We were looking through some old White Dwarfs recently and found the rules for the mysterious Imperial Knight known as Gerantius and thought we’d share them with you. So below, you can find the White Dwarf article and the rules.

Shield of Martyrs

Some say that Gerantius is a ghost, others that he is immortal or has been reborn countless times. Whatever the truth, Gerantius’s rules certainly fit his background – he is virtually invincible!

With his ion shield giving him a 3+ invulnerable save and the It Will Not Die special rule, Gerantius can soak up a vast amount of firepower. As a result, I’d put him right at the front of my army, leading the charge against the enemy. It’s a risky tactic for 500 points, but the attention he’ll attract should ensure that he, and not the units advancing behind him, is the target of enemy fire. You’d be surprised how easily you can panic people by charging something big and scary at them, making them forget their plans and aim everything they have at the Imperial Knight bearing down on them to the exclusion of all else. He’ll almost certainly take some damage, but fortunately Gerantius can run and shoot every turn, so he should be able to close the gap with the enemy pretty swiftly while still dishing out the damage with his thermal cannon (which, at BS5, is likely to hit its target more times than not).

My target of choice for Gerantius would be vehicles: Super-heavies, Land Raiders, Monoliths, anything that your troops have trouble destroying. Remember, he can fire his thermal cannon and charge a different target so long as he fires his heavy stubber at it. Make the most of this and shoot units he might struggle to fight before charging.

– Dan

Kick them in the face!

When Jervis presented us with a Datasheet for Gerantius I was absolutely delighted. In the story, Gerantius is an outright killing machine, and Jervis’s rules live up to that. Dan’s suggestion that Gerantius is very resilient is entirely true – it’s hard to argue with a 3+ invulnerable save and the ability to recover damage suffered earlier in the battle, but that’s not what I would consider his greatest strength. No, that would be his ability to kick the enemy in the face…

The Striker rule means that he re-rolls 1s on the Stomp table. That’s fantastic, especially if you want to crush your way through large units of enemy models. All too often, a massive unit of Ork Boyz or Tyranid critters can slow down an Imperial Knight for a few turns, but if you are guaranteed to do at least D3 Stomps on your enemy every round, you’ll quickly stamp them into paste and move on.

His Weapon Skill of 5 is another big advantage (most Imperial Knights only have a Weapon Skill of 4). Against many targets, Imperial Knights miss with half of their attacks, but Gerantius will strike Morkanauts, Wraithknights, other Imperial Knights and even Khorne Lords of Skulls on a 3+. This is a massive deal, especially in fights where you need to kill the enemy before they strike back. My advice: lope into battle as fast as you can and hunt down hordes and massive foes (like those listed above). Avoid Terminator Assault squads though, they hurt.

– Adam