Seconded. THIS IS AWESOME Since we are making speculations.. Nerishima was scouting in the undergrowth because he has seen/heard something. He was shot at with an arrow, springing the ambush prematurely. The bandits was hiding in the undergrowth, and Nerishima being closer would then be attacked/swarmed first by how many men was near him hiding. He was fending off 3 guys at melee range and was minding where the hell that archer is making him effectively against 4 guys. If that wasn't impressive enough for you then I don't know what else is. Hotaru just seemed to fight effortless because he backstabbed those swarming Nerishima and she might as well backstabbed everyone she killed prior to the ronin. Against the ronin, she did put up and effort to let him wound him, take all the ronin's attack so she could study his pattern and counters and after all that, she had to feint first. If that wasn't effort enough for you then again, i don't what else

Their preferred weapon are the twin kama, when they wield it plus their clan colors..it seems like they are Mantis? Mantices? Mentis? also Mon doesnt always reflect clan ways..look at the Crab, not all of them walk sideways.

Sweet

Well, if we can make fool proof reasons for denying the rumors of their affair like these, who is to say that if anyone presses on the issue will.. a. Be challenged out right to a duel by one of the best student of the Kakita technique. b. Socially embarrassed in the court by the Imperial Advisor, only few people is beneath her Status and Glory c. Discreetly taken care off by the man allegedly made to look like a fool by making a suggestion of Kachiko's unfaithfulness.

If i play this. I get to choose which card my opponent gets, right?

Yep. Shoju found out about the affair and seduced both separately into having an affair with him as payback. He is waiting for the right time and place for a double reveal so his desired effect could be fulfilled.. ..both woman feel shame of what they did to Shoju and ask for his forgiveness???

All those calculations are irrelevant when post-harvest season, taxes are defined by the relative generousity of the governor. even if you could fill your storehouse with grains but the samurais wanted them all for taxes, there's nothing you could do. 1. Harvest time 2. Wait for the local tax collector and hope tax is low this season. 3. Give the samurai their rice ..if they left some for the village, praise the Governor for their generosity ..if they took everything, maybe its time to get that tonfa and black scarf and maybe wait along the road for some light exercise.

I vaguely remember a fiction where i think a crane and a crab was travelling to the Wall. along the way, inside the Crab lands, they we're greeted by farmers and the crane was shocked how casual the farmers were in respect to the Crab samurai. The Crane want to punish the farmer for the perceived disrespect but the Crab explained how they treat their farmers as they are their main provider of sustenance for the men at the Wall.

And jumping off cliff laughing without a bungee. Also firebreathing.

http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Daigotsu_Hoturi i didn't know he was called Daigotsu Hoturi though. He was always the False Hoturi for me.

whoever said this fiction needs a setting when there is one. Granted, it does not explain to newbies the world and protocols that is Rokugan but it does give glimpses of it. what it does do is giving the readers the setting of the Crane Clan..war with Lion, trouble with pirates, peasant insurrection because of the famine and the Scorpion getting an upperhand in the Emperor's court. You are not expected to relate to Hotaru, although if you did..good for you. You are though presented with the hopelessness of the situation of the Crane as a clan currently. Also, a Crane Clan Champion bargaining with a ronin?! Hah! I could hear Trump saying it the worst deal he has seen. and, too bad that the situation was GoT like with the death of Satsume, instead of him being killed by Shoju in a duel as it was before.

Its official, the leading family of the Rooster Clan is Sriracha.

Oh he was about to be gutted if Hotaru didn't backstabbed two of the peasants. The fact that he initially surveyed two, but quickly corrected it to 3 implies to me that he is loosing attention and being slowly overwhelmed.

Personally, I liked the story (small-scale, personal and sets up the new timeline) - points to the Daidoji FRANTICALLY struggling againsts 3 peasants. If peasants are making a Daidoji sweat on defense, you know them peasants are fighting hard for something ( rices ) - Hotaru would not have revealed herself if she didn't want the ronin to have an honourable duel with her. Nerishima would have not heeded her if he only knew her as some hooded merc. - although not with a Dragon, Kakita technique won against Niten ( on a Crane fiction, of course) - Kudos, for picking up the ronin's daisho with intent to return it to his family. - points for the cat - Snobbing the Imperial Garden as imperfect compared to Kyuden Doji's ( smug, Cranes! ) - Shizue knows about the affair ( the flower in the room that Kachicko touched) and tolerates it. She also doesn't approve of Hotaru's championship ( she is a maho user and her being cripple is its manifestation and her cat is a binded oni lord ) - I wish Paneki stepped inside instead of Kachicko with the line " most beautiful samurai in Rokugan" - **** it, people Hotaru was not being a giddy schoolgirl in front of Kachicko. She might be inside, but her "On" was near perfect considering Kachiko initiated physical contact and Hotaru dumped all his Void into his Willpower not to kiss her when she was so close. And why wouldn't Hotaru be enamored with Kachiko, aside from physical appearance, Kachiko seems supportive and interested of Hotaru's impulsiveness, symphatetic to Hotaru's emotions for both her relationship to her parents and their deaths, and Hotaru's hesitation and doubts to being a Clan Champion. If you guys are ophaned tragically and thrust into something that everyone keeps saying you're not capable and ready for your whole life and then there is someone who came and comforts you and tells you the opposite, wouldn't you also fell inlove with that someone.

Its the scorpion discarder in me speaking. lots of time, discarding a facedown dynasty, just accelerates my opponents chance of getting his big bad personality ( looking at you both Chagatai xps and Kisada! )

Minor gripe on breaking a province, i think the winner should at least have the ability to check the facedown dynasty on the province about to be broken so the player can better decide if he should discard or not his opponent's dynasty.

And I'm Gordon Bombay, Minneapolis, Minnesota! J/K looking for samurais in Rome, Italy actually. ^^

Put to the Sword can be easily achieve via Asha or Theon thru stealth early game. Just add in a token character or two to get that 5 or more strength win. With Starks cards, Like Warm Rain is good if you can fit the wolves as Starks main in but Ice would be a better kill card. Little Birds would help but I don't want to run them as they hmmm thematically against the whole notion of intrigueless North ^^ Catelyn would be better or Messenger Raven NW to compensate. What I do is give up on the first (maybe up to the third) round intrigue challenge against me, that unopposed power token bonus, I can always try to steal back via power challenge. If I go first, I'd challenge for intrigue (usually Good ole Sam NW) even though its a sure loss just to kneel their intrigue character. Calm over Westeros early to mitigate the discard. When the opponents play A Game of Thrones though usually means I don't do anything for a round ^^ As a whole GJ is a good banner but with Asha/Theon beatdown. Mono, you be needing Littlefinger or Varys to compensate.

From experience playing against Greyjoy in my playgroup: Is weak against intrigue if you play mono. Aggro-military seems to be prevalent. Throwing axe is good early game so the opponent will think twice in defending and may help you get those unopposed challenges and power tokens off the first round. That being said, 3 x Put to the Sword is a must to continue control midgame, just be wary of Hand's Judgement..but my friends always have his own Hand's Judgement to counter it. We're tinkering on Greyjoy/Stark to maximize military claims but the sites sample of Baratheon/Greyjoy kneel deck is a solid stable deck also.

I think NW really excels in defending so it really is a good fit for you. But for now with a limited cardpool, I think both the Wall and Castle Black is needed to be in play, that's why Rebuilding Orders is recommended as a plot option. Once both in play counterattacking with NW is easier as your opponent will be force to overexert strength with its challenges now that your army is buffed up. You'll be weak against intrigue but hopefully a Raven can offset the hand discards.

I'm curious if there anyone else who got into the game aside from our playgroup? We are based in Quezon City and very much like to play casually and help/trade for cards. Currently the playergroup is playing mono-houses of Baratheon, Greyjoy, Tyrell, Targaryen and Nightswatch. Please perhaps we can schedule a weekly meet and play.

I'm curious if there's other who pick up the corebox here aside from my playgroup. Perhaps we can schedule to play or trade for extras? Current group currently is playing: Baratheon Lannister Nightswatch Greyjoy Tyrell Targaryen QC based if you guys are interested to make a community ^^