my new yan lo crew

[master of nightmares]

Hi I just got tan lo's box any tips on how to use him and I also have a thunder archer as well

[szendroib]

Hello! I really like this podcast, I think it's a great start to understand Yan Lo. Don't forget that it's just one (or two) way of playing him, so don't forget to try different things that suits your playstyle with him :).

[MR TORGUE]

Going full ancestor with Toshiro, Yin and Izamu is super fun; costly in ss but super fun!

Its definitely worth getting your head round the wording of Chi and how he gains/uses it. Being familiar with the turn phase is helpful too; I always forgot to discard a card at the start of Yan's activation to gain Chi.. or early on I would immediately burn chi for an upgrade then have a low cast for the rest of the activation... 

Yan Lo is a really good reactive master; so reading the schemes/opposing crew will help to dictate your choice of upgrades as the chi builds. Lightning Dance is great for ripping a scheme runner from a flank and placing it in-front of a big hitter or messing up an aura dependant model.. 

I would say he's quite fiddly to learn though; still learning him myself. happy gaming though!


 

[GoldenWG]

Some key things with Yan Lo:

1. When you attach his two defense upgrades he is excessively hard to kill.

2. When those upgrades are attached he should be played as a front line master. By turn two you should have those upgrades attached. 

3. Lighting dance is amazing but takes play experience to learn to use effectively.

4. I tend to have two ancestors and this makes his summing upgrade very powerful. Bringing back the shadow Emassiary and Izamu over the course of the game is very powerful. Install youth is great to bring these summoned models back to full. 

5. The soul porter is a great little totem. 

[OneLittleThunder]

Things to check out about Yan Lo:

Before We Begin podcast episode on Yan Lo: http://schemesandstones.podbean.com/e/episode-13-master-spotlight-yan-lo/

Schemes and Stones podcast episode on Yan Lo: http://beforewebegin.podbean.com/e/episode-40-joe-with-yan-lo/

This thread:

As for Thunder Archers, they can be very effective IF you can keep the enemy away from them, because if they are engaged, they are useless and die almost immediately. If you have a wall they can hide behind, perfect (since they don't need Line of Sight for their big attack). If you are taking some, make sure someone nearby is carrying the Blot the Sky upgrade, which can significantly increase their damage output.

 

 

[master of nightmares]

Thanks for the advice

[Skitt_Happens]

On 26/05/2016 at 5:30 PM, OneLittleThunder said:

 ...If you are taking some, make sure someone nearby is carrying the Blot the Sky upgrade, which can significantly increase their damage output.

I actually disagree. Partially. If you take blot the sky, both the carrier and the archers become priority targets for your opponent. I'm a fan of taking a single archer with no BtS: this allows you to apply some extra pressure where required without your opponent making a beeline for the >20ss battery you've brought that is really squidgy. Just another option to consider.

[InvokeChaos]

Another set of props for the above podcasts. Yan Lo (whom I, among others, lovingly refer to as Lo Pan) is one of my favorite thematic casters.

The ancestor route is kind of a trap, but definitely a lot of fun. I look at Yan Lo in three different ways for ancestor picking and overall playstyle. Tank, DPS or Support. Rebuild Corpus (off Lo Pan's Reliquary upgrade) is the superstar here. I also run his defensive upgrade typically (the one that grants a  trigger to his def/wp to increase it by his current chi rating up to +3) and misdirection.

Here's a run-through (basic playstyle and ancestor choices):

Tank

I love using Yan Lo as a front line tanker. It's just a personal thing for me. If I'm going to go this route, I'm choosing from three Ancestors: Shadow Emissary (w/ upgrade counts as an ancestor), Yin the Pengalan and Chiaki the Niece. Pick two. My goal in this case is to hoard masks in my hand, drop Yan Lo into a bunch of minions and just be a complete unmovable nuisance. I personally like Yin and Emissary. Here's the breakdown:

Shadow Emissary - With the upgrade he's an ancestor for Rebuild Corpus. He also gives Lo Pan +1 to Ml as long as it's in play. This combos well with his melee upgrade, but I don't tend to run that here. Emissary is here because he's fairly resilient, especially late game, has a solid attack, can be resummoned, and gains fast when near Lo while he is attaching upgrades. He also can aspect for 1 less damage if you go defensive within  10. Which is a sweet combo with Lo's ability to turn chi into Armor 2

Yin, the Pengalan - What a tank! This Terrifying (All) model also grants negative flips against to all attack and damage flips. As well as having one of the more evil 0 actions in the game: Grant a negative flip to WP duels and Ca actions on target model. This works REALLY well with terrifying, manipulative, and any attacks that target WP. And it can neuter a spellcaster completely. it's on a Ca 6 so it's likely to hit.  And if you make use of Yan Lo's totem or Chiaki (see below) then you might get it higher by handing Yin some chi!

Chiaki, the Niece - Great support model with a solid 0 action that makes some thing unable to perform interact actions (prevents scheme running) for a turn. That attack also generates chi on a trigger. It's only Ca 5 though. Chiaki can also pass her conditions to another friendly model at the start of her activation (like Chi!), remove conditions, possibly heal and is Manipulative 13 on top of it all. I would say she's definitely more of a support Ancestor, but she works well in a tank build because of the condition removal more than anything else. Plus if you run Yin and hit someone with her 0 action, Chiaki is much more likely to hit that trigger for gaining a Chi.

DPS

I've only tried this a couple of times, but mostly because I love Support Lo so much and have moved to Lynch recently (need to give Lo more love!). But the idea is to abuse Brutal Khukkari, the Shadow Emissary's upgrade for the extra Ml and Izamu the Armor. Reliquary and Misdirection are also must haves here. Gameplan is simple: Lightning dance people into Izamu and the Emissary (surprisingly good at attacking) and drop Hanpo Assault on some poor souls. It grants a positive to Ml attack and damage flips, and whirwhinds everything in range. It is also just a teleport if you really need it. Dream play would probably be to lightning dance a serious threat to Izamu, and then Hanpo assault into a nice cluster of support models. Takes some setup as you need defensive upgrades first... so it's turn 3 probably before going for the heftily costed bone ascendant. I try for turn 2 though if I can.

Izamu, the Armor - Two of his biggest issues are solved with Lo: Mobility and survivability. With a lot of Wds and Armor 2, you'd think he'd be more stalwart, but so many people bring answers to armor these days, you can't rely on that. Enter Lo's healing and Rebuild Corpus! Izamu suddenly is terrifingly stable, and as mentioned above, lightning dancing models (especially ones that have already activated) can be devestating.

Shadow Emissary - not much to add from the above, but a couple of cute tricks. If you need it, after Destined 2, you can give focus to your entire crew. Wow. Combos really well with the aspect that grants blast on attacks benefiting from focused. Not useful with Hanpo assault unfortunately, but great for being able to Hanpo into a melee attack and using the blast to help spread the love. And don't forget his melee attack has a range of 7 with no !

Support

My favorite build with Lo, this runs Sensei Yu along with Chiaki and Toshiro plus minions. Lightning dance is used more sparingly here, as my goal is more to get in range for gaining chi, surviving, and handing out Armor, buffing my spirits (which I can make my models on command) and healing. Ideal is Turn 1, Ash Ascendent, Turn 2 Spirit Ascendent. On turn 3, pass out armor and spirit, maybe use Fury of the Yomi (grants all spirits in range 1AP to use immediately) or walk, and heal someone.

Sensei Yu - Though not an ancestor, he's quintessential for my support build. I don't even necessarily take an upgrade with him here... He's coming along for two things: Copying the heal on Lo (for possibly 8 wds healed for two 0 actions!) and his obscene walk of 7, which makes him really good at getting where I need him. He has a built in airburst for mobility to your crew, focuses a ton, ignores def triggers and any time he hits with a Ml attack, passes out a condition... which is usually going to be slow for me. Wandering River Style can buff minions with more pushing and fasts. Low River Style can bring more healing and condition removal. Absolutely fantastic.

Chiaki, the Niece - See above. Absolute phenomenal support piece. When I bring her in this list, she gets her pull of the grave upgrade to pass out Slows in addition to her other great support.

Toshiro, the Daimyo - What a beast this guy is. Henchman, Hard to Wound 2, and 9 Wds... now slap Armor 2 on him from Lo! He's slow, but that's what Lo's totem and Sensei Yu are for. He grants all minions in his aura positive flips to attack and can himself hand out fast. Command the Graves is an auto take upgrade that gives access to some more summoning. Ashigaru are NOT to be underestimated as their 1 AP action Brace Yari is beastly. They also have armor, and Hard to Kill, in addition to some movement shenanigans. Komainu are the scrap marker summon, and they are solid minions as well, tying up models nicely and threatening any spells your enemy slings in their vicinity. They also get their triggers from being near ancestors, attack Wp instead of Df and pass out slow. Good puppy!

Sorry for the long winded post.  Hope this gives you some starting points and don't be afraid to experiment. I still love running an all ancestor list just because it's thematically awesome!

[master of nightmares]

I played a game on the weekend  against my brother's gremlins I used yan lo's starter and a thunder archer and I won I also took reliquary as well .