With the new Genestealer Cults Codex going on Pre-Order this weekend I cannot wait for the previews that some content creators will be posting up on Saturday morning. It feels like the GSC have not gotten a lot of love from GW in the form of Warhammer Community articles on the lead up to this release (most likely since it was pushed back and now they are releasing previews for 3 Codexes at the same time). There has been one substantial preview though, and that is the reveal of the Crossfire rule in the new GSC Codex.
What Is Crossfire?
Crossfire appears to be the little extra something GW has been adding to 9th Edition army books that is supposed to give factions their own flavor. Admech got Canticles, Orks got Waagh, and it looks like GSC are getting Crossfire. According to the GW preview the Crossfire rule happens, “Whenever a unit with the Crossfire keyword shoots and scores at least five hits (or a hit with a Damage characteristic other than 1) their target gains a crossfire marker”. They even provided us with a nice picture to explain it:
What’s The Benefit:
Ok, now you have managed to get a Crossfire marker on an enemy unit, but what does it give you? Just by simply getting 5 hits, or ONE hit with a multi-damage weapon, other units shooting at the marked unit get +1 to hit! For an army that is Ballistic Skill 4+ across the board this is a huge benefit. In the previous Codex the Jackal Alphus gave +1 to hit against a single target, and it was extremely important to ensure the biker sniper could see this unit in order to give the all important +1 to hit. Now GSC players don’t need to worry about the positioning of a single model, but can get that important shooting buff against any unit on the table. The key here is going to be using the single hit from a multiple damage weapon in order to give an enemy unit a Crossfire Token. 5 single damage hits from units hitting on 4+ is just not reliable enough. Fortunately the army has a ton of multi-damage weapons in Twin Autocannons on Goliath Trucks, Seismic Cannons, or Mining Lasers. Come to think of it a Krak grenade from a Grenade Launcher may be the cheapest way to get a Crossfire Token on an enemy unit!
Just +1 to hit alone would be an awesome bonus, but that’s not all Crossfire does. As you can see from the graphic above an enemy unit can also be Exposed. An Exposed unit not only gives the +1 to hit, but also is +1 to wound for units shooting at it if there is another Crossfire keyworded unit on the other side of the target unit. Obviously +1 to wound is going to be extremely strong when a GSC player can position their units as shown in the diagram above, and this rule really has me hoping there is a way to give 20 man Neophyte squads with Shotguns AP1. 40 shots at S4 AP1 with +1 to hit AND wound would be amazing. It’s even more amazing when you take into account these buffs have zero cost in the form of Command Points or additional unit taxes. I mean, I guess +1 to hit and wound is also good on things like Ridgerunners with Mining Lasers, but we have to see if they get the Crossfire keyword!
That’s Not All:
GW also previewed two Stratagems that interact with the Crossfire keyword, and they both are amazing:
Turning off Overwatch is something a fragile melee army like GSC need desperately, so it is good to see it still exists in the new Codex. Hopefully, this isn’t the only source of turning off Overwatch, but we will see. Obviously shutting down an opponent’s ability to shoot your fragile melee units before they charge in with their mining weapons is good for 1CP, but this strat also has another use. Stopping Heroic Interventions can be huge when your fragile GSC units want to hold an Objective, but they don’t want to tussle with the enemy Character sitting directly on top of it. Your opponent have a big scary Character model on an Objective just waiting to Heroic into those poor Neophytes? Sorry Imperial Knight, Morty, or whatever other big scary Character, you can sit and watch as we steal this Objective from you.
Coordinated Assault is really going to rely on when Crossfire Markers are removed from enemy units (let me know if I missed it somewhere!). Against enemy units with a fight first mechanic Coordinated Assault will allow a charging GSC unit to fight first. This is solid with things like Drukhari Wyches being a big part of the meta. What I am interested to see is, if Crossfire Markers stay on enemy units until the end of the Battleround, will this make an enemy unit who Charged fight second against GSC? If that is the case this Stratagem is extremely powerful, and if it is not the case it’s still very useful against a lot of Fight First units in the meta!
The Crossfire rule being something that the GSC get for free as their faction special rule is extremely strong. While it will take some prior planning, in both the list building stage of the game as well as during the game itself, the pay off of getting +1 to hit and wound is huge! Since prior planning is what the Cult is all about I think GW nailed it with this Faction special rule. I really can’t wait to see the full previews coming this weekend!