I've since been trying out pretty much a list every week or so trying to find one that I liked and that worked as well as I wanted.
The problem, you see, is that I really like Paladins, and so I've been pretty determined to keep them in the army. While it may not be the best decision I've made in terms of points efficiency and so on but I really like Paladins and so for the time being, they're in. :)
So, working off the basis of a 5-man Paladin squad it was time to come up with something to go along with them.
Considering the severe lack of long-range firepower is pretty much the entire GK 'dex, I decided to go ahead and add a couple of "psyflemen" dreads. Yeah, I know, they're the darlings of the Internet right now and having played a few games with them, I can understand why. No, they are auto-game-winners or anything but they definitely do fill a role that really nothing else in a "pure" GK list can do, and shoot across the board reliably.
I like units that are useful in all phases of the game -- this is why I like Paladins so much, they're good in every phase of the game. I tried a few games with GKSS but they were fairly useless in CC -- 1 attack pretty much gimps them to the point where you really don't want to get in melee with them, and that's a shame.
So...Purifiers.
Crowe Purifiers.
You have no idea how badly I don't really want to run them, but point-for-point, there's really no substitute for Purifiers, and being able to take them as troops? Yes, please.
Except...well, I can't quite seem to get the hang of using Crowe. Some of my fellow Austinites love him and use him to great effect but I just can't seem to find anything to do with his odd-duck ass. More often than not I was struggling to come up with a use for him, so...well, I'm thinking he's not going to work for me.
So...I tried to cheat the system.
I created an abomination of a list with 2 Grand Masters and minimal 5-man strike squads, Paladins and 3 units of Purifiers...planning on using the Grand Strategy x2 to get scoring Purifiers without paying the "Crowe tax".
In the end, though, after much discussion, I settled on something a bit more reasonable: 2xPurifiers with Rhinos and Psybolt, 2xGKSS, Paladins, 2xPsyfleman and one Grand Master. I figure I can still use Grand Strategy to make Purifiers (or Paladins, or a Dread) scoring if the game type calls for it, otherwise it's probably time to make some scouting Paladins and/or Purifiers...man I love Grand Strategy -- the counter-attack "power up" rocks as well (mmm, Paladins with counter-attack).
The main strength of this list, though, is in the number of boots on the ground, and then number of storm bolters (32) and psycannons (14) it can bring to bear each turn. That's...a whole lot of shooting -- and it works. Well.
I'm concerned about the lack of a Librarian, though, even though I really haven't missed him the last few games I've played without him.
After a few games with the list (and if I make any tweaks) I'll post the list (though it is very simple, really) and let you know how it works out -- hopefully, somewhat near now I want it to. :)
How about you guys? Ever had a unit that you liked so much you just couldn't drop it from a list, even if "conventional wisdom" said it wasn't the "best"? Ever had to tear down an army and start over? How did it work out?