iNcontroL and Reecius review the Genestealer Cult Codex!
31 thoughts on “Signals from the Frontline Special Edition: Genestealer Cult Review!”
Loving the Genestealer Cult codex, some really nice units and rules. A couple of things I noticed from the podcast:
– I think the Patriarch can join any unit, not just Genestealers. It states in the Genestealers that only the Patriarch can join that unit (and gives them furious charge), but it doesn’t work the other way. As you said though, why would you not take the formation and put him in it. Plus he gives you a 12″ fearless bubble!
– The models are amazing, but as you said, so expensive! $40 for a 40 or 50 point unit is insane considering how many you will need for an army. .
Also, Return to the Shadows and Cult Ambush are awesome, but will need two turns for the effect when used for other than deployment. Return to the Shadows occurs in the movement phase and you deploy the following turn, so you have to do without the unit(s) for a full turn.
Book says no more than 1 Patriarch, Magus, or Primus in *the same Cult Insurrection Detachment.* Nothing about them being unique characters in their profiles.
I disagree. The cult ambush rule is quite obviously telling you that you can DEPLOY using the cult ambush rule. It very specifically says Deploy, Reserves, or Ongoing Reserves. No distinction would be needed if you couldn’t deploy on turn 1.
All good, buddy. Good to see you around, been a while! I plan on running the Subterranean Assault formation with all my units in it to take advantage of that 2d6 roll on the table. So good!
Cool and characterful rules mechanism, tons of throw-back things like web guns, cultists in miner drabs and awesome purestrain genestealers (finally!) – what’s not to like? I’m so getting my 60-70 Genestealers back on the pitch.
Really loving this codex release, both fluffy, unique and I think it can be pretty solid game-wise. I hope you guys will be able to do a battle report with them soon. Don’t worry about painted models, we just wanna see the cult in action asap 🙂
Why did they nerf the deffrolla into the ground but turn around and give it to genecult?
Orks better get this back. I currently have to tell everyone I play that they are just rams and not actual deffrollas.
Okay, here’s a question for you guys about Dedicated Transports…
What happens to Dedicated Transports taken for units in the Subterranean Uprising? Obviously they gain Infiltrate, like the rest of the detachment, but what about the “Time to Rise Up” rule
Does this allow the transports to use Cult Ambush?
Can units deploy in their dedicated transports? (Units cannot Cult Ambush while in transports)
My read of this for what its worth is you have a conflict between must and can’t.
In previous conflicts like this GW has had to errata the rules for them to make sense (eg Deathwing formation was errated to force Land Raiders into regular reserves, they did not gain the deepstrike rule because the formation forced the deepstrike rule). So to me that speaks volumes, if looking at this from a precedence standpoint.
Without an errata I think RAW you can’t legally bring dedicated transports in this formation (despite that not being a restriction) because that is the only way to satisfy both conditions. Allowing them to use Cult Ambush makes an assumption the must overrides can’t and without a specific text to allow that (ala the Sentinels that gain Cult Ambush specifically) it seems dubious at best.
Yeah, it’s really tricky to tell what is going on… You would think if they didn’t want you to take transports, they’d restrict them, this would be the only instance I know of, that wouldn’t have that explicitly restricted (since they fixed Deathwing).
The other question is does “must” then enable the transports to use that rule, despite not having it? It’s worth noting that not having the rule could still have in-game implications, like if they were sent back into reserves (like the Eldar psychic power) they would then not be able to Cult Ambush when they came back.
I am not sure why Genestealer Cult would struggle against deathstars. With Fearless blobs to tie them down, pop-up goons to block hit & run and then more pop-up goons to clear out the backfield and grab objectives they seem to have all the right tools to win by refusing to play the deathstar at its own game. This needs proving on the table but on paper it seems like a strong counter that is built into the basic play style of the codex.
This sort of now you see me now you don’t play might be frustrating with other armies but I think if you play Genestealer Cult that is exactly how you want to play. A game of whack-a-mole might be really frustrating for the deathstar player but I figure they can put up with that.
I had a sumed that if you want to get on the table with cult ambush from the start you have to roll for reserves as normal but from the way this sounded you can just arrive with it in your own turn 1? And basicaly null deploy?
Loving the Genestealer Cult codex, some really nice units and rules. A couple of things I noticed from the podcast:
– I think the Patriarch can join any unit, not just Genestealers. It states in the Genestealers that only the Patriarch can join that unit (and gives them furious charge), but it doesn’t work the other way. As you said though, why would you not take the formation and put him in it. Plus he gives you a 12″ fearless bubble!
– The models are amazing, but as you said, so expensive! $40 for a 40 or 50 point unit is insane considering how many you will need for an army. .
Also, Return to the Shadows and Cult Ambush are awesome, but will need two turns for the effect when used for other than deployment. Return to the Shadows occurs in the movement phase and you deploy the following turn, so you have to do without the unit(s) for a full turn.
Yup, it won’t always be the best play but it will be very cool when it is applicable.
Nothing in the book about the characters being “Unique”- the Decurion just says no more than 1 of each in the *same Cult Insurrection Detachment.*
Book says no more than 1 Patriarch, Magus, or Primus in *the same Cult Insurrection Detachment.* Nothing about them being unique characters in their profiles.
Yeah, and you can ally in more of them through other detachments.
man I need an underforge mat for my GC army!
time to uprise: the units must infiltrate during deplyment, and set up suing cult ambush. 100% agree with InControl
I agree that that is the correct reading of it, too.
I disagree. The cult ambush rule is quite obviously telling you that you can DEPLOY using the cult ambush rule. It very specifically says Deploy, Reserves, or Ongoing Reserves. No distinction would be needed if you couldn’t deploy on turn 1.
That’s what novastar said, Hulk.
I’m an idiot. Ignore me 😀
As long as turn 1 assaults can happen on 6’s I’m a happy camper.
All good, buddy. Good to see you around, been a while! I plan on running the Subterranean Assault formation with all my units in it to take advantage of that 2d6 roll on the table. So good!
another cool thing about the crouchling is it doesn’t prevent the magos from taking its normal two familiars giving it an extra 6 rending attacks
Yup, pretty bad ass!
sweet cast, Geoff, you are one funny bastard:)
He indeed, is!
Cool and characterful rules mechanism, tons of throw-back things like web guns, cultists in miner drabs and awesome purestrain genestealers (finally!) – what’s not to like? I’m so getting my 60-70 Genestealers back on the pitch.
Yeah, great book, IMO.
This might 40k me again, or least drop a few bucks on it, haha. Combination of extreme nostalgia, amazing miniatures and awesome rules is deadly!
Muahaha! No one ever truly quits! =P
Really loving this codex release, both fluffy, unique and I think it can be pretty solid game-wise. I hope you guys will be able to do a battle report with them soon. Don’t worry about painted models, we just wanna see the cult in action asap 🙂
It’s actually hard to get the models right now, let alone paint them.
Why did they nerf the deffrolla into the ground but turn around and give it to genecult?
Orks better get this back. I currently have to tell everyone I play that they are just rams and not actual deffrollas.
Okay, here’s a question for you guys about Dedicated Transports…
What happens to Dedicated Transports taken for units in the Subterranean Uprising? Obviously they gain Infiltrate, like the rest of the detachment, but what about the “Time to Rise Up” rule
Does this allow the transports to use Cult Ambush?
Can units deploy in their dedicated transports? (Units cannot Cult Ambush while in transports)
My read of this for what its worth is you have a conflict between must and can’t.
In previous conflicts like this GW has had to errata the rules for them to make sense (eg Deathwing formation was errated to force Land Raiders into regular reserves, they did not gain the deepstrike rule because the formation forced the deepstrike rule). So to me that speaks volumes, if looking at this from a precedence standpoint.
Without an errata I think RAW you can’t legally bring dedicated transports in this formation (despite that not being a restriction) because that is the only way to satisfy both conditions. Allowing them to use Cult Ambush makes an assumption the must overrides can’t and without a specific text to allow that (ala the Sentinels that gain Cult Ambush specifically) it seems dubious at best.
Yeah, it’s really tricky to tell what is going on… You would think if they didn’t want you to take transports, they’d restrict them, this would be the only instance I know of, that wouldn’t have that explicitly restricted (since they fixed Deathwing).
The other question is does “must” then enable the transports to use that rule, despite not having it? It’s worth noting that not having the rule could still have in-game implications, like if they were sent back into reserves (like the Eldar psychic power) they would then not be able to Cult Ambush when they came back.
This formation confuses the hell out of me, haha.
I am not sure why Genestealer Cult would struggle against deathstars. With Fearless blobs to tie them down, pop-up goons to block hit & run and then more pop-up goons to clear out the backfield and grab objectives they seem to have all the right tools to win by refusing to play the deathstar at its own game. This needs proving on the table but on paper it seems like a strong counter that is built into the basic play style of the codex.
This sort of now you see me now you don’t play might be frustrating with other armies but I think if you play Genestealer Cult that is exactly how you want to play. A game of whack-a-mole might be really frustrating for the deathstar player but I figure they can put up with that.
Their blobs are not big or resilient enough to stop a Deathstar, IMO. Time will tell though, I hope you’re correct and I am wrong.
They are AoC with IG i think, could throw in 50 conscripts as an anchor unit.
I had a sumed that if you want to get on the table with cult ambush from the start you have to roll for reserves as normal but from the way this sounded you can just arrive with it in your own turn 1? And basicaly null deploy?