Post by mardaddy on Nov 27, 2007 14:04:21 GMT -5
I fell in love with the Grey Knight models when the latest sculpts first came out loooong ago. I had painted a 2,000pt army of them for a customer way back when, but had never considered getting them myself due to their (even considering GW norm) expense. Over the course of two years, purchasing on eBay, trading on Bartertown, and bits and blisters from the Local Game Store, I’ve accumulated over 3,000+pts in pure Grey Knights to date – not including the Stormtroopers, or Inquisition.
But I’ve found that I lose over and over with DH… It’s been extremely difficult to come up with a decent list. I’ve tried Inquisitorial DH force with assassins, going Deep Strike heavy or pure Grey Knights, using Orbital Bombardment (a chronic disappointment every time it has been tried), going Inquisitorial with Space Marine allies, nothing has seemed to work for my play style to even come close to being a challenge to my various opponents. Early on I tried a few games as DH with IG allies, but looking back now, I seemed to be focused too much on fielding Sentinels, Imperial Fist and Rough Riders, which were cool enough models, but apparently not as effective on the field for my play style.
So I changed it around a little and went another direction, trying to go for some max anti-infantry firepower, with still some slight ability to do something vs. most vehicles and heavily armored troops, coupled with a few dedicated anti-armor assets that have some resiliency.
HQ (Deep Strike)
Grand Master
4 GK Term
1 GK Term w/Incin
TR1
GK Sqd of 5 (w/2 Psycannon)
TR2
GK Sqd of 5 (w/2 Psycannon)
TR3
Stormtrooper Sqd of 6
Vet Sgt w/Powerfist
2 Meltaguns
Chimera
TR4 (Inquisitorial IG allies)
Platoon of two squads w/GL & Heavy Bolter, JO w/LasP & Powerfist (retinue basic)
TR5 (Inquisitorial IG allies)
Platoon of two squads w/GL & Heavy Bolter, JO w/LasP & CCW (retinue basic)
HV1
Landraider w/Psycannon Bolt Heavy Bolter
HV2 (Inquisitorial IG allies)
Lemann Russ w/Heavy Bolter hull & sponsons)
Nothing big, no bells and whistles, unique wargear or specialty stuff like assassins or psychic powers.
This 1851pt list’s inaugural game was against 1853pts of new-codex Orks led by three characters (including Thraka himself), using two Wartruks full of troops, a maxed-out Kommando sqd, ‘Ard Boyz sqd with all-power claws, and a squad of Nob’s in mega-armor (I’ll have to check all that again later when I am home – it was actually my first game vs. Orks in two years, and I may have the names of some stuff wrong there.)
Battle Highlights:
• Regarding number of models on the table, The DH actually outnumbered the Orks!!
• First shots of Turn One saw the death of one of his HQ’s, a psychic character who fell victim to the Landraider (the Ork Player should not have put him so close to the deployment edge – he was closest unit.)
• The Stormtrooper-laden Chimera was knocked out early in Turn Two, ejecting the troops with no casualties; they fought a retreating battle maintaining range on the mega-armored Nobs(?) and wounding with the Meltaguns every shot they could until Thraka tore into them near the end of the game.
• The Lemann Russ only fired its Battle Cannon once, a miss that killed my JO with the Power Fist, but resulted in the Ork Player also losing some because the wartrukk was under the center of the template, was destroyed and got a result where it went careening into his own squad, exploding for 5in. Dismal save rolls caused him to lose more than half his squad – which as it turns out was the target of the Battle Cannon to begin with!
• The Kommando’s led by the third Ork character came in behind my own deployment zone Turn Two and just wailed on the closest IG squad, but could only consolidate into one IG figure in a second close by unit. All that squad backed up that one guy, resulting in four Kommando deaths without any return attacks, and a Ork LOSS of Assault with standard guardsmen! Next turn that IG squad was wiped out to a man as well, but it made for good laughs when it happened.
• The DH HQ Deep Struck right next to the unit of eight uber-tough and 2 wound Orks, shot the Incinerator and they both whittled each other away for two turns until only a pair of Orks stood as the victors over my HQ. They tried to take out the maneuvering Landraider, but failed twice to do anything (they were shot to pieces by the Russ before the end of the game.)
• Speaking of the Lemann Russ, three Heavy Bolters REALLY took a toll on the Orks, and it never once even came close to being threatened. Moving from target unit to target unit, unusually good rolls towards the end of the game, the last two turns I hit with 7-8 out of 9 shots.
• About halfway through the game, the Ork Player knew he would lose, because he did not have anything left that could touch the armor of the Russ and the Landraider unless I allowed him to get into assault range with them. He concentrated on killing off the troops, and was whittled down to just Thraka (with only 1 wound left) and an Ork in ‘eavy armor when my last Stormtrooper died. He conceded the game at that point.
So it was a rare DH win for me, breaking a six-game losing streak (and against a new-codex force, to boot!) This list still requires major tweaking and testing still, but it is a good building point for now.
Weighing in at 72 models (and 3 vehicles), it should actually outnumber and outfire most non-IG lists, while retaining some of the unique abilities and rules for the Grey Knights. Yes, having only three vehicles will make those vehicles fall victim quickly to an anti-armor dedicated army, and the list sucks for mobility, but it is a start to build from, and a first-time win with the list gives me encouragement that I may finally be starting on the right track here…
But I’ve found that I lose over and over with DH… It’s been extremely difficult to come up with a decent list. I’ve tried Inquisitorial DH force with assassins, going Deep Strike heavy or pure Grey Knights, using Orbital Bombardment (a chronic disappointment every time it has been tried), going Inquisitorial with Space Marine allies, nothing has seemed to work for my play style to even come close to being a challenge to my various opponents. Early on I tried a few games as DH with IG allies, but looking back now, I seemed to be focused too much on fielding Sentinels, Imperial Fist and Rough Riders, which were cool enough models, but apparently not as effective on the field for my play style.
So I changed it around a little and went another direction, trying to go for some max anti-infantry firepower, with still some slight ability to do something vs. most vehicles and heavily armored troops, coupled with a few dedicated anti-armor assets that have some resiliency.
HQ (Deep Strike)
Grand Master
4 GK Term
1 GK Term w/Incin
TR1
GK Sqd of 5 (w/2 Psycannon)
TR2
GK Sqd of 5 (w/2 Psycannon)
TR3
Stormtrooper Sqd of 6
Vet Sgt w/Powerfist
2 Meltaguns
Chimera
TR4 (Inquisitorial IG allies)
Platoon of two squads w/GL & Heavy Bolter, JO w/LasP & Powerfist (retinue basic)
TR5 (Inquisitorial IG allies)
Platoon of two squads w/GL & Heavy Bolter, JO w/LasP & CCW (retinue basic)
HV1
Landraider w/Psycannon Bolt Heavy Bolter
HV2 (Inquisitorial IG allies)
Lemann Russ w/Heavy Bolter hull & sponsons)
Nothing big, no bells and whistles, unique wargear or specialty stuff like assassins or psychic powers.
This 1851pt list’s inaugural game was against 1853pts of new-codex Orks led by three characters (including Thraka himself), using two Wartruks full of troops, a maxed-out Kommando sqd, ‘Ard Boyz sqd with all-power claws, and a squad of Nob’s in mega-armor (I’ll have to check all that again later when I am home – it was actually my first game vs. Orks in two years, and I may have the names of some stuff wrong there.)
Battle Highlights:
• Regarding number of models on the table, The DH actually outnumbered the Orks!!
• First shots of Turn One saw the death of one of his HQ’s, a psychic character who fell victim to the Landraider (the Ork Player should not have put him so close to the deployment edge – he was closest unit.)
• The Stormtrooper-laden Chimera was knocked out early in Turn Two, ejecting the troops with no casualties; they fought a retreating battle maintaining range on the mega-armored Nobs(?) and wounding with the Meltaguns every shot they could until Thraka tore into them near the end of the game.
• The Lemann Russ only fired its Battle Cannon once, a miss that killed my JO with the Power Fist, but resulted in the Ork Player also losing some because the wartrukk was under the center of the template, was destroyed and got a result where it went careening into his own squad, exploding for 5in. Dismal save rolls caused him to lose more than half his squad – which as it turns out was the target of the Battle Cannon to begin with!
• The Kommando’s led by the third Ork character came in behind my own deployment zone Turn Two and just wailed on the closest IG squad, but could only consolidate into one IG figure in a second close by unit. All that squad backed up that one guy, resulting in four Kommando deaths without any return attacks, and a Ork LOSS of Assault with standard guardsmen! Next turn that IG squad was wiped out to a man as well, but it made for good laughs when it happened.
• The DH HQ Deep Struck right next to the unit of eight uber-tough and 2 wound Orks, shot the Incinerator and they both whittled each other away for two turns until only a pair of Orks stood as the victors over my HQ. They tried to take out the maneuvering Landraider, but failed twice to do anything (they were shot to pieces by the Russ before the end of the game.)
• Speaking of the Lemann Russ, three Heavy Bolters REALLY took a toll on the Orks, and it never once even came close to being threatened. Moving from target unit to target unit, unusually good rolls towards the end of the game, the last two turns I hit with 7-8 out of 9 shots.
• About halfway through the game, the Ork Player knew he would lose, because he did not have anything left that could touch the armor of the Russ and the Landraider unless I allowed him to get into assault range with them. He concentrated on killing off the troops, and was whittled down to just Thraka (with only 1 wound left) and an Ork in ‘eavy armor when my last Stormtrooper died. He conceded the game at that point.
So it was a rare DH win for me, breaking a six-game losing streak (and against a new-codex force, to boot!) This list still requires major tweaking and testing still, but it is a good building point for now.
Weighing in at 72 models (and 3 vehicles), it should actually outnumber and outfire most non-IG lists, while retaining some of the unique abilities and rules for the Grey Knights. Yes, having only three vehicles will make those vehicles fall victim quickly to an anti-armor dedicated army, and the list sucks for mobility, but it is a start to build from, and a first-time win with the list gives me encouragement that I may finally be starting on the right track here…
