M2E+Soulstone+Miner


 * Soulstone Miner, Arcanist Minion[[image:Soulstone Miner.jpg width="210" height="296" align="right"]]**

=__Overview__=

The Soulstone Miner is an odd little minion that can remain buried during the first part of the game, only to burrow up onto the board at the end of a later turn. Once on the table, it can use soulstones like a Henchman, or it can just focus on mining more soulstones for your leader.

=__Mobility__=

The Miner has a decent Walk speed of 5 and a Charge of 7, and it's Unimpeded as well, allowing it to ignore the movement penalties for severe terrain.

However, its far more mobile than one would think, primarily on account of its **The Enemy Down Below** ability, which allows the Soulstone Miner to begin the game buried. If it does so, it can unbury itself at the end of any turn, anywhere on the table at least 6" from all enemy models and the enemy Deployment Zone. Note that this can only happen once per game: once it pops back up, it can't resurface this way, even if you bury it again.

Note that, because it is unburied and not summoned, the Soulstone Miner can start laying down scheme markers on its next activation after unburying, making it an ideal minion for placing scheme markers in out of the way locations that might otherwise be difficult to reach.

=__Offense__=

The Miner's Rock Drill has a high Ml of 6, a range of 2", a decent damage spread of 2/3/4, and the innate ability to ignore Armor, making it fairly competent in melee.

It also has two very nice triggers, the first of which is //Siphon Existence//, which allows the Rock Drill to add a Soulstone to its pool after it kills an enemy model. Its second trigger is //Dropped Down a Hole//, which places the target in base contact with a friendly Scheme Marker within 6".

=__Resilience__=

Despite its average Defense, Willpower, and wounds, the Soulstone Miner is fairly resistant with Armor +1 and the ability to use Soulstones as if it were a Henchman.

=__Tactics and Tips__=

The most obvious use of the Soulstone Miner is, not surprisingly, to **Mine Soulstone**. This deals two damage to the Miner that cannot be prevented, but also adds one Soulstone to the crew's soulstone pool. It also takes 2 AP, essentially requiring the Soulstone Miner's entire activation to use.


 * The Enemy Down Below** can be used as an insurance policy for strategies, with the Soulstone Miner staying buried at the start, then unburying at the end of the turn to help you claim Reconnoiter or Turf War points, or to block a table quarter to deny your opponent Reconnoiter points.

Similarly, you can keep the Soulstone Miner buried for the first turn or two of the game as the opponent moves up, only to unbury it in a forgotten section of the board and have it start laying scheme markers for the Breakthrough or Plant Evidence schemes. A similar approach works on defense as well, with the Miner unburying near an enemy objective runner to charge it at the start of the next turn, or next to one of the opponent's scheme markers to easily destroy it during its next activation.

Leveticus can hire Soulstone Miners with his Pariah of Iron upgrade, which allows him to unbury it next to a Hollow Waif right before using her to return back to life and unbury himself. In addition to allowing Leveticus to unbury on a turn when he might have otherwise been forced to remain dead, the appearance of Leveticus and a Soulstone Miner from an unexpected angle can easily catch an opponent off guard and disrupt their plans.

The Soulstone Miner is a great model for Take Prisoner, as you can keep it buried for the entire game, only to have it unbury at the end of Turn 5 and move up next to the model you wish to take prisoner. Sure, you'll be playing with a crew that's essentially short 6 soulstones, but this will usually amount in an easy three Victory Points for the scheme if you can get activation control.

=__Playing Against the Soulstone Miner__=

The Miner is very good at coming up where you least expect it, so try to take advantage of the fact that your opponent's crew will be short one model while it's buried and waiting. If there are schemes such as Breakthrough or Plant Evidence available, it might be worth spreading out and hanging back with one or two models so that you can quickly react to the appearance of a Soulstone Miner.

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 * __Ownership__ **