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I decided to test another Grey Knight list in my game yesterday and my opponent brought a pretty solid Imperial Guard Vet list. Here's how it went down.

The lists

Grey Knights - 2000 points
Lord Kaldor Draigo - 275
5 Paladins (Psycannon/Sword, Psycannon/Halberd, Storm Bolter/Sword, Storm Bolter/Halberd, Storm Bolter/MC Hammer) - 320
10 Man Strike Squad (2x Psycannons, Hammer, Rhino) - 270
10 Man Strike Squad (2x Psycannons, Hammer) - 230
5 Man Strike Squad (Psycannon, Hammer, Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo) - 170
Stormraven (Twin Lined Assault Cannon, Twin Linked Multi-Melta) - 205
Land Raider Redeemer (Multi-Melta, Psybolt Ammo) - 260
Dreadnought (2x Twin Linked Autocannon, Psybolt Ammo) - 135
Dreadnought (2x Twin Linked Autocannon, Psybolt Ammo) - 135
Total - 2,000

Imperial Guard - 2,000 points (From Memory)
Company Command Squad (Autocannon, 2x Grenade Launcher, Chimera)
10 Veterans (3x Plasma Guns, Chimera)
10 Veterans (3x Plasma Guns, Chimera)
10 Veterans (3x Meltaguns)
10 Veterans (3x Meltaguns)
10 Veterans (3x Meltaguns)
Vendetta
Vendetta
Vendetta
Leman Russ Demolisher
Leman Russ Demolisher
3x Leman Russ Battle Tanks

The Setup
Battlefield - Mostly forrest and large rocky hills with three ruined structures surrouding a small clearing in the middle of the field. Lots of area terrain, but not a great deal of tall, LoS blocking terrain.
Mission Type - Annihilation
Deployment - Pitched Battle
First Turn - Grey Knights
Grand Strategy - One unit: Paladins got to reroll 1's to wound

Grey Knight Deployment - I deployed in a clustered formation and slightly toward the left side of my deployment zone. I placed the Land Raider in a clear spot with open ground in front of it in order to get into a good assault position for the second turn. The Dreadnoughts I placed on high ground with a good view of the battlefield but there weren't many options for granting cover to a Walker that would still grant me Line of Sight to the enemy. The Stormraven I deployed adjacent to the Land Raider, and I set the remaining Strike Squads up on either flank.

Imperial Guard Deployment - My opponent placed his Leman Russ unit directly across the field from my Stormraven, and the Demolishers he placed to either side of a piece of terrain near his deployment area. The Vets deployed to my right flank, staggered on either side of a Demolisher, and the Command Squad deployed hard on my left. The Vendettas were spread out through his deployment zone with one to the left flank and two to the right, each carrying a Melta Vet unit. He then Scout moved them 24", landing one hard on either flank and one in the middle of the board. He failed to Seize the Initiative.

Turn 1
Grey knights - I advanced the Land Raider directly toward the Vendetta in the middle of the board, disembarked Draigo's unit and popped Smoke. From their position, Draigo and his boys had relatively good cover from just about every angle. I pulled my large Strike Squad in the Rhino up toward the Vendetta to my left and disembarked that unit, and advanced the other small unit in between the Vendetta in the center and the one to my right, placing my Psycannon in Line of Sight of both. The Stormraven moved Flat-Out directly toward his center Demolisher, and the Dreadnoughs shifted slightly for a better view. Unfortunately my shooting was less than Spectacular. Draigos unit knocked a gun off the Vendetta in the middle, the full Strike Squad failed to penetrate their Vendetta, the smaller Strike Squad whiffed all together, and the Dreadnoughts rolled so terribly that I questioned their commitment to their battle brothers. The Stormraven had the only decent shot of the bunch, blowing up the Demolisher in front of it with spectacular Mutli-Melta rolls. A 6 to hit, Double 6's on the Penetration roll, and a 6 on the damage table. Apparently all of my 6's were waiting for the Stormraven to fire. Needless to say I was unhappy about my current position.

Imperial Guard - My opponent shuffled around slightly. He hopped his Vendetta behind my Dreadnought to the left and disembarked the Vets near my full Strike Squad. The Vets in the middle disembarked next to Draigo's unit and the Land Raider, and the Vendetta on the far right advanced slightly toward my Razorback and turned. The Leman Russ unit pulled forward slightly, and the remaining Demolisher moved slightly toward the Land Raider. The Plasma Vets on the far right moved onto a hilltop across a clearing from my Razorback and the others advanced toward Draigo. The Command Squad just stayed put and prepaired to fire its Autocannon. Apparently the dice gods that had been so vicious to me on my first round of shooting were just as vicious to my opponent, because he failed to cause any significant damage. His Vendettas all missed or failed to damage their targets except for Crew Shaken/Stunned rolls, and the Melta Vets firing at the Land Raider did the same. The Demolisher scattered into open field, and the Leman Russ unit shook the Stormraven. Plasma Vets whiffed their rolls against Draigos unit, and the Command Squad failed to add any damage to the Stormraven. Plasma Vets did cause a few wounds to my small Strike Squad, and their Chimera finished the job, but the only truly decent shooting was from the Melta Vets on my left flank firing at my full Strike Squad. Only one Meltagun hit, but they rolled a spectacular round of Lasgun fire, causing 8 wounds in addition to the Melta, and I failed 6 of those saves, losing 7 models. That unit then failed their morale test and ran off the board in shame.

Grey Knights 1
Imperial Guard 2

Turn 2
Grey Knight - The second turn was much more eventful for me. Draigos unit, having pretty much escaped unharmed, advanced toward the Plasma Vets that had failed to do anything last turn. The Land Raider, the Dreadnought and the Stormraven that were all stunned each made their Fortitude tests and acted normally. The Land Raider pivoted slightly to bring the Melta Vets in line for a Flamestorm shot, and also got a Vendetta in Line of Sight of its Assault Cannon. The Razorback that had lost its unit backed up behind cover, and the Stormraven flew behind the Leman Russ unit. The Strike Squad inside disembarked and prepared to shoot/assault. In a fit of stupidity, I decided to try Tank Shocking the Melta Vets on my left flank with a Rhino, but they blew it up with a Meltagun and took no casualties from the explosion. The Dreadnoughts stood in place and pivoted for better view. For shooting, Draigos unit managed to immobilize the Plasma Vets Chimera and knock both weapons off, but failed to destroy it. The Land Raider killed off all but two of the Melta Vets that had dared to shoot at it last turn, and the Assault Cannon stunned the Vendetta nearby. The Razorback fired its Heavy Bolter at the other Plasma Vets Chimera but failed to connect, and the Dreadnoughts both fired at the Vendettas on either flank and immobilized both of them. Between the Stormraven and the Strike Squad I managed to knock the turret off one of the Leman Russes and stun another (which was reduced to shaken per the Squadron rules). In assault, Draigos unit charged the Plasma Vets Chimera, the Demolisher AND the fleeing Melta Vets who were all clustered near eachother. The Hammer was on the Demolisher, and the Vets passed their save for being assaulted while fleeing. I managed to knock the turret off the Demolisher, immobilize and stun it, as well as blow up the Vets Chimera, but I whiffed with all of my attacks against the Melta Vets. The Vets inside the exploded Chimera failed their pinning test and took three casualties. As a result, Draigos unit caused significant damage, but was locked in combat for my opponents turn! On the other end of the table, my Strike Squad assaulted the Leman Russ unit and continued to annoy them causing no significant damage.

Imperial Guard - My opponent had taken some pretty severe casualties this turn, and so was unable to do much of any value. He moved the Melta Vets on my left toward the Dreadnought who had immobilized their Vendetta, and disembarked the remaining unit from the other immobilized Vendetta, spreading out and taking position in a clearing to minimize potential damage from my Flamestorm Cannon. He attempted to move the Leman Russ unit away from my Strike Squad but the Leman Russ with no turret Immobilized itself (thus destroying itself) on a rocky hill and giving my Strike Squad cover from the other two. The remaining Plasma Ves stood still on their hilltop perch, and the rest of his army was either stunned or immobilized. In the shooting phase, the Melta Vets and the Vendetta on my left fired at the Dreadnought in front of them, immobilizing it and knocking off both weapons, but not destroying it. The other immobilized Vendetta immobilized the other Dreadnought (Karma's a bitch I suppose), and the Leman Russ unit killed a few members of my last Strike Squad. The Command unit fired their Autocannon at the Stormraven and immobilized it, and their Chimera whiffed with everything against my Strike Squad (1 hit from the Multi-Laser and no hits from the Heavy Bolter, and the hit failed to wound). In assault, Draigos unit smashed the two remaining Melta Vets that kept them safe from fire this turn and consolidated toward the other unit.

Grey Knights - 3
Imperial Guard - 3

Turn 3
Grey Knights - Draigo's unit moved toward the spread out Melta Vets and the stunned Vendetta, the Land Raider advanced on the pinned Plasma Vets, and the Strike Squad continued to advance on the Leman Russ unit who were backing away in terror. On my shooting phase the Land Raider wounded all 7 survivors of the Plasma Vets unit and earned me another Kill Point, and the Immobilized Dreadnought that still had guns blew up the Vendetta on my right flank. The immobilized Stormraven proved that he was down but not out, and with a spectacular round of shooting took out the command Chimera with his Assault Cannon, and knocked another turret off a Leman Russ with his Multi-Melta. The resulting explosion killed off both Grenade Launchers in the command unit and wounded the Autocannon team and the Company Commander. The Heavy Bolter from the Razorback continued to whiff against the remaining Plasma Vets Chimera, and Draigo's unit opted not to shoot for fear of not having a target in assault. On my assault phase, Draigo and his unit charged both the Melta Vets and the stunned Vendetta. and while they wiped out the Melta Vets without any trouble, three auto-hitting auto-penning Hammer hits managed to only stun the Vendetta. I opted not to consolidate to keep the Hammer in contact with the Vendetta. The Strike Squad assaulted the Leman Russ unit and blew up the one with no turret, leaving the other unharmed.

Imperial Guard - The Plasma Vets stood their ground with Draigos unit now easily in range and out of cover. The remaining Melta Vets got within Melta range of the Dreadnought, and the Command unit, having passed morale, stood its ground and took aim at the Stormraven. The remaining Leman Russ backed away from the Strilke Squad. In the shooting phase, the Plasma Vets wounded Draigo and two of the Paladins but failed to cause any real damage. The Command unit stunned the Stormraven, and the Melta Vets took out my Dreadnought. The Heavy Bolter on the surviving immobilized Demolisher failed to cause any additional damage to Draigos unit, and a few Lascannons stunned my Land Raider. The remaining Leman Russ did manage to kill off the remaining members of my last Strike Squad with a little help from the immobilized Vendetta in my backfield. In assault, the Hammer in Draigos unit finally wrecked the Vendetta.

Grey Knights - 8
Imperial Guard - 5

Turn 4
Grey Knights - With a commanding lead, I started to take a few risks. I rushed the Melta Vets with my Land Raider and Razorback, and moved Draigos unit up in front of the Plasma Vets. In the shooting phase, Draigos unit took out the Chimera, and the Stormraven took out the Command unit and stunned the Leman Russ. A Flamestorm shot killed off four members of the surviving Melta Vets unit, and the Heavy Bolter on my Razorback took out another two. Draigo's unit assaulted the Plasma Vets and wiped them out with no trouble.

Imperial Guard - In a desperate attempt to even things up a bit, the Melta Vets passed morale and advanced on my Land Raider. Having nothing else to move, my opponent wrecked the Land Raider with an excellent round of Melta fire, and the surviving Vendetta took out the Razorback. Nothing else could fire due to immobility or being stunned.

Grey Knights - 11
Imperial Guard - 7

Turn 5
Grey Knights - Having secured victory unless my opponent could table me, I started playing a bit more conservatively. Draigos unit advanced on the Demolisher, which was the easiest kill point and offered me a protected position against Battle Cannon fire. In the shooting phase, they failed to deal any damage to it, and the Stormraven failed to damage the Leman Russ in front of it. In Assault Draigos unit took out the Demolisher and my turn ended.

Imperial Guard - My opponent continued to advance his Melta Vets, this time toward the surviving Dreadnought who was immobilized with no targets in Line of Sight. The Leman Russ, now able to move, advanced toward the Stormraven. The Battlecannon shot stunned the Stormraven and the Melta Vets, who were out of melta range, failed to harm the Dreadnought.

Grey Knights - 12
Imperial Guard 7
Rolled a 3 and got a 6th turn

Turn 6
Grey Knights - Draigo's unit moved toward the center of the board and into cover. In the shooting phase they shook the Leman Russ but did nothing else. The Stormraven passed Fortitude but failed to do anything useful.

Imperial Guard - The Melta Vets moved into Melta range of the Dreadnought, and the Leman Russ attempted to ram the Stormraven, but instead immobilized itself on a piece of terrain. For shooting, the Vets knocked both guns off the Dreadnought but seemed unable to do anything else despite being in it's rear with 3 Meltaguns. The Vendetta fired at Draigos unit who were now in Line of Sight, and killed one Paladin. My opponent considered this a personal victory!

Grey Knights - 12
Imperial Guard - 7
Rolled a 5 and got a 7th turn (WHEN WILL IT END!?!?)

Turn 7
Grey Knights - Draigos unit moved in range of the Mleta vets. On the shooting phase, they wiped the Melta Vets out with a spectacular round of Psycannon and Stormbolter fire, putting an end to the undisputed MVP's of my opponents army. The Stormraven fired at the Leman Russ and failed to do anything......AGAIN!

Imperial Guard - My opponent fired the Battle Cannon from his Leman Russ at the Stormraven but missed, and with nothing else in Line of Sight the game ended.

Final score
Grey Knights - 13
Imperial Guard - 7

In reality the game could have been called much earlier than it had. I only had 11 Kill Points in my army, so unless my opponent had a way to take out Draigo and his Paladins he would not have been able to win, but out of sportsmanship I gave him the opportunity to try.

Overall I think my list performed much better than expected. I don't usually take Stormravens, but my though with this list was to minimize the fire it would draw by putting Draigo and his Paladins in a Land Raider and rushing them forward. As it turns out this worked quite well. My opponent was forced to choose between some tough targets. The poor rolling on the first turn undoubtedly helped me a lot more than my opponent, as it allowed me to stay in position and cause significant damage on my second turn. In reality, after turn 2 I had pretty well crippled my opponent. Most of his force was shaken or stunned and he had almost no reprisals to speak of, allowing my to basically move uncontested and rack up kill points on turn 3. The one particular unit of melta Vets on my left flank should get an honorable mention though, considering four of his seven kill points were earned with that unit alone. The full Strike Squad and their Rhino, as well as a Dreadnought and a Land Raider all fell to them, and they would have gotten another Dreadnought if it weren't for poor rolls on the Penetration table.

All in all it was a very enjoyable game. Thanks for reading!

Good Batrep, GK have a huge upper hand vs IG on kill points. The fact that Draigo and Paladins were able to weather all that melta fire was kind of spectacular, which makes me wonder about his target priority.

How effective did you find your paladin's loadout to be? I'm always curious about wargear assignments; It feels like halberds with an MC hammer is the best choice, but swords granting the +1 invul save in CC doesn't exactly seem like a bad idea.

Also, 10 man strike squad vs. 5 man paladin squad - were you happy with the choice to run full Strike squads, or did you find yourself wishing for more paladins? My contention is that the only reason to run draigo is to field paladins as troop choices in order to free up elite slots for cool stuff like assassins, techmarines with orbital relays, or more dreadnoughts..

I rarely get to battle IG, most of my battles are against drop pod armies, so I always combat squad my strikes and saturate the board with warpquake... without having to worry about enemy deep strikes, I feel like I'd be wishing that those strikers were interceptors or paladins.

Also, I haven't bit the bullet and shelled out the cash for a stormraven yet. StormRaven vs. LandRaider, which were you more happy to have on your side, luck aside.

I ran the Paladins as a melee hammer, but they really would be interchangeable with Purifiers in the same list. If I did that I would take a standard Grandmaster with Rad Grenades instead of Draigo. The point of taking Draigo was twofold. First to make the Paladins troop choices, and second to act as a tank for them. He can eat melta fire all day and not die, so he absorbs shots that would otherwise be instant death to a regular Grandmaster or a Paladin.

I like the Stormraven only if its not carrying a high priority target. Its got decent firepower and mobility, but low armor for such an expensive vehicle. Fortitude helps, but if its carrying Paladins or Purifiers, it draws too much fire to survive. In this list, Draigo and his Paladins draw a lot of fire away from the Stormraven.

I dont like all Paladin lists to be honest, so I decided to take one unit along with a mech assault list and it worked relatively well. Im also building a Crowe Purifier list at 1,500 and 2,000 points that will use a similar composiion, but replace everything with Purifiers. I'm a little worried about the Stormraven carrying such a huge target, but it might work. The 1,500 list doesnt include the Stormraven and it works quite well, so Im anxious to test it at 2,000.

How did you feel paladins performed next to purifiers then?
Well done and great report btw!

Bede.

I think Paladins and Purifiers are interchangeable to be honest. Technically in combat they have almost the same potential with Purifiers coming out slightly on top, but the Paladins are a bit more durable except against Power Weapons and Instant Death weapons. Usually the Purifiers can take on tougher targets and murder them before they get to attack. The problem is that the Purifiers will often get shot to hell right afterward while the Paladins survive better at range, especially with Draigo to take those nasty S8+ AP2- shots.

It comes down to a matter of preference to be honest. I've run Purifiers and I've run Paladins, and both list styles work well, but I cannot see taking them together. If I were to take Purifiers, I would run Crowe and take ALL Purifiers. In fact, I have a 2k list with a similar design except it uses Crowe and about 32 Purifiers.

Crowe - 150
10 Purifiers (4x Psycannon, 5x Halberd, MC Hammer, Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo) - 350
10 Purifiers (4x Psycannon, 5x Halberd, MC Hammer) - 300
6 Purifiers (2x Psycannon, 3x Halberd, MC Hammer, Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo) - 230
6 Purifiers (2x Psycannon, 3x Halberd, MC Hammer, Razorback w/ Psybolt Ammo) - 230
Stormraven (TL Assault Cannon, TL Multi-Melta) - 205
Land Raider (Multi-Melta) - 265
Dreadnought (2x TL Autocannon, Psybolt Ammo) - 135
Dreadnought (2x TL Autocannon, Psybolt Ammo) - 135
Total 2,000

Same general vehicle composition but it has an extra Razorback and a Godhammer instead of a Redeemer. The 10 man units run in the Land Raider and the Stormraven, and on the first turn Crowe hops in the extra Razorback attached to the first unit.

I'll see about giving this a shot next week and writing a new report.

Don't let him touch those MC hammers though.

Oh he can't touch them.

Good report. GK can be a really tough army to play against,

As being a GK noob and who knows nothing about the new GK Codex (since none of my friends play them and I have no desire to play against them.) Are strike squads regular GK troops, and if so, do they get any sort of extra protection like invul saves, since a 200+ point troops choices seems rather expensive to go without protection. Just curious and a great battle report!

Yes, they are basic troops and no, they don't get anything to protect them from battlecannons. They are exactly as killable as any other space marine.
However, they all have power weapons and stormbolters and get access to the best Special/Heavy troop weapon there is (the psycannon). They also get to strike at Str 5, or cause things deepstriking within range to mishap.

So, while being just as vulnerable, they are substantially more killy and give other options to help the army. Whether that is worth 5 more points per model is another subject. Also, for the record, most vanilla marines bring their troop choices (Tactical Squads) up over 200 points each as well.

You knew it had to be done. . .

+1 puma713, when I was reading through the GK list I was thinking the exact same thing.