Forge World Knights Index

 

Whoops, I forgot to write about the Forge World Knights even though the Index has been available for download for a while now. My bad. Anyway, let's get to it!

We shall first begin with the Acastus Knight Asterius, which has a whooping 30 wounds and Toughness 13 and a 2+ save. He has the usual volkite culverins with devastating wounds, a Karacnos mortar battery that's 2+ anti-infantry and ignores cover. But everyone's interested in the twin conversion beam cannons, which are twin-linked, 48" range, 3 attacks each, Strength 16 AP -2 Damage 6, and has Sustained Hits D3. The new conversion rule simply gives you Critical Hits on a 4+ when the target is more than 24" away, which means you'll be getting D3 extra hits for each hit roll of a 4+. The Knight Asterius has no Bondsman abilities, but instead improves his Strength and Damage of his attacks against vehicles by 1, and 2 if you're shooting fortifications. He's the most expensive Knight available at 730 points.

The Acastus Knight Porphyrion is almost the same, but with a Helios Defense missiles instead of a Karacnos mortar battery, which you can swap for an Ironstorm rocket pod that's better than the Questoris version because it's D6+6 hits, and the autocannons that you can swap for lascannons. The twin magma lascannons are twin-linked (which means reroll wound rolls), Strength 18, AP-4, Damage D6+6. They are D6 attacks each, with blast. He gets Lethal Hits for ranged weapons if he stays still, but no Bondsman abilities. He's almost 100 points cheaper at 645 points, which is bewildering. But okay. Is there something I'm missing?

The Cerastus Knight Lancer is awesome now, and Cerastus Knights have 25 wounds now. The Knight Lancer has a 4++ invulnerable save. That's it. Not just in close combat, but from ranged attacks as well. Cool! His shock lance isn't good at shooting, with Strength 6 AP0, so don't expect it to do much against Space Marines and Marine equivalents. But you want him in melee, where he'll dish out 5 attacks at Strength 20 AP -3 Damage 8 or 10 attacks at Strength 10 AP -2 Damage 3, both at WS2+. Wow. Just wow. He has a Bondsman ability that allows Armigers to advance and charge, and his own bonus is using Tank Shock Stratagems for free every time he charges, even if you've already used it, which means you can deal a bunch of mortal wounds every time you charge. Damn, son. He's pricey, though, at 430 points, putting him above all the Questoris and Cerastus chassis, but just below the Dominus (and Acastus, obviously).

The Cerastus Knight Castigator is a budget Knight Warden that has a twin-linked bolt cannon that fires 18 Strength 6 AP-2 shots. Wow. He gives Armigers Sustained Hits 1 and a bonus AP -1 for their ranged weapons too, instead of -1 Damage, while he himself will debuff a non-vehicle and non-monster enemy target, giving them a -1 to shoot or fight if they've been shot by the Castigator. His Tempest Warblade is pretty much identical to the Reaper chainsword, I think. He's 425 points, which makes him the second-most expensive Cerastus Knight, but for good reason.

As for the Cerastus Knight Acheron, he has a lesser version of the Knight Valiant's flamethrower, with the only difference being his 2D6 shots versus the 3D6 from the triple barreled conflagration cannon. Reaper chainfist is exactly the same as Reaper chainsword and Tempest Warblade, move along. He gives the Armigers Fear or something, so anything locked in combat with the Armigers will be forced to take battle shock tests at the beginning of the fight phase, with a -1 debuff. Hmm. Also, any enemy hit by his flamethrower can never have the benefit of cover. Not bad. He costs 385 points, so he's not too expensive.

The Cerastus Knight Atrapos is interesting. His Atrapos lascutter is now a las-impulsor, going up to 36" or 24", depending on your intensity, and with identical Strength, AP and Damage. The Graviton Singularity Cannon has been reworked too, and is now 24", and while he can shoot D3 Strength 16 AP -4 Damage D6+1 attacks that are blast, he can choose to have the Hazardous option, which...only grants him Devastating Wounds. Pass. In melee, the Atrapos lascutter can either make 12 Strength 7 AP -1 Damage 2 attacks, or 6 Strength 14 AP -3 Damage 4 attacks. Armigers get to reroll hit and wound rolls against Titanic or Towering enemies, while the Knight Atrapos himself adds 1 to his hit rolls whenever he targets Monsters or Vehicles...and also 1 to his wound rolls when targeting Titanic or Towering enemies. Whoa! He's cheaper now at 385 points, which is...weird. But I'm not a balance expert, so...yeah. Whatever.

The Questoris Knight Magaera gives an Armiger Ignores Cover. Yay. His plasma-fusil is forever supercharged without Hazardous, and it's rapid fire 2 too! Twin rad cleansers are now anti-infantry 2+. The Lightning Cannon has been nerfed a little, now Strength 9 AP 0 Damage 2, but 12 attacks with Sustained Hits 2 makes it very juicy. You can give him a Hekaton siege claw that's pretty much the Knight Lancer's shock lance, so...okay. Less attacks at 4 and 8, and he only hits on WS3+, though. He also regains D3 wounds during each of your command phase. He's affordable at 390 points. Cool!

The Questoris Knight Styrix also gives an Armiger Ignores Cover and has the same Hekaton siege claw option. What's different? Hmm, his graviton crusher that's anti-vehicle 2+, and his Strength 12 AP 0 Damage 3 Volkite chierovile that spits out 9 shots now, with Devastating Wounds. Tasty. Also, any enemy he shoots his graviton crusher at gets -2 to their Move, Advance and Charge. Oof. He's pretty pricey at 425 points, which is...weird. Why? Mortal wounds with Devastating Wounds? The -2 debuff to Move, Charge and Advance?

The Armiger Moirax is interesting. They are the same as the normal Armigers, but they cost 170 points for some reason, way more than the 145-point Armiger Helverin, even with their exotic guns. Plus they don't have a carapace weapon and have identical stats and invulnerable saves. I guess they get to Heroically Intervene for free? Which isn't what you want unless you have a siege claw that's 4 attacks, Strength 12 AP-3 Damage D6+2, but you really want the guns because there's no sweep option. The conversion beam cannon seems cool, and now you can double up on it. It's only 1 attack each, though, with a 24" range, but is Strength 10 AP -2 Damage 3 Sustained Hits D3, but you get Critical Hits on 4+ when you're more than 12" away from your target.

The Graviton Pulsar is now Anti-vehicle 2+. Nice. Still D6 attacks, not much change, but now only AP -1. The Lightning locks have been nerfed, and though they are Strengh 8 now, they are AP0, but they keep Sustained Hits 2. Still 6 attacks. The volkite veuglaires have been nerfed to 4 attacks each, ugh. They've been buffed to Strength 8, but are AP 0, still Damage 2 with Devastating Wounds. Their siege claws come with a rad-cleanser that's anti-infantry 2+. You can swap for any combination of weapons - even dual siege claws (which gives them 8 attacks but not twin-linked, I guess?). They are very interesting options and provide weapons that the Armiger Helverin doesn't have.

But the Armiger Helverin has 4 Strength 9 AP -1 Damage 3 attacks per autocannon. If you're paying 25 points more, I'm not sure if getting 4 Strength 8 AP0 Damage 2 (even if you multiply it by 2) is worth it, despite Devastating Wounds. Is Devastating Wounds worth 25 points? Or 12 lightning lock hits? Probably that can potentially go up to 16 with Sustained Hits 2, so maybe it's worth paying 25 points for those 8 extra attacks? That said, you might as well go with the conversion beam cannons and graviton pulsars, but then again, the Armiger Warglaive has something similar with his thermal spear? I guess only the lightning locks are worth it...maybe. We'll see.

Anyway, that's all I can say regarding the Forge World index. Have fun, fellow nobles!

Imperial Knights Index

Hello, my fellow nobles! So the index has been out for a few days. Unfortunately, I have started working every weekday from 8.30am to 5.30pm (and alternate Saturdays, though those are half days) at a warehouse, plus I work on my dissertation when I return home in the evenings, so...I couldn't get much Warhammer 40,000 hobbies done. Not that it matters because all of my Warhammer 40,000 stuff is in Minneapolis, and I'm in Singapore. Need to earn some money because it's very likely that I won't have a job during the spring semester and I need...savings to get me through that period.

A PhD is a lot harder than I thought. Oh, well.

Anyway, enough about that. I finally finished my dissertation draft, so I'll take this time as a breather to write on Warhammer 40,000...and of course, I'll be writing about Knights. Yay. Imperial Knights, of course. What else?

We've already seen the Code Chilvaric ability from Warhammer Community, so there's not much to go over here. Other Knight Army Rules include Bondsman Abilities, where Titanic Knights grant an ability to an Armiger within 12". They also have the super-heavy walker rule, which allows them to move over non-Titanic models and terrain features that are shorter than 4" in height. No more falling back and shooting, though, which kind of sucks. I don't think we can fall back and charge either, if I'm not mistaken. Oof.

There's a Freeblade ability that allows you to take 1 Titanic Knight or up to 3 Armigers for any Imperium army. However, they cannot be your Warlord and they cannot take Enhancements. Fair.

Our detachment is Noble Lance and we are Indomitable Heroes. Again, Warhammer Community has already covered this, so yay.

We also have 5 Enhancements.

Revered Knight (Aura): Knights within 6" of the bearer gets +1 to their Leadership, and the aura expands to 12" if you're Honored. The cheapest enhancement at 20 points.

Mysterious Guardian: Gives the bearer Deep Strike, allowing him to teleport once per battle at the end of your opponent's turn if he's not in melee with an enemy and arrive in your next movement phase more than 9" away from all enemy models. Be careful not to use the Deep Strike ability on your last battle round because the Knight will count as Destroyed if he's not on the battlefield when the game ends. 35 points.

Mythic Hero: Questoris models only, and allows you to buff a second Armiger with Bondsman abilities. 25 points, and totally worth it.

Banner of Macharius Triumphant: Any objective marker the bearer controls remains under your control for the rest of the game even if your Knight moves away or is destroyed, until your opponent steals it, of course. 30 points.

Unyielding Paragon: Reduce armor penetration of attacks targeting the banner by 1, but only on Questoris. The most expensive upgrade at 40 points. Wow.

Stratagems

Well, we already know Shoulder the Burden and Trophy Claim.

Rotate Ion Shields is back at 1CP, and it gives your Knights a 4++ invulnerable save against shooting attacks.

Thunderstomp is 1CP and while your Knight can't target monster or vehicle models during the fight phase, his melee weapons gain Devastating Wounds.

Squires' Duty is 1CP, and gives up to 2 Armigers +1 Strength and AP against a single enemy. If you are Honored, then they get +1 Damage as well. Whoa.

Valiant Last Stand costs 1CP and is your fight on death stratagem before you blow up. When you fight, you're assumed to have 1 wound remaining, unless you're Honored, then you count as having full wounds.

Unit Datasheets

You can look at them yourself, but I'll sum up the important points.

Armiger Helverin costs 145 points each, and get Anti-Fly 2+ if he's in your deployment zone or within range of an objective marker. Armiger autocannons are Strength 9 now, but retains AP-1 and Damage 3. 48" range, with 4 attacks each instead of the old 2D3.

Armiger Warglaive costs 140 points each, and we already know he gets Sustained Hits 1 for his melee weapons whenever he charges. Thermal spear has been nerfed to 24" range, but Strength 12 AP-4 and melta 4 is...wow. Reaper chain-cleaver is now Strength 8 and 10 respectively, but the sweep attack is now Damage 1.

Knight Paladin has his battle cannons nerfed to AP -1 but Strength is up to 10, and he appears to have more shots in rapid-fire range now. He can give an Armiger Lethal Hits and Lance, while he himself can reroll one hit roll, one wound roll or one saving throw once per phase. He costs 390 points.

Knight Errant has a 24" Strength 12 thermal cannon with melta 6 now. Holy...anyway, he can give an Armiger re-rolls for advance rolls, and they have assault for their ranged weapons. On the other hand, he'll get a +1 to hit rolls targeting closest enemy models for his shooting attacks. He's the cheapest Titanic at 375 points, along with the Preceptor.

Knight Gallant preserves his WS 2+, and instead of the 4/12 and 4/8 attacks for the Reaper chainsword and Thunderstrike gauntlet respectively that the other Questoris Knights have, his number of attacks have been bumped up to 6/18 and 6/12. Awesome. He buffs an Armiger with re-roll charges and re-roll hit rolls in melee. Meanwhile he gets the Cerastus Knight Lancer's -1 to hit in melee. Damn. He's a bit pricier now at 400 points, though, but he's clearly a monster in close combat.

Knight Warden is probably what everyone is eying right now because he gives an Armiger -1 damage. Yeah, I'm not kidding. He himself gets Devastating Wounds for shooting against non-Monsters and non-Vehicles, with his Avenger Gatling cannon spitting out 18 Strength 6 AP -2 Damage 2 shots. Wow. He is pretty expensive at 420 points, though.

Knight Crusader buffs an Armiger with +1 to hit rolls in shooting. He himself gets Sustained Hits 1 whenever whenever he doesn't move. Uh, okay. Hilariously enough, he's cheaper than the Knight Warden at 415 points. Titanic Feet remains nerfed, now 4 attacks at Strength 8 AP-1 Damage 2.

Knight Preceptor buffs an Armiger's Leadership by 1 and Objective Control by 2, and he gets re-roll all hit rolls against a single unit from your opponent's army. His las-impulsor has been slightly nerfed, and though it's still Strength 14 with Damage 4, it's now AP -3. Either that, or Strength 7 AP -1 Damage 2. Well, the Strength is buffed at least. Speaking of which, the Stormspear rocket pod is still Strength 8 and remains unchanged, while the Ironstorm missile pod got hit by the nerfbat and is Strength 5 AP0 Damage 1. At least it's D6+1 shots now. I already mentioned that the Preceptor is the cheapest Titanic along with the Errant at 375 points, so yeah.

Knight Castellan gives an Armiger within 6" cover with his Ion Aegis. Cool? His shooting attacks can re-roll damage rolls of 1 against Monsters and Vehicles, which isn't very useful. His volcano lance is now Strength 18 and Damage D6+8, though, and retaining AP -5 and D3 attacks. Ouch. Plasma decimator remains mostly unchanged, but is now D6+3 instead of 2D6. Ouch. Twin siegebreaker cannons are now twin-linked, D6 attacks, Strength 6 AP0 and Damage 1. Yeah, nerfed. Still blast. Shieldbreaker missiles are no longer one-use (is there a mistake somewhere?), and are 1 attack, Strength 12, AP-6 Damage D6+1 with Anti-Titanic 4+ and Devastating Wounds. Unlike the Crusader who has WS3+, the Dominus Knights still only get WS4+. He's much cheaper now at 495 points. I kid you not. So there's a reason why they nerfed his weapons, huh?

Knight Valiant shares the same Ion Aegis as Knight Castellan, but he himself forces one enemy unit that he hit with a shooting attack to take a battle-shock test. Conflagration cannon is now up to Strength 8, but AP-1, and is still 3D6, Torrent, Ignores Cover and Damage 2. I don't think I need to talk about the Thundercoil Harpoon.

He costs 490 points, just 5 less than the Knight Castellan. In case you're wondering.

Canix Rex? Who? Oh. Named Characters. You can just check him out on Warhammer Community, but he costs 405 points. I kid you not. If you're running Freeblades, you might as well take him. He has Sustained Hits on everything, and he counts 5+ as Critical Hits, so...do the math yourself.

Anyway, that's all for the Imperial Knight Index. It's meant to be a summary in case for some reason you couldn't or didn't want to download the Index from Warhammer Community. Also, I've put the points together, so you don't have to flip from the Index to the Munitorum Field Manual. I hope this helps, but I doubt there's anyone reading my blog, so sometimes I don't know why I bother. Maybe because I'm just doing it out of passion for my own Warhammer 40,000 hobby. Speaking of which, I can't wait to try out the Knights in 10th edition, though it'll have to wait until September or the very end of August at the earliest. I want to run a Crusade! And there's still Adeptus Titanicus, though I usually just run them concurrently anyway. We'll see.

Till then!

Ciaphas Cain is back!

Ciaphas Cain is back! Woohoo! Check out the news on Warhammer Community!

Looks like a new novel that involves a forge world and Adeptus Mechanicus forces, like Skitarii, going rogue.

Nice.

Very interesting. I can't wait to read it! Also, his short stories are collected in an anthology if you're interested

It also includes Old Soldiers Never Die, which is hilarious! It's pretty much a zombie movie...on another planet. With Ciaphas as the protagonist, along with his trusty sidekick, Jurgen. Yeah.

Oh, I just realized Jurgen has the same name as Jurgen Klopp. What are the odds?