UPDATE: This post has been updated to include changes to the Chaos Knights line with the release of the 10th edition Codex in June 2025.
As I recently shared, I’m in the midst of planning a Chaos Knights army for Warhammer 40,000 for some reason. Do I play much 40K? No. Shut up.
Now, the Chaos Knights boxed sets are absolutely fantastic. They are characterful, fun, exciting kits full of really cool bits. The thing is, not every Chaos Knight miniature can be built from these two Chaos Knight kits.
Mostly as a reference for myself, let’s take a look at the current Chaos Knights roster and how we can build each of the units. Looking at the Warhammer 40,000 app, we have a mix of big Knight and little Knights. Let’s take the biggies first:
- Knight Abominant
- Knight Desecrator
- Knight Despoiler
- Knight Rampager
- Knight Ruinator
- Knight Tyrant
- Cerastus Knight Acheron
- Cerastus Knight Atrapos
- Cerastus Knight Castigator
- Cerastus Knight Lancer
- Questoris Knight Magaera
- Questoris Knight Styrix
- Acastus Knight Asterius
- Acastus Knight Porphyrion
And then we have our smaller models:
- War Dog Stalker
- War Dog Brigand
- War Dog Executioner
- War Dog Huntsman
- War Dog Karnivore
- War Dog Moirax
That’s actually a larger range than I expected, though it’s the model in bold that represent the core range. The others don’t feature in the index or in previous codexes, but are instead found in publications like Imperial Armour. I wouldn’t be that fussed about inlcuding them, but they are here for the sake of being comprehensive.
So, what kits do we need to actually build these Knights?
Part 1: Knight Ruinator (formerly Abominant) Box
This is the core set for the larger Chaos Knights. From this set, you can build one of four of the identified Knights;
- Knight Abominant
- Knight Desecrator
- Knight Rampager
- Knight Ruinator
NOTE: The Warhammer Community website initially stated that the box would be split into two sets, each containing two Knight variants. This is NO LONGER THE CASE and only a single box has been released, containing the parts for all four variants.
The set includes instructions for each that outline how to build the selected knight. As the rules currently stand, some variants have weapon options, whilst others do not. All options are included in the set.
Until June 2025, the box could make three possible Knights:
- Knight Abominant
- Knight Desecrator
- Knight Rampager
The Ruinator is a newer variant that was only added in June to concide with the release of the 10th edition Codex. Here’s what the previous box, labelled as a Knight Abominant, looked like, in case you manage to find it in the wild:
These will become rarer over time, but I thought it worth including for the sake of clarity as shops run down their old stock. The only difference between The Knight Abominant box and the Knight Ruinator box is that the Abominant box does not have the parts to build a Ruinator. If you can find these at a decent price to build any of the other knights, go for it!
Part 2: Loyalist Knight Boxes
Outside of the three variants included in the Knight Abominant box, we’ve got a few of the larger knights that come from loyalist Knight boxes. I’m sure y’all wil find some way to Chaosify them up!
First, we’ve got the Knight Dominus box:
To the Chaos Knight player, this box will build a Knight Tyrant, complete with those lovely shoulder cannons.
Previously, the weapon options were split between two boxes, but the most recent repack has combined the old Knight Valiant and Knight Castellan options. This means that you can buy one Dominus box and decide your loadout later, or magnetise if you want to. I’m all in favour of more bits in these boxes!
Next up, we’ve got the loyalist Knight Questoris box:
This kit is a consolidation of lots of the older Imperial Knight variants. You can build most types of Imperial Knight from this kit. For the Chaos Knights, this builds the Knight Despoiler:
There are a ton of weapon options for this guy, and you’ll find them in the box. There is, however, only one of each each weapon option, so you will not be able to build variants that double up on the same weapon, such as the twin gat launcher Despoiler, without a second box. You could also grab a second copy of these parts on eBay or a bitz site.
It’s also the box you’ll need for his back-mounted weapons platform. This knight really represents your most flexible option in terms of armaments. Also, you can always add plenty of bits and pieces from the Knight Abominant set to make it look suitably Chaotic.
Part 3: Plastic Cerastus Knights
The Cerastus Knights came from the Horus Heresy range. They were popular Forgeworld miniatures that, with the advent of increased support for Horus Heresy, have made the transition to plastic.
There are three plastic kits currently available:
Each box will allow you to build their respective Knights. Namely, these are:
- Cerastus Knight Acheron
- Cerastus Knight Castigator
- Cerastus Knight Lancer
As with anything built from the Dominus or Questoris boxes, anything built will need suitably Chaosified to better suit your army.
Part 4: Forgeworld Knights
Knights are exactly the sort of larger kit that Forgeworld was originally set up to create and sell. Now, with more advanced and ambition plastic casting we have more plastic Knights. Still, there are a few Forgeworld models that are obscure, but which we are still able to use if we want. I don’t think these are necessarily the best additions to the army, and they are certainly not cost-effective. As such, I’m not going to spend long speaking about each.
First up, we’ve got the old, generic Chaos Knight:
Another Cerastus variant in the Knight Atrapos:
Then the Questoris Knight Magaera:
Here’s the Questoris Knight Styrix:
And then we have the chunky lad, the Acastus Knight Porphyrion:
Finally, we’ve got another chunky boy with arms for days; the Acastus Knight Asterius:
These are all expensive resin models that are (except for the original Chaos Knight) built for loyalist armies. They’ll take a bit of work to fully chaosify for your army. They also rely on the Imperial Armour rules, so won’t be as up to date or balanced as the core codex entries.
Part 5: War Dogs Box
This is the core set for the smaller Chaos Knights; the War Dogs. These are the Chaos equivalents of loyalist Armigers. From this set, you can build three of the War Dog variants:
- War Dog Stalker
- War Dog Brigand
- War Dog Karnivore
This is a great set and it’s handy that these are the most popular War Dog variants. The Brigands and Karnivores have long been the staples of competitive lists, but with the new Codex, who knows how thing will go?
It is also worth mentioning that with the release of the 10th edition book in June 2025, a Battleforce was released that included 7 War Dogs:
The Houndpack Lance box is a limited run product which will sell out quickly. If you’re wanting to run a significant number of War Dogs, then this represents a pretty significant saving. They will quickly become hard to find.
Part 6: Loyalist Armiger Box
Outside of the three variants included in the War Dogs box, we’ve got a few of the War Dog variants that come from the loyalist Armiger box. As with the larger Knights that come from loyalist sets, you’ll need to find some way to Chaosify them up!
The variants that you will want to build from this set are:
- War Dog Executioner
- War Dog Huntsman
It might be useful to grab this box alongside the Chaos War Dogs set so that parts can be mixed and matched for better theming. I do like the extra variations that this set gives.
Part 7: Forgeworld War Dogs
Finally, we have a couple of older War Dog variants. These predate the current plastic set. As with the larger Forgeworld Knights, these are resin kits.
Namely, they are variation on the Moirax:
Handily, these are already themed as Chaos War Dogs and you won’t necessarily have to convert them. They look to be a wee bit chunkier than the plastic War Dogs, but that’s ok. It’s not egregious. These are good models, but I do think that they, like the other Forgeworld minis, are a touch outdated.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I put this together mostly to help myself as it’s not always obvious what’s what. The Games orkshop site makes it pretty easy, but third-party sites tend to sell by the box, rather than having multiple entries for the same box representing each variant that comes out of it.
If you’d like to support the site while making your purchases, please consider buying from the ever-reliable Element Games by using our affiliate links.
No Rerolls 
This guide is hugely helpful for new comers to the faction, thanks for putting it together!
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