Cultists - public opinion doesn't seem to match reality

[sanityimpaired]

I'm puzzled but some of what I'm seeing with regards to the 8E version of cultists.  People seems to think they're pretty decent, but they fall flat in comparison to similar models in other armies IMO.

They're a point more expensive per model for a guardsman with no grenades, worse armour, worse Ld, far more limited wargear, and no option for a commissar so they're going to die in droves due to morale.  Genestealer cult neophytes are the the same cost but with rules and options that feel far more appropriate to chaos cultists than the bland unit we actually got.

Maybe you could babysit cultists with Abaddon or Huron, but that seems incredibly wasteful.

 

What do people think about cultists?  Are they going into storage for now, or is there some synergy here I'm not seeing?

[norngahl]

Can't compare points from different armies. For expensive armies like chaos marines they are perfect for sitting in the backfield. 10 marines shooting their bolters won't do much damage, just like cultists. But if they are only expected to save points.. they will do.it better because cheaper ;)

[TrexPushups]

They fill troop slots cheaply and fill out bodies to form screens for you land raider etc.

 

They also have an autogun which will do the job vs other chaff screens.

 

Dark apostle is much cheaper than Huron or Abbaddon and help the cultist hang out slightly longer while still providing a great buff for fighting later on after the cultists have done their job and died for you.

[Commissar K.]

Try to view them in list context.

 

They are not your backbone, they are not your fist, they are not a scalpel.

 

Cultists are just there to hang around. I wouldnt ever run more as one Mob but one isnt too bad. If anything they can become a meatscreen to relevant tanks and ranged support, AM style.

 

Typically Chaos isnt great for Morale and it also sucks for Cultist that we have few ways to migate this weakness.

[MoGuy]

I find them working just fine. If you are up against a CQC army, give them the brutal assault weapons and pistols. Otherwise just stick with the Autoguns. If you have points to spare, maybe give them Heavy Stubbers or Flamers to mitigate charges.

 

They are Cannonfodder, meant to sit on objectives. And if they die that's good because it means that your opponent just wasted shots at your meatshields instead of shooting at [enter unit here].

 

If you play Word Bearers, Alpha Legion or just like Cultists, you can always stick a Dark Apostle with them. Take a big blob with Flamers and rush them forward. Weight of dice is always good against MEQ/TEQ.

[Trevak Dal]

You "are supposed to" buy a Dark Apostle to give them higher leadership so they stay around, thus "adding to your collection of miniatures"

 

Back in 7th I'd take cultists in the Helcult formation (helbrute and 2 cultists units) max them out, and then go up the board. It was my antichapter master unit that worked alongside chaos spawn to grab the baddies and then let them waste game turns trying to get out of combat.

Edited June 28, 2017 by Trevak Dal

[the jeske]

I'm puzzled but some of what I'm seeing with regards to the 8E version of cultists.  People seems to think they're pretty decent, but they fall flat in comparison to similar models in other armies IMO.

 

They're a point more expensive per model for a guardsman with no grenades, worse armour, worse Ld, far more limited wargear, and no option for a commissar so they're going to die in droves due to morale.  Genestealer cult neophytes are the the same cost but with rules and options that feel far more appropriate to chaos cultists than the bland unit we actually got.

 

Maybe you could babysit cultists with Abaddon or Huron, but that seems incredibly wasteful.

 

What do people think about cultists?  Are they going into storage for now, or is there some synergy here I'm not seeing?

yes they are worse then IG dudes. And they are still good for chaos, because you require them to push alfa strikers from charing your support section.

[DreamIsCollapsing]

Is they're something in our index actually better than his loyalist counter part ?

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I'd rather have CSMs than Tactical Marines.  Greater variety of weapon options...

[Sception]

If you just want cheap onion layers, renegade militia and mutants are each a point less per model than cultists, and you can take a 30 point enforcer to limit their leadership losses to d3 per turn.  they're still unjustifiably more expensive than conscripts (unless you play power ratings?  in which case mutants might be the same at 2p per 10?), but if you're going to field 100 screen bodies plus a character to keep them around, that's still 146 points cheaper than 100 cultists and a dark apostle before any weapon upgrades.  116 if you buy two enforces, which you might have to do if you go with militia, since their max unit size is smaller than cultists.  Which, admittedly, is a distinct weakness for a screen unit, but on the other hand they can carry twice as many flamers as cultists, while mutants have none.  They can also carry heavy weapons, but those aren't worth the bother at BS5+, imo.  Maybe if they get errata'd to 4+ (they are as expensive as regular guard, so who knows - with all the other errors in that book the ws/bs 5+ of renegade militia could be a mistake too).

[adreal]

50 points to protect my back lines from deep strikes while my front lines move up, yeah I'll pay that every damn day

[Joe]

I'd rather they replaced Cultists with a dedicated Lost and the Damned army (expanding upon Renegades & Heretics), and instead made Cultists an upgrade option for other Chaos units. Like, pay x number of points to field 20+ Cultists alongside your Chaos Space Marines and just use them to soak up enemy fire.

 

I've never really seen them as anything than a tar pit, mind you.

[Panzer]

I'd rather they replaced Cultists with a dedicated Lost and the Damned army (expanding upon Renegades & Heretics), and instead made Cultists an upgrade option for other Chaos units. Like, pay x number of points to field 20+ Cultists alongside your Chaos Space Marines and just use them to soak up enemy fire.

 

I've never really seen them as anything than a tar pit, mind you.

Well maybe we'll get lucky and they'll do that to some extent in the Codex...or they'll give them their own small Codex in a few years. You never know what they actually have planned now that 8th arrived. :D