2k Swordbearers for RTT in a Week

[librisrouge]

I finally get to play some 40k soon and I'm very much looking forward to using my Grey Knights. Here is the list I'm thinking about utilizing. I'd love any feedback.

 

Company: Swordbearers

 

HQ-

Librarian - Warlord (Psychic Epitome), Stave, Stormbolter, Purifying Flamer, and Vortex of Doom

GMNDK - Hero of the Chapter (First to the Fray), Augurium Scrolls, Servant of the Emperor, Greathammer, Heavy Psycannon, Heavy Psilencer, Gate of Infinity, and Empyric Amplification

Troops-

Strike Squad x5 - Justicar (Sword), Halberd x3, and Psycannon

Strike Squad x5 - Justicar (Sword), Halberd x3, and Psycannon

Strike Squad x5 - Justicar (Sword), Halberd x3, and Psycannon

Strike Squad x5 - Justicar (Sword), Halberd x3, and Psycannon

Elite-

Dreadnought - Multimelta

Fast Attack-

Interceptor Squad x10 - Justicar (Hammer), Stave, Sword x3, and Halberd x5

Interceptor Squad x10 - Justicar (Hammer), Stave, Sword x3, and Halberd x5

Heavy Support-

NDK - Teleporter, Greatsword, Heavy Psycannon, and Heavy Psilencer

NDK - Teleporter, Greatsword, Heavy Psycannon, and Heavy Psilencer

NDK - Teleporter, Greatsword, Heavy Psycannon, and Heavy Psilencer

 

Trying to lean into the swordbearer stuff while enjoying the GKs I've always loved most (Dreadknights and Interceptors).

[Skywrath]

I see nothing wrong with this list honestly - it's good, and everything makes sense!

 

Few tweaks though - drop one strike squad for an apothecary with a character upgrade. Also I'd drop the psycannons on them, unless there was a theme you had in mind? The other thing is dropping that dreadnought and squeezing in a 3-5m paladin squad (points permitting) for the psychic toolkit. Give the psycannons to them, if you want to. Other than that, you are good to go sir, and I hope we see the bat-rep! 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Skywrath

[librisrouge]

Few tweaks though - drop one strike squad for an apothecary with a character upgrade. 

I'm not sure what you mean by a character upgrade? Is there a relic or warlord trait you think he'd benefit from?

 

Also I'd drop the psycannons on them, unless there was a theme you had in mind? 

I've found that, in the 1.5 games I've played with the new GKs so far, that my strike squads regularly sit on objectives and are away from a lot of the action. Since psychic actions don't prevent them from shooting, I've found that the bit of extra punch the psycannon gives is appreciated.

 

The other thing is dropping that dreadnought and squeezing in a 3-5m paladin squad (points permitting) for the psychic toolkit. Give the psycannons to them, if you want to. Other than that, you are good to go sir, and I hope we see the bat-rep! 

A small squad of paladins tempts me and I could get them with the strike squad AND dreadnought dropped, however, I could not get them and the apothecary and I'm not sure that the pallies are worth it without one. I've loved apothecaries with large terminator squads but small power armored squads don't have enough wounds or staying power to make that 6+++ meaningful.

 

Thanks for the feedback. You've given me a thing or two to think about.

[Skywrath]

 

Few tweaks though - drop one strike squad for an apothecary with a character upgrade. 

I'm not sure what you mean by a character upgrade? Is there a relic or warlord trait you think he'd benefit from?

 

Gifts of the Prescient/Augurium upgrades, e.g. Gem of Inoktu

 

Also I'd drop the psycannons on them, unless there was a theme you had in mind? 

I've found that, in the 1.5 games I've played with the new GKs so far, that my strike squads regularly sit on objectives and are away from a lot of the action. Since psychic actions don't prevent them from shooting, I've found that the bit of extra punch the psycannon gives is appreciated.

 

Fair enough, but consider this - once you shoot them, the opponent's counterpunch will probably kill that squad, and when your turn hits, you'd be hitting on 4's consistently due to movement. Unless you plan to spend 2CP a turn just to hit on 3's (or re-roll 1 unit due to CM rerolls of Kaldor), is that worth it? 

 

The other thing is dropping that dreadnought and squeezing in a 3-5m paladin squad (points permitting) for the psychic toolkit. Give the psycannons to them, if you want to. Other than that, you are good to go sir, and I hope we see the bat-rep! 

A small squad of paladins tempts me and I could get them with the strike squad AND dreadnought dropped, however, I could not get them and the apothecary and I'm not sure that the pallies are worth it without one. I've loved apothecaries with large terminator squads but small power armored squads don't have enough wounds or staying power to make that 6+++ meaningful.

 

Thanks for the feedback. You've given me a thing or two to think about.

 

Here's where I insert a hot take - terminators/paladins still have a place. As today's game against my dearest friend demonstrated (not sarcasm), strikes don't have much in ways of defense. You'd probably be locked to preservers if you go down the terminator path, however there could be an avenue for prescient there. By themselves, paladins aren't worth it - probably agree. Terminators fall into a similar category,  however if you are going to be contesting a point in the middle of the board, having a 2+/4++ due to Sanctuary or Zone of Warding will be better than no save on a 3++ PA squad. Honestly, this argument is why I'm falling out of favour with my Grey Knights - our defensives suck, and no amount of melee ability will help us in that regard. I'm not a fan of Dreadnoughts personally - if I wanted lascannon/meltas, I'd probably shell out the points for a regular LR. However, with the Apothecary - it's another character you could give the Obsec aura to due to Noble Death/WL trait, or foretelling of locus to redeploy. We have some nice tricks with this codex for sure, but together, those tricks aren't going to fool a lot of players, imo.

 

In blue.

Edited August 31, 2021 by Skywrath

[librisrouge]

That raises some really good points and echoes some thoughts I've had since the codex came out. I'm hesitant to rely too much on power armored units. I've got quite a bit to think about now.