Grey Knight HQ Librarian review

The Grey Knights are fighters of all things warp and psychic. It just makes sense that they bring their own big psyker to the field in the form of a Librarian. Why not fight the warp powers with the warp powers?

Hey he looks just like the other Chapter's Terminator Librarian

He hass the same silliness that the other Grey Knights have. He comes to the field like most Librarians; WS 5, BS 4, strength toughness and initiative 4, 2 wounds, 2 attacks, leadership 10 and a 2+/5++ save. He rocks Terminator armor, storm bolter, Nemesis sword, frag krak and psyk-out grenades and psychic hood. He is also has a psychic mastery of 2.  He runs the cost of a “vanilla” Marine Librarian plus the Terminator armor, or just fifty points shy of two hundred. However, he only comes with one power and must purchase any additional. So what could he get for additional powers?

Dark Excommunication- is used in either assault phase after moves but before hit rolls. If passed one enemy in base contact will lose any demonic gifts (upgrades) they have purchased until the end of the phase. Goodbye  Warptime/psy powers, Icons, Marks etc.

Might of Titan-is used at the beginning of the Librarian’s assault phase. If passed any friendly unit within 6” gains +1 strength & an additional D6 armor penetration. This power stacks with Hammerhand. So yeah strength 6 power weapons or Grey Knights tearing open armor! AWESOME!

Quicksilver- is used during the movement phase. Any friendly unit within 6” is initiative 10 for that turn. HA! EAT IT BANSHEES!

Sanctuary- is used in the enemy assault phase. If passed then enemy units treat all terrain as difficult and dangerous. This has a 12” range from the casting Librarian.

Shrouding- is used in the enemy shooting phase. It gives the Librarian and all units within 6” the USR Stealth. If a unit is not in cover they gain a 6+ cover save.

Smite- is the codex Space Marine shooting power.

Vortex of Doom- is the codex Space Marine shooting power.

Warp Rift- is a shooting power. If you pass you throw out an S * AP- Template. Models hit must pass an initiative test. If pass they are golden. If they fail they are removed from play. No saves of any kind can save them. A vehicle hit from this takes 1 auto penetrating hit (hence the AP- value). This is my second favorite power, first still being Might of Titan.

Summoning- at the beginning if the movement phase, if passed, a single non-vehicle unit is removed from the table and then placed within 6” of the Librarian. This is done using the Deep Strike rules. The unit may not be pulled from combat. A neat ability, but scattering badly is always a risk.

Now any additional powers are only 5 extra points. A mere pittance, but they don’t get the “pick two from the list to have for free,” like the other chapters. He can also upgrade to a psy mastery of 3, which is pretty awesome. It does open up all sorts of shenanigans if you can do three crazy mind things per turn.

Now the Librarian can take a few upgrades the first few being typical: psybolt ammo, master crafted weapons, digital weapons, all the different Nemesis weapons, and brain mines. They also can grab, up to, 3 servo skulls and a teleport homer. The skulls can help with Summoning units, if they are near the Librarian and the homer is good for calling those reserve Terminators or Strike Squads to him. All the extra gear is there for those who want it to supe-up your guy or in my mind you have spare 5-10 points in the list.

So is the Grey Knight Librarian as popular as the Rune Priest or the “vanilla” counterpart? Time will tell. He comes at a little higher price, and has to purchase anything that isn’t Hammerhand, but he does bring some psychic potential to the Grey Knights; be it defense, shooting, movement (for and against) or buffs.

Personally, I like the option of mastery 3, Quicksilver, Might of Titan, and Warp Rift. Then stick him in a squad of 5 or 6 Terminators. The Warp Rift is great since it requires no hit roll, and even against MEQ it has the chance to work ½ the time. The ability to increase their strength and initiative is just crazy. Then stack Hammerhand for some super assault phase fun! That or fail/ get powers suppressed and just have another guy in Terminator armor, but nobody likes to see that side. Let’s go back to the idea of strength 6 (+D6 extra armor pen) and Initiative 10 Terminators!