M2E+Izamu+The+Armor


 * Izamu the Armor, Ten Thunders/Resurrectionist Enforcer**

=__Overview__=

Izamu the Armor is a prime example of tanky beatstick. His defensive stats are below, specially for his cost, but he more than makes up for it with **Armor +2** and the option to try and heal himself as a (1)AP action. As an offensive piece, you'll be hard pressed to find a more consistent model with **Melee Expert** and a + flip to all his damage flips. This compensates for his lower severe damage compared to other beatstick models in his weight class. He is also another **Ancestor** of Yan Lo and as such has a few special synergies with him, as well as being a **Spirit**, opening up some very powerful interactions with Kirai. toc

=__Mobility__=

Izamu's mobility is limited with a Wk of 4 and a Cg of 6 though he does compensate for this with a hefty 3" **Melee range** giving him a 9" threat when charging. Him being a **Melee Expert** though lets him be a bit more mobile than expected, letting him Walk twice and then still be able to make an attack. This means he can reach a model up to 11" away from him and wail on it if necessary which is a considerable amount of threat.

=__Offense__=

Izamu has a huge **Melee Range** of 3" which lets him cover a big area of the board, has a good Ml stat of 6 and a nice damage spread of 3/4/5. What makes him so good at offense is his native + to all his damage flips. Stack on that he is a **Melee Expert** and he can punch huge holes on any target, specially if they are not **Hard to Wound**, letting him get a lot of straight flips. **Armor** and **Incorporeal** do neuter him somewhat though, but at least against if he gets a mask he can ignore **Incorporeal** thanks to the **Katanaka's Will** trigger, so he is still a threat worth keeping an eye on.

His **Dadao** also gives him +2 to his Ml stat and a + flip to attack flips when doing disengaging strikes, so once Izamu grabs a hold of an enemy model, it either needs to get out of there without having to do a Walk or it will have a very hard time getting out.

As another perk, he has **A Warrior's Death**. When Izamu is reduced to 0 wounds by an enemy melee attack (as in close combat attack action not a Ml action), he gets to immediately do a (1)AP attack action against the model that dropped him ignoring range and line of sight. Also, this sacrifices Izamu instead of killing him which could be valuable or detrimental depending on if you need corpse counters, want to deny them or want to negate an "on killed" effect from the enemy attack.

Izamu has the **Ruthless** ability which lets him ignore any Wp test during his activation, this means **Horror**, **Manipulative** and other similar abilities won't stop him from attacking, though outside of his activation he can still be affected by them. His **Dadao** also has the **War Eternal** trigger, if triggered (requires a Tome) it lets him draw a card if he cheated the damage flip, which isn't so much offense, as hand rotation, but is a good way to get rid of low cards when you can't or don't want to cheat anything higher or a great way to get something back for cheating a high card on damage.

=__Resilience__=

Izamu has **Armor +2**, this is his main survival mechanism since outside of that, he has pretty average stats of Df 4, Wp 5 and Wds 9. If something doesn't ignore his **Armor**, he will be hard to shift, but the moment something does, he will die very quickly, so avoid **Armor** ignoring pieces like the plague.

His other way to stay alive is the **Reform** action, it is a 1 AP heal that recovers 1/2/3 damage and requires a 7+ to cast of any suit. Don't get eager with bloodlust, sometimes the best course of action is to heal a couple of times and swing once with **Melee Expert**.

=__Upgrades__=

Since Izamu is both a Ten Thunders and a Resurrectionist Enforcer, he has an ample choice of upgrades depending on the faction he is playing as.

Recalled Training
This allows Izamu to discard the upgrade at the start of his activation to get + flips on all duels and flips for the rest of the turn. This is the big Ten Thunder upgrade for him since it either makes him very dangerous for a turn with + to attack and ++ to damage. Do remember that this also affects his Wp and Df flips, so even if his stats are average, every bit helps. Don't discount using it either at a desperate moment to heal since it gives you + on the Ca action of **Reform** and + on the healing flips, making it a lot easier to heal him a lot without demanding use of his hand. Remembet that if Izamu dies during the **Recalled Training** turn, **A Warrior's Death** still benefits from Recalled Training.

Servant of 5 Dragons
Utility upgrade that gives +1 Wp and you can discard at the start of Izamu's activation to discard all scheme markers in a 3" pulse from him. It's important to keep in mind that it's at the start of the activation, so you have to get him into position to where you want to use the scheme pulse the previous turn. This can be interesting in a scheme marker heavy match, but Izamu is mostly a line breaker so it's unlikely he'll be going to the areas where objective flankers usually go, could be interesting but more mobile enforcers and henchmen will probably get a better use out of it. The +1 Wp is certainly nice, but unless you have a very good reason to believe it's important, it's not really worth a Soulstone and the upgrade slot.

Unnerving Aura
This upgrade gives Izamu the **Unnerving Aura** ability, a 3" aura where if an enemy model begins it's activation within 3" of him and ends within those same 3", he takes 2 damage. This is a fantastic upgrade for Izamu since his Melee range is 3", meaning anything that he engages is susceptible to be affected and because of his Dadao making it very hard to Walk away from him. Basically, go for a big cluster and have them either waste AP trying to get out or having them wail ineffectively at Izamu who focuses on healing. Remember that other **Unnerving Auras** stack, so having another big model with Izamu can cause a lot of wounds in quick succession if placed right. **Armor** does reduce the damage though so account for that when deciding who to engage.

Decaying Aura
This is an expensive upgrade at 2 SS, but worth every penny. It gives Izamu the **Decaying Aura** ability, which is a 4" aura that prevents enemy models from healing or using soulstones for damage prevention. To get good use out of this upgrade you have to commit actively towards enemy stone users, but once there, it makes them quickly fold, since a lot of stone users depend on damage prevention to keep them going. With Izamu this is even more deadly simply because of how hard he hits. That his mere presence in the area causes the effect to still work also means it can be an enabler for other models to engage stone users and hurt them. It does put a huge bullseye on Izamu, but thanks to his innate hardiness this might not be so bad. The no healing part is also incredibly powerful, completely destroying some crews which rely heavily on healing, so always try to go where you will exert the most pressure.

Transfusion
This upgrade gives Izamu the **Transfusion** **(0)Action**. This action is a Ca 6 action that targets Df, has a range of 8" and transfers all the **Poison** condition from a model 8" from Izamu to the target. This does give him something to do with his (0)action since he has none natively, but is an incredibly cornercase upgrade unless you are committing to poison or at the very least fielding Sebastian. Mostly worth considering in McMourning crews.

Spirit Beacon
Izamu can take this upgrade thanks to being a **Spirit**. This lets him summon Seishin by discarding a card after another non Seishin model dies in a 6" aura from him. It also lets him take 1 Wd to heal 1 Wd from a Seishin that has been killed 2" from Izamu. This upgrade is mostly considered when playing with Kirai since she really appreciates having Seishin on the table and thanks to how Izamu operates, he shouldn't have a hard time being in the area where people start dying. It can also be worth it outside of Kirai if you like the idea of adding Seishin to the crew, they are still extra activations, have a melee range to be annoying and can be sacrificed to heal other models. Also, since Izamu can heal himself, he can tank some damage for the Seishin and heal back up in his activation.

=__Tactics and Tips__=

Izamu isn't really that complex to use. He hits hard and he can take a licking. Like already stated, avoid anything that ignores **Armor**, since without it, Izamu dies very quickly. Outside of that, don't be afraid to engage where he can be the most annoying, between his **Reform** and his very precise disengaging strikes, he will demand attention and take a while taking down.

What he attacks will get a big hole punched into it, but remember that his severe damage is 5, so he will be a smidgen short to kill most 5SS minions and upward with one attack, so don't bother cheating damage on anything that has 6 Wd unless you want to leave that model ready to be killed by another one.

Izamu appreciates any model that can let him move quicker or push around so as to avoid getting engaged by something worthless and having to waste a turn removing it before engaging something more important.

Izamu can work perfectly without upgrades, but as a Ten Thunders **Recalled Training** is always worth considering at just 1 SS since he does have 3 AP for attacking and as a Resser, both auras are always a good option, though which one is highly dependent on how many stones you want to use and what role you wish for Izamu to have.

Yan Lo
He gets a lot of mileage with Yan Lo since he is able to summon him back into play once he dies thanks to the **Reliquary** upgrade, though do remember this is a once per game deal. He can also let him act out of his activation with **Fury of the Yomi** or make him even harder to hurt thanks to **Transcendence** upping him up to the outrageous value of **Armor +4**. At a given moment, Yan Lo can also heal Izamu up to 4 Wd with the **Instill Youth** action, which when stacked with **Reform** becomes outright evil. The Soul Porter totem is also very welcomed for Izamu thanks to letting him push to be more mobile and let him chose his fights.

McCabe
McCabe can make Izamu an unkillable god of death if he is up for committing upgrades to it. If he gives him **Elixer of Life**, **Badge of Speed** and **Strangemetal Shirt**. We are talking about a **Nimble** Izamu that is **Unimpeded**, has **Regeneration +2** and **Armor +3** the moment he activates. This does mean you are feeding Izamu 5 SS of very powerful upgrades and leaving McCabe naked which is the text book definition of "all your eggs in one basket", but one can't really deny the results. Stack **Recalled Training** on top of that as well as Sidir with **Promises** and it's just pure insanity. Don't do the whole stack everything on Izamu trick if the enemy crew has good ways to ignore **Armor** though or can easily incapacitate Izamu with conditions.

Kirai
Kirai can do a lot of tricks with Izamu thanks to his **Spirit** characteristic. Right off the bat, she can use **Swirling Spirits** on him to really speed him up. Also, the **Adversary** condition buffs Izamu's attack flips. He is also a viable source for summoning the Ikiryo thanks to also being **Undead**. Kirai and her crew are full of ways to heal **Spirits**, helping to keep Izamu going without having to use his own AP and he can also be buffed to get another + flip on damage with **Mark the Soul**. Izamu on the other hand gives Kirai a very hardy model that hits like a truck so they both really appreciate each other's company.

Molly
Molly only really benefits Izamu if she takes the **Forgotten Path** upgrade, though the perks are very good with Izamu gaining **Black Blood** when near Molly and the **Whispers of Past Life** action being able to target him. Outside of that it's more about Molly getting a big spirit brawler to go with the **Forgotten Path** upgrade since she has less big models to go with when compared to **Forgotten Life** Molly.

=__Playing Against Izamu__=

Izamu can be a very scary model, he can be quite durable if you don't pay enough attention to him and he hits like a truck made of bricks. He can be dealt with though, it just needs a bit of a focused effort, unless you can ignore **Armor**, in which case he will fold very very fast. First off, his Df is pathetic and his Wp nothing to be proud of, so hitting him often will end up taking him down and Wp based shenanigans will do a number on him as long as they have a decent attack stat. If you can hit him hard at range you can either leave him easy to finish off or you can force him to use his activation to heal back up again and get him off your back for a while. If he is Ten Thunders and has **Recalled Training**, keep any model you would like to live very far away from him since he will destroy it in that turn, force him to use it on fodder. If he is a Resurrectionist and has **Decaying Aura**, keep your Soulstone users a good distance away from him and anything that depends on healing itself too. If on the other hand he has **Unnerving Aura**, burst him down as quick as possible since disengaging from him is very hard and unless you can move him around it can be crippling to not put him down as quick as possible.

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