https://www.alderac.com/doomtown/2016/02/24/ghost-town-preview-ol-howard/
Dohoho, good prank Howard.
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ha, great mechanics for a haunting. -love- that art. And an incredible throwback to Classic. poor ol’ howard.
The Ghost Town product page is up now too, finally, with a solid release date for the set. With 158 cards in the set looks like this pine box will have a full set of Outfits this time around. The math is still a little fuzzy though, 158 cards, so -6 outfits = 152, a new joker at 2 copies so that 150, which doesn’t split by 4 evenly. Likely a reprint floating in there somewhere.
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The product page says 40 new cards, which suggests 4 copies of 39 cards and 2 of something, probably a new Joker
That makes sense as the previews show 41 numbered cards and different coloured jokers have been separately numbered in previous sets.
Suggests no new outfits, but more room for other things!
Hard to make out form the preview, but Ol Howard looks like he might be 9/41? Would be far lower number of dudes than the last pinebox, so may well be 19/41? Anyone get better eyes?
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Obvious choices: Bairds Build and Loan or General Store. He pays for himself pretty fast.
I want to make a deck comboing him with Huntsman’s Society, though.
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Good suggestions burningmime!
Secured stockyard has a slightly longer payback period but might be worth experimenting with? Its action produces ghost rock.
Joker’s Smile could work too - doesn’t have income anyway and the added bonus of boosting Clementine Lepp’s influence (who you’d naturally start with).
Testing range in a gadget deck that wants some clubs alongside its experimental gadgets? Or R&D Ranch in a clubless/low club deck?
Whateley Estate might tempt some decks but could prove a bit too expensive?
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This card looks brilliant.
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They confirmed on the AEG forums that he keeps his keywords when he comes a Condition, so he’d still count as an Abomination for discounting Exp. Ivor and, if he was attached to a Holy Ground deed, regular Abram would get rid of him. However, since he’s no longer a dude, he can’t have bounty placed on him, so using him as an eternal battery for Den of Thieves is out.
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Gain control of your opponent’s deeds and then enrage them by moving Howard over with Idol of Tlazolteotl…
huh, yeah it doesn’t mention new outfits. A little disappointing but we do already have quite a few, and they’ve already shown they’re willing to drop outfits into saddlebags instead of solely pineboxes.
Looking forward to the new set 
I think it is a bit too soon for new outfits - but hope they will come within the next 1-2 saddlebags.
And brilliant story!!! Love everything about it! And LOVE that Howard comes peeking back into the game. As a classic player it feels ‘special’ to see some of the characters you loved/hated being referenced to or the like, without coming back into the story to play a larger role.
Anyone want to elaborate on Howard’s backstory for those of us who only have Doomtown: Reloaded experience?
That would be Howard Finley, the former head of Sweetrock Mining in Gomorra. Sweetrock was -the- big mover and shaker in town, they bought up several properties and bought out several mines while they hunted for the fabled Mother Lode; whatever they couldn’t buy they paid someone else to use force to either make them sell or to drive them off so Sweetrocking could pick up the property cheap. This is how Blackjack’s gang started actually, when Sweetrock tried to drive off BlackJack Jackson off of his claim he declared war on Sweetrock and formed his gang to do as much damage as he could to their assets.
Howard was Max Baine’s boss and was the chief mover and shaker in town trying to take it over. When operations became troubled (as the Fear level in town was increasing and knicknevin was prepping to make his debut and the Blackjack gang had been wrecking up their operations like nobody’s business) the Home Office back east sent a Mr. Prim to take control of the branch from Howard. Mr. Prim wound up beaten to death with a bust of Mr. Sweetrock himself and the company quietly pushed Max in charge while poor dear Howard was shipped to the local insane asylum, where he presumably passed when the Storm rolled through and killed off most of the town. So now it looks like he’s stuck haunting his old office, and the town in general.
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I didn’t play classic so I may be slightly off here, but going off the old fictions and the cards I’ve seen as his sanity decreased he also hit on the wonderful idea to hire a voodoo bokkor to animate the dead to work in his mines because they didn’t need to be paid or take breaks.
That would be correct, they figured that undead workers didn’t have to be paid.
Ended up biting them, quite literally, as things came to a head with Knicknevin because the undead eventually starting eating the living workers.
A couple of clarifying notes …
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Max took over as a way to try and restore Sweetrock to some kind of sanity. Max was never secure in his position at Sweetrock, always trying to balance what was right with placating the company men. In the end, they used Scott Pierce to fashion some evidence to take back east and have Max removed for good, but The Storm came before that could work itself out completely. After that, Max was the only part of Sweetrock left standing, free to do the right thing for the people.
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Howard Findley actually worked out a deal with Nicodemus Whateley to provide him undead workers for the mines. This was part of what started to drive the fear level up in the first place. Later they would use Doctor Duvalier (the bokkor) to help keep the practice up, but it started as a partnership with the Whateleys. Sure they occasionally turned on their foremen and ate them, but while it lasted, they were productive as all get out.
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Well there’s your problem right there…
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the other possible deed that could be really good with this card is quarantine tent.
I find it really difficult to justify the dude slot and the 2 extra gold for a no-income, no control point deed even if it can free up your deck a little. So I feel like testing range and quarantine tent are the cards which have a sufficient impact. Maybe undertaker if you are running a spirit tokens deck.
Actually, Old Howard states that the deeds can’t have their upkeep or control modified, so Quarantine Tent is a no go.
I don’t understand what you mean… Quarantine Tent has:
Dudes at this deed ignore all penalties to bullets, value, and influence (the penalties resume when the dudes leave this location).
Controller Noon, Boot: Boot your dude at this location to unboot your outfit. You may use its abilities an extra time this turn.
How useful it will be with Howard depends on how much mileage you will be getting out of your outfit’s ability. Morgan Cattle Co. could get two deeds out pretty fast. Fourth Ring or Eagle Wardens could cycle more cards… I’m not convinced that your opponent couldn’t just roll in and prevent you from using the ability. After all, you effectively have -5GR invested in your starting posse.