Yan Lo Question

[wopr1986]

I've played against yan lo a couple of times. The only time of note he was with toshiro Izamu chikai and I think yin And a nurse. the only model I managed to kill was toshiro and that was due to poor placement from my opponent, aside from that everything was basically unkillable and my stuff began to fold quickly under the adversary condition. The all spirits take 1ap is really fantastic. Luckily for me it was squatters rights with some marker dependant schemes and I picked McCabe so I barely won but had it been reckoning with killy schemes I would have been decimated.

[chris_havoc]

The only gripe I have with Yan Lo is that he and his associated models feel much better as Ressers than they do as 10T. Recently I've increased my Resser collection but I am still predominantly a 10T player with Ressers being my second faction. That being said I LOVE Yan Lo when I play him and I play an entirely fluffy crew with him.

Yan Lo with Reliquay and Fortify the Spirit, Soul Porter, Toshiro with Corpse Bloat and Command The Graves, Izamu with Unnerving Aura, Yin with Unnerving Aura, and an Ashigaru.

 

I don't think I have ever lost with this crew. The worst I have done I think is draw and I played this crew pretty much the entire two/three months I was painting them.

The first thing you have to consider that hasn't been brought up is that without Yan Lo you can't get the Soul Porter and that little dude is AMAZING. He turns your tough but slow Yin/Izamu/Yan Lo into something far faster than it should be. He doesn't pose that big a threat but he hits well and has a massive range that dishes out Chi effectively. Several times I have charged him in and given Chiaki or Toshiro or even Izamu that +1 Ca to get their great actions off more easily.

Secondly, some guys are saying Yan Lo does 'some' healing. I think that is a massive understatement. After you've built up Chi you can heal 4 wounds on a model with no negative effects for an 8 of any suit. That is really good. Accompanied by Chiaki it means you can potentially heal 6 wunds and remove Slow from a model you Summon back with Reliquary without wasting actions really. Sure a Nurse can heal all wounds but then your monster is Slow and Paralyzed and Chiaki needs to use two actions on top of the Nurse and the Summon to accomplish the same goal as just Yan Lo and Chiaki.

 

Thirdly, Reliquary itself. With Chi you can Summon a 10ss model back for an 8 . Izamu is one of the most popular Resser models as are Yin, Chiaki, and Toshiro. The opportunity to bring them back after they die is absurdly good even for a far higher cost. Besides, no one else can do that.

 

Fourth...ly, the synergy Yan Lo has with his crew is basically that hidden ability to basically just undo all the work an opponent has put into taking down your crew. On top of that he can deal damage both at a 12" range and up close. It may not be the best damage but once you've got yourself some Chi you know you will be hitting and with his range he can pot shot scheme runners into oblivion. Or Lightning Dance something he can't take down into the loving embrace of Izamu. Yes, he has a soft synergy with spirits but I tend to find it a bit pricey to spend Chi unless it's pouring out my ears. However, I have spent 1 Chi to turn the very scary Killjoy facing off against Izamu into a no-damage hack.

[enderwiggin]

I play Yan Lo as pure resser with a list similar to that (I like the nurse). If they don't die, the nurse only really slaps them with paralyze so her and Chiaki can tag team heal pretty much anyone in the crew to full as needed from a decent range.

 

I like the crew well enough, but for my playstyle the juggerdillo that can be this crew really isn't always all that different game-to-game. Just like being able to kill crews well in Malifaux doesn't mean victory, a likewise highly defensible crew amounts to just as much.

 

I love his fluff, and I think almost 95% of crew builds can still win most games, but in this case Yan Lo is just not the first master I reach for when I have a team or singles game at this point.

[chris_havoc]

Nurses are great and I won't deny it. But it means healing all a model's wounds and then using Chiaki to remove the Paralyzed. Seems like a bigger investment. Also if you're using the Nurse to heal the Summon damage you have to use both of Chiaki's actions to remove Slow and Paralyzed.

[enderwiggin]

I guess it's just how you like your flavor of healing.

 

If it's summoned then no, it's probably not worth using the nurse on... But in that case you can juice one of your guys or even heal/paralyze an opponents model rather than simply slow them with Chiaki. Once you dump a chi point or three on the nurse you have pretty reliable paralyzing on tap from her, freeing up your heavy hitters to gang pile vulnerable models safely (reducing the need to heal them with the nurse and maybe just touching up with Yan Lo).

 

I see the nurse as an extremely cost-effective piece of utility/toolkit that any Yan Lo Resser crew should consider bringing one.

[DeleteAccount]

Nurse's are awesome and all that, but I've found myself more than once in a scenario where I'm lacking the suit I need in hand for the drugs I want, so reliability and on a such a big heal to boot is a plus. Also, getting Chi on the Nurse is only doable with the Soul Porter transferring it on her from his attack trigger, which is certainly not the easiest way to farm chi.

[enderwiggin]

I do admit that the porter is a nice big target that pretty much all my opponents want to kill, however when Izamu or Yin are at the forefront or right near by to destroy anything wanting to get it in CC, then it's easier. If you have something paralyzed or engaged so that great melee range can pick at the back of an opponent it also becomes easier.

 

I would think, with the nurse, there is a gamble when you don't have the low cards to ditch though. I almost always find myself with one low card and a use for her drugs though somewhere within her sphere of influence. Except scheme runners, they usually aren't admittedly in range when it would be better to use movement drugs to greater effect.

[Dr. D. Mcmourning]

Its not only about the crows trigger there is so much ways to deny enemy's turn, if one models is not actually engaged you can proper him the Ml only attacks, and if he is engaged then use the only Wk actions, so pretty much she has 3 ways to paralyze a model.

 

And she has accomplice so its really easy to buff out one of your models with the ML action and instantly hit the poor target to death.

[AverageBoss]

Yan Lo has Lightning Dance. That spell is IMO one of the best in the game.

Also, I tend to run him as 10T for cheaper access to Ama No Zako. I find her pretty fun with the ancestors.

[chris_havoc]

Yeah Nurses definitely add some serious damage potential too. Getting Lightning Dance off on a model and placing it in Izamu's range where he's doing minimum 5 damage and I might try out a Nurse instead of the one Ashigaru and have Toshiro start from scratch. Although, Ashigaru are amazing. Great control models with Brace.

[enderwiggin]

I've reduced my Ashigaru down to one now in most of my base lists, how do you tempt people to charge in Chris? I don't have the points for a credible ranged threat and with their speed I don't find them on objectives often. I mostly use them for the one action charge (maybe double depending on opponent melee range) and would love to get some more use out of them.

 

 

Its not only about the crows trigger there is so much ways to deny enemy's turn, if one models is not actually engaged you can proper him the Ml only attacks, and if he is engaged then use the only Wk actions, so pretty much she has 3 ways to paralyze a model.

 

And she has accomplice so its really easy to buff out one of your models with the ML action and instantly hit the poor target to death.

 

You know, I've actually never thought about it that way.  I guess that's the same, but I've plainly never thought to do the walk only when they are engaged (I have done the out in the open ml only). That'd be great with Yin the way I run her.

[chris_havoc]

Well, basically I don't bait a Charge. I just use an Ashigaru to set up Brace and then do what I need to do with my other models. What has been very effective is splitting Toshiro and my Ashigaru into their own little group. It means that they don't always have to Brace though I do always try to. If you want to move them more quickly, use one Ashigaru to move and Brace and then move another forward twice. If they are Summoned and/or damaged the Charge might become more desirable but I don't mind them not being Charged at all.

Ashigaru are also possibly the best minions around for Squatters' Rights and Protect Territory if they have Toshiro around. It is difficult or painful getting to them, they are Armour +1 and Hard To Kill so tough as nails especially if your opponent doesn't have all their attacks because they didn't Charge, and once they hit things back they have to Attack Flips and automatically Push models off of objectives.

P.S. I also only use on Ashigaru but I Summon one off-the-bat with Toshiro and Corpse Bloat and depending on my Hand I will either Prevent Damage from 'You Don't Need A Spleen, Right?' or get him healed up by Yan or Chiaki. After that you have a pretty renewable source of Corpse Markers because Ashigaru can generate a lot of Attacks with their (1) Charge or Fast from Toshiro and if they die you can Summon back. The real beauty is that Toshiro isn't competing for Crows in an all-Ancestor crew.

[underdog6750]

Corpse bloat, I never thought of that. Cheers toshiro has just gone up in my books (again)