Henchman Hardcore

[Occam's Greatsword]

Does anyone have experience in Third Edition using Neverborn in the Henchman Hardcore format?

Which Henchmen do we think are good Leaders and who best supports them?

What can we expect from the opposition? 

My first thoughts would be: Candy, potentially with Kade/Teddy, or LCB/Carver with Stitched.

[Ogid]

No idea; I guess it depends on who you are going to face... but I think that most of them are legit...

Some random ideas from the top of my head:

• Hinamatsu: Potentially 4 attacks with onslaught triggers, + great cost/effective models like Coryphees or Bunrakus for both fight or run for the strategy; posible TT Qi and Gong crew for mind games... probably Hinamatsu(Reflexes) + 2 Coryphees + Bunraku would be a very good team or Hinamatsu + Geisha + Serena + Arcane Emissary(EoFate) could also work.
• Thoon: Frozen trophy with few models have to be very very broken if you can prenvent them to free the model and H2W+Frozen Vigor could make them very hard to kill with few models, Thoon + Geryon + Cyclops + Lysa... something like: Lysa lure a model, Thoon turn it into a frozen brick, Geryon throw that brick far away for the other guys... or just smash them XDD.
• Hayreddin: You can't summon but you can replace, this would be the sumonish option of this mode: Deploy conservatively, play defensive the first 2 turns while growing your crew and build focus and then be agressive turn 3, I'd go with Hayreddin + 2 BBS + 1 Tot to grow it to 2 Matures and 1 Lelu... Or go for them from the start with Hayreddin + Mature + BBS + Dog/Tot.
• Carver also seem very good, he is versatile, has double keyword (Nightmare, Woe), can get rid of Focused and is the only Henchman of cost 10... something like Carver + Iggy + Azde/Candy + Sorrow/Alph/Lyssa or Carver + Teddy + Kadde + Daydream could work
• Aeslin: Injured + displacement with a models or KJ may be quite good... something like Aeslin + Killjoy + Knight + Doll or Aeslin + 2 Knights + Misterious(EoFate)...

But these are just examples, there could be other possible crews with the above, and I also like most of the other Henchmans... My personal favourites would be Hinamatsu, Hayreddin and Carver.

[Maniacal_cackle]

IMO, mobility + hard-hitting is key. You need to be able to drop bombs efficiently but also do the kill-y schemes.

Widow weaver might provide a good core for this. But fitting in a vendetta model might be tricky. I'm dubious of stitched as they are way weaker without lucid dream support.

Bad juju is super tanky, decently mobile, and can interact even if he starts the turn engaged. That seems pretty good. Enemies trying to assassinate him may struggle.

Lord Chompy Bits is a heavy hitter and durable, but is just too slow. Can imagine he'd get bogged down in combat turn one and never get out of it again.

[Nabijis]

In my last Henchmen Hardcore I played Heyreddin and 3 Young Nephilims. No Soulstones left, but a really brutal crew

However, I didn't use the Grow mechanics due to lack of time, but easy to play, very fast and hard hitter ... and some healing mechanics due to Hay.

I managed to end as runner up (3 wins, 1 tie)

[Ogid]

4 hours ago, Nabijis said:

In my last Henchmen Hardcore I played Heyreddin and 3 Young Nephilims. No Soulstones left, but a really brutal crew

However, I didn't use the Grow mechanics due to lack of time, but easy to play, very fast and hard hitter ... and some healing mechanics due to Hay.

I managed to end as runner up (3 wins, 1 tie)

Interesting crew... noted 😁. I think it's important having a few SS to cover Hayreddin because he tend to use some of his Wds offensively (Necrotic Decay, Blood for Blood) and getting the Necrotic Decay trigger ramps up his damage a lot (just with 1 damage it goes from 2/3/4 to 3/4/5 + 1 extra damage from BB). With df6 it's not that hard to kill if he is with 6-7 Wds... But It's good to know it worked well without any! I guess he is harder to focus down if there are other 3 Nephs wreaking face around XD.

I'd had picked at least 1 BBS, those are nice supports that can become a mature in turn 2 (with only 6 wds tho) and you only need 2 (better if low) masks to do it. But even wihout them you can use the grow mechanics shooting your own Nephs with Hayreddin if you top deck (or cheat) some masks.

For example with your crew a way to set up the corpses in turn 1: Start with Hayreddin and 2 youngs in B2B, the other young where needed. Move 1 young around 10'' (move+Fly+Focus/Interact) towards 1 objetive, move Hayreddin 6'' in that direction, shoot both the activated and unactivated youngs to get 2 corpses. Activate the other Young, consume the corpse and double move towards the other corpse. In the turn 2 you will have a mature with 2 actions left (but no fly with me)... It depends on you getting the masks needed and if you rather that style than just rushing.