For this article, though, we'll go over in more detail on each of the Knight chassis, the lore behind them, and probably when they were first introduced. I'll be doing the modern versions because I don't really have the old White Dwarf magazines on hand, and even #126 in 1990 doesn't really give much details about the Knight chassis themselves, aside from what they are armed with. I will add what I can, depending on what I find on the noosphere, though.
We begin with the ubiquitous and most common chassis - the Questoris pattern. When the modern Imperial Knight codex was first launched in 2014, along with the miniatures, we had a plastic kit that allowed us to assemble only the Errant and Paladin variants. This was also the very first Warhammer 40,000 miniature I ever bought, and Knights thus became my first ever army for the tabletop. Just look at them. Incredible!
I'll be collating information from the 6th, 7th, 8th edition codexes (they cut out most of the lore and individual information from 9th edition), as well as from the Black Books of the Horus Heresy. Oh, and the Crusade Imperialis Army List and Liber Mechanicum as well.
Questoris Class Knights
The Questoris pattern is the most common Knight armor mark, and the noble scions of Knight Households often reconfigure their suits in a myriad ways with weapon options and hull augments. The different patterns were given specific names to represent their traditions, lineages and fighting styles.
Errant
Interestingly enough, unlike the Paladin, the first version of the Knight Errant appeared not in 1990, but in December 1994, in White Dwarf #180. They were clearly differentiated from the Paladin by sporting a melta weapon and a Thunderstrike gauntlet, which distinguished them from the battle cannon and reaper chainsword wielding Paladin. You'll notice that in terms of chassis, they are similar, with a couple of slight differences (like the groin guard and the hunched carapace), along with the weapons, but yeah, this is where the Errant first came into their own as a specialized Knight for close-ranged anti-armor, as opposed to the more generalist Paladin.
He was also given a "command" variant, so your HQ or commander or leader or Character to lead your Knight army. This was in March 1995, in White Dwarf #182. Not much difference, really, other than they stuck a flag or banner or standard on his back.
During the Horus Heresy, they aren't much different, but they are often employed to hunt down and destroy enemy super-heavy armor or the most monstrous of xenos creatures, and are piloted by the more aggressive scions. Apparently, they have a high casualty rate because only the most skilled survive for long. Ouch.
Paladin
The first iteration of the Knight Paladin appeared in the 1990 White Dwarf #126 article, and he's armed with a close combat weapon, the already ubiquitous battle cannon...and a shock lance, which if you remember from my retrospective Imperial Knight article, is that weird visor-mounted weapon that allows Knights to "kill with a glance" or something. Basically shoots lightning, heh. But yeah, you can see the hunched, almost beetle-back design, as well as the battle cannon and reaper chainsword that will eventually make it to the modern design.
You'll notice that in the first picture, they have a thermal cannon. Well, they decided to solidify the design in December 1994, in White Dwarf #180 and distinguishing the Knight Paladin from the Knight Errant, to give the weapons more individuality.
And thus, the Knight Paladin is the archetypical Imperial Knight able to fulfill many battlefield roles, and armed with a battle cannon and a reaper chainsword. They no longer sport the thunderstrike gauntlet, which would instead go to the Knight Errant. Like the Errant, the Paladin also received a Command variant to lead your Knight army, but also like him, it's basically sticking a flag on his back.
The Knight Paladin has a flexible battlefield role, his long ranged battle cannon providing fire support from afar, but also capable of fighting in close quarters with his reaper chainsword. He excels in both anti-armor and artillery roles, as well as close assault.
During the Horus Heresy, they are known for their rugged dependability and the versatility of their weapons array. They're little different from the ancient war machines used by the first Long March colonists, the only difference being hand-forged and intricately embossed armor plating. Apparently, because they have longer ranged weapons, scions of Paladin Knights survive longer and have a long lineage.
Then in 2015, we had a new, updated plastic kit that added a single new sprue, allowing us to assemble the Avenger gatling cannon, Thunderstrike gauntlet and carapace weapons - Ironstorm missile pod, Stormspear rocket pod and Icarus twin autocannons - for our Knights. This also added three "new" classes and expanded our army roster (through artificial means, I might add - for all intents and purposes, they're the same unit, just...different weapons). This is also the time when magnetization of Knights came into full force, allowing you to swap weapons to deploy whatever pattern you want. Yay.
The Knight Warden was unusual in the original 1990 White Dwarf article in that it wasn't a different variant of the Knight Paladin, but a totally different design. There's even a variant where he's mounted on treads like a tank. Weird. Well, back then, he's armed with a battle cannon and mult-lasers, but you can see the carapace missile pod returning in the modern version. Other than that, he looks a bit, uh, chunky. Kind of cute, actually. But if you recall from my previous retrospective article, his role is more to guard the Drovers and the land of the Knight worlds, and not exactly a frontline fighter.
The Knight Warden is armed with an Avenger gatling cannon that also has a built-in heavy flamer, making him ideal for anti-infantry roles, though he can also perform well against light vehicles. Like the Knight Errant, the Knight Warden usually engages enemies at close quarters.
Developed from the ubiquitous Questoris chassis, the Warden variant is well-suited to hunting deadly prey like the macro-predatory fauna in the colossal forests and jungles on Knight Worlds or monstrous horrors that feed on the House's livestock. There's a nod to the old lore in the 1990 White Dwarf issue where Wardens are piloted by steady scions of proven mettle and trusted by their House's masters. This allowed them to be adept in xenocidal expeditions and in operating in the relatively tight confines of layered fortifications and hive city roadways.
Gallant
The Knight Gallant is usually piloted by the most reckless and combative of nobles, equipped exclusively for close-ranged combat. Some even eschew the hull mounted heavy stubber for a meltagun, making them even more close ranged. Aside from optional carapace weapons, they sport both the reaper chainsword and thunderstrike gauntlet, which in Crunch terms gives you a bonus melee attack for dual-wielding (and WS 2+ from 8th edition onward).
However, the Questoris Knight Gallant is seen as inferior to the far swifter Cerastus Knight armors, which are also close assault specialists. Given their complete lack of an invulnerable save in close combat, I'd say that's...true.
Crusader
Like the Errant, the Crusader first showed up in the 1994 White Dwarf #180 issue, and interestingly enough, you can see that they are pretty much a dedicated ranged unit with no close combat weapons. Apparently, they are armed with twin lascannons and a long ranged macro cannon capable of destroying armor from afar, but the White Dwarf issue doesn't actually specify their armaments. Not that I can find, anyway. It's probably in the Epic: Titan Legions rulebook, I guess. But you can see why he's mentioned as a ponderous heavy weapons platform in the 2014 Imperial Knight Companion before they retconned him as a Questoris chassis with two arm-mounted ranged weapons.
The Knight Crusader used to be a separate Knight class. Back then, I don't think the term "Questoris" ever came into play in the modern 41st millennium, and was instead reserved solely for Horus Heresy fluff, especially in the fluff and black books, to differentiate them from Forge World's resin Cerastus Knights. However, when the 7th edition codex dropped in 2015, they retconned the Knight Crusader from a supposedly heavy and ponderous guns platform to a Questoris Knight chassis armed with two arm-mounted ranged weapons - the Avenger gatling cannon and the thermal cannon, which can be swapped for the longer-ranged rapid-fire battle cannon. I mean, they are still technically a heavy guns platform, so the old lore wasn't exactly lying, but they definitely aren't slower and more ponderous, or more heavily armored, than their other Questoris cousins. So definitely a retcon.
Apparently, they only became widespread during the Great Crusade because of the necessity of engaging alien armored forces and the technological prowess of deviant and renegade human factions. A mobile weapons platform, the configurations pairing the Avenger gatling cannon and thermal cannon provide directed and close-ranged fire support to break onrushing armored advances, often serving on the flanks of their lance formations. They are piloted by veteran warriors of long service, those who prioritize the protection of their comrades and the attainment of strategic objectives.
As said, these were the most common patterns fielded by the Knight Houses of the Questoris Familia. During the Horus Heresy, things were almost identical. Horus Heresy book 3: Extermination borrows from both the 6th edition Imperial Knight codex and the Imperial Knight Companion when talking about the chassis. We have a brief explanation about them predating both the Imperium and the Mechanicum, making use of mind-impulse systems. They continue to be replicated, manufactured and maintained by Standard Template Constructs. Nearly all Knight Households, known formally as the Questoris Familia (apparently this is a Horus Heresy term and doesn't show up in modern 40K lore), and Knight Worlds have ties of fealty to the Mechanicum, but their feudal dynasties retain high degrees of political and military independence.
The most common patterns, of course, are the Knight Paladin and the Knight Errant. Because back in 2014, this was the only plastic kit available. With the new plastic kit in 2015, suddenly the other configurations became just as common. Gotta love these retcons.
However, there are a couple more Questoris patterns that are considered more esoteric and extremely rare, especially they are largely fielded by Mechanicum-indentured Knight Houses. The Mechanicum are the only ones who possess access to such lost, sophisticated technology. Housing relic devices such as dedicated repair autosimulacra and ionic flare shields, the strain placed upon their atomantic reactors end up causing more catastrophic internal explosions. So...that's why you have overtaxed reactors.
Anyway, the Mechanicum Questoris Knight Magaera and Styrix patterns were released by Forge World near the end of 2014, if I remember correctly. They had rules in Horus Heresy 4: Extermination, published in November 2014, along with rules on how to field a Questoris Knight Crusade army. At the same time, the hybrid resin-plastic models were sold on Forge World. They make use of plastic components from the original Questoris Knight kit, and combine it with resin parts for the more esoteric weaponry and Mechanicum, Heresy-styled plating.
Magaera
The first of this "Mechanicum styled" Knights is the Questoris Knight Magaera, most often used as shock assault units, breaching heavily defended enemy positions while shrugging off heavy weapons fire and self-repairing even devastating weapon strikes in a few minutes. They are armed with a lightning cannon that uses focused electro-magnetic beams to vaporize infantry and blast apart armor. They also have siege claws that breach even the strongest enemy fortifications.
Styrix
The Questoris Knight Styrix is meticulously designed to efficiently eradicate infantry formations and supporting vehicles. His graviton gun pins targets in place while scything volkite beams and flesh-boiling rad-cleansers wipe them out. The volkite weapon is a volkite chieorovile, which allows him to punch through even armored tanks with ease, though it has been somewhat nerfed in Horus Heresy 2.0 because apparently we can't be slaughtering Legiones Astartes in an era that's known for them.
2018 also saw the release of yet another updated plastic kit, which added a whole new sprue for the las-impulsor and the pilot and his Throne Mechanicum (allowing you to build Sir Hekhtur Cerberan as well). Thus, the Questoris Knight Preceptor was an all-new unit that also apparently gave you bonuses when fielding him alongside Armigers.
Preceptor
The Questoris Knight Preceptor is designed for close-ranged combat, armed with a reaper chainsword or thunderstrike gauntlet that is paired with a las-impulsor. The las-impulsor is a laser cannon that cut off even Titan's limbs or penetrate enemy fortresses in a single concentrated salvo. Capacitor shrines build up energy before unleashing a devastating volley of laser blasts that can strip shields and punch through thick armor or chitin.
He is piloted by grizzled veterans in charge of training squires how to pilot Knights, most commonly Bondsmen piloting Armigers before these young lads are elevated in rank to pilot bigger Knights.
By the way, we have a new box for the plastic Questoris Knight. I think this was the 10th edition reboxing, released recently in 2023.
Cerastus Class Knights
You must be wondering why I'm doing Cerastus class next instead of the Armigers. Well, that's because the Cerastus class was the next range to be released in 2014, after the plastic kits. They had their resin kits, and was Forge World's expansion of the Knight range, and they existed prior to the Armigers. So yeah.
The Cerastus class is a highly sophisticated chassis whose speed and agility far exceeds the Questoris pattern. The Cerastus type Knights are designed solely for war instead of protectors like the Questoris chassis, and as tools of destruction.
Lancer
The original Knight Lancer was...kind of odd. First, you had the bird-shaped Knight, but there was also the humanoid walking guy with normal legs, helm and a lascannon for an arm. He has undergone the most transformation, with only the "shock lance" being preserved, but even that was altered tremendously. He used to sport a lascannon and multi-laser too, as you can see mounted on the back of the bird-like walker, but yeah. Very...uh, interesting designs.
The Knight Lancer would receive an updated and less goofy design in January 1995, in the White Dwarf #181 issue, and they are expanded upon. They are a bit taller than the Paladin and the Errant, and like the Paladin, he's armed with a powerful battle cannon. There are also details about how the Lancer is built for speed, allowing him to outflank the enemy, and he also carries a special upgraded shock lance known as a power lance. Well, he's a Lancer, after all, so...yeah. Apparently, the power lance blasts the enemy with a short-ranged burst of energy before he charges in for the kill.
We also get a command variant of the Lancer in March 1995, like the Errant and Paladin. Again, he just gets a flag or standard stuck onto his back.
There's also an Imperial Baron version who not only has a shock lance and battle cannon, he also has a power gauntlet. I don't think he's meant to be a Lancer, and more of his own thing, but I'll just put him here because he's the closest thing to the Baron. The Baron, you'll notice, basically becomes the rank for high-ranking Knight scions in the Questoris Familia, so he is no longer a unique chassis, but just a noble Household rank. Or Baroness, if she's female.
The Cerastus Knight Lancer is the first and most famous. Though they were originally "one of the more uncommon" pattern, this was retconned later (especially during the Adeptus Titanicus game, where they became the most common and numerous of Cerastus patterns). A callback to the old Knight Lancer in the White Dwarf issue in 1990, they have been revisited and redesigned as an entirely close assault dedicated Knight. First released in early 2014, with his rules in Horus Heresy book 3: Extermination (May 2014) and also in Horus Heresy 4: Conquest (November 2014), his resin model was also made available at the same time. Unlike the Questoris Knight Styrix and Questoris Knight Magaera, the Cerastus Knights are completely resin (which was a pain to assemble, ugh).
Fielded by the Questoris Familia, the Cerastus Knight Lancer is a first strike weapon, attuned to rapid assault tactics and lethal outflanking charges. His potent ion gauntlet and shock lance are perfectly suited to battling the foe face to face, and his speed and ferocity are favored by highly aggressive scions. His shield also gives him an invulnerable save in close combat, making him unique when compared to the other Knight patterns. Until you realize that the Knight Styrix, Knight Magaera and Knight Atrapos have invulnerable saves in close combat too, by virtue of their ionic flare shield (8th, 9th and 10th editions only, they're still stuck with ion shields and flare shields in Horus Heresy 2.0, which means no invulnerable save for them in melee).
The Cerastus Knights used to be available only in resin, but 2023 changed all that. Announced in April 2023, the plastic kit of the Cerastus Knight Lancer was released in summer 2023 (July). This made it a lot easier and more affordable for both Horus Heresy and 10th edition players to assemble a Cerastus Knight. Phew. I enjoyed it so much more than the hair-tearing attempts with the resin kit that I ended up purchasing a second box just to do it all over again.
Castigator
The Cerastus Knight Castigator is armed with the fearsome castigator patterned bolt cannon, which allows him to obliterate infantry formations in a thunderous rain of mass reactive shells and whirling power blades, or taking out light vehicles. Like the scions who pilot Questoris Knight Crusaders, usually warriors of proven mettle pilot the Cerastus Knight Castigator to ensure they conserve their limited stock of ammunition and support their vainglorious kin. The Tempest warblade has Deflagrate, by the way. Even better, if you think his four attacks (five on the Charge) aren't enough, then you can just zap everyone in base contact with him on Initiative 2. That's a Strength 10 AP2 hit on every single one of them, without the need to roll to hit!
Like the Lancer, the Castigator (and Acheron) received the plastic treatment, and they were sold as plastic kits in September 2023.
Acheron
The Cerastus Knight Acheron is a terror weapon deployed for extermination missions, scouring infantry with flame from his Acheron flamestorm cannon and toppling enemy armor and fortifications with his reaper chainfist. Oh, and for more anti-infantry punch, he even has a twin-linked heavy bolter in his reaper chainfist. He is also described as "grim" twice, so I suppose the writers and designers really want to hammer home the whole "grimdark" aspect.
He was first released at the same time as the Castigator, with both the Acheron and Castigator getting rules in Horus Heresy 4: Conquest, and their resin models available in late 2014.
Needless to say, he also received the plastic treatment and was sold around the same time as the Castigator, in September 2023.
Atrapos
The Cerastus Knight Atrapos is one of the rarest and most potent Knights, designed to carry particularly rare and powerful weaponry, and dedicated to the destruction of heretek engines and xenos war machines. Their array of exotic weaponry bring fearsome ruin upon enemy war machines, and scions who pilot these are employed as executioners of enemy Knights and traitor pilots. They are armed with an Atrapos phasecutter (or lascutter, depending on which version you're using) and a graviton singularity cannon. With Macro Extinction Protocols, they carry out anti-Titan or anti-super-heavy duties. The graviton singularity cannon, in particular, used to create this awesome vortex that was Strength D on a roll of a 6, and rolling yet another 6 would guarantee 6+D6 wounds or hull points' worth of damage to the target, with no saves of any kind allowed. Those were good times. My Atrapos once took out a Warhound Titan in that manner, heh. Vortex now is just a Strength 10 AP1 Instant Death and Armorbane hit, which makes it really cool, but no more "no saves allowed" gimmick.
Unlike the other Cerastus Knight models, which were released in 2014, the Cerastus Knight Atrapos was released later in 2016, his resin model first announced by Forge World before his rules appeared officially in Horus Heresy Retribution in February 2016. Unlike the other Knights, he doesn't have a plastic kit...yet.
Acastus Class Knights
The Acastus class was first introduced in Horus Heresy 7: Inferno in March 2017, during the razing of Prospero. This was where the Porphyrion made its first appearance in the lore. Acastus Armors are one of the most heavily armed and armored of all Knight chassis. Extremely rare, they were seen as symbols of favor by the Lords of the Omnissiah's cult, and to the Mechanicum, they represent the double purpose of battlefield supremacy weapon and icon of the Machine God's divinity - a symbol of control and lethal sanction.
Porphyrion
The Acastus Knight Porphyrion is armed with a pair of twin-linked magna lascannons, a pair of autocannons that can be swapped for lascannons, and either an Ironstorm missile pod or a Helios Defence missile pod. Serving as the supreme enforcer of the rule and dominion of a Household over its scions, they are capable of rivaling a Scout class Titan in firepower and armor. However, he completely lacks close combat weapons, which makes him vulnerable to melee attacks. But I don't think anyone cares about that, when he's armed to the teeth. I mean, just look at Adeptus Titanicus - a pair of them can destroy even a Warlord Titan with their magna lascannons.
The size and power of the Porphyrion means that any scion who pilots him will be pushed to his utmost limits of what his single human mind can interface with.
Asterius
The Acastus Knight Asterius was released in June 2019, along with the Moirax. He was originally supposed to be expanded upon in Horus Heresy book 10, which would feature rules for the Dark Mechanicum and the new Knight variants (the Asterius and Moirax), with a lot of grimdark lore. Apparently, the Moirax, for example, is piloted by "brains in jars," with the pilots' brains surgically removed and installed inside the cockpit, in a floating amniotic container. Book 10 was scrapped and never released, for Horus Heresy would move into a new phase and be released as edition 2.0 in 2022, along with a new Age of Darkness boxset and Liber rulebooks. Instead, he receives official rules in Liber Mechanicum, also published in August 2022 (and delayed in North America for some BS reason - it took about 2 months before it arrived in the US). Anyway, the whole grimdark "brain in a jar" thing was never official, so it's safe to pretend that never happened.
Anyway, the Asterius is rarer than even the Porphyrion, his armored hide near impervious to weapons fire. He also wields a pair of twin ancient conversion beam cannons, which are irreplacable relics of lost technology, capable of sundering fortresses and laying low powerful foes in a single blast. These conversion beam cannons are powerful enough to threaten even the colossal engines of the Titan Legions. His massive carapace mounted Karacnos mortar battery can annihilate entire phalanxes of troop formations or saturate ramparts with high-impact explosives, while two torso mounted volkite culverins extinguish infantry targets. Older Knight pilots take advantage of his immense potency for annihilation, but they need strong willpower to control his machine spirit.
Armiger Class Knights
The next class would be the Armigers. Why are they introduced after the Acastus Knights? Well, because the first Armiger class - the Warglaive - first appears in 2018, a year after the publication of Horus Heresy: Inferno and the release of the Acastus Knight Porphyrion resin model. The plastic-resin hybrid Moirax was released in June 2019, a year after the plastic Armiger Warglaive and Armiger Helverin in the 2018 codex.
Armigers are fitted not with Throne Mechanicum but with Helm Mechanicum, which I've already covered in my Retrospective: Imperial Knight article. The Bondsmen who pilot Armigers are the lowest ranked Nobles such as distant relatives and minor offshoots of established bloodlines, or elevated commoners from household guard or planetary militia forces. Some Noble houses maintain specialist sub-orders of favored retainers who are dedicated solely to piloting Armigers.
During the Horus Heresy, the Armiger Knight is a lighter, more agile cousin to the Questoris Knight who often fought alongside their larger condeferates during the Great Crusade. Apparently, their role was to fend off infantry threats who attempt to breach the protective barriers of their ion shields to clamp explosives (meltabombs) directly upon their armored frames.
Warglaive
The Armiger Warglaive was first announced in the Forgebane expansion that was unveiled at the Las Vegas Open and finally released in March 2018. Available as a single pair that supplements the Tech-priest Dominus and his single Skitarii squad, they are pitted against a newly updated Necron Cryptek model, an Immortal squad, a bunch of Lychguard and three Wraiths. The narrative for Forgebane was one of the new plot points for 8th edition, where after the Fall of Cadia and the destruction of its pylons, the Adeptus Mechanicus have been trying to harvest blackstone. Unfortunately, the planets where blackstone is found turn out to be ancient tomb worlds, with the dormant Necrons now reawakening and clashing against the Mechanicus. Two Empires of Metal and technology embroiled in a struggle for supremacy.
Armiger Warglaives are nimble and responsive, and probably based upon the Drovers of the old Imperial Knight lore in 1990. They are armed with reaper chain-cleavers and thermal spears, as well as a meltagun that can be swapped for a heavy stubber if you want a bit of anti-infantry instead of making him solely anti-tank. The lightest class of Imperial Knights, they possess exceptional speed and can outpace most battle tanks and transport vehicles, and usually hunt in packs of two and three. They are designed entirely for close-ranged combat.
Helverin
The Armiger Helverin was announced later, as part of the upcoming 8th edition Imperial Knight codex in May 2018. Fast-moving weapons platforms, they are designed to lay down blistering hails of heavy fire while running rings around the enemy's force. Armed with a pair of long-ranged Armiger autocannons, they are capable of firing hundreds of armor piercing shells per minute, allowing them to swiftly whittle down infantry ranks or shred lightly armored vehicles. They mostly favor carapace heavy stubbers to complement their autocannons, but some field meltaguns because...uh, I guess in case heavy infantry like Terminators get too close to them or something?
Usually, those pilots with a cool nerve and marksman's eye are promoted to piloting Helverins. They guard a Knight Lance's flanks from aircraft and light armor, and perform escort or scout missions. During the Horus Heresy, though, they called the Armiger autocannons Phaeton autocannons instead. I guess someone in the Horus Heresy studio thought it was weird to call them Armiger autocannons, and I agree, Phaeton autocannons sound cooler.
The good news is that Armiger pilots - commoners and non-nobles - who display great valor have a chance to enter Knight Households and be elevated to the rank of scion marshals, allowing them to pilot a Titanic/Super-heavy Knight.
They used to be sold separately, but when the 9th edition codex hit, Games Workshop finally realized how silly it was to sell them separately and reboxed them as a single unit that has weapon options. Yay.
Moirax
The Armiger Knight Moirax is a variant of the Armiger chassis mounting the most lethal weaponry available to its class of Scout Knights. Effective in wars which required the utter eradication of an enemy and salting of the earth of their worlds, they are available mostly to Knight Households indentured to the Mechanicum. Unfortunately, their cockpits are...radioactive, so Armiger Moirax is piloted by weakest noble lines and the most expendable sons. Yikes. I think that's grimdark enough without needing the brain in the jar thing (maybe the authors thought it was a bit too much and reeled it in, while still maintaining some degree of grimdark).
They can be equipped with an array of esoteric weapons, including volkite veuglaires, lightning locks, conversion beam cannons and graviton pulsars. They used to have armored constructs to give them a bit more durability than other Armiger classes, but that's gone now. For close combat, they have a siege claw with an in-built irad cleanser, if you prefer not to give them paired ranged weapons.
Dominus Class Knights
And now we come to the Dominus class Knights, who were first announced in May 2018. They even had this awesome trailer with real live actors too. And a voiceover decreeing the nobility of Imperial Knights. Pretty cool, eh? At the end of the trailer, you'll see all the Dominus Knights and big guns! Heh.
Well, that's not the only trailer. That was just the announcement trailer. That same month (May 2018), we get the reveal trailer.
And that, my friends, was the first unveiling of the Dominus class Knights. To be more precise, the Dominus Knight Castellan.
The Dominus Knights are each powered by two plasma cores or plasma reactors, which supplement their awesome firepower, but also mean bigger detonations when they blow up. Each also sports carapace mounted twin siegebreaker cannons and shieldbreaker missile racks, the former laying down bombardments of heavy ordnance. The latter deals devastating wounds (meaning it punches through invulnerable saves) by disrupting and passing through enemy shields and blowing up heavy armor, enemy Knights and even Titans. They are also each equipped with a pair of twin-linked meltaguns, all the better to smoke both enemy armor and heavy infantry alike in close range.
They can serve as defensive bastions, overcharging their shield capacitors to project their ion shields over nearby allies, such as Imperial Guardsmen or Skitarii Maniples. Uh, I think they used to call this the Ion Aegis, and it was a Stratagem before 10th edition rolled around and deleted it from existence. Should still exist in the lore, though.
Castellan
Believe it or not, the 2018 Imperial Knight codex was not the first appearance of the Knight Castellan. No, they actually first show up in January 1995, in White Dwarf #181. Described as one of the heaviest types of Knights produced by Forge Worlds, he bears increased armor and carries additional firepower in the form of a long-ranged quake cannon and deadly multi-barreled autocannon. Yeah, he's completely different from the modern iteration, but you can see a few...influences here, with the quake cannon basically turning into a volcano lance. I guess the autocannon was changed into the siegebreaker cannons, but I'm not sure. Still pretty cool, though!
The Knight Castellan is an artillery platform that hammers the enemy from extreme range. He has a plasma decimator that bathes swathes of the battlefield in searing energies and disintegrates the enemy in superheated plasma. On the other arm is a volcano lance with massive range and stopping power, capable of beheading even an enemy Titan. Apparently, if several Knights Castellan fire at once, it'd be the equivalent of lance batteries of an Imperial Navy warship.
Valiant
The Knight Valiant makes use of his armor and ion shield to march relentlessly into battle to apply overwhelming firepower at close proximity. His primary armaments are a conflagration cannon and a Thundercoil harpoon, the first being three enormous flamers strapped together that spews forth an inescapable firestorm. The Thundercoil harpoon, on other hand, is a huge spear of adamantium fitted with pneumatic grapnels (meaning they operate by pressurized gas) and attached by thick chains to an electrothaumic generator. Once the harpoon hits its target, the Noble pilot can trigger his generator to send a massive electrical charge into his foe to destroy it completely from the inside out. Brutal.
Oh, and like the Armiger, the Dominus Knights used to be sold separately, which was utterly ridiculous when you want to magnetize them. Fortunately, Games Workshop realized the errors of their ways in early 2022 and reboxed them, adding the sprue for additional weapon options. Too late for me, but whatever.
Fortunately, if you want to magnetize them, you can do so now without having to purchase them separately as you had to do back in 2018! The weapon options are all in the same box now!
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