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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1372111648/kensei-undead


Are any of you considering these amazing undead samurai for an uncharted army? Which one?

Never heard of them, but those Onryo things look like they could work well for unsettling looking water elementals, or something from the nightstalker armies.

Samurai-themed undead, anyone?

I have quite a few of their still-alive samurai minis, and they are nice, if somewhat slight compared to most of the other samurai minis out there. I looked at this project, but have opted not to back it because of the painful shipping cost the Japan. I'll wait for retail.

Dont think theyd need their own list, they seem to work perfectly as standard undead, imo.

 Tyr13 wrote:
Dont think theyd need their own list, they seem to work perfectly as standard undead, imo.

I'm hoping to see if they fit into Empires of Dust, but my Uncharted book hasn't arrived yet so I will not be able to ascertain that now.

Dont think theyd fit quite as well, since they use bows instead of crossbows. Empire of dust is also limited in terms of spectres, iirc. The list does feature more large monsters and altar-type stuff though. So Id probably tend towards standard undead.

agreed Tyr13, looking at my paperback KoW rule book it seems they will fit quite nicely into undead. two different types of cavalry, with 2 types in the Kensei expansion box for example. Pike infantry = spears, etc.

From what I can see Undead do not summon more units with any special abilities in KoW -- is that correct? I actually would prefer that to be the case, as if I were required to purchase even more Kensei metals for summoning that would probably hot be possible.

Based on the rulebook spells on page 34 it seems this will not be a concern of mine.
I am eager to play my first match -- local opponents here are stalled with everything from lack of movement trays to waiting on book orders.

Thanks for the feedback.

The only was summoning is represented in the rules is that most casters have access to healing spells, and undead come with lifeleech as standard (kill something, heal damage).

Just having a look at the Uncharted Empire's Empire of Dust list (well, a beta version that was online, just to get an idea of the unit types) can definitely see how they would line up.

Ahigaru - Spearmen
Samurai - Revenants
Dora-ta-bo - warriors (a 40-strong horde of those would look cool!)
I might be tempted to try and find some other 'undead animals' to go along with the dogs and put on swarm bases, which might be one way of doing it.

Sadly I can't see any ghoul or ghost analogues in the list, is there something you could use from another list as an ally?

Also, it might be an idea to use some of the Kensei terrain as bits of scenery amongst the miniatures. For example some graves with the archers, or even a building/ruin in amongst a massive horde unit of the Dora-ta-bo.

This would also be a way of allaying some of the cost, looks like it could get rather expensive if you started adding multiple units of samurai etc!

Definitely though could see this being a really cool project idea, I'm warming to it more and more as being my first big KoW army.

Why use Empire of Dust though? Any specific reason? I mean, vanilla undead just seems like a better fit to me...?

Actually, I did think that after making the post.

"Why the hell not just use the standard undead list?!" Which has an analogue for.. everything

I guess the Empire of Dust list is useful if you want to add more big-ass monsters to the list (I assume it is based on the GW Khemri army?)

Pretty much. Your standard undead fit into the, well, standard undead list, EoD is more of an arcane legions of undead horrors type thing. Lots of monsters, big stuff, but a bit more limited in other areas.

The only issue with this Kensei KS is that even with the discounts (which aren't that cheap, this is still at the more expensive end of price per miniature) this will be an expensive army.

Working it out very roughly for an Undead army I doubt you would get more than 1000pts for the core + expansion set (depending on what you use as heroes).

I suppose one option would be to get some Wargames Factory Japanese and Undead Warrior kits to make your own conversions, and then mix in with some of the rank and file of the bigger units.

Well... yould go for less models per unit base than standard. Though itd definitely detract from the whole "organised army" feel...