Editing Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Kill Team(8E) Xenos (section)

===GSC Strategies===
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'''GSC Strategies:'''
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The result of mixing humanity with the tyranid menace, the genestealer cults are a shadowy threat to the whole galaxy, paving the way for their "gods" to come and feast on the planet they are established in. They will take whatever resources they can find and mix them with their alien heritage to make quite a deadly army. However, they are not invincible, and their low toughness, saves and invulnerable saves means that they will fall fast against heavy armoured units. They do have the numbers to compensate this, however, and they need them too, since this army is most effective at close range, and especially in melee. 

First off, the general Cult Ambush ability means that they will have a decent chance of closing distances to the enemy fast. On a 5+ on a D6, and the unit will move 6" extra before even starting the game. If you have good move rolls, you could pretty much run around 18" on the best possible scenario with most unit, or shoot without the disadvantage of long range shooting, making the opponent rather nervious from the get go. Try to get into cover soon, and if the enemy hasn't played against GSC previously, you might even reach charging distance from turn 1. With that said, this ability does need a 5+, so you might find yourself with a lonely unit that might eat lead because is the closest one to their guns. 

Units-wise, they are rather varied, but in general, imagine imperial guard focused on melee prowess and speed, and you'll have an idea of what you're dealing with. The neophytes are the cheapest units, comparable with guardsmen stats wise. S3, T3, A1, BS4+, WS4+, Sv 5+
/0++... pretty basic stuff. They are 5 points not counting the gunner, the leader or the extra equipment. It can have a cult icon, which allows you to re-roll the 1 for friendly units at 6" of it, which is nice, considering how dependant the GSC are to melee. Put it closer to your guys with higher number of attacks. Weapon-wise, you can have the autogun or the shotgun. If it's going to go closer to the enemy, better go with the shotgun to get the extra strength. The gunner has access to a wide array of options. I'll focus on the unique GSC weapons, as the heavy stubber, the flamer and the grenade launcher work the same way they do with everyone else. The mining laser is a fucking monster, S9, AP-3 DD6, the only thing going against this beauty is the fact that 1) it's a heavy weapon, so make it heavy to give it movement, and 2) the guy is BS4+. You could make it so it's the Sniper and gets the Comms bonus, but even then it may not be that good, considering it has to be at 12" to avoid long range penalty. Scary as hell, and in adequate hands, deadly, but it has poor synergy with the rest of the team. The Seismic Cannon is interesting, as it has the long and short setings, with the shorter range one being quite deadly as support for the close quarters units. The webber is... situational. It uses either the strength or the toughness stat to wound. Good to deal with some particular units, but considering how many units have the same toughness and strength, and the webber itself is oly S4... Again, situational. The leader can have a good array of melee stuff, with the power pick and power maul being especially interesting.

The metamorphs are more interesting. WS3+ S4 is looking more decent up close, and with A4, it's packing quite a punch. Its weaponry is rather mixed. The metamorph talon adds 1 to the hit rolls, which is nice, but without the AP, better to save it for GEQs. The rending claw does AP-4 for every 6+ wound roll, which can do a lot of damage if one enters. The metamorph whip allows you to get an extra fight turn if it's killed before actually attacking, but you shouldn't rely on the enemy killing you to do stuff. The metamorph claw is a S+2 weapon, that's not much. The best way to use it is to keep the rending claw and metamorph talon, which are free and can wield both at once, and save points for the hand flamer, which at least is a D3 automatic hit. Against GEQs, use the metamorph talon to try and accumulate attacks against the enemy, and against MEQs, the rending claw against MEQs to try and get that sweet 6+ to send marines without invulnerable saves to oblivion. And the hand flamer just in case. The regular neophyte can also carry the icon, which is a thing.

The acolytes are really interesting. The basic acolyte and the acolyte leader are almost identical to their neophytes' counterparts, but with A2 instead of A3 and less impressive melee weapons. The acolyte fighter, on the other hand, has some of the best melee weapons in the game. Period. First, the cultist knife and the rending claw for free, though if you're going to get those weapons, might as well choose a regular acolyte. The demolition charges are a really powerful grenade. D6 attacks, S8 AP-3 DD3, though the fact that it takes the weapons' slot and YOU CAN ONLY USE IT ONCE it's rather sad. It could ruin the day of teams like Custodes, though, their lower numbers reducing the effect of the single bomb. The '''Heavy Rock Cutter''' is a beast, with Sx2, AP-4 and D2, with the special bonus of its effect: If you damage an enemy unit with this weapon, roll a D6. If your result is higher than the remaining number of wounds of the enemy (which, let's face it, it's probably zero after receiving the fuck-off cutter) it will be taken out of action, instantly. Even if you have to substract one from the hit roll, the risk are well worth the rewards (and besides, there's always the chance of giving it the zealot specialism and having the relic guy close by). And if you think it can't get better, say hello to the '''Heavy Rock Drill''', the drill [[anime|that will pierce the heavens]], and [[RIP AND TEAR|whoever is stupid enough to get into melee with it]]. Sx2, AP-3, D1 is great by itself, but it's effect is borderline broken. Roll a D6 each time a model wounds another, and on a 2+ the enemy suffers a mortal wound, then do the same, and on a 3+ the enemy gets another wound. And so on until the enemy is litteraly cut in half. All of this without losing accuracy. And finally, the Heavy Rock Saw, Sx2, AP-4 D2. It's not as impressive as the previous two, but other teams would kill for a melee weapon with those stats. Ah, and they can have a hand flamer, but after the rest of the weapons we've seen, who cares?

Needless to say, the acolyte gunners are vital for your team. And because of that, they are going to be shot by EVERYONE. Noone wants to dance with them, and as such, they will be targeted as much as possible. This means they could be excellent [[distraction carnifex|distraction carnifexes]], but only if they're in cover. Remember, no invulnerable and 5+ saves. If they're hit, they will fall. You'll have to sacrifice them, but if the rest of your army reaches the enemy line, it might spell doom for him. 

Moving on, the aberrants are the hulking heavies of the lot. While they can't do as much damage as the fuck of drill and fuck off cutter, they are still tough as nails units. The ability Bestial Vigour means that all damage taken in one attack is reduced by one, meaning that, if someone wants to one-shot it, they'll have to deal damage of 3+ on a single attack. Good to deal with guns of D2, but it still can be taken down. Its weapons are really strong, but oddly enough they have only A2, instead of the acolyte's A3. You'd think this fuckers would be the ones with most attacks, but nope. The power hammer does what a power hammer does, and the power pick is a S User AP-2 DD3. Which one has more chances of killing a MEQ:

*Aberrant with power hammer:
**WS of 3+ minus one due to the hammer, hitting at 4+. So chances of 3/6 of hitting.
**Strength x2 means that it will reach at least S10. More than enough to wound at 2+. So chances of 5/6 of wounding. 
**An AP-3 means the marine will save the hit at 6+, so 5/6 chances of wounding it. 
**All of this gives us a 75/216 chances of killing it, 25/72 chances, or around 0,34...% chances.

*Aberrant with power pick:
**WS of 3+, chances of 4/6 of hitting
**Strength User means S5, wounding at 3+. So chances of 4/6 of wounding.
**An AP-2 means the marine will save the hit at 5+, so 4/6 chances of wounding it. 
**All of this gives us a 64/216 chances of killing it, 8/27 chances, or around 0,30...% chances.

Honestly, both are pretty similar, but the D3 damage of the hammer might just put it over the edge for me. You could try to improve the odds of the attack with the "Frenzied Hammering", which substracts 1 to the hit rolls in exchange of D3 more attacks. Honestly, if you have the hammer, don't bother, a hit on 5+ is too low, even for 5-6 attacks, might as well save the CP. This is a stratagem for the pick, extra attacks on a 4+ is not as bad, and it still does D3 damage, so a hit will probably take down a unit anyway. Too bad the stratagem only works on aberrants armed with a hammer.

And of course, how could we do the Genestealer Cult without the Genestealers? 5++, repeating charge rolls, A3 of scything talons and rending claws, toxic sacs that cause 1 additional damage for any wound rolls of 6+... You know them, you love them. You don't have the "Feeding Tendrils" stratagem due to it being attached to they tyranid list, but whatever, they're still good.

Finally, there's the commanders. The GSC have ten possible commanders, which is a lot. 

Overall, the genestealer cult is a melee team, with a decent amount of unorthodox weaponry, and with the chance of getting IG guard numbers if you don't overload your dudes. It's surprisingly balanced, having a lot of tools for most cases, though it does have problems agains weapons with some AP and the lack of non-commander psykers. The idea of this team is basic: Using your cover, advance as fast as possible and charge. Have some middle range guns watching your back just in case and you'll be fine.

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'''Counterplay:'''
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The GSC teams have at their disposal a wide array of tools at their disposal, which makes planning against them difficult. However, you can rely on a couple of constant weak spots: their low saves and lack of invulnerables, low toughness, overreliance on melee and lack of long ranged weaponry. Those are the basis of your strategy, so better use it wisely. AP-2 weapons will be enough to throw most units straight out of the game, so plasma will be abound. Hell, guns with lots of attacks will do the trick, seeing that saving throws of 5+ is rather difficult if you need to save multiple wounds. If you're a melee team, CHARGE FIRST, you want to kill or wound as soon as possible. Throw psyquic attacks at your leisure, but protect the psyker at all costs. With that said, a couple of more specific examples:

*Space Marines and Co. will try to kill from afar, they have the loadout to do it. Veterans can move faster than most GSC, so keep moving until they are all pulps. Reivers could give the GSC a run for their money if there is high enough terrain as well. If you charge before the enemy, taking them down in melee shouldn't be a problem, considering the amount of CQC weapons the SM have.
*Imperial Guard will have a close match against the GSC. Hot volley lasguns and volley guns, plasmas, snipers... all of that gives the AM the advantage on the long-middle range, but the GSC will wreck them in close combat. You could gett bullgryns with the shield for the 3++, but be careful with the drill and the cutter. Avoid melee at all costs. 
*AdMech is... interesting. Most of their spam weapons, the radium carbine in particular, will be rather pointless due to their short range. The AdMech are not made for melee, their toughness is too low, and even with general 6++, it's still too risky. Maybe the galvanic rifle is better, considering the 30" range it has. The transuranic arquebus will be great, considering it has just enough AP to deal with most things, but keep in mind the sniper is a sitting duck. The electropriest and the sicarians will be needed up close.
*Custodes need to prioritize the drill and cutter, those can do serious damage. You can kill three GSC per turn rather easily, though, so once you've dealt with the ones of automatic mortal wounds, you can relax. Also, careful with charges, if they charge you 2-3 units at once, the wound of automatic death might enter...
*Orks are even more agressive than you, and they don't need that many overcosted units. A full team of burnas and bois might be enough to counter them at middle-low range.
*Necrons should focus on the one with the cutter, reanimation protocols can't protect them from the cutter. Be careful with being drowned in bodies. 
*Harlequins are screwed here, though their invulnerable might make the situation a walk in the park. Take just enough AP weaponry to try and increase the numbers of the bodies on the tabletop.
*Tau will just stay in their base and sit there shooting the cult wondering how did they miss that. Drone spam might be a decent enough strategy, though you might want to have someome else to deal with the rest.
*SotA will do what they always do, charge head on in battle. The negavolts are good to deal with the grunts, and the energy field means they have a disgustingly resilient-like trait, plus the chance of good mortal wounds. PROTECT THE ROGUE PSYKER, those psybolts will be fundamental.

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