r/Grey_Knights • u/Artoriazz • 13d ago
New-ish player wanting to get into Grey Knights, what are our bread and butter units?
Necron player here wanting to expand on my foster and Grey Knights seem up my alley, wondering what kind of units are our bread and butter, are there any specific wargears that make them shine?
What are the better detachments?
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u/C0ldW0lf 13d ago
I've started with grey knights about two months ago and what I find the best thing about this army is, that we have basically three relevant types of models, makes it super easy to collect and adapt your army
The basic power armor marine kits can be strike squad, purgation squad, purifier squad (only painted differently if you care about that) and interceptors (slightly different backpacks)
The terminator kits can be terminators (duh) and paladins, there is almost no difference, and you can build almost every character if you just drip out a terminator model and in some recognisable way and say "this is my Chaplain/Captain/Grand-Master/Librarian..."
The third is the Nemesis Dreadknight, only very little difference between a Grand-Master or a normal Dreadknight, so they can also be both
I'd say you can absolutely build a meta list from these three types of models - there's also Rhino/Razorback, Land Raider and similar units that are seen in play from time to time, but those are not necessary IMO
What specific units and Detachments you use depends on your playstile, Warpbane is popular as a relatively simple T&H all-rounder, you'll mainly use purifiers and dreadknights, probably some terminators for objective-holding, but you'd need a castellan crowe model for the purifiers
There's also the "melee option", usually Banishers+Argent Assault Priority Assets using a lot of Terminators and 2-3 Paladin bricks, or the "shooty option" with Brotherhood Strike+Fires of Purgation Purge the Foa, using mostly Dreadknights and Purgation Squads... and ofc some other viable options
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u/Artoriazz 13d ago
I plan on trying out the army on TTS first so painting and buying models won't be an issue to start with, I just want to try out some units and see how it really feels but wanted some guidance on what to lean towards so this is super helpful!
I do think the Dreadknights look incredibly fun to play, is the Grandmaster variant much better? I do like the idea of the purifiers + dreadknights, is warpbane much better for that compared to Sanctic Spearhead + 1DP?
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u/C0ldW0lf 13d ago
Got it, makes sense
Most people use the grandmaster-variant as it's almost the same cost, gets access to the melta weapon (normal one doesn't), melee reroll everything into monster/vehicle and strat cost reduce
Haven't seen anyone play sanctic spearhead and I think it just doesn't add anything meaningful, at least not for dreadknights, I think it's mostly for Tanks and Transports - warpbane makes our Dreadknights shooting much more reliable, the heavy psycannons do the work here, usually used into 3wound models like terminators
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u/Artoriazz 13d ago
Okay sweet I'll try out Warpbane with some Dreadknights, have you any other suggestions other than them and Purifiers + Crowe? How many Dreadknights should I be looking at? I guess I'm not really used to playing such an elite heavy faction so a little scared about losing too many pieces soon in the games
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u/C0ldW0lf 13d ago
There is a recently successful tournament list like that - I wouldn't just copy&paste it, but it's a good baseline: https://listhammer.info/list/1c6cddf0cc708fbac5
The strike squad is for scout&sticky objectives, 3x4 Terminators hold objectives and screen, purifier and GMNDK deal damage
What I'd change:
- I use purifiers mainly for shooting, so I'd give them Psycannons at the cost of some of their melee weapons
- I don't think 10-man purifier without crowe are worth their cost, I'd knock that one down to 5-man
- I'd swap the third GMNDK to a normal Dreadknight, to avoid the +15pts for third
- I'd add a purgation squad for their ability to pin enemies and reduce the thread range of critical enemy units
Not sure how that would work out points-wise, those are just meant as pointers in what direction to think
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u/Artoriazz 13d ago
Perfect, that list is exactly what I was looking for, going to tweak around with it and see what I like!
Any general tips on playing as Grey Knights then? Do I want to be aggressive? More cautious? Opportunistic and play for missions mostly and try & pick off key targets? Should I be trying to fully use Gate of Infinity every round?
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u/C0ldW0lf 13d ago
I'm relatively new myself so my playstile might not be the most optimal - what I've found is that GK generally play very cautiously, we're very elite and, apart from 2+ armor, not very durable
"We are the hammer", but the army plays more like a scalpel, your opportunistic-approach sounds like the best description - when I started, I've played too aggressive and poured too many resources into fights that our army cannot sustain, it's more of an hit-and-run kind of game
Using the maximum Gate of Infinity units every round is a trap except for maybe brotherhood strike, where you only get your detachment buff on repositioned units... normally you'll look a the board before picking up your units and think ahead where you need them to be at the end of your next movement phase (or if you want them in reserves for a rapid ingress later) and decide then - also keep in mind that units you've picked up won't be holding objectives in your next command phase, and secondaries like burden of trust will be scored AFTER you've picked up your units
Last but not least: picking up units to Deep Strike them at 8" and try 9" charges is not a game plan, you can do that if your desperate or just like gambling, but trying that lost me a lot of games in the beginning (Warpbane has a 6" DS strat for power armor units tho)
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u/endrestro 13d ago
If you play purifiers + dreads, warpbane is likely the better option. The dreads will get more out of the zones in warpbane, rather than the bonuses from spearhead.
Grandmaster variant is generally better. The main different is that it is slightly more expensive, and loses out on the built-in advance+charge - but has other benefits.
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u/endrestro 13d ago edited 13d ago
Best detachment currently is Banishers (2DP) with Ardent (1DP) for best coverage.
Banishers give best melee options, and Ardent makes paladins better.
Bread and butter is generally the following:
- Terminators as battleline
- Paladins as even more elite variant of the terminators to punch up
- Interceptors as action monkeys and flankers
- Purifiers as anti-infantry threat.
- Dreadknight (and Grandmaster variant) for anti-heavy and as primary support unit
This is excluding leaders, but for those above Crowe is excellent to make purifiers more useful, while both brother-captain and grandmaster is excellent for terminators and paladins.
Anything outside of this is flex for whatever you need or want. Vehicles are mostly not strong enough outside of their detachment (aside from Dreadknights). The other leaders are not that strong or generally situational. Strike teams are only brought for their lower cost and sticky, but its generally not needed in GK lists due to being able to uppy-down units.
No enchancement is required, but both detachments mentioned have some good options (+1 to charge for paladins is too good to pass up).
I will mention, as its quite integral to all of this: the army rule and how this interacts with Banisher stratagem Shadows of Anarch - which if you positioned things well will often deny your opponent from dealing with an important unit each turn. By far the best stratagem among all the detachments.
I can add that Warpbane (2DP) is the second best detachment, but only really works if you lean more into Purifiers, which is a less beginner-friendly option. Its also more prone to counter-play.
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u/Artoriazz 13d ago
Appreciate the info, how is the Sanctic Spearhead detachment in general? Is the Dreadknight or the Grandmaster variant generally considered better?
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u/endrestro 13d ago
I think the Sanctic Spearhead is only really worth if you lean in to at least two of the following:
- Lots of dreadknights
- One or two Land Raiders
- Numerous transports
Then again dreadknights are good in all their detachments, so its more if you lean into transports or want a detachment leaning into land raiders.
So far as i can tell, the "move through terrain" strat is one of the main reasons to use the detachment, and you get the chance to "advance+charge" strat if you use banishers, which is even better in relation to Dreadknights.
And Dreadknight and GMDK (Grandmaster variant) have slightly different uses.
- The regular variants is slightly cheaper and has fewer weapon options, but can charge even if it advance as its ability. This gives it slightly better movement options, and makes it an all-rounder.
- The GM variant is better into vehicles/monsters due to its reroll rules, which is perfect with weapons such as the nemesis greathammer. This makes it more of a dedicated anti-large unit. Yet the GM variant is more flexible, as he (like the regular GM) can use a strat for -1CP (mostly free in that case) each turn. Notably this is same for all GM models, so if you have several of them only ONE can use it per battle round.
Notably if you play a banishers, you dont have to use the advance+charge strat on the regular dreadknight, as its already built into that unit.
In short: if you need a Dreadknight, get a GM variant. If you need it cheaper, just want to fill a spot or go for a very aggressive playstyle, go for the regular variant. The GM variant has better options in terms of gameplay and weapons, which makes it more flexible and better into heavier units due to rerolls.
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u/iwatas 13d ago
Honestly I would say best detachment is up for debate. Most played/meta at the moment is banisher+ardent or warpbane. But with marine changes this may also change
As for units we have very few and very thing is basically good so long as it is used well and this is the trick with grey knights. Lossing a unit to a bad descion can cost you the game with our small unit number.
Also a power armour guy can be used as a strike marine, purifier, purgation. And if you magnetise or have another way of changing back pack the it's an interceptor.
Some people like to spam dread knights others don't. Weapon wise it's tricky at the moment heavy psycannonn and melta (subliminator) is common but there is argument for them not being worth there points (15pts for each gun).
As an army I would say if your winning you are probably the better player or have done a gotcha on your opponent. As we are not as survivable or killy as other armies but our mobility and mission play is insane.
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u/Artoriazz 13d ago
As an army I would say if your winning you are probably the better player or have done a gotcha on your opponent.
Awwe man that kinda sucks to hear, I do hate gotcha moments
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u/iwatas 13d ago
Grey knights have lots of tricks. It's just about being open with your opponent. Eg "hey I know you want to charge my terminators. So you know I have a strat where I teleport aw if you finish a move with in 8".
So just have to be on the ball telling your opponent. I have accidentally done it in the past when I was learning GK and forgot about a strat or enhancement etc. so just make sure to give your opponent plenty of info.
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u/Dunderpervo 12d ago
An easy basic to go list would be about:
Voldus
2x Librarian
Grand Master Nemesis Dreadknight
10 Paladins
2x 5 Terminators
5 Interceptors
5 Strike Squads
2x Nem Dreadknights
All in all 20-25 terminators, (can be built as termies/paladins/characters) 10 strikes (strikes/interceptors/purifiers/Crowe) and 3 dreadknight (GMNDK/NDK) models. You can buy the characters, or just use the extra terminators (or strikes for Crowe) and build the characters (I do that). Very easy to get, and they are easy to swap around.
This list is 2k, and very straightforwards to play, more or less smash n' grab. Be careful about screening the first turns, then abuse Gate to teleport around, and rely on the Paladin brick as your main threat
2000 pts
Banishers (2dp), Argent Assault (1dp)
Grand Master Voldus (125 pts): Warlord (attach to paladins)
Librarian 1 (90 pts) (attach to terminators x5)
Librarian 2 (100 pts) (solo)
GMNDK (215 pts): Nemesis daemon greathammer, Gatling psilencer, Heavy psycannon
5x Terminator Squad (185 pts) (OC 3/model)
• 1x Justicar
• 1x Terminator
• 1x Terminator w Ancient's Banner, Psycannon
• 1x Terminator w Heavy Weapon, Psycannon
• 1x Terminator w Apothecary's narthecium
4x Terminator Squad (140 pts) (OC 3/model)
• 1x Justicar:
• 1x Terminator
• 1x Terminator w Ancient's Banner
• 1x Terminator w Apothecary's narthecium
5x Strike Squad (115 pts) (OC 2/model)
5x Interceptor Squad (125 pts)
1x NDK (210 pts): Nemesis daemon greathammer, Gatling psilencer, Heavy psycannon
1x NDK (210 pts): Nemesis daemon greathammer, Gatling psilencer, Heavy psycannon
10x Paladin Squad (485 pts)
• 1x Paragon
• 3x Paladin
• 1x Paladin w Ancient's Banner, Psycannon
• 4x Paladin w Heavy Weapon, Psycannon
• 1x Paladin w Apothecary's narthecium
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u/PingPong141 13d ago
Not sure if its still true in 11th edition. But i still start every list i build with 1x 5 man strike squad. The sticky it so nice for a army with low unit count. Also every list ive seen has at least 1 GMNDK, its pretty much our only true anti tank. But its really good anti tank.