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I (finally) started a chaos army that I've been planning for several years. The new codex came out and the cultists were a unit I wanted to field in great numbers. Now that I've finally managed to get started I want to know how other players use cultists. I'll be running a stupid amount of them. They will form the bulk of the whole list. Does anyone have experience or ideas of their performance and uses?

 gaovinni wrote:
I (finally) started a chaos army that I've been planning for several years. The new codex came out and the cultists were a unit I wanted to field in great numbers. Now that I've finally managed to get started I want to know how other players use cultists. I'll be running a stupid amount of them. They will form the bulk of the whole list. Does anyone have experience or ideas of their performance and uses?

cultists are expensive and only better than IG at one thing, fighting in CC and having CSM characters join them to fight in CC. CC isnt that good in 6th, so I find they are best kept as back field objective campers.

If you really like having lots of cheap bodies, ally in IG as they have bodies that are just as cheap but they can actually do something.

If you are already allying in something else, I guess cultists can be ok, it is hard to field them knowing how much better infantry squads are.

A 10-20 man sqaud with a chaos lord in termi armour is good for objective camping and a good meat shield to get him up field and cause some damage also the cultists are great models.

I know marks largely aren't popular, but I like the MoT on large groups of cultists

30 naked cultists is 130 points
30 cultist with 6++ is 160 points

I don't mind paying that extra 1 point per model for the 1/6 chance of the cultist shrugging off a bolter round (or vindicator blast) while on the move

Cultists are my one constantly good unit in pretty much all my armies!

I run with a max squad of 35 with 12 autoguns (WYSIWYG!), and I often attach a dark apostle!
This might seem costly since CSM Hq choices are wonderful, but I never regret it because of... fearless!
35 fearless cultists last. and last and last!

if you are taking a Warlord with the infiltrate one (or lucky to roll it), i tend to move these guys as they seize good control over a wide space. Especially in Relic!

Pick up relic, and run run run, passing it along as you can to get as far away as possible.

One game 35 cultists holding the relic engaged with ~20 Plaguebearers for the entire game (from turn 1 to close). They held onto it until finally when the enemy were closing in as the plaguebearers were dying, they passed it off to the bloodletters nearby whoop whoop!

Long story short, take them!!

zombies are a great use for them and an amazing tarpit, otherwise if you are using them as living cultists then cover is your friend

Exalbaru wrote:
zombies are a great use for them and an amazing tarpit,

Zombie (Nurgle) Cultists used for that purpose are known as Armpits in my group.

Typhus to make them zombies. Spread them out over the board like the disease they are and bring enough hellturkies/long range heavy support (usually from allies as chaos has somewhat mediocre heavy support) and laugh as you control the board completely. Zombies are nearly impossible to wipe out in timely a manner.

Ally in imperial guard to get a bunch of long range heavy support and suddenly you have a decent punch with a huge barrier to eat through.

I have also seen them run as IC transportation methods where they are fantastic for cheap ablative wounds. This is usually typhus or abaddon who are absolutely vicious once they get into CC. jy2 should be noted as a prime source for running both of these with cultists and doing very well for himself with them.

I'm doing up a bunch of zombies but I'll also have the DV cultists as one group all modled with rifles. I love the fluff of them. I have a ton of guard so maybe I will ally them in and use the zombies as a meats shield for the cultists and use the cultists as a meatshield for the guard.

I am hoping to run a squad of 20x Cultists with Abaddon running in the middle of them. See what happens when they get into close combat

Steelmage99 wrote:

Exalbaru wrote:
zombies are a great use for them and an amazing tarpit,

Zombie (Nurgle) Cultists used for that purpose are known as Armpits in my group.

I like that, may have to use it

If you can keep them survivable then they are pretty decent, I've never used them past the zombie capasity or objective holding. For close objectives I always like to have a unit in reserves and let them run on the board and take it

 VorpalBunny74 wrote:
I know marks largely aren't popular, but I like the MoT on large groups of cultists

30 naked cultists is 130 points
30 cultist with 6++ is 160 points

I don't mind paying that extra 1 point per model for the 1/6 chance of the cultist shrugging off a bolter round (or vindicator blast) while on the move

Not worth it TBH. You're paying 23% extra per model, on average, for a 16.67% increased chance of survival against some (but not all) weapons. You're not getting any extra power out of the squad, just a marginal increase in survivability for a non-marginal increase in points cost.

I may take MoS, just to make them somewhat equal in CC, Initiative wise anyway

 Solomongrundy wrote:
I am hoping to run a squad of 20x Cultists with Abaddon running in the middle of them. See what happens when they get into close combat

cultists die really fast. take 30+

I usually run 90-120 in my lists (depending on if I'm running with allies or not) and they are incredible, I only include one space marine in the entire list now because of how they compare performance wise let alone price wise, and he's there purely because I need a warlord

Tiarna Fuilteach wrote:
I usually run 90-120 in my lists (depending on if I'm running with allies or not) and they are incredible, I only include one space marine in the entire list now because of how they compare performance wise let alone price wise, and he's there purely because I need a warlord

so what do you run. Tanks and Daemon engines?

This is what I'm running at 1850 in a tourney at the start of april

Level 3 sorceror on bike running telepathy
5 spawn to go with sorceror
3 units of 30 pistol cultists with one flamer each
2 heldrakes with baleflamers
destroyer lord with a 2+
3 wraiths for his invuln
5 tesla immortals in a scythe
doom scythe

Oh and a maulerfiend

I've been dabbling with the idea of an all-cultist army (except for the command section). I would give them mark of Khorne and have them led by Khârn.

Maybe include a Land Raider, with the crew positions swapped with normal human-type crew.

Should be entertaining.

ZF

I don't think cultist armies work if your hq Is a combat character

Meh, cultists are subpar IG- they can't carry the special and heavy weapons or get the transports that make IG useful. The upgrades are a waste of points. Think about it- 30 cultists is an IG infantry platoon with worse armor and 1 more S3 cc attack with fewer weapon options. Oh, and without a HQ stuck in there, they will probably just run off the table once the inevitable casualties come in. Wow.

Typhus makes them marginally useful as tarpits, but flamers/bolters/half decent cc, etc. still chew them up pretty fast. 30 T4 wounds with FNP isn't that scary when it doesn't pack any real punch. It's still the problem of points that don't really *do* anything. Realistically, it just means they can concentrate firepower on your threats and then just work on cleanup.

They are fun to model and a neat concept, but poorly implemented.

Tiarna Fuilteach wrote:
I don't think cultist armies work if your hq Is a combat character

?

Combat characters work great in cultists. It's the shooting ones that I cant see working. Not that chaos has great shooting characters anyway.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 jmurph wrote:
Meh, cultists are subpar IG- they can't carry the special and heavy weapons or get the transports that make IG useful. The upgrades are a waste of points. Think about it- 30 cultists is an IG infantry platoon with worse armor and 1 more S3 cc attack with fewer weapon options. Oh, and without a HQ stuck in there, they will probably just run off the table once the inevitable casualties come in. Wow.

Typhus makes them marginally useful as tarpits, but flamers/bolters/half decent cc, etc. still chew them up pretty fast. 30 T4 wounds with FNP isn't that scary when it doesn't pack any real punch. It's still the problem of points that don't really *do* anything. Realistically, it just means they can concentrate firepower on your threats and then just work on cleanup.

They are fun to model and a neat concept, but poorly implemented.

agreed, although being able to take 10 for 50 points that can score, without taking allies is a boon.

Abaddon or Kharn seem to be top choices to run with a blob of cultists

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
Not worth it TBH. You're paying 23% extra per model, on average, for a 16.67% increased chance of survival against some (but not all) weapons

I like those odds!

But what do you mean 'increased chance of survival against some (but not all) weapons'? The only things it'd be no different for would be weapons with no AP value, like lasguns. Even frag missiles are AP6.

Unless you mean CCWs, which I'd concede.

Laziest unit in the Codex. They don't even have any options besides what's on the models in the starter kit.

Expect them to be removed from Chaos the next time they get a Codex.

 Ian Sturrock wrote:


Not worth it TBH. You're paying 23% extra per model, on average, for a 16.67% increased chance of survival against some (but not all) weapons. You're not getting any extra power out of the squad, just a marginal increase in survivability for a non-marginal increase in points cost.

Yes, but for 160 points, you're still just really paying 5 points per Cultist that can now take a save against any shooting weapons or any close combat attack with "power" in front of it. That's a lot more survivability than, say, a Termagaunt/Hormagaunt, Ork Boy, or even arguably a Guardsman who are all priced around the same.

Granted, it's a slim chance for 30 points and I don't think slapping a mark onto your cultist squad is going to be priority one if you have points left over. But still, it's worth looking at.

The option to give the unit the MoT pales in comparison to being able to give the unit another model for the same points you'll end up making the save on. That's a model that has a gun and close combat attacks, and extra scoring/denial footprint on the board - whereas the save is a save alone, and is worthless if you have cover anyway.

Cultists work on the same smokescreen principle as any cheap mob - go big, or go home. Use them to protect and distract from your more valuable units, the damage they do from there is a bonus. 10 aren't worth it but 30 or more is too much of a chunk of the battlefield to ignore. One thing you must do though is give them Fearless somehow - it's all too easy to break and run them down otherwise.

One tactic I've seen used to good effect is to have them suffer the horrific assault of some monstrous close combat unit that's really effective on the charge (think DC or Berzerkers), but keep them tied up for the turn and then your own monstrous unit charges in your next turn and guts the enemy.

 VorpalBunny74 wrote:

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
Not worth it TBH. You're paying 23% extra per model, on average, for a 16.67% increased chance of survival against some (but not all) weapons

I like those odds!

But what do you mean 'increased chance of survival against some (but not all) weapons'? The only things it'd be no different for would be weapons with no AP value, like lasguns. Even frag missiles are AP6.

Unless you mean CCWs, which I'd concede.

I mean that some of the time you get an armour save (very rarely, admittedly), in which case you no longer get a 16.67% increased chance of survival from the Mark. And a lot of the time, you'll have a cover save of 5+ or even 4+, again making the invulnerable save a waste of points. I just can't see it ever being worthwhile compared to (say) grabbing a couple of extra power weapons or a Veterans of the Long War upgrade elsewhere in the army.

i always run 30 with autoguns as a meatshield for my my noise marines they always do an excellent job massed str3 shooting is very effective

 Ian Sturrock wrote:
I mean that some of the time you get an armour save (very rarely, admittedly), in which case you no longer get a 16.67% increased chance of survival from the Mark. And a lot of the time, you'll have a cover save of 5+ or even 4+, again making the invulnerable save a waste of points. I just can't see it ever being worthwhile compared to (say) grabbing a couple of extra power weapons or a Veterans of the Long War upgrade elsewhere in the army.

I partly agree - it depends on what you want the cultists to do. Going to ground in cover, or manning an ADL absolutely would make the MoT useless.

In close combat itself MoT is also largely useless as against CCW they get their 6+, and against anything packing better than a CCW the cultists probably didn't stand a chance anyway (although a cultist fluke saving a power fist to the face is worth the points for hilarity alone)

BUT - in the open, rushing to either grab an objective or get into close combat, that's where I think the MoT is ok. As I said originally, on the move. I'm happy to pay a point per model for that, maths be damned! Tzeentch has your back! sometimes

I ran 10. I attached them to my barebones chaos lord (who was only there to unlock noise marines) while he manned the quad gun. It effectively gave my lord 10 extra wounds with never a concern about falling back because he was fearless.

I still agree with the above that they are mostly useless.

Backfield campers. Maybe steal someone's rhino and go somewhere to hold an objective (hopefully).

That is about it.