Alpha Legion Cultists.

[Snejk]

As a new player (Alpha Legion), with a modest grip of the rules, C:CSM, Imperial armour etc, I wonder how do I add Cultist to my AL army?

 

I have read that some players use the Summoned Daemons as cultists. But I imagine 13pts per "cultists" is a bit too expensive considering they lack ranged weapons, grenades etc. But on the other hand they are pretty strong and tough compared to say Imperial Guards, and have a 5+ invulnerable save + Fearless (which is weird since CSM aren't...).

 

Since I just play friendly games we allow me to buy cultists from the old C:CSM. But that feels kinda sad. And a really cheap way to get scoring units to hold objectives.

 

So, does anyone have any good ideas on how to solve this problem fluff wise so it fits the game?

House rules or lesser daemons "Count as"?

 

(A plague on the guy who wrote the C:CSM!!!)

[The_son_of_Dorn]

I always thought it would be good if they gained infilttrate, an aspiring champion and access to plasma guns. There you have a cheap meat sheild that can carry anti heavy infintary/ tank weaponry and still deliver a few punchs. Otherwise i'd say class them as whitesheilds or even the lowly ork grotz.

[BlkTom]

Fast answer... can't do cultist right now with Chaos Space Marines.

 

You can only do Marines and generic demons. You will also find it hard to make a list dedicated to a single God that is well rounded.

 

Maybe in the next edition they will fix the CSM codex and give them cultists and real demons, like in the good old days.

[Paradigm]

Here, I created a cultist/heretic squad for my house games. We use it as a troop choice. It's fairly balanced at least where I play, and works well within the codex, its priced more in line with how I expect a more up to date Cultist Squad would cost. I omitted a couple other options that I've added as well, but then you'd need the whole altered codex I've made to have it make sense. Rules for Autopistol and Autogun are the same as for Laspistols and Lasguns. You'd need Codex Ig for weapon rules however or the quick reference available here. I let them take a Rhino at the dedicated transport cost as well.

 

CHAOS HERETIC SQUAD........................................................30pts

WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv

Chaos Heretic 3 3 3 3 1 3 1 7 5+

Heretic Champion 3 3 3 3 1 3 2 8 5+

Aspiring Champion 4 4 4 4 1 4 2 10 3+

 

Unit Composition:

5 Chaos Heretics

 

Unit Type:

Infantry

 

Chaos Heretic Wargear:

• Flak Armor

• Autopistol

• Close Combat Weapon

 

Aspiring Champion Wargear:

• Power Armor

• Bolter

• Bolt Pistol

• Close Combat Weapon

• Personal Icon

 

Options:

• Up to 15 additional Chaos Heretics may be added for 6 pts per model

• One model may be upgraded to a Heretic Champion for +6pts

• Any model may replace their Autopistol with an Autogun or Shotgun for free and for every 5 Chaos Heretics in the squad, One may replace his Autopistol one of the following: Flamer, Grenade Launcher, or Sniper Rifle for 5 Pts

 

• An Aspiring Champion may be added to the squad for 30pts.

• The Heretic or Aspiring Champion may replace his close combat weapon with a Power Weapon for 15pts, and/or replace his Bolt Pistol or Autopistol with a Plasma Pistol for 15 pts

 

The Squad may be marked as follows:

Chaos Glory for 5pts

Slannesh for 10pts

Khorne for 15pts

Nurgle for 25pts

Tzeentch for 20pts

 

Still a cheap way to hold objectives. You could always take them with a rule that says "does not count toward force organization chart, and may not score, otherwise treat as troops"

[Kristoff]

Alternatively, if your opponent/TO is semi-agreeable, you could do an IG force in a second FOC, the downsides being that they don't have access to Chaos gifts, Marks, and Icons. It is at least a little more legal.

 

Of course another thought is one of the Imperial Armor (or maybe more, I'm not very familiar with them) actually has a Marine/Cultist list (but misses out on Daemons), I believe.

[WarpWhisper]

Of course another thought is one of the Imperial Armor (or maybe more, I'm not very familiar with them) actually has a Marine/Cultist list (but misses out on Daemons), I believe.

 

There is an updated official pdf for the Vraks Renegades list here, and it's FAQ here.

 

Although, generally BlkTom is right in that there's no real answer to fielding cultists 'officially', and your way of using the old rules is a good house rule. One strength of lesser daemons to remember is that they can still assault after deep striking, so can be a nasty surprise for an opponent (although not that nasty :D )

 

There's a Cult entry in the Serpent's lair WIP Codex:AL down a little in this post, although it's untested at this stage.

[Noctus Cornix]

In my experience with my punishers, i have found three solutions to this problem.

 

1. Lesser daemons- generally I will use this as a last resort but it works perfectly for standard cultists if you just want to get them on the field and wade into the enemy. It's not the most fluffy solution or the most desired as you have the whole deep strike problem and then the strength and toughness 4 doesnt help either, but like i said it's a last resort. I will generally use my warp zombies for this instead anyway.

 

2. Imperial Guard Codex- It's your second best option as it actually shows real guardsmen and penal legionnares work perfect for cultists, the only problem is that you can really only use them in apocalypse battles, you cant give them marks of chaos and lastly you cant put chaos marines with them.

 

3. Siege of Vraks- this is the best option you have available to you, from the imperial armour. It provides, cultists, chaos marines, daemons, and heretics up the wazooo. Perfect work for a true chaos army.

[BlkTom]

I just finished reading the ForgeWorld rules. This question is more of a statement... how do you get armor saves against combat drugs?

 

Should have changed the Ogryns drug damage to a Str 6 AP 3 wound. This gives you the real feel of thier toughness shrugging off the effects and FNP still gets a save. Also... they never stated when these wounds are resolved. Do you do it before you get the attacks off (like a demon weapon) so thus if your already wounded you could die before you attack, do you do it as soon as your attacks are resolved but before your opponent attacks? Or do you do it at the end of the combat before Moral checks or after moral checks? In other words, do the wounds count toward's combat resolution? I would have to guess no, but the whole thing feels...incomplete. I think the FAQ needs a FAQ.

 

This is why I don't use anything rules wise created by Forgeworld.

[totgeboren]

I use the GW rules for Cultists from 3:ed, but they might fit my Word Bearers better than what the AL are supposed to employ?

 

Linky here.

[Talon Darkshade]

Imperial Guard codex and do a "counts as Straken" Alpha Legionare

[Brother Nihm]

Imperial Guard codex and do a "counts as Straken" Alpha Legionare

Beaten to it. :P

 

Somewhat related,

 

Am I alone in wanting to see the Cultists from Dawn of War II make it into the tabletop game, both rules and models?

[Paradigm]

Not at all, that's one of the inspirations to our house rules. :P

[A D-B]

Am I alone in wanting to see the Cultists from Dawn of War II make it into the tabletop game, both rules and models?

 

I can't even translate into words how happy that would make me.

 

Or how much money I'd spend.

[Black Hand]

I know a guy who uses the Penal Legionnaire rules for his cultists; yeah, it's not strictly legal and all, but as a house rule it works just fine. The random effects thing those guys have also kinda represents how mismatched and haphazard cultist equipment is, if you wanted at least a shaky fluff link.

[Paradigm]

Am I allowed to show images of cultists? If so I can show you what I threw together for my concept? I've been using Cadian proxies, but I just got a box of graveguard and just took a break from painting to convert up my first actual model.

[Brother Nihm]

For the purpose of this discussion, 1-2 images would be OK.

[Guest ShinKosh]

Back when Codex: Eye of Terror was in full swing I started a small traitor guard army, really as a side project to get me away from painting Space Marines and to let my kitbash a little. Now though that Codex Eye of Terror isn’t really viable any more I was looking for rules to use my traitors. After a skim over a few army lists I found that using basic Imperial Guard worked best. You get access to a fair amount of tanks, which a rebelling PDF would have, you get the basic traitor guard, guys like Commissars can be used as Cardinals and the big one for me was that I could use the rules for Penal legions for my mutants.

 

Mutants I think are a big part of a cults army, you couldn’t swing a cat at a chaos cult meeting without hitting some guy with a third arm or hands where his feet should be or something, they are also the ideal cannon fodder troopers.

 

So for me, for any sort of Chaos cult, I would go with Codex Imperial Guard rules. You have enough in there to have a viable basis and with a little creative thinking you could cover a good list of genetic cultist things.

[Paradigm]

Here you go. Forgot about this thread for a bit.

 

The scale of the skeletons and the guard isn't quite right, but its close. I think once the paint goes on it will be less apparent. I hope anyway.

 

This guy is a just the basic cultist. The heretic champion gets a much better skull and spike combo for his back.

 

http://i51.tinypic.com/j782z8.jpg

 

http://i54.tinypic.com/259cowj.jpg

 

Sorry the first pic is a tad blurry.

 

I hope the next codex makes Cultists a legal choice.

[alphariusomegon20]

I have read that some players use the Summoned Daemons as cultists. But I imagine 13pts per "cultists" is a bit too expensive considering they lack ranged weapons, grenades etc. But on the other hand they are pretty strong and tough compared to say Imperial Guards, and have a 5+ invulnerable save + Fearless (which is weird since CSM aren't...).

 

That's generally how I use them now, as right now, we don't have any better options.

[totgeboren]

That's generally how I use them now, as right now, we don't have any better options.

 

Did everyone miss the link I provided? Official rules for human cultists, though for 3:ed. Ok, most likely not tournament legal, but fielding lesser daemons using basically IG models might require asking any tournament organizer beforehand. Since there are many daemon models available, and humans have a quite different profile, it is clearly a case of proxy/count-as.

[Whitefireinferno]

Your going to have a far easier time telling your opponent that these Guard are Summoned Daemons then I'm using this printout from 3rd ed.

 

I was going to do similar if my Red Corsair army took off only I was going to use DE wytches or so as Eldar Corsiar Pirates and just run them as Summoned daemons. and the only reason It has not been started is because I do not want another "red" and "Dark" army.