Genestealer Wych Cults

So it came up in the discord chat today that our race was one of if not the first to discover tyranids, which we brought back for our gladiators to fight in the arenas. Who's to say those that were brought back didn't plant a seed of rebellion within the cults of comorragh?

So this is just meant to be a fun little thread where we spout ideas and discuss the idea of Genestealer Wych Cults, Darklight toting carnifexes, drugged up genestealers lead into battle by beastmasters, wyches with scything talons, etc!

Spew away

That is very well possible and that thought did cross my mind as well.

Since there is nothing concrete about it written in the fluff you can pretty much go crazy with our own ideas.

Personally, if they posed any reasonable threat I am very confident that Vect would have taken care of them early on. But I guess that is not the most interesting thing to bring up

I'd think in an environment like Commorragh where essentially everyone is a top predator, they can't Really spread like they do among humans.

All they can hope for is fleeing to some kind of sub realm

They could infiltrate the slave ranks...

Not sure how much that would help them, though.

CptMetal wrote:

I'd think in an environment like Commorragh where essentially everyone is a top predator, they can't Really spread like they do among humans.

All they can hope for is fleeing to some kind of sub realm

Genestealer goes to stab someone in a dark alley.

Wakes up an hour later tied to the prow of a Raider.

Theorycrafting on why a genestealer cult would not work in Commorragh:
Some genestealer is brought home after a raid and manages to breed some hybrids of some kind. Since it is in the webway the link with the hive mind is severed.
Drukhari biology kicks in, every hybrid wants to be the patriarch and start to kill each other.
Genestealer infestation resolves itself.

Grimdark fluff, mortality rate is so high, the cult never gets off the ground because everyone keeps dying and they can't go to a Haemonculi because he'd find out. Unless they managed to convert him. Then genestealer Grotesques would be funny. Rending Beef Mitts

As long as I get to convert some horrific blend involving a Lictor...I'm game.

I think it is a fun idea. I could see a haemonculus messing around with a patriarch and flubbing its directives or what not. With being in the webway that would prevent the whole homing beacon for a tyranid fleet thing. And if generations are getting uppity then throw them out into realspace!

I do not think they would be a powerhouse in the political going ons but would probably be seen as an amusing diversion which is what the wych cults are for anyways.

Logan Frost wrote:

Theorycrafting on why a genestealer cult would not work in Commorragh:
Some genestealer is brought home after a raid and manages to breed some hybrids of some kind. Since it is in the webway the link with the hive mind is severed.
Drukhari biology kicks in, every hybrid wants to be the patriarch and start to kill each other.
Genestealer infestation resolves itself.

I like this hahahah

Though with the wych cults breeding tyranid hybrids ... Why haven't they taken them out into realspace raids ... It's not like they can't sever the connection to the Hive mind with so technology or other, or even breed it out of them ... They've been disconnected so long those tyranid hybrids must have developed some kind of intellect that let's them operate without the Hive mind and I think a beast masters leading a group of warrior khymaeras into battle would be hilarious

Warrior Urghuls, Genestealer Khymaeras

SHRIKES AS RAZORFLOCKS (or whatever the rippers with wings are)

Sense you brought that up, back in 7th (i have a HUGE nid army like 15k points) i notice.... Necrons and Nids are basically the same army and had unit for unit representations to play Nids with Necron Rules.

Tested it out at home, it worked great, Then the Harlequins Masqueraded box came out and i got like 4k harlequin points and didnt go through with Nids/Necros lol

Logan Frost wrote:

Theorycrafting on why a genestealer cult would not work in Commorragh:
Some genestealer is brought home after a raid and manages to breed some hybrids of some kind. Since it is in the webway the link with the hive mind is severed.
Drukhari biology kicks in, every hybrid wants to be the patriarch and start to kill each other.
Genestealer infestation resolves itself.

Like button, please?

Logan Frost wrote:

Theorycrafting on why a genestealer cult would not work in Commorragh:
Some genestealer is brought home after a raid and manages to breed some hybrids of some kind. Since it is in the webway the link with the hive mind is severed.

Genestealers don't need to be in contact with the Hive Mind. Their Brood Mind is designed to allow them enough autonomy to scout way ahead of the fleet and make sure the population of worlds they end up on won't be able to resist when the fleet eventually senses the Brood Mind and comes to absorb it all.
Now, chances are slim that a Hive Fleet would get into the Webway, but that doesn't mean Genestealers who are already in there wouldn't try to infiltrate any large concentration of bio mass they may find. And now that Commoragh has become (even more) fragmented, establishing a Genestealer Cult should be much easier than before.

Yeah considering the total control Vect had before Yvraine, I'm sure he would have made a ploy and sent the entire cult into the path of a hivefleet to meet their gods in a form of poetic retribution.

They made a cult on terra but the imperial inquisition really has nothing on Vect. Even worse, most cults survive by secrecy in the imperium where the average citizen doesn't murder them for kicks. Commorragh already breeds subterfuge and murder so has an innate defense against a genestealer cult no one else does. Heck a barfight in Commorragh is probably enough to destroy most of a genestealer cult and no one would bat an eyelash.

I bet it totally happens, it just never hits ciritcal mass

Well then what if some crazy Archon was like "hey let's collect the things and ride them into battle or something!" And Vect allowed because he knows he can stop them at any given point if he feels then need (or want) cause, you know, he's The Overlord of Commoragh.

Here's how I think it would go.

Genestealers infiltrate Commorragh, creating a cult.
They instinctually activate a psychic beacon, trying to beckon the Hive Fleet to their location.
The Beacon can't escape the Webway, and the entire cult is consumed by Demons as their psychic meddling causes a tear in the Webway.
Problem solved.

What if some Archon knows of them, but sees them as a way to disrupt his opponents, a potential weapon, or even a mean to create a crisis in which he will thrive ?
Commorragh is a city of opportunism. I don't doubt some Archon/haemonculus would even help those Genestealers Cult spread if it can help him gain power

I guess I've never fully understood how smart Genestealers are. The feral ones are more akin to beasts, acting on their instincts right? But then because they're Tyranids they're able to use adapt based on their environment? So assuming a Genestealer Cult actually was in Commorragh, would they have the same and or near the same intelligence as the Dark Kin?

Genestealer Kabal fighting another Kabal for political power. Seems about right.

Yes. The ones in charge would be as intelligent (if not more so) than the normal True Kin.

I'm not aware of any statement in the fluff indicating that the psychic beacon of the 'Stealers is on the same 'frequency' as Daemons. It doesn't seem to attract them in any of the things that I've read. (That being said, it's a vast and contradictory world of lore, so if anyone knows an instance where this happened, holla at your boy.)

However, the inability of the Hive Mind to 'hear' a beacon inside Commorragh does seem in line with existing background lore, so such a cult would very likely be stuck growing in power without any ability to actually call down the Tyranid invasion they are instinctively building towards.

I kinda like the idea of Haemonculi experimenting on captured nids - using Carnifexes as the basis for Talos/Cronos, Warriors or Ravners for Grotesques, and Genestealers for Wracks.

That would make a wicked sick looking army. You could use them for either army. Kinda like Ork Tau