Minimoto Clan

Factions » Minimoto Clan

Background

The Bear Stands Alone…
Once allied to the Takashi Clan during the Dragon Wars, the Minimoto now have their very own ambitions. There is a strange wind that winds its way through the Iron Mountains and their home Jyoto, and whether it blows fair or foul remains to be seen, but the Minimoto Clan are nothing if not patient. Never one to seek the fineries and fripperies of court life, they are more than satisfied to spend their days' blacksmithing, fighting, and singing the Songs of the Weaponsmiths.
The rulers of the Iron Mountains may be slow to anger, but they are even more reluctant to forgive.

Play Styles

The Minimoto playstyle is deceptively aggressive. They appear on face value to be a defensive Warband that rely on their heavy Armour to soak up hits from opposing forces. This is not entirely untrue, as they are able to defend attacks easily and tie up even the most threatening enemies. However, they are also able to use their defensive nature to their advantage in offence as well. With average profile statistics of Armour (3) and 7 Wounds per model, Minimoto are capable of making all out attacks while still surviving. This is something any opponent would need to consider when engaging the Minimoto in combat.

Almost the entire clan benefit from the Bear Stands Alone trait. This allows each model to fight multiple opponents at once without suffering the usual penalty for being outnumbered. However, each model must work and fight alone and therefore it is common to see a Minimoto Warband spread out across the battlefield, with lone warriors holding objectives and controlling the full width of the board from fast moving and flanking models. This said, wearing such heavy armour does take its toll in reduced movement and the Minimoto will need time to get into the most strategic positions.

The Minimoto also have access to Fire weapons and other area effects to burn their enemies, as if their mighty Tetsubo’s weren’t bad enough!

Designer Notes from GCT Master Enos

- Designer Notes from GCT Master Enos

Right at the beginning of the design process for the Bear Clan I started by looking at what we wanted for the faction as a whole. To make sure each model fits I have a set of “Rules” used to make new models. I have these rules for every faction and some smaller parts of the factions, while these rules can certainly be broken based on exciting concepts or mechanics these form the basic building blocks of the faction. This keeps each faction's playstyle different and keeps any Factions from becoming too similar. Here are the Minimoto Meta Rules so you’ll know what to expect.

Default 7 wound boxes
Almost all models have 7 wound boxes. Like all factions some could have more, others less but in this faction 7 is the base wound level. This gives a core of every model that has some resilience, so the faction is naturally “Tanky”.

Steadfast
Almost all models have Steadfast. While not immune to fear causing enemies, Minimoto have more reliable responses to them.

Armour 3+
All Armour traits are either no armour or Armour (3) or Armour (4). Minimoto don’t use light armour. Armour (4) is a thing you need to see to really appreciate.

No Move Shenanigens
After a Minimoto model moves, it's staying there. The Minimoto have no abilities to move their models outside of their normal move actions. To make up for this and their relative slow speed, they do have ways to slow their enemies down a little.

The Bear Stands Alone
This ability grants Indomitable +1 to Samurai or Ashigaru who are not within 3” of a friendly model. This stops the “Brick-up” style of play most tough, resilient armies tend towards in other games. The Minimoto can spread out and actually gain resilience!

Bear's «Characteristic»
This is a collection of abilities that are only active while the Samurai has 4 marked wound boxes. They gain various benefits, from straight forward melee effects like Powerful Attack (0) to flavourful unique effects like Terror. This is a defensive ability, it helps the “Toughness” of the model as your opponent will not want to damage them. It also mean you will want to get your models damaged a little and this can make it easier for your opponent to finish them off, its a real balancing act to get the most out of these powerful abilities.

There are also some more minor themes within the faction, see if you can spot them as the models are revealed. You may be surprised that the Toughness trait is not a theme for Minimoto, while a few models will employ Toughness, it’s not a theme for the faction but let me tell you Armour (4) does not go down easy!