§ PRINT · 11th edition

Genestealer Cults Stratagems57 stratagems across 12 detachments, with the army rules and detachment rules they come with. Print them as cards, nine to a sheet.

Stratagems: 57
Detachments: 129 tournament legal
Army rules: 4
Data: 2026-08-04

Print as cards Phase Plan Genestealer Cults meta

4 rules

Army rules

What every Genestealer Cults army brings to the table, whichever detachment it is built on.

4 rules

Cult Ambush

Genestealer Cults keep their fighting strength carefully hidden from their oppressors until the glorious Day of Ascension arrives. When they finally emerge to fight, it is after long years of meticulous planning, and with an intimate knowledge of the battlefield that grants them a tactical advantage. Even as battle rages, reinforcements slip from the shadows or spill up from the dark places below, called to war by the Broodmind.

If your Army Faction is GENESTEALER CULTS, you start the battle with a number of Resurgence points, depending on the battle size, as shown below.
▪ Incursion: 6 Resurgence points
▪ Strike Force: 10 Resurgence points
▪ Onslaught: 14 Resurgence points

Each time a unit from your army is destroyed, if every model (excluding CHARACTER models) in that unit has this ability, you can spend the relevant number of Resurgence points shown below based on that unit’s Starting Strength (not including attached CHARACTER models).
Aberrants 5 models 4 Resurgence points 10 models 8 Resurgence points Acolyte Hybrids with Autopistols, Acolyte Hybrids with Hand Flamers, Hybrid Metamorphs 5 models 2 Resurgence points 10 models 4 Resurgence points Atalan Jackals 5 models 2 Resurgence points 10 models 6 Resurgence points Neophyte Hybrids 10 models 3 Resurgence points 20 models 6 Resurgence points Purestrain Genestealers 5 models 2 Resurgence points 10 models 6 Resurgence points
If you do:

▪ Add a new unit to your army identical to your destroyed unit (excluding CHARACTER models), in Cult Ambush, at its Starting Strength, with all of its wounds remaining and any [ONE SHOT] weapons those models are equipped with considered as not having been shot.
▪ Place one Cult Ambush marker (see below) anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 9" horizontally away from all enemy units (if this is not possible, no marker is placed).
Units in Cult Ambush
Cult Ambush is a type of Strategic Reserves. Units in Cult Ambush cannot be targeted with the Rapid Ingress Stratagem, but can be set up on the battlefield using a Cult Ambush marker as described below, or by following the rules for Strategic Reserves in a subsequent turn. Units in Cult Ambush are not automically destroyed at the end of the third battle round.
Cult Ambush Markers

Use a circular 32mm diameter marker for Cult Ambush markers. If an enemy model (excluding AIRCRAFT) ends any kind of move within 8" of a Cult Ambush marker you placed, that Cult Ambush marker is removed from the battlefield. At the end of your opponent’s next Movement phase, for each of your Cult Ambush markers still on the battlefield, you can select one unit from your army that is in Cult Ambush to make an ingress move. For that ingress move, set that unit up with at least one model in that unit in base contact with that Cult Ambush marker and all other models placed wholly within 3" of that Cult Ambush marker (that Cult Ambush marker is then removed from the battlefield). Units in Cult Ambush can make an ingress move in the first battle round using this rule.

57 stratagems

Detachments

Each detachment's own rules, then the stratagems it unlocks.

57 stratagems

Biosanctic Broodsurge

6 stratagems

Hypermorphic Fury

Little can assuage a Genestealer Cults least Human instincts, behaviours made even more ferocious under provocation. Stimulated by psionic pulses of the Broodmind or fuelled by alchemical concoctions delivered from alien grafts, impulses drive the blessed to acts of increased savagery.

Add 1 to Charge rolls made for ABERRANTS, BIOPHAGUS and PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS units from your army. In addition, each time such a unit is selected to fight, if it made a Charge move this turn, until the end of the phase, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of melee weapons equipped by models in that unit.

1 CPStrategic PloyEither turn

EVASIVE VANGUARD

Any phase

Adaptive and intelligent, the purest of a cult's broods can evade their foes to find new avenues of ingress.

When: Any phase, just after an enemy unit ends a move within 8" of one or more of your Cult Ambush markers, before removing those markers from the battlefield.
Target: Select one of those Cult Ambush markers.
Effect: You can set up that Cult Ambush marker anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 8" horizontally away from all enemy units.

1 CPEpic DeedEither turn

SAINTLY PAROXYSM

Fight

There are few more holy virtues in the cult’s eyes than to use one’s final act to lay low the oppressor.

When: Fight phase, just after an enemy unit destroys a GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model from your army.
Target: That destroyed CHARACTER model. You can use this Stratagem on that model even though it was just destroyed.
Effect: Roll one D6: on a 2+, that enemy unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. If that Character model is an ABOMINANT or PATRIARCH, that enemy unit suffers 2D3 mortal wounds instead.

1 CPBattle TacticEither turn

GENE-TWISTED MUSCLE

Fight

The raw strength of those infused with the Patriarch’s distilled power is undeniable when directed against the foe’s hulking tools of tyranny.

When: Fight phase.
Target: One ABERRANTS, BIOPHAGUS or PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit from your army that has not been selected to fight this phase.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes an attack that targets a MONSTER or VEHICLE, add 1 to the Wound roll.

1 CPBattle TacticEither turn

HYPER-METABOLIC VIGOUR

Fight

Evidence of the bio-horror taint in their veins, the most blessed of a cult exhibit an inhuman swiftness.

When: Fight phase.
Target: One ABERRANTS, BIOPHAGUS or PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit from your army that has not been selected to fight this phase.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes a Pile-in or Consolidation move, it can move up to 6" instead of up to 3". In addition, it does not need to end that move closer to the closest enemy model, provided it ends it as close as possible to the closest enemy unit.

1 CPBattle TacticYour turn

STIMULATED BIO-SURGE

Charge

Triggered by xenos bio-stimms flooding their bodies, when the cult’s predators spring their trap, the jaws close inescapably.

When: Your Charge phase.
Target: One ABERRANTS, BIOPHAGUS or PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit from your army that has not declared a charge this phase.
Effect: Your unit has +2 to charge rolls.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

BIO-HORROR REVELATION

Shooting

Face to face with hideous genetic monstrosities, their full horror can shake even the most stoic soul.

When: Start of your opponent's Shooting phase.
Target: One ABERRANTS, BIOPHAGUS or PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit from your army.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, each time an enemy unit within 9" of your unit is selected to shoot, it must take a Leadership test, subtracting 1 from the result. If that test is failed, until the end of the phase, each time a model in that enemy unit makes an attack that targets your unit, subtract 1 from the Hit roll.

Brood Brother Auxilia

6 stratagems

Integrated Tactics

Coordinating with their militant allies via stolen vox equipment or signalling with cult icons, the insidious broodkin engulfs the hated foe in overlapping fields of fire.

Each time an ASTRA MILITARUM unit from your army (see below) is selected to shoot, you can select one enemy unit within 18" of and visible to that unit. If you do, until the end of the phase, models in that ASTRA MILITARUM unit can only target that enemy unit (and only if it is an eligible target) and that enemy unit is caught in overlapping fire. While an enemy unit is caught in overlapping fire, each time a GENESTEALER CULTS model from your army targets that enemy unit with a ranged attack, add 1 to the Hit roll.

BROOD BROTHERS

You can include ASTRA MILITARUM units in your army, even though they do not have the GENESTEALER CULTS Faction keyword. The combined points cost of such units you can include in your army is:
▪ Incursion: Up to 500 pts
▪ Strike Force: Up to 1000 pts
▪ Onslaught: Up to 1500 pts A GENESTEALER CULTS model must be your WARLORD, and ASTRA MILITARUM models from your army lose the Voice of Command ability if they have it. You cannot include units with any of the following keywords in your army using this rule: AIRCRAFT; COMMISSAR; EPIC HERO; MILITARUM TEMPESTUS; OGRYN; RATLING; TECH-PRIEST ENGINSEER; MINISTORUM PRIEST.

1 CPStrategic PloyEither turn

IN THE SHADOW OF IRON

Any phase

Hulking armoured war engines provide ideal cover to launch a well-timed ambush.

When: Any phase, just after an enemy unit ends a move within 8" of one or more of your Cult Ambush markers.
Target: One ASTRA MILITARUM VEHICLE unit from your army.
Effect: Select one of those Cult Ambush markers. You can set up that Cult Ambush marker anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 8" horizontally away from all enemy units and wholly within 6" of your unit.

1 CPStrategic PloyEither turn

REGIMENTAL REINFORCEMENTS

Shooting · Fight

Xeno-tainted soldiers have long learned to lurk in the shadows, ready to attack when the cult calls.

When: Your opponent’s Shooting phase or the Fight phase, just after an ASTRA MILITARUM INFANTRY REGIMENT unit from your army (excluding ARTILLERY and CHARACTER units) is destroyed.
Target: That INFANTRY unit. You can use this Stratagem on that unit even though it was just destroyed.
Effect: Roll one D6: on a 3+, place one Cult Ambush marker anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 8" horizontally away from all enemy units (if this is not possible, no marker is placed) and add a new unit to your army identical to your destroyed unit, in Cult Ambush, at its Starting Strength, with all of its wounds remaining and any [ONE SHOT] weapons those models are equipped with considered as not having been shot.
Restrictions: You can only use this Stratagem once per battle.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

SUPPRESS AND OVERWHELM

Shooting

Disciplined salvoes of fire can drive the foe into cover, leaving them vulnerable to the rest of the cult.

When: Your Shooting phase, just after an ASTRA MILITARUM unit from your army has shot.
Target: That ASTRA MILITARUM unit.
Effect: Select one enemy unit hit by one or more of those attacks. Until the end of the turn, that enemy unit cannot be targeted with the Fire Overwatch Stratagem and each time a GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army selects that enemy unit as a target of a charge, you can re-roll the Charge roll.

2 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

ACCEPTABLE LOSSES

Shooting

With martial pragmatism and the cult's victory at stake, Brood Brothers will willingly open fire on the foe even if it endangers infiltrating cells of allies.

When: Your Shooting phase.
Target: One ASTRA MILITARUM unit from your army.
Effect: Select one enemy unit within Engagement Range of one or more GENESTEALER CULTS units from your army. Until the end of the phase, your unit can make ranged attacks that target that enemy unit. If it does, after it has resolved those attacks, roll one D6 for each of those GENESTEALER CULTS units: on a 5+, the unit being rolled for suffers D3+1 mortal wounds.

1 CPBattle TacticYour turn

SYMBIOTIC DESTRUCTION

Shooting

As the Broodmind coordinates their timing, martial and insurrectionist comrades target their chosen victims in volleys of mutually supportive firepower.

When: Your Shooting phase.
Target: One ASTRA MILITARUM and one GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army that have not been selected to shoot this phase.
Effect: Select one enemy unit that is visible to both of those selected units and within range of at least one ranged weapon from each of those units. Until the end of the phase, models in those units can only make attacks that target that enemy unit (and only if it is an eligible target). When doing so, each time such a model makes an attack, re-roll a Wound roll of 1.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

A DARK NETWORK

Movement

Forewarned of the enemy's sudden onset by spies in their ranks or by the Brood Brothers' own strategos, the cult’s faithful evade potential catastrophe.

When: Reinforcements step of your opponent’s Movement phase, just after an enemy unit is set up on the battlefield from Reserves.
Target: One ASTRA MILITARUM or GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army (excluding MONSTERS and VEHICLES) within 12" of that enemy unit.
Effect: Your unit can make a Normal move of up to 6".

Cult Unveiled

Boarding Actions4 stratagems

Harassing Fire

Focusing on hit-and-fade tactics to wear their enemies down, the guerrilla fighters of the cult hammer the foe with swift volleys before vanishing back behind closing hatches.

At the encl of your Shooting phase, you can select one GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army that is not within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units. If you do, that unit can attempt to operate one open Hatchway it is within 1" of (if there is one), and can then make a Normal move of up to 3" (regardless of whether it attempted to operate a Hatchway or not). Until the end of the turn, that unit is not eligible to declare a charge.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

PLANNED EXTRACTION

Shooting

Driven by the Broodmind and their own guerrilla training, these cultists refuse open battle, instead firing hails of cover fire as they retreat into the shadows.

When: Your Shooting phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, your unit is eligible to shoot in a turn in which it Fell Back.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

OUT OF HIDING

Movement

Wary of detection, the cult has concealed cells of the faithful through the structure of the ship. Now they emerge into the fight like insects from their cocoon.

When: Your Movement phase, at the start of the Reinforcements step.
Target: One NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army that is in Reserves.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, models in your unit have the Deep Strike ability.
Restrictions: You can only use this Stratagem once.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

FOR THE BROOD

Shooting

Fanatical, and with wills suborned by the insidious Broodmind, these cultists will gladly die amidst hails of their comrades’fire if it means victory.

When: Your Shooting phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot this phase.
Effect: Select one enemy unit within Engagement Range of one or more friendly GENESTEALER CULTS units. Until the end of the phase, your unit can make ranged attacks that target that enemy unit. If it does, after your unit has finished making those attacks, roll one D6 for each of those friendly units: on a 2-4, that friendly unit suffers 1 mortal wound; on a 5+, that friendly unit suffers 2 mortal wounds.

1 CPBattle TacticOpponent's turn

LURKING MENACE

Shooting

Foes find their aim confounded as the Genestealer Cultists prowl through gloom and drifting steam, rarely presenting themselves as targets.

When: Your opponent’s Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army that was selected as the target of one or more of the attacking unit's attacks.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, each time an attack targets your unit, if the attacking model is not within 3", subtract 1 from the Hit roll.

Final Day

6 stratagems

Psionic Parasitism

With each tug on the synaptic leash, the Hive Mind drains more of its hapless worshippers.

At the end of your Movement phase, for each TYRANIDS SYNAPSE unit from your army, you can select one friendly GENESTEALER CULTS unit (excluding PURESTRAIN GENESTEALER and PATRIARCH units) and one friendly TYRANIDS unit each within 9" of and visible to that SYNAPSE unit. If you do, that GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army suffers D3+1 mortal wounds and one model in the selected TYRANIDS unit regains up to that many lost wounds and until the start of your next Movement phase, each time a model in the selected TYRANIDS unit makes an attack, add 1 to the Hit roll.
TYRANIDS units from your army have the following ability:

Catalyst (Aura): While an enemy unit is within 6" of this unit, each time a friendly GENESTEALER CULTS unit makes an attack that targets that enemy unit, add 1 to the Hit roll.
The Star Children’s Blessings
You can include TYRANIDS VANGUARD INVADER units (excluding AIRCRAFT, BROODLORD and GENESTEALERS units) in your army. The combined points cost of such units depends on your battle size:
▪ Incursion: Up to 500 pts
▪ Strike Force: Up to 1000 pts
▪ Onslaught: Up to 1500 pts
No TYRANIDS models from your army can be your WARLORD.

1 CPBattle TacticEither turn

HYPERFEROCITY

Fight

Goaded by the newly ascendant Hive Mind, the cultists fight with greater fury even as their muscles tear and organs rupture under the strain.

When: Fight phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army that has not been selected to fight this phase.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes an attack that targets an enemy unit, re-roll a Wound roll of 1. If one or more friendly TYRANIDS units are within 6" of that enemy unit, you can re-roll the Wound roll instead.

1 CPStrategic PloyEither turn

PSI SURGE

Any phase

As the Tyranid invasion gathers pace, the influence of the Hive Mind surges like waves rolling ever higher onto a desolate shore.

When: Start of any phase.
Target: One TYRANIDS unit from your army.
Effect: Until the start of your next Command phase, increase the range of your unit’s Catalyst ability by 3".
Restrictions: Each time you use this Stratagem, until the end of your next Command phase, you cannot use this Stratagem again.

1 CPBattle TacticEither turn

AVENGE THE STAR CHILDREN

Shooting · Fight

Some amongst the cult still retain enough sentience and zeal to feel rage and a need for vengeance if they see the Star Children slain.

When: Your opponent’s Shooting phase or the Fight phase, just after an enemy unit has shot or fought.
Target: One TYRANIDS CHARACTER unit from your army that was destroyed by that enemy unit this phase. You can use this Stratagem on that unit even though it was just destroyed.
Effect: Until the end of the battle, each time a GENESTEALER CULTS model from your army makes an attack that targets that enemy unit, add 1 to the Hit roll and add 1 to the Wound roll.

1 CPBattle TacticYour turn

DIVINE IMPERATIVE

Charge

Cultists dash madly into the fighting without a care for their survival, drawn onward to aid the vanguard organisms by a will they cannot resist.

When: Your Charge phase, when a friendly GENESTEALER CULTS unit within 12" of a friendly engaged TYRANIDS unit declares a charge.
Target: That GENESTEALER CULTS unit.
Effect: ▪ Your unit has +1 to charge rolls.
▪ You can use this part of this stratagem. If you do:
▪ Your unit can re-roll charge rolls.
▪ Your unit must end that charge move engaged with an enemy unit engaged with that friendly TYRANIDS unit.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

DARTING ATTACKS

Shooting · Charge

Like predatory sea beasts lunging from wheeling shoals of fish, the vanguard organisms strike and fade from amidst the cultist hordes repeatedly, picking apart their overwhelmed prey.

When: Your Shooting phase or your Charge phase.
Target: One TYRANIDS unit from your army.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, your unit is eligible to shoot and declare a charge in a turn in which it Fell Back.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

RESISTANCE TUNNELS

Charge

Never again will the tunnel networks of the cult provide secret roads for hopeful and idealistic freedom fighters. Yet they can still serve one last time as a means by which the Tyranids and their surviving worshippers can vanish from the battlefield only to strike again elsewhere.

When: End of your opponent’s Fight phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS or TYRANIDS unit from your army that is not within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units.
Effect: Remove your unit from the battlefield and place it into Strategic Reserves.

Genespawn Onslaught

Boarding Actions4 stratagems

Blessed Visages

To the faithful of the cult, these warriors appear as the blessed and beatific chosen of the Star Children. To all others they are grotesque hybrid horrors whose unnatural aspect triggers repulsion and aversion in equal measure.

Each time an enemy unit declares a charge that targets one or more GENESTEALER CULTS units from your army, that enemy unit must take a Leadership test. If failed, until the end of the turn, each time a model in that enemy unit makes an attack, subtract 1 from the Hit roll.

1 CPStrategic PloyEither turn

MONSTROUS MOMENTUM

Fight

Not content with slaying their immediate prey, these warriors press on in search of more before the bodies have even stopped twitching.

When: Fight phase, just after a GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army destroys an enemy unit.
Target: That GENESTEALER CULTS unit.
Effect: If your unit is not within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units, until the end of the phase, each time your unit Consolidates, models in your unit can end that move as close as possible to the nearest Hatchway instead of the nearest visible enemy unit. Your unit can then attempt to operate that Hatchway.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

UNSTOPPABLE BRUTES

Movement · Charge

Bulked out with enormous slabs of twisted muscle, Aberrants and Abominants simply smash aside hatches and bulkheads that block their paths.

When: Your Movement or Charge phase.
Target: One ABOMINANT or ABERRANTS unit from your army that has not been selected to move this phase and has not declared a charge this phase.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, when makinga Normal, Advance or Charge move, your unit can move through a single closed Hatchway as if it was open. When doing so, that Hatchway is opened and cannot be closed for the rest of the battle. This can allow that unit to declare a charge against enemy units that are not visible to it, but to do so those enemy units must be within 1" of that Hatchway and wholly on the opposite side of it from your unit.
Restrictions: You can only use this Stratagem once per turn.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

SOLDIERS OF THE STAR CHILDREN

Shooting

For all their grotesque appearance, Hybrid Metamorphs are amongst the most skilled and ruthlessly efficient of the cult’s warriors.

When: Your Shooting phase, just after a HYBRID METAMORPHS unit from your army is selected to perform the Set Overwatch Tactical Manoeuvre.
Target: That HYBRID METAMORPHS unit.
Effect: Select one objective marker you control that your unit is within range of. That objective marker is Secured by your army.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

GROWING DREAD

Shooting

The more enemies see of the gene-wrought terrors they are fighting against, the more their tactical cohesion is drowned by horror and panic.

When: Your opponent's Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit is selected to perform a Tactical Manoeuvre.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army that is within 9" of and visible to that enemy unit.
Effect: That enemy unit must take a Leadership test, subtracting 1 from the result: if failed, that enemy unit does not perform that Tactical Manoeuvre and it cannot perform anotherTactical Manoeuvre this turn (but can otherwise act normally).

Heroes of the Uprising

3 stratagems

Killer Reputation

What passes for folk heroism amongst the deviants of the Genestealer Cults is part broodmind compulsion and unwilling worship, and part these champions’ ability to commit deeds of great and terrible violence against any who stand in the way of the cult.

Friendly KELERMORPH / LOCUS / REDUCTUS SABOTEUR / SANCTUS models have KILLER.
Friendly KILLER models’ attacks can:
▪ Re-roll hit rolls of 1.
▪ Re-roll wound rolls of 1

1 CPEither turn

LIVING UP TO LEGEND

Shooting · Fight

Few sights are more inspiring to the downtrodden yet fanatical masses of the Genestealer Cult than seeing their folk heroes striking down their oppressors.

When: Your Shooting phase or the Fight phase, when a friendly KILLER unit has attacked, if those attacks destroyed an enemy unit or an enemy CHARACTER model.
Target: That KILLER unit.
Effect: Each visible friendly battle-shocked GENESTEALER CULTS unit within 12" of your unit is no longer battle-shocked.

1 CPEither turn

SURGING BROODWORSHIP

Shooting · Fight

Feeding back through the unnatural connection of the broodmind, the sheer worshipful belief of the masses in the superhuman abilities of their champions actually manifests to empower those very figureheads.

When: Your Shooting phase or the Fight phase, when a friendly KILLER unit is selected to attack.
Target: That KILLER unit.
Effect: Attacks made by KILLER models in your unit have [DEVASTATING WOUNDS].

1 CPEither turn

LOYAL TO THE END

Fight

Even caught firmly within the jaws of death, still this champion of the cult lives up to their reputation for deadly skill and utter devotion to the cause.

When: Fight phase, when an enemy unit targets a friendly KILLER unit.
Target: That KILLER unit.
Effect: When a KILLER model in your unit is destroyed, if your unit has not been selected to fight this phase, roll one D6:
▪ On a 1, that enemy unit suffers 1 mortal wound.
▪ On a 2+, do not remove that model from the battlefield. When your unit has fought, or at the end of the phase (whichever comes first), that model is removed from the battlefield.

Host of Ascension

6 stratagems

A Perfect Ambush

The insidious broodkin of the cult lurk hidden within the shadows, tirelessly tracking their enemies as predatory beasts stalk their prey. Only when their position is perfect do they strike. Worming into the fight from hidden tunnels, ducts and sewers, they rise to engulf their victims in a hail of unexpected firepower and a flurry of stabbing blades and raking talons.

Each time a GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army is set up on the battlefield as Reinforcements, until the end of your next Fight phase, weapons equipped by models in that unit have the [SUSTAINED HITS 1] and [IGNORES COVER] abilities.

2 CPBattle TacticEither turn

COORDINATED TRAP

Shooting · Fight

A tenet of guerrilla warfare is the concentration of even inferior firepower to inflict maximum harm.

When: The start of your Shooting phase or the start of the Fight phase.
Target: Two GENESTEALER CULTS units from your army that have not been selected to shoot or fight this phase.
Effect: Select one enemy unit (if this Stratagem is used in the Fight phase, that enemy unit must be within Engagement Range of both of your units). Until the end of the phase, each time a model in either of your units makes an attack, it can only target that enemy unit (and only if it is an eligible target for that attack), and when resolving that attack, add 1 to the Wound roll.

2 CPBattle TacticEither turn

PRIMED AND READIED

Shooting · Fight

The broodkin have been trained and equipped for this moment, with weapons readied for Ascension.

When: Your Shooting phase or the Fight phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS units from your army that has not been selected to shoot or fight this phase.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, each time a model in your unit makes an attack, a Critical Hit is scored on an unmodified Hit roll of 5+, instead of only a 6.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

TUNNEL CRAWLERS

Movement

The cult can expertly assail seemingly impregnable enemy positions.

When: Your Movement phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS unit from your army that is arriving using the Deep Strike ability this phase.
Effect: Your unit can be set up anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 6" horizontally away from all enemy units.
Restrictions: A unit targeted by this Stratagem is not eligible to declare a charge in the same turn.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

LYING IN WAIT

Movement

The brood lurks invisibly as the enemy approaches. Not until the last second do they burst from cover to strike.

When: Your opponent’s Movement phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS BATTLELINE unit from your army in Cult Ambush.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, when setting your unit up using a Cult Ambush marker, set your unit up anywhere on the battlefield wholly within 6" of that Cult Ambush marker and not within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

RETURN TO THE SHADOWS

Fight

With their task of drawing the oppressors' fire complete, the surviving cultists melt away, ready to strike again.

When: End of your opponent’s Fight phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS INFANTRY unit from your army that is not within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units.
Effect: Remove your unit from the battlefield and place it into Strategic Reserves.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

A DEADLY SNARE

Charge

An enemy's fervour to strike down the faithful of the cult can be turned against them, luring the foe into a region laced with hidden traps and primed explosives.

When: Your opponent’s Charge phase, just after an enemy unit declares a charge.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS INFANTRY unit from your army that was selected as a target of that charge.
Effect: Roll one D6: on a 2-4, that enemy unit suffers D3 mortal wounds; on a 5+, that enemy unit suffers 3 mortal wounds.

Infestation Swarm

Boarding Actions4 stratagems

Half-Glimpsed Shadows

Possessed of alien cunning and unnatural stealth, Genestealers are able to fade back into the shadows or crawl across ceilings or under deck-plates, the better to evade notice by their prey.

Each time a ranged attack targets a GREAT DEVOURER unit from your army, if the attacking model is not within 6" of that unit, subtract 1 from the Hit roll.

1 CPBattle TacticEither turn

HYPERADRENAL REFLEXES

Fight

Goaded by the biostimulants surging through their bodies, these warrior organisms evade their enemies'attacks with unbelievable swiftness.

When: Fight phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets.
Target: One GREAT DEVOURER unit from your army that was selected as the target of one or more of the attacking unit’s attacks.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, models in your unit have a 4+ invulnerable save.

1 CPStrategic PloyEither turn

PERVASIVE DREAD

Fight

With the death of their leader, the surviving prey feel an ominous sense of doom press down upon them, heightened by subtle psionic assault.

When: Fight phase, just after the enemy WARLORD is destroyed (and is not returned to the battlefield) by a GREAT DEVOURER unit from your army.
Target: That GREAT DEVOURER unit.
Effect: In your opponent’s next Command phase, each enemy unit on the battlefield must take a Battle-shock test, subtracting 1 from the result. This Stratagem cannot cause a unit to take two Battle-shock tests in the same phase.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

HUNTING GROUNDS

Movement

Genestealers on the hunt are relentless, squirming through hatches before they have even half opened.

When: Your Movement phase, just after a GREAT DEVOURER unit from your army opens a Hatchway.
Target: That GREAT DEVOURER unit.
Effect: Your unit can make a Normal move of up to 3", provided at least one of its models ends that move on the opposite side of that Hatchway from when your unit opened it.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

OUTFLANK

Fight

Swarms of Genestealers crawl through vents and ducts as they seek to outflank their prey.

When: End of your opponent’s Fight phase.
Target: One GENESTEALERS or PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit from your army that is wholly within an Entry Zone.
Effect: Remove your unit from the battlefield and place it into Strategic Reserves. It will arrive back on the battlefield in the Reinforcements step of your next Movement phase. When doing so, if it was within one of your Entry Zones when it was removed, it must be set up wholly within another one of your Entry Zones. If it was within one of your opponent’s Entry Zones when it was removed, it must be set up wholly within another one of your opponent’s Entry Zones instead. If this is not possible, your unit is destroyed.

Outlander Claw

6 stratagems

Rapid Takeover

Whether forming loose clans of wandering nomads or militarised rapid-reaction corps, the cultists of Outlander Claws use their experience to launch assaults on prominent targets. Swiftly exploiting or rigging them with proximity charges, they can deny resources to the enemy without yoking themselves to a static defence.

While a GENESTEALER CULTS MOUNTED / VEHICLE model from your army is not Battle-shocked, add 1 to its Objective Control characteristic. In addition, at the end of your Command phase, if one or more ATALAN JACKALS units from your army are within range of an objective you control, that objective remains under your control until your opponent’s Level of Control over that objective marker is greater than yours at the end of a phase.

1 CPStrategic PloyEither turn

ALONG SHADOWED TRAILS

Any phase

With raw speed and subtle misdirection, Atalan Jackals outflank those who believe them trapped.

When: Any phase, just after an enemy unit ends a move within 8" of one or more of your Cult Ambush markers.
Target: Select one of those Cult Ambush markers.
Effect: You can set up that Cult Ambush marker anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 8" horizontally away from all enemy units.

1 CPBattle TacticEither turn

DEVOTED CREW

Shooting · Fight

With evasive manoeuvres and split-second repairs, Outlander Claws marshal their rugged vehicles through the worst the foe can throw at them.

When: Your opponent’s Shooting phase or the Fight phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets.
Target: One GOLIATH ROCKGRINDER or GOLIATH TRUCK unit from your army that was selected as the target of one or more of the attacking unit’s attacks.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, each time an attack targets your unit, subtract 1 from the Damage characteristic of that attack.

1 CPBattle TacticYour turn

CLOSE-RANGE SHOOT-OUT

Shooting

A cult’s experienced outriders are experts in hit-and-run attacks and close-range firefights. These skills are deadly when combined.

When: Your Shooting phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS MOUNTED or GENESTEALER CULTS VEHICLE unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot this phase.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, ranged weapons equipped by models in your unit have the [LETHAL HITS] ability while targeting an enemy unit within 18".

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

RAPID FEINT

Movement

An Outlander Claw’s skilled riders and crews can use their enhanced hybrid reactions to rapidly alter speed and course, roaring after fleeing prey or luring enemy out of position and leaving them flat-footed.

When: Your opponent’s Movement phase, just after an enemy unit ends a Normal, Advance or Fall Back move.
Target: One ACHILLES RIDGERUNNERS or ATALAN JACKALS unit from your army that is within 8" of that enemy unit.
Effect: Your unit can make a Normal move of up to 6".

1 CPBattle TacticOpponent's turn

DEFT MANOEUVRING

Shooting

Serpent-fast, jinking and swerving with incredible skill, the cult’s light vehicles appear to slide through the oppressors' gunfire.

When: Your opponent's Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has selected its targets.
Target: One ACHILLES RIDGERUNNERS or ATALAN JACKALS unit from your army that was selected as the target of one or more of the attacking unit’s attacks.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, models in your unit have a 4+ invulnerable save.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

ENCIRCLING THE PREY

Fight

Skirting the edge of battle, an Outlander Claw's raiders watch keenly forvulnerabilities, ready to throw themselves back into the fight to exploit any weaknesses in the enemy.

When: End of your opponent's Fight phase.
Target: One GENESTEALER CULTS MOUNTED or GENESTEALER CULTS VEHICLE unit from your army that is not within Engagement Range of one or more enemy units and is wholly within 9" of one or more battlefield edges.
Effect: Remove your unit from the battlefield and place it into Strategic Reserves.

Purestrain Broodswarm

3 stratagems

Enemy Within

Genestealers on the hunt combine malevolent cunning and inhuman agility to strike and fade again and again, until their prey are reduced to panicked disarray.

At the end of your opponent’s Fight phase, friendly unengaged PURESTRAIN GENESTEALER units can be placed in strategic reserves.
This detachment has the PURESTRAIN tag and cannot be taken with another PURESTRAIN detachment.

1 CPYour turn

LURK AND STRIKE

Movement

Any sign these vicious aliens are trying to flee is but misdirection as they slip away from their attackers only to pounce once again upon unsuspecting prey.

When: Your Movement phase, when a friendly PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit is selected to make a fall-back move.
Target: That PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit.
Effect: That move does not prevent your unit from being eligible to declare a charge.

1 CPOpponent's turn

CRAWLING HORROR

Movement

Genestealers can constrict themselves into grotesquely narrow spaces, can crawl across vertical surfaces and hang from ceilings in utter silence, and are rarely seen by their prey before it is altogether too late.

When: Start of your opponent’s Movement phase.
Target: One friendly PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit.
Effect: Your unit has -6" detection range until the end of the turn.

1 CPOpponent's turn

INHUMAN REACTIONS

Movement

Purestrain Genestealers think and move with horrifying swiftness, darting through the smoke and shadow of the battlefield, remaining always a few steps ahead of their prey.

When: Your opponent’s Movement phase, when an enemy unit ends a move within 8" of a friendly unengaged PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit.
Target: That PURESTRAIN GENESTEALERS unit.
Effect: Your unit can make a normal move of up to D3+3".

Xenocreed Congregation

6 stratagems

Unquestioning Fanaticism

Downtrodden by the oppressors for so long, a cult’s lowly broodkin are fanatically devoted to their leaders, for those hallowed individuals serve the Patriarchs will more directly. The masses draw upon energy reserves in their desire to heed their masters’ wishes, surging selflessly into the fray, ready to hurl themselves in harm’s way for the Patriarch’s chosen.

For each ACOLYTE HYBRIDS, HYBRID METAMORPHS and NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army, while one or more CHARACTER models are leading that unit, you can re-roll Advance and Charge rolls made for it. If that CHARACTER model is a MAGUS, PRIMUS or ACOLYTE ICONWARD, that model has the Feel No Pain 3+ ability while leading that unit.

1 CPEpic DeedEither turn

VENGEANCE FOR THE MARTYR!

Shooting · Fight

Should one of the Patriarch's inner coven fall, those that remain are swift to call for lethal retribution.

When: Your opponent’s Shooting phase or the Fight phase, just after an enemy unit destroys a GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model from your army.
Target: One other GENESTEALER CULTS CHARACTER model from your army.
Effect: Until the end of the battle, each time a friendly ACOLYTE HYBRIDS, Hybrid Metamorphs or Neophyte Hybrids model makes an attack that targets that enemy unit, re-roll a Hit roll of 1. If the destroyed model was a MAGUS, PRIMUS or ACOLYTE ICONWARD, you can re-roll the Hit roll instead.

1 CPBattle TacticEither turn

FRENZIED DEVOTION

Fight

The faithful will gladly hurl themselves into harm's way.frenziedly dragging the foe down.

When: Fight phase.
Target: One ACOLYTE HYBRIDS, HYBRID METAMORPHS or NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army that has not been selected to fight this phase.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, improve the Attacks and Weapon Skill characteristics of melee weapons equipped by models (excluding CHARACTERS) in your unit by 1 and those weapons have the [HAZARDOUS] ability.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

TIRELESS FERVOUR

Charge

When the cult's leaders demand devotion, danger and exhaustion are forgotten in the rush to serve.

When: Your Charge phase.
Target: One ACOLYTE HYBRIDS, HYBRID METAMORPHS or NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army that has not declared a charge this phase.
Effect: ▪ If your unit made an advance/fall-back move this turn, that advance/fall-back move does not prevent your unit from being eligible to declare a charge.
▪ When your unit declares a charge, you can use this part of this stratagem. If you do:
▪ Your unit can re-roll charge rolls.
▪ Your unit must end that charge move engaged with an enemy unit engaged with a friendly CHARACTER unit.

1 CPStrategic PloyYour turn

TRANSCENDENT CELERITY

Shooting

Owing to their hypersensory reactions, the cult’s rate of fire increases.

When: Your Shooting phase.
Target: One ACOLYTE HYBRIDS, HYBRID METAMORPHS or NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army that has not been selected to shoot this phase.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, ranged weapons equipped by models in your unit have the [ASSAULT] ability.

2 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

THE DOWNTRODDEN RISE

Movement

Such is the creed's inspirational call to arms that as the foe foil one incursion, another rises for the cause.

When: End of your opponent’s Movement phase.
Target: One ACOLYTE HYBRIDS, HYBRID METAMORPHS or NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army in Cult Ambush.
Effect: Until the end of the phase, you can set up your unit on the battlefield without using a Cult Ambush marker. When doing so, set up your unit anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 6" horizontally away from all enemy units.

1 CPStrategic PloyOpponent's turn

THE PATH OF ANGUISH

Shooting

Bloody persecution by the oppressors is grist for the mill of the cult's violent and zealous creed.

When: Your opponent’s Shooting phase, just after an enemy unit has shot.
Target: One ACOLYTE HYBRIDS or NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit from your army that had one or more of its models destroyed as a result of the attacking unit's attacks.
Effect: Your unit can make a move of up to D6", but it unit must end that move as close as possible to the closest enemy unit (excluding AIRCRAFT), When doing so, models in your unit can be moved within Engagement Range of that enemy unit.

Xenocult Masses

3 stratagems

Hordes of the Faithful

More and yet more Neophytes surge from tunnel mouths, mine entrances and derelict fortifications, drowning the foe in a tide of fanatical killers.

In your Command phase, if a friendly NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit is within a terrain area, that unit heals 3 wounds.
This detachment has the HOSTS tag and cannot be taken with another HOSTS detachment.

1 CPYour turn

EYES OF THE CULT

Shooting

Equipped with a wealth of local knowledge, it is no great task for these Neophytes to make out the positions of the unbelievers and report their presence to the cult.

When: Start of your Shooting phase.
Target: One friendly NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit within a terrain area.
Effect: Enemy units within that terrain area have +6" detection range

1 CPYour turn

FANATICAL HAIL

Shooting

Driven wild with hate and fervour, the hybrids unleash a veritable storm of criss-crossing fire into their loathed foe.

When: Your Shooting phase, when a friendly NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit is selected to shoot.
Target: That NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit.
Effect: Select one enemy unit. Your unit’s ranged attacks that target that enemy unit can re-roll hit rolls.

1 CPOpponent's turn

SLUNK FROM THE UNDERBELLY

Shooting

Used to being downtrodden, to creeping secretively through the shadows and hiding from authority, these Neophyte Hybrids are almost preternaturally skilled at making use of battlefield cover.

When: Your opponent’s Shooting phase, when an enemy unit targets a friendly NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit with every model within a terrain area.
Target: That NEOPHYTE HYBRIDS unit.
Effect: Ranged attacks that target your unit have -1 AP until that unit has attacked

The ten core stratagems every army shares print with any faction on the card printer.