Airborne GKs

[BrokenWing]

So I made this list on a whim and tried it out once (and also once at 3,000 points). It's an all Stormraven mounted army (except the Dreadknight) and I have to say it was a blast to try out, lots of deep striking and SO MUCH SHOOTING.

Figured I would post it on here and see what other people think of it. I'm really not sold on the Dreadknight yet, the two games I tried this list in it basically just got shot to death (granted it took alot of shooting). I was considering replacing it with a cheap inquisitor with Psy Communion to help bring in my reserved units (read also: everything else) sooner and hopefully all at once. Perhaps you guys have other suggestions.

Made with the Grey Knight codex, this is my airborne army concept I want to try out and hopefully buy:

HQ:

Librarian- Mastery 3, Warding Stave, Might of Titan, Quicksilver, Vortex of Doom, 3 Servo Skulls- 265

Elites:

Venerable Dreadnought: Assault Cannon, Psybolt Ammo- 190

Troops:

10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons- 220

10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons- 220

10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons- 220

Fast Attack:

Storm Raven Gunship: Hurricane Bolter Sponsons, Psybolt Ammo- 255

Storm Raven Gunship: Hurricane Bolter Sponsons, Psybolt Ammo- 255

Storm Raven Gunship: Hurricane Bolter Sponsons, Psybolt Ammo- 255

Heavy Support:

Dreadknight -130


-1990

[DarkLink]

First off the Librarian needs work. Psychic Mastery 3 is too big an investment for too little benefit, particularly when you're combining it with a Warding Stave. GKSS aren't close combat units, so you shouldn't be trying to spend a ton of points on CC ability anyways.

More importantly, you don't have enough psychic powers. Always always always take Shrouding. There is no conceivable reason to ever not take it under any circumstances. Sanctuary is pretty important against enemy assault units, too. Remember that both these powers happen in your opponent's turn, while the rest happen in your turn only. That means you can cast Quickening and Might of Titan in your turn and win combat, then cast Shrouding and Sanctuary in your opponent's turn when he tries to shoot/assault you.

A Librarian is a toolbox character, but you have to remember to bring the tools along with him.



As to the rest of your list, it doesn't look too bad, though I agree I'm not sold on Dreadknights. Remember you can't transport them in Storm Ravens, in case you didn't know. I think I'd rather use those points to upgrade one of your units to something a bit scarier in CC (Purifiers with halberds). You should have the points left over for your Psychic Communion Inquisitor, too.

The problem with the PC Inquisitor, though, is he has to be on the board to cast the power, but all your army will pretty much be in reserve. I'm not too sure on how to get around this without dropping Storm Ravens.

[BrokenWing]

Good point about the powers. Still tinkering with powers in 2000 points really. Most of my games are larger games, where I usually take nearly every power anyway.

Yeah I was just deep striking the Dreadknight on its own, which sucked.

The idea with the Inquisitor is to put him behind something (preferably a large rock, or some sort of big spooky line of sight blocking terrain piece) so he doesn't (hopefully) die before he can use his power. I figure giving him a good save (terminator armor) will help with that. I tried the same tactic with a Grand Master in 3,000 points and hid him behind a pair of big los blocking crates and it worked really well. Obviously there is a rather large stat gap though between an Inquisitor and a Grand Master.

I like the Purifier idea, though that does leave me with only two scoring units. I'll have to tinker with the points and see what I end up with.

[KingStuart]

I agree with DarkLink about the librarian. I would also drop the dreadknight and maybe turn the Venerable dreadnought, well, not venerable, and try to get a dreadnought in every Stormraven.

Just some thoughts. Hope that helps :)

[BrokenWing]

When I first started working on the list there were two things I tried to fit in, Paladins (or terminators) and a dreadnought for every Storm Raven. Unfortunately points allowed for neither if I wanted to have a librarian which I think is pretty critical for the list. I may however go ahead and drop him to mastery 2, drop the Dreadknight and take a Multi-melta Ven Dreadnought, so I have a little extra anti-tank punch. Usually I don't use that type of Dreadnought weaponry, but I think deepstriking using Servo Skulls is the perfect time to deploy a multi-melta on a dreadnought.

[Major Shultz]

Howdy!
What do ya think?

HQ:
Librarian- Might of Titan, Quicksilver, warp rift, the shrouding, sanctuary, 2 Servo Skulls- 185

Troops:
10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons- 220
10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons- 220
10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons- 220

Fast Attack:
Storm Raven Gunship: Psybolt Ammo- 240
Storm Raven Gunship: Psybolt Ammo- 240
Storm Raven Gunship: Psybolt Ammo- 240

Heavy Support:
Dreadnought: Assault Cannon, TLAC, Psybolt Ammo-135
Dreadnought: Assault Cannon, TLAC, Psybolt Ammo-135
Dreadnought: Assault Cannon, TLAC, Psybolt Ammo-135

1970?

[BrokenWing]

That is really interesting. Some changes I am looking at making though are to put the hurricane bolters back on the Stormravens. It puts the list 15 points over 2,000 so I'd have to find a way to drop 15 points but I think it's worth it. The Hurricane Bolters can't fire on the turn they deepstrike but they can fire afterwards and that's alot of strength 5 shots to add to the army.

[BrokenWing]

HQ:
Librarian- Might of Titan, Quicksilver, warp rift, the shrouding, sanctuary, 3 Servo Skulls- 190

Elites:

Venerable Dreadnought: Twin-linked Autocannon, Assault Cannon- 190

Venerable Dreadnought: Twin-linked Autocannon, Assault Cannon- 190

Troops:
10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons- 220
10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons- 220
10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons- 220

Fast Attack:
Storm Raven Gunship: Psybolt Ammo, hurricane bolters- 255
Storm Raven Gunship: Psybolt Ammo, hurricane bolters- 255
Storm Raven Gunship: Psybolt Ammo, hurricane bolters- 255

-1995


Since I wanted to keep the Hurricane Bolters and couldn't quite take 3 Dreads that way I decided to just take two and make them Venerable.

[Aegis]

Personally, I would still drop the hurricane bolters... When paired with Psybolt ammo, they lose their defensive weapon status, which means that you will not be firing them as often as you would otherwise. That also frees up almost enough points for a regular dread (or 3 if you drop the venerables down to regular), with a little bit left over as well.

[BrokenWing]

While I would normally agree with you about the hurricane bolters, this is a deep striking force (guided by the servo skulls). The amount of fast movement should be relatively limited. I should be able to deep strike and then fire the hurricane bolters after limited movement the following turn. What I'll probably do is go ahead and proxy test this list a few times and see which one of us is right about the Hurricane Bolters and make adjustments from there.

[BrokenWing]

Silly me, I forgot psybolt ammo on the dreads. Fixing that and dropping a servo skull brings it to 2,000.

[Arien]

I cannot find anywhere in your list what weapon options you're taking for the Stormraven, the standard loadout?

I would consider switching the SRs to Melta/Plas for tank/TEQ busting, with the Missiles/Hurricanes (No psybolts) to deal with 'horde'.

Then onto the Ven Dreads... I've always preferred Melta/Heavy Flamer Doomfist/Psyflames. They're going to get up close, and they're likely to see combat, the doomfist is essentially their powerfist with instant death added, and the heavy flamer can route most anything in cover at str 6. (Keeping the Dreadnaughts at str 10 when they'll see combat is really handy)

I'm not a veteran at running MEQ lists so these are just suggestions to mull over, but let me know your thoguhts either way.

[BrokenWing]

When I don't make changes to the standard load out of a vehicle I don't tend to post what it has. The Storm Ravens are standard (except for the hurricane bolters).

I have considered replacing the heavy bolters with multi-meltas (since it's free). Not alot of horde lists around here but generally I think I'd prefer to keep the strength 6 heavy bolter simply because it would be a 25 point upgrade per stormraven to take the Typhoon.

I like your suggestions about the Dreadnoughts though, you make a pretty good point. This is a dramatically different list from any army I normally play (one reason I'm making it) so there's lots of experimentation for me to do. I think I'll try it your way before I try it with the auto-cannon/assault cannon role. There are *alot* of guard armies around here and I do intend to eventually use it in tournaments.

[plawolf]

Fair enough you have a decent amount of stormravens, and dreads but I would still suggest they should be moving flat out most of the time to get a cover save and use POTMS to fire the main gun. They are only AV12, and if you are not dumping all your guys in the enemy's face, they will be the main and probably only targets.

I would be tempted to combat squad all your GKSS, maybe find the points for halberts and/or a hammer or two for 5 guys out of each squad.

Combat squad them, splitting all psycannons into one combat squad and all halberts and hammers into the other for all 3 squads. Deploy the CC halves in the stormravens and the psycannon halves on the board preferably in cover.

Now you have a respectable amount of medium ranged firepower added to your force and you can afford to be a lot more aggressive with your stormravens and the squads they are carrying. You can afford to keep the CC guys in the stormravens and go flat out knowing it's less of a loss if it gets shot down. You can also charge the squads out of the stormravens to launch suicide attacks on key enemy units and know you have 3 scoring combat squads sitting behind to grab objectives later if needs be.

[BrokenWing]

You guys all have really good suggestions. I've only gotten to proxy test this list once. I'm going to try it a few more times, using most if not all of these suggestions plus my own ideas and see what really works for me. Once I have that down, I'll post a more refined list and start buying the models.

It is also important to remember I'll be deepstriking this army (using the servo skulls to makes sure no one careens off in some utterly random direction). Keep bringing the suggestions and I'll be posting revised lists as I go. This weekend is Diecon and the ST.Louis GT though, so I won't be able to test anything until next weekend.

[Root]

I like Stormravens but I can't justify their use based on how much they cost both in $ and points. Ultimately they are AV 12 high profile targets that will get shot down. I'd rather have 4-5 Rhinos than 1 Raven, but they are sweet models. I too am struggling with Mr. Dreadknight, he always dies BUT he does soak up a ton of firepower and in doing so keeps my other vehicles and Terminators alive longer. Right now he's a 260 point bullet catcher... I dunno what to do.

[DarkLink]

I dunno what to do.

Get psyrifle Dreads. Like it or not, that's the answer. A pair costs 270pts, puts out an impressive amount of firepower (far more than the Dreadknight ever will), and does just as good a job at absorbing enemy anti-tank fire.

[BrokenWing]

Still not sure which direction to go with my Dreadnought armaments. So here's my latest:

HQ:
Librarian- Might of Titan, Quicksilver, warp rift, the shrouding, sanctuary, 3 Servo Skulls- 190


Troops:
10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons, 2 Daemon Hammers, Psybolt Ammo- 260
10 Grey Knights: 2 Psycannons, 2 Daemon Hammers, Psybolt Ammo- 260
6 Grey Knight Terminators: 1 Psycannon, 2 Daemon Hammers, Psybolt Ammo, 4 Falchions, Brotherhood Banner- 330

Fast Attack:
Storm Raven Gunship: twin-linked multi-melta- 205
Storm Raven Gunship: twin-linked multi-melta- 205
Storm Raven Gunship: twin-linked multi-melta- 205

Heavy:

Dreadnought: Multi-melta- 115

Dreadnought: Multi-melta- 115

Dreadnought: Multi-melta- 115


-2000

I have to say, I really like this version.

[BrokenWing]

Root, I think if you really really want to take Deadknights (especially big expensive shooty ones) you pretty much have to build your army around them.

[BrokenWing]

Does anyone think it would be worth it to drop a dreadnought and take a cheap, hid-able Inquisitor with Psy Communion?

[BrokenWing]

Final version, at least until I get some 1v1 playtesting in.

HQ:

Cantorus Malebolge Lord of the 9th (librarian): Might of Titan, Quicksilver, warp rift, the shrouding, sanctuary, teleport homer, Daemon Hammer- 195

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor with Psychic Communion- 55

Troops:
10 9th Circle Guard (Grey Knights): 2 Psycannons, 2 Daemon Hammers- 240

10 9th Circle Guard (Grey Knights): 2 Psycannons, 2 Daemon Hammers- 240

6 10th Circle Guard (Terminators): 1 Psycannon, 2 Daemon Hammers, 4 Falchions- 285

6 9th Circle Guard (Grey Knights): 1 Psycannon, 1 Daemon Hammer- 140

Fast Attack:
Storm Raven Gunship: twin-linked multi-melta- 205

Storm Raven Gunship: twin-linked multi-melta- 205

Storm Raven Gunship: twin-linked multi-melta- 205

Heavy:

Aligiri, Dreadnought: Multi-melta- 115

Vasimous, Dreadnought: Multi-melta- 115

-2000


Wanted to add some more guys to the army. I'm also going to play with combat squadding the 10 man units once they deployed to spread out my forces a little and make it harder to focus fire. Most situations probably won't call for that though. I realize I lose a multi-melta by dropping a dreadnought, but I think it was worth it to gain 6 more guys and another psycannon. Keep in mind that assault cannons and psycannons are also anti-tank weapons (both rend) and psycannons are strength 7. So I should still be able to take out or suppress tanks fairly easily on what I think will be my all important first two turns on the table.

The new squad will be deepstriking, thus the homer.

Points to anyone who catches the references.