Maski, Shen Long Builds

[Shintoninja]

Hey Folks,

Just ordered my second crew box to continue to fill out my Ten Thunders Faction. 

 

Currently I have ;

Maski Crew Box;

    Maski

    Ototo

    3 Torkage

    Shang 

3 Tengu

2 Katanaka Snipers

Shadow Effigy 

2 Ten Thunder Brothers (Thanks Greg!)

Generalist Upgrade Pack 2

 

What I recieving in the very near future is;

Shen Long Crew Box

  Shen Long

  Sensei Yu

  3 Monks of High River

  2 Peasants 

 

Dawn Serpent 

Generalist Upgrade Pack 1

 

What are some good build ideas?

Or some possible character combos using what I currently have and ordered. 

Outside of simplifed learning to play games I haven't played alot.  So some good advice woukd be appreciated.

I lost a few games to new player mistakes but have generally managed a close game with reasonably sucessful strategies.  

 

What would you build?

 

 

 

 

 

[Nikodemus]

4 hours ago, Shintoninja said:

What are some good build ideas?

Or some possible character combos using what I currently have and ordered. 

Combos? You know those "just add water" cooking mixes? Sensei Yu with Wandering River Style is like that. He buffs anything. Pick whatever you like as is and Sensei Yu gives you more of it. Push+fast is just good. Shenlong as master is the same, with more versatility since he can change his own upgrades. Yu can't do that outside of Shenlong crew.

When I do my lists I consider the following: strategy & schemes (frame for murder doesn't mix well with Misaki/Ototo) and table/terrain (can't snipe if there's no sight lines). Hard to give too much list advice without those. But lets try to be helpful. For fun let's generate a S&S set and figure something out, hopefully others chip in and you can see a bit of why/why not make some crew choices:

Quote

 

Standard Deployment

Headhunter (pick up heads from killed models)

Hunting Party (henchmen/enforcers kill minions/peons)

Show of Force (most non-master, non 0ss upgrades in the centre)

Undercover Entourage (chosen master/henchman alive and healthy at opponent's deployment at game end)

Mark for Death (interact with enemies before killing)

Convict Labour (plant and protect scheme markers in the centre line)

 

Hunting Party: I want to take this since if we're essentially getting double VP for kills (1 for hunting party, 1 for picking up the resulting head). But it's bad pick for your model pool. We only have two henchmen/enforcers (Ototo and Yu) and Sensei Yu doesn't do a lot of killing by himself. I'd prioritise Dawn Serpent, Shadow Effigy and Brothers since they're relatively durable minions. Something as fragile as Tengu will just give enemy VP.

Show of Force: Maybe. I'd give Ototo Recalled Training (upgrade pack 1) and your choice of non-discardable upgrade, for Yu I'd only give Promising Disciple (Shenlong) or River Style (Misaki). If enemy doesn't reveal a lot of models that can score this scheme I'd consider it. But if three quarters of his crew are decked out enforcers and henchmen (for Hunting Party) I'd just give up this one, no way you can contest that.

Undercover Entourage: This looks good. Both your masters are quick to move, even more so if Sensei Yu gives them a push and fast. Strong consideration. Shenlong crew has better healing thanks to Low River Style, so I'd lean towards him.

Mark for Death: like Hunting Party this synergises with Headhunter. Unlike Hunting Party this doesn't hinge on models we don't have. Ototo, Misaki, Snipers, Dawn Serpent, even Shenlong can all do at least some killing. Shenlong, Sensei Yu and Torakage or Brothers can go and interact with enemies before your killers chop some heads. Brothers might edge out Torakage as they seem more survivable after marking someone. I would strongly consider this, though be wary of Hunting Party. If enemy picks that and you throw your minions at his face you're again giving up VP.

Convict Labour: you've got a lot of reasonably fast models, I'd say you have a good chance of pulling this off just by spamming markers. Though this does nothing with the strategy.

I could go few different ways with this but here's something I cooked up:

Quote

 

Shenlong (Wandering River Style, Recalled Training) [prioritise pushing and healing our crew so they can earn VP, can shift into kill-mode if need be, recalled training helps with that]

Peasant [buffs crew, can summon a friend and both can sacrifice themselves if they risk giving enemy VP]

Ototo (Recalled Training, Call the Thunder) [generate head markers, score mark for death]

Sensei Yu (Promising Disciple) [Shenlong light, if Shenlong has to roll up his sleeves and get dirty Yu can keep buffing the crew]

Katanaka Sniper [score mark for death, sit on a convict labour marker, be a pain in the ass]

Brothers x2 [VP machines, drop markers, pick heads, mark for death, whatever wins you the game]

Shadow Effigy [ditto, buffs Shenlong]

 

Eyeing for Convict Labour and Undercover Entourage (probably on Shenlong), though we could go for Mark for Death and Show of Force if those seem doable after crew reveal.

Some food for thought I hope. Just go out and play some games 

Edited December 20, 2016 by Nikodemus
forgot peasants

[skoatz]

In a Shenlong crew: Park a sniper 3 inches from Sensei Yu and 6 inches from Shenlong within line of sight to both.  Before the sniper's activation use the peasant's provide for the temple action on the sniper to give him +1 focus.  The sniper activates and uses the focus on his ranged attack that then has a 28 inch range.  Then the sniper can focus as a 0 action because he is within 6 inches of Shenlong.  Then he can spend the focus to get another 28 inch range shot.  The order is important because focus has to be used up all at once but if you use the focus from the peasant first on one shot then focus again, you'll have another focus on the second shot. Plus, because the sniper is within 3 inches of Sensei Yu when he uses focus, his duel total is increased by one every time he spends a focus on an action.

[Furycat]

I find Ototto works rather well in a Shen Long list. You can push him 10" up the board easily, and make him fast which is nice, and with Shen Long able to heal him, your opponent often ends up with an unpleasant choice. They can't ignore him when he's in their face, but damaging him generally simply enrages him, he delivers a smack down, then between his own (0) heal, and When Ling's healing he quickly heals back up. You can also have a monk of low river follow him, since he generally has a spare upgrade slot to carry the 0ss upgrade for then. Finally, he also makes a decent carrier for the hidden agenda 0ss upgrade for Oiran. He'll generally be doing damage, which can make a pair of Oiran near constantly fast and focused, which makes them great scheme runners, especially against a melee heavy crew, since they cannot be charged. 

The lone swordsman is another great piece to combo with Shen Long. You can push him up and make him fast, then pop recalled training, get three attacks, use his (0) to reactivate, have + flips on his defence thanks to recalled training, then activate him again for another 2 attacks with recalled training. He can carve a bloody path through enemy crew this, and he's a great answer to shooting heavy enemies like guild or gremlins, thanks to being bulletproof +3.

Samurai go well with Shen Long, since they gain additional focus when they focus, and can go defensive without discarding a card, and Shen Long let's them do both for a (0). His healing also goes a long way on a model with armour +2.

A pair of thunder archers with Sensei Yu carrying the blot the sky upgrade can provide great area control, for things like guard the stash, and he can easily push them into position, leaving them free to shoot. 

There are plenty more good TT  combos of course, but those are a few good ones to get started.

 

 

[Nikodemus]

Yeah I've gotten a lot of mileage out of The Lone Swordsman and Samurai with Shenlong. I didn't touch on those since OP specifically asked help with what he has right now, but I'd look into those as future buys. Especially since he's a little light on henchmen/enforcers, which hurts in some scheme pools.

[InvokeChaos]

EDITED FOR PROPER RANGE ON YU'S ABILITY

Snipers work extremely well with Shenlong. His ability to let them focus for a 0 action, plus pushes, fast and Sensei Yu's ability (+1 to attack flips when it's a focused attack within 3" of him), they can do some great work.

10T brothers are going to be probably your go-to scheme runners. They have a lot of cute tricks with their dance of many.

Misaki + Sensei Yu = missile.  Yu can use her 0 action to stalk a target, then push her up to 10" and give her fast. Then she just tears into whatever he stalked.

Dawn Serpent is pretty solid with Shenlong because he is really accurate and his 0 action only matters when you need to heal. Otherwise it's perfect time to focus. Being given pushes and fast means 3 hyper accurate attacks and one can be focused. Really good.

[Nikodemus]

5 hours ago, InvokeChaos said:

Sensei Yu's ability (+1 to attack flips when it's a focused attack within 6" of him)

Yu's Master of Wandering River Style ability is a 3'' aura, not 6''. Unless you meant it's ~6'' across.

I'm rarely eligible for it since it's such a small area and half the time I could use it I forget it. Still a swell guy.

[InvokeChaos]

ah yes, quite right, adjusted.