What is your typical Troops loadout?

[Hannibal]

Hi all,

 

I'm in the process of building a GSC army and I wonder about what TROOPS choices to run.

We regularly play friendly games around 1000 to 1250 points, rather non-competetive with lots of new gamers.

That being said I like to stay away from super competetive deepstriking units because I fear that the newer gamers might recieve negative play experiences then.

 

One thing I'm definetely going to run is a squad of Neophytes with mining lasers in a Goliath truck simply because Rule of Cool >>> competetiveness.

 

Things I thought about are

- the well known rocksaw wielding Acolytes unit of Doom just to offer one deepstriking melee threat and to play the GSC game like it's meant to be

 

- a hand flamer wielding unit mounted in a Goliath truck for some drive by shooting

 

So, what are your standard loadouts? What do you like to field?

[shanewatts]

Brood Brothers are always a thing as well. Cheap good screens (and deaths for Unquestioning Loyalty.)

 

Minimum 5 man Acolytes are good coming out of reserve, our cheapest troop choice, can clean up a similar enemy unit, and is small enough to hide.

 

As you stated, Neophytes with Mining Lasers are viable. The Acolyte Hand Flamer bomb and Rock saw units with Icons are both competitve units that see play.

 

Really it is hard to go wrong with our troops (and units in general.)

[Exilyth]

Laserphytes & Sawcolytes, along with the odd flamepistol-blob are the bread & butter of most GSC lists.

 

I'm a bit weird in that I run my neophytes barebones w/just a heavy stubber, but then again, I tend to use them as <rusted claw> cannon fodder & objective holders with an iconward nearby and reserve ambush for other units (like acolytes & aberrants).

 

Acolytes with Rocksaws are pretty strong as long as you have some means of delivery (either ambush or a transport). They are rather weak to shooting so walking across the table is a big no go (unlesss there's enough LoS blocking cover).

 

 

edit:

As I play Astra Militarum too, I avoid AM units in my GSC - so no brood brothers for me.

[Hannibal]

Thanks for all your answers!

 

Acolytes with Rocksaws are pretty strong as long as you have some means of delivery (either ambush or a transport). They are rather weak to shooting so walking across the table is a big no go (unlesss there's enough LoS blocking cover).

 

That´s what I plan to do anyways. In fact I like to run a mechanized GSC force with some Rockgrinders and some Goliaths trucks too because the models look way too cool.

[NatBrannigan]

The Trucks and Ridgerunners (and Genestealers themselves) are superb models and they're what tempted me to pick up the codex. I don't think they're the most competitive choices at all but they're just so pretty! Like the Jackal Alphus to make the Ridgerunners more reliable, and I use bladed cog to make the Laser Neophytes able to actual hit something.

 

None of that can possibly be considered overpowered. For sure take some deep striking stuff though, it's what the cults are all about. That and the deployment are fun for you and different if you're up against new players.

 

So Neophytes in Trucks, maybe some on foot to take objecrives and Acolytes popping out from underground.

[ThePenitentOne]

I only play narrative escalation campaign, so my cult actually has to grow organically. The campaign hasn't started yet, but when it does, I'm hoping to make regular posts about it; my plan is to actually test the growth of a cult, and see how it plays throughout the various stages of the life cycle.

 

The first session is a game of Space Hulk, where purestrains are trying to get to escape pods; the marines are trying to stop them.

 

The escape pods land on the planet where the campaign takes place. Brood size can be anything from 0-8. There are 8 settlements, and each purestrain goes to one of the eight to hide and breed. we've designed the maps so that each settlement contains a "Ruins" territory. That's where the purestrains hide. 

 

There are three types of residential territories: Noble Houses, Citizen Habitation Blocks, and Criminal Networks that disguise themselves among civilians.

 

In the first round of kill team games, small gangs of youths from the noble houses hear rumours that there are secrets to be discovered in the ruins. These gangs go to the ruins seeking this information, only to be ambushed by a lurking purestrain. Any gangers taken out of action become brood brothers. The purestrain who infects the most brood brothers begins to evolve into a patriarch.

 

Cult models are allowed to lurk in any ruin or residential territory, and they are able to move from territory to territory, and even between settlements. Any purestrain lurking in a residential territory can attempt to infect a single brood brother during the pregame phase. During the battle phase, if the number of lurking cult models is enough to form a kill team, it may attack in a game of kill team. If the number is large enough to form a detachment, they may attack in a game of 40k.

 

In any of these battles, every resident taken out by a purestrain becomes a brood brother. If the Cult wins a 40k game, they take the territory and all of it's residents and resources.

 

Fighting battles in the ruins, or infecting residents during the pregame phase does not trigger an alert. Attacking a territory as a Kill Team triggers an alert. In 40k games, the alert only occurs if cult loses the battle.

 

Once an alert has gone up, the imperial guard faction becomes active; they can redeploy to protect key territories and even request reinforcements from other settlements. There are detection rolls after every cult battle during an alert, and if the guard pass a detection roll, they can then alert the sisters of battle and adeptus mechanicus factions. 

 

Brood brothers also breed; I use Necromunda models for my citizens/ cultists, and gender is WYSIWYG. Cultists can breed among themselves or with other citizens. If they breed among themselves, one male model and one female model must sit out an entire turn  [ie. both pregame and battle phases]. No roll is required to attract a mate, and this action cannot provoke a detection roll. If they choose to breed with citizens, each model that sits out attracts a mate on a 4+. On the plus side, the mate is recruited as a brood brother, but the action provokes a detection roll during a state of alert.

 

After sitting out for conception, male models become active, but female models must sit out another turn for gestation. In the following turn, a first generation acolyte is born; if possible, the model should be given four arms to indicate proximity to the purestrain. The acolyte and one parent model must sit out for one more turn for growth and mentoring.

 

 

Thereafter, acolytes can opt to breed using the same rules for turn based conception, gestation and growing/ mentoring, but they can only breed with brood brothers. Offspring are second generation acolytes; if possible, they should be modeled with three arms [or in a pinch even two] to differentiate them from their senior kin.

 

They too breed with brood brothers, and their offspring are first gen neophytes (the GSC models). Their offspring are second generation neophytes (the IG headswappy hybrids). Every time a second generation neophyte is born, roll a d6; on a six, it's the magus. Add 1 to the roll if at least 5 second generation neophytes have already been born. If there are at least ten, add 2 to the roll, The 16th second generation neophyte will automatically be born a magus. Since each cult can only have a single magus, stop making rolls while the cult has a living magus.

 

Second generation neophytes breed to produce purestrains, and the second cycle begins.

 

In the second cycle, everytime a second generation neophyte is born, roll a d6; on a 6, the GSC player can choose a character to be born instead. The cult can only have one magus and one primus, but it can have up to three of any other character. If a character dies, a new one can be bred to replace it. In the third cycle, this happens on a roll of 5+; on the fourth cycle, it happens on a 4+. 

 

In the third cycle, each time a first generation acolyte is born, the GSC player can choose a metamorph instead. If the cult has a biophagus, the GSC player can also choose an aberrant. Metamorphs and aberrants do not breed.

 

Okay, so that was probably more detail than you were looking for, but the point is that my entire army composition is based on game play. I will have some flexibility once my army roster contains more points than I can use in a battle, but players gain advantages for controlling territories, and you have to have at least a kill team in a territory in order to control it. This means that even if I get more points than I need, there may still be limits on my ability to cherry pick the perfect combo due to the tactical necessity of maintaining territory.

[brother_b]

If you can pull that type of campaign off I commend you. Hope to see some updates from it, take care and have fun! Sounds awesome.

[Fajita Fan]

Brood Brothers are always a thing as well. Cheap good screens (and deaths for Unquestioning Loyalty.)

 

Minimum 5 man Acolytes are good coming out of reserve, our cheapest troop choice, can clean up a similar enemy unit, and is small enough to hide.

 

As you stated, Neophytes with Mining Lasers are viable. The Acolyte Hand Flamer bomb and Rock saw units with Icons are both competitve units that see play.

 

Really it is hard to go wrong with our troops (and units in general.)

I know GW typically only lets you take as many options as come in the box but does anyone know why mining lasers are capped at 2 per squad and not 2 per 10 models like you’d expect? I have 8 of the stupid things and only being able to take 2 in a 20 man blob is kinda annoying. It’s not like they’re game breaking or anything.

[Raktra]

Two twenty-man Neophyte squads, one with autoguns, two grenade launchers and two seismic cannons, the other with all shotguns, two flamers and the champ with a power maul. Then backed up with two ten-man units of Acolytes with four saws in each. Autogun boys sit on the home objective, everyone else in ambush. Shotgun kiddos usually surrounding a Kelermorph. They make me happy!

[Rogue]

At the moment, I run with what I have - 10 neophytes, two squads of 5 acolytes, and three squads of 10 brood brothers. It gets me to two battalions, which is good, but individually each squad isn't up to much. I usually use the brood brothers as screens around my Russes, or to hold home objectives (or both), whilst the neophytes ambush their way onto an objective later in the game (or occasionally add their limited firepower if i think that I might need an extra kill or two to finish a squad off). The acolytes are more useful, and can be effective in combat even in fives, but small squads makes them feel very fragile.

 

Looking ahead, I'd really like more acolytes. Neophytes are fine, although brood brothers do most of what the neophytes do for a point less per model, and I don't fancy building a strategy around buffing neophytes with a cult creed when i could be boosting more exciting and dangerous units. Plus, brood brothers work fairly thematically alongside my Russ squadron, as they're all drawn from the same Guard regiment and continue to fight as a formation on the battlefield, which I like.

 

But to kill stuff? Hit them in the face with lots and lots of acolytes.

[Fajita Fan]

Two twenty-man Neophyte squads, one with autoguns, two grenade launchers and two seismic cannons, the other with all shotguns, two flamers and the champ with a power maul. Then backed up with two ten-man units of Acolytes with four saws in each. Autogun boys sit on the home objective, everyone else in ambush. Shotgun kiddos usually surrounding a Kelermorph. They make me happy!

I actually made a simple rock saw model to 3d print since we don't get enough for squads but do you not like demo charges at all?

[Raktra]

Only on Jackals from Rusted Claw, otherwise an average-low BS mixed with variable shot number and one-use only doesn’t jive well with me.