Grey Knights - Brotherhood Champions

The Brotherhood Champion got ruled out the minute I opened the Codex, 100pts for a one wound model with a special rule for his attacks. But, I then used this guy in a game last week for the purpose of this article and I was pleasantly surprised by him and he didn't get killed!!!

So, lets take a look at his stats first, he comes in at WS 7 and Initiative 5, the rest is as per standard marines except he is LD10. He comes with Artificer armour and Iron Halo as standard (2+/4++ saves) and an Anointed Blade, which is Nemesis Force Sword (so +1 Invulnerable in combat) that can re-roll failed wounds. So now looking at this guy he looks a little more tempting, a 2+/3++ is pretty survivable in combat, and he is hitting on 3's before most units, but he is still only one wound, surely he must have more going for him for a 100pts.

Well, this is where he gets interesting, he has a few special rules, the first is Titans Herald, this lets you re-roll failed Hits the turn the Champion and his squad assault an enemy (just like a Chaplain). He also comes with a Special Attacks, he has to pick one of three options:

The first is Sword Storm, the Champion makes ONE attack against EACH enemy model in base contact with him (and doesn't get a bonus for charging). This means he can get up to around 7 attacks against a large squad, quite a good number, but he could also end up with only one or two if you charge the wrong units.

Secondly is Blade Shield, the Champion forgoes making any attacks but can re-roll any failed saves. This could be handy if he is in a unit of terminators and they charge a small elite squad where he gets few attacks and would be little use, while keeping him alive against the enemies attacks aimed at him.

Lastly we have Rapier Strike, I think this would probably be the most useful if you want him in a dedicated assault unit. The Champion makes D3 attacks (+1 if he charged) at Initiative 10, but they must be targeted at a single Independent character or Monstrous Creature in base contact.

The Brotherhood Champion has two psychic powers, the first being Hammerhand (+1 strength) like every Grey Knight unit. But he also has Heroic Sacrifice, which comes into play if he dies, if successful he makes a single attack against one enemy model that was in base contact when he died (the Champion picks I assume), if the attack hits, both models are removed from play with no saves of any kind.

The Brotherhood Champion has very little he can take as wargear, limited to Digital Weapons (re-roll one failed hit) for 5pts, these seem pretty pointless when you want him to be charging to get his re-rolls anyway. Empyrean Brain Mines for 10pts, these let you pick one enemy model who then has to take an Initiative test, if they fail they cannot attack that turn (very very tempting). He can also take Psybolt Ammunition (+1 str to the storm bolter) for 5pts, this is great if you have spare points, but I prefer more men.

So, 100pts, for a one wound Chaplain with funky attacks and isn't fearless, is he worth it? Maybe, maybe not, all I can say is, when I used him he managed to hold up and almost kill 20 Daemonettes virtually on his own. He survived their rending attacks as they charged in and got 7 attacks using his sword storm ability, killing 5 of the enemy (even with me forgetting that all Grey Knights have Preferred enemy!!!).

Well there you go, another HQ down, let us know your thoughts on the Brotherhood Champion.

Col.Straken

Grey Knights - Grand Masters and Brother Captains.

I said I wanted to go over the units in depth and I am going to start at the top. I am going to put the Grand Master and Brother Captain together as these guys are almost identical, but will brief over the differences.

So firstly, the great Grand Master, there are now apparently only 8 of these guys and never any more than this and we know that two of these are Draigo (Supreme Grand Master), and Mordrak (the guy with the ghosts of christmas past). You would think that these guys must be the ultimate killing machines as they have survived countless battles with Daemons and even had to hunt 6 of the deadliest on their own to become Paladins first (apparently). The Grand Master Sports a WS and BS 6 which isnt bad, he also comes with 3 wounds and Initiative 5, sounds good so far. But, he only has 3 attacks... and has to pay 10pts for +1 attack, he comes with Terminator armour as standard and carries a Nemesis Force Sword (+1 invulnerable in combat). This guy weighs in at a hefty 175pts, but, despite not being a monster in combat he has the Grand Strategy ability to give D3 infantry, jump infantry, walkers or MC's (not including Independants and Henchmen) one of four abilities, these are:

Re-roll To Wound rolls of a 1 for the duration of the game.

Counter-attack.

Scouts.

claim objectives as if they were troops.

The last of these is a HUGE bonus in an army which relies on its Elites and Heavy Support as much as they Grey Knights now do.

As for his wargear choices, he can take the standard Grey Knight equipment of:

Halberd (+2 Initiative) for 5pts

Falchions (+1 attack) for 10pts

Warding Stave (2+ inv in combat) 35pts

I normally keep him with a Force Sword as he gains a 3+ invulnerable in combat, but I may consider the Halberd as Initiative 7 would help against other HQ's the other two options (especially the warding stave) just seem too expensive for what they do. The Grand Master can also take any of the "heavy/special" weapons that Grey knights can:

Incinerator (str 7 Flamer) 5pts

Psilencer (Str4 AP- heavy 6) 35pts

Psycannon (Str7 Assault cannon) 45pts

with these I would keep him with his Storm Bolter, or maybe give him an Incinerator if I really felt like I had to upgrade it, the other weapons are just too expensive to consider when they are much cheaper elsewhere. He can make any of his weapons Master Crafted for 5pts per weapon, I would only consider this on his Close Combat weapon as his low amount of attacks mean that hitting is critical.

The Grand Master can be upgraded to a level 2 Psyker for 35pts, meaning he can cast either of his two psychic powers and still use his Force Weapon, or just got for two psychic powers.

Lastly, the general wargear:

He can take up to three Servo-skulls for 5pts each (these guys let you roll 1D6 scatter for Deep Strike and Blast weapons within 12" of them, and stop enemy infiltrators and scout moves within 12", but if the enemy moves within 6" they dissapear)

Blind Grenades (defensive, so -1 attack for people charging him), Meltabombs, digital weapons (re-roll one failed wound) for 5pts each

Empyrean Brain Mines (nominate one enemy model in base contact, they must pass an Initiative test of cannon attack that phase) 10pts

Psychotroke Grenades (these do all sort of things that can be helpful but it is luck of the dice), or Rad-grenades (-1 enemy T the turn they assault or are assaulted) for 15pts

Orbital Strike Relay (this is like the old Orbital Strike, but the bearer cannot move, but can assault, and you can shoot one of three options) 50pts

For these, I would consider Servo-skulls if you have alot of blast weapons (not many here to be honest) or a Deep Striking army, but they are cheaper on Inquisitors. The digital weapons are worth considering as it only takes one wound to kill with a Force Weapon, as for the rest, I think they are too pricey to consider on an already costly model.

Now, onto the Brother Captain, this guy is almost identical, but only has a BS 5. he cannot be upgraded to Psychic level 2, and his Psilencer and Psycannon are 5pts cheaper. He also does not have Grand Strategy, but costs only 150pts, He does keep the Psychic Communion and Hammerhand Psychic powers though. Psychic Communion allows you to either Add or Minus 1 to each reserve roll you make, but the user must start on the board.

So there you have it, I personally ALWAYS run a Grand Master instead of a Brother Captain as I think the Grand Strategy is well worth 25pts. However, I don't give him any upgrades as I think he is expensive enough and the squad he is with can usually help deal with any threats he meets. I will let you decide which you think is best though.

Until next time

Col. Straken

Straken's Paint Log - Dreadknight

So, following Mr. Badger with his painting, I got a major painting bug on Friday and set to it Saturday morning planning on getting my Dreadknight painted and then moving onto more of my army. However after 4 hours of painting on Saturday and still not happy with the results I had to keep going today (Sunday). So Lets take a look...

For the basis I used Codex Grey as the armour, I was trying to avoid the general silver marine which will be popping up everywhere. I originally had a darker grey for the gears but wasn't happy with the result and repainting them black like the 'Eavy Metal models. I also followed the guide to painting Grey Knights in White Dwarf but substituted the Metalic paints for various Greys.

For the Sword I used Chainmail with a very very light wash of Asurman Blue to try and give it a power weapon look

Again I took inspiration from 'Eavy Metal and painting my Heavy Incinerator with Gold tanks, these were based Codex Grey, with Shining Gold followed by a wash of Gryphonne Sepia, and topped with Burnished Gold. This gave me a pleasing gold look and compensated for the thinness of the Gold paints.

Laslty for the back, the only thing to really paint other than the gears and hydrolics (which are black) was the skull and cog symbol, which I painted half black half gold as per the Mechanicum. I also gave the exhausts Boltgun Metal with a Sepia and Baal Red wash to make them look hot and dirty... (that sounds so wrong).

Ignoring the seams and mould lines I am happy with this painting as for one, I am extreamly un-artistic and unable to hold a paintbrush steady, I also have no idea on colour co-ordination.

Rules Arguments: How Far Is Too Far?

Morning all,

In my daily checking of wargames goings on whilst my PC chugs into gear, I noticed this rules debate on Bell of Lost Souls: Bell of Lost Souls - Astral Aim Conundrum

I'll quote it here directly:

Today's Conundrum: the Astral Aim Psychic power possessed by Grey Knight Purgation squads.  First the relevent rules snippet:

"...If the Psychic test is passed, the unit (and any accompanying character) can shoot at any enemy unit within range, even if they do not have line of sight to it, or it is outside the distance they can see in a night fight."

The Conundrum: Can a Purgation squad embarked in a vehicle which passes its Astral Aim test blaze away at targets as listed in the rule for the power, or not?  In general, how does Astral Aim interact with vehicles and fireports, if it does at all? 

The Case For:  Codex overrides core rulebook, and the psychic power clearly states "can shoot at any enemy unit within range" upon a psychic testing being passed.  Other rules restrictions on firing are ignored.  The second part of the listed sentence simply lists 2 common examples of restrictions that are ignored, not all the restrictions that are ignored (which the first half of the sentence covers).

The Case Against: The psychic power doesn't specifically override the firing restrictions listed in the firing port rules in the vehicle section of the core rules. If they wanted that ability, they would have listed it specifically.

 This is another one of those, personally, idiotic rules arguments that people seem to draft in from a silly discussion, then it spreads around the internet like wildfire with everyone and their mum trying to claim this at the next tournament or whatever else.

It's the Doom of Malan'tai situation all over again, where someone decides "Well, it doesn't say specifically it doesn't, so..." and then everyone jumps on it.

Personally, because a power says "ignores line of sight" or "all the unit" doesn't mean it bypasses any existing rules to do with vehicles. There's still only X number of guys who can fire from fire points from a Rhino / Razorback. And whilst it's comical to imagine 5 Grey Knights all sticking their bolters up through the sun-roof and firing, it's rules "debates" like this that really start to drag 40k down.

It's like this in the Imperial Guard book, as an order:

First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire

 ...If the order is successfully issued, the ordered unit immediately shoots at any visible target. If the enemy is up to 12" away, models firing Lasguns fire three shots, rather than just two... Etc.

So what I could interpret is that if I issue this order, the unit immediately shoots at a visible target, regardless of any maximum range because it doesn't say they follow normal rules for shooting. Just that they fire at any visible target.

Now I know that's clutching at straws as an example and probably a bad one... but surely is it not the same thing as saying that a Grey Knight power allows them to bypass the rules for fire points in vehicles?

I'm not trying to bash BOLS or any rules debates and such. I don't want to start getting into a flame war and targetting people / blogs.

It's more of a discussion to ask "How far is too far?" when it comes to rules debates.

Personally, I think the Grey Knight example above is massively clutching at straws and making an argument out of nothing. I've seen it before with the Doom, and at the end of the day, just had to rule it for ourselves at MAWS.

However, when you go out into the "real world" people don't always agree.

So how far have you seen the rules debated? Ever came up with a crazy debate or conunudrum yourself?

Peace,
SB

Grey Knights: Nemesis Theoryhammer!

This Morning I was at GW half an hour after it opened ready to get the new Grey Knights Codex and have spent the day reading and re-reading unit rules and weapon options. Now to help build a list for Monday I propose a bit of Theoryhammer, this will break down each unit and what I think it can/will do and if its worth the cost, these will be brief overviews only looking at main points (and not including Special Character HQ's)

HQ's

First up we have the Grand Master, he now weighs in at 175pts basic but has a WS and BS 6, Initiative 5 and a 4+ invulnerable. He has the option of swapping his storm bolter for a Psilencer, Incinerator or Psycannon, although these are interesting I think the only upgrade worth taking is the Psycannon giving 4 Str7 Ap4 Rending shots, but at 20pts, its a bit overpriced. He comes basic with a Force Sword giving him +1 to his Inv save in combat, for 5pts he can take a Halberd (+2 initative) or Daemonhammer (Thunderhammer). He can also take a Warding stave or falchions but these are overcosted on an already expensive model. The best upgrade I think this guy can take is up to 3 servo skulls, these stop people infiltrating or using a scout move within 12" of each!!! plus reduce your Deep Strike and Blast shooting scatter to 1D6" within 12" and at 5Pts each, are cheap. The reason this guy has jumped in cost is because now he now has Grand Stratergy which means he can give D3 units, Scout, Counter-assault, Scoring or Re-roll to-wounds of a 1. This guy will always feature in any army I build.

The Brother-Captain is exactly the same, but at 150pts with a BS of 5 and doesn't have the Grand Stratergy ability. This guy is good if short on points but if you can't spare 25pts then your better with a Librarian.

Leading onto the Librarian he is also 150pts and comes with the Hammerhand power, he can take any number of powers at 5pts each (some fun ones there aswell) he is only WS5 and has 2 wounds, but can add alot to your army. Depending on how things work, I may add one of these into my army.

They have added a new HQ which is the Brotherhood Champion, this guy is 100pts with minimal upgrade options (fine by me) he has only 1 wound, but a WS of 7. He lets the unit he is with re-roll to hits on the turn he charges (think Chaplain). In my opinion he is alot of points for 1 wound, I will be leaving him alone for now.

Lastly we have the Inquisitors, these guys come in three flavours, Malleus, Hereticus, and Xeno. They have similar wargear except for a couple of specialities. I will be sticking with Malleus and at 25pts (for each of them) they come cheap, my favourite upgrade is the Daemonweapon which is a randomised weapon (could be fun) for 15pts, keeping him bare bones except for a couple of Servo-skulls at 3pts each and power armour at 8pts. He may get dropped for a Librarian depending how he works.

Elites

Here we have a Techmarine now, This guy comes with a power weapon rather than a Force weapon, but can be upgrade to have a force weapon. He is a standard Techmarine but can take Servo-skulls, Force Weapons and a Conversion beamer. At 90pts, I think this guy will be overlooked as I find Techmarines a little pointless (especially seeing as Rhino's can repair themselves anyway).

Next is the squad everyone cried cheese over, the Purifiers, these guys will be used alot by everyone, and I wont be an exeption, though my reason is that Incinerators now cost 20pts on a standard squad and these guys get them free. They are 240pts for 10 men, can take 4 incinerators (a saving of 40pts) and take Halberds at 2pts each (normally 5pts) and a Daemonhammer for 5pts (normally 10pts). The biggest benefit these guys have is that if they pass a psychic test then every enemy model in assault with them takes a wound on a 4+ and any casualties (after saves) are added to combat resolution. The bigger the Horde the more likely you are to win!!!

There Assassins are still around and better than before, but also more expensive, I may add in my Vindicare as I enjoy this guy, but it is unlikely as there are better options.

Inquisitorial Henchmen are here only available if you take an Inquisitor, Deathcult assassins and Daemonhosts have been added in here along with Stormtroopers. I plan to take 3 Daemonhosts are they look fun, but expect they will be dropped for either a Librarian (along with the Inquisitor) or a Vindicare.

Venerable Dreadnought is in here, same as normal, with a couple of special options they aren't worth the 175pts basic it costs! This guy will not be seeing any action.

Lastly, the dreaded Paladins, 55pts each (ouch!!!) 2 wounds and can take an apothecary for an extra 75pts (55pts + 75pts!!!). These guys could be a solid wall that cannot be broken, with a 2+ save, two wounds, and Feel No Pain, and the ability to equip them all differently. I am going to try these guys out a few times, but expect them to be dropped to normal Terminators saving me roughly 200pts.

Troops

Here there are only two choices, firstly, Terminators, These guys are your basic Terminator with a Force Weapon. At 200pts (the standard), they are cheap for how good they are, and can take a Daemonhammer or Halberd for free, Also, like the Paladins can take a Brotherhood Banner which gives you +1 attack and auto-pass your force weapon psychic test for 25pts. If I don't take Paladins I will take at least one unit of these guys.

The second choice is a Strike Squad, 200pts for 10 men, with Force Weapons, can take Halberds at 5pts each or Daemonhammers/falchions (+1 attack) at 10pts each. They get Psilencers for free but being a heavy weapon I think I will avoid these as Psycannons are now only 10pts. A Str 7 Assault cannon for 10pts... yes please. These guys are a solid choice and I will take two units in every game (because I have to and want to).

Fast Attack

Here we have the Stormraven which is well known from the Blood Angels and I may look at taking one at 205pts instead of a Land Raider, but until I buy the model this guy wont be featuring for at least a couple of months. It is a beast and will be able to ferry 6 Terminators (or Paladins) along with a Dreadnought quickly to the heat of battle (if I am mistaken please tell me).

The only other Fast choice is the Interceptor Squad. These guys are identical to Strike Squads but move as Jump Infantry and can "shunt" 30" which means with a Grand Master making them scoring can threaten the board on the last turn to capture or contest almost any objective. I am planning on using at least one unit of 5 for exactly that reason. Plus my old models don't have backpacks so they are a good reason to use the new ones that come in the new boxes.

Heavy Support

Here we have the big guns at last. Firstly is the Purgation Squad, these guys pay a bit less for their Halberds and Daemonhammers (a full squad of Daemonhammers could be fun) but the Psycannon and Incinerator have swapped costs. The Astral Aim psychic power would be useful with 4 Psilencers (as its AP- anyway) meaning you could pour out 24 Str4 shots at anyone (even out of Line of Sight) giving them their armour or a 4+ cover, but weight of fire would be horrendous. I may think of these guys if I buy any men.

The Nemesis Dreadknight falls into this catagory and I have already bought one just because I love the model (although others don't). This guy weighs in at 130pts basic with WS5 BS4, S and T 6 and 4 wounds. He has a 2+ save and 5+ invulnerable as basic and 3 attacks. For 25pts you can give him a Broadsword which lets him re-roll to-hits, to-wounds and armour penetration rolls!!!! This will be taken every time. He can also take a Daemonhammer which hits at initiative order for 10pts. He can take a Heavy Incinerator for 30pts (put the short end 12" away) a gatling Psilencer for 35pts (heavy 12!!!) or a Heavy Psycannon for 40pts (Str7 Rending Large Blast), I have opted for the Psycannon first, but am unsure as it is a lot of points. This guy can also take a Personal Teleporter, making him jump infantry and giving him the "shunt" like Interceptors (and imagine him scoring using the Grand Master), but at 75pts I have left it off to start with.

Lastly we have the general options of Land Raiders and a Dreadnought, these guys cost a fraction more than usual as they can ignore stunned and shaken with their Fortitude power (along with Rhino's and Razorbacks). For now I wont be using them as I think Servo-Skulls will work better for getting up close quickly, even though I am still risking Deepstriking.

So there we have it, my quick(ish) Nemesis Theoryhammer. I hope it helps you in looking at Grey Knights as an army and as an enemy. I will still be putting up an in-depth overview of each unit after I play a few games with each but for now, enjoy.

A look at the Grey Knights

With the Grey Knight Codex due for release this Saturday I thought I would take a look and compare the Old Codex to the New Codex. I'm going to give a breif overview of the changes to the book and will go more in depth after playing with the Grey Knights doing a Unit by Unit breakdown.

The Biggest change I have noticed is that Grey Knights are no longer Super Marines, they share the same stat line including Leadership. This means gone are the days of hitting most enemies on a 3+ and sticking around after losing nearly everyone in the squad. Now, they will be hitting on a 4+ generally and being hit by their Bloodletter/Bloodcrusher enemies on a 3+!!!! Now that every unit has a psychic power LD10 is almost a must, but Grey Knights have been dropped to 8, pushing 9 with their Justicar/Knight of flame. This means that alot of Psychic tests will be failed at crucial points especially if you happen to lose your justicar to weight of fire.

The Psycannon and Incinerator no longer ignore invulnerable saves which means that their chosen foe now gets a chance to survive against the Grey Knights shooting! The bonus being Incinerators are now Strength 6 and Psycannons are Rending (not much use against Daemons). The Psilencer does wound on a 4+ against Daemons (unless usually better) but as a heavy weapon in an assault orientated army it is a bit out of place, which is probably why its free. The Incinerator has doubled in points for the gain of one point in strength and with my large number of old models which came with an incinerator (I have 5) it means I have to take an elite choice (Purifiers) or pay equal to another man for each one. The Psycannon has dropped by 15 points and is now a cheap 10pts for a Strength 6 AP4 Rending Assault 2, Heavy 3 gun, BARGAIN.

Now, Grey Knights in Power Armour have Dropped by 5pts per model and as stated earlier dropped alot of Stats and rules, for 20pts you get, a Space Marine armed with a Force Weapon and Storm Bolter, for 25pts you used to get a Khorne Bezerker armed with a Str 6 weapon and Storm Bolter with 2 Attacks. But before I condem the change (I want Str 6) lets look at the cost of a Space Marine (15pts) with Power Weapon (15pts) and Storm bolter (5pts) that is 35pts, 15pts more than a Grey Knight!!! The big problem I have is that now, Grey Knights are just Space Marines with Prefered Enemy against Daemons, who go last againts Daemonettes, will get ripped apart by Bloodletters/crushers hitting easier and cant even ignore their saves in shooting.

The good points though are that now Grey Knights get a thunderhammer, and for only 10pts (the difference between a Power weapon and Thunderhammer), their Force Swords give the Termies a 4+ inv in combat, can take a Halberd which gives +2 initiative for 5pts (taking them to the same cost as an old Grey Knight) but with only 1 attack each basic (no +1 for their storm bolter) they only way to get an extra attack is with a Falchion at 10pts. What seems to be a popular choice (though I will be taking a minumum if at all) is the Null Staff, which gives you a +2 inv in combat at a massive 25pts!!! if it was a bit cheaper I would consider them, but thats another Man with +2 initiative (which means I wouldnt need the 2+ save).

Also, with all the new toys and units then I think this new Codex could be a winner, but I feel they missed out on the fluff big time and it is obvious they wanted to streamline the Grey Knights for newer/younger players. The drop to a standard Space Marines stats will really hurt a close combat psychic weilding army that now has a low LD and average WS.

By this time next week I should have had a good read through the Codex (and not just a glance in the shop) and will begin my in-depth analysis of each unit and its role (and changes). Until then, enjoy.

[40k] Grey Knights are up for Advance Order!

Figured I'd post this for people to chat about... Here goes!

Codex

Grey Knights

Grey Knight Terminators

Dreadknight

Draigo

They all look awesome, and good news for me, they're all plastic (except Draigo). The only issue I have is the price on certain things. The 5 Grey Knight boxset is £20.50, which is a fair bit of cash. Obviously, it needs looking at in terms of the points cost for them also - so we'll see.

I do absolutely love the Dreadknight. It's like a Grey Knight gave birth to Optimus Prime's baby...

What do you guys reckon? All the stuff is up on GW's advance order page now, and all the shared stuff (Storm Ravens and Land Raiders) are showing up in GK colours. Grey Knights are rolling in soon!

Peace,
SB

IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!

So with the release of the Grey Knights approaching alot of people are screaming Codex Creep and threatening to quit the hobby because of another "Broken" Codex. My question is, is it really the end of the world?

Well I am going to break it down and prove that it really isn't (and if anyone still believes it is, please stop moaning and just quit the hobby).

Firstly, there is alot of complaints that two wound models with a 2+ 5++ save and FNP are overpowered and going to kill us all, but don't they already exist in the form of Mega Nobz with Mad Dok? sure that will put you back a good few hundred points, but I am sure that the Grey Knight Version will too.

Next is the complaint of Henchmen being overpowered for the cost. From what I can gather they are going to be cheap, but they aren't troops without a Special Character (which means one less HQ) and they are T3, plus they come basic with a 5+ save, and WS3, they aren't even Vet Guardmen standards!!!

The Dreadknight is a big scare, but is it not just the Grey Knights answer to Mephiston and the Trygon?

There are several other complaints but I can't remember from the top of my head, if you have any questions I will justify them as best as I can.

Now, lets look at Codex Creep in general

Alot of people scream Codex Creep every time a new Codex is announced (even before the rumour mill starts) and sure, some Codex's have been upped a notch, but then every other follows suit. At the end of 4th Ed alot of the Codex's had specific gimmics and their own tricks, Dark Angels had Termie troops, Dark Eldar were fast and fragile, Imperial Guard were slow and shooty and Eldar were Psyker Masters.

With 5th Ed Dark Angels were ousted with Space Wolves getting Termie Troops and now the Grey Knights get them too, Dark Eldar became a bit more survivable (not much) and Guard became Faster, Eldar were pushed off top of the Psykers by Marines. But we are looking at all the 5th Ed Codex's and comparing them to 3rd and 4th Ed Codex's. Which means, we will see all the Codex's get some new gimmic plus strengthen their weakness's, GW seem to be working on everyone having something similar to everyone else, plus a bit more, I am sure this is to partly increase sales and partly to settle the cry of "Codex Creep" but still the Internet Mobs persist until it is their armies turn for the new and shiny.

My general Point therefore is that if you feel cheated, wait your turn, it will happen and then everyone else will moan at you just like you moaned at them.

Any questions or comments please feel free to leave them and enjoy a discussion

[40k] Grey Knights Rumours from BOLS

Here you go guys, copied and pasted from BOLS for a bit of discussion...

Unit Breakdown
Special Characters:
Lord "Draigo" LR cost.
Grand Master "Mordrack" Storm Raven Cost
Brother Captain Stern
Castellan Crowe

Inquisitor Corteaz
Inquisitor Karamazov
Inquisitor Valeria

HQ
Grand Master
Brother Captain
Brotherhood Champion
Librarian
Ordo Malleus Inquisitor
Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor
Ordo Xenos Inquisitor

Elites
Techmarine
Purifier Squad
Venerable Dreadnought
Paladin Squad
Callidus
Eversor
Vindicare
Culexus
Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband

Troops
Grey Knight Terminator Squad
Special Upgrade Character - Justicar Thawn
Grey Knights Strike Squad (the regular GK's)

Transports
Rhino
Razorback
Chimera

Fast
StormRaven

Heavy Support
Purgation Squad
Dreadnought
Nemesis Dreadknight (MC)
Land Raider (and variants, including redeemer)

Unit Notes
Grand Master Rumors
Pick D3 units during deployment and giving them a special rule:
Makes them scoring (kinda neat for dread and or elite paladins)
Makes them re roll 1s to wound all game
Makes them have counter attack USR.
Makes them Scout
All these units are affected by the one choice.

No Drop Pods
But GK strike squads are supposed to be able to take personal teleporters. This makes them jump infantry. And once per game it is rumored to allow them to make a 30" move, just move... not a on table deep strike. they Can shoot when they do this, but not charge.

Paladins: 2 wounded terminators (they can have an apothecary in the squad)

Purifiers: Grey Knights that have a lot of anti horde options, they are the ones with the power that will do a wound on every engaged enemy model in cc on 4+.

Terminators equipped with frag and krak grenades.

Psychic Powers
Hammer Hand: +1 strength in Close Combat
Warp Quake: Any deepstriking unit that lands within 12" suffers automatic mishap.
Holocaust: S5 AP - Large Blast 12"
Quicksilver: Unit becomes Initiative 10
Warp-Rift: Template that auto removes models from play
The Summoning: A single friendly unit that is anywhere on the table is placed within 6" of the librarian and counts as deepstriking.
Smite: As C:SM
Might of Titan: Beginning of librarians assault phase. Unit within 6" gains +1 str and extra D6 armour pen vs vehicles. Bonus is cumulative with hammerhand.
The Shrouding: Opponents shooting phase. All units within 6" gain stealth (minimum 5+ cover in the open).
Mind Blades: Start of any assault phase. One enemy unit within 6" loses 1 toughness for the rest of the assault phase.
Vortex of Doom: As C:SM
Sanctury: Enemy assault phase. Enemy units wishing to assault any Grey Knight within 12" of librarian must make a difficult AND dangerous terrain test.
Psychic Communion (Grandmaster and Captain only): Take a psychic test. If passed, you may modify any reserve rolls by + or -1.
Heroic Sacrafice (Champion only): During any assault phase and when the "chaplain" dies. If the psychic test is passed, make one attack against any one model that is in base to base with the champion. If the attack hits, the model is removed as a casualty with no saves. If it misses, there is no effect.
Cleansing Flame (Purifiers only): Start of any assault phase. All enemy models that are part of the same assault suffer a wound on a 4+ before any blows are struck with saving throws allowed. Casualties count towards combat resolution.
Astral Aim (Purgation Squad only): Shooting Phase. Unit and attached characters may fire at any unit in range and regardless of line of sight. Target automatically gets a 4+ cover save that cannot be modified.
Reconstruction (techmarines only): Beginning of techmarine's movement. Re-roll any repair roll.
Fortitude (Vehicle only): At the start of Grey Knight player's turn, removes any shaken or stunned results.
Zone of Banishment(Captain Stern only): During Stern's assault phase. All models (friend and foe, but NOT stern) within 6" make a strength test or are removed from play. Demons must re-roll successful tests. 

They sound awesome (as they always did), but with just a lot more options and even more heroic. The thing I like with these is that hopefully they'll be a quick army for people to start and get properly painted, since they should be very small in number.

I may have to get some to ally with the Guard (if it's still allowed) and if not, I've now got a hell of a lot of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers lying about...

What do you guys reckon? Especially Col. Straken..

[Battle Report] Apocalypse! Tyranids v Guard, Wolves and Grey Knights

Hey everyone,

I've finally had the motivation to pick up the stack of scribbled notes on my desk and write them up to cover the Apocalypse game we played a few weekends ago, with Angryman using his Tyranids against my Imperial Guard and Col. Straken's Space Wolf / Grey Knight list. Our club hall was double booked, so we had to play the game on a standard 6 x 4 table at my house - not ideal, but it meant for a quick decisive game...

Battle Lines are Drawn.

The objectives of the game were for 4 objectives - 3 minor (worth 1 each) and 1 major objective (3 points). These were spread around the board, 2 being Bastions, 1 being a Tyranid spawning pool, and the final one being an Imperial defence outpost.

Imperial Heavy Armour deploys on the Table.

The Tyranid horde deploys - plenty left in reserve to drop down on the board.

Turn 1 - Imperium
The Imperial armour advance forwards up the board, destroying Razorwire left from previous battles. Hellhounds and Leman Russes hold the right side, the remaining Russes and the Wolves on the left.

Imperial shooting however wasn't so good. Most of the Guard tanks scattered off wildly from their targets. The hellhounds however fared better, attacking a brood of Warriors and Zoanthropes in close proximity to one another.

In totalt, the Imperium managed to kill; 1 Carnifex, 4 Tyranid Warriors, 2 Zoanthropes and left 2 fexes badly wounded, as well as the foot slogging Tyrant and his guard.

Imperial Advance - Turn 1.

Tyranids - Turn 1

The Tyranid horde pressed forward, the Carnifexes and Tyrants towards Imperial Tanks. The Tervigons managed to spawn 27 gaunts between them.

In the shooting phase, one of the Tervigon attempted to cast Feel No Pain on the Tyrant's unit but took a Perils of the Warp wound. A Heavy Venom Cannon Fex destroyed a Grey Knight Dreadnought. A 2nd Carnifex managed to blow up the turret from the very effective Hellhounds. Zoanthropes fail to damage a Grey Knight Land Raider. Hive guard shoot and Shake a Leman Russ.

In assault, the Carnifexes run into the Hellhounds and manage to Stun the 2nd Hellhound.

Tyranids Turn 1 - They do NOT like Hellhounds

Imperium - Turn 2
From reserve, the Marauder Bomber arrives and aims for a strafing run across the entire Tyranid back line. Drop pods with an Assault Squad, and a Wolf Guard squad arrive aiming to attack the Tyranid defensive horde. Grey Knight Terminators leap out from the Land Raider.

In the shooting phase, the Grey Knight Terminators Land Raider shoots and kill a Tyrant Guard, Drop Pod causes 2 wounds on the fresh Tervigon. Wolf Guard terminators wound the cowardly Hive Guard and the Bomber with it's strafing run killed another Tyrant Guard. The Guard opened fire, with a Leman Russ Vanquisher blowing up a Bastion housing Genestealers, a Leman Russ then followed that up with dropping it's Battle Cannon on the Genestealers, scattering, but managing to kill 1 Zoanthrope nearby and a Genestealer (darn cover saves...). The Leman Russ Demolisher killed the final Tyrant guard and wounded Old One Eye. Another Leman russ kiled a Dakkafex with it's shooting, along with 4 nearby Gaunts.

In assault, the Grey Knight Terminators take out Old One Eye in combat before the feared beast had chance to even open his Claws.

Leman Russ tanks press forward to Hammer the "Big Ones".

Tyranids - Turn 2
In the movement phase, the Mawloc, Trygon Prime, Doom of Malantai, Screamer Killer fex and Genestealers with Broodlord manage to arrive from reserve. Spelling big trouble for the Guardsmen... The Tervigons manage to spawn 18 more Gaunts between them, but unfortunately, both roll doubles - no more spawning in this game. The Gaunts to the back corner of the board move forward to target the Wolf Guard and press on the Objectives.

Shooting, the Tervigons cast Feel No Pain on the walking Tyrant (who's buddies have been killed) and a Carnifex. The Doom of Malan'tai wrenches the souls from 2 Grey Knight Terminators. A Dakkafex causes a Shaken and Weapon Destroyed result on a Space Wolf Rhino. The Gaunt wave shooting kills 1 Grey Knight terminator and the Hive Guard pop the Storm Bolter off the Drop Pod.

In assault, the Hive Tyrant and Gaunts charge into the GK Grand master, hits the Tyrant 5 times but fails to wound, more Gaunts charge the Wolf Guard. Carnifexes blow up both Hellhounds, destroying them and taking 2 Genestealers in the blast.

Tyanid Reserves en Masse

Imperial - Turn 3
Imperial Guard reserves show up now, with Kratos (Guardsman Marbo) appearing, along with 2 Veteran Squads in Chimeras, Company Command Squad in another Chimera and then 3 Vendetta Gunships.

The Grey Hunters and Grey Knights disembark from their vehicles, and "Jimmy Gauntslayer" the Lone Wolf moved towards the Trygon prime - a fitting test for him. The Marauder bomber strafes along the centre of the board.

In the shooting, the Marauder Bomber annihalated 25 gaunts with more dropped bombs, Grey Hunters kill 5 Ymgarl Stealers, GK Land Raider killes 6 gaunts. Marbo throws his demo charges and wipes out a squad of 3 warriors lurking near the backfield objective. Veterans and the Command squads, along with their Transports bring down the Mawloc thanks to Melta guns and a pinch of luck. The Wolf Long Fangs fail to wound anything and the Vendettas take their toll on the Tyranids, wounding a Tyrand, wounding a Fex and wounding the Trygon twice. A Leman Russ kills one Hive guard and another wiped out a Spore pod.

Assault phase, Dreadnaught assaults the Screamer Killer Fex, Lone Wolf assaults the Trygon and manages to survive. The Grey knights stuck in assault are killed off, and the Hive Tyrant headbutts the Grey Knight Grand Master to death.

Reinforcements FTW!

Tyranids - Turn 3
Reinforcements - Tyranid Warrior Prime, along with his Warrior Bodyguard show up, Raveners appear, Winged Tyrant, 3 Lictors jump out near the Imperial Artillery line, Parasite of Mortrex and Shrikes all appear. Everything in the Tyranid army pressed forward to cripple the Imperium.

In shooting, the Hive Guard turned their attention to Guardsman marbo, which thanks to their nifty guns, bypassed his Cover Save and Stealth rule (he was stood behind a wall). The Winged Tyrant knocks a Lascannon off the Marauder bomber, Tyranid warriors kill 3 space wolf Grey hunters and one of the Carnifexes blows up a Space Wolf Rhino.

In assault, the Tervigon and Fex destroys the Land Raider, Tyrant attacks the Demolisher, the 2nd tyrant stunds a Leman Russ, Carnifex wrecks the Vanquisher, Genestealers attack a Veteran Squad Chimera, wreck it and kills several Veterans, Raveners shake another Leman Russ and the Ymgarl Genestealers attack the wolves, killing 2, then the remainder of the unit being wiped out by the Wulfen marked trooper. Finally the Doom of Malan'tai blows up the Leman russ, and the resulting explosion destroys 4 Gaunts. The Trygon finally kills off the Lone Wolf.

"There used to be more tanks than this..."

Imperum - Turn 4
Imperial retaliation time... Veterans and the command squads turn to wipe out the Genestealers with Brood Lord. The Grey hunters move to combat the Raveners and the Vendettas move up towards the destroyed Bastion.

In shooting, the Bomber kills 2 gaunts and all of the Shrikes. Long fangs take 3 wounds from the Trygon prime and Grey hunters killed 2 Raveners. The Company Command squad issues 1st rank fire, 2nd rank fire to the Veteran squad out of the Chimera. The Veteran squad kills 7 gaunts and the Colossus Siege Cannon kills off a Hive Guard. The Leman Russ scattered it's shot, managing to land on the Colossus but luckily failed to damage. The Demolisher missed the Trygon completely. The Vendetta gunships kill off one of the Tervigons, kill a Tyrant and finish off the Trygon prime - awesome shooting there Imperial Navy.

Assault was scarce, the Grey Hunters moved to the Raveners, 3 Hunters being killed in the process but the Hunters managing to kill off the Raveners.

"That's better lads... Thank the Emperor for the Imperial Navy!!"

Tyranids - Turn 4
The remaining Tervigon regenerates 1 of his lost wounds, the Lictors spread around cover. Gaunts move to secure the 2nd bastion objective and the remaining Tyranids dispersed to avoid Guard artillery fire.

Shooting caused a Carnifex to shake a Vendetta, but the remaining shooting patters harmlessly off the Imperial Armour.

Assault was more prolific for the Tyranids. Warriors with the Alpha Warrior charge the Leman Russ and Space Wolves, removing the Battle Cannon and killing the Wolves, Screamer Killer carnifex assaults a Vendetta, removing 1 of it's 3 Lascannons. The Lictors assault the Colossus mortar, shaking it, and a Tyrant assaults a Leman Russ, blowing it up. The Doom's assault against the Demolisher and the Lictors assault on a Razorback was fruitless, but the Genestealers and Broodlord stunned, then blew up a Chimera with a Veteran squad. The Tervigon assaulted one of the Drop Pods and destroys it.

ZERG RUSH!

Imperial - Turn 5
The remaining Razorback tank shocks the Gaunts, moving them up the battlefield. The Vendetta moves to contest the Tyranids home objective, while other Vendettas spread out to move for objectives. The Command squad disembarked from it's stunned Chimera and the attached Inquisitor moved and joing the remnants of the remaining Veteran squad. The Bomber again strafes across the table for maximum impact.

The Bomber's strafing run kills off 3 warriors and wounds around the rest of the unit. The Razorback fails to wound the Carnifex. One Vendetta kills the Screamer killer Carnifex and the Long Fangs fail to hurt the lurking Lictors. The Company Command squad kills off another 7 gaunts and the nearby Demolisher takes a wound off a Hive Tyrant. The Leman russ kills 3 gaunts with it's template and the other shootable Vendetta killed off a Sniper Fex.

In assault, the Veteran squad and Inquisitor moved to charge the Broodlord, but failed to damage it. Fortunately, their leadership held and kept the Broodlord pinned with them for a turn.

Zooooooooooooom!

Tyranids - Turn 5
The Gaunts press to a Bastion objective and the Winged Hive Tyrant moves to support them.

The Flying tyrant shoots a Vendetta but nothing happens and a Carnifex moves to support, managing to Shake the Vendetta.

In assault, the Tyranid prime targets were the Vendettas.. Tyrant attacks one, fails to do anything, similar story with a 2nd Vendetta assaulted by a Carnifex. A lone Lictor attacking a third Vendetta managed to cause a Weapon Destroyed result. Another Lictor assaulting the Colossus caused an immobilised result. A Tyrant attacking a Leman Russ caused 3 penetrating hits, resulting in a wrecked result. Gaunts charging in on the Imperial Guard Command Squad kill off all but the Company Commander who stands firm, killing 3 gaunts in retaliation. The Broodlord versus the veterans again resulted in a drawn combat.

"Stand still damn you!!"

Imperial - Turn 6
The Vendettas move around the board to contest 3 of the objective, the Shaken Vendetta moving flat out to reach it's one near the Winged Hive Tyrant. The Bomber strafes across the board again and the remaining 2 Leman Russes (1 Demolisher) move to open fire on remaining targets.

The Marauder bomber kills off 1 Lictor, the Vendetta nearby shoots another Lictor but thanks to it's Chamelionic skin and going to ground, it survived. The Leman Russ kills a Tyranid Warrior. A 2nd Vendetta attempts to open up on another Lictor, who again, dives for cover in the ground. The Doom of Malan'tai takes a Demolisher shell, but passes his invulnerable save. The Space Wolf Long Fangs nick a wound from the Winged Tyrant.

In assault, the Brood Lord kills off the Veteran squad (finally...) and consolidates towards the Bastion objective. Imperial Commander Grant wins the combat against the Gaunts, who take 2 casualties - standing firm to contest the Objective on his own.

Tyranids swarm the Digestion Pool objective

Tyranids - Turn 6
The Winged Hive Tyrant moves to assault the nearby Vendetta, Warriors, Carnifex and walking Tyrant move to attack Leman Russes, Gaunts move toward the digestion pool, and the Tervigon goes to attack a Chimera lumbering toward the Tyranid home objective.

Shooting caused no issues on the Vendettas, one passing it's Flat Out cover save and the other from the lone Hive Guard missing it's target.

In assault, the Tervigon destroyed the Chimera, Winged Hive Tyrant shakes the Vendetta, and all 3 remaining Leman Russes were destroyed. Commander Grant stood firm once again, holding the Gaunts for a draw.

Imperium - Turn 7
The Vendettas and the Long Fangs move to contest their nearby objectives. Everything else remaining (not much) held their positions.

The Marauder bomber shot the Lictors and wounded 1, the Vendetta with 1 lascannon remaining shot at the Winged Tyrant but failed to wound.

In assault, the Gaunts finally manage to beat down the Imperial Commander - not bad for someone who sits in a box ordering people around mostly.

Tyranids - Turn 7
So final turn for the Tyranids. The Warriors move to combat a Vendetta objective, one remaining Lictor moves to attack the Long Fangs and a Lictor / Gaunt combo move to secure the digestive pool. The Parasite of Mortrex and Tervigon head to the home objective to secure it.

Final round of shooting caused a Vendetta to become shaken, 2 Long Fangs to be killed and the Marauder bomber to finally take a hit, causing a Gun crew stunned result.

In assault, the Hive guard failed to damage his Vendetta foe, the Long Fangs caused 1 wound on a Lictor, but the Lictor held, the walking Tyrant managed to smash down the buzzard Vendetta hovering near his objective and the Winged tyrant failed to damage the final Vendetta.

The Aftermath of Portsmotia...

Result
Tyranid Victory - 1 objective held, other 3 were contested.

Conclusion
It was a tough game full of bloodshed, had Imperial Template Weaponry been a bit more accurate, the Portsmotian defence force may have held - alas. We have crippled the Tyranid foe significantly and can send for further reinforcements to cleanse this Tyranid infestation sector.

SB.

[Rumours] Daemonhunters, Witchhunters and Inquisition Forces

Normally, I'll avoid posting news and stuff on here, but a couple of us have been talking about Grey Knight rumours found across the web, so I thought I'd compile them and discuss it properly on here.

Image Courtesy of: http://turin-the-forsaken.deviantart.com/

The first lot is a biiiiiig list of what is supposedly to come with it all:

=][= Inquisition
There will be no new DH/WH books, and there will be a single =][= book
Release window is not 2010 for Codex =][= Inquisition – Rumours are it might just be a release of Storm Raven / Terminators in September
GK and =I= forces are much further along in Development than Sisters and Priests.
All inquisition units to get new models...eventually
Codex: Inquisition to combine all orders of =I=
No allies, but indoctrinated units will include choices from other Imperial armies
Lots of Psychic Nullification Sounds like GK
Lots of Ignore Invul Sounds like GK
Another flyer/transport kit Valkyrie-sized being planned for release Could be a Valkyrie box with options like the LR Crusader kit – This is obviously the Storm Raven
Imperial Assassin now a single unit, Culexus, Callidus, etc all gone. Unit will have numerous lethal options. Very Expensive.
New vehicle : Jetbikes?
New Character/model : A named preacher. New model for Imperial Missionary Jacobus?
New Character/model : Confessor with a big staff with what looks like integrated flamer New model for Imperial Confessor Kyrinov?


Grey Knights
GK being focused on for release, Sisters 2nd wave
GK models may see light of day early tied into another product release. (commentary: I hear rumors of a Space hulk expansion being planned, but they are vague and disorganized, so much salt needed here) – This could be when the Storm Raven / GK termies are released
New GK Terminators 3ups (5 poses, 1 HQ/leader)
New Daemonhunter concept art
New Grey Knight fluff, definitely enough there for a full codex. Much more detail on organization and history. Background on "heroes." Good stuff.
New DH vehicles/support
New Character/model : Looks like a Grey Knight Chaplain.
New Character/model : Grey Knight named justicar, with 2 ended force weapon.
New Character/model : Grey Knight vehicle based character. Grey Knight on jetbike? Earlier refference to Sammael taken into consideration


Sisters of Battle
No faith points Does NOT mean no more Acts of Faith, most likely similar to IG Orders – BOOOOOOOO! Faith Points were ace.
New Witchhunter concept art
New WH vehicles/support
New Character/model : Sister with what looks like twin arm mounted SBs.
New Character/model : New concept for Throne of Judgement, less like a converted dread.
New Character/model : Sister with twin cat o nine tails. Named Repentia Mistress? Sounds interesting but unlikely. Sister Repentia box set being discontinued supports rumour on plastic repentias
New Character/model : Named Seraphim with new jump pack, more marine like (large jets) but retains some archaic details, also has sword and combi weapon



Named Characters : "Around a dozen named characters, incl existing"
WH has Saint Celestine and Inquisitor Lord Karamazov
DH has Brother-Captain Stern of the Grey Knights and Inquisitor Lord Torquemada Coteaz, allso mentions Inquisitor Quixos and Helgrund


Inquisitor Quixos is mentioned in the DH codex but is not a playable character. He´s a radical Inquisitor being the one to create Daemonhosts (one binding the Daemon Cherubael and the other not quite identified but was known as Prohaniti)
He allso mastered the art of creating Soulguards - individuals who were psychic vacuums that could absorb magic and protect those nearby from the baneful energies of Chaos
Wields a daemonblade containing the ferocity of Kharnagar the Deathly, a being he had defeated some decades earlier and whose essence had been boing into his sword
Could invoke the full power of Kharnagar, causing Helgrund to explode into flames and immolate when driving his daemonblade into Helgrund´s guts


Inquisitor Helgrund is mentioned in the story about Quixos who is later killed by him with his daemonsword.
Has Redemptionist priests and an arco-flagellant in his retinue
Wields a Force Hammer, charged with faith and purity
Was able to call upon the Emperor´s blessings and drove hard at Quixos, his force hammer smashing through psychic shields and warp-wards alike (Ignore inv save I take it)

That's a big hefty list there and a lot to read through... but oh wait - there's more!

Changes to Grey Knight weaponry:

Normal Grey Knights/Justicar - Powerweapon, Wounds daemons on a 2+.
Grey Knight Terminators/Paladin - Powerweapon, Wounds daemons on a 2+ (Possibility may be master-crafted)
Brother Captain - Forceweapon, Wounds daemons on a 2+ (Possibility may be master-crafted)
Grand Master - Forceweapon, Wounds daemons on a 2+, Re-roll invulnerable saves (Again possibility may be master-crafted).

Also Aegis Armour:

Aegis Armour now gives a 5+ Invulnerable save from Psychic attacks targeted on the wearer(s) and a 4+ Inv. Save for Terminators armoured GKs and HQs.

So what do you guys reckon? Reportedly it will be a Storm Raven and Grey Knight Terminators release in September, with conflicting rumours whether the rest of it will be at that time (including the codex).

Thanks to Librarium Online for me finding the rumours, specifically JarranVanKell and Rhyn0 for posting them on there.

- What do you guys think? There's nothing solid at the min so apply some salt on all this!

SB.