Soul-Snatcher Cults Tactics

Soul-Snatcher Cults
Setting:	Grimdark Future
Games:	Grimdark Future, Grimdark Future: Firefight
Species:	Human-Alien hybrids
Version:	v2.50

Note: as v2.50 is in constant development the following might not be accurate.

Why play Soul-Snatcher Cults

The soul-snatcher cult is what happens when you slap together the HDF and she soul snatchers from the alien hives. While your base goons act like the basic infantry and guardsmen - that is being a bunch of disposable fodder - but the elites are somewhat more different.

Pros:

• Near-universal Scout
• Your heroes can actually interact with your troops
• Your heroes are all rather cheap

Cons:

• Your troops are flimsy as hell
• Your troops aren't all that good with their guns

Special Rules

• Agitator: Attached units get +1 attack in melee when charging.
• Banner: Attached units get the Regeneration special rule.
• Experiments: When in melee, roll one die and apply one bonus (either +1 to AP or Rending) to this unit's attacks.
• Flare Gun: Once per activation, pick one friendly unit within 12”, which gets +2" on Advance and +4" on Rush/Charge actions next time it moves
• Megaphone: Attached units move +2” on Advance, and +4” on Rush/Charge actions.
• Resistance: Counts as having Regeneration on rolls of 4+ against spell attacks, and on rolls of 6+ against non-spell attacks (this stacks with Regeneration).
• Spotter: Once per activation, pick one friendly unit within 6”. That unit’s weapons get +6” range next time it shoots.
• Survey Vehicle: This model can mark one enemy unit within 24". All friendly units now gain +1 when rolling to hit when they shoot for the rest of the turn - quite a powerful boost to the otherwise lackluster troops.
• Tactical Console: Once per activation, pick one other friendly unit within 12” of this model, they can move up to 6".
• Takedown: When this model attacks in melee, you may pick one model in the unit as its target, and make 1 attack at Quality 2+ with AP(1) and Deadly(3), which is resolved as if it's a unit of 1.
• Warning Cry: Enemy units can’t be set up within 18” of this model when using Ambush.

Psychic Spells

• Mind Poison (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes three AP(1) hits.
• Stimulant (4+): Two friendly unit within 6" takes Furious on their next charge. With how limited your melee can get, you'll be needing to make every swing possible.
• Brain Burst (5+): Enemy model within 12" takes two AP(4) hits, making you a sniping spell.
• Hypnosis (5+): Two friendly units within 12" get +1 to their defenses. Excellent when combined with cover thanks to their need for cover.
• Mind Control (6+): Two enemy units within 6” get -3" next time they Advance, or -6" next time they Charge or Rush.
• Psychic Blaze (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take six AP(1) hits each, making this painful for the mobs.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Soul-Snatcher Patriarch: Your strongest unit in your army. It's decently protected with a 3+ defense, has Fast and Strider for good movement, totes some decently powerful claws and is psychic. buy a Psychic Idol for the addition of Resistance. The greatest flaw of the patriarch is his relative fragility - That 3+ is the only protection you have and you're only at Tough(3) - Don't spend him recklessly. If you see the enemy is going to bring a lot of ambushers, do not hesitate to buy a Pet Familiar so you can exploit Warning Cry.

• Cult Leader: Okay, this guy is a LOT to go through. At stock, they're very unimpressive, stuck with a Pistol + CCW, though that pistol can be swapped for either a rapid-fire Burst Pistol or the potent Sniper Rifle. If you aren't so keen on shooting, you can swap the whole loadout for either horde-clearing Sabotage Charges, a hero-killing Injector Goad or an Array of CCWs for AP(1) Poison on their swings.
  • Upgrades: The non-weapon improvements are where the support shines, as it can take on many roles for your army: Prime offers Agitator for more melee-inclined forces. Mad Scientist includes Experiments for improving a squad's melee potential. Mage grants Psychic so you can have an affordable caster. Propagandist adds a Megaphone to improve a squad's speed. Commander gives a Tactical Console to make the most out of your numerical superiority. Warden adds Regeneration so you can offer extra protection.

• Cult Hitman: The assassin to the Leader's support, starting with Takedown so you can begin any fight with a mighty blow. While it also starts with a Pistol + CCW, you can swap the Pistol for either a Burst Pistol or Duelist Pistols for mid-range hero-sniping. The CCW, meanwhile, can be turned into either Dual Blades for AP(1) Rending or a Poison Blade for AP(1) Poison.

• Brute Champion: An outright melee bruiser with plenty of protection between 4+ defense and Regeneration. Notable is how the sledgehammer is a melee weapon with Blast attached to it - Perfect for flattening small mobs. While the Psychic Idol sounds like a potential good buy, it does not offer any improvements in addition to Regeneration.

Infantry

• Minions: The humble frontliner, almost ripped straight from the HDF. Cheap as chips, but flimsy as paper. Unlike most horde armies, there's a dearth of melee weapon options, but you do have a couple choices in regards to guns. The Plasma Rifle offers cheap anti-armor, the Fusion Rifle destroys tanks, the Flamethrower takes care of crowds, the Shred Rifle offers rapid-fire Rending and the Grenade Launcher fires Blasts against mobs.
  • Support Minions: Alongside the standard guardsmen is a pack of heavy weapons. Available as a squad or as a lone attachment to an minion squad, these are essentially Tough(3) soldiers toting a single heavy weapon (Anti-crowd Mortar, long-range Heavy Machinegun, flyer-crushing Missile Launcher, tank-demolishing Laser Cannon, or extreme range Autocannon). Each of these are quite impressive with range, so it's better to keep them as far away as possible. This is especially true of an attached weapon, as you'll be vulnerable to Deadly and Sniper.

• Neophytes: Slightly more elite than the Minions thanks to a 4+ Quality and Scout. While each one comes with a Rifle, you can also equip everyone with Shotguns if you're more inclined to keeping them in close quarters, as can buying a Banner for Fear. Your special weapons come with some rather conventional stuff like the Flamethrower or Grenade Launcher before jumping into the insane stuff. The Mining Laser demolishes tanks, the Quake Cannon provides some long-range ordinance, the Heavy Machinegun offers man-portable long-range firepower if you don't want to buy Support Minions, and the Sniper Rifle gives an unexpected long-range option. One model could instead go melee, going for either a Pistol or crowd-controlling Web Pistol for a gun and a CCW that you can replace for either a lightweight Heavy Pick or an anti-armor Heavy Mace.

• Acolytes: 4+ quality makes them a bit more valuable, but they aren't here for shooting. They only get pistols (or buy flamethrower pistols) to do so. Instead, focus in on melee, since they get a ton of cheap heavy weapons in order to chew up enemies. Do beware that they still have 5+ defense, so make sure to protect them accordingly - or boost them with a mad scientist support.

• Morphs: Acolytes, but the Rending is replaced with AP 1. From there, you can buy Rending back or add +2 attacks on any morph you which, but only one can buy Deadly 3, which makes them very valuable against beefy units.

• Mutant Brutes: Your elite bruisers, each with 3+ quality and Regeneration to keep them protected. Each of them comes with a hefty Heavy Pick, but one can grab an Heavy Hammer to handle crowds or a Pick Hammer to take down elite units, while one model can take a Great Weapon for all the AP.

• Soul-Snatchers: Straight from the Alien Hives list. Very mobile, but are only protected by a 4+ defense. Make sure that these guys are stuck in for melee if you intend on keeping them around for long. You can also give a model Psychic in case you need even more denial.

• Elite Snatchers: Soul-Snatchers with 3+ defense and Ambush with Regeneration. These guys are definitely better-suited for getting stuck in, but are considerably more expensive.

• Minion Bikers: Despite the default loadout angling to go for melee to accompany Impact, don't. Though your selection of guns is limited, you should consider getting them and not getting your minions flattened because you don't have many of them. You get melee weapons as well, but remember that you don't want to rely on them since they still hit on a 5+.

• Minion Quadbike: The closest you get to an heavy weapons bike, and you'll get it for quite the bargain. The Heavy Flamethrower it comes with is limited in range, but you can replace it with the high-powered Mining Laser or the Heavy Machinegun for a very cheap 5 points.

Vehicles

• Attack Vehicle: Quite a dangerous tool with that Heavy Mining Laser for tank demolition and a Twin Heavy Machinegun. Swapping the laser out for the Heavy Mortar grants better range and crowd control, but it reduces the vehicle's effectiveness to merely being backfield support. You can also buy upgrades between the Flare Gun, Spotter or Survey Vehicle. These turn the attack vehicle into way more than just that - it's a major multiplier to a force built around it.

• Light APC: Your dedicated Transport is a bit less powerful with only two Heavy Flamethrowers and the option for either Strider or Stealth depending on how much you need it at the front. Thankfully, you can grab hunter missiles and either a Storm Rifle or Heavy Machinegun for extra shooting. If you need something more potent, one of those Flamethrowers can be swapped out for a Laser Machinegun if you need to hit tanks while any of them can be swapped for more general-use Heavy Machineguns.

• Grinder Truck: A hulking tank that doesn't have a big Transport capacity but compensates by carrying a rather dangerous Impact(9). While it has a Heavy Machinegun, the main focus of this truck is the Heavy Mining Laser, an instrument of total devastation to those that are hit. If you're going against more infantry, you can pick up either the Heavy Incinerator for something akin to a flamethrower or the Heavy Quake Cannon for crowd demolition.

• Mining Truck: What you get when you have a Light APC with a Heavy Machinegun and a Twin Autocannon to cover shooting against a wide list of foes. While your shooting is trapped to this loadout, it's sufficient to cover whatever you run into up until you face tanks. In those cases, it would be better to rely on whatever you're carrying around to wipe them out.

• Battle Tank: Finally, something with meat. Toting Tough(12) and a Nova Cannon to flatten mobs, this is a tank worth the combat potential. Alongside the centerpiece Nova Cannon for crowd-wiping, it also comes with Twin Heavy Flamethrowers to handle closer crowds and the option for the Hunter Missile, Stealth and Strider like the Light APC as well as the option for a Storm Rifle or Heavy Machinegun that stacks with a second choice for Heavy Flamethrower, another Heavy Machinegun or a Laser Cannon.
  • Main Cannon: That main Nova Cannon has plenty of options, as befits the central weapon on this tank. The Battle Cannon gives you better AP in exchange for smaller blasts, making it better for high-defense crowds. The Gatling Cannon lets you throw handfuls of dice at the enemy. The Anti-Tank Cannon gives you a simple and effective tool for destroying vehicles. The Heavy Plasma Cannon gives you another big blast with an even higher AP, making it best for crushing elite goons. The Siege Cannon gives you a costly rapid-fire gun that can demolish both elites and vehicles with the same efficiency, though Indirect affects its accuracy.
  • Sponsons: Similarly, the Twin Heavy Flamethrowers has a selection of alternatives for the sake of different targets. The Twin Heavy Machineguns is no stronger than the base weapon, but it does provide an excellent range. The Twin Plasma Cannon provides crowd control for heavily-armored enemies. Twin Heavy Fusion Rifles gives you something exclusive for tank combat if you need them gone immediately.

• Light Walker: This is not something worth taking to melee. Even though it has fear, it only has a measly single stomp attack. Instead, take it because it has a rather decent list of heavy weapons, all given on a very mobile weapons platform for a fairly cheap price. While it starts out with a Twin Heavy Flamethrower, you can swap it out with a long-range Twin Heavy Machinegun, a Twin Missile Launcher to destroy flyers, a Twin Plasma Cannon to demolish armored mobs, a Twin Laser Machinegun for a rapid-fire gun with high AP, a Twin Laser Cannon for something dedicated for destroying tanks, and a Twin Autocannon for extreme range with rapid-fire AP(2).

List Building & Tactics

General Advice

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Tactics

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See Also

• Soul-Snatcher Cults
• Soul-Snatcher Cults Quickplay Armies
• Grimdark Future Tactics
• Grimdark Future List Building
• Grimdark Future Strategy
• Grimdark Future

Soul-Snatcher Cults
Overview - Tactics - Firefight Tactics - Miniatures - Quickplay Armies - Firefight Quickplay Armies

Grimdark Future tactics
List Building - Strategy - Special Rules
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