Bushido Tactica – Disengage

 

I’m trying to get my groove back for Bushido now that “the year that shall not be named” is over. So I thought I’d start with something I’ve been thinking about investigating more closely for some time and that I feel is under used, not in the least by myself.

What is Disengage?

Per the Rulebook Disengage works as follows (summary copied from the Bushido WIKI, see link in references):

1. Choose one enemy model in BtB with the activating model.

This is already interesting, you can choose the model that you will use to Disengage from. So if you are in BtB with both a Fire Kami (2 Melee dice) and Minimoto Yuji (4 Melee dice), you might want to Disengage with the Fire Kami rather than Yuji.

2. The activating model resolves a Melee Exchange against that model.

A Melee Exchange means that both models involved in the exchange will lose an Activation Token when it is resolved.
It also means that all the normal rules regarding a Melee Exchange apply regarding Initiative, Active Player, Active Ki Feats, …
But, and this is something to keep in mind, it’s a Melee Exchange and not a Melee Attack Action. This means that it doesn’t come with a Walk before the exchange, you skip that part and go straight to the fighting part. So you can’t circle your opponent’s base when you are in BtB like you could during a regular Melee Attack Action.

3. It must allocate at least as many dice to Defense as to Attack, and if unable to do this (E.g. the model is Aggressive) then it may not attempt a Disengage Action.

It’s a defensive maneuver so this makes sense. Keep in a mind that an Aggressive model with 4 dice can still disengage because they can roll 2 Dice in Attack and 2 Dice in Defense.

4. If the Activating model successfully defends or ends the exchange not in BtB with the chosen model, after the Melee is resolved it may make a Walk up to its Move Statistic in inches, ignoring all models in BtB.

So the Disengage is successful if you defend or somehow end the exchange no longer in BtB. If successful you get to Walk up to your Move Statistic ignoring no matter how many other models are in BtB with you.
There are plenty of ways to no longer be in BtB at the end of the Exchange mostly through Special Attacks and Defenses such as Sidestep Defense, Throw Defense, Push Attack, Slam Attack, …

There are actually quite a lot of tactical options in there and few people make use of it, apart from the obvious: Get out of a bad situation.
Frankly most of the time that I want to use Disengage to get out of a bad situation, it fails for one simple reason:

My roll is predictable.

Not only do I need to roll at least as many Defense dice as Attack dice, my opponent also knows that I don’t want to be in this fight. So I’m very likely to roll more defense dice than the minimum required and he can probably safely counter with a lot of attack dice and minimal defense.
Depending on your experience with Bushido you might be doing the same as what I did for a very long time, the Disengaging model rolls full Defense while the opposing model rolls full Attack.

Predictable isn’t always bad

If your model has good Special Defenses, full defense might still be a really good idea. You just need to keep in mind that your opponent will be expecting it, e.g. if you have Sidestep Defense, your opponent will likely expect you to roll full defense to make use of it.

All Special Defenses are good when doing a Disengage but two deserve a special mention because they create almost “No brainer” situations.

Sidestep Defense

Sidestep Defense is very common and very strong during a Disengage. A successful Disengage allows you to make a Walk, but usually you need to start that Walk where you started the turn, meaning that the opposing model is probably in your way.
Sidestep Defense allows you to leave the ZoC at a point of your choosing, giving you a lot more leeway to choose the path of your Walk.
9 out of 10 you should probably just use Sidestep Defense when you Disengage, and your opponent will expect you too.
Which is fine, because that’s when you will do something different.

Throw Defense

A true “No brainer”. If your model has Throw Defense(0) and the opposing model doesn’t have Immovable, Immune(Prone) or Jump Up, why would you do anything else? You negate all damage and you knock the opposing model Prone D2” inside your model’s Line of Sight, there’s a good chance you can throw it into another enemy model and/or out of a Zone.
Luckily Throw Defense(0) isn’t that common and Throw Defense(1) requires a bit more thought.

So how can we be less predictable?

When your opponent thinks he knows what you will do next, is when you do something different.

The key of Disengage is that you don’t need to roll all dice in Defense. By putting a die in Attack you can put extra pressure on your opponent. Now he needs to keep in mind that if he goes full Attack, that your one Attack die might roll a six. When a model is dead you are no longer in BtB with it and your Disengage is successful. So now he’s minus one model and you are free to make a Walk to some place he doesn’t want you to go.

Or maybe your model has an interesting Special Attack such as Push Attack or even more fun Slam or Throw Attack, bonus points if you manage to Slam or Throw the model into another enemy model or out of a Zone.
If you have a model with both a good Special Attack and a Special Defense, things become even more interesting.

This is also how I feel Tengu probably should be playing, using Disengage and their Special Attacks and Defenses to displace their opponent before flying off.

A few examples:

1.    In a Temple vs Prefecture game I had Kira (Throw Attack(1) & Push Defense(0))fighting Takashi Eiji at the edge of a Zone with Takashi Hagane holding it in the middle. Suchiro was coming in to support her but I needed to get her into the Zone to be able to challenge it.
So I declared Disengage. Now I had a choice Push Defense(0) would be easiest, but I had limited space to move Eiji. Knowing my opponent, he was likely to just roll full attack to block my Disengage. So I told him I was using 2 Ki to buy an extra die, giving Kira 4 dice and rolled 1 die in Attack and 2 Defense while declaring Throw Attack. My opponent rolled full attack.
Result: Eiji got thrown into Hagane knocking both Prone, Kira was able to step into the Zone and Suchiro joined to attack Hagane.

2.    In a KKZ vs Jung (Blood Brothers) game I underestimated the speed of the Blood Brothers and Bikou (Push Attack(0) and Sidestep Defense(0)) got attacked by Shenzhiqi (I think). I really didn’t want Bikou in Melee with any of the Brothers, I needed her to be throwing her Kusari and Shuriken at them. So I declared a Disengage. I had 3 Melee dice vs his 4 Dice. My opponent knew I didn’t want to be in the fight at all so he also expected me to want to get out and with good reason expected me to use Sidestep Defense. But I didn’t, I took a risk and declared Push Attack instead. My opponent did roll 1 Defense die, but I got lucky. I could have rolled 3 dice in Defense instead but then I would have done the predictable thing and he would probably have stopped me.
Result: Bikou pushed Shenzhiqi 1” away and retreats 4” into Cover ready to throw pointing things at him.

3.    In a Minimoto vs Jung game Minimoto Yuji got stuck fighting Fujiwaro Ran. With 4 Melee dice and Parry(1) Ran is a pain in the backside for Yuji to deal with. It’s extremely hard for him to hit her and she can just bind him up for most of the game. So I decided to Disengage, but getting away was secondary for me.
By putting 2 dice in Attack and 2 dice in Defense I gave my opponent a choice. He could either try to stop me from Disengaging and risk getting hit, or he could block Yuji’s attack and risk having him getting away to smash a more vulnerable target.
Result: Ran got hit with a Tetsubo and Yuji finally freed himself from her to harass the rest of the Jung.

Painting: Recipe for fire

I started with basing it white, followed by a layer of thinned down Stormhost Silver (molten metal only)

While the silver was still wet, I continued with Lamenters Yellow (Glaze), Casandora Yellow (wash), Fuegan Orange (wash) without waiting for anything to properly dry

After the Fuegan Orange everything was a wet mess and I was even removing the silver and white in places

I touched these up with some firebright orange while allowing it all to dry a little

I touched the areas that I wanted lighter up with some Lamenters Yellow

Then I used Bloodletter (glaze) and a bit of nuln oil to finish it off

Colour Scheme: Minimoto

Base coat: Abaddon Black

Overcoat: Doombull Brow with Bloodletter (Glaze) to make it redder
Coat fringes: Ulthuan Grey
Wool: Ulthuan Grey
Ropes & Obi: Evil Suns Scarlet w Carroborg Crimson
Metal: Lead Belcher w Nuln Oil Gloss
Under Clothes, Robes: Russ Grey base w Fenrissian Grey layer

Fun with Lists: Ok Boomer!

Faction: Savage Wave

Theme: Thousand Eyes

Ig (14 Rice)
- Soul Medallion (1 rice)
Wei-Shu (14 Rice)
Wu-Zang (14 Rice)
Trak (13 Rice)
Tra-Peng (11 Rice)
Bakemono Boomer (10 Rice)
Bakemono Boomer (10 Rice)
Bakemono Archer (7 rice)
Idol of the Deep (2 Rice)
Totem Pole (2 Rice)
Sneak (2 Rice)

Ig: is actually a quite reliable tank with his Armor(1), Parry(1), Ranged Defense (1), Melee 3, Counterstrike Defense, ... Soulless and Pile On Ki feat. He's got a lot going for him for his rice cost and can be quite frustrating to remove.
As long as Wei-Shu is around, he counts as a Horde Model so when he dies, you just summon a new one and with Soul Medallion, it'll only cost you 2 Ki to do so.
Wei-Shu: His Ki stat of 3 and his Mind Control Ki Feat alone make him worth taking. He also makes Ig Horde and Psychic Drain keeps your Ki pile stocked up for those Darkness and From the Shadows Ki feats.
If no targets are nearby for Psychic Drain, he can Focus to fuel your Horde Ki feats
Wu-zang: Curse Fate is one of the best debuffs in the game in my opinion (and experience) and Psychic Venom is a very nice damage feat which can usually guarantee that the targeted model will die within 3 rounds.
The first few rounds he'll probably focus to fuel your Horde Ki feats
Tra-Peng: I think Tra-Peng is an auto-include just because of his Stun Marker ability. No Opp Ki test, no Attack roll, simply here's a Stun marker for your beat stick. The Snare Ki feat is interesting but there are more useful things to do with that Ki in this list.
Trak: I love the model and Risen Sun Trak is much more interesting than New Dawn Trak. Cheap Ki boosts, nice Ki feats, Brutal on full attack, a reroll and Co-ordinated Attack Bakemono, he's the ideal pile on model to make a bad situation worse for your opponent.
Bakemono Boomer: These are the stars of this list. At first glance these guys aren't great shots at all. But then you apply Darkness. Your opponent's line of sight is now limited to 4", Boomer guns have a short range of 5". So if you stay outside of 4", your target is surprised unless it has Soulless or Sixth Sense. Things are already looking up for these little gun nuts.
Darkness also facilitates Shadow Walk, a 3" place with a Medium sized base, is actually quite some distance. So they don't even need to walk to get within 5" range and after the shot you Shadow Walk them away to safety for a reload.
First round kills can happen this way. if your opponent is running an elite list, he will be very unhappy that his 25 rice beatstick got blown to pieces by a 10 rice bakemono with a boomstick.
Bakemono Archer: Eh... the cheapest way to generate an additional Ki to fuel Shadow Walk, Darkness and From the Shadows. 2 Ki if you focus the bugger.
And who knows he might actually hurt something with his arrrows
Idol of the Deep makes Ki feats cheaper for models in BtB with it. Always nice.
This also works on Summon from the Shadows and Darkness. Is very nice.
Totem Pole gives an extra 2 Ki, since this list relies on Darkness and Shadow Walk a lot, those 2 Ki come in handy.
Sneak: I added in for those rare times that your Boomers get caught out in the open and unable to Shadow Walk.

This list is a menace, even my Minimoto fear these Boomers though I hope to have mitigated that a little by using 2 Fire Kami instead of 1.
They are vulnerable to list with a lot of Soulless, Sixth Sense, or just models with Move 5 that might catch those Boomers. So you should try to keep Ig, Trak and 2 summoned Raiders handy to protect them.

Fun with Lists: Don't bother getting up

Faction: Temple of Ro'kan

Theme: Initiation

Suchiro (21 rice)
Riku (17 rice)
Yuuki (16 rice)
- Patient Crane Stance (1 rice)
Seiji (14 rice)
Kira (14 rice)
Hotaru (11 rice)
- Name of the Wind (3 rice)
- Student of Master Koju (1 rice)
- Wind Kick (1 rice)
Gorintõ (1 rice)

From a previous discussion I understand that most people use Hotaru as a missile. I like her model too much to sacrifice her like that, instead I turned her into even more of a nuisance via enhancements.
Student of Master Koju gives her the Air element (and Asp Strike for 2 Ki, which is nice when needed). Wind Kick gives her Charging Bonus(Cloudwalk, Slam Attack(0)), this is very interesting on a model with Banzai! and the potential to have Split Attack. Name of the Wind allows me to place her out of BtB at the start of the turn, so she can Banzai! some more. Initially I had given her Patient Crane Stance too but I don't think she will use it that often.

Suchiro is the straightforward tank of the list, Initiation ensures that he always generates 3 Ki to use his feats.

Riku is the second tank and his Wall of Water and Tsunami are great denial tools, as well as provide cover for your squishy monks. Initiation ensures that he can use Wall of Water every round and has the Ki for Tsunami.

Yuuki is fast, she isn't the hardest hitter but again with Initiation she will have Vitality up every round. Patient Crane Stance will allow her to use one of her 3 activations to Wait and then still have 2 activations to use that Unblockable(1)

Seiji has been an unexpected wonder, his Binding Roots can be really effective, if not always fully reliable.

Kira is a great runner, really fast with her Cloudwalk run and Dash ki feat.

Basically in this list, I decide who gets to move and when. I have had a lot of fun with it, but not so sure my opponents agree.

It is especially effective against samurai lists (mostly Prefecture and Minimoto) and Kairai, but I expect it will struggle against Buto herds and the like.

Fun with Lists: Where are those arrows coming from?

Faction: KKZ

Theme: Skirmish Mission

Rin (24)
Dudi(o)ko (22)
Bikou (18)
Shizuka (18)
Ujimushi (16)
Smoke Bomb (1)
Herbal Remedy (1)

This is a list I have played extensively for a long time and that I enjoy a lot. It's not the most efficient, because then I would drop Dudioko and the Smoke Bomb for Ghost, but it's a lot of fun.

Rin: Rin was the second ninja I got after Makoto and the most used. I love the model and she is such an asset on the board that I'm hard pressed to replace her. Only Katsumi comes near.
4 Melee dice, Feint, Combo Attack are a nice combination. Add in Lightning Reflexes, Indomitable(1) and you have a very aggressive tank that can easily kill any model your opponent is willing to throw at her.
When she activates she can add in a nice Prowess Attack(1) to make sure she makes that hit.

Dudioko: I love the model, I love the idea of the model but she rarely delivers her 22 rice. Her Pierce(3) and long range Surprise ability make her a threat. But at the same time that ability makes me use her too much as a turret when she is actually a very mobile model. Also my opponents keep sending Soulless models at her which deny her Mirage ability.
If possible she will fire on her first activation, even if that requires me to walk her up 4". On her second activation she can then reload, drop a smoke bomb, and she's ready and in position for another shot in round 2. In my experience it becomes hard to reload after round 2.
The Smoke Bomb ability is very nice for mobile cover or if you need to block some LoS to allow Shizuka to Shadow Walk.

Bikou: My favourite ronin ninja. Distraction, Kusari and Rapid Fire shuriken are a lethal combination. Distract for the surprise bonus, Kusari to knock them Prone on a 4+ and 2 more shuriken at 3+ to hit. If you can get her in your opponent's backfield, she can wreck havoc (see Hidden Tunnel Entrance), especially against low armour targets like Shisai. But even just keeping a heavy armoured target Prone is extremely valuable. Unfortunately she is a bit lacking on the defensive side, if she gets caught, she tends to die. How often I have wished she had Agile, or even just Dodge(1)

Shizuka: My favourite objective runner. Shadow Walk got a bit of a nerf in Risen Sun now that it is only once per turn, which is a shame but she was a bit too fast before. Mirage is a nice Ki feat but not too reliable, when it works it opens a lot of tactical options though.
Dodge(1), Parry(1), Agile when needed, Pierce(2) when she is in position which pairs really well with Counterstrike Defense. She's a defensive toolbox.

Ujimushi: Very straightforward archer, except he gets to either choose to have Lightweight on his bow or remove a reload marker on activation. I.e. he shoots twice per round, unfortunately my damage rolls are terrible and he rarely does more than scratch the things he shoots. I like giving him Shadow Walk or Distraction in this list for his Ki feat. Deadeye is a nice option too but at 3 Ki it's a bit expensive for him.

For my free Skirmish Mission Enhancements/Terrain I'm now taking Hidden Tunnel Entrance by default, and tailor the other Enhancement to my opponent.

Makibishi for Shizuka is nice against Kairai, Immune(Prone) on Rin is nice against Throw/Slam heavy lists, Hotai's Coin is nice for Shizuka, Grappling Hooks to Flank, Rice Ball Barricades, ...

The Herbal Remedy is there to remove any pesky effect from a model that can't afford it, very handy against Poison but also works against Control, Prone, Stunned or Frightened.

Fun with lists: What are they waiting for?

Faction: Prefecture of Ryu

Theme: Prefecture Patrol

Takashi Katsumoto w/ Battle Plans (24 Rice): As I post more Prefecture lists you will notice that I'm a huge fan of Katsumoto. He brings so much to any warband he is part off. Leadership(2/8), make him the best Leadership provider in the game. Tactician(2) makes him the best out of the box tactician in the game. Order[Prefecture] (3/8) is brilliant, you need Mizuchi or Akio to have an extra action? Katsumoto can do that for you.
Armour(3), Prowess(Melee)(1) and Melee 3 means he's not too shabby in combat either.
His Ki feats are another set of toolboxes. Inspiration speaks for itself, whenever you want someone to have an extra die, he can provide. Considering his high Rice Cost of 23, that includes Hiro and Hagane. First round though Shinobu is likely the most interesting target.
Tactical Mastery is interesting for when you absolutely need to activate more models at once.
Dominate really helps to ensure that your opponent activates the model you want him to activate or more likely prevent him from activating a model that you don't want him to activate yet.
Hanso (18 Rice): Another model that I love. When I first started playing Bushido I was mostly afraid of his big sword, 7 wounds, armour 2, Powerful Attack(1) and Cleave feat (Brutal +2). Turns out this was just a tip of the iceberg.
Built in Leadership (1/8), Command(Ashigaru)(2/8) and Tactician(1), though likely obsolete thanks to Katsumoto it's a nice kind of redundancy. Move It! is where he becomes really interesting. Ki 2 means he needs to focus to use it in turn 1. Thanks to Katsumoto, he can do so and still move up 4" with a walk, or 6" with a run to stay near your main line. So turn 1, 3 of your Ashigaru get a free 4" Walk and Hanso doesn't stay too far behind.
Atsushi (14 rice):Strategy (+1 pass token) synergizes very well with Katsumoto's Tactician(2) to practically ensure you get that extra pass token.
First round we have so far Ordered Hanso. Atsushi is the next model we will Order. He will also receive Move It! from Hanso. Scout (1/4) means he already starts 4" up the board. He now gets a free 4" walk and 3 actions. Here Boy! has a 12" range. So you can walk him 3 times 4" forward (that's 16" up the board) and still call Shinobu in BtB with him and he'll still have an action left to back up his pet with Co-ordinated Attack. While Shinobu is now 16" up the board with 2 actions left. When Shinobu is too overextended, Here Boy! pulls him right back. Sick Em can come in handy when Shinobu is off somewhere assisting another model.
Shinobu (6 rice):The dog is a pretty decent model for just 6 rice, Grapple Attack(0) is very nice. Then you give him Inspiration, now he has 3 melee dice for that Grapple Attack. With what I described above under Atsushi he actually has a 20" threat range for 2 attacks, that's the whole board. I.e. he can grapple something 20" from your deployment zone and because Atsushi still has an action left, he can join him to take full advantage of that Grapple and Co-ordinated Attack. If done right, your target is Exhausted and if your opponent was bit overeager, it has even Run. Keep the dog for last activations and it's likely he and Atsushi will destroy something turn 1.
Jin (13 rice): Pretty decent ashigaru. 3 melee, Reach and Push Attack(0) gives you some control over your opponent's models. Pierce(1) can be nice and Military Training provides another pass token to ensure that your opponent is exhausted by the time Shinobu and Minuro do their thing.
Minuro (12 rice):The bane of everything. The bastard with the big gun.
First round he will be Ordered and receive Move It!. 3 actions and a free 4" Walk means he has a 17" short range threat range without suffering movement penalties. If he doesn't need all those walks, even better he can use the remaining actions to reload his gun.
In a similar list he once shot Shizuka in the back when I was using my KKZ a bit too aggressively. She was in cover on her last activation but that didn't matter with all his actions.
Second round he will have 3 actions thanks to Junichi's order so he can reload his gun and fire another shot, Hanso might even be able to give him another Move It! to help him re-position. Third round, he uses his Ki feat to reload and fire.
Junichi (10 rice): This guy has one job and one job only, to Order in round 2. First round he'll Focus and receive Move It! so that he can still move up 4". Second round, he'll Order Hanso, Minuro and Jin so that Katsumoto can move up the board and bring his Ki feats to bear. After that he becomes a standard Ashigaru to support Jin and Hanso.
If the first round went well, Hanso has the space for another Focus and Move It! on Jin, Minuro and Junichi.
Inspiring Words (3 rice)
I picked Inspiring Words because thanks to the Prefecture Patrol theme both Hanso and Katsumoto have a leadership bubble of 10", that should cover even an overextended Atsushi and generate 1 ki for all your models.

There are many possible variations on this list. Originally Atsushi, Shinobu and the Inspiring Words were replaced by two Yarimen to generate pass tokens.
I'm now thinking of replacing Jin with Hiryu and the Inspiring Words with Battlefield Maneuvers to exploit Co-ordinated Attack to its fullest

Your opponent will quickly learn that being the first in the center of the board, isn't always a good thing.