Grey knights codex review

[Lemt]

DISCLAMER
This review is done reading the final codex. I won't give details about the codex itself, and I don't have any way to let you see the codex. If you want to see it, go to your local GW store, or pre-order it!
In this review I'll write about each unit and my thoughts on them, so your opinions may differ somewhat from mine. Feel free to discuss anything you want!


HEADQUARTERS

• Lord Kaldor Draigo: A very expensive HQ choice, his biggest strength is turning Paladins into Troops. However, Paladins are expensive, and spending more than the cost of a Land Raider to make costly units troops in an army that already has scoring Terminators may be overkill. However, he can be a nice option for cheap armies, as you will need very few miniatures to fill any list. For the cost of the Deceiver you can have 5 Paladins that hit fast and hard with Master-Crafted weapons, and for a bit more you can make their attacks inflict Instant Death and have extra attacks. So don't ignore this guy.
• Grand Master Mordrak and Ghost Knights: Now this is something else. He's also expensive, costing as much as a Storm Raven. However, he has quite a lot of uses. He can buy a retinue of Ghosts (at the same cost as normal Terminators). He can also arrive like a non-scattering drop pod on your first turn with his whole unit. Consider him a 400+ point Deathstar. The Ghosts are just as good as Termies, except they don't have the option of taking heavy weapons. But they prevent Mordrak from being focused in CC, and are the only way to get him inside a unit since he's not an IC. However, if you give him Ghosts then you can't make them scoring. If he's in a group of Ghosts you can wound him to try to get more of his buddies. The rules for this seem to imply that if he takes more wounds at once, you have better chances of getting more Ghosts. Ideally you want to give him 3 wounds, so he'll live to tell the tale but you'll get 3 Ghosts out of the trouble.
• Brother-Captain Stern: I don't think there's any reason to pick him over other HQ choices. He costs as much as Mordrak, but doesn't have the advantages of a Grand Master (AKA making anything scoring). His stats are worse that that of a Grand Master too, so I'd ignore this HQ completely. Even his pecial rules can hurt you as much as the enemy.
• Castellan Crowe: Damn I wish he was any good. He makes Purifiers Troops choices, and Purifiers are awesome. However, he isn't an IC, and he gives any enemy that assaults him Furious Charge and then some. I think he's OK, but I wouldn't take him under 1500 points. Or I'd hide him inside a Razorback or something. With him only having 2 wounds don't expect to see him last long in a fight.
• Grand Master: Hell yeah. Grand Masters have sweet rules, and great gear options to boot. Expect to see this bad boy a lot, and even two in 2k+ games. Remember that, although his rule allows you to make Walkers counts as Troops, 5th edition rules specify that vehicles can't be scoring even if they ARE troops (page 90 of the 5th ed. rulebook). In Annihilation games he can also be a great asset, giving units counter-attack or the scouts special rule. Re-rolling 1s to wound isn't that useful, unless you want to make sure a unit with all fists and hammers gets those wounds on an enemy. And he can also let you modify reserve rolls, albeit only your own.
• Grey Knight Brother-Captain: For a few more points you have a Grand Master. That'll give you better stats, better rules, and the option to be a better Psyker. So scrape some points off and get a Grand Master.
• Brotherhood Champion: This, and not Brother-Captains, is the cheap alternative to Grand Masters. Champions are better melee fighters than GMs, and cost a ton less. So if you don't want (or need) the extra rules the GM provides, this is a great HQ choice. Note, however, that he has a single wound so he WILL die. I'd say the best way to use him would be in a unit with Halberds. Assault, hit first, and hope to wipe out the enemy, with a little help from the rerolls he grants the unit. If you get close to an enemy miniature that you really want to see dead (like an MC, an HQ choice or a Dread), remember you can suicide the lone Brotherhood and have a good chance of killing it off. If you assault and die, you will likely get to instagib the enemy on a 3+, and you can reroll if you miss. You can also use this "Heroic Sacrifice" rule to deal with pesky vehicles. Get in melee with an enemy unit, but make sure you are also in base contact with the vehicle. And when you choose the target for your sacrifice, choose the vehicle!
• Librarian: He can cast 2 powers per turn, and he's your only way to get psychic hoods. You have access to some interesting powers too, however remember you have to pay for them. If you take Dreadnoughts with Reinforced Aegis you won't have so much need for hoods, so it's not as important as in other SM armies. However, hoods are never bad to have. Upgrading to using 3 powers per turn makes him very expensive, so I'd skip that upgrade. You can rely on other units to inflict Instant Death, so make good use of his powers instead of activating his Force Weapon.
• Inquisitor Coteaz: Probably the best HQ choice you could have, unless you are a puritan SM player. He turns Henchmen into troops, gives you the effect of old Mystics, and allows you to reroll Seize the Initiative tests. Oh, he's also dirt cheap (as far special HQs go). He's also a Psyker with some good powers, including giving your unit +1 strength and making enemies consider all terrain as both difficult and dangerous during the assault phase.
• Inquisitor Karamazov: He's kind of expensive for a unit that can be instagibbed by S10 and can't get into transports. However, he has one of the most hilarious rules in 40k, AKA shoot an Orbital Bombardment on your own units, even if they are engaged in an assault. That alone could make him viable, as if you can tie up a horde with something tough (Nemesis Dreadkinght?), you can then shoot them to oblivion. Plus since he can shoot weapons that don't ignore 3+ and 2+ armor saves, playing him could be a nice option.
• Inquisitor Valeria: She's more expensive than Coteaz and not even half as cool. She has a ton of weird items in her inventory, but she's hardly worth it. If you want a character that can instagib enemies, Brotherhood Champions have a better chance of doing it. If not, I already mentioned Coteaz.
• Vanilla Inquisitors: They now come in three flavors: Xenos, Hereticus and Malleus! Each has unique equipment available, but they are all extremely cheap. Ordo Xenos Inquisitors can get a piece of wargear that makes any Plasma weapons within 12" mostly useless, so he's a good option if you want to field many 2+ or 3+ armored men. Ordo Malleus Inquisitors can get a Psycannon, but since they also need to pay for Terminator Armor it gets a bit expensive.

ELITES

• Techmarine: A Techmarine that at first glance seems like any other Techie in the 40k universe. However, there are some things making them unique in this Codex. First, they are Psykers, as is everyone and their mother in this codex, making them even better at repairing vehicles. Second, they have much better equipment options. In particular, Conversion Beamers are quite cheap. And they can take Orbital Strike Relays, allowing you to carpet bomb the whole battlefield. Sure, they're imprecise weapons, but that's solved somewhat by smart Servoskull placement. Since Servoskulls are markers, not units, you don't have to worry about giving out free KPs, and placing them on rooftops and other hard-to-reach places make them very good at precise attacks. Another alternative is fitting him for melee combat, with Psychotroke and Rad grenades. You can even give him a Nemesis Warding Stave to make him harder to kill in melee, but after you assault you shouldn't really mind if he dies or not.
• Purifier Squad: These guys are boss. Not only do they have great weapon options, but they decimate Hordes like few other units in the game. I mean really, free S6 Flamers? Psycannons at the cost of Missile Launchers? These guys are the only reason to pick an HQ as bad as Crowe. They have great firepower, and are just as good at melee. However, they are expensive, so don't go overboard on the upgrades. 10 Purifiers with 4 Psycannons and 6 Halberds come at over the cost of a Land Raider, but is a force to be reckoned with. However you'll need to get them a transport, because if they try to walk up to the enemy they'll get shot up a lot.
• Venerable Dreadnought: Only pick this guy if you have no HS slots available for a normal Dreadnought. The extra cost is not really worth it otherwise. You get better weapon and ballistic skill, true. But since all vehicles have the Fortitude power, the Venerable rule is not as useful.
• Paladin Squad: EXPENSIVE. That's what defines these guys. They each have 2 wounds, however, so that's nice. But since there are so many good Elites choices I'd only pick these guys in an army with Draigo. If you do play them, make sure you dress them up pretty to play Wound Allocation Musical Chairs. The Apothecary is expensive, but can be very worth it as FNP helps protect against bad rolls. I'd also consider investing in a Ordo Xenos Inquisitor with a Plasma Syphon, as plasma weaponry is the bane of Terminators everywhere. Of course, these options will make an already expensive unit even more expensive...
• Temple Assassins: Man assassins are alluring. They are unique, however, so you can only field one of each. But they bring quite a lot to your army. They are quite expensive, so there's only two I can really recommend. Culexus Assassins have a buckload of shots thanks to the amount of Psyker units in the codex, so they can be viable. But the best, by far, are Vindicare Assassins. They can break Storm Shields, put a dent on any MC, and they can turn vehicles into junk easy as pie. The only vehicles that can really stand against them are Necron Monoliths, that are immune to your ammo, and things with cover saves such as Tau vehicles. Their ability to choose what miniature recieves the wounds they inflict makes them extremely good at picking out Power Fists and heavy weapons from squads. To get the most bang for your buck aim Vindicare Assassins at vehicles, since it's not that hard to get well over your point's worth in a single shot.

ELITES - INQUISITORIAL HENCHMEN
These guys need a section for themselves, as there are just so many different ones you can use. Remember that each unit can have any mix of henchmen you want, too!

• Arco-Flagellant: A CC specialist, but there are other, better options for that. If you have some, however, there's no need to throw them away, but consider them mostly as extra wounds for the unit. However there are other, better options to use as extra wounds.
• Banisher: Not worth taking them vanilla, but with an Eviscerator they aren't half bad. However, unless you expect to go melee against walkers I'd get Melta Warriors. Still a good option if you want some redundancy against vehicles, or know you'll be facing MCs. S6+2D6 to penetrate armor seems very good, but you won't get many attacks for it to work. And if you're going against transports, you probably want to pop it open and assault the juicy insides. Another reason to play one somewhere in your army is that his "Aura of Faith" special rule hurts Daemons quite a lot.
• Crusader: They are cheap, have power weapons, and a 3++ save. What more do you want? They strike after most Space Marines, but you'll probably just want a few to use as wounds, since their Shields makes them hard to kill.
• Daemon Host: These asre slightly cheaper than Death-Cult Assassins, but not nearly as good. Daemon Hosts have less attacks, and no power weapons. The special abilites you can get from their daemonic nature are too random and unreliable. To make matters worse, they have half the initiative of DKAs, and a little over half their WS. For a few extra points, DKAs are superior in every way.
• Death-Cult Assassin: God-Emperor these guys are beasts. A TON of PW attacks, good WS, high Initiative, and a 5++ save. Cheap too, so get these if you want to dominate the assault phase. Thay are also stronger than your common guardsmen, so wounding isn't that hard. I'm not sure if the extra attack from two weapons is included in the profile, so waiting for the FAQ/Errata would be a good idea. But either way they pack a punch.
• Servitor: Unreliable, to the point of being useless if they don't stick with an Inquisitor. But they do provide a good amount of cheap firepower. I recommend Plasma Cannons, as then you won't care as much about their low BS. Just remember Plasma Syphons affect you as well as the enemy!
• Jokaero Weaponsmith: Monkeys! They are like CSM Oblits, only easier to kill. And cheaper. And can be made troops. They improve any unit they are in, but they don't work well in high numbers. 2 seems to be the sweet spot, and if you get 5 or more you won't get any improvements at all. there's much fanfare about how they provice an army with cheapish Lascannons, but they have low Ballistic Skill. So using them as Heavy Flamers instead may not be such a bad idea!
• Mystic: These are ONLY beacons. If you want the old-school Mystic's effects (shooting at enemies coming from reserves and DS) you'll need Coteaz instead.
• Psyker: Similar to the Psyker Squads in IG armies, but if you suffer Perils of the Warp you pretty much lost all of them. However, a single Psyker in each squad can shoot a nice anti-horde blast. This gives decent utility without risking many points on something that can be shut down easily by hoods.
• Warrior Acolyte: Special Weapon Spam festival is here! Flamers, meltaguns, plasmaguns, combis, PFists, you name it. Only 3 Warriors can take special weapons per squad. Still pretty good, however, they just need some support. You can use 3 Warriors with meltaguns in an assault unit and use them to pop transports open, or give them plasma to deal with MEQ. If you want a Power Fist Banishers are a better option, and if you want Storm Shields Crusaders are cheaper. If you want both on the same miniature, well, expect to pay the price.

TROOPS

• Grey Knight Terminator Squad: They are Terminators and they are troops. However, you don't have the option to get Storm shields, Cyclone MLs, dedicated LRs, or most of the other goodies you'd espect from termies. That's why I'm not really sold on them. If you want a Terminator army, go for Draigo's Paladins.
• Justicar Thawn: There's one reason to get Termies however: this guy. He's an upgrade character for the Terminators, and he's unkillable. Sort of. He has a 50% chance of getting back up if he was removed as a casualty, and he can keep rolling every turn. Best of all, he only awards points if he's dead when the game ends, and only one point no matter how many times he died. Key word; "removed as a casualty" (not a word, but sue me). So even things that "remove" instead of killing or destroying allow you to get back up. So he's like a Necron, only better. He can cast two powers per turn, allowing him to use Hammerhand AND activate his halberd.
• Grey Knight Strike Squad: At first glance they are slightly more expensive SMs, but you get SO much for the extra cost. They mess around with enemy deep striking, have storm bolters and Force Weapons, and they can Deep Strike. So a very solid Troop choice if you don't want a fancy army. You can't give them melta, plasma, and Missile Launchers, so keep that in mind when building your army.

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

• Rhino: More expensive than normal Rhinos, but it's a Psyker vehicle, so hurrah. Or something. Not that being able to ignore crew stunned/shaken results is bad.
• Razorback: WOW. S7 Assault Cannons and S6 Heavy Bolters, that's all I'm saying. A bit more expensive than normal Razorbacks, but so very worth it for the extra firepower.
• Chimaera: See Codex: Imperial Guard.

FAST ATTACK

• Stormraven Gunship: Like the BA Stormraven, with two major differences. One, it's a Psyker. And two, the Missiles it carries are anti-horde instead of anti-tank. They are also great against Psykers, as they inflict Perils of the Warp to anything they hit. Thank god you won't have anything that counts as a psyker in your army, or misfires could hurt you quite a bit (oh wait). You can still fit it to deal with enemy vehicles however, by giving it S6 Heavy Bolter Sponsons and a S7 Assault Cannon. This, however, quickly becomes expensive, bumping it up to the cost of a Land Raider.
• Grey Knight Interceptor Squad: These are the Grey Knight's assault marines. Only instead of flying around, they blink and teleport. They can use the normal 12" move other assault marines can, but once per game they can move up to 30". If they do this, however, they can't assault on the same turn. They have the same Warp Quake power as the Strike Squads, so you can use them as an anti-DS shield that can be quickly relocated in addition to counter-assault.

HEAVY SUPPORT

• Purgation Squad: These guys sure pack a punch. For less than the cost of a Stormraven you get 16 S7 Rending shots at 24", 8 if you moved. Not bad at all! They also have a power that allows them to shoot without LoS, but then you grant a 4+ cover save. I don't doubt these guys will see play, even though they aren't the only good HS option. They can also pick Razorbacks, getting another Heavy Weapon platform in a single slot.
• Dreadnought: And here we have the king of Riflemen. For quite cheap you get 4 TL S8 and two S5 shots per turn, and in addition to that you grant Reinforced Aegis to anyone nearby. However, he has to fight for HS slots with the other options in the codex.
• Nemesis Dreadknight: The body of a Hive Tyrant, the armor of a Terminator, the cost of a Rifleman Dread. The weapon options are interesting, but quickly turn him very expensive. Stormravens can carry a Dreadnought behind, but not a Dreadknight. They can't go inside a Stormraven either, because the rules for Transports in the 5th edition rulebook specify transports can carry Infantry, so MCs are excluded. There are, however, several ways to use him. He's the only one that can wield a Heavy Incinerator or Heavy Psycannon, so you can use him to deal with hordes. A Librarian with The Summoning can call him anywhere on the battlefield, but you won't be able to assault on the same turn you move this way. I'd say he's best as a counter-assault unit and fire magnet, so you'll want to keep him cheap.
• Land Raider: Other than being Psykers, thy're pretty much like every other Land Raider out there. It may be tempting to give a Crusader Psyblot ammo, but then the Hurricane Bolters don't count as defensive weapons. And making a Redeemer's flamers S7 is pretty much overkill, and too expensive.

UNIT COMBOS

• Ordo Xenos Inquisitor with Rad and/or Psychostroke grenades and/or Plasma Syphon, joined to an assault unit.
  For a bit more than the cost of a Razorback, the Inquisitor greatly enhances any unit he joins. The Plasma Syphon helps counteract a popular anti-2+ weapon. Specially good against plasma IG if that's popular in your meta.
  
• Techmarine with Orbital Strike Relay and Servo Skulls in a shooty unit such as Jokaero, Servitors or Purgation squad.
  This option specially shines if you play Coteaz, as then you can have Troop Jokaeros in Chimaeras. The amount of firepower this dishes out is overwhelming. Remember Servitors won't be able to shoot half of the time unless they are with an Inquisitor.
  
• Purifiers/Purgators with a Razorback with a TL Assault Cannon and Psybolt ammo.
  The razorback costs a bit more than two Termies, but gives you more firepower than a normal Rifleman dreadnought. The best part is, it won't occupy a FoC slot. Purgators can use it to go to their firing zone, or not be inside ever. Purifiers can follow the same plan, or just buy the Razorback as an independent weapon platform. You can buy them a LR or Stormraven to transport them instead.
  
• Servitors wih an Inquisitor and maybe Jokaeros and Crusaders.
  It's really the only way to be able to shoot Servitors reliably, and Plasma Cannons costing half as much as a Termie each are just too good to pass up. I recommend Plasma Cannons because then you're less affected by the low BS.
  
• Karamazov, and either teleporting Dreadknights or a Thawn.
  By any Means Necessary is a rule begging to be exploited. Karamazov provides a good boost to your troops, so he's a nice buy either way. But if your Thawn or Dreadknight is surrounded by hordes, a few Barrage Bombs will deal with the problem. You can also take one for the team by sacrificing a miniature to a Lance Strike to deal with a heavy vehicle. Get a miniature as close to the target as the rules allow, leaving the rest of the unit within coherency but as far away as possible. If done right, the Lance will hit the vehicle. Thawn is great for this, since he can get back up for another go! Just do it early in the game if possible, so he has enough time to get back up.

LIBRARIAN PSYCHIC POWERS
Librarians need to pay for their powers, so which ones should you buy? This section will help you make your choice, as well as giving tips on how to best use the powers.

• Hammerhand: The base power of Librarians and pretty much every GK in the codex, this power gives +1 strenght. Very basic, but it's a free power! Plus you double the bonus if using Fists and Hammers.
• Dark Excommunication: Not a typo! It's a power made specifically to hurt Daemons, so I'd skip it. You are already good enough against them, with Daemons being your Preferred Enemy.
• Might of Titan: Same as Hammerhand, but cumulative with it AND you get an extra D6 to penetrate armor. With so many ways in the codex to deal with vehicles, Psycanons being a prime example, I wouldn't bother. And since against MCs you only really need to deal 1 wound, getting extra strength is overkill.
• Quicksilver: This power makes you as quick as a screaming Eldar Banshee. That's very fast, in case you didn't know. A Librarian with Quicksilver in a unit with Falchions can be a real pain for the enemy, as they'll never know what hit them. Remember that Fists and Hammers will still hit at Initiative 1, so dont get too excited.
• Sanctuary: An excellent power if you don't want to be on the recieving end of assaults, but GKs can usually still win. So unless you're going for some kind of gunline army I don't think it's really worth it.
• The Shrouding: +1 to cover saves is nice, as is getting a 6+ save in the open. But it's nothing really exciting.
• Smite: A bad anti-Terminator power, but nothing more than that. It may kill one Termie, sometimes. Sure, it CAN kill four of them, but killing one will be hard enough. There are other powers better than this.
• The Summoning: This power is surprisingly good. You can't get allies out of melee, but you CAN get them away from danger before they are assaulted. You need to upgrade vehicles to use it on them, however, and the upgrade's cost quickly adds up if you give it to everything in your army. But don't underestimate this power.
• Vortex of Doom: Don't. Pick. This. EVER. Normally failing a psychic test means just that, the power won't work. In the case of this power, it'll hit you. With full force. And it won't scatter. So you'll die a terrible death. And one well deserved for choosing this power.
• Warp Rift: Jaws, only it's a flamer instead of a line. For the shorter range compared to the space doggies you can damage vehicles, and MCs don't get a bonus to escape doom. A really good power if you plan on playing an assault army.

I think I got everything down. Later I may do a review about army options and unit combinations.
Comment away!

EDIT: Fixed some errors. Specifically:
-Only 3 Warrior Akolytes per unit can use special weapons.
-Mordrak's Ghosts can't be made scoring.
-Added a note to remind that Walkers can be made troops, but they won't score objectives.

EDIT 2: Extended the description of a few Henchmen, mostly the Daemon Hosts (now I tell why I think they're bad instead of just saying they are.

EDIT 3: Extended a lot of things, and made a few fixes. Ordo Malleus Inquisitors require buying Terminator Armor to get a Psycannon, so that's not such a hot choice. I've also added a section on Librarian powers.

EDIT 4: Added two more unit combos.

EDIT 5: Deleted the Thawndrop. I forgot Mordrak isn't an IC.

[wittdooley]

Really nice article man. A great primer for newbies, too.

Well done.

[Cyberscape7]

I'm curious to see how the psychic vehicles are gonna work in game... Also despite the large cost of paladin squads I still think they are pretty decent.

[geisthammer]

Very, very good lemt. Quick overview. Saved me a bunch of hassle. Until my copy gets here.

[Tynskel]

uh. This is blah. Why, because without actually saying anything, the author just rants.

ex.
"Brother-Captain Stern: I don't think there's any reason to pick him over other HQ choices. He costs as much as Mordrak, but doesn't have the advantages of a Grand Master (AKA making anything scoring). His stats are worse that that of a Grand Master too, so I'd ignore this HQ completely."

You don't describe anything he does. What's the use of this?

[Connjurus]

Two errors I spotted here, man.

First off, Jokaero are BETTER the more of them you have in a squad - 5 is the sweet spot, as it guarantees you get two effects from their little table.

Secondly, only three Warriors per henchman squad can take special weapons. You could give the rest stormbolters though.


Other than that, a lot of this is more opinion than fact. Try and stay neutral next time.

[DarkLink]

Stern doesn't really do anything, that's the problem. He's just a very expensive Brother Captain with a psychic power that, while brutally good, also can hit you (everyone in 6" takes a test of some sort or dies, I don't recall the details). The power's only good situationally, and not worth the extra points you spend.


And you can't get 12 melta/flamer/plasma henchmen units, I believe. You're limited to 3 special weapons per squad.

[Connjurus]

It's a strength test, I think. And Daemons reroll successful ones.

Edit: Also, for added Paladin hilarity, attach an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor with Rad 'nades and the Plasma Siphon to the squad. It's the cost of another Paladin, sure, but it makes it so that on the assault, the unit they charge is at -1 toughness, and basically removes the threat of plasma shooting to that 2+/FNP unit altogether.

[SonicPara]

Can you take the Psybolt Ammo (+1 strength) upgrade on Godhammer LRs? AV14 vehicle with two TL Railguns that can shoot different targets? Expensive but throw a troops choice in it and sit it on a hot objective maybe?

[plawolf]

Can you take the Psybolt Ammo (+1 strength) upgrade on Godhammer LRs? AV14 vehicle with two TL Railguns that can shoot different targets? Expensive but throw a troops choice in it and sit it on a hot objective maybe?

I think Psybolts only work with ammo base weapons like all bolters, autocannons and assault cannons etc.