The Judge
The Judge is our Swiss Army Knife, there's not much he can't do. He does pretty decent damage both at range and in melee, can tank hits well, and offers a variety of board control options. His (0) action Stand for Judgement allows him to push any model up to 5 inches directly towards him and the (1) action Bound By Law can prevent enemy models from Walking or Charging unless they discard a card first. Out of all the Guild Henchman the Judge has the most options when it comes to influencing the position and movement of enemy models, which is something we don't have a lot of in our faction. The Judge can also be handy against marker-dependent summoning crews like Ramos & Nicodem because of his Final Repose ability. With both Hard to Wound & Hard to Kill and 10 wounds he's very survivable, and becomes even more so if you give him the Lead Lined Coat upgrade. The Judge's Unrelenting Leader is one of the best personal upgrades of all the Henchman, as it makes him Stubborn and gives him the (1) action Combat Effectiveness. A Stubborn Judge is a great asset against crews like Pandora, Dreamer, or Seamus that have a lot of Wp based attacks. Combat Effectiveness allows him to make a friendly non-leader model take a (1) Ap Melee action outside of their activation, which is brilliant for finishing off models you've just barely missed killing or have Hard to Kill. Getting extra attacks with any model that's engaged in melee is excellent, and the Tome trigger allows you to take Combat Effectiveness again. If you spend both Ap on it and hit the triggers you can make another model potentially 4 times, or make 4 models attack once each. It's important to note that these Ml actions can declare triggers, and as long as The Judge isn't your crew leader he can use this action on himself (which can potentially allow him to attack 8 times in 1 activation, but is rediculously difficult to make happen). The Judge will do well in every Strategy, but really shines in Reckoning, Turf War, and Reconnoitre.
Sam Hopkins
Sam Hopkins is the very definition of a glass cannon. He can put out a ton of damage, but is relatively fragile. Even though he's Unimpeded Sam is very slow (he's only Walk 4) & has no defensive abilities like Armour or Hard to Wound, so if you're not careful his 8 wounds will disappear quickly. Stick to cover as much as possible and let his gun do all the work for him. Sam does an insane amount of damage at range & in melee, especially if he's attacking a model with Burning. His (1) action Flaming Bullets can put enemy models within an 8 inch pulse at negative flips to defense duels til the end of the turn if they fail a TN 15 Wp duel, which is his only action that influences enemy models in a way that doesn't damage them. Sam's biggest strength is ranged damage, if all of his Rapid Fire shots connect he'll do between 9-12 damage on negative flips (depending on whether or not his target has Burning). He'll do similar amounts of damage in melee, but if he doesn't kill his target he'll die pretty quickly. Sam runs best with Sonnia, but can be tricky to use with other Masters. His personal upgrade Witch Hunt can hand out Burning very well, but can be tricky to pull off. Running him with Lead Lined Coat can increase his survivability, but my personal favourite upgrade for him is Vengeance Bullet. This makes him a serious threat against most Masters and Henchmen, and keeps him relatively cheap. Sam is too slow to be of a lot of use in Squatter's Rights/Stake a Claim, and is too fragile to be in the center for Turf War. He does best in Reckoning and Reconnoitre, and will do well as long as you keep him safe in cover.
Francisco Ortega
Francisco is probably the most popular Guild Henchman. He's a great all-rounder, and his El Mayor ability can help keep key models in your crew alive. Francisco does decent damage at range, but is happiest when locked in Melee. He has a high Ml of 7 with a 2 inch range, and has a good damage spread with built in Critical Strike. His (0) action Finesse allows him to discard a card to make enemy models targeting him with Ml attacks suffer a negative flip to attack, and Flurry lets him really pile the hurt onto a single model. The (1) action Enfrentate a Mi allows Francisco to place himself into base contact with an enemy model within 7 inches and push all other friendly models engaged with the target up to 5 inches away from it. This doesn't require line of sight, and is useful for keeping the rest of your crew safe from Melee Monsters like Nekima and Killjoy. Francisco with Finesse up and Defensive Stance will tank just about anything, and he can usually Flurry to take it out next turn. His personal uprade Wade In is pretty much an auto-take, as it makes him Hard to Kill and gives him a self heal for a (0) action. Diestro can be useful with Perdita because it she doesn't have to flip a card for Francisco when Randomizing into Melee and puts whatever model he's engaged with at a negative flip on defense duels against Sh actions. This combination of Francisco tanking and Perdita shooting will take out just about any model in the game. Another useful upgrade for him is Hermanos De Armas, as it can add extra mobility to your crew throughout the game. Francisco works well with every Master, and can do well in every Strategy. He excels at Reckoning and Turf War, but is useful in Reconnoitre, Squatter's rights, and Stake a Claim as well.
Sebastian
Sebastian gets an honourary mention because he can only be taken with Guild McMourning, and is harder to use in the Guild than he is as a Resser. Sebastian works well in a crew that includes models that hand out Poison like Guild Lawyers, and is mostly useful defensively because of his (1) action Under Cover. Under Cover makes projectile attacks targeting a friendly model within an 8 inch aura suffer a negative flip, which is very useful against range based crews like the Freikorps and Rasputina. Most of his abilities revolve around Poison, but for his cost he's decently survivable thanks to 9 wounds and Hard to Wound. If you can build up Poison on an enemy model his Induction & Catalyst abilities and Bloody Harvest action can be very useful, but not many models in the Guild can hand it out. As a Guild Henchman Sebastian is most useful as a defensive model and works well in Reconnoitre, but can struggle with other Strategies and is rather limited as he can only be brought with a Guild McMourning crew.
Ryle
Ryle is my personal favourite Henchmen. He works well with every Master, does good damage at range and in Melee, and can be surprisingly mobile. With 10 wounds, Armour +1, and the defensive trigger Grinding Halt Ryle can be very difficult to kill, which makes him an excellent tank. He can use his (0) action Field Repairs to heal a friendly Construct within 3 inches at the cost of a card from your hand, and he can use it to self-heal should he need to. Ryle has a low Walk of 4 and Charge of 6, but this is offset by his other (0) action, Socially Repressed. Socially Repressed allows Ryle to push up to 4 inches away from a target model within 12 inches (which can be either friendly or enemy), so it basically gives him a free walk that isn't slowed by terrain. His Modified Steam Gatling gun is perfect for targeting enemy models in both Soft & Hard Cover because it has a built in plus flip to attack & a built in trigger for a plus flip to damage; and the double Ram trigger Raking Fire creates good board control while punishing crews that bunch up. Raking Fire allows Ryle to shoot multiple targets so long as they haven't already been targeted by his Modified Steam Gatling, and can be triggered more than once (a good way to do this is with Targeting Systems from Hoffman). His Melee damage is insane, potentially reaching a 6/8/10 damage spread thanks to Critical Strike (1 from cards, 1 from Soul Stones, and 1 more from Hoffman's Targeting Systems). Ryle is well suited to taking out high value targets like Killjoy, The Sow, or Hungering Darkness because of his high damage profile and his Breach Psychosis ability, which makes him immune to Horror Duels. Ryle runs best with Hoffman, but is a solid inclusion in any Guild Crew. His personal upgrade Pieces of Myself is difficult to use, but Ryle works well with Vengeance Bullet and most of the General Guild Upgrades. Ryle excels in Turf War and Reckoning, but his mobility makes him useful in Squatter's Rights, Stake a Claim, and Reconnoitre as well.
Captain Dashel
Dashel is primarily a support Henchmen. He's decently survivable with 9 wounds, Armour +1, & Hard to Kill; and does modest damage. His Collier Army does decent damage at range, and his Baton can do decent damage in Melee & hand out Slow, but is short-ranged. Dashel's real use comes from his "Ready! Aim!" and "Fire!" abilities; which respectively allow friendly non-Austringer Guardsmen models to Focus as a (0) action, and grant a plus flip to the attack flip of projectile actions targeting an enemy model within 12 inches and Line of Sight. Dashel is most commonly used alongside 2-3 Guild Riflemen to create a ranged ball of death, but his afformentioned abilities can benefit Guild Hounds, Guild Guard, Guild Pathfinders, Guild Sergeants, and Wardens as well. This can be used to create a "death by a thousand cuts" approach to damage that most opponents won't see coming, allowing a number of your cheaper Minions to take down multiple enemy models or a high cost enemy Enforcer/Henchman. He can also use his (1) action On Yer Feet can give a friendly Minion Reactivate, but you have to sacrifice said Minion at the end of the turn. Dashel runs best in a Lucius crew, but is very useful in a Guild McCabe crew that has Luna and Guild Hounds because he can Reactivate the Hounds. Dashel is very useful for Reconnoitre, Squatter's Rights, and Stake a Claim; but struggles in Reckoning.
Sidir Alchibal
Sidir is my second favourite Henchmen, and one of our best tanks. His Ruthless ability makes him useful against Wp based crews, and Laugh Off means he'll only ever be where you want him to be. Sidir does decent damage in melee and at range, but is best used at range. He has a high Sh of 7, and the Stutter Fire trigger allows him to target multiple enemy models. He can also use the (1) action Empty the Magazine to deal damage and grant Slow to a target enemy model & other models within a 2 inch aura if they fail a TN 12 Walk duel. Sidir is extremely survivable thanks to his 10 wounds, Riposte defensive trigger, and (0) action Always There, which grants him a reliable self-heal. This is only increased in a McCabe crew, where the Elixer of Life can allow him to heal up to 4 wounds without using any AP. His biggest asset comes in his Promises and By Your Side upgrades, the first of which give friendly models within a 6 inch aura that have at least one upgrade attatched plus flips to Wp and Ml duels. Sidir with Promises can be a bulwark against Pandora and Dreamer crews, and also synergises very well with Hoffman's Modification Upgrades. By Your Side allows Sidir to once per turn be placed into base contact with a friendly model within 5 inches when they're targeted by an enemy model's action, and become the target of said action instead. Most commonly this is used to prevent your opponent from damaging your Master or other key model, but is most effectively used to deny your opponent Deliver a Message. By Your Side specifies that it can be used when a friendly model is targeted by an enemy model's action, which is exactly what Deliver a Message is. Sidir can be used with any Master, but is most effective with McCabe and Hoffman. He excels at Turf War and can be useful in Reconnoitre; but lacks the damage output for Reckoning and is too slow for Squatter's Rights & Stake a Claim.
I rarely leave home without Ryle or Sidir, every once in a while I'll use Francisco or The Judge, but I very rarely use Sebastian or Sam Hopkins. Lucius is the only Master I don't own so at the moment so I don't really get to use Dashel, but I can easily see him making his way into several of my crews once I do. Which Henchmen you bring depends on what Strategy you're playing and what Schemes you have to choose from, but as long as you choose wisely you'll rarely be disappointed in their performance.
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