Greetings one and all,
Today we're gonna talk about the little wrecking balls that are Knights.
Knights could be crudely described as mini Titans, but that honestly doesn’t do the wondrous technology behind their creation justice. They are one-man combat suits carrying some of the heaviest weapons on the 40K tabletop, and in Titanicus, they’re a force that are very maneuverable and can pack one hell of a punch if positioned correctly.
On the tabletop Knights work slightly differently than titans; they act more like a squad in 40K, relying on unit size and needing to stay within conherancy of each other. However, some of this is offset by them not having firing arcs due to their smaller size. As they are fielded in Banners they are also able to lose individual members, and as they lose members of the Banner Knights become less effective and can even run away.
So what are the different types of Knight and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
Read my friend, and I shall do my best to explain.
Questoris Knights
The most common type of Knight is the Questoris Knight (in 40K, these would be the Warden, Gallant, and Crusade class of imperial knight). Like most Knights, they benefit from having large numbers of them to soak up damage, are relatively cheap, and utterly disposable. Although they aren’t that great in ranged combat, those Questoris melee weapons are nasty, and if they get close, can easily rip almost anything apart.
Cerastus Knights
These are, in my opinion, some of the coolest looking Knights out there. Cerastus Knights represent the Castigator, Acheron, and Lancer types in 40K. These Knights have a fair bit going for them; they’re scarily fast, being able to easily cover 12 inches (or 24 inches if using full stride) while packing some really good weapons to boot (yes I’m looking at the Lancers with their Cerastus Shock Lance and Ion Gauntlet). However, it’s not all good news for these Knights. A Banner of three costs more points than a warhound, and without the lancers, their ion shields are no better than the Questoris Knights. If you can get the charge off on these guys whatever they hit is in for a world of hurt, but getting them to that point can be difficult.
Acastus Knights
Acastus Knights are tanky as all hell for a Knight, with only the heaviest weapons, such as volcano cannons, being able to reliably take one out. As a result, these guys somewhat blur the line between Knight and Titan. These are the long range, heavy hitters of the Knight world,and whatever is put in front of them is usually in for a world of hurt, be it Titan or Knight. That said, it's not all rainbows and gumdrops. Acastus Knights are expensive to field, and can only be fielded in limited numbers unlike the Cerastus Knights or Questoris Knights.
Mechanicum Questoris Knights
Mechanicum Questoris Knights are much like their non-mechanicum brethren, but as befits the worshipers of the Machine God, they’re armed with more exotic weapons and much better shields as well. On the weapon side, the Volkite Chieorovile is great at stripping shields, and the Graviton Gun can concuss enemies giving you a great advantage. To top it off, their Ionic Flare Shield reduces the strength of incoming weapons by -1, which makes your Knights that much more durable compared to regular Questoris Knights.
Conclusion
Knights add a huge amount of tactical variety in supporting your Legio. Their speed, ion shields, and weapons can make them a threat to any Titan Princeps who isn’t paying attention, however, they’re fragile compared to Titans themselves and need numbers to be effective.
As an added bonus though, if you wanted, you could even just field a full army of Knights and see the little hellions swarm over your opponents larger Titans like children being given free reign in a sweet shop, smashing them into tiny bits.
The choice is yours.