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I don’t see mention of them very much and i kind of like them. Are they any good?

They're a relatively new army that only recently received a lot of model support. Like 2019 I think? I think many would consider it a niche army. That and to win games you have to buy a lot of models. If you can still find the start collecting and combat patrols at discount rates, grab a few of those each. Then a genestealer cult half of their recent versus box. Those should be really cheap on Ebay still.

They're a fun army though. My second favorite behind Tyranids. And honestly I usually win more with Genestealer Cult games then Tyranid games. I prefer previous editions but the new Genestealer Cult but the main idea now is still the same. Swarm and overwhelm! As for if you'd like them... it depends on what you like. Some armies give you a whole lot of play styles. Genestealer Cult is not one of those armies. You have fragile melee or fragile shooting. Pick 1. Those are the options the star gods grant you. They take a lot of skill to play and are very fragile to attacks. If that's something you love then you'll like playing them. If you want tanky units though I would get something else entirely lol.

They seem to be doing "fine", but that's relative to the CusTau meta. They would probably thrive a bit better without them in the way.

You probably want information about how they play as a 2k matched army. I have no expertise in this domain- most other Dakkanaughts will be able to tell you more about that than I can.

What I will say is GSC are one of the most rewarding factions for narrative play. Their Crusade content is pretty fantastic- probably tied with DE for best bespoke Crusade content of the edition. Tau are in the same league too.

The GSC Crusade content is helpful for world and campaign building as well as offering a narrative specifically for the cult. I also like the way cult composition changes over time to give you different options for the smaller battles.

From what I can tell about their newest ruleset, they look like a solid army, but a big reason why they aren't currently very popular on the 40k scene compared to Custodes and Tau is that:

1. Very expensive to collect. Compared to the low model count and army cost efficiency of Custodes and the existing Tau collections from previous editions, GSC don't have the same collection momentum and appeal, especially for tourney players, which tends to be the main spotlight stealer for net-lists and that's why you don't see them show up very much when you have cheaper options available.

2. Glass hammer, GSC are not a forgiving army and are quite squishy, even though they do currently have a build where you can address that with a specific cult and relic at the moment. Both Tau and Custodes are much more survivable with how deadly the current meta is.

3. High skill ceiling. GSC aren't point and click like Tau can be in many ways with regards to spamming no LoS weaponry and buffs on Broadsides/battlesuits. You need to have a very good placement of units and understanding of strats/abilities to make the most of crossfire and effectively deploying your ambush units. The margin for error is much higher which in turn means they are lot harder to master, which for tourney players and the majority of people will turn them off from learning how to play them effectively since you may have to lose quite a bit when you first start before you get the hang of things.

Kya_Vess wrote:
They're a relatively new army that only recently received a lot of model support. Like 2019 I think?

They're a recently returned Army like Sisters. Both had a 2E Army List.

I think many would consider it a niche army.

Gateway/Crossover Army. They're going to be popular in kill teams and vs Boxed Sets because of Nids. You get a boxed set of GSC, fill it out, then get into Nids. You're into Nids, so you get the Boxed set and have some genestealers to cross over. You've got Guard, or you've got Nids and want to get into Nids/Guard. I'd say they are to Nids/Guard what GW wishes they were doing to Imperial Agents.

That and to win games you have to buy a lot of models. If you can still find the start collecting and combat patrols at discount rates, grab a few of those each. Then a genestealer cult half of their recent versus box. Those should be really cheap on Ebay still.

They're a fun army though. My second favorite behind Tyranids. And honestly I usually win more with Genestealer Cult games then Tyranid games. I prefer previous editions but the new Genestealer Cult but the main idea now is still the same. Swarm and overwhelm! As for if you'd like them... it depends on what you like. Some armies give you a whole lot of play styles. Genestealer Cult is not one of those armies. You have fragile melee or fragile shooting. Pick 1. Those are the options the star gods grant you. They take a lot of skill to play and are very fragile to attacks. If that's something you love then you'll like playing them. If you want tanky units though I would get something else entirely lol.

That feeds into my crossover point. They're best if you've already got Nids or especially Guard - and can dual purpose the models.

Breton wrote:

Kya_Vess wrote:
They're a relatively new army that only recently received a lot of model support. Like 2019 I think?

They're a recently returned Army like Sisters. Both had a 2E Army List.

I think many would consider it a niche army.

Gateway/Crossover Army. They're going to be popular in kill teams and vs Boxed Sets because of Nids. You get a boxed set of GSC, fill it out, then get into Nids. You're into Nids, so you get the Boxed set and have some genestealers to cross over. You've got Guard, or you've got Nids and want to get into Nids/Guard. I'd say they are to Nids/Guard what GW wishes they were doing to Imperial Agents.

That and to win games you have to buy a lot of models. If you can still find the start collecting and combat patrols at discount rates, grab a few of those each. Then a genestealer cult half of their recent versus box. Those should be really cheap on Ebay still.

They're a fun army though. My second favorite behind Tyranids. And honestly I usually win more with Genestealer Cult games then Tyranid games. I prefer previous editions but the new Genestealer Cult but the main idea now is still the same. Swarm and overwhelm! As for if you'd like them... it depends on what you like. Some armies give you a whole lot of play styles. Genestealer Cult is not one of those armies. You have fragile melee or fragile shooting. Pick 1. Those are the options the star gods grant you. They take a lot of skill to play and are very fragile to attacks. If that's something you love then you'll like playing them. If you want tanky units though I would get something else entirely lol.

That feeds into my crossover point. They're best if you've already got Nids or especially Guard - and can dual purpose the models.

Nids break the faction rules for GSC now though don't forget.

Dudeface wrote:

Breton wrote:

Kya_Vess wrote:
They're a relatively new army that only recently received a lot of model support. Like 2019 I think?

They're a recently returned Army like Sisters. Both had a 2E Army List.

I think many would consider it a niche army.

Gateway/Crossover Army. They're going to be popular in kill teams and vs Boxed Sets because of Nids. You get a boxed set of GSC, fill it out, then get into Nids. You're into Nids, so you get the Boxed set and have some genestealers to cross over. You've got Guard, or you've got Nids and want to get into Nids/Guard. I'd say they are to Nids/Guard what GW wishes they were doing to Imperial Agents.

That and to win games you have to buy a lot of models. If you can still find the start collecting and combat patrols at discount rates, grab a few of those each. Then a genestealer cult half of their recent versus box. Those should be really cheap on Ebay still.

They're a fun army though. My second favorite behind Tyranids. And honestly I usually win more with Genestealer Cult games then Tyranid games. I prefer previous editions but the new Genestealer Cult but the main idea now is still the same. Swarm and overwhelm! As for if you'd like them... it depends on what you like. Some armies give you a whole lot of play styles. Genestealer Cult is not one of those armies. You have fragile melee or fragile shooting. Pick 1. Those are the options the star gods grant you. They take a lot of skill to play and are very fragile to attacks. If that's something you love then you'll like playing them. If you want tanky units though I would get something else entirely lol.

That feeds into my crossover point. They're best if you've already got Nids or especially Guard - and can dual purpose the models.

Nids break the faction rules for GSC now though don't forget.

yes but all GSC loose for Souping is Crossfire. Which is why mixed lists bring Nid shooting and GSC deepstrike and combat.

As others have said. GSC is 'fine' for an army that is not Custodes/Tau but they are expensive to collect and a very high skilled faction that will brutally punish you for mistakes since they are not that popular.

cost aside... that's the nature of the beast, they look fun.
are they comparable to guard?
they actually look like a beefed up version of them minus the tanks (of course which you can add if you want).

thanks for the responses all.

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
cost aside... that's the nature of the beast, they look fun.
are they comparable to guard?
they actually look like a beefed up version of them minus the tanks (of course which you can add if you want).

thanks for the responses all.

Currently guard are in a very bad spot rules wise as they bleed secondaries in 9th edition and their rules are sorely outdated in terms of both damage output and utility outside of a few units. So they're definitely much better compared to guard at the moment. They're like a renegade version of guard with more pre-deployment and movement shenanigans as well as more CC focused.

 Grimskul wrote:

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
cost aside... that's the nature of the beast, they look fun.
are they comparable to guard?
they actually look like a beefed up version of them minus the tanks (of course which you can add if you want).

thanks for the responses all.

Currently guard are in a very bad spot rules wise as they bleed secondaries in 9th edition and their rules are sorely outdated in terms of both damage output and utility outside of a few units. So they're definitely much better compared to guard at the moment. They're like a renegade version of guard with more pre-deployment and movement shenanigans as well as more CC focused.

they don't have much in common with Renegades or guard indeed, whilest guard is a Literall anvil GSC certainly are not..


They are a glass cannon.
They are highly dependant upon positioning, yours and the enemies. And due to that, can be really mean / really tough.
They are extremely synergistic.
They need a dedicated list style for your strategy. The good thing about that? They literally can do and form lists to accomondate their playstyle, however they require that, and by extention don't do tac all that well.


All of these points lead to a difficult, somewhat non-durable (you can build durabilty builds but in a non conventional way) but really rewarding army.
(bonus points if you like to convert things, the GSC list is a really nice list f.e. to represent Chaos cults and paramilitaries aswell as mutant uprisings.)

Not Online!!! wrote:
whilest guard is a Literall anvil GSC certainly are not

Guard is anvil?

You mean the T3 5+ save body, with 10 wounds in squad, while most enemy units output 40-50 shots with -2 AP these days?

Or the tanks with no access to any sort of durability boosts that die to single shot of most broken xeno gak people field these days never lasting through first shooting phase, while being unable to dish the same in return? Seriously, just look at Vanquisher gun stats, super AT tank cannon has worse damage output than tiny infantry AT guns fielded by xenos now

That guard?

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
cost aside... that's the nature of the beast, they look fun.
are they comparable to guard?
they actually look like a beefed up version of them minus the tanks (of course which you can add if you want).

thanks for the responses all.

I dont think they play anything like guard. Unless you just bring mostly guard with your gsc. As mentioned before we dont really have tanky units. I think our tankiest is the abberents whne buffed. Even then they die quickly enough.

As for nids being the gateway drug to cultists. Maybe. I have nids and genestealer cult but most cult players just have cultists and some other army if that. The only real unit that you can use for both are genestealers and for as long as I've been playing the armys dont exactly mix well on the table.

 Irbis wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:
whilest guard is a Literall anvil GSC certainly are not

Guard is anvil?

You mean the T3 5+ save body, with 10 wounds in squad, while most enemy units output 40-50 shots with -2 AP these days?

Or the tanks with no access to any sort of durability boosts that die to single shot of most broken xeno gak people field these days never lasting through first shooting phase, while being unable to dish the same in return? Seriously, just look at Vanquisher gun stats, super AT tank cannon has worse damage output than tiny infantry AT guns fielded by xenos now

That guard?

in theory, not in practice.

Its pretty clear that the anvil has rusted away.

Not Online!!! wrote:

in theory, not in practice.

Its pretty clear that the anvil has rusted away.

But theory doesn't matter to the current state of the game, so you're misrepresenting things.

usernamesareannoying wrote:
are they comparable to guard?
they actually look like a beefed up version of them minus the tanks (of course which you can add if you want).

I think the GSC compare a bit more to the Druhkari in play style (if not raw power). Both are more combined-arms (meaning they lean on both melee and shooting) forces that want to trade up where possible and similar levels of aggression and emphasis on positioning. Guard are more static in comparison and don't really play the trading game (they are designed instead to offer poor trades for each unit they loose - in practice this isn't working quite as well as originally designed with the points being as they are).

For competitive play, it looks like they can perform if used by someone who had prior experience with the army. Besides the commentary about the cost of entry, another thing that probably keeps the numbers down a bit is that they traditionally have been released at the end of an edition and subsequently struggled in the following one. It is highly probable that many of the people who have the army have generally had the army shelved for most of the time and haven't been actively adding to it or playing it between books.

Irbis wrote:Seriously, just look at Vanquisher gun stats, super AT tank cannon has worse damage output than tiny infantry AT guns fielded by xenos now

You might want to take a look at the Vanquisher profile in the 9th edition Imperial Armor Compendium, it is considerably upgraded over the codex version (S16, Heavy 2, AP -4, flat damage 9, +1 to hit vs monster or vehicle).

 Strat_N8 wrote:


You might want to take a look at the Vanquisher profile in the 9th edition Imperial Armor Compendium, it is considerably upgraded over the codex version (S16, Heavy 2, AP -4, flat damage 9, +1 to hit vs monster or vehicle).

Which of course is different weapon(it's not even named vanquisher cannon) as the one used by leman russ. What the leman russ weapon stats will be unknown. Not same though.

(and for sure heavy 1 for russ version unless russ somehow carries better weapon than bigger macharius...)

i keep seeing mention of tau... whats so great about them?
im not a competitive player by any means so if thats a stupid question i apologize.

GSC and Tau are on my list for possible new armies.

i like the tau combat patrol, the ghostkeel is cool and i like the stealth suits so it seems like a good place to start.

are they worth it?
is the hammerhead the goto for the heavy slot?

man this is a change of topic i guess... lol

 usernamesareannoying wrote:
i keep seeing mention of tau... whats so great about them?
im not a competitive player by any means so if thats a stupid question i apologize.

GSC and Tau are on my list for possible new armies.

i like the tau combat patrol, the ghostkeel is cool and i like the stealth suits so it seems like a good place to start.

are they worth it?
is the hammerhead the goto for the heavy slot?

man this is a change of topic i guess... lol

to not go to far offtopic, Tau have effectively Custodes level defensive stats (4w t5 2+/4++) while also having the most firepower in the game. And a lot of it is non-LoS so you can't even hide.

(like 55 points for a profile like that but you also get 2d6 24" str 4 -1AP non-LoS and another 6 str 5 shots with LoS or 2 str 8 -4 AP 3D + 3 str 8 -2AP 2D
(that is Iridium armour, shield gen and either 2 Airburst + burstcannon or 2 Plasma + cyclic)

The new book is fantastic in my opinion. The winrates competitively have been good, but not OP, which makes them invisible when compared to the Terrible Three that are dominating the meta right now.

They also suffer, as has been mentioned here, from being a relatively expensive horde army to collect so you are only going to be seeing people actually interested in them collecting and playing them, and not the usual bandwagoners that run to Tau and Custodes. Doesn't help that as a model line they are very very new so not everybody had a collection of them before the 8th and 9th edition books like Sisters had.

This might change with the new GSC Combat Patrol box. Have a small 1000 point force that will rapidly expand when the CP box comes out and it doesn't cost more than the usual arm and leg GW prices.