Spurred by the concern over higher-point games in the Pre-SoV Thread, I wanted to test out my observation that the Seishin Samurai experience significant diminishing returns.

IF YOU CAN’T TAKE THE HEAT… by Dignan
Glyphs: Kelda (Healer), Dagmar (Initiative +8 )
Astro: Seishin Samurai x6, Tagawa Samurai Archers x6, Raelin (620)
Angi: Sonlen, Me-Burq-Sa, 10th Regiment of Foot x5 (625)

Surviving Units:
6x Tagawa Samurai Archers, 2x Seishin Samurai
~180 Points Left

Game Summary:
Glyphs were never really used. Sonlen could've used Kelda at one point, but was caught on the other side of my forces.

I overextended after a couple of rounds and got her killed. She was still able to help the TSA reach 6 or 7 defense with the jungle and height, though, letting them reinforce the middle really well. This was enough to turn the tides in their favor, especially with some smart Seishin placements that...

IF YOU CAN’T TAKE THE HEAT… by Dignan
Glyphs: Dagmar (Initiative +8 ), Gerda (Defense +1)
Astro: Seishin Samurai x2, Masha Shingai, Tomoe Gozen, Izumi Samurai, Kozuke Samurai
Nathan: Arrow Gruts x2, Swog Riders x3, Blade Gruts x2, Grimnak

Note: Seishin played with 4 defense instead of 5.

Surviving Units:
Tomoe Gozen (unwounded), 2x Kozuke Samurai
~170 Points Left

Game Summary:
The Samurai forces made a beeline for Gerda. Nathan split his attention between Arrow and Blade Gruts, but managed to do a good job of picking off some enemies while they developed. Unfortunately lost most of his forces to lava field damage, but the Samurai were regularly whiffing attacks and did no damage for the first half of the game to counterbalance this.

Eventually, Masha Shingai and Tomoe Gozen managed to tie down Grimnak and block off a key chokepoint, protecting his Samurai brethren for enough time to turn...

IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT... by Dignan
Glyphs: Dagmar (Initiative +8 ), Valda (Move +2)
Astro: 3x Tagawa Samurai Archers, 3x Seishin Samurai, Hatamoto Taro (400)
Angi: Rujin, 4x Durgeth Ravagers, Siiv (395)

Surviving Units:
3x TSA, Hatamoto Taro (unwounded), 2x Seishin
~245 Points Left
About 75 points more were destroyed, so closer than points imply. Probably ~130 is fair.

Game Summary:
The Durgeth were able to claim Valda initially, though the TSA spent that time gaining height and were able to clear them off without too much trouble. This proved problematic for the Ravagers, who struggled to reach the well-developed archers backed by Hatamoto Taro.

Siiv then came in and absolutely wrecked house against the Samurai, who weren't able to kill him until he had done a considerable amount of damage. He also wasn't slowed by the Seishin on account of his Disengage. Once he did finally fall, the...