Warhammer 40K: How Grey Knights & Thousand Sons Look So Far
Adam here to predict how things are going to turn out for the grimdark’s two newest armies.
It seems like we might be entering a period where we will see more consistent releases moving forward. Recently it was announced that the preorders will be up for the Grey Knights and Thousand Sons codexes, as well as a box set featuring these two armies. As in the past, Games Workshop has also started to tease us with some previews of what is in each of the books. This week we will talk about what we have seen so far and how well; the armies may perform on the battlefield.
Grey Knights
So far I believe we have seen more previews of this army than the Thousand Sons. Crowe looks solid, both ruleswise and the model, but I do have some concerns about the rules. Astral Aim changing is a big deal for a lot of players as they really leverage that when constructing their army. It will take some adjusting though if people want to use it. Some of the previews seem to suggest that certain units will have certain psychic powers associated with them. Although it does make it easier on what powers units may have, it does limit you on what you can take or use.
I do think Hammerhand is better than before as rerolls are usually a lot more useful, in general. The Dreadknights, and especially the Grandmaster DreadKnights look really juicy with their souped up swords. Even the Terminator squads look good, especially with the stratagem we were shown. I do wonder, however, whether the army will get some type of auspex scan in addition to the Omen of Incursion, and what the other tide entail. We haven’t even seen what other psychic powers that are available to the army so I am really looking forward to that.
Thousand Sons
We haven’t seen as much of the Thousand Sons stuff but what we have seen appears to be good. We have a new character that seems to function similarly to a Dark Apostle but we don’t know if they will get some help so that they can make pacts easier. I am almost want to say that this new character is a must-have in every army. The cabbalistic rituals is an interesting mechanic and seems to reward you for taking a lot of psykers, as if you had a choice. I’m really curious as to what the other options are, how many cabal points they will cost, and what they actually do. I imagine the higher costed ones will be really good.
The Legion Command rules are also something that has really piqued my interest. Point costs seem to vary but it is something I wholeheartedly plan to look into once we get the whole list. I think the hard part may be trying to fit some of these into your lists a the army may already be light on modelcount. I mean we have already seen their point costs in the Chapter Approved so you can already start building your army and maybe leave some wiggle room to take some Legion Command abilities. The cults seem okay and have changed a little bit, so I am not sure how good or bad these changes are. I’m not going to lie, I do hope some of them don’t change at all, but that is not very Tzeentch-like.
Final Verdict
It’s hard to give a definitive opinion on both armies just going by what we have seen so far. We are still missing a lot of information from both codexes. Things like warlord traits, relics, all the stratagems, and especially what the new psychic powers for each book can do. Be that as it may, I would probably put my money on the Thousand Sons as having a slight edge over the Grey Knights. Just from what we have seen the Grey Knights seem to have more of their stuff changed and not necessarily for the better. Until we see more of what’s coming they don’t seem as well off as their chaos counterparts.
Now don’t get me wrong, I think with the extra wounds and other buffs they will be better than they are now but I think they will be slightly below a 9th edition codex , like Death Guard. I think the Thousand Sons, so far, are looking good. their new character already seems very useful and almost a must-take. I like what I am seeing with the cults, ritual, and legion command and this is all before we even see what Magnus will be like. Again, this will ultimately depend on what is in each codex and what combos people discover, whether it was intended by Games Workshop or not, so be sure to dive into those books when they are released.
~That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed the article, Let me know what you think, and whether you agree with me or not and why, in the comments section below.
