ISSUE 4 - 22th FEB 2014

Editor: Jes Bickham
jes@whitedwarf.co.uk

Assistant Editor: Matt Keefe

mattk@whitedwarf.co.uk

Senior Staff Writer: Adam Troke

adam@whitedwarf.co.uk

Staff Writer: Daniel Harden
dan@whitedwarf.co.uk

Production Lead:
Rebecca Ferguson
rebecca@whitedwarf.co.uk

Digital Editor: Melissa Roberts
melissa@whitedwarf.co.uk

Lead Designer: Matthew Hutson

matt@whitedwarf.co.uk

Designer: Kristian Shield
kris@whitedwarf.co.uk

Designer: Ben Humber
ben@whitedwarf.co.uk

Photo Editor: Glenn More
glenn@whitedwarf.co.uk

Photographer: Erik Niemz
erik@whitedwarf.co.uk

Photographer: Martyn Lyon
martyn@whitedwarf.co.uk

Publisher: Paul Lyons
paul@whitedwarf.co.uk

Welcome to an issue of White Dwarf featuring one of the most exciting new releases we’ve ever had the pleasure of showing – the Imperial Knight. A towering model festooned with marvellous detail (and something of a long-held dream come true for designer Jes Goodwin and his band of trusty sculptors), the Imperial Knight also offers a fascinating peek into a largely unexplored area of Warhammer 40,000 lore. You can see the kit in all its breathtaking glory in this issue, while Jes Goodwin and Jervis Johnson discuss the genesis and provenance of the Imperial Knights. We’ve also got painting guides for two knightly houses, and the rules for these mighty machines of destruction.

Stay tuned to White Dwarf in following weeks too, as we’ll be bringing you much more coverage of the Imperial Knights. It’s a great time to be a hobbyist and we’ll be making the most of it. See you next week!

The Imperial Knights are staunch defenders of Mankind, skilled warriors who pilot towering suits of armour into battle. Armed with weapons capable of scattering whole armies, they fight side by side with the forces of humanity.

Thousands of years before the rise of the Imperium, Mankind reached out to the stars and settled many far away worlds. Among the apparatus of colonisation were formidable war machines known as Imperial Knights, which existed to protect the settlers from any threat. Over the millennia, the pilots of these suits have established a rich culture, noble houses each sworn to the defence of their
home-world, bound by oaths of fealty to the Golden Throne of Earth and the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars.

Imperial Knights are colossal war machines that tower over the battlefield. They are propelled into battle by powerful servos and have the power to kick over tanks and crush soldiers into mulch. Vulnerable limbs and joints are protected by sweeping armour plates of adamantium and supported by an incorporated ion shield which responds to the thought-commands of its Noble pilot.

The Imperial Knight is a multi-part plastic kit from which you can build either a Knight Paladin equipped with a rapid-fire battle cannon or a Knight Errant armed with a tank-busting thermal cannon. The kit’s various options include a choice of three armoured war helms to guard the Knight’s mechanical head, heraldic icons proclaiming its allegiance, a host of purity seals and the most impressive water-slide transfer sheet ever included with a Citadel miniature. This A5 transfer sheet provides the heraldry, icons, campaign and kill markings of the Knight Houses, both those that are aligned to the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus, as well as the iconography for a famous Freeblade, the Obsidian Knight. AT

The thermal cannon is an incredibly powerful melta weapon, and serves as the main armament of the Knight Errant. A blast from a thermal cannon can immolate a battle tank or reduce a fortress wall to molten slag.

The Imperial Knight kit contains three face plates, two tilting helmets, and a third designed for the Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned Houses, which looks like a foreboding skull-mask.

Both the Knight Paladin and Knight Errant are armed with a secondary heavy stubber to scythe down enemy infantry as it advances into battle. This is fixed into position in a ball mount set beneath the armoured carapace.

Both Knights Paladin and Knights Errant carry Reaper chainswords on their left weapon mount. These are deadly close combat weapons, easily capable of ripping through the thick armour plates of super heavy tanks or cutting Monstrous Creatures in two with a single stroke.

IMPERIAL KNIGHT HERALDRY

Every Imperial Knight is a precious and valued war machine, revered by its Noble pilot and painstakingly maintained by the house sacristans responsible for its upkeep. Each is painted in the glorious heraldry of its house, and decorated with imagery and iconography that tell of its home-world, oaths and battle honours.

Within the Imperial Knight kit, there is an excellent transfer sheet which contains (by my count) 282 separate transfers, ranging from large Imperial eagles spanning a Knight’s shoulder plate to tiny honour markings denoting significant kills.

The vast majority of Imperial Knights belong to a house, and this transfer sheet contains the iconography for five of them, three of which (Terryn, Hawkshroud and Cadmus) are aligned to the Imperium and two (Taranis and Raven) are sworn to the Adeptus Mechanicus. Each house has its own proud traditions that span thousands of years, and will have fought in countless battles on behalf of humanity. Some Knights, for one reason or another, forsake the succour of a noble house, and forge their own destiny as a Freeblade. These are tragic heroes, who continue to fight for Mankind, but call no man master. AT

1, Full house crest of Imperial-aligned House Terryn. House Terryn is believed to be the first knightly house founded.

2, House emblem of Imperial-aligned House Terryn.

3, Full house crest of Imperial-aligned House Hawkshroud. House Hawkshroud has a reputation for answering any and every call for aid.

4, House emblem of Imperial-aligned House Hawkshroud.

5, Full house crest of Imperial-aligned House Cadmus. House Cadmus recently shrugged allegiance to the Adeptus Mechanicus. Its Nobles are very proud of their newly-restored heraldry.

6, House emblems of Imperial-aligned House Cadmus.

7, Imperial-aligned shoulder pads.

8, Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned shoulder edging.

9, Full House crest of Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned House Taranis. The Knights of House Taranis proudly recall their part in fighting for the Emperor during the Horus Heresy.

10, House emblem of Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned House Taranis.

11, Full House crest of Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned house Raven. The largest knightly house, Raven are based on the Forge World Metalica.

12, House emblem of Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned House Raven.

13, Personal emblems for House Cadmus. Imperial-aligned Knights wear personal heraldry on their right shoulder plate.

14, Adeptus Mechanicus shoulder plate roundels and wings.

15, Half aquilas for Imperial-aligned Knight shin plates.

16, Every Imperial Knight bears a maker’s plate attached to its armoured frame, stamped with the name of the Forge World that built the knight suit.

17, Honour badges, kill markings and campaign badges, proclaiming the Knight’s glorious history.

18, Heraldry for the Freeblade Obsidian Knight.

19, Kill markings to be attached to weapons. For notable foes only. A skull signifies 10 kills.

A Knight’s heraldry serves as more than a battlefield identifier, it is also a reminder of the Noble pilot’s heritage and accomplishments. The Design Studio have produced a new transfer sheet containing a wealth of new imagery to use on your Knight models.

This A4 transfer sheet contains hundreds of water-slide decals designed to take the imagery of your Imperial Knights even further. The sheet contains the heraldry of four famous Freeblades, as well as additional iconography to use on Knights from Imperial Houses Hawkshroud, Degallio, Griffith, Mortan and the Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned houses of Krast and Vulker. Each decal is edged separately by carrier film for ease of removal, and the quality of the multicolour transfers on this sheet is such that even the smallest crest details are clearly visible. AT

1, Full House crest of Imperial-aligned House Hawkshroud.

2, House emblem of Imperial-aligned House Hawkshroud.

3, Full House crest of Imperial-aligned House Degallio.

4, House emblem of Imperial-aligned House Degallio.

5, Full House crest of Imperial-aligned House Griffith.

6, House emblem of Imperial-aligned House Griffith.

7, Full House crest of Imperial-aligned House Mortan.

8, House emblem of Imperial-aligned House Mortan

9, Full House crest of Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned House Krast.

10, House emblem of Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned house Krast.

11, Full House crest of Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned House Vulker.

12, House crest of Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned House Vulker.

13, Shoulder plate decals for Imperial and Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned houses.

14, Personal heraldry for Imperial-aligned Knights, for use on front right shoulder plates and tabards.

15, Heraldry of the Freeblade Crimson Reaper.

16, Heraldry of the Freeblade Gerantius, the Forgotten Knight.

17, Heraldry of the Freeblade The White Warden.

18, Heraldry of the Freeblade Amaranthine.

19, Knight titles.

20, Forge World titles and manufacture dates.

21, Numerals and identifier marks.

22, Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned shin pad markings and add on wings.

23, Kill markings, campaign badges and honorifics.

24, Aquilas and Machine cog iconography.

25, Aquilas for Knight armour shin plates.

26, Kill markings, to be attached to weapons. A skull denotes 10 kills.

During the Crusade of Thunder, Captain Lysander of the Imperial Fists took personal command of a formidable strike force and spearheaded a vengeful offensive against the Iron Warriors of the dread Warsmith Shon’tu.

Now available in a printed edition, Sentinels of Terra, tells the story of Captain Lysander’s mission of vengeance in the wake of the Taladorn disaster. The book is filled with the history of the events leading up to the Crusade of Thunder, the characters who took part in it and a sweeping narrative that pits the Imperial Fists against their most hated foes.

As well as a thrilling plot, this Codex Supplement enables Imperial Fists collectors to theme their armies after the famed 3rd Company, the eponymous Sentinels of Terra, at the time of the Crusade of Thunder. There are also rules for unique Chapter relics, Warlord Traits and stratagems to use in your games of Planetstrike and Cities of Death. Whether you’re after a riveting read or some new gaming content for your Imperial Fists army, this book has it all. AT

Among the defenders of humanity, none are as mysterious or terrifying as the Legion of the Damned. An army of ghostly warriors who appear only at times of direst need, they are both salvation and vengeance in its most ghostly form.

Few within the Imperium of Man have ever beheld the Legion of the Damned, for their coming is always at a time of terrible woe, when only the deadliest intervention can deliver the faithful servants of the Emperor from annihilation. In aspect, they are Space Marines wreathed in eldritch fire, and armed with weapons that unleash blazing death. They are warriors without equal who arrive unheralded and smite their foes with silent, implacable fury before vanishing without a trace.

The Legion of the Damned are one of the greatest mysteries in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, their origins and nature a hotly debated topic among hobbyists, around gaming tables and paint stations the world over. Codex: Legion of the Damned is the first major treatise on these elusive spectral warriors, a digital edition that explores their origins, history and actions in more detail than ever before. The background material contained within is simply fascinating, and has generated a great deal of discussion about just who they are and where they come from within the White Dwarf bunker. The ‘Quixos’ explanation is pure genius.

Aside from the engaging background within it, Codex: Legion of the Damned also contains rules for using the Legionnaires as allies to any Imperial army and a host of specific scenarios, recreating their most famous battles. AT

The Imperium’s vengeful alien hunters do battle in an omnibus of action-packed short stories.

The Deathwatch are one of the Imperium’s most unusual, and secretive organisations, a force of Space Marines drawn from Chapters across the Imperium with one common goal: hunting down and destroying aliens.

Deathwatch: Xenos Hunters takes a collection of short stories by a conclave of established Black Library authors and combines them into a mega-volume of alien-killing goodness. My favourite among the compilation is probably ‘The Infinite Tableau’ by Anthony Reynolds, simply for the wonderful interactions between the disparate Deathwatch brothers; the Mortifactor and White Scar are constantly at odds with each other, right up until they clash with the vile alien foe. AT

On the soil of Isstvan III, Warmaster Horus strikes the first decisive blow in his rebellion.

Galaxy in Flames concludes the opening trilogy in the New York Times bestselling Horus Heresy series, and is now available as a C-format paperback edition.

In this novel we see the unfolding treachery of Horus and his cohorts through the eyes of Garviel Loken, 10th Captain in the Sons of Horus and trusted counsellor within the Warmaster’s Mournival. As Horus’s forces launch a full-scale attack on the planet of Isstvan III, Garviel and those Space Marines who remain loyal to the Emperor find themselves in the fight of their lives.

Galaxy in Flames is a gripping novel, laced with tension as the dire unfolding events catch up with the characters within. AT

FURTHER READING

It probably goes without saying that if you’re inspired by Galaxy in Flames, there is plenty more within the Horus Heresy series. The events of Galaxy in Flames continue in Flight of the Eisenstein, while Graham McNeill’s Fulgrim helps to give a different perspective to events happening simultaneously.

Don your armour and wax your moustache, there’s a new Empire compilation coming out.

Beset on all sides, the Empire is constantly at war. Contained within this weighty tome are three tales of battle and bloodshed, plus five short stories from a talented trio of Imperial scribes.

Chris Wraight’s contributions are The Judgement of Crows and Iron Company – a novel about siege warfare, black powder and cannons. Darius Hinks contributes The Miracle at Berlau and the award-winning Warrior Priest, which feature the Warrior Priest Jakob Wolff and his acolyte, Ratboy. They are grim tales, featuring all the hatred and fiery rhetoric that you’d expect from a Priest of Sigmar. Lastly, Nick Kyme brings four tales to the omnibus, the novel Grimblades and three short stories about Mikael Dorff, a Black Knight of Morr. DH

Issue 2 of Games Workshop’s monthly magazine takes a look at the Dwarfs of Warhammer.

The second issue of Warhammer: Visions hit shelves with a mighty thud, as its 236 pages overflow with hobby goodness.

Between its covers you’ll find exhaustive coverage and stunning photography of the entire Dwarf range of miniatures (including a terrific double-page shot of a Dragon Slayer attacking a Forge World Magma Dragon – a favourite among the White Dwarf team), plus a huge Tau Kit Bash, a singularly stunning Army of the Month and 52 pages of belief-beggaring Golden Demon entries.

All of which doesn’t even mention Blanchitsu, Paint Splatter or a look at the Dark Eldar Kabals. Warhammer: Visions is the ultimate hobby showcase. JB

FURTHER READING

If the Empire’s your thing then Black Library have dozens of novels about them. Dan recommends Swords of the Emperor, which features the characters Kurt Helborg and Ludwig Schwartzhelm, while Adam’s favourite is undoubtedly The Ambassador, a classic book now available as an eBook from blacklibrary.com.

The Imperial Knights have a rich and ancient pedigree, stemming from a time of galactic exploration pre-dating even the Imperium. Adam Troke explores the history of the Imperial Knights and speaks to some of the minds behind their creation.

Long before the rise of the Emperor and the birth of the Imperium, humanity reached out to the stars, eager to occupy new worlds and expand its burgeoning empire. Vast colonisation ships carried eager settlers, along with all the resources they might require, and landed on far-flung, often isolated worlds. The descendants of these pioneers are found in the knightly houses of the Imperial Knights, a faction unlike any other in the universe of Warhammer 40,000.

“Many years ago we introduced the Imperial Knights in the classic game Adeptus Titanicus,” says Jervis Johnson, his deep sonorous voice filling the White Dwarf hobby room as he speaks. “This was a long time ago, 1990 or so, and the Imperial Knights were an expansion to the existing Titan Legions that existed in Epic scale. The idea was that they were war machines piloted by a single warrior. So, we wove them into the narrative of the universe at that time. They were warriors from isolated worlds, and from a culture that pre-dated the Imperium. We knew precious little else about them at that point, save only what we could convey through Jes Goodwin’s miniatures, and snippets in White Dwarf articles. Although we made various models for them around that time, they lay in the shadows of Warhammer 40,000’s background. Perhaps fittingly, just like the Knight Worlds themselves, they remained isolated and alone for a long time.

“In all the long years of silence since, we in the Design Studio never forgot the Imperial Knights. They waited, enshrined in the background of our beloved universe, for the right time to return,” Jervis adds. “The new Imperial Knight miniature is the perfect chance to really show what the Imperial Knights are all about. Just as Jes and the miniatures designers have returned to the first principles of the Paladin miniature, we have also returned to the original source material for their background.

“The Imperial Knights are characterised by their independence,” Jervis says. “They are bound to the Imperium, and to the Adeptus Mechanicus by oaths of fealty, but they are not subjects in any true sense of the word. Their culture and society predates the Imperium by thousands of years, way back before the Dark Age of Technology, and it is informed far more by the bonds between a Noble pilot and his knight suit than any outside influence. Theirs is a culture of relentless, formalised ritual. It is a society that exists around a stultifying observance to apparently pointless ceremony and endless courtly mundanity.

“Against this tableau of formalised ritual are the Noble pilots,” Jervis says. “They are a breed of warriors who find their only joy in battle, and they yearn constantly to escape the oppressive dullness of courtly life and ride their knight suits to war. The thrill of battle and the risk of death is an infinitely preferable experience for them to the monotony of life within their fortresses. These are warriors born to their calling and raised for nothing other than war. They spend every moment they can preparing, training and planning for battle – the alternative is simply too dull for them to even contemplate.

THE KNIGHTLY HOUSES

“Imperial Knights belong to knightly houses, dynasties of nobility evolved from the need to protect the early human settlers from indigenous species discovered on alien worlds,” says Jervis. “The formal role of protector and castellan developed over time into the structure of noble houses that was old when the Imperium was in its infancy.

“The curious fact that the knightly houses are often uncannily alike despite their far-flung nature is explained, at least in part, by the union of Noble pilot and his suit of knight armour, known as the Ritual of Becoming,” he continues. “Connecting at a neural level with the war spirit of a suit of knight armour has a profound effect on the consciousness of the pilot. The joining of mind and war spirit has helped to create cultures which appear uncannily similar, despite evolving on worlds that are far apart, and have never shared formal communication.”

CREATING THE MACHINE

While other hands also shared the work on the Imperial Knight, for Jes Goodwin working on the miniature has been a surprisingly long journey.

“Creating an Imperial Knight for Warhammer 40,000 is the realisation of a long held dream,” Jes says, by way of introduction. “The model is descended from the Imperial Knight Paladin I sculpted for Adeptus Titanicus more than 20 years ago, and since then I have wanted to bring the same styling and ideas to Warhammer 40,000 – but we’ve never truly had the opportunity or resource to create a fitting miniature. Even back then, and in the tiny scale in which we made Epic models, the Paladin had a very distinctive design: a beetle-back carapace, with head sunk deep between the shoulders, weaponised arms set beneath large, curved shoulder pads. It’s a theme we’ve seen on the Reaver and Warlord Titans too, a design that speaks to common origins and a unified design ethos.

“In some ways, returning to the Imperial Knight seems a little bit like an archaeological exercise,” Jes quips. “We have enjoyed unearthing it. It is a miniature rooted in the ideas and designs of the past, and many of the things you can see on the model are informed not only by its diminutive predecessors, but also by the background that places it squarely in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

“The early history of the Imperial Knights mentioned how they were originally built with the intention of helping with the work of colonisation,” says Jes. “That inherent practicality is communicated in many of the aspects of their design. The reaper chainsword, considered such a fearsome weapon on the battlefield, was clearly once intended for clearing huge areas of vegetation for the early settlers. Each of the weapons has heavy duty lifting hooks attached to it, and you can imagine practical colonists hooking up digging or lifting apparatus just as easily as you can picture them drawing a powerful battle cannon out of stores to fend off marauding Orks or Eldar. Many of the practical considerations of the model are now hidden under the sloped armour plates and heraldry of the Imperial Knight, but we were conscious to design a miniature which connected with the stories behind the model. If you were to leave the armour plates off of your model, you would have a war machine that resembled the functional construction machines of the past.

“We also wanted to give a sense of narrative to the miniature that people would be able to identify with,” Jes adds. “We imagined that the parts for a suit of knight armour are forged by the sacristans sworn to the knightly houses. As you look at the large armour plates, it’s easy to imagine menials pouring molten metal into massive sand casts, the raw practicality of the task at odds with the ritual and dogma of creation instilled by the Adeptus Mechanicus.” AT

Shown here is Jes’s first ever sketch of an Imperial Knight Paladin, dating back from some time in the late 1980s. Even this early concept shows an obvious consistency with the Imperial Knight of today.

OATHS OF ALLEGIANCE

“When Mankind rediscovered the feudal domains of the knightly houses, they quickly found common cause, exchanging oaths of loyalty. Many knightly houses see the Imperium as their equal partner, and support it militarily out of mutual advantage,” says Jervis. “Although these houses trade openly with the Imperium, and march to war alongside their armies, they retain a fierce independence.

“Other houses found common cause specifically with the Adeptus Mechanicus, who in turn courted the knightly houses with unseemly eagerness,” says Jervis. “These Adeptus Mechanicus-aligned houses, as they are now known, have forged alliances of reciprocal protection and betterment. Those who look at the fealty of the knightly houses towards the Adeptus Mechanicus often wonder at whether the relationship is not in fact based on jealousy, for the priests of Mars covet the pre-Imperial technology that lies within the mighty citadels of each knightly house. For their part, the Mechanicus-aligned houses seem not to care, since they receive the full resources of the Forge Worlds from their allies.

“While the overwhelming majority of Imperial Knights belong to houses, some are unable to maintain their place,” Jervis adds. “These are known as the Freeblades. Whether they have been dishonoured, shunned by their peers or perhaps can simply no longer abide the drudgery of courtly life. These either set out on their own, wandering the stars in search of worthy cause, or else they settle in further isolation, offering their protection to those who need it.

“These distinct types of Imperial Knight provide rich opportunities for collectors,” Jervis concludes. “There is simply so much choice available that hobbyists are free to explore the Imperial Knights to their heart’s content. We’re looking forward to seeing what they create.”

KNIGHT STRONGHOLDS

When the original settlers arrived on distant worlds they cannibalised their spacecraft, using the parts for the raw materials of survival. The Imperial Knights now dwell in massive strongholds, forboding martial structures, the heart of which contain technologies taken from these ancient colonisation vessels.

Paint Splatter provides handy tips and stage-by-stage painting guides for the week’s key releases. This week, we look at the colossal Imperial Knight.

We’ve got two stage-by-stage painting guides for the Imperial Knights this week: House Terryn and House Raven. These mighty war machines were painted by Steve Bowerman and Chris Peach, who were more than willing to offer a few tips.

Steve painted the chassis of the House Terryn Knight with a Large Drybrush. “This gives a fantastic worn-metal effect. All that metal can be a little overwhelming, so use spots of brass and gold on key mechanical points to break up the colours. Washes like Agrax Earthshade and Seraphim Sepia make pipes and hydraulics appear greasy and oily. For a more weather-worn feel, try Typhus Corrosion.”

“When painting the recesses of the red and blue armour panels, I used a Citadel Base Paint mixed with Lahmian Medium rather than a Shade Paint,” adds Steve. “Applying a Shade is great when there are lots of recesses for it to hide in, such as the metal chassis, but on large armour panels a Shade will stain the basecoat and you’ll have to apply another layer to make it neat. Using a Base Paint mixed 1:1 with Lahmian Medium gives you control over your wash, allowing you to paint it neatly into the recesses between the main armour panel and the gold trim.” DH

PAINTING CHEVRONS

The Knights of House Raven are distinguished by the yellow and black chevrons on their carapace. Chris Peach tells us how to paint them:

“The first stage on the chevrons is the basecoat, which I applied using Averland Sunset (1). Using a pencil and a ruler (a tailor’s tape measure works even better), I made tiny marks every centimetre along the carapace (2), marking it on both sides and down the centre. I then joined the dots, offsetting them to get the chevron pattern (3), before blacking them in with Abaddon Black (4). A thin band of White Scar (5) helps tidy up the boundary between the black and yellow chevrons.

“The last stages are highlights. The yellow was layered with Yriel Yellow (6) and then highlighted with Pallid Wych Flesh (7), while the black was highlighted as shown on the right (8). Patches of Rhinox Hide were applied as battle damage and oil, which you can see in the picture below.”

“It’s worth considering your colour scheme before you assemble your model,” adds Chris. “When painting the carapace I left the hand rail around the cockpit door off to make painting the chevrons easier. Had I glued it on, I would have made life very difficult for myself.”

Chris also applied subtle weathering to the Knight. “I mixed Rhinox Hide with Lahmian Medium to create a wash, which I applied as dirt and grime around the recesses and rivet heads of the model. I also used it to create small chips and scuffs in the paintwork.” DH

Practice makes perfect

“If you plan to use a new painting technique or colour scheme on your Knight, practise it on a spare bit of plastic first,” says Chris. “Movement Tray off-cuts are perfect for this, and totally expendable should it all go horribly wrong!”

Sprues and Glue is our regular in-depth look at modelling Citadel miniatures. This week, Duncan Rhodes and Chris Peach offer their advice on building an Imperial Knight, with a couple of handy tips from members of the White Dwarf team.

“When building regiments, you often find the models don’t rank up easily,” says Chris Peach. “But with careful posing, you can get your regiments looking fantastic.

“The Imperial Knight is definitely one of those kits that benefits from sub-assemblies,” says Chris Peach, who built a fair number of them for the Studio’s collection. “The parts fall into two distinct categories: the armour plates and the metal chassis (known informally among the team as the ‘skeleton’).

“Leaving the armour plates off makes it much easier to paint the skeleton of the kit,” continues Chris, “allowing you to reach hydraulics, cables and areas such as the head much easier. You end up with quite a few sub-assemblies, but it’s worth the effort at this stage because it will make painting the model so much easier. I started by building the legs and attaching them to the base. I then built the torso (minus the carapace) and the arms.”

Whatever method you prefer, it’s best to assemble the model with all the moving parts able to move. Then, if you want to stick them so they’re rigid, you can do so once you’ve found a pose you like. The key moving parts are: the shield and the heavy stubber on the shoulder mounts, the head, and the arms. To ensure they remain mobile, carefully apply Plastic Glue: Thin to the brackets that hold the weapon mounts and the head in place, being really careful not to get any glue on the pintle. Do the same with the arm sections, applying plastic glue to the joins between the components, but avoiding the moving pistons.”

“Once you’ve built the arms, you’ll notice that they’re pretty floppy and that some of the pistons pop out of their sockets,” explains Chris. “This isn’t a problem because once the model’s undercoated, those joints will stiffen up, allowing you to pose the model more easily. If you’re planning to glue the joints permanently, this is the stage at which to do it. To help get the pose right, I have the legs and torso already assembled. I then clip the arms onto the shoulder sockets and figure out how to pose them, moving them around until I’m happy with the pose.

Starting with the lowest joints and pistons on each arm, I work up towards the shoulder, applying a tiny dab of Plastic Glue: Thin to weld the parts together. I always let each joint dry completely before moving on to the next one, leaning the arm on a handy object to prevent it from drooping.”

Chris has a useful bit of painting advice for the Imperial Knight too: “Once you’ve got the skeleton painted, glue on the armour panels. That way you can hold onto the whole model rather than all the individual pieces of armour.” Sometimes it can be better to leave the armour panels separate, depending on your painting style. If you’re planning to drybrush the metal edging around the armour panels then it’s perhaps better to leave them separate until the messy bits are done before gluing them on. Use adhesive putty to stick them to an old paint pot or a piece of cork to make holding them easier. DH

Pulling a 360º

Glenn More: I found a clever trick for getting the top half of the model to rotate. The torso sits on a ball joint with a nub in the centre. By carefully gluing a bit of sprue across the top of the nub, you can build your Knight so that it turns on the waist axis.

The Little Bits

Dan Harden: Pay close attention to the instruction manual as there are several components (such as parts 103, 104, 108 and 109) that can easily be missed in the excitement of building the Imperial Knight. Speaking from experience, they can be very awkward to attach if you miss them out.

Imperial Knight Paladins are heavily-armed and armoured walking machines capable of tremendous destruction. Crewed by a Noble from a warrior dynasty, they have fought alongside the forces of the Imperium for countless millennia.

USING IMPERIAL KNIGHTS

Imperial Knights can be fielded as an army in their own right, in a primary detachment of three to six Imperial Knights. They may also be taken as allies; you can include up to three Imperial Knights as a single allied detachment for each primary detachment in your army. You’ll also note that Imperial Knights use D weapons and the Invincible Behemoth special rules – details of these can be found in both Apocalypse and Escalation.

375 Points

UNIT TYPE: Vehicle (Super-heavy Walker).

WARGEAR: Two heavy stubbers, rapid-fire battle cannon, reaper chainsword, ion shield.

Heavy stubber;

- Range - 36”

- Strength - 4

- AP - 6

- Type - Heavy 3

Rapid-fire Battle Cannon

Range - 72”

Strength - 8

AP - 3

Type - Ordnance 2, Large Blast

Reaper chainsword

- Range - -

- Strength - D

- AP - 2

- Type -Melee

Ion Shield: When an Imperial Knight is deployed, and subsequently at the start of each of the opposing side’s Shooting phases before any attacks are carried out, the Imperial Knight player must declare which facing each Imperial Knight’s ion shield is covering. The choices are: front, left side, right side or rear. The Knight has a 4+ invulnerable save against all hits on that facing until the start of your opponent’s next Shooting phase. Ion shields are repositioned before any attacks are carried out in the Shooting phase. Ion shields may not be used to make saving throws against close combat attacks.

SPECIAL RULES: Fear, Hammer of Wrath, Invincible Behemoth, Move Through Cover, Relentless, Smash, Strikedown.

DEATH FROM AFAR

Dan: The Imperial Knight Paladin is the ideal support unit for an Imperial army. Its primary weapon is a rapid-firing battle cannon, which enables the Paladin to fire two shots at extremely long range. In fact, there are few units that can match it for range, allowing you to keep it safe from incoming fire. When deploying the Paladin, aim to put it somewhere the enemy will struggle to reach it, preferably behind cover or towards the furthest corner of your deployment zone. Its 12” move makes it easy to redeploy should it need to counter a particular threat.

The primary targets for the Paladin are massed hordes of infantry, medium tanks and squadrons of light vehicles. Against anything but Terminators (or similarly-armoured warriors) the battle cannon will cause horrendous casualties. Don’t waste your shots on models in cover unless there really is nothing else to shoot as the battle cannon doesn’t Ignore Cover. Against medium tanks the Paladin’s shots should score at least one penetrating hit, while against light vehicles, such as Ork buggies, you’ll be looking at two kills a turn.

The Paladin will attract a lot of attention, both from shooting and in close combat. While it has good armour, it’s nothing that meltaguns and lascannons can’t deal with, its real strength being its ion shield, which gives the Paladin a 4+ invulnerable save to one facing each turn. Cunning use of intervening terrain, combined with the ion shield, should ensure your Paladin is always well protected. In close combat, the Knight is virtually unstoppable: its reaper chainsword is a Destroyer weapon, enabling it to smash through armour and force fields with impunity and, if the enemy is still alive afterwards, it can Stomp them. Watch out for massive hordes of Orks and Tyranids though – they can bog down your Paladin and are unlikely to flee even after a good stomping. DH

ADVANCE AND KILL

Adam: While standing back and pounding the enemy with the rapid-fire battle cannon will yield an impressive toll of casualties, I think that approach really only gets half the value (and quite frankly, half the fun) out of the Knight Paladin. Rather than standing safely out of harm’s way, using the massive 72” range on your main gun to shoot at the foe, I suggest striding forwards alongside the bravest of your warriors, using the battle cannon’s range to choose exactly the enemy you want to fire at during your ground-shaking advance. This range, paired with the Imperial Knight’s relative height, means you should have your pick of choice targets right up to the point where you find yourself locked in close combat (which is the goal).

A Super-heavy Walker can fire each of its weapons at different targets, and that unlocks a very sneaky tactic indeed. Since the rules do not allow you to assault a different unit to the one you shot at and, typically, there’s little point firing your main gun at the unit you’re about to assault (the very definition of overkill), keep your options open by firing your heavy stubbers at other nearby units you might want to charge. This way they are valid targets for your impending assault.

All this is to let you fulfil your Knight Paladin’s potential in melee. The reaper chainsword is a Destroyer weapon that can slaughter Monstrous Creatures and vehicles with ease, and that’s before we factor in the Strength 10 Hammer of Wrath hit you get for charging into combat and the Stomp attacks your Knight Paladin can make, too. Anything from a Land Raider to a Carnifex or a squad of Imperial Guard can expect to die painfully in a single round of close combat against your Imperial Knight, leaving you free to stomp off and kill something else afterwards. Target the things the rest of your army might struggle with first (heavy tanks, big monsters and so on), and then mop up any stragglers afterwards. AT

370 Points

UNIT TYPE: Vehicle (Super-heavy Walker).

WARGEAR: Heavy stubber, thermal cannon, reaper chainsword, ion shield.

Heavy stubber;

- Range - 36”

- Strength - 4

- AP - 6

- Type - Heavy 3

Thermal Cannon

Range - 36”

Strength - 9

AP - 1

Type - Heavy 1, Large Blast , Melta

Reaper chainsword

- Range - -

- Strength - D

- AP - 2

- Type -Melee

Ion Shield: When an Imperial Knight is deployed, and subsequently at the start of each of the opposing side’s Shooting phases before any attacks are carried out, the Imperial Knight player must declare which facing each Imperial Knight’s ion shield is covering. The choices are: front, left side, right side or rear. The Knight has a 4+ invulnerable save against all hits on that facing until the start of your opponent’s next Shooting phase. Ion shields are repositioned before any attacks are carried out in the Shooting phase. Ion shields may not be used to make saving throws against close combat attacks.

SPECIAL RULES: Fear, Hammer of Wrath, Invincible Behemoth, Move Through Cover, Relentless, Smash, Strikedown.

SOME LIKE IT HOT

Adam: Even more so than the Knight Paladin, I think you should charge headlong toward the enemy with the Knight Errant. (The look on your opponent’s face will be priceless, at least!). It’s even more important to get in close with the Knight Errant, since as the thermal cannon has the melta rule it works best against vehicles and buildings at short range (where you’ll get 2D6 for armour penetration). This makes it, in my opinion, one of the very best weapons in Warhammer 40,000. Only the most apocalyptic weapons are more fearsome.

Clank forwards as fast as your pistons will carry you, shooting at anything that catches your eye. Pick targets in the open, since Strength 9 and AP1 will turn even the doughtiest warriors into steaming piles of offal (perhaps steer clear of multi-wound models of Toughness 5+ and those units with good Invulnerable saves). Vehicles are dead meat against your thermal cannon, especially once you are within 18” and the melta rule kicks in, so make them a priority. Once you get close enough, use the same tactics I recommend for the Knight Paladin (see the previous page).

I will temper all of this with a note on unit selection. If you take a Knight Paladin as an ally to your army, consider it your main anti-tank weapon, and support it as such. Unless you are very unlucky and it gets killed early in the game, you’re not going to need much other support in the anti-tank stakes, but you could find yourself needing a little assistance keeping enemies off of the Errant’s back. The same is probably true of the Paladin too, but it’s more acute with the Errant because of its more specialised purpose. Cover this off by designating a couple of squads as support units for your Errant. While the Imperial Knight is killing tanks, use them to keep it safe from unwanted assaults and infantry-held heavy weapons. AT

IT’S REAPING TIME

Dan: I have to agree with Adam when he says to get close with the Knight Errant – it’s definitely the best way to make the most of its weapons.

Where I’d use the Paladin to support my army, I’d use the Errant to spearhead an assault. I imagine these hot-headed warriors having little time for skulking, preferring to close with the enemy and bask in the heat of battle. Placing the Knight Errant at the centre of your army has advantages and disadvantages though. On the plus side, it should be able to reach every corner of the battlefield with its thermal cannon, while its 12” move will enable you to charge enemy units as early as Turn 2 (the dual benefit being that your opponent can’t shoot your Knight if it’s in combat). The downside is that it will attract a lot of unwanted attention, and if your opponent has a gun-heavy army, such as the Imperial Guard or the Tau Empire, they may be able to kill it before you even get to strike.

I see a very definite role for the Knight Errant in Apocalypse battles – that of the Super-heavy Tank hunter. A short-ranged blast from the thermal cannon is almost guaranteed to hit due to the size of the target, and will penetrate unless the dice gods intervene. Being AP1, you’ll also add two to your damage roll, which means you’ve got a good chance of stripping multiple Hull Points off the enemy tank.

In combat, the Knight Errant gets to use its reaper chainsword – a Destroyer Weapon and the bane of Super-heavies. With four Attacks on the charge and no fear of being hit back, the Knight is likely to get several rolls on the Destroyer Weapon damage chart. One 6 is all you need to spell doom for a Super-heavy Tank. Watch out for Gargantuan Creatures though – they have a lot of Attacks and many of them will fight before the Knight. You don’t get your ion shield save in combat either, which makes tackling these big brutes a very risky, and almost certainly fatal, business. DH

Join us for a round-up of the week as we share comment, opinion and trivia on the all latest releases, plus other fun tidbits that have cropped up in the White Dwarf bunker this week. This week, Imperial Knights, Imperial Fists, and flaming Imperial mysteries…

CITADEL SACRISTANS

ADAM SPEAKS TO THE SCULPTORS OF THE NEW IMPERIAL KNIGHT

Dale Stringer and Tom Walton are the Citadel miniatures designers responsible for the new Imperial Knight model. “Our role was to take Jes Goodwin’s vision and designs and turn them into the miniature you see today,” says Dale when I question him and Tom about the project. “Tom and I have a history of working on large plastic kits, and having seen Jes’s illustrations on his wall for a while, we were champing at the bit to get involved.

“As well as getting designs straight from Jes, and plundering his sketches, we also delved into the imagery and models from Epic and Titan Legions,” Dale says. “We wanted the model to look like it was made from large cast-metal parts, fashioned by skilled artisans. We even considered the practicalities of it, with lifting lugs to manoeuvre it around the manufactorum.”

“Beneath the relatively unfussy armour plates, the Imperial Knight is the most detailed model we’ve made,” Tom adds. “We not only considered how the adepts and sacristans would make it, but also how it would work. For instance, every part that would move in a real Imperial Knight has a motor situated beside it. The torso has umbilicals and cables to feed in data, and life support. There’s even a worm gear drive at the waist to enable the Imperial Knight to pivot quickly.”

“Every aspect of the Imperial Knight was comprehensively concepted,” says Dale. “We spent hours with Jes, hammering out the anatomy and design of things from servos to cannon barrels.”

“Beneath and behind the armour plates you can see the Imperial Knight’s endoskeleton,” says Tom. “We imagine this is probably how they looked thousands of years ago when the colonists first used them to defend their early settlements.”

THE CHOSEN OF DORN

Mat Ward, author of Sentinels of Terra, stopped by for a chat. He had this to say on the new Codex supplement.

“Sentinels of Terra shows you a specific insight into the Imperial Fists at a time of pivotal change and great difficulty for the Chapter,” Mat says. “The 5th Company teeter on the brink of annihilation, and Captain Lysander has a lot to prove.

“Throughout Sentinels of Terra we get to see the development not only of Lysander, but also Chapter Master Pugh and Captain Garradon,” Mat adds. “These heroes are shaped and changed by events unfolding around them. Something I wanted to portray is that in a galaxy at war, against foes such as the Iron Warriors and Orks, even a Space Marine is vulnerable.”

FIRES OF DAMNATION

Clad in bones and wreathed in flame, Simon Grant joined Dan on the asbestos sofa to talk about Legion of the Damned.

“Legion of the Damned focuses heavily on the background of these mysterious warriors,” explains Simon, “especially the theories concerning their existence. Are they long-dead Space Marines, ghosts, daemonic Warp-manifestations or something even more sinister? It also looks at several of the Legion’s major battles and the impact their intervention has had on the Imperium. You can even re-fight these battles yourself using the Echoes of War scenarios in the book.”

CODEX: APOCRYPHA

Notes from the worlds of Warhammer. This week: talking binary.

LINGUA-TECHNIS

Adepts of the Adeptus Mechanicus normally communicate with each other using a binary form of communication known as Lingua-technis. It allows information to be transferred efficiently between members of the Mechanicus using ‘blurts’ of code. To unaugmented humans it’s indecipherable, coming across as a squall of computer noise.

SCRAP CODE

Where the Adeptus Mechanicus communicate using Lingua-technis, the agents of the Dark Mechanicus – those that turned to Chaos during the Horus Heresy – use Scrap Code. Aside from communication, the Dark Mechanicus use it as a tecnho-virus, infecting loyalist systems with Chaos-infused data.

THE THRONE MECHANICUM

At the heart of each Knight lies a command throne. This is not a simple affair of joysticks and pedals, but a fully immersive neural interface or Mind Impulse Unit (MIU) allowing the Noble to control their war machine. Thus linked, a Noble becomes one with his Knight, seeing the world through its auspex suites and controlling its limbs as if they were his own, his hands replaced with immensely powerful weapon systems.

ASK GROMBRINDAL

The White Dwarf team is a font of hobby knowledge, a metaphorical repository of useful facts. If you have a question about Warhammer 40,000 or Warhammer, need a bit of painting advice or you’re after a few tactical tips, drop us a line: team@whitedwarf.co.uk

A MACHINE GOD?

Dear Grombrindal, I’ve heard the term ‘Omnissiah’ bandied around a lot lately. Can you please explain what it means?
- Confused of Triplex Phall

GROMBRINDAL SAYS

In the 41st Millennium, there is a tradition of superstitious worship that emanates from Mars, the home of the Adeptus Mechanicus. This is known as the Cult Mechanicus or Machine Cult. Through this religion, Mankind views technology as a mystic art, accessed by arcane rites and ceremony, and thus cult membership is composed of Techpriests, engineers, scientists and so on. Not only do these devotees guard the mysteries of science and technology, but they blend them with the veneration of the Machine God, or the Omnissiah, who is the concept given to the embodiment of all knowledge. Many say the Emperor is the Omnissiah. It’s all rather complicated, frankly. If a Dwarf wants to fix a machine, he uses a hammer.
- Grombrindal

DID YOU KNOW?

Imperial Knights first appeared in White Dwarf 126, which came out in June 1990. Despite a gap of more than two decades, you can see how similar the new Knights are to their forbears, even down to their weapons. Interestingly, this classic issue of White Dwarf also introduced Eldar Knights, which have morphed into what we know today as the Eldar Wraithknight.

WEAPON OF THE WEEK: Grenade-launching blunderbuss

Also known as Pfielmann’s Incendiary Projector of Explosive Misfortune, this unwieldy weapon was designed to blast apart armoured targets such as knights and war machines. It’s an unsubtle piece of wargear, the wooden stock supporting a large barrel similar to a mortar, a vicious, spiked grenade jammed in the bell.

READER’S MODEL OF THE WEEK

Shaun Davies is a tread-head, pure and simple, and there’s nothing he loves more than converting tanks for his Imperial Guard collection. This is his command Chimera, which has been modified using a wide range of components. The turret is from a Forge World Hellhound, rebuilt to carry a heavy bolter. It’s also been moved to the back of the tank, something Shaun does with all his Chimeras. The storage pods on the sides have been removed in favour of improved armour, which is also reflected in the Forge World track guards. A Baneblade spotlight and an old-school dozer blade finish off this great model.

If you’ve painted a miniature that you think is worthy of a place in White Dwarf then why not send a picture to:

team@whitedwarf.co.uk

If it’s something we can use, we’ll be sure to get in touch.

BIT OF THE WEEK: SEAGUL

The Seagull on the Lothern Skycutter is an uncommon bird, rarely seen beyond the shores of Ulthuan. It’s so rare, in fact, that none of us in White Dwarf had actually seen one until recently. It’s a little sprue-gem that adds huge depth and realism to a model.

GAZE OF THE INQUISITION

Codex: Legion of the Damned has got the White Dwarf team speculating on some of the greatest mysteries in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The two topics that have come up for debate this week concern Trazyn the Infinite’s curious collection and whether or not Roboute Guilliman is healing from his wounds.

In Trazyn’s background it describes a lengthy selection of his trophies, including a “giant of a man clad in baroque power armour”. The team has furiously debated exactly who this could be. Adam argues that it could well be the Primarch Vulkan, while Jes insists that there simply isn’t enough evidence to make such a spurious claim.

As for Guilliman, Glenn is adamant that the Ultramarines Primarch is in fact healing from his fatal wounds, and will soon return to life and leave the stasis chamber to fight for the Imperium once again. Nobody is willing to mock him too hard, because we all rather like the idea.

Adam and Dan have continued their Warhammer 40,000 arms race this week, with Adam completing a brood of Genestealers and Dan finishing a squad of Ork Warbikers. While the rest of Adam’s Tyranids are red-skinned with bone carapaces, his Genestealers are purple and blue.”It’s the colour Genestealers always used to be,” says Adam, going misty-eyed with reminiscence. Meanwhile, Matt has left his Thousand Sons to concentrate on painting Dwarfs, including the new Dragon Slayer. “His name is Skolli Gibbalsson,” says Matt, “named after my old Warhammer Online character. I painted the skin first, as it’s the largest area of the model, followed by hair and trousers.”

Dan’s Ork Warbikes are part of his Goff Ork army, hence the sombre, no-nonsense black and white colour scheme. The red stripe along the middle of each bike is Dan’s concession to the Ork belief that red wunz go fasta.

Matt’s Dragon Slayer leads his unit of Slayers into battle. His dynamic pose and impressive height make him really stand out from the rest of the regiment.

The colour scheme for Adam’s Genestealers was inspired by the artwork for the original Space Hulk game. “I basecoated them using the Macragge Blue spray,” says Adam. “I then painted the heads and hands purple and gave the whole brood a wash of Nuln Oil to tie the colours together. They’re going to look great skulking around in my next battle.”

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