Eighth Edition can be broken down into the following phases:
Pre Imperial Knights Codex
Imperial Knights Codex
Chapter Approved 2019
Prior to the release of the Imperial Knights codex Eighth Edition was in many ways the golden age of Warhammer 40k. Sure we saw some Lords of War such as Daemon Primarchs and Baneblades but they were manageable from across the table.
What set Imperial Knights apart from all other Lords of War is the whole host of over the top relics and stratagems that made them all but unbeatable. Sure some really love their Knights but many don’t and find them to be no fun to play against. There are no bad Households to choose from either.
This all came to a culmination with the Dominatus class Castellan rocking the Iron Bulwark relic for a 3++ invulnerable save via the stratagem Rotate Ion Shields fueled by cheap as chips Astra Militarum Battalion command point farm. The Castellan can easily delete two or more enemy units per turn which had a drastic effect on the meta... many units became basically unplayable due to being too much of a potential liability.
Finally following the big win at the Las Vegas Open earlier this year Games Workshop nerfed the Castellan. Sure Imperial Knights are still very good but not quite as good prior to Chapter Approved 2019.
If we look at what Games Workshop has released to preview the new Apocalypse its apparent that they still want to push over the top Lords of War on the market. To be honest I’m not excited in regards to what I’ve seen so far. For me one of the things I loved about playing an Apocalypse scale game was the stories that unfolded over the course of a game. If only Games Workshop could understand that the majority of hobbyists love the narrative aspect of the game.
So now looking forward we have Chaos Knights coming in the near future. Sure this is nice for Chaos players but I have to wonder how over the top these new Titans will be and how they will impact the meta.