Making a List, Checking it Twice: Grey Knights vs. Raven Guard Battle Report
Last time was the very last game of the “Combat Patrol” series in our Escalation League, so it was time to move up to 1000 points (“Incursion”). Given my 1-3 track record, I was still in the dark about how to go about making a list that was competitive on some level. I’m not looking to throw down a super awesome list from the internet, just something means I’m at least having a fair fight.
(Editor’s note - that…uh….didn’t happen this week…)
(Second Editor’s note - as I started writing this I realized this is going to be more of an explanation of my list building strategy than a battle report. The actual “battle” wasn’t that long. Scroll down to the end if you want just that).
On YouTube, I found a great video here from a channel called "One Last Blade" that seems to specialize in Grey Knights. In my last game, my opponent had even mentioned the channel, thinking I was a fan. So I checked out the video, and it made a lot of sense. The idea being to actually make a list that supports the objectives you are trying for. Apparently, just throwing cool minis on the table isn’t exactly a winning strategy. Who knew?
First things first
Ok let’s start with picking some secondaries. The biggest downside to Grey Knights is that while I love that their Codex has a lot of thematic secondary objectives and agendas for Crusades, that doesn’t work well in reality. Grey Knights are all about fighting back the daemons of Chaos, so the more thematic objectives center around that. But in my local area, hardly anyone plays daemons, so those objectives are just wasted ink for me. However, as you’ve read, I *do* love to teleport minis. So “Teleport Assault”, where you get 3 victory points when you kill a unit with a unit that you teleported that turn, seems like a given.
What’s next? Well, even though it has been in the core rulebook all along, in the One Last Blade video I was introduced to “Psychic Ritual”. In this objective, you need to get a psyker within 6” of the center of the battlefield. Then, across 3 rounds, they need to spend their psychic phase casting this ritual. If successful, you get FIFTEEN victory points. That’s pretty sweet. Let’s fill that in for objective number 2. For objective number three, I decide to be basic and stick with Slay the Warlord. Six points for killing the leader can be handy.
Time to feel like Hulk Hogan
“BROTHER!!” In other words, picking a Brotherhood. I think in the One Last Blade video he picks a Brotherhood last, but I wanted something that would complement trying to get those objectives. Ended up going with the Prescient Brethren, as I liked their “Fatal Precognition” psychic power. Basically, I get to choose an enemy unit and if that unit moves I roll a d6. On a 4-6 it deals mortal wounds.
Cool, so that’s taken care of. What about getting to the units part? After talking with my last opponent, who also played a lot of Grey Knights, he mentioned using the Brotherhood Librarian instead of the Chaplain. The Librarian gets 2 psychic powers a turn, so it makes him a cheaper version of Grand Master Voldus. Nice. Let’s throw in a generic Brother-Captain as a Warlord so I have a couple of options when it comes to doing the Psychic Ritual.
What do I want for the rest of the army? Dreadknights. Lots of Dreadknights. This is where the competitive lists piece snuck in. I had seen that most lists ran with 3 Dreadknights, so prior to the league I had made sure to get 2 more Dreadknights to go with the one I already had. However 3 Dreadknights is a lot of points, so for this list I went with just 2. That leaves enough points for 2 squads of Terminators. Cool, let's see everyone all together….say cheese!
Round 5: Grey Knights vs. Raven Guard
I wasn’t going to be available during the actual league night to play, so I made up a game during the week instead. This meant that I played against the guy running the league. Fun! The mission we played had each of us deployed in a separate corner of the map. In each corner and the center were objective markers. Standard points earner for having objectives. I decided to hold off on deploying the Dreadknights and drop them in Turn 2. My opponent spent a lot of points on giving his guys special stuff, so after deployment he got to move them all over the map. He couldn’t put them on top of the objective markers, but close enough.
Have you ever played the board game Root? Where the Cats player starts off the game with people in every location and you have to fight to have any ground? Imagine that, but in 40k. Oh wait, you don’t have to imagine. I have pictures.
Most of my forces had been wiped out before it even got to my turn 1. So by the time the Dreadknights came out in Turn 2, they were the only things on the board.
What did I learn?
The best list in the world doesn’t top Skill….and bad luck on dice rolls
Probably shouldn’t have teleported in the Dreadknights. At the 1000 points scale, the board is super tiny, so there really wasn’t much room for them after all.
I would say back to the drawing board, but unlike the previous rounds, we are “locked in” on our lists until the next level at 1500….or are we?