The Book of Tomoe Gozen

[Arch-vile]

The Book of Tomoe Gozen

C3V Wave 3 - Vydar's Betrayal - Heroes of Kaarn Mountain

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The figure used for this unit is a Dungeons and Dragons figure from the War Drums set. Its model number and name is 15 / Brass Samurai.

Character Bio: If a samurai dies, the onna-bugeisha Tomoe Gozen pledges a life debt to that fallen soldier and will fight in his memory. She uses her knowledge of tactics to fight together with her brother samurai in a tight formation, standing her ground. At first, Einar was worried that a female soldier would not be as strong as the samurai he had already summoned, but Tomoe Gozen has proven him wrong, and has won much glory already in the war for Valhalla.

SAMURAI LIFE DEBT
After revealing an Order Marker on a Unique Samurai Squad you control that has at least one previously destroyed Samurai on its Army Card, before taking that squad's turn, you may first take a turn with Tomoe Gozen.

DEFENSIVE FORMATION
If Tomoe Gozen is adjacent to at least one other Samurai you control, add 1 die to the Defense of Tomoe Gozen and all Samurai you control adjacent to Tomoe Gozen.

COUNTER STRIKE
When rolling defense dice against a normal attack from an adjacent attacking figure, all excess shields count as unblockable hits on the attacking figure. This power does not work against other Samurai.

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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• Q: If I reveal an Order Marker on a Unique Samurai Squad Army Card whose figures have all been destroyed, can I take a turn with Tomoe Gozen?
  
  No. You cannot take a turn with a squad that has been destroyed, so you may not take a turn with Tomoe Gozen "before taking that squad's turn".

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Synergy Benefits Received
- HATAMOTO TARO : Heroic Defense Aura
As a Samurai, Tomoe Gozen may benefit from Hatamoto Taro’s HEROIC DEFENSE AURA

- KATO KATSURO : Kato Katsuro's Command
As a Samurai Hero, Tomoe Gozen may benefit from Kato Katsuro's KATO KATSURO'S COMMAND activation synergy.

- COUNT RAYMOND : Maneuver 9
As a friendly human figure who follows Einar, Tomoe Gozen may benefit from Count Raymond's MANEUVER 9 when she receives one or more wounds from a leaving engagement attack.

- DEFENSIVE FORMATION : Tomoe Gozen can boost other Samurai's defense and her own defense when adjacent to another Samurai you control. Samurai include:

• Hatamoto Taro
• Izumi Samurai
• Kaemon Awa
• Kozuke Samurai
• Tagawa Samurai
• Tagawa Samurai Archers

- EBON ARMOR : Animated Materiel & Eternal War
As a Unique Human, a destroyed Ebon Armor you control may be placed on Tomoe Gozen's Army Card to replace Tomoe Gozen upon her own destruction.

Synergy Benefits Offered
- SACRED BAND : Disciplined Army Defense Bonus
Having a Disciplined personality, Tomoe Gozen may aid the Sacred Band with their DISCIPLINED ARMY DEFENSE BONUS

- SAMURAI LIFE DEBT : Tomoe Gozen has the possibility to take a turn after a Samurai Unique Squad. Samurai Unique Squads include:

• Izumi Samurai
• Kozuke Samurai
• Tagawa Samurai

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

- TBA

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-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Ranking & Master Index-
Tricky to use but makes playing the unique Samurai squads together much more attractive. Enjoys Ebon synergy. B

Unit Strategy Review- TBA

[boromir96]

Anybody know why her name got reversed? I know that the real Samurai's name was Tomoe Gozen, but thought there would be a reason it was originally Gozen Tomoe.

[Heroscaper Guy]

Originally Posted by boromir96

Anybody know why her name got reversed? I know that the real Samurai's name was Tomoe Gozen, but thought there would be a reason it was originally Gozen Tomoe.

I did too so I was a little confused when wave 16 was announced and she was reversed.

[Arch-vile]

A couple of reasons. It's some really fascinating information; I had no idea that Japanese names were reversed in English.

Originally Posted by C3V Editing Team

Japanese names traditionally are listed as {family name} {given name}, not the opposite we do in the west. Either way could be correct, but there is precedent in naming with Kato Katsuro, Hatamoto Taro, and Kaemon Awa. It's somewhat difficult to tell which order these are in as most of the names are obscure or made up, but Taro is a big giveaway: Taro is a somewhat common given name for males. Additionally Katsuro and Awa are obscure, but both show up as given names. Thus I conclude that Japanese names are listed as {family name} {given name}. Tomoe is the given name, Gozen the family name. So the name should be changed to:

Gozen Tomoe

However, later on the C3V Team realized that "Gozen" is an honorific, and that Tomoe Gozen's surname is not known. Therefore, "Gozen" does go in the back of the name.

HERE is an interesting article about the real Tomoe Gozen.

[quozl]

She also benefits from Count Raymond's maneuver.

[Smithy Winfred]

I like this unit a lot, it really boost the samurai army (one of my favs) a lot. She can stay back and boost the defense of your units in the back until you lose a samurai fig, then she can move into the heat of the battle as a sort of "back up" squad fig. Love the design a lot guys, keep it up!


P.S Especially liking the new historical figs

[Serenity]

Life Debt is a really clever power. Great job finding a way to support those very cool unique squads out there, without making them overpowered.

[Lord Pyre]

Hah, I saw this thread and was thinking "Wow, C3V doing Shi characters? That's awesome!" Then I realized this is based off the real Tomoe, while in the Shi comics there's a character named off of her.

http://www.comicvine.com/tomoe/4005-23498/

(FANTASTIC comics, by the way. The Way of the Warrior is one of my all time favorites )

[chaoserver]

Had my first game with her last night and wow. This is an example of a unit I doubt would have ever been officially produced, but shores up the blatant weaknesses of underpowered units and makes them much more appealing. My Izumi samurai ended up wrecking for over twice their points in a multiplayer, and her herself lasted through all three squads of my samurai, before finally falling. The fact you feel almost good when an izumi dies as opposed to crushingly disappointed in what would normally be reduced to a two man squad with two attack is great.

While she doesnt make the samurai top tier, she makes them much more competitive, and I will certainly be fielding them in the future because of her alone, whereas otherwise the samurai tend to be disappointing picks. A+ on design

[Dad_Scaper]

Excellent! Thanks for sharing, Chaoserver. Feedback like that is the highest praise I could hope for. Happy Thanksgiving!

[Astroking112]

I just picked up her model for cheap off of eBay, but I'm not a big fan of the base that she came on. Has anyone tried rebasing her, and if so, what kind of base works the best? I've never rebased anything before, but I'd do just about anything for the coolest faction in the game Samurai.

[superfrog]

There's some threads if you do some searching in this forum that might be helpful. I believe there's one like "A Guide to Bases and Stickers" that should be up your alley.