Wow! They are actually listening to us and giving us what we wish for! Please give us a new Shogunate hero with good ranged abilities, the red oni from Hinansho as an epic hero for the Shogunate, epic Heroes for the Reich and the Union, an UMTOMA and a Nippon trooper pack, a Beast of Gevaudan character, revised versions of all the bonus tokens, a new FAQ ... okay, that's all I can think of now. I'll finish the list tomorrow.

netgeist said: I've also picked up Yula, Hoss and Hoax just to shake things up. Those are great buys - at least most of them. Hoss and Hoax are power characters that are always included in my teams if I play Reich or Union. Yula is - well let's just say there are different opinions about her.

I agree with MeisterH on everything. I don't think we really need a new "mercenary faction", and the idea about the mercenary that can't be used with a faction proposed by Artemus Maximus sounds cool, but many people would not buy that character because they mostly play one or maybe two factions. So I don't think we'll ever see a character like that. On the other hand, I'd immediately buy that Shogunate-themed melee expert Ronin mercenary to bring hand-to-hand combat into my ranged teams.

Artemus Maximus said: at this time, my vote for single packs (after Shogunate get 2 more heroes) is for more mercenaries, rather than a new faction or more stuff for existing factions - they'll have plenty of options - for me at least! Mercenary Heroes that aren't just glorified troopers/vacancy fillers would be great, as well as versatile mercenary troopers. The Shogunate definitely should get new heroes (maybe even that red oni as an epic), and we really don't need another faction in the next time. I'm undecided on the mercenarys though. As much as I'd like to have cool mercenary heroes and troopers, I think there's a problem with them. If the merc heroes are "just glorified troopers", no one will use them because every faction has cooler characters. But if they are powerful, everyone will use them or at least everyone wants to use them, resulting in complaints like: "I lost because my opponent got the powerful merc XY!" If we get powerful merc troopers, we'll see a lot of teams from different faction using the same troopers. In short, characters that can be used by every faction will be either overpowered so that everyone wants to use them or characters with only a special niche that are only seldom used.

I can only repeat what has been said several times on this forum: You can get the german version of Yula without problems via the german amazon (amazon.de). She's perfectly playable because only the rules booklet is in German. But I agree that we definitely need new bonus tokens that are usable by Yula. Give us revised versions of Backstab, Twin Strike and Wunderstahl!

Unknown said: Hi i'm a new player, i've some question: - for the helm, can it be used also in overwatch attack, also if the rules state: before declaring you as a target of an ATTACK ACTION... - can voivodes enter in the heizinger'path with hermetica occulta? (...the voivodes can't participate any mental duel). I don't understand if voivodes can enter or not. Concerning the helm, I'm with Miah. It's not spelled out clearly in the rules, but it should work similar to its effect on a normal attack. But both the helm and the Mask of Samhain do NOT work on a counterattack, so that could be a possibility to damage Hoss or Heizinger. Otherwise, you are right: Heizinger or Hoss with helm or mask are difficult to damage. Possibilities include grenades, flame grenades, anyone who is immune to mental duels (Voivodes for example), anyone who wins the mental duel (Zor'ka for example, who also has a token that changes her mental value to --) or any effect that doesn't attack or target them (Oksana for example, who can also damage characters out-of-path). You can also increase your MV using Command points. Concerning the Voivodes, I already mentioned their immunity to mental duels. The revised rules state that anyone with a mental value of -- "is not affected by efffects that would cause such tests or duels" (page 12, Null characteristics). So Voivodes and sometimes Zor'ka (see above) can enter Heizinger's path and attack him without problems even if he's wearing the helm.

Katsuyori said: My fear is, however, that FFG really will release new alternate trooper packs with new content, which would force me to buy this one, too. This would leave me with three trooper packs, from which one would be totally overfluent. The big question is: Will FFG release the trooper packs a second time with new content or not. If I knew the would not, I would buy a second, idenctical pack at once. If I knew they would, I´d just wait. I didn't even think about that! You are right then: They really should tell us whether there will be a second trooper pack or not!

Miah999 said: To be honest FFG contacted me. They did right!

Do we really need the Shogunate and Matriarchy troopers with alternate colors? You could buy the same pack twice if you want to use two Shin agents for example. You could just put a little sticker on one of the troopers, repaint the helmet or whatever to distinguish them. I think there were 2 important reasons to buy the Reich and Union trooper packs: First, the only other access to the troopers was the expensive base game. Second, the troopers had no command pack before the trooper packs were released. For the Shogunate and Matriarchy troopers, we can get everything by just buying the same pack twice - a thing at least I seriously consider for the Shogunate pack. When new packs are released, I'd rather like to see someting really new! And although I know it's off topic: I have played three games in Objective mode on the new Abandoned Research Base map and had very little interaction between the two teams. They usually are seperated by several rooms and locked doors at the start of the game, so when one team rushes towards the nearest objectives, the other team has big problems to intercept them and complete their own objectives at the same time, so they are likely to loose. So both teams have to race towards objectives to have a chance to win.

The Matriarchy could get a bigger Voivode that counts a complete trooper. I read in the fluff text for Natalya's power suit that it was originally designed to house a big Voivode, but the project was canceled in favour of the smaller designs. Maybe the New Guard revived it? In summary, we could get: UMTOMA pack: Union field medic, Matriarchy mechanical soldier Nippon pack: Reich Sneaky Blutsturm agent, Shogunate Warrior monk with rifle Very cool!

You're probably right, but it's a new situation in Tannhäuser gameplay since the locked doors are new. It's just something I thought up during my first game with locked doors to cope with the new sitation. On top of it, I have to admit I don't know anything about real military strategy because I did civil service instead of military service.

I played a game in Objective mode on the research center board yesterday and I discovered that those locked doors can really change the game. Often a character won't have the MP to move towards the door, open it and move through to actually do something. Or he opens the door, moves through, attacks an enemy but has no MP left to move into cover again. I often chose to open a door with one character coming in from behind, so the next character could move through and actually do something, while always fearing my opponent's reaction after the door had been opened. I played Shogunate against Union with the Shogunate winning. Their choice of entry point was better (The entry points on the map aren't equally good, some of them are in reach of several objectives, some aren't.), so they got a great start. Mizu was especially powerful due to her infiltration ability. She entered through another entry point and completed objectives in a different part of the map (seperated from all others by locked doors). The Union was desperately trying to catch up by completing objectives, stopping the main bulk of Shogunate characters from completing objectives and sending someone after Mizu to stop her. I short, they failed. But I discovered that Hoax is really good in openeng locked doors: One invisible Hoax spends MP to open the door, the other moves through to attack someone. The Union troopers with "Go!Go!Go!" are nice too because they can use the extra MP to open a door and then throw a grenade through it or move in to accomplish an objective.

A pack like Oksana's for the Reich could work too: One Zombie master (Hero) plus two Zombie troopers, maybe even two rather weak or simple Zombies that count as one trooper like the voivodes. The Zombie master would be able to regenarate the Zombies or to put new Zombies into play whenever enemy characters are killed. I definitely need them!

Unfortunately I had no chance to actually play on the new maps yet. But I think that at least the abandoned research center requires some extra thinking since it includes a lot of doors that can be opened or closed. Your characters have to spend extra MP to open doors, so their movement range is reduced. Maybe a character could even be cut off from your team to be killed by several enemies. These are possibilities I just thought of. I'd be really interested in actual playing experience too. Maybe someone who has already used the new boards could tell us about it?

The two boards look cool and the new circles (doors that can be opened or closed for example) are interesting options in gameplay. You also get 2 campaigns (one for each board), a single player scenario (fight against the red oni I mentioned, his stats are printed in the rules booklet) and a scenario on 2 boards with larger teams. Included are objective tokens, flag tokens, ... for the Shogunate and several tokens that are of use only in the scenarios. I was hoping for some new equipment or bonus tokens too, but there aren't any.

After finally getting the Operation Hinansho set I'd say an epic hero based on the red oni would be cool for the Shogunate. He would have to be powerful of course, but with some serious drawback because he's out of control or just barely controlled. Furthermore, I think a Golden Globe agent for the Union would be great too. He (or she) should be rather weak in combat but rather powerful for accomplishing objectives, capturing flags and so on. In short, a character you don't use in deathmatch mode, but you 'll always use and try to protect in objective or story mode.

Since the duel happens during the opponents activation, I'd say the opponent initiates the duel. Furthermore, the rules text of the Hermentica states that the opponent has to win the duel and that each opponent may only initiate this duel once per activation. So it's quite clear that the opponent initiates the duel.

The ideas for different teams and equipment pack / bonus token combinations described here are great! Thanks to everybody!

"If Yula engages in Hand-to Hand Combat, and neither her nor her opponent were on the same Path on their previous Turn, the target suffers 1 Automatic Wound. Yula must use Krueger in her Attack." This is the text I copied from the tannbunker site. It doesn't seem to work similar to "Art of surprise", but close. Or maybe it's just the wording that's a bit strange.

Moebius said: Against Union Reich won all my games in deathmatch, there was just no chance to counterattack. Heiziner with command and eye of horus, Hoss with command or combat and Helm of diomedes and Karl with command and Mask of shamhain, 2 shocktruppen with command is my default setup against Union. I think it is very unbalanced against union not in its favor. Wow! This is hardcore! I bet there are Union players that concede the game as soon as they even see this team! And to netgeist: You should also consider getting the Reich troop pack that includes another Shocktruppen and Stosstruppen as well as the great command packs mentioned here!

As far as I know, Backstab is a bonus token for Yula. Unfortunately, it wasn't rereleased with Revised rules. (Hint to FFG: It's just one of several cool tokens that everybody would like to have and to play with Revised rules - some people would even BUY them!!!)

Miah is of course right on all answers, even number 3. You'll find that answer in the "Rules questions, and answers from FFG" topic. To add some tips to Miah's: Heizinger and Karl both with Command Pack are indeed great: Heizinger makes it really difficult for Union characters to enter the path he's on, and Zermann can target characters out-of-path (so no counterattack) and rolls 5 dice. You'll always have the first shot! If someone manages to enter your path, have a Shocktruppen near (maybe even on overwatch) to gun him down rolling 6 dice (Mad Minute!). If the enemy succeeds in damaging one of your important characters, Eva heals him. If the enemies aren't able to enter your path, Zermann can attack as he likes and Heizinger can use the Patmos amulet to disrupt the opponents tactic. Great setup! You should also consider Heizinger's Combat pack because your characters can roll an additional die on their combat rolls with it. That's 6 dice if Zermann has his Command pack equipped AND he can targets out-of-path. He'll gun down everybody. Though I don't exactly like Heizinger's Sha-Na-Na because it's a "Once per game" item, once I killed an uninjured Barry Brown with it. The Union lost that game of course. With Heizinger's Combat pack, a Shocktruppen on overwatch will roll 7 dice if it has his Stamina pack equipped or 4 dice if it has his Combat pack equipped, but then it can make as many overwatch attacks as it likes. If an enemy enters your path and announces an attack, you'll do 2 overwatch with 4 dice each attacks before he attacks - that is, if he survives the 2 attacks. In short, you should try: Zermann (Command), Eva (Stamina), Heizinger (Combat or Command), Shock (Combat if Heizinger has Combat, Stamina otherwise), Stoss (Stamina, it essentially gives you an additional character). One last thing: Get Hoss Harbinger, he's a cool Reich character and my Reich teams win a lot since I use him!

I think you are right in both points, or I should better say I hope you are right in both points, but the rules concerning Happo aren't clear on it. The rules state: "Happo funktions as a Smoke grenade, except it is discarded after you have been declared the target of an attack ..." You could read this as "Happo funktions as a Smoke grenade with the following exception: You may not throw it, but it is discarded after ..." I don't know if this really was intended. It would have been easy to clear up both points with the following text: "Happo funktions as a Smoke Grenade. You may also discard it after ..." That way, both questions would have been answered immediately.

If Mizu is the target of an attack, she drops the Happo into the circle she's standing in. Happo immediately produces smoke like a normal Smoke Grenade. The attack isn't canceled completely even if the attacker is not adjacent to Mizu though, but the attacker rolls 2 fewer dice for his attack. The attacker also rolls 2 fewer dice if he's adjacent to Mizu. For the rest of the turn and for the next turns, Happo works like a normal Smoke Grenade. There are 2 questions regarding Mizu's Happo that I can't answer. First, do you have to use Happo if Mizu is attacked or can you choose not to use it? Second, can you also use the Happo like a normal Smoke Grenade, say use an action to throw it? Both points aren't stated clearly in the rules. I sent both questions to FFG several weeks ago, but didn't get an answer yet.

And I was just wondering which character to drop in favour of Wolf, Mizu or Itami. I like Itami a lot because he's just a cool character, but Mizu seems to be stronger because she can avoid or at least hinder attacks. So I think I'll try Iroh, Mizu and Wolf the next time I play Shogunate. And I hope all of you had a merry Christmas!