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Fast exp advancement, hero points, weak tactics for adversaries and a lot of help from NPCs.
A lot of help from NPCs seems like the best answer. Especially since a brawler and a rogue seem somewhat underpowered compared to my group, which has three fighter types (fighter, barbarian, paladin) all with honking huge 2-handed weapons.
This could work out very well if you develop a series of mercenary henchling character sheets and treat them like the red-shirt guys on Star Trek: they are always the first to die. Have the players take turns running the extra guy(s), and don't pull any punches when they get offed.
Aside from some of the boss fights, most of the combat is fairly unchallenging, so if your PCs are fairly experienced and have the right gear they need, they should manage well, given a few extra hands on deck.
Maybe even suggest the hobbits invest in animal handling for a couple tough mastiff buddies. Goblins HATE dogs, after all. <g>
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My group started with 5, but one moved away fairly early, leaving us with 4. We added a 5th player shortly after that, but he only lasted a couple of sessions. Then another one moved away a few months later, when the group was only around level 4 (we're a pretty slow group). That leaves us with 3.
When the first guy moved away, we didn't think to keep his PC around as an NPC. For the 2nd and 3rd to leave, that's what we did. So our 3 remaining players have 5 total PCs, with two of them playing the absent players' characters as kind of "secondary PC's" after their main ones.
It worked out particularly well when one guy died and still had someone else's PC to play while they waited to get him raised from the dead. This was around level 8, when they had the cash for a Raise Dead, but were nowhere near anyone who could do it. So they sent a messenger from Turtleback Ferry back to Magnimar to buy a scroll of Raise Dead, and visited the dam and fey woods while waiting for him, but postponed going to "The Hook" for a week or two until the dead guy was back among the living.
I statted up Ameiko (Swashbuckler), Sheriff Hemlock(Fighter), Shalelu (Ranger), and Bethana (Investigator) to the same level of the group, or one behind. They would get to choose at early levels who they wanted to take with them. This enhanced the relationship with the NPCs, and let them strategize who's skills they needed more for each mission. I debated on Father Zantus, but they had a stellar cleric, and so didn't really need him.
It worked really well at lower levels. At higher levels, I found that it was too much work to keep the characters up to the level, and they went with Ameiko 9/10 times so I just leveled her up.
We are three as well, but it's a good group.
A witch (and her familiar)
A bloodrager 1/cleric X (erastil, feather domain, with a roc companion)
A samurai (plus mount)
We also use hero points (which I love), and as we are playing a mashup with Shattered Star, they are getting more gear than usual, so they are going well (even if they play underleveled sometimes)
Anyways, we have used a few NPC to help sometimes: Ameiko in Glassworks-Catacomb of Wrath, Shalelu in Thistletop, and Gnarus (Shattered Star NPC, dhampir Magus) in Xanesha's lair.