Henchman Hardcore

[Cadaverousbirth]

Who do you think would be the best Guild Henchman for Henchmen Hardcore?

On the reverse, which Henchmen from other factions are you likely to see, and how would you deal with them?

[Ludvig]

My group plays several different kinds of Henchman Hardcore but for the assassinate kind I like the Judge or Ryle as my leader. Ryle can make fun all-construct crews that kick serious butt and he can heal himself which is nice in assassinate.

You are very likely to face Candy since she is utterly brutal in a game of only 4 activations. I seriously hate her. A lot! My local resser players favour the Valedictorian with the upgrade that hurts you if you hurt her. I very often see Yin in both TT and ressers (although she isn't the leader of course). With arcanists you have a good chance of running into Joss since he is survivable and hard-hitting. Gremlins have a tendecy to gravitate towards horrible melee-flavoured Lacroix (forget the name) at least in my local group.

I mostly deal by losing badly and calling them OP   Francisco a.k.a. "The Crutch" Ortega can go a long way to making your own leader more survivable as well as dishing out ok damage in melee against most people.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Ludvig

[Math Mathonwy]

Gremlins have a tendecy to gravitate towards horrible melee-flavoured Lacroix (forget the name) at least in my local group.

Francois, though he really shouldn't be the leader (Trixiebelle should).

[Myyrä]

Playing against Outcasts you are likely to face Hannah carrying I Pay Better. There is relatively little you can do against that level of OP.

[Rurouni Benshin]

Playing against Outcasts you are likely to face Hannah carrying I Pay Better. There is relatively little you can do against that level of OP.

^ This.  Pay even closer attention if she's got Tally Sheet in addition to I Pay Better too.

That said, I've been meaning to try this list for a Henchman Hardcore.

Sidir (Leader)
- Promises
- By Your Side
Francisco
- Wade In
- Dampening Field
Santiago
- Hair Trigger

Idea is for Francisco to go first and give El Mayor to Sidir, walk up a little and use Finesse.  Discourages charge attacks, and if he's shot at, Sidir can jump in front and take the hit instead.  And since he's now Df 7 on a 40mm base, he can probably soak the attack or two, while blocking line of sight to Francisco for the remainder of that activation, leaving him in prime position to use his Machine Gun.  Santiago is there because, well, it's Santiago.  Hopefully he won't have to shoot into Sidir's engagements but even if he ends up charging into combat, he's a tough guy to take down.  Use Dampening Field during a crucial moment when their Leader is close to dead.

[Myyrä]

That said, I've been meaning to try this list for a Henchman Hardcore.

Sidir (Leader)
- Promises
- By Your Side
Francisco
- Wade In
- Dampening Field
Santiago
- Hair Trigger

Idea is for Francisco to go first and give El Mayor to Sidir, walk up a little and use Finesse.  Discourages charge attacks, and if he's shot at, Sidir can jump in front and take the hit instead.  And since he's now Df 7 on a 40mm base, he can probably soak the attack or two, while blocking line of sight to Francisco for the remainder of that activation, leaving him in prime position to use his Machine Gun.  Santiago is there because, well, it's Santiago.  Hopefully he won't have to shoot into Sidir's engagements but even if he ends up charging into combat, he's a tough guy to take down.  Use Dampening Field during a crucial moment when their Leader is close to dead.

Your list doesn't have 4 models.

[Rurouni Benshin]

That said, I've been meaning to try this list for a Henchman Hardcore.

Sidir (Leader)
- Promises
- By Your Side
Francisco
- Wade In
- Dampening Field
Santiago
- Hair Trigger

Idea is for Francisco to go first and give El Mayor to Sidir, walk up a little and use Finesse.  Discourages charge attacks, and if he's shot at, Sidir can jump in front and take the hit instead.  And since he's now Df 7 on a 40mm base, he can probably soak the attack or two, while blocking line of sight to Francisco for the remainder of that activation, leaving him in prime position to use his Machine Gun.  Santiago is there because, well, it's Santiago.  Hopefully he won't have to shoot into Sidir's engagements but even if he ends up charging into combat, he's a tough guy to take down.  Use Dampening Field during a crucial moment when their Leader is close to dead.

Your list doesn't have 4 models.

Is that a requirement for most Henchman Hardcore matches?  The one I last participated in never stipulated otherwise, so I just presumed that it was how Henchman Hardcores were popularly played.  Last time I played, I brought Ama No Zako, Bishop, and Hans.

[LordZombie]

It really depends on your TO. The official rules state you do need four models, no more, no less. But your TO can change that. Should ask them about the rules before hand. 

[Rurouni Benshin]

It really depends on your TO. The official rules state you do need four models, no more, no less. But your TO can change that. Should ask them about the rules before hand. 

Well, considering I was allowed to play it, I'm sure he didn't see a problem with it.  Granted I did win this HH, but I wasn't the only person who brought a 3 model crew either.  I can see why they want 4 models to a crew, to prevent bringing 2-3 powerful models and using upgrades to bolster them strictly.  But then if everyone does it, is it really unbalanced?

[Myyrä]

It really depends on your TO. The official rules state you do need four models, no more, no less. But your TO can change that. Should ask them about the rules before hand. 

Well, considering I was allowed to play it, I'm sure he didn't see a problem with it.  Granted I did win this HH, but I wasn't the only person who brought a 3 model crew either.  I can see why they want 4 models to a crew, to prevent bringing 2-3 powerful models and using upgrades to bolster them strictly.  But then if everyone does it, is it really unbalanced?

The whole format is pretty unbalanced, no matter what you do.

[LordZombie]

It really depends on your TO. The official rules state you do need four models, no more, no less. But your TO can change that. Should ask them about the rules before hand. 

Well, considering I was allowed to play it, I'm sure he didn't see a problem with it.  Granted I did win this HH, but I wasn't the only person who brought a 3 model crew either.  I can see why they want 4 models to a crew, to prevent bringing 2-3 powerful models and using upgrades to bolster them strictly.  But then if everyone does it, is it really unbalanced?

I am pretty sure that is the idea. So you don't take a 4 ss smoe and then a 13 ss big guy with upgrade. It does force better balance, in a way.

 

[Rurouni Benshin]

It really depends on your TO. The official rules state you do need four models, no more, no less. But your TO can change that. Should ask them about the rules before hand. 

Well, considering I was allowed to play it, I'm sure he didn't see a problem with it.  Granted I did win this HH, but I wasn't the only person who brought a 3 model crew either.  I can see why they want 4 models to a crew, to prevent bringing 2-3 powerful models and using upgrades to bolster them strictly.  But then if everyone does it, is it really unbalanced?

I am pretty sure that is the idea. So you don't take a 4 ss smoe and then a 13 ss big guy with upgrade. It does force better balance, in a way.

 

I wouldn't call it "better balance" necessarily though.  Since again, if all players have the same crew building privileges, no one is at any kind of disadvantage.  That said, I would say that players with more experience, as well as access to the more "powerful" models, would be at a more distinct advantage in this case.  I wouldn't want to participate in this type of HH unless I had a well versed understanding of the game. 

To keep things interesting though, I would encourage players to make more thematic crews, since HH tend to be a less serious platform (though that is dependent entirely on the crowd you game with), and see what people come up with.  I think a "Freikorps" themed HH crew would be fun to play and watch.  Something about Hannah, a Strongarm Suit, and a Librarian rushing into combat just makes me a little excited.

[Myyrä]

Something about Hannah, a Strongarm Suit, and a Librarian rushing into combat just makes me a little excited.

Something about that makes me vomit in my mouth a little.

[Munindk]

I wouldn't call it "better balance" necessarily though.  Since again, if all players have the same crew building privileges, no one is at any kind of disadvantage.  That said, I would say that players with more experience, as well as access to the more "powerful" models, would be at a more distinct advantage in this case.  I wouldn't want to participate in this type of HH unless I had a well versed understanding of the game. 

To keep things interesting though, I would encourage players to make more thematic crews, since HH tend to be a less serious platform (though that is dependent entirely on the crowd you game with), and see what people come up with.  I think a "Freikorps" themed HH crew would be fun to play and watch.  Something about Hannah, a Strongarm Suit, and a Librarian rushing into combat just makes me a little excited.

Picking less than 4 models does mess with the balance.

It allows you to spend more on each model, thus allowing you to pick better models which is basically a form of force concentration. 3 models that can each one-round most models is potentionally more dangerous than 4 models that can almost one-round most models. In regular games this would be balanced out by your opponent out-activating you, but the format doesnt allow this.

I dont know Malifaux well enough to know how much this impacts the game, but it Hardcore doesnt sound very balanced from the start and this potentially decreases the already limited balance even more.