Warhammer 40,000/7th Edition Tactics/Genestealer Cults

Everyone's favorite gribbly army is back on the tabletop! After getting hints of a codex in Deathwatch: Overkill, the full codex is finally here. They seem to have upgraded their iconic limos to more practical infantry fighting vehicles, though. Sadface.

Why Play Genestealer Cults?

Genestealer Cults are an army for when you want to play a "horde" of lots of cheap disposable infantry, yet still have a realistic chance of winning games. Genestealer Cultists have a very small selection of units, but there is relatively little overlap in unit roles. Their rank-and-file melee is capable of shredding many units to pieces and won't instantly die the moment they end up in combat with a lightly armored Walker, and they can strategically redeploy their infantry units over the scope of two turns, giving them defense against having individual units "stranded" and not contributing to the fight. Add in a fairly solid Psychic Discipline with a mix of utility and a nasty debuff Primaris, and two assassination-denial rules, and you have a functionally complete army with the means to cover most of your bases. Being Allies of Convenience with Tyranids and Imperial Guard rounds out your selection of tools.

• Because you've got the models from the late '80s and have long been itching to use them again!
• Because you finally have a workable ally force with Tyranids.
• You like Genestealers.
• You like Tanks.
• You like Genestealers in Tanks.
• The army list can be fielded with a mostly Human appearance, you don't even need three or four armed xenos monstrosities anywhere to actually play with them. Just proxy your guard army as Neophyte Hybrids. They'll never know! (who would play a Xenos army just to use it as humans?)
• You have a lot of money to spare - it costs £25/$40/€33 for an unupgraded 50 point troops unit. Remember, you only have two kidneys.
  • This is somewhat alleviated by the fact that you can fairly reliably get 16 Neophytes, 12 Acolytes, and the Characters for (usually) about half the cost of the Deathwatch: Overkill box. That said, the expensive single kits are the only place to get the other upgrades, so you're gonna have to buy at least a couple.
• You were once bitten by a man with an odd head and now this little voice in your head tells you to do this. If this is the case please find your local inquisitor.

Special Rules

• Cult Ambush: When a unit Infiltrates or arrives from reserves (or ongoing Reserves) you can "Ambush" rather than appear on the table normally. You can also use this to deploy, which is brilliant. This means roll a dice and see what happens:

1. Cult Reinforcements: Unit shows up from your table edge as normal. Possibly the worst result unless you planned to move them to the backfield anyway.
2. Encircling the Foe: Unit Outflanks, appearing from a random side edge.
3. Lying in Wait: Place the unit anywhere on the table more than 9" away from an enemy, or 6" if that unit can't see you.
4. A Perfect Ambush: Place the unit anywhere on the table more than 6" away from an enemy. Full Stop.
5. A Deadly Trap: Same as above, but your unit may immediately make an out of turn shooting attack with the pinning rule. If they have no guns, they get a free run move - unfortunately Acolyte Hybrids have to shoot with their pistols.
6. They Came From Below: Place the unit anywhere more than 3" away from an enemy, you may charge the turn you arrive.

The jury is still out as to whether or not a unit counts as moving when they get a 3+ result on the table. The specific wording of the rule says they count as moving unless otherwise specified. 1 and 2 clearly involve your dudes walking on to the board as per coming in from reserves and outflank respectively, but 3+ specify that you "set up" your guys, and none of the results specify that your guys don't count as moving. The general consensus is that 3+ results don't count as moving (similar to Infiltrate. Otherwise, why have the base rule specify "unless otherwise stated"?), but until an FAQ is released it's probably prudent to discuss this with your opponent.

• Return to Shadows: Your infantry units gain the ability to be removed from the table and be placed into Ongoing Reserves, if not within 6" of an enemy model. This, coupled with Cult Ambush means you can utterly mess with your army be redeploying everything when he thinks he's got you outmanoeuvred. Your opponent will be raging when he thinks he's got you cornered when you just NOPE out of a bind.
  • However, do note that you will enter Ongoing Reserves in your movement phase to come back on the following turn, so you will forgo a shooting and assault phase.
• Unquestioning Loyalty: Your dudes worship their leaders in ways that regular humans never seem to understand. Your HQ units automatically pass Look Out Sir rolls and can even perform them in challenges, meaning suddenly those big giant squads become meat shields while your wicked cookie monster goes to town. Effectively saving you from Instant Death Wounds so long as you have minions to throw away. Hilarious Side Note: Because you can use this ability in challenges, this becomes a very entertaining way of making CSM players furious as their HQs are forced into fights where their wound get shifted endlessly into 5 point neophytes until an Iconward Rends them to death.

Warlord Traits

1. Shadow Stalker: Your Warlord gains the Stealth special rule.
2. Focus of Admiration: Friendly units of the Genestealer Cult faction have Counter-Attack whilst they are within 12" of your Warlord.
3. Wall Creeper: Your Warlord gains the Move through cover special rule. In addition, your Warlord and his unit never suffer the penalty to Initiative for charging through difficult terrain.
4. Born Survivor: Your Warlord gains the It Will Not Die special rule.
5. Alien Majesty: All model in your Warlord's detachment can use his Leadership value in place of their own.
6. Ambush Leader: When using Cult Ambush with any unit the Warlord has joined, do not roll on the ambush table; you can choose a result to apply instead.

Broodmind Psychic Discipline

• Primaris: Mass Hypnosis: Malediction that causes a chosen unit within 24" to drop it's WS, BS, I & A by -1.

1. Psychic Stimulus: Blessing that grants the unit Fleet and Relentless, also allows them to charge after running.
2. Psionic Blast: Witchfire, 24" S5 AP3 Assault 1, Blast
3. Might From Beyond: Blessing, a target unit within 24" gains S+1 and Rage - this is very useful, especially on large squads - a +1 on Strength and Attacks is brilliant.
4. Mental Onslaught: Focused Witchfire, compare Ld values and add D6. On a draw, the target suffers -3 Initiative for a turn. If the psyker wins, the target takes the difference in wounds.
5. Mind Control: Malediction. Choose a single non-vehicle model and make a shooting attack as if it were yours. See that Stormsurge over there with all of those one-shot missiles? The one with all of those deadly weapons? Yeah, it's yours for a turn.
6. Telepathic Summons: Conjuration, WC 2/3. Choose 2 or 3, create a single unit . If you expend 2WC = 5 Acolyte or 5 Metamorphs or 10 Neophyte, 3WC and it's 10 Acolyte or 10 Metamorphs or 20 Neophyte or 4 aberants or 8 genestealer, these model can be equipped with ANY UPGRADES list on their data sheet as per the summoning rules.

Wargear

Melee

• Rending Claws: start here, most of your units get them. S:user, AP5, Rending. They only count as one weapon no matter how many arms your model has. But thankfully in most cases you can fill those extra hands with other weapons to gain your bonus +1 attack.
• Scything Talons: These are mostly just to give your Purestrain Genestealers an extra Attack. Upgrade half the unit and let the cheaper models take the brunt of the enemy shooting, while the heavy hitters bring up the rear.
• Bonesword: Str User, AP3, rolls of 6 to wound are instant death. Good against MEQ Multiwound models.
  • Lashwhip & Bonesword: same as above, but also add +3 to Initiative for the added whip. Still counts as one weapon despite being a pair.
• Metamorph Weapons: available to your Metamorph Hybrids. All are S:user, AP5, but each version comes with specific rules. Note that the rules say "A model equipped with...", so you can still use your Rending Claws to Attack with these benefits.
  • Claw: gain +2 Strength.
  • Talon: gain +1 WS, but increases to +2 WS if you have a pair.
  • Whip: a lash whip without the Bonesword, gives you +3 Initiative.
• Power Pick: +2 Str, AP3, unwieldy. This is not a specialist weapon, so it grants +1 attack when stacked with the abberant's rending claws (2 combat weapons)
• Power Maul: S+2 AP4 and Concussive. Useful against Imperial Guard, Eldar of all kinds, Orks, Necrons, and Daemons since all Daemons have are invulns and S6 can even harm the tough GD if you can survive against them.
• Power Hammer: Almost a Thunder Hammer, but not quite. It still strikes last, but still causes concussion. It doesn't double the users strength but adds +3, which on Aberrants is still S8, so it might as well be a Thunder Hammer, however it is a Two-Handed weapon, so there is no way to ensure you get the extra close combat attack.
• Heavy Rock Saw Str x2, AP2, Two-handed, Unwieldy, Armourbane
• Heavy Rock Cutter:Str x2, AP2Two-handed, Unwieldy, Snip. If you take a wound and somehow the model survives it, then pass a toughness test or be removed from play. Gives you a lucky chance to get rid of those Eternal Warriors or high toughness Monstrous Creatures. Though bear in mind harder opponents are more likely to pass the test.
• Heavy Rock Drill: Str x2, AP2, Two-handed, Unwieldy, Pulverise. Instead of attacking normally, you can instead make a single attack at S10 AP1. Good if you don't get the charge or against those wraithknights or Land Raiders where S8 might not cut it, though if you're targeting vehicles with an AV of 12 or less, the extra attacks will serve you better.

Ranged

• Autoguns: Crappy on their own, bog standard weapon. S3 AP- weapons.
• Demolition Charge: Oh boy, S8 AP2 Assault 1 Blast, One Use Only with 6" range. Often used as a last ditch attempt to finish off vehicles or go Jihad on a unit of Terminators since you're likely to blow your own squad up using this too. As risky as it is in the Astra Militarum codex; one unlucky roll and you could see your own squad removed from the table.
• Shotgun: S3 AP- Assault 2 12". This is my boomstick.
• Hand Flamer: Interesting tool from the Sisters of Battle and Blood Angels Codices. Gives +1 attack and is a shittier flamer, but it still makes hordes cry.
• Web Weapons: Interesting new not-seen-since-2nd-edition weapons that have AP values equal to the target's strength. Meaning that bigger, meaner victims can comfortably ignore it but weaker targets get taken out. Compare to a grenade launcher: They are preferable to frag grenades against the things you'd normally use a frag grenade against (GEQs), but are inferior to Krak grenades against things you'd use Krak against (MEQs & TEQs). Also makes Eldar cry. Note: If you're running a Biomancy Patriarch (or even a Biomancy Magus, as getting a Smash Force Staff can be scary) and manage to roll Enfeeble, the Webber can conditionally threaten Marines too, which is cute.
  • Webber: Special weapon for Neophyte squads, you get an Assault 1, S4 blast.
  • Web Pistol: S3 and uniquely a pistol with a blast marker.

Mining Weapons

Considering the sheer volume of firepower a Neophyte squad can put out with two specials, a weapon team or two of these; it is tempting to make yourself a micro-Devastator squad. Just remember that while you can freely escape the table in sticky situations; moving around or ambushing will cause you to snap fire, and Neophytes don't really have the staying power to weather standing around for a turn.

• Mining Laser: A lascannon with half the range for ten points less than a lascannon.
• Seismic Cannon Up to 12 inchs its a 2 shot missile launcher, at 12-24, its a 4 shot heavy bolter. oh yes its also got rending resolved at AP1. fucking ACE.
• Heavy Stubber: S4 AP6 Heavy 3 36", what this has to do with mining, nobody knows (Probably protection. In the grim darkness of the future you aren't the only monstrosity underground). Maybe the Imperium has so many bullets they just shoot rocks out of the ground?

Heavy Weapons

• Mortar: Shoot a small blast over a hill and maybe hurt something if you're lucky. The worst weapon in this list because you can't even snap fire it. Better in other armies when you can take them in multiples.
• Heavy Bolter: an acceptable compromise of rate of fire vs damage output. Since your Neophytes only have BS3 you are going to hit half the time, taking this means you can hit and hurt most infantry. Higher rate of fire also means you have better odds when snap firing if you spring from reserves or like to move around a lot.
• Autocannon: Lots of people swear by Autocannons: strong enough to hurt anything except land raiders and two shots with BS3 means you can expect to hit something every turn. Probably suffers when measured against the mobility and range of the army though, since in many cases you'll want to keep moving and the rest of your guys are armed with 12" shotguns.
• Missile Launcher: Good old faithful, particularly if you don't know what you're fighting against. Also with Flakk missiles will be your army's primary source of Anti-Air defense short of using fortifications.
• Lascannon: One lascannon? For 5 points more you can get two shorter ranged ones. Of course range becomes relevant if you have no intention of hopping in and out of reserves, so you can set it up and hopefully leave it where it is. But perhaps best to leave this attached to vehicles for now.

Special Issue

• Genestealer Familiar: Gain 2 attacks rolled separately at S4 with Rending. Fucking. Tasty.
• Cult Icon: A unit with one of these adds +1 to their WS, availably on Neophyte and Acolyte Hybrids. The Iconward also comes with one to attach to squads that can't get it themselves.

Sacred Relics of the Cult

Most of the relics are fairly underwhelming, but some are useful.

• Icon of the Cult Ascendant: Friendly Genestealer Cult units within 12" get Furious Charge and can re-roll failed Morale, Pinning and Fear tests. In addition, all models in the same unit gain +1 attack. If you're running your Iconward in a Brood Cycle, this probably won't be worth it since he'll grant the FC to his formation within 24" instead, while the Patriarch/Devoted Throng Magus can grant Fearless bubbles anyway! If you're not running a Brood Cycle though, this will give the FC bonus to everything regardless of formation.
• Dagger of Swift Sacrifice: trade in all attacks for one S:User, AP-, Instant Death, Poisoned (2+). Get this off in a challenge against the enemy warlord? Heck, its worth it for those who aren't playing for competitive. Otherwise... Its probably best to ignore this.
• Scourge of Distant Stars: The bearer of this relic can force his opponent in a challenge to take a toughness test. If the opponent fails, he takes a Wound with no saves allowed and gets his Attacks and Initiative characteristics reduced by 1 until the end of the Fight subphase. This
• Staff of the Subterranean Master: Range 18", S2 AP-, Assault 10, Ignores Cover, Rending. Don't get too hung up on the low strength, since Rending will allow you to autowound on 6s anyway. While this could be useful for "Finishing off" monsters without good Invulnerable Saves (ironically, this staff makes it easier for Cultists to eat Tyranids than the other way around), the Staff competes with the Crouchling; both are "Magus Only", the Magus can only take one Relic anyway, and the Crouchling is far more important.
• Sword of the Void's Eye: S+1, AP3 melee weapon that rerolls failed To-Hit and To-Wound rolls of 1, also causes instant death on a wound roll of 6. Your Primus starts off with Strength 4, so the extra strength gives him some additional leverage, while allowing him to threaten to punk Wraithknights or other heavies (don't forget that Unquestioning Loyalty protects him from Stomps too). If you can buff him with either Might From Beyond or Furious Charge, he's basically able to blender most infantry units. Not an auto-take but it has its uses.
• The Crouchling a unique Genestealer familiar that allows your Magus to generate you an additional psychic power without increasing your mastery level. It also has teeth and claws like a regular familiar. Considering its low cost and how useful the Broodmind discipline is, this is a near-autotake.

Vehicle Equipment

• Drilldozer Blade: Your army of deathblenders have blenders on their vehicles. This adds D6 to the strength of a ramming attack and adds +1 to the vehicle damage table. If you tank shock, the target has to take an initiative test or suffer D3 S10 AP2 hits as guys get pulled in to the whirling blades. Nasty.

• Cache of Demolition Charges: Basically lets the vehicle throw Demo Charges that aren't One Use Only. It does also give the truck a chance of taking a Demo Charge to the face if Penned but it's only on a 1 roll after penning and with the vehicles that can take it if you're getting penned you're already dead.

Unit Analysis

HQ

• Patriarch: Just under 100 points for ML1 Super-Genestealer with access to Biomancy, Telepathy and Broodmind, he also makes cult units within 12" Fealess. But, mind games aren’t the Patriarch’s only hobby. He also enjoys ripping out 4 S6 attacks with Rending, Shred, and AP3, and can buy familiars to add even more S4 attacks to the pile. A pretty fun guy, for a ‘nid. Ultimately, the Patriarch's combination of psychic powers, beastly stats, with invisibility on he can go toe to toe with most characters, specially since he will beat them to the punch unless they are daemon princes or Jain Zar. He also grants a 12" bubble of Fearless to make sure your fragile units hold the line.
• Magus: 40 points for a ML1 psyker with access to Biomancy, Telepathy and Broodmind, as well as a whole bunch of special rules. He can be upgraded to ML2 and you should most definitely do this. He projects a 12" bubble of Adamantium Will to himself and other Cult units, so whileit's slightly situational, he's a denying machine.
• Primus: Cheap and cheerful. Same str 4 T3, but with the ablity to join non-genestealer units. Grants a 12" bubble of Hatred to really buff up your close combat potential.
• Acolyte Iconward: Your other HQ choice, and thankfully not limited to a one only deal in the Cult Insurrection Detachment. His statline is only marginally better than a normal Acolyte (+1 BS, W, A) and his stock gear is useless crap. He comes with a Sacred Cult Banner, granting Furious Charge to units within 12". His other rule is his Nexus of Devotion which grants all friendly cult units within 12" the Feel No Pain (6+) rule, or improve it by one. Giving a layer of protection in an army where 5+ saves essentially mean no save at all

Troops

• Neophyte Hybrids: Neophytes have the same profile as "unmodified" humans, meaning 3s across the board, As well as improved Leadership and Initiative. They have a fairly flexible loadout, and can be either configured for short-ranged firefighting or for securing objectives while providing fire support. Neophytes are armed with Autoguns/Lasguns with the option to swap out for Shotguns for free. They the option to either take two Mining Weapons or to form a Heavy Weapon Team, and they have the option to take up to two Specials on top of that.
• Loadout: Close-quarters teams will want to stick to Shotguns and Assault weapons; Flamers or Webbers are both nice. Whether you're running the teams in Goliaths or attempting to fish for good Cult Ambush results, being able to assault without relying on Relentless buffs is nice. Longer-ranged teams will probably want to stick to the stock rifles and whatever support weapon is most appropriate. Seismic cannons are an "alphastrike" weapon that appears to rely mostly on getting good Cult Ambush rolls while the Mining Laser sacrifices less short-range damage potential to be more consistent at range; not many armies can brag about being able to bring an Infiltrating 10-man team of two Lascannon teams for 80 points, especially a team that can also strategically redeploy itself and potentially replenish its models in one go! The only AM heavy weapon team you should really consider is the Autocannon, as all the rest have the same overinflated cost the AM pays for them. The reason you may want it over the seismic cannon is for insurance against awkward 1-3 results on the Ambush table leaving you out of reach of enemy units.

• Acolyte Hybrids 1st & 2nd generation hybrids. Probably some of the best close combat "Troops" in the game, With two S4 I4 attacks with Rending as standard, but also Autopistols and Close combat weapons so you are always going to get your bonus two-weapon attack even if somehow disarmed. That means four rending attacks each on the charge, so they chuck out as many attacks as Orks, but with more speed and more threat. However, they are still as flimsy as regular humans, so buy in bulk.
  • Each and every Acolyte can replace his Autopistol with a hand flamer for five points. Totalling 13 points per model, which is cheaper than a Space Marine! Even though it is still only S3, the sheer number of automatic hits you can cause will inevitably mean more wounds in the long run, then follow it up with your teeth and claws because you're at the perfect distance. Though if you're intending on using cult Ambush to get the most out of a surprise flamer squad, remember that you're restricted by distance, so it may not work like you expect.

Dedicated Transports

• Genestealer Chimera: What's not to love about one of the most versatile MEHTAL BAWKSES in the 41st Millennium? Unfortunately Tyranids are allies of convenience with the cult so you can't put Genestealers in these. However there is no restriction on taking purestrain genestealers or a Patriach and putting them in these lovely MEHTAL BAWKSES it's just why would you? You can't assault out of them.

Goliath Truck: Open topped transport for your dudes, meaning guys can assault from it, plus it gives you a twin-linked Autocannon. I know what you're thinking, but unfortunately it cannot carry Purestrain Genestealers or the Patriarch (if you want Genestealers on Wheelers, take a Chimera instead (though of course the Chimeras aren't open-topped transports)). In rules terms it's like a beefed up Ork truck for just less than double the points, more armour and bigger guns. Easy to mass transport.

Elites

• Purestrain Genestealers: They're not your normal Genestealers, these guys aren't shat out from Tyranid Hive fleets so they aren't as mutable as their Hive Mind cousins, nor do they get access to Broodlord squad leaders. But here they have 3 attacks base, Stealth and a 5+ Invulnerable save, which is exactly what Genestealers needed, no joke. All for the same cost as Tyranid Genestealers, making them out to be the poor cousins. What's not to love? Lots of S4 AP5 Rending attacks at high initiative.
  • They can only be joined by the Patriarch, and this is NOT a bad thing. Primarily because what he does will synergise with them anyway, but he also confers Furious Charge on all of them while attached. Now who doesn't love the thought of 100 (squad of 20 with Scythes) S5 rending attacks on the charge? Thats before you factor in psychic buffs and other overlapping rules.

• Aberrant Hybrids: Quite costly for what they do, costing nearly as much as a basic terminator but with a 5+/5++ 2W instead, but if Cult Ambush is good, they can work out. However, in a codex lacking lots of good ways to deal with AV14 vehicles and the like, you may want to include some hammer dudes in a Subterranean uprising.

• Hybrid Metamorphs Acolytes with sharper teeth. They get the Metamorph weapons, which due to the wording of "A model equipped with...", lets them combine profile bonuses with the effects of other weapons (predominantly your Rending Claws). The unit can "mix-and-match" weapon upgrades in the unit as you wish. While you "could" use it for weird rule interactions (For example equal mix of Talons and other upgrades would allow the unit to strike across two different Initiative steps, while maintaining an improved "majority" weapon skill), in practice you should keep it simple.
  • By default, each Metamorph starts with a Metamorph Talon, granting +1 WS for an effective WS 5. You "can" replace your Rending Claw with a second talon, but you probably don't want to. Why? Because +1/+2 Weapon Skill isn't that great when you can have normal Acolyte squads with a Cult Icon getting the same thing; while the difference between WS5 and WS6 is largely academic when most non-character units in the entire game tend to sit around WS4.
  • In practice you will probably want to stick to Claws: The improved damage output means you're wounding Marines on 2s while the difference between S4 and S6 is dramatic the moment your opponent brings an Knight or any other Super-Heavy Walker. Without Crushing Claws, 1 in 18 hits will result in a HP loss vs a Knight, while the Claws make this 1 in 6.
  • Lash Whips grant an effective +3 Initiative, which is more than enough to strike first in practically any engagement, and considering that your models are as flimsy as Eldar Guardians, even if you can comfortably wipe out an enemy squad in one fight sub-phase, avoiding a simultaneous combat means you can reduce how many wounds you inevitably take. If you're running the Metamorphs in a Brood Cycle, they'll probably have access to a Furious Charge Bubble anyway, thus mitigating some of the impact of not taking the Claws. Of note is that a Leader with Bonesword in this formation would make 5 S5 AP 3 attacks at I7, with potential WS 6, each 6 to-wound denying FNP to a Wraithknight/Surge on top of inflicting an automatic D3 wounds. You're paying an extra 30 points for the privilege however.

Fast Attack

• Armoured Sentinels: Better armored than their Scouting Brothers, but still at only 2HP you'd best take at least 2 in a squadron if you don't want to hand over First Blood to your opponent.

• Scout Sentinels: With such weak armor, most likely they are going to die on the second turn. Fun choice of weapons. Key part here is that they have Scout. But still - they are going to die. They are open topped. They are going to die. They have 10 armor. They are going to die. They have two Hull Points. They are going to die. But they may as well take a tank or two down with them. If you want to be insane, having Heavy Flamers all around can result in hilarious infantry murder. Otherwise, most of the time you'll take them as a 40 point autocannon on legs since they are cheap and effective against most things. (Outflank you plebs, these are great.)

• Goliath Truck: Open topped transport for your dudes, meaning guys can assault from it, plus it gives you a twin-linked Autocannon. I know what you're thinking, but unfortunately it cannot carry Purestrain Genestealers or the Patriarch (if you want Genestealers on Wheelers, take a Chimera instead (though of course the Chimeras aren't open-topped transports)). In rules terms it's like a beefed up Ork truck for just less than double the points, more armour and bigger guns.

Heavy Support

• Goliath Rockgrinder:Slightly tougher than the Goliath Truck with 12/10/10 HP3. Can transport 6 dudes, but isn't open topped so they can't assault. Ignores crew stunned/shaken and immobilized results on a 4+ thanks to being built so sturdily for mining operations. Comes stock with a Drilldozer Blade and a Heavy Mining Laser which can be swapped out for a Clearance Incinerator (basically a torrent Heavy Flamer) or Heavy Seismic Cannon (basically a Seismic Cannon with 50% more shots). This thing is basically built for ramming other vehicles and tank shocking other units, but don't expect it to really provide a lot of fire power.
  • Rockgrinders aren't really worth it in a CAD due to their ranged anti-tank being fairly weak; 75 points for a single BS 3 Lascannon doesn't impress anybody. You "could" run them as a cheapish cover-busting anti-infantry platform as the Clearance Incinerator "does" make it the cheapest mobile Torrent in the game, but unlike the Hellhound, you're not fast and you don't have good Side Armor or Smoke Launchers. You can get 3 Rockgrinders for slightly less than 2 Hellhounds though.
  • Did anyone else notice that, unlike the Goliath Truck, Rockgrinders can carry Stealers and the Patriarch? Might just be an omission mistake but still interesting.
• Leman Russ Squadron: Ah yes, the famous Leman Russ Battle Tank. Perhaps the most cost-efficient and versatile tank in 40k. With very tough front armor and reasonably durable side armor, it can brush of most things while pouring dakka into your enemy. You can take any of the non-Demolisher variants as detailed below.
  • Vanilla Battle Tank: You know it, you love it. A good all-rounder and safe choice to go with if none of the other options tickle your fancy.
  • Exterminator: 4 Twin-linked Autocannon shots. Great against enemy Monstrous Creatures and light AV vehicles. Also good against flyers in a pinch due to twin-linked. Slap a trio of Heavy Bolters on it and go to town on a horde, since no Punisher for you.
  • Vanquisher: A single shot at S8 AP2, Armorbane and 72". Its biggest weakness is BS3 and 1 shot, so a 50/50 chance you miss isn't really that great. Resort to Close Combat to pop vehicles.
  • Eradicator: S6 AP4 Heavy 1, Ignores Cover Large Blast. This is what you use to fight cover-camping Eldar and Tau who you can't so easily Assault.

Formations

Cult Insurrection Detachment:

If a Patriarch is the Warlord (no other type of character mentioned), he may reroll Warlord Trait, you may also not include more than one Patriarch, Magus and Primus in the detachment. ALL non-vehicle units gain Infiltrate. If the unit already has Infiltrate, they gain Shrouded for the first turn of the game. Also, but they get to add +1 to reserve rolls and apply -1 to enemy reserve rolls. This detachment will really mess with your opponent's head.

Oh, and another thing: each time a unit returns to the battlefield from ongoing reserves they get reinforced with D6 models that have been previously slain. This works best with larger units, as you have to have at least one model left in the unit for this to work. Don't expect to roll a 6 every time.

• The real advantage of the "Returning models" is there is no restriction on the order in which the models must be brought back. Say you lost several Mining Lasers or your Cult Icon from focused fire but the rest of the unit is relatively intact? Return to the Shadows lets you revive key models in a unit.

So perfect for hopping around with your cult ambush then.

Command (0-3)

• Lord of the Cult: Just a Patriarch, Magus, Primus or Cult Iconward. No rules.
• The First Curse: Patriarch, plus a unit of Genestealers, must total 20 models though, so it's your boss man with a great big bodyguard of teeth and claws. The formation bonus is a randomly determined buff for your unit of Genestealers that lasts for the game.
  1. Fleshhooks: Grenades for your Genestealers.
  2. Hardened Carapace: 4+ saves
  3. Toxin Glands: attacks are Poisoned
  4. Adrenal Sacs: gain Rage USR
  5. Feeder Tendrils: gain Preferred Enemy USR
  6. Perfect Killing Machine: choose your result.
  • The thing is that each of these upgrades has its own bits for modelling, but because it's randomly determined you've got no way of guaranteeing if your feeder tendril squad that you built will accurately represent your actual rules. Which can be a bad thing if it annoys you you can't match the models with the rules they have or a good thing if you don't want to have to have 20 guys all with tendrils and what some visual difference among the squad.
  • This is one of the better random buff charts. Rage, PE and Grenades are often going to be very handy, as is a 4+. More importantly, even if there is only one option that you want, you have a 1 in 3 chance of getting it thanks to the choose on a 6.
• Broodcoven: 1 Patriarch, 1 Magus, 1 Primus. Deploy as a single unit, but may still join squads. Rules gained dependent on models left in the unit: Patriarch confers Fleet, Magus confers Counter-Attack, Primus confers Preferred Enemy
  • The key here is that they count as a single unit and how it interacts with the Numbers Beyond Counting special rule from the Cult Insurrection detachment. Unless it gets FAQ'd away, it looks like you can use this rule to resurrect either your magus, primus, or patriarch every time they come back from on going reserve. Hello immortal HQ units that just won't die!

Core (1-6)

• Brood cycle: 1 Cult Iconward, 3 units of Acolyte Hybrids, 2 units of Neophyte Hybrids, 1 unit of Metamorph Hybrids, 1 unit of Purestrain Genestealers, 0-1 unit of Aberrants, 0-1 Goliath Rockgrinder unit and a partridge in a pear tree. Any unit within 6" of another unit in the formation gains +1 WS & Ld and gain Furious Charge while within 24" of the Cult Iconward and increase his Feel No Pain bubble to 24" as well.
  • This is a very £xp€n$ive and time consuming formation to put together considering that it involves pretty much every Genestealer unit in the codex, you're starting at 46 models before you even consider increasing squad sizes and/or dedicated transports. Also using that many models in this formation stops you using them in Auxillary formations, so you'd need even more of the same types of units afterwards.

• Neophyte Cavalcade: Genestealer Mechanised Company! 2 units of Neophyte Hybrids that must take a Chimera Transport and must start the game embarked in them, you also get a Leman Russ Squadron and 1-2 units of Sentinels (either type). All vehicles here get the Outflank special rule. So your Leman Russes can ruin the day of some guys artillery line, while Scout Sentinels share the Cult Ambush rule, being able to pop out of reserves and mess with your enemy's unprotected rear.
  • Summary: The bonuses are minor, but the tax is easy to fill in. The problem is that if you're taking this formation as part of a Cult Insurrection, the Chimeras would already be able to Outflank (because units with Infiltrate confer Infiltrate onto their Dedicated Transport, and Infiltrators can Outflank unless otherwise noted) and you don't particularly care about Outflanking a Russ or taking Armored Sentinels. What may be the saving grace for the formation is the fact that regular Scout Sentinels get Cult Ambush. As long as you don't roll a "1" on the Ambush table, you can use them either as a "Land Speeder" equivalent, where rather than "Turbo-Jinking" to move-block trouble units or Deep-Striking for better shots, you instead Cult Ambush and deliver a stream of Autocannons to a vulnerable point.
  • Much cheaper than the Brood Cycle, and easily filled by players who already have guard collections. That means you can add other Hybrid units piecemeal in Auxillary formations at your leisure.
  • infiltrating chimeras with two heavy flamers can be a nasty surprise and with the cult insurrection detachment's +1 bonus on reserve rolls, you are much more likely to get your Leman Russ tanks to come in on the 2nd turn.

Auxillary (1+)

• Subterranean Uprising: 0-1 Primus, 1-3 Hybrid Metamorph units, 2-4 Acolyte Hybrids units, 0-3 Aberrant units. All units gain Infiltrate and if they deploy by Ambush at the start of the game they roll 2 dice on the table to choose how they arrive, or 3 dice if the Primus is attached. Note that when this is coupled with Cult Insurrection, everyone gets Shrouded on the first turn.
  • It should be noted that the rules regarding the Primus say "a Primus" meaning that it isn't isolated to the one in this formation. If you are using this formation as part of the Cult Insurrection Detachment it might be better to go with a Broodcoven to get those tasty bonuses.

• Deliverance Broodsurge: 2-6 units of Neophyte Hybrids, each must take a Goliath Truck transport and start the game embarked upon it. During the game, they may dismount their vehicle even if it moves at Cruising Speed. But have to take a dangerous terrain check, because they've just leapt off at full speed. Also, the Goliaths just ignore Crew Shaken/Stunned results. So basically this formation is a good way to deliver your Neophyte squads around the battlefield, and as open topped vehicles it means they have quite a considerable charge radius, if a bit risky to undertake.
  • WITNESS ME! This formation is a great way to spam fast, cheap transports in a way that would make Orks and their trukks green(er) with envy. First off, all the Neophytes gain Infiltrate/Outflank if you bring them as part of a Cult Insurrection detachment, meaning the Goliaths also gain it as they are dedicated transports for the Neophytes. This lets you close the distance between you and your opponent insanely fast compared to some other armies, as you can Infiltrate, drive forward 6", and be within rapid fire range (or shotgun range) in a lot of cases, especially if you can get the truck behind LOS blocking terrain. In addition, the Goliaths are open topped so your Neophytes can all fire out of the top, giving you a cheap, mobile anti-infantry firebase. If you give all the Neophytes shotguns, they can take the most advantage of the Goliath's open topped status as they can fire 20 shots out the top at close range, or leap out, fire a volley of shotgun fire, and charge into melee. Just remember that if the Goliath moves 12" your dudes will all be snap firing. Because of this, it's best to avoid webbers, grenade launchers, and flamers, as they won't be able to fire if you take advantage of the formation's special abilities. It's generally best to keep these suicide squads cheap. Give them a Cult Icon so they're WS4, and maybe a sergeant with a power weapon. The only other upgrade to consider is the demolitions cache on the Goliath, as it'll probably be close to the enemy after disgorging its payload of cultists, so if the enemy doesn't blow it up it can drive around chucking bombs at anything nearby. Definitely not an auto-take, though. Load up your cheap goons and seek to die historic on the fury road. Bonus points if you paint chrome around the mouths of all your Neophytes

• Demolition Claw: 2-3 units of Acolyte Hybrids (and each unit must take at least one Demolition Charge) team up with 2-3 Goliath Rockgrinder units (which must take the "Cache of Demolition Charges" upgrade for free). They all get Tank Hunter and may reroll scatter on their Demolitions charges. What's more, if they throw the charge while within 6" of one of the Goliath's, they replenish it on a D6 roll of 4+.
  • Summary: This formation looks meant to team up with the Neophyte Calvacade for players wanting to do a mechanized Cult. The formation's implementation is somewhat Skornergestic at first. The Acolytes receive assorted bonuses to throwing Demolition Charges...while they're embarked on a Goliath Rockgrinder from the formation itself. The problem is that the Acolytes have Infiltrate and want to get up-close to the fight, while the Rockgrinders must deploy conventionally. Add to the fact that the Rockgrinders have abysmal side armor and their only "firing point" is from the rear of the vehicle, and using the Claw for its intended role of chucking lots of Demolition Charges will fall flat the moment you come across any army that can bring flanking S6 shots. Rather, consider the fact that the entire formation gets Tank Hunter, and there remains no restriction on the Acolytes taking their own Goliaths as dedicated transports. You have the potential to bring 2-3 Infiltrating twin-linked Tank-Hunting autocannons to the fray in a lightly-mechanized alphastrike that would have old-school Dark Lance DE players fits of envy. The Goliaths in turn have the option to more comfortably run Clearance Flamers for anti-infantry duality since their Drilldozers would also benefit from Tank Hunters.

• The Doting Throng: 0-1 Magus, 3-6 units of Acolyte or Neophyte Hybrids (in any combination). They all get Zealot while within 12" of a Magus (note: any Magus and not just the one from this formation) and any unit joined by a Magus rerolls fails to hit in every round of close combat, not just the first. Also, any blessings that fail to get cast on the Doting Throng may be rerolled. Seeing as this formation is so heavily invested in having a Magus, you'd wonder why the guy is optional. But remember: your Cult Insurrection can only ever have one in the entire detachment, so this formation loses effectiveness the larger it becomes or if you have more than one (in a cult detachment)

• Shadow Skulkers: 1 unit of Purestrain Genestealers. No rules, but a good way to squeeze in more squads without paying the huge brood cycle taxes.

• Cult Mutants: either 1 unit of Aberrants or 1 unit of Hybrid Metamorphs. Again, no rules but another way to get these units while avoiding taxes you've already paid.

• Brood Brothers: here, have a Leman Russ Squadron, or some Sentinels. After filling your Core requirement you can have as many of these as you like, so Genestealers can spam tanks if they wanted.

Allies

Battle Brothers

No battle brothers for you.

Allies of Convenience

• Tyranids: Makes up for the lack of a good Tyranid ally. Shame that you cannot share Psychic Powers and Warlord traits due to AoC, but them's the breaks. This gives you access to even cheaper tarpits plus the famed Monstrous Creatures the 'Nids are known for. Recommended to grab a Flying Hive Tyrant as allied HQ for some form of flyer/AA.
  • Flyrants in a Genestealer Cult:If you're running Tyranids as your ally rather than the other way around, the most immediate combo is to take the Tyranids either in a CAD or Leviathan Uprising, pay the minimum Mucoloid Spore tax, and take 2-3 Flyrants. Likewise, although Broodmind is an excellent Psychic Discipline, the Cult can find itself easily strapped for Warp Charges and while the Tyranid Psychic Discipline is fairly underwhelming, the Tyrants each provide 2 Warp Charge; an extra 4 Warp Charge can give you a lot more flexibility in playing Cultists as a "Controller" army.
  • Bear in mind that Shadow in the Warp affects Allies of Convenience. This may or may not be a problem, depending on your army loadout, but it can make Perils more dangerous for your Magus and Patriarch. In addition, remember that GSC and 'Nids count as enemy models for the purposes of things like Infiltration. Keep that in mind, as your dudes might be getting in each others way a lot.
  • Your 'nids now have access to psykers that can take telepathy and thus psychic shriek. Now think about Deathleaper and his bros from the Assassin brood formation and their ability to lower ennemy's Ld. Fuck you, daemon prince. Bonus points, it's fluff.
• Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum: Yes. Apparently IG can ally at AoC with GSC as well, must be to represent when the cult gets into the local PDF. This gives you access to Valkyries, Vendettas, Hydras, and any Imperial Guard vehicle you don't get in the main Cult Codex. For fun, include a Deathstrike in your Astra Militarum detachment for full-on, mustache Feeder Tendril-twirling, super-villain doomsday weapon hilarity. Also, with the benefit of orders, they can do Lasgun Spam much better. You complement them on the Melee side, though. Plenty of options here.

Desperate Allies

No desperate allies for you either.

Come the Apocalypse

• Space Marines
  • Blood Angels They're built for assault and short range mech power. Nids and Guard can cover the bases you can't cover yourself, so look elsewhere.
  • Dark Angels
  • Deathwatch: Extra Heretical. Despite that, you could make use of Corvus Blackstars for some neat drop pod and frag cannon usage, but they have some anti-air problems as well.
  • Grey Knights: Also extra Heretical
  • Space Wolves
• Chaos Space Marines
• Chaos Daemons
• Skitarii Their much better shooting skills and Anti-Air may well make up for your problems in both, but at Come the Apocalypse level they really aren't worth the hassle, Guardsmen are a much better choice, seen as they can provide that needed AA and won't waste turns standing around. Pass.
• Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle) Have you read the Genestealer Cult novel? There's one whole Bolter Bitch in the Cult! What gives GW ;)
• The Inquisition Again, extra Heretical. Their benefits are Imperium army based, so only take them if you're running Guard or other CtA Imperium armies.
• Eldar
  • Eldar Harlequins and Corsairs
• Dark Eldar
• Tau If you're running for mostly Melee, a gunline of Pulse rifles could be a great boon.
• Necrons Again, a Necron Gunline could be a helpful thing. Using cult ambush could fuck you up if you roll a 1, but you can also potentially get your forces in a neat close range to your foe, whilst the 'Crons melt tanks. If you aren't looking for anti-tank duty, however, they don't really have much to offer that you or your AoC buddies couldn't already do.
• Orks (Odd seeing as there are Hybrid Ork Freebootaz)

Tactics

Cult Ambush and You

While the idea of getting a Turn 1 charge with your Patriarch and a pile of Purestrain Genestealers is insanely good on paper, in practice, the Cult Ambush table is not reliable enough for you to really base your entire strategy around a few key units getting the results you want. There are definitely methods to give you more control, like the Ambush Leader warlord trait or the Subterranean Uprising, but Cult Ambush lacks the precision and reliability of things like Space Marine drop pods. You can't rely on the bulk of your army coming in exactly where you want them to, because a few crummy rolls can have parts of your force coming in from your friendly table edge, or the wrong side of the board. If you aren't smart and careful about how you use Cult Ambush, you'll end up scattering your army piecemeal and your T3 5+ dudes are going to get smeared.

Cult Ambush really shines in two big places. The first is getting hordes of dudes into the fight. Both of your basic troops can be taken in squads up to 20, but common wisdom for most armies would advise against it, as you can't fit 20 dudes in a transport. Footslogging hordes in the current state of the game is just asking to have your loyal goons be re-purposed as fleshy confetti the first time a Thunderfire Cannon sneezes in your general direction, and most horde armies have to spend a turn or two getting into position before they can really start being effective. Cult Ambush solves the transport issues that these blobs struggle with, allowing you to teleport into rapid fire range in deployment. Naturally, Neophytes take the best advantage of this, as they can immediately be useful without having to roll a 6. Acolytes can also present a nice DISTRACTION CARNIFEX, with a barebones squad of 20 costing a bit more than a Leman Russ. Even if they don't get the Turn 1 charge, you can often deploy them in such a way that your opponent will need to deal with them or risk losing some of his shiny toys.

The second place Cult Ambush rocks is helping to make badly mangled squads useful. After your hordes take a vigorous pounding, they can Return to the Shadows for some soothing balms and a cigarette before returning to the fray. Use these mangled squads to grab an objective, or to help gang up on a key enemy unit elsewhere on the board, or to leave your opponent impotently stomping on his hat as the flank he was crushing suddenly disappears and reappears to reinforce the other side of the board.

If you're playing with the Cult Insurrection Detachment (and why wouldn't you?) this becomes even more useful as you can return any d6 models to the unit. This means that if your power weapon wielding sergeant got killed in a challenge or your heavy/special weapons were sniped out of the unit by cheeky ratlings, you can return them to the unit and redeploy their firepower elsewhere. This helps your horde of gribblies stay useful over the course of the game, where a lot of other units would stay neutered.

All and all, it's a powerful tool, but it's better utilized opportunistically rather than as a key element of your tactical planning.

Dealing with Air

There are many great things about Genestealer Cults. Their anti-infantry is pretty great, especially in close combat. Their Troops can turn most tanks to jelly and even against Super Heavies (20 Purestrain with the Patriarch will almost without fail kill a Knight before it gets to strike back, even 10 have a good chance) they will stand up reasonably well. What they lack is dedicated anti-air and when I say lack I mean THE ONLY thing they have to counter air is Flakk missiles, not exactly something to be depended on. Now don't panic because there is a way out. Thanks to their AoC Astra Militarum they have access to Hydras. Now I know, they can't shoot at the ground particularly well but at 75 points you can put a full squadron into a 1500 list and not really notice the cost. Yes you have to pay for the HQ and Troop tax but that is still only a fifth of your over all costs. Even 2 Hydras will handle a single flyer most of the time and seeing as how cheap most of the GC army is you can still overwhelm your opponent with Rending attacks. Depends on your meta but if you are stuggling to deal with pesky flyers, take a good look at Hydras. Also with the Detachment your opponent has to -1 to his reserve rolls to the flyers may not even turn up.

But why bother with astra militarum when you have flyrants?