Games Workshop - Warhammer 40,000 - Genestealer Cults Jackal Alphus

Product Information

HQ: Acolyte Iconward – Field Commander – Augur of the Insurgent, Relic – Icon of the Cult Ascendent

The only other thing to note here is that Familiars got rounded up to 15pts each. Taking one to turn into The Crouchling. Is still fine. Troops Warlord Trait – Insidious Mindwyrm: +1 charges for Anointed Throng units in a 6″ aura. A very powerful effect, meaning that if you are still trying to make Aberrants work you probably want this. B Any unit can choose to deploy in Ambush. Rather than deploying a unit on the board, you instead place an ambush marker down in your deployment zone. This doesn’t count as deploying in tactical reserves, so any number of your units can do so (and generally, all of them should). There are six of these and, terrifyingly, they all have plausible competitive applications. Part of the reason they’re good is that they tend to have one niche that they strongly reward, and for that reason (along with the general low price on models and ability to fill out detachments with Brood Brothers) it’s extremely common to the point of being near universal for tournament-level GSC armies to contain detachments from multiple cults. Even beyond that, it’s quite common for them to include at least one mixed detachment where a hodgepodge of characters is tagged appropriately to gain access to powerful relics or stratagems. Probably the most common configuration overall is for an army to contain two pure detachments and one mixed grab bag.

Wrap Up

Cult Ambush is at the heart of what GSC do, and what makes them unique. This ability is common to every unit in the codex, and gives them two additional options when deploying at the start of the game. There is a tradeoff for that though – these are exceptional at playing the 9th Edition missions and slot nicely into a role the army needs something to fill. 9th’s primary scoring means you can’t afford to give your opponent an early turn with no response, instead needing at least a few things that can move up, durably seize a mid board objective and dare an opponent to come and do something about it. Even at the eye-watering 40% price increase there still isn’t that much that can match up to these in terms of soaking wounds for the price, especially as Rusted Claw and especially if you bring an Iconward for the 6+++ – really only the Ad Mech Pony Club of Doom comes close. Neophytes return as the rank and file go to of the army. They can put out a lot of shots with a standardised ‘hybrid firearm’ profile, Seismic Cannons take a mild nerf to D3 damage but remain very versatile, and Mining Lasers hit the anti-tank strength 12 break point. CP regen for holding objectives and very generous regeneration via an icon keeps Neophytes relevant as ever (this procs in the Reinforcements step, but doesn’t have a fixed timing, so as it stands I think a Neo squad can come in, take an overwatch hit, and then regenerate casualties… neat). When ascension day comes, no chances can be taken by the forces of the Genestealer Cults. And with this dice set, themed around the cults, there will be no chances, and no failure…

Any unit can set up underground, going into standard “Deep Strike”. This is capped by the Tactical Reserves rule as normal, so no more than half your units or points value can use it, though as we’ll see there’s a way around that.The psychic power is a powerful ability but it has a high WC and a hefty target restriction. It’s a good enough effect that you can’t write it off entirely, especially as you can get cast bonuses on a Patriarch, and against armies running INFANTRY hordes, or something like White Scars who depend on Advance manipulation to get their Centurions around, it could be worth a look. It could easily have been WC7 though, 8 was a bit mean. A Magus is a vital psychic unit for your Genestealer Cults army. With one on your side, you’ll have access to a huge host of powerful abilities, allowing you to seize control of enemy units or drive your own to greater heights of carnage. Defensively, you’ll be able to shut down enemy psykers by providing nearby units with the ability to deny their powers. The Nexos is a tactical lynchpin for the Genestealer Cults army – a strategic unit who rewards careful planning. WIth him, you’ll be able to re-deploy your Ambush markers, letting you get the jump on the foe, while there’s a chance he’ll grant you additional Command Points, giving you even more tactical options!