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I’m not looking to be competitive. I’m just looking to have fun. But, I was also thinking of putting together a new army for LVO as I hope to be there in February. I’ve always wanted to give Genestealers a shot, but money has gone to bolster other armies I have. Anyone having luck with Genestealers? If so, any advice you could give me on what units to buy to put together a 1000 point army that I could build on. As an FYI, I do already have all of the Genestealer models from Deathwatch Overkill.
Thanks

SG

The Big FAQ broke their ability to move after they deploy.

I'm currently about 50/50 W/L with them. They can put up a good fight against most armies but suffer somewhat from not having the benefits of a codex (something that admittedly should be rectified within a month or two). The main area they struggle is attrition, as most of their units are fairly expensive but fragile (most of the cost goes towards their offense which is excellent for melee units and adequate for shooting) and the tactical reserves rule in matched play limits the amount they ambush, so they need some form of "anvil" to hold down the table for them (usually allies, but cult vehicles work too). The big FAQ that limited opposing alpha strikes should give them a competitive niche again as the turn-1 alpha strike army, as before it wasn't an especially unique trick and Tyranids were able to do similar builds.

At the risk of self-promoting, feel free to consult their tactics thread here for a general summary. The last couple pages are the most current for tactics (post Chapter Approved).

 BaconCatBug wrote:
The Big FAQ broke their ability to move after they deploy.

The FAQ only prohibits models from moving further after they arrive, where as Cult Ambush movement is part of the unit's deployment. And for that matter, result 6 has a "even though they just arrived from reserve" clause that would override the main rulebook anyway.

Also they work great with Tyranids or Guard or both as allies.

Having a Guard Artillery blob with a little bubble wrap in a back corner wile your GSC all Cult ambush can be devastating plus we have some of the sweetest psychic powers in the game (hopefully not nurfed in the codex....likely MC will be though) Mass hypno has allowed me to 1st turn assault a Baneblade with my aberrants and Primus wipeing it with no overwatch...the look on my opp's face was priceless.

Competitive Genestealer Cult lists these days are basically just Guard + Tyranids with the cheapest possible GSC detachment.

If you're building an army for LVO next year, your codex should be released by then and that will undoubtedly change how the army plays.

 BaconCatBug wrote:
The Big FAQ broke their ability to move after they deploy.

No... "Note that we have not applied this restriction to Genestealer Cults or abilities and Stratagems employed by armies such as Raven Guard – the opportunity to deploy units en masse after deployment is a central part of the design of these armies."

https://whc-cdn.games-workshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/warhammer_40000_The_Big_FAQ_1_2018_en.pdf

That allows them to deploy, but you can't move after deployment for any reason except charging post FAQ, to stop deepstrike warptime etc and needing 2 inch charges or other such broken stuff. It's been covered in multiple threads already.

Ice_can wrote:
That allows them to deploy, but you can't move after deployment for any reason except charging post FAQ, to stop deepstrike warptime etc and needing 2 inch charges or other such broken stuff. It's been covered in multiple threads already.

Its at the end of the movement anyways, and how does GSC movement after DSing? i was unaware they had any way of doing that.

The FAQ for Reserves didnt really hurt them and its not why they are lower tier. Actually the Faq helps them more then hurts them



About the topic: They are a glass Alpha strike army with little real alpha strike, you can play them much better in objective games where you gain VP's each turn, if you play eternal war style missions you are at a disadvantage, lower point games you are better at as well.
Tho i only have a small force, from numbers crunching and looking to expand, i actually like Mech GSC the most, i would wait for the codex to get to much into it, but at lower levels, like 1k they are fine especially with some of the missions.

Edit: Spelling