December Detachment Review: Warpbane Task Force

The Grey Knights are here and it looks pretty cool. And also really, really, REALLY funny. But not for the reasons you think. Let’s get into it.

The detachment rule is Hallowed Ground which focuses on the three sections of the board (Your deployment zone, no mans land, and the enemy deployment zone) as you turn them into your Hallowed Ground.

Wait.

This seems familiar.

Anyways, your deployment zone is always in your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground. In addition, at the start of any phase if you control half the objectives in no mans land or your opponents deployment zone those also become your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground.

Even better, the area of the battlefield within 6″ of you Purifier Squads becomes your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground.

Each time you make an attack with a Grey Knight unit, you get to re-roll hit roll’s of 1 ~~for psychic weapons~~. If you’re wholly in your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground you get to re-roll all hit rolls ~~for psychic weapons~~.

If you haven’t noticed, this is just a version of the Thousand Sons detachment that works. Games Workshop are real comedians sometimes. It literally only gets better by the way.

Enhancements wholly within your flow of magic

Something witty something something. I want to get back to my ~~flow of magic~~ jokes. Let’s dive in.

The first enhancement is Mandulian Reliquary which is 20 points and gives the bearer +3 objective control while not battle-shocked ~~and wholly in your flow of magic~~. Grey Knights are already really elite, so the ability to flip an objective with more ease is obviously welcome. A

Radiant Champion Gives a Grey Knight Infantry model (Sorry Dreadknights) Precision on their melee weapons, in addition if they’re wholly within your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground, each time you score a wound, you deal 1 mortal wound in addition. That’s some 9th edition stuff right there. I’m hoping this is a one off kind of thing. Please don’t bring this back. Very good smash captain type of enhancement for only 15 points. B+

Phial of the Abyss is 25 points and gives your Infantry characters unit stealth ~~while wholly in your flow of magic~~. Defense is good when you have so few units. A

Paragon of Sanctity is only 10 points, and gives you the once per battle ability to put any Grey Knight unit within 18″ into your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground. It’s a 10 point Oath of Moment really. Id get it for a lot cheaper, you’ll likely see this in every list. A+

These are good, super strong? Maybe. I don’t know if I got Radiant Champion right. It might be an S+ type enhancement, but it depends on how easy Grey Knights can grab no mans land objectives, especially with the obvious 3″ Deep Strike nerf coming. ~~Maybe it’ll be 3″ while within your flow of magic.~~

Stratagems wholly within your flow of magic

The stratagems are pretty interesting with some neat design and just solid use cases.

Sanctified Kill Zone is lets you pick a Grey Knight unit in the shooting or fight phase, and give them re-roll wounds of 1 if they’re wholly in your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground. If it’s a Purifier Squad, you re-roll the entire wound roll. Reminder that this is the squad that is always in your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground and has some wicked flamers. A+

Flames of Sanctity is weird but neat. You pick 1 Purifier Squad at the end of the fight phase which was eligible to fight. Roll a D6 for each enemy unit within 6″ and on a 4+ you deal D3 mortal wounds to that unit. If you have Castellan Crowe leading that squad, it’s on a 3+. D3 Mortals isn’t going to be game changing, but if you need a finisher this is pretty solid. Also huge shout out to the Castellan Crowe love. A-

Hallowed Beacon lets you Deep Strike 6″ away on your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground with non-terminator units. Brother it’s 6″ Deep Strike in the Deep Strike army. A+

Fires of the Covenant has the coolest name in all of Warhammer for a stratagem. You select a Grey Knights infantry unit at the start of the opponent’s movement phase and until the end of the phase anytime an enemy unit gets within 6″ via fall back, advance or normal move, you roll a D6, on a 4+ they suffer D3 mortal wounds. If your unit is wholly within your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground, add 2 to the result. Like really this is a cute stratagem more than anything which says: Melee Armies stay away. Not sure if D3 mortals is enough to stop a World Eater squad from coming near you. B-

Aegis Eternal is in the shooting phase and lets you make a Grey Knights infantry unit wholly within your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground have a 4+ Invulnerable save. 4+ Invulnerable make me upset for 1000 reasons (Logan) and I will not tolerate them here. A+

Repelling Sphere lets you at the start of the opponent’s charge phase select a Grey Knights Infantry unit. Each time they’re charged, -1 from the charge roll. -2 if your unit is wholly within your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground. Grab objective, make the area your ~~flow of magic~~ Hallowed Ground, defend, defend, defend. -2 charge on anything is rough. A+

Lists wholly within your flow of magic

This week we got the Edmonton’s very own Snoop Dog: Hudson, to contribute. Let’s see what he put together.

Lord of the Smoke Hudson’s List and Thoughts

CHARACTERS

Brotherhood Librarian (130 points)
• 1x Nemesis force weapon
1x Purge Soul
1x Storm Bolter
+10pts Paragon of Sanctity
Brotherhood Techmarine (70 points)
• 1x Boltgun
1x Flamer
1x Omnissian power axe
1x Plasma cutter
1x Servo-arms

Castellan Crowe (90 points)
• 1x Black Blade of Antwyr
1x Purifying Flame
1x Storm bolter

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
2x Incinerator
1x Narthecium
9x Nemesis force weapon
6x Storm bolter

Strike Squad (120 points)
• 1x Justicar
• 1x Nemesis force weapon
1x Storm bolter
• 4x Grey Knight
• 4x Nemesis force weapon
4x Storm bolter

OTHER DATASHEETS

Nemesis Dreadknight (205 points)
• 1x Heavy incinerator
1x Heavy psycannon
1x Nemesis daemon greathammer

Purifier Squad (125 points)
• 1x Knight of the Flame
• 1x Nemesis force weapon
1x Purifying Flame
1x Storm bolter
• 4x Purifier
• 2x Close combat weapon
2x Nemesis force weapon
2x Psycannon
4x Purifying Flame
2x Storm bolter

Servitors (50 points)
• 4x Servitor
• 2x Heavy bolter
2x Servitor’s servo-arm
2x Servitor’s tools

So I’m back and forth on this new Detachment. It does provide something I wanted in Grey knights, which is a source of hit re-rolls with the detachment ability and wound re-rolls in a Stratagem.

It also is trying to be fluffy and make use of Purifier squads, which is fine. But losing Mist of Deimos and going from Prognosticated Arrival ( Deploy within 3″) to Hallowed Beacon ( Deploy within 6″ within a Hallowed Ground) will take some getting used to.

Getting full hit re-rolls will take some practice as it is only with the Hallowed Ground. Hallowed Ground being your deployment zone always, No Mans Land if you control more objectives, enemy deployment and within 6″ of a Purifier Unit.

That last one is key as it does mean if you are struggling to control the mid-board, you can utilize Purifier Squads to create Hallowed Ground. As well, Hallowed Ground is counted at the start of any phase, so in your movement phase, you could be smart about it and take objectives from the opponent and in shooting, gain access to hit re-rolls. All in all, I think its a big side grade to Grey Knights. It definitely makes them more killy, but at the cost of the movement shenanigans they previously were feared for.

Someone tell Hudson that it’s going to become 6″ Deep Strike as well for Prognosticated Arrival. The Mist of Deimos thing is important though and should be considered when choosing this detachment.

Thanks Hudson!

Final Thoughts wholly within your flow of magic

Overall, I really like this Detachment. Maybe because it’s so much better than what Thousand Sons got, which is hilarious.

But I also love the flavor and the neat design for the stratagems.

Detachments like this get me one step closer to picking up Grey Knights (and then selling them a year later) implying they ever get new models.

Give this one a shot, it’s pretty cool.

Tomorrow is ***checks notes*** more Imperium? Space Marines? Someone tell GW that Xenos exist by the way.

Space Marines it is. Thanks for reading everyone.

Be safe, drink water.