(They're coming outta the walls man!)
A couple of months ago, when I wrote my Deathwatch review, I noted how much of a surprise it was to see them getting their own codex. I'm afraid I'm going to have to repeat myself, as I really didn't expect to see these gribbly buggers getting a codex of their own.
Overview :
The Genestealer Cults are an army that hasn't had a list since 2nd Edition, where they appeared in the Tyranid Codex as well as in the Codex Imperialis paperback that was included in the 2nd Edition starter set. You know, the one with the Orks that were absolute murder if you stood on one in the dark.
Anyway, Genestealer Cults are the product of an Imperial (in most cases) worlds infiltration by one or more Purestrain Genestealers. Making use of the Ovipositor positioned under their tongue they contaminate the genetic material of their victims, who then fall under the Xenos' telepathic sway even as their bodies change and they are overcome by the urge to reproduce and spread the Genestealers taint. The children of these corrupted souls are hybrids of human and Xenos, twisted creatures with ridged heads, clawed limbs, and a telepathic link to their Patriarch who by this point will have swollen into a massive, clawed horror that lurks in the dark places of the infected world overseeing the spread of its children.
These corrupted humans form a Genestealer Cult, each successive generation becoming more and more human, making their infiltration of the worlds armed forces and civillian infrastructure ever easier. This continues until the fifth generation, which instead of hybrids is composed of Purestrain genestealers, allowing the cycle to start all over again, as the cult spreads its influence and prepares to rise up and seize control of the world they've infested.
Meanwhile in the void between stars, the Hive Fleets lurk, drawn to the psychic beacon of the cult Patriarch, ready to devour the world that has been weakened in anticipation of their assault.
Lovely, aren't they?
Fluff :
So that's the basics of what a Genestealer cult is, all of which those of you familiar with Warhammer 40,000 will already be aware of. What does the new Codex add to this and how does it expand on the extant fluff?
The book starts with an overview of Genestealers, the Cults, and how they spread their genetic taint through other populations. I particularly like how these sections of the book go into how the cycle of Purestrain to four Hybrid generations and back to Purestrain is repeated for long term Genestealer infestations, with brood cycle after brood cycle lurking in the depths of infested worlds. Scattered through this section are a few diagrams of how a cult progresses and is organised, as well as examples of infestations such as the Trysst Dynasty of Ghosar Quintus (the cult from the Deathwatch : Overkill boxed set), the mechanicus influenced Bladed Cog, and the alchemical abominations of the Twisted Helix. All of which are varied and interesting takes on a Genestealer cult, and give players plenty of modelling and storywriting ideas for their own forces.
Next up are the unit profiles, in addition to the Patriarch, Magus, Purestrains and Hybrids which are familiar to 40k players, the codex also adds a few new units and manifestations of the genestealers curse. First up we have the Primus, the martial equivalent of the Magus, a hybrid groomed and bred for combat and a leadership role amongst the cult forces. Next are the Hybrid Metamorphs, early generation hybrids who are heavily mutated and display all manner of bioweapons like bio acid glands, serrated claws, and boneswords. Speaking of mutants, next on the list are Aberrants, the hybrid equivalent to Ogryns, being hulking, dim witted abominations used as enforcers and shock troopers by the cults. Finally we have a unique vehicle, the Goliath, a converted truck and mining machine that can be used as an open topped APC, or with the addition of a massive rockgrinder, a light battle tank.
All these additions provide much needed variety and character to cult forces. Genestealer Cults also have a couple of standard Imperial vehicles, in the form of Chimera APC's, Leman Russ MBT's, and Sentinel Scout Walkers. The Goliath is my personal favourite amongst the additions, and I'm tempted to grab one and convert it up as a generic human vehicle for use in RPG games and as either scenery or an objective in tabletop games.
There are a few short snatches of fiction scattered throughout, as is the norm for codices, all of which are suitably evocative. I particularly like the awe cult member greeting one of his purestrain spawn during a Tyranid assault, only to be ripped apart by his tainted get. Finally in the fluff section is the usual timeline, though in this case there are no dates on it, and it's simply a list of uprisings and infestations scattered across the Imperium and beyond. I do like that it includes the infestation of a Tau Earth Caste facility, and the cleansing of the Sin of Damnation from the most recent release of Space Hulk.
Overall the fluff is solid and well written, and I like the fact that GW seem to have abandoned the idea that the encounter of Kill Team Cassius with the Trysst Dynasty on Ghosar Quintus was the Imperiums first real encounter with a Genestealer cult. Considering how well established Genestealers were in the fluff beforehand, it was an odd decision and not a particularly well thought out one. Theres also a repeated "Void" theme throughout the fluff, which puts me in mind of more eldritch fiction, with the tainted cults worshipping alien entities that lurk in the darkness between the stars... themes and ideas that have always appealed to my Lovecraft-tainted mind. My one complaint is that there is no mention of two particularly prominent Genestealer infestations, namely the Moons of Ymgarl (which is where the Imperium originally believed Genestealers originated), and Ichar IV, where the link between the cults and the Tyranids was finally proven. It just find it strange that these two phenomenally important incidents are ignored.
Crunch :
So, what about the actual rules? Well, I'll say it now, this is NOT an army that is meant to engage in a stand
up fight, it's meant to be played like a cult of stealthy, savage
guerilla fighters and genetically twisted abominations. Before we get to the units themselves let's take a look at the armies special rules, of which it has quite a few.
- Cult Ambush : When units with this rule infiltrate or arrive from reserve they can choose to roll on a table. This can result in them being deployed from the controlling players edge, the left or right edges, deploying anywhere on the table from 3" to 9" away from enemy models, or deploying anywhere and either getting to make a round of shooting attacks or charge. This...well.. you can imagine how effective this is if pulled off properly. If you get lucky with a unit of Purestrains you can cause untold havoc, but by the same token you don't have a lot of control over where your units turn up. Unless of course you roll the Warlord Trait that lets you CHOOSE your result on the ambush table...
- Return to the Shadows : In the movement phase units with this rule can be removed from the table and go into ongoing reserve. This is very useful, allowing you to rescue units that are about to be wiped out, or redeploy them to outflank your opponent. Again though the cult ambush table can work very much in your favour, or utterly scupper your plans.
- Unquestioning Loyalty : Models with this rule automaticaly pass Look Out Sir rolls, and can make them in a challenge. This is a really nice, fluffy addition, representing the hybrids hurling themselves without question in front of the more important members of their cult. It also gives their characters a fair bit more survivability so long as they're accompanying an appropriate unit.
So, what can we take from these rules? Well, that fighting a Genestealer Cult is likely to cause institutional paranoia in opposing players, and that they very much play like the stealthy insurgent force they're depicted to be in the fluff. Honestly these rules do a wonderful job of characterising the army, and if I wore a hat I'd take it off to the designers on this one.
Now, let's take a look at the units and their options...
HQ :
- Patriarch : First up, the Patriarch. A Purestrain Genestealer swollen to tremendous size this chap is lethal in close combat, though lacking in AP2 save for lucky Rending rolls with it's melee attacks. It's nor particularly durable, only having a 4+ armour save and no invulnerable save, but it's got Unquestioning Loyalty, grants Fearless to nearby unit and is a Mastery Level 1 or 2 psykers with access to the Broodmind discipline which I'll describe later.
- Magus : A dedicated psyker, the Magus is a nice, cheap bit of psychic support being Mastery Level 1, granting Adamantium Will to nearby units, and being capable of being upgraded to Mastery Level 2.
- Primus : The aforementioned commander of the cults forces, the Primus is WS 5, I 4 and has 5 attacks on the charge. It's only strength 4 but its armed with a Bonesword, Needle Pistol, and its claw attacks have Poisoned due to its Toxin Injector. Following on from the previous choices, it grants friendly units nearby Hatred. Again its a cheap model, an excellent unit buffer, and surprisingly good in a challenge due to Unquestioning Loyalty giving it a supply of willing bodies to throw at attackers.
- Acolyte Iconward : Finally we have the Iconward, the cults standard bearer has distinctly average stats, but grants Feel No Pain to nearby units (improving it if already present), as well as +1 WS to any unit they join. Again it's a solid buff unit for a fairly low price, and a nasty addition to a melee focussed unit like Aberrants or Metamorphs.
Elite :
- Hybrid Metamorphs : These gribbly blighters are an interesting choice. They have a decent WS, S and I (4 each) as well as two attacks basic and a pair of melee weapons. What's interesting about them is that they have access to a selection of "Metamorph" weapons, that let the unit be customised for all manner of roles such as taking on high initiative foes with the Metamorph Lash (+3 Initiative in Assault) or hunting high toughness opponents with Metamorph Claws (+2 Strength in Assault). Each can have two Metamorph weapons, and can replace their Autopistols with Hand Flamers. Yes, you can have a ten man squad of clawed horrors who also all have flame weapons. Their leader can take a Bonesword, the unit can take a Cult Icon for +1 WS, and they can pile into a Goliath as a dedicated transport.
- Purestrain Genestealers : You know them, you love and/or hate them. They remain as vicious in assault as ever, with their 4 Attacks at Strength 4, Initiative 6, Weapons Skill 6 on the charge with Rending. Cult Purestrains also gave a 5+ invulnerable saving throw reflecting their obscenely fast reflexes, and can only be joined by a Patriarch. If they are however the whole unit also gains Furious Charge. They can't take a transport, but they have Infiltrate and Cult Ambush, so if you're lucky enough to get the Warlord Trait that lets you pick your rolls on the Ambush table you can spend the game terrorizing your opponent with a 20 strong brood of Patriarch accompanied Purestrains leaping out of the shadows, tearing units to pieces, and disappearing before repeating the bloody process all over again.
- Aberrants : The Genestealer Cults heavy assault choice, these big boys are Strength 5, Toughness 4 and have two wounds each. They're only Initiative 2 but they're armed with Power Picks and Power Hammers in addition to their rending claws. They also have Feel No Pain, making them excellent candidates to be accompanied by an Iconward to keep them alive as they hunt down walkers, monstrous creatures and light vehicles.
Troops :
- Acolyte Hybrids : These are units of first and second generation Hybrids, they've got decent close combat stats and average ballistic skill, but they're pretty cheap and get plently of attacks with their rending claws. The unit can also take as many hand flamers as you like, can take a Cult Icon for +1 WS, and one in five can take a Demolition Charge, Heavy Rock Drill, Heavy Rock Cutter or Heavy Rock Saw. They're vicious in melee, as you'd expect, but with Toughness 3 and a 5+ saving throw they will crumble under sustained fire from, well anything.
- Neophyte Hybrids : The shootier troops choice, these chaps have standard Imperial Guard stats save for an extra point of Initiative and Leadership. Two models can either take Heavy Mining Weapons (Heavy Stubber, Mining Laser or Seismic Cannon) or form a single heavy weapon team with a standard heavy weapon (Autocannon, Heavy Bolter, Lascannon, Missile Launcher or Mortar). Two can take Special Weapons (Flamer, Grenade Launcher or Webber), and any of then can take shotguns. These chaps are even cheaper than the Acolyte Hybrids, and a great meatshield or potential tarpit, however again they're really fragile.
Fast Attack :
- Chimera*, Armoured Sentinels, Scout Sentinels : These are the standard Imperial Guard issue vehicles, their options and statistics being identical to their mundane counterparts. They give the Cults access to an excellent APC (though unable to carry Purestrains) and some solid mobile firepower, especially with the Scout Sentinels being able to outflank alongside the cults infantry.
- Goliath Truck* : The Goliath is a lightly armoured (11/10/10, 3HP) vehicle, armed with a heavy stubber and a twin linked autocannon, and is open topped, being able to carry ten models (not including Purestrains or the Patriarch). Its cheap, at 50pts, and its status as an open topped vehicle makes is a useful little assault vehicle. As well as being cheap, useful, and looking awesome these trucks have two more abilities of note, the first being the ability to totally ignore Crew Stunned, Crew Shaken and Immobilised results on the damage table, though it still loses a hull point, making them surprisingly durable. The second is its ability to take a cache of Demolition Charges that can be thrown by embarked models. With their short range, and the fact that when a Goliath with Demolition Charges takes a penetrating hit it takes an additional S 8, AP 2 hit they're a situational but potentially powerful upgrade.
Heavy Support :
- Goliath Rockgrinders : A heavier version of the Goliath Truck (with one more point of forward armour), the Rockgrinder also replaces the twin linked autocannon with a Heavy Mining Laser (a Range 36" Lascannon) and drops its transport capacity to 6 along with losing the Open Topped special rule. The Rockgrinder can replace its mining laser with a Clearance Incinerator or Heavy Seismic Cannon, can take a cache of Demolition Charges, and is also armed with a Drilldozer blade, a piece of wargear that wouldn't be out of place on an Ork Battlewagon. The drilldozer blade allows the Rockgrinder to automatically pass dangerous terrain tests, and adds both 1d6 to its Ramming strength and +1 to rolls on the vehicle damage table caused by ramming. That's not all though, whenever a Rokckgrinder perdorms a Tank Shock, each unit attacked must make an Initiative test or take 1d3 S10 AP 2 hits, with the same again being inflicted on units that fail a Death or Glory attack. This is great, it's wonderful to see vehicles that are actually capable of doing some real damage with ramming making an appearance.
- Leman Russ Squadron : Just like the other Imperial Guard vehicles the Leman Russ is identical to its loyalist counterpart, save that it is equipped by default with an Eradicator cannon, and can be upgraded to be armed with a Battle Cannon, Exterminator Autocannon or Vanguisher Cannon. This is the heaviest unit in the codex, and provides the cults with lots of heavy firepower. If nothing else they're fairly cheap and provide an excellent distraction as the cults infantry and purestrains get into position...
*Available as a Dedicated Transport to Acolyte Hybrids, Neophyte Hybrids and Hybrid Metamorphs.
**Available as a Dedicated Transport to Neophyte Hybrids.
The Codex also includes a selection of Formations, such as the First Curse, the Doting Throng and the Neophyte Cavalcade. I'm not really a fan of the Formations and "Decurion" systems that have been introduced over the past few years, so I'm not going to go into any detail with regards to them save to say that they seem reasonably solid, though there are as always balance issues with them.
Now, I've mentioned a few new weapons in the above entries, all of which are cobbled together from mining equipment and excavation gear, or stolen from PDF armouries. What do they do though? Well, here's a quick overview...
- Clearance Incinerators : Heavy Flamers with Torrent.
- Mining Lasers : These come in standard and Heavy varieties, which are effectively Lascannons with a range of 24" and 36" respectively.
- Seismic Cannons : Now these are interesting. Again these weapons come in Standard and Heavy varieties, and have the Resonance special rule which causes all To Wound and Armour Penetration rolls of a 6 to be resolved at AP 1. They also have a range of 24" and different statistics depending on what range they're being fired at, being S 8, AP 3 at up to half range, and S 5, AP 4 beyond that. Seismic Cannons are Heavy 2 at up to half range and Heavy 4 beyond that, while Heavy Seismic Cannons are Heavy 3 at up to half range, and Heavy 6 beyond that.
- Web Weapons : Now these are a blast from the past, these come in Web Pistol and Webber variants and come with the Blast and Cocooned special rules. Thanks to the Cocooned rule the AP of these weapons is equal to the Strength of the target, making them very effective against lightly armoured targets.
- Heavy Rock Cutters : Now these are nasty, being a two handed Power Fist equivalent with the Snip special rule. Any model wounded by a weapon with the Snip special rule must make a Toughness test or be removed from play. This is...perhaps an issue, as it isn't an Instant Death attack it's impossible to negate it with Eternal Warrior. I'd personally house rule this into being an Instant Death attack on a failed Toughness test.
- Heavy Rock Drills : Another two handed Power Fist equivalent, these instead have the Pulverise rule. Pulverise allows the attacker to replace their normal attacks with a single S 10, AP 1 attack, suitable for smashing vehicles and monstrous creatures.
- Heavy Rock Saws : The last of the Heavy mining weapons is a two handed Chainfist.
- Power Hammer : These are pretty nasty, granting +3 Strength and AP 2 with the Concussive, Specialist Weapon, Two Handed and Unwieldy special rules.
- Power Pick : With fewer special rules but more utility, the Power Pick is +2 and AP 3 with the Unwieldy special rule, allowing it to stack with an Aberrants Rending Claws.
Not a bad variety of weapons, all of which are suitably flavourful and fit well into the armies theme and aesthetic. Now, as well as these unique armaments, the Genestealer Cults also have access to their very own Psychic Discipline, the Broodmind Discipline which is available to the Patriarch and Magus. This discipline is nasty, being built to support and augment a Cult army whilst simultaneously crippling their foes. The Discipline includes the following powers...
- Mass Hypnosis (Primaris) : A nasty little Malediction that drops the target units WS, BS, I and A stats.
- Psychic Stimulus : A blessing that grants a friendly unit Relentless, Fleet, and the ability to charge even if they've run.
- Psionic Blast : A nasty Witchfire with a small blast capable of ripping apart Space Marines.
- Might from Beyond : A blessing that boosts a units Strength and grants them the Rage special rule. Because Purestrains need to be even nastier in an assault...
- Mental Onslaught : A better version of Mind War, that also penalises the targets Initiative in case of a draw.
- Mind Control : This one is hilarious. Mind Control is a Focussed Witchfire that, if succesful, causes the target enemy unit to immediately make a shooting attack against another unit of your choice. Because you really want that 50 strong Imperial Guard platoon to turn around and shred their own company HQ...
- Telepathic Summons : A Summoning power that lets the Cult player summon up any of the infantry units from the codex which then arrive using the Cult Ambush special rule. While expensive, I'd say this power is in need of balancing due to the fact that it allows the units to take any upgrades they want at no additional cost. I'd house rule this power to disallow upgrades with a points cost to prevent abuse.
So that's the Genestealer Cults crunch, how does it stand up? Well, they're a very interesting army, being absolutely vicious in assault and with some decent shooting to back them up but overall lacking in survivability. There are a handful of minor balance issues that I've already mentioned, but overall the army lists power in melee is balanced by their lack of durability. The army NEEDS to make use of its Cult Ambush and Return to the Shadows special rules in order to close with their opponents, as with the exception of their Leman Russ tanks everything in the codex is highly susceptible to being shredded by gunfire before they can get close enough to charge.
I'm interested enough that I'd like to put together a Cult army at some point, and due to owning Overkill I've already got most of the models to do so. To play this army succesfully you have to treat them not as a regimented force or a charging horde, but as a guerilla force of ambushers, raiders, and murderous Xenos predators. Just like their fluff.
Art :
So, the art. Again it's very solid, with almost all of it being original, with the exception of handful of older piece, and of a high quality. Unfortunately the book does contain the now-standard dozen or so wasted pages of awfully drawn colour scheme guides, I'm really hoping that GW drop that particular "feature" soon. Once again there's a complete lack of Blanche, and all of the contributing artists have done very well with regards to depicting the atavistic abominations of the cult, and their corruption of the holy human form.
As for the models, they're universally excellent. The Patriarch, Magus, Primus, Hybrids and Aberrants are the same base models from the Deathwatch : Overkill box, with a few new weapon options being available to the Hybrids. The Metamorphs are a new release, and look suitably gribbly with their skulls developing the signature Tyranid head-plating, and their organic armaments looking both disgusting and deadly. The Hybrids are great, the base models are wonderful starting points for converting miners, voidship crews and the like thanks to their ribbed armour, and their weapons are a mix of solid slug weapons and converted mining tools that wouldn't be out of place in Deadspace or Necromunda.
That said, the Goliath is my personaly favourite. I've already mentioned my plans for the kit, and I would genuinely love GW to design and release more generic "Imperial" vehicle kits, for kitbash, conversion and terrain building purposes. There's also a few upgrade kits for Cadian Shock Troopers and the appropriate imperial tanks, and while those for the vehicles are fine the upgrade to the Cadians is definitely of lower quality. Frankly, I'm not a fan of the Cadian models anyway, so I can't really make much of this criticism as there's
Both the art and models are very good, I've no criticisms of either, and I'm really pleased with the overall look of the codex and army.
Conclusion :
All in all this is a solid codex and miniature range, both of which I'd definitely recommend. The army has plenty of options and is perfectly capable of standing by itself or being used as an allied contingent to add some melee capability to the Imperial Guard, or firepower to the Tyranids. The art and fluff are both solid, and the models really are excellent and I'd say worth picking up just to paint and model. I've got Overkill and I'll definitely be putting mine together with an eye to using them in RPG games.*
Oh, and I said it last time and I'll say it again...
Sisters Sisters Sisters Sisters Sisters.....
Until Next Time
Happy Gaming
Michael
*Dear RP groups, forget that you've read this.
