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Hey, I am looking for a few things to help me finish the article.

1) I would like a few more Inquisitor Builds and what they might do. Right now there are only two that I seem like something I would take. What else is there?


2) I am not going to give specific builds for henchman units, but rather some templates.

Example: 3-5 Crusaders, 5-8 Death Cult Assassins. You could also add in...... Any examples of units you have used and how they performed would be great.

Well Mallus with Incinerator is 40 points (48 with Power Armour). Real cheap way to get an Incinerator without giving up Psycannons.

Xenos with Conversion beamer and Psi Communion. Hides in the corner with a few crusaders/warriors to give you reserve manipulation while shooting stuff. Maybe add some Servitors too.

I do not like the Venom Talon since it does not ignore armour like just about every other weapon in the GK Codex. Power Sword is cheaper.

I skimmed your article, and here's what I got from it:

1. Most of the article is just repeating relevant codex entries. I'm not sure that's even legal around here?

2. Most of the advice I saw was not particularly helpful. "Bring these against MEQs, bring those against GEQs." I didn't see a "these are a great combination together" or "These are a great way to use this unit" or "Here's a few strategies for playing a henchmen army" or anything.

I think I am going to re-work the unit building section, and actually show some units and explain how to use them and what they are good at. Each unit should have a little section about how they are good overall.


I thought that it was only if you displayed Points Costs (for individuals or upgrades, unit totals are okay) or exact statlines for stuff that it was illegal.


Feel free to add any units you want into the unit examples section.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I have a direct question. I would like to add an example unit that uses servitors, but I can not think of a good example. I am not fond of having to have an inquisitor babysit the servitors.


here is what I have so far.


Inquisitor with either hexrifle or Conversion beamer maybe add psychic communion.

3 servitors with plasma cannons


Should I add anything else?
What should the inquisitor have?

Just wanted to say that I am done with the article for the moment. I have written up quite a few example units. I invite anyone else to do the same and add to the article.


I am going to wait a while before writing up anything about playing a full Henchmen Army, simply to give myself more time to play test and see what other people have done as well.

I can't say I was impressed with the henchmen in this newest Grey Knight codex. A lot of them are cool but it almost seems like they were an after thought to the Grey Knights... which may have as it should be but I always enjoyed the character of the Inquisitor and his henchmen (although I never played either Daemon or Witch hunters), they had a certain feel to them. I am a big fan of Dark Heresey so that might be why. Some of the entries for the henchmen seemed a little lack luster to me. The crusader for one, I alwaysed like them and it seems a little wrong that they are relegated to the role of a walking invulnerable save. Also not being able to take the Storm Troopers anymore seemed a little lame to me. It might just be me being a little sentimental, but I wasn't impressed, even a little disappointed with the henchmen in codex Grey Knight.

I had also hoped that I would be able to include Inquisitors and henchmen in my guard army. This was not due to any meta-game tactic but simply I thought it would be fun and would add some character to my Death Korps and their drab german demeanor. However the following formula may be true... + =
But honestly the Imperial Guard doesn't NEED the help of Codex Grey Knight to win games so I don't know what the harm would have been.

I feel that the problem is the simplicity of the staline system that GW has put themselves into.

In the IG book a regular gardsman has BS3. The veterans/storm troopers are better shots than them, so they are BS 4.

In the GK book, the GK are BS 4. The henchmen/storm trooper equivalent should be worse shots then them so they have to be BS 3.


In reality is probably that Storm Troopers/Vets/Henchmen are BS 3.5, but there is no in game way to represent it.


The ally rules are gone for a balance reason, but there are always apocalypse games.

Well I have to agree with Svendrex the lack of a official stormtroopers was a bit disappointing. What I do like is the massive flexibility that the new henchmen give you. What is a bit annoying is the cost of making a henchman mimic a storm trooper. So even if you can mimic one of the stormtroopers his price tag is to high for you to field them like you used to. I feel it is just a another example of them wanting you to replace the figures you own to make a list that is cost effective. Now fielding melta guns or plasma guns has gotten lots cheaper and we can spam special weapons squads of three guys. With that in mind I am sure we will be seeing more three man squads driving about in rhino's. the henchmen section is inexpensive and flexible and allows for some very creative logistics.

I have looked over your article and despite the above comments I found it very helpful. Thanks you for taking the considerable time it took to write that.

I am confounded by one point though. I believe that you are saying that the Arco-Flagellant gets 2d6 armor penetration in close combat against vehicles. Is that incorrect? I thought that was the Eviscerator on the Banisher that did that. What have I missed.

veritechc wrote:I have looked over your article and despite the above comments I found it very helpful. Thanks you for taking the considerable time it took to write that.

I am confounded by one point though. I believe that you are saying that the Arco-Flagellant gets 2d6 armor penetration in close combat against vehicles. Is that incorrect? I thought that was the Eviscerator on the Banisher that did that. What have I missed.

You're right, it is the Evicerator, Arco-Flagellents have no bonus vs vehicles, and the article isn't really much help, it is, like Dash mentioned, just a repitition of Codex entries, not that helpful.

In the example unit section

I have a unit of Arco Flagellants that are joined by a Librarian with Might of Titan
With that spell cast, the Flagellants are S6 with 2D6 Armor Penetration
then with hammerhand cast then gain another Str so they are S7 with the 2D6.

I will go back and edit that section to refine it a little.


Dash's comment was very early in the process for me, and I have added a lot to the article since then.

I do go over the Stats for each henchmen, but I feel that it is important that everyone reading it has the information they need at hand. I discuss each henchmen separately, with an overview of what they do well, I have unit suggestions and a summary of what the unit as a whole can do.

I would rather have a suggestion as to what you would like to see more of, and what would make it helpful.


I would like to go on a little side note here. When the DE book first came out, there was a lot of buzz over it. It took several months before the power lists and efficient unit builds started to show up on treads here.

5 warriors (with a blaster) in a venom, Wyches (with Haywire) +Hemi in a raider. Trueborn and Ravagers. Then pick your favorite fast attack unit.

I am not going to do anything on using a henchmen army as a whole just yet. I think that there needs to be more time for units and configurations to be tested, especially against tournament lists.



Lastly I would like to say that I am not "protective" of the Article at all. If you feel that you have something valid or helpful to contribute, then I would be very happy to have help.

svendrex wrote:In the example unit section

I have a unit of Arco Flagellants that are joined by a Librarian with Might of Titan
With that spell cast, the Flagellants are S6 with 2D6 Armor Penetration
then with hammerhand cast then gain another Str so they are S7 with the 2D6.

I will go back and edit that section to refine it a little.

Ah that clears it up. Yes you should edit that part and be very clear it is Might of Titan that adds the extra d6 armor penitration. That makes the whole unit pretty good at tank hunting. If you added a Banisher with a Eviscerator then you would be looking at 3d6 +6 (his strength). Less attacks but a great chance to smack down a tank if he hits.

What I like about your article is that it has me thinking about some different combos that I might not have looked at before. I had pretty much ignored Warrior Acolytes completely. Now it is likely that some Meltalytes will be found in my army.

I did a small edit, let me know it is clear enough.


I am glad that the article helped you. I would like to improve it make it helpful for everyone.

The edit makes it perfectly clear. Thank you.

8 Psykers cost 80 points.
8 Psykers + chimera costs 135 points. That's a huge increase on the raw troop cost. Is it worth it?

If the chimera gets blown up, some of the psykers die and the unit stands a good chance of becoming ignorable.

At range, the chimera is arguably an easier target to hit than 8 psykers by themselves, especially when the psykers are hopping from cover to cover. Long range weapons tend to be anti-tank and so inefficient at taking on infantry units. They are missile launcher fodder, but only as much as the chimeras themselves.

The chimera doesn't really give much of a movement advantage, certainly not if you want to shoot each turn. It would be better at running away from a nearby hostile deep strike.

The chimera weapons give an average 3 hits in addition to the blast, but they're nothing special, and if the chimera moves it produces even fewer hits.

The only tactical advantage to a chimera I can see for this unit is to attack out to 50" instead of 42" (cruise, disembark, shoot).

2 units of 8 psykers + chimera = 270 pts.
3 units of 8 psykers = 240 pts.

What do you think?

Personally, i do not think that the Chimera is a good fit for the Psyker unit. It is expensive.

Chimeras are good as they have 5 Fire Points letting you small squads with special weapons shoot out of the tranpost without fear or return fire.
Also, Terminators (ie, most of the GK HQ choices) can ride in them.



A Rhino works very well for a Psyker squad I think.

What you Gain:

1) Protection: Av 11 takes S6 or better fire to blow up. This means all of the Low Str weapons are NOT hurting your psykers on turn 1, but only after the transport is gone.

2) Cost: A rhino is only 40 pts. This is a bit less than the Chimera. The Psykers do not need the extra weapons or Firepoints, just 1 is fine.

3) Fortitude: The Rhino can ignore Shaken and Stunned, so the people inside can shoot more.

4) Protection from Shadows of the Warp: Not a big one, but shadows does not work an people in a transport. hoods do.

5) Immune to Morale: While in a transport they do not take morale tests.

6) Mobility: You can move 12" and get out and shoot, or even run to take an objective

7) Protection form assault. You can not be tied up in an assault and not shoot.



You could get 2 squads of psykers with rhinos for 240
OR
3 squads with no Rhinos for 240

I would take the Rhino squads every time, but that is a personal preference. Massing the on foot squads would make a very effective alpha strike, but would leave you more vunerable to return fire.


I think that the foot squads are just a little fragile and small. You only need to kill 2-3 of them for then to start taking LD tests. As you loose models, they are less effective

Yes sorry I meant to make the comparison with Rhino rather than the Chimera.

Thank you for your thorough and clear response. Numbers 4 and 7 are particularly of interest as I will be up against Nids.

Hereticus with Null Rod, Psyocculum seems a bad choice considering this will encourage the psyker units you wanna shoot to stay away from you, which will make one of the upgrades redundant.

Honestly, I am not a fan of the Hereticus Inquisitor at All.

I would take Malleus for shooting (Termie armor and Psycannon)
I would take Xeno for Close combat (Rad+Hammerhand)

Null Rod + Psyocculum was the only half decent build I could think of for the Hereticus Inquisitor. Not at all my favorite. I just felt I should include one build for each Ordo

Do you have a better build for a Hereticus Inquisitor? I would love to hear about it and add it to my article.

svendrex wrote:Honestly, I am not a fan of the Hereticus Inquisitor at All.

I would take Malleus for shooting (Termie armor and Psycannon)
I would take Xeno for Close combat (Rad+Hammerhand)

Null Rod + Psyocculum was the only half decent build I could think of for the Hereticus Inquisitor. Not at all my favorite. I just felt I should include one build for each Ordo

Do you have a better build for a Hereticus Inquisitor? I would love to hear about it and add it to my article.

Eh, you can grab him an infernus pistol and a null rod.

You get the anti-psyker character he is (trying) to be and you get an AP1 attack. You could also change the infernus pistol to a combi-melta but then we just get closer to trying to be one of the other inquisitors.

Throw one of these guys in a chimera with three melta acolytes and you have 4 AP1 attacks at 6 inches.

Granted, this is still pretty bad but if someone decides they want to throw some nasty things like terminators or annoying things like the helicopter orks at you on turn two, it is handy to have another low AP shot or two.

Hey, what can you do? There are some units that are terrible but are just there for fluff.

The psyocculum is decent as it makes the whole squad BS10 against psykers.
The null rod is decent as well.

The problem is that it is 75 pts wasted when you are fighting Dark Eldar or Tau or anyone who decided not to take any psykers.


In the end, much like the Culexus assassin, a Dedicated Psyker hunter is situationaly good

The Malleus and Xeno Inquisitors are always good.

I like your article. It makes for some good reading. Thanks.

I am glad that it is starting to get a positive response. Thank you.

I've been field testing using 3 units of psykers. The math says >80% success rate per turn (taken together) in landing a direct hit or with <2" scatter and boy does the math work out in practice. They're awesomely awesomely destructive!

I just read the article. I liked it, and it got me interested in reading the codex more thoroughly... to be honest, I was unaware they had released a new codex for these guys. I'm particularly excited that it contains all three ordos.

Thanks for writing it (and editing it, I suppose).

In answer to Svendrex, on what counts as plasma weapons for the Plasma Syphon. According to the FAQ all plasma guns, cannons and pistols, but more suprisingly so all Tau Pulse weaponry, so their Pulse Rifles, Pulse Carbines and Plasma Rifles are all affected, which is really nasty against them.

I would assume that it also works for a Plasma Anihilator (titan weapon)

I can throw in a quick update for that, but it still only has a 12" range for the debuff. It is okay, but still not great.

Played and play tested psykers a lot now. 3 units have to be standard - anything less is surely too unreliable in a serious list. A few more observations:

1) 5 psykers at S7 AP2 seems the best. Wounds T4 (and T5s) on 2s, ignores power armour, terminator armour, and FNP. 8 psykers does exactly the same for much higher cost, plus it threatens some extra stuff that ought to be more effectively handled by another part of your list.

2) Rhino seems to be the natural transport solution, but I'm thinking a Chimera along with 3 plasmaguns would work well (I realise you don't want to be within 24" ideally, but for how long will that ever be achieved?!). Haven't tested this plasma addition yet so ymmv.

3) Tactics! Best tactic I've used is to try to encircle your approaching enemy with the 3 psyker groups. If the enemy assaults one group they ought to be moving away from the other two groups.

Further note on best psyker configuration, as I have more experience with them since the last post.

Optimal is 3 units of 6 psykers, 2 in a rhino with an acolyte, 1 in a chimera with 3 plasma cannon servitors.

The preponderance of cover saves on a decent board mean relying on psyfleman dakka to strip off remaining wounds off a T4 W2 model unit is too uncertain, so 5 psykers is insufficient.

Psykers need to pay a "rhino tax" and an "acolyte tax", which can be reduced by including one of the 3 units in the servitor chimera. (The chance of perils and 3 fatal Gets Hot! in a single game are pretty negligible.)

3 units, as stated previously, are needed to bring reliability up to a decent level.

Finally, these psyker dudes are just awesome every single game.