Hello all, Phat J here with an in-depth look at everyone’s favorite 40k Red-Headed Step Child, the Grey Knights!
Today we see the release of the upcoming 40K 11th edition Faction Focus which covers the Grey Knights. I have been a Grey Knight fan for many editions, leading back to 5th Edition and the infamous Psyfleman Dreadnoughts and Las/Plas Razorbacks. Hell, back when I used to host Signals from the Frontline it became a running gag how many Grey Knight Terminators I would rate as comparisons to how terrible new releases were. We had a good time, you know? Anyways. I just have had a soft spot for these steel armored anti-demon knights since I can remember.
Now, I’ll be honest, I had a fledgling interest in 10th edition 40K. AT BEST. The majority of my experience with the edition was with Blood Angels. From my understanding Grey Knights in 10th edition played the way that they have always played, being highly mobile due to deep strike and extra movement shenanigans and relying on close range range shooting and melee for their damage options. The Faction Focus preview gives them some cool new unit focused detachments, Argent Assault (Paladins), Fires of Purgation (Purgation Squads) and Immaterial Interdiction (Interceptors). We also see a nice update to the Psychic weapon keyword. Now units with Psychic weapons ignore any and all modifiers to their hit roll in shooting and melee. I’m happy with this change as it really adds to the Grey Knights’ status as an elite force.
Everything looks fine from a rules standpoint. My main gripe with Games Workshop when it comes to the Grey Knights is just how LONG this army has gone without a range refresh. GOOD GRIEF. Marneus Calgar can get TWO new models before a single model from this range can get a refresh? What kind of BULL is this? The last model to actually get a new sculpt was Castellan Crowe, almost 5 YEARS AGO. Think about that. I have underwear older than that model. What do you think of that Games Workshop? Do you think that’s right that I have multiple pairs of underwear over 5 years old? Do you even care? Cowards.
But look at this model. It’s AMAZING. Think what they could do with the rest of the Purifier range when it is finally brought into line with the current Space Marine scale. And before I start to hear the comments about the Grand Master upgrade sprue from 2025, that DOES NOT COUNT. Ok? I’m grateful that they added a single plastic upgrade pack to the old as dirt Nemesis Dreadknight kit but come on, ok? Does it look sick? Yes it does. Does this make up for no range refresh since 2011? Not at all.
Grey Knights have the distinction of having one of it not thee oldest ranges in all Warhammer 40K. The line was released in plastic WAY back in 2011 during 5th edition. 15 years is a long time to wait for new models. Grey Knights players have watched entire armies go through multiple range refreshes without a singe update. The frustrating thing is that we’ve actually seen a REDUCTION of available models as the old resin characters like Kaldor Draigo and Brother-Captain Stern were removed from the 10th edition codex. I do expect these characters to return at some point, but their loss was tough to handle, especially since it wasn’t like GW had refreshed the range of the other Terminator models.
I genuinely hope we see a range refresh during 11th edition. It’s not like it would even be too substantial. A couple of unit boxes to cover the Terminator and ‘standard’ Marine options. Throw in 3 or 4 character boxes and baby, you’ve got yourself a stew. It would be a great selling option for people looking to start a more elite, lower model count army. We’ve seen what Games Workshop can do with range refreshes, a’la Sisters of Battle and Astra Militarum. The money is there for the taking.
What do you hope to see with a Grey Knight’s range refresh? Let me know if the comments!
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