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A common "issue" that arises not infrequently is how Imperial players have such a wide range of options with respect to Allies (and therefore, unit combinations), compared to the other armies. Meanwhile, fluff-wise - 40K always sets the scene as if Humanity is being bombarded by enemies from all sides and are on the verge of being overwhelmed. In addition, one of the major threats against Humanity are its own members who have aligned themselves against the God-Emperor. Yet, this isn't depicted gameplay-wise either. With all this in mind, I thought I'd come up with some Dataslate ideas (admittedly, mostly Imperial Guard) that are deliberately designed to cater to specific non-Imperial factions. Bare in mind that these are just rough ideas open for discussion and so, numbers are just guesstimates at this point.


Genestealer Cult
The Tyranids are far more cunning than the mindless monstrosities that Humanity sees them as. They often send Genestealers onto a planet years - even decades - before an invasion; the creatures hiding amidst the unfortunate planet's denizens, slowly spreading their influence onto the populace. And when the time is ripe, they strike - causing chaos amidst the doomed planet's defenses just as the Hive Fleet descends...

Composition:
- 1 Primaris Psyker
- 4 Infantry Squads

Cost: 425 points

Restrictions:
- The formation may not be taken if the primary detachment is an Imperial force.
- The Primaris Psyker may only role from the Telepathy discipline.

Special rules:
- Cult of the Genestealer - The formation uses the Tyranid faction on the Allies Matrix table.
- Deep Infiltration (Imperial) - All units are able to Infiltrate up to 6" of enemy units if out of line of sight, or up to 12" of enemy units even if within line of sight. This is restricted only if the opponent has an Army of the Imperium as his/her primary detachment.
- Betrayal! - Units who Infiltrate are allowed to Shoot before the start of Turn 1, regardless of which player begins. Doing so prevents the unit from acting (including Moving and Running) during the player's Turn 1. Shots fired during this phase gain Pinning
- Cult Following - The Primaris Psyker and his unit gain Fearless. All units of the formation within 12" of the Primaris Psyker also receive this special rule.


Cannons of the Greater Good
The Gue'vesa - or Human Helpers - are the Humans who have seen the light and are now followers of the Greater Good. Whole planets have joined the Tau Empire; and with them, so did their resources, knowledge and weapons. Most people would have been content with this though there are those who feel the need to serve the Greater Good through martial arms. Of these, there are a select few - particularly those who served in the Planetary Defense Force or who fought as part of the Imperial Guard - with the knowledge, training and expertise to operate the mighty tanks of the Imperium.

Composition:
- 1 Tank Commander
- 2-4 Leman Russ (any variants)

Cost: 100 + Unit cost

Restrictions:
- The Tank Commander may not be taken as the army's Warlord.
- The Tank Commander may not be upgraded as Knight Commander Pask.
- All Tanks must be taken as a single Squadron.

Special rules:
- Gue'vesa Contingent - The formation uses the Tau faction on the Allies Matrix.
- Integrated Markerlight - A Tank that did not fire in the previous turn gains +1 to its BS; including on Snap Shots.
- Symbols of Unity - All Tanks may each take up to 1 upgrade from the Tau Empire's "Vehicle Battle Systems" in addition to their regular upgrades on the Astra Militarum "Vehicle Equipment" list.
- Wrath of the Machine God - The Machine Spirits are angry. During the movement phase, all units from this formation must each roll a D6. This represents the highest number in inches that the Tank may move for Combat Speed.


Thoughts? Anyone have other ideas? More to come if there's interest and discussion.

I like the idea, it has a lot of potential for adding something flavorful and fun to a game, which i'll be honest most Data Slates don't add. Just a few ideas

1) Don't assault first turn, it's just not a thing anymore.Shooting is fine, even infiltrating so dang close is fine but assaulting first turn is a thing of the past. In exchange I'd suggest so simulate the betrayal all weapons shot by the Genestealer Cultists gain the Pinning Special rule in their pre-game shooting phase.

2) Psychic Link shouldn't make every Guardsmen Ws 5! No, no,no. Swap this for Fearless, which i believe is the rule that Cultists used to have.

3) I would also give the option for 0-1 Primaris Psykers, the Magus has always been a part of genestealer cults fluff and he should be represented. Maybe have him only able to roll on telepathy?

4) You should add a strong negative into the cannons of the greater good data slate, because apart from not taking Pask every rule is a massive upgrade. Maybe to represent the lack of maintenance (remember, no Tech Priests or Forge Worlds) whenever they move more then 6'' they roll a dice and suffer a glancing hit on a 1-2?

My £0.02

 ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
I like the idea, it has a lot of potential for adding something flavorful and fun to a game, which i'll be honest most Data Slates don't add. Just a few ideas

1) Don't assault first turn, it's just not a thing anymore.Shooting is fine, even infiltrating so dang close is fine but assaulting first turn is a thing of the past. In exchange I'd suggest so simulate the betrayal all weapons shot by the Genestealer Cultists gain the Pinning Special rule in their pre-game shooting phase.

2) Psychic Link shouldn't make every Guardsmen Ws 5! No, no,no. Swap this for Fearless, which i believe is the rule that Cultists used to have.

3) I would also give the option for 0-1 Primaris Psykers, the Magus has always been a part of genestealer cults fluff and he should be represented. Maybe have him only able to roll on telepathy?

4) You should add a strong negative into the cannons of the greater good data slate, because apart from not taking Pask every rule is a massive upgrade. Maybe to represent the lack of maintenance (remember, no Tech Priests or Forge Worlds) whenever they move more then 6'' they roll a dice and suffer a glancing hit on a 1-2?

My £0.02

Actually... I like your suggestions; especially regarding the Genestealer Cult. Truthfully, I hadn't even thought about the Primaris Psyker. It potentially works much better fluff-wise than the Commissar Lord (I'd picked him simply because he was a leader-type independent character). And giving them Fearless rather than a shared BS+WS would be just as effective a way to show their psychic link; if not better, given the fluff. Pinning also works.

As for the Cannons of the Greater Good, I was at first thinking that the cost and forced squadron restriction were enough of a negative. Though, I guess a further negative would be fair given the various benefits. Perhaps having to role a D6 to decide how far they move each turn?


Also, I've changed the title of the thread to "Traitors of the Imperium" to broaden the scope. This way, it isn't specifically about formations that are actively against the Imperium but simply any formation that no longer serves the God-Emperor (e.g. Cannons of the Greater Good).

I like the genestealer cult rules. But the rules for LR allies for tau need a rework.

Combined wargear may lead to things like netting + tau equivalent of it resulting in av14 tanks with shrowded. And the whole tau vehicle upgrade table is gona have broken combos. Imagine a squadron of punishers with supporting fire shooting 87 s5 shots as overwatch. That's freaking insane! No good game ballance here.
The random movement part from "Wrath of the Machine God" is only restricting for gatling tanks cause others are gona be in range most of the time.

I'd like to see something like this:

- Gue'vesa Contingent - The formation uses the Tau faction on the Allies Matrix.
- Markerlight technology - A squadron may benefit from markerlights (that's huge cause you can have lots of strong blasts with ignore cover and/or high bs, but that will come at a price - will see later).
- Wrath of the Machine Spirit - The battle systems do not synchronise too well with xeno technology and are not properly maintained on the whole. At the start of the movement phase, all units from this formation must each roll a D6. On a roll of 1 the systems glytch and unit must move forward 6' and can't shoot in the following shooting phase. If it utilized markerlights in the previous shooting phase, the systems glytch on a roll of 1-2. (It's like "Don't press 'dat" on looted wagonz).

 koooaei wrote:
I like the genestealer cult rules. But the rules for LR allies for tau need a rework.

Combined wargear may lead to things like netting + tau equivalent of it resulting in av14 tanks with shrowded. And the whole tau vehicle upgrade table is gona have broken combos. Imagine a squadron of punishers with supporting fire shooting 87 s5 shots as overwatch. That's freaking insane! No good game ballance here.

Hmmm... you do have a good point there. Perhaps restrict the choice of tanks to the "Rear 10" Leman Russes? Meaning - Standard, Exterminator, Vanquisher and Eradicator? The internal logic being that they're the more common tanks. And to minimise cheese, one could just restrict the use of Disruption pods (the Tau's equivalent to Camo netting).

As for your idea of allowing the Tanks to benefit from Markerlights, I'm none too keen on it as it more or less limits the formation to being used only with Tau, rather than being potentially used by others as well.

Lastly, as for the drawback, what about making it so that the tanks are dealt +1 on the Vehicle Damage table?