Planeswalker25 wrote:
This is my first post on the forums and I just want to point out some observations I've made during my games with Grey Knights 2.1. Firstly big thanks for everyone who has put work into the list! I'm pretty new to Epic Armageddon but I hope to be able to get the Grey Knights approved. So a couple of my opponents asked me to try and clarify how Teleport Homers are intended to work. They were concerned it seemed a little too powerful, being able to teleport in formations after the strategy phase and in the middle of the turn with rerolls for blast markers. I've been using two formations of Terminators, bringing in my Strike Cruiser turn one, winning the strategy roll, then proceeding to obliterate my opponent's BTS formation with the teleport homering termies in my first two activations. Is this working as intended? I think GK pay an extra 25 points for a formation of terminators compared to codex astartes, is that to take into account teleport homers?
Welcome to the part PW! Don't apologize for a long post, glad there's some interest in the list.
Teleport Homer is a better version of teleport. To compensate for the smaller formations in the list and draw on the GK's fluff combat tactics of inserting directly to combat, we've played around with giving them an upgraded teleport option. The 25 pt increase over the base list is to capture the cost of the character being included.
It could be me reading this wrong, but my impression is that you're taking three activations at the start of the turn: 1 - strike cruiser; 2 - first termie formation; 3 - second termie formation. If that's the case, that could be part of the reason you're opponent's are overwhelmed. If I read that wrong, I apologize! A strike cruiser and two formations of terminators performing a combined assault into a BTS will kill a lot, but it's also worth considering that's a third of your army that just activated. Like Norto added, scout screens, overwatch, and even intentionally intermingling formations can offer strong defensive tactics against that drop that needs to come in on the declared turn.
Planeswalker25 wrote:
Another comment my opponents made is that the Strike Squad formation is under costed. You're paying 300 points for marines with FF 3+, Invulnerable Save, and a built in Brother-Captain. Compare this to Tactical marines who cost 275 points, FF 4+, no invuln, and have to pay 50 points to add a character. Mind our Brother-Captain doesn't have a Macro Weapon attack, but still.
The built in characters were part of the "theme" of the list to try and capture the feel of elite cadres fighting together, even by marine standards. Part of that came with trying to balance points to keep the formations viable. Part of the trade off here is the shorting shorting range of the strike marines. The shorter range is prevalent throughout the army. The strike squads are also a required core formation for the list, where tactical marines are an optional take.
Planeswalker25 wrote:
Also I hope we can add a Chaplain character upgrade to Grey Knights! They are my favourite unit from 40k, and though the GK Librarian provides Inspiring you could have a Chaplain as a cheaper 25 point character (to take into account the Power Weapon macro weapon attack). Or make them a free alternative to a Brother-Captain.
We're not going to have the chaplain as a separate character. That was played around with a few versions ago, but to try and give the GK list its own distinct play style and feel, I ultimately made the choice to combine the characters. The additional 25pts for Inspiring was almost too easy of an upgrade. The current increase of 50pts for the character upgrade makes it a much more conscious decision and has larger list building impacts.
I'd be curious to see what list you've been using and what lists you've been playing against! That always helps to put concerns or questions into context and helps to see if a list is wildly over or underperforming. I'm happy to consider all of it. I know I've certainly seen lists or units on paper that looked one way, but then in practice ended up being more manageable. From our playtests against Necrons, Guard, Knights, Eldar, and Astartes, I've found them to be a force that hits hard with an alpha strike, but has trouble sticking around because of their small expensive infantry formations. I'd probably grade them slightly below average since they're a bit of a win big/lose big army that at the moment leans toward being a one trick pony.
I'm working up some additions for next year that I'm planning on rolling out in January to allow selection from two more Inquisition guard units: Leman Russ platoons and Hellhound platoons. I'm hoping that'll help capture the feel that the GKs were usually supporting mere mortals on the field of battle and at the same time, open up new viable list options and increase unit variety.
