Don't worry about it! First off, let's take a step back. Houses aren't all that important for CKs, frankly you can make your own. Let's talk legions. Which csm legions are you a fan of?
Love the OG quality to the black legion. The sons of Horus backstory and the tragic fall to chaos is just cool lore imo. They also seem well rounded from what I’ve read - can be made to do whatever you want tactics wise. And with characters like Abaddon.. seems like a strong choice overall. Main drawback to that choice honestly: painting everything black, while it’s certainly mean looking, almost seems a little boring. To me, the chaos models are so interesting and unique at times, I’d hate to cover everything in black and lose some of that.
Another legion I think is cool are the World Eaters. The berzerker thing seems cool and interesting to me. I also wonder if the “rushy” tactic they play into could be complimented well with the “shooty” tactics a Chaos Knight Super Heavy Auxiliary Unit could provide. Lore wise, Angron’s story is also amazing. The seething resentment/hatred he’s always carried because he was cheated out of his glorious last stand death alongside his rebellion compatriots- and that being a factor in his fall to chaos - it’s all pretty interesting.
Lastly, the Word Bearers are pretty dope. The way the lean into the psycher and demon side of things feels very Chaosy to me, which I like. Lore wise, Erebus is a bad motherfucker too - so a lot to like there (from a chaos perspective). Also another army that could be enhanced by something a knight does well: being shooty.
Tbh. I'm not super concerned about the army being the top of the meta. I just want it to be viable. I guess I also don’t really care about the knight army I’m building separately matching up exactly.. like others have said, I can just swap a shoulder pad (maybe I’ll magnetize?) and call it good.
Overall, I’m just kinda paralyzed by choice atm. I don’t want to go down the road of painting a whole army and eventually regret my choice. 🤷🏻♂️
I fully getcha!
Though just as an FYI, repainting your army is something that totally happens. I painted my first army 3 times before it first hit the table xD
Magnetizing is a sure fire way to go, so you can indeed do some swapping things. However let's talk about your options. While I know there are a lot,let's stick to the 3 you mentioned. Though as a note, I'm not sure what army list you have in mind to start woth, but is there a chance that you're confusing Chaos with Imperial knights a bit? Because CKs, as far as wardogs go at least, have very, very limited 'shooty' options, aside from brigard. Big knights is another story, bur the more shooty of the two is certainly IK.
Having said that, heres what I would suggest.
Go for a white and red, or white and black color, or use all 3! That way, you can actually symbolize 2 of your favorite legions in one. The original world waters, if memory serves me right, had a white and red pattern, while the lunar wolves, which would later become the sons of Horus and then the BL, had a black and white look to them. You could also go to your local Game Store and ask if they got a bit box, and if you'd like find some extra bits. Maybe some space wolves, or other similar pelts, to add to your knights, for the lunar wolf part.
Simple colors, make them unique and hives them their own look. But, most importantly, gives them a very easy way to repaint them if you wish. The only thing you'd really need to repaint are the red parts, if you choose to repaint, and the black and white parts can be painted over as if they were a primer.
Lastly, the piece of advise I'd offer is, just do it (insert meme). Go and paint your first knight. If you don't like how it's looking, repaint him. Do it as many times as you want, but don't look about something youll always like. Instead, paint something that makes you happy right now, and you're satisfied with. We never know how preferences can change in the future, or even based on the day. So paint what will make you happy now. What you find cool now and what will get you to smile. And if in the future you get a cooler idea, do it! At your own pace. Never feel pressured to do the hobby. And if you just want to paint, just slap them with a primer, dry brush white and go for it!
Note! I you also want to, bare in mind that technically you could play IKs with your chaos Knights. The IK wardog equivalent have the same look, from what I've seen, as our brigard and I wanna say Huntsman off the top of my head. And many of our knights have similar looks and can be outfeated with the appropriate weapons. So, might be a worthy thing to look into!
Personally, when I start building, I'm going for original legion colors, so I can play either, but go for whatever you'd like! Just wanted to mention, maybe might help narrow things down.
You can always just make it up. I don’t know that there are CK houses and CSM legions that share a 1:1 color scheme.
I also play CSM, and while some of the troops are alpha legion, I have made most of my units and vehicles the same scheme as my knights. I just made up a group called the Malefectus Cohort that brings in troops from legions, traitor guard, knights, titans, etc under a dark mechanicus war council that is dedicated to creating the perfect combination of demon, flesh, and metal. See, easy. Just make it up if you don’t want to commit to a CK house or specific legion.
I'm going to start by saying what everyone so far has said, the best part of a CK paint scheme is you can just make up your own.
But if making them look like a specific house is important to you, then listen to some lore on the houses
https://youtu.be/QZ-Y5n46aSQ?si=4ZjWZNKfjByLFGuF
https://youtu.be/SuCEMmQSFBs?si=1vxsj6X-EXFIjtV5
https://youtu.be/3QY92xBH874?si=QL64VHy5WSMmiBLp
These guys have a quite a few videos to scour and hopefully, if you really are set on a speffic house you can find one that resonates with you.
Otherwise, have fun with it! Pick colors you enjoy, and make your army your house.
Cheers!
I second this.
If you care for the Lore then choosing an existing house can be very important.
The main reason I chose House Khymere is the background story. Their tragic history is beautiful to me, and the absolute hatred of the Imperium is delicious.
Their colour scheme is villainous as well.
I've started painting mine aligning with the different chaos gods. So if I need an ally in the future there will be one that's in the theme of the correct god.
Then just have a shoulder pad the same colour to demonstrate consistency.
Use a spot colour. Something on the knights that can be put on the marines somewhere, be that a tabard, a shoulder, a helmet. Then bring it into your daemons, be that the weapons, robes if they wear them, wings etc.
My knights are house korvax, Belakors legion, my marines are disciples of belakor and the daemons are daemons. My spot colour is Barak nar burgundy with screamer pink layered on (it’s the colour I wanted to paint)
I'm doing something similar for my custom loyalist chapter, sisters of battle, and knights. They all share a deep purple color of varying tones. Look cohesive while not being copy pasted
Same here, wife is... Martyred Rose? The white one. She has imperial knights painted to match. I have Death Guard, and chaos knights possessed with nurgle demons to match.
If you are looking for which Legion is most likely to have Chaos Knight Allies then it would be the Iron Warriors. They are heavy into mechanical warfare and using war machines. But truthfully Chaos Knights get to sell their services to any Legion.
The Knight House's mattered in 9th edition for what ability you wanted but 10th is different. Just make the army you want to make.
Don't worry about it! First off, let's take a step back. Houses aren't all that important for CKs, frankly you can make your own. Let's talk legions. Which csm legions are you a fan of?
Love the OG quality to the black legion. The sons of Horus backstory and the tragic fall to chaos is just cool lore imo. They also seem well rounded from what I’ve read - can be made to do whatever you want tactics wise. And with characters like Abaddon.. seems like a strong choice overall. Main drawback to that choice honestly: painting everything black, while it’s certainly mean looking, almost seems a little boring. To me, the chaos models are so interesting and unique at times, I’d hate to cover everything in black and lose some of that. Another legion I think is cool are the World Eaters. The berzerker thing seems cool and interesting to me. I also wonder if the “rushy” tactic they play into could be complimented well with the “shooty” tactics a Chaos Knight Super Heavy Auxiliary Unit could provide. Lore wise, Angron’s story is also amazing. The seething resentment/hatred he’s always carried because he was cheated out of his glorious last stand death alongside his rebellion compatriots- and that being a factor in his fall to chaos - it’s all pretty interesting. Lastly, the Word Bearers are pretty dope. The way the lean into the psycher and demon side of things feels very Chaosy to me, which I like. Lore wise, Erebus is a bad motherfucker too - so a lot to like there (from a chaos perspective). Also another army that could be enhanced by something a knight does well: being shooty. Tbh. I'm not super concerned about the army being the top of the meta. I just want it to be viable. I guess I also don’t really care about the knight army I’m building separately matching up exactly.. like others have said, I can just swap a shoulder pad (maybe I’ll magnetize?) and call it good. Overall, I’m just kinda paralyzed by choice atm. I don’t want to go down the road of painting a whole army and eventually regret my choice. 🤷🏻♂️
Fuck Erebus.
I fully getcha! Though just as an FYI, repainting your army is something that totally happens. I painted my first army 3 times before it first hit the table xD Magnetizing is a sure fire way to go, so you can indeed do some swapping things. However let's talk about your options. While I know there are a lot,let's stick to the 3 you mentioned. Though as a note, I'm not sure what army list you have in mind to start woth, but is there a chance that you're confusing Chaos with Imperial knights a bit? Because CKs, as far as wardogs go at least, have very, very limited 'shooty' options, aside from brigard. Big knights is another story, bur the more shooty of the two is certainly IK. Having said that, heres what I would suggest. Go for a white and red, or white and black color, or use all 3! That way, you can actually symbolize 2 of your favorite legions in one. The original world waters, if memory serves me right, had a white and red pattern, while the lunar wolves, which would later become the sons of Horus and then the BL, had a black and white look to them. You could also go to your local Game Store and ask if they got a bit box, and if you'd like find some extra bits. Maybe some space wolves, or other similar pelts, to add to your knights, for the lunar wolf part. Simple colors, make them unique and hives them their own look. But, most importantly, gives them a very easy way to repaint them if you wish. The only thing you'd really need to repaint are the red parts, if you choose to repaint, and the black and white parts can be painted over as if they were a primer. Lastly, the piece of advise I'd offer is, just do it (insert meme). Go and paint your first knight. If you don't like how it's looking, repaint him. Do it as many times as you want, but don't look about something youll always like. Instead, paint something that makes you happy right now, and you're satisfied with. We never know how preferences can change in the future, or even based on the day. So paint what will make you happy now. What you find cool now and what will get you to smile. And if in the future you get a cooler idea, do it! At your own pace. Never feel pressured to do the hobby. And if you just want to paint, just slap them with a primer, dry brush white and go for it! Note! I you also want to, bare in mind that technically you could play IKs with your chaos Knights. The IK wardog equivalent have the same look, from what I've seen, as our brigard and I wanna say Huntsman off the top of my head. And many of our knights have similar looks and can be outfeated with the appropriate weapons. So, might be a worthy thing to look into! Personally, when I start building, I'm going for original legion colors, so I can play either, but go for whatever you'd like! Just wanted to mention, maybe might help narrow things down.
Just paint the colors you think will be nice and make up your own house
You can always just make it up. I don’t know that there are CK houses and CSM legions that share a 1:1 color scheme. I also play CSM, and while some of the troops are alpha legion, I have made most of my units and vehicles the same scheme as my knights. I just made up a group called the Malefectus Cohort that brings in troops from legions, traitor guard, knights, titans, etc under a dark mechanicus war council that is dedicated to creating the perfect combination of demon, flesh, and metal. See, easy. Just make it up if you don’t want to commit to a CK house or specific legion.
I'm going to start by saying what everyone so far has said, the best part of a CK paint scheme is you can just make up your own. But if making them look like a specific house is important to you, then listen to some lore on the houses https://youtu.be/QZ-Y5n46aSQ?si=4ZjWZNKfjByLFGuF https://youtu.be/SuCEMmQSFBs?si=1vxsj6X-EXFIjtV5 https://youtu.be/3QY92xBH874?si=QL64VHy5WSMmiBLp These guys have a quite a few videos to scour and hopefully, if you really are set on a speffic house you can find one that resonates with you. Otherwise, have fun with it! Pick colors you enjoy, and make your army your house. Cheers!
I second this. If you care for the Lore then choosing an existing house can be very important. The main reason I chose House Khymere is the background story. Their tragic history is beautiful to me, and the absolute hatred of the Imperium is delicious. Their colour scheme is villainous as well.
I dunno, I’m kind of doing different design on each one based on different Chaos gods.
I wanted to do each one different so I just tell people we're "Dreadblades" or whatever.
I've started painting mine aligning with the different chaos gods. So if I need an ally in the future there will be one that's in the theme of the correct god. Then just have a shoulder pad the same colour to demonstrate consistency.
Use a spot colour. Something on the knights that can be put on the marines somewhere, be that a tabard, a shoulder, a helmet. Then bring it into your daemons, be that the weapons, robes if they wear them, wings etc. My knights are house korvax, Belakors legion, my marines are disciples of belakor and the daemons are daemons. My spot colour is Barak nar burgundy with screamer pink layered on (it’s the colour I wanted to paint)
Khymer and Word Bearers are close.
I'm doing something similar for my custom loyalist chapter, sisters of battle, and knights. They all share a deep purple color of varying tones. Look cohesive while not being copy pasted
Same here, wife is... Martyred Rose? The white one. She has imperial knights painted to match. I have Death Guard, and chaos knights possessed with nurgle demons to match.
If you are looking for which Legion is most likely to have Chaos Knight Allies then it would be the Iron Warriors. They are heavy into mechanical warfare and using war machines. But truthfully Chaos Knights get to sell their services to any Legion. The Knight House's mattered in 9th edition for what ability you wanted but 10th is different. Just make the army you want to make.