RoF Musings PT1: 10 Thunders

Below I've got attached some thoughts from the FCMSC's resident 10T players (I believe between both of them they have...like...maybe 10 games under their belts) and I feel most of their thoughts are pretty spot on, and I always enjoy what people think about new stuff. Also I will warn you, it is a big read, so get a coffee sorted, a comfy chair set, or head to the loo while at work....
Enjoy....

Asami Tanaka and her glorious Oni underlings 

By Corey Leslie

Asami: Living, Oni master who looks like she is going to be all kinds of fun to play, but take some effort to master.

Stats: DF7 – handy, as she has no df triggers and relies of Hard to Kill
WP: 5. Wounds: 10 – little low considering her survivability is on the soft side, especially when her summoning mechanic taxes her wounds. WK 5 Cg 6: More than what I expected for a summoner, just given she plays more midfield, not unsurprising.

Abilities

Rush of Magic – draw extra card, discard a card. Always handy.
HtK – handy
Wrath of the Oni – Oni within 4 deal 1 damage for a 1AP charge action – her basic mechanic to allow summoned models to charge on the turn they arrive and before they die from flicker. Handy, but healing will be needed in the lists.

Attack Action:

Another Mouth to Feed: MI6 with built in mask. 2/4/6 damage is nice. Built in trigger for the push. The crow trigger is situational at best, but hilarity will ensue when it happens – target takes a TN 11 Ht duel. If fails, it dies unless you discard 2 cards.

Reaching Tendrils: Ca6 with mask. TN12. Rg8, Target is pushed into base contact. Handy for bringing models closer for any summoned Oni 1AP charges.

Tactical Actions

0AP – Insatiable Hunger: Ca6 TN12 – discard all markers within 2 and heal two damage for each marker. Helps with her losing wounds to allow the 1AP charge, but savvy opponents will just keep scheme markers away from her, so you are spending ap to drop markers to heal her. Probably better ways – low river monk, etc. (To me this will tie in really well with Heavenly Design, as your models drop scheme markers. - Nick)

1AP Oni Strenght – Ca6 Tn 12, Target Oni or minion gains Focused +2 – can see this being used a bit by some models (early game Katanaka Sniper hits, beefing Jorogumo, hell, even on herself!)

1AP From the Maw they Come: Her bread and butter. The summon mechanic. Minions only (Jorogumo are minions…with no rare restriction ;) ), TN is 10MM plus the soulstone cost of the minion. Has a built in mask so you either need to flip/stone/cheat for the other. I really only see me summoning the lower cost minions (more on this later), and hiring the hire ones, such as the Jorogumo. The naturally come in with Flicker 1, but can go up to Flicker 3 if you happen to have near by scrap/corpse to dispose of.

Upgrades:

1ss: Feigned Weakness: Extra summoning based on VP. Basically, if at the end of turn 2 the VP has you up by 2 (say 2 – 0), the Asami can summon in a minion Oni. The catch is that the total ss cost of the summoned model must be equal to or lower than the difference in VP + 3. Funnily enough, there are Oni minions in the ranges of
4,5 and 6, so you will always be able to have something. Model gains flicker 2 – this is to ensure that the model lives to have atleast one turn. Flicker counts down after VP is tallied. So if it was only 1 Flicker, then the summoned model would die instantly. For 1ss, I can see this as always being attached.

2ss: Heavenly Design: The get out of dodge upgrade. 0AP action, needs a 6 of anything and you can place her within 6’ of the current location.
Extra ability as well: If a friendly model is sacrificed (Flicker counts as sacrificing) within 10, it drops a scheme marker  ala Finish The Job.

1ss: Grasping Strands: Enemy models that end the movement portion of the Charge action within 4’  reduce the number of attacks generate by the charge by one. Handy.
Also gains another trigger for her Tendrils attack. Mask and Ram – after succeeding, take a 1MI attack action.

2ss: Nefarious Pact: This is the one I would probably consider less atm. She gets to draw a card at the end of her activation. Provides condition removal protection to models within 10. Basically it is there to stop assholes from removing flicker and such from summoned models and killing them. 2ss is a lot for this is think. But I may be wrong.

All in all, I love her. I think she is well balanced for a summoner in that she can do it well, but it comes at a cost, opposed to the Dreamer and such. 4/5

Amanjaku – Totem 3ss

Stats: Df/WP 5, Wd 4, WkCg 6 – standard enough.

Abilities:

Insignificant – expected

Cool little combo of Disguised (no charge) and Manipulative 13 makes him more of a pain to deal with than you would expect from a totem. May help him escape the targets of the enemy.

Attack Actions

1AP Trickster’s Claws (MI 5Mask, Resist Df, RG1) 1/2/3. The kicker being that he does addition damage equal to the amount of VP the opponent has upto 2 extra, so can be 3/4/5 – great for a totem.

One trigger, which is flay. On double mask, the damage flip may be cheated if it suffers one or more – flip. Situational…until you find out that you can get that extra mask passively from the upcoming henchmen.

1AP A Taste of Life – Ca 5 TN 14, can increase a target models condition by 1 – handy for bumping up flicker or needing an extra burning or such, but a 9 is massive card to throw for this. Would have to mean the difference between winning and losing.

Tactical Action

0AP Onwards Into Night – CA5 TN10Crow, until end of turn, Sh attack actions targeting someone within 6 suffer –s. Fuck you Perdita! But seriously, situational based on who you are facing, but has the potential to save you early game.

Overall, he is a cool little totem and I would have to consider him in most of my Asami lists. 3/5

Ohaguro Bettari – Henchman, 8ss, ugly as fuck
Stats: Df/Wp 6, Wd 8, Wk 6 Cg 7 – decent enough, until you learn that she has zero df triggers or anything like HtK/W, etc.

Abilities

The Bird and The Snake: The motherload – Enemy models within 6 may not declare DF OR Wp triggers. Seriously…this is just the bees fucking knees. Probably explains why she wasn’t given more survivability because now you have to protect her to get the most out of this. (Suck it Gremlins.... - Nick)

Drawn to Essence: If a model is summoned within 6 (friendly or enemy), she MAY be placed into base contact. Handy as hell for damage purposes, but also provides her with a nice little way to get out of dodge if needed.

From the Darkness: May declare charges regardless of LOS and can ignore intervening terrain/models – Again, just balls out amazing.

Attack Actions:

1AP Blackened Teeth (Mi6Mask, Df, Rg2) 2/3/6 damage. Seems fair enough – any more damage and being able to charge while ignoring LOS and models/terrain would be fucked haha. Has three triggers:

·         Flay – same as above

·         Ploughed Over – Mask & Tome – after succeeding, instead of doing damage, she pushes the target 4”away and then can charge something else.

·         Just A Taste – Crow – After succeeding, place a corpse marker – helpful for building the summoning engine.

1AP The Hunting Song (CA 6Crow, TN 12, RG 12, WP) – Target model gains the Whispers in the Night condition FOR THE REST OF THE GAME: You can’t charge. WOW. Also, the next time you want to walk, you have to walk as close to her as possible. Just so many levels of dicking right here. And that is just in this crew – imagine in crews that can lower the WP of other models…

Tactical Actions:

0AP An Oni’s Call (CA 6Crow, TN 10 Crow & Tome, Rg 6): Target other friendly Oni performs a 1 Interaction – need that scheme marker place? Need on more attack to kill something? Handy.

0AP The Flaying Song -  This is the big one – all friend Oni within 4 gain Mask to their MI until end of turn. This just happens. All of a sudden, Amajaku, Bettari herself, the Yokai, all have built in flay (can cheat damage on negs).

Upgrades:

She has one individual upgrade – A Taste For Flesh, which gives her Eat You Fill. A handy heal on a weak model defense wise.

4/5 – I love this so much. She is weak on the defense, which is why I think you will see her being used to hunt minions early game, creating markers, and then piling into the scrum later to give out all the flay.

Yokai 5ss minion

Stats: Df/Wp/Wd/Wk 5, CG 7

Abilities:

Frenzied Charge: Model gains + to all attack flips generated by charge actions - handy

The Fading Fight: If hired, model starts with flicker 5. I couldn’t see myself hiring these guys purely for this reason.

Fickle: If summoned, they come in with Flicker 1

Ephemeral Warriors: Basically, if this model drops a poison or flicker, and lives, it can be placed within 3’

Attack Actions:

1AP Kama (Mi 5Mask, 1Rg) 2/3/4 damage – handy for a minion
Triggers:

-          Flay (double mask), as we know, it can become natural due to henchies fun.

-          Soul Burn (mask), damage gains ++ flip. Lower the Flicker by 1.

-          Basically, if summoned, you charge these fuckers in, hit a normal attack, then on the second throw down Soul Burn for double flips and kill the Yokai, which would have died due to flicker ticking down naturally anyway.

-          Stolen Life (Tome) – After succeeding, models gains flicker +1

-          Vital Strike (Ram) – After succeeding, lower the flicker by 1 and if still alive, take the attack action again.

-          Potential for cool little combos with Tomes and Rams.

Tactical Action:

0AP: Corrupting Essence (Ca5, TN 10) – lower this model’s Flicker by 1, if still alive take a 1AP action – can potentially allow the model to get around the whole no interacting when first summoned thing.

Overall: 3/5 – I see these being used as summon and charge missiles, which if that is the case, they are awesome with that damage track, plus the ability to gain the flay and such. Hiring them is a little off putting given they have a life expectancy. I would probably prefer to hire other 10T minions instead.

Yasunori – 12ss, Enforcer, Rare 1, 10Ts have a rider…sort of

Stats: Df 5, Wp 6, WD 12, Wk 6, Cg 10 – all solid for a dude sitting on a dragon horse brandishing two fuck off katanas.

Abilities:
Armour 1
Stubborn: If target Wp, your attack action suffers a neg flip
Flight
Scales of Heaven: Once per turn, when this model suffers damage, draw a card

Attack Actions:
1AP Vengeful Katanas (Mi6, Df, Rg 2) 3/4/5 damage with a + to the attack flip. Two triggers:

-          Mask or Ram: Wind and Water: After succeeding, take this action again. May only trigger once.

-          Crow or Tome: Earth and Fire: After succeeding, take this action again. May only trigger once.

-          Holy fuck. So from two AP worth of attacks, you can generate 4AP of actions…on top of this, because it is an Oni, that charge may have only cost you 1AP if you hit up Asami for some damage, meaning you could have 5AP in total…or if she is still in range…hit her for another damage point and have another two charge attacks (those can’t declare the triggers, but if you can’t do shit with 6AP worth of 3/4/5 with a + attacks, then you are doing something wrong….)

0AP Kodoku (Ca7, TN 12, WP, Rg 8) Target minion model immediately performs a 1 attack action. Ram trigger Wrath of Heaves – if it deals damage, this attack deals +1 damage for EVERY VP the target’s crew has to a max of 3 – Well fuck me drunk. Just wow for a 0 action. I am semi hard right now.

Tactical Action:

0AP Great Sage (Ca7, TN 13) Look at the top 3 cards of your fate deck, return them in any order.

 (Can't see a rating so I will presume a "Touching himself"/5-Nick)

General Oni Upgrade: The Fate of Mortals 2ss

Model gains The Power Beneath ability: Once per turn, after an opponent scores 1VP, target friendly Oni within 6” may gain Flicker +1. Handy for keeping something alive that you want.

Also, Friendly Oni Minions within 10 gain the following ability: The Fate of Mortals: After killing or sacrificing an enemy, draw a card.

For 2ss, I can see this being useful, but it may be the one culled if pts are required

Overall thoughts: I love everything about this crew. The quirky summoning, the great synergy between models. The mechanic that focuses on VP is so unique and cool. Like how far behind does the opponent want you to be considering what can happen as a result? Also, there is so much ability to mess with card control in this group. I could not be more excited to try these fuckers out!

Ten Thunders *Generic*

By Jordan Newstead

                                                                      

Upgrades

Death Contract 1ss Rare 1                                                                                                     3/5

When this model is killed the opponent has to discard 2 cards or 2ss, otherwise they are killed.

Obvious choice is your frame for murder target. Great for bluffing opponents not to kill someone as it is placed face down and their is a fake (0 cost) version.

i think this is good but only scored a 3 because costing 1ss and a upgrade slot that will more than likely only make an opponent discard to dud cards will not be worth it.

Equality 1ss Rare 1                                                                                                                4/5

once per turn when the opponent scores 1 or more VP you can pick 1 of the following:

·         Draw a Card

·         Place a scheme marker

·         Heal 2 damage

Great on any model that will see most of the game ie. Leader or Henchman. I score this high because you can pick what happens and that is very flexable and will be useful every game.

The Peaceful Waters 0ss Rare 1                                                                                           3/5

Gives friendly Low River Monks within 12‘‘ a 1AP Heal spell that can also place scheme markers on trigger.This makes these 4ss minions very cheap and extremely useful.

After some thought i was going to score 4/5 but i would still take a wastrel over this guy for the same cost.

Models

Sun Quiang 8ss Rare 1                                                                                                          5/5

Ok we have an old man, on front card he has high Def 7 (wirery), he hands out slow to enemies near him and hands out heals to friendlies. he can also interact while engaged (dont mind me im just going to put this here) and has a handy push towards any model that is damaged and if he ends his move within 3‘ he can make an interact.  so i see this guy sitting behind your models healing and if anyone gets damage he moves towards them and drops a scheme marker for free.

On the back card his main attack action is Ca 7 with four triggers, they either heal 2, damage 2, remove all markers within 2, or push 6‘‘ out of combat. apart from this he has 2 other abilities one alows him to turn opponents into peons, the other places a scheme marker near a exisiting one and then removes the exisiting one.

All in all he is a great support model that works with scheme markers and heals.

Terracotta Warrior 5ss Rare 3                                                                                                1(3)/5

Ten thunders new cheap minion, Yeah the look badass and i want to like this guy so lets go throught the front card.

Def 6 = good, Armour 1 = good. oh wait only 4 wounds? and no H2K? so like the effigy only way worse for increased cost. Ok lets look at the back card.

Mi 5 is average but minimum 1 damage is awful.. its ok he has a trigger, oh wait its not built in and you have to take 2 damage that cant be prevented by his armour to then do 2 damage to your opponent WTF!!!!!!

He then has an ability which is really cool. it has a range 6‘‘ and needs a 7 to get it off which is a little annoying. So you can pick a minion or enforcer to gain a condition until the end of the turn that when they suffer damage the terracotta can suffer it instead which cannot be reduced!!!! WTF!

Its like they came up with this good idea and ruined it, they need to be double the wounds or armour two and the damage they take can be reduced. or they can put the condition on a leader/henchman, or have hard to kill.       Fuck you.! (Have since had a talk to Jordan about the 'Thousands Strong' power, which essentially allows the terracotta warrior to palm off damage for a card if the damage was not caused by an action targeting him (hence he could ignore his extra damage trigger for a card, and would ignore the damage from the 'body guard' ability etc. -Nick)

So a big thank you to Corey and Jordan for their essay-esque thoughts on the 10T releases inROF, we may try and turn this into a series and get each of our faction based players to ramble off some thoughts for people.

Anyway I hope this write up has been enlightening for some..especially those pining for some sweet RoF info, so enjoy.

Feel free to comment below or join in on the fun over at AWP

Cheers,

Nick