Imperial Knights House Traits & Stratagems

[Charlo]

I'd certainly expect something like that. Would be a nice way to really push the hunting pack idea.

 

Taking it further, what if they gave us CP bonuses for using a Super Heavy detatchment with a big Knight and two Armigers?

[PiñaColada]

I'd argue that the CP bonus armigers (and others of the same chassis) give is that a pure IK army can field two separate super heavy detachments.

 

What I'd like is a bodyguard rule for armigers, where they can intercept incoming fire for the big knight if they're within 3/6".

Also that they can heroically intervene if a big knight has been charged.

Maybe a way for them to improve the ballistic skill of a big knight if they're within 12" of the target by the use of a stratagem.

I'd like if armigers were given the outrider rule as well.

Hopefully all knights can get +1 weapon skill if attacking monsters & vehicles. (Perhaps as a rule, otherwise a stratagem)

I think armigers should be given the option of rerolling their random number of shots if they're within 12" of a big knight.

If two or more armigers are in close combat with the same target they get an extra attack. Perhaps they should also have an extra attack to begin with, so they're at least better than regular dreadnoughts.

The big knights should have 6 attacks and the feet should be x2 the attacks, so the CC weapons are better.

Some of these I've stated before but the more I play with the armigers, the more I realise they're lacking a lot of extra rules.

[Lord Momotaro]

Accidentally posted in another Knight thread before realizing this should go here.

 

  Imperial Knight Houses & Rules Rumors

9 houses for the knights, Questor Imperialis- Terryn, Griffith, Hawdhrous, Cadmus and Mortan. Questor Mechanicus- Raven, Krast, Taranis, Vulker.

Griffith +1A on change, when charged or HI, ya lots of ways to heroiclly intervene with all knights. Raven advance & shoot with no penaly, heavy weap become assault type.  Vulker Reroll 1’s to hit if shooing closest target

A new class desg of Knight for the Valiant / Casteallan DOMINUS

[Nusquam]

Griffith and Vulker are pretty weak; especially compared to Raven. +1A under certain scenarios is little gain when you can have sprinting Knights/Armigers firing at full effect immediately. Rerolling 1s to shoot the closest seems really easy to mitigate as an opponent. But that Raven rule is so great. 

[Mushkilla]

Griffith and Vulker are pretty weak; especially compared to Raven. +1A under certain scenarios is little gain when you can have sprinting Knights/Armigers firing at full effect immediately. Rerolling 1s to shoot the closest seems really easy to mitigate as an opponent. But that Raven rule is so great.

 

I think +1 attack is still pretty good. Especially hearing that knights apparently have loads of way to heroic intervention, meaning they will get more opportunities to fight, and assuming titanic is unchanged +1 attack is effectively 3 titanic feet attacks. Apparently armigers will be getting a titanic feet style attack in the form of slashing with their chain cleaver.

 

As for Vulker, if the heliger twin dakka weapons have short range (so are mostly shooting the closest target) and a high rate of fire it might be a pretty solid boost to their damage output.

 

I do agree with raven being amazing for the armiger warglave to some extent. But advancing means you are not charging, and personally I like my knights to maximize all phases of the game. Still good for getting a speed boost whilst closing in on your target though, without sacrificing all your fire power.

 

So far all these houses seem pretty solid in my opinion.

 

EDIT: also if our characters are BS2 and the harpoon gun is 1-2 shots and relatively short range Vulker is a huge boost in reliability.

 

I'm really curious about Taranis and Vulker. Also if there are any new differences between Questor Mechanicus and Questor Imperialis.

[PiñaColada]

I do agree that it's a bit too early to rule out the other traits, but out of the three right now Vulker seems the weakest to me. Griffith might be really good if they've redone the knights a bit and/or with the new knights and heroic intervention.

However the helliger/helverin still sounds like it has flamers to me and one drawback with most of the good flamer weapons is that they're heavy, if that's the case then house raven is a massive boost to threat range.

[Stray]

It's worth remembering that +1 attack on a Knight, quickly becomes +3 in practice thanks to our superior tap dancing skills! 

 

Kevin Bacon is believed to originally have been due to play a Knight in Flashdance, but this concept was cut due to budgeting reasons ;)

[LegionOfMars]

Ah Kevin Bacon, greatest hero Terra ever saw!

[PiñaColada]

So some new rumours via spikey bits https://spikeybits.com/2018/05/6-new-knight-house-rules-spotted-rumors.html

 

• Terryn: extra d6 advance or change
• Cadmus: reroll wounds in CC on anything with less than 12w profile
• Griffith:  +1A when charging, charged, or via Heroic Intervention.
• Mortan: +1 to hit when charging, charged, or via Heroic Intervention.
• Hawkshroud: has double wounds for statline purposes when damaged
• Raven: When they make Advance moves, treat Heavy weapons as Assault weapons.
• Taranis: 6+ FNP against Mortal Wounds.
• Krast: RR hits when charging, charged, or via Heroic Intervention against TITAN keyword
• Vulker: Rerolls 1’s when targeting the closest enemy unit during the shooting phase.

[Marshal Reinhard]

mmm not overly impressed with the Terryn one. 

[Mushkilla]

Is it me or does hawkshroud seem really good?

 

I guess warlord traits and stratagems could still save taranis. I mean a 6+++ against mortal wounds does shore up a serious weakness of knights. But... Still seems a bit... Meh.

[PiñaColada]

Wow, I'm the complete opposite. Terryn seems really good to me. An extra d6 advance or charge on armigers makes those suckers quick. Hawkshroud is entirely dependent on machine spirit resurgence in my opinion. Do imperialis get it, does it  even still exist? If the answers to both those questions are yes, then it's rather meh. Otherwise it's really good.

[Mushkilla]

I'm imagining we will be pretty CP heavy, so hawkshroud saves you a CP a turn that you'd be spending on machine spirit resurgent. That being said, I'm questor Mechanicus through and through. I'm liking that mechanicus knights have some more variety in their traits. Imperialis seems to be assault assault assault. Curious about freeblades, as the house traits don't seem that amazing so far.

[Marshal Reinhard]

Is it me or does hawkshroud seem really good?

 

I guess warlord traits and stratagems could still save taranis. I mean a 6+++ against mortal wounds does shore up a serious weakness of knights. But... Still seems a bit... Meh.

 

Yeah I was thinking that too. In fact I'm a bit unsure of how it would actually works. Double wounds when looking at the the table to determine its stats due to damage. So 48 for a normal questoris knight then. Does this then modify the table? Because otherwise, the hawkshroud knight will have the "undamaged" stats until its destroyed.  

 

Even if you modify the table so that the table reads 26-48+ for the undamaged category, it'd just barely be moved into the middle category a couple of wounds before its destroyed for real. That's a real solid benefit.

 

Wow, I'm the complete opposite. Terryn seems really good to me. An extra d6 advance or charge on armigers makes those suckers quick. Hawkshroud is entirely dependent on machine spirit resurgence in my opinion. Do imperialis get it, does it  even still exist? If the answers to both those questions are yes, then it's rather meh. Otherwise it's really good.

 

Oh, forgot it applies to Armigers too, that actually does change a few things

 

[PiñaColada]

I'm imagining we will be pretty CP heavy, so hawkshroud saves you a CP a turn that you'd be spending on machine spirit resurgent. That being said, I'm questor Mechanicus through and through. I'm liking that mechanicus knights have some more variety in their traits. Imperialis seems to be assault assault assault. Curious about freeblades, as the house traits don't seem that amazing so far.

*Opposable mechanical digit pointing in an upward direction

 

I'm also very interested in freeblades but I'm almost fearing it'll end up being "at the start of each turn select a knight house whose rules you wish to replicate and then roll a d6 for each knight. On the roll of a 4+ those rules are enacted. Any roll less than a 4 means that knight gets no trait this turn. On a roll of a 1 the knight suffers d3/d6 mortal wounds" (for small/big knights)

[Mushkilla]

@Reinhard It would work like guard. Your wounds remaining count as double. So say your erant has 7 wounds left, it counts as being on 14 wounds and therefore can use the top profile. Valhalan guard have the same trait. Basically a knight with 24 wounds would drop it's profile at 6 wounds and at 3 wounds. Rather than at 12 and 6.

[DeStinyFiSh]

I hope Taranis gets some nice Relics, WLT and Stratagem, 6+++ against MW is pretty situational.

 

My favourites are

Terryn

Hawkshroud

Mortan

in that order.

Damn it, cant wait for the Codex, dont let it be August please

[Mushkilla]

Honestly if it was a 5+++ Vs mortal wounds I'd have my mechadendrites all over it.

 

That being said we might have loads of ways to inflict mortal wounds on our own knights (overcharge plasma, overcharge engines that sort of thing) which would make it more interesting.

 

Basically when pushing reactors to 105% is possible but not advised you need all the protection from mortal wounds you can get.

[Charlo]

Hawkshroud is the most easily useful I think, takes a lot longer to be made ineffective.

 

Extra D6 charge is pretty gnarly aswell, makes them all rather speedy.

 

Krast is so niche though, expecting them to have an amazing stratagem/ WLT going for it.

[PiñaColada]

Hawkshroud is the most easily useful I think, takes a lot longer to be made ineffective.

 

Extra D6 charge is pretty gnarly aswell, makes them all rather speedy.

 

Krast is so niche though, expecting them to have an amazing stratagem/ WLT going for it.

Yeah, it's a bit of a shame that 2 out of the 4 mechanicus traits (Krast & Taranis) are at first glance pretty tame. Maybe those ones are backed up by good warlord traits and stratagems but I feel like every codex so far has had some losers. Then again, it's not like mechanicus are left out in the cold because Raven & Vulker might be really good. 

 

In regards to good warlord traits I'm sort of wondering how many people are going to use a knight as their warlord and not a tech-priest for repairs of a company commander for CP regeneration. Hopefully the buffs are tasty enough to sway some people.

 

By the way, how many stratagems are standard in a codex? Around 24? If we have 9 different houses and all of them get a unique stratagem, plus possibly a freeblade one as well there aren't that many slots left. That migh mean we can't afford to have as many situational stratgems as many other codices.

[SydonianDragoon404]

The secret sauce is going to be in the stratagems. All of these factions bonuses are crap, they aren't as game changing as -1 to hit or rerolling to hit rolls of 1. Picking your faction based on the faction bonus alone isn't going to be relevant for Knights so be on the look out for those stratagems. 

 

Show me a stratagem for firing a second time or fighting a second time and I'll start taking my Knights again. 

[Vel'Cona]

Now to see if these actually come true in the codex . . .

[hermanista]

Taking them as being what we see, started putting ideal knights with houses that naturally fit.

 

So far, this

 

Terryn: extra d6 advance or change - Armigers, Gallants, Lancers, any Cerastus chassis - 3d6 advance, pick the two highest?

 

Cadmus: reroll wounds in CC on anything with less than 12w profile - LANCERS!!!!

 

Griffith:  +1A when charging, charged, or via Heroic Intervention.

 

Mortan: +1 to hit when charging, charged, or via Heroic Intervention.

 

Hawkshroud: has double wounds for statline purposes when damaged - crusader Atrapos

 

Raven: When they make Advance moves, treat Heavy weapons as Assault weapons. Crusaders?

 

Taranis: 6+ FNP against Mortal Wounds. - All

 

Krast: RR hits when charging, charged, or via Heroic Intervention against TITAN keyword

 

Vulker: Rerolls 1’s when targeting the closest enemy unit during the shooting phase. Crusaders

[PiñaColada]

Taking them as being what we see, started putting ideal knights with houses that naturally fit.

 

So far, this

 

Terryn: extra d6 advance or change - Armigers, Gallants, Lancers, any Cerastus chassis - 3d6 advance, pick the two highest?

 

Cadmus: reroll wounds in CC on anything with less than 12w profile - LANCERS!!!!

 

Griffith:  +1A when charging, charged, or via Heroic Intervention.

 

Mortan: +1 to hit when charging, charged, or via Heroic Intervention.

 

Hawkshroud: has double wounds for statline purposes when damaged - crusader Atrapos

 

Raven: When they make Advance moves, treat Heavy weapons as Assault weapons. Crusaders?

 

Taranis: 6+ FNP against Mortal Wounds. - All

 

Krast: RR hits when charging, charged, or via Heroic Intervention against TITAN keyword

 

Vulker: Rerolls 1’s when targeting the closest enemy unit during the shooting phase. Crusaders

It all looks pretty logical other than your disturbing lack of castellans in that list. Logically speaking those guys would probably want either Hawkshroud or Vulker

[jeffersonian000]

House Raven only seems to effect Armigers, as the bigger Knights have the Super-Heavy Walker keyword while Armigers don’t. Looks like Ravens run the Mini-Mechs.

 

SJ