Over the past few weeks I've been working on some different Genestealercult builds in preparation for the Gladiator Gaming Teams Event and have just been ironing out some of the final tech choices in the list, now some of this may seem crazy but bare with me I believe there is two directions I would move the cult list in heading into this ever changing meta and I will touch on that in this article.
Before I get into the list I want to talk about why I've chosen to go down this path. Since before WTC I've been playing the 30 jakals religiously but with guard entering the meta, tau not changing and remaining an issue to deal with and the biggest baddie for GSC being Chaos Daemons I've decided it's time to change things up, the jakals are still an amazing archetype and would definitely be something I would still consider for teams. The core of the list being the neophyte bombs still remains the backbone of the army so for the most part the good match ups haven't changed at all but I've made an effort to adjust how the list matches up into the harder games (Daemons, Guard, Tau and Chaos Knights). To do this I have pivoted into the myriad cult ( Agile guerrillas, Industrial Affinity and War convoy) the list is built around being able to be just as mobile as the jakals but also keep the damage threatening before the neos even show up, a lot of the lists that you play against these days have a considerably less amount of shooting activations that are genuinely threatening and the mass transports that are fairly tough make this a little more awkward to handle it becomes very easy for them to under commit while still being fast enough thanks to agile guerrilas to project damage/threat even while hiding so the games where your opponent actually has the ability to pick up multiple transports at range you aren't hindered by hiding while you wait for the neophyte drops before you really throw the kitchen sink at them.
Lets get into the list;
Myriad Cult ( Agile guerrillas, Industrial Affinity and War convoy)
HQ:
Patriarch, Prowling Agitant
- Psychic stimulus, Psionic Blast
Primus
5 accolytes, 2x demo charge
5 accolytes, 2x demo charge
5 accolytes, 2x demo charge
5 accolytes, 2x demo charge
5 accolytes
20 neophytes, 4 seismic cannon, 4 webber - Lying in wait
20 neophytes, 4 seismic cannon, 4 webber - A Perfect Ambush
20 neophytes, 4 seismic cannon, 4 webber
10 neophytes, 2 seismic cannon, 2 webber
10 neophytes, 2 seismic cannon, 2 webber
Kelermorph - Wyrmtooth Rounds
Nexos - Cranial inlay
Saboteur - Opressors Bane
Sanctus, Cult sniper rifle
Rockgrinder, Heavy seismic, demo cache
Rockgrinder, Heavy seismic, demo cache
Rockgrinder, Heavy seismic, demo cache
Goliath truck, demo cache - every angle
Goliath truck, demo cache
Now this list is a very different take on the faction compared to the Jakal archetype but is holding some really niche tech for certain match ups that I believe tip them over the edge.
For starters I think Chaos Daemons have got to be one of the toughest games for GSC and having something like prowling agitant on the patriarch becomes a really useful tool when most of the daemons lists are packing very minimal flamers or shooting in general, he becomes a really useful screen and damage dealer with the double up of damage spells in smite and psionic blast and with the daemon infantry units being very vulnerable to melee damage this piece becomes a real pain for them to respond too, I also decided against throwing mental onslaught on the Patriarch not only because it has a higher cast level but I also really wanted psychic stimulus in the list to protect myself from random units landing big charges and being able to tag units of neophytes, this at least gives me some level of safety from this. This is something I spent hours mulling over but after a couple of games I really like how he fits into the list.
Now, the Saboteur, for some reason a generally laughed at unit which to me is insane because in the right build giving this model crossfire is amazing tech, she really helps in any of the mech match ups whether it be sentinels, knights, daemon monsters or anything packing a high number of transports. Against any vehicles or monsters she becomes a really useful tool at generating crossfire which as anyone who plays this faction knows the more cheap crossfire generation you have the higher ceiling you have on your damage.
The real sleeper is the demo cache on all the vehicles, and I don't mean something as simple as throwing demo charges = good, but it opens up the auto explodes stratagem which really is a money maker especially against phase capped models, between the armed explosive strat you can use on an objective, the saboteour mine and the auto explodes in combination with a few cheeky damage spells you take an army that typically struggles to do multi phase damage to having a comfortable amount to deal with a number of various problems.
For me personally I really enjoy how the Agile Guerillas plays with the advancing transports launching 2d6 demo shots into people with the heavy seismic shots the damage on the table becomes very potent that the jakal list just cannot do from a safe distance.
Long story short I still think the Jakal build is incredibly strong but I believe this handles the current meta slightly better and has more game into everything across the board as it also doesn't give up a relatively soft no prisoners but we'll see how it all pans out this weekend when I bust this bad boy out, look out for updates on The Alien Majesty Facebook page I'll be posting pictures of all my match ups there as well as some mid and post game photos!
