Grey Knights: Hammerhand + Falchions

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

A few thoughts on the Grey Knights post-FAQ. There is a lot of talk about Falchions now being pretty worthless considering their price and effect, but mightn't they be a really effective choice, in light of the ruling that multiple castings of Hammerhands stack?

Consider: A Grey Knight squad joined by a Librarian can easily reach S7 (Hammerhand + Hammerhand + Might of Titan). 5-10 points is a pretty reasonable price for an additional S7 attack (having an advantage of Initiative of the Daemonhammer, and a greater volume of attacks than all other NFW choices.)

Another possible use would be to add a Techmarine/Grandmaster with Rad Grenades to a Falchion squad, allowing it to Hammerhandx2 up to S6, ID MEQ with a huge volume of attacks.

Falchions are mediocre when considered in a vacuum, but when viewed as a multiplier for Grey Knight psychic powers, they seem pretty powerful. They're not fantastic on every unit (Halberds and Daemonhammers still have more general uses), but on a unit intended to be joined by an Independent Character (especially a Librarian, or one equipped with Rad Grenades), having several Falchion models in the unit could be a very powerful choice.

[DarkLink]

You get hammerhand regardless of what NFW you have. And while, yes, you do get more attacks to benefit from that boost, you can't just assume that makes it better. Let's do some math. We'll assume a single Terminators gets off varying numbers of hammerhands.

Falchions at str 4: 3 Attacks, 1.5 hits, .75 wounds.

Halberds at str 4: 2 Attacks, 1 hit, .5 wounds

So with no hammerhand, Falchions cause 50% more casualties on average, but do so at I4 rather than 6. Pretty straightforward.

Falchions at str 5: 3 Attacks, 1.5 hits, 1 wound.

Halberds at str 5: 2 Attacks, 1 hits, .66 wounds.

Once again, Falchions cause exactly 50% more casualties on average at a lower I.

Falchions at str 6: 3 Attacks, 1.5 hits, 1.25 wounds.

Halberds at str 6: 2 Attacks, 1 hits, .83 wounds.

Once again, exactly 50% more casualties.


Let's assume the Terminator is charging:
Falchions at str 4: 4 Attacks, 2 hits, 1 wounds.

Halberds at str 4: 3 Attacks, 1.5 hit, .75 wounds

So with no hammerhand plus the charge, Falchions only cause 33% more casualties on average, but do so at I4 rather than 6.

Falchions at str 5: 4 Attacks, 2 hits, 1.33 wound.

Halberds at str 5: 3 Attacks, 1.5 hits, 1 wounds.

Once again, Falchions cause 33% more casualties on average at a lower I. Slightly better, but still not as good when not charging.

Falchions at str 6: 4 Attacks, 2 hits, 1.66 wound.

Halberds at str 6: 3 Attacks, 1.5 hits, 1.25 wounds.

Again, 33% more casualties.


Let's try charging with a Brotherhood Banner:
Falchions at str 4: 5 Attacks, 2.5 hits, 1.25 wound.

Halberds at str 4: 4 Attacks, 2 hits, 1 wounds.

Falchions do 25% more wounds.


Falchions at str 5: 5 Attacks, 2.5 hits, 1.66 wound.

Halberds at str 5: 4 Attacks, 2 hits, 1.33 wounds.

Falchions do 25% more casualties.


Falchions at str 6: 5 Attacks, 2.5 hits, 2.0833 wound.

Halberds at str 6: 4 Attacks, 2 hits, 1.66 wounds.

25% again.



We can do more math, but the trend is pretty clear. The more base attacks the model has, the more of a benefit it gains from falchions. And since only a fool upgrades GKSS/Interceptors with extensive falchions/halberds, the guys who benefit most from falchions won't be using them anyways.

In addition, the extra attacks combined with hammerhand had no outstanding effect on the damage output. Falchions did not exponentially increase the damage done as a result of multiple hammerhands. Both Falchions and Halberds increase their damage linearly, at the same rate, so there is no reason to consider hammerhand to cause a significant effect on the relative damage output.

Overall, I would rather be guaranteed to hit at I6 and kill 1/3 of the enemy unit before it hits than let all of them hit but kill slightly more. And since the math doesn't really support the idea that the extra attacks multiply the damage done by extra hammerhands, we can discard that as a hypothesis.




Falcions are bad (they don't suck, but they're not very good) because they are more expensive than the other NFWs but have an inferior boost. I would rather have I6 or a Thunderhammer for cheaper than a measly one attack.