Grey Knight grenades and 2 other items

Most of Grey Knight HQ choices can take some eclectic wargear options. The majority of these are grenades, and a couple other options. These should cover the non-standard/ little known wargear options for Grey Knight leaders.

Blind Grenades- These are defensive grenades that lessen the enemy charge. Assaulting enemy units fight with -1 attack. Now your Grey Knights can be irritating to charge like Plague Marines.

Rad Grenades- These dose the opponent with radiation and weaken them. When assaulting or being assaulted, the enemy unit is at -1 toughness. This lasts only for one assault phase. This is a full point will affect the calculation of Instant Death. Probably my favorite option as making targets easier to wound is always awesome.

Psyk-Out Grenades- Made of psi-refractive particles these stun and disorient psykers and warp based beasts. When assaulting any demon or psyker, they will fight at initiative 1 for that phase. A situational option, but a real screw job if used against those Slaanesh Demon Princes.

Empyrean Brain Mines- These are made from Ghost World technology (spooooky). They fire off an energy pulse that momentarily stuns the opponent’s brain. After assault moves but before rolls to hit are made, nominate an enemy model. That model must pass an initiative test, and if they pass they ignore the Brain Mine. If they fail then that model cannot fight during that assault phase. I see little use in these, since most models you want to have not attack have a 5 or higher initiative. I guess if you like the luck side of dice rolling, then grab these for your HQ.

Psyko-Troke Grenades- These are crazy nerve gas grenades that cause hallucinations in their targets. When assaulting or being assaulted you roll a D6 for each enemy involved. Any effect will only last for that phase.

1-      No effect

2-      The enemy is reduced to 1 attack per model, and are auto hit

3-      Re-roll failed hits vs. enemy

4-      Enemy leadership dropped to 2

5-      Enemy initiative dropped to 1

6-      Take initiative test per model, if passed then they are ok. If failed that model must direct their attacks against their squad/ unit. Any wounds must be allocated against the unit struck. These wounds also count toward combat resolution.  

These are the fun grenade. They can potentially wreak some havoc for a combat phase, especially if you roll 2, 3, or 6. It will be interesting to see if they are supported widely of just locally.

Servo Skulls- These are available as a single, pair or triple. They are counters that give some deployment buffs and de-buffs. If purchased they are placed on the table after deployment zones are chosen, but before a model is placed. They can be dropped anywhere outside of the opponents deployment zone. Once deployed, the skulls cannot move.

The Servo Skulls allow friendly blast templates to scatter D6 less inches if within 12”. They also allow friendly deep strikers to scatter D6 less inches if they are within 12”.They do not allow infiltration by the enemy within 12” of their location. They also will not let an enemy scout move to occur/end within 12” of them.  They also will be removed from play if an enemy unit is within 6” of them.

Servo Skulls can be useful for deployment shenanigans, deep strike accuracy and blast scatter. They are another "time will tell" upgrade. It is nice to see a use for the little Servo Skull models G.W. made.

Orbital Strike- This is the new version of the previous codex heavy support. It is nice to see again and it doesn’t require burning a force organization slot. However, is it better or worse than before? It required the user to be stationary during that movement phase to fire. It also scatters a full 2D6” even if a hit is rolled (Servo Skull might help that scatter). There are three choices of strike and you must choose which type prior to firing.

1.       Barrage Bomb- unlimited range, S6 AP4, D3 Ordnance, Large Blast (roll D3 each time fired)

2.       Lance Strike- unlimited range, S10 AP1, Heavy 1, Blast, Lance (vehicle suffers full S10 hit    no matter where center hole of template is)

3.       Psykout Bomb- unlimited range,S6  AP4, Ordnance, Large Blast, Psi-Shock (psykers hit suffer a Perils from the Warp and then any bomb damage)

The option to pick prior to firing gives this item some versatility. However, the stationary nature of the weapon is where it suffers. Grey Knights don’t appear to be a stand and shoot army; they look to be the 24”-30” field control force.  So, a stand and shoot weapon isn’t great, and neither is the full 2D6" scatter.  

The previous codex version was tied to a terrain piece and dropped every turn after it was “triggered.” It rolled scatter from the nominated terrain piece. Problem there was it was easily avoided. You also bought one type and that was the only type you fired. It also used a heavy support slot that could be used for Land Raiders or Dreadnoughts. So the new Orbital Strike is better than the old version, but I just don’t see it getting much use outside of “for fun.”

Ok, now lets get to some unit reviews!