City Fight Campaign

[glsn]

Hello All,

 

I am playing in a City Fight Campaign starting in February and have decided to use Grey Knights for the first time. The Campaign will start at 500 points and then each week grow by 250 points, so that by the end of February it will be 1250 points. My starting list is as follows. Please comment and critic and any suggestions for further units would be apprieciated. Also, any tactics that I could try would also be good.

 

HQ Inquisitor Lord w/ Terminator Armour, Power Sword, and Storm Bolter + 3 Acolytes w/ Power armour and Bolt Pistol - 144

(In reality this is an old Space Marine Terminator Captain being followed around by 3 Assault Marines without Jump Packs

)

 

Troops 5x Grey Knights w/ 2 Incinerators - 170

(Because on a field full of cover, who doesn't love 2 heavy flamers?)

 

Troops 5x Grey Knights w/ 2 Incinerators - 170

(ditto above)

 

This comes to 484. I'm thinking of adding a familiar and a warrior to add bonuses to Initative and Weapon Skill.

[Marid]

I think your list would be more effective if you made that Inq Lord a Brother Captain and added three more PAGKs. That would leave you with 24 points.

[number6]

I also would favor pure GK at 500 pts. Not that firebases can't be effective in Cities of Death, but they aren't as effective. GKs have mobility and the ability to both hold and take buildings. Consider adding the Inquisitor at 1000 or 1260 pts, but going pure GK up to then.

 

I'd recommend a BC with a psycannon for your HQ and then PAGKs for 500 pts. At 750, add in a dreadnought and more PAGKs. At 1000, consider a 2nd dread and more GKs. (See the pattern here? :)) And at 1250, splurge on either the Inquisitor or some Terminators for a retinue on the BC, 'cause either would be lots of fun and pretty effective.

[glsn]

Originally, I was planning on a Brother-Captain, but 61 points for a model with 1 wound doesn't seem a good idea. With a psycannon, he'd be 91 points. Here I have a model with 3 wounds who can give any wounds he takes to his followers and all of them have good armour. I was actually thinking, for 750, of adding a Callidius assasin and a Leman Russ maybe.

 

Number6 - My Inquisitor is not a firebase unit. He is a tarpit close combat unit. Not a single one of the henchmen is armed with a ranged weapon.

[Tauren]

To be honest, DH inquisitors suck at close combat... as for a tarpit, I think you could do better and cheaper with other units, although limited models available might reduce that.

[Marid]

At 500 points it would be possible to include a dreadnought:

 

BC

5 PAGK w/ 1 Incinerator

5 PAGK w/ 1 Incinerator

Dreadnought w/ AC, DCCW, & storm bolter

9 points to spare.

 

Your numbers are pretty low, but having a dreadnought at 500 points might be worth it. And, I don't know if you've bought you're minis yet, but the nice thing about this list is that it is 1 GKT, 2 boxes of PAGK, and 1 dreadnought.

[glsn]

Alright, I play tested this today. It was against a Codex: Marine Army as is below. It ended with a draw as we pretty much wiped everyone from the other team out and didn't have anything to claim objectives.

 

His Army:

 

Chaplain w/ Terminator Armour

 

10 man Tactical Squad w/ Flamer and Missile Launcher

 

5 man Scout Squad w/ Sniper Rifle and Cloaks

 

5 man Assault Squad w/ Power Weapon on the Sergeant

 

The Inquisitor Lord managed to wipe out the Assault Squad losing everyone in his retinue in the process. One squad of Grey Knights ate the scouts and then were eaten by the Tactical Squad with attached Chaplain (the Justicar died to combined Bolt Pistol and Flamer fire before the assault). The Tactical Squad was them purged by the flames of my second Grey Knight Squad who proceeded to charge and wipe out most of the Tacticals and caused them to be unable to win. Unfortunately, his Chaplain pretty much single handedly ate the Grey Knights in the second turn of the assault and the Justicar lost his fearless roles.

 

This raises a point I just thought of. Since there is no mention of the modern fearless rule, do we use the old fearless one which is printed in the codex and does not reference the main rule book?

 

Anyways, I have decided that the Inquisitor is indeed a bad idea for games of this size and not the model I want. Instead, since he cost just about as much anyways, I'm going to put in a Grey Knight Grand Master instead. Why he is fighting in a 500 point battle out in the sticks I have no clue, but I guess he got lost. Thoughts?

 

P.S. Answering my own question. THe Daemonhunter FAQ says that you reference the new rule book.

[number6]

Don't take a GM unless you also take a GKT retinue for him! He has no insta-kill protection, meaning a power-fist or thunder hammer is likely to off him in one blow. Only with the full benefits of the retinue rules in the codex (blessed by the 5th edition BRB, no less) makes taking a GM worth it.

 

Trust us: the 91 pt, 1 wound BC with a psycannon is a brilliant HQ for any DH list, big or small. But for small lists, he is the only practical choice. 91 pts is really not that expensive for a model in termie armour with a S6 power weapon and a psycannon. It's a bargain!

[jhrovii]

Honestly? I'd drop the inquisitor, beef up your GK squads to 6-each, attach the Psycannon-BC, and maybe spend the last 19 points on some frags, targeters, and a cheap psychic power/master-crafted weapon/artificer armour. Really, the targeters are great for just spotting your incinerators

 

If I did the head-math right... :)

[glsn]

I'll play test both tomorrow and then decide. Thing is I don't see someone taking a thunderhammer or power fist in a 500 point game. You are doing all you can just to get the bases covered. We'll see tomorrow. Besides the nature of the campaign is such that small modulations in the list is allowed from game to game.

[Marid]

I'll play test both tomorrow and then decide. Thing is I don't see someone taking a thunderhammer or power fist in a 500 point game. You are doing all you can just to get the bases covered. We'll see tomorrow. Besides the nature of the campaign is such that small modulations in the list is allowed from game to game.

 

 

I really have to concur that the BC/ Psycannon is a great HQ. A Grand Master at 500 points is a big risk. I don't even use one at 2,000 points. The cost of one GM is just too close to a BC and two GKTs. However, in the end it is your list. I use models that people tell me are not the best, but what the hey, if you like the thought of playing a GM give it a shot.

[number6]

This is a good point. A naked, bare-bones GM is only 8 pts cheaper than a BC and 2 GKTs. That's the same number of wounds, but three times the shooting and twice the number of attacks. If, at 500 pts, you're not likely to see power fists and thunder hammers (not my experience, but perhaps true for your group), then you are even less likely to see anything that would require a GM's force weapon. Going with more but less expenisve models is actually much more potent than loading up on a single uber-model. Especially one that isn't actually all that uber in the current gaming climate....

[Bucky]

This might sound like a newbie question, but why all the psycannon love? Why not leave him with a SB, especially in city fight where the 36" range will probably not get used.

 

Wouldn't an extra knight be more worthwhile?

[number6]

This might sound like a newbie question, but why all the psycannon love? Why not leave him with a SB, especially in city fight where the 36" range will probably not get used.

 

Wouldn't an extra knight be more worthwhile?

At 500 pts, a single psycannon is a huge asset for a GK army. It essentially becomes the only anti-tank ranged weapon your have, and you should expect to see some light armour on the table. It's also a good idea to thin out the enemy as much as is possible before tangling in an assault. Especially in city fighting, where the army doesn't have access to assault grenades.

 

The BC can move and shoot that psycannon all day long with maximum effectiveness and not lose any assault potency as a result. By comparison, equipping psycannons on normal GKs costs you not just GK models themselves, but a significant portion of what makes GKs unique to begin with. It's a dicier proposition.

 

As a practical necessity in 40K, you need strong ranged firepower. You can only get that in the form of psycannons or dreadnoughts/land raiders. You're not taking dreads or land raiders at 500 pts, so you better take psycannons. The BC is the right platform for the job. Taking it doesn't cost you that much. You will make money off that investment. :)

[Bucky]

Makes sense.

 

Thanks for the reply.