Grey Knights
Headquarters
Brother-Captain - A note for those wondering what fate befell the Grand Master; he is now purely an upgrade to a Brother-Captain, reducing otherwise wasted page space and further simplifying the unit entries in an admittedly welcome change. Moving on from that little diversion, barring a 10 point increase for the Grand Master both the Brother-Captain and Grand Master have identical base costs and equipment compared to their previous incarnations, while the Grand Master has an extra Attack but otherwise each has the exact same profile as well. A Brother-Captain is your Space Marine Captain equivalent, while the Grand Master serves instead as your Grey Knight "Chapter Master", even if the two are vastly different from those lesser Adeptus Astartes.
The Brother-Captain basically pays 30 points over a Space Marine Captain in Terminator Armour to gain (take a big breath) Frag and Krak grenades, Psyk-out Grenades, one Psychic Mastery Level, a Nemesis Force Weapon, The Aegis (re-rolling Deny the Witch rolls of a 1), Preferred Enemy (Daemons) and Purity of Spirit (being able to safely use Sanctic Daemonology) at the expense of Chapter Tactics and severely changed optional wargear. This continues the tradition of Grey Knight characters proving far more valuable than their similarly equipped Space Marine equivalents, though the major trade-off is a far narrower range of options with no option for Bikes, Jump Packs and so on. In that sense, the Brother-Captain and Grand Master are both competitive options because even if the latter lacks the Orbital Bombardment and extra Wound that Chapter Masters possess, both are hugely valuable characters in their own right when compared to other Space Marine codex equivalents.
As for how they compare against their previous incarnations, that is a bit of a different story; a 10 point increase for the Grand Master coupled with the removal of both Grand Strategy and Psychic Communion (admittedly the latter also applies to the Brother-Captain) serve to make the upgrade far less appealing than before. Of course, the removal of Grand Strategy doesn't hurt as much considering that all units are now scoring per the 7th Edition core rules. There used to be little to no point to take a Brother-Captain over a Grand Master, and while the latter still pays adequately for the bonus Attack and additional Psychic Mastery Level, I feel that Grey Knight players may actually have a reason to save their points on this particular HQ choice now. Overall, I think the Grand Master is actually better than before despite the points increase now that Grand Strategy isn't as good while he gets the extra Psychic Mastery level without having to pay for it separately, while the Brotherhood Champion is about the same other than losing Psychic Communion for reserve-based lists. However, that each gets access to a heap of new psychic powers not just from Sanctic Daemonology, but from Pyromancy, Telekinesis and Telepathy as well makes them more valuable and adaptive leaders for your army.
They are nastier against Daemons than before with the improved Preferred Enemy and the change in Nemesis Force Weapon rules as well as the removal of army-wide Eternal Warrior from the Daemon army, though the Grey Knight force as a whole is generally weaker in combat against 2+ armoured opponents due to the changes in how power and force weapons ignore armour saves. This makes Brother-Captains and Grand Masters less effective at taking on opposing 2+ armoured characters than before, but the improvements to how Force is applied and the Grey Knights' dominance of the Psychic Phase help to soften this blow. The majority of upgrades available to these two characters have been reduced in cost - often dramatically, in the particular case of the special ranged weapons - though this is also somewhat lessened in impact by the reduction in effectiveness of many of those items, or even the complete removal of some options. Generally speaking though, both characters are still great leaders for a Grey Knight force and do a far better job of helping your army than Captains and Chapter Masters with their Psychic Powers while remaining particularly nasty and tough melee combatants.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.
Brother-Captain Stern - Having seen a 15 point decrease and some indirect buffs due to the lessened need of a Grand Master over a Brother-Captain, Stern is a much more appealing character than he used to be. Being a Mastery Level 2 Psyker like a Grand Master is a welcome justification for his price point, while his exclusive special rules The Strands of Fate and Zone of Banishment as well as preset psychic powers and Warlord Traits help to give him a place next to the identically priced Grand Master. While Banishment and Hammerhand are already easily obtained via your Grey Knight units, having guaranteed Sanctuary is awesome on a character that can freely join either Battle Brother allies or units from his own faction - being able to guarantee providing +2 Strength and a +1 invulnerable save bonus to any unit of your choice is awesome! Stern's form of Banishment is better than the standard version in some cases as targeting all Daemonic units in a set area rather than just one would obviously indicate, though halving the range does mean it might prove less valuable against a ranged list or if you decide to foot-slog.
The inability to freely choose which disciplines to use does limit Stern's versatility, though the presets are still nice - especially as his Warlord Trait provides both himself and all friendly Grey Knights in 12" the Stubborn special rule. Per his Strands of Fate special rule, Stern can re-roll one to-hit, to-wound or saving throw roll per phase, allowing you to make the most out of a bad roll or have another chance at passing a crucial saving throw and so on. It is a nice ability to have but it comes with the penalty that your opponent gets the same benefit each time you use the re-roll, so the trick is to only use it when necessary - re-rolling a 2+ armour save or 4+ invulnerable save that, when failed, would lead to Stern's death tends to be the primary scenario in mind! While Stern's Zone of Banishment is undoubtedly less game-changing than it used to be, not having to worry about Stern killing his expensive Grey Knight comrades in an attempt to justify his high price point certainly makes him a better overall character than before. He has new support abilities and far better psychic powers to his name now and as such is actually worth considering, even if a generic Brother-Captain or Grand Master is still probably a better choice because you can customize them to fit your needs. I would still say that Stern is worth it just for the guaranteed Sanctuary as it can be combined with so many different units for some insane results - death-star builders, look no further!
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.
Brotherhood Champion - If the 50 point increase to the base cost of this character doesn't scare you away, a deeper look at his capabilities is sure to leave your jaw hanging in disbelief. His profile is improved with a second Wound at the expense of one point of Weapon Skill, a trade-off that definitely favours the new version while the extra - albeit limited - Psychic Power is appreciated, but otherwise, all the changes are definitely a negative. The Brotherhood Champion's Nemesis Force Sword is now Master-Crafted rather than re-rolling all failed to-wound rolls, while he now always has two base Attacks rather than potentially having none or a variable number. He no longer functions like a Chaplain by providing re-rolls to hit for himself and his unit on the charge and doesn't receive any new abilities to compensate for losing what was ultimately his best aspect. His Heroic Sacrifice is now greatly changed and weakened as expected, instead giving him an additional standard attack against a single enemy model in base contact resolved when he is slain in combat.
He also must now issue and accept challenges (with only a few attacks, not good even in 7th Edition), though the trade-off are that his "stances" are improved - even though this is also hurt by the fact that they only work in a challenge, rather than all the time like the previous incarnation. As a result, he is strictly worse in combat against units, is no longer a unit buffer and is nowhere near as scary against characters and tougher single models as he was with the old Heroic Sacrifice. Sure, he is harder to kill and can sit in a challenge for a good while by re-rolling failed saving throws - a 2+ armour save and 4+ invulnerable save to be exact - and still being able to attack, but none of the few positive tweaks to the Brotherhood Champion outweigh the massive points increase and utter removal or gimping of several crucial abilities. Heck, he no longer gets a 3+ invulnerable save in combat either due to the weakened Nemesis Force Sword! There is now no real reason to take a Brotherhood Champion over a Brother-Captain and it absolutely confuses me as to why this model was seemingly intentionally made into a near-worthless, pathetic imitation of its' previous incarnation. But hey, he has three AP2 attacks at Initiative 5 on the charge at Strength 4 when he uses his Sword Strike stance, isn't that good enough? The short answer; by the Emperor, no!
Change? Weaker.
Competitive? No.
Castellan Crowe - If Grey Knight players needed another reason to never take Brotherhood Champions, Castellan Crowe ironically rushes in to save the day. While he too suffered a points increase - albeit a smaller 25 point hike, fortunately - Crowe is a far better proposition not only than his generic equivalent but also compared to the previous codex. The profile is unchanged save that he has 3 base Attacks rather than relying on the different stances to determine that characteristic, while he also retains most of his prior equipment and special rules. He is now a Mastery Level 2 Psyker which makes him instantly worth his increased points cost and is now - wait for it - an Independent Character, meaning he isn't an utter waste of a HQ slot anymore! Hooray for common sense! Having Cleansing Flame over the Brotherhood Champions' Banishment and Hammerhand makes him a truly nasty character that can obliterate bunched up infantry squads of all kinds with hilarious ease and may as well make him mandatory over the Brotherhood Champion alone. While he does still have to issue and accept challenges like the Brotherhood Champion, he actually wants to get into these given that he always gets to benefit from both stances simultaneously while also using the above-average Weapon Skill 8 and Initiative 6 to his advantage.
Before anyone complains about the Blade of Antwyr being a bog-standard melee weapon, remember that one of his stances is Smash which renders all of his attacks as AP2 and allows him to exchange all of his strikes for one resolved at double the Strength and with Armourbane to boot. Crowe also benefits from Heroic Sacrifice and all the other army-wide Grey Knight special rules, while he even gets a decent guaranteed Warlord Trait by providing both himself and his unit with the Hammer of Wrath special rule. He might not make Purifiers Troops choices anymore, but seeing as all units in 7th Edition are scoring anyway this functionally isn't much of a change at all. That enemy units charging him don't get any benefit - acting like a reverse Chaplain - and his guaranteed AP2 strikes make up for the removal of Rending on a 4+ in combat, while otherwise the fact that he is an Independent Character and still a great challenge-monkey makes him far more useful than before. He is arguably worth it just to get an extra Cleansing Flame power into the army given how insane it is as a Nova, while he makes the already poor Brotherhood Champion seem even more horrendously over-priced by comparison. Crowe will often win challenges even against much tougher foes, provides Fearless and some handy extra warp charge points for your army and is a good option to lead your army for the points, though a generic option such as the Brother-Captain would probably still be better in most cases.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.
Librarian - If you are looking for the best value HQ choice in a Grey Knight army, look no further than the hugely improved Librarian that easily stands as the best (generic) version available to any army. They were a favourite of Grey Knight players in the previous codex and are sure to remain so with a whopping 40 point reduction in their base cost without losing any of their abilities or equipment; they exchange purchasing guaranteed psychic powers for gaining mostly far stronger randomly generated ones and access to a far wider range of disciplines. The Grey Knight Librarian can take the awesome Sanctic Daemonology discipline without worrying about suffering Perils on any double, while he also can take Divination, Pyromancy, Telekinesis and Telepathy. Biomancy aside, the Grey Knight Librarian gets the best psychic disciplines available and sacrifices access to Malefic Daemonology to instead safely cast powers from its sister discipline. In fact, the Grey Knight Librarian provides insanely superior value over other Librarians by being even cheaper than one equipped just with Terminator Armour and the second Psychic Mastery level - albeit by a mere 5 points - while gaining the Aegis, Preferred Enemy (Daemons), Psyk-out Grenades, Adamantium Will from his Warding Stave and additional special effects against Daemons due to his Nemesis Force Weapon. Don't forget that the Grey Knight Librarian can exclusively take a third Psychic Mastery level unlike any other generic Loyalist Librarian and has access to a range of awesome and cheap upgrades to boot. This is one of the best unnamed characters in 7th Edition and does insanely well for Grey Knights in particular given the ridiculous amount of warp charge points they generate, completely unalike to other Librarians. Every competitive Grey Knight list - and heck, any Loyalist list that wants to take a psyker - needs one of these, if not two.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.
Techmarine - This character is mostly similar to the usual Space Marine version and is far more valuable in a sense if you were to upgrade a Techmarine in such a way, though one could always argue that the upgrades present are unnecessary and spending so many points on a character with just one-wound is wasteful. This guy still repairs vehicles and provides cover boosts just like a regular Techmarine but does so with an in-built servo harness to make the former task easier in addition to both a power axe for improved melee capabilities. The addition of a single Psychic Mastery level and the two "standard" Grey Knight powers is appreciated, especially with all the various army wide Grey Knight special rules and even Psyk-out grenades factored in. The fact is that the power axe isn't really worth it on the Techmarine given that he already has a servo-harness and all the extra special rules are nice but unnecessary on such a model, while his psychic powers are only really useful in the sense that he gives you an extra albeit expensive warp charge point. The Iron Hands version is still the best and far cheaper to boot, but at least the Grey Knight Techmarine can kind of help you out in the Psychic Phase and isn't by any means terrible; a pure Grey Knight list featuring Land Raiders or Stormravens is well served to include one. Otherwise, especially as Bolster Defences just doesn't mix well with the universally short-ranged Grey Knights, the Techmarine should be skipped in favour of most of the other characters. As for how they compare to the previous codex incarnation, the new Techmarines can no longer cheaply provide Psychotroke or Rad grenades for a unit and as such there are far fewer reasons to include them.
Change? Weaker.
Competitive? No.
Summary!
Most of the options here have improved out of sight with the notable exceptions of the Brotherhood Champion and Techmarine, although aside from the first of those two characters all of the models here are decent enough to be put into any specific list where necessary and not be considered a waste of points. The stand-outs are undoubtedly the Librarian and the Brother-Captain or Grand Master, while both Crowe and Stern are more appealing than they used to be.
Troops
Strike Squad - Of all the Grey Knight units that needed a points reduction to fit in with the vast changes wrought by both 6th Edition and 7th Edition, this was one that needed it most. Sadly, like pretty much all of the other power-armoured Grey Knight units and characters in the codex, Strike Squads have managed to weaken from their 5th Edition incarnations in complete contrast to what they actually needed to remain competitive. Elite units are nowhere near as viable as they used to be with such a heavily shooting-based meta even if 7th Edition helped to catalyze some impressive melee-centric builds; the core rules of the game do a disservice to Grey Knights in a lot of cases where previously they favoured them immensely. Storm Bolters no longer have a massive advantage over Boltguns due to the changes to Rapid Fire, while all Nemesis Force Weapons aren't nearly as strong as they were - especially now that they no longer always ignore armour saves. The addition of Salvo to Psycannons makes them next to worthless on Grey Knights units that lack Relentless given their already limited range, and Strike Squads are sadly no exception. This is made worse by the fact that Psycannons are now the only truly efficient source of anti-tank shooting in the codex with the removal of Inquisition elements and Psybolt Ammunition - yes, even the units' basic shooting isn't that good now that Psybolt is gone.
The loss of Warp Quake in exchange for the far more situational and limited Banishment just makes matters worse, and yet somehow the codex designers somehow thought it was a good idea to raise the units' basic points cost by 10 points. This brings them a bit more in line with other codices that have to pay for the mandatory squad sergeant but ultimately it just feels like a kick in the teeth given that the unit has been greatly weakened overall. Fortunately, they do function mostly the same as they used to which will serve as some kind of positive for those players that swear by them. The combination of a Force Weapon and Storm Bolter on a psychic unit that knows two powers not only makes your basic Troops choice very versatile but also helps Grey Knight players to absolutely dominate the Psychic Phase through an insanely high amount of guaranteed warp charge points. They are technically better against Daemons than they used to be with the changes to Preferred Enemy as well as Force now actually working against the manifestations of Chaos; the Aegis, Combat Squads, And They Shall Know No Fear and Deep Strike remain as generic special rules. Psyk-out Grenades also saw a welcome boost by now acting as a thrown Strength 2 blast that causes Perils of the Warp on any psyker hit rather than just forcing enemy psykers and Daemons to strike at Initiative 1 when charged.
Much like before, Strike Squads still seem like more "efficient" Tactical Marines at first glance with Storm Bolters rather than Bolters, psychic capabilities and even AP3 Force Weapons as part of their basic wargear. However, as veterans of the army will no doubt tell you - especially when considering the latest Space Marine codex - this just isn't the case and the unit is still crazily limited in practice; the force weapons aren't that nasty on such a bare profile save for when Hammerhand is accounted for, while the unit is just too expensive considering they are still Toughness 4 with a 3+ armour save.The killer is that Psycannons no longer work nearly as well as they used to and you can't make up for losing them anymore through non-Grey Knight units; the army has a severe lack of anti-tank shooting otherwise and you cannot afford to waste your access to them. I wish I could say this unit was still worthwhile and saw some much needed improvements to make them competitive even at a high level, but this just wasn't the case - compare them to Grey Knight Terminators in the same slot and just try and justify their inclusion in an army list outside of a specific scenario. If the changes to Psycannons, the removal of Psybolt Ammunition and general nerfs to Nemesis Force Weapons from 5th Edition to 7th Edition wasn't enough to signify to Grey Knight players that they should avoid Strike Squads in the new codex, surely the completely arbitrary 10 point increase and removal of Warp Quake seal the deal.
Change? Weaker.
Competitive? No.
Terminator Squad - If you take Troops choices from a Grey Knight detachment, these are the ones you will field if you want to stay competitive. As blunt as it is, I find it to be absolutely true and necessary to point out given how disappointing Strike Squads are in both the new codex and the context of 7th Edition. What ensures Grey Knight Terminators will remain your stock Troops choice is that they not only say a 7 point per-model cost reduction which brings them more in line with the adequately priced Chaos Terminators rather than the overly expensive Loyalist equivalents, they also ironically don't pay 10 points for their mandatory sergeant character. They even get access to the various Land Raider variants - which are awesome in 7th Edition - as Dedicated Transports now, removing arguably their only real deficiency compared to other Terminators. Unlike Strike Squads, Terminators got significantly cheaper and surprisingly didn't see that much of a decrease in their effectiveness or damage output; the change to Storm Bolters doesn't affect their worth relative to other Space Marines as much as it did for Strike Squads, with the only real "nerf" being the changes to Nemesis Force Weapons.
With all that in mind, they are still far more efficient Terminators that come armed with Frag, Krak and Psyk-out grenades, a Nemesis Force Sword, the Aegis, Preferred Enemy (Daemons) and Purity of Spirit (safe usage of Sanctic Daemonology) on top of being a psychic unit. A nice change is that the Justicar can now take Special Issue Wargear which includes Melta Bombs and Teleport Homers, while Psycannons are still as good for Terminators as they used to be and even saw a small points decrease. Hammerhand has been improved significantly to help make up for the weaker Nemesis Force Weapons, while the addition of the admittedly highly situational Banishment is a handy extra to keep in mind. With all the other various changes highlighted throughout previous sections in this review, Grey Knight Terminators are certainly in a better spot than they were and give you a well-priced and powerful Troops choice to form the core of your army.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.
Summary!
Strike Squads and Terminators have surprisingly distinct fortunes that don't amuse veterans of the army whatsoever, with the former being a poor choice and the latter becoming almost mandatory as a result with its' general improvements.
Thank you for reading the beginning of my latest Unit Overview series! What are your thoughts on this article and the latest Grey Knight codex; have your experiences been mostly positive despite all the negativity surrounding the books' release, or have you had fortunes unlike what I have enjoyed? Please leave any feedback you have in the comments section below; I appreciate any and all feedback and will endeavour to reply to it as best I can! Otherwise, have a great day!
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ReplyDeleteHow do you feel about taking barebones strike squads just to fufill the troop requirement on the Nemesis strike force or as allies? Surely you don't suggest taking nearly 500pts for Termies and a Land rainder when you really want the librarian and two DreadKnights?
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