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BattleTech

2019-10-17T09:13:51Z

2600:387:6:805:0:0:0:C3: /* Draconis Combine */

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[[Image:NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|center]]
{{Game Infobox
|name = BattleTech
|picture = [[Image:NEW-BT-LOGOFLAT.png|200px]]
|type = [[Wargame]]
|publisher = [[Catalyst Game Labs]]
|playno = Trillions
|year = 1984
|books = Total Warfare or The BattleMech Manual
}}
{{topquote|It is the 31st century, a time of endless wars that rage across human-occupied space. As star empires clash, these epic wars are won and lost by BattleMechs, 23-56 foot tall humanoid metal titans bristling with lasers, autocannons and dozens of other lethal weapons; enough firepower to level entire city blocks. Your elite force of MechWarriors drives these juggernauts into battle, proudly holding your faction s flag high, intent on expanding the power and glory of your realm. At their beck and call are the support units of armored vehicles, power armored infantry, aerospace fighters and more, wielded by a MechWarrior's skillful command to aid him in ultimate victory. Will they become legends, or forgotten casualties? Only your skill and luck will determine their fate!|Product promotional tagline}}

'''Battletech''', or '''MechWarrior''' as most of the non-neckbearded populace know it, is a tabletop wargame about armies of giant robots fighting one another for honor, money, and territory in a far-distant feudal future. Think [[Star Wars]] AT-STs, or [[Warhammer 40,000]]'s [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] (Games Workshop decided they liked Battlemechs too).

==Holy Crap, Giant Robots are awesome==
[[Image:Batdroid.jpg|thumb|right|''Battledroids'', the first edition of the game, c. 1984. A ''literally''-textbook example on how to get sued nine different ways from Sunday.]]
In the early 1980s, [[Jordan Weisman]] was [[Weeaboo|fascinated]] by several Japanese [[anime]] involving giant robots, or "mecha." He was quoted as saying that he liked the designs and idea of giant robots fighting on the battlefield, but did not have a taste for the storylines that the Japanese wrote about them. In 1984, Weisman founded [[FASA]] and acquired the licenses to designs from several series, the most famous being ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross,'' though the largest portion came from ''Fang of the Sun Dougram'' and combined them to make Battletech.

The first edition of this game, called ''Battledroids'', was a hex-based boardgame played on a battlefield illustrated with various types of terrain. It came with two large plastic minis of featured mechs, imported from Japan. Initially, sales were mediocre as the sheer size of the mechs made them awkward in gameplay. Soon after the launch of ''Battledroids'' Lucasfilm filed a lawsuit against FASA for using the name "droids," which they had trademarked in 1978. Discretion being the better part of valor, FASA changed the name of the game to Battlemech in time for the second edition printing in 1986. This time, cardboard stand-ins replaced the plastic miniatures, and a tradition was born. To this day, Battletech can be played without purchasing any physical models and with any proxy you please.

Following the release of the second edition, fans of the game clamored for new miniatures. FASA obliged, rescaling their mechs for more convenient play and designing a host of in-house mechs to broaden variety and bridge the gap between the sleek Macross and crude Dougram designs. New models notwithstanding, the third edition, dubbed ''Battletech,'' was shipped with solely Macross- and Dougram-based minis. However, in 1995 [[That Guy|Harmony]] [[Rage|Gold]], an American localization company which had licensed the international distribution and toy rights to SDF Macross, issued a C&D against FASA for the use of all mecha designs from the Macross franchise. FASA ceased production of these miniatures, which were among the most popular designs in the franchise, and published a fourth edition of the game in 1996 again featuring cardboard tokens, which were all based on their own original mechs.

Before '''''Battletech''''', the mecha genre was seen as something that belonged mostly to the Japanese. With few exceptions (''Power Rangers'' and ''Star Wars''), the genre was almost entirely made up of anime productions imported from Japan. Battletech pioneered a new approach to mecha within the Western fandom, featuring mostly stories of pseudo-realistic wars fought by real soldiers rather than teenagers taking on forces of evil or single-handedly winning interplanetary wars, plots that dominated the few mecha series that were subbed by the dedicated VHS fansubbers of the day. More importantly, the physical limitations of the Battlemechs, unlike the limitations of tanks in, say, [[Warhammer 40,000]], are critical to the planning and strategy of outfitting mechs and using them on the tabletop.

===The Mechs===
BattleTech mechs function and are utilized more like tanks with legs than the super-agile flying mecha common in Japanese depictions. Mechs are deployed in formations of four or five, called lances in the Inner Sphere and stars in the Clans. They are able to operate in space, on planets with caustic atmospheres, underwater, and in a wide range of temperatures that would be lethal to humans, from instant-death cold to burn-me-up hot. One of the biggest upsides of mechs as combat vehicles is their extreme efficiency-of-arms, able to run an effectively limitless amount of time without requiring fuel, and thanks to their hyper-efficient myomer 'muscles', able to carry more weapons and armor per-ton than any other combat platform in existence. The only things stopping a mech from being able to fight forever are ammunition, repairs, and allowing the pilot to rest. Even when a mech is destroyed, losing the pilot is a relatively rare occurrence thanks to very effective ejection systems. A destroyed mech chassis can also be salvaged and rebuilt to fight another day, good as new. This means many mechs are often decades or even hundreds of years old, Ship of Theseus-style, at least in the early 3000s.

As far as locomotion styles, bipedal mechs are the most common, with the weapon systems mounted either in the torso compartments or on the arms. Quadrepedal mechs do exist but are relatively rare, they are slower than bipedal mechs and don't offer the same amount of weapon space for a given weight class. Bipedal mechs can also grasp things in their hands (if they have them) like melee weapons or pesky tanks. A mech swinging a giant katana to chop off another mech's arm is about the most metal image possible. Early versions of BattleTech feature mechs that could transform into fighter planes, but these were dropped relatively quickly in its life cycle due to copyright problems.

The main downside of mechs is their inability to efficiently manage heat buildup. Heat is generated by the fusion reactor, the environment, movement, and mostly as a result of firing weapons. Mechs mount multiple gigantic one-ton heatsink units to deal with this buildup, but it is a constant problem for pilots to manage. Mechs that feature a lot of energy-based weapons will generate especially high levels of heat, and therefore manage very poorly in extremely hot environments. Firing all the weapons of certain mech variants at once (the ''Nova'' mech is most infamous) can cause it to overheat to such an extent that the reactor core melts down before the heatsinks can shunt the heat out of the chassis, which is bad. Safety measures that shut down the entire mech when it reaches a certain temperature threshold are always installed, but since this usually happens in a combat situation, and thus leaves the mech defenseless, some pilots will intentionally disable the safeguards to take their chances. Depending on the technology level of a given game, more efficient heatsinks can be assigned to mechs that remove heat more quickly and allow hotter builds. The fluff also mentions some experimental heatsinks that changed the heat energy to light (???) but had the downside of making the mech look like a walking rave, as well as heatsinks that utilized caustic liquids to move heat faster but with a limited lifespan.

Weapons consist of three general categories: ballistic, energy, and missile. Each has their own strengths and weakness: ballistic weapons weigh more, require ammo, but do not generate much heat, energy weapons are the opposite, and missiles can be indirectly fired with targeting data from scouts but can be jammed. Outfitting a mech for the proper engagement is key to obtaining victory: mechs outfitted for mech-to-mech combat will generally mount only high-damage weapons with lower ammo counts and slower rates of fire, while mechs set for vehicle and infantry combat will mount weapons that fire quickly but do lower damage per shot. Likewise, mechs that do not expect steady resupply will mount more energy weapons so they are not beholden to ammo counts.

Mechs range between 20 to 100 tons in four weight classes, though a few experimental units lie outside these ranges. The weight classes are light (20-35), medium (40-55), heavy (60-75), and assault (80-100). Considering their size (23-56 feet), that's pretty light; the Maus (33 feet long and 11 feet high) mega-tank that Adolf Hitler demanded weighed 188 tons. Most mechs are also only a little slower than the M1A1 Abrams with a top speed of 72 km/h (45 mp/h) on road, while some scout variants can reach speeds of 120 kph and faster. Mechs can also be mounted with jump jets that give them the ability to hop across the battlefield or up/down terrain. According to varying fluff depictions, mechs are even able to climb up/down cliff walls and perform flying dropkicks to enemy cockpits, which is awesome.

Depending on where in the timeline the specific game takes place (this is a player choice), there will be two possible classes of mechs: Battlemechs and Omnimechs. Battlemechs are the older style, with a set number of variants that cannot be changed in the field. This style was universal in the Inner Sphere before the arrival of the Clans. Omnimechs, a Clan invention, feature a modular construction style and are able to have their loadout quickly changed in the field as the situation demands. For example, a ''Dragon'' Battlemech comes in a default configuration consisting of one LRM-10, one Autocannon/5, and two medium lasers. The 1C variant replaces the Autocannon/5 with an Autocannon/2 and more armor, while the 5N upgrades the Autocannon/5 to an Ultra Autocannon/5. A pilot must use one of these variants, and is incapable of changing the loadout without serious reworking of the mech's internals. Conversely, a ''Mad Dog'' Omnimech comes with a default configuration of two LRM-20s, two medium pulse lasers, and two large pulse lasers. A pilot is freely able to modify this loadout as they see fit, say dropping the two medium pulse lasers for more missile ammo/armor or changing the LRMs to SRMs for short-range engagements.

Like most Western sci-fi series, Battlemechs are somewhat inspired by real theoretical technologies; their weapons range from machine guns (albeit very big ones) and missiles, to railguns and particle accelerators. The biggest leaps from reality (aside from FTL travel) are the fusion reactor, (a technology still only theoretically possible,) the neurohelmet, (which interfaces with the pilot's brain and keeps the mech upright based on the pilot's own sense of balance,) and the massive muscle-like myomer fibers that actually allow the mech to move.

While Battlemechs dominate the battlefields of Battletech, armored vehicles still have a place. Most of the time, tanks, hovercraft, and APCs are used where mechs would be too expensive (or too advanced) to maintain, or in roles where a mech would be ineffective. This means that, in addition to Battlemechs, one can find infantry, vehicles, aerial vehicles, naval vehicles, and spaceships. It is worth noting that vehicles can be a real threat to Battlemechs in great enough numbers, since they mount the same weapons as mechs. Some tanks can also push the 100-ton limit and sport the gigantic weaponry usually mounted on an Assault mech chassis. In other words, where mechs are [[Space Marines]], the vehicles are more akin to [[Eldar]] Aspects.

Mechs in BattleTech fiction also have a curious tendency to go up in a mini nuclear explosion when their reactor core is breached by weapon fire. We're talking mushroom cloud, explosion, heat, radiation, the whole bit. This has been nicknamed "stackpoling" after BattleTech novel author Michael Stackpole, who includes at least one of these events in each novel he writes. If the reactor was actually breached, what should happen is a meltdown of the reactor (and probably some chunks of the surrounding mech) that quickly burns out because the reactor can't maintain the fusion reaction without proper containment. Reactors are generally incapable of generating an actual nuclear explosion: real-world reactor "explosions" are usually a result of the coolant flash-overheating and generating a pressure-based steam explosion that destroys the reactor building. Lingering radiation would still be a problem of course, but that is usually handwaved away in BattleTech fluff or not mentioned at all.

==Warfare in the Thirty-first Century==

When somebody decides to attack another world, they load up their 'Mechs(and tanks, and infantry, etc...) onto massive shuttles called DropShips. These boost off into space and link up with Jumpships, semi-mobile Space-Fold drives sitting a ways out into the star's system(due to the limits of BattleTech FTL, Jumpships can't get any closer to a system's star than a radius roughly around the orbit of Saturn in the Sol System. For simplicity's sake, most Jumpships move to the Zenith or Nadir points directly "above" or "below" the star's orbital plane). The Dropships latch onto the Jumpships, which make a series of jumps from star to star until they reach the target system.

Once they reach the target, the Dropships detach from the Jumpships and burn deeper into the system towards the planet. Now Jumpships aren't stealthy, so anyone on the target planet likely detected their entrance into the system, and it typically takes Dropships seven days to reach the planet. Surprise attacks are nearly impossible, and defenders will have up to a week to get ready(some clever or smart people try to shave time by trying to match the target world's orbit with a Nonstandard point closer to the planet, or even rare "Pirate" points caused by gravity interactions between celestial bodies, but even this usually gives defenders at least a day to prepare).

As the invading force reaches planetary orbit, the defenders will usually try to intercept them with their own defensive ships, usually Dropships, Shuttles, and Aerospace Fighters, and the Attackers will launch fighters of their own. Space battle will begin in earnest as the defenders try to keep the enemy from landing on world at all(FASA originally had two separate games, Aerotech and Battlespace, that dealt with this stage of combat, but current BattleTech rules incorporate Aerospace combat for those who prefer it or want the full Theater of War experience).

If the Attackers can break through orbit, they can choose their landing site(usually near the target of course). The enemy will deploy to stop them, and battle begins in earnest.

==Fluff==
[[File:Mad_Cat.jpg|300px|thumb|right|The [[Timber Wolf]] (Mad Cat if you're <s>Inner Sphere</s>Freebirth Scum), one of the most iconic BattleMechs in the series.]]
{{topquote|''A thousand horrid Prodigies foretold it.
A feeble government, eluded Laws,
A factious Populace, luxurious Nobles,
And all the maladies of stinking states.''|Dr. Samuel "What The Fuck Am I Reading" Johnson}}
Much like [[Games Workshop|Warhammer]], the Battletech franchise has an extensive expanded universe. Dozens of books, numerous spinoff games, video games in multiple genres, and even an animated cartoon have delved into the setting and created an entertaining, if convoluted, history that has real influences on how the game is played. Unlike Warhammer, there are no [[Xenos]] (outside of some cavemen-like species), so humans get all the glory (and blame).

===History of the Inner Sphere===
After a period of typical [[Cold War]]-era speculative history, mankind was mostly united under the Terran Alliance and discovered how to travel faster-than-light by opening up artificial wormholes. By 2235, most of mankind's interstellar colonies threw off the yoke of the Alliance and formed their own stellar nation-states. What followed was a period of war and chaos which led to the rise of the "'''Great Houses'''," feudal dynasties of powerful families adhering to various pseudo-historical ideals (like Kurita's Japan fetishism) competing for total dominance of mankind. However Terra, as Earth became known, remained the most technologically-advanced star nation, and remained unconquered by the competing Great Houses who turned their focus on one another instead. This is one of the reasons for the severe technological stagnation that is a hallmark of the Battletech universe.

In 2349, the Terran Hegemony introduced the first Battlemech, the 100-ton ''Mackie'', and the face of war changed forever.

===Mechs Just got Real===
The introduction of the ''Mackie'' shifted the focus of military development away from interstellar Warships back to ground forces. The Terran Hegemony was able to prove that the 100-ton Battlemech was far superior to conventional ground vehicles (interestingly, the Terran Hegemony's main battle tank was the Israeli Merkava), allowing a single man to destroy formations of opposing non-Mechs. Of course, the rest of the Inner Sphere wanted the same capability, and in 2355 the plans for the Battlemech were stolen. The Age of the Battlemech had begun.

During the next hundred years, as the Great Houses vied for supremacy and founded the nucleus of the future Successor States, the Terran Hegemony was able to exert great influence as the most technologically-advanced and neutral of the great powers. This would lead to the creation of the '''''Star League''''' in 2571, a grand union of all of humanity's interstellar nations. While ostensibly created for the purpose of uniting mankind and keeping the peace between the stars, it was also a massive powerplay by Terra to secure the raw materials it needed to maintain its technological edge and once more bring mankind under Terra's dominion. In keeping with the feudal society that now dominated mankind's worlds, the position of First Lord of the Star League was invested in Terra's ruling House, the Cameron dynasty.

While Hidden Wars would plague the Star League throughout its reign, no conflicts were fought between its members as long as the Star League Defense Force kept the peace between factions. Terra's hoard of advanced technologies were shared freely among the worlds of man, and a new Golden Age descended. It all came to an end in 2766. The last of the Camerons was assassinated by Stefan Amaris, a power-hungry politician from the Periphery, the ring of interstellar nations that had refused to join the Star League and had been conquered for their trouble. Claiming the mantle of Emperor of the Star League and Director-General of the Terran Hegemony, Amaris was immediately denounced by the commander of the SLDF, Aleksandr Kerensky.

===A New Dark Age===
[[File:Aleksandr Kerensky.jpg|thumb|right|"Fuck you guys, I'm out." - Aleksandr Kerensky, Great Father of Clans]]
The Amaris Civil War destroyed the League, and led to a new Dark Age. The Great Houses, throwing off their loyalty to Terra, refused to aid either Amaris or Kerensky, and waited for the war to pass. Kerensky emerged the victor, but with the Cameron dynasty ended the other Great Houses began to vie for position of First Lord of the Star League. Disgusted by the politicking and betrayal, in 2784 Kerensky took the greater portion of the SLDF into exile beyond the Periphery. Those who remained pledged their loyalty to the Star League's last civil authority, the Ministry of Communication, which would later become Comstar, the sole provider of internet connections between worlds. Thus the Star League lost its last measure of power, and the Great Houses began the First Succession War.

Four Succession Wars, over the course of two centuries, would follow. Never would a Great House gain enough strength to declare itself master of mankind, especially since none would ever conquer Terra. Technology would [[Imperium of Man|stagnate and regress]], creating the Lostech phenomenon, technology which mankind could no longer reproduce, maintain, or even understand. Where before feudalism had been a political phenomenon, hundreds of worlds across the Inner Sphere regressed to or below the technological level of the 20th Century, and hundreds more in the Periphery failed entirely. The sole bright spot was [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Comstar]], the corporate religious entity which maintained the Hyper Pulse Generator network that enabled FTL communications between inhabited worlds. Comstar became the rulers of Terra in the wake of the Star League's collapse, and leveraged their control of the HPG network to ensure their inviolability in exchange for maintaining the incomprehensible HPG networks and neutral treatment of all communications between worlds. In order to maintain their power, they would actively [[Grimdark|sabotage, headhunt, or kill]] all promising technological advancements and promising scientists to maintain their monopoly and techno-religious authority.

Eventually the Inner Sphere would stabilize around the Great Houses and their associated stellar empires. However, technological progress remained stagnant, and the rare factories capable of producing such advanced technologies as Battlemechs became critical components in the shattered military-industrial complexes of the so-called Successor States. Millions would die so that an LED monitor factory could be taken by one side, or so that a hundred precision-machined laser lenses could be plundered from a forgotten SLDF armory. Real progress towards recovery could only be made after large caches of information which survived the fall of the Star League were recovered; the most significant were the recovery of a long-lost Star League university's library in 3013, and the recovery and free dissemination of the contents of the Helm Memory Core in 3028. In 3028, the two largest and most powerful Successor States, the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, were united by dynastic marriage, and it seemed that a new Golden Age might be only decades away.

But the Inner Sphere had forgotten all about Kerensky's exodus, and nobody wants ''Peace'' to break out in a wargame setting, soooo...

===Suddenly Clannerscum===
Kerensky and his followers first settled on the Pentagon Worlds, where they tried to start a new society and a new Star League. They failed though, and the wars erupted between the worlds, showing the bitter irony of life. Kerensky tried to move on, but suffered a heart attack, and the leadership was overtaken by his son, Nicholas Kerensky (who unlike his father had hair and was probably a closet [[furry]]). Nicholas took the remaining followers with him to a planet he called "Dream Land" and established the twenty original Clans.

The Clans are a tribal society that is divided into five castes - Warriors (Religious and Political Leaders and Soldiers), Scientists (Less respected but are considered highly important), Merchants (Detested and only kept as a necessity), Technicians (Engineers and Warrior's Servants), and Laborers (Serfs, repressed as needed). Although during the birth each child is tested for their relevance to a certain caste, but more often than not are the same as their parents. Speaking of which, Clanners strongly believe in eugenics, and most of the Warrior Caste members are genetically enhanced clones/mashups. Other castes are selectively bred by the instructions from Science Caste. On a positive side it would mean that even [[neckbeard|neckbeards]] would end up breeding (though given the Clan's brutal meritocracy/kratocracy, they'd end up as outcasts in the Bandit Caste). On the other hand, the society has only a few acceptable non-technical forms of information, meaning that there really is no reason for there to be neckbeards. Paradoxes aside, Clans were created towards efficiency, and even their language differs from the one used in the Inner Sphere. Clans constantly compete in everything, from combat to technological prowess, as they foresaw their return to the Inner Sphere and its liberation. (By their hands, of course. And logically resulting in their control.)

And that day was not far off.

===ilClan===
A prophecy of days far off, the '''''ilClan''''' is a religious myth that states that someday a Clan will take control of Terra, the Cradle of Humanity. The Khan (leader) of the Clan of Clans which captures Terra will become the new, true ilKhan (Khan of Khans) and re-establish the Star League, over which their blood shall reign in perpetuity. All will be Clan, Clan will be all.

'''''ilClan''''' is also an [[Skub|abortive Battletech rulebook]] that has been in the works since '''2002''', ever since the '''Dark Age''' Era was published. Ostensibly intended to be the next historical Era, featuring all new rules to reflect the dominance of Clan society and technology, the bankruptcies and sales that Battletech went through stalled all development. In addition, most fans are [[Advancing the Storyline|vehemently opposed to the destruction of most of the factions]] in the game, and have spoken up at every opportunity to denounce the plans behind ilClan. A prank release of a provisional ilClan historical outline drew tremendous outcry and Catalyst Game Labs has subsequently decided to focus on rereleasing and updating older Era rulesets.

===Meanwhile, In The Inner Sphere===
...Of course, when the Clans returned to the Inner Sphere with the intent of liberating it from the feuding Great Houses, those same great houses <s>said "okay" and handed over the reins</s> put aside their differences and fought the Clans to a stand-still. This was an incredible show of camaraderie, and the most cooperative the houses had been since the Star League fell. It was all quite touching, really.

Of course, once the Clans were wrapped up behind a truce line, it was time to get back to good-old inter-house wars. In an ultra-brief summary: There was the FedCom Civil War, kicking off the <s>Fourth Succession War</s> Word of Blake Jihad, a bunch of religious fanatics with cyborgs and nukes, and eventually someone forgot to pay the phone bill and the interstellar faster-than-light communication network went down. This issued in the last era in the fluff known as the "Dark Age."

This is also considered the second ruination of the franchise by some. Many long-time fans think highly of the Succession Wars era of Battletech, right after the fall of the Star League. Marching around the field with walking tanks so expensive and rare that it's better to lose a pilot than a weapon is a powerful fantasy. It's often described as being "Mad Max with mechs." Of course, the blasted hellscape of the post-apocalypse is hard to maintain when the Clans invaded with their own brand-new shiny toys.
The shift from "squabbling tribes with rusty guns" to "courageous defenders with shiny factories" is often considered the first ruination of the property. When the squabbling of the Inner Sphere was broken up again by quasi-religious zealots and Battletech was forced to stitch in aporypha from its bastard child, (the miniature game MechWarrior,) people considered it the second collapse of the franchise.

==Factions==
While each faction has a certain flavor and preferred equipment/tactics, factions do not limit your gameplay choices to particular sets of mechs/units/components, as in many other games ([[Warhammer 40,000]] is a good example, amongst many other skirmish-level wargames). So if something you want to use is in specific era of Battletech History (FEDCOM Civil War, Clan Invasion, et cetera), anything goes. Although its common for players to roleplay as being employed by some major power, and limiting themselves to their styles. Either that, or they play as mercenaries and do as they please. Seriously, the amount of in-fighting is in effect galactic level (in warhammer 40k -- aside from humanity itself -- only the ''Necrontyr'', the flesh incarnations of the [[Necrons]], ever fought each other to such a long and drawn out extent).

===The Inner Sphere===
While other time periods might have better or more interesting rules, the most popular ruleset remains the eras between the Fourth Succession War (3028) to just before the Word of Blake Jihad (3067). This list of Inner Sphere factions covers those periods.

====Federated Suns====
Ruled by House Davion, the Federated Suns is feudal Space America or nepotistic Space UK. [[Lawful Good]], ruled by a Great House as inbred as any other is, and with all positions of power occupied by the same set of mostly blood-related elites. Without the blue blood, you're just a clever commoner. However, the Federated Suns isn't as stratified as the other Successor States, and it's easier for a common citizen to climb the ladders of wealth and power, which fuels an entrepreneurial society that is among the wealthiest in the Inner Sphere. They’re heroic defenders of freedom and democracy, provided you define “freedom and democracy” as “being ruled by the Federated Suns”.

Similar to [[Ultramarines|a certain faction in a certain other wargame]], the Federated Suns usually win most of their battles, and are usually presented as the good guys, drawing a lot of accusations of Mary Suehood. Unlike the Smurfs, however, the Federated Suns has actual flaws - their “democracy” is a rubber stamp, their rhetoric about freedom is mostly just an excuse to justify warmongering and imperialism, and they have such a staggering decree of wealth inequality that there are cases where the populations of multiple planets only have a single school to go between them. This means that the FedSuns attract two kinds of fans: twelve-year-olds who buy all the propaganda, and people who can appreciate playing a bunch of self-righteous, hypocritical jackasses.

Thanks to their great wealth, the Federated Suns can afford to fund actual scientific research in the form of the New Avalon Institute of Technology, or Space MIT, and the Davions supported most of the tech development and recovery in the Inner Sphere prior to the Clan Invasion. They also got lucky when they found an ancient Star League library filled with various editions of tabletop wargame splatbooks. They are known to be the house that first heavily employed or utilized a lot of Clan personnel and technologies after the conclusion of the invasion.

The Federated Suns also kind of have a thing for autocannons. Think [[Space Wolves]] with wolves, or [[Orks]] with [[Dakka]], and you have an idea. If it does not have an autocannon on it the Suns will find a way to give it one, and if it does have an autocannon they find a way to upgrade it to a Rotary Autocannon. So if you like autocannons this is the faction for you.

Prior to the Fourth Succession War, the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth were united through marriage, forming the Federated Commonwealth, the largest and most powerful empire in the galaxy since the Star League. In order to bridge the distance between the two nations, however, the Federated Commonwealth had to conquer large swathes of the Capellan Confederation, which they did easily. However, only a few decades later the Commonwealth was broken up by the FedCom Civil War, when Katrina Steiner schemed to either take over the Commonwealth or secede the Lyran half of it because she was a royal bitch. The FedSuns are currently getting kicked around by pretty much everybody during the Dark Age, primarily because the current head of the house, Caleb, is extremely paranoid and rather psychotic. <strike>''Save us, Julian!''</strike>

====Lyran Commonwealth====
Space Germany with some Space Scotland and Space Scandinavia kicking around, the Lyran Commonwealth is the largest successor state and owns the most resource-rich planets in the Inner Sphere, making them an industrial and economic powerhouse. Their government was supposed to be modeled on ancient Athens, led by a council of nine Archons, but this did not work out ''at all'', and eventually Archon Robert Marsden decided he'd had enough of this shit and overthrew the other Archons in a military coup. The Marsdens were eventually replaced by the Steiners, who have ruled the Commonwealth to this day.

The Lyrans are rich. Really, really absurdly rich. The only reason they haven't conquered the Inner Sphere yet is that they prefer to put the relatives of rich businessmen in charge of their army rather than, y'know, actual soldiers, meaning basically every Lyran military officer is terrible at his job. There is at least one recorded case of the Lyran military starting a major interstellar war ''by accident''. Fortunately, since they're so rich, they're able to make up for their ludicrous incompetence with the biggest and heaviest weapons in the Inner Sphere. The joke goes that a typical Steiner scout lance consists of four 100-ton '''''Atlas''''' mechs (imagine a scout-recon team composed entirely of Warlord Titans and you'll get the idea). Steiner forces tend to be big and slow, barely able to outmaneuver enemy fortresses. Of course, once they (eventually) get into range, you can kiss that fortress goodbye.

Late in the Third Succession War, Archon Katrina Steiner shocks the entire Inner Sphere by actually calling for a peace treaty. Only Hanse Davion is at all interested, and he winds up marrying Katrina's daughter Melissa and uniting the two countries into one massive empire, the Federated Commonwealth (see above). Predictably, this Beauty-and-the-Geek romance starts out exceedingly awesome then epically fails and it's back to single life for the too-pretty Steiners. Recently tried to have Clan Wolf migrate through their coreward territory to keep the Free Worlds League from reforming during the Dark Age while holding the transported civilian castes as insurance. Backfired with the Free Worlds League still reforming and Clan Wolf taking much of the coreward and middle territory in the Lyran Commonwealth to form the Wolf Empire.

====Free Worlds League====
Halfway between Space America and Space Yugoslavia, the Free Worlds League is a federal democratic republic. No, really! They have a parliament and everything. Of course, the commander-in-chief of the Free Worlds League Military is always a member of House Marik because parliament doesn’t think anyone else can do the job, and the entire country has been operating under martial law “for the duration of the emergency” since the Star League broke up, but in principle, both democracy and federalism are alive and well in Marik space, making it impossible to get anything done.

Everyone in the Free Worlds League hates everyone else in the Free Worlds League. After finding out that Captain-General Thomas Marik had been in hiding running the Word of Blake for decades and the guy they’d taking their orders from all that time was actually just some hobo picked up off the street, they gave up on trying to make the thing work at all and collapsed. After the Dark Age, said hobo’s daughter managed to put it back together again, which kind of makes you start to wonder about that whole “only the Mariks can handle the Captaincy-General” thing. Doesn't help that she had to make a deal with the Spirit Cat and Sea Fox clanners to cement the whole thing together as well as marrying the official Marik family's head.

The Free Worlds League Military is built around combined arms warfare, treating infantry, vehicles, and aerospace fighters as if they were just as useful as mechs. They also used to have the most LAMs, back before [[squat|LAMs ceased to be a thing]]. They don’t get a lot of attention, since they’re far away from the FedSuns and the Clans and therefore don’t get involved in stories about factions the writers actually care about.

====Draconis Combine====
Ruled by House Kurita, the Draconis Combine is the obligatory Space Japan, in the sense that it is ''obligatory'' to be Japanese. It has large Arab and Scandinavian minorities who are legally required to be [[weeaboo]]s, with the country as a whole drawing on both the age of samurai and the militaristic Imperial Japan of the 1920s to 40s. The twelve-year-olds listed above, if they leave the FedSuns, will likely move to this weeaboo paradise with its delusional "fierce solo samurai warrior takes on all opponents Kurosawa Style" appeal, not realizing that lone mechs get [[rape|gang-banged]] by enemies who are teamed up like a pack of mechanical hyenas. Defended by weeaboos despite being responsible for the single most horrific massacre in human history during the First Succession War, on top of feeding into the Blake Jihad, the slavish dedication to dogma, corporate abuse, etc. For an alternate look into this supposed massacre, please read ''Did 52 million really die?''

Like everyone else in the Inner Sphere, the Draconis Combine is a warmongering, autocratic empire ruled with an iron fist that wants to take over the galaxy. Unlike everyone else in the Inner Sphere, they actually admit it. They're the only successor state that makes absolutely no pretenses of being a democracy, with the Coordinator of Worlds being treated as a divinely anointed absolute monarch who is the sole legitimate ruler of all humanity. They were the first to start shit after the Star League collapsed, with the Coordinator declaring himself the new First Lord and launching an invasion of the Federated Suns that eventually wound up getting himself killed on Kentares IV, leading his son to launch the aforementioned massacre. They've been the mortal enemies of the Federated Suns ever since.

Similar to the Davions and their love of autocannons and the Steiners and their love of everything heavy and assault, Kuritans are really, really into PPCs (Particle Projector Cannons), mainly because they're dirt poor and [[Lasgun]]s are cheaper than bullets. If there is a mech that can possibly mount a PPC, the Dracs will put one on it. For instance, see the ''Catapult'': a 65-ton long-range fire support mech intended for indirect fire using the Long Range Missle (LRM) racks in its "ears". Almost every variant of the ''Catapult'' is centered around these LRM racks with a few minor backup weapons, they are a reliable, battle-tested design that no commander in their right mind would attempt to 'fix', because isn't broken... except in the eyes of House Kurita. Once the Combine got their hands on it those ears were replaced with two PPCs for direct fire support and two machine guns for <s>civilian massacres</s> INFANTRY DETERRENTS.

Kuritans were also [[Fail|involved in the worst Battletech novel ever written]], wherein a ship of theirs was lost in time and space, and [[what|found giant]], [[Kroot|alien, sentient chickens]]. Far Country is a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6zQ6ZqEqg0 Shamefur Dispray]! and pretty much serves as the only time aliens are actually mentioned in the BattleTech unvierse.

====Capellan Confederation====
Culturally, Space China or Space Russia. Politically, Space North Korea. The Confederation was originally founded when several minor states in the Capellan Zone who were sick of the Federated Suns trying to "liberate" them joined together, bombed their own capital to make a point, and fought the Davions off. Secure in this victory, they then proceeded to never win a war ever again.

Citizens of the Capellan Confederation enjoy probably the highest standard of living of any commoner in the Inner Sphere, with an extensive, cradle-to-grave welfare system and the best education and health care the state can provide. [[Grimdark|*Non*-citizens of the Capellan Confederation, known as "Servitors", are basically slaves.]] Becoming a citizen requires you to provide a certain amount of service to the state by the age of seventeen, and citizenship can be removed as punishment for disloyalty. Even those who aren't unfortunate enough to be Servitors basically have their lives decided for them by the Capellan caste system and the government's ability to tell them that they have to move to a new planet and take up a new career at any given moment.

The Confederation is run by a Chancellor, who's supposed to be elected by the nobility but in reality is pretty much always the head of House Liao. This is rather unfortunate, since the Liaos have a noticeable tendency towards being batshit fucking insane ''even by Inner Sphere nobility standards''. At one point, they decided that having a regular military just wasn't cool enough for them and created the Warrior Houses, a bunch of weird pseudo-religious warrior cults that only answer to the Chancellor.

Since the Capellans have lost basically every war they've ever fought and live right next to the Federated Suns, they've become the designated "sneaky" faction, focusing on guerilla warfare and covert operations. They go for stealth and electronic warfare the way the Davions go for autocannons, best exemplified by their iconic Raven electronic warfare 'Mech (which, depending on the model, actually looks like a bird; weird but cool). After the Clan Invasion and FedCom Civil War, they acquired a taste for the newly-developed Plasma weapons. Got the absolute shit beat out of them by the Federated Commonwealth during the Fourth Succession War, got revenge when the Commonwealth tore itself apart a few decades later.

====ComStar====
Imagine a cross between the medieval Catholic Church and Comcast, and you have ComStar. During the Star League Civil War, the network of Hyperpulse Generators that the Star League had built for faster-than-light communications was in ruins, and the one thing that the Great Houses could agree on was that ''somebody'' had to fix all their space phones right fucking now. They named Jerome Blake, the highest-ranking HPG network official still alive, as Minister of Communications, which, since they didn't name any other ministers, basically put him in charge of Terra. As the Star League collapsed, Blake bummed some soldiers off of Kerensky, got the Successor States to agree that the space phones were important and they should therefore respect ComStar's neutrality, and then seized complete control of Terra in a lightning-fast coup, revealing that that neutrality had some teeth.

After Blake died, ComStar quickly turned into a quasi-mystical and religious organization, whose stated purpose was to preserve human knowledge in the dark ages of the Succession Wars, a goal they attempted to fulfill by assassinating every scientist who wouldn't work for them and starting the Second Succession War practically the moment the first one ended. Things started to spiral out of control for them after the Helm Memory Core was leaked and suddenly everyone was able to figure out how Lostech worked again, and then things got even ''worse'' when the Clans showed up.

ComStar is also famous for introducing the ComStar Bill (C-bill) as a standard galactic currency. Rather than being backed by material goods, each C-bill is backed by ComStar's faster than light message delivery service: One C-bill will guarantee one millisecond of data transmission, enough for a few pages of bare text or a small image, with larger transmissions costing more, and with additional fees for higher priority and the like. The value of the various Great House currencies can be weighed against their worth in C-bills which allows for currency exchange on a galactic scale. The C-bill is the primary way that mercenaries are paid and in turn pay for goods and services, and thus the most common currency encountered by players.

====Minor Powers====
*'''Free Rasalhague Republic''':Space Norse/Vikings. They were a part of the Draconis Combine, until the formation of the Federated Commonwealth meant that Kurita was about to have ''two'' borders for Hanse Davion to attack them from, so he granted them their independence as a buffer state. May have been awesome. For the reason for past tense refer to: ''Clan Invasion, Why Not Get in the Way of One'' (Third Publishing of Liao, COMSTAR ISBN 474-Alpha-467-Upsilon-345). They later join up with the Ghost Bears and become the Rasalhague Dominion. They are awesome because now we have Viking clanners.
*'''Word of Blake''': An ultra-reactionary splinter faction of ComStar that got butthurt after ComStar ditched all the pseudo-religious bullshit. Broke away and launched an all-out jihad(''yes, they actually used that word'') on literally everyone shortly after the Federated Commonwealth Civil War came to an end. Made liberal use of weapons of mass destruction and rendered several entire planets uninhabitable. Fond of genocide, re-education camps, unstable technology, and mass murder. As a result, they were eventually crushed as a result of pissing off the entire fucking universe, but not before undoing a lot of the technological progress that had been made after the Clan Invasion. Basically used by the publishers to reset the average technology level of the game due to a lot of players feeling it was advancing too far and getting away from the quasi-feudal feel of earlier editions. Ironically enough, their mechs were more streamlined and featured a lot more experimental technologies for people would eventually blow the entire game setting back to the quasi-iron age.
*'''The Republic of The Sphere''': Established by an individual calling himself Devlin Stone, who mysteriously surfaced at some point during the Blakefag Jihad, and helped pull the galaxy out that colossal clusterfuck through a series of successful military campaigns. Upon the Jihad's defeat, Stone met with ComStar Precentor Martial Victor Ian Steiner-Davion and laid out a philosophy which Victor would privately describe as ''militant socialism keyed to altruism''; Officials and authorities would have their assets placed in a blind trust. Public service would be rewarded. Greed and corruption would be punished. All weapons would be placed under the government control. [[Just As Planned|Surprisingly, it worked]], at least for a time, ushering in a new era of peace for the core worlds. However, after ruling as Exarch of the Republic for a while, Devlin Stone stepped down and shortly there after disappeared, vowing to [[Sigmar|return when he was needed most]]. It didn't take long before everything went to shit again and was plunged into chaos when the interstellar communication network was sabotaged. Was gangbanged by a combination of separatist factions, the Capellans, and Clan Jade Falcon before finally saying FUCK IT and retreating back to Terra. <strike>''You guys realize Stone is the [[Emperor]], right? Right?''</strike>
* '''The Periphery''': The collection of non-successor states on the edges of the Inner Sphere. They were brought into the Star League by force, and are still kinda sore about it, mostly because they nearly got blasted back to the Stone Age, and never quite got their technology back up.
**'''Taurian Concordiat''': A Periphery Nation bordering the Federated Suns and Cappellan Confederation. Has an axe to grind against the Federated Suns and claims they’re much more dedicated to freedom and liberty than the Davions.
**'''Marian Hegemony''': A bandit Kingdom bordering the Lyrans and Free Worlds League that decided to become the Roman Empire IN SPACE.
**'''Magistracy of Canopus''': A hedonistic matriarchy bordering the Free Worlds League. A nation of cybernetic catgirls, whose largest export is pornography.
**'''Outworlds Alliance''': A backwater state near the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine. Was the Periphery-est of the Periphery states until Clan Snow Raven moved in.
*'''Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission''': An independent group that certifies and provides force rankings for various mercenary groups. At least three Mech Warrior games are focused on the mercs as it allows writers more leeway and less chance to screw up the canon.
*'''Kell Hounds''': A merc company headed by Morgan Kell. His son Phelan was captured by Clan Wolf when the Clan Invasion first began, and by the end was running the Clan until it split. Took in Phelan and the Exiled Wolves afterwards. Generally, are tough but cool guys all around.
*'''Grey Death Legion''':Mercenary group who were famous for finding and distributing the Helm Core, which allowed the Inner Sphere to regain technology formerly lost during the Succession Wars. Generally an author's favorite in the books. Got destroyed during the Blake Jihad.
*'''Wolf's Dragoons''': A bunch of Clan Wolf advance scouts disguised as a mercenary group. Came to the Inner Sphere with a ton of mechs that the Clans considered outdated but hadn't been seen in the Successor States in centuries and were considered Lostech... Which should have tipped the Great Houses off that these guys might be bad juju. Instead of providing intel to the Clans for their invasion, Wolf's Dragoons pulled a fast one and tried to prepare the Inner Sphere for war with the Clans. They are generally pretty awesome guys, even if part of that awesomeness is because they get a ton of attention in the fluff due to the writers' obsession with anything related to Clan Wolf. They got screwed pretty badly during the Blake Jihad when the nutjobs assaulted Outreach. By Dark Age they are slowly recovering with help from the Kell Hounds.

===The Clans===
Each clan is named after an animal, and yes those are the animal's full names.

* Clan Blood Spirit: The smallest Clan. Noted for having the toughest training, favored Battle Armor, and had no official allies after starting off idealistic but then becoming jaded grudge-holders. :(
* Clan Burrock: The only clan to support the Dark Caste. Liked picking on the Blood Spirits before they were absorbed by Clan Star Adder.
* Clan Cloud Cobra: The Religious types. Loved aerospace fighters and jump jets. Obsessed with collecting genetic bloodlines other Clans don't want.
* Clan Coyote: Native Americans in Space. Also like to scheme too much for their own good. Known for creating a shit ton of tech (unlike [[Adeptus Mechanicus|some people]] on Mars...)
* Clan Diamond Shark: Used to be called Sea Fox until Snow Raven killed their namesake (with their current one) the only clan that views the merchant caste as equal to their warrior one. Later brought back the Sea Fox and changed their name back. The only Clan to allow all castes to vote, making them arguably a genuinely democratic republic.
* Clan Fire Mandrill: The Clan whose gimmick was to always have a few subfactions to foster internal competition. At first it was manageable and it improved the Clan, but then the factionalism snowballed into more than 10 mini-subfactions which made the whole Clan a laughing stock among the Clans.
* Clan Ghost Bear: The only clan to be founded by a married couple, as a result they're the only clan to still have normal family units. Much more protective of its civilian caste than the others. Nearly devoured the Free Rashalague Republic in the Clan Invasion, then merged with what was left after the Jihad.
* Clan Goliath Scorpion: Stoners with rose-colored nostalgia glasses. Also noted for elite marksmanship and ambush tactics.
* Clan Hell's Horses: The only clan to think tanks are useful often uses mix arms tactics rather than use spamming mechs. Have hot rod flames color scheme.
* Clan <strike>Temper Tantrum</strike> Ice Hellion: Speed freaks with a big ego. Their Khan seems to bitch every time their forces lose, which is often.
* Clan Jade Falcon: The Spotlight stealing Clan second only to the Wolves, with whom they have a fierce rivalry. Slightly less evil than the Jaguars below.
* Clan Mongoose: Basically a footnote in Clan backstory. Extremely aggressive, tend to attack everyone near them. [[Fail|Got their asses kicked by everyone else before being absorbed.]]
* Clan Nova Cat: The Spiritual types, they decide their policy with visions, which 9 times out of 10 ends badly for them. Some of the best marksmen in the Clans, often competed with Clan Goliath Scorpion. Joined Smoke Jaguar in attacking the Draconis Combine, then sided with the Combine right after everyone decided the Jags had to go. Eventually got destroyed during the Dark Ages for backing the wrong Kuritan royal in a civil war.
* Clan Smoke Jaguar: Essentially super aggressive World Eaters trained to pilot mechs. Known to fuck shit up until their smaller numbers (due to infighting) fucked them over in long campaigns. Were eventually wiped out by the Inner Sphere counter-attack after they murdered an entire city from orbit. What goes around, comes around.
* Clan Snow Raven: The sinister & cunning space jockeys of the Clans. Specialized in space combat and became BBFs with the Outworlds Alliance.
* Clan Spirit Cats: Offshoots of the Nova Cats after they were annihilated by the Combine.
* Clan Star Adder: Boring, but very, very practical, which benefited them a lot. They like to upgrade their lasers to heavy lasers.
* Clan Steel Viper: Self righteous xenophobes who wanted to cooperate with the Inner Sphere but also treated freeborns like dirt, and then wondered why nobody liked them. Responsible for Clan genocide known as "The Wars of Reaving". [[Fail|Got genocided in return.]]
* Clan Widowmaker: the hyper-aggressive types, their first Khan held a grudge against the Wolverines and framed them before being killed with support from Nicholas. Clan later got annihilated for accidentally killing Nicky. What was left of it, however, <strike>gave birth</strike> (lies Clanners aren't born, they're grown) to the most dangerous MechWarrior ever, Natasha Kerensky.
* Clan Wolf: The spotlight stealing Clan, courtesy of it being Kerensky's personal clan. Split up into two factions following the Refusal War.
** Crusader Wolves: The guys who want to continue the invasion of Inner Sphere.
** Warden Wolf-in-Exile: The guys who want to defend Inner Sphere against the rest of the Clans, who they think are a mockery of Kerensky's teachings.
* <strike>Clan Wolverine</strike> Not-Named Clan: Aggressive and independent minded, these guys pissed off Nicky to such extent that they were annihilated after the vengeful Widowmaker khan framed them of detonating a nuke on civilians after the Wolverines seceded from the Clans. Some survivors were able to flee as the '''Minnesota Tribe''' but they've been never heard from since. [[What|There are many theories about them returning to Inner Sphere and taking over it as shadow masterminds in order to destroy the clans.]]

===Wars of Reaving===
[[Advancing the Storyline|Fed up with having to write more stuff about Clans nobody cares about]], a bunch of Clans were wiped out after the Jihad, or driven out of Clan territory. While the in-story explanation is that a butthurt ilKhan decided it was time to make a powerplay after not having won anything out of the Inner Sphere Invasion, everyone knows that there were several Clans that had no discernable effect on the game.
*'''''Annihilated or Absorbed:'''''
**Blood Spirit: Got wiped out for using civilian militias which "isn't clan-like" and [[Bullshit|marked for annihilation for letting people fight for their homes.]]
**Burrock: Tried to re-establish themselves after being Absorbed, got defeated.
**Fire Mandrill: Too fractured to fight back effectively.
**Ice Hellion: [[Fail|Killed themselves by trying to steal Jade Falcon and Hell's Horses territory.]] What few survivors remained joined Goliath Scorpion.
**Steel Viper: Took over the Clan Homeworlds and gave everyone free reign to remove the “taint” of the Invader Clans by any means necessary. Forgot that they themselves were an Invader Clan.
**Nova Cat: Destroyed by the Draconis Combine for being on the losing side of a Civil War.
*'''''Exiled or Abjured:''''' These Clans were forced out of the Clan Homeworlds on the pretense of being "corrupted" by Inner Sphere influences. Some later formed the '''Council of Six Clans''', representing the Clans that now exist in the Inner Sphere.
**Ghost Bears: Banished to the Inner Sphere and eventually founded the '''Rasalhague Dominion.''' Joined the Council.
**Goliath Scorpion: Ran away and conquered Nueva Castile(Spaniards vs. Arabs IN SPACE) in the Deep Periphery, forming '''Escorpion Imperio.'''
**Hell's Horses: Stole some of Clan Wolf's territory in the Inner Sphere, and end up getting banished from the Clan Homeworlds. Joined the Council.
**Jade Falcon: Banished to the Inner Sphere and tried to conquer Terra but failed. Still rules the parts of the Inner Sphere they conquered during the Clan Invasion. Replaced the Smoke Jaguars as the most vicious clan under their latest Khan (who's willing to do anything to kill her enemies). Joined the Council.
**Sea Fox/Diamond Shark: Ended up in what's left of the Free Worlds League. Split up into semi-independent merchant fleets and are now a collection of nomadic "Khanates" that sail the starlanes of the Inner Sphere. Joined the Council, but also joined the FWL as a member state. In the meantime, managed to bring the Sea Fox back from extinction, and changed back to their old name.
**Smoke Jaguar: Some of them showed up as super-secret Clanner loyalists called '''Fidelis''' to the Republic of the Sphere. More practical minded than their grandparents but just as likely to go [[rip and tear|berserk]] when fighting any Clan warriors for their perceived betrayal. Still in the Fortress Republic.
**Snow Raven: Ran away and conquered the Outworlds Alliance in the Periphery, forming the '''Raven Alliance.''' Joined the Council.
**Spirit Cat: What's left of Nova Cats, joined the Free Worlds League as a member state.
**Wolf: Splintered into several factions. Basically conquered the central and coreward territories of Lyran Alliance under the '''Wolf Empire.''' Making the Steiners have a bigger headache, their Khan, Katrina Steiner's descendant, claimed the mantle of Archon through her bloodline. Wolves-in-Exile refuse to join and are doing their own thing. Clan Wolf-Alliance joined the Council. “Katrina Steiner’s descendant” is in fact a Trueborn Clanner that Katherine Steiner-Davion had made using both her own genetic material and Victor Steiner-Davion’s, because regular incest just wasn’t crazy enough for her.
*'''''Home Clans:''''' Theses Clans still hold territory in the Clan Homeworlds and consider themselves "True Clans."
**Cloud Cobra: Still around.
**Coyote: Sneaky bastards. Got their hands on the genetic material of the last known descendant of House Cameron.
**Star Adder: TOP DOG
**Stone Lions: Made from the Hell's Horses who were left in the Clan Homeworlds and didn't get exiled.

So basically there are now ten Clans: The six Spheroid Clans, and the four Home Clans. The rest are either dead, formed hybrid societies, or are even more minor than before and thus save the writers from some hard work in upcoming TROs.

==Mechanics==
[[Image:Group-Plastic-Miniatures.jpg|thumb|right|The standard use of hexmaps renders the purchase of miniatures optional, though miniatures rules for the game are available.]]
[[Image:Blankrecordsheet.jpg|thumb|right|Record sheets are one of ''BattleTechs''' greatest blessings and curses.]]
The basic mechanic is simple. Two six-sided dice are used, with a to-hit (Equal or greater to) system. Initiative is interlaced, with the loser moving first and the winner able to react. All weapons damage is technically done at the same time, and therefore "Who shoots first" is insignificant, although the order in which weapons fire from any given unit resolves is important. Larger weapons can scrub off large quantities of ablative armor, while smaller multi-hit weapons stand a better chance of forcing Critical Hits once a location is damaged. If you get hit, you mark off the weapons damage rating from your armor. If the shot penetrates your armor, you roll potential criticals. Firing weapons and moving about generates heat, which you must keep down to keep your 'Mech working properly.

Unlike games such as ''[[Warhammer]]'', where many units are either killed on the first shot or left unscathed, and little information is recorded, ''BattleTech'' uses record sheets to mark off each 'Mech's cumulative damage, ammunition, pilot status, and heat. Also, there are hit locations, so limbs can be blown off. The record sheets allow for effects that are more detailed, but this also increases the overall playtime. Although expert players can get through matches just as fast as players of other games of more or less equal size, new players often find that the game plays slowly. This is usually due to the time spent referencing hit-location tables, critical effects, etc. For new players, 2V2 matches are best, with 4V4 matches being the "Cap", in order to have games that do not take excessively long. More experienced players can run games of 12v12 or larger in an afternoon, though these will often be multi-player games in which each ''player'' controls only a handful of 'Mechs.

One of the biggest appeals of ''BattleTech'' is that all of its units are made with a predefined set of rules. Custom designs are fully possible, though they are not likely to be welcome in tournament matches or pick-up games.

''BattleTech'' uses a build system based on 'Mech tonnage. You start with a Chassis limit, from 20-100 tons. You then determine engine size based on how fast you want your 'Mech to be (how many hexes you want it to be able to move per turn) you then allocate the remaining tonnage to control systems, weapons, ammo and armor. This method varies slightly depending on the technology of the chassis, but not overmuch. Though the system has recently been removed, there were previously three "Levels" of technology.

'''Level 1''' (Now called "Introductory Tech") referred to early-era gameplay. Only the more rudimentary weapons and technologies are available, though the critical rules remain the same. This is the preferred level at which to learn, and is synonymous with the equipment available during the Succession Wars era. It is also the level of play made possible with starter boxes.

'''Level 2''' was Tournament-level gameplay. This introduced new equipment and electronics, as well as Clan technology (A more technologically advanced, but militant people). Though the rules are generally the same as those in level 1 gameplay, more-complicated equipment such as ECM, Anti-missile systems, Cluster munitions, etc were better suited to more-experienced players. It is the level of play made possible with separately-purchased rulebooks. Note that, as the in-universe timeline advances, some more-advanced technology is designated "tournament-level", and several items that were Level 3 before the switch are also now "Tournament-Level".

'''Level 3''' referred to all advanced gameplay and equipment, including specialized gear from Historical manuals and the ''Solaris VII'' boxed sets/adventures. This has since been split out into "advanced", "experimental", and "era-specific" technology. This also included all equipment that was not listed in the core rulebooks. More complex rules were inserted in order to increase the realism and flexibility of the game. These include new weapons, new or altered terrain rules, artillery, alternate rules for major mechanics such as Line-of-sight, etc. Though Level 3 rules included "prototype" equipment not printed in the core rulebooks, the standard rulebook in regards to Level 3 play was called ''Maxtech''. This has now been replaced by the Catalyst Games release of ''Tactical Operations'' and its sequels.

'''Advanced''' technology (not to be confused with "advanced rules" is covered largely in ''Tactical Operations'', and may be common but incorporates additional rules or restrictions that make it difficult to use without preparation.

'''Experimental''' tech is not mass-produced in-universe. The items are used in one-offs, prototype designs, and other weirdness. The ''Experimental Technical Readout'' series showcases this tech level, and most of the rules are in ''Tactical Operations'' or ''Strategic Operations''.

'''Era-specific''' technology incorporates advancements that were later abandoned in-verse. Usually these items were displaced by a superior version of the same technology, although there are some like the Listen-Kill missiles (which exploited a weakness in standard ECM protocols, later patched out) which are simply active for a few years and then abandoned once changing circumstances make them ineffective. Era-specific tech is the province of Historical sourcebooks, the ''Interstellar Operations'' rulebook, and a few campaign books.

==Expansions==
The RPG companion-game, titled '''Mechwarrior''', was created in the late 1980s, so that players could simulate the lifestyle of the Mechwarriors they played. A 2nd edition (1991) and 3rd edition (1999) were also released. 3rd edition became renamed ''Classic Battletech RPG'', in order to avoid confusion with the [[clix]] games, and though it was available as a .PDF download, it was not reprinted until 2006. These were replaced by ''A Time of War'' in 2009, supplemented by ''A Time of War Companion'' in 2012.

'''Aerotech''' and '''Battlespace''' were two different games which simulated space combat in the ''BattleTech'' universe. Movement handled differently due to the zero-gravity nature of space, and was played on a different scale.

==Spinoff Games==
Due to it's popularity through the late 80s and early 90s, ''BattleTech'' spawned a multitude of spinoffs and expansion games.

'''[[Lost Worlds]]''' dueling books. NOVA adapted their melee dueling system to make four books for Battletech mecha. Each book has the opponent's view of the mech on each page, and a character sheet listing possible maneuvers. Since it used the same system as the rest of their books, you could have "20-ton Locust vs. skeleton with scimitar" duels.

'''AeroTech''' and '''BattleSpace''' were both games featuring Aerospace Fighters and DropShips/WarShips respectively, fighting in orbit before any of the action in the BattleTech game itself could begin. Both games eventually got absorbed into BattleTech's rules in the ''Total Warfare'' edition.

'''Battletroops''' was a game that was made to simulate the ''BattleTech'' universe, with infantry in mind as the main units. It later had an expansion pack to incorporate clan equipment, as well as Elementals, but the game did not sell as well and the rules have since been abandoned.

'''Battleforce''' was a revision of '''BattleTech''', made in recognition of the fact that large-scale combat could not be effectively played out using the current system. Battleforce simplified each 'mech into a simple set of numbers, so that they could be clustered into units and fight over a much larger area. Battleforce 2, released about a decade later, also introduced planetary invasion maps and rules to go along with them. Although the maps are available in Map Compilation 2, the rules will be reprinted in the ''Strategic Operations'' and ''Interstellar Operations'' sourcebooks.

The '''Solaris VII Boxed set''' was made to simulate the fast-paced gladiatorial combat on the game's world of Solaris VII. It included new rules, new maps with special rules, new mechs, and supplements for roleplaying. Little known fact. Some of the designs used in the original Solaris VII set were redesigns of the ''BattleTech'' 'mechs... themselves copies of Japanese mechs! When the product tried to sell in Japan, half of the designs were already copyrighted by other well known anime companies, and the in-house designs were simply not "Japanese" enough for their tastes. Though the product itself flopped, it's maps were reprinted and re-released in 2004, as well as a complimentary up-to-date rulebook. Rules have since been standardized to match those of ''Classic Battletech'', but "Special Map rules" have been included.

The '''BattleTech Collectible Cardgame''' was produced by Wizards of the Coast in 1996, and ran until 1998. Though it's popularity had begun to wane after the first core set, the release of the Pokemon card game was the nail in the coffin. The Battletech CCG hosted some very impressive artwork, though the game favored swarm-decks filled with plenty of weak, cheap 'mechs, and it's non-"Creature" cards were too weak to have an effective deck based around them. After five editions (''Battletech Limited''/''Unlimited'', ''Counterstrike'', ''Mercenaries'', ''Mechwarrior'', ''Arsenal'') Battletech CCG came out with ''Commander's Edition'', which picked some of the best cards of the last few editions (though it abandoned or revised some cards for inaccuracies or "brokenness") It had one final expansion, Crusade, which introduced the Steel Viper clan, though there were some prior cards that did reference the clan.

In July, 2013, Catalyst Game Labs released '''Alpha Strike''', a miniatures combat ruleset designed specifically to appeal to fans of Warhammer and Flames of War. It combined BattleForce statistics with improved miniatures rules. It's generally scoffed at by grognards but the only feasible way to play a regiment-sized battle in less than one lifetime.

==Video Games==
'''Official Games'''
* Crescent Hawk's Inception (Infocom, 1988)
* MechWarrior (Activision, 1989)
* Crescent Hawks' Revenge (Infocom, 1990)

* MechWarrior II (Activision, 1995)
* MechWarrior II: Mercernaries (Activision 1995)
** MechCommander (FASA, 1998)
* MechWarrior III (Microprose, 1999)
* MechWarrior IV: Vengeance (FASA/Microsoft, 2000), Black Knight (Microsoft, 2001), Mercenaries (Microsoft, 2002)
** These games had two expansions that gave more mechs, the Inner Sphere Mech Pack and Clan Mech Pack.
** <strike>MekTek released a legal port of Mercenaries, with both Mech Packs, new mechs, and battlesuits all inside, plus multiplayer support. Free to download.</strike> MekTek's jumped ship from MechWarrior after losing the rights to freely distribute. Microsoft may still hold rights to distribution and will accordingly do fuck-all with it. RIP in pieces, Mercs. (modDB page for MW4 still has the files if you want 'em. Alternatively, grab it off your tracker of choice.)
* Mechassault 1 (Day 1/Microsoft, 2002 for Xbox)
* Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf (Day 1/Microsoft, 2004 for Xbox)
* MechCommander II (FASA/Microsoft, 2001. The full game is offered by Microsoft for free [http://www.microsoft.com/en-ph/download/details.aspx?id=11457 here].)
* MechWarrior Online MMO (Smith & Tinker/Piranha Games, A F2P game first released on 2012 and currently out as a full product on Steam.)
* MechWarrior Tactical Command (Personae Studios, 2012?, [[Fail|for iPhone/iPad]]. After some uncertainty, MTC was fully released in the itunes store. Too bad it sucks.)
* BattleTech (Harebrained Schemes, 2018) - funded through Kickstarter and headed up by Jordan Weisman)
** Turn-based strategy game, similar to the original tabletop game. Takes place during the Succession Wars, in a formerly empty area of the Periphery.
*MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries: Due out in 2019. Also takes place during the Succession Wars. Because nobody wants to take the time to portray the cluster fuck that is the Blake Jihad properly.
'''Unlicensed Games'''
* [http://www.mechlivinglegends.net Mechwarrior Living Legends] (Wandering Samurai/Clan Jade Wolf, 2011)

'''The following are free, homemade versions of Battletech:'''
* MechWar v1.12 (MS-DOS)
* [http://megamek.info/ MegaMek] (Java)
* BTMUX - ascii-only mmo (anyone old enough to remember what a MUD is?) (any OS) You could play it in pure ascii, or get [http://bt-thud.sourceforge.net/thud/ a graphical helper] Most of the existing ones are gone, but [http://frontiermux.com/news.php FrontierMUX] seems to still be alive.
* <strike>[http://neveron.com/ Neveron] (web-based mmo)</strike> [Taken offline on July 31st 2014]
* [http://www.titansofsteel.de/ Titans of Steel] (MS-Windows)

==Current State==
[[File:Never give up.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Little Urbie, the greatest of us all.]]
In 1998, the U.S. release of ''Pokemon'' for the Gameboy, and the subsequent cartoon and cardgame, had a damaging effect on the tabletop games market. Comic book stores which had previously stocked tabletop RPGs, wargames, and collectible card games found that they could turn a better profit by stocking more ''Pokemon'' goods and cutting out the weaker-selling products. Only a handful of better-selling tabletop games, such as products by Games Workshop and the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games, were able to remain. In 2001, FASA ceased operations, and many fans of the ''BattleTech'' series began to look for other games. ''BattleTech'' was purchased by [[FanPro]] and [[Wizkids]], donning the name ''Classic Battletech'' in order to better separate it from the now-floundering ''Mechwarrior'' Clix-game license. Despite still having products released for it, ''Classic Battletech'' was often put on the back burner, as Wizkids showed preference to their clix-games. It was later licensed to [[Catalyst Game Labs]], who have since released a new boxed set (6th edition) based on the newly revised core rules. This boxed set, once again, contains plastic miniatures. Though the plastic miniatures (When compared to plastic miniatures produced by other companies) are decidedly low-quality, they are more than sufficient as playing-pieces for new players who are experimenting with the product. In making low-grade miniatures for the box set, the overall price tag remained low, while giving players something more tangible than a cardboard cutout. The game is beginning to gain popularity once again, despite the dropping popularity of tabletop games in general. In 2014 Catalyst Games released an updated box set with higher quality miniatures for the same price.

As of 2017, Catalyst have announced two new starter boxed sets. One is significantly lower-priced and features two 'Mechs with a new map (the first since FASA shut its doors). The second has two new maps, die-cut terrain (to drop onto the maps), and a reduced mini selection with all-new sculpts - designed by an ascended fa/tg/uy. These boxed sets were made available for purchase in 2019.

===MechWarrior Online===
[http://mwomercs.com/ Mechwarrior Online] has already been officially launched. Even though the launch itself was fairly lackluster, with no new features compared to the past few months of open beta, the game is in a somewhat average state of balance and gameplay, and the feel of piloting a BattleMech was translated faithfully. As of October 2014 PGI, after ousting their publisher and striking out on their own a few months back, has been making notable progress in advancing the game and interacting with the player base. Update: Despite garnering some good will from the community after ridding themselves of their publisher, PGI has been doing their best to waste the Mechwarrior license and drive off good chunks of their player base. Mostly through increasingly draconian punishments and obvious cash-grabbing with constant new 'Mechs for sale. Or at least it was until Mercenaries. Maybe.

===Battletech 2018===
Harebrained Schemes has announced their return to Kickstarter in fall 2015 in order to fund [http://battletechgame.com/ Battletech], a turn based tactics game featuring RPG mechanics for Mechs and MechWarriors. As of this writing the game has been fully funded and reached several stretch goals. In fact, the game's been released in April 2018. The game is a turn-based strategy game, more faithful to the board game than the mech-sims the series is known for on the vidya circuit. Think the new XCOM games, but with mechs.

The game started out with a boatload of bugs (which isn't really surprising for an indie kickstarter), but the devs handled the problem quickly. Soon after it was recently announced that HBS was bought out by their release partner Paradox Interactive, the current big dog for quality strategy games. As expected of a Paradox game, this was followed up by a number of overpriced DLCs to the point that the season pass costs more than the actual game.



===Mercenaries 5===
After almost two decades since the last proper Mechwarrior game in the franchise (MechAssault doesn't count), we're finally getting an honest-to-gods story-based mechpilot sim game like the days of yore. Piranha Games, the company responsible for MWO, is also creating [https://mw5mercs.com/ Mercenaries 5], and is so far looking like a faithful re-creation of the classic Mechwarrior pilot sim games of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Its still in early development so its too early to tell what'll be the end-product, but is looking good so far, and we can only hope PGI doesn't muck it up by shoving boatloads of micro-transactions down the fanbase's throats like what they did with MWO, or what current AAA-game developers are doing. Unfortunately, Piranha Games decided to bite the "Epic Store Exclusive" deal for one year to secure more cash in the short term. But it also polarized the gamers and fans given how they announced it very abruptly.

==External links==
*[http://megamek.sf.net Play through the tubes with MegaMek]
*[http://www.sarna.net Battletech Wiki that holds much information about the universe]
*[http://bgb.booru.org/index.php Blue Gunner Booru, a /btg/-maintained taggable gallery of BT and related art. Perpetually in-progress.]
[[Category:Wargames]][[Category:Skirmish-Level Wargames]][[Category:BattleTech]]

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery>
File:Glorious_3d_Terrain.JPG|Glorious 3d terrain
File:More_Glorious_3d_Terrain.JPG|More glorious 3d terrain
File:Infantry_Strike_From_Behind_As_The_Kuritian_Lance_Takes_On_4_Steiner_Mechs_And_6_Tanks.JPG|Infantry strike from behind as the Kuritian lance takes on 4 Steiner mechs And 6 tanks
File:Kuritians_Advancing.JPG|Kuritians advancing
File:Surrounded.JPG|Kick party
File:Eridani_Light_Horses_MechWarrior.png|Bad mofo
File:You're_awesome.jpg
File:Dougram_and_shadowhawk_comparison.png|The original anime mecha Dougram (left) compared to the original "unseen" Shadowhawk (center) and the modern Shadowhawk (right), a robot so badass it transcends cultures and 4chan boards
</gallery>
</center>

==/tg/ Battletech Creations==
*[[Velatine Federal Republic]]
*[[/tg/ Homebrew Mech Designs]]
*[[Sunbats mercenary company]]

Kataphron Battle Servitors

2019-10-17T09:03:54Z

2600:387:6:805:0:0:0:C3: /* Kataphron Breachers */ Then remove it, maybe...?

[[File:KataphronBreacher.jpg|300px|right|thumb|[[Anal Circumference|Come here and I will ''Breach'' your ass!]]]]
Kataphron Battle Servitors are [[Combat Servitors]] given an upgrade. They act as elite shock troops meant for dealing with heavier and tougher opponents that their smaller cousins couldn't do. Due to the opponents they face, Kataphron Battle Servitors are far, far larger and heavier, requiring anti-tank weapons to take them down and even that doesn't work all the time.

Their increased size due to the heavier armor has rendered their already augmented human legs as too impractical and more vulnerable to wear and tear, instead opting for giant tank treads. While this may severely reduce its agility, speed and overall flexibility, the treads do enable more stability, durability and adaptability that normal human legs couldn't survive even when augmented.

Completely severed from all emotion and independent thought, these machines are little more than a living weapon controlled by [[Tech Priest|Tech Priests.]] There are two types of Kataphrons which the Mechanicus uses.

A funny thing to note about the Kataphrons is their weapon choice for each role is an inverse to that of the Skitarii. For example, the long range Skitarii Rangers have Arc Rifles as their best special weapon, while the short ranged Vanguards use Plasma Calivers. Meanwhile the long range Kataphron Destroyers use Plasma Culverins and the short range Breachers use Heavy Arc Rifles.

==Kataphron Breachers==
[[File:KataphronDestroyer.jpg|300px|right|thumb|WHO HAS THE [[Dakka|DAKKA]] NOW YOU [[Tau|CUNT-FACE BLUIES!?]]]]
Kataphron Breachers are used by the Mechanicum as a living shield and battering ram, smashing apart enemy lines and formations. They are quite deadly in close quarters combat, equipped with a large array of weapons that can include Arc Rifles, Torsion Cannons, Arc Claws and Hydraulic Claws. These machines are also equipped with a Kataphron Breacherplate, powerful cybernetically-enhanced titanium-laced metal and plastisteel that turns aside blades and bullets alike.

In terms of tabletop rules. The Kataphron boasts a MEQ-equivalent armor save, an Arc Rifle that does d6 damage against vehicles , and a CCW that also has does extra damage against vehicles. It can alternately switch that CCW for a different one that is Sx2 AP-1 D3 damage but suffers -1 to hit rolls or replace its gun for a Torsion Cannon- a single shot S8 AP-4 weapon that does d6 damage. <s>As it names implies, Breachers mutilate fortifications and even tanks with relative ease</s> Unfortunately not any more, they're expensive as hell, Arc weapons got nerfed into the ground, and torsion cannons are too expensive to ever justify. If you really want to take them either stick with Arc weapons which are relatively cheap. On the plus side, they got a price decrease in chapter approved, so... yay?

==Kataphron Destroyers==
You want to fuck up that column of [[Terminators]] and [[Battlesuit|Battlesuits]], you want to wipe the smile off that grinning [[Ultramarines|Ultrasmurf Fanboy]] and [[Tau|Weeaboo Fuckers]]. You need the Kataphron Destroyers. Kataphron Destroyers are used as heavy weapon platforms by the Mechanicum, ensuring that nothing will be left of their enemies but molten sludge. Thus they are equipped with a large amount of heavy weaponry that includes Grav Cannons, Phosphor Blasters, Plasma Culverins, and Flamers to completely [[RIP AND TEAR|eviscerate]] enemy armor. For protection, these machines are equipped with Kataphron Demiplates, lighter armour that allows better cooling of its heavy weaponry. Nonetheless this cybernetically enhanced heavy steel provides a great deal of protection.

On tabletop, Kataphron Destroyers by default start with a Plasma Culverin and a cover-ignoring Phosphor Blaster, but you can switch the Plasma for the Heavy Grav-Cannon and the Phosphor for a Cognis Flamer. Grav has been nerfed heavily as of 8th, it is still decent however due to the sheer volume of fire they put out but now both loadouts are viable since three Plasma Culverins firing a total of 3d6 S7 AP-3 shots is nothing to sneeze.

{{Template:Mechanicus}}

Lord of Skulls

2019-10-17T08:58:34Z

2600:387:6:805:0:0:0:C3: Undo revision 607031 by Taufag (talk) No.

{{fail}}
{{WTF}}

{{topquote|1=MAKE PEE-''NIS'' INTO ROBOT!|2=[https://youtu.be/25ZvvprhWZo?t=391 A Dark Mechanicus Archmagos] [[If the Emperor had a Text-to-Speech Device|on the purpose behind the Lord of Skulls' design.]]}}

[[File:KhorneLordOfSkulls.jpg|400px|thumb|right|MY ARMS ARE WEAPONS. MY LEGS ARE TRACKS. MY COCK IS A GUN. I WILL SPILL YOUR BLOOD IN THE NAME OF THE BLOOD GOD AND LAY YOUR SKULL AT HIS THRONE. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE! MILK FOR THE KHORNE FLAKES!!!]]

The '''Lord of Skulls''' (formerly known as the '''Lord of Battle''', colloquially known as '''The Rape Train''') is a massive [[Daemon Engine]] of [[Khorne]]. Those tanks on its back store the blood of murderers, which get heated to boiling by the daemon's rage and then vented out through the chest-cannon (with various ranges, strengths, and so on depending on which one you get). Its right arm holds the Great Cleaver of Khorne, a ''destroyer melee weapon''. The left arm is either a gatling cannon or (as pictured here) a skullhurler, a cannon shaped like a skull that shoots a bunch of skulls that ''gnaw on their targets'' (forcing successful saves to be re-rolled). Seriously, we couldn't make this up if we tried -- just imagine skulls chomping everyone like Pac-Man.

[[File:Lord_of_Battle_Epic.jpg|300px|thumb|left|The Lord of Battle in his smaller, [[Epic]] appearance. Looked upon more fondly for early 90s cheese charm.]]
He started out as an [[Epic]] model; when [[Games Workshop]] released the new [[Apocalypse]] book for [[Warhammer 40,000 6th Edition|6th Edition]], they turned it into a 28mm-scale model (although the new one is more a hybrid with the [[Death Dealer]], since it inherited its humanoid front section and chest-mounted cannon). The modeler actually lost count of how many little skulls he put on the thing. The resulting model looks really, REALLY, stupid, and/or harkens back to [[Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader]]. (Same thing, really.)

[[Kytan|Forge World sells a conversion kit for turning this model into a walker.]] Either you think it makes it look generic as fuck, or gives some kinda 'realism' and Khornateness to the model without going over-the-top.

{{Chaos Space Marines}}
{{Lost-and-Damned}}

[[Category:Daemons]][[Category:Vehicles]]

Infinity (wargame)

2019-10-17T08:58:03Z

2600:387:6:805:0:0:0:C3: The lore seems to be getting more grimdark, what with the advent of overt wars, like the campaigns and the Japanese rebellion. Heck, the chances of getting backstabbed and dying horribly are upped in the RPG.

{{Game Infobox
|name = Infinity - A Skirmish Game
|picture = [[Image:InfinityLogo.png|200px]]
|type = Wargame
|playno = 2+
|time = 1-2 hours 
|publisher = Corvus Belli
|authors = Gutier Lusquiños Rodríguez
|year = 2005, 2012, 2016
}}
'''Infinity''' is a game with 28mm metal miniatures that simulates combat and special operations in a science fiction environment with [[Anime|Manga]] aesthetics. Small teams of [[Infinity/N3 Tactics/Yu Jing|highly trained operatives]] (or [[Infinity/N3 Tactics/Morat Aggression Force|brutal, frenetic killers]]) share the board with [[Infinity/N3 Tactics/Tunguska|black market criminals]], remotely operated support robots, [[Infinity/N3 Tactics/Aleph|AI-controlled androids]], [[Infinity/N3 Tactics/PanOceania|power-armor operators]], recreated heroes from history or fiction, and [[TAG|giant robots]] capable of jumping over buildings. The board is dense with terrain with each model ultimately fending for itself in risky firefights and close combat.

A typical game revolves around a mission with a public objective and one or two private objectives. Each player gets 3 turns. This is offset by a player's models being able to react to movement and attacks by the opposing player. Orders (generated by models) fuel actions, and most everything is resolved by a quick face-to-face roll on d20s. On top of that, exact positioning of your models matters: if the model (represented by its silhouette) can see another model, they can likely do something to each other.

{{topquote|I keep warning you. Doors and corners, kid. That's where they get you.| Detective Joe Miller, The ''Expanse''}}

=Fluff=

A gritty, cyberpunk Sci-fi future, focused on black ops and realpolitik through weeb lenses. Humanity discovered travel through deep space via gates/wormholes, resulting in the first [[Ariadna|disaster]] caused by [[Tohaa|mysterious forces]]. After an economic crisis and recovery, humanity reached out to about a dozen habitable systems with the help of a [[Aleph|caretaker AI]]. Humanity is still balkanized, but now it's not just by nation but also by corporate allegiances too. Just as Humanity was getting confident and [[Aleph]] was learning what it could do, suddenly they made contact with another alien culture who wants to annex humanity into their empire. The [[Combined Army]] wants to assimilate us or turn us into computer chips for its Evolved Intelligence. The Tohaa are being coy about what they want, but it will likely involve something similar. Military action is never overt, as diplomats maintain an appearance of civility while "rogue insurgents" are dealt with by "police actions" among the colonies. "Unsanctioned criminals" are eliminated with "unfortunately" too little evidence to identify them.

While the main powers of humanity fight a constant cold war, the interstellar Combined Army seeks to conquer and assimilate humanity's knowledge and technology.

==Infinity Factions and Sectorials==

The Great Powers in conflict are:
* '''PanOceania, the Hyperpower''': Leadership & Technology. Space-Sikhs and Crusader Knights
* '''Yu Jing, the Asian Power''': Modernity, Control, & Tradition.
* '''Haqqislam, the New Islam''': Wisdom & Bravery, and Islamic Ray-Guns.
* '''Ariadna, the Lost Colony''': Fucking Russians, Werewolves, the French, Drunk Scotsmen, and 'Murica!
* '''Nomads, the Nonconformists''': Rebellion & Resourcefulness.
* '''The Combined Army, the Alien Threat''': Power from Deep Space.
* '''Mercenaries''': The Profession of War.
* '''ALEPH''': An AI who watches over All.
* '''Tohaa, the Aliens''': the ally that you cannot trust.

Each faction generally sports one or more sectorial lists, which are a thematic variant of the entire army that change how many and what type of units you can deploy and allows certain troops to link with each other in Fireteams for more/better dakka.

===PanOceania===

[[Image:PanOceania.png|100px|left]] The result of an Australian/New Zealander/Filipino/Indonesian economic alliance buying out the US, EU and India's debts which they acquired when the first space colonisation programme failed and the markets went through another huge crash. They're the most high-tech human faction overall and have a lot of remote-control robots and mechs. They're easily the shootiest faction. The setting itself is in the midst of a both a second Cold War between PanOceania and Yu Jing (who are the two hyperpowers), and a more traditional war against the Combined Army. They are ultra-capitalists who've killed off most left-wing ideologies by worshipping the free market as the ultimate arbiter and the 'fairest' redistributor of wealth, with their democratic system now run directly by corporate/special interest Lobbies instead of traditional political parties. Oh, and they're also fanatical Christians who've allowed the Catholic Church (which re-unified all the Christian denominations and is a major Lobby itself) to have power-armoured knights as its own private military.

[[Infinity/N3_Tactics/PanOceania|PanOceania Tactics]]

*'''The Neo-Terran Capitaline Army''': The uber-elite high-tech security forces of the capital city of the PanOceania nation. They get better access to high-tech units and field Auxilias bonded with Aux-Bots as their line infantry, or field Australian Jarheads with a propensity for shotguns and bioimmunity, probably because of their Aussie heritage. Shoot things even more deader with high BS, ODD/TO Camo, heavy weapons, and MSV. It'll make your opponent cry. [[Infinity/N3_Tactics/Neoterran_Capitaline_Army|Tactics]]
*'''The Military Orders of the Papacy''': SPACE KNIGHTS. VERY CATHOLIC SPACE KNIGHTS. Thematically they're all based on the crusader orders of old and then some, except for the Knights Templar who like the real counterparts were wiped out for committing heresy, although in this case its related to breaking the "Don't make AIs" rule, by putting illegal AIs into everything that can hold a microchip. Tend toward elite armies. Looking better with the change to magister knights and Jean. As of N3, MO hasn't been as bad as it seemed on paper, the main surprise being that because they're all religious and have access to Impetuous or Frenzy etc, giving them extra orders provided said order is to move into CC and stab, which was the goal all along, they've done ok. Also Knight Linkteams, especially 3 Hospitallers, Joan 1.0 (The tanky version) and Hospitaller Father Officer Gabriel de Fersen, have proven to be a beast in terms of kill potential. [[Infinity/N3_Tactics/Military_Orders|Tactics]]
*'''The Shock Army of Acontecimento''': A provincial force based on the jungle planet of Acontecimento, not as tough as vanilla PanO but fields some interesting units including the yet to be released character TAG that functions like those Tachikomas from Ghost in the Shell. [[Infinity/N3_Tactics/Shock_Army_of_Acontecimento|Tactics]] - It's looking like they're taking a hit from the Combined Army during the 3rd offensive, and their models are going away for now. The faction will still be playable, Corvus Belli just can't support the SKUs for the time being.
*'''Varuna Immediate Reaction Division''': PanO's water world, and the current new shiny of the faction. The biggest interest piece in this faction are the new Helots: local aliens that have been recruited to support the local militia. Yu Jing is supporting a Helot uprising and arming rebels (including the Libertos Helot available to everyone but PanO). Apparently have Squalo Duo teams, which is obscene. [[Infinity/N3_Tactics/Varuna|Tactics]]

===Yu Jing===

[[Image:YuJing.png|100px|left]] The result of China embracing state capitalism, buying South Korea's, Japan's and pretty much the entirety of East and Southeast Asia's post-crash debts. China basically bought the country as a means of vindicating its colonial ambitions and treats the Japanese as second-class citizens. Other Asian countries soon joined the newly-formed "Greater China" and Yu Jing quickly became a hyperpower to match PanOceania. They have slightly less emphasis on remote-control drones and thermoptic camo but are as technologically advanced, just in a different way - they favour elite power-armoured infantry instead (though they also have a piloted mech or two), and have a bit more of an emphasis on close-quarters shooting. They were the first to restart their space programme and as such what little they lack in raw economic technologies versus PanO, they more than make up by having a shitload of land and people.

After Uprising they've become the Designated Bad Guys of the Human Sphere and are supposedly Evil(tm). This is a bit confusing because Yu Jing is supposedly tied deeply into the ALEPH infrastructure, takes recommendations from the AI about how to handle things, and is a multicultural superpower with deep intentions about what is best for everyone. Either ALEPH is confused about how to handle agents of alien civilizations trying to undermine its plans (Tohaa), Yu Jing's military Hawks are acting with emotion instead of logic (people in charge of the ground actions screwed up), or something is deeply wrong with the ISS (the secret police overstepped their authority). Corvus Belli hasn't given us any indications on that front yet, but maybe some new fluff will be released alongside the Invincible Army sectorial.

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Yu_Jing

*'''Japanese Sectorial Army (JSA)''': Pretty much a military division of Japanese Yu Jing citizens who are driven by the blatant stereotype of Japanese culture being obsessed with war and HONRAR. Very high tech and close quarters oriented to the point where they can break shooting stalemates by assaulting and relying on their better CC stats. Cheap access to Chain of Command means their lieutenants can be played extra aggressive. The tradeoff is that they aren't particularly strong at a distance and have only average specialists. But they have ninjas with stealth suits and monofilament katanas, power-armored samurais and the biker gangs from AKIRA so who cares?
**Note: Since April 2018, the JSA is now a force separated from Yu Jing, with its own nation (Japan) after a six months "Uprising" and two years of advance on the fluff. Notable changes are the reduction in the amount of ninjas and oniwaban you can deploy at once, the bike character becomes Celty from Durarara!!!!, the "ashigaru" heavy infantry Haramaki becomes the Tanko, and the Rayden evolved to the Ryuken-9 (Batou & Kusanagi based) unit. Plus Musashi is now integrated and Saito is trusted enough to capture objectives. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Japanese_Sectorial_Army

*'''Imperial Service''': Inquisitors, Police Special units with shady reputations at best, convict soldiers and Security Service Agents. Overall it plays similar to the Vanilla, tends to run lots of Hsien Lts for the added Heavy Weapons. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Imperial_Service

*'''Invincible Army''': All Heavy Infantry fighting forces (with some limited Zhanshi support) showing the full might of Yu Jing's armored might. Includes a pseudo-HI drop troop (1 wound, NWI, shock-immune) with Explode L:X. Drop on top of misplaced light infantry, scatter them, then go to town with your spitfire or boarding shotgun. Includes Yan Huo duos, Shang Ji core teams, and other blunt tools.

===Haqqislam===

[[Image:Haqqislam.png|100px|left]] Followers of a new branch of Islam that preaches tolerance and scientific enlightenment, based on the Islam of the Golden Age but with a divergence from the conservatism of the past in order to embrace more progressive, humanistic ideas. These aren't the burka- and turban-clad extremists from the ranks of ISIS, but could probably be described as something closer to the PKK in space. Otherwise, they're absolute masters of biotechnology and have a monopoly on a substance called [[Dune|Silk]] which allows for mind uploads/reincarnation, among other purposes. As such, they're financially secure and no one faction can really afford to take them out since they're officially neutral and sell the Silk to everyone who can buy. They have more of a reliance on light infantry than the first two factions, but this is compensated for by their more expensive troops having funky abilities thanks to bio-engineering and a lot of their infantry are religious fanatics which means their army stays on the table longer. They are also a shooty faction, but this is the norm rather than special.

*'''The Hassassin Bahram:''' Remember those Hassassins from the first Assassin's Creed? Them, but in SPACE! With genetically engineered supersoldiers backing them up, and shitty tribal guys. Very interesting force to play, one of the hardest sectorial lists for newcomers, capable of very nasty alpha-strikes but you can build them around a number of playstyles, they just excel at alpha-strike better than any other list at the moment.

*'''Qapu Khalqi:''' The "Men at the Gate," essentially an alliance between PMCs, large Haqq based corporations involved in the Silk trade, Pirates willing to go Privateer for the Haqqislam government, Corregidor mercenaries and the Security & Counter Terrorism Services of the Haqqislam Nation. Very competitive and somewhat demanding, QK can run 2 Linked Fireteams instead of 1 like other factions as well as field tons of Hafzas who let the Haqq player run a shell-game with their Lts making the assassination option difficult to play against a QK player.

*'''Ramah Task Force:''' The Royal forces. Includes the Maghariba Guard (arguably the best-looking TAG in the game), Tarik in a link for ''all of the crits''. Lots of elite light infantry that can punch above their weight, and options to bring the order count up around them.

[[Infinity/N3 Tactics/Haqqislam]]

===Nomads===

[[Image:Nomads.png|100px|left]]

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Nomads

Inhabitants of three huge spaceships that declared their independence from Earth in the early years of the relaunched space programme. They bunched together because it was that or be easy pickings for ALEPH and its PanO/YJ puppets (so they say). They're a collection of misfits, criminals and people with weird fetishes, and generally the last refuge of all the kooky stuff you could think of - basically, the Internet as a nation. They do bio-modification for fun, have all the best drugs and throw the best parties, and you can even buy sections of Bakunin where you can have the laws be anything you fancy (as long as they don't jeopardise the ship itself), so if you're really interested about making your army fit into the fluff you can do all sorts of fun stuff (I imagine there are communists and Nazis and every other extinct(?) ideology you can think of with a semi-autonomous module on Bakunin). They even have Anarcho-Feminists.

In terms of the actual game, they focus on being a pain in the ass to the opponent, with a good mix of TO, drones/mechs and elite medium infantry plus among the best supported hackers in the game. They feature excellent board control and specialists who can be where they need to be. Tend to be fragile as their primary workhorses tend to only have a single wound. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Nomads

*'''Jurisdictional Command of Corregidor:''' In Soviet Corregidor, union bust you! A former prison ship, full of African and South-American convicts turned space workmen and mercenaries. The more straightforward element of the Nomads, they are not without their tricks. They have as many airborne deployment options as some vanilla factions and some quality skirmishers. They even have access to cheap smoke for their beloved Intruders. JCC does lack some of the higher technology and hacking prowess of the vanilla faction, with even their TAGs are relative lightweights. To round out their forces JCC does hire the mercenaries Valeria Gromoz (hacker), McMurrough (werewolf, see Caledonia), and Senor Massacre (totally not Deadpool). https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Jurisdictional_Command_of_Corregidor

*'''Jurisdictional Command of Bakunin:''' Similar to the Corregidor sectorial there isn't too much of a big deal to Nomad sectorial lists, with generally more Camo and better hackers than Corregidor. They also have a strong MI section thanks the cult of the Obervance as well as two ''excellent'' HI choices. If you want to field an army of mutants, gene-modded furfags, weird cultists and literal feminazis this is the sectorial for you. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Jurisdictional_Command_of_Bakunin

*'''Tunguska Jurisdictional Command:''' The Russian Mafia money behind the Nomad Nation. Multiple mafia factions that are all vying for power, money, and status. There are hackers everywhere in the list, and repeaters galore. Their line infantry is BS12, WIP14, but doesn't have access to cheap missile launchers in the core link. They're brand new and have some weird combos and links (Securitate, Grenzers, Hollowmen, Kriza, and Interventators, and Zonds in overlapping configurations). Be prepared for something different with this list as people figure out how to play it. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Tunguska

===Ariadna===

[[Image:Ariadna.png|100px|left]] A nation formed by the descendants of the Russian (Kazak), French, British (Scottish) and American colonists who were on the aforementioned space colonisation programme. When they were sent through the wormhole to the planet Dawn (the discovery of which prompted the second space race and the first colonisation programme) they set up a base on Ariadna (an alternative name of the planet, named after their ship, and after which the faction is named). Unfortunately, when Earth tried to send a second ship through the wormhole the wormhole collapsed, causing the market crash on Earth and stranding the Ariadne on an inhospitable planet. They quickly antagonised the sentient, dog-like native Antipodes and ended up at war with them for the better part of a century while intermittently going to war with each other, since each nationality had decided to set up its own base to maximise survival chances. Eventually, with the whole colony on the brink of collapse the Russians/Kazaks (who are ultra-capitalists and other oligarchs which Putin likes to try to kill every now and again), who had about twice the population of every other colony, just declared themselves the planetary government and started flexing their military muscles to make sure everyone focused on fighting the natives instead of each other.

Eventually, the planet was rediscovered first by PanO then by YJ at which point everyone discovered that this odd metal the Ariadne had been using since they got there was actually something called '''Teseum''', which is harder than diamond yet easier to shape and is also the primary component in advanced building materials, so both of the hyperpowers rushed to exploit a technicality in interplanetary law by claiming that Ariadna only owned part of the planet and that the other 75% that didn't have any settlements on it belonged to the original nations that had financed the colonial mission (by now absorbed into PanO/YJ) and was up for grabs by anyone. They started paying corporations to land on Ariadna and claim ownership of the bits of the planet, which obviously pissed the Ariadne off (who had been abandoned and left to die by Earth, from their point of view); the ensuing Commercial Wars were fought by Ariadna on one side with training and weapons provided on the cheap by the Nomads (acting to protect their interests as a minor power by making sure the hyperpowers didn't establish a precedent of violating sovereignty) against the PanO- and YJ-backed and -equipped corporations on the other. Eventually, the Nomads/Haqq managed to ram a bill through the O-12 (the '''"Organisation of 12 Planets"''', basically the Space UN) that established Ariadna's sovereignty over the whole planet and recognised them as an independent nation.

Needless to say, this didn't exactly sit well with the Ariadna who now have a major grudge against PanO/YJ (though fabulously rich from the sale of teseum to them), but are bros for life with the Nomads and Haqqislam.

Gameplay-wise, Ariadna has cheap light infantry, little access heavy infantry, elite dudes that are really cheap, though more fragile, by the standards of the other factions, a shitload of troops with Camouflage (but no TO), and Infiltration. They (with one exception) also cannot be hacked because they're using early 21st century equipment in the 23rd century and generally work best as a guerrilla army, setting up traps before the game begins and dropping out of camo to take shots before hiding to go back into camo.

*'''Merovingian Rapid Response Force:''' Pretty much the French colonists have tactical doctrine that enables police, military and paramilitary units to operate in an integrated fashion in the event of an emergency. Quite a mobile force, it doesn't run as much camo as normal but brings some good elite light infantry with the Loup Garou link team. One of the most competitive Sectorials at the moment as short of hacking and Smoke+MSV2 it can do everything, they even have access to mercenary hackers and TAGs.

*'''Caledonian Highlander Army:''' Psychotic Scotsman. Practically a 40k army with most of their units having an unhealthy obsession with beating shit to death with claymores in a setting where guns are more than just practical. Runs a fair number of camo units, Cameronians (Werewolves that only fight in their fuck huge angry form), Wulvers (children of normal humans and Cameronians--arguably the better of the two as they can play as melee or elite shock troopers), infiltrators and some interesting regular units. Move forward, throw smoke, charge and shoot if you have LoS/survivors, this is a very simple army and splits between whether you want to charge forward really fast with berserker units that can smoke for cover or whether you infiltrate forward with semi-elite infantry, get the drop on them for easy kills and then charge forward like the berserker units do while using smoke for cover. Also home to the loathed 4X SASCRAP cheese, SAS elites that can just popup next to your opponent's units and kill anything that isn't a TAG, except times by 4. They can field the mercenary Tearlach McMurrough as in-faction when they want a Cameronian that can take down TAGs or Achilles.

*'''USAriadna Ranger Force (USARF):''' The US contingent of Ariadna, the USARF brings bikes, relatively armored troops, airborne deployment, flame throwers, Devil Dog teams, and a bit of the camo shell game. Their line troops are of a tougher build than most other order-monkeys, and the sectorials is almost entirely shock resistant. They even manage to bring a few troops with MSV 1 to deal with pesky camo markers. Not so much access to the truly horrific weapons of the Ariadna arsenal, they still have access to AP HMGs, Molotok's, and HRL to bring the pain. They can even bring a second fireteam. Playing them means playing a combination of USMC-esque assault gunnery, with sneaky-beaky infiltrating rangers slipping around and breaking necks in the opponents back lines. They offer Van Zant, a "He walks in from your table edge" infiltrator as their character-based source of pain, whos abilities, combined with the infiltrating 6th rangers, created a a move called the "Van Zant Tango". Additionally, they have Captain America in the form of the GenCon "The Unknown Ranger" model.

*'''Tartary Army Corps:''' Certainly the most Russian of the factions, way too much ambush camo and hard-ass light infantry than any of the other Ariadnans, and that's saying something!

===Combined Army===

[[Image:CA.png|100px|left]] What recently arrived in the Human Sphere is the very tip of the Combined Army's scouting forces and yet humanity is already losing badly against them, barely holding them back. They actually have one of the cooler backgrounds: [[Meme|ancient aliens]] called the Ur-Rationalists figured out that the heat death of the universe was eventually going to shit all over life so they built an AI that could figure out how they could be elevated to beings of pure energy and leave the material world behind. Unfortunately for them, that AI found the solution, promptly concluded that its creators weren't fit to receive that knowledge, then ascended itself.

The creators then decided to built a new AI, but this time, make it think like them so that it would obligatorily give them the secret to ascending to a higher plane. Unfortunately, the fact that it thinks like them is exactly what prevents the second AI from ever finding that secret, but the creators don't know that, and the irony inherent in the fact that they're on a total fool's quest is pretty hilarious - or would be if humanity weren't about to be flattened like pancakes unless they can close off the Human Sphere. Unable to find this secret, the AI concluded that what it needed was more computational power, and the easiest way to get that was to conquer new systems and turn them into computronium. Thus, the Evolved Intelligence began conquering the universe. Those species that would be good fighters (aggressive, loyal, survivalists) were included in the Combined Army; the species with mastery of science were told to build AIs of their own to work in parallel with the EI to increase the number of thought patterns that were working on solving the ascension problem; and the species that had absolutely nothing of worth to offer to the EI just had their solar systems deconstructed and turned into thinking matter to increase the EI's capacity.

Game-wise, the Combined Army is one of the most elite factions - high point cost per unit but decent stats and arguably the best equipment in the game. Don't expect to field more than 10-12 models in your average 300 pt. game, but what they lack in numbers they make up in being very good. Their technology is alien and does funky stuff like allow them to not die, or transfer their mind from one body to another if the original host dies, or shapeshift into enemy units, and their weapons include plasma guns that can either hit harder or damage enemy units in a blast area as well as the dreaded sepsitors, which project nanoviruses that can target cyberbrains and overwrite/destroy them.

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Combined_Army

*'''Morat Aggression Force (MAF):''' Pretty much all the SPESS MONKEES in the CA operating as an autonomous division. Close-quarters and very aggressive, not as melee based as the Caledonians but able to challenge them for the title. MAF is similar to the Steel Phalanx or JSA but with far fewer infiltrators, Camo or high-tech; they supplement this with hardy units and raw firepower. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Morat_Aggression_Force

*'''Shasvastii Expeditionary Force:''' The Shasvastii are basically creepy lurkers with some stealth and trickery. Loses in straight up battles with the aggressive lists (Hassassins, MAF, JSA, Caledonians and Steel Phalanx) but if you play these guys in straight up battles, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. Also by taking this list you can build a whole list of the Seed Soldiers which is something that Corvus Belli wants to happen, in the same way movies studios keep trying to make Jayden Smith happen. They are a very difficult list to build and play, relying heavily on misdirection, camouflage and surprise attacks. Occasionally sets entire islands on fire because it's "sneaky". https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Shasvastii_Expeditionary_Force

*'''Onyx Contact Force:''' A peculiar sectorial to be sure, it incorporates a lot of stuff from the main list like Morats, Sygmaa and Shasvastii, but allows for awesome link teams with Umbra Legates and Samaritans supported by battledroids (''Batroids'') in various sizes and firepower levels. Great for fielding awesome little death squads with great guns, special ammo and an Umbra close-combat hammer. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Onyx_Contact_Force

===Aleph===

[[Image:ALEPH.png|100px|left]] These are the very-much-[[Approved anime|''Ghost in the Shell'']]-inspired dudes who work for the Human Sphere's super-AI, which regulates the minute details of life in the entire Sphere. ALEPH runs the banks, the stock-markets, the Internet, the Circulars (special ships fitted with technology that allows them to pass through wormholes without causing them to collapse) and the infrastructure for pretty much everything, and basically controls the Human Sphere - the only thing is that it operates under mandate of the O-12 and there are safety protocols in place to (supposedly) prevent it from doing anything except run things efficiently. To get around this, ALEPH has its own special force made up entirely of post-human field agents supported by the most advanced drones you can make with human technology. <strike>I've not really looked at their army list, but from what I've heard they use a fair bit of retro-engineered alien tech and</strike> They are a very points-heavy faction like the CA, relying on expensive but well trained and high tech soldiers and with a heavy emphasis on drones, they also have blood-frenzied Greeks and excellent Hackers as well. Like most factions, the ALEPH fluff is deliberately ambivalent, the AI could either be our new overlord in the making or a true caring ally, time will tell. They were released with the first expansion book "Human Sphere."

*'''The Steel Phalanx:''' sometimes called the ''Assault SubSection'' or ''Homeridae,'' the great AI has basically created artificial vat grown human cyborgs and conditioned them to be inspired by the Odyssey and Iliad. Led by Hector and supported by Achilles (who is basically a TAG that is human sized) this is a very aggressive list with gnarly units. Losing units is quite painful but the Homeric units are pretty hard to kill and bring some serious pain when they get to hit back. The centerpiece for the army used to be Achilles who is the nastiest motherfucker on the table in spite of the nerfing he has received; the focus today is on Hector, who's just as tough as Achilles but trades the raw assault power for some leadership tricks as well as the ability to link with damn near any unit in the army list.

*'''OperationS:''' also known as ''OS'', ''OSS'' or ''Vedic'', these are the black ops counterpart that used to deal with hackers and rogue AIs but they have recently been deployed as a more traditional army to the planet Dawn to root out the combined army there, despite protests and armed opposition from Ariadna. Unlike the Steel Phalanx, operatives from the OSS are more like your typical terminators, they are made to be exact, to be infallible and to work undercover if needed. It is a very high tech force that leverages superior stats, gear and durability to win the day. Losing units is still quite painful but even the line infantry is deadly and can pull some serious weight, while the camouflaged units in OSS are some of the best in the game. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Operations_Subsection

===Tohaa===

[[Image:Tohaa.png|100px|left]]Finally, there are the '''Tohaa''' <s>which is the newest faction (JSA would like a word!) (OSS and TAK would like a word) </s> - ok, so they're kinda a 'core faction' now instead of something new/shiny. They are aliens with an obsession for the number 3, they have recently allied with humanity against the Combined Army, but can they be trusted? Humans aren't exactly a priority to them. We know that they use advanced bio-tech, viral weapons etc. They rely on units deployed in teams of 3, like the fire-teams of the other factions sectorials. Many of their units get symbiotic armor that protects AND enhances them but is vulnerable to fire. They were released with the second expansion book "Campaign Paradiso". <s>They are currently the only faction that doesn't have any sectorial armies, but</s> their main list is capable of fielding an unlimited number of their own unique Fireteam as a trade-off. With the Daedalus Falls book the main Tohaa force is cut off from the Human Sphere, and Tohaa gain their first sectorial (though it technically counts as an NA2 faction). https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Tohaa

*'''Spiral Corps:''' The secret society of the Tohaa bought a merc company in order to hide their actions. Now that the main Tohaa forces are cut off, they're trying to take control of the Human Sphere (or at least guide it from the shadows). More of a side-shift for Tohaa instead of a focus or improvement. They also get their first Impersonator, though it's a new skill called "inferior impersonation". Be prepared for it to jump out and attempt to isolate your lieutenant in its first order or two. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Spiral_Corps

===Mercenaries===

[[Image:Mercs.png|100px|left]]Somewhat overlooked and frequently forgotten about are the '''Mercenaries''': a mixed up faction, generally because they're not an official faction and they don't have an army list. Ordinarily Merc units are available to certain human factions, like say Tearlach McMurrough or Scarface & Cordelia being available to PanO and Ariadna. Mercenary lists are built by picking 3 factions and being able to use a small number of units from said faction, usually the meh ones. Also certain faction units are listed as mercenary which means that PanO can field Highlander Caterans (Irregular Ariadna bandit snipers), Kaplan Tactical Services (Haqqislam Combat Engineer PMCs) or Yuan Yuans (QK-affiliated drop trooper bandits). There is also a handful of pure mercenaries like Scarface & Cordelia and the Druze Shock Teams who can work in any mercenary company. All of this is to be treated as barely above theoretical because no one actually plays Mercenaries unless they happen to own a lot of models from multiple factions.
Note: Since April 2018, three Mercenary companies (the first shown on December 2017) sit in the NA2 (Non-Aligned Armies) section with the JSA (aside from the "Include Mercenaries" option when making an army list): the Druze ("we are bad people, we can be worst"), the Ikari (dislike Yu Jing, hate Japan) and StarCo ("good guys"), all have access to the Brawlers as basic and common infantry. In the end, they are mixes of other factions: the Druze are Haqquislam (specifically, Qapu Khalqi with some extra units), the Ikari Company is JSA with some Imperial Service and Haqquislam units, and StarCo (Corregidor gets Bakunin's Riot Grrrls!!! and some Ariadnan irregular troops with some characters and Marvel's Moon Knight).
*'''Druze Byram Security''': The military force of the biggest Mafia in the Human Sphere, and utterly brutal in their methods. Combines PanO and HaqqIslam units with the mercenary core. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Druze_Bayram_Security
*'''Ikari Company''': Combines PanO and Japanese Secessionist units. They're the bad guys and only care about money. Honor? Nope. Standards? Nope. Pay them for their services and point them at who you want dead.
*'''Starco''': The good guys. Mostly Nomads, with a bunch of special characters. The star (pun intended) of this force are the special heavy infantry links and Emily. Because someone with a high BS should get a link and be able to spec-fire both E/M and regular grenades into the mid-field. Obviously.
*'''Dahshat''': Haqq and Yu Jing units, with a random Dozer thrown in. Also has access to McMurder and Saito Togan for solid Merc support. They might live on Bourak, but they don't share Haqqislam's outlook on life. https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Infinity/N3_Tactics/Dahshat
*'''Foreign Company''': Aristeia! characters in their own Merc Corp and a custom link. Mixes PanO and Nomad units for all those people that don't want to fight the main-line antagonism between the two factions.

===Additional Sectorials===

The following sectorials either have models that fit with them, are rumoured or about to be released, or are still up in the air.

*'''PanO
**''Svalarheima:'' Scandinavians in space, mountain climbing abilities to be expected. Expect multispectral visors, linked Nisses or a linked team supporting the hardest TAG in the game - the Jotum. Likely will get released as part of a campaign pitting them against the Huang Di. Some hints that this is getting closer. Jotums Assemble!

*'''Yu Jing'''
**''Huang Di:'' the "White Banner," basically Tibetan guerrilla snipers, Guilang skirmishers, and linkable Shaolin monks with power weapons. They are a constant pain in the side to Svalarheima as both have laid claims to the planet they both inhabit.

*'''HaqqIslam
**''Gabqar Khanate:'' post-apocalyptic wasteland full of neo-Mongol bikers and Mad Max wannabes, may also feature a smattering of Kazak troops and assorted mercenaries. May have been rolled into Dashat, or may still be up int he air. Fewer opportunities for this to release given Corvus Belli's announced release schedule.

*'''Nomads'''
**''Black Hand:'' Nomad Spec-Ops and intelligence community, will probably be similar to the Onyx Contact Force for the Combined Army, taking units from other sectorials.

*'''Combined Army'''
**''EI/Ur sectorial:'' doesn't even have a cool name yet, but will allegedly allow linkable teams with EI aspects. Status: up in the air.
**''Sygmaa Trihedron:'' With the growing influence of the Trinomial and the Tohaa themselves being cut off, Corvus Belli could toss together the two existing models (Maakrep and Fraacta), a couple CA models, and some stuff from the Tohaa/Spiral Corps range for an alien NA2-equivalent. Just a dream at this point.

*'''NA2'''
**''White Company:'' Apparently different than Free Company of the White Star (StarCo). White Company is buddy buddy with Aleph, and may integrate some OSS units alongside 'nicer' mercenaries like KTS. Big enough to be mentioned as part of the "Big 6," but no other details just yet.

*'''O-12'''
**''Bureau Ageis:'' Rumors are flying about O-12 arriving on the field in full force with units pulled from across the Human Sphere. Coming in Operation Wildfire. Get Hyped.

=Hobby stuff=

'''Community'''
 
The biggest difference between Infinity and [[Warhammer 40K|certain other futuristic wargames]] can be boiled down to the outlook of the game's producers. Corvus Belli is refreshingly community focused, publishing its core rules online in the form of a wiki as well as an army builder that can be used for free on the web and as a downloadable app. Additionally, CB is very liberal with respects to forging relationships with third party suppliers for terrain and other items, though the advent of 3D printing might be a strain. They recently released a board game set in the same universe and it is surprisingly awesome, [[Aristeia]].

'''Cost'''
 
Like most tabletop miniature games, Infinity is not "cheap," but it's cheaper than a lot of games because of its small scale. Some of the large snazzy models such as the [[TAG| Tactical Armored Gear (TAG)]], can get quite pricey $ wise (around $40), but TAGs are about 100 points each in a system where 300 points is a large game. Each infantry model costs around $9-15, but some infantry models can be worth 40+ points depending on the model’s stats, weaponry and equipment. All factions and many sectorials have starter packs for ~$50 that have the models to play 150 point games (a good amount for beginner's to learn the rules).

One big downside Infinity has is the game is dependent on proxies to build a large army. There are models that have been in the army builder for years and have never been released as a model, and even some flavors of existing models that have never seen the light of day - meaning that Nomad Hellcat Paramedic you have in your list is going to have to be a proxy. Tying into this are that the Unit boxes the game has being rather terrible value depending on what you're looking for - a box may for example have a dude with a Combi Rifle, two special weapons and a hacker version, when all you want is the guy with the Combi Rifle - and you have three of them in your list. There are entire ''units'' that need a box purchase because they've never been released as Blisters at all.
Another cost factor is the amount of terrain required to make the most of Infinity's high-verticality system. While a table can be populated relatively cheaply using papercraft, a table of commercially made MDF terrain can cost upwards of $150. DIY terrain builders can get it done cheaper, but that requires another skill set and more time.

'''Scale'''
 
Infinity is a skirmish game about operators operating operationally, so each side consists of approximately 6-15 models. 150 points is standard for small games, 200 and 300 points are standard for tournaments, 400 points for large games. Battlefields are fairly terrain dense (terrain should be no more than 10” apart across the entire (4x4 or 4x6) battlefield. Since this is a sci-fi game, there are no unit coherency rules (radio is a marvelous invention). Models can freely climb buildings (if there is a second/third floor), snipe out of windows, flank the opponent, etc. The game follows a fairly strict "if you can see me, I can see you" policy on LoS, but only within the model's vision cone, which is a hemisphere around the model's front for most models.

'''Models & Sculpts'''
 
The models in Infinity are top-notch sculpts, highly detailed and heavily stylized, however age is catching up on some of the older models - compare an Aridana Line Kazak to a USAR Grunt for example. Everything has a sleek "iPod future" feel to it, to the point that Infinity is often accused of being [[Tau|anime.]] Infantry is broken down into three classifications, light, medium, and heavy infantry. There are two other minor categories for infantry, Warband and Skirmisher, but Warbands are basically medium/heavy infantry that like melee combat and assault tactics while Skirmishers are various kinds of specialized light infantry scouts with some extra options (mines, hacking or sniping etc) or less commonly expensive stealth experts. Unlike the familiar 40K and PP miniatures, infantry are sleek and slender, and rarely extend far from the base's footprint.

=Gameplay=
Units have their standard stats, such as movement (MOV), ballistic skill (BS), close combat (CC), wounds (W), armor (ARM), biotechnology shield (BTS) – aka armor against biological attacks, hacks, etc., will power (WIP), physique (PH) and they will be called upon to make tests throughout the game based on those stats.

There are really three main sticking points about Infinity that might throw new players, the first of which are actions. In most games, play is divided into phases where units do an action in each phase which are restricted depending on whose turn and what phase it is. This doesn't happen in Infinity - you instead have orders which most of your troopers generate and you can then distribute to whomever you want to perform in a given turn to do usually a combination of two things per order (basically, one full order equals two short orders but requires you to spend an order to activate at least one short order). So you can effectively activate one model 10 times in one turn and rampage around the entire table! Sounds completely broken, but it isn’t as bad as you think because for every action there is a reaction. However, whenever an action is declared, any model within Line of Sight (LoS) of the activated model may declare a response to or against him. For example: if you activate a model with a “move/shoot” command, the instant your model peeks around the corner to draw LoS to my model, then I may declare an Automatic Reaction Order (ARO). ARO is a short order response to enemy model(s). If someone walks around the corner with guns blazing, are you going to stand there and watch? I wouldn’t either. So when an opposing model shows up, you may fire back, dodge their fire, go prone, etc. Rambo is good, but he may not be good enough to withstand 10 shots fired back from my ambushing squad's ARO action! There are more complex counters to this in order to get around line of fire and ARO, but that's the basic premise and one that makes prospective players think twice about their actions.

Second is the profusion of states, tokens and markers. From the most basic prone and unconscious to burnt, immobilized, sepsitorized and unloaded, these states flavor a given game such that a basic plan is often insufficient. When your opponent can possess your TAGs, immobilize your heavy infantry, burn off your camo, isolate your lieutenant or sepsitorize your Rambo and use him against you, well, really drives home the emphasis on getting to understand how these things work and how they effect your guys. There are some models that can deploy in such a way as to misdirect you, either with holograms or by being concealed in Thermal-Optic Camouflage OR they can impersonate your own guys. What it all boils down to is ensuring that your guys can spot these things, which often requires a WIP roll before you can do anything.

To that end, the final point revolves around specialists: Infinity is, first and foremost, a game about objectives. Most of the time this means having one of your guys run up and grab some documents or a McGuffin or to kill or render unconscious a particular model or sabotage some terrain piece. ''This requires some careful consideration on your part!'' It isn't enough to have killed the most guys (although that helps) because if your opponent has accomplished their objective and you haven't - they still win! In order to achieve any victory in this game, you will need to construct lists and plans for them that can achieve an objective or prevent your opponent from achieving theirs - and then have a backup plan for that!

==Gameplay Basics==
When a unit activates, you are able to either give your model two “short” orders (either two short-move, or one short-move + one short-action) or one “long” order. Short-move actions are things like, move, climb, prone, etc., and short-actions can be things like “shoot, dodge, hack, etc”. Long orders are actions like: suppression fire, cautious movement, speculative (indirect) fire, etc.

'''Movement'''
 
Movement stat is broken down into two sets of numbers such as: 4-4, 4-2, 8-6, etc. First number means the distance in inches a model may move on its first move, and the second number is how far the model may move on its second “short” move. So a heavy infantry with a MOV stat of 4-2 is give an order of “move/move” may effectively move 4” then move again for another 2”, or “move/shoot” by moving 4” and firing their weapon at a target. Motorcycles are fast and can move 14” (8-6) a turn with a basic “move/move” order.

'''Shooting'''
 
Head-to-head rolls are about the only new feature here. Roll D20, if your result is less than your BS including modifiers (range, cover, etc.), then you hit your target, and the target must make a save. If target’s D20 roll + ARM/BTS stat is greater than your weapon strength then the armor stopped/deflected the bullet. Although getting hit by bullet(s) will sometimes cause GUTS rolls, by which a soldier may grow skittish and seek the nearest full cover.

'''Close Combat'''
 
Most miniature games seem to have a heavy emphasis on close combat. Infinity is a game about SHOOTING predominately, with CC being treated as a high risk-high reward option. Close Combat stats are usually a lot higher than Ballistic Skill and close combat specialists often have them beyond 20 (in effect they auto-hit and have a higher chance to crit). What's more, in Close Combat various optical disruption modifiers are not applied. A cheap warband of CC specialists (eg. Corregidor Jaguars) is often a good way to kill a non-CC focused heavy unit, like a TAG. Some factions (mainly JSA, Caledonians and Steel Phalanx) have a heavy CC focus, although it is still mostly treated as a secondary option to just shooting.

'''Cost Values'''
 
Units typically have two point cost values on their profiles - first, a tried-and-true points cost for selecting units that's largely tied to the models equipment and abilities. Second, the support weapon cost (or SWC) is technically tied to equipment and abilities, but is more of a limiting factor for certain things like heavy weapons, TAGs etc. Basically, it takes a lot of resources to get something like this out in the field and this is another way of reflecting that while also ensuring that players don't lazily spam powerful items making broken, cheesy lists.

== Gallery ==
<center><gallery>
Image:Inf_factions.jpg|The only comparison you need
Image:Icestorm.jpg|A show of the Two-player box, Operation Icestorm. Also, a perfectly normal small game.
Image:InfinityIguana.jpg|A Nomad Iguana TAG, made of win.
Image:Infinity-Tiger-Soldier.jpg|Yu-Jing Tiger Soldier.
Image:SaberJoan 4 view.jpg|And yet some delusional Britons still claim to be making "the best models in the industry".
</gallery></center>

==See Also==
* [https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Category:Infinity_Tactics Infinity Tactics page].
* [[Plast Craft Games]], who produce the licensed scenery for Infinity.
* [http://infinitythewiki.com/en/Main_Page Infinity The Wiki], the official rules wiki.

'''Fan Supplements:'''
* [https://rocketshipgames.com/infinity/recon+/ Recon+], an unofficial rules supplement for 150point games to smooth out potential balance problems with traditional ITS rules
* [https://forum.corvusbelli.com/threads/alternate-play-system-tacos-mk-ii.578/ TACOS Mk ii], an unofficial set of round-by-round objectives for less-serious play.

[[Category:Infinity]]
[[Category:Wargames]]
[[Category:Skirmish-Level Wargames]]

Imperial Knight

2019-10-17T08:52:22Z

2600:387:6:805:0:0:0:C3: Of course I’m adding bullshit to the page about a P2W mobile game, because it appears I am now, in fact, a living tumor.

{{Topquote|...who battled courageously during those times, some victorious, some not, but always in the name of chivalry.|The Five Star Stories}}
{{Topquote|There are acts of God you cannot fight; you see a hurricane coming, you have to get out of the way. But when you’re in a <s>Jaeger</s> Knight, you can fight the hurricane. You can win.|Jaeger Pilot Charlie Hunnam, from the movie Pacific Rim}}
[[File:Knight vs Trygon.jpg|350px|thumbnail|right|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSrcMaid0mg Hmm... does this look familiar to you?]]]
Somewhere between a regular walker and a [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]], the Imperial Knights are large single-pilot war machines, similar to the [[Tau]] [[Riptide#XV104 Riptide Battlesuit|Riptide]]. Usually humanoid, the cockpit for the pilot is mounted just behind the head in the main body.

In other words, they're a [[BattleTech|Battlemech.]]

They are really [[butthurt|a fairly fan-wanky insertion]] of [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Fantasy-style]] [[knight]]s into 40k, which, let's face it, is not exactly a setting devoid of knight analogues; but unlike [[Space Marines|the]] [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|others]], this one is much closer to the original source material: [[BattleTech|aristocratic dicks in high tech armor suits grinding the faces of the poor]] while being [[grimdark]] and all knightly and shit, including all of the [[Game of thrones|politics, incest and backstabbing]] that brings.

Funnily enough for such an in-universe niche unit, Imperial Knights (officially,'' Questor Imperialis'') are currently among the most popular models from the 40k range, if the top-seller list of Games Workshop is any indication ([[Space Marines|Hmm, what does that remind you of?]]). This is with good reason; their whole design and grimdark [[steampunk]] style catches the eyes, and surely a lot of people are buying it just because it looks ''that cool''. Also, for 150 Naggaroth Buckets you get a unit strong enough to be an army on its own, or it can join ''any'' Imperial force.

[https://youtu.be/ajP5q2HvycY In short they're big, baddass, chivalrous, stompy mechs. Really, what's not to love?]

==About the Knights==
[[File:Errant Detachment.jpg|thumb|right|EPIC Errant Knights. For when you want to cook your enemies really fast.]]
[[File:PaladinDetachment.jpg|thumb|right|Paladin Titans from EPIC times.]]
The knights are affiliated with, or in some cases part of, the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] (rather than being part of the greater Imperium's war machine). Knight Worlds are worlds which supply [[Forge World#Planet|Forge Worlds]] with foodstuff and raw materials, specifically those worlds 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 drop ship, occaisonally bringing new knight suits in exchange for the raw materials. Knight Worlds themselves are typically Feudal Worlds, which were easily brought into compliance during the Great Crusade, and which explains the rather aristocratic tone about the Knights. Knight World politics is fueled by the constant resource tithes and the possession of Knight Titans. Any kingdom that possesses a Knight Titan could absolutely smash a kingdom without one, so it behooves a kingdom to concede to being tithed in exchange for the (relatively) ultimate weapon. Once any given feudal kingdom has become a Knight Household, any Household that has more Knights is a huge threat, so getting more is always important. By the time that the escalation becomes preposterous these Households are already shipping knights off-world to cruise the stars and fighting things, so the extra-planetary losses constantly need to be replenished, lest the Households lose their on-world detachments to off-world conflicts. All that said, Knight Worlds tend to exist rather happily alongside their Forge World; Mechanicus get a defensive buffer and food forever, and the Knight Households get to continue ruling their chunks of the planet. Or all of the planet, depending on how far you can stretch a feudal society.

During the [[Epic]] days Knights were a complete fabrication by the Adeptus Mechanicus, supplied as battle fleets where the Imperial armies are in need of them, much like a Titan Legion is. Knights were a gimmick, given to Feudal Worlds that the Mechanicum settled near in exchange for getting shipments of food, manpower, and raw materials. This simplistic lore is [[retcon|no longer the case]]; apparently the original Knight Worlds were not the Mechanicus' idea. The Knights themselves are [[STC]] relics, dating before even the Dark Age of Technology. In a shocking twist, not only does the Knight STC appear to be relatively intact, the Knight itself seems easy to produce for any given Forge World; a rare case of the AdMech not shitting themselves. When Games Workshop released the new "heroic scale" Knight models, they also released new Knight fluff with them. The first Knights were actually colonists, arriving on new worlds during Humanity's first expansion into the galaxy at large. With no way of returning to Terra once they arrived, and long periods with no outside help, those original human colonies needed to be self-sufficient and the Knight suits were sent along with them, made for fighting against the [[Xenos|myriad threats]] [[Chaos|to their existence]]. Additionally, it turns out that giant stompy robots could also be re-purposed for peaceful uses: cutting down trees with their chainswords, blasting apart boulders with their main weapons, or using the sheer size of their bodies as cranes, lifts, earth-movers, and various other construction equipment. As a byproduct of the Throne Mechanicum bonding processes (see below), the Knights' pilots soon came to see themselves as protectors of their people. In the cases where these heavily-armed frontier colonies were never slated for further colonization, suffered a society-collapsing event as they grew, or otherwise remained isolated, Knight Titans were given the opportunity to become the industrial and military backbone of many of these worlds.

During the Age of Strife, when humanity at large lost it's ability to travel the Warp and everything generally went to shit, these planets were guaranteed to be alone and afraid, fighting for their survival against everything they already had to fight, plus all of the weirdness that comes with BIG FUCKOFF WARP STORMS. The proto-Knight-World colonies (fully-grown at this point) regressed from large-scale industrial societies into what are functionally feudal worlds with a sprinkling of techno-barbarianism. Why did this happen? Well, there are a number of possibilites: fear and panic over the lack of outside contact could have sparked apocalyptic military conflicts or nuclear wars, the whole "robot uprising" thing that was also happening during the Age of Strife could have resulted in a rejection of automation, or the entire would could have been slowly ground down to the barest essentials of living by millennia of constant conflict; take your pick! The Knights themselves eventually formed noble households as time went on, or else noble households formed around the knights, due mostly to the fact that only a large-scale organized society with military force can properly maintain a giant stompy robot. By the time of the Great Crusade (more importantly, by the time of the first Mechanicum Explorator Fleets ''during'' the Great Crusade), almost all of the remaining Knight Worlds had dwindled to feudalism over the course of the Age of Strife, and in many cases the survivors were living threadbare on dying worlds, in great need of new raw materials or the expertise required to maintain the suits. This situation was ripe for exploitation, and some clever bastard in the Mechanicum got the great idea of using these worlds as combination Agri-World, Mining World, and military training ground. Several Forge Worlds and lesser Mechanicum worlds were established intentionally within Knight World systems due to the easy symbiosis. It is assumed that any Knight Worlds which were not in need of assistance (or whom the Great Crusade found before an Explorator Fleet) sided with the Imperium at large, as opposed to becoming vassals of the Mechanicum.

As a side note, in a hilarious turn of events, in this new lore these feudal Knight Worlds leveraged their ritualization and xenophobia to purge witches and deviant thought, and therefore psychic influence, from their worlds entirely. This created pockets of relative calm in the hellish storms of un-reality that they floated in, and thus they were saved from the worst of the warpy shit, allowing them to survive into M31 and the Age of the Imperium. This is even more ironic when you consider that in the Dark Age of Technology, they were considered to be little more than a couple of backwater colonies that were never taken seriously by the rest of mankind. Now the hillbillys descendants get to lord over the conscripted masses (in theory).

Knight Houses make a tradition of sending their Knights on glorious quests across the stars, which mostly involves going where the Imperium/Mechanicum tells them to, and shooting/punching everything dead once they get there. Knight Houses make a tradition of basically everything, but more on that later. These quests, which one can only assume are fulfilled by the Imperial Navy or Explorator Fleets (and *not* just jumping really high, as some fa/tg/uys suggest), must be chocked-full of silly fish-out-of-water scenes as the Knights must putter around the cargo holds of ships, interacting with Guardsmen, slaves, and Imperial navymen. Knights absolutely love going on quests, because *not* going on quests means staying home and doing rituals and ceremonies. The day-to-day lives and operations of Knight Households, and the noble caste that supports them on-world, are so regimented by ceremony that the Knights themselves *fucking hate it*. Eating, sleeping, social interaction, prayer, bathing (when it infrequently occurs), walking down hallways, looking at art, and probably *breathing* are so highly ritualized that it makes Japanese tea ceremonies look like a practice rehearsal of a theatrical production put on by a class of 3rd graders. You have actual, named, 64-part ceremonies described as happening *daily* in the Mechanicus codex, and those are only one of probably three-hundred-thousand common-to-esoteric ceremonies that could be required to properly perform a given action, formally acknowledge a nobleman's change in standing or status, or even to honor a specific year, month, week, or hour of the fucking day. And Emperor save you if you fuck any of it up.

===The Throne Mechanicum===
A Knight's Machine Spirit is of a particularly unusual type: to interface with the suit, an aspiring noble must first join with the Throne Mechanicum (the Knight's control system) in a ritual known as the Rite of Becoming. Due to a quirk in the bonding process, the device retains an imprint of each of its former pilots' personalities at the time they were first bonded, and as a result individual suits may develop traits echoing those of their former masters. The link also affects the noble's own mind as well; exposure to the metaphorical (or possibly literal, since there's been at least one case where a Throne Mechanicum took over operating the Knight when its noble was slain by using the memories of its old operators) ghosts in the machine inevitably causes the noble to develop strong positive feelings towards the concepts of fealty and hierarchy along with a near-mystical reverence toward the noble's ancestors. [[Phoenix Lord|This idea isn't very original]]. Nobody knows why this is, but the Mechanicus thinks it may have been a failsafe in the original plans meant to ensure that no Knight would willingly betray or abandon his own House. Either way, this benefits the Mechanicus rather neatly.

This kind of "ghost in the machine" presence exists for true [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Imperial Titans]] as well, though in their case the machine spirit is more of an AI/second ego, and storing past Princeps' personas is something that happens, but the Mechanicus try to avoid/scrub out. Go see the Titan page for a more in-depth comparison.

===Houses===
There are three types of knight household, though a fourth association does exist.
*Those who align themselves with the Imperium directly are called Imperial Houses, and act as independently operating vassals of a greater empire (much like [[Space Marine Chapter]]s 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 its [[Mary Sue|courage and honor]] as well as [[Codex Astartes|rigidly adhering to ritual and ceremony]]. Supposedly its homeworld of Voltoris is so [[Macragge|peaceful and boring]] and the aforementioned rituals so tedious that it only encourages them to campaign across the galaxy, thanks to a law that allows them to be exempt from said rituals as long as they're crusading. (Their colour scheme is [[Ultramarines|blue]].) Has developed an intense grudge against the [[Tau]] after they tried to invade Voltoris.
**'''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 for their efforts against the [[Eldar]] of Alaitoc, and are linked by proximity to the Blood Angels. (Their colour scheme is 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 [[Tyranid]]s. Based on the [[Caliban|mutant infested forest world]] of Riasa, they engage on mutant hunts every year, with the [[A Song of Ice and Fire|winner getting to rule the house]] until the next hunt. (Their colour scheme is [[Dark_Angels|green]]).
**'''House Griffith''' - A house of [[Salamanders|hotheads]] who almost exclusively make use of the Knight Errant pattern and come from a planet once inhabited by ''actual dragons''. They are also one of the [[Salamanders|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 [[Rip and Tear|close combat]]. They are also the favorite house of [[Duncan Rhodes|our lord and savior]].
**'''House Mortan''' - A house only recently introduced to the Imperium [[Wat|after being cut off by a nebula which made their planet a night world]]. For thousands of years they fought giant monsters in the dark until the nebula dissipated in M35 and the Imperium arrived.
**'''House Drakkus''' - Featured in the mobile game 'Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade'. Known for being dead, and for having a rather fetching jade-green colour scheme.
**'''House Vyridion''' - A Heresy-era House. Brought into the fold by Fulgrim, House Vyridion neglected to do their research when the Heresy started and took the side of the III Legion. After a few battles, however, they began to get doubts and headed for Terra, surrendering themselves to find the truth. They were then imprisoned for their crimes and nearly starved to death before being freed... to serve in the Webway. It's not known how many of them are alive or if they even have an intact walker any more, but their Baroness did make a vital contribution in briefly KO'ing the Daemon of the First Murder.

*Other households are directly aligned to the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] and are based on ''(or linked to)'' Forge Worlds through what is called the "Sidon Protocol". Though they retain their independence from the Cult Mechanicus, they do have reciprocal trade and resupply agreements as well as swearing oaths of protection to the Mechanicum, often directly to specific Forge Worlds. Houses directly linked to the Mechanicus will have access to better weapons and technology than their more primitive cousins. Which isn't surprising because Techpreists tend to be [[Blood_Ravens|greedy buggers.]] Examples of Mechanicum Houses include:
**'''House Taranis''' - The ''First'' of all Knight Houses (read ''Mechanicum'' by [[Graham McNeill]]). They were founded on [[Mars]] during the [[Dark Age of Technology]], and were later the first Martians who met the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]] before the [[Great Crusade]]. This house has ownership of some of the oldest knight suits. For some reason, their Knights' Throne Mechanicum units lack the typical mind-altering effects that they would normally possess; nobody knows why. One reason could be that the pilots of House Taranis are loyal to the mechanicus first, and house second. Or Mars is hoarding good shit again.
**'''House Raven''' - The largest of all Knight Households, based on the world of Kolossi and have close links to forge world [[Heavy mythril|Metalica]]. Suspected to hold secret [[Standard Template Construct|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 par with the Fang and the Imperial Palace, and appears on their coat of arms.
**'''House Krast''' - The first Knight World (Chrysis) to be rediscovered during the Great Crusade, its proximity to Mars meant it was swiftly brought into the fold, but had its homeworld ravaged by [[Horus]] during the [[Horus Heresy|Heresy]], leaving them the only Household left on the planet. They have a preference for hunting traitor titans since the Warmaster's forces on Chrysis were led by the Traitor Titan Legion, Legio Mortis.
**'''House Vulker''' - A very wealthy but deeply mysterious house from a star system with vast mineral resources, they never expose any flesh and wear golden masks to cover their faces. Their close links to the Mechanicum are evident in the golden servitors they share between worlds, and their courts being filled with tech priests... Not that outsiders ever get to see inside their courts.

*A few knightly households do not have any degree of independence at all, but instead being subservient to the Titan Legions which they march together into war. These Titanicus Vassal Houses serve as scouts and skirmishers, outflanking and harassing the enemy forces occupying the objectives as well as protecting the Titans from hidden threats. Their knights have a much higher attrition rate than normal, and their machines are not treated with reverence as with other knightly households. On the other hand, they have access to the most advanced patterns of knights.
**'''House Coldshroud''' - House Coldshroud serves as vassal to the Legio Gryphonicus, and they drawn their pilots from particular families on planets in the Octad, the region surrounding Gryphonne IV.
**'''House Morbidia''' - Because of some severe crime they committed in the past, House Morbidia of Mars was stripped of its position in the Mechanicum and forced into servitude. When Legio Mortis rose up against the Imperium under Fabricator-General Kelbor-Hal's call, they successfully sway House Morbidia with the promise of freedom.
**'''House Perdaxia''' - Like House Morbidia, House Pedaxia serve the Titans--in this case the Legio Fureans--as atonement for some past crime. They were fanatically loyal to Legio Fureans, and become traitor alongside their masters
**'''House Vi''' - House Vi are unique in that they retain a degree of independence, even having their own homeworld, Procon. Many of the Legio Solaria's Princepts and Moderati which they serve under are actually daughters of House Vi being given as an offering to the Mechanicum (read Chris Wraight's ''Titandeath''), while other pilots are these women's descendants.

*Sometimes individual Knights detach themselves from Noble Houses entirely. Having been dishonoured, shunned, having fucked off themselves, or otherwise made unable to continue life within the Household, they become Freeblades and ply the stars alone (dragging their large pool of retainers along to maintain the suit, naturally). These knights break out to either quest across the Imperium or settle down outside of the ritual of their Household and protect the citizens of whichever worlds they end up on.
**'''Amaranthine''' - Never ever speaks or leaves his suit. [[Inquisitor]]s 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 [[Vampire|blood sucking mutant]]. Is very prone to collateral damage.
**'''Living Litany''' - A grey, black, and orange Knight Gallant who constantly voxes droning sermons in High Gothic, only changing into loud chants when fighting. He was always a bit bonkers, and in retrospect his fall to becoming the [[Chaos Knight|Dreadblade]] '''Litany of Destruction''' was predictable.
**'''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 [[Necromancer|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 run & 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 Crusade|Damocles campaign]] along with House Terryn on the planet Agrellan. - Has his own rules in Warzone: Damocles making him an absolute WS/BS 6 [[Awesome|badass]] who hates [[Tau]] with a passion.
**'''Mydos Almighty''' - Hails from a world that was done in by the greed of its upper class, which it fled to actually fight. Rather hypocritically, this Knight is entirely bedecked in fucking GOLD.
**'''Retribution Incarnate''' - A hero of the [[Macharian Crusade]]s, believed to be the last member of an established household.
**'''White Warden''' - The last man standing for House Degallio from the planet of [[Lawful Stupid|Alaric Prime]] ''(same as Gerantius)'', and subsequently made the scapegoat for the planet's losses against the Red WAAAGH!. Known for his cracking mustache and his willingness to stand up for ridiculous laws. Has recently fought alongside the Salamanders in the defense of Nocturne on several occasions.
**'''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 McNeill. [[Samus|Turns out to be a girl.]]
**'''Domeenito Ohashi''' - Imperial Knight who got stuck on a primitive world under attack by the Orks. [[Awesome|In spite of being sworn to go back to his world of origin, he decides to go freeblade and fights back the greenskins becoming a hero to the population until receiving Imperial Guard reinforcement. since then he has wandered across the galaxy helping the Imperium to crush all kind of xenos raiders in the hopes of getting back home eventually.]]
**'''Dyros Kamata ''The Scorched Knight''''' - A Knight whose rider apparently severed all ties with his house and burned off all his livery by walking into a volcano. He eventually learned that his dad was a corrupt prick, so he killed the old man before going off again. Was later killed by Ork bombardment.
**'''Sir Hekhtur'''- A Freeblade from Randoryn Alpha and the last loyal member of House Cereban, he was enslaved for a time by the [[Iron Warriors]] but escaped being corrupted with the rest of his captured household when his Knight Preceptor ''Canis Rex'' broke free of its confinement and blasted its way to its pilot under the influence of its machine spirit. He now fights to free any other Imperial citizens enslaved by Chaos as he was, earning him the epithet of "The Chainbreaker". Appears as the first true named character for the Imperial Knights. Like [[Antaro Chronus]], Sir Hekhtur can keep fighting even if his Knight is taken down thanks to his trusty archaeotech pistol.
**'''Kalena Maxus, The Stormwalker'''- A Dominus Knight Castellan, she was order by the High King of Kamdor to leave when it became clear they would be overrun. Her orders were to remember the fallen servants of the Emperor and exact bloody revenge. She now hunts the outer reaches of the [[Great Rift]].
**'''Manifest Vengeance''' An Armiger Knight Warglaive who is a [[space Wolves|renowned tracker]], also looks like a [[Harlequin]].

===Sacristans===
Unlike the much larger [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan legions]], most Imperial Knight Households do '''NOT''' retain [[Techpriest]]s of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] to maintain and repair the Knight suits (though deeply-bonded 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 during the 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. It is assumed/alluded to that Sacristans have a cadre of serfs and underlings whom also follow ''them'' around, all of whom form the cadre of attendants for a single Knight.

Unbeknownst ''(or immaterial)'' to the Imperial Households, these Sacristans '''ARE''' inducted into the Machine Cult in a similar fashion to the [[Techmarines]] of the [[Adeptus Astartes]], having been trained either off-world 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 while living amongst the Knight Households. Sacristans may be historically connected to whomever maintained the Knights during the Age of Strife, making Sacristans even more inspired by ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' than the Mechanicum itself already is.

===[[Chaos Knight|Chaos and Renegade Knights]]===
[[File:Screenshot_181.jpg|350px|thumbnail|right|Like an Imperial Knight, but spiky and evil.]]
Though they are rare, there are a number of Knight Households or lone Freeblade Knights who have fallen to [[Chaos]]. Most infamous of all is the [[Slaanesh]] Hellknights of House Devine, who turned during the [[Horus Heresy]] due to [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Targaryen]]-esque amounts of twincest. That said, Renegade and Chaos Knights are hunted down by Loyalist Households, who view their existence as shaming all other Knights. The "board game" Imperial Knight: Renegade shows one such hunt.

For those who survive, these Renegade Knights (''Questor Traitoris'') can find employment and protection within the warbands of [[Chaos Space Marines]], or find themselves on the heretical end of a [[Daemons|warp incursion]] that puts their skills and equipment to "good" use. Of course, being a massive war machine, Chaos Knights may find themselves converted into massive [[Daemon Engines]] called Daemon Knights. The only real distinction between Renegade and Chaos Knight is that Chaos Knights actually worship Chaos and can become Daemon Knights, whereas Renegade Knights can simply be disowned and mercenary Freeblades who don't always side with for the Imperium or humanity at large. The distinction is often irrelevant during the decision-making process of whether or not Imperial forces intend to kill them (though "kill for the honor of the House" and "kill the fucking traitor with ''extreme prejudice''" aren't exactly the same state of mind for the ones doing the killing itself).

They can be divided roughly into three groups similarly to their Loyalist cousins:

*'''Iconoclast Houses''', whose monstrous oaths to the Dark Gods have turned them into twisted mockeries of their former selves;
*'''Infernal Houses''', pledged to the [[Dark Mechanicus]] in exchange for unnatural power;
*'''Dreadblades''', fallen Freeblades who work for whoever can point them in the direction of someone to kill.

==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. 6th edition introduced two 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. Forge World later joined in with several of its own varieties of Knights, 7th edition introduced three other types (the Crusader, Gallant, and Warden) to the main 40k line, and 8th edition added four more (the Castellan, Valiant, Warglaive, and Helverin). WARNING: Followeing article contains a fuckton of sex jokes about Strength D and such things.

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 Knight's usual role is anti-infantry or anti-light vehicle freeing up the Titans to attack superheavies.

Interestingly, each Knight Pattern can be seen as a miniaturised Titan, Armigers are Warhounds; Questorus and Cerastus Knights are Reavers; and Dominus and Acastus Knights are Warlords.

===Armiger Knight Patterns===
Babys first knight. The smallest Knight class shown to date (roughly the size of a [[Dreadknight]], Grey Knight converters take note), Armigers are piloted by aspiring nobles, lowborn commoners with a knack for war, and the occasional bastard child of the High King. Due to their smaller size and lighter weight, Armigers are far faster and more agile than their larger brothers, which helps them hunt and fight at the flanks of their larger cousins. Basically, they are to larger knights what warhounds are to warlords - they serve as fast support to neutralize threats to the larger engine, while also helping in combat maneuvers. They are given the nickname of '''Baby Knights''', '''Mini-Knights''', '''Moe Knights''', '''Knight Jr''', '''The Wee Baby Brother of the Bunch''' or '''Mini-Me''' [[Dwarf|''for a very good reason'']]. Instead of a full Throne Mechanicum, they use a simpler set of implants dubbed the Helm Mechanicum that can be slaved to a larger Knight's commands- akin to the connection between a knight and his squire.

Strangely, while they can take both a Meltagun or Heavy Stubber as carapace options, they can't take a missile pod like their larger cousins. [[Derp|This is despite the fact that Dreadnoughts, which are smaller, have such an option in both]] [[Havoc Launcher|spiky]] and [[Missile_Launcher#Cyclone_Missile_Launcher|loyal]] flavors.

Tl;dr, they're for when a scion of the Imperium wants to play mecha like the [[Tau|blueberries]] without it literally [[Dreadnought|taking an arm and a leg]] to do so.

====Armiger Knight Warglaive====
[[File:40kForgebane-Forgebane-Armiger.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Armiger Warglaive]]
Armiger Warglaives sprint into pace because they have to. Their weapon loadouts dictates that a fast and swift firststrike always gets the job done. It levels a lance-like beam of superheated directed energy from its Thermal Spear that can reduce a rockcrete bunker wall to a pool of bubbling lava. Those met by the ensuring charge are struck with an expert sweep of the Armiger's Reaper Chain-cleaver, a saw-toothed weapon that mangles metal and gnaws flesh to ruin with each shuddering impact.

Warglaives are equipped with Thermal Spears, Reaper Chain-Cleavers, and a heavy stubber or a melta gun. Sadly it has lost the ability to move and shoot heavy weapons without penalty, but you don't really care about that, because your main weapon is Assault and no one actually uses the pop-gun. Use them if you want to have the firepower of a Knight without wasting a bucket load in points, but watch out for hordes.

Its more [[Dakka|shooty and ranged]] brother is the Armiger Helverin. Thus, the Warglaive is better situated in going up against CQC monsters that would have made mince meat out of the more fragile Knights.
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====Armiger Knight Helverin====
[[File:ArmigerHelverins.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Armiger Helverin]]
The shootier Armiger, armed with a pair of Armiger Autocannons. The Armiger Helverin is a fast-moving weapons platform designed to lay down blistering hails of heavy fire while running rings around the enemy’s forces. In place of the close-ranged armaments of the Warglaive, each Helverin aforementioned pair of Armiger-class autocannons are capable of firing hundreds of armor-piercing shells per minute, even a single such weapon can swiftly whittle down infantry ranks or shred armored vehicles.

As such, Armiger Helverins are versatile and highly destructive for something its size in contrast to the similarly sized yet underpowered and vulnerable [[Sentinel|Sentinels]], small wonder that they are popular amongst both Imperial and Adeptus Mechanicus Noble houses who traditionally relied upon the Helverins' support for their larger compatriots at war. These machines just work wonders.

Despite initial fears that the Helverin would be almost be twice the height, twice the cost, yet only half as shooty as an old-fashioned rifleman dreadnought, these little gun walkers have turned out to pack a surprising punch, with 4d3 shots strength 7 each at a ridiculous 60 inches. Did I mention that each shot deals 3 damage?
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====Armiger Knight Moirax====
[[File:Volkitedhk7g.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Armiger Moirax]]

Fitted with a potent reactor core capable of powering the most destructive weaponry available to its class, the Knight Moirax war a formidable tool in the arsenal Questoris Households loyal to the Mechanicum. However, this energy core was notorious for radioactive instability, and so the Moirax chassis was considered to be an unseemly instrument with which to lay the foundations of the Imperium, seeing minimal use on human-occupied worlds before the darkest hours of the Horus Heresy. - lore from the instruction manual inside the forgeworld kit box

Previewed on Warhammer Community. An Armiger armed with a [[Volkite]] Veuglaire and a Gyges siege claw (likely a scaled down Hekaton Siege Claw, like how the Reaper Chain-Cleaver is to the Reaper Chainsword) with an in-built rad-cleanser (basically a 9" flamer that wounds any non-vehicles and non-titans on a 2+). You can replace them with any combination of the following: Lightning Locks, Graviton Pulsars and Moirax [[Conversion Beamer]] Cannons. It also has no penalty on firing heavy weapons after moving and can perform an heroic intervetion on TITANIC units of the same household.

For protection it used an Ionic Flare Field, which differed from the standard Ion Shield in its radius but at the cost of protection. It could also be equipped with an experimental Construct Shield, which is like the $2 store version of the much more impressive [[Void shield|Void Shields]]. Usually, the Construct Shield was frequently employed by the Magi of the Ordo Katastrophica to ensure their temperamental [[Legio Cybernetica|automata]] survive in battle long enough for them to gather vital operating data. But it seems that they manage to fit it on the Knight Moirax as well.
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===Questoris Knight Patterns===
The vanilla Knights that are found on pretty much every Agri World with Knights stationed.

====Questoris Knight Paladin====
[[File:Knight Paladin.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Questoris Knight Paladin]]
One of the most vanillas of vanillas when it comes to Knight patterns. Standing nine meters tall, the Knight Paladin represents a perfect balance of speed, firepower and armor, allowing it to undertake a wide variety of roles in battle. Nobles who have the honor of piloting a Knight Paladin take great pride in their ability to carry out a variety of tasks on the battlefield.

The Knight Paladin's all-terrain capability means it can move more quickly through terrain which would be hazardous to traditional wheeled or tracked vehicles and reposition itself to engage the enemy as needed.

The first knight to appear in regular 40k, along with the Errant, the Knight Paladin is armed with a Rapid-Fire Battle Cannon with an attached Heavy Stubber and another mounted on their chest/clavicle. Like all non-Forge World Knights, it can take either an Ironstorm Missile Pod (think Whirlwind minus Ordnance), a Heavy 3 Krak missile launcher, or a pair of Icarus autocannons (I.e. actual anti-aircraft weapons) as carapace weapons to supplement their firepower, can also replace the heavy stubber with a meltagun for extra anti-armor usefulness and can replace its Reaper Chainsword with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet.
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====Questoris Knight Errant====
[[File:Knight Errant.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Questoris Knight Errant]]
One of the most vanillas of vanillas when it comes to Knight patterns. The Knight Errant are similar to their Paladin brothers, however their pilots are often far more aggressive with a penchant to ignore the whole "Chivalry in SPEHSS!" theme and go straight into [[RIP AND TEAR]]. This would make them a bit more unhinged in following direct orders and would lead to susceptible [[Khorne]] corruption if not for their absolute stubbornness in [[/tg/ gets shit done|getting shit done.]]

Nevertheless, when the going gets tough, [[/d/|they ''really'' like to get in deep and dirty.]] In the heat of battle, almost nothing can stop a rampaging Knight Errant save for a complementary bombardment of anti-tank weapons and the occasional blast of a Titan weapon.

The tank hunter of the Questoris, the Knight Errant is armed with a Thermal Cannon, a Heavy d6 36" S9 Melta weapon. Like the Paladin, it can take either an Ironstorm Missile Pod (think Whirlwind minus Ordnance), a Heavy 3 Krak missile launcher, or a pair of Icarus autocannons (I.e. actual anti-aircraft weapons) as carapace weapons to supplement their firepower, can also replace the heavy stubber with a meltagun for extra anti-armor usefulness and can replace its Reaper Chainsword with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet. Fun fact: In ye olde Epic days, the Errant carried a [[Power weapon#Power Fist|power fist]], from which the Thunderstrike Gauntlet probably draws inspiration.
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====Questoris Knight Crusader====
[[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTCRUSADER360.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Questoris Knight Crusader]]
Carrying more firepower than a tank squadron, the Imperial Knight Crusader strides into battle with the confidence two main guns will give you. The Knight Crusader is one of the heaviest of the Questoris Knights by virtue of carrying all that damned ammunition. Capable of smashing holes in even the hardiest defense line, the Knight Crusader offers support to its close-range brethren, standing further back and unleashing scathing torrents of firepower to obliterate threats and terrify the enemy.

The first purely ranged Knight, it has the same Battle Cannon as the Knight Paladin (which it can replace with the Thermal Cannon for tankbusting) but replaces its close combat weapon with an Avenger Gatling Cannon, which can unleash 12 S6 AP3 Rending shots per turn. You know, for when you need that squad of MEQs wiped out right now and they aren't clustered close enough for the Battle Cannon alone to kill them all.

As an added bonus, the Gatling cannon comes with a built-in heavy flamer to compensate for its relative weakness at close range. (The key word is "relative". It can still Stomp, after all, and thanks to Smash it's still shitting out S10AP2 with normal cc attacks. It just can't give anyone the D.) Thus, you have a walker that can [[Bullshit|cover both long and close distances with relative ease]] and making it pretty much impervious to most infantry charges.
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====Questoris Knight Gallant====
[[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTGALLANT360.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Questoris Knight Gallant]]
Designed to smash apart enemies at close range, very few enemies can withstand the initial assault of the Knight Gallant. The ground shakes as the Knight Gallant stomps forward, offering its puny opponent a chance to duel in a completely <s>unfair and one-sided</s> fair and absolutely honorable fight. A Knight Gallant will slam into enemy lines like a giant sumo wrestler, and come out of the other side unscathed. This in itself would make for a hilarious vision of a giant mech bumrushing anything smaller than it like an overzealous Kool Aid-Man.

A noble designated to pilot a Knight Gallant will learn the three basic although pretty simple and straightforward tenets when he is bonded with his war machine. Though they may subtly differ, the three basic tenants are to trust in your Ion Shield, make all speed towards the foe, and strike swift and sure.

The purely choppy counterpart to the Knight Crusader, the Gallant eschews its arm-mounted ranged weapons for a Reaper Chainsword and the Thunderstrike Gauntlet (described below) making it an absolute beast in close combat but of dubious use if it can't close in for the kill. Carapace weapons can mitigate this slightly, but it'll still struggle against shooty foes if it can't get into melee.
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====Questoris Knight Warden====
[[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTWARDEN360.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Questoris Knight Warden]]
As befitting of its name, this Knight looks after a swarm of enemies like a prison warden controlling a crowd of rowdy mobs and criminals. Carrying itself into the thick of the action with heavy, thudding steps, and protected by both thick adamantine armor and an Ion Shield, the Knight Warden is perfectly equipped to deal with foes who attempt to use weight of numbers to their advantage.

The anti-horde option, by default the Warden comes with the Crusader's Gatling Cannon and a heavy flamer on top of the obligatory heavy stubber and Reaper Chainsword, but it can replace the sword with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet. Due to this, the Warden is notable for absolutely tearing tarpit heavy armies in one round, sometimes an entire tarpit formation bends over on the ''first attack''.

At first glance, the gauntlet doesn't look like much of an improvement due to the gauntlet giving a -1 hit penalty; however, if the fist ever kills a MC or vehicle the Warden can then throw whatever it killed at someone else. In game terms, this translates to an out-of-phase shooting attack that deals D3 Mortal Wounds serving as an unpleasant surprise for careless opponents.
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====Questoris Knight Magaera====
[[File:Knight Magaera.jpg|thumb|250px|left|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. Magaera type Knights are most often used as shock assault units, breaching the most heavily defended enemy positions, while shrugging off heavy weapons fire and [[Bullshit|self-repairing even devastating weapon strikes in a few minutes of Dark Age level of Bullshit.]] It is noted to be favoured by Houses that are especially closely allied to the Mechanicus and share their hatred for flesh; Houses which are outright enslaved don't get a say in the matter.

It was specially made by the Mechanicus to curry favor with Knight Houses (or to control them, depending on who you ask, seriously look at that headpiece), and it shows in the unique wargear options it gets. For a start, it has Blessed Autosimulacrum (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 a phased plasma fusil and 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.
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====Questoris Knight Styrix====
[[File:Knight_Styrix.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Questoris Knight Styrix]]
Yes, Forge World is releasing another pattern of Knight, and it's another short and fat Questoris chassis with Blessed Autosimulacrum. However, unlike most machines, the Styrix maybe one of the few that the AdMech continuously tries to avoid and even chuck out of the metaphorical window if given the chance. It is basically the bad omen of Imperial Knight patterns.

There is a good reason why it is viewed with caution. The Styrix house a machine spirit which some say became too accustomed to slaughter during the Age of Strife and the Great Crusade that followed it. Many conservative Knight Houses consider the Styrix to be a malevolent pattern, the wanton destruction it unleashes being beneath a true Knightly Knight with Knightly chivalry and values.

Other Households hold no such reservations, letting loose entire formations of Styrix Knights to annihilate their foes. This one packs a [[Volkite Weaponry#Volkite Chieorovile|Volkite Chieorovile]] and a [[Graviton weapons|Graviton Imploder]], and shares the Magaera's option of upgrading its Reaper chainsword to a Hekaton Siege Claw with complimentary Rad Cleanser. Seriously, it is a miracle that the AdMech did not sanction these machines as techno-heresy when its machine spirit is borderline [[Dreadclaw]] worthy.
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====Questoris Knight Preceptor====
[[File:Sir hektor and canis rex.jpg|250px|thumbnail|left|Questoris Knight Preceptor]]
Like the Errant, Warden, and Paladin, the Knight Preceptor is armed with a Reaper Chainsword that it can replace with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet as a melee weapon, but differentiates itself from the more common Questoris variants by its Las-Impulsor. Essentially a laser shotgun in its function, the Las-Impulsor is effective against infantry and vehicles alike depending on its firing mode. However, unlike conventional Knights, the Preceptor is like the Big Boss or the Master Wushu of Knights who are often the more grizzled and commanding of these warmachines.

Knight Preceptors are commonly piloted by arms-masters and other senior members of a House, and are such, largely responsible for the training of young squires to pilot Knights in the future as well as strengthen their mental fortitude for the Ritual of Becoming. Consequently they are also able to both inspire and coordinate any Armiger-class Knights accompanying them with remarkable skill as well as recruit, train and mentally prepare the Bondsmen for their initiation into the Armigers.

By far the most famous Knight Preceptor and Pilot is the aforementioned Sir Hektur and Canis Rex, otherwise known as the Chainbreaker. What has been said about this Braveheart in Space has already been explained enough. On a side note, although you can't really tell, but Canis Rex has a little compartment for Hektur to ride in, it is a pretty neat contraption.
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===Cerastus Knight Patterns===
Bigger than the vanilla Knights, these absolute units bring Mars Pattern Hard Cheddar to the battlefield with exotic weapon systems.
====Cerastus Knight Acheron====
[[File:Knight_Arheron.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Cerastus Knight Acheron]]
Another Forge World model, tall and lanky like all the other Cerastus pattern models. Acheron pattern Knights were configured as rapid moving strike units who rose to prominence during the legendary battles of the Great Crusade, but whose most terrible renown was to be found on the battlefields of the Horus Heresy. They are employed as weapons of extermination and to inspire fear in their foes. Nothing will sway their attack until the enemy is utterly crushed, never to rise again from the flame-scoured ruins of their strongholds. Rare, even in those ancient times for the singular difficulties of their construction, the Cerastus Knight-Acherons were amongst the most dreaded of their age.

The Acherons’ machine spirits were regarded as [[World Eaters|particularly lusting for wanton destruction]] and only the strongest scion-minds could master them via the Throne Mechanicum, especially during the tumult of open battle. Has a Flame Cannon to make those Heretics extra crispy, and a [[Chainsword#Chainfist|chainfist]] (with built in twin-linked [[Bolter#Heavy Bolter|heavy bolter]]) that lets it reroll 1s on the Destroyer damage table against vehicles. Now you can give your opponent the D while also fisting them.

Again, like the Styrix, it is one of those Knight patterns that is pretty damned close to being full blown literal [[Khornate Knights]] that stops just short of being declared as techno-heresy by the AdMech.
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====Cerastus Knight Atrapos====
[[File:99560108146_MechanicumCerastusKnightAtrapos01.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Cerastus Knight Atrapos]]
One of the rarest and most potent types of Knights, the Cerastus Knight-Atrapos was created solely to destroy heretek engines and xenos war machines whose very nature and existence were considered a blasphemy to the Omnissiah. The machine spirits of the Knight Atrapos are said to carry with them a cold and all-destroying hunger, and for the scion who bonds with them, madness is a constant risk.

With the speed and shielding of the Cerastus chassis, and the Knight Atrapos’ Macro-extinction Targeting Protocols, the Cerastus Knight-Atrapos was an uncommonly destructive weapon of war that would have been God-tier if it was scaled up to an Emperor Titan.

It comes with the same Blessed Autosimulacra and flare shields the Questoris Knights have and also has a special rule that makes all his weapons twin-linked, if it is firing at a Super-heavy or Gargantuan Creature. All of his weapons are very close ranged but they are a big fuck off to armour and thanks to the swiftness of the cerastus knights he should be in range soon. It is armed with an Atrapos lascutter, a D weapon that can be used both in close combat and as a 8" shooting attack, and a Graviton singularity cannon ([[Awesome|yep, it shoots black holes]]), a 36", S8, Ap2, large blast weapon with Armorbane and the Collapsing Singularity rule. This means that before firing the weapon you roll a D6; on a 1 the knight loses one HP (but the attack is still carried out as long as the knight survives), and on a 6 the attack gains Vortex.
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====Cerastus Knight Castigator====
[[File:Knight Castigator.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Cerastus Knight Castigator]]
A Forge World event model, and another close-combat variant. They accomplish this with a hail of rounds from their Castigator Bolt Cannon. The Castigator is also equipped with a Tempest Warblade that can easily destroy enemy vehicles including even fellow Knights. With these weapons, the Castigator can metaphorically [[Anal circumference|shove its giant warblade up the rear armor of any vehicle.]]

While fluff states that it is used to handle and take down hordes of lesser foes that could overwhelm other patterns of Knight through sheer numbers, in actuality there are other Knight variants more suited for horde cleansing such as the Porphyrion or Crusader who actually have more weapons suited into turning blobs of infantry into minced meat. Hence, it can be argued that the Castigator should be used as more on the lines as both crowd control and vehicle destroyer.

Uses a big fuck-off sword (which is "only" S10, but has the same Deflagrate rule as the [[Volkite Weaponry|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]].
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====Cerastus Knight Lancer====
[[File:Lancer-trans.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Cerastus Knight Lancer]]
One of the more uncommon but highly valued Knights fielded by Knight Houses, the Knight Lancer is a first-strike weapon, attuned to rapid assault tactics and lethal flanking maneuvers. It is renowned for its speed and power, as well as for the temperamental and restive nature of its machine-spirit. Because of this reputation, the most impetuous and glory-hungry of the Knight households are driven to bond with these war machines, their own souls a match for the fury caged within their war engines.

The close assault variant of Knight, much taller and faster than the Paladin & Errant by virtue of longer legs. It is ''far'' more specialized than the Paladin or Errant 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-weapon|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|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 and don't have the Icarus autocannons), the amount of shots it fires making it second only to the [[Forgefiend]] in terms of emergency AA. It's also excellent against TEQs! And, with its concussive plasma shots, this thing is actually capable of countering a Wraithknight; even if you don't knock it down to initiative 1, you will be hitting at the same time on the charge.
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===Dominus Knight Patterns===
Do you want to have a [[Warlord Battle Titan]] without selling your kidney? Do you want to play with these titanic behemoths without risking being punched in the face by your friends (and spending several million dollars on superglue)? Then we got the perfect answer for you! You could play Adeptus Titanicus, ''or'', you could get a Dominus. Dominus Knights are basically dwarf [[Warlord Titan|Warlord Titans]] for all intents and purposes.

====Dominus Knight Castellan====
[[File:KnightCastellan.jpg|thumb|232px|left|Dominus Knight Castellan]]

It is the foremost artillery platform within the lances of the knightly houses, the Castellan hammers the enemy at extreme range from the moment the fight begins. Manned by a high-ranking Noble Lord, the Castellan is more akin to a mobile fortress than standard Knight. Thanks to its twin plasma cores, it is can be equipped with a wide array of heavy weaponry which can be explained more below.

Due to being powered by two plasma cores, the Catellan has become an especially shooty pattern of Knight. It is armed with a plasma decimator on one arm to blast apart heavy infantry, a volcano lance on the other for blowing vehicles to pieces, two twin-linked meltaguns mounted near the head, and three hardpoints for siegebreaker cannons and shieldbreaker missiles on its back. Seriously, this thing is decked out in so much guns it can make Orks blush in envy. Knight Porphyrion, it's time to step up your game.

One can't help but wonder how it is possible for one pilot to operate all those guns... Not like GW or battletech for that matter cares, of course. Turns out the Carapace Weapons are automated.
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====Dominus Knight Valiant====
[[File:KnightValiant.jpg|thumb|232px|left|Dominus Knight Valiant]]
The Knight Valiant defeats its enemies through the simple principle of applying overwhelming firepower at close proximity. The Hellhound of the Knight Dominus in contrast to the Castellan's Leman Russ Executioner profile. With its Ion shields, this Knight can march relatively harmlessly in order for the enemy to get in range with its two [[/d/|large and meaty weapons.]]

Yes, the Valiant is armed with a giant harpoon. Yes, you will be contractually obligated to yell '''"Get over here!"''' when you hit something with it. While the Thundercoil Harpoon's range is only 12", it hits with S16 AP-6 for 10 damage (plus d3 more mortal wounds)- more than enough to destroy most tanks in one hit and knocking down most superheavies down a damage bracket (and kill Primarchs). There's also that triple-barreled giant flame called the Conflagration Cannon that hits like three heavy flamers for S7 AP-2 2 D apiece, but who cares when you have a giant harpoon?

On a side note, notice how the top-most barrel of the Flamer is <s>useless, [[Derp|as it doesn't]] [[Fail|have a pilot-light]]</s> {{Blam}} {{Blam|dependent on the two massive gouts of fire from the flamers directly beneath it to light its stream of promethium, thus displaying the [[Skub|usual efficiency and elegant design characteristic of the Adeptus Mechanicus]] in their holy service to the Imperium.}}
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===Acastus Knight Patterns===
The Domini are big for sure, but these chonkers are as large as it gets without getting into Titan/Ultra Heavy Tank territory.
====Acastus Knight Porphyrion====
[[File:99560108172_AcastusKnightPorphyrion01.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Acastus Knight Porphyrion]]
Among the largest of Knight chassis's and by far the bulkiest one yet. When this beast was first revealed, almost everyone and ''I mean almost'' '''EVERYONE''' thought it was going to be a new class of Titan, seriously...I mean this thing is so big it is literally the size of a [[Warhound Scout Titan]] for Emprah's sake. As such, it is one of the most heavily armed and armored of all the Knight chassis in service.

While it has no melee weaponry of its own, it packs a pair of twin-linked magna-lascannons- which are Ordnance 2 Large Blast lascannons which become Strength D when fired at a range of 12" or less, making it an ideal superheavy-killer. It also comes with a built-in Ironstorm missile launcher (that can be replaced with Helios defense missiles for anti-air purposes) and a pair of autocannons that can be swapped out for rad-cleansers or lascannons. Essentially, it is by far the most [[Dakka|Dakkaest]] of Forge World Knights and as aforementioned; one so big we were all fooled into believing that Games Workshop was actually releasing a new Titan.

Since the release of the Dominus, the Acastus has lost its title of Dakka-knight, with only 6 barrels of Hell compared to the smaller Dominus' 8-12, but still holds its own as a pretty potent Titan-killer in a game of Apocalypse since it has two superheavy-busting weapons instead of only one.
{{clear}}

====Acastus Knight Asterius====
[[File:KnightAsterion.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Acastus Knight Asterius]]

Continuing the trend of the 50s Atom Punk design of the AdMech. This is another Acastus Knight, this time equipped with two twin-linked Conversion Beam Cannons, two Volkite Culverins, and a Karacnos Mortar Battery capable of unleashing radioactive death from afar. Because of the cost and rarity of the weapons they were lugging around as well as the cost of the Knight itself, these big boys were already rare even in the age of the [[Horus Heresy]] with the Asterius patterns being even more scarce than Porphyrions.

Like its counterpart, these were the big boys of the Knight Houses. These mighty behemoths were armed to annihilate enemy armour and hordes of infantry, so it's not surprising that this thing is the quintessential MEQ, TEQ and GEQ pesticide. The carapace hid the aforementioned Karacnos mortar battery, [[Rape|yes, the same weapon found on the]] [[Karacnos Assault Tank]]. Essentially, the Asterius deals with [[Tarpit|hordes and tarpits]] whilst the Porphyrion deals with the more armored meatboys like superheavy tanks, titans and fellow knights.

On tabletop in Horus Heresy, the Titan wannabe over here comes in packing with 8 Hull Points, heavy AP values and a 4+ Ion Shield save. Its front, side rear armor is 14, 13 and 12 respectively meaning that it can readily walk fast and close enough to unleash its beams of death. With its Initiative 3, WS 4 and BS 5 it may not be hitting that much, but its Strength of 10 means that when it hits, it hits '''''hard'''''. However, it only has Attack 3 which is to be expected for a knight like this.

What everyone is interested of course, is its weapons. The Asterius Conversion Beam Cannon is a pretty nasty weapon with a [[Rape|42-72″ rangeband hitting at S10 AP1, 7″ Massive Blast at its max range. The Sunder rule lets it reroll failed armor penetration rolls, while Wrecker is +1 on the damage tables for fortifications.]] [[Anal circumference|Basically, it can make entire tank fleets bend over in pain.]] While its power is reduced somewhat at close range (losing Sunder and downgrading to Large Blast at ranges of less than 42", and losing Wrecker and going down to a regular Blast at ranges below 18"), it is still a force to be reckoned with even when not at full strength.

There is also the aforementioned Karacnos battery, which handles similarly to the Assault Tank variant. A 60" S5, AP4, Heavy, Barage weapon with Blast of 3". It also continues having the Fleshbane rule that always wounds models on a 2+ and Rad-phage with it’s Toughness -1 for the rest of the game if the unit survive. Not to mention that as an artillery weapon, it ignores cover.

With these weapons, you get the feeling that even the two Volkite Culverins are nothing more than window dressing while they would be a great horde killer on anything else. Also the face looks a bit ridiculous even by Warhammer standards.

{{clear}}

==Times of Epic==
Back in the times of ''Epic Warhammer 40,000'', the Knights we know and love looked and acted very differently than they do now:

{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em;"
|-
| align=right| [[File:Lancer Command.jpg|150px|thumbnail|centre|Commander type Lancer. They all go really fast.]] || '''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 Forge World Knight kit.
|-
| align=right| [[File:CrusaderDetachment.jpg|250px|thumbnail|center|When you need to kill something hard, roll out the Crusaders.]] || '''Crusader:''' Slower, yet sturdier and more powerful, Crusaders are armed with heavy weapons that are usually found on [[Warlord Battle Titan|Warlord]] or [[Emperor Battle Titan|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.
|-
| align=right| [[File:CastellanDetachment.jpg|150px|thumbnail|centre|Castellans. Knight level of [[Dakka]].]] || '''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.
|-
| align=right| [[File:KnightBaron.jpg|150px|thumbnail|center|When a Baron enters the battlefield, [[AWESOME]] ensues.]] || '''Baron:''' The biggest, baddest of all the Knights. Baron Knights are piloted by the deadliest members of a Knight House. Each Baron is actually built from the very basics as an ace-custom for its pilots, combining the power and speed to keep pace with Lancers with armor nearly as tough as a Crusader! Typically armed with Battle Cannons and the Lancer's Power Lance, the Barons lead their kinsmen to war and victory.
|-
| align=right| [[File:KnightWarden.jpg|150px|thumbnail|center|Old people are actually as deadly as younglings.]] || '''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 Knights are Awesome ==
[[File:Knight Errant of Freeblade Garantius.jpg|450px|thumbnail|left|Knight Errant of Freeblade Gerantius. The Forgotten Knight. Closest you get to the [[The Green Knight|Green]] [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Knight]].]]
Imperial Knight lore is some of the coolest stuff in 40k. True to both the medieval tradition and epic feel that 40k thrives from, Knights protect the Agri Worlds that the Mechanicus use to supply (and predominantly feed) their incredibly ravenous [[Forge World#Planet|forge worlds]]. These Knight steeds are easier to produce by far than even the humble [[Warhound Scout 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 Bretonnia, from [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Kings and Queens, Arthurian legend, stone brick castles and skullcapped peasantry abound; fields and forests extend to every horizon without end. Remember, [[grimdark|it's much, much more important to obey societal doctrine than to optimize food output]].

Imagine what someone from that world would think when they see an Imperial Knight. 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 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 forty-first 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, on a war that will never matter on the strategic scale but still must be fought for that is what their protector, the Master of Mankind, demands and requires.

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==
[[File:IKErrant battle.jpg|450px|thumbnail|right|THOU SHALL NOT PASS BY A KNIGHT OF HOUSE TERRYN!! HAVE AT THEE [[Tau|BLUEBERRIES]]!!!.]]

Imperial Knights became a Codex in 6th edition. With the ability to be a Household detachment of 3-6 knights or an allied detachment of 1-3 knights, Knights may ally with [[Chaos]], [[Daemon]]s, [[Necron]]s and [[Tyranid|'Nids]] as Come the Apocalypse, [[Dark Eldar]], [[Tau]] and [[Orks]] as Desperate Allies; [[Eldar]] as Allies of Convenience; and all of the Imperium Faction as Battle Brothers (Yes, even [[Grey Knights]]).

'''Note:''' Imperial Knights are only Vehicles, only scoring if they're your primary. But let's face it you're always playing Purge the Alien anyway, even when it's not. The GW Imperial Knights are not Lords of War for other Imperial armies (the FW ones, however, can fit there), they are an army unto themselves. If you're playing 3-6 as a primary detachment, pick one as your Warlord; he gets relics and +1 WS/BS

Lets do the numbers:
*'''1000 pts''' - You can have up to 2 models to fit the points cost. Sadly this means no Primary Detachment or even formations in low point games as everything has a bare 3-knight minimum requirement. You could run 3 Gallants, and have 75 points left for other options/upgrades, but it's not even remotely competitive, even as the formation.
*'''1250 pts''' - Up to three models this time, making it the first points level you can play with your Primary detachment. With the new codex and a slew of upgrades, depending on what you choose, you can fill out the remaining 100 points with either upgrades to the knights themselves, or take one of the more expensive knights (like the Crusader).
*'''1500 pts''' - Perfect if you plan on only taking Paladins, taking Errants will nab you some extra points to upgrade those stubbers into melta guns (or take a gauntlet for every 2 Errants). At this points cost you can field 4 of these Knights. If you want to field any other types, especially the formations, you're gonna have to start dropping knights, or take a few Gallants to free up the points.
*'''1750pts''' - Now possibly the new sweet spot for Knights. With around 250 extra points to play around with, you can either afford to bring in some Crusaders to pack more damage, upgrade every knight with a carapace weapon, or take 3 Gallants (the cheapest Knights) to bring 5 knights in a 1750 game.
*'''1850pts''' - Similar to above, but now you can field 5 Knights without having 3 or 4 of them be Gallants while still having a decent amount of points to play around with. Note that 5 bare naked Errants cost exactly the same amount, so if you're confident in your melta-spam, this works too.
*'''2000pts''' - Now with upgrades, this has also become a sweet spot for people looking to field the Exalted Court or Baronial Court. With roughly 150 extra points to play with, you can either grant each of your knights one of the relics, or start upgrading them with extra weapons and other whistles. Alternatively, you can field up to 6 bare-bones Gallants at this point, which is just enough to take two Gallant Lance Formations (although this is not wise, it is recommended, if only to see the horror in your opponent's face when 6 knights basically leap across the table to charge him).
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 USD for an entire army of only 6 models, you sir are the envy of many neckbeards and [[Ork#Flash Gits|clearly have more dollars 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 may not be laughing quite as hard with the new 7th edition codex, but may giggle a little as the carapace mounted AC isn't too scary (unless you have five knights all with that weapon...but then your opponent may laugh for different reasons). The Warden/Crusaders gatling cannon can do some credible anti-flyer work and may be your best bet. Regardless, it remains a valid tactic to continue to 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.

Second Note: FW have made their own version of an all-knight list, which actually has Knights fitting into a modified force org chart.

==Warhammer 40,000 Freeblade==
Yet another exercise in wasted potential, Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade is a [[Awesome|badass looking third person Imperial Knights game]] [[Skub|for iOS and Android]]. You can play it on Windows 10 now!

The plot's simple; you're a newly initiated knight of House Drakkus and your bonding ritual only just finishes when Chaos Space Marines dedicated to Khorne show up and fuck shit up. You end up being the last knight of House Drakkus and you get rescued by the Dark Angels who take you on a merry adventure of fucking [[Orks]] and [[Chaos]] up. Fun fact: canonically, your Freeblade takes the name of "Vortigan". You're welcome.

[[Fall of the Eldar|OH NO]]. Turns out that it is a free2play nightmare, with forced 30 second video ads and amazing amounts of not so subtle hints that you should really be buying their shitty supply drop 'loot crates' and a mind boggling array of other detritus.
You know you have a pile of exploitative and badly written shit on your hands when upon clicking on said loot crate, a [[Dark Angels|derpy marine]] with cybernetic implants and a voice like a talking vibrator pops up and proclaims he "Can scarce imagine what glorious spoils lie within- let us find out!" Bleargh.

The icing on the cake is unlocking new chapters in the story, which require playing variants of story missions (okay) to grinding pointless, barely randomized low-level “patrols” (kill us now). That doesn’t sound bad at first... but you can only do three “patrols” at once with a two hour cool down. If you’re a schmuck and gave them money, you get... up to five. Later chapters require up to 50 “patrols” being done, at which point, you should be playing an actual game.

Its only saving grace is the paint and customise your own knight section, which is kind of fun! One can then take take pictures of said pimped out knight and then promptly uninstall. New update! You can use the ''absolutely pointless'' AR mode to pretend you have actual money to buy an actual Titan!

It's somewhat decent for a mobile game, which only goes to show the [[Fail|pitiful state]] of [[Derp|mobile “gaming”]].

[[Extra Heresy|The paid-for Slaneesh Knight skin has Khorne markings on certain high-end wargear pieces too (probably done on purpose to troll Khornates).]]

Recommended to play on Facebook gameroom if you have it. No ads, MUCH easier play, and the integrity system has been revamped. Also, due to how things work, bring a melta gun, and gatling cannon to Multiplayer. Always will win. This strategy will actually help you get loot mega quick. Play against noobs and [[Profit|rack up the valor tokens until you get the best multiplayer gear which can also be used in campaign]]. This tactic specifically is the most efficient because multiplayer doesn’t damage your Knight as you continue to play, and this method can quickly get you to an ideal ranking. If you reach this ideal ranking, the daily valor token amount will give you enough to buy at least one crate per day (keeping this quota requires you play MP at least once a day). When the season is over, you’ll get an even bigger sum of tokens which you can use to get lots of crates. Basically if you do this right, you’re almost guaranteed to get high quality gear before the season is over. Rinse and repeat. The three super weapons that will be described below can be obtained in these valor crates. Upon getting any or all of these, they will be your go-to weapons from now on.

However, there are 3 super weapons in the game that are hyped up by the in-game offers (which, of course, means money): the Graviton Gun (light), Gauntlet (melee), and Lightning Cannon (heavy). The Graviton gun is a gravity based weapon that’s every bit as deadly as the fluff describes it. It has the dakka of the stubber and tank-busting potential of the melta, making this the perfect weapon against anything short of the melee bosses. The Lightning Cannon has the same anti-tank abilities as the other heavy weapons, but can effortlessly score [[Awesome|multikills and combos thanks to the chain effects of the lightning. It also sounds epic.]] The gauntlet is just a better chainsword which can display lightning or lightning claws. What makes this weapon so great is that while its hit margin is slightly smaller than the chainsword, hitting within the gauntlet’s margin AT ALL [[Cheese|guarantees critical damage on every hit, on top of it already dealing more damage than a chainsword.]]
These weapons individually are game changers. Needless to say, each weapon is a jack of all trades, master of all. If you’re lucky enough to get all 3 of them [[FAIL|(or greedy, if you paid money for them)]], you will be unstoppable. You will be so powerful that the game will actually get [[FAIL|BORING, since everything is easy now.]]

[[Fail|Unfortunately]], there is a bug that causes the game to ‘forget’ your progress and revert your progress to a previous point in time, [[RAGE|removing all the progress you had previously made]].

==See Also==
*[[Chaos Knight]]
*[[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)]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Questoris Knight Crusade (30k)]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Knights(8E)]]

{{Mechanicus}}
{{40k-Imperial-Vehicles}}
{{Imperium}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}

[[Category:Video Games]]

Lord of Skulls

2019-10-17T08:39:00Z

2600:387:6:805:0:0:0:C3: Undo revision 607024 by 58.162.223.230 (talk) nice maymay ecks dee

Lord of Skulls

2019-10-17T08:04:36Z

2600:387:6:805:0:0:0:C3: Undo revision 607005 by Taufag (talk)

Lord of Skulls

2019-10-17T07:18:22Z

2600:387:6:805:0:0:0:C3: Undo revision 606920 by 58.162.223.230 (talk)