How to play Imperial Knights

The ultimate low-model-count army: a handful of enormous Towering walkers plus light Armigers. Every model is a massive, high-impact threat and a giant target, so discipline and positioning matter more than for any other army.

Army rule: Code Chivalric (Oaths): pick an army-wide Oath whose completed Deed grants CP and makes the army Honoured. Bondsman Abilities let bigger Questoris Knights buff a nearby Armiger each Command phase. Choose an Oath you can actually complete and pair big Knights with Armigers to spread Bondsman buffs. (Towering gives +1 to hit ground targets within 12 inches and lets you see over terrain.)

Strengths

Extreme per-model durability and a devastating dual threat of huge guns plus crushing melee
Towering grants commanding sightlines and a to-hit bonus vs ground targets
Armigers are mobile and high-OC, holding objectives and screening far better than the big Knights

Weaknesses

Catastrophically low model count; losing one Knight is a big chunk of the army with no margin
Cannot meaningfully screen, ceding board control to swarms
Vulnerable to cheap chaff tar-pitting it in melee and to mass anti-tank

Signature combos

A Questoris Knight Bondsman-buffing a pack of Armiger Warglaives (e.g. Ignores Cover) under a completable Oath
Knight Castellan as a long-range walking battleship, screened against tar-pits
Armiger Helverins providing cheap long-range autocannon fire support
Canis Rex or a Knight Paladin as the flexible all-rounder centerpiece

Gameplan

Use Towering sightlines to delete a priority threat each turn while pushing Armigers onto objectives for OC and completing your Oath for CP and the Honoured boost. Never overextend a single Knight into isolation or chaff; each Knight must earn far more than its points while Armigers do the scoring.

Playing against Imperial Knights

Bring chaff to tar-pit Knights in melee and shut off their guns, concentrate anti-tank to remove a whole Knight at once, and out-score on objectives with bodies since they cannot screen.

Next steps

Browse all Imperial Knights datasheets → · What to buy → · General tactics →