The Prefecture of Ryu has a wide range of units and initially it can confusing as to what their overall approach to the game should be. Certainly you could just as easily ignore what follows and put together a collection of Ryu characters comprising Shugenja, Shisai, Dragons and Ninjas, but I'd argue you wouldn't be playing to their strengths. In my view, the foundation of a Prefecture strategy is built upon the following themes;
Samurai
The Prefecture have access to the most amount of Samurai characters in the game. This doesn't necessarily mean you should play Samurai exclusively (although there is a theme based around this), but it does provide you with a enviable pool of strong melee characters to suit your personal fighting style. Samurai have a good collection of traits, ki feats and special attacks/defences that allow them to control melee actions through re-rolls and bonuses. They all have Prowess [Melee] which enables you to re-roll a weak attack die (or more crucially) a disastrous defence die, but many also have access to Feint which forces your opponent to re-roll one of their defence die. This means you should come out of most melee exchanges having bested your opponent. Many Ryu Samurai also have (or have access to) Critical Strike attack. Yes, there's only a 1/6 chance of lopping someone's head off, but use it frequently enough and one will come good eventually. Don't underestimate the psychological effect of one or two Critical Strike characters wandering about the battlefield. Your opponent will be wary of committing a key model if there's a risk of losing it from a single sword stroke. Unless playing a theme, I'd always look to take one or two Samurai characters. Combat is not the sole focus of Bushido, but a winning a key melee exchange is usually on the path to victory.
Ashigaru
If you'll excuse a mixed metaphor, Samurai may win the battles, but Ashigaru are the ones who win the war. Victory in Bushido comes from fulfilling scenario objectives and Prefecture Ashigaru in particular have plenty of tools to assist with dominating this aspect of the gane. One of their key abilities is to manufacture Pass Tokens on an industrial scale via the Military Training Ki Feat. This means you can be sure of ending a turn with a few activations in hand, very useful for turning idols in your favour or pushing an opposing character out of a zone at a stage when your opponent can't respond. Co-ordinated attack is also a recurring ability within the Prefecture rank and file, giving you an edge in melee exchanges when Samurai aren't around to help out.
Gunso
A Gunso (the sergeant for all intents and purposes) will further assist in ensuring that your Ashigaru remain effective at implementing your strategy. All three Gunso have Leadership (+1 to dice roll when taking a Fear test) which coupled with the Ashigaru's near universal Bravery trait (re-roll Fear tests) should ensure that your troops hold the line even when faced with some of the stranger inhabitants of the Jwar Isles. Isamu and Hanso also have Command which enables you to activate 2 Ashigaru at a time. This is not only useful in setting up a Co-ordinated attack melee action, but will also enable you to exhaust an opposing model in 1 activation (You will of course use up 3 activation markers in the process, but your multiple Pass Tokens will help to mitigate this). Lastly, Hanso's Move It ability (available from Turn 1 if he Focuses) enables you to march 3 Ashigaru up the board without them losing an activation marker. This will see you reach scenarios/objectives well in advance of your opponent.
Shuichi
You're probably expecting me to close this article with no small amount of Dragon worshipping. Not to disappoint, but instead I'd like to focus on one of the Shisai - Shuichi - or more specifically one of his abilities. Cleansing is a very rare Ki Feat (currently only 4 models have access to it across the entire game) but it's also exceptionally useful, particularly if you have models that cost in excess of 20 rice. Such models tend to be targets for all manner of dirty tricks and Cleansing counters a lot of these. Is Katsumoto under the baleful influence of the Puppet Master? Cleanse. Is Hanso about to succumb to Poison? Cleanse. Is Matsu Spirit Blocked and won't generate any Ki in a crucial turn? Cleanse. You get the gist. Shuichi is by no means a compulsory inclusion, but a useful reply to some of your opponents' more nefarious schemes nonetheless.
Conclusion
Symmetry between models is not exclusive to the Prefecture of Ryu, but you will find a lot of it amongst your Ashigaru characters. Once you have developed a firm strategy for your rank and file to deliver you scenario points, you can then look to the Samurai to defend your troops while they hold the line and support models to keep them alive.
Samurai
The Prefecture have access to the most amount of Samurai characters in the game. This doesn't necessarily mean you should play Samurai exclusively (although there is a theme based around this), but it does provide you with a enviable pool of strong melee characters to suit your personal fighting style. Samurai have a good collection of traits, ki feats and special attacks/defences that allow them to control melee actions through re-rolls and bonuses. They all have Prowess [Melee] which enables you to re-roll a weak attack die (or more crucially) a disastrous defence die, but many also have access to Feint which forces your opponent to re-roll one of their defence die. This means you should come out of most melee exchanges having bested your opponent. Many Ryu Samurai also have (or have access to) Critical Strike attack. Yes, there's only a 1/6 chance of lopping someone's head off, but use it frequently enough and one will come good eventually. Don't underestimate the psychological effect of one or two Critical Strike characters wandering about the battlefield. Your opponent will be wary of committing a key model if there's a risk of losing it from a single sword stroke. Unless playing a theme, I'd always look to take one or two Samurai characters. Combat is not the sole focus of Bushido, but a winning a key melee exchange is usually on the path to victory.
Ashigaru
If you'll excuse a mixed metaphor, Samurai may win the battles, but Ashigaru are the ones who win the war. Victory in Bushido comes from fulfilling scenario objectives and Prefecture Ashigaru in particular have plenty of tools to assist with dominating this aspect of the gane. One of their key abilities is to manufacture Pass Tokens on an industrial scale via the Military Training Ki Feat. This means you can be sure of ending a turn with a few activations in hand, very useful for turning idols in your favour or pushing an opposing character out of a zone at a stage when your opponent can't respond. Co-ordinated attack is also a recurring ability within the Prefecture rank and file, giving you an edge in melee exchanges when Samurai aren't around to help out.
Gunso
A Gunso (the sergeant for all intents and purposes) will further assist in ensuring that your Ashigaru remain effective at implementing your strategy. All three Gunso have Leadership (+1 to dice roll when taking a Fear test) which coupled with the Ashigaru's near universal Bravery trait (re-roll Fear tests) should ensure that your troops hold the line even when faced with some of the stranger inhabitants of the Jwar Isles. Isamu and Hanso also have Command which enables you to activate 2 Ashigaru at a time. This is not only useful in setting up a Co-ordinated attack melee action, but will also enable you to exhaust an opposing model in 1 activation (You will of course use up 3 activation markers in the process, but your multiple Pass Tokens will help to mitigate this). Lastly, Hanso's Move It ability (available from Turn 1 if he Focuses) enables you to march 3 Ashigaru up the board without them losing an activation marker. This will see you reach scenarios/objectives well in advance of your opponent.
Shuichi
You're probably expecting me to close this article with no small amount of Dragon worshipping. Not to disappoint, but instead I'd like to focus on one of the Shisai - Shuichi - or more specifically one of his abilities. Cleansing is a very rare Ki Feat (currently only 4 models have access to it across the entire game) but it's also exceptionally useful, particularly if you have models that cost in excess of 20 rice. Such models tend to be targets for all manner of dirty tricks and Cleansing counters a lot of these. Is Katsumoto under the baleful influence of the Puppet Master? Cleanse. Is Hanso about to succumb to Poison? Cleanse. Is Matsu Spirit Blocked and won't generate any Ki in a crucial turn? Cleanse. You get the gist. Shuichi is by no means a compulsory inclusion, but a useful reply to some of your opponents' more nefarious schemes nonetheless.
Conclusion
Symmetry between models is not exclusive to the Prefecture of Ryu, but you will find a lot of it amongst your Ashigaru characters. Once you have developed a firm strategy for your rank and file to deliver you scenario points, you can then look to the Samurai to defend your troops while they hold the line and support models to keep them alive.
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