Hello fellow Grand Masters,I wanted to share my thoughts on the new Grey Knights by sharing my list as well as an analysis of our new rules. This was not a highly competitive game, more of an experimentation game. Firstly I will discuss the lists and my ideas behind my list, mission, then go through turn by turn, and finally end with my analysis of the units/stratagems/powers/relics.For a bit of background I have been playing Grey Knights since the dark days of 7th and into the dark days of 8th. I have only used them in a few games in the last few months because of their horrid state, but I felt a surge of excitement in their new rules to be able to put them back on the table without feeling as if I was going to auto lose. I will be using pictures to help give a better idea of the battle, found here.Grey Knights ListBattalion1x Brother-Captain, Halberd, Sanctuary, Warlord, Legendary Fighter1x Librarian, Halberd, Empryean Domination, Warp Changing, Sanctic Shard2x 5man Terminators, 2 Halberds, 3 Falchions, Gate of Infinity1x 6man Terminators, 2 Halberds, 4 FalchionsVangaurd1x Brother-Captain, Halberd, Purge Soul1x Librarian, Edict Imperator, Inner Flame, Nullifier Matrix3x Doomglaive Drednought, Vortex of Doom2x 3man Paladins, 3 Halberds, HammerhandDark Angels ListBattalion1x Terminator Chaplain1x Talon Master, Twin Assault Cannon, Twin Heavy Bolter, Power Sword, Warlord, Warlord Trait ignores moving and heavy weapons within 6''3x 5man Intercessors, Stalker Bolt Rifles1x 10man Black Knight Bikes, Plasma TalonsBattalion1x Librarian, Force Staff, Aversion, secondary Warlord trait automatically deny a psychic power anywhere on the board1x Primaris Lietenant2x 5man Scout, bolters1x 5man Intercessor, Stalker Bolt Rifles1x Darkshround1x 10 Deathwing Terminators, Stormshield, 10 Mace of Absolution, Watcher in the Dark (3+ Deny the Witch)Thought ProcessThe overall design of the list is to try and abuse the Tide of Escalation, to that end I am running MSU squads in addition to two Brother-Captains to make sure everyone always has the 24" smite range. This has the advantage of generating more smites, but the distinct disadvantage of making utility Psychic powers such as Gate, Edict, Armored Resilience, etc. much less impactful.The Utility Librarian (Sanctic Shard with Empyrean Domination and Warp Shaping) is vital to the survival of the list, as you will see later.Suicide Librarian with Edict, Inner Flame, and Nullifier basically charges headlong into enemy forces and erupts. That's the idea anyway. Question, can you advance in your movement phase and still move with Edict (not advancing because the power prohibits you)? I wasn't sure. Regardless it gives the Inner Flame spell a 16.99999" threat range, which is very powerful.I want to try and make Terminator troops work, why? Because I think they are cool AND with Tide of Shadow they could be tanky enough to be a problem, I wanted to experiment and find out, the new tooled up Dark Angels that have doctrines are now essentially Space Marines with extra rules.Doomglaives I wanted to try, once again, because of Tide of Shadow would afford them a 2+ save, which is nothing to sniff at when they get a 6+++ on top of that! They are also nice anchor points for more smites, they also shoot very well the Heavy Psycannon is nothing to overlook, they are also significantly cheaper than a Dreadknight.Paladins remain in deepstrike to come down as I need them on top of objectives or deal that extra smite damages.MissionAscension from CA19, I won the roll off and chose to be the attack since there was no distinct advantage to going second outside of counter deploying my opponent and picking deployment type/zone. Spearhead assault was chosen, not great for me since I have no guns or powers over 24".Onto the battle!Turn One, Grey KnightsMy opponent failed to seize so I chose the Tide of Escalation as my opening Tide. I advanced just about everything, the reason being I cared more about my smites getting into range than I did about my shooting. With Edict Imperator going off on a Doomglaive I got most of my units in to range to be able to smite bar one. I made sure to have my units keep his forward deployed scouts, who were behind some containers on both flanks, out of line of sight, which meant his Black Knights were the viable target for all of my smites. Six Black Knights fell to Holy fire, I avoided a perils thanks to my Nullifier Matrix on one of my Terminator squads, very clutch. I regained a Command Points thanks to Empyrean Domination. I popped smoke on all of the Dreads and tried to enter the Shadows, the Dark Angels would have none of that, so I remained in Escalation. Shooting was minimal. Charge phase a Doomglaive found his way around a shipping container and confronted the Scouts, I spent two 2CP to ensure their demise, netting me first strike and hold an objective.Turn One, Dark AngelsI figured I was in a bit of trouble considering Tide of Shadows did not go off because of the one time use Warlord trait. My opponent zipped up my right flank. Aversion was cast on the Doomglaive most forward and right, and I failed to deny. I denied the young upstart Dark Angel Librarians smite however! Bolter fire from the backfield Intercessors (36' range! -3AP because of Dev Doctrine! and 2 dmg because of the buff! Wow!). They eliminated an entire unit of Terminators by themselves, and picked off one more in the six man squad. The six man squad, now the five man, was quickly burned down by Plasma fire from the remaining Black Knights. The Talonmaster's fire detonated off the iron hide of the forward right Doomglaive taking only a couple of wounds due to poor wound rolls. The Dark Angel's held their impetuousness and refused to charge the readied Dreadnought. The Dark Angel's hold one objective and scored first strike.2-2 tied up.Turn Two, Grey KnightsWith only five Terminators remaining I needed them to stay in cover to try and preserve my troops in case I had need of them in future, knowing that Tide of Shadows was likely to go off this round. I moved up with my Warlord behind the Doomglaive to go handle to Talonmaster, while my suicide Librarian moved himself to cast Inner Fire on the remaining four Black Knights. The other Doomglaives moved to secure the left and center objective with a Captain and the Utility Librarian in tow. I also brought down a unit of Paladins to bolster the right flank with smites. First order of business was to get rid of the Black Knights. Powerful Adept, Psychic Channeling, his own Nullifier Matrix, and Empyric Surge (used after my utility Librarian, who was within 6", cast Empyrean Domination) were all used to cast Inner Fire. One mortal wound to myself. Thirteen to the Black Knights, holy ash spread across the battlefield, the roaring bikes reduced to a mere whisper on the wind. Further smites destroyed the Darkshroud after using Mental Focus to cast an additional power (smite) from the Utility Librarian. The shooting phase saw the Dark Angel's Librarian exposed to Heavy Psycannon fire and cut down. Charging into the Dark Angel's Warlord, the Talonmaster, the Captain and Doomglaive severely underestimated (horrible rolling) the skill of the Talonmaster and allowed him to escape with his life. Which would then cost the Doomglaive and the Captain their own lives. Grey Knights hold the center and left objectives.Turn Two, Dark AngelsThe Deathwing descended, within 3" of the Talonmaster thanks to a brand new stratagem from Ritual of the Damned! Vengeance was upon their eyes, but not before the Intercessor line open up, and thank Janus only brought low three Terminators combined, all thanks to Tide of Shadows! Unfortunately Tide of Shadows does not help in close combat as the Deathwing charged and absolutely slaughtered my Captain and Doomglaive, there was never any chance. Dark Angels hold the right objective with a character and slayed the Warlord.4-4 tied up once again!Turn Three, Grey KnightsWith the Deathwing Terminators down from orbit the final alpha unit on the board it was the only credible remaining threat to the Grey Knights Dreadnoughts, two of which were still holding strong. They had to die. Movement phase was brief as the final squad of Paladins was brought down to smite the Deathwing Terminators. Both Librarians moved to case smite and Inner fire, and the final Captain positioned himself to give the Utility Librarian and the two Doomglaives double ranged smite. The Psychic phase was a success, I avoided a perils while casting Empyrean Domination by using the reroll from Sanctic Shard, it felt great. Inner Fire was first, but the Watchers in the Dark saw this powerful spell and nullified it, disappearing mysteriously back into the dark as if forgotten entirely. Smites flowed in after, felling five of the Terminators and two of the Intercessors in the backfield, a 100% cast rate on all remaining units, two Librarians (Utility Librarian did not cast smite), Captain, two Doomglaives, remaining Terminator squad, and two units of Paladins, for Titan! Heavy Psycannons saw off two more Intercessors and two Terminators. The Terminators charged along with their Librarian and met a Shield Wall (-1 to wound strat on Deathwing), but still managed to find a chink in the armor and kill a Deathwing, bringing the squad down to two left, seemingly still in shock the Deathwing did no damage in return! Paladins on the right flank charged the remaining Scout and the Talonmaster, finally bringing the heretic low!Turn Three, Dark Angel'sIt was a nearly a forgone conclusion but the Dark Angel's fought on. The Chaplain that came in with the Deathwing moved to claim the right objective from the Paladins. The backfield Intercessors laid Bolter fire into a Doomglaive reducing him to five wounds, his Venerability saving him three whole wounds! The Chaplain charged the Paladins and failed to kill the heroes of the 666th Chapter. The Paladins wounded the Chaplain in return but remained steadfast. The Librarian still in combat was pulverized and the Terminators, due to casualty removal were exposed to gunfire, getting gunned down by Intercessor Bolter fire.7-5 Grey Knights pull ahead on the objectives and in the battle.Turn Four, Grey KnightsThe Doomglaives moved forward to protect the remaining Librarian and Captain, while both squads of Paladins closed in around the Chaplain. Smites rang out bringing down Intercessors and further wounding the Chaplain, the Paladins would kill the Chaplain in the ensuing combat.Turn Four, Dark Angel'sMy opponent attempted to bring down a Dreadnought with his Intercessors and had no success. My opponent conceded.11-5 Grey Knights victory!Unit AnalysisLibrarian- Easily the MvP's of the game. Having the Sanctic Shard on one and the Nullifier Matrix on the other gave me absolute control over my psychic phase and it felt really good. Also dishing out 13 mortal wounds from a single power isn't shabby either. The major workhorse was the Utility Librarian, consistently gaining me 1CP every single turn without fail and starting the Psychic phase off right with his ability to reroll tests if needed. The Nullifier Matrix is amazing as it avoids perils which, on our hyper expensive units, is crucial, in addition to helping cast on a high value!Brother Captain- They cannot fight in close combat for garbage, leave that to a Grandmaster, Voldus, or Draigo. I need to treat them more like my Librarians, fragile but great support. The 24" smite was obviously key and made a massive difference, having two I thought was extremely nice as it gave me the flexibility to spread across the board. For this list I have no idea what Warlord trait to take as I hate all of the Codex Warlord traits, this caster heavy list needs something else.Terminators- Ahhh, so fragile still. However in Tides they were fairly tanky, I think my opponents list was a brutal counter to Terminators, because 2D weapons, AP that runs up to their invulns, and the ability to auto deny Tide Shaping made it a recipe for disaster for my poor Terminators. Still they smited stuff... more testing is required!Doomglaives- Fairly expensive but I absolutely love them, they are solid at every single phase of the game and with Tide of Shadows I think they will be tanky enough to cause issues to a lot of armies. I will need more testing with them too against higher anti-tank armies.Paladins- They were fine, did not get to do too much with them, but only one died and they dished out eight mortal wounds between them through the course of the game, really not bad. I think they need to be run in big blobs.Having only 29 models and facing down a much larger army felt like it should, elite armies overcoming the odds, it was thrilling.Relic AnalysisSanctic Shard- I don't like saying auto include... but man this thing is so clutch and gives you so much control over your psychic phase. If you plan on running a Mage style Grey Knights like this list, it is a must take.Nullifier Matrix- Similar to above, it affords so much control over the Psychic phase which is so crucial for Grey Knights I no longer fear casting anything with this around.Stratagem AnalysisRedoubtable Defense- I forgot about this one because I'm dumb, could've saved me some Terminators at the -1 dmg... a real shame, as I said Terminators need more testing partly because I played them poorly.Powerful Adept- Makes Inner Fire not hot garbage, fantastic stratagem.Empyric Surge- I really like this power, again it is more control over your own Psychic phase and an army like Grey Knights needs this, more control the better.Mental Focus- This made a surprising resurgence in my eyes. Casting two Dominus powers on a Librarian followed by dishing out 2dmg at a crucial moment is pretty dang good for 1CP. Sure it's not much but that Librarian becomes Voldus for a turn being able to cast 3.Psychic Channeling- Makes Inner Fire reach meme levels of absurdity... I fear an FAQ if I am honest.Duty Eternal- Having this in my back pocket is super nice, I didn't use it because my Dreads didn't really get focused down outside of overwhelming death via Deathwing Terminators. Had to shout it out.Power AnalysisEmpyrean Domination- As stated above a work horse and a must take power. No matter what list you have this IS an auto include.Warp Shaping- If your opponent can deny this, it is going to be a bad day for you, don't let them deny it at all costs if you can help it.Inner Fire- I'm convinced this is going to get FAQ'd, it is bonkers. I hope I am wrong and they just leave Grey Knights alone, but thirteen mortal wounds without THAT much effort is crazy...Edict Imperator- I am in LOVE with this power, the extra movement is great to get that last caster into range of their smite, or to nab that objective. It is small but it adds up over turns, love, love, love, this utility. It makes my movement and Psychic phase that much more interesting knowing I have this in my pocket.Smite- I literally did not use a single Sanctic power as I was too busy belting out 2dmg smites. It was tempting but ultimately the damage dealt outweighed Santic utility/damage for MSU squads. This will obviously change depending on my opponent and my style of list, having a Gate on standby will be as critical now as it was before and with Mental Focus always available there are plenty of options.Final ThoughtsOptions. There are a lot of them. I get to think with my Grey Knights again. There are so many lists I want to try and Stratagems yet to be used. This is a fantastic supplement in my opinion. Will we be topping tables? No, I strongly doubt that. But does it make Grey Knights fun and viable? Hell yes times a hundred.Thanks for reading, I would love to hear your own thoughts! Have a good evening. via /r/Grey_Knights https://ift.tt/37Hyuik
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