Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi guys,

With Christmas just around the corner, my little brother has expressed an interest in Grey Knights. I am 24, and my little brother is 11. I have a large ork army (circa 7k) but have not played in 6 years or so.

I am looking for some advice concerning what best to get him? As a joint gift between my dad and myself.

I am of the school of thought that he should start small to medium-sized units, in a similar way to the old force organisation charts, so he can play games and enjoy the game for it is, a game, before moving onto super-heavies and the like. This is as much to give him a project which he can take satisfaction from working on, and keeping off the Xbox! All of the aforementioned is going on my own experiences in the UK, where i spent a lot of time in Games Workshop.

My initial list is made up of the following:

The Codex
GK Strike Squad
GK Terminator Squad
Nemesis Dread Knight

He also has the Primaris Marines from the starter box set, from his birthday.

As i have not played recently i am not too familiar with the allies chart ,and how this might impact what else might be worth getting for him? i.e Grey Knights are quite elite, so maybe some imperial guard to vary the unit and model types? I am keen to get back into 40k now that he is interested, and would like to play games with him, so it is important that whatever we get him contributes to this.

I am very much open to all suggestions.

Any advice would be greatly received!

Thanks in advance,

JP

Point of order: Grey Knights are very hard to play in 8th edition. It's not the one I'd start someone new on, wins would be elusive.

A good starter GK army would consist of:

- Draigo
- 2 Strike Squad boxes (encourage him to model one as Interceptors)
- 2 Razorbacks

The logic here:

- The Terminator / Paladin choices for the army are very limited in offense and cost a lot of points. They are a hindrance in most armies.

- A (Grandmaster) Nemesis Dreadknight can be good, but not so much in small games. He needs some support.

- Draigo is a close combat beast who buffs the units around him.

- Grey Knights lack mobility. Putting a split Strike Squad in Razorbacks along with an Interceptor squad to teleport across the table addresses that problem.

While Grey Knights look super cool and everything, he's guaranteed to lose every game he plays with them. If he likes the models, grab them for sure as a gift, but consider playing them as Counts-as Custodes or Thousand Sons instead of Grey Knight rules.

 BaconCatBug wrote:
While Grey Knights look super cool and everything, he's guaranteed to lose every game he plays with them. If he likes the models, grab them for sure as a gift, but consider playing them as Counts-as Custodes or Thousand Sons instead of Grey Knight rules.

There is no guarantee a Grey Knights player will lose.

I have a solid 33% win rate with Grey Knights over the course of 26 games. Several of those wins were against other Grey Knight players.

Your brother would probably average about half that after getting the hang of his army.

 BaconCatBug wrote:
While Grey Knights look super cool and everything, he's guaranteed to lose every game he plays with them. If he likes the models, grab them for sure as a gift, but consider playing them as Counts-as Custodes or Thousand Sons instead of Grey Knight rules.

It would be more accurate to say "playing Grey Knights in a hyper competitive setting you will probably lose every game" (and even then, the dice still play a factor)

If he plays he's brother who's half his age and just starting out with the intent to crush him with no consideration, then he'll probably lose regardless what army he picks.

Rules come and go, my advice is to always pick the army you like the aesthetics and lore of and something you will enjoy building and painting and ultimately playing with on the tabletop.

Jpworld wrote:

The Codex
GK Strike Squad
GK Terminator Squad
Nemesis Dread Knight

I'd add Draigo & 1 razorback to that list.
As well as a pack of GK data cards - these have all the psychic powers, objectives, & stratagems. They aren't mandatory as everthing is in the books, but they're very handy in avoiding lots of page flipping/dice rolling.

I also agree with modeling 1/2 that strike squad as Interceptors - infact for those I'd help him magnetize their packs (both regular & teleporters) . That way he can have +5 Strikes or +5 Interceptors as he desires.

If you don't permanently attach the Razorback turret it can be either a Razorback or a Rhino as desired. And it can be upgraded later with a Predator turret pretty cheaply by browsing Ebay for the right spue.

Once you start playing? GK are really expensive pts wise. Fortunately you don't HAVE to play with pts. You can do "Power Levels" (see rules), or just pit x # of GK units vrs x # of ork units.

NurglesR0T wrote:

Rules come and go, my advice is to always pick the army you like the aesthetics and lore of and something you will enjoy building and painting and ultimately playing with on the tabletop.

Preach.

At 11 years old I doubt the competitive meta is even a blip on the radar! So go all out with the Grey Knights!

Keep it simple and keep it pure for now then all the rules are in the codex. Plus you've got the Nemesis Dread Knight which is probably a must have, if not rules wise then certainly visually. It's one of the icons of the range and thus likely high on the list of influences that has inspired him to play the Grey Knights.