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I was trying to use cultist and thinking of giving them a 6++ save. just wondering if it is worth the extra save.

Doesnt sound like it would be. Ive seen ones with mark of khorne do hillarious things.

A friend of mine tried this. they still died a lot. if you take a full 35 mob. it equates to a few extra bodies but i don't feel cultists are worth it

Personally I don't you can ever rely upon any form of 6+ save and its certainly not worth paying points to get it, so no I don't think its worth it

The great thing about cultists is that they are cheap. Giving them marks takes that advantage away.

Your best bet to running cultists is always Typhus.

Free FNP and fearless is all you really need them for.

K, i used to run chaos back when you couldn't mix armies, i got a sorcerer/cultist army and was wondering if i added nurgle would that be okay? i know tz used to not mix but i couldn't find it in the new rules so was just wondering. Oh and if the cultist loose alot, is it really worth it to use them as zombies, sorry for the noobish questions, just started playing them again after i got bored of gk and constantly facing ap2 flamer eldar, and other lists, wanted to play a swarm with a few elites in the army.

Mali wrote:
A friend of mine tried this. they still died a lot. if you take a full 35 mob. it equates to a few extra bodies but i don't feel cultists are worth it

On 35 bodies protecting Ahrima, I think it's worth it. In a situation like that, each extra wound is not just keeping a Cultist alive, it's keeping your 240 point HQ alive. It takes about 7 extra wounds to kill 35 Tzeentch Cultists then 35 normal cultists. 7 Extra wounds for 35 points? That's about what you are paying for Cultists in the first place, so, I'd say that's worth it, in that case.

If you aren't protecting an HQ with them though, I would say it's normally not worth it, unless its the last 10 points you have to throw on a backfield Cultist unit or something like that.

Pg 30 of the Chaos Space Marine Codex, in the top of the Mark section says you can not mix a marked character with a unit of a different mark.

Because of this, you can do something silly like add a Unmarked Mastery lvl 3 Sorc with 3 rolls on Biomancy and add him to the unit, shooting for Endurance to give them FNP. But Unmarked units do not gain any advantages of a mark specific Icon. So if you had a Unmarks Sorc with a Icon of Excess, he would not get FNP because he does not have a MoS.

Also, Abbadon has /all/ marks, so he can join any unit and gain any mark specific Icon's bonus.

Typhus gives you the option of turning Cultists into Plague Zombies, but if you do you can not buy options, including Marks.

GoliothOnline wrote:
Your best bet to running cultists is always Typhus.

Free FNP and fearless is all you really need them for.

The chaos version of termagants.

If I had Typhus, I'd run my cultists as Zombies, because that's what they are practically there for anyways; Getting chewed up and beating on people with clubs.

That said, I run my cultists with a Dark Apostle in them, and then give them all Mark of Khorne.

20 man cultists blob, Fearless, Hatred, and all of the goodness of Khorne, plus an Axe of Blind Fury on my Dark Apostle. What you have is a very angry parade coming your way with about 80 attacks on the charge. Yeah, they get shot down pretty good, but like I said, that's what they are there for.

I see cultists as good for only a few things.

1: Ablative wounds to an HQ
2: Tarpit/Distraction force (which isn't that great if they get overrun)
3: Decoy Assault Force.

When I have Berzerkers in a Land Raider, I plan on making cultists run into Overwatch fire so my real melee'rs can get to do the real work.

Tzeentch on them? Useless.
Slaanesh? Expensive because you need the banner to get FNP
Nurgle? Only if they're zombies.
Every other time? KHORNE for their ridiculous amount of dice being thrown.

I think it's a wash really. On low terrain boards, making them more durable is nice because they can't rely on getting good cover saves.

 minigun762 wrote:
I think it's a wash really. On low terrain boards, making them more durable is nice because they can't rely on getting good cover saves.

In that case you're looking at Nurgle then, not Tzeentch. 6++ really is pointless unless you need them to be Marked for someone like Ahriman. :\

ShadarLogoth wrote:
On 35 bodies protecting Ahrima, I think it's worth it. In a situation like that, each extra wound is not just keeping a Cultist alive, it's keeping your 240 point HQ alive.

Sure, but then again using a bad unit set-up to keep a mediocre HQ alive isn't all that convincing an argument either.

 TheRedWingArmada wrote:


Tzeentch on them? Useless.
Slaanesh? Expensive because you need the banner to get FNP
Nurgle? Only if they're zombies.
Every other time? KHORNE for their ridiculous amount of dice being thrown.

Remember, Zombies can't have options, and marks are under options. Your Zombies are T3 FNP Zombies only. That means T4 MoN Cultists are even more of a waste really. I think all marks are a waste for Cultists, because I think Cultists are kind of a waste. I would rather have IG Allies than Cultists.

 Godless-Mimicry wrote:

ShadarLogoth wrote:
On 35 bodies protecting Ahrima, I think it's worth it. In a situation like that, each extra wound is not just keeping a Cultist alive, it's keeping your 240 point HQ alive.

Sure, but then again using a bad unit set-up to keep a mediocre HQ alive isn't all that convincing an argument either.

BLASPHEMY!

Are you saying that 35 cultists are a bad set up?
Are you saying that Ahriman is a mediocre HQ?
Are you saying these things?

Because if you are, then I am offended. :O lol

Ok, I get what you mean. 35 paper dolls in a line is a bad idea when the wind can blow one over and take the whole squad down, however as meat shields for guys like Ahriman to pick up and put in the way of bullet fire does make good use of the 35 squad. Any other time, you're asking for failure. Even if you have 3 squads of 35 and just go for horde....that's still 3 chances for your squads to get over run for no reason. That said, to the greater offense.

Ahriman? MEDIOCRE!? How dare you insult the Master of the Corvidae and inheritor to the Thousand Sons!?!

Ok, so I hate that he can't take a disc, but that's about where my dislike of him ends. He's Psyker Mastery 4 which gives you an unprecedented 3+ Deny the Witch rolls (normally only 4+). I know everyone goes "And then he shoots four witchfires!" but that is a waste of Warp Charges and a psyker's true usefulness. They're not good because they can send God Magic down the field to melt your face. They're good because they give buffs and maledictions at will. So if you've got Ahriman and you can't figure out why you can't shoot 4 witchfires a turn? It's because you're doing it wrong. I personally can't even think of 4 Witchfires I would WANT to unload onto a squad, can you? Especially since you can't use duplicate witchfires in the same shooting phase.

But here is the real reason why Ahriman is definitely not "mediocre" and to me this is probably the most important: Ahriman gets Master of Deception, d3 chance to infiltrate units. No one else but Huron Blackheart gets that perk and trying to roll for it is a pain. When you look at the rest of the Warlord Traits (like Typhus' for example), they suck. Hard. And not even the kind you'd pay for, but the kind that rips up the neighborhood at 3 in the morning in Oklahoma during the spring and summer seasons. XD

Out of all of the HQ choices, the top three go something like Abbadon, Ahriman and Typhus, with Kharne as a not so distant 2nd or 3rd. (not in order). Perhaps I'd go so far as to put Ahriman at 4th beneath those four, but when you consider all of the champs v. their default counterparts (like Chaos Lord and Sorcerer), they all fall short. Primarily because they are so confused on wargear choices. Like I said, I'd run Ahriman if I could give him a Disc of Tzeentch and the BBoS. lol That's why I have a Sorcerer instead.

Update for BlkTom: Tis true. I had forgotten about that, but then I thought Zombies came with the Mark of Nurgle anyways. Don't have my books in front of me, so I can't faq chk myself. That's why I default to Khorne because it's the only mark that lets Cultist do what they naturally do even better. Get angry and throw their limbs about. lol

And if you've got that 35 blob with a Dark Apostle and an Axe of Blind Fury, then those cultists are doing some kind of a job, even if it's just dying around their Dark Apostle.

 Godless-Mimicry wrote:

ShadarLogoth wrote:
On 35 bodies protecting Ahrima, I think it's worth it. In a situation like that, each extra wound is not just keeping a Cultist alive, it's keeping your 240 point HQ alive.

Sure, but then again using a bad unit set-up to keep a mediocre HQ alive isn't all that convincing an argument either.

Accept when combining them together produces a single entity that isn't bad, therefore nullifying your entire argument. Accept for that little detail, you have a point, I guess?

 Musashi363 wrote:
The great thing about cultists is that they are cheap. Giving them marks takes that advantage away.

This.

Agreeing with labmouse42. I've had/seen the best results when they've been used naked or as zombies. I would avoid the points sink. 35/70 points doesn't seem like much, but that's more cultists you can buy to form another unit.