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Welcome to the Rogue Trader's Vault, where I retrieve lost art & lore from 40k 1st ed (when it was still called Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader), restore them to a reasonable resolution, as a quick & fun form of research. This thread was started with Deathwatch: Overkill on the horizon, thus it shall deal with Genestealer Cults and...not Deathwatch, but DeathWING.

It's commonly said (and I kinda agree) that much of 1st ed's ideas had become obsolete, retconned, relevant only to their times. However, I also believe a lot of our fellow Dakkamites may not have seen them before, as I'm choosing images not found on wikis. I only wish they have a chance to make that decision for themselves rather than hear it from us, as perhaps they'll see something we missed.



Evolution of Genestealer Concepts


You've likely seen pictures of the original Ymargl Genestealer from Rogue Trader. It's in the wikis and depicts a Lovecraftian horror with a tentacled mouth and it even has its own unit entry in later Tyranid codices. Genestealer concepts have evolved since then, so let's look at the fossil records.




What other army does this image remind you of?


Here we have a piece of art by GW visionary John Blanche where he sees them almost as Lizardmen or maybe even as ancient religions. 40k already had a Lizardmen equivalent at the time called the Slann and of course Chaos cults were a thing. And obviously Genestealers have a lot in common with Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise of films and books.

The above shows that GW at the time was still finding the Genestealers' identity. Which makes this very exciting:




The Patriarch, now Broodlord, and original Hybrids, whose designs remain intact in Deathwatch: Overkill


Let's look again at the picture on the left. That's not Sci-Fi. It's medieval, Gothic even. A throne in a castle with a candelabrum (there's even a Chaos symbol, which we'll get into soon). Upon which sits the lord of the clan. It shuns the light of day due to its monstrous features, but it can hypnotise people to its will and with a "kiss" it can turn humans into lesser versions of itself.

In short, there is something about this Cult that suggests Vampire Counts...which is surprising yet also kinda makes sense.

So how would your Cultists envision their Brood? With your definition, how would you model or paint your Genestealer Cult from Deathwatch: Overkill or rumoured supplemental codex?

Disclaimer - these questions do not challenge the canon about Genestealer Cults. The Genestealer is a product of the Tyranids; that is not in question. But the CULT is a product of the humans, and that invites us to interpret how Cultists may see their Broodlord.


Genestealer-Human Relations


We all understand how Genestealers hijack human reproductive systems to create more of themselves, that no matter how hideous their offspring is, they will only see it as the most beautiful child in the world. Some interesting art:




A typical Genestealer family portrait


What's interesting here is the lighting. Genestealers are often depicted in Space Hulks, where there's a strong contrast of light and dark. Even in this otherwise warm family portrait that shadow-play is there for a sinister effect.

That's something worth considering for a paint scheme, IMHO, thus I'm openly sharing the idea with you. Start with a very thorough black matte coat. Then drybrush, from top-down, pastel colours, leaving the gaps matte black. The effect will be a very strong contrast, like wherever the Genestealer goes, it brings a shadow with it. A darkness just looms around its presence.

I'm looking forward to experimenting with that cinematic/comic book style effect and sharing the results with you.




Human Cultists avenge their fallen Patriarch


The above image follows a narrative. Eldar Harlequins slays a Broodlord. Its human followers fawns over it as it lays dying, then turns that profound sadness into an insane rage, because even in death, they plan to make Grandfather proud.

What it demonstrates is how humans give their Genestealer overlords these extraordinary tokens of affection. The Broodlord cares little for the tokens...whether they be a golden throne or treasures, as it has little need of them. It does, however, care for the affection, for their loyalty, and it knows that accepting them graciously only enhances its control over them.

Something to keep in mind as we do conversions. An especially blinged out limo for the Patriarch, or perhaps a particularly gaudily decorated Fortification to house him. These would enhance the presence of the Broodlord beyond simply being a vanguard for the Tyranids.



Genestealer-Chaos Relations


Genestealers and their offspring have psychic abilities, at the very least a psychic-link with the rest of their brood, but it becomes overshadowed/over-ridden by a full Tyranid swarm. As with all psykers, they have an affinity to the Warp and to Chaos. Even without this connection, they have a good chance of associating with Chaos through their Cultists, as they're all trying to hide from Imperial authourities.

Thus, even though we now draw lines between army types and the Allies Matrix, there was a concept that Genestealer-Chaos are BFFs.




An alliance of Mutants, Beastmen, Genestealer Cultists...and even a Rogue Psyker on the right


A common enemy in the form of the Inquisition might drive these various outcasts together. Should a Genestealer Cult codex come out, I would only be very moderately surprised if if they could choose to ally with either Tyranids OR Chaos...or perhaps even Imperial Guard.




Human raiders attack a merchant caravan, only to discover it was a cover for a Beastmen and Genestealer alliance


The above image follows a narrative of where the Genestealers are the heroes. Renegades attacked what they thought was easy pickings, merchants to be robbed then sold to slavery, only to have the tables turned on them as their target was a Genestealer Cult travelling incognito.

Interestingly enough, the bandits confused Genestealers for Daemons.

The Genestealers protected their extended brood and allies, and after defeating the raiders and driving most of them to retreat, a twist: a Genestealer Hybrid approached the bandits that couldn't get away, offered them a drink of precious water, and invited them to join their family.

The purpose here was to illustrate what makes the Genestealer Cult so interesting isn't so much the Genestealer, but the relationships they have with other factions, how they win them over to their side. It's not the Tyranid element; it's the human one.



The Tale of Deathwing


Fraters, you almost certainly heard the apocryphal story of why the 1st Company of the Dark Angels, known as Deathwing, paints its armour white rather than the Chapter's normal dark green colour.

Officially, GW wants to gloss over this story of how then-Captain Ezekiel lead the few Terminators that came from the same planet as him back to their homeland for recruitment, then they covered their armour in funerary colours as they embarked on a suicide mission against a Genestealer Cult so powerful it took over a world.

With excellent art by Kevin Walker of GW, Magic: the Gathering, and comic book fame, you shall see that's only half of the truth:




"This was not the homecoming I had imagined," Cloud Runner said softly.


Captain Ezekiel of the 1st Company exited the Thunderhawk Deathwing only to find his world in ruins, his people dead, their graves violated. Note that they still donned the dark armour of that time, with their Chapter markings on their left and personal insignia on the right.

His name before joining the Dark Angels was "Cloud Runner", thus the thunder emblems. His best friend and confident behind him bore the name "Lame Bear", and you can see the symbol of a bear with a slash over one leg on his knee.




No mistaking the four-armed, malevolent form


Before they died, Lame Bear's people left a warning, or testimony, or a plea for vengeance, on their wall of history. Above their tales of their legends of the Sky Warriors (Space Marines) and their great hunts, was their symbol of their destroyer: the Genestealer.

These Dark Angels recognised the image immediately, having fought them on Space Hulks before, thus Genestealers were already a recognised Xenos by the time Deathwing adopted their white colour scheme, though they mention they had no idea where they came from.




An Elder of the "Temple of the Four-Armed Emperor"


Their Librarian, Two Head Talking, went ahead to investigate the mysterious hive city that appeared on their homeworld like a tumour. Walking unnoticed by using his psychic powers to disguise himself, he discovered the truth: a space hulk carrying Genestealers had landed mere decades ago and killed off their people's warriors, then enslaved the rest to build their metropolis and to toil in their factories until they were of no more use.

He would eventually defeat the above Elder, a Genestealer Magus, as well as the Broodlord in a psychic battle of wits and will, but was fatally wounded in the process. His last act was to project a psychic vision to his fellow 1st Company Veterans on what they must do.

It is often assumed the fallen angel on the Deathwing banner to be Captain Ezekiel commanding the fury of Deathwing. It is actually of this Librarian, Two Heads Talking, and the thunderbolt represents his call for an all-out assault in his dying moments.




The Gathering


While Two Heads Talking was investigating the city, Cloud Runner had called for an unorthodox war council; they would decide their strategy, but they shall do so in the storytelling tradition of their clans, as we are doing now.

Exterminatus was the proper protocol to end the Genestealer infestation and had the best chance to prevent it spreading off-world. However, it was rightly pointed out that, even overlooking the fact this was their homeland, destroying a planet was a huge loss to the Imperium; it should only be used as a last resort. But another mentioned the Horus Heresy and how betrayal happens in degrees.

Loyalty was the major theme of this story, but the dilemma was, what was the loyal thing to do?

There were good arguments on both sides to virus-bomb or not, but my personal interpretation was that it was the Captain himself who was most biased, and the narrative suggests this. By choosing to use the cultural format of their people to discuss their plans, he already skewed the result.

In the end, a compromise was reached; they'd fight the Genestealers in their Terminator armour to save their people, but Deathwing had orders to virus-bomb if they failed. And thus the final preparations began...




"Let us perform the Rite of Deathwing."


Cloud Runner commanded that they perform the rite of Deathwing, to paint themselves in funerary colours, as their odds of survival were slim to none. Two Heads Talking, by infiltrating the city and luring the Broodlord to its death, had given his Brothers a huge tactical advantage.

And here is probably the part that GW retroactively took issue with, because it is borderline heresy. Cloud Runner's order was that this battle was NOT for the Emperor, but for their people. The decision was presented as noble at the time.

Cloud Runner's clouded judgment (pun not intended) is not in question; he knew he was going against Imperial procedures. The narrative reveals his reaction was an emotional one, that he was angry, that he wanted revenge, that his loyalty was with his homeworld first.

However, I'm not a Dark Angels player, so I'm unbiased, but I honestly believe that most of the other were true to Chapter and Emperor.

The way Cloud Runner phrased his order allows for an interpretation that, by covering their Chapter livery and declaring the battle was not in the Emperor's name, they absolve them from any wrongdoing. They were protecting the Dark Angels' honour, effectively saying, "We acted independently, if anyone is at fault, it was only the few of us...and we're already dead anyway."

Thus, yes, Deathwing did paint their armour white as they faced certain death, but the other half of that deed was it covered up the Dark Angels' colours, thus preventing any guilt from befalling them IMHO. Needless to say, they were successful in their mission, though at great cost.


-----


All these images and stories had many elements, but only one theme: what does it take to remain true to our humanity?

The Genestealer Cult is a fascinating study by having Genestealers as a contrast to us, an opposite to define ourselves by.

Parents protecting their child is fundamentally a good and instinctive act...but what if said child was abnormal? Wouldn't such kindness be even more extraordinary? And if such a child grows strong and protects them in return, is it not polite and natural to be proud and grateful? How about if they actually brought out the best in the 1st Company of what was originally the 1st Legion, so much so that they still wear a symbolic colour over that experience?

Just sharing some images and stories of Genestealer Cults as we prepare for Deathwatch: Overkill!

Thanks for the post. Very interesting. I think a lot of the old Genestealer concepts could still stand since they supposed to be independent when a Hive Fleet isn't near. Calling on the Ruinous Powers may help them to destabilise a planet or infiltrate the ruling class before a Hive Fleet arrives and Daemons don't seem picky about who summons them so long as it gets them to the Materium. Whether it would further Genestealer or Chaos interests more is up for debate. Could lead to interesting politics between cults trying to sabotage eachother but also infiltrate the planetary rulers.

Interesting perspective on the Deathwing. Personally I never saw anything wrong with the Cloud Runner story though it is a radical departure from the newer "Dark Angels are knights" angle.

Oh, some of the spoilers for Deathwatch: Overkill show the Patriarch still being referred to, as, well, the Patriarch (rather than the Broodlord).

Wanted to post a big 'Thank You' to the OP for the glorious trip down memory lane.

Logged in for the first time in years to say that this is the best post I've read here in a long time.

Many thanks to you OP, this was wonderful. I miss reading about the old fluff!

The Chaos/Genestealer Cult ties are pretty much obsolete at this point. The original Genestealers had nothing to do with the Tyranids, so the idea of two different cults joining forces made sense. Connecting the Chaos Cults no longer made sense after the GC became the "Tyranid Beacon" their fluff evolved into with the Advanced Space Crusade game in 1990. 2nd Edition Genestealer Cult lists could only ally with IGuard (assumed to just be more cultists) in a limited point value.

Honestly, as somebody who played Genestealer Cult way way back in the day, I'd almost be disappointed if they can ally with Tyranids. The Genestealer Cult fluff was pretty grimdark back in the day. When the Tyranids finally showed up, they ate the Genestealer Cultists the same as everyone else, because they had no more use for them.

OP Exalted

Interesting perspective on the Deathwing. Personally I never saw anything wrong with the Cloud Runner story though it is a radical departure from the newer "Dark Angels are knights" angle.

Oh, some of the spoilers for Deathwatch: Overkill show the Patriarch still being referred to, as, well, the Patriarch (rather than the Broodlord).

The 'native american' thing isn't Dark Angels, though - it's the tradition of the world they're from. I see them as sort of 'reverting' from their knightly status to the native tribal side when they repaint their armour.

Equally, you might have multiple broodlords, but only one Patriarch (the dominant one).

Wow, this is really awesome! *saveseverything*

This is a fantastic post. I grew up with 2nd Edition but the difference in the fluff from 1st to 2nd feels bigger than it is from 2nd to 7th!

Lots of interesting aspects to both the stories you posted and also the artwork (as amateur as it now looks). I hope you will post other topics like this :-)

'This is an amazing post thank you

Thank you for sharing this.

I still have my old 1st ed spacehulk stuff with this fluff, so I've never forgotten it - but many others have never seen it.

locarno24 wrote:

The 'native american' thing isn't Dark Angels, though - it's the tradition of the world they're from. I see them as sort of 'reverting' from their knightly status to the native tribal side when they repaint their armour.

Equally, you might have multiple broodlords, but only one Patriarch (the dominant one).

That would make sense. I like how old background can be combined with new background.

Indeedie. Though the Patriarch should be able to get fat.

This is all new to me, and so I have nothing to add except: Thank you for sharing this apocryphal tale "from the annals"--as a more recent convert, I didn't know any of this.

A very interesting read, and a nice humanizing tale about Space Marines. I think the retconned version is that they lose most of their memories of the period before they transformed, which is another reason this story might not fit with current canon. I like to think that they would be willing to fight for "us regular" humans, though.

Good post indeed. A lesson in history.
I play since 1st edition, so i know this and have the original stuf on genestealers and their cults and i have a few of the old models.

1st edition Orks also had Ork Genestealer Hybrid unit (in the book Freebooterz). Orks can smell hybrids, so infiltration does not work, so they form small units of orks for hire. There was 1 metal ork hybrid model.

Always preferred the genestealer (hybrid) fluff above the Tyranid fluff and hoped the cult would return. I would never have guessed that this would take them almost 25 years to return....

A very interesting read and a big thank you for posting the images. Most of those I had never actually seen before.

With the release of the Deathwatch: Overkill board game it looks like the Patriarch is back!

You might want to check out the Inquisition War Trilogy which has quite a lot of dealings with Genestealer Cults as well as Chaos. Also the short story Elucidium.

Nice post! Takes me back!

Very dang interesting that Deathwatch Overkill portrays the Imperium's FIRST discovery/encounter with any GSC. So, not encumbered with latter fluff like Chaos infused cults, or anything to do with Tyranids. This would pre-date everything in the fluff except the Ymarl stuff).

Of course, all about DWOK will be revealed next week

Is there a comprehensive list of genestealers in the fiction? I have Deathwing, and the Ciaphas Cain stories have a lot of genestealers, but other than that I can't think of many appearances.

There's the short story The Alien Beast Within, byIan Watson, published in the Deathwing anthology in 1991; that introduces Meh'Lindi, the (prototypical) Callidus Assassin who later went on to be one of Inquisitor Draco's associates. And of course, Inquisitor/Draco opens with the eponymous character dealing with a genestealer uprising on the hive world of Stalinvast. That's about all I can recall.

The Chaos link is an interesting one; It's mentioned that 'stealer clans have their own "warp power" (a precursor idea to the Hive Mind), but that some clans, which have perhaps failed to fully infiltrate their host society, turn to Chaos for the same reason everyone else does - desperation and a quick route to power.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Is there a comprehensive list of genestealers in the fiction? I have Deathwing, and the Ciaphas Cain stories have a lot of genestealers, but other than that I can't think of many appearances.

Death of Integrity, which has the mother of all Broodlords.

Nice OP, it was these images that helped get me hooked first time around and here they are doing it again..

Thanks to the Veterans of the Long March for strolling down memory lane with me (and at times, pointing me the right way). Thanks also to players who hadn't experienced Rogue Trader 1st-hand (trust me when I say it was no perfect Golden Age back then) for firewalking with us.


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Combining your feedback with my feelings when I went through the exercise of finding these images, what defined the Rogue Trader era was its rawness.

The art was like these raw sketches, like they were drawing concept art, most of the time they didn't even bother inking. It's both a reflection of Games Workshop's early days as well as the style of the time, as a lot of roleplaying books had the same quality. IMHO, even disregarding nostalgia, this rough style actually is an ideal fit for certain themes, like the grotesque grittiness of Genestealers Cults. It's a little hard to emulate this sense now as our standards are different (i.e. much higher) today. I'm actually struggling to gauge this properly, like if I'm still looking at these images through rose-tinted glasses.

The game, to be brutally honest and this is not meant to be disrespectful, was a little half-baked at the time. There were lots of rules, so much so Rogue Trader expected there to be 2 players + a Game Master to moderate. Regarding Genestealers, that was this weird mechanic where the Patriarch (really liked how you guys pointed out they reverted to this old terminology in the leaked images) could allow himself to be possessed by a Daemon, resulting in him having the Mean Average of his normal statline and the corresponding Daemon's. 40k was somewhere between a competitive versus game and a storytelling roleplaying game at the time.

And the story wasn't just raw; it was still alive and writhing. We weren't sure the Tyranids were directly connecting to the Genestealers at the time, but after the initial leap from the famous Ymargl look to the ones depicted here, we all had our own conspiracy theories at the time. I'd be like, "Hey...have you noticed these new Genestealer designs look a little like the Tyranid in the main book? Like the head and the 6 limbs? Do you think they're connected?" And my friend was like, "I THOUGHT SO TOO I'M SO GLAD I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE." The suspicion was always there, but we were also afraid to sound like idiots...which just enhanced the paranoia surrounding Genestealers. It was so meta.

It wasn't by chance that I decided on Genestealer Cults as the 1st of these topics of conversation. For those of you that play 30k, a lot of the Horus Heresy models have been paying homage to Rogue Trader designs. It's just that while looking for ideas to use with the new Deathwatch: Overkill Genestealer Cultists, I noticed this style happened to fit the substance for this subject in particular.


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Even though I began this sharing, I was also learning from you. It was a great revelation when seeing through the eyes of those viewing these pics for the 1st time and I'm curious if other VotLM noticed the same thing...

To those that came into 40k in later editions, Tyranids was the main thing, with Genestealers as a subset. To those of us that started with Rogue Trader, Genestealers were their own thing, with Tyranids as the sequel.

It's not just in this forum, but it's from personal conversations I had in my FLGS. Our starting points really shift our perceptions of Genestealer Cults. Both are fine, but it's comparing/combining them I found most interesting.

Thanks again for reading and your feedback. Based on the usefulness of this topic, I hope to open up another Rogue Trader's Vault for you guys soon

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:
2nd Edition Genestealer Cult lists could only ally with IGuard (assumed to just be more cultists) in a limited point value.

There wasn't much of a "Chaos Cultist" list, though. There was one in the Chaos codex but it, like the daemon world list, wasn't fully official and required your opponent's permission to use. The Codex Army Lists booklet allowed the genestealer list to ally with either tyranids or chaos but not both at once.

Advanced Space Crusade (1990) confirms Genestealers share genetics with Tyranids. And that GSC rise up and act as psychic beacons for Hive Fleets. Hybrids are "warrior guardians" in the Hive Ship in that game and the next year's Tyranid Attack. That's also the same year as the Space Hulk Expansion "Genestealer"

The early RT-era GSC was not a bad army in the days when 40 models was a large force. It could marshall a fair amount of firepower, coupled with a decent assault squad or two of Genestealers. Each Generation of Hybrids had separate stats, random numbers of arms, and other RPG type variations (so did other armies). And, a Limo.

After the game got bigger with Version 2, a full on GSC with Imperial Guard troops (Broodkin), and IG vehicles was pretty good, IG+Genestealers. But, Hybrids started to become marginalized, except for the psychic Magus. And, they never really regained a primacy in the army. Four generations meant fuzzy distinctions. Eventually, they were reduced to 2 generations (Acolyte and Neophyte). But, the Acolytes did not fight as well as Genestealers, and the Neophytes did not have much to offer over Brood Bothers. The GSC made good allies for Tyranids, because it had IG vehicles. At this point, the entire GSC was marginal.

Perhaps the GSC didn't have an identity or structure that fit well with the 40K game. Half Human/Half Tyranid didn't leave room in between for Hybrids. I'm interested in how the GSC becomes a modern 40K army.

I must say I had always wondered where the whole extra feathers look for the Deathwing was coming from. It's always funky seeing 40k stuff that has most of the modern look but not quite all of the modern feel to it.

Game archaeology is a lot of fun.

I was reminded of this post by a fellow 40k player and it is much appreciated, what with the Genestealer Cult Codex being released.

Games Workshop has been reminded me why I, perhaps like many of you, entered the Hobby in the first place.

They started releasing these relatively small, affordable sets like the Kill Team starter set, which I supported by buying a copy (and was able to immediately sell of the Tau Warriors). Then they returned White Dwarf to its meaty format, with things I love like Blanchitsu. Then they clinched it with the Genestealer Cult Codex, which I think masterfully bridged the original concept with the current meta...no small feat.

I've really fallen back in love with GW again. It was kind of an abusive relationship before, but now we're back to how it was when we first met. The romance is there again.

The old Genestealer stories were always the best.

Even the 2nd ed Codex while it only had 2 pages for their rules.. had various stories revoling around the Genestealers

Thank you for writing this post, (and for bumping it). I've played GSC in various forms for over 25 years.

You made me want to GM a long RPG-campaign where the PCs are human members of a Genestealer Cult!

Ah yes, the long ago when the DW were actual paying homage to the native Americans. Im not going to say i dont like how they are now, more akin to crusading knights of the order, but i do miss the old deathwing from time to time.