Not a long post, but I started looking up the Genestealer cult, when I realized: these guys could probably be played as Imperial Renegades. A few arm mutations, blackblood, etc. Perhaps a little bubble in the next Rulebook, suggesting it to fans?

You wanna mess with MY babies?!?! I see this ending in one of two ways...

A) StyrofoamKing & The Mordheimer join forces and finished the already started, but frozen Genestealer Cult project. The universe is a better (worst) place... even the Catachan plants become less aggressive.
B) StyrofoamKing & The Mordheimer get into a cage fight. The Mordheimer gets the whooping of a lifetime. He cries inconsolably. The universe is still a better (worst) place.

In all seriousness, the Genestealer Cult is THE Squad I always wanted to make. I have the basics done, but I was 'forced' to shelve it for a little while. As the keeper of TLRB, when people go into crazy design mode I get involved sooner or later! To answer your question/comment... yes and no.

• Yes, I used the Imperial Renegades as the initial platform to start the design for the Genestealer Cult.
  
• No, it is not just a few mutations... it is WAY better!

I AM a Tyranid player, and one of the few things I resent of GW (and they are just a couple) is the removal of the Genstealer Cult. I believe they can co-habitat with the Tyranid army in 40k without trouble. Now I have the opportunity to bring 'em back... and I will make 100% sure they are done right! I be damned if THE Squad I always wanted to play since we thought about this over a year ago turns out to be the crappiest/sloppiest one of all! HA! The plan is to honor the GC as was intended. We plan to use many of the original units and use the fluff to its max... so when you see the Squad you want to play it... even if you do not like Tyranids.

One thing that I like to do on designing Squads is to create 'test' concepts. For example, the Imperial Renegades serve as 'test group' for Mutations and the Mortar. These served as platforms to help develop Chaos Cultists. NOTE that the Chaos Cultists do not have Mutations, but the concept and math behind it served as point to develop the Chaos Marks... which in turn served as the foundation to work on the Kroot Evolutionary Paths which paved the road to conceptualize the IG Regional Platoons. They are ALL different things, but the lessons learned on the design were critical.

The Genestealer Cult will be no different. The plan is to test in a 'small' scale effects of Tyranid Biomorphs as well as how a pure-strain Genestealer would work on our game. We were also playing with different Special Rules that would change how the player uses the Squad. Basically players can do little to protect their Leader (other than either hiding him or putting cannon fodder in front of him!)... the GC would have a very particular way in which the faithful could defend their loved ones. This 4 sentence rules would change how GC players would think strategic moves for the Squad (compare to lets say IG players). Again, Death Squads is about challenging the players... no two Squads should feel or play the same. Just like Orks are not "IG painted green" or Imperial Renegades are not "IG with broken uniforms", the Genestealer Cult will not be IG with Tyranid parts".

The design of the Genestealer Cult will pave the way for the direct design and development of my 2nd beloved Squad... Tyranids. We have the concepts already approved by some of the designers... but we HAVE to wait until the new Codex is out and I run out the inevitable "new army Codex" 40k fever.



Trust me... GREAT things are coming. We don't have enough time! HA! PS... I need to write LESS!

Ha! Sorry, didn't mean to upset you. No, I think a genestealer cult is a great idea... however, if you DeathSquaders weren't going to come up with rules, then the Renegades are a decent proxy (or, for the impatient, a good benchwarmer.)

I'm sure you have the squad nearly done, (and you DEFINITELY know more about Nids than me) but a few ideas hit me:

1) For the 'infected' members of enemy warbands, I recommend something loosely based off of Tim Hicklebury's Mord 'Pirate Warband''s Swabbie recruitment... (not EXACTLY like it, as it had some flaws.) In general, recruiting from the 'dead' warriors of opposing squads will be a lot more fair than converting the living (not to mention make you fewer enemies).

2) This is COMPLETELY out there, but what if all Hero Experience (outside of Surviving the game and the Leader's +1 for Winning) was shared as evenly as possible amongst the heroes? It would be an interesting way to recreating the 'Hive Mind', showing that all experiences are shared together. (Example: Your 6 heroes caused 3 Out of Actions this game. You pick where the first experience goes, and randomly pick 2 heroes to each get 1 exp.)

LOL! I'm not upset! ehehehehe... it is just I want to clone myself, so I can do more!

I like the 'infection' idea! NICE! Fits with the fluff and if we take your idea of using dead Officers... makes it even better! Nothing more cruel that modeling your friend's dead hero and using against him! MUHAHAHAAHAH!!!

The idea of sharing experience deserves to be looked at. At first glance, the reason that you give for it doesn't fit the fluff. Think of the Genestealer Cult like a real-life religious fanatics. Lower members are enamored with some ideal (usually so far fetched that one wonders if their IQ is in the single digits) and as you climb the ranks, the clerics become more aware of the scam. On the GC there is no Hive Mind... just the promise that the Great Father will soon come and take his Children to a better place. Only the Leaders (4th Generation) truly understand their purpose is to prepare the planet for the Great Devourer (the Tyranids) to consume the planet. They psykic connection is not one of experience or communication (like other Tyranids) but one of empathic euphoric isolationist well being. Anyone 'infected' does sense that they are family and are naturally attracted to each other... but that does not means they are automatically join at the hip. THAT is the job of the 'elders'. The combination of verbal charm and psykic links make all bonds forge fanatical to the death.

As the colonies grow, they become more isolationists and self sufficient... and eventually they send missionaries out as well as start to infiltrate the government. Eventually they start converting 'uninfected' people who follow just because of the charismatic leaders. Eventually they lead a revolution... wage war with the Imperial Government. The psychic scream is sent during the conflict as many hybrids die. Weaken by civil war... they are surprised by the Great Father. CHOMP! Everyone becomes Tyranid Biomass. Rinse and repeat!

As you see, sharing XP may not be on the best fit for the classic fluff. Also, I do not know how it would mess with game mechanics.

Bring out your Dead:
As a reminder, this is how the Pirates Worked:

Henchmen/Recruits: Whenever a hench 'died', you'd roll 1D6; on a 1-3, they were REALLY dead, on a 4-6 they are recruitable. Then, both the 'dead' hench and the capturing leader roll 2D6 and add their Leadership (adding +1 to whichever side won.) In the captured model wins, he becomes a lowly, unwilling member of the crew (swabbie... a weak, expendable slave). If the Leader wins, he willingly becomes a crew member (base human stats.) Either way, you keep their stuff.

With Heroes/ Officers, you could only attempt to convert them whenever you roll the 'Captured' Injury result.

MY SUGGESTION: A slightly simpler method (as the above only yielded you a recruit once every five of six games, and required MANY steps:)

Dead Recruits: Whenever a non-animal, non-Large Recruit is taken out of action by a GC, roll to see if the recruit lives or 'dies'. If the model dies, he has been taken by the Genestealers! The GC leader and the recruit both roll 2D6, add their respective leaderships, with a +1 bonus to the player that won. If the Genestealer player wins, he has succeeded in corrupting the recruit to his cause: you may gain a free Convert model, with base stats (probably Ws2, Bs2, ld6 Human). If the recruit wins, he has managed to honorably kill himself (cyanide capsule, biting his own tongue, etc), rather than submit, and is removed from the game. With corrupted recruits, all equipment is lost, except for their free knife and autopistol; the rest was left behind on the battlefield. With dead recruits, all equipment is lost.

With an Officer that has rolled the 'Captured' Serious Injury, a GC player gains both the captured officer and his equipment. While he may choose to convert the captured officer (using the same rules above), once you have rolled to convert an Officer, he may not be ransomed back to the original player; he has either joined your side as a Convert, or gone to meet his maker!


Hive Mind fluff: Well, if it doesn't fit with the GC, no worries. Though, it might still fit fluff-wise with the Nids.

Game Balance: I'm not sure either, but in my head, it works as a weakness AND a strength.

Weakness: On the one hand, it would (theoretically) spread the experience evenly around... so while it may mean that a certain will upgrade more slowly than his Ork nemesis, it also means a more well rounded team. Also, it prevents a single, monstrous creature from farming on his opponents: I've played many a game against a Possessed that reaps 5 or more experience in each game, widening the strength game more each game. In one sense, it might allow the Nid squad to start off with stronger officers, knowing that the glory will not be reaped by a single uber-warrior.

Strength: On the positive side, it means that your 'shielded' officers (leader, psycker) are sharing in the wealth, even behind a screen. Also, if you score 6 OOAs in any game, and one of your officers die, than the 6 is spread evenly amongst the surviving officers: a death means a bigger piece of pie for each officer.

Both: Likewise, losing an officer is painful (as he had an equal share), and there are no 'cheap', expendable heroes: but at the same time, if the exp is shared, then there is no single uberwarrior to lose, taking all of your squad's strength with him to the grave. Thus, all your eggs are, (at least on paper), not in one basket.

Worth a test, at least.

I like the recruitment! Hehehehe.... It can be worked out. That was awesome! THANKS!