M2E+Howard+Langston


 * Howard Langston, Arcanist Enforcer**

=__Overview__= Howard Langston is one of Victor Ramos' rehabilitation success stories. He used to be the "Steamborg Executioner", but after a few weeks in Dr. Ramos' weekend rehab centers, his mind has returned to him and he has become a functioning member of society once again. He, like many of Ramos' (ahem) test subjects is missing some of his limbs, but the experiments- errr.... improvements that Dr. Ramos has integrated into Howard (known by many as "Hank") have made him a force to be reckoned with.

A very quick melee model, Howard Langston is one of the best melee beatstick models available to the Arcanists, and with **Nimble** and a solid melee attack, it's easy to see why. He's gone from relative anonymity (too expensive or near useless in 1.5E) to a superstar who has seen table time with Ramos, Mei Feng, Ironsides, and even the darling dear of the star theater stage, Colette DuBois. Hank is the definition of a Cinderella story in Malifaux, and we couldn't be any prouder of him for it. Way to go Hank! toc

=__Mobility__= As the saying goes, "Four Legs are Better Than Two". Well... maybe no one ever actually said that, but in this case it may be true. Howard has an average **Wk** of 5 and slightly above average **Cg** of 6. But what really helps him get around is his **Nimble** Ability. He can make one free move a turn, which some might say gives him an effective Cg range of 11". And they'd be right! And he can do that around corners as well. He doesn't have much else in the way of movement tricks, like pushes or places, or triggers or the like, but with the ability to move 15 inches a turn, maybe he doesn't need them.

=__Offense__= Howard's offensive techniques are very much a one trick pony. But what a trick! It's a high damage, good range fantastic CB scored attack that has a really solid trigger as well.


 * (1) Executioner's Claws** //(Ml 7 (crow), Rst: Df, Rng Close 2)// Damage profile: 4/5/6. With a Ml score of 7, Howard is at least 1 up on most of the models in the game, Masters included. The rare exceptions are things like Perdita who's tied, and can get past it with El Mayor, but who's counting. Minimum damage 4 is extremely painful, and with a melee range of two, his effective threat distance (with the **Nimble**) is 13" with two attacks.

//(Ram/Crow) Decapitate:// That's right, these giant crab claws have the ability to literally sever head from neck, and all it costs you is a ram. Rams are often left by the wayside in a Arcanist crew anyways, so high Rams can easily be funneled into Hank's pincers. It reads "After damaging, immediately kill the target unless it discards two cards or two soulstones." This is a great way to take card/soulstone advantage if nothing else. If you activate late in the turn and prompt the trigger twice, they may not have enough resources to be able to discard, and then poof, your opponent's beatstick has no head.
 * Triggers**


 * (2) Flurry** Because what's better than two Ml7 minimum damage 4 attacks? Three of them! At the cost of one card, Hank can go on a swipey, killy, stabby frenzy. There are very few models that can stand up to a Hank Langston triple play. And what's better is that with **Nimble** on the card, he can move before he makes the attack! Presumably you take a 5 walk, (threat range 7 for the flurry if you're keeping track), discard a card and unload on some poor victim. Remember that with a 2" melee range, you can stay outside of **Black Blood's** range, though you can't avoid **Immolating** or **Explosive Demise**.

=__Resilience__= **Df** 5 is a bit low for a 12 stone model, but 6 **Wp** and 11 **Wd** make up for it a bit. He's also got a few other tricks that can help with keeping him alive for a bit longer.


 * Armor +1:** Reduces all damage by one, which is quite nice. There are a couple ways to buff that up, as well, like C. Hoffman's Patchwork Plating, or the Mobile Toolkit's **Right Tool** ability.


 * Terrifying (Living) 12:** It's a standard number at 12, and really just forces people to use a card in order to be able to hit him, but **Terrifying** is staple among big scary models and //can// make them hard to target later in the round.


 * (1) Steam Cloud:** More of an active defense system ability, Steam cloud adds a 4" aura around Hank that provides "Ht 5 soft cover for the purposes of drawing LoS." This is great if Hank is babysitting key models, or trying to keep models from being shot at. It isn't hazardous or severe, but will affect attacks with the Projectile gun icon.

=__Upgrades__= //Bleeding Edge Tech// Giving the **(0) Disruption Field** action to block casting within 3" can be really great, especially against close range casters (it gives out a negative twist to casting, making it MUCH harder without focusing). But it's real perk comes in **New Research** which says 8" bubble of friendly Minion Constructs gaining **Regeneration +1**. The only unfortunate bit is, since he's an enforcer and not a minion, he doesn't gain the benefit of his own aura.

//Imbued Protection// Hank is often the target of early attack, and with **Df** 5, moving that up to 6 could be very worth it. The discard effect is also quite nice: **Salvation --** Discard this upgrade to reduce damage by 2. It doesn't specify down to a certain number either, so you could fully prevent with it. Hank can't use soulstones to prevent, so this would be his only option. The question is, if the 2 prevention is worth 1 stone, and the +1 **Df** is worth a stone, why does it still feel expensive at 2 stones?

//Imbued Energies// Imbued Energies is a staple among hig-costed models because even if it's just for a round, an extra action can turn the tide. For instance, say you really wanted to flurry their Master. Sure, you could **Nimble** then charge and still get two attacks. But why stop there? You could burn the upgrade, **Nimble**, charge, and still get an extra attack from the fast. Plus, if you know Hank is going down, and didn't get to use the fast discard option, at least you can get four cards for your loss.

//Powered By Flame// This is an aura upgrade that DOES effect Hank -- friendly Constructs within 8" hand out Burning on damage, which is great because //he's// a friendly Construct within 8". With the added Burning, his damage track becomes 4(+1b)/5(+1b)/6(+1b), or 5/6/7 if no one clears it. If you're looking for credit, though (like for Reckoning or Murder Protege), you may want to avoid this, as the Burning that you inflict doesn't count for your kill unless you have the Firestarter nearby.

=__Tactics and Tips__= As I said in the overview, Hank is a superstar in most of the crews he's run in. From Ramos, to Mei, to Colette, he finds a central role in many lists.

Ramos loves having good constructs around, and he has the ability to hand out healing and attacking buffs. Hank benefits from all of the augmentations that Ramos can produce, like Positive twist to **Df**, **Combat Mechanic** healing, and **Overdrive** which gives a positive twist to melee attack actions.
 * Ramos-**

Mei Feng loves having good Constructs around (I'm sensing a theme). She has the ability to jump between Constructs with **Rail Walker**, and likes to attack models with burning -- so if Hank is a frontline beater handing out Burning (with //Powered by Flame//), Mei can leap to him and bring the pain to the target that he had prepared for her. And with **Nimble**, Hank has the ability to fine tune just where he's going to be in a **Railwalker** chain.
 * Mei Feng-**

Colette loves having good.... models around her. Any model. Literally anything that is good, she can make it better. Her **Prompt** Ability can give him more moves than he knows what to do with, as well as additional attacks. Colette can **Prompt** him in, make an attack with him, then when he activates, he can **Flurry**, and then **Nimble** action out. Colette can make Hank a menace. And he was already pretty menacing.
 * Colette-**

I know, I know, he's not a Arcanist member, but Hoffman, like some of the above, //loves having good constructs around him!// Think of it this way- Hoffman has the healing and the buffs of Ramos, with the out of activation actions of Colette. Plus, with Ml 7, who wouldn't want to add that to his power loop! A power hitter with nimble, the only Modification that Hoffman can give him is Patchwork Plating which give him an additional armor- taking him to **Armor +2**. If he also hires the mobile toolkit, he can get up to armor 3! Loop in a **Df** 6 model, and Hank is looking pretty darn pimped out. (**note-** you cannot give him the //Targetting Systems// modification. It does specify Guild Construct. And Hank is more than likely the reason for that stipulation.)
 * C. Hoffman**

//Mobile Toolkit-// The Mobile Toolkit can bring some pretty interesting buffs to constructs- if he's worried about dying, the toolkit can give him an additional armor. If he's worried about hitting (perhaps Zoraida, or Yin, or something else that gives out negative twists) he can give him a positive twist to sure up his chance to hit. If he's not worried about hitting, then he can gain "Sharpened" which gives him a postive twist to damage. Being able to chuck a 6 from your hand for 5 moderate damage on a straight flip just feels good. Or a red joker for 10 damage. Pure magic.
 * Honorable Mentions**

//Brass Arachnid// Ramos' Totem. With a 10 of books, or a 10 and good positioning, you can give Hank reactivate which literally just doubles how awesome he already is. Make a 12 stone model worth 24 stones for a turn. Try it. You might like it.

//The Captain/Angelica// They both have the same trick, but it's a good one- an out of activation push that's basically an extra walk. Good for all the same reasons that a nimble action is good, it gives him the ability to charge before his nimble is taken and the walk out of threat range, or potentially have a 12" flurry, or a 16" charge threat range. Angelica is likely better, as she is both cheaper to bring to the crew (since she's not a henchman!) and it doesn't require a cast, though it can only be used on a friendly model. They both may only target a given friendly model once per round.

=__Playing Against Howard Langston__= There are a few ways around Howard Langston, and whichever one you've chosen, make sure you get to it quickly. The two main ways I've seen hank played are a midfield beast with some support, like in a Ramos or a C. Hoffman crew, where they're looking to keep him up and mauling your midfield models, or a cruise missile destined to kill more points worth of models than his own, like in Colette, or maybe Mei. Either way, if he gets into combat with something, it is likely to die. Try feeding him models that are tar pits, like flesh constructs or models with hard to kill, this will keep him from being able to nimble charge or nimble flurry. He'll get to flurry on the model you've engaged him with, but once he's taken it out (if he's taken it out) focus your fire onto him while he's un-engaged.

Try to kill him from range, as his only real way to defend against shooting is steamcloud, which means he's attacking or moving less. If he does, then either use models that ignore cover, or focus to get around it. With eleven wounds and armor, he'll be rough to take down, but certainly not impossible.

Attack him with undead, or construct models. Anything that's living is a liability to your control hand.

Try and cut through his armor. Anything that takes away his one extra health per hit will take him down that much faster.

And finally, watch for when he overextends. It's very easy for Hank to see an opportunity and charge, watch for when he's outside support range- if he's gone out of Ramos' aura, or Hoffman's scrap heals, that's the ideal time to try and put him into the dirt.

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