Ok- here's a thing that rears it's head every few years for me. I keep thinking about building and playing a genestealer cult army.

At the moment I'm at the point of trying to choose an army list to use. My prime suspect at the moment is the Guard list, using guardsmen as rebel PDF, conscripts as cultists, hybrids as commissars or priests and maybe psykers as magi. I'm really only stuck by how to field 'stealers themselves. Substitute for rough riders? Or ogryns? I'm also thinking about using the 'warrior weapon' doctrine to allow CCW wielding cultists and maybe the 'independent commissars' doctrine to allow hybrid squad leaders/commissars to roam around where I want them. What are the rules for allies with guard?

So Guard is one option. I'm also considering the Tyranid codex. I can easily take 'stealers and a Broodlord as an HQ. I can also sub in gaunts with various weapons as cultists and renegade guard, maybe zoanthropes as magi and biovores as mortar teams. With this option I'm completely stuck for vehicles though. Bugger.

Final option (that I'm aware of) is Witch hunters. Seems a little unlikely but it lets me use 'renegade' guard, guard tanks and reasonably customisable HQ that I can use as a Magus and cronies. Also possibly those sisters with big swords as stealers.


So- Guard; pros = many cultists/rebel PDF, tanks. cons = tricky for 'stealers.

Tyranids; pros = stealers, Broodlord (what a bruiser!), cultists. Cons = no tanks (Boo! Hiss!)

Witch hunters; pros = guard, tanks. Cons = compulsory sisters? No broodlord or good HQ.


So.... Anyone got any suggestions? Alternative lists are welcome too but I do want to work out of an actual codex if possible.

Your best bet is to stick with the nid codex.
Colorful conversion work is needed. But give it some thought
and you can come up with all kinds of mutant/hybrids.

You may also look at the Lost & Damned army list (it was on the G.W as a free PDF file)
Yes the rules are now obsolete, but if you steer clear of chaos marines in your force then I can’t see a reason why you couldn’t play it with friends or in a gaming club.

Or just use the guard codex and maybe buy yourself a small unit of Genestealers.
In friendly campaigns you could you the guard list to cover the cult and use the Genestealers as a body unit to your genestealer magus. Maybe saving them as a treat for the last battle.

In the end tho, no current list will do the genestealer cult justice.
Unless of course you’re playing apoc battles then you can mix and match any lists you want!

Scroll down a bit on this page: http://uk.games-workshop.com/imperialguard/doctrines/2/

Can't you use Ogryns as 'Stealers? Perhaps a tougher sort? Also, remember allies. Allows you to take some units from the DH/WH codicies, so you could play IG and take Repentias (chicks with swords) as allies.

I vote for a combination of the gaurd and nid army list. For most intents and purposes the gaurd list with some "counts as" rules should be sufficient. You should Hybridize a list is due to the need for actually genestealers in the army. Genestealers should make a good Elite choice.

Guard list with the Chem Inhalers, Sanctioned Psykers, Hardened Fighters, Warrior Weapons and Ogryn doctrines is the way to go I think.
Use Ogryns to represent possible Ork/Stealer hybrids so as to not appear totally limited to a human cult.
Sanctioned pysker to represent the magus, chem inhalers to represent the hive mind/patriarch influence on the cult. Warrior weapons and hardened fighters if you want them to be a close combat force, if not scrap those two and pick two others.

Pick a broodlord and retinue from the Nid codex and have stealers as a troop choice. Maybe restrict yourself to naked stealers (no EC or ST etc).

I've toyed with the idea in the past but scrapped it, but thats the format I was going to use. Just makes your guard squads really expensive if you pick certain doctrines.

I think that the Monkey might want to stick with an official list though.

Have you thought about the Lost and the Damned army list?

The LATD unfortunatly , is no longer a offical list.
Add a doctrine for Genestealers and you should be in good shape.

I think IG is really the only way to go. Doctrines will go a long way toward getting you where you need to be. Then you can use clever modeling "counts as" to get all the color and power you need out of allied choices from the Inquisition codexes. (Imagine making use of Faith points to represent alien abilities or magi powers!)

Using a base Tyranids list is second best. Maybe the cult just doesn't have access to many vehicles? Certainly using humanoid models to "counts as" various guants and 'stealers will work. If you want tanks, you could always make a heavy support carnifex "tank" with weapons that count as venom cannons, etc. Yeah, it would take wounds instead of having an AV, but ...? The only real vehicle you can't employ are transports, unfortunately.

The LATD unfortunatly , is no longer a offical list.
Add a doctrine for Genestealers and you should be in good shape.

Not official at tournaments perhaps. But it is still a better choice, and way more official, than making up your own army list.

Cults have very few "purestrain" genestelers, only one comes about every generation so an IG list isnt too bad, because you wont really need them anyway, deffo go for warrior weapons, you can even model a few extra limbs as CCW!!!

Not official at tournaments perhaps. But it is still a better choice, and way more official, than making up your own army list.

Making a official army list for a cult army is really only going to be done by making a "Counts as army", Everything else is unofficial until Gw realeses a real list. So playing any Gs-cult will depend on your opponet:P.

As a former LATD player, It would make a solid army however adding a Abhuman doctrine to a IG list to represent ( stealers and hybrids ) Makes more sense to me. That way you won't be called on a number of rules related to the old chaos codex.
If I see stealers on the table I expect them to act like stealers.

I also have the luxury of beign a Ex-Geanestealer cult player from way back when. The older fluff has a strong pure-strain influance in the coven, remeber 4th generation hybrids ( almost pure human) give birth to pure-strain geanstealers who then continue the life cycle. So adding more or less stealers really becomes a matter of personal tastes.

It isn't "unfluffy" to have a units of 'Stealers in a Cult-list since if the Cult has gone completely active and started its final phase before assimilation (rebellion and open war) then it will consist of thousands of Cultists, which means that there will be quite the large number of purestrains.

I'd say go for an ork army list.

the cultist are slugga boys, the wyrdboy is a master thing that controls them all, and the vehicles can also be "counts as" as stolen imperial vehicles. Loota's can have stolen weaponry, that was stolen from the planet they're on.

also, if I remember correctly, a big old battle wagon can be chosen for the HQ, and can easily just be that limo they had.

or go for the IG, but how many CC units can you really get while still having a slight chance of winning? Ogryns, Rogue riders, crazy suicide guardsmen and the unholy might of the inquisition, sounds fun.


BTW my Genekrats will be happy if you get it going.

Scroll down a bit on this page: http://uk.games-workshop.com/imperialguard/doctrines/2/

Can't you use Ogryns as 'Stealers? Perhaps a tougher sort? Also, remember allies. Allows you to take some units from the DH/WH codicies, so you could play IG and take Repentias (chicks with swords) as allies.

Nice page, Camel. This is a great find.

Tekore

I really think the WH list has some stuff that could be very usefull to making a genestealer cult. You don't have to use them as your main body just take them as allies. The Arco-flagellants would make very good stealers since they have all power weapon attacks and a semi fleet move. Plus you don't have to take sisters as you can take IST anyways but still you could also take zealots which would be a good idea to be you cultists.

and you could explain them dieing due to them being impure stealers.

Can someone please clear up the deal with aliies when using WH and Guard? I'm not sure I've got a handle on it. I can use arco-flaggellants with Guard? Help!!

This is why I like Necrons- everyone's identical and no-one wants to be your friend.

Can someone please clear up the deal with aliies when using WH and Guard? I'm not sure I've got a handle on it. I can use arco-flaggellants with Guard? Help!!

This is why I like Necrons- everyone's identical and no-one wants to be your friend.

Well since I don't have my WH codex in fron of me at the moment but I'm pretty sure you can. All you need to do is have a priest in your list and you can take them since they don't even take up a HQ slot (so you could take an inqusitor as well to my knowledge) which then in turn allows you to take one arco as an elite choice per allies rules. Also could take seraphim as something if you so desire...

Or if your talking about inducting guard into a WH list then you should have no problems at all and instead of taking sisters you could take Inqusitors and IST as well. Though you are a lot more limited on your IG things you can take but you can use zealots as cultists which are pretty good (may have to ask someone else where to find the rules or just search in the WH forum).

Can someone please clear up the deal with aliies when using WH and Guard? I'm not sure I've got a handle on it. I can use arco-flaggellants with Guard? Help!!

This is why I like Necrons- everyone's identical and no-one wants to be your friend.

TPM,

I've gone through my Witch Hunters book, and unless I've missed something, this is the skinny.

In order to have an Arco-Flagellant (Elite Unit), you have to have a Priest (HQ) in your list. Priests are always attached to other units, and don't count as an HQ choice (so you still have two HQ's to choose from). They can attach to Celestians, Battle Sister Squads, Inquisitorial Storm Troopers, Dominions, Sisters Repentia, Inducted Imperial Guard Infantry Squads, and Armored Fist Squads, so you'll need one of these in your army as well in order to attach the priest to it. These rules are on page 27 and 28 of the Witch Hunters Book.

I hope this helps!

Tekore

To expand on Tekore's explanation:

Not every unit in the WH codex requires a Priest to employ. ISTs and Sisters of Battle units, for instance, do not require the presence of a Priest.

Regarding the Priest: the rules don't specify that it must be the Priest from the WH codex, though that is the clear implication. I would allow the Priest from the IG codex to unlock units like arcos. Or, just as good, I would allow the WH Priest to attach to any unit that the IG Priest can attach to.

In any case, you are limited to taking 0-1 HQ, 0-1 Elite, 0-2 Troops, 0-1 Fast Attack as allies from each of the Inquisition codexes.