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As you can probably guess from the thread name i'm trying to find out whether it's possible to play a pure GK army (with orbital bombardment- just because their cool) competatively.

I am really confused about GK because I love the models and the fluff but I see 100s of coments about them being the worst 40k army and completely unplayable unless you are happy to loose almost all you games. I keep trying other armies but always get drawn back to good old GK. Unfortunately I don't think I could carry on with an army that I couldn't win with. I'm not the most competative gamer out there but I like feel that I could win.

Could people with experience playing with and against GK armies tell me if there really is no hope with them or whether they just require patience and practice with the right tactics.

You replies would be a great help
The Devourer

i don't know about competitive, but they certainly are playable if you do a good old fashioned 3 land raider build.

against anything other than vulkan melta spam marines, you should be able to hold your own.

I've found that gray knights are generally bogged down in the amount of models in the other army. I generally limit mine to allying with guard or space marines.

I play pure Grey Knights and a Tri-Raider list most of the time, and yes, my biggest problem is dealing with horde armies in objective games due to not having enough firepower. If I take a GK Crusader to improve my firepower, I lose out on ranged anti-tank. If I focus on anti-infantry, I lose out on anti-tank. If I do not take enough anti-tank, I lose out due to my low model count. If I do not take enough anti-infantry, I lose out in objective games. However, when things click and the mix is right for the situation, I win.

The funny thing is, I rarely lose more than a handful of models in any one game. Unfortunately, it seems that I lose just enough at the end of a game to turn a win into a draw, or a draw into a loss. I’m working on it, though. My win record when I started with was a lot better than currently as the local metagame have shifted from mechanized to horde.

GK unit's have an excellent balance of close combat and ranged dakka that just does not happen in other armies, yet we pay for it by paying for it: 25pts per troop, 46pts per elite, 61+pts per HQ, and our only ranged anti-tank is found in our heavy slots. They are an elite army and require finesse to play well.

The other plus with GK's the ability to ally them with other imperial armies, or to ally in units from other imperial armies. This adds to their flexibility, and for people like me, adds to the enjoyment of playing them by having options not normally available to others.

SJ

I dont understand why people do not take inquisitorial storm troopers with them.

Is there something I am missing here?

Hollismason wrote:I dont understand why people do not take inquisitorial storm troopers with them.

Is there something I am missing here?

10 Point AP5 Guardsmen? So Worth it

I don't play Grey Knights myself, although I like fluff and models. I was just thinking, maybe one could get some very cheap guardsmen squads for the Grey Knights as backup to hold home objective; this way your expensive Marines can move out and kill stuff and need not to be bothered with babysitting some point of interest. Would increase your model count greatly.

That way it's not a pure Grey Knight army anymore, but fluffy enough, I think.
"You! Guardsmen! The Emperor needs you! Stay here, don't move, fire at everything that comes your way so Justicars Killstuff and Smashthings can move out and take the fight to the enemy!"

I love playing them but unless your ready to run the all LR list (which doesn't work as well in 5th as it did in 4th oddly enough) then your in for a tough haul. I'm a pretty good player and I still get smoked most times I play GK's. I consider it a good thing if I take them to a tournament and go at least 1-1-1. But they are fun! Which is why I keep taking them to tournies

Thanks a lot for all the helpful replies. It's nice to know there is some hope for GKs. I may throw in a few squads of Inquisitorial Stormtroopers for objective holding and to add a bit of anti infantry firepower. This would leave me able to use LR and dreads for anti tank. The army wouldn't be as characterful as a pure GK force but it would still have a nice Gk / DH feel.

GK aren't OP by any stretch of the imagination. If you are lucky, and know what you're doing (or your opponent doesn't) you'll be right.

I live by Deadshane's Pure GK Tactica and have done surprisingly well with it. Here it is here if you haven't seen it.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/214099.page#329467

I've had the same urge to play GKs. The Few. The Powerful. The PURE!!!!!!

I think they badly need an update, or at least a written ruling/statement/WD article from GW on the lines of the FA DSing GKs counting as Troops when checking scoring units.

I guess its more a case of them being a complicated force pushed to the extreme end of the Quantity Vs. Quality sliding scale.

I was sure the Inquistorial Guard had carapace qand were BS 4.

Hollismason wrote:I was sure the Inquistorial Guard had carapace qand were BS 4.

They do, but it still is not worth 10 points.

Gwar! wrote:

Hollismason wrote:I was sure the Inquistorial Guard had carapace qand were BS 4.

They do, but it still is not worth 10 points.

Not if your store allows you to ally in (according to 'Ard Boyz Packet) IG Vets for 7 points a pop with the new, improved Chimeras. However, they look like they'd be alright as 5-man scoring Rhinos doing Melta drive-bys.

My advice would not be to play a GK army if you're only concerned about tournaments. There are far better codices out there that can be tooled for competetive play with a lot less effort. Play GKs/Daemonhunters because you like the miniatures and the fluff. That way, you'll never be disappointed.

Thanks a lot for the advice, I'm going to collect GKs for the great looking models (in my opinion the best basic models in 40k) and cool fluff. But I think i'll stick to my Eldar for competative games.

Eyclonus- i agree that they really need an upgrade, probably more than any other army. Being a very elite, small army makes it hard but with the release of a Daemon armies it has become hard for DH to even do well against daemons because a lot of our special rules have no effect.

I guess i'll just have to sit waiting fingers crossed for a new codex- sigh could be a while though.

Join the =I= waiting game.....I've been here since 4th

R3con wrote:Join the =I= waiting game.....I've been here since 4th

I've been here since Codex: Sisters of Battle