The brainstorm begins

First, some more rumors from B&C:

So you have asked, so you shall receive. I can't guarantee that all of this is super correct, as I don't have it in front of me right now, but I will say:

Nemesis Weapons, as far as I know are Force Weapons. HOWEVER, because of how Brotherhood of Psykers works (A unit casts a psychic power as a singular entity) I believe this means that only one weapon can become a Force Weapon per turn (If you so choose to use it over Hammerhands), and the rest are power weapons. Still, nothing to sneeze at.

-Nemesis Halberd: +1 Initiative 

-Nemesis Daemonhammer: +1 Strength

-Nemesis Falchions: Force Lightning Claws

-Nemesis Warding Stave: Power weapon that conveys a 2++ Invulnerable save. (I know. Madness.) They're 25-20 points per depending on the squad.

-Daemonhammer - This entry confuses me. There's both a Nemesis Daemonhammer and a regular Daemonhammer, but as far as I know, this one is a Thunderhammer with Daemonbane.

Psyk-Out grenades reduce morale of the unit they attack, I believe, but that one is the one i'm the most unsure on.

Continue!

So according to this, the crappy WS4, S4, Ld.8 average joe GKs with 1A now have power weapons.  I'm not sure what the difference is they're listed as having Nemesis Force Swords and GKT have NFWs.  I guess that's to separate the two GKs in which one is customizable and the other is not.

With that being said, here's what I plan on running for my Grey Knight army:

• A crap ton of Paladins and GKTs.  I used to have 27 and I'll be damned if I don't have that many again.
• Some really strong HQs because Grand Masters and special characters are just badass
• Probably not running LRs because GKs have been running LRs since the dinosaurs
• Not running any Stormravens or Dreadknights; mainly because I think they look terrible
• I may or may not run some Grey Knight Dreadnoughts just for fun
• Purgation Squads and Dreadnoughts are the way to go

With that being said, I want to run the following list:

1-2x Grand Masters

1x Big squad of Paladins geared for all purpose

1x Big squad of Terminators for all purpose

1x Smaller squad of Terminators w/ Psycannons point camping

3x Dreadnoughts w/ Psycannons

3x Purgation Squads in Razorbacks w/ Psycannons

Is this list do-able?  Let's see!  Keep in mind that I'm just going to type it out and you'll see me correcting my mistake along the way.  That's right people, no edits.  Just pure mental notes going out on paper.

• Assuming Grand Masters are going to be 200 points each (with gear and stuff), that's 400 pts in heroes.
• Paladins are supposed to be 55ppm and can be made scoring thanks to the GMs.  If I wanted to take a big squad of these guys, I have to plan for at least 65ppm because of all the upgrades.  Paladins are supposed to be able to take a crap ton of options and Emperor knows if I'm going to foot-slog or DS these guys, they need to be kited for 5th Ed. shenanigans.  Expect my unit of 10 to be 650 points.
• If I take Lord Draigo (I need to see the book), I can take 2 units of Paladins as troops.  However, I probably won't take Draigo if I can customize my Grand Masters to do more exciting things in the psychic department. Imagine taking 2x GMs with summoning and being able to summon a big squad of Paladins or Termies next to you to support the offensive.
• I'm not sure how the bigger squad of GKT are going to be equipped.  Most likely they won't be equipped too expensive since I already have the Paladins for that.  Probably a Incinerator and a Psycannon and call it a day.  If I feel I need more AT or more AP, I'll take 2x PCs or 2x Incinerators.  For now, I estimate the point cost to be 450 for 10.
• I used to take 3x GKT as a Psycannon platform back in the day and I'll probably do the same here since they're troop choices.  Since 5x is the standard and Storm Shields are NOT an option, I'll probably grab a Psycannon on them and give them Psybolts (if they're indeed AP4 + Ignore invulnerable saves) and have camp a objective.  Since they can only be taken in squads of 5, I'm guessing that ~240 is going to be my cheapest (for 1x Psycannon and all Psybolts).
• Let's add this up really quick and see how many points we have left over.  650 for Paladins, 400 for HQ, 450 for Terminators and 240 for smaller Terminators.  lol, we're at 1740 points and we haven't looked at Dreadnoughts and Purgation squads either.

First, let's answer the question of what the Dreadnoughts and Purgation squads do in my list.  For one, the Reinforced Aegis rumor states that any enemy psykers within 12" of someone with RA is at -4 Leadership.  That in itself is pretty good.. especially on a Venerable Dread with a Psycannon and the ability to ignore Shaken and Stunned with a psychic test.  That's why the Dreads will probably be given Reinforced Aegis, a Incinerator and Psycannon.  I'm estimating that these will be 210 points each (165 for Venerable, +15 for Aegis, +20 for Psycannon and +10 for Incinerator).  Keep in mind that this is just my guess at the point costs; but I'm a pretty damn good guesser.

So what about Purgation Squads?  According to these rumors, they come with 4x Incinerators and can be upgraded to Psycannons for 20 points a piece.  Since they're Grey Knights, they start at 100 points for 5 (assuming 20ppm) and can take a Rhino for 35 points (standard across all 5th Ed. Marines).  With that in mind, Purgation Squads are the cheap man's version of dedicated AT or AP.  Incinerators are S5 AP4 Rending that ignores Invulnerable Saves.  Put 4 of these templates on a group of 10 MEQ and they're good as dead.  In fact, put 4 of these templates on any type of infantry unit and they're dead.  For AT, the Psycannons are looking like a pretty good option.  S7 AP4 Rending with Assualt 2 and Heavy 4 can give you plenty of options.  Essentially, at 180 points (4x Psycannons) + a Razorback w/ Psycannon (assuming 40 for RB and +35 for TL Psycannon), you're looking at a 5x Psycannon firing squad that can move and deliver, or deploy and deliver.  Either way, they deliver.  Compare this to your typical Long Fang squad (the premiere multi-purpose AT squad in the game) which clocks out at 140 + 75 (6x LF 5x ML with 75pt RB), and you'll see that Grey Knights can indeed contend that title with their Psycannon Purgation Squad.  At 255 points, you have 16 Psycannon shots from the squad and 4 Twin-linked ones from the RB.  This will put a dent in every single vehicle/MC in the game.

Personally, I would take the cheap man's version of Purgation Squads (PG for short).  Take them as Incinerators and give them a RB with Psycannon.  That's 175 points of mobile firepower take can absolutely annihilate a hordes army and can possibly rend vehicles to death.  Worth it?  You bet your helmet I think they're worth it.

Now that I've compared them on paper, I don't think the expensive Ven. Dread is worth it.  With that said, let's look at what I want in my army and what I can cut:

• 2x GMs don't look really cost effective now that I think about it.  400 points in HQ is just a little ridiculous.  If Lord Draigo is indeed 275 points then 300 points is the highest I'll pay for HQs in this army.  Unlike the other armies I've played, Grey Knights are indeed the most elite of the elite and they pay up the ass for it in points.  For that reason, I'm going to temporarily put Lord Draigo in there at 275 and leave it at that.
• Attach said HQ to the big squad of 2+/4++ FNP Paladins at 10 strong for 650 points.
• Fill in another big Termiantor squad at 450.
• Then a smaller squad for 250.
• Then take 3x Purgation squads in Razorbacks w/ TLPC for 175 points each.
• This gives us 2150 points.. so 150 points over for a 2K list.

Putting it all together, the summary of the army looks like the following:

26 scoring Terminator bodies, 10 of which are 2+/4++ 2W Paladins, 1 is Lord Draigo  Assuming both Paladins and big Termie squads have 2x Psycannons each, I have 5 Terminator Psycannons and 3 TLPC for anti-tank.  I'm also planning to buy extra Incinerators in the army for the GKT that can, so I might be able to fit in 12+ Incinerators in the army for massive burnage.

Oh, and before I forget, here's something I've been toying around lately.  I took all the Grey Knight unit sound files from Dark Crusade and converted them into .mp3s.  Needless to say, I'm using some of them as my ringtone :)  Please enjoy!