Played a game into IK for the first time since the beginning of 10th, before any of the numerous nerfs, and for the first time ever with GK. The lists are below (the Knights list has the correct models and the correct Enhancement, AFAIK, but I have no clue what wargear they had, since every big knight activation boils down to "I'm going to shoot you with eight different guns all of them with ridiculous names now").

Knights (1990 points)
Imperial Knights
Strike Force (2000 points)
Noble Lance

CHARACTERS

Knight Castellan (565 points)
• 1x Plasma decimator
2x Shieldbreaker missile launcher
1x Titanic feet
2x Twin meltagun
1x Twin siegebreaker cannon
1x Volcano lance

Knight Warden (520 points)
• 1x Avenger gatling cannon
1x Heavy flamer
1x Meltagun
1x Thunderstrike Gauntlet
• Enhancement: Unyielding Paragon

Knight Valiant (565 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Conflagration cannon
2x Shieldbreaker missile launcher
1x Thundercoil harpoon
1x Titanic feet
2x Twin meltagun
1x Twin siegebreaker cannon

BATTLELINE

Armiger Moirax (170 points)
• 1x Armoured feet
1x Graviton pulsar
1x Volkite veuglaire

Armiger Moirax (170 points)
• 1x Armoured feet
1x Graviton pulsar
1x Volkite veuglaire

Emperor's Wisdom (2000 points)
Grey Knights
Strike Force (2000 points)
Teleport Strike Force

CHARACTERS

Brotherhood Librarian (100 points)
• 1x Nemesis force weapon
1x Purge Soul

Grand Master (110 points)
• 1x Nemesis force weapon
1x Psycannon
• Enhancement: Inescapable Wrath

Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight (230 points)
• 1x Heavy incinerator
1x Heavy psycannon
1x Nemesis daemon greathammer
• Enhancement: Sigil of Exigence

Kaldor Draigo (125 points)
• Warlord
• 1x Scourging
1x Storm bolter
1x The Titansword

BATTLELINE

Brotherhood Terminator Squad (420 points)
• 1x Terminator Justicar
• 1x Nemesis force weapon
1x Storm bolter
• 9x Brotherhood Terminator
• 1x Ancient’s Banner
1x Narthecium
9x Nemesis force weapon
2x Psycannon
6x Storm bolter

Brotherhood Terminator Squad (210 points)
• 1x Terminator Justicar
• 1x Nemesis force weapon
1x Storm bolter
• 4x Brotherhood Terminator
• 1x Ancient’s Banner
1x Narthecium
4x Nemesis force weapon
1x Psycannon
2x Storm bolter

OTHER DATASHEETS

Nemesis Dreadknight (185 points)
• 1x Heavy incinerator
1x Heavy psycannon
1x Nemesis daemon greathammer

Paladin Squad (450 points)
• 1x Paragon
• 1x Nemesis force weapon
1x Storm bolter
• 8x Paladin
• 8x Nemesis force weapon
4x Psycannon
4x Storm bolter
• 1x Paladin Ancient
• 1x Ancient’s Banner
1x Nemesis force weapon
1x Psycannon

ALLIED UNITS

Callidus Assassin (90 points)
• 1x Neural shredder
1x Phase sword and poison blades

Vindicare Assassin (80 points)
• 1x Exitus pistol
1x Exitus rifle
1x Vindicare combat knife

Draigo was attached to the 10-man Terminator brick and went into deep strike, since his 3" charge ability only keys off of deep strike, NOT the teleport assault army rule. The Librarian went with the 5-man squad and the GM with the Paladins. Knights put everything on the table.

We played on GW terrain layout 2. Primary mission was Scorched Earth (burn objectives for VP), the deployment scheme was Search and Destroy (opposite corners with a bubble of no man's land in the middle), and the mission rule was chilling rain (no special rules). I had Tactical missions, Knights had Assassinate and Cleanse. I deployed all my GK units behind various ruins, out of line of sight, while I put the Vindicare on my home objective and infiltrated the Callidus to a no man's land corner within range of both an objective and a table corner for a potential turn 1 investigate signals.

Knights got first turn in the roll-off.

ROUND 1: KNIGHTS

Knights advanced an Armiger to the bottom right NML objective and the other Armiger toward the top left NML objective. The three big Knights headed into the middle, with the Warden landing on the center objective and doing a Cleanse. No shooting at all this turn since I had hidden everything well except for the Lone Operatives. End of Knights' turn, I picked up the Callidus, the Paladins GM, the 5 Terminators Librarian, and the GMNDK.

ROUND 1: GK

I pulled Area Denial (literally impossible since the Warden was sitting very firmly on the center objective) and Behind Enemy Lines. I did my 6" auto-advance with the NDK to put it within a 5" charge of the bottom right Armiger and had the Vindicare sit still. For reinforcements I put the Callidus in the far back corner of Knights' deployment zone, tucked the GMNDK into the Knights' deployment zone where he could shoot the bottom right Armiger, put the Paladins behind some ruins in my deployment zone since I didn't see much point in putting them out in front of 3 big Knights to get shot to death, and put the 5 Terminators Librarian behind the ruin next to the top left NML objective.

The Vindicare put a round into the bottom right Armiger, the GMNDK whiffed with all its weapons, and the NDK put a few cheeky wounds on the bottom right Armiger. Then it made its charge, I spent a CP for a 16-dice Tank Shock, and got... 1 mortal. Woooo exciting! However the NDK went hard in the Fight phase and killed the Armiger with its daemon greathammer. I pitched Area Denial for a CP and got 5 points for Behind Enemy Lines.

ROUND 2: KNIGHTS

Knights scored 10 for holding center and top left NML objectives. Top left Armiger walked onto the top left NML objective, while the Castellan and Warden remained stationary and the Valiant moved up to get a better shot into my NDK. When one of the big Knights declared that it was going to shoot the GMNDK, I popped Sigil of Exigence and put it behind the bottom right NML objective, behind a ruin where it was obscured. This meant that my NDK was the only target left for 3 big knights. It failed some saves against some Meltas in the first round of shooting, didn't make a CP re-roll, and got slapped with boxcars for damage. Gone in about 30 seconds. I would say he traded up but he costs 15 more points than an Armiger Moirax so F. Since that was all the shooting they could do, the Warden Cleansed the center again, while the top left Armiger killed a single Terminator from the 5-man squad. End of Knights' turn, I picked up the Paladins and the Callidus.

ROUND 2: GK

I immediately stood that poor Terminator back up with the 5-man squad's Narthecium. I scored 5 for my home objective. I pulled Bring it Down and Investigate Signals. The GMNDK moved up to a few inches from the Valiant, while the Vindicare remained stationary again. Now that I write this, I don't think I moved him once. I nudged the 5-man Terminator Librarian squad to within 1" of the top left Armiger.

At this point I decided that I was going to go all in on Bring it Down and pitch Investigate Signals for a CP. Therefore, for reinforcements I brought Kaldor 10 Terminators in 9" away from the Valiant, the Paladins 9" away from the Valiant in a firing line such that all the ones with psycannons were within the bottom right NML ruin and could shoot, and the Callidus I put on the Knights' home objective.

In the shooting phase, the 5-man Terminator Librarian hit the Armiger with a Grenade for 3 mortals, the Librarian's baked-in smite for 5, and then did a couple cheeky wounds with shooting. The GMNDK, 10 Terminators Draigo, and 5 Paladins with Psycannons their GM all fired into the Valiant... and did less wounds than the Vindicare, who popped his Shieldbreaker round, naturally got a 6 on the Wound roll to proc Devastating Wounds and make the Shieldbreaker a waste, and rolled the non-crit max of 6. The Callidus started burning the Knights' home objective.

For charges, the GMNDK made his 4" charge into the Valiant with plenty of movement to spare, setting up Kaldor Draigo, Grandmaster of the Grey Knights, to make his once-per-game 6" charge out of deepstrike... oops, double 1s. Oops, a 5 on the reroll. So he just kind of stood there with his Terminators and looked stupid. The Paladins, meanwhile, with their 1" charge from the GM's enhancement, hit boxcars on *their* charge and slammed into the Valiant. The 5-man Terminators Librarian also made their 3" charge into the Armiger.

The Armiger had only a few wounds left, and 20 AP -2, DMG 2 attacks with Lethal Hits put it down handily even wounding on 5s. Meanwhile, in the bottom right of the map, the GMNDK put some serious hurt on the Valiant with his full re-rolls to hit, wound, and damage against vehicles, while the GM popped his once per game free battle tactic strategem ability to give his Paladin unit Devastating Wounds. Only 8 of the Paladins were eligible to fight, but them plus the GM still came to 37 attacks hitting on 2s; sheer weight of numbers and the Devastating Wounds, even with only wounding on 6s, left the Valiant on 3 wounds, saved only by the Knights' 6 FNP. It stomped on a couple Paladins in return.

End of the turn I scored 4 for the Armiger for Bring it Down and pitched Investigate Signals for a CP.

ROUND 3: KNIGHTS

Knights scored 5 for center objective. The Valiant managed to avoid battle-shock and decided not to fall back so it could still shoot with Big Guns Never Tire. The Warden moved up a little toward the melee scrum between the Paladins, GMNDK, and the Valiant, while the Castellan didn't move.

I don't remember the exact sequence of events here, but I do vividly remember the outcome of this shooting phase: the 10-man Terminator squad, even with Truesilver Armor, got wiped out to a man, and Kaldor Draigo survived with a single wound left. One or two more Paladins died. The GMNDK made some clutch invulnerable saves and avoided any damage whatsoever. And the 5-man Librarian squad took a stray round from the Castellan, which killed the one Terminator that had gotten killed by the Armiger the turn before.

The Warden charged off the center objective into the Paladin squad and killed three more with Tank Shock before delivering some fairly anemic melee. The GMNDK finished off the Valiant, while the remaining Paladins piled into the Warden and took a few cheeky wounds off of it. At the end of the round, I picked up my 1-wound Kaldor, but left the Callidus burning the Knights' home objective, the 5-man Librarian sitting on the top left NML objective, the GMNDK within easy charging distance of the Warden, and couldn't pick up the Paladins since they were in melee.

ROUND 3: GK

The Callidus finished burning the Knights' home objective. I scored 10 for my home objective and the top left NML objective. I pulled Capture Enemy Outpost after burning the Knights' home objective 30 seconds earlier (Goddammit), so I spent a CP to redraw it, and ended up with Storm Hostile Objective and Tempting Target, which Knights designated to be the middle objective. I stood up the one dead Terminator from the 5-man squad for the second time.

The GMNDK moseyed a little closer to the Warden, the Paladins stayed in combat with it, the Vindicare continued to lean against his little pillar in my deployment zone, and the 5-man Librarian scootched a little more onto the top left objective. The Callidus stayed where she was since she had nothing to contribute and hadn't been able to teleport because she was finishing a burn. For Reinforcements I paid a CP to put Kaldor on the center objective for Storm Hostile and Tempting Target in one go (as Knights controlled no objectives all I needed to do was take one I hadn't controlled before), since without the 3.1" deepstrike strat it would have been screened out by the Warden and Castellan.

The 5-man Librarian started burning the top left objective; the Librarian tried to use his smite against the Castellan, since it just keys off being in the shooting phase, but he rolled a 1, then did 3 mortals to his unit, so I picked up that one Terminator for death #3. The Paladins didn't shoot, since they were in melee. The GMNDK put a few wounds onto the Warden, while the Vindicare didn't wound it.

The GMNDK made his charge into the Warden and went *super* hard, dealing 17 (!!!) wounds to it. Alas, the few remaining Paladins weren't able to finish it off; it survived the turn on 3 wounds.

End of the turn, I scored 5 for Storm Hostile Objective and 5 for Tempting Target.

ROUND 4: KNIGHTS

No primary for Knights this turn. The Warden, at 3 wounds, fell back from the Paladins, while the Castellan remained stationary. The Warden's fall back move did finish within 9" of Kaldor, so I paid the CP to Mists him back into reserves. The Castellan made up in spades for the Warden not being able to shoot, blowing the GMNDK off the board and killing the Paladins, leaving only the GM on 3 wounds remaining. Knights scored 4 for Assassinate by killing the GMNDK. End of the turn, I picked up the GM and the Callidus.

ROUND 4: GK

I stood the dead Terminator up for the third time, finished the burn on the top left objective, and failed Kaldor's battle-shock test. I scored 5 on primary for my home objective. I drew Cleanse and Assassinate.

The 5-man Advanced down into Smite range of the 3-wound Warden. The Vindicare remained stationary. For Reinforcements, I paid the CP again for 3.1" deepstrike and put the GM on the center objective and the Callidus on the bottom right. I put Kaldor in a corner behind a random ruin where he could finish his panic attack in peace.

The Librarian Advanced, but his Smite, again, does not key off of being able to shoot, so he used it on the Warden and did not roll a 1 this time. He did 4 mortals, the Warden only FNP'd 1, and it died, giving me Assassinate. The Vindicare did a couple wounds to the Castellan, now the only Knight on the Board. The GM and the Callidus both Cleansed. No charges this turn. I scored 5 for Cleanse and 5 for Assassinate.

ROUND 5: KNIGHTS

Again, no primary for Knights. The Castellan remained stationary, blew the GM off the board for 4 on Assassinate, and killed that one unlucky Terminator for a fourth time - the squad otherwise weathered the fire pretty well between being in cover and me spending a CP for Truesilver Armor. End of the turn, I picked up Kaldor, but left the Callidus on the bottom left objective because I forgot that I would score primaries at the bottom of the round and thought I needed her to stay for the 5 VPs.

ROUND 5: GK

10 on Primary for me, Kaldor didn't fail his battle-shock this turn, and That One Terminator stood back up for the fourth time. I drew Defend Stronghold, which would auto-complete at the end of the turn since that was the end of the battle, and Secure No Man's Land. The 5-man Librarian moved into charge range of the Castellan just because miracles do happen, while I paid yet another CP to put Kaldor on the center objective for Secure NML.

Shooting and charging did nothing appreciable to the Castellan. I scored my secondaries (3 for Defend, 5 for Secure NML) and we shook on it.

The final scores, including 10 for battle-ready for both armies and 15 more for me for burning the Knights' home objective and one NML objective: GK 92, Knights 37.

My overall thoughts:

Knights are in a way, way more manageable place than at the start of the edition. I honestly think the nerf to Bondsman abilities to make them only affect Armigers was an overcorrection.

I went into the game confident that I could outscore Knights, but not confident that I would be able to kill more than the two Armigers. The general consensus seems to be that Nemesis Dreadknights are overcosted for what they do, but both of mine did exactly what they were supposed to do, and, in the case of the GMNDK, he traded up to the tune of close to half the Knights' list in wounds-to-points.

Grey Knights shooting is pretty anemic, but I knew this. I was surprised how effective the Paladins were in the one melee round where they got to fight at near-full strength; even wounding only on 6s, the sheer volume of AP -2 DMG 2 attacks is just quite powerful, especially with Devastating Wounds.

Kaldor has done good work in other games. Him failing his big arrival-from-the-warp charge here was quite funny. It meant that a fifth of my list did nothing and then got shot off the board, though. With these kinds of points results I can't complain too much, but his overall abilities outside of 'turn a 9" charge into a 6" charge once per game' are pretty lackluster unless you're fighting a daemon. I'm keeping him in the list but I'm going to continue considering a different leader for the 10-man brick. If his ability could key off of teleport assault I would be less on the fence, but having to either a) deepstrike his unit or b) try to set it up so you Mists his unit means it's definitely in the Iffy category for me.

Final disclaimer: my Knights player friend is not a tournament player and this was a very casual game. His list was more "I want to use my favorite models" and less "let's put the most efficient, most competitive list of things on the table." I expect it would have been much closer if he'd dropped a big knight in favor of 3 more armigers, or had Canis Rex, or any of a number of other options in the list building phsae that would have allowed him to screen more effectively. Charging off of the center for the Tank Shock into the Paladins was also a baller move in terms of rule of cool, but it cost him a fair number of primary points.

Lastly, any single model that dies and comes back to life four times in a single game (and isn't a Necron, that's kind of cheating) deserves a name. My little Terminator sergeant is now Lazarus.

I hope you enjoyed reading this report!