Praise the 4 Armed Emperor!

So you have been brought into the fold of the 4 armed Emperor? Want to rise up against your oppressors and welcome the embrace of the Star God? Well look no further, this guide will be a quick look at the Genestealer Cults.

When I say quick by the way it will still be a decent size but this Gang has so many options and interesting bits that I could keep going but that will have to wait for later on down the line.

What makes us different?

The Cult of the 4 armed Emperor has a few things that stand out from other gangs, first of all we are going to look at their starting equipment.

Starting Equipment

Following the N17 pattern of gang creation the GSC have to start with hazard suits included in their recruitment cost.

Now usually I'm not one for giving armour to most people in a gang, save it for someone important like your leader. This increases the price of your Mooks making bodies in your list pricey for what they are. On the other side of this however you are basically immune to blaze and rad which is a bonus on top of a 6+ t-shirt save which, although isn't great, is nothing to sniff at.

3 Arms are better then 2

Next we will look at the optional upgrade at creation, you can either take a hybrid or an acolyte (Champion or ganger) or you can take the Early Generation version that is much more obviously Tyranid and thus gets an extra arm for an additional 45 credits. This upgrade gives a couple of Boons, firstly you can have 4 weapons rather then 3 on your fighter card (unwieldy still take 2 slots), gain an extra attack (the wording is a little ambiguous on whether that extra attack always has the rending rule or only unarmed attacks) and can thus attack with 3 weapons rather then 2 in close combat or letting you fire 3 weapons with the Sidearm trait in one turn, you can do this or you can use the 3rd arm (and probably the best use of this upgrade) to fire unwieldy weapons as a basic action. That is essentially a suspensor for a 15 credit discount and I'm sure I don't need to tell you, that's S tier.

This does come with a drawback however, the Acolytes (Champions) only have 1 wound making them really squishy, thankfully the GSC also have access to something better than a wound… 

Psychic Familiars

Familiars can be bought for a shockingly cheap 25 credits and RAW, thanks to “omen of fortune”, allow a single successful hit roll against the fighter to ignore the fact it's been hit, once per activation(!) on a successful wisdom check as long as the familiar is within 3” of the owner. Not only that but they get a 3+ save (unmodifiable) against taking damage and a 50% chance to just ignore blast templates. Each Champion and Leader can take up to 3 of these and avoid the first three hits per activation which is just insane, personally to avoid feeling like “that guy” I wouldn't take more then 2 per but you do you. Oh did I mention that you can avoid other templates as well using this special rule? Well worth the price of an armoured undersuit.

There can't be more right? Wrong.

Aberrants

The GSC also get access to a melee bruiser in the form of the Aberrants, these hulks are malformed brood brothers/sisters that act as sudo Champions, they have 2 wounds each and start at strength 5 and toughness 4 but the drawback is they can only take close combat weapons and armour. Not a bad counter charger, nearly as good as an Ogryn (accept no substitutes) but still able to apply pressure makes this “not quite a brute” worth getting. Just remember they aren't immune to pinning so keep them out of sight if you can until it's too late to counter.

Leader Options

Finally, we have the choice of leaders.

The GSC can pick between 2 leader options on creation: the psychically mysterious Adept and the combat focused Alpha. The two options can change how the gang operates and feels quite dramatically. The Adept can take a skill as well as a Wyrd Power, either from the Cult power list or, if your group allows it, the universal powers list from the Book of Ruin.They also have access to Cunning and Leadership meaning your leader can become more of a force multiplier, buffing your own gangers or debuffing you opponents. 

The Alpha is a 3 armed beast, they can take Combat, Leadership or Shooting skills and with a Ws and Bs 3+, lets you wield either 3 Sidearms/melee weapons or one big gun without penalty. This model will bring the pain straight to your opponent.

Pay for secrecy

One downside to the GSC is because they are trying to stay hidden, a trip to the Doc ends up costing extra, 3d6x10 rather than 2d6x10, this can be mitigated with a rogue doc of your own but is somethings that needs to be addressed before it kicks you in the tentacles.

Slow go

With a movement of 4” on half your guys you are never going to be winning any sprints but we can mitigate this with their shooting ability.

Starting Lists

So I like to have multiple lists you can start with when doing these gangs and with the multiple leader choices this section could easily be 4 different options before breaking a sweat but as i'm trying to keep it concise until I have more time to deep dive further I am going to offer one list for each leader type. I will state now that these might not be the best options out there and I am very interested in people sending us their arguments / opinions on good starting lists, but this is what I have found to be effective and easy to produce for newer players.

They came from the Mines - 1000 credits

For this list I will be using the Alpha leader type. The Alpha has access to shooting skills and 3 arms so a lot of people look straight towards the Kelermorph to fill this spot. Now, rule of cool, you can't fault them but allow me to offer something with a bit more punch.

Cult Alpha - Hazard suit (included), a psychic familiar and a Mining Laser with Trick shot - 295 credits 

Thanks to the 3rd arm the Alpha comes with you can move and shoot that Laser like it was a basic weapon, now add the fact that within 18” you are hitting on a 3+ as standard (2+ if you aim) then if your target hides behind cover they had best get down as well because trick shot will be ignoring cover bonuses or at worse get a -1. Hitting at S9(!) Ap-3 and Damage 3, on top of that it has a 3+ ammo roll so it will keep going even after an ammo check. Finally the Psychic Familiar keeps your leader out of trouble and on your champions, who only have 1 wound, keeps them in the game much longer.

Hybrid Acolyte Early Gen - Hazard Suit (included), Psychic Familiar and Seismic Cannon with Nerves of Steel - 295 Credits

Our first champion, for skills these guys get access to cunning and ferocity skills as primary. For this build I'm going to use the Extra arm from the Early Gen to create another shooty weapons platform. The Seismic is not quite as face melting as the mining laser but it still can hold its own, at long range you can chose to fire long wave beam at S3 no AP and damage 1, this doesn't seem that exciting until you realise its rapid fire 2 with knockback and if you get a 6 to hit ignores armour. For the short wave option you’re hitting at Strength 6 ap-1 and damage 2 rapid fire 1, also with knockback. Now the exciting thing about this weapon is the seismic trait. As said before if you score a 6 to hit with Seismic you bypass armour saves but this is most useful when facing opponents that can't usually be pinned, like Ogryn Lobos for example.

Hybrid Acolyte - Hazard Suit (you get it),Psychic Familiar, Long Las, with Overwatch - 130 credits

This champ is bare bones and has one very important job, force the power piece your opponent brings to decide if it's worth getting into optimal position if it's going to get shot and pinned. You should be using this guy to cause headaches and keep the scary brute or heavy weapon on the floor so they are unable to do what they do best. Later down the line when your opponents gain suspensors of their own this model will need to be upgraded, but in the early game it will be worth its weight in credits.

Neophyte Hybrids - 60 credits each

Equipped with their native Hazard Suit and either a lasgun or autogun. Personally I lean towards lasguns for pinning but the potential output on the autogun is higher.

Neophyte Hybrid - Grenade Launcher - 100

As one Neophyte can take a special weapon on creation, why not add a Grenade Launcher to keep things spicy?

Bow to the Will of the Hive Mind - 1000 Credits

This list is very similar to the previous one however it has a couple of twists to shake things up.

Cult Adept - Psychic Familiar, Mesh Armour - 160 credits

Bare bones and mostly here for support, the adept will be equipped with mesh armour and a psychic familiar for survivability but no weapons at the start, that’s not what they are there for. The Wyrd power the Adept has is “Mind Control,” now the important thing to note is if you are using the extended powers list there are better options, but i'm just using the “house list” choice and this one makes me happy. The GSC Mind control power lets you pick an enemy fighter within 9” (and not one you have to see which is important) and force them to make a shooting action against one of their own allies, get close to that nasty heavy weapon and make them your opponent's problem. Sulk in the shadows and cause havoc for your opponents. The skill I have picked is Overseer, I'm usually not a massive fan of this skill but it leans into the aesthetic of the GSC very well. I would pair this with our next piece and let the dakka flow.

Hybrid Acolyte Early Gen - Hazard Suit (included), Psychic Familiar and Seismic Cannon with Nerves of steel - 295 credits

This again? Well if it aint broke dont fix it. Now this shooty champ is going to get a huge output boost by being the personal bodyguard of the Adept and getting to fire twice thanks to their Overseer skill, the only downside is you might be hitting that 5+ ammo save a bit hard and if that worries you, you can swap it out for the heavy stubber for 5 credits more (which the list has left over just in case) and have a 4+ ammo instead.

Hybrid Acolyte - Hazard suit, Familiar and Web gun and Shotgun with Infiltrate - 265 credits

A slight change on the last list, rather than keeping your opponent honest this champ is about to cause havoc, infiltrating a web gun into your opponents back line is cheesy and more than a little cruel, but it applies pressure onto your opponent early, helping your other power pieces get into position. Now with only 4 inches movement it might not be the safest plan for your infiltrator but it should cause enough fear that your opponent will make mistakes, and if your web gun poops out after one shot (it happens to us all at some point) then the shotgun is your backup.

Neophyte Hybrids - 60 credits each

Same again, 3 lots of autoguns or lasguns with the free hazard suits. Use them to keep your heavy hitters in the game.

Neophyte Hybrid - Grenade Launcher - 100 credits

Because if it ain't broke, dont fix it.

Campaign Progression

Familiars

Psychic Familiars are super strong and you can have 0-3 per ganger, do I think you should overload your gang with these little buggers? No. Do I think they are a required addition to your leader and champions? 1000%, just be careful not to spam them because it creates a “Feels bad” moment for your opponent.

Powers

I have talked about the extended list for Wyrd powers in passing, I will go into more details in the future, but for now I will say that the house powers are “Meh” but you could create a masterpiece out of the Universal Powers. Look at Biomancy or Technomancy for support or Pyromancy and Telekinesis for offence.

Brutes

Being a Lawful gang you can take the usual brutes and give them a GSC kiss of flavour, my big 2 are the Ambot (probably one of the best Brutes in the game) for infiltrating in and causing mayhem (especially if you go with the infiltrating web gun champion) and the Jotunn Ogryn (the best boy) for some meat slabs to absorb fire.

Hangers on

Now the usual hangers on you would normally get work for the GSC but the big thing that needs talking about is the Rogue Doc. Because of the extra D6 x10 credits required to take the Cultists to the standard doc it is a much more efficient hanger on with the GSC than any other gang out there.

Aberrant 

Fighting knives x2. The only fighter that doesn't come with any armour as standard, the Aberrant is going to be your meat shield and melee threat. From the get go this Hulk will only be using 2 fighting knives for now to keep them cheap and cheerful. But don't underestimate their native 5 strength, and if you can pull off the backstab that bumps to Strength 6 which is not bad at all, he also has Unstoppable as a skill off the bat and 2 wounds so isnt easy to kill even without armour. If you upgrade any armour on your other models then pop the leftover hazard suit on this fella to keep him cheap and immune to fire. Get one ASAP, and if you can afford it, get a better weapon but the fighting knives will do to begin with.

In Conclusion

The GSC are in dire need of an update (and unfortunately didn’t get it in the Hive Secundus setting) but can still pack a fair punch if used correctly, they are slow but mentally strong with the right tools to punish all who underestimate them.

Have fun spreading the “Gift” of the cult and praise the 4 Armed Emperor!

3_Ogryns_in_a_Trenchcoat