The Hoffman shooting tower

[Franchute]

Hello

I'm jealous of the Guild forum because they already have plenty of threads about the third edition and the arcanist does not have many. So I decided to open this thread to start conversations. What do you think about the following list for Hoffman? It might be suited for reckoning.

- Hoffman, with a cache of 1 soulstone
- Mechanical Attendant
- Guardian with Magical Training (9+2ss)
- Ryle (10ss)
- Melissa KORE (8ss)
- Mobile Toolkit (3ss)
- Essence of Power (4+1ss)
- 2 x Soulstone Miners (12ss)

I havent tried the list yet because I don't own the essence of power, but it should arrive in a couple of months. I have tried similar lists though. The idea of the list is not very subtle. You place Hoffman's bubble in the middle of the board and shoot at everything. Ryle and Melissa are the shooters. You goal is to get as many moderate/severe damages on their guns as you can. For that, the rest of the crew is there to support them. Hoffman gives them fast and power tokens for plus flips. You can also use power tokens for rams to give Ryle more positive flips for his damage flips, or to have Melissa getting blasts. Toolkit gives them focus. Essence of Power increases their stat when shooting; it can also give them a (+) flip if they choose to stone for a ram. The good news is that you dont need many cards with all the plus flips, but you need some to take the hit with the Guardian. Plus flips and increased stats should help against cover, friendly fire, concealment or distracted. For example, if you shoot with Ryle and use a focus and a power token for a ram, you already are on double positives for both the attack and the damage. If on top of that you use a stone for an extra ram, you are on triple positive both the attack and the damage flips if the Essence of Power is nearby. Melissa is not as impressive but she has the advantage of being able to blast. She's typically eligible for Vendetta and is more mobile than Ryle (I'm not 100% sold on her yet though).

Guardian is there to protect the bubble and move Hoffman around. One has to try to keep everybody within 2" of the Guardian to take the hit. If the opponent can cast analyze weakness, Hoffman will put Temper Steel on the Guardian, whose objective is to take most of the hits. The crew also has several ways to heal with Hoffman, his totem, the toolkit or even Ryle.

If the enemy engages Ryle or Melissa, they can be pushed with Transfer Power to get out of engagement. The guardian can also toss the enemy away. Ennemies that stay in the bubble are not expected to last long. If the Guardian could take the hit before the enemy charged, this typically means he'll able to attack back with his great sword and would have plus flips on his damage. If Hoffman gives Overcharge with an enemy around, the enemy might get injured with a ping damage or lose some good cards.

Finally, the Soulstone Miners are the schemers of this crew. They can potentially give two extra stones per turn if you plan is simply to bury/unbury them.

Some weakness: Lures that destabilize the bubble, multiple ping damage, shockwaves. I'm not sure having a opponent casting Analyze Weakness would be such a big deal though given the power of Temper Steel.

Replacing Melissa and the Essence of Power with Joss might be a good idea if Assassinate is in the pool or if you expect armor (Hoffman can Analyze Weakness too). I havent played against Colette yet, but Howard might be useful in this case. Diesel Engine might be also worth taking against shooty crews.

[Cathaidan]

I can't speak for the Arcanists, but I do know that the local Neverborn player was cussing Hoffman up one side and down the other the last time they played.  Hoffman with a Peace Keeper is nigh unkillable because the PK can take the hits for Hoffman and blocks LoS to him very well, and Hoffman can heal him for 9 Health each turn, make it so you can't bypass its Armor +2, and generally be this juggernaut of insanity in the middle of the field.  Meanwhile your Watchers and Hunters are bouncing all over the place earning you VP from schemes.  Our Neverborn player finally thinks he has figured out how to deal with this, but he didn't share the secret and is holding back waiting on the Hoffman player to play him again.

[Franchute]

Just now, Cathaidan said:

I can't speak for the Arcanists, but I do know that the local Neverborn player was cussing Hoffman up one side and down the other the last time they played.  Hoffman with a Peace Keeper is nigh unkillable because the PK can take the hits for Hoffman and blocks LoS to him very well, and Hoffman can heal him for 9 Health each turn, make it so you can't bypass its Armor +2, and generally be this juggernaut of insanity in the middle of the field.  Meanwhile your Watchers and Hunters are bouncing all over the place earning you VP from schemes.  Our Neverborn player finally thinks he has figured out how to deal with this, but he didn't share the secret and is holding back waiting on the Hoffman player to play him again.

I'd certainly be interested in knowing other tricks than lure and ping damage.

[Cathaidan]

Just now, Franchute said:

I'd certainly be interested in knowing other tricks than lure and ping damage.

I know he has a Lucius/Neverborn Crew.  That might be the solution.  I could also see obeying the PK to attack Hoffman.  Needless to say, as the other Guild Player in our group, I have been thinking about this since then, just to make sure I have an answer for Hoffman.

[Gnomezilla]

42 minutes ago, Cathaidan said:

I can't speak for the Arcanists, but I do know that the local Neverborn player was cussing Hoffman up one side and down the other the last time they played.  Hoffman with a Peace Keeper is nigh unkillable because the PK can take the hits for Hoffman and blocks LoS to him very well, and Hoffman can heal him for 9 Health each turn, make it so you can't bypass its Armor +2, and generally be this juggernaut of insanity in the middle of the field.  Meanwhile your Watchers and Hunters are bouncing all over the place earning you VP from schemes.  Our Neverborn player finally thinks he has figured out how to deal with this, but he didn't share the secret and is holding back waiting on the Hoffman player to play him again.

Oh, so that was *you*! 😂 Or your meta, anyway. Well, my meta spoke with your meta and sang the gospel of ping damage, and pointed out that Hoffman can’t heal himself, and explained where the auxiliary heals are (from a Guild perspective, didn’t touch on Arcanists). I didn’t even consider that LoS blocking was a possibility, after playing this much against nephilim who enjoy blade rushing my far side every chance they get.

As for yourself, the threat of a Sonnia ignoring-armor-with-blasts is ever-present, and it only takes one crew member getting past the concealment of Diesel Engine to let her no longer care. I have to think a bit more about Hoffman into Sonnia. Suspect I may end up selecting the ‘alpha strike to her face’ melee option.

[Franchute]

11 minutes ago, Gnomezilla said:

 I have to think a bit more about Hoffman into Sonnia. Suspect I may end up selecting the ‘alpha strike to her face’ melee option.

How would you do this?

11 minutes ago, Gnomezilla said:

As for yourself, the threat of a Sonnia ignoring-armor-with-blasts is ever-present, and it only takes one crew member getting past the concealment of Diesel Engine to let her no longer care.

It's true that you dont even need to declare her as your leader.

[Gnomezilla]

10 minutes ago, Franchute said:

How would you do this?

Probably toss something into her and/or the nearest speed bump with a guardian. 10” move for one action is difficult to improve upon.

[Franchute]

55 minutes ago, Gnomezilla said:

Probably toss something into her and/or the nearest speed bump with a guardian. 10” move for one action is difficult to improve upon.

Would this something be Joss for irreducible damage and Sz 2? The nice thing is that he can command the guardian to toss him forward as a bonus action. He does not necessarily need to declare a trigger to make his damage irreducible if he has enough power tokens.

[Cathaidan]

Irreducible damage and ignoring armor don't help against Hoffman.  As was discussed somewhere else on the forums (I believe the Guild thread, but I'm not certain) his healing ability prevents these from working against the construct he targets.

That's why I was thinking about obeys onto the PK/Guardian.  Hoffman is squishy, and the construct wouldn't be a friendly construct during the obey action, so it can't take the hit for Hoffman.  It would force him to bubble up more, and leave the rest of the table open for your scheme runners.

[retnab]

26 minutes ago, Cathaidan said:

That's why I was thinking about obeys onto the PK/Guardian.  Hoffman is squishy, and the construct wouldn't be a friendly construct during the obey action, so it can't take the hit for Hoffman.

It does still count as friendly to the crew, but I can't remember how people resolved taking the hit on your own hit's legality (I know having a Guardian use Toss against him and TTH'ing to make the Guardian Toss itself is something that was discussed).

[Franchute]

6 minutes ago, retnab said:

It does still count as friendly to the crew, but I can't remember how people resolved taking the hit on your own hit's legality (I know having a Guardian use Toss against him and TTH'ing to make the Guardian Toss itself is something that was discussed).

What he meant is correct. I guess he meant "still friendly" 😊 Indeed a guardian can only take the hit against enemy attack actions. The same happens for Hoffman Protected ability.

[Cathaidan]

2 minutes ago, Franchute said:

What he meant is correct. I guess he meant "still friendly" 😊 Indeed a guardian can only take the hit against enemy attack actions. The same happens for Hoffman Protected ability.

More of a what I mean than a what I say kind of thing.  lol

[cbtb11235813]

I tried out Collodi last night against Hoffman, having him hit the Peacekeeper, and telling it to hit Hoffman seemed solid