Considering starting YuJing or JSA. Comming from Nomads

JSA seems to be going to get a resculpt along this year. However, most of the playstyle boils down to "HI 5 man link team with Neko Oyama, Gen 2 remotes, maybe the TAG, some ninja, Yojimbo, and cheerleeaders, go for melee with minimal smoke and a single MSV2".

Imperial service, however, while having the same combat capability (less melee, however) has more objective-grabbing options without the need of TO troops (which tends to boil down to "KHD Ninja"), and the Sophotect (which is a Panacea for any army), and the infamous (plus recently resculpted) KuangShi fireteam. Plus, Su Jian and Hsien.

Also, you will use most units from Imperial Service when playing Generic, while from JSA you will use very few (usually the Karakuris and one Oniwaban). Right now, there is little reason to collect JSA aside from just wanting to collect the miniatures.

 

If you were looking to drive heavy infantry into your opponent's face, you came to the right place.

 

JSA has a different approach than YJ. JSA army is basically a close combat sectoral in a game where the most important thing is to shoot. IMO JSA performs very well in limited insertion, the Domaru+Haramaki link is expensive but powerful and ninjas, oniwaban or yojimbo are cool and deathly.

 

If you want a CC focus, JSA is the way to go. It's really easy to make a list where every model has some level of MA. Even the TAG has MA!

The issue with JSA is CC delivery. The only sources of smoke are Kitsune, Yojimbo, and Saito.

Kitsune is amazing. Superior infiltration and she is her own source of smoke. On a good day, she can easily wipe out an entire fireteam on her own.

I have limited experience with Saito, but Yojimbo makes up for the lack of infiltration by being incredibly fast. He is also extremely impetuous so he gets a free order to get into your opponents face. Albeit in a less controlled, more Leeroy Jenkins kind of way.

You also have Ninja's and Oniwaban infiltrating up the board.

Otherwise, your MA comes on HI profiles, a lot of which have super jump, climbing plus, beserk, or some other method of making a nuisance of themselves.

JSA is a lot of fun, but be prepared for the fact that they aren't so good at pushing buttons, and their only source of MSV is the Rui Shi making it almost mandatory a lot of the time.

 

This, pretty much. JSA units are all massive threats within 0-8 inches, and very good at midfield engagements. Their long range game is kind of meh though, with only one BS14 HMG platform (the TAG), one borderline useable sniper (ninja), and one good missile launcher (the Haramaki, which you need to take linked to be effective, since they need to be able to take cover.)

They're monsters if you can close gaps effectively though. Tons of 2-wound (or structure) models with guns that are great within 16 inches, and almost every unit is a threat in CC. (I can't think of any model in JSA that isn't superior at CC to similar models in other factions outside vanilla YJ. Our line troops are CC14, our lowest CC skirmisher is CC23 with Martial Arts Lv3, etc. The only exception are G: units.)

 

Let's just get it out there, but JSA aren't terrible at ranged combat.

Raiden provides with discount options for long range threats with the HRL standing out. People are also reporting satisfying performance from the Sniper and Spitfire versions.

Karakuri have a heavy Marksman's Rifle (Mk12) and additional range with Flash Pulse, and can thus also cover the distance.

Keisotsu are nothing special what so ever, but their performance is surprisingly good in a 5-man team, but you might want to take a few extra bodies. I mention them because the game strongly favours active turn and Keisotsu get really good in Active turn once linked - rivaling top-tier single models like the Yan Huo HRMC when using HMG.

That said, the single best ranged option in JSA is the Haramaki ML core-linked. Try to avoid TR HMG's +3 rangeband.

Don't expect to out-perform Pan-O at shooting and close the distance.

 

I think the faction as a whole performs the best in ranges under 24 inches. All of the Karakuri loadouts favor this range band (and 2 of the 3 favor 16 inches and under), all of the Harakami loadouts except the missile launcher favor that range band, all of the Domaru range bands favor it, Shikami favors it, YJ specific remotes favor it, etc.

The few exceptions are all pretty exceptional, though, if you get what I mean. Haramaki missiles and raiden are amazingly cheap for what they do.

 

That is true, but the faction has sufficient amount of models that perform well outside this range for the models that perform well in it to get to where they need to be.

From my experiences with Yan Huo, unless the table is particularly sparse, you can't win the game from hammering your opponent from the Deployment Zone. (If the table IS sparse, two Yan Huo HRMC is a blatant UNfriend request)

General advice for JSA is just, don't play ARO game at range. This is true for all of Yu Jing, but extra for JSA.
Terms and conditions apply, milleage varies, Blitzen applied to TAGs are fine for ARO. Etc.

Foot note: If the dice don't like you it doesn't matter. I've had a game where I lost a TAG (dual-sniper CA TAG from scenario) and a whole Domaki link team to a single core linked Moderator MSR that rolled more crits in ARO than I had orders.

 

Vanilla always have more toys and tools, the problem is that few of the "line troops" used in JSA see use in vanilla (the discount from Frenzy and Impetuous turns from nice into nightmare as soon as you cannot take cover... the greeks are better at this). Also, you have more smoke sources (Shaolin monks) and MSV2 to use it (most of those come from ISS).
Also, Vanilla has two HI with Camo (Daofei, an infiltrating HI, which is unique in the game, and Hac Tao, a TO HI only the Swiss Guard and the Anatematic can equal, with the Asura being his close sister), the Yan Huo (think TAG weapons on HI platform), etc...

In short, right now if you want to switch between Vanilla and Sectorial, it's better to go the ISS way, where you will have also a lot of fireteam options AND a good, if limited, list option for both Limited Insertion and "nearly spam". They are also newly resculpted, and shooty with melee options.
If you want a very random (in performance, due to how the system works) army of samurais, which boils essentially to "so hard it isn't funny" and a lot of people doesn't even bother playing, with a heavy focus on melee (outperfomed by the greeks), bike options (not used anymore), a martial arts TAG (usable in Vanilla anyway, and the Guijia is totally vanilla, so...) and very limited in shooting options, then JSA is the way to go.

Yes, I know I'm trying to sell you NOT to go JSA. It's a calculated ploy, to force CB to redesign it a little so it becomes competitive :p

 

This is very subjective, but I am of the opinion that JSA (and ISS) are easier to start with but vanilla is easier to master. There are certain constellations of JSA that are absolutely harder (mainly bikes), but the Samurai are much sturdier and forgiving so if you focus on them with some limited Ninja/Oniwaban support, it'll be much easier going than vanilla.

Plus, you know, Domarumaki links are about as in your face as it gets. It's just a shame Oyama and Haramaki are lagging behind in resculpt process.

 

As @Mahtamori says, the sectorials are easier to get in in YJ. But in JSA, you are limited to the link of Domaru + Haramaki + Neko, and it is usually a 2x missile launcher, Neko, 2 other HI, then a CoC (which might be in the Core), the Karakuri Haris if you want, the O-Yoroi and the Ninja KHD.
Or full Hidden Deployment Ninja list (discouraged if you want to keep the friends to play with, since it's just boring for both), or...

Anyway, for me the deciding factor should be "do you want to spend as little money as possible when you switch to Generic YJ?" (or have the minimun amount of models, if you prefer).
The HI army in ISS is easy: Wu Ming core, Hsien Haris (with 2 non HI models, granted), Su Jian, Ninja. The Wu Mings can be used as Terracotta proxies for Vanilla (since the only current model is on the starter), the Hsien and Su Jian have the same value in both options, the Ninja is essentially a must have model...

 

My only concern with recommending ISS would be that Wu Ming might feel too similar to Riot Grrls, but that would depend on the support troops and I'm not fluent in Bakunin enough to make that judgement.

 

I think the loadout is different enough, and you can place a non-wuming hacker in the link. However, the usual Core in ISS is made of 4 Kuang Shi + Celestial guard controller for cheap orders and smoke coverage, while using the Hsien and the Su Jiang as assault pieces.

Also, consider how the Wu Ming lack MSV, so Albedo and White Noise won't work against them, plus they don't have Haris option. You are correct in thinking they are more of an Assault HI than ARO HI, without the unique value of being melee specialists.

Anyway, what I like from ISS, and the reason I plan to enter there as soon as I have finished with my Haqq and Nomad painting queue is the Fireteam combos that this sectorial offers, allowing you to place Imperial Agents inside other Fireteams be it Haris or Core. That lets you change the gaming style a lot, with a moderate investment on miniatures, which is a powerful attractive for me.

 

That's definitely what I find attractive about ISS. Playing JSA, every list starts with the question "Is this a Domaru/Haramaki list or a defensive Keisotsu link list?" to which the answer 80% of the time is the latter (despite how much I love to play the former).

ISS on the other hand has an absurd number of different core options (Kuang Shi, Bao+Pheasant, CG, Crane+CG, Wu Ming/Zhanying+Wu Ming) and probably the coolest Haris options in the game (Hsien + Zhanying is super cool).

 

@meikyoushisui you forgot the most important ISS fireteam: "why not both"

 

To echo what most people have said here: JSA is the one you want to play for more CC-focused and ISS to be more well-rounded. That said, JSA can still do well in most missions but you have to take into consideration how you are going to build your list. As well, JSA is in need of a resculpt for it's starter and most of the model line so this may deter you from getting it (which tends to be a little more subjective, as I picked it up and kind of like some of the sculpts).