Warhammer 40K: Genestealer Cults ‘Brood Brothers’ Detachment Expands the Astra Militarum Impact
The Brood Brothers are back in the new Genestealer Cults Codex with a full Detachment. And now you can really lean into those Genestealer Guardsmen!
When we got the last version of the Brood Brothers for the Genestealer Cults it was fine. It had some unit limitations but it always felt lacking. You couldn’t really take a full on Astra Militarum Army with some spicy Genestealer Cult Rules. In many ways, it felt more like the AM elements were just an ally option — or somehing to give the GSC access to tanks. In the new codex however, you can do more than just have a small points allotment of AM units…
“The restrictions on what units you can take are the same as before – no Commissars, Tempestus Scions, Valkyries, or the like – but now the points allowance has been doubled. In a Brood Brother Auxilia force, fully half of your army can be taken from the Astra Militarum roster. This means that large squadrons of tanks and massed infantry regiments are on the table, and if you want to drop a cheeky Baneblade into your list, it won’t take up your entire allotment.”
Brood Brother Detachment
There is one trade off with this setup now — Brood Brothers Units can only be taken in this detachment. That said, and army that’s half GSC and half AM could actually be a lot of fun with some very weird options. The Brood Brothers are also getting some new rules, too.
This allows you to provide a boost to your GSC elements by way of some coordinated firepower from your AM units. The extra +1 to hit rolls is nice for your larger guns like mining lasers or seismic cannons.
The Brood Brothers are also getting a few stratagems to play with as well.
For The (Four-Armed) Emperor!
Personally, I think the Brood Brothers having the ability to bring fully half the points of the army now really does open up some powerful combos. You’ve got plenty of wiggle room to add a ton of big tanks (like a Baneblade!!!) without eating up ALL your points allotment now. That’s a scary proposition when combined with the sneakier elements of the GSC.
I do wonder if this army is going to still feel like a GSC army with AM elements attached or if it’s going to be the opposite. I think thematically this is just a very potent GSC subversion that has done extremely well integrating itself into the AM forces on the planet. That’s worrying for the rest of the planet as that likely means a Tyranid invasion is on the way. That’s going to be a fun army to play with!
What do you think of these updates to the Brood Brothers? Are you excited about a lot more Astra Militarum in your GSC?
