What made you choose Grey Knights?

[Skywrath]

I'll start. There is a lot that I like about them.

 

1. The main reason, is I like the idea of a chapter being technologically advanced compared to the stagnation of the Imperium. I find it both ironic yet promising that this represents both the past and the future of the Imperium at large. Imagine if every single SM chapter had the technology that the GK has - the imperium would be unstoppable.

 

2. The colour scheme - Silver is my favourite colour. 

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

I must admit I can't really remember, they started as allies for my space wolves in 4th ed when I was about 12.
I think most likely the art and models.

[Valerian]

My love for the Grey Knights started when my buddy picked up the Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness book in 1989.  After 270 pages of Chaos stuff, the back of the book contained the first introduction to the Ordo Malleus and the Grey Knights, and had their first army list.  These guys were the coolest.  I remember distinctly taking an Ordo Malleus Daemonhunter to command my forces, who could take a Psycannon as his ranged weapon for a mere 100 points, and a Daemon Weapon* for a paltry 900 points.  These guys were definitely my first love.  Unfortunately, I was a poor high school kid at the time, without a lot of options for getting models and collecting an actual army (we did a whole lot of proxying back then, with only one friend with a legit army (Ultramarines)).  At the time, outside of the Inquisitors and Daemonhunters, the models that you would use for the actual Grey Knights were the same 1st generation lead and plastic models that you'd use for all Marine armies, so I never had a real collection for many years.

 

Early in college, during the late Rogue Trader era, Space Wolves were revamped to more-or-less what we know now (their initial incarnation found in the Book of the Astronomican was completely different).  And, they came with a brand new (mostly pewter) model range; I had a little spare money then, so started collecting Wolves as my first real army.  They also got the first real Codex in the brand new 2nd edition, so it was a good call for me.  Unfortunately, Grey Knights had been completely forgotten about for most of this time (although they did get some specialized Terminator Grey Knights models in the mid-to-late Rogue Trader era, back when Terminators were first invented (there were no Terminators yet in 1988/89, when Slaves to Darkness was released).  

Grey Knights finally came back into the game in 2003 (a 15 year absence!!!!) with the eventual release of the 3rd edition era Codex: Daemonhunters.  I jumped on board big-time, and bought up about 3,000 points worth of those pewter models for the Grey Knights in Terminator Armour, and Grey Knights in Power Armor (this was before they had fancy names, like Strike Marines, and Paladins, etc.).

 

The Grey Knights were revamped again 8 years later, when their 2011 Grey Knights codex, by Mat Ward, was released, along with a completely new (and improved) plastic model range.  So, I dumped off the old army on eBay, and started building my current/modern era Grey Knights army.

[Skywrath]

My love for the Grey Knights started when my buddy picked up the Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness book in 1989.  After 270 pages of Chaos stuff, the back of the book contained the first introduction to the Ordo Malleus and the Grey Knights, and had their first army list.  These guys were the coolest.  I remember distinctly taking an Ordo Malleus Daemonhunter to command my forces, who could take a Psycannon as his ranged weapon for a mere 100 points, and a Daemon Weapon* for a paltry 900 points.  These guys were definitely my first love.  Unfortunately, I was a poor high school kid at the time, without a lot of options for getting models and collecting an actual army (we did a whole lot of proxying back then, with only one friend with a legit army (Ultramarines)).  At the time, outside of the Inquisitors and Daemonhunters, the models that you would use for the actual Grey Knights were the same 1st generation lead and plastic models that you'd use for all Marine armies, so I never had a real collection for many years.

 

Early in college, during the late Rogue Trader era, Space Wolves were revamped to more-or-less what we know now (their initial incarnation found in the Book of the Astronomican was completely different).  And, they came with a brand new (mostly pewter) model range; I had a little spare money then, so started collecting Wolves as my first real army.  They also got the first real Codex in the brand new 2nd edition, so it was a good call for me.  Unfortunately, Grey Knights had been completely forgotten about for most of this time (although they did get some specialized Terminator Grey Knights models in the mid-to-late Rogue Trader era, back when Terminators were first invented (there were no Terminators yet in 1988/89, when Slaves to Darkness was released).  

 

Grey Knights finally came back into the game in 2003 (a 15 year absence!!!!) with the eventual release of the 3rd edition era Codex: Daemonhunters.  I jumped on board big-time, and bought up about 3,000 points worth of those pewter models for the Grey Knights in Terminator Armour, and Grey Knights in Power Armor (this was before they had fancy names, like Strike Marines, and Paladins, etc.).

 

The Grey Knights were revamped again 8 years later, when their 2011 Grey Knights codex, by Mat Ward, was released, along with a completely new (and improved) plastic model range.  So, I dumped off the old army on eBay, and started building my current/modern era Grey Knights army.

 

Wow, I didn't realise the game was so different back then, honestly shocked.  I imagine as we look to our current models in about 20 years from now, we will probably be thinking the same as you are about them back then. (Sorry was a tad wordy). But after that narrative, I can call you a true Grey Knight, which is more than I can say for me, ha!

[Valerian]

 

Wow, I didn't realise the game was so different back then, honestly shocked. 

 

You should read this thread, if you haven't already.

[Seizeman]

The 3rd edition GK terminators is what make me pick them. I used to play warhammer fantasy, and I loved 40k lore and aesthetics, but I could not decide on what army to pick (space wolves were up there, as were eldar) until the updated grey knights came out.

 

I've always loved knightly armour and weaponry, and the idea of holy monk warrior with magic powers in amazing armor cutting demons down defnitely appealed to me. I'm also a fan of super elite armies.

[Corvus Fortis]

When I decided to get into 40k and was choosing the army, I wanted it to be:

 

1) Low model count;

2) Easy to paint;

3) Be active at every phase.

 

I also read an old guide on chosing armies, and Necrons and GK were top tier for beginners. But I decided that I want to start with space marines and found necrons new lore to be a bit boring (they also didn't have a psychic phase). The more I read about grey knights, the more I loved them. And I still think they have the best lore compared to any other first founding chapter and best marine models too. 

[I_Am_IronSam]

I started GK in 2003. I read the white dwarf that had Deamonhunters vs Eldar and was hooked! The models were stunning! The paint jobs were amazing! And I loved the fluff. 

With the inquisitors and plucky stormtroopers as the main force of the army and the elites being teleporting silver giants just got me going! Only having a squad or two of these hyper elite space marines made a lot of sense. And murdering anyone who saw them was fairly amusing (I'm looking at you conscript blob). 

I did get the next codex and some of the new plastics but I wanted to go NMM and didn't know how to do it. Rather than practice on my nice shiny GK, I did a preheresy Emperors Children force instead to get the skills needed to do the sculpts justice. But after finishing this force, I fell out of love with the game. The new codex didn't have the same feel as the Daemonhunters and GW were going in a direction I didn't like. I looked for other smaller games instead. Malifaux had a great, fluffy game with much lower model count which I played for a year or two but then the release of Xwing halted all other hobby for me. Xwing combined gaming with my first love - star wars... Plus the game is awesome and I don't have to lug about 100 models, rulebooks etc..! The organised play that FFG do is very engaging and the community is fantastic. I've been playing Xwing, Imperial Assault and Armada for the last 7 years but I have been missing the painting aspect of the hobby as well as all the fluff and stories. 
My commute got a lot longer, so I started to look for podcasts to listen to. Independent characters got me hooked on Titanicus which I have been painting for the last few months and thoroughly enjoying.
Lockdown left me with A LOT of free time so I have been watching/listening to battle reports, audio books and lore talk for the last 3 months and am once again back in the 40k mood! GK have always been my fav force, so I went into the loft a last month and pulled out the old models from 9 years ago. They have now been stripped and I am waiting for a new set of NMM paints to arrive! Not got the codex yet, waiting for 9th to drop before I start looking into that. 

TLDR: The look ace. They are hard as nails. Awesome fluff. 

[librisrouge]

I don't play GKs now but they were my first army back in the days of Codex: Daemonhunters.

 

I was attracted to many things about the faction. I loved the models and asthetic. Silver armored space marines with melee weapons and storm bolters strapped to their wrists. That is amazing. Plus, they appeal to the part of me that digs the mystic side of the 40k setting. Each grey knight is not only a psyker but wields a force weapon. This is in a time period when librarians did not even have to equip a force weapon. 

 

Then there was the culture of them. A secretive order attached to an almost equally secretive order (this was back when the idea of Camber Militants was a big deal.) Neither the Ordo Malleus nor the Grey Knights were acknowledged outside of the very most informed in the Imperium. The very knowledge of them is a moral risk to others. This puts them in a rather intense and unique position in the setting. The current edition seems to have eased up on this quite a bit (a little hard to hide daemons now) but it was wonderful.

 

Then you have the fact that they slot into other factions so well, at least fluff wise (and rules wise then.) Grey knights are so rare and precious that they rarely deploy at company strength and almost never at chapter strength. More often it is a single knight or a squad or two intervening at a critical moment, often assisting local forces. Of course, these local forces will have to be dealt with in turn if they learn too much. Then you have the inquisition itself, unique individuals who are trusted with this sort of dangerous knowledge and empowered to confront it besides such warriors despite being normal humans (by and large) themselves.

 

Lastly, and this one is niche, I love their approach to dreadnoughts. For most marines, being a dreadnought is an honor. Something to be aspired to, at least given the alternative. Not so for the Grey Knights. Being interred in a dreadnought is an act of supreme sacrifice for a grey knight. Only in death does duty end, but those grey knights interred in a dreadnought have decided that duty continues even after death should give them the rest they've rightly earned. They cannot allow themselves to stop fulfilling their duty just because some measly fatal wound ended their career early.

 

Then Grey Knights got their own codex. I couldn't stop winning everything because we didn't have a competitive scene yet. Everybody hated playing me and I sold my army...

[Icosiel]

I've only been in this hobby for three years. I work at a game store / cafe, and for years I had denied my coworkers' invitations to Warhammer. When I eventually gave in, I began the task of carefully choosing an army. I always play the good guys. In tabletop RPGs I'm always the Paladin. In video games, I always make the noble and morally upstanding choices. The 40k lore is beautiful and horrifying, but good guys are very hard to come by. Initially, one of my coworkers sold me on Tau. I read into them, liked the idea of the Greater Good, and came this close to buying into them. They seemed like as close to good guys as I could have hoped! They had the stuff about pheromone control and caste separation that bothered me, but, ehh, they would have to do.

But then I read a little bit about Grey Knights, at the urging of a friend. Whereas the Tau might be grey in some of their behaviors and goals, the Grey Knights were fully committed to fighting objective evil. There is no one who can argue for the justness of daemons -- they are literally cruelty and spite incarnate. Some of the methods of the Grey Knights were questionable, horribly questionable, but their goals were unequivocally righteous. I fell in love with that simplicity. Super-knights battling against impossible odds, fighting in the darkness so that Mankind may yet survive. "One last blade, forged in defiance of fate."

 

God, I love Grey Knights.

[Skywrath]

I don't play GKs now but they were my first army back in the days of Codex: Daemonhunters.

 

I was attracted to many things about the faction. I loved the models and aesthetic. Silver armoured space marines with melee weapons and storm bolters strapped to their wrists. That is amazing. Plus, they appeal to the part of me that digs the mystic side of the 40k setting. Each grey knight is not only a psyker but wields a force weapon. This is in a time period when librarians did not even have to equip a force weapon. 

 

Then there was the culture of them. A secretive order attached to an almost equally secretive order (this was back when the idea of Camber Militants was a big deal.) Neither the Ordo Malleus nor the Grey Knights were acknowledged outside of the very most informed in the Imperium. The very knowledge of them is a moral risk to others. This puts them in a rather intense and unique position in the setting. The current edition seems to have eased up on this quite a bit (a little hard to hide daemons now) but it was wonderful.

 

Then you have the fact that they slot into other factions so well, at least fluff wise (and rules wise then.) Grey knights are so rare and precious that they rarely deploy at company strength and almost never at chapter strength. More often it is a single knight or a squad or two intervening at a critical moment, often assisting local forces. Of course, these local forces will have to be dealt with in turn if they learn too much. Then you have the inquisition itself, unique individuals who are trusted with this sort of dangerous knowledge and empowered to confront it besides such warriors despite being normal humans (by and large) themselves.

 

Lastly, and this one is niche, I love their approach to dreadnoughts. For most marines, being a dreadnought is an honor. Something to be aspired to, at least given the alternative. Not so for the Grey Knights. Being interred in a dreadnought is an act of supreme sacrifice for a grey knight. Only in death does duty end, but those grey knights interred in a dreadnought have decided that duty continues even after death should give them the rest they've rightly earned. They cannot allow themselves to stop fulfilling their duty just because some measly fatal wound ended their career early.

 

Then Grey Knights got their own codex. I couldn't stop winning everything because we didn't have a competitive scene yet. Everybody hated playing me and I sold my army...

 

Never let anyone tell you what to do, my dude. Every faction will bound to be strong at one point in the future, anyone else who doesn't recognise that, doesn't know the game. Such is the nature of balance. 

 

I've only been in this hobby for three years. I work at a game store / cafe, and for years I had denied my coworkers' invitations to Warhammer. When I eventually gave in, I began the task of carefully choosing an army. I always play the good guys. In tabletop RPGs I'm always the Paladin. In video games, I always make the noble and morally upstanding choices. The 40k lore is beautiful and horrifying, but good guys are very hard to come by. Initially, one of my coworkers sold me on Tau. I read into them, liked the idea of the Greater Good, and came this close to buying into them. They seemed like as close to good guys as I could have hoped! They had the stuff about pheromone control and caste separation that bothered me, but, ehh, they would have to do.

 

But then I read a little bit about Grey Knights, at the urging of a friend. Whereas the Tau might be grey in some of their behaviors and goals, the Grey Knights were fully committed to fighting objective evil. There is no one who can argue for the justness of daemons -- they are literally cruelty and spite incarnate. Some of the methods of the Grey Knights were questionable, horribly questionable, but their goals were unequivocally righteous. I fell in love with that simplicity. Super-knights battling against impossible odds, fighting in the darkness so that Mankind may yet survive. "One last blade, forged in defiance of fate."

 

God, I love Grey Knights.

 

 There is something so satisfying in there, about uttering "I am the Hammer" isn't there ;p

Edited June 5, 2020 by Skywrath

[I_Am_IronSam]

I've only been in this hobby for three years. I work at a game store / cafe, and for years I had denied my coworkers' invitations to Warhammer. When I eventually gave in, I began the task of carefully choosing an army. I always play the good guys. In tabletop RPGs I'm always the Paladin. In video games, I always make the noble and morally upstanding choices. The 40k lore is beautiful and horrifying, but good guys are very hard to come by. Initially, one of my coworkers sold me on Tau. I read into them, liked the idea of the Greater Good, and came this close to buying into them. They seemed like as close to good guys as I could have hoped! They had the stuff about pheromone control and caste separation that bothered me, but, ehh, they would have to do.

 

But then I read a little bit about Grey Knights, at the urging of a friend. Whereas the Tau might be grey in some of their behaviors and goals, the Grey Knights were fully committed to fighting objective evil. There is no one who can argue for the justness of daemons -- they are literally cruelty and spite incarnate. Some of the methods of the Grey Knights were questionable, horribly questionable, but their goals were unequivocally righteous. I fell in love with that simplicity. Super-knights battling against impossible odds, fighting in the darkness so that Mankind may yet survive. "One last blade, forged in defiance of fate."

 

God, I love Grey Knights.

 

Ha I remember the first Tau codex coming out, it was my first army, no pheromone control then... The Tau were the good guys! Slightly communist but generally just good!  

[Captain Antargo]

Mainly for my love for Medieval times and Knights, but to know there is a chapter that is capable of easily standing up to daemons, GK's all day long.

[Fajita Fan]

The 3rd edition GK terminators is what make me pick them. I used to play warhammer fantasy, and I loved 40k lore and aesthetics, but I could not decide on what army to pick (space wolves were up there, as were eldar) until the updated grey knights came out.

 

I've always loved knightly armour and weaponry, and the idea of holy monk warrior with magic powers in amazing armor cutting demons down defnitely appealed to me. I'm also a fan of super elite armies.

Yep. I started the game in 3rd edition and wanted the smallest possible army with the least models to paint. Now I have boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff...

[Skywrath]

 

The 3rd edition GK terminators is what make me pick them. I used to play warhammer fantasy, and I loved 40k lore and aesthetics, but I could not decide on what army to pick (space wolves were up there, as were eldar) until the updated grey knights came out.

 

I've always loved knightly armour and weaponry, and the idea of holy monk warrior with magic powers in amazing armor cutting demons down defnitely appealed to me. I'm also a fan of super elite armies.

Yep. I started the game in 3rd edition and wanted the smallest possible army with the least models to paint. Now I have boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff...

 

 

Welcome to the Halls of Titan, brother. Will we be seeing some Grey Knight pictures in the future?

[Fajita Fan]

Oh I have a gazillion armies I'm working on, my GKs, stormtroopers, and inquisitors are all boxed up (most went in a tank of Simple Green to strip) but I bought some plastics a few years ago to expand them.  Inquisitors don't have much of a real army list these days so I was waiting for that before I make any henchmen or stuff these days.  I pop into the sections to see what people are saying about armies going into 9th. 

 

GK are actually a pretty fast army to paint if you start with metallic primer so maybe I should get them going again! 

[casb1965]

The Inquisition and Codex Daemonhunters for 3rd Ed WH40k.

[WAR]

Always a fan of them way back in 2e. Bought some of the pewter strike squad models for a Kill Team style fan based game that eventually spiraled into HoR. Traded a friend some models for his Grey Knights in 5th edition and wanted to build a force for 7th ed and fizzled out, and built a small team for Kill Team and just kept buying from there and now to build and paint for 9e. Plus I wanted an army of terminators.

[Dread]

Mine started out as support for my sisters. This was before they were a space marine chapter. I even have some of the metal models still but once plastics were introduced, it was down hill from there. Even with as hard as it is to have a stand on their own army, I love playing them. The only thing I never liked in the lore was the bathing in the blood of sisters, that was just pure bs on the authors part imho. He could have come up with something like being put on a chaos planet and surviving the perils to show their purity and learning the focus of controling their psychic abilities. Anyhow, they are also the best looking sculpts in the space marine line to me. Groovy, just groovy.