Wave 5 - Hoffman

So since I`m on the roll I decided to do another entry today and its going to be a solo entry (second one will be McMourning). This time we`ll look at Charles Xavi..... Hoffman. As all other masters, he got 2 upgrades. So lets get right to it!


Improved Harness

What the card does:

• Gives Armor +1
• Gives a (0) that is an automatic 6" place called Mechanical Leap
• Gives an aura ability that allows friendly construct to make their Armor always usable (it includes both "Ignore armor" and "cannot be reduced" clauses).
• Costs 1 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: The Armor is great as with the trigger you can quite easily have unreducable Armor +3 vs Df attacks that don`t ignore triggers. The Leap is a very good evacuation plan as it allows you to get out of sticky situations without having to fight with disengaging strikes (with Df3-5 its pretty hard). Now when we go to the aura... Wow, just wow. This makes his crew super hard to take down and fixes one of his major flaws as well as allows him to be played in single master events and not be easily counterable.

Cons: I can`t think of anything else except "It takes an upgrade slot and costs 1 Soulstone".

Summary:

This upgrade allows Hoffman to not be pretty screwed when he is separated from his crew (for example he gets Tangled Shadowed by Lilith into a very bad position). When that happens you can survive the initial hits (due to Armor + Soulstones) and then just use Mechanical Leap and get back to safety. The aura will make him super tanky in extraction/Guard the Stash and the first thing that came to my mind is hiring a Sanctioned Spellcaster that you can either O.S.A (but how you ask? Answer below) or just activate and use the (0) to block those damn lures. I think this upgrade won`t be an autotake like Swordfighter but versus Arcanists (Oxfordian mages are pretty common with Sandeep and he`s super popular) and Outcasts you will start with it. From what I see in the wording, the aura doesn`t work on Poison (as its not an enemy model`s effect) so you still have to kill Sebastian but that`s a minor drawback (although I`d recommend remembering it)

Verdict: 
10/10 (Where`s your Thinkin` Luck aura, Genius?!
)

Pneumatic Upgrades

What the card does:

• Gives an ability to drop Power Loop from any amount of models to get +2" range to a name action per Power Loop dropped.
• Gives a tactical action that allows giving Guild non-Constructs the "Cyborg" upgrade that makes you a Construct, makes you end power loop after you use someones stat and gives a (0) requiring an 8 to attach a modification noone else has.
• Costs 2 Soulstone

What it allows to do in game:

Pros: First of all, it greatly expands Hoffmans hiring pool. While you still will have mostly constructs the 2-3 choices of non-constructs make a huge difference in what you can take. The second ability isn`t super important but sometimes can save you an AP which isn`t that bad and you can always take it off the Attendant to expand your bubble a bit.

Cons: Hoffman is pretty starved for upgrade slots so you have to really think what you want to take as Field Mechanic is still kind of crucial and Improved Harness is an autotake in some matchups so you`re left with one slot and you have to choose between O.S.A., Arcanist Assets and this.

Summary:

So I found out that there are some models that are pretty fun when combined with this one. First pick is Samael Hopkins. His main two weaknesses (he`s slow and squishy) are mitigated by giving him the Armor Modification (and various heals) and Machine Puppeting/Nimbling him around. His gun has a very good damage track that is not based on Crit Strike. He`s melee attack is trigger dependent but if you can put Burning on someone, they will be in a lot of pain even without that Crit strike. My second pick is Nino. He`s super squishy (but again, Armor and heals) and with Debt/Hair Trigger and the ram upgrade he can dish out 4 min 3 shots or 3 min 4 at 18" with a positive twist to attack. Add the Mobile Toolkit`s positive to damage and it starts to become savage. Santiago with positives from the Emissary can also be pretty good. Another cool option is Abuela as she`s a very good Power Loop target (she can currently only get Ml7 which is a waste to use and she gives out Df6 and Sh7 which is definitely worth it). It also allows you to use Death Marshal`s Pinebox with Ca6-8 and if you have O.S.A you can play Go-go-Gadget Hands, Copy O.S.A, drop 3 power Loops (himself, Attendant, start of activation) and do a 7" Pinebox :D. Robocutionier also might be good. Nimble gives him a very good threat range. He can get the rams for min 5 and with Fast deal 4 min 5 damage attacks (with possible positives to Ml/damage) and no Df triggers.

I know people would probably like the "Guild only" restriction taken and I don`t think the Mecha-Tavish would be a problem, but O.S.A Gracie`s Reactivate on Hoffman would probably be a bit over the top ;)

Verdict: 
8/10 (Where is my Mecha-Gracie and Mecha-Tavish?!)

If you have some nice combos and ideas for the Cyborg stuff, let me know!

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