Continuing my foray into the Lords of War available to the Khorne Daemonkin book – I finish off my batch of reviews with a discussion on the Chaos Knight of Khorne. The rules are still an experimental option from Forgeworld as we currently do not have them printed in any of their rulebooks yet. I really like this corrupted super heavy and think it adds a lot to the KDK army list as a whole. As usual you can read up on more tactics in the Frontline Tactics Corner.
Ever since the Imperial Knight kit came out there was a community desire to have a corrupted counter part. Lucky for us, Forgeworld can quickly turn out an upgrade kit and was finally able to give the Chaos Space Marine players a decent super heavy walker…of doom!! I wish they had more options that felt a bit more chaotic but at least we got something. Still as a whole it is a great update for a very old and beaten down codex. The Chaos Knight is available to all the Chaotic Factions as a Lord of War choice and the big boon is that in the KDK book the Knight gains the Blood for the Blood God! rule and generates Blood Tithe to keep the other squishy units alive or bring more in.
Overview:
The Chaos Knight is only available in the Paladin and Errant forms without the upgraded Carapace weapons available to their Imperial counterparts. It feels a bit lack luster as this came out right before the upgraded Knight/Warden kits were released. I do hope the Chaos Knight gets all the normal Knight upgrades as the Avenger Cannon would be a strong choice for most Chaos Armies. Plus the additional Carapace weapons could easily have Chaotic upgrades like some kind of Sonic weapon, Skull Cannon, etc. As this unit’s rules are not officially printed yet there is always hope FW can throw out some crazy options in the future.
Wargear:
There are 2 Chaos Knight options available. The Knight Paladin and the Knight Errant. Each one has different options for their main cannon. I have found the Paladin to be a better choice for a single Knight while the Errant works great as Knight #3 out of some kind of formation/design in the regular good guy Knights lists.
Paladin
- Rapid Fire Battle Cannon – 72″ S 8 Ap 3 Ordnance 2, Large Blast (5″)
- 2 X Heavy Stubbers – 36″ S 4 Ap 5 Heavy 3
Errant
- Thelma Cannon – 36″ S 9 Ap 1 Heavy, Melta, Large Blast (5″)
- Heavy Stubber – 36″ S 4 Ap 5 Heavy 3
- Foe-Reaper Chainsword – S D Ap 2 Melee, Foe-Reaper – +1 to damage results when fighting MC and GC’s.
- Dirge Caster – This could be a very sneaky trick as you utilize the large base to turn off as much Overwatch as you can depending on how protect the Chaos Knight could be.
You can mark the Knight with all the Chaos Mark options – but this review is about the Mark of Khorne for the KDK and Daemon lists. It gains all the special rules for being a Daemon of Khorne. It has Furious Charge and is a Daemon. You can also give him a FW Legacy of Ruin with the 1st War of Armageddon being the best option as it gives all your Khorne Daemons within 6″ +1 to their Invulnerable save. A 4+ Inv save Knight seems pretty dang good to me!
Special Rules:
- The Chaos Knight is a Super Heavy Walker so it has all the normal options for that – Smash, Strikedown, Move Thruogh Cover, Fear, Hammer of Wrath, Invincible Behemoth, and Relentless.
It is also a Daemon aligned with Khorne as well. This gives him all the rules I talked about above as well as having a 5+ invulnerable save.
- Ion Shield – Just like the Imperial versions a Chaos Knight can throw up his Ionic Shield on a specific side during your opponents shooting phase. The save is a 4+ without any other changes.
The Khorne Knight can reroll the dice for the amount of stomps they do as well as gain d3 attacks on the charge instead of +1 attack. They still Hate Slaanesh as all Khorne Daemons do.
Tactics:
The Knight gives you a powerful tool in a KDK list. He’s mobile, durable, provides good shooting with his cannon to start generating tithe at range, plus he packs the deadly D in melee as well as Stomps, which are a threat to any target on the table. He is vulnerable to certain weapons, such as meltas and haywire, so you cannot simply throw him into the fray without some consideration. He’s a large points investment, and you don’t want to lose him to poor positioning.
The Khorne Chaos Knight gains the Blood for the Blood God! ability in a KDK list which really does push this option as a strong one for any KDK list that is allowed FW options. You are investing a lot of points in this unit and it is generating and benefiting from Blood Tithe which is very important to getting this unit to work well with your list. I think the best option for this unit is to utilize its central protection/theme ability and try to protect it and funnel enemies into its grasp through massed Flesh Hounds and other sacrificial units. If you can get him in the right position, he can start really wracking up tithe by taking out unit after unit, sometimes multiple in the same turn via shooting and melee, and summon in multiple units to help keep pressure on the opponent.
Current Idea for using the Khorne Chaos Knight with KDK:
KDK CAD
Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage
Bloodletters X 8, Character Upgrade
Bloodletters X 8, Character Upgrade
Bloodletters X 8, Character Upgrade
Chaos Knight – Paladin, Daemon of Khorne, Dirge Caster, Legacy of Ruin 1st War of Armageddon
Gorepack
Chaos Bikers X 3, Meltagun X 2, Meltabomb
Chaos Bikers X 3, Meltagun X 2, Meltabomb
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Gorepack
Chaos Bikers X 3, Meltagun X 2, Meltabomb
Chaos Bikers X 3, Meltagun X 2, Meltabomb
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
The 6 units of dogs control the table top and let no one get too close to the Knight for an alpha strike and it lets him give his Legacy of Ruin bonus out to as many different “Khorne Daemon” things as he can. I would rather have the Battle Cannon as it can kill more things and help generate more Blood Tithe as needed. The Meltaguns on the Bikers are just there as a way to help kill some vehicles and let my doggies jump all over the enemy and maybe grind out an assault victory.
I think the new Daemons could give you some other options with the Khorne Formations and a very powerful ability to control the Warp storm. This could be another use of the Khorne Chaos Knight especially with some back up Blood Thirster Support, maybe some Cursed Earth, and a chance to get a 3+ inv save Chaos Knight running around.
Chaos Daemons – Daemonic Incursion
Murder Horde
Herald of Khorne, Juggernaut of Khorne, Greater Gift, Lesser Gift, Locus of Wrath
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Flesh Hounds of Khorne X 5
Auxiliary
Chaos Furies X 5
Daemon Lord
Bloodthirster of Unfetter Fury, Greater Gift X 2, Lesser Gift X 1, Skull Reaver
Daemon CAD
Herald of Tzeentch, Lvl 3 Psyker
Pink Horrors X 10
Nurglings X 3
Chaos Knight Paladin, Daemon of Khorne, Legacy of Ruin – 1st War of Armageddon
This is another mishmash list trying to use the new Decurion to push for some favorable Warp Storm Results. The Herald of Tzeentch will roll for Cursed Earth and most likely as much summon as you can. If the they won’t let you use the Legacy of Ruin you could go with Paradox or something else on the Herald of Tzeentch in order to boost up your casting potential. I wouldn’t have to gone with a CAD add on but I need a way to pull in the Lord of War for this article.
The Chaos Knight is a big help for the evil armies of Chaos and I think as we see more “chaotic” releases will find more options for our friendly neighborhood Imperial traitor. And remember, Frontline Gaming sells GW product at up to 25% off, every day!