From dark depths and shadowy streets emerge the Genestealer Cultists, malformed figures united by a sinister worship of inscrutable star-born entities. Secretive, stealthy and utterly malignant, they are the cankers growing unseen in the hidden spaces of the Imperium.
This section contains all of the datasheets that you will need in order to fight battles with your Genestealer Cults miniatures. Each datasheet includes the characteristics profiles of the unit it describes, as well as any wargear and abilities it may have. Some rules are common to several Genestealer Cults units – these are described below and are referenced on the datasheets.Books
| Book | Kind | Edition | Version | Last update |
 Genestealer Cults | ||||
| Genestealer Cults | Codex | 9 | Indomitus 1.2 | January 2023 |
 Arks of Omen: Vashtorr | ||||
| Arks of Omen: Vashtorr | Expansion | 9 | March 2023 | |
 Munitorum Field Manual 2023 Mk I | ||||
| Munitorum Field Manual 2023 Mk I | Expansion | 9 | January 2023 | |
| Power Rating Update 2022 | ||||
| Power Rating Update 2022 | Rulebook | 9 | March 2022 | |
| Shadow Throne | ||||
| Shadow Throne | Boxset | 9 | December 2021 | |
 Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Defiant | ||||
| Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Defiant | Expansion | 8 | Indomitus 1.1 | July 2020 |
FAQ
Codex: Genestealer Cults
| Q: | Can a CROSSFIRE unit that is embarked on an open-topped transport like a Goliath Truck gain bonuses when shooting at an Exposed target? If so, where do I measure from, as the CROSSFIRE models are not actually on the battlefield to measure to and from? |
| A: | Yes, CROSSFIRE units can still gain the benefits from shooting at Exposed units while shooting from an open-topped transport, and you measure from any point of that transport’s hull when determining if the target is Exposed. |
| Q: | Models cannot normally fire Pistol weapons alongside other types of weapon, but are liberator wyrmtooth rounds an exception? That is, can a model equipped with the Wyrmtooth Rounds Relic shoot one or more of its liberator autostubs using that weapon’s normal (Pistol) profile, and also shoot one or more of its liberator autostubs using the liberator wyrmtooth rounds (Heavy 1) profile each time it is selected to shoot? |
| A: | No. |
| Q: | If a RUSTED CLAW unit uses the Drive-by Demolitions Stratagem to shoot with a demolition charge and a hit is scored, is a crossfire marker placed on the target unit? |
| A: | Yes. |
| Q: | Units set up underground using the Conceal ability can use any Command phase abilities they have the first time they are set up on the battlefield – does this apply to the Reductus Saboteur’s Plant Explosives ability? |
| A: | Yes. |
Expansion: Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Defiant
| Q: | When paying Command Points to upgrade a Detachment into a Specialist Detachment, is the Relic they are able to give to a CHARACTER in addition to the Relic they would typically get from their Warlord’s faction? |
| A: | No. The Relic(s) listed within a Specialist Detachment can be given to a CHARACTER from your army instead of one from your Warlord’s codex. Don’t forget, however, that many codexes contain Stratagems that enable you to gain additional Relics. |
| Q: | When using the Anointed Throng’s Devotion Till Death Stratagem, can a model slain in this manner pile in and fight even if this move would take the model out of coherency? |
| A: | No. It must end its pile-in move closer to the nearest enemy model, but if this would take it out of unit coherency, the move cannot be made. |
The <CULT> Keyword
All GENESTEALER CULTS units belong to a cult. When you include such a unit in your army, you must nominate which cult it belongs to and then replace the <CULT> keyword in every instance on its datasheet with the name of your chosen cult. This could be one of the cults detailed in a Warhammer 40,000 publication, or one of your own design.
Example: If you include a PRIMUS model in your army, and you decide he belongs to the Cult of the Twisted Helix, his <CULT> keyword becomes TWISTED HELIX and his Cult Demagogue ability reads ‘While a friendly TWISTED HELIX CORE unit is within 6" of this model, each time a model in that unit makes an attack, re-roll a hit roll of 1.’
If your army is Battle-forged, you can only include units from one <CULT> in the same Detachment.
Abilities
A unit’s datasheet will list all the abilities it has. Certain abilities that are common to many units are only referenced on the datasheets rather than described in full. These are described below.
Conceal
Genestealer Cults keep their fighting strength carefully hidden from their oppressors until the glorious day of ascension arrives.
During deployment, you can set up this unit in ambush instead of setting it up on the battlefield. If this unit is an INFANTRY or BIKER unit, you can set up this unit underground instead of setting it up on the battlefield or in ambush.Ambush
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Units set up in ambush are considered to be set up on the battlefield (unless they are embarked within a TRANSPORT model that is set up in ambush), even though their models are not actually on the battlefield. Enemy models cannot be set up or moved within 9" of the centre of any of your ambush markers.
Underground
If this unit is set up underground, then in the Reinforcements step of one of your Movement phases, you can set up this unit under one of the following conditions:
- You can set up this unit anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 8" away from any enemy models.
- You can set up this unit anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 6" away from any enemy models, but that unit is not eligible to declare a charge this turn.
Units set up underground are considered to be set up in a location other than the battlefield, therefore this must be determined in the Declare Reserves and Transports step of a mission sequence that includes such a step.
Revealing Ambush Markers
In the first battle round:
- If you have the first turn, you must reveal all of your ambush markers at the start of your Command phase.
- If you do not have the first turn, you must reveal all of your ambush markers at the end of your opponents Movement phase.
- Set up one model from that unit within 1" of the centre of that ambush marker, wholly within your deployment zone and more than 9" away from any enemy models. Then remove that ambush marker.
- Set up the remaining models in that unit wholly within 6" of the first model, wholly within your deployment zone and more than 9" away from any enemy models.
Unquestioning Loyalty
Genestealer Cults broodkin are so fanatically loyal that they do not hesitate to sacrifice themselves to protect their leaders.
Each time a saving throw made for a <CULT> CHARACTER model from your army is failed, you can select one other friendly <CULT> or BROOD BROTHERS model with this ability within 3" of that CHARACTER model and take an Unquestioning Loyalty test. To do so, roll one D6, adding 1 to the result if that CHARACTER model is a PATRIARCH model: on a 4+, the test is passed and that CHARACTER model does not suffer damage. Instead, the friendly model you selected is destroyed and the attack sequence ends.Summon the Cult
Even as battle rages, reinforcements slip from the shadows or spill up from the dark places below, called to war by the Broodmind.
Each time a NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army summons the cult, D6 destroyed models can be added back to that unit. Each time any other GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army summons the cult, D3 destroyed models can be added back to that unit with their full wounds remaining. If a unit could summon the cult more than once (e.g. a unit equipped with a cult icon is also in range of an ACOLYTE ICONWARD’s Nexus of Devotion ability), the results are cumulative. However, no more than 6 models can be added back to a NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit per turn, and no more than 3 models can be added back to any other GENESTEALER CULTS unit per turn. These returned models can only be set up within Engagement Range of enemy units that are already within Engagement Range of the unit they are being added back to.Crossfire
The inhuman coordination of Genestealer Cultists more than makes up for their motley assortment of weapons and vehicles.
If every unit from your army has the GENESTEALER CULTS keyword (excluding UNALIGNED units and the percentage ratio of BROOD BROTHERS units specified here), and every unit from your army that belongs to a cult belongs to the same cult, this unit can use this ability and the following rules apply. Note that there are rules that enhance or otherwise interact with these Crossfire rules. No matter the source, you can only use such rules if every unit from your army has the GENESTEALER CULTS keyword (excluding UNALIGNED units and the percentage ratio of BROOD BROTHERS units, and every unit from your army that belongs to a cult belongs to the same cult.Crossfire Markers
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- Five or more of those attacks scored a hit.
- One or more of those attacks with a Damage characteristic other than 1 scored a hit.
Effects of Crossfire
- Each time a CROSSFIRE model makes a ranged attack, if the target unit has a crossfire marker, add 1 to that attack’s hit roll.
- Each time a CROSSFIRE model makes a ranged attack, if the target unit has a crossfire marker and was Exposed when it was selected as the target (see below), add 1 to that attack’s wound roll.
- Each time a CROSSFIRE model makes a ranged attack, if the target unit has a crossfire marker, was Exposed when it was selected as the target, and was within 12" when it was selected as the target, the target does not receive the benefits of cover against that attack.
Exposed
To determine if a target unit is Exposed, draw a line from any part of the base (or hull) of one model in the attacking CROSSFIRE unit to any part of the base (or hull) of one model in another friendly CROSSFIRE unit that is visible to that model (as shown in the diagrams below). The target unit is Exposed if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
- That line passes over any part of the base (or hull) of one or more models in the target unit.
- That line does not pass over a terrain feature with the Obscuring terrain trait (unless those CROSSFIRE units or the target unit are on or within that terrain feature, or the target unit could still be targeted even if a terrain feature with the Obscuring terrain trait was between it and an attacking model, e.g. it is an AIRCRAFT unit, it has a Wounds characteristic of 18 or more, etc.).
Weapon Definitions
Industrial Weapons
The following weapons are industrial weapons, as are Relics that replace any of these weapons:- Atalan incinerator
- Atalan power weapon
- Blasting charges
- Cache of demolition charges
- Clearance incinerator
- Demolition charge
- Drilldozer blade
- Heavy mining laser
- Heavy power weapon
- Heavy rock cutter
- Heavy rock drill
- Heavy rock saw
- Heavy seismic cannon
- Mining laser
- Power pick
- Power sledgehammer
- Seismic cannon
Detachment Rules
- GENESTEALER CULTS Detachments gain the Gene-sect, Broodcoven and Brood Brothers abilities.
- GENESTEALER CULTS units in GENESTEALER CULTS Detachments gain the Cult Creed ability.
- GENESTEALER CULTS Troops units in GENESTEALER CULTS Detachments gain the Objective Secured ability.
Gene-sect
Each gene-sect spawns remarkable individuals with focused skills whose presence smoothens the road to ascension. Much like hives of insects, each sect produces such beings seemingly spontaneously, and in only such numbers as are needed.
- You can include a maximum of one of each GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model in this Detachment.
- For each GENESTEALER CULTS model with the HQ Battlefield Role that takes up a Battlefield Role slot in this Detachment, one other GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model can be included in this Detachment without taking up a Battlefield Role slot.
Broodcoven
The hierarchy of the broodkin is as fixed as it is instinctive. The Patriarch rules unquestioned over all, while the Primus and the Magus are empowered as its left and right talons. None gainsay their right to command.
- If your army includes any PATRIARCH models, you cannot select any other GENESTEALER CULTS model as your WARLORD.
- If your army does not include any PATRIARCH models but does include any PRIMUS or MAGUS models, you cannot select any other GENESTEALER CULTS model as your WARLORD.
- GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER models in this Detachment that do not have the HQ Battlefield Role cannot have a Warlord Trait.
Cult Creed
While all Genestealer Cults serve the will of the Star Children, each does so differently, having been moulded by the world and culture it parasitises. These differences manifest in the form of unique talents, traits and tactics.
All GENESTEALER CULTS units with this ability, and all the models in them, gain a Cult Creed provided every unit in their Detachment that belongs to a cult belongs to the same cult. The Cult Creed gained depends upon which cult they belong to, as shown below.Example: A RUSTED CLAW unit with the Cult Creed ability gains the Nomadic Survivalists Cult Creed.
If your cult does not have an associated Cult Creed, it is known as a Myriad Cult and you must instead create your own Cult Creed for them, as described here; this allows you to customise the rules for your Myriad Cult. In either case, write down all of your Detachments’ Cult Creeds on your army roster.
Brood Brothers
Through cunning and unholy good fortune, a Genestealer Cult can send its questing tendrils writhing into even the highest ranks of the military forces that should be standing guard against it. So does the Patriarch seize new and potent weapons of revolution.
When mustering a Battle-forged army, for each GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment you include in your army, you can also include one ASTRA MILITARUM Detachment, even though the units in such Detachments do not have any Faction keywords in common (this does not prevent your army from being Battle-forged). These ASTRA MILITARUM Detachments are also known as BROOD BROTHERS Detachments and have the following rules:- You can only include units with the REGIMENTAL or UNALIGNED keyword in a BROOD BROTHERS Detachment.
- When you include an ASTRA MILITARUM unit in a BROOD BROTHERS Detachment, replace the ASTRA MILITARUM and REGIMENTAL keywords in every instance on its datasheet with the BROOD BROTHERS keyword.
- BROOD BROTHERS models cannot be selected as your WARLORD or have a Warlord Trait.
- BROOD BROTHERS models cannot be given any Relics.
You cannot include any of the following units in a BROOD BROTHERS Detachment:
- Named characters (i.e. those that can only be included once in your army)
- Cadian Castellan
- Cadian Command Squad
- Regimental Attachés and Bodyguards
- Cadian Shock Troops
- Death Korps of Krieg
- Catachan Jungle Fighters
- Kasrkin
- Regimental Preacher
- Attilan Rough Riders
- Field Ordnance Battery
BROOD BROTHERS units in a BROOD BROTHERS Detachment gain the following Regimental Doctrine instead of Born Soldiers:
Loyalty to the Cult
- Add 2 to the Leadership characteristic of models in a unit with this Regimental Doctrine.
- INFANTRY units with this Regimental Doctrine gain the Unquestioning Loyalty ability.
Cults
CULT CREEDS
All <CULT> units in a Cult Detachment will gain a Cult Creed. The creed gained depends upon which cult they are from. Below you will find the Cult Creeds associated with each cult, as well as the list of Myriad Cult Creeds that you must use if your cult does not have an associated Cult Creed.
WARLORD TRAITS
Each cult has an associated Cult Warlord Trait. If a GENESTEALER CULTS <CULT> CHARACTER model gains a Warlord Trait, they can have the relevant Cult Warlord Trait instead of a Genestealer Cults Warlord Trait.
STRATAGEMS
Each cult has an associated Cult Stratagem. If your army includes a Cult Detachment (excluding Auxiliary Support, Super-heavy Auxiliary or Fortification Network Detachments), then you will gain access to the relevant Cult Stratagem.
SACRED RELICS OF THE CULT
Each cult has an associated Sacred Relic of the Cult. If your army is led by a GENESTEALER CULTS <CULT> WARLORD, you can, when mustering your army, give the relevant Cult Relic to a GENESTEALER CULTS <CULT> CHARACTER model from your army instead of giving them a Sacred Relic of the Cult.
Note that some Relics replace one of the model’s existing items of wargear. Where this is the case, you must, if you are using points values, still pay the cost of the wargear that is being replaced. Write down any Sacred Relics of the Cult your models have on your army roster.
PSYCHIC POWERS
Each cult has an associated cult psychic power. GENESTEALER CULTS <CULT> PSYKER models in Cult Detachments (excluding Auxiliary Support, Super-heavy Auxiliary or Fortification Network Detachments) know the relevant cult psychic power in addition to any other psychic powers they know.
Cult of the Four-armed Emperor
The methods of the Cult of the Four-armed Emperor exemplify those traits that make the Genestealer Cults such a grievous threat. They lay their plans with horrible, inhuman patience and exploit Humanity’s bloated bureaucracy and innate greed for their own ends. They are true and terrible parasites who have spread further through the Imperium than even the most alarmist doomsayers dare to suggest.
Hailing from the Trysst mining dynasty of Ghosar Quintus, the Cult of the Four-armed Emperor lie in wait beneath their host planet’s surface before launching a long-planned and decisive ambush. Some of their number never see the light until the day of insurrection; when the moment comes, these troglodytes attack with speed and savagery.
- You can re-roll charge rolls made for units with this creed.
- Each time a ranged attack is made against a unit with this creed, if the attacker is more than 12" away, then the unit with this creed is treated as having the benefits of Light Cover against that attack.
WARLORD TRAIT: INSCRUTABLE CUNNING
Those warlords who serve the Four-armed Emperor prepare the battlefield on which they fight with inhuman levels of focus.
Once per battle round, when you use a Genestealer Cults Strategic Ploy Stratagem or Battle Tactic Stratagem, if that Stratagem is used on a CULT OF THE FOUR-ARMED EMPEROR unit within 12" of this WARLORD, you can reduce the CP cost of that Stratagem by 1CP (to a minimum of 0CP). Note that the CP cost is only reduced by 1CP for that use of the Stratagem, any future usages of it cost the normal amount of CPs. You can only use this ability on each Stratagem once.No other military force spends as long laying thorough and meticulous preparations for the battles to come as does the Cult of the Four-armed Emperor. Their plans to counter the foe are works of dark genius.
This peculiar sword has not one blade, but four bound as one. When its handle is given a sharp twist, the blade splits and splits again until it resembles a sheaf of gleaming tentacles - or a striking hydra - more than it does a conventional blade. It symbolises the cult’s ability to shroud themselves in normality until the time comes to reveal the hideous and lethal truth.
CULT OF THE FOUR-ARMED EMPEROR model equipped with a cult bonesword or Locus blades only. This Relic replaces a cult bonesword or Locus blades and has the following profile:WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D |
| Sword of the Four-armed Emperor | |||||
| Sword of the Four-armed Emperor | Melee | Melee | +1 | -4 | 1 |
Abilities: Each time the bearer fights, it makes 4 additional attacks with this weapon. Each time an attack is made with this weapon, an unmodified hit roll of 6 automatically wounds the target. | |||||
PSYCHIC POWER: UNDERMINE
Just as the dark depths below serve to shelter the Cult of the Four-armed Emperor, so too can they be psychically opened into an abyss that swallows their enemies whole.
Malediction: Undermine has a warp charge value of 7. If manifested, select one enemy unit (excluding units that can FLY) within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER. Until the start of your next Psychic phase:- Subtract 3" from the Move characteristic of models in that unit (to a minimum of 0").
- Halve Advance rolls made for that unit.
- Subtract 2 from charge rolls made for that unit.
The Hivecult
Unusually warlike and overt in their practices, the Hivecult combine the fanaticism of the broodkin with the destructive might and martial training of the conventional Imperial military. The result is a force of unrelenting destruction and conquest. Who knows how many worlds the Hivecult have already claimed in the name of the Star Children, or how many more will fall to their onslaught?
The brothers and sisters of the Hivecult are no strangers to war. They fight in tight-knit units, whether they hail from hive ganger cultures or the military organisations of the Imperium. Each is well drilled in the use of sidearms as well as repurposed industrial tools, and in battle they attack with an uncanny discipline that sees them triumph against the odds.
- Units with this creed are eligible to shoot in a turn in which they Fell Back, but if they do so, then until the end of the turn, each time a model in that unit makes a ranged attack, subtract 1 from that attack’s hit roll.
- Units with this creed can perform actions in a turn in which they Fell Back or Advanced. While a unit with this creed is performing an action, that unit can shoot without that action failing.
WARLORD TRAIT: HIVELORD (AURA)
The warlords of the Hivecult often hail from gunrunning gangs and black market military groups in which firepower is valued above all else.
While a friendly HIVECULT CORE unit is within 6" of this WARLORD, each time a model in that unit makes a ranged attack, an unmodified hit roll of 6 scores 1 additional hit.Well trained by the Astra Militarum and the hivelords of their home worlds, the soldiery of the Hivecult know well how to catch their enemies in winnowing firestorms.
This talisman drives the wielder to acts of great bloodshed. It is said to contain the departed spirit of Vockor Mai, known as the White Creeper, the scourge of New Gidlam’s aristocracy. When Vockor Mai’s charismatic allure proved ineffective against the hivelord Thorne due to a protective artefact, Mai crept into the mans bathhouse and slashed his throat with the razored edge of this metallic wyrm-form. In the legends of the Hivecult, the talisman harbours some of that malevolent and murderous intent to this day, and glows hot in the presence of those who have earned the cult’s ire.
HIVECULT model only. Each time the bearer makes a melee attack, on an unmodified wound roll of 5+, saving throws (including invulnerable saving throws) cannot be made against that attack.PSYCHIC POWER: SYNAPTIC BLAST
When the forces of the Hivecult fight, their residual psychic energy is palpable to their psykers, who allow its immense power to flow through them before unleashing it upon the enemy in a devastating blast.
Witchfire: Synaptic Blast has a warp charge value of 5. If manifested, roll one D6, adding 2 to the result for each friendly HIVECULT CORE unit within 6" of this PSYKER:- If the result is less than the Movement characteristic of the closest enemy unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER, that enemy unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.
- If the result is equal to or greater than the Movement characteristic of the closest enemy unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER, that enemy unit suffers 3 mortal wounds.
The Bladed Cog
If every world within the Imperium can be viewed as a single component within a greater machine, then the Bladed Cog seek to weaponise those components one at a time, the better to destroy the entire edifice. Their masters leash iron and flesh alike to the cause, and their cybernetically enhanced broods are as resilient as they are deadly.
The Cult of the Bladed Cog proliferates amongst the disaffected labourers and brainwashed defence maniples of the Imperium’s many forge worlds. In perverting the technological marvels of the Omnissiah, they not only gain access to a ready flow of esoteric weapons of war, but also the means by which to pursue their ultimate quest. The Bladed Cog seek to fashion the ultimate warrior-hybrid of brood-cursed flesh and engineered metal, and care not how many of the luckless faithful must be mangled and slain to achieve their insane ends.
- Models with this creed have a 6+ invulnerable save.
- Each time a unit with this creed is selected to shoot or fight, you can re-roll one wound roll when resolving that unit’s attacks.
- Add 3" to the Range characteristic of ranged weapons that models with this creed are equipped with (excluding Grenades and cache of demolition charges).
WARLORD TRAIT: SINGLE-MINDED OBSESSION (AURA)
The warlords of the Bladed Cog share their host civilisation’s hyper-focused attitude to war, identifying the most threatening or valuable target amongst the enemy ranks and seeking their destruction above all else.
Before the battle, select one enemy unit from your opponent’s army. While a friendly BLADED COG CORE unit is within 6" of this WARLORD, each time a model in that unit makes an attack against that enemy unit, you can re-roll the wound roll.The torturous cyborg enhancements of these warriors are freakishly alien in both conception and application, and all the more effective for it.
Resembling a many-clawed incarnation of the Omnissiah, this custom electoo fizzes with potent bioelectricity, surrounding its wearer with a crackling force field that can turn aside even a pinpoint shot from a lascannon. In times of great physical exertion, it can also release a burst of power so intense that it fries the synapses of any luckless foes standing too close.
BLADED COG model only.- The bearer has a 4+ invulnerable save.
- At the start of each Fight phase, roll one D6 for each enemy unit within Engagement Range of the bearer: on a 2-3, that unit suffers 1 mortal wound; on a 4-5, that unit suffers 2 mortal wounds; on a 6, that unit suffers 3 mortal wounds.
PSYCHIC POWER: BROODVOLT SURGE (AURA)
Syphoning off the merest portion of the Broodmind’s energetic potential, the psyker melds it with the bioelectric fields of nearby faithful and wreathes them in a crackling protective aura.
Blessing: Broodvolt Surge has a warp charge value of 5. If manifested, until the start of your next Psychic phase, while a friendly BLADED COG unit is within 3" of this PSYKER, each time an attack with a Damage characteristic of 1 is allocated to a model in that unit, add 1 to any armour saving throw made against that attack.The Rusted Claw
Where many Genestealer Cults sing with a near euphoric sense of righteousness and self-belief, the Rusted Claw are grim nihilists. They hold to a creed of universal transience and inevitable entropy, living nomadic lives and striving to erode Imperial civilisation from the roots upward. Hardened by their experiences, Rusted Claw broods are perfect vectors of the Genestealer Curse.
The wandering nomads of the Rusted Claw are hardened guerrilla warfare specialists, their degraded appearance belying leathery hides and stone-hard chitin. Skilled at covering rough terrain at speed, they favour swift assaults across multiple fronts, overwhelming their enemies from all sides while shrugging off direct hits from weapons that should surely lay them low.
- Each time an attack is allocated to a model with this creed, if that attack has an Armour Penetration characteristic of -1 or -2, the Armour Penetration characteristic of that attack is worsened by 1.
- Each time a unit with this creed makes a Normal Move or Advances in your Movement phase, until the end of your Shooting phase, it counts as having Remained Stationary.
WARLORD TRAIT: ENTROPIC TOUCH
This warlords very touch is metallophagic, unleashing microscopic organisms that gnaw away at the enemy’s armour and cause it to corrode and fall apart.
- Each time this WARLORD makes a melee attack, an unmodified hit roll of 6 scores 2 additional hits.
- Improve the Armour Penetration characteristic of melee weapons this WARLORD is equipped with by 1 (excluding Relics).
The riders of the Rusted Claw attack with reckless verve, hurling deadly explosives at nearby foes before speeding off in a cloud of flame and swirling dust.
- When selecting a target for that attack, enemy units that RUSTED CLAW ATALAN unit moved within 6" of in this phase are eligible targets (even if they are not visible to or in range of the model that has been selected to shoot).
- Until the end of the phase, do not roll to determine the number of attacks made with that weapon; instead, the maximum number of attacks are made with that weapon (e.g. 6 attacks are made with a Grenade D6 weapon).
They who don this ragged but strangely blessed enviro-suit become one with the dust on the wind and the sun-chased shadows of fleeting clouds. They come and go as they please, and none can stay them.
RUSTED CLAW model only.- The bearer is eligible to shoot, charge and manifest psychic powers in a turn in which it Advanced or Fell Back.
- Each time the bearer makes a Normal Move, Advances, Falls Back or it makes a charge move, until that move is finished, it can move horizontally through models and terrain features (it cannot finish a move on top of another model, or its base).
PSYCHIC POWER: INESCAPABLE DECAY
With but a glance and a hand gesture from a Rusted Claw psyker, the target is seized by swift entropy. Iron rusts, copper is stained with verdigris and fluids desiccate. Weakened in such a way, the enemy is then set upon and ripped apart by the psyker’s cultist brethren.
Malediction: Inescapable Decay has a warp charge value of 6. If manifested, select one enemy unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER. Until the start of your next Psychic phase, each time a friendly RUSTED CLAW model makes an attack against that enemy unit, improve the Armour Penetration characteristic of that attack by 1.The Pauper Princes
Religious zeal and unquestioning faith have long been weapons in the arsenal of the Imperium. To the Pauper Princes, however, they are a means to poison the worlds of Mankind one by one. This cult mirrors the Ecclesiarchy in many ways, yet where the Imperial creed must be imposed as much through fear as through genuine devotion, fanatical belief is absolute in every Pauper Princes cultist.
The cultists of the Pauper Princes are so zealous they would gladly hurl themselves on a live frag grenade to protect their leaders. When their organisation is threatened, they fight like madmen to pull down and slaughter those who challenge their ascendancy.
- Each time a model with this creed makes a melee attack, if that model’s unit made a charge move, was charged or performed a Heroic Intervention this turn, add 1 to that attack’s hit roll.
- Each time a Combat Attrition test is taken for a unit with this creed, you can ignore any or all modifiers.
WARLORD TRAIT: XENOPROPHET
Any one of this warlords numerous faithful would take a bullet for their prophet without hesitation.
- Each time you take an Unquestioning Loyalty test after a saving throw made for this WARLORD is failed, do not roll the dice; it is automatically passed.
- Each time a saving throw made for this WARLORD is failed, for the purposes of the Unquestioning Loyalty ability, you can select one other friendly PAUPER PRINCES or BROOD BROTHERS model with that ability within 6" of this WARLORD instead of 3".
- While a friendly PAUPER PRINCES CORE unit is within 6" of this WARLORD, models in that unit can use this model’s Leadership characteristic instead of their own.
Should the faithful of the Pauper Princes fail in their duty to protect the lives of their religious leaders, they are instead driven into a vengeful fervour against those who dare such desecration.
The sacred remains of Saint Tenndarc are of vast spiritual importance to the Pauper Princes. It is said that Tenndarc, a Magus of the first gene-sect, dove in front of his Patriarch to save him from a sniper’s bullet. He died in the process, but that act of martyrdom has echoed through the cult ever since.
PAUPER PRINCES model only. The bearer has the following ability: ‘Reliquary of Saint Tenndarc (Aura): While a friendly PAUPER PRINCES CORE unit is within 6" of the bearer, models in that unit have a 5+ invulnerable save.’PSYCHIC POWER: LAST GASP
The psyker sends their powers flowing out to fill the minds of the faithful with visions of ascension and unity. Borne up by fervent rapture, the cultists fight on until - or sometimes even after - the last spark of life has left their bodies.
Blessing: Last Gasp has a warp charge value of 5. If manifested, select one friendly PAUPER PRINCES CORE unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER. Until the start of your next Psychic phase, each time a model in that unit is destroyed by a melee attack, roll one D6: on a 5+, after the attacking model’s unit has finished making its attacks, it suffers 1 mortal wound (a unit can suffer a maximum of 5 mortal wounds per phase as a result of this psychic power).The Twisted Helix
The Cult of the Twisted Helix are doubly cursed. Though they had a chance to fend off the tendrils of the Genestealer taint, they chose instead to embrace it for curiosity’s sake, and so were damned by their own hand. They have only delved deeper into intellectual abomination ever since; their masters are deranged artists of bioengineering, while the faithful act as their all too willing canvas.
Twisted Helix cultists excel in the arts of insane alchemy and dark experimentation. Their neatly attired Biophagus progenitors create monstrous hybrids of all sizes and shapes, the energies of forbidden biochemical concoctions boiling through their veins to lend them uncanny strength, speed and resilience.
- Add 1 to the Strength characteristic of models with this creed.
- Add 1" to the Move characteristic of models with this creed.
- Each time an attack is made against a unit with this creed, an unmodified wound roll of 1-2 always fails, irrespective of any abilities that the weapon or the attacker may have.
WARLORD TRAIT: BIO-ALCHEMIST
From syringes and blades to their own claws, this warlord coats their tools and weapons with bioagents of their own brewing that deliver a potent electro-toxic shock to their victims.
Add 1 to the Damage characteristic of melee weapons this WARLORD is equipped with (excluding Relics).The swollen frames of the Twisted Helix’s Aberrants contain distended adrenal sacs that can drive them into a frenzy of bloodletting, against which few foes can stand.
- Each enemy model destroyed by an attack made by a model in that unit counts as two for the purposes of Morale tests.
- Each time a model in that unit fights, it can frenzy. If it does so, until that fight is resolved, add 1 to that model’s Attacks characteristic and change the Damage characteristic of melee weapons it is equipped with to 1.
The constant experimentation conducted by agents of the Twisted Helix has led to a great many claims of having created the perfect bioform. The finest bio-alchemical concoction to come from the distilleries of Vejovium contains the rendered down essence of the Great Spined Beast, manufactured from the corpse of a captured Tyranid wrecker organism that the cult gave much to acquire. Those who imbibe the resultant elixir swell with physical power, their muscle mass increasing to grotesque levels even as their minds fill with bloodlust.
TWISTED HELIX model only. Select one genomic enhancement for the bearer to gain (see the Genomic Enhancement ability, Biophagus datasheet), even though it is not a CORE or ABERRANT unit. If your army includes any BIOPHAGUS units, you can instead select two genomic enhancements for the bearer to gain.PSYCHIC POWER: MUTAGENIC DEVIATION
The psykers of the Twisted Helix have learned to send trigger impulses through the Broodmind, which awaken rampant mutagenic strains within the bodies of the faithful. Those affected sprout chitinous blades, wicked fangs and lashing tendrils with which to bloodily dismember their foes.
Blessing: Mutagenic Deviation has a warp charge value of 5. If manifested, select one friendly TWISTED HELIX unit within 12" of and visible to this PSYKER. Until the start of your next Psychic phase, each time a model in that unit makes a melee attack, an unmodified hit roll of 6 automatically wounds the target.Myriad Cults
Many of the seemingly new-spawned or divergent Genestealer Cults that infest Imperial worlds are, in truth, splinters of existing broods working their way under the skin of a new population. These splinter cults retain much of their primogenitors’ culture and way of war, while also developing their own identity.
- Use the Cult Creed of the cult you selected, as listed in Cults section.
- If a CHARACTER model with this Myriad Cult Creed gains a Warlord Trait, they can have the Cult Warlord Trait associated with the cult you selected, instead of a Genestealer Cults Warlord Trait. If a CHARACTER has such a Warlord Trait, replace all instances of the <CULT> keyword on that Warlord Trait (e.g. TWISTED HELIX), if any, with the name of the Myriad Cult that this CHARACTER is from.
- Unless the only units with this Myriad Cult Creed are part of an Auxiliary Support, Super-heavy Auxiliary and/or Fortification Network Detachment, you will gain access to the Cult Stratagem associated with the cult you selected. When using such a Stratagem, replace all instances of the <CULT> keyword on that Stratagem (e.g. TWISTED HELIX), if any, with the Myriad Cult that the units with this Myriad Cult Creed have.
- Unless the only units with this Myriad Cult Creed are part of an Auxiliary Support, Super-heavy Auxiliary and/or Fortification Network Detachment, <CULT> PSYKER models with this Myriad Cult Creed know the cult psychic power associated with the cult you selected in addition to any other psychic powers they know. When using that psychic power, replace all instances of the <CULT> keyword on that psychic power (e.g. TWISTED HELIX), if any, with the Myriad Cult that the units with this Myriad Cult Creed have.
Whether stalking prey amidst primordial wilds or hunting rivals in the urban jungle of the underhive, the faithful of this cult have learned well the ways of the ambush predator. When they spring their trap, its jaws close inescapably.
Faith is a weapon for this cult. Their broods go to battle filled with a zealot’s frenzy, and fall upon their enemies in a frothing mass driven by devotion to the Star Children.
The mental influence of this cult’s leaders over their faithful brothers and sisters is especially strong. Many of their broods act almost as extensions of their masters’ wills, displaying a resolute spirit and martial efficiency that would shame the finest Imperial shock troops. They press forward or withdraw in perfect order, no matter their peril.
This cult has its roots amidst the Imperial underclasses who toil in the sprawling mines, manufactorums and abattoirs deep beneath their masters’ feet. Out of sight and mind for many generations, these faithful were able to stockpile many hidden caches of hardware and materiel to supply the armies of ascension.
Be they nomadic pioneers, underground freedom fighters or tribes raised upon hostile alien worlds, the faithful of this cult have mastered a highly mobile form of warfare. They swarm around their enemies, ducking from one patch of cover to the next while maintaining constant harassing fire.
This cult’s Patriarch has an overwhelming, almost god-like presence that flows out through the Broodmind to erode the individual personalities of its faithful. Hollow-eyed but utterly devout, they fight to the last with no thought for their own survival.
These cultists have access to alchemical and medicae facilities in which they experiment obsessively. The most toxic chemical agents produced from this process are distributed amongst their broods and used to coat blades, talons and - in the most extreme cases - even fangs, with hideous consequences for the cult’s foes.
Hailing from a war world, a fortress world or some other location with strong military traditions, this cult boasts unusually well-drilled broods. Quite aside from any Brood Brothers in their ranks, even the lowliest of the faithful can fight with the skill of seasoned paramilitaries.
Hardship is nothing new to the faithful of this cult. Having long suffered appalling conditions beneath a repressive regime, their brothers and sisters have become tough enough to shrug off all but the most punishing of wounds.
Whether hewing riches from hellish pits, butchering animal carcasses or toiling in forges, the faithful of this cult have become experts in handling the outsized industrial tools they now wield as weapons. To such warriors, it is no more challenging to butcher their foes than it is to tunnel through a rock face or carve up a slab of meat.
The faithful of this cult exhibit an inhuman ferocity and swiftness in battle that is all too reminiscent of the xenos bio-horrors whose taint surges through their veins. Enemies find their defence lines broken and overrun one after another with frightening speed.
This cult places great value upon its armoured fighting vehicles and swarms of light bikes and Ridgerunners. All such assets are ritually girded with additional armour plating, as well as being hung with fetishes and daubed with wyrm-form icons the better to earn the favour of the Patriarch.
The Broodmind signature of this cult is especially prominent and powerful. It resonates through each and every one of the faithful - none more so than their psykers, who are able to syphon this bombastic energy and transform it into potent synaptic emanations.
This cult has taken hold amongst the underbelly of its host society, to be spread by murderers, smugglers and rogues. Whether they hail from the serf classes of a feudal world, the vicious gangers of a hive city or the lawless frontiers of Human space, its faithful know how to brawl and slay without even a modicum of honour.
Specialist Detachments
Anointed Throng
The strange biological offshoots of the Genestealer Cult are misshapen, muscular, and utterly devoted to the creed. The mightiest amongst them are anointed with holy oils and the blood of their Purestrain kin, and they fight like berserk zealots in the name of their war leaders.
If your army is Battle-forged, you can use the Specialist Detachment Stratagem below:
1CP | ||
ANOINTED THRONG Specialist Detachment Stratagem To those of the Genestealer Cults, the Abominant is seen as a holy figure, blessed by their grandsire to lead them out of the subterranean darkness to conquer the stars. Use this Stratagem when choosing your army. Pick a GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment from your army to be an Anointed Throng Specialist Detachment. ABOMINANTS and ABERRANTS in that Detachment gain the ANOINTED THRONG keyword. | ||
WARLORD TRAIT
If an ANOINTED THRONG CHARACTER is your Warlord, you can give them the following Warlord Trait.
INSIDIOUS MINDWYRM
Birthed into corporeal existence by the Patriarch’s psychic overspill, this Mindwyrm familiar manifests the most sinister and insidious aspects of its master. Holding little regard for the creature in its thrall, it uses its powerful will to drive the hapless Abominant and its followers into battle without cease.
Add 1 to charge rolls for your Warlord and friendly ANOINTED THRONG units that are within 6" of your Warlord when the roll is made.SACRED RELICS OF THE CULT
If your army includes any Anointed Throng Specialist Detachments, you can give the following relic to a ANOINTED THRONG CHARACTER in your army:
Graced by the Patriarch himself, this power sledgehammer is saturated with the psychic energy of the brood, not only making it lighter to carry, but imbuing it with terrible power.
ABOMINANT only. The Blessed Sledgehammer replaces the bearer’s power sledgehammer and has the following profile:WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D |
| Blessed Sledgehammer | |||||
| Blessed Sledgehammer | Melee | Melee | x2 | -4 | D6 |
Abilities: Damage rolls of 1 or 2 made with this weapon count as 3 instead. | |||||
| STRATAGEMS If your army includes any Anointed Throng Specialist Detachments, you can use Command Points (CPs) to use the following Stratagems:
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Deliverance Broodsurge
When the cult wishes to secure a vital location it will send a flotilla of transports hurtling into the crucible of battle, the cramped hulls of each Goliath Truck packed with devotees of the creed. All are desperate to claim first blood in order to impress their Patriarch.
If your army is Battle-forged, you can use the Specialist Detachment Stratagem below:
1CP | ||
DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE Specialist Detachment Stratagem Pouring from Goliath transports comes a living tide of warriors. Surging forward with frothing fervour, the broodsurge is nigh impossible to stop. Use this Stratagem when choosing your army. Pick a GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment from your army to be a Deliverance Broodsurge Specialist Detachment. ACOLYTE ICONWARDS, NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS, ACOLYTE HYBRIDS and GOLIATH TRUCKS in that Detachment gain the DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE keyword. | ||
WARLORD TRAIT
If a DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE CHARACTER is your Warlord, you can give them the following Warlord Trait.
AUGUR OF THE INSURGENT
This Warlord’s presence amongst the Deliverance Broodsurge is testament to every warrior chosen that they are destined for greatness, and they waste no time in proving it to their foe.
You can re-roll Advance rolls and charge rolls for friendly DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE units if they are within 6" of your Warlord when the roll is made.SACRED RELICS OF THE CULT
If your army includes any Deliverance Broodsurge Specialist Detachments, you can give the following relic to a DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE CHARACTER in your army:
Iconwards most favoured by their Patriarch are sometimes blessed with vials filled with its blood. These holy vessels are hung from the Iconward’s sacred banner and fill nearby cultists with a zealous devotion to their cause. Not only symbolic in nature, each drop of blood holds considerable psychic energy that can imbue a faithful warrior with incredible strength and reflexes.
Add 1 to the Leadership characteristic of friendly GENESTEALER CULTS units within 6" of the bearer. In addition, once per battle, at the start of the Fight phase, you can pick a GENESTEALER CULTS INFANTRY model from your army within 3" of the bearer. Add 2 to that model’s Attacks and Strength characteristics until the end of that phase.| STRATAGEMS If your army includes any Deliverance Broodsurge Specialist Detachments, you can use Command Points (CPs) to use the following Stratagems:
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Stratagems by Phase
A PLAN GENERATIONS IN THE MAKING (Cult of the Four-armed Emperor – Strategic Ploy)
CLANDESTINE GOALS (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
GENE-SIRE’S GIFTS (Genestealer Cults – Requisition)
LEADERS OF THE CULT (Genestealer Cults – Requisition)
XENOFORM BIONICS (Bladed Cog – Requisition)
ANOINTED THRONG (Specialist Detachment)
DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE (Specialist Detachment)
SUBTERRANEAN DEFENCE (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
INSIDIOUS INFILTRATORS (Genestealer Cults – Boarding Actions – Strategic Ploy)
Battle Round
DEVOTED CREW (Genestealer Cults – Epic Deed)
HYPER-METABOLISM (Genestealer Cults – Epic Deed)
SUMMON FAMILIAR (Genestealer Cults – Wargear)
METICULOUS UPRISING (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
DATA PARASITE (Genestealer Cults – Epic Deed)
RAPID ADVANCE (Genestealer Cults – Battle Tactic)
RETURN TO THE SHADOWS (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
RECKLESS MANOEUVRE
DRIVE-BY DEMOLITIONS (Rusted Claw – Battle Tactic)
METICULOUS UPRISING (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
GESTALT CONSCIOUSNESS (Genestealer Cults – Epic Deed)
THE CULT MIND (Genestealer Cults – Boarding Actions – Epic Deed)
DIG THEM OUT (Genestealer Cults – Battle Tactic)
MASSED FIREARMS (Genestealer Cults – Battle Tactic)
OVERLOAD FUEL CELLS (Genestealer Cults – Battle Tactic)
PACK HUNTERS (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
PRIMED EXPLOSIVE (Genestealer Cults – Wargear)
RAKING FIRE (Genestealer Cults – Battle Tactic)
ROAMING ENGAGEMENT (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
OVERWHELMING FIRE (Genestealer Cults – Boarding Actions – Battle Tactic)
NEURAL OVERLOAD (Genestealer Cults – Wargear)
FIRE DISCIPLINE (The Hivecult – Battle Tactic)
LURK IN THE SHADOWS (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
MONSTROUS VIGOUR (Genestealer Cults – Battle Tactic)
ONE WITH THE SHADOWS (Genestealer Cults – Battle Tactic)
MONSTROUS VIGOUR (Genestealer Cults – Boarding Actions – Battle Tactic)
SHADOW DWELLERS (Genestealer Cults – Boarding Actions – Battle Tactic)
VICIOUS TO THE END (Genestealer Cults – Boarding Actions – Epic Deed)
COVERING FIRE (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
GENETIC LINEAGE (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
TUNNEL CRAWLERS (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
FANATICAL DEVOTION (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
COORDINATED ASSAULT (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
DEVOTION TILL DEATH
FIGHT FOR THE ANOINTED ONE!
THE FIRST TO DRAW BLOOD
VICIOUS TO THE END (Genestealer Cults – Boarding Actions – Epic Deed)
BORE THROUGH (Genestealer Cults – Battle Tactic)
NEURAL OVERLOAD (Genestealer Cults – Wargear)
RECKLESS DEMOLITIONS (Genestealer Cults – Epic Deed)
RETURN TO THE SHADOWS (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
MONSTROUS BIO-HORRORS (Twisted Helix – Strategic Ploy)
COORDINATED ASSAULT (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
DEVOTION TILL DEATH
VICIOUS TO THE END (Genestealer Cults – Boarding Actions – Epic Deed)
BORE THROUGH (Genestealer Cults – Battle Tactic)
NEURAL OVERLOAD (Genestealer Cults – Wargear)
RECKLESS DEMOLITIONS (Genestealer Cults – Epic Deed)
MONSTROUS BIO-HORRORS (Twisted Helix – Strategic Ploy)
LEGENDARY DEMISE (Genestealer Cults – Epic Deed)
RIGGED TO BLOW (Genestealer Cults – Epic Deed)
VENGEANCE FOR THE MARTYRED (Pauper Princes – Battle Tactic)
BOOBY TRAP (Genestealer Cults – Strategic Ploy)
Stratagems
If your army includes any GENESTEALER CULTS Detachments (excluding Auxiliary Support, Super-heavy Auxiliary or Fortification Network Detachments), you have access to these Stratagems, and can spend CPs to use them. When one of these Stratagems instructs you to select a unit from your army, replace all instances of <CULT> on that Stratagem (if any) with the name of the Cult that your selected unit belongs to.
Wielding hefty industrial saws and drills, sufficiently determined broodkin can carve their way through the toughest enemy defence lines.
Like an alien predator suddenly pouncing upon its cornered prey, the cult surges forward as one.
As enemy fire hammers their position, so the faithful melt into the shadows to avoid its fury.
Many of the same techniques employed in freeing precious ores from bedrock can be applied to violently digging enemies out of fortified positions.
The faithful think nothing of abusing the machine spirits of their weaponry, deeming the stirring of those spirits’ wrath to be an acceptable price for the overcharged slaughter they can wreak.
- If it is a ranged weapon, add 1 to the Damage characteristic of that attack.
- If it is a melee weapon, add 1 to the Strength characteristic of that attack.
- If any unmodified hit rolls of 1 are made for attacks with that weapon, after the attacking models unit has finished making its attacks, it suffers 1 mortal wound.
The Aberrants of the cult’s dark underbelly take a grim satisfaction in their ability to shrug off horrific damage.
At great speed, the cult’s outriders roar into optimal firing positions to inflict catastrophic damage.
A key tenet of guerrilla warfare is knowing how to concentrate the fire of even inferior weapons to inflict maximum harm.
Even should their vehicle be terribly damaged and they themselves fatally wounded, this crew fight on with zealous fervour.
Even the most grievous wounds can be sealed over by those with the alien biology of the Tyranid under their skin.
Genestealer Cults are willing to sacrifice any asset for the cause.
Clamavuses are able to send corrupting data-wyrms burrowing into enemy machine spirits to weaken and degrade their hosts.
Even in death, the Kelermorph seeks to set a bloodthirsty example.
Cult psykers are able to employ the minds of the faithful as willing conduits for their unnatural powers.
Determined to destroy their enemies, some broodkin will risk hurling explosives into combat at point-blank range.
- That model can only attack with that Grenade weapon (even though it is not a melee weapon and even if it has the Blast special rule), and can do so even if it is within Engagement Range of an enemy unit. When it does so, it makes a number of attacks equal to that weapons Type characteristic.
- Each time that model makes an attack with that weapon, an unmodified hit roll of 2+ is always successful. On an unmodified hit roll of 1, after that model’s unit has finished making all of its attacks, one model in that unit is destroyed.
Each Patriarch’s broodcoven is made up of powerful individuals possessed of the skills and charisma needed to further its will.
The relics taken reverently from the Patriarch’s lair include captured guns, sentient blades and strange biomantic artefacts.
Through constant harassment tactics, Atalan Jackals can misdirect their enemies’ attention and leave them wide open to attack from an unexpected quarter.
So strong is the Genestealer influence on the psyches of some hybrids that occasionally their bestial nature takes over. The consequences are always bloody.
A long-planned strategy comes to fruition as the cultists rise up.
The cultists who infest this world know well that secrecy can be made into a weapon of war.
Genestealer Cultists are not above rigging valuable battlefield assets with explosive traps.
In dark nooks and crevices the true believers of the cult whisper and skulk, all but invisible to those who approach.
Ever cunning and duplicitous, broods of the faithful often vanish back into tunnels and vents after their initial strike, ready to attack again elsewhere.
A sudden hail of cultist fire forces the enemies’ heads down, leaving them unable to respond to the broodkin onslaught.
Squirming, crawling and scrabbling through confined spaces is second nature to many broodkin, and is a skill they use to assail seemingly impregnable enemy positions.
- Enemy units within that Area Terrain feature cannot fire Overwatch or Set to Defend.
- That GENESTEALER CULTS INFANTRY unit ignores the effects of the Difficult Ground trait from that Area Terrain feature.
The faithful will gladly hurl themselves into harm’s way to protect the masters of their cult.
Light, swift cult elements often perform hit-and-run strikes against exposed enemies before racing back to cover.
Swift salvoes of gunfire suppress the enemy and spread panic in their ranks moments before the fanatical charge of the broodkin strikes home.
Some Sanctuses coat their blades and munitions with neurological agents formulated to fill the victim’s mind with psychic white noise. Disorientating at the very least, this effect induces hideous mental feedback in psykers.
- Until the start of your next Shooting phase, that enemy model’s unit loses any aura abilities it has.
- If that enemy model is a PSYKER, its unit suffers Perils of the Warp.
Through pheromones or Broodmind summons, a slinking familiar is called from the shadows.
This explosive has been enhanced with unstable compounds brewed by the cults finest Biophaguses.
Proficient Planning
Each time you give a unit a Proficient Planning ability, select one GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army, then select one of the abilities below for that unit to gain. Its Power Rating is increased accordingly, as shown in the table below. If you are playing a matched play game, or a game that uses a points limit, then the points value of that unit is also increased by the amount shown in the same table. Make a note on your army roster each time you upgrade a unit using these rules, specifying the ability it has gained. Each GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army can only be upgraded once, and you cannot select a Proficient Planning ability for a GENESTEALER CULTS unit if another GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army already has that Proficient Planning ability.
A Crusade force accesses Proficient Planning abilities differently. Proficient Planning abilities must be added to your Order of Battle, either on a temporary basis via Institution Rewards or the Proficient Planning Requisition, or permanently via Ascension Rewards. Then, when mustering your army for a Crusade battle, you can upgrade your units for that battle following all the rules outlined above (as if you had just upgraded your unit), but you can only select Proficient Planning abilities that are on your Order of Battle. This means you are free to select different Proficient Planning abilities from battle to battle (provided they are on your Order of Battle), and can even select different units to be upgraded with them, provided the rules for selecting Proficient Planning abilities are met (e.g. the correct models/units are selected for the ability).
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Lying in Wait
Employing carefully prepared positions and a mixture of physical and spiritual concealment measures, the brood lurks invisibly as the enemy approaches. Not until the last second do they burst from cover to rake their shocked enemies with point-blank fire.
INFANTRY unit only. When this unit is set up on the battlefield as Reinforcements as a result of being set up underground, it can lie in wait. If it does so:- Set up this unit anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 3" away from any enemy models.
- Until the end of the turn, this unit is not eligible to declare a charge with.
Exacting Planner
This Primus possesses a meticulous eye for extreme detail and a truly inhuman patience while attending to every possible contingency. Accordingly, their battle plans are so comprehensive and devious as to appear as though they were generated by a shrine’s worth of strategic cogitators.
PRIMUS model only. Once per battle, in your Command phase, this model can use this ability. If it does so, until the end of the phase:- This model can use its Meticulous Planner ability one additional time.
- Each time this model uses the Meticulous Planner ability, you can select one friendly <CULT> unit within 9" of this model for that ability (instead of a <CULT> CORE unit).
Alchemist Supreme
The most talented Biophaguses employ their genetic alchemy to enhance their favoured warriors. With care and precision they tease out favourable mutations that render their subjects increasingly deadly, without triggering any undesirable degradations of body or mind.
BIOPHAGUS model only. When you give a unit this ability, select one <CULT> CORE or <CULT> ABERRANT unit from your army, then select one genomic enhancement for that unit to gain (see the Genomic Enhancement ability).A Trap Sprung
Thanks to a mixture of cunning, instinct, guerrilla fieldcraft and no small share of luck, this brood burst from cover without the slightest warning. Foes barely have time to register their peril before the faithful are amongst them, blades and talons slashing.
When this unit is set up on the battlefield as Reinforcements as a result of being set up underground, until the end of the turn, each time a charge roll is made for this unit, roll one additional dice and discard one of the dice.A Perfect Ambush
The warriors of this brood have tracked their enemies tirelessly, as predatory beasts stalk their prey. Only when their position is perfect do they strike, engulfing their victims in a hail of unexpected firepower.
CROSSFIRE unit only. When this unit is set up on the battlefield as Reinforcements as a result of being set up underground, you can use this ability. If you do so, select one enemy unit within 12" of this unit. Until the end of the turn, each time a model in this unit makes a ranged attack against that enemy unit, that enemy unit is treated as having a crossfire marker and as being Exposed for that attack.From Every Angle
Flowing like a dark tide down hidden tunnels, along rubble-choked gulleys or through sagging and rusted vents, the faithful utterly encircle their enemies.
- At the start of the first battle round, if the mission uses the Strategic Reserves rules, this unit can be placed into Strategic Reserves without having to spend any additional CPs, regardless of how many units are already in Strategic Reserves.
- When setting up this unit from Strategic Reserves, treat the current battle round number as being one higher. Note that this means this unit can arrive from Strategic Reserves in the first battle round.
Meditations in Shadow
Long weeks of meditation have allowed this psyker to establish a tentative connection to the Shadow in the Warp. What would blast the mind of any normal being has instead instilled insidious wisdom in this master of the cult.
PSYKER model only. This model knows one additional psychic power from the Broodmind discipline.Excavate
Not all tunnels are meant to be traversed. By digging underneath the battlefield then lining the resultant mines with blasting charges, these broodkin trigger subterranean eruptions that shatter vital transitways and cause fortified positions to subside in ruin.
Before the battle, if this unit is set up underground, it can excavate. If it does so, in the Resolve Pre-battle Abilities step of the mission sequence, select one terrain feature on the battlefield (you cannot select a Fortification). That terrain feature loses the Defensible, Heavy Cover, Light Cover and Inspiring traits and gains the Difficult Ground trait.They Came From Below
From duct-tangles and sewage pipes to subterranean mineworks and sappers’ runs - or even the spiralling burrows of beasts such as macrotalpa or gnaw-worms - the Genestealer Cults employ all imaginable types of hidden ways to better ambush their foes.
Non-VEHICLE unit only. If this unit is set up in ambush, when revealing ambush markers, you can do one of the following:- Remove one ambush marker from the battlefield and set up this unit underground instead.
- After setting up this unit from an ambush marker, this unit can make a Normal Move as if it were your Movement phase, but must end that move more than 9" away from any enemy models.
Our Time is Nigh
The chosen brood are infused with transcendant zeal as telepathic whispers fill their minds, assuring them that they are the living avatars of the Star Children, and that now is their moment to ascend.
The first time this unit is selected to fight in this battle, until that fight is resolved, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of models in this unit. This is not cumulative with the additional attack granted by the Might From Beyond psychic power.Broodmind Discipline
Before the battle, generate the psychic powers for PSYKER models from your army that know powers from the Broodmind discipline using the table below. You can either roll one D6 to generate each power randomly (re-rolling duplicate results), or you can select which powers the psyker knows.
When a Psyker unit from your army manifests a psychic power from this discipline, replace all instances of the <CULT> keyword on that psychic power (if any) with the name of the cult that your PSYKER belongs to.
| D6 | PSYCHIC POWER |
| 1 | MASS HYPNOSIS The psyker exerts their mental dominion over their foes, placing them into a trance-like state so that the cult can take them apart at leisure. Malediction: Mass Hypnosis has a warp charge value of 7. If manifested, select one enemy unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER. Until the start of your next Psychic phase:
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| 2 | MIND CONTROL The psyker stabs at the minds of their victims, stoking their doubts and assailing them with contrary directives. Malediction: Mind Control has a warp charge value of 6. If manifested, select one enemy unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER. Until the start of your next Psychic phase:
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| 3 | PSIONIC BLAST With a screech of triumph, the psyker focuses the alien hatred of their kind into a blaze of pallid energies that consumes their enemies. Witchfire: Psionic Blast has a warp charge value of 5. If manifested, select one enemy unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER. For the purposes of selecting that enemy unit, unless that enemy unit is within Engagement Range of this PSYKER, the Look Out, Sir rule applies as if this psychic power was a ranged weapon with a Range characteristic of 18".
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| 4 | MENTAL ONSLAUGHT The psyker intensifies their hypnotic power to such a degree that it can cause their victims’ brains to swell to bursting point inside their skulls. Witchfire: Mental Onslaught has a warp charge value of 5. If manifested, select one enemy unit within 24" of and visible to this PSYKER and roll four D6: for each result of 5+, that unit suffers 1 mortal wound. If any models in that unit are destroyed as a result of those mortal wounds but that unit is not destroyed, keep repeating this process, reducing the number of dice rolled by 1 each time (e g. three D6 on the first repeat, two D6 on the second repeat) until any of the following conditions are met during that repeat:
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| 5 | PSYCHIC STIMULUS The unknowable power of the cult’s gestalt soul flows into the psykers chosen instruments, spurring them into a religious frenzy that sees them attack with hyperactive speed. Blessing: Psychic Stimulus has a warp charge value of 6. If manifested, select one friendly <CULT> unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER. Until the start of your next Psychic phase:
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| 6 | MIGHT FROM BEYOND With a low whisper that rises to a scream, the psyker amplifies the alien might hidden within every cultist, swelling their bodies with empowering energy born of the void itself. Blessing: Might From Beyond has a warp charge value of 6. If manifested, select one friendly <CULT> unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER. Until the start of your next Psychic phase, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of models in that unit. |
Warlord Traits
If a GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model is your WARLORD, you can use the table below to determine what Warlord Trait they have. You can either roll one D6 to randomly generate one, or you can select one.
When you have determined a Warlord Trait for a GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model, replace all instances of the <CULT> keyword in their Warlord Trait (if any) with the name of the Cult that your model belongs to.
| D6 | WARLORD TRAIT |
| 1 | FOCUS OF ADORATION This warlord inspires such insane devotion that their minions will leap headlong into battle in order to win their favour. While a friendly <CULT> CORE or <CULT> PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit is within 6" of this WARLORD, that unit is eligible to perform Heroic Interventions as if it were a CHARACTER unit. |
| 2 | SHADOW STALKER The gloom seems to cling to this warlord like a shroud as they emerge grinning from the darkness, claws flexing in anticipation of the kill. Each time an attack is made against this WARLORD, subtract 1 from that attack’s hit roll. |
| 3 | BIOMORPH ADAPTATION The power of the Broodmind flows through this warlord’s veins, their physiology showing monstrous gifts and lethal enhancements. Add 1 to the Attacks and Toughness characteristics of this WARLORD. |
| 4 | PROWLING AGITANT No matter how often the oppressors seek to trap or silence this warlord, they always find themselves left empty-handed and foolish, their elusive quarry long gone. Once per turn, when this WARLORD is selected as the target of a charge, before the charge roll is made and after firing any Overwatch, it can make a Normal Move of up to 6". Your opponent can then select new targets for that charge if they wish. |
| 5 | ALIEN MAJESTY An aura of palpable grandeur surrounds this warlord, making their mere presence a powerful stimulant to their followers.
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| 6 | PRETERNATURAL SPEED Uncannily fast in thought and deed, this warlord makes blisteringly quick attacks as its best form of defence.
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Chapter Approved Rules
If every model from your army (excluding UNALIGNED and BROOD BROTHERS models) has the GENESTEALER CULTS keyword, and your WARLORD has the GENESTEALER CULTS keyword, you can, if you are playing a matched play battle that instructs you to select secondary objectives (e.g. a mission from the Eternal War mission pack in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book), select one of them to be from the GENESTEALER CULTS secondary objectives listed below.
Like all other secondary objectives, each of the secondary objectives listed below has a category, and they follow all the normal rules for secondary objectives (for example, when you select secondary objectives, you cannot choose more than one from each category, you can score no more than 15 victory points from each secondary objective you select during the mission, etc).
Shadow Operations
In order to keep our enemies off balance and to prevent them from coordinating or communicating, key logistical targets must be eliminated. Sow the fiery seeds of revolution, sisters and brothers, and sing praise to the Star Children as our enemies burn...
If you select this objective, then units from your army can perform the following action:
Sabotage Critical Location (Action): One or more INFANTRY or BIKER units from your army (excluding CHARACTER units other than REDUCTUS SABOTEUR units) can start to perform this action at the end of the Move Units step of your Movement phase. Each unit from your army that starts to perform this action must be within 3" of the centre of a different one of your opponent’s critical location markers, and no enemy units (excluding AIRCRAFT units) can be within 3" of the centre of that critical location marker. The action is completed at the end of your turn, provided the unit performing it is still within range of the same critical location marker. If this action is successfully completed, you have sabotaged that critical location; remove that critical location marker from the battlefield.
Score victory points each time a unit from your army completes the Sabotage Critical Location action as shown below:
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This secondary objective cannot be scored in the first battle round.
Battlefield Supremacy
This world belongs to the oppressor no longer, for it is now the demesne of the Star Children and their faithful. Our enemies must be driven from every corner of our realm, overrun and surrounded at every turn until there is nowhere left for them to flee. The blessed wyrm-form icon be raised high from every rampart, every rooftop, and upon every corpse-strewn battlefield. This world is ours! Now go forth and claim it!
- You have more models within your opponents deployment zone than your opponent does.
- You have more models within your deployment zone than your opponent does.
- You have more models on the battlefield that are not within either player’s deployment zone than your opponent does.
- All three of the above bullet points apply.
Purge the Enemy
Subtlety, secrecy, stealth - all these are but means to an end. It is by fighting the enemy on our own terms, and by trapping them within the closing jaws of one cunning ambush after another, that we faithful will overthrow the armies of oppression.
- Score 1 victory point if one or more enemy units were destroyed this turn while they had a crossfire marker.
- Score 1 victory point if one or more enemy units were destroyed this turn by units from your army that were set up from ambush or from underground during this turn.
- Score 1 victory point if one or more enemy units were destroyed this turn as a result of a ranged attack made by a model from your army, and that enemy unit was Exposed when it was selected as the target for that ranged attack. Note that enemy unit must have been Exposed, rather than by any other means (e.g. the Priority Target ability).
Crusade Rules
In this section you’ll find additional rules for playing Crusade battles with the Genestealer Cults, such as Agendas, Battle Traits and Crusade Relics that are bespoke to GENESTEALER CULTS units. You can find out more about Crusade armies in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book.
Brood Brothers
If your Order of Battle includes any GENESTEALER CULTS units, you can also include ASTRA MILITARUM <REGIMENT> units in your Order of Battle, even though these units do not have a Faction keyword in common. When such a unit is added to your Order of Battle, replace the IMPERIUM and <REGIMENT> keywords in every instance on its datasheet with BROOD BROTHERS, BROOD BROTHERS CHARACTER models cannot be given a Warlord Trait, Relic or Crusade Relic.When mustering your army, the rules for how to include BROOD BROTHERS units in your Crusade army can be found here. Note that as these units have already had their IMPERIUM and <REGIMENT> keywords replaced with BROOD BROTHERS, they are considered to have already fulfilled the requirements of a BROOD BROTHERS Detachment, allowing you to include them in that Detachment.
Broodcoven
When you add a PATRIARCH model to your Crusade force, if your Order of Battle does not include any other PATRIARCH models, you can use the Warlord Trait Requisition for 0RP. However. GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER models that do not have the HQ Battlefield Role cannot be given a Warlord Trait.Agendas
If your Crusade army includes any GENESTEALER CULTS units, you can select one Agenda from the Genestealer Cults Agendas listed below. This is a new category of Agendas, and follows all the normal rules for Agendas (for example, when you select Agendas, you cannot choose more than one from each category).Those who cannot be snatched away and infected with the gene-curse of the cult must be slain without mercy.
If your Crusade force is on a Path to Ascension, at the end of the battle, if the total of the Genestealer’s Kiss tallies of units from your army was 3 or more, add 1 to your next Ascension roll and your next Discovery roll.
Those who have seen too much, or who possess the means to expose the cult, must be swiftly dispatched to secure their silence.
If your Crusade force is on a Path to Ascension and the unit from your army that destroyed that CHARACTER unit was a SANCTUS, LOCUS, KELERMORPH or JACKAL ALPHUS model, your Crusade force has silenced a detractor (make a note of this on your Order of Battle). You can then ignore your next Discovery roll result of 3 or less (i.e. you will not count as being discovered); if you do so, your Crusade force has no longer silenced a detractor.
Through extending the tendrils of the Broodmind into the psyche of the enemy, we will open their eyes and win allies to our cause.
Each unit gains 2 experience points for the first mark on its Telepathic Domination tally, and 1 additional experience point for each mark thereafter (to a maximum of 4 experience points). If your Crusade force is on a Path to Ascension, after the battle, if the total of all the Telepathic Domination tallies of units from your army was 2 or more, add 1 to your next Ascension roll.
Our final fight for freedom approaches. Before that day, tunnels must be dug, supplies cached and traps carefully laid.
Prepare (Action): One or more GENESTEALER CULTS CORE units from your army can start to perform this action at the end of your Movement phase. Each unit from your army that starts to perform this action must be within a different Area Terrain feature that has not been prepared by your army during the battle, or within 1" of a different Obstacle terrain feature that has not been prepared by your army during the battle. The action is completed at the start of your next Command phase, provided the unit performing the action is still within that Area Terrain feature or within 1" of that Obstacle terrain feature. If this action is successfully completed, that terrain feature has been prepared by your army.
Each unit gains 1 experience point for the first mark on its Prepare tally, and 1 additional experience point for every 2 marks thereafter. If your Crusade force is on a Path to Ascension, keep a Prepare for Ascension tally on your Order of Battle. After each Crusade battle, add 1 to this tally if one or more units from your army earned experience points from this Agenda in that battle. When fighting in the Day of Ascension, for every 3 marks on your Prepare for Ascension tally, increase your starting number of Command points by 1. When your current Path to Ascension ends, your Prepare for Ascension tally is reset to 0.
From heathen fane to hated fortification, all must be cast down.
Topple the False Temple (Action): One GENESTEALER CULTS CORE or REDUCTUS SABOTEUR unit from your army can start to perform this action at the end of the Move Units step of your Movement phase. The unit performing this action must be within your opponent’s false temple and more than 3" away from any enemy units (excluding AIRCRAFT units), and your opponent’s false temple must not have been toppled. The action is completed at the start of your next Command phase, provided the unit performing this action is still within your opponent’s false temple. If this action is successfully completed, your opponent’s false temple has been toppled; that terrain feature loses the Defensible, Light Cover, Heavy Cover and Inspiring traits and gains the Difficult Ground trait.
Requisitions
If your Crusade force includes any GENESTEALER CULTS units, you can spend Requisition points (RPs) on any of the following Requisitions in addition to those presented in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book.As the Genestealer Curse spreads and the brood grows, so new leaders emerge from the brood cycle already possessed of inherent knowledge and martial skill.
Just as important as grand strategy is the tactical approach to every individual engagement, from the most meagre skirmish to grand offensives and onslaughts. All must be planned with equal cunning and determination in order for the cult to emerge victorious.
Suitably heroic and bloody deeds can win a brood the status of folk heroes in the eyes of their fellows. The faithful idolise such icons of the revolution, seeking to emulate their deeds of canny daring.
Through tireless effort and keen foresight, a localised victory for the cult can be exploited to open new doors and generate fresh opportunities for the faithful.
- You won that battle.
- Every Agenda you selected for that battle was a Shadow Operations or Genestealer Cults Agenda.
- GENESTEALER CULTS units from your army earned experience points from each of those Agendas.
For all the lives it may cost to subjugate an entire world, still the ranks of the faithful are swelled by such conquests as the blessings spread through the populace.
- Use the Increase Supply Limit Requisition up to two times without spending any additional Requisition points.
- Use the Fresh Recruits Requisition up to two times without spending any additional Requisition points.
- Use the Increase Supply Limit and Fresh Recruits Requisitions once each without spending any additional Requisition points.
As the brood cycle turns and turns again, each new fifth generation spawns Purestrain Genestealers to act as living weapons and vectors of transmission for the cult.
Crusade Relics
When a GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model gains a Crusade Relic, you can instead select one of the Relics listed below. All the usual rules for selecting Crusade Relics, as described in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book, apply.Artificer Relics
A GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model can be given one of the following Artificer Relics instead of one of the ones presented in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book.Elixir of Dark Vistas Precisely what otherworldly emissary of the darkest void gave its vital fluids for the distillation of this potion must remain a mystery. Yet the one who drinks it is offered glimpses of the strange and sanity-blasting gulfs across which that creature travelled and fought, and emerges blessed with dark new wisdom. Model with the HQ Battlefield Role only. When the bearer gains this Crusade Relic, you can use the Warlord Trait Requisition for 0RP to give the bearer a Warlord Trait. You can do so even if the bearer already has a Warlord Trait (allowing it to have two Warlord Traits). Do not add 1 to its Crusade points total as a result of using that Requisition. All other rules specified by that Requisition still apply. |
Pervasion Veil The Pervasion Veil is, at first glance, merely a tattered cloak that even the most destitute vagrant might cast aside as worthless. Yet one who dons it seems to fade somehow into the shadows, their image flickering half-seen in every dark corner, there in peripheral sight then gone as quickly as it was glimpsed. INFANTRY model (excluding a PATRIARCH model) only.
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Antiquity Relic
A GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model of Heroic rank or higher can be given the following Antiquity Relic instead of one of the ones presented in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book. Add 1 to a unit’s total Crusade points for each Antiquity Relic it has - this is in addition to the +1 from gaining a Battle Honour, for a total of +2.Stratodais No one knows whether to believe the rumours that this strategium dais once sat in the command centre of Lord Solar Macharius himself-yet its cogitational capacity is undeniable. If such rumours are true, then some agent of the cults managed an audacious theft indeed! NEXOS model only. For the purposes of the bearer’s Battlefield Analysis ability, you can select two enemy units to gain a crossfire marker instead of one, but those enemy units must be within 9" of each other. |
Legendary Relics
A GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model of Legendary rank can be given one of the following Legendary Relics instead of one of the ones presented in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book. In addition, in order to give a model a Legendary Relic, you must also pay 1 Requisition point (if you do not have enough Requisition points, you cannot give that model a Legendary Relic). Add 2 to a unit’s total Crusade points for each Legendary Relic it has - this is in addition to the +1 from gaining a Battle Honour, for a total of +3.Pennant of Ascension Stitched together from the tattered remains of enemy banners, then dyed and daubed over with cult sigils, this banner stands as testament to the fervour and savage conquests of the cult. ACOLYTE ICONWARD model only. The bearer gains the following ability: ‘Pennant of Ascension (Aura): While a friendly <CULT> INFANTRY or <CULT> BIKER unit is within 6" of this model, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of models in that unit.’ |
Crown of Ascendancy This chitinous lattice contains material chipped from more than two-dozen Patriarchs’ thrones. It amplifies its wearers synaptic powers to near-apocalyptic levels, and renders their spirit as a dark and roiling thunderhead that presses on the minds of all around them. PATRIARCH model only.
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Shadow Throne Crusade Relics
When a GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model gains a Crusade Relic, you can instead select one of the Relics listed below. All the usual rules for selecting Crusade Relics, as described in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book, apply.Artificer Relics
A GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model can be given one of the following Artificer Relics instead of one of the ones presented in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book.Tyrant’s End This revered autopistol travels from sect to sect. It is entrusted to the cult member at the forefront of the insurrection so that from their hands, the cult’s oppressors can be laid low. What powers it is unknown, but for each round discharged, liberation is realised. Model equipped with an autopistol only. This Relic replaces an autopistol and has the following profile:
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Antiquity Relics
A GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model of Heroic rank or higher can be given one of the following Antiquity Relics instead of one of the ones presented in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book. Add 1 to a unit s total Crusade points for each Antiquity Relic it has - this is in addition to the +1 from gaining a Battle Honour, for a total of +2.Divine Ossein This bonesword was created from the sacred bone of a prior Patriarch. While that esteemed forefather ultimately fell, his love and influence lived on through the hallowed remains that became this most divine relic. Wielding such a blade inspires the bearer to live up to his mighty reputation and deliver his children from oppression. Model equipped with a cult bonesword only.
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Battle Traits
When a GENESTEALER CULTS unit gains a Battle Trait, you can use one of the tables below instead of one of the tables in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book to determine what Battle Trait the unit has gained. To do so, roll one D3 and consult the appropriate table (re-rolling if it isn’t suitable), or choose a Battle Trait from the appropriate table that tells the best narrative for your unit. All the normal rules for Battle Traits apply (e.g. a unit cannot have the same Battle Trait more than once). As with any Battle Honour, make a note on the unit’s Crusade card when it gains a Battle Trait and increase its Crusade points accordingly, as described in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book.
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Shadow Throne Battle Traits
When a GENESTEALER CULTS unit gains a Battle Trait, you can use one of the tables below to determine what Battle Trait the unit has gained. To do so, roll one D3 and consult the appropriate table to randomly determine what Battle Trait the unit gains, or choose one from the appropriate table that tells the best narrative for your unit. All the normal rules for Battle Traits apply (e.g. a unit cannot have the same Battle Trait more than once). As with any Battle Honour, make a note on the unit’s Crusade card when it gains a Battle Trait and increase its Crusade points accordingly, as described in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book.
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Battle Scars
When a GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER unit gains a Battle Scar, you can determine one using the table below instead of the table in the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book. To do so, roll one D6 to randomly determine what Battle Scar the unit has gained, or choose the Battle Scar that you think tells the best narrative for your unit. All the normal rules for Battle Scars apply (e.g. a unit cannot have the same Battle Scar more than once). As with any Battle Scar, make a note on the unit’s Crusade card and adjust its Crusade points accordingly.
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Path to Ascension
The growth of a Genestealer Cult is achieved with careful planning and patience, a grand scheme generations long in which every layer of a world’s society is a target for infiltration. When enough Institutions have been infiltrated, or perhaps when the cult is prematurely discovered, it emerges from the shadows and casts off the shackles of oppression. Success in such circumstances will earn the cult powerful Ascension Rewards, but failure will bring about ignominy.The Path Begins
Each classification of world has various Institutions. These are the layers of society your cult must infiltrate in order to assume control of that world. Note that some classifications of world may have several instances of the same Institution; in such cases, each instance of those Institutions is treated separately.
Once you have determined your world s classification and Institutions, you should name your world and fill out a Path to Ascension, as shown below:
| 1 | Hive World |
| Community, Community, Industry, Politics |
| 2 | Forge World |
| Industry, Industry, Military, Religion |
| 3 | Cardinal World |
| Community, Politics, Religion, Religion |
| 4 | Fortress World |
| Military, Military, Politics, Resources |
| 5 | Agri or Mining World |
| Community, Industry, Resources, Resources |
| 6 | Frontier or Feudal World |
| Community, Military, Resources, Politics |
Walking the Path
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Each world has four Institutions you must infiltrate. Before or after a battle, if you have 3 or more Ascension points, you must spend 3 of them to infiltrate an Institution you have not yet infiltrated (deduct 3 points from your total accordingly). You can then claim one of the Institution Rewards shown below for your Crusade force.
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Brood Cycle
While your Crusade force is on a Path to Ascension, the cult benefits from brood cycles. This is an accelerated growth of the cult to bolster its ranks and replace fallen fighters. The active brood cycle and its effects are determined by consulting the table below:
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Assuming Control
- You infiltrate all four of a world’s Institutions.
- You are victorious in the Day of Ascension.
Each time you claim an Ascension Reward, add it to the Information section of your Order of Battle. After mustering your army for each battle, for the purposes of determining Crusade Blessings, add 1 to your total Crusade points for that battle for each Ascension Reward your Crusade force has.
The Day of Ascension
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If you have infiltrated two or more of the world’s Institutions, you can call for an uprising and automatically fail a Discovery roll; in such instances, you have been discovered.
If you have been discovered, you must fight in the Day of Ascension. The Day of Ascension is a Crusade battle in which your cult rises up to overthrow their oppressors and assume control of the world by force. Make sure you find a suitable opponent for such a momentous event!
When you fight in the Day of Ascension, your cult fights with zealous fury, but is not as prepared as it could be. As such, for that battle, the following rules are in effect:
- Zealous Fury: Each time a Morale test is taken for a GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army, it is automatically passed.
- Unprepared: Reduce your starting number of Command points by the number specified in the table below.
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If you win the Day of Ascension battle, you assume control of the world and can claim the relevant benefit as specified on the previous page. If you lose the Day of Ascension battle, you must abandon your current Path to Ascension (see below).
The Cycle Begins Anew
Each time you abandon your current Path to Ascension, that Path to Ascension ends and you must select one of the following Ignominies:
- Each PATRIARCH, PRIMUS and MAGUS unit from your Order of Battle gains a Battle Scar. You can only select this Ignominy if at least one unit would gain a Battle Scar.
- Remove one Ascension Reward from your Order of Battle.
Once your Path to Ascension ends, either because you assumed control of the world or abandoned your Path to Ascension, you can begin a new Path to Ascension, provided your Order of Battle includes a PATRIARCH, PRIMUS or MAGUS unit.
Boarding Actions
Adoring worshippers of the Star Gods, these xenobred fanatics look forward to the day when their deities will liberate them from Imperial oppression. In the meantime, they wage guerrilla wars and prepare a great uprising.
Mustering a Boarding Patrol
When mustering a Boarding Patrol, if your Faction is GENESTEALER CULTS, then the following rules apply when adding units to your Boarding Patrol Detachment, and they take priority over the normal rules for mustering a Boarding Patrol.- All <CULT> units in your Boarding Patrol must be from the same Cult.
- You can include up to 3 CHARACTER models, but only one of these can have a Wounds characteristic of 5 or more.
- Units in your Boarding Patrol cannot be given Proficient Planning upgrades.
- You cannot include BROOD BROTHERS units in your Boarding Patrol.
- When forming Boarding Squads, do not split NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS units into separate units.
Rules Adaptations
If your Faction is GENESTEALER CULTS, then the following rules adaptations apply to Genestealer Cults rules found in Codex: Genestealer Cults.- Each time a unit from your army summons the cult, halve the number of models added back to that unit, rounding up. In addition, each unit from your army cannot summon the cult more than once.
- Units lose the Conceal rule and your Boarding Patrol gains the following rule:
Concealed Ambush: Before the battle, in the Deploy Armies step, your opponent must set up their entire Boarding Patrol before you set up yours. If both players Boarding Patrols have this rule, each player sets up their units as normal. - Walls are considered to have the Obscuring terrain trait for the purpose of determining if a target is Exposed.
- When an enemy model makes a ranged attack against a unit with the Subterranean Ambushers Cult Creed (Cult of the Four-armed Emperor) or Naturalised Camouflage biomorphology, that unit is treated as having the benefits of cover against that attack if the attacking model is more than 6" away from its target.
- The Mental Onslaught psychic power has a warp charge value of 7.
Enhancements
If your WARLORD has the GENESTEALER CULTS keyword, then when mustering your Boarding Patrol, they can be given one of the following Enhancements instead of one from Arks of Omen: Abaddon.SHADOW STALKER The gloom seems to cling to this cultist like a shroud as they emerge grinning from the darkness, claws flexing in anticipation of the kill. Each time an attack is made against the bearer, subtract 1 from that attack’s hit roll. |
ALIEN REGALITY An aura of palpable grandeur surrounds this cultist, making their mere presence a powerful stimulant to their followers.
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INSTINCTIVE COUNTERSTRIKE Drawing upon the fullness of its alien instincts, the cultist psychically pushes its followers into a savage counter-attack. In your opponent’s Charge phase, select one friendly GENESTEALER CULTS unit within 9" of the bearer. Until the end of the phase, that unit is eligible to perform Heroic Interventions as if it were a CHARACTER unit and is eligible to perform a Heroic Intervention if it is within 6" horizontally of any enemy units. When doing so, you can move each model in that unit up to 6". All other rules for Heroic Interventions still apply. |
Boarding Action Stratagems
If your Faction is GENESTEALER CULTS, then when playing a Boarding Action game you will have access to the following Stratagems, and can spend CP to use them.As enemy fire hammers their position, so the faithful melt into the shadows to avoid its fury.
The Aberrants of the cult’s dark underbelly are terrifying in their ability to shrug off horrific damage.
A key tenet of guerrilla warfare is knowing how to concentrate the fire of even inferior weapons to inflict maximum harm.
Cult psykers are able to employ the minds of the faithful as willing conduits for their unnatural powers.
Driven by primal instincts and fanatical hatred, Genestealer Cultists fight viciously when upon the brink of death.
Genestealer Cultists are preternaturally skilled and determined infiltrators, navigating seemingly impassable vents and tunnels to sneak up on the foe.
Sacred Relics of the Cult
If your army is led by an GENESTEALER CULTS WARLORD, you can, when mustering your army, give one of the following Sacred Relics of the Cult to a GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model from your army.
When a model from your army is given a Sacred Relic of the Cult, replace all instances of the <CULT> keyword in that Relic s rules (if any) with the name of the Cult that your model belongs to.
Note that some Relics replace one of the model’s existing items of wargear. Where this is the case, you must, if you are using points values, still pay the cost of the wargear that is being replaced. Write down any Sacred Relics of the Cult your models have on your army roster.
AMULET OF THE VOIDWYRM
This crescent-shaped wyrm-form amulet is rumoured to be carved from a shard of a Norn-Queens exoskeleton. Unnatural energies coil about it, a hideous tendril of the Shadow in the Warp forever haloing the wearers mind and soul. In moments of peril these energies coil into a shadowy veil that blinds the sight and torments the minds of attackers.
The bearer has a 4+ invulnerable save.- Once per battle, when an attack is allocated to the bearer, it can channel the Shadow in the Warp. If it does so, the saving throw is automatically a 6 (do not roll).
- Each time the bearer declares a charge, enemy units that were targeted by that charge cannot fire Overwatch or Set to Defend against that charge.
CRANIAL INLAY
Employing technological secrets stolen from the innermost sanctums of the Adeptus Mechanicus, this heretical device establishes a semi-sentient mind interface uplink between the Nexos and its strategium dais. The resultant instant exchange of strategic intelligence elevates the Nexos’ comprehension of the warscape to almost omniscient levels, though typically at the cost of burning out their mind altogether within a matter of weeks. Of course, that is more than long enough for ascension to be achieved.
NEXOS model only.- While the bearer is on the battlefield, each time you spend a Command point to use a Stratagem you can roll one D6: on a 5+, that Command point is refunded.
- The bearer can use its Strategic Coordination ability one additional time per turn.
DAGGER OF SWIFT SACRIFICE
Rumour has it this wicked blade was once the ritual sidearm of a particularly sadistic planetary governor known only as the Tyrant. It was a Sanctus who stole into the Tyrants chambers and spirited the man’s dagger away into the hive-depths, there to be augmented into a weapon of unparalleled lethality. Only then did the Sanctus return the blade to its owner, sheathing it in his oppressor’s heart.
Model equipped with a Magus bio-dagger or Sanctus bio-dagger only.- Each time the bearer is selected to fight, you can re-roll one wound roll when making the bearer’s attacks.
- Each time after the bearer has fought, select one enemy model that lost any wounds as a result of an attack made by the bearer’s Magus bio-dagger or Sanctus bio-dagger but was not destroyed. Roll one D6: on a 3+, that model suffers D3 mortal wounds (if it is destroyed, any excess mortal wounds are ignored).
HAND OF ABERRANCE
Fashioned by the bio-conclaves of the Cult Hypodermoid, this injector claw sends powerful mutagens coursing through its victims. Their bones stretch and shatter, their muscles atrophy or swell until they burst, while their flesh blooms with nests of lashing pseudopods - or else tears apart as it undergoes involuntary mitosis and seeks to squirm away.
Model equipped with a toxin injector claw only. This Relic replaces a toxin injector claw and has the following profile:WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D |
| Hand of Aberrance | |||||
| Hand of Aberrance | Melee | Melee | User | -2 | 3 |
Abilities: Each time the bearer fights, it makes 1 additional attack with this weapon. Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding VEHICLE or TITANIC units), an unmodified wound roll of 2+ is always successful. | |||||
OPPRESSOR’S BANE
The masterwork pistol known in cult folklore as Oppressor’s Bane was machined with expert care by mysterious, inhumanly skilled artisans. It is so well weighted that it can be drawn in an instant, lined up along perfectly crafted gunsights to pick out the foe’s weak points, and spun on the finger in a blur between each killing shot.
Model equipped with an autopistol only. The bearer gains the Crossfire ability and the CROSSFIRE keyword. This Relic replaces an autopistol and has the following profile:WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D |
| Oppressor’s Bane | |||||
| Oppressor’s Bane | 15" | Pistol 3 | 4 | -2 | 2 |
Abilities: Each time an attack is made with this weapon, the target is treated as having a crossfire marker and as being Exposed for that attack. | |||||
SWORD OF THE VOID’S EYE
The sentience within the Sword of the Void’s Eye is far more intelligent than its wielder, for the weapon contains a synaptic node of the Hive Mind. The bio-fleet descending upon the host planet uses the eyes of the sword to spy on the populace and sample the thoughts of those whose blood it tastes. With every fragment of knowledge gleaned, the weapon understands its prey all the better. Soon it knows just how and where to strike so as to lay its quarry low, and guides its wielder’s hand accordingly.
Model equipped with a cult bonesword or Locus blades only. This Relic replaces a cult bonesword or Locus blades and has the following profile:WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D |
| Sword of the Void’s Eye | |||||
| Sword of the Void’s Eye | Melee | Melee | +2 | -3 | 2 |
Abilities: Each time an attack is made with this weapon, you can re-roll the hit roll and you can re-roll the wound roll. | |||||
THE CROUCHLING
The most favoured of cults are visited by a skittering familiar known as the Crouchling. Though small and weak of limb, it is a powerful psychic presence, able to cast hypnotic spells and visit terrible hallucinations upon those who earn its master’s ire.
Model equipped with a psychic familiar only. Replace that psychic familiar’s ability with the following ability:‘The Crouchling:
- Once per Psychic phase, you can re-roll one Psychic test taken for this model.
- Each time a Psychic test is passed for this model, if all dice results for that test were the same, that psychic power or psychic action cannot be denied.’
THE GIFT FROM BEYOND
This long-barrelled rifle is painted with the freely-given blood of the Patriarch, blessing the wielder with uncanny predatory instincts. The gift the weapon bestows upon those under its sights is quite different: the blessing of a swift death delivered from afar.
Model equipped with a cult sniper rifle only. This Relic replaces a cult sniper rifle and has the following profile:WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D |
| The Gift From Beyond | |||||
| The Gift From Beyond | 48" | Heavy 1 | 5 | -3 | 3 |
Abilities: Each time you select a target for this weapon, you can ignore the Look Out, Sir rule. Each time an attack is made with this weapon, an unmodified would roll of 4+ inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target in addition to any normal damage. | |||||
THE UNWILLING ORB
Preserved within this gem by ghoulish alchemy is the still-living third eye of an Imperial Navigator. What folk hero of the cults tore this fleshy orb from its owner’s skull is not recorded, but it serves to greatly focus and project the synaptic powers of cult psykers.
PSYKER model only.- The bearer can attempt to deny one additional psychic power in your opponent’s Psychic phase.
- While the bearer is on the battlefield, each time it attempts to deny a psychic power, it can do so from any range, instead of within 24".
- Each time the bearer attempts to manifest a Malediction or Witchfire psychic power, add 1 to that attempt’s Psychic test.
THE VOICE OF THE LIBERATOR
A sign of great favour from the Star Children, this slick oesophageal worm slithers between a Clamavus’ straining jaws before settling in the gullet and digging its cilia deep. From that moment onwards, though wracked with constant suffocating agony, the Clamavus finds their voice amplified and adapted, filtering up through the worm’s vibrating membranes to emerge as the primal cry of the Star Children themselves.
CLAMAVUS model only.- Add 6" to the range of the bearer’s Proclamation Hailer and Voice of New Truths abilities.
- While a friendly <CULT> unit is within 12" of the bearer, add 1 to the Leadership characteristic of models in that unit.
WYRMTOOTH ROUNDS
The ballistic parasite that produces these strange rounds is a ghastly thing. Its exterior sheath is brushed durasteel, but its interior is a pulsating mass of wet meat and organs. Meshed with the mechanisms of its host autostub, it somehow exudes diamond-hard chitinous rounds that can punch through dense armour before bursting in sprays of concentrated bio-acid.
KELERMORPH model only. Each time the bearer shoots, you can select any number of liberator autostubs it is equipped with to fire a liberator wyrmtooth round. If you do so, then until that shooting is resolved, each liberator autostub you selected has the following profile:WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D |
| Liberator wyrmtooth round | |||||
| Liberator wyrmtooth round | 18" | Heavy 1 | 6 | -3 | 3 |
Abilities: A liberator wyrmtooth round does not have the liberator autostub’s abilities. | |||||
Wargear Reference
Ranged Weapons
WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D | ABILITIES |
| Achilles missile launcher | ||||||
| Achilles missile launcher | 36" | Heavy 3 | 6 | -3 | 3 | - |
| Atalan incinerator | ||||||
| Atalan incinerator | 12" | Assault D6 | 5 | -1 | 1 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon, that attack automatically hits the target. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon, that attack automatically hits the target. | ||||||
| Atalan small arms | ||||||
| Atalan small arms | 12" | Pistol 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Autogun | ||||||
| Autogun | 24" | Rapid Fire 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Autopistol | ||||||
| Autopistol | 12" | Pistol 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Blasting charges | ||||||
| Blasting charges | 6" | Grenade D3 | 5 | -1 | 1 | Blast |
| Blast | ||||||
| Bolt pistol | ||||||
| Bolt pistol | 12" | Pistol 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Cache of demolition charges | ||||||
| Cache of demolition charges | 6" | Assault D6 | 8 | -3 | 2 | Blast. The bearer is only eligible to shoot with this weapon if a friendly unit is embarked within it. |
| Blast. The bearer is only eligible to shoot with this weapon if a friendly unit is embarked within it. | ||||||
| Chemical vials | ||||||
| Chemical vials | 6" | Grenade 1 | 1 | -2 | 2 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 2+ is always successful. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 2+ is always successful. | ||||||
| Clearance incinerator | ||||||
| Clearance incinerator | 15" | Heavy 2D6 | 6 | -1 | 1 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon, that attack automatically hits the target. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon, that attack automatically hits the target. | ||||||
| Cult shotgun | ||||||
| Cult shotgun | 12" | Assault 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Cult sniper rifle | ||||||
| Cult sniper rifle | 36" | Heavy 1 | 5 | -3 | 2 | Each time you select a target for this weapon, you can ignore the Look Out, Sir rule. Each time an attack is made with this weapon, an unmodified wound roll of 4+ inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target in addition to any normal damage. |
| Each time you select a target for this weapon, you can ignore the Look Out, Sir rule. Each time an attack is made with this weapon, an unmodified wound roll of 4+ inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target in addition to any normal damage. | ||||||
+0..5 Demolition charge | ||||||
+0..5 Demolition charge | 6" | Grenade D6 | 8 | -3 | 2 | Blast. The bearer can only shoot with each demolition charge it is equipped with once per battle. |
| Blast. The bearer can only shoot with each demolition charge it is equipped with once per battle. | ||||||
| Flamer | ||||||
| Flamer | 12" | Assault D6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon, that attack automatically hits the target. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon, that attack automatically hits the target. | ||||||
| Frag grenades | ||||||
| Frag grenades | 6" | Grenade D6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Blast |
| Blast | ||||||
Grenade launcher | ||||||
Before selecting targets, select one of the profiles below to make attacks with. | ||||||
Grenade launcher | Before selecting targets, select one of the profiles below to make attacks with. | |||||
| - Frag grenade | ||||||
| - Frag grenade | 24" | Assault D6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Blast |
| Blast | ||||||
| - Krak grenade | ||||||
| - Krak grenade | 24" | Assault 1 | 6 | -1 | D3 | - |
+3 Hand flamer | ||||||
+3 Hand flamer | 12" | Pistol D6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon, that attack automatically hits the target. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon, that attack automatically hits the target. | ||||||
| Heavy mining laser | ||||||
| Heavy mining laser | 36" | Heavy D3 | 9 | -3 | D6 | Blast |
| Blast | ||||||
| Heavy mortar | ||||||
| Heavy mortar | 48" | Heavy D6 | 6 | -1 | 1 | Indirect Fire. Blast. This weapon can target units that are not visible to the bearer. |
| Indirect Fire. Blast. This weapon can target units that are not visible to the bearer. | ||||||
Heavy seismic cannon | ||||||
Before selecting targets, select one of the profiles below to make attacks with. | ||||||
Heavy seismic cannon | Before selecting targets, select one of the profiles below to make attacks with. | |||||
| - Long-wave | ||||||
| - Long-wave | 24" | Heavy 6 | 6 | -2 | 2 | - |
| - Short-wave | ||||||
| - Short-wave | 24" | Heavy 3 | 8 | -3 | 3 | - |
| Heavy stubber | ||||||
| Heavy stubber | 36" | Heavy 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - |
| Liberator autostub | ||||||
| Liberator autostub | 18" | Pistol 2 | 5 | -1 | 1 | Each time you select a target for this weapon, you can ignore the Look Out, Sir rule. Each time an attack is made with this weapon, an unmodified wound roll of 6 inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target in addition to any normal damage. |
| Each time you select a target for this weapon, you can ignore the Look Out, Sir rule. Each time an attack is made with this weapon, an unmodified wound roll of 6 inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target in addition to any normal damage. | ||||||
+5..15 Mining laser | ||||||
+5..15 Mining laser | 24" | Heavy 1 | 9 | -3 | D6 | - |
| Remote explosives | ||||||
| Remote explosives | 24" | Assault 2D3 | 8 | -3 | 1 | Blast. Each time you select a target for this weapon, you cannot target an AIRCRAFT unit. Each time an attack made with this weapon is allocated to a VEHICLE or MONSTER unit, that attack has a Damage characteristic of 3. |
| Blast. Each time you select a target for this weapon, you cannot target an AIRCRAFT unit. Each time an attack made with this weapon is allocated to a VEHICLE or MONSTER unit, that attack has a Damage characteristic of 3. | ||||||
| Scoped needle pistol | ||||||
| Scoped needle pistol | 18" | Pistol 1 | 1 | 0 | D3 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 2+ is always successful. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 2+ is always successful. | ||||||
+15 Seismic cannon | ||||||
Before selecting targets, select one of the profiles below to make attacks with. | ||||||
+15 Seismic cannon | Before selecting targets, select one of the profiles below to make attacks with. | |||||
| - Long-wave | ||||||
| - Long-wave | 24" | Heavy 6 | 4 | -1 | 1 | - |
| - Short-wave | ||||||
| - Short-wave | 24" | Heavy 3 | 6 | -2 | 2 | - |
| Twin autocannon | ||||||
| Twin autocannon | 48" | Heavy 4 | 7 | -1 | 2 | - |
| Web pistol | ||||||
| Web pistol | 12" | Pistol 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon, do not make a hit roll. Instead, roll one D6 and the attack sequence ends, if the result is greater than the highest Strength characteristic in the target unit, that unit suffers 1 mortal wound. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon, do not make a hit roll. Instead, roll one D6 and the attack sequence ends, if the result is greater than the highest Strength characteristic in the target unit, that unit suffers 1 mortal wound. | ||||||
| Webber | ||||||
| Webber | 18" | Assault D3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Blast. Each time an attack is made with this weapon, do not make a hit roll. Instead, roll one D6 and the attack sequence ends: if the result is greater than the highest Strength characteristic in the target unit, that unit suffers 1 mortal wound. |
| Blast. Each time an attack is made with this weapon, do not make a hit roll. Instead, roll one D6 and the attack sequence ends: if the result is greater than the highest Strength characteristic in the target unit, that unit suffers 1 mortal wound. | ||||||
Melee Weapons
WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D | ABILITIES |
| Atalan power weapon | ||||||
| Atalan power weapon | Melee | Melee | +1 | -2 | 1 | - |
| Chainsword | ||||||
| Chainsword | Melee | Melee | User | 0 | 1 | Each time the bearer fights, it can make 1 additional attack with this weapon. |
| Each time the bearer fights, it can make 1 additional attack with this weapon. | ||||||
+0..5 Cult bonesword | ||||||
+0..5 Cult bonesword | Melee | Melee | +1 | -2 | 2 | - |
| Cult claws | ||||||
| Cult claws | Melee | Melee | User | -3 | 1 | - |
| Cult claws and knife | ||||||
| Cult claws and knife | Melee | Melee | User | -2 | 1 | Each time the bearer fights, it makes 1 additional attack with this weapon. |
| Each time the bearer fights, it makes 1 additional attack with this weapon. | ||||||
| Cult claws and talons | ||||||
| Cult claws and talons | Melee | Melee | User | -3 | 1 | - |
| Drilldozer blade | ||||||
| Drilldozer blade | Melee | Melee | +2 | -2 | 2 | Each time the bearer fights, if it made a charge move this turn, it makes 2 additional attacks with this weapon. |
| Each time the bearer fights, if it made a charge move this turn, it makes 2 additional attacks with this weapon. | ||||||
| Familiar’s claws | ||||||
| Familiar’s claws | Melee | Melee | 4 | 0 | 1 | Each time the bearer fights, it makes 2 additional attacks with this weapon. |
| Each time the bearer fights, it makes 2 additional attacks with this weapon. | ||||||
| Force stave | ||||||
| Force stave | Melee | Melee | +3 | -1 | D3 | - |
| Heavy improvised weapon | ||||||
| Heavy improvised weapon | Melee | Melee | +1 | -1 | 2 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon, excess damage it inflicts is not lost. Instead, keep allocating excess damage to another model in the target unit until either all the excess damage has been allocated or the target unit is destroyed. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon, excess damage it inflicts is not lost. Instead, keep allocating excess damage to another model in the target unit until either all the excess damage has been allocated or the target unit is destroyed. | ||||||
| Heavy power weapon | ||||||
| Heavy power weapon | Melee | Melee | +3 | -2 | 3 | - |
+10 Heavy rock cutter | ||||||
+10 Heavy rock cutter | Melee | Melee | x2 | -4 | 3 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon, subtract 1 from that attack’s hit roll. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon, subtract 1 from that attack’s hit roll. | ||||||
+10 Heavy rock drill | ||||||
+10 Heavy rock drill | Melee | Melee | x2 | -4 | 1 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon, if a hit is scored, that attack automatically wounds the target, and on an unmodified hit roll of 6, the target suffers 2 mortal wounds in addition to any normal damage. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon, if a hit is scored, that attack automatically wounds the target, and on an unmodified hit roll of 6, the target suffers 2 mortal wounds in addition to any normal damage. | ||||||
+5 Heavy rock saw | ||||||
+5 Heavy rock saw | Melee | Melee | x2 | -4 | 2 | - |
| Hypermorph tail | ||||||
| Hypermorph tail | Melee | Melee | User | -1 | 1 | Each time the bearer fights, it makes 1 additional attack with this weapon. |
| Each time the bearer fights, it makes 1 additional attack with this weapon. | ||||||
| Injector goad | ||||||
| Injector goad | Melee | Melee | 1 | 0 | D3 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 2+ is always successful. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 2+ is always successful. | ||||||
| Locus blades | ||||||
| Locus blades | Melee | Melee | +1 | -3 | 2 | - |
| Magus bio-dagger | ||||||
| Magus bio-dagger | Melee | Melee | 1 | 0 | 1 | Each time the bearer fights, no more than 1 attack can be made with this weapon. Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 3+ inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target and the attack sequence ends. |
| Each time the bearer fights, no more than 1 attack can be made with this weapon. Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 3+ inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target and the attack sequence ends. | ||||||
| Metamorph mutations | ||||||
| Metamorph mutations | Melee | Melee | +1 | -3 | 1 | - |
| Patriarch’s claws | ||||||
| Patriarch’s claws | Melee | Melee | User | -3 | 2 | Each time an attack is made with this weapon, you can re-roll the wound roll, and on an unmodified wound roll of 6, that attack has an AP characteristic of -6 and a Damage characteristic of 3. |
| Each time an attack is made with this weapon, you can re-roll the wound roll, and on an unmodified wound roll of 6, that attack has an AP characteristic of -6 and a Damage characteristic of 3. | ||||||
| Power maul | ||||||
| Power maul | Melee | Melee | +3 | -1 | 1 | - |
| Power pick | ||||||
| Power pick | Melee | Melee | +2 | -2 | 1 | - |
| Power sledgehammer | ||||||
| Power sledgehammer | Melee | Melee | x2 | -3 | D3+3 | - |
| Sanctus bio-dagger | ||||||
| Sanctus bio-dagger | Melee | Melee | 1 | 0 | 1 | Each time the bearer fights, it makes 1 additional attack with this weapon. Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 3+ inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target and the attack sequence ends. |
| Each time the bearer fights, it makes 1 additional attack with this weapon. Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 3+ inflicts 1 mortal wound on the target and the attack sequence ends. | ||||||
| Toxin injector claw | ||||||
| Toxin injector claw | Melee | Melee | User | -1 | 1 | Each time the bearer fights, it makes 1 additional attack with this weapon. Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 2+ is always successful. |
| Each time the bearer fights, it makes 1 additional attack with this weapon. Each time an attack is made with this weapon against a unit (excluding a VEHICLE or TITANIC unit), an unmodified wound roll of 2+ is always successful. | ||||||
Other Wargear
OTHER WARGEAR | ABILITIES | ||||||
Alchemicus familiar | |||||||
Once per battle, when this model starts to perform the Twisted Experiment action, you can select one friendly CORE or ABERRANT unit that is within 18" of this model and does not have a genomic enhancement, instead of one within 3". If you do so, for the purposes of determining if the action is completed, that selected unit is treated as being within 3" of this model. We recommend placing an Alchemicus Familiar model next to this model as a reminder, removing it once this ability has been used (an Alchemicus Familiar does not count as a model for any rules purposes). | |||||||
Alchemicus familiar | Once per battle, when this model starts to perform the Twisted Experiment action, you can select one friendly CORE or ABERRANT unit that is within 18" of this model and does not have a genomic enhancement, instead of one within 3". If you do so, for the purposes of determining if the action is completed, that selected unit is treated as being within 3" of this model. We recommend placing an Alchemicus Familiar model next to this model as a reminder, removing it once this ability has been used (an Alchemicus Familiar does not count as a model for any rules purposes). | ||||||
+10 Cult icon | |||||||
In your Command phase, if this unit contains a model equipped with a cult icon, it can summon the cult. | |||||||
+10 Cult icon | In your Command phase, if this unit contains a model equipped with a cult icon, it can summon the cult. | ||||||
Cult lash whip | |||||||
Each time the bearer makes a melee attack against a unit (excluding a MONSTER or VEHICLE unit), you can re-roll the hit roll. | |||||||
Cult lash whip | Each time the bearer makes a melee attack against a unit (excluding a MONSTER or VEHICLE unit), you can re-roll the hit roll. | ||||||
Flare launcher | |||||||
| |||||||
Flare launcher |
| ||||||
Psychic familiar | |||||||
Once per battle, you can re-roll one Psychic test taken for this model. We recommend placing a Psychic Familiar model next to this model as a reminder, removing it once this ability has been used (a Psychic Familiar does not count as a model for any rules purposes). | |||||||
Psychic familiar | Once per battle, you can re-roll one Psychic test taken for this model. We recommend placing a Psychic Familiar model next to this model as a reminder, removing it once this ability has been used (a Psychic Familiar does not count as a model for any rules purposes). | ||||||
Spotter | |||||||
Add 12" to the Range characteristic of ranged weapons the bearer is equipped with. | |||||||
Spotter | Add 12" to the Range characteristic of ranged weapons the bearer is equipped with. | ||||||
Survey augur | |||||||
Each time a ranged attack made by the bearer targets an enemy unit within 24", the target does not receive the benefits of cover against that attack. | |||||||
Survey augur | Each time a ranged attack made by the bearer targets an enemy unit within 24", the target does not receive the benefits of cover against that attack. | ||||||
Glossary
Below you will find a glossary that contains a number of terms used in this Codex.
Ambush marker: A marker used to mark the location of a unit set up in ambush without revealing which unit it is.
Any number of models can each have their Weapon A replaced with 1 Weapon B: When this wargear option is selected for a unit, any number of models in that unit that are equipped with Weapon A can each have that weapon replaced with 1 Weapon B. It is possible for only some of the models in that unit to have their weapon replaced and for others not to.
Ascension Reward: Crusade bonuses you can earn by assuming control of a world on a Path to Ascension.
Ascension roll: A feature of the Path to Ascension, used to generate Ascension points.
Assume control of a world: The objective for your Crusade force when on a Path to Ascension.
BROOD BROTHERS Detachment: An ASTRA MILITARUM Detachment that can be included in a Battle-forged army if that army also includes a GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment. Every model in such a Detachment has the ASTRA MILITARUM keyword (excluding models with the UNALIGNED keyword) and gains the BROOD BROTHERS keyword.
Brood cycle: Benefits to your Crusade force when on a Path to Ascension.
Broodmind discipline: A discipline that GENESTEALER CULTS PSYKERS know powers from.
Conceal: An ability that allows GENESTEALER CULTS units to be set up either in ambush or underground.
Cult Creed: A GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment ability gained if every <CULT> unit in a Detachment belongs to the same Cult.
Cult Detachment: A GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment in which every GENESTEALER CULTS unit is drawn from the same Cult.
Cult Psychic Power: A psychic power associated with one of the Cults. These are only known by PSYKERS that are part of a Cult Detachment (and only if they are drawn from the associated Cult).
Cult Relic: A Sacred Relic of the Cult associated with one of the Cults. These are only available to GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER models that are part of a Cult Detachment (and only if they, and your WARLORD, are drawn from the associated Cult).
Cult Stratagem: A Stratagem associated with one of the Cults. These are only available to GENESTEALER CULTS models that are part of a Cult Detachment (and only if they are drawn from the associated Cult). All Cult Stratagems are considered to have the Genestealer Cults Stratagem label (see below).
Cult Warlord Trait: A Warlord Trait associated with one of the Cults. These are only available to GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER models that are part of a Cult Detachment [and only if they are drawn from the associated Cult).
Day of Ascension: A Crusade battle you must fight if you fail a Discovery roll while on a Path to Ascension.
Discovery roll: A test you may be required to make after a battle while on a Path to Ascension.
Exposed: A condition applied to enemy units under certain circumstances that confers rules effects, most notably through the Crossfire ability.
GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment: A Detachment in a Battle-forged army in which every model has the GENESTEALER CULTS keyword (excluding models with the UNALIGNED keyword).
Genestealer Cults secondary objectives: Additional secondary objectives that can be used in certain matched play mission packs if every Detachment in your army is a GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment (excluding BROOD BROTHERS Detachments).
Genomic Enhancements: Abilities conferred by a BIOPHAGUS unit, most commonly when it completes the Twisted Experiment action.
Ignominies: Adverse effects for your Crusade force if you abandon your Path to Ascension.
Industrial weapon: A category of weapon, or any Relic that replaces such a weapon.
Institution: Different elements of a world your Crusade force must infiltrate while on a Path to Ascension, earning Institution Rewards for doing so.
Loyalty to the Cult: The Regimental Doctrine gained by BROOD BROTHERS units in BROOD BROTHERS Detachments.
Path to Ascension: Crusade rules available to Crusade forces that include a PATRIARCH, PRIMUS or MAGUS unit. If you use them, your Crusade force is on a Path to Ascension.
Proficient Planning: Upgrades that can be applied to GENESTEALER CULTS units to confer on them a chosen Proficient Planning ability.
Psychic Power Type: A psychic power’s type is written in bold at the start of its rules. There are three types of psychic power described in this Codex: Blessing; Malediction; Witchfire.
Sacred Relics of the Cult: A type of Relic that can be given to GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER models.
Stratagem Label: A Stratagem’s labels are written beneath its title and can include: Genestealer Cults; Battle Tactic; Epic Deed; Requisition; Strategic Ploy; Wargear. A Stratagem can have more than one label. For example, a Stratagem with ‘Genestealer Cults - Wargear Stratagem’ has both the Genestealer Cults and Wargear labels.
Summon the Cult: A rule that allows some units to regain destroyed models in your Command phase.
Underground: Part of the Conceal ability, allowing you to set up a unit on the battlefield in the Reinforcement step of one of your Movement phases.
Reference
Below you will find a bullet-pointed summary of several Genestealer Cults rules.
- Instead of setting up the unit, place an ambush marker wholly within your deployment zone.
- Enemy models cannot be set up or moved within 9" of the centre of any of your ambush markers.
- If you have the first turn, reveal your ambush markers at the start of your Command phase.
- If you do not have the first turn, reveal all of your ambush markers at the end of your opponent’s Movement phase.
- To reveal an ambush marker, select one unit from your army that was set up in ambush and has not yet been set up from an ambush marker.
- Set up one model from that unit within 1" of the centre of that ambush marker, wholly within your deployment zone and more than 9" away from any enemy models. Then remove that ambush marker.
- Set up the remaining models in that unit wholly within 6" of the first model, wholly within your deployment zone and more than 9" away from any enemy models.
- Units set up from an ambush marker do not count as Reinforcements.
BROOD BROTHERS
- For each GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment you include in a Battle-forged army, you can also include one ASTRA MILITARUM Detachment. This Detachment is also known as a BROOD BROTHERS Detachment and has the following rules:
- It can only include units with the <REGIMENT> or UNALIGNED keyword.
- Replace the IMPERIUM and <REGIMENT> keywords in every instance on those units’ datasheets with the BROOD BROTHERS keyword.
- BROOD BROTHERS models cannot be selected as your WARLORD or have a Warlord Trait.
- BROOD BROTHERS models cannot be given any Relics.
- The Regimental Doctrine BROOD BROTHERS units gain is Loyalty to the Cult.
- Including BROOD BROTHERS units in your army does not prevent GENESTEALER CULTS units from your army from using the Crossfire ability, provided that the total Power Rating (or points values in a game that uses them) of those BROOD BROTHERS units is no more than 25% of your army’s total.
- It can only include units with the <REGIMENT> or UNALIGNED keyword.
BROODCOVEN
- If your army includes any PATRIARCH models, you cannot select any other GENESTEALER CULTS model as your WARLORD.
- If your army does not include any PATRIARCH models but does include any PRIMUS or MAGUS models, you cannot select any other GENESTEALER CULTS model as your WARLORD.
- GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER models in this Detachment that do not have the HQ Battlefield Role cannot have a Warlord Trait.
CONCEAL
- During deployment, you can set up units with this ability in ambush instead of setting them up on the battlefield. INFANTRY or BIKER units with this ability can be set up underground instead of being set up on the battlefield or in ambush.
CROSSFIRE
- In your Shooting phase, each time a CROSSFIRE unit is selected to shoot, if all of those attacks target one enemy unit without a crossfire marker, after resolving those attacks, the target gains a crossfire marker if any of the following conditions were satisfied:
- Five or more of those attacks scored a hit.
- One or more of those attacks with a Damage characteristic other than 1 scored a hit.
- At the end of your turn, remove all crossfire markers enemy units have.
CROSSFIRE EFFECTS
- Each time a CROSSFIRE model makes a ranged attack, if the target unit has a crossfire marker, add 1 to that attack’s hit roll.
- Each time a CROSSFIRE model makes a ranged attack, if the target unit has a crossfire marker and was Exposed when it was selected as the target, add 1 to that attack’s wound roll.
- Each time a CROSSFIRE model makes a ranged attack, if the target unit has a crossfire marker, was Exposed when it was selected as the target, and was within 12" when it was selected as the target, the target does not receive the benefits of cover against that attack.
- To determine if a target unit is Exposed, draw a line from any part of the base (or hull) of one model in the attacking CROSSFIRE unit to any part of the base (or hull) of one model in another friendly CROSSFIRE unit that is visible to that model.
- The target unit is EXPOSED if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
- That line passes over any part of the base (or hull) of one model in the target unit.
- That line does not pass over a terrain feature with the Obscuring terrain trait (unless those CROSSFIRE units or the target unit are on or within that terrain feature, or the target unit could still be targeted even if a terrain feature with the Obscuring terrain trait was between it and an attacking model, e.g. it is an AIRCRAFT unit, it has a Wounds characteristic of 18 or more, etc).
- You can include a maximum of one of each GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model in each GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment.
- For each GENESTEALER CULTS model with the HQ Battlefield Role that takes up a Battlefield Role slot in a GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment, one other GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model can be included in that Detachment without taking up a Battlefield Role slot.
GENESTEALER CULTS DETACHMENT ABILITIES
- Such Detachments gain the Gene-sect, Broodcoven and Brood Brothers abilities.
- GENESTEALER CULTS units gain the Cult Creed ability.
- GENESTEALER CULTS Troops units gain the Objective Secured ability.
LOYALTY TO THE CULT
- The Regimental Doctrine for ASTRA MILITARUM BROOD BROTHERS Detachments.
- Add 2 to the Leadership characteristic of models in a unit with this Regimental Doctrine.
- INFANTRY units with this Regimental Doctrine gain the Unquestioning Loyalty ability.
SUMMON THE CULT
- Each time a NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army summons the cult, D6 destroyed models can be added back to that unit.
- Each time any other GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army summons the cult, D3 destroyed models can be added back to that unit with full wounds remaining.
- If a unit could summon the cult more than once, the results are cumulative, but no more than 6 models can be added back to a NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit per turn, and no more than 3 models can be added back to any other GENESTEALER CULTS unit per turn.
- Returned models can only be set up within Engagement Range of enemy units that are already within Engagement Range of the unit they are being added back to.
UNDERGROUND
- A different way to set up a unit as a result of the Conceal ability.
- In the Reinforcements step of one of your Movement phases, such units can be set up under one of the following conditions:
- Anywhere on the battlefield more than 8" away from any enemy models.
- Anywhere on the battlefield more than 6" away from any enemy models, but that unit is not eligible to declare a charge this turn.
- If a unit set up underground has any abilities that are used in your Command phase, the first time that unit is set up on the battlefield, it can use any or all of those abilities as if it were your Command phase.
UNQUESTIONING LOYALTY
- Each time a saving throw made for a <CULT> CHARACTER model from your army is failed, you can select one other friendly <CULT> or BROOD BROTHERS model with this ability within 3" of that CHARACTER model and take an Unquestioning Loyalty test.
- To do so, roll one D6, adding 1 to the result if that CHARACTER model is a PATRIARCH model: on a 4+, the test is passed and that CHARACTER model does not suffer damage.
- Instead, the friendly model you selected is destroyed and the attack sequence ends.
The CROSSFIRE keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
A model can make attacks with a Pistol even when its unit is within Engagement Range of enemy units, but it must target an enemy unit that is within Engagement Range of its own unit when it does so. In such circumstances, the model can target an enemy unit even if other friendly units are within Engagement Range of the same enemy unit.
When a model equipped with both a Pistol and another type of ranged weapon (e.g. a Pistol and a Rapid Fire weapon) shoots, it can either shoot with its Pistol(s) or with its other ranged weapons. Choose which it will fire (Pistols or non-Pistols) before selecting targets.
- Can be shot even if firing model’s unit is within Engagement Range of enemy unit.
- Cannot be shot alongside any other type of weapon.
The KELERMORPH keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
When an INFANTRY model shoots a Heavy weapon, subtract 1 from the hit rolls when resolving that weapon’s attacks if the firing model’s unit has moved for any reason this turn (e.g. it made a Normal Move this turn).
- Subtract 1 from hit rolls if firing model is INFANTRY and its unit has moved this turn.
WYRMTOOTH ROUNDS
The ballistic parasite that produces these strange rounds is a ghastly thing. Its exterior sheath is brushed durasteel, but its interior is a pulsating mass of wet meat and organs. Meshed with the mechanisms of its host autostub, it somehow exudes diamond-hard chitinous rounds that can punch through dense armour before bursting in sprays of concentrated bio-acid.
KELERMORPH model only. Each time the bearer shoots, you can select any number of liberator autostubs it is equipped with to fire a liberator wyrmtooth round. If you do so, then until that shooting is resolved, each liberator autostub you selected has the following profile:WEAPON | RANGE | TYPE | S | AP | D |
| Liberator wyrmtooth round | |||||
| Liberator wyrmtooth round | 18" | Heavy 1 | 6 | -3 | 3 |
Abilities: A liberator wyrmtooth round does not have the liberator autostub’s abilities. | |||||
The datasheets using UNALIGNED keyword can be found in the following Factions:
Unaligned: Unaligned.Imperium: Astra Militarum, Space Marines.
The UNALIGNED keyword is used in the following datasheets:
The inhuman coordination of Genestealer Cultists more than makes up for their motley assortment of weapons and vehicles.
If every unit from your army has the GENESTEALER CULTS keyword (excluding UNALIGNED units and the percentage ratio of BROOD BROTHERS units specified here), and every unit from your army that belongs to a cult belongs to the same cult, this unit can use this ability and the following rules apply. Note that there are rules that enhance or otherwise interact with these Crossfire rules. No matter the source, you can only use such rules if every unit from your army has the GENESTEALER CULTS keyword (excluding UNALIGNED units and the percentage ratio of BROOD BROTHERS units, and every unit from your army that belongs to a cult belongs to the same cult.Crossfire Markers
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- Five or more of those attacks scored a hit.
- One or more of those attacks with a Damage characteristic other than 1 scored a hit.
Effects of Crossfire
- Each time a CROSSFIRE model makes a ranged attack, if the target unit has a crossfire marker, add 1 to that attack’s hit roll.
- Each time a CROSSFIRE model makes a ranged attack, if the target unit has a crossfire marker and was Exposed when it was selected as the target (see below), add 1 to that attack’s wound roll.
- Each time a CROSSFIRE model makes a ranged attack, if the target unit has a crossfire marker, was Exposed when it was selected as the target, and was within 12" when it was selected as the target, the target does not receive the benefits of cover against that attack.
Exposed
To determine if a target unit is Exposed, draw a line from any part of the base (or hull) of one model in the attacking CROSSFIRE unit to any part of the base (or hull) of one model in another friendly CROSSFIRE unit that is visible to that model (as shown in the diagrams below). The target unit is Exposed if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
- That line passes over any part of the base (or hull) of one or more models in the target unit.
- That line does not pass over a terrain feature with the Obscuring terrain trait (unless those CROSSFIRE units or the target unit are on or within that terrain feature, or the target unit could still be targeted even if a terrain feature with the Obscuring terrain trait was between it and an attacking model, e.g. it is an AIRCRAFT unit, it has a Wounds characteristic of 18 or more, etc.).
The INFANTRY keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The BIKER keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The TRANSPORT keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Genestealer Cults keep their fighting strength carefully hidden from their oppressors until the glorious day of ascension arrives.
During deployment, you can set up this unit in ambush instead of setting it up on the battlefield. If this unit is an INFANTRY or BIKER unit, you can set up this unit underground instead of setting it up on the battlefield or in ambush.Ambush
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Units set up in ambush are considered to be set up on the battlefield (unless they are embarked within a TRANSPORT model that is set up in ambush), even though their models are not actually on the battlefield. Enemy models cannot be set up or moved within 9" of the centre of any of your ambush markers.
Underground
If this unit is set up underground, then in the Reinforcements step of one of your Movement phases, you can set up this unit under one of the following conditions:
- You can set up this unit anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 8" away from any enemy models.
- You can set up this unit anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 6" away from any enemy models, but that unit is not eligible to declare a charge this turn.
Units set up underground are considered to be set up in a location other than the battlefield, therefore this must be determined in the Declare Reserves and Transports step of a mission sequence that includes such a step.
Revealing Ambush Markers
In the first battle round:
- If you have the first turn, you must reveal all of your ambush markers at the start of your Command phase.
- If you do not have the first turn, you must reveal all of your ambush markers at the end of your opponents Movement phase.
- Set up one model from that unit within 1" of the centre of that ambush marker, wholly within your deployment zone and more than 9" away from any enemy models. Then remove that ambush marker.
- Set up the remaining models in that unit wholly within 6" of the first model, wholly within your deployment zone and more than 9" away from any enemy models.
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- Starting number of Command points varies with battle size.
Note that CHARACTERS cannot use their Aura Abilities while performing actions.
- Pile in: Move up to 3".
- Must end closer to the closest enemy model.
Some rules allow you to add models to a unit during the battle; such models must always be set up in unit coherency with the unit they are being added to. Sometimes there will be insufficient room to set up all the models from a unit, or it will not be possible to set up all the models so that they are in unit coherency. When this is the case, any models that cannot be set up are considered to have been destroyed.
- Unit coherency: 2" horizontally + 5" vertically.
- Each model must be in unit coherency with one other model from own unit.
- While unit has 6+ models, each model must be in unit coherency with 2 other models from own unit.
The keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The PRIMUS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The TWISTED HELIX and CORE keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
If an attack is made with a weapon that has an ability that says it ‘automatically hits the target’, no hit roll is made – that attack simply scores one hit on the target unit. An unmodified hit roll of 6 always scores a hit, and an unmodified hit roll of 1 always fails. A hit roll can never be modified by more than -1 or +1. This means that if, after all the cumulative modifiers to a hit roll have been calculated, the total modifier would be -2 or worse, it is changed to be -1. Similarly, if, after all the cumulative modifiers to a hit roll have been calculated, the total modifier would be +2 or better, it is changed to be +1.
Units cannot normally do anything or be affected in any way while they are embarked. Unless specifically stated, other units’ abilities have no effect on units while they are embarked, and Stratagems cannot be used to affect units while they are embarked. For all rules purposes, units that are embarked within a TRANSPORT model that has made a Normal Move, Advanced, Fallen Back or Remained Stationary also count as having made the same kind of move that turn.
- Units can embark in a friendly TRANSPORT if every model ends a Normal Move, an Advance or a Fall Back within 3" of it.
- A unit cannot embark within a TRANSPORT that is within Engagement Range of any enemy models.
- A unit cannot embark and disembark in the same phase.
- Units cannot do anything, or be affected in any way, while they are embarked within a TRANSPORT.
- Engagement Range: 1" horizontally + 5" vertically.
- Models cannot be set up within Engagement Range of enemy models.
- Declare targets of the charge (must be within 12").
- Charge roll = 2D6".
- If insufficient to move charging unit into Engagement Range of all targets, charge fails.
- If charge successful, models make their charge move.
- Cannot make a charge move within Engagement Range of any unit that was not the target of the charge.
The and CHARACTER keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The PATRIARCH keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The ACOLYTE ICONWARD keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
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If the result of the wound roll is less than the required number, the attack fails and the attack sequence ends. An unmodified wound roll of 6 always successfully wounds the target, and an unmodified wound roll of 1 always fails. A wound roll can never be modified by more than -1 or +1. This means that if, after all the cumulative modifiers to a wound roll have been calculated, the total modifier would be -2 or worse, it is changed to be -1. Similarly, if, after all the cumulative modifiers to a wound roll have been calculated, the total modifier would be +2 or better, it is changed to be +1.
Models that are on or within this terrain feature can see, and can be seen and targeted normally. AIRCRAFT models, and models with a Wounds (W) characteristic of 18 or more, are visible and can be targeted even if this terrain feature is in-between it and the firing model (note that the reverse is not true).
- Blocks visibility if at least 5” tall.
- Models on or within can see and be seen normally.
- AIRCRAFT and models with W characteristic of 18+ can be seen normally.
The GENESTEALER CULTS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
- Objective Secured: Player controls objective marker if any of their models in range have this ability.
The GENESTEALER CULTS and CHARACTER keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The MAGUS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The REGIMENTAL keyword is used in the following Astra Militarum datasheets:
and others...
The Power Rating on a datasheet is for a minimum-sized unit. A unit’s Power Rating can be increased if additional models are added to the unit, and occasionally if other options are taken for the unit (such as equipping a unit with jump packs) - in either case the unit's datasheet will make it clear if the Power Rating listed at the top of the datasheet is increased as a result.
- Power Ratings: Quick measure of a unit's efficacy.
- Points values: Detailed measure of a unit's efficacy.
The INFANTRY keyword is used in the following Astra Militarum datasheets:
Genestealer Cults broodkin are so fanatically loyal that they do not hesitate to sacrifice themselves to protect their leaders.
Each time a saving throw made for a CHARACTER model from your army is failed, you can select one other friendly or BROOD BROTHERS model with this ability within 3" of that CHARACTER model and take an Unquestioning Loyalty test. To do so, roll one D6, adding 1 to the result if that CHARACTER model is a PATRIARCH model: on a 4+, the test is passed and that CHARACTER model does not suffer damage. Instead, the friendly model you selected is destroyed and the attack sequence ends.The GENESTEALER CULTS, and CHARACTER keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The GENESTEALER CULTS, and PSYKER keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
- +1 to saving throws against ranged weapons.
- Invulnerable saving throws unaffected.
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If a model has more than one melee weapon, select which it will use before resolving any attacks. If a model has more than one melee weapon and can make several attacks, it can split them between these weapons however you wish – declare which attacks are being made with which weapons before any attacks are resolved. If the selected weapon has more than one profile that you must choose between, you must declare which profile is being used at the same time. Different attacks made with such a weapon can be made using different profiles if you wish.
If your unit is making attacks with more than one melee weapon against a unit, and those weapons have different characteristics profiles, then after you have resolved an attack with one of those weapons you must, if any other weapons with the same characteristics profile are also being used to make attacks against that unit, resolve those attacks before resolving any attacks against the target with a weapon that has a different characteristics profile. Note that all the attacks you have declared are always resolved against the target unit even if, when you come to resolve an individual attack, no models in the target unit remain in range (this can happen because of models being destroyed and removed from the battlefield as the result of resolving other attacks made by the attacking model’s unit first).
- Each close combat attack is made with a melee weapon.
- A model makes attacks using the close combat weapon profile if it has no other melee weapons.
- If a unit attacks with multiple weapons, all attacks made with weapons that have the same profile must be resolved before resolving attacks with the next.
- Psychic test: Passed if 2D6 equals or exceeds psychic power’s warp charge.
- If double 1 or double 6 rolled, PSYKER suffers Perils of the Warp.
To manifest the psychic power, you must first pass a Psychic test. The opposing player can then select one of their PSYKER units that is within 24" of the PSYKER unit attempting to manifest the power and attempt to deny that power before its effects are resolved by passing a Deny the Witch test.
So long as the Psychic test was successful and the psychic power was not denied by a successful Deny the Witch test, the psychic power is successfully manifested and its effects, which will be described in the power itself, are then resolved. If the PSYKER unit can attempt to manifest more than one psychic power in its Psychic phase, you can then attempt to manifest those, one at a time, as described above. The number of psychic powers each PSYKER unit can attempt to manifest in its Psychic phase is listed on its datasheet.
- Select psychic power.
- You cannot select the same psychic power more than once per battle round, unless that power is Smite.
- Attempt to manifest the psychic power by taking a Psychic test.
- The opponent can attempt to deny the psychic power by taking a Deny the Witch test.
- If successfully manifested, resolve the psychic power’s effects.
- Select another psychic power.
- FLY models can move over other models when they make a Normal Move, an Advance or when they Fall Back.
- FLY models ignore vertical distances when they make a Normal Move, an Advance or when they Fall Back.
- Advance: Models move up to M+D6".
- Cannot move within Engagement Range of enemy models.
- Units that Advance cannot shoot or charge this turn.
- Fall Back: Models move up to M".
- Units that Fall Back cannot charge this turn.
- Units that Fall Back cannot shoot or manifest psychic powers this turn unless they are TITANIC.
The HIVECULT and CORE keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The HIVECULT, CORE and CROSSFIRE keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
- Invulnerable save: Saving throw that is never modified by attacking weapon’s AP.
- A model with an invulnerable save can use it instead of its normal Sv.
If an attack inflicts mortal wounds in addition to the normal damage, resolve the normal damage first. If an attack inflicts mortal wounds in addition to the normal damage, but the normal damage is subsequently saved, the target unit still suffers the mortal wounds, as described before. If an ability modifies the damage inflicted by a weapon, and that weapon can inflict mortal wounds in addition to the normal damage, the modifier does not apply to any mortal wounds that are inflicted (unless the rule specifically states otherwise).
- Each mortal wound inflicted on a unit causes one model in the unit to lose one wound.
- No saving throws can be made against mortal wounds.
- Mortal wounds inflicted by attacks in addition to normal damage always apply, even if normal damage saved.
When a unit shoots, one model that is equipped with a Grenade in that unit can resolve attacks with it instead of shooting any other weapons.
- Only one model can use a Grenade when its unit shoots.
The BLADED COG and CORE keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The BLADED COG and INFANTRY keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The BLADED COG and BIKER keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
- Normal Move: Models move up to M".
- Cannot move within Engagement Range of any enemy models.
- Remain Stationary: Models cannot move this phase.
The RUSTED CLAW and ATALAN keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The number of attacks that a model makes with a ranged weapon is equal to the number written on that weapon’s profile after its type. For example, a model shooting an ‘Assault 1’ weapon can make one attack with that weapon; a model firing a ‘Heavy 3’ weapon can make three attacks, and so on.
- All of a ranged weapon’s attacks must be made against the same target unit.
- Number of attacks = number after weapon’s type.
- Heroic Intervention: Move up to 3".
- Must end closer to the closest enemy model.
- Combat Attrition tests: Roll one D6 for each remaining model in unit; for each 1, one additional model flees.
- Subtract 1 from Combat Attrition tests if unit is below Half-strength.
The PAUPER PRINCES keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The PAUPER PRINCES and CORE keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The PAUPER PRINCES and CHARACTER keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The TWISTED HELIX and ABERRANT keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The TWISTED HELIX and ABOMINANT keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
- Morale test = D6 + number of models destroyed this turn.
- Unmodified roll of 1 always a success (no models flee).
- If Morale test exceeds unit’s Ld, one model flees and other models must take Combat Attrition tests.
The BIOPHAGUS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The CHARACTER keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The CROSSFIRE and INFANTRY keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Hailing from a war world, a fortress world or some other location with strong military traditions, this cult boasts unusually well-drilled broods. Quite aside from any Brood Brothers in their ranks, even the lowliest of the faithful can fight with the skill of seasoned paramilitaries.
Be they nomadic pioneers, underground freedom fighters or tribes raised upon hostile alien worlds, the faithful of this cult have mastered a highly mobile form of warfare. They swarm around their enemies, ducking from one patch of cover to the next while maintaining constant harassing fire.
- Consolidate: Move up to 3".
- Must end closer to the closest enemy model.
The VEHICLE keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The ABOMINANT keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The ABERRANTS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The ABERRANT keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The GENESTEALER CULTS and INFANTRY keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The ACOLYTE HYBRIDS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The GOLIATH TRUCK keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
When a unit disembarks, set it up on the battlefield so that it is wholly within 3" of the TRANSPORT model and not within Engagement Range of any enemy models.
Units that disembark can then act normally (move, shoot, charge, fight, etc.) in the remainder of the turn, but its models count as having moved that turn, even if they are not moved further (i.e. they never count as having Remained Stationary).
- Units that start their Movement phase embarked in a TRANSPORT can disembark this phase.
- A unit must disembark before their TRANSPORT moves.
- Disembarking units must be set up wholly within 3" of their TRANSPORT and not within Engagement Range of any enemy models.
- Units that have disembarked count as having moved this turn.
No other military force spends as long laying thorough and meticulous preparations for the battles to come as does the Cult of the Four-armed Emperor. Their plans to counter the foe are works of dark genius.
The cultists who infest this world know well that secrecy can be made into a weapon of war.
The relics taken reverently from the Patriarch’s lair include captured guns, sentient blades and strange biomantic artefacts.
Each Patriarch’s broodcoven is made up of powerful individuals possessed of the skills and charisma needed to further its will.
The torturous cyborg enhancements of these warriors are freakishly alien in both conception and application, and all the more effective for it.
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ANOINTED THRONG Specialist Detachment Stratagem To those of the Genestealer Cults, the Abominant is seen as a holy figure, blessed by their grandsire to lead them out of the subterranean darkness to conquer the stars. Use this Stratagem when choosing your army. Pick a GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment from your army to be an Anointed Throng Specialist Detachment. ABOMINANTS and ABERRANTS in that Detachment gain the ANOINTED THRONG keyword. | ||
1CP | ||
DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE Specialist Detachment Stratagem Pouring from Goliath transports comes a living tide of warriors. Surging forward with frothing fervour, the broodsurge is nigh impossible to stop. Use this Stratagem when choosing your army. Pick a GENESTEALER CULTS Detachment from your army to be a Deliverance Broodsurge Specialist Detachment. ACOLYTE ICONWARDS, NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS, ACOLYTE HYBRIDS and GOLIATH TRUCKS in that Detachment gain the DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE keyword. | ||
The cult has long prepared for an orbital bombardment, and can take shelter beneath the ground at a moment’s notice.
Genestealer Cultists are preternaturally skilled and determined infiltrators, navigating seemingly impassable vents and tunnels to sneak up on the foe.
The GENESTEALER CULTS and VEHICLE keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Even should their vehicle be terribly damaged and they themselves fatally wounded, this crew fight on with zealous fervour.
Even the most grievous wounds can be sealed over by those with the alien biology of the Tyranid under their skin.
Through pheromones or Broodmind summons, a slinking familiar is called from the shadows.
A long-planned strategy comes to fruition as the cultists rise up.
The CLAMAVUS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Clamavuses are able to send corrupting data-wyrms burrowing into enemy machine spirits to weaken and degrade their hosts.
The GENESTEALER CULTS and GENESTEALER keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The GENESTEALER CULTS and BIKER keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Like an alien predator suddenly pouncing upon its cornered prey, the cult surges forward as one.
Ever cunning and duplicitous, broods of the faithful often vanish back into tunnels and vents after their initial strike, ready to attack again elsewhere.
1CP | ||
RECKLESS MANOEUVRE Genestealer Cults Stratagem At the last moment, this fanatical driver slews their vehicle around, hurling the passengers into the fray. Use this Stratagem at the end of your Movement phase. Pick a DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE GOLIATH TRUCK unit from your army. DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE units embarked within that GOLIATH TRUCK can immediately disembark if they did not embark within it this turn. If any units do so, roll a D6 for each model disembarking. For each 1, a model that disembarked (your choice) is slain. Models that disembark in this manner must be set up more than 9" from any enemy models and cannot move that phase. | ||
The riders of the Rusted Claw attack with reckless verve, hurling deadly explosives at nearby foes before speeding off in a cloud of flame and swirling dust.
- When selecting a target for that attack, enemy units that RUSTED CLAW ATALAN unit moved within 6" of in this phase are eligible targets (even if they are not visible to or in range of the model that has been selected to shoot).
- Until the end of the phase, do not roll to determine the number of attacks made with that weapon; instead, the maximum number of attacks are made with that weapon (e.g. 6 attacks are made with a Grenade D6 weapon).
Cult psykers are able to employ the minds of the faithful as willing conduits for their unnatural powers.
The GENESTEALER CULTS and PSYKER keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Cult psykers are able to employ the minds of the faithful as willing conduits for their unnatural powers.
Many of the same techniques employed in freeing precious ores from bedrock can be applied to violently digging enemies out of fortified positions.
The GENESTEALER CULTS and CROSSFIRE keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
A key tenet of guerrilla warfare is knowing how to concentrate the fire of even inferior weapons to inflict maximum harm.
The faithful think nothing of abusing the machine spirits of their weaponry, deeming the stirring of those spirits’ wrath to be an acceptable price for the overcharged slaughter they can wreak.
- If it is a ranged weapon, add 1 to the Damage characteristic of that attack.
- If it is a melee weapon, add 1 to the Strength characteristic of that attack.
- If any unmodified hit rolls of 1 are made for attacks with that weapon, after the attacking models unit has finished making its attacks, it suffers 1 mortal wound.
The , ATALAN and JACKALS keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Through constant harassment tactics, Atalan Jackals can misdirect their enemies’ attention and leave them wide open to attack from an unexpected quarter.
This explosive has been enhanced with unstable compounds brewed by the cults finest Biophaguses.
The ATALAN keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The ACHILLES RIDGERUNNERS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
At great speed, the cult’s outriders roar into optimal firing positions to inflict catastrophic damage.
Light, swift cult elements often perform hit-and-run strikes against exposed enemies before racing back to cover.
A key tenet of guerrilla warfare is knowing how to concentrate the fire of even inferior weapons to inflict maximum harm.
The SANCTUS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Some Sanctuses coat their blades and munitions with neurological agents formulated to fill the victim’s mind with psychic white noise. Disorientating at the very least, this effect induces hideous mental feedback in psykers.
- Until the start of your next Shooting phase, that enemy model’s unit loses any aura abilities it has.
- If that enemy model is a PSYKER, its unit suffers Perils of the Warp.
Well trained by the Astra Militarum and the hivelords of their home worlds, the soldiery of the Hivecult know well how to catch their enemies in winnowing firestorms.
In dark nooks and crevices the true believers of the cult whisper and skulk, all but invisible to those who approach.
The Aberrants of the cult’s dark underbelly take a grim satisfaction in their ability to shrug off horrific damage.
As enemy fire hammers their position, so the faithful melt into the shadows to avoid its fury.
The Aberrants of the cult’s dark underbelly are terrifying in their ability to shrug off horrific damage.
As enemy fire hammers their position, so the faithful melt into the shadows to avoid its fury.
The HYBRID METAMORPHS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Driven by primal instincts and fanatical hatred, Genestealer Cultists fight viciously when upon the brink of death.
A sudden hail of cultist fire forces the enemies’ heads down, leaving them unable to respond to the broodkin onslaught.
So strong is the Genestealer influence on the psyches of some hybrids that occasionally their bestial nature takes over. The consequences are always bloody.
Squirming, crawling and scrabbling through confined spaces is second nature to many broodkin, and is a skill they use to assail seemingly impregnable enemy positions.
- Enemy units within that Area Terrain feature cannot fire Overwatch or Set to Defend.
- That GENESTEALER CULTS INFANTRY unit ignores the effects of the Difficult Ground trait from that Area Terrain feature.
The faithful will gladly hurl themselves into harm’s way to protect the masters of their cult.
Swift salvoes of gunfire suppress the enemy and spread panic in their ranks moments before the fanatical charge of the broodkin strikes home.
2CP | ||
DEVOTION TILL DEATH Genestealer Cults Stratagem These Aberrants sell their lives dearly to their foes, striking at them even after being mortally wounded themselves. Use this Stratagem at the start of the Fight phase. Pick an ANOINTED THRONG ABERRANT unit from your army. Until the end of that phase, when a model from that unit is slain, that model is not removed from the battlefield as normal, but can instead immediately pile in and fight, even if it has already been chosen to fight that phase. After its attacks have been resolved, it is then removed from the battlefield. | ||
1CP | ||
FIGHT FOR THE ANOINTED ONE! Genestealer Cults Stratagem In battle, the ferocious war cry of their leader inspires the throng to heightened levels of fanaticism as they unleash zealous brutality upon their foe. Use this Stratagem at the start of your Fight phase. Pick an ANOINTED THRONG ABERRANT unit within 6" of an ANOINTED THRONG ABOMINANT. Re-roll wound rolls of 1 for attacks made by that unit until the end of that phase. | ||
1CP | ||
THE FIRST TO DRAW BLOOD Genestealer Cults Stratagem With impetuous fervour and passion, these warriors of the cult charge headlong into the enemy, seeking blood and glory. Use this Stratagem at the start of your Fight phase. Pick a DELIVERANCE BROODSURGE unit from your army that made a charge move this turn. Add 1 to wound rolls for attacks made by that unit until the end of that phase. | ||
Wielding hefty industrial saws and drills, sufficiently determined broodkin can carve their way through the toughest enemy defence lines.
Determined to destroy their enemies, some broodkin will risk hurling explosives into combat at point-blank range.
- That model can only attack with that Grenade weapon (even though it is not a melee weapon and even if it has the Blast special rule), and can do so even if it is within Engagement Range of an enemy unit. When it does so, it makes a number of attacks equal to that weapons Type characteristic.
- Each time that model makes an attack with that weapon, an unmodified hit roll of 2+ is always successful. On an unmodified hit roll of 1, after that model’s unit has finished making all of its attacks, one model in that unit is destroyed.
The swollen frames of the Twisted Helix’s Aberrants contain distended adrenal sacs that can drive them into a frenzy of bloodletting, against which few foes can stand.
- Each enemy model destroyed by an attack made by a model in that unit counts as two for the purposes of Morale tests.
- Each time a model in that unit fights, it can frenzy. If it does so, until that fight is resolved, add 1 to that model’s Attacks characteristic and change the Damage characteristic of melee weapons it is equipped with to 1.
Even in death, the Kelermorph seeks to set a bloodthirsty example.
Genestealer Cults are willing to sacrifice any asset for the cause.
Should the faithful of the Pauper Princes fail in their duty to protect the lives of their religious leaders, they are instead driven into a vengeful fervour against those who dare such desecration.
The REDUCTUS SABOTEUR keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The GENESTEALER CULTS and CORE keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Genestealer Cultists are not above rigging valuable battlefield assets with explosive traps.
- If a Blast weapon targets a unit that has between 6 and 10 models, it always makes a minimum of 3 attacks. So if, when determining how many attacks are made with that weapon, the dice rolled results in less than 3 attacks being made, make 3 attacks instead. For example, if a Grenade D6 weapon with the Blast rule targets a unit that has 6 or more models, and you roll a 2 to determine how many attacks are made, that roll is counted as being a 3 and that weapon makes three attacks against that unit.
- When a Blast weapon targets a unit that has 11 or more models, do not roll dice to randomly determine how many attacks are made – instead, make the maximum possible number of attacks. For example, if a Grenade D6 weapon with the Blast rule targets a unit that has 11 or more models, that weapon makes six attacks against that unit.
- Blast Weapons: Minimum three attacks against units with 6+ models. Always make maximum number of attacks against units with 11+ models.
- Can never be used to attack units within the firing unit’s Engagement Range.
- Overwatch: Before charge roll made, all charge targets that can fire Overwatch can do so.
- Can never fire Overwatch while enemy units are in Engagement Range.
- When firing Overwatch, shoot with unit, but attacks only hit on unmodified 6s.
If every model in an INFANTRY unit is within 3" of an Obstacle terrain feature with this trait, then it can either Hold Steady or it can Set to Defend (see below) when an enemy unit declares a charge against it if, were you to draw a straight line, 1mm in thickness, between the closest parts of the bases (or hulls) of the two closest models in the two units, that line would pass over or through that terrain feature.
A unit cannot Hold Steady or Set to Defend while it is within Engagement Range of any enemy units.
If a unit Holds Steady, any Overwatch attacks made by that unit this phase will score hits on rolls of 5+. If a unit Sets to Defend, it cannot fire Overwatch this phase, but you add 1 to hit rolls when resolving attacks made with melee weapons by models in that unit until the end of the next Fight phase.
- INFANTRY units can Hold Steady or Set to Defend (if no enemy within Engagement Range).
- Hold Steady: Overwatch attacks hit on 5+.
- Set to Defend: Cannot fire Overwatch but add 1 to hit rolls in next Fight phase.
- Subtract 2" when making a Normal Move, Advance, Fall Back or charge move over this terrain feature (unless the moving unit can FLY, or if the moving unit is TITANIC and the terrain feature is less than 3" in height).
- Perils of the Warp: The PSYKER unit manifesting the power suffers D3 mortal wounds.
- If PSYKER unit is destroyed, the psychic power fails to manifest.
- If PSYKER unit destroyed, every other unit within 6" suffers D3 mortal wounds.
If a unit includes any models equipped with Assault weapons, that unit is still eligible to shoot with in your Shooting phase even if it has Advanced this turn, but you can only resolve attacks using those Assault weapons when you select that unit to shoot with. If a model shoots an Assault weapon in the same turn in which its unit has Advanced, subtract 1 from hit rolls when resolving that weapon’s attacks.
- Can be shot even if firing model’s unit Advanced.
- Subtract 1 from hit rolls if the firing model’s unit Advanced.
- Points limit: Sum of all points values in army cannot exceed this.
Just as important as grand strategy is the tactical approach to every individual engagement, from the most meagre skirmish to grand offensives and onslaughts. All must be planned with equal cunning and determination in order for the cult to emerge victorious.
- +1 to saving throws against melee weapons unless model has made a charge move this turn.
- Invulnerable saving throws unaffected.
- +1 Ld if wholly within 6”.
MIGHT FROM BEYOND
With a low whisper that rises to a scream, the psyker amplifies the alien might hidden within every cultist, swelling their bodies with empowering energy born of the void itself.
Blessing: Might From Beyond has a warp charge value of 6. If manifested, select one friendly unit within 18" of and visible to this PSYKER. Until the start of your next Psychic phase, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of models in that unit.
- A friendly unit that contains 1 or more VEHICLE or MONSTER models with a wounds characteristic of 10 or more.
- A friendly non-CHARACTER unit that contains 1 or more VEHICLE or MONSTER models.
- A friendly non-CHARACTER unit that contains 3 or more models.
- Cannot shoot at an enemy CHARACTER with 9 or less wounds while it is within 3" of a friendly unit that contains 1 MONSTER, 1 VEHICLE or 3+ other models (excluding CHARACTER models with 9 or less wounds) unless it is the closest target.
The and PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS keywords are used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Add 1 to the Leadership characteristic of friendly units while they are within 6" of this WARLORD.
The PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The LOCUS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
The JACKAL ALPHUS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
An INFANTRY, BEAST or SWARM model receives the benefits of cover from an Obstacle while it is within 3" of that terrain feature unless, when you resolve an attack that targets that model's unit, you can draw straight lines, 1mm in thickness, to every part of that model’s base from a single point on the attacking model’s base (or hull) without any of those lines passing over or through any part of this terrain feature.
- Models move over Obstacles using normal rules for movement.
- Models use normal rules to determine if model behind an Obstacle is visible.
- Obstacles cannot be attacked.
- INFANTRY, BEASTS and SWARM models receive the benefits of cover while within 3", unless a Straight line can be drawn from the attacker to all parts of the target model without it passing over or through this terrain feature.
The Requisitions you can purchase can be found here. Each Requisition will tell you when it can be purchased; they can never be purchased during a battle. Unless stated otherwise, there is no limit on the number of Requisitions you can purchase, the number of times you can purchase each Requisition, nor on the combination of Requisitions you can purchase, so long as you have enough Requisition points. If you do not have enough Requisition points to purchase a Requisition, you cannot purchase it.
- Requisitions cost Requisition points to purchase.
- You can never have more than 5 Requisition points.
- Each battle you play earns you 1 Requisition point (win, lose or draw).
Each time a unit gains a Battle Honour you must increase its Crusade points total by 1 (if the unit has a Power Rating of 10 or less) or 2 (if the unit has a Power Rating of 11 or higher).
- There are four types of Battle Honours:
- Battle Traits: New skills and abilities.
- Weapon Enhancements: Upgrade an item of wargear.
- Psychic Fortitudes: Boosts a unit's psychic might.
- Crusade Relic: Gain a rare and powerful artefact.
- Each time a unit gains a Battle Honour, increase its Crusade points by:
- 1 if unit has a Power Rating of 10 or less.
- 2 if unit has a Power Rating of 11 or more.
- Power Level: Sum of all Power Ratings in army.
The NEXOS keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
- Deny the Witch: Passed if 2D6 exceeds result of the opposing PSYKER’s Psychic test.
- Only one attempt can be made to deny each psychic power.
The CORE keyword is used in the following Genestealer Cults datasheets:
Models do not suffer this penalty to their hit rolls when making an attack with a ranged weapon that targets an AIRCRAFT unit, or a unit that includes any models with a Wounds (W) characteristic of 18 or more, even if this terrain feature is between it and the firing model (note that the reverse is not true).
- Subtract 1 from hit rolls made for ranged weapons if at least 3” tall.
- Does not apply to models that are only shooting through their own terrain feature.
- No penalty when shooting at AIRCRAFT and units with W characteristic of 18+.
The <HIVE FLEET> keyword is used in the following Tyranids datasheets:
Even as battle rages, reinforcements slip from the shadows or spill up from the dark places below, called to war by the Broodmind.
Each time a NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army summons the cult, D6 destroyed models can be added back to that unit. Each time any other GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army summons the cult, D3 destroyed models can be added back to that unit with their full wounds remaining. If a unit could summon the cult more than once (e.g. a unit equipped with a cult icon is also in range of an ACOLYTE ICONWARD’s Nexus of Devotion ability), the results are cumulative. However, no more than 6 models can be added back to a NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit per turn, and no more than 3 models can be added back to any other GENESTEALER CULTS unit per turn. These returned models can only be set up within Engagement Range of enemy units that are already within Engagement Range of the unit they are being added back to.The Factions that a unit belongs to will be listed in the Faction keywords section of its datasheet.
- Faction: Described by Faction keywords on a unit's datasheet.
- If Detachment requires all units to be from the same Faction, they must all share at least one Faction Keyword.
Achilles missile launcher used in the following datasheets:
Atalan incinerator used in the following datasheets:
Atalan small arms used in the following datasheets:
Autogun used in the following datasheets:
When a model shoots a Rapid Fire weapon, double the number of attacks it makes if its target is within half the weapon’s range.
- Double number of attacks made if target is within half range.
Autopistol used in the following datasheets:
Blasting charges used in the following datasheets:
Bolt pistol used in the following datasheets:
Cache of demolition charges used in the following datasheets:
Chemical vials used in the following datasheets:
Clearance incinerator used in the following datasheets:
Cult shotgun used in the following datasheets:
Cult sniper rifle used in the following datasheets:
Demolition charge used in the following datasheets:
Flamer used in the following datasheets:
Frag grenades used in the following datasheets:
Grenade launcher used in the following datasheets:
Hand flamer used in the following datasheets:
Heavy mining laser used in the following datasheets:
Heavy mortar used in the following datasheets:
Heavy seismic cannon used in the following datasheets:
Heavy stubber used in the following datasheets:
Liberator autostub used in the following datasheets:
Mining laser used in the following datasheets:
Remote explosives used in the following datasheets:
Scoped needle pistol used in the following datasheets:
Seismic cannon used in the following datasheets:
Twin autocannon used in the following datasheets:
Web pistol used in the following datasheets:
Webber used in the following datasheets:
Atalan power weapon used in the following datasheets:
Chainsword used in the following datasheets:
Cult bonesword used in the following datasheets:
Cult claws used in the following datasheets:
Cult claws and knife used in the following datasheets:
Cult claws and talons used in the following datasheets:
Drilldozer blade used in the following datasheets:
Force stave used in the following datasheets:
Heavy improvised weapon used in the following datasheets:
Heavy power weapon used in the following datasheets:
Heavy rock cutter used in the following datasheets:
Heavy rock drill used in the following datasheets:
Heavy rock saw used in the following datasheets:
Injector goad used in the following datasheets:
Locus blades used in the following datasheets:
Magus bio-dagger used in the following datasheets:
Metamorph mutations used in the following datasheets:
Patriarch’s claws used in the following datasheets:
Power maul used in the following datasheets:
Power pick used in the following datasheets:
Power sledgehammer used in the following datasheets:
Sanctus bio-dagger used in the following datasheets:
Toxin injector claw used in the following datasheets:
Alchemicus familiar used in the following datasheets:
Cult icon used in the following datasheets:
Cult lash whip used in the following datasheets:
Flare launcher used in the following datasheets:
Spotter used in the following datasheets:
Survey augur used in the following datasheets:
The <REGIMENT> keyword is used in the following Astra Militarum datasheets:
