"What happaned to 40k "Knights"....?" Topic

Ok, to be totally correct I'm not sure they even ever made it to 40k. IIRC, they first showed up in "Space Marine" (Epic 40k).

For those that dont know, they were 1-man piloted machines that fell somewhere in size between a Dreadnought and a Warlord Titan.

They seem like they have great modeling potential to bring them back into 40k! Does anyone remember if there were 40k rules for Knights or just in Epic?

Epic Only.

But Armourcast made some Eldar ones:
picture

I am not sure they had any rules with them. There were no rules for them in mainstream 40K.

they were ace. ah fond memories….

"For those that dont know, they were 1-man piloted machines that fell somewhere in size between a Dreadnought and a Warlord Titan."

Far larger than a Dreadnought, and just slightly smaller than a Warhound titan.

They had rules in one edition, might have been Space Marine. At one point GW even released a set of plastic knights.

IIRC Armourcast also made on of the Imperial variants (it looked like the plastic Space Marine 2nd ed model) as well.

I absolutely hated the Imperial metal models. They just looked goofy.

There are rules for them here.
box.net/shared/diel1ercms

We just played a game where everyone brought 1 superheavy and had it out. The most kills wins. One of the guys scratch built a Knight and used it. Lots of fun.

1st and 2nd edition Space Marine and Epic: Armageddon have rules for Imperial Knights. Eldar Knights had rules in 1st edition, and they're also included in the Swordwind book for Epic: Armageddon. They're in the "collectors' models" lists, though, and I'm not sure that section of the E:A rulebook is available as a PDF download.

They were a BIG part of Titan Legions when that was released in 1994. That was where the plastic Knights came from. I already had all the original metal ones from the old line so I didn't stock up on the newer ones.

If I recall correctly, someone made a resin 40k-scale one in the past year. It was limited production, but there might be some left. They were advertised on Rogue Market.

I've purchased 2 Knights Errant off of e-bay just before Christmas from a gent in France. I've seen 2 sellers on e-bay that sell them in spurts…Errants and Paladins mainly, although I know the gent also does Lancers and Barons as I've seen the pictures of them. Well cast resin models and great service, but far from cheap (I paid $200 USD a piece for them including priority shipping). I plan on modeling mine as traitor's attached to my Iron Warriors. He also provided a link to a PDF that he uses for Apoc games that cover all the variants of Knights and 2 formation lists. PM me with your e-mail and I'll send you the PDF if you're interested.

I believe the Knights that Moonbeast is referring to are the same ones that can be seen here:

link

Yep Ivan those are the ones.

Those are not the ones I remember…

picture

these are what I had.

Armorcast did the Eldar Towering Destroyer (the four armed one) both as a single piece and with separate arms. They were in prototype stage with the other two when the license was pulled.

Epicast had one of the Imperial Knights and an early Stompa.

I don't recall if ForgeWorld-US (not related to the current division of GW) had a Knight.

No current rules for them. In fact, they seem to have been more-or-less retconned out of existence.

The swordwind collector's model section is here: PDF link

hrm… I can't seem to find the collector's counts-as pages anywhere on the GW site anymore, but Javelin98 or Legion4 should be along shortly, and they'll know where to find those pages online. I have them in the old GW pdf, but that's not easily share-able for me.

With the Eldar Exodites all but vanished from 40k lore (its been three editions since they were mentioned with any promise), the need for giant dinosaur wranglers in electro-lance-equipped proto-Knights, both Human and Eldar, has vanished as well.

Probably part of GW's "If it isn't more Marines we don't care" design ethic these days.

Angelbarracks,
I had those too. GW released the plastic Knights with the Titan Legions box – they resemble Paladin #2 in the link you provided.

Knights did appear prominently in the next-to-latest Horus Heresy book, Mechanicum. The Knight crewmen mention a couple times that the Titans are always in greater demand among the commanders of the Crusade fleets. I suppose that could be construed as a bit of ret-con by GW to explain why they don't appear much in the 40K era.

I don't think it's really as sinister or deliberate as that. Knights (and Titans for that matter) were originally creatures of Epic, not 40K. It's not surprising that they no longer appear in the Epic range, because GW gutted the Epic range, AND if they sold Epic Knights at today's prices, it would show in stark contrast exactly how over-priced Epic is now. Why? Because Epic-scale Knights are exactly the same size as standard 28mm-scale humanoids.

Although GW's larger-sized plastic kits may be changing this now, 40K-scale Knights and Titans were not viable models for GW/Citadel. That's why Forgeworld (and its unaffiliated predecessors like Armorcast) has been the one to produce 40K-scale Titans.

Given that Knights were always less visible than Titans in Epic, it's not surprising that Forgeworld has focused on Titans, and not Knights. There are still lots of Titans for Forgeworld to make, and those will take priority.

Personally, I think Forgeworld would be well-advised to consider doing some Knights. Their price-point would be a bit more approachable. Although they would still be insanely big, they would be more playable than Titans.

I've got two metal ones sitting on my desk that resemble Paladin #2 in the link from AngelBarracks. But mine have the chain weapon and cannon arms swapped (opposite sides), the head is molded into the body and the 'loin cloth' is shorter and squared on the bottom.

Awesome little models; a shame I don't use them for anything. :(

HostileContact

The current 40k table has Valkyies hovering over it. The Knights are in the same visual class. I think the Armorcast Towering Destroyer was about 6" tall. Most of the Knights were about 5 times the height of the Epic infantry, so 6" is about right for 40k scale. The new Tyranid Trygon model is in the same range.

So many great things back then.
Imperial Guard were deadly with their vehicles.

Bombards and Baneblades and Behemoths and Ratling snipers.
Leman Russes by the shed load, Manticores and Basilisks, soo many groovy things.

I had some old Chaos Knights that went for NZ$5 in a bargain bin once – I just used the rotary cannon for a Copelands Future Wars conversion as an ADS gun vehicle.

Now, once you pick your jaws off the floor, the Knights also included Eldar and Ork variants; Think I have the old Citadel catalogue with them in as well.

As to what happened to them? Somebody ate them . . . :)

I don't remember Ork "Knights", unless you mean the Stompa.

Rules for 40K Apocalypse can be found on Bell of Lost Souls, they have a couple of PDF codexes that give stats/rules for some Epic units, some of which were done in 28mm by Armorcast… This was done before the FW Reaver titan was released, so it has the Armorcast version, as well as the Knight Titans, and the Eldar titans that FW hasn't made, and GW hasn't included in any of their newer books- other than the Epic stuff, of course. It also has pictures, some of which are just the epic mini's, but most are the Armorcast or scratchbuilt stuff from the writers personal collection. Good stuff!

Andrew, pretty sure Orks had 'Knights" or robot equivalents, shaped as distorted versions of space marines, eldar and squats. . . Dont have my 1996 catalogue to hand so cannot be certain.

If modern Knights were done for 40k, what size would the Mechanicus knights come in around (in inches please!)?

Here is your chance to vote for them in plastic (at TMP at least).
TMP link

Knights were awesome, and I'm stoked at the renewed interest in them. Personally, I don't think that GW should make any, because plenty of gamers are having a blast making their own for Apocalypse. =]

If I remember from the old-old literature, Imperial Knights aren't made by the Adeptus Mechanicus, but come from noble families on less advanced worlds where the Imperium doesn't have quite as overbearing a presence. They use 'em to protect their lands, and of course when the Imperium comes a-callin', they get organized into units and fight alongside the Titans.

Andrew, pretty sure Orks had 'Knights" or robot equivalents, shaped as distorted versions of space marines, eldar and squats. . . Dont have my 1996 catalogue to hand so cannot be certain.

Those weren't Epic models. They were 40k robots or orky cyborgs. I'd have to dig out that same catalog to recall the name, though.

If I remember from the old-old literature, Imperial Knights aren't made by the Adeptus Mechanicus, but come from noble families on less advanced worlds where the Imperium doesn't have quite as overbearing a presence. They use 'em to protect their lands, and of course when the Imperium comes a-callin', they get organized into units and fight alongside the Titans.

The "Knights" arose from exposure to some Eldar Exodite Worlds where the Eldar had seeded huge saurian meat beasts, and had similarly scaled one-man robots to herd and manage them. As not all of these worlds had a dominant Eldar presence, the humans who moved in took advantage of the saurians and used the same methods of managing them. Big herd-bots and human and eldar nature led to them being fitted to defend their herds, a path that led to armed and dangerous 30-foot Knights in a variety of specific configurations.