If Knights love one thing above all else, it’s going out questing. This is true whether they’re riding an armoured horse or a glorious building-sized war machine, so it should come as no surprise that this Saturday’s Codex: Imperial Knights, as well as Codex: Chaos Knights – which will also be available on Saturday as part of the Chaos Knights Army Set – each feature ways to win glory and gifts during Crusade campaigns.
Both codexes boast an array of unique Agendas, Relics, and Requisitions, as well as separate Battle Traits and Battle Scars for pilots and Knight suits.* Not only that, each faction offers rules for forging a heroic – or daemonic – saga of Knightly deeds.
You’ll pick one Knight from your Crusade force** to be the protagonist of a bombastic ballad – dubbed the QUESTSWORN by loyal Imperials, or the DAMNED for Dread Houses – whose story will shake the galaxy. As you play games, this Noble can earn mighty rewards and risk fatal flaws, though how they go about it differs dramatically.
For the Imperials, honour demands completing Knightly Deeds while keeping true to the Code Chivalric. Questing Knights might vow to gain experience in battle and answer the Call to Arms, or join a hunt to Recover Ancient Relics. Whichever cause they pledge themselves to – the codex contains six – completing this Knightly Deed is key to their Quest. No self-respecting Noble would return from a Crusade without seeing it through.
Yet victory is nothing without honour. Each time you finish a game – win or lose – your QUESTSWORN Knight gains Glory points based on your army’s level of Honour.*** With three Glory points and a completed Knightly Deed, your hero’s Quest is complete!
Finishing Quests earns powerful Qualities, permanent upgrades which – much like your Bondsman and Exalted Court abilities – become even stronger while the army is Honoured or Virtuous. There are three tables of Qualities on offer – will you win renown with a Resolute and Defiant defence, or gain a reputation as a Close-quarters Fighter?
Be warned, however – disgrace in battle will not be tolerated. Each time you finish a game while Dishonoured, your QUESTSWORN will gain Shame points. With three Shame points the Quest ends in failure, their points are lost, and they suffer a Burden. These tragic foibles are similar to Battle Scars, weakening their combat abilities and making them a laughing stock among their Noble peers.
Speaking of disgrace – Fallen Nobles have their own Eightfold Path to glory, fuelled by the desire for domination that occupies every moment of their cursed existence.
Forget all notions of honour or duty – Chaos Knights respect only power and destruction. At the end of every Crusade game – win or lose – a DAMNED Knight who slaughtered enough enemy units will draw the gaze of the Ruinous Powers and gain a Damnation point. Much like the Favours of the Dark Gods, bigger Knights will need a bigger tally of kills to prove worthy of divine attention.
Each time you earn three Damnation points, your corrupt questant will sink into the next Circle of Damnation.
With each step down the Eightfold Path, your DAMNED Knight forges fresh Pacts with their hellish patrons. These rewards come in three sizes, and range from a Living Hull of bloated, regenerating armour to an unnatural shroud of Darkness, Despair, and Doom befitting a true Dreadlord.
Think of it as corporate sponsorship on a successful race car, if the race car was a towering engine of death and the sponsorship was a horrible biomechanical disease.
Yet every bargain has a price, and the masters of the Empyrean are nothing if not mercurial. While an Imperial Knight may cling to their hypocritical Code for comfort, every DAMNED Knight will eventually taste the sting of a Damnation – forms of mutation and madness that inflict permanent penalties on your Fallen Noble.
Begin your quest for glory when Codex: Imperial Knights comes to pre-order on Saturday the 7th of May, as well as the awe-inspiring Chaos Knights Army Set, containing the new Knight Abominant and endlessly versatile War Dogs. The Army Set is also your chance to score an early copy of Codex: Chaos Knights, so you can start down the Eightfold Path to Damnation without delay!
* Has your Armiger developed Weakened Servos, or will your favourite Noble grow into a Pious Pilot?
** Though you can add the QUESTSWORN or DAMNED keyword to more Knights as a Requisition.
*** As their Crusade rank grows, Knights face greater expectations – making it harder to claim Glory and easier to suffer Shame.