Grimdark Future/Tactics/Soul-Snatcher Cults

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.

<tabs> <tab name="Grimdark Future">

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

• Survey Vehicle: Upon activation, 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.

Psychic Spells

• Stimulant (4+): Friendly unit within 12" takes Furious on the charge. With how limited your melee can get, you'll be needing to make every swing possible.
• Mind Poison (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes 3 AP 1 hits.
• Brain Burst (5+): Enemy model within 12" takes 4 hits, making you a sniping spell.
• Mind Control (5+): One enemy model within 12" must take a morale check or else they need to shoot one of their friendly units - oh, this is evil.
• Psychic Speed (6+): One friendly unit within 12" can immediately move 6". This gives you a desperate escape button or possibly an easier charge.
• Psychic Blaze (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take 4 AP 2 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. Even better is that you can boost both its casting and blocking thanks to Psychic Idol and you can buy up to two familiars for more attacks. 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.

• Mage: A budget psychic. Though much less capable of combat, they're no less of a threat as a caster. They even get the same psychic upgrades as the patriarch as well as the option for familiars in case you really needed to throw this guy into melee.

• Neophyte Support: Okay, this guy is a LOT to go through. At stock, they're very unimpressive, stuck with either a pistol/CCW or a A1 AP 3 Deadly 3 syringe-goad (or the option to buy multiple CCWs for A3 AP 1 Poison and Rending), but then you see the non-weapon upgrades. This is where the support shines, as it can take on many roles for your army:
  • Prime: You get Agitator, which grants the unit Furious. Obviously, you'll want this guy in a charging unit of cultists.
  • Mage: Gain Psychic. Though not as powerful as the Mage or Patriarch, this can give a slightly cheaper caster at the cost of any development.
  • Mad Scientist: At the start of any fight phase, the attached unit gets a random melee buff (+1 AP, a bonus attack or enemies suffer -1 to hit). While not as reliable as the Prime upgrade, this gives you more of them at all times.
  • Propagandist: Megaphone grants the unit Fast, which is very handy for getting into position.
  • Commander: Grab the Tactical Console, which grants the Feudal Guard's ability to move one unit within 12" on activation - incredibly helpful for setting up situations.

• Neophyte Elite: The budget beatstick of the heroes, this guy comes stock with Stealth and the upgrade options are all dedicated to giving any manner of balance between shooting and stabbing.

• Alpha Biker: You've got a pretty good sniper, considering that they have Fast and not-crap combat stats. Even better is the Survey Vehicle upgrade, which marks an enemy unit within 24" and allows allies to add +1 to hit it. This makes the biker way better as a support.

• Acolyte Warden: The banner grants Furious and Regeneration, giving a unit

• Brute Champion: An outright melee bruiser with plenty of protection between 4+ defense and Regeneration. Even more curious is how the sledgehammer is a melee weapon with Blast attached to it - Perfect for flattening things below Battle Brothers.

Infantry

• Minions: The humble frontliner. 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.
  • 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 (Heavy machine gun, missile launcher, mortar, autocannon or laser cannon). 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: The neophytes are more gun-nuts than the minions. Alongside the basic guns the minions get, you also get a whole second array of guns available (including free shotguns and the choice for another sniper rifle). You can even make one model somewhat good in melee with the option for pistol/CCW (or an energy pick or maul) and a banner for Fear.

• 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 energy pick, but one can grab an energy hammer with Deadly for crushing beefy heroes and bully tanks.

• 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 (and you can buy additional attacks for that too). You can also give a model Psychic in case you need even more denial.

• Elite Snatchers: Soul-Snatchers with 3+ defense and 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 at start is kinda limited in range, but you can replace it with the freakish mining laser or the heavy machinegun for a very cheap 5 points.

Vehicles

• Attack Vehicle: Quite a dangerous tool with that heavy mining laser and two heavy machine guns. The heavy mortar grants better range, but it's at the cost of range. You can also buy upgrades between the Flare Gun (Lets a unit within 6" move 6" during activation), Spotter (Friendly unit within 6" adds +6" to the range of their guns) 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. Thankfully, you can grab hunter missiles and either a storm rifle or light machinegun for extra shooting.

• Grinder Truck: Comes with a light machinegun and heavy incinerator (a slightly longer-range heavy flamethrower) on a light APC with half the transport space and Impact 9 for flattening mobs. If the incinerator doesn't cut it, then you can buy a heavy mining laser or earthquake cannon.

• Mining Truck: What you get when you have a light APC with a light machine gun and a twin autocannon to cover shooting. While your shooting is trapped to this loadout, it's sufficient to cover whatever you run into - so long as they don't rush you.

• Battle Tank: Finally, something with meat. Toting Tough 12 and a nova cannon to flatten mobs, this is a tank worth the combat potential. This cannon can also be replaced with a broad variety of weapons. On top of that and the auxiliary heavy flamethrower, you can also buy a matching pair of guns for additional pain (heavy flamethrowers, heavy machine guns, plasma cannons or heavy fusion cannons).

• 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, complemented by a purchase of Scout and Stealth.

Army Building

Tactics

</tab>

<tab name="Firefight">

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

• Survey Vehicle: Upon activation, 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.

Psychic Spells

• Stimulant (4+): Friendly unit within 12" takes Furious on the charge. With how limited your melee can get, you'll be needing to make every swing possible.
• Mind Poison (4+): One enemy unit within 12" takes 3 AP 1 hits.
• Brain Burst (5+): Enemy model within 12" takes 4 hits, making you a sniping spell.
• Mind Control (5+): One enemy model within 12" must take a morale check or else they need to shoot one of their friendly units - oh, this is evil.
• Psychic Speed (6+): One friendly unit within 12" can immediately move 6". This gives you a desperate escape button or possibly an easier charge.
• Psychic Blaze (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take 4 AP 2 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. Even better is that you can boost both its casting and blocking thanks to Psychic Idol and you can buy up to two familiars for more attacks. 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.

• Mage: A budget psychic. Though much less capable of combat, they're no less of a threat as a caster. They even get the same psychic upgrades as the patriarch as well as the option for familiars in case you need self-defense.

• Neophyte Support: Okay, this guy is a LOT to go through. At stock, they're very unimpressive, stuck with either a pistol/CCW or a A1 AP 3 Deadly 3 syringe-goad (or the option to buy multiple CCWs for A3 AP 1 Poison and Rending), but then you see the non-weapon upgrades. This is the support really comes into its own, as it can buy one of several boosts for your army:
  • Prime: You get Agitator, which grants allies Furious. Obviously, you'll want this guy in a charging unit of cultists.
  • Mage: Gain Psychic. Though not as powerful as the Mage or Patriarch, this can give a slightly cheaper caster at the cost of any development.
  • Mad Scientist: At the start of any fight phase, nearby allies gets a random melee buff (+1 AP, a bonus attack or enemies suffer -1 to hit). While not as reliable as the Prime upgrade, this gives you more of them at all times.
  • Propagandist: Megaphone grants the allies Fast, which is very handy for getting into position.
  • Commander: Grab the Tactical Console, which grants the Feudal Guard's ability to move one unit within 12" on activation - incredibly helpful for setting up situations.

• Neophyte Elite: The budget beatstick of the heroes, this guy comes stock with Stealth and the upgrade options are all dedicated to giving any manner of balance between shooting and stabbing. This includes being able to grab a sniper rifle so you can stay protected.

• Alpha Biker: You've got a pretty good sniper, considering that they have Fast and not-crap combat stats. Even better is the Survey Vehicle upgrade, which marks an enemy unit within 24" and allows allies to add +1 to hit it. This makes the biker way better as a support.

• Acolyte Warden: The banner grants Furious and Regeneration, giving a unit

• Brute Champion: An outright melee bruiser with plenty of protection between 4+ defense and Regeneration. Even more curious is how the sledgehammer is a melee weapon with Blast attached to it - Perfect for flattening things below Battle Brothers.

Infantry

• Minion: The humble frontliner, but you only get one model while most get a group of them. Cheap as chips, but flimsy as paper. They lack options for melee, but you get a few decent gun options.

• Support Minion: Alongside the standard guardsmen is a pack of heavy weapons. These are essentially Tough 3 minions toting a single heavy weapon (Heavy machine gun, missile launcher, mortar, autocannon or laser cannon). Each of these are quite impressive with range, so it's better to keep them as far away as possible.

• Neophytes: The neophytes are more gun-nuts than the minions. Alongside the basic guns the minions get, you also get a whole second array of guns available (including free shotguns and the choice for another sniper rifle). You can even make one model somewhat good in melee with the option for pistol/CCW (or an energy pick or maul) and a banner for Fear.

• Acolyte: 4+ quality makes them a bit more valuable, akin to a veteran for the HDF. 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.

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

• Mutant Brute: Your elite bruisers, each with 3+ quality and Regeneration to keep them protected. Each of them comes with a hefty energy pick, but you can instead grab an energy hammer with Deadly for crushing beefy heroes and bully tanks.

• Soul-Snatcher: 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 (and you can buy additional attacks for that too). You can also give a model Psychic in case you need even more denial.

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

• Minion Biker: 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 at start is kinda limited in range, but you can replace it with the freakish mining laser or the heavy machinegun for a very cheap 5 points.

Army Building

Tactics

</tab> </tabs>

Grimdark Future Tactics Articles
General:	General Tactics
Alien Hives:	Alien Hives - Soul-Snatcher Cults
Aliens:	Dwarf Guilds - Eternal Dynasty - Jackals - Orc Marauders Robot Legions - Saurian Starhost - TAO Coalition
Battle Brothers:	Battle Brothers - Custodian Brothers - Prime Brothers
Elves:	Dark Elf Raiders - Elven Jesters - High Elf Fleets
Havoc:	Havoc Brothers - Machine Cult Defilers - Wormhole Daemons
Humans:	Battle Sisters - Feudal Guard - Gangs of Hive City Human Defense Force - Human Inquisition - Infected Colonies Machine Cult - Titan Lords - Rebel Guerillas
Ratmen:	Ratmen Clans - Vile Rattus Cult