Grey Knight Strike Squad Conversions

I've discussed in previous posts how much I loved my Strike Squads.  Unfortunately, they just don't work very well anymore.  I can't find a role for them in my army and don't want them to just sit on the shelf collecting dust.

For 240 points I used to get 10 PAGK with 2 psycannons and psybolt ammo.  That was 16 S5 shots and 4-8 S7 rending shots. Throw in a 110pt inquisitor with terminator armor, psycannon, and psykre upgrade for prescience and now we're really talking about a unit that could bring some serious firepower.  The force weapons were a bonus that I rarely ever used.  Anything that was susceptible would keep far away because it was very strong, though not incredibly durable so it would die often and quickly.  I miss warp quake and the deep strike protection it provided.  The aegis helped with psychic defense.

Here's something I never understood.  All Grey Knights are supposed to be veterans that are the very best, most elite, and purest of the galaxy.  Each Grey Knight has a suit of terminator armor.  They put on power armor for specialized roles - strike squad, interceptor, etc.  I'm not the most well versed in the fluff, so I may have some things wrong.  However, if that's true, then why do they lose an attack when they change to power armor (strikes, interceptor, purgation squad) from TDA?  It makes sense from a game play perspective, so that's something.

The first trickle of nerfing came with the advent of 7th.  Warp Quake was gone completely.  The aegis was changed  to rerolling ones for maledictions (yay, from 6/18 to 7/18 chance to deny). Hammerhand now raises  strength by 2 which offset these loses.  GK were  still in a good position for a few months with all the psychic dice they could bring so it .

Then when the new codex hit, so much was lost for strikes.  It still costs the same 240 points to field the unit, but they lose psybolt ammo.  The psycannon was hit with a multitude of nerfs and went up in cost. Salvo sucks for so many reasons.  I'm not even clear on why salvo exists, what is the real world analogue?  Now you lose range when you move, not just shots.  Even worse, you cannot assault after shooting it at all.  I don't see any reason to take psycannons ever for them

This presents an issue with the GK special weapons in general and for purgation squads in particular.  PAGK don't have good options for the special weapons.  Why can't they make special versions that have longer range or maybe a psychic power that extends their range just for purgation squads?  Give PAGK relentless or S&P.  Heavy weapons with a 24" range just isn't enough.  For power armor it's incinerators or GTFO.

In addition to the 20 strikes, I have 2 squads of 5 Purgators. Their previous incarnation was in a strange spot.  You rarely saw them on the table because they didn't fulfill much of a role.  Their range was too short to provide pure fire support and psycannons were horribly over-costed.  Incinerators were a free upgrade however, so throw 4 of those with the justicar into a storm raven for only 100 points was a steal.

My other idea was to put three squads behind a set of Promethium relay pipes for only 340pts that puts out 12 S6 torrent flamers.  Now, the same setup costs 430pts and you give up the chance to take dreadknights. 

They swapped Astral aim for night vision which is completely useless for the incinerator and nearly useless for the other weapons,  How often are they going to be in range anyways.  At least our vehicles got seachlights for free now.  It was annoying to pay the 1pt.

Now that I'm a few months removed from the shock of the codex dropping I can make more rational arguments.  I still haven't played them with the new codex, but my friend Andy has and had succes.  He's in some of these pictures using my models in a tournament last December.  I've got a few list ideas but really need to try them out.

I have 30 PAGK that I need to decide how to use because I refuse to sell them.  I spent so many hours panting them that market value for them is nowhere near the emotional value I have for them.

Let's make some purifiers and interceptors instead.  I'll keep one strike squad but modify them to fit the new codex better:

10 Strikes with justicar and 2 incinerators

•  I have the incinerators already painted so I can swap out two from the purgation squad and put them in here.  The only work is to switch the bases up, but otherwise this is pretty straightforward.
• No new painting required, which is good.

10 Purifiers with justicar, no special weapons, 2 hammers

• I like Purifier squads a lot more now.  With cleansing flame standard, I don't think I need the incinerators and I don't want to lose out on the 2 attacks base.  This unit will need some delivery mechanism, probably a storm raven.  Since they are ML2 I can get off both hammerhand and force.
• This is going to require some work. I'll need to pop the heads off to strip and repaint them.  The psycannons will have to be ripped off as well and replaced with swords. I would prefer to use single handed swords and magnetize so I can swap between sword and hammer.  I don't have spares, so I'll need to find the bits somewhere.  The daemon hammers for PAGK don't come in single-handed variety.  I've been considering using the vanguard vet hammers.
• The new swords and arms will need to be painted as well as the heads. I'll also need to touch up the areas covered by the psycannons as they probably aren't painted.  I'm going to repaint their swords in the lightning theme so they are consistent, plus it looks really good.

10 Interceptors with justicar, 2 incinerators

•  Interceptors have a place now because of the Nemesis Strike Force detachment.  The incinerators were over-costed at 20pts each, but now are a reasonable at 5pts each.
• This is going to take a lot of work, comparatively.  I can use the justicar and 2 incinerators remaining from the purgation squad.  The two former strike squad guys will have to have the psycannons ripped off.  The other 4 purgators with incinerators will have to have those ripped off as well.  The other justicar will need a new head and shoulder pads.  Luckily, I have plenty of stormbolters and 2 handed swords, but I'll need to order a few more swords.  I have the interceptor backpacks already, but everyone will need a new one.
• I'll have to paint all the backpacks.  Two guys will have to have arms painted.  The remaining 5 guys will need to be fully painted.
• Unfortunately, the justicar will not have a magnetized weapon.  He has a two handed sword which I don't think I can rip off without damaging him and/or the shoulder pads.

 I'll be placing some bits orders and doing some painting.  I have finished my terminators and Librarian and will have a post on them soon.

Editor note: I started writing this post a long time ago but never posted it.  So I'm already well on my way to finishing this project.