Any guideline for selecting a Freeblade Knight for supporting another Imperium force?

[Bouargh]

Hi there.

 

A small (or not so small as we talk of towering war machines) question regarding Freeblades and/or Knight of the Cog associated to other Imperium forces.

How do you recommend selecting the Knight type and its tooling up?

1. Do you foresee a Knight configurated to compensate some weaknesses of the army - for example a HtH oriented Knight into a gunline AdMech?
2. Do you rather foresee a Knight configurated in order to amplify a strong feature of the army - for example a big firing platform supporting an Adeptus Militarum armoured fist company?
3. Something else, like an odd configuration developped to work on its own and do its business independantly of the rest of your main force/cool factor/Unit with a specific purpose-preferred enemy type?

 

I am planning to include a Knight in an AdMech army (or at least I was until I decided to wait and see how it would end up with the 10thEd rules...).

I am really hesitating between something like a Warden (Case 1. with gauntler) vs. a Castellan (Case 2.). I see Errant (with missile pod) as a potential mid run between the two.

Other option would be a Styrix based on the Category 3. (Others - cool factor, which is by the way how I designed my AdMech force so far).

 

As I also own a qite significan First born SW force,  any mutualization option could be great although non mandatory. But seen that I have almost 20k Pts I can literally tool up any game type wity these SW, from Heavy armoured to deep strike only force. So any type of combination would probably fit, even if I play rather Gunline with counter attack in general.

 

Any opinion, clue or advise? 

 

Thanks

 

 

[Karhedron]

I tend to go for something to cover my weaknesses. I also play Space Wolves and I have melee pretty  well covered but taking a shooting Knight can cause the enemy a lot of problems. A Cruasder or even a Castellan will bring a lot of heavy firepower. 

 

The good thing about Knights is that they come with all the weapon options. I strongly recommend magnetising the arms so that you can try out different configurations. 

Edited May 29, 2023 by Karhedron

[Bouargh]

5 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

I tend to go for something to cover my weaknesses.

 

And is there, in your experience, any kind of "dilution effect" that is affecting to that kind of selection rule-of-thumb? I mean, this type of driver for selection feature is as valid for a smalland a large army size or do you meet an optimun size? Or said otherwise, does the impact of your Freeblade remain as noticeable at Stike Force games than at Onslaught sizes ?

 

8 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

The good thing about Knights is that they come with all the weapon options. I strongly recommend magnetising the arms so that you can try out different configurations. 

And for me it would be a good topic for a post in the TITH thread....

[Lord_Ikka]

A good thing to remember is that to opponents, Knights are SCARY. Whether that is actually true or not, quite a few opponents will instantly target a Knight as the focus of their fire when they see it on the field as an ally to another army. Even if your Knight isn't actually doing much,  it messes with the enemy's plans and acts as a big distraction to them.

 

Given that a Knight will take up roughly a fourth of your army's points, using it effectively is essential. If you are planning on using it as a mobile fire support unit (Crusader/Paladin), keeping it as healthy as possible is good (so look into traits and wargear that help it stay alive), while if you are going full on disraction-Carnifex and charging up the board with it you can probably strip back an extraneous equipment like carapace guns and use something like a cheap Gallant or an Errant if you want a gun.

 

I would opt not to go for a Warden at the moment and take a Paladin instead as far as that option goes. In 10th it will hopefully be better (and so far it does look that way according to the Chaos Knights weapons preview), but in 9th the Warden fairs poorly compared to the Paladin in terms of damage. The RFBC just outperforms the Avenger Gatling Cannon pretty much in every way.

[TechCaptain]

So something I have seen in many a Chaos Army which uses Chaos Knights in a similar fashion is running three Armiger or wardog class in that slot as a unit then spread them along the field. For similar amount of points you have a bit more wounds and versatility. It's slightly less scary than a big Knight but if running say Moriaxs you can arm them all differently to fill most holes. 

[sairence]

It's similar for Imperium armies. Most Freeblade detachments consist of 2 or 3 Helverins, because they are just so damn efficient on their own.

 

You can plug them into pretty much any combat army and have some reliable backfield shooting/objective holders. Custodes really like them, Sisters too. In those cases it frees up your main army to really lean into what you want to specialise it for.

[Karhedron]

It is a good point. A pair of Helverins, one with the Relic Helm, will put out a lot of reliable firepower.

[Lysimachus]

I have been thinking about including a Freeblade in my current Space Marine army. I think I'd prefer a single big Knight rather than Armigers, just for rule of cool, but I don't want to go over a quarter of a 2k list on one model, meaning I wouldn't go for one of the really big ones.

 

My question is: Is any of the other Questoris options going to be as good as taking Canis Rex? The others are a bit cheaper, obviously, and get extra options of arm and carapace weapons (and under-shoulder mounted gun)

 

...but the improved WS/BS on the Rex, higher Damage on the fist, free use of a Stratagem, pilot survival rules, etc just seem superior? Plus its rules seem to fit better into a list where you aren't getting the Knights Faction/Detachment bonuses?

 

Am I wrong?

 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Lysimachus

[Lord_Ikka]

Rex is probably the best overall choice for an Independent, i.e.-Freeblade, Questoris Knight. While he might not be the best choice in a pure Knights list, mainly because he doesn't boost Armigers with a Bondsman ability, that doesn't mean anything when he's solo. He's got good all-around firepower, and can work really well as both a distraction carnifex and a big-game hunter. Point him at your enemy's nastiest unit and he'll either kill them off or they'll spend a turn or two focusing him down while the rest of your army does their thing. 

[Madao]

In 9th ed. Canis Rex was great as an addition to the army. Better WS and BS pays off well - I have used him recently and my oponent decided to leave him and focus on the rest of my army, so I had 5 rounds of pure carnage (he killed way more points than he costed and has won the game for me in round 5, thanks to his mobility).

I had games where knight was the main target for my opponents and it soaked A LOT of firepower with rotate ion shields (which is less efficient in full knight list as then opponent can usually switch to other target).

 

In 10th I think he might be equally useful. A little bit less durable without strat support, but free tank shock with S20 weapon means quite reliable 6MW on charge and then exploding 5+ to hit makes him great in killing anything heavy. I think he is still worth his points in any Imperium army that lacks access to heavy support (SoB, AdMech, Custodes)

Edited July 29, 2023 by Madao

[casb1965]

I'd agree with using Canis Rex just for the :cuss:housery you can do with his 0 CP special rule.

By my reading it can be used in both your and your opponents rule, so Overwatch or Heroic Intervention their turn and Tank Shock in yours.

[tychobi]

Pretty sure named characters, enhancements, and strats from the knight index are not legal as an allied freeblade. 

 

Knights can provide decent firepower or a melee beat stick to an army.  Towering on a standard GW terrain tabe is pretty sweet.  If you are looking for efficiency the little guys are great and can do it all. 

 

It's important to find a strong role for an ally to fill in your list as they need to make do without army rules, strat support and  synergy.  For ad mech any assistance in the giant chainsaw category is probably appreciated.  

[casb1965]

@tychobi

 

I don't see anywhere in the wording for Freeblades that says Canis Rex can't be used.

 

And the stratagem are all from the rulebook.

 

 

 

[Karhedron]

On 8/14/2023 at 3:17 AM, tychobi said:

Pretty sure named characters, enhancements, and strats from the knight index are not legal as an allied freeblade. 

 

Freeblades cannot take enhancements but that is all. Stratagems and Canis Rex are both fine.