Warhammer 40K: Bring On The Knight Household Guards For Imperial Knights
The Imperial Knights are getting a new codex in 2025. So here’s a pitch to add a unit they could really use: Knight Household Guards!
We know that there’s a new Imperial Knight Codex coming next year. And that got me thinking, “what else could they add to this army and still stick to the theme?” So I did some more digging. While GW could aways invent more Knights and/or Armigers variants I feel like that’s been done. They could also convert more Forge World Kits to plastic…I’m not opposed to that either. However, that’s not really anything “new” is it? That’s when I learned about Knight Household Guards.
“In addition to the Knight war machines, every House has multiple men-at-arms in its employ, resembling Planetary Defence Forces, although possessing a much smaller amount of heavy equipment. “
Knight Household Guards
While we don’t have a ton of info or pictures of them these Knight Household Guards are basically planetary militia. Above you can see some of the Chaos versions of them. They come with basic weapons and in this case shields.
Typically, these men-at-arms are raised up from the planetary population and aid in the defense of the Knight’s homeworld. It makes sense. While Imperial Knights can be an army unto themselves they can’t cover the entire planet and be everywhere. Having these Knight Household Guards help defense areas while the Knights are out fits!
I know what you’re probably thinking. “Why not just paint up some Astra Militarum units in the Knight House colors and go from there?” And yes…that’s a good hobby project. But I think if the Knight Household Guards were an actual unit or even a couple of different units then that opens up the Imperial Knights as an army. Plus it would be a new and different addition to the Imperial Knight army and that would help expand that codex out a bit.
Having said that, the core of the Imperial Knights has always been the Knights. These Knight Household Guards should be limited in some capacity. I think if GW ever does add them then they need to be tied to the number of Knights you’re taking. Some limit like you can only have one unit of these Knight Household Guards for every Knight in your list. Why even add them in that case? Because they could be the “cheap objective holder” for the army in game terms. And sure, you could always ally in Guard or Ad Mech — but that’s not the point. Knight Household Guard would be unique to the Knights and, if nothing else, could help round out those times when you’ve got a handful of points to spend but can’t afford the cheapest Imperial Knight.
Modeling-wise, if GW ever makes them I hope they look like the Men-at-Arms from the Old World. Obviously they’d have to be more Grimdark and Sci-fi but you get the idea. I don’t think they should even be as well equipped as the Cadian Shock Troopers. It really depends on how wealthy their Knight Household actually is!
Anyhow, I’m just tossing out this idea in hopes that maybe it still early enough to get them in the Imperial Knight book. I’m not holding my breath…but it would be pretty cool to see a new unit added to the Imperial Knights regardless!
What would you like to see added to the Imperial Knights or their Chaos counter-parts?
