Army Showcase- Genestealer Cults

Today's hobby showcase features my Genestealer Cults army. This is the latest of my armies that I have painted up. I took a lot of time on these models, using a number of GW tutorials to help me with painting up the force. I really like the look of the army, the way the orange contrasts with the other colours on the models, it really makes them stand out. 

Winters SEO game- Genestealer Cults vs Space Marines

I recently had another game against Winters SEO. In this game, my Genestealer Cults take on his Space Marines with the new codex. 

You can find the 40k battle report following the link. Here are a few photos of the game to whet your interest. 

Video Battle Report- Genestealer Cults vs Iron Hands

A new video battle report sees my Genestealer Cults take on the Iron Hands in a maelstrom of war mission. 

40k Battle Report 184- Genestealer Cults vs Salamanders Space Marines

This week's battle report sees my Genestealer Cults take on Chris' Salamanders Space Marine army in a maelstrom of war mission. This game was played after some of the reveals for the new Space Marine codex, so we decided to incorporate some of the new rules into this game. We would be using the updated Salamanders Chapter Tactics, as well as the Shock Assault rule. 

We were playing a simple Cleanse and Capture mission (3 cards per turn). 

My army consisted of:

Battalion Detachment (Rusted Claw)

Jackal Alphus- Sniper Rifle

Magus- Force Stave, Mind Control, Might From Beyond

Sanctus- Sniper Rifle, A Gift From Beyond

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Autoguns, 2 Mining Lasers, Grenade Launcher

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Autoguns, Heavy Stubber, Grenade Launcher

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Shotguns, 2 Flamers

Atalan Jackals- Shotguns, 4 Demolition Charges, Wolfquad with Atalan Incinerator

Goliath Truck- Twin Autocannon, Heavy Stubber

Brood Brothers Heavy Weapons Team- Mortars

Battalion Detachment (Cult of the Four Armed Emperor, Deliverance Broodsurge)

Acolyte Iconward- Rending Claw, Autopistol, Cultist Knife, Icon of the Cult Ascendent, Augur of the Insurgent (warlord trait)

Magus- Force Stave, Mass Hypnosis, Psionic Blast, Inscrutable Cunning (warlord trait)

Primus- Bonesword, Needle Pistol, Alien Majesty (warlord trait)

Clamavus- Autopistol

20 Acolyte Hybrids- Rending Claws, Cultist Knives, Autopistols, 2 Heavy Rock Saws, 2 Heavy Rock Drills

10 Acolyte Hybrids- Rending Claws, Cultist Knives, Autopistols, 2 Heavy Rock Drills

10 Acolyte Hybrids- Rending Claws, Cultist Knives, Autopistols, 4 Heavy Rock Cutters

Vanguard Detachment (Cult of the Four Armed Emperor)

Patriarch- 2 Familiars, Mental Onslaught, Might From Beyond, Biomorph Adaptation (warlord trait)

Primus- Bonesword, Needle Pistol

Clamavus- Autopistol

Nexos- Autopistol

8 Abberrants- 4 Heavy Rock Hammers, 4 Power Picks, Rending Claws

10 Purestrain Genestealers

I decided to go for a couple of Cult Creeds for the army, as well as trying out the Devilerance Broodsurge Vigilus specialist detachment for the first time. 

I made one Battalion Rusted Claw. This gives the units in it +1 save against AP0 or AP-1 weapons, boosting the armour save of most units to 4+ (or 3+ in cover). This is generally the units I will deploy on the board, as the ground forces before my ambushing reserves come in. This contains three squads of Neophyte Hybrids, with some heavy weapons for fire support. It also includes the Atalan Jackals and Jackal Alphus. These units get to benefit from the Rusted Claw stratagem, allowing me to throw grenades at +1 to hit and +1 to wound, making the demolition charges very powerful. 

For the other two detachments, I took the Cult of the Four Armed Emperor, giving me +1 to charge and advance rolls on the turn that I arrive from reserve. The Battalion was also Deliverance Broodsurge, allowing me to re-roll charge rolls within 6" of the Acolyte Iconward (thanks to his Field Commander Warlord Trait). Combined with the Clamavus and Cult Creed, this gives me a 7" re-rollable charge from ambush reserves. This is a huge boost for the cult units, helping to ensure that they get into combat on the turn they arrive. 

I was able to take four warlord traits thanks to the Field Commander and Broodcoven stratagems. Combined with the Specialist Detachment and extra relic, this gave me 10 command points to start the game with, having used four already. One of my warlord traits gave me D3 extra CP, and I was fortunate enough to roll 3 for this, giving me 13 to start the game. 

I then took a unit of Aberrants and Genestealers to be the hard hitters in my army. These units should hopefully do a fair bit of damage to the Marines in combat. 

Hobby Update 29/05/19- Genestealer Cults Atalan Jackals Complete

Today's Hobby Update sees my completed Atalan Jackals unit for my Genestealer Cults army. This unit has been armed with Shotguns, a grenade launcher and demolition charges. This should provide a mobile unit for the army, with some decent firepower. 

Here are some WIP shots of the models. 

Battle Report 178- Genestealer Cults vs Sisters of Battle

This week's battle report sees my Genestealer Cults take to the field once more to take on Angus' Sisters of Battle and Astra Militarum force. This was a 1750 pts battle, as Angus wanted to practice for Vanquish, a tournament held in Bristol last weekend. 

We randomly rolled for each mission. For the Eternal War mission, we got Vital Intelligence. In this mission, there are 5 objectives. At the start of each battle round, roll a D6. The corresponding number is the active objective (on a 6, all objectives are active). At the end of each battle round, players scored a point for each objective held, getting 2 points for the active objective. In this game, I think we forgot about only having 5 objectives, so scored for objective 6 as well. We also varied the objective placement, different from the places specified in the scenario. 

The maelstrom mission was Disruptive Signals. In this mission, you draw up to four cards per turn. This mission features the Signal Intercept stratagem. For 1CP, you can select a card in your opponent's hand and they cannot score it for that turn. We were also using Dawn of War deployment. 

My army consisted of:

Battalion (Rusted Claw)

Patriarch- Monstrous Rending Claws, Warlord, The Crouchling, Shadow Stalker, Might From Beyond, Mental Onslaught, Mass Hypnosis

Primus- Alien Majesty

Magus- Familiar, Mass Hypnosis, Psionic Blast, Biomorph Adaptation

20 Acolyte Hybrids- 4 Heavy Rock Drills

10 Acolyte Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Cutters, 2 Heavy Rock Saws

10 Acolyte Hybrids- 4 Demolition Charges

Clamavus

Nexos

Battalion (Rusted Claw)

Primus

Magus- Mental Onslaught, Might From Beyond

10 Neophyte Hybrids- 2 Mining Lasers, Autoguns

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Heavy Stubber, Grenade Launcher

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Shotguns, 2 Flamers

Goliath Truck- Twin Autocannon, Heavy Stubber

Heavy Weapons Team- Mortars

Vanguard Detachment (Rusted Claw)

Jackal Alphus- Sniper Rifle

8 Genestealers

5 Aberrants- Power Hammers

Clamavus

Nexos

Sanctus- Sniper Rifle, A Gift From Beyond

For my Cult Creed, I tried Rusted Claw for the first time. This gives my infantry +1 save against AP0 and AP-1 weapons. This gives me a 4+ armour save against Bolters and against most infantry in combat. 

I decided to mix up the army now that I have the new characters to add to the army. I went with double Battalion and Vanguard detachment to give me 14 CP to start with. I took the Broodcoven stratagem to give my three characters warlord traits. The Patriarch took -1 to hit, the Primus took the +3" to aura abilities and the Magus took +1 strength and attacks. I also took an extra Relic, taking the sniper rifle relic on the Sanctus and the Crouchling on the Patriarch. 

The new characters were the two Clamavus, the Nexos, Jackal Alphus and Sanctus. These should hopefully provide some nice buffs and abilities to the army. I decided to take a big unit of Aberrants to take on any vehicle threats in the enemy army, along with trying out a big unit of Acolyte Hybrids. 

Hobby Update 08/05/19- Genestealer Cult Reinforcements

Today, I have a few models that needed finishing off, namely some Neophyte Hybrids, Acolyte Hybrids and Familiars. 

I had painted up the Neophyte and Acolyte Hybrids a while back, getting up to the first highlight stage with the models before stopping. While painting up the new characters, it was a perfect time to finish off these models. 

The Neophytes are just armed with Autoguns and can be used to expand my squads I already have. 

Hobby Update 07/05/19- Genestealer Cults Sanctus

Another hobby update for today sees my completed Sanctus for my Genestealer Cults army. This model is a great Assassin for going after enemy characters, particularly Psykers. 

Again, this model features a pretty simple colour scheme. I decided to go with the blue overalls and a black camo cloak for the Sanctus. I figured that the bright orange overalls would look a bit out of place on a model that was meant to be stealthy.

Hobby Update 06/05/19- Genestealer Cults Jackal Alphus

Today for my hobby update, I have the completed Jackal Alphus for my Genestealer Cults army. This was a great model to paint up, and I am looking forward to getting the other Jackals in my army painted up, not just because they are pretty good on the table, but that doesn't hurt. 

I used the standard scheme, which I think works quite well. The orange breaks up the grey and metal of the miniature as a whole. I think the details on this model mean that a simple colour palette works quite well with it.

Hobby Update 03/05/19- Genestealer Cults Nexos

Today's hobby update sees the completed Nexos for my Genestealer Cults army. The Nexos is a command points farm for the army, his only real purpose is to gain CP back for the army. 

I painted this up in the standard colours for my army; orange clothes and light grey armour. I kept the display panel simple, only a green outline with highlights and picking out the buttons on the console.

Hobby Update 02/05/19- Genestealer Cults Clamavus

Today, I have the two completed Clamavus (Clamavuses, Clamavusi?!?) for my Genestealer Cults. Much like the Primus and Magnus before, I painted one in orange overalls and one in blue overalls to help distinguish between them on the battlefield. 

These two will provide some nice boosts for the army, giving nearby units +1 to charge and advance moves, as well as +1 Ld to help with morale. They also prevent enemy reserves from deploying within 12". In addition, they can belt out some bangin' tunes with those sound systems! 

Hobby Update 30/04/19- Genestealer Cults Characters

I managed to get some more work done on the new Genestealer Cult characters, painting the flesh and adding some of the highlights to the robes and suits. 

I also did some work on a few Familiars, Neophyte Hybrids and Acolyte Hybrids that were waiting around for finishing. 

Hobby Update 29/04/19- Genestealer Cults Characters

This past week, I have been painting up some of my new characters for the Genestealer Cults army. These characters are badly needed in the force to give me some nice buffs to the army and I am looking forward to getting them on the tabletop. 

I have painted up the characters together in a batch to get them done quicker. I've done the basecoats, washes and some of the highlights so far. Hoping to get the rest of them painted this week for a game on Friday. I've also got a few Acolyte and Neophyte hybrids that I wanted to finish off as well. 

40k Video battle report- Genestealer Cults vs Space Wolves

Today, I have a new video battle report. This sees my Genestealers Cult take on Chris' Space Wolves army in a maelstrom of war mission. 

Hope you enjoy! 

40k Battle Report 177- Genestealer Cults vs Space Marines

This week's battle report sees the first outing for my Genestealer Cults army with the new Codex, taking on Chris' Salamanders Space Marine army in a maelstrom of war mission. 

We were playing the Tactical Cascade mission with Search and Destroy deployment. In this mission, you pick the first two maelstrom cards you wish to score. In each subsequent turn, you draw two cards for each maelstrom card you scored in the previous turn, up to 6 cards in total. 

My army consisted of:

Brigade Detachment (Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor)

Patriarch- Monstrous Rending Claws, Shadow Stalker, Might From Beyond, Mental Onslaught

Primus- Sword of the Four-Armed Emperor, Alien Majesty

Primus- Needle Pistol, Bonesword

Magus- Inscrutable Cunning, The Crouchling, Mental Onslaught, Mass Hypnosis

Magus- Psionic Blast, Might From Beyond

10 Acoltye Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Drills

10 Acoltye Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Saws

10 Acoltye Hybrids- 2 Heavy Rock Cutters

10 Acoltye Hybrids- 4 Demolition Charges

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Autogun, Grenade Launcher, Heavy Stubber

10 Neophyte Hybrids- Autogun, Grenade Launcher, Heavy Stubber

15 Purestrain Genestealers

15 Purestrain Genestealers

5 Aberrants- Heavy Power Hammers

Scout Sentinel- Missile Launcher

Scout Sentinel- Autocannon

Scout Sentinel- Lascannon

Leman Russ- Battle Cannon, Lascannon, Heavy Bolter Sponsons

Goliath Rockgrinder- Clearance Incinerator, Heavy Stubber

Heavy Weapons Team- Mortars

I chose the Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor for the additional charge distance and advance distances, as well as the Vect-type stratagem, "A Plan Generations in the Making". 

It wasn't until I had the army made that it was pointed out that you can only have one of each character in a detachment. I had completely missed this rule when reading the codex, so played with the army I had made. I have no idea why this is a necessary rule. 

For the HQ units I took a Patriarch and two Magus and Primus. I used the Broodcoven stratagem to give three of them warlord traits. The Patriarch got -1 to hit, the Primus got +3" to his aura abilties and the Magus got a free re-roll and a bonus D3 command points (I got three bonus CP in this case). I took a spread of the new psychic powers in the force to try them out. 

For troops, I took four units of Acolyte Hybrids with heavy weapons and two units of Neophyte Hybrids with some heavier firepower. I was keep to try out the Demolition charges on the Acolytes to see what havoc they could wreak. 

For Elites, I went with two units of Genestealers for taking out the enemy forces and a unit of Aberrants with Power Hammers to deal with any armour in the enemy army. I kept the Fast Attack choices cheap with three sentinels, armed to give me a bit more armour-busting potential. 

For Heavy Support, I took the Leman Russ and the Goliath Rockgrinder to try out its boosted combat potential. I also took a Heavy Weapons Team armed with mortars for some good firepower that I could hide out of sight. 

Hobby Update 15/04/19- Genestealer Cult Reinforcements

It's been a while since I've posted one of these! (October last year to be exact). With the release of the Genestealer Cults codex, I picked up a number of new units to add to my force. These were mostly some of the new buffing characters that are available to the army. 

This weekend, I finally got round to assembling the new units, ready for painting. First up, we have two of the new Clamavus models (Clamavuses, Clamavi?!?). These units provide some great buffs for the army, giving you +1 to charge and advance rolls in range, as well as a leadership bonus. Two of these should be a big boost to charging units, especially with the Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor Cult Creed. 

Next up, we have a Sanctus. I wasn't aware that the kit came with the sniper rifle variant, as only the knife variant has been pictured so far, so I was happy to have the rifle, as I think this is the better option. 

8th Edition Genestealer Cult Codex Review: Part 8- Heavy Support and Dedicated Transport

The final part of my 8th Edition Genestealer Cults codex review will take a look at the Heavy Support, Dedicated Transport and Fortifications sections of the book. 

Heavy Support

Cult Leman Russ

The Cult Leman Russ got a 10 pts reduction over the index version, making it slightly cheaper to take it.
The Leman Russ provides a nice weapons platform for the Cult. It also benefits from the Cult Ambush rule, which is great for it. This allows you to deploy it in optimal position after seeing your opponent's deployment, either to go after the best targets or to stay safe from enemy guns or attacks. This gives it a nice bonus to help it stay alive for longer.

It comes with the Battle Cannon, Eradicator Nova Cannon, Exterminator Autocannon or Vanquisher Battle Cannon. With Grinding Advance, this gives you some decent firepower on a fairly durable tank platform.

Another nice bonus is that you can purchase an Augur Array for only 5 pts. This gives you a single re-roll to hit once per game. This is a nice bonus for the Vanquisher Battle Cannon, allowing you to save your CP re-roll on a to wound roll or damage roll.

I like the Russ, it gives some much needed heavy firepower to the Cult, at a pretty reasonable cost. However, one of the problems is that it is a Brood Brothers vehicle, meaning it gains no benefit from Cult Creeds or some of the useful special abilities and stratagems in the codex. It does benefit from the Devoted Crew stratagem, allowing the vehicle to act as if it was in its top wounds bracket, so you can get a turn or two of strong firepower from it if you have the CP to spare.

8th Edition Genestealer Cults Codex Review: Part 7- Fast Attack

Part 7 of my 8th edition Genestealer Cults Codex review will take a look at the fast attack options for the army. The codex features a couple of new units in this section, which should be useful for giving the Cult some fast mobility on the board before the reserves arrive. 

Fast Attack

Achilles Ridgerunners

The Cult gets a new buggy, fitted with a heavy weapon for some mobile firepower on the battlefield. First off, I think these are some great models and I look forward to adding one to my army. 

The Ridgerunner has a standard profile for a light vehicle. It has move 14", which makes it one of the fastest units in the game outside of flyers. It has the standard WS6+ for vehicles and BS4+ for standard infantry. It is strength and toughness 5, has 8 wounds, 3 attacks and a 4+ save. It is only Ld 7, which may make it susceptible to psychic powers that use Leadership values. 

It can be armed with either a Heavy Mining Laser, a Missile Launcher or a Heavy Mortar, in addition to two Heavy Stubbers. The Heavy Mining Laser is 36", Heavy D3, S9, AP-3 and D6 damage, so is a great anti-tank weapon. The Heavy Mortar is 48", heavy D6, S5, AP-1, 1 damage and can fire at units not visible to the firer. 

You can also take either a Survey Auger, which denies enemy cover saves, or a Spotter, which increases the range of its weapons by 6". I think I prefer the Spotter, allowing you to go longer range with your firepower. 

The vehicle also gets the Cult Ambush rule, as well as a 6+ save against wounds. It can also make a 9" Scout move before the game begins, though cannot move within 9" of an enemy model. While the Scout move is a nice rule, you cannot use it if you begin the game in Cult Ambush, so may have limited utility in practice. 

The Flare Launcher also allows you to make a Biker unit automatically advance 6" once per battle, which is a nice bonus for some of your Bikers. 

8th Edition Genestealer Cults Codex Review: Part 6- Elites

This part of my 8th Edition Genestealer Cults codex review will take a look at the Elites section. The Cult got a lot of new support characters, who mostly reside here, along with the classic units. 

Elites

Hybrid Metamorphs

I never tended to run these guys in the Index. They seemed to be very expensive for what they could do. 

They Hybrid Metamorphs have a pretty strong profile. They are similar to Acolyte Metamorphs, but get 3 attacks base, one more than the Acolytes (though with their Cultist Knives, it adds up to the same, but without the weapons bonuses). 

Where the squad gets their difference is in the metamorph upgrades they can take. They come with a Rending Claw and Metamorph Talon as standard, for 10 points per model. This gives them three attacks with the Rending Claw and one with the Talon (at S4 and AP0). This gives the squad four attacks as standard, which is pretty good for the unit, though I'm not sure the extra attack is worth 3 pts per model over the Acolyte Hybrids. The Talon also gives +1 to hit, which is a nice bonus, but you lose the AP. 

They can also take a Metamorph Claw, taking them up to S6 and AP-1. This is pricey, taking them up to 13 pts per model. S6 is pretty good on the squad, with 3 attacks each at AP-1, they should do a lot of damage to a number of units. Again, I'm not sure this is worth it over the Heavy Mining Combat weapons the Acolyte Hybrids can take. 

The can also replace their rending claw with a Metamorph talon. this takes them up to 11 pts each, but each Hybrid Metamorph then gets 5 attacks in combat (though at no AP). This is actually a pretty strong option against horde armies with poor armour saves, such as Orks or Guardsmen (or other Genestealer Cults armies!). All the attacks also get +1 to hit, allowing them to hit on a 2+ in most cases. 

They can also take Metamorph whips, allowing them to strike again if they are slain. 

I think the double Talons is a good option. A squad of 10 will get 50 attacks that hit on a 2+ at S4 for only 110 pts. That is pretty strong for going through horde units and weakly armoured enemy units. Throw on Might From Beyond to take them to S5 and 6 attacks each, and even vehicles may be threatened by this unit. 

I think the Metamorphs have improved a bit over the index from getting cheaper. They can easily put out a lot of low AP attacks and should be able to do a lot of damage against selected enemy units. They still suffer from the poor durability of the Genestealer Cults units though, so will be easy to take out with enemy firepower. 

8th Edition Genestealer Cults Codex Review: Part 5- Troops

The next part of my 8th edition Genestealer Cults Codex review will take a look at the Troops choices available to the Cult. 

Troops

Acolyte Hybrids

For me, the Acolyte Hybrids are one of the core choices for the Genestealer Cults army. They have access to some great combat weaponry, as well as the powerful Demolition charges. 

The Acolyte Hybrids have dropped to 7 pts each in the codex (down from 11 pts each in the Index). This was a necessary reduction, in my opinion. They are a strong combat unit when armed correctly, but their durability was very poor, due to being T3 with a 5+ save. They hit really hard on the turn they arrived, but quickly fell to enemy firepower in retribution.

The points reductions in the squad make them an even more viable choice to make up the bulk of the army.

The squad all get rending claws and cultist knives, giving them some strong AP attacks and an extra attack with the cultist knife.

The squad gets access to a number of strong combat weapons in the form of the Heavy Rock Cutter, Heavy Rock Drill and Heavy Rock Saw. All these weapons are Sx2, AP-3 or -4. None of them suffer -1 to hit in combat, so you can get some good accuracy with the squad, especially when combined with a Primus, giving +1 to hit. Some of the choices also have the option to do additional mortal wounds or slaying models outright. You can take two of these for every 5 models in the squad, so these are very powerful weapons to take in a larger squad.