The Grey Knight Grand Master and the Brother Captain are almost the exact same guy. They are so similar I figured I’d cover them both in one post.
The Grand Master is the big wig Grey Knight HQ choice. He runs with WS 6, BS 6, strength and toughness 4, wounds and attacks 3, initiative 5, leadership 10 and a 2+/5++ (4++ )save. He is armed with a stormbloter, nemesis force sword, frag, krak and pych-out grenades, terminator armor and an iron halo (4++ save). He has all the Grey Knight stuff and the Psychic Communion power as well as the special rule, Grand Strategist. All this coolness runs 25 points shy of 200, which isn’t awful for a HQ that has these stats, gear and abilities. Oh yeah…the new power/ rule.
Psychic Communion- is a psy power that is used at the movement phase start. If successful then you may add or subtract 1 from your reserve rolls that turn. You choose to add or subtract after you roll for the unit. That is incredibly helpful, unlike an army wide +1/-1 that turn. You can (dice depending) dictate what unit and when you want them coming in from reserve.
Grand Strategy-is the real reason this guy should be taken. It allows for D3 units of infantry, jump infantry, walker or monstrous creature to get one of four special rules. The roll for how many and units chosen are done pre-game. The chosen units must all have the same rule. This ability cannot be used on Inquisitional units, Ghost Knights, and Independent Characters. These rules for the units are……
1. Hammer of Righteousness which allows re-rolls of 1’s to wound.
2. Shield of Blades gives the counter-attack universal rule.
3. Spear of Light grants the unit the scout universal rule.
4. Unyielding Anvil makes the unit troops for objective claiming purposes.
These can all be quite useful depending on the army and mission being played. If you want a squad of guys to have some extra close combat punch on the defense grab Shield o’ Blades. Want a scoring Dreadknight? You got it. Want those Rhinos full of strike squads across the board sooner? Give them Spear o’ Light. If you are a great roller to hit, but flub the wound rolls or are afraid you will, throw Hammer on something. This ability is pretty descent and can open up some interesting options for a force.
Now the Grand Master can grab a slew of upgrades. He can get: an incinerator, psilencer, psycannon, demon hammer, halberd, falchions, warding staff, servo skulls, digital weapons, blind, rad, psychotroke grenades, brain mines, an orbital strike relay, psybolt ammo and can master craft any of his weapons. He can also upgrade to psy level 2.
If you go crazy on upgrades the Grand Master will get expensive quick. Personally I’d always run him with rad grenades. Always. The other options are there for personal preference. The halberd would be a nice upgrade to get initiative 7 in close combat, but the nemesis sword is great as it drops your iron halo save by 1 in close combat, not bad either. You can drop the points to get another psycannon in the force as well. A BS6 Terminator psycannon to boot! However the upgrades are situational to your army, but rad grenades should be on this guy. Who doesn’t want an opponent to be at -1 toughness the first round of combat?
The Brother Captain is almost the exact same guy as the Grand Master. There are very small differences; BS 5, no Grand Strategy and 25 points cheaper are the three main differences. He has the same equipment as the Grand Master and the same psychic powers. He also has access to the same wargear, but with a five point savings on both the psycannon and psilencer. He really is just a Grand Master without the Grand Strategy ability. So he can be fitted to fight well, or to add a heavy firing psycannon shooting. It is what best suits your taste or army comp.
Since he is so similar to the Grand Master, why would anyone take him? Honestly, I have no idea. If you want a Brother Captain then go for it, or…..shave 25 points somewhere else and just take the Grand Master. He brings more to the table and is just about the same cost.
If you take anything from this it is this….don’t forget the rad grenades on your HQ!
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