Grey Knight 500pts Tourney list (Purge the Alien)

[edjammies]

I'm playing in a 500pt escalation league and this match is going to be Purge the Alien. I've only ever played with Tyranids so this is a bit of a jump for me; Any advice, recommendations, and strategies would be REALLY appreciated!

The special rules for this league game are:
All vehicles can move 12" speed with no negatives
All cover is 5+
No flyers
No fortifications


My current list I'm thinking about doing is this:

TROOPS
5-man strike squad
-1 psycannon
-1 hammer
Dedicated transport
-Razorback(psybolt ammo)
170pts

5-man strike squad
-1 psycannon
-1 hammer
Dedicated transport
-Razorback(psybolt ammo)
170pts

Heavy Support
1 Dreadnought with 2 TL autocannon(psybolt ammo)
135pts

HQ
1 Inquisitor
*Just for the mandatory FOC requirement*
25pts

500pts total

So what are your thoughts on this list? Considering the game will be all about kill points, my strategy was to shoot from afar with my dreadnought and Razorbacks the first couple turns. When my opponent starts moving up mid field, my strike squads hop out and start gunning down with psycannons and storm bolters and hopefully hide behind area terrain.

I forgone the halberds in my squads because I'm assuming I can get into a good enough position where if there is going to be an assault, they'll assault into me through difficult terrain and hopefully go at I1. The hammer will be there to deal with any tough models coming my way.

I think the only thing I would have trouble dealing with would be a Land Raider. Another weakness would maybe be giving up first blood too easily if they can pop my Razorback first turn from afar.

Any recommendations about taking other lists are definitely welcome! I'm really new at using GK so any tips or strategies are all greatly appreciated.

[Hyrrokin]

It would be nice to know if you play the smaller 4x4 foot map or the big 6x4.
Im currently playing a escalation from 500 pts and another 250 each month up to 1750but its no tournament as such, its for getting a army fully painted. still we play to win and have purge the alien till 750 pts.
in these games you are perfectly right about having as few kill points as possibly while still being as killy as possible.
going to your list you seem to have a lot of easy kill points.
In low point games i have found 2+ saves goes a long way. and a inq. in terminator armour with psy cannon and thunderhammer is 80 pts very good at these point levels and almost a must if you have a bare Inq. anyway.
The thing about grey knights then a compare with nids (and many other armies) is their utility a normal grey knight have decent cc with the force sword, decent shooting with the stormbolter and the ability to deepstrike/ prevent deepstrikes all for 20 points. they do not have the same predestined role every game as the nid unit have. with psycannons they can even blow up land raiders. as many marines they are versatile but not the best at one thing. this is where your elite comes in. a lot of things can with the right hq become troops, so if you dont want the versatile knight you can go henchmen for cheap troops in razorbacks leaving room for other choices or just more razorbacks. if you want firepower you can go with purifiers leaving out deep strike for better cc and double the amount of special weapons. if you want a elite army get paladins and draigo. this is all within the mandatory hq and 2 troops. im not the right to go over all the units but while the codex is very reliant on special characters, I think this shows the versatility of the units and the codex as a whole.
Back on the army list topic I dont think you will out shoot anyone beyond range 24" if they shoot and i dont think you have enough shooting to get them before they come close. if they are cc based they will be there turn 2 or 3 tops. Razorbacks are easy to kill with a devastator equivalent and all armies will have something to kill vehicles at range. If you want to use transports use them for what they were designed for, getting to the enemy, turn 2-3 they will both be dead and have done you no good. remember if you lose one that's a good as losing a squad in terms of kp.
grey knights work best at range 24" and cc after whittling the enemy. going on your list I would at least lose one razorback and hammer for a termi inq. another thing i just thought of is you shouldn't give the justicar a hammer, hell die if perils and can get challenged and killed. a halberd is a lot better weapon for him making him a good challenger for his points. I would be tempted to run the following list but ill include two lists.
1. list
HQ:
2x inq in terminator armour, psycannon, hammer 160
Troops:
2x strike squad (naked) 200
Heavy:
Dreadnought with autocannons and psybolt 135
that's 495 pts. the 5 pts can be used to get a halberd on a justicar or getting a skull for precise deepstrike. the idea is to put the 2 inq in a squad and letting them tank if they get low on wounds or gets an ap shot LOS it to a random knight. the second squad can be held in reserve to deep strike where needed or you cn put a inq. in each squad. remember that because of relentless from the terminator armour you can move and shoot it in heavy mode. have the dreadnought behind using its range and the squad/s at about 24" moving back or forth as they move. when and if you get the upper hand you can start moving the squads in cc range to finish them of. remember taht if your opponent seem capable of out shooting you can always put your dreadnought at the back and deep strike the rest in his face.
the other list builds on the fact the their rarely is much ap 2 in low point games and goes like this:
HQ:
2x inq as before 160
Troops:
strike squad with psycannon and halberd(justicar) 115
terminator squad with psycannon 225
with this list you have a lot of firepower in psycannons and good durability from the 2+ save on the inq. in the strike squad, play agressive with the terminators if you lose them its only a single kp and they can dish out a good damage with halberds and a or 2 hammer, you might want the justicar with a sword to have 4++ in cc and challenge whatever nasty could kill your unit. again remember to play tour enemy where he is weakest not only where you are strongest.
To finish off include my list for my own escalation game its my third and last army necron:
HQ:
Destroyer lord with mindshackle, sempiternal weave (2+ save) 160
Troops
2x 5 warriors 130
Fast attack
6 Wraith naked 210
I play the warriors at the back 24" range away posing the lord/wraith squad forward making a big enough threat that the warriors get no attention, as the lord/wraith unit kills whatever it gets to cc with. the lords 2+ with the wraith 3++ also makes for a very durable unit.
I post the necrons so you can see what you might be up against beside what you can make yourself of tyranid lists
as a last thing ill add that you really should try out a lot of things to find your own style, as I said grey knights are very versatile. and as I see it can be played a lot of ways. escalation games are one of the best ways to try things out, as you can see how the new units effect your list.
Best of Luck
Hyrrokin
PS. some spelling errors but im to lazy to fix them, I think you can understand it anyway.