HQ:
Grand Master/Brother-Captain: Quite conveniently, the first unit in the book sets the tone for what follows. These fellas can be rather devastating beatsticks with psychic support (provided by themselves, of course), but I hope you brought your chequebook because you'll need to get another mortgage to pay for it all. This is less of a problem than in the rest of the book as you generally want your beatstick HQ to be geared-up, so being expensive to have good starting gear isn’t a disadvantage. 150pts base for a Captain in Terminator Armour with a Storm Bolter and a Force Sword plus Mastery 1 with access to both Divination and Telepathy is pretty solid – You’re paying pretty much the same prices as Space Marines for the Captain stats and gear, with 25pts for a Mastery level matching up to 7th edition pricing and then a few extra points for the privilege of being a Captain and a Librarian in one slot and the little miscellaneous bonuses of Purity of Spirit and The Aegis.
For 35pts you get +1 Attack and an extra Mastery level, which having playtested I don’t think is really necessary. I originally thought the Grand Master was something you should basically always get for Mastery 2 on Divination and an extra attack with your expensive weapons, but in practice Mastery 1 with Psychic Focus is almost just as good on Divination (you’re always going to have Prescience, which rocks, and you’ll roll up a very useable power more often than not). The loss of Grand Strategy is a huge hit as it relegates the Grand Master to just a very, very pricey beatstick; sometimes that's just what you want, but since the GM isn't that much more of a beatstick than the Brother Captain and can easily end up being near-Draigo prices, he's not quite good enough to warrant his easily-over-200pts price tag like, say, a Biker Chapter Master is. You can totally overspend on this guy, so watch out – again, setting the theme for the book, less is often more. You can have a Grand Master with a Daemonhammer and MC Psycannon and the Cuirass of Sacrifice and Digital Weapons, but a Brother-Captain with Daemonhammer and Psycannon is basically just as good. I call this the ‘win-more’ fallacy; you can very easily spend lots of points on Grey Knights with sharply diminishing returns. Upgrades can make you a lot better (a Brother-Captain with the Soul Glaive is more than 20pts scarier than one with a Force Sword as he is going to eat every monstrous creature he gets into a fight with bar Skarbrand or the Swarmlord, and even then he can bring some loyal bodyguards to take the hits for him before he brings the pain), but a lot of the upgrades don’t give you a proportional increase to your effectiveness (Master-Crafted looks good, because it basically gives you another shot with your Psycannon since you’re usually going to miss one shot per turn; but it costs half as much again as simply buying another Psycannon, which would be far better, and you’re guaranteed to get Prescience if you want it anyway so buying re-rolls to hit is a fairly bad plan).
I think the best general build for a Brother-Captain is to buy him the Soul Glaive and an Incinerator or Psycannon. I’ve been running a Grand Master with the Cuirass of Sacrifice and Falchions, but I don’t feel he’s worth the extra 24pts over the Brother-Captain, who can support the shooting phase fairly well with his heavy weapon and fills a role in being a super-effective monster hunter - something that, strangely enough, I struggle to find with GK as their firepower is very inefficient against 6+ T6/3+ or 2+ wounds, especially with Feel No Pain, and GK are super-vulnerable to the shooting of most worthwhile Monstrous Creatures (Suncannons, Ion Accelerators, and massed Brainleech Devourers are all excellent anti-GK guns).
Brother-Captain Stern: He gives up the gear to get some gimmicks. He’s a Brother-Captain statline, costing 185pts, but he’s ML2 like a Grand Master – so, 35pts gets you the Mastery Level and his fancy rules, but not the extra attack. Fair enough. Just having a Force Sword and Storm Bolter is a pretty big mark against him, as you want to pack the heavy weapons in anywhere you can (especially with the point break on the Psycannon for a Brother-Captain) and even if you don’t want a fancy weapon like the Soul Glaive or a Daemonhammer, it’s usually a good idea to pick up some Falchions at least. On the other hand, he’s Mastery Level 2 with Sanctuary as a set power. That’s all kinds of great – being able to guarantee Sanctuary is a really useful thing f you’re building a Paladinstar or you have a big ol’ unit of dudes who want to get +1 to their invulnerables (10 TH/SS Terminators springs to mind, or 50 Guardsmen with Azrael). However, one has to consider that a ML3 Librarian with the Domina Liber Daemonica has a high chance of getting Sanctuary as well while being significantly cheaper, as well as the advantage of being able to swap table to nab Prescience if you get Sanctuary on your first go. His fancy gimmick, Strands of Fate, is quite dependant on your opponent’s army but generally, giving your opponent re-rolls to use at critical junctures is a bad plan. Basically, if you absolutely need to have Sanctuary then he’s a pretty good option to guarantee that for you, but if you’re not building around some 2++ Deathstar or something similar, probably not worth the points over a Librarian or a better-kitted Brother-Captain.
Librarian: The master of psykers in a chapter of psykers. The first thing to note about the Librarian is that he’s super, super cheap. 110pts for a ML2 Librarian in Terminator Armour with Purity of Spirit and The Aegis with the potential to go to ML3 for a measly 25pts is a fine bargain if ever there was one. He also has a weird set of weapon options – he gets all the Nemesis Force Weapons for free, with 5pts for the Daemonhammer, which is a tempting option as 5pts for 2 attacks with a WS5 Daemonhammer is pretty tasty. There’s also a strange quirk in that the Grey Knight Librarius seems to have a monopoly on Combi-Weapons on Titan, as he’s the only guy in the book that can bring one. A Combi-Melta with Rites of Teleportation (so you’re easily getting into Melta range) and 3 rolls on Divination for Ignores Cover and Twin-Linked is probably something you should bring for the measly 10pt investment.
In terms of Relics, you can bring him as a Sanctic machine with the Domina Liber Daemonica for re-rolling 1s to cast and an extra roll bringing you to 4 powers, but frankly I don’t think Sanctic is a good enough table for me to choose that over Divination (you can totally get Sanctuary/Hammerhand/Cleansing Flame/Vortex of Doom, which is certainly a strong set of powers, but Banishment is incredibly niche, Gate isn’t something you can just put into any list, and Purge Soul is the definite dud power – there’s also the disadvantage that basically every unit has Hammerhand already and you can’t stack the same buff on yourself, limiting that particular power.) I’d prefer to bring him with ML2, the Cuirass of Sacrifice, and leave him with his Warding Stave. ‘But Midnight, you think Force Staffs are crap!’ True enough, and they usually are. But the Librarian has three things that make the Warding Stave a really nice choice on him, as far as I can theorize. First, he has ML3. Adamantium Will isn’t generally worth anything to me because 5+ to Deny still means you have to chuck a whole load of Warp Charge at it to be anything like reliable. However, you put it on a ML3 psyker, and in most situations you’re going to be Denying on 3s (+1 for Adamantium Will, +1 for Psyker, +1 for higher level than the caster). That’s okay as a stand-alone thing, but the Librarian has a Psychic Hood. He gets a 12” bubble of ML3 Adamantium Will for Denying. Sure, most of the good powers are Blessings and you’re not going to stop Invisibility/Fortune/Forewarning with any reliability. But there are still plenty of nasty Witchfires and Maledictions in the game – Psychic Shriek, Misfortune, Paroxysm, Vortex of Doom, Psychic Maelstrom and Enfeeble to name a few. The final kicker is The Aegis. 3+, worst case 4+ Deny the Witch re-rolling 1s. Yep, you Deny more reliably and efficiently than they can cast. Librarian, ML3, Warding Stave, Combi-Melta, Cuirass of Sacrifice.160pts for a mad support machine.
Brotherhood Champion: I really don’t know what to think about this guy. He’s a 2-wound guy with a 2+/4++ who doesn’t stop your unit from Sweeping in combat or anything, which is great for tanking – but he costs just 15pts less than a 5-man Terminator squad. He’s got a silly Weapon Skill and Initiative and can Smash Str8/10 AP2 attack with a re-roll to hit and Instant Death at I5 – but outside of a challenge, he’s a standard Justicar who pays 120pts for Master-Crafted and WS7. He can tank like a god with a 2+/4++ re-rolling all failed saves – but only in a challenge, so shooting will still go through him and since he’s forced into challenges, non-character AP2 will bypass him completely. I really need to try him out more, as the WS7 Str8 AP2 Master-Crafted Force Sword attack at I5 is, in theory, awesome, but he’s rather pricey and loses a lot of his punch outside of a challenge. It’s worth mentioning that he seems one of two obvious choices as a Hammerhand caddy for a Guard blob; sure, you could bring the Techmarine instead for a significant discount, but being able to challenge out and tank if not Force Weapon tough customers and picking up an extra wound is solid, but losing Bolster Defences for that could be a problem if you’re running the Guard as a primary and can use the extra cover in your deployment zone. If the Bro Champ still gave Zealot, he’d totally be the obvious choice but as it is, I think it’s a toss-up between him and the Techmarine.
Castellan Crowe: King Purifier is finally an Independent Character, which is a huge point in his favour, and with what is in my opinion a buff to Cleansing Flame I’d be a lot more inclined to bring him than before. But you know all the stuff I said in the Brotherhood Champion entry about him being neutered outside of a challenge? It applies ten-fold to Crowe. In a challenge with Hammerhand up, he’s a WS8 Str6 AP2 I6 A3 monster, with a re-rollable 2+/4++. That’s nuts, and he’s basically going to chop up anyone except the most hardcore combat characters (Skarbrand, Lysander, the Swarmlord, Biker Chapter Masters and Abaddon are all probably beyond him, but come on – Crowe’s a 185pt dude, expecting him to fight those beatsticks of huge expense is unrealistic). However, he lacks Force, which isn’t so huge an issue with those stats (and the fact that most monsters you’re in a challenge with will be solo models, so your GK buddies behind you can punk him while Crowe takes the hits) but certainly something to watch out for.
Crowe’s also ML2 and gets Cleansing Flame, which is a rockin’ power that has use against basically any army. It’s a hilariously good counter to Harpies, Hive Crones and Toxicrenes, but it also has a lot of use against almost all basic infantry. As you see basic infantry in almost every list, having something great to kill them with is a thoroughly good thing (warning: if you can get three units of Fire Warriors, Guardians, or Guardsmen in range then you may experience Manly Tears). He does however have the Purifier downside of not having Deep Strike; a big limiter as he stops his unit Deep Striking (unless you put him with Purifiers in a Land Raider or something, in which case I admire your big steel balls). However, he’s a great guy to have in a challenge against other infantry characters, and has utility as a tank, a Fearless-granter and an infantry-killing support guy/psychic battery. Is that worth his downside of being Str4 AP- or Str6 AP- outside of a challenge? Eh, probably not, but he’s not a horrendous model to bring.
Techmarine: He takes up an actual HQ slot, and he costs an absolute tonne of points for the privilege of Artificer Armour and some rules you’re probably not going to use (GK have no backfield tanks like Predators or Hunters/Stalkers, or even many vehicles you’re ever going to see at all, and they’re going to be using Rites of Teleportation so Bolster Defences is poor.) Besides, if you really want to have some 3+ cover ruins or fix your Rifleman dreads, just do yourself a favour and ally in a Techmarine (and Riflemen, come to think of it) from another SM book at half the price. The only use I can really see for him is bringing Hammerhand to a Guard Blob, which he does a pretty reasonably job of but with no transferable rules not available to everyone and their dog can bring it’s a fairly expensive way of getting Str5 guardsmen (do you need Str guardsmen? With rerolls to Hit and Wound from their Priests and the mass of Str4 AP2 hits from the Power Axes, I’m not convinced that Str5 is entirely required – and who needs ATSKNF when the Inquisitor makes you Ld10 Stubborn with a Commissar re-roll?).
TROOPS
Grey Knight Terminators: GKT are good, and they’re interesting because they’re finally a Terminator body that isn’t intensely overpriced. 185pts buys you 5 dudes with a Psycannon – still expensive, for sure, but considering all other Terminators are paying 220pts for 5 dudes with an Assault Cannon (or 240pts for Dark Angels, the poor bastards), they’re very reasonably costed. The way to resiliency in 7th is, of course, lots of bodies or tough tanks, far away, and in super-cover (3+ or 2+) or with Invulnerables. 2+/5++ has never been the toughest thing in the game purely by virtue of AP2 being a thing in the game, but it’s far from worthless and it’s very strong in the GKTs role as generalists; they can fight or shoot or sit on objectives and be pretty good at any of them, which their mobile and independent save (which is to say, they don’t need a Venomthrope or an attached character or some such support element to make them resilient) goes a long way to supporting. Storm Bolters are fairly reasonable anti-infantry guns, and while still unimpressive for the price, it’s a better gun than many melee units get. Psycannons with Relentless are still really great guns; four shots at Str7, with AP4 and Rending to boot, is a very good deal for 20pts as it sets you up to fight a lot of the field. Nothing except for Land Raiders can really ignore Psycannon fire, as long as you bring enough of it; the high strength threatens monstrous creatures and light vehicles, the high quantity of shots threatens light infantry and the Rending threatens Marines and 2+ save dudes.
You can give the squad a tonne of combat weapons if you want; a lot of people swear by entire squads with Halberds or Daemonhammers, which I’m not a great fan of; Halberds are extraneous with Hammerhand being a set power, and squads of Daemonhammers are terrifying but squander the greatest advantage of GKT which is their cheapness. I’ve been running Falchions with a Hammer per unit so far, but I’m building the next few boxes with Swords as I’m not convinced the extra attacks are particularly necessary (they’re cheap, for sure, and 4pts for an extra attack on your good combat dudes is a good price, but a good deal on something you don’t need isn’t really a good deal at all). Like the Grand Master, GKT don’t suffer from their expensive starting gear as Terminators want to be kitted up anyway, and indeed most races don’t get a choice – SM, DA and BA are all forced into 40pt+ Power-Fist equipped Terminators, so GK actually spend a lot less than you’d pay for equivalents from other factions. They benefit a lot from Rites of Teleportation, which stops them getting totally annihilated by Plasma Cannons and Ion Accelerators (if for some strange reason the Accelerator isn’t Intercepting) and gets them down on the first turn for a pretty convincing alpha strike, but also get some mileage out of Objective Secured if Alpha Strikes aren’t your thing, getting 2+/5++ OS bodies and the potential for OS Land Raiders that don’t take up Dreadknight Support slots.
Strike Squads: How the mighty have fallen. Strike Squads used to be a staple, when they were a solid source of high-quality torrent firepower at 24” range with better counter-assault capabilities than most MEQs. The removal of Psybolt Ammunition was a big hit for them, as was the drastic cost decrease on Terminators and the PAGK variants – Strikes will still bring more Storm Bolters than Terminators, but not a whole lot more, and cannot put out the mobile Str7 AP4 Psycannon fire that Terminators can which is needed for GK to de-mech opponents and deal with heavier threats. Interceptors pay a measly 4pts each for Jump Infantry status, and are no longer extorted on Incinerator prices – considering Strikes will probably want a Rhino, that 4pts per model for Jump Packs is basically mitigated entirely by the cost of getting Strikes to the front lines. You can Deep-Strike Strikes (I guess that’s probably why they’re called Strikes), but Interceptors can both Deep Strike and get in the opponent’s grill with tactical precision using their Teleport Shunt; as well as being far more manoeuvrable once they hit the ground. If you’re putting Strikes in Rhinos, you might as well pay the 5pts per model for ML2, Cleansing Flame, Fearless, +1 Attack, extra 2 Special Weapons, and Soul Blaze (of however dubious value it may be), using up your plentiful Elites slots freeing up your Troops slots for more Terminators. Overall – I’m not overly enamoured of Strike Squads in the new book. A CAD midfield army will, I imagine, find more use from 2 squads of Terminators as Troops and then using Purifiers in Rhinos for the PAGK or Interceptors for a more mobile force to bounce around the midfield and get that once-per-game ‘surprise!’ gimmick from the Teleport Shunt to grab objectives. A NSF army will definitely get more use from Terminators, with no real slots left for Strike Squads (I’ve made a number of 2000pt lists that would have been happy to fit in a 5th Terminator Squad and unfortunately had to take something different or drop something to get another HQ for a second NSF Detachment).
ELITES
Paladins: Paladins didn’t get a price break like their less experienced brethren in the Troops slot, which immediately makes them less attractive as they end up being a very pricey upgrade from a Terminator; well over half as much again. On the other hand, the Apothecary became *far* cheaper and being able to bring 2 special weapons per unit is a big upgrade as with Psybolt going the way of the dodo (and your primitive notions of modesty; brisk!), basic Storm Bolters remain rather underwhelming in such small numbers. WS5 is also a surprisingly big upgrade, as a big issue with GK in general is their low quantity of high quality attacks. A unit of Terminators is only going to have 10, 15 attacks; dealing the damage isn’t an issue with Str6 AP3 I4, but killing a lot of dudes when you’re only getting 5/7.5 hits is difficult and it’s easy to whiff the roll. Re-rolls or beneficial modifiers are always best applied to your weakest roll (would Devourers or HYMP be nearly as scary with Shred instead of Twin-Linked?), and there’s no exception here. Of course, the big difference between Terminators and Paladins is the extra wound. Between the Apothecary and W2, Paladins are basically immune to small arms fire. You need 27 Marines or Fire Warriors in rapid-fire range, 24 Devourer Gaunts, or a staggering 54 rapid-firing Guardsmen to kill one Paladin. Yes, one Paladin. That’s insane survivability. Even 3 HYMP Broadsides at BS5 will only drop 2.6 wounds, and Wave Serpents barring lucky Bladestorm rolls on the Shuriken Cannon barely even do a single wound.
This ability to take firepower far and beyond that of regular Terminators (who suffer marked drops in effectiveness for every unlucky saving throw) makes Paladins a huge threat. However, they also suffer far more from the presence of hard counters than Terminators. While Paladins are surprisingly resilient to Plasma weapons with a 5+ Invulnerable, a Feel No Pain roll and a pair of wounds each, they have a glaring weakness to any Str8 AP2 weapon out there and have to worry about Battle Cannons and Krak Missiles which regular Terminators can basically ignore. A squad of Fire Dragons or Blasterborn or a direct Ion Accelerator/Demolisher Cannon hit will kill 3 or 4 Terminators or Paladins regardless of their wounds or Feel No Pain, and as Paladins are such a huge investment you can take massive losses from just random dudes with Meltaguns. So, to recap, their resiliency is hugely improved against small arms, but they suffer a lot more against the big guns of the game. WS5 is a huge offensive improvement, and can occasionally give you a defensive boost in case someone charged your Paladins with Berzerkers or something. Option-wise, an Apothecary makes a huge difference (and can hugely benefit attached characters, primarily Inquisitors or Draigo who have the wounds to really benefit), and the ability to bring a pair of Psycannons per 5 dudes can make you a very real threat in the shooting phase as well as a murderous combat unit. The Brotherhood Banner is worth it on a 10-man Paladinstar with attached characters, but at 5-strong you give up a pair of attacks simply through bringing the Banner (remember it replaces your Force Weapon) and is a little too expensive to really be worth it (oh, and it gives Ld re-rolls on your entirely ATSKNF army, hooray).
Paladins are also basically the best unit in the game to receive buffs from items and characters; the rules you’re looking for are Split Fire in the top spot, Scout and Hit and Run if possible, and then the usual culprits of Shrouded, Hatred, Fearless and Fleet, and in case I need to outline which psychic powers you want; Invisibility is obviously amazing, Endurance is basically just as good (after a point, being even more invincible than another unkillable dude becomes irrelevant), and the somewhat left-field Levitation from much-maligned Telekinesis can be a game-winner. Gate of Infinity (hi Draigo!), Sanctuary, Mental Fortitude, Shrouding and basically everything on Divination are decent second-tier powers. In summary, Paladins can be a huge threat to shove in your opponent’s face with even a five-man squad, and a squad of 5 Paladins with Apothecary/double Psycannon can be better than the pricier 10-man Terminator squad with double Psycannon in many instances, but be very wary of Str8 weapons, and put anything with Str8+ AP2/1 and a Large Blast right at the top of your Kill List.
Purifiers: You can’t bring an army of them anymore; sad times. The changes to Psycannons and the general changes since 5th edition means Purifiers are an entirely different beast in the new book. Before, seeing 5 Purifiers with 2 Psycannons and some Halberds in a Razorback with Psybolt was a fairly common build, with fancier weapons such as Hammers or massed Halberds working their way in at 10-man squads in Rhinos. GK no longer fight at 24” range (as we’re no longer immune to return fire after Rapid Fire changes from 5th, and other races such as Tau, Eldar, vanilla Marines and Guard fighting the 24” fight much better than us), Psycannons are no longer viable on PAGK (with the range reduction on the move and price increase), and massed mech isn’t a valid strategy any more (with Hull Points, the loss of Fortitude, the increase in torrent Str6/7 in the game, and the removal of cheap Henchmen and Strike Squads as a valid unit to achieve armour saturation). However, Incinerators are now better with a price reduction and tying into Purifier’s new trick, Cleansing Flame. The ability to put out large amounts of mid-strength AP4 Ignores Cover is very valuable, and with everything being an Assault Weapon (and with Cleansing Flame not locking you to a target for assault), Purifier charging into combat is going to be much more common.
Cleansing Flame, as a powerful anti-infantry Nova, deals with a lot of problems GK can have by being overwhelmed through numbers. GK will by their nature have few units and so seeing a bunch of 10-man/5-man Guardian/Dire Avenger/Fire Warrior/Guardsman/Termagant units, or a lot of very small support units like Venomthropes/Zoanthropes/Platoon Commands can be a total pain in the ass to deal with as you have to waste firepower by dedicating a squad of Terminators or a Dreadknight or something. Purifiers are all kinds of amazing anti-infantry if you can get them into range, which can be a challenge (they inexplicably don’t have Deep Strike) but with Drop Pods available from Blood Angels or Space Wolves, or a Stormraven from your own basically unused Fast Attack slots, it’s far from impossible. As far as psionics go, Purifiers can start sucking up a fairly large amount of Warp Charge if you start wanting to get Cleansing Flame and Hammerhand and Force all off at once, but they’re also pretty good psychic batteries if they’re not casting everything (or anything if it’s early game); you should basically always Combat Squad them, giving you +4 Warp Charge for a ten-man squad. It’s not *hugely* efficient compared to, say, allying in Inquisition for a trio of Acolyte/Acolyte/Psyker batteries, but +4 Warp Charge is actually a very hefty bonus to your dice pool.
Dreadnought: Victims of the infamous Games Workshop ‘knee-jerk reaction two editions too late’. A trio of these were in every damn GK army in 5th and early 6th, because a Str8 Rifleman that could ignore Shaken and Stunned was a brilliant thing. I advocate Psybolt Ammunition and was sad to see its removal, but this is the one place where I can reasonably understand it. However, typically, GW swung too far the other way and the Dreadnought is really pretty crap. It pays a significant amount of points over everyone else’s Dreadnoughts (which are amazing right guys) for the privilege of being a Mastery 1 Psychic Pilot with… Banishment and Sanctuary? So it just adds a Warp Charge die, because no way am I giving up casting a Hammerhand somewhere else in the army or, y’know, casting any kind of relevant power to give my AV12 walker a 6+ Invulnerable. If I was against Chaos Daemons, I might find some use from it’s incredibly niche abilities of reducing invulns (which, oh yes, every unit in my army can do) or creating a bubble of dangerous terrain (hooray!). The Dreadnought weapons are still overpriced, some like the Lascannon and Missile Launcher almost comically so, and even just bringing your fella as a standard Rifleman is setting you back a solid 20pts more than any other Marines. If you want a Dreadnought, ally one in from basically any other Codex and be better.
FAST ATTACK:
Interceptors: Assault Marines with ranged weapons? Say it ain’t so! I like the look of Interceptors (rules-wise; in terms of models I find the 50s sci-fi backpacks are a little goofy). They’re very mobile and are no longer victims of some weird in-the-grim-darkness-there-is-only-extortion scheme when they buy a couple of Incinerators, so brining a unit to Shunt next to some infantry with military precision and burn them to death seems to be a legit use for the unit. If I were to do so, I think I’d probably bring a 10-man unit with 2 Incinerators and Combat Squad them with both Incinerators in the same squad as a suicide unit, then have the other half in walk-on Reserves to pounce on an objective late game with their Teleport Shunt a la expensive Eldar Jetbikes. This strategy would have problems, such as being able to bring a Dreadknight with Personal Teleporter for only a small investment more who is a more resilient objective-grabber, and the lack of Objective Secured, but I’m assuming you’ve already maxed out your Heavy Support with Dreadknights who are being used to push the enemy, and I for one am seeing a lot less Objective Secured around with the rise of Necron Decurions, Baal Strike Forces, heavy use of formations and the minimal use of Troops in even Combined Arms detachment for armies with less stellar Troops such as Dark Eldar or Tau. There’s not an *awful* lot more to say about Interceptors; they’re more mobile Strikes who can pull off a fancy trick with Incinerators and can nab distant objectives, especially in Maelstrom.
Other than that, everything that applies to regular PAGK basically applies here; don’t consider them a combat unit, because A1 and only Tactical Marine defences is pretty terrible, and the only weapon you want to be bringing is an Incinerator because you’re paying for mobility and a Psycannon or Psilencer will waste that. There is the caveat that Interceptors tend to find it easier to find a good combat target; sure, you’re not going to beat anything important in melee, but with Interceptor’s mobility it’s much easier to engage Devastators or other fire support units than it is for Tacticals or whatever. This isn’t much of an issue for a Nemesis Strike Force, who will be entirely deep striking anyway, but Interceptors have the advantage of being hard to bubble-wrap against (since they have a malleable footprint and precise movement within their 30”), don’t require a Reserve roll and can’t be shot by Interceptor (it’s a fairly rare ability, sure, but with Tau and Coteaz both being strong choices it’s not a factor you can completely ignore).
Rhino: …erm, what exactly do you want me to tell you? It’s a Rhino, it’s in the Fast Attack slot not in a unique dedicated transport slot so you can bring it for your Guardsmen or something, and you’re probably not going to see many of them because the Nemesis Strike Force exists and Terminators are better than Strikes. Gets your Purifiers where you want to go. Hooray!
Razorback: It’s still here, it can’t get Psybolt, it went up by 15pts unless you’re bringing PLas or Las, which makes it pretty terrible. It’s more expensive than the Rhino but trades your Cleansing Flame fire points for a pricey gun. I guess you can use them as gun platforms to make up for GK’s crippling lack of anti-tank if you want to do a thing but really, why are you not just allying in Guard or Space Marines or anybody at that point?
Stormraven Gunship: Expensive flying box that you can fill with dudes and shove into somebody's gullet. The Stormraven suffers from taking a huge number of points away from your turn 1 Rites of Teleportation alpha strike which is basically what you do with your silver space marines; however, it does have use as a transport for your mandatory one unit of Terminators plus Librarian if you’re running a Purifier or Interceptor-based list; in this case, if you use Rites of Teleportation to deep strike, you’re probably screwed because you haven’t saturated threats, and since the Purifiers aren’t going to get into burning range on turn 1, you’re not suffering from having it hang in reserves until turn 2 or 3. It’s also a pretty neat gunship if you’re getting your points worth from the transport part; a mobile Twin-Linked Multi-Melta with a handful of Str8 AP2 missiles and a PotMS turret-mounted Assault Cannon for rear armour shots is actually filling a hole GK want filled, as well as being the only anti-air platform in the Codex. Unfortunately, because Forge World hates Grey Knights, you don’t get to bring Legacies on your flying box which is unfortunate because Battle of Keylek and War on Murder could make it a lot more dangerous, but c’est la vie. If you really want those things, you can bring a Stormwing Formation (not a half bad idea if you’re not running the all-the-terminators-all-day-turn-one-extravaganza Nemesis Strike Force) and give it a Legacy.
Overall, it’s a tad too expensive for the alpha strike list most GK armies will try and pull, but I don’t think it’s a bad choice for a Purifier or Interceptor list where you can afford to spend points on something in reserves. You definitely need to be using it as a transport though, and preferably full of Objective Secured; while it’s guns are not insignificant, 230pts for a Multi-Melta, an Assault Cannon, four AP2 Krak Missiles and a handful of Bolters on a very restrictive platform in terms of firing arcs is actually a pretty huge amount to be spending.
Purgation Squad: So Astral Aim disappeared, which is a huge shame because mind bullets breaking the laws of physics were a Cool Thing. Well, I say it disappeared; it actually changed from a psychic power to just being the fluff justification for Night Vision - on a squad with 24” range Heavy/Salvo weapons and no Deep Strike. How… useful. It’s a shame, because the quote from the 5th edition GK book ‘Let my brothers practise their swordplay. They can finish off whoever is left’ cemented them as a Cool Thing. Having a bunch of them with Incinerators in a Razorback used to be a pretty effective combo, like the Platoon Command Squad with Flamers when they grew up, but with new editions meaning Flamers can only kill up to about 8” away, against most hordes your awesome statline is actually working against you as you’re almost certain to clear an 8” swathe of Gaunts or Guardsmen with wounds to spare (nee go to waste). Psilencers might have some kind of potential, with 24 Force shots (which you’d presumably Prescience, because hey, we’re already deep into bizarro-world here and as we know, the more shots you have the better target you are for Prescience) are going to be a pretty terrifying threat to most things. For added METAL points, get Enfeeble or a Black Knight Rad Grenade onto a monstrous creature or even better, a unit of such (Hive Guard + Tyrant, Carnifex brood etc.) and murder them all with mind bullets. It’s an atrocious plan, but the one time it works will be amazing. Psycannons used to be a pretty reasonable option, but with 12” range on the move you don’t really have enough time to get to where you need to be AND then affect the game in a meaningful way without access to Slow and Purposeful or Infiltrate (the former due to a general lack of Imperial SnP outside of what, Karamazov, and the latter subsequent to the recent FAQ clarifying that you can’t add Cypher to 10 Purgators, Infiltrate them into some ruins and sit there with a 2+ cover save and a horrendous amount of dakka).
If you could find a way to confer Infiltrate on them a la Huron, they’d be great; as it stands, the only thing I can think of is giving them Scout from an Inquisitor or Raven Guard dude which still isn’t really enough to get you into a position where the enemy can’t just ignore you and move out of your 24” range. You could bring 5 Purgators with full complement of 4 Psycannons and an Inquisitor with the Liber Heresius and Divination, put them in an Inquisitorial Chimera (which still have 5 Fire Points, natch!) and then be preposterous with that as a Scout move. Note: I realised after writing this that you can't do it as Inquisitorial Chimeras, being in a 6th edition 'Codex', can't be brought unless as a Dedicated Transport for Henchmen so you can't start your Purgators in one. However, the basic principle applies, so if you can think of any alternative (an Open-Topped Imperial vehicle with enough room for a Scout and 5 Purgators, for example), something to think about. However, outside of such wacky gimmicks, I don't think Purgators are realistically going to see play (especially due to their taking up Dreadknight slots).
Nemesis Dreadknight: Wow; here we have that rare beast, a unit that got significantly buffed in the transition from 5th to 7th. The Dreadknight, while not appreciably cheaper in itself, actually got a huge discount as the Personal Teleporter went down by almost 50pts. You also have the power to Deep Strike them in on turn 1 now, which is very relevant, and the addition for Sanctuary for a 4++ actually puts them on the tougher end of Monstrous Creatures with 4 wounds at T6 with a 2+ armour save (the Wraithknight is immune to small arms which is an advantage, but it loses out to Missile Launchers and probably Autocannons/HYMP while the Riptide is pretty much tougher against all guns being the same defenses with an extra wound tacked on, but with the disadvantage that the Nova Reactor for a 3++ has an opportunity cost of Ripple Fire or another function, and being more dangerous to activate than Sanctuary). The Dreadknight also has the enviable position of being a close-combat MC that actually projects a fairly terrifying shooting threat against the right targets (Heavy Psycannon will mulch infantry in the open or light armour, while the Heavy Incinerator can scour infantry from the board with impunity), while in combat, 4 WS5 Str10 attacks with Force and Concussive for a trivial 5pt upgrade is scary to basically any target you care to name. The Dreadknight is also a character, which lets you Challenge out PK Nobz, Sergeants with Power Fists or Meltabombs etc. which can increase it's survivability noticeably. It also allows it to be targetted by effects that hit characters; there aren't that many, but The Quickening jumped out at me as the Blood Angel Primaris. GK will easily have enough psychic dice to push it through, and a Dreadknight with D3+4 Str10 attacks at I4+D3 will kill a lot of models and have the Initiative to run them down when they flee.
That last point about Sweeping Advance is actually quite significant; as mentioned, Terminators are going to be your bread and butter in a lot of cases, and while they have a high offensive output they have a big disadvantage in not being able to Sweep in combat. This isn't generally an issue against Tau, Space Marines, Chaos or what have you; you'll be killing a bunch because you're Terminators, so murdering 60/70% of a 10-man squad is still achieving basically what you needed to do. However, while less susceptible than regular Terminators through striking at initiative and the availability of Falchions, it's still very easy for GKT to get bogged down in large squads. A Dreadknight can help you clear out those big squads of Boyz/Gaunts/Guardsmen with his Large Blast/Torrent and then trying to run them down.
A Personal Teleporter is basically mandatory in my opinion, as you can't afford to be failing charges with your nearly-200pt dude and the ability to get into rear armour with a Heavy Psycannon is great. I always stick a Daemonhammer on, with the Greatsword generally lying by the wayside (I have them modelled because they look awesome, but Str: User instead of Str10 is a big limiter, and having to pay more for it makes me think it's pretty much strictly inferior to the Daemonhammer). A Heavy Incinerator is probably the go-to ranged weapon since it's so useful at clearing out infantry in cover and keeps the Dreadknight cheap, but I also like the Heavy Psycannon for it's anti-tank power (especially in rear armour as can be easily achieved with a Teleport Shunt).
Land Raider: Much like Rhinos, do I need to say a lot here? It's a Land Raider. It's basically the only source of Lascannons in the army other than Razorbacks. That doesn't make it any good.
Land Raider Crusader: The good one.
Land Raider Redeemer: The divisive one made of Marmite. I quite like it, as the Crusader simply gives you more Str4 AP5 bullets and not-quite-Psycannon shots (if you've been paying attention you'll know that this is basically all you get as Grey Knights). The Redeemer does at least have a different kind of firepower, albeit one that is basically the same as your melee attacks.
LORDS OF WAR:
Kaldor Draigo: Big boss Paladin, beatstick to end all beatsticks, the one and only Supreme Grand Master. He doesn't unlock Paladins as Troops, which is unfortunate but nothing unexpected. In terms of his personal ability, he's very similar; he's now only S4/T5, but this doesn't actually matter as much as you might think. The Titansword makes him Str7 AP2 with Hammerhand taking him up to Str9 (he's built like a man, but he hits like a lascannon), and his mighty four wounds with a 2+ armour save and the Grey Knight Chapter's only Storm Shield combined with Eternal Warrior means T4 is actually a pretty irrelevant issue (especially when he's in a unit). He's traded in his S5 AP- flamer for something worthwhile and relevant, having both Gate of Infinity and Purge Soul on top of the standard Hammerhand and Banishment. Gate is excellent; as written, it presumably stacks with Rites of Teleportation, allowing you to Run and Shoot on the turn you use it. I like it as you can keep Draigo's unit back to man the Comms Relay to guide in the regular Reserves, then join the attack through Gate. You can man the Comms Relay with a Dreadknight or your 34pt Skull Inquisitor instead of using up Warp Charge to cast Gate, but I think a Dreadknight is better deployed in Reserves or reactively to where the enemy is placed (a 30" move is super-long, but it's still not covering the board if your opponent refuses the flank) and I think the 34pt bare Inquisitor with Skulls is a waste of him; I'd much prefer to spend a few points to make him a Psyker and give him some fancy Grenades or Terminator Armour/Psycannon and make him relevant. Purge Soul as a WC1 Focused Witchfire at Ld10 and BS5 is a pretty reasonable sniping power for getting rid of Plasma Guns and such.
Draigo's a good tank who solves a lot of the issues with Paladins; with Eternal Warrior and a 3++, he sucks up the Meltaguns, Demolisher Cannons and Ion Accelerators that devastate Paladins so much as well as conferring the super-expensive unit his Fearless. In return, their Apothecary gives him the Feel No Pain he wants to stop random berks plinking wounds off him, and he benefits hugely from the Brotherhood Banner as his attacks are so powerful. Any buff you can cast on the unit can make Draigo basically immortal; Sanctuary conferring him with a 2++, Invisibility being Invisibility, and Endurance giving him an even better Feel No Pain (and layered defences are the best kind; see Heldrakes and Wave Serpents). The only problem here is once again the Win-More Fallacy; Draigo plus any number of Paladins is going to wreck basically anything on the charge, but you're going to paying 500pts for the privilege and you can still only kill one thing per turn. As such, I would tend to recommend putting Draigo in front of your most important unit on the drop, using the Run movement to ensure that he's in the bullet-catching position at the front, but then splitting off in the next turn to charge multiple units; Draigo alone is going to beat any unit that doesn't have a very powerful melee HQ hiding in it (and by very powerful melee HQ, I really mean it - Lysander and Abaddon are both maybes, but I'd put money on Draigo beating them).
As we can see, Draigo's a really great guy, but he has two problems. One is quite a small problem, which is his cost. He's nearly the price of a Land Raider, and while he certainly has the stats and utility to justify that, it exacerbates the second problem which is the really big one; he's a Lord of War. You need an HQ. That's 375pts on 2 characters if you bring a bare-bones Librarian, and if you're bringing a Librarian you'll want Mastery 3 and maybe some other bits and pieces putting you to 400pts or more. That's simply more than most lists can spare on two dudes.
I personally really like Draigo as he's a huge melee threat, but if you're bringing him you need to plan your HQ spending very carefully and make sure you can use Draigo to full effect.