Warhammer 40,000/10th Edition Tactics/Chaos Knights
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This is the current 10th Edition's Chaos Knights tactics. 9th Edition Tactics are here.
Why Play Chaos Knights
Pros
- The universal Toughness bump on tanks and monsters means that your knights no longer have to worry about stray meltaguns laying low your knights.
- That said, it's now more incentive for the enemy to bring in lascannons en masse.
- A lot of things rely on Battleshock and unlike last edition, it's actually reliable on a ton of things.
Cons
- Seeing as your Armigers are only OC 8 and your Questoris Knights OC 10, you're going to need to wipe off a few models from a battleline squad or inflict Battle-Shock on them before you can claim something from the enemy.
- Damaging your bigger knights badly enough sees even this called into doubt.
- Your Invulnerable saves only work on guns, not on anyone going up to punch your giant mechs.
Faction Rules
- Harbingers of Dread: Like last edition, this gives you ever-intensifying debuff bubbles on your knights. However, unlike last edition's massive chart, this is considerably simplified.
- On turn 1 onwards, they have a 12" aura of Despair, making units within it suffer -1 to any Battleshock or Leadership tests they make.
- On turn 3 onwards, this bubble turns into an aura of Doom and Darkness. Battle-shocked units in this bubble suffer -1 to hit, and you get +1 to wound against them.
Detachments
Traitoris Lance
Special Rules
- Forged in Terror: Any enemies that start within 12" of your knights during their command phase must take a Battleshock test, giving you all the incentive you need to exploit your benefits against them.
Stratagems
- Dread Hounds (1 CP): Mark one enemy within range of 2+ War Dog units during the Shooting or Fight phase. These War Dogs can only target the chosen enemy, but they get Sustained Hits 1 on this enemy, with the bonus of scoring critical hits on a 5+ if they target a Battle-shocked unit.
Equipment
Unit Analysis
Characters
- Keeper of SecretsChaos Daemon: A fleet-footed menace, but it's still relatively frail with T10 and a 5+/4++ save. Fortunately, Mesmerising Form makes all attacks targeting it suffer -1 to hit. Its Witstealer Sword remains a pretty effective weapon with S8 AP-2 D3 and Snapping Claws giving Extra Attacks with S6 AP-2 D3 with Devastating Wounds. You can also pick up another set of attacks with the Ritual Knife with S6 AP-2 D2, a Living Whip for a ranged attack that doesn't bother with casting, or a Shining Aegis to gain a 5+ FNP save. Its lone ranged attack is Phantasmagoria, a psychic power at 18" S6 AP-2 with Devastating Wounds, given the option of either the basic attack or an extra couple of attacks at the risk of Hazardous. Other Slaanesh Daemons also benefit from being near a keeper, as it has a 6" aura that improves the AP of their weapons by 1.
Epic Heroes
- Be'lakorChaos Daemon: Considerably beefed up with T10 W18 while still benefiting from both a 4+/4++ save (meaning last edition's variable saves are dead) and Stealth. On top of that, he's also a mobile emitter of the Shadow of Chaos, letting him assist any allies within 6" of him...and that's on top of his Shadow Master auras in that same range, which lets him pick one psychic power each turn (Enemies can only attack allies in the bubble when they're within 18", any enemies inside the bubble below their starting strength must take Battleshock tests, or friendly units can re-roll Battleshock or Leadership checks).
- His Blade of Shadows remains just as versatile, with the sweep profile giving 14 S8 AP-3 attacks to carve mobs while Strike gives 6 S14 AP-4 D1+d6 with Lethal Hits so you can more easily carve apart enemy monsters and tanks. This is supplemented by a new ranged psychic weapon that gives him a cover-negating barrage of S5 AP-2 Devastating Wounds shots or an even bigger barrage of S6 AP-3 shots with Devastating Wounds and Hazardous.
Battleline
Ahorrent Class
- Knight-Abominant: Your giant psychic walker still maintains quite a few different powers. Vortex Terrors gives an instant Battleshock test on one enemy within 12" while Warp Storms gives a chance to make enemies within 9" suffer d3 MWs. This results in its only real shooting coming from the Heavy Stubber and the Volkite Combustor, which got buffed to an impressive S12 AP- D3, relying on Devastating Wounds to make its mark on heavier units.
- The melee weapons, which used to be oddly-defined alternatives, are now more clearly differentiated. The Electroscourge is a far stronger tool with S10 AP-2 D3 and Sustained Hits 1, while the Balemase is an auxiliary weapon with Extra Attacks and a weaker S8 AP-1 D2.
- Knight Despoiler: Your utility knight remains capable of a lot. Starting out, it comes with a 9" bubble that lets friendly War Dog units add +1 to Battleshock tests. It also has the ability to re-roll one wound roll whenever it shoots or fights, which helps.
- As before, this unit has access to the Carapace weapons. The Havoc Rocket Pod is weak but it's also your only Blast Indirect Fire weapon. The Ruinspear Rocket Pod lets you handle smaller tanks you'd rather avoid directing your knight's better guns towards. The Hellstorm Autocannon gives you a Twin-Linked Anti-Fly 4+ weapon that can now trash both flyers and (possibly) jump packs again.
- The Daemonbreath Thermal Cannon got a bit more use as an anti-TEQ weapon with the addition of Blast to its randomized attacks but remains just as terrifying with Melta 6. The Despoiler Battle Cannon remains pretty potent at blowing up MEQ, with the addition of Rapid Fire d6+3 making it even more devastating up close. The Desploiler Gatling Cannon exists so you can drown mobs in bullets and dice.
- The Warpstrike Claw predictably got a sizeable boost in Strength, with its swipe being a marine-swatting S10 AP-3 D8 and its strike being a monstrous S20 AP-2 D3. The Reaper Chainsword, while weaker, is better suited for crowds by its number of attacks.
Tyrant Class
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