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This is a neater way of storing my playtests for my customs that I want other people to be able to see. I mostly intend on posting about units that I'd like to submit to the SoV.
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Yokai vs. Samurai + Mecha

Posted February 21st, 2021 at 06:18 PM by Astroking112
Well, in my infinite temptations for cool miniatures, I realized that the sculpt used for Mokumokuren actually had the availability for an SoV submission... And given the very positive responses that the design has gotten, Captain Stupendous and I decided that it's worth adding it to the testing pool to try and get it ready for Yokai Wave 2.

Ideally, Mokumokuren will add a lot to Yokai armies as their first non-Unique option, opening up army-building options a lot. Given that they're also offensively oriented, this has the potential to really diversify the faction, and a living object of some sort almost feels like a thematic necessity here given the actual Yokai legends. So we wanted to test out a revised draft from the one initially posted to my thread, which swaps the revealed OM gimmick to be more in line with other Yokai and adds a range limit to the "Lesser Shapeshift" for thematic reasons. Both of these changes should be minimal for Yokai builds, but help keep Mokumokuren more in line with stuff like Talingul, which I view as a plus.

PARALLEL by Cleon
510 Points
Glyphs: Wannok and Dagmar
Astro: Abe no Seimei, Kincho, Mokumokuren x2, Kirin
Captain Stupendous: Tagawa Samurai Archers x2, Hatamoto Taro, Prototype “Yoroi” Mecha (90), Kozuke Samurai, Izumi Samurai

SURVIVING UNITS:
Yoroi (3/4 wounds), Hatamoto Taro (inside of Yoroi), 2x Kozuke Samurai, 2x TSA
~300 Points Left
Note: Yoroi had a self-destruct feature, wherein if he died, then Hatamoto Taro would roll 3 unblockable attack dice against himself when ejected.

VERSION OF MOKUMOKUREN USED:
Spoiler Alert!

VERSION OF THE KIRIN USED:
Spoiler Alert!

Captain Stupendous' YOROI MECHA:
Spoiler Alert!


GAME SUMMARY:
I lacked a fast initial development figure like Masha Shingai or Nure Onna (the former would be horrible against Samurai and the latter was too expensive to also squeeze in 2x Mokumokuren and the Kirin), so I began developing slowly with Seimei. I then switched in the Kirin for OM2, but couldn't reach any figures until OM3 (when I probably overextended). Capt. S developed the Izumi and Yoroi to plop a figure with Adjacent Tough 1 and 5 defense in my way, but luckily the Kirin's Judgment SA faced no risk of Counterfire. I targeted Yoroi and two Izumi for (1/4) skulls, getting no kills. The Archers then opened with a volley of whiffs on the Kirin to show that they, too, can deal no damage. Because I had moved the Kirin/Mokumokuren up a total of 9 spaces to get a Judgement SA, Kincho couldn't teleport into the middle of the fray this round.

At the start of Round 2, Capt. S then developed Yoroi further, engaging the Kirin from a height disadvantage but failing to damage it. I swapped out the Kirin for a Mokumokuren, Chomping an Izumi within reach but choosing to not attack Yoroi's 5D + automatic shield and Counterfire with my measly 3A. Capt. S then moved Yoroi again, getting to the same level on the Heavy Snow with Mokumokuren, but a solid 5/6 defense roll saved the deadly door's life. I took OM2 with Seimei, developing a little further and shooting down at a TSA. The attack was blocked. The Archers then opened a volley up at the Mokumokuren, but the attacks were blocked. I then switched in the Kirin and used another Judgment, targeting Yoroi and one Archer with a (3/4) skull roll. Capt. S rolled no shields, resulting in one killed TSA and 3 wounds to Yoroi. This time, Yoroi was also close enough to Kincho to be reached with Tanuki Trickery, so he jumped into the fray.

Seimei switched with him and claimed height nearby, killing a TSA from afar. Capt. S then developed the Izumi around Seimei and the Kirin to ensure that Yoroi would get Adjacent Tough with his last life... But I revealed OM2 on Kincho of all things, swapped with the Kirin, and then ran straight into his starting zone to kill a Kozuke out of fear for a sudden Charging Assault. This understandably derailed plans a bit, as Capt. S used the TSA to take Wannok and shoot down on Kincho from height. He rolled just well enough to engage two Archers back on Level 2 with no damage, and the Kirin then swapped in and killed both of them with another (3/4) Judgment roll (my original plan was to then use Kincho to tie down the Kozuke in the Starting Zone to protect the Kirin, but I had forgotten that I had won initiative this round and wouldn't have that chance). Capt. S then revealed OM3 on the two living Kozuke, who charged up and attacked same-level and from height at the Kirin, dealing a hefty 4 wounds. Seimei took a wound from Wannok, and Kincho jumped back into the fray.

I was then banking on an initiative win; if I succeeded, then I could swap out the Kirin for a Mokumokuren and kill both Kozuke while they were out of sight from Hatamoto/Yoroi. Unfortunately, I lost initiative, and the Kirin died in the next turn. I Chomped an Izumi with my OM1 as a consolation. Yoroi then shot at that Mokumokuren, but the attack was blocked, and the other Izumi was Chomped the next turn after switching back with Seimei. Then the two Kozuke moved out again, killing Seimei with 4 wounds to him from a height disadvantage. This kind of wrecked most of my plans, since I only had Kincho and two Mokumokurens left (and I was already losing OM3 since it was on the Kirin, who I was hoping to move back to my starting zone by swapping with the other Mokumokuren). I decided to take the risk of teleporting Kincho adjacent to the Kozuke, hoping that I could swap out with a Mokumokuren next time to properly neutralize them. The Mokumokuren in my starting zone was 10 spaces away from the closest Yokai, so I gave him the Wannok wound this time to maximize the chances that Kincho would survive if I lost initiative.

Capt. S won initiative again, and the Kozuke immediately killed Kincho. This effectively ended the game, since he was able to safely sit on Wannok without ever engaging Mokumokuren until the door died to the automatic wound.

POWER USAGE:
The Kirin used Judgment three times: targeting Yoroi and 2 Izumi for 0 damage (1/4), targeting Yoroi and 1 TSA for 1 TSA kill and 3 wounds to Yoroi (3/4), and targeting two TSA for 2 kills (3/4).
It absorbed one volley of TSA attacks and then took four total attacks of the Kozuke across two turns to fall.
Total Damage Dealt: ~130 Points
Note: Yoroi's 90pts is factored into this, but not the potential extra damage dealt to Hatamoto Taro if the mech had taken 1 more wound.

One Mokumokuren Chomped the entire Izumi across three turns. They were never able to leverage their 3A, since they were always only engaged to 1 Izumi and Yoroi, who had 5D + an automatic shield and Counter Strike. The other Mokumokuren never left the starting zone, being killed by Wannok.

The active Mokumokuren was able to absorb a decent amount of attacks from height with 7 defense, and Disguised Form was used in two rounds to force the TSA to shoot at Seimei instead (who took a more active role early on to divert attention and because my options were so limited).

Seimei's Shapeshift was used every turn and Night of the Yokai was actively used as long as the Kirin was alive to boost my defense a little bit more (or more accurately, ensure that most attacks were directed at the Kirin for a while with its tanky stats).

THOUGHTS:
Obviously, this game was a bit volatile because of the Kozuke turning things around with both of those initiative wins. I failed to properly neutralize them before Capt. S was able to put out a ton of damage with them, and once the Kirin died, I had no answer to them unless they failed to kill something in a turn (that way I could swap in a Mokumokuren and attack). Since that didn't happen, the Mokumokurens were countered pretty hard. I do think that the game was closer than the report suggests (until the Kozuke dealt 4 wounds to the Kirin, I had only taken 1 wound to Seimei from Wannok IIRC, and afterward I never dealt any damage again), so I don't think that it's an indicator that the Mokumokurens are underpowered.

Rather, much like the Kirin, they have some very exploitable weaknesses, namely in their 0 base movement. Only being able to react to engagements via Shapeshift is a strict limitation, and though Chomp is very powerful, it's a bit difficult to fully leverage as a result. The combo with a defensive tank like the Kirin is definitely promising, but I think that 2x Mokumokuren with the Kirin is just too exploitable (only three of my figures could actually move!). It's worth experimenting with this build again, I think, but a single Mokumokuren to compliment the Yokai is probably going to be much more effective than using them as an actual fighting force.

CAPTAIN STUPENDOUS' THOUGHTS:
Chomp was terrifying and always in the back of his mind when engaging any figure with the Uniques. He had to kill the target if engaging them, for the most part.

He also felt like Disguised Form might be unnecessary, with the idea of dropping the power entirely but increasing their defense to 7 to compensate.

He also thinks that Mokumokuren might be a lot better in Talingul builds, given that they're able to move one Construct forward, and then use Lesser Shapeshift to swap with that Construct to move and Chomp in one OM. It's definitely worth testing Mokumokuren with Constructs in any case.
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