Genestealers leaving the cult?

[snakebyte]

Once the tyranid swarm reaches a cult world and begin the process of overrunning the defender, would the Patriarch and his genestealers stay to control the cult, or join the tyranid swarm, or try and leave entirely to begin the process again?

 

I.e, if you're running a crusade campaign with both Tyranids and Cult on one side, fluff wise would the cult still have it's genestealers?

[Fajita Fan]

I think, according to the codex, when the swarm comes the shadow in the warp causes the brood lord to revert to being a regular genestealer subsumed into the hive mind. The genestealers join the hive tyrants overrunning the world but the brood lord’s dominance over the cultists break and they’re human(ish) minds get see what they’ve done as they’re slaughtered by proper tyranids. 

[Closet Skeleton]

Basically the purestrains betray the hybrids and eat them.

 

The tabletop alliances between the two factions represent temporary situations at best.

[sitnam]

Basically the purestrains betray the hybrids and eat them.

 

The tabletop alliances between the two factions represent temporary situations at best.

Whilst this is typically the case, the most recent GSC codex had an example of a cult that wasn't even by the Tyranids, and instead commandeered a fleet of freighters to follow along the Hivefleet and invade alongside the Tyranids. It doesn't state why the Tyranids spared them, but it does open some interesting narrative possibilities

[tychobi]

The hive mind does with its flesh puppets as it sees fit. Often human or other dominated beings are more use as food but sometimes other uses arise.

[Syrakul]

 

Basically the purestrains betray the hybrids and eat them.

 

The tabletop alliances between the two factions represent temporary situations at best.

Whilst this is typically the case, the most recent GSC codex had an example of a cult that wasn't even by the Tyranids, and instead commandeered a fleet of freighters to follow along the Hivefleet and invade alongside the Tyranids. It doesn't state why the Tyranids spared them, but it does open some interesting narrative possibilities

 

I like this if done right. As Tyranids and purestrains already have a sort-of offhanded relationship (speculated that genestealers were a separate species amalgamated into Tyranids and bred with those strains intact)

Broodbrothers might be slaughtered but as hybrids contain this accepted DNA it might leave them off the menu.

Or an alternate interpretation, perhaps a particularly powerful patriarch might retain enough personal will to command protection for his offspring within the greater hive mind.

[GreenScorpion]

As with everything else within the tyranid forces, the cults are a tool for a specific job. While some tools are not useful after being spent, others can be used continuously, so if there is a reason for the Hive Mind to spare a cult (for some time at least), that might happen. It could be that the cult had some particularly useful set of skills or there is simply the need for a distraction force to be used by the fleet. Let your imagination fly in this sort of things :)