Welcome to the quick reference series of articles. The goal behind this set of articles is to provide players with concise information about each faction and its masters. This way, when you play against a master you’re unfamiliar with you can check the quick reference notes on that master so you won’t be completely blindsided by what it does in the game. I’ll also provide a link at the bottom of the page to an easily printable document that you can use at the gaming table. As a final note, this isn’t intended as a guide on how to beat a master, but more of a means to understand how they operate (which will help you to defeat them).

So with that out of the way, lets get underway with the Ten Thunders.

What is the faction known for?

Dual Faction masters that bring in a large variety of models Many ways to gain (+) flips within the faction Many ways to push models around the board

What weaknesses are often found in crews?

While specific masters have weaknesses, the faction doesn’t have any over-arcing weaknesses

What common things should you watch out for?

Sensei Yu; pushes models around, can take an interact by decreasing focus, can replicate master’s (0) actions, can take different fighting style upgrades (see shenlong) Katakana Snipers; Long range attacker with from the shadows, a solid melee attack, and reactivates when it’s leader is killed Terracotta Warriors; can change a model’s upgrades and put a condition on a minion/enforcer model that redirects the damage from one attack to it then reduce it to 0 damage Ohaguro Bettari; aura turns off defensive triggers, charge without LOS, and charges ignore terrain and other models Lone Swordsman; can ignore most common defensive abilities on a trigger and can reactivate himself as a (0) Kang; has aura that gives (+) the attack and damage of all models when attacking a construct or undead model Shadow Emissary; push and gives fast to model with upgrades, can discard a card for focus at start of turn, and has a good attack Ten Thunders Brothers; denials removal of their crews scheme markers, has several abilities on a (0) including placing or gaining large melee, and can be very tough to kill Recalled Training (upgrade); model gains (+) to all flips for the turn Misdirection (upgrade); Gives leader a Df trigger to apply damage from attacks to another nearby model

ASAMI

What does Asami do?

Summons Oni minions with the flicker condition; Flicker decreases each turn and sacrifices the model when it drops off or is removed When Summoned, the oni remove corpse and scrap markers near them Oni near her can charge for 1 AP Teleports around the board with a (0) action (upgrade) Pulses all scheme markers near her to heal as a (0) action Insta-kill trigger on attack if target fails Ht duel Friendly models sacrificed near her place scheme markers (upgrade) Short-range “lure” which pulls models next to her

Difficulty to kill Asami: Hard

High Df with the hard to kill ability Charges ending near her lose an attack (upgrade)

Other things to watch for are….

Amanjaku; increases stackable conditions and deals damage based on enemy VP Yasunori; oni that generates multiple min damage 3 attacks, has card draw, and can make other models attack on a (0) Ama No Zako; can (0) obey oni near Asami to charge for 1 AP

BREWMASTER

What does Brewmaster do?

Applies condition on enemies which puts them on negatives for all duels and flips Obeys other models to take actions Forces enemy to discard cards which causes an effect based on the suit (upgrade) On The House allows any models near to take this action to heal and gain poison Debuff’s enemy models Wp based on how much poison is on them Puts up the Drinking Contest aura with a (0); it forces enemies to pass a Wp duel each time they declare an action or take his On The House action instead Pulse away scheme markers to heal himself (upgrade)

Difficulty to kill Brewmaster: Easy

If an attack misses, he can placed the attacker back in it’s deployment zone

Other things to watch for are….

Misdirection (upgrade); often gained by a Terracotta changing Running Tab upgrade into this, but makes Brewmaster much tougher to kill if you attack Df Fingers; stacks poison on targets, denies enemy interacts, makes enemy scheme markers friendly, and is difficult to kill Performer; can lure models into the drinking bubble, paralyze models, or deal damage to a model equal to its poison Wesly; becomes Brewmaster if the master dies near him Bishop; solid beater that can attack models debuffed Wp

JAKOB LYNCH

What does Jakob Lynch do?

Gives enemies the brilliance characteristic which provides benefits to him and his crew Once per turn, deals damage equal to the number of cards in his hand to a model with brilliance Aces discarded (including from flips and cheating) on non-Lynch activations return to the Lynch player’s hand Deals 2 damage per ace in hand to a target in 6” when his activation ends (upgrade) Lynch has many ways to draw and cycle cards during his activation

Difficulty to kill Lynch: Easy

Cheating attacks against him deals damage back to attacker

Other things to watch for are….

Huggy + Rising Sun (Lynch upgrade); He has high damage potential, can obey models to take actions, buries instead of dying, and reappears when a model with brilliance dies. Terracotta Warrior; allows you to switch between Lynch’s two limited upgrade to give Huggy casting expert and then switch to Rising Sun before he dies Ten Thunder Brothers/Wastrels; many models like these can make use of discarding aces during their turn for additional benefits.

LUCAS MCCABE

What does McCabe do?

“Throws” his upgrades to models in his crew to push and buff them Badge of Speed lets him reactivate a minion each turn or when tossed to another model, it gains nimble (upgrade) Glowing Saber gives his attack new triggers or when tossed to another model, it gains an attack that ignores many defensive abilities and has critical strike (upgrade) Elixir of Life lets him heal models or when tossed to another model, it gains regeneration and an unimpeded giving aura (upgrade) Strangemetal Shirt gives him armor or when tossed to another model, it gains an aura that gives armor (upgrade) Models with upgrades near him gain (+) to Wp and Ml duels (upgrade) High damage potential with critical strike on melee Range attack that slows target, pulses slow to those near target, and can paralyze previously slowed targets Can sacrifice “his horse” to gain another activation and can sacrifice himself at the end of a turn to reactivate himself for that turn (can do all in 1 turn for 3 activations)

Difficulty to kill McCabe: Moderate

Df increases while engaged The first time you kill McCabe, he doesn’t actually die and instead dismounts and summons his second horseless form

Other things to watch for are….

Luna + Guild Hounds; Luna turns hounds into great scheme runners Austringers; has a range attack that ignores LOS and cover Yasunori; high damage model that can give model with glowing sword a very high damage attack as a (0) Terracotta Warrior; can make duplicates of McCabe’s upgrades

MEI FENG

What does Mei Feng do?

Creates a stackable aura that causes Sh and Ca attack actions targeting models in the aura to be on (-) flips Can place next to a scrap marker or a friendly constructs and can do this multiple times with 1 AP to get across the board Ml blasting attack that causes burning (upgrade) Trigger on Ml attack to attack multiple models nearby models with 1 AP or attack the same model twice (upgrade) Ml attack can discard all nearby scheme, corpse, and scrap markers (upgrade) Can ignore Armor and Hard to Wound (upgrade) Immune to slow and paralyze Creates aura that allows Foundary models to ignore auras and markers (including Stash) when drawing LoS (upgrade)

Difficulty to kill Mei Feng: Moderate

Has armor Df trigger to push away if an attack misses

Other things to watch for are….

Toshiro; can summon multiple Komainu a turn with scrap markers generated by foundry models Mei can hire (Emissary, Emberling, Mechanical Porkchop) Sparks; can turn other models into constructs and give constructs fast

MISAKI

What does Misaki do?

Can charge while engaged and ignores models and terrain when doing so Main attack has insta-kill trigger on it Secondary Ml blasting attack Can stalk an enemy target; gains (+) to attack and damage against target, can (0) action attack target, and can move when target moves (upgrade) Tactical that lets her push away from enemies that end a walk near her; often combined with her can’t be charged upgrade Gives Last Blossom minions two abilities: Can bury during activation and then unbury near a friendly model at end of turn; Can place blocking terrain markers (upgrade) Steals soulstones from enemy leader and add them to her cache (upgrade)

Difficulty to kill Misaki: Easy/Moderate

She reduces damage from Sh attacks Can’t be charged (upgrade)

Other things to watch for are….

Wokou Raider; can’t cheat close attacks against their Df and can push scheme markers

SHENLONG

What does Shenlong do?

Changes between his limited upgrades with a (0) action or stacks conditions Wandering River Style; lets lower focus to take interacts (instead of spending ap), then lets him take an action to pick up corpse/scrap/schemes around a target, push the target, give it fast/slow, and then place those same markers near the targets new location (upgrade) Low River Style; lets him heal models, remove conditions, and helps him stack defensive condition (upgrade) High River Style; lets him take damage to increase a duel total (to avoid attacks or hit a target) and gives him a Ml blast attack (upgrade) Fermented River Style; lets him flip-flop (+) and (-) flips and do a pulse that can put enemies on (-) flips for all duels for the turn (upgrade) Aura that allows friendly models to take focus and defensive actions as a (0) Immune to poison and burning damage; additionally these conditions and focus don’t have to be decreased at the end of the turn After initiative flip, can take a (0) or have his totem do an interact Ml attack can prevent the use of soulstones and/or (0) actions Can steal conditions like fast and reactivate from enemies

Difficulty to kill Shenlong: Moderate

Hard to Kill ability Stacks defensive condition

Other things to watch for are….

Shadow Emissary + Monk of Low River; used in combination to draw 3 extra cards a turn (giving Shenlong 10 card hands) Sensei Yu + Promising Disciple upgrade; upgrades discarded from Shenlong are then attached to Sensei Yu

YAN LO

What does Yan Lo do?

Can place next to an enemy model, then place that enemy next to a nearby model in Yan’s crew Stacks chi condition which adds +1 to his Ca actions per Chi (max +3) Gains special Ascendant upgrades by using a (0) and lowering his chi Gains (2) tactical which allows 3 nearby spirits to take (1) actions (Ascendant) Can summon back ancestor models that were killed in the game (upgrade) Can heal friendly models with a (0) action Gives armor to a number of friendly models near him equal to chi removed Gains Ml attack with min damage 3 (upgrade) and can do a (2) action to teleport and make Ml attacks with (+) to attack and damage to all models in range (Ascendant)

Difficulty to kill Yan Lo: Very Hard

Df/Wp trigger that increases duel by his chi to a max of +3 (upgrade) Impossible to wound ability (Ascendant) Incorporeal ability (Ascendant)

Other things to watch for are….

Goryo; summons seishen for activation control and gives Yan Lo cheap models to kill to build up his Chi quickly Shadow Emissary; it becomes an ancestor which can be re-summoned when killed

So hopefully this will gives you the knowledge you need to know in order to avoid falling into some of the traps these masters can set for you. The link for the printable pdf is here.

As with most my articles, I’ll occasionally update the article from time to time with additional information as I see fit and you’ll know based on the article date in the title. Also, if you feel something is missing from the list, state your case and I’ll consider adding it.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the article. Also if you really enjoy my work, check out the S&S podcast here and my new Patreon site here.