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I'm starting to pick up some Grey Knights, and so far I've assembled a single 10 man strike squad. I'm curious though, how good are the strike squads as troops? I was planning on using them as mobile objective takers/holders by putting them in rhinos and maximizing their shooting with psycannons and psy-ammo. But does that justify using them instead of terminators? I love the fact they can also deep strike, and I like the way the models themselves look. How have you seen them used effectively?

One of the strongest gk builds at the moment seems to be around taking 40-50 strikers so yes, they can be used effectively. All you want is 2 psycannon and psybolt. 4 squads will give 32 S7 and 64 S5 shots a turn. Nothing to sniff at, if you want you can add a hammer to each squad, I like halberds on the justicar for challenges but thats more personal preference.

Edit, for spelling

 tuiman wrote:
One of the strongest gk builds at the moment seems to be around taking 40-50 strikers so yes, they can be used effectively. All you want is 2 psycannon and psybolt. 4 squads will give 32 S8 and 64 S5 shots a turn. Nothing to sniff at, if you want you can add a hammer to each squad, I like halberds on the justicar for challenges but thats more personal preference.

Thanks for the response. Aren't psycannons strength 7 though? I didn't think psybolt ammo affected them.

You are correct. Psycannons are unaffected by psybolt and are str 7.

Strikers are great depending on local meta. You WILL need transports if you face a lot of chaos (1 hellchicken will wreak havoc).

I run the same as tuiman, 10 men, 2 psycannons, psybolt, a halberd on the justicar and maybe a hammer. In a rhino, you can still shoot your cannons and as long as it's not kilpoints, you can kick 5 of them out once you're in 24 inches and keep driving to the objective.

What HQ's would you reccomend for this setup? All I have now is Cortez, since he is only 100 points and can fit in a rhino.

Yep they are S7, spelling mistake haha Coteaz is probably the best Hq in the codex, unless you want to unlock paladins or purifiers then he is one of the best things to take, grand masters are also solid but you would need a plan of who to put him with etc

 tuiman wrote:
Yep they are S7, spelling mistake haha Coteaz is probably the best Hq in the codex, unless you want to unlock paladins or purifiers then he is one of the best things to take, grand masters are also solid but you would need a plan of who to put him with etc

Even if you unlock Paladins or Purifiers, he's still a good choice as the 2nd HQ. He lets you run a few very cheap scoring units to round out the core, and his ability to have his squad shoot is really useful when he's in Purifiers. 16S7 and 12S5 free shots (and D6 S4 shots), at everything that pops up close is awesome.

What is the best way to run him (with what squad and what transport) at lower point games?

I was thinking a 10 man strike squad, combat squadded, leaving 2 psycannons and 3 sword/bolster PAGK with Cortez in a rhino.

For HQ choices you have a couple of good options.


Coteaz

Terminator Inquisitor with Psycannon and Psyker

Grand Master



Coteaz is amazing. LV 2 with a ton of other great stuff. I would argue that he is one of the most cost effective HQ's in all of 40k.


The Terminator inquisitor is great for a unit on foot. He can tank hits in the front on his 2+ and 3 wounds. He gives them divination spells and another relentless psycannon. Probably one of the most cost effective HQ's in the shooting phase, which you do not often see.


The GM is there if you want to write a list that abuses Grand Strategy. Having Scoring interceptors, Knights, or Paladins is pretty powerful.



Since it looks like you are running a mech list of some kind, I might recommend putting Coteaz with a group of purifiers.
They are not scoring but you can take a group of 5-7 of them and still get 2 psycannons to shoot out of the top of a rhino.
With Coteaz re-rolls, purifiers are a significant threat in the assault phase as well.

A think that strike squads work best when they stay as a 10 man unit. Purifiers are still effective in smaller units.

What about running Corteaz with a purgation squad? Or would the Purifiers work better?

what about a staff, 7 halberds and 2x psycannon build?

A 10-man squad of purifers with 4 psycannons costs the same as a 10-man purgation squad with the same loadout, but the purifiers are better at many things (sidenote: you can give them both halberds for almost the same cost). I'd tend to go with purifiers unless you need those elite slots freed up; take a 10-man unit with 4 psycannons and combat squad them out for a melee unit and a shooting unit (attached to coteaz). If you just want the psycannons a 5-man purgation squad will be cheaper, however I can usually find a use for the other 5 purifiers in my list anyway.

I tend to shy away from a staff on 3+ guys, simply because I find that in my case at least they're more likely to die to shooting. But that's very much a matter of personal taste and your meta, it could definitely be useful. But since 25 pts=another psycannon you have to weigh out what that unit will be doing.

Halberds are too expensive on strike squads to make them worthwhile, a halberd-armed purifier is only 1 point more and has an extra attack and cleansing flame.

katfude wrote:
In a rhino, you can still shoot your cannons and as long as it's not kilpoints, you can kick 5 of them out once you're in 24 inches and keep driving to the objective.

I don't think both halves of a combat squaded unit can both go in the same rhino. Please correct me if I'm wrong?

 Awesomesauce wrote:

katfude wrote:
In a rhino, you can still shoot your cannons and as long as it's not kilpoints, you can kick 5 of them out once you're in 24 inches and keep driving to the objective.

I don't think both halves of a combat squaded unit can both go in the same rhino. Please correct me if I'm wrong?

Sorry, but you are wrong. The FAQ said that you can do it, provided the transport capacity allows it.

"You must decide which units are splitting into combat squads,
and which models go into each combat squad, immediately
before deployment. A unit split into combat squads therefore
is now two separate units for all game purposes including
calculating the total number of units in the army, and the
number of units you can place in reserve. Then proceed with
deployment as normal. Note that two combat squads split from
the same unit can embark in the same transport vehicle,
providing its transport capacity allows."

The only limitation to this is for drop pods, which fortunately/unfortunately Grey Knights don't have.

Other than the fact that I prefer a ratio of 1 hammer per 5-models with no halberd needed in a Striker squad, I'm in agreement with the above posters. The big thing Stikers bring to your game is Warp Quake. I find using mine to sit objectives while denying your opponent a quick dash from reserves to contest is pretty decent strategy. And if you just want to be "That Guy", you can cover a standard 6' x 4' table with Warp Quake form just two 10-man squads of PAGK, with a near total denial to an all deep striking opponent.

SJ

What's the reasoning behind no halberds? Are they just too expensive for most people in the strike squads?

If you spend the 5 points on the halberds you're only 1 point cheaper then a purifier with a halberd. So if you really want a squad that is strong in melee with halberds, go with purifiers.

GreyChaos wrote:
If you spend the 5 points on the halberds you're only 1 point cheaper then a purifier with a halberd. So if you really want a squad that is strong in melee with halberds, go with purifiers.

I can see that. But I'd say 20 points for 8 attacks on the charge that will kill marines and even some special characters before they get their swords out of their hilts is a pretty good bargain. Also they look BADASS.

On a slightly related note, I was thinking about putting an extra storm bolter and psyammo on my rhinos. Is it worth the 15 extra points for a little more dakka?

 jetstumpy wrote:
I can see that. But I'd say 20 points for 8 attacks on the charge that will kill marines and even some special characters before they get their swords out of their hilts is a pretty good bargain. Also they look BADASS.

Or for 24 points you get 12 attacks that do the same thing, plus you get fearless and cleansing flame. It's not that strike squads with halberds are bad, it's just that purifiers with halberds are better for the points cost.

 jetstumpy wrote:
On a slightly related note, I was thinking about putting an extra storm bolter and psyammo on my rhinos. Is it worth the 15 extra points for a little more dakka?

Are 2 S5 AP5 shots worth 15 points? Considering that you can get another grey knight for 5 more points, I'd personally say no. But, your mileage may vary on that one.

Something important to consider with grey knights, and that was true even back in the Daemonhunters codex is this: stats-wise, they are space marines. They have alot of cool weapons and can dish out the pain, but they are still T4 with 1 wound and a 3+ save. Keep that in mind when you're upgrading your units.

If you're going to go with strikes, forget about halibreds. I've heard a valid case made for one halibred on your Justicar so that you can better deal with challenges.

Purifiers are a much better choice if you're going all halibreds, though that eats up one of your HQ slots with Crowe if you want them as troops. Strikes should not be fighting in melee.

The extra storm bolter is NOT worth it. You have an army full of storm bolters. You likely don't need one more.

My current setup generally has strike squads, 2 psycannons, psybolt ammo, as troops in rhinos along with a squad of 5 purifiers in a razorback with Coteaz.

Purifiers bail out when it looks like something from reserves might come close, and then they start gunning. Strikes approach the enemy and act as necessary, psycannoning transports until the small arms fire is worth getting out of the rhino.

Okay thanks for all the help guys. Sigh, now it's time to convert my halberd guys to purifiers.