A good friend asked me to write an article analyzing the main strengths and weaknesses of GKT, Paladins and Purifiers. I would like to preface this article by saying my opinion now stands that if you want to play a terminator themed GK army the best way to go is with GKT as your basic troops and one squad of five tooled up Paladins including the Brotherhood Banner to act as a retinue for your Grand Master and Librarian.
- NOTE ON ANCROYMNS -
OTM = On the Move
OTC = On the Charge
Introduction
I decided to choose my squads for this exercise in analysis based upon points per squad. That is each of the three squads presented here cost roughly the same number of points. I like this approach the best since it shows you how each unit will perform overall in a realistic sense of an actual game. Note though that the five man squad of GKT weighs in at roughly 100 points less than the other two squads - this is how I play them... If i wanted to increase their overall size I would simply double the exact squad and break them into two identical combat squads. They would then weigh in at roughly 100 more points than the Paladins (5 man squad) or Purifiers (10 man squad).
As a counter example sure I could list the many many advantages of a 10 man squad of Paladins equipped with four psycannons, all weapons master crafted to the nth degree plus fully complex for wound allocations, a Standard Bearer and an Apothecary but that unit roughly fills a very large chunk of a 2000 point army - so of course it's going to perform a whole heck of a lot better... that should be obvious to everyone !!!
Grey Knight Terminators
Justicar - halberd & stormbolter
Terminator #1 - halberd & stormbolter
Terminator #2 - halberd & stormbolter
Terminator #3 - halberd & psycannon
Terminator #4 - daemonhammer & stormbolter
Psybolt Ammo
> Shooting at full strength OTM - 4x S7 AP4 rending & 8x S5 AP5
> Attacks in melee OTC (Hammerhand activated) - 12x I6 S5 force weapons & 3x S10 force weapons
Cost = 245
Advantages
• Troop choice (no special character or Grand Strategy required)
• Cheapest unit
• Same ballistic skill as Paladins
• Daemonhammers and halberds are free
• Deep Strike
• Relentless
• Invulnerable save
Paladins
Paladin #1 - halberd & psycannon
Paladin #2 - master crafted halberd & psycannon
Paladin #3 - daemonhammer & stormbolter
Paladin #4 - warding stave & stormbolter
Standard Bearer - Brotherhood Banner & stormbolter
Psybolt Ammo
> Shooting at full strength OTM - 8x S7 AP4 rending & 6x S5 AP5
> Attacks in melee OTC (Hammerhand activated) - WS5 8x I6 S5 force weapons, 4x I4 S5 force weapons & 4x S10 force weapons + 4x S5
> The Paladins will inflict more wounds in melee overall as compared to the GKT due to their higher number attacks (Brotherhood Banner) and intrinsic WS5 - and of course if a Grand Master and|or Librarian is attached then they go way over the top... More attacks plus if you field a generic Grand Master you can take psykotropic and rad grenades - it's really crazy
> This is the only unit to include a warding stave (i.e., 2++ in melee)
Cost = 360
Advantages
• 2 wounds/model
• Fully Complex
• WS5
• Daemonhammers and halberds are free
• Deep Strike
• Relentless
• Invulnerable save
Purifiers
Knight of the Flame - halberd & stormbolter
Purfier #1 - halberd & stormbolter
Purifier #2 - halberd & stormbolter
Purifier #3 - halberd & stormbolter
Purifier #4 - halberd & stormbolter
Purifier #5 - halberd & stormbolter
Purifier #6 - daemonhammer & stormbolter
Purifier #7 - daemonhammer & stormbolter
Purifier #8 - psycannon
Purifier #9 - psycannon
Psybolt Ammo
Rhino
> Shooting at full strength OTM - 4x S7 AP4 rending & 16x S5 AP5
> Attacks in melee OTC (Hammerhand activated) - 18x I6 S5 force weapons & 6x S10 force weapons + 6x S5
Note - You can forgo the use of Hammerhand in favor of Cleansing Flame such as if you're fighting horde (Nids or Orks predominantly)
> They will inflict more wounds in melee overall as compared to the GKT and Paladins due to their sheer volume of basic attacks - of course that is assuming you've still got a full squad by the time they are in position to engage in melee
Cost = 342
Advantages
• Can be broken into combat squads
• Highest volume of attacks total for both shooting & melee
• Same ballistic skill as Paladins
• Rhino included
• Fearless
• Cleansing Flame
Advantages of the Three Squads versus Each Other
• Both the GKT and Paladins are Relentless. OTM Paladins can lay down the most psycannon shots while the GKT can lay down as many shots as the Purifiers.
• The Purifiers can lay down the most stormbolter shots and when combined with Psybolt Ammo this can be quite punishing depending upon their target... The Purfiers will lay waste to units such as gaunts and guardsmen plus the stormbolters can penetrate AV10 and glance AV11.
• Versus small arms fire the Paladins are the most durable - taking into account the number of all overall wounds and an invulnerable save (more on the value of an invulnerable save below).
Which is the Best Unit
My top choice are the GKT. They are an intrinsic troop choice, cost the least amount of points and have an invulnerable save. I've played my share of large scale games (5000+ points) and something that's always caught my attention is that a unit with an invulnerable save tends to last the longest. Couple that with a 2+ armor save and you have a hardened unit. The Purifiers are my second choice - they can inflict the most damage as a whole and if split into combat squads they are still quite punishing. The Paladins are my favorite unit but fielded as such they provide a more dedicated role and as such are not as versatile... For example you definitely don't want to use them as a throw away unit and you should be more careful how you deploy the Paladins. On the other hand you can deep strike the GKT behind most vehicles or a walker and stand a good chance of popping it.
Conclusions
If you decide to field a deathstar unit consisting of 10 Paladins they are hands the best but it obviously eats up a lot more points from your army list as a whole. I think most players are not going to be that comfortable fielding a unit of 10 Paladins and there are plenty of good reasons not to do so for many of the reasons already presented. I also think that GKT are presently very underrated - mine have always done amazing things for me.
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