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I've been bitten by the Grey Knight bug, and really want to make a grey knight army. My question is, what is a decent build for them? is it even possible?

I want to make use of Terminators as much as possible, and want to avoid land raiders. Looking for a pure GK list, but I wouldn't be totally opposed to taking some stormtroopers if needed.

Any help or suggested lists? Looking at 1000, 1500 at 1850 points.

Counts-as Chaos terminators.

The plain GK list sucks large donkey coconuts.

Gabe,
Welcome to the club ... I've just made the commitment to GK by ordering a FW GK dread w/psycannon. I haven't started list building but would be happy to trade ideas.

Mike

...I have just start the painting phase for my 1500 pure grey knights build...

- Grand Master GK (with psicanon) plus 3 GK Termies retinue (with psicanon)
- 2 x Troops GK (6 men) with 2 psicanons each
- 1 x Fast Atack GK (9 men) with 2 incinerators
- 1 Land Raider
- 1 GK Dreadnough (TLLC and DCCW)

scaling to 1850 points adding a 2nd GK termies unit and adjusting points maybe I can add another dread...
scaling to 2000 points adding a 2nd GK termies unit and a 2nd Land Raider (maybe crusader)

I "paperhammered" the 1500 points list in a couple of trial games with some success...

I have been playing a pure GK list since the Deamonhunters Dex came out.  They are the army I wanted to play all along and if Games Workshop would have ask me to create a force from scratch they are probably what I would have come up with (rules, looks and all).

As far as what makes a tough list.....

From my experience stay away from terminators.  Yes they look great on paper but at 46 pts per model they just become great AP 1 and 2 sponges.  That being said you can not pass up on a Grand Master.

Ive seen a lot of people put a GM in the list with a psycannon (I like the idea of putting his BS 5 to use) BUT I can not pass up on giving him an extra CC wep and letting him dish out force weapon death to enemy high pt cost units!  Basically you put him in a Raider with a group of GK's and drop them on your enemy HQ (single choices, not large retinues) like DP's, greater deamons....and such.

Use the best troop marines currently have to offer to the best of your points cost ability!  Regular Grey Knight troops are amazing!  at 25 pts a model you can not beat them.  The more storm bolters the better.  I do like the idea of throwing in a psycannon where you can but most of the time I cut it out for pts and mobility.  I dont like the idea of giving up my Str 6 CC attack for the shooty (but thats just me).

By basic list looks like this.....

GM high pts cost unit, but almost always gets his pts back.

1 or 2 Land Raiders (these are bought purely as transports) If they survive long enough to drop your troops into the heart of the enemy then youve got some great support shooting.

I will usually run a Heavy FW dread with TW Las and ML.

Then to round out the list I just fill in with as many GK squads as possible (usually that is 4 or 5 squads of 9 or 10)

I know my list has obvious shortcomings and the majority of my games have been played against a solid Eldar player or Deamon bomb army.  But I can honestly say I have had success with the list and feel it is one of the stronger ways to play with pure GK's.

Wow, I cannot imagine any worse advice.

I think Centurian99 used to be the resident maestro of grey knights, and he can probably give you some advice that doesn't suck. You might want to search the tactics forum.

As someone who has a Grey Knight Army since before they were released (used to work for the evil empire) I'll add my two cents for whatever its worth.

1) Get used to being outnumbered
2) get used to enemy armor stomping your head in
3) love the psycannon

Serious... I have an entirely GK marine based army and although I love it to death, it is not really a good 'tournament' army. It has tons and tons of fun and flavor, but that’s it really. Here is a quick rundown on the units I personally use.

Grand Master) usually I arm him with a psycannon and just rain terror on the enemy as they advance. Don't forget he has a high str force weapon! Serious... he can do some horrendous damage if you get him to the right spot at the right time.

Inquisitor) usually I use the elite version for a cheap psycannon platform. This also allows assassins and bombardment strikes.

GK Termies) Love them! They do tend to attract a ton of attention... but what do you expect? I also use one thunderhammer just because I love my conversion. It has actually been a life saver on more than one occasion however... Overall they're lots of fun and tend to cause some damage.

GK Marines) bread and butter right? ;p  The big thing to remember is they are GREAT at shooting AND combat! Don't let your opponent do what he wants (i.e. shoot you up, or h2h you). Use the GK's strengths to your advantage. Walk into him if he want to shoot you... shoot him while backing up if he wants to h2h you! High str weapons combined with assault storm bolters means you should ALWAYS charge... Personally I use the psycannons for most squads, but having a flanking squad with incinerators is helpful also.

Dread) Pretty much the ONLY anti-armor weapons I have in my army. Expect them to die fast...

Purgation Squad) Our version of the fire support... 4x psycannons is enough to force pretty much any squad to take some armor tests, but against meq armies just don’t expect it to win you the game.

Orbital Bombardment) worthless... I have never once had them do ANYTHING of value.

Overall you've got a maneuverable tactically flexible army. You’ll be outnumbered, and often outgunned… Just remember to use your inherent advantages and the slaughter won’t be so bad!

It definitely is possible (and Grey Knights in my experience are the ultimate anti-Godzilla army) but against certain matchups, namely skimmer mech, you're basically screwed.

Having said that, there's basically two ways to go - assault-focused, or shooting-focused.

A shooting-focused Grey Knight army depends on maximizing the number of psycannons in the army. The three-man squad of terminators with 2 psycannons is actually cheaper than a 5-man squad of power-armored grey knights with psycannons.

The second way to go doesn't neglect psycannons, but focuses on delivering your real heavy hitters into assault - the Grand Master and his terminator-armed brethren. Land Raider Crusaders (and I do mean plural) are the preferred method to accomplish this.

A particularly nasty trick (and one that I've been using anytime a Godzilla player gets too big for his britches) is to take both a Grand Master and Brother-Captain stern. The ability to have TWO S6 Nemesis Force Weapons is simply silly. Correctly used, you can carve your way through a horde of monstrous creatures without even breaking a sweat. Assuming they get the charge, Stern and a Grand Master are actually statistically likely to take out the king FW bloodthirster in a single round of combat.

In either list, your greatest concern will be anti-armor, since S6 doesn't necessarily get the job done.

I'd say also talk to Lemertes. I've seen that guy's Grey Knight army at a tournament and if anyone can give you the info you need, he's the one.

S4 Hammerhand, Chainfists and Thunderhammers can give you some extra anti-tank.  So can Guard platoons and Sentinels.

I always amazes me how rude people are on forums....Oh well easy to be an ass when you dont have to look someone in the face.

As for my post, That is what works for me....it plays well and I win more than I lose.  Do what works for you.

I've seen people use shrouding with 5 man GK units with 3 psycannons to keep them from taking too much fire, while using land raiders for lascannon support and evac. Pure GKs have little in the way of fast attack, so you might want to consider taking some Sisters of Battle Saraphim or dominions with meltas in their melta armed immolators. GK terminators are better then codex terminators, for 6pts more you get a S6 power weapon instead of the power fist, and can still take thunder hammers if you want some better anti tank.

Longshot can be a bit rude at times, but psycannons really are the bread and butter of the army. You need a goodly amount of them to be successful. And most GK players frown on Landraiders.

Not to plug bolter and chainsword or anything...but...

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=101214

...its a very nice intro to playing Grey Knights that I don't see too much wrong with.

Posted By Vult on 09/26/2007 5:01 PM
I always amazes me how rude people are on forums....Oh well easy to be an ass when you dont have to look someone in the face.

As for my post, That is what works for me....it plays well and I win more than I lose.  Do what works for you.

If you played 40k with me you'd know very well that I am even meaner about crappy advice and crappy lists in person. I don't need anonymity to be harsh on bad ideas.

And yours are terrible.

Your anecdotal evidence proves nothing. You win more than you lose? Maybe you play using house rules, and maybe the people you play with suck. There are a lot of objective truths in 40k, and one of them is 300pt squads that move 6" and assault 6", are not terribly resilient, can't have transports, and can't blow up tanks or kill 2+ save troops from range are a bad idea.

Posted By Zathrithal on 09/26/2007 7:14 PM
Longshot can be a bit rude at times, but psycannons really are the bread and butter of the army. You need a goodly amount of them to be successful. And most GK players frown on Landraiders.

Landraiders are fine, but see Centurian99's post on how to use them.

Personally, I'd steer clear of either variety though, just like I'd back off of using a pure GK list. If you want grey knights, try using them as allies to an IG list, or using IG allies.

Grey Knights rock hard...they can sit on any object and when the enemy tries to rush you...they still get their faces beat in.

Terminators are awesome, PAGK are horrible, Land raiders are your faith.

Deadshane1 wrote:

Not to plug bolter and chainsword or anything...but...

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=101214

...its a very nice intro to playing Grey Knights that I don't see too much wrong with.

A very good tactica! Unfortunately a lot of the GK centric advice is outdated in 5th edition, but the rest of it (especially the 7 habits of highly effective gamers and Common Tactical Maneuvers sections) is a great start for beginners.