40K: Dominiate The Battle With A Dominus Knight
Have you ever wondered what an Imperial Knight would be like if they mixed in some Baneblade DNA? Turns out the answer is the new Dominus-class Knight! Come take a look at the latest preview from Games Workshop – this Knight is MASSIVE.
The Dominus-class chassis is one of the largest we’ve encountered in Warhammer 40,000 so far, boasting – as standard – two heavy weapon mounts on the arms, two twin meltaguns and three hardpoints on the carapace. To supplement their firepower, each Dominus-class Knight features two plasma cores, offering it even more power than its kin, but making for even more devastating detonations on the rare occasion your enemy brings one of these mighty war machines down.
There are two new variants of the Dominus-class Imperial Knight headed for the tabletop near you: the Knight Castellan and the Knight Valiant.
Knight Castellan
Knight Valiant
The Stats
Both Knights use the same chassis – and as you can see it’s got some BEEF. At Toughness 8 with 28 wounds and 3+ save, it’s going to be able to take more than a few punches to knock this Knight out.
The Weapons
Where the two variants differ is in their main armament. The Knight Castellan mounts the Plasma Decimator and the Volcano Lance while the Knight Valiant wields the Conflagration Cannon and Thundercoil Harpoon.
Plasma Decimator
Who doesn’t love a good plasma barrage? The target! With this gun, you’ll be able to reach out and spit hot plasma at up to 48″. Unfortunately, even Knights have to deal with the volatility of Plasma – Supercharge this gun at your own risk!
Volcano Lance
Worried about your opponent’s Lord of War options? The Volcano Lance has you covered. With an 80″ Range, Heavy D6 shots at Str 14(!!) Ap -5 and 3D3 Damage, that’s going to be PRETTY effective at killing highly armored targets. Oh, and you re-roll failed wound rolls vs Titanic units!
The Conflagration Cannon
Swapping gears over to the Knight Valiant, we see the brutal new Conflagration Cannon – this is essentially an 18″ flamer that auto hits with 3D6 shots that each are Str 7, AP -2, and 2 Damage. Couple that with the move and size of the Knight and that’s one scary piece of equipment!
Thundercoil Harpoon
Okay, this weapon is kind of hilarious. First off, it’s short range and only 1 shot…BUT it’s Str 16, -6 AP and 10(!!!!!) damage. That’s one shot of pain. It’s also got some reliability built in with the re-roll to hit vs Vehicles and Monsters. Oh and it does an additional D3 Mortal Wounds on them – just because it can.
So Games Workshop says:
“Both these Knights fulfil a range of roles on the battlefield (there are few situations that can’t be fixed by the overwhelming application of firepower) but, broadly speaking, the Knight Castellan excels at tackling other titanic units, tanks, and heavy infantry, while the Knight Valiant makes a mess of monsters and massed infantry.”
Yeah – based on their main armament, I can see that…Only I’d really like to have a Knight with the Thudercoil Harpoon and the Volcano Lance for Titan killing and the other two weapons for those pesky infantry. Oh well – but don’t forget about the top-mounts on these either!
Now, depending on which Chassis you are using, you’ll have a two different load-outs. Either two Twin Siegebreaker Cannons and one Shieldbreaker Missile or the inverse.
Twin Siegebreaker Cannon
This is basically an Autocannon on steroids. Each one is capable of doing a maximum of 18 damage if you rolled perfectly! Not too shabby.
Shieldbreaker Missile
I’m conflicted about this one – on one hand it’s a one-shot missile. On the other, it’s Str 10, AP -4, D6 Damage and Invulnerable Saves cannot be used on this weapon. Just have to make sure it hits and then the target is in a world of hurt!
Stratagems
An Army in 8th Edition wouldn’t be complete without a bunch of Stratagems specifically designed for them. The Imperial Knights are no different. And speaking of that Shieldbreaker Missile, wouldn’t it be nice to use it to snipe characters?
Yes. Yes it would be. For 2 CP, you’ll be able to pick-off those unit-enhancing Characters. Brutal.
Knights aren’t all about offense mind you. They are already tough but they also have some options when trying to stay alive. The Ion Aegis can help your Knight and friendly Imperium units alive on your opponents turn:
I like the option to turn my walking fortress into a Void-shield as much as the next commander. Plus, lets be honest here, with the range most of those guns have you don’t really need to move. This extra save will help keep your bubble wrap units alive as well. Gotta save the bubble wrap!
These Knights will be available this weekend for Pre-Order from GW. Are you Team Red or Team Blue?
