It's taken us two posts to establish the core of our army: Purifiers and Dreadnoughts led by Coteaz. We have a whole post dedicated to Troops? That seems excessive until we look at the options Henchmen as a unit have. 3-12 models and up to 10 different unit types from choose from plus three transport options and a wide range of combat, shooting and support uses. Understandable then. Our main issue in
Psykers
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I have a love/hate relationship with Psykers. On the plus side you've got a 36" range blast (which can have its scatter reduced with servo-skulls) that can easily get S10 AP1. Problem is they are Ld8 (so unreliable in hitting when you combine the statistics of passing a psychic test and scatter) and a single Perils kills the whole squad. They can be stuck in a Rhino for Fortitude and good mobility + range and being a solid scoring option (Psybunker). Whilst you can nullify the Perils = dead squad to an extent by adding a Warrior Acolyte to the squad (it still scores!), I just feel these units are too touch and go to be worth it, particularly since the current list has no servo skull access as it stands.
Jokaeros
Servitors are really out of the question since we only have one Inquisitor (and mindlock is silly) so if we want heavy weapons from our Henchmen, Jokaeros are your only option. Significantly more expensive than Servitors Jokaeros give you flexibility in terms of having multiple weapon options (MM, Lascannon and Heavy Flamer) whilst also providing unit bonuses based on a random D6 roll. This table has some nice bonuses (36" MMs anyone?) but nothing too flash. In the end Jokaeros are quite expensive but give you ranged weapons which Grey Knights quite often need. In a Rhino they are also 'unshakable' (aka monkeymobile) which is great for reliable firepower. BS3 sucks, particularly at 35 points per model, but that's what we have to work with.
Crusaders
Power weapon and storm shield for 15 points? Sure they are only T3 and only have a single attack but that's decently cheap. Combine with options like Rad grenades and hammerhand and these guys can wound T4 on 2s and take a punching in return. Recently durable (think Sisters of Battle) for some more reliable scoring but not super cheap. Certainly has potential as a 'bodyguard' of sorts for Cortez but otherwise isn't adding to the list in terms of fire support which is what we are looking for. No assault transport or frag grenades also hinders their ability to effectively damage then enemy.
Death Cult Assassins
Very similar to Crusaders but much more combat efficient with more attacks, higher strength, WS and initiative but less defenses due to no storm shield. Same point cost so very easy to compare but the same issues as Crusaders with no frag grenades or a viable assault vehicle.
Warrior Acolytes
If we want cheap scoring options, these are our guys. 4 points a model means we can easily take as many of these guys as possible. Minimum squad size of three also means we can take really cheap upgrades to vehicles (Razorbacks) and make them scoring. The obvious downside to this is of course if the transport gets blown to bits, they won't last much longer. Of course Warrior acolytes also have other options...like meltaguns. Whilst BS3 is annoying, three meltaguns has a 1/8 chance of not hitting in a single given turn (roughly once a game). This isn't bad but also isn't super reliable and requires a Chimera so the fire point can be used and not expose yourself to incoming enemy firepower.
Certainly an option for this list in many variants or even as cheap add-ons to other squads to expand upon their numbers for scoring purposes.
Transports
Henchmen have three dedicated transport options. The Chimera and Rhino both bring firepoints to the table (important for any melta), the Chimera and Razorback both bring pretty cheap and mobile firepower whilst the Rhino and Razorback both have Fortitude in comparison to the AV12 Chimera. That's a lot of options to consider and it really comes down to what you want the unit to do. If you're looking for any sort of heavy weapon or melta based henchmen squad, the Rhino/Chimera are the best bets with fire points and then we have to weigh up whether or not we would prefer Fortitude or AV12 + 2x heavy weapons. If we're looking to have a cheap scoring squad than the Razorback is the most efficient option due to its heavy weapon and fortitude. The choice of transport will all depend on what the Henchmen unit is aiming to do.
Grey Knight Strike Squads
One of the biggest issues the list is having currently is durability in Troops. Henchmen can be really versatile in how you set them up but are basically T3/5+ Troops for the most part. However, they are generally quite cheap with most squads ranging from 90-150 points. On the other side of the coin we have Grey Knights. These guys are quite expensive but very cost efficient (+4 points over a Marine for a Stormbolter, Hammerhand and a force weapon? Sold). At the same time they are MEQ statlines so can be very reliable in midfield. That being said, they are expensive and in terms of actual army efficiency, aren't going to be racking up any awards even though they are pretty cost effective.
End result...
So there are a ton of options with Henchmen which is awesome but we have to understand our point limitation and what we want the army to do. Remember, henchmen are essentially Guardsmen in terms of statlines and explosion results so small squads aren't super reliable as scorers. That's where Grey Knights can come in. More expensive than your average Marine (and we are tight on points as is), Grey Knights are very good in midfield with decent combat potential and excellent shooting capacity. Importantly though they are MEQs and 10 MEQs in a Rhino isn't a piece of cake to get rid of. What we therefore need to do with is combine the cheapness of some of the henchmen squads with the reliability of the Grey Knight Strike squads to fill out our scoring options.
In the final part we'll take a look at some potential Henchmen options and then put the whole list together.
