Goatboy’s 40K – I’m Obsessed With the New Knights!
Goatboy here and I will say right now – those new Knights look awesome. Who’s with me?
There is something about the design that just screams to my inner kid and makes me want to play a game making Transformer sounds. When I saw the initial rumors and teeny tiny picture I was so excited to see this kit and figure out some way to add goat horns to it. Look for my version to come along as soon as I get my greasy little mittens on it.
If you’ve been living under a rock, in a boot, or in some kind of underwater cave GW is releasing a new kit called the Imperial Knight. It is the rumored giant robot we heard about during the initial chit chat for the Space Marine book. So far the rules we have make it feel like the bridge to Escalation I think the game might need right now. You all know how I feel about this abundance of tough mutha death stars and I feel we might need to look towards Escalation as a way to bring fear to such unbalanced lists. But hey – right now I think we need to try everything and then figure out what is bad and start from there. Too much of the time it is a bunch of people yelling back and forth without much real testing/thought. Enh… that is another article and today it is all about the Knight lists I want to try out.
We have 2 different versions of the Knight (wish there was just a straight assault version… but enh maybe will see one later on) – one is a back field protector while the other is an involved parent type of unit. Today I want to just go over some lists that I think might love an extremely expensive man barbie.
Big rules to know – Knights act like the Lords of War but without the whole Lords of War VP creation by removing Hull Points. This is important as I think the way the vehicle damage chart works in Escalation might be where the game is going if there is a rumored changed this summer. Plus it is a Super Heavy Walker so all those escalation rules follow with this guy – just not the VP thing. So it can shoot all its weapons at different targets, moves 12″, has a stomp, and just basically is a pain in the butt while it is alive. Oh yeah it gets a 4+ inv save on one side it picks during its opponents shooting phases. Not too shabby.
Death From Above! – Space Marines plus Knight Formation – 1850pts
HQ: Pedro
Elites: Stern Guard X 10, Combi-grav X 3, Combi-Melta X 2, Drop Pod
Elites: Stern Guard X 10, Combi-grav X 3, Combi-Melta X 2, Drop Pod
Troops: Scouts X 10, Camo Cloaks, Sniper Rifles
Troops: Scouts X 10, Camo Cloaks, Sniper Rifles
Knight Paladin
Knight Paladin
So basically you drop the Stern Guard to deal with things – combat squad them after they get out – one thing kills one option the other does another. A fun trick is to land on top of Riptides, get out 6 inches and ring around the Riptide. It makes it hard for them to shoot at you as placing the Blast Template near them could have it scatter on them and it will lessen how much they have to shoot at you.
The two Knight Paladins are there to shoot the Battle Cannon and keep your scouts safe as they sniper things out. Plus this list is pretty small and has a decent amount of scoring too.
Dark Angels plus Knights – Call it Knight Rush!
HQ: Librarian, Bike, Powerfield Generator, Force Stave
HQ: Tech Marine, Bike, Lightning Claw, Powerfield Generator
HQ: Ravenguard Command Squad X 4, Banner of Devastation
Troops: Scouts X 5
Troops: Scouts X 5
Heavy: Land Raider Crusader, Multi-Melta
Heavy: Land Raider Crusader, Multi-Melta
Knight Errant
Knight Errant
This list is a big mass of pain as it moves forward and gets involved in punching things. The Power field can be helpful as you can move up near a Knight, give it a 4+ inv in close combat and its weapon will ignore the 4+ the opponent gets. Not to shabby.
It doesn’t say who these units can Ally with so maybe we can get lucky and have Chaos ones. I can see it in some extreme lists with Daemon Princes, 1 or 2 of these guys and the bare minimum cultists package to allow for some hope of scoring. Still until we get some full rules we don’t know what he can be added too.
I am excited about the Knights because that while I think they are decent and add some cool bits of fluff, gameplay, and just an awesome looking model to the table top. The fluff aspects are great as it gives us another look that isn’t just some kind of Grim Dark future. Here we have the noble races of men without the influence of the Space Marine super hero dynamic. If the rumored “codex” does come out it will be awesome to read all the nutty rules of a High Sci Fi Fantasy race of old humans. I just hope we have a chance to have Chaos ones.
What are your ideas for adding Knights to your existing armies and what do you think it will do to the game?
