Genestealer Cult at the LVO

Just back from taking my Cult to the LVO, and I thought I would put my experience  on “paper”, really as a precursor to some thoughts on how I might change my list.

The list I took to the LVO was a Cult Insurrection Detachment, with  Brood Cycle as core and 2 Subterranean Uprisings.

Brood Cycle

Iconward

5 Acolytes

5 Acolytes

5 Acolytes

5 Metamorphs

20 Genestealers

10 Neophytes

10 Neophytes

Lords of the Cult

Magus, Level 2, Crouchling

Patriarch Level 2, 2 Familiars

Subterranean Uprising

Primus, Sword of the Voids Eye.

5 Acolytes, 2 Rock Saws

5 Acolytes, 2 Rock Saws

10 Metamorphs, Cult Icon, 5 Claws

10 Metamorphs, Cult Icon, 5 Claws

10 Metamorphs, Cult Icon, 5 Whips

Subterranean Uprising

5 Acolytes, 2 Rock Saws

5 Acolytes, 2 Rock Saws

10 Metamorphs, Cult Icon, 5 Claws

10 Metamorphs, Cult Icon, 5 Whips

10 Metamorphs, Cult Icon, 5 Whips

So, usual format, brief game summaries and some thoughts on how the list performed.

Game 1

ITC Mission 1 against KDK. Bunch of Hounds, a knight, a D-thirstier and some cultists. I got first turn and also rolled a “6” on the Warlord Table, giving my Patriarch the ability to choose his Cult Ambush result. I also rolled bunch of 6s on the CA table, in fact I rolled so many 6s, that I ran out of room to deploy them. I deployed ready to pounce …. and he seized! Now, metamorphs can usually kill Hounds if they get the charge with the appropriate bubbles … but if they get charged by hounds, they’re dead. Which is exactly what happened. I tried my hardest to get a few points, but I was comprehensively beaten.

Moral of this story – if you set up aggressively with cult ambush, and you’re seized on, you lose!

Game 2

ITC Mission 2 against a really pretty Lamenters army. By the weirdest coincidence my opponent had posted a picture of his army on Facebook a week or so before the LVO, and I had commented on how well painted if was ….. what were the odds of us playing! So any way, he had 3 Stormravens full of tactical squads (the formation that allows you to assault out of reserve), 3 Furioso’s (2 of them Libby dreads) and 3 units of sisters of silence. I got first turn again, but he deployed nothing but the sisters, keeping the Ravens in reserve. 

I deployed using Cult Ambush, rolled a bunch of 6s and killed all the sisters. All his Ravens come in on one dice roll turn one. If he didn’t roll high, he would auto lose…. and my detachment bonus give him -1 on that reserve roll. However he rolls a 6 and the game continues. Long story short I was lucky. His Ravens were designed for anti tank (multi melta’s and lazcannons, no hurricane bolters), and my Patriarch rolled Iron Arm on Biomancy, meaning he could deal with the Furiosos. A narrow game, but a big win – 11-1

Learning point – infiltrating 20 ‘stealers plus Patriarch onto the relic is a pretty good way to hold it!

Game 3

ITC mission 3 against War Con. A 2 knights version of War Con, with all the usual stuff. I get 2^nd turn so I reserve my Brood Cycle and infiltrate everything else, but then whip it straight off the board in turn one so I can come in via cult ambush on turn 2. Turn 2 I roll some sixes and start to pick his army apart. Highlight is one of his knights getting swarmed by 20 ‘stealers and killed on the last dice roll!! The explosion killed a bunch of the ‘stealers, but I was able to return to the shadows and replenish. I took down the other knight in a combined charge by one of the rock saw units and one of the claw metamorph units. Win to me.

Learning point – going second with the cult can be pretty strong. Cognis flamers are horrendous when you have a 5+ armour save. Knights don’t really scare the cult, and you probably don’t need Rock Saws to deal with them. Returning to the shadows and replenishing your units is a great way to play the kill point mission.

Game 4

Against War Con again. Got turn 2, and my opponent castles in a corner. I infiltrate everything and return to the shadows in my turn one to come on via cult ambush in turn 2. He pops Litanies of the Electromancer, and explains what it does. Hmmmm…..! That one power kinda invalidates my army’s big “trick”, and he can do it twice. So I can do nothing turn 2, I go off the board turn 3, he pops it again, and I can do nothing when I come back on turn 4. By this time he has all the objectives and is ahead on maelstrom. Big loss.

Learning point – I hadn’t thought about War Con as a hard counter to the cult, but it is. If I go first, then I have a chance, but going second, Litanies just screw me. What I really don’t understand is why my Game 3 opponent didn’t use the power!!

Game 5

Against Tau, Double Stormsurge, 2 of the Forge World Riptides with AP2 flamers, a commander with drones, and some sisters. The Riptides and Stormsurges have interceptor. This is my ultimate bad match up. If I go second I lose …. But I get first turn. There’s a chance. However I then proceed to roll 2 6s on Cult Ambush (on 28 dice!!), suffer horribly in overwatch, and bounce off his Stormsurges. It’s pretty much all over by the end of turn 2.

If I had rolled a few more 6s, I think I could have taken down both Surges on turn one. Even with just 2 untis I got one of them down to 1 wound. If I had rolled an average of 4 6s, then I reckon I would have taken out at least one of them, but probably both. Tau will continue to be my very worse match up. 

Game 6

Against Chaos marines. I go first, he doesn’t seize , I roll a bunch of 6s and decimate his army turn one. All over very quickly.

Game 7 (in the Sunday RTT)

Agasint Orks. Again, I go first, roll a bunch of 6s, he doesn’t seize and I decimate his army on turn one. He runs one of the unkillable Stompas, and by turn 3 that’s all he has left.

Game 8

Against flying MC demons. Three princes, Fateweaver, nurglilngs and horrors. I get first turn, and choose to infiltrate everything. He castles in a corner, and bubble wraps with nurglings and brimstone horrors. I can’t get to anything with a charge first turn, and if he takes off with the Princes it’s going to be really hard. So I have a brain wave and flood the board with models so he can’t land within 24”. If I can blow through the nurglings and brims, I can get an assault off against his princes on turn 2 while they’re still on the ground. A great plan, but 2 things go wrong, firstly, I screw up the deployment, and miss the top level of a 3 level building. I realise this (in fact my opponent points it out to me) and summon another unit, which will fill the gap. I get off the power (despite my opponent throwing buckets of dice at trying to deny it) but then roll a 1 on cult ambush, meaning I have to come on from the back board edge! The second thing that goes wrong is that I fail a 3” charge on the nurglings …. twice! So my opponents bubble wrap is still in place and 3 of his 4 Princes get into the air. The detonate nova powers, devastating my army. However, I “dig in” and try and play it clever, holding my opponent to a 6-4 (I think) win.

Game 9

Against flying demons again. Long-time followers of my blog (!) know how much I hate playing demons, and by this time multiple games and jet lag had fried my brain. Luckily my opponent felt the same. He was happy to skip our last game.

So in total 4-4 on games played, although probably more like 4-5, as I suspect I would have lost game 9.

That’s the reports, next some analysis.