10th Edition Warhammer Faction Focus: Grey Knights

[L30n1d4s]

Wow... I love this!

 

GKs were my very first full army (back in 4th edition, when I got into the game) and they have always had a special place in my 40K experience as my "original" army.

 

At heart, I am a mobility army player, so having access to redeploying 3 units a turn, anywhere on the board, plus auto 6" advances, makes me super happy. Couple that with decent firepower and very scary melee, especially melee that can get amped up by Strats, Psychic abilities,  etc.  and i think they have created one if my favorite kinds of armies here (NOTE: It does look like Nemesis Daemon Hammers may have been folded into the same profile as all other NFWs, looking at the Purgation squad datasheet). 

 

Oh, and the cherry on top, looks like (at least most... my guess is that Interceptors might be an exception and have a 3+ still) non-TDA Grey Knights are getting a 2+ save base... wow! 

Edited May 26, 2023 by L30n1d4s

[Cryptix]

Are grand masters not their captain equivalent? Weird that he's hitting on 3s. Is it just for balance reasons because of surge of wrath?

[Tokugawa]

2 minutes ago, Cryptix said:

Are grand masters not their captain equivalent? Weird that he's hitting on 3s. Is it just for balance reasons because of surge of wrath?

In end 9th, IG tank commander was also tuned down to have same BS as a normal tank. Maybe more officer-drived vehicle units would go this way.

[Redcomet]

Very cool, and completely different from the TS. Love that they focus on maneuvering and weapons buffing. Also awesome with a more elite flair.

 

now we just need the 2 basic kits redone please.

[Doobles57]

10 minutes ago, Cryptix said:

Are grand masters not their captain equivalent? Weird that he's hitting on 3s. Is it just for balance reasons because of surge of wrath?

I was going to question this as well. Seems odd, but maybe too powerful hitting on 2s and that's the balancing? The suits do look like they're probably a bit unwieldy....and stupid.

 

Really like the mobility these rules give. Works really nicely thematically as well. 2+ saves is cool and does kind of represent that these guys are elite even by Space Marine standards and essentially all have artificer armour. 

The Psychic Dominion stratagem in yesterday's TSon's article really does look specifically designed to ruin a Grey Knight's day though.

 

Also I wonder if they'll manage to get the "Next up" graphics working right first time on one of these articles before 10th is launched?

[burningsky25]

Probably one of the best FF's so far! Really feels like they have a fairly unique identity and playstyle with a lot of movement enhancements, but pretty simple to understand, hopefully simple to execute.

 

That being said, if GMNDK weaponry doesn't show you how toned down things have got in 10th I'm not sure what does.  Overall that sweep attack lost 1WS, 2A, 1S, 1AP, 1D? That went from reliably killing 4 marines a turn or more, to . . . 1. That's nuts.  If he didn't have the psychic ability the hammer would do nearly nothing to Land Raiders either with 5A at 4+WS, 4+wound, 5+Sv? Guess that's why he has it, without making that same weaponry oppressive into infantry.

 

Anecdotally, they really should just forget about ever having an 'upcoming' faction focus if it's just going to be outdated or incorrect information.  It says the next one is Thousand Sons . . .

 

 

[Zoatibix]

Does an infantry squad embarked in a transport count as a single unit for the site-to-site teleport?

[Medicinal Carrots]

Is the GMNDK the first commander we've seen that doesn't have Leader or some way to get Independent Operative?

[Arikel]

28 minutes ago, Cryptix said:

Are grand masters not their captain equivalent? Weird that he's hitting on 3s. Is it just for balance reasons because of surge of wrath?

I would assume it is because he’s piloting a dreadknight. Wonder if regular ones will have reduced ws and bs as well.

[L30n1d4s]

Angron and Be'lakor don't have any way to join a squad or get Independent Operative.

Edited May 26, 2023 by L30n1d4s

[Xenith]

Interesting, free pre-nerf (nerfed to 2CP and reinforcement phase of next turn from 1cp and same turn reinforcement phase) "Upon Wings of Fire" for every model in the GK army, when it was deemed too powerful to be used on a single smash captain in the 8th ed BA codex. Cult to duplicity once per turn reposition was too powerful at WC7 so was bumped to WC8 and faction locked in 9th

 

This will be very strong if they have a way to boost charges. 

 

I thought it was a once per game thing, which was maybe a bit weak, but every turn is ludicrous. No objective is safe. 

[Cryptix]

23 minutes ago, Zoatibix said:

Does an infantry squad embarked in a transport count as a single unit for the site-to-site teleport?

Yes. Imagine if GK get Spartans.

[Holier Than Thou]

Is it possible that the stats for the GMNDK are actually for the standard NDK and it’s a misprint? Seems odd that he’s not 2+ BS/WS base.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Holier Than Thou

[Shinespider]

-Deleted-

 

Woops.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Shinespider

[Cleon]

I must admit, I was expecting the Nemesis weapon consolidation, but looking at it there on the page it's just so bland, ever grey knight hits the same (except power armoured heavy weapon guys) - hopefully a mis-step they correct when the codex comes out.

[GenerationTerrorist]

Like I said for the Thousand Sons, yesterday, this looks really powerful IMHO.

Waiting to see the full datasheets, but this looks like being part of some bonkers/crazy fun games. Especially any matchups agsint Orks.

 

"WAAAAGH....Oh, dey gone. WAAAAGH that way instead"

[zero888]

It's nice to see a faction that isn't just Sustained/Lethal hits or Rerolls. The biggest thing is waiting for the range to refresh or I think they would be super popular right off the bat. This gives me hope for Deathwatch 

[Burni]

1 hour ago, Doobles88 said:

Also I wonder if they'll manage to get the "Next up" graphics working right first time on one of these articles before 10th is launched?

I know right?! It must be a design limitation as this code snippet will be included on all these posts so they don’t have to update the old articles. Maybe it’s cached differently and that cache doesn’t get rebuild as often. 

[Khornestar]

It’s a shame that grey knights aren’t an “allied detachment” option the way knights/chaos knights/daemons are. Just seems like it would make sense lore-wise vs. an entire army’s worth.

 

Oh well, such connections to the lore have seemingly fallen by the wayside a bit.

[sairence]

The constant teleporting sounds really interesting and super powerful. A cool niche to get. 2+ saves on most things in a world with reduced AP across the board are also nasty. 

[librisrouge]

It isn't bad. I think there is a lot to work with here:

 

The Good:

• +2 armor is too excellent to have been hidden in the datasheet and given an almost passing reference in the text. That is a big deal and really makes the power-armored marines a great reason to exist.
• Nemesis Force Weapons were combined into something that feels like a sword and the halberd combined. This continues to keep the army as a melee rockstar.
• Astral Aim will be actually useful for the first time in several editions. Indirect fire carries severe penalties but it is still a worthwhile option (particularly with incinerators).

The Bad:

• Psychic Power - Grey Knights are one of the most psychic armies in the galaxy, almost without peer. Thousand Sons were given that feel but GKs absolutely were not. I really hope we get a better bit of that once we see the rest of the rules.
• Nemesis Force Weapons were combined at all. We all knew this was going to happen but here we are.
• Anti-Vehicle/Monster is still very weak. The psycannon got a small upgrade (I'll be taking purgation squads to maximize them) but I shudder to think what we'll do if a knight army or baneblade show up on the table. NDKs are nearly mandatory now because we'll need the hard hitting attacks but I worry about them hitting on 4s or 5s with the hammer.

The Interesting:

• Grey Knights have a lot about them that you can focus on for the rules of a faction and detachment. Melee prowess, psychic might, secrecy and their connection to the inquisition, access to esoteric technology, teleportation, demon killing, etc. I knew GW was going to utilize teleportation (they seem to love it a lot) but I didn't know they'd focus on it twice. I was hoping the faction rules would be psychic-based and the detachment would be teleport assault. Instead, we've become the envy of every White Scars player! This could be interesting, and it certainly has the potential to be powerful for objective grabbing and whatnot, but I lament that this will push us away from the use of our improved vehicles and pigeonhole Grey Knights into what they've been for a few editions.

[Mogger351]

4 hours ago, Khornestar said:

It’s a shame that grey knights aren’t an “allied detachment” option the way knights/chaos knights/daemons are. Just seems like it would make sense lore-wise vs. an entire army’s worth.

 

Oh well, such connections to the lore have seemingly fallen by the wayside a bit.

I suspect they, along with things like sisters of Silence, might crop up in imperial agents.

[DemonGSides]

4 hours ago, Khornestar said:

It’s a shame that grey knights aren’t an “allied detachment” option the way knights/chaos knights/daemons are. Just seems like it would make sense lore-wise vs. an entire army’s worth.

 

Oh well, such connections to the lore have seemingly fallen by the wayside a bit.

 

The game has never really played that way.

Otherwise the imperium would all just be basically one big army which would be cumbersome to say the least lol

[Vassakov]

So with Teleport Assualt, you pull the unit at the end of the opponents turn and put them back on board at the end of the move phase. 

 

And Battleshock tests are in the Command phase.

 

So... if you have a unit at half strength and teleport it, it's not on board for Battleshock tests? That seems strong.

 

[sandrorect]

1 minute ago, Vassakov said:

So with Teleport Assualt, you pull the unit at the end of the opponents turn and put them back on board at the end of the move phase. 

 

And Battleshock tests are in the Command phase.

 

So... if you have a unit at half strength and teleport it, it's not on board for Battleshock tests? That seems strong.

 

 

The unit isn´t on the table so... yes Grey knigths have a metod to avoid battleshock