Malifaux: Hans

Overview from Walifaux wiki Hans is a Sniper for a hire, a Mercenary who will work for anyone willing to pay his fees. Mobility Lawls no. Hans as a Walk of 3 and is completely unable to declare a charge. Deploy him in a good position, because he's unlikely to move very far from that spot over the course of a game. Offense Hans has a Sniper Rifle with a respectable Sh of 6, a decent damage spread of 2/3/5, and an insane range of 18 inches. When he focuses, the range of his Sniper Rifle increases to 36 inches(!), allowing him to reach out and touch someone almost across the entire board. Furthermore, due to his excellent sniping skills, Hans does not randomize when shooting into melee. Pinpoint precision is a virtue. He also comes equipped with Goggles, which allow him to ignore any pulse, aura, or Markers which affect Line of Sight. This won't always come up during a game, but it can be a surprise for opponents who think that their models are safe within a cloud of steam or behind a pillar of ice. Hans is also Ruthless, so he is immune to Willpower duels (such as those created by the Terrifying or Manipulative abilities) during his turn. His Sniper Rifle comes with an assortment of triggers, one for each suit. He can use his Reference the Field Guide tactical action each turn to discard a card, which adds the suit of the discarded card to his duel totals for the rest of his activation. This is a good use for low cards in your hand, ensuring that Hans will hit the triggers you need regardless of the suits of his flipped or cheated cards. The Kneecap trigger lets Hans discard a card to give the target Slow, the Armor Piercing trigger makes his attack ignore Armor, the Curse Breaker trigger makes his attack ignore Incorporeal, and the Disarm trigger lets Hans discard a card to give a Minion the Disarmed Condition, which prevents them from making Ml actions until the end of the turn. Hans also possesses the Smile, You Son of a... tactical action, which grants him the Ping! Condition for the rest of his activation. Ping! changes Hans's attacks so that they deal no damage, but instead discard one Upgrade from his target. This very unique ability makes Hans the one model that can knock upgrades off of other models, which can drastically change the course of a game, especially when used against Masters. However, Hans is also a mercenary in the truest sense of the word, and his To the Highest Bidder ability allows any Master that has been targeted by Hans to discard two cards to make the action immediately fail. Be wary about this, though sometimes forcing the opponent to discard can be useful in its own right. Resilience Hans has a high Defense and an average Willpower, though his main defense is that he's a sniper who probably won't move very far from where you deploy him at the start of the game. If the opponent does get close, however, he is also Disguised, making him immune to charges. Otherwise, he has a low number of wounds for a model of his price, so try to pick a good spot with plenty of firing lanes and some good cover when you deploy him. Upgrades As of Ripples of Fate, Hans has his own 0 Soulstone Upgrade, Advanced Sight. This boosts his Wk to 4, and gives him the (0) Advanced Sight Action. It gives Hans Focused +1, but needs a 7 of any suit to succeed. It also competes with Reference The Field Guide for his (0) action. Oathkeeper is great for Hans in Outcasts, as a turn of Fast is three attacks per turn, or two attacks after a successful Smile, You Son of a... action. That's a potential two upgrades he can shoot off of an enemy model, which is usually a pretty good exchange for your own discarded Oathkeeper. Scramble is another option for Hans, but given his already slow speed, it's not a good one, as he'll still be slow, only more expensive. If you want a fast model, take something other than Hans. When working for the Guild, Plant Evidence can be useful for allowing Hans to help out with Power Ritual, if you deploy him near one of your corners. This also has the effect of keeping Power Ritual a secret until later in the game, as you won't be dropping a scheme marker in your own corner at the start of the game and giving it away. Imbued Energies is useful out of Arcanists, for the same reason that Oathkeeper is good in Outcasts. A Fast Hans is a happy Hans. Out of Neverborn, Pact can use useful on Hans to ensure that his attacks won't be completely shut down by the Black Joker. Ten Thunders can give him Recalled Training, which makes Hans very effective for one turn. The +flip to all his actions can help with both Smile, You Son of a... and his Sniper Rifle attacks, making him more accurate when it counts. Tactics and Tips The effectiveness of Hans really depends on his board and your deployment zone, as he's great on boards where he can get to a high position and cover wide swathes of the board, but less effective if most of the board is blocked off from his bullets. Smile, You Son of a... is a scary ability that will cause many opponents to panic, as nobody wants to see the upgrades shot off their Masters. You can use this to your advantage and bluff with Hans to make them discard via his To the Highest Bidder ability, as the opponent has to choose whether or not to discard before you flip any cards for Hans's attack. Tara has a cute trick that she can do with Hans and Whispers From Darkness (Eternal Journey upgrade). By burying Hans (via a Glimpse the Void trigger from her crew), she can use Whispers From Darkness to use his Smile, You Son of a... action and gain the Ping! Condition. This allows Tara to shoot upgrades off of other models without having to worry about Hans's To the Highest Bidder ability allowing the opponent to cancel her attacks. Her ability to bury him also allows him to rapidly deploy on the battlefield, either via her Faces in the Void action (Obliteration Symbiote upgrade) or just as a natural result of the Glimpse the Void trigger. The latter option, however, tends to bring him closer to the action than he prefers. Lilith can also help Hans rapidly redeploy via her Tangle Shadows action, which can toss him forward in exchange for tossing one of her (much faster) models back to his prior location. When used in conjunction with sprinting Terror Tots, this enables Hans to get to an advantageous position without having to make what might otherwise be a game-long trudge with his slow speed. Mah Tucket can also push Hans around with her Horribly Hollerin' action, ensuring that he gets to a better position for his shooting without having to take a Walk action. Playing Against Hans He's a sniper, so your best bet is probably to either avoid getting into his line of fire, or close to melee and kill him there. Be careful of his Smile, You Son of a... action, as it can knock the upgrades off your Master and Henchmen, and save cards to discard to cancel Han's attack if you have upgrades that you simply cannot live without.