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These are NFW and are an upgrade to any GK unit. They cost 10ppm.

In addition to being NFW, any unit that charges them takes D6 Str 4 AP 2 hits with the Daemonbane rule. Cavalry and Beasts take D6+3 Str 6 AP 2 Daemonbane hits. Thsesd attacks are conducted before any attacks are made, and though may be affected by bonuses such as Hammerhand and Might of Titan. A model armed with a Pike may attack from 3" away from a model in B2B rather than 2".


However, NF Pikes are unwieldy so they always strike at Int 2, except when negative m odifiers come in. Quciksilver only increases their Int by 1, so Int 3. Furthermore, they may not be master craftedd, and 1 successful roll to hit per turn must be rerolled.

Seems overly complicated.

How about making them a NFW that causes D3 Str4 Nemisis Force Weapon hits in the first round of combat before any other blows are struck in combat. They give up their normal CC attacks to do this.

They can choose to simply have a NFW in CC, OR they can inflict D3 Str4 Force Weapon hits, but only when they charged or were charged themselves.

I like that, though I would keep the int penalty, amybe at -1 Int? Tjhis is because pikes are absolutely massive and aren't suitated to CC. I also want bonuses against beast or Cavalry as these are what pikes were designed to stop. Big Horses smashing into your front lines, so the take big massive spears arnd they impale anything big enough or fast enough, ie Calvaklry, to run into them.

If cavelry and beasts were common I would say yes, but as it is they arn't super common. and it would kinda be silly for the same penelty to apply to Rough Riders as the one being applied to charging Scarabs.


Pikemen historically carried a side arm to be used once the pikes were breeched, although getting slapped on your neck with a pike staff is more then enough to break bones.

Maybe not apply to Swarms as they can fit between the spikes?

Because GK need more counter assault capability and high initiative force weapon attacks...

Last book that needs a buff: GK

Thumbs down, IMO

Don't be like that. its just for a bit of difference to from Halberd/hammer spam.

Deadshot wrote:Don't be like that. its just for a bit of difference to from Halberd/hammer spam.

Then use the other 30 options for NFW in the book. I agree with Cottonjaw, no need.

This isn't just fanboyish OPing. This is because, amonst all the medieval weapons, the one they are missing is the pike. In fact, the Halberd looks to be ore of a pike.

kinda, the halberds +2I reasoning is it allows the Gks to strike their opponents faster.

Pikes really don't fit in with Warhammer 40k, they belong in Fantesy(and are sadly currently absent from there too)

Yeah, and from looking at it, that seems stupid.

I love oikes. I love the seen in Return of the King where the Rohan guys charge the giant horde of Orcs. Then smash through.

Breaking a Pike wall brings a smile to my face, and so does stopping a charge.

And if someone tells me to go play WotR....

Well, the orcs weren't exactly armed with pikes. I would even hesitate to call them spears, they weren't much longer then 3-4 feet in total and only projected maybe a foot beyond the grip. a sword would have a greater reach.

Uruk-hai, now those guys had Pikes...

Pikes are deadly. I'll masybe rework it.



When a unit charges a unit armed with Pikes, each pike in the unit immediatly makes 1 Attack at Str=to the wielder ( use majority Str), AP 2. Thses attacks are resolved first, before any other attacks are made. These attacks have the Daemonbane rule and are NFW. If a Cavalry or Beast unti is the victim then it is D3, attacks per pike at +1 Str. Note that swarms cannot be affected.

Thses attacks may not be used if the unit is already in combat from a pervious turn.

However, a unit that uses these may not attack in CC that turn.

After the intial assault, they may attack, though they may not activate their Force weapons, and their attacks do not ignore Armour saves. They can't get the blades around.

The hallys already let you stop a charge. Even a squad of Blood Angels are only I5 on the charge. You don't need d3 additional attacks, per model wielding this opfest, to ensure that no squad can ever attempt a charge at a GK squad. At this point, you'd have 2 or 3 sets of D3 attacks, then the I6 Hallys, Then finally, whatever models happen to have the good fortune of begging their way to please... please Mr. Grey KNight... may we please attack with our USR boosted charge ability?

Come off it man. It's OP.

What if the whole squad had to take it?

Then you are solving halberd/hammer spam by making pike spam? Isn't that the opposite of what you set out to do?

Uh..no. I am a big fan of Halberd/Hammer spam, but I am sick of seeing it. I feel that the NFW options are too aggressive. Even Warding Staves. They protect an apothecary sio that his squad can kill for longer.

Swords mean that the squads now have a greater chance of survival, so can be bolder.

Hammers, Halberds, Falchions, greaswords and Doomfists are all very agrressive. I just want rthis defensive option.

Deadshot wrote:Uh..no. I am a big fan of Halberd/Hammer spam, but I am sick of seeing it. I feel that the NFW options are too aggressive. Even Warding Staves. They protect an apothecary sio that his squad can kill for longer.

Swords mean that the squads now have a greater chance of survival, so can be bolder.

Hammers, Halberds, Falchions, greaswords and Doomfists are all very agrressive. I just want rthis defensive option.

Perhaps a defensive option should focus on ... defense? Your pikes rules aren't defensive, they are offensive (seriously, auto-hitting NFW that strike even before initiative 10?).

Icy has a good point. If they robbed the opponent of an attack for each attack the GK has (and the GK can't attack in combat). Attacks which are lost are chosen by the owning player (so you can't choose to deny his PW attacks) showing the enemy pushing the crappy dudes forwards into the pikes before darting around.

Thats a more defensive rule.

The only suggestion I have, if you're dead set on having a pike, in the simplest interpretation: Have them count as s8, I6, (two handed), and a model armed with a pike may never make more than 1 attack.

I think the current approach taken to implement the idea of a Nemesis Pike is currently flawed. Rulewise it’s a bit overly complicated and the ideas I’ve seen so far are somewhat prone to abuse. I suggest avoiding auto hit mechanics if you choose to do an additional revision.

Since the general idea is to inflict additional attacks on a charging enemy unit, why not simply make pikes a “standard Nemesis weapon” confer the “counter attack” USR? See my suggested wording below:



Nemesis Force Pike: A Nemesis force pike is a large specialised weapon that allows a Grey Knight to initiate a deadly defensive manoeuvre against charging enemy hordes. A Nemesis Force Pike is a “standard Nemesis force weapon” that confers the “counter attack” USR on the wielder. Any unit that is able to take a Nemesis Force Halberd may swap it for a Force Pike for free.



Counter attack ensures the pike has a purely defensive role (against offensive CC units). Also by classifying pikes as a “standard Nemesis weapon”, it makes it slower than a halberd, less offensive (but faster) than a hammer and less defensive than a nemesis sword therefore giving the pike a niche role (that should make players think twice when choosing their gear loadout).

I worded the above entry as replacing halberds for free due to the fact that nemesis weapons vary in costs among different units therefore making it very hard to give a blanket 5-20pt cost for the entire codex. Power wise it is the same as a halberd, therefore I decided to cost it the same.

Considering the general idea is to create a defensive “pike themed weapon” that neither overshadows existing weaponry nor is prone to spam, I think my idea fulfils this well.

While I like your idea very much, I would have to test out the Counter Attack. if they wanted Counter Attack, thery could get a Halberd or Hammer (again!) and get Grand Stratagy.

But I like your idea.

I was trying to show how Pikes were designed and useful for stopping cavalry charges and equally effective against infantry.

Deadshot wrote:While I like your idea very much, I would have to test out the Counter Attack. if they wanted Counter Attack, thery could get a Halberd or Hammer (again!) and get Grand Stratagy.

But I like your idea.

I was trying to show how Pikes were designed and useful for stopping cavalry charges and equally effective against infantry.

You've run into the problem. They already have everything. How can you give them anything?!