I also ordered the Black Library novel titled Deathwatch: Ignition, and like the other books, I'll write a book review once I've finished reading it. Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, I didn't bother writing a review for the Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum anthology that I thoroughly enjoyed, but I did write something for Yarrick: The Pyres of Armaggedon (something about the writer being Canadian). I think. Well...not like anyone reads my books reviews anyway, so if I get lazy I don't think anyone will miss it.
Before I get into the fluff, let me direct everyone's attention to the inside page on the overleaf of the cover, opposite Page 1. It's titled How to use your free Genestealer Cult rules Pullout! Here's what it says:
In the center of this issue of White Dwarf you will find an eight=page pull-out section which will allow you to use the Genestealer Cult models from Deathwatch Overkill in your games of Warhammer 40,000! Below you'll see how you can ally the Ghosar Quintus Broodkin with other factions.
Genestealer Cults and Allies
All units in the Ghosar Quintus Broodkin have the Genestealer Cult Faction. Genestealer Cults ally in exactly the same way as Tyranids, as described in the Allies section of Warhammer 40,000: The Rules.
There you have it and it should answer any questions regarding how to ally your Genestealer Cult (unless you've already read Natfka's blog or Bell of Lost Souls). They are basically Tyranids. And Tyranids, who treat everyone as enemies in the vein of Come the Apocalypse finally have Battle Brothers! HOORAY! Too bad I don't play Tyranids, but I would love to play AGAINST Tyranids. Come on! Well, I really like the Genestealer Cult, so I might ally them in with my Imperial Guard (compromised Planetary Defense Force if you want the fluff to fit) in the manner I wrote in my last post, with an armored company in the backline, and the Genestealer Cult infiltrating in front. Yay. For the Four-Armed Emperor...BLASPHEMY! YOU SHALL BE PURGED!!!
Anyway, here's the summary for the Genestealer fluff in White Dwarf.
This whole Ghosar Quintus thing seems to be returning to its roots, or the origins, because Ghosar Qunitus Broodkin was supposedly the first ever Genestealer Cult uncovered within the Imperium. So Kill Team Cassius must have encountered these xenos heretics way before the legendary Commissar Ciaphas Cain and his valiant Valhallans purged them from so many worlds across the sector. It's an origin story, huh? There's a brief mention of the Genestealers being a minor alien race from the moons of Ymgarl, a huge nod to the first edition, in Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader.
Ghosar Quintus was a mining world, or Delverworld, that bwas one of the most productive planets of the Imperium, with so-called "exemplary records of tithe payemnt" that passed "Adeptus Munitorum and Adeptus Mechanicus with unheralded ease." That is, until the Space Hulk designated Curse of Unreason ended up floating into the system it was orbiting in 1,500 years ago, and infected the world. Basically, Inquisitor Chaegryn conducted a routine ordos investigation in 680.M41, and...probably died (most likely killed and eviscerated by those damned Genestealers), the Deathwatch intervened and dispatched Kill Team Excis. They...well, got slaughtered completely and the Deathwatch got mad and sent in yet another Kill Team, this time led by Chaplain Cassius. Uh, good idea. More like Killed Team.
Ghosar Quintus was ruled by a mining cartel known as the Trysst Dynasty, who obviously had been infected by purestrain Genestealers, and produced heirs or leaders who kept all these Genestealer Cult activities and subterfuge under wraps. Until it was too late! So basically, in just four generations, the Genestealers' genes had integrated into the society of Ghosar Quintus, planting eladers within Trysst Dynasty, and taking steps to ensure their subtle invasion ran for as long as possible. Until they got found out, and they decided to rise up and rebel against the Imperium, annihilating Kill Team Excis, only to be defeated by Kill Team Cassius after "prolonged and daring fighting." Right. There are thousands...maybe even hundreds of thousands Genestealer Cultists (just read this line: "the Broodkin emerged from the Ghosar Quintus's mine-workings in such numbers..."), and it took just one Kill Team to wipe them out. Really?! Forgive me if I'm skeptical.
Of course, they could always take the easy route out and kill the Patriarch, Patriarch Ghosar, and somehow losing their leader leads to the Hive Mind breaking down and the Genestealer Cultists just evaporating into thin air, or self-destructing, or drive them to suicide. I dunno. I guess I'll find out when I read Deathwatch: Ignition. I'm tempted to get the board game just so I can field the Ghosar Quintus Broodkin Formation, but I'm pretty short on cash these few months. I don't earn a lot, and I'm running off to America or Canada in August...I hope. So...I'll wait and see. It'll be fun, though.
Anyway, the fluff rounds off with bitter irony about the Genestaler Cult becoming a psychic beacon that calls down Tyranid Hive Fleets to devour the worlds as well as the poor Cultists who worshipped them. Man, to be consumed by your gods, that must be one hell of a way to get your faith utterly destroyed. Well, serves them right for turning away from the light of the Emperor (though it must be said it isn't their fault. Thrall, hypnotism, and Patriarch's formidable psyker powers and all that).
I don't think I need to go into the definition of what the Deathwatch Chapter is, but hey, I might as well type it since I've written this far.
The Deathwatch Chapter is a standing army of Space Marines, charged with safeguarding the Imperium from the aliens that assail it. From awakening Necrons to gathering Ork hordes, Hrud (a nocturnal, tribal race of scavengers and parasites from the days of Rogue Trader that has no army or its own codex, a strong connection to the Warp, love migrations, hence you see the word here, and mostly live in underground cities called Juunlaks when they are not stealing stuff or being hired as assassins) migrations to the expansionist Tau Empire (funny, I didn't see any Deathwatch Kill Teams in Kauyon or Mont'ka when the Tau was expanding back then), there is no end of threats. Drawn from the very best within the Space Marine Chapters (except Grey Knights, apparently), the Deatwatch are selected for their expertise in fighting aliens. This special arrangement has lasted millennia and seen thousands of battle-brothers join their ranks, some for a short time, others for decades or even centuries (Dreadnoughts and Venerable Dreadnoughts?). Thus an Ultramarines Veteran might fight shoulder to shoulder with a White Scar (and become an Ultra Scar), Crimson Fist (Crimson Smurfs now) or Blood Drinker (Vampire Space Marines!), each contributing unique skills and abilities. Upon joining this august company (they recruit every August), each watch member (receives a watch) has his armor repainted black, his left arm plated bright silver and adorned with the Deathwatch's sigil. Only the original Chapter badge remains uncovered, to honor the armor's spirit.
Uh, well, it goes on to say that "the Deathwatch operate in small numbers, often deploying Kill Teams with only a handful of warriors to excise a threat." Not sure why, I mean you have an army, don't you?! Anyway, they have access to their favorite weapons, which they can swap and change for wargear most suitable for the threat at hand, and despite being always outnumbered, they are never ever outgunned. Yeah, right. Wait till you face down the thousands of Earthshaker cannons from stolen batteries of Basilisks...well, I guess that's true then, because the only army able to outgun a Deathwatch Kill Team is the Imperial Guard. Whoops.
Anyway, this is what you've missed in White Dwarf if you didn't buy it. Buy it, the datasheets for the Genestealer Cult alone is worth it. That's an order, and any attempt to shirk from your imperial duty of offering monetary tithes to Games Workshop...uh, the Imperium of Man, will be considered Heresy and a dereliction of duty, and I'll use my power as a Commissar to BLAM you.
For the Four-Armed... -BLAM!- For the Two-Armed, Human Emperor!
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