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Hoffman Help


pyro gremlin

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I'm starting to read up on the C-Hoffmeister, as I got his box during 1st edition for a Watcher and Guardian but wasn't really interested in him so much.

 

Would anyone ever seriously run him without Field Repairs? Can anyone think of any reason not to take the upgrade, aside from not taking constructs in the crew for some reason? I'm running from memory, but without it, he has nothing he can do with Scrap markers, and the repair action on Arcanist Assets is next to useless.

 

Aside from saving space on his card, or to limit the number of upgrades that he takes, was there any other reason not to have Field Repairs built-in to his basic card during testing?

 

Sorry if this has been asked before...

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I'm in love with double Watcher when the pool has lots of marker based strategies. That doesn't mean I'll be taking those particular strategies every time, but the group I play with knows how fast the 2 Watchers (1 with Programmed Directive other with Hydraulics) can dump scheme markers. So for me the upgrade I start with is Field Mechanic and I make sure to get the trigger on Update Hardware so I can get both modifications out on turn 1. I also almost always use his 0 Shakedown every turn to get scrap I can use on the board.

 

I do pretty much the same thing but as I often take Arcanist Assest the (0) Frantic Repairs can also be incredibly useful. 

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I don't own the model, so no not yet... I really am excited about a Hoffman, Samuel, Large Steam Arachnid build... Maybe something like:

 

Hoffman

   Remote mines

   Field Mechanic

   Arcanist Assets

Samael Hopkins

   Witch Hunt

Watcher

Watcher

Large Arachnid

Large Arachnid

Large Arachnid

 

The arachnids make scrap and add burning

The watchers either run interference or schemes and get hydraulics and programmed directive

Sam puts burning on guys or rapid fires when they've already got it on them.

 

The only problem I foresee is the arachnids need to be engaged to give enemies burning.... so either you disengage, or hope they try, or randomized three times? A'int none of that sounds pretty...

 

ENinja

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Soulstone Miner is also a nice arcanist M & SU construct. I currently run with two of them, they are good for several schemes, droppin markers in enemys deplovment zone, being a 3VP "sucker" and can bind some suporting models in the early turns. It can use Soulstone like a henchman that keep him alive for a certain time.

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Inspired by this thread, I finally got my Hoffman stuff assembled and last night had my first game.  Here was my crew:

 

C. Hoffman -- 6 Pool
 +Field Mechanic [2]
 +Remote Mines [2]
 
Mechanical Attendant [2]
Guardian [8]
Hunter [7]
Peacekeeper [11]
 +Tessellating Magnet [1]
Ryle [10]
Watcher [4]
 
Strategy: Turf War (almost seems tailor made for Hoffman); Schemes: Bodyguard, Power Ritual
 
Was playing against MudgeBlack fielding Mei Feng, Rail Golem, Kang, Emberling, 2 Rail workers, Willy, and a Metal Gamin. His schemes were Line in the Sand and Spring the Trap.
 
I never ended up using Remote Mines, though it did scare my opponent a little bit.  But the biggest highlight was turning the Peacekeeper into a whirlwind of death and with Protect from the Guardian, a fairly resilient tank too!  With Nimble from Hoffman giving out the Hydraulics modification, Ml 7 and Df 6 from being powerlooped with the Guardian, and then Defensive +2 with the Guardian, he walked in to combat with the Rail Golem, took him down to 2 wounds, took three attacks back and only taking a couple wounds.  Then Hoffman machine puppeted him to finish off the Rail Golem.  Later, he took Mei Feng's last couple wounds (with help from the Guardian and Hoffman himself) and finally died when he charged Willy and thanks to some help from the Red Joker killed Willy in one swing and died in the resulting blast.  This was after taking out two enemy scheme markers thanks to his (0) action.  
 
I originally had programmed directive on the Watcher, but after he was taken out (pesky Metal Gamin), I put it on the Hunter who completed the Power Ritual after taking out the Emberling.  I had selected Ryle for Bodyguard with the idea that I could keep him alive by using the Peacekeeper as a huge disctraction.  In hindsight that was a mistake simply because he's pretty slow and Kang, the Metal Gamin, and a Rail worker were finally able to bring him down (he did get Kang down to 1 wound, twice).  
 
I was initially hesitant about taking the Guardian, as other than powerlooping his stats, I didn't know what to expect.  As it turns out, that was pretty much all he needed to do as between handing out stats, giving out Defensive +2, and taking the odd wound off models (I believe he took Kang's last wound through a machine puppet attack from Hoffman), he still was worth his weight in Stones.  
 
Looking back, I should have dropped my pool down to 5, dropped the Tesselating Magnet off of the Peacekeeper (never used it) and dropped remote mines, and added a second Watcher and I would have been better equipped to take out my opponents scheme markers.  As it ended, we were tied 6-6.  In his last activation, his metal gamin failed to cast magnetic on my hunter, which would have put him in position to drop another scheme marker and get full points for Line in the Sand, and then the hunter scampered off to drop the last scheme marker for Power Ritual.  
 
I'm used to running Perdita so playing Hoffman was a refreshing change.  There is so much synergy and disruptive power in this crew and the amount of heals you can potentially get was pretty frustrating for my opponent.  I think he's not the best for many of the schemes and a few of the strategies, but he was tons of fun to play and I can't wait to get him on the table again!
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