The accursed Idolators of the Dread Households are busily bathing the joints of their masters’ war machines in blood, offering sacrifices to warp-charged engines, and bolting as many spikes onto twisted hulls as possible. That’s right, the dark knights will soon thunder into action in the upcoming Chaos Knights Army Set, which features the new Knight Abominant and two loping War Dogs – alongside a special edition of the new Codex: Chaos Knights.
This tome contains all the rules you need to customise your baleful steeds to your blackened heart’s content – and not just in the armoury. Whether your Fallen Nobles embrace the Plague Lord or honour the Architect of Fate – or even if they’re more of an Undivided soul – you can seek the Favour of the Dark Gods for a mighty host of options to upgrade your Knights.
Battle-forged armies containing a Chaos Knights Detachment can grant a Favour of the Dark Gods to any Knight in their army. That model gains the keyword associated with its patron god, as well as a powerful new ability – and even a Favoured ability, which you’ll unlock by reaching a certain tally of kills. Naturally, the bigger your Knight, the more kills you’ll need to offer before the gods take notice.
Are you impatiently revving your newly-improved reaper chainblade? Are you sick of blunting your metal teeth on sacred relics and advanced force fields? Khorne’s Blood Shield offers an answer to such trickery – give a Knight the KHORNE keyword and you’ll be able to shut downall invulnerable saves (for your foe and yourself*) once per battle.
At least, that’s once per battle normally. Offer enough skulls to Khorne – say, from Dark Reapers who just lost their fancy Aspect Armour invulnerable save – and you’ll get the chance to trigger the ability a second time.
The Blood God isn’t a fan of sorcerous trickery, but those who can’t resist the new psychic Knight Abominant needn’t worry. Each of Khorne’s Favours come with a cute side-effect, trading the Abominant’s PSYKER keyword for improved Weapon Skill and an extra Attack.
On the flipside, Slaanesh offers Knights swiftness beyond imagination, turning lumbering engines of destruction into blurs of chrome and steel. Subjugator Machine Spirit binds the gluttonous soul of a fallen Subjugator Titan** into the confines of a Knight, saturating every piston and synapse with its overwhelmingly powerful ego.
Overtaken by battle-lust, the Knight gains the SLAANESH keyword, and counts as having Remained Stationary when shooting even if it Advanced or Fell Back that turn – rush in to unleash hell with your avenger chaincannon, or dance out of combat while laying down shots with your laser destructor. Feed Slaanesh enough souls, and the chosen Knight will be able to charge in the same turn as well – Knight Rampagers rejoice.
If you’d prefer your pilot to enjoy a balanced diet of warring Chaos gods, you can instead devote them wholly to the PANTHEON UNDIVIDED, for Favours like the Blessing of the Dark Master. A Fallen Noble who offers worship to a particular shadowy demigod*** can receive a tenebrous cowl in return, shrouding them from the vision of even the most skilled sniper.
This umbral boon prevents your opponent from re-rolling hit, wound, and even damage rolls – cut down enough enemies in the name of the Shadow King, and unmodified hit rolls of 1-3 will always fail when they target the gloom-touched Knight, making your formidable Knight Tyrants nigh-unstoppable.
There are 15 Favours in all, each with a points cost (and Power Rating increase) suited to each class of Knight. It’s one Favour per Knight, and no duplicate Favours – the gods are a jealous lot – but with so many to choose from, there’s no need to double-up.
Will your Dread Household devote itself to one god, throw their lot in with the Pantheon, or spread its worshippers around, pitting pilot against pilot to see who can reap the most handsome rewards for their particular patron?
There’ll be more rules previews from Codex: Chaos Knights coming as we get nearer to the Chaos Knight Army Box release. But for now, sign up to the Warhammer Community Newsletter to receive favours of your own – timely reminders of all the latest news and updates, straight to your inbox.
* Khorne really doesn’t care from whence the blood flows.
** These crab-clawed God-Engines once existed in Titan Legions, an older game we’ve recently had cause to revisit…
*** Surprise, it’s Be’lakor! You’ll even find rules for teaming the Dark Master up with Chaos Knights in the newest White Dwarf.