Tag: 10 Thunders

The Super Ferret is here, time to look at the generic totem for the 10T faction..

Stats

The like guy has decent as his movement (so he can keep up which is important) while his Wp is not good which is a shame. But for the price not bad.

Abilities

On to its abilities;

The Winds of Fortune – Once per turn when a nearby friendly model attaches an upgrade card, then you get to draw a card. At the moment this only really works with 2 masters but both wouldn’t say no to such things.

Insignificant – So no Interacting but he is a minion so still counts for some strats and schemes.

The Howling Thunder – Along same lines as Winds but this time when an upgrade card is discarded (or removed) then it can heal some damage and also get a free push. Scary what this can do speedwise for some models.

Attack Actions

Razor-Edged Talons – Average Ml attack that does low damage but it does come with a built Mask to make trigger easier;

• Flay – MaskMask – Like in Neverborn you can cheat damage regardless of the number of negative flips associated with it.

Katanaka’s Flame – Low range, high Ca 7 attack targeting Df allows you to discard up to 2 cards to hand out burning to the model.

Tactical Action

At the Crossroads – A 0 action that allows the little guy to discard a card to push Leader or Minion (poor enforcers and henchmen) their Wk.

Overall

The little guy certainly helps with master mobility but this is something most don’t strong with but then every little helps. At the moment they are 2 masters that really sing when having the Ferret around. Shenlong and McCabe with the cycling of upgrade cards happening with these two masters, perhaps with McCabe getting the most as he has more targets for the upgrade card shifting but still worth considering for either gent.

Another one of those it sort of 10T focused Thunderbear articles, this time the Ashigaru which are only around if you take Yan Lo OR do some summoning with Toshiro.

Stats

So not amazing stats, but they do have a decent number of wounds fior the cost of the model. Below average Df and average Wp means they are susceptible. Oddly he has the shortest Cg I have seen beyond those that don’t have a Cg at all. He is slower charging than he is walking.

Abilities

On to their abilities;

Hard to Kill – We all know it and helps with their survivability

Armor – Something else to make them harder to shift, which is always handy

Guard – Like the Komaniu they gain a Tome to their Ml attack although not as flexible as the stone dogs. Its still worthwhile, as they will generally be pretty close to an Ancestor of some description.

Attack Actions

Rusted Yari – Is their one attack and it is across the board average but at least the reach is OK.

• Infect – Crows – Hands poison for each crow in the total. Not bad as extra damage even at the end of the turn is nice.
• Wall of Steel – Tome – On succeeding (so no damage) then you can push the target away from them.

Tactical Action

Lunge – Allows him to discard a card to take a charge action. This is great for the reasons mentioned above with his old Cg range. It actual makes him pretty fast if he walks then uses this to charge. The second thing is to allow him to charge twice in a turn if the enemy is close together..

Brace – A scary ability for some, it hands out the condition Braced For the Charge which means any friendly models charged near them will allow them to hand out a decent amount of damage to the charger with no flips etc. need.

Overall

Nice little roadblocks that are cheap to buy in or use Toshiro to bring on. Brace is an amazing ability, one to be respected by anyone! While Lunge more than makes up for their rubbish Cg stat.

Everyone needs some protection so you may as well have a bouncer come with you to the battlefield and none are better at it than Mr Graves..

Stats

He is a big guy with big guy stats which means he is pretty easy to hit, cover is important for him on the run up to squish things. HE can at least move OK and his Cg is not bad either. Be very wary of his height it can be diffcilut to hide him. But for the price he is not bad at all.

Abilities

On to his abilities;

Black Blood – Means things that too close will suffer while he does but is also easy to get round with bigger reach on attacks. But don’t be afraid to get close to something that is already damaged and dare your opponent to hit him with other stuff with threat of free damage elsewhere.

Hard to Kill – As he has no Df triggers this at least makes him bit more survivable.

Armor +1 – Bit more defensive abilities but like H2K there is stuff out there that easily by-passes it

Ruthless – Immune to Wp duels during his activation means he can ignore all those Horror and Manipulative abilities out there.

Attack Actions

Show Ya the Door – Again decent Ml (that needs any 7 to achieve TN) it pushes target a huge distance then moves himself into base contact. Unfortunately he can only do it once against a friendly model but it is worth it as you move the same as a lot of models charge.

• And Stay Out! – Rams – After succeeding you get a free Fence Post attack. Just to add injury to insult.

Tactical Action

Keeping the Peace – needs a 5 of Masks any enemy model with range which declare a Charge must pass a WP duel or it fails, which is huge against a lot of models as they don’t need to target him or trying to charge out of the bubble. Great ability to annoy the opposition.

Overall

Great tanky model that has some decent pushes in his arsenal, both as a way of pushing your models but also your opponents.

He has some natural synergy with Mr Tannen which makes sense from a fluff stand point. As for masters he works well with all (both 10T and NB) as he is all-round a good mood to have..

The guys whom always seem wasted…..Sorry cant think of anything clever to say! Anyway new Thunderbear article looking at the Wastrels.

Stats

They are cheap minions that have stats to match, rubbish Df and average Wp with not many wounds mean they will die to a semi-stiff breeze..

Abilities

On to his abilities;

Swagger – Allows him to get the Defensive Condition if all he does is walk during the game.

Ruthless – Makes him immune to Wp duels during his activation, which nice when you consider Horror and such things.

Bravado – Allows you to discard a card to add the suit to your total. Randomly if you have McCabe around with his Upgrade card swapping then if you do Bravado you can draw card if you have an upgrade on him.

Attack Actions

Gang Weapons – Average Ml attack that does very low damage (healing flip damage). He should not be in combat but he does get a nice trigger.

•  And then he just strolled away.-Mask- Allows you to push him a short distance in any direction, which at least lets you get him out of combat easily.

Pocket Handgun – Average Sh attack that does slightly better damage than the Ml weapon but does come with a built-in positive flip on the attack.

• A fiver says I can do it again..- Mask – If you damage then he gains the Focus Condition for free.

Tactical Action

Cast-offs – An unusual ability as it will eat both AP for the wastrel it however only needs a 6 to succeed. To start with is it heals the target by 2 or you can remove all upgrades on the Wastrel to the model (again something that currently only works on McCabe). What makes it more interesting is the number of different triggers this action has (links in with Bravado).

• Soulstone Bullet – Rams – Allows for a free Pocket Handgun attack which does better weak damage and some blasts.
• Strangemetal Shiv – Tomes – Allows a free Gang Weapons attack which does +1 damage and also hands out slow. This is a problem as they need to be Ml range which means having survived some sort of attacks first!
• Petrified Feather – Crows – Grants some crazy speed as he can be placed into base contact with a friendly Scheme Marker afar way away.
• Elixir of Life – Masks – Heals himself.

Overall

What an unusual model, I understand that they are seen as probably the poor choice generally from the 4 point level when you have to compete with Tengu and Low River Monks. However they do have some interesting abilities, healing is always nice and they can be harder to take down then on first look with Swagger. McCabe probably helps them the most with the upgrade fun and games, however they would compete with other stuff for his upgrades and actually keeping up with him.

Lynch with the Ace in Hole ability does mean they can get what you need from Cast-Off when you need it.

A tough call for these guys to make it into a list BUT they do have some interesting possibilities. If anything some healing is always good.

After the muscle we need the little mouthy one to deal with, so its Mr Tannen

Stats

Average Df but OK WP means he isn’t too bad for a 6 point model BUT he is slow and has no Cg as well (not that he should be charging). The pushes that help speed him up will be very useful for the little guy..

Abilities

On to his abilities;

Manipulative – Helps keep him save, the TN is not the highest but most things will need at least a 7 to pass usually so can mean he is slightly harder to target.

Cooler – An amazing ability, which forces an enemy model to discard a card to cheat fate while near him. This will eat through a fate hand so quick. Does make him a target and also easy prey at range so be careful.

Unimpeded – He is slow but at least he doesn’t get tripped up by terrain (small advantages).

Attack Actions

Pocket Knife – Low Ml attack with low damage output. You shouldn’t be using this unless you need to shift something and he is your last activation!

Bore to Tears – A decent Ca action with OK range that does low damage but hands out the codition Bored until after it next activates. What this does is lower both Wk and Cg stats which is very nasty as it will really slow down a lot of models…It also comes with 2 very nice triggers..

• Yawn – Mask Mask – So only needs an extra Mask but if you are trying to take out a master or Henchmen it is worth throwing a high card to get. It gives the Blocked condition which stops the model using Soulstones, which is huge lets be honest!!
• This One Is Yours.. – Mask – This is built in and allowsyou to push Mr. Graves towards the model which in turn pays back his push as well.

Tactical Action

Leave it to Luck – His 0 action, that needs any to get off. All models close by treat Masks as having a higher number while Tomes count as being lower. This obivouoly helps anyone who likes Masks for triggers. But bear in mind that you want to activate this early. Which means unless Graves can get his right trigger then you lose part of Tannens defensive abilities in Manipulative.

So, What Brings You To These Parts…? – Another ability to really annoy you opponent as he can give himself the Chatty condition, which means no interact actions near him.

Overall

A truly annoying model that is very much different to his bigger buddy. He can in theory shut down so much of your opponents schemes/strat work that he will have a huge bullseye on him so make sure you try and protect him.

Any master will like him, obviously Lynch loves him but so will Mei Feng as well (she likes her triggers).

A touch of lurking involved with this Thunderbear article as the Pathfinder hides in the undergrowth.. .

Stats

They come in with reasonable stats for their price, decent Df and average Wp and Wk. While they also have decent number of wounds which he needs considering his role..

Abilities

On to his abilities;

From the Shadows – Deploy him almost anywhere to take advantage of his gun straight away.

Scavenge Supplies – Once per turn, when a model is killed close by you can draw a card and then discard a card. Which is great as stuff will die near him generally.

Attack Actions

Skinning Knife – A low Ml attack that does relatively low damage (generally he shouldn’t be using this if he can help it). One thing to not with this attack and his musket is he adds 1 to his total for each Clockwork Trap close to the target. What this means is if a max amount of traps nearby he could hit better than the likes of Lilith and LadyJ would need a lot of set up BUT possibility is there.

Hunting Musket – Average Sh attack which has good range and reasonable damage track with added blasts from medium damage up. Again Clockwork Traps help boost the hitting ability of this as well as being able to ignore them when shooting into engagement. He has the Ram built into his stat but still needs an addition suit for his triggers:

• Precise Shot – Ram Mask – The Attack ignores H2W and Armor. This is always handy to have around especially with Arcanists and Ressers (imagine it with Kang).
• In the Vitals – Ram Crow – Hands out slow.

Tactical Action

Set the Trap – One of his 0 actions for a 6 of tomes you can summon a Clockwork Trap, which is nice as it saves you 2 points..

Reset Trap – His second 0 action that allows you to move a Clockwork Trap a decent distance from its current location.

These are both good 0 actions but obviously it means you have limited resources with either moving or creating the traps. Could be a tough call in certain games.

So now be rude not to look at the Clockwork Trap at the same time really..

So they are cheap and you can have 4 of them around. There stats are unusual in that they can’t move (pushes/placements if a set distance are fine), while their Df is average and Wp is decent. They don’t have a lot of wounds though which is fair enough. They do however come with Armour +2 which at least helps with the low wounds.

Apart from their ability to help the pathfinder they do come with an attack Trapping Jaw which is an average Ml attack with low damage.

However they never activate if an enemy model is moved/pushed/placed within range they can attack once. This is not a once a turn thing so if enemies keep walking they will keep getting bit.

The damage is not the big thing for them however. They get a trigger on crows Clamp Shut which gives a condition Clamped on which last till the end of the next turn! If enemy begins an activation in base contact then place the trap in base contact at the end of the activation. This can be very annoying for opponent especially with something like Seamus! Back Alley as much as you want this trap is not going anywhere..

What further compounds this is the Clamp Down ability which means when enemies begin the activation in melee range of a trap they have to take a Wk duel which will require a pretty high card for anything but the speedy models. If they fail they receive slow which is nasty on top of everything else.

Overall

So between them they do work well with anyone as generally the Pathfinder can be a loner and as such doesn’t need to buff just be a pain! Which the traps boost as the are just a ball of annoying. Such a shame they are not constructs as would be hilarious with Mei Feng 😉

I have become a fan of using him with Yan Lo as anyone who has used Lightning Dance knows the traps just become a little bit meaner. But also they make excellent targets for Yan to increase his Chi with (hitting them for severe damage or them being killed by the enemy).

Plus with the various pushes and relatively easy access to focus (Shenlong, Yu, Toshiro) the Pathfinder makes his gun even nastier.