Through the Breach - Choosing Your Allegiance - Guild (Part 2)


The announcement of a new rules update in development kind of sidetracked my Malifaux post last week but I'm back on schedule now. Having covered the first three Guild Masters (well Mistresses in their case)...

Not THAT kind of mistress...
...I suppose I should tell you about the other couple that are available to the Guild before moving on to another Faction...



C. Hoffman.
The Guild is nothing if not adaptable. When the most recent threat to stability came forth in the form of grafting constructs to human hosts it made sense for them to form a new division to deal with the threat in the same way that the divisions dealing with Arcanists, Resurrectionists and Neverborn had been created.

Leading the Guild's newest Special Division is C. Hoffman who has a special hatred of the science as his own brother Ryle is himself a victim of it. Although he reluctantly followed Ryle through the Breach in pursuit of a half-promised treatment for his polio, He found their roles reversed when the psychosis that afflicts many as they pass through the Breach grabbed hold of his brother and ravaged his body. Only through the quick intervention of Dr. Viktor Ramos did Ryle manage to survive but his body now consists of more machine than it does man.

Hoffman blames both himself and the Arcanists for his brother's condition and turned to the only authority that he believed could help him...namely, the Guild. They have made certain promises to Hoffman though in the main the thing they have promised is the resources he needs to help his brother. Using talents acquired after his journey through the breach (such as his new-found psychic talents to command and control Constructs...convenient, huh?) in their fight against the Arcanist movement. Whether Hoffman is using the Guild or the Guild is using Hoffman however depends entirely on your point of view...

In game terms C. Hoffman really only works well when surrounded by Constructs. He can bolster their effectiveness, attack through them, even take over or borrow abilities from both ally and enemy Constructs and additionally can exert his will to detonate Scrap Counters both on the table (and carried by models both friend and foe...which is amusing when your up against a crew that requires them as well, lol). If your a fan of Steampunk based machines then he's the ideal Master for you and can even hire Constructs from other factions.

The other good reason for using Hoffman as a Master is that they're finally releasing his Avatar...

Lucius.
Lucius is what you'd call the "power behind the throne" in Malifaux. In principle he 'serves' as the Governor General's Secretary, but while he implements his employer's plans he tends to include the odd ‘adjustment' of his own. The Governor General is completely ignorant of Lucius's own agendas and actually values Lucius's counsel as it tends to be what he wants to hear anyway though doesn't necessarily have any resemblance to what's actually happening. As he serves as the filter of information both to and from the Governor General Lucius himself is incredibly unlikely to ever be caught for any of his myriad of personal schemes.

Lucius oversees the Guild's Elite Divisions in the City. His subtle suggestions direct their clandestine operations but along what path of his own devising he has yet to reveal to anyone. Most follow his directives unaware that their orders are his and even the select few who are in the know are completely loyal to him and his secret personal agenda as they (more than any other) know exactly how much power Lucius has access to. To Lucius they are all pawns to be manoeuvred into whatever position or situations he sees fit. He also wears an ornate mask which for some reason no-one seems to mention...it'd be the first thing I'd ask about...
Apparently all these guys would be entirely legitimate choices as a Governor Generals secretary...
As a Henchman, Lucius is able to lead his own Crew as well as be hired into traditional Master-led Crews. For those of you who don't understand how this works there's a tutorial here. He mainly rely's on tricks to get the job done, able to increase his Defence stat while close to friendly models as well as give models targeting him a Fate modifier penalty to their attacks. His Trigger negates the offensive capabilities of models wishing to attack him later in the Turn sequence which is a-fucking-nnoying, lol. Lucius' 'Hidden Sniper' Spell allows him the to target models that wish to remain out of his view, while his other Talents help by augmenting the abilities of friendly models and also by increasing their survivability considerably during an Encounter.

That's it for the Guild Masters (with the exception of a 'Dual Faction' one that will be covered in the form of their other allegiance). Next weeks article will be moving onto the Resurrectionist Masters...unless I get distracted again...

For further articles on Malifaux (amongst other things) you can pop over to my own blog or 'like' my Facebook page...Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome...though if I get more than one lately it feels like a victory, lol.

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