A guide to GK unit upgrades

In this article, I will highlight the importance of certain unit upgrades for Grey Knights.  Keep in mind that I do my guides in a very cost effective manner.  If I don't think the unit upgrade isn't worth it, I won't mention it.  Please, feel free to disagree via questions or comments.

When to Master-Craft?

For 5 points, there's a lot of reasons why you should MC weapons.  You increase accuracy in your shots and you improve the lethality of your attacks in CC.  A GM or Libby with a MC weapon makes him much more dangerous in combat because you're going to be landing more Force Weapon hits.  Once Force Weapons are activated, everything in the game that lives or breathes will fear you without question.  Eternal Warrior is the only thing that can save them at that point.  My rule to Master-crafting is simple and effective:  Always MC your Psycannons if you can, always MC your Daemonhammers and always MC your HQ's weapons if you can fit the points.  Keep in mind that MC is only 5 points and most of the time you can put it on any weapon you wish.  That means when you want something to hit; when you NEED something to hit, 5 points is a very small price to pay.  All squad leaders can MC their weapons, another thing to keep in mind.

What NFW should I use?

This depends entirely on playstyle and personal preference but I'll tell you what I prefer:  Halberds on everything with 2 attacks, Swords on your vital HQs and Hammers on anything that's non-IC, can't be picked out and in a 5:1 ratio to any infantry squad.  This means no IC in your army should ever carry a Hammer.  Grand Masters are I5 so you want to take advantage of that and Librarians have the exact stats as a Paladin.  For Librarians, if you favor protection, go with a NFS to make him 4++ in CC.  Sometimes I prefer the extra early hitting power so I give the Librarian a MC Halberd.  For Grand Masters, I almost always take the NFS because it gives him a 3++ in close combat.  Nothing else in the army is capable of giving you 3++ in CC for the price and his I5 is easily capable to matching most troops and HQs in combat.  A I7 Halberd should only be considered if you want to outpace really speedy HQs.

Remember what I said about the ratio between Hammers and infantry.  It doesn't matter if you're using Terminators, Paladins or GKSS, you always want to maintain a 5:1 ratio unless you have a specific purpose.  This means if you want a close-range tank-busting team of S10 Hammers, I might take a 5:2 ratio of Hammers.  This is viable, but ONLY do this if the Hammers are free or very cheap.  You don't have Storm Shields so don't think you can weather the same kind of damage to swing less.  Grey Knight Terminators rely on killing things in combat first to minimize the number of attacks back.

So when do you use swords?  You only use swords if you want to play defensive in nature on units utilizing invulnerable saves.  This should mean all PAGK (Power-armored Grey Knights) should not use swords right?  No.  On everything but Purifiers, you keep the swords for 2 key reasons:  The Halberds are expensive and with one measly attack, you're not taking full advantage of your speedy potential.  That means swords stay on GKSS and Interceptor squads because it's cost effective.

But what about Falchions?  Speed is more important than the +1 attack.  Offense, in my opinion, is more important than taking armor saves as defense.  Killing the enemy before they have the chance to strike eliminates the possibility to rolling poorly on armor saves.  This not only eliminates the use of defensive measures entirely but it also kills the enemy.  There's nothing better than that, especially when you consider that falchions costs points to upgrade.

Lastly, we have Warding Staves.  These things should be the last thing you look at because they're very limited in use.  They're expensive, takes away a I6 Halberd, only works in CC and did I mention it's too expensive?  I don't know about you folks, but I'd rather kill whatever I touch rather than relying on a expensive, purely defensive option.  The only time these should be looked at is on Paladins, and I honestly wouldn't take 1 unless I have excessive points (and this is never).

When to buy a Psycannon?

Always.  The Psycannon is one of the best weapon upgrades to grace our codex and I embrace its use in full effect.  Not only can you use it on the move or standing still, but the S7 Rending is one of the best options to punch through enemy armor.  In fact, it's the most reliable way to break through AV14 Land Raiders since meltas are such a rarity.  If your army has the option to take 1:5 or 2:10, go for it.  Purifiers and Purgation units can utilize 4 at max squads and that's always a good anti-armor option.  As for the subject of taking an 50 point MC Psycannon on an Grand Master, I think it's worth the points if you're planning to shoot it a lot.  BS6 with a re-roll is no joke and 4 shots per turn adds a lot to the army over the course of the game.  Keep in mind that Paladins can MC the Psycannons that they can take, so make sure you always spend that little extra to make it happen.  MC Psycannons can transform that missed opportunity to a dead Land Raider.

But what about Incinerators or Psilencers?

Psilencers are absolute ass compared to the Psycannon.  Incinerators, on the other hand, are great weapons.  Even though Incinerators are amazing, they clash with Psycannons for upgrade slots and that's the only reason they're ranked behind.  I guess it completely depends on your metagame.  If your club plays with a lot of mech, Psycannons are definitely the preferred upgrade.  If your club enjoys playing with plenty of boots on the ground and horde units, load up on the Incinerators because they're the best template weapons available for their cost.

When to take Psybolt Ammunition?

You take Psybolt Ammo on big squads of infantry or on vehicles with a good amount of bolter weapons.  Keep in mind that if you upgrade your Hurricane Bolters with Psybolts, they no longer count as defensive weapons.  Razorbacks with a 5 point upgrade become little Assault Cannons.  Assault Cannons with these become the same as a Psycannon.  These are also fantastic on Rifleman Dreads because 4 BS4 S8 shots makes a huge difference when trying to punch through enemy armor.  Large squads of infantry shooting S5 Storm Bolters also do serious damage to troops left in the open.  It also gives you the opportunity to hurt AV11 Rhinos.  Frankly, the best part to S5 Storm Bolters is that you start wounding T4 66% of the time instead of 50% and T3 83% of the time instead of 66%.  That's a pretty big difference.

What kind of grenades should I take on my HQs?

My must-takes are Blind Grenades and the Rad Grenades.  They can't be blocked by any reason, isn't random and has a fixed result.  Defensive nades reduce the amount of damage your squad will take in combat and Rad nades increase your squad's combat effectiveness.  Neither of these require your IC to be in base to base with the enemy.  Against T3 opponents, you don't even need to Hammer Hand to to start instant killing models (via double S vs. T) and wounding on 2s.  When fighting MEQ (T4 3+), Rad grenades with Hammer Hand result in 2+ wounds across the board and a huge boost in combat potential.  Rad grenades are also huge against MC creatures where you'd otherwise need 5s or 6s to wound.

Other grenade options are Empyrean Brain Mines and Psychostroke Grenades.  Brain Mines don't really work because you'll be killing most things you outspeed anyway.  Those you can't guarantee kills on don't really care.  Mines won't really protect you against faster HQs or CC specialists and most hidden fists won't be in base to base for it to work.  Psychotroke Grenades are great and fun and can have all kinds of funny effects on your opponent, but it's not guaranteed and it "might" increase your chances at killing stuff in CC.  For me, it's all about the guarantee and not the fear of possibility.  There's enough possibility in a game of dice to begin with, so why add another layer of random?  If you can spare the points, feel free to take Rad and Psychotroke nades for extra lols.  Just know that I'll take Rads over Psychostrokes any day of the week because rolling a 1 in a game-changing assault is asshairs.

When to take Servo-skulls?

Always.  They help with your Deep Strike placement, prevents Infiltrators from setting up and pushes Scouts back a respectable distance.  The most important reason to take Servo-skulls is DS assistance.  There's nothing that sucks more than having your expensive GKs mishap when you need them the most.  How many you take of these damn things depends entirely on how many points you have left.

When to take the Brotherhood Banner and Apothecary?

I only take the BBanner on big squads of Terminators.  If I have 7 or more, I almost always take the BBanner because the extra attack and free pass on activating Force Weapons is just divine.  The idea is that you HH with the Libby and then use the Terminator's power to auto-activate.  This way you get the +S in addition to having Instant Death wounds.  I use the same philosophy on the Apothecary and even more so when there's important ICs attached.  Some people believe the Apothecary to be too expensive on Paladin squads and I agree with them to a degree.  In squads of 5, I never take a Apothecary because I don't see them as a main fighting force.  If I have a squad of 7 and some ICs attached, I will always take the Apoth because he makes his points back in a hurry.  As long as you save 3 missed wounds on any of the models you have there, you make the Apoth's points back.  Of course you can always take another Paladin to save some points and add some more extra firepower, but there'll always be games where you'll roll poorly the first time.  I personally like having the additional failsafe.