway attach any upgrade so Emissary gets Fast for his turn2
   
 

by all means you need to release this sculpt as an alternate model.