The new Grey knight codex has a massive selection of Hq choices. This article is reviewing the actual Grey Knight ones, The inquisitors will be done in another article.
Special characters
Lord Kaldor Draigo
The big man himself, Kaldor Draigo.
He can go toe-to-toe with the enemy elite, and has a 3+ invulnerable save to stick around. He has a ridiculous stat line, as well as having frag grenades. But I think the biggest boost he gives to an army is that he allows paladins to be troops. You can achieve the same thing by having a regular Grand Master, and giving the Paladins Unyielding Anvil. But, as troops, they free up an elite slot, meaning you can take Assassins or Venerable dreads. Also, since Draigo has Grand Strategy as well, he can make things like psyrifledreads scoring, which is amazing.
He is wearing Terminator armour, so he is slow. You can get around this by deep-sriking him, and he can hitch rides in Stormravens, Land raiders and Chimeras.
If you're going to take Draigo, build your army around him. He is too many points to take for the sake of it. A lot of his points goes into making Paladins troops, so use that to your advantage.
Grand Master Mordrak
The haunted knight of Mortain, Grand Master Mordrak.
The first thing I notice about him is that he can take Ghost Knights as a retinue. These guys are normal Terminators, except when Mordrak takes a wound, another ghost can appear. This makes Mordrak Extremely survivable.
He is a basic Grand Master, except with more attacks, wounds and a Nemesis Daemon Hammer. But one of his amazing rules is that he deep strikes first turn and doesn't scatter. This opens up a lot of opportunities, since you can attach Independent characters to the unit. Picture Draigo going with them. 2nd turn charge for Draigo? Yes please!
Remember though, since he's coming down first turn, he will be isolated so get him supported ASAP.
Other than that, he's a basic Grand Master. But I think his rules are worth the 20 points.
Brother Captain Stern
Hey, Stern's back!
Now, he's better than before, since having a 3+ invulnerable save and an actual force weapon , unlike last codex. And weirdly, he's mastery level 2. This means he can be Strength 5 with a force weapon! But his main psychic power is his "Zone of Banishment". This makes all models within D6 inches take a strength test or be removed from the table. This includes friendly models!
They did keep the Strands of Fate rule, which is one of the few things they kept the same in the whole codex. Other than this, he's just a beefed up Brother Captain. But are these upgrades worth 50 points? If you think so, then take him. If not, then don't. But remember taking him is spending 200 points on a character that isn't one of the better HQ's.
Castellan Crowe
There is a running trend here that lots of the special characters are just beefed up non-special character counterparts. In this case, Crowe is the counterpart of a Brotherhood Champion.
I see a lot of Grey Knight lists running this guy, and that's because he allows Purifiers to be troops.
That's right people; one of the best units in the codex can be troops.
He also has a non-power weapon that rends on a 4+. Although, most of the time he won't have that many attacks unless he surrounded you, which he shouldn't have done. He also has a extra pip of WS and I. Other than this, he's a 150 point brotherhood champion who can't join squads.
Is he worth it? Yes. Purifier spam is an extremely competitive style of Grey Knights. Just remember to put him in reserve and when he comes on counter assault anything that is near.
Grand Master
The normal counterpart of Mordrak.
This guy is now BS 6. Not really needed in my opinion.
This guy is your basic HQ choice. Coming at 175 points, you get mastery level 1, all the Grey Knight special rules, and a Nemesis Force Sword. But where he shines is in his Grand Strategy. He can make units capture objectives or give units scout or counter-attack. And he is exceedingly customizable and I will list the upgrades here.
Mastery Level 2: In my opinion, he doesn't need it. You are either going to be casting Hammerhand, making your weapons into Force Weapons, or casting Psychic Communion. You don't need it. If you want a HQ that casts lots of powers, take a Librarian.
Replace Storm Bolter with: Incinerator. For 5 points, This piece of wargear I might take. Although you can get Incinerators cheaper elsewhere.
Psilencer. At 35 points, the most expensive Psilencer in the codex. Don't take it; it is to many points.
Psycannon. Again, the most expensive psycannon in the codex. I can have 4 Psycannons in a Purifier squad for this price, and 4 shots against 16 even his BS 6 doesn't make a different.
Replace Nemesis Force Sword with: Halberd. The Halberd makes you I6, in exchange for -1 to your invulnerable save. In my opinion, Just take a Libby with Quicksilver; I10 and with a 3+ invulnerable.
Nemesis Daemon Hammer: With the multiple castings of Hammerhand you don't need the extra strength.
Pair of Falchions. The FAQ nerfed this piece of wargear, so you don't really need it.
Nemesis Warding Stave. 3+ in combat VS 2+ in combat. 35 points? Don't take it; it's way overpriced.
May take up to 3 Servo Skulls. I would take 3, and deploy them 11" from myself. Those infiltrators aren't going anywhere near me, and neither are the scouts.
May take: Blind Grenades. Defensive grenades, but they only work if the enemy charges him specifically. But for 5 points, it doesn't really matter.
Melta-bombs. Blimey, how many grenades have Grey Knights got? Anyway, the anti-tank in your army isn't down to your expensive HQ, it's down to the psycannons and psyrifle dreads. Even at 5 points, it's not worth it.
Digital-weapons. One re-roll to wound. I'm iffy about this. If you cast Hammerhand enough times, then it's not needed. But if you only cast it once, then you do. Taking this all depends on how you use the Grand Master.
Psybolt ammo. 5 points for +1 strength to your Storm Bolter. Pointless.
Empyrean Brain Mine. Only works against models with a terrible Initiative. And for 10 points, it's not worth it.
Psychotroke grenades. The names for the effects are so cool, and effects are to. I would take these because it adds an extra punch in combat.
Rad Grenades. -1 to the opponent's Toughness is not needed, since you can stack Hammerhand.
Orbital Strike Relay. Purely for fun, most of the time it will do nothing. At least it's better than the old codex.
Master-Crafted. This is purely up to you. I would, since it's only 5 points.
Brother captain
The toned down version of the GM. without Grand strategy though, I would always take the GM over the BC. Also, everything else I said about the GM applies to the BC as well, including the upgrades.
Brotherhood Champion
Weirdly, unlike Crowe, These guys can join squads. Although, since your paying for something that isn't crowe, don't take him. 100 points for a 1 wound models is pretty terrible. His perfect warrior special rule is pretty neat, although most of the time it's useless.
Anyway, upgrades.
Digital-weapons. One re-roll to wound. I'm iffy about this, as If you cast hammerhand enough times then it's not needed. But if you only cast it once, then you do. Edit by Valkyrie: Do NOT take Digital Weapons on your Champion, since your Anointed Blade lets you re-roll all wounds, not just a single one.
Psybolt ammo. 5 points for +1 strength to your storm bolter. Point less.
Empyrean brain mine. Only works against models with a terrible I. And for 10 points, it's not worth it.
Librarain
One of the better HQ choices. Also, he comes with mastery level 2 and terminator armour, and has all the standard grey knight rules and war gear plus a Psychic hood. He weighs in at 150 points.
Upgrade to mastery level 3: Only needed if you plan to be using 3 psychic powers in one turn. Otherwise not needed.
Take a: halberd. This and quicksilver are the same price, so why take it? Pointless.
Hammer. He only has 2 wounds, so will die when he attacks last.
Falchions. As I said about the Grand Master, don't take it.
Warding stave. Overpriced, although less so than the GM.
Digital-weapons. One re-roll to wound. I'm iffy about this, as If you cast hammerhand enough times then it's not needed. But if you only cast it once, then you do.
Psybolt ammo. 5 points for +1 strength to your storm bolter. Point less.
Empyrean brain mine. Only works against models with a terrible I. And for 10 points, it's not worth it.
May take up to 3 Servo skulls. I would take 3, and deploy them 11" from myself. Those infiltrators aren't going anywhere near me, and neither are the scouts.
OK, on to the psychic powers.
Dark excommunication: In an against all comers list, waste of 5 points. If playing daemons, then absolute gold.
Quicksilver: One of the best. I 10 for the whole squad. Put him with paladins, and watch as they munch everything. Even more so if you put Draigo in there as well.
Might of titan: What's scarier than a squad of Paladins with I 10? Paladins with I 10 and strength 9, that's how!(Might of titan + hammer hand from libby = +2, +1 for squad, +2 for Draigo.)
Sanctuary: If your defending a gunline it's pretty good.
Smite: waste of 5 points. I would rather cast Quicksilver or hammerhand.
The Shrouding: This is, in my opinion, the best psychic power. With the abundance of cover, and vehicles affected by it, It's pure awesomeness.(Thanks Po)
The summoning: Really good if your doing an aggressive list. With WSF vehicles can be affected as well. This makes some amazing opportunities. Put him him mordrak, Deep strike. Next turn, bring 3 units to near them. This could be 3 land raiders!
Vortex of doom: Codex marines don't take this, and your better than them. Don't take it.
Warp rift: Good in an aggressive list. Otherwise, it's pointless.
End
That concludes my review. The smart people will have noticed that the inquisitors aren't here. They can be found in part 2 here:
Codex: Grey Knights (2011) - Inquisition HQ Review.
