Check out these new 40k Chaos Knight rules that are coming inside Engine War, as another Psychic Awakening preview from GW is here!
Warhammer Community dropped some of the new 40k rules coming inside Engine War for Chaos Knights earlier in the week, but here’s everything else that’s coming our way on June 6th that was spotted on multiple Facebook groups
New Engine War Chaos Knight 40k Rules REVEALED
From the Table of Contents, we knew we were getting Stratagems, name generators, datasheets, updated points, customizable Forge World/Knight Households, and more. It was a little difficult to tell what some things were based on their title in the Table of Contents alone, but the new rules are here now!
Starting off, depending on if you choose Iconoclast or Infernal to be your Household allegiance, your Knights will get access to new specific Stratagems, Warlord Traits, and artifacts.
If your force is from an Iconoclast household, you can now declare your army to be part of House Lucaris, House Herpetrax or House Khymere. Alternatively, if your allegiance is to an Infernal household, you can join House Vertrix or House Khomentis. Each house has its own Household Bond, Warlord Trait, Artefact of Tyranny and Stratagem.
House Herpetrax
Stating with the Iconoclasts, for any Herpetrax Chaos Knight you take, you’ll get the Dauntless Bond. If you’re playing a War Dog, you’ll only get one (which makes sense). Honestly, it might not seem like a big deal, but any time you make it harder for your opponent to take down a 400+ pt model, you’re forcing them to devote even more firepower than what they may feel comfortable using.
Warping Aura is also pretty sweet if your model gets surrounded, surprise them with this strat to get a few more mortals for (basically) free.
House Lucaris
The Warlord Trait for House Lucaris looks really good. Strike First, Strike Often keeps this Knight relatively safe from Smash Captain delete buttons. This Knight will always fight regardless of who charged. If you’re wondering why we said this Warlord Trait will keep you “relatively” safe, it’s because the Smash Captain could always spend 2CP to fight as they die.
Overall though, this is insanely powerful. Especially going against other Knights or any melee-heavy list.
House Khymere
For Khymere, you’re getting access to the stratagem Fury of Surtr’s Wake which turns your Knight into a mortal wound bomb. It’s pretty cool that they brought in the Norse fire giant Surtr into the fluff. The Knight spews fire everywhere around him melting things within 3″. The only sucky part is that it’s kind of expensive at 2CP for something that’s 50/50. Maybe this will be more cost-effective moving into 9th since we know they want more command points, who knows?
Annihilatum, on the other hand, is brutal! 18″ auto hitting flamers are nothing to scoff at. With 3d6 shots at -2 AP and 3 Damage a pop, this flamer can delete characters and elite infantry alike.
House Vextrix
For the Infernal Households, House Vextrix is getting an artifact called the Heretek Power Core. This thing is sweet as you’ll get a bonus inch of movement, +1 damage on your chainsword/gauntlet, and explode at a +1 to your roll. If you’ve got a wrecking ball Knight build, this may be an artifact to consider.
House Khomentis
Khomentis is getting some War Dog support with the stratagem Encircling Hounds. This lets you outflank with a unit of War Dogs. If you’re running the melee dudes, you can drop them in up close and make them a priority target. Or in case you’re going up against one of those annoying no-LOS shooting lists, you can drop your autocannon dudes in at a different angle to pop some shots. Definitely competitive at 1CP.
Custom Household Rules
Of course, you may decide that you want to create your own dread household, and Engine War has rules to let you do this. Choose two abilities from the list that really represent how your Knights make war.
From the first page, we get both of the previewed traits and another awesome one in Dark Forging. The extra range on each knight you bring is huge. Considering how much guns each knight can have, this could easily effectively add a total of 32″ of range spread out among weapons.
From the first page, Endless Torment, Warp Vision, and Gheits of Ruin all count as one choice, but their abilities make up for the restriction for sure.
Slayer of Kings is okay. We say it’s okay because you pretty much have to be running some form of a melee Knight for this to work and the Rampager already has a 2+ WS. It’s mainly useful for Knights that have a ranged/melee weapon or if you plan on seeing your Knights degrade quickly before they can put some work in. You basically get +1 WS on your Knight if you target a Vehicle or Monster. Remember that this is only for melee and you can’t use your feet.
Pinpoint Cruelty seems pretty dope, getting a free reroll for damage in overwatch, shooting, and melee is solid. It could be a little dependent on your Knight loadout, but if you’re running two thermal cannons then this is definitely something to consider for sure!
The second page also brings some sweet options to the table. The top left [unreadable] bond is actually pretty good. Always being able to move at the top bracket and then some is a great bonus if you want to run or are always charging in.
Rapid Offensive could potentially pair with that previous bond if they all have assault weapons. This combo could make your list one of the most mobile knight lists ever seen!
This is just the tip of the iceberg for all the new rules coming inside Psychic Awakening’s Engine War so keep your eyes peeled for IK, Admech, and Chaos Daemons as well!
What do you think about the new 40k rules that the Chaos Knight got in Engine War.
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
Bio: Virginia restless, miniature painter & cat dad. He blames LEGOs for all this, as there was something about those little-colored blocks that started it all. Spikey Bits sprung from Rob staying motivated to hobby on his backlog of projects, while sharing his knowledge with others during the early blogging era.
LEGO maniac and scale model hobbyist in the 80s turned miniature wargamer and trading card player ever since. He’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition), but Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and minatures made of pewter and resin.
