Thoughts on Arcanist Hoffman

[dancater]

So, with the release of 3e and transposition of Hoffman to the only truly freedom loving faction as our new master of the mechanoid I am a wondering.

Never played Hoffman, don't own him yet, but plan to as soon as he is 3e updated. But what are the Arcanist wise councils thoughts on running him as a master and the crew to battle beside him?

We're slowly building up a 3e knowledge base and there are several solid posts on the old Arcanist masters but I have not yet seen any solid tactica on Arcanist Hoffman, and sadly I'm an undetermined number of months away from being able to contribute, unless I break and buy a 2e Hoffman box.

So can other, wiser folks, contribute to a tactica for Arcanist The Hoff...

[Ludvig]

Haven't put anything on the table but I don't think he'd hate a soulstone miner or arcane reservoir on a guardian. I've seen the mech rider do some great stuff in crews that couldn't do anything for it so Hoffman should enjoy it. 

[Windijo]

Hoffman, in my opinion is more appealing in Arcanists. Giving a hunter or arachnid swarm diesel engine makes for a crazy mobile model/runner. It can be thrown by a guardian for 10", move 3" at the start of it's act, use power transfer on itself to push 2" since the ability doesn't say other, walk 2 x 6", then at the end of the turn push 4". That's 31" total turn 1 for the hunter, 28" for the swarm since no push at end of turn. Also arcane reservoir on the guardian is nice. All that armor means your opponent has to do something about it or they just chip away at your guys. The only downside I've experienced is WP duels. You lose those 80% of the time. Also with Arcanists you can take a metal gamin making having scrap tokens easier to come by.

[theamazingmrg]

I love Hoffman in Guild but I do think the Arcanist options are better for him, although I haven't been able to try them yet.

 

As an aside: what to people think of a Gunsmith as an OOK pick when you need a bit more ranged power?

[cbtb11235813]

25 minutes ago, theamazingmrg said:

I love Hoffman in Guild but I do think the Arcanist options are better for him, although I haven't been able to try them yet.

 

As an aside: what to people think of a Gunsmith as an OOK pick when you need a bit more ranged power?

I think at 9 points, and not having Amina/Ironsides nearby to turn on their Grit, I'd be hesitant to bring them. I'd rather bring something like Envy, who happens to be a construct as well

[dancater]

Hoffman's crew box is my number one priority for a 3e release purchase, can't happen soon enough.

[Myyrä]

I dominated one small tournament with a list that looked basically like this

New Charles Hoffman Crew (Arcanists)

Size: 50 - Pool: 5

Leader:

  Charles Hoffman

Totem(s):

  Mechanical Attendant

Hires:

  Joss

  Mobile Toolkit

  Howard Langston

    Diesel Engine

  Guardian

    Magical Training

  Warden

  Watcher

There's quite a bit of room for variation there depending on what you are facing. You can also take Peacekeeper or Melissa just fine if they fit the scenario better. Soulstone miners are also good if you can get use out of their mobility. Arcane Emissary is a trap and not worth it in my opinion, although you can take Effigy that turns into emissary on turn 3.

[theamazingmrg]

18 hours ago, cbtb11235813 said:

I think at 9 points, and not having Amina/Ironsides nearby to turn on their Grit, I'd be hesitant to bring them. I'd rather bring something like Envy, who happens to be a construct as well

A fair point (although I like that the Gunsmith can turn on Unionised for Howard in the first couple of rounds). The only problem with that is actually getting your hands on a Crossroads Seven box!

[frumpypigskin]

On 9/28/2019 at 7:03 AM, theamazingmrg said:

what to people think of a Gunsmith as an OOK pick when you need a bit more ranged power?

Maybe for now. When Melissa comes out or if Ryle is allowed Hoff has some decent ranged threat already. The ranged scheme removal is nice though... But Howard and Peacekeeper also make nice use of enemy scheme markers.

Also riot breakers can basically become a Min 3 8" Stat 6 gun while shutting down most obey/push shenanigans around them. (N.b. yet to try them)

 

I really like diesel engine on a guardian as this makes a usually slow tank really quick. You just have to watch it as toss is a non-melee attack action 😟 (so you may need to use power tokens for this if you're chucking an opponent, as there is no target number targeting a relenting ally doesn't matter much).He makes for a good Hoffman Babysitter.

 

Mech rider also works great giving scrap, scheming and super reactivation utility to a crew usually confined by its bubble if it wants to be most effective. 

Hunters for example look great at roamers. You need at least 1 power on them so they get that 2" push every turn, but it's still 1" short of making them truely great schemers (you can't interact push and interact) but let's it get out of engagement. But without ready access to power tokens their damage really falls off.

 

 

 

 

[mythicFOX]

I've been playing around with Hoffman quite a bit lately and think there's some real power here.  Especially if you really want to throw down and get fighty.  Not had enough table time to give concrete opinions but some early thoughts;

• All of Hoffman's abilities key of Constructs and not Augmented, so the Arcanist suite of powerful versatile and OOK models are great for him.
• There's a lot of mileage in 'Transfer Power', the ability to get out of combat at will has always been golden in Malifaux. Coupled with The Guardian's toss this gives you a surprising amount of mobility.
• Hoffman's abilities work best powering up big models, so it's probably best focusing on 1-2 models to stack your power counters on, with the rest just holding one for Transfer Power.

My sense is you want; A guardian, two big hitters, and some cheap utility, for example;

Hoffman, Mech Attendant, Guardian (+MT), 20ss of hitters (Howard / Joss / Diesel Swarm / Peacekeeper / Emissary), Soulstone Miner, Watcher, 7ss of utility, 2ss cache.

[dancater]

The podcast Third Floor Wars has just done an Arcanist Hoffman overview, listening to it and that has also provided interesting insights, so I recommend looking that up.

Hoping that a Hoffman box, and maybe a support minions box - looking at the Watcher here, come out Easter, if not before. 

Seems he has high durability, good flex, some nice damage support, plenty of healing and his biggest weaknesses are (1) he and his crew need to bubble to a degree (2) master with average mobility  (3) anti-armor tech (4) does need to wind up the power tokens so limited alpha strike (5) stronger melee than ranged offense

Pretty much locking towards these essentials (outside Hoffman and his totem), at least in the early finding the style and variables period

• Joss (+/- Diesel Engine)
• at least one Watcher to scheme 
• a Soulstone Miner because it is so versatile
• Magical Training on a minion (likely the Soulstone Miner)

Then it gets a little more open

A big beater

• Either Howard or the Peacekeeper, Howard seems more strike deadly, faster, whereas the Peacekeeper is more durable and has better straight reliable damage output (+/- Soulstone Cache)
• Not sure on Melissa KORE (definitely a trial few games for this model)
• Mechanical Rider has some interesting potential
• Not a fan of the Arcane Emissary (in this crew, but a upgraded Effigy possibly)

Flex/Scheme/Fighting (Augmented keyword) all rate as worth a long look

• (another) Watcher
• Hunter
• Riotbreaker
• Warden
• Union Steamfitter
• Guardian
• Mobile Toolkit
• Medical Automaton

Construct non-augmented that I think rate a long look

• Arcane Effigy (+/- evolution upgrade)
• Metal Gamin
• Steam Arachnid and Steam Arachnid Swarm
• Mecharachnid
• Envy

Arcanists have a selection of other constructs but I think the above is the pick of them for Hoffman crew. Lots to think about, and a big part will be when does Hoffman release, what is in his crew box and what other of the models above (which I don't have already) are releasing when/where/how.