After playing a few more games with the extremely simple to understand, and pilot, Genestealer Cults book I am ready to bestow more of my Cult wisdom. Just kidding, this book is super complex, and I am still getting the hang of how best to mold my favorite army into a decent fighting force on the tabletop.
Since many of us don’t live in a house with a bunch of other 40k players hopefully these GSC articles will help all of us get to grips with the army just a little bit faster. This week we will take a look at the humble Neophyte Hybrids and some of their new uses on the battlefield.
At their most basic level Neophytes are a 10 man, 60 point, unit of Guardsmen with better Leadership and access to the Conceal and Crossfire rules in the GSC Codex. While they can be used as a simple 60 point unit that can score Retrieve Nachmund Data, Behind Enemy Lines, or Deploy Teleport Homers there are much more effective ways to utilize this unit to it’s fullest potential. Besides, if you are just looking for a cheap unit to perform Actions the GSC Codex has 45 point Acolyte squads, so save yourself the 15 points if you are just planning to use a squad of bare bones Neophytes to perform Secondary Actions by taking 5 Acolytes instead.
Ok, so if I don’t recommend taking just the bare bones squad of Neophytes what in the world should you be doing with these basic troops? These little Cult believers can SHOOT. In the previous Codex a squad of Neophytes could come down with some Mining Lasers with re-rolling hits, and in comparison to the shooting ability of the new Codex Neophytes the old ones can only be described as adorable. Here is the shooting ability the current Neophytes bring to the table:
Mining Weapons:
First off, we should go over the weapon options for the Neophytes. An entire squad of 20 can take 4 heavy AND 4 Special weapons. Even a Squad of 10 can take 2 and 2! This allows a full Squad of 20 Neophytes to pack 4 of my favorite weapon variant in the Codex, the Seismic Cannon. With 2 profiles, one firing 6 shots at S4 AP1 D1, and the other shooting 3 shots S6 AP2 D2, Neophytes can put out a ton of shots.
Crossfire/Exposed:
When dropping in a full unit of 20 Neophytes with 4 Seismic Cannons it is crucial to ensure the enemy unit they are targeting that turn has a Crossfire token, and is even Exposed, before committing your Neophytes to the table. While there are other units in your army that could provide the Crossfire token through just shooting the same unit the Neophytes are looking to wipe off the board I have found it is much more effective to already have a Crossfire token in place without worrying about support from other shooting units.
The Nexos should be included in almost all GSC army lists as his ability to select an enemy unit anywhere on the table to give a Crossfire token to is extremely strong. Is you opponent hiding out of line of sight in a Ruin on an Objective? Boom, the Nexos plops a Crossfire token on that unit and Neophytes set up on the table 6 inches away to start blasting. Remember that the Neophyte unit can have a big footprint on the table as well, this will help you get Exposed for some other units in you army against targets that might not be hiding so well as the one your Neophytes are targeting.
While the Nexos’ ability is incredibly strong, I tend to favor just taking all the player skill out of the equation (since I don’t live in a house filled with 40k players) and put A Perfect Ambush on my unit of 20 Neophytes with Seismic Cannons. This 15 point upgrade lets your Neophytes count the unit they are shooting at as having a Crossfire Marker AND as being Exposed during the attack. Now the Neophyte unit does need to be within 12 inches of it’s target, but this can be as little as a single Neophyte from the unit being placed within 12.
Defense:
Be on the alert when playing against armies like Space Marines or AdMech who both have a Stratagem to shoot at a unit deploying onto the table. The Space Marine one is just for Core Infantry, but even a squad of Intercessor’s shooting at Neophytes probably isn’t going to feel great.
Speaking of getting shot, Neophytes are still at Toughness 3 5+ save model, and they really don’t want to be taking enemy fire of any kind. An excellent way to avoid those pesky enemy guns is putting a squad of 10 Neophytes with a couple Seismic Cannons inside a Goliath Truck. The Trucks are open topped, so you are losing no efficiency in the shooting phase by leaving them embarked (and safe) inside a 3+ save -1 Damage Transport. Also, when your opponent does destroy the truck those Neophytes are getting out right back onto the Objective your opponent was trying to shoot you off of.
There is a whole mess of other tips/tactics revolving around Goliath Trucks specifically, but that will be coming next week!
Iconward Shenanigans:
Scoring Primary points from Objectives still happens at the end of the Command Phase, so the new GSC book can act like Reanimating Necrons by bringing models back onto Objectives. Once your big unit of Neophytes are committed to the table, run an Iconward up behind them to Summon the Cult. Bringing back D6 Neophytes in the Command Phase can allow you to place models back onto Objectives either scoring you Primary points your opponent though they had taken from you, or taking Primary away from an opponent by putting some newly arrived Objective Secured Neophytes on a lightly held Objective.
Hopefully, some of these tips help when getting to grips with this complex new Codex. Generally, I find myself running a single unit of 20 Neophytes with 4 Seismic Cannons with the A Perfect Ambush upgrade. Many GSC lists have a truck load of Acolytes with Neophytes performing supporting functions, but it could be interesting to see what a GSC army just filled with Neophytes with Mining Weapons was capable of with the new Crossfire mechanics!
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