Lately I have taken a shine to elite lists i.e Chaos Daemons flying circus and Ravenwing. I think it is the challenge they bring (only having small model count means every loss counts), cheap to build as only low number of models (same applies for painting time) and they all hit like bricks, you just cannot beat the old fashioned way!
Over the weekend I had the idea of a Paladin bomb. I have played against Paladins before and they are tough bastards to bring down. I think an entire centred around them would be extremely tough!
Grey Knights 'Paladin Bomb' - 2,000 points
HQ
Grand Master Mordrak
2 x Ghost Knights - 2 x nemesis halberds
Librarian - 3 x servo skulls, sanctuary, the shrouding & master crafted
Elites
10 x Paladins - apothecary, 4 x psycannons, 3 x nemesis halberds, 2 x nemesis daemon hammers, nemesis warding stave & psybolt ammo
Troops
5 x Strike Knights - psycannon
5 x Strike Knights - psycannon
Heavy Support
Nemesis Dreadknight - heavy incinerator & personal teleporter
Nemesis Dreadknight - heavy incinerator & personal teleporter
Fortification
Aegis Defence Line - quad gun
Total: 2,000
Originally I had the idea of using a Grand Master, those psychobroke grenades are a temptation! I then changed to Dragio as he can make the Paladins troops, though I guess that doesn't matter too much thanks to grand strategy. In the end I opted for Mordrak; Mordrak can deep strike first turn and will help my battle plans muchly.
Mordrak and his two buddies will drop down turn one. They will deep strike into terrain to get cover, using shrouding from the Ghost Knights this will give them at least a 4+ cover save and if they come under heavy fire they can to ground and get a 2+ cover save (going to ground in terrain gives +2 cover save). I'll pop Mordrak into harm's way so to speak, he can take a wound or two and hopefully spawn some free Ghost Knights. If anything serious comes his way them it is look out, sir time.
Mordrak is a grand master in case you forgot and has the grand strategy ability, I'll use this to make the Dreadknights and Paladins scoring, of course rolling depending. He also has psychic communion, so chances of getting the Paladins to come in second turn are strong - the longer the Paladins are in reserve then they longer they do not get to do their job and the easier it is for this list to be beaten. Plus having half the points of the army in reserve is not cool!
The Libby will join the Paladins. He will be the warlord as Mordrak can be killed pretty easily if you torrent his unit. At least the Libby has 20 wounds with 2+ save and feel no pain to get through! The Libby's job is to use the shrouding power (gives stealth) and sanctuary (causes terrain and dangerous terrain tests for enemy assaulting units) to protect the Paladins. The Libby also adds some servo skulls to the party, these will be useful for when the Paladins come down, providing they are still around.
The Paladins are the super massive deathstar unit in this army. Their job is to destroy everything and they have all the tools for the job; 16 psycannon shots, hammers, halberds, staves to laugh in close combat, feel no pain and auto force weapons from the banner plus an extra attack.
Strike Squads just camp behind the ADL, one unit will hold the quad gun while the others will lay down some psycannon fire. If objectives are placed carefully then they can be placed behind the ADL and you can have two objectives before the game starts.
Dreadknights will support the Ghost Knights when they come in, both of them will bounce up 12" or use the super movement and unleash hell with the super flamers. I did originally consider swords, but they should hit mostly on a 3+, wound on a 2+ mostly and when using smash attacks will re-roll to penetrate vehicles anyway.
Tactics
This list will have to be used very carefully. The ADL should be placed centre of the deployment zone with any objectives behind it. The Strike Squads then will have decent range with their psycannons.
Servo skulls can be spread out, this will make the opponent work to getting those skulls and allow you to have back ups in case any run away.
Ideally the list needs to attack a single flank, if it spreads out it will soon be destroyed. It would be nice if the skulls were close together, but a few enemy units could make them all run away pretty damn easily.
Mordrak and his ho's will drop down on a flank in terrain - use terrain stacked with shrouding from the Ghost Knights to give extra cover save bonus. Use Mordrak to take a few wounds, hopefully will get some Ghost Knights for free, but anything which can instagib pass to a Ghost Knight. If coming under serious fire then go to ground, but really you want them up and running so they can mash into cheap camping units.
Paladins will come down second turn though won't be assaulting anything until turn 3. They can bring some psycannons to the party and should be placed so they get into weaker side or rear armour of vehicles. 16 x S7 shots should bring down majority of vehicles. Just pick your targets correctly.
Dreadknights will be up there supporting the Ghost Knights. Their job is to tackle hordes to stop the Ghost Knights becoming bogged down. They can also instagib characters with force or smash attacks and tackle vehicles too. I suspect they will be giant bullet magnets and more than likely will attract a ton of heat, though at least with a 2+ save and 5+ invulnerable with T6 and 4 wounds they can take it.
What do you think Grey Knight players, is this list feasible?