Johan

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 * Renegade Steamfitter Johan, Outcast Minion**

=__Overview__= Johan is a low-cost Mercenary who can do some decent damage with his armor-ignoring magical melee attacks. Like many Outcast Mercenaries he hits hard, but when outnumbered will tend to die quickly. He prefers the company of other M&SU Members, long walks on the beach, and has a thing for M&SU Showgirls.

=__Mobility__= Johan has, at best, average mobility. Depending on the terrain he may end up killed by ranged attacks before you can get him into melee to do some real damage. Additionally, his need to be near another M&SU Member reduces his overall mobility, as he will usually be working in tandem with another model.

=__Offense__= Johan gains a bonus to his combat whenever he is near another friendly M&SU Member.

This is an armor-ignoring magical melee weapon that deals decent damage. **Flurry** is a devastating action which allows him to make 3 attacks on the same target. His **Brutal** trigger may add additional damage to his attacks, and his **Knockback** trigger can be useful to reposition enemy models to set up charge lanes, keep them locked in melee (or out of it) with another model, or set up ranged strikes for other members of your crew. **Knockback** is also useful against models that generate pulses after dying.
 * Relic Hammer**

Although his ranged attack has a lower combat value, sometimes shooting your way out of a bad situation is better than getting into melee with something that is going to just blow up, especially if you do not have a decent Mask to cheat in for **Knockback**.
 * Pistol**

=__Resilience__= Johan has some resilience, but can easily be killed in a single turn. He has average defense, average wounds, and the Hard to Kill ability, but lacks the ability to effectively deal with ranged strikes. His "Slow To Die" action will most likely be spent on a strike, as he does not have any spells or actions.

=__Tips and Tricks__= Johan's Relic Hammer is good for inflicting full damage on Spirits and for using against Jack Daw. In crews lacking this support, he is the cheapest Mercenary option available.

=__Master-Specific Tips__= Colette can hire Johan for 5 Soulstones, while the Viktorias, C. Hoffman, and Ramos can each hire Johan for 6 Soulstones. All other masters can recruit him for 7 Soulstones, which is somewhat pricey and not recommended as they cannot hire other M&SU Members to increase his effectiveness. Other Arcanist leaders can also hire him for 6 Soulstones; to do this, hire a Union Miner (or Joss) and then Johan, as his price is decreased when hired into a crew //containing// M&SU Members.

When working with Ramos or Colette, Johan will work best as a bodyguard; keep him close to them and deal with any threats to them with his Relic Hammer. Colette's **Special Charm** gives him a bonus to his otherwise average **WP**, and allows him to resist being **Lured** away or otherwise repositioned by Spells or Talents requiring a **WP** resist.

When hired by Colette, she can help to offset Johan's somewhat slower speed when compared to the rest of her Crew. Simply cast **Disappearing Act** on him, cheating in a Mask if you have one to offset the AR, get Colette into position before the End Closing Phase, and unbury Johan where you need him to be. This is also an effective way of keeping Johan close to Colette when she is pulling her movement shenanigans; she gains a useful bodyguard against melee models, and he gains a great boost to his movement.

Kaeris will find him useful for positioning more than anything else; by using **Knockback**, he can give her clear line-of-sight for her damaging spells or her **Ignite** strike. She can also use him as fuel for **Resource Management**, as his resilience means that he won't mind losing a few **Wd**s here and there.

=__Minion-Specific Tips__=

Johan, while initially appearing somewhat underpowered for his price, really starts to shine when paired up with another M&SU Member. So far, the list of minions is limited to Joss and the Union Miner; not a huge list, but each of them has a number of advantages and disadvantages.

Pairing Johan with Joss is an expensive combination; 14SS with Colette, and 15SS with Ramos. They work quite well together as a hunting group; not a lot of models will survive the 1-2 punch of attacks by Joss and Johan, and while expensive, they can keep a very wide area covered with their melee ranges.

Johan and a Union Miner are also an incredibly useful combination. They are currently the cheapest option available to give Johan the bonus to his Cb, and while somewhat fragile, their survivability is increased thanks to the option of using **File False Claims** to bury them after their activation. **Companion (M&SU Member)** allows for Alpha Striking, and lets you activate Johan, attack the enemy model, take strikes with your Miner, and then bury him to keep him safe for the next round. **File False Claims** will let you unbury the Miner next to Johan so long as there are no other Union Miners in play. Consider using a pair of Miners, as well; they gain a positive twist to their attacks whenever they are near another Miner, and allow Johan to retain his improved Cb if one of them is killed. He remains just as vulnerable to ranged strikes, as the Union Miners offer no additional protection. Combining **Menace** with **Knockback** allows you to effectively control where the target has to be; this can be incredibly useful when working on contesting an objective.

Remember: M&SU Assets are not necessarily M&SU Members, so he do not get the bonus to his Cb when he is near them.

=__Playing Against Johan__=
 * Johan can be a real threat in melee so try to kill him from a distance, or just overwhelm him with attacks.
 * Killing Johan's support piece (or even just separating him from them) can also greatly reduce his effectiveness; his Cb drops by 2. This is easiest when that support piece is a Union Miner; Ramos and Joss are somewhat harder to kill than Johan, and Colette is best dealt with by forcing her to flee.
 * Be very careful of tackling Johan in melee before he activates; Flurry on his Relic Hammer can kill almost anything, as it ignores armor and has an impressive damage profile.
 * Most of the time, his only option for Slow to Die will be an attack; be very wary of engaging him in melee for that, as his parting strike can do an incredible amount of damage.

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 * __Ownership__ **