M2E+Samurai


 * Samurai, Ten Thunders Enforcer**

=__Overview__=

The Samurai are mixed enforcers that can do melee combat, ranged support and tank. Thanks to his 3 favor upgrades (**Favor of Heaven**, **Favor of Jigoku** and **Favor of Earth**) he can specialize to be more mobile, a better gun platform or more resilient. Do keep in mind that any of these 3 upgrades will take the Samurai's only upgrade slot, but are still 0 SS choices for him and give his base form the oomph to make him worth his 8 SS cost. =__Mobility__=

The base samurai has a lowish speed of **Wk** 4 and **Cg** of 6. He also has the **Run Through** 2 **AP** action which lets him push 4", make a 1 **AP** melee attack action and then push 3". This lets him not be so limited by his 1" **Melee Range**, lets him chose who he wants to attack with more ease, and lets him end unengaged in case he wants to go somewhere else or wants to be free to use his gun.

=__Offense__=

The Samurai has a presence, both in melee and at range. He also has the **Reading the Wind** ability which, whenever the Samurai uses the **Focus** action, allows him to have an additional **Focused +1**, meaning that if he really wants to be able to get a straight flip on damage, he has very good odds at doing it.

Daito
The Daito is the Samurai's **Ml** 6 attack action that targets **Df**, has a **Melee Range** of 1" and has a 2/3/5 damage spread. It also innately ignores **Armor**. This makes him a pretty mean guy in combat which is made nastier thanks to his triggers. **Critical Strike** lets him add +1 damage for each ram he has at the end of the duel and **Twist the Blade** which gives him a + flip to damage. He doesn't have any trigger natively, but in case of wanting to cheat or just by luck of the draw, he has two triggers that have very good odds of increasing his damage potential. Because it only has a 1" **Melee Range**, you will find yourself using **Run Through** more than a few times to get into range to use the **Daito**.

Thanks to **Reading the Wind**, you should, based on your hand, consider whether you are more interested in doing two strikes or a single strike with **Focused +2**. If you have a high ram and intend to use it, **Focus** is probably the best options since it gives you very good odds at nailing 6 damage, On the other hand, if you have a high crow, you will be better off with 2 attacks: as long as your enemy doesn't have **Hard to Wound** (in this case, **Focus** is still your friend), you should have good odds of being able to get a straight flip on damage and can hope to get 7 damage with both attacks (supposing you get severe thanks to the trigger and a single attack with no trigger). If you have 2 or more high rams or crows and plan to use them, you will mostly be better off with multiple attacks, but even this can easily change depending on the situation and how much life the enemy has. Just do some quick math in your head before attacking and consider how much of your hand you are willing to invest on it.

Shoulder Gatling
This is the Samurai's Ranged Attack Action. It is an **Sh** 5 attack action that targets **Df**, has a very high range of 14", and a damage spread of 2/3/4. It also has an amazing +++ to it's attack duels but at the cost of causing 4 Wd on the Samurai that can't be reduced if he misses with it during his activation. It also has the **Walking Fire** trigger with a ram which, after damaging, lets him make this action again against a different target. Right off the bat, it can be an incredibly precise attack, but the cost of failure is also very high, leaving the Samurai easy pickings with only 2 **Wd** remaining. So never target anything with a higher **Df** stat than 5 unless you have a very good reason to do it and keep in mind you should probably have a high card in your hand in case the attack flip isn't favorable. Also, fear the Black Joker like the plague, since it can be crippling on the attack duel. If you haven't seen the Black Joker this turn, consider very seriously whether you want to shoot at all. Really take a time to consider when using it what you stand to gain from firing: if it can get you VP or help deny them, go for it, but if it only means that you can plant a couple of Wd on a target for the hell of it, you are probably better off going into **Defensive Stance,** or moving again.

Outside of it's shortcomings, it is a very long range attack that could care less about all the - flips you can give it to it's attack duel; it's very very hard to put it at a point where he won't at least get a straight flip on the attack duel. This makes it ideal for targets in soft cover or who impose a - to shooting. Its damage spread is nothing to write home about, but the **Walking Fire** trigger can be used constantly between the same two targets as long as you keep flipping or cheating rams, and the damage can pile in quick with a few lucky rams.

=__Resilience__=

The Samurai has pretty meh defensive stats for an 8 SS model, with **Df** 5, Wp 4 and only **Wd** 6. He makes up for his middling stats thanks to mostly having **Armor +2**, which should reduce a big chunk of any damage headed his way; though 6 **Wd** with no healing will only take him so far. His other defensive rule is **Stand Guard** which lets him go into **Defensive Stance** without having to discard a card. This is a pretty nice ability that really is just a subtle nudge to suggest you should probably get some **Defensive** on him if you don't have anything better to do and makes them better at taking a point and staying there. Anything that targets **Wp** will do a number on the Samurai, so be careful with those; and anything that ignores **Armor** will kill him very briskly.

=__Upgrades__=

The Samurai have access to 3 different personal upgrades that help define their role, as well as access to the Ten Thunders generic upgrades.

Favor of Heaven
This upgrade gives the Samurai +2 **Wk** and +1 **Cg**. This makes him go from slowish to lightning fast. Now he can immediately do scheme work by himself while being hard to shift and now has a respectable 8" threat with his **Daito**. He can also become a very effective flanker and can bring his **Shoulder Gatling** to bear where relevant. The increased **Wk** also lets him move and go into Defensive Stance without falling too far behind. But it doesn't have any effect on how much he pushes when using the **Run Through** action.

Favor of Jigoku
This upgrade makes the Samurai immune to damage during his activation. Tthis means that you can now use the **Shoulder Gatling** without fear of it blowing his arm off. Now you can use it aggressively and have the Samurai behave like a tanky Gun platform, a low-budget Fuhatsu, if you will, that is less damaging at range, easier to take down but 2 SS cheaper and with a melee presence. This ability also has a few unexpected perks like making the Samurai immune to damage that happens during his activation like attacking models with **Black Blood**, moving through Hazardous terrain or taking falling damage, which gives them a bit of an unstoppable terminator vibe, but only during his activation, outside of it he is still susceptible to all of those sources.

Favor of Earth
Favor of Earth gives the Samurai +3 **Wd**. This increases his survivability immensely, making him as hard to take down as Izamu, only the Samurai has +1 **Df**, -1 **Wp** and can't heal. This is the Favor you go for when what you want to do is outlast the opposition. Like Izamu he will end up being taken down, but that doesn't mean it burn their time resources. And with some outside healing, you can keep him ticking even longer. It also lets him use the **Shoulder Gatling** a bit more aggressively if really needed since missing once still leaves him with 5 **Wd** which is still good to take a few hits. Even then the **Shoulder Gatling** still needs to be used with care.

Recalled Training
This allows the Samurai to discard the upgrade at the start of his activation to get + flips on all duels and flips for the rest of the turn. It does give him some extra bite for a turn, but there are much better models to give this upgrade too and the Favors let the Samurai be potent all game instead of just one turn.

Servant of 5 Dragons
A utility upgrade that gives +1 **Wp** and you can discard at the start of the Samurai'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 is a very bad upgrade for the Samurai since it only brings them to Wp 5, occupies the upgrade slot disallowing them from using a Favor. And in their base version, they aren't nearly mobile enough to capitalize on the scheme marker discard. If you need higher **Wp** you take an Illuminated and cut out the middle man.

=__Tactics and Tips__=

No matter the variety of Samurai, be wary of anything that ignores **Armor** or targets **Wp**. Also, **Armor +2** is fantastic at staying alive, but your **Df** and **Wp** are still pretty low, so expect to be weathered down. Never discount the melee potential of the Samurai; he may not be the hardest hitting model, but he has a solid attack with very good triggers. He should be able to carve a few holes, specially if that model depends on **Armor** to stay alive like a Rail Golem or the Strongarm Suit. Also, if you decide to use the **Shoulder Gatling**, try to always aim for low **Df** pieces to maximize the odds of getting additional shots.

Master Synergies
Using the **Shoulder Gatling** is a big risk outside of the **Jigoku** variety, but without that upgrade it can still be used well with the Brewmaster or Ama No Zako. Both can make him shoot with Obey/Choose Your Poison/Promising Whispers and not take damage since it was done outside of the Samurai's activation. The Brewmaster's ability to debuff with the **Swill** condition is also huge to let them be able to shoot with less fear of damaging themselves, while also letting you get good use out of lower rams.

As a Wp 4 model, Zoraida is also able to hire a Samurai. With the increased cost and no "Favor" upgrades they're not nearly as flashy with her. But much like the above models Zoraida has **Obey**, letting her shoot the **Shoulder Gatling** without risk of a misfire. Zoraida is also great at drawing cards with **Bewitch** and **Crystal Ball** (among other things), giving the Samurai an ample supply of cards with which to cheat, not to mention that it increases the likelyhood of drawing the Black Joker before the Samurai flips it. As for upgrades, good options might be **Pact** for Neverborn (to remove the risk of the Black Joker screwing up a Samurai's attack) or **Dirty Cheater** for Gremlins (for healing). Generally though, adding an upgrade to a model who's already overcosted (thanks to the Merc tax and lack of free Favor upgrade) is not something I'd recommend.

Interestingly, an Earth-Samurai can work really well with Misaki. The risk of taking damage on the miss makes it very temping for your opponent to cheat their defense flip against a **Shoulder Gatling**. If they don't you get to hurt their guys from 14" away, but if they do the Samurai is not completely stuffed (as above, 5 wounds plus armor +2 is still very respectable...especially if you can heal him later). More importantly, Misaki loves it when the opponent cheats form their hand, since it gets her that much closer to killing the enemy crew with her "Discard or Die" assassination trigger.

All varieties of Samurai also appreciate McCabe. They love getting **Nimble** from the **Badge of Speed**, although **Regeneration +2** from the **Elixir of Life** is also very good on them. This is especially true for he **Earth Samurai**, since it that healing reduces risk of killing himself with the **Shoulder Gatling**.

Shenlong also gives them a lot since they lack a 0 action, and the ability to get **Focused +2** thanks to **Reading the Wind** or go into **Defensive +1** for free thanks to **Stand Guard** really opens their options for damaging or advancing while minimizing damage. This is without accounting for the healing or pushing Shenlong can also give them.

Choosing the Upgrade
As for what class of Samurai to take, just consider what role you need covering. - If you need a solid all-rounder with a focus on long-ranged firepower to keep the enemy hordes at bay, choose **Jigoku**. - If you want an Armor-ignoring melee beater who's fast enough to run objectives or escort other quick models, and can still shoot from range on occasion, go with **Heaven**. - If you want an an incredibly tough (if slow) piece who's fearsome at both shooting and melee, or don't have the stones to invest in a more expensive tank like Izamu or Fuhatsu, take **Earth**.

Take a Healing Buddy
No matter what upgrade you take, the Samurai really benefits from having a model around with healing. Someone like a Wastrel or Obsidian Oni can help recover wounds lost from either the **Gatling Gun** or enemy attacks. Even recovering 2 wounds is a big deal, since with Armor +2 that translates to another 2-4 damage your opponent has to deal to them (depending on how many separate attacks that damage comes from).

=__Playing Against Samurai__=

First thing first, against any flavor of Samurai, **Wp** based attacks and anything that ignores **Armor** cripples them, so if you have pieces capable of any of those, they should be the ones to go hunt the Samurai. If not, unless you have weak damage 4 or have an easy way to get + on damage, they will mostly fall to death by a thousand cuts or **Focused** attack actions. Also, because of their low **Wp**, you have really good odds of doing mobility based shenanigans against them and anything with **Horror** or **Manipulative** will give them fits. Try to engage them with 2" **Melee Range** or higher since that will force a Samurai to use **Run Through** to be able to get an attack in and minimizes it's offensive presence in combat.

After that, you have to identify what class of Samurai you are facing:


 * If it's a **Heaven** Samurai, he will be blazing fast and will generally be playing as an objective grabber, an escort or a flanker. With **Heaven** he may be very mobile, but he still only has 6 **Wd** so he should fall with some pressure. Any movement-based trick relying on his **Wk** or **Cg** will be less effective due to his high stats, but that Wp 4 will make "move your Wk" attacks like **Lure** that much more painful for him. If he tries to shoot, making him miss will leave him very vulnerable at just 2 or less wounds. Also, because of the speed, you may need to accept that he'll engage you on his terms. So try to just minimize the damage with a bit of a layered advance.
 * If it's a **Jigoku** Samurai, his gun will be very very dangerous since he can now shoot with pure abandon. It may not be the highest damaging gun in the world, but it flips a lot of cards, has great odds of hitting without needing to cheat and can grant additional shots as long as he flips rams. Taking cover is pretty pointless thanks to all the + flips he gets to the attack duel, but at least it reduces the odds of getting a high card a bit and the extra - to damage can be a life saver. Try to engage it ASAP and force it to either get help to disengage or use **Run Through** to get out of combat.
 * If it's an **Earth** Samurai, he's going to take a disproportionate amount of effort to kill without some kind of Armor ignoring attacks. Your opponent will be more likely to use the Gatling but it's still risky for them. If you can't get them to miss, at least try to prevent the **Raking Fire** trigger for yet another attack. He's is still quite dangerous in melee though so as above, it might be best to keep the AP cost low and to use push effects or just cheap fodder to keep him out of the way. Failing that, lots of low damage attacks (such as from Black Blood or Misery) or a few high-damage **Focused** attacks are your best bet for getting around his Armor, assuming you can't ignore it entirely of course.

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