NeuroFire

I've thought before that since the raptors are trained birds, they should be able to get whatever target you want. However, the rationale of randomizing into melee is that the characters will be moving around trying to hit/block each other. The movement is what can make a shot hit a different target. Conceivably, a sudden movement could put a new target in the dive path of the bird, so Austringer shots must still be randomized.

Outcasts are definitely a pain in the everything. I like Sonnia, as well. She has a lot of tools against a variety of threats: Magic damage to take out Hamelin's annoying Spirit dog, blasts to hit Rat Catchers or a Librarian or other thing that's hiding, the LoS thing, Disassemble, summoning, etc. I highly recommend getting her avatar, as the Pyre can deal some really reliable damage (as well as being Obscuring, another handy to she brings to the table) and Searing Wave is a good thing to have (against any crew that isn't Freikorps.) Witchling Stalkers are also handy to have because they can remove effects. (Ortegas can shrug them off, but can't remove them from others.) McCabe has a few tools as well, but I'm not as good with him yet. The main disadvantage of Black Sheep is they're a bit lacking in magical damage. That's not always a deal, but when there's an annoying Spirit on the table, I want to be able to take it out by hitting it with multiple models. Giving out enough Slow might make up for any such drawbacks, though. And they're undeniably mobile.

I think there's a lot of potential for Traps with Hoffman. If nothing else, they're cheap targets for Tap Power (they probably aren't going to be moving around much, so it matters less if they're Slow) as well as being cheap Ca boosts and cheap, well, whatever you might need a Construct for, really. They're also just good for their intended purpose, which is locking things down. Lock it down, and then Hoffman can Open Circuit its face off without having to take an attack. They also have a couple goodies he could Assimilate to make him tougher to hit (like Tiny) and if all else fails he can use them for healing. I think it's at least worth a shot, considering the low soulstone investment. The Pathfinder doesn't suck, either. Pointman is a nice ability, and he can hit pretty hard sometimes. Don't know if he would synergize with Hoffman specifically, but he's not bad in general. Plus, free Traps and potentially more Traps.

Yes, Wong is a Merc, I'll be trying him in some Guild crews soon. (However, I'm not 100% sure he can make Ophelia's pistols Glowy, because she's a Henchman. Have to double-check the wording on that.)

Don't think so, because it isn't a faction restriction, it's a Master restriction. Besides, I think that Lucious is one of those Henchmen who really relies on his Special Forces, as so many of his abilities are tied to them. Hounds are Guardsmen, and trading them in for Raptors in a Lucious list (even if it were possible) would probably be more of a handicap than an advantage.

But imagine how much easier it would be if he was turned into a piggy.

At his most basic, Wong is going to be your Spirit-killer. He puts out magical damage himself, and he can give any minion's weapons magical damage as well (this includes the pigapult.) He also has a counterspell, making him potentially handy against Arcanists.

That's not at all how I would handle Beatdown. This isn't to say I think it's not a valid way, because it likely is, it's just not what I would do. I like the Traps idea, but I would probably go the Pathfinder route, maybe with one hired Trap just to make sure he has a decent ring of them around him. Primed Traps are not only good for activation control and self-sacrificing, they're good for potentially keeping your ranged hitters out of melee for a little while. Little triangle of Traps around a Pathfinder (easiest one, since he can set pre-Primed Traps himself) or Sidir, or Sam Hopkins, I think there's a lot of potential there for letting them kill a few things before they're taken out. I would probably take McCabe, but I don't agree that the relics are filler. I think they're quite important to how any Strategy is going to be played. I would favor Glowing Sabre and Strangemetal Shirt for Beatdown, because that would make him more killy and more difficult to wound. Although, I might take Badge of Speed instead the Paired goodness, because a re-activated Sidir might be one of my favorite things when it comes to bringing the pain. Plus it means a potential for two boosted Df stats, potentially very important when VP is determined by how many models are taken out. Expensive relics, but I think they're worth it. Another great model for Beatdown is a Wastrel with Earth's Elixer. True enough that a Paralyzed opponent can't kill anything, but better, perhaps, to have a model that literally cannot be killed for a turn, guaranteed. Austringers are a good pick for a list like this as well, because they can be safely tucked away while they peck at things. I think this could be particularly effective with the Badge of Speed relic, because 'Black Flash' can re-activate Guardsmen, too. Two 18" strikes from one Austringer in the first or second turn could be lots of fun. Pair them with a Drill Sergeant for extra shooting goodness. (Only drawback there, no Effigy. Tough call to make when healing and a resilient model are your friends.) Lastly, I would definitely want some Ronin in a Beatdown list. They're really good at getting out of trouble and dying on their own terms. They're also decent at killing things. Don't get me wrong, I do like the idea of Paralyzing everything, just not sure how often that can be practical. Maybe something like Coppelius (Hoffman can take him) with a Paralyze that can't be resisted by half the models in the game. But Wardens aren't always going to manage it, nor is McCabe. They're probably not even going to manage it a majority of the time. So I'd favor raw killing power and survivability. Mix and match for game size.

Is he a Guardsman? I must have missed that.

Yes, he should have a card for his Paths. If you email Wyrd, they'll probably send you one.

I was just thinking that some Traps would be great for guarding the Archers, since you pretty much never want those guys in melee. Three of them could lock down a pretty wide line of assault, and six might be able to form a full perimeter around Archers if McCabe takes them. But yeah, the way they're being packaged is odd. I kinda figured they would come in their own box of three, which would be most convenient for everyone involved. Packaging them with the Pathfinder, a Guild-only model, isn't terribly convenient for 10T players. Packaging them four at a time isn't convenient for anybody, as previously pointed out. We'll probably be seeing a few extra traps on ebay or something.

The workers can be counted as Constructs during the game, so there are definitely things Ramos can do for them. I'm not sure they drop scrap counters, which would be the main disadvantage.

I adore Sidir and his versatility. One of the highest Wp stats in the game combined with Immovable means that he's not going to do anything you don't want him doing, but the great thing about Immovable is that McCabe or Dita can still move him, just the opponent that can't. So he'll hold his ground and probably won't be hurt by some of the nasty Wp spells in the game, so anyone facing Ressers or Neverborn should love him just for that. As others have mentioned, he takes stuff apart if he gets the chance. Big gun, big sword, all good. And, with Camouflage and Always There, he has a really good chance of living to fight another turn (the only things I've faced that he hasn't managed to stand up to for long were Ototo and Izamu.) Alternately, the Camouflage and Hunting Blind are good ways to make sure other models can live to fight another turn, not to mention giving the Wastrels cover to use their movement trick. He seems like a great Master bodyguard, but I haven't actually found that to be the best use for him. I think all his abilities are better spent shooting things and giving cover. Plus, if McCabe has full "In the Thick of it" Df and Camouflage going, he's Df 10 and probably doesn't need anyone jumping in front of him. Sidir could also give Dita Df 10. So, yeah, that's pretty amazing.

I'm not sure it does, actually. Something ignoring the Undead characteristic doesn't mean that it's Living. But, that's a question for a rules marshal. Plus, not like it's permanent, right? Something can get the heal or the Armor or whatever else once the turn is over or they're out of range.

There are plenty of things that get bonuses against undead, or have spells that target them specifically, that's why "Greater Undead" means they can ignore that particular characteristic if they wish. I'm thinking Chiaki can pretty much make anything Greater Undead, or something close to it. Plus, since her Purity can push the undead, it gives you control over who is moving and who isn't whenever that ability gets used. (You might want to push one minion out of combat if it's getting ripped apart, for example, but if everything friendly was pushed away, she'd be in that combat all by herself.)

Traps, certainly, but their friend the Pathfinder is not dual-faction. (Another reason they should probably have their own box, IMO.) Fire Gamin are indeed Constructs, so a couple of those with a couple Traps should give Mei plenty to railwalk, at first, but they are both fairly easy models to take out. I don't know if the Torakage can pull their swap with Hans, I think I remember it having to be a 10T model.

Personally, if I had to play a fixed master tourney, I'd go with Sonnia. I like all the masters for different reasons, but I play Sonnia the most and I think she's the most versatile. She was designed to fight Arcanists, but she also does well against Resurrectionists because a lot of them are high Ca, plus all the magic can devastate spirits. I haven't played against Neverborn as much, but Sonnia can counterspell a lot of their tricks, and her far-reaching blasts can be a great way to hit some of the trickier masters. Blasts can also be a good way to take out some of Hamlin's friends, and Flame Wall (or Pyre) can be a nice way to divert just about anything. The main thing she struggles against is the Viks, but I almost always struggle against them no matter what. I think her Avatar would fare better, though I haven't actually taken it against a Vik crew yet. That's me, though, a lot of people would probably say Perdita was your girl.

Wow, that is pretty awesome! Makes a lot of sense now. Can he also Assimilate their Object stat, or would that be too good? If he can gain Object, that might make them worth the eight stones they basically cost him.

That does sound like a good plan. However, unless I misunderstand the rules, Protect only allows a model to take wounds to its capacity; e.g. if the Guardian's chosen model (let's say Santiago) took twelve damage, the Guardian could take a maximum of nine of those wounds before it was taken out and the remaining wounds would be applied to Santiago. It might be worth clarifying, because if a model can soak wounds beyond its capacity, that is indeed useful against things like the RJ. So, I was looking at Rising Powers yesterday because a couple people here mentioned that the Mannequin was really worth getting for Hoffman. I didn't see anything there that would make me want to pay eight stones for a Performer just so I could get a Mannequin. Did something change between book and card to make it worthwhile? (Like, for example, did they lose the rule saying they can only Link with Showgirls) Or am I just missing something?

That was one of the questions I sort of had about it. The Toolkit would not make a good damage-soaker at all, and Protecting a Toolkit that is Protecting a Peacekeeper/Rider just means that Hoffman (or the Guardian, if he's in range for it) is soaking wounds off two models, which seems bad. Protecting the Toolkit certainly doesn't seem like a bad idea, since it's a good little healer, but I don't know about one model getting the brunt of wounds put on several models. I suppose I should give it a try to see how it works in real-game setting, though. Semi-related question: Maintain Machines means the Toolkit is ignoring that whole Easy to Wound thing, right? And, on the slowpants Guardian, should he be getting the Reactivate for the first couple turns so he can keep up, or is that better spent elsewhere?

Just to be clear, though, the Mobile Toolkit is a Hoffman totem. His name is on it and everything. It just happens to be a totem he shares with Ramos, who is basically his mentor in the fluff. Watchers are great in any crew. I've never regretted taking one. They aren't there for damage output, obviously, but they're one of the best objective grabbers in the game, and looking at cards before you have to flip them is always a good thing. To the folks talking about the Protect chain, can you explain that a bit? I've seen it come up before, and was unsure about how practical it sounded. Is the idea to spread the damage throughout the crew, or is it to redirect a lot of it to the Guardian? Does it not make positioning a nightmare?

...Wait, what? I'm not aware that either of those models has the ability to "poop out" corpse counters. I thought it was just Morty that could dig up those things. Carrion effigy is definitely a good looking model, but its uses are sadly limited from what I've seen.

I almost never bring a totem with Sonnia because (1) I usually want her avatar and (2) I really love the Brutal Effigy, which is a model I recommend to almost anyone. (Her spells are also costly, so even high-Ca totems would have some issues with them.) That aside, a great many minions will work well with Sonnia, and she's a very versatile Master. I say this a lot, but one of my favorites is probably the Ronin, because they are almost as versatile as she is. They're strong models in general; Melee Experts that can Push around the field with Run Through or their Next Target trigger, etc. What makes them of particular value to Sonnia, I think, is being Hard to Kill (meaning if one is really in trouble she can Violation it into a Witchling) and being able to commit Seppuku, because there are definitely games where Sonnia might need a couple extra soulstones. Hard to Kill also makes them good for bouncing a blast or two off, if that's your thing. If you want a couple Witchlings but want to conserve some soulstones, a couple Desperate Mercs might be good, too. Casting Inferno near them takes them down to one wound by turn two, making them prime Violation fodder. If you can pull it off, doing 'For My Family' before using them to summon a Witchling is fun, but putting them into combat also makes them rather vulnerable. And if you need a bit of healing, they have their Last Noble Deed as well. If you get an Austringer, consider a couple Raptors. They can make great blast-bouncing smart missiles in a Sonnia crew if they manage to stay alive long enough. (Being Easy to Wound makes it easy to get the damage you want on them, but it also makes it easy for your opponent to take them out.) They can also serve as Violation fodder. I haven't run him yet, but I just got Sue, and I think he'll be Avatar Sonnia's best friend. Plus, dude is a good model in general, and he's Johnny Cash so what's not to love? I haven't been too impressed with the Fire Gamin, but it doesn't hurt to mention that Sonnia can hire them. They can be fun little exploding models. (but then again, so are Witchlings.) Watchers have already been mentioned, but they're worth their weight. A few card tricks plus objective-grabbing, good stuff. It can really be nice to look at a card and know whether you can successfully cast one of Sonnia's spells with it. Little fragile, but they can fly out of anything. I hear good things about the Handler and Samael, and they look good on paper, but I can't speak from experience yet. That's pretty much what I have to say about Sonnia and what I like best with her, specifically. There are a lot of good models in the Guild, so I won't go through each and every one of them.

I'm going to assume this should read "mobile toolkit." The mechanical attendant is Hoffman's native Guild totem. I just got Hoffman myself, so it's all kind of theoretical, but I thought the Mechanical Rider looked great for him. She can get up to Armor +4, which would be amazing for Protected by Machines. She also has Wicked, which I thought would be a good thing to Assimilate. She can also gain a couple other things I wouldn't mind Assimilating. I had a tough time deciding whether she was better than the Peacekeeper (same cost, different skills) so eventually I'll be trying both of them. Was also considering the Arachnid Swarm since they have Melee Master (another potential great Assimilation) and they can do that whole break apart thing if necessary. Also thought about the Steamborg Executioner, because it would be kinda fun to run both Executioners, but I'm not sure I wanna pay 11 stones for the guy.

I thought the Reactivate triggered when a friendly Showgirl died. Why wouldn't Oiran grant that? (I ask this having only played against a Showgirl crew, so I don't know all their nuances in and out.)