Hi everyone, Michael here with part 1 of a review of the Cult Creeds in the new Genestealer Cults codex. For more reviews and analyses, check out the Tactics Corner.
Cult Creeds
The Cult Creeds are the “Chapter Tactics” of the Genestealer Cults army. These apply to any <Cult> Infantry or Biker model in the army. However, they do not apply to “Genestealer” units in the army (Purestrains and the Patriarch) or to Brood Brothers units. This is annoying, as some of these benefits would be great for Purestrain Genestealers or the Patriarch. I can understand why they do not apply, but it is a little annoying to not get such great benefits from the army.
This article will take a look at the first three Cult Creeds available to the army. This review will also take a look at the Creed-specific warlord traits, Relics and stratagems available for each Creed.
Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor- Subterranean Ambushers
Until the end of the first battle round, add 1 to Advance and Charge rolls for units with this creed. From the second battle round, if a unit arrives from reserve, it adds 1 to its Advance and Charge rolls until the end of the turn.
This is a very strong trait and one that I think will be quite popular (due to it’s Creed-specific stratagem in many cases). This is great for units arriving from reserve, meaning you will need an 8″ charge rather than a 9″ charge for many units. This gets even better when added to the ability of the Clamavus, giving you a further +1 to your charge range. The combination of the Creed and Clamavus means that you only need a 7″ charge for most units when arriving from reserve. This is a huge boost for an army that primarily depends on reserves manipulation and close combat to do the most damage.
The Creed stratagem is called “A Plan Generations in the Making”, costs 3CP and can only be used once per battle. It is effectively the Cult’s version of Agents of Vect. The stratagem is played after your opponent uses a stratagem. On a 2+, they cannot use their stratagem and get the command points back (unless you roll a 6). This is an incredibly powerful stratagem and can put a real crimp in your opponent’s plan. I find it particularly useful for blocking any “Auspex Scan”-type stratagems that could decimate one of your units that is coming in from reserve. There are obviously various uses for such a stratagem that can be game winning in the right situations. It is only one use per game, however, so you need to use it in the right situation.
The Creed Relic is the Sword of the Four-Armed Emperor. This is a Bonesword (or Locus Blade) that is strength User, AP-3 and 1 damage, that gives the bearer four additional attacks. This will be used most often on a Primus, giving him 8 attacks at S4. This is great for taking on hordes that are T4 or below. However, this is not a type of unit that the Genestealer Cults have an issue dealing with. The big drawback here is that it is limited to strength user, so you will struggle against tougher units in most situation. I prefer the other Relic Bonesword thanks to the increased strength and damage.
The Creed Warlord trait is Inscrutable Cunning. This gives you a free re-roll to hit, to wound or saving throw while your warlord is on the table. In addition, you gain D3 command points before the game begins if your army is battle-forged. This is not my first choice of warlord trait, as there are simply better ones available. However, it is not without its uses. Using the Broodcoven stratagem, you can give a walord trait to a Patriarch, Primus and Magus in your army.
I find this a great choice for the Magus, as there are not a great number of traits that suit them overall. Even if you roll a 1 for the number of command points, you are essentially getting the Broodcoven stratagem for free, as well as an additional re-roll.
Overall, I think the Cult of the Four-armed Emperor is a very strong Cult Creed. Not only does it have one of the best stratagems, it also gives a boost to charge rolls, which is key in a Genestealer Cults army. The Relic is not the best and the Warlord Trait is a nice addition if you take the Broodcoven stratagem.
Pauper Princes- Devoted Zealots
You can re-roll to hit rolls made for melee weapons with this unit in the turn that it charged, was charged or performed a heroic intervention.
This is a very strong Creed for the combat-centred Genestealer Cults army. This is going to be a huge bonus for Acolyte Hybrids and combat characters, or units such as Aberrants. Unfortunately, again it doesn’t apply to Genestealer units, which would be very strong for the army. Genestealer Cults units hit hard from reserves, but can easily melt away to enemy firepower in the following turn. Getting the most out of your ambushing units is key for success, so bonus re-rolls in combat are going to be a big boost.
The stratagem is called “Vengeance for the Martyred” and costs 1CP. It is used when an enemy unit destroys a Pauper Princes Character in the army. For the rest of the battle, add 1 to hit rolls for friendly units that target the enemy unit that was destroyed. This is a decent stratagem, giving you good bonuses against a selected enemy unit when they kill a character. This could also be useful for suiciding one of your cheap characters against a big unit, such as an Imperial Knight, giving you a nice bonus against the enemy unit in both shooting and assault.
The Relic is the Reliquary of Saint Tenndarc. All Pauper Princes units within 6″ automatically pass morale tests. In addition, each time an infantry or Biker model within 6″ is slain, on a 4+ they get to make a shooting attack with one weapon or a single melee attack as if it were the fight phase. This is a solid relic for me. Morale can be a big problem for Genestealer Cults, as their poor toughness and armour save makes them very susceptible to enemy firepower and morale. Getting another bubble that ignores morale is a nice boost to the force. The chance to strike back in combat when a model is slain is also a good bonus. The bonus shooting attack is nice, but I wouldn’t really expect it to do much, as the firepower of the army is not great.
The warlord trait is Beloved Grandsire and gives you +2 to Unquestioning Loyalty rolls for your warlord. This means that your warlord can pass on damage on a 2+, which is a big boost for aiding their survivability. If you are planning to throw your warlord into melee, this is a good trait to have. Surrounding them with enough cheap bodies to pass the wounds on to will work well in combination with this warlord trait.
Overall, another strong Cult Creed. Acolyte Hybrid units can put out a lot of strong attacks thanks to their Rending Claws and Heavy Rock weapons. Re-rolls to hit in combat are a big boost for this unit and will also make the most of strong units, such as Aberrants.
Hivecult- Discipled Militants
If a unit with this creed fails a morale test, halve the number of models that flee (rounding up). IN addition, the unit can still shoot when it falls back, but at -1 to hit.
Another decent creed. Genestealer Cults units have a good leadership value, but can be susceptible to morale penalties, especially in larger units. Getting to fall and back and still shoot is a strong ability in many armies, but I don’t think it is particularly strong in the army, as they are not the strongest of firepower armies, in my opinion.
The Creed stratagem is Chilling Efficiency and costs 2CP. Used after a Hivecult unit has caused a wound to an enemy unit in the shooting phase. Add 1 to hit rolls for attacks made by other friendly Hivecult units that target the same enemy unit. This has the potential to give the army a good firepower boost for taking on tough enemy units. This is particularly useful for Acolyte or Jackal units that use Demolition charges, giving you more of a chance of doing some very strong damage in a shooting phase. This gets even better when combined with the Jackal Alphus’ similar ability, allowing you to hit on a 2+ in most cases. The downside is that this cannot be used with Heavy Weapons Teams or the Leman Russ, two units you probably want to get a bonus from their shooting.
The relic is Vockor’s Talisman. This allows you to re-roll to hit rolls for attacks with the bearer’s melee weapons when targeting enemy characters. In addition, each time you roll a to wound roll of 6+ with the attacker’s melee weapons, the target suffers one mortal wound in addition to any normal damage (unless they are a Vehicle or Titanic). A decent relic that gives a boost to your combat characters. Most Genestealer Cults combat characters are hitting on a 2+ anyway, so there will only be a few times this is of use. The chance of doing bonus mortal wounds is a nice boost, but will not come up all that often. Probably a Relic I would avoid in most cases.
The Warlord trait is Hivelord. This allows you to re-roll to hit rolls of 1 for Hivecult units within 6″. A nice bonus, however, Genestealer Cults armies are not well known for their firepower output. Could come in handy for Demolition charges or heavy weapons fire from Neophyte Hybrids.
One of the poorer Cult Creeds for me. The Creed is decent enough, though I think there are better ones available. The stratagem, warlord trait and relic are so-so for me, probably not ones I would bother with in most cases.
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Thanks for the review. I’m starting with cult, and it helps to see each creed kit summarized in a few words.
All my lists have at least one model from the 4 armed cult, usually in a mixed battalion, with a Patriarch from the main creed of the list, and 30 Brood Brothers (the Planning 32?). Their stratagem is key to stop reactive stratagems like auspex or counter-offensive. The cult is fragile, and doesn’t want to be interrupted. I can’t find any place for the relic, but the rest of the kit is superb, enhancing the Cult’s strengths.
Pauper princes look a bit weak on paper. I’d rather take the helix, as cult models tend to hit on a 2+ (ws3+ with a Primus) already. Can be insteresting with rock cutters, Abominants and hammer Aberrants, tho. Ths stratagem is slightly redundant (you already have a hit multiplier for a lot of units), but can help to get more hits on shooting, and with vehicles. The relic is interestinmg, and can be combined with alien majesty for a big fearless/revenge bubble. The warlord trait can really be something, as the meta is starting to shift, to include a lot of character hate.
Hivecult are probably the weaker creed. It would be a great kit in another codex. A bit of a “filler subfaction”, but I guess they are there just to cover an innusual archetype (static shooting).
Thanks for the comment Brakhal, hopefully these reviews will give you some ideas on where to go with the Cult. I am still testing a bunch of the new units and creeds, so may be able to give some tips on using them.
Getting our own “Agents of Vect”-type stratagem is awesome for shutting down enemy stratagems. Shame it is only once per game. Hivecult and Pauper Princes are two of the weaker ones, I agree. The others are simply too good to avoid. I’ll be covering the rest when the review goes up tomorrow.
I think Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor is really strong. Getting to charge 7″ from reserve when combined with the Clamavus is simply too good for a combat and reserves-heavy army such as Genestealer Cults. Too often do you deploy your units from reserve, fail a charge and get blasted off the table the following turn without having achieved anything.
Sorry, maybe I’ve misunderstood what you mean here, but are you taking a 4 armed creed model in a battalion with 31 models from another creed? What’s the rationale behind this? More specifically, why mixed creeds?
Haven’t read the genestealer codex in much depth so maybe there’s something I’m missing?
I think he means taking a Character with Cult of the Four Armed Emperor creed and three units of Brood Brothers Infantry squads. These are part of the army, but do not get the Creed benefits in the army. The only reason I can see for taking these over Neophytes is that they are slightly cheaper and have access to longer ranged Heavy Weapons.
I think one character with the creed allows you to use the Stratagem to deny your opponent’s stratagems, while the rest of your army can use another Cult Creed that perhaps has more benefits overall.
Let’s say I’m playing Twisted Helix, but I want to have access to a plan generations in the making, without giving up cps or models with the Helix pasive. To do so, I take a battalion like this:
1- Patriarch (Twisted Helix)
1- Magus (Four Armed Emperor)
10- Brood Brothers
10- Brood Brothers
10- Brood Brothers
I say it is a mixed battalion, because there are two different creeds, instead of one. It doesn’t get the free rules of any creed, but it gives you access to the 4 armed stratagem (and warlord trait), as long as the Magus is alive and on the table.
The troops of that detachment are Brood Brothers, as they would never get a creed, are cheaper, and can protect that lonely 4armed Magus with unquestioning loyalty.
The Patriarch can’t benefit from the Helix creed anyway, but it can still add his auras to any Helix unit close to him.
The detachment is built by using the Genestealer Cults faction keyword, instead of using a keyword.
* instead of a (CULT) keyword. Like Twisted Helix, etc
I think based on the Brood Brothers rule for your list above, you still get the Cult Creed for your Battalion. Brood Brothers don’t count for excluding you from getting Creed benefits. It allows you to take the squads in your army without losing the benefits entirely.
Brood Brothers don’t, but the Patriarch is Helix, and the Magus is 4armed.
Ah, got you now.