Black Knight
Black Knights are the horrific reanimated corpses of long-dead tribal chieftains and primeval knights who were raised from their resting place by Necromancers and Vampires. In the times before the Empire, there were few domesticated horses, and horsemen were exceedingly rare. In most tribes, a steed was a symbol of wealth and status. So it was often that only a chieftain and his closest warriors would ride mounted into battle, the wealthiest of their number clad in crude iron plate and carrying stout shields. When these early knights died, their horses were ritually killed and buried in the barrows alongside their masters so that they may carry their deceased master into the afterlife. Now they live on as Wights, mightier than any mere Skeleton.[2a]
Many centuries later, A Vampire may summon forth the gruesome remains of these ancient knights, using them to bolster the ranks of their Undead minions.[2a] As a Vampire stalks through barrows and tombs, the Dark Magic swirls invisibly around him like a cloak, probing into the cracked and overgrown porticos of each resting place and saturating the bones of the armoured corpses within. Without the blessings of Morr to protect them, these corpses are at the mercy of the Vampire.[3a]
A thousand years of dust shifts and dissipates as the parchment-dry skeletal corpses twitch and sit upright. In a morbid mockery of their old lives, these Black Knights stir into motion. Alongside them, the skeletal remains of their steeds jerk to unlife as well, twisted by magic into hellish mockeries of the noble beasts they once were. Outside the barrow, the Vampire would then split open the resting place of his new servants with a deafening crack. At his word, fully formed Black Knights ride from the tumble down ruins of their tombs, whole units of warrior horsemen arrayed in the corroded armour of a bygone age.[3a]
When called into battle, Black Knights would often form into squadrons of powerful shock cavalry. During their mortal lives, these unearthly knights used weapons bearing enchantments of destruction. Though corrupted by the patina of the ages, these tools of slaughter are no less potent than when the wielder was a man of flesh and blood. It is said that once someone is pierced by a Black Knight's lance or sword, the wound it creates would never recover. As well as enchanted weapons, the Black Knight's steeds are said to be trapped between worlds due to the ritual that has binds the steed to its master. As such, there have been reports of Black Knights galloping straight through the rubble of ruined cities, or even charging across the surface of a lake without leaving so much as a ripple. With these advantages, these unliving cavaliers would then crash themselves headlong into the ranks of their still-living enemies, spitting their foes on lances wreathed in cold flame, and lashing out with heavy swords older than the Empire itself.[3a]
Notable
- Doom Knights: There were said to have fought for Nagash at the Battle of the River Reik, survived that conflict and rode into the Drakwald. [6a]
Weapons and Equipment
Black Knights are protected by Shields and Heavy Armour whist their steeds may also be clad in Barding. They use deadily enchanted Hand Weapons and Lances in combat and are led by a Hell Knight. [1a]
- 5th Edition: Light Armour, Nightmare, Spear, Sword. May have Heavy Armour, Magic Standard, Shield, May swap Spear for Lances, May have Barding. All weapons are Wight Weapons. [1b]
- 6th Edition: Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, Lance, Nightmare, Shield. May have Barding. May have Hell Knight, Musician, Standard Bearer.[5a]
- 8th Edition: Hand Weapon, Heavy Armour, Shield, Spectral Steeds. May have Barding, Lance. May have Hell Knight, Musician, Standard Bearer. May have Magic Standard. [3b]
- Wight Weapons: Ancient, enchanted weapons inlaid with gold, silver and glowing runes. [1a]
Gallery
Member of the Knights Sepulchral
Black Knights at the Battle of Hel Fenn.
A Black Knight
Wight Cavalry
Black Knight
Black Knights
Doom Knights
Miniatures
A Black Knight.
Hell Knight
Black Knights
Black Knights
Quotes
| Unquestiongly loyal. Infallibly brave. The pinnacle of the necromantic arts. If I had a hundred such as them, I could conquer any nation, rout any army - and never lack for camaraderie either. Althought, they are typically poor conversationalists.
~ Lady Ariette von Carstein.[4a] |
Notes
In the 5th edition army book they are simply known as Wight Cavalry. [1b]
Sources.
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (5th Edition)
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (7th Edition)
- 3: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (8th Edition)
- 4: Night's Dark Masters
- 4a: Chapter VII: Rules of the Night, pg. 127
- 5: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (6th Edition)
- 5a: Armies of Darkness, pg. 66
- 6: Warhammer: Nagash, Book I
- 6a: Chapter I, pg. 96