Thunders Building on a Budget

[Khyodee]

Hey folks, I could use some help on my Building on a Budget series of videos for S&S. The idea is to follow these guidelines:

1) Make a competitive list with some flexibility if possible

2) Limit the initial purchases to 2-3 boxes (less is better)

3) Focus on Keyword models followed by good Versatiles
4) Generally avoid non-faction models (except those in master box) and taxed models
 

The color coding is

-Green are first purchases (required or highly recommended)

-Yellow are second tier purchases to really tune your list

-Orange are third tier purchases that will improve your lists flexibility

-Red are optional purchases if you want them (the rest of the keyword and versatile models)

**5-14-21  UPDATED LISTS**










 

[Cats Laughing]

A few comments:

There are only 2 Katashiro in the Karmic Debt box (they are minion(2))

Honestly, Oni is an expensive keyword. I'd consider pushing Ancient Evil up to Green (Ama no Zako is a strong Henchman and often replaces Bettari).

Icons & Debt are probably Orange for Oni as well, with Debt a possible Yellow. Maybe less so after the summoning nerf.

Akaname (Bayou Oni, in a 3 pack) should be at least a Red for Oni and could be an Orange as they are surprisingly good summons.

 

Foundry looks fine to me, though Debt could be dropped to Red. 

 

You have several repeated boxes in various keywords, like Debt listed twice under Misaki, Yasunori twice under Asami, etc...)

 

Note I'm not a top player so ymmv. Haven't commented on keywords I haven't used in m3e.

[TheUnseemlyOne]

It looks like you’re trying to limit each master/keyword to two green options, but pretty much every Yan Lo list I’ve seen and played begins with both Manos and Chiaki. 
 

For Qi and Gong, Lust has a great deal of synergy with Youko that should take her out of the never category. 

[touchdown]

I feel like Descendants and Guardians and/or Devoted Students could be red for every keyword since Sun and the LRM are such good healers. Especially after the Tanuki change that makes them significantly worse ook.

[Vessien]

I feel like there are too many things in red overall, specially if we see it as steps in crew roster building. Thus, I'd try to move one or too thing to orange in several keywords.

For Last Blossom, for example, I'd suggest changing Wokou Raiders and Lords of War from red to orange.

Wokou raiders are a great option for scheme heavy pools, and are keyword models.

While Lords of War offers a Ruthless ranged beast in the form of Fuhatsu and some very versatile models in the form of 10T Brothers.

[Cats Laughing]

If the idea is to get the cheapest crew for each master, but still have the crew be somewhat ok (ie: not trash) I'd consider the following for Asami:

Switch Jorogumo and Ancient Evil between green & yellow.

The Ancient Evil box is $5 cheaper and brings in the better keyword Henchman.  Jorogumo are great models, but as you have the cheap Asami crew set they're hires and not summons, leaving you with only Yokai or killed Jorogumo for summoning.  Switching that to the Ancient Evil box would give you Obsidian Oni & Yokai as initial summons, plus any deaths.  The Obsidian Oni is a perfectly serviceable Oni and easier summon than a Jorogumo. Imho this switch give more options initially, even if it passes on a very strong keyword model briefly.

 

Just based on cost considerations, the Dawn Serpent is one of the better $ per Soulstone models in the faction and pretty good as a model, also versatile. I might consider it an Orange in all keywords, as it brings a fairly self-sufficient model that can slot in fairly easily for a new player who wants something different without spending a lot.

[Cursed25]

For Last Blossom Minako and her summons should be green! She's an excellent schemers that summon more superb schemers! With her, Misaki and Ototo you have a pretty strong base!

[Vessien]

3 hours ago, Cursed25 said:

For Last Blossom Minako and her summons should be green! She's an excellent schemers that summon more superb schemers! With her, Misaki and Ototo you have a pretty strong base! 

This is a good point, since you can build a crew just with Karmic Debt box, and put Crime Syndicate as yellow.

The crew could look like:

Misaki Budget (Ten Thunders)

Size: 50 - Pool: 5
Leader:
  Misaki Katanaka
Totem(s):
  Shang
Hires:
  Ototo
    Masked Agent
  Minako Rei
  Torakage
  Torakage 2
  Torakage 3
  Wanyudo

And you have a couple of tricks with Ototo's masked agent+Misaki or Katashiros for that place free attack.

It has less in keyword models but well, it is a giant head in flames rolling in a wheel!

 

On the other hand, if you decide to keep the original proposed green buys, I'd swap 1 Crime Boss for 1 Sniper with trained ninja to add a ranged threat.

[Khyodee]

Updated lists

 

[Vessien]

Checking Youko's list, and taking into account what has been said In this recent thread, I'd put Hinamatsu and Charm Warders as green and move Deadly Performance to yellow.

This way, with the green buys you can make a list like:

New Youko Hamasaki Crew (Ten Thunders)
Size: 50 - Pool: 6
Leader:
  Youko Hamasaki
Totem(s):
  Chiyo Hamasaki
Hires:
  Hinamatsu
  Bill Algren
  Geisha
  Geisha 2
  Charm Warder
    Trained Ninja
  Charm Warder 2
    Masked Agent
 

(With space to play with the different upgrades on different models).

 

Additionally, I'd consider adding one versatile box as orange. Here, the Dawn Serpent seems like a good choice from a budget point of view. Being Lords of War and Silent Strike more expensive and less cost effective options.

[Khyodee]

On 5/16/2021 at 1:19 AM, Vessien said:

Checking Youko's list, and taking into account what has been said In this recent thread, I'd put Hinamatsu and Charm Warders as green and move Deadly Performance to yellow.

This way, with the green buys you can make a list like:

New Youko Hamasaki Crew (Ten Thunders)
Size: 50 - Pool: 6
Leader:
  Youko Hamasaki
Totem(s):
  Chiyo Hamasaki
Hires:
  Hinamatsu
  Bill Algren
  Geisha
  Geisha 2
  Charm Warder
    Trained Ninja
  Charm Warder 2
    Masked Agent
 

(With space to play with the different upgrades on different models).

 

Additionally, I'd consider adding one versatile box as orange. Here, the Dawn Serpent seems like a good choice from a budget point of view. Being Lords of War and Silent Strike more expensive and less cost effective options.

Sounds fine.

 

[Maogrim]

For Honeypot I think Lords of War and/or Silent Strike should be orange as well.

While there is no direct synergy with the keyword's mechanics, Fuhatsu and the Samurai lend themselves to the slow and turtly playstyle, providing Mr. Lynch with some serious pressure from afar.