Codex: Imperial Knights - Relics & Warlord Traits

So, this second-to-final part here will delve into the "bonuses" of the army, all the additional special rules and elements which are used to augment a force in battle. As a fair warning, it's usually in places like this where the reviews tend to be their most critical, and where we judge just how each one will affect games the most. Why? Because these days it tends to be where the ball is really dropped, and some of the raw cheese starts to enter an otherwise balanced book.

Relics

Having relics on Knights might seem odd - especially as the vast war engines themselves are often treated as relics - but it offers a bit of added history. While personally I think this could have been used to be a bit more creative in terms of how they were implemented into the army and worked with the main lists, there are certainly worse ways in which this could have been taken. These have also been divided up into several different sections, from universal ones to those specific to either Imperial or Mechanicus aligned groups. Personally, I would have gone with Houses (well, more of them) to further entrench a sense of legacy and identity, but that's just me. So, let's get on with this.

Universal

Endless Fury - It's an Avengers Gatling Cannon on steroids, with 36" Heavy 14 S6 AP-2 2 Damage as its stats. What's more is that - in place of what would have been rending a couple of editions ago - now every (unmodified) roll of a 6 now counts as two separate hits. This means you have a far greater degree of firepower on hand, and potentially a much higher output of shots if the dice are with you for once. This makes it a bit more useful for the role of crowd control, but otherwise it's not much of an improvement or serious change over the standard gun. It's a shame really, as the lore behind it has a few interesting concepts which could have been built on for further effect.

Judgement - This is just an upgraded Stormspear, as it hits at AP-3 and allows you to re-roll to hit. Alright, but rather forgettable on the whole.

Ravager - Welcome to the Reaper Chainsword upgrade. Yes, there's going to be a lot of this, as the version here is +8 Strength, AP-3 and Damage 6, along with allowing the Knight to re-roll 1s when trying to hit targets. This is obviously a bonus for anyone looking to go Land Raider hunting, as it bypasses the -1 to hit offered by the Thunderstrike pimp hand, but still offers you Strength 16. It's a good one to have if you're facing down a heavily armoured list or Nidzilla force, as it makes life much easier in bringing them down. Well, assuming you can get within range, of course.

Skyshield - Given how well known the landing platform is, this choice was surprising to say the least. Well, at least it is clear on just what it means. The weapon is a barely souped-up Icarus Autocannon, with a 60" range Strength 7 AP-2 and 2 Damage stat. Again, it's not much of an upgrade over the standard one, and between lower costs and more effective missile launchers, you might want to skip it.

The Paragon Gauntlet - The pimp hand, this is definitely one of the most entertaining here, despite its role as a static upgrade. Besides doubling the Strength of its user, hitting at AP-4 and 8 Damage, you no longer have any penalty to striking targets. This can be quite happily stacked with other effects, to be a seriously punishing weapon with some decent planning.

Sanctuary - An upgrade to the Ion Shield, this one boosts it so that it works against melee attacks along with ranged weapons. This is better than its alternatives on htis list, and helps against big monsters, but it doesn't boost your ability to take low AP attacks.

Armor of the Sainted Ion - It grants the user a 2+ armour save. Nice, but Sanctuary is going to be the better option nine times out of ten, due to what you'll usually be forced to bear the brunt of.

Imperialis

Banner of Macharius Triumphant - This grants +1 Leadership to all units belonging to the Imperium which are within 6" of the one holding it. It also grants them the capacity to perform Objective Secured and allows them to count as ten models when contesting against an enemy force. Pretty damn useful on the whole, and it's a very nice bonus to have in mot games.

Traitor's Pyre - This supplants the Conflagration Cannon on a model and allows you to re-roll failed rolls to wound. not bad, certainly useful when it comes to culling astartes from a board.

Helm of the Nameless Warrior - You add +1 to hit rolls in the Fight phase, something which is going to be very useful in most situations, and can be stacked with other re-roll abilities. On something like the Gallant, this can allow them to rack up a high tally of kills in good games.

Mechanicus

Mark of the Omnissiah - Roll a D6 at the start of the turn and heal D3 wounds on a 6. It's akin to having a Techpriest who cannot be killed standing next to you, but it's only going to work once in a while. It's not bad if you're expecting them to take the brunt of a few hits, but there are better things to spend your points on.

The Helm Dominatus - This can only be used with the Dominus and Questrois class models, and serves as one of a new trope of items we've been seeing a great deal of lately. Basically, at the start of a shooting phase pick an enemy target within 24" and then give all allied Armigers within 6" of the bearer +1 to hit. If you're looking to kill something via a thousand cuts or utterly wreck one aircraft then this is your best option, really. That said, this exact cookie cutter build is getting a little irritating.

Cawl's Wrath - No, he's not in this, but his presence is most certainly felt. In a manner which you would expect from Cawl, it's a massive power booster to a high tech weapon. In this case, it's a Plasma Decimator, as you end up with AP-4, and +1 Damage to both modes. Take it and witness absolutely savagery at its finest.

Household Specific Relics

Thunder of Voltoris (Terryn) - You gain a replacement Battle Cannon which hits with the following stats line: Range 72" Heavy 2d6 S9 AP-2 d3 Damage. When rolling for the shot number, you roll 3D6 and drop the lowest number. Practical but still fairly effective.

Mark of the Lance (Griffith) - ... Okay, someone in the writing department has to be a Berserk fan from all these veiled mentions, surely. This effectively makes your charges all the more effective, as when you finish your charge mode, you roll a D6. On the result of a 2+ you immediately inflict D3 Mortal Wounds on the target, or 3 immediately if you get a 6. It's a supercharged version of their universal special rule, and a pretty damn nasty one to be sure.

Angel's Grace (Hawkshroud) - If you take a Mortal Wound in the psychic phase, roll a dice. On a 4+ you ignore it outright. This can be effective given how little defense the army has against psykers in general, and it assists with nullifying one of their greatest weaknesses.

The Hunter's Eye (Cadmus) - You ignore enemy bonuses from cover when judging this unit's attacks. It speaks for itself, really.

Honor's Bite (Mortan) - Aside from having the benefit of being listed despite its missing "u", the weapon is a S+6 AP-4 6 Damage Reaper Chainsword which can deal an extra D3 Mortal Wounds on the wounds roll of a 6. Pretty damn useful, and it means that it has some unpredictably destructive tendencies which can seriously hurt the enemy.

The Banner Inviolate (Raven) - This is limited to the Questoris class, and it allows all House Raven models to re-roll 1s to hit in the Fight Phase when within 6" of this bearer. The limited range here given the size of the models is what will seriously hurt this one the most, as while it's fairly generic, it can't work effectively on many at any one time. It's largely worth ignoring as a result.

Fury of Mars (Taranis) - It's a thermal cannon but you get the usual melta effect of rolling two D6 and picking the highest number when hitting targets at its full 48" range. Yeah, just ignore this one, as it looks good initially, but usually ends up being a waste of points.

The Headsman's Mark (Krast) - It's easily one of the best here, as all weapons gain +1 Damage standard when targeting an enemy with ten or more wounds, or +2 Damage if it's a Titanic foe. This thing is the bane of enemy Knights and it's utterly deadly on a ranged unit.

The Auric Mask (Vulker) - If an enemy is forced to take a morale test, within 12" of this one, they must roll 2D6 and keep the highest result. This is actually pretty useful for breaking enemy lines and dealing with possible speed bumps, especially if you are trying to hit the middle of an enemy's gun line.

Warlord Traits

This is another divided lot, this time with some which are marked as universal, while others are dedicated to specific houses.

Universal

Blessed by Sacristans - While this can't work with relics, this one allows you to deal Mortal Wounds on the unmodified roll of a 6. This might seem like a generally minor benefit at best, until you realise that the Avenger can count for this sort of thing. Yeah, it's a good one to have if you have the right build for it.

Cunning Commander - So this one, from the name, sounds like you might gain a mini-Creed from this. Unfortunately, that's not quite the case, as it gives you a free re-roll for hits, wounds, saves or damage once per battle. You start with +1 CP if you are Battle-Forged, which is the more important point. The former is alright, but the latter means that you can gain the upper hand much faster with some luck. It's a good one to have and can work with most lists.

Fearsome Reputation - This is a surprisingly exceptional one, as it sounds bad on its own until you account for, well, everything else. This one imposes a -1 Leadership penalty for enemy units within 12" of the warlord and -2 if they are within 6" of them. Again, on its own it's pretty bland, but then consider everything else which can modify Leadership which you can take. Even if it's just a squad of Psykers inflicting Terrify, that's -3 in total. Yeah, this can be damn good when you fit together truly effective army.

Ion Bulwark - You now have an invulnerable save of 4+ when facing off against those shooting at you. Pretty useful, and like the aforementioned options, there are good ways to buff this when stacking it with others.

Landstrider - You merge with the speed force. No, really, you basically have a buff which extends to all Knights within the same Household when they are within 6", and then adds 2 to Advance and Charge roles. With Terryn, you are basically teleporting across the board without too much trouble at all.

Household Specific Warlord Traits

Veteran of Gryphonne IV (Cadmus) - All Damage taken in the Fight phase is reduced by one, to a minimum of 1. Skippable and largely worth ignoring, unfortunately, as something with this name seriously deserves a more engaging or interesting buff.

Master of the Joust (Griffith) - Second verse, same as the first. When you finish a Charge, roll a D6 and on the roll of a 4+ an enemy unit within 1" the unit suffers D3 Mortal Wounds. With a few more things like this, Griffith leaders can kill units just by running at them and getting lucky.

Duty of Forsworn (Hawkshroud) - This is basically a hunting one here, as it allows you to pick a single enemy unit at the start of the game, and then to benefit from a +1 to hit it from there on. Unless the opposing army has been built up with a single super unit on the opposing side, it's not worth taking at all.

Legacy of the Black Pall (Mortan) - Beyond 18", all shooting attacks made toward your warlord suffer from a -1 penalty to hit. Given the best way to counter Knights is usually lascannon spam or heavy anti-armour cannons, this is typically quite useful. It means that your Warlord can last a fair bit longer, and has more of a chance to get in close against your enemy. not to mention that you can use him as a living shield if required.

Champion of the Household (Terryn) - You can re-roll failed charges. Yeah, it's a good one to have. Simple and quite effective. There's nothing more to really be said here.

First Knight (Krast) - You can re-roll hits of 1 from your Warlord, both in shooting and melee. Again, it speaks for itself. It's good to have in most situations.

Master of the Trial (Raven) - This allows your warlord to ignore AP-1 attacks, which can be helpful but not nearly so much as you might think and there are more universally useful ones on here. Yeah, there's a lot of ones where that can just be said on the whole.

Knight of Mars (Taranis) - When rolling a natural 6 to wound while shooting, you gain an additional point of AP. Good with a shooting heavy unit, and potentially beneficial to the Avenger, but for the most part it can be ignored due to the statistics involved.

Adamantium Knight (Vulker) - This is one of the much more entertaining options on here, as it can allow you to stonewall multiple shots even from anti-titan weapons, as it means wound rolls of 1, 2, and 3 automatically fail, even if the wound chart contradicts this. Yeah, with so many ways for Knights to easily get killed, this is a definite must-have for this house.

So, that's that done for the moment. We'll be taking a break from this to get back to some of our normal content because this keeps being delayed and it's a bloody long codex. This was actually meant to be the final part, until I realised that I would be hammering out a lengthy epic by trying to cover Stratagems in here as well.