Cult city Ambush

What to do against this rule? Btw pure Strain Genestealer are rumored to have a 5++ due to dodge...

City Ambush Rules
Appendix/
Cult ambush
Instead of arriving from reserves normally, unit can roll the ambush table D6
1/ your own table edge
2/ roll d6 1-2 left 3-4 right 5-6 you choose
3/ anywhere more 9" from enemy or 6" from enemy which have no los
4/ 6"
5/ 6" + bouns shooting or run
6/ 3" + charge on the turn arrive

Return the Shadows
Instead of moving in movement phase, unit have this rule and not within 6" of enemy models can be removed from battlefield and placed into ongoing reserve. Unit can't use this rule arrive from reserve or ongoing reserve and can't do so when in vehicle
Genestealer/aberrants/Metamorphs/neophyte/acolyte/ and all HQ

Hope they do it and try and cover all the table edges? Ha

Their formation also allows them to bring back D6 models each time they come out of the reserve. ^^

So it's focusing fire then.
Not letting a unit have the chance.

Pretty much standard for DE

It's a shame that there is now another army that's faster than the Dark Eldar. ._. I really hope that when we get our update we will be the fastest army again...

Like most of life's big questions the answer is MSU... Oh and focus fire the living crap out of them.

As this rule is hideously random it cannot be relied upon.

Well... At least most of the time they cannot charge. What about small Incubbi squads? Not against the Genestealer themselves but anything else...

The formations apparently buff the City Ambush and Return to the Shadows special rules.
That COULD be pretty deadly.

GSC may be the most manoeuvrable army in the game right now!
They will be able to bait and switch and feint like no other army and obj grab like a boss.

These sort of special rules would have been perfect for mandrakes and tricksy DE but alas its just another army that's faster and more manoeuvrable than the "fastest army in the game".

Painjunky wrote:

The formations apparently buff the City Ambush and Return to the Shadows special rules.
That COULD be pretty deadly.

GSC may be the most manoeuvrable army in the game right now!
They will be able to bait and switch and feint like no other army and obj grab like a boss.

These sort of special rules would have been perfect for mandrakes and tricksy DE but alas its just another army that's faster and more manoeuvrable than the "fastest army in the game".      

Yeah, this could have some pretty deadly combos.

Well...they can't disappear in the same round and they effectively loose one round for them to be useful. So I'll hold my breath.

The objective grabbing might be the key ability.

One of the local players is going to play them. So it'll be good to play against.
Especially with the Imperial Guard as Allies of Convenience

This army looks like serious fun. I ordered a codex. I'm not sure how competitive it will be with the randomness of the chart and only getting a 1 in 6 chance to assualt

The chart isn't really that random. You have a 5/6 chance to set up your minis as if they infiltrated (but closer). And 2 of those 5 will even get you a bonus like an additional shooting attack or charging right after infiltrating.

If you try to play around that 1/6 chance to assault then yes, you will have a hard time due to its unlikely nature. But if you treat Nr. 5 and 6 as infiltrate + bonus then you should be golden. The whole idea of the chart is to re-organize your troops and outmanoeuvre the enemy. Additional shooting and charging are just icing on the cake and nothing to speculate on.

We already have the codices at our LGS. The GSC seems very potent. The normal Acolytes have 2 attacks base. 3 attacks for two CCW or a pistol and 4 attacks on the charge. 5 guys only cost 40 points. So for 80 points you get a hell of a lot of attacks that you can boost:

Their psychic discipline can give a unit (with a single spell!) Fleet and +1S. Add to that the special banner that also gives them Furious Charge and +1 Attack and you have a pretty powerfull CC unit that costs not that much. All models also come with Assault Grenades and most of them have these claws with rending (or was it armourbane?).

Having seen the developers chat with Phil "Random is AWESOME" Kelly, I can now understand where that chart comes from.

What's the armour like on the guys?

5+ armour all around.

Hmm, looking over the Decurion style thing they have there are some serious null deploy shenanigans.

Outflanking Leman Russ Tanks is pretty cool.

Tons of infantry squads, reserve buff/nerf, deployment (and redeployment) shenanigans like crazy town, formation buffs.

It like a purple horde that can be (almost) where ever it wants on the table in 1 turn and is powerful at close range.

This army might actually be pretty damn deadly in the hands of a smart, crafty player.

Quote :

This army might actually be pretty damn deadly in the hands of a smart, crafty player.

I don't think one would have to be exceptionally crafty or smart to play this army effectively. They are centred around close-midrange weaponry and assault. Leading the opponent into bad positions is something that will happen automatically. Some Space Marines drop their Pods next to the GC units on the right flank and kill a squad and a few models. The remaining guys will just vanish the next round to be re-deployed elsewhere. That's not to say this army won't require tactical finesse. I just think that their playstyle will be more reactionary. "Oh, my opponent wants to take Objective 3 that is on the right flank but none of my guys are in range. But I still have unit X in reserves so let me just drop some guys on there to deny him his points".

Actually manufacturing situations (on a regular basis) that displace the opponent's units probably won't happen. I see their strength more in the fact that they can quickly shift the pressure frome one point to another and that their movements isn't as predictable.

And against Dark Eldar their speed isn't as good as it is against slower armies. "So, my Grots just killed those Genestealers and you removed the nearby squad so that I can't charge them. Okay, let me just re-embark on my Raider and drive to the other side of the field".

Most of our units have the ability to cross the table in a single turn. Warriors/Incubi in Venoms, Grotesques in Raiders, Reavers etc. All of our vehicles are very fast and generic Dark Eldar lists contain almost no footslogging units. The Talos/Cronos/Dark Artisan might be pretty useless against the Genestealer Cult (unless they DS with a WWP). But other than that we can re-position our units as fast as the Genestealer Cult. Sure we lose the shooting of those units that turboboost but so do the Genestealers since they remove their models before the shooting phase. We can also use that speed to deny them their retreat into the shadows. There has to be no enemy model within 6" for them to be able to vanish.

Listened to The Long War podcast and their idea of a Genestealer Death Star could work.
They could be a sneaky Tier 1 army

Could you elaborate? Or is it just Patriarch + max squad of Genestealers and hoping to roll invisibility etc.?

When 8th edition drops I hope they remove invisibility. It is such a dumb and broken psychic power. ._.

That along with entering reserve and stuff.
Spells for giving +1 strength and a similar one to the Cyclopia Cabal's spell

Backed up with an MSU taking objectives and harassing main shooting threats.

They worked it out that a unit of 10 purestrain with HQ will average about 12 Hull Points on a charge with the strength spell (5 attacks each with S6 rending plus the HQ attacks)

But that too has the problems of any deathstar: It is still just a single unit. And since only the Patriarch - who can be ML 2 at max - may join Genestealers, it isn't even guaranteed that they get invisibility. Apart from that it is even more unlikely that they get that infiltrate and assault result. For that the Patriarch would have to roll the Warlord Trait Nr.6 which lets him and his unit pick the result.


The only thing that makes this viable is Invisibility. It's just so stupid that a single psychic power is so strong that entire lists and strategies revolve around it and that it makes otherwise unplayable (or not nearly as efficient) units viable.

Are Genestealers or the Patriarch fearless? If not, I would suggest to make use of our LD bombs or a Freakshow. Shadowseer with Mask Of Secrets + a character with WWP and Armour of Misery can also do some serious harm to the Deathstar, since as per FAQ we don't have to roll to-hit for Psychic Shriek.

I actually have no fear of this army. Most of their abusable stuff is infantry and I love seeing infantry on the other side.

Their vehicles are no more effective than an IG player.

I don't think they are going to be weak, but their big strength (repositioning and putting rending attacks uncomfortably close to things that don't want to be rended) does not concern my average list as I tend to build for CC and anti infantry anyways.

The other thing I missed is their special character having Hit and Run.

It's early days, but I thibg that they could end up being a tough army. I am not looking forward to playing he inevitable Flyrant + Genestealer list.

You're probably right on the Freak Show tactic.
I need to get the book, but I'm guessing they don't have the instinctive behaviour/Synapse rules?

One more thing

Can the Genestealer Cult's Mind War or the Cyclopia Cabal's Shroud of Deceit be used on Allies?

Unless Battle Brothers it says that they can not be chosen for blessings and are enemies for the purposes of special rules etc.

Need to ask before my Genestealer Cult tries to get a double shot from his Allied Flyrant.