Yokai vs. Hounds and TETSUUUUOOOOO

I was running a series of games a while ago with my girlfriend to test various AotV units (read: the Velnesh Alphas), but I went ahead and ran another game with the strong version of Tetsuo against a Yokai build featuring the Kirin.



CUSTOM MAP:
500 Points
Glyphs: Knowledge, Recall, Healing
Dawn: Abe no Seimei, Masha Shingai, Kincho, Nure Onna (revision for 20 points), Kirin
Astro: Tetsuo Tyrell, Marrden Hounds x4, Guilty McCreech

VERSION OF THE KIRIN USED:
VERSION OF NURE ONNA USED:
VERSION OF TETSUO USED:

SURVIVING UNITS:
8x Marrden Hounds, Guilty McCreech
~270 Points Left

GAME SUMMARY:

KIRIN USAGE:
The Kirin exposed several deep, fundamental flaws with its design in this game. It was able to use the Special Attack once to hit two Hounds (killing one of them), and then I Mind Jacked it with Tetsuo. Despite not having any lava available, I was able to run it backwards into engagement with a Hound. I then surrounded Seimei (the only other Yokai alive) with Hounds as well and stopped putting OMs on them--if Dawn tried using the Kirin, she would be using a 3A normal into 6D Hounds. Needless to say, the Kirin was pretty much neutralized for the rest of the game.

It did use Shapeshift a couple of times, but after I killed Nure Onna and Kincho, Dawn's choices for placement were very limited. It is worth noting that she's a relatively newer player who isn't that experienced with the Yokai (personally, I think that she should've risked the LEAs with the Kirin to kill off Tetsuo, who was honestly the biggest consistent threat in this game), but still, the Kirin is a very highly exploitable design thanks to the double-edged nature of its normal attack. Dawn often intentionally avoided using Divination on the Kirin to avoid potentially hurting herself if she won initiative by boosting my own defenses--the Kirin is not nearly as overpowered as I initially feared.

Total Damage Dealt: 2 Hounds, or 60 Points

TETSUO USAGE:
THOUGHTS:
In theory, the massive clumps of Marrden Hounds (who are often unreliable in being able to move) should have been easy pickings for the Kirin. I was able to quickly prevent Dawn from Shapeshifting into my Starting Zone, though, thanks to Kincho's unreliable defenses, and then with some careful placement I was able to limit the one Judgment SA that she did get off. There was some definite luck involved in being able to kill Kincho and hit that Mind Jack roll early on, but any army with OM flexibility is going to pose a threat to the Kirin.

I'd prefer to see it against some more Bread and Butter squads before making any radical changes. After this test, I just increased the attack to 4 to make the Kirin a little more consistent on OM1.