Taeblewalker
August 11th, 2007, 11:47 PM
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Unit Strategy Review
Unit: Izumi Samurai
Author: Taeblewalker (with thanks to my sewing circle)
For those of us who remember the halcyon days of having nothing but Rise of the Valkyrie, the Izumi Samurai were an almost necessary draft choice. At 60 points, they were one of the least expensive units in the game (behind the Tarn Viking Warriors and Marro Warriors). As good as they were, even players who didn’t necessarily want them were often left with 60 or 70 points to spend and no other available units (the Zettian Guards having already been drafted). Today, with so many low-cost units, we will examine why anyone would still want to draft this classic unit.
We will begin with their stats.
Vital Statistics
Cost – 60 – Bishop Class Unit
Size – Medium – Vulnerable / Somewhat Concealable
Life – Squad
Move – 6 – Fast
Range – 1 – Close Range
Attack – 2 – Poor
Defense – 5 – Tough
Counter Strike – Passive offensive potential dependent upon attacker. Medium tactical advantage.
In-Depth Analysis:
We shall now look carefully at the Izumi Samurai’s statistics, and draw strategies from our conclusions. Let us start with cost. Below is an explanation of Agatagary's cost classification:
Pawn class (expendable, units that can be useful, but are not worth enormous trouble to protect)
Bishop class (more useful than a pawn, but still somewhat expendable)
Knight class (units that are interestingly powerful and can have a significant impact on the game in of themselves. It is advisable that they be kept alive, but if absolutely necessary they may be sacrificed)
Rook class (units that almost inevitably have a significant impact on the game, and whose death should be avoided as much as possible)
Queen class (devastatingly powerful or important units that should be protected at all costs)
Class:
Let us begin with an analysis of Izumi Samurai’s size and cost. They are a Bishop Class unit. They would be Pawn class but for their Counter Strike ability – the ability to fight back without order markers on them. Their point cost is 60. While no longer the second lowest point cost in the game (ever since the Venoc Vipers and Orcs of Wave 1 introduced us to 40 point squads), armies of 400 points and up can easily afford them without breaking the bank for the more potent units or even themed armies. At the same time, one does not want them to simply be a filler unit – with all the low-cost units now in the game, those 60 points could easily be spent elsewhere. You will draft the Izumi Samurai for two things – mobility, and melee defense.
To examine Izumi Samurai’s core stats, we will break them up into two categories—offensive ability and survivability.
Offense:
Offensively, the Izumi Samurai are weak. With an attack of only 2 and just three figures in the squad, they won’t be cutting a swathe of destruction across the battlefield. It doesn’t help that they are a unique squad and can’t rely upon numbers. Their high mobility and height of 5 (for climbing) does make them useful in engaging ranged units with typically low defense. Their threat range, or distance at which they threaten enemy units over flat terrain, if 7. However, their lack of disengage means that they need to give heavy melee units a wide berth so as not to get tied down with them on the way to taking on enemy shooters.
Survivability:
While all squads suffer from 1 Life, the Samurai have an excellent defense. Adjacent figures with an attack of less than four are taking a moderate to high risk of receiving a wound. The Izumi overall survivability is higher than that of most squad figures, notable exceptions being the Microcorp Agents with their Stealth Armor 15, the Zettian Guards, the Minions of Utgar and Sentinels of Jandar.
General Strategy:
Counter Strike, as we have said before, allows the Izumi Samurai to fight, albeit passively, without order markers. This fact informs their strategy throughout.
If you are playing an offensive strategy, you will want to move the Izumi Samurai in to engage enemy ranged units as quickly as possible. The Samurai Counter Strike ability ensures that enemy shooters will think twice about attacking their way out of the situation.
Even with their paltry attack of 2, Izumi Samurai can quickly take out Arrow Gruts, Aubrien Archers, and Roman Archers. Their high Defense and Counter Strike ability will keep them alive long enough to do it. Even the Zettian Guards, with their high defense, will be loathe to try blasting their way out of engagement with the Izumi for fear of Counter Strike.
Heroes with low defense and low life, like Syvarris and Deadeye Dan, won’t last long against three attacks of 2 per round. Even Syvarris' Double Attack of 3 is risky against Counter Strike with a Defense of 5. Among the Deathwalkers, perhaps Deathwalker 8000 has little to fear due to his Special Attack, but your opponent will probably be loathe to use Self-Destruct against a 60 point squad, especially if only one or two Izumi Samurai are adjacent to Deathwalker 7000. Meanwhile, the Soulborg's Attack of 3 and Life of 1 make for poor odds if it tries to take out your Samurai the regular way. Deathwalker 9000 can use its Explosion, but then it risks its own tin hide. Leave the Izumi Samurai adjacent to these units, tying up their attacks that would otherwise be used on your more expensive draft choices. This is what makes the Izumi Samurai a great Biship Class unit: the strategy forces your opponent to try to use precious turns with other units to clear away your Samurai from his heroes, or he attacks with them or moves them, risking an expensive unit to either Counter Strike or a leaving engagement attack.
The trick is getting them there.
If there are no enemy figures in the way, send the Samurai out early and engage enemy shooters as quickly as possible.
If there are tough melee fighters in the way, you will either have to feel confident that you can maneuver the Samurai around them or you will first have to tie them down with melee figures of your own. Cheap pawn units like Venoc Vipers and Deathreavers will do the trick, as will Gladiatrons if the enemy melee units are small or medium.
If enemy shooters threaten the spaces through which you need to move the Izumi Samurai, you might have to hide them behind cover such as ruins, trees, and large figures to conceal their hit zones (one can only guess how much the new Jungle terrain will help them - probably a lot). For example, if you have Mimring in your army his wings make great cover while you bring the Samurai up to engage the enemy. If there are enemies on high, the wings block line of sight. If you are the one with height advantage, the wings can again block line of sight. And, of course, if you already control the Glyph of Valda, so much the better.
If you are playing a largely defensive game, the Izumi Samurai can be used to slow the advance of enemy melee units. Don’t put them out in plain sight of shooters, though! When your opponent’s melee squads come knocking on your castle door or try to come close to your shooters, place these units in the way and let them stay. Use future order markers on your ranged units to pick off the enemy while your opponent has to choose whether to leave engagement to come after your shooters or to try to take out the adjacent Samurai. Either way, the Samurai will be a problem for any strategy that involves breaching your defenses.
Don’t forget the Heroic Defense Aura of Hatamoto Taro (the Einar Flagbearer). This power allows every Einar symbol on Einar Valkyrie Dice to count as extra shields! The probability of shields go up from 1/3 to 1/2 per die, the same odds as getting a skull. Counter Strike becomes truly lethal. In the same vein, Kato Katsuro is another great support unit. If you can afford the extra 200 points, he allows you to take turns on the fly with the Izumi Samurai or any other Samurai or Ashigaru hero or squad. This flexibility improves your ability to use the Izumi Samurai in response to where he reveals his order markers.
Units to Avoid:
Other melee Samurai: Counter Strike is irrelevant for both squads, removing the most potent weapon either possesses. While this might seem like a good way of taking the opponent's Samurai out of the game, the Izumi Samuri can probably be better used elsewhere.
Kozuke: When Izumi attack they will roll 1 of skull on average, while the Kozuke Samurai will roll 1 shield. When the Kozuke attack, they will roll 2 1/2 skulls on average to the Izumi 1 2/3 shields. Obviously, the odds are not in your favor!
Tagawa: They start out with one higher attack, and once an Izumu Samurai falls, it only gets worse.
Chomp (and other automatic destruction powers): Grimnak was and probably still is the single best Samurai killer. Even the far more expensive Tagawa Samurai are dangerously vulnerable to him. Your opponent won’t likely bother using Grimnak’s attack of 2 at all against the Izumis, and why should he?. Braxas and Sudema present similar dangers, though at least you have a chance against them, as their powers are not automatic.
Units that Remove Defense Dice: Really another form of Chomp for squad targets, beware of Dead-eye Dan’s 50/50 chance of killing while ignoring defense. Less dangerous is Me-Burq-Sa, but he should be avoided as well for same reason. And unlike Dead-eye Dan, Me-Burg-Sa can easily bring his Paralyzing Stare 16 to the Samurai, while Dan has to sit still first to use his Ullar Ehanced Rifle Special Attack. James Murphy’s Whip 12 and Retarius’ Net Trip 14 (which mercifully allows at least one defense die) round out this list of units that specialize in negating Counter Strike.
Squads with Attack of more than 4: You can’t count on Counter Strike to frighten these figures. The Anubian Wolves may laugh at your defense, as may very angry MacDirk Warriors once their Champion has been wounded.
Krug: Dare this monster to receive Counter Strike wounds! He either will welcome them to boost his attack or he will already have too high an attack to fear Counter Strike. His double attack can quickly take out two Izumi in one turn.
Charos: And any other unit whose Counter Strike works against Samurai (like Captain America in the Marvel set).
For additional information see the Book of Izumi Samurai (http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=8397)
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Unit Strategy Review
Unit: Izumi Samurai
Author: Taeblewalker (with thanks to my sewing circle)
For those of us who remember the halcyon days of having nothing but Rise of the Valkyrie, the Izumi Samurai were an almost necessary draft choice. At 60 points, they were one of the least expensive units in the game (behind the Tarn Viking Warriors and Marro Warriors). As good as they were, even players who didn’t necessarily want them were often left with 60 or 70 points to spend and no other available units (the Zettian Guards having already been drafted). Today, with so many low-cost units, we will examine why anyone would still want to draft this classic unit.
We will begin with their stats.
Vital Statistics
Cost – 60 – Bishop Class Unit
Size – Medium – Vulnerable / Somewhat Concealable
Life – Squad
Move – 6 – Fast
Range – 1 – Close Range
Attack – 2 – Poor
Defense – 5 – Tough
Counter Strike – Passive offensive potential dependent upon attacker. Medium tactical advantage.
In-Depth Analysis:
We shall now look carefully at the Izumi Samurai’s statistics, and draw strategies from our conclusions. Let us start with cost. Below is an explanation of Agatagary's cost classification:
Pawn class (expendable, units that can be useful, but are not worth enormous trouble to protect)
Bishop class (more useful than a pawn, but still somewhat expendable)
Knight class (units that are interestingly powerful and can have a significant impact on the game in of themselves. It is advisable that they be kept alive, but if absolutely necessary they may be sacrificed)
Rook class (units that almost inevitably have a significant impact on the game, and whose death should be avoided as much as possible)
Queen class (devastatingly powerful or important units that should be protected at all costs)
Class:
Let us begin with an analysis of Izumi Samurai’s size and cost. They are a Bishop Class unit. They would be Pawn class but for their Counter Strike ability – the ability to fight back without order markers on them. Their point cost is 60. While no longer the second lowest point cost in the game (ever since the Venoc Vipers and Orcs of Wave 1 introduced us to 40 point squads), armies of 400 points and up can easily afford them without breaking the bank for the more potent units or even themed armies. At the same time, one does not want them to simply be a filler unit – with all the low-cost units now in the game, those 60 points could easily be spent elsewhere. You will draft the Izumi Samurai for two things – mobility, and melee defense.
To examine Izumi Samurai’s core stats, we will break them up into two categories—offensive ability and survivability.
Offense:
Offensively, the Izumi Samurai are weak. With an attack of only 2 and just three figures in the squad, they won’t be cutting a swathe of destruction across the battlefield. It doesn’t help that they are a unique squad and can’t rely upon numbers. Their high mobility and height of 5 (for climbing) does make them useful in engaging ranged units with typically low defense. Their threat range, or distance at which they threaten enemy units over flat terrain, if 7. However, their lack of disengage means that they need to give heavy melee units a wide berth so as not to get tied down with them on the way to taking on enemy shooters.
Survivability:
While all squads suffer from 1 Life, the Samurai have an excellent defense. Adjacent figures with an attack of less than four are taking a moderate to high risk of receiving a wound. The Izumi overall survivability is higher than that of most squad figures, notable exceptions being the Microcorp Agents with their Stealth Armor 15, the Zettian Guards, the Minions of Utgar and Sentinels of Jandar.
General Strategy:
Counter Strike, as we have said before, allows the Izumi Samurai to fight, albeit passively, without order markers. This fact informs their strategy throughout.
If you are playing an offensive strategy, you will want to move the Izumi Samurai in to engage enemy ranged units as quickly as possible. The Samurai Counter Strike ability ensures that enemy shooters will think twice about attacking their way out of the situation.
Even with their paltry attack of 2, Izumi Samurai can quickly take out Arrow Gruts, Aubrien Archers, and Roman Archers. Their high Defense and Counter Strike ability will keep them alive long enough to do it. Even the Zettian Guards, with their high defense, will be loathe to try blasting their way out of engagement with the Izumi for fear of Counter Strike.
Heroes with low defense and low life, like Syvarris and Deadeye Dan, won’t last long against three attacks of 2 per round. Even Syvarris' Double Attack of 3 is risky against Counter Strike with a Defense of 5. Among the Deathwalkers, perhaps Deathwalker 8000 has little to fear due to his Special Attack, but your opponent will probably be loathe to use Self-Destruct against a 60 point squad, especially if only one or two Izumi Samurai are adjacent to Deathwalker 7000. Meanwhile, the Soulborg's Attack of 3 and Life of 1 make for poor odds if it tries to take out your Samurai the regular way. Deathwalker 9000 can use its Explosion, but then it risks its own tin hide. Leave the Izumi Samurai adjacent to these units, tying up their attacks that would otherwise be used on your more expensive draft choices. This is what makes the Izumi Samurai a great Biship Class unit: the strategy forces your opponent to try to use precious turns with other units to clear away your Samurai from his heroes, or he attacks with them or moves them, risking an expensive unit to either Counter Strike or a leaving engagement attack.
The trick is getting them there.
If there are no enemy figures in the way, send the Samurai out early and engage enemy shooters as quickly as possible.
If there are tough melee fighters in the way, you will either have to feel confident that you can maneuver the Samurai around them or you will first have to tie them down with melee figures of your own. Cheap pawn units like Venoc Vipers and Deathreavers will do the trick, as will Gladiatrons if the enemy melee units are small or medium.
If enemy shooters threaten the spaces through which you need to move the Izumi Samurai, you might have to hide them behind cover such as ruins, trees, and large figures to conceal their hit zones (one can only guess how much the new Jungle terrain will help them - probably a lot). For example, if you have Mimring in your army his wings make great cover while you bring the Samurai up to engage the enemy. If there are enemies on high, the wings block line of sight. If you are the one with height advantage, the wings can again block line of sight. And, of course, if you already control the Glyph of Valda, so much the better.
If you are playing a largely defensive game, the Izumi Samurai can be used to slow the advance of enemy melee units. Don’t put them out in plain sight of shooters, though! When your opponent’s melee squads come knocking on your castle door or try to come close to your shooters, place these units in the way and let them stay. Use future order markers on your ranged units to pick off the enemy while your opponent has to choose whether to leave engagement to come after your shooters or to try to take out the adjacent Samurai. Either way, the Samurai will be a problem for any strategy that involves breaching your defenses.
Don’t forget the Heroic Defense Aura of Hatamoto Taro (the Einar Flagbearer). This power allows every Einar symbol on Einar Valkyrie Dice to count as extra shields! The probability of shields go up from 1/3 to 1/2 per die, the same odds as getting a skull. Counter Strike becomes truly lethal. In the same vein, Kato Katsuro is another great support unit. If you can afford the extra 200 points, he allows you to take turns on the fly with the Izumi Samurai or any other Samurai or Ashigaru hero or squad. This flexibility improves your ability to use the Izumi Samurai in response to where he reveals his order markers.
Units to Avoid:
Other melee Samurai: Counter Strike is irrelevant for both squads, removing the most potent weapon either possesses. While this might seem like a good way of taking the opponent's Samurai out of the game, the Izumi Samuri can probably be better used elsewhere.
Kozuke: When Izumi attack they will roll 1 of skull on average, while the Kozuke Samurai will roll 1 shield. When the Kozuke attack, they will roll 2 1/2 skulls on average to the Izumi 1 2/3 shields. Obviously, the odds are not in your favor!
Tagawa: They start out with one higher attack, and once an Izumu Samurai falls, it only gets worse.
Chomp (and other automatic destruction powers): Grimnak was and probably still is the single best Samurai killer. Even the far more expensive Tagawa Samurai are dangerously vulnerable to him. Your opponent won’t likely bother using Grimnak’s attack of 2 at all against the Izumis, and why should he?. Braxas and Sudema present similar dangers, though at least you have a chance against them, as their powers are not automatic.
Units that Remove Defense Dice: Really another form of Chomp for squad targets, beware of Dead-eye Dan’s 50/50 chance of killing while ignoring defense. Less dangerous is Me-Burq-Sa, but he should be avoided as well for same reason. And unlike Dead-eye Dan, Me-Burg-Sa can easily bring his Paralyzing Stare 16 to the Samurai, while Dan has to sit still first to use his Ullar Ehanced Rifle Special Attack. James Murphy’s Whip 12 and Retarius’ Net Trip 14 (which mercifully allows at least one defense die) round out this list of units that specialize in negating Counter Strike.
Squads with Attack of more than 4: You can’t count on Counter Strike to frighten these figures. The Anubian Wolves may laugh at your defense, as may very angry MacDirk Warriors once their Champion has been wounded.
Krug: Dare this monster to receive Counter Strike wounds! He either will welcome them to boost his attack or he will already have too high an attack to fear Counter Strike. His double attack can quickly take out two Izumi in one turn.
Charos: And any other unit whose Counter Strike works against Samurai (like Captain America in the Marvel set).
For additional information see the Book of Izumi Samurai (http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=8397)