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Hey, I'm just getting back into 40k. Looking at Genestealer Cult for a fun conversion project. Looking for suggestions for my list. I haven't bought anything yet, so everything is changeable.

GS Cult (Warhammer 40,000 7th Edition v2019) (1850pts)

Core
Brood Cycle

Acolyte Hybrids 6x Acolyte Hybrid w/Flamers, 4x Heavy Rock Saws
Acolyte Hybrids 6x Acolyte Hybrid w/Flamers, 4x Heavy Rock Saws
Acolyte Hybrids 6x Acolyte Hybrid w/Flamers, 4x Heavy Rock Saws
Acolyte Iconward
Sacred Cult Banner
Hybrid Metamorphs 3x Whips, 3x Claws
Neophyte Hybrids 10x
Neophyte Hybrids 10x
Purestrain Genestealers 5x

Command
Lords of the Cult Magus Mastery Level 2, The Crouchling
Lords of the Cult First Curse- Patriarch Mastery Level 2, 20x Purestrain Genestealers

Auxiliary

Subterranean Uprising
Acolyte Hybrids 12x Acolyte Hybrid, 8x Heavy Rock Saw
Acolyte Hybrids 5x
Hybrid Metamorphs 5x Talons

im not sure that neophyte hybrids are beasts in Cc, infact im pretty sure that you dont want them anywhere near close combat.
they have 2 attacks on the charge..
with ws3 and str3

if you want to charge turn one then i would go for sub assault formation for sure maybe 2 of them . with max amounts of min squads you are sure to roll at least a couple of 6's.
i would remove the broodcoven and take lords of the cult instead and stick your primus in a unit from the sub assault
that unit can now roll 3d6 on the cult ambush.

thats just my 2 cents, i might have missed something about the deliverance bloodusrge formation that makes it awesome...but to me it looks ...bad

Ten-man Neophyte Hybrids are as bad at CC as they are at shooting. If you make them Fearless and/or Invisible you can use them as a tarpit for a couple of turns, but that's about all they're good for.

The Broodcoven is one of those things that looks kinda neat on paper, but is in fact a waste of space. GSC HQ ICs all belong in very different places on the tabletop - Primuses in the thick of any combats, Patriarchs in midfield handing out Fearless and drawing fire, Maguses in a safe corner somewhere Summoning. They're also quite important to your army. Having them all in one place not only reduces their effectiveness, but makes it nice and convenient for your opponent to cripple your army.

Nimbuz is right that you can get a turn one charge using the SubUp, but personally I think GSC run best if you focus on their numbers, resilience and mobility rather than specifically building an alpha-strike army. MSU Morph armies have the option to alpha strike, but they also have the numbers and dispersion to allow for alternative tactics if you feel the need.

Rather than a handful of large units I'd suggest taking a bucketful of min squads. You're going to be RttSing a lot throughout the game, and min squads give you maximum benefit from Numbers Beyond Counting without compromising your ability to rip stuff up. You get the same number of models, except now they're dispersible, so there's no need to run 20 Acolytes into 5 Fire Warriors - now you can use 10 and send the other 10 to cap flags or whatever.

Edited with changes. Removed the deliverance, put in the subterranean. Put in melee weapons throughout the squads. Patriarch would join the giant sub acolyte squad.

I don't know if I'm comfortable with games vs vehicles being decided by whether or not I can roll the summoning spell.

Neophytes, can be decent 85 points you get.

2 attacks each, at WS 4, and str4 on the charge, hatred also if close enough to the Primus. The leader gets 4 attacks, str 7 ap3. If next to another unit, they can get to WS 5.

So for 85 points, not so bad.

I think the main things you want to reconsider are the density of upgrades. Hand flamers are both not individually that good, and deny the acolytes doing what they're good at - melee. In addition, they are excellent at killing infantry, which the entire GSC army is already extremely solid at.

Likewise with the Rock Saws - sure, they're very good at killing vehicles, but metamorphs with claws are too with str6 rending, and they're also far far less likely to explode the thing and kill themselves as a result.

You have 500pts in rock saws, for that you could get more than 50 more acolytes or nearly 50 more metas. That many bodies is almost certainly going to be more handy.

Also, p sure it's 2 rock saws per 5 acolytes, so without 10 you can't take 4 saws.

Generally what you want to do is get as many rolls on the cult ambush table as possible - so more sub uprisings with maxed out meta units.

Benlisted wrote:
I think the main things you want to reconsider are the density of upgrades. Hand flamers are both not individually that good, and deny the acolytes doing what they're good at - melee. In addition, they are excellent at killing infantry, which the entire GSC army is already extremely solid at.

Likewise with the Rock Saws - sure, they're very good at killing vehicles, but metamorphs with claws are too with str6 rending, and they're also far far less likely to explode the thing and kill themselves as a result.

You have 500pts in rock saws, for that you could get more than 50 more acolytes or nearly 50 more metas. That many bodies is almost certainly going to be more handy.

Also, p sure it's 2 rock saws per 5 acolytes, so without 10 you can't take 4 saws.

Generally what you want to do is get as many rolls on the cult ambush table as possible - so more sub uprisings with maxed out meta units.

those are units of 10. Broke the unit down into how many models had each load out, for a total of 10 in each line. Yea, that is a ton of points in heavy weapons. I'll have to change that. I got some advice to do one of the unique detachment with a cad so that I can get some extra magi. I'll have to see how that looks.

siege2142 wrote:

Benlisted wrote:
I think the main things you want to reconsider are the density of upgrades. Hand flamers are both not individually that good, and deny the acolytes doing what they're good at - melee. In addition, they are excellent at killing infantry, which the entire GSC army is already extremely solid at.

Likewise with the Rock Saws - sure, they're very good at killing vehicles, but metamorphs with claws are too with str6 rending, and they're also far far less likely to explode the thing and kill themselves as a result.

You have 500pts in rock saws, for that you could get more than 50 more acolytes or nearly 50 more metas. That many bodies is almost certainly going to be more handy.

Also, p sure it's 2 rock saws per 5 acolytes, so without 10 you can't take 4 saws.

Generally what you want to do is get as many rolls on the cult ambush table as possible - so more sub uprisings with maxed out meta units.

those are units of 10. Broke the unit down into how many models had each load out, for a total of 10 in each line. Yea, that is a ton of points in heavy weapons. I'll have to change that. I got some advice to do one of the unique detachment with a cad so that I can get some extra magi. I'll have to see how that looks.

Ahhh I see, fair enough! I think you can actually give Acolytes with Saws Flamers too, which is why I was confused. That sounds like good advice - if the points are as high as 1850 I'd definitely be looking to run a CAD with probably an extra Magos and Patriarch (or possibly even two) as well as some obsec.

Here is a link to the list I just ran at a GT after only 3 practice games. I had second place, went aggresively with my 1st turn deployment, he just happen to have 4 tides and seized. So I got 4th. Take a look at it.

Here is the link to the list I ran, 18 or 19 rolls to get 6's. Every first turn I had 3 units that could charge, and most units can hurt anything in the game.

https://www.frontlinegaming.org/2017/01/25/the-goldensprue-cup-gt-aftermath/