Going where the metal meets the meat

[Vindicatus]

So I have a bit of a quandary. Of the players at my LGS, several play lists that favour keeping my GK at 'arms reach' (Tau, Wolves, etc) in order to obliterate their smaller number in pure shooting. I'm trying to develop a list that can take all comers, but has the tactical mobility to get up close and personal to heavy hitting ranged units without getting turned into swiss cheese by footslogging the length of the board to do it. I realize I just outlined the ideal army list for everyone under the sun, but hear me out. I'm willing to sacrifice a little shooting power or clip some units in order to make it effective, since nothing quite ruins your day like a face full of Paladins.

 

Right now, the only real requirements that I have for said list is:

 

A. Must be 2000 points

B. Must include a Librarian (I love me some hood action)

 

Thoughts? Comments?

[meatball]

Mordrak and Ghosts dropped rights in his ranks

Three Storm Ravens with Terminators

Dreads: Riflemen or melee but if you choose melee put them also in ravens

 

Add a libby to Mordrak's unit and teleport any dudes whose transports get shot.

 

Turn One/ Two you are in his face...guaranteed.

[Vindicatus]

My main problem with Mordrak is the fact that yes, he can drop in on turn on and literally be IN YOUR FACE...but he stays there until your next turn. You can't assault out of a deepstrike, so while he's certainly positioned to put foot-to-backside, he, and his crew, are likely going to get their keesters blown off in the torrent of gunfire to follow.

 

Now, as a bonus to that, I'll say that having all that firepower planted right there means that it's not obliterating my transports and other troops as they snake their way up the line, and gives opportunities for Psyfleman dreads and other such choices to place themselves in prime fields of fire for the ultimately costly return salvo on the next turn.

[meatball]

Mordrak in nice.

 

Ignore him and he is nasty in combat.

 

Shooting Mordrak is also risky due to the fact that he can summon more knights upon taking wounds.

 

Shoot him and you have three-two Stormravens with angry terminators to deal with next turn.

 

Either way your opponent has to make tough choices.

[DarkGuard]

Personally I'd consider a couple of Strike squads in Rhinos, maybe a big Terminator squad on foot, a full strength Interceptor squad and some psyfleman Dreads. A big scoring Terminator squad with two psycannons and possibly psybolt ammo seems almost too good to pass up in my mind, 8 S7 rending shots a turn? Yes please. Also saves you paying for an expensive Land Raider, and you can chuck a Libby in there.

 

Strike squads in Rhinos give you mobile scoring units. Give them incinerators if you can fit them in, but I wouldn't give them halberds, the price for them on Strike squads seems extortionate. However, I would give them to Interceptor squads, along with a couple of Daemonhammers. The Interceptor squad, while not scoring, has the ability to shunt over to something to threaten it, and gives you more mobility to threaten your foe.

 

So a solid base of firepower with Terminators and psyfleman Dreads, and some mobile units with Strike squads in Rhinos and the Interceptor squads. You'll probably have some points left over, so you could add in some over units, maybe some Assassins for support, or a Purgation squad in Rhino.

[ShinyRhino]

You're going to need a balanced force. Raven-heavy lists will get shot to pieces by railguns and lascannons. All teleport forces arrive piecemeal, and are largely static once they land.

If I'm a Tau player facing a Paladin-heavy force, I just jump right over you with my skimmer tanks, and challenge you to weather all the firepower my suits and tanks pump out while trying to catch me.

 

You have to have the long-range firepower to blast the tanks, the midfield firepower to hold your objectives, and the close-range assault to clear the enemy of theirs. The Grey Knight codex does not make very good spamlists, or monobuilds.

[TyrionTheImp]

Footslogging problems? Mech up! Nothing like a half a dozen or more rhinos/razorbacks on the other side of the board. Particularly those which are difficult to stun. Honestly, if you're still running footslog GK's, you're a little behind. Drive ahead 12", pop smoke, next turn drive up 6", disembark, you should be able to hit most things.

 

I don't care for Storm Ravens as GK aren't assault heavy enough to warrant them, though loading them up with Terminators isn't a bad idea if you did want to bring them, especially with Halberds.

 

Having a deep striking interceptor/strike/terminator squad isn't a bad idea either, but if you're running a Librarian they can't bring Psychic Communion so your reserves won't be as reliable as if you had 2 Psychic Communions.

 

Riflemen Dreads reach out and touch your opponent adding much needed range to an otherwise 24" and closer force.

[minigun762]

All teleport forces arrive piecemeal, and are largely static once they land.

 

Is this true if he's using a Master (or whatever its called) that does the +/- 1 to your reserve rolls?

 

It seems like trusting deepstrikers to pop and fry units would be a valid tactic, similar to Chaos Termicide or Loyalist IronClad Dreads.

 

Since Psycannons are your main ranged anti-tank, whats the cheapest squad that can take them and deepstrike safely?

[DarkGuard]

All teleport forces arrive piecemeal, and are largely static once they land.

 

Is this true if he's using a Master (or whatever its called) that does the +/- 1 to your reserve rolls?

 

It seems like trusting deepstrikers to pop and fry units would be a valid tactic, similar to Chaos Termicide or Loyalist IronClad Dreads.

 

Since Psycannons are your main ranged anti-tank, whats the cheapest squad that can take them and deepstrike safely?

 

Very true, for both Master and Captain. And for 5pts your HQ choice can also take three servo skulls, which I believe reduce scatter by 6" when deep striking within 6" of them. With that psychic ability and those skulls you're likely to get your reserves when you need them, where you need them.

 

If you wanted to get two Psychic Communions on the field, but don't want to pay 400pts for it, consider getting the second one from an Inquisitor of any flavour. Or you could just get them both from two Inquisitors, as these guys get reduced servo skulls. Should come 128pts in total if you only take the Inquisitors, hide them in cover, spread the skulls across the battlefield, pass both Psychic Communion tests second turn, and you've got pretty much all Deep Striking units appearing that turn, more or less where you want them.

[Something Wycked]

Something that hasn't been mentioned very much is the Shunt Punch. Take a GKGM, and Interceptors and Dreadknights with PT's. Give a d3 units of them Scout, and have them hop 30" across in the Scout move before the game even starts- then on turn 1 they can assault, and will have the other units (that didn't scout move) shunt across the board for fire support and turn 2 assaults.

 

At the very least, adding Interceptors/DK's with PT's to a list with Mordrak will help you get across the board right now so your opponent doesn't have just Mordrak to worry about, but several things to worry about.

[ShinyRhino]

Something that hasn't been mentioned very much is the Shunt Punch. Take a GKGM, and Interceptors and Dreadknights with PT's. Give a d3 units of them Scout, and have them hop 30" across in the Scout move before the game even starts- then on turn 1 they can assault, and will have the other units (that didn't scout move) shunt across the board for fire support and turn 2 assaults.

 

At the very least, adding Interceptors/DK's with PT's to a list with Mordrak will help you get across the board right now so your opponent doesn't have just Mordrak to worry about, but several things to worry about.

 

I wouldn't rely too heavily on that tactic. I'd bet cash money it gets FAQ'd out by removing teleport shunts during a Scout move.

 

 

Yes, a GKGM or Captain will improve your reserve rolling, but remember that the modifier must be declared after each roll is made. You have some control, but the extremes of the dice in earlier turns are still stacked toward turn 3+ for arrivals. Yuo can still roll poorly and have units come in piece meal, but not typically past turn 3. In a killpoint mission, you risk running behind due to giving up 3 turns of killing, and if nothing was on the board, you'd better hope you kill a LOT of the enemy in your shortened game. Giving the enemy 3 full turns to castle up or redeploy in an objective mission will make cracking them out of their defenses all the harder.

 

GKs demand balanced lists.

[Something Wycked]

I wouldn't rely too heavily on that tactic. I'd bet cash money it gets FAQ'd out by removing teleport shunts during a Scout move.

Maybe, but that just opens up another tactic- either you don't have to take a GM and just shunt in turn 1 as Mordrak arrives, so you're still there to support him with shooting, or you can make your Interceptors scoring or one of the other nifty rules. Or it saves you points by not taking a GM at all, instead bringing a cheaper HQ. Shunt punch allowed or not, having other units across the board on turn 1 to support Mordrak makes it a solid tactic instead of dropping him and his squad over there all by their lonesome.

[greatcrusade08]

shunting during scout moves is still limited by the not within 12" rule, which is fine until the enemy uses infiltrators and his own scout moves to keep you at arms length..

i suppose if you loaded up on servo skulls to pin the enemy in his deployment zone, youd be ok

[ShinyRhino]

I wouldn't rely too heavily on that tactic. I'd bet cash money it gets FAQ'd out by removing teleport shunts during a Scout move.

Maybe, but that just opens up another tactic- either you don't have to take a GM and just shunt in turn 1 as Mordrak arrives, so you're still there to support him with shooting, or you can make your Interceptors scoring or one of the other nifty rules. Or it saves you points by not taking a GM at all, instead bringing a cheaper HQ. Shunt punch allowed or not, having other units across the board on turn 1 to support Mordrak makes it a solid tactic instead of dropping him and his squad over there all by their lonesome.

 

The only thing the FAQ would eliminate would be close combat in the first turn after using the shunt to move to 12.01" in the Scut move, and then the 12 inch jump pack move, and a 6" charge.