Warhammer 40K’s new Chaos Knights codex introduces four Detachments that radically reshape how a Chaos Knights army can be composed. Among these, the Houndpack Lance stands out as a detachment tailor-made for those who want to run an all-War Dog force. War Dogs are the lighter, faster war machines of the Chaos Knights – individual terrors that hunt in packs – and this detachment lets them take center stage by literally sidelining the towering Questoris-class Knights. In this blog post, we’ll break down the Houndpack Lance rules and analyze its impact on competitive play. Does this new War Dog detachment elevate the pack to top-tier status in the 10th Edition meta, or is it an overhyped gimmick? And what does this mean for the Knight Ruinator – the flashy new Chaos Knight variant unveiled this edition – which until now hasn’t found a solid footing in competitive lists? Let’s dive in and see if the dogs of war are truly unleashed, and whether the Ruinator will remain a sidelined showpiece or gain new relevance under the codex’s detachment structure.
Meet the Houndpack Lance – War Dog Detachment Rules and Role
The new Codex: Chaos Knights contains four distinct detachments. The Houndpack Lance is the option designed explicitly for a War Dog-focused army, effectively allowing you to ignore the big guys entirely and field a swarm of the smaller Knights. Normally, War Dog units lack the Character keyword (meaning they cannot take Enhancements or be your Warlord), but the Houndpack Lance changes that – when mustering your army you can nominate three War Dog units to gain CHARACTER, with one eligible to be your Warlord.
The detachment’s special rule, Marked Prey, exemplifies its aggressive, pack-hunting theme. At the start of your Command phase, you select one enemy unit to mark as prey. For the rest of the turn, all attacks made by your War Dogs against that unit get Sustained Hits 1 – each unmodified hit roll of 6 scores an additional hit. This encourages your War Dogs to focus fire and relentlessly tear down a chosen target until it’s destroyed.
You must include at least three War Dog units in your army. In return, all War Dog units in your army gain the Battleline keyword, effectively making them the core troops of your force. According to Games Workshop’s preview, you can field up to 13 War Dogs in a 2,000-point list. There’s also a new Houndpack Lance battleforce box set to help build this army archetype.
Pros and Cons of the Houndpack Lance
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| High board control, objective saturation, and action economy from 10+ fast, independent units. | Each War Dog is relatively fragile compared to Questoris-class Knights and can be picked off by focused fire. |
| Marked Prey and Hungry for Combat stratagems provide burst damage through Sustained Hits and Critical Hits. | Lack of a single model with extreme durability or high-damage output in one activation. |
| Characters on War Dogs unlock relics and warlord traits previously unavailable to them. | One-dimensional strategy can be predictable and vulnerable to hard counters. |
| Flexible unit roles allow for varied threat profiles across melee and ranged War Dog variants. | CP usage can balloon due to many units vying for buffs or re-rolls. |
Detachment Comparisons
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Traitoris Lance: Focuses on Dread aura effects and Battleshock synergy. Better suited for mixed Knight lists that want to play mind games and control.
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Infernal Lance: High-risk, high-reward detachment where Knights take mortal wounds to gain powerful buffs.
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Lords of Dread: All about big Knights. Grants bonuses to Questoris-class units, especially Objective Control. Great fit for a Ruinator-led army.
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Houndpack Lance: The go-to for players running 10+ War Dogs. Pure synergy with small Knights, excellent alpha-strike potential and board coverage.
What About the Knight Ruinator?
In short, the Ruinator doesn’t fit well into the Houndpack Lance. This detachment is optimized for War Dogs only, and including a single big Knight like the Ruinator would mean it doesn’t benefit from the detachment rules or enhancements. For the Ruinator to shine, it would need to be used in Traitoris Lance or Lords of Dread, where its terror-based abilities and durability can be properly leveraged.
However, even in those detachments, it’s competing with other well-established Questoris variants that have proven track records. The Ruinator’s melee focus and weapon suite are powerful but may not offer enough to outperform existing options in tournament lists. Until proven otherwise, it remains more of a style pick than a meta-defining unit.
Final Verdict
The Houndpack Lance is the new competitive backbone of Chaos Knights. It plays into the existing strength of War Dog-heavy builds, provides new tactical layers with enhancements and stratagems, and creates one of the fastest, most aggressive swarm-army playstyles available to Chaos Knights. Expect to see it widely adopted in competitive circles.
As for the Knight Ruinator, it remains a solid, cool-looking unit with niche applications – but it is still not meta-defining. Until tournament results or new combos prove otherwise, it’s likely to remain outclassed by more optimized War Dog builds and mixed Knight rosters running proven threats.
In the current 10th Edition environment, the Chaos Knights meta belongs to the pack – and the dogs are hungry.
