The Shiho are here and will be available for Pre-Order until the 16th July.
Get yours here!
1. Shiho Pre-Order offer
Committed to the Eagle's cause? During the Pre-Order all orders that contain the all of the following 6 products will receive a free Shiho Dice bowl:
• Shiho Starter Set
• Shiho Clan Special Card Pack
• Shiho Keita
• Maki
• Loyal Yarimen
• Heimin
Note: Yes, those with Eagle eyes will have spotted the dice in the picture above, they are coming soon :-)
2. Shiho Tactica
A Bustle in your Hedgerow?
Tips and Tactics for the new Shiho Starter Set.
Andy Palmer gives us an excellent breakdown of the brand new Shiho Starter Set and shares his thoughts on its expansion.
The Shiho are in the midst of a resurgence. The Takashi usurpers are in disarray as they choose a new daimyo, while the Shiho rally behind the Black Eagle. With Shiho Hiroto’s return, a new doctrine of warfare has begun, one more suited to his erratic nature and more confounding to his foes.
The Shiho Starter Set sets the tone for the faction, and how the Shiho have fared since the Dragon Wars can be seen in the profiles. Most of the clan’s samurai were executed by the Takashi, leaving only those too old or too young to fight to carry on the Shiho name. The Shiho ashigaru fared much better than their samurai masters, and it is these ashigaru survivors that provide the strong backbone of the Shiho.
The samurai of the faction tend to have lower rice costs and low Melee Pools when compared to the other samurai clans. These are not the well-trained and equipped samurai of the Takashi; these are gritty fighters that have been conducting a guerrilla war for a decade. With so few of the clan’s samurai remaining, the Shiho work to ensure that they have every advantage in battle.
The main draw of the samurai is the Flank and Booted traits. This allows the Shiho to enter the board and move into positions that are difficult for your opponent to deal with. It is through presenting an overwhelming number of threats that the Shiho shine.
The first part of learning how to use the Shiho is figuring out the delicate juggling act of how much of the warband to leave off the table and for how long. The Starter Set theme allows some forgiveness in this regard as one of the potential benefits is changing the turn Flanking models will arrive as well as which board edge.
While the Starter Set brings a variety of samurai to Flank, it is recommended keeping Takuya on the table as he is the most capable warrior in the starter set. Accompanied by another samurai and Kazuki, the Shiho should be able to fend off their opponents until the ambush is sprung.
The Shiho are at their most dangerous when their Flanking forces arrive, so expend what resources you have on that turn. The samurai are already providing a threat simply through their deep positioning thanks to Booted; anything to help them along makes the ambush turn have a larger impact. Such abilities as Awe on Shiho Takuya will allow the Flanking samurai to fight with the best of them.
Expanding from the Starter Set starts by bringing in more reliable and durable ashigaru to hold the board until the samurai can arrive. Maki and the Shiho Yarimen are prime contenders to do this, as attacking one means dealing with several at once instead, thanks to the “Hold the Line!” Ki Feat.
Particularly crafty players will like to use some Heimin peasants so that they can swap samurai in and out regardless of the Flank trait. The Heimin bring the option to choose which samurai you need to call back from Elsewhere.
The fastest and simplest way to expand is to bring in the newly returned daimyo of the Shiho, the Black Eagle himself. Shiho Hiroto is one of the deadliest combatants in the game; he can easily crush an opponent’s warband by himself if left to his own devices.
3. Shiho Terrain Pack
To supplement the Shiho Clan Special Card Pack we have some beautifully sculpted terrain elements:
Please note: The previous image of terrain pack was incorrect. Pack contains the above four terrain elements. The base of the wooden stakes terrain element is not as shown, it will be supplied with an MDF base.
4. Shiho Facebook Competition
Wow, so many entries, quick drumroll and the winner is...
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Christopher Clare, come on down. You've won yourself a Shiho Starter Set!