Hoffman - what box to get first after the core one?

[Essexkiwi]

Taking a dip into Arcanists as second faction and going with Hoffman. He seems to have quite a few choices of keyword and versatile boxes to expand on.

I'll eventually add several, but for the first purhase on top of the core box what's the best one to get and why?  

[Maladroit]

That's a tough one. Howard Langston, a Guardian(s), watchers are all things you might want in the future. However if you are playing arcanists and intend on collecting more from that faction, then the support staff box is what I would go for. In terms of what I use often, it is Joss and the mobile toolkit. I don't use the medibots with Hoffman, however other crews find use for the medibots even out of keyword. I realise it is probably just me, but loading Joss full of power tokens and launching him at the enemy is my idea of fun. 

[AllistorPreist]

Keep in mind, I am not super 3rd ed savy. I went for protect and serve cause I want bots, but it is hard to argue against the Support Staff box. Joss is a ruthless wrecking machine with command construct for a bonus who benifits from hoff's power nexus and the mobile tool kit can throw out focus and repair every turn as well. There is something to be said for Langston and the Steamfitters, but they are just not quite as awesome as Joss and the toolkit. Once you have Support Staff, you can just go for what looks cool. But again, I am a full edition behind so my views are all theoretical. Grain of salt and all that.

[Essexkiwi]

Thanks guys. I prefer Arcanists to Guild as a faction hence leaning that way, but I also like the aesthetics of a bot crew so yeah those Guild boxes are appealing.
Joss looks great, looks like I'm getting two additional boxes then LOL.
What are your favoured models to use for scheming?   The Watchers seem ideal with their bonus actions but look a bit fragile.  

[Maladroit]

On 2/28/2021 at 9:29 AM, Essexkiwi said:

Thanks guys. I prefer Arcanists to Guild as a faction hence leaning that way, but I also like the aesthetics of a bot crew so yeah those Guild boxes are appealing.
Joss looks great, looks like I'm getting two additional boxes then LOL.
What are your favoured models to use for scheming?   The Watchers seem ideal with their bonus actions but look a bit fragile.  

Watchers are good for their cost - there isn't anything really more mobile in keyword. You can always make them fast and use the toss from a guardian so they can move to safety after dropping a marker (10" toss followed up with a 2" push and two 7" flight moves and an interact somewhere in there). Make sure they have a power token on them so you can push out of engagement using their bonus action without using a disengage. You have to be careful with them but they are small and very mobile. If you are looking for something more robust then Hunters are OK options (and you already have these models), they are costly for that though and you have to be careful if there is a lot of severe terrain as they really struggle with their 50mm base - and like the watchers you have both deadly pursuit and a power token  push out of engagements and still interact or keep moving towards your target. Like the watcher, you can toss these and Hoffman can give them fast to up the mobility. They're good enough to kill other scheme runners as well.

I guess the other robust option is the Steam Arachnid swarms OOK. They have been toned down but still get around the board very well with nimble and unimpeded if there is severe terrain to slow you down - and nimble means you can drop 2 scheme markers in one activation without fast - something the watcher and Hunter can't do (50mm base (edit: on the Hunter) is slightly smaller than 2"). Again toss and fast to increase the mobility for one turn or so you can interact then move back..    

Edited March 1, 2021 by Maladroit
Clarification of whose base was 50mm