Tactica: Imperial Knights (Blood Angels and Cult done)

[wako1302]

Guess I will have to play with just 1 Baron until we ger a FAQ about my question.

 

People have been mentioning multiple relics, but I thought only a character knight could have these and you can only have one character knight.

 

Another question is, it I have a knight with the Icarus Gun, can it fire the Icarus Gun on intercept when an enemy reserve unit arrives. And then fire its other weapons in the next normal shooting phase?

[CommodusXIII]

A Knight can fire any number of weapons at any number of targets, so that works.

 

Typically, each Baron can opt to take a single Heirloom.  There's one Baron in the Household Detachment (if taken as your Warlord) and one in the Baronial Court.  There's one High King in the Exalted Court, and all of the other Knights in that Formation are Barons.  So you can certainly have multiple Knight Characters, depending on what Detachments/Formations you take.  Realistically, you'll only see this in very high point games.

[fedratsailor]

the exaulted formation fits in 2k games, even the house terryn special formation can(1920 base).  All knights in either I just mentioned can take a relic in those formations but at that point you would be over 2k.   The house Terryn though is set on what knights you can take whereas the exaulted you can choose what you want.

[Frater Cornelius]

Astra Militarum (aka Imperial Guard)
The second set of potential allies on the chopping block are the glorious Imperial Guard. I like to view them as the quantity-version of Skitarii. Their shooting quality is worse than Skitarii, but they balance it out by bringing more guns for the same cost. They move slower, but have dedicated transports to help them. Skitarii like to advance and be the aggressor while the Guard is happy to hang back and let you come to them.

It is generally accepted that there are two prominent ways to play IG, Mechanized and Foot (or anything in between). This also holds true when allying with Knights.

Let's have a look at what the Guard bring for the Knights. Imperial Guard are the very definition of boots on the ground. They bring a very good amount of scoring bodies when playing Foot-Guard or a nasty amount of scoring transports when playing Mech-Guard. All at a very affordable cost.

While not as cost-effective as Skitarii guns, Imperial Guard can bring a lot of S6 and S7 guns and Orders to reliably open transports, allowing the Knights to engage the squishy content.

The skies are also not an issue as the Imperial Navy is adept as keeping them clear by sporting a great flyer to hurt anything airborne and engage armoured ground targets. If flyers are too expensive for you or your meta is filled with anti-air guns, there is also the Hydra Flak Tank. Again, not as cost-effective as the Icarus Onager, but still worth your while compared to many other options.

Lastly, Imperial Guard are cheap and their list-building process is highly flexible, making them an ideal allied force for expensive models.

 

I want to start of with a personal favourite of mine, the Mechanized Imperial Guard, 'Mech Guard' in short. Nothing screams METAL like the thundering engines of heavy-duty Imperial Tanks rumbling along Imperial Knights. When playing this variant, you derive your scoring power from cheap and numerous Chimeras or Tauroxes, which also represent the bulk of your S6-S7 shooting, supported by some long ranged firepower from Leman Russ Tanks.

There are two ways to access your dedicated transports. Infantry Platoon has the potential to net you more transports in total, but the superior firepower and utlity of the Veteran Squads make them the premier choice. Next you will have to decide if you want to maximise your offensive capabilities or focus on field saturation and scoring capabilities. If the offensive push is your cup of tea, then you are looking at Veterans, most likely with the 4+ Armour upgrade, riding Chimeras with the maximum amount of Special Weapons (usually Meltas), handling armour from up close. Fielding this variant usually costs more, resulting is less armour on the board, but puts greater pressure on the opponent. In this case I suggest avoiding the Taurox, seeing as AV12 from the front will go a long way in protecting your men, seeing as they need to get close to the enemy to be of use.

The defensive variant usually consist of Veterans with Autocannons and the Forward Sentries upgrade camping cover while their deidcated transports drive around empty. In those cases you can choose between the Taurox and the Chimera, seeing as you use them solely for their ability to get objectives and shoot while they are at it. The Chimera offers greater durability while the Taurox has arugably better firepower and is cheaper. This setup sports more S6 and S7 than the aggressive variant and has far greater scoring potential, but each individual unit will do less casualties to the enemy and popping AV12 transports will be more luck-based than driving a few Meltas up its hull. Neither of those ways is superior to the other. They are merely different play styles of a diverse army.

 

Both variant will require some hard hitting support from the rear though. The Leman Russ Tank is the cheapest AV14 variant in the game. Given that this tank usually hangs back, it makes it an ideal rear objective camper, seeing as AV14 front and AV13 sides are very hard to destroy from across the board for most armies, especially when there are a few angry Knights breathing down your neck, demaning to know why you have not paid your tithes this year or had the nerve to be born as a non-human.

While there are many variant available, two in particular jump out for me. First, the Exterminator variant. It sports a 4-shot twin-linked AC and a hull-HB, with the option of getting sponson weapons. This thing will add to the plethora of S7 weaponry to bust open tin-can and can also serve as make-shift AA due to being twin-linked. The second variant, and my favourite when played as allies to IK, is the Eradicator. It is the cheapest AV14 tank in the game and comes with a HB and a S6 AP4 Large Blast that ignores cover. This tank covers a great weakness of the Imperial Knights, namely cover camping scumbags. It can reliably put down heavy of special weapon infantry like Skitarii Vanguard that are reliant on cover and present a serious threat to your Knights. When you add HB sponsons to it, you will have a 9 shots with S5 and a S6 5" Blast mounted on a AV14 hull, making it one of the most sturdy infantry-hunters in the game. While some argue that the Wyvern does the same job but better, which is true when it comes to killing infantry, I still prefer the Eradicator when allied with IK, seeing as the main gun can fulfill multiple roles due to its high strength.

The other tanks are either a touch too expensive or overlap too much with the Imperial Knight ranged weapons.

 

Lastly, you want to cover the air. You have two options to do so. Either bring a Vendetta or Hydra Flak Tanks. The Vendetta is a touch on the expensive side, but it bring three TLLC, making it a reliable dog-fighter and AV-hunter. However, I prefer a squadron of two Hydras. They are cheaper and put out more shots, making them more reliable. And whent here is nothing to shoot, they can still drive around the board, body-blocking or scoring. I enjoyed fielding these tanks when playing Guard and I would definitely do so again.

 

Lastly, there are a few support elements to choose from, which would mostly come from the Elite of Fast Attack sections. At this point you are looking to shore up whatever you seem necessary. If you want more S7, then Armoured Sentinels with ACs will do a great job camping objectives and help busting AV. If you want more flamers, Scount Sentinels with Heavy Flamers or Hellhounds will serve you well. If you want to Meltas, then Deep Striking Scions are your friends.

And yes, all of that will fit in a 1850 list along with two Imperial Knights. Are you starting to notice why they make good allies?

 

Strengths:

• High number of scoring units

• Good resilience and staying power

• Medium to high pressure depending on play style and list

 

Weaknesses:

• Ranged output can be unreliable at times

• Costs bloat very fast when losing track of upgrades and toys

• Lack unique or outstanding units to take advantage off (this is as 'balanced' as you can get in 40k)

 

Recommended units:

• Veterans with Chimeras/Tauroxes

• Hydras/Vendettas

• Leman Russ/Wyvern/other Artillery

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

Alternate Version:

Now that we have the Mech Guard covered, let us take a look at the good old Foot Guard. This army build centers around bringing more infantry than the enemy has ammunition and then sending in a few more just for good measure. Your core will be the Infantry Platoon, a potentially gigantic unit of cheap men saturating the field. Although fielding a big amount of models with a Toughness count does not seem to synergize will with Walkers, who have an AV value, there still numerous advantages to fielding them. For one, those big blobs can bubble wrap your Knights, preventing any deep striking units to get within 6" to land a good Melta shot. They make also more reliable objective campers than tank. While tank are immune to small arms fire, they can still be finished off with a single volley or sometimes in one single shot. It will take you far longer to clean off 30-50 fearless bodies from an objective. Having so many guns consolidated into one big unit also means that you can make better use of force-multiplying effects of Orders Psykers and hide said Psykers in those units to support them or the Knights. Lastly, big fearless blobs can tie up Death Star units in melee very effectively, allowing the Knights to take care of the rest of the army in a timely fashion.

 

At the heart of every infantry list is the Infantry Platoon. It can be as large as 50 men in one unit. While I would not go for a full 50 man unit due to it becoming unwieldy, 30-40 is still a very respectable number. For every 10 man that you add, you can bring one Special and one Heavy Weapon. While their BS3 makes it look like a bad investment, you can improve their performance by adding a few Psykers with Divination to the unit. If you are planning to play defensively, stocking up on AC and Grenade Launcher if you have the points is the way to go. A more aggressive and controversial build is to skip heavy weapons and to stock up on Plasma Guns. The second build relies on a Psyker to support the unit. Both versions pack a lot of S7 as well as anti-infantry firepower to support your Knights. There is also the cheap version where you add nothing or just a few Flamers, which are often used in pure Guard armies, but here the Platoon is a much more pivotal part of your S7 firepower and as such I would not recommend it. Neither would I go over board with various upgrades. Decide on a play style and their job in it and focus on that.

If you want to add another bunch of very cheap bodies to bubble wrap, objective camp or simply annoy the enemy, adding a unit of Conscripts is always a solid choice, given how cheap they are.

Given the point constraints, you will usually not always be able to field two Platoons, especially given the support characters they require. In those cases where you can not, the filling up second Troops choice with a Veteran Squad with AC and Forward Sentries for cover camping is a solid choice.

 

For support characters you are looking at the Ministorum Priest and the Primaris Psyker. The Priest makes a unit Fearless and adds a few useful special rules for when you will be stuck in melee. You want one in every Platoon and Conscript blob. Being as cheap as 25pts, you can afford it. The Psyker is there to prove re-rolls with Prescience, seeing as ignoring cover can be gained by way of Orders.

 

Much like the Mech Guard, Foot Guard can always use a bit of long ranged support. This is where things get a little complicated. The infantry based heavy-weapons are very fragile and sub-optimal, but those mounted on a vehicle do not always survive very long due to lack of saturation. While this is a personal preference, I would recommend taking cheap and numerous tanks like Hydras, Wyvern or Sentinels to add to your long-ranged punch, because losing one will not hurt you in the slightest. However, there is nothing wrong in relying on the AV14 hull of the Leman Russ. It can withstand a lot of punishment and is still reasonably cheap. The choice ultimately comes down to preference.

 

Strengths:

• Very high scoring power

• Very high durability

• Mitigation of Alpha Strike and Assault by bubble wrapping

 

Weakness:

• Reliant on support characters and Orders

• Limited mobility

 

Recommended units:

• Infantry Platoon

• Ministorum Priests and Primaris Psykers

• Hydra, Wyvern and other cheap support tanks

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

http://i.imgur.com/ifppoFs.png

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Edited May 18, 2015 by Immersturm

[Frater Cornelius]

Militarum Tempestus

While these Glory Boys are technically a sub-faction of the Imperial Guard, they do have an own book and as such will be covered separately. While being a very small book, they still have enough toys to support the Imperial Knights. Much like Skitarii, these guys sacrifice man-power and durability in favour of more output. Every model has a S3 AP3 gun and every unit can bring plenty of special weapons for every occasion. Add all units can Deep Strike and you have yourself a flexible force.

 

So, what do they bring? This army is one of the best ways to bring plenty of special weapons. Every unit of 5 Scions can pack two Special Weapons, making them very good at opening all kinds of AV. Their Orders also allow them to deal with high Toughness Monstrous Creatures like Wraith Lords or Nemesis Dreadknights, that present a threat to the IK in melee, fairly well.

Their dedicated transports, namely the Taurox Prime and the Valkyrie, both do a good job at opening enemy metal boxes as well as pressure all kinds of infantry on the board.

Scoring Objectives is where it gets tricky. While you can have a good number of units on the board with MSU Scions and Transports, all of your units are T3 with a 4+ save and will rarely exceed 5 men per unit and your highest AV on the ground is 11/10/10. This makes you very fragile and when presented the choice between holding an objective and your own survival in cover, survival is almost always preferable in the early game if you can afford it.

Anti-air is the only section where I can safely say that they do not cover it very well. The Valkyrie only has one LC and Hellstrike Missiles to speak off, which is not enough to justify their inclusion as a dedicated dog-fighter. The twin-linked AC of the Taurox Prime will do a better job in the long run due to its flexibility, but that is not good enough in most cases.

 

Your premier, and only, core are the Tempestus Scions, essentially IG Carapace Veterans with better guns. They come in untis of 5 and can worked all the way up to 10 men. However, as a supporting force to your Knights, this is generally not worth it, seeing as they are quite expensive (you are paying a premium for their better guns and plethora of special rules). It is an option however, and you should be discarded. If you want that extra durability (and extra Special Weapon) on the ground, then it is still a valid option. I would definitely advice against it when making a deep striking unit due to its larger foot-print and suicidal job.

They have an option to receive two Special Weapons per 5 man unit. I would generally recommend a 2:1 ratio of Melta to Plasma, just because the main purpose of IK allies is to open transports. The Meltas should usually Deep Strike to close to gap without taking fire while Plasmas can start on the ground due to their increased range. If you have men starting on the ground, each of those units should have a Taurox Prime to ride. If the points permit it, I would also add a few Taurox Primes for the Deep Striking units just to drive around empty and provide supporting fire.

 

The load-out of the Taurox Primes largely depends on what you are planning to do with them, but I would generally recommend the Taurox Battle Cannon and TLAC as it is (relatively) cheap and effective at hurting the targets you are engaging but also has the flexibility to hurt others. There is a case for the Missile Launcher and TLAC, because this allows you to mount the AC as a turret on top of the Taurox and still have the Missiles at the top as well, allowing for easier positioning and targeting than having the AC on your sides. I will leave you to decide if this is worth the extra points and shenanigans.

 

If you insist of taking a Valkyrie, I would equip it with the Large Blast, Multi Laser and possibily even Heavy Bolters to hunt mobs of infantry and put one or two wounds on Monstrous Creatures. They are simply not reliable enough at hurting flyers.

 

For the HQ choice I would usually recommend the Command Squad, seeing as the Orders are pretty good. However, if you are playing low point games or want to save points, as Lord Commissar will do.

 

Strengths:

• Good output

• Loads of Special Weapons

• Plenty of deployment options

 

Weaknesses:

• Relatively low body-count

• Fragile

• Reliant on Deep Striking to get into Melta range

 

Recommended units:

• Scions

• Taurox Prime

• Command Squad

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

http://i.imgur.com/ifppoFs.png

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Edited May 18, 2015 by Immersturm

[Frater Cornelius]

Adepta Sororitas (aka Sisters of Battle)

The Sisters are a bit of a dark horse in the Imperium, but still are still a very solid army that is more than capable of supporting the Imperial Knights. They are known for their liberal use of Flamer and Melta weaponry, both of which can be put to good uses in a Knight Army. Let's take a more precise look.

 

In terms of scoring bodies the Sisters do a reasonable job. They have a solid AV13 long-ranged tank to camp rear objectives and access to reasonable dedicated transports and capable of pulling off MSU play style to go for forward objectves.

Their transport-busting capabilities are superb. They have access to Immolators, which are essentially Razorbacks, with Multimeltas. Their basic infantry, the Battle Sisters, can take two Meltas per unit, even if they are at minimum strength, namely 5 women. Their Fast Attack choices, the Dominion Squad, can carry up to four Meltas that have the potential to ignore cover. And finally, there is the Exorcist, which is the aforementioned AV13 tank, that fires D6 S8 AP1 shots across the board.

Where the Sisters fall flat is anti-air. They have no flyers or weapons with Sky Fire. Their air-support comes exclusively from Forge World (which will be covered later).

 

Starting with the Battle Sisters, there are a few options here. Since they have the ability to get two Special Weapons (or one Heavy and one Special) even at minimal unit size, they can adopt an effective MSU strategy. However, if you you feel more comfortable running ten girls in a unit and have the spare points to include those, then that is also valid. The most aggressive but most constly variant is to get multiple units of 5 Sisters with two Meltas in a Multimelta Immolator. They will melt AV up close, but also make for a good target to shoot. You can also reduce their cost by just taking a Rhino. It provides you hatch to shoot from and less incentive to be shot by the enemy. A Rhino is also able to accommodate 10 Sisters if that is the way you are fielding them.

A more defensive way of fielding them would be giving them a Heavy Bolter and leave them at an objective and have their Immolator go around killing tanks. However, this does not put the Sisters' excellent ability to kill tanks to good use, which is why I will not recommend it. I just wanted to mention it.

Note that the Battle Sisters can also cover the role of killing cover-camping infantry. The Immolator can receive a Heavy Flamer and the Sisters also have access to a Flamer and a Heavy Flamer. So if you are feeling that Exorcists and Dominions are enough anti-tank for you, then Heavy Flamers can never go wrong.

Finally, Sisters of Battle have some neat Acts of Faith, which is a once-per-game bonuses that is granted after passing a morale check. For the Battle Sisters it is Preferred Enemy. While it is a good way to ensure that your Meltas hit home, you are losing a half of their value when shooting at tanks. You should still use it when you are need to guarantee those hits, but I would not go out of my way to include the Simulacrum in the unit, which would allow you to use their Act of Faith a second time.

 

The next unit of interest is the Dominion Squad. They also start at 5 women per unit, but have the ability to take 4 Meltas, or 3 Meltas and 1 Simulacrum (or 4 Meltas with 1 Simulacrum when increasing the Squad size up to 6). Their Act of Faith grants them the Ignore Cover special rule, which is amazing for hunting enemy Skimmers and take the occasional lucky shot a passing flyer if there is nothing better to do. However, due to their massive damage potential, they will be a massive target and chances are that they will not be able to use the Act of Faith a second time. Consider carefully if you really need that Simulacrum.

Same as Battle Sisters, they can take an Immolator or a Rhino. The same advantages and disadvantages also apply here. Immolators give them a good damage potential, but has no hatch and makes them a good target. The Rhino is generally the safer option.

On a last note, these girls have the Scout special rule, allowing them to close to gap early in their transport or even Outflank if faced with a static parking lot with big guns.

 

Both the Battle Sister Superior and the Dominion Superior (their versions of squad leaders) can take a Combi-Weapon corresponding with what the rest of the squad is carrying. This is a very solid investment when you have points left over, but I would think twice before going out of my way to get those at the cost of addition units.

 

The Exorcist would be the premier Heavy Support choice. As mentioned, a group of these can lay down an ungodly amount of S8 AP1 shots from afar and are still AV13 on the front, making them ideal rear objective campers. These tanks will help you to open transports and kill Monstrous Creatures. If the Dice Gods favour you, they can also put down an airborne unit or at least force them to Jink.

 

In a mechanized build like that, none of the HQ choices really provide much benefit. If would be best to just take a cheap Canoness, give her a Combi-Melta and buff a unit of Dominions with her Ld10 for an almost guaranteed Act of Faith. While Saint Celestine can be fun to use, she would be very out of place in a list like that a prime target given that she would be the only Toughness model in a list full of AV.

There is one imaginative use of Uriah Jacobus though. At higher point games you can get a 20-strong Battle Sister Squad with a few Priests for a very reasonable price. Sticking Jabocus in there will net you a fearless unit with a re-rollable 3+/5++ save and the Priests with re-rollable 4++ in melee, acting a very good tarpit.

Beyond that, Jacobus also provides a bonus Act of Faith to the unit he has joined, on top of the Ld10 for using their regular one. Dominions and Retributors can benefit very well from that. His bonuses also work well in a reasonable sized mech unit. At some point you will be de-meched or forced to disembark. That unit will become a solid melee tarpit unit for anything apart from dedicated melee units.

 

Lastly, there are the Retributors, or more specifically, Retributors with Heavy Flamers in a Rhino or Heavy Flamer Immolator. This is your alternative to Battle Sisters when handling infantry of any kind. Why any kind? Because the Act of Faith of the Retributors gives their weapons the Rending Special Rule, making them very deadly against all kinds of infantry. Consider them if you need to combat infantry more often and can not make use of a third Exorcist all that often. I would not go overboard with it, however. Knight can handle infantry fairly well as it is. Your primary concern should still remain enemy transports and flyers.

 

There are other units with potential uses like the Seraphim Deep Striking, Retributors with either Heavy Bolters/Multimeltas or Repentia, they are a bit too situational to support Knights effectively and do not mesh well with a mechanized build that is recommended for maximum target saturation.

 

Strengths:

• Loads of Melta

• Good scoring capabilites

 

Weaknesses:

• No dedicated anti-air outside of Forge World

• No useful HQ choice for a Mech army outside of Jacobus

 

Recommended units:

• Battle Sisters

• Dominions

• Exorcists

• Heavy Flamer Retributors

• Uriah Jacobus

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

http://i.imgur.com/ifppoFs.png

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Edited May 18, 2015 by Immersturm

[Kriegsmacht]

Awesome work you're doing Immersturm. It's looking like Imperial Knights are going to be my first playable army and I will definitely be reading this often. :tu:

[Frater Cornelius]

Awesome work you're doing Immersturm. It's looking like Imperial Knights are going to be my first playable army and I will definitely be reading this often.

 

Thanks, bud. Good to know that I am not completely wasting my time here :D JK

[Kriegsmacht]

Never a waste of time if you enjoy what you're doing. :)

[Frater Cornelius]

Cult Mechanicus

I'll come right out and say that pure Cult is inferior to Skitarii when it comes to being allied with Knights. In my opinion at least. However, do not let that discourage your, as they can still put together a reasonably effective force.

 

First one on the chopping block is the Tech Priest Dominus (aka the Magos). He is a very solid addition to any Imperial Knight force due to his ability to repair a hull-point on a roll of 2+. This adds a lot of durability to a Knight, seeing as they rarely die in one shooting phase. However, the Magos has limited mobility and can not keep up with aggressive Knight, hence I consider the Crusader to be the best match-up for him.

 

Next up are the Kataphron Breachers. When running with Knights, I would always give them the Heavy Arc Rifle and the Arc Claw, that way they can take over the important job of opening enemy transports. Although they suffer a bit from BS3, they make for it with their good staying power and reasonable cost.

The Kataphron Destroyers are there to kill things your Knights would not want to engage in melee, namely Dreadknights, Wraithknights or Iron Priests with plenty of ablative wounds. Armed with Heavy Grav Cannons, these guys will tear through most units at range. However, they are relatively fragile, so I would run them in units of 5, even though they are sometimes prone to overkill. I would not play more than one unit due to the cost. Stick the Magos in there to tank for them.

 

The Electro Priests were supposed to be your cheap fodder, but ended up costing more than a Tactical Marine. While I am not a fan and consider them inferior to Skitarii Vanguards, you can run a few units of the shooty version to put pressure on MSU bikes or hordes. They do it reasonably effective, despite being overpriced. You can also take them in multiple small units to buff your Canticles effect. Combined with MSU Breachers, you should be able to get a good number of units going.

 

Lastly, there are the Kastelan bots. I would not take them here due to their cost. Your high-cost, high staying power units are the Knights.

 

The general idea is to saturate the board with your units and play a game of objectives and attrition. Your units have a decent staying power, that is enhanced by the Canticles. Do not try to play the extermiantion game. You lack the bodies for that. Instead, focus on taking out immediate threats and limiting enemy mobility.

 

Strengths:

• Good unit saturation

• Solid answer to tanks and elite units

• Generally good staying power against small arms fire

 

Weaknesses:

• Very limited mobility (the slowest army in the game actually)

• Low model-count

• Limited ability to deal with hordes

 

Recommended units:

• Breachers

• Destroyers

• Tech Priest Dominus

• Shooty Electro Priests

 

Example lists:

(Soon™)

 

http://i.imgur.com/ifppoFs.png

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Edited July 6, 2015 by Immersturm

[Ammonius]

Indeed, kudos to you Immersturm for doing this. It's definitely appreciated!

[wako1302]

A Knight can fire any number of weapons at any number of targets, so that works.

 

Typically, each Baron can opt to take a single Heirloom.  There's one Baron in the Household Detachment (if taken as your Warlord) and one in the Baronial Court.  There's one High King in the Exalted Court, and all of the other Knights in that Formation are Barons.  So you can certainly have multiple Knight Characters, depending on what Detachments/Formations you take.  Realistically, you'll only see this in very high point games.

 

So if I am fielding 4 knights

 

I have a Household detachment which would give me a Warlord Character.

And then for the 3 other knights I can take a Baronial Court, giving me an other character.

[Frater Cornelius]

 

A Knight can fire any number of weapons at any number of targets, so that works.

 

Typically, each Baron can opt to take a single Heirloom.  There's one Baron in the Household Detachment (if taken as your Warlord) and one in the Baronial Court.  There's one High King in the Exalted Court, and all of the other Knights in that Formation are Barons.  So you can certainly have multiple Knight Characters, depending on what Detachments/Formations you take.  Realistically, you'll only see this in very high point games.

 

So if I am fielding 4 knights

 

I have a Household detachment which would give me a Warlord Character.

And then for the 3 other knights I can take a Baronial Court, giving me an other character.

 

 

Not possible, because the Household Detachment requires a minimum of three Knights, same as the Baronial Court. Your setup would require six Knights, at which point you might as well play the Exalted Court for five Characters.

[Vel'Cona]

I love the entire concept of a tactica that can be crowdsourced and vetted in front of the whole forum!  I'm sure plenty of players will get value from this; who knows, if we really get some hits on it maybe we'll get a sticky (or at least a Resources link)?

 

Off topic, either Immersturm or Kriegsmacht is gonna have to fiddle with that avatar.  For a second there, I thought one of you was talking to himself! 

[Frater Cornelius]

I love the entire concept of a tactica that can be crowdsourced and vetted in front of the whole forum!  I'm sure plenty of players will get value from this; who knows, if we really get some hits on it maybe we'll get a sticky (or at least a Resources link)?

 

Off topic, either Immersturm or Kriegsmacht is gonna have to fiddle with that avatar.  For a second there, I thought one of you was talking to himself! 

 

I am sure this one will get a link in the AdMech Resources thread up top, if any mod can be bothered to do so that is. I don't think lack of quality should be an issue. At least I hope now :D

 

Well, I had the image first. But I am switching them around fairly often. Might still be a while until I get soemthing that comes close to a permanent picture :P

[Kriegsmacht]

lol Yeah my bad. Picked it out because it looks cool and relates to the Knights. Didn't realize it was already used at the time and thought "Well...maybe no one will notice".

[Frater Cornelius]

Adeptus Astartes (aka Space Marines)

This one will probably be the most lengthy section due to the different Chapter Tactics, but probably the most relevant next to Space Wolves, Blood Angels and Dark Angels to most users here. I don't know. I don't have access to this sites statistics. Note that this is only about the Codex: Space Marines. The other Power Armoured books will be covered separately.

Anyway, Space Marines are possibly some of the most flexible armies around, but unfortunately, they are also quite expensive when it comes to points, making it harder to include all your favourite units.

A lot of the Space Marines' flexibility comes from the Drop Pod, which allows them to drop certain using anywhere on the board, reliably delivering your units where you need them. The value for Knight here seems obvious. You can remove problematic units early and bust transports easily by getting your Meltas up close and personal.

Drop Pods also make for surprisingly good objective holders, since no-one wants to waste firepower on a 35 point AV12 vehicle just standing there doing nothing, especially when there are angry Knights and big angry men insisting on a meeting with you.

Aside from that, they have access to the Land Speeder Storm, which is a very fast and cheap transport, ideal for capturing objectives.

Marines can also cover the air fairly effective with the Stormtalon. While the Stormraven is also an option, I consider it a touch too expensive for that it brings to the party.

 

However, given the plethora of Chapter Tactics, it is hard and not necessary to generalize. For that reason I will not give a general overview of the units of interest in advance. What works for one Chapter, might not work for another. Let's have a look at what each individual Chapter Tactic brings to the Knights.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/ifppoFs.png

 

 

Ultramarines

The blue boys are known for their reliable Alpha Strike thanks to their Tactical Doctrine. Being able to re-roll failed hits with Tactical Squads is a big bonus when you planning to play Drop Pods with Melta Squads to take out the biggest threats around. However, given how their Doctrines are flexible and applicable to a variety of situations, they are not limited to running an Alpha Strike list.

It is a safe assumption that you can run Ultramarines if you have no idea what you want to run.

Given how strong their Tactical Marines are, you would generally want to focus on those. Depending in points, 3 to 5 Drop Pods filled with either 10 or 5 Tactical Marines should be doable. While I generally recommend a 2:1 ratio of Melta to Plasma, I do not recommend taking Plasmas on Tactical Marines. One Plasma and one Combi-Plasma are generally not enough to hurt Monstrous Creatures to a degree where it would matter, whereas one Melta and one Combi-Melta are enough to threaten most vehicles, especially when taking en mass. Instead of the Plasma, I would recommend using 5 man units with Flamer and possibly a Combi-Flamer to threaten cover-camping scum and simply to push units from objectives.

If running 3 pods, you would generally be looking at 2 units of 10 Marines with Melta, Combi-Melta and possibly and Multimelta, and one unit of 5 with Flamer and possibly a Combi-Flamer. When moving up to 5, then you want 3 Melta Pod and 2 Flamer Pods. Of cause, this is just what I would do. You can also run 5 pods with units of 5 men with Melta and Combi-Melta or 3 pods with a full-Melta load-out. Marines are very flexible when it comes to unit load-out.

 

Sternguard are also worth considering, despite their high cost. They bring more Melta shots on arrival as well as special ammunition and will still have enough space in the pods to be accompanied by a support character. Consider this on carefully though, because they eat away points very quickly.

 

To support those Marines you can look at Scouts in Land Speeder Storm for objective-hunting, Thunderfire Cannons, a very flexible unit, to pressure Hordes, transports or cover camping infantry.

If you want to include anti-air, then consider the Stormtalon with Skyhammer Missiles. This bird will force most flyers to jink, put plenty of hurt on Flying Monstrous Creatures and open transports reliably.

 

Some people might argue that Tigurius with Grav-Centurions is a killer combo, which it is, but they will only find limited use here. Allying in a third faction for Drop Pods or buying a Land Raider will add cost on top of a prohibitively expensive unit. It work when running pure Power Armour builds, but with Knights you need to build a list around them and not the other way around.

 

Strengths:

• Flexible Chapter Tactics

• Strong Alpha Strike with minimal retaliation

 

Weaknesses:

• Limited to Drop Pod builds, other things are done better by other Chapters

 

Recommended units:

• Tactical Marines in Drop Pods

• Possibly Sternguard at higher point games

• Stormtalons

• Thunderfire Cannons

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

White Scars

These guys are an interesting bunch and I consider them to be one of the more interesting options. Bikes lists are generally mobile enough to play the objective game and get up close with transports, which is especially true for White Scars due to the Scout Move granted by Khan. Two of the special weapons are of interest here, the Melta and the Grav Gun. The Melta can be used reliably from T1 due to their Scout Move, but might expose the Bikes to enemy fire if going second. They are still your best option for killing enemy transports quickly. The Grav Gun is there to kill big nasties like Wraith Knights or dedicated melee units like TWC, that could do considerable damage to your Knights. If you are running Melta Bikes, you might want to consider a Multimelta Trike for that extra range and extra shot. Meltas are a fickle gun.

Either way, I would generally go for untis of 5 for maximum objective scoring potential and more Special Weapons on the board, seeing as every unit can take two Special Weapons and a Combi-Weapon regardless of size. Any bigger and the unit will get unwieldy.

If fielding Multimelta Trike in Melta units, consider dropping down the size. While you need a unit of 5 bikes to make then into Troops, units of three with a Trike are also eligible. While this reduces the amount of ablative wounds, it reduces the cost as well, allowing for more guns in total.

 

As with Ultramarines, you can spend the rest of your points on Thunderfire Cannons for back-field scoring or Stormtalons with Skyhammer Missles for air-domiantion and additional armour-busting capabilities. Even a Land Speeder Storm would not go amiss here.

 

I would generally avoid Drop Pods in this army, seeing as other Chapter Tactics do it better.

 

Strengths:

• Strong Alpha Strike

• Very mobile army

• Only reliable source of Grav at a reasonable price

 

Weaknesses:

• Low body-count

• Exposed to enemy fire after Scouting if going second

• Requires a HQ tax (Khan) to make most of this setup

 

Recommended units:

• Khan

• Bikes with Meltas/Grav Guns

• Stormtalons

• Thunderfire Cannons

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

Imperial Fists and Crimson Fists (including Sentinels of Terra)

This is the Chapter Tactic you want to run if you enjoy Heavy Weapons. Imperial Fists Devastators get Tank Hunter, one of the best Special Rules in 40k, for free, making them very reliable at busting tanks from afar.

There is multiple ways of approaching it. One way is to completely focus on Devastators. This means getting 2 minimal units of Scouts in Land Speeder Storms and get 3 units of Devastators with Lascannons and some ablative wounds to boot. Lascannon are great, because they can reliably hurt Monstrous Creatures, high Toughness units like Thunderwolves and make most of the the Tank Hunter rule due to getting easier Penetrating Hits and AP2. The more extreme version of that would be running the Sentinels of Terra Supplement at higher points games, getting your 3 Devastator units and then buy some Lascannon + Missile Launcher Centurions (1 unit of 3 is probably sufficient) in the Elite slot (Grav-Centurions are also an option, but are let down by their limited range and no access to allied Drop Pods). Very few armies will get close to the armour-busting capabilities of this setup.

The second, less focused one, would be running two units of Devastators and possibly a Thunderfire Cannon and filling up the points with Tactical Melta Pods instead of Scouts. While this setup is more balanced, it does not play to the strength of the Fists as much as option one, which is why I, personally, prefer option one.

 

Strengths:

• Very strong armour-busting capabilities

• Solid back-field presence

 

Weaknesses:

• Can be a touch too static if Scouts are elimited early

 

Recommended units:

• Scouts in LSS/Tacticals in Pods

• Devastators with Lascannons

• Devastator-Centurions

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

Iron Hands (including Clan Raukaan)

If you want to make mechanized Space Marine builds or make liberal use of Tech Marines or Dreadnoughts, then Iron Hands will do nicely. They will also survive a tiny bit longer due to their 6+ FnP.

Like with other Marines, you will probably need to get two Pods with full Melta Tacticas. However, the third pod would be well used on an Ironclad Dreadnought. AV13 front and side in addition to IWND is a tough nut to crack. Use it as an anvil to the hammer that is your Imperial Knights. If the Ironclad gets into melee with as good as any armour, it will be destroyed. It also sports a Melta, allowing it to do some potential damage on arrival. But its main purpose would be to act as an anvil and distractions from the real threats.

To supplement those you can also consider Predator Tanks as your rear objective campers. AV13 is not easy to open from across the board and the Predators also benefit from IWND and can help deal with armour. A solid build would be 'AutoLas' option, which is an Autocannon Predator with Lascannon sponsons. But the 'TrippleLas' option is also a good pick if you have the points.

 

As always, the Skyhammer Stormtalon is a solid option to open transports and hurt airborne units.

 

Clan Raukaan offers another interesting option. Their advantage (amongst other things) is the access to more Tech Marines with better chances of repairing armour. Get yourself multiple Tech Marines on Bikes and drive behind your Knights to repair them every turn without slowing them down. That will happen on top of the other threats you will be bringing, resulting in too many targets for most opponents to handle. Shooting a few Tech Marines is not something people will like, but shooting at the Knights will not help much either because they will get repaired the next turn.

 

Strengths:

• Able to keep Knights repaired very easily

• Makes good use of vehicles, which synergize with IK

 

Weaknesses:

• Infantry is inferior to other Chapters

 

Recommended units:

• Tactical Marines in Pods

• Ironclad Dreadnought

• Techmarines on Bikes

• Predators

• Stormtalons

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

Raven Guard

The Ravenguard are probably the only SM army I would ever consider taking Rhinos. Why is that? Because Tactical Marines can Scout in them. If you pack a bunch, this can easily lead to overload, possibly even more than with Drop Pods, since only half of the Pods come down T1.

So, you are basically looking at an army full of Tactical Marines riding Rhinos and possibly a few Scouts in LSS for objective camping. The recommended load-out for Tactical Marines stays the same as with the other Chapter Tactics.

 

You can also take advantage of their Jump Pack units to hunt light-armour with their Krak Grenades or hold objectives. Just make sure to give them a Melta and send them on their way.

 

The Stormtalon and Thunderfire Cannons are once again a solid option.

 

Another advantage is that Raven Guard units benefit from Stealth during their first turn, making it harder to Alpha Strike them and allows them to make their Scout Move more liberally.

 

Strengths:

• Overload by massed Scouting Rhino Tacticals

• Strong scoring capabilities

• Good target saturation

• Mitigate enemy Alpha Strike

 

Weaknesses:

• Few strong long-ranged options

• Weakest Tactical Marines (like Iron Hands)

 

Recommended units:

• Tactical Marines

• Scouts in LSS

• Assault Marines

• Stormtalons

• Thunderfire Cannons

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

Salamanders

Salamanders actually come fairly close to how the Ultramarines play. While they do not have the ability to twin-link every kind of weapon the Tacticals are carrying, then have the ability to gain twin-linked Flamers, making them more reliable at pushing units of objectives, and gain access to master-crafted Melta-Weapons if Vulkan He'stan is included.

So the setup of your Tactical Marines in Drop Pods will essentially be the same as with Ultramarines, with He'stan joining a smaller unit of Tacticals or Sternguard.

 

The difference starts to show when considering what other Melta-Weapons could be used here to take advantage of He'stans ability to make them master-crafted. The answer is Land Speeders. While I generally do not advice to take Land Speeders in competitive play, I am willing to make an exception for these ones. You essentially get a massive threat range with these guys and high reliability due to them essentially being twin-linked. This also allows them to jink more readily, seeing as the re-rolls somewhat mitigate the resulting snap-shots next turn.

 

Overall, this army will be akin to the Sisters of Battle in terms of the amount of Meltas and quality of Meltas. This synergizes very well with Knights, seeing as they threaten transports very well.

 

And, as expected, Thunderfire Cannons and Stormtalons are, once again, a great way to fill up the last few points.

 

Strengths:

• Very strong Melta- and Flamer-based Alpha Strike

• A very good amount of reliable Melta-Weaponry

 

Weaknesses:

• Inludes a HQ tax (Vulkan) to make the most of it

• Overshadowed by Ultramarines when you do not capitalize on Meltas

 

Recommended units:

• Vulkan He'stan

• Tactical Marines in Drop Pods

• possibly Sternguard at higher point games

• Dual-MM Land Speeders

• Stormtalons

• Thunderfire Cannons

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

Black Templars

Last but not least, the beloved Black Templars. Well, given that their bonuses are fairly melee based and got little to do with Alpha Strike, busting transports or keeping the skies clear, how could they possibly synergize with Imperial Knights? Well, try to think outside the box. Sometimes even the smallest factor can result in a completely different type of strategy.

Enter the Crusader Squad, the meat of every Black Templar player worth his salt. There are three minor differences between the Crusader Squad and the regular SM Tactical Marines that create two completely new playstyles.

 

One, their ability to take a Special Weapon and a Heavy Weapon at minimal strength of 5 manly men. This means they can act with the same efficiency as other Tacticals in terms of Special and Heavy Weapons but without having to buy 5 additional guys. That is 70 points saved. This makes MSU play style a very real possitiblity with Templars. They can have the full load-out and still fit into a Razorback. While Razorbacks are not the most efficient transports in terms of point-cost, the points you saved on your Crusader Squads will more than make up for it. The Crusaders will want the Melta and Multimelta for that.

There are three options for the Razorback, TLLC, LasPlas or TLAsC. All three can get the job done, but I consider the TLAsC to be the most cost-effective of them, although LasPlas is not far behind, but is let down but its lack of mobility if you want to use both guns to their maximum effect.

Support your Razorback advance with a few Vindicators for maximum amount of pressure and saturation. Vindicators are great ways to pressure the opponent, because S10 AP2 Large Blasts are pretty scary. More often than not, however, they will serve as distractions than do actual damage. But it usually works very well, because no one wants to risk having them run rampant and shooting you at will.

 

The second and third, and possibly the most striking differences are the ability to beef-out the Crusader Squad with Scouts on top of the Power Armoured Marines beyond the regular 10 man size limit and to take Land Raiders as dedicated transports.

While I would usually advice against taking expensive models together with Knights, especially Land Raiders, because you will need a unit that can make use of them. Crusader Squads, however, give the Land Raider the Objective Secured Rule, making them very resilient scoring units, and they provide the Land Raider the opportunity to ferry a unit that worth bringing to the front at full strength while keeping the costs from bloating too much.

This results with you having a solid wall of AV13 4++ and AV14 advancing, rendering most guns utterly useless against that army. In addition to that you also have solid ranged output and a nasty melee package to boot. A very dangerous combo, not so much because of the output, but because it is very hard to shift.

In this case you want to avoid Heavy Weapons and just hand around a few Meltas to finish off a transport and charge the unit that was riding it or do an early wound to whatever you want to charge.

Two of those units will generally suffice. You may be able to cram in three with two Knights at 2000 points, making it one of the most Heavy Metal armies ever created.

 

If you have spare points in the Land Raider setup, consider Vindicators or Stormtalons.

 

Strengths:

• Crusader Squads allows MSU play style or solid AV13/14 wall of doom

• Solid melee capabilities

 

Weaknesses:

• Inferior Alpha Strike to other Chapters

• No direct benefit to shooting (which is superior to melee in 7th Edition)

 

Recommended units:

• MSU Crusaders in Razorbacks

• Full Crusaders in Land Raider Crusaders

• Vindicators

• Stormtalons

 

Example lists:

(working on it)

 

http://i.imgur.com/ifppoFs.png

 

 

And that was it. Quite a chunk. I am sure there a setups or tactics, which I missed. But the book is so diverse, that I will not claim to have mastered it to a degree where I can name every single combination resulting from it. I merely focused on the most prominent ones (or somewhat creative ones in the case of Black Templars).

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/ifppoFs.png

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Edited May 18, 2015 by Immersturm

[wako1302]

Got a game at 1,850 points, so I am going to run an Exalted Court

 

Paladin + Santuary 390 points

Statline 6 6 10 13 12 12 4 3 6 +3 ion shield (character)

 

Errant 370 points

Statline 5 5 10 13 12 12 4 3 6 +4 ion sheild (character)

 

Warden + Gauntlet 385 points

Statline 5 5 10 13 12 12 4 3 6 +4 ion sheild (character)

 

Gallant 325 points

Statline 5 5 10 13 12 12 4 3 6 +4 ion sheild (character)

 

Castigator 380 points

Statline 5 5 10 13 12 12 4 4 6 +4 ion sheild (character)

[Frater Cornelius]

No need to post the profile. We all know what they do :P

Also, if anyone could use the Sanctuary, it would be the Castigator or Gallant, seeing as those are going to be far more aggressive than the other Knights.

[Lord Ragnarok]

Good work Immersturm! Keep'em coming :) I'll need to take a close look at the raukaan rules for a IK/sons of medusa themed force.

[wulfgar hammerfist]

I am enjoying this series immensely! Thanks for the hard work!

[wako1302]

No need to post the profile. We all know what they do

Also, if anyone could use the Sanctuary, it would be the Castigator or Gallant, seeing as those are going to be far more aggressive than the other Knights.

 

Just posted the statline to show how the Exalted Court boosts the statline.

 

Also a good point about the Sanctuary, forgot every model is a character and can use it - Will be putting it on the Castigator.

[Kriegsmacht]

Since I'm planning on building my Knights as the primary force I'm looking at Household Detachment/Baronial court because of the 3 compulsory Knights(so I can try to start playing games sooner hopefully). Would it be a safe bet to start off with an Errant(already built), Warden and Paladin? I'm not worried about magnetizing these three but I will most likely start magnetizing the last two Knights for flexibility. Just wanted to know because I'm planning on picking up the next Knight kit tomorrow or Thursday for my second vow. Thanks

[wulfgar hammerfist]

That is my plan as well. I have a Paladin and an Errant built and another kit waiting to be built which will be a Warden. I plan to run IK primary but I'm still undecided on which allies to take.

[Frater Cornelius]

Well, you can check out the example lists (once I have added them) to see which one is your to your liking. I am hoping to finish BA and SW by the end of the week.