The new Codex: Imperial Knights will be ready to pre-order very soon, so you’ll be able to play out your neo-feudal fantasies on the battlefields of the 41st Millennium – but with giant mechanical steeds, rather than pathetic organic horses (with their weak, fleshy reliance on oats).
Imperial Knights are the very epitome of virtuous gallantry, and their squires want nothing more than to walk in their mighty footsteps. Why earn the Favour of the Dark Gods when you can earn the favour of your liege-lord? Thus, younger Nobles and lowborn pilots alike relish in undertaking the tasks appointed to them through Bondsman abilities.
Bondsmen abilities are a system of battlefield patronage – or “domineering neural implants”, depending on how you want to look at it – in which fully-fledged Knights command the lowlier combat walkers. Each variety of QUESTORIS-CLASS Knight has its own Bondsman ability,* allowing it to direct a nearby ARMIGER-CLASS ally toward specific tasks.
Each Armiger can only benefit from one Bondsman ability at a time, but while your army is upholding the Code Chivalric, they become even more determined in their duties, reducing Damage from incoming attacks.
Applied at the right moment, these abilities can give your supporting Knights the boost they need to claim victory – while keeping them safe from your dishonourable foes. The Knight Crusader, for example, can use Crusader’s Duty to improve the Ballistic Skill of a nearby squire, such as an Armiger Helverin.
Bondsman abilities are deadly enough when used by a regular Noble – but they become truly devastating when an Exalted Court marches to war. Battle-forged armies may promote any QUESTORIS-CLASS or DOMINUS-CLASS CHARACTER into a member of an Exalted Court, granting it an array of game-changing abilities to bring to bear on the battlefield.**
These high-status Nobles gain the EXALTED COURT keyword, and the ability to use their Bondsman abilities an extra time every turn. Look to your lords!
Members of the Exalted Court also gain specific abilities according to their station within your household. Let’s take the High Monarch – the loftiest position for any QUESTOR IMPERIALIS WARLORD to hold.
With this august personage leading the fray, every time your army gains an Honour point, roll a dice. On a 5+, you gain one additional Honour point – so get to work completing Pledges and generating lots of Honour, to impress the ruler of your Knight World.
Each position in the Exalted Court also bestows a Noble Exemplar ability, which improves your Bondsman abilities while your army is Honoured or Virtuous. In the case of the High Monarch, their authority is such that it filters through to the rest of the army – so every time it uses its Bondsman ability to command a squire, it also applies to every ARMIGER-CLASS Knight within 6”.
So if your army is led by a High Monarch riding a Knight Crusader, you can apply Crusader’s Duty to a whole cluster of Armigers – effortlessly relaying stacked orders and firing solutions through your machine-king’s vox apparatus. And that’s not the only position in the Exalted Court!
Take the Gatekeeper – an ancient, traditional station for those who hold down the fort on a Knight World. While this doughty Knight is defending your deployment zone, attempts to wound it will always fail on an unmodified roll of 1-3 – and their Bondsman ability can increase the Toughness of any squires tasked with holding objectives, such as the Armiger Warglaives.
There are 10 different positions in Exalted Court – five each for QUESTOR IMPERIALIS and QUESTOR MECHANICUS – and a whole host of Bondsman abilities.*** The range of potential combinations is mind-blowing, especially when you combine them with Oaths, Knightly Teachings, Stratagems, and more.
Codex Imperial: Knights offers chivalric commanders a cornucopia of tools to use in battle. It’s coming to pre-order very soon, so get ready to prove your mettle on the field. In the meantime, subscribe to the Warhammer Community newsletter, and catch all the latest Warhammer news.
* Except the Knight Preceptor, which has its own Knightly Teachings to issue.
** They also gain a special Crusade Duty, for those narrative campaigns – look out for those in the codex!
*** Don’t worry, Freeblade fans – there are ways for you to join in the courtly fun…