I really thought about getting two Shogunate trooper packs but ended up buying only one. I decided to play for some time using one of each troopers as I also did with the Union and Reich troopers. If I really think I need to play two of the same Shogunate troopers, then and only then I'll invest in a second trooper pack and repaint the troopers. No wait, I'll just mark the troopers somehow because I'm unable to do a good-looking repaint. I think that's the only way to go because FFG probably won't release a pack with repainted troopers.

I have to admit Katsuyori is right again: It's experience vs. experience here. However, the relevant point is: If you really want to get Yula, you should have no problems with getting the german version via amazon.de.

Katsuyori is right, you can get the german version on amazon.de. Don't hesitate to buy her just because it's the german version, the rule booklet included is out of date and the relevant material (card and tokens) are the same as in the english version. There's only one problem: The german Yula is just as weak as the english one, so don't expect to get a powerful character!

Hoss and Karl Zermann can target Voivodes with their out-of-path attacks because these don't require mental duels. They roll 5 and 6 dice if supported by Heizinger with his combat pack, so they destroy Voivodes quickly. So my Voivodes won't roll 7 dice in combat because some of them will be destroyed, and the more I repair them, the less I attack. Furthermore, the Reich doesn't need to get near the Voivodes to attack, my Voivodes have to get near the Reich characters.

By the way, Azanael, were you already able to get Itami and Mizu?

Neither Sha-na-ra nor the Patmos amulet are weapons, so you don't attack with them. Therefore I don't think you get to roll the additional die.

Otar said: Well you should have not let her die, she can cancel wounds when near a voivoid, so she must have 2 at all times around her. And if the enemy is hunting her down you have the strategic advantage of putting your other 2 voivoids in position to stop the path and as always you have Gorgei free to retaliate those who get near and i believe the out of path attacks from Reich are not enough to kill Oksana with 2 voivoids around her. Thats my strategy. I tried your strategy but lost again against the Reich. I kept two Voivodes near Oksana to protect her, only removing them during their activation to repair other Voivodes, then using Oksana to activade the Voivodes again. The problem is that the Voivodes don't do much damage, even when they support each other. Two or three attack successes are easily canceled by a shock roll plus shacking off a wound with a CP. Furthermore, the Voivodes are prime targets for overwatch attacks or counterattacks. A shocktruppen with combat pack on overwatch can really make your Voivode's life miserable. However, the team held itself quite well for several turns. The Reich destroyed several Voivodes with out-of-path attacks but failed to do much damage to the important characters because Oksana was protected by Voivodes and Gorgei had a stamina value of 6 and had several good shock rolls. Oksana's team used many activations to repair the Voivodes, so normally only two of them were able to attack. Gorgei and sometimes even Irina attacked as well, but it was not enough to really damage the Reich characters, overwatch attacks made by shocktruppen further hindering the Matriarchy. The turning point came when Heizinger moved forward and successfully used the Patmos amulet on Oksana, forcing her to move away from her Voivodes. She was immediately attacked by shocktruppen who severely wounded her. Although she managed to get back to her Voivodes, it was over. During the next two turns, she and the Voivodes protecting her were brought down by grenades, and without her, the remaining Voivodes were disabled quickly. Gorgei killed Heizinger immediately after he used the amulet, and managed to kill Zermann later, but the shocktruppen and Hoss cornered and killed him.

Otar said: First i gotta know how you lost you 4 voivoids, my main concearn using that team is to always have at least 1 voivoid to get back the other one in the pair and then use Oksana to bring back the other pair with the pair i already have. That way you can block paths and still kill with Voivoid melee attacks since they help each other on the combat value. But since you make me aware that voivoids dosen`t get the bonuses for Liturgy i decided to run Oksana on 6 voivoids + Gorgei, since you can use another trooper instead of a hero and 6 voivoids raising each other looks really mean! But i haven`t had the chance to play all week, including this weekend... You could try that and tell me how it goes. The team started to fall apart after the Reich moved in in force and killed Oksana. So the Voivodes couldn't repair themselves any more. Next time, I will protect Oksana even better and use your tactic of multiple repairs to keep the Voivodes coming. On the point of fielding 6 Voivodes, I have to agree with Horsa: You can only field 2 troopers which means 4 Voivodes.

Otar said: So try this then, Irina with stamina pack to make everyone tough and Gorgei to kill stuff, both voivoid packs have something to increase combat +1 and the other choice is free, but i like the one that attacks in area and the one that makes you move through with no bull rush, so all the voivoids walk around as a pack, raising each other, giving combat bonus to each other and killing with melee in general with gorgei to finish stuff, Oksana activating them again to bring back or attack more as needed and Irina looking pretty (or if you find some nice weapon on a crate she can kill too). The weak point is AOE (granades mostly) and not having CP on voivoids, but stamina 7 makes up for it. I actually tried out this team because I wanted to play a team built around Oksana for some time. Although the team lost a Deathmatch against the Reich, the game was pretty close with Hoss being the only survivor. I think about using Irina with her command pack to bring back Voivodes as reinforcements or exchanging Irina wth Irishka who can fight and repair Voivodes. If you have any comments on that or other suggestions, I'd be very interested.

I was just checking tokens and abilities that included any kind of "special movement" to find a general rule. Like: If the special movement doesn't trigger overwatch, it is written in the rule. So we can conclude that overwatch is triggered unless the ability specifically says: Overwatch isn't triggered. The other option would have been okay too. If the special movement triggers overwatch, it is written in the rule. So we can conclude that overwatch isn't triggered unless the ability specifically says: Overwatch is triggered. It was just a bit frustrating to find both options in different rules.

The more I read, the less I know. I was checking other abilities or items that allowed or forced a character to move although he wasn't activated. The trench gun for example states that if it forced a character o move, this movement would not trigger overwatch attacks. On the other hand, the Asteros rules state that the movement of a character moved by Asteros charge attack would trigger overwatch attacks. Conclusion: As the triglaf doesn't mention overwatch attacks, we simply know nothing! Somebody should just send the question to FFG - and please post the answer here!

Is Reichdoktor really used before the actual roll? It states that you "add two successes to a friendly character's roll". Because of this wording, I thought you'd roll first and then use the ability to add the two successes. But then again, I'm not sure because English is not my native language.

I can only agree: Invisible Hoax can't be the target of a magnifier attack, but she can be damaged if she's standing withing 3 circles of the target because these characters are attacked but not targeted.

Oksana rules booklet, page 4: "She also has one free equipment slot intended to hold a bonus token or equipment tokens recovered during the game."

I reread the rules concerning overwatch and now I think the situation could be even worse. Maybe you can't even initiate an overwatch attack on the Voivode if it moved using Zor'ka's Triglaf. Reason is, the overwatch rules state that "the character on overwatch can interrupt an enemy character's activation" if "THE enemy character" moves in a special way or announces an action. The problem of the given situation is, the activated character is Zor'ka and she doesn't meet the conditions for an overwatch attack. The Voivode that moved, on the other hand,is not the activated character. The rules concerning overwatch simply don't cover the possibility of a character moving during another character's activation.

Otar said: So try this then, Irina with stamina pack to make everyone tough ... The weak point is AOE (granades mostly) and not having CP on voivoids, but stamina 7 makes up for it. Sorry to say that, but Irina's Liturgy doesn't work with the Voivodes (Revised rules, page 34) so the Voivodes only have stamina 6. On another point, Oksana's fourth equipment slot can either be filled with a bonus token before the game starts or it can be left without a token and filled with an item collected during the game, that's up to the player to decide.

Carlos Castaneda said: mmm... I think the overwatches can start. Yes, Zor'Ka isn't on the same path but rule say: "Circles anywhere on the game board that contain or are adjacent to [...] a Voïvode with a Smiljan Coil in its inventory are considered to be adjacent to you for the purpose of Magnifier attacks." So an attack is starting like if a character was near Zor'Ka, but through a voivode: I think the character on overwatch can attack voivode. I don't think the quoted rule allows overwatch attacks since it clearly states that the cicles in question "are considered to be adjacent to you FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAGNIFIER ATTACKS." So I'd say the circles aren't adjacent for any other purpose, in this case overwatch attacks. So if the Voivode is just standing adjacent to your character and Zor'ka attacks you from anywhere out of path, you can neither perform an overwatch attack on Zor'ka nor the Voivode. If Zor'ka would use his ability to move the Voivode before the attack, an overwatch attack on the Voivode would be possible.

Why don't you just play a standard game against yourself, meaning you control both teams? I do that whenever I don't have anybody to play against, and I think it works well. At least both sides are controlled by players of the same skill level. By the way, are you from Germany?

Carlos Castaneda said: Katsuyori said: I do not think that Hoss can dodge grenades with Prescience. The text reads: "... when you are declared the target of an attack ... " (Hoss Booklet, p. 2, Prescience rule text= As grenades to not target chars but circles, Hoss will not be targeted, and Prescience should not be activated because the requirement is not met. I agree to Katsuyori: grenade is one of the few hopes to hit Hoss (another is Ramirez' Mark 19 mod A1: very very useful against Hoss). I also agree: Prescience can't be used to dodge grenades. But Prescience CAN be used to dodge attacks with the Mark 19 mod A1 if you target the circle Hoss is standing in. It was recently ruled that you target the character if you attack that way. But of corse you can target a circle adjacent to Hoss to damage him. However, it's difficult to kill Hoss, especially early in the game. Whenever I played Hoss and lost, he was the last to fall, normally being cornered by two or three enemies. On topic again: I also think that the Eye of Akhenaton is quite powerful, but not overpowered. Limiting it to one-time use would make it quite worthless.

Just in case anybody wants to know, the Union managed to strike back. The team traded the Alphas for two Deltas with flame grenades. Although the fire didn't actually do a lot of damage (I think only two or maybe three wounds in the whole game), it scattered the Shogunate characters and effectively stopped them from entering hand-to-hand combat. The Union team gunned their enemies down from afar while loosing only one Delta, although Hoax was on her last row as well.

Wow! The Liturgy of Judgement really seems to be powerful, even if you don't think of Zor'ka. It's also great for supporting Irishka, who rolls 6 dice with her melee weapon, or to make Voivode attacks more effective. A combination with Oksana, who beefs up Voivodes, could be interesting too.

Azanael said: Katsuyori said: Great, not before new years Eve in germany, I suppose. They take some hell of a time to get to german retailers, and there are so few, too... ... and there are no big suprises any more three or four weeks after their official release (when they arrive in germany), since nearly half of the users here have told us everything about the new tokens, rules, effects, etc. But at least it won´t take till early 2012 to see operation Hinasho ^^ I actually like to read information about the new products, especially the opinion of players who already have bought and better yet played them. It's really interesting, and it helps me to decide which products I really need or which I need immediately. Problem is, right now everything seems very cool and I need it as soon as possible. Now back to topic: I suppose the next Shogunate characters that will be released will have Challenge tokens. The first three didn't get any because the first three characters belonging to the other factions didn't get Challenges either.

I managed to play Iroh and the Shogunate troopers yesterday and they proved to be quite strong. They were supported by Wolf and Gorgei while fighting a Union team including MacNeal, Brown, Hoax and two Alphas in a simple Deathmatch. Everyone except Brown and the standard Shogunate trooper, who were carrying their Stamina packs, had their Combat pack equipped. The Shogunate team clearly defeated the Union, although both mercs suffered wounds and both troopers were killed. Iroh quickly killed Hoax, who had been forced to become visible by a smoke grenade, and a Commando with his dual melee attack. The Shin agent picked up a flashgun and attacked MacNeal rolling 7 dice. MacNeal had no chance as the successes even included a Natural 10. The Mercs held Brown and the other Commando at bay and eventually killed them, Wolf using his dual overwatch attack several times. Conclusion: The Shogunate characters are quite cool, especially Iroh.

The challenge tokens could have quite an effect on a game because of the 3 Command points the completed challege gives you at any time you wish. Problem is that the tokens are selected at random, so you just can't select a token that fits the scenario, fits your tactic or is just easy to complete. Furthermore, MY problem is that I always forget about the challenges during gameplay and I always have to look them up again. There aren't equipment cards for the challenges, or did I just overlook them?

Azanael said: Cool, more Bonus Packs - I hope that Yula gets one soon too ^^ You are right, Yula needs all the help she can get! But what I want is a bonus pack for Zor'ka that includes an automatic gun with awesome natural 10 effects and - okay, I'll just shut up!