Overview of the Clan War Factions

By Michael D'Auben

These descriptions are just the "typical" forces a clan might field. Most of the clans have at least some flexibility in how they play, but these (I think) capture their strengths and costs.

CRAB - The Crab are known as a tough, defensive army. Lots of really tough troops with heavy armor, good archers, and strong characters. Average magic ability. The Crab troops are mostly armed with two-handed weapons and war clubs. A typical Crab army would stand there and shoot arrows at you while saying "come over here and let us smash you" <g>

CRANE - The "socialite" clan. Don't choose them unless you are prepared to be kidded about your perfume sniffing troops! <g> Seriously, the Crane have some very good archer units, decent spear troops, and some dangerous characters who excel at dueling (i.e. killing enemy personalities). Average magic ability. A typical Crane army would soften up their opponent with arrow fire, and then move in to decapitate your army by killing your leaders in duels.

DRAGON - The Dragon are supposed to be jack-of-all trades, and they can do a number of things well, including ranged combat, hand to hand, dueling and magic. The characteristic Dragon unit would be their various tattooed troops. These fighters can be given mystical tattoos to allow them to employ ranged attacks, race across the battlefield to engage the enemy, or pump up their toughness or combat abilities, tailoring each unit to a specific role.

LION - The most aggressive of the clans, Lion strategy is built around charge-attack-kill. Because of good training, their units are some of the most maneuverable in the game, and can deal out serious damage in hand to hand. The converse of this is that they are very weak in ranged attack (only one short ranged unit) and not too proficient in magic. A typical Lion army will rush across the battlefield to avoid your archers, and seek to engage and kill your units.

NAGA - The Naga are the legendary half-snake people of the forest. They can hang in combat due to most units being made up to 2-wound troops, and they have access to a specialized magic system that they can easily use to their advantage. In addition, they have lots of good ranged attack troops, and some useful special rules including virtual immunity to fear. A typical Naga army would shoot at the enemy, while their hand to hand troops slither in supported by their magic users.

PHOENIX - The Phoenix are the magic clan of Clan War. They have access to a lot of powerful magic users (shugenja) who can often lead combat units (most other clan's shugenja can't), good archers and lots of strange, magical troops with lots of special rules to make them effective in combat (to make up for this, without their magic the Phoenix clan can be rather weak compared to other armies). A typical Phoenix army might hit the opponent with ranged attacks (both archery and magic), and then use the special abilities of their combat troops to out-maneuver, neutralize or break the enemy units.

SCORPION - The Scorpion are an army that relies on tricks and deceit to win. They have units that can appear as something else, or deceive your archers, or hide from your warriors. Many of their personalities have special abilities that can mess with your tactics, or prevent you from doing things. A typical Scorpion army would deny you opportunities to attack, throw your battle plans into disarray, and then strike when you are in a state of chaos.

SHADOWLANDS - The shadowlands are a very flexible army, and have the largest number of different troops available to them of any army. Lots of cheap troops, expensive, hard-hitting individuals, and some very good shugenja. Many of the units cause fear, or can't be broken because they are already dead. They also have access to a special type of "blood" magic that can be very destructive to both the enemy and the Shadowlands army itself! A typical Shadowlands army might be made up of large, cheap units of skeletons, goblins, zombies, etc. supported by monstrous Oni (demons) who will try to break and destroy enemy units while the cheaper units keep them tied up, as their shugenja kill enemy units from a distance.

TOTURI - A relatively new army, like Yoritomo (below) the Toturi army doesn't have as many troops choices as some of the other clans, but is still a viable force. The have lots of good to excellent leaders, and access to large numbers of very cheap troops. A Toturi army would typically out number most opponents, and might seek to win by attrition.

UNICORN - The Unicorn are the cavalry clan. Many of their units are mounted, and they may have the best combination of speed and mobility in the game. One problem is that since so many of their troops are mounted, they are expensive and a Unicorn army will typically be rather small compared to other armies. A Unicorn force will often rush across the battlefield seeking to out flank the other army, and engage them on the Unicorn's terms.

YORITOMO - Like Toturi, Yoritomo is a relatively new army (the last of the clans to be released) and doesn't have a lot of different troops available. What they do have are generally good, with some good leaders, good archers and good hand to hand troops. One thing the do lack is cavalry. Probably the best reason to choose a Yoritomo army is because you like the "fluff" of a patchwork army from a number of minor clans, lead by a powerful and charismatic leader. Another plus is that a Yoritomo army will look good on the battlefield, with lots of excellent and unique miniatures to field A Yoritomo army might be best fought as a "combined arms" force, each unit supporting the other.

Well, that's about it. I hope you find that helpful!