Reflections - Dealing with Genestealer Cult, KDK Experiences

I've gotten a couple more games with the Khorne Daemonkin under my belt - once more against the Genestealer Cult, and against some of the forces out of Gathering Storm 01's book.  I believe I'm getting a better handle on the various forces at this point.

Dealing With a Genestealer Cult
Some stuff has become a little more apparent over time against these fellows - I believe the following apply to any army fighting against the cult.

Short Version - deploy and plan on playing reactive early on.  Hope you brought screening units, and if you survive the initial hit plan on hitting back hard and eliminating units. They're much more mobile than you'd expect from a bunch of dudes on foot, too.

1) Deployment Zones - what are those?
The cult's big schtick that impacts your play is the Cult Ambush.  Some of their stuff starts on the table in their deployment zone.  The rest consults a table, so their guys are going to do one of the following -

a) Walk on from reserves
b) outflank
c) show up 6-9" away with guns, quite possibly shooting
d) show up 3" away ready to assault the turn they arrive

This chicanery is generally limited to infantry and the odd Scout Sentinel.  Note that 'infantry' here ranges from stuff that looks suspiciously like Imperial Guardsmen, to chumps with industrial cutting gear, to straight-up Genestealers.  Also, Sentinels are probably going to have their choice of firing angles.

2) Bring Screening Units / Bubblewrap
It's never a bad idea to have some screening elements for your army.  If you're not out-and-out fast enough to dictate an engagement (Read - can't teleport, can't turbo-boost, that kind of thing) then you want some poor chump in front of you to die and buy time.

This is extra important against GSC for a couple of reasons - units WILL pop up in random spots and you have to assume that they will be a threat the turn they arrive, either by shooting or lucking out and rolling a 6 on the cult ambush table.  You at least want to make them work to get at your important units.

The follow-on is that during deployment, it pays to be able to deny them a place to deploy.  When the initial ambush sets up, they'll have all be 3/6/9" away - and if the whole unit can't fit, well.

3) Beware the First Curse
What is this 'first curse', you ask?  It's a Patriarch (think Genestealer with psychic powers and 'roid rage) and 20 of his closest friends.  Every GSC player that looks at this dreams of going first and rolling the 'assault the turn you arrive' perk - because seriously, that's painful.  (See #1 - BUBBLE WRAP - would you rather lose chumps or something important?)

That's a lot of rending attacks - if they can assault something with the bulk of the unit, they can probably kill it.

I honestly worry about this moreso if it DOESN'T start on the table - it's one thing to bubble wrap this on the table.

Just be ready to run from it, or smash it with lots of guns - and if it shows up ready to assault the turn you arrive?  You're going to lose something - simple as that.

4) Kill Them In One Go or Shadow Them
The Cult's also very, very good at slinking off in the shadows.  At the beginning of their turn, if the unit is more than 6" away from the enemy they can return to the shadows - they go into ongoing reserves, pick up a few more dudes (up to max size) and roll on the ambush table again next turn.

...granted, if they're all dead they can't do that.

5) They play a hell of an objective game
Between the cult ambush table and their ability to re-enter ongoing reserves, these guys are pretty nasty at playing objectives.

Stuff To Bring To Kill These Fellows
1) Volume of Fire
The bulk of these models have 5+ saves - but they'll have a LOT of bodies, and with their support HQs you can end up with a lot of fearless guys with Feel No Pain.  Hell, just bring plain FIRE for that matter; they're gonna be close to you.

2) Melee - sometimes
Genestealers, patriarchs, and their HQs in general are nasty in close quarters. Outside of them (and a couple other units, like aberrants and folks with mining tools) most guys are average at best, and their strength is in the buffs from HQ and the sheer number of bodies.  You're just going to have to be selective about melee matchups if you can be.

3) Psychic Defenses
Buffs and summoning are annoying - the latter even moreso when combined with cult ambush.

4) Swift units
They're all on foot - but can cult ambush.  It wouldn't hurt to be able to rapidly re-deploy your own stuff, because this guy can.

5) Cover-busting
Remember how this whole army's got like a 4+ or 5+ at best?  Deny them cover - they'll cry.

Thoughts on Khorne Daemonkin
1) Possessed - ...eh...
I love the models.  What I'm not loving is that they're required.  Don't get me wrong - if they can get into assault they are pretty nasty.

The problem is that 'if'.  Here's a short list of things I COULD have gotten instead of Possessed in a Rhino (or extra body)
-Helldrake
-Maulerfiend
-A BUNCH more bodies for hounds/bikes
-2/3 of another Bloodthirster

And I'm pretty sure all of those would've had more of an impact than the Possessed in most of my games.

I really like the free Blood Tithe from the slaughtercult, but I've yet to feel like the Possessed are anything other than a tax on my army at this point.

2) D-Thirsters are hilarious
I'm still enjoying this fellow - though he doesn't always have a ready target.  Anyone with super-heavies (outside of Knights / anything with Strength D in melee) should worry about this guy, because eight WS10 D-axe swings on the charge will pretty much wreck anything with hull points.

Outside of big, valuable targets he really needs to go after so-so melee troops - WS10 is a hell of a defense against WS4 and lower troops.  If there aren't any big juicy targets for this guy, then it's time to go find squads with WS4 or lower and thrash them.

Also he's pretty much not my first warlord choice - people tend to shoot the big ones.

3) Maulerfiends - not so bad.
I like them for a couple of reasons - they're fast, they can break vehicles, and lasher tendrils are actually pretty hilarious.  It's also kind of important to have more than one big nasty target - and maulerfiends are reasonably likely to grab a turn 2 charge with their speed.

4) Juggernaut Lord is Probably the way to go
The stat buffs on that mount are just too solid - throw in a melee weapon and the 4++ save and you're good, then stick him with a Gorepack's Flesh Hound accompaniment and go.

5) Knight Loadouts - Still Experimenting
I've tried the Slaughtercult a couple of times, so my Knight ally has come via the Renegade Knight versus a Forge World rule set or Kytan.

One mistake I've made - not going with a carapace weapon.  The Knight is pretty much the sum total of my army's shooting at this point; might as well maximize it.  I'm not super-enthralled by the performance of the Thermal Cannon or the Rapid-fire battle cannon.  The Thermal Cannon can at least bring some AP2 to the table, and if it gets lucky vs. a vehicle squadron I can possibly nuke two things with one shot.

My next experiment is going to be a Knight w/ the Avenger cannon (S6, AP3, 12 shots...aw yeah) and the Heavy 3 Krak missile carapace gun.  It'll play the game of 'reach out and touch someone before wandering into melee.'

Coming Next Up
-more hobby pictures, because I hit the painting table hard
-possibly more batreps
-reflecting on CAD vs. Slaughtercult again
-reflecting on Kytan vs. Forge World Knight rules vs. Renegade Knight after experimenting.

Battle Report - 1850 - Khorne Daemonkin versus Genestealer Cult

I managed to get models back on the table again - this time, I wanted to try out my growing Daemonkin army.  I figure it can't get much further from Tau than Khorne - this army really isn't that sure what these 'gun' things are, though a few of them have figured it out.  It's how you kill people BEFORE you start beating them to death.  My buddy wanted to test his Genestealer Cult again, so without further ado here are the lists - we'd agreed on 1850, he was a few points over so instead of making him re-point it and test different stuff I just added a puppy.

KDK 

Slaughtercult

Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury

5x Possessed in Rhino

8x Bloodletters

8x Bloodletters

Lord of Slaughter - Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage

Gorepack

3x Bikers w/ 2 Meltaguns

3x Bikers w/ 2 Meltaguns

9x Flesh Hounds

9x Flesh Hounds

War Engine - Maulerfiend w/ Lasher Tendrils

Allied Detachment - Renegade Knight w/ Thermal Cannon, chainsword

My Warlord was the Possessed champion, who had the 'I turn into a daemon prince / bloodthirster for free' trait

Genestealer Cult w/ Imperial Guard friends

Cult Insurrection Detachment

Magus w/ Crouchling

Patriarch w/ 20x Purestrain Stealers

10x Neophyte Hybrids (2x Grenade Launchers, 2x Mining Lasers)

-dedicated Chimera

8x Neophyte Hybrids (2x grenade launchers) w/ autocannon heavy weapon team

-deadicated Chimera

Leman Russ w/ heavy bolter sponsons, Eradicator Nova Cannon

1x Sentinel w/ Heavy Flamer

3x Sentinels w/ Autocannon

7x Purestrain Stealers

Primus & 4 Aberrants

5x Acolyte Hybrids

5x Acolyte Hybrids

5x Hybrid Metamorphs

Allied IG Attachment

Company Command Squad w/ 2x Sniper Rifles, Lascannon team, Master of Ordnance, Camo Gear

Veteran Squad - 3x Grenade Launchers, Autocannon Team, camo gear

Squadron of 2 Hydra batteries

His warlord was the Patriarch, which translated to "20 Genestealers deploying where they want with a turn one assault."  His psykers end up with a mix of abilities, and naturally one of the jokers ends up with summoning.

The Scenario - we roll up Deadlock, which means there's a diminishing number of tactical objectives per turn.  He gets first turn, and I seize the initiative.

DEPLOYMENT - KDK POV

 I promptly bubble-wrap my army and attempt to deny him flanking placements.  His best-case deployment is 3" away with assaults permitted.  Otherwise he's got to be 6-9 inches away from my guys.  Also, the cult army penalizes my reserve rolls - I'd rather spend my 'letters as Bubble Wrap than deal with crappy reserve rolls.  As it is I've got his Patriarch + 20 stealers at my front door.  There's also the unit of Aberrants nearby.

DEPLOYMENT - Genestealer POV

 He's got his other squads positioned to grab objectives.

KDK Turn 01 Assault Results

 As you can see from the deployment pictures, I've got options - and I also should charge the giant genestealer blob, because I don't feel like letting them have Furious Charge.  The Blob is the only thing that can assault me on his first turn.  So, I charge in with a unit of Khorne Dogs, the Knight, the Maulerfiend, and D-Thirster.  ALL OF MY D ATTACKS FAIL TO WOUND.  Things are looking a little bleak - the Knight promptly lost four hull points, but then rolls up 3 stomps and does a Khornate jig through the stealer blob.

Also, comically, I got the Lasher Tendrils on the Patriarch - who's in a challenge with my D-Thirster - and my D-thirster.  Suddenly the Patriarch isn't as scary with only two attacks a turn.

DERP

 ...I also assault his aberrants with my regular 'thirster.  I forget that I have no grenades and that unit's full of guys with S7 and S8 attacks that blow through my 3+.  So, I kinda hand over first blood because sometimes I'm dumb.  Also, the other unit of dogs assaulted something nearby.  Honestly, I'm fighting a LOT of units here - I can barely keep track of it, but there's a lot of blood for the blood god.

His turn one (which I generally forgot to photograph) involves his Chimera dropping his psyker and squad into cover, some gunfire (which does little) and some summoning.  It also resolves the assault - D-thirster crushes the patriarch into a paste, and my units consolidate.

KDK Turn 02 - BLOOD!

 So, on turn 01 I have 1 Tithe because of the Slaughtercult.  On turn 2 I have 8 to start the turn, so I summon a Bloodthirster.  My Warlord explodes and scatters back.  Bikers sweep forward to grab objectives, and one squad murders a handful of 'stealer cultists off of their objective.  Hounds sweep towards his psyker's squad, and D-thirster wanders up to the Leman Russ.  I would've assaulted the Chimera with the Maulerfiend, but it doesn't get the 11 it needs to make it.

I'ma boop it on the snout!

 The D-thirster promptly does 2d3 + 1d6 + 6 hull points of damage to the Russ.  Sometimes you don't want to drive close enough to hit it with your sword.

Cultists Turn 2

 His reserves show up - the three autocannon sentinels wander in and grab a firing solution on my Knight, and the flamer sentinel draws a bead on my bikes.  They survive the burnination from the Chimera and the sentinel.  He also gets a squad in my backfield, so that means the bloodletters are going to get to do some work.  My D-thirster absorbs a LOT of gunfire - pretty much all the heavy weapons on the board go into him, and he manages to lose three wounds.  His psyker and squad lose to the Khorne Dogs in assault and get away.

KDK Turn 03

 My D-thirster claims his IG veterans in assault.  The Maulerfiend bounds over to the flamer sentinel and decides to play with it.  The fiend is a bit too enthusiastic and breaks his toy.  One biker squad finally gets to use its meltaguns in combat, and manages to beat up the chimera - but not kill it.  The Khorne Dogs run down his psyker, murder it, and consolidate back into the woods.

In the backfield, my warlord-bloothirster decides to have words with the sentinels while my bloodletters go have words with the 'stealers that showed up in my backfield.

The other squad of Khorne Dogs continues their melee with the aberrants.  The Knight uses its Thermal Cannon to nuke the other Chimera - woo, impressive, it blew up a transport! But no tithe, because it's not got Blood for the Blood God.  As I had only 3 blood tithes this turn, I used Feel No Pain.

CHAAARGE!

 On his turn 3, his neophyte cavalcade decides to bail the sentinels out.  They've got heavy mining equipment that would be painful in an assault.

...oh, crap, he's I9 and we rolled a 3

 He rolls a 3 for the assault, and the 'thirster murders all the heavy weapons before they can swing.

OH HOLY CRAP

 His army continues to unload into my D-thirster...

 ...and then some schmuck with a lasgun lands the final wound.

End of Turn 4 and Game

Turn 4 - I summon a Skull Cannon and nuke his command squad off the board with it.  Maulerfiend mops up stuff, and we call it between the hour and the fact he's got under ten infantry left on the board.

Closing Thoughts
KDK absolutely LOVES opponents that bring lots of small units.  I think I went through ~20 blood tithes this game, and actually lost some.  My comrade and I discussed it - this is a rough matchup for GSC because they like to have lots of threat vectors.

KDK also has a tactical objective that involves manifesting a psychic power, which is a head-scratcher.

D-Thirster is NASTY if he can get into assault - though low-initiative high-strength weapons are probably unhealthy.

Bloodthirsters in general really need to think about what they're assaulting if it has cover - throwing away I9 is silly if the other guy has low-initiative high-strength weapons.

I still have no real idea what to do with the possessed - maybe skip the rhino, buy a couple more bodies?  Otherwise they drive around and look to grab objectives.

I like having the Knight's fire support - not sure if I want to make room for the points to upgrade it via FW rules to have Blood for the Blood God, or just go whole hog and try to fit a Kytan in there.  The problem is that the latter two require a CAD for the Lord of War slot.

I like the big gribblies - though part of me wondered if having a cheaper Lord instead of the Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury would be good - though a Lord with mobility is still going to like 1/2 to 2/3 the cost of the 'thirster, and he needs a unit to hide in.

Genestealer cults are a pain to deploy against - and diagonal deployment means that unless you saturate your backfield (with units that might not contribute much to the fight) you may get to deal with a fight on two fronts.

After discussion, we're not sure that the 20-strong stealer blob + patriarch is the way to go - it's begging to have every last resource dropped on it ASAP, and if it's going to be deployed forward to assault early then there's a fair chance you're handing over Slay The Warlord and/or First Blood.

Bloodthirsters don't like Hydras.  Even if I do make an inordinate number of 3+ saves.

Knights should worry about genestealers in melee - though good stomps go a ways towards getting them out of a jam.

Overall, it was educational - I like KDK, but think this list may not be my final form.

Purple People Eaters vs Blue Man Group - 1500 BATREP

So, I figured it's time to get back to the battle reports, and also to throw myself into the fray again.  This is my whopping second time out with Tau, and my comrade was wanting to test out his Genestealer Cult army.  Or rather, he realized a Guard player can get a new army with a book and some models.

The Armies

Tau Hunter Cadre - Blue Man Group with BULLETS

Crisis Commander w/ Plasma, Missile, 2x Shield Drones

3-man Crisis Suit Team (missile/plasma)

4-man Crisis Suit Team (missile/plasma, shas'vre with 2x shield drones)

Riptide (twin-linked SMS, Ion Accelerator, interceptor gadget, skyfire gadget, Feel No Pain)

10x Kroot (played by Fire Warriors, rather valiantly I might add)

10x Kroot + 3 Hounds

10x Kroot + 3 Hounds

8x Pathfinder

Piranha w/ disruption pod (model has a fusion blaster; went w/ Burst Cannons for points)

Piranha w/ disruption pod (as above; skipped the fusion blaster because suicide melta seems a little less neat than it used to be)

Hammerhead (disruption pod, twin-linked SMS, submunitions)

Hammerhead (disruption pod, twin-linked SMS, submunitions)

My Logic

Much as I enjoyed a Coldstar commander, he's asking to get crushed and hand over a VP for killing the warlord.  So I went with a Crisis Commander.

Crisis suit teams are there for mobile firepower - decided to add drones to see if I need the protection.

Riptide - I like the anti-air and Interceptor, and decided that the range of the Ion Accelerator was easier to use than the short-ranged buzz-saw that is the heavy burst cannon.  Opted for the stim injector because I'd rather throw dice for FNP than have someone shoot a missile drone and make me take a morale check on a 200+ point model, so I can box-car it and watch it run off the table, because dice.

I went with Kroot for the infiltration and bubble-wrap factor - I'm more than willing to condemn 60-100pt units to death if they get an objective first.

Piranhas - not too sold on a fusion blaster, but I like having the mobility for harassment and objectives.

Pathfinders - markerlights are silly, and coordinated fire makes them more efficient.

Hammerheads - versatility, cost, and potential LOS-blockers are awesome.  Also, 3+ jink saves are kinda fun too.

The Genestealer Cult (Purple People Eaters)

Magus

Patriarch

20-man Stealer Squad w/ Scything talons

5-man stealer squad

-12 man neophyte hybrid squad w/ 2x flamers mounted in Chimera w/ heavy flamer

-12 man neophyte hybrid squad w/ 2x flamers mounted in Chimera w/ heavy flamer

Leman Russ (Heavy bolter, battle cannon)

3x Scout Sentinel w/ autocannon, hunter-killer missile

Scout sentinel w/ heavy flamer

9-man Neophyte Hybrid squad w/ 2x Grenade Launchers and missile launcher

9-man Neophyte hybrid squad w/ 2x grenade launchers, autocannon

20-man neophyte hybrid squad w/ 2x flamers

My Thoughts

Cult ambush is a potent tool for this list - he gets to roll 1d6 for each unit that has it, and depending on what they get they get to set up accordingly.  It ranges from 'walk on my board edge in turn 1' to 'set up 6" away from you and I can assault turn 1."  His formation gave all his footsloggers the Cult Ambush - INCLUDING those sentinels.  His vehicles are out-flanking.  AND, if his foot units are more than 6" away from my guys, they can Return to the Shadows to ongoing reserves, gain 1d6 models back (up to max size) and then re-roll on the Cult Ambush table.  There's also his +1 bonus to reserves, so...yeah.

So - I have to deploy conservatively against someone who's going to then react to my deployment, and have to react to it.  And I get a turn to deal with it before his reserves hit and get to react to my actions.

I have basically zero initiative.

The Battle

We roll up diagonal deployment, and neither of us get a particularly influential warlord trait.  Mercifully he does NOT roll the "choose what Cult Ambush I get."  I opt to deploy first, and opt to infiltrate the Kroot to react to his deployment, and hope I can get them into decent positions.  Pathfinders 

We opt for a more urban-looking table, because that's how 'stealer cults would probably roll, and the Tau are probably trying to figure out just what is going on here.

DEPLOY!

or,

 "What is this 'deployment zone' you speak of?"

 So, all his vehicles are outflanking (or in the case of the sentinels, I get to watch them cult ambush.)  He drops one of the 9-man heavy weapon squads in those buildings at the corner.  His 20-man walking blob has the magus, and it walks on from his table edge alongside his 5-man stealer squad.

What about the 20-man stealer squad with the broodlord?  Oh, you see that tall, skinny building?  They're hiding in that.  Because they rolled the 'We can assault the turn we arrive' result and clearly this means they need to be as close to my army as possible.  Other highlights involve stealth and/or shrouded on turn 01, which is...oh boy.

Tau Turn - 01

 Target priority is pretty simple - if that 20-man blob of genestealers is alive at the end of the turn, I am seriously screwed.  So, I markerlight it - then here's where the 'Coordinated Fire' rule comes into its own.  It lets me nominate units to fire as one - they all resolve shooting simultaneously, they all share markerlight benefits, AND if 3+ units use Coordinated Fire they all get +1BS.  I promptly nominate virtually my whole army to use Coordinated Fire, and reduce their cover save to be commensurate with their 5++ invulnerable.

When the dust finally clears, the 20-man stealer blob and their broodlord look like modern art and are largely imitating chunky spaghetti sauce.

Aftermath of Tau Turn 01 shooting

 I pretty much HAD to focus-fire the unit down - otherwise it would've pulled 6" away, faded back into reserves, and come right back.  Not gonna deal with that, I don't care if it's overkill.

Genestealer Turn 01

 I discover that the Magus can summon units, and that Tau have no real psychic defense beyond a lot of bullets.  So, I notice that the Magus phoned...oh, about 20 friends, and they showed up in my backfield.  Actually, they're like ankle-deep in the remains of the remains of their genestealer friends and broodlord, and manage to knock out a Crisis Suit and a shield drone from the originally-four-man-team.  Otherwise, not a ton happens.

Tau Turn 02

 ..didn't I just focus-fire a unit down in my backfield?  So, we do it AGAIN, and then we focus-fire the Magus down as well, because SERIOUSLY I'm done with random guys showing up in my back door.  My army decides to add a second layer of steam chunks to that building.

The backfield offenders fail a morale check, which is close enough.  By all the blue space-commies hold dear, I'm glad my dice cooperate enough - though the +1BS from Coordinate fire SERIOUSLY comes in handy here.  I brace for the random sentinels and wonder which direction the Russ and Chimeras will come from, because 2+ reserves means he's gonna get them all.

Genestealer Turn 02

Now the pain starts.  His retreating backfield squad ends up within 6" of my midfield objective-camping Kroot, which means no regroup, no BS.  His heavy flamer sentinel shows up behind my Pathfinders, but the Riptide turns around with the Ion accelerator and provides a short and effective lesson about the 'merit' of AV10 open-topped.  This is my moral victory for the turn because I lose the wounded Crisis Suit team to the Russ, and his Sentinels with autocannons get to fire in the move AND shoot phase.  I seriously luck out with jinks and end up immobilized, between his BS4 and my rear armor.  His chimeras ALSO show up on this side, and the 'dozer blade one ends up rolling snakeyes going for the objective.  Which is also contested by the now-grounded hammerhead.  If you look close in the bottom corner you can see his 'stealers after they mowed down my Kroot squad that was on that objective.

Riptide says 'NO HEAVY FLAMERS ALLOWED!'

 You would have taken the picture if it was your army too.

Tau Turn 03 

 I immobilize the other chimera with the Hammerhead, and decided that I've GOT to murder the Sentinels.  Turns out S6-7 shooting murders open-topped AV10.

GSC Turn 03

 Not much happens - he doesn't have good deployment options from the Chimeras, so stays in 'em.  Long-range heavy weapons fire doesn't do much, and his heavy weapon teams opt to hold down objectives and keep me from readily getting them.  From here, it starts to consolidate.

 My crisis suits end up being the second assault of the game - turns out that a bunch of wannabe tac marines can melee down guardsmen, which is good.

 I try to clean off objectives, cover saves are annoying.  My fire-warrior kroot-stand-ins are waiting for me to clean off a fire team so I can get that objective; they're gonna keep waiting.

 Russ bombardment continues, stuff continues making cover saves or his dice fail to scratch AV13.

Last pic - we call it at turn 05; he's down to a couple heavy weapon teams and a Russ, I've lost a kroot squad, a crisis team, a Piranha, and have an immobilized Hammerhead.  I have a ~2-3 VP lead on him.

Closing Thoughts
1) Cult Ambush
MAN that is a pain to fight against.  Good dice can put them on my doorstep and force me to prioritze.  Deploying against this is difficult as well - they go AFTER everything else, and end up getting to react.

2) Coordinate Fire
Being able to boost my BS by combining fire? YES PLEASE.  Being able to economize on markerlights by combing fire AND getting a BS boost without spending a markerlight?  YES PLEASE.  The drawback is hoping that I get my firepower allocations right, because I've got to pretty much call them before I throw dice.

Hands-down this is the Tau MVP though, because it let me wipe his Magus and his huge genestealer blob.

3) Crisis Suits and the Missile/Plasma loadout
There were only a couple times I wished for flamers, but the range is awesome and it's more likely to contribute.  Flamers still smell like death-or-glory, but at least aren't markerlight reliant.

4) Riptide
Generally I'm glad I went with the Ion Accelerator - the range was more useful than the massed close-range fire, and I think it meshes better with the Interceptor bit as well.  I think one is a good number for a 1500 list.

5) Piranhas
I was a bit concerns about ditching the fusion guns, but in all honestly they did what I needed them to do - capture objectives and be a relatively easy way to contribute to the Coordinate Fire rule.  Who cares if it's snap shots? They just have to fire.

6) Kroot
Yeah, much as I like Fire Warriors, I like the infiltrator flexibility and the cheap bodies.

7) Pathfinders
Markerlights are awesome, but I think I need to investigate ways to add more than one source of markerlights - I was lucky enough to have them in position when I needed them in turn 01 and 02, but one unit can still get shot off the board if the enemy can and needs to do so.  I was fortunate.

8) Cult List comp thoughts
-We both agreed that the scything talons and hunter-killer missiles were probably better spent on more bodies - specifically, beefing up that 5-man squad; otherwise the 5-man team is good for nipping at flanks and securing objectives.
-Cult-Ambush + Sentinels is pretty sick - autocannons vs. rear armor is kinda sick.
-Broodlord & Friends-  the 20-man unit is required by his formations; and is legitimately sick.  I don't think there's another way to play them other than ramming them down the other guy's throat - I was fortunate to murder them to the last on turn 01.  Failing to do so may not have been game over right there, but it would have been an uphill batter after assaults.
-The Magus probably needs to hide in the back in a heavy weapon squad and do psyker BS.
-Overall, it might be better to start non-Sentinel armor on the table and Cult Ambush everything else; the trick is making sure whatever's on the table on turn one can't be cleared off before reserves happens.

Overall
We both had a blast - the Genestealer Cult needs some rules clarifications, but we just went with the more sensible-sounding stuff and I don't think it made too big of a difference.  I have a healthy respect for (and envy of) that list's ability to react with cult ambush and reserves.

Also, Hunter Cadre's Coordinated Fire has some serious utility if you have enough units.  I'm not really sure what I'd do to my list at 1500 other than look for a way to get different sources of markerlights for sake of redundancy.