I'll resume my analysis of all Tengu models in the next blog post (probably... I'm not a politician and therefore don't have to keep promises). In the meantime, a short blog post today on every single Movement Boost available to Tengu players and a couple of examples of how you can use speed to your advantage...
Note - This blog post is solely devoted to looking at ways to boost Movement. Tengu of course also have access to place effects which will add further mobility. I will aim to cover all of these in a future blog post.
All the Movement Boosts...
Here are all the ways Tengu can boost their movement. Keep in mind that models are not permitted to increase the base statistic to more than double it's value. "Don't be a crazy person," I hear you say, "How on earth would Tengu double their movement statistic?!" Hold that thought...
Ki Boosts - This is largely only available to the Suzume, the Kakyu and one of the Koroko (Narahobo). For every X amount of Ki spent, you increase your Movement Statistic by +1 for that activation only. Tengu are pretty good at shifting Ki around at the start of the turn (via the Channelling traits of the Koroko and some of the Special cards), so it's quite conceivable for Tarabo for example, to able to use Ki Boosts to increase his Movement by +2 or to spread it across 2 activations.
Kami of the Strong West Wind - This Kami's start of turn ability is to grant +1 Movement and Lightfooted. This lasts the entire turn. Note that you can take 2 Kami of the Strong West Wind.
Naigubu - One of the Koroko's Virtue abilities is to grant a model +1 Movement and Lightfooted. A model can only have 1 Virtue token at any one time, but it is possible for multiple models to have Virtue tokens on them and use the same ability. I also think it's possible for a model to spend a Virtue token, receive the movement bonus, gain another Virtue token from another source and spend it again to receive the same bonus. If I am corrected on this, I will edit it later.
Fujin's Breath - An event card costing 2 rice that is played after the Tactical Test and sees ALL models with the Cloudwalk trait gain +1 Movement for that turn.
Surge of Flying Feathers - An event card costing 1 rice that is played at the start of the turn and sees ALL models with the Cloudwalk trait gain +1 Movement for that turn. Note that this can't be used on the 1st turn.
Vial of Raijin's Breath - A Ronin equipment card that grants the model a one use Active Ki Feat, Raijin's Breath. This gives the model +2 Movement and the Cloudwalk Trait. Note that this can't be used by Soulless models. Sorry, Sojobo.
Dash - Not technically a movement boost, but this Ki Feat, available to the Blue Gale Scouts and Tarabo, will see them move a further 2" at the end of their activations. And because it's not a movement boost, it can take your movement past the normal limit of no more than double the base statistic.
Kakyu - A Unique effect rather than a Movement Boost and one that is only available to Hazakabo and Hirohibo. When these models make a Run action (see below), they increase the total Run movement distance by +1". This may not sound like much but aggregation of marginal gains and all that.
Run & Charge - These actions see a model take it's Movement statistic and multiply the current value by 1.5 (for Run actions) or double it (for Charge actions). Note this is not increasing the Movement statistic itself, so using these actions can take the final movement distance to more than double the value of the base Movement statistic.
So, as you can see, it's more than possible to get a Tengu model up to double its base Movement statistic in a given turn. This would normally be 10" but when combined with a Run action or a Charge action, this means they can potentially move as far as 15" and 20" respectively (And another 2" for Dash if the model has that Ki Feat). Combined with Cloudwalk, means that this movement will ignore anything (rough ground, obstacles, other models) along the route to the model's final position.
"What am I gonna do when I get there? I don't have a gun, I don't have a badge, I don't know karate." - Nathan Petrelli, Heroes Season 1
Ok, so the Tengu have superpowers when it comes to movement, but they also aren't the most survivable models in the game. It's rare that they'll be swooping in like Superman and putting Rashka the Devastator in a headlock. So how can they put all this manoeuvrability to good use?
Suzume Alpha Strike
As I covered in my blog post on Suzume models, they are not the strongest combatants in the game, but if you can stack up negative modifiers on an opposing model, they may just deliver the goods, particularly if you can limit any negative modifiers on your own models.
One of the easy to overlook negative melee modifiers is -1 to the melee pool if a model has taken a Run action that turn. It's not uncommon for models to use Run actions in the first turn of the game as they make a dash for objectives and/or zones. Normally this is done safe in the knowledge that no opposing models will be springing a melee action on you in the first turn. And if they do, it's probably because they've made a Run action themselves, so they will also suffer the Melee penalty. Yeah, about that.
Let's take a Blue Gale Scout and Seibo, a fairly humble pairing. Using 2 x Kami of the Strong West Wind, a Ki Movement Boost each and Fujin's Breath, their Movement Statistic is now 8" for the first activation and 7" for the second. That means they can cover 15" in total without making a Run action or Charge action. Combined with the width of their base and their 1" Scout movement, that means they can reach a point 17" up the board. An opposing model that has made a run action will be 7" (6" + the width of the base) up the board, so the chances are good that something will be in range.
Let's imagine this model is Taskashi Tetsuya. You have to pick your targets here if you want a Suzume to eliminate the model first time of asking, so you'll be looking to avoid models with a significant amount of Armour or Toughness. As discussed above, having made a Run action, Tetsuya will already be -1 Melee pool. More importantly, the Blue Gale Scout and Seibo have not made a Run action as the distance they will cover will be done via a Walk action and then a Melee action.
Sending the Blue Gale Scout in first, you will be rolling all dice in defence, meaning that you should survive the encounter. Tetsuya is now exhausted so is now -2 to his Melee pool. Playing Death from Above as Seibo attacks will mean that Tetsuya is Surprised as well as out numbered, so in total, that will be -4 to his Melee pool. As he is now at -1 dice, both he and Seibo gain two dice to put Tetsuya back to 1 dice. Seibo gains a further die from Co-ordinated Attack [Suzume] for 6 dice to Tetsuya's 1. Seibo may not be Bushido's greatest combatant, but as he can easily afford to spend one of these dice on Combo Attack, Tetsuya is in a tight spot.
Dropping In Unannounced
As many of your Movement boosts (particularly events) have to be activated at the start of the turn, it's worth thinking advance of how you'll benefit from the additional speed. During a scoring turn in a Zone Control mission there will definitely be an advantage from being able to cover significant distances towards the end of the round. This enables Tengu to focus resources on clearing one Zone to the point where they can score it and then quickly relocate spare models to another Zone in the closing activations of the turn.
The distance between the centre points of the left and right hand Zones in Seikyu is 12". Very few models in Bushido could cover that distance in one move, never mind ignore any models or other obstructions in the way. In the example shown below, Tarabo has assisted Kotenbo in clearing the left hand zone, but the scoring is currently a draw with Minimoto controlling the centre zone and the right hand zone in the balance.
If Tarabo's Movement Statistic has been boosted to 8, then if he makes a Run action, he will comfortably be able to join Amarauq in the right hand zone ensuring that the Tengu player is able to score both zones. When playing zone control scenarios, the Tengu's fast movement can also be used to stay out of threat range of opposing models or even out of sight entirely. They can then drop into zones at the end of the turn when the chances of succumbing to melee is greatly reduced. The risk from this strategy is there may not be sufficient room in the zones to do so, but it will challenging for your opponent to block all of them.
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