Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Imperial Knights (section)

===Forge World Knights===
Remember that these guys also have the {{W40kKeyword|<HOUSEHOLD>}} keyword, so you can buff them appropriately if your army is battleforged around that keyword. Latest FAQ adjusted things so these guys are affected just fine by all your fancy new Codex rules apart from the heirlooms and exalted court stratagems. Due to the wording of the actual stratagems they can only affect Dominus or Questoris class knights, so no using them on Cerastus or Acastus. The only way for them to gain relics or warlord traits is to actually make them your army warlord.
*As of the Summer 2019 update, all Forge World Knights lost their regenerating Wounds. Probably to try and push the repair shrine into more lists.

====Acastus Knights====
Unlike the Dominus Knights, who are only an inch or so taller than a normal Knight, these things are ''big''. They used to be T9 with more damage bracket levels (like usual FW superheaves), but got decreased to "slightly above Dominus" profile (just +2W, -1A).

*'''Acastus Knight Asterius:''' A Porphyrion that has swapped out its magma cannons for 4 FUCKHUGE C-beam cannons. You know, the things that increase in strength, AP and damage the further away from the target you are? These monsters max out at S16 AP-3 D6, though even at minimum range they still kick like a mule, at S12 AP-1 D2. However, with a knight's high movement, this probably won't be that much of a problem. Couple with the fact that you're delivering 2D3 Shots per gun and you've just quashed any hope your opponent had of even getting to use their own superheavy. And we're not even done yet! It's got a Karacnos Mortar Battery to drop radioactive death on infantry that basically cannot be denied. Cover? You wish. Line of Sight? Get fucked, buddy. High Toughness? Oh, that's just adorable. It's also got a pair of Volkite Culverins to give some extra close range kick, just in case your opponent tries to close and reduce the brutality of your guns.
*'''Acastus Knight Porphyrion''':The big brother of the other knights (seriously, this thing is huge), with four massive guns that give Tau armies inferiority complexes. With Chapter Approved (increasing it's cost), the default loadout comes in at over 850. While this thing is a murder machine with on average 8 S12/AP-3/D6 shots from its two twin magma cannon, the increase is going to make it hard to fit much else in a list. <strike>Buuut, it does have BS2+.</strike> Not anymore, thanks to the Summmer 2019 update. You may as well upgrade the autocannons to lascannons because why the fuck not. With T8, '''30''' wounds and 3+/5++ vs. shooting, it's not going anywhere in a hurry neither. It will smoke a Leman Russ in a single volley with room to spare, and stands a chance of crippling (if not outright killing) a landraider. Also has the honor of being the only FW Knight that can mount a carapace weapon. In addition to the usual Ironstorm, it can also take its own unique weapon, a rack of Helios Defense Missiles. It more or less functions as a hybrid between the Icarus and the Stormspear, firing one less missile then the later and dealing a flat D3 instead of DD6, as well as gaining a +1 bonus to Hit against {{W40Kkeyword|Fliers}} of the former. It also unfortunately takes a -1 to hit against everything else. Took a harsh hit in the 2019 Summer update, being knocked down to BS3+ and T8, same as every non-Armiger knight. On the upside, it can fire its main guns on Overwatch now. Woo?
**Although you’ll mostly only use this in apocalypse battles, consider taking this instead of a Baneblade (plus something else to make up the 300-400 left over points) as your anti armour, as fully kitted out with all the lascannons there is nothing smaller than a titan or one of the tougher knights which can survive against it, and at T8 and 30 wounds there is little outside of those same categories and hordes of lascannon guardsmen which can destroy it. Your opponent will also be thinking of little else while this is on the board, and unlike a war hound you have points left over for meatshields or elites in a 2000 point game.
**Keep this thing out of melee, yes it’s S8 and T8, yes it still has the triple hitting stomp attacks, yes it “can” retreat from melee and still shoot, but with no proper melee weapon, only 3 attacks at WS4+ (undamaged), a normal knight will do a lot of damage to a Porphyrion (if it can ever get close enough. It’s low attack count and no anti horde guns also mean that it will get tarpitted.)
**An excellent candidate for Armiger body guards, two Helverin Armigers with their two autocannons each will throw out a lot of quality dakka downrange, which will threaten anything T7 or less while still putting out the shots to at least moderately dent hordes. Such a setup allows you to run this knight as your warlord, opening up a huge array of possibilities for improved invulnerability saves, accuracy and armour. A pair of double Claw and Cleanser Moiraxes will also be an excellent deterrent.

====Cerastus Knights====
All Cerastus knights are a bit faster than stock, with a 14" move, and have three extra wounds, which is nice. They are limited in which stratagems they can take, as they are Cerastus pattern. They can only ever get relics/traits by being your Knight Lance Character; the Heirlooms and Exalted Court stratagems are Questoris or Dominus only. They are fast, and quality out of the gate, but limited and cost more points. Sadly, the Summer 2019 update stripped them of Flank Speed, probably to reduce the ridiculousness that some Movement speed builds were producing.

*'''Cerastus Knight Acheron''': The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. I have only the most up-to-date cultural references. The Acheron flame cannon does 2D6 S7 AP-2 D3 hits at 18". This is a solid choice against pretty much any target, almost as good as the Avenger against infantry, almost as good as the Thermal Cannon against vehicles (only really falling off vs. the really heavy stuff). Barbecue those annoying Tau stealth suits with their negative hit modifiers. Twin heavy bolter is just gravy. The chainfist is equivalent to the gauntlet, trading the volleyball effect for no -1 to Hit, which is probably a worthy exchange.
**With the flame cannon hitting with '''''3''''' damage, charging an Acheron is basically suicide to any unit. The Acheron enters and leaves fights on its own terms, no one else's. This can be a good strategy to mess with hard hitting melee units.
** Pair this with House Raven for some ludicrous reach, being able to advance and still fire your flamer as if moving normally allows you to reliably knock out medium and light vehicles with ease, flyers in particular, which would normally rely on their speed to pick off vulnerable targets while avoiding retaliation, are particularly vulnerable.
**''Acheron vs. Valiant'': Now you might be thinking, which flavor of crispy burning goodness do I want to inflict on my opponent? In the Valiant's favor, its Conflagration Cannon is better at it's job of murdering infantry. +1D6 hits over the Acheron's Flame Cannon at the cost of -1 damage means it deals the same amount of overall damage to heavy targets, but roasts a greater number of 1W and 2W squishies. In addition, the Valiant packs an impressive amount of anti-tank weaponry with which to murder heavies. On the other hand, the Acheron is MUCH quicker, allowing you to get in there and start setting people on fire that much sooner. It also packs an actual melee weapon, letting you give some unfortunate tank an Imperial Fisting after reducing its infantry escort to ash. Finally, the Acheron is a fraction of the cost of the Valiant, allowing you to squeeze in an additional cheap Knight or a couple of Armigers to run up the field alongside it AND doesn't burn up half of your CP to use Rotate Ion Shields. In summary, the Valiant has the better flamer and can handle a broader range of targets, but the Acheron carries it better and is more easily taken with friends to cover its weaknesses.
***Take both and burn everything (smaller than a superheavy). Bonus points if you use Hawkshroud tradition - ''no one will dare charge you.''
*'''Cerastus Knight Atrapos''':The weird middle child of the knight family with some unusual weapons and sculpting. Same stats as all other Cerastus chassis with the same abilities except for a shiny new 5+ Invuln save that works in melee and +1 hit modifier for shooting units with the TITANIC keyword. So overall, a nice buff that makes it ideal for dueling other super heavies, both at range and in melee. Its weapons are very similar, and received a hefty rework in the Summer 2019 update. The Graviton Singularity Cannon is a whole different beast now, with two firing modes. The first, Contained, is more or less the old profile, minus the "lottery", at 4 S8 AP-3 D4 shots. The other mode is Singularity, which is a toned down version of the old "jackpot", granting ''4+D6'' S14 AP-4 D3 attacks. The catch is that when you pick the profile, roll a D6; on a 1, 2 or 3, you take D3 Mortal Wounds. Overall a significant buff, allowing you to hit like a de-orbiting cruiser when you need to and avoiding needless self damage when you don't. Its other weapon, the lascutter, is even better now! It still has 2 profiles, a Heavy 1 S12 AP -4 Damage 6 shooting attack that now shares the melee mode's Wound re-roll vs Vehicles and Monsters instead of its old extra attack on kill mechanic, and a S+6 (so 14, same as its old flat Strength) AP -4 Damage 6 melee attack that can roll failed wounds against monsters or vehicles. In addition, the Atrapos differs from other Cerasrus Chassis by having an additional ability; Macro Extinction Protocols. This adds plus 1 to any hit roll of an attack made against a unit with the TITANIC keyword. This makes the Knight Atrapos quite a good pick when going up against a vehicle or monster heavy army, as well as be a bit more of a bullet sponge, just be aware of the very short range on your weapons. Now that the lascutter is tied to Strength. It makes the Atropus an ideal target for Strength boosting effects to reach that S16 sweet spot.
*'''Cerastus Knight Castigator''': Comes equipped with a Castigator bolt cannon and Tempest Warblade, which now might be the forefront for "new best melee weapon". The Castigator bolt cannon now puts out an impressive ''16'' str6 AP-2 D2 shots at a decent BS. Meanwhile, the Warblade strikes at str+6 AP-3 D3, two less damage than before, BUT it now swings twice for every attack you make with it. That's 8 Attacks base before any traits or Household Traditions. As you can imagine, this stack beautifully with any boosts to Attacks.
**Possesses the best anti infantry gun a knight can have, the only better gun any model can have (without twin linking etc) is the Vulcan mega bolter, which puts things in perspective.
*'''Cerastus Knight Lancer''': This is your ''real'' close combat specialist. Following the 2019 FAQ, the shock lance gets a boost to Sx2 8 D on the charge and has one better AP than the chainsword. However what really makes this stand out is that it gets a 4++ in the fight phase, which lets it spar much more comfortably with other melee bruisers (note this does mean you're technically vulnerable to out-of-phase attacks like Acts of Faith etc.), and imposes a -1 to hit against enemy titanic models in melee, which coupled with its 4++ invulnerability save makes it the toughest of all the knights against a all targets except a reaver with a melee weapon. Its ranged attack isn't too bad and at 420 points it's not even that expensive.
**Your main issue with this knight is getting it into melee with another knight or Titan as your opponent will see it coming from miles away and keep all their super heavies as far away as possible from your probing lance. With the new codex, take full advantage of this knight. Rotate ionshields works on its melee invulnerable save and with the right choices this thing will make first turn assaults. Take the landstrider trait for +2 advance and charge. Take helm of nameless warrior for 2+ws. Use the advance and charge stratagem to nuke that superheavy turn one. Combine with household traits for more goodness, Terryn being the best.  Advance 3d6, dropping the lowest, then charge 3d6, dropping the lowest.  With Land Strider, a Lancer has an average move/advance/charge threat range of 36 inches.