Imperial Knight
Somewhere between a regular walker and a Titan, the Imperial Knights are large single pilot war machines, similar to the Tau Riptide. Usually humanoid, the cockpit for the pilot is mounted in the head or just behind it in the main body.
Their somewhat unexpected return to the 40k setting is possibly a sign of GW deciding that people would only play Warmachime because 40k has insufficient war jacks, or that they make more money by selling one huge model than lots of little ones.
If you like the fluff, fine, but really it's just a fairly fan-wanky insertion of fantasy-era knights into 40k, which let's face it is not exactly a setting devoid of knight analogues. Yet another class of aristocratic dicks in high tech armor suits grinding the faces of the poor while being grimdark and all knightly and shit. Which isn't to say the fluff is bad or uninteresting (see below) but they are an extremely minor faction who don't contribute anything to the setting and don't even feel unique within the Imperium let alone the rest of the setting.
About the Knights
The knights are allied with, or in some cases part of the Adeptus Mechanicus rather than being part of the Imperium. Knight Worlds are worlds which supply forge Worlds with foodstuff and raw materials and are defended by Knight Households. The Knight World gathers foodstuff and ores for a set period of time (usually a year) before the Adeptus Mechanicus arrive in a forge ship bringing new knight suits in exchange for the raw materials. As with most Imperial or Mechanicus forces, the Knight households wear bright heraldry.
Houses
There are two types of knight household, though a third association does exist.
- Those who align themselves with the Imperium directly such as Imperial Houses, acting as independently operating vassals of a greater empire (much like Space Marine Chapters do), therefore answering calls for aid as they feel like, rather than being ordered to. Examples of Imperial Houses are:
- House Terryn - House known for it's honour and bravery as well as rigidly adhering to ritual and ceremony. Supposedly it's homeworld of Voltoris is so peaceful and boring that it only encourages them to campaign across the galaxy. (their colour scheme is blue)
- House Hawkshroud - A very Noblebright house, who believe that kindness should be returned tenfold and who answer any and all requests for assistance, which means their homeworld of Krastellan lies virtually undefended. Also have links with the Imperial Fists having been praised by the chapter master against Eldar of Alaitoc. (their colour scheme is also yellow)
- House Cadmus - were once bound to the Mechanicum, but regained their independence and became an Imperial House when Gryphonne IV was nom nomed by Tyranids. Based on the mutant infested forest world of Riasa, they engage on mutant hunts ever year, with the winner getting to rule the house until the next hunt.
- House Griffith - A house of hotheads who almost exclusively make use of the Knight Errant pattern and come from a planet inhabited by Actual Dragons. They are also one of the smallest knight houses, but remain one of the most respected. They engage in regular jousting tournaments using old fashioned horses, but wearing adamantium armour. Have a preference for close combat.
- House Mortan
- Other households are directly aligned to the Adeptus Mechanicus and are based on (or linked to) Forgeworlds, though retain their independence from the Cult Mechanicus they do have reciprocal trade and resupply agreements as well as swearing oaths of protection. Examples of Mechanicum Houses include:
- House Taranis - The First of all Knight House (read Mechanicum). They were founded on Mars during the Dark Age of Technology, and were later the first Martians who met the Emperor before the Great Crusade. This house has ownership of some of the oldest knight suits.
- House Raven - The largest of all Knight Households, based on the world of Kolossi and have close links to Forgeworld Metalica. Suspected to hold secret STC data which explains why they have so many Knight suits. Their fortress: the Keep Inviolate is said to be one of the most well-protected bastions in the Imperium, on a par with the Fang and the Imperial Palace, and is their coat of arms.
- House Krast - The first Knight World (Chrysis) to be rediscovered during the Great Crusade, it's proximity to Mars mean't it was swiftly brought into the fold, but had its homeworld ravaged by Horus during the Heresy. They have a preference for hunting traitor titans.
- House Vulker.
- Sometimes, individual Knights detach themselves from Noble Houses entirely, either having been dishonoured, shunned or otherwise made unable to continue life within the Household. These knights break out on their own (with a handful of retainers to maintain the suit), either questing across the stars, or settling down and protecting the settlements on whichever worlds they end up on.
- Amaranthine - Never ever speaks or leaves his suit. Inquisitors chase him around trying to have a word about his loyalties.
- Auric Arachnus - somehow connected to the Ultramarines and earned honour slaying a Dominatrix during the battle for Macragge.
- Crimson Reaper - freak who wears a red & black face mask, who is rumoured to be a blood sucking mutant.
- Gerantius The Forgotten Knight - maintains a secret mountain base on Alaric Prime, though his planet is shared by other lesser knight houses. Thought to be undead and in command of spirits. Days which he chooses to fight upon are regarded as ill-omens. Rules for him are in White Dwarf, making him a Seneschal-level knight with It Will Not Die and the ability to both ran & shoot in the same phase.
- Justice - a freeblade connected to the Iron Hands chapter who is a master of slaying traitor knights. The Iron Hands chapter appear to be keeping his secrets and will not talk of his past.
- Obsidian Knight - Fought in the Damocles campaign along with House Terryn on the planet Agrellan. - Has his own rules in Warzone: Damocles making him an absolute WS/BS 6 badass who hates Tau with a passion.
- Retribution Incarnate - a hero of the Macharian crusades, believed to be the last member of an established household.
- White Warden - the last man standing for House Degallio from the planet of Alaric Prime (same as Gerantius), known for his cracking moustache and his willingness to stand up for ridiculous laws.
- Tellurus - Only living member of a fallen house, and refuses to be seen without armor. Tellurus fought alongside both House Cadmus and House Hawkshroud on Vondrak. "...towering and monstrous, a giant of adamantium and fury. With a booming cannon and a roaring chainblade for arms, it was clad in armour the colour of a winter’s sky. Blue and cold, chevroned with streaks of black and amber. A bright gonfalon streamed from its left shoulder. A rearing horse with a fluted horn at its forehead." - From Knights of the Imperium by Graham McNeil. Turns out to be a girl.
Sacristans
Unlike the much larger Titan legions, most Imperial Knight Households do NOT retain tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to maintain and repair the knight suits. (Though Mechanicum households usually do)
Instead they invariably include a specific class of individual called a Sacristan, who is basically an artisan and a technology specialist. These Sacristans accompany the knight on his travels and keep his suit operational on campaign, and if a knight becomes somehow divorced from his household and becomes a Freeblade, the sacristans associated with the suit shall travel with him.
Unbeknownst (or immaterial) to the Imperial Households however, these Sacristans ARE inducted into the machine cult in a similar fashion to the Techmarines of the Adeptus Astartes having been trained either offworld or under an apprenticeship to an already established sacristan. So while they may not be fully ordained tech-priests, they do further the interests of the Mechanicum amongst the Knight Households.
Chaos Knights
Though they are very rare, there are a number of Knight Households who have fallen to Chaos. Most infamous of all is the Slaanesh Hellknights of House Devine, who turned during the Horus Heresy due to Lannisteresque amounts of Twincest.
Knight Patterns
The Knights themselves come in several varieties, all of which have an energy shield to protect them from incoming fire and have a mix of shooty and choppy. Three varieties have just recently appeared in the 40K model range, the Knight Paladin with its rapid fire battlecannon and the Knight Errant with its thermal cannon and the Knight Lancer, faster and more choppy.
Other varieties, yet to be seen in 40k, are the Knight Crusader with Lascannons and a titan grade Quake Cannon, the Knight Castellan with Autocannons and a Quake Cannon and the command Baron class Knight with an even faster firing battlecannon, improved armour and the speed and choppiness of the Lancer.
Knights usually deploy alongside Titan legions as auxiliary forces. Although some patterns of Knight are capable of going toe to toe with smaller titans, or even larger titans outfitted exclusively for ranged combat, the Knights usual role is anti-infantry or anti-light vehicle freeing up the Titans to attack superheavies.
Knight Paladin & Knight Errant
In 40k tabletop terms, the Knight Paladin and Knight Errant are superheavy walkers with strength D close combat weapons, a heavy stubber and a special Ion Shield that gives them a 4+ invulnerable on a facing chosen at the start of each of your opponents shooting phases. The only real difference between the two is arm loadout, since they both use the same basic model: The Paladin has a two-shot battle cannon and an extra heavy stubber, whilst the Errant has a S9 Thermal (ie: Melta) Cannon with a large blast marker.
Fun fact: In ye olde Epic days, the Errant carried a Power Fist.
Cerastus Knight Lancer
The close assault variant of Knight, much taller and faster than the Paladin & Errant by virtue of longer legs. Is FAR more specialised than the previous two due to its weapon loadout and suffers if it is not supported. Has a physical ion shield rather than just being a force field, which means it cannot block attacks to the rear, however it CAN be used against close combat attacks. In its other arm is has a combi melee/range weapon that gives it extra initiative when it charges into combat, its shooting mode is basically a 18" range 6-shot plasma rifle that concusses its targets. So better to get it into melee with other big things.
On a slightly more hilarious note, the Lancer's ranged attack is of a decent Strength and AP, and fires a lot of shots. It's also not a Template Weapon. While not recommended, it means in a pinch the Lancer CAN be used as an Anti Aircraft Gun should the Knights lack sufficient AA from other sources (e.g: You are running pure Knights), the amount of shots it fires making it second only to the Forgefiend in terms of emergency AA. It's also excellent against TEQs!
Cerastus Knight Castigator
A Forge World event model, and another close-combat variant. Uses a big fuck-off sword (which is "only" S10, but has the same Deflagrate rule as the Volkite weapons, rerolls failed armor penetration, and can exchange its attacks to hit everything in base contact once), and a Bolt Cannon which is essentially a S7 AP3 Heavy 8 giant bolter.
Cerastus Knight Acheron
Another Forge World model, tall and lanky like all the other Cerastus pattern models. Has a Flame Cannon to make those Heretics extra crispy, and a Chainfist (with built in twin-linked Heavy Bolter) that lets it reroll 1s on the Destroyer damage table against vehicles.
Questoris Knight Magaera
Yet another Forge World model, this one is different however, this one is a Questoris variant, which means it's short and fat. It was specially made by the Mechanicus to curry favor with Knight Houses (or to control them, depending on who you ask), and it shows in the unique wargear options it gets. For a start, it has Blessed Autosimalcrum (giving it IWND-lite), and its ionic shield acts similarly to the Flare Shields normally used by superheavy tanks like the Spartan Assault Tank. Its weapons are no less unusual- it can replace its chainsword for a Siege Claw which grants it Wrecker (and a built in TL rad-cleanser to fuck with Toughness scores), and at range it can employ either a phased plasma fusil or a Lightning Cannon that mulch both infantry and all but the heaviest-armored vehicles. There's a catch, though- its reactor is highly unstable, as reflected by the +1 it gets when rolling on the Catastrophic Damage chart.
Questoris Knight Styrix
Yes, Forge World release another pattern of Knight, and it's another short and fat one.
Times of Epic
Back in the times of Epic Warhammer 40000, there were more types of Knights apart from the Paladin and the Errants (though Codex: Imperial Knights references the Lancer, Castellan and Crusader Knights in fluff at least, and the Lancer has received a FW model):
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Lancer: Faster than other Knights, this pattern is all about scouting, distraction and hit-and-run tactics. Instead of its standard Shock Lance, it can swap it for a shorter in range, yet more powerful Power Lance. The only downside of them is that they are the most fragile of Knight Pattern. Now in 40k too, being the first Forgeworld Knight kit. |
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Crusader: Slower, yet sturdier and more powerful, Crusaders are armed with heavy weapons that are usually found on Warlord or Imperator Class Titans (such as the Quake Cannon). Due to them moving slow (blame the heavy weapons and loads of armoured bits) compared to other Knights, these behemoths are used to snipe targets from extreme range and act as a powerful support force for the rest of the Knights. |
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Castellan: The short-ranged cousin of the Crusader that swaps its standard Lascannons for multi-barreled Autocannons. This makes the Castellan a nightmare for infantry and light vehicles, as well as allowing it to deplete an enemy Titan's shields in a disturbingly short time. |
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Baron: The biggest, baddest of all the Knights. Baron Knights are piloted by the deadliest members of a Knight House. Each Baron is actually build from the very basics as an ace-custom for its pilots, combining the power to keep up with Lancers and armor nearly as tough as Crusaders. Typically armed with Battle Cannons and the Lancer's Power Lance, the Barons lead their kinsmen to war and victory. |
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Warden: Piloted by the eldest (read retired) members of a Knight House, these goofy-looking Knights shouldn't be underestimated, much like the old-timers that pilot them. Warden Knight make up (like the Crusader) the heavy support part of a Knight House in the long-range category. Although not as fast as the youngsters, the pilots of Wardens make it up with years of brutally hard-won experience that makes them as deadly as the Barons. |
Why Knight Titans are Awesome
Knight Titan lore is some of the coolest stuff in 40K. True to both the medieval tradition and epic feel that 40K thrives from, Knight Titans protect the Agri Worlds that the Mechanicus use to supply (and predominantly feed) their incredibly ravenous Forge Worlds. These Titans are easier to produce by far than even the humble Warhound Titan and so can be made reliably, produced almost as an afterthought. So Knights aren't the biggest, baddest, most overblown thing in 40K -- but, they are to the Knight Worlders. The people who live and die on those Agri Worlds, delineated from other Agri Worlds by their designation as Knight Worlds, are all on the technological and societal footing of Medieval Europe. A lot of these worlds look like the Empire, from Warhammer Fantasy. Kings and Queens, Arthurian legend, stone brick castles and skullcapped peasantry abound; fields and forests extend to every horizon without end.
Imagine what someone from that world would think when they see a Knight Titan. The most agile giant robots the Imperium makes, capable of shrugging off lasers and plasma bombs, tower silently over a field on a world that probably doesn't even have gunpowder weaponry or a Copernican idea of the night sky. The kingdoms of the planet may have their petty wars, but life is dominated by meeting the food and resource quotas of machine-men from the sky, who build and fix the Knights that children and adults view with awe and reverence, like some amalgam of god and monster. These machine-men could destroy entire kingdoms on a whim by dropping stars from the sky. Kingdoms train their nobles and knightly warriors to fight with swords, horses, and hammers. They conscript armies from farming peasants, and use squads of bowmen to kill men at range....except for the Knight Titan pilots. Those who are honorable enough or skilled enough may graduate beyond knighthood, to Knighthood. Someone who takes a bath maybe twice a month and lives by torchlight has the duty to step inside a machine of such power and complexity that the science of the Third Millennium proves incapable of comprehending it. Those men are revered beyond their kings, for they are the wielders of magic and death, and are entrusted with more true power than any other man on the planet. Those men fight monsters, murderous warriors from the sky, and even other Knights from enemy kingdoms. Sometimes, when the machine men come down when they aren't expected, the men who pilot the god-monsters must go far away to battle alongside the machine men in their wars. Not a war on the other side of the world, but a war on a distant star, surrounded by machines and giants even larger than they.
Imagine the man who has the lifelong job of knowing how to run the Knights, whose sacred duty is to recruit and train pilots. Imagine. A lord or general may give the order to bring cavalry around the left flank, and fire the laser cannon onto the walls of his enemy's castle. Despite his most valorous deeds, his children grow up playing with a giant metal god standing over them, silent and omnipotent, resplendent in livery and gold leaf. These children one day grow old and tell stories not of lords and generals, but of the time when their kingdom's metal giant slew a great beast, or razed an entire castle single-handedly, or ran across the entire world to deliver medicine to a dying king. Imagine what a pilot is to his subjects, or his lords. What legends would be told of them, the men who step inside the kingdom's giant? Their legends are not sagas of inscrutable gods or immortal Emperors or statistic-scale tragedies, but of simple, honorable soldiers told by humble, hardworking people centuries after those soldiers are but dust and memory.
If you are not crying tears of pure awesome right now then you are either have no soul or are Sly Marbo.
6th Edition and Beyond
Imperial Knights became a Codex in 6th edition. With the ability to be a primary detachment of 3-6 knights or secondary of 1-3 knights, Knights may not ally with Orks, Chaos, Daemons, Necrons or Nids. They are desperate allies with Dark Eldar and Tau; allies of convenience with Eldar and Grey Knights; and battle brothers with all other factions.
However, the Imperial Knights only come with 2 variations: the Paladin Knight and Errant Knight. Each models costs 375 and 370, respectively. To compound issues the Knights have no upgrades meaning it'll be hard to fit in points without taking a secondary attachment. BTW, Forge World has made their own Knight variant: the Cerastus. They are a rarer type of knight and is more expensive. The Knight Cerastus Lancer (which is the only one that has rules) costs 400 points to field and is something of a close combat specialist.
Note: Imperial Knights are only Vehicles, only scoring if they're your primary. But lets face it you're always playing Purge the Alien anyway, even when its not. The Imperial Knights don't occupy any force organisation slots, they are not Lords of War, they are an army unto themselves. If you're playing 3-6 as a primary detachment, pick one as your Warlord; you may only ever have one Knight Cerastus in this detachment.
Lets do the numbers:
- 1000 pts - You can have up to 2 models to fit the points cost. Sadly this means no Primary Detachment in low point games.
- Max Points cost without going over - 750pts.
- 1250 pts - Up to three models this time, making it the first points level you can play with your Primary detachment. Sadly you'll be short more than 100pts. Maybe you could take some upgrades? Oh wait...
- Max Points cost without going over - 1125pts.
- 1500 pts - Perfect if you plan on only taking Paladins, taking Errants will only punish you 5pts per Errant so not too bad. At this points cost you can field 4 of these Knights.
- Max Points cost without going over - 1500pts.
- 1750pts - Worst, since each Knight costs over 300pts and 1500 pts is a sweet spot you'll be unable to field anything more than what you can in 1500pts.
- Max Points cost without going over - 1500pts.
- 1850pts - Sweetspot if you are using only Errant Knights since if you have 5 of them they are perfect 1850 pts. Otherwise you'd have to ask your opponent for five more points depending on how many Paladins you want to throw in.
- Max Points cost without going over - 1850pts.
- 2000pts - This is another 1750pts issue, you can't go higher than 1850pts without going over because the model costs at least 370pts. Which puts it higher than 2000pts.
- Max Points cost without going over - 1875pts.
So what if you want to deploy 6 Knights on the field at once? You are looking at somewhere between 2220 - 2250pts. If you can do this you just paid $840 American for an entire army of only 6 models, you sir are the envy of many neckbeards and clearly have more money than sense. And we thought the Grey Knights were an elite army per model. Or you can just, oh I don't know, scratch build 6 knights and save yourself $820 bucks. Just sayin'.
Note: Flyers will laugh at your knights as they don't have any anti-flyer weapons (well minus the heavy stubber). Take all those point you couldn't spend (see above) and buy a Vengeance Weapons Battery w. Quad Icarus, or two, or even better a Firestorm Redoubt.
See Also
- Imperial Knight House Creation Tables, work-in-progress tables you can roll on to generate a Knight House of your own.
- Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Knights(7E)
