Warhammer 40k - Start Collecting! Genestealer Cults

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Power – Undying Vigour – WC6: Give a BLADED COG unit within 12″ a 5+++ until your next psychic phase. For units set up underground, meanwhile, this works like a normal deep strike ability, but better. When such a Basically, he’s very one dimensional, but worth including. The main decision you need to make is which turn to throw him down – make sure it’s either your key turn where everything has to go right or you’re very confident of wrapping and trapping a unit so he’s still around the next turn. Sanctus You can use the Meticulous Uprising stratagem to move up to three markers 12″ for one CP just before you reveal one (they have to stay within your deployment zone, and can’t go within 9″ of the enemy). Hopefully you’ve put your plan together such that you can achieve whatever shuffling you need without this, but it does provide yet another way to confound the foe, and a useful “undo button” if you survey your opponent’s first turn movement or deployment and realise you’ve messed up.

The rest of this is trash – the Cult Creed doesn’t do anything that others don’t do better, the relic is mediocre and the power is garbage. Doesn’t matter though – if you have Ridgerunners, get painting some Hivecult insignia on them. Cult Ambush is at the heart of what GSC do, and what makes them unique. This ability is common to every unit in the codex, and gives them two additional options when deploying at the start of the game. At your second box you can and should run the army as a battalion for the CP gain. After the third box you can and should run a second battalion.The list uses a large number of hand flamer acolytes with a Patriarch in a Broodsurge, with the combo as follows What rules do you need to understand when playing Genestealer Cults? The unique rules of Genestealer Cults provide a different gaming experience from other factions, making it crucial if you’re entering the world of Genestealer Cults. However, it’s the addition of various additional effects and stratagems that make this even more potent. The most important of these is They Came From Below. For one CP, just before you reveal an ambush marker, you can remove three markers from the board, and move three of your units underground, to deep strike on turns 2 or 3 as normal. This is great, because: His rifle is Heavy 1, S4, AP-1 Dd3, can target characters and does a MW on a 6+ to wound. So far so average (and vastly less good than an Eliminator) but against psykers he shoots up in value – if they take any damage from him (including the mortal wound) they take an immediate Perils of the Warp. He can be further improved with a relic sniper which gives him +2 to wound rolls, making that MW (and thus the perils) go off on a 4+.

Prepared Ambush– 1CP: A unit of Neophyte Hybrids that set up on the battlefield this battle round makes their autoguns assault 2 instead of rapid fire 1. The ceiling here is wildly low, and even in perfect circumstances with a 20 model full squad (which you don’t take) this is adding 16 BS4+ autogun shots. This needed to give rapid fire 2 instead. C Unfortunately, these are awful. Like, easily the worst set any faction gets. Worse than Drukhari. Really. The psychic power is a powerful ability but it has a high WC and a hefty target restriction. It’s a good enough effect that you can’t write it off entirely, especially as you can get cast bonuses on a Patriarch, and against armies running INFANTRY hordes, or something like White Scars who depend on Advance manipulation to get their Centurions around, it could be worth a look. It could easily have been WC7 though, 8 was a bit mean. For newcomers to the Genestealer Cults, starting your collection is made simple with combined boxes like “Star Collecting!” or “Patrol Box.” These provide a strong foundation for your army, ensuring that you have both strength and numbers on your side.The one big warning flag that needs to be added to this as of Marine winter 2019 is that you do need to be careful that your opponent can’t just table you on their turn 2 if they go first. With the merciful arrival of Marine nerfs the builds that could do this have mostly gone away, but the Whirlwind/Thunderfire heavy builds that were popular at one point could literally carve through 80+ cult infantry models given good dice, enough to take an army that moved too much into ambush off the board and seal a sudden death victory. This won’t come up nearly as much any more, but do eyeball your opponent’s list and make sure you aren’t looking at one that can pull this off. Unquestioning Loyalty If you decide you want to buy new, I always give the same advice on this. I think it is by far the cheapest and most directly viable approach. A streamlined version of the horde Bladed Cog/4AE lists that were popular late last year, and still present a serious threat. Stratagem – Drive-by Demolitions – 1CP: a RUSTED CLAW BIKER unit gets +1 to hit and wound with Grenade weapons for a phase. They can also move as if it was the movement phase after shooting, but cannot charge this turn. This used to be slightly weaker than the Broodsurge, but still seen in a lot of lists. With the Aberrant nerf, this has basically vanished. If you’re still using them then by all means take it, but for most people this is on the bench until they get a buff. Psychic Powers

Oppressors Bane: Upgrades one Kelemorph gun (or an autopistol, but you’re taking it on a Kelermorph) to be 3 shots, AP-2 and re-roll wounds against CHARACTERS. A hefty buff, and even better than it used to be thanks to getting the Keler over the line of being a real threat to most Marine characters. B+ However, several upgrade options they have access to make them even better, and it’s these that push them into all-star status. First of all, as many models as you like can take a hand flamer for 1pt each. Well why is that so impressive, you ask? After all, they aren’t deep striking within the 6″ range for those. Are they? When you deploy your units, you don’t deploy anything that’s been set up in Ambush on the table. Instead, each time you would set up one of these units, you place one Ambush marker on the table, wholly within your deployment zone. Kelermorphs are prolific users of the Lying in Wait stratagem, and the need to screen for a potential 3″ deep strike against a single-model unit that can pop a vital character can give enemy armies absolute fits, the mere threat of this forcing them to move way more slowly than they’d like. Alternatively, if your opponent doesn’t think carefully enough about the prospect, bringing one of these in with Telepathic Summons on turn one can pop a character they forgot to screen properly (although be aware you can’t combine this with Lying in Wait, as that has been errated to specifically only work with units deploying from the underground). Cult Creed – Subterranean Ambushers: In the first battle round, units with this get +1 to advance and charge rolls. After that, units that set up on the board get +1 to advances (which isn’t really relevant) and charges (which very much is) until the end of that turn.The first generation offspring of the Genestealer is always a terrifying sight: engorged craniums, too many limbs, and mauve skin make them unrecognisable as even half-human progeny. The second generation maintains an extra arm, but the march towards passing as human has begun. The third generation is more humanoid than those before, though still alien in appearance. Attach this fearsome creature to a unit of Purestrain Genestealers to grant them the Devastating Wounds ability, making it even easier to slice your way through your enemies with those lethal claws. Weapon Spotlight