Rise of the Shogun Previews: Terrains & Formations
August 23, 2006
It seems like only yesterday
A couple years ago now, Ray Lau, former L5R Brand Manager, was having a discussion with Jeff Alexander about the development of Diamond Edition. He wanted to develop a new card type or mechanic so that players would experience L5R differently than they had in the past, not just more of the «same old same old.» He would be especially pleased if it could involve combat, since combat is the essence of L5R. He believed - and rightly so in my opinion - that each environment should have its own identity, and introducing a new card type or mechanic would help.
Thus, Formations were born. While not exactly a new card type (they are just a subset of Action cards, after all), and just barely a new mechanic (many of the effects have been around for years), Formations slowly worked their way into the competitive scene and are now a staple aspect of Fate decks for many clans. Formations reward a player not simply for how they assign units during battles, but also for the composition of a player’s army. More thought and ingeniuty is required to use Formations so the mechanical rewards are traditionally greater than a non-Formation Action card with similar effects.
Up until Rise of the Shogun, Formations have been pretty tame in respects to their requirements. A samurai here a bushi there all must have a Follower attached all must have an Item. Pretty standard stuff. Nothing that’s really strayed too far from the original concept. In fact, Formations have been so redundant about attachment requirements that they’ve forced players to rethink deck composition entirely. The consequences for running decks without an attachments on Personalities is certain to result in widespread fatalities as the majority of Personality-kill effects in Lotus focus on unprotected units. Wade into combat without some Items or Followers and you are sure to meet a quick demise or a sudden end to the game if you face a well-timed Formation.
But back to the topic some of the Formations in ROTS finally start going where no Formation has gone before, even if only slightly. Using Deeds of Honor as an example, we see a Formation that targets Samurai with at least 3PH. This is an example that I hope to see repeated in sets to come: not focusing on keywords in the trait bar. Thus, we finally see Formations for very Honorable units (Deeds of Honor, Delaying Column), or those that have high Force (Tiger’s Mouth). Daigotsu’s Disciple in nice, but I much would have rather seen the stress on Personal Honor carried through here. Why not «0PH» instead of «Shadowlands Personalities»? Then the card would have appealed to a much wider player base without sacrificing game balance. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still take it, but why stop at the 20 yard line when you can run it in for a touchdown? Advance with Glory doesn’t look like a PH-focused Formation at first glance until you read the ability. It really is another PH-Formation in disguise, and a pretty darn good one at that.
Overall, I think these Formations a great step in the right direction. Hopefully, Design will continue to get more creative with both the requirements as well as how the effects can scale based on the Personalities using them (scale based not only on PH as we see here but compare Force, Chi, and Gold Cost as well).
It’s worth noting that Lion - a particularly high PH clan - will be able to use these Formations more effectively than many others. Battle Maidens will gain support from these as well, helping the fledgling decktype quickly gain some legs.
The Formations
Advance with Glory
0G
Center Formation * Formed by 2 Samurai Personalities.
Battle: Target a unit you control at the current battlefield that this Formation has not targeted: Raise the Force of the Personality and each Follower in that unit by 1, or by the Personality’s Personal Honor if opposed.
«Let me deal with them, Domotai-sama,» Kikaze said.
2FV
Daigotsu’s Discipline
0G
Flank Formation * Formed by 2 Shadowlands Personalities.
Battle: Target and bow a card you control at the current battlefield that this Formation has not targeted: Either straighten a target card you control, or destroy a target opposing card with no attached cards.
«None can stop the Goju under cover of night» - Daigotsu
3FV
Delaying Column
0G
Center Formation * Formed by 3 Personalities, each with at least 3 Personal Honor, at any locations, who assigned to this battle.
Battle: Move home a target Personality you control at this battlefield: Bow and move home an opposing target Personality with equal or lower Personal Honor than yours.
2FV
Tiger’s Mouth
0G
Center Formation * Formed by 3 Personalities with at least 5 Force each.
Other players’ actions targeting your units have the additional cost of bowing a Personality the player controls at this battlefield.
«If we die today,» Yoshino shouted, «we die with our blades in our hands!»
1FV
Gaining Honor from Terrains? Believe it!
(That was a Naruto reference there - for those who don’t watch that obnoxious show.)
Both Ancestral Ground and Fields of Honor bring in the sweet points if you can manage to pull them off. Ancestral Ground seems to really only be useful when attacking, and I’m not convinced that I’d want to use my first action to lay that sucker down on the card table but if you can make it work for you, then the 2 Honor boost should be pretty useful (especially if you can back it up with an Aftershock). There’s got to be easier ways to gain Honor from battles, and I almost wish this Terrain would have let me immediately take another action, but that might be asking for a bit too much.
Fields of Honor is just better, even though it’s a Delayed Terrain. For Unicorns playing Battle Maidens, it’s practically a gimme. Better still, if you’re playing The Rolling Tides, you can assign an attacking shugenja (or two) adjacent to a Province with an opposing unit, move the enemy player’s unit in with the Tide, bow him, straigten your Shugenja, and then safely lay down the Fields of Honor. It’s a bit rude, but I wouldn’t think twice about doing it.
The other Terrains are pretty game-breaking as well (River Crossing is DANGEROUS), and Treacherous Sands may end up becoming a staple utility card in many decks for both its Terrain and Formation-busting attributes.
The Terrains
Ancestral Ground
0G
Immediate Terrain
Battle: After each time a Personality you control at this battlefield is destroyed, sent home, or bowed by other players’ actions, reduce the Province’s Strength by his unit’s total printed Force and gain 2 Honor.
«Will our ancestors find favor with us?» Shono wondered.
1FV
Fields of Honor
0G
Delayed Terrain
Battle: All opposed Personalities in your army gain Force bonuses equal to their Personal Honor. If your army is attacking and opposed, gain Honor equal to the highest Personal Honor in your army.
Honor in this life is earned, never inherited.
1FV
River Crossing
0G
Delayed Terrain
Battle: Starting with you, each player with a unit at this battlefield targets an unbowed card in each unit he controls there (if possible). Then, bow all targets.
The Dragon armies pushed the Crane back across Dragonfly River, but could not maintain the lands south of Shiro Kitsuki.
1FV
Steep Slopes
0G
Immediate Terrain
Battle: After this Terrain enters play, bow all Personalities and Followers at this battlefield with 4 or less Force. Straighten any cards bowed by this effect if this Terrain is destroyed during the Battle Action Segment.
Kaigen’s Island has treacherous slopes on all sides.
1FV
Treacherous Sands
0G
Immediate Terrain
Can be played even if a Terrain is already in play.
Battle: Destroy any other Terrains in play. You may destroy a Formation. If this action destroyed any cards, this terrain may not be destroyed by card effects.
Skirmishes on the beach are not uncommon, but both clans overlook them.
1FV
