this has been recently revised and improved 22/6/04
Knights in an empire army
by Nathan Fabb
knights are one of the units that ads a real solid punch to an empire army, with knightly orders and white wolf knights you have a good selection
White Wolf or Knightly Orders
when deciding whether to take white wolf or a knightly order i tend to take knightly orders because they are cheaper and have a 1+ armour save, but if you are planning to send your knights behind enemy lines a lot then the +1 strength when charged can be handy, but keep in mind that both kinds get +2 strength on the charge. so in short take knightly orders since you should be charging anyway and a 1+ armour save can really annoy a lot of armies
what to lead knights
Elector Count equipped with a lance, full plate, shield, warhorse+ barding and a holy relic makes a good leader(even though most people say that the infantry need his leadership, but trust me the knights will benefit and the infantry can survive with a ld8 warrior priest wielding a G. weapon.)
Templar Grand master is too expensive points wise unless! Your army is only knights in which case he slaughters the enemy. I would equip him with a “holy relic” or “the white cloak”
The Warrior Priest is a useful leader due to his hatred ability against chaos. Equip him with a warhorse with barding,
If you are running short of leaders then a captain can do well but I think that he is better as an infantry leader.
How to use knights
flanking the enemy army is normally the best method of using knights, a combined charge of knights in the front and pistoliers in the side/rear makes a very deadly combo. Knights can also be used as a strong reserve if and only if the player is adopting a defensive strategy, knights can also protect your artillery from those evil fast moving units. a unit of between 6-16 inner circle knights will be sufficient though if you are taking 16 I would suggest two units of 8. I take mine in units of 11 led by an elector count. disruption of the enemy lines should be the knights first objective since their primary role is offensive, you may even think about using them to march block by just moving alongside the enemy unit then on the next go charge the enemies rear forces. you can also use them to hold your centre to charge the enemies centre and create a hole through which the rest of your force can exploit. Always! upgrade them to inner circle and take a full command. if possible try to have them screened from shooting by skirmishers, terrain or even the enemy units since their low numbers makes them vulnerable, these are your elite troops along with greatswords.
Another tactic with knights is to have a small unit of about 5-7 and just place them inside your opponents charge range then have them flee as a charge reaction, and then countercharge with a well placed unit of swordsmen, and hopefully the knights will rally next turn and enter the fray or mop up the pieces.
standards
The griffon banner is a good item since it doubles your rank bonus in H.T.H. However you are not allowed to pursue (sigh!) so you should probably use it in a defensive role.
banner of valour is also useful since it makes the unit immune to panic.
standard of arcane warding isn’t particularly useful since the enemy will probably target a different unit instead, and the points will be better spent increasing your number of points.
Steel standard is a very useful banner since it adds d3” to the charge, imagine and enemy unit slowly gaining ground and un-exspectantly you charge from a distance previously thought to be out of range.
Banner of duty is handy if you have an extra 10 points left
Summary
Take inner circle knightly orders and have them led by an elector count unless you are fighting chaos in which case use a mounted warrior priest, use the knights to flank the enemy army or as a counter-charge unit, take the griffon banner on the defensive otherwise take the banner of valour or steel standard