M2E+Toshiro+the+Daimyo


 * Toshiro the Daimyo, Ten Thunder/Resurrectionist Henchman**

=__Overview__=

toc Toshiro is an **Ancestor** of the Katanaka Clan, an old Daimyo of times past. As his title would make one think, he is a general that supports minions to tremendous levels while also being a pretty competent fighter on his own. With his personal upgrade he can also bring some summoning into any crew, allowing him to summon Ashigaru and Komainu who also happen to work great with him. Also, his **Feudal Ties** ability lets him hire Punk Zombies in any crew he is in, giving more access to Ten Thunder crews to **Undead** models.



=__Mobility__=

Toshiro's mobility is pretty limited, he has a good Wk of 5 and an average Cg of 6 and that's pretty much it.

He does have the //Next Target// trigger on his **Ancestral Katana** which lets him push 4" in any direction after damaging, but he does need to either flip/cheat a Mask or Stone for one to be able to use it. This lets him push out of ugly places after attacking or reposition to attack a different model with his other AP or simply to try and push to a more useful position. Toshiro has better uses for Masks but do consider each time you attack if being able to activate this trigger will be beneficial.

War Fan
What Toshiro lacks in mobility for himself he makes up for by giving it to minions. His **War Fan** (0) action lets him target a friendly minion 6" from him and if he flips an 8+, he can give it **Fast**. This is already a very strong effect, but if it you also happen to flip a Mask, he can activate the ability's only trigger, **Lethal Lunacy.** This lets Toshiro push the targeted model 4" in any direction after succeeding, meaning you can have a minion with **Fast** and pushed 4" into prime position.

=__Offense__=

Like his title suggest, Toshiro is a general and is mostly focused on buffing minions, though he is still decent in combat. His **War Fan** ability is already covered in the mobility section but is also relevant in the offense section thanks to how versatile the **Fast** condition is.

Ancestral Katana
This is Toshiro's only attack action. It is a Ml 6 Attack Action with a Melee Range of 2" and a damage spread of 2/4/5, it also has a native + flip to attack duels. It's a good action by itself, though pretty tame for what other 9 SS models can achieve, but punching stuff is not really the reason to hire Toshiro.

It also has a couple of triggers. First is **Next Target** which is commented in the mobility section. The other one is **War Eternal** which lets Toshiro draw a card whenever he cheats a damage flip, Toshiro has the Tome he needs for it natively, but it is very corner case outside of getting a + flip on damage from one source or another. Do remember to use it whenever it may be relevant though, since it's a decent way to get some hand rotation.

Daimyo
This is Toshiro's biggest selling point and will condition your crew creation if you want to get good use out of it. This gives all friendly minions + flips on all their attack duels on Melee Attack actions. This is a huge buff to any close quarters based minion, letting them hit more frequently and having less need for your hand. The requisite is that it is a Melee Attack Action, it doesn't matter that is is Ml, Sh or Ca based, which gives it a bit more leeway of about what it can affect. Do remember it only affects minions.

The Daimyo's Price
This is Toshiro's other (0) action and in direct competition with **War Fan**. It is a Ca action that needs an 8+ to work and it targets either a friendly scheme marker or a corpse marker 3" from Toshiro. Once cast, it discards the targeted marker and gives all minions in a 6" pulse from Toshiro the **Focused +1** condition. This is a huge buff to them since **Focused** lets one of their attacks be more accurate and hit harder, especially since the **Daimyo** buff stacks. This can affect as many minions as you manage to get inside the pulse. Since the **Focused** condition is lost at the end of the turn, Toshiro is required to activate early to get the most use out of it though.

=__Resilience__=

Toshiro's isn't the hardest model around but he does require some attention to be killed in a prompt manner. His defensive stats are OK with a nice Df of 5 and a good Wp of 6 as well as a Wd stat of 9. He is also a henchman, so he can use Soulstones to prevent damage like any other Soulstone user. What really helps keep him alive is his **Hard to Wound +2**, this gives the enemy - - on all his damage flips against Toshiro, making it very hard to get a straight damage flip on him, meaning Toshiro will only take weak damage on most occasions. Do be mindful that by drawing so many cards in the damage flip, the odds of the red joker coming out and causing a huge hole on Toshiro increase.

His other defensive ability is **Bloated Stench**, this causes 1 damage to any enemy model that causes damage on Toshiro with a Melee Attack action. This doesn't really help to keep Toshiro alive as much as making it more costly to do it. This can be specially distressing for your opponent when facing melee combat models with low weak damage.

=__Upgrades__=

Toshiro is both a Ten Thunders and a Ressurrectionist henchman. This means that between both his factions he gains access to a wide repertory of upgrades. He can use his personal upgrade, **Command the Graves** on both factions though.

Command the Graves
This upgrade gives Toshiro the **Eternal Servitude** and **Eternal Guardian** actions. **Eternal Servitude** is a 1 AP tactical action that lets him summon an Ashigaru from a target Corpse marker 6" from him with a 9+ of Crows, the Ashigaru comes in with 3 Wd. **Eternal Guardian** is a 1 AP tactical action that lets him summon a Komainu from a target scrap marker 6" from him with a 9+ of Tomes, the Komainu comes in with 3 Wd.

Both actions are very similar, but they require different resources to work. Though there are ways to generate corpses (**Corpse Bloat**) or scrap (Emberling), the most standard use of both actions will be mostly to recover losses. Do try to field some varied choices so you can get both counters on the table while your models die. Since Toshiro can use either resource and uses a different suit for each spell, you can find yourself in situations where the variety of markers on the table can make casting the spell a lot easier.

Broken Promises
This lets Toshiro discard at the start of his activation the upgrade to gain the **Betrayal** condition. This gives a - flip to all attack actions that target Toshiro for the rest of the turn. This greatly increases Toshiro durability for a turn, but it demands that he activates early to set it up, though if you want to use **The Daimyo's Price**, chances are it's part of the plan. It is a worthy consideration since Toshiro tends to get a lot of attention because of all of his buffing abilities, but the upgrade is pretty expensive, so you have to have a good reason to reach for it.

Recalled Training
This allows Toshiro to discard the upgrade at the start of his activation to get + flips on all duels and flips for the rest of the turn. Though always a worth considering, this has a pretty tame effect with Toshiro who isn't the best of fighters. It can really give him a burst of damage and does let him get more use out of the //War Eternal// trigger on his **Ancestral Katana**, but this upgrade tends to be better used on more combat dedicated pieces. Only really consider if you have the upgrade slot and don't have any other models who can get good use out of **Recalled Training**.

Servant of 5 Dragons
Utility upgrade that gives +1 Wp and you can discard at the start of Toshiro'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. The +1 Wp gives Toshiro a very respectable Wp of 7, so against Wp heavy crews it can certainly be worth considering. The discard aspect on the other hand doesn't work as well with Toshiro since he isn't the most mobile of models and tends to be in the middle of your crew to buff your minions, meaning he isn't in the flanks where most enemy scheme activity is likely to be. It's still worth considering if you have a stone left and either expect a Wp attacking crew or the scheme pool is heavy with scheme markers..

Corpse Bloat
This upgrade gives Toshiro the **Unforgiving Stench** (1) action and the **You Don't Need a Spleen... Right?** (0) action.


 * You Don't Need a Spleen... Right?** lets Toshiro take 3 Wd to drop a corpse marker in base to base with him. This damage cannot be reduced and can't be used with 3 Wd or less, but you can still use Soulstones to prevent the damage if needed. **Unforgiving Stench** is a Ca action that needs a 9+ to work and targets a Corpse marker 8" from Toshiro. All models in a 3" pulse from the corpse marker have to pass a Wp 13 duel or suffer 5 damage, then discard the corpse marker.

The **You Don't Need a Spleen... Right?** is an easy way to get corpses on the table to get good use out of the **Command the Graves** upgrade, but it is also a (0) action on a model with very good (0) actions and Toshiro needs somebody to heal him up after taking the damage so as to not have him bleeding himself too quickly. **Unforgiving Stench** can be outright devastating when used at the right moment, but do keep in mind that it hurts both friendly and enemy models, so be careful. It's specially powerful when combined with any Wp debuffs like Seamus.

It is a good upgrade for Toshiro thanks to the combination with **Command the Graves**, but it does put a damper on his play with too many useful (0) actions and him not having a native way to heal himself. Used on another model like Mortimer can be a better idea.

Unnerving Aura
This upgrade gives Toshiro 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 could be an OK upgrade, but mostly if you intend to do an **Unnerving Aura** saturation area and you don't have other hardier models in your crew. Outside of that, there are better models to use it like Izamu and The Valedictorian.

Decaying Aura
This is an expensive upgrade at 2 SS. It gives Toshiro the **Decaying Aura** ability, which is a 4" aura that prevents enemy models from healing or using Soulstones for damage prevention. Toshiro likes to be surrounded by his minions to buff them and have them mostly doing the work while he stabs where required, he really doesn't want to be in the area where **Decaying Aura** would actually be useful. He could use it if you really really wanted to have the upgrade in your crew and don't have something like Bete Noir or Izamu, but still of debatable utility on him.

Transfusion
This upgrade gives Toshiro 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 Toshiro to the target. This upgrade is a very hard sell for Toshiro even in crews with Sebastian or McMourning since Toshiro already has two very good (0) actions and you should really be reaching for other models to redistribute the **Poison** instead of Toshiro.

=__Tactics and Tips__=

Toshiro makes his presence felt in the crew creation phase. Be it as a Ten Thunders or as a Resurrectionist, if you bring Toshiro, you will want strong minions with a melee focus. Toshiro can really work with pretty much anything as long as it's based on Melee Attack actions and even with more supportive or scheme dedicated minions he is still a great help thanks to his **War Fan** action. This doesn't mean your crew should only be composed of minions, but Toshiro should really have 3-4 models he can buff around to get good use out of him. Toshiro also greatly appreciates in both his factions the company of Chiaki. She gives him two huge benefits. The first is the ability to remove **Slow** from anything he may summon while also having a chance to heal it, making one of those Ashigaru/Komainu become a very big irritation when they are now recently summoned, without **Slow** and only missing 1 Wd. The other important benefit she gives Toshiro is the ability to transfer the **Chi** she manages to gain to Toshiro, making his life a lot easier by making **War Fan**, **The Daimyo's Price** and the **Command the Graves** actions require lower cards to achieve. Chiaki's presence also helps to buff the Ashigaru and Komainu Toshiro should summon thanks to being an **Ancestor**.

Most times you'll want to really consider Toshiro's personal upgrade, **Command the Graves**, since it can go from simply giving you some attrition by resummoning from your dead models, giving you something to do with high Crows or Tomes supposing the rest of the crew don't really have much use for them or can outright become a factory in a few instances. As a Resser this can be achieved with the use of the **Corpse Bloat** upgrade or by bringing some Canine Remains to unbury corpses and on the Ten Thunders side, your best bet is in Mei Feng crews thanks to the Emberling being able to drop Scrap markers. On both factions try to bring models that are both Living/Undead and Construct so you can choose at a given moment what you want them to drop based on your hand and if you need stuff that targets **Df** (Ashigaru) or **Wp** (Komainu).

Whenever you have your first activation each turn, consider what Toshiro can offer you and what urgency you have to activate other models. **The Daimyo's Price** is an incredibly powerful ability, but it demands early use to be effective, so evaluate if you can allow yourself an activation to buff your minions or not. Also, consider bringing ranged pieces since they have an easier time getting good use of the **Focused +1** condition. On the Ten Thunders side, Tengu are fantastic with him since they will be dropping scheme markers all over the place to advance and as such, will leave a few markers Toshiro can use to cast **The Daimyo's Price** without having to dedicate more important AP to set it up or to use a corpse that could have become an Ashigaru.

Toshiro has powerful synergy with Shenlong's Peasants who can drop a scheme marker at the begging of every turn for **The Daimyo's Price** and drop corpse markers for **Eternal Servitude**.

If you end up having to activate too late in the turn or simply can't get the corpse or scheme marker needed, always try to use ** War Fan **, the ** Fast ** will carry on to the next turn if the model you buff has already activated and the push from the trigger can really give you options.

Though Toshiro is mostly a buffer, don't forget that he hits as hard as a Punk Zombie which isn't bad by any stretch. If a good charge situation presents itself, consider sending Toshiro in, especially if it doesn't make him leave his minions without the **Daimyo** aura. Also, don't forget the **Next Target** trigger which can even be worth using a Soulstone to get, since that 4" push can be a lifesaver or at the very least allow Toshiro be where needed to give out the **Daimyo** buff.

=__Playing Against Toshiro__=

Toshiro is a fantastic buffer and as such demands quick attention to stop his more scary than usual minions from causing mayhem on your crew. Toshiro isn't the hardest model out there, but isn't a pushover either, so you will need a focused effort to end him. To try and minimize **Bloated Stench**, give priority to high weak damage attacks, any model with a weak damage of 3 can kill Toshiro in 3 hits if he decides to not use Soulstones and even when using them it should become costly to keep him alive. Movement and push effects can also put a damper on Toshiro's utility, at the very least moving him away from his minions to deny the + flips from **Daimyo**. Also, remember that Toshiro needs line of sight to the models he wishes to buff, so if you really need to, you can try and use your own models to block some line of sight lanes to limit his buffing potential.

If Toshiro is using the **Command the Graves** upgrade, make it an even higher priority to take him down directly, since just beating on his minions will give him resources to summon other models. This is a bad scenario since he will force the attrition to last longer than it should and can end up gumming up your own models, especially since the models he can summon both have **Armor** and **Hard to Kill**.

If you have anything that can destroy scheme, corpse or scrap markers, make sure to have it on standby to give Toshiro fits by stopping him from using **The Daimyo's Price** or any of his summons.

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