Tactics - Knights Inductor

Light Up the Night!

This is the Tactics Page for Knights Inductor.

NOTE: The Codex is being rewritten for 8th edition. Data and recommendations may become obsolete without notice.

Why Play Knights Inductor

• You want to play Sniper Marines and the Raptors Chapter Tactics just doesn't cut it
• You like having an expanded armory and wargear that makes even your Tacticals useful
• You have always wanted to be a LITTLE heretekal and indulge in experimental weapons
• You would like to have more tactical choices in your shooting other than just picking targets
• You absolutely HATE Psykers and want to stick it to them by giving them massive headaches
• And you want a challenge in playing with weaker Marines and an Attrition Objective

Pros and Cons

All armies have their Ups and Downs and the Knights Inductor subscribe to this as well.

Pros

• You get more guns, with usually up to 4 special and/or heavy weapons in a full 12 man squad.
• Almost all Knights Inductor non-vehicle units have access to a special armory section with goodies that upgrades individual Knights for a small cost. Anything from bolt ammo to riot shields.
• With almost universal access to camo cloaks/netting, being able to penetrate 3+ armour is frequently not nearly as good as it sounds against the Knights and their vehicles can be a bastard to put down with camo netting.
• The army packs a lot of Psyker Hate; Almost all non-vehicle units and Dreadnoughts have Adamantium Will standard to make Witchfires and Maledictions harder to cast. And if you bring a psychic null, or Silencer, the Warp is deadened and even Blessings have a harder time getting off.
• The ENTIRE ARMY has Blind grenades, which work as Defensive Grenades. This is good against armies that rely upon charge buffs, like Orks. Though note that Defensive Grenades DO NOT APPLY to Furious Charge, so those Khorne Berserkers and Orks can just laugh at your attempts to blunt their charge.
• You are still a Space Marine, so learn to love the WS4, BS4, S4, T4, I4, 3+ save stats. About that ATSKNF though...

Cons

• You do not have And They Shall Know No Fear. That's right, they don't auto-regroup, are not immune to fear, and can be overrun and destroyed in combat. While those units with a ATSKNF leader in them will still benefit from ATSKNF, you can't have HQ's in all of your units.
• You also are at -1Ld across the board, the only Ld10 Character being Zakis Randi.
• Without frag grenades standard and lacking in killy weapons and units, your options for melee combat are severely limited. Shock weapons and Riot Shields help, but they're expensive.
• No Grav-Weaponry, and no other weapon in the entire codex fills the niche that Grav-Weapons have. Keep that in mind in a meta completely plastered with Grav-Gun Bikes and Grav-Cannon Centurions6 Ablative Wound Rape Machines in a Rhino.
• Limitations on relic equivalent gear: like 30k Marines, you have to take those in the technical know-how (aka Techmarines/Gajet) in order to unlock more experimental wargear slots for some wargear options and even units.
• Weaker Psykers, your Librarians and even your Chief Librarian are all S3 T3 I3 like regular humans. The regular Librarians in particular also have a slightly lower Leadership than Space Marine Librarians.
• Finally, the Attrition Objective, if your enemy holds onto this with no resistance, and if you don't hold it by the end of the game, you'll be bleeding VP very quickly.

Tools of the Knights Inductor

Learn well the tools of your army, for they are your path to victory.

Special Rules

• Indomitable Spirit: Pseudo-Stubborn, with this you roll Fear and Regroup checks at your highest unmodified Leadership, and you get Adamantium Will. However you don't get the special regroup move from ATSKNF, are not immune to Fear, and can be wiped in combat.

The only way squads with Indomitable Spirit can get ATSKNF is if an Independent Character with ATSKNF joins in. Try to keep your HQ leaders in your most vulnerable and important squads.

• Suppression Tactics: Essentially Chapter Tactics on steroids, Knights Inductor Edition. It gives pinning if firing within 1" of a terrain piece and +1 BS against those units that are immune to being pinned

In order to build lists centered around these tactics, you should look into finding ways to further decrease the Leadership of enemies. Keep in mind that all cover except from Camo Cloaks will trigger this rule, and Aegis Defense Lines DO count as terrain. Gunline, use Roland Darren, and make sure to split your squads (Because each squad can only pin once per shooting round), and you can lock down an opponent's advance rather quickly. This ability works well in conjunction with Silencers, but can rapidly fall apart against Fearless armies.

Note that due to current RAW the +1 BS can does NOT apply to Snap Shots.

• Tactical Fire Teams - Probably the biggest change come 4.0, the Knights Inductor no longer have a Combat Squads equivalent. Instead they get something closer to pseudo-super Split Fire. If a unit with this rule targets a single enemy unit, that unit gets a marker. Other units can then split fire with up to half their models when they consume a marker, as long as the split attack targets the marked unit.

This can work in a whole bunch of ways; buy heavy weapons in regular squads. Have a dedicated anti-armor unit (Suppressors) shoot and mark a vehicle. Have the regular squads split fire their heavy weapons at the marked armor and the rest of the squad shoots at an infantry unit!

With this, you can double your squads' effective firepower if you choose correctly.

Attrition Objective

This is a power limiter with some tactical uses. Essentially the enemy gets to dick you over by putting an objective in the middle of the board that will make you bleed VP if you don't hold it, and lose the game if you don't control it by the end of the game. In return, all of your units move faster towards it and gain a cover bonus (even cover in the middle of nowhere). If you aim your movement at it you can move your units across the board faster. This is best held by a unit that has ranged weapons and is comfortable camping in one spot. Always have units close by on hand to take over if your unit holding it is wiped or destroyed, as every VP lost hurts.

Warlord Traits

• 1) Leader of "Many" - A substantial leadership drop to everyone bar HQ's across the whole enemy army in the first turn, and then a smaller one in the second. Not that impressive, but can be worth it against non fearless armies like Tau. Gajet starts with this trait. Combine with Signature Projectors covering the enemy for lulz.
• 2) Master of Stalling - A strong reserves disruption that starts in turn 1 to turn 3, at -2 to -1. The turn 1 debuff is useless unless the opponent is taking a formation that requires reserves rolls on turn 1 and the -1 on the other turns is standard stuff. Zakis Randi and Isaac Rico start with this trait.
• 3) Watchful Defender - One of the best traits. Once a game, you can make one unit from the Codex fire full BS overwatch, still no blasts though. Brutal when applied correctly, terrifies poorly prepared Orks. Due to this allowing units unable to Overwatch to Overwatch, you can use this for units locked in combat being charged. Ferrus and Rachnus start with this trait.
• 4) Perfect Ambusher - A gimmicky trait buffed into a much more useful one since the choice of unit and terrain is now made after deployment. You pick a piece of neutral terrain and one of your squads, you get to have that squad deepstrike into the terrain with no scatter. Absolutely useless if someone has occupied the terrain, can be hilarious if it's still free. Since you don't have to tell your opponent which piece you nominated, this can be a crapshoot, but just choose smartly. Xavion starts with this trait.
• 5) Skilled Negotiator - Enemy units within 6" of the Warlord use their lowest leadership for checks. Depends on the opponent and your army composition. If you are running lots of pinning checks and Silencer powers, this can be impressive. Without it, it's decent. If you have few checks and the enemy is ATSKNF, it is weak. If the enemy is fearless, it's pointless. Roland Darren and Chief Librarian Zecherias start with this trait.
• 6) Big Game Hunter - Warlord and unit gets Tank Hunter and Monster Hunter. Again, depends on what your Warlord is doing and who he is going with. A Marauder field master with this trait in a sizeable unit of Marauders can be terrifying. Garven Brias starts with this trait.

Silencer Powers

It makes sense that, given that they're all Nulls, Silencers wouldn't have access to regular Psychic powers. Instead, they get this one set of powers and they're... not too terrible, actually. Mostly Leadership and Character dicking focussed. NOTE: Fearless doesn't mean immune to Leadership tests, only auto-pass Morale/Pinning/Regrouping checks.

Primaris Power: Unleashed Null Aura - This is a two-part power that basically states the general effect of Silencers: -2Ld to Psykers and Daemons within 6" and the ability to spend a charge to effect any kind of enemy unit. The nice active part of this is the ability to trigger Perils and Daemonic Instability to Psykers and Daemons respectively in range. Get in as close as possible of as many units with those rules and spam this ability.

1) Synapse Disruption - This one is a true Nova. It costs 1 Null Charge for a 6" bubble, 12" costs 2. It has two different effects: regular Tyranids count as not being in Synapse range and all armies that aren't Tyranids are forced to use their lowest leadership values when taking checks. Another power with low range but good Synergy.

2) Warp Void - Now we get into anti-psychic powers. Pick a squad within 18". Any Blessing or Malediction effecting them ends immediately. If there aren't any to remove, they take a leadership check at -1 leadership and if they fail they must go-to-ground, even if they are pinning immune. This is excellent against Invisible bastards and people who think Iron Arm is the best thing ever. Takes 2 charges though.

3) Shatter Mind - An Assassination power, plain and simple. Pick a character in 24", take a leadership check. Every point you fail by is a wound with no armour or cover allowed. Excess shots follow through to the unit, coming from the character as the source of the shot. An extra charge can be spent to make the test 3D6. Simple. Can be effective.

4) Horrifying Presence - This one is risky and a bit iffy unless you have a few other powers off. It's another 9" nova. EVERY unit, repeat, EVERY unit within that bubble has to take a morale check, although friendlies get to re-roll it. An extra charge can be spent to make it a 3D6 check. This can be awful if you make your own unit run away, or a key hold-the-line unit, or if the enemy is Fearless. On the other hand, with a little luck, you can stop an Army Wide Devastating Charge. This power is exponentially better if you already have Unleash Aura or Synapse Disruption out.

5) Isolate - Another Character power, but this isn't for killing. Target one character in 18". They check leadership at -2 in order to do ANYTHING. This is not so much an improvement as a change in how the power worked (one Ld test or completely useless). Also, if you target a friendly unit it gives them a watered down version of Invisibility, especially if you tack another charge onto the activation cost.

6) The Unmaking - This is a powerful short-ranged, anti-snowflake malediction, though it has a big (3) charge activation cost. If it goes off, the target loses -1 to all Invulnerable saves. Most importantly, any special wargear, relics, artefacts, etc. are turned OFF for an entire turn and special weapons can only use their base characteristics. This is excellent for, say, weakening a Res Orb Necron unit, Eldar with all their rune trickery, and even basic things like shields.

Armoury

Ranged Weaponry

• Specialized Bolt Ammunition: Instead of buying one ammo type, you can now give your squad a all three different bolt ammunition types, each with their own stat modifiers to the regular bolt profiles of the bolt pistol, boltgun, and storm bolter and with unique effects. These are what make your Troops actually useful, at a moderate cost that adds up quickly if you take this on multiple units:
  • Stun Bolts- +6", AP -, Pseudo-Blind (-1 WS/BS on failed Ini with 6 to hit), Blind on 5+ 6's to hit. These are excellent on backline squads that are spamming Suppressive Tactics and also your most spammed ammunition type. The Pseudo-blind part is not restricted to a single test like Blind and thus you can lower an enemy unit's combat effectiveness if you force multiple tests.
  • Lumen Bolts- AP-, a more niche choice compared to the other two ammo types, as it buffs charging against a target unit and reduces said unit's cover saves. This is best used when you know you'll be facing lots of cover saves and if you have a forward combat unit that you need to get into close combat.
  • Tranq Bolts- -6", Strength 1, AP6, Poisoned (3+). The most powerful of the three in terms of power, allowing you to pile on saves against just about anything that's not a vehicle. However, the short range means it'll only be taken on things you are dropping in close or are expecting to be in close combat.

Like the Sternguard Equipment in Codex Space Marines, Specialty Ammunition here gives you free reign of tactical flexibility. You buy it in your lists, and while you can buy it on multiple squads to make Pseudo-Sternguard, the high price tag of 3pts per model generally discourages over-buying.

• Animus Diadem: A nasty S5 AP1 Assault 3 weapon that can add up to 3 Null Charges for more shots. Gives your Silencer a good weapon to pump Charges into if he finds himself in a position where his powers are useless (enemies cowering in metal bawkses to be popped with AP1).
• Astartes Anti-Material Rifle: An Expensive as Hell sniper that does decently against vehicles, MC's and MEQ in the open. On scouts this is a nice addition, but with Silent Hands you're better off sticking with your Stalker Bolters and buying Tranq Bolts for the whole squad. It's only real benefit over a traditional missile launcher is that it has Precision Shot but at ~10pts, it's a good deal
• Mk40 Plasma Weapons: Slightly lower strength(S6), than normal plasma guns. Doesn't Gets Hot! in exchange. While it won't matter against infantry, you'll note that they're considerably less effective against MC's and Light vehicles as a result.
• Seismic Charge: Demolitions Charges, Knights Inductor Edition. A S6 AP 4 Large Blast with Strikedown and 8" range. While a little cheap, Strikedown in this case won't help you from charges being only 8" away from your target. These are only worthwhile on deep striking units that are dropping right next to the enemy. These are not grenades so multiples can be tossed with impunity.
• Stalker Bolters: The standard equipment for your Sternguard/Silent Hands. By default they don't actually come with specialty ammunition, but these guns (Being 30" Rapid Fire Sniper), can handle well on their own without specialty ammo. Stun Bolts makes these the ultimate support weapon at sniper range (36") while Tranq bolts increases the efficiency of shots hugely while dragging the range down to regular Bolters.

Melee Weaponry

• Astartes Riot Shields: These shields make your guys Bulky, and slow with no Running or Sweeping Advance. In return, they get +2 to cover saves, 4+ cover out in the open, and force enemy re-rolls on successful hits in the first round of close combat if the entire unit is equipped with these. Excellent in meatshield squads aiming to tarpit an enemy unit or in smaller numbers in cover. Beware of the limited mobility, and you'll have a hard time fitting these into transports. Also the price tag is a hefty one, especially if you're aiming to outfit an entire unit.
• Electro Shackles: A useful anti-beatstick gear. Will cripple said beatstick for one round and for the rest of combat unless he exits it or breaks the shackles by rolling Strength against 2D6. The only problem is hitting, sacrificing your regular attacks, and the 10 point price tag when you shouldn't be in combat. This also is comparatively useless if used on anything that doesn't have threatening Attacks, and Monstrous Creatures are much more likely to break through the Shackles.
• Null Weapons: These are your Silencer's Force Equivalent weapons, which come in all of the same flavors as normal Force Weapons. You've got Swords, Axes, Staves, and Halberds (Minoris only). If you're familiar at all with Psykers, then you know that Axes are the only worthwhile choice (As without frag grenades you're usually on Initiative 1 anyway). As an aside, they always re-roll failed to-wound rolls when used against Psykers or Daemons
• Shock Weapons: Unique "peacetime" weapons for the Knights Inductor. Like power weapons, these come in three varieties, in increasing Strength (User, User+2, Userx2) all with AP-. All have the Shock special rule, allowing them to get an additional two hits per 6 to hit. These make Knights a little more decent in CC, but with AP- don't expect them to do much in actual combat.

Armour

• Marauder Dreadnought Armor: Knights' Centurion Armor, basically the same except +2T instead of +1T with 3+ armor, making them Wraithguard tough. See Marauder entry for more details.
• Power Armor: Straight up 3+ armor save, standard Marine stuff
• Trooper Armor: No Carapace for Knights Inductor, instead they get a Slow & Purposeful 4+ armor save. Nice on Sniper scouts, not so much on Guard Aspirants. Beware of its mobility limitations and lack of Overwatch.

Miscellaneous Equipment

• Aceso: Costs as much as an Apothecary. Turns your Character into Apothecary Lite. This is great for just about anything if you want to add survivability. Almost always taken on Knights Inductor HQ choices.

Like any piece of gear that buffs the squad, but is dependent on a single model. This is weak to lots of Precision Shots, or a Vindicare. Just one Vindicare firing a turbo penetrator is pretty much all an opponent needs to make you waste these points.

• Laser Aiming Module Unit: Re-rolls on 1's within 18", can't be used with camo cloaks. Not that you'd want to, when this is definitely being put on a deep striking unit in front of the enemy.
• Marksman Autosense: This right here used to be the bread and butter of your army. Marksman Autosenses grants Precision shot and Night Vision to the model, effectively making them into Mini-snipers. The squad with this also doesn't Rend on 6s to wound, unlike normal snipers.
• Camo Cloaks: Only moderately useful on Tactical Marines, as boosting cover saves might be nice, but you already have Power Armor. That being said, Power Armor doesn't save your ass from lascannons, plasma guns, Literally anything eldar, snipers, melta guns, gravity guns, AP2 Flamethrowers, and Orbital Bombardments. Okay fine, cover is nice to have. But should you really take 2 points per model instead of Marksman Autosense or Ripper bolts when 4+ cover saves are usually readily available? Depends on your army. Some will love this choice, some will hate it. Cover Bunker strategies swear by it, drop pod assaults less so.
• Frag Grenades: HAHAHA NO. You're a shooting army. Why the hell are you charging? Never take these, let your suicide incursion squads use them. Just don't bother.

DO Take them when you have a dedicated assault unit with access to them like Honor Guard Minoris so you're aren't charging a unit in cover and striking at I1 with your Null Halberd

• Melta Bombs: You probably shouldn't be in combat with a tank, but could be worth it.
• Teleport Homer: This could be troll worthy on a Sarge. Like, extremely so. Otherwise, depends on your army composition. Unless you're focused on Drop Pods, not a lot of the Knights Inductor deep strike, they prefer to infiltrate.

Experimental Wargear

Your entire army has only two Experimental Wargear Slots to start with. Every item below takes up one slot for either of the two categories. If you want more slots, bring Techmarines or take Gajet to unlock the cap entirely. Keep this in mind before you start throwing away points, as the tax for Experimental Wargear grows quite quickly.

• Armored Strategic System- Or ASS for short. This combines the signature projector, disruptor array, and psi-suppressor pylon all under the same similar rules. An emplacement with T6 W1 and Sv3+ that must be Infiltrated or Deep struck. Grants -D6" scatter on weapons and deep strike within 12" along with a unique effect depending on which type you bought.
  • Disruptor Array- Enemy shooting within the radius takes a -2BS modifier and loses special rules that affect re-rolls or BS to shooting.
  • Psi-Suppressor Pylon- A nice generator of free Null Charges that you probably want kept away from enemy fire. Psykers are rendered completely useless within its range similar to a Culexus but being immobile, its 12" effect will rarely find use unless you deep strike it on top of an enemy Psyker unit.
  • Signature Projector- This has an 12" radius and forces enemy units within the radius to take leadership tests to not shoot or not assault the Signature Projector. This has been since buffed to have a -2Ld modifier and pairs up well with Leadership reducing items or abilities.

• Damocles Power Armor MkI- 3+ armor save and Slow and Purposeful. The standard armor for Innovatus squads that pairs up well with the Gravitic Mass Drivers they have. Like Trooper armor and Marauder armor, watch where you place your units or else they can find themselves doing a whole lot of nothing as they struggle to move from place to place without a transport. The most important aspect of buying this on an Independent Character is that Slow and Purposeful is transferred to the unit by the model, meaning you can have S&P Suppressors! Remember you lose Overwatch amongst other things though.

• Gravitic Mass Driver Rifle- The standard weapon for Innovatus squads, these are powerful anti high toughness and armor weapons that aim to blow up vehicles with armourbane and AP1. Abuse the range to stay in safety and take down vehicles with massed fire if you can afford it.

While it is standard for Innovatus Squads, Gravitic Mass Drivers are a good alternative for HQ Choices if you want to make a shooty captain with a Heavy weapon. This weapon can really benefit from BS5, and boosts your ability to take down big things.

• Tracer Bolts: Markerlight Lite. It's a nice bonus that you can give this to a generic HQ, who is then exempt from the rule that all models must fire the same special ammo. If you're doing this, a storm bolter is mandatory so you get that 2nd shot at 24". Tracer Bolts put a marker on the target model. You spend the marker to cause precision hits on 5, or re-roll failed hits, or ignore cover. Ignoring cover is great for squads with Kraken Bolts, making this a solid choice.

Like all cases of the Special Issue gear. Tracer Bolts aren't squad based. If your character who has them dies, you lose the tracer bolts. Opponents with lots of Precision Shot, or a Vindicare can cause you to waste these points almost instantly.

• Graviton Grenades: Enemies charging the squad with this roll 3d6 and take the 2 lowest dice. Also has a weak-ass Initiative debuffing thrown grenade profile. This is kind of a Meh' choice, but if you're running Gajet for uncapped experimental slots, it can be a decent means to throw away points. Usually your best bet is to give them to a Chaplain, put the chaplain in a 12-man squad, give the Sarg an Aceso, and then laugh at attempts to charge them by anything that's not Furious Charge/Fleet. Khorne Berserkers will laugh at your attempts to stop them in turn, as mentioned previously about the passage on Blind Grenades.

• Macharius Codex: It's like having Zakis Randi as your warlord, except you're not putting the "Obligatory costs as much as a land raider" character on the board! For each HQ you buy, you get to give another unit your choice of Tank Hunters, Infiltrate, Interceptor, Split Fire, or Counter Attack.

If you use this to give infiltrate to a squad of 3 vindicators, we will not be responsible for your death by strangulation.

Unit Analysis

HQs

• Captain: A good all-around character. He's worse in close combat than Normal Space Marine Captains, but in exchange he grants a squad of your choice Preemptive Strike which is either a free Scout move or the ability to shoot first with Interceptor restrictions of not being able to fire the next Shooting phase. Since these guys come standard with Frag Grenades and ATSKNF, any squad you attach a captain to will regain their immunity to sweeping advances and fear, making them suck a lot less in melee. Just don't expect to be able to have a captain attached to EVERY squad, just limit it to whatever squad you think will be taking the brunt of charges, as otherwise you'll lose out with the point tax.

• Chaplain: The Defensive Counterpart to Captain, and he loses out on Zealot. The difference between this guy and a regular Chaplain is that he loses Zealot and gives them the Counter-Attack rule with re-rolls to Overwatch, which is very important. Instead of a Power Maul (Crozius) he has an AP4 Shock Maul, which is mildly better. If you're not taking a captain as your warlord (And kitting out the captain to be a monster in melee), then Chaplains are a serious consideration for army buffing to make up for your lack of melee prowess.

• Librarian: A Stubborn-granting non-10 Ld HQ. Knights Inductor Librarians are actually ordinary humans in Power Armor, so they don't have the Space Marine Statline that other Libbys enjoy. However, they can take ML2 and Terminator armor a little cheaper and are -the- budget HQ. They also lose a Warp Charge on a 4+ in their Psychic Phase in return for having -1 on the Perils table.

Consider taking these guys if you need tactical flexibility, but don't rely on them too much as you don't have the Librarius Conclave to make them reliable.

• Silencer: One of the codex's True Unique Units. These suckers have a whole paragraph of text describing their rules, but don't let that dissuade you from taking them. These guys have their own set of powers, and are focused entirely on the idea of shutting down the psychic phase. While they are EXCEEDINGLY GOOD AT THIS, Silencers are a little on the expensive side (100 points base), and lack the tactical flexibility that libbys normally provide.

Silencers don't provide ATSKNF, but they make whatever squad you attach them to completely immune to all psychic powers, both friendly and hostile. Witchfires don't effect them, maledictions don't work, and even blessings immediately turn off. This buff (Or a debuff, really depends on how you look at it), also applies to whoever is the poor sap that gets in melee with them. So if a Silencer's squad charges an invisible squad, that squad instantly loses invisibility, and whatever other buffs they had on, as well as maledictions.

Just be DAMNED CAREFUL WITH THEM. While Silencers don't suffer perils the same way normal psykers do, their perils are just as dangerous. If you roll double 6s while manifesting silencer powers, the squad they are attached to takes a huge leadership test. And if they fail it, they run the fuck away from the silencer(Who is then helpless and alone ;_;).

• Techmarine: Pretty much the same as Vanilla Techmarines, but with an additional effect. Every Techmarine in your army unlocks an additional Experimental Infantry Wargear and Experimental Vehicle Wargear slot. Don't go overboard on this, as the point tax on bringing more experimental gear grows with every additional slot. Once you get to the third techmarine, seriously consider bringing Gajet as your warlord to simply unlock the restrictions on Experimental Wargear.

As a side note, Techmarines turn Innovatus squad's Slow and Purposeful into Relentless. If you don't like this, you can always exchange it for free with Bolster Defenses

• Marauder Captain: Essentially a Space Marine Captain, IN CENTURION ARMOR. Okay, kinda. He's got the Captain Statline of WS5, BS5, LD9, ATSKNF. Which is Amazing. In addition the Marauder Armor makes him T6, so he's really goddamn tough to kill. However he's insanely pricey, at 150 points base, before any weapons or upgrades.

It's important to note that this is the only HQ Slot that can take Heavy Weapons. His Heavy Weapon list is actually a lot cheaper. You would do well to give this sucker Dual Plasma Cannons, and attach him to any squad that has an Aceso to make the best use of his T6. You can also have him tank small arms shots at his T6 for a lesser T squad.

Troops

• Tactical Squad: Your typical bread and butter unit for holding down objectives. With bolt ammo being a lot more useful, you can kit Tactical squads more easily for support work when sitting on the backline. Stun bolts provides a nice versatility while Tranq bolts allow for some more offensive work. A full twelve man squad with an Aceso in cover, possibly with camo cloaks, is a hard nut to crack and makes this your potentially most durable scoring option.
• Scout Squad: Same as regular Space Marines, but your Sniper Rifles (when in cover) retain the same effectiveness from 6th edition. With Trooper armor they can also shift position and still fire their Heavy weapons. With Astartes Anti-Materiel Rifles, they will very reliably cause at least a wound for Pinning checks.
• Guard Aspirants: Your cheapest and cheerful option. With relatively precise Deep Striking these guys are commonly used as suicide squads ferrying a melta or two behind an enemy vehicle, or with a Seismic charge to ruin an infantry squad's day. Beware that they are Slow & Purposeful and will thus be stranded wherever you drop them. Also, despite having a Space Marine Sergeant the unit is majority T3 for the purposes of shooting and so will die quickly despite having a 4+ save. If you're feeling ballsy, have the Sergeant take a Pulse Clamp and charge a Super Heavy before the squad is vaporized.

Dedicated Transports

Knights Inductor have access to the same Dedicated Transports as normal space marines, with only a few changes. All KI Transports have the option to replace storm bolters with Cerberus Launchers for a points buff, if you enjoy spamming blind tests at close range.

• Rhino: Can replace the useless Self-Repair Systems to carry 12 guys instead of 10. Otherwise the same as Space Marines, though the option to take camo netting makes it an interesting choice for a backline bunker, while a Cerberus Launcher also works for offensive strategies.

• Drop Pod: Can replace the storm bolter to carry 12 guys instead of 10. Does not have the option to take Deathwind launchers, though instead you can take the even better Cerberus Launcher instead. Can be purchased in Fast Attack for your other models like Marauders and Minoris.

• Razorback: same as Space Marines. TL-Lascannon and camo netting makes for an annoying threat, though on the expensive side.

Elites

• Terminator Squads KI terminators start with 3-man squads, and gain an additional heavy weapon for one out of every 3 guys. Functionally its easier to bring more heavy weapon terminators, but really? Don't even bother with 3 terminators, just not enough bodies to justify it. Thunder Hammers & Storm Shields are still good, but you'll still need an ATSKNF character in there to hold the line.

Active Camouflage: An experimental wargear option that you can buy. You lose your Invulnerable save from Terminator armour, but in turn get a scatter-less Deep Strike anywhere and can only be hit on 6's the turn they arrive.

• Silencer Minoris: A good excuse for using those Grey Knight models you bought awhile back. At 55 points a model, they're obscenely expensive, and only have storm bolters for ranged weapon options. Their unique weapon: Null Halberds, are functionally identical to Nemesis Halberds except that they use Null Charges and are master-crafted. Unlike Grey Knight Paladins, these can't be changed to any better melee weapons aside from the standard set of null weapons with master-crafted. Other than that, for 2 Wound terminators, giving one of them an Aceso is MANDATORY. Iron Halos are also optional but add to the cost.

• Dreadnoughts: 7th edition brings us a huge number of buffs to Dreadnoughts in the form of Chapter Tactics, massively Cheaper weapons, Squadrons, and more close-combat attacks. Knights get these too for their dreads. In this case, Knights Inductor Dreadnoughts get a small points increase to gain Empyrean Anathema, and the Fear USR. Kinda useless in the edition of "Everyone and their mom is fearless", but hey it might inexplicably save the dreadnought in melee at some point.

If you really want to be silly, consider giving your Dreadnoughts Camo Cloaks. No seriously this codex lets you take Sneeki Breeki Dreadz. If you think this is stupid, turn around and note the lack of anything in the treeline. Now look back around, OI GIT, U's FInKIN WES' NoT SNEEKI *Krump*. Camo Cloak Dreads can make a formidable firebase, just be sure to deliver cheesy one liners to your opponent like "I've come to hide from my enemies!" in your best dreadnought voice.

• Innovatus Squads: Some highly expensive special weapons Knights that have the choice of either the Gravitic Mass Driver rifle (standard), Mk40 Plasma Rifles, or AAMR's (nope) and they take up one Infantry Experimental Wargear slot as a whole. Though they only have standard Space Marine survivability of T4 Sv3+ they bring you two great shooting roles of either anti-2+ elite armor saves or anti-vehicle AP1 firepower. The key to doing well with them is getting them to where you want them without them dying due to their slowness and relative fragility. Thanks to their MkI Damocles power armor they can fire their GMD's at full capacity coming out of a Zooming Avenger or a Drop pod.

• Sternguard Veterans(Silent Hands): Remember the fluff that says Sternguard Veterans are the shootiest of the shooty shooters? And how the standard SM Codex fluff paints them as absolutely nothing like that? Here we have actual Shooty-Shooting marines crunched as Elite Marine Snipers. Their default weapon is the Stalker Bolter, which is a 36" Strength X Rapid Fire Sniper Bolter. There's also an option to upgrade them to Silent Hands, which boosts their BS to 5, thus making them even more shooty. Finally, a limited number of their ranks can take Anti-Material Rifles, in case you need S6 AP3 for killing bigger things. By default this squad can threaten Wraithknights, Carnifexes, and anything that relies on high toughness.

While expensive, this is a SOLID elite choice for threatening anything short of Heavy Armor. Silent Hands can bring down just about anything big each turn through massed Sniper shooting, and can be hard to kill in turn if you place them in good cover with great sightlines. This, and sniper rifles from Scouts and Tranq bolts from Tacticals are your only reliable ways to bring down high T targets.

Take the Silent-Hand upgrade and Specialized Bolt Ammunition for Tranq bolts for maximum efficiency at an expensive 27pts a pop. They WILL hit and they WILL wound (with Rending galore).

Fast Attack

• Incursion Squad: What the hell are you doing here? This is a choppy squad in a shooty army. Don't take this unless you're looking to throw away points on expensive as hell Suicide Squads. They have pretty much no worthwhile options except to put Captain Isaac in them, and try to cap objectives in Maelstrom. Even then Mounted Knights will do that job easier. The only noteworthy thing about them is that they can get Shock weapons and Riot shield for cheaper by exchanging their current weapons instead of buying from Squad Issue Wargear. Buy Shock Mauls, stuff it all into a Drop pod and charge on turn 2, laying down S6 hurt everywhere.

• Landspeeder Squadrons: Good mobile platforms for heavy weapons, if you feel your army is a bit too slow.

• Mounted Knights: Shooty Guys with Relentless, Close Combat capability also with relentless, and improved durability. They will massively benefit from having an Aceso to make use of Feel No Pain against Lascannons and Meltaguns. Unlike Incursion Squads, Mounted Knights are considerably more capable of being a Rapid-Reaction unit that can reach out across the board and snag objectives during Maelstrom missions. Pretty much the same benefit that bikes give to normal space marines, you know what to do. It's just a damn shame you can't put Xavion on a bike to join them, and there's no Grav-guns to make use of the Relentless. But that's too much to ask for and would be horribly broken.

• Mobilius Artillery: A poor man's thunderfire cannon. With this you get a Techmarine, plus your choice of Charybdis Howitzer, Scylla Heavy Bombard, or a Quad Gun. It's highly points inefficient, and pretty much the only thing worthwhile is the Charybdis. Because the crew comes with the artillery, you can't put Xavion on it either for -7" to scatter. It's still massively outperformed by the Thunderfire Cannon, so it's more worthwhile to take Space Marine Allies and just grab the actual damn cannon.

• Valkyrie Avenger Squadron: Your go-to anti-air with THREE twin-linked lascannons standard and the option to take side mounted weapons. Stick a stock 6man Troops into there and Sky of Fury drop them on an objective while blasting enemy flyers and vehicles alike.

• Valkyrie Repressor Squadron: Your budget flyer, with dual bomb pylons with up to essentially four shots with the bomb pylon of choice. A single Lascannon is good for taking pot-shots at other Flyers and an expanded capacity of 12 men means that they can handle a full squad. Don't expect the stock bomb pylon options to do much though, even with two shots per bombing run.

Heavy Support

• Suppressor Squad: This is what you get instead of a Devastator Squad. Okay, there's a few things of note.

- Starts at the cost of a Tactical squad, exactly 84 points.

- No, you don't have a Signum

- You get to instead purchase something called Tactical Autosense, kinda like a CrossCom system for your space marines. The Tactical Autosense lets the Sarg give his whole squad Re-roll 1s to hit if he forgoes shooting. This means it is a good bit more powerful than the Signum and gets better in cost effectiveness if you take more Knights and heavy weapons.

• Marauder Team: The Knight's Centurion equivalents with the following difference: they have S4 and T6 instead of S5 T5 (and 3+ versus 2+). The T6 makes Marauders true DISTRACTION CARFNIFEXES as they'll take much more punishment than a Centurion, requiring even more firepower to bring them down (though Grav weapons still laugh at you). If taking extra Marauders seriously consider the Aceso to give them a pseudo-invulnerable save of 5+ and more protection against small arms fire. Placing characters with 2+ armor and invul saves or getting them cover saves through other means will go far to protect them against high volume high S and low AP fire that'll most likely be directed their way.

Weapon loadouts must be bought in addition to the bodies. Specialized Bolt Ammunition + DCCW + Heavy weapon of choice maximizes its fire power and allows for at-initiative punching should you get into a scrap. Note that double heavy weapons cost more (encouraging mixing) and double DCCW's cost less in return for only having the Storm Array as your ranged weapon (basically super Terminators at that point).

• Predator Vaeris: It's a predator with +1HP and BS, and can take Land Raider Sponsons. You would do well to stick this sucker in the corner of the board with a railgun, and dual TL-Lascannons. Alternatively, you can give it the MLRS and Twin-Linked Heavy Flamers, and go to town on hordes of infantry if your opponent doesn't see through the shenanigans. Besides that, there's a huge variety of ways you can kit your Vaeris, from Tank-Hunting, to Lawn-Mower, Anti-Air, and Heavy-Artillery. The only downside is that you can't bring him in Squadrons, and he takes up an Experimental Wargear Slot (Of which you have only 2 by default).

• Predator Squadrons: Same as Space Marines, though they can take advanced upgrades for better survivability or cheap camo netting for cover camping.

• Vindicator Squadrons: Same as Space Marines. However there is the notable case that you might want to buy Storm Bolters for these guys, and then swap them for Cerberus Launchers. Both are already short-range Large Blast weapons, so why the hell not throwing a BLINDING large blast on top of an S10 Large Blast to add insult to injury on anyone dumb enough to let this get close. A good but expensive solo Vindicator option is to mount the Redemptor-Pattern Demolisher Cannon and take Plating Overhaul as well as Camo Netting. A 36" S10 AP2 blast (with Get's Hot and Strike-down) with AV14 front and under cover is an expensive but dangerous target for your opponent to deal with.

• Land Raiders: Like Space Marines, there's three variants, though the Knights only share the Phobos/Godhammer Pattern, which is inefficient.
  • Suppressor: The cheapest option with the largest transport capacity, it has two Torrent 2+ Poisoned weapons best used in tackling hordes or getting a few wounds on high toughness enemies
  • Land Raider Athena: Taking up an Experimental Wargear slot, this is fearsome tank-hunting platform with no transport capacity to speak of. If you line up your shots right, you can hit multiple vehicles and monstrous creatures with a S10 AP1 Ordnance hit, beware of hitting your own units however, since there's no distinction.

The Heavy Gravitic Accelerator Cannon is alright, but has Get's Hot. You always have the option to swap out for the more reliable but short ranged Redemptor Demolisher Cannon at no extra cost.

• Whirlwind Squadron: Good as always, especially with Shred & Pinning in groups of three. A single Whirlwind can also take a MLRS, 12"-60" S6 AP4 Ordnance 2, Barrage, Large Blast, IGNORES COVER. Makes hordes cry, though it almost doubles the cost while taking an Experimental Wargear slot.

• Tempest Squadrons: Expensive and fragile ground anti-air option. What they lack in durability is made up for their long-range anti-air guns with Twin-linked, Ordnance, and AP2 capable of outshooting the Space Marine Hunter easily. Tack on camo-netting at the least to give some cover or have them come from reserves to avoid 1st turn fire. Can also take an Experimental Wargear Anti-Air marker for Intercept goodness.

Special Characters

Nearly all Knights Inductor Special Characters have a unique rule that only applies if that particular character is your warlord. This can range from army buffs, to modifying force org, to messing around with the codex rules. Keep this in mind as some of the characters are particularly fragile, and/or complete shit in melee

If you're in an Apocalypse Game, you might want to look into bringing the Aprior War Council Formation, as it allows you to take up to 3 of the guys below as your warlord. Just be careful as yes, all 3 characters do count for Slay The Warlord, and Errata states that your opponent can therefore obtain that objective THREE times.

• Chapter Master Zakis Randi: A strong strategic centerpiece model with some top-notch combat ability as well. He has a 2+/3++ with EW, armed with a special Thunder Hammer that can reduce opponents to WS1 for a single Assault phase and usually strikes at I2 instead of I1. His strategic strength comes from his Macharius Strategems Codex x3 (only three unique rules), no penalties to reserve rolls (kind of meh, but nice to have as it meshes with his own Master of Stalling Warlord Trait nicely) and the ability to have three units use Preemptive Strike (not as impressive since the rule's been nerfed, but still better than nothing and great to have if you're going second).

His Warlord Ability grants your entire army Leadership 10. Overall this is a VERY solid ability, coupled with the fact that Zakis Randi is a very tough character to knock down means he's a solid choice, even if his Land Raider cost is pretty prohibitive.

• Captain Roland Darren: A relatively cheap special character Captain for what he does: either causing permanent LD losses in enemy units with a good LD roll-off, or buffing the combat ability of a friendly KI unit while having Stand Indomitable ala Chaplains. He's okay in combat (go figure) but he also has a debuffing AP2 power sword that can reduce an opponents' stats permanently if they suffer an unsaved wound from him. Unfortunately you also have to take into account that his main ability can change in function depending on what race/faction opponent you're facing, since you can't negotiate with Come the Apocalypse armies, making him tricky to build an army around since his alternate ability synergizes well with dedicated combat units, which the KI don't have a lot of. His Decapitation Tactics work fine against all enemies however, granting bonuses against the enemy Warlord for Roland and his unit as well as allowing him to DS with Terminator squads.

Because of how cheap Roland Darren is, he can actually take the double role of Chaplain and Captain, meaning he's a solid alternative if you're wanting to bring a single captain in your army. Meaning he is wonderfully good at reacting to enemy assaults if spread your units out to respond to threats. Just beware that doing this takes a good bit of prep-work, as you can only grant it to a squad during your shooting phase.

Warlord Ability: Darren's new Warlord ability strengthens his Decapitation Tactics, allowing the controlling player to gain bonus VP by Slaying the Warlord, and D3 if the Warlord was wounded twice by Roland's sword or bound by Electro-Shackles at the point of death. The opportunity to gain extra VP alone makes this a powerful ability.

• Captain Isaac Rico: A highly Schizophrenic captain who acts as "That one asshole with wings" in the entire army of shooty marines. Recent buffs to him made him more reliable against infantry by giving his chainsword AP2, but other than that the only reason he should ever be taken is that he has Disrupt Reinforcements standard, and thus can troll Deep Strike armies. By default, he's not the usual take; and he's now overshadowed considerably by A certain new Raven Guard Captain though considerably cheaper. He buffs Incursion and Vanguard squads in a helpful way, since they wouldn't likely be pinning enemies through shooting by giving them Fleet and Ob-Sec instead of The Unseen. His personal combat ability has greatly increased however, granting him bonus attacks against critical misses from enemies or all misses in challenges.

His Warlord Ability grants Furious and Objective Secured to Incursion Squads. Probably the worst Warlord Trait out of the lot, though he is more combat oriented than strategic

• Garven Brias, Master of Ordnance: A source of GREAT RAGE in the past. He has since been nerfed into oblivion. Originally Garven Brias was a 120 point model, that had access to an Orbital Bombardment, and could take two more for 20 points each. Then later he got nerfed into a massive points increase, and had his number of additional purchases deceased to only one more. Now he's a 150 point model that can only use a Ordnance 2 Orbital Bombardment If he's your Warlord. Just take a look at his statline: WS4, W2, and only 2 attacks. If you really want those orbital bombardments, you've got to be willing to take a 2-Wound glass cannon as your warlord. If you field him, HE WILL DIE, usually by your opponent Shooting him with his entire army on turn 1 as soon as you let him know what he does. Should your opponent make the mistake of letting him live past turn 1, expect him to lose a not-insignificant chunk of his army. Sticking him in a sizable Tac-Senseless Suppressor squad or with a loaded Tactical squad will make the most of his unit buffing Tac-Sense that he has.

If you're willing to shell out the points for it, Garven Brias can actually serve as a DISTRACTION CARNIFEX when he's your warlord. His power means your opponent will waste an entire turn just trying to kill him. Use this to your advantage to get marines into key positions on the first turn.

Warlord Ability: Garven Brias' Warlord ability grants you an Ordinance 2 Orbital Bombardment, which is VERY POWERFUL. However, at Weapon Skill 4, and only 2 wounds, he's the most fragile character in the entire codex. It also grants Suppressor squads Objective Secured, which is great for a backline unit sitting on objectives for the most part.

• Mechanicus Maestro Gajet: A solid back-line supporter that is best kept simultaneously with a large squad and near a vehicle or two. He can repair vehicles better than any Techmarine and has an upgraded servo-harness and all the nice close-combat goodies a character can usually take. In addition, he can also take Experimental Infantry Wargear while also lifting the limit for such completely, and is able to take a better version of the GAC Platform with the HGAC multiple hit ability. For best results, take a full 12man Tactical squad with an Aceso and watch your opponent rage as their shooting does little against 3+ 4++ 5+++, though the Invulnerable save he gives worsens in close combat.

Due to recent changes, if you buy the MkI Gravitic Lance Platform for Gajet and stick him in front, you basically make him T7 W3 Sv2+/4++ against any and all shooting coming his way. Just remember to stick him back behind the Carrier once he gets too 1W or 2W to let the Rapier tank the rest of the shots.

Warlord Ability: Gajet's Warlord Ability removes the restriction on Experimental Equipment. Because of this, he's tied with Zakis for the best Warlord Ability.

• Captain Xavion : GOD TIER CAPTAIN. Captain Xavion's pretty well known for being the shootiest captain you'll ever put on the table. He sports a 36" Salvo 2/4 S:X Ap5 Stalker Bolter with Sniper and Shred, and is named Mandate. With his Ballistic Skill of 6, and Crack Shot, he's capable of putting 4 wounds on anything you damn well please each round. Just beware that this guy 'has no invulnerable save of any kind, and therefore will go down like a Limp Fish in melee. That being said, if this guy ends up in melee, you deserve exactly what will happen to him. His Preferred Enemy: Necrons, and Necron Destroyer ability are inherently situational, and unfortunately you're paying for them regardless of whether or not you're playing against Necrons though if you do come across them, aim for the Overlords when possible relying on Reanimation Protocols to stay up when possible.

There is a noteworthy form of Cheese you can manifest with Xavion, in the form of Quad Guns. You see, the Quad Gun that can be purchased with Aegis Defense lines takes the BS of whoever is manning it. Go ahead and put xavion on it for fun. This particular editor has endlessly trolled his FLG's Ork-bro, by consistently destroying his Fighta'Bommas the very turn they come in before they ever get to do anything. And the best part about this is that RAW for Interceptor means that if Xavion fires the Quad-gun during your opponent's turn, he can still fire Mandate in your turn. Never stop shooting!

Warlord Ability: Xavion's new, new Warlord Ability makes ALL Knights Inductor units with Suppression Tactics in cover ignore all reductions to cover saves (except against a 6 rolled Destroyer weapon or units within 12"). Yes, this is a big-ass FUCK YOU to Tau and other widespread cover-ignoring shenanigans. If he's your Warlord, this essentially gives him a 2++ in cover, making him extremely frustrating to flush out with fire. This obviously synergizes very well with lots of camo-cloak purchases to get the most out of this ability.

• Chief Librarian Zecherias: A power Psyker in an army of anti-Psykers, with his Warp Surge ability he can easily generate as many Warp Charges as several lesser Psykers and hold his own. He can re-roll any one dice in the Psychic Phase, either to get that power to go through, or to re-roll a Perils result or to get an extra chances to deny the enemy in their Psychic Phase. Oddly enough he's fairly combat oriented with a (human) combat HQ statline and with a powerful Force sword and a combat-based Malediction extra power. Use him to bolster a squad with Biomancy powers or for some powerful Divination casting as you see fit.

• 'Sergeant/Paladin/Captain of the Guard/Honor Guardian Ferrus: This guy's name has been changed so many times that we decided to list all of them at once here. He is a Space Marine that fights with a shield as his main weapon (that and a stormbolter w/ Stun bolts). The shield gives him better and better protection the nastier the wounds coming his way, and even protects him from being insta-splatted by Destroyer weapons or Super-heavy Walker Stomp attacks. He can also get back up from the dead, but only once. Stick him with another HQ to protect or in an expensive squad that needs a meat shield and have him tank the hits coming their way. If possible, get him into a challenge where his between his durability, debuff to enemy attacks and the Electro-shackles he carries on him, he'll frustrate expensive enemy beatsticks to no end.

Lords of War

• Maxima Marauder

• Silencer Alpha Rachnus: Oh god, where the hell do I even begin with this guy? For starters there's the obvious that he's a THREE HUNDRED POINT infantry model. Only 4 wounds with Eternal Warrior, and 2+/4+ saves. So if your opponent stares at him with a sufficiently angry expression Rachnus will probably die. Stick him in a 24-man squad with an Aceso, for the MAXIMUM number of wounds.

Now, you might be thinking why you would ever want to buy a 300 point model with only 4 wounds. And the answer is pretty simple. Rachnus is a 1-man Squad-wiping Lawnmower in the Psychic Phase, literally so scary that even Marines are forced to LEARN HOW TO FEAR THINGS in his presence.. Your best option would probably be to Deathstar him with some Termis, and possibly also with Ferrus to let him laugh at challenges. Psychic phase rolls around and Rachnus Unleashes his aura to drop everyone's LD by 3 points, then casts Synapse Disruption to force enemies to take lowest leadership, then Horrifying Presence to nova EVERYTHING within 9" to take a 3d6 Leadership test on -3LD, -4LD if they're psykers. If your opponent doesn't retaliate with everything he has to remove this guy immediately from the board, then he'll likely start losing entire sections of his gunline.

Now that your whole army is stubborn by default, you actually don't have to worry anywhere near as much about the Silencer Perils with Rachnus, and other Silencers automatically ignore the fear check that results from Silencer Perils. So if Rachnus is Deathstarring with Null Paladins, then he can pretty much recklessly throw however many dice he damn well pleases. Just beware that pretty much only Knights Inductor can reliably stay close to him once the psychic phase rolls around, so if you try putting him in a Cadre Fireblade, you'll have to be damned careful with your null charges.

• Predator Avalon With very obvious arthurian Naming Conventions, the Knights Inductor codex brings out yet another glass cannon Lord of War. This is the Predator Avalon, carrying only a single weapon that can essentially be summed up as a Lascannon Scattergun. Aside from that, the Avalon has significantly reinforced armor over standard predators, and has two void shields.

- The obvious, Takes up your one Experimental Vehicle Wargear Slot

- The Excalibur Prismatic cannon is a Large-Blast Lascannon that causes a large number of automatic hits on enemy units inside of the pie plate. Vehicles take D3 Lascannon LANCE hits, Infantry take D6+3 Lascannon hits. It's a nasty piece of work, but it's not a S:D, and thus is of limited usefulness against titans. In order to be most effective, you actually want to aim for tank columns and groups of elite enemies like Terminators, Mega Nobz, and Annoying walkers with Strength D Flamers

- Void shields might be AV-12, so they're not here to protect you from lascannons. What they're really for is stopping Strength D weapons from 1-shotting the Avalon. A Destroyer roll of 6 still only takes out a single shield layer and that's it.

- Does not have the Invincible Behemoth Rule: Not so very self-explanatory. But the gist of it is that while this tank has the firepower of a Superheavy, it is vulnerable to things that Superheavies aren't. When it's shields are down it will be vulnerable to all types of penetration results(Though it's refractive shield will give it a 5+ invuln against them), meaning a meltagun can 1-shot it through EXPLODES! results!

Building an Army

Standard stuff if you're taking the CAD, 1 HQ and 2 Troops! Ferrus is your cheapest named character who is hella durable as a Warlord, making him an troll to take down. The Librarian is your cheapest non-named HQ and can provide some nice utility for his cost.
The way I tend to structure my lists is through a Take All Comers (TAC) approach, which is the following: x2 of anti-infantry/horde, x2 of anti-armor/vehicle, x2 of anti-toughness/MC, x0-2 of anti-air, x1-2 of anti-psychic. Following that general pattern will allow you to cover your corners decently and not fall completely flat against any specific army type, though see my notes below on anti-infantry and anti-armor.

• On Troops: Thanks to Squad Issue Wargear your troops can become pretty useful! Specialized Bolt Ammunition is a safe choice, allowing you to out-range other Space Marines, deal with Monstrous Creatures, and support forward assault units in one nice package. Unless you're taking a Pacification Detachment this does make Tacticals as expensive as jump infantry. Specialized Bolt Ammunition does provide the same versatility if you give it to a cheaper unit like Scouts or Guard Aspirants.

As mentioned earlier, an Aceso on a full 12-man squad of Tacticals, perhaps with Camo cloaks dug into cover, makes them dead 'ard and a pain to remove from any objective. Perhaps you might want a squad like that holding the Attrition Objective objective which has a huge target on it.

• Anti-Infantry and Anti-Armor: The Knights Inductor as a whole excels at this, their entire Chapter Tactics revolve around Pinning or shooting the fuck out of any exposed infantry units within range. They also have access to some half-decent artillery and can easily pull some good pie plates out to dole out to hordes. This also means you NEED anti-armor units, and maybe more so than usual, since the Knights are unusually weak against Mechanized armies or armies packing a lot of armor. Guard Aspirant squads deep striking with meltas are a good start, but you should also have some longer-ranged anti-armor like Lascannons or Gravitic Mass Drivers in order to pop those transports at range.
• Taking Silencers: Silencers' powers and abilities as a whole are incredibly short-ranged. They will do absolutely jack for you sitting in your gunline. This necessitates either teleporting, or more smartly, taking a Drop pod with a retinue of some sort. Silencer Minoris are obviously the safest choice, generating Null Charges and they won't run when silencer perils come around. They are however expensive as hell and blinging them out (especially with that almost obligatory Aceso) will drive up their cost very fast.
• Experimental Wargear: In general you will have to choose between taking a restricted unit using a slot or taking a supportive piece of wargear on an Independent Character. It mainly comes down to points and how much you're willing to spend on said units or characters. If you have a good amount, getting an Innovatus squad will provide some serious firepower against high AV targets at a good range, while the Predator Vaeris can mount the excellent MLRS or similar weaponry. If you're spending on a budget, an ASS or Tracer bolts will do you little harm, especially if you take a storm bolter for the latter. And though it took a small price hike, a Macharius Stratagems Codex is one of the best purchases to make, as you can choose a special rule to give out before battle, making it a very versatile piece of strategic wargear for the cost.

Tactics

The Basics: Shoot the choppy stuff and assault the shooty stuff.

Using Suppression Tactics

You probably shouldn't rely too hard on the Pinning aspect of your Chapter Tactic, while it is indeed powerful when the Pinning check is failed, many of your opponents have high leadership to begin with or are immune outright. Assuming they're not immune, you'll either want to fire normally, with checks inflicted on a variety of units, or focus-fire a single unit to inflict multiple Pinning checks. Pairing this with a Leadership-reducing unit like Silencers is a sure-combo to success.

• Take Their Head is actually more useful than the Pinning itself, as +1BS also stacks with other common shooting bonuses like twin-linking or re-rolls of 1 to hit. Always make sure you ask which units in your opponent's army are Fearless so you know whether you get the +1BS bonus or not.
• Halt Their Advance is a good bit more situational, and often times this will be paired with long-ranged firepower. While again this is useless against units with Move Through Cover, against those few scary melee units that are not immune you'll definitely want to use this shooting attack. However like it was mentioned, this should be paired with long-ranged firepower like artillery to continually whittle down the slowed unit so that by the time it reaches you it's basically a non-factor.
• Suppressive Fusillade, aside from the -2BS modifier, is the most powerful out of all the special shooting attacks. You'll rarely force a 3D6 Morale check unless the unit had only 3-5 models to begin with, but the 3D6 Pinning check will ensure that even Ld8 armies like Space Marines and Eldar will have a tough time staying up. Think of using this ability as trading a unit's firepower for another unit's firepower. Assuming either of the 3D6 tests are failed, you will have basically traded hitting on 5's to force another unit to either not fire at all (falling back) or fire only on 6's (regroup or pinned). This is a balancing act between your unit actually being able to kill enough to force those checks and the amount of threat the target unit poses.

Counter-Tactics

These are some of the ways that you can expect the Knights Inductor to play and how to plan accordingly.

• Infiltration Armies

Infiltration Armies will make extensive use of Camo Cloaks and Captains in order to give medium sized teams rules such as Infiltrate, Deep Strike, and Precision Shots.

* Keep your valuable units inside of Transports: This is KEY to stopping precision shots from taking out your special weapons, which are prime targets for units using Marks-Sense

* Spread out your forces if you have larger numbers, ensure you have maximum LOS to the board. This helps keep Infiltrators from getting uncomfortably close

• Silencer-Elite Deathstar

The other primary playstyle for Knights Inductor involves using very small numbers of elite units, in a mimickry of Grey Knights. Paladins will likely be used to farm Null Charges, and to ferry Silencers into your deployment zone early on. Often these lists will contain a small token force deep inside their own deployment, in order to ensure a Turn-1 auto defeat doesn't happen.

* Infantry MUST be inside of transports: Transports never take morale checks for any reason, therefore they can't be feared off the board. As a direct consequence, infantry inside of transports can't be feared off of the board.

* Anything not in a transport must be as far away from deployment zone as possible: Infiltrate, Scout, camp them right on the edge. Anything to keep them farther from the board edge will mitigate the effects of morale checks to fear them off of the board.

* Look into getting fearless, or Stubborn: This is your LIFELINE. Silencers will deep strike inside your deployment, and there will possibly even be Rachnus going in to fear-check key models off of the board. Fearless won't stop Shatter Mind's ability to assassinate characters, so be careful here. ATSKNF is useful here, but it can be denied by Rachnus, at which point you're no better at fear checks than ordinary humans. Straight fearless is what you need instead.

* Stubborn has a small chance of saving you. You lose its benefit due to Advanced Rules if a silencer manifests Synapse Disruption. As Synapse Disruption is a more advanced rule than stubborn, you'll take your leadership on the lowest number. It will still stop further leadership penalties, but things like Conscripts will melt at their LD5.

* Do not use lists that depend on Psykers: All psychic powers automatically fail when used on Silencers and their units. However, the Silencers are weak outside of their usual niche. If you don't bring any psykers, you can easily deny their silencers a large portion of their purpose. The only exception to this is Eldar and Daemons, in which you can massively overpower Empyrean Anathema through sheer weight of warp dice.

* SPAM VEHICLES: Paladins and Silencers have no ability to harm vehicles in the psychic phase. Their entire strength comes from Psychological warfare, being able to fear infantry, and shut down the psychic phase. Vehicles, especially heavier ones like Lemans, will absolutely laugh at a Silencers main powers.

Common Playstyles

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