Chaos Lord of War Review: Chaos Knights

Chaos Lord of War Review: Chaos Knights

The Chaos Knight comes in at 375 points standard, 25 more than the Typhon and 165 points less than the Fellblade for AV13/12/12 at 6HP's. This, unfortunately, is the worst armour values of all the LoW's I have reviewed so far but it does come stock with an Ion shield giving it a 4+ invulnerable on one selected facing during your opponents shooting phase, which in some scenarios are good and in others not the best. Taking shots in the traditional sense, to the face, it can stave off more than AV14 can with the 4+ attached to it. However getting hit by a Barrage or a Melta/Grav drop on it to shoot it down from multiple sides will see it fall like any other AV12/13 vehicle. So it's not the toughest LoW around. It is fast, moving at 12" a turn and creating that 24" threat range to worry your opponents with.

There are two variants of the Knight available to Chaos, the Knight Paladin and the Knight Errant, which differ by 5 points. They both come with Foe-Reaper Chainswords that are S 'D' AP2 Foe Reaper. This is one of the only 'D' strength weapons available to Chaos that isn't extortionate in points cost and it packs an extra punch against GMC's and MC's receiving a +1 bonus on the 'D' table to help dispatch them quicker. It's a great weapon and makes a lot of competitive builds worry about if it gets into combat and carves through them like butter.

The Paladin comes with a Rapid Fire Battle Cannon, which is basically a 2 shot Battle Cannon with standard stats. Out of the two this one is my favorite as it's long range and can chip away at enemy vehicles and possibly a unit or two before you charge in with the reaper blade. It also has a Heavy Stubber... I don't know why, it's practically a trinket besides its other weapons and not really worth mentioning, but it is there.

Edit: I have been informed that it has a practical use of shooting a different target so if you destroy what your big gun shoots you still have something to charge. Oh...

The Errant comes with a Thermal Cannon at 36" Range S9 AP1 Melta, 5" Large Blast. It's good weapon stats, however at 36" range it isn't the most optimal weapon if suddenly you need to act defensively or part of your force needs a pie plate or two over the other side of the board. Also, it's only a single shot and at full range you are not going to see many tanks explode on a 50% HP strip from an AV13 vehicle. When it's finally in Melta range at 18" you have one chance to Melta shot it and kill what ever it is you are shooting before you or they go for the charge. Not what I would call optimal. The Battle Cannon however offers that extra shot and has Ordnance, so it has more chance to strip them HP's than your Melta will have at destroying a target.

The Errant and the Paladin have access to the same upgrades at the same cost as follows:

+5 points for a Dirge Caster, this can be a useful tool for an assault orientated army, most likely will be useful for any neighboring combats as at AV13 there isn't going to be much damaging it on the charge.

Note: You DO NOT become a Daemon of X and gain the abilities from the CSM daemon Prince 'Daemon of...' entry or the 'Daemon of....' entry from the Daemon Codex. You do, however, become effected by the Warpstorm table if one is used within game.
Double Edit: Turns out you do, so re-roll 1s for saves on the Tzeentch one and rending stomps and fleet on the slannesh one.

It can become a 'Daemon Knight of Khorne' for +50 points and becomes a Daemon for a 5+ save in all areas. It also gains Hatred (Daemons of Slannesh) special rule for the fluffy bunnies although, it really should be Tzeentch, as Khorne is meant to be the bane of Psykers... It also receives +D3 attacks on the charge and can re-roll the dice to determine it's stomps. Now, this is a lot. The 5+ invulnerable save is nice as 1/3 glances or pens are going to be stopped in combat, no down side there, and the +D3 attacks on the charge means you are most likely to come out on top in combat against a equal target (Imperial Knight perhaps). The re-roll on stomps also gives you extra power against units that would otherwise pin you into endless rounds of fearless combat and means you don't get let down from rolling a 1 or 2 for stomps when you need a better result.

As for the Warpstorm table, the only two things bad for it is the -1 Invulnerable save and the 'Dark Princes thirst' that needs a lot  of 6's rolled to even think about hurting it, you are safe there. Also, in a KDK army it gets Blood Tithe.

It can become a 'Daemon Knight of Nurgle' for +75 points and also becomes Daemon as explained above, Hatred (Daemon of Tzeentch) and gains IWND as well as counting as a Nurgle Daemon on the Storm table. This is expensive for IWND and a 5+. It does increase your survivability with the 5+ shaving a third off your hull points lost and the IWND has a 33% chance of bringing 1 back every turn, so you have a chance to live longer. It's not guaranteed like a +1 AV value or just giving you more HP's so is it that reliable? Your shooting output and combat, although strong, remains the same and for +80 points you can get IWND and Hatred (Space Marines) from the Legacies of ruin in AI:13 so why not go Khorne and get that instead?

As for the Warpstorm table the only result that harms it is the -1 Invulnerable. Good.

It can become a 'Daemon Knight of Tzeentch' for +65 points, get's Daemon yada yada yada. Hatred (Daemon of Nurgle), Re-rolls to hit of a 1 and heavy Stubber receives Soul Blaze. Now soul blaze on the Stubber is nothing but shoving a fluffy bunny down our throats and the 'Re-roll to hits of a 1' VS Blasters hasn't been completely sorted. Does it get re-rolls to hit or not? If no then it's a waste of points, ink and time. If it is then it's still quiet expensive for re-rolls to hit on a Blast weapon at BS4 mainly shooting at vehicles anyway. Not a fan of this one.

Once again the Warpstorm table only hurts it on the -1 Invuln.

Finally, It can become a 'Daemon Knight of Slannesh' for +50 points. Get's the 5+ and hatred (Daemon of Khorne). Models in combat against against the knight must take a LD check at -2 and if they fail they strike at WS 1. So, first off Fearless, auto passes (Nids), stubborn and ATSKNF either auto pass or take the LD check on their standard LD. Not much to boast at at all for +50 points, just a crappier version of the Khorne one.

The Warpstorm Table can damage it with 'Khorne's Wrath at S8 on its side armour alongside the -1 invuln.

The Knight can easily take out anything lesser and larger than itself with the D weapon and stomps. It can't withstand the battering of other LoW's and doesn't have access to Ceramite to stop them Melta's from getting through the Ion Shield. Usually you would see knights Toe to Toe with another knight and anything but the +D3 attacks from the Daemon of Khorne choice doesn't help you there at all.

The only 'Daemon' choice that isn't underwhelming is the Khorne one making your choice really simple, your only real choice is the Paladin or the Errant and that comes down to taste, but I can see the paladin being more popular choice. Your Knights can benefit from Cursed Earth and Grimores, if you are running a large Khorne list pushing daemons you can take 1st war of Armageddon to buff Khorne Daemons Invulns by +1. However, you need a CSM CAD to get the Legacy then the KDK for all the Khorne Daemons, but then you don't get blood tithe on it. Can't have both.

The main down side of the Chaos Knight is that all the Imperial boys can get more knights than you and they don't have to take up a LoW slot to do it. Your knights don't have any of the weapon options that the Imperials do, upgrades or specialist gear and don't have access to any of the formations. You can take Imp Knights to get the better equipment and keep your LoW space spare, but then you can't hold of any of the Daemon alignments. So what do you pick?

PDF Available Here: http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/resources/fw_site/fw_pdfs/Warhammer_40000/Chaos_Knight.pdf