Minato and Yuji work really well against ninjas. You can just give Minato Sixth Sense from Yuji and then throw anchors at offending ninjas. It's pretty decent against Death & Decay too, but a bit weak against trickier Ki-based warbands. I'm 50/50 on whether I want to use a Kami of Reflection or a Kami of the Morning Dew. I think the Kami of the Morning Dew is the better option against what most people bring to the table. The Grapple Attack (0) and Held spam it does is incredibly disabling to most enemy models.
The first set of cycle cards are going to hit the printers soon, and the Conclave of Captains is an interesting theme I'm going to try out. It's very Risen Sun.
Conclave of Captains
Jung Hibiki
Jung Minato
Kohanin
Itsiro Crab Swarm
Kami of the Morning Dew
Shiho Hiroto
Eldest Brother
Kamikaze (3 rice)
Rice Bail Barricade
Minato offers Hiroto nothing, but Hibiki gives the Black Eagle native Sidestep Defence (0). Minato and Eldest Brother are the big hitters with Hibiki swinging around to lend Minato a hand if things get tough.
Hiroto's big draw is how he uses Flank, bringing along Eldest Brother when he does so. Flank with Booted is incredibly dangerous to enemy support models, so if I win the Tactical Test, things could get very interesting, very quickly on turn 2. If I go with Ordered for Battle, then I have the option of swapping around specials a bit to try an optimise how I use Hiroto.
So far my testing of this warband has a couple of issues: it has an incredibly weak turn 1, and it relies heavily on winning the Tactical Test on turn 2. I tend to lose scenario positioning badly on turn 1, but the arrival of Hiroto and Eldest Brother from the sidelines throws my opponent into disarray at the start of turn 2.
The weak turn 1 is why I decided to bring the Kami of the Morning Dew and the Itsiro Crab Swarm, as they can usually take a turn 1 attack from the opponent. Hibiki brings Parley so he's usually good to go on turn 1. Minato and the Kohanin are quite vulnerable however, so I need to take measures to keep them safe. I've been thinking of bringing Squall to counteract ranged attacks, but that would be defensive. A 3 rice Kamikaze is as aggressive as I can reliable get with this warband. I’ll play about with other specials to see if anything fits better though.
