Looking for suggestions for GK army

[Kenaurec]

Hello all, I just picked up a Gk army for cheap in an attempt to get back into the hobby and I'm looking for some help. Played a few games so far and I do like the army, just need some feedback on which models to field in a 1500-1850 pt army. I have models for 2x 8 man gk's, 7 gkt's + stern, chimera + 10 stormtroopers. The few games I've played I've borrowed a dread with las + missile. Biggest weakness is obviously AT, but not sure if land raider( either pattern) or dreads is the answer, or even an inducted IG platoon with heavy weapons. Any suggestions or opinions would be welcome, thanks

[gil galed]

Well if you want to run an almost pure GK army you'll probably want either three land raiders, 2 raiders and 1 TLLC/ML dread, or 1 LR with 2 dreads, as you will need the anti tank

 

If you don't mind going un pure i suppose to small squads of IG with 5 heavy weapons teams totting las cannons is bound to do some damage

 

I only air towards lr/dreads as i'm running an almost pure gk force (occasionally include inq.s + assassin)

[Aidoneus]

First thing to do is throw 2 meltaguns into that IST squad, meltabombs on the two Justicars, and a couple Thunder Hammers into the GKT unit (2 oughta do it). After that, I'd buy another las/missle dread, as they tend to work best in pairs. At that point, every unit will be capable of dealing with armour, and you'll have 3 dedicated anti-armour units, which should be just about perfect for you.

 

As you build up your army, swapping the dreads out for land raiders can help with anti-tank, and will also make you more resilient and also more mobile, all of which are wonderful assets. Alternatively, you could keep the dreads and ally-in an IG platoon with some heavy weapons squads.

 

A third option is to ally-in Sisters of Battle with some more meltaguns (Seraphim with Inferno Pistols and possibly an Eviscerator can be quite effective, although they're also very pricey). However, sisters work best en masse, due to Faith Points, so I'd almost advise that if you want sisters you should just make a WH army and ally-in some Grey Knights.

[Uncle Mel]

First thing to do is throw 2 meltaguns into that IST squad, meltabombs on the two Justicars, and a couple Thunder Hammers into the GKT unit (2 oughta do it).

 

Well aidoneus got my changes to your list in his first sentence, maybe add a second IST squad with rhino so you can pincer-move any opponent and have some redundancy.

 

i agree as well on the matter of the dread, 2 is the way to go, again for the redundancy factor. should one get shot, the other is still there, if that gets shot as well, that means they ignored those two IST squads driving behind cover to reach the side armor of the opponent.

 

my thoughts

 

Mel

[number6]

The new IG platoons are really fantastic; you can't go wrong there. They can not only boost your anti-armour capabilities, they'll boost your scoring unit and body count ... perhaps even your vehicular count if you're into "Steel Legion"ing your platoon. Very flexible, a truly excellent unit for any DH army.

 

Since 5th edition, the trend for pure GK games has been to go 2-3 Land Raiders, Raiders benefiting mightily from the alterations in the game rules from 4th edition to 5th edition. (And our old school DH smoke launchers help that trend even farther.) I'm a bit more old school than that, and while I do play games with a pair of land raiders, most of my games are still utilizing dreadnoughts for the majority if my anti-armour duties. They'll work out fine, especially if, like me, you aren't so much of a tread-head and like fielding more infantry.

 

As Aidoneus intimated, you'll want a variety of anti-armour options available to you. Mechanized armies in general are relatively strong and relatively popular. I used to say that any decent list (of any army) needed at least three solid, dependable anti-armour solutions to be competitive. In my experience since 5th edition was released, three isn't really enough anymore. You can't have enough, frankly. Troop transports are dirt cheap and a number of armies can spam the table with vehicles ... which really emphasizes the DH army's general weaknesses.

 

And with the new IG, I am even questioning the logic behind total dependence upon land raiders to both protect your DH army infantry and simultaneously fill out the anti-armour duties as well. The IG can field so many lascannons and melta weapons that even an awesome duo or trio of land raiders can prove to be more of a liability than an asset. Because once they're gone, you are totally crippled.

 

IG brings a new metagame, and I think we need more infantry-based solutions to counter it. I think relying more on multiple units of mounted ISTs with meltas, inducted IG platoons, and allied Sisters of Battle will prove to be superior options to land raiders as we see more IG armies taking the field.

[Dilgar]

All depends on your opponents ofcourse...Using three LR against a footslogging Eldar opponent would maybe be OTT. My regular oppnents are CSM, Necrons, Tau and Eldar, and I play either 2 TLLC/ML Dreddies, or a single LR in 1,5k. I got a Chainfist on my BC and that´s that. Granted I don´t kill every vehicle but u learn to kill the ones that are trying to strike at your weak points while denying good shots from your opponents AT. Against Tau I admit I rearly see my LR after a few turns but popping smoke and getting those GKT up close usually still gives me a 50/50 chance to win the game :P

 

The only other tank I field is a chimera for my IST, and if I use a LR then that squad is a vanilla 80 points scoring unit, nothing else needed for em.

 

Atleast if I would field 3 LR + all GK/GKT army I know my opponents might start whining a bit cause it really is a very strong build I feel(never played it but I can imagine)...cheers

[Inquisitor Fox]

My thoughts echo Number6's. For the same point cost as a single Land Raider, you can have a 5 or 6 unit strong Inducted IG Platoon with anti-tank weaponry, as well as each unit of said Platoon being scoring. If you're not hurting for the transport capacity, it definately bears thinking about.

 

My personal Seraphim loadout is a power weapon/plasma pistol, then two twin inferno pistol seraphim. I have 2 or 3 sisters units in my force and haven't noticed a serious problem with Faith Points. Yes more is good, but I do alright with only a couple units of them.

 

I stand by my previous observations in that the Inquisition forces are specialized tools, Sisters and Hereticus for anti-cult and close range cityfighting, and the Daemon Hunters for going up against small groups of elite infantry (daemons). For true anti-tank power, you need to recruit forces of the actual military arms of the Imperium. They're the ones who are talented at this open field warfare thing... the Inquisition's strengths are in other areas.

[Kenaurec]

Thanks for all the pointers/opinions guys.

While I do like the inducted platoon and sisters ideas, does their fire power out way the kill points they bring to the table? One thing i really like about the army is the GKT's which the inducted platoon doesn't help.ie the land raider gives fire support and possible transport which the inducted platoon doesn't. I've had disastrous results deep striking my termies so if I decided to forgo LR's for a platoon should i leave my termis at home, continue deep striking and hope for better, or walk across the board?

[number6]

I wouldn't worry overmuch about kill points. You win games when you do a better job of killing the enemy than they do killing you. This is true no matter whether the ultimate victory is determined by "objectives" or "kill points". Built properly -- meaning that you select options that enhance your DH army's ability to kill enemy vehicles -- an IG platoon will be a significant and necessary asset ... seeing as anti-armour is the glaring weakness of your force.

 

Protect yourself. Kill the enemy. Count KPs later, and only if that even matters.

 

Obviously, if IG platoons don't suit your personal taste, don't use them. There are a number of other options available. But don't discount them just because you are concerned about KPs. It works both ways, after all. All those potential KPs are also potential scoring units in objectives missions. That's A Good Thing. Also, don't forget that you can gang up IG platoons to reduce your squad count, handy for Annihilation missions.

 

I'm not a fan of deep-strking GKTs, either. As you noted, it either ends disastrously (at least a less likely result under 5th edition than under previous editions), or the GKTs have to suffer a torrent of enemy firepower before being effective. Myself, I nearly always footslog a set of 5 with a pair of psycannons. They make a hardy mobile firebase that is deadly yet difficult to eliminate because of the shrouding and terminator armour. Keep them dancing near maximum psycannon range and watch your opponents cry. Screen them with vehicles and/or other infantry, and you can angle them into an assault pretty easily and safely as well, if that's what's required. If you're not going to go this route, then a land raider (crusader, preferably) is essentially mandatory. There's not a good way, otherwise, to deliver these guys on target.

[Aidoneus]

Walking Termies is almost always preferable to deep-striking them. In you're going for assault, as Number6 said, go with a Raider. But for shooting/balanced builds, walking is just fine. The nice thing is that you of course still have the option to deep-strike in certain cases, which I find helpful in missions like Capture and Control (my least favorite mission, as I almost always Draw).

 

I'll also echo Number6's advice about Platoons.

[SamaNagol]

If you are walking Terminators in, please make sure you take a Psycannon on the Captain and one in the unit. Firing on the move at 36" is lovely. Especially if you are playing Eldar.