This section being reviewed covers the basic troops for the Grey Knights. This section has changed the most from previous version. Troops choices now are Grey Knight Terminator Squads and Grey Knight Strike Squads. Dedicated Transports are Rhinos and Razorbacks for the Grey Knights.
Grey Knight Terminator Squad
In comparison to other Terminator units, the Grey Knight squads are also 5 Terminators but have the option to upgrade the Nemesis Force Swords to the other Nemesis weapons. For every 5 terminators, one could buy a support weapon for the squad. The squad could replace one NFW for a Brotherhood Banner to upgrade the squad. As expensive as each Terminator costs, the combat potential might be worth the costs. This helps to match the previously established history of Terminator troops clearing the path for a commander to banish the daemon prince.
Justicar Thawn
Thawn is an upgrade for Terminator Squads. He's also immortal. He's a Terminator Justicar who can't die. Despite his longevity, he doesn't have really upgraded stats. He has an ability to re-awaken after dying during a game, making him really hard to kill. However, his fluff made him a Highlander.
Grey Knight Strike Squad
This is a unit that provides a general with a cheap selection. There was a cost improvement compared to the previous edition. To help the Strike Squad to match up with the fluff, Strike Squads may now Deep Strike. In addition, they have the option to use a Rhino or a Razorback. To help protect the infantry squad, they could use the psychic power of Warp Quake (Enemy Deep Strike impacted). They can get a support weapon for every 5 Strike Squad members and they may replace their Nemesis Swords for other weapons.
Rhino and Razorbacks
These transports are identical to the standard variants, except they have Psyker Pilots. Specially, they are only available to non-Terminator units. They also can upgrade with special Grey Knight equipment.
What isn't in the dedicated transport section is a Land Raider. This means that the Land Raider will be competing for a FOC choice.
Next up - Elites.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
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.
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.
Grey Knights - Special Rules
Wow, been a little while since I updated this.
Here's an introduction to Grey Knights and their rules. HQ units will be covered after this introduction. As this is the Grey Knights codex, I'll save the Inquisition and its allies for later. That means only Space Marine badness. On to the rules!
Brotherhood of Psykers
This is the realization that the Grey Knights are psykers at some level. This means a squad of GK counts as a psyker, using the leadership of the squad leader, if possible. This is important because if the squad leader is gone, that doesn't mean the squad loses its psychic ability.
Psyker Mastery Levels
This feels like it was lifted right out of either Lord of the Rings or Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Whatever level you are equals the number of psychic powers used per turn. I don't know if it was really necessary, but it may give people an idea of where 6th Edition might be headed. At first glance, it doesn't appear broken, with a GK Librarian upgradeable to Level 3.
Psychic Pilot
Again, this might be where 6th Edition is headed. Level 1 psyker with leadership 10 for psychic tests and hoods. Perils are glancing hits. This means that the GK vehicles, including dreadnoughts, are bubbles of effect on the battlefield. This makes sense since drivers and undead heroes are all psykers.
Preferred Enemy: Daemons; Need I say more?
And They Shall Know No Fear
GK are Space Marines, and those rules haven't changed. One little note for it is that non-marine units benefit from it as long as a GK is apart of the unit. This may have been designed for a Techmarine with servitors, but the wording of this rule may mean that the GK are inspirational (like a big Commissar) to non-marine squads.
Combat Squads; same as Space Marines.
The Aegis
In the previous version, this was a shrouding-type affect. This version of Knights have the baroque armor act as a low-powered version of the psychic hood. A leadership penalty will be taken if the GK is targeted. Not so if the power doesn't specifically target a GK or his unit.
Now that's all the special rules. It does make the Grey Knights more akin to the Codex Space Marines with only a couple of special rules. They are also all psykers. The ruleset isn't the greatest to represent other psyker heavy fluff armies, like the Imperial Thousand Sons or Blood Ravens. This is made tougher with the psychic powers available to the GK.
Hammerhand
Standard issue power for the GK. A pip bonus to strength, but usually at the expense of NFW instant kill. The bonus occurs before any other strength modifiers.
Dark Excommunication
In the Assault phase, GK in base contact can strip Chaos gifts before anyone strikes. Very specific to their favored enemy.
Might of Titan
Here's an ability to add on to Hammerhand, and to make the unit that's been buffed by this power to be a threat to vehicles.
Quicksilver
A unit buff to top out the initiative to 10.
Sanctuary
This power gives a unit another round of shooting, on average. It shields a unit from assault by making it difficult and dangerous to get close.
The Shrouding
This gives a unit the Stealth USR.
Smite
Lightning bolts that'll take down termies half the time.
The Summoning
Drop pod mobility for a non-vehicle unit on the table near the Librarian. Could almost be better than what Interceptor Squads can do.
Vortex of Doom
Just like the Codex Space Marine version. Just don't miss.
Warp Rift
Here's a template power that slow troops like Tau and Guard will dislike. Take an initiative test and if you fail, fall into the warp. If you're a vehicle, take a penetrating hit.
Fortitude
Here's a vehicle psychic power. Essentially, a successful test results in nullifying any of the crew effects before moving.
This covers all the special rules and psychic powers that you would use or encounter with Grey Knights. In short, they are still Space Marines. Many of their powers are identical to their codex versions. However, the other abilities are to encourage mobility for the Knights, and to allow the Knights to thin out the opposition before getting into close combat. Once there, their Hammerhand power will reduce opponents quickly. It feels that the Grey Knights are consistent with their previous versions and it has a couple of nice little twists to give it a chance at last stands and at arriving just in the nick of time for dramatic endings.
Next up: HQ units (Honest)
Here's an introduction to Grey Knights and their rules. HQ units will be covered after this introduction. As this is the Grey Knights codex, I'll save the Inquisition and its allies for later. That means only Space Marine badness. On to the rules!
Brotherhood of Psykers
This is the realization that the Grey Knights are psykers at some level. This means a squad of GK counts as a psyker, using the leadership of the squad leader, if possible. This is important because if the squad leader is gone, that doesn't mean the squad loses its psychic ability.
Psyker Mastery Levels
This feels like it was lifted right out of either Lord of the Rings or Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Whatever level you are equals the number of psychic powers used per turn. I don't know if it was really necessary, but it may give people an idea of where 6th Edition might be headed. At first glance, it doesn't appear broken, with a GK Librarian upgradeable to Level 3.
Psychic Pilot
Again, this might be where 6th Edition is headed. Level 1 psyker with leadership 10 for psychic tests and hoods. Perils are glancing hits. This means that the GK vehicles, including dreadnoughts, are bubbles of effect on the battlefield. This makes sense since drivers and undead heroes are all psykers.
Preferred Enemy: Daemons; Need I say more?
And They Shall Know No Fear
GK are Space Marines, and those rules haven't changed. One little note for it is that non-marine units benefit from it as long as a GK is apart of the unit. This may have been designed for a Techmarine with servitors, but the wording of this rule may mean that the GK are inspirational (like a big Commissar) to non-marine squads.
Combat Squads; same as Space Marines.
The Aegis
In the previous version, this was a shrouding-type affect. This version of Knights have the baroque armor act as a low-powered version of the psychic hood. A leadership penalty will be taken if the GK is targeted. Not so if the power doesn't specifically target a GK or his unit.
Now that's all the special rules. It does make the Grey Knights more akin to the Codex Space Marines with only a couple of special rules. They are also all psykers. The ruleset isn't the greatest to represent other psyker heavy fluff armies, like the Imperial Thousand Sons or Blood Ravens. This is made tougher with the psychic powers available to the GK.
Hammerhand
Standard issue power for the GK. A pip bonus to strength, but usually at the expense of NFW instant kill. The bonus occurs before any other strength modifiers.
Dark Excommunication
In the Assault phase, GK in base contact can strip Chaos gifts before anyone strikes. Very specific to their favored enemy.
Might of Titan
Here's an ability to add on to Hammerhand, and to make the unit that's been buffed by this power to be a threat to vehicles.
Quicksilver
A unit buff to top out the initiative to 10.
Sanctuary
This power gives a unit another round of shooting, on average. It shields a unit from assault by making it difficult and dangerous to get close.
The Shrouding
This gives a unit the Stealth USR.
Smite
Lightning bolts that'll take down termies half the time.
The Summoning
Drop pod mobility for a non-vehicle unit on the table near the Librarian. Could almost be better than what Interceptor Squads can do.
Vortex of Doom
Just like the Codex Space Marine version. Just don't miss.
Warp Rift
Here's a template power that slow troops like Tau and Guard will dislike. Take an initiative test and if you fail, fall into the warp. If you're a vehicle, take a penetrating hit.
Fortitude
Here's a vehicle psychic power. Essentially, a successful test results in nullifying any of the crew effects before moving.
This covers all the special rules and psychic powers that you would use or encounter with Grey Knights. In short, they are still Space Marines. Many of their powers are identical to their codex versions. However, the other abilities are to encourage mobility for the Knights, and to allow the Knights to thin out the opposition before getting into close combat. Once there, their Hammerhand power will reduce opponents quickly. It feels that the Grey Knights are consistent with their previous versions and it has a couple of nice little twists to give it a chance at last stands and at arriving just in the nick of time for dramatic endings.
Next up: HQ units (Honest)
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Codex Grey Knights - Wargear
There are plenty of other sites that discuss the various Grey Knight options, wargear, and tactics, however this one differs in others because it won't be looking at this from a competitive tournament style and from the perspective of the army's narrative. The Grey Knights have typically carried Nemesis Force Weapons, mostly swords and halberds. This version of the Grey Knights have expanded the Nemesis Force Weapon selections to include Daemon Hammers, Warding Staves, and Falchions for the infantry, and the Doomfist and Greatsword for the Dreadnoughts and Dreadknights. Each of the options now provides a different effect for the weapon user, ranging from increased invulnerable saves in close combat, increased initiative bonuses, and to additional attacks. All the NFWs are force weapons in the hands of the Grey Knights, which means that multiple wound creatures are going to hate close combat with the Knights. What is missing between the versions is the increase in strength bonus of the old NFWs. The 5ed version does not increase the damage potential. This is balanced off with the special bonuses each type gets and really forces a combination strike with the psychic power, Thunderhand. This combination does give the GKs more of a reliance on their psychic potential, which did seem to be missing in 3rd edition.
As an Imperial force, they have all the standard weapons: Assault Cannon, Autocannon, Boltgun, etc. What's new would be the Condemnor Bolter. It's to hunt werewolves and vampires. It's a single-shot stake on a Boltgun used on psykers. It's a characterful piece of wargear, forcing psykers to survive the Perils. Other anti-psyker weapons include the Mindstrike Missile, Null Rod (which has been upgraded from the previous version), and the Psyocculum (BS bonus versus psykers). The Conversion Beamer makes another appearance, which makes more sense on a Pre-Heresy army than on a Chaos hunting one. It would have been more worthwhile if the Purgation Squads could take the Beamer, but only Techmarines and Ordo Xenos Inquisitors are allowed to. The Needle Pistol makes another appearance, similar to the previous one, and the Orbital Strike Relay is wargear that brings the Orbital Strike from the 3rd Edition back. The Psycannon has been upgraded with a higher strength, rending, and rate of fire. Rate of fire would define the Psilencer, a weapon of possible alien origin. The Scythian Venom Talon make little sense in this codex, since it really is a Ordo Xenos weapon.
For the Radical, two weapons that may be used are the Daemonblade and the Hellrifle. The Daemonblade has 2 of 9 random powers that gives it bonuses. The Hellrifle is a marine killing sniper rifle.
Grenades. It makes no sense, but Grey Knights now get a whopping 8 different grenade types. The Frag, Krak, and Melta bombs are standard types. Blind grenades, Empyrean Brain Mines, Psychotroke Grenades, Psyk-out Grenades, and Rad Grenades are the new ones. All the new grenades affect the assault phase in some way. The Psychotroke ones have 6 random options, the Rad penalizes a unit's toughness, the Psyk-out knocks warp sensitive creatures to a minimum initative, and the Brain Mines just keep you from doing anything.
For Vehicles, only 2 really new items are worth reviewing: Truesilver Armour and Warp Stabilisation Field. Truesilver wounds Daemons and psykers for every successful strike on the vehicle. The Warp Field lets a psyker move the vehicle via Summoning.
The equipment section has a number of items that look worthwhile. The Iron Halo is now available to GK independent characters. GK Brotherhood Banners for their Terminator squads gives them a bonus attack and auto activate the Force Weapons. Psybolt/flame adds one more strength to the bolt and flamer weapons. Servo-skulls now act like the version from Dawn of War, need I say more. The Plasma Syphon lowers plasma weapon wielders' BS with alien crystals, which gives the GKs a nice shield against those weapons when a Xenos Inquisitor joins them.
In the end, the wargear section is fairly confused. There are a lot of radical inquistor weapons and Xenos weapons that require inquistors to use. In the end, this edition feels more like a video game with all the options and benefits available to the Grey Knights and inquisitors. The gothic feel of the weapons, psychically imbued and sanctified in purity, aren't as evident in this edition. At times, the weapons have that feel with the inclusion of the psybolts, psyflames, and psycannons. But then the grenades and alien weapons make the codex less about Grey Knights and more about deviant inquisitors.
Next up: HQ options
As an Imperial force, they have all the standard weapons: Assault Cannon, Autocannon, Boltgun, etc. What's new would be the Condemnor Bolter. It's to hunt werewolves and vampires. It's a single-shot stake on a Boltgun used on psykers. It's a characterful piece of wargear, forcing psykers to survive the Perils. Other anti-psyker weapons include the Mindstrike Missile, Null Rod (which has been upgraded from the previous version), and the Psyocculum (BS bonus versus psykers). The Conversion Beamer makes another appearance, which makes more sense on a Pre-Heresy army than on a Chaos hunting one. It would have been more worthwhile if the Purgation Squads could take the Beamer, but only Techmarines and Ordo Xenos Inquisitors are allowed to. The Needle Pistol makes another appearance, similar to the previous one, and the Orbital Strike Relay is wargear that brings the Orbital Strike from the 3rd Edition back. The Psycannon has been upgraded with a higher strength, rending, and rate of fire. Rate of fire would define the Psilencer, a weapon of possible alien origin. The Scythian Venom Talon make little sense in this codex, since it really is a Ordo Xenos weapon.
For the Radical, two weapons that may be used are the Daemonblade and the Hellrifle. The Daemonblade has 2 of 9 random powers that gives it bonuses. The Hellrifle is a marine killing sniper rifle.
Grenades. It makes no sense, but Grey Knights now get a whopping 8 different grenade types. The Frag, Krak, and Melta bombs are standard types. Blind grenades, Empyrean Brain Mines, Psychotroke Grenades, Psyk-out Grenades, and Rad Grenades are the new ones. All the new grenades affect the assault phase in some way. The Psychotroke ones have 6 random options, the Rad penalizes a unit's toughness, the Psyk-out knocks warp sensitive creatures to a minimum initative, and the Brain Mines just keep you from doing anything.
For Vehicles, only 2 really new items are worth reviewing: Truesilver Armour and Warp Stabilisation Field. Truesilver wounds Daemons and psykers for every successful strike on the vehicle. The Warp Field lets a psyker move the vehicle via Summoning.
The equipment section has a number of items that look worthwhile. The Iron Halo is now available to GK independent characters. GK Brotherhood Banners for their Terminator squads gives them a bonus attack and auto activate the Force Weapons. Psybolt/flame adds one more strength to the bolt and flamer weapons. Servo-skulls now act like the version from Dawn of War, need I say more. The Plasma Syphon lowers plasma weapon wielders' BS with alien crystals, which gives the GKs a nice shield against those weapons when a Xenos Inquisitor joins them.
In the end, the wargear section is fairly confused. There are a lot of radical inquistor weapons and Xenos weapons that require inquistors to use. In the end, this edition feels more like a video game with all the options and benefits available to the Grey Knights and inquisitors. The gothic feel of the weapons, psychically imbued and sanctified in purity, aren't as evident in this edition. At times, the weapons have that feel with the inclusion of the psybolts, psyflames, and psycannons. But then the grenades and alien weapons make the codex less about Grey Knights and more about deviant inquisitors.
Next up: HQ options
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Codex Grey Knights
I picked up my copy of Codex Grey Knights from Game Kastle on April 1st. At first glance, there seems to be a lot of new history linking to both the Horus Heresy novels and the artbook. It should be noted that Mat Ward wrote this codex, who seems to be the new owner of all things Space Marine. Mat's previous works includes the 5th edition Codex Space Marines and Codex Blood Angels.
This codex follows the format of the previous 5th edition codices; the history and the founding of the Grey Knights, Chapter 666's organization, a listing of the great battles fought by the Chapter, a description of each of the units available in the army, the wargear section, the 'eavy Metal color pictures, and on page 82 of 96 is where the gaming section begins. This section is broken up in the traditional format of HQ, Elite, Troops, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support. Seven pages of HQ options are available to the army, 4 Grey Knight special characters, 4 generic HQ selections, 3 special character Inquisitors (one for each Ordos), and 3 generic Inquisitors (one for each Ordos). 9 Elite choices include Paladins, Purifiers, Venerable Dreadnoughts, Techmarines, Assassins and Inquisitional warbands. Terminator squads and Power Armored Strike Squads are the only Troops options without the special character special rules. The Stormravens and Interceptor Squads are the Fast Attack options in the army. The Purgation Squads, Dreadnoughts, Dreadknights, and 3 Land Raider variants are all the available Heavy Support selections. I'll detail each section of the codex in later posts. However, I'll give you a general feeling of how this codex matches the other Mat Ward codices and the other 5th edition codices.
Like all the 5th edition codices, this codex seems to retcon previously established fluff history to establish a more cohesive link to both the Horus Heresy work and the publications from Black Library. There's also the license to be original that Mat Ward has decided to use. He has a Grand Master of the Grey Knights lost and wandering all eternity in the Warp. He can only return when there's a large enough rift caused by daemonic intrusion. There's another special HQ choice who wields a Daemon Sword. He has decided that the reason that Titan, the moon of Saturn and the home of the Grey Knights, was to be magically hidden from prying eyes since the Horus Heresy. There are additional plot devices that make the Grey Knight fluff less arcane and pure and more magical and driven. It isn't necessarily bad, but it isn't consistent with the imagery portrayed up to this point. Grey Knights have been popularized with dramatic last stands with Aegis Terminators winning against all odds. Mat Ward's version is more of the "look at this new shiny toy."
The number of options available to a general is staggering. Stormravens, 7 special characters (not including the character upgrade for Terminators), unlimited number of Assassins, and the Nemesis Dreadknight. The thing to note, this army will still get outnumbered. The costs are high, but it does give the Grey Knights an army of Psykers. It's good to remember that the Grey Knights are fairly points limited. A five man, not upgraded Power Armored, squad easily breaks 100pts. Many of the changes have made the Grey Knights playable in a tournament and playable against the various codices. At the same time, the changes have really removed the items that make the Grey Knights the pure anti-chaos force.
This codex follows the format of the previous 5th edition codices; the history and the founding of the Grey Knights, Chapter 666's organization, a listing of the great battles fought by the Chapter, a description of each of the units available in the army, the wargear section, the 'eavy Metal color pictures, and on page 82 of 96 is where the gaming section begins. This section is broken up in the traditional format of HQ, Elite, Troops, Fast Attack, and Heavy Support. Seven pages of HQ options are available to the army, 4 Grey Knight special characters, 4 generic HQ selections, 3 special character Inquisitors (one for each Ordos), and 3 generic Inquisitors (one for each Ordos). 9 Elite choices include Paladins, Purifiers, Venerable Dreadnoughts, Techmarines, Assassins and Inquisitional warbands. Terminator squads and Power Armored Strike Squads are the only Troops options without the special character special rules. The Stormravens and Interceptor Squads are the Fast Attack options in the army. The Purgation Squads, Dreadnoughts, Dreadknights, and 3 Land Raider variants are all the available Heavy Support selections. I'll detail each section of the codex in later posts. However, I'll give you a general feeling of how this codex matches the other Mat Ward codices and the other 5th edition codices.
Like all the 5th edition codices, this codex seems to retcon previously established fluff history to establish a more cohesive link to both the Horus Heresy work and the publications from Black Library. There's also the license to be original that Mat Ward has decided to use. He has a Grand Master of the Grey Knights lost and wandering all eternity in the Warp. He can only return when there's a large enough rift caused by daemonic intrusion. There's another special HQ choice who wields a Daemon Sword. He has decided that the reason that Titan, the moon of Saturn and the home of the Grey Knights, was to be magically hidden from prying eyes since the Horus Heresy. There are additional plot devices that make the Grey Knight fluff less arcane and pure and more magical and driven. It isn't necessarily bad, but it isn't consistent with the imagery portrayed up to this point. Grey Knights have been popularized with dramatic last stands with Aegis Terminators winning against all odds. Mat Ward's version is more of the "look at this new shiny toy."
The number of options available to a general is staggering. Stormravens, 7 special characters (not including the character upgrade for Terminators), unlimited number of Assassins, and the Nemesis Dreadknight. The thing to note, this army will still get outnumbered. The costs are high, but it does give the Grey Knights an army of Psykers. It's good to remember that the Grey Knights are fairly points limited. A five man, not upgraded Power Armored, squad easily breaks 100pts. Many of the changes have made the Grey Knights playable in a tournament and playable against the various codices. At the same time, the changes have really removed the items that make the Grey Knights the pure anti-chaos force.
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