The Black Knight is a deadly and feared veteran of many battlefields. He is at his best against humans. He is too weak to dispatch Tremendous monsters until he gets a heavier weapon.

Chits

Stats

Weight/Vulnerability: Medium

Equipment: Mace, Armour, Shield

Starting Gold Value: 40

Special: Aim (subtract one from missile rolls), Fear (roll one die for Meeting rolls)

Start: Inn

Ally: Company

Friendly: Soldiers, Crone

Unfriendly: Lancers

Enemy: Guard

Strategy

The Black Knight consists of a hard outer shell with a soft squishy interior. Without his armour, he is as weak as the Captain, although he does have more H move and fight chits. Therefore he cannot usually take on the larger monsters or native groups on his own. The only options for the Knight are to team up with other players, or to hire natives.

The Knight has a considerable asset value which can be liquidised if necessary. Selling his Armour will make him more vulnerable, but if this means that he can get a native group hired, it may be worth it. Natives can lure enemies so that the Knight can dance around the side without danger of being hit.

The Black Knight should try to hire the Company (allies, 16 Gold base price - L campfire or Inn on a roll of 1) if possible. With the Company's assistance he will be able to take on the Guard (his enemies) and get access to their stock of M weapons. The Axe and the Broadsword are functionally identical except for weapon length. He can overcharge this weapon by playing one of his H fight chits to get T damage against unarmoured opponents. The question is - is it worth waiting around at the Inn for the Company to turn up? It may be worthwhile making a deal with other players to take out the Rogues, and then spend a few turns Looting their belongings. The biggest threats among the Rogues are the axemen and the archer. If these three are taken out by a Fiery Blast, then the others should be no problem.

The ultimate weapon for the Black Knight is, of course, the crossbow. Getting one will require killing the Order though, and he is not strong enough to do this, even with the help of the Company. If you can arrange things to be able to take the Quest campaign chit (place it on the Company at setup), the Order become your Allies, and you can simply Trade for it. Even if you do upgrade to an M weapon, you still cannot harm T Armoured monsters like T Dragons and Trolls. Even the Company can be wiped out by a T Flying Dragon.

Alternatively, while you're killing the Soldiers, you may find that the Woodfolk turns up. Killing the Woodfolk would give you access to their Medium Bow, which is just as good as the Crossbow.

It is common for the Black Knight and Company to scythe through native group after native group, with the Guard, Soldiers, Woodfolk and Patrol all as trophies. To this end, VPs in Notoriety and Gold will serve you best.

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