A little earlier we discussed how to take a convenient allied detachment of the Custodes. While the Space Wolfs Codex is still on its way, let’s analyze how another peculiar faction - the Imperial Knights – can work as an ally.
Knights play well on their own. But we are primarily interested in their potential as allies. It would seem, that it’s simple - take an Auxiliary Superheavy detachment, and any knight you like – the allied detachment is ready. But in this case, the knight won’t be able to take advantage of households that work only in a full-scale superheavy detachment of three units.
And these advantages are very necessary. More precisely, one of them - the house Hawkshroud. You truly want your expensive knights to remain effective as long as possible, don’t you? Doubling wounds to calculate the degradation is so essential that even an overpayment for two additional slots worth it. The knight of the Questoris class begins to weaken only when left with 6 wounds - usually in this condition the knight is not going to live for a long time, and this becomes not so important.
So, we have three slots. The cheapest option, of course, is to take three Armigers. 3 Helverines will cost you only 522 points, if you don’t take them with meltas. (Which, in general, is not necessary), 3 Warglaives without meltaguns cost 492pts. But they can also be combined. A pack of two Helverines and 1 Warglaive will solve a fairly wide range of tasks. This is also convenient - you buy a box with 2 Helverines, and a lone Warglaive is easy to buy from the owners of the Forgebane set in the secondary market. As you can see, any army can afford such an alliance. When playing up to 2000 points, this is probably the best option.
But since we are talking about the Imperial Knights, their detachment won’t be complete without at least one Questoris-knight. It is better to add it when playing 2000, or 2500 points battle - the pleasure is not cheap. And, despite all the diversity, there are, in fact, three options.
Preceptor - a logical choice, if we consider that we already have a lot of Armigers, since he gives them a reroll of 1-s to hit. Given not the highest range of his weapons, and the inability to take only range weapons, he will be the best company for Warglaives. But, to be honest, its main gun is not a weapon you can rely on. Double random, after all. Yes, and it is always better to do one thing, but well, than everything, but medium.
Therefore, our choice falls on Gallant. Everyone’s favourite, he will cost you only 354 points, if you do not take weapons on the back. If you have spare, take it. If not - not scary. He is very dangerous in close combat, and will definitely draw enemies’ attention from your Armigers. His main advantage is that he is reliable. The number of attacks is fixed, the damage on all weapons - too. You always know what damage can be expected.
If your army needs shooting more than a close combat, it makes sense to think about an expensive but powerful Crusader. Give him the maximum number of weapons, and leave it in the deployment zone - you already have a pair of Helverines there. If necessary - he still fights well in close combat with his feet, and will be able to stop advancing enemy. Although, of course, 530 points with maximum wargear is already significant, and the cost of our "allied detachment" exceeds one thousand points.
With such cost, you can already think about the Dominus class knignts. Valiant looks preferable - he has a more stable weapon, he is cheaper, and provides more interesting gameplay than the standard gunline-style Castellan. However, this is still an option not for everyone, because the enemy, obviously, will not ignore him, and while getting to the distance of effective shooting, he has a risk of being significantly damaged.
However, there is always the option to take three Gallants for the same points and puzzle the enemy with three dangerous and viable targets. As you can see, Imperial knights, despite the actual existence of only three models, can be a good alliance and solve a wide range of problems. At a price from 500 to 1200 points, this detachment will help you to compensate weaknesses of your army, and it will also look great on the table.