Hey everyone, Reecius here to discuss two of the new
Imperial Knights: the Gallant and the Crusader, and which may appeal to you in
your list! Be sure to check out the Tactics Corner for more great articles!
Now let me preface this by saying I still love Old Trusty,
the Knight Paladin for his versatility, and the Acheron for pure power, but two
of the new kids on the block bear special attention due to their
specialization.
I am a strong proponent of the single Knight in many lists
as they add so much: speed, durability, powerful melee, decent shooting and board
control. That's a powerful mix of amazing benefits and well worth the price
tag. In general terms, I gravitate towards the Knights listed above: the
Paladin and Acheron, but lately I have been taking a much closer look at two of
the more extreme Knights: the Gallant and the Crusader.
The Gallant is the melee specialist Knight, sporting a Heavy
Stubber, Reaper Chainsword and Thunderstrike Gauntlet (both str D, melee
weapons), which grants him an extra attack in melee and the funny ability to
throw vehicles and MCs it destroys in melee as a large blast weapon with a
strength dependant on the toughness or AV of the unfortunate victim. Primarily
though, he's the cheapest Knight, coming in at 325. That's a significant
savings over the other Knights.
Is this worth it to lose a weapons such as the Rapid-fire
Battle Cannon the Paladin and Crusader sport? That's a tough question to answer
and will really come down to the composition of your army as a whole. If you're
adding the Knight primarily to serve as a counter-attack unit, for board
control, or to apply pressure to your opponent while the rest of your army
supplies the firepower, then I'd say yes. That extra attack in melee is pretty
dang useful on a D weapon, and not worrying about shooting means you will be
running in the shooting phase, closing distance to your opponent more swiftly.
The Gallant pretty much plays itself: you run forward then assault and smash.
Now, the downside to this is that if you find yourself
facing someone that can handle a knight in melee fairly easily, you may be left
kicking yourself. Luckily, not many armies can do that, but those that can will
be happy to see a big chunk of your points wasted. I'd say this is a fairly low
probability, though.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Knight Crusader,
which is the most expensive Knight, weighing in at 425 base, and specialized
for shooting: sporting a Thermal Cannon (Heavy 1, Str 9, Ap1, Melta, 36"),
or the afore mentioned Rapid-fire Battle Cannon (Heavy 2, Str8, Ap3, Large
Blast, 72") for an extra 5pts and an Avenger Gatling Cannon (Heavy 12,
Str6, Ap3, Rending, 36"). That's some powerful shooting, particularly when
you consider they are mounted on a fast platform that cannot be stunned or
suffer weapon destroyed, and can fire at different targets. You can further
boost this firepower with a carapace mounted weapon if you desire, and I'd go
for the Stormspear Rocket Pod if anything (Heavy 3, Str8, Ap3, 48")
although it comes at a hefty 40 additional points.
At first, I wrote off the Crusader due to its high price
tag, but, after seeing it in action in several tournaments in the hands of
skilled players such as Goatboy and InControl, I have had a change of heart.
This thing packs some serious firepower and while it loses the dirty D in
melee, it retains the ability to stomp which in most cases is the better
attack, anyway.
Like the Gallant, the Crusader largely pilots itself,
perhaps with a bit more versatility than the Gallant, but still pretty
straightforward: you shoot stuff with it, and only engage in melee when you
need to tarpit something or really need those stomps. You're paying a premium
for all that dakka, you don't want to spend turns locked in combat if you can avoid
it.
So, is the Crusader the right choice? Again, it will depend
on the composition of the rest of your army. If you've got an aggressive army
that runs up field taking objectives and winning the game in melee, then yeah.
The Crusader is a strong back-field unit that can provide a ton of diverse firepower
that allows you to engage multiple units and provide multiple weapon types to
help you adapt to various enemy units and then jump into combat if you need it to. That's a lot of value and versatility that some lists will greatly benefit
from.
Conversely, he also fits well in a shooting army where he
provides even more firepower but can also serve as a counter-assault unit
should the need arise. Not bad!
I think either choice is a good one! For me, I am leaning
towards the Crusader in my AdMech army, and the Gallant to compliment my Astra
Militarum. What's your favorite Knight to use and why?