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Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User




Hey! Looking for some guidelines for my GSC army, currently I own 10x neophyte hybrids and 5x aberrant and I dont know how to go from here. Id like to start out with a smaller size army that i can still play casual games with
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut






Think you have to go for one of the vehicles - probably best part of GSC forces and also gives a small army a fast and punchy attack. The Achilles Ridgerunner, perhaps?

For the Emperor and Sanguinius!

40K Blood Angels ; 1,500pts / Kill Team: Valhallan Veteran Guardsmen / Aeronautica Imperialis Adeptus Astartes; 176pts / AoS Soulblight Gravelords; 1,120pts  
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User




How about the sentinel (ATST model)?
   
Made in nz
Longtime Dakkanaut





Auckland, NZ

 Darian Aarush wrote:
Think you have to go for one of the vehicles - probably best part of GSC forces and also gives a small army a fast and punchy attack. The Achilles Ridgerunner, perhaps?

That's rather questionable.
Most would say GSC are an army of powerful melee infantry units, with strong supporting characters. Their vehicles are generally seen as the weaker side of it. They can be made to work, but they are not one of the armies strong points.

Acolytes are one of the stronger units in the faction, and are a troop choice too. It would be a good idea to get as many of those as you can.
Wouldn't hurt to have some HQ options too. GSC have many good characters. A Broodcoven comes with a Patriarch, Primus, and a Magus. Those are all useful, and it gives you some options.
   
Made in de
Longtime Dakkanaut




Go for the Broodcoven box (Patriarch, Magus, Primus). That should set you up with some basic HQs. Probably also start painting Brood Brothers, more Neophytes and/or Acolytes. GSC is a high-model count, high CP army and you wanna be filling those battalions.
   
Made in gb
Dakka Veteran





Arson Fire wrote:
 Darian Aarush wrote:
Think you have to go for one of the vehicles - probably best part of GSC forces and also gives a small army a fast and punchy attack. The Achilles Ridgerunner, perhaps?

That's rather questionable.
Most would say GSC are an army of powerful melee infantry units, with strong supporting characters. Their vehicles are generally seen as the weaker side of it. They can be made to work, but they are not one of the armies strong points.

Acolytes are one of the stronger units in the faction, and are a troop choice too. It would be a good idea to get as many of those as you can.
Wouldn't hurt to have some HQ options too. GSC have many good characters. A Broodcoven comes with a Patriarch, Primus, and a Magus. Those are all useful, and it gives you some options.


I'd agree with this, GSC vehicles are pretty much an after thought. Great looking models though and if that's what you're aiming for then go for it.
Otherwise max out on troops, acolyte hybrids being the best, neophyte hybrids as cheap objective campers. Support them with aberrants and purestrain genestealers. Buff these with your characters. be ready to die in droves though.

I've been playing a while, my first model was a lead marine and my first White Dwarf was bound with staples 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran




The Rockgrinders can be worth it as a delivery mechanism for aberrants or suicide squad acolytes. They're also amazing models. And one of the cheaper models by cash to points value.

That said, whenever the blazes the start collecting box for GSC comes out, it's supposed to have an iconward, 10 neophytes, 5 acolytes and a goliath kit in it which could also be built as a rockgrinder. Which funny enough, is actually a really good box to buy repeatedly, I'm thinking of getting six myself as it'd let me build out my models how I'd like.

That said, roles and such:

Neophytes, good for securing objectives and being hard to dislodge. Not a whole lot else. I too love the idea of mining lasers actually accomplishing something in a game, it has yet to happen for me. May be worth taking in squads of 20 just to sit on points, otherwise squads of 10 are good. Special and heavy weapons that are massively effective will vary by local meta, but they'll fight guard well with grenade launchers and heavy stubbers for real cheap.

Acolytes, the potatoes of the army, hit really hard when launched from a cannon, squish like nothing when stuck back. Mining weapons are great, you can watch marines run like scared children when you chase them with rocksaws. Which are also one of your best weapons against vehicles. If you are confident of getting a squad into close combat, hand flamers are rather amazing. Lots of acolytes is often a good thing, hardest part is getting them into the fight alive. If you're putting something in a goliath it should probably be a squad of 10 of these. Otherwise, maybe ambush them from underground.

Aberrants, the meat of the army, hit like a lead pipe and can take a hit. Except they scare the dickens out of most people so they'll level anti-tank weapons at them, so they may not last as long as you'd hope. Typically worth ambushing, but if you're going mechanized or starting them on a table, rockgrinders compliment them quite well. I've caught more than one knight with a well placed rockgrinder full of abs ready to charge. Also, best points to cash ratio in the damned army these boys. I have like 30 and once they're painted I'm going to run a list to terrorize anyone dumb enough to run a knight at 1k points ever again. Oh yeah, don't forget the improvised weapon on hypermorphs, it is JUST as nasty as it looks and entirely worth the points no matter what you do. Picks vs hammers depend on what you're trying to do. Picks tear apart space marines, hammers can do horrible things to vehicles.

Hybrid metamorphs, if you find you're having trouble against hordes or looking to build a full brigade, these guys are a solid choice. Throw some talons on them and they have 4 or 5 attacks and hit on 2+ with them. 5 guys totaling 5 attacks at strength 5 if you take twisted helix on them can cause all kinds of havoc, and you could run them in squads of 10 with a bit of variety in mutations to give them a little varied punch. I've got 10 of these boys magnetized so I can swap off whatever mutation I want.

Genestealers, make a good retinue for your patriarch, run at 20 to create a giant blob of fear for your opponent. Not always worth the price though. That said, I've forced some really, really conservative deployments due to having that death bomb against the enemy.

Bikers are fun, good for also snagging early objectives and/or using the multi-grenade strategem to mess up something big. That said, haven't had much success with them.

Vehicles. The goliath is your transport, probably not worth it for neophytes can be worth it for most anything else. Rockgrinders are great assault vehicles, something high value that wants to be in their face can ride in here and be happy. Ridge runners are solid first turn objective takers, you have stubbers to clear out chaff, and either heavy mining laser or missile launcher to be a longer term threat, they die easy to anti-armor fire though.

Characters I've spent less time screwing around with, but mostly they do the job they're presented to do. The biophagus is of questionable value unless you have a TON of aberrants. Beyond that it's a question of what you want to do, patariach ignore morale bubble has won me games, so has the primus aura, and I've really annoyed 1k sons players with a magus surrounded by neophyte squads. Kellermorph is an absolute bomb to use, which will be a great distraction for the brief time it lives, and may be one of your best uses for the double fire strategem since you can fit him damned near anywhere.

Your primary tactics are likely going to be split between ambushing as much as physically possible, massed hordes, and vehicle spam in the hopes that something lives a few turns to deliver it's payload. Your biggest difficulty will be maintaining your threat level after the first few turns as your glass cannons go off and get whacked back. I've had a lot of success with blind aggression, but definitely had it lose me a few games largely by not getting initiative.


All said, probably worth your time to try out some tactics with some paper stand ins before investing in the rather absurd price of GSC miniatures unless you want something added to your collection regardless.
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut





Welcome to the cult Icefighter! We have cookies. Some of our Grandsire's genetic material is even included in the cookies to make them holy and give you a portion of his strength.


To that end, I'd recommend the following for the immediate future of expansion of the cult;

#1 - 2 more units of TROOPS. This means either more Neophyte Hybrids, some Acolyte Hybrids, or Brood Brothers. Each has their strengths and weaknesses:

- Bare bones Acolytes are the least expensive, points-wise, but also give you the fewest bodies. Don't underestimate them though; their mining weapons and extra strength make them far superior to your other Troop options in close combat. A sneaky tactic is to give them all hand flamers, use some strategic cunning to pop them up 3" away from enemy light infantry, and flame them to death.

- Neophyte Hybrids are true sons and daughters of our god given flesh. They don't have nearly as much punch as Acolyte Hybrids, but the Rusted Claw version can be harder to take off objectives, especially if that objective is in cover.

- Brood Brothers are the meat of the Troop Choices. For merely 5 more points you get double the wounds of the Acolyte Hybrids, and as they are indoctrinated from the local planetary defenders, they can bring along potent heavy weaponry, like Mortars. A Brood Brothers unit with a Mortar can do a great job at holding objectives and still contribute to the fight with the Mortar, while remaining safe from enemy fire by hiding, allowing them to perfectly execute our grand plan.


#2 - 2 units of HQ choices. Your cult would benefit from some leadership, and the Cult has MANY good choices for this.

- The Patriarch, our lord, the embodiment of our religion, to whom we owe everything, including our lives and the lives of our parents and children, is an incredibly potent addition to the cult. Maybe the most lethal single model in it against some enemies, the Patriarch also gives a useful benefit of preventing any of our fighters from running while they are even somewhat near him.

- The Magus is a vessel for the Patriarch's will, and is an inexpensive means for the Patriarch to extend his psychic reach to boost the potency of our forces. With our powerful psychic abilities (that can be difficult to manifest), even basic units can become mighty (Might from Beyond), while mighty units wreck absolute carnage (Abberants).

- The Primus is excellent in both small and large engagements, and may be exactly what you're looking for at this point in the great uprising. When you charge, if just a couple models stick back close to the Primus, the rest of the unit will receive a major boost to their accuracy, which is of major importance for heavy hitting, but somewhat inaccurate, units like Abberants. Also, the Primus will designate one enemy unit for expedient annihilation, and will give re-roll's to your wound rolls. The Primus is a competent fighter, but frail compared to the galaxy's wide array of ways to die.

- The Abominant is a dumb, but shockingly powerful, brute that other Abberants look up to. While they have few attacks (that can be boosted by our many relics and powers), those attacks hit hard. Probably supported, an Abominant can smash even an Imperial Knight to pieces in a single round of combat. Improperly supported, an Abominant may only kill a single Space Marine per round.

- An Acolyte Iconward will wave a banner high above your troops, helping a little with morale, and providing a small survivability boost to your Abberants and other cult members. It's best if you bring the Icon of the Cult Ascendant, as this banner is truly inspiring, and can again turn weaker units into stronger units, and stronger units (like Acolyte Hybrids) into very powerful ones.

- The Jackal Alphus fills a very niche spot in that she can improve the ranged accuracy of your Cult units, but not of any Brood Brothers. As the Brood Brothers tend to carry the heaviest weapons, this means that her pin-point sniper fire is best followed up by pin-point shots from another single unit. The cult of the rusted claw has an especially lethal barrage of demolition charges they can throw when combined with the Jackal Alphus.



Hope you found this helpful! My suggestions would be some Acolyte Hybrids, the Patriarch, and the Primus.

 Galef wrote:
If you refuse to use rock, you will never beat scissors.
 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran




 Yarium wrote:


Hope you found this helpful! My suggestions would be some Acolyte Hybrids, the Patriarch, and the Primus.


Reviewing my rambling, I second this. Patriarch and primus come in the brood coven box along with a magus and some familiars for a decent price for that many characters. With brood coven and some troops you will quickly have a core force together.
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User




Thanks for all the advice guys! Based on your suggestions, how about something like this for a start..

20x neophyte hybrids
5x acolyte hybrids
5x aberrants
Patriarch, primus, magus (is 3 too many?)

Maybe brood brothers instead of that 10 extra neophyte hybrids or the 5 acolytes?

Also, is there no place for a sentinel?

I will play casually mostly against deathguards and i want it to be a fair matchup if possible
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba






The GSC Kill Team kit (Which comes with 5x acos and the Kelermorph) is a very good buy, and I second the suggestion of a Broodcoven to start you off.

Sentinels aren't bad, I recomend a Scout Sentinel with Heavy Flamer for GSC, but it's not an indispensible piece. Just kind of mediocre.

The main strategy of your army is always going to be: A good chunk of your forces waits in deep strike while the other half stays on the board. This means you should prioritize durability with whatever is starting on the board: Keep it cheap. Neophytes with a Defensive cult trait and small amounts of equipment are good. I would build my Neophyte squads with Webbers and Stubbers if running the Rusted Claw cult, and with 2x Mining Lasers if running the Bladed Cog.

Goliath transports aren't terrible, but they are generally skipped in competitive lists in favor of just...your infantry being very tough to kill for the points. Bladed Cog or Rusted Claw neophytes with cheap equipment and a nearby Acolyte Iconward are VERY tough for their cost. You have those guys, you have a Nexos in the backfield providing CP, maybe a Sanctus trying to snipe out characters, maybe a Patriarch granting his handy fearless aura to the troops and comfortable in the fact that he's so fast he can generally get to combat turn 2 on foot, without having to deep strike.

Then, the half of your army that is "The fun part." The murderlads! These good boys bounce in on deep strike and bring their support characters along with them, and they do the killing for your army.

Most competitive lists feature a Battalion of Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor (Good trait for deep strike, GREAT stratagem) and another Battalion of Cog or Claw.

Here are some of the most effective murderlads:

1) Acolytes with Hand Flamers. Only one unit of these (Since only one can use the "lying in wait" stratagem to deep strike in within 3") but they are very good at wiping out infantry hordes. take hand flamers on all of them, use Lying in Wait, Profit!

2) Acolytes with Saws/Drills/Cutters. Saws are technically the best, but you only get one in the box and drills are SO funny. You generally want 2 weapons in a 5-man squad and 4 in a 10.

3) Aberrants with Picks. Hammers aren't exactly bad, but they are a biiiiiit overkill in some situations. A full squad of 10 aberrants with hammers can attack 3 times with stratagems, dealing an average of 100+ unsaved wounds to a knight in a turn - so you really don't need a ton of hammers to get the job done.

4) Bikers with Demo Charges. You have to have these guys in Rusted Claw, and they don't work if you have handflamer acolytes, because they need to use the same stratagem to get within 3". If you like the bikes, this is the most competitive way to use them: Suicide bombing a heavy target before running around as a distraction with their shotguns.

5) The Kelermorph. AKA, "Billy Mays here for Character B Gone!" He just shows up and murks a dude, there are very few characters who survive his shooting with average rolls. You hae to get up in like abbadon territory.

6) Metamorphs with just whips? I've seen this in several competitive lists and I...don't..know why. but clearly they do something interesting.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Icefighter wrote:
Thanks for all the advice guys! Based on your suggestions, how about something like this for a start..

20x neophyte hybrids
5x acolyte hybrids
5x aberrants
Patriarch, primus, magus (is 3 too many?)

Maybe brood brothers instead of that 10 extra neophyte hybrids or the 5 acolytes?

Also, is there no place for a sentinel?

I will play casually mostly against deathguards and i want it to be a fair matchup if possible


That's a solid starting list. The neophytes start out surrounding the Patriarch, acolytes and Aberrants in DS, use the Cult of the Four-armed Emperor trait and give the two psychers Mass Hypnosis and Might from Beyond to support your aberrants' efforts.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/10/09 16:21:40


"Got you, Yugi! Your Rubric Marines can't fall back because I have declared the tertiary kaptaris ka'tah stance two, after the secondary dacatarai ka'tah last turn!"

"So you think, Kaiba! I declared my Thousand Sons the cult of Duplicity, which means all my psykers have access to the Sorcerous Facade power! Furthermore I will spend 8 Cabal Points to invoke Cabbalistic Focus, causing the rubrics to appear behind your custodes! The Vengeance for the Wronged and Sorcerous Fullisade stratagems along with the Malefic Maelstrom infernal pact evoked earlier in the command phase allows me to double their firepower, letting me wound on 2s and 3s!"

"you think it is you who has gotten me, yugi, but it is I who have gotten you! I declare the ever-vigilant stratagem to attack your rubrics with my custodes' ranged weapons, which with the new codex are now DAMAGE 2!!"

"...which leads you straight into my trap, Kaiba, you see I now declare the stratagem Implacable Automata, reducing all damage from your attacks by 1 and triggering my All is Dust special rule!"  
   
Made in se
Fresh-Faced New User




How about this instead of the previous?

20× neophyte hybrids
10x brood brothers or atal jackals
5x aberrants
Patriarch/primus/magus

Removed the 5 acolytes and replaced them with brood brothers or atal jackals. How would this ambush strategy work with this list? Is 5 aberrants enough for it or would i want to combine them with the jackals for a bigger ambush?
   
Made in us
Infiltrating Broodlord






the_scotsman wrote:
6) Metamorphs with just whips? I've seen this in several competitive lists and I...don't..know why. but clearly they do something interesting.


Whips are the cheapest option and Metamorphs have a fairly high amount of rending attacks relative to their squad sizes. If you have to clear out small squads a clutch of Metamorphs will do so more cost effectively than Acolytes.

Whips also help mitigate some of the fragility of the chassis since slain models will still get to make their attacks if killed in melee before getting a chance to swing. Helps mitigate the counter attack stratagem (no benefit) and the squad's comparatively low body count.

Icefighter wrote:How about this instead of the previous?

20× neophyte hybrids
10x brood brothers or atal jackals
5x aberrants
Patriarch/primus/magus

Removed the 5 acolytes and replaced them with brood brothers or atal jackals. How would this ambush strategy work with this list? Is 5 aberrants enough for it or would i want to combine them with the jackals for a bigger ambush?


Assuming you are around 750 points, the Aberrants with a Primus should be adequate as an ambush threat. I'd actually recommend keeping the Jackals on the table unless you are going for the Rusted Claw demo bomb, since they are one of the most durable options (relatively speaking) in the codex for your on-table presence as well as being fast enough to cross the table in a turn or two without needing ambush.

Your general strategy here will be to play rather aggressively and hopefully dominate the midfield by keeping the opponent preoccupied. If the opponent doesn't have a lot of long ranged firepower you could risk using They Came From Below to pull your shooting squads and Magus into reserves as well and leave the Patriarch running up the field with the Jackals. Turn 2 just drop everything in range and try to leverage your shooting squads to clear away chaff so your Aberrants can go to work on the tougher targets. Remember that the Primus' meticulous planning ability also effects shooting units, so you probably will want to place him in such a way that he can benefit the Neophytes to maximize the effect before sending him off to help the Aberrants. You will probably want to use the Brood Coven stratagem since you have all the constituent parts. The Primus really likes Alien Majesty (increased range on his effect bubbles) and the Patriarch likes Biomorph Adaptation for the added strength and attack.

Also if it helps at all, I have a faction primer if you would like to look it over. link
I try to keep it updated and incorporate different viewpoints.
   
Made in us
Committed Chaos Cult Marine





I am seriously considering making my GSC Rusted Claw kill team into a full army myself.

Spoiler is what I have painted so far.
Spoiler:


I have:
20 Neophytes (1 mining laser, 1 seismic cannon, 2 heavy stubbers, 1 flamer, 1 grenade launcher, even split of shotguns (one with an icon) and autoguns)
15 Acolytes (1 bonesword & whip, 1 saw, 1 cutter, 1 drill, 1 demo, 2 autopistol, 3 flamer (one with an icon) and 5 unbuilt)
10 Abberants (5 with hammers, 4 with picks and 1 with a street sign)
10, 22 or 42 Genestealers (depending on how much I care about matching colors or using Space Hulk ones)
Kellermorph
Iconward
Abominant

I am thinking of getting 10 more Aberrants as I can get them fairly cheap at the moment, I like them and they really fit the Hills Have Eyes theme I want. I also thinking of getting a Ridgerunner because I like the model, it will make a decent terrain piece in Kill Team and if I paint it up to kinda look like the General Lee from Dukes of Hazard again it visually sells the theme of my army of country hicks out in the irradiated wastelands. I know I am going to get the Broodcoven as it has a lot of good HQ choices for a not completely awful amount of money. Finally, I should probably pick up some Atalan Jackals. Not necessarily because I want them, but since I play my GSC as Rusted Claw, I feel I probably should have a few palling around.

From there, I will probably wait until the Start Collecting box is out an pick up a few as I think I will need a lot more Neophytes, Acolytes and trucks/rockgrinders. From there, I will have to convince myself to pick up more HQ options despite how much GW sells them for.

I can't really speak for how good GSC units are in full 40k not having anywhere close to an army yet. However, I have a few games under my belt in Kill Team. So at least have some idea how they might work. Hint: Glass Hammer so far.

Acolytes are really good in Kill Team, and my impression of them in full 40k is they are also very good being troop choices though they can get spending as rock weapons are in the 20-25pts range per weapon which is kinda expensive for such a fragile unit. I don't even see the defensively minded Creeds helping that out too much (Rusted Claw and Bladed Cog).

Neophytes are okay-ish in Kill Team, but I think they are better in full 40k where their cheap cost and weight of fire can really be brought to bear. In any event, they make creating brigades for CPs much easier.

Aberrants they are kinda too expensive in Kill Team to be worth much, but I think they can work better in full 40k since you can give them a transport for a little more protection. I think the hammer models look cooler, but unfortunately I think the picks will generally do more work your you.

Hybrid Metamorphs are a unit I have a hard time justifying. They are better at clearing chaff in melee than Acolytes but you can probably get by still just using Acolytes or Neophytes with flamers and shotguns. For me, I want some metamorphs but the model kit isn't cheap so I keep building mine as Acolytes since they just seem to give me more which is important with a small model collection army.

As for the truck/rockgrinder, even with cult ambush I think there is something to be said for protecting your units in transports. The big issue I am seeing is the truck gives you the transport capacity you want but is only as tough as Taurox. While the rockgrinder only has half the capacity (minimum man squad size) but offers more protection. I suppose their usefulness comes down to the amount of anti-armor weapons are in your meta. A high amount probably means that even rockgrinders aren't going to fair all that well since it isn't like GSC give them anything better to shoot unless you ally with IG. I can see trucks being kinda tough to use seeing as they are middle option being even easier to kill yet still eating up a chunk of points. Footslogging troops make anti-armor all but useless, but GSC infantry is pretty darn fragile unbuffed and I don't know that they have all that many movement tricks (Return to the Shadows not withstanding) to get more than a few units quickly where you want them.

Again, I have only played GSC in Kill Team and have only kinda looked into how they play in full 40k. I might be way off, but that is at least the initial impression I got.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/10/11 00:57:36


 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Virginia

I'm still building my GSC army but you're really missing out on having tons of GSC monopose models on eBay from the Deathwatch boardgame. I was getting the 16 Neophytes and 12 Acolytes for like $60 and I just 3d print or scratchbuild the weapon options. I have like 8 mining lasers though LOL

You need troops, lots of them. You need to outnumber your opponent. Acolytes with rock saws and demo charges! For the brood!
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This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2019/10/11 00:58:10


 
   
Made in us
Committed Chaos Cult Marine





@Fajita Fan

I don't know about ebay anymore. Currently, it seems like slim pickings for those things. Granted I am kinda picky on the shape the model is in.

Besides, I am planning to slow build my GSC as I already have a couple perfectly playable ones for other factions and I have good selection painted up for Kill Team which I am playing far more. I am not the sort that can have a huge army like what you are showing and also keep up momentum/motivation in painting it. So, for me, unless there are some crazy good deals, I have to limit what I pick up.

I think you are right though about massive amounts of infantry. Which again I definitely want to slow grow as to not get burned out painting them.
   
Made in ca
Longtime Dakkanaut





Somewhere in Canada

So I'm a super nerd, and very few people play 40k the way I do, but I like to recommend it to new cult players, just in case they've never tried it.

My favourite way to play GSC is to build it up from a small squad of purestrains fielded as a Kill Team following the natural breeding cycle of the cult until you have an apocalypse style.

Start with purestrains; in a game vs guard or human cultists, every kill gives you a brood brother. The stealer that recruits the most humans in that game begins to evolve into a patriarch.

If a brood brother sits out of a game, add an acolyte. The acolyte must sit out the first game to grow strong. Meanwile, your purestrains keep recruiting.

Acolytes who sit out can create the stealer lookin' neophytes. They too have to sit out their first game to grow.

Stealer lookin' neophytes who sit out create the guard looking neophytes; the birth of the first of these fourth generation guys signals the end of the patriarch's transformation. Also, there's a cumulative chance that any additional fourth generation model is born a magus.

If the fourth gen breed, they create new purestrains, and the second cycle begins.

During the second cycle, accolytes have a chance to be born aberrants, and int the fourth generation of the second cycle, neophytes can be born as any of the other characters.

Cult vehicles must be stolen in battle.

In the third cycle, acolytes can be born as aberrants or metamorphs. Once you have a full brood of metamorphs, it's time to start rolling randomly to see if the tyranid arrive.

Nids will ally with your cult for a while, but if your alliance takes out enough of the opposition, you will become irrelevant; your brood brothers and hybrids will be consumed to create more nids. Your patriarch becomes a broodlord, and your purestrains remain.

If any of these models find themselves outside of synapse range, they regain access to their memories and independence.

This is the coles notes version; as you can see, book keeping is nuts, and most players have neither the time, nor the patience.

Since 1995, I've raised three cults this way. Each iteration has used different rules, because they were all different editions; under force organization chart rules, you couldn't play at the kill team scale.

If this style of play appeals to anyone who might read this, send me a message or something- I plan on starting the fourth iteration before the end of the month, and I want to document the crap out of it.

Like I said, this is the tip of the iceberg, and I can make more of my resources available if anyone is interested. For example, I've created speadsheet templates for GSC kill teams with additional pip boxes to help with tracking procreation, gestation and mentoring. The campaign uses the Streets of Death framework from the Urban Conquest box, but I've create twenty or so new territories, including civilian habitats with rules for civilians in the game... Civies are WAY easier to recruit than enemy soldiers.

Cheers...

(Chitter Chitter Chitter... I got your warlord)



























































































































   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Virginia

PenitentJake wrote:
So I'm a super nerd, and very few people play 40k the way I do, but I like to recommend it to new cult players, just in case they've never tried it.

My favourite way to play GSC is to build it up from a small squad of purestrains fielded as a Kill Team following the natural breeding cycle of the cult until you have an apocalypse style.

Start with purestrains; in a game vs guard or human cultists, every kill gives you a brood brother. The stealer that recruits the most humans in that game begins to evolve into a patriarch.

If a brood brother sits out of a game, add an acolyte. The acolyte must sit out the first game to grow strong. Meanwile, your purestrains keep recruiting.

Acolytes who sit out can create the stealer lookin' neophytes. They too have to sit out their first game to grow.

Stealer lookin' neophytes who sit out create the guard looking neophytes; the birth of the first of these fourth generation guys signals the end of the patriarch's transformation. Also, there's a cumulative chance that any additional fourth generation model is born a magus.

If the fourth gen breed, they create new purestrains, and the second cycle begins.

During the second cycle, accolytes have a chance to be born aberrants, and int the fourth generation of the second cycle, neophytes can be born as any of the other characters.

Cult vehicles must be stolen in battle.

In the third cycle, acolytes can be born as aberrants or metamorphs. Once you have a full brood of metamorphs, it's time to start rolling randomly to see if the tyranid arrive.

Nids will ally with your cult for a while, but if your alliance takes out enough of the opposition, you will become irrelevant; your brood brothers and hybrids will be consumed to create more nids. Your patriarch becomes a broodlord, and your purestrains remain.

If any of these models find themselves outside of synapse range, they regain access to their memories and independence.

This is the coles notes version; as you can see, book keeping is nuts, and most players have neither the time, nor the patience.

Since 1995, I've raised three cults this way. Each iteration has used different rules, because they were all different editions; under force organization chart rules, you couldn't play at the kill team scale.

If this style of play appeals to anyone who might read this, send me a message or something- I plan on starting the fourth iteration before the end of the month, and I want to document the crap out of it.

Like I said, this is the tip of the iceberg, and I can make more of my resources available if anyone is interested. For example, I've created speadsheet templates for GSC kill teams with additional pip boxes to help with tracking procreation, gestation and mentoring. The campaign uses the Streets of Death framework from the Urban Conquest box, but I've create twenty or so new territories, including civilian habitats with rules for civilians in the game... Civies are WAY easier to recruit than enemy soldiers.

Cheers...

(Chitter Chitter Chitter... I got your warlord)

This is amazing.
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User




Thanks again for all the input guys!
Sry if im repetative, but do you think its wiser to go for more neophyte hybrids or mix them with some broodbrothers?
   
Made in us
Infiltrating Broodlord






Icefighter wrote:
Thanks again for all the input guys!
Sry if im repetative, but do you think its wiser to go for more neophyte hybrids or mix them with some broodbrothers?


It depends. Brood Brothers are mostly for instances where the only thing you need is cheap models that take up space so you can ambush all your important stuff, where Neophytes are a bit better at combat due to their special/heavy options and ability to benefit from creeds and character auras. I mostly decide on which on to take based on creed choice. If I'm using Four-Armed Emperor or Pauper Princes then Brood Brothers are a compelling choice since neither creed ability is really of much use to Neophytes and the point savings can be put to use elsewhere. The other creeds all have abilities that can be of use to Neophytes to one degree or another which makes them more attractive choices.
   
 
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