Knight houses and their supporting forces

[Commissar Ibram Gaunt]

So a problem I have always have with imperial knight fluff is that i have never seen mention of supporting armies or forces from the worlds they control.

 

Do you think there would be scope to build a knight house with their own supporting army using the AM codex. For me it would make sense for a house to bring their own supporting army with them. Is this too far from the established fluff?

[One_happy_hippy]

I can't see why not? Using an imperial guard style force with its own unique style to reflect the knight home world in same way the Cadians or Valhallans are of there respective home worlds.

 

If I do a 30k army it will be a Mechanicum force based to represent the Mechanicum forces of the Lucius Forge world in support of the Legio Astorum aligned Mechanicum knight army and titans I'm building.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

I came up with some homebrew fluff for 'Yeomanry', household retainer troops. Because Knight Armours are basically archeotech, I liked the idea of them having an elite guard with access to equipment from the same source which would be unavailable to most forces of the same type: hence, their best warriors have power armour.

QUESTORIS KNIGHT YEOMANRY:

Coveted for their immense power both by the Expeditionary leaders of the Imperium and the myriad Magos of the Mechanicum, Knight Houses played a vital role in the Great Crusade and the bitter civil war which would follow, with the arrival of their immense armours heralding victory for the Imperium across countless battlefields. Whilst the Knights themselves were undoubtedly the superior forces of any Household, they were not the only military resource counted amongst the Questoris divisions of the mighty Knight Houses.

To fight where their Scions could not, as well as to fulfill martial purposes unsuited to the colossal Knight Armours, most Households deployed a number of retainer forces amongst their ranks, varying in their nature between Households as was warranted by each Knight World’s unique history. Despite the vast gulf between many such Yeomanry regiments, from huge militias drawn from the feudal subjects of some Knight Worlds to elite mercenary forces sworn to individual Knight deployments during the Great Crusade, the bonds of tradition and common technology between Households resulted in many similar formations being observed in kind alongside even the most disparate of Knight forces.

HOUSEHOLD PARADIGMS:

An army using the Questoris Knight Crusade list may select a single Household Paradigm at the cost listed as long as it contains a

single unit with the Yeomanry special rule. Unless otherwise stated the effect listed for each Household Paradigm effect all units with the Yeomanry special rule, and may unlock additional options for certain units which are listed in those units’ profiles.

MECHANICUM VASSALS:

Accepted with grace or battered into submission, the Household owes its fealty to the Mechanicum, and has much closer ties to the Machine-Cult’s servants than a truly independent Knight Household – at a price. The armies of such Households often feature augmentation and equipment uncommon outside the ranks of their executors, and may maintain aspects of Taghmata Omnissiah forces within their own Yeomary divisions.

HOUSEHOLD ASCENDANT:

The Household has survived the ages to become a powerful lineage, its Knights bearing their glorious history upon resplendent plate, accompanied by disciplined and steadfast Yeomanry as the many Expeditionary Fleets petition for their aid. Afforded independence from the Mechanicum by their prosperity and influence, their proud Scions are aspirational figures for the forces who fight at their behest.

FADING DYNASTY:

Not all Knight Households find equal fortune in the constant fight for survival which marks the 31^st Millenium. Whether due to a slow decline through the bitter ages of the Age of Strife, or tumultuous losses during the Great Crusade, the Household fights for its very survival. For the Household, each and every Knight armour is a vital resource, and those Scions who pilot them are hardened and ruthless, whilst their retainer forces are toughened veterans, though they may be poorly equipped in the eyes of Households who have not faced the same hardships. Glorious battle is all that remains for the Household – either they will gain enough favour from their actions that respite and re-supply may finally be bestowed upon them, or they will die in a final, furious maelstrom.

QUESTORIS KNIGHT YEOMANRY UNITS:

SACRISTAN MILITANT:

Whilst the Sacristans of the Knight Households will never be borne into battle within the imposing hulls of the Knight armours they so venerate, for some this reverence is coupled by the urge to accompany the prodigious warmachines into the fires of war, that they might seal wounds which threaten a Knight armour’s structural integrity and return it to the fight once more. For these Sacristans, the Pledge of Militancy places them amongst the warhosts of their Household’s Yemonary, often accompanied by elite Armiger retinues or Servo-Automata thralls as they mend rent adamantium and slay the enemies of mankind with equal fervor.

Where many Sacristans’ time amongst the mysterious orders of the Machine-Cult creates an uncomfortable distance between them and their erstwhile kin, the Sacristans Militant are perhaps the closest of their kind to the Scions whom they serve, the shared blood of their house compeling them not only to mend damaged knights, but to bring ruin to those who would seek to lay such icons of the Omnissiah’s holy wrath low.

YEOMANRY ARMIGER DETACHMENT:

Bearing partially powered armour of esoteric design and directed energy weapons that mirror the lightning projectors borne by the constructs of the Mechanicum, the soldiery designated as ‘Armigers’ by the Divisio Militaris can be traced by the heritage of their wargear back to the infantry forces which accompanied the original Knight armours of their Household within the Long March fleets during the Dark Age of Technology. Whatever the provenance of the Household whose colours they bear, the Armigers serve as protective retinues and elite warriors for their Scions, ever vigilant whether they are patrolling the halls of their Knight World’s holdfasts or stemming the tide of enemy infantry so their Knightly superiors might turn their attention to more formidable opponents.

Such warriors are invariably members of the Household for whom they fight, whether they are lesser families bound by blood to their Scions, wards taken into the Household’s ranks from birth or exemplary soldiers inducted into the Household for particular feats of valour. Few in number, Yeomanry Armigers are amongst the best equipped mortal warriors of the Imperium, and when the finest Knights of the Great Crusade strode across the battlefields of the Heresy, Armigers inevitably marched in their wake.

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YEOMANRY RETAINER TROOP:

Forming the bulk of most Households’ auxiliary forces, Yeomanry Retainers are deployed when the nature of a warzone necessitates large numbers of infantry forces, or when hordes of enemy infantry might threaten to overwhelm even the most stalwart of Knights. Professional soldiery who have sworn fealty to their Knight Household, the men and women who fight amongst their ranks display huge variance in equipment between Households, but all bear the mark of their liege-lords with pride.

DESTRIER BATTLEFRAME WING:

The Destrier Battleframes found within the armouries of Knight Households across the Galaxy’s span are said to possess features in common both with ancient patterns of pre-Unification Dreadnoughts and the ubiquitous Sentinel scout walker STC, and share a similar origin to the Knight armours themselves, although they pale in comparison to such magnificent constructs. Descended from the servo-frames used to deconstruct the Long March void-arks, once the founding settlements of the Knight Worlds had been built, the servo-frames were repurposed to scout the unmapped regions of their new homeworlds, searching for promising resource deposits and patrolling against the strange new threats of such alien planets.

When the true threats of the void were unleashed upon the Knight Worlds amidst the horrors of Old Night, these machines were swiftly retrofitted into weapons of war, as the enclaves of mankind fought desperately to survive so far from Terra. Whilst most of the Battleframes were cannibalized to maintain the ranks of the ailing Knights as the centuries wore on, many Households retain the ability to produce Destriers - basic as they are – and the walkers have maintained a place in the warhosts of the Knight Worlds, serving in small wings to scout ahead of their fearsome Knights, or screening them from lesser foes. Sneered at by many Households as pathetic when compared to Knights, the Destrier Battleframes nevertheless prove useful – allowing aspirants to teste their mettle in battle without risking valuable Knight armours, or in darker circumstances allowing Scions to pursue a noble death in battle avenging the loss of their own Knight.

The Sacristans Martial & Armigers will both have armour similar to the Scions - although more heavy-duty to justify power armour:

SACRISTANS MARTIAL:

*Power armour, servo-arm & power weapon (probably sidearm too)

*Battlesmith

*Support Unit

*Accompanied by either 'Armiger Retinue' (Same rules as Armiger Detachment pretty much) or Servo-automata, in the same vein to tech-priests

Mechanicum Vassals Option:

*Take a Cortex Controller & gain a unit of Castellax / Vorax / Domitar

YEOMANRY ARMIGER DETACHMENT:

* Power armour, ccw, grenades, 'Lightning Jezzail' (Basically a cross between a pike & a Thallax lightning gun - 2 profiles, one 18" assault ranged, one melee)

* Can swap Lightning Jezzail for Boarding Shield & Augmented Weapon

* Statline similar to SA

* Dracosan / Thureos / Rhino transport

Household Ascendant Option:

* Increased unit size max, furious charge, must charge if in range, accept challenges

Fading Dynasty Option:

* Gain increased BS, Toughness, have to exchange Lightning Jezzails for Heavy Stubbers / Maxim Bolters / Heavy Chainsword

YEOMANRY RETAINER TROOP:

* Similar in style to militia, lots of options for wargear (less feeble), start of with decent equipment, can upgrade (no special / heavy weapons troops)

* Dracosan / Thureos / Rhino transport

Mechanicum Vassals Option:

* Swap out Retainer Troops as a unit option for Adsecularis Covenant

DESTRIER BATTLEFRAME WING:

* Profile 1/2 between Legion dread & sentinel

* 1 arm starts with Twin-linked Heavy Stubber, can swap for:

- TL Rotor Cannon

- TL Lightning Gun

- TL Heavy flamer

- Reaper Autocannon

- Multi-melta

- Volkite Culverin

- Mauler Boltcannon

* Other arm starts with 'Destrier Chainscythe' (anti-infantry), can swap for:

- Seismic Lance (mini-version of Cerastus lance, but with similarities to Seismic Hammer)

- Artemis Lascutter (inspired by the Cerastus-Atrapos lascutter, shaped like a broadsword)

* May select one of the following 'retrofits'

- Scouting adaptation, increased speed, scout

- Basic Invulnerable save

- Back-mounted 'Balestorm Mortar' (basically Heavy 2 Mortar)

* Support Unit

Mechanicum Vassals Option:

* Effectively turns the Battleframe into an automata, changes behavior but increases resilience

Fading Dynasty Option:

* Increases WS, become scoring unit (Scions taking to the field in Destriers due to shortage of Knight Armours)

FOC:

I'll come up with some analogue to the SA Tercio rules which allow the above units to be taken in a 'bundle' as a single Troops choice for a Questoris Knight army, with limitations on the ratio of Destriers / Sacristans to Armigers / Retainiers.

Elite / HQ Knights will also be able to select a Destrier Battleframe 'Retinue', but they must select the invulnerable save upgrade

Edited January 26, 2018 by Iron Hands Fanatic

[Commissar Ibram Gaunt]

Some killer lore you have made there and I really appreciate the input given so far.

 

I was planning on designing my own house made up of five (this gives me the opportunity to piant a few different coloured knights as I struggle to have one choice of colour) seperate guild's instead of families as they place skill, honour and strength above family lines, so more of a warrior society.

 

They have many hunts of local predators on their home planet and warrior games all done the traditional with live calvary and hand weapons way to elect their leaders amd recruit new scions.

 

Though in saying that they do have a dark side, many dealings with rogue traders (to find new knight chassis for them and amass wealth) and are not averse to having scions from other unkown houses killed for their Knight chassis but are on a whole loyal to the imperium. They see the family line of knight scions as a weakness and affront to them.

 

I have also planned out a sub system around their home world who they manage and protect that includes a forgeworld who they are very closely aligned with.

 

This will be quite a long and large project, as I auve just sold all my other mini's and legion project to begin when i get back from Europe holiday in June. I will producing some various digital art using my newly acquired wacom tablet (to learn new skills with and this aids my knight project) which will include such things as their heraldry and cities of each of the guilds.

 

All knights named in high gothic (Latin) and scions will be named. I will also be creating a peice of art (as simple as a digital painting so I know exactly how the heradrly will look) for each knight before I make them.

 

In terms of support troops I was looking at using the Death Korp models (because they are my favaorite minis every produced) that will all be an armoured company and have heavy support from battle tabks as well. With their close ties to a forgeworld I think this will fit quite well and I believe taht the death korps will work with them as I will be using a brighter pallette of colours than is normally used for death korps.

Edited January 26, 2017 by Commissar Ibram Gaunt

[Battybattybats]

Love the yeoman artwork!

[JeffTibbetts]

That's good stuff, IHF!

[MagicHat]

Don't the codex say something about this? I thought they don't have or bring any significant forces. Which is stupid.

 

I plan on having Sentinel "yeomen" anyway, with modified arm mounts to resemble knights more. And their tiny sentinel chainswords. The Knight can't be expected to deal with every minor issue afterall.

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

Some killer lore you have made there and I really appreciate the input given so far.

 

I was planning on designing my own house made up of five (this gives me the opportunity to piant a few different coloured knights as I struggle to have one choice of colour) seperate guild's instead of families as they place skill, honour and strength above family lines, so more of a warrior society.

 

They have many hunts of local predators on their home planet and warrior games all done the traditional with live calvary and hand weapons way to elect their leaders amd recruit new scions.

 

Though in saying that they do have a dark side, many dealings with rogue traders (to find new knight chassis for them and amass wealth) and are not averse to having scions from other unkown houses killed for their Knight chassis but are on a whole loyal to the imperium. They see the family line of knight scions as a weakness and affront to them.

 

I have also planned out a sub system around their home world who they manage and protect that includes a forgeworld who they are very closely aligned with.

 

This will be quite a long and large project, as I auve just sold all my other mini's and legion project to begin when i get back from Europe holiday in June. I will producing some various digital art using my newly acquired wacom tablet (to learn new skills with and this aids my knight project) which will include such things as their heraldry and cities of each of the guilds.

 

All knights named in high gothic (Latin) and scions will be named. I will also be creating a peice of art (as simple as a digital painting so I know exactly how the heradrly will look) for each knight before I make them.

 

In terms of support troops I was looking at using the Death Korp models (because they are my favaorite minis every produced) that will all be an armoured company and have heavy support from battle tabks as well. With their close ties to a forgeworld I think this will fit quite well and I believe taht the death korps will work with them as I will be using a brighter pallette of colours than is normally used for death korps.

 

That sounds rad - I think one of the trickiest things in regards to retainer troops fro knight houses is the huge variation between Knight houses - they're a bit of a contradiction, at once using almost identical knight armours whilst possessing vastly different cultures & organisational structures. However, it pretty much means that with a little background, you can justify pretty much anything in regards to these forces, so all of that sounds like it'd be appropriate.

 

Love the yeoman artwork!

That's good stuff, IHF!

 

Thanks, I'm planning on expanding it a bit in the future with more artwork & rules / background - one thing currently in the works is the Courser Armoured Transport for the Yeomanry, and a swap of weaponry for the Armigers - the Lightning Pike / Jezzails are a bit too similar to the Secutarii Hoplites' Arc Lances, who fulfill a pretty much identical role for Mechanicum Titans, so I'm liking the idea of Las-Pikes, which would function like las-cutters in melee, but could also fire like traditional las weaponry.

 

I'm also including the Yeomanry stuff in the background of my 30k army, with some planned portraits of high-ranking figures.

 

Don't the codex say something about this? I thought they don't have or bring any significant forces. Which is stupid.

 

I plan on having Sentinel "yeomen" anyway, with modified arm mounts to resemble knights more. And their tiny sentinel chainswords. The Knight can't be expected to deal with every minor issue afterall.

 

The sentinel conversions are similar to how I'd envisaged the Destriers - smaller, shoddier imitations of the Knights for dealing with lesser enemies

[Commissar Ibram Gaunt]

I think you are right that there is such a huge variety of knight worlds and really a lot of free scope gor their retained troops. I really liked the bretonnian knights growing up and how many knights of personal heraldry all fought under the same leader. This allows a wide range of heraldry between my five guolds and within them to add character and depth. They also had their own non knight infantry and this is a good source of inspiration for me as well as some such as names and titles which i will be drawing feom medieval history.

[Battybattybats]

I still want to see someone someday convert up the Knights mentioned in the Imperial Knight Companion that were in such a sorry state of technological decline when the Great crusade reached them that they had wood and cast iron plate repairs and black-powder canons with human crews and loaders clinging on wooden scaffolding to hand-load the canons.

[JeffTibbetts]

That would be awesome, Bats.

[MagicHat]

Crusader knight with rapidfire battlecannon made from two great cannons, a helblaster on the other and the missile on the roof, with an engineer.

 

I can dream, but I will never have time to finish it.

[KBA]

I still want to see someone someday convert up the Knights mentioned in the Imperial Knight Companion that were in such a sorry state of technological decline when the Great crusade reached them that they had wood and cast iron plate repairs and black-powder canons with human crews and loaders clinging on wooden scaffolding to hand-load the canons.

Reading this was like a shot of inspiration right into the bloodstream. I figured I might have use of my Goblin Town box I bought for dirt cheap one day...

[MoGuy]

 

 

So a problem I have always have with imperial knight fluff is that i have never seen mention of supporting armies or forces from the worlds they control.

 

Do you think there would be scope to build a knight house with their own supporting army using the AM codex. For me it would make sense for a house to bring their own supporting army with them. Is this too far from the established fluff? 

 

Knight worlds don't have armies of their own because the Knights themselves were build from lost STCs. Most of them were cut off from the Imperium when the AI started to rebell and were only reconnected in the Great Crusade. The AM simply wasn't around at the time (and a single planet without a connection to a Forgeworld can't make weaponry and thus can't raise an army) the Knights were made and originally the Knights were used as work machines to lift heavy stuff etc. 

 

Nowadays Knight Worlds can have access to the Astra Militarum etc. but those troops don't originate from the Knight World. Scions are also a different beast entirely since they are trained in special Scholas that are quite rare. I wouldn't go too overboard with the fluff, otherwise it just might be too much of the "this is my army, they are such a special snowflake" etc. 

[JeffTibbetts]

The Knight Worlds were reunited during the great crusade, and that's plenty of time to adapt technology to their cause. Whilst the troops may not be part of the AM or Scions, you could certainly use those rules to represent them if your oppenent takes issue. And that really only applies to a pickup game. Amongst friends I can hardly imagine someone NOT playing against such a cool army.

 

It's also mentioned in the Knight codex and the older Companion book that many Knight Worlds retained a higher level of technology, and some of them are even rumored to contain intact STC systems. It's one of the reasons the AdMech is obsessed with them and will do almost anything to gain access to their tech. It's also mentioned that some of these Knight families guard the info jealously and don't appreciate the AdMech meddling.

 

Some of the houses obviously suffered a decline in tech, but not all. And amongst those are precious few that actually seem to have better access to tech than the AdMech. The idea that they could (and would) protect their interests with a loyal and independent military force seems well within the realm of possibility.

 

Their independence is one of the things that appeals most to me, as they are willful allies of the Imperium and AdMech as opposed to part of them. I love the idea they would use their tech as well as military strength as negotiating tools.

[Commissar Ibram Gaunt]

 

 

So a problem I have always have with imperial knight fluff is that i have never seen mention of supporting armies or forces from the worlds they control.

 

Do you think there would be scope to build a knight house with their own supporting army using the AM codex. For me it would make sense for a house to bring their own supporting army with them. Is this too far from the established fluff?

Knight worlds don't have armies of their own because the Knights themselves were build from lost STCs. Most of them were cut off from the Imperium when the AI started to rebell and were only reconnected in the Great Crusade. The AM simply wasn't around at the time (and a single planet without a connection to a Forgeworld can't make weaponry and thus can't raise an army) the Knights were made and originally the Knights were used as work machines to lift heavy stuff etc.

 

Nowadays Knight Worlds can have access to the Astra Militarum etc. but those troops don't originate from the Knight World. Scions are also a different beast entirely since they are trained in special Scholas that are quite rare. I wouldn't go too overboard with the fluff, otherwise it just might be too much of the "this is my army, they are such a special snowflake" etc.

I find it just makes almost no sense for knights not to have a force with them as running just knights leaves them severely exposed to all sorts of threats they cannot deal with.

[MagicHat]

"My lord, five orks are raiding a village!"

"GET MY SUPER-HEAVY WALKER READY!"

 

It does, indeed, make no sense with just the Knights as the sole military force on a world.

 

But this is the same galaxy where a squad of 10 sm can liberate a whole world, so...

[MoGuy]

 

 

I find it just makes almost no sense for knights not to have a force with them as running just knights leaves them severely exposed to all sorts of threats they cannot deal with. 

 

I am not talking about there being only Knights on a Knight World. I am just saying that those Knight Worlds themselves most likely do not have their own military force but instead ally in e.g. toops from the Astra Militarum or Ad Mech. They just don't own those armies since they can neither produce weapons (that's what the Forgeworlds are for) nor do they have branches of the Scholas that train Scions etc. At least not to my knowledge.

 

And yes, of course you can play your Knights with the Ad Mech/AM. That's fluffy and awesome! 

[JeffTibbetts]

I think it'd be cool to see some Knight troops with more primitive tech. In the RPG books, there are some weapons that are produced by private companies. Quite a lot of them, in fact, for civilian use. The Ad Mech does not contain the keys for all technology. In particular the simplest forms, including basic las weaponry and solid-projectile weapons.

 

We're not talking about producing enough weaponry to equip an Adeptus Militarium founding, but rather a much smaller force that could use anything from black-powder muskets or something like an autogun, or even a basic las-carbine or something. And again I think some would be capable of producing weapons that could even be more advanced. I still like the idea that it's a big universe, and there are LOTS of guns in it. We're so used to thinking of 40K in terms of these massed armies and epic battles that I think we lose sight of much smaller, more unique forces. 

 

Hell, the weaponry could even be scavenged and scrapped from thousands of years allying with these other 'official' armies. 

[Iron Hands Fanatic]

I think it'd be cool to see some Knight troops with more primitive tech. In the RPG books, there are some weapons that are produced by private companies. Quite a lot of them, in fact, for civilian use. The Ad Mech does not contain the keys for all technology. In particular the simplest forms, including basic las weaponry and solid-projectile weapons.

 

We're not talking about producing enough weaponry to equip an Adeptus Militarium founding, but rather a much smaller force that could use anything from black-powder muskets or something like an autogun, or even a basic las-carbine or something. And again I think some would be capable of producing weapons that could even be more advanced. I still like the idea that it's a big universe, and there are LOTS of guns in it. We're so used to thinking of 40K in terms of these massed armies and epic battles that I think we lose sight of much smaller, more unique forces. 

 

Hell, the weaponry could even be scavenged and scrapped from thousands of years allying with these other 'official' armies. 

 

Yeah this - some non-Forge Worlds are even capable of producing tanks like the Leman Russ, and considering how the Knight Worlds are descended from massive arks launched in the Dark Age of Technology, it's easily possible that they have technology that rivals that of the Mechanicum

[Tyriks]

I think it'd be cool to see some Knight troops with more primitive tech. In the RPG books, there are some weapons that are produced by private companies. Quite a lot of them, in fact, for civilian use. The Ad Mech does not contain the keys for all technology. In particular the simplest forms, including basic las weaponry and solid-projectile weapons.

 

We're not talking about producing enough weaponry to equip an Adeptus Militarium founding, but rather a much smaller force that could use anything from black-powder muskets or something like an autogun, or even a basic las-carbine or something. And again I think some would be capable of producing weapons that could even be more advanced. I still like the idea that it's a big universe, and there are LOTS of guns in it. We're so used to thinking of 40K in terms of these massed armies and epic battles that I think we lose sight of much smaller, more unique forces. 

 

Hell, the weaponry could even be scavenged and scrapped from thousands of years allying with these other 'official' armies. 

You would also expect that a Knight pilot wouldn't start out with a Knight.  Each Knight is an invaluable relic from antiquity, you would think there would be practice in smaller vehicles that aren't as necessary.  It'd be sweet if a future edition added in something roughly Dreadnought sized to represent pilots in training or people who are not serfs but are still subjects of the Knight house.  I actually may have to kit bash some dreadnoughts to fill that role, because I like the idea...

[Magos Takatus]

"My lord, five orks are raiding a village!"

"GET MY SUPER-HEAVY WALKER READY!"

 

It does, indeed, make no sense with just the Knights as the sole military force on a world.

 

But this is the same galaxy where a squad of 10 sm can liberate a whole world, so...

After reading this I pictured it cutting to several minutes of the Noble opening secret doors, sliding down chutes into the Knight cockpit Thunderbirds-style only to promptly stride outside and step on all the Orks within three seconds.

[Commissar Ibram Gaunt]

I think it'd be cool to see some Knight troops with more primitive tech. In the RPG books, there are some weapons that are produced by private companies. Quite a lot of them, in fact, for civilian use. The Ad Mech does not contain the keys for all technology. In particular the simplest forms, including basic las weaponry and solid-projectile weapons.

 

We're not talking about producing enough weaponry to equip an Adeptus Militarium founding, but rather a much smaller force that could use anything from black-powder muskets or something like an autogun, or even a basic las-carbine or something. And again I think some would be capable of producing weapons that could even be more advanced. I still like the idea that it's a big universe, and there are LOTS of guns in it. We're so used to thinking of 40K in terms of these massed armies and epic battles that I think we lose sight of much smaller, more unique forces.

 

Hell, the weaponry could even be scavenged and scrapped from thousands of years allying with these other 'official' armies.

I do recall reading some other lore as well of many planets having manufacturers of vehciles/weapons such as Vostyria and Armageddon, so forgeworlds do not have sole production facilities for the Imperium. Also if there was a forgeworld in their sector i do not think it would be beyond the realm of possibilities that they would have alliances and trade for resources set up between each as I do recall some knights running mining or farming worlds and could have tangible resources needed by the Imperium/Mechanicum.