Word Bearers vs Imperial Knights, 22.03.2023

After a long hiatus, I jumped at the occasion of a game of 40k. I knew the list was bad on paper against Knights, but this is my all-comers build, and I wanted to see how it goes. Arks of Omen detachments are quite nice, as I can skip the 3 troops. I also built a Highlander-type list (not even troops and transports are duplicated) to prepare for a future event.

Bikers hiding, ready to pounce on objectives. Chosen in the Land Raider, along with the Possessed, hide behind a LOS-blocking ruin. Everybody else mob the center to hide from the bajillion melta shots.

Even the brand new Daemon Prince! Knights towering ominously over the ruins.

Battle round 1

For the first time in ages, I got first turn. I decided to move out aggressively, as I get solidly beaten on points whenever I get stuck in my zone. I took advantage of the Knights not being able to pass through walls. Cultists and Accursed Cultists on the flanks, Terminators and characters in the middle.

As expected, the Knights moved out all across the field. Just look at all those paper slips! The amount of bookkeeping is horrendous. They all lined up in the middle to take shots at the Land Raider, which died and killed 3 Chosen in the process. An Armiger charged the Bikers which were stationed too close to the wall, killing them in one swing. Let me tell you, lessons were learned.

Also, the Accursed Cultists were absolute bosses and held up two Armigers.

Word Bearers, turn 2

I knew I had to go in hard and fast, otherwise the Knights would grind me down. Start with the Rubrics getting out, and flaming two Armigers. One died, thanks to the Rhino contributing with its free combi melta. Honestly, a fleet of Rhinos does not seem like a bad idea.

The Dark Apostle ran out between the Armigers, and the Daemon Prince flew over them. Both charged into the Gallant warlord. Let's see how this goes.

... turned out pretty well, actually. Even with the Prince rolling poorly to wound, having Warp Marked on the Gallant helped a huge amount. The Prince did 8 wounds and the Apostle did 18. 18! It blew my mind. Obviously the Gallant fought on death and killed the Prince. Once again, the Apostle is awesome with his two homies to soak up damage.

The Terminators did about what I expected - chip damage here and there. Then they died.

The Possessed did 11 damage to an Armiger, -1 damage neuters them. I've seen this previously against a Redemptor, so I wasn't surprised.

Imperial Knights, turn 2

The two surviving Armigers moved in against the Rubrics.

The Possessed heroically survived the shooting of the Crusader. The Apostle then survived its melee attacks. Things were going a lot better than I expected.

 Shooting went well, but they were afraid of charging, so Yellow only went into the Rhino.

Accursed Cultists still boss with 1 guy left standing.

Word Bearers, turn 3

I was thinking on falling back the Apostle vs leaving him in combat. I decided on glorious combat, healed him up with Pact of Flesh, then charged in the Possessed. Without -1 damage they shredded the knights, and the Apostle once again did 18 damage against the Warp Marked Crusader. Whoot!

The Rubrics fell back and into the Rhino, eeking out another turn to survive.

The Knights threw in the towel at this point, with only 3 Armigers left on the board. Word Bearers victory!

Thoughts

This went well. A lot better than expected. Knights are tough, but luck was on my side at least some of the time. Synergies were cool to see as well.

I had never used Warp Marked to great effect previously, as the Apostle always did the heavy lifting, and he auto wounds. Not against vehicles! This time, it was hilarious to see. It also helped the Daemon Prince (who is pretty good even naked) and the Possessed. 

Most everything in the list pulled its weight. Besides the damage dealing characters, the Master of Posessions sat in the table center, Exalted the Dark Gods, and cast Warp Marked. Rubrics are solidly dependable as always. Accursed Cultists are absolute bosses. Terminators were great at attracting fire (not great at surviving, alas). Possessed are super awesome when not up against -1 damage and Armor of Contempt. The Rhino, with its free combi melta, was worth every point.

The Land Raider died in a single turn of shooting sadly. It did soak up the entire army's worth of shots, so I think that allowed the Terminators to see turn 2. The Chosen sat this one out, but they scored points holding the backfield objective, so everything turned out OK.

As for the Knights, the bookkeeping is over-the-top. Otherwise they are very scary with their army wide buffs, and even Armigers present a huge threat. There are no objective holding troops in the list that I can safely ignore until the end. I think I was luckly grabbing turn out and taking the middle, as the Knights would have been hard to hold back otherwise.