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1 / 4 · Click to enlargeLore & origins
The Grey Knights were founded in secret on Titan, under the direction of Malcador and the Emperor, to fight daemons. Every Grey Knight is a psyker. Each is screened for incorruptibility and trained to resist the warp. Strike Squads are the Chapter's standard units, formed from battle-brothers who have proven themselves in training and in battle.
Strike Squads are the Chapter's rapid-response force. They are teleported or dropped wherever a daemonic incursion or warp breach is detected, often with no warning. Their psychic powers and blessed weapons let them face daemons that would destroy ordinary soldiers. A single Strike Squad can sometimes stop an incursion before it spreads beyond a single building or ship.
The Grey Knights fight in absolute secrecy. Their existence is hidden from almost everyone, and civilians who see them may have their minds wiped or be executed. The Chapter is closely tied to the Ordo Malleus of the Inquisition, which often directs its missions.
The Grey Knights are the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Malleus. They are psyker Space Marines raised on Titan to fight daemons. Every Grey Knight is a psyker who learns the true names of daemons, and their strike squads are the core of their brotherhoods. The order is organised into eight Brotherhoods, and its Supreme Grand Master is Kaldor Draigo, who wanders the warp. Their armour is blessed, they are trained to resist corruption, and the Inquisition keeps their existence secret.
Appearance & wargear
Grey Knights wear silver-grey power armour, polished and inscribed with sacred texts and wards. Each carries a Nemesis force weapon (sword, halberd, daemon hammer or falchions) and a wrist-mounted storm bolter. Their armour is decorated with seals and pages of sacred texts, and their helms have a crusader look.
They wear silver-grey power armour with psychic hoods, and carry nemesis force weapons (swords, halberds, falchions and staves) and storm bolters, psycannons, psilencers and incinerators.
Weapons & Vehicles
Psychically attuned silvered blades, halberds and daemon hammers forged exclusively for the Grey Knights of Titan, channelling the wiel…
A twin-barrelled, double-chambered automatic bolter wielded one-handed by Space Marine Terminators, Grey Knights and battle tank pintle…
A volatile liquid-promethium projector that floods bunkers, trenches and xenos swarms in clinging, self-oxidising gouts of cleansing ch…
A heavily armed infantry fighting vehicle built on the Rhino chassis, trading half of its troop capacity for a roof-mounted twin heavy …
A heavily armed VTOL assault gunship and flying transport of the Adeptus Astartes and Grey Knights, capable of carrying both a full squ…
A huge psychically-powered exoskeleton worn by a Grey Knight, built to fight daemon princes on equal terms.
Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.
Battlefield role & tactics
Strike Squads are versatile elite infantry. They deep strike into battle, attack with storm bolters, and then engage daemons in close combat with their force weapons. They can also project psychic attacks and shields. They are often the first wave against a daemonic threat.
Strike squads teleport into battle and use psychic powers and melee against daemons and heretics. They are versatile but expensive compared to normal Space Marines.
Field Modifications, Sub-Faction Doctrines & Operational Idiosyncrasies
Within the strategic threat-indices of the Departmento Munitorum, the Ordo Xenos, and the high command savants of Grey Knights, Grey Knights Strike Squad are classified as a premier troops asset whose battlefield effectiveness stems from the tight integration of operator conditioning and specialized wargear. Deep within the Chamber of Purity on Saturn's moon of Titan, prognosticars and Techmarines attune each brother's silvered Aegis psychic lattice and Nemesis psi-matrix so the entire squad channels a single gestalt ward against the Immaterium. In active campaign theatres, Grey Knights wear silver-grey power armour, polished and inscribed with sacred texts and wards. Each carries a Nemesis force weapon (sword, halberd, daemon hammer or falchions) and a wrist-mounted storm bolter.
Veteran formations of Grey Knights Strike Squad develop distinct sub-faction doctrines and field modifications over decades of continuous deployment. Strike Squads have a teleport-based doctrine in later editions. The 9th edition codex leans heavily on their ability to strike from Titan anywhere in the galaxy. Whether fighting in void-ship boarding actions, ash-waste tank duels, or ruined hive-city basilicas, experienced crews and squad leaders strip away parade-ground redundancies to maximize ammunition feed reliability, target-acquisition speed, and close-quarters survivability under extreme suppression.
Field maintenance and biological or machine-spirit recovery logs confirm that sustained combat exacts a heavy toll on both wargear and flesh, yet Grey Knights Strike Squad maintain operational cohesion long after standard line units would collapse. Following every major engagement, recovery teams prioritize the immediate extraction of their core panoply, veterancy honors, and consecrated components so that the lineage and lethal institutional memory of the formation endure into the next warzone.
Heraldry, Battle-Damage & Community Artistry
Across the Warhammer 40,000 illustration, Golden Demon painting, and display-diorama community, Grey Knights Strike Squad stand out as one of the most rewarding subjects in the Grey Knights range. Artists and miniature painters focus intently on their signature visual hallmarks: unpainted, mirror-burnished gleaming Titan silver armour washed in cool ethereal blue recesses, gold-inlaid anti-daemonic high gothic scripture carved across every plate, and crackling turquoise psi-blade lightning. Combined with the distinct silhouette described in field sightings—Grey Knights wear silver-grey power armour, polished and inscribed with sacred texts and wards—every model and canvas painting offers a rich interplay of texture between rigid armour plates, weathered cloth or chitin, and gleaming weapon assemblies.
When depicting Grey Knights Strike Squad at the height of battle, community artists and painters push contrast through sponge-chipped battle damage, directional mud and ash pigments across the lower greaves or hull tracks, and vivid Object Source Lighting (OSL) cast by active lenses, energy coils, or muzzle flashes. Sub-faction heraldry, campaign badges, and trophy details allow hobbyists to anchor each miniature or illustration in a specific canonical warzone—celebrating both the grimdark complexity of the Forty-First Millennium and the craftsmanship of the community that brings Grey Knights to life.
Notable battles & users
- Titan: the Grey Knights' fortress-monastery on Saturn's moon is the base for all Strike Squads.
- Ordo Malleus missions: squads are deployed at the request of Daemonhunter Inquisitors such as Coteaz.
Related
Characters (4)
Kaldor Draigo · Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights
Torquemada Coteaz · Inquisitor Lord of the Ordo Malleus
The Emperor of Mankind · Master of Mankind, Lord of the Imperium
Malcador the Sigillite · Regent of Terra, First Lord of the Council
Related units
Grey Knights Paladins
Grey Knights PurifiersNemesis Dreadknight
Librarian
Grey Knights Interceptor Squad