After the untimely demise of 1d4chan, I am attempting to put together at least some bits of tactica here and there. I know the tactica is precisely the main draw of 1d4chan, so like the Magos Explorator of the Adeptus Mechanicus I am, I will attempt to recover the lost knowledge and scraps of data. Obviously, most of my focus will be on Imperial Knights and the Adeptus Mechanicus (or Mechanicum in Horus Heresy). Ave Omnissiah!
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| Knights of the Imperium...we march! |
Well, this particular post will be dedicated to the Questoris Knight Crusade Army List. For the last couple of years, every time I participate in a Horus Heresy campaign (the latest one being the Janus Campaign), I bring an Imperial Knight army. Ahem...I mean a Questoris Knight Crusade Army. The reason is simple. Because I don't have any other Horus Heresy models. Well, strictly speaking, actually I do have a couple of Magos Macrotek and their servo-automata, I have 20 Secutarii Hoplites (which don't count as compulsory troops because I don't have a 28mm scale Titan), and a bunch of battle-automata in the form of 4 Castellax-Achea battle-automata (which I'm running as regular Castellax battle-automata with Darkfire cannons), 2 Thanatar siege-automata and a single Vultarax stratos-automata. I could technically use my Tech-priest Dominus or Cybernetica Datasmith as an Archmagos Dominus and form a minimum-sized Horus Heresy army, but I don't have enough models to form a proper army. Like, okay, that would be 1,545 points. Not enough to play a Horus Heresy game.
But Knights...now that's a different story. I love my regular 9th Edition Warhammer 40,000 games (I'm very different from most Horus Heresy players in that regard, the majority of them seeming to swear off 9th edition and focus solely on Horus Heresy), and my Knights allow me to have my cake and eat it. I can freely swap between them in Horus Heresy and the 41st Millennium 9th Edition without needing to make any major adjustments. Best of all, they are magnetized, so if there's no Knight Preceptor in 30K? Easy, I'll swap his arm for a thermal cannon or rapid-fire battle cannon. Or make him a Knight Crusader!
That is one of the best strengths of a Knight army - you can play them in both 30K and 40K without needing major model changes or weapon swaps (it's hard to play a 30K Space Marine Legion in 40K, even if you go entirely Firstborn, especially with volkite weapons missing and all the special units, and obviously Primaris Space Marines aren't in 30K, nor are Centurions and a lot of stuff). Hell, even Imperial Militia and Cults are hard to convert between 30K and 40K. I can't use my Leman Russ Executioner tanks in 30K, and if I go Solar Auxilia, I can't take sponsons. Just...wow. So Knights it is. And I haven't even brought up the Mechanicum problem that has been plaguing us. WHY AREN'T WE GETTING 40K RULES FOR MECHANICUM ROBOTS AND UNITS?! I love my Cybernetica models. I really do. But it hurts to see them on the shelf, unable to play them in 40K. I could theoretically play them in 30K and I intend to do so...eventually. But I'll need a lot of new Mechanicum models to make up the shortfall, which isn't compatible with my Adeptus Mechanicus army. It baffles me that the Skitarii show up frequently in Horus Heresy lore and novels (Mechanicum, Cybernetica, Master of Mankind and Know No Fear being many of them) but they just don't show up on the tabletop because there simply are no rules for them! Apparently the Road to Terra Podcast is doing beta rules for the Skitarii, but right now they're still fixing errors that I've pointed out to them, and they have yet to update it. Maybe they'll update and upload a new version once the new Adeptus Mechanicus codex comes out, and they can add the Skitarii Marshal to their ranks. I hope. I'll write an article on it one day.
Best of all, Adeptus Titanicus is supposed to take place in the Horus Heresy (though you can also play Adeptus Titanicus matches set in the 41st Millennium). And I play a Knight Household Army. So I have both big Knights and small Knights. I can literally use the same army for my Questoris Knight Crusade Army and Adeptus Titanicus Knight Household Army in the Horus Heresy, especially in these campaigns! How cool is that?
Why Play The Questoris Knight Crusade Army?
Two words. Giant robots.
Giant robots piloted by the most badass, noble dudes in the Imperium. Okay, you have Traitor Knights who are...well, not so noble, and you have ruthless Mechanicum overlords who command tyrannical houses of Knights such as House Malinax (the archenemy of my House Yato).
Their rules are fairly simple. You don't have to worry about the Vehicle Damage Table, so no crew stunned or shaken. Only thing you have to worry about is losing D3 hull points on an Explodes! result, but that's about it. They Move Through Cover, they are super-heavy walkers, they can fall back and shoot and charge, they can fire their weapons at different targets (but you can only charge at a unit you fired at least one of your weapons at). They can stomp! Also, the robots have beaten the kaiju! So if Tyranids do somehow show up in the 31st Millennium (courtesy of the Pharos machine in Sotha), you'd want a Household of Knights on your side.
Also, they pack heavy firepower, have easy access to Strength D weapons, are fairly sturdy (though your opponent can still easily take them down with enough anti-tank weaponry and Haywire - I lost like 6 Knights to Iron Havocs with Tank Hunter). Some people claim they are unfriendly, but hey, make sure your opponent knows what they are facing and allow them to tailor their list, and it should be a close battle. Even if you're facing a load of anti-tank, you still stand a good chance of winning as long as you know how to use your list well. Knights are strong, flexible and durable. They might not be as durable as in 40K (24 Wounds is a lot better than 6 Hull Points, and an all-round 5++ invulnerable save is sometimes better than 4++, plus there are no Strength D weapons in 9th edition), but they certainly pack a punch and can stomp your opponent to the ground if they are unprepared.
QUESTORIS KNIGHT CRUSADE ARMY WARLORD TRAITS
You can roll on the table when determining Warlord Traits for your Knight Seneschal.
1. Hell Rider: In the first turn, your Knight Warlord and all Knights within 12" of him gain +1 to their Movement, and +1 on To Wound and Armor Penetration rolls. Sweet! Allows your Knights to move faster and their ranged weaponry become deadlier. It'll be hard to pull off a charge on Turn 1, but even so, weapons like thermal cannons and rapid-fire battle cannons would benefit a lot from this.
2. Glorious Renown: Your opponents get -2 penalty to their Leadership tests when taking Fear tests against your Knight Warlord, while your allied units within 12" may re-roll failed Morale checks. It's okay, I guess? Should be good for Imperial Militia allies.
3. Favored of Mars: Choose one of your Knight Warlord's weapons to be Master-crafted. Nice. House Taranis rides again! Also very useful on a Reaper chainsword or Strength D weapons.
4. Lord of the Abyss: The Knight Warlord gains Monster Hunter and Adamantium Will. Would be great if you have more Monstrous Creatures running around in 30K, but I guess it works well against Mechanicum robots (ouch, Legio Cybernetica lists had best watch out) and maybe Primarchs?
5. Pussy...ahem, I mean Puissant Commander: Add +1 to your Seize the Initiative roll, and opponents' reserve rolls suffer a -1 modifier. Pretty good, especially in missions where your opponent has lots of units in reserves. Also helped me seized the initiative when I rolled a 5 (by the Emperor's grace, I got this Warlord Trait during one of the Janus Campaign missions). Hah!
6. Indomitable: It Will Not Die. My personal favorite. Nothing like seeing the look on my opponent's face when I tell him my Warlord just gained a hull point after rolling a 5+.
QUESTORIS KNIGHT CRUSADE ARMY FORCE ORGANIZATION CHART
Now, one of the things you must take note when playing a Questoris Knight Crusade Army - you are not using the normal Force Organization Chart. You have to use a special Force Organization Chart unique only to Knights. That means...
What this means is that, unlike regular Force Organization Charts, you only need to take one HQ and 1 Troops as Compulsory units. So you don't need to take 2 Troops. Yay. You can build an army with a minimum of 2 Knights, and then fill the rest out with an allied detachment or something. Also, because your Knights are not Lords of War, you don't have to worry about the Price of Failure in many missions. So field as many Knights as you want! Also, you can field a Legio Titanicus Titan as a Lord of War choice for a Questoris Knight Crusade Army.
You have 2 HQs, 5 Troops, 3 Elites, 2 Fast Attack and 2 Heavy Support choices. But you're playing Knights, so you don't have to worry about how seemingly restricted that is. Also, you'll need to use Household Ranks for the Knights, which would determine which slot you're using them for.
HOUSEHOLD RANKS
The Household Ranks work by you allocating a specific Knight to a particular Household Rank, and then adding the points cost of the rank to the basic cost of the Knight. So let's say you select a Cerastus Knight Lancer as your Warlord. He's your HQ, so you need to purchase the Seneschal or Lord Scion rank for him, and if you choose the Seneschal rank, you add the 50 points on top of the Knight Lancer's basic 400 points for a 450-points Knight Lancer Seneschal with BS5, WS5 and a 3++ invulnerable save.
HQ
Seneschal: For 50 points, you can upgrade your Warlord into a Seneschal, but you can only take 0-1 of him in a single army. He gets +1 to his WS, BS and invulnerable save. Also allows you to re-roll your Warlord Traits (something that helped me a lot).
Lord Scion: For 25 points, you can get a budget HQ that also adds +1 to his WS and BS, but not your invulnerable save. No re-rolls for Warlord Traits either. And you can only take a maximum of 1, just like your Seneschal.
ELITES
Preceptor: Another 25 points, your Knights in Reserves all add +1 to their Reserve rolls. Also, your Preceptor and any Knights within 6" of him get the Interceptor rule and may fire Overwatch. Cool. Useful if you want to shoot Deep Striking Terminators when they show up in your deployment zone.
Aucteller: Can only take a maximum of 1, and comes at a costly 35 more points. What do you get in return? Well, the Aucteller can choose a single Warlord, Lord of War that isn't a Flyer, a Super-heavy Walker (remember, Knights don't count as Lords of War if you take them in a Questoris Knight Crusade Army), a ground vehicle or a Gargantuan Creature as his Sworn Enemy, and if he destroys that unit, you get additional D3 victory points. Of course, if some other Knight kills the Sworn Enemy, you don't get any additional victory points. This comes at a cost, however. If the Sworn Enemy is still alive at the end of the game, your opponent gains +1 Victory Point. Damn. Oh, and if your Aucteller is destroyed in combat with his Sworn Enemy, you may make an additional single close combat attack as one act of spite. Heh.
Legendary Freeblade: Um, this serves as your unique characters for Knights. You don't need to add any additional cost, unlike the other Hosuehold Ranks, but the costs have already been baked into them. I mean, look at Gerantius! He costs 500 whooping points! You just add him or other Freeblades into your army with their innate points and they take up an Elite slot. That's about it. I have no idea what Freeblades there are in Horus Heresy. The closest I can think of is Gerantius from 7th Edition, but yeah. I guess they'll add more unique characters when they come up with new books, but I won't be holding my breath. It all went quiet on the Horus Heresy front after the Thramas campaign (Book Nine: Crusade).
TROOPS
Scion Martial: No additional cost, you get a vanilla Knight in the Troops slot. In other words, he's Scoring because he's Troops. Yay! I think.
Scion Aspirant: If you're on a budget and are looking to cut costs from your Knights, you can take a Scion Aspirant and shave 35 points away. But he'll end up have -1 to his BS, WS and invulnerable save. Also, there's a limit to the number of Scion Aspirants you can take - they must not be more than half of your Knight army in terms of ranks (so if you have 6 Knights, only a maximum of 3 can be Scion Aspirants). But he also can score!
Scion Auxilia: The Household Rank for Questoris Knight Armiger Talons, no additional cost, but they don't benefit from the Warlord Traits that target friendly Knight models. They can score, so yay! Non-compulsory Troops, however. Unlike the other Knights, you can take up to 3 in a single slot.
Scion Amuntar: The special Household Rank for Mechanicum Knight Armiger Moirax Talons, they come at no additional cost, but you can't hold them in reserve and must deploy them more than 6" away from a friendly Questoris Knight if possible. Sometimes it's not possible because of how small your Deployment Zone is and how many models of super-heavy Knights you have, but given you can move your big Knights 12" and these guys only move 6", it shouldn't be a problem after your deployment. Other tthan that, they are non-compulsory Troops...again. Still very useful and flexible, so often worth giving them that slot.
FAST ATTACK
Scion Dolorous: For 25 points, you get a Knight who can re-roll failed charges and failed Sweeping Advances. Also, you must charge an enemy Knight, Walker, Monstrous Creature, Primarch, Super-heavy Walker or Gargantuan Creature. Pretty good for a Knight Gallant or a Cerastus Knight Lancer.
Scion Uhlan: For no additional cost, you get a Knight with Scout and Hit and Run, but they reduce their front armor by 1 (so AV12). Unfortunately, they can only make Snap Shots with their ranged weapons at targets more than 24" away. Again...Knight Gallant or a Cerastus Knight Lancer, given how pitiful the range of the latter's weapon is. At 18", he's not going to be bothered by that rule. The Knight Acheron is worth a shot, but be careful about firing his heavy bolter at targets over 24" away.
HEAVY SUPPORT
Scion Arbalester: For 25 more points, your Knight gets Tank Hunter. Woo! I love this Knight. Especially awesome on a Knight Crusader with thermal cannon and Stormspear rocket pod, not to mention 12 Rending Avenger Gatling cannon shots. Also not bad on his rapid-fire battle cannon, and with Ordnance, you can roll 2 D6 twice, discarding the lowest each time. Not only that, if you decide to have your Knight stay still, his weapons can have Skyfire. So your Stormspear rocket pod and Avenger Gatling cannon will be shooting flyers out of the skies (and if you're close enough, so will the meltagun). Don't forget that you still have Tank Hunter on top of that! Do take note that blast weapons might not benefit from the Skyfire rule...so no thermal cannons, I think.
Scion Implacable: For 35 more points, your Knight gets +1 to Building Damage table rolls, cumulative with the weapon's AP. Uh, very situational, I guess? But you also get a guy who can stomp infantry better, which means re-rolling results on the Stomp table. Not only that, he has a 5++ invulnerable save against melta bombs and grenades in melee, but at the cost of not making Sweeping Advances.
IMPERIAL KNIGHT CHASSIS
Imperial Knights are divided into many chassis and variants, each with their own weapons. Do take note that any chassis can be selected for any Household Rank, but keep in mind that there are restrictions for specific chassis. If there is, I'll note them down below. But for now...let's get into it!
ARMIGER CHASSIS
Questoris Knight Armiger Talon: We can take Armiger Knights from 40K as a Scion Auxilia choice in a Questoris Knight Crusade Army! As Troops! Scoring Walkers! Hooray! That means we can take 1-3 of these baby Knights in a single slot, starting from 175 points but an additional 150 points for each subsequent one. Unfortunately, they cannot be taken as compulsory Troops, so you must have at least 2 big Knights already in your Detachment before you take them. They are essentially Dreadnoughts with 4 Hull points, but AV12 on front and side, and AV11 on the rear. They can take a 5-point heavy stubber or 15-point meltagun for carapace weapons, and swap any of their "close-combat Dreadnought weapons (what?!)" for an Armiger thermal spear (10 points) or Armiger autocannon. The former is a single shot Strength 8 AP2 at 36" range with melta, and the latter has two modes for their Heavy 2 64" Strength 7 AP 3 autocannon shells: armor-piercing rounds that have the Sunder rule, or incendiary rounds that Ignores Cover. You can give their heavy stubbers bio-corrosive rounds for 10 points for Poisoned (4+), but considering that you'll be wounding most Toughness 4 Space Marines with the Strength 4 AP6 heavy stubbers on 4+s anyway, it's usually a waste of points unless your opponent brings lots of Monstrous Creatures (but they will have Cybernetic Resilience, so...). Still a pretty good choice, very flexible and fast. Oh, and they have an ion buckler that gives them a 5++ invulnerable save without worrying about facing. So no more arguing on where your opponent is shooting from.
Mechanicum Knight Moirax Talon: Similar to the normal Armiger Knights, we can take a Mechanicum Knight Moriax Talon as a Scion Amuntar choice in a Questoris Knight Crusade army, complete with Scoring. Yay. They don't count as compulsory Troops, however. Starting at 185 points, you can take up to 3 in one slot, with each additional Knight Moirax weighing in at 155 points. Like the Armiger Knight above, he has front and side AV12 and rear AV11, and 4 Hull Points. Basically a Dreadnought, then. But unlike the regular Armiger Knights, the Armiger Knight Moriax have 2 Construct Shields that have an AV11. So mini-void shields that collapse and don't come back online once they are taken out. They also have an ionic flare shield that gives them a 5++ invulnerable save without worrying about facings, plus reduce the Strength of non-Destroyer and non-Haywire blast and Template weapons by 1.
- They have a sweet suite of weapons to choose from for their arms. Any 2 would be amazing, but since this is Horus Heresy and you can only shoot both weapons at the same target because the Armiger Knight Moirax is not a super-heavy walker (he can get immobilized - both Armiger Moirax Knights in my talon got immobilized when I rolled two ones in a row when traversing dangerous terrain, damn), you might as well take the same weapon for both arms. That said, it's a good idea to keep one as a melee weapon in case of close encounters.
- - The Gyes Siege Claw is your melee weapon that hits at Strength 10 (yeah, Strength 7 x2, but caps at Strength 10), AP2 and has Wrecker. It comes with an in-built rad cleanser that is a Template Strength 2 AP 5 weapon with Fleshbane and Rad-phage, so pretty cool especially against infantry. If your Armiger Knight Moirax is armed with the claw, though, you should be charging vehicles with him, so it's kind of hard to choose between shooting that rad-cleanser at infantry or just shooting it at a vehicle and then charging it.
- - Lightning Locks are 36" range Small Blast (3") Strength 6 AP 3 with Rending. Not bad, especially against Space Marines. But nothing fantastic either, I think, especially when you compare it with the 40K rules.
- - Graviton Pulsars have a shorter range at 24", but fires 2 small blasts (3") with Concussive, Graviton Pulse and Haywire. A death sentence against vehicles if you don't scatter. AP4 is okay, but sucks against power armor and Terminator armor. Plus Graviton Pulse means you have to roll a D6 and hope it's above the target's Toughness, so you have 1/3 chance of wounding a Toughness 4 Space Marine, who will have 2/3 chance of saving the wound (5/6 for Terminators). So point that weapon at vehicles instead of armored infanty. On the other hand, turning their position into Dangerous Terrain might be hilarious.
- - Volkite Veuglaires, my personal favorite. An upgunned version of the volkite culverin, this baby fires 5...yes, five, Strength 6 AP4 Deflagrate shots from 36" range. The amount of dakka means that even Space Marines would buckle from the superheated Martian death rays.
- - Armiger Conversion Beam Cannon...a miniaturized version of the conversion beam cannons mounted on the super-heavy Acastus Knight Asterius. Up to 18" is a small blast (3") Strength 6 AP - shot, which does nothing much but tickle infantry (well, might be cool against Militia infantry, I guess?). 18' to 42" is a bit better, improving to Strength 8 AP 4, so goodbye Solar Auxilia. But you want to keep your target as far away as 42"-72" for that's where the Strength 10 AP1 small blast will really kick in. Though at that point, you might as well be firing at vehicles and rolling on the vehicle damage table for that sweet explosion (I doubt Terminators would ever end up more than 42" away from your Armiger Knight Moirax, and if they somehow end up remain hiding in your opponent's deployment zone throughout the whole game, he's playing them wrong).
QUESTORIS KNIGHT CHASSIS
Questoris Knight Errant: He comes with a Strength 9 AP 1 Large Blast (5") Thermal cannon, heavy stubber that can be swapped for a meltagun, Strength D Reaper chainsword and an ion shield. As with his Questoris counterpart, he gets the occular augmetics option and can upgrade his heavy stubber with bio-corrosive rounds that shoot at 6" less but with Poisoned (4+). No point taking the bio-corrosive rounds since you're already wounding Toughness 4 Space Marines on a 4+ anyway. Good against Terminators, good against vehicles. Has 3 choices of caparace weapons like all plastic Questoris Knights (meaning not the Knight Styrix and Magaera), which ranges from the 72" Ironstorm missile pod that fires a large blast Strength 5 AP4...with Ordnance for some reason (no Barrage or Ignores Cover...what?), the 48" range Stormspear rocket pod that fires 3 Krak missiles (Strength 8 AP 3), to the 48" range Icarus twin autocannon that fires two twin-linked shots at Strength 7 AP4 with Skyfire. So if your opponents bring a ton of aircraft (like Fire Raptors), you can try to bring them down with the Icarus autocannon.
Questoris Knight Paladin: Same as above, almost the same as his 40K version in 7th edition (how time flies, it's already 9th edition). Almost. Instead of the normal rapid-fire battlecannon that we all know and love, we can exchange that 2-shot Ordnance S8 AP3 Large Blast for a 3-shot Ordnance S6 AP3 Large Blast, both at a range of 72". I personally like the 3-shot better for more dakka. Except that when I played him in reality, the Strength 8 variant did a lot better...especially against vehicles and Titans. Well...funny how things work out sometimes. Also gets access to occular augmetics for night-fighting, but quite a meh upgrade, and for some reason the bio-corrosive rounds for his heavy stubber is 2 times more expensive than the Knight Errant - EACH, so it's actually 4 times more expensive if you upgrade both. Argh. Not worth it, unless you're up against Monstrous Creatures and high Toughness units, but this is 30K and so the only Monstrous Creatures you face are Cybernetica automata with Cybernetic Resilience...which makes the whole Poisoned pointless. In any case, a very flexible Knight with much-needed long-range weaponry that you can tailor to be a complete Space Marine killer with his Questoris battle cannon, or capable of performing anti-vehicle duties and Instant Death-ing Space Marines with his Ordnance rapid-fire battle cannon if you so prefer. Can also take carapace weapons, so people tend to take the Ironstorm missile pod to complement the 72" range of the battle cannon.
Questoris Knight Paladin: Same as above, almost the same as his 40K version in 7th edition (how time flies, it's already 9th edition). Almost. Instead of the normal rapid-fire battlecannon that we all know and love, we can exchange that 2-shot Ordnance S8 AP3 Large Blast for a 3-shot Ordnance S6 AP3 Large Blast, both at a range of 72". I personally like the 3-shot better for more dakka. Except that when I played him in reality, the Strength 8 variant did a lot better...especially against vehicles and Titans. Well...funny how things work out sometimes. Also gets access to occular augmetics for night-fighting, but quite a meh upgrade, and for some reason the bio-corrosive rounds for his heavy stubber is 2 times more expensive than the Knight Errant - EACH, so it's actually 4 times more expensive if you upgrade both. Argh. Not worth it, unless you're up against Monstrous Creatures and high Toughness units, but this is 30K and so the only Monstrous Creatures you face are Cybernetica automata with Cybernetic Resilience...which makes the whole Poisoned pointless. In any case, a very flexible Knight with much-needed long-range weaponry that you can tailor to be a complete Space Marine killer with his Questoris battle cannon, or capable of performing anti-vehicle duties and Instant Death-ing Space Marines with his Ordnance rapid-fire battle cannon if you so prefer. Can also take carapace weapons, so people tend to take the Ironstorm missile pod to complement the 72" range of the battle cannon.
Questoris Knight Warden: Dakka. Just...dakka. You know why you're getting him...that sweet Avenger Gatling cannon that fires 12 Strength 6 AP3 shots with Rending. This guy is a Legiones Astartes killer. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, it comes with a heavy flamer! Though the only reason why you'd take a Knight Warden over a Knight Crusader is if you want that Strength D Reaper chainsword or Thunderstrike gauntlet. Which makes sense, given the Primarchs, Titans and other super-heavies running around in Horus Heresy. Can swap his heavy stubber for a meltagun, but let's be real, you want more dakka, don't you? Can take carapace weapons as well, so if you need anti-air in a pinch, grab an Icarus twin autocannon and dakka the aircraft in question to death.
Questoris Knight Crusader: The dakka Knight. Armed with the same Avenger Gatling cannon as the Knight Warden above, he swaps out his melee weapon for either a thermal cannon or a rapid-fire battle cannon. The ideal bulwark for your army, plant him in your deployment zone and have him hose Legionnes Astartes down with 12 Strength 6 AP 2 Rending shots or blow them up with the battle cannon. The thermal cannon is good against vehicles (even if they have Armored Ceramite, Strength 9 is nothing to scoff at) AND Terminators. And trust me, you need all the anti-Terminator weaponry, especially since people love their Rites of War that give them Terminator Troops. One of the best support Knights. He's no slouch in melee either, with Strength 10 AP2 attacks in close combat (thanks to Smash rule that comes with super-heavy walkers) and Stomp, so don't be afraid to charge him in. Unless the other party is a Primarch, then...yeah, keep him far away from the Primarch as possible and shoot him from afar. The carapace weapons might depend on what armanents you take for this guy. A battle cannon? Perhaps the 72" Ironstorm missile pod might suit your Marine-hunting task well. A thermal cannon? Then maybe the Stormspear rocket pod would be better for ant-tank. And if you're desperate for anti-air, then Icarus twin autocannon would do the job well.
Questoris Knight Gallant: The choppy Knight. Dedicated close-combat Knight armed with a Reaper chainsword and Thunderstrike gauntlet, that means he has an additional attack (so 5 on the charge, yay). Given that they are Strength D, anything you send him into combat with is most likely dead. Unless it's a Primarch, then you better pray you roll 6s on the Destroyer table. Heh. Also the cheapest, so if you happen to be playing an Questoris Knight Crusade list (like me), that's where you can spare the points. I think. Usually don't take carapace weapons for this guy (because you're obviously taking him to cut down on points, and the cheapest Ironstorm missile pod is at 30 points, the Icarus autocannon at 35 and the Stormspear rocket pod is at a whooping 40 points, which is probably the only thing you would take to complement the Strength D weapons against a tank or vehicle).
Questoris Knight Styrix: Already blessed with Blessed Autosimulacra, this fellow comes with a graviton gun for Haywire, an ionic flare shield that reduces the strength of shooting attacks by -1 and -2 if it's a Blast or Template weapon (no effect on Haywire or Destroyer attacks, though) in addition to a 4++ invulnerable save and can be upgraded with a Hekaton siege claw with a twin-linked rad cleanser. But his most noteworthy weapon is the Volkite chieorovile, which fires 5 Heavy S8 AP3 Deflagrate shots at 45". A Space Marine killer, he can be awesome in a gunline, but not so good in melee with I2, so keep him at the back and wipe out those annoying Marine squads! With Deflagrate, he can potentially kill twice as many Marines as he hits!
Questoris Knight Magaera: What happens when a Thallax evolves? He becomes a Knight Magaera! As with above, he has an ionic flare shield and Blesed Autosimulacra and the option to upgrade his reaper chainsword into a Hakaton siege claw with twin-linked rad cleanser, but that's as far as the similarities end. He has the same lightning cannon as the Krios Battle Tank, firing a S7 AP3 Large Blast with Shred and Rending at 48". In place of a graviton gun, he has a phased plasma-fusil, and this makes him another Space Marine killer. As with the Knight Styrix, he's not so hot in combat with I2, and should also keep his distance. I've no idea which is better, but this guy has Shred and Rending at least while the other one has Deflagrate, so it depends if you want to stack the number of wounds, or you're worried about wounding something.
Questoris Knight Styrix: Already blessed with Blessed Autosimulacra, this fellow comes with a graviton gun for Haywire, an ionic flare shield that reduces the strength of shooting attacks by -1 and -2 if it's a Blast or Template weapon (no effect on Haywire or Destroyer attacks, though) in addition to a 4++ invulnerable save and can be upgraded with a Hekaton siege claw with a twin-linked rad cleanser. But his most noteworthy weapon is the Volkite chieorovile, which fires 5 Heavy S8 AP3 Deflagrate shots at 45". A Space Marine killer, he can be awesome in a gunline, but not so good in melee with I2, so keep him at the back and wipe out those annoying Marine squads! With Deflagrate, he can potentially kill twice as many Marines as he hits!
Questoris Knight Magaera: What happens when a Thallax evolves? He becomes a Knight Magaera! As with above, he has an ionic flare shield and Blesed Autosimulacra and the option to upgrade his reaper chainsword into a Hakaton siege claw with twin-linked rad cleanser, but that's as far as the similarities end. He has the same lightning cannon as the Krios Battle Tank, firing a S7 AP3 Large Blast with Shred and Rending at 48". In place of a graviton gun, he has a phased plasma-fusil, and this makes him another Space Marine killer. As with the Knight Styrix, he's not so hot in combat with I2, and should also keep his distance. I've no idea which is better, but this guy has Shred and Rending at least while the other one has Deflagrate, so it depends if you want to stack the number of wounds, or you're worried about wounding something.
CERASTUS KNIGHT CHASSIS
Cerastus Knight-Lancer: Cerastus Knights have the Occular augmetics upgrade for 10 points, if you want, and Flank Speed, which allows them to make a 3D6" Run during the Shooting phase. The Lancer excels at killing Characters and Gargantuan Creatures, you want this guy to get into close combat to prod things to death with his Strength D Cerastus shock lance. Swift Strike gives him +1 to Initiative when he Charges into combat, and his ion gauntlet shield protects him in close combat at 5++ at the cost of not being able to cover his rear against shooting (still gets 4++ against shooting on the front and sides, though). He also forces close combat attacks by other Super-heavy Walkers and Gargantuan Creatures to suffer a -1 to hit, which is sweet. His shooting is decent, with 6 S7 AP2 Concussive Heavy attacks at 18" for killing Terminators.
Cerastus Knight-Castigator: As with above, he has Flank Speed and can get occular augmetics for 10 points. Unlike the Lancer, he has an ion shield and a Castigator-pattern bolt cannon that fires 8 S7 AP3 Heavy shots at 36", more rounds than the Knight Styrix but without Deflagrate and the extra 9" range. His Tempest warblade is the only Knight close combat weapon without Strength D, being S10 AP2 instead but with Deflagrate, Tempest Attack and Sunder. Can kill blobs with Deflagrate and Tempest Attack, the latter allowing the Knight to make a single special attack at I2 instead, but automatically inflicts a single hit against each model in base combat with him at S10 AP2. The tarpits will get scared off, and Deflagrate potentially kills off two times as many models as your hits.
Cerastus Knight-Acheron: Again, with Flank Speed and an ion shield, with an occular augmetics option, but has a Strength D Reaper chainfist with an inbuilt twin-linked heavy bolter. This guy is different in that he uses an Acheron pattern flame cannon that uses a Hellstorm template to dish out S7 AP3 Ordnance attacks. Unlike the Knight-Castigator, this guy can roast blobs without needing to get into combat, and can even wreck vehicles with the high strength and Ordnance Hellstorm he unleashes on them. He's also decent in close combat, but if you do so you might want to Charge stuff with an Armor value to make full use of his Machine Destroyer Reaper chainfist. He's not a bad choice, and is flexible like the Knight Paladin.
Mechanicum Cerastus Knight-Atrapos: An amazing Knight who can take down Warhound Titans if you're lucky (my Knight Atrapos actually rolled 6s on his singularity cannon AND the vortex that resulted from it), he's the only one who actually benefits from the occular augmetics upgrade, which allows him to re-roll ones on the Destroyer table for his shooting attack at less than 12". And the maximum range of his weapon is 8". Yay. Unlike the others, the Knight Atrapos comes with an innate Blessed Autosimulacra, which means you recover a Hull Point on a roll of 6 at the end of your turn and the same ionic flare shield as the Knight Styrix and Knight Magaera. Meaning -1 Strength to shooting attacks and -2 if they are Blast or Template, as long as they aren't haywire or Strength D. This guy's Atrapos lascutter fires an 8" beam at Strength D AP2, and can also be used in melee as a Strength D AP1 Wrecker close combat weapon. He also carries a Graviton singularity cannon that fires at 36" range with a S8 AP2 Armorbane and Concussive Large Blast. Not only that, it has the Collapsing Singularity rule, which basically means you open up a Black Hole on a roll of 6, planting a Vortex right on top of the target. Be careful, on a roll of 1, the Knight-Atrapos loses a Hull Point with no saves allowed (ouch!). Being a Super-heavy and Gargantuan Creature hunter, he has Macro-extinction Targeting Protocols, which turns all his shooting attacks against them Twin-linked! Beware, if he dies, his Catastrophic Destruction adds +2 to the Catastrophic Damage table, so you don't want any friendly units around when he blows. Good for kamikaze-ing him into a horde of enemies PLUS Superheavies/Gargantuan Creatures, and laugh when he dies as he leaves a Strength D explosion right in those 5 stupid Wraithknights' faces. The catch? You can only take 0-1 of them per 2,000 points in a Questoris Knight Crusade army, so no spamming them. Not that you need more than 1 of them...
Cerastus Knight-Castigator: As with above, he has Flank Speed and can get occular augmetics for 10 points. Unlike the Lancer, he has an ion shield and a Castigator-pattern bolt cannon that fires 8 S7 AP3 Heavy shots at 36", more rounds than the Knight Styrix but without Deflagrate and the extra 9" range. His Tempest warblade is the only Knight close combat weapon without Strength D, being S10 AP2 instead but with Deflagrate, Tempest Attack and Sunder. Can kill blobs with Deflagrate and Tempest Attack, the latter allowing the Knight to make a single special attack at I2 instead, but automatically inflicts a single hit against each model in base combat with him at S10 AP2. The tarpits will get scared off, and Deflagrate potentially kills off two times as many models as your hits.
Cerastus Knight-Acheron: Again, with Flank Speed and an ion shield, with an occular augmetics option, but has a Strength D Reaper chainfist with an inbuilt twin-linked heavy bolter. This guy is different in that he uses an Acheron pattern flame cannon that uses a Hellstorm template to dish out S7 AP3 Ordnance attacks. Unlike the Knight-Castigator, this guy can roast blobs without needing to get into combat, and can even wreck vehicles with the high strength and Ordnance Hellstorm he unleashes on them. He's also decent in close combat, but if you do so you might want to Charge stuff with an Armor value to make full use of his Machine Destroyer Reaper chainfist. He's not a bad choice, and is flexible like the Knight Paladin.
Mechanicum Cerastus Knight-Atrapos: An amazing Knight who can take down Warhound Titans if you're lucky (my Knight Atrapos actually rolled 6s on his singularity cannon AND the vortex that resulted from it), he's the only one who actually benefits from the occular augmetics upgrade, which allows him to re-roll ones on the Destroyer table for his shooting attack at less than 12". And the maximum range of his weapon is 8". Yay. Unlike the others, the Knight Atrapos comes with an innate Blessed Autosimulacra, which means you recover a Hull Point on a roll of 6 at the end of your turn and the same ionic flare shield as the Knight Styrix and Knight Magaera. Meaning -1 Strength to shooting attacks and -2 if they are Blast or Template, as long as they aren't haywire or Strength D. This guy's Atrapos lascutter fires an 8" beam at Strength D AP2, and can also be used in melee as a Strength D AP1 Wrecker close combat weapon. He also carries a Graviton singularity cannon that fires at 36" range with a S8 AP2 Armorbane and Concussive Large Blast. Not only that, it has the Collapsing Singularity rule, which basically means you open up a Black Hole on a roll of 6, planting a Vortex right on top of the target. Be careful, on a roll of 1, the Knight-Atrapos loses a Hull Point with no saves allowed (ouch!). Being a Super-heavy and Gargantuan Creature hunter, he has Macro-extinction Targeting Protocols, which turns all his shooting attacks against them Twin-linked! Beware, if he dies, his Catastrophic Destruction adds +2 to the Catastrophic Damage table, so you don't want any friendly units around when he blows. Good for kamikaze-ing him into a horde of enemies PLUS Superheavies/Gargantuan Creatures, and laugh when he dies as he leaves a Strength D explosion right in those 5 stupid Wraithknights' faces. The catch? You can only take 0-1 of them per 2,000 points in a Questoris Knight Crusade army, so no spamming them. Not that you need more than 1 of them...
ACASTUS KNIGHT CHASSIS
Acastus Knight Porphyrion: The beefiest and most destructive Knight on the block. At about 500 points, he has 8 hull points, a front armor of AV14, and is armed with two twin-linked magna lascannons, which means 2x2 Ordnance large blasts of Strength 10 AP 2 that can reach from across the table with his 72" range. Can take either lascannons or autocannons or irad-cleansers, though you might as well go all the way with las weaponry if you think about it. Also has the same Ironstorm missile pod that regular Questoris Knights have, but you can swap it for the Helios Defence missiles for anti-air if you want. However, you cannot choose a Knight Porphyrion to be a Scion Aspirant or Scion Uhlan (why the hell would you do that, anyway?).
Acastus Knight Asterius: Same as the Knight Porphyrion, but instead of twin-linked magna lascannons, you get twin-linked conversion beam cannons. Oh, and radioactive warheads in the form of Karacnos mortar battery. Same as the Ironstorm missile pod, but with rad-phage and fleshbane, at the cost of a small blast instead of large blast. Wait, rad-phage? Simply means the poor victim who survives the blast gets his Toughness permanently reduced by 1 for the rest of the battle. Combine that with the two volkite culverins (4 Strength 6 AP5 Deflagrate), that's some serious anti-infantry firepower. Before I get ahead of myself, let me talk about the conversion beam cannons. They are all Strength 10 Ordnance, but like conversion beam weapons, improve over range. 0-18" gets AP3, small blast (3"). 18"-42" nets you AP2, large blast (5"), Wrecker. 42-72" gives you AP1, massive blast (7"), Wrecker AND Sunder. So essentially, whatever tank you look at from long range...dies. As with the Knight Porphyrion, you can't choose him to be a Scion Aspirant or Scion Uhlan, but nobody would be crazy enough to do that. I hope.
DOMINUS KNIGHT CHASSIS
Questoris Knight Dominus: Unlike their 40K counterparts, the Dominus Knights in 30K are quite underwhelming. They are certainly sturdier, with front and side AV13, rear AV12, and 7 Hull Points. They do cost 360 points, and that's before you start adding the costs of their main armaments. Armed with up to 3 twin-linked siegebreaker cannons, which are essentally twin-linked autocannons, you can swap any of them for two one-use shieldbreaker missiles each, which are 48" Strength 9 AP3 missiles that ignore invulnerable saves. Then you have 2 twin-linked meltaguns, which is...cool, I guess? You can get an 80" Strength 9 AP2 Blast (3") volcano lance for 45 points....wait, why isn't this Strength D? I know, right? It's so...weird. The better option is the plasma decimator for 55 points, being a 48" Large Blast (5") Strength 8 AP2 with Gets Hot. The Conflagration cannon is another amazing choice, with Hellstorm Strength 7 AP 3 Ordnance. And it costs only 30 points. Go figure. Then you have the Thundercoil Harpoon, which is 12" Strength 10 AP1 with Ordnance, Armorbane, Fleshbane, Instant Death, Sunder and Harpoon. What the f is Harpoon? It means you can only fire the damned Thundercoil Harpoon, which costs a whooping 50 points, once every two turns. Yeah, you read that right. Not only do you have to pray that the single shot hits, you can't fire it in your next turn. And it doesn't ignore invulnerable saves unlike the shieldbreaker, so you have to pray that your opponent fails his invulnerable save. On the plus side, if your opponent fails the save, or you were smart enough and lucky enough to hit a tank or vehicle without any invulnerable saves, you deal D6 wounds or hull points to that single model. That's a lot of praying to the Omnissiah or the Empror that you have to first hit (you have 1/3 chance of missing) and your opponent failing his invulnerable save (50% chance of making it) for a weapon that can only shoot every other turn and costing 50 points. A hard pass.
Best to arm him with two conflagration cannons or 2 plasma decimators or a conflagration cannon and a plasma decimator...if you can get them, that is. I guess the volcano lance is still worth a shot, but it's a small blast lascannon, so...still underwhelming. You've got to be one hell of a gambler to risk the harpoon, though.
ALLIES
Questoris Knight Crusade armies count as Mechanicum on the allies chart, so...
Sworn Brothers
- Iron Warriors
- Iron Hands (notice both Iron legions made it to this list!)
- Sons of Horus (NOOO!)
- Salamanders (for some good old flamer and melta lists)
- Raven Guard (while the Knights take on the enemies, the Raven Guard sneak around in the shadows)
- Mechanicum (makes sense if you think about it, and they're essentially the same faction. Not to mention your Knights rely on their Battlesmiths to repair them, and your Mechanicum allies benefit from long range firepower and AV13, ion shield and super-heavy durability)
Fellow Warriors
- Dark Angels
- Emperor's Children
- White Scars
- Space Wolves
- Imperial Fists (you would think House Taranis would be buddies with the other siege warfare Legion, not to mention their close proximity to Mars during their defense of Terra)
- Night Lords
- Blood Angels
- World Eaters (they eat up any technology they find, and those they can't swallow, they break. Damn Khorne worshippers)
- Ultramarines (basically House Terryn)
- Death Guard (well, they're also obsessed with the death of flesh)
- Thousand Sons (psychic powers and robots don't match...cough Castellax-Achea...cough)
- Word Bearers (freaking Traitors)
- Alpha Legion (don't know what they're thinking)
- Imperial Army
- - Solar Auxillia: A great idea if you need bodies on the table, especially since you're lacking a lot of models whenever you play Knights. Claiming Objectives would be easier with them.
- - Imperial Militia and Cults: Very flexible allies with a wide selection. You can make pseudo-Skitarii with a combination of Survivors of the Dark Age and Cyber Augmented! Throw in lots of cheap, expendable soldiers as bodies, if that's your fancy, the way you spam Solar Auxillia Lasrifle sections, and again, tanks! They also have a Malcador if that's what you want.
- Iron Warriors
- Iron Hands (notice both Iron legions made it to this list!)
- Sons of Horus (NOOO!)
- Salamanders (for some good old flamer and melta lists)
- Raven Guard (while the Knights take on the enemies, the Raven Guard sneak around in the shadows)
- Mechanicum (makes sense if you think about it, and they're essentially the same faction. Not to mention your Knights rely on their Battlesmiths to repair them, and your Mechanicum allies benefit from long range firepower and AV13, ion shield and super-heavy durability)
Fellow Warriors
- Dark Angels
- Emperor's Children
- White Scars
- Space Wolves
- Imperial Fists (you would think House Taranis would be buddies with the other siege warfare Legion, not to mention their close proximity to Mars during their defense of Terra)
- Night Lords
- Blood Angels
- World Eaters (they eat up any technology they find, and those they can't swallow, they break. Damn Khorne worshippers)
- Ultramarines (basically House Terryn)
- Death Guard (well, they're also obsessed with the death of flesh)
- Thousand Sons (psychic powers and robots don't match...cough Castellax-Achea...cough)
- Word Bearers (freaking Traitors)
- Alpha Legion (don't know what they're thinking)
- Imperial Army
- - Solar Auxillia: A great idea if you need bodies on the table, especially since you're lacking a lot of models whenever you play Knights. Claiming Objectives would be easier with them.
- - Imperial Militia and Cults: Very flexible allies with a wide selection. You can make pseudo-Skitarii with a combination of Survivors of the Dark Age and Cyber Augmented! Throw in lots of cheap, expendable soldiers as bodies, if that's your fancy, the way you spam Solar Auxillia Lasrifle sections, and again, tanks! They also have a Malcador if that's what you want.
TACTICAL DISCUSSION
Er...I don't think I'm qualified to talk about this. I mean, I did okay with a pure Questoris Knight Crusade army during the Horus Heresy campaigns I participated in, and I can tell you one thing. If your opponent isn't prepared, it'll be one-sided. If your opponent is prepared, then it won't be one-sided. You just need to adjust the facings of your Knights to make sure they tank the most devastating hits on their ion shields. Be careful of Strength D weapons, they can really ruin your day, but unless your opponent rolls 6s on the Destroyer table, which is unlikely, don't be overly afraid of them.
Er...I don't think I'm qualified to talk about this. I mean, I did okay with a pure Questoris Knight Crusade army during the Horus Heresy campaigns I participated in, and I can tell you one thing. If your opponent isn't prepared, it'll be one-sided. If your opponent is prepared, then it won't be one-sided. You just need to adjust the facings of your Knights to make sure they tank the most devastating hits on their ion shields. Be careful of Strength D weapons, they can really ruin your day, but unless your opponent rolls 6s on the Destroyer table, which is unlikely, don't be overly afraid of them.
Against other vehicles, Knights excel in close combat. Between Strength D close combat weapons and Stomps, you should have no trouble clearing tanks and infantry. Be careful of Terminators with power fists and armorbane weapons. And one thing you must beware of - haywire. If your opponent is spamming haywire, keep your Knights far away from them or you'll have a really bad day. You'll realize that 6 hull points aren't enough, especially against haywire.
Make no mistake, Knights are incredibly strong in 30K, but they are by no means invincible. Fellblades, Shadowswords, Fellglaives, even Titans (Warhound Titans) and other Knights exist in great numbers during the Heresy, and a single Primarch or Terminator squad with armorbane weapons can ruin your day. Drop pods filled to the brim with meltaguns and combi-meltas would also be killers, and Iron Havocs and other support squads (basically 30K's version of Devastators) armed with lascannons, missile launchers and Tank Hunter will wreck your Knights, even with ion shield saves. Sometimes it's a good idea to charge them across the table and stomp on them with your titanic feet. Or lock them up in combat so that they can't shoot.
Don't be afraid of Price of Failure. Unless you bring a Titan along with your Knights (you might as well play Apocalypse by then), you don't have to worry about Price of Failure because your Knights don't count. So if your opponent is trying to claim 4 extra victory points for killing 4 of your Knights, nope. That's not how it works. Do remind him that in Blood Feud, he does get extra victory points for destroying Super-heavy walkers, so the game is balanced even with Knights in it.
So that's basically all I have for you guys. Thanks for reading, and if there are any changes I need to make, please let me know.
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