Why are Black Knights so good?

[Demian]

Grave Guard stand on their own, with few character support, but lots of spells are required for them to outshine other elites.

Now, Black Knights on the other hand are not quite that simple. Having a Wight King or two with them is almost a must, as is giving them Banner of the Barrows. The other trick you'll need to master is having them March where they need to, and then rely on their M8 / Swift Reforms to out-maneouvre other units, which is difficult if the General of the army is not near, and only Vampires can have such mobility, not Necromancers.


Now, since they'll probably be out of range of basic Invocation of Nehek, you'll have to either abandon them entirely to their luck, or use buffed versions of it at the risk of miscasting.

Beyond that, they are a standard unbreakable cavalry with Killing Blow and ethereal movement. If you move them wisely, they'll do their job, but never as good as if they had a Vampire or two with them.

 

[Valle]

I dont agree with Johnny on the wight kings, I think they are great at their cost with 5t and 3w. You can even keep them naked and they will do a job. In a unit of GG I would just give them GW and have 3 in there for 6 ekstra attacks. In black knights just give them barding and lance, and since they use skeletong steed you will be able to use the etheral movement now which you couldnt with vampires in there, giving you a huge tactical advantage. Just dont think that the unit will be a deathstar you can charge into anything, because you cant. But play it wise and it will do very well alongside something else... GG can be a deathstar unit if you have close to 40 in there with banner of barrows and a few WK though.

You might want to look at matt reesons youtube videos, he also play without vamps and manage to win allot. Ofcourse, he then also uses two tbats which helps with that, but its worth taking a look, and the videos are good.

 

[Dimreapa]

Thanks for that guys.

 

[heldantes]

Can I just confirm what i think I already understand: with a character in the unit of black knights, it reduces the unit movement speed to 7? Under skeletal steed spectral rule it says they lose their special rule if joined by anyone.

This is annoying! I really like the screaming banner, especially now chaos don't have reroll ld tests, but this seems a good reason to get the swiftness banner.

 

[Demian]

Yes that is correct. if a Vampire / Necromancer joins a unit of Black Knights, they loose their Spectral Steeds =(

However... why are Black Knights so good now?

Because of the Restless Dead formation!

NOW they can go about marching on their own and such, going through buildings / walls, bringing the terror where they need to !

 

[heldantes]

What's the restless dead formation?

 

[Demian]

Here's more detailed info:

https://www.vampirecounts.net/Thread-BATTLESCROLL-THE-RESTLESS-DEAD

 

[PrinceCharming]

black knight bus, works very psychologically, accompany them with some hex wraiths, maybe a gheist, and see the enemys brain crack at the point of , what am i targeting first! THe worst thing u could do , is keep your buss too little, so when they shoot down 4 knights, all you have left is command and 2 vamps =) thats what makes it very expensive.

I myself feel, like a very experienced player with single flying characters, and skimirhs moving armies, so i play without a bus, with my vamps on hellsteed, people say im crazy for keeping my lord in the open, but i seem to manage it.