New to GSC

[wakingtraveller]

Hello guys! I'm new to GSC and new to Warhammer in general. Due to the pandemic I haven´t been able to play a single game. There's like 5 people who play warhammer near me, and by near I mean a 150 Km radius...
Anyways, my GF asked me what I wanted for xmas and I gave her a list with ideas. It seems she handed said list to some other friends who knew I was into warhammer and as a result I ended with 3 GSC start collecting boxes... Is there an army list I can build with that? Be aware that I don't know nada about GSC... Should I buy some other models? I already have a few games scheduled for next week and I would like to use my GSC as my first ever army.

Thanks!

[No One]

Our SC is pretty good and lets you build an army right out of the gate: iconward HQ, bunch of acolytes and neophytes for troops (generally give them saws and mining lasers respectively), and ridgerunners (heavy mining laser and flares). It depends on where you want to go as to what else you want: iconward's a bad HQ, so would recommend broodcoven box for our good HQs, and a jackal alphus to buff the ridgerunners/neos. Then fill out with more SCs (most competitive option)/jackals/whatever.

[hivefleetkerrigan]

That's a really good start to an army! Have you started building anything yet?

I agree with no one that getting an alphus or a broodcoven will give you a lot more flexibility in list building.

What you have now is:
3 iconwards: GSC can only have one of the same character per detachment, so you'll need to bring 2 detachments to be legal
3x10 neophytes: these are decent shooting infantry. I'd recommend using mining lasers for good antitank output
3x5 acolytes. Can either be 3 units or one big units. these are great melee threats. They can do damage to infantry normally or to tanks using equipment
3 ridge runners: they're decent light vehicles. I'd recommend running them in one unit together

My recommendations:
1. A jackal alphus (biker HQ) will help your neophytes and ridge runners be more accurate when shooting.
2. A broodcoven will give you flexibility. You can take a patriarch for a melee threat or to make your units fearless. You can take a magus for cheap(ish) spell casting. You can take a primus to help your units hit in melee better or wound more easily
3. When building, I would recommend building one iconward as a standard iconward and the other two as regular acolytes (chop off arms and you'll have some extra acolyte arms). This will help reduce the HQ bloat you can't use in the same battle.

Welcome to the hive and have fun with your GSC!

[No One]

hivefleetkerrigan said:

3 iconwards: GSC can only have one of the same character per detachment, so you'll need to bring 2 detachments to be legal
...
3. When building, I would recommend building one iconward as a standard iconward and the other two as regular acolytes (chop off arms and you'll have some extra acolyte arms). This will help reduce the HQ bloat you can't use in the same battle.

Note that even if you could do it, 3 iconwards is terrible. Even 1 is pretty bad: just use 2 as acolyte banner guys (or even just normal acolyte dudes depending with a bit of conversion), leave 1 as a just in case.

[wakingtraveller]

I'll go ahead and purchase a broodcoven. Thanks, guys. I'll let you know how I fare in my first game ever haha.

[Hive Bahamut]

Just a heads up. This is an extremely hard faction to play. Anything remotely competitive will just walk through your army. Like you will be tabled turn 2 kind of gnarly.

You need to focus on the mission 100% in order to have a chance. This involves odd habits like having 0 output and just blocking units. Or tossing something important away just to stop scoring etc.

Here's an example: Lying in wait lets you setup 3.001" away, and instead of trying to shoot something just drop 10 Neophytes onto opponents home objective. Pointless to give them upgrades as they will die, but not before denying 5 Primary.

One of the few guarantees I find is taking 3 sets of 5 Acolytes for scramblers. Drop all 3 in turn 2, score your 10 and from then on anything they do is a bonus.

Unfortunately the only wins I have had are basically ignoring the enemy and playing the mission. This is nearly impossible in most instances.

[niiai]

Yes. GSC have a really hard time. I do not know how to winn with them. A cool army though.

[hivefleetkerrigan]

As a note, the hive is largely competitive oriented. I think GSC can do better in a casual game. That being said, GSC takes a higher skill cap, due to their kill or be killed nature.

I'd strongly recommend playing them in a crusade. Its a form of the game that's narrative driven and oriented around improving and leveling up your army.

[infornography]

Actually, I'd recommend trying a bit more advanced conversion work on those iconwards and make them a variety of things. You can turn them into other characters with a little work. Give them three pistols and suddenly you have a Kelermorph.
Give it a bonesword, a claw, and a pistol with a bit of paperclip sticking out of it and you have a Primus.
Give it a pistol and something that looks like a command table and you have a Nexos.

Get creative with them.

[niiai]

Mar 10, 2021 23:49:36 GMT Hive Bahamut said:

Just a heads up. This is an extremely hard faction to play. Anything remotely competitive will just walk through your army. Like you will be tabled turn 2 kind of gnarly.

You need to focus on the mission 100% in order to have a chance. This involves odd habits like having 0 output and just blocking units. Or tossing something important away just to stop scoring etc.

Here's an example: Lying in wait lets you setup 3.001" away, and instead of trying to shoot something just drop 10 Neophytes onto opponents home objective. Pointless to give them upgrades as they will die, but not before denying 5 Primary.

One of the few guarantees I find is taking 3 sets of 5 Acolytes for scramblers. Drop all 3 in turn 2, score your 10 and from then on anything they do is a bonus.

Unfortunately the only wins I have had are basically ignoring the enemy and playing the mission. This is nearly impossible in most instances.

Page 77 in the grand tournament 2020 explaining actions. Second paragraf. Only one unit from your army can perform the same action each turn. So you cna not scramble all 5 in one turn.

[Hive Bahamut]

Changes very little just deploy the 1 squad and drop other turn 3.

If this is the case Banners is broken and can't ever be done except 1 a turn.

I have seen it go both ways. Batreps are inconsistent.

[beetlejuice]

Mar 11, 2021 17:47:08 GMT Hive Bahamut said:

Changes very little just deploy the 1 squad and drop other turn 3.

If this is the case Banners is broken and can't ever be done except 1 a turn.

I have seen it go both ways. Batreps are inconsistent.

raise banners specifically says ”one or more units may perform this action” whereas deploy scramblers and other say ”one unit”

[kazetanade]

Mar 11, 2021 17:47:08 GMT Hive Bahamut said:

Changes very little just deploy the 1 squad and drop other turn 3.

If this is the case Banners is broken and can't ever be done except 1 a turn.

I have seen it go both ways. Batreps are inconsistent.

Banners and certain map objectives specifically allow you to do several at once. Necrons awaken ancient machinery specially allows u to do multiple at once. Almost all others must be done 1 at a time.

Good luck in your game, and hope you have a blast!