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Caspian89 wrote:
Sorry can't help with the conversion...other than to say - that's an expensive piece of plastic!

I continue to work on list building - thank-you Battle Scribe! - trying to work out what to paint/buy with my limited resources.

I finally say that the Spearhead, Vanguard and Outrider detachments CAN contain 0-2 of the other battlefield role slots which makes building legal lists much easier for me. Missed that before and it was getting convoluted!

Here is my attempt at a balanced list. 2000 pts. 7 CPs

Spoiler:

GSC Battalion
HQ
Magus [4 PL, 73pts] - Mass Hypnosis
Patriarch [7 PL, 150pts] - Might From Beyond
Primus [4 PL, 76pts]

TROOP
12x Acolyte Hybrids [15 PL, 228pts]
-4x Rock Heavy Rock Saw
5x Acolyte Hybrids [5 PL, 75pts]
-2x Demolition Charges
5x Acolyte Hybrids [5 PL, 75pts]
-2x Demolition Charges
10x Neophyte Hybrids [5 PL, 88pts]
-2x Mining Laser, 2x Grenade Launcher

ELITE
20x Purestrain Genestealers [16 PL, 300pts]

HEAVY SUPPORT
Cult Leman Russ [11 PL, 186pts]
-Battle Cannon, Hull: HVY Bolter, Sponsons: HVY Bolter, HVY Stubber
Cult Leman Russ [11 PL, 186pts]
-Battle Cannon, Hull: HVY Bolter, Sponsons: HVY Bolter
DEDICATED TRANSPORT
Goliath Truck [5 PL, 119pts]
-Demolition Cache

AM OUTRIDER DETACHMENT
HQ
Company Commander [2 PL, 35pts]
-Chainsword, KUROV’S AQUILA, Plasma pistol
FAST ATTACK

Hellhound [6 PL, 120pts]
-Heavy Flamer, Track guards, Turret-mounted Inferno Cannon
Scout Sentinel [3 PL, 52pts]
-Heavy Flamer
Scout Sentinel [3 PL, 52pts]
-Heavy Flamer
Scout Sentinel [3 PL, 52pts]
-Heavy Flamer

HEAVY SUPPORT
Heavy Weapon Team [78pts]
- 3x Lascannon
Heavy Weapon Team [63pts]
- 3x Autocannon

Your comments and suggestions have been really helpful to date.

This feels like a good mix of unit roles across the table. For long range shooting power there's the Leman Russes - taken as GSC for Force Org. purposes - which are supported and lightly screened by the Heavy Weapons Teams, who benefit from the Company Commander's Orders. For Ambushing into the backfield there is the big Genestealer Squad, Patriarch as well as the 12 model Acolytes w/Primus. For the mid-field and for pressuring the opponent's lines to set-up for a good Ambush I have the Scout Sentinels and Hellhound. The Magus has his supporting Neophytes who can ambush in where needed for support. The demo-charge Acolyte squads mount up in a truck and join the forward assault of the Sentinels/Hellhound hopefully creating too many targets to deal with easily.

Is that too many heavy flamers? Are those heavy weapon teams better as 3x AM Infantry Squads?

I've been submitting a bunch of lists and I appreciate any and all feedback.

In my opinion there is never enough Heavy Flamers.
I actually quite like this list. Not a fan of Heavy Weapons teams myself, would rather see another Leman Russ.
12 Acolytes are quite odd, I would rather see them as 10-man squad with Heavy Weapons teams being both Lascannon.
Demolition charge Acolytes are nice for alpha strike, too bad it's only once per game.

Quick question, guys - if you have a GSC army with one or more IG detachments, are you allowed to make one of the IG HQs your warlord and take relics from the IG book?

I don’t see why not. Just remember you can’t use anything regiment specific

So I have the Tyranid codex in hand....looking at the relics warlord traits and many of the stratagems.....they all key off the Tyranid KW and "Tyranid" army which all pure GSC units/armies are. It looks like we can use them all unless a FAQ comes down preventing it.

So what do we all think? It would be nice to put Ygmeral factor onto our paterarch or Primus, or give the Paterarch Mawclaws, go with the reduce wounds by one to min of one after beeing damaged WL trait.... Rain down Spore mines with the Strat.... tons of options really it's almost as good as getting a codex ourselves. :-)

Timeshadow wrote:
So I have the Tyranid codex in hand....looking at the relics warlord traits and many of the stratagems.....they all key off the Tyranid KW and "Tyranid" army which all pure GSC units/armies are. It looks like we can use them all unless a FAQ comes down preventing it.

So what do we all think? It would be nice to put Ygmeral factor onto our paterarch or Primus, or give the Paterarch Mawclaws, go with the reduce wounds by one to min of one after beeing damaged WL trait.... Rain down Spore mines with the Strat.... tons of options really it's almost as good as getting a codex ourselves. :-)

So far, with my GSC ambush tactics mainly revolving around dropping three nasty "money" units and hoping to get 1-2 into combat, most of my CPs will be going towards "3CP to attack again in combat." Whether that's with my purestrains, my Acolytes, or my Aberrants, I don't know, but this could really help in a situation where 2/3 of my melee threats don't roll well. 3/3, I'm still boned, but that's the nature of the beast with GSC, if you roll in the low 5-10% early you're just hosed for the rest of the game (while on the flipside if you roll in the high 5-10% you auto-win)

Timeshadow wrote:So I have the Tyranid codex in hand....looking at the relics warlord traits and many of the stratagems.....they all key off the Tyranid KW and "Tyranid" army which all pure GSC units/armies are. It looks like we can use them all unless a FAQ comes down preventing it.

So what do we all think? It would be nice to put Ygmeral factor onto our patriarch or Primus, or give the Patriarch Mawclaws, go with the reduce wounds by one to min of one after being damaged WL trait.... Rain down Spore mines with the Strat.... tons of options really it's almost as good as getting a codex ourselves. :-)

I'm still waiting on an FAQ in regards to the Relics before making use of them myself, but the ones that can be equipped both look nice. I like the idea of using the Ymgarl Factor to represent an Ymgarl Patriarch (would be a fun modeling project) but the Maw Claws would probably be the best one for him since they grant complete rerolls which are extremely powerful. Spores sadly require reinforcement points to use the stratagem (their Living Bomb rule was modified in the new book).

Didn't occur to me that the Warlord traits were also eligible for use, though again that is probably another item subject to FAQ. Alien Cunning would be nice for the Patriarch though, since you could set him up in Ambush and then redeploy him on the table or vice versa if desired.

the_scotsman wrote:
So far, with my GSC ambush tactics mainly revolving around dropping three nasty "money" units and hoping to get 1-2 into combat, most of my CPs will be going towards "3CP to attack again in combat." Whether that's with my purestrains, my Acolytes, or my Aberrants, I don't know, but this could really help in a situation where 2/3 of my melee threats don't roll well. 3/3, I'm still boned, but that's the nature of the beast with GSC, if you roll in the low 5-10% early you're just hosed for the rest of the game (while on the flipside if you roll in the high 5-10% you auto-win)

I've been leaning somewhat similarly with less mechanized lists, with 1-2 melee units backed up by 2-3 Neophyte ambushers and 1-2 attending characters. I did see an interesting tactic in the Tyranid thread involving the use of Overrun to slingshot 'stealers deeper into enemy lines after obliterating a screening unit and then using Adrenal Surge to have them pile in and fight a second time against their real targets. Its expensive, but it does help bypass speed bumps. Also supposedly Chapter Approved has the old Sub-Terrain Uprising formation bonus returning as a stratagem which should help out a bit.

Also have you been having any better luck since your last post in here?

Wonder if anyone has anything to say about the advantages/disadvantages of Scout Sentinels (w/HVY Flamers) vs. Lictors. I can't imagine this conversation happening anywhere but this thread.

I'm looking for a disruptive unit that can add some pressure to an opponent while the rest of my army moves up the board or cult ambushes. They both seem like really good tactically diverse units that can do a variety of tasks - I guess you would say they are support units.

They are both about the same cost and they are both 'disposable' units, good at disrupting the enemy. They can tie up vehicles to keep them from shooting, they can soften up a unit of infantry or character, they can grab objectives way across the table. Lictors seem to be a lot easier to kill than Sentinels but Lictors certainly hit a lot harder than the Sentinels, though a Sentinel Power Lifter ( 3attacks, WS4+, S10, -2AP, D3 Damage) is pretty intense and still gets a scout move.

Thanks to a previous post on this thread pointing out how good Lictors could be the Lictor is edging ahead for me because it seems to hit a lot harder than a Sentinel and given some of the Lictor specific stratagems from the Tyranids Codex it seems very strong. The Scout Sentinels can up their armour save and have a variable boost across the table with "Go Recon!" but that seems paltry compared to the fallback, shoot and re-charge one. Not to mention the capacity to attack twice, the Ovverun, the Pheromone Trail, the returning command points, etc ones the Lictor gets. The Lictor cannot deny deepstrike as well as Scout Sentinels but may work better with our army overall.

Taking 3x and a Neurothrope is only 205 points. If you make them Kraken you can always fall back and charge without costing a CP and your movement capacity for objectives is insane with the Kraken strategem. A Kraken Lictor could move 21" for 1 CP in a way that is far more reliable than the "Go Recon." one for Scout Sentinels. The Neurothrope is no slouch either.

And as far as I can tell from the GSC Index entries we can field Lictors in our normal GSC detachments though we lose our ambushing capacity for units in that detachment.

What am I missing about the Scout Sentinel?

I like the Sentinel as its though, and its harder to screen it away. The T5 vs T4 is really a huge difference vs bolter/heavybolter fire. A well set up army will make it hard for the lictor to charge something worthwhile form ambush ime, but the sentinel with scout move can get close to a screen, with some help from the backline flame the screen away and charge in and lock up something nasty in CC. Oh, and rule of cool mandates thats all sentinels take chainsaws.

 Strat_N8 wrote:

Timeshadow wrote:So I have the Tyranid codex in hand....looking at the relics warlord traits and many of the stratagems.....they all key off the Tyranid KW and "Tyranid" army which all pure GSC units/armies are. It looks like we can use them all unless a FAQ comes down preventing it.

So what do we all think? It would be nice to put Ygmeral factor onto our patriarch or Primus, or give the Patriarch Mawclaws, go with the reduce wounds by one to min of one after being damaged WL trait.... Rain down Spore mines with the Strat.... tons of options really it's almost as good as getting a codex ourselves. :-)

I'm still waiting on an FAQ in regards to the Relics before making use of them myself, but the ones that can be equipped both look nice. I like the idea of using the Ymgarl Factor to represent an Ymgarl Patriarch (would be a fun modeling project) but the Maw Claws would probably be the best one for him since they grant complete rerolls which are extremely powerful. Spores sadly require reinforcement points to use the stratagem (their Living Bomb rule was modified in the new book).

Didn't occur to me that the Warlord traits were also eligible for use, though again that is probably another item subject to FAQ. Alien Cunning would be nice for the Patriarch though, since you could set him up in Ambush and then redeploy him on the table or vice versa if desired.

the_scotsman wrote:
So far, with my GSC ambush tactics mainly revolving around dropping three nasty "money" units and hoping to get 1-2 into combat, most of my CPs will be going towards "3CP to attack again in combat." Whether that's with my purestrains, my Acolytes, or my Aberrants, I don't know, but this could really help in a situation where 2/3 of my melee threats don't roll well. 3/3, I'm still boned, but that's the nature of the beast with GSC, if you roll in the low 5-10% early you're just hosed for the rest of the game (while on the flipside if you roll in the high 5-10% you auto-win)

I've been leaning somewhat similarly with less mechanized lists, with 1-2 melee units backed up by 2-3 Neophyte ambushers and 1-2 attending characters. I did see an interesting tactic in the Tyranid thread involving the use of Overrun to slingshot 'stealers deeper into enemy lines after obliterating a screening unit and then using Adrenal Surge to have them pile in and fight a second time against their real targets. Its expensive, but it does help bypass speed bumps. Also supposedly Chapter Approved has the old Sub-Terrain Uprising formation bonus returning as a stratagem which should help out a bit.

Also have you been having any better luck since your last post in here?

I haven't played them since, but I have a game set up this weekend where I will be trying out two Goliath trucks I recently got painted.

If you don't mind me asking, where were you seeing rumors for the GSC stuff in Chapter Approved?

Caspian89 wrote:Wonder if anyone has anything to say about the advantages/disadvantages of Scout Sentinels (w/HVY Flamers) vs. Lictors. I can't imagine this conversation happening anywhere but this thread.
[...]

What am I missing about the Scout Sentinel?

The biggest advantage the Scout Sentinel has is that it is more durable and isn't as concerned with opposing screens as Lictors. The other factor to keep in mind is that Lictors are major consumers of command points to use their abilities (albeit with the ability to make back some via Feeder Tendrils) while Scout Sentinels are mostly fine being left to their own devices. The Scout Sentinels also don't impact the amount of ambushes that can be performed while Lictors more or less will always use their Chameleonic Skin ability to deploy and thus "cost" a potential ambush slot.

Also if nothing else, a Scout Sentinel can mount an anti-tank gun on its chassis if needed while Lictors by and large are locked into anti-infantry (though having Rending Claws they can hurt big things, just better off vs infantry).

the_scotsman wrote:
I haven't played them since, but I have a game set up this weekend where I will be trying out two Goliath trucks I recently got painted.

Hope it goes well for you! I've generally had good results from my Goliaths, so hopefully they will serve you well.

the_scotsman wrote:
If you don't mind me asking, where were you seeing rumors for the GSC stuff in Chapter Approved?

http://natfka.blogspot.com/2017/11/chapter-approved-2017-deathwatch.html

Take with salt of course. They announced the Chapter Approved book on the Warhammer Community Page for pre-order next week, so previews should start popping up shortly to confirm or reject.

BTW spores do not require reinforcement points. Ive read the rule over and over and while some people will say "only spores spawned by units don't cost reinforcement points" that's not at all what the rule says.


Its just giving examples of things that spawn them. The rule itself clearly says "if you are playing a matched play game, the creation of new spore mines by another unit is free, and the spore mines points cost does not come out of your pool of reinforcement points".

The stuff in parenthesis isn't important towards the context of the whole sentence.

It isn't the parenthesis examples that causes them to require reinforcement points unfortunately, it is the condition of being created by another unit. The stratagem isn't another unit so it doesn't qualify for the exemption provided by the Living Bomb rule.

I suppose on a different note, has anyone looked to Mawlocs as ambush support? They have the handy ability to start on the table and use their burrow ability to go into reserve, thus they count towards units that can ambush while still being able to effectively do so themselves. Plus they are very cheap and have a decent number of attacks.

 Strat_N8 wrote:
It isn't the parenthesis examples that causes them to require reinforcement points unfortunately, it is the condition of being created by another unit. The stratagem isn't another unit so it doesn't qualify for the exemption provided by the Living Bomb rule.

I suppose on a different note, has anyone looked to Mawlocs as ambush support? They have the handy ability to start on the table and use their burrow ability to go into reserve, thus they count towards units that can ambush while still being able to effectively do so themselves. Plus they are very cheap and have a decent number of attacks.

The parenthesis is examples of units that spawn them during the game, which they get for free. Noone contested that part.

its the second part that people are getting confused.

AND the spore mines points cost does not come out of your pool of reinforcement points.

That part has nothing to do with them being spawned free, its a seperate clause of the Living bomb rule.

Game went alright, my list was 2 battalions of pure GSCs. I had a Primus striking in with 15 Acolytes, maxed out heavy weapons, a Chimera full of stealers and a patriarch, 2 squads of Neophytes with shotguns and flamers, 2 squads of neophytes with lasers and grenade launchers in Goliaths. 2 Battlecannon/Lascannon russes, 1 scout sentinel with HF, and a goliath rockgrinder with a magus and bomb acolytes in it.

I played against a very un-powergamed Ork list and came out well on top in terms of scoring (we played Drawn and Quartered from open war and I won something like 12 to 5) but got pretty much slaughtered and if it had gone past turn 5 I may have been tabled. I had 2 empty goliaths, empty rockgrinder, the Primus on an objective, and a Russ at the end of the game, everything else dead. He had a trukk full of tankbustas, a battlewagon with deffrolla, two empty trukks, a biker big mek, and a handful of ork boyz left by the end.

Despite loading what seems like inordinate amounts of anti-tank into my list, I struggled to take out even one trukk a turn with my full firepower, and I rolled really well with the 15 acolytes and sent them on a huge rampage through 2 units of bikers, a Scorcha, a warboss, and a trukk until finally 20 ork boyz piled out and smashed them to a pulp. All our anti tank shooting is super unreliable, BS4+ mostly Heavy Weapons with no to-hit buffs to be had. So how do we compensate for that and kill tanks successfully?

the_scotsman wrote:

I played against a very un-powergamed Ork list and came out well on top in terms of scoring (we played Drawn and Quartered from open war and I won something like 12 to 5) but got pretty much slaughtered and if it had gone past turn 5 I may have been tabled. I had 2 empty goliaths, empty rockgrinder, the Primus on an objective, and a Russ at the end of the game, everything else dead. He had a trukk full of tankbustas, a battlewagon with deffrolla, two empty trukks, a biker big mek, and a handful of ork boyz left by the end.

Congratulations on your victory! Might not have been a power gamer list, but it sounds like it was still a good fight. Most of my games with pure GSC have been pretty casualty heavy for both sides as well, just have to insure that for each unit you give you take something more valuable from the opponent.

the_scotsman wrote:
All our anti tank shooting is super unreliable, BS4+ mostly Heavy Weapons with no to-hit buffs to be had. So how do we compensate for that and kill tanks successfully?

I probably sound like a broken record, but my go-to tank remover has generally been Demolition Charges en-mass (4-ish per Acolyte squad). They usually get a large number of shots (about 12 to 15-ish for me) which helps compensate for BS4+ and overwhelm the target or at least blow a sufficient enough chunk away that one of the other ranged options or a melee squad can finish it off.

Melee is definitely our main way of reliably removing tanks for the time being though. The ranged weapons are chiefly to soften the target up on the approach.

This seems like a fun list:

+++ 2666 (Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition) [105 PL, 1999pts] +++

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Imperium - Astra Militarum) ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

Regiment: Millitarum Tempestus

+ HQ +

Tempestor Prime: Astra Militarum Orders, Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod

Tempestor Prime: Astra Militarum Orders, Chainsword, Tempestus Command Rod

+ Troops +

Militarum Tempestus Scions
. 5x Scion: 5x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Plasma pistol

Militarum Tempestus Scions
. 5x Scion: 5x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Plasma pistol

Militarum Tempestus Scions
. 5x Scion: 5x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Plasma pistol

Militarum Tempestus Scions
. 5x Scion: 5x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Scion w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Tempestor: Chainsword, Hot-shot Laspistol

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Tyranids) ++

+ No Force Org Slot +

Hive Fleet: Kraken

+ HQ +

Malanthropes: Malanthrope

Tervigon: Chameleonic Mutation, Massive Scything Talons, Power: Psychic Scream, Stinger Salvo, Warlord Trait: Adaptive Biology

+ Troops +

Ripper Swarms: 3x Ripper Swarm

Termagants
. 10x Termagant (Devourer): 10x Devourer
. 19x Termagant (Fleshborer)

Termagants
. 10x Termagant (Devourer): 10x Devourer
. 19x Termagant (Fleshborer)

++ Battalion Detachment +3CP (Tyranids - Genestealer Cults) ++

+ HQ +

Acolyte Iconward

Patriarch: Power: Mass Hypnosis

+ Troops +

Neophyte Hybrids: 9x Neophyte Hybrid
. Neophyte Leader: Autogun, Autopistol

Neophyte Hybrids: 9x Neophyte Hybrid
. Neophyte Leader: Autogun, Autopistol

Neophyte Hybrids: 9x Neophyte Hybrid
. Neophyte Leader: Autogun, Autopistol

+ Elites +

Purestrain Genestealers: 20x Purestrain Genestealer, 20x Purestrain Talons

Created with BattleScribe (https://battlescribe.net)

It looks potentially quite nasty, but I'm not sure if we can take a detachment of purely Miltarium Tempestus models as our Brood Brother allowance with the current FAQ since they don't have a Regiment keyword to replace with <Brood Brothers> and the FAQ specifically forbids the Brood Brothers detachment from taking a regiment doctrine.

Apart from that possible issue, I'd probably try to get some of the command point recovery tools in the AM detachment as Tyranids have quite a few excellent stratagems (most of which currently also work on GSC models) and being able to reclaim spent command points is probably one of the strongest elements AM bring to them. Also there may be some issues with the number of units that want to deploy from reserves compared to the relatively few number that are fine starting on the table. Might be wise to see about adding some weapon teams or sentinels as a means to enable more reserve deployments while also contributing to offense.

Some leaks from chapter approved are floating around. Looks like none of our units received a direct cost reduction but quite a bit of equipment got cheaper. Power Hammers dropped 8 points, Power Picks dropped 6 points, Rock Saws dropped 10 points, Seismic Cannons dropped 7 points while the Heavy Seismic Cannon dropped 10 points. Biggest winners here are Aberrants with 4x power picks being 27 points cheaper, 4x hammers being 32 points cheaper, and a 2x2 squad being 24 points cheaper.

I will update the main post once I have a copy myself to confirm.

It also seems like given that the rumours for the other factions have been accurate that we also get our Warlord trait, Relic and two strategems.

The Relic, if true, is +1 Strength to all Infantry units in 6". With the cost reduction on the Abberants and the potential to give them +1Strength, those 10points Power Picks will be hitting at S8, this makes them very attractive. I can see myself running the relic on a Primus who can Ambush on and off the table (with the new 'return to the shadows'-like stratagem) wherever the buffs are needed.

Im very disappointed without the drop points of acolytes and metamorphs .. and handflammers.. and mutations of metamorphs..

I'll keep waiting for the codex.

I've seen some leaks and you didn't mention the fact that Purestrain Genestealers got points reduced to 15. Not to mention Purstrain Talons being free upgrade now. Don't know how reliable those leaks are though.

Genestealers cost 15 points for months.. (FAQ)

One thing that didn't occur to me until reviewing the leaks and comparing to the index, but the Heavy Seismic Cannon is now the cheapest weapon for the Rockgrinder at a full 7 points cheaper than the Clearance Incinerator! I might have to see about building a few more for my magnetized 'grinders...

Caspian89 wrote:
The Relic, if true, is +1 Strength to all Infantry units in 6". With the cost reduction on the Abberants and the potential to give them +1Strength, those 10points Power Picks will be hitting at S8, this makes them very attractive. I can see myself running the relic on a Primus who can Ambush on and off the table (with the new 'return to the shadows'-like stratagem) wherever the buffs are needed.

Sadly the Power Picks are currently Strength User weapons, so at best you can get them up to S7 with both buffs in effect. On the other hand, Hammers would then go to Strength 12 which has some interesting potential as it allows them wound up to T6 on a 2+.

zamerion wrote:Im very disappointed without the drop points of acolytes and metamorphs .. and handflammers.. and mutations of metamorphs..

I'll keep waiting for the codex.

Acolytes did get an indirect cost drop with the Rock Saws almost halving in cost. Of all of their special melee weapons, Saws are the best suited to being deployed en-mass since their main function is strictly consistent damage dealing and the new cost makes them much more affordable. An Acolyte squad of 10 with 4x Saws is now 166 points rather than 206, making them only 16 points more than an equal amount of Purestrains and unlike their kin they aren't as badly impacted by casualties.

Agreed in regards to Metamorphs, it is a shame they didn't look into them with this update. They basically need their unique weapons to be free in order to be viable as they exist now, though I'm expecting they might see a major overhaul come time for the codex.

Kandela wrote:I've seen some leaks and you didn't mention the fact that Purestrain Genestealers got points reduced to 15. Not to mention Purstrain Talons being free upgrade now. Don't know how reliable those leaks are though.

As Zamerion mentioned, both of those changes were made back in the second Xenos 2 FAQ after the first one messed up and made them 10 points each to match Tyranid 'stealers, forgetting that GSC doesn't pay for Rending Claws and Tyranids do.

Here goes me trusting external sources like battlescribe for current point value. Thanks for clarification!

 Strat_N8 wrote:
Some leaks from chapter approved are floating around. Looks like none of our units received a direct cost reduction but quite a bit of equipment got cheaper. Power Hammers dropped 8 points, Power Picks dropped 6 points, Rock Saws dropped 10 points, Seismic Cannons dropped 7 points while the Heavy Seismic Cannon dropped 10 points. Biggest winners here are Aberrants with 4x power picks being 27 points cheaper, 4x hammers being 32 points cheaper, and a 2x2 squad being 24 points cheaper.

I will update the main post once I have a copy myself to confirm.

I really wish they had put Aberrants in the new battleforce box instead of the HQ options.

So I've just purchased the holiday bundle, and have a bunch of tempestus scions from my previous army. Are they compatible with each other?

What are some of the "must" purchases on the AM side of things? Not really a huge fan of tyranids outside of the GSC stuff, but Lemans and sentinels have always looked cool to me.

ajax_xaja wrote:
So I've just purchased the holiday bundle, and have a bunch of tempestus scions from my previous army. Are they compatible with each other?

What are some of the "must" purchases on the AM side of things? Not really a huge fan of tyranids outside of the GSC stuff, but Lemans and sentinels have always looked cool to me.

Everything AM is compatible with Genestealer Cult (part why I like the army so much).

In my book a "must" purchase is 3 Leman Russes. Now that we have access to Grinding Assault they are very good in Genestealer Cult. Next one are Acolytes with Heavy Rock Saws (2 in each squad). They were good without point decrease, now they are absurdly good. Sentinels with Heavy Flamers do nice as points filler, just don't expect them to do wonders.

D6Damager wrote:
I really wish they had put Aberrants in the new battleforce box instead of the HQ options.

That would have been nice, but I can understand why they did not. The current Aberrant models are part of the Overkill sprue with all the other models and don't have a continent place to separate them like the characters had. That said, the new Goliath gang models might make a good substitute. They are about the same size as the Aberrants (and are on the same bases) and the kit comes with what looks like 4 Power Hammers. Just swap the heads and it should work, albeit they will be less mutated that proper Aberrants without a bit of kitbashing.

ajax_xaja wrote:So I've just purchased the holiday bundle, and have a bunch of tempestus scions from my previous army. Are they compatible with each other?.

They should be, though as mentioned prior due to the FAQ on Brood Brothers I'm not sure if you can take a pure Tempestus detachment as your brood brother's allowance since they have a fixed regiment and the FAQ prohibits taking regiments doctrines. The Astra Militarium codex itself allows Scions to be included in another regiment's detachment by ignoring the Scion's regiment keyword, so they should still work when included with other units.

ajax_xaja wrote:
What are some of the "must" purchases on the AM side of things? Not really a huge fan of tyranids outside of the GSC stuff, but Lemans and sentinels have always looked cool to me.

Both Sentinels and Russes have cross-faction compatibility so they aren't a bad place to start. I'd probably look towards the AM artillery units as the next step since they can be hidden out of sight which forces your opponent to come to you which makes things easier for the melee-minded GSC. While I have not had an opportunity to employ them, Ogryns also look like they would pair well with GSC units since they also have a bias towards close combat and provide a solid anvil for the more glass hammer GSC melee units.

Lastly, you probably want a company commander for access to the widest range of AM relics, including things like Kurov's Aquila for command point regeneration.

With Chapter Approved, Acolytes with Rocksaws are pretty Decent, imo.

A squad of 20 with 8 saws and a Primus for making use of the new Stratagem is 410pts, but ends up giving you 18 S8 AP-4 2d, 36 S4 ap- 1d Attacks on the charge if everyone is in range. That's... pretty neat, especially when rolling 3 dice on the table w/ rerolls from the Primus.

2 Squads of those would allow you to, pretty safely, drop in turn one and then again on turn 2 with another use of the stratagem.

I'd like to combine this idea w/ either IG or Tyranids for Stratagem combinations, especially the Nid fight-twice stratagem. Any opinions here, folks? Currently this is a pet idea i'm having fun playing with, and may pick up a few boxes of things just to expand on after/during the Holidays.

Edit: Not to mention might from beyond/using a Lictor to deep strike the Banner Relic in, there's lots of options.

I was crunching the numbers and Aberrants can hit CRAZY hard. Like, kill multiple knights per turn under optimal conditions crazy.

8 Aberrants buffed by Might from Beyond and a Primus using the Adrenaline Surge stratagem deals a whopping 54 wounds on T8/3+ on average. Of course that relies on both a psyker power going off, making the charge, not dying to overwatch and the enemy not smacking the aberrants before they get to attack again, but still thats insane.

Also, Return to the Shadows occurs during the end of the movement phase, so it should be possible to have a primus ferry in a large squad (with very high chances of getting a 5/6 and optional lictor taxi back-up), then return to the shadows in the same turn to set up another drop next turn.