With the Imperial Knights and Chaos Knights codexes lined up for release in the not too distant future, Games Workshop is teasing new rules for this stompiest of Warhammer 40k factions. The latest rules to be revealed are a series of Knightly Teachings, abilities which a venerable Knight Preceptor can use to power up their Armiger class underlings’ smaller mechs. Three of the six Knightly Teachings which will be in the Imperial Knights codex have been announced, through a Warhammer Community article published on Thursday, April 21.
In the new Imperial Knights codex, Knight Preceptors have a Mentor keyword, which means you can select three Knightly Teachings for them to take into a battle. They can then use up to two of these during your Command Phase to provide boosts for nearby Armiger class models.
However, these Knightly Teaching abilities don’t trigger automatically. You have to roll a 3+ for the teaching to be ‘inspiring’. Less than that, and your Imperial Knights are too mumbly and uncertain for anyone to pay attention to them, which means their Knightly Teaching does not take effect that turn. Perhaps another night.
The first Knightly Teaching revealed by Warhammer Community is The Folly of Mercy. This teaching allows an Armiger class model within 12” of its user to perform an action and make a normal move and shoot, without that action failing. The Virtue of Courage is both a Knightly Teaching and an Aura ability. If it’s used successfully, all Armiger class models within 6” of the user land an extra hit when you roll a six on a hit roll.
Of the three Knightly Teachings revealed on Thursday, that just leaves one: The Warrior’s Hope, which ties into another new set of Imperial Knights rules, Oaths. If the lesson from this Knightly Teaching takes hold, you can apply all the Chivalric abilities from an Oath of your choosing to an Armiger class model, letting them benefit from its bonuses – provided you have the necessary honour points. The model won’t gain you honour from that Oath’s Pledge, however, although conversely it also can’t lose you honour from the Oath’s Troth.
That’s three of the Knightly Teachings found in the upcoming Imperial Knights codex. When the codex arrives, there’ll be another three within its pages.
We don’t know exactly when the Imperial Knights codex and Chaos Knights codex are coming out. However, judging by GW’s recent release schedule, and that these are slated to be the next Warhammer books to launch (after the Tyranids skittered over in April) we’d guess a release date in May is more than a maybe.
For more info on these mighty juggernauts, check out our Imperial Knights guide. And if you’re yet to pledge allegiance to the Emperor, here’s everything you need to know about all the Imperium factions.