Banishers: The 11th-Edition Grey Knights Psychic Melee Detachment

Each time a GREY KNIGHTS unit from your army is selected to fight, that unit can take a Leadership test. If that test is passed, select one of the following rules; until the end of the phase, that unit has that rule:

• Melee weapons equipped by models in this unit with the [PSYCHIC] ability also have [SUSTAINED HITS 1].
• Melee weapons equipped by models in this unit with the [PSYCHIC] ability also have [LETHAL HITS].

Two things make this the most demanding detachment rule in the faction.

The choice is per unit and per fight, not once for the army. A good player picks deliberately every single time:

• Take [SUSTAINED HITS 1] against a horde with a poor save, where extra hits convert reliably into wounds and then into dead models. More hits is more damage when everything you hit dies.
• Take [LETHAL HITS] against something with high Toughness or a save your Strength cannot beat, because Lethal Hits converts a critical hit straight into a wound and skips the wound roll entirely. That is the answer to a target you cannot wound.

Getting this backwards wastes the detachment. Sustained Hits into a Knight generates extra hits that then fail to wound; Lethal Hits into a horde converts a few 6s while the rest of your attacks were going to wound anyway.

It is a test, so it can fail. That is the price of the flexibility, and it has a nasty interaction: a Battle-shocked unit is at a real disadvantage on Leadership tests, so an opponent who can inflict Battle-shock is also switching your detachment rule off. Worth knowing before you commit a key unit into a fight after a bad Battle-shock phase.

The upside is coverage. Nemesis force weapons carry [PSYCHIC], and every Grey Knight carries one, so the rule applies to essentially your entire melee army. This is the detachment that most rewards a broad, ordinary collection rather than one specific unit.

Six, all 1CP, and unusually all six are Epic Deed stratagems.

• Hexwrought Reprisal (end of any phase). Target one GREY KNIGHTS PSYKER unit on the battlefield that suffered one or more mortal wounds this phase. Select one enemy unit that inflicted them, then roll a die for each mortal wound your unit suffered: for each 2+ that enemy unit suffers one mortal wound, to a maximum of 6. At a 2+ per die this converts most of the damage straight back. It is the specific answer to an opponent leaning on mortal wounds to bypass Grey Knights saves, which is how this army usually dies.
• Warding Chant (opponent's Shooting or the Fight). Just after an enemy selects targets, target one GREY KNIGHTS PSYKER unit that was selected. Until the end of the phase, models in your unit have Feel No Pain 5+ against attacks with an unmodified Damage characteristic of 1. Narrow but common: it is the answer to massed small-arms fire, which is what actually removes Grey Knights models in bulk. Useless against a lascannon, excellent against forty bolter shots.
• Chaos Bane (your Shooting). Target one GREY KNIGHTS PSYKER unit that has not shot. Until the end of the phase, its ranged weapons have [ANTI-CHAOS 4+]. The most matchup-dependent tool in the faction: devastating against Chaos Space Marines, Death Guard, Thousand Sons, World Eaters, Emperor's Children and Chaos Daemons, and completely dead against everything else. Know it exists rather than planning around it.
• Celerity (your Charge). Target one GREY KNIGHTS PSYKER INFANTRY unit. Until the end of the turn, your unit is eligible to declare a charge in a turn in which it Advanced. A large threat-range extension, and this detachment badly wants to be in combat because its rule only fires when a unit is selected to fight.
• Circle of Sanctuary (start of opponent's Movement). Target one GREY KNIGHTS CHARACTER model. Until the end of the phase, enemy units set up as Reinforcements cannot be set up within 12 inches horizontally of your model. A wide deep strike denial bubble anchored on one character, which is unusually cheap for the effect. Position the character to cover the objective you cannot afford to have contested.
• Shadow of Anarch (opponent's Movement). Just after an enemy unit ends a Normal, Advance or Fall Back move, target one GREY KNIGHTS PSYKER unit within 8 inches of it and not engaged. Your unit can make a Normal move of up to 6 inches or, if it has Deep Strike, be placed into Strategic Reserves. Faction Pack v1.1 amends this by name, tightening the Target range from 9 inches to 8. Two very different effects on one stratagem: reposition, or vanish entirely and come back later.

Four, and here is the pattern worth noticing: every single one affects shooting or movement, not melee. That is a deliberate counterbalance to a detachment rule that only helps in the Fight phase, and it means the enhancements are filling a gap rather than doubling down.

• The Sixty-sixth Seal (25 pts). GREY KNIGHTS model only. In your Shooting phase, each time a model in the bearer's unit makes an attack, improve the Armour Penetration by 1. Applies to every shot from the whole unit, which on a squad of storm bolters is a large aggregate improvement. The most expensive here, and a shooting enhancement in a melee detachment.
• Pyresoul (Psychic) (20 pts). GREY KNIGHTS model only. At the start of your Shooting phase, select one enemy unit within 24 inches of and visible to the bearer; that unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. Repeatable chip damage every turn with no roll to hit or wound, which is a reliable way to finish a nearly dead unit or push a target into Battle-shock range.
• The Ephemeral Tome (15 pts). GREY KNIGHTS INFANTRY model only. At the start of your Shooting phase, if the bearer's unit is not engaged, it can make a Normal move of up to D6 inches, and until the end of the turn it cannot declare a charge. A free repositioning move with a charge penalty, so it suits a shooting turn rather than an assault one. Note the INFANTRY restriction.
• Sigil of the Hunt (10 pts). GREY KNIGHTS model only. In your Shooting phase, each time a model in the bearer's unit makes an attack, re-roll a Hit roll of 1. The cheapest and a straightforward accuracy improvement across the whole unit.

(Points come from the Munitorum Field Manual and move with updates; confirm in the app.)

• [Strike Squad](/40k/boxes/warhammer-grey-knights-strike-squad-new) turns on the detachment rule as fully as anything else does, because every Grey Knight is a Psyker with a Nemesis force weapon. This is the detachment that most rewards a broad, ordinary collection rather than one centrepiece.
• [Brotherhood Terminator Squad](/40k/boxes/warhammer-grey-knights-paladin-squad-new) is a Psyker unit with a high-quality melee profile, which is where the Lethal Hits option is worth the most.
• [Paladin Squad](/40k/boxes/warhammer-grey-knights-paladin-squad-new) is the best single target for Lethal Hits, because their attacks are already good and Lethal Hits converts critical hits into wounds regardless of Toughness.
• Brotherhood Librarian is a Psyker character well suited to a detachment built on psychic weapons and Leadership tests. No box is linked, because our catalog has no exact Brotherhood Librarian entry.
• [Castellan Crowe](/40k/boxes/grey-knights-castellan-crowe) is a melee character for a melee detachment, and one of the few Grey Knights characters with an exact entry in our catalog.

No Unique Tag, so all three 1 DP detachments are legal for exactly 3 DP.

• [Argent Assault](/40k/armies/grey-knights/detachments/argent-assault) (1 DP) is the cleanest fit. Both detachments answer the same question, which is how do Paladins hurt something tough. Dauntless Champions gives +1 to wound when your Strength is lower than the target's Toughness; [LETHAL HITS] from Channelled Force skips the wound roll entirely on a critical hit. Between them, high-Toughness targets stop being a wall.
• [Fires of Purgation](/40k/armies/grey-knights/detachments/fires-of-purgation) (1 DP) is the matchup pick. Chaos Bane grants [ANTI-CHAOS 4+] to a PSYKER unit's ranged weapons, and a Purgation Squad is a Psyker unit, so against a Chaos army the two detachments compound on the same guns.
• [Immaterial Interdiction](/40k/armies/grey-knights/detachments/immaterial-interdiction) (1 DP) helps you reach combat, which matters because Channelled Force only triggers when a unit is selected to fight. Interceptors are Psykers too, so they benefit from the rule themselves.

Take it when you want your decisions to matter more than your list does, and when you have a broad collection rather than one specialist unit you want to build around.

Be clear-eyed about the limits. The rule can fail. A Leadership test is not a guarantee, and an opponent who inflicts Battle-shock is switching your detachment off at the same time. The detachment also adds nothing defensive to the rule itself, and its enhancements are all shooting or movement, which means the Fight phase gets exactly one tool and it is conditional.

Sample gameplan: pair with [Argent Assault](/40k/armies/grey-knights/detachments/argent-assault) (1 DP) for exactly 3 DP. Put Sigil of the Hunt on the character leading your biggest squad for cheap accuracy, and Pyresoul on a second character for guaranteed chip damage every turn. Use Celerity to Advance and charge when you need the reach. In the Fight phase, take the Leadership test on each unit and choose deliberately: Sustained Hits into screens, Lethal Hits into the Paladins' target. Hold a point for Hexwrought Reprisal the moment an opponent throws mortal wounds at you.

For the fundamentals underneath all of it, read the Grey Knights army guide.