Soul Trapper

Drawn to the dying, the soul trapper stalks the front lines with both eagerness and desperation. Its arms continually wrest souls of the recently departed from the air, limbs darting here and there like the workings of a manic threshing machine. It crams its stolen harvest into prepared chambers akin to soul cages within its body, where they await transference to other, mightier entities. It is said the screams of the souls transferred through the creation’s chest can be heard echoing from its ribcage long after they have gone, though few mortals have ever gotten close enough to hear.

Basic Info

Abilities

• Template:Undead
• Template:Collector
  • Template:Soul Transfer
• Template:Soul Shroud

Weapons

• Mechano-Claw - 0.5" reach, P+S 8 melee attack

Theme Forces

• Cryx
  • Template:Black Industries
  • Template:Dark Host

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

Thoughts on Soul Trapper

Soul Trapper in a Nutshell

They catch souls and that's about it. They are also a cheap solo that can control flags or contest enemy zones.

Their advantage is that they're cheap fillers for your army and a good way to catch souls without putting your warcaster, skarlock thrall or withershadow combine at risk.

Most players only take one Trapper, to fill in the last point of their army. If they have two points spare, most people will get a different 2-point solo rather than two 1-point Trappers.

Combos & Synergies

Lots of Cryx models can use souls, but really you want something that can spend souls the same turn. Such models include:

• Deneghra3 can spend souls to cast spells or load her warjacks.
• Lord Exhumator Scaverous can spend souls to force rerolls.
• Soulhunters can spend souls to turn incorporeal or boost attacks.
• The Hellslinger Phantom can spend souls to buy or boost attacks.
• Malice gets an ARM buff from souls, and can spend them to possess enemies.
• The Harrower can buff its gun with a soul.
• in Strange Bedfellows this model can give souls to the Enigma Foundry meaning it can by proxy gain friendly and enemy souls.
  • the additional move and attack from swift vengeance helps some of their order of activation issues. They can either get into a good position to collect souls before their activation or take a risk to earn 1 for themselves by hitting something.
  • Aurora1 is a general infantry buffer making them faster and flying.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• No combat potential
• It is harder to get souls where you want them than it appears on paper - you need to move the Trapper into position, then have something else kill enemies for it to collect. Next turn, the Soul Trapper moves over and hands the soul to someone. 2 turns for something useful to happen.
  • If you are trying to give the souls to a warcaster with Cull Soul, you have then got to wait a 3rd turn for the Soul token to turn into a focus token.
    • the only way around this are abilities like Vengeance or Swift Vengeance as they can reduce this interaction by 1 turn (if your opponent sets you up)

Tricks & Tips

• If your opponent also collects his own army's souls, jam these guys straight forward so they're the closest eligible model. That is, use them to deny your opponent getting souls from his own troops, rather than enabling yourself to get souls.
  They'll probably just get shot to death, but that's one less shot against your main army.
  • Watch out for "regardless of proximity" soul takers, who will circumvent the closest eligible.
  • Definitely watch out for Direct Spirits who completely shut you down.
  • In either of those cases, the Trapper is probably only good as a flag-sitter or zone-contester.

Other

Trivia

• Released in the Warmachine: Reckoning expansion (2015).
• Sculptor = Shawn Bruner