Robin paints Genestealer Cults

Well; it happened! My first battle with the Genestealer Cults and vs the Adeptus Custodes.

Obviously this is my second battle since 5th edition (so don’t judge me too harshly on not getting rules right).

I’ve learned loads from my first battle with GSC. I was a bit apprehensive due to the long list of rules for Genestealer Cults.  We agreed to the primary (4 objectives on the board) and secondary objectives as;

For Shay: Assassinate, Attrition and Purge the Enemy
For me: Broodswarm, Engage on all fronts and Domination

I started with 2 Cp with points taken for Broodcoven, Open the Vault for an extra relic, I lost two more due to not having enough troops (1 per slot missing)

On a Forgeworld near Terra our battle began; Many of the Genestealer cult buried deep underground ready to strike from different areas of the field.

We rolled off; I won the roll off but chose to go second.

As with the Bladed Cog my single minded obsession was placed on the spilt up squad of terminators to be deepstriked; we agreed that just the sgt would have this disadvantage.
The Primus received the Mark of the Clawed Omnissiah.
The Magus had Oppressor’s  Bane.
We set up deployment with Shay fielding everything but a 3 man squad of terminators to be deepstriked, I wanted some shenanigans so I set up my Jackals, Neophytes, Reductus Saboteur and Kelermorph all went underground.

Turn 1:
Not much happened this turn; a lot of movement for Adeptus and not much to shoot at for Shay with so much underground. One Sister of Silence dispatched. 1 vp for me 0 for Shay. Psychic powers didn’t happen due to me being silly and not having a line of sight.

Turn 2:
A lot of melee; the Ridgerunners were charged by a squad of Custodes Guard and Shay’s Warlord, Trajann Valoris. Genestealers had came up from Underground  and secured the enemies back objective. Psychic powers were able to be used but didn’t hit much. The Saboteur did a lot of damage but I did not conceal her in cover ( BIG OOPS). The Ridgerunners were decimated in close combat however using 1 CP I was able to rig the Ridgerunner to explode (a very handy stratagem). The now split up unit of deepstriked terminators appeared in my back field along with the underground Jackals. The score became 20vp to me vs 12 vp for Shay.

Turn 3:
The Patriarch was charged by deepstriked Terminators and lost in sooting then combat; scoring Shay a butt load of points. The Sisters were dispatched by the Primus with some help with the remaining Jackals after fleeing the terminator. The Saboteur, Magus and a hella lot of Neophytes went down! Thank the Star Gods for summoning the cult and bringing back Neophytes. I used Reckless Demolitions (what a fun stratagem). The Neophytes to my shock held on. By this 52VP Shay and 26VP for me

Turn 4:
I was tabled: the Custodian Guard Squadand Blade Champion easily dispatched the Neophytes and the Primus went down to the terminators on the other side of the board. unfortunately but I had fun!

I’ve learned from reading up after;

• I shouldn’t have lost a CP for taking a relic pg 72
• ITS A 6+ NOT 5+ invulnerable save for Bladed Cog (sorry Shay) pg 58
• Keep those Ridgerunners back and away from melee
• Line of sight needed for Psychic powers (big oops)
• Make sure the Saboteur is hidden!
• The Primus can really throw a punch and that Bladed Cog aura is *good soup*
• Make sure the Magus is protected
• Not to stress to much about stratagems/ try to shoot with my current line up and keep distance.
• A lot of shots happened but they just couldn’t crack that Custodes armour! VS another army I’m sure this would be different!
• I need to think of crossfire rules and how I place models
• Surprisingly did alright with leadership rolls during morale phrase
• I’m excited to apply what I’ve learnt to the next game sometime in Feb
• I NEED SOME MELEE GSC