by lords2001
GK Reviews – Fast Attack and Heavy Support
We are at the tail end of our GK review – the 3 infantry based units left in the Fast Attack and Heavy Support slots. Thanks for all your patience in the slow rollout of these articles 6 months ago and all your corrections where required. To finish up this review, let’s start with
Interceptor Squad –
Interceptors are almost exactly the same as Strike Squads – same statline, psychic powers, and options., so no need to go into a repeat here The main differences are for the cost of the wargear available (the incinerator is 20 points) and the Personal Teleporter. The Teleporter turns the model into jump infantry, and once a game can shunt the unit up to 30” in any direction ignoring intervening terrain and units, as the cost of not being able to assault.
This is quite a cool option to have – though made less special by the rise of scoring Eldar jetbikes getting something better (48” effective move). You can turn 1 teleport to the flank or even the rear of your opponent’s army, contest late game objectives, or put pressure on mid game with the threat range of the unit potentially forcing players to consider their extensive threat range when moving and shooting.
So why don’t we see more of this unit? Mainly due to the fact that a full squad costing 260 points + wargear for 10 power armoured marines is a LOT. And while the unit does come with force weapons, at one base attack and being unable to assault after a shunt means they often are quite damaged before they can provide a full threat in close combat.
Additionally 130-260 points for a squad that doesn’t score and doesn’t come with above average survivability means that many players leave these guys on the shelf. Considering the cost difference between this unit and a strike squad is more than the cost of an upgraded rhino or razorback for transportation for a whole squad, it is understandable that they aren’t seen more.
Why you could consider taking the unit: I do believe that manoeuvrability is important in a GK army, and Interceptor squads may be able to fill this role for you if you are not a fan of the more traditional approaches for this in vehicles – but remember that you need to make sure the 30% premium over strike squads is worth it. A 5 man squad with an incinerator will set you back 150 points, and will take care of most deckchair units holding objectives at the back, if you find yourself struggling against this. Interceptors can also help you push out drop pod armies by extending the radius potential of Warp Quake but you will still be vulnerable to the top 3 armies who don’t rely on deep striking as much or at all.Purgation Squad –
Another unit with a statline the same as a Strike Squad, the Purgation squad differs from it only in the cost of wargear and the psychic powers available to the squad – it loses Warp Quake but gains Astral Aim.
Astral Aim allows you to shoot at a unit you otherwise might not be able to see via removing the LOS requirement from the unit, while granting the unit a 4+ cover save. If this is used with a unit carrying incinerators, this cover is subsequently ignored via the template rules.
In addition the squad may take 4 special weapons in the squad, up from the normal 1 per 5 for Strike Squads, or 2 per 5 for Paladins and Purifiers.
So why do we not see many Purgation Squadz? Partly due to the psycannons costing 20 points for the unit, meaning a unit of 5 will cost 180 points – 36 points a model is a crazy amount to pay out for a T4 3+ save unit. And while Astral Aim is a good investment it isn’t a sure winner – yes you can hide the unit behind a rhino or Land Raider, but often you won’t find yourself in range to do so effectively against alert opponents before turn 2 at the earliest and it will be hard to recoup your investment.
Why you could consider them – A 5 man squad with 4 incinerators is a 100 point investment that can be effective running in a Rhino – not many units like 4 S6 templates coming out and hurting it, and the unit has an effective 20” threat radius from the rhino or razorback. And remember that being out of LOS behind a wall is no impediment to a Purgation squad – so your flamers can hit people behind that ruin or elsewhere. It can also be handy to clear out bunkers/bastions with troops inside – flame weapons are key to doing so in an army lacking in easily available melta or S9 guns.Dreadknights –
Dreadknights are something that people either love or hate- both the model and the way the unit plays. The first of the ‘decent’ MC’s that GW bought out in 5th (the Tervigon excluded) it comes with a decent statline – a weapon skill of 5, strength and toughness of 6, 3 attacks, 4 wounds and a 2+/5++ save, for 130 points. It is a Monstrous Creature, a Character (meaning it can issue and accept challenges and deliver precision shots/strikes) and has 2 psychic powers – Hammerhand and Dark Excommunication – both of which are underwhelming in this instance. The model comes stock with 2 Nemesis Doom Fists – making the Dreadknight a 4 attack creature with S10 force weapons. Not bad. In a stock configuration the Dreadknight if extremely effective as a close combat monster, assuming you can get it there moving 6” a turn.
However, the upgrades is where the model can go from a cut price MC to possibly the most expensive MC outside of a fully upgraded Wraithknight – it can rock in at 315-325 points. Note – you don’t really want this, as no upgrades make it in any way more survivable.
In terms of shooting, you can get the heavy psycannon, the heavy incinerator and the gatling psilencer. The Gatling Psyilencer is a 12 shot S4 weapon that always wounds daemons on a 4 or better – for 35 points. To be honest, while it can benefit from precision shots, Grey Knights aren’t lacking in the S4 shot department – leave this one at home.
The Heavy Psycannon is a S7 AP4 large blast with the Rending USR – not amazing in range or damage output unless the opponent really clusters. And to be honest, you are probably rocking quite a few psycannons already- save the 40 points.
The Heavy Incinerator is the cheapest and probably the most popular upgrade – it is a S6 AP4 template weapon with the Torrent USR meaning it has an effective threat range of 26” (32” with a teleporter jump pack, 50” with a shunt move). At 30 points, it isn’t a bad upgrade, and is great for clearing up fearless/stubborn hordes who can try to bog down the dreadknight, or clear deckchair units in the rear with ease. It could certainly be cheaper but as it stands, a Dreadknight running with one of these at 160 points is not a terrible investment at all – a moderately dangerous shooting attack to almost every armies foot troops, and still dangerous in CC.
The close combat weapons available to the Dreadknight are not amazing – the Nemesis Doom Hammer is 10 points for… not much since the Dreadknight is counted at striking at S10 with the Doom Fists. The Greatsword is better – it allows the Dreadknight to reroll all to hit/wound/armor penetration rolls it makes, and according to the FAQ still leaves the Dreadkngiht at S10 with 4 attacks (Page 6 of the 1.5 FAQ, question 5). At 25 points, it isn’t cheap, but if you really want to give the new Tyranid MC’s a hard time or really want to make sure you hit when you need to, this is the upgrade for you.
Finally, it can get the persona teleporter as per the Interceptor squad, for the cheap cheap price of … 75 points??? Ok, not cheap at all. To your advantage almost no other jump MC’s have the same mobility outside of the Riptide, it gives you a more viable threat in regards to close combat due to additional mobility and threat ranges, and the shunt move means you can threaten almost anywhere on the board from Turn 1 as desired.
So why don’t you see more of these guys? Partly due to their massive cost if you wish to load them out for shooting or close combat (and even larger if you want to set them up for both). I know early in 6th the Dreadknight was popular just with the Heavy Incinerator acting as a buffer for a foot GK army, but there being less 3+ save foot armies since the Heldrake came to 6th has meant a reduction of usefulness for a Dreadknight running as a protective unit. In addition, the damage output and manoeuvrability of the Riptide and Wraithknight (the 2 most popular MC’s of 6th) leaves the Dreadknight behind in most situations.
Plasma and especially grav weaponry really are dangerous for Dreadknights – with only a 5++ it can not expect to survive being targeted by these or similar weapons for long, which makes it hard to deliver in combat.
Finally, some people just hate the model, and this means that what is probably a 50/50 unit really doesn’t make the cut. Though if you are interested, there are some amazing conversions out there for a more ‘built in’ style suit instead of the traditional ‘baby harness’.
Why you could choose this unit – if you are looking for a countercharge unit for your gunline army or an additional midfield threat, then the Dreadknight in stock configuration or with the Heavy Incinerator is a decent unit, and will make sure that anything not immune to instant death will stay well out of your threat redius.
You can also try to make a more aggressive army using these guys – 2-3 Dreadknights with personal teleporters will make static armies have fits as they try and avoid a possible turn 2 charge by all 3. I would suggest that if you do take the personal teleporter that you keep the upgrades to a minimum – 205 points is expensive to start with. Add in a Wraithknight or similar (maybe not a Riptide as they are not really threatening up close) and you can really pressure most opponents. Just know that if you do so, there will be bad matchups and you may have to play defensively for a minor win or draw as required and make sure you have a backup plan if this is the case.