Balancing Genestealers

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espressokiller
Private First Class - Opel Blitz
Private First Class - Opel Blitz
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Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2022 5:22 pm

Balancing Genestealers

Post by espressokiller »

There's been a lot of talk about what it would take to see Genestealers in competitive play. The main complaint is that they do not hit hard enough or have enough survivability to be cost-effective in a competitive list. They don't reflect the lore of one of the most-beloved Tyranid units, and it leaves the army with few melee options.

Here are three possible ways of altering the unit that have been discussed in the Discord:

1. Make them cheaper
- 50-55pts (down from 65pts)
They're an expensive unit that requires multiple stacking buffs to be effective in combat. They are easily countered with overwatch/ranged attacks if they go up the board. At 50-55pts, I think they become compelling as fairly cheap counter-attack units. They can be the answer to a Blood Angels death-ball of assault marines, and they can screen out terminators. If they die, that's fine! They're doing their job and they're cheap.

2. Make them tankier
- 60hp (up from 45hp)
- 5 armor (up from 3)
Now we have a unit that is going to be much tougher to kill. They still only have 2 attacks each (1 per rending claw), but they have a better chance of surviving the rush up the board and the round after they attack.
While this would probably get them into more lists, it doesn't solve the issue that Genestealers don't really reflect the lore! They are fast, clever, and experts at staying hidden until the right moment. By the time you know they're there, it's too late. How could we reflect the lore with their stats/role?

3. Leave the base stats (45hp, 3 armor) and make them deadlier and harder to kill in other ways
- Base evasion increased up to 15 (currently 5), Brood Telepathy stacks the same way
- Each rending claw has 2 attacks (up from 1) for a total of 4 attacks per model
- Rending claws go to 7AP (up from 6)
- Genestealers gain partial cover when adjacent to any terrain
- The unit cannot be targeted when in full cover (i.e. no indirect fire)
Now we're talking! Suddenly Genestealers are unit that rewards experienced players for positioning, stacking buffs, and thinking ahead. They have a delivery mechanism (sticking to terrain) that can be countered by a savvy opponent, but they will hit like a truck if they reach your lines.

Other ideas that might be harder to implement but are worth a mention:
- Create a deep strike or ambush ability that allows them to pop out of terrain in the later turns of the game
- The unit cannot be targeted by ranged attacks unless they are within 5 tiles
- Allow the unit to be placed in reserve at the start of the game. The Broodlord can summon the units within 2 tiles of itself at any point in the game (I like this one because it introduces some flexibility on maps where the deployment zones are less than ideal)


I'd really love to hear some thoughts from the community!
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