Goatboy 40k: Top 10 Cool Genestealer Cult Things
Today I promise no copy and paste lists and instead want to look at the top 10 things I think are pretty cool about the new Genestealer Codex.
Welcome to another bit of 40k chatter brought to you by ever lovable Goatboy Currently I have no plans to build an army as while I like what I see – it just doesn’t interest me. It doesn’t help that a ton of Chaos stuff looks to be coming down the pipeline so I am saving any extra time I have for myself with some new “bad” guy stuff. Still the book is cool and I think it can do some work – just not enough work to break through the Death Stars plaguing 40k right now. With that let’s look at my list.
10. The Books artwork is very good. There isn’t really a whole lot of bad artwork shown in the book. Each piece is pretty interesting and I like how while it is obviously a newly designed book – it still has the old school feel from the early 90’s GW games. I really like the listed banners for some reason as I feel the style, the logos, and the whole presentation is really top notch and sets this book apart from other releases. The photography is also very good as it really emphasizes the cult mentality as these monsters burst from the shadows and surround their enemy.
9. The models are some of the best I have seen from GW. The Tank itself looks like it would fit in any grim dark universe, the units themselves have a lot of flavor, and every model seems to have a ton of Character to them. This is one of those armies that can look pretty and clean, damaged, or even Blanched out and really still look amazing on the table top. The sheer amount of extra bits and other things involved in the kits really showcase how good GW is at cutting and printing these expensive toys. The model that stands out every time I see it is the “masked” hybrid. He looks pretty dang nutty. The Hybrid that is carrying two bundles of Dynamite also screams old school GW to me as well.
8. I really like how the army itself feels like a fully realized army. It feels like GW is learning from some past mistakes and has really tried to make these new releases fully usable armies. It might not be the strongest option – but you can completely go full hog in a Genestealer Cult and have something that works without allies/friends/enemies. I really hope they rework the Harlie book as well as the Admech books and create something that isn’t just a collection of formations or a single page GW army list.
7. Speaking of army building – this is one of the few times that the Cult Host/Battle Host/Etc is 100% the way to play this army. You could do a CAD if you wanted too – which is good this book allows it – but the real power comes in from some of the Formation combos and ways they click and flow together. One of the books coolest rules go from being neat but not usable to actually a decent threat with just this one formation/army building set up.
6. Did we finally get a “fixed” Genestealer? The new one is the same point cost, different faction, and with the added abilities of Stealth plus a 5+ invulnerable save. Sure its great they always have a save I just feel like to get this type of assault unit to work it takes a lot of things going right. If you get a few 6 rolls on the ambush table with some Pure Strain mixed with a Patriarch then we might have something to talk about. Still it seems to be going in the right direction and hopefully an upcoming Tyranid update will get some love.
5. Speaking of Tyranids – while the lack of Battle Brother is annoying it does make a lot of fluff sense. The book talks about how the Cult thinks the upcoming invasion is a great thing and how they will join up with their “gods” and become one. Little do they know they were basically just spiced up a bit by their brood father. I am sure they are wondering why they suits are filled with cheese and smoked meats.
4. The unit sizes are pretty dang impressive and with their low point costs you could see huge blobs of guys popping up and coming at you. The Hybrids sit at a cheap point cost and with their ambush, rending claws, and upgrade abilities it makes the idea of this horde army working pretty interesting. The idea of a complete horde army that can just magically appear all over the table is a very interesting design. Also the army has a ton of weapon options over all the units. You have mixtures of decent but short ranged weaponary (mixes well with their ambush abilities) and a ton of really unique close combat weapons. The unit design is really just very interesting and is obviously built for a player that likes to customize their army and make it their own.
3. The overall design of how the army works is also very impressive. It doesn’t feel like any other army on the table top which is a pretty neat feat. It doesn’t feel like a Tyranid book, nor an Ork horde, and even a crazy Daemon horde build. It feels unique and while it doesn’t shake up the choke hold the Death Stars have it could give them some issues – by blocking off hit and run and utilizing large fearless blobs of guys to keep them locked down. The Ambush and retreat into the shadows rules gives this book a completely unique set of deployment options that ebb and flow throughout the game. I love how the deployment isn’t deep strike and completely unique for this list.
2. Their psychic powers are also a nice evolution of style. They have a few things pulled from other powers that help them out but with added on abilities. The Relentless plus run and assault power could see some serious play. They also get a version of Daemon summoning that will be a very annoying power to play against. The power allows you to bring them in with any upgrades – so creating specialty units based on what you are facing will be a hugely powerful weapon. Do you need some mining lasers to pop that Knight? How about a few snips from the jaws of life style weapon. Lucky for us – the amount of psykers isn’t going to be too damaging and with no way to get more then 2 rolls per character you probably won’t see the return of massed “daemon” style summoning.
1. The number one interesting thing is they are actively trying to set up their game to be competitive and working correctly. I know this army list won’t break down all the death stars we see – but its designed to work together as a whole. I have a feeling Battle Brothers are not going to work the same way so having an army that has the potential to answer most threats without having to utilize a friend/ally/enemy to work is a great thing. I am hoping we see the Eldar eventually pulled back and actually get back to a “competitvely diverse” game we all want 40k to be.
While I am not planning on painting up an army for myself I get the feeling a few friends will hit me up to quickly burn through a ton of cultists in the upcoming months. I think the army will work well in ITC and other MSU branded formats and most likely will see a ton of them on the battle field. It is nice to see an old army show up and get a release that feels unique and looks pretty dang good.
~How good of a job do you think GW did with the game’s newest army?
