In the process of writing the previous articles updating my thoughts on the Shadow Wind Clan, I had deliberately left out the Ronin as I don't often find myself playing them. I thought I'd take the time to put my thoughts on them for completeness' sake though, and now we also have 2 new Ninja profiles to discuss so I'm quite excited to get that added too.
PS Long Shadow is coming, but there is a lot to get through there, so I've been saving it for last
Eclipse- in terms of his profile, Eclipse is fairly standard for a Ninja although his 25 Rice cost is on the higher end. He does bring Immune (Control) and Intangible to play though which is huge, as both of those things let him do more for his cost and stop your opponent from controlling him in some ways. He behaves as the head of the Unknown "house" of Ninjas as he has similar rules to Axiam and Obaachan with being able to access any Unknown Ninja's Ki Feats and can take their Special Abilities at Cost 0 when he activates. Taking the Specials from Unknown Ninjas is massive, as it means he can get access to things like Throw Attack from Ghost, Dual Attack from Phantom or Combo Attack from Spectre which are all fantastic, and access to Vitality and Apparition from Ghost are both also amazing. Pierce 3 on all his weapons makes for a model that can punch into heavier Samurai armour somewhat reliably, and the versatility he gives you in terms of Place Effects throughout the entire warband is honestly really crazy. Playing an all-Unknown list now is really interesting based purely on all the tricks you can do, although you will be playing a fairly low model count not factoring in the Reikon that Eclipse can summon in during the game. Soulsplit is a little high cost at 3 Ki, although summoning in another whole model that can then activate twice in the turn is really good, and the Reikon are great on their own. Gaining Soulless while the Reikon are out is also something important to note, as the immunities that come with it are really worth noting and will be important in most games.
Reikon from Jigoku- The Reikon are mostly just a part of Eclipse's kit, but an important one to note as well. They're effectively a spectral Kami of sorts, but their Exceptional Attack letting you place 2" after successful melee attacks is incredibly good as you can put them back into cover for Camouflage or to play aggressively with the Kagenori no Koto Feat to swap another Ninja in. Reunite is nice in that it gives Eclipse some Ki regeneration at the cost of the Reikon itself, and works quite nicely as a way to kill it after it's activated and get Eclipse back to having a Ki stat for the start of the next turn. Fear and Dread access is also really nice to try and get some Frightened out on enemies, and the melee profile on the Spectral Kunai is just good. All in all a piece of Eclipse's package, but very good models on their own as well.
Dark Pilgrim- While not being the absolute monster she was before, Dark Pilgrim is still really good. She mostly exists as a way to blast things with lightning, and only gets better as she does shoot, but she is also a reliable quick model with Cloudwalk that can threaten objectives and get into the opponent's backfield to cause trouble. She synergises best with North Star as she can get way more access to Stun there through Noshinto Bomb and Fuma's Stun Attack, and she can still spike quite high in terms of Rapid Fire through those combos (although not as high as she previously could, as that old version was ridiculous)
Kiyozumi Kicho- on the expensive end for a Worm, although she does bring Soulless and a weapon with both Combo Attack and Sidestep Defence at 0. She exists almost as a budget Ghost, although that by no means makes her worth taking over Ghost at any point and while she could likely be a fun take in an all-Soulless list you can do all Soulless with Ninjas now that Eclipse is on the way and he does way more for the list.
Lady Fox- At 18 Rice (or 19 if you take Master Bat) Lady Fox is quite an interesting take for Shadow Wind warbands. Bringing a slightly different kit to most things in-faction (although Agile, Dodge, Evasive, Lightfooted and Soulless are all seen in the faction in some way) she is quite a nice toolkit to add to most lists outside of the House themes. 3 Ki Soulless is something of particular note in the faction, as is Dual Attack 0 for offense which you can stack quite nicely with the usual Ninja debuffs. She ignores Blizzard effects, which is really nice into Minimoto particularly, and gaining Camouflage and Sixth Sense while in one is fantastic for Ninja shenanigans. Her 2 Ki Feats are useful as well, with one giving Fresh Fallen Snow being super punishing for Ki-heavy factions like Yurei and White Out giving a Blizzard Aura around herself. The Blizzard also giving cover in the bubble means you can also use it defensively to put your own models into Camo so the opponent can't target them, which is really important to consider as well.
Two Lone Swordsmen- quite similar to Phantom and Spectre, although much cheaper and less effective. They do infinitely respawn, and work great as a combo but there are far better things to take in Shadow Wind lists and ultimately you won't get as much out of them as you would likely get out of simply taking another Ninja.
Itsumade- the newest Ronin option, Itsumade is interesting as a shooting option and honestly is quite good in Shadow Wind Clan and an option I'm quite interested to try. 20 Rice is a little steep but the package is great, with all the traditional Ninja traits and the addition of Cloudwalk to become a fast threat. Places in the start phase are very interesting on Ninja Scout models, which combos really well with most Long Shadow Ninjas to give you some great threat angles and make your opponent really have to plan their moves. The weapons are nice, another bow is a big reason to take Itsumade and what I will be trying in a North Star list myself, while the ability to give Blind on melee attacks from the Kakato Otoshi Geri Ki Feat is really great to debuff things and set up for your other models to hit. In all you have a pretty decent and interesting package, although I don't think Itsumade is really revolutionising the faction despite being a really cool take
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