The Grey Knights Dread Knight is based on the concept of hummanity constructing a large fighting rig that would enable a skilled pilot to battle monstrous creatures at their own level. Think of the Power Lifter in ALIENS and you're on the money.While the Nemesis DreadKnight may be ugly as sin, I guarantee you that every Grey Knights player is going to have one, if not three. Especially when they only cost 130 points basic.
Now is the time for us Space Wolves players to figure out how best to kill it. It's what we're good at after all!
We had plenty of warning when the new Tyranid swarm was approaching. We had even more when Blood Angels rumours were sweeping the web.
Both times we put our heads together (it sounded like a bowling alley) and figured it out. Remember that the Space Wolves are capable of anything. That's the whole point of us.
So What Is It?
It's a Monstrous Creature with lots of wounds, high strength, high toughness and a 2+ save as well as a 4+ invulnerable save.
You can clearly see 3 weapon options:
Heavy Psycannon: Str 7 AP 4 36" Heavy 6?, Rending
Heavy Incinerator: Str 6 AP 4 Template, Rending, Fires Like Inferno Cannon
Nemesis Force Weapon: ?
Nemesis Dreadknight: 130 Points
WS 5 BS ? S 7 T 7 W 4 I 4 A 3 Sv 2+/4++
Wargear: Heavy Psycannon, Heavy Incinerator, 2 close combat weapons.
Options: Personal Teleporter +75 Points (Unit can move as though they have a jump pack. Once per game, the unit may move 30", but may not assault afterwards.)
Special Rules: Monstrous Creature, Deepstrike, Psychic Mastery 1 (an use 1 psychic power per turn for each level)
Psychic Powers: Hammer Hand (+1 strength in Close Combat), Holocaust (S5 AP - Large Blast 12")
Optimum Load Out
I expect every Grey Knight player to have 2 of these as standard and use them as walking weapons platforms. Two for 260pts. That sounds pretty damn good.
It's very difficult to kill them at long range with their Toughness 7, 4 Wounds, 2+ save and 4+ invulnerable save. They don't even need cover.
I don't believe anyone will be able to justify the 75 points needed for the personal teleporter.
Believe it or not, this thing isn't great in close combat. It only has 3 attacks. However, unless you can surround it with powerfists or thunder hammers, it's not going to die quickly.
How Do We Kill It?It's got a huge base and it's really, really tall. So we'll always have line of sight to it and any blast weapons are pretty much guaranteed to hit it. You'll also be able to get a ton of models into close combat with it.
For regular Space Marines, the infamous Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield wielding Assault Squad will take it apart no problem.
Space Wolves will need to combine everything they've got to take one of these things down. We need every melta gun, plasma gun and lascannon you can throw at it.
It should roughly take a total of 10 plasma/melta/lascannon shots.
But can your army deliver fire power of that magnitude?
Mine can with 3 Las/Plas Razorbacks and all 3 of my Grey Hunter packs.
(I guess I should hurry up with those las/plas turret conversions)
Failing that, I'll try casting X3 Jaws Of The World Wolf per turn and hope he rolls a 6+. The odds of him falling down a hole are 50/50.
But don't forget that S4 attacks and bolters can still wound it on a 6+. So you could still bring it down with LOTS of basic fire.
CONCLUSION
If you've played against Imperial Guard a few times, then you're used to being shot at. This is no different.
Use your burning Rhinos to hide from Line Of Sight. Run into cover. Go to ground.
Our army has always played like a pack of Wolves. We don't have 1 super unit that can easily butcher someone else's super unit. Our army has to work together... like a pack.
Pick on the weak, then attack the toughest units en masse. Or simply avoid them.
The Space Wolves army is a lot smarter than a rock that you use to bash against another rock.
With a some solid tactics and a little wolf cunning, we can still beat any army.
As Codex Creep continues we won't be relying on the ferocity of our Grey Hunters, but their flexibility instead.
Right then, I'd best get started on those las/plas Razorback turrets...
25 comments:
February 12, 2011 at 12:23 PM
Don't forget that the Dreadknight has 2 Doomfists, so he is base 4 attacks.
I agree it is far from unbeatable, keep your wits and you will kill the beast!
More info:
It may choose two ranged weapons, but may not have to of the same weapon, and there is a third choice.
It may also replace one Doomfist with either a Nemesis Daemon Hammer or Great Weapon.
Also he is BS 4.
February 12, 2011 at 12:31 PM
Yea, my plan for it with my army is to soften it up with a salvo or two of Krak Rockets(yes, I know it still gets it's save but hey, I've seen a friend roll 5 2+ saves and end up with 5 1's before), then roll in with Thunderwolves and wail on him... sure he may be S7, but he's going to have an uphill battle against a properly kitted out T-Wolf squad.
February 12, 2011 at 12:33 PM
Don't forget, I4 and it being a MC means it only falls down the hole 1/6 times since MC adds +1
February 12, 2011 at 12:46 PM
Adam has already taken that into account. 3 shots at a 6 is roughly 50%... Still I think that TWC kitted out should break this thing to pieces. Im just glad he is not S10! Then I would be fresh out of idea's!
The points cost is pretty good. Expect to see a lot of these guys. I imagine it will depend on what else is available in the Force Org slot.
I know people elsewhere have said it but it really does look like some kind of transformer...
February 12, 2011 at 1:25 PM
Yes, it is ugly as sin, that's for sure. The amazing stats will certainly make it a staple in any GK army.
However, with 6+ save on JotWW, 3 times, that's 3/18. Where are you getting 50% failure?
Also, since it is a Toughness/Wound model, and not a vehicle, why aren't we considering our Wolf Scout snipers? They have always shined against such models. Also being an Eldar player, my pathfinders are always my go-to unit for high T/W enemies. Our scouts are even better snipers than the other chapters having a BS4.
February 12, 2011 at 1:32 PM
Sorry for the double post. I have a close friend who has played the GK's since they were first released. I have played against them, and they have a rule that nullifies any and all psychic powers against them on a roll of ?+. I don't remember the exact roll, but it is fairly decent. They are after all, designed to fight against daemons, which are psychic based. Our JotWW may not be as reliable as we may hope it to be.
Also, the GKs have another rule that negates long range fire, similar to night fighting rules or the Eldar Harlequin Spiritseer shroud. It is not as effective as either of these two examples, but point being, long range fire will be more or less ineffective.
February 12, 2011 at 2:54 PM
Guys, dont forget we have a purpose built Elite choice which is ideal for this. Say hello to Mr Lonewolf with a Thunderhammer and stormshield/combi plasma (player choice) Mr Dreadknight :)
February 12, 2011 at 3:02 PM
I'd have to agree as well... Grey Knights' is my first army going into 40K but you can be as ugly as Barney with those stats; I'd probably take 3!
There goes my 2nd T-Wolf squad... maybe I could sell a kidney.
February 12, 2011 at 5:27 PM
Well, Adam has 3 priests. Assuming they all have Jaws and all pass their Ld tests and all get the powers off thats 3 holes appearing under octimus prime. If it dies on a 6 and you need 6 tries to make it go down then obviously having 3 tries works out at roughly 50%... Its not very accurate but I dont think that was the point in the comment. He is saying we have the tools to deal with it.
February 12, 2011 at 5:44 PM
That's correct.
It's going to take a total of 6 Jaws Of The World Wolf attacks to kill one statistically.
So if you're casting 3 instead of 6, then the chance of him falling down a hole is 50/50.
Simple maths :)
Anyway, we do have the tools to bring this beast down. It's just going to take a lot of tools.
I feel it's a truly disgusting unit considering its points cost. Every army will struggle to kill it and every Grey Knights player will field 2, if not 3.
February 12, 2011 at 6:22 PM
Arjac's Hammer and Jaws combined should do it. Too bad if it's shooty it'll be behind their psychic power deepstrike automishap probably...
February 13, 2011 at 12:44 AM
Why would you ever consider bringing THREE PSYKERS against Grey Knights? The guys who have crazy anti-psyker abilites, defenses and offenses. If anything, I would bring one in a Land Raider against them and simply use him for cover and his hood. Looks like the Grey Knights will be relying heavily on psychic powers..
February 13, 2011 at 2:54 AM
Well, our Rune Priests dispell THEIR psychic powers on a 4+ for starters.
February 13, 2011 at 7:34 AM
Do our Rune Priest also dispell automatic psychic powers?
A friend of mine states that we can't dispell some eldar mambo jambo!
February 13, 2011 at 2:37 PM
Yes, you can dispel any psychic power that requires a Psychic Test, even if the model using a power says they auto-pass the test. If a model is using an ability with the same profile as a psychic power, but never takes a Psychic Test to use it, that cannot be dispelled(though I think they got rid of that after the previous Chaos Space Marine codex
February 13, 2011 at 5:40 PM
I think its pretty funny that grey knights have all these awesome anti psyker abilities because they are meant to be specialised against daemons, but one of the few armies they will never use them against is daemons as their abilities do not count as psychic powers!
Chaos marines yes, daemons no.....
February 13, 2011 at 7:03 PM
As a GK player I am seriously exited for the new codex. As a SW player I look forward to alot more blood angel and GK armies to pit my lupine companions against. Let them come I say, and we shall prove that the Sons of Russ are the finest of the Imperiums defenders!
February 13, 2011 at 9:38 PM
Newest rumor has the dreadknight base cost at 135 with no guns which is pretty reasonable considering its pretty slow without the teleporters, and doesn't have enough base attacks to chew through units.
February 14, 2011 at 12:30 AM
dread knight = wack... the concept is cool, being able to fight back at a monster's size... the design is poor. Anyone could of taken a bumble-bee action figure and stuck a gw marine pilot in the cabin, paint it silver and call it a day... wack x 1000
March 29, 2011 at 9:53 PM
His statistics have been shown in the latest white dwarf.
He has S 6 T 6 so that makes bit less scary. Also he has terminator armour which means a 5+ invulnerable instead of 4+. I don't know about the point value.
Not sure about the psychic powers as well (did not buy the white dwarf just had a quick glimpse. But according from the test they did on the GW site and the comments he's able of having str 10 in hand to hand.
Now, I'm not a space wolf player but guard and I say, let this baby come at me and I shall light it like the 4th of July. Everything with AP 1 or 2 or rending, tears it down to scrap.
April 1, 2011 at 12:34 PM
Not sure how anyone can call it "ugly as sin" or "wack", to my mind its one of the best looking models GW's produced in a while. Most of the new GK models seem incredibly detailed and solid to me, I personally think they've done a great job with them.
April 9, 2011 at 3:52 PM
Just a little tip, doomfists are S10 because they are dread close combat weps, so thunderwolves can die pretty easily to it. Also, what you guys are thinking is that everyone is going to be taking loads. They're two basic troops and HQ can cost most of the army, so they will have little else if they have 3.Just throw a lone wolf at it and it will cry. Especially with TH/SS, it will struggle with that.
April 21, 2011 at 3:14 PM
Its always funny to see a Space Wolves player critique anything and consider something to be "ugly".
May 17, 2011 at 1:15 AM
It is Actually Strength 10 with the Doomfists or hammer, and the hammer strikes at normal initiative. The Sword, if it chooses it, re-rolls failed hits, wounds, and armor Penetration! All his ranged weapons are 24", so he IS going to get up close and personal. Best choices for CC, are Thunder lords with saga of the beast-slayer and SS TH goodness.
April 19, 2013 at 3:21 PM
As a grey knight player i have to laugh when reading the replys, not one of the posts allow for the grey knight army to have anything but the Dreadknight...
Unless your playing a 200point army, gearing up just for him is pointless.. Paladins, Librarians, and every HQ we run can match your psykers 1:1 they are specificly made for killing psykers and defending from you..
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