Grey Knights - building an army list in two halves

You call that a Dreadknight?...

Having finally got my hands on the new Grey Knights codex I have been thinking about how to construct a 1750 point army.  Having played and thought about little else but Guard for a very long time, it has been interesting thinking about how to play GK's, as the two are just about as fundamentally different as it gets. So, being fed up of the same boring lists being repeated across the interwebz I got to thinking about how they might be done a little differently.  Being a firm believer in learning from the past, I thought about a time when guard could do something different. 



Back in 3rd and 4th editions I ran an extremely successful drop troop guard list.  It comprised literally of two halves.  The first half started on the table.  It included a mixture of very hard to shift troops (infantry with lascannons and cameleoline (stealth)) and hard hitting units that could not be ignored (Basilisks, they were good then, I promise).  These units did enough damage and were hard enough to kill that by the time the other half of my force arrived, the enemy was usually damaged and/or strung out in an attempt to reach my lines.  The second half was veteran squads, command squads, and infantry squads with a crazy number of melta and plasma guns.  They would drop in, kill a unit far more valuable than themselves, cause major disruption, and then even if they died to a counter attack they had fulfilled their purpose.  This army was so successful that only Ven and two others managed to beat it at all.

Now I don't claim it was a perfect list by any stretch, because it really wasn't. If I played it today, it would get destroyed in short order.  However, I believe the concept of an army in two halves is a sound one, with a single caveat.  You must have reliable reserve manipulation. 

In my opinion there are two armies which have the potential to run a list in this manner.  The first is the Blood Angels, which I will be testing later this week, and the second is the new Grey Knights. 

So lets go through the first half of the army then, the one that will start on the table (or roll on turn one, damn DoW).  We need to have units which are both hard hitting and durable, and we need reserve manipulation.

The later is easy.

Ordo Xenos Inquisitor - Psyker with Psychic Communion, combi-melta, power armour, two servo skulls, rad grenades - 94 points.

If we take two of these, we have a pretty reliable chance of all our reserves coming in on turn two, or if we don't want them then, we can stop them as well.  awesome.

Now we need some durable and hard hitting unit to stay on objectives or move into midfield to support our reserves when they arrive.

I decided on two units of purifiers (Crowe can go shoot himself in the face, I'll take them as elites) and one large Strike Squad.

5 Purifiers - 2 psycannons, hammer, 2 halberds, psyback - 199 points
5 Purifiers - 2 psycannons, hammer, 2 halberds, psyback - 199 points


10 Grey Knights - 2 psycannons, psychic ammo, rhino - 280 points

Now the two inquisitors can go with the Purifiers, lending their rad grenades and slightly dubious melta to the mix.  These units will not wound almost anything on a 2+, and even big monsters on a 4+. 

In addition to this, we cant really fail to take the best units in the dex can we.

2 Rifleman Dreads with Psychic Ammo - 135 points each.

This gives us a pretty nice base of 22 marines and 5 vehicles.


Now for the second half.  Deep striking in on turn two with the help of a few servo skulls.

Since these units wont be able to charge we need them to be able to do some damage, and to survive some shooting and/or assaults. I decided on:

5 Grey Knight Terminators - 1 Psycannon, 1 hammer, 3 force swords - 225
5 Grey Knight Terminators - 1 Psycannon, 1 hammer, 3 force swords - 225
Dreadknight - Heavy Incinerator -  160 points

10 terminators and another massive scary terminator on top of the above, and right in your face, has got to be at least a little bit of a problem for most armies right? right...?

So to recap, here is the full list:

Ordo Xenos Inquisitor - Psychic Communion, combi-melta, power armour, two servo skulls, rad grenades - 94 points.
Ordo Xenos Inquisitor - Psychic Communion, combi-melta, power armour, two servo skulls, rad grenades - 94 points.
5 Purifiers - 2 psycannons, hammer, 2 halberds, psyback - 199 points
5 Purifiers - 2 psycannons, hammer, 2 halberds, psyback - 199 points
10 Grey Knights - 2 psycannons, psychic ammo, rhino - 280 points
5 Grey Knight Terminators - 1 Psycannon, 1 hammer, 3 force swords - 225
5 Grey Knight Terminators - 1 Psycannon, 1 hammer, 3 force swords - 225
Dreadknight - Heavy Incinerator -  160 points
Rifleman Dread with Psychic Ammo - 135 points 
Rifleman Dread with Psychic Ammo - 135 points 

Total 1746 points

There are of course, options.  for example, with a little tweaking, for the price of the termies i can get a full squad of PAGK's, which are a very shooty.  I am also aware of a condition known as 'Dreadknight hate' but since i built the damn thing, i want to use it!

Now comes the part where i ask you guys to rip this idea apart.  I implore you to tell me the glaring stupid shit I have missed, and explain very slowly and carefully why this entire concept is never going to work. 

--Atreides out--