Tuning my GK all shunt list part 4 - Wrapping it up

So, I think I have reached the point where I can no longer be productive in thinking about or talking about my shunt list.  Only by playing it will I be able to add anything new to the discussion.  I have decided on one of the two following lists:

The first one is:
GKGM with psyotroke grenades and incinerator
2x 10 GKSS with 2 Psycannons, 2 hammers, and justifier with halberd
2x 10 GKIS with 2 Psycannons, 2 hammers, and justifier with halberd
3x Dread Knights with heavy incinerator and teleporter

I realize that this list is weak against air, and against 3 dragons I will be forced to throw myself into melee.  What I like about this list is that most of my stuff is fast.  It can either jump, DS, or teleport - so I can be where I need to be.  There is a bonus with the GKIS and the local tournament, because all of the games in the tournament have troops as additional kill points - so normally combat squading to take more objectives means making more potential points for my opponent.  With GKIS, I can combat squad both of them (assuming an average grand strategy roll), and have 6 scoring units, while only presenting my enemy with 2 potential bonus points (like I said, still not sure GKIS worth it normally, but with grand strategy, they might be).



The second list has
GKGM with psycotroke grenades and master crafted psycannon
3x 10 GKSS with 2 psycannons, 2 hammers, and justifier with halberd
1 Stromraven with hurricane bolters, psybolt ammo, Assault cannons and MM
3x Dread Knights with heavy incinerator and teleporter

This list takes a flier against air.  It also have 3 GKSS and no GKIS.  Like I mentioned in an earlier post, GKSS can get where they need with deep strike, and I don't need to be much closer than 24" most of the time, so GKIS, while nice, probably aren't critical - Obviously I'll make the NDK scoring if need be.

I think both of these lists are pretty solid.  My favor is leaning toward the top list, hitting hard and dominating the manuever phase, but I think the second one might be a little better against all-comers, because the flyer helps mitigate what might be a hard-counter to the first list.

Tuning my GK all shunt list part 3.2 Tau

I considered doing a guard detachment, but I don't like it for this list either.  It brings me two flyers,and two more troops, both of which are useful, but it doesn't feel like it really synergizes (the HQ and the Troops just sit in the vehicle and hope not to get shot down, if I am going to buy allies, I want to get my points worth) - it just feels thrown in.

The last ally I considered is Tau.  While I think that this is pretty solid, I don't actually own any Tau, so I don't know if I'm going to field this, or be able to test it, but of the allies I considered, I think I like this one - additionally, I can see the GK working with the Tau.  Of all the Xenos races, they seem the most honorable, and they, like Grey Knights (with demon hosts and Jakaeros) use other races when it benefits them.


Commander +2 Bodyguard - The commander has shield generator and Neuroweb system Jammer, and all 3 of them have 2 missile pods (or twin-linked) and velocity tracker.

a 3 man Xv8 Crisis Team, each with velocity tracker and 2 missile pods (or twin linked)

Kroot Squad with 11 Kroot.

Both teams of battle suits have anti-air capability, but are not wasted if the enemy doesn't bring air.  The have jump packs so they can keep up, and fit in with the theme.

The kroot can infiltrate up, and put pressure on the backfield, or act as screening force if need be.

While I like this, it only gives me 3 scoring units, and one of them are the sacrifical kroot - although I will have Grand Strategy to boost my scoring count if need be.

Tuning my GK all shunt list part 3.1 Necron Allies

So, the first allies I am considering for my GK allies are Necrons.  GK/Necron lists seem to do pretty well in tournaments.  On the other hand, even though the fluff might support it, I really have a hard time with accepting that Grey Knights would work with Necrons.

Assuming that my Grey Knights would work with Necrons, the next question to answer is, do Necrons add anything to this specific list?

While there are a lot of possible Necron ally lists, the biggest gap in my Shunt list is anti-air, and Necron is the only army that lets me take 3 discrete aircraft.  I can take 2 units of warriors, each with Night Scythe, and then a Doom Scythe.

This would give me 2 more scoring units, 3 flyers that can act independently, for both AA and Ground support.

Despite my feelings about Necrons working with Grey Knights, this does fill a hole in the list.  On the other hand, I can take a Stormraven for 205 points, with 4 missiles (although 90% they suck, I have sniped HQ with them), a TL assault cannon, and a Multi-Melta.

The Night Scythes are costing me about 195 (65 for the unit + 100 for the Scythe + 30 for 1/3 of the overlord) each, for basically 2 autocannons and 2 scoring units who won't die if the plane blows up.

I already have access to cheap troops, and 10 points is worth a MM, rending, and an extra point of armor (and I save myself the money of buying 3 Necron fliers), so I probably won't go with this incarnation of Necron allies, although I want to note that even though I don't think these Necrons bring anything to my list, they don't take anything away either - I think this would be a pretty competitive list, if I already had some Necrons, and wanted to branch into Grey Knights.

Grey Knight Interceptor Squad - Tuning my GK all Shunt list part 2

So, based on my previous posts, my shunt list is looking something like:

GK Grand Master - Sword, Incinerator, Psychotroke Grenades
3x10 GKSS with Psybolt, 2 psycannons, 1 hammer, and Knight with Halberd
1x10 GKIS with Psybolt, 2 psycannons, 1 hammer, and knight with halberd
3x Dreadknights with 2 Power fists, heavy incinerator, personal teleporter

Hmm, GKIS.... Why am I paying so many points for these?  Because they can teleport with the Dread Knights, and get right in the enemy's face.  The thing is, they have a range of 24",  they are not awesome at assault, so they really don't gain very much by being closer than 24", and most times they can make their normal 6" and be within 24" - and anytime I wouldn't be (because the enemy is playing the range game, I can accomplish the same thing by deep striking the GKSS.

If I used Grand Strategy to make them scoring, I could jump them for last turn objective grabbing or I could use them for last turn objective contesting, which gives them some flexibility, and the difference between the GKSS and an identically outfitted GKIS is 60 points, so with Grand Strategy, it might be worth it, otherwise probably not.

Tuning my GK all Shunt List, Part 1

So, I took my Shunt List to the tournament, and did pretty well with it, but there were some things that could be better.  This is what I had.

ADL with Icaras Las Cannon
2x 1 Inquisitor with Prescience
3x 10 Strike Squads, 1 hammer, 2 psycannons, SGT with Halberd, Psybolt ammo
1x 10 GK Intercept Squad
3x NDK with teleporters and Heavy Incinerators

While the alpha strike worked pretty well, and in several of the games, most of the action took place in my enemy's deployment zone.  While this was intentional, it meant that basically almost half of my army was fighting almost all of the enemy's army.

To get more out of my army, I need to either increase the range of the backfield, or I need to not have a backfield.  

Moving Everything Up

The 2 GKSS I typically leave behind is are an easy fix - hold them in reserve and deep-strike.  This leaves about 195 points (2 inquisitors and an ADL with Icarus Las Cannon) to move up.

195 Points is not enough to add allies, especially since I am going to need a HQ.  Since I need mobility to keep up with the rest of my army, I am going to need Terminator armor (for deep-strike), since none of our HQ can take   personal teleporters (hey GW, each unit type is supposed to be led by a brotherhood champion, what about GKIS....)

Mordrak - almost enough points for him, and he is an interesting choice because he would give me:
+  Grand Strategy, 
+  Another unit of turn 1 punch, along with NDK and GKIS.  
+  Psychic communion to help bring all my deep-strike units 
-   I would have to make big changes to include is retinue though, and without any special weapons, I'm not sure  
       they are worth it anyway (6 more storm bolters and charge threat are good, but I don't think they represent 
       400 points of good, and Mordrak without Ghost knights is practically giving away "Slay the Warlord", and 
       maybe "First Blood" as well.

Brother Captain-Stern is interesting but maybe TOO well-balanced.
+/- Re-roll is nice, giving it enemy is not
+/- Zone of Banishment could be a game changer, or not, but using it is almost certainly a suicide mission
+/- Psychic Communion is still good, won't be able to use it until turn 2, when, hopefully, most things are already 
        coming 

Grey-Knight Grandmaster is probably better then Stern.  No gimmicks, but solid performance, with enough points left over to include some war gear.
+ Grand Strategy - same as Mordak - make my NDK(s) scoring...
+/- Psychic Communion - Again, good, but turn 2 is a little late.
+ Cheap enough to add war gear (since there is only 20 points left after buying him, and there is very little I can 
        add to this list worthwhile for 20 points, may as well spend it on him)

With the sword already giving a 3+ invulnerable save in combat, there is no point upgrading the weapons, so maybe something like:

Grey Knight Grand Master with Psycotroke grenades and Incinerator - 195 Points.

Grey Knight Brother Captain is the same as Grey Knight Grandmaster, but cheaper, and without Grand Strategy.  Since there is really no units for 50 points either, it comes down to is - is 25 more points of war gear worth losing the ability to make NDK scoring?

KG Brother Captain with Psycotroke Grenades, Incinerator, Rad Grenades - with digital weapons and master-crafted sword - 195 points, also not bad.

Librarian
+ Psychic Hood to extra protection
+ Mastery Level 2
+/- Can take a teleport beacon, but if he deep-strikes, it won't do much good.
+ By taking Grey Knight powers, which mimic blessings, but are cast during different phases of the turn, so there 
          is no penalty for deep-striking.

Librarian with Sword, with Might of Titan, Sanctuary, The Shrouding, Vortex of Doom, Warp-Rift. Still 20 points left, lets say master craft the sword, add digital weapons, and 2 Servo Skulls.

Ordo Malleus Inquisitors make the list because they can also wear terminator armor, and can, therefore, deep-
         strike with the GKSS.
+ Cheap enough that I can have 2, with Psycannons.
-  Weak enough that putting them in forward moving units increases chance of giving enemy "slay the warlord"

2x Inquisitor with Terminator armor, Nemesis Force Hammer, Psycannon, Servo Skulls (3 and 2) = 175 Points.  With last 20 points, give all of the Sergeants master crafting on their Halberds.

Of these, I like the Grand-Master, who is a killer, and can make NDK scoring (cool, but I am not sure it is needed, since they can already contest pretty well, but every tool creates options....); the Librarian who kills almost just as well as the Brother-Captain, but adds a different type of utility, and the Inquisitors, who are a little weak, but add 2 psycannons, and 5 servo skulls (since there will be at least 3 deep-striking units) - probably in that order.

This is going to wrap up part 1, which is basically trading in an ADL and slow HQ for a HQ that can keep up with shunting and deep-striking army.  Eventually I am also going to think about buffing the list with allies and/or extending the range of the defense line, but both of these ideas will involve a lot more juggling of points (and extending the range of rear support still divides my army into two smaller chunks, so I will probably be looking at allies who can join the GK in the front for this particular army).

Chaos...

I know there is a good list or 2 in chaos, there are so many options, but I am starting to think that they just might not fit my play-style.

Heldrakes are awesome, but can't carry an army by themselves.

It looks like, to really be effective, armies need allies, and there aren't any I really like for Chaos (it looks like the ally well with necron air, which is the only army I have none of at all - I had a 3rd edition ground army, but traded it for credit to buy Chaos)

I like armies with maneuverability and firepower, and my chaos list, with the zombies, don't really have either.  This doesn't mean that I can't make a maneuverable or firepower heavy list, and I will try to do it, but I am thinking about going back to blood angels for a while, and then rolling into the new space marines.

Local Tournament - Game 1

Played in a local tournament yesterday.  Points-wise, I was tied for third, but I had lost a game, and the other  2 third placers hadn't, so one of them got it.  Following my own advice, I tried to take a diverse list, with tools to handle everything, without a auto-win gimmick.

My list was:
Chaos Lord - Mark of Khorne, Melta bombs, Sigil of corruption, Power Armour, Axe of Blind Fury, Bolt  
                      Pistol

Unit of 3 Chaos Terminators - Mark of Nurgle, (Combi-melta, Powerfist), (Chainfist, Combi-melta),
                      Terminator Champion (Combi-Melta, Power Axe)

Helbrute - Multi-melta, Power fist with Heavy flamer

Helbrute - Multi-melta, Power fist with Heavy flamer

30 Chaos Cultists - Mark of Khorn, 3x Flamers

10 Chaos Space Marines - Mark of Nurgle, 1 x Heavy Bolter (I waited so long to make my list and
                      assemble my Heldrakes that I had to go with what I had)


10 Chaos Space Marines - Mark of Nurgle, 1 x Heavy Bolter

10 Chaos Space Marines - Mark of Nurgle,

Heldrake with Baleflamer

Heldrake with Hades Autocannon

2 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle

2 Obliterators with Mark of Nurgle

Aegis Defense Line with quad-gun

  As usual, I am terrible at knowing what the opponent had, and I am least familiar with 'nids, but he had 7 monstrous creatures, and a total of something like 16 psyker powers (all of which were biomancy, so  there was endurance and iron arm buffed monsters), and some monster that every shooting phase, causes every unit within 6" to roll 3d6 leadership test, and take ap 2 wounds for every point over your leadership (this cost me a unit of oblits on my turn, as I didn't realize that it worked on my turn as well, so I moved oblits closer to charge)

  So turn 1, all he had were the bosses that spawned gaunts, and 2 large units of gaunts, everything else was in reserve.  I had infiltrate,and he had the warlord re-deploy, so my Warlord and a unit of his gaunts were in combat pretty quickly.  My warlord rolled a 1 for his deamon weapon, so it was not the charge on the slaughter it should have been (and in future turns, he buffed his guys with feel-no-pain, and de-buffed me with -1S and -1T.  I still won that fight, just in time for his Warlord (bone saber guy with iron arm, so initiative 8, Str 9, Tough 9) to kill my warlord, break my squad and wipe them.  - This was turn 3 (we only got 4 turns); the game was slay the warlord, and, up to this point, I was winning 7 to 3.  This combat shot him up to 7 to 6.  Then, on turn 4, I shot some stuff, came close to willing 2-3 monsters (all he had left), but with an average of T6 and 4-6 wounds (some of which were then buffed with Iron Arm), I couldn't kill one that turn (I probably could have focused fire, but since he was about to charge all of my units, I was trying to soften them all up for overwatch, or melee kills.
  On his turn 4, he assaulted 2 units of marines, 1 unit of oblits, and killed them all, making it 7-9 nids.

Thoughts on the game -
  The Helbrutes were about as bad as everyone said.  I can see a use for long range Multi-Melta, but I have that with Obliterators.  I didn't realize at the time, that Helbrutes don't even get a 5+ daemon save that every other walker in my army has.  With no pods, no way to make them outflanking, and no invuln save, I was not impressed.  Of all 3 games, this was their chance to shine, because they might have beaten an unbuffed monster in combat, but they couldn't survive the shooting to get there... from 'nids.
 
  Warlord with cultists.   They got him there, and he killed stuff, but not as quickly as I would have liked, although in this game, I was not going to win against his warlord no matter what I brought, so it is hard to make that call.  The advantage to this, over bikes, is that I was able to use my warlord trait to give them infiltrate.

  Everything else did about how I expected, and the heavy-bolter wasn't even a terrible choice, although double plasma guns would have been better (and 50 points more expensive)  In fact, more plasma, or autocannon havocs was probably the only thing I could have about this list to help against so many monsters.  

Tactics-wise, I should have fallen back through cover and made him chase me a little as I shot, although monsters have move through cover, and all his guys were fleet, but still, a few missed charges might have made the difference, as most of his monsters had at least a few wounds (which is also something I could have done different - I should have focused fire better, but my units were so spread out that they couldn't support each other).  This match-up was a tough fight, but I don't think it was un-beatable with what I brought, had I played it better, although it showed a glaring weakness against psyker strong armies (unfortunately not a weakness I can do a lot about).

Thoughts on list building

   I have been having a really hard time coming up with a Chaos list.  I don't think that it is because they are a bad army, and they have some awesome units.  They also have a few USRs that you can build a list around - preferred enemy and infiltration for example. 

  Why then, has it been so hard for me to make a list?  I think I have the answer.  I was cruising some forums and blogs, and someone, in the comments (and I would credit the person if I remembered who, or which blog), said something like, "The problem is that so many people are trying to win the game in the list building phase, rather than playing the game."

  I think that this is probably why I am having so much trouble.  I think that, instead of playing some things that are cool, and giving myself the tools to face different enemies, I was trying to make an all-comers list  that won the game before even playing - I don't know how I got to there, probably because I used to play games like Magic the Gathering - although even in 40K there have been games where I had lost before even starting the game. 

   I am not saying that this made the game not fun for me, or that I am so competitive that I am a jerk to play against (these are the first two questions I asked myself after realizing what I was doing), but it has created a lot of stress when trying to come with lists.  From now on (or at least for a little while), I am going to try to focus less on the perfect list, and instead just make sure that my list is not auto-lose against certain armies. 

 The criteria I am using, which is from a blog that I will cite if  I can find it again,is that my army must have a plan for:

AV 12 flyers
50 Man blob (with ATSKNF)
40 MeQ
3-5 Rhino / Chimera rush
Deep Striking (DA and Daemons)
Invulnerable save
Aegis Defense line
4 Durable Scoring Units
monsters / large group pf multi-wounds.

  Like I said, this is not my list, and there are some things that I don't know if they need their own sections, for example Invuln save (Stormshields) and ADL would probably both be delt with by volume of fire, and I don't know if I'll always need 4 scoring units - but this is a good place to start.  I will be able to test this (if my army comes in from ebay), because there is a tournament Saturday at the Local Gaming Store.

Thoughts on the Heldrake

I am having a really hard time putting together a good chaos list.  I think that at least part of it is because I might be doing it wrong with the Heldrake.  I have been tabled by 1 Heldrake, and it may have skewed my perception, and after facing it a few times, and running one a few times, I still think my perception is skewed from that one time I got slaughtered.

My most recent games showed me that positioning further back can stop the vector strike, and your opponent bringing his air on to the opposite side of the board from the rest of his army means you can vector strike is air OR flame his guys.

I think it is obvious by now that I am assuming that one is always taking the Baleflamer with a drake, because it is just too awesome not to.  I believe that this is why I am having so much trouble coming up with a list that I like, I am assuming that the Heldrake has to have a baleflamer to be worth the points, so I am taking the Heldrake as my anti-infantry, and then I am spending too many points trying to cover anti-air.  The issue is that Chaos has ALOT of was to kill stuff on the ground, but nothing nearly as efficient as the Heldrake for killing things in the air, and trying to force something else into the anti-air role is leaving me unhappy, because I end up with a list that doesn't have enough anti-troop OR anti-air.

So I am going to try to make some more lists, with auto-cannons on the drakes.  If I take 3, then maybe the baleflamer on one, but I am starting to think that the baleflamer is a trap.  It looks great on paper, and works very well the first time you enemy faces it, but it is not the unstoppable killing machine that you want it to be...

2000 Fast Jump Army to 3 Dread Knight Army

So, after the last tournament, I wanted to take the concept of 2 teleporting dread knights, and turn it up.  So I made the following list:

1 Ordo Malleus Inquisitor with termie armor and psycannon

3 GKSS (10 Man, 2 psycannon, 2 hammers, justifier with halberd, psybolt ammo)

2 GK Interceptors (10 man, 2 psycannon, 2 hammers, justifer with halberd, psybolt ammo

2 Dread Knights (Heavy Incinerators, personal teleporters)

Although this army got tabled on turn 6, I think that was more to playing errors.  Against chaos, especially with heldrakes, I think combat squadding is a mistake (now).  Additionally, he bubble wrapped his units with cultists, which was good idea, but I probably could have (should have) ignored them, since the 5+ cover save doesn't matter against chaos.  This list has the ability to put so many units in the enemy's face on turn 1, that he is playing catch up the rest of the game.  It didn't work out this time, because I was afraid of the counter charge, but it turns out that the characters (with deamon weapons) are the only real threats - getting charged by any of the cultist marines turned out to not be a big deal - considering we have so may AP 3 power weapons.

If I had taken this army to the tournament, I think I would have won (instead of taking second), but after my last game, my chaos friend is looking at 2 Daemon Princes, and at least 2 Heldrakes, whereas 1 of each tore this army apart, so I want to keep the same theme, but add some anti-air, and maybe beef up my Daemon Prince Protection a little, without losing the "in your face" aggressiveness.

First, the interceptor squads - I like them, and they did well, but they are 325 points each, and I need to free up points for air defense, so I cut both of those and the servo skull, giving me 655 points.

I buy 2 Storm Ravens, equipped with TL MM and TL Assault Cannons.  This Leaves me with 245 Points.

I buy another Dread Knight (with Heavy Incinerator and Teleporter), to up my Daemon Protection and to help cover the hole left by the 2 intercept squads I lost.  This leaves me with 10 points.  I am thinking that I want to be able to boost my reserve rolls, so I want to make my inquisitor a Psyker.  This puts me 20 points in the hole, which I cover by dropping Psybolt ammo on 1 squad (the squad the Inquisitor is going to).

I could take Coteaz instead, which would give me re-rolls, the ability to use, we've been expecting you, and a chance to re-roll for steal the initiative - but being able to control when my stuff comes in might be more valuable, as I can push my troops back, or make sure that my flyers come in after his....

I will look into it more, but right now I am looking at:

Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Psyker with Termie armor and psycannon
3 10 Man Strike Squads (2 hammers each, 1 halberd justifier each, 2 psycannons each, and 2 of the units
       have psybolt ammo)
2 Stormravens (TL MM and TL Assault Cannons)
3 Dread Knights with Heavy incinerators and Personal teleporters

Good anti-air, good durability / disruption with Dread Knights, and 3-6 decent scoring units, that can deep strike in.

Dreadknight

So, I've gotten some games in with the Dreadknight.  Prior to 6th edition, no one would take these, because they felt that the Psyrifle Dread was a better use of the slot.  While the Psyrifle Dread is still good, and one of best air defense Grey Knights have, the Dreadknight has been a game changer for me in every game I've taken them.

Bell of Lost Souls made a list of things your Army needs to be able to deal with in 6th, it has to be able to score, deal with light mech spam, deal with hordes, deal with heavy infantry, counter flyers, counter death starts, and counter heavy vehicles.  These are the roles I am assessing the Dreadknight for.

Scoring - Only with the help of a Grand Master.  As a scoring unit, they are hard to get cover for, and only have 4 wounds.  While they might be durable at end game (where a lot of big weapons have been destroyed), most of the time I would rather have 5-10 models that can go to ground if need be.

Light Mech Spam - Good.  Str 10, with smash, makes them reliable anti-mech (should be able to kill 1 a turn fairly reliably.  If given the Heavy Psycannon or the Heavy Incinerator, can also pop light mech at range.

Hordes - Decent, better with incinerator upgrade.  The incinerator can take out a lot of hordes, and ignores cover.  The Dread Knights toughness is high enough that most hordes are going to need 6's to wound (unless poison).  Additionally, as a character, the DK can issue a challenge and likely take out the leader of the horde (the one most likely to have a weapon that can hurt it).  Still only 4 attacks, so while it can hold up a horde, it will take the DK a long time to smash through a horde in melee - but with a personal teleporter and a Heavy Incinerator...

Heavy Inf - Good.  AP 2, str 10, will crush most heavy infantry, except terminators with storm shields and hammers, and special melee characters.

Counter flyer - Weak.  If the DK takes a gatling psilencer, and manages to get behind a flyer (with rear armor 10) the DK can provide some AA threat (with 12 S 4 shots), but not a good plan

Counter Deathstar - Decent.  It really depends on the death star, lots of low AP, High strength hits, especially coupled with decent invuln saves, are going to give the DK problems.  Chaos lords, who go before init 4 with AP 2 weapons, characters with eternal warrior, etc will give DK problems.  But if the DK goes faster, and the character does not have eternal warrior, the DK has a decent chance.

Heavy Vehicles - Good - Taking a personal teleporter makes sure you get there, but once you are there, you should no problem using smash (which is only costing you 1 attack because according to the faq, you halve your attacks before applying modifiers - so you start with 3, go to 2 for smash (round up), +1 for charge, + 1 for 2 power fist or powerfist and sword) to put 2-3 glances / penetrating on armor 13-14.

While you can take a Dk without teleporter, especially since they can deep strike, I use them as my main anti-tank.  Their mission is to put pressure, on turn 1, on anything that is threat to my marines (AP 3 templates, massed fire from lootas, etc).  Then I go for anything that my Psycannons are going to have trouble with (land raiders, monoliths, etc), then I go for whatever else.

Equipping the Dread Knight:
Personal Teleporter:  As I have said, to put hard pressure on tanks and artillery early, you need a personal teleporter - but by the time you take 2 of them, you could have almost bought a 3rd Dread.  While you could use them as counter charge unit, and run them alongside you infantry, maybe with a heavy psycannon, I think there are cheaper ways to get psycannons.  The ability to teleport next to your  enemy on turn 1, especially with 2 of these, pretty much destroys the enemy's plan, and forces him to fight on your terms.  The Dread Knight can teleport, so you can put turn 2 pressure on his stuff (and maybe knowing that you could deep strike into his deployment zone will mess him up just as much).

Heavy Psycannon: Not bad in that it gives you a str 7 rending large template.  While this could be devastating, it could scatter, and against small units / single vehicles, it is less effective than a normal psycannon.  Not a bad choice, but I don't think the best.

Heavy Incinerator - This is the best.  Not only is this the cheapest ranged weapons, but it never misses, it ignores cover, and is almost as powerful as the Psycannon (except for the occasional rend).

Gatling Psilencer - Mostly No.  12 Str 4 shots that always wound deamons on a 4.  Str 6 and 7 also generally wounds demons on 4.  It can be effective as a second gun, against hordes, but it is AP -, so you figure, on average, after misses and saves (5+ armor or cover), you are looking at killing 1-2 xenos a turn).  This is the only weapon DK can use to hit enemy aircraft, if it has rear armor 10, and if the DK can get behind it.

2 Power fists - Extra attack, S 10, free.  This is how I do it.

Power fist + Sword - Still get an extra attack, and Str 10, and get to re-roll to hit, to wound and armor penetrate - for 25 points.  This is a pretty good deal, and the sword looks cool, but usually if I have 25 points, I'll give a unit Psybolt ammo instead.

Power fist + hammer - NO.  You are still S 10, but you lose an attack for concussive, which doesn't do anything against vehicles anymore, and anything that is going to survive a S 10 hit is probably already going at initiative 1.

I like running 2 of these, with incinerators and teleporters.   On turn 1, they can clear a battlement, clear an aegis defense line, position themselves to take out artillery, flame lootas.  Be careful not to teleport right next to his counter charge unit, or his plasma spam unit (unless you think you can flamer them down in 1 attack), but the enemy will almost have to reverse some of his aggressive units, to deal with these.

Paladin Configuration

I am pretty happy with my list, but I am thinking that I can tweak my Paladin squad a little bit. I was looking for some feedback on a couple of ideas (all of the paladin configurations fill the same roll, but for reference, my base army is Draigo + Paladins (10 Paladins, 4 master crafted psycannons, apothecary), 2 GKSS (SGT with Halberd, 2 hammers, 2 psycannons, psybolt), and 2 Dread Knights (teleporters and Heavy incinerators).

I am thinking that 10 Paladins have been effective as they are but, since they are 1000 of my 2000 points, I want to give them a little more versatility.

I have come up with 4 ideas that will make them better, and maybe more versatile.

1. Drop a Paladin and master craft on psycannons. Use those points to buy a Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in terminator armor, with a psycannon, and psyker 1 (to give myself the reroll to hit power).
Gain - Same number of bodies, twin linked shooting, can still deep strike squad if I need to
Loss- 1 less psycannon, can't combat squad (not that I plan on it)

2. Drop Paladin and Master Craft on Psycannons, get coteaz
Gain: Get 2 psyker powers (1 will be re-roll to hit), ability to re-roll steal initiative, and "I've been
expecting you."
Loss: 2 Psycannons, can't combat squad, can't deep-strike

3. Drop Apothecary, master crafting on psycannons, and a hammer (from a GKSS), and get the same Ordo Mallues Inquisitor
Gain: 5 Psycannons (twin-linked), deep strike, combat squad
Loss: Feel no Pain

4. Drop Apothecary, master crafting on psycannons, and a hammer (from a GKSS), and get Coteaz
Gain:still have 4 Psycannons (Twin linked), can still combat squad, steal initiative, and "I've been expecting you."
Loss: No deep strike, no feel no pain.

I am thinking number 3 might be over-kill (I honestly haven't had a problem shooting things to death as is, but I am thinking that a psyker with divination will give me an anti-air boost).

I think all 5 of these configurations are pretty solid, and am looking for input from other people.

I guess, a 6th option, of I am considering Coteaz, is to take a normal inquisitor, without terminator armor.  A Ordo Inquisitor psyker (with 1 power) is 55 points.  If I don't buy terminator armor, I could buy psycotroke grenades and the plasma syphon, and still some points to upgrade weapons - although cool, not sure the grenades are worth it, since my Paladins haven't seen melee yet, although I haven't really played a melee centric army yet either.