Bushido List Discussion- Building Around Dudiko

 Another list discussion, but this time going to Bushido and talking about how I build lists for Dudiko. A really nice sniper model and one of my favourite sculpts in the game, so I've played around a lot with her and I think the 2 list variants below are my favourite ways to use her even though she isn't especially a huge focus of either of them. 

Ghost

Dudiko

-Disguise

Karapan

Kouhei

-Poisoned Weapons

Hiretsuna

Theme- Skirmish Mission

Herbal Remedy

Jigoku Berry

Poison Vial

Shadow Moves

Smoke Bomb x3

While being a list with Dudiko in it, this is also my main list for Shadow Wind Clan and something I really love to play. It has a lot of ninja tricks, some really efficient killing and enough scenario jank to make it fun. Kouhei is your killer with his rapid firing poison knives, and Karapan also is a great way to burn out enemies quickly as it is a great budget killer too. Ghost is there to be Ghost and fit wherever he is needed to score VP as much as possible, and Hiretsuna ideally avoids trouble and sneaks onto an idol where it can do the most work. In terms of Dudiko, she tends to hide where it's safer and she can start shooting things as well as she can, taking advantage of Camouflage to keep from being hit back, and ideally she can do this while in a position to take zones or reach objectives. 

Axiam

Ghost

Dudiko

Karapan

Hiretsuna

Theme- Skirmish Mission

Herbal Remedy

Jigoku Berry

Shadow Moves

Smoke Bomb x2

This list Dudiko is in because she is a North Star Ninja, and the list is made to get more out of Axiam's ability to take any North Star Ninja's Ki Feats. I've talked about how best to use this facet of Axiam a bit in my KKZ overview so I won't talk about it that much here, but like the list above you have a variety of ninjas to do different jobs, Karapan to be a cheap harassment piece and in the middle of it is Dudiko to be able to snipe out key pieces that pop up on the table.

In general both of these lists rely on the rest of the warband to be bigger threats and get stuck into the opponent where they have to be dealt with, while Dudiko is more of a scalpel to shoot out weaker enemies or support pieces. All the events in here are made to maximise the mind games and damage potential of the warband while also keeping them safe, which Dudiko also helps to do with her own smoke bomb effect. Skirmish Mission is really just the best option of the themes as I've said before as it lets you get a little bit extra efficiency with your terrain and equipment cards to tailor them to the exact situation you're looking at and I really like that part of the theme, plus Disguised is really nice to have on anyone and getting it every turn for free is great. 

Bushido- Shadow Wind Clan Part 2- Events, Enhancements, Terrain and Themes

 Back with part 2 of my look into the Shadow Wind Clan, this time I'm going into what really make the ninjas tick- their special cards. These allow all sorts of nasty tricks that let the ninja player play dirty and choose how and when to engage with the enemy, and in ways that will benefit them and only them which I really love because it matches their theme perfectly. 

Themes

All 3 themes give double pass tokens, which is great to keep activation parity at all times, and a bonus when models can trigger Assassin. They all allow all Ninja and Karapan, even Ronin, so the reasons for choosing different themes are entirely based on which bonus you want otherwise. 

Assassination Mission is probably the weakest benefit from all the themes, giving a Death Sentence marker to one model at the start of the game (but there is no other way outside of this theme for ninjas to synergise with Death Sentence). Fearless and the ability to swap Event cards is really nice, but again isn't really as big as the other 2 theme benefits so even for lists where you want to be outright killing the opponent you probably want one of the other ones. 

Scouting Mission and Skirmish Mission I have been going back and forth between which one is my favourite, but I tend to lean towards Skirmish now after a bit more practice. The 2 free Enhancement or Terrain cards lets you play a bit looser with list building and be a bit more versatile, while Scout 1/4" is really good and lets you put pressure on early so its really a pretty close decision there IMO. A more situational once per game Disguise 7 isn't really as great as every turn Disguise 5 which you can stack with other modifiers to make your key pieces really hard to target when you need them to be. Ki Block vs Bravery when you benefit from Assassin I think is a really obvious decision as to what is better, mainly because your key pieces are all already 2 ki and a lot also have bonuses to Fear tests so you don't have to worry about them as much (or Ghost auto-passing all Fear tests)

Terrain

Hidden Tunnel Entrance I really love using because it lets you as a player redeploy and jump around the table in unexpected ways, which is one of my favourite playstyles in any game. I tend to take it for free from Skirmish Mission, but in Scouting Mission I definitely find the 2 rice to pay for it as well, because the redeploy from Flank is something I really like to use to put myself in better positions and threaten Assassin runs. 

Smoke Field is a decent way of making sure you have more blocking terrain on the table to hide in and enable Camouflage on your own stuff, but I don't tend to buy any for my lists because Smoke Bomb and certain models (Axiam, Dudiko) are more versatile ways of getting the same effect when you need them on the table. 

 

Events

Blind Bomb, Hidden Kusari and Hidden Shuriken all give one-use weapons (although you can buy 2 Blind Bombs and unlimited Shurikens) that have pretty great uses. Kusari and Blind Bomb are both Lightweight with only range 3 in Medium Range so they’re somewhat short ranged but still very useful, while their effects are both amazing. Blind Bomb gives a 1” pulse around the target where everyone gets Blind (friend or foe which you should be careful of) so you can get around things with Aware and Surprise them, or just guarantee Surprised against something facing you to keep you safe or set someone else up for later. Kusari is the same attack as a few ninja models already have, and being able to get more options for Prone is really great to have because it wastes your opponent’s time a lot. The Shuriken is also a great ranged weapon (if lower damage output than most options in KKZ at -1) and the range bands are good for short ranged attacks, but it’s the possible Pierce you want the most in certain matchups. I think all 3 are useful events, but the Kusari and Shuriken are what I like the most. 

Co-ordinated Strike I feel is just really restrictive in when you can play it and although I trust there is a reason for it being explicitly working only on turn 3 I think the bonus isn’t big enough (Tactician can be found in a lot of other places in KKZ) to justify the purchase

Dawn Raid only has a use in 2/3 themes (Scouting Mission gives the same benefit and more) but it can be worthwhile in the other themes to get you up the board quicker (and deploying last so you can react to the opponent). It’ll usually be cost 3-4 which is probably worth the cost but not super efficient and I tend to spring for other things first

Decoy has a bit of timing restrictions to stop it being really oppressively stupid, but even only in the starting phase it is a great way to redeploy and put models into different positions where they can threaten the board better. I love Flank a lot so this is something I like, but it’s not at the top of my priority list when it comes to events

Espionage is pretty simple but it works really great in the right matchups. Any time the opponent is making decent use of Flank you can force them into telling you which side of the board one model is coming from and plan accordingly, which is great against Queen of the Waves Jung and potentially useful against Shiho (although there it is a bit iffy because of how many ways they have to appear on the table) 

Herbal Remedy works really well when it matters (vs Control especially but any condition-heavy enemy warband) but also can be a bit useless. For 1 rice it's not a bad option to tag in most of the time though. 

Jigoku Berry is one of my favourite things to take in my warbands, because when paired with ways to put out more than one Poison an activation (Rin, Kouhei and Kerasu) you have a massive damage spike that will put dents in any opponent. On Kouhei if you can manage to get 2 Hail of Steels off you're tearing through any weaker models the opponent has and doing massive damage, and that's why I love it so much on him every time. 

Lockdown is a really great way to force your opponent to adapt to your plans, or just to deny them as many points as possible. It costs 5 rice and as such is very expensive, but at the same time being able to just negate a zone or objective from working at all that turn is huge when you leave ones you’re more likely to score from and shut down opponents

Perfect Impersonation for 7 rice is insanely expensive, but it gives you some really funny options that are also pretty powerful. Gaining Flank is good but not really 7 rice good, although being able to shove enemy models (with a few restrictions) off the table for a turn and replace it with one of your own ninjas gives you a massive advantage. There are a ton of great targets for this, and also using it to pick out support pieces and kill it/remove them for the table for a turn is a great way to shift the game in your favour. It’s important to consider what the benefit of it is though vs taking 7 rice of anything else and whether it will do enough to win games for you

Poison Vial gives the entire warband Poison 1/1 for a turn, and that is definitely worth the 1 rice it costs. Paired with the right model it creates tons of carnage and lets you kill a lot. 

Shadow Moves has tons of use, and I love it a lot. Being able to swap around 2 ninjas at any point is a huge amount of versatility whether you put shooting models out of combat (and combat ones in) or simply use it to deliver models up the table before you activate them (on Katsumi or Rin this is absolutely nasty when done at the right time). 5 rice is expensive, but I always try and slot it in because of how much it potentially opens up. 

Smoke Bomb is cheap, versatile and lets you really annoy opponents by putting your ninjas into terrain that hides them. One of them is almost always a safe take, but 2 or even 3 are justifiable

Terminate is helpful for when opponent Bodyguards stop you from picking out annoying support pieces, but it still means you need to set up Assassin to benefit from it, and although that is very doable it still counts as an opportunity cost for using an event you’re already paying for. 

Terror Tactics I don't rate very highly, but it can be quite nice in the right situation. Fear (6) is great to have but being forced to Charge to get it isn't great when you have to make every activation have a purpose, which is why I don't really find myself using it at all

Enhancements

Cat-Like Agility is simple and good, but matchup dependent. Against things that are going to be throwing and proning you it’s amazing (like Buto) but when it doesn’t work it’s a bit of a feels bad moment

Disguise is great to have on your own stuff, and it lets you dictate the terms of engagement a little bit more which is the best part of ninjas and a major part of how they play. Stack it with Disguise from Skirmish Mission and you can really put pressure on an opponent and force them into rolling dice to do things they would otherwise guaranteed be doing.

First Strike for 2 cost is pretty steep, especially because it only applies to one melee exchange, but at the same time if you can guarantee it (which you can with Shadow Moves, but it hikes the cost up even more) it allows your killer models to be even more murderous on the first swing, and Katsumi especially can make a big hit to start off the game

 

Equipment

Grappling Hook is a great way to put some of your pieces into a position that benefits them greatly (I really love Flank in general) and this card I find really helpful in a lot of cases. Kouhei or Dudiko being able to pop up and get right into shooting range mid-game is awesome and does a lot of work when you need it to

Hallucinogen Bomb is, like most Fear effects, very swingy depending on what your opponent is playing. Against things with a lot of 1 Ki models it will be great as you can potentially cripple them, especially helpful because in these cases you’re almost guaranteed to be heavily outnumbered and anything to waste their activations comes in handy. If they don’t have 1 Ki models though, you’re not doing much with it reliably to make it worth it, which is why I think most of the time it’s something that you slot in with Skirmish Mission if you want to take it in a given matchup (but it is cheap enough to justify chucking in anyway)

Makibishi I can see value in, especially on boards where you can funnel things into chokepoints and dictate movement, but I find it hard to find a place for it in my lists (even with free equipment via Skirmish Mission). Being able to waste models activations, especially in low model count lists, is great value if it works but Makibishi being a random thing makes it unreliable when you might really want it

Poisoned Weapons I really like for the same reasons as Poison Vial as an event, but this works all game on one model. The things it pairs best with (Kerasu and Kouhei) should always have it attached unless there are 2 of them in a list because only one of them can have it

Signalling Flare is a bit expensive, but for a double-tap punch it probably should be. If you can use it to trigger Assassin in multiple places and kill off key pieces before they can respond you're in a really good position to keep threatening the game, so I do rate it (especially for free with Skirmish Mission)

Bushido- Shadow Wind Clan Part 1- The Ninja

 Now that I've got a few more reps in with Bushido, I've decided I'd try and put something together talking about how I like to use the models that I've got. This means going through all the ninjas and talking why I take which one and how I use it, but also how they fit into the faction at large. This first part I will be talking about the Ninja models themselves and leave the events, terrain and themes for a 2nd post because the entire faction is quite a lot for one post!

Axiam is really interesting because he is one of the most expensive models in the faction, but instead of being a total killer like Katsumi or Rin he brings a lot more tricks to the party and synergises with all of the North Star models in a really good way. He can drop smoke bombs when he activates, and has good stats with melee 4. Throw Attack and Sidestep Defence for 0 are both great to have, but him also being able to take any special attack or defence from other North Star ninjas alive on the table means he can do a lot more that opponents might not expect (Push and Grapple Attack or Counterstrike Defence) and in general he has a lot of ways to put an opponent on tilt during the game. Being able to give himself Equipment mid-game makes his high cost a lot better (especially when combined with Skirmish Mission for more free cards) and lets you adapt to the game state on the fly which I really like from him. Tactician is always nice, and paired with a Karapan can do a huge amount of work in guaranteeing you win the tactical roll all the time. Dodge and Indomitable keep him alive far longer, Bravery is really great to have vs Fear and him having the option to gain Feint all add up to make him reliable with his hits if not super high damage with them. The last big thing to note is Sempai, which lets him take the Ki Feats from any North Star model on the board, and treat them as his own at any point in the game, which means he is super versatile in terms of choosing which Ki Feats he can do at any given turn (Distraction, Mirage, Vitality, Fog of Hesitation are all amazing options). Overall Axiam isn’t going to do some things as well as the expensive models who are built for it (Bleeding Moon ninjas are always going to be better killers) but the sheer amount of versatility and adaptability mid-game he brings is well worth his cost.

 

Dudiko as a sniper is really good, but still needs a bit of care to make the most out of like all ninja. Her range is long and her shooting is somewhat reliable with Pierce as well, but Reload is a real downside so you need to make sure she is able to wait and reload it without getting trapped or at least use her so she can do something else useful instead of reloading. Her melee is still decent but nothing fantastic, but the tricks she brings as a North Star ninja are both expected and excellent. Being able to gain Agile on a shooting model is amazing, because it lets you make your shots even when someone tries to engage you, but Mirage is an even better version of this that lets you place away and deny them the chance to even strip you of activations or damage you in the first place. Shooting through Cover is not only not an issue for her with Dead Eye, but it is a massive benefit for her to be in Cover while shooting because it triggers Camouflage and it also makes the target Surprised if they’re at long range for a little extra bonus to hit. She can also chuck out smoke bombs for almost nothing just by activating and that also helps a ton in making the crew tick when it needs to. 

Ghost is by far my favourite model not only in the Shadow Wind Clan, but in Bushido in general. I love the tricks he can pull with being able to Flank, go Intangible and just gain activations and toss people around, and although he isn't a straight up murderer like most of the other 20+ ninja he more than makes up for it in sheer versatility. Counters to him being Unknown and Soulless with some of the generic event cards are quite annoying, but to be expected as a lot of people hate seeing Ghost opposite them. 

Karapan are one of the best ways for filling out lists and keeping a decent model count, and they definitely pull their weight while they do it. Being able to double attack with a pretty respectable melee pool for 11 rice is good on its own, but they also have move 6 with Cloudwalk for insane reach, and they can move at the end of the turn towards ninja models and give them Tactician for next turn which is awesome. 1 Karapan is an autotake for me, and 2 is something I very seriously consider as well. 

Katsumi is a killer with no comparison in the faction, and he is definitely a really great beatstick. With melee 4, Tireless and Indomitable he can take on a lot of the enemy warband and come out on top, and although he lacks rerolls like a lot of 25 cost models he still has Brutal (1) and all the tricks Shadow Wind ninja have- Camouflage, Assassin and Lightfooted- to let him choose engagements that he can make sure he wins. He can shoot with a Kusari to prone enemies at 3" which is helpful, but being able to also gain Pierce (2) and Unblockable are both really worthwhile for the job he wants to be doing the most- killing enemies. The choice of Melee Boost (2) and Sharp (2) during his activation is also great when you need it, but they won't always be useful and very often you can somewhat safely forget about them (as opposed to other ninja where the choice is incredibly important)

Kerasu is an interesting piece, especially looking at other Bleeding Moon attack pieces, but ultimately he is a bit more niche than Rin or Katsumi in list building. The point reduction is noticeable, but losing Indomitable and Tireless are both massive changes that are well worth the points increase. He can gain Indomitable, but it costs him 3 ki to do it which is very costly and means he isn’t boosting his melee (which he can reduce from 3 to 2 in his activations). Gaining Fear 6 and Terror is also a really interesting control option (if not done almost as well by Ghost), but his shining role is in stacking damaging effects through Combo Attack. Give him Poison from any of the ways ninjas can get it and he has the potential to tear through anything he touches with combined Bleed and Poison to guarantee kills. This role makes him the single best counter bar none to non-Kami Durable models in the faction (with Kouhei being a close 2nd) with him being able to chuck out a bunch of separate instances to damage, but even with his Ki Feats he struggles to do as much to enemies with Tough because they ignore all of his other forms of damage. 

Kouhei is the AK47 of the ninja where most others are a scalpel. When he gets buffed up with Poison through event or equipment cards he will shred things apart from range with Hail of Steel, and it is very rare I've had something survive the game after being shot at by him (with the exception of the walls that are Buto). If you can get into a surprised opponent when you do this as well (from Flank for example) they are even more guaranteed to die, and if you can stay in cover while you do it so you keep Camouflage? Even better. 

Makoto I see occupying a very similar role to Shizuka, but while Shizuka is all in defence Makoto is all about hitting the opponent. Makoto is pretty cheap, and she has 2 great Ki Feats (Distraction is excellent with everyone having Assassin, and Escape helps keep her alive for far longer) that make her well worth considering if you want a more directly offensive model to run objectives. On top of this she has Cloudwalk and Evasive which together make her pretty damn quick (not to mention possible Move Boost 2 when she activates) so she can get to objectives when she needs to and score points to put the opponent on the backfoot. Sidestep Defence and Combo Attack both as 0 are amazing to have and it goes to show even more her role as the Bleeding Moon objective runner, being able to both dish out a lot of damage and be defensive when she needs to

Rin is the last of the pure killers, and sits in a spot between Kerasu and Katsumi in terms of cost but exists in a role all of her own. While Katsumi relies on big hits and Brutal, Rin has easy access to Prowess and Combo Attack so she cuts her enemies apart in a flurry of blows. With Feint she also has a better chance of landing higher success levels to make the most of Combo, and she can get ways to really punish opponents through either of her Ki Feats depending on the situation. While Katsumi is the "defensive offense" model, Rin is more of a straight up offensive piece because she is far more effective on her own activation (even though she has Tireless as well). They're both excellent though and it depends entirely on personal taste (or you just take both of them and tear holes in the opposing warband)

Shizuka is one of the better objective runners in the faction because she has good movement traits and is great defensively as well. She can entirely ignore enemy zones of control during her activations, both of her ki feats being places are amazing and with her defensive traits she will mostly always just want to chuck all her dice in defense and declare counterattack if she actually wants to do damage because there's no reason not to do it that way

Yuto is really great, but at the same time the existence of Bikou really hurts him a lot. They both share the niche of being models with Kusari and Distraction, but what he brings over Bikou for that extra point isn’t always going to be as great as the amount of versatility Bikou brings with her shooting capabilities over Yuto being a bit more control focused. Yuto is definitely good, but I find myself reaching for Bikou far more

The Worms- the cheaper ninjas, they both have Kohai as a unique effect which lets them choose a Ki Feat of any model in the warband and treat it as if they had it on their own card. This has some excellent uses (Vitality from Ghost or Hiretsuna, Distraction from Yuto or Bikou) but with their Ki stat of 1 they have to plan for the perfect time to use it

Ujimushi sits in an interesting spot, because as a Worm he is on the cheaper end for KKZ, but he is also one of the better ranged pieces in the faction despite it. While he isn’t the long-ranged sniper Dudiko is or the short ranged killers Bikou and Kouhei are, he is cheaper than all of them and has the same ranged pool with great range bands. In terms of ninja stats he is fairly standard, except his Sidestep Defence costs him a dice instead of being 0 like most. With the choice of gaining Lightweight or losing a Reload marker whenever he activates he can keep shooting pretty often and can even do it every activation if you really want to. Ujimushi also uniquely benefits from using Kohai to take Deadeye from Dudiko, which means if you have both him and Wamu that she is open to take any other Ki Feat that might be more contested

Wamu is just a bit bland. She's there to be another body that can copy someone else's Ki Feat for a bit of fancy tricks, but overall she is just a cheap ninja with decent stats (but low Ki) to fill out a list. She's the cheapest model in the faction that can interact with scenario objectives, but I still prefer to take a Karapan and have 4 extra rice for using somewhere else. 

 

The Ronin- unlike the other ninja above, these ones can’t take ninja equipment (which is a big negative) but otherwise fully benefit from everything the rest of them do. Both are excellent models both in sculpt and in rules

Bikou simply put, is amazing. She is a package of everything you could want in a ninja, and brings a whole bunch of things that make the warband click so much better. Distraction to change facing on models and trigger Assassin, Hail of Steel for spamming shots and killing things, a Kusari for everything that brings with it (reliable prone and a good melee weapon) all add up to make a really great ninja even without factoring in anything else. Evasive built in is great, as is Jump Up, and the possible Pierce (3) on her Shurikens makes a Hail of Steel a terrifying prospect for any armoured enemy. 

Hiretsuna is the other "cheap" option after Karapan, and where they offer a surprisingly hard hitter Hiretsuna offers jank and possible scenario interaction. He is a total pest to shoot even without Camo, but when he does have it he is nigh on impossible to target and although he is Insignificant he can use Swift Executor to pull out clutch interactions with scenario objectives when you need him to. He is the most fragile model in the faction, so he needs to be leveraged as such, but you can also make sure he will be very difficult to target until he has already done his job. 

Bushido as a Beginner Part 3- Terrain Markers and The Future

 Back to Bushido, and I’ve really dived in now! Been playing a few games a week for the past couple weeks and I’m having a great time learning all the tricks of the ninjas and finishing them off for good hobby-wise. Now that I’ve got them all painted (see the last one, Axiam, below) I worked on making up the terrain pieces for the Shadow Wind Clan so I can use them as options and have them represented properly.

For the terrain, the Smoke Fields (I made 3 because of the ways I can put them out mid-game, and I can’t see myself needing any more than this) were just based up like all of my models were while the Hidden Tunnel Passage got a bit extra work with needing the tunnel built up. I decided to also create a door for it to make it look a bit fancier, and the structure of it is made mostly from MDF offcuts from terrain kits that I built structure onto.

With those all finished up, I’m all done for Bushido until I get the inevitable 2nd faction or more ninjas, and I'm looking at shark business more and more... I am planning on doing some writeups about using the ninjas now as well, which should be done in the coming weeks as I play more games!

On the Table- Soldiers of Fortune, Legion, Bushido and Monsterpocalypse

 Hi all! Quite a while since my last update and I've been up to a lot again in terms of hobby, getting a lot of things finished. Gaming-wise I've been almost exclusively playing Batman and getting into Bushido lately which is reflected a bit in what I'm painting, but I'm also jumping around a bit and trying to finish collections as much as possible. 

For Bushido I already had most of the Kage Kaze faction painted, and now I have 3 more options finished that I expect to get a lot of use out of. The only one I don't own now is Axiam, and adding Dudiko and Karapan are going to be a huge boon in terms of list building options. 

I almost had my Star Wars collections painted as well, with just a single ATRT for my Rebels and a few bits and pieces for my Republic. These are now all done, so both armies are all fully painted. More of them can be seen over on my Instagram 

With the recent Godzilla vs Kong movie, Monsterpocalypse looked really appealing so I started to paint up the Empire of the Apes that I had picked up. King Kondo is my favourite sculpt in the range and I loved painting him, but General Hondo is also really nice to paint and I'm looking forward to getting into the rest of the ape units as well. 

Last but definitely not least, the Soldiers of Fortune. Something I've talked about before on the blog from a tactics perspective, I really loved the idea of playing a Scarecrow crew and the fact Bane was in there as well just sold me on it. I've had a really great time playing Scarecrow and the Soldiers deck I love a lot, plus the models are really nice and I enjoy using them every time. 

With that it's everything I've finished the last couple of months, and now I'm working on finally finishing my Goblin team for Blood Bowl and then finishing the rest of the Monsterpocalypse stuff I own. 

Bushido as a Beginner- Shadow Wind Clan, 2nd Wave

Hi all! Another step of Bushido as a Beginner where I haven't actually played a game yet, but damned if I'm not going to be prepared when I do! My local game store The Combat Company got in a Bushido restock recently so I picked up a bunch more stuff for my ninjas. In fact, I picked up every option they have apart from Karapan and Dudiko who were both still out of stock! 

When the models came I was pretty eager in getting them together, but I had run out of glue so had to restock before I could get into assembly. Once this was done however, I tried to knock them out as quickly as I possibly could so they could join the rest of the bunch. I've now got them all painted up and ready to go, so here they are! 

With that the next step on my path to gaming is done, and I just need to wait for an opportunity to start playing! Hopefully I will be able to demo it to my gaming group soon enough, but in the meantime everything I own is painted so that's a plus. I'm aiming to get some terrain done soon to let me use the KKZ cards, so that will be the next update.

Bushido as a Beginner Part 1- First Steps

Hi all! As you may have seen I've recently gotten started with Bushido and have painted up some of the ninjas of the Shadow Wind Clan and am now looking into playing the game with a few friends. This post I'm sure will be the first of many as we go through and learn the game together and have new experiences.

To start off with, the story of how I first got into Bushido. Honestly I haven't really delved into Japanese history all that much and as such I don't know that much about it, but I do love ninjas and already played them across Batman and Malifaux. A friend managed to get an insanely cheap deal on the Rise of the Kage board game which included a few ninjas in it for the Shadow Wind Clan, and I bought these 6 off him to use as proxies in Malifaux and Batman. By the time I got around to painting them though there was a bit of a spark for Bushido in my local area, so I decided to grab the card pack and download the rulebook and see how it went. As you can see above, I started with 6 ninja models (Kerasu, Katsumi, Ghost, Shizuka, Yuto and Kouhei in order). With all of these models costing over 20 rice each it meant I can currently only really play 4 model lists so I need to work out the best way to do this and keep things functional for scenario play while still just using models I like the look and rules of.

To start my lists I looked at the themes I could play with the ninjas, and how I wanted to theme my lists with specific models. Ghost goes in every list because I love his model and rules, but otherwise there are minor variations tailored towards what different scenarios will like more. These are likely not the most powerful lists available because I still haven't played a game and am very new to the rules, but I've tried to put some practice from other games into it to try and achieve something that is decently strong while still being something I like. I am also aware Kage Kaze Zoku is considered a more difficult starter faction and isn't really recommended, but it's what I have and I'm keen to play it so I'm willing to be damned to lose for a while until I get the hang of their tricks.

With what I own, I'm leaning towards the Skirmish Mission primarily because it is the theme that I like the abilities of the most (and the theme of in general). This list uses Ghost, Katsumi, Kouhei and Shizuka so it is a bit of a rounded fighting and scenario list but I really have specific uses for each model and have thought a lot about combos here. The first thing I've added is Hotai's Coin on Katsumi because a model that's over half of my list has to be consistent and rerolls is an easy way to do that. The chance of him rerolling back into 1s is also quite low so it's not like he'll be losing it very often. After this I added Poisoned Weapons on Kouhei because adding it to Rapid Fire on his ranged attack can put out a lot of Poison tokens and hurt the opponent quite a bit so it helps boost up the output of the list. In terms of Event cards I've chosen Dawn Raid, Lockdown and Smoke Field so I can control the battlefield and get where I want to be safely and sooner, but also so I can use Lockdown to stop my opponents from scoring where it is easy for them and let myself compete far easier between that and the double pass tokens from ninja themes. For Terrain I'm looking at starting with either Rice Bail Barricades or a Smoke Field, both of which will block line of sight in certain areas but with the Barricades also blocking movement and having extra bonuses in terms of placement. Lastly, Skirmish Mission gives me 2 Enhancement or Terrain cards for free, and there are a few things I'm looking at here depending on the situation. The Shadow Wind terrain to add a Hidden Tunnel Entrance is both something I want to make from a hobby perspective and also to add a bit of versatility to the list in terms of movement angles and being able to flank the opponent to get into tough positions. Otherwise it's Cat-Like Agility to protect whoever it goes on, Signaling Flare for a way to combo my models and pressure the opponent, or Vial of Raijin's Breath on Shizuka to make her an even more effective objective runner and ensure I can score as much as possible.

Having looked through the cards I've also marked down my first 3 expansions to the faction and have some things planned. Hiretsuna and a Karapan are fairly simple choices because they're cheap and seem decent for their cost, but also because they are more fantastical and a bit silly so I want them just for a laugh as well as opening up 5 model lists. The other option I'm very seriously considering is Dudioko because she brings an excellent ranged attack with her bow, options to block off angles of the table with her terrain and in general just seems quite good. For the moment I plan on testing her out using a model I already own, the old Nyssa al Ghul model from the Batman Miniatures Game who fits aesthetically quite well in the faction. Should I also want to try out some other profiles I intend to proxy as well, using the Arkham City Talia al Ghul as either Rin or Makoto, the female Torakage from Malifaux as Bikou and either of the bow ninjas from Batman as Ujimushi. These are less of a priority to me though and will likely end up in my just buying the regular minis anyway should I like how they play.

The biggest step for me now after these planned first additions is in the Shadow Wind terrain, because it's really great and thematic so I want to make things up to use. I have plans for how to create a smoke field (and I will be making 3 of these between the terrain, Dudioko and the event card) but am still working out how I want to make the secret passage. At least one of these cards will be making an appearance in my Skirmish Mission lists because the option is there to get them for free, why not have that extra bit of versatility?

In general I’m having a lot of fun with Bushido and I’m excited to start playing it once lockdowns ease up, and I’m doing a lot of research in the mean time so I have the hang of the rules.