Genestealer Cult

Warhammer 40,000 Genestealer Cult Game News, Reviews, Editorials & Unboxings.

The Genestealer Cults are a faction from UK-Based Games Workshop's Tabletop Wargame Warhammer 40,000. A Genestealer Cult is a community of Genestealers, genestealer hybrids, as well as the completely human convert-hosts, infected victims and genetic relatives known as Brood Brothers, existing within another society.

Genestealer cults form if a Genestealer infects members of another species with its genetic code. The resultant changes in the genome of the host cause a fanatical loyalty to the genestealers, as well as a drastic change to their reproductive system; their firstborn children will be hybrids, a grotesque mixture of the host's race and genestealers. These hybrids infect further victims, and the infection spreads exponentially. Fourth generation hybrids produce purestrain genestealers, and the cycle starts once again. This brood of purestrains, hybrids, and neophytes is held together by strong psychic and genetic bonds, and assembles around the original genestealer, which becomes the Patriarch, the leader of the entire Genestealer Cult.

As the cult's numbers grow, more specialized types of hybrids are created to serve the patriarch, which is now worshiped as a god. These include magi, primuses, loci, etc.. The cult will often grow and plot below the surface of their host world, using this base of operations to gradually infiltrate into the above society. Later generations are less monstrous than their forbears and can freely walk among Imperial society without much notice. A fully mature cult can be huge, numbering in the billions and covering several worlds.

A Genestealer Cult's primary concern is their propagation. Over time this transitions to preparing their host world for the coming of a nearby Tyranid Hive Fleet - which are drawn to large Genestealer Cults by their psychic emanations. Cultists often see this as an anointed holy day of salvation, and they will work fanatically to see a victim population is ready for consumption. At the chosen hour the Geneestealer Cult rises up, unleashing a devastating and well-planned assault that can devastate entire systems.

A Tyranid Hive Fleet's arrival seals the destiny of a cult. Either their host society destroys them and their Xenos allies or the Tyranid invasion succeeds, resulting in all surviving cult members being absorbed like the rest of the planet. After the opposition is defeated, the Genestealer Patriarch and its Brood of Purestrain Genestealers will massacre its own without hesitation. The cult's biomass is harvested and consumed by the Tyranid Hive Fleet. Genestealer Cults differ greatly in their reaction to this fate. Some cultists weep in joy or sing praises even as they are torn apart by their former allies, while others are surprised and horrified when the truth is revealed to them.