Welcome to my NEW Phat series, 40k Faction Focus, where I bring you ALL the pertinent faction information that makes you exclaim, ‘Say, that’s what I LIKE’.
This week we start a three part series that focuses on the Emperor’s psychic warriors, the Grey Knights.
Hello all, and welcome to November. My most favorite time of the year. The temperature is dropping, the football season is well underway, and I can already smell that pumpkin pie cooking in the kitchen. In this article I wanted to go over one of my all time favorite 40K factions, the Grey Knights. I’ve been a fan of these guys since I began to play the game in earnest back in 5th edition. Some of you who are a bit long in the tooth may remember my old ‘Grey Knight Terminator’ ratings on Signals From the Frontline. From ‘overpowered’ double auto-cannon ‘Psyfleman Dreadnoughts’ in 5th edition to the heartbreaking loss of Mr. Resin, Kaldor Draigo, in 10th edition, I’ve stuck with this faction through the good times and the bad.
I do feel that in their current iteration, Grey Knights have all the tools and potential to be a top-tier faction. This is a finesse faction, and trying to use them as a sledgehammer will see you on the fast track to the losers podium. Now that’s not to say that the Grey Knights don’t have any power, believe me they can be just as overpowered as every other faction in current 40K. I’m talking about re-rolling lethal hits, okay? I’m talking about AP -3, Damage 3. You get it? I’m talking about DEVASTATING WOUNDS, dummy! You name it, they got it. 40K 11th edition is all about LETHALITY, the timing of your engagements, and the ability to recognize that we are playing a game of checkers. Grey Knights have the ability to excel in all aspects of this game.
This week I want to start by going over the army special rules and the characters.
GATE OF INFINITY – The army wide special rule, Gate of Infinity allows the player to select up to 3 units and remove them from the board at the end of their opponent’s fight phase, and place them into strategic reserves. They are then allowed to make an ingress move in the following movement phase. Units that are within engagement range of an enemy are excluded.
This is a highly impactful special rule in a game that rewards mobility and the ability to perform actions anywhere on the board at any time. All Grey Knight units barring the tracked vehicles have the Deep Strike special rule. This allows you as the player the freedom to deploy terribly, as is my own want. This rule is especially powerful if you are going second, as it allows you to use this ability at the end of your opponents turn 1 and then re-deploy anywhere on the table on YOUR OWN turn 1. It’s pretty much the best thing since sliced bread.
The Characters
The Grey Knights have a small number of named characters. When I say a small number I mean they have two named characters, Castellan Crowe and Grand Master Voldus.
Castellan Crowe is the leader of the Purifier sect of the Chapter. He is a basic mid-level melee character that enhances any Purifier unit’s Purifying Flame abilities, which ain’t nothing. Crowe himself is a character assassin. His Black Blade of Antwyr is a Nemesis Force Weapon with Devastating Wounds and the Precision special rules. Crowe can re-roll all hits against character units. You can definitely take him as a solo character killing cannonball that doubles as an action monkey if you don’t feel like bringing a unit of Purifiers.
Grand Master Voldus is a bit more lethal on the battlefield, wielding a special thunder hammer, the Malleus Argyrum, for S10 AP -2 D 3 attacks. Whichever unit he joins gains the Stealth keyword as well as a -1 to hit against them in melee. His Hammer Aflame ability also deals mortal wounds to his enemies in engagement range. This guy is a fantastic buff for Paladins and makes an already deadly unit even more dangerous.
There are two varieties of the Grand Master, a terminator version and one riding in a Dreadknight. Both have the Warrior Strategist ability, which allows them to reduce the CP of a stratagem by 1 once per battle round. The Dreadknight version is an absolute beast against monsters or vehicles due to their Surge of Wrath ability, which lets them re-roll everything in melee. You give them a Nemesis Daemon Greathammer and its BATTER UP.
The Grey Knights version of the Space Marine Captain is the Brother-Captain. The Brother-Captain comes in the single terminator variety, and adds a melee punch to any unit he joins a’la the iconic psychic power, Hammerhand! Hammerhand grants lethal hits to melee attacks for the unit, which means AP -2 D 2 Nemesis Force Weapon attacks will be bypassing high toughness. That’s a spicy meatball indeed! The Brother-Captain himself has the option of taking a heavy weapon, adding another S8 D2 Psycannon to any unit he joins.
The rest of the Grey Knights characters consist of Librarians, Chaplains, and Techmarines. The Librarian in particular is a SOLID choice to lead your Terminator units. While leading a unit, they can only be the target of ranged attacks within 18″ thanks to the Haloed in Soulfire special rule. For a game that is excruciatingly lethal from all angles, giving your opponent that range restriction is clutch. The Librarian themselves have Nemesis Force Weapon, giving them a melee punch, as well as the Vortex of Doom, a D6+3 S8 AP -2 D 2 ranged psychic attack. That’s like adding two more Psycannons to each Terminator Squad. YIKES. The Chaplains are a bit meh, honestly not worth taking. The Brotherhood Techmarine follows all of the same rules as a normal Space Marine Techmarine and is likewise not a good fit for a Grey Knights army unless you are going Land Raider heavy and want to make them slightly more survivable and accurate.
Last but not least, we have the humble Brotherhood Champion. Restricted to only joining the non-terminator armor units, the Brotherhood Champion is essentially a terminator in non-terminator armor with the Precision special rule. He also allows the unit he is attached to advance and charge via Clarion of Haste and the character himself gets +1 OC and attack for each character he destroys. Like Castellan Crowe above, the Brotherhood Champion could be used as a solo character assassin, doubling as an action-monkey.
This brings us to the end of part 1 for the Grey Knights 40k Faction Focus. I hope this brought you some insight into the special rules and the characters that make this faction work.
Next week we’ll dive into the meat and potatoes of the codex, the units!
On a final note, could you do a brother a solid and use my affiliate link when making your purchases with Frontline Gaming? Look, I gift these guys with my VALUABLE time when writing these article and I deserve a slice, right? I’m not asking for much! Just give me your money. What’s so hard about that? Plus you get a discount on almost ALL Games Workshop products. Its a win for both of us! Lord knows I need that money.
