Faction Focus: Imperial Knights Questoris Companions Detachment Review

Codex Imperial Knights is getting ready to hit the shelves soon and while the new Valourstrike Lance detachment has been receiving most of the attention for this new release, the Questoris Companions Detachment may be flying under the radar…and it may be just as good or even dare I say better than Valourstrike! Let’s get into it!

Questoris Companions: Detachment Rule

The detachment rule for Questoris Companions seems underwhelming at first glance. It allows you to pick a new Oath at the start of your turn if your first Oath is fulfilled. While on the surface this isn’t as flashy as Valourstrike and its Advance/Shoot mechanic, it is actually quite strong.

A Note on Oaths

To fully understand the detachment rule we need to take a moment to look over the Oaths. Each Oath is composed of a Deed (something you need to do in the game) which then unlocks a Quality (a bonus gained for all your Imperial Knights models for the duration of the battle.)

You can either choose a Deed and a Quality or roll them randomly both during the “Read Mission Objectives” step before the battle. During the game if you complete your Deed and gain your Quality (aka become Honoured) you also gain extra Command Points (2 if you picked your Deed/Quality or 3 if you rolled randomly) and this gain of CP is not restricted by the rule allowing you to gain no more than 1 CP per Battle Round.

The Deeds are as follows:

• Select an enemy Character at the start of the battle. The Deed is completed at the end of a turn when the Character is destroyed
• If you control more objectives than your opponent controls at the end of their turn
• At the end of a turn if more units were destroyed than the current number of the battle round (probably the easiest to accomplish) e.g. in Battle Round 1 if you destroy 2 or more enemy units then the Deed is fulfilled.

The Qualities are as follows:

• Reroll a hit and a wound roll when selected to shoot or fight
• Add 2” to your models move characteristic and 1 to Advance and Charge rolls
• Improve OC by 2 and Leadership by 1

So normally Imperial Knights are limited to getting one of these bonuses when the Deed is fulfilled but the Questoris Companions allows you to continue picking Deeds and Qualities each time you fulfill one. Potentially allowing you to super-charge your knights with multiple powerful in-game bonuses. And on top of that, you gain 1 cp each time you complete them after the first time. So you are generating CP in addition to getting the extra Qualities.

Now, the fact that these are conditional on accomplishing the Deed to unlock may seem like a turn off as a detachment rule, but all 3 Deeds are fairly easy to accomplish when you can time and sequence them correctly.

Questoris Companions: Enhancements

Now this is where the army is a bit of a let down as these enhancements are “expendable.” Meaning that when they are used once they cannot be used again until you complete the next Oath.

The enhancements here are mostly just ok with Pennant of Silvered Fury standing out above the others allowing the bearer to gain Sustained Hits 2 on its melee weapons. Pretty solid on a Knight Gallant or even a Lancer, Atrapos or Castigator.

Once your next oath is fulfilled, your enhancement resets and you can use it again.

Questoris Companions: Stratagems

This is where the real juice is. This detachment is full of awesome strats which really helps ramp up the army’s power. All of these strats are 1 CP with the exception of Unstoppable Warrior which is 2 CP

• Courageous Stand – shooting or fight phase. One Imperial Knights Titanic unit gains a 6+ Feel No Pain until the end of the phase
• Titanic Duel – your shooting or fight phase. One Imperial Knights Titanic model that hasn’t been selected to shoot or fight. Until the end of the phase, each time your model makes an attack that targets an enemy Titanic, Monster or Vehicle unit add 1 to the Hit and 1 to the Wound roll
• Moment of Glory – Fight Phase just before an Imperial Knights Titanic model makes a consolidation move. That model may make an extra 3” consolidation but must end within engagement range of an enemy unit.
• Hero’s Tread – Your command phase. One Imperial Knights Titanic model within range of an objective marker you control. Sticky with OC 5
• Unstoppable Warrior – 2 CP. Your movement phase just after an Imperial Knights Titanic model makes a Fall Back move. The model can shoot and charge
• Driven by the Past – Your charge phase. One Imperial Knights Titanic model from your army that made an Advance move. Your unit can make a charge in the charge phase

All of these Strats target your Titanic knights so if you’re a fan of the big boys, Questoris Companions is the detachment for you. With powerful strats like fall back and shoot/charge, advance and charge, sticky, +1 to hit/wound Vehicles and Monsters and 6+ Feel No Pain these Strats really give the Imperial Knights player basically every tool they could want save for an invulnerable save in melee.

Running a Questoris Companions Army

Let’s take a look at an example list and how this might run.

Canis Rex is an obvious choice here as he maintains an incredibly strong datasheet in the new codex and is probably going to remain a constant in Imperial Knights lists moving forward. Popping the Titanic Duel strat on him for free to add 1 to hit and wound against enemy Monster and Vehicle units ramps up his Las-Impulsor profile significantly.

Castigators come with both an awesome infantry killing gun and powerful melee attacks as well with the Bondsman ability to give those Helverins Sustained Hits 1 and extra AP on their autocannons.

And of course the Gallant is a great target for some early melee pressure being able to use the Advance and Charge Strat to get an early charge off.

This detachment also offers you the ability to gain up to 5 CP over the course of the game (although in most instances you’ll only gain 4 as you should not really roll randomly for your oaths) which is in addition to the standard CP you will gain during the Battle Rounds. Giving you lots of CP to fuel those awesome strats.

The order and sequencing of the Oaths is important and will likely change from game to game but a good path to follow would be like this:

Deed 1: Destroy more enemy units than number of the battle round -> Oath 1: Reroll a hit and wound of 1

Deed 2: Hold more objectives than the opponent at the end of their turn -> Oath 2: +2 move and +1 advance and charge rolls

Deed 3: Destroy a Character model -> Oath 3: Increase OC by 2 and leadership by 1

Final Thoughts

Imperial Knights are ready to hit the meta in a big way. If you’re a fan of the big Titanic knights then Questoris Companions is probably the detachment for you. With a good detachment rule and a great suite of stratagems to choose from it’s bound to make a splash on the tabletop. While Valourstrike Lance is likely the early favorite for “best Imperial Knights detachment” I think the Questoris Companions detachment may be just as good or better.

If you’re new to the game or want to improve quickly, then don’t forget to grab my FREE eBook: Forging Your Path to Victory: A Beginner’s Guide to Competitive 40K. A great starting point for those looking to jump into Competitive 40K. Subscribe and get your free copy!

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See you on the tabletop.