Brood Brothers

Brood Brothers like to play a game of Pretend.

Not to be confused with the Blood Brothers, a Sabbat Bloodline in Vampire: The Masquerade.

"We're getting the band back together."

– Jake and Elroy

Brood Brothers are the literal brothers and siblings (as well as the parents) of Genestealer Cult Hybrids. They are baseline humans or other host species individuals who have been infected by Genestealer DNA and have been psychically enslaved by their Hybrid offspring, often referred to by the Adeptus Mechanicus Magi Biologis as the Contagii. They revere and serve the Genestealer Patriarch, and fight mindlessly on behalf of the Genestealer Cult.

Overview

Many of these Brood Brothers may be members of the local civil or military authorities, continuing to carry out their normal duties in society. They remain hidden until the cult/clan is powerful enough to completely take control of the host society. They regard and often venerate the Genestealer Patriarch as a grandfather or deity. They are especially fanatic members of the clan, motivated by intense, instinctual bonds to their Genestealer and Hybrid relatives.

The Brood Brothers infiltrate Planetary Defence Forces, local militia, or even elements of the Imperial Guard, giving the brood the military training and access to weapons they would normally lack such as Flak Armour, Lasguns, Laspistols, CCW, Frag or Krak grenades and Incendiary Charges. When the cult finally begins its uprising to claim the planet, the brothers will rebel along with their kindred, beginning a campaign of sabotage and guerrilla warfare to wreck planetary defenses and tie down loyal troops.

They are considered the closest thing to regular, baseline troops of the Cult.

Essentially being normal human soldiers as opposed to the more specialized Hybrids and neophyte hybrids who pretend to be normal abhumans, Brood Brothers on the tabletop are represented by a special rule in 8th Edition that allows Genestealer Cult detachments to take an allied Imperial Guard detachment (albeit one without any Regimental Doctrines) despite not sharing any keywords. The 8E Genestealer Cults codex uses this as as keyword to generally explain how the cults manage to claim militarum vehicles and troops as gifts for the coming revolution. This unfortunately means that Brood Brothers and any Militarum vehicles they claim are not considered to have the <CULT> keyword, but they do get better Ld and the Unquestioning Loyalty ability out of it. And really, who needs Cult Creeds when you have Baneblades?

Contrary to popular belief, normal human inducted into the cult do not go bald, but, their assigned jobs, such as puppet PDF troops, are also given to the neophyte hybrids, who are bald, which is why this mistake is often made.