Bushido Open Rebellion and The Brotherhood Preview

The Shiho Clan once ruled the Jwar Isles, but they were broken by the Prefecture of Ryu and scattered. Now, the return of the Shiho Hiroto, The Black Eagle has rallied the remnants of the clan, and a storm brews to sweep across the Isles. As the Shiho Clan draws its strength, the scattered forces become available for Bushido. In this article, we're going to look at the Open Rebellion and The Brotherhood themed warband packs.

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Open Rebellion Themed Warband Pack

Open Rebellion is the Wolf Clan, who previously swore fealty to the Prefecture of Ryu, but now show their true allegiance with the return of Hiroto. Their warband pack comes with 5 warriors and 2 wolves, the Open Rebellion theme card, 6 enhancements, and 3 events.

• Tanaka Tsuki - Tsuki is the leader of the Open Rebellion, and can only be recruited into a list using the Open Rebellion theme. As the leader of the wolf pack, she's a combo combat terror. She can activate 2 other pack friendly units within 6 inches, and as all the Open Rebellion units have the pack trait, that's a lot to choose from. As she gets a bonus to the melee pool if her target is exhausted, this can be used to force enemy units to use actions in combats they don't want, and then land her own effective attacks. She also has coordinated attack for any of the Wolf clan to further boost her combat prowess.
• Tanaka Gorak - Gorak is armed with the larger sword, the No-Dachi, which when using the Powerful Attack can cause considerable damage. He also ignores the first assisting enemy unit, and benefits from coordinated attack with Tanaka units, as well as gaining an attack bonus for engaging an exhausted unit.
• Tanaka Nobuko - Nobuko is 1 of 2 ranged options in the pack and the most accurate of the 2. Nobuko can ki boost their ranged attack and has access to Powerful Attack. They are the only Tanaka without coordinated attack, but they still have the pack trait.
• Tanaka Muna - Muna is the pack's second ranged option but without access to Powerful Attack. They also have a ki boost to movement, rather than ranged attack and the Shadow ability that lets them follow an enemy unit when they start a move without 4 inches.
• Tanaka Yue - Yue is armed with the Naginata polearm, which has reach, that gains the initiative during combat and access to powerful attack and sharp for taking out tough enemies.
• Tsuki's Pack - Tsuki's Pack are a pair of wolves that help set up a lot of the combo pieces in Open Rebellion. Their attacks drain activations from the enemy, and their pack trait lets them activate alongside Tsuki to set up her taking down enemies. They also have the Bodyguard trait, so can take attacks for Tsuki if the attacks don't go her way. They also get a charging bonus of Fear 6, and a move of 5 to get them close quickly.

The Brotherhood Themed Warband Pack

After his defeat, Hiroto traveled the mainland away from the Isles, gathering skilled warriors and followers to his cause. The Brotherhood are an eclectic mix of these followers. The warband packs comes with 6 warriors, the Brotherhood theme card, 3 enhancements, and 7 events.

• Batu - Batu is a mounted warrior with a hatred for the undead. His move of 5, combined with Cavalry 5 gives him a rapid movement each turn, plus he has a unique effect that lets him come back onto the board from a different table edge in a later turn if he's in contact with a table edge at the end of a turn. He can also make a sidestep attack, which lets the attacker move away from the opponent and not make a damage roll, but by using the Passing Strike ki ability, he can still make a damage roll.
• Khendish - Khendish is a mountain of a man carrying a huge burning log. Using the Stand Behind Me ability, friendly units can use Khendish as cover, and Khendish himself always counts as being in cover. Khendish also has a Fire Spin ability, that lets him move 4 inches, dishing out Fire markers to any units within 2 inches, the player winning the tactical test moves him 4 inches in the next starting phase, and the losing player moves him 2, so positing is key to not having him set your own units on fire.
• Tru'pah - Tru'pah carries Hiroto's eagle banner which he has carried for years, hiding in a swamp, slowly losing his mind. While not a skilled fighter, he gains a frightened marker during each starting phase, but Steadfast means that he can still attack enemies despite his fear. Tireless and Armour 2 help keep him in the fight, even against growing enemy numbers and he stops them using Rise and Last Stand while in combat with them.
• Two Lone Swordsmen - The Two Lone Swordsmen are mystically linked warriors. They activate in sync, meaning you get 2 attacks for a single activation, making them extremely deadly together. If one is removed, they come back in base to base contact the next turn and the only way to stop them is to remove both in the same turn, which can be difficult with their Armour 2 and Reach.
• Shosu - Shosu is an exorcist, who can remove state markers from friendly units, or become the target of ki feats that target them, after doing so though, control of him passes to your opponent for an action as the evil spirit tries to gain control of Shosu.

As Ronin, the Brotherhood members can be included in other factions which are listed on the back of their unit cards.

We sat down with Jason Enos, Bushido's Lead Developer to ask him about the design of The Brotherhood and Open Rebellion, and what the future holds for the Shiho clan.

TechRaptor: Hi Jason, thank you for taking the time to talk to us agian. The Brotherhood are quite a change from the normal Bushido units. Where did the initial concept come from?

Jason Enos: An idea came to me a while ago. At GCT I create most of the profiles, but last year I asked the whole team to make a profile each, these were Hiroto’s companions through his years in exile and there was to be no discussion about them until they had been submitted. The idea was to create an “Adventuring Party” feel or perhaps something like Robin hood (The design name was Hiroto and his Merry Men). We ended up with an eclectic bunch with no built in synergy and that seems to fit the idea of a group assembled from strangers perfectly. It also allowed the other members of GCTs extended universe to create profilers and characters.

TR: Which Brotherhood profile was your creation?

JE: My card was the Two Lone swordsmen. Who knows where the Two Lone Swordsmen came from? They have some training in swordsmanship, but claim no nobility nor is their style recognised. Their armor is not from Jwar and their ability to survive debilitating wounds is unsettling even to close allies. On the Bushido table, they are a very resilient duo. Your opponent will have to dedicate a significant amount of resources to deal with them. They also take minimal set up to get their abilities going, just gang up on someone. One of the themes of the Swordsmen is mystery. They have the Unknown type, are they even human? Where do they go when not with Hiroto? Even the factions they fight alongside raise some questions. Will these be answered? Probably not by the taciturn swordsmen, but I’m sure we’ll see more of them in future.

TR: Open Rebellion and The Brotherhood are the start of the Shiho clan for Bushido. What else can you tell us about them?

JE: The Brotherhood is the second preview box for the upcoming Shiho Clan and the return of Shiho Hiroto, The Black Eagle. The Wolf Clan box was the first, the Open Rebellion theme represents the Tanaka family supporting the returning Hiroto openly. It was a self-contained sub-faction for the Eagle Clan and most of the models can be integrated into a Shiho warband once the Eagle Clan gets its full release. The Brotherhood is a Ronin box and every faction can find a use for some of the models, but the theme is related very much to Shiho and especially Hiroto. While it is another self-contained warband, all of the models can be used by the Shiho and it will give anyone intending to try the new faction out a great toolbox of options.

We will be making more of both the Wolf and Brotherhood profiles in future as part of the regular Eagle Clan releases.

TR: Thank you very much for joining us again Jason. We're big fans of the Wolf Clan and the Lone Swordsmen is probably our favorite unit concept in any wargame.

The Open Rebellion and The Brotherhood Bushido Themed Warband Packs used to produce this article were provided by GCT Studios.