Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Bretonnia

Why Play Bretonnia

Brettonians are a tactically unique army with GORGEOUS models, interesting fluff and a fun playstyle. They currently have the most workable cavalry in the game but their units tend to run either overpriced (Knights) or underpowered (Peasants). Still they're not as underpowered as some armies and if you can get them to work they will run roughshod over the competition. An army for veteran Warhammer players.

Unit Analysis

Lords & Heroes

Named Characters

Note: Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can pretty easily emulate most named characters from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, a few named characters do have abilities and wargear or wargear combos unique to them, so if you absolutely need to have them, go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

• The Green Knight: The advantage to the Green Knight is that he's cheap, but that's more or less it. He keeps coming back, which is lulzy, as is his ability to teleport from terrain to terrain (only natural terrain though) but this is countered out by his inability to join a unit, which means he's likely to get knocked out by a dedicated combat unit (or a fair sized regular unit). As we said, he's cheap and he can avoid trouble, but he's usually not worth the trouble.

• The Fay Enchantress: She has an incredibly high price of entry (keeping her out of any game under 2400 points) and given that one of the major advantages of a Prophetess is they're cheap, it's not usually worth it. On the other hand, +6 to cast Lore of Life makes things silly, and she adds +1 power and dispel dice and drops a Lore of Heavens spell every turn and has a multitude of special abilities. If you can pay for her unreasonable price of entry at say, 3000 points and up, she could easily be worthwhile. Not a great choice however.

• King Louen Leoncoeur: King Louen cost of entry in 3000 points minimum, and he disallows any other Lords. He doesn't do enough for that cost to really be worth over 700 points. He also does silly things to your Force Organization Chart and usually not things you want to happen. Plus, for all of his cost, he'll get knocked out by someone who costs about 2/3rds of what he does. Skip him.

Generic Characters

• Bretonninan Lord: Basic combat Lord, nothing special. Magic equipment and Vows will be discussed elsewhere, but just be aware that any Lord or Hero you take should be kitted out for bear, as he can't refuse challenges without losing the Blessing of the Lady. If your enemy is aware of it he can and will use it to kick your Lord's head in, so he needs to be ready to resist challengers. Overall, it's worthwhile investing in a Lord.

• Prophetess of the Lady: Prophetesses are your basic Lord level caster so all the usual rules apply: Always tick up to Level 4, protect her in a unit, usual shit. What's important to understand is that you are not, repeat NOT, High Elves, Tzeentch Chaos, Dark Elves, etc. You can mount a solid defense and do okay on your own casting, but don't try to out-magic the big guys. Still, they're cheap and they're effective for their cost. Lore of Life is a favorite, though Lore of Beasts is okay in a pinch.

• Paladin: You are required to have at least one Paladin to act as BSB (yes you're REQUIRED to have a BSB, Brettonia is fun). Apart from that, they're a solid combat Hero but be careful taking too many for unit babysitting. Remember, like the Brettonian Lord, if they ever refuse a Challenge, the ENTIRE UNIT loses Blessing of the Lady, so you need to kit them out for combat, because with their basic statline, a lot of Heroes can kick their skull in (Empire, Beastmen, Skaven and Wood Elves are pretty much the only ones you don't have to worry about, and even Beastmen and Skaven can be threats under the right circumstances). If you're worried about shooting, one could be dropped on a Pegasus for War Machine hunting, but be careful with that as your enemy might want to drop him quickly to score some early points.

• Damsel of the Lady: Cheap and good for beefing up the LD of your background Peasants. Benefit the most from Lore of Beasts, always tick up to Level 2. Scroll caddying and item bearers are fine. As with above, don't get drawn into a big magic duel with any of the magic-heavy armies, they can and will outcast you. But Damsels are still a damn (HAH) fine choice. While you usually want them in a lance of knights for support, they can be placed in a unit of Men at Arms or even Bowmen if you intend to roll power dice left and right: a miscast in the middle of a lance can mean the end of an expensive unit, but a miscast in the corner of one of these units just means three dead 5/6 points peasants (truly gamechanging).

Core Units

• Knights of the Realm: You gotta take at least one unit of these guys, so get used to it. They're not a bad unit, so it's alright. Best in units of 9, or rather 8 with a Hero/Lord, with a 2+ armor and the Blessing save, they're decently survivable. Beware, like all knights in this army, their striking power tends to run out after the charge and heaven help you if you get flanked. Still, overall a good core unit.
• Knights Errant: Idiot Knights constantly throwing themselves into dangerous situations Young, headstrong knights eager to prove themselves. Kinda like Silver Helms from High Elves, only cheaper with worse stats. While their Impetuous rule looks bad on the face of it, there are VERY few situations where you don't want these guys charging, and even if you do get pulled into a bad charge, you can usually do okay so long as you don't flanked. While not as good as Knights of the Realm as your mainstay unit, remember that one unit can carry an errantry banner while still remaining cheaper. What this means is that they are actually BETTER for dealing with tough assholes like chaos warriors (against whom the better WS of KotR makes no difference). Immunity to fear the turn they charge is also nice. They can therefore fill a role, but if you do take them, take only one unit.
• Men at Arms: Yeah, they've got terrible stats. On the other hand, they can grab LD from a nearby unit of Knights (which, given that Brettonian Knight units tend to be reallllllly long, is not as far as you might think it is) and don't cause panic. Also you can grab 4 of them for the cost of 1 Knight Errant. They make fantastic cannon fodder, flank protectors and tarpits, especially if there's a Knight nearby. And if you want an example of how cheap these guys can run you: A full unit of 9 Knights of the Realm will cost you 237 points with full command. A unit of 40 Men at Arms with full command will run you 227 points. So yeah, don't disregard them.
• Peasant Bowmen: Throw enough mud at a wall... At 6 points a pop, with Defensive Stakes and Longbows, these guys do fantastic jobs in huge units (something will die if you shoot it enough times). And remember, any effort your enemy puts into killing them is effort not put into killing your Knights. Oh and give them Braziers. It's less than the cost of a single guy and it means that they can fuck up Regenerating units. Also, never ever, ever, ever give them Light Armor or make them Skirmishers. Just don't. One thing to note here is that if you field a large enough unit of these guys (say, 20+ strong), they will be enough of a nuisance that your oponent might decide to attack them, especially if you place a damsel on the unit. Use this to your advantage. Defensive stakes are now fences, and you do have longbows, which means even elves or other BS 4 units will shoot as well as you (read: like crap). Cavalry charging the unit will have to make dangerous terrain tests (not to mention the effect of the braziers). Even simple infantry will have a harder time hitting them. This means that they can actually survive the first round of combat allowing your knights to make a devastating charge. All that said, remember that no Bretonnian army has ever won a battle by shooting. Use them well however, as fire support and distractions, and see just how much these cheap peasants can help you win.

Special Units

• Questing Knights: Hmmm. No. They're too expensive and you don't get enough for it: 4 points more than a Knight of the Realm and all you get is 1 point of Strength. Oh and 1 point of Initiative, not that it matters. Under 8th, if you have Great Weapons, you have to use them, meaning they'll Always Strike Last and their lowered Armor Save makes them much more vulnerable to taking casualties in close combat. They are the only knight unit in your army that can be charged without becoming significantly worse... so you could use them as a highly mobile throwaway unit (because you are far too proud to use peasants in your army). They're not horrible taken on their own terms, but you'll probably get more mileage out of fewer points of Knights of the Realm. One thing to note is that they are the only knight unit in your army that may work well without the lance, so you can have them in two ranks if you so desire.
• Pegasus Knights: At 55 points a pop, you better be willing to sink some points into them. On the other hand, if you are they can be an absurdly deadly war machine/small unit hunter and can protect an entire flank on their own. Just be careful, without barding they're vulnerable to large volumes of attacks/shots.
• Mounted Yeomen: Man the fuck up and find the points for Pegasus Knights if you want a highly mobile unit. Then you won't have to suffer the humiliation of having your War Machine hunters getting their asses kicked by a War Machine Crew (yeah it happens). Just don't bother.
• Grail Reliquae: The ONLY infantry unit in your entire army that has any degree of staying/killing power without backup or absurdly large numbers (your capped off at 30 plus the Reliquae anyway). This makes them a perfect unit to hold up enemy units coming in on the flank, as they can operate without knight supervision. Don't forget though, someone needs to have the Grail Vow to take them.

Rare Units

• Grail Knights: These guys can be uber destructive but oh BOY are they expensive (one of the most expensive Knight units in the game). They also remain only T3 and 1 wound, so they're vulnerable to getting brought down by large volumes of S3/S4 attacks (keep them RIGHT the fuck away from elite Elf units). If you're careful and know how to use them, they can justify their points many times over, but if you fuck up, they'll get dropped pretty quickly. So, like all of Brettonia, use them wisely or lose them.
• Field Trebuchet: Do you like winning? Then take this 100 point stone thrower that hits on S5(10). It's one of Brettonia's only real weapons against Elite infantry who otherwise could tear your low Initiative Knight units apart. Hell, take 2, it'll still cost less than a single unit of Knights of the Realm. An excellent choice. If at all possible, place them behind bowmen so they get the cover from the fence.

Building Your Army

Start with a BSB Paladin on a horse, any other Hero/Lord character on a horse and a unit of 9+ Knights of the Realm. These are the basics of the Bretonnian army. After that do whatever you feel, use peasants if you want to recreate a peasant rebellion or a Crusades era army.

Buying Your Army

Unfortunately GW knows that you will need boxes of Knights to build your army, you will get neither enough in a single box nor a decent price. The basic plastic set can do either of the Core choices, but in typical GW fashion you will pay much more for Questing and Grail knights. Convert your own out of bits from the basic knight's box instead, the grail knights should be stripped down in terms of heraldry and you'll need to find a set of arms with two handed weapons for Questing knights, who also have less heraldry than Realm Knights.

There is an alternative for those who love mass conversions for themed armies and that is the "Legion of the Grail Damned" route.

Basically you can use a large chunk of the Undead models from Mantic Games' Kings of War game as undead Bretonnians, they're way fucking cheaper than GW prices, they look very similar to French Medieval armour designs and the models can cover most of your unit types: the Trebuchet, Grail Reliquary, Pegasus Knights, Lords and Prophetess/Damsels of the Lady are the only ones you can't do, or rather you can but the model designs look less like fallen from grace and more like actively embracing the dark side.

Army Composition

Aim for a majority of knights, Knights, Knights and Knights. You cannot play this army without Knights, so embrace the men of horse and steel.

Magic Items

• Virtues of the Chivalric Knight:

• • Virtue of the Penitent: Ehhhh. If you could take it on a Monster/Flyer Mounted Lord, it might be worthwhile (or if it was cheaper). As is? Nah.

• • Virtue of the Knightly Temper: A bit on the pricy side, but on a Lord, this one could really help you stack up the casualties. Combine with the Tress of Isoulde (and if you wanna go for the overkill Cuirass of Fortune or such), charge an enemy character and put your trollface on. Don't bother on a Paladin though.

• • Virtue of Heroism: Received a righteous buff in our FAQ. Killing blow against all targets? And we can now take magic weapons with it? Yes please. This is a great way to not rely solely on trebuchets to deal with the toughest nasties while still providing a bonus against enemy characters. Recommended.

• • Virtue of Stoicism: Good for a flank unit that will be out of the range of your BSB. Mainline units should be in range of your BSB, so use this guy for flanks.

• • Virtue of the Ideal: Make your guy a slightly better fighter in exchange for making his unit and all units near him more likely to break from a fluffed round of combat. Pass.

• • Virtue of the Impetuous Knight: Not a bad choice, not bad at all. Remember, if you don't get the charge, you're probably fucked, so anything that helps you get the charge is good. If your opponent moves up turn 1, this could help you get a Turn 1 Charge, which is always funny.

• • Virtue of Audacity: Since the base Strength for a Brettonian Hero/Lord is 4, this is only going to be worthwhile against Monsters and really nasty units (you wouldn't even get it against most Monstrous Infantry). Hence, it's another casual play Virtue, but in competitive play it would probably end up a waste of points.

• • Virtue of Duty: Yes. Yes, yes and also yes. Once you've gotten the charge, you need to break the enemy and a free point of static CR (as long as your general is breathing) is always worth 30 points.

• • Virtue of the Joust: Eh? Could be kinda funny, but there are probably better choices.

• • Virtue of Confidence: Challenges are a place where Brettonian Lords/Heroes need improvement, but I can really see this one coming back to bite you when you end up in combat with a Tyrant kitted out for Bloodthirster. That said, due to the penalties for declining challenges and the fact that the virtue's bonuses are pretty good (go lord of rerolls go), this is usually a good virtue so long as you are careful.

• • Virtue of Noble Disdain: Good for a Paladin on Pegasus who you want to go War Machine/Shooting Unit hunting.

• • Virtue of Purity: Well it's paying 20 points to up his Ward save from 6+ to 5+ against S4 and below hits. Probably not worth it.

• • Virtue of Discipline: According to the FAQ's this Virtue doesn't exist. Good thing too, as under 8th edition rules it literally did nothing.

• • Virtue of Empathy: Want to help your Peasants out? Then take this. Actually fairly good to help beef up your Men-At-Arms. Just remember, he has to accept a challenge if issued, so kit him out for bear.

• Magic Weapons:

• • The Silver Lance of the Blessed: Holy Lady, look at that price tag. On average, you are hiting with two more attacks while not boosting your ability to wound/ignore armour for an outrageous amount of points. Losing this item if you lose the blessing doesn't help at all either. If you want to hit more often, there are far better combinations for less points (including simply boosting the number of attacks).

• • Sword of the Quest: The mandatory "ignores armour" item of your army. Decently priced. The key here is that you can use it either as a one-handed weapon or a two-handed weapon, so it provides a good deal of versatility. An absolute must against dwarven lords and the like. It is, of course, useless/too pricey if the enemy has low armor saves, so be careful about bringing it to an all-comers list.

• • Sword of the Lady's Champion: An alternative to the virtue of heroism. Instead of being an all or nothing deal, this weapon allows you to reliably wound everything, so it can be used along with a knight charge or a trebuchet shot to deal with the most resilient monsters. Unlike the virtue of heroism, it is of little use against common soldiers (even against dwarves it's just an overpriced sword of might), and most lords immune to killing blow will blast you to kingdom come if you don't have a weapon specifically made to kill them (tip: this one ain't it). To sum it up, it's a decent weapon for dealing with monsters and very tough characters and while it can be better than the virtue of heroism in very specific instances, it's not as good overall.

• • Sword of Heroes: Hmpf. Your third and final choice for dealing with high-toughness enemies and not nearly as good as the others. While it can be hilarious against certain characters if the lady is on your side, not only does it not help against most enemies (like the other two do), but it is nigh-useless against really tough monsters. If you got extra wounds before the enemy saved, then it could actually be worth it in some battles. As it is, skip it.

• • The Heartwood Lance: Decebt choice, makes your lord more deadly on the charge for a decent price, especially if coupled with items or virtues that allow him to hit more often. That said, during the charge against the rank and file and even most characters, the cuirass of fortune does the same for a lower price, so this is only a better alternative in subsequent rounds of combat (when you are unlikely to wound on a 2+) or against tougher enemies.

• • Birth-sword of Carcassonne: An all-around good choice. The extra strength is always welcome in subsequent rounds of combat and the armor save reroll is not too bad either. Of course, if you know the enemy will only have 5+ armor saves, you are better off buying a sword of might or the like, but if you are running an all-comers list this is a good item to take, if only to help against characters who will likely have a decent save.

• • Morning Star of Fracasse: A personal favourite. Since your lords and paladins have a pretty good armor save and a ward save on top of that, usually the biggest threats against them are magic weapons that ignore armor or offer killing blow, and you can nuliffy these (usually much more expensive) items for only 25 points. The +2S in the first round of combat is always welcome too, since it works even if you are charged. Just make sure that you either strike first (hint potion of speed hint) or that the enemy character cannot kill you in round 1 (yeah, some of them can do that). Oh yes, combine it with Sirienne's Locket and have fun.

• • The Lance of Artois: Killing blow on the charge for only 25 points. Works best if you have multiple attacks obviously and if you can reroll misses. Really not much else to say.

• • The Wyrmlance: Can work on a paladin on a pegasus, and it is cheap. That said, the breath attack is only S3, you have cheap flaming attacks from elsewhere (peasants) and it can be used only once per game. You must also protect what will certainly be a fire-magnet, and many characters and monsters will have fire resistance. Again, it can work if you know what you are doing.

• Magic Armour:

• • Gilded Cuirass: Regeneration, you have to pay a bit more than most people pay for it. Usually not needed (or, better put, too expensive for what it does) as you have a very good defense already and other items are more cost-effective against attacks that do bypass said defenses, but if you absolutely must have it hey, it's here.

• • Armour of the Midsummer Sun: Way too expensive on the average lord or paladin. That said, if you plan on taking a monstrous mount for some reason (there is no reasoning with you, is there, you just want to field that hyppogryph), THEN it becomes worth its points, as it will help protect your mount too.

• • The Grail Shield: Upgrades your ward save to 4+ against all attacks for a very good price. If you want to boost your general defense, this (and the item we will get to next) are your best choices. Remember, though, that since you have to pay for the grail vow, you should only buy this if you were gonna take the grail vow anyway, otherwise it becomes too pricey for what it does.

• • Gromril Great Helm: Do you want to make your character basically immune to the rank and file? Then take this. Combine it with the crown of command and enjoy your enemy's tears. Better than the grail shield against most attacks, but if you are worried about warmachines and other attacks that ignore armour, take the former.

• • Armour of Agilulf: The quintessential item for the duelist. Most enemy combat character will hit you on a 3+ while you hit them on a 4+. Now you've turned the tables around. You've also made yourself more resistant to melee attacks of non-elite infantry and cavalry (and heck, even some monsters). And for a low price too. The only disadvantage here is that you can't use two-handed weapons, but that's not really a problem for most characters.

• • Cuirass of Fortune: Pretty good. It's cheap, and on the charge it's basically a reroll failed wounds. Really, the only reason this item doesn't shine is Bretonnia has other very good choices in this category.

• • Orcbane Shield: Take it if you are facing orcs, don't take it otherwise. Simple, no?

• Talismans:

• • Sirienne's Locket: The closest thing Bretonnia has to a troll item. Get a lord with the questing vow and a great weapon (and if you really want to laugh at your opponent, virtue of empathy just so you can field him on foot) and charge the opponent's nastiest unit (that doesn't have magical attacks). Also helps against warmachines. Yeah, seems like a great idea... except most enemy characters will have magic weapons and if you are gonna charge regular units you might as well use men at arms (who will also likely have steadfast). Not to mention that your lord can still turn tail, run and be horribly massacred. Let it not be said that this item is useless, however, if you are willing to make a build around it. With Crown of Command, you can send your lord against the deadliest enemy unit (as long as it doesn't have magic attacks) and basically hold it for the rest of the game or even kill it off eventually. If you instead take the Morningstar of Fracasse and a potion of speed, you might just be able to hold a much stronger enemy character for the rest of the game. And damsels/prophetesses will be able to heal him with no problem. Is this the best use for a lord... maybe not, but it indubitably viable if you play the maneuver game well, turning him into a point denial machine.

• • Token of the Damsel: Meh. Can help you against a cannon ball or something, but are you really willing to spend 35 points to prevent the first wounding hit before knowing if your armor or regular ward save would remove it anyway?

• • Insignia of the Quest: 3+ ward save as soon as you hit 1 wound? For 30 points? Hell yes! Also, nothing prevents you from healing those wounds afterwards. The only problem here is that it requires the questing vow, which prevents the use of lances, but otherwise this is a great item. This is one of the few items that actually works better on a paladin, as he will reach the 1 wound faster and your lord will likely want less risky (although not as balls-out powerful) defensive items.

• • Braid of Bordeleaux: Too situational to be recommended. It can help you get a charge you otherwise wouldn't be able to get (and if you charge a ranged unit they will have a hard time hitting you if they stand and shoot) and the bonus leadership can be handy. But, again, too situational.

• • Dragon's Claw: Like the virtue of purity, only for 5 more points you also get immunity to fire. This one might actually be worth it if you don't have anything else to spend your points on (how did you do that?).

• • Mantle of Damsel Elena: The Morningstar of Fracasse usually does the same and then some for only five points more. The Mantle does protect you against the few killing blows that don't come from magic weapons (if for some reason you find yourself trying to solo a bloodthirster. Good luck with that.) and from poison, so it's not a bad item by any stretch (it costs about as much as items that grant immunity to killing blow/poison in other armies).

Tactics

Prayer: Using Religion to Smash Face - Pretty much you should be praying to the Lady every single battle. Yes this does give your opponent a significant advantage but remember that many players who play defensive armies would rather you go first. The Lady's Blessing gives you some major buffs to units that are already pretty good. Those Knights of the Realms now get a ward save, meaning your basic Knight unit, the most common unit in your army, is now harder to kill. Losing the blessing sucks but its good while you do have it, and because the conditions for losing it aren't exactly signs of an impending victory you shouldn't get worked up if you do lose it.