Second Sphere

Wargames => Warhammer 40k => Topic started by: Waaaghpower on September 13, 2015, 03:27:53 AM

Title: Are Grey Knights still viable?
Post by: Waaaghpower on September 13, 2015, 03:27:53 AM
So, as part of my long-running theme of adding more and more Imperial stuff so I can have a cool looking collection, take advantage of GWs throwing out the army limitations, and general building my collection from codex to codex, I've turned my sights on a new army: Grey Knights.
I like Psykers. Especially in 7th edition.
I also like armies which rely on careful positioning and strategy, and which have a lot of flanking capability if needed.
I think a lot of the models are pretty bitchin'.

However...

In their most recent codex, from what I can see, they took a HUGE hit. Aside from the fact that 6th and 7th edition slowly moved on from the era when they were the top dogs, (To be clear, I'm not just looking for an easy win army, keep that in mind,) but in terms of how many units are available, they went from 34 units (Including transports and all 3 Land Raiders, and one of those units is the Inquisitorial Henchmen Squad, which is really the equivalent of 4 or 5 units smooshed together,) to a mere 21. Since Assassins and Inquisitors are now their own codices, and several of the cooler special characters have been removed, about a third of the units available have been chopped out. Furthermore, they didn't get any new formations save for one that costs more than 2k points when bringing in the barest of bones, and the relics available are nice but ultimately not anything to write home about.

Which leads to my actual question: Are they worth bringing in as allies? I can pretty confidently say that as a solo stand-alone army they fail pretty miserably, (What with having no AA except for Stormravens, no cheap infantry, and lacking all sorts of counters that a good army should have,) but it looks like they've got a few things really, really going for them.

Kaldor Draigo is basically a Terminator-armored Chapter Master armed with the Burning Blade and the Shield Eternal, except he also happens to be a ML2 Psyker, can cause Instant Death with his sword, and can fire a Storm Bolter off once in a while, without costing any more than the Chapter Master. So, if you're already taking a Terminator CM, he's pretty much an auto-include.
Similarly, their Terminators cost two points less and are armed with Power Swords instead of Power Fists... Which is only no good until you realize you can buff them up to S6 and ID, and with a small points investment give them more attacks, better Strength (On top of Hammerhand, no less,) Admantium Will (On top of being Psykers, so a 4+ DTW,) and if nothing else they also bring in an extra Warp Charge.
Their equivalent Devestators also have access to supercharged Heavy Flamers, and if you put them in a hijacked Drop Pod from another army they can come in with a lot of devestating firepower. (And for 25 ppm, they're not any more expensive than regular Devestators, while still giving a free Warp Charge.)
Dreadknights aren't quite the tabletop-crushing force they used to be either, but they're still the only totally unique thing Grey Knights have to offer.


So, in summation... Do you guys have anything to add? Two Cents? An opinion? Some kind of flaw in my logic that I have yet to see?