NeuroFire

But he's within an inch of it, and the Rider is not. The Crooked Man would probably get cover in this setup, if something with range was in place of the Rider, but not the other way around. (Cover rules in this game are a bit weird like that.)

My understanding is no, the cache can't be used for hiring. (Henchman number, on the other hand, can.)

When it became a Melee Expert healer that also has a chance of giving Slow, I think. It's a fantastic bodyguard that costs only four stones, and I don't think I've played a game with it where it didn't deal some damage and heal some guys before it got taken down. I adore my Brutal Effigy; really become disinclined to bother with a totem. (Effigy is even more the way to go when taking the avatar option, since attached totems disappear when you manifest.)

Executioner can be Obeyed by an Abuela or Hamlin, buried and moved about by a Death Marshal, or called from the deployment zone by Lucius. There are plenty of ways to get him in Collette's grill.

Most people only run the Peacekeeper with Hoffman, since he can ignore its issues. I would personally be fairly reluctant to run the Peacekeeper at nine stones with another master. That's pretty much why Hunters exist. I'm pretty excited about the Wardens, just as a general Guild model. I'm not sure if two of them would be the equal of the Peacekeeper or not. Something to maybe consider, though, would be a comparison between the Peacekeeper and the Pale Rider. They're both nine stones and are both Constructs, but the Pale Rider is equally useful to all Guild masters. The Peacekeeper might be useful to all of them, but is definitely more useful to Hoffman. Also consider that Hoffman can hire the Mechanical Rider, though of course no one else in the Guild can take her. I would personally go for the Pale Rider, myself, in terms of overall usefulness.

Witchlings are absolutely essential for Sonnia, because you can't summon a model you don't have. Now personally, I like to bring an Austringer (good minions in their own right) and three or four Raptors, because the Raptors are the best targets in the world for getting blasts off Flame Burst, being highly maneuverable and Easy to Wound. They can also be good fodder for Violation of Magic, because the moderate on Flame Burst takes them to one wound. Witchlings themselves are also great fodder for Violation, because the severe on Flame Burst takes them to one wound. For objective grabbing, I like Watchers. They're cheap, significant, and move seven. I'll keep a couple Watchers in my deployment zone for the first half of the game, using their valuable ability to look at fate cards, and then I'll send them out to do stuff. They can be a little squishy, but at least they're immune to disengaging. The Brutal Effigy has become an auto-include for me, even though it prevents taking a totem, because healing. (Also, if the plan is to manifest, the totem would go away and the Effigy does not.) Effigy is also good in combat, but mostly I love the healing, because there isn't much of that in the Guild. The Guardian has been mentioned, and Guardians are good, but Sonnia doesn't really need one. Her sword gives her healing when she hits something (btw, doesn't say it has to be an enemy model) so she's pretty survivable. She can also block scary things a little bit with the Flame Wall, and can be essentially immune to spells since she has counterspell. However, if you want to get Santiago Ortega, it's a good idea to attach a Guardian to him, because he's got a sweet spot of wounds where he's a brutal killing machine. That's a combo for high-stone scraps, though, because they both cost seven. Always always always make sure Sonnia has a full cache of eight stones, because if you have to Confiscate Lore to make all your casts work (which you will) it takes a stone, and there are games where she will be eating stones like chocolates. I've actually thought about getting some Ronin for her, so she has a way to get more stones if necessary, without having to resort to Drain Souls. (Ronin also ignore armor, so I'd like to take them against Ramos, and they're Hard to Kill, so perfect Violation fodder if that's needed. Man, I really need to get some Ronin.) Sonnia can hire Fire Gamin, so if they're something you already have as an Arcanist player that's another option to consider. I haven't found them to be super useful yet, but if you can keep them from dying, burning counters can definitely be a deal for avatar Sonnia, once you get to that point. Sonnia is probably my favorite master, so I think you've made a good choice, here. Good luck!

The Executioner is great against Colette, because she can't use Blinding Flash against him. Death Marshals can also be good, just because they have Intractable, rendering Disappearing Act useless; the Exorcist also brings a few benefits to the table when dealing with Coryphée, since they're non-living. Colette is Ca 7, so Sonnia can target her without LOS, and Avatar Sonnia's Pyre Manipulation is one of the best ways I've found for reliably damaging the Duet. (Sonnia also has her Disassemble trigger, which might not kill the Duet but it can at least drain cards/soulstones.) Witchlings are fantastic with their blades forcing discards in order to cast anything and their ability to dispel Blonde Act or Southern Charm (Perdita's Spellbreaker is the best way to do this, of course, but I like to have Sonnia.) Not to say I never have trouble against Colette, but there are a lot of Guild models that counter some of the crew's more powerful abilities. I generally have more trouble against an armor-heavy crew like Ramos, or a blender like the Viks.

Oh man, I've totally been doing the base contact thing... Well, this will come in handy.

Sonnia is the most flexible master in the Guild: good at range, totally decent in melee, self-healing, card-draining, summoning option, ignoring LOS to heavy casters, spell-canceling (which can basically function as an Immune to Influence), and she can make some cover. There are some strategies where I prefer Perdita because she's super mobile, and she certainly has a lot of options, but overall I prefer Sonnia. And yes, Sonnia's avatar is my favorite by far. I love Perdita's avatar on paper, but she gets a little squishy and goes down pretty easily if you try to take her into combat, so some of those abilities go to waste. (Really think they should have added Black Blood to her, just to give her something defensive; it would have fit her, since the bulk of the avatar is a giant Neverborn beast.) Sonnia's avatar has tended to stay alive a lot longer, and Pyre is amazingly useful.

Terrifying is fantastic against rats. Especially if a Stolen dies, because then a lot of them will be at Wp 2. Always take the Executioner against rats, because they are prime Loves the Job fodder, and then they scatter before his Terrifying-ness.