Grey Knights, a friend in need.

[DeadPanda]

Hi friends.
I come to you with a request. A friend has recently joined our gaming club and has decided to jump on Grey Knights. The thing is non of us play them and him being the new boy doesn't want to get stomped every game ( not that we would, we play nice). Anyway as he is new, he has asked us to give him some ideas on what to buy and how to equip his army. Playing I think he will pick up but understandable he doesn't want to fork out a ton of cash on units that 6 months down the line he won't use. I would like to help him but really don't know much about GK. We did spend a few hours on google, but it seems proper "net lists" were what we were getting and that's not our thing. He is looking for something equally fun and competative without being ott.
He has said he would prefer to go pure knights as orange monkeys with laser fingers don't do it for him. Oh and no silly Allies like crons and their flying croissants.
He says he liked the Mordrak fluff and also Draigo was mentioned. But we're in 6th now so not sure if a Paladin list is much cop anymore. Either way he will be playing against, daemons, tau, chaos marines and guard.
Can you help us help him make a few good choices, don't need a full list per se, just an idea of what units are good in 6th.
Thanks in advance
DP.

[Slacker]

I think Paladins are still decent in 6th, but I still prefer the regular terminators for the GK. Mordrak is definitely a fun choice to play, you just have to accept that you could lose ghost knights if he gets sniped out (still worth it for the first turn deep strike with no scatter imo) also since there is no official Mordrak mini, it can easily be used as just as a grand master with a daemonhammer if he later decides he doesn't like him. I also think the Dreadknight is one of the more fun choices in the army, some will argue that the dreadnought is better in the heavy slot, and it probably is, but it isn't nearly as fluffy of a choice and the Dreadknight is still pretty good, but will also be a big fire magnet.

What point level do you guys usually play at? some times the cheaper options are better.

[Mr.Pickelz]

I would advise him to take, or at least look at a balanced list. This would give him a good middle ground in terms of unit density (something missing in Draigowings, and over done in Inquisition lists). Look to take a couple of Strike Squads (troop Power Armor) one to two Terminator squads for reserves (either as backfield walk ons or deepstrikers) a Dreadknight or two for some fast movers, and/or a dreadnought with autocannons for some long range firepower. Stormravens are a bit iffy imo, they're great transports, but for the price i'd rather have more bodies on the field. Drago is an amazing tank (him being the only GK with a Storm Shield...) Grand Masters with Psycannons or Orbital Bombardment Relays can give way to some shenanigans. Elites slot is for your "Deathstars" Paladin block or a Purifier horde, or maybe a inquisitor with plasma loaded retinue in a chimera. One way to look at the book is:
HQ's- are your support/buffers
Elites- Hammer units
Troops - Anvil (as in these are the units that need to last the game)
Fast Attack - Hammer units
Heavy Support - Hammer units and a couple of Anvil

Hammer units are what will be dealing damage, or be doing the most damage for the game. Units like a Dreadknight with Teleporter, Heavy Incinerator, and Greatsword. Dreadnoughts with duo Autocannons and Psybolt Ammo upgrades for long range Str 8 shots. Purgation squads with Incinerators or Psycannons hiding out of LOS. (their psyker power lets them ignore LOS for shooting)

Anvil units are what you want to be able to survive all game as they are the ones taking objectives or favorable terrain/board placement. These being Terminators (2+ armor save) Strike Squads in ruins, with a Libby nearby to give stealth (psyker power: Shrouding) or what have you.

Support/Buffers are going to be Librarians and Grand Masters, a Brotherhood champion if point limits are lower. Pretty much all the HQ options modify or are there to buff the units they are attached to. Draigo can tank the worse of stuff, Grandmasters can let fast movers take objectives, and offer a good shooting addition onto a unit. Librarian can straight out buff the units surrounding himself with either GK book powers or Divination. Brotherhood champions can often win duels by loosing (Psyker power: Heroic Sacrifice) and offers a cheaper HQ choice when points are tight. Mordrak can apply pressure at the start, when used along side Dreadknights and Interceptor Squads, you will get a hyper aggressive list that can skip most of the terrain and be in an enemies face first turn.

The first thing the player should look at getting is a portable copy (hard or digital) of the Errata/FAQ, as that does change and clarify things in the book.

[DarkLink]

If competitveness is a factor, always take Coteaz. He's basically an auto-include unless you have a really, really good reason not to take him.

Draigo and Paladins are still solid. 10 Paladins with 4 Psycannons, a Banner and an Apothecary is still a nasty unit, especially with Coteaz giving them reroll to hit and things like ignore cover, 4++, etc.

Strike Squads with psycannons and psybolt ammo are very efficient scoring firepower. Interceptors are basically the same thing, just not scoring but also faster.

Incidentally, iirc Blackmoor just went to the finals at Adepticon with Draigo, 10 Paladins, a 10 man Strike Squad, 10 Interceptors, and I think a Dreadnought or two. So it's absolutely competitive.

Dreadknights are probably a bit too much of a points investment with Paladins. A properly equipped Dreadknight is 250+pts and is frankly very fragile, you kind of need a lot of bodies to draw fire and screen for your Dreadknight to keep him alive. They are a lot of fun, though.

A couple of rifleman Dreadnoughts give you the long range firepower you need to deal with, say, Dark Eldar. Without them, some armies can just sit outside your range and get a few free turns of shooting before you can return fire.

[DeadPanda]

Thanks guys, really well written and informative answers, so much so I nearly signed up myself but I will resist. We all try to stick to different armies to mix things up. We did look at pointing up a Draigo list before we read your replies. Don't get many models in a list for 1750 do you ?
I think what you have all said is that its best to take a good mix of units to have a nice balance or you end up being hugely outnumbered instead of being just outnumbered. This we can see. NDK looks like a must as its shiny and will deal with the various MC most of us have. Also as many Psycannons as we can fit into his list seems about right. It's fun trying to help a buddy beat you. Cheers fellas you have all been a great help.

[Mr.Pickelz]

When GK's new book first came out, my first draigowing list (which did fairly well) had 24 models in it... Draigo, Libby, 2x blobs of paladins and 2x dreadnoughts. the list has issues, major weaknesses/flaws, but it was fun to throw down, and gave a quicker 2,000 point game :P

For 1750, or anything under 2,000 points. I would strongly suggest looking away from a pure draigowing (as in nothing but paladins for troops) as the unit, like nob bikerz, gets pretty ridiculous in points cost. If you go with a more balanced approach you should be able to squeeze in around 40 or so models quite easily.