Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Genestealer Cults

This article needs rules updates. Upgrade plz.

This is the current 9th Edition's Genestealer Cult tactics. 8th Edition Tactics are here.

Why Play Genestealer Cults

Perhaps you enjoy the idea of being the villain that orchestrates from clandestine webs of intrigue, the feeling of being powerful without your enemies even knowing who you are until its far too late for them to do anything. You may prefer tactics more subtle than merely brutally confronting your enemy. Maybe you're drawn to the weird and peculiar; the horrifying things that go 'bump' in the night that reside within Humanity's collective fear of what is 'different'. Let the other factions have their accolades, their warrior boasting and pageantry. Let them have their days in the sun; the Genestealer Cults have all the time in the shadows...

Pros

• You like unconventional warfare.
• Your army is oriented around 'big brain' plays that outright demand you flank the enemy, control positioning, and plan ahead, and rewards you heavily for it.
• WE WILL RISE AND CLAIM THE ENGINES OF LABOUR THAT HAVE BOUND US IN SERVITUDE!
• It is virtually impossible to screen our army when we deepstrike, especially if you want to shoot but not charge.
• Your opponent will often times find it hard to understand your faction rules, meaning they won't have counters to you. Don't rely on this, especially if you're playing competitively, as there will always be savvy people who can figure this book out.
• Your force is a worker's uprising equipped with stolen mining equipment and power tools that are somehow as powerful as terminator chainfists.
• Genestealer Cults have a mix of shooty and choppy with a lot of positioning based abilities too.
• Your opponent can't see how you deploy your units until after the game starts.
• You get to outright steal Imperial Guard units that you want, but only in separate detachments.
• Your strategems are cheap (none are more than 2CP) and most are very useful.
• You have a weapon that auto wounds on successful hits, 'cause fuck Transhuman physiology.
• You have a character that automatically hits in melee.
• THIS WORLD WILL BURN, IT WILL BE CLEANSED, PURIFIED, MADE READY, AND THE HEAVENS WILL DELIVER OUR REWARD!!!

Cons

• Without setting up any buffs, your shooting ability is mediocre at best.
• Most of your units are glass cannons, with the toughest unit in your army being no hardier than a rhino and most of your infantry being guardsmen or barely tougher.
• Very few of your units have CORE, so some of your buffs are less useful than you'd think.
• You can only one of each character per detachment, and in Arks of Omen, you can only take a single GSC detachment. AND the strat that lets other factions double up on characters that can only be one per detachment specifically excludes you. (In GSC, every character is a named character, or at least it'll feel that way.)
• Very little character customization. Aside from the sanctus trading its knife for a sniper (which is recommended), you have no way of changing any of their wargear.
• You have relatively little Mortal Wound output, with a couple of psykers and a few characters being your only real sources.
• Mortal wounds against your characters can't be soaked up your minions now.
• Taking Tyranid allies makes you lose Crossfire.
• No flyers and no access to units that can fly unless you dip into allies.
• Exactly zero named characters.
• You will get tired of the Jeanstealers joke very fast.

Faction Keywords

Did you guess GENESTEALER CULTS? Well, you're half right. Like most factions, Genestealer Cults also have their subfaction keyword - <Cult> - and their superfaction keyword, TYRANIDS. However, everything in the actual Nid dex has the HIVE TENDRIL keyword which prevents Genestealer Cultists from being included within their detachment, so you don't get much in the way of synergy from this.

• Adding in a Brood Brothers detachment will also throw in Astra Militarum to the list of keywords to keep track of.
• As a handy reference, there are four units in the codex that have the keyword CORE. Neophyte Hybrids, Acolyte Hybrids, Hybrid Metamorphs, and Atalan Jackals. All four also have crossfire, which is also on all <cult> vehicles (i.e. Ridgerunners and both kinds of Goliath) and a few of your characters - the Jackal Alphus, Kelermorph, and Sniper Rifle Sanctus.

Special Rules

Conceal

Drastically reworked from its original form. Infantry and Bikers with this rule can be set up "Underground", like any other kind of Deep Strike ability and with all the limitations normally associated with Deep Striking, except with some significant improvements below, or you can deploy an ambush marker onto the battlefield instead of the unit (non-infantry non-bikers with conceal can only use this latter option). The catch? You don't actually reveal which ambush marker corresponds to a given unit until either the start of your first movement phase or the end of the opponent's movement phase, and in the latter case they can't move within 9"* of the center of any of the markers; they can't be shot at either, so there's no danger of them being blasted off the board by out-of-phase attacks before they can do anything. With this, your opponents will have no idea what you've actually deployed until it's too late for them to prepare for it. Schrodinger's Xeno.

• The upgrades to Deep Strike are substantial. You can use either of the improvements to Deep Strike range listed below when you show up, and in addition, you can use Command Phase abilities when you show up!
  • Deploy >8" away (a full inch closer than the standard >9").
  • Deploy >6" away, but you can't charge.
• Another thing about Ambush markers is that the wording "enemies cannot move within 9" of the center" means that no model (even flyers) can enter or move through the bubble surrounding your Ambush markers. This means you could create a barrier that your opponent can't move through with these markers.

Summon the Cult

Lets you put models back into each unit that either has a Cult Icon or are CORE and within 6” of an Acolyte Iconward in your Command Phase. When you Summon the Cult, you put d6 models back into a Neophyte unit or d3 models back into any other unit, and while you can roll twice and sum the results if you have an Icon and are in range of an Iconward, you’re respectively capped at 6 and 3 models total per unit (so no high rolling six Atalans back into a badly mauled unit).

Unquestioning Loyalty

If a GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model fails a saving throw and a model with this special rule is within 3", you may roll 1d6. On a 4+, the model is slain and the attack sequence ends. This effectively grants all your characters a 4+ to avoid all damage from a failed save so long as a squad is hiding them. Go full Bond villain with this one; surround your key dudes with cheap mooks and let them take the heat.

• Doesn't work to stop mortal wounds any more.
• When choosing which models to kill off, you should always pick the cheapest, lowest wound, minions, as killing an aberrant so that your Magus doesn't suffer a single autogun shot is wasteful, unless, of course, the Magus is one wound away from death and no other models are in range to jump in front of the attack. The order should be, from most throw away to least, is: guardsmen/neophytes (they're pretty equal on this scale), acolytes, metamorphs, purestains, atalan jackals, aberrants, and characters.

Detachment and Army Rules

• All Genestealer Cults troops in Genestealer Cults detachments gain Objective Secured.
• Brood Brothers: You may include ASTRA MILITARUM units in your matched play GENESTEALER CULTS army, even though they share no faction keywords in common with you. You may only take a maximum of one ASTRA MILITARUM detachment for each GENESTEALER CULTS detachment you have, and you can't mix units within detachments. This detachment can only take units with the REGIMENTAL keyword and will lose IMPERIUM (without gaining Tyranids), replacing that with BROOD BROTHERS. This BROOD BROTHERS detachment must be either a patrol or Super Heavy Auxiliary detachment. However, a BROOD BROTHERS detachment cannot include your warlord, warlord traits, or relics (which necessarily also locks them out of tank aces), and the detachment can only cost up to 25% of your total points allotment if you wish to retain the Crossfire monofaction bonus.
  • The Regimental Doctrine grants all models +2 Leadership and gives infantry Unquestioning Loyalty, which pretty much makes you sticky as hell in a fight. For the most part, this will only matter for any guardsmen you haul in. The big issue is that this is replacing their Born Soldiers doctrine, which limits their issues.
  • This does come with several limitations as well. Aside from the obvious named characters, you also can't take any CADIAN units. The Rough Riders, Kriegers, and Catachans are similarly restricted, as are the Preacher, any bodyguards and attaché models and the Field Ordinance Battery for some reason. Probably the last one is because it uses Cadian models, we all know conversions are the bane of GW's existence.
• Broodcoven: In matched play, if you include a Patriarch in your army, a Patriarch must be your Warlord. If you have a Magus or Primus but no Patriarch, one of those two must be the Warlord. Characters that aren't HQs can't be your Warlord.
• Crossfire: The monofaction bonus for playing Genestealer Cults, this ability reflects multiple fields of fire pinning down and exposing enemies. Every unit in your army, excluding up to 25% of your points value in Brood Brothers instead, has to have GENESTEALER CULTS and be from the same <cult> (no mixing detachments from multiple different cults). Only units that have the crossfire rule can benefit from this effect.

  

  This handy diagram explains how Exposed works and repels youtubers.

  • Applying crossfire tokens: If a CROSSFIRE unit shoots at an enemy unit, you can mark them with a crossfire token if a) every model in the shooting unit targeted the same enemy unit and b) you score either 5+ hits with D1 weapons or 1 hit with any other kind of weapon.
    • Note: other effects and abilities can give a unit a crossfire token without shooting - e.g. the Nexos has such an ability.
  • Benefit: A CROSSFIRE unit gets +1 to hit when shooting a unit with a token. They may also gain additional benefits if the unit is exposed.
    • Upgrading crossfire tokens to exposed: If a CROSSFIRE unit is shooting at an enemy unit with a token, you can try and draw a line connecting a model in the shooting unit with a model in another visible CROSSFIRE unit. If this line goes over the base or hull of a model in the enemy unit and doesn't cross obscuring terrain, congratulations, you have exposed the enemy unit. In addition to the +1 to hit, the shooting unit now gains +1 to wound and can ignore cover if the exposed unit is within 12".
      • Note: You have ways to make something that hasn't got a Crossfire token Exposed. This does absolutely nothing until you apply a Crossfire token to it (or use an ability that makes the target count as having one), as the benefits of Exposed only apply if the target unit is both Exposed and has a token.
  • Removing: Crossfire tokens fall off at the end of the turn.
  • You can also apply debuffs with stratagems to enemy units with crossfire markers that help out your melee dudes, so it's still worthwhile for a melee-focused GSC army to bring along some cult shooting or at least a Nexos.
  • TL;DR: Target priority is key. Shoot with your high damage or multi-shot units first to make your other units more accurate. Set up flanking opportunities to make it easier for the follow up to wound and ignore cover. It is important to stress the importance of this ability if you want to play shooty cults. Make use of 5 person handflamer acolytes or 10 person neophytes to pop up 6" away in good locations to set up crossfire tokens and expose key enemy units.
• Gene-sect: In matched play, you can include each character only once in the same detachment. However, each HQ slot you fill lets you take a Genestealer Cults Character without that unit filling up a slot, so you can stack up on support characters even if you fill your slots.
  • In Arks of Omen, you can only ever have one detachment of GSC while also excluding us from the strat "Heroic Support", which would have let us take more than one character per detachment. You want more than source of reroll ones? You take a Primus & a Kelermorph, and hope your gunslinger can kill something every turn. You want more than one psyker? You take a Patriarch and a Magus, and no other combination. You want more than one Locus to protect 2 different squishy characters safe? Well, fuck you!

Cults

Here's your Chapter Tactics/Doctrines/Specialisations, like everyone else has. These replace the <Cult> Keyword when you choose one. Everything in your force gets these except Brood Brothers.

Cult of The Four-Armed Emperor

In the grim Darkness of the far future, salvation is won when things go Just as Planned.

The Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor are the most cunning of cults. Their strategies are planned out centuries in advance, and by the time they emerge from the sewers it's already too late.

On the tabletop, they're all about successfully charging after deep striking and being very durable out in the open from far away as they either approach to charge in or hang back to shoot up their enemies.

Cult Creed - Subterranean Ambushers

Your units can re-roll charge rolls, and you get Light Cover when targeted by an enemy over 12" away. Helpful for charging out of deep strike, though the cover is a handy advantage for gunners and anything that normally can't get Light Cover, like your vehicles.

This takes you from successfully charging out of the Underground (so you need to roll an 8 or more to make it) 41.67% of the time to 65.97% of the time (nearly two thirds!).

Warlord Trait - Inscrutable Cunning

Once per turn when you use a Battle Tactic or Strategic Ploy stratagem on a Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor unit within 12" of the warlord, it costs 1 CP less. Considering the bevy of stratagems you can use in each category, you'll be able to go through all of them before worrying about the part where you can only use this on each stratagem once.

Relic - Sword of the Four-Armed Emperor

Replaces a bonesword or Locus blades. S+1 AP-3, and when used in the fight phase it grants 4 extra attacks and all 6s to hit instantly wound. Say goodbye to that MEQ squad, you're making paste outta them.

Stratagem - A Plan Generations in the Making (0 CP)

Once per game, use when your opponent spends CP for using a stratagem that isn't Command Re-Roll. This stratagem now costs an additional 1 CP.

Psychic Power - Undermine (Malediction, WC 7)

Select a non-FLY enemy unit within 18". They suffer -3M, -2 to charge rolls, and divide advance rolls in half. It's a whole lot more annoying to memorize, but it remains a good way of crippling vulnerable foes.

Tactics

The Bladed Cog

In the grim Darkness of the far future, salvation is found by melding machine and flesh.

The Bladed Cog are, superficially, those Skitarii and other Mechanicus folk who have fallen to the vile corruption entered the warm and loving embrace of the genestealers. Whether this stems from a stowaway, willing experimentation, or a surprise raid, this cult now sees itself as a perfect amalgamation of man, machine, and xeno. They now view the Omnissiah as some sort of Tyranid.

On the tabletop, the Bladed Cog grants you cultists with the durability of the mechanicus. While it adds a few edges to damage, the advantages aren't as prevalent as the invulns.

Cult Creed - Cyborgised Hybrids

Everything gets a 6++. Every time a unit is selected to shoot or fight, it can re-roll one wound roll. In addition, all your non-grenade guns aside from the cache of demolition charges add +3" to their range. You don't have any guns where +3" is a game-changer, but re-rolling 1 wound roll per unit is a strong incentive to keep things MSU and keep volume of fire per unit down, so e.g. you can field an absolutely stellar Jackal Alphus, who only makes one shot but adores being allowed to re-roll the wound roll, or Sanctus for the same reason.

Warlord Trait - Single-minded Obsession (Aura)

Before the battle, pick one enemy unit. Any Bladed Cog Core units within 6" can re-roll all wound rolls against that unit.

This is a great "fuck that unit in particular" pick, most useful when your opponent is running a superheavy or some other centerpiece. Pairs very well with swarms of Neophytes, to get more use out of their weapons, and makes a Nexos with Cranial Relay essentially mandatory.

Relic - Mark of the Clawed Omnissiah

The bearer has a 4++. In addition, at the start of each fight phase, roll a d6 for each enemy unit engaged with them; on a 2-3 that unit suffers 1 mortal wound, on a 4-5 they suffer 2 MWs, and on a 6 they take 3. The off-turn damage is way better as it can make for a bit of an opening wave before having your locus or patriarch go to town.

Stratagem - Xenoform Bionics (1-2 CP)

One Bladed Cog Infantry or Bladed Cog Biker unit gains a 5++ for the entire game while mustering. Costs 2 CP for a unit with Power Level 6 or higher.

• Don't forget, this happening before the game means it can be spammed until you run out of CP, and since it's based on PL, it will generally ignore wargear costs - for example, you can put this on a 10-dude Neophyte squad for 1 CP regardless of loadout, including giving them a Cult Icon.
• You know who are already tough as nails but are lacking in a good armor/invul save? Aberrants. Give them this and the 5+++ FNP from the Biophagus (either pregame with the points upgrade or while on the table) and watch your 3-armed brutes be incredibly hard to bring down.

Psychic Power - Broodvolt Surge (WC 5)

Makes a small 3" bubble that lets a Bladed Cog unit add +1 to their armor save when hit by a D1 attack. This lets you copy Lurk in the Shadows without spending a CP, and it can even work in melee.

Tactics

The Hivecult

In the grim Darkness of the far future, salvation is won through firepower.

The Hivecult is a very militant faction, chiefly comprised of soldiers and gangers. While most would suffice with merely rabble and zealots, this creed believes that warriors contribute the most to the cause. This inevitably results in their members also infiltrating PDF and Guardsman regiments so that they could gift the cult with tanks.

On the tabletop, the Hivecult just won't stop shooting - Falling Back, Advancing, and performing Actions will all fail to stop them from shooting.

Cult Creed - Disciplined Militants

Units can shoot after Falling Back with a -1 to hit, perform actions after Falling Back or Advancing, and shoot while performing actions without the action failing.

• The falling back and shooting is least useful on vehicles, as even without this they can still shoot, just only at what they're engaged with.
• The net benefit here gives you the best Neophytes from an actions perspective of any Cult, although the Rusted Claw/Custom ability shoot after moving or advancing at no penalty means you don't have the best Neophytes from an offensive perspective.
• This should be the cult you pick if you plan on taking a secondary that requires actions, like Raise the Banners.

Warlord Trait - Hivelord (Aura)

Friendly Hivecult Core units within 6" that score unmodified 6s to hit with guns score an additional hit, which is like +1 to hit but better because it works properly in more situations, like Overwatch.

• A Primus's aura of re-rolling 1s to hit has no particular synergy with this simply because both effects apply the same way onto a unit without any interaction with each other, but while this will work fine on a Jackal Alphus, bear in mind +1 to hit has a bigger effect the worse the BS of the unit, so the benefit of functionally +2 to hit total from a Crossfire token (from the Alphus's shooting) has diminishing returns, whereas the Primus will scale linearly: a BS4+ unit has accuracy 18/36 base, 21/36 (*7/6) near a Primus, 24/36 (+1/6) with a Crossfire token or this aura, 28/36 near a Primus and with this aura or a Crossfire token, 30/36 with a Crossfire token and this aura, and 35/36 with a Crossfire token, this aura, and a Primus.

Relics - Vockor's Talisman

A 5+ to wound with a melee weapon ignores all saves - put this on a Patriarch so you can re-roll even successful wounds to fish for 5+ and enjoy your 5/9 chance to deal a wound that bypasses invulns. A Vockor's Talisman Patriarch trying to murder a T4-5 Sv2+/4++ target by fishing for 5+ will deal a bit more than 1.34 damage per swing, getting you 8.06 damage total (9.4 with the Biomorph Adaptation Warlord Trait).

• Because this relic ignores all saves, not just invuls, this is one of the few things in the game that cuts straight through daemon saves, something basically only the Grey Knights Warlord Trait Daemon-Slayer can achieve. Putting your Patriarch, (because who else would you give this to?) on the same league as a genetically augmented paladin warrior dedicated to hunting the neverborn in the daemon killing department, except your ability is more versatile.

Stratagem - Fire Discipline (1 CP)

When a Hivecult Crossfire unit is about to shoot, you can boop this button to apply a crossfire marker to any enemy unit (in time for the friendly unit to benefit from it), but your shooting unit can only target the marked enemy unit when it shoots until the end of the phase.

Psychic Power - Synaptic Blast (Witchfire, WC 5)

Pick the closest visible enemy unit within 18" of the psyker. Roll a d6, adding +2 for each friendly Hivecult Core unit within 6" of the psyker. If this roll is less than the target's Movement stat, they suffer d3 mortal wounds, but it maxes out if you roll equal or above.

• Interestingly, this negligibly beats Smite even without any +2s against M6, dealing 1.81 mortals instead of Smite's 1.79. If you add on enough bonuses for the spell to just automatically deal 3 mortals, you'll basically end up with the Thousand Sons spell Doombolt, which is WC 6 (but they get +1 to all casts from their faction bonus) and just deals 3 mortal wounds. You don't have a great way to avoid being Thousand Sons but worse, but you can make an excellent mortal wounds inflicter by taking an Unwilling Orb Magus (or Patriarch) with Psionic Blast, Mental Onslaught, Smite, and this, as well as MSU Neophytes or Acolytes so you have abundant sources of +2 to Synaptic Blast. Then, always cast your best two spells: Mental Onslaught if and only if the target is W1 (and has 4 or more models), Synaptic Blast provided you will beat the target's M on at least a 5+, Psionic Blast if the target is Ld9 or less, and then Smite, in more or less that order (or you can do the math out if you want more granularity - this is intended as a rule of thumb).

Tactics

The Pauper Princes

In the grim Darkness of the far future, salvation will be found by the teeming masses.

The Pauper Princes are a notoriously selfless cult, willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, to protect their masters and their convictions. Unlike most cults, this is not a product of indoctrination as it is fervent belief, as the cultists are disaffected with life before joining the cult and believe the Star-Gods will grant salvation.

On the tabletop, the Pauper Princes are pretty melee-horde-centric. However, their chief focus shouldn't really be about that, it should be maximizing the protective potential of your meat-walls, with the Creed, Warlord Trait, and Relic (the best in the Codex) all adding something to keep them around on the table longer, and the Stratagem and the Psychic Power punishing your opponent for murdering your dudes.

• Cult Creed - Devoted Zealots: Your units get +1 to hit when charging, charged, or heroically intervening. They also ignore combat attrition modifiers.
• Warlord Trait - Xenoprophet: Your Warlord can use Unquestioning Loyalty at 6" rather than 3" and the check is automatically passed. In addition, any Pauper Princes Core units within 6" can use the warlord's Leadership.
  • This one makes excessive use of your slaves children. If you really want to protect your boss, this is perfect.
• Relics - Reliquary of Saint Tenndarc: Friendly Pauper Princes Core units within 6" get a 5++ save, which can make them a bit harder to kill against flamers and other massed fire meant to thin the herd before crushing the bearer.
  • If put on a Primus standing next to a Nexos, you can broadcast the buff to far away units like Jackals or Metamorphs.
• Stratagems - Vengeance of the Martyred (1 CP): Use when a Pauper Princes Character dies. For the rest of the battle, your Pauper Princes units gain +1 to wound in melee when targeting the unit that dealt the killing blow. Sadly, your Brood Brothers aren't able to get in on the fun.
• Psychic Power - Last Gasp (WC 5): Select a Pauper Princes Core unit within 18". Until your next psychic phase, any models in that unit that die in melee deal a mortal wound against their killer on a 5+, capping out at 5.

Tactics

The Rusted Claw

In the grim Darkness of the far future, salvation is found through entropy.

The Rusted Claw is perhaps the most anarchic of the cults, believing that all civilization and artifice will crumble before their newfound Star Gods. For this reason, they don't tend to keep very much and look a bit like a bunch of deranged skinhead three-armed hobos... with bikes.

On the tabletop, these guys are highly mobile and relatively durable. Bikes and Wolfquads are best suited to this force, and all units here are especially resilient to small arms fire.

Creed - Nomadic Survivalists

When making armor saves, add +1 to the result if the weapon has an AP of -1 or -2. In addition, units count as having Remained Stationary till the end of your shooting phase if they make a Normal Move or Advance.

• The first ability is more powerful the better your save already is (so you want it on your 3+ vehicles and 4+ bikes) and the second ability is more powerful on slower units with steeper movement penalties - so it's most powerful on infantry with heavy and rapid fire weapons that advance (where it legalizes illegal shots) and also helps your assault weapons on everything advance without penalty and your heavy weapons move without penalty. However, bear in mind it doesn't waive the movement penalty for Deep Striking with a Heavy weapon on Infantry (since that's neither a Normal Move nor an Advance), so if you Deep Strike in some Neophytes, they'll take full penalties.

Warlord Trait - Entropic Touch

Your Warlord's melee attacks with non-relics gain -1AP and on unmodified 6s to hit deal an additional 2 hits, including with relics. Top notch on a Patriarch and shockingly good on a Primus with the Sword of the Void's Eye (the -1AP won't help the sword, but will help the Toxin Injector).

Relic - Nomad's Mantle

The bearer can Fall Back/Advance and still shoot, charge, or cast psychic powers, as well as freely move through enemy units and terrain when it makes a Normal Move, Advance, Fall Back, or Charge.

• A Patriarch with this and the strat Rapid Advance will move 14" in any direction you wish and can still charge. While this is awesome, you must remember to end his move near minions to protect him, as even if he successfully charges your opponent will focus him down and kill him, and nobody wants that.
• Combine this with the warlord trait Prowling Agitant on a Patriarch for a murder monster that can't be pinned down by a melee enemy, as when you're charged you can move 6" through, and on the other side of, some of your models, which, if the screen is significantly wide enough, will make their charge against the Patriarch impossible.

Stratagem - Drive-by Demolitions (1 CP)

Use on a Rusted Claw Biker unit after it moves. One model in it can throw one grenade at a unit the biker unit moved within 6” of at any point during that move and automatically get max shots with it. This probably qualifies for applying a Crossfire token (update - latest errata confirms it does), but the rules aren't perfectly clear - Crossfire tokens can only be applied when a unit is selected to shoot, and while this stratagem selects a unit, for shooting purposes you select a model, not a unit, to shoot.

Psychic Power - Inescapable Decay (Malediction, WC 6)

Select a visible enemy unit within 18" and improve the AP of all attacks made by friendly Rusted Claw models against it by 1 until the start of your next Psychic Phase

• This is basically only the Jinx half of the Eldar psychic power Protect/Jinx, only at one less WC and without the ability to affect invuln saves.

Tactics

The Twisted Helix

In the grim Darkness of the far future, salvation is found through self-improvement.

The Twisted Helix are the only cult started without a Genestealer, but instead through genetic experimentation by corporate medical overlords that sought immortality. They've only continued this self-experimentation, giving them greater strength and reflexes than any others, and spreading their infection through supplies and medical shipments.

On the tabletop, the Twisted Helix are your brute force faction. While other factions are better at getting into combat or scoring hits, these are the guys who have the best chances at overwhelming the enemy up close.

Cult Creed - Experimental Subjects

+1 to Strength and Movement, and nothing can wound them on a 1 or 2. S3, S4, and S5 are the largest jump on to wound rolls, massively increasing the effectiveness of your army across the board, melee-wise that is. Ironically this doesn't appear to be the best Creed for Aberrants based on ability alone, but the related Stratagem makes up for it. Best used with Acolyte spam and one big unit of Aberrants.

Warlord Trait - Bio-Alchemist

The Warlord's weapons deal 1 extra damage. This does not apply to Relics, but does apply to non-relic weapons buffed by this cult's relic (see below). Absolutely brutal on a Patriarch, allowing him to mincemeat most HQs and light tanks. You generally choose this when your enemy has many multi-wound models instead of relying on the +1 strength that the creed provides.

• As 9th edition gives out more damage reduction to more armies, like Death Guard, this trait becomes a more interesting option to counteract it.

Relics - Elixir of the Prime Specimen

The bearer can take one of the upgrades given by the Biophagus, if your army includes a Biophagus you can instead pick two of uprades for the relic bearer. You should be putting this on a Patriarch, not an Abominant, so there's no way to stack the effects with a real Biophagus.

• For reference, here are the Biophagus buffs:
  1. Enhanced Musculature: Extra -1 AP on all melee attacks. If you're giving this relic to a Patriarch, which you should, this one should never be considered as his claws are sharp enough to bring the enemy to a sufficiently low armour save and many things you will want to throw him at will have a decent invul - plus, his Rend effect of AP-6 on 6 to wound is static, not relative, so picking this won't upgrade his Rend AP. Pick one of the other two options for him.
  2. Enhanced Aggression: Hit rolls of 6 in melee score 1 additional hit (equivalent to +1 to hit). Best used on a melee beatstick with a lot of attacks, like a Patriarch, so this will trigger more often.
  3. Enhanced Resilience: Unit gets a 5+++. Considering that Unquestioning Loyalty no longer works against mortal wounds, this is the choice to pick when you know you're up against a mortal wound spamming army.

Stratagem - Monstrous Biohorrors (1 CP)

Dropped down to 1 CP, but still lets your muscle boys be terrifying. Any kills they make count as two kills in regards to Combat Attrition. In addition, they have the ability to tard-rage out, granting an additional attack but reducing the damage of their weapons to 1 - which has uses when dealing with mobs of guardsmen or chaos cultists as there's less overkill to be concerned with.

Psychic Power - Mutagenic Deviation (Blessing, WC 6)

Mark one friendly Twisted Helix unit within 12" of the psyker. Until your next psychic phase, any melee attacks this unit makes auto-wound on a natural 6 to hit.

Tactics

Custom Creeds

In the grim Darkness of the far future, salvation is found through a great many means.

Following the uninspired shitshow of custom creeds Psychic Awakening: The Greater Good showed us, the 9E codex tried again to introduce the custom faction traits and not make it so obvious they were cribbing from the established factions. That said, these traits aren't the basic pick-and-mix provided to other factions.

The new codex deals with your dudes differently than other factions. Genestealers work on a point-buy system, and you have 4 points to spend however you want. This means the valid combinations are 4, 3+1, 2+2, 2+1+1, and 1+1+1+1.

1. Accustomed to Toil

   These units can never be wounded on a 2, regardless of strength and abilities. One half of the Twisted Helix's creed.

   Alien Fury

   +1" to Pile In and Consolidate moves.

   Cold-Eyed Killers

   Unmodified 6s to wound in melee give -1AP.

   Industrial Affinity

   All Industrial weapons can ignore hit roll, BS, and/or WS modifiers.

   • This trait is useless on Industrial weapons that hit automatically, of course, but for seismic cannons and mining lasers carried by infantry - since they're Heavy - and caches of demolition charges (which are Assault and always carried by vehicles), this is Agile Guerillas but cheaper and slightly different: you can't Advance and shoot the heavy weapons, but you can Deep Strike and shoot them with no penalty. It's also a good buff to Heavy Rock Cutters, but you're probably using the Drills anyway.

   Synaptic Resonance

   Re-roll 1s and 2s on individual dice for psychic tests.

   War Convoy

   Vehicles and Bikers get a 6+++.

2. Agile Guerillas

   If you make a normal move or advance, the unit counts as having remained stationary in the following Shooting phase, but you cannot take the Martial Creed. Has the most significant impact on heavy weapon toting infantry, where it both removes the penalty for moving and shooting and enables Advancing and shooting, but it doesn't let you ignore the penalty for shooting after you Deep Strike; also lets your vehicles Advance and shoot everything. One half of the Rusted Claw's creed.

   Deep Supplies

   Each time a unit shoots or fights, it can re-roll 1 wound roll. One half of the Bladed Cog's creed.

   Martial

   Stationary crossfire infantry models pretend they already have a crossfire marker. But you cannot take the Agile Guerillas Creed.

   • Literally none of your infantry can be bothered standing still for a Crossfire marker rather than staying mobile. Hard pass.

   Thralls of the Patriarch

   Ignore modifiers on your combat attrition rolls. One half of the Pauper Princes' creed.

   Toxin Agents

   When you attack anything other than a Monster or Vehicle in melee, unmodified 6s to hit auto-wound.

3. Hunter's Instincts

   Re-roll charge rolls. One half of Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor's creed.

   Impassioned

   +1 to hit rolls in melee when the unit charges, gets charged, or heroically intervenes. One half of the Pauper Princes' creed.

   Symbiotic Broodmind

   Units can shoot after Falling Back with a -1 to hit. One half of the Hivecult's creed.

4. Splinter Cult

   You get to pretend you're one of the six named cults for some reason. Don't even bother with this, just pick the cult you wanted to play with.

This leads to some obvious combinations - just remember that Pauper Princes have two traits from the above list but their total cost comes to 5, and a custom creed also means losing out on having a named cult's warlord trait, relic, stratagem, and psychic power, so make sure the combination is worth it.

• 3+1: Symbiotic Broodmind + Industrial Affinity means when you shoot after Falling Back, your Industrial weapons ignore the -1 to hit modifier from having Fallen Back and just shoot normally.
  • This makes you the Hivecult without its non-Creed benefits, and you replace performing Actions after Advance/Fall Back/Shoot with shooting with no penalty after Fall Back, so weigh carefully which you'd prefer.
• 2+1+1: Agile Guerillas + War Convoy + Accustomed to Toil gets you just about the best Atalan Jackals going - you're functionally the Rusted Claw but better for some units, since you replaced the Rusted Claw's AP reduction with a reduction to being wounded and an FNP on your vehicles and bikes.
• 2+1+1: Agile Guerillas + War Convoy + Industrial Affinity gets you Deep Striking Neophytes that don't take any hit penalty on their heavy weapons and then still don't while Advancing and Shooting, but more importantly, your Vehicles now never stop shooting Industrial weapons, since they can Advance and shoot Heavy weapons at no penalty and can stay in melee and shoot at no penalty.
• 2+1+1: Agile Guerillas + Accustomed to Toil + Industrial Affinity gets you Deep Striking Neophytes that don't take any hit penalty on their heavy weapons and then still don't while Advancing and Shooting and are extra durable against S6+ weaponry.

Secondary Objectives

<tabs> <tab name="Battlefield Supremacy">

• Broodswarm (Codex): At the end of your turn, this gives you 1VP each for having more models than the opponent in your deployment zone, no-man’s land, and the enemy deployment zone, plus an additional VP bonus if you achieve all three (for a total of 4 per turn).
• Behind Enemy Lines (GT2021/2022): 2VP at the end of your turn if 1 non-aircraft unit from your army is wholly within your opponent’s deployment zone. 4VP instead if you have 2 such units.
• Engage on All Fronts (GT2021): 2VP at the end of your turn if you have 1+ units from your army wholly within three different table quarters and more than 6" from the center of the battlefield. 3VP instead if you have 4 such units.
  • Engage on All Fronts (GT2022): In order for a unit to count toward this scoring it must either have 3 models or a VEHICLE or MONSTER model in it.
• Stranglehold (GT2021/2022): 3VP at the end of your turn if you control 3 or more objective markers and you also control more objective markers than your opponent controls.

</tab> <tab name="No Mercy, No Respite">

• Grind Them Down (GT2021/2022): 3VP at the end of the battle round if more enemy units than friendly units were destroyed this round.
• No Prisoners (GT2021): Keep a tally of kill points. Each time an enemy non-vehicle non-monster non-character model is destroyed, add a number of marks to this tally equal to the Wounds characteristic of the destroyed model. At the end of the battle, divide your kill points tally by 10 and round down - the result is the number of victory points you score.
  • No Prisoners (GT2022): +1 VP if your pre-division tally is 50-99, +2VP if your pre-division tally is 100+.
  • Bear in mind for this being scored against you, everything you bring onto the table with Summon the Cult is another model your opponent can murder and add to their tally.
• To The Last (GT2021/2022): Before the battle, after you have selected deployment zones, identify which three non-Fortifications units from your army have the highest points value (if two or more are tied, you choose between them). If your army has three or fewer units, you instead identify all the units in your army. 5VP for each of these units that are on the battlefield at the end of the battle.

</tab> <tab name="Purge the Enemy">

• Ambush (Codex): This rewards you 1VP each for destroying an enemy unit using a model that arrived from Underground or Ambush this turn, destroying an enemy unit that had a Crossfire marker on it, and destroying a properly Exposed (i.e. by positioning, not abilities) enemy unit.
• Assassination (GT2021/2022): 3VP at the end of the battle for each enemy CHARACTER model that is destroyed. If the enemy WARLORD was destroyed during the battle, +1VP.
• Bring It Down (GT2021): 1VP at the end of the battle for each destroyed enemy MONSTER/VEHICLE model with W1-10, 2 VP if W11-19, 3 VP if W20+.
  • • Bring It Down (GT2022): Chane the threshholds for 1/2/3 VP to W1-9, W10-14, and W15+, respectively.
• Titan Hunter (GT2021/2022): 4VP at the end of the battle if one enemy TITANIC model is destroyed, 9VP if two enemy TITANIC models are destroyed, or 15VP if 3+ enemy TITANIC models are destroyed.

</tab> <tab name="Shadow Operations">

• Sabotage Critical Location (Codex): When you pick this, after selecting deployment zones, your opponent places two Critical Location markers on the table, and your goal is to sabotage them. The markers have to be at least 9” from each other and any board edge, and sabotaging them is an Action that your non-Character Infantry or Biker units (or Reductus Saboteurs) can carry out, requiring them (and no enemy units) to be within 3” of the marker - the action starts at the end of the Move Units step of the Move phase (so your reinforcements can't do it) and completes at the end of your turn. For each marker sabotaged you get a diminishing number of victory points depending on which turn of the game you successfully completed the action, going from 9VP for the second battle round (this can’t be completed in the first) to 5-7-3VP in the 3-4-5th round, respectively. There's no world in which this is better than Deploy Homers or Retrieve Data for you, don't ever take this.
• Deploy Teleport Homers (GT2021): Deploy Teleport Homer (Action): One INFANTRY or BIKER unit from your army can start to perform this action at the end of your Movement phase if it is wholly within 12" of your opponent’s deployment zone. The action is completed at the end of your next Command phase provided the unit attempting it is still wholly within 12" of your opponent’s deployment zone. Each time a unit from your army successfully completes this action, 2VP (4VP instead if the unit completed the action while wholly within your opponent’s deployment zone).
  • Deploy Teleport Homers (GT2022): Requires a unit of 3+ models to perform and completes at the end of your turn if attempted by a Troops unit, which you are absurdly qualified to pull off.
• Investigate Signal (GT2021): 3 victory points each time a unit from your army successfully completes the following action: Investigate Signal (Action): One non-character INFANTRY unit from your army can start to perform this action at the end of your Movement phase if it is and no non-aircraft enemy units are wholly within 6" of the center of the battlefield. This action is completed at the end of your turn provided the unit attempting it and no non-aircraft enemy units are still wholly within 6" of the center of the battlefield.
  • Investigate Signal (GT2022): You can now attempt this action even if there are enemy units within 6″ of the center of the battlefield, but you only complete it at the end of your turn if there are no enemy units within 6″ of the center of the battlefield.
• Raise the Banners High (GT2021/2022): Your Infantry units gain a new action each turn in an attempt to emulate Dawn of War. Raise Banners (Action): Perform this action at the end of your Movement phase. Each unit from your army that starts to perform this action must be in range of a different objective marker that does not have one of your banners raised upon it (see below). A unit cannot start this action while there are any non-aircraft enemy units in range of the same objective marker. The action is completed at the end of your turn. If this action is successfully completed, that objective marker is said to have one of your army’s banners raised on it (the banner is ‘removed’ if your opponent controls the objective marker at the start of any phase). 1 VP at the end of each of your Command phases and 1 VP at the end of the battle for each objective marker on the battlefield that has one of your banners raised upon it.
• Retrieve Octarius Data (GT2021): Keep a tally of Retrieved Data points; add 1 to that tally each time a unit from your army successfully completes the following action during the battle: Retrieve Data (Action): One non-character INFANTRY unit from your army can start to perform this action at the end of your Movement phase if it is wholly within a table quarter that has not had a servo-skull retrieved by your army (see below) and it is more than 6" away from any other table quarter. This action is completed at the end of your turn provided the unit attempting it is still within the same table quarter. If this action is successfully completed, the table quarter is said to have had a servo-skull retrieved by your army. At the end of the battle, 4VP if the tally is 2, 8VP if the tally is 3, or 12VP if the tally is 4.
  • Retrieve Nachmund Data (GT2022): bikers and characters can perform the action, and at the end of your turn you roll 1d6, -1 if the unit performing the action is Troops. If you roll less than or equal to the number of models in the unit, the action is completed, so your characters are very unlikely to succeed, but your Troops auto-succeed with 5 models and your other units auto-succeed with 6.

</tab> <tab name="Warpcraft">

• Abhor the Witch (GT2021/2022): You can't take any Psyker units for this. You gain 3 VP for any Psyker Character unit you kill and 2 VP for any other Psyker units you kill.
  • The odds you didn't take a Patriarch or Magus are slim at best.
• Pierce the Veil (GT2021/2022): 8VP at the end of the battle if 1+ units from your army successfully completed the following psychic action 2-3 times, 15VP if 4+ times: Pierce the Veil (Psychic Action - WC 4): One PSYKER CHARACTER unit from your army can attempt to perform this psychic action during your Psychic phase if it is within 6" of your opponent’s battlefield edge and more than 6" from any enemy models.
• Psychic Interrogation (GT2021): 3VP each time you successfully complete the following psychic action: Psychic Interrogation (Psychic Action - WC4): One PSYKER CHARACTER unit from your army can attempt to perform this psychic action in your Psychic phase if it is within 24" of any visible enemy CHARACTER models.
  • Psychic Interrogation (GT2022): The enemy model no longer has to be visible.
• Warp Ritual (GT2021/2022): Keep a tally of Ritual points; add 1 to that tally each time a unit from your army successfully completes the following psychic action during the battle: Warp Ritual (Psychic Action - WC 3): One PSYKER CHARACTER unit from your army can attempt to perform this psychic action in your Psychic phase if it is within 6" of the center of the battlefield. At the end of the battle, 3VP if the tally is 1, 7VP if the tally is 2, or 12VP if the tally is 3+.
  • Know that this is pretty fucking ridiculous, as it will require you to drag out a fight for long enough for that to even have a chance of happening and then have your psyker protected enough to be able to cast it three times. And this will prevent your psyker from casting any of the more helpful powers.

In general, you don't want to take any of the warpcraft secondaries. You usually want to bring a Patriarch and/or Magus which prevents Abhor, and both of these are too busy casting very useful spells, like Mass Hypnosis, Psychic Stimulus and Might from Beyond, to take the time to do psychic actions.

• If, however, you have no better options for secondaries, Psychic Interrogation is the best pick here, especially if your opponent has no denies. Have your Patriarch, who wants to move towards the enemy, use it and have your Magus cast normal powers in the shadows.

</tab> </tabs>

Stratagems

<tabs> <tab name="Battle Tactic">

• Bore Through (1 CP): Industrial weapons re-roll to wound in melee against monster or vehicle units. Pretty much always a good pick if you need to saw that tank to death, but does absolutely nothing for Rock Drills.
• Dig Them Out (1 CP): Units firing their industrial weapons against an enemy within 12" counts that target as being Exposed. This one is only really useful with Achilles Ridgerunners firing their Heavy Mining Lasers, but it's a huge deal in that circumstance.
• Massed Firearms (1 CP): A crossfire unit with 6+ models firing everything at a crossfire marked unit auto-wounds on a natural 6 to hit.
• Monstrous Vigour (1-2 CP): Your aberrants/abominant can't be wounded on a 2-3 to wound. Costs 2CP for a unit of 6 or more.
• One With the Shadows (1 CP): Infantry units in light cover add an additional +1 to their saves when shot. It's something you'll desperately be needing since cover is your only way of protecting your easily-flattened mobs of 5+ cultists.
• Overload Fuel Cells (1 CP): Triggered in either the shooting or fight phase. Any industrial weapons on the chosen unit either gain +1D (for guns) or +1 to strength (for melee weapons), but both instances give Gets Hot like plasma. Great for Ridgerunners, and useful if your acolytes need to kill something T8 in melee.
  • Meaningless on Rock Drills due to them auto-wounding.
  • Never do this for melee weapons if Bore Through can be used instead - re-rolling to wound is better than +1 to strength, +1 to strength has incredibly diminished returns if you can already re-roll, and risking your weapon wielders being destroyed early just isn't worth the cost in that situation.
  • Like real plasma, this works best when near a source of rerolls, which in our case would be the Primus, not just to avoid "gets hot" but to help ensure the attacks you're spending a CP on actually strike home.
    • You can spend a second CP on Dig Them Out to buff the +1D guns to help ensure they wound.
• Raking Fire (1 CP): Atalan units or a Ridgerunner can re-roll to hit against an enemy unit that's exposed via Crossfire.
• Rapid Advance (1 CP): A genestealer, biker, or vehicle unit can auto-advance 6" instead of rolling. This one's mostly useful for Purestrains and Patriarchs, since they can charge after advancing.

</tab> <tab name="Epic Deed">

• Data Parasite (1/2 CP): Clamavus within 18" of an enemy vehicle suffering damage in movement phase - on a 3+ counts as half wounds for the damage table; cost 2CP if use on a Titanic unit.
• Devoted Crew (1 CP): One of your vehicles gets to act like they're at max wounds for the turn.
• Gestalt Conscious (1 CP): You can use a blessing psychic power on any friendly <CULT> unit regardless of range.
• Hyper-Metabolism (1 CP): A character regains D3 lost wounds.
• Legendary Demise (2 CP): Lets your Kelermorph shoot one more time on death.
• Reckless Demolitions (1 CP): One model in a unit can use a grenade weapon in melee, hits on a 2+, and 1s slays a model using the grenade.
• Rigged to Blow (1 CP): One of your vehicle units automatically explodes if it has a cache of demolition charges.

</tab> <tab name="Requisition">

• Grandsire's Gifts: (1 CP): Extra relics strat, as seen on any other army.
• Leaders of the Cult (1 CP): If a Patriarch is your warlord, you can give two HQ characters a unique Warlord trait each. Nice enough since you'll have plenty of characters to throw around and you're only paying 1 CP rather than the 2 most other armies would need to pay. The drawback is that this is single-use.

</tab> <tab name="Strategic Ploy">

• Booby Trap (1 CP): Pick one objective maker with a core unit or reductus saboteur on it at the end of your turn. The next time an enemy unit gets within 3" of it, roll a d6: on a 2-4 it suffers 1d3 mortal wounds, on a 5-6 it suffers 3 mortal wounds (2 mortal wounds total, on average).
• Clandestine Goals (1 CP): Hide a secondary objective or agenda until you score VP with it.
• Coordinated Assault (1CP): Start of the fight phase, choose one enemy unit with a crossfire marker, they fight last. This is why you use the Crossfire system and your end-goal for melee-based armies.
• Covering Fire (1 CP): Use in the charge phase, choose an enemy unit with a crossfire maker on it. They can't fire overwatch, set to defend, or heroically intervene.
• Fanatical Devotion (1 CP): A <Cult> core unit can heroically intervene up to 6" into a unit in engagement range with a Patriarch, Primus, or Magus.
• Genetic Lineage (1 CP): Use in the Charge phase on a unit of Acolytes or Metamorphs, they can charge even if they advanced this turn, like Purestrains can (but not Hive Fleet genestealers, be sure to rub it in if your ever against a Hive Tendril player.)
• Lurk in the Shadows (2 CP): Use at the start of the enemy shooting phase, one infantry unit can't be shot if it's >12" away unless it's the closest target to the shooter, but loses the bodyguard ability if it has it. Best used on a unit of metamorphs or the like being attacked outside of a character's influence.
• Meticulous Uprising (2 CP): Remove up to 2 Ambush markers (depending on game size) and redeploy them anywhere in your deployment zone more than 9" away from enemy units.
• Pack Hunters (2 CP): A unit within 6" of Atalan Jackals counts as Exposed.
• Return to the Shadows (1 CP): One infantry unit more than 6" away from the enemy in your movement phase or fight phase (after fighting) can return to reserves and then redeploys next turn more than 9" away from the enemy.
• Roaming Engagement (2CP): Atalan or Ridgerunner unit moves 7" after shooting but can't charge.
• Tunnel Crawlers (1CP): Select an area terrain in the charge phase, enemy can't overwatch or set to defend while on it and the terrain doesn't count as difficult ground for your unit.

</tab> <tab name="Wargear">

• Neural Overload (1CP): Roll 3d6 after a Sanctus strikes and wounds something. If your roll beats the enemy's leadership, you turn off their auras until your next shooting phase and make them suffer Perils if they're a Psyker. It's a pretty sinister move, but it can only be used once on a character so you'd better make that turn count.
• Primed Explosive (1CP): Auto-6-shots with grenade weapons or cache of demo charges.
• Summon Familiar (1CP): A character can re-use their Alchemicus or Psychic familiar once after using it. This can be used only once per character.

</tab> </tabs>

Broodmind Discipline

This is the only psychic discipline table your psykers can use. You can either roll randomly or choose them (base, your only two psykers both know two powers from this discipline, don't forget). Don't forget every psyker also automatically knows Smite and their Cult power, if any.

1. Mass Hypnosis (Malediction, WC 7): One enemy unit within 18" suffers -1A on each member and Always Fights Last. It's one of several abilities made to weaken the enemy so your forces can begin overwhelming them in force.
2. Mind Control (Malediction, WC 6): One enemy unit within 18" takes -1 to hit. If the psychic test exceeds that unit's Ld, they also suffer -1Ld and a -1 penalty to Combat Attrition checks, letting you drive off the enemy faster. The -1 to hit affects range and melee, meaning that it's more versatile than Mass Hypnosis.
3. Psionic Blast (Witchfire, WC 5): D3 mortal wounds against one visible enemy unit within 18", with that damage maxing out if the casting roll exceeds the enemy's Leadership score, but this power obeys Look Out, Sir. Despite the lack of ability to snipe, being able to choose your target otherwise is a nice free upgrade on a power that outperforms Smite (1.79 average mortals) against Ld9-; against Ld9 this power deals 1.83 mortals, and against Ld8 it deals 1.94.
   • For maximum damage output, use Mind Control on your chosen victim to lower the leadership then cast Psionic Blast with an increased chance of getting 3 mortal wounds.
4. Mental Onslaught (Witchfire, WC 5): One visible enemy unit within 24" rolls 4d6, suffering a MW for each 5+ (expected total 1.33). If the unit loses at least one model but isn't destroyed, you can roll again with one less die, repeating the above process until you either run out or you don't kill someone either by rolling badly or by not dealing enough MWs.
   • Provided you cast this on a W1 unit of size 4+, this will outperform Smite, dealing 2.18 mortals to a unit with 10+ models in it down to 1.96 to a W1 unit with 4 models in it, as opposed to Smite's 1.79 (down to 1.75 against a W1 unit with 4 models in it). If the target unit is any smaller, you'll deal less because you stop murdering it when the entire unit is wiped out, and if the target unit is W2+, it becomes less and less likely you'll deal enough casualties on even the first cast to cause any cascades, let alone a full set, because the first set of mortal wounds averages to so much less than 2, let alone 3 or 4.
5. Psychic Stimulus (Blessing, WC 5): One friendly <CULT> unit within 18" can charge and/or shoot after advancing or falling back.
   • Remember, you cast this after advancing or falling back, so you're signing yourself up for a bad day if you move something and then count on this power to let you do what you need, although casting buffs like the Crouchling relic can help fix this. As a result, this power's best use is when something is Falling Back to let the rest of your army shoot it - whatever did that will be more useful if it's allowed to then shoot and/or charge the target afterward, but it's not the end of the world if the power fails, because the rest of the army is there to murder the target.
     • If you plan on a unit of Acolytes or Metamorph to advance and charge you can try to use this power first to let them do it for free. If your psyker fails, then you can use the strategem Genetic lineage to still allow the hybrids to charge for 1CP.
6. Might From Beyond (Blessing, WC 6): One friendly <CULT> unit within 18" gains +1A on every member. The uses for this are pretty easy to see, whether it's giving aberrants or purestrains the edge they need to actually nail a hardy foe or another set of dice for your acolytes or metamorphs to use on their way to overwhelm them.
   • Better on larger units with lower A stats - for a unit with M models and A attacks per model, you'll multiply the unit's melee by 1+1/A and add a total of M attacks to it - and better on units that hit harder to begin with, so the attacks you add are more valuable.

In general, your Patriarch will want to get into the thick of it with Mass Hypnosis, Mind Control, and/or Psionic Blast, and your Magus will generally want to be away from the enemy with Might From Beyond, Psychic Stimulus, and/or Mental Onslaught for horde clearing. If you're only taking one psyker, the best powers to choose, generally, are Might from Beyond and Mass Hypnosis to help out your, generally, melee army. Don't forget that if you picked a named Cult, you also have a Cult power to plan synergy around.

Warlord Traits

1. Focus of Adoration: Any <Cult> Core or <Cult> Purestrain Genestealer units within 6" of the warlord can always heroically intervene. A Patriarch won't really care for this, as He can pull this off with a stratagem.
2. Shadowstalker: -1 to hit this warlord, which is a fantastic boost for a Patriarch (who usually won't be packing Mind Control). Anything else should be behind several units' worth of cultist-wrap (or have the ability baked in, as in a Jackal Alphus).
3. Biomorph Adaptation: +1A, +1T. The trait of choice for a melee beatstick HQ, especially a Patriarch. The Elite choices can't take a warlord trait, otherwise this would be great on an Abominant.
4. Prowling Agitant: Whenever your warlord is targeted for a charge and after you shoot overwatch, your warlord can then move 6" in any direction, letting you evade any unwelcome assaults. Great on a highly mobile character, usually your Patriarch or Jackal Alphus, when against melee-focused armies.
   • Make sure you don't end this 6" move closer to any other melee unit that your opponent might want to use to charge your warlord.
     • Alternatively, end up in range of a unit you would like to be charged by/HI into.
5. Alien Majesty: Add +3" to any auras the warlord has as well as to the range of the Meticulous Planner and Priority Target abilities. This gives you quite a few options for who to slap it on, but the most obvious of them allows you to improve your support abilities.
6. Preternatural Speed: Re-rolls to hit in melee and the Warlord can always fight first, which is almost always worse than Biomorph Adaptation on any Warlord you could be bothered putting this on, especially a Patriarch, who should be bringing Mass Hypnosis to the party.

Wargear

Weapons

The most important weapons category for you is the Industrial kind, since you have stratagems and even a custom creed trait that care about them.

Ranged

• Auto weapons: These guns don't have a lot in common rules wise, but are placed here because they shoot fairly normal bullets.
  • Atalan small arms: 12" Pistol 2 S4 AP0 D1
  • Autogun: 24" Rapid fire 1 S3 AP0 D1. Only better than shotguns when firing a enemies outside of 12". If you want your GEQ to have mining lasers or seismic cannons, take these. Otherwise, consider shotguns, as they might serve you better.
  • Autopistol: 12" Pistol 1 S3 AP0 D1
  • Boltpistol: 12" Pistol 1 S4 AP0 D1
  • Cult shotgun: 12" Assault 2 S4 AP0 D1, good for cheap yet mobile neophytes.
  • Heavy Stubber: 36" Heavy 3 S4 AP0 D1, found mostly on your vehicles. These can be taken on your neophytes but you shouldn't because you'll be wasting points on these instead of the industrial weapons.
• Flame Weapons: All of these automatically hit and have a rolled number of attacks.
  • Atalan Incinerator^Industrial: 12" Assault 1d6 S5 AP-1 D1, found on the Atalan Wolfquad, which means it's stuck in a unit whose primary gun is a pistol, so you probably won't take this.
  • Clearance Incinerator^Industrial: 15" Heavy 2d6 S6 AP-1 D1, found on the Goliath Rockgrinder, where it's unfortunately the worst gun choice you can make.
  • Hand Flamer: 12" Pistol 1d6 S3 AP0 D1, primarily wielded by Acolyte Hybrids and Hybrid Metamorphs. Usually an auto-buy, since it replaces the strictly worse autopistol, and if you can shoot it after advancing - which Rusted Claw can do, but there's also a custom creed trait for it - it gets even better. 5 of these will guarantee a crossfire token, but since odds are good you'll want fewer in the unit for melee purposes, here's a breakdown of the odds of applying a marker from a set of these:
    1. 33.33%
    2. 83.33%
    3. 98.15%
    4. 99.92%
    5. 100.00%
  • Flamer: 12" Assault 1d6 S4 AP0 D1, primarily found on Neophytes, where you can fit 2-4 in a unit. See above for odds of applying a Crossfire token. Like the Hand Flamer, good on a unit shooting a unit with no Crossfire already on it (since you wouldn't benefit from +1 to hit anyway) in order to get one on it.
• Explosives:
  • Blasting Charges^Industrial: 6" Grenade 1d3 S5 AP-1 D1, Blast, the most common grenade in your army.
  • Cache of Demolition Charges^Industrial: 6" Assault 1d6 S8 AP-3 D2, Blast, can only be fired while a model is embarked on the wielder (this is only found on Goliaths, and both of them are transports). If you can get within range, will reliably ruin the day of whatever you're shooting - the only problem is how close you have to get.
  • Demolition Charge^Industrial: 6" Grenade 1d6 S8 AP-3 D2, Blast, one-use only. Typically costs points to add to a unit, so always remember the usual caveats for grenades - a model firing it can't fire anything else and without a special rule it can't be fired after Advancing.
  • Frag Grenades: 6" Grenade 1d6 S3 AP0 D1, Blast. When fired from a Grenade Launcher, 24" Assault instead, but you'll almost always use the Krak profile instead if you're firing one.
  • Grenade Launcher: 24" Assault, 2 profiles: Frag, which is Assault 1d6 S3 AP0 D1, Blast, or Krak, which is Assault 1 S6 AP-1 Dd3, and found on Neophytes and Atalans. Terrible at applying Crossfire markers, due to the relative cost of the weapon and the BS of what's firing it - Flamers are far more effective, despite the Krak profile's D meaning you only need to land one shot - but still a better overall weapon than the autogun, shotgun, or Atalan small arms it replaces.
• Laser Weapons:
  • Heavy Mining Laser^Industrial: 36" Heavy d3 S9 AP-3 D1d6 Blast
  • Mining Laser^Industrial: 24" Heavy 1 S9 AP-3 D1d6
• Seismic Weapons: These weapons have two profiles: long and short. Both are 24" range.
  • Heavy Seismic Cannon^Industrial:
    • Long: Heavy 6 S6 AP-2 D2
    • Short: Heavy 3 S8 AP-3 D3
  • Seismic Cannon^Industrial:
    • Long: Heavy 6 S4 AP-1 D1
    • Short: Heavy 3 S6 AP-2 D2
• Web Weapons: This can't be stressed enough: Web weapons do not hit - they don't hit automatically, as they don't hit in the first place. Whatever you target with them potentially suffers mortal wounds, but because the target isn't hit, Web weapons can NOT inflict Crossfire markers. As a result, you should almost always avoid taking these. They're only carried by Neophytes.
  • Web Pistol: 12" Pistol 1 S1 AP0 D1, instead of rolling to hit roll 1d6 and if the result is greater than the highest Strength in the target unit, deal 1 mortal wound. Then end the attack sequence. Can't hurt a target of S6+.
  • Webber: 8" Assault 1d3 S1 AP0 D1, Blast, instead of rolling to hit roll 1d6 and if the result is greater than the highest Strength in the target unit, deal 1 mortal wound. Then end the attack sequence. Can't hurt a target of S6+.

Melee

• Industrial weapons:
  • Atalan Power Weapon^Industrial: S+1 AP-2 D1.
  • Drilldozer Blade^Industrial: S+2 AP-2 D2, +2A on the charge.
  • Heavy Power Weapon^Industrial: S+3 AP-2 D3.
  • Heavy Rock weapons^Industrial: These weapons all have Sx2 AP-4 but their damage and abilities are what set them apart from each other.
    • Heavy Rock Cutter^Industrial: Damage 3 with a -1 to hit. Think of this as a Thunder Hammer with double the AP.
    • Heavy Rock Drill^Industrial: Damage 1, auto-wounds on successful hits, and 6s to hit cause 2 mortal wounds; best used in large numbers to increase the odds of 6s to hit.
    • Heavy Rock Saw^Industrial: Damage 2, basically a power fist with better AP and no minus to hit.
      • Generally, you want to put saws into MEQ (without a minus one damage mechanic), cutters into TEQ, and drills into everything else - drills are far and away the best choice if you don't know up front what you're going to get into melee with.
  • Power Pick^Industrial: S+2 AP-2 D1.
  • Power Sledgehammer^Industrial: Sx2 AP-3 Dd3+3, a great weapon that's held back by the Abominant only having 3 attacks.
• Biological weapons: These are claws and blades that can tear through power armor (made of flesh and bone; we are Tyranids after all):
  • Bio-Dagger (Magus/Sanctus): S1 AP0 D1, +1A, wound rolls of 3+ cause a mortal wound against non-vehicle non-titanic units.
  • Cult Bonesword: S+1 AP-2 D2; when compared to Metamorph mutations, this is worse against one wound enemies, better against multi-wound enemies, unless they have a damage reduction ability, in which case the sword is worse.
  • Cult claws and knives: SU AP-2 D1, +1A.
  • Cult claws and talons: SU AP-3 D1.
  • Metamorph mutations: S+1 AP-3 D1.
  • Patriarch's Claws: SU(5) AP-3 D2, you can re-roll wound rolls, and wound rolls of 6 are AP-6(!) D3, with 6 attacks and the ability to advance & charge it begins to become obvious why our glorious lord and savior is such a monster in melee (and this is before warlord traits, relics and strategems). Have fun.
  • Toxin Injector Claw: SU AP-1 D1, +1A, and this weapon always wounds on a 2+ against non-vehicle non-titanic units.

Relics

• Amulet of the Voidwyrm: Provides a 4++ that can auto-save once per game and enemies the bearer charges can't overwatch or set to defend. This is a pretty handy set of tools for a loner hero who might not always be able to rely on a crowd for protection, like a melee Sanctus.
• Cranial Inlay: Nexos only. You can recover a CP on a 5+ after using a stratagem while the bearer is on the battlefield and the bearer can use Strategic Coordination twice per turn.
  • You can safely consider this an auto-include if you have a Nexos - either you shouldn't be paying the points for a Nexos or you should be willing to pay CP if necessary to get this onto the table.
• The Crouchling: Replaces a psychic familiar, so Magus or Patriarch only. It can re-roll psychic tests once per turn and if all the rolls are the same for that test, the power cannot be denied.
• Dagger of Swift Sacrifice: Improves the bio-dagger of a Sanctus or Magus, letting the bearer re-roll one wound roll per fight. If the bearer deals damage to the target but doesn't kill them, you can roll a d6 - on a 3+, that target takes d3 mortal wounds (the mortal wounds kill the target, they don't spill over like mortals normally do).
• The Gift from Beyond: Replaces a cult sniper rifle (so Sanctus or Jackal Alphus only) with one that goes up from D2 to D3 and from 36" to 48", which is by and large a waste of a relic slot, as the best attributes of a cult sniper rifle don't improve with this - you don't get meaningfully better at handing out a crossfire token and you don't get any better at handing out mortal wounds. On the other hand, most characters are 4 wound models and going from a potential 3 damage/shot to a potential 4 damage/shot is the difference between taking two turns to kill a character vs only one.
• Hand of Aberrance: Replaces the Primus's toxic injector claw with the same weapon only the AP is improved by 1 to -2 and the D is tripled to 3, which means against targets the Poisoned works on, this is better than the Sword of the Void's Eye.
  • Do note that this advantage over the Void's Eye is mainly due to the poison ability. So, abilities that prevents you from wounding on a 1, 2, or 3 (Read: Transhuman physiology) will cause you to lose the edge over the sword.
• Oppressor's Bane: Replaces an autopistol. 15" Pistol 3 S4 AP-2 D2, provides Crossfire, and can treat enemies as always having a crossfire token and being exposed, which sounds quite keen. That said, most of the characters that can use it aren't ones that really should be shooting, with the exception of the Reductus Saboteur, who will appreciate gaining crossfire (she will still almost never fire it, as her Remote Explosives are almost always better - you're mostly spending a relic on making her Remote Explosives significantly more useful).
• Sword of the Void's Eye: Replaces a bonesword or locus blades. With S+2 AP-3 D2 that can re-roll to hit and wound, you've got yourself a superb weapon for any beatstick Locus you're looking to build. For a Primus, faces very strong competition from the Hand of Aberrance.
• The Unwilling Orb: Psykers only. The bearer can deny an extra power and expands their range for Denying to infinity (and beyond). On top of that, any Malediction or Witchfire powers that they cast gain +1 to their casting rolls - a useful enough tool since several of them involve giving extra penalties or damage if your roll exceeds an enemy stat. Probably best on the Patriarch as He will usually be using the debuffing/damaging powers, like Mass Hypnosis. But if you're purely using this for the better denies then give this to the Magus and let the Patriarch take a more melee-focused relic.
• Voice of the Liberator: Clamavus only. All friendly <Cult> units within 12" get +1 to their Leadership and the Clamavus adds +6" to Proclamation Hailer and Voice of New Truths (but not to Scrambler Array).
• Wyrmtooth Rounds: Kelermorph only. You can load these into any number of the kelermorph's autostubs, turning them into an 18" Heavy 1 S6 AP-3 D3 gun, a terrifying threat that drops ignoring Look Out, Sir and additional mortal wounds but keeps exploding hits. Though it forces the gunner to sit still for optimal accuracy, these pack enough kick to take down a high-wound target in a single go. The real value of this relic is surprisingly subtle: since your Kelermorph's aura only turns on when you kill something, against a high-wound poor-invuln target this can really help you successfully turn your aura on. Note that per the Genestealer Cults 22/02/2022 FAQ, you can't fire the Wyrmtooth Rounds and the normal Liberator Autostub shots in the same shooting phase.

Proficient Planning

Proficient Planning is the Genestealer Cults' special unit upgrade system, where you can pay points and power level to give units special buffs, similar to Space Marines' Chapter Command. Unlike most factions' equivalent of this, Proficient Planning isn't exclusive to CHARACTER units, opening up a variety of options other armies simply don't have. Note that these are chosen in the listbuilding phase, and thus telegraphed to your opponent.

• A Perfect Ambush: +1 PL/+15 pts: When a unit arrives from underground, it gets to treat a single target within 12" as having a Crossfire token and being Exposed. Decent for when you need to zap something and no one's in position to do it, but are you going to plan on that ahead of time?
  • Uh, Yeah? For +15 points, you can place heavy weapons underground (This is distinct from Ambush, where they have to be revealed in the First Round), and have its Heavy Mining Laser hit on 4s, wound on 2s.
• A Trap Sprung: +1 PL/+15 pts: After arriving from underground, roll an extra die and discard the lowest for charge rolls. Since you're already at 8.1", this greatly improves your odds - you go from making it 41.67% of the time to 68.06% of the time.
  • If you can re-roll charge rolls already, like the Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor or if you took the custom creed effect for it, this brings you from 65.97% (the creed's baseline for an 8" charge) to 89.80%, since you roll 3 dice, drop the lowest, and then if you didn't make it, roll 3 dice again and drop the lowest.
• Alchemist Supreme: +1PL/+15 points; exclusive to the Biophagus, but that's an extremely misleading statement, because it doesn't upgrade the Biophagus at all - that is, you put it on the Biophagus, consuming its ability to take a Proficient Planning upgrade and of course requiring you to have a Biophagus in the first place, but then you pick any CULT CORE or CULT ABERRANT unit in your army and give it any 1 of the Biophagus's buffs that you choose: -1AP on melee attacks, unmodified melee hit rolls of 6 inflict an additional hit, or a 5+++.
  • This means, of course, the buffed unit can also receive a Proficient Planning upgrade of its own, which is recommended.
  • Because you can choose the result it's arguably best to use this to buff a core unit which normally requires them to rolled for their benefit.
• Exacting Planner: Exclusive to the Primus, see its Unit Analysis entry.
• Excavate: +1 PL/+20 pts: Now this is a weird one. Before the battle, as long as this unit is underground, pick a terrain feature on the battlefield - it loses the Light Cover, Heavy Cover, and Defensible features and gains the Difficult Ground one.
  • This one's a really interesting pick. Most tables have at least one ruin in each player's deployment zone, and while this doesn't get rid of Obscuring, it does make the ruin essentially useless as a defense for units hiding inside it. Because it takes away Defensible, this is good for killing stuff in melee as well as at range.
  • Remember that for one CP you can ignore the difficult ground with the strat "tunnel crawlers", making this upgrade much more tempting.
• From Every Angle: +1 PL/+10 pts: You can put the unit into Strategic Reserves for no CP at the start of the first battle round, letting you exceed the usual caps on unit count and total points in reserve. Then it can count the turn as being 1 higher for the purpose of Strategic Reserves, letting it come in from any board edge on turn 1 (the same turn it left!), making this upgrade practically mandatory in every possible list. Do remember that this means that you have to set up this unit outside of 9" instead of your normal 8"/6".
  • Just to be clear, by definition, a unit in Ambush can't be put into Strategic Reserves, so you can't cause a rules paradox by putting an Ambush marker into Strategic Reserves with this - if you're using this upgrade, you have to deploy the unit onto the table normally, then remove it from the table.
  • If you plan on running Goliath Trucks, this can be a good way to maximize their use, because you'll get to Deep Strike (near a board edge) the Truck and its contents.
• Lying in Wait: +1 PL/+20 pts: When this Infantry unit arrives from underground, it can appear >3" from enemy models rather than >6" without the ability to charge. This can be useful for positioning shooty units in spaces your opponent would normally consider covered, but the only non-melee weapons you have that will notice the benefits of being so close are grenades and the Reductus Saboteur's Reductus Explosives ability (remember, Ambush lets you pretend the Move phase is the Command phase, so she can pop her Plant Explosives action when she Ambushes in - this upgrade lets her also immediately detonate her explosive, but remember, friendly fire is on with her - she can't die to her own explosive, but she has a 50-50 chance of losing a wound to it).
  • Since most of your ultra short range shooting either has limited use (demo charges) or is >6" range anyway (hand flamers, hand flamers are 12" range), this stratagem's primary utility is as a mind game. Because the safe space from deep strikes is only 3/8 the size it normally is, your opponent has to expend way more resources covering his backfield, or else you can essentially guarantee a unit goes anywhere on the board, great for secondary objectives.
• Meditations in Shadow: +1 PL/+15 pts: A Psyker knows an extra power. Doesn't get you an extra cast or anything, so it might not be worth it.
  • Best used in tournaments to give your psyker more versatility; especially if you're only taking one caster.
• Our Time Is Nigh: +1 PL, +15 pts. Unit gets +1A on its first fight of the game. Doesn't stack with Might From Beyond.
  • Great for Aberrants, whose main weakness is low number of attacks and who really need to capitalize on the fights they get.
• They Came From Below: +1 PL/+10 pts: Non-VEHICLE unit only. When revealing ambush markers, the unit can either be moved from under its ambush marker to underground, or can be set up and then make an immediate Normal Move (it still moves normally in its next movement phase) that must end >9" away from any enemy models.
  • This one's a great pick for any unit that wants to get into melee quickly, as it gets to pick between charging up the board or joining other stuff in reserves. Lets you make an important decision after you find out if you're going first or second.

Unit Analysis

The following are the eyes, ears, claws and other strange body parts that the cult uses to rinse up against their suppressors.

HQ

A quick reminder: the following 5 characters are the only things in the GSC codex that can take GSC warlord traits.

• Acolyte Iconward: With a fairly standard statline and equipment list, the Acolyte Iconward doesn't really stand out in combat. You take the Iconward for its abilities. The first is Nexus Of Devotion, which allows friendly CULT CORE units to Summon The Cult while within 6" (but somehow isn't listed as an aura, which means enemy abilities can't turn it off), so as soon as you would've bought 4 Cult Icons, 1 Iconward is a cheaper solution, provided you don't mind the positioning hassle. In addition to this, the Iconward can perform an Action at the end of your Move Units step that ends at the beginning of Charging (so just don't shoot your one shot, strength 3, no AP, damage 1 pistol and you'll be fine) that provides +1 to charge rolls for Infantry, BIKER, and CHARACTER units that aren't Genestealers (probably because pure-blooded tyranids can't really feel emotions like inspiration) .
  • You can stack an Iconward with Cult Icons, but the way it works is you roll twice and the cap per turn is 6 for Neophytes and 3 for everyone else, so the average with either one alone is 3.5 for Neophytes and 2 for everyone else base, 5.44 for Neophytes and 2.89 for everyone else with the combo, meaning you get diminishing returns.
  • There's not too much to say about the Iconward. Either stick him in your backline and have him help your Neophytes regenerate or stick him in the front and have him help Acolytes charge and maybe regen if it's convenient. He's useful, he's just not complicated. He's probably worth taking in most lists.
• Jackal Alphus^Crossfire: A sniper on a bike who works best with other fast units. Her sniper rifle is Heavy 1 S5 AP-3 D2, with the standard ability to ignore Look Out Sir, and inflicting a bonus MW on a 4+ to wound, not a 6+. She can use her Priority Target ability to pick a friendly <CULT> CORE CROSSFIRE (which is redundant - all of your core units are crossfire) unit within 9" and one visible enemy unit within 36". When the friendly unit you picked and/or the Alphus shoots at the enemy you picked, the enemy counts as Exposed (which, remember, does nothing unless it also has a crossfire token). She can also use Atalan Jackals and Vehicles within 6" as perfect bodyguards (they make her untargetable with ranged attacks unless she's the closest target), has a permanent -1 to be hit, and can shoot and charge after falling back.
  • Because her sniper rifle is D2, whatever you hit with it gains a crossfire marker. Important to remember when you want an enemy unit to have a crossfire marker that your whole army can take advantage of without wasting valuable firepower. In fact, this makes her functionally better at ranged support than a Primus when what you want dead has no crossfire token on it and you don't already have your units in position for exposed - a 5/6 chance of +1 to hit and wound for her supported unit on top of her radically superior shooting mean she's immediately earned her keep as soon as she starts supporting even 1 unit of neophytes with grenade launchers and seismic cannons, and the benefits are so substantial that a Primus needs to support at least 4 10-dude units (or 5 units and one 20-dude unit, because fielding a big unit helps the Alphus more than the Primus when they compete) with launchers and cannons to beat her - or, of course, you can simply shoot something that's already got a crossfire token, as +1 to wound is worse than 7/6 to hit and wound unless you wound on 1s or 2s base, and if you shoot something that already counts as exposed, the Alphus is of no benefit. And don't forget, the Alphus and the Primus stack.
    • If you're trying to support Hand Flamer spam (so the Primus can only provide 1 unit with x7/6 to wound), the Alphus is again better, because a 5/6 chance of +1 to wound (or a guaranteed chance, if the target unit already has a crossfire token) is better than x7/6 to wound unless you already wound on 5s.
    • TL;DR An Alphus is generally better ranged support than a Primus unless you're supporting a lot of units or the enemy already has crossfire/exposed.
• Magus: Your standard issue Psyker, comes in old man or bald lady flavors depending on whether you buy it standalone or as part of the Broodcoven set. Like the Patriarch, the Magus is a know 2+1/cast 2/deny 1 psyker. Her stats in combat are nothing to write home about, so you take her if you've already got a Patriarch or you want a cheaper caster. She also has an easy-to-forget aura that grants <cult> infantry/biker units within 6" of her a 5+++ against mortal wounds in the psychic phase only, (don't forget that it helps protects your Magus from perils).
  • She's probably best off staying back in your deployment zone, out of deny range, casting blessing powers, especially now that you have a strat that lets you apply these buffing spells at any range.
• Patriarch: The Patriarch is the master of a Genestealer Cult - if you're a Tyranids player, He has a similar statline to a Broodlord (except the Patriarch can advance and charge). The Patriarch's statline and weapons make him an all-rounder blender, relatively fragile as far as melee characters go but with obscene damage output. He is also a know 2+1/cast 2/deny 1 Psyker. Unfortunately, He doesn't do much for the rest of your army - the Patriarch's only aura is one that makes nearby <Cult> models ignore Combat Attrition modifiers, which is honestly nothing. If you take a Patriarch, He has to be your Warlord, but the Leaders Of The Cult stratagem lets you give Warlord Traits to two other models if your Warlord is a Patriarch.
  • The Patriarch is a beatstick, pure and simple. With an 8" move and the ability to charge after advancing, He can go where He wants to go. Once He's there He's got 6 attacks at S5 AP-3 D2, with 6s to wound becoming AP-6 and D3, and He has full re-rolling to wound. At 140 points, this is pretty reasonable.
  • Your Patriarch wants to be in the thick of things, so equip him accordingly. Biomorph Adaptation and some of the <Cult> relics are both worth looking into. It should be noted that there's unfortunately no way to stack buffs on the Patriarch to get him up to S8 and wound T4 on 2s, and his ability to hit super hard on 6s to wound has no scaling at all with higher Strength, so even with Strength buffs like Twisted Helix can give him, he won't hit significantly harder.
  • Your Patriarch is probably the best choice to give melee support Psychic powers such as Might From Beyond and Mass Hypnosis, as He's more likely to be where those need to happen than your Magus is.
  • Don't be afraid to let him Advance all He likes - it's Falling Back, not Advancing, that disables Psychic Powers in 9th.
  • When the Patriarch fails a saving throw, unquestioning loyalty will succeed on a 3+ instead of the normal 4+, which functionally means that He has a 3+++ FNP against non-mortal wounds, without the need of stratagems, warlord traits, or relics (except it's even better, because you roll unquestioning loyalty before damage is applied, e.g. a Dd3+6 attack is ignored on a single roll), provided He has minions nearby. That's like Tau drone spam only better.
• Primus: Probably the standout HQ for this edition. The Primus's statline is respectable, and for melee (he's WS2+) he has a Toxin Claw at A+1(5, or 1 with his Bonesword) SU(4) AP-1 D1, always wounds non-vehicle non-titanic on 2+ for, surprisingly enough, murdering hordes, not high-T targets, simply because his other weapon is better or equal for W2+ Sv4-, but the free extra attack is always nice, as well as a Bonesword at AU(4) S+1(5) AP-2 D2 for murdering anything else, although it's only particularly good at murdering MEQ and TEQ. For range he has a Scoped Needle Pistol: BS2+ 18" Pistol 1 S1 AP0 Dd3, always wounds non-vehicle non-titanic on 2+, but he can't hand out Crossfire tokens, so this isn't remotely why you take him - you take him for his abilities. His first is the very standard aura that grants re-rolls of 1 to hit to <CULT> CORE models within 6". The second, Meticulous Planner, is simple - in your command phase, pick one friendly <CULT> CORE unit within 9". That unit gets re-rolls of 1 to wound.
  • That means unless you have a very credible plan for keeping your Primus near your significantly faster Jackals or your melee-focused Acolyte Hybrids or Hybrid Metamorphs, his best use is supporting Grenade Launcher+Seismic Cannon Neophytes (especially as his accuracy buff will help them hand out Crossfire tokens more effectively). Remember, web weapons don't roll to hit or wound, so he can't help them at all, and flame weapons don't roll to hit. Even if you can keep him close to your Acolyte Hybrids, their best melee weapon is their Drill, which doesn't roll to wound.
    • If you keep your Primus and Nexos together, which you should, you can broadcast the Primus' arua to far off units. While you can only do this to one unit at a time per Nexos, or twice with the Nexos specific relic, you'll be improving your melee damage whilst keeping your linchpin character safe. And hey, there's nothing stopping the Primus from buffing some shooting dudes while doing this via standing next to them.
  • You can multiply his points cost by 6 to find out how many points he needs to support to break even on his cost, but remember if he puts his re-roll 1s to wound on a unit in range to also get re-roll 1s to hit, you need to count that unit twice. At current costs, he's 80, so breaking even happens at 480, and a 10-dude Neophyte squad with 6 autoguns, 2 grenade launchers, and 2 seismic cannons is 100 points, so you can field him with 5 such squads if they're not in range for re-rolling 1s to wound or 4 if they are, and since he can pick an obnoxiously large unit as well, if you take a 20-dude squad (200 points) and slap re-rolling 1s to wound on it, it plus 1 10-dude squad is sufficient.
  • The Primus can be upgraded with the Proficient Planning ability Exacting Planner. For an additional 1 PL and 15 pts, he gets a once per game ability to use Meticulous Planner twice in one phase, and the second target doesn't have to be CORE. This is a pretty powerful ability that, combined with other buffs like Crossfire and Exposed, can help set up a powerful alpha strike.
  • It's hard to see a situation where you wouldn't want a Primus in your list. He gives out critical buffs and he can pull his own weight in combat. For all of 80 points, what more would you want?

Troops

• Acolyte Hybrids^{Core, Crossfire}: These guys are your melee troops; halfway between a Neophyte Hybrid and a Purestrain Genestealer, Acolyte Hybrids are BS4+ WS3+ S4 T4. Each model has 2 attacks (except for the leader, who has 3), but their default Cult Claws and Knife weapon nets them a bonus attack and makes them AP-2, and each comes stock with an autopistol, blasting charges, and frag grenades. Acolytes come in squads of 5-15. At 9 points per model, they're roughly competitive with Ork Boyz.
  • Acolyte options are closely tied to the kit - for every 5 models, you can replace the pistol and melee weapon on two mooks with your choice of a pair of demolition charges or one of the three Heavy Rock Tools - Saw, Cutter, and Drill. The Saw is the standard: WS3+ Sx2(8) AP-4 D2. The Cutter is WS4+ Sx2(8) AP-4 D3. The drill is the weirdest, at WS3+ Sx2(8) AP-4 D1, but if it hits it wounds automatically (so the Sx2 doesn't matter) and on a 6 to hit, it inflicts +2 mortal wounds. All of these are ten points each, which means Drill is far and away your best choice of weapon - there are targets for which the other two weapons are better (one for MEQ and one for TEQ), but against the vast majority of the game's targets, the Drill will outperform anything else.
  • Any Acolytes and/or the Leader that do not have a mining tool and hence still have their autopistol can and always should swap their pistol for a Hand Flamer for 3 PPM. This gives them a decent ranged punch, but more importantly makes them play well with the Crossfire mechanic. Either you can use a squad of 5 to drop in and get 5 auto-hits for an automatic Crossfire token, or you can drop a large squad in, get the target Exposed, and enjoy +1 to Wound on 15d6 attacks.
  • The Leader can swap out its melee weapon and pistol, individually, for a bonesword (S+1(5) AP-2 D2, murders MEQ delightfully) or a lash whip (lets the model re-roll melee hit rolls against non-monster non-vehicles) - limit one of each. The whip isn't a melee weapon, instead buffing the user's melee (so if you swap the Leader's only melee weapon for a whip, you end up swinging your default CC weapon with re-rolls to hit, which is a lot worse than keeping the claw+knife). That gets you a bunch of configurations that aren't very good, like autopistol+whip. The configuration you should care about is Hand Flamer + Bonesword, for optimal murder.
    • If you field the most murderous possible unit - 3 Hand Flamers mounted on a Leader with a Bonesword and 2 Acolytes with Claws and Knives, plus 2 models carrying Heavy Rock Drills - you have a 98.15% chance of being able to drop a Crossfire token on whatever you shot (the odds of rolling at least 5 hits on 3d6) and you will absolutely destroy most anything in your path, provided you can succeed on your charge roll.
• Neophyte Hybrids^{Core, Crossfire}: Your equivalent to Guardsmen, Neophyte Hybrids come in units of 10-20 with a single leader. For every 10 models, you get two special weapon slots and two heavy weapon slots. At 6 points per model, Neophytes are just as expensive as guardsmen, which is nice. If you're running a max sized blob, it's almost always worth it to run a Cult Icon so you can replenish your losses.
  • Neophyte Hybrids can swap their autoguns for shotguns, sacrificing their 1 shot at >12" for the ability to shoot after Advancing and S4, which is usually worth it within 12" in terms of what the unit can murder, but significantly detracts from the unit's capabilities at longer range, particularly since it can't lay down crossfire tokens at more than 12" away with shotguns; take shotguns if and only if you take flamers (which implies the unit's job is to deep strike in and lay down vigorous murder).
  • For special weapons, Webbers have the critical flaw of not hitting anything, not even automatically, so you can't lay down Crossfire markers with them, on top of not being able to wound anything that's S6+ at all. Flamers are better than Grenade Launchers against almost all possible targets, and that includes laying down Crossfire tokens - a Flamer on average hands out 3.33/5 of a crossfire token, and a Grenade's Krak profile needs to be at least BS3+ to have the same net average (since it hands out all 5 on a hit), which you already need a token on the target to reach, unless you have another special rule like exploding 6s to hit. The issue is the same as with shotguns: superior performance within 12" in exchange for doing nothing at all in the >12"-24" band. Take Grenade Launchers with Autoguns, Flamers with Shotguns - the former if you plan to start on the table, the latter if you plan to Deep Strike. Longer range offers more versatility, so if you can't make up your mind, Launchers + Autoguns will be more forgiving of you deciding late.
  • For heavy weapons, the Heavy Stubber isn't particularly useful, so you're reliably best off with the Seismic Cannon: it's the best weapon the unit can carry for handing out crossfire tokens, and will outperform a Mining Laser against the majority of Exposed targets. If you use the Overload Fuel Cells strat, the Seismic Cannon gets even better in relative terms, with its two profiles going from 6 A*D each to 12 and 9 (x2 and x1.5), whereas the mining laser goes from A*D 3.5 to 4.5 (x1.29). Stick to the Seismic Cannons.
  • For the sergeant, note that every model in the unit has an autopistol it can't avoid taking, so if you swap the sergeant's autogun for an autopistol and chainsword, you've spent 0 points going from an autogun to 2 autopistols (same output from more than 1 to within 12", no shot from there to 24", and full output at engaged targets) and gotten a free chainsword for extra melee, which is usually a good choice. The bolt pistol is always a bad choice (since a shotgun is free) and the web pistol is awful because it can't lay down Crossfire tokens. Neophytes aren't really built for melee, though, so you probably don't want to shell out points for a melee weapon. If you do, the Power Pick is better than the Power Maul against most things you have any chance of killing in melee, but the rest of the unit will hit so delicately you're honestly throwing points away.
  • Note that as of this writing (1/10/22), the points entry for Neophyte Hybrids says that their unit size is 5-15 models, but the datasheet says 10-20, so the points entry is probably a misprint.

Elites

• Aberrants: Big, tough, absolutely chonky lads. Aberrants are A2 WS3+ S5 T5 W3 with a permanent -1 to incoming damage. Each model is equipped with a Heavy Power Weapon that gives them S+3(8) AP-2 D3, and the leader (who's A3) has a tail that lets it swing one more time at SU(5) AP-1 D1. These guys are your dedicated terminator-killers, and they pay for the privilege at 30 ppm. The leader can swap his hammer for a "Heavy Improvised Weapon" that spreads its D2 from model to model, so it will behave in every meaningful way like it's A6 S+1(6) AP-1 D1, but this is generally a bad idea because you're sending these boys against tanks and terminators, not infantry.
  • Aberrants' biggest weakness is their low volume of attacks - they're worse than Purestrains against almost everything in the game due to costing more than twice as much for half the attacks (but less than twice the damage) at a worse WS and AP. Look into ways to boost this, such as the Our Time Is Nigh proficient planning ability or the Might From Beyond psychic power. Either of these boost Aberrants' damage output by 50%.
• Hybrid Metamorphs^{Core, Crossfire}: The midpoint between Acolyte Hybrids and Purestrains, Metamorphs are defined by their Metamorph Weapons. S+1(5) and AP-3 makes them decent at handling medium and heavy infantry, and 3 attacks base gives Metamorphs the volume of attacks to make up for their pitiful D1. Like Acolytes, Metamorphs can take hand flamers. Since you'll probably be sending these guys against MEQ, consider giving the leader the Bonesword for some D2. But the primary feature of Metamorphs is their Savage Amalgam ability - in the fight phase, they still get to fight even if they die. That means these models never need to worry about being outbid in initiative or interrupted, so activate your other units first.
• Purestrain Genestealers: The namesake of the entire faction. Purestrains have received some minor changes compared to their pre-codex versions. Notably, they gained better AP, WS and invuls, and they're a touch less expensive at 14 ppm. With they're stat line - M8 A4 WS2+ S4 AP-3 D1 T4 W1 Sv5+/4++ Ld9 - they're no joke at their (cheap) price, and they retain the ability to advance and charge. All this makes Purestrains surprisingly good hunters of light and medium targets (including medium vehicles and monsters - anything T7- is going to sit up and notice them). Like all your units, they benefit from Conceal and Unquestioning Loyalty. Since you don't have easy access to morale immunity for them like a hive fleet would, best fielded MSU - a unit of 5 of them only needs to make morale checks when exactly 4 of them die, and it won't ever make a Combat Attrition check.
  • A note for Genestealer Cult players of editions past - unlike 8E, Purestrains benefit from your Cult keyword, so they get your subfaction bonus and are eligible for every buff that doesn't need Crossfire, so you can do stuff like make them Mv9 and S5 by running them in Twisted Helix.
  • Purestrains are pretty much always better than Hive Tendrils Genestealers. From WS2+, to 4++ against both melee and range, and even retaining advance and charge (I guess when 'Stears know that they'll be alive for more than a few hours, they spend their free time practicing hitting, dodging and running), these guys provide a better performance over the default genestealers. Also, as of writing this, purestrains are actually cheaper than normal genestealers (How did this happen? Who decided this?). Even the pre-game move that Hive Fleet genestealers have to set them apart from other options in the Tyranid Codex can be done by (albeit, only one) purestrain unit via the Proficient Planning: They came from below. TL;DR if you're taking both Tyranids and Genestealer Cult, you should never take the codex Tyranid version of genestealers; take these guys instead.

Characters

• Abominant: The first of two characters that are designed to work with Aberrants, the Abominant is a lot like taking half a Carnifex. With 6 wounds on top of an Aberrant statline, their same -1 damage, and a 5+++, plus the ability to re-roll one hit roll or wound roll per fight thanks to his little buddy, the Abominant's mostly notable for his hammer, which hits like a truck (A3 S10 AP-3 Dd3+3). With only three attacks, though, he basically has the same problem as Aberrants. The main reason you take the Abominant is that he gives Aberrants within 6" full re-rolls to hit on their attacks, which means he's barely ever worth it - giving WS3+ models re-rolls to hit is exactly equivalent to making them hit a third again as hard. Since they're 30 points each he's "worth" 10 points per buffed model, and he's 95 points, so you need to buff 10 models to get ahead of the game - and the whole time you've spent enough points to buy a Primus instead with room to spare.
• Biophagus: A mad scientist on the battlefield, the Biophagus is able to give your units a "Genomic Enhancement", essentially a permanent buff that sticks around for the game's duration. He's got a weapon that wounds on 2s via poison, but his buffs are the real reason to run him. By using an action that essentially takes up his shooting phase, the Biophagus can give a <CULT> CORE or ABERRANT unit within 3" (or farther 1/game, if you spring for the Alchemicus Familiar) one of the following buffs. You roll a D3 and apply the result, unless you're doing this to Aberrants, in which case you pick. Each unit can only have one Genomic Enhancement.
  1. Enhanced Musculature: Extra -1 AP on all melee attacks.
  2. Enhanced Aggression: Hit rolls of 6 in melee score 1 additional hit (equivalent to +1 to hit).
  3. Enhanced Resilience: Unit gets a 5+++.
  • The Biophagus has a unique Proficient Planning upgrade called Alchemist Supreme. For 1 PL and 15 points, the Biophagus gives a <CULT> CORE or <CULT> ABERRANT unit from your army a Genomic Enhancement before the battle begins - no need for them to be near each other, and you pick which it is. This is probably best used to buff a big melee unit of Acolyte Hybrids or Hybrid Metamorphs that plan to tunnel in and then get stuck in. Note that if you do this, Enhanced Aggression is almost always a better choice than Enhances Musculature, since it works against anything.
• Clamavus: Another support character, the Clamavus packs a pistol, but his main weapons are his sick beats and/or inspiring shouts on the loudspeaker. The Clamavus has three abilities. The first is Scrambler Array, which simply keeps enemy units from being set up as reinforcements within 12" of him. Great if you run into another GSC player. The second is Proclamation Hailer. In your command phase, you can select a <CULT> CORE unit within 12". That unit can shoot without their actions failing and ignore modifiers to Combat Attrition. The third is Voice of New Truths. In your Morale phase, you can pick an enemy unit within 12" and roll 3d6. If the roll is higher than the unit's leadership, choose one: that unit can't perform actions until your next morale phase and any action it's doing automatically fails or that unit loses Objective Secured until your next Morale phase. Both of these have the potential to be a huge deal, even game winners in the right situation. Each unit can only be selected for this ability once per phase, though, so no doubling up by taking two Clamavuses.
  • The Clamavus has a unique relic, the Voice Of The Liberator, which adds 1 to the leadership of friendly CULT units in 12" and adds 6" to the range of the Proclamation Hailer and Voice Of New Truths abilities.
• Nexos: A support character with a fancy holographic map, the Nexos is best at sitting in the backfield and using his support abilities. His first ability is simple and incredibly useful. Every command phase, as long as the Nexos is somewhere on the battlefield (so not inside a transport or in reserves), he can assign one Crossfire marker to any enemy unit on the battlefield. The Nexos's second ability, Strategic Coordination, is possibly even more useful. First, in the command phase, you pick any <CULT> CORE unit on the battlefield. Then you pick one CULT Primus, Jackal Alphus, or Clamavus within 6" of the Nexos. The <CULT> CORE model you picked counts as being in range of the character's Aura abilities and can be targeted by their abilities that pick a unit regardless of range restrictions.
  • The Nexos has a unique relic, the Cranial Inlay. If a Nexos has a Cranial Inlay, it can use Strategic Coordination an extra time each turn (no need to pick different units, so you could give one unit two characters' buffs or give one character's buffs to two units) and every time you spend a command point on a stratagem, roll a d6 and you get that CP back on a 5+. If you're already taking a Nexos, this is almost an auto-pick, even if you need to pick up an extra relic as the cp regen will pay for itself.
• Kelermorph^Crossfire: A support character with a very decent statline of M6 BS2+ A4 WS3+ S3 T3 W4 Sv5+/5++ Ld8, the Kelermorph has a big iron on its hip - three of them, actually. It's got three Liberator Autostubs, each of which is 18" Pistol 2 S5 AP-1 D1, for a total of 6 shots that ignore Look Out, Sir and generate +1 mortal wound on unmodified 6 to wound. For every hit, the Kelermorph gets to make a bonus attack, though sadly bonus attacks can't generate extra attacks. On average, that comes to 9 and 1/6 (9.17) hits and 1.53 mortal wounds (plus any normal damage that gets through). If it kills at least one model, the Kelermorph gains an aura ability that lets <CULT> CORE units within 6" re-roll hit rolls of 1. After shooting, the Kelermorph can make a Normal Move or Fall Back as if it were your movement phase, even if it arrived as reinforcements. All of this combines to make the Kelermorph a decent support platform - it has Crossfire, so it can lay down a hail of shots (almost certainly - a 98.72% chance - applying a Crossfire token), then use its move after shooting to get into position to make the target Exposed, duck to safety behind a wall, or use its aura to give a shooting buff to a convenient squad of neophytes. Whether it's worth the 80 point price tag, however, is an open question. At the same time, don't let the sniper ability on its pistols fool you - it won't kill any but the most fragile characters unless they're already injured.
  • So bear in mind the Kelermorph's aura is a Primus's but worse because it has an incredibly slim chance of not turning on when the Kelermorph shoots and is always off if the Kelermorph doesn't shoot anything (likely due to being out of range), and its ability to apply a Crossfire token is similarly worse than a Nexos's because the Nexos can't fail and is infinite range - plus, if you have a Nexos and a Primus, the Nexos can just pick a unit to be within range of the Primus's buffs. What it's incredibly good at is getting out of a Goliath Truck and then being in position to apply Exposed due to its Move-Shoot-Move (in this case Disembark-Shoot-Move) mechanic, but that's not exactly invaluable given how mobile your entire army is to begin with.
• Locus: A bodyguard character; with A5 WS2+ S4 T4 Sv5+/5++, he's not a slouch in melee, thanks to an S+1 AP-1 D2 weapon. The most important feature of the Locus is his Ward ability - during deployment, you pick one other <CULT> CHARACTER that isn't a Locus to be the Ward. As long as the Locus is within 3" of the Ward, the Ward can't be targeted with ranged attacks (even sniper weapons) gains the benefit of "look out sir" (so, can be targeted by snipers (in fairness, unquestioning loyalty is decent enough protection against that)), and as long as the Locus is a viable target in melee, models have to target the Locus before the Ward. The Locus also fights first in combat and can do heroic interventions at up to 6".
  • If you heavily invest in any character, the Locus is probably worth buying, especially for a Patriarch. If nothing else, it'll keep that character safe from ranged attacks a decent chunk longer than you'd expect.
    • If you are taking a Locus for your Patriarch, you'll have you work around His mobility, as He can move 8" and advance and charge while the Locus only moves 6" and has to pick between advancing and charging.
• Reductus Saboteur: What makes me a good demoman? Well, for starters, the Reductus Saboteur's weapon, Remote Explosives, is Assault 2d3 S8 AP-3 D1, D3 against Vehicles and Monsters, can't target Aircraft. Her BS2+ means she'll consistently hit, and as long as she's inside a terrain feature she can't be targeted by ranged attacks unless the attacker is within 12" of her. She's got a demo charge she can throw for good measure (in case she finds herself super close to a W2+ enemy her Remote Explosives don't work on), and she can perform the Plant Explosive action (which bridges the Command and Move phases), which lets her plant a bomb marker within 1" of her once per game. At the end of any Move phase (including the one where she ended the action) or the enemy Charge phase, provided at least 1 enemy unit is within 3" of the bomb, she can detonate it to inflict mortal wounds on all non-Aircraft units, friend and foe, within 3" of it: average 0.50 mortals per unit base, 0.83 per biker unit, and 3.33 mortals per Vehicle/monster unit.
  • Overall, the Reductus is fairly useless unless you take her relic, Oppressor's Bane, which grants her crossfire, allowing her explosives (and grenades) to apply Crossfire tokens and benefit from Exposed. If you also give her the Lying in Wait Proficient Planning upgrade, she can use her planted bomb the turn she shows up and/or throw a crossfire-enabled demo charge, although mixing these is tough, since all the best targets for her bomb are better targets for her remote explosives than her demo charge; it can come up, though, e.g. if you find yourself fighting a foe with neither vehicles nor monsters on the table.
• Sanctus: Do you want a sniper or a melee skirmisher? The Sanctus can be either one. Either way, enemy models can't target the Sanctus with ranged attacks unless they're within 12", and he gets +2 to his save from cover rather than +1. He ignores cover, and all of his attacks automatically hit. He also has a 5++ and -1 to be hit.
  • If you want to build the Sanctus for melee, you take him with the Dagger of Swift Sacrifice relic on top of the Sanctus Bio Dagger. The Bio Dagger always inflicts mortal wounds on a 3+ to wound, and the Dagger of Swift Sacrifice lets you re-roll one wound roll per activation, and if the target model survives, roll a D6 - on a 3+, it suffers an additional D3 mortal wounds.
  • If you want to build the Sanctus as a sniper, you can equip him with his standard Cult Sniper Rifle, which is S5 AP-3 D2, and inflicts mortal wounds on unmodified 4+ to wound. You can also give him the Gift From Beyond relic to up the damage to 3.
  • A Sanctus with a sniper should be used in a similar way as the Jackal Alphus, shooting a enemy to give that unit a crossfire marker for the rest of your army, and since he auto hits he's better at this jobs then the Alphus, especially against units with -1 to hit.

Fast Attack

• Achilles Ridgerunners^Crossfire: Fast mobile gun platforms, taken in units of 1-3. These guys have a variety of weapon and support gear options, but the best is probably Spotters and Heavy Mining Lasers - spotters boost your range, while Heavy Mining Lasers are essentially 1d3-shot lascannons. This lets each Ridgerunner put an average of two shots downrange and (with no buffs) one hit on a target, making them very effective tank crackers in an army that doesn't have many sources of ranged anti tank. The only problem is that these things will draw fire like mad, so be careful with your positioning and consider keeping them hidden until it's time to strike. Setting up a perfect shot on an Exposed target with proper buffs can be extremely valuable.
• Atalan Jackals^{Core, Crossfire}: Fast bikers with decent weapons, Atalan Jackals are between 4 and 8 bikes plus up to two heavy weapon ATVs (1 base, and a second if you take all 8 bikes). Their permanent -1 to be hit, scout move, and ability to count all targets within 6" as being Exposed gives them a decent amount of utility. The Jackals' job is to run around scoring objectives, applying Crossfire tokens, and setting up your heavy hitters for Exposed shots.
  • 1 bike in the base unit and a second as soon as you go to 5 bikes total can and should take grenade launchers so you can lay down Crossfire tokens with the Krak profile.
  • Trying to build these guys around demo charges is a bit of a trap, as only one can be thrown at a time, but if you're playing Rusted Claw, there's a utility build. The Rusted Claw's Drive-By Demolitions stratagem lets this unit throw a demo charge in the movement phase, then throw another in shooting, putting out a significant amount of fire on one target or, if your opponent agrees that selecting a model to shoot qualifies as selecting a unit to shoot (hint: it doesn't), applying Crossfire tokens to two separate targets.
  • Comparing Jackals to neophytes: each jackal cost as much as two neophytes. For your troubles, you get the same number of wounds and attacks, better toughness and saves, being harder to hit, and more than double the speed, but! you lose out on objective secured, and you can only have up to 3 units of jackals in a 2000 point game. (This isn't taking into account special weapons)

Heavy Support and Dedicated Transport

• Goliath Rockgrinder^Crossfire: Yeah, it's your only heavy support choice, so you'll have to take 3 in a brigade/spearhead. The Goliath Rockgrinder is about as tough as a Rhino with a -1 to incoming damage via the Rugged Construction rule and a carrying capacity of 6 models (Patriarch counts as 5). The Goliath is armed with a heavy stubber, a choice of heavy weapon, and a drilldozer blade, and can also take a cache of demolition charges. The drilldozer blade gives the Rockgrinder surprisingly good melee ability. Hitting on 3s, with 6 attacks at full wounds (plus two more when charging), at S8 AP-2 D2, this thing can chew through smaller squads of medium and heavy infantry.
  • For your heavy weapon, you can take a Clearance Incinerator: 15" Heavy 2d6 S6 AP-1 D1, automatically hits; a Heavy Mining Laser: 36" 1d3 S9 AP-3 D1d6, Blast; or a Heavy Seismic Cannon, which has two profiles, both at 24": Heavy 6 S6 AP-2 D2 and Heavy 3 S8 AP-3 D3. It should be immediately obvious the Heavy Mining Laser is a terrible choice, as the HSC's 3-shot profile will usually be better against most targets (9 A*D at S8 is better than 7 A*D at S9). Since this is on a BS4+ model (albeit a crossfire one, so you can get it to BS3+ easily), either the Incinerator or the HSC is a reasonable choice. The Cache of Demolition Charges is the same as the single demolition charge you can give other units, but instead of being single use it can only be fired if a model is embarked in the rockgrinder, and it is Assault, not Grenade, so you can fire it in addition to your other guns.
  • The Rockgrinder isn't a tank. It should be used like the infantry fighting vehicle it is - marine players who are familiar with the Razorback will know what's going on here. Fill it with a 5-model squad with a character to support them, zoom up, deploy infantry, and support them at range with guns and in melee with the drilldozer.
  • Remember that when you build the Rockgrinder, you can magnetize the drilldozer and weapons so you can swap it to a regular Goliath Truck.
  • Don't forget that the Rockgrinder has Crossfire and can be an all-important source of tokens.
• Goliath Truck^Crossfire: Similar to the Rockgrinder, the Goliath Truck is the Dedicated Transport version. It trades weaker weapons and being T6 for going up to 10 transport capacity. It's only got one choice for the heavy weapon, a Twin Autocannon, though it can take a Cache of Demo Charges just like the Rockgrinder. The Goliath Truck has the Open Topped rule, which means units inside can shoot. This means you can put two 5-man units of Acolytes with demo charges, also take demo charges on the truck itself. Now, you an shoot 3d6 demo charges within 6". Now think about 4 goliath trucks with 8 units of Acolytes all spamming 3d6 demo charge shots.

Allies

Tyranids: Unfortunately, the days of allying with your star-saviors are no more. Between the shuffling of keywords and the mandatory keyword restrictions, you're going to be sacrificing quite a lot for the opportunity. Even if you do go through, you'll be forced to make the Nids use their monsters since you have the mob aspect down.

Brood Brothers

Now this is going to be a very complex list. Considering how the Brood Brothers can be included, you'll notice how broad your options are, as the Imperial Guard not only have a ton of vehicles, but are also something of a pet faction for Forge World and thus have lots of extra tools.

• Leman Russ/Tank Commander: Probably a very easy go-to option for an allied detachment. After all, one of the major issues you have is the lack of combat vehicles. All you have for an attack vehicle in the codex is the Goliath and arguably the Ridgerunner, but the former is better seen as a fighting transport while the latter is too lightweight. While the russes won't contribute to Crossfire, you do get a far more potent bang depending on what you equip it with.
  • Because Orders are a rule given on the datasheet, this means that you can still make use of the mechanised orders.
• Infantry Squad/Command Squad: If you intend on keeping your forces cheaper, you're likely jumping for these. While they're no stronger than your Neophytes, they do boast a far wider selection of guns that can be used at a good distance, including heavy weapons, at no cost. They won't contribute to any Crossfire shenanigans you cook up, but if you grab a Command Squad for them, that won't matter at all.
• Basilisk: Artillery is a field that the cults unfortunately have nothing for. Basilisks tend to be the most reliable of the Imperial Ordinance, giving incredible range to pepper the enemy before your cultists pop up to rip the enemy to shreds. If you're worried about effectiveness, you should consider a Master of Ordinance.
• Sentinels: Lightweight weapons platforms do sound a bit redundant when you have the Ridgerunners as well, but those Ridgerunners can't grab lascannons or plasma cannons for anywhere near as cheap. Also helpful is that scout sents can always scout move ahead to cap a point before the game starts.

Counterplay

Imperium

Black Templars: The Black Templars are a solid example of when Space Marines aren't utterly overpowered with retarded bullshit, but still quite strong against your army anyway. Their new Primaris Sue Crusader Squads can get their hands on very powerful flame weapons that become blast with a 1 cp stratagem, and one of their vows outright gives them additional attacks when in engagement range. So tarpitting won't work very well, though memorizing their vows goes a long way towards knowing their weaknesses. As a reminder for why webbers are shit, Templars have a fnp against mortal wounds speifically, so don't bother. Abberants, Mining laser spam, and cult icons are essential, though you're gonna want to play the objective rather heavily. Don't rely on your psykers too much, as the BT have tons of ways they can shit out deny the witch tests/deny psychic powers outright, or punish you for thinking you could cast a power. Keep in mind also everything below, as this applies to Templars as well.

Space Marines: Space Marines take tons of power from their new Primarishit melta rifles, which thankfully for you means nothing because vehicles are for other players. The downside of this is that you will be lacking in weapons that can reliably kill or maim MEQ's or TEQ's, so you'll be forced to dig heavily into Brood Brothers for things like Leman Russes and Heavy Weapons teams for that kind of firepower. Our faction also makes it very easy to zone out those deepstriking units like Terminators or Vanguard vets, especially with the right HQ choices/relics. Atalan Jackals are survivable in a straight up fight with tactical marines, though they'll lose out to Heavy Intercessors or Intercessors, so don't think of them as anything more than "ok". You'll want to play the objective, snipe anything that could mulch you (Heavy Bolter Devastators, Any Dread with anti-horde, etc.) and above all else BE CAREFUL WITH DEEPSTRIKE. We cannot emphasize this enough. One poorly considered 6" deepstrike from a tactical squad and your gunslinging Kelemorph gets shot to hell by Boltguns for 2 cp.

Xenos

Tau: The good news is that while every other faction is whining like babies about the new T'au railguns and Fish of Fury, you don't give a shit because we can deploy however we want if they get turn one, or alternatively get turn one and steal the board up. Due to FTGG being dead, you can charge infantry units with relative impunity, though beware charging battlesuits, as they can fire overwatch for 0 cp, and can shoot while in melee due to being, or acting like, vehicles. With the new deepstrike rules we have, T'au characters are in more danger than before from our guns, particularly poorly positioned ones like Fireblades, Darkstrider, or Ethereals. Kroot are no longer utterly useless though, and any T'au player worth their salt will bring at least one squad explicitly to have something to tie up enemy units in close combat.

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (10th Edition)

General Tactics	General Weapons Terrain
Imperium	Space Marines (Black Templars, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Deathwatch, Space Wolves) Grey Knights
	Adeptus Mechanicus Adeptus Titanicus Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Sisters of Battle
	Adeptus Custodes & Sisters of Silence Imperial Agents (Inquisition, Rogue Traders, etc.)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons World Eaters)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Chaos Titans
Eldar	Eldar (Craftworlds, Corsairs, Harlequins, Ynnari) Dark Eldar
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults
Votann	Leagues of Votann

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (9th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications Tactical Terrain Weapons Apocalypse
Imperium	Space Marines (Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Space Wolves) Grey Knights
	Adeptus Mechanicus Adeptus Titanicus Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Sisters of Battle
	Adeptus Custodes & Sisters of Silence Inquisition Officio Assassinorum Rogue Traders
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons World Eaters)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Craftworld Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins Ynnari
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults
Votann	Leagues of Votann

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (8th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications Apocalypse
Imperium	Space Marines Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence) Adeptus Mechanicus
	Adeptus Ministorum (Sisters of Battle and minor factions) Adeptus Titanicus
	Imperial Knights Imperial Guard Inquisition Officio Assassinorum
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (Death Guard Thousand Sons)
	Chaos Daemons Chaos Knights Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (7th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications
Imperium	Space Marines (Siege Assault Vanguard) Blood Angels Dark Angels Deathwatch Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Adeptus Custodes Cult Mechanicus Skitarii Adeptus Sororitas
	Imperial Knights Inquisition Officio Assassinorum
	Imperial Guard (Armoured Battlegroup Death Korps of Krieg Assault Brigade Death Korps of Krieg Siege Regiment Elysian Drop Troops D-99)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines Khorne Daemonkin Chaos Daemons Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Harlequins Corsairs
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks Ork Dred Mob
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids Genestealer Cults

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (6th Edition)

General Tactics	General Movement Psychic Fortifications
Imperium	Space Marines Blood Angels Dark Angels Grey Knights Space Wolves
	Adeptus Sororitas Inquisition
	Imperial Guard (Armoured Battlegroup Death Korps of Krieg Assault Brigade Death Korps of Krieg Siege Regiment Elysian Drop Troops) Militarum Tempestus
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines Chaos Daemons Renegades and Heretics
Eldar	Eldar Dark Eldar Corsairs
Necrons	Necrons
Orks	Orks Ork Dred Mob
Tau	Tau
Tyranids	Tyranids

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Warhammer 40,000 Tactics Articles (All)

General Tactics	General (8th) Movement (8th 7th) Psychic (8th 7th 2nd) Fortifications (8th 7th) Tactical Terrain Apocalypse (8th)
Imperium (8th)	Space Marines (8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd) Blood Angels (8th 7th) Dark Angels (8th 7th) Deathwatch (8th 7th) Grey Knights (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd, AKA Daemonhunters) Space Wolves (8th 7th 6th 5th)
	Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence) (8th 7th) Adeptus Mechanicus (8th 7th) Adeptus Ministorum (Sisters of Battle and minor factions) (8th 7th 6th 3rd, AKA Witch Hunters) Adeptus Titanicus (8th)
	Imperial Knights (8th 7th) Imperial Guard (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd) Inquisition (8th 7th 6th) Officio Assassinorum (8th 7th)
Chaos	Chaos Space Marines (8th 7th 6th 5th) Death Guard (8th) Khorne Daemonkin - 7th Edition Thousand Sons (8th) Chaos Daemons (8th 7th) Chaos Knights (8th) Renegades and Heretics (8th 7th 6th)
Eldar	Eldar (8th 7th 6th 5th) Dark Eldar (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd Revised) Harlequins (8th 7th)
Necrons	Necrons (8th 7th 6th 5th 4th)
Orks	Orks (8th 7th 6th 5th 3rd) Ork Dred Mob - 7th edition (6th 5th) Ork Kult of Speed - 3rd edition Feral Orks - 3rd edition
Tau	Tau (8th 7th 6th 5th)
Tyranids	Tyranids (8th 7th 6th 5th) Genestealer Cults (8th 7th)

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