Background Information On Genestealer Cult Armies
The earliest incarnation of the Genestealer Cult Army. Note the Beastmen, packs of dogs, and Khorne icons.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Genestealer Cult Armies used to be viable in the days of Rogue Trader and Dark Millennium. For those of you unfamiliar with this ancient threat to the Imperium, let me give you a brief overview.
Classic Genestealer: They used this plastic model in Space Hulk all the way up until 4th Edition!
Genetsealers are usually thought of as Tyranid shocktroops but in the old rules, they were much more insidious. Basically, a Genestealer would stow away on a ship, implant genetic material into unknowing humans via slicing claws, and psychically make the human forget the attack. Then the human would breed and pass along the Genestealer DNA to his/her progeny. These offspring would be hideous hybrids that the hypnotized humans would slavishly protect. As the hybrids and brainwashed humans grew more plentiful, the original Genestealer's psychic hold over the group became more powerful.
I love these old models. The second generation hybrid with plasma pistol is a rare plastic model from a Space Hulk expansion.
The hybrids and mentally enslaved humans (called Brood Brothers) would form a powerful cult around worshipping the original Genestealer (now a huge, bloated psychic monster called a Patriarch). The army itself consisted of the Patriarch (think BroodLord), a Magus (psychic hybrid that acts as the cult's public figurehead), Hybrids (both as squads and as Acolyte/Neophyte characters that could join other units), Purestrain Genestealer broods, and Brood Brothers with stolen Imperial weapons & vehicles. It made for an interesting (but somewhat limited) little army.
The forerunner to the modern Broodlord
With my army, I used the current Imperial Guard rules but with Genestealer Cult themed models. I purposely chose the plastic Cadians for my army as they were the closest I could find to original Imperial Guard models (old IG were used for Brood Brothers back in the day). Many Imperial emblems were removed and the helmets were converted to be reminiscent of Rogue Trader Guard helmets. This was done not only to make the troops look more like PDF soldiers, but also to make it less obvious that these guys are in fact plastic Cadians. I kept the hybrids to a minimum to reflect the cult was still in hiding. Most Cult armies were supposed to be mostly Brood Brothers anyway. And to be honest, Hybrids are hard to get these days and I just don't have too many of 'em.
My Brood Brothers, erm, I mean my loyal Imperial Guardsmen
As far as the uniforms, I stuck primarily with dark blue, like Genestealer carapaces. Dark purple was used as the secondary color. I kept the skin sickly and pale like old hybrids. The eyes were purposely painted blank white to show these humans were under alien control. The blank eyes trick has also been used in anime & manga, so that's good enough for me. The colors in the limited palette I used for the troops are the same as the ones I used on my actual Genestealers.
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