Grand master Mordrak

[bl00d bath76]

Since this codex has been out i havn't seen or heard anything much about Grand master Mordrak. I tried him out today and loved how he performed. In this post i will review the uses for him and whether he is a good buy in the codex.

 

Points wise he is 25 more points than a standard grand master. For this he has

 

an extra wound

an extra attack

a master-crafted nemesis deamon hammer (10 points for grand master)

ability to take ghost knights. (and get more as the game goes on)

DS first turn no scatter

 

So right there he is better on the offensive and a tougher character.

 

These changes may seem alright. Just an upgraded grand master to some however the real benefits of him is fo course the ghost kinghts. Put simple ghost knights are the same cost of terminators with stealth however the real advantage is that Mordrak is treated as an upgrade character so cannot be picked out. This means that:

 

He is very unlikely to be killed by instant death like normal grand masters. This is the main way people eliminate characters and therefore forces your opponent to kill him wound by wound.

You can chose which wounds he takes so to produce more ghost knights but also to keep him alive.

Will nearly always be able to strike with his deamon hammer so will not have to worry about being inititive 1

 

At an extra 25 points this is a bargin. More so however is he is a good way to get grand strategy and not be a waste of points otherwise. This is because normal grand masters are not that good in the assault and don't tend to do much. You buy them for the grand strategy thats it...However mordrak will kill a lot of things and make up his points this way on top of using grand strategy.

 

furthermore I personaly find it hard to find ways in deliviering a grand master. Either i deepstrike him, put him in a land raider or walk him on his own or with some troops. A land raider is expensive and walking him takes ages to get where he is needed most. Also you would take him for the psychic communion however deepstriking him will make that power obsolete and therefore your only real option is walking him on which limits your mobility and will likely end up with him getting shot to pieces. Mordrak however will deepstrike first turn alowing you to make use of his psychic communion and does not scatter. This instantly puts your opponent under presure and ensures that the unit would not take ages to arrive only to mishap. Also the ability to not scatter means you can make good use of the ghosts stealth as you can deepstrike litteraly next to some terrain and run into it to gain a 3+ cover. Going to ground for a 2+ cover is also usefull. This is because you can go to ground absorbing a LOT of firepower (only for your units to gain in size xD and actually get stronger!) diverting firepower away from your advancing grey knights who will obtain fewer casualties. You can then similtaniously strike with both Mordrak and the rest of your army. (a common worry with mordrak is for him and his squad to be killed first turn as there is nothing threateningly close)

 

Disdvantages:

Lacks customisation (of course)

No access to grenades like generic grand master.

More points.

needs ghost knights to be effective

 

Overall i think Mordrak with 5 ghost knights is a great unit which will complement ANY army whether its mech, dreadknight spam, terminator span, henchmen spam, purifier spam, footslogging or just a generaly balanced list etc... If you like using grand masters or want grand strategy or psychic communion then try out mordrak. Equipment wise i would equip 4 with halberds and 1 with a sword.(you will spawn more swords) Never take the brotherhood banner as the number of attacks you gain are lost by replacing the nemesis force weapon.

 

Personaly my favourite unit in the codex. And at 400 points its quite cheep and very durable.

[Oiad]

Forgoing the fluff, my personal favourite GK character to pick this new codex too.

 

Normally I'd say hammernator characters should have better personal protection (Lysander, Arjac) but the Ghosts are there to make up for it and add some variation to the usual approach. It makes him very unique, no doubt. Can't wait to test him out.

 

Good summary overall with slight exceptions. I think you're a bit too harsh bringing up that he costs extra (of course he would do, but 25pts isn't too much of a quibble) and also state that he has, "No access to grenades like generic grand master" when he at least gets the default grenades. Surely having any others would already go under, "Lacks customisation". :blush:

[Gentlemanloser]

Mordrak is my favorite charcater in the 'dex.

 

Potentially, he could cost only 80 points, if you get all three of his 'free' Ghost Knights.

 

On the other hand, if he is killed by an ID attack (or sniped by things like JotWW), he could potentially cost you 400 points.

[bl00d bath76]

In some smaller lists it might be a big deal. Personaly i agree with you and 25 points is nothing to pay for what to get. he is really worth the points (will watch out for jaws)

[The Holy Heretic]

You forgot his most important disadvantage:

 

He is a special character ;)

[cptphoenixck]

You forgot his most important disadvantage:

 

He is a special character ;)

Nope, he's not!

One of the reasons he's so good.....

[Vutall]

I have a hard time taking the named characters as yes, they do some amazing stuff for the points, but you loose out on customization! Having Blind/Rad grenades is a MUST for me, and it makes me very sad that the named characters dont have them.

[BrotherWasted]

Mordrak is useless. For 400 points I get 6 terminators and lose access to Psycannons. Could someone please explain the point of him? I do realise that for 25 points more than GM you get to deep strike without scatter. But other than that, why should I lose out on access to important upgrades?

[Brovius]

Mordrak is useless. For 400 points I get 6 terminators and lose access to Psycannons. Could someone please explain the point of him? I do realise that for 25 points more than GM you get to deep strike without scatter. But other than that, why should I lose out on access to important upgrades?

 

Because 25pts also gets you another wound, an MC Hammer and an additional attack over the normal GM. In addition to not providing a seperate kill point, and the opponent can't single him out with Powerclaw Nobz/Powerfist Sergeants like the normal GM. He is definately worth his points. In a way, he's a souped-up GKGM from C:DH, essentially having the retinue rule. Why ccould they not give Mordrack the retinue rule? It's almost identical to what he has now, and it's not like it's been taken out of the BBB at all

[Gentlemanloser]

Because the Retinue rule would make him an IC by default.

 

In which case *no one* would take Ghost Knights, but attach Mordrak to a unit of Paladin. :rolleyes:

[Joasht]

In which case *no one* would take Ghost Knights, but attach Mordrak to a unit of Paladin. ;)

This.

I think Mordrak would have been more broken if he was an IC - you'd take him by himself, stick him to a massive squad of Paladins and just Deepstrike them Turn 1 right where you want them. I don't mind him getting insta-gibbed by Fists in such a case ;)

[ntgcleaner]

Thanks all, You all just answered my question.

I just got back into WH40k from a while ago, got the new dex (DH player since day one of my 'career') and was reading his rules and was wondering if I were able to take him with a unit of (let's say) paladins...

 

As per the last few posts, I see this is not possible? That would be amazing... and yes, probably broken. To be able to DS this guy and 10 paladins next to whatever you want in turn one would be ridiculous! Almost like using drop pods - in the sense that if they scatter into bad stuff, nothing really bad happens to them.

[BrotherWasted]

It is not possible. He is not an independant character, so he cannot join a unit of Paladins.

[Gentlemanloser]

Mordrak isn't an IC, so he can't join other units.

 

Edit: Other ICs can join him, but *only* if he purchases at least one Ghost Knight to accompany him.

 

And then, if the Ghost Khight is killed, before any others spawn, the IC would automatically leave Mordrak.

[The Holy Heretic]

What amazes me in these threads is, why people feel to repeat rules explanations over and over again, even though questions has been answered, and despite the 'doubters' even staying that they got the point.

 

On the subject of Mordrak. He won't feature in any of my armies, just because he is a named character (I feature Coteaz, because I'm forced to, to field an inq army with the new dex). I also dislike his reliability, how he takes the risk out of deep striking, no units should mess as much with the basic rules, it reduces the game to an adolescent superhero masturbation contest. That said, Mordrak is good on exactly The grounds that I dislike the basturd - besides I love my grand masters Psychotroke grenades too much to even consider Mordrak :D

[Gentlemanloser]

What amazes me in these threads is, why people feel to repeat rules explanations over and over again, even though questions has been answered, and despite the 'doubters' even staying that they got the point.

 

*cough*Today, 07:46 AM *cough*

 

*cough*Today, 07:46 AM *cough*

 

:D

[jeffersonian000]

It does appear that since Mordrak can be purchased with the unit, he can always be joined by IC's even when on his own.

 

SJ

[Gentlemanloser]

Mordrak on his own and Mordrak with Ghost Knights are two sperate units. They have seperate rules, and Mordrak 'Ghostly Bodyguard' rule highlight this;

 

until such point as the Ghost Knights are slain, at which point he reverts to being a single model unit in his own right

 

On his own, he's a single model unit, and as such, can't be joined by any ICs.

 

Edit: That particular bit about ICs not being able to join units that can only be a single model are for things like (GK example only) Palaidn units, where you can at a minimum take a unit of a single Paladin. But the 'Paladin' unit itself is always variable, from 1-10, so ICs can join them, regardless of the number taken.

[Reclusiarch Darius]

He is very unlikely to be killed by instant death like normal grand masters.

 

Cause six or more S8+ wounds on the unit, you're in with a chance. Krak missiles can get him through torrenting (yeah he can't be picked out in close-combat, but he's still a unique model and thus rolls to save seperately). Like with Paladins, if he rolls that 1, poof the entire unit disappears. Other abilites like 'Mind War', 'Jaws', 'Gift of Chaos' and so forth can also snipe him out.

 

In close-combat, you only need to cause six powerfist wounds (assuming they're at full strength still, after you shot them up). Mordrak again goes poof, and the Ghost Knights return to hell for tea and biscuits.

 

You can chose which wounds he takes so to produce more ghost knights but also to keep him alive.

 

He can at best make four new ones over the course of the game. The test is conducted every time he takes a wound.

 

Will nearly always be able to strike with his deamon hammer so will not have to worry about being inititive 1

 

He should, I1 sucks. If he's by himself, plenty of other things will eat him. If you bought him a retinue, then as I outlined above, it's entirely possible you can cause wounds to be allocated which will kill him.

 

At an extra 25 points this is a bargin. More so however is he is a good way to get grand strategy and not be a waste of points otherwise. This is because normal grand masters are not that good in the assault and don't tend to do much. You buy them for the grand strategy thats it...However mordrak will kill a lot of things and make up his points this way on top of using grand strategy.

 

I'm reminded of the quote 'guns don't kill people, I do' :D . Put another way, you don't bring a Grandmaster expecting him to dominate close-combat all by himself. You attach him and his rad+blind grenades to a Terminator/Paladin unit, and you improve their killyness. He's a support character, and pretty well-costed.

Mordrak doesn't do support, because A: he has no special grenades and B: his Ghost Knights are the only friends he has, he's too much of a downer to join his actual Brotherhood squads. He cries about his dead friends, magically making them re-appear (with swords, because apparently the Mortain mission forbid using anything more useful), and flails around with a hammer, pretending he's awesome.

 

Meanwhile, in every other army Knight players use, an actual Grandmaster and actual Terminators do cool stuff. Like bring psycannons, special grenades, scoring by default, cheaper, actual Troops choice etc.

 

furthermore I personaly find it hard to find ways in deliviering a grand master. Either i deepstrike him, put him in a land raider or walk him on his own or with some troops. A land raider is expensive and walking him takes ages to get where he is needed most. Also you would take him for the psychic communion however deepstriking him will make that power obsolete and therefore your only real option is walking him on which limits your mobility and will likely end up with him getting shot to pieces.

 

Look, I know playing with Mordrak (and possibly Crowe) may have made you forget, but in 40k, we have this cool rule called 'Independent Character' (which Ward left off those two characters, probably under orders to make sure 'at least some of their HQ's are useless'). It lets you attach lonely heroes to nearby friends. The advantages are that character is now safe from lascannon, and the squad benefit from his presence.

It's the same deal with the Librarian. I've seen so many threads on the theme of 'but Landraider/Stormraven are expensive, so I'm not taking heroes in TDA'. Do people not understand that you can (and should) attach said characters to Terminators/Paladins? You can even attach Librarians to Strike or Purifier squads if you want.

 

Mordrak however will deepstrike first turn alowing you to make use of his psychic communion and does not scatter. This instantly puts your opponent under presure and ensures that the unit would not take ages to arrive only to mishap

 

6 Terminators with no special weapons, showing up in an enemy backline. That doesn't sound to me like 'putting pressure on'. It seems more like you're feeding a small unit to the enemy that can easily be ganked, because no one else is nearby to support them. Suicide deepstrike works with meltaguns, not with storm bolters.

 

Also the ability to not scatter means you can make good use of the ghosts stealth as you can deepstrike litteraly next to some terrain and run into it to gain a 3+ cover. Going to ground for a 2+ cover is also usefull. This is because you can go to ground absorbing a LOT of firepower (only for your units to gain in size xD and actually get stronger!) diverting firepower away from your advancing grey knights who will obtain fewer casualties

 

Sure you can. Still doesn't solve the problem of only having storm bolters to contribute that turn.

Why would you 'Go to Ground'? Your next turn will then consist of your 400pt unit doing nothing. Nobody is going to bother shooting you, they might try charging you if they think they can weather the handful of halberd attacks that actually hit.

They don't draw fire, because outside of close-combat, they don't do much (and even in close-combat, they're pretty lackluster, even with a Banner).

 

You can then similtaniously strike with both Mordrak and the rest of your army. (a common worry with mordrak is for him and his squad to be killed first turn as there is nothing threateningly close)

 

Except as you've come to realise, no one else is nearby. Therefore, the entire point of 'First Into the Fray' is lost, because it's essentially a suicide venture. Mordrak and his FailKnights show up, rattle of some storm bolter, look scary, then get shot+charged to death. Meanwhile, your tiny army (remember, 400pt deficit) tries to advance before the enemy gets bored kicking in Mordrak's face and goes for something challenging.

 

Overall i think Mordrak with 5 ghost knights is a great unit which will complement ANY army whether its mech, dreadknight spam, terminator span, henchmen spam, purifier spam, footslogging or just a generaly balanced list etc..

 

Based on what exactly? You haven't explained how he fits with any of those armies.

 

Never take the brotherhood banner as the number of attacks you gain are lost by replacing the nemesis force weapon.

 

If you're dead-set on using him, you HAVE to take this upgrade. Otherwise, their tiny number of attacks is meaningless. It gets better the more Ghost Knights you spawn, and it exactly replaces the number of attacks lost, so at 'worst' its making up for the Banner Bearer losing his NFW.

 

Personaly my favourite unit in the codex. And at 400 points its quite cheep and very durable.

 

Since when was 400pts of 'never can score' cheap? Durability relies on your being in cover, which may or may not be the case.

[nurglez]

I've looked at Mordrak, and wouldn't mind trying him out at some point, but whenever I put him in a list I also put in a libby and then that is 600 points or so, tied up in 1 squad of 7 models, first to the fray does look nice, but if the enemy reserves their force, it seems annoying (played logan wing with drop pods, my smart friends started to reserve their armies so I had no target for an alpha strike...).

 

I think I shall stick to Draigo and paladins for the time being :D

[Chairman_woo]

My 2pence.....

 

 

To me Mordrak & his merry band of ghostly men exist to be the spearhead for a midfield deepstrike in an army with few or no transports. Mordraks unit + libby (with teleport homer) drops next to midfield cover and procedes to run into it, if this goes well you should be able to give yourself a 3+/2+ coversave and or block LOS completely for a turn. Very few armies can bring the firepower to bear on turn 1 to wipe that unit off the table if youve positioned well (hence droping into the midfield not the enemys backline.) and with some moderate luck the unit can more or less replenish itself to some extent. In the subsequent turn you can use the homer & communion to put down most of the rest of the army (mostly termies with psycannons and the like) and attempt to dominate the midfield (scatter free DS, 24" shooting and shrouding and sanctuary etc.).

 

Not the best, but viable. To me a GK army is at its most fluffly when deepstriking aload of terminators and in my limited expereince this approach and "Draigowing" seem to be the most viable. Antyone got any better suggestions?

[Gentlemanloser]

He can at best make four new ones over the course of the game. The test is conducted every time he takes a wound.

 

Only 3 extra I'm afriad. ;)

 

Techincally he would get a 4th automatically when he lost his 4th wounds, but as that's his last wound, he goes, as do all the Ghost Knights! <_<

 

Not the best, but viable. To me a GK army is at its most fluffly when deepstriking aload of terminators and in my limited expereince this approach and "Draigowing" seem to be the most viable. Antyone got any better suggestions?

 

When we get back to playing, I'mm gonna use Mordrak with a nuch of Interceptors/PT NDK to create first turn pressure. Mordrak pops up exactly where I want him, and the Interceptors/NDK move up 12" (or if I didn't give them Scout, Shunt) to provide support.

 

Hopefully fluffy and effective. ;)

[Chairman_woo]

When we get back to playing, I'mm gonna use Mordrak with a nuch of Interceptors/PT NDK to create first turn pressure. Mordrak pops up exactly where I want him, and the Interceptors/NDK move up 12" (or if I didn't give them Scout, Shunt) to provide support.

 

Hopefully fluffy and effective. :cuss

 

 

This is an idea I have considered seriously before, the only issue seems to be ballancing the pts you are spending on DK's and interceptors to have enough left to get a reasonable core of troops to exploit the advantage you open up with the shunting (even 2x 5man terminator squads would do but thats still 450+pts).

[Adir]

I will never ceased to be amazed at the negativity and the number of "corrections" people feel compelled to provide in threads like these. The original poster had a really great game with Mordrak and wanted to express that here... yet folks feel compelled to tear down his analysis. I would really like to see this community better support its members and not engage in a point by point tear down of each others posts.

 

At any rate, I also like to use Mordrak and 5 knights as a pure CC unit mounted in Redeemer. As the original poster mentions, he has a better statline than a normal GKGM and the aforementioned retinue rule means this unit can hand out some serious pain in close combat (at I6 and I1).

[Lord Sirrion]

My turn!

 

I've used Mordrak A LOT. Love him. You just have to be smart with the guy. Just make sure where he's dropping isn't in the middle of the enemy army. Make it so only a few enemy units can shoot/assault him. The terrain thing is a must, don't even worry about the running into terrain, just DP into it and eat the dangerous terrain roll.

 

I surprised that nobody has mentioned attaching an IC to his unit. Stick a librarian with him and the unit is golden. Sanctuary to help stop assaults. Pesky tank bothering you? Drop near hit, hit it with warp rift, then use it for cover! Then use the librarian's teleport homer combined with Mordraks communion to bring in some other scary units to support him. 20 terminators showing up without scatter wherever you want them by turn 2 is a scary thing.