Deep striking Strike squads

[Drachnon]

I recently remembered that GKSS have the ability to deep strike and wondered if I could make a list around it. Normally I avoid deep strike because of mishap but with access to cheap servo skulls from double inquisitors or pretty much any other HQ I would like to make a list around it.

So I was wondering if anyone had experience with such a build?

If so any tips on what I should take for supporting units?

 

I was thinking about:

2x O? Inquisitor, PA, PW, 3x servo skull (2x52)

9xWarrior acolyte w/ 3x melta, 6x bolter, 1x mystic, Chimera (132)

3x 10 GKSS with hammer, 2x psycannon and possibly psybolt ammo. (3x230/250)

I would have about 40 points left or 100 if I don't take the psybolt ammo. Which I might use for the psychic communion upgrade (to make sure everything arrives turn 2).

 

Any help on the list and the general tactics of deep striking with GK would be appreciated.

[nurglez]

Psychic communion is great. As you can + or - to your roll, you don't even have to drop them in on the second turn, you can wait.

 

Teleporter homers are also a good idea. One of my friends always, always uses homers, and for him, its so natural, that when I deep strike something near a skull, or even out in the open, he isn't prepared for it. It also gives you a sure way of coming down, if your skulls get destroyed.

 

The main problem with reserving most of your force, is that what you have on the table will generally have to deal with the whole enemy force, and then you are playing catch up...

 

I only have experience deep striking paladins using the grey knight codex, but I have played with a drop pod logan wing list, and also used chaos termicide. Deep strike can be awesome, and can be very very dangerous. Especially when teleporting down 5 paladins (320 points over 5 models).

 

You have to know when to risk it, and when not to.

[Lady_Canoness]

I deep strike regularly with my Grey Knights, so I figure I can offer a few tips.

 

1) A unit with Psychic Communion is a MUST for obvious reasons. That, and players will often find that DS windows will either open or close depending on how the game progresses - getting your guys when you need them is almost as important as where you need them.

2) Servo-Skulls. Duh.

3) A Librarian with Summoning. This allows you to retrieve any units that are flung far-a-field by scatter or after having neutralized an isolated threat. A Deep Striking Librarian also open up the opportunity to reinforce a dropzone or redeploy an army.

4) Good support units are other units that can DS. Such as Terminators, Paladins, or DKs.

[Drachnon]

Hmm this list brings a very annoying problem, I want as much as possible to arrive at the same time to prevent having my forces picked off one by one as they arrive. Psychic communion is obviously a good method of making sure that everything shows up at the right moment but it does mean that the one casting psychic communion has to be on the board.

In my previous concept it would be the two inquisitors in the Chimera first turn they'd move forward 12" and second turn they'd allow all other units to arrive on a 2+ while also creating a homing bubble through the mystic.

However that still means that for at least one whole turn every weapon on the other side is going to shoot the chimera and the inquisitors inside, making me a bit sceptic on their chances of survival (especially if I don't have first turn I don't really expect my inquisitors to be around long enough).

 

I can use a librarian instead though I would have to use two to get the same amount of skulls (I think I'll need more then 3). However this would mean I don't benefit from the psychic communion but do have 2 teleport homers as well as the ability to summon units from one side of the battle field to the other, psychic hoods and psychic powers.

Fielding 2 librarians I would have to make the list 1500 points as well (can't seem to fit 2 of them) however that is not much of a problem.

At 1500 with two librarians the list would probably look like this:

Librarian – 3x Skulls, warprift, the summoning, sanctuary, teleport homer (195) possibly staff (230)

 

Librarian – 3x Skulls, warprift, the summoning, quicksilver, teleport homer (195) possibly staff (230)

 

Terminators (5) – MC Hammer, 2x halberd, psycannon (230)

 

Terminators (5) – Hammer, 2x halberd, psycannon (225)

 

Strike Squad (10) – Hammer, 2x psycannon (230)

 

Strike Squad (5) - Hammer, Psycannon (120)

 

Dreadknight, Personal Teleporter, Heavy Incinerator (235)

[number6]

IMHO, the best way to get psychic communion on the table is via Mordrak with an attached OM inquisitor in TDA (and with a psycannon!). But this is a very pricy unit. And, also IMHO, really only works best if you also have multiple other units available at the same time to help diffuse enemy attention. I think the units required for this task are generally going to be Interceptors and teleporting Dreadknights, though a Stormraven is similarly mobile and can get anywhere on the table. This gives you several units that can "deep strike" to anywhere you want on Turn 1, and hopefully by turn 2 you can cast double psychic communion and get just about everything else on the table.

 

Trouble is ... your Mordrak support units cost a bundle of points as well! You probably won't have many left over for other deep striking units, including Strikers. I therefore wouldn't even attempt this as the main tactical approach for a GK army list until you've reached at least 1750 pts. 1850 pts and 2000 pt being even better, of course.

[Aidoneus]

You know, it's easy to get overly-obsessed with stuff like tele homers, skulls, and getting Communion down first turn. Those things help, certainly, but they're far from necessary to make a good deep-strike list. I run a versatile list based on a core of two 10-man strike squads and a 5-man termy squad so I use reserves a lot. It's nice to be able to throw the whole army in reserves; it really screws with my opponents. Point is, I typically have one guy with Communion in normal reserves and no skulls or tele homers, and it works just fine.

 

Consider this: the whole reason you want Communion on turn 2 is so your army doesn't come down piecemeal. But to get Communion off on turn 2, you need 1 unit down on turn 1, all alone. That's the exact thing you were trying to avoid in the first place! The only time I ever do that is by taking an OX Inq with a conversion beamer, hiding him behind LoS-blocking terrain turn 1, then casting Communion and stepping out into the open on turn 2. But that means he can't shoot 'til turn 3 at best, and is still vulnerable to enemy deep-strike/outflank reserves killing him before he can be useful. So in general, I find it easier just to trust luck to get me enough units on turn 2 to make an impact before they have to take return fire.

 

If I did make a list specifically to start in reserves and abuse deep-strike, it would probably look like this:

 

 

OM Inq: Termy, Hammer, Psycannon, Communion, 3 Skulls

 

5 Termies: Psycannon, Hammer, 4 Halberds

5 Termies: Psycannon, Hammer, 4 Halberds

 

10 Strikes: 2 Psycannons, Psybolts, MC-Hammer

10 Strikes: 2 Psycannons, Psybolts, MC-Hammer

10 Strikes: 2 Psycannons, Psybolts, Hammer

 

Dreadnought: 2 Autocannons, Psybolts

Dreadnought: 2 Autocannons, Psybolts

 

Dreadknight: Incinerator

 

Total: 1749pts, 44 models, 9 KP, 5-8 Scoring

 

 

The dreadnoughts don't deep-strike, but they come out of reserves with a 54" threat bubble from anywhere on your board edge, which I've found is perfectly fine. You've got plenty of versatility to split units up when they come out of reserves, and tons of firepower to kill things before they have the chance to shoot you. Communion is as much to force a unit to stay in reserves for late-game objective grabbing as it is to bring more units in on turn 3 or 4. Mostly, you just have so many units deep-striking that you're almost always gonna get 4 or 5 in on turn 2, which is plenty to really hurt your opponent.

 

The nice thing about making a deep-strike GK list is that you don't have to deep-strike. Sometimes, it's just a way better option to start everything on the board. I find this is the case against CC armies, particularly horde armies like 'Nids or Orks. You want plenty of time to fire with everything you have before they get too close, since your Strikes aren't especially great in CC.

[nurglez]

Of course, another idea is to use transports with the strikes, and to deploy them to provide cover for the units that aren't in reserve...

 

A tech marine is another way to get bring servo skulls, and to enhance a ruin for a nice cover save.

 

As mentioned above, you don't have to deepstrike, and knowing when or how many units to hold In reserve is important.

 

While mordrak is useful, i feel you need to design a list around him. As opposed to adding him into one. A mordrak deepstrike alpha strike list has some appeal to me though :lol:

[Drachnon]

I don't think you can take an OM with a hammer, psycannon and communion since one of his weapons has to be replaced by a force weapon. And I have used Mordrak before in combination with a dreadknight jumping into the enemy lines first turn, worked pretty well.

 

On the OM inquisitor, on one hand the extra psycannon and psychic communion is nice and will make sure that if your inquisitor arrives turn 2 that things that didn't will pretty much always arrive turn 3. However that's only if he arrives turn 2 (50% chance, you can have at least one with 75% chance if you field two of them but that would be both my HQ and I still like the idea of using a librarian) his psychic power is useless turn 4 (5/6 units already arrived and the last 1/6 already has a 5/6 chance of arriving without the inquisitors help).

Still it is a good (and cheap) alternative for the second librarian and if I don't have to take the psychic upgrade I can field 5 interceptors with a psycannon instead or maybe an Callidus assassin (just to mix things up a little)

 

BTW I probably should have mentioned this but this is not going to be a competitive list, in fact I decided to make it because my normal GK list is so good that it hasn't been defeated by my normal gaming group (it has lost twice on tournaments).

 

Anyways the latest draft would be:

Librarian – 3x Skulls, warprift, the summoning, sanctuary, teleport homer (195) possibly staff (230)

 

OM Inquisior – Terminator armour, psycannon, 3x skulls, (89)

 

Terminators (5) – MC Hammer, 2x halberd, psycannon (230)

 

Terminators (5) – Hammer, 2x halberd, psycannon (225)

 

Strike Squad (10) – Hammer, 2x psycannon (230)

 

Strike Squad (5) - Hammer, Psycannon (120)

 

Dreadknight, Personal Teleporter, Heavy Incinerator (235)

 

Interceptor squad (5) – Psycannon (140)

 

alternative:

remove MC from hammer in terminator squad

remove interceptor squad

 

add Callidus Assassin (145)

 

Personally I like the Callidus better because it adds some variety, even though I'm not much impressed by her abilities.

[jeffersonian000]

I've been having decent success with an all Deep Striking Ghostwing army based around Mordrak+Ghosts+Librarian w/ Homer, 2x 10-man GKT, and 1x 10-man GKIS. Mordrak is an great unit for being able to set the pace of a game if you have an aggressive playstyle (like I have), while having the choice to combat squad or not, outflank or not, counterattack or not, having 6 scoring units or just 2 make the army fun for me (not so much for my opponents).

 

SJ

[benmothershaw]

I prefer the GrandMaster to the Inquisitor.

 

You can make a Inquisitor like this for 94pts

Pyschic communion (force sword also), Rad + Pyscotroke grenades, 3 skulls

 

You can make a Grandmaster like this for 219pts

(Pyschic communion already), Rad + Pyscotroke + Blind, 3 skulls

 

The Grandmaster has his clear advantages:

Grand Strategy, Hammerhand, Invlunerable save, Good combat skills

 

 

I personally am considering Strike Squads as the majority of my force also. The general tactic being conjured up is the pysflenaughts to pop transports to give the Strike squads a clear shot at the enemy.

[Aidoneus]

You can make a Inquisitor like this for 94pts

Pyschic communion (force sword also), Rad + Pyscotroke grenades, 3 skulls

 

You can make a Grandmaster like this for 219pts

(Pyschic communion already), Rad + Pyscotroke + Blind, 3 skulls

 

The Grandmaster has his clear advantages:

Grand Strategy, Hammerhand, Invlunerable save, Good combat skills

Omitted from the above analysis:

 

The Inquisitor has his clear advantage:

Comes with an additional half of a full Strike Squad or almost a full Psyfleman Dreadnought

 

Seriously, you just skimmed right over that 125pt difference like it was nothing. That is no small change. Granted, you're absolutely right in saying that the GM has significant advantages. I'm not saying the inquisitor is clearly the better choice. All I'm saying is that you pay a hefty price for what the GM offers, and you have to balance his utility against what you're losing from the rest of the army.

 

I don't think you can take an OM with a hammer, psycannon and communion since one of his weapons has to be replaced by a force weapon.

This is incorrect. Check the GK FAQ; it made the force weapon swap optional, which means you can choose to keep the hammer you get with the termy armour. I find that at S3 and I4 the hammer is more useful than the power weapon (and they're both force weapons, so that's a wash).

 

On the OM inquisitor, on one hand the extra psycannon and psychic communion is nice and will make sure that if your inquisitor arrives turn 2 that things that didn't will pretty much always arrive turn 3. However that's only if he arrives turn 2 (50% chance, you can have at least one with 75% chance if you field two of them but that would be both my HQ and I still like the idea of using a librarian) his psychic power is useless turn 4 (5/6 units already arrived and the last 1/6 already has a 5/6 chance of arriving without the inquisitors help).

Well sure, it's not a sure thing. But like I said, I don't rely on it all that much anyway. I rely on having lots of DSing units that each can lay down significant firepower and take a beating in return. Obviously it's nice if the Inq comes down in the first wave, but it certainly doesn't kill my strategy if he doesn't. And meanwhile, I'm giving the enemy absolutely nothing to shoot at turn 1 or turn 2 (since I always choose to go second if I DS). If you start something on the board or bring Mordrak in 1st turn, that just gives the entire enemy army something to focus on for a turn or two before the rest of your army arrives.

 

Also, I must take issue with your statement that Communion isn't useful on turn 4. As someone who deep-strikes more often than not, let me tell you, it can be really annoying to have that one unit you need to turn the tide stuck in reserves until turn 5 due to rolling a 1. Trust me, it happens, and that will ruin a game. Communion almost guarantees that doesn't happen (barring a failed psychic test or nearby enemy hood). Alternatively, sometimes you really want that last unit to stay in reserves for a fifth-turn objective grab. I won a game at a tournament once when I was getting manhandled by Thunderwolves by deep-striking one Strike squad (split up upon arrival) onto 2 objectives and shunting a lone Interceptor onto a 3rd, and having the game end that turn.