Warhammer 40K: Why Do Knights Fight In Lances? – PRIME

Let’s take a look at some interesting real-world history behind the iconic Knight formation.

Imperial Knights and their corrupted counterparts are one the coolest parts of Warhammer 40K. On the table they are massive detailed models, some of the coolest ever made. In the lore, they are ancient machines, built as guardians of humanity’s spread across the stars and piloted by brave and noble warriors. They are a very cool and unique part of 40K. Knights, it is well known, fight in formations known as Lances. Today let’s take a look at the interesting history behind why we use this term.

It’s Because of BattleTech Isn’t It?

For many people, the answer here seems really obvious. It’s because of BattleTech. And this is a pretty easy conclusion to jump to off the bat. After all, it’s not unfair to say that 40K Knights owe, or borrowed, a lot to Battletech/Mech Warrior. Knights look, and act, a lot like the Mechs in Battle Tech, and the early designs echo early BattleTech a lot. In addition, the aesthetics are very similar in some areas, with powerful, often feuding noble houses fighting with semi-chivalric codes. Knights also hail from the Dark Age of Technology, and humanity’s first Steller Exodus, a period that bears some similarities to Battletech/Mech Warrior. And of course, the most obvious part is the BattleTech also uses the term “Lance” to describe a group of mechs, in much the same way 40K described Knights. So is this just a case of 40K “barrowing” a term from the game they took inspiration from? Well, maybe not.

A Real World Origin

The term “Lance” is actually a real-world military term used to describe a formation of Knights. The Lance or Lance fournies was a military formation used through the middle ages. It was originally based around a knight (or man-at-arms) and his supporting retune. The proto-lance is often seen as being made up of three men, a Knight, his squire, and his page. In this case, and with most other Lances, not all the members of the formation would fight. And when they did they might not all fight together. It would not be strange for the knight and squire to fight, while the page would stay behind to tend horses and take care of other duties. In addition, the knight might go off and fight with other knights, while the squire would join other squires to act light cavalry.

Over time the Lance would grow beyond just the original 3 members. While there was no set number of men in a Lance across the period, various nations would lay out the organization of what they considered a Lance in their law codes. The French for instance generally described a Lance as having between 5-6 members. It was based around a knight(or man-at-arms) who would be supported by a squire or page. The lance would also contain two-to-three mounted archers and a sergeant=at-arms, another armored horseman, but not as well equipped as the Knight. In this case the term mounted archer can be a bit misleading, as the archers would ride to battle, but fight dismounted.

Countries might vary the size of a lance over time as well. In Burgundy around 1468, the Lance was codified as three men, a man-at-arms, a sergeant at arms, and a valet. In 1471 new codes expanded the Lance to nine men, a knight, a sergeant at arms, a valet, three mounted archers, and three footsolders. The Polish version of the lance could contain between 4-14 members. While Lances were originally based around a knight, and often described how many men a knight had to bring with them when called to war (with powerful lords being required to call so many lances) over time it moved away from this model, with lances no longer having to be lead by a noble knight. Mercenary companies also copied the idea and it evolved into a military formation with less direct ties to feudalism.

Back To The Future

So this brings us back to 40K, and why it uses the term “Lance”. Now the 40K Lance is actually more closely based on the real world Lance than BattleTech’s is. A 40K Lance often doesn’t just contain the largest Knights, commanded by nobles, but will normally have some lighter units, Armigers, that are piloted by commoners. In this way, we see a clear connection to real-world Lances made up of knights, squires, and lighter troops. At the same time it’s hard to say that 40K wasn’t influenced by BattleTech. Still, the best guess is that they were both pulling from the same real-world source when they named their units, and that’s pretty cool.

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.