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Is there any good fluff out there that shows how deadly and dangerous genestealers are? I just want to be reminded of how dangerous they are supposed to be. I know they are still terrifying in Space Hulk, but they IMO, have not been scary on the table top since 3rd edition.

The novel, 13th Legion. The entire book is written around the final goal of: "Kill one Genestealer".

Any good Miko?

Draco from Inquisition War has a Callidus Assassin that can become a Genestealer, so... A Genestealer is almost a main character. And a Short Story about the same character is exclusively about infiltrating a Genestealer Cult. It's not that good of a book due to the random weird gak thrown in but as a stand alone book I remember it being enjoyable.

They're lethal enough to warrant Terminator usage to deal with them reliably.

[...] the Blood Angels dispatched their First Company, under the command of Captain Raphael. The space marine force, consisting of over eighty veterans in Terminator Armour, managed to not only cleanse the hulk of thousands of genestealers, but also recovered an ancient Blood Angels artifact in the process.

 Ashiraya wrote:
They're lethal enough to warrant Terminator usage to deal with them reliably.

[...] the Blood Angels dispatched their First Company, under the command of Captain Raphael. The space marine force, consisting of over eighty veterans in Terminator Armour, managed to not only cleanse the hulk of thousands of genestealers, but also recovered an ancient Blood Angels artifact in the process.

This actually is the opposite of what the OP asked for. 80 termies killed 1,000 genestealers. Quite a stretch

What is more interesting about the Genestealers, IMO, is their infiltration tactics and cult-forming habits. Rather than being an Aliens knock-off (which, let's face it, is what Space Hulk is), it is far more interesting to see how they end up on a plant populated by some other civilization, how they integrate themselves, take over key officials, etc. in preparation for the arrival of the Hive Fleet.

 Macharius. wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:
They're lethal enough to warrant Terminator usage to deal with them reliably.

[...] the Blood Angels dispatched their First Company, under the command of Captain Raphael. The space marine force, consisting of over eighty veterans in Terminator Armour, managed to not only cleanse the hulk of thousands of genestealers, but also recovered an ancient Blood Angels artifact in the process.

This actually is the opposite of what the OP asked for. 80 termies killed 1,000 genestealers. Quite a stretch

Thousands, not a thousand.

But the fact that they are lethal enough to warrant Terminators being the standard SM response says a lot.

Ratius wrote:Any good Miko?

I enjoyed it. It harks back to the slightly more light-hearted days of 40k though... for all that it's based around a Penal Legion.

So any chance of a genestealer cult datasheet or book one day?It would be great to have all of it in one place.

I would love for GW to bring back Genestealer cults.

The reaction of a group of PCs when a genestealer turns up unexpectedly is pretty good evidence to their lethality.

 purplefood wrote:
The reaction of a group of PCs when a genestealer turns up unexpectedly is pretty good evidence to their lethality.

In Rogue Trader, I remember getting a triple-crit and wiping out two dozen Genestealers with a single frag grenade.

Good times.

The novel Death of Integrity does a pretty good job of making Genestealers appear scary, and has a cute twist at the end too.

Half the Cain novels.

Terminator Armour being opened like it's paper, cults infiltrating government and society, scouting for the hive ships, hyrbids, etc etc.

Cain seems to run into Nids more than any other xeno. Guess it makes sense, there are a lot of them.

Oh!

Short story from the BL, should be available but it might be in a collection. "The Alien Beast Within".

The story of Ichar IV that can be found on the Lexicanum page for Hive Fleet Kraken is a good reminder of how dangerous genestealers are, both in infiltration and subterfuge and in raw physical combat, especially in environments that favor them, such as the catacomb like subterranean tunnels of the underhive.

 Macharius. wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:
They're lethal enough to warrant Terminator usage to deal with them reliably.

[...] the Blood Angels dispatched their First Company, under the command of Captain Raphael. The space marine force, consisting of over eighty veterans in Terminator Armour, managed to not only cleanse the hulk of thousands of genestealers, but also recovered an ancient Blood Angels artifact in the process.

This actually is the opposite of what the OP asked for. 80 termies killed 1,000 genestealers. Quite a stretch

Do you have the fluff bits from the original Space Hulk Game? They are quite good and on point.
I particularly like the one by the termie who wants another's video as his face plate is covered in gore and doesn't want to let any of them get away - right before he gets slaughtered...

 Frazzled wrote:
Do you have the fluff bits from the original Space Hulk Game? They are quite good and on point.

Being both from a video game and really old, I would take that fluff with a truckload of salt.

No the board game.

Genestealers were a lot deadlier originally. They were inspired by the movie Alien and even one was a dreaded expert hunting killing machine. If one got on a world, they could cause havoc and topple the entire society.

These days they're just Tyranid "elite" fodder.

 Frazzled wrote:
No the board game.

Well, the piece of fluff I linked is from the latest Space Hulk game rather than the earliest, so I'd argue it takes precedence!


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 Harriticus wrote:
Genestealers were a lot deadlier originally. They were inspired by the movie Alien and even one was a dreaded expert hunting killing machine. If one got on a world, they could cause havoc and topple the entire society.

These days they're just Tyranid "elite" fodder.

They are still incredibly deadly. That they are beaten by Terminators is hardly a dishonour considering it's goshdang Terminators.

In game, they're beaten by most anything due to no grenades. Also, overwatch.

Big discrepancy between fluff and game...

 Ashiraya wrote:

 purplefood wrote:
The reaction of a group of PCs when a genestealer turns up unexpectedly is pretty good evidence to their lethality.

In Rogue Trader, I remember getting a triple-crit and wiping out two dozen Genestealers with a single frag grenade.

Good times.

GM must have had good confidence in you if he tossed two dozen Genestealers at you. Dem guyz is nasty!

After looking it up on lexicanum, I think all the fluff about genestealer cults really makes them look dark and awesome . Id like one if the codex artists to draw a genestealer infecting someone.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I mean , who else can shove their tongue in someone and turn them into mindless zombies.

The Deathwatch novel by Steve Parker features a delightfully horrific representation of a genestealer cult.

Genesteirels are a deadle because of their cults, i mean what if the Govenor is a Hybrid?

With Genstealers, its not if the governor is a hybrid. Its when he'll be a hybrid.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:

 purplefood wrote:
The reaction of a group of PCs when a genestealer turns up unexpectedly is pretty good evidence to their lethality.

In Rogue Trader, I remember getting a triple-crit and wiping out two dozen Genestealers with a single frag grenade.

Good times.

GM must have had good confidence in you if he tossed two dozen Genestealers at you. Dem guyz is nasty!

He did not really realise how lethal they were before they ate all our guardsmen.

 Ashiraya wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:

 Ashiraya wrote:

 purplefood wrote:
The reaction of a group of PCs when a genestealer turns up unexpectedly is pretty good evidence to their lethality.

In Rogue Trader, I remember getting a triple-crit and wiping out two dozen Genestealers with a single frag grenade.

Good times.

GM must have had good confidence in you if he tossed two dozen Genestealers at you. Dem guyz is nasty!

He did not really realise how lethal they were before they ate all our guardsmen.

Reminds me of our first IKRPG session.

12 Mechanithralls. Our gunmage lost his left eye and our warcaster broke an arm and a leg and was knocked unconscious. And we actually underpowered the Mechanithralls. They should have had 10 life instead of 1.