Imperial Knights codex speculation

[Karhedron]

I may be misjudging things but from first reading, the Mechanicus stuff looks a tad stronger than the Questoris stuff and the household buffs follow a definite shooty mechanicus vs melee questoris flavour.

[MagicHat]

 

Also, my biggest gripe: Rubber Ducky (Stratagem: Death Grip) is no longer a thing! BOO! I want to squeeze my rubber ducky! Oh well...at least I got to rubber ducky a Custodes Shield Captain on Dawn Eagle Jetbike before it went (and he was a kitted out one too. Very Satisfying!)

 

 

Death Grip became the roll off to ignore invulnerable saves. 

 

It all seems a bit armiger-heavy.

[Karhedron]

Command Points are going to be a slightly more valuable commodity. Currently the SHD costs 6 CPs and there are 2 levels of refunds available.

 

Refund +3 CPs if you have 1-2 Questoris OR 3-5 Wardogs (armigers)

Refund +6 CPs if you 3+ Questoris OR 1+ Titanic (Questoris or Dominus) AND 6+ Wardogs.

 

That means certain combos like 2 Questoris and 1 Dominus don't count to the full 6 CP refund which is kind of irritating. You either need 3 Questoris or go full-on Armiger spam. This goes with the whole theme of the Codex as pushing an Armiger-heavy army backed up by a few big boys. While the army is flexible, I think we will quickly see a few top-tier builds evolving.

 

On the plus side, it looks like the Battle Cannon has gone to a flat 3 damager rather than D3. This goes a long way to making the Paladin more viable than I assumed. I wonder if this will be carried over into the forthcoming IG codex?

[chapter master 454]

I noticed more flat damage values on second look through, which does help. Effectively removing another "joint" where we were often losing ground, damage rolls.

 

However the awkward nature of the Dominus getting side-lined is a little bit of a side-winder. However...is it me or is there no-more burdens for Freeblades anymore? Like, they are all upside technically with their downside being a lack of access to certain pieces of equipment (household specific ones).

 

Seeing as points also having shifted much, from my memory most lists your load-outs aren't too varied which is both from points and slots being an issue. Taking 3 Questoris class knights is certainly the easiest however with how Armigers seem more worthwhile, wouldn't be surprised to see 9 Armigers take to the field backed by 2 Questoris buff bodies.

Wouldn't be surprised however if we see initial lists experiment more with the Imperialis side going for triple Gallant + 5 Armigers.

 

I suppose however that it is good to see there isn't any OBVIOUS broken stuff in the codex on first pass, or even a second pass but we shall see how knights do. Always been a good army for the Eco-System of the game, a good ol' fashioned Frying Pan army that you don't expect and can test you quite suddenly.

[Karhedron]

The Dominus chassis actually looks quite promising for Freeblades since you don't have to worry about meeting requirements for CP refunds. A Castellan with Ion Bulwark and Mysterious Guardian can go in Reserves during deployment then stomp on to your DZ during T1 and open fire. Basically this guarantees the Knight will be safe, even if you don't go first.

[DeStinyFiSh]

During my first read through I thought this book is kind of complex.

 

At first, there are very little obvious power horses and auto takes. But there are a lot of possible combinations to kit out a Knight, like double WLT, double Household Tradition and Relics.

 

Not sure how strong it will be in the end, but since I don't play competative I don't realy care. I am just looking forward to try out a crazy amount of combinations.

[Karhedron]

I agree, the number of combinations of buffs and abilities available is a little mind-boggling, particularly since the Oaths potentially change over the course of the battle. From top to bottom an individual knight can have:

1. Questoris or Mechanicus alignment
2. House or Martial tradition
3. Oaths (2 out of 4)
4. Warlord Trait(s)
5. Relic
6. Exalted Court (Command upgrades)
7. Knightly Teachings (Chaplain-like abilities)
8. Bondsman abilities (bestowed by Questoris Knights on Armigers)

That is a heck of a lot of traits to keep track of, especially since some of them are moving parts. Even if you just take a single Freeblade, 2, 3, 4 and 5 potentially still apply (I think).

 

The time saved by only having to move 5-8 models in the army will be more than taken up tracking what abilities are active and when. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by Karhedron

[Focslain]

I agree, the number of combinations of buffs and abilities available is a little mind-boggling, particularly since the Oaths potentially change over the course of the battle. From top to bottom an individual knight can have:

1. Questoris or Mechanicus alignment
2. House or Martial tradition
3. Oaths (2 out of 4)
4. Warlord Trait(s)
5. Relic
6. Exalted Court (Command upgrades)
7. Knightly Teachings (Chaplain-like abilities)
8. Bondsman abilities (bestowed by Questoris Knights on Armigers)

That is a heck of a lot of traits to keep track of, especially since some of them are moving parts. Even if you just take a single Freeblade, 2, 3, 4 and 5 potentially still apply (I think).

 

The time saved by only having to move 5-8 models in the army will be more than taken up tracking what abilities are active and when. 

Actually with freeblades your applying 1-5, one of the quality upgrades is literally take a house trait.

 

My only complaint is the lose of the Engine War WTs, I liked those and it gave more variety outside of the base 6. Still have to give the Questsworn system a hard look but the new battle traits are looking tasty. 

 

The one crusade option I really love is the Rite of Becoming is a game mechanic now. I was already doing it fluff wise, but now elevating an armigar pilot to a knight pilot is a thing in game. Will help in getting experienced knights added to my Order of Battle.

Edited May 13, 2022 by Focslain

[Karhedron]

Bastard Helm looks like a really tasty Relic since it gives 2 Armigers +1 to Wound. Take a pair of Helverins and that's 16 shots on average per turn that kill MEQs and TEQs on a 2+, Wound Dreads on a 3+ and even big vehicles on a 4+. Only AP-2 but 3 Damage so that is a lot of shots being churned out. Armiger spam is definitely going to be a thing!

[DeStinyFiSh]

Add a Preceptor with the exploding 6es and have fun :)

 

Only downside: The Armiger carrying the Relic can't receive Bondsmen buff, so no -1D for hin...