Imperial Knights

How Imperial Knights play

Imperial Knights are the game's super-heavy army: a handful of enormous walkers, sometimes as few as three or four models in total. There is no screening, no chaff, no expendable unit. Every model on your side of the table is a significant portion of your army, and every one of them is a threat your opponent has to answer.

The army plays as a series of duels. Your Knights are individually more powerful than almost anything they will face, and the game becomes about forcing favourable engagements while holding enough ground to score. Objective Control is the constant problem — three models cannot hold five objectives.

It is also the most binary army in the game. When the matchup and the mission suit you, it is dominant. When they do not, there is very little you can adjust.

Building a Imperial Knights army list

The tension is always Titanic versus Armiger. A list of larger Knights hits harder; a list with more Armigers can actually stand on objectives. Most successful lists lean toward more, smaller models than a new player expects.

Note that Imperial Knights cannot use the Freeblades alliance rule — that rule exists to put Knights into other Imperium armies, not to add more to a Knights army.

Imperial Knights FAQ

How many models are in an Imperial Knights army?

Often three to six at 2,000 points. It is the smallest model count in 40k and makes the army very quick to collect, transport and paint.

Can other Imperium armies take Imperial Knights?

Yes, via the Freeblades rule: if every model in your army has the IMPERIUM keyword you may include either one Titanic Knight or up to three Armigers. Not both, and they cannot be your Warlord or take Enhancements.

What is the biggest problem with playing Knights?

Objective control. Winning every fight and still losing on primary points is the standard Knights defeat, and it is a structural feature of the army rather than a list-building error.