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Hello All,

I have trying to figure out my Scuttling Genestealer swarm (50+) for awhile and I just started considering possibly going with a Broodlord.  I know that he is not the most popular choice, but it seems like it would be in character for the list and it does not seem like a bad idea for this list.  A 90 pt broodlord with a 6 person retinue with extended carapace might work well in the context that the entire army have a good chance of a 2nd turn charge...Plus, it would give me the chance to create/convert a cool model.

Basically,

Can I use this guy instead of the usual Flying HT?

One idea that has been thrown around has been using the Broodlord as extra wounds for the stealers, and an infiltration device.

It's tricky. I tried it, and it didn't work. Basically, you want the to allocate as many failed-save wounds to the Broodlord so he dies first turn. The stealers can then start fleeting from their infiltrated position.

Wait, with the whole majority toughness/armor save thing, can you do that? I thought you had to go with the majority?

When I tried him I infiltrated his group, but kept them out of sight until the rest of my army made their big charge. With the front line occupied by the rest of my stealers, he was able to sneak in the back and eat a chaplain, and then attack a vehicle, blowing it and half his brood up.

I used it in a tournament once, worked well, though I didnt kill off the broodlord, I just took 2 wounds on him asap then started taking off stealers.

Maj T does not stop you from taking wounds on him, Maj save would, hence you do not upgrade his save to 3+, keep it on 4+ like the stealers....

I kept him cheap, no upgrades bar feeder tendrils, I take 2 wounds on him before he gets into CC (saving 40pts of stealers) this way I basically have a 1 wound 33pts broodlord which works for me.

As the unit infiltrates into cover they can absorb enemy fire somewhat more effectively than some of the normal stealers not neccisarily in cover.

As long as you don't upgrade his save, and *do* upgrade his retinue's save, they'll all be in the same armour save category as Vsurma said. So you can assign wounds as you like. Majority toughness means nothing for wound allocation, it just means that all wounding rolls are made vs the stealers' T4.

The "must assign wounds to remove whole models whereever possible" only applies to units with more than one multi-wound model. I believe this has been clarified in the new FAQ, actually.

So you can give the first three wounds to the BL. Then all of a sudden your infiltrated stealers get their fleet back! That's the idea.

Of course, when I did it, I only took 2 wounds and then my opponent stopped shooting at them. So I was forced to slog it across the board for a couple of turns while his nearest units ran away at the same speed. Until he dropped a pie plate on the unit

Course you allocate max 1 wound per model per enemy unit shooting round iirc so that means each unit that fires on the broodlord unit can cause max 1 wound on the broodlord (though I could be wrong)

Meaning a min of 3 units must fire on the broodlords unit to actually allow you to take 3 wounds on the broodlord, unless ofcourse they cause more wounds on the unit than there are models, then you can allocate a 2nd wound on the BL.

(though I am too lazy to check If this was how it was played, atleast that is what my memory serves)

It seems to me that you don't need the Broodlord to die to take advantage of the genestealers' fleet rule. He is an independent character, at the beginning of the turn, just separate him from the genestealer brood.

Nope, a HQ can't leave their retinue.

Not having fleet on the BL really nerfs him. Even in missions were infitration is allowed smart opponents tend to move away and shoot him and his retinue down. on the rare occasion were he actually makes combat he is sweet.

I played one game where I felt I had it pretty well in hand, and I was curious on what he could do, so I charged him with my death company and a blood angel scout squad.

Ouch. Never do that again.

Whenever I've fielded the BL, I've always infiltrated him 12" away (behind cover) and I've never had him make it into combat. My opponents are savvy enought that to infiltrate, I have to put him on a flank. They just move away and he can never catch up with them. It doesn't help that he has to either go around the cover he infiltrated behind, or make difficult terrain tests to move through it. I always choose the latter to get the cover save against the inevitable shooting.

I guess he's ok for area denial, but he's expensive for that role.

I'm thinking of trying him without the infiltration - use him as Synapse behind a wall of Fexes, along with a pair of Raveners. Let the Raveners out to lock down some combats, and try to pull off a supporting charge with the BL+retinue the following turn...