I have had some time to put my GSC on the table for my first games of 10th Edition, and even with the decrease in the number of Stratagems each army has, GSC haven’t lost any of their flavor from 9th Edition. I was worried when I saw that each faction would only be receiving 6 Stratagems out of the gate in 10th Edition that the armies would lose some of their uniqueness. Thankfully this wasn’t the case. GSC were extremely lucky in these days of Index Hammer, and all of our Stratagems keep the flavor of the faction alive while remaining useful on the tabletop.
Unquestioning Loyalty: We will start with the stratagem that GSC players will use the least. Not to say that this isn’t very important to have in a faction where the majority of the characters come in at Toughness 3 and just 3 or 4 Wounds, but there are better ways to protect your units containing characters. Unquestioning Loyalty isn’t super exciting into ranged Precision since GSC have another stratagem that allows the GSC player to make one unit completely un-targetable outside of 12 inches, but if you ever find yourself in melee with your Neophytes/Primus/Nexos combo units you will be happy to have this stratagem.
Coordinated Trap: This is the stratagem that makes the entire GSC army function. The Cults have a ton of low strength shooting in the form of Hand Flamers, Autoguns, and even Seismic Cannons. In 10th Edition things are TOUGH. Wounding a lowly Rhino on 5+ will feel very bad, but then this amazing stratagem comes in to help out. When I first read the GSC rules, I thought Mining Lasers would be a requirement in any list. Their high strength, damage, and AP seemed required to deal with vehicles and big monsters. Mining Lasers also felt terribly swingy due to their 5+ BS and their high variance of D6+1 damage. Finally, I figured out that the Seismic Cannon can work just like it did in 9th Edition with the GSC Crossfire rules with this amazing strat. 24 S6, AP1, D3 damage shots doesn’t sound super amazing against all the extremely high toughness targets out there, but how about giving those 24 shots +1 to wound, re-rolling hits with a Primus, and maybe even Sustained Hits 1 from coming out of Reserves? Now we are putting out serious damage. Oh, almost forgot, +1 AP if a Ridgerunner unit shot your target and the Ignores Cover! 2CP is a high cost in today’s CP starved game, but GSC players will need to plan their CP spending around this stratagem to make sure they can push damage through.
Tunnel Crawlers: I am so glad the ability to place GSC units outside of 3 inches of enemy models stuck around for 10th Edition. This 1 CP strat opens up a TON of tactical flexibility for the Cults that other armies can only dream of. Need to grab Behind Enemy Line points? Easy. Need to drop down an Acolyte unit tossing 4 Demolition Charges (with Sustained Hits!) directly into an enemy unit your opponent thought was safe? No problem. This stratagem can even be used to just steal Primary Objectives from your opponent by throwing 5 Acolytes onto an objective. Keep in mind your opponent will get the chance to use the Overwatch stratagem against a unit coming down 3 inches away from them, so try and get them to use Overwatch on another unit first. Odds are, if this GSC unit is worth spending the CP to bring down 3 inches away, they are a unit you don’t want shot by Overwatch.
One With The Darkness: This is the fourth stratagem listed in the GSC Index and it is amazing like the others. With the low durability of GSC infantry this stratagem is going to be a key part of many games for GSC players. One With The Darkness will allow you to sit on objectives that are out in the open safely, protect those big Neophytes squads containing your Primus/Nexos combo, and even just mess up your opponent’s target priority during their shooting phase. An interesting combo with this stratagem is possible if you have 2 units exposed to your enemy’s shooting and one of those units contains a Nexos. If your opponent shoots the non-Nexos unit first, use this stratagem so they have to choose another target. If they try and switch over to targeting your Nexos’ squad you can use his ability to use a stratagem that phase for 0 CP. Even if that strat has already been used! Obviously tell your opponent this is something you can do before the game to avoid any “gotcha” moments, but there certainly will be situations where your opponents just can’t target two of your GSC units.
A Perfect Ambush: Ok, I am embarrassed to admit that during my first couple games of 10th Edition I thought this stratagem was 1CP gets you +1AP for a unit coming in from Reserves. I thought it was a decent stratagem when I used it without reading the entire stratagem. IT ALSO GRANTS +1 BALLISTIC SKILL. For a single CP this stratagem lets 20 Neophytes come down, fire 24 Seismic Cannon shots hitting on 4s (full re-roll with the Primus), at AP 3 with Ridgerunner buff, and this can be stacked with Coordinated Assault for +1 to Wound as well! 3CP is a big investment, so if you are just looking to spend the 1CP from A Perfect Ambush, this is perfect to throw on Acolytes throwing 4 Demolition Charges.
Return To The Shadows: The best thing a GSC player can do with this Stratagem is use it on the units that just arrived from Blips during their opponent’s turn. This Stratagem is used at the end of an opponent’s turn, so it is perfect for those units coming in from Cult Ambush that had to be placed in super awkward positions to remain safe. Then those units can come down using Deep Strike in the GSC player’s next turn! This gives a ton more tactical flexibility to those respawning GSC units. Instead of being stuck in whatever corner your opponent didn’t have fast moving units in, now these units can be placed in positions that will actually be useful. Heck, they can even benefit from the Tunnel Crawlers Stratagem to come in 3 inches away!
All of the GSC stratagems are amazing, and I find myself using each one of them every game that I play. GW did an amazing job cutting down to just 6 Stratagems while still keeping the flavor of the GSC faction alive in them. The one problem GSC players will find is they simply do not have enough CP to use every Stratagem when they want to. Neophytes on objectives help with their Datasheet ability to grant a CP on a 4+ at the beginning of the GSC turn, and the Nexos’ ability to use a Stratagem on his unit for 0CP is an auto include in every GSC list at his points cost off just 50! If I missed any awesome GSC combos with these Stratagems definitely share them in the comments below. As 10th Edition goes on I am sure we will see some amazing plays with GSC in the tournament scene because of the flexibility of these stratagems.
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