Warhammer 40k Grey Knights Faction Focus seems to be one of the most impactful so far, changing the whole feel of the army.
This week’s last Faction Focus on the Warhammer Community site was the showcase of the Grey Knights, a specialist Space Marine faction which is the last resort against the corruption of Chaos. The Daemon-hunter group of Psykers is a highly secretive group, with only the highest ranking individuals of the Imperium of Man knowing about their existence. Luckily, Games Workshop showed us their new rules in the upcoming 10th Edition of Warhammer 40k, and the Ordo Malleus looks like a force to be reckoned with in the next iteration of the world’s most popular tabletop wargame.
Faction Rules of the Warhammer 40k Grey Knights Faction Focus
Gate of Infinity was one of the most iconic psychic powers of the Grey Knights. Sadly, with the removal of the Psychic phase from Warhammer 40k, we have to say goodbye to the teleport spell – but the Knights will still be able to zoom around the battlefield thanks to the new Army Rule, Teleport Assault. This lets either 1, 2 ,3 or 4 (depending on the size of the battle) Grey Knights units enter Strategic Reserves at the end of your opponents turn, then come back at the start of your next Movement phase’s Reinforcement step with the basic Deep Strike rules.
Since almost every unit in the Grey Knights Chapter is getting the Deep Strike Universal Keyword in 10th Edition, Games Workshop revealed the official text for this rule: Deep Strike let’s you put units in Reserves provided every model has the keyword, which then you can bring back later on in one of your Movement phases in the Reinforcements step. This rule retained the 9” horizontally restriction, meaning that you have to put them down 9” from any enemy units, but the vertical restriction seems to be gone.
This ability looks incredibly strong, as it lets the Grey Knights strike from angles which are simply impossible to defend without heavy screening, and screening is not a comfortable position for any opponent.
The Army Rule gets even better with the Detachment Rule of the Teleport Strike Force Detachment, Teleport Shunt. This rule gives auto-Advance 6” to each Grey Knights unit with Deep Strike, also giving them the Fly keyword, which let’s them get through tricky terrain and float to the top of buildings without having to climb the steps, making them even more mobile than before.
Unit Spotlights of the Warhammer 40k Grey Knights Faction Focus
And who better to throw into the backlines of the enemy if not the Purgation Squad, the dedicated heavy weapons unit of the Daemon-hunters. The Purgation Squad datasheet showcases a number of interesting changes to the Grey Knights: the “regular” Space Marines will have a 2+ Save in the next Edition of Warhammer 40k, and the Psilencer received the “AP down, Strength up” treatment of the 10th Edition – while the Psycannon just got an extra S. The Nemesis Melee Weapons will be under the same profile after the release, which will resemble the current Nemesis Halberd profile, considered to be the all-rounder of the Grey Knights melee weapons.
The Purgation Squad also got the new Astral Aim Psychic power, which let’s them shoot at target they don’t see thanks to the Indirect Fire keyword their guns receive, provided another Psyker unit has line of sight of their target, which means that they can get to enemy units that think they are safe.
Of course, one of the most iconic unit of the Grey Knights is the Nemesis Dread Knight, which are especially dangerous if a Grand Master is piloting the giant mechs. The datasheet of the GMNDK shows us that the unit will have increased Toughness, kept it’s ranged and melee options alike, but lost a pip of Ballistic and Weapon Skill all around, meaning that he will hit on 3’s all around except for the Nemesis daemon hammer, which will have a 4+ Weapon Skill. This is a huge nerf, but Games Workshop gave one of the leaders of the Grey Knights something in return.
The new Surge of Wrath Psychic power let’s one Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight reroll the Hit, Wound and Damage rolls in the Fight phase when attacking a Monster or Vehicle, which means that these units should still deal damage relatively easily in melee combat. Their double ranged weapons also dish out a plethora of shots, so while they are not as accurate, GMNDK’s will still be a menace to face – and with the Heroism’s Favour ability, he can use Stratagems at a discounted price, which is always a bonus.
Weapon Spotlight of the Warhammer 40k Grey Knights Faction Focus
Sadly, with the Psychic phase gone, the Grey Knights will have less arcane tools to use on the battlefield – but that does not mean they won’t be extremely flexible. Games Workshop has revealed that every Grey Knight unit will have a different Psychic power, like Astral Aim for the Purgation Squad, and the Weapon Spotlight of the Faction Focus, Purifying Flame for the Purifier Squads.
The Witchfire ability became a ranged weapon with the Ignores Cover and the Anti-Infantry 2+ keywords, which makes it very useful in thinning enemy troops after teleporting behind them. It also has -1 AP, and with 5 to 10 Purifiers casting it on enemies, it can quickly be a problem for your opponent.
Stratagems Showcased in the Warhammer 40k Grey Knights Faction Focus
With the Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight’s Heroism’s Favour ability revealed, it’s no surprise that Games Workshop showed us two very strong and kind of expensive Stratagems for the Grey Knights coming up in the 10th Edition of Warhammer 40k. The first one is called Haloed in Soulfire, which gives an extra layer of defence to the Knights arriving from Deep Strike either from Reserves or the Army Rule. The Stratagem makes it impossible for enemy units to shoot at them outside of 12” until the next Movement phase, so your opponent has to get uncomfortably close to your Dreadknights and other Ordo Malleus units if they want to deal with them – and if they do, they will suffer the wrath of the psykers.
The other Stratagem is called Radiant Strike, which gives some extra oomph to the melee attacks to one Grey Knight Psyker, as it gives the Devastating Wounds keyword to any close quarters weapon they hold – so your Dreadknights can be even more deadly, even though they’ll need more resources.
Overall, the Brotherhood of Psykers changed a lot, but retained most of it’s characteristic. While we have to wait for the full reveal to give proper judgement (tokens?) to the new rules, they look promising – which is bad news for anyone that has anything to do with Chaos. To avoid the corruption, follow ESTNN for the latest new about the next Edition of Warhammer 40k!
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