Grey Knights - HQ Units

Welcome to the new paradigm of dramatic hero Space Marines. For the HQ selections, there are 4 Special Characters and 4 generic selections. I'm going to start with the generic ones and then go over the Specials.

Grey Knight Grand Master
There are ever only 8 of these guys. Each command a portion of the Knights in some function. They are similar to Space Marine Chapter Masters or Space Wolf Lords. In this manner, the Grey Knights aren't like a standard Chapter and are closer to the old Legions formations. His special ability is Grand Strategy. This gives d3 select units one type of abilities: Hammer of Righteousness (re-roll wounds of 1 thoughout the game), Shield of Blades (Counter-Attack USR), Spear of Light (Scout USR), and Unyielding Anvil (claim objectives as troops). He also has the Psychic Communion ability (modify reserves roll and cumulative). He's outfitted with Terminator Armor and an Iron Halo; wargear for grenades and Orbital Strike Relay may be purchased.

Grey Knight Brother-Captain
Brother-Captains lead a standard company of Grey Knights (100). He is nearly identical to the Grand Master, but doesn't have the Grand Strategy ability. He's the lower price alternative to the Grand Master for low points games.

Brotherhood Champion
This is an interesting HQ choice. He's a power armored Marine with Iron Halo out to duel other HQ and Independent Characters. He has a number of special rules to allow for re-rolls to strike and wound. In an assault, he's got 3 battle stances since he's "The Perfect Warrior:" Sword Storm (a strike on everyone in base contact with him), Blade Shield (no attacks, re-roll saving throws), and Rapier Strike (D3+Charge against a single independent character or monstrous creature). He's really an upgraded Emperor's Champion and Eversor Assassin. His final strike is Heroic Sacrifice after dying in assault. It's a single psychic strike to take out a single model in base contact before being removed from the table, no saves available.

Librarian
Grey Knight Librarians are upgraded versions of the Codex Space Marine versions. Their powers are listed in the previous post. The thing to note about these Librarians are that they start at Mastery Level 2 and upgradeable to Level 3. Also, they wear Terminator Armor as standard issue.

What's missing from the Grey Knight options is a Chaplain. This character makes a lot of sense for the type of engagements that this Chapter was designed around. Maybe the next version will include a Chaplain.

Lord Kaldor Draigo
This is the Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights. He's apparently the only one who has a Storm Shield with a Storm Bolter. Really? He also has a psychic power no one else has developed, Sanctified Flame, a template weapon to clear space and add to his character. He also has a anti-daemon, master-crafted force sword that strikes at Strength 10 versus daemons. Apparently he is one of a kind. He's also lost in the warp, trapped by a vengeful daemon. Are we getting cartoony yet? The best is that when Chaos has invaded normal space, he can also return long enough to banish them back and be sucked back in too. He is the Ronin Samurai, killing all the daemons he sees in the Warp, forever wandering for a way to return. This character should have just become a Primarch because this is rediculous. For now, I'm nicknaming him Michael Knight...

Grand Master Mordrak
This is another hero that feels a bit cartoony. He is a Grand Master (1 of 8, as noted above). Besides getting all of those abilities, he gets a spectral squad of Terminators. Yes, he's Aragon, and he's got a Stealthy Terminator Retinue that can be increased every time the Grand Master gets injured. He also deploys via deep strike, on target every time and in the 1st round. The fluff is that he's haunted by both survivor's guilt and the psychic imprint of those Grey Knights who fell before him. Ok, this was a great idea for a fantasy character, but for the grim dark future, I'd think the Chapter Librarians would have stripped his personality and stuck him inside a servitor's body. If these ghosts were really psychic imprints that a Grand Master could call upon to support his battles, all the Grand Masters would be able to do this (never mind the fact this feels a little Qui Gon Jin/Obi Wan Kenobi-ish). This character would be useful in the game, and the modelling of the Ghost Terminators would be colorful, but the fluff makes no sense. This chapter descended from the original Legions, all the Legions, and is called on to battle the amazing without resorting to the improbable. Until this character.

Brother-Captain Stern
This version of Stern clarifies, reiterates, and slightly alters the previous version. His fate is still cursed to be involved with M'kachen, the daemon, and the story is now fleshed out. It might be an elaborate game played on Stern, or Stern is M'kachen's mortal enemy. He still has the ability to re-roll one attempt at each phase, but the opponent gets a chance for every die re-rolled for Stern. His other power is a psychic power; Zone of Banishment. It is a strength test, friend or foe, no saving throws. Daemons would have to re-roll successful tests. Stern's story is more tragic now, and he really hasn't changed from the previous version. Of all the heroes, his background is consistent with the established fluff.

Castellan Crowe
He's the leader of the Purifier Order, a group of Grey Knights that protect the deepest vaults of the Grey Knights. They are the most incorruptable Grey Knights (even though no Grey Knight has ever been corrupted, and that all of them are incorruptable). For this, he uses a Daemon Sword as his personal weapon so that he can protect those around him from its whispers and so that it will never fall into the corruptables' hands. He also can rend 50% of the time after a successful strike with the Daemon Sword without using the Sword's abilities. The sword does grant opponents Furious Charge and re-roll to strike against him. This character makes no sense in the fluff. Such a dangerous weapon should never leave Titan for fear that the wielder would fall (which, according to the fluff, has happened before because the sword has been handed down from past Castellans for a 1000 years). He also has rules that make him a named Brotherhood Champion. Purifier Squads count as troops when he leads the army.

That's the roundup of Grey Knight commanders. There are 3 special Inquisition HQ choices as well as 3 generic ones. I'll review those in a Inquisition post. And yes, that would mean 8 Grey Knight HQ choices and 6 Inquisition ones.

Next up: Troops choices.