Another week of 40k is in the books, and it looks like Tau and Custodes are continuing their domination of the tournament scene. The game is not in the greatest place right now as far as the competitive side of 40k, but there is at least hope with a new balance patch coming.
Let’s just hope GW recognizes the issue and comes out with the balances for Tau and Custodes before May which is currently the scheduled time frame for the next balance patch. The 3 month turn around time for these balance patches they announced earlier this year is starting to look like it may not be fast enough, but this is what the players voted for in the GW survey from late last year. This meta has certainly turned some people away from going to tournaments, but I know I will be hanging strong with my Genestealer Cults. In rough times like these there are two solutions. Innovate or swap into the hot meta armies. As I am sure none of the loyal Cult members would switch to Tau or Custodes let’s take a look a Cult Creed that could have some competitive success no matter what your opponent brings to the table.
At first glace, Hivecult may seem like the weakest of the GCS Cult Creeds as it does nothing to buff the melee output of your army. It does little to buff the shooting output of your army as well, but the ability to perform an Action after Advancing, Shooting or Falling Back is extremely strong for GSC. This army’s Secondary game is already strong, but with the Hivecult Creed units of 20 Neophytes armed with Seismic Cannons can arrive from Underground 6 inches from enemy units, shoot, and still Retrieve Nachmund Data or Deploy Teleport Homers. Generally all GSC army builds have ways to score RND or Homes in the form of small Acolyte Squads who have small unit footprints, but these units generally arrive on the table to perform their Action and die immediately. With Hivecult your Action units can also be units that threaten your opponent’s army.
The strongest use of the Hivecult ability comes in when you pair this enhanced Secondary game with effecting your opponent’s Primary score. A unit of 20 Neophytes can be given the Lying In Wait upgrade to be placed outside of 3 inches of enemy models when it is deployed from Underground. Now your 20 Neophytes with Seismic Cannons can string their way around enemy units to steal Primary Objects, Shoot, AND perform Secondary Actions. This can be a devastating combination when an opponent thinks they are keeping pace on the Primary score just to have 20 Neophytes pile on their Primary Objectives getting them zero points when their Command Phase arrives.
The second ability of the Hivecult trait allows units to Fall Back and still Shoot with a -1 to hit penalty. After deploying onto the battlefield so close to your opponent your shooting Neophytes are almost certainly getting charged. While Neophytes aren’t the most resilient unit in the game 20 wounds is still a solid chunk for your opponent to chew through, and your opponent SHOULD be worried about more than the Neophytes that arrived on the table if you are applying pressure with Purestrains or Acolytes Advancing up the table. This is the most important aspect of playing Hivecult. Feeding your opponent 20 Neophytes at a time, all on their lonesome, is not going to win games. Shoving a mass of Neophyte shooting supported by Purestrain or Acolyte close combat power onto the Objectives is going to cripple your opponent’s ability to score points. If your opponent fails to kill those 20 Neophytes while dealing with all the other Cult units you are throwing at them then your Neophytes are free to Fall Back and get to Shooting those Seismic Cannons.
I rarely take Icons on my GSC units as they are extremely expensive when you start to add them up throughout the army, but when I play Hivecult Neophyte shooting bricks I make an exception. Bringing back D6 models from a Neophyte unit who was just decimated by your opponent can allow you to score Primary Objectives at the end of your Command Phase, bring back enough models to ensure you can score RND without rolling off for it, or just bringing back more annoying Neophyte bodies that are clogging up your opponent’s backfield.
While the main draw to this Cult Creed is the ability to do Actions after Shooting, Advancing or Falling Back the Relic and Warlord Trait for Hivecult are also some of the better options within the Codex. The Hivelord Warlord Trait gives a GSC Character the Aura of exploding 6s to hit in Shooting for Core models. Seismic Cannons and Hand Flamers put out a ton of shots. Both of these weapons can be devastating on their own, but with the exploding 6s from Hivelord your Objective scoring based Cult Creed is buffing your Shooting effectively.
Vockor’s Talisman is an extremely potent Relic when given to a Patriach. Having rolls of 5+ to wound ignore invulnerable saves is incredible on a model whose close combat attacks re-roll it’s wound roll. It is even more incredible when those close combat attacks are AP3 D2 or AP6 D3 if you roll a 6 to wound. If anything in your wound roll is not a 5 or 6 re-roll it and watch your Custodes opponent look confused as he removes his models from the game without getting an invulnerable save.
Synaptic Blast is not the best Cult specific Psychic Power, but you are getting it for free on all of your Psykers. Honestly, this Cult power will rarely be used, but remember Psychic Secondaries still count as Actions! I usually take a second Psyker in my GSC army to perform Psychic Actions as some of these are a great third Secondary option for the Cults. While you can still Advance and cast a Psychic Action you cannot Fall Back and perform these Actions normally. Unless you are Hivecult. This can push through some extra Secondary points your opponent was not planning on when your Patriarch Falls Back to safety while still scoring points.
Hivecult is not the Cult Creed to play if you want to overwhelm your opponent with strong melee units or shooting. Twisted Helix or Industrial Affinity army builds provide much more in the way of simple damage buffs to the GSC, but Hivecult opens up new strategy for a GSC player. A Hivcult army will still have dangerous close combat and shooting potential, but it will also have unparalleled ability to score Secondary and Primary points. With the meta in the state that it is in where Custodes make a plan of killing things in melee a risky proposition, and Tau basically making having a GSC army on the table risky, Hivecult may have the tools to outscore your opponents in new ways.