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Is it an expensive army to build ($$$)?
How does it fare in casual and competitive games?
Is it fun to play?
How much Tyranids do I need?

Anyone ever used limos in the game? (for 1st, 2nd edition 40k players know what I mean)

Roughly the same cost as most armies.

Currently it's proving to be well balanced, and does well with the current tournament meta.

From what I hear the variability is pretty incrediblein terms of highs and lows, but even when I've seen GSC lose both players are still having a great time.

You don't need a crazy amount of tyranids, but I'd recommend at least the mininum for formations in their Codex. If you just want lots of xeno-hybrids and some Genestealers that will work, but you can always invest more in Tyranids if you like. Allying in Flyrants? Silly but effective.

 Whitebeard wrote:
Is it an expensive army to build ($$$)?

Depends how you build them, but the best build (MSU) is serious cash. Expect upwards of 600 quid for an 1850pt army - not including the paint and other supplies you'll need to fix up 130+ models.

How does it fare in casual and competitive games?

Very well indeed once you get the hang of Cult Ambush, although it relies quite heavily on the Insurrection detachment to function at its best so I'd plan around that.

Is it fun to play?

Very much so, just because Cult Ambush makes them so different to anything else out there at the moment. They're quite a time-consuming army to play, there's a hell of a lot to keep track of in terms of buff bubbles, unit reinforcements, and suchforth, plus it's a glass cannon which entails a learning curve, but get past all that and you'll have a blast. I love them to bits.

How much Tyranids do I need?

None at all. Allies in general tend to take away far more than they add to a GSC army. I find. Zoomers and Swoopers are about the only thing your army can't kill off the bat, and swapping 40-odd models out for a pair of Flyrants just isn't worth it.

Anyone ever used limos in the game? (for 1st, 2nd edition 40k players know what I mean)

Sadly no, and the vehicles in the new Codex suck quite hard so it's not even worth proxying outside of casual play.

Damn, as a chaos player, I do not really like the idea of pushing and/or carrying around 160 models to play. It's only reason I don't play Orks (or else I would).

 Whitebeard wrote:
Is it an expensive army to build ($$$)?

It all depends on what you want to do. Do you want to summon? Now you are talking huge amount of money now. Do you want to summon as much as you can? Be WYSIWYG? Yes lots and lots of money.

How does it fare in casual and competitive games?

Depends on your meta. It seems they have gotten nerfed a bit today with the new FAQ. So while people were freaking out of the Cult Ambush assault on turn one, today has nerfed that and I think you might be seeing a lot more Inquisitors with Skulls or what ever they are called now.

Is it fun to play?

It all depends. Do you need to win? Most people play Genestealer Cults because they love the fluff and can finally play them now with real rules and not pretend.

How much Tyranids do I need?

None if you want a 100% Genestealer Cult.

Anyone ever used limos in the game? (for 1st, 2nd edition 40k players know what I mean)

Yes, I used to have a Cult Limo... Have not yet fielded my old old GS Cult army, got to do a bit of fixing up to make it WYSIWIG, and waiting for GW to decide how the Cult Ambush rules work.

 Whitebeard wrote:
Is it an expensive army to build ($$$)?

its one of the most expensive armies out there. Its a horde army that comes in 5 man boxes.
This is going to be the majority of your amry -> https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/acolyte-hybrids-2016

How does it fare in casual and competitive games?

Not bad at all its just that it is extremely rare in comp games since, its a horde army painting it will require more time than most of us have and the cost is also a huge stop to it.

Is it fun to play?

Its what every ork footslogger player dreams of. Their horde troops are just plain better and fun to use due to redeployment rules.

How much Tyranids do I need?

Non, you could use some genestealers and some for he bit but you need none.

Anyone ever used limos in the game? (for 1st, 2nd edition 40k players know what I mean)

Their current strengths aren't in their vehicles.

 Whitebeard wrote:
Damn, as a chaos player, I do not really like the idea of pushing and/or carrying around 160 models to play. It's only reason I don't play Orks (or else I would).

I dunno what to tell you then. Genestealer Cults are a horde army. There's no way to build an effective force with less than 100-120 infantry models. If you want to play them, expect to buy, paint, and transport lots of models at all times.

If Skulls work on genestealer cults as they infliterate Greyfax should as well... hmm

Skulls do not work

They do work, according to the GSC FAQ.

I was asking some people at my GW about this because I was on the fence about GSC or other factions. The general view was they are decent, but seem to rely a lot on the Cult Ambush rule and are fairly one-dimensional. They want to get into combat, but are basically Guardsmen plus in combat (Genestealers themselves notwithstanding). They don't get as many tanks as IG. They are well-rounded, but seem to not be amazing but still strong.

Finally got a game against GSC today.
There's things they're strong against - the guy chewed on Eldar, Tau and Eldar yesterday with that ambush trick, runs into a brick wall when it comes up against a melee style army though. My Space Wolves were crowing about 'home delivery' when he assaulted.
He's currently in a match against Necrons and they seem pretty even - he brings in a few more models every turn and they're just slightly tipping the table in some combats and just adding to the Necron kill count in others. Will probably go the Necron player's way when he actually starts finishing the Warrior units and they start re-spawning.

The Legendary Limo was something that ONLY looked good on paper, or in pictures. I never saw one built. I used a couple of die-cast cars. I can't even remember RT and 2E stats. 3E stats was AV10, fast, open topped. Not really a spiffy place to put you HQ. They performed about like you would think a lightly armored, unarmed vehicle would perform.

I'm biased. I played GSC as my first army in the early '90's. I always thought the limo was dumb. The original Patriarch was a bloated, blinged out, corporate Robber Baron. That was GW designer's idea of the embodiment of evil (and, now it's our President ). So, the Big Guy rode in a Limo.

In any case, the new GSC industrial vehicles are better models and theme, if not sterling fighting vehicles.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Finally got a game against GSC today.
There's things they're strong against - the guy chewed on Eldar, Tau and Eldar yesterday with that ambush trick, runs into a brick wall when it comes up against a melee style army though. My Space Wolves were crowing about 'home delivery' when he assaulted.

Let me rephrase that. They still good or at least on par vs most melee armies, but don't expect miracles space wulfs will still be their wulfy wulfy wulfness of hyper cost efficient close combat destruction.

 oldzoggy wrote:

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Finally got a game against GSC today.
There's things they're strong against - the guy chewed on Eldar, Tau and Eldar yesterday with that ambush trick, runs into a brick wall when it comes up against a melee style army though. My Space Wolves were crowing about 'home delivery' when he assaulted.

Let me rephrase that. They still good or at least on par vs most melee armies, but don't expect miracles space wulfs will still be their wulfy wulfy wulfness of hyper cost efficient close combat destruction.

Rephrase it all you want.
Pure Nids
Deathwatch
Chaos Daemons
World Eaters
Thousand Sons
Necrons
Tau
All of them have the potential to drop a competitive tournament list that has absolutely no thought for GSC but will still stomp them into the ground anyway.
Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that all these Alpha Strike armies have the ranged sissies quaking but can still hit a brick wall themselves. That can almost be mistaken for balance.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Finally got a game against GSC today.
There's things they're strong against - the guy chewed on Eldar, Tau and Eldar yesterday with that ambush trick, runs into a brick wall when it comes up against a melee style army though. My Space Wolves were crowing about 'home delivery' when he assaulted.

See, I've never had a problem dealing with melee armies. Their Marines won't beat Acolytes and Morphs in combat, plus Wulfen and TWC vanish under a sea of Acolytes the same as anything else. Even deathstar armies aren't that much trouble - you can out-score them on objectives, throw so many Fearless units at them that they'll never get out of combat, and any ICs that break off will get caught and smushed.

The toughest opponents I've encountered with my Morph/ Acolyte army are Genestealer-spam GSC, EWO-heavy Tau, and White Scars Gladius with Servo Skulls. Anytyhing that hits first with lots of attacks in CC, can limit your RttS/ Ambush options, and/or can kill 40+ models a turn with shooting is going to run you close. I've never seen Necrons played in anger, but I can't imagine they'd be difficult to just pin down and outmaneuver.

Also GSC is not primarily an Alpha Strike army. You can build and run them that way if you like, but I find best results come from making the most of your numbers and Cult Ambush carousel rather than trying to sweep the opponent off the table at the earliest opportunity.

 BBAP wrote:

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Finally got a game against GSC today.
There's things they're strong against - the guy chewed on Eldar, Tau and Eldar yesterday with that ambush trick, runs into a brick wall when it comes up against a melee style army though. My Space Wolves were crowing about 'home delivery' when he assaulted.

See, I've never had a problem dealing with melee armies. Their Marines won't beat Acolytes and Morphs in combat, plus Wulfen and TWC vanish under a sea of Acolytes the same as anything else. Even deathstar armies aren't that much trouble - you can out-score them on objectives, throw so many Fearless units at them that they'll never get out of combat, and any ICs that break off will get caught and smushed.

The toughest opponents I've encountered with my Morph/ Acolyte army are Genestealer-spam GSC, EWO-heavy Tau, and White Scars Gladius with Servo Skulls. Anytyhing that hits first with lots of attacks in CC, can limit your RttS/ Ambush options, and/or can kill 40+ models a turn with shooting is going to run you close. I've never seen Necrons played in anger, but I can't imagine they'd be difficult to just pin down and outmaneuver.

Also GSC is not primarily an Alpha Strike army. You can build and run them that way if you like, but I find best results come from making the most of your numbers and Cult Ambush carousel rather than trying to sweep the opponent off the table at the earliest opportunity.

Good to know there's alternate strategies out there.
My Wulfen ate everything but Genestealers like a healthy diet. Ws4 14 against Ws4 I5 and at least four attacks at initiative, five for the Wulfen with Frost Claws, six for the pack leader, didn't even matter I didn't get many orgy of slaughter extra attacks, Opponent couldn't throw enough models at them to actually survive I5 step and attack the Wulfen. He might have had a hope if he'd gone after them with the pure-strain genestealers but they were busy getting killed off by the Heralds of the Great Wolf.
Lookie my twenty Genestealers say bye bye to your Heralds. What do you mean Bjorn can charge during my turn!?

Space Wolves are unfairly costed for their efficacy, though. They are the scatbikes of assault units.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Good to know there's alternate strategies out there.
My Wulfen ate everything but Genestealers like a healthy diet. Ws4 14 against Ws4 I5 and at least four attacks at initiative, five for the Wulfen with Frost Claws, six for the pack leader, didn't even matter I didn't get many orgy of slaughter extra attacks, Opponent couldn't throw enough models at them to actually survive I5 step and attack the Wulfen. He might have had a hope if he'd gone after them with the pure-strain genestealers but they were busy getting killed off by the Heralds of the Great Wolf.
Lookie my twenty Genestealers say bye bye to your Heralds. What do you mean Bjorn can charge during my turn!?

Purestrains are unnecessary, I find. The Acolytes are just as good nine times out of ten, especially if you get a good RttS cycle going and can replenish your losses effectively - which is one of the big things I dislike about trying to alpha strike. Cult Ambush and Numbers Beyond Counting are so important for the army, and if your alpha strike fails you can easily end up bereft of them both.

There's a lot to be said for using Fearless/ Invisible Neophytes as a tarpit as well, especially if you can get a unit or two in via Summoning. 20-odd can lock down a troublesome unit for a turn or two, and if a situation arises where you need their target out of combat you can easily move the Patriarch away and let them lose and flee combat.

Martel732 wrote:
Space Wolves are unfairly costed for their efficacy, though. They are the scatbikes of assault units.

No, Blood Angels just suck compared to other marines. Besides you're basing that on three units that have no equivalent in any other codex. The rest of the Space Wolves codex is either the same as or more expensive than its vanilla equivalent.

Scouts Ws4 Bs4 4+ armour Scout abilities 11ppm
Bloodclaws Ws3 Bs 3 3+ armour Rage 12ppm
Wolf Scouts Ws4 Bs 4 4+ armour Scout abilities 14ppm

Tacticals and Grey Hunters are the same cost Tacticals can take heavy weapons. Grey Hunters can't, they get CC weapons at 2ppm Grey Hunters can never get bikes or Jump Packs.

Swiftclaws Ws3 Bs3 3+ armour 20ppm
Bikeguard Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 23ppm
Tactical Bikes Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 21ppm
Scout Bikes Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 18ppm

Skyclaws Ws3 Bs3 3+ armour 15ppm
Skyguard Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 21ppm
Jump Marine Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 14ppm
Van Vets Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 21ppm

Wolf Guard Terminators Power Sword and Stormbolter 33ppm
Vanilla Terminators Powerfist and Stormbolter 35ppm

Space Wolves have no access to Grav, Invisibility, Centurions or any kind of air support for under 200 points.
What they have is Wolf bikes that lose Relentless in favour of Rending and gain an extra stat in S, A and W for 40ppm.
Wulfen are Melee Centurions.
Fen Wolves...I dunno, make up for the lack of air support by being a tarpit unit?

Is there a way to cheat it by proxying Cadian/Imperial Guard? Well, some of it I mean.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
Space Wolves are unfairly costed for their efficacy, though. They are the scatbikes of assault units.

No, Blood Angels just suck compared to other marines. Besides you're basing that on three units that have no equivalent in any other codex. The rest of the Space Wolves codex is either the same as or more expensive than its vanilla equivalent.

Scouts Ws4 Bs4 4+ armour Scout abilities 11ppm
Bloodclaws Ws3 Bs 3 3+ armour Rage 12ppm
Wolf Scouts Ws4 Bs 4 4+ armour Scout abilities 14ppm

Tacticals and Grey Hunters are the same cost Tacticals can take heavy weapons. Grey Hunters can't, they get CC weapons at 2ppm Grey Hunters can never get bikes or Jump Packs.

Swiftclaws Ws3 Bs3 3+ armour 20ppm
Bikeguard Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 23ppm
Tactical Bikes Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 21ppm
Scout Bikes Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 18ppm

Skyclaws Ws3 Bs3 3+ armour 15ppm
Skyguard Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 21ppm
Jump Marine Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 14ppm
Van Vets Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 21ppm

Wolf Guard Terminators Power Sword and Stormbolter 33ppm
Vanilla Terminators Powerfist and Stormbolter 35ppm

Space Wolves have no access to Grav, Invisibility, Centurions or any kind of air support for under 200 points.
What they have is Wolf bikes that lose Relentless in favour of Rending and gain an extra stat in S, A and W for 40ppm.
Wulfen are Melee Centurions.
Fen Wolves...I dunno, make up for the lack of air support by being a tarpit unit?

Martel probably means just Wulfen and TWC.

Space wolves ARE wulfen and twc. There is nothing else to mean. The rest of the codex is ba-esque. But those two units are so undercosted that they dominate the paradigm.

Martel732 wrote:
Space wolves ARE wulfen and twc. There is nothing else to mean. The rest of the codex is ba-esque. But those two units are so undercosted that they dominate the paradigm.

Then where did all my models come from.....

You own them, they just don't mean much more than ba models.

pm713 wrote:

 Dakka Wolf wrote:

Martel732 wrote:
Space Wolves are unfairly costed for their efficacy, though. They are the scatbikes of assault units.

No, Blood Angels just suck compared to other marines. Besides you're basing that on three units that have no equivalent in any other codex. The rest of the Space Wolves codex is either the same as or more expensive than its vanilla equivalent.

Scouts Ws4 Bs4 4+ armour Scout abilities 11ppm
Bloodclaws Ws3 Bs 3 3+ armour Rage 12ppm
Wolf Scouts Ws4 Bs 4 4+ armour Scout abilities 14ppm

Tacticals and Grey Hunters are the same cost Tacticals can take heavy weapons. Grey Hunters can't, they get CC weapons at 2ppm Grey Hunters can never get bikes or Jump Packs.

Swiftclaws Ws3 Bs3 3+ armour 20ppm
Bikeguard Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 23ppm
Tactical Bikes Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 21ppm
Scout Bikes Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 18ppm

Skyclaws Ws3 Bs3 3+ armour 15ppm
Skyguard Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 21ppm
Jump Marine Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 14ppm
Van Vets Ws4 Bs4 3+ armour 21ppm

Wolf Guard Terminators Power Sword and Stormbolter 33ppm
Vanilla Terminators Powerfist and Stormbolter 35ppm

Space Wolves have no access to Grav, Invisibility, Centurions or any kind of air support for under 200 points.
What they have is Wolf bikes that lose Relentless in favour of Rending and gain an extra stat in S, A and W for 40ppm.
Wulfen are Melee Centurions.
Fen Wolves...I dunno, make up for the lack of air support by being a tarpit unit?

Martel probably means just Wulfen and TWC.

I know what he means and he knows as well as we do that without the other to combo off TWC and Wulfen are nowhere near as good as Scatt Bikes.

He didn´t say they were as good as scatt bikes. he said they were the combat version of scatt bikes.

If you had to choose any points efficient shooting unit in the game you take scatt bikes.

If you had to choose any points efficient combat unit in the game it would be TWC or wulfen

 rawne2510 wrote:
He didn´t say they were as good as scatt bikes. he said they were the combat version of scatt bikes.

If you had to choose any points efficient shooting unit in the game you take scatt bikes.

If you had to choose any points efficient combat unit in the game it would be TWC or wulfen

Funnily enough for the same price as base TWC you can get six scout bikes and a seargent with Iron Hands Chapter Tactics. Stand up to base TWC any day of the week.
Twinlinked overwatch.
Twinlinked rapid-fire before charging.

Wolfkin dogstar.

Necron Wraiths with improved RP.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:

 rawne2510 wrote:
He didn´t say they were as good as scatt bikes. he said they were the combat version of scatt bikes.

If you had to choose any points efficient shooting unit in the game you take scatt bikes.

If you had to choose any points efficient combat unit in the game it would be TWC or wulfen

Funnily enough for the same price as base TWC you can get six scout bikes and a seargent with Iron Hands Chapter Tactics. Stand up to base TWC any day of the week.
Twinlinked overwatch.
Twinlinked rapid-fire before charging.

Wolfkin dogstar.

Necron Wraiths with improved RP.

Wolfkin dog star hold stuff up and are only really good with their buddies.

Wraith a bit better now maybe with their ability to ignore units on the charge. But they don´t get RP as standard so their cost goes up to get that and slows then down staying within the 12" range.

Scout bikes don´t do anything in combat though. Being a counter to charging units doesn´t mean they are good at combat. Next you will add in Tau are being great in combat because most stuff dies on the charge.