GSC post CA2019

[killercroc]

So aberrant took a hit, which is a shame because I really like them even where they stand I thought they were over costed now 3 ppm more and the leader up 15? That's not very cash money of you GW. Acos untouched, good they're basically the only reason to play the army if they go up in cost the army dies hard. Kelermorph I can understand as he's a pretty hard hitting model and can cause a lot of damage, but at the same time he's squishy as hell so I'm kinda against it too, like he's good at shooting pistols and that's what he does, charging him more for his above average ability to kill a T4 5 wound character is kinda stupid. And... the rest were just points drops to sell more ridgerunners and Rockgrinders. I mean, they totally needed the points drop because thy're not the best wargear on equally iffy vehicles but I just see this as a trap to get these models to sell, not because GW felt they needed an adjustment in the game. I dunno, maybe I've just been cynical for too long but it seems the trash units that don't sell always get the point decrease. Stonks perhaps?

That being said Hive cult with tanks and vehicles is doable and a fun alternative to the army but idk if saving 10-15 points per vehicle is enough to make it viable.

Metamorphs though... oh lordy these guys at 7 ppm? I would already field dual scythe Metas for all that slicey dicey goodness (nevermind the fact you only get 2 dual scythes per box...) but they are a lot better I think. The claw is questionable since melee doesn't stack and what you replace but it's a 2 point power maul, you can't beat that (Ironic because that's what the Arbites will beat you with)

[sidedisc]

Unfortunately this is the issue with printed books vs digital updates. These point changes are from a meta that was six months ago. The changes were already outdated before release! The Space Marines 2.0 Codex has hit GSC and the likes so hard many players were dropping them anyway. 

It would be so much better if GW treated the Field Manual as a patch and offered a FREE digital download every three to six months. (I’d settle for at least every six months since hobby time is a factor for many players)

My GSC will probably become more Brood Brother based, with Acolytes as my Melee punch and GSC support characters. My Aberrants are sadly shelf fillers now.

[purestrain]

Dec 7, 2019 19:45:49 GMT sidedisc said:

Unfortunately this is the issue with printed books vs digital updates. These point changes are from a meta that was six months ago. The changes were already outdated before release! The Space Marines 2.0 Codex has hit GSC and the likes so hard many players were dropping them anyway. 

It would be so much better if GW treated the Field Manual as a patch and offered a FREE digital download every three to six months. (I’d settle for at least every six months since hobby time is a factor for many players)

My GSC will probably become more Brood Brother based, with Acolytes as my Melee punch and GSC support characters. My Aberrants are sadly shelf fillers now.

Why are they shelf fillers? because they went up a mediocre amount and only select people know how to play with them?

Thats called giving up, and good on you for doing it, the torrential volume of humiliation you would endure on the top tables for bringing such filth to the game would be too much to bear for someone as fragile as you.

[kazetanade]

I'll do some theorycrafting after settling down CA. I heard Shining Spears and Scatbikes went down again and that's really tempting to play with next. Conversely, a 3 Ghostkeel list.

After that I'll do a basic competitive Nids cookie cutter then work on GSC again.

I didn't realize Goliaths were 70+ptz with weapons, meaning the chassis is only 40 pts. It's cost effective, and a way to balance massive Neophyte balances. For eg 4 in sky and 4 on ground in 4 Goliaths is an additional 4 things in DS, effectively covering both support characters and a Flamerlyte and Saws for good measure.

The Ridgerunners was slightly over costed previously IMO. With some big points drop of 25 or 30 pts per model, that thing is rocking at like 50ppm, it's good to take with 2s and 3s and stack Hive Cult + Alphus + rr1s. You were giving Butchers/Kill More anyway before this, not like you could stop them, what's the loss of a 150pt unit.

[mule]

Had my first game of gsc today.

I really enjoy this army. I had tools for everything. Feels nice for once. Any drop or any bad result I felt like I the tools to deal with everything.

Now just figuring what to cut since the drop im having a lot of issues cause of the synergy the army requires.

I currently only have 10 aberants so really hasn't hit me hard.

But everything I consider cutting another unit takes some sort of hit.

[Hive Bahamut]

So I have only been able to wrangle 2 games in with GSC post CA. Once against Deathwatch and once against Militarum.

We did ITC for both and I would have won the first game had I picked more appropriate engineers. Lost by the 4 points they would have given. Turns out my opponent who usually tailors for anti-infantry wasn't expecting a bunch of trucks. 2/3 still died to small arms fire.

The game against Militarum was a joke. They shred 2/3 turn 1 and the other next turn. Tabled by turn 5. I killed 1 Bullgryn with an entire Aberrant drop.

List was (roughly)

Patriarch (Cog Relic, Shadow trait)
Alphus (gift)

3x Launcher/Laser Neos in Trucks

Kelermorph
Sanctus
5x Bikes with bombs

Patriarch
Primus

15 Acolytes (6 saws)
15 Acolytes (flamer)
10 Brood bro

Aberrants (1 game)

I feel like GSC is dead in the water. All the teeth have been pulled and gumming the enemies does nothing. Will have to make some purchases to experiment further but gone are the options. Codex Neophyte/Acolyte it seems as others predicted.

I have no ambition to experiment with Monsters in Nids, they die exactly the same as before. I am curious what others are going to come up with as for the first time in a while I feel like I have no idea how to play the army.

[mattblowers]

I'm adding some GSC to my Kronos to try.

My list:

Kronos Battalion:

HQ:
Flyrant: double dakka with +8" range
Nuero: with barbed thingy, might drop this

troops:
1 x 27 termies
2 x 4 ripper swarms

elite:
1 x 6 hive guard

heavy:
3 x 1 exocrine

transport:
2 x 1 t-cyte with barbed strangler

GSC Battlion 4 armed emporer

HQ:
1 x patriach with 2 familiars
1 x primus

troops:
1 x 20 acolytes with 6 rocksaws
2 x 10 neophytes

elites:
1 x clamavus

So far I'm feeling pretty good about the kronos part of the list. It does a lot of shooting that keeps doing work turns 1-3 even if they kill a exocrine per turn. The t-cytes have been great mop units or clearing out cheap troops. The hive guard are there to get me a kill on turn 1 and they really start to become less of a priority as the exocrines start to drop.

The GSC I feel give me a 1-2 punch. It allows me to keep my opponent guessing as to where the rock saws are going to go and the patriarch gets better and better in later rounds. The neophytes can be used to screen my shooters and mess with enemy movement. It's only theory so far and I don't have any real games with them under my belt, I'll be running a few practice games this weekend. My biggest worry is how fragile the GSC are.

[Hive Bahamut]

^ This is actually the direction I think Tyranid players as a whole will go. On paper and so far in practice doing a shootout with GSC is a silly idea. Kronos + melee detachment of GSC OR Nids with a character killer detachment of GSC are my predictions.

As it stands I think I will just continue shooting myself in the foot with pure lists for now. (I LOATHE being forced to use allies and crutches, but enjoy challenges.)

[xtztxtxz]

Quick aside, someone has grabbed some images from tomorrow's WarCom preview article and it looks like PA5 is Tau vs GSC. Hopefully more rules-based goodies coming in Feb...

[gigasnail]

The shadowsun model is sweeet.

[hivefleetkerrigan]

Jormungandr/GSC is my go to mix for nids/GSC. It gives you the toughness to hang and a bit of long term punch. I'm planning on going mono nids for a bit to test BoB, but it's going to be about a month til my next game for personal reasons.

[No One]

Hive Bahamut said:

I feel like GSC is dead in the water. All the teeth have been pulled and gumming the enemies does nothing. Will have to make some purchases to experiment further but gone are the options. Codex Neophyte/Acolyte it seems as others predicted.

Um? Acolytes/neos still have plenty of teeth, ridgerunners might have play (bifpod's had a couple of games with 9 and so far they seem...solid, albeit very easy secondaries). Losing aberrants hurts, but it doesn't kill GSC. Losing aberrants, marines still being nasty, and others getting better from CA/PA doesn't exactly put them in a great spot, especially running pure.

But dead in the water is a massive overstatement, especially if you're willing to soup in nids for e.g. hive guard.

[kazetanade]

Hive Bahamut

Would you believe me if I told you GSC is a shooting army? =P

I get where you coming from tho - GSC options are extremely limited. The Ridge runners have some play, Neophytes and Acolytes have some play, and the rest of the non-character class doesn't seem good enough to pull weight. Assuming you wanted to use the full range of models, I'd have to agree that GSC are not in a good spot. But then again, neither are majority of the armies out there.

[mattblowers]

No One, kazetanade; I hear everyone keep saying Ridgerunners, why? They got cheaper, but I found them to be trash. I bought three and they did (please do not swear) all in any game I played them in besides giving tons of secondaries. The mortars are worse now because everyone has dropped squishy small squads because of TFC. I just don’t see it and 3 were expensive enough.

[No One]

(Take with salt, it's not my list and I don't play ITC). Take 9 with mining lasers (mortars are trash and always have been). Kill enough stuff that you can get your secondaries and hold/kill more mid/late game. It's not like you can't win if your opponent gets 2/3 maxed secondaries. The 2 lists I've seen is 9 ridgerunners, 3 exos and HG and Alex McDougall playing with stealer sling instead of the exos. The first won against IF and Tau, but I think going 1st was a big part in that, letting the army kill enough that when the ridgerunners died, there wasn't much firepower behind that to bother the rest of the army. And the other game was vs DE and I don't think they had the firepower to deal with the ridgerunners, letting them and the HG clean up while stealers went for scoring. I didn't see all of the games, just my take aways from what I saw/heard afterwards.

That said, I don't know if it's good enough just due to vulnerability to a bunch of stuff going 2nd, and still struggling into other stuff going 1st. But it seems like it might be a viable list, at least for mid tables.