hoffman help

[col_blitzwell]

cant find a way to use him successfully i dont see his potential as a master. how do u guys use him.

Edited March 29, 2012 by col_blitzwell

[benw]

Um you might want to be more specific

[dunce002917]

Stats wise he may seem slow but his drawn to metal ability will fix that plus using assimilation with a construct with abilities that affect movement would give the Hoff that extra movement.

Machine Puppet is also an excellent tool to use your constructs weapons with improved CB.

So as a Malifaux noob, I like Hoffman and is still my favorite model I painted.

[Fastenhate]

Peacekeeper is huge for Hoffman. Hoffman, Peacekeeper and a Guardian make a really solid core.

The quick and dirty:

Protect chain the 3 of them. Activate Peacekeeper before hoffman so you can override edict (reactivate) the peacekeeper. If you are not moving far put slow on guardian to gain fast and use the fast action to puppet the peacekeeper. Don't forget about the chainspear. Great for applying slow and pulling models into a peacekeeper flurry.

Vs High defense models puppet the Guardian's shield bash, its a auto hit for 2-5 damage when hoffman does it.

Use watchers for objectives.

[TimeLapse]

Hey I hope I can help spread some light on Hoffman.

First off I am new to him myself but I have had success with him, I will go over the key models to look at for a list and then go into what they each can do.

First off what models to look at for your list

Hoffman

Mobile Toolkit/ Mechanical attendant 3ss

Peacekeeper 9ss

Watcher 3ss

Warden 5ss

Ryle 8ss

Nino 7ss

Guardian 7ss

Soul Stone Miner 7ss

Steampunk Arachnid Swarm 10ss

Joss 10ss

You can add other guild models but these are the key ones I would look at. Here is a quick note on each model and a detailed overlook at Hoffman the master

Lets start off with Hoffman, and what makes him work,

Hoffman base mechanic is that he gets better with more constructs near him, his CA gets bigger and he has a killer AOE spell that can do massive damage. All his abilities are about buffing or using constructs in lots of ways.

Assimilate is a key ability that give Hoffman some great boosts in the turn, here a list of some of the most useful traits to take

Slow to die

Immune to Influence

Melee master

Self repair

Flight

There are others but those are the ones I use most.

Using Hoffman puppet skill to give his actions to key models giving bonus attacks. Also remember the critical strike trigger he gives already has one ram, so it atuomadicly give a damage +1 to the attacks and even more if you get more ram so your damage output is bigger.

Machine Puppet is how Hoffman himself attacks, he uses it on himself to boost his own CB to 6(rams) and add critical strike, making his base damage 4/5/7.

A mix of Drawn to metal and open circuit can give Hoffman an edge in aoe combat. Activate Hoffman last in your army, when moving models leave a hole for the peacekeeper to move into and b ring in Hoffman. In a list with 5 constructs other then Hoffman that would make Open circuit damage 7, use a soul stone when casting to make sure that other models cannot defend vs the damage. With CA of 10 cheating with an 11+ will normally result in a number that most models cannot defend against. Even models that can use SS will have an issue beating this spell if you cheat with a 13, and if you add a SS of your own the result could be anywhere between 23-36, yeah that’s hard to deal with.

When all seems bleak, and everyone but Hoffman or most of your army is destroyed remember that Hoffman can pick up scrap counters and detonate them for un-bookable damage. I have played vs Pandora when she killed everything and Hoffman gathered the scraps and then in his next activation detonated them to kill all but one model left in the game. Its his broken arrow attack and can be devastating.

The tail of two Totems

Both totems have their uses and there are varying viewpoints on which one is best,

-Mobile toolkit

Primary use – Since its mobile by use of its handy skill it can always be available for Hoffman Tap power or is there for healing. Its primary weakness is that it is easy to kill.

-The Mechanical attendant

Primary use, it is less of a totem and more a 3 point useful minion. It has an okay range weapon that can be made better with Hoffman’s Machine puppet. It has amour, and is significant so it can be counted for more missions that require significant.

-Peacekeeper

Primary use, this is your primary fighter, use Hoffman to give him reactivate at key moments to allow him to spring back into action at a key moment. Use him to taxi Hoffman around.

-Watcher

Primary use, To give slow to die to Hoffman via Assimilate. Use this when Hoffman is about to die, when he slows to die he can use a soul stone to prevent him from dying. Watcher are fast and good at taking objectives and getting away.

-Warden

Primary use, speed, in missions where you need your army to move fast these guys can discard a card and get a free move action, the peacekeeper can as well. An army with wardens and peacekeepers can move 15 inches in one turn if you have the cards.

-Ryle

Primary use, Range, he has an interesting range weapon and he adds that to the army.

-Nino

Primary use, he is another good range model if you find you need more range, not bring a construct he can be a disadvantage but he is a good range choice.

-Guardian

Primary use, to give Extra armor to your units and to keep your force alive. He is slow and slows yours army down, so be careful when using him.

-Soul Stone Miner

Primary use, There are whole pages around him and Hoffman but since the errata changed all the bury craziness he is mostly just a fighter that can go underground. He is okay but not my first choice a bit over priced for Hoffman lists now.

-Steampunk Arachnid Swarm

Primary use, Fighters and an interesting choice, Hoffman can grab melee +2 from them and they have a good damage base for Hoffman’s Puppet ability.

-Joss

Primary use, He is too expensive for me but he can be useful in dealing damage, though I would choose the peacekeeper first.

---------- Post added at 04:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:55 AM ----------

Oh here are some of my lists

My 30 list for most games are,

Hoffman 4ss cache

Mechanical attendant 3ss

Peacekeeper 9ss

Watcher 3ss

Ryle 8ss

Guardian 7ss

Games with obectives or where speed is needed

Hoffman 4ss cache

Peackeeper 9ss

Warden 5ss

Warden 5ss

Warden 5ss

Watcher 3ss

Watcher 3ss

For 35 i normaly just add another warden.

[Buck Dog]

I am only just starting with Hoffman, but the Steampunk Arachnid Swarm seems underrated - it can also give Hoffman a free healing flip, and if you split it into individual spiders, it can give him a huge boost to his CA.

[dunce002917]

Awesome write up @timelapse...

[col_blitzwell]

thanks for the write up it makes him a little easier to under stand. how many ss do u play with him? i thinking around 6

[Fancy_Hat]

@ timelapse, That is a great writeup but just note that the Mobile Toolkit is 4 SS for Hoffman to hire, because he has to pay the extra stone for hiring out-of-faction.

Also try checking out the Malifaux tactics wiki: Pull My Finger.

[TimeLapse]

Oh yeah the tool kit is 4ss i never ues it myself, after painting the attendent I love way it looks too much not to run him.

Hat - I normaly dont add any SS on him and use the points he comes with, i tend not to use vary meny with him, if you can fit six then i would just to keep him alive in a pinch but he can work fine with 4.

[GoodPhule]

Thanks for the write up - love the hoff but have found him challenging to make work so far - think this will really help.

I think my biggest problem is that I keep splitting up his crew but from this it seems that you want to keep everything together. Does that limit how effective he is at achieving schemes and strats and stopping the enemy from getting their points?

[dunce002917]

GoodPhule's concern has some merit. At lower ss scraps/brawls would limit Hoffman's effectiveness in certain strategies and schemes and you have to be careful in selecting non-construct models that are fast and can help you win in some scenarios.

An example of Hoffman's strengths and weaknesses was shown in my 1st game with him (sorry to make this into a mini battle report but please bear with me).

I played the Hoff in a 20 ss game.

List:

Hoffman

Watcher

Guardian

Hunter

Death Marshall

Strategy: Treasure Hunt

Schemes: Frame for Murder (Death Marshall) and Kill Protege (Female Drowned)

@GoodPhule's concern manifested itself as my construct crew were almost always within 6-8" from each other. Only my Watcher and Death Marshall were given permission to go on their own. I lost my chance to have the Kill Protege Scheme as my opponent place that Drowned Minion far away from the action (he had Reconnoiter as his strategy) and even with the Watcher's speed, it would be nearly impossible to get the scheme.

I instead focused on the Strategy and had Hoffman's drawn to metal ability help him keep up with his crew. He used Machine Puppet to wipe out the defending spirits (yes, at half damage but what can you do?). My lone Death Marshall I sent to his death but Kirai was too Pitiful and weak sauce to kill him herself... she instead sent a Shikome to do the job (overkill if you ask me).

One thing I found out though... an all-construct crew against Kirai would starve the girl of souls for spirit food. She then had to sacrifice her spirits to do her thing and my Guardian fought valiantly to protect Hoffman and tie-up Kirai's meaner spirits giving Hoffman a chance to pick up the treasure and run away. The Hunter died an honorable death and the Watcher did some covering fire. The end of the encounter resulted with a tie.

The take away: Hoffman's abilities and spells make Hoffman a viable Master. He can be fast and can take the best features of your constructs to help him achieve his goal. In smaller scraps, he may be only effective in certain schemes and strategies. In bigger ss games, I would include fast minions that can hold their own (or get to objectives fast). I might get some Guild Hounds and more watchers.

I hope this helped.