Warhammer 40k Grey Knights Complete Lore & History

The Warhammer 40k Grey Knights are a Space Marines Chapter and the Ordo Malleus’ Chamber Militant. The Chapter specializes in the hunt for Chaos daemons and their annihilation.

Contents

• 1 Overview
• 2 History
• 2.1 Origins
• 2.2 War of the Beast
• 2.3 First War for Armageddon
• 2.4 Noctis Aeterna
• 2.5 Other campaigns
• 3 Organisation
• 3.1 Brotherhoods
• 3.2 Hierarchy
• 4 Tactics
• 5 Recruitment
• 6 Gene-Seed
• 7 Chapter Assets
• 7.1 Home world
• 7.2 Equipment
• 7.3 Chapter Fleet
• 7.3.1 Known Vessels
• 7.4 Notable Aircraft
• 7.5 Notable Grey Knights
• 7.5.1 Heresy Era
• 7.5.2 Post-Heresy

Overview

The Grey Knights are the fabled Chapter 666, and despite being a Chapter of the Astartes, they are members of the Inquisition’s Chamber Militant. Each chapter member goes through a grueling and excruciating selection procedure, and once inducted, their rigorous training regimen is unrivaled. They fight as a silver ghost army, surrounded by awe and armed to the teeth to deal with the deadliest opponents Chaos can summon to confront them.

Only the Inquisition and Chapter Masters have been allowed to know about the Grey Knight’s presence since the Chapter’s inception. If they’ve heard of the Grey Knights at all, many chapters assume they’re a myth. Space Marines who come into contact with them are telepathically scanned, while Imperial Guard troops fighting alongside them are simply executed. The Space Wolves, on the other hand, are aware of their existence after slaying Grey Knights, Red Hunters, and Inquisition Forces during the Months of Shame, as the Grey Knights refer to them.

To fight Daemons, monsters that aren’t of this world but are made of sorcery and madness, a Grey Knight must harness the force of the Warp in order to fight a Daemon with its own weapons. Each Grey Knight is a skilled, powerful psyker whose mental presence is repulsive to Warp entities. They are taught to channel their psychic powers into The Aegis, a halo of protecting wards. A Grey Knight’s presence becomes distasteful to Daemons, rendering him impervious to corruption and allowing him to use forbidden black magic, harness tainted artefacts, and scour blasphemous tomes without fear of being overrun by Chaos’ cursed strength.

Among the Adeptus Astartes chapters, the Grey Knights have the distinction of having never had a single member defect to Chaos in over ten thousand years of service.

Their armour is left unpainted, exposing the ceramite’s silvery grey. This custom is considered to have begun as a result of their desire to live completely pure lives. The sigil of Malcador the Sigillite is acid-etched into their left gauntlet and tattooed on the flesh beneath. When you reach the level of Justicar, you can wear your own heraldry on a shield on your shoulder. Their armour, on the other hand, is lavishly ornamented, with protective symbols and carved litanies.

History

Origins

Much of the Grey Knights’ history is shrouded in mystery and secret, or has been omitted from archives on purpose. The Grey Knights, however, originated as a project during the latter days of the Horus Heresy, according to tradition. The Emperor anticipated that the Heresy would end at such a personal cost to him that he would be unable to actively protect mankind against the great threat of Chaos and its Daemons, so he devised a strategy to counteract such evil. Malcador the Sigillite, the Emperor’s closest servant, was dispatched to scour the Imperium for men capable of bearing such a load.

Space Marines

Malcador discovered a total of twelve honorable champions: four lords and administrators, and eight Space Marines from both loyalist and traitor legions. Nathaniel Garro, Amendera Kendel, Lemuel Gaumon, and Kyril Sindermann were among the survivors of the Eisenstein event. Others would join them during the formation of the organization, including Tylos Rubio, Macer Varren, Janus, Epimetheus, Khyron, and Garviel Loken. Many of the Space Marines who joined the cause came from traitorous Legions, even if they had stayed loyal to the Emperor. Not all of these Grey Knights-Errant, however, went on to form the Grey Knights. Malcador eventually united the original Grey Knights to his side just before the Siege of Terra. Janus, Epimetheus, Khyron, Koios, Ogen, Iapto, Yotun, and Satre were their original names, but they were known to history as Janus, Epimetheus, Khyron, Koios, Ogen, Iapto, Yotun, and Satre. The Emperor viewed the chosen recruits once they had been assembled and gave his approval and authorisation to proceed with the project. As a result, the recruits split off to pursue distinct goals: the four lords set out to establish the Inquisition’s foundation, while the Space Marines and Malcador headed to Saturn’s moon Titan.

Titan has been protected from the devastation of the Horus Heresy thanks to Malcador’s supernatural powers. When they arrived, they discovered a Fortress-monastery completely equipped and filled with everything needed to raise a new army of Space Marines, including gene-seed believed to have been obtained directly from the Emperor, as well as all essential armaments. Hundreds of thousands of qualified recruits from all around the Galaxy have already flocked to the citadel. Some were unskilled and unprepared, while others were chosen in secret from loyalist Legion ranks. This new army would be a Chapter, a smaller, more intimate Space Marine brotherhood than a Legion. Malcador was unable to continue, so he appointed Janus, one of the original eight Space Marines, as the Grey Knights’ leader and Supreme Grand Master. Before departing, Malcador performed his most powerful spell yet: he hid Titan from Horus in the most improbable of places: the Warp itself. While the final battles of the Heresy took place in Real Space, Titan was safeguarded by Macro-Geller fields and sigilic ceremonies.

The Second Founding was underway when Titan eventually returned. Titan had risen from the Warp with a full Chapter of one thousand fully trained Battle-Brothers, not the initial eight Space Marines and their raw recruits, but with a full Chapter of one thousand fully trained Battle-Brothers. The newly established Inquisition was in charge of the Second Founding, which was overseen by the same lords that Malcador had chosen years before. Despite the fact that there were only 400 Chapters commissioned at the time, they covertly included the Grey Knights among the rising list of new Chapters, naming them Chapter 666. Unlike the other new Chapters, the Grey Knights were embedded within the Inquisition to serve as the Ordo Malleus’ Chamber Militant, fighting against all things Daemonic.

War of the Beast

Kyril Sindermann, later known as Inquisitor Lastan Neemagiun Veritus, survived the War of the Beast for 1,500 years. After being poisoned by the Assassinorum’s High Lord Drakan Vangorich, he told fellow Inquisitor Wienand that he was the last of the four Inquisitors to learn of the Grey Knights’ creation. He explained that over the decades following the Horus Heresy, he ordered the Grey Knights to confront the forces of Chaos, but that only he, the Grey Knights, and those who were currently dead knew about it. They were far too significant a force to be squandered during the War of the Beast, and the Inquisition’s current organization would preclude them from effectively combating Chaos’ threat.

Before he died, he gave her a code chip that gave her entrance to Titan and the opportunity to meet Supreme Grand Master Janus. She recounted the splitting of the Inquisition into the Ordo Xenos and Ordo Malleus, with the Grey Knights serving as Ordo Malleus’ chamber militant, after she had navigated through the different environmental safeguards afforded by the moon. She died on Terra a century later after assisting in the overthrow of Vangorich, leaving it unknown whether the Inquisition had been restructured or not.

First War for Armageddon

The whole Grey Knight Terminator brotherhood repelled the last large-scale incursion in 444.M41, albeit at great cost. Brother-Captain Aurellian, the task force’s leader, perished after personally expelling the Daemon Prince Angron back into the Warp. The Grey Knights slaughtered a bodyguard of over a dozen formidable Bloodthirster daemons, as well as countless more Khorne minions, ultimately stopping the incursion. Only a few Grey Knights survived the final combat, but the daemonic army was entirely destroyed. Future Grand Masters Vorth Mordrak and Mandulis, Brother-Captains Arvann Stern, Caddon Varn, and Dhark Tegvar, and the present Castellan of the Purifier brotherhood — Garran Crowe — were all survivors of the conflict.

The Grey Knights were crucial in purifying the Imperial Guard and civilian survivors of any leftover Chaos taint after the conflict. In addition, the Grey Knights purged a slew of planets and outposts that had come into contact with the survivors. As a result, they were pitted against the Space Wolves, and GrandMaster Joros was killed by Logan Grimnar. The entire aftermath of the war and subsequent struggle with the Space Wolves has been dubbed the Months of Shame by some Grey Knights.

Noctis Aeterna

The Imperium was troubled by an unusual number of Daemonic outbreaks during the development of the Great Rift at the start of M42. In the ensuing Terran Crusade and Battle of Lion’s Gate on Terra, the Grey Knights were at the forefront of the combat. The Grey Knights worked feverishly in the aftermath to stop Daemonic outbreaks in the Dark Imperium and beyond. They were obliged to exterminate billions of Imperial civilians during these campaigns.

Other campaigns

— War against the Hollow Cult

 — First Scouring of Coriolanthe

 — Cleansing of Hovar III

— Suppressing the Garanhir Rebellion with the forces of Inquisition, Black Wings and Dark Swords Chapters

— Thule Decimation.

— Сounteraction the Godjera Incursion

 — The Battle of Crytor

— The First Cleansing of Acrelem

 — The Siege of Vraks

– The Raxos Civil War

– The Destruction of the Red Talon Cults

– The Battle of Kornovin

— The Purging of Jollana

– The Plague of Madness

– The Pandorax Campaign

– The Raid on Bakka

– The Perun Cross Incident – The battle for Sondheim V

– The War in Gheldrith’s Eye

- The Purging of the Relictors chapter

– The Battle of the Boros Gate

– The 13th Black Crusade

– The Hunt for the Wulfen and the Siege of the Fenris System

– The Ultramar Campaign and subsequent Terran Crusade and Battle of Lion’s Gate

– The cleansing of Ganymede

– The Gore Sun Incursion

The Battle of Stynarous IV

– The Dierna System Campaign

– The Battle of Antraxes

 — The Battle of Gathalamor

— The Invasion of the Stygius Sector

 — The Plague Wars

 — The Battle of Hamagora

 — The Invasion of Konor

 — The Battle for the Aspis System

 – The Assault on Sortiarius

 – The Charadon Campaign

– The battle for Hexenfast

 – The Battle of Manask

– The great victory at Archaenologos

– The battle of Sarkon’s Knell

– The Sturmhex Incident

Organization – Grey Knights Chapter

The majority of the Grey Knights Chapter is structured into Brotherhoods, battle units consisting of around one hundred Battle Brothers and roughly similar to a Space Marine Company. A Grand Master is in charge of each Brotherhood. In addition to the Purifier and Paladin Orders, there are eight recognized Grey Knights Brotherhoods.

The Grey Knights’ fighting skills can be rapidly called upon by the Ordo Malleus wherever a daemonic incursion occurs because the majority of the Chapter’s strength is dispersed throughout the Imperium. These small forces are frequently stationed thousands of light years away from their fortress-monastery for decades at a time, and they are normally organized into small teams that have trained and battled together their whole lives.

Brotherhoods

Hall of Champions

• High Paladin Koiar Tempus
• 1 Paladin Ancient
• 98 Paladins
• 6 Grey Knights Chaplains
• 12 Venerable Dreadnoughts

Chamber of Purity

• Castellan Garran Crowe
• 44 Purifiers

1st Brotherhood

• Grand Master Vardan Kai, Steward of the Armoury
• 23 Grey Knights Techmarines
• 75 Servitors
• 20 Land Raiders, 24 Rhinos
• 21 Stormraven Gunships
• 18 Nemesis Dreadknights
• 16 Stormtalon Gunships
• 12 Stormhawk Interceptors
• Brother Captain Cadrig Pelenas
• Brotherhood Champion Feydor Ankhalas
• 1 Brotherhood Ancient
• 5 Terminator Squads
• 5 Interceptor Squads
• 5 Purgation Squads
• 5 Strike Squads
• 1 Dreadnought

2nd Brotherhood

• Grand Master Vorth Mordrak, Admiral of the Fleet
• 4 Battle Barges
• 12 Strike Cruisers
• 8 Rapid Strike Vessels
• 8 Thunderhawk Gunships
• Brother-Captain Arno Trevan
• 1 Brotherhood Champion
• 1 Brotherhood Ancient
• 6 Terminator Squads
• 7 Interceptor Squads
• 6 Purgation Squads
• 7 Strike Squads
• 2 Dreadnoughts

3rd Brotherhood

• Grand Master Aldrik Voldus, Warden of the Librarius
• 3 Epistolaries
• 12 Codiciers
• 9 Lexicanum
• 12 Acolytum
• Brother-Captain Arvann Stern
• 1 Brotherhood Champion
• 1 Brotherhood Ancient
• 6 Terminator Squads
• 3 Interceptor Squads
• 4 Purgation Squads
• 5 Strike Squads
• 3 Dreadnoughts

4th Brotherhood

• Grand Master Drystann Cromm, Keeper of the Augurium
• 12 Prognosticars
• 50 Mono-Task Servitors
• Brother-Captain Ionan Grud
• 1 Brotherhood Champion
• 1 Brotherhood Ancient
• 3 Terminator Squads
• 6 Interceptor Squads
• 5 Purgation Squads
• 6 Strike Squads
• 3 Dreadnoughts

5th Brotherhood

• Grand Master Rothwyr Morvans, Protector of the Sanctum Sanctorum
• 20 Sanctum Guardians
• 12 Grey Knights Apothecaries
• Brother-Captain Tauros Hendron
• 1 Brotherhood Champion
• 1 Brotherhood Ancient
• 4 Terminator Squads
• 4 Interceptor Squads
• 4 Purgation Squads
• 8 Strike Squads
• 5 Dreadnoughts

6th Brotherhood

• Grand Master Caddon Varn, High Seneschal of the Fortress
• 271 Chapter Equerries
• 500 Servitors
• Brother-Captain Kerda Tannasek
• 1 Brotherhood Champion
• 1 Brotherhood Ancient
• 5 Terminator Squads
• 6 Interceptor Squads
• 3 Purgation Squads
• 6 Strike Squads
• 2 Dreadnoughts

7th Brotherhood

• Grand Master Covan Leorac, Inquisition Representative
• 24 Scribes
• 3 Astropaths
• Brother-Captain Darig Tegvar
• 1 Brotherhood Champion
• 1 Brotherhood Ancient
• 3 Terminator Squads
• 5 Interceptor Squads
• 3 Purgation Squads
• 3 Strike Squads
• 2 Dreadnoughts

8th Brotherhood

• Grand Master Aidan Perdron, Knight Commander of the Recruits
• 32 Neophytes
• 1,005 Recruits
• 38 Mono-Task Servitors
• Brother-Captain Mithrac Tor
• 1 Brotherhood Champion
• 1 Brotherhood Ancient
• 7 Terminator Squads
• 3 Interceptor Squads
• 7 Purgation Squads
• 3 Strike Squads
• 1 Dreadnought

Hierarchy of the Grey Knight

The Grey Knights have a completely different hierarchy than Codex-adherent Chapters. The Chapter’s command echelon is made up of a council of the Chapter’s eight Grand Masters who serve under a Supreme Grand Master. Each Grand Master is responsible for a different part of the Chapter, such as the armoury or the fleet. The Inner Conclave of the Inquisition usually includes a Grand Master (or maybe a Supreme Grand Master).

Grand Master Supreme

The highest rank a Grey Knight can achieve. The Supreme Grand Master, also known as the Chapter Lord, has complete control over the chapter. A Grey Knight, on the other hand, can only be chosen Supreme Grand Master with the majority permission of all other Grand Masters, guaranteeing that an unfit candidate does not gain control of the chapter.

Master Grandmaster

The Grey Knight chapter normally includes eight Grand Masters, each in charge of a brotherhood of Grey Knights. The Grand Master is an unrivaled daemonslayer who wears Terminator Armour and fights with a strong Nemesis force weapon. He is also a great psyker. Few Daemons have ever managed to survive a battle with a GrandMaster. The Grey Knights and the Ordo Malleus will always grieve the death of such a formidable champion of the Emperor’s will, even though the average citizen will never hear of him.

Brother-Captain

A group of Grey Knights Brother-Captain is a lower-ranking Grand Master in charge of a hundred of the galaxy’s best soldiers – a huge burden, but one he accepts with solemn respect. A Brother-Captain will be found in the front of the battleground, crushing his adversaries under his boots, setting an example for his Battle-Brother to follow, and commanding his men through psychic connection.

Chaplain

Knights of the Grey Chaplains do the same duties as other Marine chapters, but on a much higher level, as they are responsible for ministering to the spiritual needs of soldiers who will be fighting the most heinous of opponents. They are extremely rare specimens, and the Chapter only has a few of them. Despite this, not a single Grey Knight has succumbed to Chaos as a result of their efforts. 

Librarian

The Grey Knights Librarian, like the Librarians of other Chapters, aids his Battle-Brothers with psychic abilities vastly superior to those of his peers.

Champion of the Brotherhood

The Brotherhood Champion, a fighter who has abandoned all other kinds of battle to become a master of the blade, stands at the head of every Grey Knight Brotherhood. His primary responsibility is to serve as a bodyguard for his Brother-Captain and, if necessary, to sacrifice himself. However, few enemies are talented enough to defeat the Champion in combat, therefore this ultimate sacrifice is uncommon.

Justicars are the Grey Knight squad leaders (similar to a codex Chapter’s Sergeant).

Terminators

The battle-brothers in Terminator armour, like other Space Marine Chapters, are the Grey Knights’ elite. The Paladins, soldiers sworn to guard one of the chapters Grand Masters, stand above even these elite fighters.

Brother in Arms

The “basic” Grey Knight trooper, wearing Power Armour. Grey Knights Battle-Brothers can be assigned to a variety of squads: Purgation Squads — heavy support squads carrying numerous heavy weapons alternatively as Purifier Squads — elite forces regarded even more incorruptible than the rest of their brethren.

The Grey Knights, like other chapters, use Techmarines to maintain and operate their war engines.

Ferrymen

Former Grey Knights, the Ferrymen have become Pariahs. They are seneschals for the Sepulchers who look after the Dead Fields.

The Prognosticars are skilled psykers who specialize in detecting daemonic invasions into realspace among the Grey Knights.

Tactics

Deep strike techniques, particularly teleportation and the deployment of Stormraven and Thunderhawk Gunships, are particularly popular among the Grey Knights.

The Ordo Malleus’ Inquisitors are in charge of the early detection of demonic infestation, although the Chamber Militant is in charge of the majority of combat.

The Grey Knights frequently teleport themselves into combat as close to the target as feasible, both to avoid unnecessary losses and to reduce their overall presence. Additional Imperial troops, generally with squads of Grey Knights assigned as a specialty division, are left to deal with any lingering hostile forces.

The Grey Knights use an egregore in battle, which is a mental link that allows for faster communication and synchronization.

Recruitment

Because of the Grey Knights’ position, potential recruits are subjected to considerably more rigorous testing than other Space Marine Neophytes. Unlike most Space Marine Chapters, the Grey Knights frequently recruit directly from the Black Ships once the Gatherers have returned them to Terra. They are subsequently sent to Titan’s Chamber of Trials for testing. The Neophytes are conditioned using the most advanced bio-engineering and psycho-surgery possible, and each recruit must undergo the 666 Rituals of Detestation to prove that he is capable of withstanding horrors that would shatter even the most ‘normal’ Space Marines. The recruit’s memories and personality are erased[16a] after they succeed, in order to assure their absolute and undying commitment to the Emperor. Because the entire Chapter is made up of psykers, one of the key criteria for selection is that the recruit must have significant psychic capacity. The new Grey Knight is implanted with silver purity wards under his skin that cover his entire body after being accepted into the chapter and through the regular process to convert into a member of the Adeptus Astartes.

Each recruit is assigned a number to be addressed by during training, and they are given a new name only once they have completed training; they must relinquish their original birth name and be given a new one. This is partly to symbolize being reborn, but it’s also because a recruit’s training is so intense that they’re unlikely to remember their previous identity. Furthermore, each Grey Knight name is a piece of magical lore that works in perfect contrast to a Daemon’s true name, making even a Grey Knight’s name a lethal weapon.

Gene-Seed

The Grey Knights are exceptional among the Astartes in that their Gene-Seed is drawn from none other than the Emperor of Mankind himself, rather than one of the Emperor’s twenty Primarchs. As a result, Grey Knights refer to their implantations as the “Emperor’s Gift,” which some outsiders mistake for a joke or a symbolic remark rather than a true one.

Chapter Assets

Homeworld

The Grey Knights’ fortress-monastery is entirely made of basalt and is modeled after Saturn’s biggest moon, Titan. Pennants, banners, and flags adorn the stronghold, honoring the chapter’s successes and sacrifices in their struggle against the daemons, but only the Grey Knights would recognize the campaigns’ names. As part of the Ordo Malleus, the Grey Knights are only accountable to the Ordo and the Emperor, and operate in stifling secrecy, beyond the awareness of the Adeptus Terra and even the High Lords of Terra. The Ordo Malleus is the only one who knows where the fortress-monastery is located. Titan is encircled by Saturn’s rings and many Malleus-controlled moons, including Mimas, the Ordo Malleus’ jail and execution center, Enceladus, the home of the Ordo Malleus’ leaders and other influential Malleus Inquisitors, and several more worlds.

A chilly, wet crypt sits beneath the stronghold. Every Grey Knight desires to spend his dying days amid the sacred halls of the heroic dead. The bodies of nearly every member of the chapter will be recovered and transported to this crypt beneath the Emperor’s Temple. The names of the dead are ceremoniously carved onto a massive basalt wall in the heart of the stronghold as a final monument to those who have lost their lives. Some of the Imperium’s greatest heroes, who died in the most heroic circumstances possible, are among these names. And, like everything else about Grey Knights, they’ll be almost completely unknown.

The Librarium Daemonica, the Imperium’s foremost source of Warp lore and daemonology, is likewise housed in the fortress-monastery. The Ordo Malleus’ Librarium is a gloomy institution, stocked with tens of thousands of ancient tomes of diabolic learning amassed over millennia.

Equipment

The Grey Knights have the most technologically advanced and murderously efficient armament under their command of all the Imperium’s troops. Ancient pacts with the Adeptus Mechanicus and even some extraterrestrial groups have resulted in this level of armament, with the menace of the Daemonic deemed to transcend even racial considerations. The Grey Knights’ wargear is mostly made on their allied Forge World of Deimos, which is orbiting Titan.

The following are some examples of Grey Knight gear:

Nemesis Force Weapon — The Nemesis Force Weapon is the Grey Knights’ signature weapon. It can be a halberd, sword, mace, axe, or the more uncommon hammer. It’s a formidable force weapon with a psi-matrix customized to its owner’s individual mentality. The haft used to include a bolter weapon, similar to the Adeptus Custodes guardian spear; in recent Grey Knights models, the bolter is a wrist-mounted storm bolter built into the armour itself. The potency of a Nemesis weapon, like all force weapons, is directly proportional to the wielder’s psychic aptitude; given that the Grey Knights are among the Imperium’s best psykers, a Nemesis weapon is a particularly destructive weapon.

Incinerator — Similar to a Heavy Flamer, but powered by a unique blend of consecrated promethium and blessed oils that are particularly efficient against demons.

Psycannons are bolt guns that fire negative mental energy-infused ammo.

Psilencer – A Xenos-made uncommon heavy weapon.

Aegis Armour — The Grey Knights’ power suits and Terminator armour are made up of a lattice of psychoconductive filaments and amulets that have been anointed and inscribed with prayers and wards, ritually consecrated, and psychically charged. The Immaterium and the Daemons it creates are protected by the Aegis armour, which works in combination with the Grey Knights’ strong psychic skills. The Shrouding effect is created by the armour’s ritual blessings and psychic resonance, which confuses any enemy’s perception. The psychically charged nature of the armour causes any adjacent daemons and warp spawn to feel great anxiety and suffering, losing their grip on the material universe.

Dreadnoughts are a type of battleship. Gravely wounded Grey Knights, like other Space Marine Chapters, are often encased in the huge battle armour known as a Dreadnought. Grey Knights, unlike other Chapters, do not regard this extension of life as an honor; instead, they prefer to be carried to the crypts beneath the Temple of the Emperor on Titan and laid to rest among their brothers over continuing to live inside a machine. Grey Knight Dreadnoughts are extremely scarce as a result.

Nemesis Dreadknight — A massive suit of mechanized armour known as a Nemesis Dreadknight is unique to the chapter. The Dreadknight is built for one-on-one combat with Greater Daemons. Even dreadnoughts are dwarfed by this massive structure.

Chapter Fleet

The Grey Knights, like other Space Marine chapters, rely on the strike cruiser class of ship, which is only available to Adeptus Astartes chapters. The Grey Knights’ ships, on the other hand, have been particularly adapted in a number of ways. One is the hexagrammic and anti-daemonic wards that are constructed into the whole ship from the bridge to the landing struts and every bulkhead in between, identical to those that are implanted beneath the skin of the Grey Knights themselves and provide further protection from Chaos. Furthermore, the Grey Knights’ strike cruisers have substantially more advanced armour than other chapters’ ships. Because the Grey Knights face more formidable enemies than the ordinary Adeptus Astartes chapters, this allows them to close with more powerful enemies and reach their target safely. Finally, the landing and drop pod bays have been expanded to allow for faster deployment of larger groups of marines.

Two elements make it possible for them to modify their spacecraft. The first is their fortress-location monastery’s in Saturn’s rings, as well as its proximity to Mars, the Imperium of Man’s biggest Forge World, affording them access to technology that has been forgotten or is impossible to recreate elsewhere in the Imperium (this could also explain the high quality of all Grey Knights equipment). The Ordo Malleus also provides the Grey Knights with resources as a result of their tight working relationship as the Ordo’s Chamber Militant.

Known Vessels

• Bright Sword — Battle Barge
• Emperor’s Will — Battle Barge
• Fire of Dawn — Battle Barge
• Redeemer of Souls — Battle Barge
• Argent Sceptre — Strike Cruiser
• Righteous Dawn — Strike Cruiser
• Ruler of the Black Skies — Strike Cruiser
• Titan’s Hand — Strike Cruiser
• Blade’s Fall — Destroyer
• Flawless Reprieve — Destroyer
• Glaive of Janus — Frigate
• Karabela — Frigate
• Kaskara — Frigate
• Titanicus Rex — Frigate
• Blade’s Peace
• Castigator

Notable Aircraft

• Kodachi — Stormraven
• Longsword — Stormraven. Destroyed during the Sturmhex Incident
• Purgation’s Sword — Stormraven
• Talwar — Stormraven

Notable Grey Knights

Heresy Era

• Janus — First Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights
• Khyron — First Grand Master of the Eighth Brotherhood
• Epimetheus — First Grand Master of the Fifth Brotherhood
• Koios – Grand Master. One of the founding members of the Grey Knights
• Ogen – Grand Master. One of the founding members of the Grey Knights
• Satre – Grand Master. One of the founding members of the Grey Knights
• Iapto – Grand Master. One of the founding members of the Grey Knights
• Yotun – Grand Master. One of the founding members of the Grey Knights
• Crius – Intended to become the 9th original Grand Master, but refused the honour

Post-Heresy

• Geronitan — Previous Supreme Grand Master. Succeeded by Kaldor Draigo
• Kaldor Draigo — Current Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights
• Vorth Mordrak — Grand Master. Known as The Haunted Knight of Mortain
• Mandulis — Grand Master. Leader of the Grey Knight forces that banished Ghargatuloth on Khorion IX
• Joros — Grand Master. Oversaw operations in the First War for Armageddon, killed by Logan Grimnar
• Drystann Cromm — Grand Master
• Vardan Kai — Grand Master
• Orias — Grand Master
• Regis Vortimer — Master Armourer
• Castellan Garran Crowe — Captain & Champion of the Purifier Brotherhood
• Astura — Brother-Captain
• Taremar Aurellian — Brother-Captain. Leader of the Brotherhood sent to end the First War for Armageddon
• Caddon Varn — Brother-Captain
• Ceasarian — Brother-Captain
• Edeon — Brother-Captain
• Ignatius — Brother-Captain
• Issad — Brother-Captain
• Neodan — Brother-Captain
• Arvann Stern — Brother-Captain
• Zaebus — Brother-Captain
• Anval Thawn — Justicar
• Alaric — Justicar. Main protagonist of the Grey Knights novel series.
• Hyperion — Battle-Brother known as the Blade Breaker
• Leodegarius — Leader of a strike force sent to Salinas
• Aldred — Librarian. Led a small strike force of his Battle Brothers during the 13th Black Crusade and took part in The Scouring of Kasr XV
• Umbrane — Librarian
• Phlegyras — Ferryman

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