Surrounded by a magical aura of power, the Daemon Knights and Scout Titans of Slaanesh march into battle. Their glittering eyes sparkle with malign intelligence as they gracefully stride across the battlefield. In a sudden blaze of violence they open fire, cutting down everything in their path with a torrent of shells and bolts of incandescent energy.
The Battle of Molech
During the Horus Heresy, in the thirtieth millennium, the galaxy was gripped by the most bitter civil war humanity has ever seen. Space Marines fought Space Marines, Titans fought Titans and Imperial Knights fought Imperial Knights. In those dark days nobody was to be trusted and treachery was as much a part of warfare as bolter shells, Volcano Cannons and Drop Pods. One of the most horrific betrayals of the war occurred on the planet of Molech, only a few light years from the Terran star system.
As the Warmaster Horus led his armies to Terra, he left a trail of destruction in his wake, hundreds of light years wide. His forces seemed unstoppable as garrison after garrison fell before his might, or changed allegiance and sided with the traitorous commander. It was on the planet Molech that one of the most determined stands was to be made. Three Titan Legions and over a hundred Imperial Guard regiments and Knight Househilds stood ready to bear the brunt of the Warmaster's attack. When it came it was like a hurricane unleashed upon the lush world.
House Devine
Horus' initial assault devastated many cities and strongholds, amongst the victims were Molechs's rulers - House Devine. Dispossessed and unable to fight back, the Devine slowly succumbed to the temptations of Chaos. Over the following months the insidious whisper of Slaanesh spread through their depleted ranks. Their officers became lethargic, interested only in their sports, using mighty knights to hunt the animals of the Molech. The seductive grip of Slaanesh grew stronger, as the Prince of Pleasure bent the force of his will to corrupting the noble Devine. Soon they met in secret cabals, committing depraved rites and ceremonies within the heart of the loyalist camp. No act was too shameful or disgusting, the sensations of the moment became their only desire.
When Horus launched a massive offensive, the Knights of House Devine performed an act of total treachery and turned on the troops who remained loyal to the Emperor. The Imperial forces found themselves caught in a trap, with advancing enemy Titans to the front and renegade Knights attacking from behind. This treachery allowed the Chaos host to punch through the Imperial defense, leaving them with no line of retreat. They were totally defeated, only one in hundred of the army survived the campaign. The path to Terra was wide open and Horus launched his final assault on the Sol system.
Daemon Knights
Since that first act of betrayal, many Knight Households have been corrupted by Chaos down the centuries. Their crews have long since died but their souls live on as daemons, floating within the shells of their war machines. The Knights themselves have also mutated, sprouting claws, tails, and other horrendous weapons. When a Slaanesh army marches to war it is preceded by these Daemon Knights, spreading havoc and despair.
Hell-Strider
The Hell-Strider is the smallest of the Daemon Knights, but still stands many times the height of a man. Hell-Striders are extremely mobile, able to flush the enemy out of woods and ruins with their powerful but short ranged weaponry. In sufficient numbers, Hell-Striders can even hunt enemy Titans, picking off their prey's shields with their lascannon, before closing in for the kill with their melta-beams.
Hell-Scourge
The Hell-Scourge is one of the larger Slaanesh Daemon Knights. As a living machine they have crushed the opponents of Chaos for the last ten millennia and delight in the destruction of their foes, screeching deafening hunting cries across the battlefield. They are machine-predators, the perfect hunters who mercilessly run down their quarry with bounding strides from their elegant, powerful legs. When the Hell-Scourges attack there is no warning. As one appears the enemy turn their weapons to bear on the blurred from. At that moment the others attack from the sides, scything through armour and flesh with their massive Castigator cannon.
Hell-Scourge Daemon Knights have a type of pack instinct, and are in constant communication with each other. They make exceptionally well co-ordinated attacks, out-flanking the enemy with ease. This telepathic contact spreads beyond the confines of the squadron and seems to encompass all the Hell-Scourges in a battle, or perhaps even further.
Hell-Knight
Hell-Knights are one of the most specialized types of Daemon Knight. Their weaponry, a rapid firing thermal lance, is fairly short ranged but has the energy to pierce almost any armour with relative ease. Hell-Knights often hunt out opposing Knights and Titans, using their speed and agility to attack from the sides or rear where their armour is weakest.
Hell-Knights are excellent at infiltrating the enemy position, setting ambushes for enemy supply columns and attacking enemy support detachments and artillery. It was the Hell-Knights of a huge Chaos army that managed to destroy the Imperator Titan Praeco Deictus on the Hive world of Kado. As the Imperial army defended the capital from the attacking Fiends, Daemonettes, Tzeentch Firelords and Khornate Lords of Battle, a hundred Hell-Knights infiltrated the massive underground transport network of the hive.
As the Titans of the Legio Crucius blasted away, felling over a hundred thousand Chaos followers in little under a day, the Hell-Knights sped through the dimly lit tunnels and corridors, eradicating any opposition they encountered. The old fusion-powered trains were destroyed and rumour of the Daemon Knights' passing spread through the hive. On the second day of the battle the Hell-Knights burst into the main streets and arcades of the hive, indiscriminately destroying everything, killing thousands of helpless citizens. The transports of the Adeptus Arbites arrived, but these too were totally crushed and the Hell-Knights fought their way back to the surface. They emerged within firing distance behind the Titan legion, and opened up with their thermal lances. After a single salvo of fire a whole battle group had been destroyed, the Titans' armour turned to molten slag. Amongst the victims was the massive Praeco Deictus, an Imperator Titan which had survived the Horus Heresy and brought victory to the Imperium on over a thousand worlds.
The Subjugator
When the hordes of Slaanesh attack, it is the Subjugator Scout Titans which race ahead of the army. It is the role of these swift war machines to suppress the enemy fire and allow the Fiends, Chaos Space Marines and other followers of Chaos to attack with minimal resistence. Loping along the flanks of the battlefield, the Subjugator uses its psi-pulse to pick off enemy artillery before it can fire.
The Subjugator carries a strange array of weaponry, the most potent of which are the psi-pulse generators. These are studded with gems and enclose a honeycomb of membranes which resonate to the power of the warp. The Subjugator uses its own link to the warp to channel raw psychic power through the generators, creating a psi-pulse capable of punching through the thickest armour.
The Subjugator also has two vicious Hell Claws, which it uses to rip armour to shreds and punch through the tough shells of enemy Titans.
The Questor
The Questor has sightly thicker armour than the Subjugator, but its powerful legs can still drive it forward at a considerable pace. Graceful arms spread from the Questor's carapace, each tipped with a rapid-firing cannon called a Tormentor. As well as the Tormentor, the Questor also carries two powerful lascannon, one mounted in the head, the other slung between the legs. Taken from WD 189