The weekend has almost arrived where I can take the new Genestealer Cults Codex out to my first tournament for the 2022 ITC season. Last year I struggled through playing my Necrons until my very last event of the year where I decided “screw it, I’m going back to GSC, and I don’t care if I don’t have a new Codex yet!”. This was a thought I had many times while playing my Necrons, but only abandoned them late in the season. I had a blast playing my favorite faction in the game (you can find the article about the event here: https://frontlinegaming.org/2021/12/16/taking-genestealer-cults-to-an-rtt/), but now that the new GSC Codex is in my hands I can begin my journey to the top of the GSC ITC rankings. This Saturday I will be playing in an RTT of almost 45 players at my local shop, Tables and Towers in Westminster, MD, and I cannot wait to see how I do with the new GSC book.
Before going to any event there are a few questions a competitive 40k player needs to answer. Obviously the biggest question is what is my army list going to look like? A player should look at what they are most likely going to face in their local meta by understanding what factions are the most popular in their area, as well as considering which factions are performing the best overall in the ITC currently.
Let’s start by taking a look at the list I am taking this weekend:
Pauper Princes Battalion:
Patriarch: Warlord, Prowling Agitant, Psychic Stimulus, Might From Beyond, Last Gasp
Primus: Reliquary of Saint Tenndarc
10x Acolytes- 4x Rock Cutters, A Trap Sprung
10x Acolytes- 4x Rock Cutters
5x Acolytes
5x Acolytes- Lying in Wait
10x Neophytes- 2x Seismic Cannons
10x Metamorphs
Nexos- Cranial Inlay
10x Purestrains- They Came From Below
10x PureStrains
3x Riderunners- Achillies Missile Launcher, Flare Launcher
4x Atalan Jackals- 1x Demolition Charge
4x Atalan Jackals- 4x Power Weapons
Goliath Truck- Demo. Cache
Goliath Truck- Demo. Cache
Pauper Princes Patrol:
Patriarch- The Unwilling Orb, Psionic Blast, Mass Hypnosis, Last Gasp
10x Acolytes- 4x Rock Cutters
Some players out there might be surprised to see Pauper Princes in the place of the more popular Twisted Helix, but with the rise in popularity of Tau in the tournament scene the Pauper Princes relic that gives a 5+ invulnerable save to all Core units around the bearer feels like a mandatory selection. I have played into the Tau match-up once with my GSC as a Custom Cult, and lets just say it did not go well. The amount of out of line of shooting the Tau player could bring to bear meant units of Acolytes, Genestealers, or Metamorphs were destroyed at will unless they were in Reserves or hiding in a Truck.
The next thing some may notice about the list is the inclusion of two Patriarchs. After my first read through of the new GSC book I was building lists with zero Patriarchs. I felt the combination of a Primus and Magus buffed units better than a Patriarch, cast the same psychic powers, and had roughly the same offensive output with the use of the Hand of Aberance relic.
Unfortunately, the two Patriarchs were not included in this list because I thought they performed significantly better than other HQ choices, but just for the fact that they become two of my To The Last targets in my army list. I won’t take credit for this idea either, as I saw it in some winning lists over the past weekend. Various GSC players with decent records were running dual Patriarchs as Twisted Helix, and I can only assume it was to have a solid third Secondary choice when no other option presents itself.
Now that isn’t to say the third Secondary for GSC should always be To The Last. Some armies just have enough firepower to table a GSC army, and there is only so much hiding that can be done while still holding Objectives to score points. I have direct experience in how fast a Tau army can table my poor GSC army. I think GSC has a tough time against Tau, but the way forward involves out scoring the Tau army before being completely tabled by them.
Obviously there needs to be GSC models on the table in order to increase my score, so the name of the game will be slowing down the game to a manageable pace. Other armies (especially Tau) would like nothing better than to get 5 solid turns of shooting into a GSC army. If they get to do this they are going to win save some truly terrible dice rolling.
Something else that is built into my list is limiting of the amount of Secondary points my opponent can score. While it would have been easy to build a Pauper Princes list with 150 models this would give all of my opponents a clear Secondary choice in No Prisoners. In its current form the list gives up 10 No Prisoner points (including the bonus point), 7 Bring It Down, or 12 Assassinate points.
Having all of the infantry in the list killed to give up 10 No Prisoners is a real possibility during games, but then I just need to make sure I score 10 on my third Secondary while still keeping the Primary close. Assassinate is a bit of a trap pick into this army, as all of the Characters are totally happy sitting in my backfield giving out psychic powers/denies across the table with Strats and Relics, or giving out their auras through the Nexos.
As for my own Secondary choices the new GSC book is in an excellent place to score max points on things like Deploy Teleport Homers or Retrieve Nachmund Data with the ability to bring the small units of Acolytes in 6 inches from enemy models (3 inches for one squad). This army can always count on getting 8-10 points in Engage or Behind Enemy Lines as well, but the GSC specific Secondary Broodswarm will also be a real benefit into Custodes and other low model count armies. Many armies have a tough time picking a third Secondary that is reliable for them in every game, and now with the extra ways to score Primary points in each mission, Secondary points become even more important. To The Last can be my reliable third Secondary, and should get me a solid 10 points unless I am getting completely table by my opponent. The trick will be identifying which games being tabled by Turn 5 is almost certain, and not picking To The Last in those games.
This Saturday my loyal Cult troops take the table at Tables and Towers, and I am very excited to see how I do. Realistically my goal is to go 2-1 for this first tournament as I had many 1-2 finishes last year with my poor Necrons. I always seemed to play close games, but could never get out of those mid tables by winning more games than I lost. This season that all changes and the time for the GSC ascension is at hand!
For next week’s article I will have a full write up of how I did at the tournament. Hopefully I will be bringing good news…..