The Book of Hatamoto Taro

[dnutt99]

The Book of Hatamoto Taro​

Crest of the Valkyrie - Einar's Flag Bearer
​

Spoiler Alert!

Character Bio: The standard of Einar shall never fall. Hatamoto Taro will never fail. Outnumbered ten to one, the samurai of Einar gather under the waving yellow banner, and at Taro¹s command, fight with such renewed might that their enemies falter and scatter at their feet.

Taro¹s sword has been passed down for five generations, his armor, seven generations. He will not dishonor his forefathers by proving himself unworthy of bearing these tools of war. In battle Taro shows unrelenting courage, and that makes him neigh unbeatable. (Hasbro)
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-Rulings and Clarifications-

• - HEROIC DEFENSE AURA : How Many Dice
  How many dice do I roll when using Heroic Defense Aura
  You should roll the normal number of defense dice plus any enhancements from auras, height, and glyphs. Instead of using regular defense dice, use Hatamoto Taro’s valkyrie dice. (dnutt99)

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Synergy Benefits Received

• - ADJACENT TOUGH 1 : Figures That Follow Einar
  When rolling defense, any adjacent unit that follows Einar may aid Hatamoto Taro through ADJACENT TOUGH 1 defense bonus.
  
  - KATO KATSURO : Kato Katsuro's Command
  As a Samurai Hero, Hatamoto Taro may benefit from Kato Katsuro's KATO KATSURO'S COMMAND activation synergy.

Synergy Benefits Offered

• - HEROIC DEFENSE AURA : Samurai and Ashigaru Units
  * Ashigaru Harquebus
  * Ashigaru Yari
  * Izumi Samurai
  * Kaemon Awa
  * Kozuke Samurai
  * Tagawa Samurai
  * Tagawa Samurai Archers

• - SACRED BAND : Disciplined Army Defense Bonus
  Having a Disciplined personality, Hatamoto Taro may aid the Sacred Band with their DISCIPLINED ARMY DEFENSE BONUS
  *NOTE: See The Book of Sacred Band for proper application.

C3V and SoV Custom Synergies

Spoiler Alert!

Synergy Benefits Offered

HEROIC DEFENSE AURA : Any Samurai or Ashigaru figures within 8 spaces

* TOMOE GOZEN

​

Synergy Benefits Received

COUNT RAYMOND : MANEUVER 9
As a Human who follows Einar, Hatamoto Taro may benefit from Count Raymond's MANEUVER 9 ability.

EBON ARMOR : ANIMATED MATERIEL & ETERNAL WAR
As a Unique Human, a destroyed Ebon Armor you control may be placed on Hatamoto Taro's Army Card to replace Hatamoto Taro upon his own destruction.

TOMOE GOZEN : DEFENSIVE FORMATION
As a Samurai, Hatamoto Taro may boost his own defense as well as Tomoe Gozen's when adjacent to Tomoe Gozen.
​

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• - TBA

_________________________________________________________________
-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Rankings

Jexik: Hatamoto Taro- With the release of the Tagawa Samurai Archers and Kaemon Awa in Wave 6, Ashigaru in Wave 7, and Kato Katsuro in Wave 8, Hatamoto Taro is still bad. Sometimes, the winning move is not to play him. F

OEAO: A+ (bookkeeper's note: this is a joke, in reference to Matthias Maccabeus' winning GenCon army in 2018 which included Hatamoto Taro. If you are using these power rankings to run an event, consider his ranking to be F.)

Cleon: Tier 1 (208/208)

dok (VC inclusive): F

Master Index

Hatamoto Taro
General Discussion and Analysis http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=3634

Unit Strategy Review

• Unit Strategy Review: Hatamoto Taro

 

[Siran Dunmorgan]

Has anyone translated the text appearing on the flag?

I recognize "英" as the Kanji character for "Britain" or "British", but I don't know enough Kanji to figure out what the flag actually says.

—SD

 

[Cavalier]

Has anyone translated the text appearing on the flag?

I recognize "英" as the Kanji character for "Britain" or "British", but I don't know enough Kanji to figure out what the flag actually says.

—SD

It says "Hero"

http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=3286&highlight=kanji+hero

 

[Siran Dunmorgan]

Has anyone translated the text appearing on the flag?

I recognize "英" as the Kanji character for "Britain" or "British", but I don't know enough Kanji to figure out what the flag actually says.

—SD

It says "Hero"

http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=3286&highlight=kanji+hero

Ah. Okay. I see where I messed up; the Unified CKJ logogram directory I'm using has separate sections for Japanese and Chinese; I was looking at the Chinese section, where 英 means primarily "British", rather than the Japanese section, where it means "talented." It doesn't seem to be used in Korean.

Much thanks, Cavalier!

—SD

 

[Lynx7725]

Ah. Okay. I see where I messed up; the Unified CKJ logogram directory I'm using has separate sections for Japanese and Chinese; I was looking at the Chinese section, where 英 means primarily "British", rather than the Japanese section, where it means "talented." It doesn't seem to be used in Korean.

Doesn't matter whether you were using Chinese or Japanese in this case. The kanji character was taken from the Chinese character.

"英" is not often used on its own. You can consider it as the "Anglo-" prefix. However, in our context, in conjunction with "雄" character , the two characters has a different meaning from the sum of its parts and actually do mean "Hero".

 

[Eclipse]

I've used this guy to great affect in a couple of different situations. He's really fitting as a flagbearer in the right situation. Ideally, you get him set up before hand, on the high ground overlooking the battlefield, with a unit beside him. This gives him 3 Defense with an auto shield, which averages to be 6 defense total. Once he's secure (at 5 life, he's going to be there for a while), its time to send your Samurai charging in. The Izumi make a good first wave as they are quite fast and durable. The Kosuke fill in nicely behind them, and can charge ahead to inflict a lot of damage. If you can engage your enemy at this point, you're pretty hard to beat.

Really the best part about Hamatoro is that he's an absolute tank when used correctly. Put him at the entrance to a narrow passage with another troop and he gives you an absurd amount of time to move forces into position. Personally, I haven't had a chance to use him with Kaemon or the Samurai Archers yet, but I'm guessing he's an excellent figure to pair them with. Out front, he can take a lot of abuse while they attack approaching figures. The hard part is finding a situation where your opponent needs to take him out rather than avoid him. This is why narrow passages are so important, and key to getting the most out of Hamatoro.

 

[jcb231]

He works pretty well with Kaemon or the Samurai Archers because they can stand right next to him and attack your opponent from range. By standing next to Hata, they give him a boost while receiving his boost. Synergy-tastic!

Izumis, Tagawas, and Kozukes all have to leave his adjacency in order to attack your opponent (unless your opponent is all up in Hata's face, in which case you have bigger problems to deal with) thus ruining the "auto-shield" specila power.

 

[Eclipse]

I actually had great luck with Tagawa+Hamatoro once. I had the 4 of them on a high plain so that no one could attack them without height. At 6 Defense (or 3+Auto Shield) range was rather useless, and melee didn't stand a chance of getting through 6 Valkyrie Defense rolls. They were forced to try and bring some heavy hitters against Hamatoro, which brough units in range of the Tagawa. By the end of the encounter the Tagawa were Bloodlusted and rampaging all over the map unchecked. Definitely a sight to behold.

 

[Lynx7725]

I actually had great luck with Tagawa+Hamatoro once. I had the 4 of them on a high plain so that no one could attack them without height. At 6 Defense (or 3+Auto Shield) range was rather useless, and melee didn't stand a chance of getting through 6 Valkyrie Defense rolls.

Err, that seems wrong. Adjacent Tough only ever gives 1 free Shield, not 3. Gotta read the description closely, as it says "at least one figure", not "for every one figure".

 

[Omnicron]

I actually had great luck with Tagawa+Hamatoro once. I had the 4 of them on a high plain so that no one could attack them without height. At 6 Defense (or 3+Auto Shield) range was rather useless, and melee didn't stand a chance of getting through 6 Valkyrie Defense rolls.

Err, that seems wrong. Adjacent Tough only ever gives 1 free Shield, not 3. Gotta read the description closely, as it says "at least one figure", not "for every one figure".

He means the Tagawa were rolling 6 Valkyrie Dice. (5 + height)

 

[Lynx7725]

I actually had great luck with Tagawa+Hamatoro once. I had the 4 of them on a high plain so that no one could attack them without height. At 6 Defense (or 3+Auto Shield) range was rather useless, and melee didn't stand a chance of getting through 6 Valkyrie Defense rolls.

Err, that seems wrong. Adjacent Tough only ever gives 1 free Shield, not 3. Gotta read the description closely, as it says "at least one figure", not "for every one figure".

He means the Tagawa were rolling 6 Valkyrie Dice. (5 + height)

Ah ok. Go Tagawas!

Seriously, they're a pain when dug in that way. Would seriously need nukes to shift them off a ridge.

 

[netherspirit]

Power Ranking
Hatamoto Taro- Perhaps the Ashigaru will realize Hato’s value. For now, he just isn’t viable in any army. C-

Will you change your power ranking assessment for units when/if they become more viable in future releases?

Considering those Power Rankings are from Spider Poison I don't think MKS will be the one that changes them.

http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=6171

 

[DingoDarkly]

I think Hatamoto is a great addition to a Samurai army.
I used Mr Taro in a battle alongside Mr Awa and kept Hatamoto 8 spaces behind the archer. The extra defense came in very handy for Kaemon and he managed to kill off half of my opponents team!

 

[Hex_Enduction_Hour]

Sculpt-wise, my favorite FB.

I used him with Kae and the T.S. Archers against Minions, Marro Warriors, and Nakitas.
Counterstrike rolls were hot in this game.
Get Hatamoto up high and get some Adjacent Tough action going.
His pose epitomizes exactly how he'd look while the other samurai go out to Counterstrike all kinds of nastiness.

I know he gets no respect from the competitive scene, but I really like Taro.

 

[Roufus]

Hatamoto means 'one who carries the banner' if anyone is interested.

 

[Cavalier]

Hatamoto means 'one who carries the banner' if anyone is interested.

Excellent HS trivia right there!

I agree...very cool...goes along with the Kanji on his flag meaning Hero very well

 

[UtgarsWorstFear]

Heres the deal...Im just tryin to help anyone out there not do something as stupid as i just did tonight.

It basically comes down to this: The one little friggin line on Hatamoto's card that says "when defending against an adjacent attack". We had the "ultimate" tounament, and it came down to Jandar vs. Einar in the finals. Each team had 1500 points and 3 ppl on it (6 total). The knights were basically shut down by all those samurai, and at the time we thought the Omnicron and the 4th Mass. were too. It ended up being a close game, but afterwards we realized that all those defense he was rolling against our range didnt count at all!

Hope that helps a few newbs out. lol

 

[Rÿchean]

Adjacent and Normal

Hopefully his stock goes up with the Ashigaru release.

On a slightly irrelevant note. He is a Samurai, and as such, counterstrike from enemy samurai does not work on him.

 

[GForce3062]

Hopefully his stock goes up with the Ashigaru release.

Yeah, hopefuly. If not I don't know what I'm gonna do with little Hatamoto.

 

[Chimpy]

So, we now have seen the two squads of Ashigaru. How much do you think they are going to help Hamato Taro?

 

[johnny139]

So, we now have seen the two squads of Ashigaru. How much do you think they are going to help Hamato Taro?

Yes! Yes! A resounding yes! I mean, 190 points for him and the Harquebus. If you keep them next to him, not only do they get an automatic defense die, but with height, they have an average of 2 Shields. Doesn't seem that good, but it'll work WONDERS.

 

[Rÿchean]

So, we now have seen the two squads of Ashigaru. How much do you think they are going to help Hamato Taro?

Yes! Yes! A resounding yes! I mean, 190 points for him and the Harquebus. If you keep them next to him, not only do they get an automatic defense die, but with height, they have an average of 2 Shields. Doesn't seem that good, but it'll work WONDERS.

Ok I am the first to admit I am a simpleton, but how exactly does symbol = shield equate to automatic defense die for Ashigaru?

 

[johnny139]

So, we now have seen the two squads of Ashigaru. How much do you think they are going to help Hamato Taro?

Yes! Yes! A resounding yes! I mean, 190 points for him and the Harquebus. If you keep them next to him, not only do they get an automatic defense die, but with height, they have an average of 2 Shields. Doesn't seem that good, but it'll work WONDERS.

Ok I am the first to admit I am a simpleton, but how exactly does symbol = shield equate to automatic defense die for Ashigaru?

Adjacent Tough 1 mean that all adjacent Einar units add 1 automatic shield to the roll. Counting the Einar Symbol, it's a 50/50 chance of rolling a shield. Therefore, and average of 1 defense rolled, and 1 added.

 

[Uprising]

So, we now have seen the two squads of Ashigaru. How much do you think they are going to help Hamato Taro?

Yes! Yes! A resounding yes! I mean, 190 points for him and the Harquebus. If you keep them next to him, not only do they get an automatic defense die, but with height, they have an average of 2 Shields. Doesn't seem that good, but it'll work WONDERS.

Ok I am the first to admit I am a simpleton, but how exactly does symbol = shield equate to automatic defense die for Ashigaru?

Adjacent Tough 1 mean that all adjacent Einar units add 1 automatic shield to the roll. Counting the Einar Symbol, it's a 50/50 chance of rolling a shield. Therefore, and average of 1 defense rolled, and 1 added.

Adjacent Tough only applies to Hatamoto. He gets the bonus, not the unit.

 

[GForce3062]

So, we now have seen the two squads of Ashigaru. How much do you think they are going to help Hamato Taro?

Yes! Yes! A resounding yes! I mean, 190 points for him and the Harquebus. If you keep them next to him, not only do they get an automatic defense die, but with height, they have an average of 2 Shields. Doesn't seem that good, but it'll work WONDERS.

Ok I am the first to admit I am a simpleton, but how exactly does symbol = shield equate to automatic defense die for Ashigaru?

Adjacent Tough 1 mean that all adjacent Einar units add 1 automatic shield to the roll. Counting the Einar Symbol, it's a 50/50 chance of rolling a shield. Therefore, and average of 1 defense rolled, and 1 added.

Adjacent Tough only applies to Hatamoto. He gets the bonus, not the unit.

He... does? I've been playing all wrong then!

Nevermind... he's borderline useful, then.

Yeah. I'm not exactly estatic about Hatamoto Taro now. I thought the Ashiguru would bring out his inner god-like mode. But with only 1 defense die for each Ashigure unit, it's now that impressive. A 50/50 of rolling one defense die isn't that helpful. Even if they're on height, that's only two, and that's not enough for Hatamato Taro to do anything. I guess Hatamoto Taro is gonna continue to live in his pimpish purple bag of his.....