Thursday, March 10, 2011

I have seen it


So I was at my LFGS today and I got a good hard look at the Grey Knight codex.  I studied it, like the Art of War but in a hour's time because there was a hundred people there.  I only focused on what I deemed to be the most important and that was the actual Grey Knight units.  There was a lot of people looking at the book and I didn't care much for the Inquisitors and their items.  Overall, the book is almost exactly like the pdf, all the way down to the costs.  For more wargear info, check my previous posts.

Nemesis Force Weapons
Brotherhood of Psykers for Nemesis Force Weapon states that you take 1 psychic test for all models with a NFW. If you pass, ALL wounds caused by the unit count as Instant Death. Originally it was thought that you only get to blow up 1 guy, but now you can blow up an entire unit of Nob Bikers.

HQ Choices
The Grand Master is a solid buy because of the amount of weapon options you can give him.  If you keep the default Force Sword he gets a 3++ invul in close combat.  Since the Grand Master grants you Grand Strategy for 25 points more than a BC, you will never take the Brother-Captain.  What you will take is the Librarian because he's really good for his points.  The Brotherhood Champion is also a waste of space because he really does have 1 wound.

Special Characters
Every single one of them is trash.  Mordrak isn't a IC and his Ghost Knights have no Psycannons and cost the same as regular termies.  Crowe, aside from his ability to make Purifier troops, is utter garbage.  Seriously, the guy wants to die.  Stern is overpriced and useless and Draigo is just so damn expensive.  Then there's Thawn.. why does he even exist again?  Major disappointment here.

Strike Squads
Good buy overall.  I can definitely see 10 of these guys with 2 Psycannons and a Rhino as the staple.  Front-runners can take Incinerators, but Psycannons would be my weapon of choice.

Purifiers Squads
As predicted, these guys are the stars of the book.  Ld.9, 2 attacks each with 2pt Halberds and Cleansing Flame is just amazing.  They can also take 2 Psycannons for every 5 and you can take 10 dudes.  That means you can take a full squad of 10 with 4 Psycannons and Halberds, combat squad them so you have 1 squad of better Purgation dudes that can actually defend themselves and the other squad can go hang out in a Razorback or something.  Crowe can make these guys troops which is great.

Interceptor Squads
These are just Strike Squads w/ teletubby spikes and therefore they turn into Fast Attack.  They're good as last minute contending units that can shunt 30" once per game, so they're good as long as you have a Grand Master that can make them scoring.

Purgation Squads
Good buy as always.  Free Incinerators on 4 guys or Psycannons for 20ppm.  Equip with a Razorback and you're good to go.  I would personally always go for the aggressive Incinerator option but that's just me.  That comes out to 145 with the RB.

Paladin Squads
You pay for every cent you put these guys in.  Underneath that big bad internet hype lies a 2W Termie with a 5++ invulnerable save.  The +75 point Apothecary UPGRADE also weighs this unit down in terms of price.  Watch out for Demolishers and Vindicators..

Dreadknight
It's a good buy and effective unit.  WS5, S6, T6, I4, 4W, 3 attacks, 2+/5++ and a lot of weapon options.  The price of 130 is extremely cheap for what it does but if you want to upgrade it with the ability to teleport, be ready to pay 75 points for it.  Personally, I'm not going to be picking any of these up because I have this little thing called aesthetic preference.

Rad Grenades
-1 Toughness to anything in assault with the bearer of these grenades.  Yes, they do effect the Instant Death threshold.  Yes, this does mean that your S10 Daemonhammer auto-rapes T5 Trygons.  These little buggers change the outcome of every assault, and that's why they cost 15 points to equip on very select HQs (like Grand Masters).

Psybolt Ammo
+1S to Bolters, Heavy Bolters, Storm Bolters, Hurricane Bolters, Auto-cannons and Assault Cannons.  Use these to turn your Assault Cannons into Psycannons or your Riflemen Dreads into objects of extreme fear.

Oh, and here's some pictures of the space monkey and Crowe:


46 comments:

Unknown said...

I got a look at the models. I really don't want to start up a new army until I finish up my Angels and tau Painting, but these models are so beautiful.

I agree, the DK looks like they had a toddler toy designer put it together, I will reserve final judgement for the kit, to see if anything can be salvaged from it. Otherwise, I'll stick to Dreadnaughts as my HS.

RotatingPanda said...

Although I'm glad the Dreadknight doesn't have the T7 and 4++ he was rumored to, the Force weapon issue is actually worse than I thought. Oh well Trygons, you had your fun :'(

Anonymous said...

Rifleman Dreads with Psybolt Ammunition are going to be very scary, especially when you pair up Fortitude getting rid of every shaken or stunned result and reinforced aegis causing major headaches for every offensive psyker around.

I really need to look at the new Ghost Knight entry though. Even losing Psycannons if they have the Brotherhood Banner and incinerators at least then I'm willing to give them a shot. Stealth and not being able to single out Morty is pretty worth it.

Dezzo said...

What I am curious to know is if GK has access to the TL Assault Cannon Razorback.

Dezzo said...

Also, I think the Inquistor + Retinue is a lot more powerful than any of the GK GM/BC choices. Bar special characters that have special rules to benefit the entire army.

HERO said...

Yes, they have access to TLAC on the Razorbacks; which you can buy Psybolts for so they become pseudo Psycannons :P

Anonymous said...

Isn't Crowe pretty good since he makes purifiers troops?

HERO said...

That's his only redeeming quality. There's nothing good about a 150 character that wants to die and offer a KP.

Anonymous said...

I think that I just really need to see the new book. I have been forming my opinions based on the leaked codex and I don't know if that's valid.

If you consider the older models, I think Crowe would pay for himself really quickly, what with purifiers with halberds being only 1 point more than regular PAGKs with halberds. Did points costs change at all?

Would you suggest just taking a grand master then?

HERO said...

Definitely just take a Grand Master and/or Librarian if you want a GK Hero to lead you army. Here's what I'll be taking:

Grand Master = 175, Rad Grenades = 15, keep the Force Sword.
190 points for 2+/3++ in CC, and whatever you assault is at -1T.

And the Librarian, just keep the NFS and give him 3 more powers for 165 points.
Going for Might of Titan, Quicksilver and Shrouding.

Anonymous said...

Are you able to comment on any points changes in the purifier or strike squad entries between the actual codex and the leaked ones?

Sorry to ask all these questions, but my local GW doesn't have the book yet and I'm looking to make a big online order ;)

Anonymous said...

Are you sure that Mordrak isn't a character? They must have changed him drastically from the leaked 'dex....

Anonymous said...

First off, I retract my previous comment regarding Mordrak being an IC.

Sorry to spam your comments, but doesn't Mordrak not being an IC actually make him better, since he can't be singled out, and so his unit of ghost terminators won't just disappear?

Again, sorry if this is all stupid, but I'm still going off the leaked 'dex. :(

How about this: Mordrak with 10 ghost warriors with banner. Wouldn't this unit be absolutely uber for 545 points? They pop up turn one and don't scatter. Hell, put them in cover and they're rocking a 3+ cover save.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all this awesome info Hero! If you don't mind, do you remember any info about the following?

Empyrean Brain Mines
Servo skulls
Nemesis Falchions counting as Lightning claws
Warp Stabilization Field and Truesilver armour

Dezzo said...

@Hero: Hilarious! I have a bunch of TLAC Razorbacks painted in a similar scheme to The Inquisition... maybe I should get a few boxes of PAGKs. LOL!

Petrow said...

There were some chatter yesterday because of the update on GW's site; it hinted that Purgation Squads have only 24" range.
Does that refer to the Astral Aim, or the psycannons' range were decreased to 24"?

BlkBeltMJK said...

What about storm bolters and close combat? Do they count as an additional CCW? Or have True Grit?

HERO said...

Mordrak's Termies are now 1-5 and cost 40ppm and cannot take Psycannons. That's what makes him garbage.

Purifier points haven't changed.

Storm Bolters do NOT give the additional CCW.

Roland Durendal said...

Hey Hero, for Interceptor Squads, are they more than the GKSS?

Other than that, this affects my tentative army list only a little. I still plan on running Crowe just so I can rock out Purifiers as Troops, and I definitely agree a Libby is one of the best HQ choices they have (next to a GM).

Only issue I'm running into now is do I REALLY want to run a Pally squad in a Storm Raven or do I want to get some Rifledreads, maybe a 4th Purifier Squad or a 2nd Interceptor squad.

Also good to see the Force Weapon question resolved. I'd initially heard they ALL count as PW's...though having a squad of ID'ing dudes is pretty harsh too

HERO said...

They do cost more than the GKSS, 6pts more in fact.

Anonymous said...

They all DO count as power weapons, don't they?

HERO said...

You gotta be kidding me right? Look under Force Weapons in the BRB. This is BASIC knowledge about the game.

Anonymous said...

I do not quite understand your statement about paladins. Are you saying they are a good choice or a bad choice?

HERO said...

They're good, but you pay for what you get.

Dingareth said...

Thanks a bunch man! You're a huge help to us that are in rural New Hampshire, visiting their gf's family, away from civilization and game stores.

Anonymous said...

Ok thanks! Also, what do you think of running an army of Draigo and two full squads of paladins as an 1850 list?

HERO said...

I think the list will fail horribly because you're still only moving 6 with 4 Psycannons total in the entire army and will be Demolisher/Vindicator bait.

Anonymous said...

Haha! Thanks for the input.

Unknown said...

Crowe and Coatez will be used quite a bit I feel. Draigo just for lols.

Psyfledreads and Purifiers will be very popular though I feel the FA and Elite slots are weak at teams (especially if you take Crowe). The HQ slot is stacked with a couple decent SCs, Grandmasters + Libby and Troops are certainly nice.

Ah if only they had access to Land Speeders :p.

HERO said...

They will be used because of their unlocks, but no one can argue that Crowe is not garbage in design.

Your Dady said...

So, basic GK are 1 power attack dudes, seems to me they are going to have a hard time dealing with horde armies.
They will basically be a SM/CSM hard counter, i see them having a really hard time against orks, gun line guard and DE in general.

Anonymous said...

Coatez and Chimeras with ap 3 pieplates and meltas is going to be spamed to no end.

Anonymous said...

Do they still have the shrouding rule? does it still function the same way?.

HERO said...

Shrouding is a Psychic ability that gives all GK units within 6" of the Libby the Stealth USR.

Gray Hero said...

MMM... if numbers stay the same at 25 points the regular GK when equipped with a Spear, which at 1a per head he so badly needs.
And 26 points a Purgation squad when equipped with spears, and 1 extra attack per head, it is hard to see why would you ever choose regulars over purgation ones, unless you equip them with teleporters or something in particular that purgation dont get access to.

Anonymous said...

Do storm bolters give any kind of bonus?

WHITEWOLFMXC said...

Like any new codex that comes out , i think you STILL dont think the GK is OP , obviously cause any unit can make a whole unit with multiple wound models just die like that

Obviously not Op at all

HERO said...

Shoot them? Or is that too hard to ask?

Anonymous said...

Hero,

Great job!! I'll be looking forward for your list!

jermy said...

Paladins will get smee-smashed by las cannons and the like!

Minijunkie said...

Hm, I think the DK looks fantastic - nice model that looks different from the usual marine stuff.

Gray Wolf said...

Yay, if the book is over the top as they tend to be, then my "Rune" Knights of Russ are incoming.

Sam... said...

Does Crowe still give the ability of furious charge..? What was Hammer hand finalised at?! I was thinking of something along the lines of +2I and +1I for FC... And then the added strength. Depends on what HH does though. +2 strength was what I was hearing... Would give ya strength 7 initiative 7... With however many attacks...

HERO said...

You do realize Crowe gives enemy units furious charge right?

Matthc said...

Hey Hero if you get a hold of those Blood of Kitten documents can you send them my way at

Matthc@uga.edu

Sam... said...

Ah the enemy get it?! Thats rubbish!! (Am going from old rumors lol)

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