The Goliath & More Reinforcements Pour Forth For The Genestealer Cults
October 1, 2016 by brennon
Games Workshop continues to grow their newest Warhammer 40,000 faction with all manner of new units for the Genestealer Cults. We'll kick things off with the leaders of this horde, the Broodcoven.
The Broodcoven are the ones that pull the strings as you look towards the inevitable overrunning a once Imperial homeworld. The Patriarch (seen at the front of the image) controls the minds of all those infected by its genetic code. Meanwhile,the Primus and Magus carry out its every whim and seek to dominate the planet from within.
Following on from them we have some examples of those who have been swayed by the power of the Cult. The Neophyte Hybrid Squad gives you some options for customising your regular Imperial Guard soldiers.
Because their mutations are only slight they can still pass for regular humans and so continue to serve as part of the military organisations that protect the planet. However, when the time comes they will turn on their fellow soldiers and gun them down without remorse.
As a herald of the woe that will befall the planet we also have the Acolyte Iconward who plays an important part in the Cults surge from beneath the ground.
TheIconward is as much a symbol of military might as it is one of religious fervour. When the time comes this creature will urge the rest of its kin on to feats of barbarism and brutality as they tear their way through Imperial society.
Cult Vehicles
One of the things that was teased as we watched the trailers and looked at the leaks was that we'd be seeing some new vehicles joining the fray alongside the Genestealers. Here we have the Goliath which comes in two forms. The first is the Truck...
...but we also have the Rockgrinder too which is a sure fire way to deliver your troops into the fray when the time comes for an invasion.
Using what they can from the various industries they've infiltrated all the Cults need to do is adorn them with their sigil and get ready for battle. Imagine one of these bursting through a thick defensive wall only to then douse those on the other side with cleansing flame.
Battle Mats
As well as these warriors and vehicles Games Workshop has also given us a place to play out our battles. The Battle Mat: City Ruin gets you started with a 4x4 square to play out small games. It's perfect for Kill Team in that regard.
You could combine a few of these to give you an interesting battlefield right off the bat but I think these would work with a few gothic ruins allowing you to add to the height of the tablescape.
Hopefully, we'll see some more of these Battle Mats in the future. I'd like one without the terrain detail we see here for example.
What do you think of the newest releases?
"...when the time comes they will turn on their fellow soldiers and gun them down without remorse"
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I am liking look of those and Genestealer Cult is general.
I love the look of the Goliath in a way that makes me feel dirty and unfaithful …….. Damn you GW for putting me in moral danger …sigh
I do like the look of that truck (without the bulldozer). very smart. And the Cultist heads for the cadians are quite smart.
Love the Goliath so much. Will most definitely be getting some to use as Tauroxen for my traitor guard.
GS has some lovely minis, that’s for sure. It will be fun to meet the corrupt filth with my Death Korps!
This is what I like to see from GW, a unique army that has not a single space marine attached to them.
The truck is perfect, even if you want to do something along the lines of Total Recall theme.
Why is the Battle Mat 4×4? 40k is played (most of the times) on a 6×4 table. Why did they make it in such a weired dimension?
i thought the same, then i thought it might be subtle signs of things to come from GW with the rumoured 8th edition rules coming next year, i hope not, i hope it’s just something that is aimed at kill team games and what not, but this is gw after all, they might go full AoS on 40k and ruin the game completely
@dunham99 they have been ruining the game since 2nd, would be hard for them to make it stodgier than 7th, personally would welcome an AoS style streamlining.
I have heard from someone inside GW that they are working on pulling the rules back to 11 pages and using AOS style army creation. Not a complete AOS conversion for 40k but a lot of simplification. No idea if the guy actually knows anything, but if correct I could see myself dusting off some 40k armies and giving it a go.
That would be most welcome IMO.
kill team
Is actually pretty good value as its a neoprene (mousemat) mat according to the blurb, £50 from gw, or £45 from an independent…
Thing is, they’ve got 6×4 already, with the Cities of Death and Realm of Battle Board’s, so they didn’t really need one in 6×4 at the moment. Also, 40k games up to 1000pts can fit relatively easily onto a 4×4. My guess is that it is marketed more at the beginner gamers. “you’ve picked up a Starter Box or a Getting Started army box. Here is a relatively cheap, ready made board that can be folded up and put away very easily and is a perfect size for the size of games that you are playing” It is actually very… Read more »
I find the mats more interesting than the board for several reasons.
No work, cheaper and easier to store. You could have several different locations in mats compared to the board. It would be nice if they made some 6×4 mats.
As @pedmore says, this new mat is competitively priced so if you like this one and want a 4×4 then buy it, but if you want a 6×4 there are ample out there. This is a product you really don’t need GW for, anymore than you’d need them for a specific colour of paint.
I love the new cult minis, in fact they are the first GW models in ages to tempt me to give them some money.
The vehicles are terrible though, boxy, toy-like and boring. The old Mike Mcvey converted Chimera was much much better for a semi-military vehicle.
I honestly just think GW suck at designing military vehicles.
They’re not meant to be military vehicles. They’re meant to be industrial mining vehicles, garbage trucks and the like.
I don’t hate the vehicles, but they are kinda toy like.
I always thought it was sad that the Genestealer Cult took such a back seat and pretty much stopped being a thing when the Tyranids came out. They were one of the parts of 40K lore I most liked. In the unlikely event I ever got back into 40K, the Cult is probably what I’d pick up rather than go back to my old Ultramarines.
I just love the anarchist look on these guys.
Well for a cult of anarchist alien lovers that is.
Wow! These are looking very impressive. Loving the vehicles. Think Im going to have to pick up a few. Im liking the direction GW are starting to move in again. It seems to more focused on letting the gamers drive things rather than the money men. Which is how it should be. If they keep this up they could pull back a lot of the disenfranchised GW fans.
And now GW, since you are giving people what they really want, can I bring up the small matter of the Squats……
The Squats were also an early favourite of mine. But I don’t see them coming back to be honest.
You’ve just reset the Squat clock
Outstanding effort from GW.
“James” I am feeling like a lovely drive, lets visit the secret mining site in the western hills, can you drive the car to the front, I will get in then.
“here is the car my Lord”
What the hell is that? Where is the LIMO?
I am not going to the site in a street cleaning smelly peasant-box.
Bring it back James, I will call a cab…
I really miss the old pimp mobile.
A great release. sweet models and an interesting background.
Win !
I was half expecting Rhino doors, but I think that they have really nailed these vehicles.
I think that these will find their way into the Imperial Guard, maybe with some more intentional weapons.
the vehicles are awesome – makes me want to kitbash the Ork Battlewaggon back into an imperial juggernaut – how else are they going to smash down the Precinct Gates to overwhelm the Arbites?
and look at the new heads!
– what about an Ash-Nomad army based on the Chaos Cultists – Dune 🙂
Im loving the Genestealer Cult releases, and the Goliath is a kit I really like, its very cool.
As for the matts, maybe they thought non-GW gamers might buy them for games played on smaller tables.
am I missing something? do multiple mats fit together to form some bigger plan? – or is it for Kill-team lunchtime coffee-table 40K?
thought they might do mine-works, precinct or city-shrine themed mat for the cults 🙁
Aimed at Kill Team or beginner games I would imagine. Certainly easier on the beginner’s wallet than the 6×4 RoB board.
I saw the neophytes and said: Can you say Chaos renegades?
I like the mutated Astra Militarum. The coven minions are cute. I’m not so sure about the Patriarch. It looks too overexagerated, makes it somehow more comical than horrific. And the placement of the tail is just wrong.
Despite popular opinion I’m also not such a fan of the vehicles. I would still prefer a few limo’s.
I think the pose of the Patriarch is like that so when viewed from the side it resembles the Cult logo (the not quite oroborus one). Problem is that it doesn’t really work as an actual pose and I’d have rathered either something like the old broodlord in a ‘basking in the adoration of his children/head back roaring’ pose, or something like the original bloated one sitting on a throne – either of those would’ve looked more effective than the one they went with. On the plus side, it’s a plastic mini so it shouldn’t be too hard to alter… Read more »
I am really enjoying the Genestealer Cult release. The models are great, and the new direction they faction has been taken in not only works visually but also makes sense from a fluff and internal logic perspective – a rebellion of this type would most easily take root on poorly patrolled rim worlds like far flung mining colonies, and mining equipment would make for a good source of improvised weaponry. In general, it is very gratifying to see the return of a classic and long neglected faction to 40K, especially one that both finally offers some alliance options for the… Read more »
There’s even enough flexibility that the latest iteration can be used to represent a cult from a hive world where the Cult could easily grow within the Underhive which is largely neglected by Imperial authorities (which is why gangs like those of Necromunda are so well entrenched), plus a degree of mutation is accepted as normal in the deeper parts so it’d be easier for latter generation hybrids to pass off any irregularities they display. In fact, if you’re creative enough, you could possibly even do an agri-world with the list without too much trouble; the Goliath and Rocksmasher become… Read more »
The Hills Have Eyes/Children of the Corn; Genestealer Cult style. I love it.
the troops are great love the goliath as well.
Seriously? GW are doing this right They are putting out minis which push all my buttons, and from reading the comments, I am not alone with this sentiment. They are not doing this consistently, but hey, if you put stuff like the genestealer cult into plastic miniatures, I can forgive blows to the neather aesthetics regions. Ye Gods, I don’t have to buy the latter, do I? So their rules are, …. umh… leaving room for improvement? Fine, I’ll use any of the alternatives around on teh internetz. Or I’ll get my act together and finaly complete that Infinity conversion… Read more »