Today Games Workshop released the FAQs for the recent Adeptus Custodes and Genestealer Cults codexes, fixing up a few oversights in those books and answering a couple of questions. In this article we’re taking a look at the GSC side of things – you can find the FAQ itself here.
The good thing about the GSC book is that it was mostly pretty well-written, with lots of edge cases covered already. There’s a few points that needed clarification, though, and the bulk of this document is errata to fix what was left over:
- Reckless Demolitions: The errata adds a sentence, which closes a wording gap where you could technically use a demo charge you’d already fired earlier the game to attack in melee. Entirely expected and unsurprising.
- Prowling Agitant: The printed version of this doesn’t let your opponent redirect their charges, so it was possible for the GSC player to set up an “impossible” charge – placing the model with this trait such that you had to charge them, but then they’d move and you’d automatically fail. The errata brings this ability in line with all other recent “move when charged” effects, as it’s game breaking otherwise.
- Alien Majesty: The trait let you extend the range of the Jackal ability, but that ability isn’t actually an aura or a targeted effect – so it doesn’t do anything at all. Errataing it out just tidies things up.
- Revealing Ambush Markers: Previously, if you used From Every Angle to redeploy a unit into Strategic Reserves from Ambush, you’d end up with one Ambush Marker left over after revealing them, and no clear guidance on what to do with it. Now it gets tidied up, which is obviously the sensible outcome (as funny as it would be to leave a marker on the board that permanently prevented opponents coming within 9″, it’s not actually a good thing for the game!). This also future proofs against any future supplements adding more complex marker manipulation.
- Biophagus: Just some wording tidyup to make sure the familiar actually works as (clearly) intended.
- Neophyte Hybrids: The points section at the back accidentally listed these as coming in units of 5-15 (like Acolytes) and not 10-20 (as we all knew they should, and as their datasheet reflected). A simple fix for a clear typo.
- Our Time is Nigh: The rare errata which causes more confusion instead of resolving it. This fixes a mismatch between the rules page and points page, but the updated version is the higher cost and the lower cost was in the MFM. Presumably this is the correct one, and will be further clarified when the FAQ for that arrives.
As well as the errata, there were two questions answered around the Kelermorph and the Drive-by Demolitions Stratagem:
- Kelermorph: This makes it clear that using Wyrmtooth Rounds is “all or nothing” because of Pistol rules. This is a fairly straightforward answer of “yes, the normal rules still apply,” although it’s a bit weird that you can choose not to fire some of your pistols as Wyrmtooth Rounds if it then stops you using the others at all.
- Drive-by Demolitions: It wasn’t 100% clear if throwing a demo charge with Drive By Demolitions met all the criteria to trigger a Crossfire Marker – this confirms that it does and that’s good news for Rusted Claw players, since they can now set one up in the Movement phase with their Jackals and still get another in the Shooting phase with the same unit. Crossfire for everyone!
For the most part this is a really solid set of errata, and the FAQs offer some helpful clarification, particularly the second one as to how Drive-by Demolitions impacts Crossfire.
The main thing missing here also relates to the Kelermorph – you can still use Hypersensory Abilities to move after deep strike (which is explicitly intended in the rule) and then charge (which we assumed wasn’t!). Whether this means that you’re meant to be able to do it, or it’s just been missed, is an open question. It’s not that big of a deal in most circumstances – a Kelermorph is hardly your first pick for charging into melee – but it does still leave them with a strong option on appearing from underground and tying up a vehicle or something, which doesn’t feel great, and is out of line with how other similar abilities work.
There’s also been some discussion online of how Transports interact with Crossfire, and the FAQ is silent on that too. Whether this is something they don’t want to deal with, or it’s waiting for yet another change to the rare rules for shooting out of vehicles (becoming less rare every day!), is unknown.
