Knights are amongst the most impressive miniatures ever to stride over the battlefields of the Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000. These glorious metal steeds are piloted by noble scions, though few are as impetuous as those who ride the loping Cerastus Knight Lancers.
With a new plastic kit on the way – and a further two on the horizon that build the blade-wielding Knight Castigator and the flaming Knight Acheron – love for Knights is at an all-time high in the Warhammer Design Studio. In fact, we’ve had a peek at what people in the Studio had been working on, and surprise! It was all Knights. We just had to share some of the best.
Lewis created his own Knightly House, Fortis Murus, to support his staggering 6,000 points of Imperial Fists, and to slot in nicely with a Legio Astorum Warhound he has planned. He focused on simple blues and yellows for the armour panels, with lashings of Agrax Earthshade, Nuln Oil, and Garaghak’s Sewer to weather the panels.
Knights can either be statement pieces that stand apart from your army, or they can tie into your scheme to act as a cohesive centrepiece. Chris picked House Caesarean for his Lancer. These are sworn allies of Legio Krytos, and thus the Iron Warriors, and let him use his experience painting metal, black, and yellow.
The first of two Bens in this article picked House Orhlacc for his Lancer, to support his ever-growing First Legion collection. With its Manticore sigil and sinister history, this house fits perfectly with the secretive Dark Angels. The imposing stride shows off the kit’s impressive posability.
Les has a collection of Traitor armies that started with the Sons of Horus, so he picked House Malinax for his Lancer, as they sided with the Warmaster in the early days of the Heresy. The bone, black, and red gives it a fearsome presence, and Les scoured the old Horus Heresy Black Books for heraldry inspiration, eventually finding a Knight named Itzilan which he studiously recreated the markings of on his Lancer.
Our second Ben painted his Knight Lancer in the colours of a house of his own creation – House Salastii. Glory of Orion is really just an excuse to use a mix of Aethermatic Blue and Aeldari Emerald over Runefang Steel for a gorgeous metallic blue-green. He complimented this with Wolfspear and Imperial Knight transfers.
James decided to paint his Knight Lancer as House Coldshroud, who worked alongside the Space Wolves, his primary army. This matched up with his Legio Gryphonicus force from Adeptus Titanicus, and he was able to scale up his mottled armour technique for the Lancer’s armour panels.
The Knight Lancer is extremely poseable, but despite all the options Fil decided to keep his in a signature stock pose. The separate armour panels let him lavish attention on the inner frame, which is Leadbelcher covered with numerous washes and glazes for variation. He stippled Mephiston Red on the armour panels, which he added to with freehand stripes and icons for extra focus points, before finishing the trim with Balthasar Gold.
Josh decided to pair House Kaushik with his Blood Angels. With few painted examples to go on, he explored the background and discovered that their furious fighting led to poorly maintained armour plating. The panels are painted Sons of Horus Green and Macragge Blue, and heavily weathered with Rhinox Hide, Leadblecher, and various glazes. A destroyed Leviathan Dreadnought as basing completes the fantasy of this ruthless House.
Thanks to the Studio for this parade of inspiring Knights, which will be on display in Warhammer World shortly. You won't have to wait too long for the Cerastus Knight Lancer to stride out into pre-order either – keep an eye on Warhammer Community for the news.