Limits are Good -

I recently came to the conclusion that a big part of my problem with the Grey Knights may be that I have too many. My options have always been open and flexible, with many different possible combinations of Grey Knights units available.

I believe that this has led to me searching for a perfect combination of units, rather than focusing on the mastery of what units I have at my disposal. A list doesn't work out for me, so I change it immediately, trying to fill in weak spots. This unerringly leads to old weak spots being strengthened and new ones opening up as points are shifted to other parts of the army.

Having reached this points, I resolved to reduce my army's size by three units: a squad of 10 Grey Knights in power armour, 5 Grey Knights Terminators, and a Land Raider.

The Knights and Termies have already found a new home in the army of my esteemed regular opponent over at the Ulthwe Eldar blog. The Land Raider is currently on ebay awaiting a bidder.

As I move ahead with the Grey Knights, I hope that this newly reduced total force will make me look at what I have available to me and to maximize and master the use of what I have rather than trying to get what I think I need out of entirely new lists each game.

The Emperor Protects,

D.G.

On Terrain -

With the tournament over and my war wounds on the mend, I thought this is a good opportunity to chat a bit about terrain and its overall affect on a game of Warhammer 40k.

The official tournament results have not yet been posted. When they are, I will link to them and discuss the tournament itself, but let it be known for now that I went 1-3 in the four rounds. My only win was of course, against Chaos. For the Emperor!

Ahem, back to terrain. Let me explain the terrain at the tournament first, as it is what primarily gave rise to this discussion. The tables were all set up with a river running through the middle, length-wise, which was "Stones River." It was judged that the river gave a 5+ cover save to any unit inside it, but could be seen through for shooting just like any other river. The rest of the boards were given four (perhaps a few had a very small fifth piece) terrain pieces of about 10-12 inches in length (buildings, rocks, trees). Most of these pieces were in deployment zones, leaving the battlefield largely open between the two deployment zones.

Now, anyone with at least a little experience in 40k will see here the problem. Shooty armies had a wonderful go at this style of board, for they could see the enemy coming and prioritize targets, shooting up what they wanted at their leisure. That's all fine if there are two shooting armies on the table across from one another, but what if one of the armies was an army that likes to get close, assault even?

Mine is one such army. Now I know that many other experienced Grey Knights players will tell me that I shouldn't have tried to get into assault with the enemy, control fire lanes, deny victory points. But that was exactly the problem! There were no "fire lanes" or VP denial opportunities (unless I parked my army at the back of my deployment zone, didn't move turn after turn, and was content to let my opponent get mad at me and give me a low sportsmanship score!). The tables at this tournament were built to favor the extremely shooty armies at the event. As a result, assault-themed armies did not perform well at all, and my own army (a hybrid that favors the above mentioned tactics) found itself more in the boat of the assault armies than of the shooty armies.

I think that this tournament needs to be used as an example that "killing field" tables should not be the norm at tournments, as it is my fear that they are.

More on the tournament itself as the results are posted on the official website.


For the Emperor,

D.G.

A Final BFSR List -

This is, I believe, my final list for the Battle for Stones River tournament on Feb. 23rd. My esteemed Eldar opponent and I have played a handful of games at the 1863 points level, and I am confident that this list will perform at least enough for me to not lose every game. Anyway, I know that there are some GK players who read this, so please comment on the list. It has so far seen good performance against the Eldar, but I know that larger horde armies might be a bit more of a problem.


BFSR Stern List - 1860 Points (out of 1863 possible)

Brother-Captain Stern
-4 Grey Knights Terminators

Brother-Captain Caspian
-Psycannon
-4 Grey Knights Terminators
--Psycannon

Squad Detlin
-Justicar Detlin
--Teleport Homer
-7 Grey Knights

Squad Gormann
-Justicar Gormann
--Teleport Homer
-7 Grey Knights

Squad Auran (Fast Attack)
-Justicar Auran
--Auspex
-7 Grey Knights
--2 Psycannons

Grey Knights Land Raider Valiant
-Smoke
-Extra Armour

Grey Knights Land Raider Paladin
-Smoke
-Extra Armour


Got them all silver so far, thanks to my spray painting experiment, so the next week will be all painful detail work. I can feel my hands hurting now...


The Emperor Protects,

D.G.

Grey Knights and Warhammer 40k Apocalypse

I am getting a little more excited about my Grey Knights in Apocalypse games, as it will give me the opportunity to field an amazing amount of guys.

I can field all my Land Raiders, my Dreadnoughts, and I've even been told that my Orbital Strike gets the 0-1 restriction removed.

So the Grey Knights will have plently of armour, tanks, and just general big dakka to start blowing things up. And we can also do Assination Squads (or something like that).

I can't wait to get the Apocalypse book!

The Emperor protects,

D.G.

Grandmaster Emrys' First Battle - A Battle Blog Report

As Chris' Ulthwe Eldar army has been growing, I have been scaling my Grey Knights army to fit his maximum points value, approaching the 2,000 point mark. This past weekend we had a battle at 1,900 points. As Chris is just two models away from his full army, I thought that the points level would be a good place to promote my Brother-Captain to a Grandmaster of the Grey Knights. A couple of weeks ago we decided that this series of battle we've been having is actually part of a running narrative, in which the Grey Knights under the command of Brother-Captain Emrys and the Ulthwe Eldar under the command of Farseer Calran Ulthroon would have a running series of escalating battles in the pursuit of Chaos artifacts that would culminate in the final battles (at 2,000 points). By the time of the final battles, Emrys is promoted to a Grandmaster and Calran Ulthroon has called upon Lord Ulthran himself, Eldrad Ulthran, to aid in the fight.

Well this weekend was Grandmaster Emrys' first appearance, and he performed very admirably.

The mission was Omega level Take & Hold. We set up an objective marker in the middle of the board and proceeded to separate our armies according to the tenets of the mission.

I was able to deploy my entire force with the exception of my three Dreadnoughts, and my opponent had to keep his two Wraithlords and Vyper Squadron in reserve.

I deployed my army in two groups:

Group One - Squad Emrys (5 TAGK), Squad Auran (8 PAGK), and Squad Dalan (6 PAGK)

Group Two - Squad Detlin, Squad Sirim, Squad Gormann (8 PAGK each)

Group One deployed to the right of my deployment zone, with Auran and Dalan in the trees and Emrys out in the open, defiantly daring the Xenos scum to bring battle to him.

Group Two deployed to the left of the deployment zone, using the building in that table quarter for cover from the Eldar.

Turn One:

I won first turn and started to move my groups into position. Auran and Dalan moved into a firing position in the woods, Emrys moved into an open area towards the center, between the woods and a building. Squads Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann used the cover of a building to advance on the far side of the table. I opened up on the Eldar Pathfinders in their forward position, reducing their number to three. Unfortunately, the resilient Xenos snipers decided to stick around and cause trouble.

In my opponent's round, he moved up the Warlock unit to support the lone Pathfinder and used his Warp Spiders to secure the objective. Opening up fire on squad Emrys, one brave Terminator fell to the concentrated firepower. Three more Grey Knights died, coming out of squads Gormann and Sirim.

Turns Two - Six, the Short Version:

All three of my Dreadnoughts arrived on Turn 2 and shot up the Pathfinders, their Asssault Cannons were in range of nothing else. One Pathfinder remained, though he ran. The Farseers bunkered down in a building near the objective with the support of the Warp Spiders. Emrys then led a daring assault against the entrenched Warlocks, assaulting into thier cover and slaughtering the Xenos to a man. Auran and Dalan continued cover fire, while on the other side of the board, Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann had taken care of the Dark Reapers (whose Exarch had felled a Dreadnought). They now faced both Wraithlords and a supporting lone Farseer.

The remaining rounds saw the destruction of the Swooping Hawks, the Warp Spiders,a Wraithlord who fell to the Assault Cannon of the remaining Dreadnought, Squad Auran (compliments of the arriving Vypers), and another Dreadnought.

The game ended in a daring gambit by Emrys, as squads Detlin, Sirim, and Gormann broke cover (under the guns of the remaining Wraithlord) to add their weight to the secured objective. In the final round, Emrys felled the two Vypers with Psycannon fire, Detlin and Sirim took out the Wraithlord in combat as Gormann added his weight to the secured objective.

In the end, the Grey Knights losses totaled 2 Dreadnoughts, Squad Auran, and half of squads Detlin and Sirim.

The Eldar losses were heavy, with only the lone Farseer and the Guardians remaining.

The Result: Total Victory for the Order Malleus!!

It was a rousing battle, and the tactics session afterwards was good on both sides. I think Chris is learning what not to do against the Grey Knights, and I look forward to the day when he hands me a bitter defeat.

Until that day, though, may the Emperor protect us all.

D.G.

Deathwatch Marines

As my esteemed Ulthwe Eldar opponent (see links section for his blog) gain skill and luck, I have begun searching for ways to surprise him, and I believe that I have found one way.

This is my Deathwatch Kill Team, assembled from a previous DWKT that I had a few years ago. I replaced many of the bitz, making them a little more dynamic, and I plan to re-paint them to a bit better scheme and standard. I completely replaced the Captain with a Space Marines Veteran model with Power Sword and Storm Bolter. He will make a fine Deathwatch Captain. If you study the pictures, you can also see a Black Templar, a marine from the Space Wolves, and a marine from the White Scars. The other marines I am painting much as I already have, with no particular Chapter colors.

I am also considering this team as alternative to a squad of Grey Knights within my Daemonhunters army. They would make a nice alternative in some situations, and as my dealings with the Eldar become more frequent, it would make sense to include them and develop an running story line with the Kill Team vs. the Eldar.


The list for the Deathwatch Kill Team is below:

Deathwatch Kill Team

- Deathwatch Captain (Imperial Fists)
--Power Weapon
--Storm Bolter
--Frag Grenades
--Melta Bombs
--Iron Halo

-Deathwatch Veteran (Blood Angels)
--Lightning Claws

-8x Deathwatch Space Marines (1 White Scars, 1 Space Wolves, 1 Black Templars, 5 Codex)
--2x Heavy Bolters
--6x Metal Storm Ammo

Total: 385 Points


The Emperor protects,

D.G.

Prelude to a Battle Report

The Mission: Gamma Level Cleanse
The Opponent: Eldar
Points Level: 1,650

I am still awaiting the pictures that we took of our armies. We didn't take turn-by-turn pictures, but we did take a few.

Anyway, I say that the game can be won or lost in deployment, as Chris found out last night. Against an army with Shrouding and playing a mission with table quarters, don't give me a chance to lurk more then 30" away from the Dark Reapers for the whole game, effectively taking them out of the game. They were the anchor for a table quarter, but didn't even get to shoot ay anyone.

I'll expound on tactics later, but I'll post my 1,650 points list, with his list to follow in the actual battle report.

Grey Knights at 1,650 Points:

-HQ-

Brother-Captain
-Psycannon
-Psychic Hood
-4x Terminator retinue
--Psycannon

-TROOPS-

2x 10 Grey Knights

-FAST ATTACK-

10 Grey Knights
-2x Psycannon

10 Grey Knights

-HEAVY SUPPORT-

Dreadnought
-ML, TLLC, EA


The Emperor protects,

D.G.

Back to the Knights in Grey!

I'm trying to continue with the tactica article involving Grey Knights and the uses of their Special Weapons.

Some GK players prefer to limit the uses of the Special Weapons to certain enemies: Eldar, Orks, Tyranids, TAU, Imperial Guard. Yeah, mostly Xenos opponents tend to draw the attention of the Psycannon and the Incinerator. The Special Weapons certainly have more effective stats against non-power armoured enemies, but I contend that there are many uses for these weapons against power armoured opponents as well. These enemies include: Necrons, Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, and Witch Hunters (Sisters of Battle). Special Weapons are useful for the Grey Knights in these situations as well, but perhaps in a muted manner.

Now, many players will tend to make army lists based on the armies that they are likely to fight in a closed-circuit gaming group, a regular club, or even regular (meaning 1 v 1) opponent situations. This works for most situations, as these are friendly games and usually meant for the enjoyment of all involved.

However, there are are many players out there, and I count these in the majority, who do not have the time, want, need, money, or are otherwise uninclined, to create an army full of options, extra models, and units that aren't always used. This is especially true if the army is a secondary or tertiary force. So, it is very important for this to be taken into account when considering force organization.

In the next segment I will take these thoughts into the army list itself, talking about a stagnant army should employ at least a few Special Weapons in order to plan for as many eventualities as possible.

The Emperor Protects,

D.G.

White Scars Librarian

This Librarian is a leftover from my previous run with Space Marines. After the present Codex:Space Marines came out in 2004, my original White Scars were ruined, and I got rid of them in disgust. (Don't worry, I didn't throw them away or anything. Ebay helped me find good homes for the models.) But his guy stuck around. Fortunately, I never painted him, so he'll be looking good when I get around to him. Just this morning I replaced his original arm with another that, I think, makes him look like he's standing there, summoning his psychic powers for an

attack. He has a holster on his left hip, which represents his Plasma Pistol (or Bolt Pistol, points depending) and I put a White Scars biker shield over the holster, about knee-level to represent his Combat Shield. I don't know exactly where he would fit in the army list I have, but if nothing else he's going to look good when finished.

D.G.

3 Bad Dudes

Ok, these are my three Grey Knights Dreadnoughts. You can see the Forge World Mark IV and the one on the left are pretty much done, and the one on the right still needs painting. The Forge World Dread is fixed with his weapons, as the resin is expensive and not very changeable, so he is fixed with his Assault Cannon and Storm Bolter.

But the other two are plastic and much more swappable as the weapons are concerned. I have modified their close combat weapons to include Incinerators instead of Storm Bolters, just to fit with the theme. But most often these will be fielded in anti-armour mode, either with Twin-linked Lascannons and Missile Launchers or Assault Cannons and Missile Launchers (The latter provides for some anti-infantry suppression as well).

That's about all for today, I think. My adventures out in the real world, including saying hello to an officer of the law and learning that no one at Kroger knows how to operate a fax machine, have once again kept me from being able to take pictures of my entire Grey Knights army. oh well, there's always tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, my first group of White Scars should be arriving! Stay tuned for further developments and my return to my first Chapter of Space Marines!

D.G.

On the Other Hand...

I do see the point in the argument that going basic can be awesome for the Grey Knights. As I continue to blog, this list may make some battle reports of its own. Let's see if my honourable Eldar opponent can handle this one.

HQ

Grand Master
- Psycannon
9x Terminator Retinue
- Psycannon

TROOPS

5x 8 Grey Knights

HEAVY SUPPORT

Dreadnought
-TLLC
-ML
-EA

Dreadnought
-AC
-DCCW/Storm Bolter
-EA

Total:1999 Points


D.G.

Grey Knights and Special Weapons

Ok, so no pictures today due to an amazingly busy day with real estate. I might have a house on the horizon. I might not. Anyway...

I am currently trying to write a tactica article for the Bolter & Chainsword. I've asked for help from the community there, but no bites yet. My topic is a fairly difficult one. I am to write on the proper uses of Special Weapons in squads of Power Armoured Grey Knights (PAGK, for short). I believe that they have a very good place within the squads and advocate thier use. I'm not saying that every squad needs to be laided with Special Weapons, but only that they have their uses.

Tenets established in my Tactica so far:

- The Psycannon and the Incinerator add value to the squad when used properly. Of course the Psycannon isn't going to be as useful if the guy who puts it in a squad insists that he has to move and shoot his storm bolters every single turn. There are turns when a well-placed stationary Psycannon can make a difference. It can provide just the punch that is needed to shoot down a specially troublesome enemy, or provide extra punch with the storm bolter brothers. Incinerators are, in my opinion, invaluable to a well-placed Teleport Attack Squad. I prefer to use Teleport Homers to bring them in, but I like 2 Incinerators for these squads. Usually they will be firing on units that have some cover. Heh heh. Not anymore!

- They are expensive, but they are worth it.

I haven't exactly strengthened this part of the argument yet, but I will be developing this, along with some examples of properly placed/sized/and used units with Special Weapons.

Well, that's about it for today. Yeah, I've had a really busy day.

The Emperor protects.

D.G.

Model Detail

One of the first things I want to do is provide what I am working with. This is the list of all the Daemonhunters models that I am planning on painting and including in my army, separated by slot in the Force Organization Chart.

I am going to list the models as the models that they are, and what their WYSIWYG gear, but I'm not making an army list or adding wargear or doing a total points cost, even though the entire army comes to around 4.5k points. For now my focus is on the models themselves and the hobby side of 40k

-HQ-

Inquisitor Lord w/ Terminator Armour, Incinerator, and Daemonhammer
- 2x Acolytes
- 3x Combat Servitors
- 1x Familiar
- 2x Hierophant

Grandmaster Emrys w/Psycannon (He's the guy in the pics below in the very first post.)
- 4x Terminators w/1x Psycannon

-Elites-

Inquisitor w/Power Axe and Plasma Pistol

2x of this Unit:
Brother-Captain w/Psycannon
- 4xTerminators w/1x Psycannon

Brother-Captain (It's Stern, so he could be used as the HQ Special Character, too.)
- 4x Terminators

- Troops and Fast Attack -

5x Justicar

6x PAGK w/ Psycannon

4x PAGK w/ Incinerator

35x PAGK

- Heavy Support -

2x Dreadnought with swappable weapons.

1x Forge World Mark IV Dreadnought with Assault Cannon, Storm Bolter, and Power Fist

1x Land Raider

1x Land Raider Crusader

So, that's it. It's a lot of models, but I'm committed to getting them all done. Tomorrow or the next day I'm going to take pictures of the models as they are now, making that point my "official" re-start of the project, as I've had the army for three years and haven't finished them yet.

It's time, isn't it?

D.G.

Another Blog to Check Out

My friend and regular opponent is also setting up a blog to chronicle his own journey through Warhammer 40k. The link is below and also in my Links section. We will post battle reports of our games from our own perspective, so that should be pretty exciting for the future.

Ulthwe Eldar Blog

D.G.

Statement of Purpose

Every venture should start with a statement of purpose. Mine is very simple.

I am going to begin a chronicle of my experiences playing the tabletop war game Warhammer 40,000 (Warhammer 40k, or just 40k for short.).

This is a rich and diverse game and hobby, full of a rich storyline, models that will take your breath away, and my painting skills, which will just make you choke in most cases. There are modeling tips, painting advice, in-game tactics, and everything in between that could be covered by this blog. I will, in time, cover all of what I know and continue to learn about all aspect of the hobby.
My scope is not just limited to my armies, either. I will post on other topics, other armies, 40k in General (as the title suggests), rumors I hear, and stuff I like or don't like about the hobby.
Thanks in advance for all who are to become my faithful readers and who are or will become my fellow hobbyists!

My Army –

My current army is the Daemonhunters. More specifically, I have an all Grey Knights army. This is heralded as one of the most difficult armies to play, and I have loved every minute proving that I can and will succeed with this challenging and difficult army.

I am trying to finish up the painting for this army, and I will post pictures as I make progress. Most of the modeling for it is done, but I still have a Land Raider Crusader to finish for it.

So, here are some pics (not the best camera) of my Grey Knights Grandmaster. I have some touch-up work to do (which is why I took the pictures), but you can see a first look at what he will be when he's done.

D.G.