Age of Darkness-Warhammer 30k/2.0 Tactics/Questoris Knights Tactics

While technically part of the Mechanicum faction, the Questoris Knights can be used in a Household detachment, which greatly limits the faction, but also allows you to specialise in taking the mech-walkers exclusively. As such, this list will be written to address this particular detachment.

Why Play Questoris Knights?

Because GIANT FUCKING ROBOTS.

While you can get some of those same giant robots in the Mechanicum, you still need some machine-men and smaller robots to actually fill out your list and you have only a precious few slots to fill. With the Questoris Knights, you're fielding an entire army of these damn things.

Pros

• Entire army of GIANT FUCKING ROBOTS.
• High Armor Values and ion shields prevent you from taking an easy Pen from anything below Meltas.
• Most Arm Mounted weapons are tailor-made to demolish mobs and tanks.

Cons

• When compared to the Knights the Mechanicum can field, you might feel a little inadequate with the lack of flare shields and IWND.
• Most ion shields don't do crap for melee, so power fists and chainfists will have a field day fucking up your Knights.
• Your scoring capability lives and dies on keeping your Armigers alive. Unlike 1E, you cannot score with your big Knights.

Special Rules

Warlord Traits

All generic Mechanicum Warlords from all three lists have the option of getting a Warlord trait from one of the charts in the main rulebook, or rolling on their own unique chart:

• Note that the only way to get a Warlord in a Questoris Knights list is to use the Household Rank upgrades to give one of your Knights the Character sub-type.

1. A Soul of Cold Iron: The Warlord and any unit within 6" may still declare charges if they are under the effect of Pinning, but are still subject to firing Snap Shots. He also allows an additional Reaction during the Movement phase.
2. The Logic of Victory: If the Warlord has not shot or is not locked in combat, the whole army may make an additional Reaction in all phases of the following turn. In addition, the Warlord and a unit he is attached to gain +1 WS and BS during Reactions, and +3 Movement and Initiative during Movement-based Reactions.
3. The Science of Slaughter: For each turn this Warlord is locked in combat (so starting on the 2nd round), he gains +1WS and Strength for each round of combat he is in. After he has left the combat, his Strength and WS return to normal. The army may also make an additional Reaction during the Assault phase.

Universal Equipment & Special Rules

Each Knight in the army is different and comes with their own selection of gear. It makes little sense to have a central armoury section covering their specific weapons since they can be covered in the Knight's own entry. Below are common pieces of equipment, weapons and rules found across multiple models.

Equipment

• Ion Shield: The most common defense that each Knight is equipped with. No longer is this a revolving shield that needs to be positioned every turn. Now, it simply grants a 4+ Invulnerable save against shooting attacks to the Front Armour. It also grants a 5+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks against their Side Armour. It does nothing in melee.
• Ionic Deflector: The smaller version of the shield equipped on Armigers. It only grants a 5+ invulnerable save, but works on all facings and against both shooting and melee. It also grants the model Eternal Warrior. If a model with an ionic deflector loses its last wound, all models within D6+3" suffer an automatic hit at S8 AP-.

Weapons

• Heavy Stubber: Equipped as a sidearm on most Knights and Armigers. 36" range means that it outranges the shooting attacks of most infantry that it will be targeting, but S4 AP6 means that it often won't be doing much damage. Remember it when you get the chance to use reaction fire, though.
• Meltagun: Usually a sidearm upgrade for the heavy stubber. There is very little that a meltagun cannot threaten, but consideration should be made for the model's primary weapon, as the short 12" range may mean that it seldom gets used over the course of a battle, when a heavy stubber could have been used more often.
• Multi-Laser: The free alternative to the heavy stubber. S6 AP6 makes it stronger against most infantry, being able to ID GEQ, but it's still not much better than the heavy stubber.

Special Rules

• Stomp Attacks: While the Stomp table is gone, Knights (and Titans) can still make Stomp attacks during the Assault phase (but not Armigers since they are too small). Stomp attacks are made in addition to a model's normal attacks and are carried out at Initiative step 1. The Knight makes a number of Stomp attacks equal to D3 + their unmodified Attacks characteristic against their chosen target and they are resolved using the Knight's unmodified WS and Strength at AP2. Stomp attacks can't be used against Knights, Titans, Super-heavies, Flyers or models with 8+ wounds.
  • Normal Vehicles and Dreadnoughts are both within acceptable Stomp parameters, so feel free to march up to a Rhino or Contemptor and punt it across the battlefield.
• Flank Speed: Found on all the Cerastus pattern Knights, it allows them to add 4" to their movement, increasing it to 18", but at the cost of not being able to shoot in the turn they do this, though they can still charge. In addition, they can also shoot at one unit and charge at a different unit, which can be handy.

Fielding Questoris Knights

Any army in the Age of Darkness may field a Questoris Knight model as a Lord of War choice in the Crusade Force Organisation Chart of another army, otherwise you can use the Questoris Household Force Organisation Chart.

Questoris Household Force Organisation Chart

The Knights-exclusive Household Detachment consists of 2-10 Troops choices and a conditional number of Lords of War choices. For every two Troops choices taken, a Lords of War choice may be taken, ignoring the 25% point limit normally imposed on armies.

This is a big shift from how Knights used to be played in previous editions. The Super-heavy Knights always remain Lords of War and don't change slots, but the hard requirement to take Armiger Talons as Troops choices means that every Knight has a 400 point tax on top of their cost. This means that Knight spam becomes a very expensive and difficult thing to manage this edition. A Detachment can only consist of up to five "true" Knights, and only after 2,000 points have been spent on Armigers.

On the plus side, it can be used as both a Primary and Allied Detachment in a combined force, but if used as an Allied detachment it doesn't get around the 25% limit on Lords of War, so keep that in mind before thinking you can add Knights with Household ranks to your Space Marines. Fortunately, you count as a Mechanicum Detachment for Allegiance purposes, so you're not going to be in any trouble for fielding them with anything else, and some legions (Iron Warriors, Iron Hands, Sons of Horus, Salamanders, Raven Guard) will even consider you Sworn Brothers.

Household Ranks

When using the Questoris Household FOC, you may upgrade your knights with Household Ranks, granting them stat boosts or penalties along with some other special rules. Note that you cannot just do this if taking Knights as Lords of War in other Detachments, so Space Marines can't take a Knight Aspirant, for example.

• Seneschal (0-1): The most expensive option intended for your primary leader Knight. The model gains +1 WS and BS and gains the Character sub-type. Additionally, if taken as part of the Primary Detachment, this model must be the Warlord and must take the Master of the Household trait.
  • The Warlord trait grants friendly Knights within 8" the ability to use Reactions, ignoring the usual restrictions against Knights and Titans. This opens up a plethora of tactical options for the army, but remember that Vehicles can still only use Defensive Weapons for Overwatch and Return Fire Reactions. Thankfully, Arm Mounted Knight weapons always count as Defensive Weapons.
• Arbalester: Gain +1 BS and the Character sub-type. Whenever a model with this rule has to make a Scatter roll, throw an extra dice and choose which one to use when resolving the Scatter.
  • Obviously, this upgrade depends on using Blast weapons. Otherwise, the Preceptor rank is cheaper and also provides a +1 BS bonus.
• Aspirant: Get a discount on your Knight by reducing their WS/BS by -1 and dropping their Movement by -2. Because you have to invest a lot just for one Knight, you cannot spam these like last edition. There is almost no reason to do this unless you are specifically trying to save points for something else.
• Aucteller: The "champion" upgrade nets you +1 WS and the Character sub-type. When in a Challenge with a Knight, Titan, Monstrous unit, Primarch, or any model with 8 or more wounds, the Aucteller gains an additional +1 WS (for a total of +2) and +1 Attack.
  • Remember that Primarchs all have a WS of 7 or higher (except Lorgar, who can gain WS7 in certain situations), so they are probably always going to have the advantage. Also, Titans and most other Knights don't have the Character sub-type by default and can't enter Challenges under normal circumstances. Finding an opponent to use this rule against might be difficult.
• Dolorous: The "horde sweeper" upgrade also nets you +1 WS and the Character sub-type. A Knight with this upgrade is allowed to make Sweeping Advances.
  • Generally, if you don't know what the enemy is bringing to the table, this will be a better upgrade than the Aucteller, as the list of things that a Knight can enter a Challenge with is rather limited. A Dolorous Knight gets the same upgrade against everything else at a slightly lower cost, with a chance of being able to simply wipe a unit at the end of the phase.
• Implacable: The second most expensive option at 65 pts. This upgrade grants the Character sub-type and +1 Hull Point. Additionally, attacks which target this model can only ever inflict one Hull Point of damage.
  • This upgrade effectively renders the Vehicle Damage chart useless. Knights were only ever subject to the 7+ "Explodes" result where they took D3 points of damage instead. Now, Implacable Knights can pretty much only ever be Glanced to death, which might take a long time with that extra Hull Point.
• Preceptor: Gains +1 BS and the Character sub-type. Additionally, Armiger Warglaives and Helverins within 6" set their Leadership to 9, rendering them more resistant to Pinning and fleeing from combat if they lose.
  • This bonus is more valuable the more Armigers you have, but the small aura will turn the Preceptor into the focal point for your Troops choices, so equip them to complement the Armigers they will be accompanying: closer range tank killers for Warglaives, or longer range snipers for Helverins.
• Uhlan: The Knight gains a whopping +4" to their Movement Characteristic, the Character sub-type, as well as the Scout and Outflank special rules. This puts the Questoris pattern Knights at 14" Movement, while the lankier Cerastus pattern Knights have speeds of up to 18". Remember the bonus to charge ranges, where applicable, so this also works great on close combat Knights.
  • Conversely, this cannot be applied to the Asterius or Porphyrion, but they're the shootiest of knights and the move boost would be wasted upon them.

Dark Blessings^MCW

So you saw the Household Ranks but thought, "But what if I want to suck up to Horus while I'm at it?" Well, one Exemplary Battles doc (which later got ported to the Martian Civil War splat) gave you your answer. These essentially are Household Ranks but are Traitor-exclusive.

• 0-1 Conqueror of Worlds: The most expensive option intended for your primary leader Knight. The model gains +1 WS and BS and gains the Character sub-type. Additionally, if taken as part of the Primary Detachment, this model must be the Warlord and must take the Master of the Household trait.
  • The Warlord trait grants friendly Knights within 8" the ability to use Reactions, ignoring the usual restrictions against Knights and Titans. This opens up a plethora of tactical options for the army but remember that Vehicles can still only use Defensive Weapons for Overwatch and Return Fire Reactions. Thankfully, Arm Mounted Knight weapons always count as Defensive Weapons.
• Heedless Slaughter: Hardly a buff for free, this instead deals -1 to WS/BS for your knight in exchange for the Character sub-type. This has a bit of a perk for a pack of armigers, letting them gain Rage (2) in exchange for the loss.
• Malevolent Artifice: Any time this knight deals damage in melee, they gain It Will Not Die (6+) for the rest of the game. Even better, you can stack this up to a 4+, which means a lot for keeping it alive.
• Encroaching Ruin: +1 to BS and the Commanding Presence rule, which gives a 6" bubble. Any Armiger Warglaives or Helverins inside of it gain +2" to their movement, which can help for a midfield or frontline knight.
• Putrid Corruption: Only available to any non-Acastus knights. This robs the knight of -2" movement, but whenever they roll Explodes on the vehicle damage chart, they instead only lose an additional hull point.
• Infernal Tempest: SURPRISE! Your Knight's now a psyker! That said, it counts its Leadership as 7 for casting and it doesn't get Aetheric Lightning as a default power...not that you'd need it with your firepower.
  • Infernal Warding requires a test but it results in improving their Invuln save to 3+. Psychic Tempest gives you a small S5 AP2 blast you can use to manage crowds.
• Ravenous Dissolution: +1 to WS and gain the Character sub-type. On top of this, you can mark one unit for death, letting your knight re-roll 1s to wound against them.
• Rapturous Sensation: Nobody within 8" of this knight can take any sort of reactions unless they pass a Leadership, making it perfect for locking down foes.
• Formless Distortion: Your knight gains +1 to WS and it may replace one of their melee weapons with an Ionic Lash, a new S10 AP2 melee weapon with Reach (2) and Exoshock (6+), allowing for some devastating blows.
  • The rule does not specify that this upgrade has to go on a Questoris pattern knight, so RAW you can give it to a Cerastus pattern knight and swap out one of their melee weapons for the Ionic Lash, even though you normally can't do that.

Unit Analysis

Troops

Armiger Pattern Knights

Both units of Armigers come in squadron sizes of 1-4 models for 200 points each. They have the Armiger (Skirmish, Line) unit type which is roughly equivalent to an Astartes Dreadnought and come with T7, six wounds, and a fairly rapid movement speed of 8", so remember the extra +1 to charge ranges where it matters. They have the advantage of their ionic deflector which is better than an atomantic deflector because it straight up gives them Eternal Warrior along with the 5+ invulnerable save, as well as a larger blast radius when they lose their last wound.

• Because of the requirements of the Force Organisation Chart to get Knights, you are going to require Armigers in your army. The easiest and cheapest way to add them is to take them in units of one model and only take larger squads if you are trying to fill out points values. Bear in mind that these are Line units; unless you brought allies, Armigers are the only models that are capable of claiming objectives in this army list, so some care will have to be taken with them.
  • Unlike Dreadnoughts, Armigers lack Fearless and are only Stubborn. Despite the fact that they are taken in Talons and operate as independent models, this can seriously mess your plans up. With Ld7, there is a reasonable possibility that they could break and fall back from close combat and even be caught up in a Sweeping Advance. It also mean that they can be pinned and/or concussed, so don't presume that they are immune to those conditions. While it seems like a drag to take them, considering that the primary reason to play this army is to field a bunch of Super-heavy walkers, this does open the possibility of fielding a large number of T7 models with Eternal Warrior and not stressing too much about small arms.

• Armiger Warglaive Talon: Armigers equipped for tank slaying. Their thermal lance weapon is longer ranged than a multi-melta, so it manages to get the Armourbane (Melta) bonus at a fairly respectable 18". It does appear to be the only Melta weapon with AP2, but with two Twin-linked shots it should still be sufficient to do the job asked of it, and it still effectively functions the same against regular infantry and is good for causing Instant Death on two-wound TEQs that have become more prevalent this edition. Its other weapon, the Reaper chainblade strikes with three attacks at S9 AP2 with the Shred special rule. Not quite as effective as a Gravis power fist on a Dreadnought, but still a reliably effective weapon nonetheless.

• Armiger Helverin Talon: The rifleman Armiger is armed with a pair of Phaeton autocannons that have surprising utility. The base weapon has a superior range of 64", Heavy 2, S7 AP3, and Rending (6+), so it's already better than a regular autocannon and will handily pop MEQs from more than half the table away. On top of that, it has two different firing modes, granting either Sunder or Ignores Cover. The trade off is that Helverins have no close combat weapon and so fare relatively poorly in melee, but with such a considerable weapon range with no drop off in effectiveness like with Melta weapons, Helverins should be kept as far away as possible and be used as long range harassing units.
  • Like any autocannon this edition, there is a small chance of being able to damage AV14 with the addition of Rending (6+), but with Sunder, the odds of causing Glancing Hits increase from 17% to roughly 30% and is actually better at damaging AV14 than the thermal cannon at ranges greater than 18", with more shots to boot. Something to think about before dismissing the Helverin as a poor substitute.

• Armiger Moirax Talon: SIKE! You thought that a knight unit belonged in a Knight army? No. Thanks to the usual FW list design these are only available as heavy support on Mechanicum lists.

Lords of War

Questoris Pattern Knights

The round, short and reliable knights you know and love. They have 7 Hull Points and AV 13/12/12, and their ion shield gives them some suitable protection. These are the cheapest non-Armiger Knights you can field and are all fairly reliable for what they cost.

• Knight Questoris: Gone are the preset Paladin, Errant, or other designations. The traditional Knight now comes in a build-your-own format. Initially starting with an Arm Mounted Reaper chainsword and a rapid-fire battle cannon with in-built heavy stubber, these arms may be swapped for whatever comes in the regular plastic kit.
  • Rapid-Fire Battle Cannon with In-Built Heavy Stubber: The default ranged weapon, an Ordnance 2 S8 AP4 Large Blast (5") arm cannon. This gun is reliably solid if you can't decide what else to take. It can hit large units multiple times and is capable of causing Instant Death on T4 models that fail a save. There are better options against Vehicles, but it can hit them twice and gets to roll an additional dice and pick the highest to penetrate, thanks to the Ordnance weapon type. The heavy stubber is there as the cherry on top; don't discount it, but also don't factor it in to any decision making.
  • Thermal Cannon: This weapon is in a very strange predicament. While it is the strongest weapon that the Knight Questoris has access to, it kind of suffers from being in an army that doesn't really need it. 36" S8 AP1 Heavy 1, Large Blast (5"), Armourbane (Melta) looks great... but that still only hits a Vehicle once and is most effective within 18" range. For comparison, the pair of Armiger Talons that you have to take to accompany each Knight could be Warglaives, and be able to hit the same vehicle at the same range, more reliably with Twin-linked, and more times with each weapon. That's not to say the thermal cannon is a poor choice, not at all. One shot can utterly devastate MEQ/TEQ squads, especially those with expensive characters you want to get rid of, and the +2 on the Vehicle Damage charts means that one shot has better odds of causing an explosion. The thermal cannon will reliably damage everything you point it at.
  • Avenger Gatling Cannon with In-Built Heavy Flamer: The only ranged weapon that a Knight Questoris can take twice; with twelve Heavy shots at S6 AP4 and Rending (6+), there is a lot of potential for damaging hordes and lighter vehicles. The heavy flamer also complements its role quite well.
    • If the army contains a Seneschal, both of these weapons are Defensive, so they make for really good Return Fire/Overwatch Reactions where applicable.
  • Las-Impulsor: The most expensive arm weapon has some of the biggest drawbacks. It is 12" Heavy 2 S10 AP2, with Sunder and Instant Death. 12" is a pitiful range with no pie plate to cover multiple models, so it already has some of the lowest potential out of all of the Knight armaments; even the thermal cannon is better against Vehicles at its short 18" range with +2 on the Vehicle Damage chart and can start hitting from further away. That being said, it is easily the better option against anything with T5 or higher due to Instant Death capability, but really requires knowing in advance what you want your Knight to do, since anything that you want the las-impulsor to be able to take out, like Dreadnoughts, puts the Knight within a dangerously close range for a counterattack.
    • The las-impulsor also has a close ranged mode which is clearly a trap! S10 AP1 Instant Death, Armourbane (Melee) looks really cool, until you see the Cumbersome rule. Knights get no exemption from the 'one attack at WS1' provision, so this weapon would only be good for striking buildings as you would be hitting everything else on a 6+. Reaper chainswords and Thunderstrike gauntlets work just fine against the same targets and get to use the full complement of attacks.
  • Reaper Chainsword: The default melee weapon and the only one you can dual-wield. S10 AP2 with Shred makes it quite reliable against monsters and the like, but it's just decent against Knights.
  • Thunderstrike Gauntlet: The mightier alternative to the Reaper chainsword, amped up to S12 AP2 with Sunder, allowing for re-rolls to Pen. At S12, that just means you're getting some guaranteed Pens when punching an enemy Knight in the face.
  • Carapace Weapons: The one thing none of the FW Questoris pattern Knights get, the Carapace Mounted weapons give you an additional slot to arm up, but it will add 20-25 points that you might have wanted on another Household Rank. Still absolutely worth it, as this gives you an extra role to work with.
    • Twin-Linked Icarus Autocannon: The cheapest one but also the weakest at S7 AP4, requiring Rending (6+) to hit something. The good news is that Skyfire makes it more accurate against any flyers.
    • Ironstorm Missile Pod: Another Ordnance weapon to blast your enemies. S5 AP4 sadly won't mean much, but having Large Blast (5") makes it able to cover a lot.
    • Stormspear Rocket Pod: Direct-fire Heavy 3 S8 AP3 rockets, making it very suitable for attacking enemy Vehicles. It's best used on tanks or when flanking enemy Knights.

• Questoris Knight Magaera: An oddity among the Knights and often seen in Mechanicum houses, this Knight has quite a lot of exotic tools, but its Overtaxed Reactor means that its explosions will be quite catastrophic. Its Hull (Front) Mounted gun is the phased plasma-fusil, which isn't as long-ranged as the normal heavy stubber, but at S6 AP3 with Breaching (4+), it's more than capable of handling anything it comes across. The only drawback is that it has Gets Hot and thus has some small chance of harming the Magaera. On one arm is the ever-reliable Reaper chainsword, which you can swap out for a siege claw, giving it the Knight's equivalent of a power fist with Sunder and Wrecker to make short work of anything it encounters, with an in-built irad-cleanser to spray radiation on the lesser crowds that the plasma would be wasted on. The other arm is locked to a lightning cannon, an S7 AP3 Large Blast (5") weapon with Rending (4+), Exoshock (4+) and Shred to ensure that whatever it hits gets hit hard, with special preference to Vehicles. The issue here is the S7; your odds of actually hitting a Vehicle aren't the highest, so it's usually reserved for crowds of infantry after softening them up.

• Questoris Knight Styrix: The Magaera's slightly cheaper brother. He has all the same rules as the Mageara and can also swap its Reaper chainsword out for a siege claw and irad-cleanser, but its primary weapons are an Arm Mounted volkite chieorovile and a Hull (Front) Mounted graviton gun for proccing an extra Glance on a Vehicle or disrupting an advancing unit. The volkite chieorovile shoots Heavy 5 S8 AP4 Deflagrate shots and is more versatile than you would initially think. It works as a good anti-GEQ gun and, while it will have trouble getting through 3+ and 2+ saves, S8 means that if it does get through, it will ID any multi-wound marines it hits. Furthermore, five S8 shots are nothing to sneeze at when it comes to anti-armour and it can cause some serious damage to medium and light Vehicles.

Cerastus Pattern Knights

Taller and leaner than their Questoris pattern brothers, while not being any tougher, they are faster with a Movement of 14" and they all come with the Flank Speed rule. They are also a little stronger, having a base of S9 and 4 attacks that make them a bit more adept in melee.

• Knight Lancer: The melee-focused variant of the Cerastus pattern Knights, and it's available in plastic! It dispenses with the traditional ion shield in favour of an ion gauntlet shield, which grants it only a 5+ Invulnerable save to the Front and Side AVs, but also a 5+ Invulnerable save against all melee attacks. Its only armament is its dual-function shock lance which works in both range and melee. As a shooting weapon, it has 18" range, S7 AP3, Heavy 6 and Concussive (2). While its destructive power pales in comparison to some other Knight weapons, it has a respectable number of shots that are very likely to take wounds off of MEQs. What's more is that Concussive (2) has the chance to reduce the WS of the target unit by a massive two points, regardless of whether the shooting attack killed anything or not. In melee it has S10 AP2 Reach (1) and Exoshock (5+), meaning it is often faster than a lot of the models it gets into combat with, and will cause Instant Death on anything of T5 or below. It's very effective against Vehicles too, though not quite as good as a Thunderstrike gauntlet or similar. Do remember that Knights also get to make Stomp attacks against smaller non-Knight models in addition to their regular allotment of attacks, so the Lancer throws out four/five S10 AP2 attacks at Initiative 5 then D3+4 S9 AP2 attacks at Initiative 1, so this bad boy feels right at home in melee.
  • Remember, with a massive movement speed of 14", it is able to stay out of the danger range until it gets ready to strike, and it also gains a +3 to charge rolls, giving itself an overall charging threat radius of around 24" on average. While all Knights can be powerhouses in melee, this one is kitted out specifically for dealing with Elite/HQ infantry units. If it can proc the Concussive (2) rule, it can massively influence the striking odds of both sides of the melee.

• Knight Castigator: The Castigator is a pure anti-infantry Knight; unlike the Lancer, its focus is more on clearing large units rather than dealing with Elites squads... at least in theory. Both of its weapons are capable of dealing a lot of indiscriminate wounds, but are generally of less use against Vehicles or other kinds of single model unit. Its namesake weapon, the Arm Mounted Castigator bolt cannon is a Twin-linked Heavy 18 weapon with S6 AP4. That means it puts out more shots than the Avenger gatling cannon, but without the added benefit of Rending (6+). Instead, the Castigator bolt cannon has Pinning and Shell Shock (1), so it is a weapon designed for forcing the enemy to keep their heads down rather than doing damage outright. The other weapon is the Tempest warblade; like many Knight weapons, it hits at S10 AP2, but this one has the Deflagrate and Tempest rules. This means that unsaved wounds get a chance to do more damage again. This works quite well with the Tempest rule that allows the Knight to forgo its normal allotment of four attacks to instead make a Tempest attack at Initiative step 2 and automatically hit every single model in contact with its base. This sounds like this Knight should be getting into fights with large units of enemy infantry. Put into practice, however, your army has mediocre WS and even 3 hits is more than you usually get. On top of this, S10 IDs Battle-hardened (X) T4 and T5 models, and since your Reaper chainswords lack Brutal (X), it can be used to clear elite infantry. Be wary about rules for Consolidation moves; without any kind of invulnerable save in melee like the Lancer has, the Castigator needs to be careful about going for enemies that have a good chance of damaging it.

• Knight Acheron: The pyromaniac Knight got a little change from last edition. The Arm Mounted Acheron flamestorm cannon now spits out a S7 AP4 Hellstorm Template, having lost AP3 but in return gaining Shred, still making it a reasonably effective anti-MEQ weapon. The Reaper chainfist has also changed and is now simply a FUCKHUEG chainfist now, being S10 AP2 with Armourbane (Melee) and losing Machine Destroyer, but it's still very good as it can still carve tanks and Knights new rectums, and the in-built Twin-linked heavy bolter is a nice extra sting weapon. While the Knight Acheron's effectiveness against Marines has taken a bit of a hit, where he is now unmatched is against Solar Auxilia and Militia (when they get rules) since his flamestorm cannon will evaporate units with 4+ saves and his Reaper Chainfist should make short work of all the tanks they rely upon.

• 0-1 Questoris Knight Atrapos: The Atrapos costs a flat 500 points, but by the Omnissiah's shiny metallic testes, is he worth it. While the Acheron is now your anti-GEQ Knight, this is one of the best TEQ killers in the game and he can reliably wound Dreadnoughts. His Atrapos phasecutter shoots an Ordnance 1, S10 AP2 tank-maiming shot, but the real fun begins when you start using the singularity cannon, which fires a Heavy 1 S8 AP2 Large Blast (5") with Haywire and Concussive (1), meaning not only will it actually smoke units with 2+ saves in one shot, but it also reliably wounds Dreadnoughts and can inflict WS penalties on the units he shoots. The singularity cannon also comes with Graviton Singularity, which is like Gets Hot, except it's rolled before the gun fires; it deducts a Hull Point on a roll of 1, does nothing on a 2-5, and gives the shot Vortex on a roll of 6. It has the potential to be a bit of a liability, but it can also make an area of terrain deal an S10 AP1 Hit with Armourbane (Melee) and Instant Death to all models that enter it, so it can be pretty awesome as well. All of this combined with Night Vison and Macro-extinction Targeting Protocols, which gives all its guns Twin-linked when shooting Super-heavies, Knights, Titans and Monstrous units, makes this knight fantastic at vaporising Terminators, Dreadnoughts and Super-heavy Tanks in a game where they can be very hard to shift. He does have one moar shortcoming, which is the fact that he is not great in melee. While the phasecutter has a very good melee profile (S10 AP1 with Instant Death and Armourbane), it's all let down by Cumbersome, meaning you will be stuck trying to wipe out squads of marines with 6+ To Hit. Just use his speed to keep him at range and vaporise those Terminators, dreadnoughts and tanks.
  • If he does die and explodes, Catastrophic Destruction means that everyone near him will be eating AP1 fireballs, so keep that in mind.

Acastus Pattern Knights

The biggest and nastiest Knights you can field, as anything bigger would be a Titan. These things have AV 14/13/12, It Will Not Die (6+) and 9 Hull Points on top of being S10, making them very tough and pretty scary since they can kick tanks with S10 AP2 attacks. They're also the most expensive Knights to field, both points-wise and for your wallet, but they are the Super-heavies in a Super-heavy army.

• 0-1 Acastus Knight Porphyrion: The first of the I Can't Believe It's Not A Titan^TM Knights and, for 625 points, you're practically paying nearly as much for one. In keeping with its mini-Titan theme, its main armament is two mini-volcano cannons. The two Hull (Front) Mounted Twin-linked magna lascannons are fantastic, as they are Ordnance 2 S10 AP2 Large Blast (5") Vehicle and infantry killers; since the general nerf to Blast weapons, the fact that these things are unchanged from HH 1.0 and are one of the few sources of an AP2 Blast make the Knight Porphyrion one of the premium TEQ and tank killers. On top of that, it also has the less impressive but still useful Hull (Front) Mounted Ironstorm missile pod, an Ordnance 1 S5 AP4 Large Blast (5") weapon useful for blowing up units of Militia and Auxilia infantry. The Ironstorm can be swapped out for a Hull (Front) Mounted Whirlwind launcher solely equipped with Hyperios warheads, which is a very effective anti-air tool that fires 4 S8 missiles with Skyfire, which should dent most flyers zipping around. Finally, it's got two Hull (Front) Mounted autocannons, which can be swapped out for irad-cleansers or lascannons depending on if you want more anti-infantry or anti-tank capability.

• 0-1 Questoris Acastus Knight Asterius: The second of the I Can't Believe It's Not A Titan^TM Knights is armed with two Twin-linked heavy conversion beam cannons, which each fire a Heavy 1 S12 AP1 Large Blast (5"), Blind shot, but only at 42"-72" range. Between 18"-42", the Strength and AP both worsen to S9 AP4; any closer and it's S7 AP- for you (Large Blast (5") and Blind are present in all three range profiles). This means that you need keep it away from whatever you're shooting at to get the most out of its cannons. Its second armament is the Hull (Front) Mounted Karacnos mortar battery, which can fire a bunch of S6 AP4 Massive Blast (7") dirty bombs that have Rad-phage, Fleshbane, Barrage, Pinning, Shell Shock (3), Crawling Fire and Ignores Cover, which not only helps pin infantry down but also increases the killing power of the heavy conversion beam cannons thanks to the Toughness-reducing Rad-Phage rule. Because of this, the Knight Asterius is extremely effective against both tanks and infantry over longer ranges. It also has two Hull (Front) Mounted volkite culverins just in case the dirty bomb launcher and giant cannons weren't enough firepower for you, along with Night Vison to ensure those pesky Night Fighting rules won't phase it.

Army Building

Unlike last edition, you require multiple armigers to actually play the army and while Armigers can come in Talons of 4, if you want to primarily run the big knights (which you do) you'll likely only take Armigers in talons of 1 to make each armiger it's own troop slot, at least to start with. Luckily Armigers come in pairs, allowing you to alternate between a box of Armigers and a Knights to fill in your mandatory 2 troops per knights fairly easily. As for proper knights, most of your models are Plastic/Soon to be plastic so are pretty easy to work with and the army as a whole is fairly easy to build up quickly as your troops cost around 200 points each and your big robots cost anywhere between 370 - 660 points. A Knight and his mandatory 2 armiger buddies will usually cost between 750 - 1000 points so it won't take much to get you up to the 2500-3000 point sweet spot.

Tactics

Knights aren't in a great spot in 2.0. Firstly a lot of the main anti-MEQ weapons have lost AP2/3 and become AP4 meaning your near 400 point model armed with a battle cannon will struggle to kill a squad of 100 point marines with it. Secondly Knights are generally underwhelming in melee, as WS4 is completely average and means you'll struggle to hit more elite squads and Dreadnoughts in melee and the lack of rules like Brutal on your melee weapons is also a massive hinderance when fighting stuff like Dreadnoughts and Monsters (because a Dreadnought sized power fist has Brutal(3) but a Knight sized power fist doesn't). Speaking of Dreadnoughts, a Contemptor with a Chainfist will more often than not beat you big knights in one on one fights, and this problem only gets worse when bigger Dreads start getting involved. Finally even though your Knights are tough, vehicle killing is easier than it was in HH1 and as such armies will typically have lots of options to bring down your knights.

So what can you do to help. Firstly figure out what role you want each Knight to play in your army and assign them the appropriate war gear/household ranks. Most knights are pretty limited in what they can be equipped with so choose household ranks accordingly, as there's obviously no point giving something like a Lancer the Arbalester rank. On the other hand Questoris knights are very flexible with their war gear options so can tailored into most roles you see fit and used to plug gaps in your list. Need to try and kill squads of infantry? Try two Avenger gatling cannons. Need to melt TEQ/MEQ squads? Give it a Thermal cannon.

Secondly Knights, more than most armies at the moment, live and die on if they can kill the units that are a threat to them before they are killed by those units so when taken you should prioritise anti-armour units since they'll bring down your knights quickly and elite infantry as they are typically very dangerous in melee, where your knights will suffer. Also feel free to throw honour out the window and kill all your opponents line units as quickly as you can, as against all the Space Marine armies it's probably one of the best tactics to actually secure a victory (though this is a two way street so beware you opponent targeting your armigers to remove all of your scoring capacity in return). Also while Armigers are the definition of a Troops tax this edition, they can actually be quiet effective in ranged combat as they have some pretty good weapons and work well against light-medium vehicles and MEQ's, with their AP3 Autocannons. So don't just drop them on an objective and forget them, but use them to harass and take out less dangerous threats when you can, though keep them out of melee against Marine infantry and Dreadnoughts, as the former can cause them to run and then be swept and the latter will just molly-wop them in melee.

It should be noted that Knights typically fair a lot better against non-marine/custodes armies as they have lower armour saves, lower WS and lack Dreadnoughts, which means that most knight weapons are actually effective against them and you can clear hordes of Auxilia and Militia with your ranged guns, as well as hurting most Mechanicum automata. Because of this you typically won't be in a desperate fight for survival from turn 1, like when you are fighting the Legions, and you can actually enjoy some of you advantages you have over mortal infantry and vehicles.

Warhammer 30,000 Tactics Articles
General Tactics	General (7E) Movement (7E) Psychic (7E) Fortifications (7E) Zone Mortalis (7E)
Legiones Astartes	Legiones Astartes (HH1)
Mechanicum	Mechanicum (Legio Mechanicum (HH1) • Taghmata Omnissiah (HH1)) Questoris Knights (HH1)
Imperial Army	Solar Auxilia (HH1) Imperialis Militia (HH1)
Agents of the Emperor	Legio Custodes (HH1) Sisters of Silence (HH1)
Agents of the Warmaster	Ruinstorm Daemons (HH1 • 7E Codex)