Codex Grey Knights: Review

 

A second codex has been released this month much to my surprise, and its Grey knights. While i haven’t played grey knights in quite a while i though it could be interesting to read and review for you guys. Click to read more.

The New recruits

Yer... about that... the grey knights don’t get any new units this edition, it’s just the same units from 5^th edition with a few taken out. So for once a codex has gotten smaller which is a bit odd.

While we don’t have any new models the grey knights do gain warlord traits (at the loss of grand strategy) and relics of titan. The warlord traits are actually rather useful in the most part, unlike some of the other codex specific traits. They mainly give the warlord and his unit a special rule such as counter attack, Hammer of wrath or stubborn. He also has access to an ability to deep strike turn 1 with a re-roll to scatter. Over all with the traits i’m quite impressed.

The relics of titan are a little less impressive, none of them really stand out and quite honestly you don’t really need them bar the nemesis banner which can only be taken by paladins. A very interesting banner.

A new detachment is also presented in the book, the Nemesis strike force. This gives the units that deep strike the ability to arrive from turn 1, and they can both run and shoot in the turn they come in from reserve. If you build your force around this idea it could be a very useful tool. The minimum units for the detachment are 1 Hq and 1 Troops choice. The rest allows an extra 3 troops, 4 (yes 4!) elites, 2 fast and 2 heavy and low and fortification. The formation in the book is pretty much the same but the army can manifest warp charge on a 3+ which might be useful.     

Absent friends

As i just said a few units have been removed from the codex, principally the inquisition units. This has made the codex purely grey knights, which i can understand as all of the inquisition units were given their own codex quite a while back. I can live with that as the grey knights should never have been given the option of being lead by an inquisitor from the ordo xenos! If they had kept in an ordo malleus inquisitor in the codex is could have been acceptable, if not just for a throw back to 3^rd edition but its no real issue. This also means that all of the special character inquisitors have been removed as well.

Speaking of special characters being removed, Grand Master Mordrak has bitten the dust, he had no model and the rules where original so obviously he had to go. God forbid they make a model for him, which could have also made a generic grand master... but what ever.  I expected the Brotherhood Champion to get dropped from the list as it had no official model but it was kept, what a surprise.

Changes in Wargear

A few bits of wargear have changed with his codex which i think might actually be for the better. A few items have been dropped as well, which i will go over first.

The following items i have noticed been removed from the codex, Rad grenades, psybolt ammunition and nemesis doom fists. Rad grenades used to reduce toughness by 1 when they got charged by a unit with them, this was a very complex and awkward item which quite rightly has been removed. While it was very interesting and great, it was a little too powerful, especially with a few of the changes made to the rules, allowing a grey knight to instantly kill a fellow marine with out the need for force, just hammer hand which isn’t quite right to me. Nemesis Doom fists where just stupid, a power fist with force? I have always hated the idea and i am glad they have been removed. By the same theory any grey knight should just be able to force with their finger tips... i’m glad it’s gone and has been replaced by the regular power fist.

While i’m on the topic of Nemesis weapons, a few changes have been made to all of the nemesis weapons. First of all they ALL now have a special rule called Daemonbane. Now this rule is an extension of force, if force goes off it allows the user to re-roll failed to wound rolls versus daemons. Its not exactly game breaking but it’s a good little rule which i feel is character full. However grey knights don’t exactly have an issue with daemons so the rule wasn’t exactly needed. Nemesis force swords no longer give extra invulnerable save to its wielder reducing it to the same standard as every one else. Force Halberds have changed to no longer give +2 initiative, instead now they are two handed and give +1 strength. The warding stave no longer gives a 2+ invulnerable save, it gives +2 strength and adamantium will. The rest of the weapons are the same.

Some ranged weapons have had a few little changes as well, psycannons are now salvo weapons and strength 7 giving them a little more potency provided they stay still. The biggest ranged weapon change is the Psilencer, which has lost its ability to easily wound daemons but has gained force. Yes, its the first ranged weapon to gain force!!! Its only strength 4 with out an ap value, so it wont be very different against regular infantry but against multiple wound models it makes this gun a very tempting thing to buy. Its not going to be competitive, but a very interesting choice.

Psyk-out grenades are in need of a mention, as they are the same in the assault but now you can throw them. They are only a strength 2 blast but if they hit a psyker or unit with brother hood of, one model must take perils of the warp so it can potentially kill them off quite easily.

Conclusion

Over all, the codex is very much the same as it used to be with less options. Comparing the prices of the units they are still much the same with only the terminators getting any real price drop, the others stay the same and some have even gone up in cost by a little. I haven’t made a list yet using the codex, but it would be interesting to see how much a list would change as now some of the weapons that were free last codex cost a few points, which while not much, could still make a large difference over the army.

I do like the codex, don’t get me wrong, and its very character full and will probably murder a daemon force if they cross paths. But it just feels like the 5^th edition codex and the FAQ rolled into one, and we have to pay £30 for the privilege. Maybe if i was a big grey knights fan i would notice something else, but as it stands it’s an ok codex but nothing to shout about right now. If you liked the 5^th edition codex, you should like this one.

Let me know what you though of the review.