Soul trap

I got the archon model and love how he looks. I want to run him with the visible soul trap huskblade combo and need help figuring out soul trap.
How is it best accomplished to find characters he can trap? And advice would be appreciated!

An Archon is well equipped to be able to take on almost any IC in close combat but be wary of anyone with S6 or higher and/or eternal warrior. Many Archons are now taking a Venom Blade in addition to the Huskblade in order to deal with high Toughness opponents where you rely on volume of attacks and hope for some failed saves rather than hoping to get that elusive 6 that you need to wound a high T character or MC.

I usually put an Archon in a squad of Incubi, and let them eat anything that comes in their way. I run a Huskblade/Venom Blade/SoulTrap or Huskblade/Agoniser/SoulTrap. If you have the points I say the agoniser, it only wounds on a 4+ but it is also a power weapon.

Also, go for IC that are in smaller squads so that you have less meat to wade through to whiddle your own squad down. I sometimes also put my Archon in with Wyches and give him Combat Drugs. It usually works pretty well, the Wyches give him a meatshield, and can help in close combat if they make it that far.

Against a player who only runs a single HQ is soul trap really worth it? ...or am I being too "selective" with what I term an IC?

AvInNebr wrote:

Against a player who only runs a single HQ is soul trap really worth it? ...or am I being too "selective" with what I term an IC?

Independent Characters aren't always HQ only, there are quite a few Elite IC's out there (techmarines are one example). Remember also, that you won't generally know how many IC's you'll be facing anyway.
It would be very bad form to ask an opponent how many IC's he has and then adjust your list, so your question is somewhat moot.

Dra'al Nacht wrote:

AvInNebr wrote:

Against a player who only runs a single HQ is soul trap really worth it? ...or am I being too "selective" with what I term an IC?

Independent Characters aren't always HQ only, there are quite a few Elite IC's out there (techmarines are one example). Remember also, that you won't generally know how many IC's you'll be facing anyway.
It would be very bad form to ask an opponent how many IC's he has and then adjust your list, so your question is somewhat moot.

Agreed about the bad form ... and I never ask ahead of time what is on their list, basic or specific.

The main army I tend to play against (Blood Drinker SMs) generally runs an HQ that is an IC but I don't know that he's ever had more than that single IC in his list...

I haven't been able to play against many other armies (location limitation) so I'm curious about how many ICs one runs into on average in a game (1500 point average if that helps)...

I would tend to expect 1-2 on average with certain armies prone to field more than others. Some can field very few indeed (IG) while others can sometimes have an almost silly amount (Space Wolves) and everything inbetween.

Armies will frequently vary. Nids will have loads of targets due to the MC aspect, but its easy to find armies with none at all (since HQ slots aren't always Independent Characters, such as BA armies led by Mephiston). Most armies will have one or two (normally the warlord, barring a couple of corner-cases). I think its worth it for the chance to turn the archon into even more of a combat monster than he already is, for just the cost of a Wych. Especially if he's liable to be bumping a wych unit down to 9 models so he can sit in their raider

just a quickie.
It doubles from 3 to 6
Does it then double to 6, 9 or 12 (10)?

its 3 to 6, and then 6 to 10

I have to say I regularly play my friends Nid army and there is nothing more gratifying than when u roll that elusive 6 up (and it will happen, just as often as that nasty 1 rolls up during your shadow field save) and you see the look on their face when they have to remove their T6, 6 wound MC!!! Priceless....

I don't see the agonizer as a viable combination with a huskblade. Yes, it wounds on 4+, but as a power weapon is only AP3 and most IC enemies will have 2+ armor. That actually makes the lowly venom blade a better choice if combined with a huskblade. However, since both huskblade and venom blade are special melee weapons, I don't believe you get the extra attack for having 2 hand weapons; I believe you have to make a choice. More experienced guys will correct me if I'm wrong. Don't forget to issue a challenge with it when you're in close combat to avoid having to wade through things to get your IC target.

Actually, as they're not specialist weapons, you do get the additional attack.

Archon Farath Mure wrote:

Actually, as they're not specialist weapons, you do get the additional attack.

More accurately, "specialist weapons" is now a special rule that only certain weapon have. In 5th edition this was different as any weapon that wasn't a regular melee weapon counted as a "specialist weapon" when combined with another non regular melee weapon. So in 5th edition you would not have got the extra attack for having a venom blade and a huskblade. This edition however you do.

The Huskblade/Soul Trap combo is kind of situational. Against IG it's close to useless, against plain SM it depends on the army list. But against GK, Orks, Nids etc it can be quite useful.

The venom blade as a secondary seems a solid and cheap choice. I'd take combat drugs as well, as +1 str or especially reroll to-wound is awesome.