Psychic power tactics

Psychic powers for Grey Knights are essentially our bread and butter, if anything we are the only space marine army capable of churning out several spells at once per turn and the many spells at our finger tips are devastating if used right.

By default our forces use the Sanctic power list when deciding what to bring to the table but our librarians are also capable of using Telepathy, Telekinesis, Divination and Pyromancy. I'll be breaking down each list and how they can be used either on their own or in combination with other masteries.

Sanctic:

Primaris = Banishment: (24' range, -1 to demon inv.) EVERY ONE of our Grey Knights has this ability, its useless against anything other than demons or demonically possessed vehicles so its easy to ignore. But if you find your self playing against a chaos player (marine or otherwise) make sure your knights are within range to spam this off as much as possible against the demonic, there is no limit to how far their invulnerable saves can be reduced, meaning you can essentially make a greater demon have absolutely NO SAVE AT ALL before shooting it to death!

One = Gate of Infinity: (deep strike) The one power that can make any squad the Librarian is attached to VERY mobile, use it to get your forces in faster or get them out of a bind. Remember since it follows the deep strike rules you can't assault after using it nor can it be used to get you out of melee. But it's still handy to have if you end up with it.

Two = Hammer hand: (+2 str.) Just like the primaris power our knights have this built into their profile, if your forces are about to get into the fight or are close enough for the enemy to assault in their next turn its best to roll for this early just in case.

Three = Sanctuary: (+1 inv. deamons treat 6' of psyker as dangerous terrain) Our Dread Knights have this built into their profile, if you attach your librarian to a strike squad you give them a 6+ inv. to add to their survivability, to a terminator squad it makes them 4+. If you have this power use it whenever you can, especially if your opponent has ap 2 weapons.

Four = Purge Soul: (24' focused witchfire -1 wound) arguably the weakest power in the list it still has its uses, roll double the dice requirement to get the focused witchfire benefit and use it to pick out a special character or heavy weapon in an opponent's squad, snipping out the missile launcher or lascannon out of a tactical or devastator squad is nothing to sneeze at.

Five = Cleansing flame: (9' nova, 2d6 hits, ignores cover, soul blaze) Purifiers get this power built in and they KNOW how to use it! Best used if your in the deep of the fight and have multiple targets to douse in holy flame. Note that if you also get the Gate of Infinity spell you can deep strike into the heart of your opponent's army and burn everything around you, or in the same manner use cleansing flame then use Gate to blink out of danger. Remember that the spell has the soublaze rule meaning that it still does damage after its use each player turn until the target(s) pass their toughness tests.

Six = Vortex of Doom: (12' str. D small blast, Vortex) Our most powerful and most dangerous spell in the list Vortex of Doom lives up to its name sake. If it goes off it WILL destroy anything it touches, but if it fails you suffer perils of the warp. Despite how tempting it might be its best to use this on enemy vehicles rather than troops since the blast is small, on average its best to use twice the required dice to cast it since the chances of getting a perils from 6's is better than failing. Remember the vortex rule means the blast remains on the board and scatters each player turn until you roll doubles, meaning if your lucky (or unlucky?) you can have 2-3 vortexes randomly floating around the board harassing your opponent.

The Sanctic list is a pretty solid build if your a grey knight player, allies can pick from the list as well but treat ANY doubles as a perils, meaning Vortex of Doom is a suicide attempt at best. If you have allied inquisitors or any other allied forces use any of the other psychic lists to compliment Sanctic.

Pyromancy:

Primaris = Flame Breath: (heavy flamer, soulblaze) On its own the spell is OK, if you have a squad using a pair of incinerators place the psyker with them for good measure.

One = Fiery Form: (4+ inv. melee soulblaze) Unfortunetely the invulnerable save only goes to the psyker and not the squad he's attached to, however as a boon if its cast before doing other pyromancy spells it grants them to reroll their rolls to wound, definetely a must use if your going full pyromancy.

Two = Fire Shield: (4+ cover save, treat 6' of psyker as dangerous terrain) Unlike fiery form THIS does go to the squad he's attached to, however even though a 4+ cover is good remember there are weapons and abilities out there that can ignore cover, be mindful of that. Still if you are in cover already it can only add to your save, remember that.

Three = Spontaneous Combustion: (18' focus witchfire, soulblaze) Much like Purge Soul you can use it to pick off an unwanted model in an enemy squad, however it has a strength and AP profile that hits rather hard. As a bonus if the targetr dies he EXPLODES, using the small blast template to take out his buddies with a slightly weaker hit that ignores cover and adds soublaze to boot, ouch!

Four = Sunburst: (9' nova, 2D6 hits, ignores cover, soulblaze) Similar to our Cleansing Flame the same rules apply to its use, if your surrounded use it to wittle down the enemy forces and remember soulblaze after the fact.

Five = Inferno: (24' large blast, ignores cover, soublaze) If you've got hoards coming your way or are dealing with a tyranid or ork opponent than this will send him packing real quick. Its decent range means you can blast squads at a time before they get in range to assault you

Six = Molten Beam: (12' beam, melta gun) A melta weapon with the beam rule is nasty indeed, potentially you could carve a hole through several armored vehicles at once which should be your prefered target if you get this power.

All in all pyromancy is an anti-infantry list at heart with many of the spells being very aggressive and short range. Best against swarming armies but if you fight against an armored foe you might find anti-tank a bit lacking since the only spell that hurts vehicle armor is Molten Beam and your chance of rolling that is scarce unless your mastery 3.

Telepathy:

Primaris = Psychic Shriek: (18' witchfire) By rolling 3D6 and subtracting the leadership of your target, said target suffers that many wounds without armor or cover saves allowed. OUCH! If your going to use this try to avoid squads or swarms and focus on independant characters or monstrous creaters which if your rolls are good it can potentially take out a nasty character that would be a royal pain to your army.

One = Dominate: (24' malediction) The target must roll a leadership test if he/she wishes to move, shoot or assault. On its own this spell doesn't seem too damaging but if used right you can use it to keep certain targets from harassing you, even one failed leadership test can halt your target right then and there. Best used on independant characters or squads too close for comfort.

Two = Mental Fortitude: (blessing) Allows friendly target to immediately regroup if falling back. Since we have the "And they shall know no fear" this spell is rather redundant if not totally useless, however if you have non-spacemarine allies this is rather helpful.

Three = Terrify: (24' malediction, Fear, -1 Ld.) Must pass a leadership test or treat ALL enemy forces as having the Fear universel special rule. Similar to dominate this is a good enemy controller and is NASTY when combined with the primaris power Psychic Shriek. Just be careful about enemies with the Fearless special rule since they won't be effected.

Four = Shrouding: (6' shroud to friendly units) Despite its short range its best to use this on the psyker and the squad he's attached to, although it can give the benefit to other units if it fails you've pretty much bundled your forces up to be blasted by cannon fire, still its a good defence against long range weapons and blast templates.

Five = Invisibility: (24' blessing) Anything with this spell can only be snapfired (BS 1) and can only be hit in melee on 6's (WS 1)... GADZOOKS!!! Essentially if you attach your psyker to a squad of terminators or paladins your opponent can only snapfire at them on 6's and if you get in melee they can only hit you on 6's, coupled with a 2+ armor and 5+ inv. That essentially makes your squad nearly invincible!

Six = Hallucination: (24' malediction) Roll a D6, on a 1-2 the target takes a pinning test, on a 3-4 reduce the target(s) WS, BS, Attack and Initiative by 1. On a 5-6 a character model suffers a number of attacks equal to the number of other models in the squad, if no characters are present treat it as would 3-4. Similar to Terrify but has the chance to take out a character, at best it can be used to soften up an enemy before assault.

All in all Telepathy is a good solid control list that allows you to dictate the battlefield, ESPECIALLY if you roll a 5. If your not fighting demons this is a good list to go to instead of sanctic.

Telekinesis:

Primaris = Assail: (18' beam, Str. 6, strikedown) Whether the target(s) save against the hits or not they suffer the strikedown universal special rule, meaning they are treated as In. 1 and move as if in difficult terrain on their next turn. Although your not likely to do any horrific damage the strikedown effect will make it so the squad or character you hit won't be moving forward quickly or offering rapid response when you charge them right after.

One = Crush: (18' focused witchfire) roll 2D6 for str. and 1D6 for AP. If your rolls are good you could kill an independant character instantly, or... cause a str. 2 ap 6 hit he can shrug off his shoulder. This power is way too unpredictable to rely on but if you have extra warp charges and see an opportunity to use it why not?

Two = Objuration Mechanicum: (24' malediction, haywire) Squads hit by this suffer the Gets Hot universel special rule while vehicles also suffer a strength 1 haywire hit. ABSOLUTELY viceous against horde armies such as orks and tyranids. Also because it isn't a witchfire vehicles can't jink against it, still being only str. 1 your not going to cause tanks to blow up on the spot.

Three = Shockwave: (9' nova, 2D6 hits, pinning) Again similar to our Sanctic version only instead of soublaze it forces a pinning test on the target whether they save from the hit or not. Lacking in AP this is only good for causing mass pinning tests on your opponent to prevent assaults but all in all not a bad version of our nova spell.

Four = Levitation: (Blessing) Allows a free 12' movement for the psyker and squad he's attached to. Somewhat the Jr. version of Gate of Infinity it still has its potential but also suffers from Gate's downsides such as the inability to assault after its use AND if you land in difficult terrain its treated as dangerous terrain instead. Still its a good spell that will get your forces out of trouble if they're cornered or in a bad spot.

Five = Telekine Dome: (12' blessing) All friendly forces within 12' of the psyker get a 5+ save against ranged shots. If your going against a heavily armed enemy this would be a good spell to protect your strike, purifier and interceptor squads from heavy fire. On terminators its rather redundant so its situational at best.

Six = Psychic Maelstrom: (12' large blast, barrage) A safer more stable version of Vortex of Doom Psychic Maelstrom has twice the range, twice the blast radius and none of the drawbacks. A guaranteed infantry killer this will take out your opponent's elites instantly! Although tempting its best to avoid vehicles if only because the blast will only cause 1 hit.

All in all Telekinesis is a mixed bag that offers good anti-tank and defense spell list but compared to others its not on high demand. Still if its to your liking it can be a fun spell list to use against an armored army.

Divination:

Primaris = Presience: (12' Blessing) target unit gets to reroll all rolls to hit. Very useful if your in a large group or giving the blessing to a squad with 2-4 heavy weapons to ensure maximum damage.

One = Foreboding: (blessing) The psyker and the unit he is with benefit from Counter-Attack, and can fire Overwatch with full BS. This is a good defensive spell if you find yourself in a tight corner.

Two = Forewarning: (12' blessing) target benefits from a 4+ Inv. save. You can either use it on your psyker and the group he's attached to or a nearby squad that might get some heat the next turn.

Note: If your unsing a mix of Sanctic and Divination Sanctuary can boost Forewarning to 3++, now that is a tough nut to crack!

Three = Perfect Timing: (blessing) The psyker and unit he is attached to ignore cover saves when shooting. Coupled with Psycannons this is a nasty, NASTY spell to use against enemies hiding behind terrian or walls.

Four = Precognition: (blessing) Psyker can now reroll rolls to hit, wound and saving throws through entire turn phase. The good is it turns our terminator armor wearing Librarian into a combat beast, the bad is he's the only one who benefits from it all. Stil lits good to use if you feel he might be forced into a challenge or runs head first into a nasty opponent.

Five = Misfortune: (24' malediction) The target treats all incoming fire as rending. If you want something dead this is the power to use, however be warned that if you WANT it dead badly you'll have to devote a large amount of shots to do so. After all rending only occurs if you wound on a 6 so to get those rending shots you'll have to devout a fair bit of firepower anyway. Still not a bad spell to pick from.

Six = Scrier's Gaze: (blessing) Allows the psyker to reroll reserves, outflanking and mysterious objectives. Not exactly a powerful spell it does still offer to the army if your deepstriking and problems arise.

Divination offers a lot of reroll abilities to your combat and shooting that can aid you in the long run, although it offers nothing with punch it DOES allow your troops and weapons to have a better chance at hitting its mark and with enough force to do the job. Definetely worth taking.

The new Adeptus Astartes Psychic Powers!
Codex: Grey Knights is sadly behind the curve but these new powers help them overcome a lot of what they lack.

I run a CAD. Core of the army is 3 dreadknights, combat squad interceptors, 2 M3 librarians, 5purifiers, 2 squads 5 termies with hammer and psycannon and stormraven.

With the 2 M3 Librarians I have gotten at least every game by one of these the following spells: Magnetokinesis and Electrodisplacement.

There are a select few other spells that are extremely valuable but these 2 are the most important. with the shunt troops positioning themselves within charge range of a unit and 24 inches away from the libby with electrodisplacement, you can swap places and charge same turn. Also use magnetokinesis to move purifiers up to 18" if need be for their nova to be effective.

There are many combinations of ways to make these powers work. coupled with things like Null Zone and Veil of Time, these are the things the codex needs. It doesn't replace the fact that the Grey Knights are a little underpowered for the current game set but it helps overcome a lot of their obstacles.