Detachment Focus: Final Day

Merry Grotmas! Games Workshop is releasing a new series of detachments – one per army, every day until Christmas. In this series we’re looking at these new detachments, covering what’s in them, how they play, and how they’ll fit into the broader meta and your games.

The Day of Ascension has come, the oppressors are in disarray, and now we rejoice at the long-foretold arrival of the Star Children! The Final Day detachment is here, and with it we have 10th edition’s first opportunity to put Tyranids and Genestealer Cultists on the table together. The vanguard tendrils of the hive fleet arrive, and join forces with the adoring throng to crush the last resistance of the planet’s defenders.

What happens to the zealously devoted when the veil is lifted and their unfeeling masters callously spend their lives in service of inscrutable goals and an ultimately hollow victory? We’ll talk about that whenever the new Death Korps of Krieg army box comes out, but in this article you can read on to learn about how Tyranids and Cultists work together to deliver a final comeuppance to the enemies of the Four-Armed Emperor.

We’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of these rules for Review purposes.

Detachment Overview

As the name implies, this detachment is meant to represent the end of the revolution, with Tyranid creatures both augmenting and consuming their devotees to prepare the planet for consumption. Similar to how the Brood Brothers Auxilia detachment allows a GSC player to field Astra Militarum units, the Final Day is an opportunity to bring Tyranid units – specifically Vanguard Invader units.

The interplay of buffs for both GSC and Tyranid units here is more powerful than the Brood Brothers detachment, but also has more complexity and failure points. GSC units are boosted by proximity to Tyranids or when Tyranids are proximate to the enemy, while Tyranids can feed on nearby Cultists for healing and buffs. The great news is that it offers a novel playstyle for GSC that feels different on the table from any of the Codex detachments while also being an excuse to play soup that feels fluffy rather than contrived. With a massive set of tools on offer it should also perform well competitively, although it will be even more complex to pilot than the already-high GSC standard.

The Video Version

If you’d rather watch than read this review, we’ve got you covered with our video Detachment Focus article, here:

Detachment Rule: Psionic Parasitism

At the end of your Movement phase, for each Tyranids Synapse unit from your army you can select one friendly GSC unit (except Genestealers themselves) and one Tyranids unit, both within 9” and visible to the Synapse unit, and heal the Tyranid unit by D3+1 wounds while inflicting an equivalent number of mortal wounds on the GSC unit. The selected Tyranid unit also gets +1 to Hit until the start of your next movement phase.

All Tyranid units also get a 6” aura called Catalyst, and all GSC units get +1 to hit when making attacks against enemy units in that aura.

The Star Children’s Blessings

You can include up to 1000 points of Tyranids Vanguard Invader units (excluding aircraft, Broodlord, and Genestealer units) in your army in a 2000-point game, but none of those models can be your Warlord.

The Vanguard Invader keyword includes utility pieces like Lictors and Gargoyles, but also larger monsters like Trygons and the Winged Hive Tyrant. Cheap lone operatives and fast infantry make it easier to apply the hit buff, while the big monsters fill a missing niche in the GSC portfolio and benefit both from the hit-buff and the healing. This opens multiple avenues for list-building, and determining whether to lean into GSC buffing Tyranids, Tyranids buffing GSC, or a balance between the two will result in radically different lists. Lets take a look at the rest of the toolbox.

Wings: It’s also worth highlighting that the new, post Dataslate version of Cult Ambush makes any GSC build with ally options much better, because you still get the same number of Resurgence Points to spend even if half your army is Tyranids, so you can make the Genestealer Cult units that you have in your army go further. I’d be very tempted to find a slot for a big squad of Aberrants in this, as they have some nice synergy with the Stratagems/Enraptured Damnation enhancement, and if you just decide up front that you’re definitely re-upping them, that’s fairly terrifying.

Beyond that – Von Ryan’s Leapers are your friend here, they are super cheap and very easy to get into position to switch on your buffs.

TheChirurgeon: One other thing that’s easy to miss is that Psionic Parasitism gives you an easy way to kill your own units, finishing them off if they’re sitting on 1-2 models. This is better than it sounds, because it immediately lets you get them back via Cult Ambush – normally the counterplay for Cult Ambush is to leave one or two models alive and force your opponent to work short-handed. Now you can finish the job yourself, get a new unit, and regain a couple of wounds and improve your accuracy in the process.

Enhancements

These enhancements are great, with two for Tyranids and two for GSC characters. You’ll almost certainly want both GSC enhancements, so the question will often be whether to take the Tyranid ones, and that will hinge on whether you’re bringing a Winged Hive Tyrant.

• Synaptic Auger (15 pts) – Tyranids model only. Each time the bearer would heal using the detachment rule it regains twice as many wounds. Note that this doesn’t double the number of mortal wounds the GSC unit suffers. The only available carriers for this enhancement are a Tyranid Prime, Winged Hive Tyrant, or Parasite of Mortrex (thought it was an epic hero? Surprise!). The Prime and Parasite are both too squishy to get much use out of this, so realistically this is going on a Tyrant if you take it.
  Wings: Consider, however, that healing a Flyrant for eight wounds while watching the light die in your opponent’s eyes would be really funny.

• Enraptured Damnation (10 pts) – Any GSC model. The bearer’s unit is immune to overwatch. Hell yes. In an army where most infantry units need to respect even the most basic of overwatch threats, this is excellent.

• Vanguard Tyrant (25 pts) – Winged Hive Tyrant only. Improve the Strength and AP of the bearer’s melee weapons by 1. At first this looks like a signficant boost to both of the Flyrant melee options, however in practice the Strength bonus simply returns the Tyrant to the strength it normally enjoys, as the Synapse army rule is not in effect here. That said, +1 AP is a nice boost.

• Inhuman Integration (20 pts) – Any GSC model. Weapons in the bearer’s unit have Sustained Hits 1 while targeting an enemy unit within 6” of one or more friendly Tyranids units. This is an incredible boost in output when you consider that if it’s active you’re also benefiting from +1 to hit. Note that it works on both melee and shooting attacks, so this is incredibly flexible.

Stratagems

This is one of the best Stratagem sets GSC have access to, with a mix of positioning and output options that are faction-specific but unit-agnostic for a flexible toolbox.

• Hyperferocity (Battle Tactic, 1 CP)  – In the fight phase, pick a GSC unit to reroll wound rolls of 1. If the target of the attack is within 6” of a friendly Tyranid unit, you can re-roll the wound roll instead. This. Is. Excellent. The payoff for combined-arms here is extreme given the already-strong output of GSC melee infantry.

• Psi Surge (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used at the start of any phase, pick a Tyranids unit and boost the range of its Catalyst aura by 3” until the start of your next command phase. The stratagem cannot be used again until the end of your next command phase. This is cool for pushing the +1 to hit aura further, but note that it doesn’t help the enhancement or other stratagems, since those all specify “within 6” of a Tyranids unit” rather than “within Catalyst aura range”. Still very useful for increasing positioning options with your bugs.

• Avenge the Star Children (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Used in your opponent’s shooting phase or any Fight phase, just after an enemy unit has shot or fought and destroyed a Tyranids Character. Until the end of the battle GSC units get +1 to Hit and Wound that enemy unit. This is a great tool to punish your opponents for using their key pieces to kill your key pieces (or force your opponent to find awkward ways to finish them off). Suiciding a cheap character into your opponent’s important stuff is also an option. Makes Deathleaper extra spicy.

• Divine Imperative (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Used in your charge phase. Grant +1 to charge rolls and charge re-rolls to one GSC unit that has not yet charged as long as they target an enemy unit within engagement range of a Tyranid unit. This can be used to attempt deep-strike charges in a pinch, but mostly it’s good for pre-emptively supporting a key charge, particularly if you need to make several mid-range charges and already burned your CP re-roll. (Note that you can’t use this after you’ve made the attempt, so you have to commit the CP in advance).

• Darting Attacks (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your shooting phase or your charge phase. Pick a Tyranid unit that fell back this turn; until the end of the phase your unit is eligible to shoot or charge. This is excellent for flexibility and helps keep your Tyranids from getting tagged at an inopportune time. Note that the timing is great because it lets you wait to use it until you need it, but if you want to both shoot and charge with the same unit you would have to use the stratagem twice.

• Resistance Tunnels (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used at the end of your opponent’s fight phase, put any GSC or Tyranids unit into Strategic Reserves as long as it isn’t within engagement range of an enemy unit. This. Is. Excellent. The positioning options this opens up are obviously fantastic, and in conjunction with the recent changes to Cult Ambush (and access to Raveners) this means you can project either threat or scoring as required well into the late-game.

Playing This Detachment

This detachment is all about getting Tyranids into your opponent’s lines and then killing them with augmented GSC output. Whether you bring a wide number of Tyranid units and a handful of big melee units that you recycle with Cult Ambush, or a hard-hitting core of Tyranid monsters and a spread of smaller GSC units, the core gameplay loop will revolve around removing your opponent’s ability to outposition you so you can score while preserving enough Tyranid units that you can apply ludicrous output to the right places.

Much like a Vanguard Ultramarines list, you’ll play on the knife-edge of removing obstacles to your mobility advantage so you can run away with the score, but you have the option to choose between a ranged, melee, or balanced approach depending on which GSC units you bring. Skewing into GSC hulls and Tyranid monsters will play differently than a go-wide build of massed GSC infantry and Tyranid lone-operatives, but the fundamental question you’ll look to answer on the tabletop is “how do I get my bugs where they need to be to support the GSC units without running out of bugs”.

Strengths

• Mobility. Universal uppy/downy in an army where everything has deep strike is excellent, and access to units with Fly and Shoot/Scoot fills a gap in the GSC portfolio. Combined with a wealth of lone operatives from both factions, this detachment can safely be anywhere.
• Output. +1 to hit is a welcome boost in an army where the melee generally hits on 3’s and the shooting hit’s on 4’s (or worse).
• Durability. Now the big bugs can cosplay as vibe-killing Necrons, punishing your opponent for failing to finish them off by undoing their hard work with healing.

Weaknesses

• Synergy. Much of the value in this detachment needs both a Tyranid and a GSC component. A savvy opponent focusing on removing one or the other will drastically reduce the effectiveness of what you have left.
• Screening. Six inches is not very far, and effective screening will hamper your ability to apply the detachment bonuses where they’re needed most. The wealth of positioning tools on offer are needed precisely because the detachment buffs can be thwarted by skilled move-blocking.
• Synapse. The Tyranid faction rules are not in effect here, so the Tyranid units are slightly less effective than they would be otherwise. In addition to not getting the strength bonus in melee, widespread Ld 8+ on non-character units means that weakened units are unreliable for scoring as they’re likely to fail battleshock tests.

A Sample List

A solid Final Day list needs enough Tyranid investment to be able to consistently apply buffs to their GSC pals, but not so many that the GSC units themselves aren’t sufficient to make use of those buffs. In general that will either look like a handful of monsters that need to be focused down while the GSC units do damage, or a go-wide spread of smaller, cheaper lone operatives that are difficult to remove under an onslaught of multiple GSC units. Lets take a look at a balanced list making use of the monster option:

What does God need with a Starship? - click to expand

This list works by using Tyranid skirmish pieces to apply the Catalyst aura early, while the lone operatives, fight-first acolytes, and the threat of a close deep strike by the Trygons force the opponent to come forwards. The Rockgrinders and Benefictus acolytes provide ranged power with the Catalyst aura applied, which can then be followed up with the melee power of the Tyrant, Grinders, and Trygons. The puzzle you present is that your opponent is obligated to focus down the larger monsters to prevent them from healing, but most of the damage comes from the GSC units. Focusing the GSC units opens the door to Cult Ambush, allowing you to recycle your way back to the table while the opponent gets no relief from the Tyranid threat. 

Meanwhile, the Primus and his neophyte squad serve as a shadow of their former index glory, with +1 to hit and sustained hits either lending their firepower to a large push with the heavier units, or using Resistance Tunnels alongside the skirmish pieces to crush a weaker flank. The Raveners do their best space marine Scout impression to provide scoring utility, or use their speed to pick off weaker targets and contribute their presence in support of the GSC units once your opponent finally removes the bigger pieces and you can safely maintain scoring options using your cult ambush respawns.

Final Thoughts

Final Day looks like a great confluence of fluff and crunch. The Tyranids arriving to eat their worshippers and overload their brains and bodies in service of one final push is a great way to represent the horror of the 41st millennium, and on the table Hive Mind enthusiasts will be rewarded with a competitive way to run cool Tyranid models alongside the setting’s greatest heroes. Expect this detachment to be a favorite among competitive players too, as the flexibility on offer means that any viable GSC datasheet will find itself made stronger by the Star Children.

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