July 29th
Plague cripples the Empire while war rages. The Destroyer’s greatest weapon has been unleashed. The clans, assaulted on all sides and exhausted, quarrel with one another even as the enemy approaches their doorsteps. Are these the final days of the Emerald Empire?
We will soon be announcing the release date of Empire at War, the next L5R expansion. As you will be aware from our previous announcement we are in the process of changing printers, and that means new delivery methods and logistics to work with, and so we cannot give you an exact date yet, but keep watching and as soon as we have more information we will let you know.
And then there are the previews…
We are hoping to have a small amount of Empire at War for sale at Gen Con, we will be updating you on that soon. The Gen Con sale will not count as the release date of the product and will not, therefore, affect the legality of the set for tournament play. Empire at War will be released from distributors on September 20th. Please check your local game store to see when they will receive it. Due to its earlier release, and most of the set being spoiled over a month prior to its release, we are upping the legality date slightly from the normal 30 days. EaW will become tournament legal on Friday, October 15th.
Because of this we are doing the previews differently for this set. So we will be sending out all of the clan previews over the next ten days, we will then be letting out a bit more information around Gen Con, so keep watching this space.
The L5R Team
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July 30th
As part of this set’s preview program, we have had some of those that worked on it pick out their favorite card to showcase. With this first one you get the bonus of a short piece of writing from Shawn Carman. Watch out for some Design Team choices in the next few days…
To some she is known as the Grey Woman.
She is a member of the Order of the Spider, and a cancer growing in the heart of the Empire. Once she was known by a different name, once she was a paragon of duty in the name of Rokugan. That was long ago, and long forgotten. She died and, in the midst of his passion for duty, the man she loved forgot to perform one final service for her, and she was doomed to rise again. In the fleeting moments before his death, Seppun Tashime will come to regret that failure more than any other, and his final act in this world will be to beg for her forgiveness.
She is Daigotsu Shaiko, and she will see all who failed her die screaming.
The L5R Team
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July 31st
He has told no one what he, Gempachi, and Fumisato accomplished that day.
Being a Daidoji he hasn’t offered any explanations on what happened to his teeth, and being Daidoji none of his comrades or kinfolk have asked.
And yet, something has changed. His superior officers have begun to treat him like he was their favored son. When he goes out drinking, his tab is mysteriously paid before he has the chance to call for it. His aunts have begun to probe him on whether Gempachi is betrothed or what the name of his family’s matchmaker is. (He has advised his friend to try to get Yui, who shows the most promise in cooking.)
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August 1st
Rus’tik’tik was serving aboard the Deathless when the call came from Kan’ok’ticheck that it was time for the Nezumi to face Tomorrow. Why the Chipped Tooth Tribe decided to not heed the call was unclear to Rus’tik’tik, but neither did he concern himself much with it. He was a Rememberer but he found that he preferred life on the sea. The Chipped Tooth were not as concerned with memory as other tribes – they lived their lives like the water – ever-moving, ever-changing.
Then the Chipped Tooth discovered the island now known as Shima no Quehao. The island held what Chief Otemi called a ‘library’. Among other things, this library held the history of the Nezumi… more than any Rememberer had ever known.
Now Rus’tik’tik has sworn to keep this history and one day teach everyone who the Nezumi really were.
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August 2nd
And now we have two choices from the Player Design Team…
Many hardy Crab samurai have become jaded to the horror of zombies. With EaW, a new breed of zombie will be unleashed upon the Empire. You may think you’ve killed them, but these deadly foes will rise once more to plague you all over again. Undying Warriors are undead followers that won’t go away as long as their controller keeps buying them, and they have their own destructive battle action that can take down even a Clan Champion.
Some cards are good because they do one thing, and do it well. Others are good because they sacrifice some raw power for versatility. In the Heart of Battle is definitely in the latter category. While straightening someone and giving them +3F is nothing to scoff at, the drawback is quite steep outside of swarm decks. Sometimes you’ll wish that that In the Heart of Battle in your hand were something else: against straight Honor decks, for instance, the Force bonus will be welcome, but oftentimes you’d be better served with a simple Charge, or even a Wedge. However, that Charge wouldn’t be half as good in other matchups, and this is where In the Heart of Battle shines: it is effectively two—or even three—cards in one, and whether you need that Force bonus, a way to straighten one of your Personalities during battle, or even a pseudo-Spearhead (especially in the later stages of a province race, when one more defender can deter your opponent from attacking long enough for you to win the game), In the Heat of Battle will always be there for you. And if you have additional ways to use Bushido Virtues—say, if you’re playing Lion Paragons—then you’ll find a use for it even when you don’t need any of that!
