Grey Knights 7th Edition • Part 1

I think Grey Knights are still one of the top armies if played right. I have played them since fourth edition when they were not considered competitive. Grey Knights did not get a new codex that is over the top like eldar, Necrons or Space Marines but they have all the tools to win big. It is hard for a lot of veteran players to make the transition to the new edition but multi factions is part of the game now. The year I made it to the Ard Boyz finals playing the PDF Blood Angels I had Grey Knights as an ally. Nowadays Grey Knights with another faction bring it to the table and they pair very well with Space Marines. Grey Knights are one of the top psychic armies on the same level as daemons and eldar. This article is my advice how to optimize Grey Knights for the current meta in seventh edition.

Warp Charge
Grey Knights can generate lots of warp charge and the psychic phase is a big part of the game. Armies such as Necrons and Tau have access to zero warp charge so right off the bat that's a huge advantage. Based on my experience the following units are your best choices to field:

— Lord Khaldor Draigo (level 2 psychic mastery) /Lord of War
— Librarian (level 3 psychic mastery) /HQ
— Strike Squad (level 1 psychic mastery) /Troops
— Purifiers (level 2 psychic mastery)/ Elites

These are your four go to units.

Purifiers
Note that taking a full squad of Purifiers and breaking them into two combat squads automatically generates four warp charges. Purifiers are often overlooked because the general consensus is they die just like any other Space Marine but on the flip side they are amazing in terms of offense. Cleansing Flame (nova) is hands down one of the best psychic powers from the Santic lore and they come with it built in. Purifiers are the best Space Marines unit in power armor and I'll take them every time over Grey Knight terminators. The Stormraven is the perfect transport for Purifiers delivering them right where you need them most. Grey Knights need synergy to win so it's all about creating all the right combinations.

I take one full squad. The Keeper of the Flame is armed with a Nemesis Daemonhammer. I field one Purifier with another Nemesis Daemonhammer and then two psycannons. They are good at both shooting and assault. Besides Cleansing Flame their next go to psychic power is Hammerhand... They can bring down Wraithknights in melee.

Draigo
I really hated it when it was envogue for the oldhammer TOs to ban all Lords of War. The good news is Lords of War are much more accepted now. Draigo is still a major beatstick right up there at the top and can easily drop a Wraithknight in the first round of melee... That's quite significant. He is still one of the ultimate tanks as well - especially when Sanctuary is up for the 2+ invulnerable save. His main psychic power is Gate of Infinity but his Warlord Trait lets him cast Banishment on a 2+ with is great versus daemons which are one of the top armies.

Librarian
I arm mine with a Nemesis Daemonhammer, stormbolter and Liber Daemonica. The Librarian gives you access to the Divination Lore - you want Prescience which is automatic since it's the Primaris, Perfect Timing and Misfortune. WS5 with the Daemonhammer, Hammerhand and Force are another great combo for dropping Wraightknights. The main reason I take the Liber Daemonica is that the unit he is attached can reroll 1s when casting Santic which can be clutch to make sure Gate of Infinity goes off when you need it most. Level 3 psychic mastery is also huge pumping up your pool of warp charge.

Strike Squad
This is your one mandatory troop choice for fielding the Nemesis Strike Force detachment. I deep strike mine and try to keep them alive to make the late game objective grabs.

Chart for creating battle forged armies

This chart is from Adam over on the The Dice Abide:

It's a very helpful tool ! Thanks Adam.

Another Black December ?

Well it's that time of the year again... Last December GW rocked us with the release of Escalation and Stronghold Assault throwing them both out there to see if it'd stick when it hit the proverbial wall. This set out a siesmic ripple that hit competitive 40k hard... How dare they expect us to allow things like AV15 bunkers, ranged D weapons in the form of the Trans C'Tan and Revenant Titan ? All the nuts then came out of the wood work telling us how the game should be played - no Battle Brothers, more nerfs to psychic powers, etc. As the batreps poured out on the Internet demonstrating how unfun it is to play against things like the Trans C'Tan 40k seemed to be on the ropes. Finally almost half a year later GW releases 7th edition to put it all back together.

Honestly I like 7th edition and even though it's a maintenance version it did fix a lot of the problems with 6th edition - challenges are no longer a total FU to assault armies, no more precision shots for characters, no more 2++ cover saves for going to ground in area terrain, no more focus fire and a toning down of the psychic phase to name a few of the fixes.

Really though GW put the wagon ahead of the cart by releasing Escalation and Stronghold Assault ahead of the new edition. Hopefully this December there will be no big surprise that shakes up our gaming world again. Things seem to finally be back on track... We don't need another tsunami. Here's to hoping.

Army List Construction Rules for 7th Edition

New Ally Matrix

Battle Brothers -
• Eldar/DE
• Chaos/Daemons
• All Imperium

All others are convenience, desperate or apocalypse.

Daemonology Table

Hey guys I don't understand the value of the new demonology psychic power Sacrifice. The Primaris power and Cursed Earth are both really good. I know people are raging over Possession but with Riptides and Wraithknights is it really that great? It could be a game winner but I like the other two more for their overall benefits. Maybe if Biomancy gets tanked this is something consoling.