With the new Codex DA the old No Allies rule has gone. So why not take advantage of the new opportunities available to us.

1. WHY TAKE GREY KNIGHTS AS ALLIES?

Well it's a good question. The way to look at is to see what the DA specifically lack, then see how the GK can dovetail neatly in as a fix. As I see it the GKs add the following benefits to a Dark Angels army:

• The first thing is being able to get your hands on another Ld10 psychic hood. I know for some reason I am slightly fixated on this, and yes Ezekiel would fit the bill – but he hasn't got terminator armour, he has limited psychic powers and he's expensive. Our generic Librarians are Ld9 only, and with limited fixed powers plus on the weapons and wargear side they are not very customisable.

• You can now get your hands on some S6 power weapons rather than taking Azreal.

• The units and characters have some neat anti-psyker and other abilities.

• It opens up the possibility of an expanded set of psychic powers.

• True Grit stormbolters on Grey Knights in power armour.

• The option to attach your termy-armoured GK hero to a Deathwing squad and utilise the Deathwing Assault special rule. Yes as mad as it sounds this is entirely feasible.

I suspect that many, like me, will only be interested in the GK Heros and Terminators. So this is where the focus of this article will unashamedly fall, although of course I will cover power-armoured GK units too.

For those of you who baulk at the idea of any kind of Inquisitorial allies in a Dark Angels army for fluff reasons then that is fine. Just bear in mind that our Codex allows it so for me I'm fine with it. Secondly I have never actually seen the GK as Inquisitors – to me they are a Chapter that just happens to be closely aligned with and be the specialist anti-daemon militant arm of the Inquisition. If these are arguments won't persuade you then maybe the info below will. Keep an open mind.

 

2. A FEW NOTES ON ALLIES

Before we start I should just say that you can only take allies from the Codex Daemonhunters in the HQ, Elite and Troop slots, but ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE ALREADY FILLED THE COMPULSORY FORCE ORG SELECTIONS FROM THE DARK ANGELS CODEX, sorry for the capitals but this is important and often overlooked. Full details on what you can take will be found in Codex: Daemonhunters. If you intend to use allies in tournaments, please check with the organisers first as quite often allies are not allowed.

 

3. THE NATURE OF THE BEAST – GREY KNIGHTS

So what are they? Well the Grey Knights are the purest of the Marines – and the crème de la crème of them as well. Grey Knights are strong and specialised to fight the forces of Chaos to any end. They're a secret Chapter that not too many even know about in the realm of the Imperium, but Chaos is quite familiar with them as wherever Chaos is, so the Grey Knights are there too to defend humanity. In many respects the secrecy of their background and mission makes them similar to our beloved Chapter in that both are singularly focused and drop any other mission for their prime objective.

The Grey Knights themselves have many special rules surrounding them, have some excellent gear available and as such are very expensive.

Here's what you get – first, the good bits:

Fearless As good as the Deathwing, their resolve is without question. They follow the rules for being Fearless as described in the 4th edition book.

Deep Strike Grey Knights may Deep Strike when taken as Elites and Fast Attack.

True Grit Grey Knights use the True Grit rules that can be found in the 4th edition rulebook. One note, is to remember that models in terminators armor do not benefit from this. As a point of interest, True Grit has been pretty much caught up by the newer DA and BA books where marines now get a bolt pistol for free them to shoot before charging in.

The Aegis The Aegis refers to the armour the Grey Knights wear. It wards off psychic attacks and even renders them immune to some lesser attacks and it works in very similar fashion to a less potent version of a psychic hood. But note – the Aegis only protects the wearer(s), not other non-aegis wearing models. If you want to protect the army as a whole a psychic hood is still the thing to use. Something else to add here, DA characters attached to GK squads do not gain protection from the Aegis armour.

The Shrouding This is the combined psychic chants of all the Grey Knights to confuse their enemies with their purity and faith. The result is that any unit attempting to shoot at them must pass a test in order to establish whether it can see them. This works much like the Night Fight rules found in the 4th edition rulebook but highly modified. An important note about Shrouding is that it is not that effective except at very long ranges – basically, if your unit is within 30 inches of the enemy they will be seen pretty often, so keep that in mind before relying on it. In fact the average Shrouding result ranges are between 30-33".

Rites of Exorcism The very presence of Grey Knights upsets Daemonic foes and as such applies a negative leadership modifier to all daemons' Leadership. However, as the newly released Chaos Codex has made all daemons Fearless this is now negated. But the rule that any daemonic foes attempting to assault Grey Knights do so as if they were in difficult terrain still stands.

Nemesis Weapons These are standard for Grey Knights and have some very special bonuses. For most Grey Knights, they add a bonus of strength and on some other nice properties too. They're especially nice on Grand Masters where they also become a far more potent force weapon.

and the bad bits:

Daemonic Infestation The very fact that Grey Knights are present must be because of considerable Daemonic activity. As such, daemon packs will gain the Sustained Assault rules as the forces of Chaos keep coming. This is meant to off-set the power of the Grey Knights against Chaos. Unfortunately even having just one GK in your army will bring this rule into play.

Expensive As will be seen later, certain choices can be pricey.

 

4. GREY KNIGHT HEROES ALLIED HQ SELECTIONS

Grey Knight Heroes come in two forms, from the highest rank of Grand Master to a lower rank of Brother-Captain. The difference lies in their stat line as well as the abilities of their Nemesis Force Weapon. They are already equipped with everything they need for the battle including the Terminator Armor and Nemesis Force Weapon and storm bolter, but have access to the army to grab a few more helpful items – particularly a psychic hood. Both heroes are potent Psykers and as such may have psychic powers as well (such as Holocaust).

Grand Master
The Grand Master starts with a S6 force weapon boost as well as the normal GKT loadout of storm bolter and Aegis Terminator Armour. He may also have a retinue of Grey Knight Terminators, but he does not have a dedicated transport option – although he may always Deep Strike by their special rules. It's worth noting that you can easily spend 200+ points on the GM alone and then another 200-500 on a retinue and a land raider crusader to ride in so don't get carried away. One thing that counts against him – he has nothing to make him immune to the Instant Death rule.

The Grand Master has much enhanced stats over the Brother-Captain, with a greater Ballistic Skill and Initiative, as well as a greater number of Wounds and Attacks. This not only makes him more resilient, but he is a more dangerous combatant both at long-range (hitting on a 2+) but in close combat (striking quicker and more often). In addition to this, the Grand Master's Nemesis Force Weapon is a more potent tool of destruction. Instead of just being a S6 power weapon, as the Brother-Captain's is, his also acts as a force weapon, allowing him the opportunity to kill multi-wound creatures (big Daemons, big 'Nids, Wraithlords, etc) with a single hit.

Brother-Captain
He is often maligned as being an expensive for a one-wound character, but actually I think he is a great choice as "loner" allied HQ. But he is inexpensive and has full access to the Daemonhunter armoury so take full advantage of that. Just keep him out of harms way as he only has one wound.

GK heros and Deathwing Assault
As both heroes are wearing terminator armour and both are ICs, you are perfectly entitled to join a GK hero onto a Deathwing squad and utilise the Deathwing Assault rule.

Recommendations: The GK Grand Master is a character that can go toe to toe with almost anything in the game and he actually requires very little in terms of wargear upgrades. Taken in his out-of-the-box setup he is a reasonably priced character. Try to protect him and at the same time maximize his impact. You can keep him with a squad, either a de-facto GK retinue or just by attaching him to another squad, and remember he CAN be attached to a Deathwing terminator squad and deep struck in using the Deathwing Assault rule. This is a great way of getting the GM into action and swinging that Nemesis force weapon. I can't recommend this highly enough.

The Brother-Captain is also valuable as a single allied HQ as he is cheap and you can give him a psychic hood which is one way of getting a decent Ld10 hood back into your DA army without breaking the bank. He too can be Deathwing Assaulted with a termy squad or given his own GK terminator retinue to help protect that vulnerable single wound, and as such used as a mini-GKGM. But my favourite route with him is to equip him with a psycannon and a psychic hood and use him to snipe from within your deployment zone, and as an Independent Character status (and with Shrouding) he can't be easily targeted.

Other options to play with is master-crafting the Nemesis particularly on the GKGM to get an extra hit in. If you plan to deep strike, don't hesitate to give either of them them an incinerator, psycannon or maybe a combi-bolter. The extra firepower when you arrive makes up for the fact you cannot attack that turn. I also would add in Sacred Incense so they'll go before any chaos lords, but don't add much more in terms of true anti-chaos gear.

Something else to consider is to give them a teleport homer so they can call in reinforcements. This can be a neat option to fielding Ravenwing bike units.

A great trick for your Hero, is to give him Hammerhands as an ability for anti-tank purposes.This power gives your Hero several Strength 8 attacks which can be more effective than a single meltabomb.

Be careful with psychic powers, in particular on the GM as his force weapon attack counts as his one psychic power per turn. If you plan on using it do not use another power, in fact you may not want to buy a power at all. Just attach him to a GKT unit with the power you want.

Conclusion: Scary and can be expensive – the Grand Master is excellent and brings so much to the DA army. Use him in larger games (2000+) particularly in a Deathwing army where committing circa 170+ points to one model will not hamper you too much. In smaller games I would leave him alone and go with the Brother-Captain instead.

 

5. GREY KNIGHT TERMINATORS ALLIED ELITE SELECTIONS
or as retinues for Heroes

The Grey Knight Terminators are the elite troops of the Grey Knights. They are incredibly powerful with an arsenal of potent weaponry and WS5 to boot. But, with no-upgrades, a 5-man squad of GKTs costs the same as a Deathwing squad with an assault cannon!! GKT squads always include a Brother-Captain who rather usefully can access the Daemonhunters Armoury as discussed above.

The de-facto Terminator squad always includes an embedded Brother-Captain, and he can access the full Daemonhunters armoury (see above for notes on the BC). But when taken as a Hero's retinue however, the BC is NOT included. Squad sizes can be anything from 3-10, with even-strength squads being best for point scoring purposes, and smaller squads for cheapness. So 4-man retinue is ideal, while 6-man for a standalone squad is best if you have the points – using less if points are tight.

Rather like Deathwing squads they may take thunder hammer and storm shields in place of their normal weapons – the Nemesis and the storm bolter – for free. These guys also have two other weapon upgrades available although both are expensive. The psycnannon is incredible on a terminator because of it's long range ability when using the Heavy mode or switching to the Assault mode for added strength and mobility. The Incinerator is also an excellent weapon option on deep striking terminator squads where the template can (hopefully) work it's magic. It also has the benefit of ignoring all saves. It is worth noting that unlike their Grey power armour brethren, terminators lose none of their close combat weapons if they take the psycannons and incinerators – so if you have the points there really is no excuse.

Again, they are potent psykers and Holocaust is a great ability to take on the embedded Brother-Captain. They may always Deep Strike, so they are very fast although they do not have a dedicated transport option.

GKTs are best used in one of two ways:

Deep strike assault
With their deadly Nemsis weapons ideally you will want to get GKTs into assault action as soon as you can. You can deep strike squads in with an incinerator or psycannon (remember they do not count as moving so the psycannon can use its full range) and you can give their Brother-Captain a psycannon upgrade too – although his is more expensive. As such this is a great unit to bang down behind the enemy lines: you let loose with the storm bolters and heavy weapons and next turn same again then charge in with the Nemesis – similar land/shoot/shoot/assault tactics that you would utilise with your Deathwing. And you have the added benefit of being able to use Holocaust as the squad's psychic power as it can be used on the turn you land. This should be considered the primary tactical option for any allied Grey Knight terminators.

Firepower support
Potentially, these squads have a lot of firepower with their storm bolters and two psycannons, and configured this way you can set up the squad to footslog where you are maximising on the ranged firepower and The Shrouding. Screen them and march them forward down a flank shooting and moving as you would a Deathwing squad – they will be marginally better protected from return fire, but have more to put out themselves and from greater range. This is a tactic sometimes practised within Daemonhunter armies – but seems to be wasting their enormous cc potential when used as allies.

Recommendations: While the S6 power weapon is very, very nice there will be times you will want S8, so don't forget you can upgrade some of them to have a thunder hammer and storm shield for free – one should be enough for most squads as insurance – because in all honesty you are wasting the full potential by not using the Nemesis/storm bolter combo. Squads of 4 or 6-strong are optimal for point-scoring purposes.

Conclusion: They're terminators yes so anything that kills a DW termy will kill a GK termy too. But they do offer something markedly different to our own Deathwing variety. In a pure GK force they don't get the backup from a good range of cheaper anti-tank weaponry that can be fielded with the Dark Angels so suffer a bit. While in a DA multiwing setup they can excel. It's just a case of using them to their strengths.

 

6. GREY KNIGHTS ALLIED TROOP SELECTIONS

The basic GK troop type are 25 point supermarines with WS5 S6 weapons, storm bolters, a range of special rules, psychic powers, psycannons and incinerators. But they have no transports, lascannon, missile launchers or plasma. Their S6 attacks combined with WS5 make them reliable but not overwhelming close combat opponents. You are required to take a Justicar as well as the normal coplement of Grey Knights to make 5 to 10-men strong squads. This can become very, very expensive, but large squads tend to be optimal in order to ensure their survival and keep them from being overwhelmed too easily (meaning 7 or 8 models per squad).

The Grey Knights have the same weapon upgrade options as the terminators, and the psycannons can be fired either in an assault fashion to allow them to move and fire, or in heavy mode for greater range. I prefer the psycannon over the incinerator due to the strength of the weapon and the number of shots, and you can have up to two of them. But it's worth noting that unlike terminators and heros with their wrist-mounted weapons, every time you purchase a special weapon for a Grey Knight squad, you lose a nemesis force weapon, so you're hurting your abilities in combat by taking shooting weapons more often.

The GK squads have all the benefits of Aegis Armour and Shrouding as well as the option of taking a squad psychic power as do their GK terminator and GK hero brethren discussed above. But, with no dedicated transport option they are forced to walk or hitch a ride in a passing Land Raider. This lack of cheap transport is a real pain.

The best and most advantageous loadout for a Grey Knight squad would be:
1 x Justicar with melta bombs
7 x Grey Kinights with storm bolters and Nemesis weapons.

Keep it simple and use these guys to their best advantage.

Just a note to say that the Justicar cannot buy weapons, only wargear (the rule saying this is cleverly placed on the wargear page rather than the Justicar listing). Ignore the part of the FAQ with the question "Are Psycannons legal for Justicars/Grey Knight Heroes?" The answer they give is 'Yes indeed (see the Terminology note on page 20)". But page 20 just shows that GK Heroes and Justicars are in fact GKs – there is nothing there to indicate the restriction on the wargear page is invalid. So the FAQ is just in error, they only meant GK Heroes and not Justicars. Of course, strictly speaking, you could buy artificer armor for your Justicar and then a psycannon...

Recommendations: Without a transport or deep strike option they are not a very viable assault unit. They're good in a fight but not good enough to justify buying a Land Raider maybe you could try marching them behind cheap screeners. But with two psycannons and their storm bolters you should keep them back for counterassault. Remember they are only as durable as regular marines, anything that kills normal marines (star cannon, special close-combat weapons, invisible powerfists) will make a mess of them too. Keep them screened and keep them away from fights they cannot win.

Conclusion: Not really worthwhile unless you're running out of slots and really want to use them. If you really do want to field Grey Knights run with the Fast Attack teleport team instead (see below). Grey Knights on foot are very vulnerable to enemy fire even with their Shrouding and to be honest can't see many DA players using them within their armies, especially as we have three perfectly good troop choices already.

 

7. GREY KNIGHTS ALLIED FAST ATTACK SELECTION

The exact same squad as the Troops selection of Grey Knights may be taken as a Fast Attack option in which case they may deep strike into battle. This is a preferable use of Grey Knights due to their lack of transports and long range weapons. With psycannons you can destroy enemy armour from behind as well as fire upon entrenched teams or invulnerable beasts. With two incinerators they are great for thinning large units then charging in.

Recommendations: With two incinerators or psycannons drop them within range. As with terminators deep striking is an all or nothing affair. You need several units dropping in to inflict maximum damage and absorb the counter-attack. You can give them teleport homers to improve your chances when dropping in other units. And don't forget they just have the option of deep striking – it is not compulsory – so if there is situation where you really do not want them to drop in, you can deploy them normally.

Conclusion: Although excellent in a GK army, in the context of a Dark Angels allied Fast Attack unit they are poor choice to be honest. There are plenty of more effective Dark Angel FA options to take without resorting to these.

 

8. WEAPONS AND WARGEAR

Now that you have some units and some ideas it's worth looking at the wargear options. Some have been touched upon but others are worth a look too. A lot of the items in the Daemon Hunters arsenal are specialized anti-daemon weapons that have no effect against the other foes you'll face most of the time. Don't forget, many Chaos armies do not even rely on daemons making these items still less useful. So while they might be good in a pre-arranged battle against Chaos they are not good choices for a take-all-comers list. Remember, a servant of the Emperor must be ready for all opponents, do not squander your limited resources preparing for a battle that may never come. Leave your Anointed Weapons, Daemonhammers, Grimories, and Sacred Hulls safe in storage unless you know you'll need them. For this reason only some of the more general items will be examined.

Be aware too that with the recent Codex: Chaos (Nov 2007) what constitutes deamons has now changed significantly so some of the wargear (and psychic powers) have limited capacity or have been rendered useless!! [See the Addendum at the foot of this Tactica].

One oddity worth noting is that the Thunder Hammer is the same price as a Powerfist. According to the Daemonhunter FAQ it's a little bonus since the Hammer is the symbol of the Ordo Malleus (literally 'The Order of the Hammer'). OK. Whatever. Just remember there is no reason to give any Grey Knight a Powerfist. Ever. And big giant hammers are so much cooler than oversized novelty fists.

Auspex whether you think this is worth the gamble or not is up to you, but, it is a tool available to GKTs and Heros and no longer to the Dark Angels. I actually think that if you have the spare points then why not – it is after all a useful deterrent against infiltrating units – even if in reality the dice conspire against you so it hardly ever works.

Combi-weapons no mystery here, useful on a GKGM to take advantage of his better BS, particularly comb-melta or plasma. Not a must have as the basic storm bolter as actually good enough.

Consecrated Scrolls allows you to use more than one psychic power in a turn, once per battle. Could be useful on a GK Grand Master as he could use his force weapon as well as another psychic power, but really hardly a mandatory pick.

Icon of the Just is a 4+ inv save taken instead of a normal save. It’s useful but very expensive, and for a Hero in terminator not such a great bonus. There are better things to spend the points on.

Incinerator a heavy flamer that ignores invulnerable saves. Excellent for Grey Knight terminator characters and GKT squads that deep strike in.

Psycannon yes S6 heavy bolter, or you can move and shoot 18"! And it ignores invulnerable saves! AND you can put it on a BS5 character!! While at 30 points it's a bit pricey you get more than enough bang for your buck. Admittedly not as good as an assault cannon but it gets the job done. Psycannons are ideal on Grey Knight terminators as they always count as stationary when firing (meaning you get the full-range), and in deep-striking power-armoured units because they can take long range shots if needed (in heavy weapon mode as they count as non-moving on first turn of arrival), or, to put a lot of high powered close range shots out after landing.

Psychic Hood this is where allied GK can come into their own as once again a Ld10 hood is alive and well in a DA army. Not only that but you can have more than one! A must-have option for any Brother-Captain, whether a lone IC or part of a GKT squad, optional on the GKGM as it does push his cost up, but still, recommended.

Sacred Incense is the only anti-Chaos item worth taking. Unlike others it affects all chaos models (including marines). For 10 points, why not? Put it on a combat-oriented character and watch him cut down Chaos Marines before they get to blink.

Teleport Homer always useful, and at the snip of the cost of a Ravenwing Attack Squadron. A good banker for the deep striking GK Hero or the embedded Brother-Captain in a GKT squad.

Thunder Hammer as has been mentioned – as cheap as a powerfist so what’s not to like. Useful weapon to purchase for a Hero for an additional attack if needed – or else use the Hammerhand psychic power as it’s less than half the price.

Ungents of Warding well it's a 4+ save against any incoming psychic powers for the holder and the unit he is with. Could be very useful to counter Lash of Submission and the antics of other psychic-heavy armies. Highly recommended.

 

9. PSYCHIC POWERS

I like psychic powers and taking GKs as allies opens Pandora's box! But much the same can be said of Daemonhunters psychic powers as was said about their specialised wargear – they reflect their anti-daemon role and can be useful if you face off against a lot of those types of armies.

That said there are some useful ones out there... and with some Consecrated Scrolls you can use more than one. So I will concentrate on the more general powers for an all-comers army.

Hammerhand doubles strength of the user and counts as an additional close-combat weapon. However it means you lose the benefits bestowed any power or force weapon. Not a bad little power and actually it's cheaper than a power weapon upgrade.

Holocaust is a S5 ordnance template that you use in the close combat phase. A pretty nice equalizer when fighting hoards but a bit costly at 20 points. Keep in mind also that the ordnance blast template is a bit more than 2" across, so can easily partially hit anybody too close to the kill zone, including your own sides models. Also keep in mind that although it states you can use it in the assault phase, it doesn't require you to be in close combat to use it. Its main use is against retinues (mopping up after the main character has been killed in cc), and can be used to allow for big template attacks after you arrive via Deep Strike. It's a nice power for a Grey Knight termy squad, or lone hero attached to a Deathwing squad.

But if you use this in conjunction with a squad beware of Perils of the Warp, if you suffer an attack from the Warp, every model in the squad will take a wound, meaning they will die on a 2+. Yes Holocaust can create plenty of destruction, balance this against the risks. With this in mind get for the Squad's Brother–Captain, not the squad itself!!

Scourging offers an 18" S5 shooting attack with D6 shots. For 20 points it could be a nice substitute for a psycannon or an incinerator on an assault oriented Inquisitor but again, a bit pricey for what it does.

Word of the Emperor forces your opponents to take a leadership check before assaulting your Grey Knights. Good against some armies, lousy against others, but its only 10 points. Think of it as an extra saving throw for your valuable character.

 

Addendum:

Since this tactica has been written, an updated version of Codex: Chaos Space Marines has been released. There are a few implications that might impact onto the Grey Knights and their function. However as we have concentrated on largely non anti-daemon aspects of the Grey Knights' capabilities the impact will be limited.

What are deamons?
In Codex Daemonhunters, daemons are quite specifically listed as:
All Daemonhosts, Greater Daemons and Daemon Packs, Daemon Beasts, Nurglings, Daemonically Possessed Vehicles (such as Defilers) or those with the Parasitic Possession, Living Vehicle, or Mutated Hull upgrades, Eldar Avatars, Possessed Chaos Space Marines, and Chaos Lords with the Daemonic Stature gift and/or over 50 points of daemonic gifts.

In the new Chaos Space Marine Codex, and applying RAW (Rules As Written) the only 'Daemons' that now coincide with those in the Daemonhunter Codex consists of Greater Daemons, Defilers (and other vehicles with the Daemonic Possession vehicle upgrade), and Possessed Chaos Space Marines.

In the light of that many of the specific anti-daemon psychic powers and wargear will have little or nothing to target and so be less effective overall, the same goes for the Grey Knights' Sustained Attack rule.

Obviously Codex Daemonhunters needs an revised FAQ to bring it up to speed with recent chaos developments. Until then, common sense would say that Daemon Princes and Summoned Lesser Daemons should also be considered as daemons as seen by the Grey Knights.

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Well that about wraps it up for PART 1. In PART 2 I shall show you how to set up Grey Knights in various Dark Angel armies.

 

[Grey Knight: image courtesy of auberon from the Bolter & Chainsword.]