Soulhunters

Template:Cryxbox This model is playable only in an Unlimited format.

Among the most powerful thralls ever created, a soulhunter is an unholy vision of terror incarnate. Its menacing mass of plating, piping, gears, furnace, and flesh is an amalgamation designed for swift ferocity. It boasts slick skin cured by dark alchemy and inscribed with runes of thrall magic as well as a riveted carapace handcrafted by necrotechs. It's steam-enchanced flesh and musculature is fused with the powerful body of a Scharde-bred charger. The hungry necrotite furnace within its equine ribcage burns with a baleful corpse-fire, venting choking black smoke from the ominous flues running along its reinforced spine.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Cavalry
• Template:Undead
• Template:Body Count
  • Template:Strength of Death
  • Template:Soul Phase
• Template:Reposition 5
• Template:Soul Reserve

Weapons

• Scythe - 2" reach, POW 6, P+S 13 melee attack
• Sickle - 0.5" reach, POW 4, P+S 11 melee attack
  • Template:Life Drinker
• Mount - 0.5" reach, POW 10 mount attack

Theme Forces

• Cryx
  • Template:Black Industries

• Other Factions
  • Infernal players can use this model/unit in the Template:Hearts of Darkness theme, but only if Mortenebra is leading the army.
  • Mercenary and Convergence players can use this unit in the Template:Strange Bedfellows theme.

Thoughts on Soulhunters

Soulhunters in a Nutshell

Soulhunters are a skirmish unit, and they hate getting bogged down in melee. They excel at taking out enemy light infantry (especially living enemies), have a chance of hurting light warjacks, but are relatively useless against high ARM targets.

Their MAT isn't good enough to hit high DEF targets all that often, unless you manage to gain a soul token beforehand or apply liberal debuffs (which is very easy for Cryx to do). Then you can start the "soul train", where you use one soul token to help you kill an enemy, then gain a soul token to spend against for the next enemy, etc. Note that the soul tokens can not be used to buy additional attacks.

As far as durability is concerned, their high DEF and health boxes will make them take slightly more effort to kill than most opponents realize. But don't bank on their defensive stats to keep them alive - Their real shield is their SPD and Reposition move. Use smart positioning to stay out of the scrum - these guys should always be getting the charge, not being charged themselves.

Combos & Synergies

• ARM debuffs like Parasite or Scything Touch let Soulhunters punch above their weight class, and with 3 attacks apiece they can really ding something up.
• Darragh Wrathe can speed them up with Death Ride.
• Soulhunters pair very well with casters who can give them Ghost Walk.
• Aurora1 in Strange Bedfellows gives them Flight and extra speed with Aerogenesis, and Parry on feat turn. With Arcane Might they can also boost without souls.
• Goreshade2 - Mirage or Occultation are great upkeeps for them and with his feat he can cycle Mechanithralls or Scrap Thralls into fallen Soulhunters, which are the highest-value models for him to return with his feat. Curse of Shadows is always great with cavalry for unimpeded impact attacks.
• Goreshade3 - He can bring them back with Mockery of life and protect them with Occultation.
• Deneghra0 - Curse of Shadows on a stick.
• Deneghra2 also has CoS and Breath Stealer as a hitfixing tool. Her feat turns them Incorporeal even without Soul Phase.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• They're a very expensive unit, and if you use them unwisely it's just like throwing points down the drain.
• It can be tempting to move into 0.5" to get your extra Mount and Sickle attacks, but this can leave you open to free strikes when you try to Reposition away (unless you use Soul Phase).
• Life Drinker is almost a non-ability for these guys - their ARM is so low that anything that hits them is likely to kill them, they don't often wander around half-damaged looking for a heal.
• Soul Phase lasts only for your turn, so it won't keep them safe from retaliation.

Tricks & Tips

• Vs enemies with less melee range, stop your charge at 2" so that you can Reposition away without suffering a free strike. It means less attacks, but staying mobile is often more important. Also, it allows another friendly unit to charge the now-softened-up target.
• On the other hand, getting the enemy into Sickle range can lead to not only an extra attack, but also healing yourself.
• Try and charge an enemy model in such a way that they're within 0.5" of one enemy and 2" of a second. Use your Sickle to kill the guy within 0.5" (with the bonus charge damage, there's a good chance the weaker weapon will still kill your target), then your Scythe to kill the one within 2", then Reposition away without suffering free strikes.
• Use Soul Phase to go incorporeal before Repositioning (since it can be used any time during their activations). This will allow them to Reposition anywhere, even deeper into enemy lines and ignore non-magical weapons.

Other

Trivia

• Released in Warmachine: Superiority (2006)
• Sculptor: Alexandre Marks