Welcome burgeoning cultis… I mean, totally normal two armed (or more) citizens of the Imperium. Dernicus back with yet another installment of Two Hands Past. This go around we’ll be discussing the Cult’s Potential. With the Genestealer Cult FAQ making its debut last week I can say, there’s plenty.
Every list has potential. Be it the inherent efficiency of one particular unit, or the way multiple units interact with each other, the end goal is the same: victory. Genestealer Cult provides us an avenue to utilize both of these options, in spades no less. Not to mention, as this is both a hobby and a game, my Cult has provided me with ample conversion and painting potential. With all the units I’ve been looking to include in my list, I’ll have plenty of opportunity to explore all aspects of its Potential.
Co..Commbo Breakers
Let’s start with a look at some of the tools I plan on including in my toolbox. Combos and synergies to strike at the heart of my foes. Now, several of these have been posted about ad nauseam, including by GW themselves as a way to hype up the new release. That all is perfectly fine by me. In my opinion, none of them are especially groundbreaking, or OP to any extreme. They are just as powerful as Shining Spears, or Kastelan Robots, or Agents of Vect. They also can fail, be played against, or be ineffectual in certain matchups. To me, the key is not focusing so much on one angle, but rather, rising up from everywhere. Genestealer Cults had a specialist detachment in 7th edition called a “Cult Uprising”. This resonated with me when I played them then and I take it to heart when thinking of them now. An Imperial Guard army is a regiment of soldiers, a Tyranid fleet is a host of specially evolved organisms, a Drukhari army is a gang of sadists and pirates.
(Some of) My Tricks
But a Genestealer Cult is something of them all. It is generations of planning, plotting, infiltrating a society. All until the final moment, when it rises, without warning, from all levels. Striking from the slums and factories, at the same time as the spires and cathedrals. Just as its warriors come from all walks and manners of a society, so do their attacks and plans. As such, so do the different attacks employed in my Genestealer Cult Army.
-Acolyte units with Rock Saws
-Patriarch with Mental Onslaught (and both Ld buffs and debuffs)
-Atalan Jackal units with Demo-charges
-Character assassination by way of Kelermorph(s) and Sanctus Assassin
-Nearly null deployment
Each piece does a similar job, but in a different way. The army isn’t dedicated to killing infantry (but it very much can with all the rending claw attacks it can dish out). Nor vehicles (have you imagined what 5d6 Str 8, AP-3, d3 damage can do?!). It can move around the board with impunity, either by virtue of nearly all INFANTRY or through Cult Ambush (and it’s various modes). The majority of the units have roughly the same damage output and value, so losses aren’t as devastating as with others, say having your 600pt Castellan melted to slag in one psychic phase. With each dealing out their fair share of damage, every portion of the list can be a threat, with little chaff/”tax” ever going into things.
That said, each of the above can be planned against. Likewise, not everything can do everything against every opponent. BUT, typically, there is at least a handful of units that can do SOMETHING in every matchup. This is the power of Genestealer Cult.
(Some of) My Toys
Genestealer Cult opens up endless options for conversions, customizations, and painting potential. With the miner/industrial worker/sub-hive deviants there are tons of schemes and bits one can put into their creation. Eldar are sleek, Chaos repellent with spikes and fetishes, Guard are hundreds of identical bodies. Genestealer Cults are the masses suddenly arisen from the belly of society to tear out the throat of the Imperial overseers. I’ve been trying to expand my conversions and am taking it as far as I can push it with the cult thus far. Here are a few of my early pieces, mostly characters but some additional units as well.
