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Yan Lo tactica!


Fenrisian

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Hey everyone!

So I've decided to compile some notes on Yan Lo for the community and discuss some tactica for him.

 

What does Yan Lo offer that other Masters don't?  At first glance his rather basic stat line leaves a little to be desired.  He has no real defensive abilities (yet) and no tricks for avoiding damage like Armor or Incorporeal (yet).  He does offer some fun opportunties to watch him power up and then become quite fearsome.  He is a master that makes spirits meaner, and will love the Adversary Condition.

 

However, he does have some interesting abilities. 

 

Infiltration (Retainer)

This power lets him recruit any Retainer models regardless of faction.  As of right now, there are only three retainers.  Ashigaru (Resser), Onryo (Resser), and Komainu (10T).  So declaring Yan Lo as 10T gets you more benefit from this power in model choices, but as a Resser you can access some fun combos for Yan Lo.  More on that later.

 

Harvest Chi

Any model that dies within 8” of Yan Lo that is killed by an enemy grants him the following condition “Chi +1:  Increases your Ca by +1 up to a maximum of +3” This mechanic is what fuels most of  Yan Lo’s powers.  This also works when an enemy kills one of your models.  So you are getting Chi when you kill their models and when they kill your models.  More on that once we get to his attack and tactical actions.  But keep that in mind, he builds up Chi to cast better.  The Chi Condition lasts for the rest of the game.

 

Focus Chi

At the beginning of his activation, you may discard a card to give him Chi +1.  So even if things are not dying near him, he’s at least able to build up Chi.

 

Attack Actions

  1. Spirit Barrage (Ca 5Crow / Rst: Df / Rg: 1CC or 12Gun):  This is Yan Lo’s stock standard attack.  It’s a Ca action, so yes Chi will improve your effectiveness with this.  It can be used as a Melee attack or a shooting attack, but stays a Ca action both ways.  It’s got a fairly average damage spread of 2/3/4. 

 

The trigger on a Crow: Revitalize – after dealing Severe damage or killing a target, you gain +1 Chi. 

 

This power is alright, however, the restrictions of Severe damage or killing a target make it one you either want to choose targets wisely, or not worry about the Trigger.  I’d recommend using this to finish off a handful of weak targets or those pesky Hard to kill targets. 

 

  1. Lightning Dance (CA 5Crow / Rst: WP / Rg: 8):  Place this model into base contact with target enemy model. Then, this model may place the target into base contact with any friendly model within 8” and LoS of this model. 

 

This ability helps you get around Yan Lo’s Wk of 4.  It lets you teleport in and bump an enemy model somewhere else nearby.  This is great for when you activate Yan Lo early and Lightning Dance him to an enemy then teleport them into a pile of your minions or heavy hitters. 

 

You can use this ability twice to pop Yan Lo amongst the enemy, rattle off a shot with Spirit Barrage, then target the same enemy you did before (who is safely in your lines) and then pop back behind the lines only to put that enemy somewhere else.

 

Tactical Actions

 

  1. Trancendance:  This model may lower its Chi Condition value by any amount, to a minimum of zero.  For each point of Chi lowered, one friendly model in 8” pulse gains the Spirit Characteristic and Armor +2 until end of turn. 

 

At first glance this power doesn’t seem that useful.  However, when you combine it with the various Resser minions that give a target the Adversary Condition: Spirit models get a + to the attack flip against this model.  You suddenly have better attacking minions that have armor.  This makes your Crew much more aggressive.  The only issue is finding the Chi to make sure you can do this consistently.  There is some synergy you can do with this, however, we’ll discuss that after the rest of Yan Lo’s abilities.

 

  1. Ascendence:  This model may lower it’s Chi condition to value by the cost of any Upgrade with the restriction of Ascendant and attach that upgrade, ignoring all usual restrictions for attaching upgrades. 

 

Here is where Yan Lo gets all his Defensive abilities and some pretty nice offensive ones.  There are 3 Ascendant Upgrades.  Each has it’s uses.  I’ll discuss those below.  Generally you should go for the 1 and 2 SS abilities first to give Yan Lo his damage reduction and then you can focus on blasting opponents.

 

  1. Instill Youth (Ca 5Crow / TN: 12Crow / Rg: 8): Target other model heals an amount of damage equal to the amount that this Action's final duel total exceeded the TN of this Action, to a maximum of 4 damage.

 

This power is the main heal for most of Yan Lo’s group.  Once you get +3 to your Ca, it’s not that hard to make sure you are healing something for 4 damage every time.  Just make sure you can cheat it up if you need to in dire situations.

 

Yan Lo Only Upgrades

Fortify Spirit 1 SS

This model gains the following Ability:

Df/Wp (Tome) Fortify the Spirit: Immediately increase this model's final duel total by an amount equal to the value of its Chi Condition, to a maximum of +3.

 

This upgrade is a 50/50 in its usefulness.  Sometimes it’s exactly what you need, othertimes it gives you no benefit.  Granted it makes every Tome in your Control Hand that much stronger when you use it for Yan Lo’s defense.  This could incentivize you to hang on to Tomes specifically for Yan Lo’s defense.  If you’ve got the SS available it’s not a terrible choice, but if you are tight, it can be cut. 

 

Reliquary 1SS

This model gains the following Tactical Action:

  1. Rebuild Corpus (Ca 5Crow / TN: 16CrowTome / Rg: 6): Name a friendly Ancestor model which was killed or sacrificed this game and which this model has not summoned into play this game. Summon the named model into base contact with target Corpse Marker, then discard the Marker. The summoned model suffers damage equal to half its Wd (rounded up) which may not be reduced.

 

Here is one of Yan Lo’s premier upgrades.  This upgrade does require some good control hands or using SS to get the Tome you need, however, this will allow you to resurrect Chiaki, Toshiro the Daimyo, Yin the Penangalan, or Izamu the Armor.  Granted you have to have bought them at the beginning of the game, but it gives them a second chance to come back.  If you Rebuild Corpus and then use Instill Youth on any of the Ancestors, they are almost back to full Health right away.  Izamu, the Daimyo, and Yin are all the best choices for this kind of thing.  This gives you the option to throw them into the meat grinder and hopefully build up some of Yan Lo’s Chi before you let them bite the dust and just come right back.

 

Brutal Khakkhara – 1 SS

This model gains the following Attack Action:

  1. Brutal Khakkhara (Ml 5Crow / Rst: Df / Rg: CC2): Target suffers 3/4/5 damage. This attack deals damage when taken as a disengaging strike.

 

This makes Yan Lo a strong contender in Melee, it also makes him rather a pain to get away from.  Now this does not benefit from his Chi, BUT it does combine beautifullly with Hunpo Assault granted from one of the Ascendent Upgrades. 

 

Ascendant Upgrades

Ash Ascendant 1SS

This model gains the following Ability:

Impossible to Wound: Damage flips against this model suffer -. Damage flips against this model may not be cheated.

 

This model gains the following Tactical Action:

  1. Terracotta Curse (Ca 5 / TN: 14 / Rg: 8): This Action may only be taken once per Turn. Every enemy model within range must pass a TN 15 Wp duel or gain the following Condition until the end of the Turn: "Curse of Terracotta: This model suffers 2 damage when it declares a Walk or Charge Action. This damage may not be reduced."

 

This gives Yan Lo his first defensive power.  As well as a rather strong way of controlling the field.  This is just one further reason that you should Activate Yan Lo early.  Free damage against your opponents is always nice.  This also allows you to keep your opponent bogged down so you can control the field and choose your targets.  You can use Lightning Dance to teleport into a herd of enemies, drop Terracotta Curse to make it dangerous to move, then Lightning dance out. 

 

This ability allows you to control the field if your opponent bunches up too much. 

                                                                                                                                                              

Spirit Ascendant 2SS

This model gains the following Ability:

Incorporeal: This model ignores, and is ignored by, other models and terrain during any movement or push. Reduce all damage this model suffers from Sh and Ml Attack Actions by half.

 

This model gains the following Tactical Action:

(2)  Fury of Yomi: Up to three friendly Spirit models in 8” pulse may immediately take a (1) Action.

 

This Upgrade also further’s Yan Lo’s beastly defenses.  This will make him very hard to wound.  Fury of the Yomi can be used either in conjunction with minions that are already Spirits, or ones you turned into Spirits using Transcendence.    The Fury of the Yomi also then lets you have those individuals take actions again, further allowing a mobbing of attacks.  For instance, you could use this to cause some Ashigaru to use their Lunge action and get two free extra attacks off on a model that they would possibly have a + against. 

 

Bone Ascendant 3SS

(2) Hunpo Assault: Place this model within 8" of its current location. Then choose a CC Attack Action which this model may take and take the chosen Action against each enemy model in range. These Attack Actions gain + to the Attack and damage flip.

 

Once Yan Lo has gathered enough Chi, he then suddenly lets loose with this beastly attack.  Here is where Yan Lo becomes a combat monster.  Clustered enemies had best watch out as Yan Lo goes to town on them.  Pair this with the Brutal Khakkara upgrade, and you are dishing out some serious hate to a lot of targets. 

 

Next will come the other parts of his Crew box and other helpful Models!

 

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As with most Resser Masters, their true strength comes from the other models in their crew.  Below I will discuss the other Ancestor Models and their uses with Yan Lo.

 

Soul Porter – 3 SS Peon, Totem (Yan Lo), Spirit

As with many totems this one has a weaker stat line, however, it also comes with Incoporeal to help cope with that.  Though Insignificant, this is a model you will want to use to build up your other models. 

 

On the Altar of Eternity: Friendly models within 10” aura may choose not to have Conditions removed by the Abilities and Actions of enemy models.

This is fantastic for making sure Yan Lo doesn’t lose his Chi to an enemy effectively shutting down all of his powers.  Just keep this little bugger alive and out of LOS

 

(1) Bladed Spear (Ca 6C / Rst: Wp / Rg: y3): Target suffers 1/2/3 damage.

 

Crow Siphon Chi: After damaging an enemy, target friendly model within 6" and LoS of the target gains the following Condition for the rest of the game: “Chi +1: This model adds +1 to its Ca, to a maximum of 3 additional Ca.”

 

This is this Crew’s best friend.  This allows you to hopefully build up some serious Chi quickly.  Having a great melee range of 3, this allows you to keep him out of most models’ engagement and still poke to get Chi for your allies.  Most might think Yan Lo should be the one to get this, however, Chiaki and Toshiro could both benefit from having a little extra Chi for their casts. 

 

  1. Empower Ancestor: Target friendly Ancestor within 8" may push up to its Wk in any direction. This Action may not target the same model twice during a single Activation.

 

This is a great way to get Ancestors out of Engagements while ignoring Disengaging strikes.  It also allows you to try to get a few models caught up to the pack if they have a lower walk.  Yan Lo and Izamu both have low WK so this allows you to help keep them close to the match.

 

  1. Enlighten Ancestor: Sacrifice this model to give target friendly Ancestor within 8" the following Condition for the rest of the game: “Chi +1: This model adds +1 to its Ca, to a maximum of 3 additional Ca.”

 

If you need a last minute empowerment of Chi, this is where you can get it, however, I’d likely use it when the Soul Porter is going to die (to Poison or Burning) after making your 2 Bladed Spear swings to dish out a little extra Chi. 

 

Chiaki the Niece – 6 SS Enforcer, Living, Ancestor

Chiaki at first doesn’t look like much, however, she’s actually quite effective in this Crew and others.  She comes with  Manipulative 12  and Incorporeal which help her stay alive. 

 

Innocence: When this model Activates, it may move all Conditions from itself to a friendly Ancestor within 6" and LoS.

 

This ability is a unique one, it allows her to move Chi she has to Yan Lo, or to Toshiro or others that can use it.  Giving her a way to daisy chain Chi where ever it needs to go. 

 

  1. Sacred Knife (Ml 4 / Rst: Df / Rg: y1): Target suffers 1/2/3 damage.

A weak attack, but it’s something.

 

(0) The Calling (Ca 5 / Rst: Wp / Rg: 10): Target suffers 1/2/3 damage and gains the following Condition until the start of this model's next Activation, or until this model is removed from play: "Insignificant: This model may not take Interact Actions."

Tome: Memory in Song: After succeeding against an enemy model, this model gains the following Condition for the rest of the game: “Chi +1: This model adds +1 to its Ca, to a maximum of 3 additional Ca.”

 

This allows Chiaki to get her own stock of Chi.  Then combined with Innocence, she can move that Chi to Toshiro or Yan Lo. However, her having 3 Chi wouldn’t be a terrible thing. 

 

  1. Memories Past (Ca 5 / TN: 12 / Rst: Wp / Rg: 10): Remove one Condition from target model.

Ram: The Cleansing Death: After succeeding, heal 2 damage on the target.

 

Here is what Chiaki is the best for.  Her ability to remove conditions so easily can help make sure your Crew doesn’t get Paralyzed, Burning, Poisoned, or any number of other horrible conditions.  Additionally, she can also remove the Conditions of your enemies making them weaker.  Her ability to heal off of this also really helps with Toshiro’s ability to Summon.  Not only do you remove the Slow from a freshly summoned Model, but you may even heal it for 2 damage right off the bat.

 

  1. Purity (Ca 5 / TN: 12 / Rg: 6” pulse): All enemy models in range must succeed on a TN 14 Wp duel or be pushed 4" away from this model.

Mask: Face in the Crowd: After succeeding, this model gains the following Condition until the end of the Turn: "Harmless: This model does not count as having Activated for the purposes of the Manipulative Ability."

This Tactical is gives Chiaki yet another purpose.  It allows her to blow many enemy models away from her that might be engaged, or even, if positioned right, push enemy models into other allies for some hurt.  Then not only can it make them stay away, but with a Mask you bring her back to being Manipulative and thus needing more cards used to even try to attack her.

 

 

Chiaki Upgrades

 

Pull of the Grave – 1SS

This model gains the following Attack Action:

  1. Pull of the Grave (Ca 5C / Rst: Wp / Rg: 10): Target model gains the Slow Condition.

Mask Relentless Beckoning: After succeeding, takethis Action again. This Action may not declare Triggers.

 

If you’ve got the Soul Stones, there’s no reason to not take this.  It allows Chiaki to sling around some Slow in hopes of making your enemies a little less scary or forcing them to think about what they are doing.  Less AP means you have more chances to mess up their day and laugh when they can’t respond as much.

 

All in all, Chiaki is an excellent Support Piece for Yan Lo.  Granted Rotten Belles can give out slow just as easily, Chiaki comes with better survivability and Condition removal which is vital in the game right now.

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Toshiro, the Daimyo – 9SS Henchman, Undead, Rare 1, Ancestor
Toshiro, oh lovely Toshiro. The guy may be terribly ugly, but man his stats are mean. He’s an excellent support Henchman, and can be quite devastating with a few upgrades. Toshiro, though techincally a support piece, is still brings a great deal to your Crew.
Hard to Wound +2: Damage flips againstthis model suffer --.

Feudal Ties: Crews that hire this model may hire up to 4 Punk Zombie models that are not the Crew's declared Faction.

This is more beneficial to a 10T Toshiro, but still it does keep things interesting.

Daimyo: Friendly Minion models within 6” pulse gain + to the Attack flip of CC Attack Actions.
Here is the bread and butter for Toshiro. It makes all CC minions much more likely to hit. Keep Toshiro behind a wall of Minions and you have quite the formidable force.

Bloated Stench: Enemy models which deal damage to this model with CC Attack Actions suffer 1 damage after resolving the current Action.
While nothing to write home about, it’s not a bad ability especially if you can find other ways to reduce damage, such as giving him Armor via Yan Lo.


  • Ancestral Katana (Ml 6t / Rst: Df / Rg: y2): Target suffers 2/4/5 damage.This Action gains + to the Attack flip.

Tome War Eternal: When damaging, if this model cheats the damage flip it draws 1 card after damage is resolved.
Mask Next Target: After damaging, push this model up to 4" in any direction.

Not a bad Melee attack, he can even use it while other models are engaged and get his swings in. Since it comes with a + to the attack flip, it’s got a good likely hood of hitting.



(0)The Daimyo's Price (Ca 5 / TN: 13 / Rg: 3): Discard target Corpse Marker or friendly Scheme Marker to give all friendly Minions in 6” pulse the Focused +1 Condition.

The Price is a way of again improving your Minions chances of laying down some serious hurt. You just need to make sure you keep a nice ring of minions around the Daimyo so he can make sure to give them the benefit. This will help not only land hits, but also do additional damage.


(0) War Fan (Ca 5 / TN: 13 / Rg: 6): Target friendly Minion gains the Fast Condition.

Mask Lethal Lunacy: After succeeding, push the target up to 4" in any direction.


Another very strong contender for a Zero action. This allows you to grant minions with powerful effects a chance to do them more often. The Trigger also lets you hopefully get them into range to use whatever action so you can lay down some serious hurt.

Toshiro’s Upgrades

Command the Grave – 1SS
This model gains the following Tactical Actions:

  • Eternal Servitude (Ca 5 / TN: 14Crow / Rg: 6): Summon an Ashigaru in base contact with target Corpse Marker, then discard the Marker. The summoned model suffers 3 damage which may not be reduced.
  • Eternal Guardian (Ca 5 / TN: 14Tome / Rg: 6): Summon a Komainu in base contact with target Scrap Marker, then discard the Marker. The summoned model suffers 3 damage which may not be reduced.

This upgrade turns Toshiro into a one Henchman army. If you can keep a strong supply of Corpse or Scrap Markers flowing, you can make sure that you have all the minions you need for all of his buffing powers. Ashigaru are most certainly the better for defensive actions, having Brace and Armor. This will make it really difficult for opponent’s to charge without taking serious damage. They also can push enemies away out of engagement whent hey are within 3” of an Ancestor. This will allow you some fun in forcing melee oriented crews to have to waste AP to walk up to you again rather than getting two attacks. Ashigaru are definitely Minions you should activate later in the turn especially if they have Brace active.

Komainu, though they don’t have a model yet, are very much your damage dealing Retainer. They help build up Burning and or Slow conditions on enemies. As well as protect your Crew from short range casts with Spiritual Guardian.

All in all, Toshiro is a great Henchman for any Crew that has a lot of minions. Not to mention he can bring models to the table that you might not normally be able to.

To this effect, if you put Corpse Bloat on Toshiro in addition to Command the Grave, you can start popping out Corpse markers and raising Ashigaru. One of my favorite combinations is to use a Nurse along with Chiaki to heal Toshiro to full once he gets low, then have Chiaki remove his Paralyzed condition. If the Daimyo isn’t in danger, you can instead use Chiaki to remove the Slow conditions from those Ashigaru or Komainu you summon.

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Izamu the Armor 10SS - Enforcer, Undead Rare 1, Ancestor, Spirit
Now we get to the actual heavy hitters of the Yan Lo oriented crew. Izamu. This beast can wade into combat and usually come out on top with his Armor and ability to self Heal. Since he’s a spirit, he also benefits from the Adversay condition.
Armor +2: Reduce all damage suffered by this model by +2, to a minimum of 1.

Melee Expert: This model gains 1 additional AP which may only be used to take Ml Actions.

Both of these are great additions that just mean Izamu is going to lay down some serious hurt once he gets into melee range. He can absorb damage as well as dish it out. Most models will only be doing 1-2 damage to Izamu unless they do Severe damage.

Ruthless: This model is Immune to Wp duels during its Activation.

This will help make sure that Izamu will kick in heads even against the scariest enemies. This includes Manipulative and Terrifying. So he ignores all that stuff in favor of cleaving people in half.

A Warrior's Death: When this model is reduced to 0 Wounds by an enemy CC Attack, this model may immediately take a (1) CC Attack Action against the enemy model. This Attack ignores range and LoS restrictions. After completing this Action, sacrifice this model.


Not only does this allow you to get one last hit off before he goes down (which hopefully will take your target with you) but also makes sure he’s not killed in combat for Encounter purposes denying opponents certain schemes and strategies.


  • Dadao (Ml 6 / Rst: Df / Rg: CC 3): Target suffers 3/4/5 damage. This Attack's damage flip gains +. This Attack flip gains +2 Ml and + when taken as a disengaging strike.

Mask Katanaka's Will: This Attack Action ignores Incorporeal.

Tome War Eternal: When damaging, if this model cheats the damage flip it draws 1 card after damage is resolved.


So already you can see that Izamu is going to hurt someone if he gets the chance. With a high minimum damage, and a + on the damage flip all he needs to do is make sure he hits. Oh well isn’t that fancy, your target has Adversary you say? Bam, + to attack and Damage. So now you have up to 3 attacks that will likely cleave any Master down to almost nothing. With that + to the damge flip also allows you to stock pile your high cards to ensure he hits hard. With War Eternal, if you cheat the attack, you can use your low cards to cycle in hopefully better cards.

 

UPDATE!  If you have a Nurse handy, and use the Ram ability she has to give him a flat +2 damage on his attacks, he's going to wreck just about anyone. I gotta say Nurses are almost a must with Yan Lo and company.

 

Tactical Actions

  • Reform (Ca 5 / TN: 12): This model heals 1/2/3 damage.

And there you have it, not only is he a heavy hitter, he also has a self heal. Between Reform and Yan Lo’s Instill Youth, you can’t go wrong. Or if you are in a pinch, you can always use a Nurse/Chiaki combo to heal him to full then remove the Paralyzed.

Something a lot of people might forget, IF you have a lot of Chi on Yan Lo, or even on Toshiro, you can use the Soul Porter and/or Chiaki’s Innocence Ability, to put a few Chi on Izamu, making his heal even more reliable. Flipping a 7 isn’t terrible, but at the wrong time in a game it could be fatal. Bump that up to only needing to flip a 4 with Chi +3 and you almost guarantee it’s going to go off.

Because Izamu gets the fat bonus to disengaging Strikes, you can slap either Unnerving or Decaying Auras on him and make your enemy really hate their life. So either he’s dealing more and more damage to them, or preventing them from healing while he mauls them to death.

Yin the Penangalan Enforcer, Undead, Rare 1, Ancestor, Horror
Probably the ugliest baddy in the Resser lists, Yin is little more than a head with some entrails attached. What does this beastie bring to your crew? Well how about Terrifying, she’s hard to hurt because of Mass of Viscera, and can really upset a caster’s day with Gnawing Fear. Let’s take a look.

Mass of Viscera: Attack and damage flips from enemy models against this model suffer -.
This is just strong. No matter how you slice it, this gives Yin a built in defense that means unless they waste and AP to focus to counter this, they can’t cheat to hit. Which is always nice.

Flight: This model is immune to falling damage and may ignore any terrain or models while moving.
Standard and all the more creepy if you think about it.

Wicked: This model’s disengaging strikes deal damage.
This would go really well if paired closely with Izamu, move them together and make someone cry if they tried to disengage from them.

Terrifying (All) 12: Enemy models must pass a TN 12 Horror Duel if they end a Walk Action within this model’s engagement range or target this model with an Action.
Always a strong power. This could very easily swing a turn in your favor if the enemy flips poorly. Don’t think this can’t do some serious damage to your opponent’s plans when a crucial model suddenly is paralyzed.

  • Entrails (Ml 6Crow / Rst: Df / Rg: y2): Target suffers 2/3/4 damage.

Tome Can't Look Away: After damaging, target gains the Slow Condition.

Crow Infect: After succeeding, target gains the Poison +1 Condition a number of times equal to the number of C in the final duel total.


This attack isn’t anything super special, but it does allow you to apply some good conditions. If you decide to just infect, your damage out put is clsoer to 3/4/5, similar to Izamu. Between the two of them they could very easily put some serious hurt on someone. If you do flip that Tome though, they will be sad when they next try to activate and have less AP.

  • The Fear Behind the Eyes (Ca 6Crow / Rst: Wp / Rg: 8): Target model suffers 1/2/4 damage.

Crow No Escape: After damaging, the target gains the following Condition until the end of the Turn: "No Escape: This model may not take Walk or Charge Actions."

Mask Look and Be Afraid: After damaging, push this model into base contact with the target.


This is a good fill in for Yan Lo’s Terra Cotta Curse early on. You can lock down a model that doesn’t have some special movement action. On top of that if you award Yin some valuable Chi (so long as Yan Lo has most of his upgrades and +3 Chi left over) then you can cast at a 9 vs WP. Which will be pretty significant versus most other models. Very few models will be able to even try to defend if you flip a face card or red joker. Using the No Escape, you can lock them down, without ever having to worry about them. This allows Yin to be a real pain, especially in missions where the enemy has to run a model to your deployment zone.

Look and Be Afraid doesn’t hurt either, it helps Yin get across the board and engage important models. Which could be very valuable against a mostly caster oriented opponent.

  • Gnawing Fear (Ca 6Crow / TN: 9Crow / Rst: Wp / Rg: 8): Target gains the following Condition until the start of this model's next Activation, or until this model is removed from play: "Gnawing Fears: This model suffers - on all Ca and Wp duels."

Here is what makes Yin truly nasty. This can allow you to shut down a model that has mostly casts for upwards of 2 activations. Since this lasts until Yin’s next activation, Yin is one you will likely want to activate early at first, and once Gnawing fear goes off, activate her late in the next turn so you can force your opponent to either delay using that caster, or take penalties. Additionally, that – to WP duels includes horror Duels and resisting Fear Behind the Eyes.

Yin could also benefit from Decaying or Unnerving Aura, this will make her a nasty thing to be near all around. It will also become harder to get away with Wicked smacking folk for trying to run.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Personally, Datsu Ba is a model I only just recently purchased so I can't say I've had a chance to really play around with her. 

 

I can see how that would be a solid idea, just remember an enemy has to kill them in order for them to count towards granting Yan Lo Chi.  An enemy model must kill them for him to gain the Chi. 

 

Though you do bring up an interesting idea.  I enjoy using Corpse Bloat on Toshiro and using the Stench explosion.  Using a Seshin to grant Spirit protection before I do that to make my models immune to the potential 5 damage. 

 

On top of putting yet more healing potential in the list.

 

Here's a 50 SS list I enjoy using.

 

Yan Lo

+Brutal Khakkara

+Reliquary

 

Toshiro

+Corpse Bloat

+Command the Graves

 

Chiaki

 

Nurse

 

Izamu

+Unnerving Aura

 

Onryo x2

 

Canine Remains

 

Basically the Nurse and Chiaki follow Toshiro while Yan Lo, Izamu and the Onryo head forward to cause a ruckus.  Toshio pops out Corpse Markers, raises them, then later, activate the Nurse to use her heal and paralyze power on Toshiro, as well as whatever else.  Then chain activate Chiaki to remove the Paralyze on Toshiro, and the Slow on the summoned Ashigaru. 

 

Meanwhile Yan Lo gets the Ash Ascendent ASAP to start slinging out Terra Cotta Curse.  Then Izamu lumbers in and goes to town with Unnerving Aura.  The enemy basically takes a minimum of two damage on top of whatever Izamu smacks them for.  If by bad luck Izamu or Toshiro go down, you just Reliquary them back and have them both go berserk on the enemy since they have lost their upgrades. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Quick question, what are other models (including mercenaries) we have that can heavily benefit from getting some Chi passed from the soul porter? My first instinct is rotten Belles for a better slow (as you will already be in melee so the pull is situational) but I'm sure there must be better options out there

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  • 4 weeks later...

So, from a new player perspective, if I were to go up against this crew, what would you suggest one do about him? My main crews are Pandora and Lynch, and the one game with Pandora I played Chiaki and a Monk of Low River basically shut my conditions down and made it hard to do much to the crew while Ashigaru, Tosh, and Iz just man handled me.

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Just read through this as I've only played a few games with Yan Lo and there's some interesting ideas.  However, I have a question about your interpretation of Chi.  You mention Izamu using it on his heal and Yin using it for her casts but neither of those models get any benefit from using Chi that I can see?  Yan Lo gets it because of his Focus Chi ability ('gains the following condition until the end of the game: 'Chi +1.  This model adds +1 to its Ca, to a maximum of 3 additional Ca') and Chiaki gets the same if she hits the Tomb trigger on The Calling but none of the other Ancestor's make any mention of getting any benefits from Chi so I don't think that is correct?

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I feel like datsu ba could be an awesome henchman to have around yanlo, has anyone had any experience with these? Loved onryo so far, gunna run some gaki and a shikome next game I play.

 

Datesu Ba has been amazing with Yan lo.

 

So versatile. The first game i used her she held a Reccon quater on her own anything that came close just charged and pooped out a onyro. Had three out of her by the end of the game. I take her with the two seshin upgrades and she works wonders.

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Just read through this as I've only played a few games with Yan Lo and there's some interesting ideas.  However, I have a question about your interpretation of Chi.  You mention Izamu using it on his heal and Yin using it for her casts but neither of those models get any benefit from using Chi that I can see?  Yan Lo gets it because of his Focus Chi ability ('gains the following condition until the end of the game: 'Chi +1.  This model adds +1 to its Ca, to a maximum of 3 additional Ca') and Chiaki gets the same if she hits the Tomb trigger on The Calling but none of the other Ancestor's make any mention of getting any benefits from Chi so I don't think that is correct?

 

Any model can benefit from chi.  It is just a condition, the effects of which are defined on Yan-Lo, Chiaki, and the Soul Porter.  This is due to those models being the ones that generate the condition.  Once the condition is applied to a model, it affects them all the same.

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Any model can benefit from chi.  It is just a condition, the effects of which are defined on Yan-Lo, Chiaki, and the Soul Porter.  This is due to those models being the ones that generate the condition.  Once the condition is applied to a model, it affects them all the same.

Thanks for the clarification :-)  Opens up some lovely possibilities as I've only ever really used Chi on Yan Lo himself.

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