Lesezeit: 10 Minuten It’s done with the Tsukuyumi Special – Markus. 6 games in different constellations and with assigned factions. Incredibly intense. Incredibly exciting. But, to anticipate the conclusion: incredibly good and enriching. Enriching is the right word here. I hope you all had fun and enjoyed the reports. Sure, they were much longer than normal reviews, but in addition to the individual factions, you also got to know the people behind them. What’s your opinion of the special? Did you like it? Was the format exciting for you? I would be delighted to receive your feedback. I won’t keep you in suspense any longer, but will start with my factions and some more information.

Tsukuyumi Special – Markus: Chronomaster

The Chronomasters have been there before. They teleport back and have seen everything. Back from the future. I celebrate the Chronomasters, who for me are a perfect image from Planet of the Apes. And I already loved this movie in its original version. The Chronomasters mark a whole host of areas with their markers at the start of the game. They were already there, they own almost everything that the other factions don’t own. Their goal is therefore to hold these territories or conquer new ones, as the apes do not fulfill any mission objectives. This immediately makes them the main aggressor in the game. The sheer flood of markers makes the opponents nervous. This would also be unfair in combination with the many areas and the flexibility of the unit. As the monkeys come back from time with their ship, they naturally don’t have a home area, but a shipwreck.

Be careful with the starting setup

You have to play the Chronomaster correctly from the start. Where do I place the Shipwreck in relation to the other factions? This is because the Chronomasters have brutally powerful attacks. They can teleport units to the units‘ home territory. Or, if the units have no home area, to the shipwreck. Imagine the following situation: You sneak across the board with the First Guardians and suddenly a lousy monkey teleports you back. Game over. Or: The Chronomasters teleport two groups that don’t see eye to eye into the Shipwreck and see what happens there. The Chimps also have the ability to teleport, allowing them to quickly change their location. They have to, because the life points of the chronomasters are rather low and therefore the monkeys are an easy target.

Flexible and sophisticated

For me, the Chronomasters are the perfect faction for beginners and experts. What reads like a contradiction is easy to explain. If I play them as a beginner, I have an incredible number of areas to start with. I can simply try things out. The fact that I can freely choose each phase for myself means that I can react spontaneously and on a highly current basis to what is happening in the game. The advantage: I don’t have to plan so much in advance and think my strategy through. If I play as a beginner with experienced players, they leave me alone to a certain extent. If I play the Chronomasters as an expert, I can pull off powerful actions. I can make myself very unpopular and incur the wrath of everyone. At this point, the expert has to walk on a tightrope. If I’m very dominant and strong at the start, three factions will pounce on me. Then the monkeys won’t reap any rewards. In this mode, I have to adopt a fine winning strategy. Teleporting and the fact that the monkeys simply ignore blockades help me to do this. I have to be able to move.

Winning strategy

The Chronomasters simply have to act skillfully. Their ability to trigger their phases at will and be the only faction to determine the initiative sequence must be used with precision.A crucial strategy for victory is to anticipate and contain the movement of your opponents. This is brutally thematic in terms of the time-jump aspect of the faction. The aim of the Chronomasters is to thwart the other players‘ plans and still conquer territories. This can be tricky, especially for units with a home territory. Chronomasters are more difficult to play when units such as the Dark Seed are scattered across the board or the Circle of the Sun is spreading dancing. The effect of the Chronomasters fizzles out against the Reef. The Chronomasters can teleport units out of their way, but the more units there are and the larger the fronts on which they have to fight, the more difficult it is. They show their strength when an opponent clearly stands out as a target. And that’s the chance for the others at the table.

Conclusion Chronomaster

Everyone must experience this unit. It is not for nothing that the games with the time-traveling monkeys are described as epic. The fact that the Chronomasters alone influence the initiative, as well as their flexible choice of actions, brings a completely different gaming experience to the board.It doesn’t matter whether you play the Chronomasters yourself or react to the monkeys. It simply changes the game brutally. You don’t always want them on the board, but from time to time it’s simply gigantic. The chronomasters also bring a special dynamic to the table, because without alliances the monkeys are difficult to deal with. However, alliances are fragile in Area Control. Tsukuyumi is no exception. What is spoken with the tongues of angels at the table, is nearly unbelievable.

Tsukuyumi Special – Markus: Dark Crusade

I was somehow lucky enough to play factions that have a huge impact on the whole game. This includes the brave warriors of the Dark Crusade. Once this faction is in the game, no other player plays the Oni. Oni and Dark Crusade are a symbiotic unit.And so the strategy is clear. The Oni and the Oni actions are an extension of my strategy. But what does the strategy look like? What do I have to do to survive victoriously on the moon together with the Oni?

Units

The Dark Crusade don’t have that many units. Logically, they also own the Oni. The few units are very powerful, but you have to be very careful. If I lose units, it can easily cost me one or two turns. And then you have nothing more to do with the outcome of the game.An example? Grendel! A true terror. He can carry out devastating attacks, but is more of a threat. If you attack with Grendel, please be sure that the attack is safe and that you won’t lose Grendel to a counterattack. That would be your doom. If you also have the Atomic Heart in your pack or as an open threat scenario, you will spread fear and terror. However, your opponent also knows that Grendel is not immune to radioactivity, so Grendel will also die if you use the Atomic Heart unless you manage to do something clever.

Samael

For me, Samael is the key to success. Every area that Samael enters is marked with an Oni marker. You underestimate this ability because you don’t own the area. But it helps me brutally to get the Oni where I need them. Remember? The Oni are an extension of my strategy.Many of you are now screaming that the Oni can’t destroy units, they can only conquer territories. That’s true, but: Imagine you can permanently stress your opponents with the Oni. The Sisters of Seven build up an alluvial area. I push the Oni into this area and cause stress and chaos with every counterattack. With every counterattack, because you choose all the Oni’s actions. Samael has such strong attack and defense stats that his appearance alone is impressive. Nobody will dare to enter into open combat with Samael. Not even if Grendel is nearby.

Vulnerability

Even though the units of the Dark Crusade are powerful, there are only a few of them and the Oni are only strong in areas. So if I want to stop the Dark Crusade, I direct their movement. Blockades and traps are very clever measures here. Turning territories too. And the threat that a Dark Crusade unit could be wiped out. One goal of the Dark Crusade is to control eight Oni territories. Of course, you want to get to the moon or have these territories. To do this, Samael has to move to new territories and place his marker almost every turn. This is not easy and if I maneuver Samael into a dead end, it becomes difficult for the Dark Crusade. As a result, action cards with little movement are a horror for the Dark Crusade. The Dark Crusade doesn’t like few attacks either. The faction needs all these actions to conquer territories. In my first game, I a) underestimated Samael’s movement and b) planned it wrong. C) There was nothing to shout about.

Strategic approach

It is simply necessary to think about a route with small detours. Similar to what Uwe described with the reef. What is my meta strategy, what is my common thread? You don’t play Dark Crusade on instinct. Analyzing the playing field and choosing the right areas during movement is elementary. Every player who wants to play Dark Crusade well also needs to familiarize themselves with the Oni and the special characteristics of the legendary Oni. Which one do I choose, when and why? I would always recommend playing the Dark Crusade and the legendary Oni together. They give the game and the Dark Crusade faction exactly the tactical depth and flavor that is needed and make the opponents sweat.

Conclusion Dark Crusade

Unlike the Chronmasters, the Dark Crusade requires even more strategic skill, a master plan and a common thread. At the same time, the few units of the Dark Crusade are strong enough to make flexible adjustments and react spontaneously. A feast. I love the Dark Crusade because they can pull off some nasty moves, especially in combination with the legendary Oni. The Oni also stress out the other players in every round, so they often get annoyed and avoid the Dark Crusade. “Just leave me alone with your Oni actions” is a popular expression here. If you are left alone and play to your threat strength, you will lead the Dark Crusade to success. Things get difficult when the Sentinels target the Oni. Then you have to protect your companions properly. But the Dark Crusade also have to be careful. If they are too dominant, if two players shoot at the Dark Crusade over two turns, if they lose units or are outmaneuvered by blockades, this is almost always their death sentence.

What else was there?

The Cybear and the whale

I played a game with the Lords of the Lost Seas. The whales. Leisurely. Powerful. Slow to move. My path was mapped out. In harmony with nature, singing, in the shimmer of the black sea and the blood-red moon. The enemy in the west. Heart of Africa. The red continent. In the very first round, I saw that the Circle of the Sun was already performing a victorious dance. So I set off early to put a stop to it. And what did Marc, the big shot, do? Blocked me, checkmated me with his fucking Cybear and constantly held up my path. Uwe recognized the danger and shot at Cybear to negate its effect, but Marc persisted with his strategy. A stalemate that didn’t help me, didn’t help Marc, left Uwe powerless, and was enough for the Circle of the Sun to win easily.

This example actually shows the strength of Tsukuyumi. Know your Enemy. In every round and at all times. With all its facets, strengths and weaknesses. Tsukuyumi makes it possible to play the game just like that. However, it allows you to immerse yourself incredibly deeply and epically in the action in a way that perhaps Cthulhu Wars can match. In Tsukuyumi, alliances are formed, short-term, long-term, situational. You can recognize situations and miss them. You can get stuck in hopeless situations. Tsukuyumi creates moments at the table that people talk about again and again. It shows that Marc simply played incredibly badly in this situation and unfortunately  Uwe helped too late. And it shows that when two people quarrel, a third rejoices.

Modules

In addition to the factions, the Sunrise Expansion offers even more. What did we play of it? Nothing. Why? Well, the factions and the depth we got into is quite enough. After six games, we have carefully delved into the depth of the factions. Tsukuyumi offers fun and depth for another 100 games. However, the modules still have a lot to offer here. As the Sunrise Expansion takes place on the other sphere, a modular structure is possible, and you can build islands that you can reach with portals. These portals are like

Conclusion

The Tsukuyumi Special is now finished – apart from a report that will be published together with Christian at some point. A mammoth project. You can’t begin to imagine how much time and work goes into a special like this. Especially not if you want to do the game justice. Flaws? There were few. Perhaps that the game with five players was also good, but sluggish and lengthy. For me, the optimum number for a game of Tsukuyumi is 4 players. Even if the special sounds like a eulogy to KingRacoon, I would like to make one thing clear: We also celebrate other games in the group. But Tsukuyumi really offers an enormous range and epic depth in the area of area control. Every game was different and special. I knew why who had won in every game. I also think the battle system is one of the best in the genre. And yes, we are fans of this game because it just works for our group and we all love Tsukuyumi. And I think you can also celebrate games.

You shouldn’t be ashamed when you’ve created a good product, you should celebrate it. That’s exactly what I do. Celebrate. And I just wanted to share this enthusiasm with you and introduce you to the new factions from a tactical perspective. I hope I have succeeded.the portals for the Sentinels. The islands and the variable structure alone change the tactics enormously. The Amaterasus gifts bring you valuable gifts. Depending on the faction, these are permanent advantages, new troops that join your faction or new battle cards. Here, too, each new element turns the screws on the game. I haven’t tested this myself, but a look at the cards and units will give you some certainty.