Thunders
Well the blog has been a little slow as of late and I apologise, I do have some plans in the work, some articles to tie up and some new things to write but for now, yes that's right, another Mei Feng article.
For a long while I stated that Mei Feng was only really good as Arcanists.
Why is that?
Go Blue Team
Constructs
First and foremost Arcanists have a lot of constructs and Mei Feng's most important ability on her card is Railwalker which needs them.
Where Mei can hire four foundry models regardless of faction, Arcanists open up a few options that the Ten Thunders simply don't have.
- All the gamin: these guys are useful in different ways, where the Metal might be the main stay an Ice or Fire flavour can also be handy.
- Mechanical Rider: This is simply one of the strongest units in the entire game, can summon the previous entries and is fast. Speed is important and I will further explain with...
- Howard Langston: Moving 15 inches in a turn means that Mei Feng's "train track" has a great end destination, allowing for craziness like turn 1 charges or simply changing the side of the table she is on during a game. Big H is also one of the best single killers in the game and his steam isn't half bad too.
- Arcane Effigy: Yes there is shadow, but for 4ss we get some condition removal. Nice.
- Soulstone Miners: Great in so many strategies and a great "Train Station" placement as it were.
- Joss: Kind of specific but this tough git is great against certain match ups and can hold some interesting upgrades.
There are many more but I am sure that the list demonstrates my point.
Cheap Minions
Now be aware that this was an opinion pre-Crossroads.
At the time Ten Thunders had... Low River Monks at 4ss or less. Well the Emberling too.
Arcanists have 3 flavours of Gamin, Arachnids, Molemen and probably something else I have forgotten.
It was more. Activation control can be important and I like having a fair amount on the board for a few strategies.
Upgrades
Arcane Reservoir, enough said...
Alright, also I feel that Mei doesn't lose much from book 1 thunders and gains fast over positive flips (I tend to believe is better) along side Imbued Protection which is a personal favourite of mine. Leap Aside!
So what does Crossroads add?
Well crossroads has changed my opinion on a lot of these things, I'm not saying that I have taken a complete 180 but I think there are a good few things the book offers to make Mei in Orange a lot more appealing.
Constructs
Crossroads has added two constructs for Ten Thunders and honestly, that is enough of a big deal.
Komainu are a nice alternative way of attacking for 5ss than a Rail Worker, their ability to attack WP is great and the fact they are also Hard to Kill, Armour +1 and 6 wounds means they are arguably as tough.
Komainu are a little fast than Rail Workers which can make a big difference and the (0) place they have can also cause some tricky things to help in certain schemes or simply get Mei into place a little better.
Along with the Arcane we also got the Shadow Effigy, another 4ss Metal Gamin like model with a handy ability, not always as useful as condition removal and more resource taxing but extra scheme markers never go a miss.
Cheap Minions
Tengu at 4 is nice, not quite the toughest bit of speed but good none the less.
As mentioned previously we've also got the Shadow Effigy and at 5ss we have Komainu and the fantastic Ten Thunder Brothers.
Along Komainu this leads me to mention an addition model:
Toshiro
If you have listened to Malifools recently I described him as a mini Nicodem.
Summoning is always powerful, using that extra scrap the Emberling can make or from your fallen Rail Workers, adding Komainu to the board is great and that is not all he does.
The Warfan action to make minions Fast is powerful, using this on a Worker with the Lethal Lunacy trigger for the 4" push means that the slow Rail Worker can go 16" in a single turn, faster than both Howard and Mech Rider.
This is great as Thunders now have access to that "fast constuct" outside of the Rail Golem and on 5ss models you do not care if they get killed as much as you would with Langston or the Rider.
Also, the buffs are great, Implacable Assault inside Damiyo range means those workers should hopefully hit and be able to cheat their 5 damage in. Lovely.
Oh and he isn't half bad in a fight himself.
Upgrades
On Wings of Wind, the upgrade I've been looking for.
It finally gives Mei Feng a (0) action, something she doesn't have so in an odd sense an extra AP.
Tempest Heart the (0) action is also great for the rail crew which outside of Mei Feng tends to be slow as sin.
Her being able to give Kang a cheeky push early or later a Rail Worker to get that charge is very helpful indeed.
Having a (0) also gives newcomer Sensei Yu something to copy and another push, this chap can make the rail crew get off their asses and into position while still using his Wk7 to worry about himself.
The other part On Wings of Wind also has benefit with Mei, pushing 3" means she can get out of melee range of things and stay within her kick, forcing her out of any issues at the end of turn her Jackhammer kick may have caused her.
This along side the obvious adding to movement, getting into the right table quarter across a line for a scheme etc. makes it, in my mind, well worth the 2 soulstone cost.
Orange vs Blue
Well I definitely have not defected from Arcanists but the Crossroads release has surely given a new life to Mei Feng for me and even more of a gateway personally to get my huge 10T collection painted.
I hope you enjoyed this and I hope it makes a nice accompaniment to Malifools episode 94.
Thanks for reading.
Good Night!
-Ben (@psientologist)
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