The first Grey Knight ...

Cannot wait to read this one !!!

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.

Narrative Batrep • Grey Knights & Ultramarines vs. Astra Militarum

I'm not going to post the army lists in an attempt to enhance the psychological aspect of this report. If you read my recent posts you'll have a good idea what I play.

The commander stood with his retinue beside the massive hulk of the ancient Shadowsword. He slowly scrolled down through the combat log embedded in his vid. An unknown enemy had been detected in the immediate vicinity following a recent orbital bombardment. Huge smoking craters pocked the hard ground juxtapositioned throughout the toppling ruins. A full company of fresh conscripts lead by the old war priest were close by scrounging through the burning rubble and debris. More tanks rumbled onto the battlegrounds, thick clouds of sooty smoke poured out from their stacks. A large platoon was up front combing through another nearby ruin looking to find a good point to setup the heavy weapon teams. The veterans' chimeras rolled ahead making their way carefully through the broken ground.

"Can you sense anything?" the commander voxed to a sanctioned psyker inside one of the lumbering transports.

"The warp has been disturbed." replied the psyker in a broken voice. "Whatever it is you can bet it's been touched." The vox then went silent.

"Alpha team has spotted something across the valley." came the voice of a sergeant chirping through the vox.

"Acquire immediate target lock and commence ordnance rounds." the commander ordered the Shadowsword tank crew. The ancient behemoth turned in place tearing huge strips of earth from the ground. The Basilisk pivoted behind the super heavy tank as the spotter ranged the Earth Shaker.

"Whatever it was its disappeared now." came the startled voice of the sergeant.

Suddenly the air grew cold and hoarfrost began to coat the ground. There was the distinct sound of heavy weaponry cycling then one of the chimeras exploded as the surprised veterans stumbled out from the burning wreck immediately followed up by the sudden pressure of an intense shock wave blasted out from a confined area behind a ruin engulfing the conscripts closest to it. They instantly disintegrated, their ash spilling to the frozen ground.

"We are under attack!" shouted the sergeant as the conscripts jostled forwarded urged on by the war priest. A small area of open ground was surrounded by the bodies of the young guardsmen but could not be penetrated and the commander watched in silence as those closest to the shimmering patch were smashed apart and cut in twain. The conscripts refused to break though wildly stabbing into the barren emptiness with their sharp bayonets.

"Do something!" ordered the commander to the sanctioned psyker. "Do it now!"

Focusing his mind the wizened adept reached into the madness of the warp silently mouthing the words to a trained spell. Fresh blood poured from both nostrils and his brain felt like it was on fire. There was the briefest moment of calm as the spell was cast harnessing a small portion of the etheric energy. The conscripts seemed to catch fire as tongues of burning warp flame engulfed them then the psyker's head exploded like a ripe melon inside the transport.

Shouting words of encouragement the war priest urged them back into the fight. Still there was nothing to see but the unseen attacks were now blunted by the blanketing warp. Here and there a conscript was torn apart but the attack had lost its intensity for the time being. They scrambled atop of each other as they speared their bayonets into the void over and over again.

"We have sighted a skimmer making its way towards the forward most objective." came the voice of the sergeant over the vox.

"Can you identify its markings?" asked the Imperial commander.

"Negative." replied the sergeant. "The aircraft is shrouded and moving too quickly to identify. It's small though, I can tell you that for now."

"Realign the the target locks and commence ordnance!" came the command.

The Basilisk fired the Earth Shaker cannon in immediate response followed by the Shadowsword. The ground shook hard as the ordnance found its mark exploding across the narrow valley.

"Target breached!" shouted the sergeant.

"Anything left alive?" asked the commander.

"We have detected transhuman life forms but they've holed up in yonder building."

"Platoon Bravo move out and identify!" the commander ordered.

The commander's attention was brought back to the immediate struggle of his young conscripts. The warp flame concealing them sputtered out only to be quickly followed by more carnage from the unseen enemy force they embraced in a death lock. Shouting more battle hymns the war priest sprang into the heart of the fight where the blows were thickest. Another sudden shock wave poured out from the untouchable area consuming all around it as the telekinetic attack instantly pulverized more guardsmen. The conscripts were slowly being rendered to death one by one and the speed of the assault reached a blinding crescendo. The commander spotted a large boot prints covering the immediate ground as the unseen tore through the last few surviving conscripts.

"It's right beside us now!" quivered the segeant's scared voice as the commander watched the war priest drawn and quartered by invisible hands tearing him apart limb from limb. The priest cried out in intense pain then went silent as the shredded remains of savaged body were hurled apart. "It lives amongst." were the last words of the old priest.

"Form up a rank!" barked the commander to his retinue and a close by squad of veterans. "Fire!" Plasma and melta followed by lasgun fire erupted over the short barricade. He watched as the huge boot prints smashed down upon the piles of dead pressing hard. Whatever it was it moved directly towards them at a quick pace.

"Incoming aircraft!" shouted the sergeant. The commander looked up into the dark sky to see a pitch black gunship pummeling down towards the platoon. Shoving his medic aside the commander manned their lone quadgun drawing a quick bead on the enemy flier. It too had no markings to identify its origin. Barking loudly over the immediate battle din the quad barrels fired into the craft, one round finding its mark. Dark flumes of blackened oily smoke poured out from the rent then the flyer opened fire strafing the platoon. Two rocket missiles belched snaking along the ground towards an outflanking devildog. The rockets found their mark exploding the vehicle.

Large transhumans covered in silvered power armor from head to toe dropped down from the flier firing their weapons at the hip into the remainder of the platoon rapidly dispersing the last of them. They all wore bright red helmets. Quickly they moved into the compound housing the objective.

One last time the Shadowsword fired lobbing more ordnance down upon the visible enemy. There was a bright blast vaporizing some of the armored enemy but not all. At the same moment the unseen menace overran the commander and his retinue. Their death was quick and never did they see whom it was that attacked them.

The traitors have been terminated with extreme prejudice. The few survivors will be interrogated then summarily executed for their sins against the Emperor.

DraigoStar vs. Daemons - Round 5 (Part 1) • TempleCon

Here is the daemon army list I faced in the fifth and final round:

Fateweaver /Warlord

Be'lakor

3x Nurgling

10x Pink Horror

20x Seeker of Slaanesh

Daemon Prince - Daemonic Flight - Warp Forged Armor
Psychic Mastery Level 3 (Tzeentch)
2x Daemonic Reward
Exalted Reward - Grimoire

Exalted Seeker Chariot of Slaanesh

Seeker Chariot of Slaanesh

Seeker Chariot of Slaanesh

Soul Grinder (Tzeentch)

Vindicare Assassin

Really light on objective secured units.


Here are the psychic powers I rolled:

Severian Loth (Telepathy)
Psychic Shriek - Dominate - Invisibility - Shrouded

GK Librarian (Santic & Divination)
Sanctuary - Prescience - Forewarning - Perfect Timing

Draigo come stock with Banishment (casts on a 2+ versus daemons), Gate of Infinity, Hammerhand and Purge Soul.


I forgot to record the psychic powers my opponent got - Be'lakor knows all the spells from the Telepathy lore. I do remember he rolled Enfeeble twice which is worrisome.


Here are the ETC mission rules...

Primary Objectives:

Eternal War - Crusade
Eternal War - Purge the Alien

Maelström - Cloak and Shadows

Secondary Objectives - First Blood - Slay the Warlord - Line Breaker

Deployment - Hammer & Anvil


Sorry but this was the last game and I forgot to take pictures.


I won the roll to choose my deployment zone. The board was open in the middle with most of the terrain close to either short edge. I chose the side with some line of sight blocking terrain 24" from the short edge.

I also won the roll to deploy and go first, choosing to do so. I deployed DraigoStar and held everything else in reserve - five man Strike squad would deep strike and scouts would outflank. I placed DraigoStar behind some of line of sight blocking terrain in case my opponent seized the initiative.

My opponent deployed everything except for the Horrors which would deep strike. He infiltrated the Vindicare assassin on top of a building in one corner of his deployment zone. Nurglings were placed on a Crusade objective marker. Seekers and chariots were placed up at the 24" line along with the Soul Grinder. The three big daemons were deployed in cover.

He then rolled to seize and up popped a six. Note that was the third game out of five I got seized on... Annoying.


Pre Game Analysis:
This was the second daemon army I fought at TempleCon. While daemons can be a tough match Grey Knights obviously have some of their own trickery. The main threats obviously were the big daemons and I wanted to ignore them as much as possible... However with Perfect Timing maybe I'd get a shot at Fatey with the Centurions.

40k Batrep • DraigoStar vs. Serpent Spam

Had a game last night using the ATC (American Team Championship) mission:

Primary 1 - Crusade (4 objective markers)
Primary 2 - Emperor's Will
Primary 3 - Purge the Alien

Each primary objective is worth 8 victory points.

Secondaries - First Blood - Slay the Warlord - Line Breaker

Each secondary is worth 2 victory points.

Deployment - Vanguard Strike

Night Fight - 1st Turn


Here's my army list (DraigoStar):

- Ultramarines - (Primary Detachment)

Tigerius (Warlord - Storm of Fire)

Librarian - Level 2 Psyker - Force Axe - Bolt Pistol

4x Tactical Marine
Plasmagun
Sergeant - Combi-Plasma - Meltabombs
Drop Pod

4x Tactical Marine
Plasmagun
Sergeant - Combi-Plasma - Meltabombs
Drop Pod

5x Centurion Devastator (DevCents)
5x Grav Cannon-Grav Amp-Missile Launcher
Sergeant - Twin Linked Lascannon - Missile Launcher - Omniscope

- Grey Knight - (Allied Detachment)

Lord Draigo

Librarian - Level 3 Psyker - Nemesis Daemonhammer - Stormbolter - Liber Daemonica

Dreadknight - Heavy Psycannon - Heavy Incinerator

4x Grey Knight
Psycannon
Justicar - Nemesis Daemonhammer


Here are my psychic powers:

Tigerius (Level 3)
Psychic Shriek - Invisibility - Shrouding - Hallucinate (Telepathy)

Librarian (Level 2)
Smite - Iron Arm - Warp Speed (Biomancy) /Note I was hoping to roll Endurance.

Draigo (Level 2)
Gate of Infinity - Hammerhand - Banishment - Purge Soul (Santic)

GK Librarian (Level 3)
Gate of Infinity (Santic)
Prescience - Perfect Timing - Forewarning (Divination)

Dreadknight (Level 1)
Banishment - Sanctuary (Santic)

Grey Knights (Level 1)
Banishment- Hammerhand

So a pool of 12 warp charges total when all psykers are on the table.


Here is my opponent's army list:

Autarch (Warlord - Stealth in Ruins)

5x Dire Avenger
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix - Star Engines

5x Dire Avenger
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix

5x Dire Avenger
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix

5x Dire Avenger
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix

5x Fire Dragon
Wave Serpent - Scatter Laser - Shuriken Cannon - Holofield - Ghostwalk Matrix

Night Spinner

Wraithknight (stock)

Wraithknight (stock)

Gun Emplacement - 2x Twin Linked Icarus Lascannon (Skyfire - Intercept - BS2)

Grey Knights

Okay so let's talk about the new Grey Knights codex... I know a lot of players don't like it but I actually have nothing bad to say and there's lots of great things in my opinion. Sure they lost some nice things (psybolt ammo for example) but they also got some much needed point reductions. I see them as working very well combined with some other Imperial forces.

I always played pure Grey Knights so the loss of the assassins and =][= is no big deal to me plus if you are using multiple sources it doesn't really matter. Multiple sources are the future of 40k so if you can accept that then I think you'll end up a lot more happy.

Here are the units that stand out to me:

— Draigo is still a beast and finally has an AP2 force weapon plus he automatically knows Gate of Infinity (GoI) from the Santic lore which is a big deal. Not everybody accepts him right now since Draigo is classified as a Lord of War so you unfortunately might have to deal with that issue for awhile... Silly.

— The Librarian at level 3 Psyker will be a typical choice. He is a lot less points now and is a great force multiplier.

— Terminators got a hefty point reduction and I think they'll become the standard troop choice. I used them when I played the old Draigowing and they were a staple unit for me. You only need one unit if you use the new detachment and the option to combat squad is appealing. Psycannons still work well for them since terminators are relentless. My advice is to take at least two daemonhammers.

— The Dreadknight got a huge point reduction - I can easily see two (max number for the detachment) to three in most armies. I'd equip mine with the teleporter, heavy psycannon (6 shots !!!) and a heavy incinerator. They will be the bane of monstrous creatures - including FMCs - and Imperial Knights.

You can build a solid force using just these units. I'd also throw in a couple of the new assassins as well - the Vindicare and Cullexus are both really good.

My last Grey Knight article

If you follow my blog then you know I'm a big fan of Grey Knights. I stuck with them going into sixth edition and have done well with my Grey Necron army. They are obviously still a very competitive army. It's time now though to move on and embrace other things. I toyed with the idea of building a Tau Grey Knight army to see if it could perform as well as my Grey Necrons but to be honest I'd rather focus my energies on Chaos. I'm sure I will still occasionally play my Grey Necrons and currently this is the army I plan to bring to the ATC. I am hoping if I play against another certain team they will have the balls to put their beloved tri land raider list to the test rather than ducking out. I guess we will just have to see if they will show the money. If they choose to duck I will take that as a concession. That's all I have to say. You can look forward to more articles here focusing on Chaos in the future.

2250 point local RTT results - Necrons with Grey Knight allies

Hi everyone !! Your friendly neighborhood Blowfly here to brighten your day again with a local 40k RTT report. This tournament was three rounds - 2250 points with double FOC and allies but no Forge World. Some buddies and I drove down leaving early in the morning since it's over an hour away. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDees via the drive through. This is one of the local FLGS that likes to run larger events and I always try to make these ones since I love big games.

Sorry but no pictures this week. I am in the process of buying a new digital camera so hopefully I will have some nice pix for the next batrep.

Here is my abbreviated army list:

Necrons - Primary Detachment
Destroyer Lord - mindshackle scarabs, 2+ armor (attached to Wraiths)
4x Canoptek Wraith - whip coils

Overlord - warscythe, mindshackle scarabs, phase shifter - Catacomb Command Barge

6x Immortal - Tesla carbines - Night Scythe

5x Warrior
5x Warrior
5x Warrior

Doom Scythe
Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge

8x Canoptek Scarab

Grey Knights - Allied Detachment
Level 3 Librarian - master crafted warding stave (attached to Paladins)
5x Paladin - 2x psycannon, 4x daemonhammer, master crafted warding stave - psybolt ammo

10x Grey Knight - 2x psycannon - psybolt ammo


Army List Analysis
If you follow my articles on this army you'll know that in the past I used Coteaz attached to a full squad of Purifiers with lots of neat toys for my deathstar unit. I have been wanting to test out Paladins over Purifiers and at this point level I could also take a Librarian in place of the Inquisitor... So I was very interested to see how overall the army would perform with these changes.

I recently played in an 1850 point GT over in Orlando - the army list here is much the same noting the changes above plus the addition of the Canoptek Wraiths to form a retinue for my Destroyer Lord. I did well at the GT and was the only undefeated player going into the final sixth round so I know this army is well tested and has always performed quite well. Ironically I narrowly lost in the final round to the only other Necron-Grey Knight army in an epic low scoring match that knocked us both out of contention for an award. Oh well at least it felt great going into the final round.

I have designed this army to be as completely balanced as possible. It has lots of shooting, plenty of speed plus lots of very strong dedicated melee units. To be competitive in sixth edition it's all about building very balanced armies that excel in all three phases. The Necrons tend to do most of the heavy lifting while the Grey Knights are a razor sharp scalpel. They work very well together and don't have to lend much support to each other except for overlapping focused fire. I don't use any fortifications as I typically move most of my units around the entire game. I also tend to place objective markers in the middle of the table to force opponents to have to come out of their deployment zones to get them.


Mission Summaries

1st Round vs. Blood Angels
The mission had five objectives with DoW deployment.

The Blood Angels army had two land raiders (Crusader & Redeemer) plus two Storm Ravens. There were two full assault squads with jump packs and one had a Priest. The Crusader had a squad of Death Company lead by a Chaplain. The Redeemer had a full assault squad (sans jump packs) lead by a Captain and another Priest.

I felt confident going into this match knowing that Necrons have lots of answers to AV14 plus the barges are really good versus flyers in general.

Highlights
•Anni barges shot down both Stormravens
•Scarabs and Destroyer Lord cracked open both land raiders

Only one Death Company Marine was left at the end for a full massacre (18 points). I ended up only needing to hold one objective.

2nd Round vs. Ork Horde
The mission was Big Guns Never Tire with Hammer and Anvil deployment. There were three objective markers.

My opponent had well over 150 greenskins including Ghaz with a big Nob squad, two battlewagons, looted wagon, some killakanz and Lootaz. I was able to pop all four enemy HS units (destroyed both battlewagons my first turn... Scarabs and Gauss FTW). This game I pulled 16 out of a possible 18 battle points for the win. Ghaz never made it into melee so I couldn't get Slay the Warlord and I needed the Immortals to late game grab one of the uncontested objectives so no Line Breaker either.

3rd Round vs. Tyranids
The mission was The Relic with Vanguard Strike for deployment.

Another horde army with over 200 models - not the typical Internet meta list we see all the time now but this was definitely my toughest game. My opponent had over six scoring units - including two big broods of devilgaunts, two big broods of hormagants, some genestealers and two small Warrior broods. He had a walking Tyrant and the winged jump infantry character for his HQ. There was also some Zoies, Raveners and a Trygon Prime. Definitely a target rich environment !!

There was a big turn out so there were quite a few undefeated players going into the last round. I knew I would need a big win to come out on top. It just seemed like it would very hard to control the Relic versus all those large scoring units and it wouldn't be easy to score any bonus points either.

I got to go first but my opponent seized the initiative - sheet ! This actually worked out to my advantage though since a squad of hiding Warriors popped out to grab the Relic at the end of the last turn. The Tyranid player's dice were smoking hot and mine were below average most of the time but I still managed to pull out the win with 17 battle points out of a possible 18 (he got First Blood because one gaunt in a 20 man brood managed to live taking the full brunt of almost my army's entire shooting - he cast Endurance on them and Denied the Witch when I cast the Misfortune malediction on them).

It wasn't an easy game to say the least... Destroyer Lord with Wraiths and Librarian leading the Paladins were definitely the MVPs this game. The Destroyer Lord and his Canoptek friends took out the Tyrant (MSS FTW) then held off an entire brood of hormagants to prevent them from swamping the area around the objective. My Librarian got Prescience and the Divination psychic power that lets the unit shoot at full BS on Overwatch which allowed them to totally annihilate a big brood of charging Raveners. It was a tight game but everything came together in the end.


Post Tourney Analysis
It was very interesting to play two really large horde armies and the last two games only made it to a third turn... What can you do ? I don't think either of these opponents intentionally slow played but they just didn't seem to manage their time wisely which ended up hurting them a lot more than me... Heh heh . The squad of Immortals in the Night Scythe was a big advantage for late game objective grabs and Line Breaker. So knowing you probably won't be able to get in a full game ahead of time you have to adjust your strategy accordingly. In the past I've gotten frustrated but I was well prepared this time. ; )

I definitely prefer the Paladins over Purifiers... Eight psycannon shots every time with Prescience and sometimes Misfortune and/or Ignore Cover is very powerful (I got all three of these versus the Blood Angels by the way). I found the level 3 Librarian a bit stronger than Coteaz, mostly due to the extra psychic power but I'd only use him over the Inquisitor in games at 2000 points and above.... It's also nice to have the option to deep strike them.

So I ended up in a tie with one other player for first place and we split the store prize support. One of my buddies who down came with me ended up losing to the fellow I tied with for first place in the last round. It was a great day and I liked all my opponents... No problems whatsoever. I used the prize support to get some paints and weathering dust for my World Eaters army I will bring to WarGamesCon for the Heresy campaign.

Third batrep from Crucible 2 • Necron vs Necron

So I have decided to post another batrep. This was the first game of the second day versus none other than Teddy Woody. He brought a list very similar to what he fielded at BeakyCon last year... Lots of five man Warrior squads in Night Scythes, lots of Canoptek Scarabs, some Canoptek Spyders, lots of Canoptek Wraiths plus Immotekh with a large squad of Warriors and a Chronotek. He doesn't really have a lot of shooting other than his Night Scythes and Immotekh's lightning - I know I have to take advantage of this mismatch plus luckily for me Coteaz gets the Divination power Misfortune which is a malediction that forces an enemy unit to reroll all successful saves. I am counting on my Tesla and psycannons to insta-gib his Scarabs and clear them out. There is a big piece of area terrain in the middle of the table that was a key to the win.

The primary objective was the Relic.

The first two turns Teddy farms his Scarabs moving forward while the Wraiths advance as well. I hold back my two Necron Lords and let the enemy advance. My guns start to blaze dropping lots of Scarabs and a few Wraiths. Teddy rolled poorly for Immotekh's lightning throughout the game. I have one brood of my own Scarabs and I move them up, spreading them out to bubble wrap my infantry. I place the Scarabs so that the enemy Wraiths can't jump over them. My Scarabs absorb the first charge then I shoot some more finishing off most of Teddy's Scarabs and drop some more Wraiths... One squad of Wraiths is downed to a single model. Teddy's Spyders are moving in as well entering the central piece of terrain. My Destroyer Lord charges the large squad of Wraiths and ties them up for the rest of the game.

The next turn the Spyders charge through terrain so they swing last. My daemonhammers counter assault then I activate their Force to finish off all the Spyders. Immotekh and his squad run up to grab the Relic and run back away. My Overlord in his douche cannon charges them to contest the Relic. The game comes down to secondary and tertiary objectives plus the bonuses. I end up winning 5-4. It was one epic battle. Misfortune really helped a lot to thin out the enemy ranks. We both drop a bit in the overall rankings but we both still have a chance to win it all with the last game.

Second of two batreps from Crucible 2 GT • Tau w. allied Space Wolves

So this is my second batrep and it was the third round of the GT. I drew versus Imperial Guard the first round, winning the primary objective so it was a moral victory for me. The second round was versus Black Templars with allied Grey Knights... Very low count army and I massacred that game boosting back up to the top bracket.

My third game was versus Tau with Space Wolf allies run by none other than Josef Abel... Another very cool young gamer from the Miami area. We never had any issues and it was a very bloody game indeed. This army had some Forge World but I was prepared. I think my army is very balanced... Lots of shooty with some strong melee. I would need both of these elements to win. This game I didn't make any big mistakes... I couldn't really afford to either. My opponent on the other hand totally relied upon his shooting and didn't protect his troops. There were four objectives that were air dropped so my plan was to kill his scoring units and win the primary. My opponent didn't have any real melee so I knew that was a big advantage for me.

Again I held as many units as possible in reserve to minimize the damage from the enemy alpha strike. My opponent had a couple of cool Tau Forge World Tetras and I got very lucky destroying one from a Tesla arc. I had my share of bad luck this game as well but didn't let it get me down. My two Necron Lords were gods of war wrecking a lot of units over the course of the game.

My opponent came in 2nd place overall and I had a clear win this game on battle points. In my opinion close combat is still very powerful and the Necron Lords proved that to be true. My Grey Knights were only able to shoot this game - the Grey Knight Strike squad deep struck onto the table laying waste to a squad of Tau Fire Warriors thus earning their keep and the Justicar stuck around to claim one of the objectives. One turn an enemy unit of Tau Broadsides rolled snakes versus the Overlord's douche cannon which allowed him to engage the enemy in melee.

This game was very similar to the first round versus Imperial Guard and I used the same tactics. Like I said my melee was very strong and my opponent didn't really have an answer to it. I believe that the best armies are very balanced... They are mobile, can shoot the lights out and can brawl. Necrons and Grey Knights still have the best of both worlds plus Necrons are very mobile.

First of two Crucible 2 batreps • Imperial Guard

Okay so here is the first of my two batreps. I will tell you up front the outcome because I already posted them earlier this past weekend. My first game was versus pure Imperial Guard played by Eric Issac, a very chill young dude from the Miami area. Those are some crazy cats... They play lots of 40k and have a good game... They will keep getting better if they are dedicated to the game. We tied on overall battle points but I won the primary so for me it was a moral victory. Eric ended up taking third place overall so congrats to him! He was very cool and I really enjoyed the game. Note there were only three Imperial Guard armies so this was a tough first round draw.

Deployment was Hammer and Anvil... So I know IG will rank up behind the safety of their Aegis wall. I need to use this to my advantage. The primary win condition was four objective markers placed by the players... I made sure to place mine far away from the enemy because Imperial Guard has some problems taking objectives outside their deployment zone. If I can contest one objective and hold my two I should take the primary - it is just that simple. I respect the power of Imperial Guard and totally focus on winning the primary.

I was very lucky and get the Warlord trait that allows my Warlord to outflank - my Overlord in his douche cannon goes right into reserve with the bulk of my army to minimize damage from the IG alpha strike.

There is always some good luck and bad luck... You have to run with your good luck and put it to work.

I've got lots of units that will come in deep within my deployment zone to minimize IG shooting. My opponent doesn't have anything to negate cover saves so I'll hug the ground as much as possible whenever necessary. Also I want to box him in and try to force him to focus on shooting rather than moving forward.

I made one big mistake which was holding my Canoptek Scarabs in reserve... I should have attached them to my a Destroyer Lord.

Everybody is going to make at least one mistake every game - play on and don't let it get you down.

 The first two turns my Destroyer Lord shrugs off lots of shooting including two rounds of First Rank Second Rank twice in a row... T6 with the 2+ save can be quite nice.

The Overlord in the douche cannon comes in on the second turn moving flat out right into the face of the Guard. Somehow I'm able to pop both the Leman Russ and Leman Russ Destroyer early on thanks to my Doom Sycthe and a well timed Sweep attack... Death Ray and douche cannon FTW.

Finally both Necron Lords make it into melee. The Destroyer Lord hits the blob, tarpiting them for the rest of the game. My Anni Barges keep moving 12" each turn while snap firing to pop some Chimeras. The Overlord hits the command squad to shut down the Master of Ordnance. So I've neutralized all the long range threats and need to keep boxing them in.

Finally the game comes to an end... I score the primary as planned plus Line Breaker. It was a very tough match for the first round and I'm very happy to slightly do better than break even. It was all about playing for the objectives rather than focus on crushing enemy units. The inherent resiliency of my army was a big boon and I was able to keep most of my scoring units out of harm's way.

Paladins vs Purifiers for Necrons with allied Grey Knights

So I have been having some good success with my army... Very balanced for the current state of 6th edition. For my allied choices I run Inquisitor Coteaz, one full Grey Knight Strike squad and one full squad of Purifiers. The Strike squad is there to score, shoot and lay down Warp Quake. The Purifier squad looks like this:

Keeper of the Flame - Nemesis Warding Stave
2x psycannon
Incinerator
2x Nemesis Force Halberd
2x Daemonhammer
2x Nemesis Force Sword
- Psybolt ammo

I am thinking about switching out the Purfiers for a five man Paladin squad... Something like this:

Brotherhood banner & psycannon
Nemesis Daemonhammer & psycannon
Nemesis Daemonhammer
Nemesis Warding Stave
Pair of Nemesis Force Falchions

By the way these units are both geared towards my 1850 point list. I'd probably upgrade one of the Paladins to an Apothecary at 2000 points.

Psybolt ammo isn't worth it for just three stormbolters and those points can go a long way towards the warding stave. Overall not quite as much shooting and a few less attacks in melee but there are plenty of advantages...

•More resilient:
- 2+/5++ save
- just as many wounds
- better investment for the warding stave
•Automatic activation of force weapons
•WS5 versus WS4
•Can always fire eight psycannon shots at full BS
•Look Out Sir! works better for Coteaz
•Option to attach Coteaz to Grey Knights if I want to deep strike the Paladins (better investment in the Strike squad and more versatile overall)

Here are the number of melee attacks that ignore 2+/3+ armor saves for each unit:

Purifiers
AP2 - 4
AP3 - 10
(total = 14)

Paladins
AP2 - 6
AP3 - 6
(total = 12)

I think the two less attacks overall are offset by WS5 versus WS4.

Finally there is the question - which is the better psychic power, Cleansing Flame or Holocaust? To me it's a complete toss up and they both have their advantages. My current army list has lots and lots of shooting so Cleansing Flame is not so important as a factor.

So which unit do you think is the better choice?

Here is an 1850 point list I put together:

Destroyer Lord
- Sempiternal Weave
- Mindshackle Scarabs

Overlord
- Warscythe
- Mindshackle Scarabs
- Catacomb Command Barge

5x Immortal
- Night Scythe

5x Warrior
5x Warrior

Doom Scythe

Annihilation Barge
Annihilation Barge

8x Canoptek Scarabs

Inquisitor Coteaz

Grey Knight Strike Squad (Psybolt Ammunition)
- Justicar, Master-craft Nemesis Weapon
- 2x Psycannon
- 7x Grey Knight

Paladin Squad
-Nemesis Warding Stave
-Nemesis Daemonhammer + Psycannon
-Brotherhood Banner 25 + Psycannon
-Nemesis Daemonhammer
-Nemesis Force Sword

Necron Grey Knight army pix for Crucible 2

Grey Knights

Destroyer Lord

Doom Scythe

Purifiers

More Necron - Grey Knight feedback in

Here is some more feedback regarding Necrons with Grey Knights. I received an email from a gamer in a foreign country whom is planning to try their hand at qualifying for the ETC this year. Of course there's some comments.


In the next two months i am going to participate in a series of tournaments to get a place in the Greek national team, which will compete in the upcoming ETC tournament this August. I really value your opinion.

Good luck and best wishes in your attempt to qualify for the ETC this year. I think you've picked a great army for very competitive play. It's good to know that they are allowing the use of allies this year. I know that in the past the ETC had been conservative in regards to what is and what's not allowed. I think this is a big step in the right direction. 


I am writing to you because i have read your post Building the Perfect Metal Beast - Necrons with Grey Knight Allies.

I found your post very interesting and I would like to share some thoughts with you. I am planning to build such an army myself and agree that Necrons should be the primary detachment.

It just seems that Necrons are stronger overall plus you get a lot more good units as compared to the elite Grey Knights (GK).


I believe too that First Blood is crucial and using rhinos is an easy way to give it to your opponent.

Very true. While the ever ubiquitous rhino still has some good things to offer, the inherent disadvantages outweigh them. It used to be that five five Grey Knights with two psycannons in a rhino was a fairly cheap unit and great for quickly moving into a midfield position for shooting, but now rhinos and razorbacks are so easy to remove, then the small squad is standing there unprotected.


With all the flyers out there, we need something to bother them and Night Scythes cannot do that alone, even up to five flyers (especially againt armies like Imperial Guard with Vendetta spam). Aegis fortification is useful, but needs something there to boost it with it's ballistic skill. I don't think that GK (troops or Purifiers) with just 24" range can get the job done alone... Many points and very stationary. On the other hand I find that the use of dreadnought with twin linked autocannons and 3 annihilation barges may solve that problem (with or without Aegis). But this way, we don't we give First Blood as easily to our opponents.

The psyflemen are still good but I don't use them - like the rhino they die fast too. The Reinforced Aegis is still very nice though. Remember Anni barges can move 12" and snap fire - this is great versus flyers!

Furthermore I find that Destroyer Lord with Wraiths is more durable than overlord on barge. Overlord's barge is vulnerable against melta (especially against deep striking ones) or even lucky penetrating shots (AV13 is good but still). I need to test that more, because I almost always run with a destroyer lord, so i would like your opinion on that.

I like the greater speed of the barge plus being a chariot offers many great advantages in melee. I think they are really worth it.

My biggest concerns are focused on GK allies. I find Coteaz very helpful against drop pod armies, but if i am not going to use Razorback/warriors (for not giving FB), is Crowe's Purifiers a better choice? And by using Purifiers on foot with just 24" range, do I point out destroy lord or overlord as first priority for opponent's shooting? Terminators are expensive but they are troops who can deep striking. Any playtest on them? Can you share with me the list you currently playtest?

A D Lord can ride in a Scythe. They have a small foot print and are easy to hide. You can also either attach the D Lord to Scarabs or Wraiths. I'm a fan of Coteaz with Purifiers. Their deployment is critical.

Necron Grey Knight Army List Feedback

Here is an army list sent in for feedback.

Necrons - Primary Detachment
Destroyer Lord
Overlord - Catacomb Command Barge
2x Nightmare Cryptek  (each attached to a Deathmark unit)

2x 15x Warrior
9x Warrior  - Ghost Ark

2x 5x Deathmark - Night Scythe

3x Annihilation Barge

15x Canoptek Scarab
3x Canoptek Wraith


Grey Knights Allied Detachment
Coteaz

2x 10 man Strike squad - Razorback


Here are my thoughts... Not sure how many points (2000?) is this list so keep that in mind.

- Necrons -
1) The Destroyer Lord should have Mind Shackle Scarabs and Weave. He is a real nightmare for many armies. I am supposing you plan to attach him to the Wraiths... Might as well equip them with Whip Coils. I'd try to find the points to bump the Wraiths up to four strong.

2) The Overlord should have a Warscythe and Mind Shackle Scarabs... That's all he needs.

3) I wasn't aware you can field a starting swarm of Scarabs over 10 strong. I run eight and they do just fine. Five on the charge can drop a land raider.

4) The big blocks of Warriors are awesome. They can do a lot of damage to most enemy units that move into double tap range. You've got lots of big scoring units and that's a good thing.

5) I'm a big fan of the Doom Scythe - people absolutely hate it. It's a huge fire magnet and does double duty shooting at enemy flyers with the Tesla destructors and can nuke any ground unit with its Death Ray. I'd drop one squad of Deathmarks and a Barge to fit one into your list.

- Grey Knights -
1) Coteaz is the man !

2) I'd drop both razorbacks as they give up First Blood very easy. Each Strike squad should have two psycannons. You might also want to include a daemonhammer in each unit.

-General-
You've got lots of midrange firepower. The flyers can cover the rest of the table.

So you've got to decide whose your Warlord. I run a similar configuration for my Necron HQ... So far I tend to prefer using the Overlord in the CCB for my Warlord... It can be situational though.

The Scarab swarm can do lots of great things for you and are the answer to land raiders... Keep them protected so they don't get decimated by blast and templates. You can use them as a screen versus fast enemy dedicated melee units to buy you another turn of shooting. The Scarabs can also tarpit enemy units such as IG blobs.

With Coteaz and two Strike squads you've got lots of anti drop pod defense as well as versus daemons... We've Been Expecting You and Warp Quake. It's a very solid combination for sure.

I'm sure you'll find this is a strong list in the current meta. You've got lots and lots of firepower plus some decent melee.

Happy hunting !

Guest Batrep Orks & Dark Angels vs Necrons & Grey Knights

Today we have a guest batrep from a friend I play often in my local area. There is some commentary.  ;  )

Here are the 2000 point army lists to the best of my memory:

My opponent runs a double FOC list featuring a Mekk Boy with KFF (Warlord), two Weird Boyz, lots of Lootaz, Shoota Boyz, grots, four dakkajets, Librarian and five man tactical squad in a drop pod plus an Aegis Defense Line with a quad gun.

I have played twice before against this army with my old Storm Crowe list and lost both times. My opponent's army has lots and lots of long range firepower with the Lootaz and Dakkajets plus often he can teleport a huge mob of Shoota Boyz using an attached Weird Boy for even more shooty! I consider this to be one of the more competitive armies in my area. I redesigned my army list to be more balanced... I had this particular Ork army in mind but I didn't specifically redesign my list solely to counter this one.

Here is my list to the best of my memory I was running for this game:

Overlord - Warscythe, Mind Shackle Scarabs - Catacomb Command Barge (Warlord)
5x Immortal - Tesla carbines - Night Scythe
3x 5x Warrior
2x Annihilation Barge
Doom Scythe

Coteaz (Prescience, 4++ invulnerable save blessing)
10x Purifier - Warding Stave, Halberd, 2x Daemonhammer, 2x psycannon, incinerator - psybolt ammo
10x Strike - 2x psycannon - psybolt ammo
Land Raider Crusader - multi-melta - psybolt ammo

Mission
Emperor's Will

Deployment
Hammer and Anvil

Lots of terrain was on the table with plenty of LoS blocking. My opponent won both the rolls to choose his deployment zone and go first. I attempted to seize but failed. My opponent deployed his army deep in his deployment zone. I deployed using reserves so that none of my armor started on the table since he had three meltas in the drop pod.

I have found this particular mission often comes down to First Blood with each player trading shots across the table the entire game.

Opponent's Pre Game Thoughts
So I pulled out my Orks with my 'Feed my opponent First Blood Dark Angels drop pod' army out for the first time.  Of course Mork would force me to play 'Emperors Will' as a curse for using filthy pink humies in power armor for my allies.  Also a bonus curse for playing Steve too! He excels at playing this mission if there is a piece of blocking terrain on the table.

1st Turn - Orks/Dark Angels
I drifted with my drop pod away from him and had to hide the First Blood unit in some ruins because I was out of range.

NOTE
I was kind enough to remind my opponent about Coteaz' We've Been Expecting You special rule before he decided where to place his drop pod.

I got 'Ere We Go' for my Weird Boy and his 30 Shoota Boyz.  The problem was that my Warlord was also attached!   :  (

The Orks failed to take out the Strike squad in shooting. Steve assaulted and it took him four more turns to get Slay the Warlord from my Big Mek with KFF.

Rest of the Game
My Dakka Jets came in piecemeal which sucked big time.

Opponent's Post Game Thoughts
I failed to set up my Aegis Defense line up on the 24" line on the edge of my deployment line so Steve had 12" of 'Free Parking' in his deployment zone that I could not shoot with my Lootaz. The comms relay is getting added to the list instead of the quad gun.

NOTE
I didn't know Lootaz can't move or run. Must suck to be a Loota these days.

I made a lot of mistakes... Not shooting my quad gun at his flyers when they arrived from reserve... Not shooting the Lootaz for a turn because I thought his models were out of range when they were not.

The deployment of my Wall and Lootaz - I knew Steve would hold most of his stuff in reserve and they would be safe.  Also making sure he brought in all his reserves on the turn he rolled them. He "forgot" to bring everything on the table.

NOTE
This was the first time I played this list. All my units in reserve were over on a bench on the far side of the table from me. I forgot to place my Anni Barges the turn they both arrived. It was an honest mistake... I forgot about them since I hadn't used them in a long time. The Anni Barges really helped me shoot down all four dakkajets and the S6 guns can't touch my AV13... Didn't really alter the final outcome in my opinion - I would have shot down more dakkajets faster is all.

At the end he won with Slay the Warlord and First Blood. We both had an objective that was in our deployment zones.

Congrats on the win to Steve. Also congrats on the strategy of playing an entire game on 14" of table out of 72".

NOTE
Like I said I lost to this army twice before and it has been tweaked to score First Blood versus my land raider Crusader via the melta pod. So after doing some serious thinking I decided to completely overhaul my army list to make it more competitive. I tend to play the same list rather than tailoring it for each army I play against. There was nothing preventing the Lootaz from moving and running to get into range of my army. I did have one decent size piece of terrain that blocked LoS and used that to my advantage... Why shouldn't I? This particular mission favored my army. If the table had been turned I would have played the Orks more aggressively moving and running forward each turn.

Building the Perfect Beast - Necrons and Grey Knight Allies

So it's been awhile since I've discussed one of my favorite sixth edition armies - Necrons with Grey Knight allies. I know they are much hated and for good reason but I will say this... It's an army I can play competitively in tournaments while I work on my new Chaos Space Marine army. They are a lot of fun too.

I think there are two ways you as a reader can view this article - you hate it and that's it (if so then why even bother reading past this point?)... or you possibly can glean some useful information for Necrons and/or Grey Knights. I've found the two forces work best independently of each other except for certain situations such as when you focus fire on one particular enemy unit.

Introduction

Originally I started with Grey Knights as my primary detachment and used Necrons as the allies but slowly I came to realize that while it's a solid combination it had some problems versus some of the more popular meta lists we see lately. So I decided to go back to the proverbial drawing board and completely overhaul the army.

I wanted to keep the units that worked best in the original list - Coteaz, Purifiers, Destroyer Lord, Scythes, etc. I also wanted to build an army that does well versus the armies that gave me the most problems while maintaining its existing power level versus the rest. To achieve these goals I needed more boots on the ground and more ranged firepower - switching over to Necrons as the primary detachment made these both easy goals to accomplish.

What Had to Go and Why

I really liked the land raider Crusader with psybolt ammo - its a tough nut to crack in sixth edition, lays down an awful lot of wicked firepower and is an excellent assault vehicle. I also really liked the Storm Raven for mainly the same reasons plus it's a flyer as well. These are two costly units though and the Storm Raven can present some major problems... Namely if it crashes and burns with a squad of Purifiers or Crowe inside you've just lost a big chunk of your army. So by dropping these two units I freed up lots of points that can go elsewhere and reach the two goals I mentioned above in the introduction.

While I'm a big fan of Crowe in sixth edition since he makes Purifiers scoring and is the master of the challenge, he also presented some major problems as well. Namely how do you get him into melee... Basically you have to dedicate one transport for one model and I found its just not worth it. If you put him in a rhino that's an easy target for your opponent to score First Blood plus it's just not very effective. I had the best success with him catching a ride in the Storm Raven but had my share of games where the flyer was shot down and he failed his invulnerable save while jumping out of the crashing wreck. This is directly tied to another inherent weakness of the Storm Raven... If it goes into Hover mode so the squad inside can attempt to launch an assault then it gives up its best form of protection in the process.

So these were the big three units I dropped from the army. I miss the land raider Crusader the most of all but then again  you can't have everything.

Hybrid MSU

To flesh out my army i looked at using the MSU concept to increase my number of scoring units. Armies I'll refer to as a hybrid MSU can be very strong now but not mechanized MSU featuring lightly armored transports... Heldrakes rape transports such as rhinos by vector striking them then flame whatever spills out plus they (disembarking units) are more clumped since its only 3" out of a wrecked transport. On the other hand running a good number of units such as five man Warrior squads is much more tactical than running 10 man squads which is one of the main strengths of MSU. The option to split Grey Knight units into combat squads works a lot better now in sixth edition. So if you have some MSU it can work very well.

Alpha Strike Protection

Using Coteaz along with a Strike squad provides an excellent defense versus drop pod armies which have come back en vogue now. Coteaz has his special rule We've Been Expecting You and Strike squads have the Warp Quake psychic power. These two units are also very effective versus annoying units such as Marbo, the Doom and Daemons... If they can't drop in close then they don't present nearly as much of a problem and you get a turn to shoot them first before they start to close in on your army.

By going over to a hybrid MSU build for my army it's possible to start with all my armor in reserve so I don't have to worry about any drop pods full of melta weapons - this goes right back to one of the key fundamental changes to my army. It also helps to greatly curb the dark eldar alpha strike as well. If they hang back the first turn then I can turn the proverbial table and pull a second turn alpha strike with my Necron flyers versus their fragile lightly armored skimmers.

To me it's very important now to build armies that don't easily give up First Blood (FB) and my new army meets this criterion due to the MSU component. There are certain missions such as The Relic and The Emperor's Will where just one bonus point can easily decide the game. Denying your opponent FB can go a long way towards winning these types of games.

If you're familiar with the types of armies I commonly play then you'll know I did not play any MSU type armies in fifth edition so this is a big change for me and it's working well so far.

The Necron Nemesis

So far I've mainly discussed the use of Grey Knights while just touching on a few of the Necron elements. Necrons are now the primary detachment though so they deserve some discussion as well.

Big Papa

I'm a big fan of the Destroyer Lord so he has remained in my starting line up. He can function as a mobile solo unit that is a major threat to many enemy units and with the emphasis now so strongly focused on the shooting phase you'll find that most infantry units don't really have an answer to him in melee should they be so unfortunate as to receive his charge. Mind Shackle Scarabs means that he is a major threat to any enemy dedicated melee character. I've got the points now to attach a squad of Canoptek Wraiths which confers their Fearlessness and helps him to weather a turn of shooting on the way into some serious melee.

I was recently discussing with some friends the value of a Necron Overlord riding in a Catacomb Command Barge (CCB) ... At first I just didn't see it but after going back to reread the rules for chariots I realized this is another great highly mobile dedicated melee unit for sixth edition. We all know just how awesome is the Sweep Attack with a Warscythe. The new rules for chariots provide some excellent buffs to a stock Overlord armed with only Mind Shackle Scarabs and a Warscythe:

• +1 armor save
• Fearless
• D6 S6 AP - Hammer of the Wrath attacks
• Cannot be locked in combat
• Cannot be challenged
• Can target any unit in base contact with the chariot

The CCB also has the following special rules:

• Symbiotic Repair - The Overlord can expend one of its wounds to ignore a glancing or penetrating hit
• Quantum Shielding - AV13 on front and side until it suffers a penetrating hit
• Living Metal - Can ignore both shaken and stunned results

Finally the CCB is an open topped fast skimmer so it can flat out move up to 18" and gains a 4++ cover save. A great tactic (situational though) is to move in close to the enemy then Sweep Attack the next turn, disembark the Overlord and assault another unit.

There are a few disadvantages but I think overall the advantages far outweigh them plus the CCB comes with a heavy weapon (Gauss or Tesla - your choice) so you've got some more shooting as well.

More Shooty

As I said in the beginning one of my main goals was to increase my army's overall firepower. I dropped the land raider Crusader and Storm Raven which are both very shooty and can effectively target up to four enemy units together per turn due to Power of the Machine Spirit. Necrons though have access to several vehicles that are much less costly, have high armor value due to Quantum Shielding and have excellent ranged firepower that is perfect for dealing with enemy flyers (i.e., Tesla Destructor). If you play Necrons you know this and I'm taking advantage of it now.

The Bubble

I also decided to use a large swarm of Canoptek Scarabs as they can do so much for an army and here is another one of those situations where there is some synergy between Necrons and Grey Knights... Versus an assault army Scarabs can form a mobile shield wall to deny your opponent the charge versus your infantry. They are still very good at wrecking land raiders and can quickly tarpit units such as IG blobs. They are well worth the points and can go a long way towards the win.

Conclusion

I wanted to redesign my army so it is a top tier list. You don't see much about the army because it's not popular but that doesn't mean it's not competitive. On the other hand it still takes some serious thinking to create a balanced army using these two codices, which should be a main goal (i.e., balance) for all competitive players. I have a lot of experience playing both armies but found it to be quite a challenge to build what I'll call the ultimate list. I think I'm on the right road now and will have the opportunity to test its mettle at a GT here in Florida next month.

Further reflections upon Grey Knights-Necrons

So I have been playing my army a lot and what I've found is it tends to win really big or I struggle versus some of the newer more popular armies. I have been thinking about my list a lot and what I could do to really take it to the next level in terms of competition. First I want to keep all the best components that work so well:

• Coteaz-Purifier Death Star (mounted in Land Raider Crusader)

• Storm Raven

• Destroyer Lord

• Immortals (mounted in Night Scythe)

• Doom Scythe


The army I'm presently running suffers from low model count and lack of a sufficient amount of ranged shooting. So in order to strengthen the list I'm going to switch over to using Necrons as the primary detachment with Grey Knights as the ally.

This fundamental change will help in many ways...

First while I'm a big fan of Crowe in sixth edition since he is a master of the challenge, I won't have to field him anymore and he creates some problems for the army since he cannot join other units.

Second I can take a Strike squad which will add Warp Quake to my army which is very good in sixth edition, such as being a major deterrent versus the occassional drop pod army you run across now and then.

Third I'll be able to add Canoptek Scarabs and Wraiths to my army, both of which work well in sixth edition too.

I had the opportunity to play a game versus Necrons-Grey Knights back during the holiday season and I can say for sure it's very strong. So I'm very excited about this change.

Optimizing Grey Knights for 6th Edition

As you know I'm in full swing with Khorne now but I still like to play my Grey Knight-Necron army from time to time. Sixth edition has been out for some time now and we have two new codices (Chaos Space Marines and Dark Angels). I've made some observations regarding my current list and have decided to make a few fundamental changes.


MSU Mech is Dead
My original list featured two five squads of Purifiers in rhinos. The original list was very much a hybrid featuring flyers, land raider and the two rhino squads along with the Necron allies. I've come to the conclusion that rhinos in general are more of a liability than anything else so I've dropped them and combined the two five man squads into one unit. The rhino is easy pickings for First Blood and not being able to launch an assault even if the transport didn't move is a major nerf. At first I still favored the rhino due to being able to move flat out now and Fortitude allows an embarked unit to still shoot even if it's shaken or stunned. GW has really nerfed the rhino and I think the penalties far outweigh its advantages.

Combat Squads
I lost a scoring unit but I can split the 10 man unit into combat squads if necessary. My other squad of Purifiers was nine strong and I have since added another Purifier so I can split it into combat squads as well. So I can almost double my total number of scoring units if necessary. Two full squads gives you a lot of options. I definitely prefer to have one full squad of Purifiers as they are still the best Marines in the game... A full squad can obviously take a lot more punishment and is much deadlier - they are somewhat of a quasi deathstar with Inquisitor Coteaz attached.

Purifiers and Weapon Options
As I've said above I still use Purifiers and run Castellan Crowe so they score. Some people playing Grey Knight-Necrons prefer to use Necrons as their primary detachment... Unlike characters in the new Chaos Space Marines and Dark Angels codices, Crowe still converts Purifiers to troops even if Grey Knights are taken as the allied detachment and that's a big advantage.

Choppy Flamey Smashy Death
I take one Nemesis daemonhammer in each squad along with a Nemesis Force Halberd. The daemonhammer is a huge deterrent to multi-wound monstrous creatures while the halberd is a deterrent to enemy melee-centric characters... Only characters such as Kharn have little to fear versus these two melee weapons. The daemonhammer is also your best bet versus 2+ armor saves in close combat... Never leave home without one per squad.

I am a big fan of the Nemesis force sword for the grunts... There is no additional cost and if Coteaz gets the Divination power that grants a 4++ invulnerable save then suddenly your swordsmen have a 3++ invulnerable save in close combat - remember what I said above, a full squad of Purifiers attached to Coteaz can function much like a deathstar if they are properly equipped.

The Nemesis Warding Stave and Nemesis Force Halberd are your two best choices for the Keepers of the Flame... Never kit them with a daemonhammer as this is almost surely a death sentence in plenty of challenges. The warding stave is quite costly so I just take one for the unit attached to Coteaz.

I think it's worth mentioning Cleansing Flame. Blobs are quite popular now and they really really hate this very painful psychic power. It's one of the really good things that Grey Knights have going for them in sixth edition and it's one of the many reasons why I prefer Purifiers to Strike squads.

Shooty Death
Sixth edition heavily favors shooting over melee... It's okay since Purifiers excel at both. I like to take one incinerator in each squad - mainly because blobs (zombies, cultists, gants, guardsmen, orks, etc.) are very popular in my local meta.

I take psybolt ammo as a standard option for every squad of Purifiers... It's another big advantage for Grey Knights. The psycannon is still boss so each squad has two to three.

Transports
I still run a land raider Crusader (psybolt ammo and pintle mounted multi-melta) plus a Storm Raven (psybolt ammo, twin linked multi-melta, Hurricane sponsons and twin linked assault cannon). They are both absolute beasts, highly survivable and can generate lots and lots of shooting... They are both well worth all the points for me. They also offer excellent protection when needed and can dependably deliver my Purifiers into the heart of battle time and time again.

Coteaz and Crowe
The Inquisitor is still a boss and obviously greatly enhances the army... He is such a bargain for the points and much like the Doom for Tyranids I consider Coteaz an auto-take unit. I think the Castellan has improved a lot in sixth edition - he is a master of the challenge and very few enemies will walk away from a scrap with him. It used to be considered a penalty for playing your Purifiers as troops but now I think he can really add a lot to the army. I never field him as my Warlord though because he ends up dying quite often.

Conclusion
The main changes to my army list were to drop the two rhinos and combine the two five man Purifier squads into one full unit. I also changed out some of my weapon options. I think Grey Knights are still quite competitive - more so especially when combined with Necrons... But you must re calibrate your army so that it's properly prepared for sixth edition.

Part 1. Why my Grey Knights-Necron army works

Hello everyone !! This evening I'd like to talk about my current 6th edition army which is Grey Knights  (GK) with a Necron allied detachment.

Warning - This subject is quite troubling and stirring to some as there are those that do not particularly like this combination.

As an aside I had a 2000 point game today versus an Ork army using the double force organization (FOC) - it was optimized featuring four dakkajets, one Mekk Boy and two Warpheads. I thought it was a very fitting army for the Ork background and well designed. I was talking with my opponent while we unpacked our armies and brought up the subject of my 30k army I am working on now. I was a bit surprised to hear him say that Forgeworld isn't ready for prime time in local tournaments knowing that he won an RTT last weekend using the same double FOC list. I thought it was kind of funny that he is okay with the double FOC but not Forgeworld. I am more open now to the new things that have come along which should be obvious to you here that follow my blog.

Army List

Here is my current GK-Necron 2000 point list:

Castellan Crowe

Inquisitor Coteaz (Warlord)

Purifier Squad #1 (psybolt ammo)

Keeper of the Flame - Master Crafted Nemesis Warding Stave

Nemesis Daemonhammer

6x Nemesis Force Sword

2x Psycannon

Purifier Squad #2

Keeper of the Flame - Nemesis Halberd

2x Nemesis Force Sword

2x Psycannon

- Rhino/ Searchlight, Psybolt Ammo

Purifier Squad #2

Keeper of the Flame - Nemesis Halberd

2x Nemesis Force Sword

2x Psycannon

- Rhino/ Searchlight, Psybolt Ammo

Land Raider Crusader/ Psybolt Ammo, Multi-Melta

Stormraven/ Searchlight, Psybolt Ammo, Twin-linked Assault Cannon, Twin-linked Multi-Melta, Hurricane Sponsons

Destroyer Lord - War Scythe, Seminternal Weave, Mind Shackle Scarabs

5x Immortal - Tesla Carbines

Night Scythe

Doom Scythe

The army as it stands now is an expansion on the 1500 point core list I developed over the summer to play in a GT held in Los Angeles (Komikaze run by Reecius and his crew from Team Zero Comp). The main additions are Coteaz, 10 man Purifier squad and the Land Raider Crusader.

As you may notice the army does not feature any long range fire power except for the Mind Strike Missiles. This is offset though by the three flyers which have the ability to get where they need to be quickly and get the job done. In case you are wondering I typically deploy Crowe in the Stormraven, Coteaz and the 10 man squad of Purifiers in the Land Raider Crusader... the Destroyer Lord joins the Immortals in their Night Scythe.

The army is a mix of MSU, flyers plus the brick of ten Purifiers in the Land Raider Crusader. The Purifiers are sheer death when it comes to any hordes... Cleansing Flame will invariably torch them if they reach combat. Most of the army is composed of ground forces along with what I feel is the right mix at this point level for an air force. I have done very well versus the new Chaos Space Marines handily beating them every time so far.

Here is how I break down the army into its individual components:

Ground Force

Coteaz - Purifier Squad #1 - Land Raider Crusader (Melee + Short Range Fire Support)

Purifier Squads #2 & #3 (MSU)

Air Force

Destroyer Lord - Immortals - Night Scythe (Melee, MSU + Long Range Fire Support)

Crowe + Stormraven (Melee + Long Range Fire Support)

Doom Scythe (Long Range Fire Support)

My three most heavy hitting melee units are Crowe, 10 man Purifier squad and the Destroyer Lord (Shiva). Shiva is the most potent in melee as they are not many units (such as MSU) that cannot deal with him... Shiva will invariably tie down an enemy unit and quickly grind right through them. Many say that Crowe is impotent but I have found he is another beast that excels in melee - You just have to go after the right targets.

Purifiers are in my opinion the best generalist unit now as they excel at both shooting and melee.