Welcome to the Faction Focus for the Cult of The Four Armed Emperor. Today, we’re going to be breaking down everything you could want to know about playing the Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor at a local competition. This article is a supplement to the our Genestealer Cults tactics , intended to help you play Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor specifically alongside the information contained in Genestealer Cults . We’re going to go over everything specific to Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor, any specific units you might want to consider, a general breakdown of how Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor adjusts the general Genestealer Cults gameplan, and close out with a sample 2000 point list for Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor. With this information at hand, you should feel very comfortable using Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor (hereafter simply Emperor)at all your local events, both casually and competitively, and even be capable of performing well at a large scale event.
CULT OF THE FOUR ARMED EMPEROR CULT CREED ANALYSIS
Kicking us off, we have the Emperor’s Trait, Subterranean Ambushers. This is a very straight forward trait, as it improves your Advance Rolls by 1 and your Charge rolls by 1. This bonus is only active however on your first turn, and on any unit during the turn it is set up on the table. In other words, this Trait basically exclusively improves your first turn and your charges from Cult Ambush. We’ll be talking more about the impact of this trait at the end of the Analysis, since it drastically affects the odds on landing charges.
Next, we have their unique Stratagem, A Plan Generations In The Making. This is a 3CP Stratagem that lets you block one of your opponent’s Stratagems. However, per the new FAQ, it can only be used once per game. This makes it far less of a tool to build around, and rather an extra bit of utility to the already highly flexible GSC toolbox. Blocking a key Stratagem can easily turn the tide of a game, just make sure you block the right one since you only get one block a game.
Moving along, we have their unique Warlord Trait, Inscrutable Cunning. This is a very straightforward Warlord Trait, as it gives you D3 CP at the beginning of the game, along with a once per game re-roll for any hit, wound, or saving throw. Since this extra re-roll is basically a free use of the Command Re-roll Stratagem, this is effectively 2-4 Command Points added to your pool, with the average being 3. This is simply very high value, and even better, it pairs well with the Broodcoven Stratagem. Spending 1 CP to gain 2-4 while also still getting a more combat centered Warlord Trait for your actual Warlord is very strong. Plus you even get a third Warlord Trait on the last remaining member of the Broodcoven.
Finally, we have the Emperor’s unique Relic, The Sword Of The Four Armed Emperor. This Relic is just a Power Sword that gives you 4 extra attacks. It directly competes with The Sword Of The Void’s Eye, and that Relic is far stronger than this one. There are almost no situations where this Relic is worth taking.
At first glance, the various benefits that the Emperor’s offer seem far more suited to a small detachment rather than something you would build an entire list around. The Warlord Trait can easily be grabbed through Broodcoven as long as you have a mixed Detachment, or even a small dedicated Detachment like a Patrol or Vanguard, the Stratagem is one use only, the Relic is pretty bad, and the Trait only helps improve your bombs by granting them more consistency.
Although this conclusion isn’t wrong per say, since a small Emperor’s Detachment can cleanly play alongside a different Cult, there is a sneaky benefit to playing a pure Emperor’s list, and that is giving you the freedom to spend your CP on options other than A Perfect Ambush. Normally, A Perfect Ambush is required to help guarantee a success when charging out of Cult Ambush. Baseline, you need a 9, which has a very low success rate. With a nearby Clamvus, you rise up to an 8. This trait pushes you up to only needing a 7, which is a very important boost. A roll of a 7 is the single most likely result to occur on a 2d6 roll, and moving it from a failure to a success drastically improves your odds of success
This in turn means you are far less reliant on using A Perfect Ambush than any other Cult, which in turn opens you up to use the other Stratagems and Specialist Detachments available to GSC with far more freedom. A successful Emperor list will almost certainly have 1 or 2 Specialist Detachments along with a slightly higher emphasis on using Cult Ambush than many other Cults.
CULT OF THE FOUR ARMED EMPEROR RECOMMENDED UNITS ANALYSIS
Overall, there are no units that we would normally not recommend that particularly shine under an Emperor’s list. This Cult Creed doesn’t adjust the army’s core gameplan in any meaningful way so much as it simply makes it better at what it already does, which is by no means a bad thing.
CULT OF THE FOUR ARMED EMPEROR SAMPLE LIST/TACTICS
Let’s take a look at a sample 2000 point list for Emperors and how it would play on the battlefield. This army has a dizzying amount of CP at its disposal, and maximizing your options and methods of spending it is how you’ll come out on top.
++ Battalion Detachment +5CP (Tyranids – Genestealer Cults) [33 PL, 537pts, -6CP] ++
+ No Force Org Slot +
Cult Creed: Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor
Specialist Detachment: Deliverance Broodsurge [-1CP]
Stratagem: Broodcoven [-1CP]
Stratagem: Grandsire’s Gifts [-3CP]: 2 Extra Sacred Relics
+ HQ +
Acolyte Iconward [3 PL, 53pts, -1CP]: Icon of the Cult Ascendant, Stratagem: Field Commander, Warlord Trait: Augur of the Insurgent
Primus [4 PL, 75pts]: Bonesword, Broodcoven Primus, Warlord Trait: Inscrutable Cunning
+ Troops +
Acolyte Hybrids [11 PL, 150pts]: 19x Acolyte Hybrid, Cult Icon
. Acolyte Leader: Autopistol, Cultist Knife
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad [3 PL, 47pts]: Brood Brothers Leader
. 7x Brood Brother
. Brood Brothers Weapons Team: Mortar
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad [3 PL, 47pts]: Brood Brothers Leader
. 7x Brood Brother
. Brood Brothers Weapons Team: Mortar
+ Elites +
Clamavus [3 PL, 55pts]
Kelermorph [3 PL, 60pts]: Oppressor’s Bane
Nexos [3 PL, 50pts]
++ Brigade Detachment +12CP (Tyranids – Genestealer Cults) [94 PL, 1463pts, -2CP] ++
+ No Force Org Slot +
Cult Creed: Cult of the Four-Armed Emperor
Specialist Detachment: Anointed Throng [-1CP]
+ HQ +
Abominant [6 PL, 105pts, -1CP]: Stratagem: Field Commander, Warlord Trait: Insidious Mindwyrm
Magus [4 PL, 80pts]: Broodcoven Magus, Power: Mass Hypnosis, Power: Psychic Stimulus, Warlord Trait: Focus of Adoration
Patriarch [8 PL, 137pts]: Familiar, Power: Mass Hypnosis, Power: Mental Onslaught, Power: Might From Beyond, The Crouchling, Warlord, Warlord Trait: Biomorph Adaptation
+ Troops +
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad [3 PL, 47pts]: Brood Brothers Leader
. 7x Brood Brother
. Brood Brothers Weapons Team: Mortar
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad [3 PL, 47pts]: Brood Brothers Leader
. 7x Brood Brother
. Brood Brothers Weapons Team: Mortar
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad [3 PL, 40pts]: 9x Brood Brother, Brood Brothers Leader
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad [3 PL, 40pts]: 9x Brood Brother, Brood Brothers Leader
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad [3 PL, 40pts]: 9x Brood Brother, Brood Brothers Leader
Brood Brothers Infantry Squad [3 PL, 40pts]: 9x Brood Brother, Brood Brothers Leader
+ Elites +
Aberrants [14 PL, 250pts]
. 10x Aberrant (Pick): 10x Power Pick
Aberrants [14 PL, 250pts]
. 10x Aberrant (Pick): 10x Power Pick
Kelermorph [3 PL, 60pts]
+ Fast Attack +
Atalan Jackals [6 PL, 75pts]
. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
. Atalan Leader: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
Atalan Jackals [6 PL, 75pts]
. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
. Atalan Leader: Demolition Charge, Shotgun
Atalan Jackals [6 PL, 60pts]
. Atalan Jackal: Cultist Knife, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Cultist Knife, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Cultist Knife, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Cultist Knife, Shotgun
. Atalan Jackal: Cultist Knife, Shotgun
. Atalan Leader: Autogun, Shotgun
+ Heavy Support +
Brood Brothers Heavy Weapons Squad [3 PL, 39pts]
. 3x Brood Brothers Weapons Team: 3x Mortar
Brood Brothers Heavy Weapons Squad [3 PL, 39pts]
. 3x Brood Brothers Weapons Team: 3x Mortar
Brood Brothers Heavy Weapons Squad [3 PL, 39pts]
. 3x Brood Brothers Weapons Team: 3x Mortar
++ Total: [127 PL, -8CP, 2000pts] ++
There’s a lot to unpack here. To begin, let’s talk Command Points. We start with 3, gain 12 for our Brigade and 5 for our Battalion. That puts us at 20. We then gain 6 over the course of a game from our Nexos, putting us to 26. Finally, we gain 2-4, average of 3, putting us at about 29 CP for most games. We then spend 3 on two Relics, 2 for two Specialist Detachments, 2 for two uses of Field Commander, and finally 1 for Broodcoven. That puts us to 21, and already gives us a dizzying amount of options.
For starters, every HQ choice has a Warlord Trait. There’s definitely some flexibility on our Patriarch and Magus, but the others are all locked in. Similarly, we have some options with Relics. You will 100% want The Crouchling, and you will almost certainly want The Oppressors Bane. Your last relic is a swing choice, but for this sample list we took The Icon Of The Cult Ascendant as it helps improve the Strength of many of our units.
Let’s talk Deployment. At the beginning of the game, all of your Characters and a unit of Aberrants go into Ambush, and the rest of your list should be set up as Blips except for a Nexos in a corner somewhere. When you go to reveal Blips, you use They Came From Below to push your Acolyte Bomb and second Aberrant Bomb into Reserves. For this guide, we will be assuming that you can’t charge Turn 1 (as discussed in the core guide) with this Stratagem. If your event is allowing you to do so, you can apply the crazy amount of pressure this list has even faster.
At this point, basically the only thing you have on the table is a bunch of Guardsmen, your Jackals, and a Nexos. The 4 squads without Mortars should be placed up front while you place the other 4 with a Mortar further back along with your 3 Mortar Teams. In total, this is 13 Mortars, or about 45 Bolter rounds a turn raining on your opponent. Between that and your Jackals running up field, you should be able to pop a decent sized hole in your opponent’s lines.
On Turn 2, you deploy the huge amount of Reserves you have onto the table, minus the Kellermorph without The Oppressors Bane. You still have 1 use of A Perfect Ambush, and optionally you can hold something back to use A Perfect Ambush again with on Turn 3. Which unit you use A Perfect Ambush with is up to you and will be matchup dependent.Often, you won’t even really need to use it at all. Your Kellermorph with The Oppressors Bane is likely going to use Lying In Wait to get up close and personal and shoot down an enemy support piece.
Normally, you would have some extraordinarily difficult charges to land with all of these different units. However, careful positioning of the Clamvus along with the rest of your Characters and Bombs will make it so you only need a 7” charge. Your Aberrants get to re-roll their charge thanks to the Abominant, and your Acolytes only need a 6” charge to get in since they have an extra +1 on top of the +2 they already have. Many of your opponents will crumple on the spot as they have 2 full Squads of Aberrants along with 20 Acolytes hitting the core of their army this turn, in addition to a variety of offensive and defensive support pieces.
You also have either 15 or 18 CP to play around with (depending on a use of A Perfect Ambush or not), and a lot of uses for it. In addition to the Stratagem block, you have the various Vigilus Stratagems, two uses of Extra Explosives, obviously plenty of CP re-rolls, and plenty of situational uses. The bottom line is that you probably will have more CP than your opponent despite having spent around 12-15CP, and you can easily destroy upwards of 1000 points on your second turn depending on your opponent and his list. You can even easily option select into a Leadership 13 Patriarch (10 base, one for Warlord Trait, one for the Clamvus, one by picking the Deliverance Broodsurge relic) and use Mental Onslaught to one shot one of their bigger toys if they brought a long a big model.
Your gameplan here is to hit your opponent hard and hit them fast. They have exactly one turn to try to push you away and erect some kind of defenses, and if they fail to do that they’re going to lose. That wraps us up for our breakdown of how to use the Cult Of The Four Armed Emperor. Proper use of the overwhelming amount of CP that you have and maximizing your unusually high consistency to land charges out of deep strike will be the biggest keys to ensuring you find lots of success on the tabletop.
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Thanks to Games Workshop for the images used in the article.
