Warhammer Army Project/Nippon

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Nippon: Warhammer Army Project, 9th Edition Tactica

Created by Mathias Eliasson, this project was a homebrew attempt at giving many of the units, nations, and factions that never got Armybooks of their own (and those left behind and never got one in 8th Edition) such a thing.

It should also be noted that Eliasson is constantly updating his work, so don't expect this page to stay current forever. If anyone wishes to actually update this page and the items that need it, later on, go ahead.

Why Play WAP Nippon

Like a Britionia from the east, Your important troops are unlikely to run from battle. The army consists of peasants or determined line holders, plus damage dealers quick on their feet. Their main damage dealers are very mobile, focusing on skirmisher damage dealers, from the heavily armored Cavalry, Longbow, and interesting flying monstrous cavalry (for now, at least). This makes Nippon good at getting into flanks and outmaneuver slower armies. Mobility is also paired with an average-to-good punch. Overall, the army can deliver some surgical doses of accurate S5 attacks where needed.

Pros

• You can finally play as the Weeaboo faction you always wanted to play as
• Assassins with instakill poison.
• So many Samurai variants. If you need a Samurai to do a particular job, there are several choices to fulfill that.
• This is peak Human without performance-enhancing drugs like Grail Water and Chaos.
• Your a fan of Legend of the Five Rings and want to bring that to your wargame of choice.
• Despite being here, your favorite Total War game was Shogun 2, and you want to be able to bring that to your wargaming. Seriously, the quotes for the Clan Mons in the actual pdf are straight from the various clan intros for Shogun 2.
• Is one of the only other Factions besides Britonia and non-Dark Elves that uses Longbows as their primary ranged weapon of choice, able to outrange most other archers during turn 1.
• so much stubbornness plus Death before Dishonour and Way of the Warrior across so many units, that likely that they are willing to die to the man than suffer the humiliation of running away from getting flanked on all sides or a bad roll from a stray arrow.
  • may not have the stats or gear for a human to earn a good combat score without flanking bonus, but a combination of stubborn/unbreakable, rerollable Ld8, and the optional cold-blooded or die on break test will keep your Samuria holding to the bitter end.

Cons

• No one in this army knows what shields are. Your gunline has immobile walls, but for other books in 9th, shields grant them better and cost-effective defense against both sword and gunplay.
• Like any elite army, don't invest too much in one unit, or else they will get focused down.
• You're playing as the Weeaboo faction, and everyone will judge you for it.
• So many Samurai variants. Most of the damage-dealing units have the same elite human stats of M4", WS4, BS4 S3, T3, W1, I4, A1, Ld8, and the same repeating equipment option but different rules applied to them. Not a clear con, but it's a lot less clear cut which units are better in each scenario.

Special rules

• Way of the Warrior: First Samurai rule. Must accept all challenges, but can reroll failed Psychology tests, treats ignore panic from non-characters with lower unmodified Leadership (i.e., Ashigaru, Peasants, Oni, Warmachine), and treat Disonable units as expendable (i.e., ninjas, Ronin, and pirates).

• Death Before Dishonor: Second Samurai rule. When taking a Break test, you can risk it and roll 3d6 discard the Highest, but the whole unit will die on the spot if you fail. The chance to lose an entire unit on the spot is always risky, but sometimes you need to hold, and most of the time, if you flee, that unit will probably not contribute to the rest of the game, so why not. The sudden disembowelment gives the enemy pause, denying them a pursue or Overrun move, which may be worth sending a worn-out samurai squad on a kamikaze run to deny them ground.

Clan Mon

An upgrade that you can give to your units. They affect specific units or weapons. An army can't have more than one kind of clan mon unless you take ... the SHOGUN OF NIPPON.

• Chotosa Clan:(Characters: 5pt, Unit: 1pt per model) The longbow faction. Models reroll 1's to hit with longbows. Superb for longbow build, especially if many of them are on horses. (the Chosokabe in Total War Shogun 2)

• Dawate clan:(Characters: 15pt, Unit: 1pt per model) The large Cleaver faction, so tangentially fans of sumo warriors. Models don't suffer Initiative penalties from Great weapons, making them better polearms with no downsides. For Superheavy samurai and sumo builds. (The Date Clan in Total War Shogun 2)

• Hattiga Clan:(Characters: 20pt, Unit: 1pt per model) The Ninja faction. Each Shinobi hero gives you a +1 on rolls to decide table sides and who deploys Scouts first. Ninjas, Kabuki Dolls, and Shinobi gain +1 attack on the first round of combat. (The Hattori Clan in Total War Shogun 2)

• Shisuma Clan:(Characters: 10pt, Unit: 1pt per model) The Katanas faction. Infantry using only Katanas get gets parry(6+). (The Shimazu Clan in Total War Shogun 2)

• Odari Clan:(Units: 1pt per model) The Bretonnian faction. Ashigaru Becoming more like well-drilled Bretonnian men-at-arms, they gain +1 LD and receive Command Presence from any Samurai Character within 6". (The Oda Clan in Total War Shogun 2)

• Hojizu Clan:(War Machines: 15pt) The big guns faction. War machines may reroll an Artillery Dice once per battle. (The Hojo Clan in Total War Shogun 2)

• Takai Clan:(Characters: 10pt, Unit: 1pt per model) The Cavalry faction. may reroll a single charge distance dice and reroll 1's to wound on charge for cavalry. (The Takeda Clan in Total War Shogun 2)

• Uesigo Clan:(Character: 20pt, Unit: 1pt per model) The Religious faction. Warrior Monks become Stubborn or unbreakable if they are already, and Shugenja and Yamabushi add +1 to their casting rolls. (The Uesugi/ Ikko Ikki Clan in Total War Shogun 2)

Equipment

• Katana: These are the main weapon of samurai, and they count as Hand weapons. An infantry model can two-hand them and gain +1 Strength that does not affect armour saves. Remember that all foot samurai with Longbows use Katanas, so they are better at fending off attacks than the usual shooting unit.

• Horo Cloaks: Lesser Sea Dragon Cloak grants 6+ armor against shooting attacks for Samurai Cavalry. It gives a 4+ save against shooting without sacrificing their Fast Cavalry.

• Mantlets: You think an army that refused to use shields was weak against counter shooting. THe Nippones R&D department was hard at work and discovered that bundles of bamboo on a rack could stop bullets. You are now one of the better-shooting factions. Not only can you outrange the opponent and have both cheap bowmen and self-sufficient samurai that are just as good as Lothren Sea Guard. But now, most of your shooting troopd hide behind premade barricades for a 4+ armor when shot in the front (as long as it is not a stone thrower. it also weirdly falls apart if the units move or turn for any reason; no reusable cover for you). It gives a 3+ armour save against counter shooting to Ashigaru and 2+ for Samurai Warrior.
  • Mantlets won't protect from stone-throwers, Direct damage spell, and Lore of heavens were made to destroy Mantlets.

Ninjutsu

Equipment for the Ninja unit and character:

• Blowpipe: additional ranged weapon. 4" more than throwing weapons. Taking this over giving Ninjas Poisoned Attacks when distance is not a factor depends on whether the enemy has toughness greater than 4 or is predominantly immune to poison.

• Caltrops: Make a charger take a Dangerous Terrain test then they get within 4" of Ninjas as their Stand and Shoot reaction.

• Grappling Hooks: Lets you ignore penalties to climb (Not Swim) across impassable terrain. Become pseudo Tengu, but Ninjas excel more at shooting than melee.

• Smoke bombs: Ninjas can disengage without being followed on a 4+ and auto Rally. It gets them out of fights they don't stay in (Even those they purposefully start).

Poisons

Only equipable by the shinobi hero, act like other poison upgrades you would find on other factions Assassin.

• Fauntei Shi: (30 pts) if wounded, they must pass a Toughness test or Die. Most melee characters will have high toughness, but there is always a chance to instant kill on a lousy roll...

• Spider Venom: (20 pts) Every enemy player turn, the wounded character must make a Toughness test or lose one wound. Cheaper and more likely to happen than Fauntei Shi. It could End a hero on their last legs.

• Snake Venom: (20 pts) If wounded, the enemy attacks gains ASL for the rest of the game.

• Night Milk: (10 pts) poison attacks Auto wound on 6+ to hit. The old Poison rule increases the chances to maim by bypassing rolling to wound altogether.

Vessels of the Kami

• Dragon Claw Katana; 55pts. In Challenges, gains KB and reroll all rolls to failed Hit and Wounds. On top of all this, the wielder gains extra attacks.

• Heavenly Naginata: 35pts. A fire Halberd with +1 to hit and Hit rolls of 6 explode into d3 hits.

• Armour of Imperial Rule: 40pts. Heavy armour that re-rolls enemy wounds of 6 and deals S4 hit to enemies that fail to wound.

• Mempo of Honour: 20pts. A helm with 6+ armour that forces enemies to reroll to hit the wearer. However, the moment that wearer ever flees, he dies immediately.

• Bronze Token: 35pts. 4++ ward save against magic and allows a reroll of one failed armour save each turn.

• Candle of the Void: 30pts. Place a token within 12" of a Shugenja at the start of the game. Your shugenja can now cast from that point, which goes a good way to compensate for their pitiful mobility and affect units on the other side of the board.

• Fan of Command: 35pts. A special fan gives a free reform once per game and instantly passes reform, march, pursuit, and redirects tests.

• Dragon Pearl: 25pts. when base to base at the start of CC phase with an enemy character and while in contact, the User gains a Copy of one Magic item they have. Wanna deck Karl Franz with Ghal Maraz? Wanna laugh as you kill Archaon with his own Slayer of Kings? Well howdy.

• Imperial Standard: 65pts. Price makes this BSB exclusive. boost the bearer's Hold Your Ground to 18", which is vital for keeping more Samurai innards inside. The bearer's unit also adds +d3 to combat resolution.

• Mirumoto's Battle Standard: 50pts. It gives +1 to hit and wound during the first round of combat.

The Lore of Kami

Attribute: Invocation of the Kami: Caster can make a Leadership test at the start of a magic phase. The Kami gives +1 to casting on double rolls, fail, and the Kami decks your Caster in the face on a pass.

• (Signature) Light of the Sun Goddess: (8/11) Standard fare magic missile which has the added benefit of putting -1 on the target's WS/BS. Will lower the chances for one unit to hit the next opponent's turn on any shooting or units with a WS5 that will charge the next turn.

1. Be The Mountain: (7/14) A rare instance of an augment adding more than just extra inches or hits. While the basic spell gives a unit stubborn, the augment adds Natural Armour (5+) for a minor casting value bump.
2. Strike of the Flowing Waters:(9/16) An augment grants a unit ASF and forces any enemy they hit to reroll 6s on saves. While not much against elves, this will put you well beyond most other armies. Overcasting makes this a 12" aura.
3. Fiery Wrath: (9/18) Burns the closest D3/6 enemies within 12/24" of the Caster with D6 S4 flaming hit. Honestly, you've got better than some random-ass spell that might hit more than one unit.
4. Borne on the Wind: (10/13) Gives an out-of-turn fly(10) move. This spell makes an ideal for repositioning for ninjas or ensuring that the Ashigaru spearmen are in the way of a charging unit. Spells like the Breath of Mork, The Hand of Gork, and the old Skitterleap can attest to how valuable a tactical repositioning spell can be.
5. Void of Emptiness: (11/14) Robs the enemy within 18/36" of movement and grants Immunity (Psychology). This spell prevents an enemy from moving into a tactical position, cutting off a charge, and stopping them from taking the flee charge reaction if they don't have Feigned Flight.
6. Call of the War God: (16/24) All units with the Way of the Warrior within 12/18" gain Devastating Charge and reroll to wound rolls until the start of your next turn. Shugenjas are slow, but you can radiate that aura from a Candle of the Void to give that +1 attack and rerolls to early calvery fights.

Army Units

Lords & Heros

Named Characters

• Yoritomo Ieyasu: 270/288/315pts. Shogun of Nippon; strong combatant with an auto-wounding sword and ward saves (3++ vs. mundane, 5++ against magic). His main appeal is he can allow for you to have an army of mixed mons. All this elite specialization will cost you a lot of points on top of the base 270 needed to field him.

• Empress Himiko: 370pts. Former Empress of Nippon, master Shugenja, and the closest thing Nippon gets to a Sigmar. As a high caster, she gets to channel power dice on 3+, Dispel Dice on 5+, and can reroll one die during each magic phase, and my immediately cast any spell that targets her or her units as her own bound spell. She renders any unit she's with unbreakable and can benefit from Look Out Sir on a 3+ in close combat. However, she has the caster's lack of armor with only a talisman that grants magic resistance 2 and a -1 to hit her in b2b.

• Odari Nobuhide: 205/223pts. He is named Deamon King for his Devilish bargains and sadistic tactics. A Daimyo tyrant over a forced conscripted army, with all Ashigaru bearing his clan's Mon, and under his Inspiring Presence, they may roll 3D6 for their Panic and Break tests and discard the highest result. No armor or Parry protects from His Katana and has bought full plate armor from the old world and got it blessed with a 4+ ward and Immunity (Killing Blow). He is a tanky lord, a good fighter, and organizes a robust Ashigaru backbone.

• Takai Katsuyori: 225/243pts. The tactical and battle-loving Daimyo of the Cavalry Clan. He is a named character being a general in the truer sense, as he helps you outmaneuver your opponent. In addition to his fan-buckler giving him a 18" inspiring presence with leadership rerolls, and he allows one of his units within 12 "each turn to force an enemy charging in the front to lose all charge bonuses or feigned flight as a charge reaction or to make a normal reform maneuver and still move. He has no particular offense, and Defensively, His Sunset Defender Heavy armor gives him toughness 5 and gives +1 to Combat Resolution for each armour save he passes.

• Dawate Tadamune: 175/193pts. The Reckless Daimyo of the Giant sword clan. The more traditional Warhammer-fied version rather than the one that wealed six swords wolverine style. When he charges, he unleashes a butt load of attacks, and his Great weapon, Saddle-cutter, will cleave in half all kinds of calvery with his 5+ Killing blow, which is what you should send him against. Well protected by his Armour of the Night Ocean, but is not superly durable compared to tanker lords, especially when trying to slay monstrouse calvery, so have a Yamabushi nearby.

• Uesigo Norimasa: 200/218pts. The warrior Priest Daimyo. He has artifacts dedicated to Nippon's war god. With the Chalice of Bishamonten granting himself +1 WS, S, T, I, A, and 5+ ward save for a turn in addition to his polearm giving him +1 to hit and causing a model in base contact to lose an attack from each hit he lands. He makes Uesigo Clan Warrior Monks a core choice but can't abide by the presence of Wako Pirates, Ninjas, and Shinobis.

• Sanada Naomasa: 155pts. Captain of the Red Devils, a pack of berserker samurai Cavalry, his men are hitting with 13 S5 spear attack on the charge. Sanada is also pulling his weight with his Fear and 5 S6 attacks. He is also protected with his armor, only letting one mook in base contact of his choice attack him each combat round. Taking him to unlock your Inner circle knight equivalents with S4 and frenzy, and will probably be given additional magic standards to make them a better shock calvery, also nothing currently stopping Sanada's Red Devils being Takai.

• Hitormi Gozen: 90/102pts. First of the Onna Bushi and thus makes one Onna Bushi unit core if she is included. She has a Lightning Attack Polearm. Good in Smaller games and want to fill the front line with cheaper and stubborn Samurai.

• Akashi Sho: 205pts. The master of sumo, this Hatamoto fights like an Exalted Hero. He Hits like a truck and rerolls 1s to hit, wound, armor, and ward saves during challenges. Makes for a bodyguard and generalized dualist hero.

• Minamoto Kenshin: 210pts. A Kensai among Kensai, besting even dualist of the old world. Powerful when in duals, Demanding to fight any of whom of his choosing, with a Killing blow, a rerollable 4+ parry produces more attacks. At the same time, enemies muse reroll their own Parry and Dodge saves in addition to Iaijutsu.

• Sarutori Hanzo: 200pts. Hattori Hanzo? Naaaahhhh. Alongside being a ninja, he's also got Mon of the Hattiga, cast Steed of Shadows on himself, and carries Fauntei Shi. In addition to his basic attacks, he deals S4 hit to everyone in b2b and robs the wounds of their attacks, which cripples in a challenge. His mask makes him even more dangerous with Fear and the ability to PASS ANY CHARACTERISTIC CHECK. Vortex? Fuck that. Resolute? FUCK THAT. However, his price is contentious, as he's a hero priced well over a generic Lord's price.

• O-Sayumi: 140pts. A master courtesan and poisoner. Any unit she joins can reroll Leadership checks and a single-use dosage of Unbreakable. She gives one unit within 12" a +1 to hit each turn. Against characters, she's scary with rerolls to hit and wound on top of her poisoned attacks, Killing Blow, and Kabuki Dance.

Generic Characters

• Daimyo: 100pts. Your basic Human lord is competent with weapons and can take heavy armour.
  • Daimyo with Bronze token + silvered steel + Heavenly naginata is a decent, well-rounded setting

• High Shugenja/Shugenja: Your wizards. Can take Lore of Fire, Heavens, Light, Life, Shadows, and Kami. They can't take a mount.

• Hatamoto: 70 pts. Your Cheap hero, Battle standard bearer, and has the bodyguard rule similar to the Tomb Heralds, down to the ability to be BSB. Unlike the heralds, though, you can buy multiple and then have one replace the other upon death. Use them to protect your wizards.

• Kensai: 120 pts. A samurai duelist hero with 7 WS/I and killing Blow, putting them a peg above most equivalent heroes ad a price only barely above a Daimyo. He may choose a style to gain a special perk each turn during combats so long as it's non-consecutive (+1 to hit and wound, ASF, or d3 more attacks). They can't take armor, so put on Ward Saves and magic weapons to add longevity to your investment.

• Yamabushi: 60 pts. A warrior priest based on Warrior Monks, but all his Prayers target allied characters. He has Magic Resistance(2), so his presence also keeps the bad spells away. Keep him close to your HeroHammer to empower them. The Kensai will be your favorite customer.
  • Invigoration: Heal all wounds lost?!! HELLO, PERPETUAL DUEL!
  • Protection: 4++ Ward save, your means of compensating for the lack of overall protection for your men.
  • Potency: Re-roll failed hit and wound combat attacks. Unlike the other spells, this one lasts until you say so, so this is perfect when you have multiple characters to tend to.

• Shinobi: 95pts. The dishonorable Assassin of the Common Man to your Honorable Kensai of noble Samurai. Though they can never join any samurai, they can hide in practically any other unit and grab some poisons to cripple enemy characters.

Mounts

• Warhorse: The gold standard of mounts everywhere.
• Kirin: Kirins are a step up, with magical attacks, movement 9" and fly(9), impale attack, making it comparable to Pegasi crossed with Unicorns.

Core Units

• Samurai Warriors: A core elite unit and the selling point of this faction, having 4 in WS and initiative to beat out other humans. Never placing all your Samurai in one basket has been recommended, so taking them in MSUs is advised. They start with a Katana for cheaper. You upgrade to polearms for some AP(1) or take Great Weapons for proper anti-armor heft, while spears can be left to the Ashigaru for cheaper. Take Longbows and Handguns when you want units with better aim and hold their own against the usual back row hunters. Combined with mantlets and heavy armour, they have just as much protection as an Empire knight and could stand up to many things shooting them directly in the face except for cannonballs. They are elite enough to take 50-point banners as a core unit.

• Samurai Cavalry: Samurai Warriors on Fast Cavalry horses for double the price. Their options are virtually identical, but they lack great weapons and handguns. Do Fast Calvalry things like Vangaurding, peppers enemies, and changing their squishy flanks. When keeping it cheap, it's debatable whether to take Spears to get some armour piecing and initiative 6 on the charge or always having accentually +1 to wound in many matchups with katanas all round of combat. Longbows circumvent the opponent's shield and cover while having protection, unlike Yabusame, and they can use their katanas on horseback, so also effective in melee. Are for entering a fight in the long haul at any time. Upgrading katana to Polearms is a better spear but paying an extra 1 more point per model. You can double them down for the long battle with a magic banner and upgrade them to heavy armor, but if you upgrade, they lose fast calvery. Overall they are a versatile source of fast-moving melee and shooting but even with a Razor standard or WAILING BANNER; they have difficulties penetrating the high armor saves of Old World knights like most Medium Cavalry units.

• Ashigaru: State troops, average humans, but them running away is not a problem for Samurai as they ignor them. All the Ashigaru have light armor that can upgrade to medium but no Shields (so practically no armor). They exist to put more bodies on the board, rolling more dice over quality. Keep a source of leadership with them.
  • Ashigaru Spearman: Empire spearmen with an option for Pikes or Polearms for 1 more point. Take about 50 of them to tarpit problematic enemy linemen.
  • Ashigaru Bowmen: Human longbowmen with light armour. To shoot over troops and amass arrow fire, with 30" also out-ranging most other armies, often being in range the shoot without needing to move first turn. Given them mantlets, and now they get a respectable 3+ save against ranged weapons and magic missiles. It's probably one of the few units that could have a shoot-out with Elf longbows and Dwarf crossbows and still earn their points back.
  • Matchlock Ashigaru: Human handgunners. Your shield-breaking option. You can't shoot with them on your first turn and may get no value from taking mantlets if you go first without your opponent making a misplay.

• Peasant Levy: A mob of Peasant. They exist to be conscripted into sacrifice their lives to protect their valiant sworn protecters like another feudalistic nation. They did their job if the enemy had to kill them before hitting the Samurai. You could take 50 for 100 points. Requires to be in a General's Inspiring Presence to work.

Special Units

• Warrior Monks: Samurai-likes who reroll 1s to hit and wound in close combat with Immunity (Psychology) & magic resistance 1. They can take longbows or handguns instead of polearms and add medium armor to make samurai gunlines with additional defensive traits for 2 more points. Monks should mix them with lines to provide more of a front-line punch.

• Sumo Warriors: samurai making their best Ogre impression. They have Great weapons and the +1 S/T over the basic samurai but lack katanas and -1I. Their specialization is being 6 strength during the first round of melee, so put a magic banner on them and send them against something too tough or too well-armored for your longbows to deal with. They will mow through standard linemen. That Toughness 4 keeps them dieing quickly, but a thousand pricks are still a thousand pricks.

• Onna Bushi: Female samurai with their feminine determination makes them apt to never willingly give up a wall or inch of dirt with their lives. They are more determined than their male counterparts, Having Stubborn and reroll break tests when garrisoning or fighting behind walls. If Hitomi Gozen is leading the army, one unit may also make for more cost-effective Samurai Warriors; if you don't mind, the armor is sold separately with no heavy armour option, especially in the longbow department.

• Ronin: Dishonored ex-samurai with Stubborn and Skirmisher, but lack all the armor of foot samurai. They compete with Onna Bushi as foot samurai in the special slot, with Bushi being better at static blocks. They are your cheapest skirmishers to use as body blocks. At the same time, Ronins are your more affordable Skirmisher unit to maneuver around to get flank charges and potshot when Fast Cavalry or ninjas are deemed too expensive for the job. In melee, they're essentially samurai you can throw dual wielding on and then see how long it takes before they die for their redemption.

• Yabusame: Horseback Samurai trained to be just as good archers as Wood Elf Glade Riders. Moving doesn't penalize their aim or prevent them from shooting two arrows. If you get within 6" of an enemy, you get Armor Piercing(1) on those shots. Yabusame being Fast cavalry archers, except being able to shoot up to 30" and AP on a Longbow can make a difference, as Wood elfs can attest (though they mutually exclusive in your case). Remember, get Danger Close.

• Komainu Riders: Upgrade Samurai Cavalry by having them riding Ushabti in the shape of stone lion-dogs. As expected of a thing made of stone, they are a tanky slow cavalry. They can be your anti-human-lance-cavalry-cavalry as the Komainu have the better chances of surviving, taking lance and hooves head-on, assuming they managed to charge them first. Do you think they are Monstrous cavalry? No, just Regular Cav with the fear rule, so getting more impact hits in. For every two wounds of normal samurai cavalry, you are getting the same value from a single Komainu Rider model, at the cost of not being fast cav: their stone dog mounts having 2 wounds, make better attacks and impact hit than horses have Toughness 5 insulating them from small arms attacks plus have Fear and Magic Resistance (1), because why not, all while spending 3 or 5 more points.
  • Unless spamming Lore of Nurgle is a problem at your table, Komainu probably doesn't need longbows.

• Wako Pirates: Criminal Ambush Ashigaru with katanas and can take bows or Handguns. Samurai consider them Desperate Allies, Making them essential Expendables that can be hit by friendly fire. Like many cheap Ambushers, used to put a distraction in the opponent's backfield or Unload the hurt behind a shielded unit.

• Kabuki Dolls: Similar to Wood Elf dancers and Witch Elves, but are more in common in terms of power with the new High Elf Warriors. They have poisoned attacks and can, during close combat, perform the offensive Jidaimono Dance to get ASF with AHW, or the Defensive Sewamono to have a buckler with dodge (5+) for a total of a 4+ ward save. Not as good as Ronin when losing a fight, but they will dish out more damage with elf-like grace on the battlefield, so use them like elves. Use Jidaimono to close the trap on a block that got pined by your samurai or use Sewamono if the hunter becomes prey to buying time for the cavalry to save them.

• Ninja: Wouldn't be a Japanese army without a few of these. They're barely armored, but they are skirmishing scouts, throwing their shurikens, and blowing their Blowpipes on the move. If you used Skaven Gutter Runner, you know what they are about. Quickly delivers Shinobi plus Hunt war machines and other small skirmishing units with them. Include additional ninja tools when needed if you think you can earn your money back.

• Fire Rocketeers: samurai with an arquebuses rocket launcher. This gun deals D3 S4 hits with Flaming Attacks (so hates trees, Trolls, and animals) with Volley Fire (If one guy can see the target, they all can).
  • Fire Rockets might be a must-take against most armies, they delete cav, archers, and low armor infantry, the leadership penalty from flaming attacks means you can easily panic those units. and they are so cheap, with heavy armor, they are 160 for 10 of them with bs 4 they average 7 hits which explode into between 12-15 hits, and being skirmishers with heavy armor and LD8 means shooting them with ranged is not usually worth it

• Ozutsu Ashigaru: Ashigaru gunners with bad-er guns. These guns are of shorter range, but they're S5, with a total AP of 3, letting them punch through a good deal more armour. Kills average toughness high armor infantry like empire knights, High Elves, Dwarfs, and chaos warriors.

• Oni: Hulking Deaemonic Ogres with the grace of elves, but they are expensive and fragile. They can hit many things hard but are easily tarpited. You can grab great weapons to capitalize on their strength and make them splat anything like mini-ogres-Bruiser. Compared to a Sumo Warrior, Onis are way more reliable at landing those wounds, Ogre speed to get there, and has a ward save. Still, warriors are way cheaper for the job, and Death before Dishonour is more likely to rescue you than instantly kill you than the Unstable rule when the opponent is stacking up all the combat resolution bonuses. The moral is you must pick your fights carefully to get value from Oni.

• Tengu: Bird Samurai. Have a fast Fly(10) with Katanas or Polearms, so send the armorless birdboys over the lines and go backline hunting. If the opponent doesn't let the ninjas close, send the birdmen to fly over them.

Rare Units

• Great Guard: Heavy Samurai Cavalry on top of Kirins, A crossbreed of Unicorn and Pegasus, which somehow resulted in this draconic giraffe. Moving on a Swift 9" by ground or air. Compared to The Britonian Pegasus Knight, they may not have as much armor, but make up for it with how awesome Great Guard are with better baseline stats, Devastating Charge, Impale Attack on impact hits, an inch more movement, being stubborn on top of other samurai leadership gimmick, all while being cheaper. Not saying they can take lances charges, but that goes for everyone, plus your calvery with the Skirmishers rule, so there is no reason for someone to charge them successfully.

• Mikoshi Shrine: 120pts. A Mystic Shrine that grants blessings to units. The shrine can be carried by any infantry unit but grants Stubborn to Warrior Monks if they carry it. In addition to extra Power Dice each turn, The shrine blessings are 12" Innate Bound spells Augments (Power level 4). However, if the blessed unit flees for any reason, they get shot in the back with d6 S4 hits.
  • Strength: re-roll to-wound rolls in cc.
  • Persistence: attackers suffer -1 to wound.
  • Swiftness: re-roll the distance when charging and pursuing.

• Kitsune: 80 pts. A magical trickster fox that learned from the Lore of Shadow. Why not buy another Shugenja for cheaper? One is it's superfast, moving as if a Wood Elf Steed on top of that extra fly(10) every time Smoke and Mirrors goes off. Having Scout allows the Kitsune to deploy within spell casting range on the first turn; if you seize the initiative, Mystifying Miasma and The Withering is not a great start for those targeted units. Remember, Kitsune may be stated like a human hero with a ward save but will still die when an entire unit attacks it. Like any successful trickster, Always keep the opponent's line of sight and all available cover in mind, using the move phase to dart out and your lore attribute to fly back behind it. If you see an unfortunately positioned human wizard by their lonesome, the Kitsune can pounce on them, but it's not a good guarantee its teeth and claws will put it down in one turn.

• Mizuchi: 300pts. A Wingless but still levitating Moon Dragon. It is Aquatic, so it is not affected by landing in rivers and lakes while getting cover from being submerged. It has a S3 Poison Breath attack being better suited at killing low armor, high toughness chaff, and monsters (except if they are Animated constructs or Daemons) than the normal dragon fire.

• Taiko Drum: 50 pts. A slow-moving support piece. At the start of your movement phase, you can give all units within their aura range a buff. You think you turtle up dwarf style, but 18" radius is still a large area.
  • Bravery and Courage: +1 to their Leadership when Psychology and Break Tests. Stand firm.
  • Strategy and Discipline: roll 3D6 for Reform, Restrain from Pursuit and March tests and discard the highest result. Control how your units move
  • Charge!: Reroll one dice for charge distance. If you're not using this, you're probably playing Bravery and Courage as your default.

• Mangonel: 90pts. a Fire Stone Thrower. Shoots over the line of sight blockers to wreck infantry. Having Flamming attack also makes it a some-more menace to warbeasts and Light calvery.

• Cannon: 85pts. its a cannon.

• Flaming Arrow: 50pts. A scary as hell fire-cannon-bolt-thrower that punch through ranks with its S8 Muli wound(D3) Flamming Attack. With the changes to how cannons balls scatter, Flaming Arrow is currently your better option for slaying monsters.

Building Your Army

Magic

• Fire: Always the damaging lore. The main draw is grabbing the Flaming Sword of Rhuin and putting it on a large block of Chotosa Samurai Longbows. Most of the other spells are for poking away the opposing infantryman.
• Life: Keep your money investments safe, making them more durable while recovering missing wounds and models.
• Heavens: at low levels it's support lore with Harmonic Convergence and Iceshard Blizzard not only protects the moving elements of the army but lets the samurai better hit opponents of the same weapon skill. If your struggling against a more heavily armored army, higher level Lore of the Heavens helps a lot.
• Light: Both protection and heavy damage especially against unnatural things. The Speed of Light gives rerolls to hit against most opponents for samurai. Net of Amyntok is always good at stopping a unit from doing things as long as they have only human strength.
• Shadows: As explained with the kitsune, it fixes the Shugenja on foot only problem with its lore attribute. Basic Hero Shugenja lowers enemy stats to improve samurai's chances of killing them. The high level has more tools, the kitsune being The Penumbral Pendulum and Pit of Shades is highly effective at deleting low initiative armies, like dwarfs and Greenskin. You always have Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma which is super cheap and versatile in putting the fight in your favor. Any Bow faction knows how good The Withering is at marking an enemy for death.
• Kami:Lore that has about everything except strong ranged damage. Low ends help in fights, with Light of the Sun Goddess being a protective measure in addition to being a magic missile. Higher levels are for mobility with Borne of the Wind granting additional move and Void of Emptiness holding a unit in place. Casing Call of the War God when making a hefty charge.

External Links

The Project's website

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