GRAY FOR GREY KNIGHTS

100^th post here, so time for a re-cap of what’s been going on:

For the past couple of years we here at Wednesday Night Gaming have had run the gamut of games from the variety of armies the 3 of us have accumulated. Laur has a core Space Marine army which he wields successfully and often, has dabbled in Tyranids and is recently pursuing his love for the Tau. Doug on the other hand started out as our resident Ork player, but has since been fully aligned to the forces of Chaos. He even has an Eldar battleforce gathering dust somewhere, no doubt to remain in cold storage until their next, brand new codex comes around.

Apart from a one-off foray into the old Daemonhunters codex, I am a fully-committed Imperial Guard player, but recently I’ve found myself close to ‘finishing off’ my core IG collection of models that suited my playstyle, if you know what I mean (once I finish off my still-in-progress Valkyrie in the building that is).

I found myself hungering for a new challenge, a new army! A different playstyle, but I didn’t want to go down the Marine-spinoff 3+ save route, that being the Blood Angels, or the Space Wolves. I quite liked the fluff and look of the models f the Tau, but already had that. Would Dark Eldar be a possibility? They’ve a very radically different playstyle, but I must admit despite the recent facelift, new codex, etc, I’m not a big fan of the models. Same with the Necrons. But I really did feel that the game was becoming stale, and predicatable.

I had to try something different.

Then one day surfing around the Bay of Ecastasy, I picked myself up a 2^nd-hand army, as a starter Grey Knight battleforce, along with a copy of the codex, and I must say I am hooked! So yeah, despite going down that precise route which I said I had initially wanted to avoid, the Grey Knights army is still a breed apart from the standard Space Marine codex and playstyle, with a variety of competitive builds I’m coming to terms with and have had great fun painting, building, list-making, and playing as well. I had already given Daemonhunters a shot (using my own IG force and models to bolster it), so why not?

That and the great wargear, psychic powers, and fun models (Dreadknight!)

So 100^th post on, here’s my Grey Knight army I’ve collected so far in a nice, family album shot!

From left to right, starting with the back row furthest in the picture, with all squads in MSU 5no. config:

1. Razorback, Grey Knights dreadnought, Nemesis Dreadknight, Razorback

2. Razorback (unbuilt), Strike Squad (metal), Strike Squad (metal), Interceptor Squad.

3. Strike Squad, Strike Squad, Purgation Squad

4. Terminator Squad (unbuilt), Paladin Squad, Librarian, Strike Squad, Purifier Squad (unhelmeted headswaps for that heroic look)

5. Culexus (unbuilt), Vindicare (unbuilt), Crowe (unbuilt).

You’ll note that some models have been undercoated white with a wash applied. Those were from the first battleforce I bought , along with the Dreadknight and the models still in packs, as I intend to paint them all an angelic ‘white’ look (bloody hard, harder than orange!) for my White Grey Knights. Everything else I’ve been buying piecemeal as and when the fancy takes me.

 I’ve managed to paint a 5-man squad, though that’s taken 3 weeks! (but it’s worth it as the models are so fantastic I want to do them justice). It’s also been great fun modelling them, I’ve managed to build some perfectly good magnetised Pysfleman arms (courtesy of this tutorial from Gone to Ground), in addition to providing headswaps for my Razorback driver, making a ‘veteran’-looking Purifier squad, and building a Purgation squad to provide Psycannon models for my Strike Squads when I need them.

Price-wise, in terms of what I’ve spent picking up items 2^nd-hand for a new starter army? Let’s see:

Starter battleforce (Librarian, Culexus, Vindicare, Crowe, Paladins, Strike Squad, Strike Squad, Purgation Squad, Nemesis Dreadknight, Codex) - £110

Razorback - £15

Razorback - £12.50

Razorback (unbuilt) - £12.50

Grey Knight Dreadnought - £22

Dreadnought - £18

Terminators - £22

Strike Squads (Metal x 2no. squads) - £25

3no. Squads (plastic Strike Squads and 1no. Interceptors) – £22

Total cost:  approx. £260 (not inc. posting/packaging costs)

Not bad! I must have spent 3 times that amount on my Imperial Guard, what with the tanks, planes and masses and masses of little plastic soldiers I have.

So there you have it, 3 years on returning to the fray as a dedicated 40K Imperial Guard player, I am now a Grey Knight convert. Every one of us on Wednesday Night Gaming now has a 3+ MEQ army, though the Guard will always be my one, true passion.

But for now, I shall shunt and rad grenade about as I please as I test out my shiny new toys, but don’t worry, this won’t be a mere shrine to the Imperium’s Finest Finest (the name of this blog lends itself to be a shrine to the Guard, though my posts are now always about them).

Disclaimer: Images above used without permission.