Tuesday 7 June 2011

Ode To Cleansing Flame

First to the relevance of the picture, that is what I felt like last night.

Followed by a little primer; Last night I played a game at my local club against a fellow called Pete and his shooty Orks. Pete is an extremely competent player who is held as one of the best players at the club, often coming first in many mini-tournaments we hold and having quite an impressive win ratio.

In fact when I first joined the club after a 4 year hiatus from the hobby, Pete was my first opponent and I was tabled by the end of the game having killed only 4 fire warriors (Tyranids vs Tau). Since then I have never seen anyone win against him and all my efforts had been in vain.

Well now I had a new army and Pete was keen to try his Orks out against them.

Thursday 26 May 2011

Grey Knight Community

Want to talk about Grey Knights? Head over to Facebook's largest Grey Knight Community.


Talk about rules disputes, share your thoughts, even get list ideas. Painted a nice model? Post it up and see what people think!


[/plug]

Monday 23 May 2011

Cities Of Death!

Another Monday, another game.

This week I'll be playing a game which is part of a mini story campaign run by a friend of mine. The basic premise is of Tau invading an Imperial held planet.

This week sees the siege of the planet's capital city, and thus will be played using the Cities Of Death rules! It's a 2v2 game, my opponents are a double Tau team, and my ally is likely to be Imperial Guard (or perhaps an Inquisitorial Grey Knights army!)

So, I have been given 1500 to play with, and I need to construct an army list to take down Tau in the dense cityfight conditions.

Friday 20 May 2011

Catch Up: Current Events & Future Plans

Firstly to the "Hot Topic" of GW price hikes. Yes I've seen the list of pricing changes. Yes some models have increase 25% in price. Yes I'll still be playing the hobby and spending an unhealthy amount of money on my plastic crack.

Every year Games Workshop up their prices. It's very annoying but from a business standpoints I can see why they do it. The thing which semi annoys me this year is not just that it's one of their largest price hikes to date, yet that mixed with the fact they they either think their customer base is too stupid to realise they've moved to cheaper resin models; or they respect us so little they think it won't matter and we'll continue to buy their models despite the slap in the face. The part which really annoys me; they're right.

[Ed - and don't even get me started on their new outside Europe sales policies]

Tuesday 10 May 2011

My Crowe Lament

I've been presented with a difficult situation.

Last night I played against a Crimson Fists Army. It was a chap who is off this coming weekend to a tournament and wanted to try out his list and practice one of the custom missions he'd be playing there.

I'll say now I lost the game. Whereas I simply could not throw an armour save, I also had insane luck on my to wound rolls so I can't really blame the dice. I was simply out manoeuvred and fell for some baits I shouldn't have done.

Yet despite losing, it was another game where I'm starting to love Crowe more and more. He ALMOST won the game for me. Instead, when he had to make 2 bolter saves on 2+, he failed and fell in turn 5 (after having survived many hellfire rounds, kraks, bolters, hurricane bolter and multi melta shots). This was after charging down one side of the board, freeing one secondary objective from my opponent's control and being lined up to charge the enemy unit holding the primary objective in my turn.

I accepted Crowe as dead at deployment, and he almost won the game for me. I love this guy.

This is where my problem occurs.

Monday 9 May 2011

Semi-Official FAQ

As with every new codex, there are some glaring rules questions in the Grey Knights codex which will never truly be answered until Games Workshop release an official FAQ.

Until that time, Grey Knights players have been afforded a rare piece of clarity. After some intrepid gamer over from the Bolter & Chainsword forum emailed (probably multiple times) the GW service centre he was actually sent a couple of email responses with clarifications!

I've included the entirety of the two emails below. Any rulings here will be overwritten by the OFFICIAL GW FAQ! Having said that these emails are from the Australian Games Workshop Hobby Service Centre, so it's the highest authority answers we have at this point!

Enjoy.

Friday 6 May 2011

Tournament Weekend!


Last weekend I attended a friendly tournament at Warhammer World in Nottingham. There were 12 people taking part in the event with a mix of accomplished and fairly new players.

The weekend was a while ago, and games were played either while hungover (before lunch) or slightly inebriated (after lunch). As such I won't be going into huge battle reports, but I will post up some photos and give some general thoughts on how each of the units performed.

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Army Progress


It's been a while since I posted, between the busy nature of work in April and spending my out of hours BBQ-ing in the sun, every spare minute has been given over to trying to get my Grey Knights put together. I'm just over half way there, having put together 15 purifiers, 2 dreadnoughts, 2 transports and the dreadknight's legs.

Even though I've only done the Dreadknight's legs he's already by far the tallest model in the army. It's insane. Anyway, through putting several boxes of the men together, I've discovered some points which may be useful to anyone thinking of putting together a new Grey Knights army.

Tuesday 12 April 2011

News Flash!

The models have arrived.

The construction begins tomorrow!

Stay tuned folks :p

Thursday 7 April 2011

The Wait

The army list is chosen.

The models have been ordered.

The reseller saved me 25%

The wait... is killing me.

Yep, whole army (barring a couple of items, like Crowe, who hasn't been released yet) was ordered a few days ago, still waiting for my order to get shipped though.

Until then I wait, and prepare the sanctioned polymers and paints.

Monday 4 April 2011

Final Army List

For those of you just joining us, a quick catch-up:

The mission of this blog is to chronicle the development of my first Grey Knights army, leading up to a long weekend trip up to Warhammer World in Nottingham at the end of April with a 1750 point army.

This obviously does not leave me with alot of time to assemble and paint my army, as such I need to decide on a list, soon. Several list ideas intrigue me, including alpha strike, Terminator/Paladin lists and Crowe lists.

My criteria was two-fold. It had to stand a chance, but also be fun. As much I do not want to go for an ultra-competitive list. However the group I play with a competent generals all, and I'd rather not get laughed out of the room.

At this point I realised, an alpha strike list will probably piss alot of people off, and could win many games by the bottom of turn 2 (if I get first turn). I also simply cannot come up with a Terminator/Paladin list at 1750 pts that I like (any and all idea's welcome on this one).

Well, you know what that leaves:

Thursday 31 March 2011

Boiling Down List Ideas

March/April is a busy time where I work, which is why it's been a while since I last posted! And it hasn't the least bit to do with my sulking.


I was lined up to fight Space Wolves last Monday with my test list. And I lost. I'll get the bitter part out of the way: If the game had ended on turn 5, I would have won. Also if I'd remembered to go to ground, it would have been a draw; But hey ho that's the way the cookie crumbles! 


The Space Wolves player I was up against was Paul [Who coincidently co-runs Facebook's largest Space Wolves page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Space-Wolves/120208048022208 - Ed] who is a most excellent tactician. Because of this he realised he did NOT want to go into assault with me, and instead of taking his usual Thunder Wolf Cavalry, took 2 units of long fangs with 5 missile launchers and a Wolf Guard with a cyclone missile launcher. That's 7 missile attacks a turn he can split fire with, and he had 2 squads of them!



Monday 28 March 2011

Second Grey Knights Battle

Well tonight is my second playtest game with the new codex. Last week I used a "Sucker Punch" list involving Mordrak and scouting Dreadknights. I wanted to go for a different feel this time and try out some other GK strategies.

I've been trying to decide between many lists, from Coteaz Razorback spams, through Crowe lists to Massed Dreadknight & Venerable Dreadnought lists.

For tonight though I've settled on a list which doesn't use any special characters [shocker!]. Have a look below.

Friday 25 March 2011

Shame

After hours and hours of thinking, scheming, math hammering, mentally-worked out battles and fun-scale levels, I managed to come up with a few Grey Knight lists. Then, out of curiosity, I decided to use what I'd leant make a Coteaz list and, this is where the shame comes in, I really like it.

Its so easy to get scoring bodies in metal boxes! Plus Coteaz himself has the spy network ability which allows (or forces) seize initiative re-rolls for either side. Plus the ability to shoot at any deep striking unit within 12". Add in Sanctuary power and we're talking! He's not too shabby in combat either, with 3 Str8 force weapon attack at I1 (OK he's not winning any prizes, but he ain't half bad!).

OK I've gushed enough, I won't go through the entire process, but below is the current list. Pic is related btw, there's a few Razorbacks in the list (this week's "in thing" on the GK blogosphere). Again, based on 1750 points.


HQ
Coteaz 100
Libby w/ 5 powers 175
Elite
Callidus 145
7 Purifiers w/ 1xMC-Ham, 1xHam, 5x Halberds, Rhino 235
Ven PsyAssCannon & doomfist Dread 190
Troops
5 Acolytes & 2MG in PsyBack 90
5 Acolytes & 2MG in PsyBack 90
5 Acolytes & 1MG in PsyBack 80
5 Acolytes & 1MG in PsyBack 80
3 Acolytes in Chimera 67
5 Terms w/psyC 225
Heavy Support
Psyfleman 135
Psyfleman 135

HOKAY! In case any of you are wondering, those PsyBacks are Standard Razorabacks (Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters) with psybolt upgrades weighing in at 50 points. 3 twin-linked Str6 Ap4 shots at 42" effective range is ok by me!

So, the psyflemen pop some transports, the razorbacks advance into mid-field and shoot the gooey innards of said transports. The chimera holds the librarian and Terminators. The chimera, Purifer Rhino (with coteaz in) and ven dreadnought all advance up behind the psybacks, the libby constantly casting shrouding for all the vehicles, and the ven dread causing any psychic powers aimed at the group to be cast at -4 leadership thanks to that reinforced aegis. (Its very fun watching psykers try to cast on Ld 6!) If any powers do go off, the libby will have a chance to null them with his hood.

So the army holds the mid-field shooting everything up, enemy tanks and Heavy infantry are loath to come near because every Razorback has meltaguns inside it (even if they are BS3). Also 2 hard core combat units ready for counter charges.

Callidus is there for taking out annoying enemy Devastator squads or the like.

Thoughts and comments?

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Playtest Lists

Some of you might remember that I'm aiming to have a 1750 point Grey Knights army ready for a trip I'm making to Warhammer World at the end of April.

To that end I've been musing on a possible army lists and I've come up with a few interesting ones. Not sure if they'd work or not yet, they look good on paper though, but only playtesting will tell!

Anyway, here's 3 lists I dreamt up, along with some explanations.

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Battle Analysis

Last night I had my first test game for the new codex. As I was using stand ins I didn't take any photos and so this post is going to be less a battle report and more an analysis of how each of the units fared.

I gave a brief run down of my list and intended tactics here.

The mission was Capture and Control with Spearhead deployment. Happily I got first turn.

Monday 21 March 2011

List Creation For First Battle

Well tonight will be the first battle for me using the new Grey Knights Codex. My opponent suggested 2500 points. While bigger than most casual games, with everything in the GK codex being so darn expensive I was happy to oblige!

So in my first game I decided to build the army list around my favourite units from the codex. Those being; Librarian, Purifiers, Vindicare, Psflemen, Dreadknight and Callidus. (because Callidus is just fun!)

Whoops

I'm big enough to admit when I've made a mistake. I believe a few posts ago I stated that Mordrak's Ghost Knights no longer have the "Stealth" rule.

In fact they do. In their army list entry it does not list Stealth under the unit's special rules. Yet in the description under Mordrak's unit listing it states "Ghost Knights also always have the Steaktg special rule due to their spectral nature."

Why couldn't they then list it under "Special Rules" in the unit's list entry? I have no idea. Still, This might trick a few people, but now we know.

Prop Tip: Thanks to the recent FAQ, this will pass on Stealth to Mordrak (and a Librarian IC if he joins the unit) !

Thursday 17 March 2011

New King Of Suppression

Ah the rifleman dread. For those unaware or who can't tell from the picture, rifleman dreads are the slang term given to Space Marine Dreadnoughts who are armed with 2 twin linked autocannons.

Putting out 4 strength 7 shots a turn with re-rolls to hit, they may not sound impressive on paper, but they are the kings of suppressing light vehicles and transports and have become a popular addition to many Space Marine armies.

I use three of them myself, hitting the points sweet spot and levelling a perfect balance between anti-tank and anti-personal, they have come into their own time and time again on the battlefield. I particularly like chewing up expensive Thunder Wolf Calvary with mine, but I digress.

A modern day classic, but Grey Knights simply weren't happy enough...

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Does Coteaz Call For An FAQ Already?


THE ISSUE:


Coteaz's special rules include the following:

"
Lord of Formosa
Inquisitorial Henchmen Warbands are Troops choices in an army that include Inquisitor Torquemada Coteaz, and are not limited by the number of Inquisitors in your army.
"

The interesting consideration comes from the special limitations rule that the Inquisitorial Henchmen Warband has: 
"
For each Inquisitor in your army, you may also include a unit of 3-12 henchmen, chosen in any combination from those shown. The unit does not use up a force organisation slot.
"



There are many taking this to mean that Henchmen count as troops choices, but do not take up a force allocation slot. Meaning you can take as many units of them as you like and they are scoring. (But you will also have to take 2 troops choices from the codex)


MY STANCE:

What A Week!

Well what a week to choose to go on holiday!

Black boxes arrive in stores, in-store viewing of the codex and models, pre-orders up on the GW website, and the internet is abuzz with how the codex has changed compared to the leaked version and what this means for GK armies!


Saturday 5 March 2011

Holiday

So I'm jumping in the old Stormraven and jetting off to some mountains for a week as of tomorrow morning.

Due to there only being me here, things will go a little quiet for a bit; but fear not! I shall return to you in the fullness of time (well, a week).

Adios!

Friday 4 March 2011

The Board Is Set, The Pieces Are Moving

We have news that in secret, unmarked vans, Grey Knights boxes are currently being shipped to Games Workshop stores all across Europe.

Pre-Orders are up next week. The End is nigh!

Thursday 3 March 2011

Inquisitor Allies

Now here's a thorny issue; Inquisitor Henchmen. I had always planned to take a pure Grey Knights army from the new codex, no weak willed and flimsy mortals getting in the way of my awesomeness! The problem has arisen when I begrudgingly admitted that they are just

=][=SO

=][=DAMN

=][=GOOD!


Tuesday 1 March 2011

The Month Of March

I love march. It gets warmer. It starts to get light when I leave work. I don't have to wear 15 layers or snow-grips just to take the bins out. Oh yeah an my birthday usually comes along. But this year I love it all the more, why?

You guessed it, Grey Knights!

Thursday 24 February 2011

Wargear Stats

There is alot of information and summaries floating around about the units, powers, stats and points of models in the Grey Knight codex. Sadly however, there is still little solid information on the wargear available to the Emporer's daemon hunters.

This is thanks largely to the wargear sections being missing from the leaked playtest codex. Well, here and now I present to you a summary list of weapons and wargear in the codex given the most likely rumours.

Unlike some of my other posts, these are NOT based on strong rumours, but seem quite likely given the things we DO know. All compiled from various forums. Enjoy, and remember large pinch of salt. Much credit to Marmande of Bolter & Chainsword

Wednesday 23 February 2011

Grey Knights Versus Tanks

During the early days of Grey Knights rumours, it was looking as though we were going to have a really hard time against tanks; with very few units having access to high strength long range weaponry.

As more rumours leak out and with a playtest version of the codex floating around the internet, it's starting to look like that might not be the case. Read on for more, but the picture to the right is a pretty big hint!

As usual, at this stage all based on (strong) rumours.

Monday 21 February 2011

Every List Should Take Stromravens

OK, maybe that's an exaggeration. But the Stormraven is going to be one of the most useful and versatile units in the Grey Knight army.

At this point, all base on rumours, strong rumours, but still...pinch of salt!


Friday 18 February 2011

The Rise Of Power Armour

Like many of you, I've been pouring over the Codex rumors, looking at possible army builds and effective unit combinations. And what I can mainly see is that we're going to be seeing alot of armies with few-to-no Terminators in it.

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Follow Up - Thoughts To Come!


Well needless to say I've been obsessing over the new Grey Knights information over the last few days, working out rough army builds and themes based on the sizable amount of info we now have. I'll get to these thoughts soon in another post [read: large post] but for now here is another compilation created some some chaps over on Bolter & Chainsword who seems even more dedicated than me to orderliness! There's a few new bits of  info on here, but I personally haven't seen them confirmed by a reliable source.

Pinch of salt as always:


Monday 14 February 2011

Epic Post Is Epic



OK, this is going to be a long one. Seems as though Commisar Ciaphas Cane on the "Bolter and Chainsword" forum has had a peek at the codex and is spilling the beans... Of course this is all still rumours, but it seems too detailed to be made up, anyway pinch of salt as always. 


The information provided is seriously broken up (its on a forum after all) and my favorite rumour site has "XX"'d out all of the points costs. My point is, putting it all in codex order with the points costs took a hell of a lot of work, so no apologies for messiness :p Mostly just copied and pasted, but I replaces some pronouns and the like here and there so it's readable. 


Enjoy :)



Friday 11 February 2011

Army Ideas

I warned you people that I like to plan in advance.

Now that we have a pretty good idea about the shape of the codex, I can think about what my army might consist of. Remember of course, that just like the army list rumors which this is based on, it should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

Pictures!

Today is an exciting day, as the first leaked pictures of Grey Knights are leaked out. This gives us our first look at the dreadknight... which as it turns out is HUUUUUGE, at least twice the height of a Rhino. Infact, it quite reminds me of a mech-warrior. But without further ado, here are the pictures. Yes, they are blurry, but they're taken by a webcam off images shown on an iPad... so you get what you pay for.




Thursday 10 February 2011

All Roads Lead To...



Recently the rumour mills haven't been throwing out much new information on Grey Knights recently, but what has been happening is many of the sources seem to be agreeing with each other about which rumours are true, and the shape of the Codex is starting to appear. Here is what was posted on BoLs, and every other source seems to be agreeing with it:

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Ultra Elite Terminators

OK, bit of back story. The concept behind Grey Knights is they want to bring out an ultra elite army. Small numbers of ridiculously powerful models. To this end they are bringing back 2 WOUND terminators.


Paladin Terminators. That's the current name for these bad boys. From the looks of this latest rumor they'll be able to have fun with all the wound allocation shenanigans as well.


So without further delay onto the rumor, Paladin Terminator options:

Psychic Powers News

Well, we've seen some more news on the blogosphere. Claims that the list below is what GK Librarians will get as power options. Only thing that gets me is what a GK "Librarian" is? As they're all supposed to be powerful psykers; maybe the author of this list was referring to the Grand Masters... we may never know... until April :p

Monday 7 February 2011

Planning To Paint.

Well, I'm only going to have a couple of weeks time in which to paint up an entire army to a good standard.

To me, this means 2 things; I'll need a plan, and I'll need to Spray.

There's no way I'll get a whole army done in time if I don't spray my base coat AND my primary colour onto almost all of my models. This'll be done I imagine via a GW spray gun stolen (uh, I mean "borrowed") off of one of my friends.

Also I'll need a plan. I can paint, dry brush and highlight relatively well. However some advanced techniques have escaped my grasp. I plan this new army to be the change of all that (not forgetting I have to paint them all in record time!). To this end I'll be researching and planning my painting scheme and techniques well in advance for you lovely people to see and comment on before I put any paint to plastic!

The first new technique I'll be looking at is how to do cool power (or nemesis force) weapons.

Up To Speed

A quick summary of the Grey Knights Codex so far, courtesy of Faeit212 (At this stage, all still rumours and should be treated as such):

About This Blog And I

SICK! BRUTAL! OVER POWERED!

 - These are just some of the phrases I hope to hear when fielding these monstrosities at Warhammer World in April.

But first introductions. I'm Tom, and this is a blog about the up and coming Grey Knights Codex.

See? Clear, concise, informative. Award winning literature in the making! "Moar informations" you say? Oh alright then...