We’re back with another Faction Focus article looking at new detachments for Warhammer 40,000. Today, it’s the turn of everyone’s favourite daemon-hunting paladins – the Grey Knights.
Argent Assault
Paladins are the stars of the first new detachment. They are the pinnacle of what it means to be a Grey Knight – an elite among elites – and are regularly tasked with fighting the most horrific daemons imaginable. Luckily, these Dauntless Champions don’t flinch in the face of the worst the Warp has to offer.
DAUNTLESS CHAMPIONS
To be a Paladin of the Grey Knights is to do battle with the greatest and most terrible enemies and yet emerge victorious, no matter the odds.
When a friendly PALADIN SQUAD unit is selected to fight, if the S of those attacks is lower than the T of the target, those attacks have +1 to wound rolls.
Being able to punch up when pitted against the supernatural Toughness of Daemon Princes and Greater Daemons is vital, as Paladins only have a Strength of 6 on their nemesis force weapons. This detachment rule means they can wound almost all forms of daemonic life* (and, frankly, most Vehicles and Monsters) on a 4+.
That said, you need to make it into close combat first, and Terminator-armoured units going for a classic Deep Strike assault always have that 9” charge to gamble on. Wouldn’t it be better if you could give your Leader an Enhancement that made it easier? Boom, Psychic Celerity.
PSYCHIC CELERITY
These champions of Titan employ their psychic might to lend themselves supernatural speed and catch their enemies unawares.
TERMINATOR model only. This unit has +1 to charge rolls.
A number of armies have detachments that make it harder to wound your units in close combat, but Paladins are pretty tough as it is. Instead, they take the far more entertaining approach of rendering the enemy’s weapons Hazardous – so they’re fairly likely to just blow up when they dare take a swing at your argent heroes.
AURA OF VENGEANCE (1CP)
ARGENT ASSAULT STRATAGEM
Chanting incantations of vengeful wrath, the Paladins curse those who strike at them to be laid low by their own strength and hatred.
WHEN: Fight phase, when an enemy unit targets a friendly PALADIN SQUAD unit.
TARGET: That PALADIN SQUAD unit.
EFFECT: That enemy unit’s melee attacks have [HAZARDOUS].
Fires of Purgation
Though they’re known for the quality of their melee weapons, Grey Knights can also bring some seriously strong firepower to bear – and often it’s carried into battle by Purgation Squads. These heavy weapon units can choose from three powerful weapons, and keep the enemy at bay by pinning them in place with a blistering volley from incinerators, psilencers or psycannons.
SEARING SOULFLAME
Through potent psychic focus and the channelling of their vehement wrath, Purgators imbue their salvoes with bursts of soul-burning psy-fire.
When you select a unit to be pinned by a friendly PURGATION SQUAD unit’s Righteous Persecution ability, that enemy unit makes a battle-shock roll, with -1 to that battle-shock roll.
Slowing a unit’s movement is great, but it’s a shame when they can use a cheeky stratagem to advance and shoot or charge to get around it, so battle-shocking them is a nice bonus to add onto the Righteous Persecution ability. It also helps when shifting stubborn units off objectives, as you only need to clip them with one shot to force a battle-shock test, and they risk losing their Objective Control.
Know what else helps stop people from capturing objectives? Scrubbing them from the board in a hail of gunfire. With the Boons of Deimos at your disposal, a tooled-up Purgation Squad can put the hurt on some tough contenders. Praise the Emperor for Strength 10 psycannons!
BOONS OF DEIMOS (Upgrade)
Fashioned on Titan’s forge moon by the most skilled tech-magi, these remarkable firearms are a blessing to any who wield them.
PURGATION SQUAD unit only. This unit’s ranged attacks have +2 S.
There’s no such thing as overkill when dealing with the Warp – a truth the Grey Knights know well. Make sure your target is forcibly removed from realspace with a spot of Focused Immolation.
FOCUSED IMMOLATION (1CP)
Concentrating their fire on a single luckless target and pouring all their psychic might into every shot, the Purgators sear their victims from existence as though cauterising an infested wound in the flesh of realspace.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase, when a friendly PURGATION SQUAD unit is selected to shoot.
TARGET: That PURGATION SQUAD unit.
EFFECT: Select one enemy unit. Your unit’s ranged attacks that target that unit have:
[DEVASTATING WOUNDS].
[SUSTAINED HITS 1].
Immaterial Interdiction
Mastery over the Warp makes the Grey Knights a highly mobile army who have the ability to hurl units across the battlefield with ease. Interceptors take their agility to the next level with arcane personal teleporter packs, and by making shorter hops into the Immaterium, they can surge towards their targets without compromising their ability to charge.
ECHOJUMP
Pushing their esoteric wargear to its limits, Interceptors are able to make secondary, shorter personal teleportation jumps, effectively skimming the very surface of the Immaterium to respond all the more quickly to developing threats.
In your Shooting phase, when a friendly INTERCEPTOR SQUAD unit has shot, if that unit did not make an ingress move this turn, you can use this ability. If you do:
That unit cannot use its Personal Teleporters ability.
That unit can make a surge move of up to D6+1".
While the Personal Teleporters ability lets them make a nice, reliable 6” move after shooting, it does prevent Interceptors from charging into close combat. Conversely, an Echojump allows them to charge afterwards, at the cost of moving less on average. It’s a good trade-off to consider, depending on the situation.
Though it would be nice to end up in cover after a jump, Interceptors can’t always count on having a terrain area nearby – especially when moving towards an objective or a key enemy unit is priority number one. The Astral Overlap upgrade enhancement solves that problem by simply giving them Stealth, so they have the benefit of cover at all times.
ASTRAL OVERLAP (Upgrade)
Esoteric adjustments to the calibration of these Interceptors’ teleportation arrays allow them to achieve a temporary state of semi-incorporeality, in which enemy projectiles may simply pass through them as though they were ghosts.
INTERCEPTOR SQUAD unit only. This unit has Stealth.
Once you’re in a good position to charge, make the most of it with the Blades from the Beyond stratagem for a nice +1 to Wound from Lance.
BLADES FROM THE BEYOND (1CP)
IMMATERIAL INTERDICTION STRATAGEM
With exceptional skill, these Interceptors teleport perilously close to their foes, bursting from the Immaterium into their very midst with lethal force.
WHEN: Fight phase, when a friendly INTERCEPTOR SQUAD unit that made a charge move this turn is selected to fight.
TARGET: That INTERCEPTOR SQUAD unit.
EFFECT: Your unit’s melee attacks have [LANCE].
It might not be fancy, but since their melee weapons have the Psychic ability and can ignore any Hit modifiers, there won’t be much you can’t skewer.
[PSYCHIC]
Some weapons can channel the bearer’s psychic might to empower their blows.
Each time an attack is made with a [PSYCHIC] weapon, you can ignore any or all modifiers to that attack’s BS or WS characteristic and any or all modifiers to the hit roll. Attacks made with [PSYCHIC] weapons are known as psychic attacks (this can be important for the triggering of other rules).
As many of the Grey Knights’ detachments focus on a few standout units – the Warpbane Task Force works especially well with Purifier Squads, for example, and the Sanctic Spearhead boosts Vehicles – these new 1 DP detachments are a great way to add an extra angle to your battle plan. Or go all-in on hyper elite Terminators by combining Argent Assault with Hallowed Conclave, and make your Paladins the envy of the Adeptus Astartes.
Tomorrow, we’re having a very cautious look at what might be the polar opposite faction to the radiant, heroic Grey Knights – the villainous Drukhari. Start preparing for your next realspace raid.
* The Great Unclean One still puts the others to shame with its raw durability.
-eck1wgfj1u.jpg)
