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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
m
clean up, replaced: honor → honour
Despite being the lightest class of [[Imperial Knight]], each ''Armiger'' is still an imposing war engine capable of destroying entire squads. They possess exceptional speed, able to outpace most [[battle tank]]s and transport vehicles when moving at a sprint and react almost as quickly as an organic warrior. Moreover, to compensate for their comparatively smaller size, Armigers are typically deployed in packs of two or three. However they are not fitted with a full [[Throne Mechanicum]], as the larger Knight classes are. Instead they are controlled using a more compact device known as a '''[[Helm Mechanicum]]''', which is significantly less prestigious. This is compounded by the fact that, while Armigers can operate independently, it is traditional for their Helms Mechanicum to be neurally slaved to the command impulses of a larger Knight, known as a '''Bond-liege'''. This in turn, renders the Armigers' pilots to be subordinates that are known as '''Bondsmen'''.{{Fn|2}}
==Bondsmen==
While accepting such mental serfdom is certainly no mark of dishonordishonour, it is far from glorious. For these reasons, the piloting of '''Armigers''' falls to those from the lower social strata of [[Knight House]]s. Some give this duty to distant relatives, minor offshoots of the Houses' established [[Noble]] bloodlines,{{Fn|2}} aspiring nobles, the bastard children of [[Baron]]s and [[High King]]s{{Fn|1}} or the survivors of a Knight House that has fallen upon hard times. Others elevate the finest common-born warriors they can find, which can come from a Knight House's [[Knight Household Guard|Household Guard]], their [[PDF|Planetary Militia Forces]],{{Fn|2}} or even low-born commoners with a knack for war.{{Fn|1}}
When this is done, the standing of these commoner Bondsmen's families are raised from mere peasantry to valued and respected meritocracy. Still other Knight Houses maintain specialist sub-orders of favored retainers who are fated from birth to be Armiger pilots. Such is with the case of [[House Griffith]]'s [[Order of the Hound]].{{Fn|2}}
*[[War Dog]]{{Fn|3}}
==See Alsoalso==
*[[Dominus Pattern Knight]]s
*[[Cerastus Pattern Knight]]s