Beatin' A Dead Horse - GK's

So we all know about this supposedly good book called the Grey Knight Codex. As such,  there is not too much to be said on the armies or units at this stage of the game, so my column on the GK's will be more reserved to results, observations and the hobby side of things. Today I will actually cover a little bit from all three!

Today I will be starting off with my current GK list, as much to give an idea of what I'll be work with and on in the coming weeks. Then I will move on to initial thoughts about the mirror match, and ending with the first pictures of the WIP of the GK's.
 



THE BEATING A DEAD HORSE PART

So we need the obligatory list don't we? Well, here's a little exercise, guess 6 units out of a possible 13 that make up my army (including HQ).

 I bet most will reasonably guess at least half the army, with a good shout at getting the wargear. It's not to say that GK's are mono-build, arguably its far from that, but the most popular archetype within the book, based around Coteaz (you guessed that bit right?) lends itself to certain units that happen to very good (and this is very much overly documented (both here at SONS and on other blogs). Either which way, this is my current list:

CoteazWing

Coteaz

5x Purifiers (2x PsyC 2xHalb 1xDH) - Rhino (SL)
5x Purifiers (2x PsyC 2xHalb 1xDH) - Rhino (SL)
5x Purifiers (2x PsyC 2xHalb 1xDH) - Rhino (SL)

5x GKSS (1xPsyC) - Rhino (SL)
5x GKSS (1xPsyC) - Rhino
5x DCA - Psyback
5x DCA - Psyback
3x Aco - Psyback
3x Aco - Psyback

Psyfleman Dreadnought
Psyfleman Dreadnought
Psyfleman Dreadnought

So no major surprises here. The standard Elites + Heavies that we see in 90%+ of the Coteaz lists are present, and in all my testing games they do most of the heavy lifting.

The focus really is on my troops. I severely dislike Acolytes as a unit in themselves, while being a cheap scorer, they don't really do much else, well actually they do nothing and as such I've never been a fan of the lists that rely on them for the scoring as a method to get the "good stuff" lists. Psybacks can be underwhelming at times, and while 62 points for a scorer is nice, when its literally just a heavy bolter on wheels, its not exactly the be all and end all of investments.

GKSS provide an element of solidity to the core. Their versatility of being able to push objectives solo and have some form of resiliency and duality (while they aren't combat beats, due to the power weapons they aren't atrocious), or they can be a nice little threat bubble on a rear objective. Having played a few games with them sat up in a razorback, I found myself often wanting them to just shoot their psycannon instead, or if they take a couple of casualties be sat in a rhino top hatching. On par, I'd probably say a psycannon is better than a psyback anyway.

The final duo to the troops is the DCA. I absolutely love this unit. They are a big feature in my Sisters army, but in the GK list they operate very differently. The Sisters are an army (or at least my list) that wants to get to 12" or less, and the DCA are a big element in the clean up crew and pretty much make it so that its not a suicide mission. GK's are at their comfort around 18/24" with their cannons pounding into you. The DCA offer a cheap (75 points is pretty darn cheap) scorer, with a nice threat bubble that acts as a counter attack unit much like thunder wolves in the Space Wolves book. There are times where they will be key and I'll throw them forward, other times I use them to jockey position with a deathstar (which they are very good insurance against. Its a unit, that I feel are both really well positioned and just an excellent choice.

That's that. The only other list I want to try right now (other than a Land Raider + bigger DCA unit) is a more turtled approach with a shrouding Librarian. 


THE MIRROR MATCH PART

Like I say above, there really aren't many stones left unturned when it comes to Grey Knights, with the exception of the odd "off the wall" build.

However, one thing that does strike me, and it will be a feature that keeps appearing in my future articles, is the concept of the mirror match. Given my intentions of Grey Knights to be my primary tournament army this year (with Sisters hopefully for things like future Blog Wars), I expect to be playing a hell of a lot of mirror matches. While I don't have much practice right now, fortunately, Atreides is slowly working on his own GK army (his Desert Eagles!) so I am sure we will get in plenty of practice.

In my experience, namely from other games (but not discounting 40K), mirror matches are arguably the most skill intensive matches you can play. Both opponents have the same tools coming into the game and are looking, on the most part (if we assume some form of skill parity) to exert the same game plan.

We have a lot of factors to consider with a mirror match, rand while some players often look upon mirrors as boring, I do seek and find joy in "getting one over" the mirror. It will be something I certainly will be coming back to a lot in the coming weeks / months.

Though right now there are various "version's" of the mirror;

• Similar list vs Similar list (E.G Coteazwing vs Coteazwing)
• Book vs Book (E.G Blood Angel DOA vs Blood Angel Razorspam, Draigowing vs Coteaz) 

We know when facing GK's we are most likely to face Coteaz, however, Draigo is fairly popular (and has plenty of variant builds) as is "pure" GK (no special char / unlocks, mass GKSS OR mass Terminators, or a mix), so the various breeds of mirror will be on my mind.

How about everyone else, how do you prepare for your mirror, or how well prepared do you feel? Especially those that do run the less common archetypes?

THE WIP PART

Primer: Despite the comment in my last post about GK's, I've been collecting these bitches for years. I've had a soft spot for GK's and the models since Rogue Trader days (while I was young, I still some how managed to acquire models back then, still have them to this day). My first real GK army was around the beginning of 3rd Edition, well before they got their own book, count as before it was cool. Then I took a break before the new line (I.E the second incarnation), upon returning, a full decade later, I was instantly drawn in. However, GK's sucked in 5th Edition, I mean full on unplayable, it didn't stop me from having an army, but I moved on (Blood Angels, my Second Edition love, and Deathwing, who funnily enough shared a book with the BA's back then!). The new book and model update came out and I of course updated my range. 

However, now, having done three different GK armies, I want to do something fresh. I love the book, probably more so than the newer models (I still just love the Rogue Trader versions more than anything), so I looked for something new. Ideally a concept that would mix well with my Sisters of Battle. The idea of Adeptus Custodes popped up, and it instantly appealed to me, they both work fluff wise with Sisters of Battle and I loved the paint range for them. 


And as such, the project was born;

This is the first kit bash Adeptus Custodes mode. Now I am aware its not "true" to the full on fluff. They are meant to be bigger than marines, and have more ornate armour. However, some things have to give, and time was one of them as well as model availability (I have so many sprues, I really want to use them up, and kit bashing provides a fun challenge)

The modelling and painting decisions were impacted a bit by this. Originally I had planned on a much simpler paint method involving true metallics and washes. But when I decided on the Custodes, I wanted something that looked good, especially since I would not be using stand out models.

Overall I think its a fairly decent representation, at worst its hopefully going to be a good looking and unique army by merit of just effort.

Next up is the painted model (well 70% shall we say) and the next "kit bash".

So the Non-Metallic Metal route was chosen. Both Atreides and Venerable have mentioned the time factor (and potential craziness), but I am not overly concerned. The above list requires only 25 models in NNM, and 3 of them (at least) will be 90% robed models anyway.

I am quite rusty as a painter currently, I haven't opened a pot or picked up a brush in probably over six months, and certainly haven't painted NMM in what must be at least a year. However, I did not want to treat this like a test model, I want to actually use it in the army. Overall I was pleased with the results, though there are some big signs of rust (I spot more and more each time I look at the model, but I always do that, I still see new flaws in my Belial every time I view that picture). However, I do think its a solid starting point for me to leap off on, it reminded me of the formula's and lets me look for improvements squad to squad (or even model to model). I have cut out some stages from the "show model" versions of NNM, since it's army painting after all.

• Scorched Brown / Snake Bite Leather 1.5/1 mix
• Devlan Mud Wash (watered down) (should be two washes)
• Scorched Brown / Snake Bite Leather 1/1 mix over the top
• Leviathan Purple recess only wash
• Snake Bite Leather (with a touch of Scorched) "large" highlights
• Snake Bite Leather / Skull White mix 3/1 (ish) "small" highlights
• Snake Bite Leather / Skull White 1/1 (ish) "touch/point" highlights
• Leviathan Purple wash "dark area's only"

There are a few improvements to the above recipe. Though largely it will be neatness I need to work on, for some reason I just couldn't keep an accurate hand over the should pad trim. I am happy with most of the highlighting area's but that is something you feel out a bit more each and every pass you do. I am very much an "effect" highlighter and not an "realistic light" highlighter.

Red is one of my favourite colours to have as a secondary, this time though I've used my staple (Red Gore) and used skull white opposed to blazing orange for the highlight stages. However, at no point do I apply Red Gore, I start with a Black/Gore mix, and then work from there, maybe the 2nd or 3rd coat is close to Gore but its a very poor pigmented colour (but imo the best looking). 

I am not too worried about the time to paint this force. But here's the general plan and what to expect on the WIP side in the up and coming weeks:

• Coteaz conversion (70% done, based on an old Golden Demon winner, it also acts as my Uriah Jackobus model)
• Death Cult conversions (0%) - using Dark Eldar Wych's
• Finish Purifiers / GKSS - trying to work out how I will differentiate the GKSS (other than that they have swords, may have them holding their stormbolters)
• Psyflemen Dreads to be converted using Imperial Guard Sentinels as a base.

Well at least that's the plan.

RANDOM FUCKING MOMENT:

I was searching for Coteaz images, and found this:

http://dsmpontifications.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/wip-coteaz-and-grey-knights-project.html

That Coteaz picture is mine (that I sold). How weird?