Grand Master-Analysis

Looks like I'm in the mood to talk about units in the Grey Knight codex and my opinion on them.  So today I will talk about the most vexing unit in the 'dex.

The Mighty Grey Knight Grand Master.

Once upon a time he was a must for a GK army.  Now he's an expensive optional "if you need him" sort of guy.  This is what bothers me the most.  He damn expensive.  If you take a base model Gm its only 175 points. Which is expensive for a non-named HQ.

What you get is a very powerful stat line:
-6's in WS/BS
-3 wounds in termie armor and an Iron Halo.  Meaning a 2+/4+ save.

And some okay gear.  This by itself isn't anything to sneeze at.  With his special rule and psyker abilities he can be a great keystone unit to build an army around. Grand Strategy is a very versatile and useful power that can really vary how an army functions.  Depending on the scenario and your roll you can add special rules to units.  From 1-3 units can be given 1 rule each.  Need more killy?  Reroll 1s to wound.  Playing a CC army? Add in some counter attack USR.  Want a forward position?  Scout those Paladins.  And lastly (probably the most focused on use); do you need more scoring units?  The GM has you covered.

I personally have had success using the Scout USR to outflank with a set of Paladins.  Combining it with Psychic Communion you can better control when a reserve unit comes in to cause destruction.  Fun stuff.

Now lets look at the options-

• Melee Weapons first- Base load is a sword but I prefer the halberd to the sword (but that's for another post).  Giving him a staff is 35 pts which is too many even fr the 2+ I save in CC.
• Ranged Weapons- Storm Bolter for free, Incinerator for 5.  Not bad, but with a psycannon for an expensive 45 points he is utterly devastating.  BS of 6 gives a reroll, and the 5 points to Master Craft makes him nearly unable to miss.  It happens but it is hard to accomplish.  
• Grenades....all of them available.  Rad grenades please, blind grenades too if you have the points.  Brain mines and  psyko-stroke or melta bombs are all low on the cost/benefit list.  
• Servo-skulls?  yes please!  Easier deepstrike placement and keep the bad guys' infitrators further away during deployment...exellent.
• Orbital Relay?  This depends on your build strategy...if you buy this then there are no other upgrades needed as you will be parked the whole game.  If you want this I suggest looking at a tech marine in a bolstered ruin, or Karamozov.  This isn't my style but I may try it in a for fun game in the future.  The possibility of cooking multiple LeMann Russes with a Lance blast is awesome.
• Master Crafting or a level 2 upgrade can be useful.

Obviously this guy isn't for those "Army on a Budget" games.  As my preferred load out of  Psycannon, 2 skulls and Rad Grenades is 250 points.  Without Eternal Warrior a stray Lascannon can wipe him off the map, so always stick him into some protective wrap.  I prefer to run him with a termie or paladin squad with attached banner.  This gives him 5 attacks on the charge, with stacked Hammerhand for STR 6 power/force weapon on Init 6 he is a force of power.  Or just marching forward as an additional psycannon in the squad, he makes a great deterrent to keep the enemy from charging you.


Sadly at his cost level, he rarely sees action below 2k points.