Redvers and Son Get Into Bushido

Game 7

This was the first game that we played since getting our Christmas stuff. Unfortunately, work and family issues have gotten in the way and gaming has taken a back seat. I didn’t fancy wrestling with the Project System either. So, a much belated battle report…..

Both my son and I were lucky enough to receive some new Bushido stuff from Santa and my son was very keen to get this to the table to demonstrate just how potent the Temple of RoKan can be. My son asked for the Kitsune boxed set for Christmas which provides a very different perspective for the Temple of RoKan. A lot of the characters have two forms, a quick but fragile fox form and a slow but heavier hitting human form. It’s a very different play style but the models, all resin, are absolutely stunning. As he had these new models, he was desperate to get them to the table, so this formed the entirety of his new force. They weren’t painted, some of them weren’t even stuck together but it’s about playing the game (with some good terrain) that’s important!

For this game, we opted for a zone control scenario. This requires 3 zones to be deployed along the centre line with each zone being 4” in diameter. The zones are deployed every 6” across the central line and I’ve cut three 4” circles of rubber for this purpose (with a future aim of making this suitable terrain rather than just black rubber!). The game will be played over 6 turns with 1VP available at the end of the 2nd, 4th and 6th round. The side with the highest number of VPs at the end of the game wins.

VPs can be earnt using event cards and other faction specific aspects but the main focus is control of the three zones. A warband gains a scenario point for controlling a zone. This is done by having more models fully in the zone than the opposing warband AND the total points cost of those models being higher than the opposing warband. Given the three zones, this creates an interesting dynamic over how many zones will you compete for. And which models will compete for each zone. The most scenario points at the end of turns 2, 4 and 6 gains a VP. Scenario points are wiped at the start of turns 2, 4 and 6. Sounds confusing but it isn’t.

This scenario also really brings into play the Bushido rules around Zones of Control (ZoC). Most models have a ZoC (some don’t and all don’t if they are prone or subject to other effects) and this extends 1” around the base in the forward 180 degree arc. Most models cannot enter an opposing models ZoC without declaring a Melee actions (and entering B2B). This then creates the option to block models and limit opposing models lines of movement (more on this later!)

Cult of Yurei Warband

I decided to mix things up a little bit and add some grunt to my warband as well as include some of my new models. This is what I ran with,

Eldest Brother – A Ronin Oni who comes with a lot of wounds (something lacking in the Cult models) and a lot of attacking grunt to hand out some damage (again, something lacking in the cult)

Kami of Blighted Earth – Kami’s are cheap and can’t directly affect the game but they do provide either a buff or debuff and, as a consequence, are annoying but perhaps not important enough to spend resources on removing. In the case of this Kami, he creates a 4” area of difficult ground that enemy models have to move through. I can use this to ‘block’ lines of attack as difficult ground doubles movement.

Ikiryo (with Arashi’s Fan Enhancement) – Glass hammer time. She’s pathetic in combat but comes with a 8” laser eye Ki ability which, if successful, is a straight up Level 4 wound role, which is might powerful. I’ve given her Arashi’s Fan which gives her a +2 against ranged attacks. I hope to keep her out of melee, so her pathetic combat abilities won’t be a problem.

Yama Uba – I’ve run her before. Has the ability to ‘copy’ any other trait on a model she is in BtB with, so a great option to turn the enemy’s abilities against themselves. Or double down on your own abilities.

Mo Ises – Cheap and has the Control ability giving me the option to take control of enemy models

Umeka (with Ijimyo’s Masks) – Cheapish and able to skulk around waiting for an opportunity to shank someone in the back with her scissors. I’ve given her Ijimyo’s mask to provide some protection from a melee attack – this gives her Fear 6, which is the highest in the game and tough for some attacking models to get past.

Hotai’s coin. The attached model can reroll 1’s once per test. If a second roll is a 1, you lose the card.

Dharmic Path – Played during the deployment phase of the game (i.e. right at the start). I get 1 Scenario Point for each Event played by my opponent. Basically a blocker to my son trying his annoying event card tricks!

Drain Spirit – Played after the Ki generation step at the start of the turn, I can transfer 2 Ki from an enemy model to a friendly model in 3”

Pre-Ordain – I roll 2d6 at the start of the game and at any time, I can replace any dice roll made by either player, with one of the dice on the card. The dice does get discarded after use otherwise this would be an auto take card!

Temple of RoKan forces

Followers of Inari Theme – Basically the Kitsune theme allowing all of the foxes. The theme provides an auto win on turn 9 (my son thinks this is great but I did point out that if the game is still going by turn 9, we’re doing something wrong!). It also allows a re-roll for all models on Ki and Size tests for one turn of the game. And when I use a Pass token, I must select one of his models that has taken wounds to heal 1 wound.

Kami of the Evening Flame. Kami are cheap and annoying. They aren’t really worth destroying as they take a bit of resource to do and they can’t really win scenario points. But, they either buff your own models or debuff the opposing models. In the case of this one, it can shoot small fireballs which cause a bit of damage and set the target alight (causing more damage). They can also ‘self destruct’ which removes them from the board but also causes an AoE

The White Faced Fox – Has a bow for long range damage and comes with a lot of skills that makes it hard to hit. Can shift into Fox form

Takeru – Has a Glaive which provides the very useful Combo Attack in melee. Also has bonus abilities against Soulless models (which is a lot of the Yurei list!) and can shift into a fox.

Kuoto – Provides some control/decision Ki feats that force the opponent to choose between certain events (most of which rob you of movement). Also has some handy combat abilities to deal out some melee damage. Can transform into a Fox for added movement.

The Nine Tailed Fox – Provides a dice re-roll buff to all friendly models and can reroll a lot of its own dice

Juko (with Prayer Beads) – Has a short ranged attack and a handy combo melee attack. Has skills that makes him hard to hit and can re-summon Kami that are destroyed. The Prayer Beads gives this model an extra 1 Ki each turn

Tengoko – Has a ranged attack and, if it hits, a damage dealing sword. Has some powerful debuff Ki feats 

Test of the Fox Event. An opposing model must make a move challenge test. If they fail, they lose an activation (losing an activation is a big deal!)

Test of the Path Event. Opposing model must make a Melee challenge test and if they fail, they gain a control maker (effectively allowing the Temple of RoKan to control the model for one activation)

Test of the Man Event. Opposing model takes a size challenge test and if it fails it gains an impetuous marker (meaning that the model has to activate first which is a pain if there is a plan in place or the model was required to hold back later in the turn to provide it’s support)

Test of Inari Event. Opposing model take a Ki Challenge test and if it fails, it gains a Spirit Block Marker (this means that the model will not gain Ki in the following phase and Ki is used for special abilities, so this can really hamper the ‘big moves’ that can swing the game for you)

Gorinto – This is my son’s favourite terrain card and allows a friendly model to generate an extra Ki token if they are within range

Turn 1:

My son wins the Strategic test and takes the initiative. He doesn’t hand around with his Test of the Path and plays this straight away on Eldest Brother who fails his test and is controlled. My son wastes no time in getting Eldest Brother to attack his nearest model which is Umeka who is no match for an angry Oni and she takes 4 wounds. This was lucky as she just survived and it could have been a lot worse!

Most of my son’s models start in Fox form and move forward quickly. The White Faced Fox advances a long way, changes to Human form and fires its bow at Yama Uba, thankfully hitting but doing no damage. It does however put a Ki Block on Yama Uba, meaning she can’t generate Ki at the start of the next turn.

Takeru has advanced on my son’s left flank. He’s definitely looking to get round the side and into my back line where Ikyiro is. I’m having none of that and so Ikyiro takes aim with her Look into the Void Ki feat and hits, dealing 2 wounds.

Otherwise, the rest of the models spend the turn moving into position.

The pictures below are, my deployment, Temple of RoKan deployment, Eldest Brother smashing Umeka in the face, and two pictures of the state of play at the end of the turn.

Turn 2:

I win the strategic roll this turn and instantly activate Ikyiro. It’s a same as last turn Look into the Void blast on Takeru which succeeds and does enough damage to kill! Happy blasting from the little lady.

Kuto uses its Final Verdict ki feat on my kami, which fails its test and gains a death marker. This marker can be removed by spending ki (which the kami doesn’t have) and while the kami has a death marker, it makes them easier to hit in melee – so a big debuff. But I’m ok with this as the kami is somewhat expendable.

I advance Umeka into the the scoring zone on my left and my son uses the 9 tailed fox to attack Umeka. The 9 tailed fox gets to roll a lot of dice due to various buffs and debuffs and Umeka is not able to withstand the onslaught and is killed. This gives the 9 tailed fox control of the left hand scoring zone.

I move my kami and Eldest Brother into the central scoring zone, giving me control there. 

Otherwise, there were some unsuccessful shooting attacks, Mo Ises tried to use his control Ki feat and failed and Juko failed to wound Mo Ises in melee. At the end of the 2nd turn, we both control a scoring zone each and therefore no VPs are awarded.

Turn 3:

My son plays Test of the Fox event (due to my Dharmic Path card, I’ve limited my son to playing his event’s in turns where there is no scoring so I don’t get a scenario point this turn). With this event, he nominates Ikiryo who fails her test and loses an Activation, which is a big deal.

Even with the loss of an activation, I feel Ikiryo is fairly safe at the back of the board and I spend her only activation to get blasting with her Look into the Void attack against Juko, who is also sneaking up on my right flank.Juko fails their test and gets a couple of points of damage for their trouble.

The White Tailed Fox charges Yama Uba but before combat starts, Yama Uba uses her Morph Ki feat to take Parry from WTF to aid her defence. Parry provides a straight up +1 to your defence, which is very handy. In the melee, my son puts a lot of dice into attack to compensate for Yama Uba’s newly found parry skill but he rolls very poorly and fails to get past her defence. Yama Uba only rolls one attack dice but rolls a six, easily beating WTF and rolls well on damage killing WTF outright. 

It’s now just Yama Uba and the 9 Tailed Fox in the left scoring zone and I want to push the 9 TF out to get control, so I use Yama Uba’s second activation to enter melee. I hit but I’m not able to do any damage, so the scoring zone is still contested.

Juko is still in BtB with Mo Ises and continues to press the attack, Mo Ises isn’t great in combat and, despite rolling all defence dice, Juko is able to deliver 4 damage, almost killing Mo Ises. 

I use Eldest Brother to attack Juko from behind and, with Mo Ises also in BtB, that’s two debuffs. Eldest Brother is able to use his Slam Attack special ability which delivers a wound and leaves Juko prone. This also removes Juko’s last activation and so Juko is now exhausted.

With Juko prone, exhausted and outnumbered (that’s -3 dice for Juko) I attack with Mo Ises. Despite being poor in combat, against a -3 dice debuff, Mo Ises is a lot better and rolls well. Well enough to kill Juko.

Tengoko, who has spent most of the game shooting and either missing or failing to damage moves into melee with my kami who is controlling the central scoring zone. Tengoko is able to hit but, due to the kami having Durable (which all kami do) the damage is limited to 1. Because I know that the kami can only take 1 damage and therefore not be killed this attack, I roll all of my dice into attack, giving me a massive success level, which, when I roll for damage, is a big number. Big enough to not even bother adding up as it kills Tengoko instantly.

Finally, Kuoto moves into the right hand scoring zone to control it and casts Final Verdict against Ikiryo but this fails this time.

Turn 4:

The 9 TF attacks Yama Uba twice and both times fails to do any damage, thanks mainly to Yama Uba’s Parry skill that she ‘borrowed’ from the White Tailed Fox.

Kyoto tries to use its Ki feat Dharma against Eldest Brother. If successful, the next time I Activate Eldest Brother, my son decides what action the model will take and I have to carry this out. I really want Eldest Brother to hand out some damage this turn, so I’m relieved when I pass the test.

Mo Ises moves into melee with the 9 TF from behind. This gives Mo Ises surprise and the 9TF is also exhausted and outnumbered as Yama Uba is still in BtB. This more than levels the playing field and Mo Ises is able to cause 6 wounds. Unfortunately, the 9TF has 9 wounds, so while a hefty amount of damage, it’s not enough. The 9TF is able to kill Mo Ises in return.

Ikiryo has been quiet and biding her time at the back of the board until now. With the middle scoring zone secure and the left one disputed by the 9TF, there’s really only one target for her Look into the Void Ki feat. The 9TF has a low defence against this attack, rolling 1 dice against Ikiryo’s 4, and Ikiryo is able to succeed and kills the 9TF. 

This gives me control of two zones and, with my son only having Kuoto left, he decides he’s had enough and shakes hands.

Wrap Up.

Ikiryo is now my son’s most hated model. He thinks she’s grossly over powered and should be banned. She does deal some hefty damage but as I mentioned to him, she’s weak in combat and will take damage from shooting, so will go down quickly if targeted.

The Kitsune are also new models for my son and come with a very different play style to the monks he has been using. We chatted about possible synergies and how to adapt his play style. He also charged his models unsupported up the flanks which allowed me to pick them off.

From my side, obviously Ikiryo was a game changer, giving me some much needed range attack. And Eldest Brother added some real punch into the line which is something that the Cult of Yurei really lacks.