Help a new guy know his list - GK 2000 pts

[David Blumenthal]

Joining a 20+ player league at my local game store and I've come up with a list for some Grey Knights.

I know that list choices are normally what is critiqued in these threads, but I'd appreciate a spin on that. Some unit advice is valued but what I'd REALLY like is some viewpoints on how I'd achieve victory (or at least make a dent) with the existing, unmodified list. I hope that makes sense. If it's a hopeless list, I understand, but I'd like to get more than, "Paladins is teh expensives, take terminators lulz."

Thanks, guys!



GREY KNIGHTS 2000 pts


HQ (70)

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor (70)
Daemonblade, psyker upgrade
A dirt cheap HW that fits with the fluff that I have in mind behind the army. "Le gasp! FLUFF? Nerdraaaaage!"


Elites (315)

Paladins x5 (315)
Hammer, 3x halberds, 2x psycannons
I'd ideally like more dudes in this unit. I like the idea of a deathstar unit that rides a Stormraven up the foe's ***. Also, I enjoy how many psycannons they can take. I'd one day like to take a 10-dude deathstar and combat squad them into two awesome units.


Troops (1140)

GKSS x10 (230)
Hammer, 2x psycannon
These guys do what troops do. Grab objectives, win the game and make out with the opponent's girlfriend.

GKSS x10 (230)
Hammer, 2x psycannon

GKSS x10 (230)
Hammer, 2x psycannon

GK Terminators x10 (450)
2x hammers, 4x halberds, 2x psycannons
Either combat squad or roll deep. Be terminators.

Fast Attack (205)

Stormraven (205)
Multi-melta, assault cannon.

Heavy Support (270)

Dreadnought (135)
TL autocannons, psybolt ammo
Dakka dakka.

Dreadnought (135)
TL autocannons, psybolt ammo

[DarkLink]

The psyker upgrade is great, swap for Prescience, the Divination Pimaris power. You really should take wargear more useful than the Daemonsword (either Terminator armor with a Psycannon, or Rad/Psykotroke Grenades), but that's your choice.

The Storm Raven, and flyers in general with the exception of the Night Scythe, are actually not very good transports. Getting shot down will likely kill everything inside. They make fantastic gunships, though. You should have Hurricane Bolters and Psybolt Ammo. Just footslog the Paladins. Putting them inside a transport means their Psycannons are going to waste anyways.

You should find points for Psybolt Ammo on all your 10-man squads. It's well worth it. Hammers on GKSS Justicars, however, aren't any good because now Challenges will get them killed most of the time, and regular squad members don't have enough attacks. Warding Staves, on the other hand, are awesome in Challenges. Get a few.

Don't Deepstrike. It's rarely a good idea. Don't compulsively combat squad, either. A 10-man unit is exponentially better than a 5-man combat squad, and assault is pretty important for Grey Knights.

The Dreadnoughts just sit back and shoot light vehicles. If you find there aren't many light vehicles, replace them with something else, say, a Dreadknight (which needs a Personal Teleporter plus an Incinerator and/or Psycannon).

[Learn2Eel]

Hey mate, I'll try my best to give you the kind of advice you want :)

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor - Nothing at all wrong with this guy, Inquisitors are always a cheap and effective option. Where do you plan on sticking him? Is it with the Paladins in the Storm Raven? Realistically, he's a nice addition to any squad as he gives you a bit of extra punch in combat, a challenge-taker if you want your sergeant doing something else, and a free Hammerhand addition so that you can activate your force weapons instead of using the squad to cast Hammerhand. In that sense, he is good in any of your squads, but particularly your Paladins and Terminators.

Paladins - Trust me mate, 5 Paladins will do you just fine. A 5 man Paladin unit is technically as durable as 10 Terminators when not being hit by S8+ weaponry, all for cheaper than said 10 Terminators. You pay mostly for durability, also yeah the extra psycannon per five is awesome. Halberds are how I prefer my Grey Knight Termies/Pallies, with one or two hammers, especially in a marine-heavy meta. All-terminator armies aren't that common so the AP3 force weapons aren't too much of a hassle - just gun them down instead. If you don't put them in the Stormraven, can even do well walking up the field. They are you real 'tank' unit. Just stay the heck away from Vindicators, Medusae or monstrous creatures. Whilst most monstrous creatures may not seem too bad, you have to play your cards right - you may have force weapons, but especially against 'Nids, 3D6 leadership is not fun to rely on. And when they hit you, Pallies will drop quickly.

Strike Squads - both are well setup, just stick to cover and they will do fine. Usually you want to minimize the damage they receive as Grey Knights are very expensive per model, also their 24" hard-capped range may hinder you on big boards, just remember to deploy them carefully and move up at a reasonable pace. They will do you good as long as you are reasonably careful with them.

Terminators - I would recommend combat squad-ding them personally, 10 Terminators has too big a footprint. Mix them up for which unit you want to do a certain role, or have them relatively similar. A good place is 4 Halberds, 1 Hammer in each unit with 1 psycannon each. That would work well and being Terminators they are still very durable. They can also deep strike as necessary.

Stormraven - That will work well, especially with the Paladins and the Inquisitor. What guns do you give it, do you exchange any of them or keep the base ones? Personally I'd recommend the melta and the assault cannon. Also don't abuse your durability - you are the most/second most difficult flyer in normal 40k codices to destroy, but you can still be easily blown up by a lucky shot. Trust me, it happens to me a lot. A good strategy I would recommend - especially if there are Skyfire units in your opponents army - is to carefully position where you come on and deep strike the guys out of it. This won't work for the Inquisitor I believe, but the Paladins would be fine. Trust me, you do not want to risk the Paladins that way. You could come on in hover mode, but your opponent is very likely to just outright blow it up if you do, however it would mean the unit could jump out normally.

Dreadnoughts - Very good, very good. Keep them in your backfield and they will do their job well. Prioritize transports with them, AV14 isn't unassailable but your Psycannons and Stormraven have a better chance of popping them. AV13 is about the limit I would aim at.

As a side note, I also agree with Darklink - a Stormraven is good as a transport for certain units, but with Paladins a less risky way to use them is to walk them up the table. I see Stormravens used commonly as a Crowe transport or for a unit that can deep strike out reliably.

[David Blumenthal]

The psyker upgrade is great, swap for Prescience, the Divination Pimaris power. You really should take wargear more useful than the Daemonsword (either Terminator armor with a Psycannon, or Rad/Psykotroke Grenades), but that's your choice.

The Storm Raven, and flyers in general with the exception of the Night Scythe, are actually not very good transports. Getting shot down will likely kill everything inside. They make fantastic gunships, though. You should have Hurricane Bolters and Psybolt Ammo. Just footslog the Paladins. Putting them inside a transport means their Psycannons are going to waste anyways.

You should find points for Psybolt Ammo on all your 10-man squads. It's well worth it. Hammers on GKSS Justicars, however, aren't any good because now Challenges will get them killed most of the time, and regular squad members don't have enough attacks. Warding Staves, on the other hand, are awesome in Challenges. Get a few.

Don't Deepstrike. It's rarely a good idea. Don't compulsively combat squad, either. A 10-man unit is exponentially better than a 5-man combat squad, and assault is pretty important for Grey Knights.

The Dreadnoughts just sit back and shoot light vehicles. If you find there aren't many light vehicles, replace them with something else, say, a Dreadknight (which needs a Personal Teleporter plus an Incinerator and/or Psycannon).

Thanks for the reply!

Good points.

My concerns:
- where do I get the points for more swag (staves, psybolts, etc)
- I'm wary of less models
- if I drop the hammers, where's my AT?

[David Blumenthal]

The psyker upgrade is great, swap for Prescience, the Divination Pimaris power. You really should take wargear more useful than the Daemonsword (either Terminator armor with a Psycannon, or Rad/Psykotroke Grenades), but that's your choice.

The Storm Raven, and flyers in general with the exception of the Night Scythe, are actually not very good transports. Getting shot down will likely kill everything inside. They make fantastic gunships, though. You should have Hurricane Bolters and Psybolt Ammo. Just footslog the Paladins. Putting them inside a transport means their Psycannons are going to waste anyways.

You should find points for Psybolt Ammo on all your 10-man squads. It's well worth it. Hammers on GKSS Justicars, however, aren't any good because now Challenges will get them killed most of the time, and regular squad members don't have enough attacks. Warding Staves, on the other hand, are awesome in Challenges. Get a few.

Don't Deepstrike. It's rarely a good idea. Don't compulsively combat squad, either. A 10-man unit is exponentially better than a 5-man combat squad, and assault is pretty important for Grey Knights.

The Dreadnoughts just sit back and shoot light vehicles. If you find there aren't many light vehicles, replace them with something else, say, a Dreadknight (which needs a Personal Teleporter plus an Incinerator and/or Psycannon).

Thanks for the prompt reply!

I'll take your wisdom into proper consideration, but I have some concerns:

-if I drop the hammers, where will I get enough AT from?
-where will I get the points for the recommended upgrades (i.e. psybolts galore, staves - which I love, btw!)
-my initial instinct is to drop a GKSS squad, but I am wary of not having enough troops and/or enough models on the board, even for GKs.

Thanks again. :)


Hey mate, I'll try my best to give you the kind of advice you want :)

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor - Nothing at all wrong with this guy, Inquisitors are always a cheap and effective option. Where do you plan on sticking him? Is it with the Paladins in the Storm Raven? Realistically, he's a nice addition to any squad as he gives you a bit of extra punch in combat, a challenge-taker if you want your sergeant doing something else, and a free Hammerhand addition so that you can activate your force weapons instead of using the squad to cast Hammerhand. In that sense, he is good in any of your squads, but particularly your Paladins and Terminators.

Paladins - Trust me mate, 5 Paladins will do you just fine. A 5 man Paladin unit is technically as durable as 10 Terminators when not being hit by S8+ weaponry, all for cheaper than said 10 Terminators. You pay mostly for durability, also yeah the extra psycannon per five is awesome. Halberds are how I prefer my Grey Knight Termies/Pallies, with one or two hammers, especially in a marine-heavy meta. All-terminator armies aren't that common so the AP3 force weapons aren't too much of a hassle - just gun them down instead. If you don't put them in the Stormraven, can even do well walking up the field. They are you real 'tank' unit. Just stay the heck away from Vindicators, Medusae or monstrous creatures. Whilst most monstrous creatures may not seem too bad, you have to play your cards right - you may have force weapons, but especially against 'Nids, 3D6 leadership is not fun to rely on. And when they hit you, Pallies will drop quickly.

Strike Squads - both are well setup, just stick to cover and they will do fine. Usually you want to minimize the damage they receive as Grey Knights are very expensive per model, also their 24" hard-capped range may hinder you on big boards, just remember to deploy them carefully and move up at a reasonable pace. They will do you good as long as you are reasonably careful with them.

Terminators - I would recommend combat squad-ding them personally, 10 Terminators has too big a footprint. Mix them up for which unit you want to do a certain role, or have them relatively similar. A good place is 4 Halberds, 1 Hammer in each unit with 1 psycannon each. That would work well and being Terminators they are still very durable. They can also deep strike as necessary.

Stormraven - That will work well, especially with the Paladins and the Inquisitor. What guns do you give it, do you exchange any of them or keep the base ones? Personally I'd recommend the melta and the assault cannon. Also don't abuse your durability - you are the most/second most difficult flyer in normal 40k codices to destroy, but you can still be easily blown up by a lucky shot. Trust me, it happens to me a lot. A good strategy I would recommend - especially if there are Skyfire units in your opponents army - is to carefully position where you come on and deep strike the guys out of it. This won't work for the Inquisitor I believe, but the Paladins would be fine. Trust me, you do not want to risk the Paladins that way. You could come on in hover mode, but your opponent is very likely to just outright blow it up if you do, however it would mean the unit could jump out normally.

Dreadnoughts - Very good, very good. Keep them in your backfield and they will do their job well. Prioritize transports with them, AV14 isn't unassailable but your Psycannons and Stormraven have a better chance of popping them. AV13 is about the limit I would aim at.

As a side note, I also agree with Darklink - a Stormraven is good as a transport for certain units, but with Paladins a less risky way to use them is to walk them up the table. I see Stormravens used commonly as a Crowe transport or for a unit that can deep strike out reliably.

Thanks for the recommendations!

I plan on letting the Inquisitor roll with the terminators, in all likelihood.

I dunno who will ride in the 'Raven at this point. Perhaps it will just be a gunship and the paladins can slog.

[David Blumenthal]

Thanks for the replies, guys! Sorry it took a while to get back to you. I wasn't able to post on my own thread for awhile. :/

In any case, great advice! My only concerns.

Where do I get the points for upgrades such as staves and psybolts?

I'm concerned about dropping hammers. I'm not putting them on my Justicars and I don't care for a low amount of AT in my army.

My model count is a priority.

[David Blumenthal]

Here's a modified list evoking a slightly better equipped, less populated list. Dropped a Strike Squad (that may hurt) for a bunch of goodies. Enjoy!



GREY KNIGHTS 2000 pts


HQ (110)

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor (110)
Terminator armor, daemon hammer, psycannon, psyker upgrade.
A dirt cheap HW that fits with the fluff that I have in mind behind the army. "Le gasp! FLUFF? Nerdraaaaage!" He'll probably hoof it with the paladins.


Elites (325)

Paladins x5 (325)
2x mc hammers (lolz), 3x halberds, 2x psycannons.


Troops (1040)

GKSS x10 (280)
Stave, mc hammer (heh, still funny), 2x psycannons, psybolt ammo.
These guys do what troops do. Grab objectives, win the game and make out with the opponent's girlfriend.

GKSS x10 (280)
Stave, mc hammer (heh), 2x psycannons, psybolt ammo.

GK Terminators x10 (480)
2x hammers, 4x halberds, 2x psycannons, psybolt ammo.
Either combat squad or roll deep. Be terminators.


Fast Attack (255)

Stormraven (255)
Multi-melta, TL assault cannon, hurricane bolter sponsons, psybolt ammo.
Gunship time.


Heavy Support (270)

Dreadnought (135)
TL autocannons, psybolt ammo
Dakka dakka.

Dreadnought (135)
TL autocannons, psybolt ammo

[DarkLink]

Looks good. I'd play some games with both lists and see if you prefer more bodies or more upgrades.

[David Blumenthal]

Looks good. I'd play some games with both lists and see if you prefer more bodies or more upgrades.

Sounds like a plan! :)

[deed116]

Honestly, get shot of the terminators, i used to play them a lot and they die really had compared to pallies and aren't worth 40 points a pop. Honestly, give those strike squads rhinos. I know they took a hit in 6th but turn one they get where they want to be. Midfield. And now you've got psybolts on them they will tear even other AV 11's to bits with the amount of shots they kick out. Just saying, terminators are great dont get me wrong, but you need to deep strike them, or they do die :/ if you really want them in there for the fluff, Grab 9 points worth of servo skulld from your HQ :) hope this helps