Adeptus Titanicus- The Roles of the Questoris Knights

This article gives a brief overview of the Knights from the new Games Workshop game, Adeptus Titanicus (2018).

If you jump in with the Grand Master Edition, you will be the proud owner of six (6) of these mighty war machines, which will give you a full Banner.  Mighty as they are, however, their power pales against the fearsome might of the Titans.

(We used my old Imperial Knights from the Old Titan Legion Box set.  I painted them specially to game with the Titans.  With them is a review copy of the Warlord Battle Titan. - Hertford)

 Bad positioning of Knights

Good positioning of Knights

We have currently identified four roles in the game form that the knight can perform.

THE TACTICS

1. Capturing Objectives

Questoris Knights have a good movement (10” base) that is faster than a Warhound when not using locomotion orders.  They are faster than the Reaver and significantly faster than the Warlord.  Also, the cheap points cost of a banner (150 with minimum weapon options) means they will not take up a large number of points if they become redundant within the force.  They can hide in cover near the objective and hopefully get some easy Victory Points.

2. Flanking and Harassing Large Prey

Knights are most effective against Titans when in the rear arc and up close.  Titan arm weapons (including Close Combat weapons) are limited to the front arc.  Warlord carapace weapons are fixed forward, while Reavers are 360°.   The rear and side armour is weaker and as a Titan is damaged its armour deteriorates, making even the lighter Knight weapons capable of damaging them.   Carapace weapons on Titans have a minimum range which prevents them from being fired at a range when closer than its scale in inches (10” for Warlords, 8” for Reavers).

Battle Titans are lumbering behemoths and once the Knights are in the kill zone, it will be hard for a Titan to shake them due to its limited manoeuvrability. Warlords have some defencive weapons which will help take a toll on the Knights.  However, Knights still have Ion Shield saves (which are at their strongest against str 6 or less) that will reduce the damage.  Against Knights within range, the Reavers Titans are relatively defenceless.

The agility of the Warhound makes them harder to pin down.  However, the Knight weapons are more effective against the Warhound as the armour is (slightly) lower and only the Avenger cannot damage the front arc of the Warhound.

The limited manoeuvrability of a Titan, particularly a Warlord, means that once Knights are in their rear arc, they will find it impossible to shake them, especially against a skilled Scion.

3. Screening

This can be using your own Knights to counter your opponent Knight's, freeing up your Titans to shoot other Titans, or by trying to draw enemy fire away from your own Titans.  Aggressive use of Knights is recommended to make them a threat. Be aware that Knights are not massively survivable, so you may lose a Banner in a single shot of a belicosa.

4. Fire support

Knights weapons are not massively long-ranged, but they are effective for stripping shields.  Bringing them closer to shoot off an enemy Titan's shield can be effective, allowing larger calibre weapons to do damage.  A Warlord is very robust, so bringing down the shields quickly to cause damage early on is critical.

IN SUMMARY

In our play testing we found knights to be a fun, low-cost and interesting unit.  We can’t wait to get the new models and try them out in larger games.

-TOC