So last week I kind of discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each Imperial Knight in a vacuum. The bigger question is how they work together in the context of an army. As always, check out the Tactics Corner for more great Knight content!
Additionally, if you’re running a pure Imperial Knight army, you need to think about Allies (which I’ll go over next article), as it’s unlikely, and not recommended, to run an army composing of just Knights (much to my chagrin). For the purpose of this article, I’m going to be talking about an army compromising of 3 Imperial Knights, as that is the number required to take one as a Warlord.
The first step to picking your core army is simply to pick your 3 favorite Imperial Knights. I’ve found that it’s best to diversify them, as taking 3 of the same type quickly leads to an imbalanced army. In general, it’s pretty safe to assume that you will be spending around ~1125 points on just this core force. Here are a couple of the variations that I prefer:
Adamantine Lance: 1120
Knight Errant: 370
Knight Paladin: 375
Knight Paladin: 375
This is probably one of the most common ways to run 3 Knights. You have 4 Battle Cannon shots a turn, plus a S9 large blast melta for trying to pop transports. You can mix up the variations, but ultimately, this is the way I prefer to run them. The downside to running an Adamantine Lance is that you honestly can’t protect all the sides of your Knights. Opponents will threaten multiple flanks of your knights and take shots at the sides that aren’t shielded. Since all of your Knights want to be bunched together to get the benefit of the formation, it really makes it much easier to be outmaneuvered. While the Adamantine Lance sounds amazing on paper, it can often be a fool’s folly, leading to a false sense of security. That said, if you’re running 3 Knights, just using the two standard variants, there’s absolutely no reason to not take the Adamantine Lance.
Imperial Knight Detachment: 1125
Cerastus Knight Castigator: 380
Knight Paladin: 375
Knight Errant: 370
This is the formation that I’ve come to prefer lately. It doesn’t get the fancy bonuses from the Adamantine Lance formation, but it does have a lot of utility. The Castigator can pop transports, the Paladin can shred infantry and the Errant can keep heavy armour and terminators at bay. If you have the extra points, you can upgrade the Errant to Gerantius and make the Paladin or Castigator your Warlord, giving you two Seneschals, and even potentially a third if you roll on the ranks table.
Imperial Knight Detachment: 1280
Gerantius: 500
Cerastus Knight Lancer: 400
Cerastus Knight Castigator: 380
Definitely an expensive trio, this detachment can really dish out some punishment. I would make the Lancer your Warlord so that he’s striking with WS5 and his non-twin-linked gun is hitting on 2’s, not to mention gaining a 4++ save in close combat. Since Gerantius can shoot and run, and the Cerastus Knights both run 3D6″, you can really close the gap quite quickly. The Castigator brings a bit extra ranged firepower, helping Gerantius wreck transports on the way in.
All photo credit is to Pascal with his beautifully painted Hawkshroud Imperial Knights… and his little dog too.
aaargh, no picture of fuzzypopp in this article noooo:)
Haha, sorry! You can see him on TDA though. 😛
I agree on the lancer being the best one to make a warlord. He is also the one that goes hunting over super heavies and so that WS 5 as well as giving them -1 to hit means that he will be much more survivable.
Castigator with the FAQ from forgeworld(via e-mail) is now mandatory in all of my lists. Mainly because I bought that one, but also because it fills a crucial role in my army(also being a LOW means I can get around some force org limitations)
I actually don’t think he’s the best warlord, lol. I think if you’re using him with a Castigator, he’s a better warlord (since Gerantius is already a senseschal). Typically I prefer the Errant as my warlord, Lancers tend to die frequently as they only have use within melta range of the enemy.
Nice read again!
Thanks again! Reece posted this a bit faster than I expected!
Since I refuse to jump on the IK train, or buy an eldar army, my current plan is to come to the LVO with no other intentions besides having fun and hopefully knocking of a knight player. I wonder how much las I can get into a 1750 list.
Melta bombs. Knights hate melta bombs :).
What do you think about the Knight Archeron?
That Template sounds absolutly brutal and loos like the ultimate cover dependent deathstar killer. Anything that comes close will get anhilated when not having a 2+ save. For me this guy seems to be a fantastic Knight to support another knight like the Paladin or Errant which fear big mobs of haywire or meltabombs. I will try to run a Castigor and this new one next time.
Cool, I look forward to reading about it. Any chance of making a video battle report?
I tend to agree that the Lance formation is something of a trap, but it’s still viable. The key to making it useful is using your other Knights to create cover for each other. This means you’ll be getting an Invul on one facing and Cover on 2 (or more) other facings. Positioned properly – and depending on the terrain – You should be able to get some type of save on nearly everything fired at you.
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Downloads/Product/PDF/A/Acheron.pdf
So will the Acheron be legal at LVO/BAO? Has a hellstorm template
Yeah, it isn’t torrent so it’s good. It’s mega expensive, too.
Interested to get your thoughts on the flamer knight.
Are double CADs going to be allowed at the LVO?