Part 3 of my Imperial Knights Codex Review for 8th edition will look at the wealth of Relics available to the army.
Relics
Sanctuary- Bearer has a 5+ invulnerable save.
This is a nice way to give your Knight an invulnerable save in combat, as the Ion Shield only applies in the shooting phase. This could be useful if you find yourself against a combat-heavy force and need the saves in the Fight phase. It can also be used with the Ion Shield stratagem to boost it to 4+ in combat.
Ravager- A Reaper Chainsword that is +8S, AP-4 and 6 damage. You also get to re-roll hit rolls of 1. If the bearer has the Cold Fury household tradition (House Krast), they may re-roll all failed hits.
This Relic gets +2S over a regular Reaper Chainsword and does the full 6 damage instead of D6. This is a nice bonus, allowing you to wound T8 models on a 2+ (on a 3+ with a regular Chainsword). The full 6 damage with each wound is also a nice bonus on the sword, rather than the random damage roll, plus allowing you to re-roll half your misses.
The Paragon Gauntlet- A Thunderstrike Gauntlet that is x2S, AP-4 and 6 damage. If a vehicle or monster is slain, pick an enemy unit within 9". On a 4+, the unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.
This is a Gauntlet that doesn't suffer the -1 to hit in combat. This is pretty good on a powerful weapon like the Gauntlet, giving you a better chance to hit. It also works very well when combined with some of the other combat bonuses that the Knights can have.
Armour of the Sainted Ion- Model gets a 2+ armour save.
A nice bonus for a single Knight, giving it very strong durability against small arms fire. This will also help it against combat attacks if they don't have any AP value. A Knight with T8, 24 wounds and a 2+ armour save is very durable and will take a lot to kill it.
Endless Fury- An Avenger Gatling Cannon that is Heavy 14, S6, AP-2 and 2 damage. Each unmodified hit roll of a 6 scored two hits instead of 1.
The Avenger Gatling Cannon is a strong weapon on a Knight. This Relic gets a couple of extra shots, with the potential to get more shots on each 6 to hit. On average, you should get at least 2 extra hits. This weapon should shred most enemy units and weaker vehicles thanks to the 2 damage each shot.
Judgement- A Stormspear Rocket Pod that has 60" range, Heavy 3, S8, AP-3, D6 damage that can re-roll failed hits.
A nice Relic, but there are better ranged weapons available. The re-rolls to hit for the rocket pod are a good bonus, along with the extra range and AP.
Skyshield- A twin Icarus Autocannon that gets 60" range, an extra 2 shots and is AP-2. It adds 1 to hit against units with Fly and -1 to hit against other targets.
A nice boost to the Icarus Autocannon and very useful for taking on Fly units. However, it seems like a waste of the Relic choice when there are better options.
Helm of the Nameless Warrior- Add 1 to hit rolls in the Fight phase.
A good bonus for a combat Knight. Will allow them to ignore the -1 to hit for the more powerful melee weapons or hit on a 2+ with other weapons. Works well with House Mortan, giving a further +1 to hit when they charge, allowing you to hit with the most powerful melee weapons on a 2+.
Banner of Macharius Triumphant- On a Questoris Class model only. Gives Imperium units within 6" plus one Leadership. Also gives the unit a form of Objective Secured, counting as 10 models.
A nice bonus for your Astra Militarum command point farm, giving you less chance of losing models to a failed morale test. Also nice to get "Objective Secured" on a Knight, as this is an area where an all-Knight army can suffer, as they tend to be outnumbered in most games.
Traitor's Pyre- A Conflagration Cannon that can re-roll failed wounds.
This is a pretty awesome relic. The Cannon is 18", Heavy 3D6, S7, AP-2 and 2 damage that automatically hits. Getting to re-roll failed wounds is even better on an already pretty great gun. This weapon can threaten a whole host of units with S7 and 2 damage. Also effective against flyers, as it ignores the -1 to hit. I think this is one of the best options. Only on Questor Imperialis though, so no using it with House Raven to advance and still be able to fire.
Mark of the Omnissiah- Roll a D6 at the start of each of your turns. On a 6, the model re-gains D3 wounds. Otherwise, it regains 1 wound.
A pretty good relic for Questor Mechanicus, allowing you to reliably heal at least 1 wound on your Knight each turn. Good for getting you back up a tier without using the stratagems.
The Helm Dominatus- Once per battle round, choose an enemy unit within 24". Until the end of the phase, add 1 to the hit rolls of any Armiger Knights against that unit when within 6" of the Bearer.
A nice bonus if you are fielding a lot of Armiger Knights. This will make their Autocannons or Thermal Spears a potent weapon, hitting on a 2+ in most cases if they don't move.
Cawl's Wrath- A Plasma Decimator that gets +1S and +1 damage.
This is essentially a giant Plasma Cannon that gets 2D6 shots. In it's normal mode, it is S8 and 2 damage, going up to S9 and 3 damage when overcharged. This is a great weapon, able to threaten most units with ease and can cause a lot of damage with a good shot. Great for taking on other Knights or tough monsters.
Thunder of Voltoris- A rapid-fire Battle Cannon. When determining the number of shots, roll 3D6 and discard the highest result. House Teryn only.
This is another nice range weapon relic, giving you a better chance of getting a good number of shots when you fire it. Doesn't really mesh with the Household trait, giving you an extra D6 when advancing or charging (and choosing the highest).
Mark of the Lance- House Griffith. When the model completes a charge, choose an enemy unit within 1". On a 2+, they suffer D3 mortal wounds, on a 6, they suffer 3 mortal wounds.
A nice bonus for a combat Knight, doing extra mortal wounds with each charge. The Household trait also gives bonus attacks on the charge, giving you more potential to do damage in combat. A decent Relic to take.
Angel's Grace- House Hawkshroud only. Roll a D6 each time this model suffers a mortal wound in the psychic phase. On a 4+, it is ignored.
Quite a strong relic in the right circumstances, but very situational. Might not be the best in a tournament setting, as it probably won't come up most of the time. This can be mitigated by the stratagem giving a 5+ save against mortal wounds.
The Hunter's Eye- House Cadmus only. Enemy units do not receive the cover bonus to saving throws against ranged attacks from the bearer.
Decent enough, but not amazing. With most of the heavy Knight weapons, cover doesn't make too much of a difference. I would rather go for a Relic weapon that gives more shots, as you have more potential to do damage. This is where the White Scars relic went! Dirty Knight Thieves!
Honour's Bite- House Mortan Knight with a Reaper Chainsword. Roughly same profile (+6S, AP-4, 6 damage), but each roll of a 6 to wound inflicts an additional D3 mortal wounds.
This is a pretty good relic as well, though with only 4 attacks on a standard Knight, the odds of it coming up are not great that often. I'd probably go with Ravager instead for the strength boost and better odds at hitting.
The Banner Inviolate- Re-roll hit rolls of 1 in the Fight phase for House Raven models within 6" of the bearer.
A decent Relic once more. Some good combat bonuses for the nearby units, but with such a small model count army, unlikely to have a huge effect on the game.
Fury of Mars- House Taranis Thermal Cannon. When determining damage for this weapon, roll 2D6 and discard the lowest result.
This is a Thermal Cannon that gets the Melta effect at full range. The weapon is 48", S9, AP-4 and D6 damage. This has the potential to do serious damage to most enemy units, particularly big single model vehicles or monsters. Getting to roll two dice for damage and pick the highest at all ranges means you can keep your Knight at distance and still get full effect for the weapon.
The Headman's Mark- House Krast only. Increase the damage characteristic by 1 for all weapons when targeting a unit with models that have 10 or more wounds. Increase the damage characteristic by 2 for attacks made against Titanic units.
This is fantastic if you are going to be facing an army with other Superheavies or a lot of vehicles. Against other Knights, some of the weapons are going to be doing massive damage, with the potential to do 8 damage in a single wound with a number of weapons. This works in both ranged weapons and melee weapons, so there is a lot of damage potential there.
The Auric Mask- House Vulker only. The opposing player must roll an extra D6 when taking morale tests within 12" of the bearer, using the highest result.
A nice bonus for potentially causing more damage in the morale phase. Not going to work all the time, but against certain armies could do some damage.
Overall
As you can see, the Imperial Knights get access to a huge volume of new Relics in the codex. The most we have seen in a codex so far, I think.
There are a few that stand out as really good in the right army. In fact, there are a number of strong contenders to have in an army. With the codexes so far, one relic always seems to be an auto-include in the army. With the Imperial Knights, I would say there is no single auto-include, but a number of useful ones to take with your army.
Mostly the ranged weapons upgrades seem to be the stand out ones. The melee weapons are strong too, but I think the ranged weapons have more potential to be used every turn, whereas you may have to wait a turn or two to get into combat to make use of the melee weapons.
8th Edition Imperial Knights Codex Review
Part 1- Household Traditions and Warlord Traits
Part 2- Stratagems
Part 3- Relics
Part 4- Armiger Class Knights
Part 5- Knight Castellan
Part 6- Knight Valiant
Relics
Sanctuary- Bearer has a 5+ invulnerable save.
This is a nice way to give your Knight an invulnerable save in combat, as the Ion Shield only applies in the shooting phase. This could be useful if you find yourself against a combat-heavy force and need the saves in the Fight phase. It can also be used with the Ion Shield stratagem to boost it to 4+ in combat.
Ravager- A Reaper Chainsword that is +8S, AP-4 and 6 damage. You also get to re-roll hit rolls of 1. If the bearer has the Cold Fury household tradition (House Krast), they may re-roll all failed hits.
This Relic gets +2S over a regular Reaper Chainsword and does the full 6 damage instead of D6. This is a nice bonus, allowing you to wound T8 models on a 2+ (on a 3+ with a regular Chainsword). The full 6 damage with each wound is also a nice bonus on the sword, rather than the random damage roll, plus allowing you to re-roll half your misses.
The Paragon Gauntlet- A Thunderstrike Gauntlet that is x2S, AP-4 and 6 damage. If a vehicle or monster is slain, pick an enemy unit within 9". On a 4+, the unit suffers D3 mortal wounds.
This is a Gauntlet that doesn't suffer the -1 to hit in combat. This is pretty good on a powerful weapon like the Gauntlet, giving you a better chance to hit. It also works very well when combined with some of the other combat bonuses that the Knights can have.
Armour of the Sainted Ion- Model gets a 2+ armour save.
A nice bonus for a single Knight, giving it very strong durability against small arms fire. This will also help it against combat attacks if they don't have any AP value. A Knight with T8, 24 wounds and a 2+ armour save is very durable and will take a lot to kill it.
Endless Fury- An Avenger Gatling Cannon that is Heavy 14, S6, AP-2 and 2 damage. Each unmodified hit roll of a 6 scored two hits instead of 1.
The Avenger Gatling Cannon is a strong weapon on a Knight. This Relic gets a couple of extra shots, with the potential to get more shots on each 6 to hit. On average, you should get at least 2 extra hits. This weapon should shred most enemy units and weaker vehicles thanks to the 2 damage each shot.
Judgement- A Stormspear Rocket Pod that has 60" range, Heavy 3, S8, AP-3, D6 damage that can re-roll failed hits.
A nice Relic, but there are better ranged weapons available. The re-rolls to hit for the rocket pod are a good bonus, along with the extra range and AP.
Skyshield- A twin Icarus Autocannon that gets 60" range, an extra 2 shots and is AP-2. It adds 1 to hit against units with Fly and -1 to hit against other targets.
A nice boost to the Icarus Autocannon and very useful for taking on Fly units. However, it seems like a waste of the Relic choice when there are better options.
Helm of the Nameless Warrior- Add 1 to hit rolls in the Fight phase.
A good bonus for a combat Knight. Will allow them to ignore the -1 to hit for the more powerful melee weapons or hit on a 2+ with other weapons. Works well with House Mortan, giving a further +1 to hit when they charge, allowing you to hit with the most powerful melee weapons on a 2+.
Banner of Macharius Triumphant- On a Questoris Class model only. Gives Imperium units within 6" plus one Leadership. Also gives the unit a form of Objective Secured, counting as 10 models.
A nice bonus for your Astra Militarum command point farm, giving you less chance of losing models to a failed morale test. Also nice to get "Objective Secured" on a Knight, as this is an area where an all-Knight army can suffer, as they tend to be outnumbered in most games.
Traitor's Pyre- A Conflagration Cannon that can re-roll failed wounds.
This is a pretty awesome relic. The Cannon is 18", Heavy 3D6, S7, AP-2 and 2 damage that automatically hits. Getting to re-roll failed wounds is even better on an already pretty great gun. This weapon can threaten a whole host of units with S7 and 2 damage. Also effective against flyers, as it ignores the -1 to hit. I think this is one of the best options. Only on Questor Imperialis though, so no using it with House Raven to advance and still be able to fire.
Mark of the Omnissiah- Roll a D6 at the start of each of your turns. On a 6, the model re-gains D3 wounds. Otherwise, it regains 1 wound.
A pretty good relic for Questor Mechanicus, allowing you to reliably heal at least 1 wound on your Knight each turn. Good for getting you back up a tier without using the stratagems.
The Helm Dominatus- Once per battle round, choose an enemy unit within 24". Until the end of the phase, add 1 to the hit rolls of any Armiger Knights against that unit when within 6" of the Bearer.
A nice bonus if you are fielding a lot of Armiger Knights. This will make their Autocannons or Thermal Spears a potent weapon, hitting on a 2+ in most cases if they don't move.
Cawl's Wrath- A Plasma Decimator that gets +1S and +1 damage.
This is essentially a giant Plasma Cannon that gets 2D6 shots. In it's normal mode, it is S8 and 2 damage, going up to S9 and 3 damage when overcharged. This is a great weapon, able to threaten most units with ease and can cause a lot of damage with a good shot. Great for taking on other Knights or tough monsters.
Thunder of Voltoris- A rapid-fire Battle Cannon. When determining the number of shots, roll 3D6 and discard the highest result. House Teryn only.
This is another nice range weapon relic, giving you a better chance of getting a good number of shots when you fire it. Doesn't really mesh with the Household trait, giving you an extra D6 when advancing or charging (and choosing the highest).
Mark of the Lance- House Griffith. When the model completes a charge, choose an enemy unit within 1". On a 2+, they suffer D3 mortal wounds, on a 6, they suffer 3 mortal wounds.
A nice bonus for a combat Knight, doing extra mortal wounds with each charge. The Household trait also gives bonus attacks on the charge, giving you more potential to do damage in combat. A decent Relic to take.
Angel's Grace- House Hawkshroud only. Roll a D6 each time this model suffers a mortal wound in the psychic phase. On a 4+, it is ignored.
Quite a strong relic in the right circumstances, but very situational. Might not be the best in a tournament setting, as it probably won't come up most of the time. This can be mitigated by the stratagem giving a 5+ save against mortal wounds.
The Hunter's Eye- House Cadmus only. Enemy units do not receive the cover bonus to saving throws against ranged attacks from the bearer.
Decent enough, but not amazing. With most of the heavy Knight weapons, cover doesn't make too much of a difference. I would rather go for a Relic weapon that gives more shots, as you have more potential to do damage. This is where the White Scars relic went! Dirty Knight Thieves!
Honour's Bite- House Mortan Knight with a Reaper Chainsword. Roughly same profile (+6S, AP-4, 6 damage), but each roll of a 6 to wound inflicts an additional D3 mortal wounds.
This is a pretty good relic as well, though with only 4 attacks on a standard Knight, the odds of it coming up are not great that often. I'd probably go with Ravager instead for the strength boost and better odds at hitting.
The Banner Inviolate- Re-roll hit rolls of 1 in the Fight phase for House Raven models within 6" of the bearer.
A decent Relic once more. Some good combat bonuses for the nearby units, but with such a small model count army, unlikely to have a huge effect on the game.
Fury of Mars- House Taranis Thermal Cannon. When determining damage for this weapon, roll 2D6 and discard the lowest result.
This is a Thermal Cannon that gets the Melta effect at full range. The weapon is 48", S9, AP-4 and D6 damage. This has the potential to do serious damage to most enemy units, particularly big single model vehicles or monsters. Getting to roll two dice for damage and pick the highest at all ranges means you can keep your Knight at distance and still get full effect for the weapon.
The Headman's Mark- House Krast only. Increase the damage characteristic by 1 for all weapons when targeting a unit with models that have 10 or more wounds. Increase the damage characteristic by 2 for attacks made against Titanic units.
This is fantastic if you are going to be facing an army with other Superheavies or a lot of vehicles. Against other Knights, some of the weapons are going to be doing massive damage, with the potential to do 8 damage in a single wound with a number of weapons. This works in both ranged weapons and melee weapons, so there is a lot of damage potential there.
The Auric Mask- House Vulker only. The opposing player must roll an extra D6 when taking morale tests within 12" of the bearer, using the highest result.
A nice bonus for potentially causing more damage in the morale phase. Not going to work all the time, but against certain armies could do some damage.
Overall
As you can see, the Imperial Knights get access to a huge volume of new Relics in the codex. The most we have seen in a codex so far, I think.
There are a few that stand out as really good in the right army. In fact, there are a number of strong contenders to have in an army. With the codexes so far, one relic always seems to be an auto-include in the army. With the Imperial Knights, I would say there is no single auto-include, but a number of useful ones to take with your army.
Mostly the ranged weapons upgrades seem to be the stand out ones. The melee weapons are strong too, but I think the ranged weapons have more potential to be used every turn, whereas you may have to wait a turn or two to get into combat to make use of the melee weapons.
8th Edition Imperial Knights Codex Review
Part 1- Household Traditions and Warlord Traits
Part 2- Stratagems
Part 3- Relics
Part 4- Armiger Class Knights
Part 5- Knight Castellan
Part 6- Knight Valiant
I think you've made a mistake there with Ravager Mike. The regular reaper chainsword does 6 damage not d6. Other than that, great write up, keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, I'll need to go back and fix that! Thanks for noticing, too many damage values to check out!
DeleteGreat writeups for the codex so far, it really shows that even if you don't actively play knights you definitely know your stuff.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I noticed is that you keep using the same images over and over, with all if not most being out of the official codex. If it's not too much work, wouldn't this be a great opportunity to show off some of the beautiful knight armies out there? Off of the top of my head I can think of a great Terryn army over at B&C, and there's also a Griffith army and a Hawkshroud one around the web. I'm sure the owners would be flattered to be featured here :)
Either way, great article!
Great idea, wish I'd have had it! I'll try and get permission to use some of the images for the next parts of the review.
DeleteSweet, looking forward to the article!
DeleteYou can use any of my Knight pictures :) Custodes or Astorum Aligned Knight. Thanks for the rundown on the Relics, not got the Codex yet, but have five Knights yet to do...
DeleteSame here. Help yourself to any photos of my knights if you like.
Delete- Paragon Gauntlet: The go-to if you want to use Death Grip.
ReplyDelete- Armour of the Sainted Ion: Combine with the +1 Invul Warlord Trait and the +1 Invul Stratagem to make one Knight a real pain to get rid of.
- Endless Fury is a really nice upgrade over the regular Avenger. Particularly with some sort of re-roll effect from one source or another.
- Skyshield: I'd rather just use Helverins with their Stratagem.
- Traitor's Pyre: Absolutely terrifying. Creates a ~30" bubble of "one Unit per Turn in this radius is getting deleted". Also, with the auto-hit, it's amazing against stuff like Alaitoc Flyers that are relying on to-hit penalties for their durability.
- Mark of the Omnissiah: Even better in combination with an AdMech Detachment containing dudes who can also repair Knights. Taking one down in one Turn is extremely difficult for most lists, so repair abilities are actually good in this context.
- Angel's Grace: A good option to keep in mind for events that don't require you to have extra Relics as a fixed part of your list.
The Paragon Gauntlet is great for Death Grip, as you don't suffer the negative penalties to hit.
DeleteAs you said, it is easy to get a really strong Knight against enemy firepower, with a 2+ save, and 3++ from a warlord trait and stratagem.
Traitor's Pyre is incredibly strong. The standard version is bad enough, but with re-rolls to wound and automatic hits, this will delete a whole unit a turn in most cases.