The Old World: Kingdom of Bretonnia Faction Review

Why Play Bretonnians

Do you love barreling down the battlefield on your majestic steed of renown and mowing down evil in the name of all that is good and righteous? Do you yearn to field an obnoxious amount of unwashed, highly taxed, but loyal, slightly-worse-statted humans, to mob the enemies of your farmlands in a wave of rusty farm equipment? Well look no further, because these are the exact two playstyles that the Bretonnians offer and you can be anywhere on the spectrum between these two fantastic approaches to warfare. You could also just really enjoy Monty Python’s Holy Grail; that works too. 

Five Things You Need to Know to Play Bretonnians

•  Knights of the Realm are the best Core cavalry in the game
•  Bretonnian characters are the backbone of any force. Be it in the form of Damsels and Prophetesses buffing units, or burly Lords rocketing into the fray on the backs of the incredible mount options. Bretonnians have access to some of the best magic items in the game, which really pushes their characters to the top.
•  There are limited ranged options available, and most of them come from the Bretonnian Arcane Journal with the Exiles Army of Infamy publication. 
•  Pegasus Knights are borderline oppressive in how they act on the battlefield. An outstanding mix of good rules, good stats, and being well positioned in most metas means having a squadron of these in your list will never be a waste. 
•  Nearly every unit in the faction has its uses and can be good. There are very few misses in this faction and that gives the option to make a strong showing with nearly any combination of models from your collection. 

Rules & Vows

Blessings of the Lady – This is why we’re all here. Giving a 6+ Ward save to every Knight and Lady in the army is good, but when attacked with a Strength 5 or higher attack, it cranks it up a notch and turns into a 5+ Ward save. This rule will save swathes of Knights from dying to random small arms fire and dragon claws alike. However beware, brave Knight, as any model that flees or any character that refuses a challenge will lose this boon for the rest of the game. An outstanding army rule that defines the faction. Disclaimer: You will have make terrible sacrifices to achieve this power (You have to take the second turn)

Finest Warhorses – Whenever your Warhorses roll for Charge, Flee, or Pursuit, you can reroll 1s. Great to increase consistency for charging. Remember that this does not apply to regular horses or Pegasus mounts! 

Lance Formation – Lance formation allows Bretonnians to do two things: Increase mobility on the battlefield and cause arguments on the internet. Forming up in a triangle in a game of rectangles causes a few headaches, which are exacerbated by needing to read FAQs to ordain its true rules. The headlines for Lance Formation are: 

•  Use it when you want to turn faster.
•  Leave it when you see bolt throwers, as they can shoot through your front and skewer 3+ knights in a single shot.
•  Use it when you want to multi-charge a single unit with multiple units of Knights, as the reduced frontage allows more of your Knights to make contact.
•  Leave it when facing units comprised of models with more than 1 Attack on its profile. Due to FAQ rulings, all models in the fighting rank get all their attacks against a Lance Formation. This may be reduced to less attacks if sitting in a normal formation. Use your best judgement here. 

Peasantry – A drawback rule. This keeps your Knights fraternising with the rabble without taking the Virtue of Empathy. Or in the Exiles list, any Knight character can join any Peasant unit! What a benevolent Lord that must be. 

Arcane Journal Rules

Banished Lords – An Exiles exclusive rule, this allows all your knights to swap their Knight’s Vow for the Exile’s Vow, which is usually a straight upgrade. 

Reclaimed Glory – Another Exiles rule, this causes your Blessings of the Lady to not be able to be gained at the start of the game. Instead, you must win your blessing back by making an overrun move or making contact with a fleeing enemy. This is a bit more harsh than it actually looks because a big bonus of the Blessing of the Lady is keeping your knights safe as they approach the combat they want, but if they don’t have that then they’re no more resilient than an Empire Knight. This allows a Bretonnian army to go first sometimes, but always think twice about how your Exiles army will want to play due to this rule change. 

Crusading Knights – A Errantry Crusade only rule, this applies the Crusader’s Zeal to specific knights. Notably, it does not apply to your Duke. This will be important. It also allows the swapping of their Knight’s Vow with the Crusader’s Vow, a good upgrade but sometimes not one you want to take, especially with Grail Knights. 

Crusader’s Zeal – This Errantry Crusade specific rule increases the charge range of your Knights with this rule by 1″, which can really make the difference between a whiff and a connection! However it has the massive downside of applying Impetuous as well. This can sometimes be fine but against a savvy enemy you may just find yourself being led around the battlefield. Even if you don’t take the Crusader’s Vow, the units that could are still affected by this rule. 

Earn Your Spurs – An interesting Errantry Crusade rule in that it attempts to bridge the gap between Knight Errants and Knights of the Realm. Allowing re-rolls to hit of 1 when near Lords or Grail vow models, this rule is actually rarely that impactful. With only WS3, it’s hard for the Errants to ever hit on anything other than a 4, so there are a lot of gaps to miss the re-roll window, and then the re-roll only has a 50% chance to work. The same rule, however, does allow for the Errants to gain 100vp for each banner they capture, so you can sometimes surprise your opponent with a higher VP count than they expected at the end of the game. 

Vows

The Knight’s Vow – Allows Peasants within 6″ to use this model’s leadership. This is the only way that units with the Levies rule will be able to use other models’ leadership, so keep it in mind that your General does not extend his leadership to 12 to Peasant units. 

The Questing Vow – Gives the effects of The Knight’s Vow. In addition, models with this Vow can not use a lance, gain Stubborn, and can re-roll failed Fear, Panic, and Terror tests. Losing your lance is not ideal, but has some usage with some magic weapons. A Questing Vow unit can not be joined by a character with Knights Vow. 

The Grail Vow – Gives the effects of The Knight’s Vow. In addition, it gives the model with this Vow Magical Attacks, Stubborn, Immune to Psychology, and does not have to pray at the start of the game to get their blessing! However, challenges can not be refused. Grail units can only be joined by Grail characters. This is a lot of special rules packed into a single rule, and it is usually worth the upgrade on most characters. Gives a lot of mileage for the investment. 

The Exile’s Vow – Now here is a Vow that really pulls its weight. Able to replace the Knights Vow for free, this Vow gives Veteran, Stubborn, and allows the knight in question to join any peasant unit at any time. Somewhat steps on the toes of the Virtue of Empathy because of this, but its a welcome inclusion in an army like Exiles. It’s highly probable you want to take this on every knight in the army, especially since you’re unable to take the Grail Vow at all on any models. 

The Crusader’s Vow – Somewhat similar to the Exile Vow, the Crusader’s Vow adds Veteran, but stops short there and is exactly the same as the Knight’s Vow in all other aspects. An upgrade over the basic Knight’s Vow to be sure, but nothing too exciting. You likely want to take this on everything that comes with the Knight’s Vow. 

Units and Composition

Not every variation of old Bretonnia returns in this instalment, but all the greatest hits are here. If you’ve got a lot of Knights and Peasants in the attic then you’re likely to be able to field a respectable force. 

Characters

The character selections for Bretonnians are arguably the most important choices you can make when writing up an army list. With amazing rules, fantastic items, and the ability to turn the tide of battle on their own, these paragons of the Lady will be important in every stage of the game. 

Our combat Lords come in 3 varieties. Duke, Baron, and Paladin, in order of strength. The Duke is one of the best melee combatants in the game and gives Chaos Lords a run for their money. The one downside of our combat characters is that unlike a lot of other factions, we can’t plant them on a dragon and have them be a towering menace to all that lives. But fear not, the humble Royal Pegasus makes up for this, which we’ll discuss later. The Duke coming in at 4 wounds and 5 attacks really pushes the combat to the next level here, with the Baron and Paladin losing a point in assorted stats each. Each has their place, and each is extremely usable. Of note, the Paladin is allowed a free Battle Standard Bearer upgrade unlike every other army, and all 3 can ride on a Royal Pegasus. 

A Duke that can swing hard and fast is integral to Bretonnian game plans. A Duke with either the Virtue of Knightly Temper or Virtue of Heroism, mounted on a Royal Pegasus/Hippogriff, and sporting either Ogre Blade for Knightly Temper, or some more defences for Heroism, will put in a lot of work down field. Your local meta will likely decide which you go for, as you’re making the choice to either go monster hunting or unit crushing. A common misuse of this type of character is to throw them into something that only has a moderate chance of success, so we suggest making sure your Duke has crushed all the smaller dangerous monsters/units before tackling the big bad guys for the final showdown. 

Meanwhile, one of the best Paladin builds around involves utilising the static combat resolution bonuses given by multiple special rules. A Paladin with a Battle Standard Bearer, a War Banner, and the Virtue of Duty is walking around with a static combat resolution bonus of +3. Add on the Gromril Greathelm for the defences and you have a tank of a character that can win combats without even killing anything. 

The graceful and elegant maidens of the Lady come in the classic level 1/2 or level 3/4 combination, and have a key ability that gives them a unique role on the battlefield. Shield of the Lady allows these wizards to, at any time, take up a position away from the fighting rank and hide at the back of a unit, while still being able to cast spells. Note that this still blocks line of sight for some spells. This rule lets these spellcasters do their job at the forefront of the fighting while staying safe from enemy attacks. Using this rule will be key in keeping your ladies alive. As an additional boost, they also give any unit they join MR2 and magical attacks which is one of the better passive buffs in the game. Throwing these wizards into any unit of Knights will give some level of power and defence increase. 

The level 2 variation will not see much use, but where it does it will be partially because of the passive Magic Resistance (2) and magical attacks buffs it gives. Where it does see use, you should likely give it a defensive buff to cast from a signature spell, while giving her either a Power Scroll or a sacrament to boost casting ability. 

Your level 4 comes in the form of a Prophetess and this character will be your anchor for magical damage. Purchasing the Ruby Ring of Ruin, then taking Lore Familiar and Battle Magic Lore you can really put a lot of damage out into the field. This is not a unique set up to Bretonnians, but they do it very well when combined with the mount options given. The level 4 is a unique unit in that every one of her mount options has use, and she can go in a good spread of units to put them to good use. This means she can leverage unit buffs such as Gift of the Lady and Glittering Robe to good effect. 

The last magic user we have is the secretive Outcast Mage, which appears in the Arcane Journal. It’s a very notable unit in that it is incredibly cheap, but doesn’t get access to level 4 or Lore of the Lady. Essentially an Empire wizard that has been limited to level 3 only, but with some points knocked off due to its chances of a worse (but sometimes better) miscast table. This mage has access to all the other Lores, like an Empire wizard will, and so offers a lot of flexibility on how to play them when list writing. A powerful and dastardly way to play them is to take as many as you can, put them on basic horses and having them boosted to level 3 with Daemonology magic. Taking the signature spell The Summoning to have as many magic machine guns on the table as possible! This is where you want to be if you’re taking a ranged focused Bretonnian army, but surely we’re more honourable than that! 

Sergeants-at-arms is our last little character, and he’s got a lot of pluck compared to the rest of the characters. Coming in at a cheap 45, the Sarg does about as much work as you’d expect a 45 point character to do: not much. The main reason to take the little scrapper is to buff a unit of Men-at-arms or Yeoman Guard so that they always have, essentially, the ability of shieldwall at all times. This can be quite good if you’re looking for some classic hammer and anvil play, but it’s often the case that a single round of Give Ground was enough, and that you don’t need another turn of it anyway. He has a small points allowance that lets him take a few items but the only notable ones are from the Exiles list such as the Wyrmbreath Flask and the Ironspike Shield. 

Finally we come to mounts in the character section. The best mount here is the Royal Pegasus, there is no real contention, but all the others are extremely good choices as well. Both Pegasus mounts have 360 degree sight and Fly 10, this is enough to get any battle bound Duke in to the thick of it, but do not discount the Hippogriff here, as the extra bulk can make up for not taking defensive items. Both of the horses are fine options when making a character to fit in to a unit, and the Unicorn for the Prophetess is extremely good as well as a cheap but fast mount. The things that make the Royal Pegasus good is its damage output, which can confirm a few extra kills in a combat to swing a gambling combat in to a sure thing, but these bonuses are somewhat wasted on the Prophetess, so many generals are opting for the Unicorn, which gives similar levels of mobility while costing less. 

Core

For Core, Bretonnians must take one unit of Knights, and at least one unit of Peasants. This can come as quite the restriction at low points values, but overall you’re likely to want one of each anyway just to pad some numbers. 

Lets start off with the kings of the small castles. The chivalrous Knights of the Realm come in at a humble 24 points per model and get a lovely chunk of rules to use out of the gate. You don’t need to upgrade any of these with lances, heavy armour, or any of that other guff that other factions worry about, as they come with all that gubbins as stock. Likely to run down anything that matches them in points in the Core selections, these little nobles are great to pad out your core with. Don’t expect them to go taking down monsters, however, as they are prone to rubber lance syndrome when you least need it. Likely the best Core Cavalry in the game due to the Blessings of the Lady special rule, and are able to get a surprising amount of things done if used together in groups. A core that consists of three units of five Knights of the Realm with no command for 125 points per unit can really zip around the field and assist where needed. 

Okay, sure, but what if I don’t have much work experience? What if I’m a bit new to this whole “Knight” thing? I just want to get out in the field! Ah well that is where the Knight Errants come in. For even cheaper points you can get the same defensive profile with the same wonderful 3+ save and 6/5+ ward save, but you’ll lose counter charge and gain Impetuous. That’s quite a dicey exchange, and one not to be taken lightly. The experience of your Knights of the Realm might be an integral factor on the plains of Bretonnia, but a small unit of five of these Knights will only run 95 points, which is incredibly cheap for the type of attacks and defences they put up. If you do take these, make sure you position very carefully and avoid pointless charges that may throw away innocent (but stupid) Knights! 

But “Hark!” I hear you say, “What if I wish to go to battle without my noble steed? What if they’re getting new shoes?!” Well then I’d say you’re losing your mind, my good Knight! But if you insist, you can take Foot Knights of the Realm. These Knights keep the Blessings of the Lady rules; that’s good! But they lose their horses and thus their movement; that’s bad. However, they maintain the same stat line and come in cheaper; that’s good! Unfortunately they no longer get lances and now have to pay for great weapons and shields; that’s bad. All in all the foot knights come in at slightly better than Empire greatswords, and that is nowhere near where you want to be comparing your units, as that is a poor unit. As such, the foot knights get a lot of mileage out of buffs from various wizards, and hit pretty hard on the charge due to Furious Charge, but it’s just a lot of work to get them to perform at a similar level to your special and rare choices, so we suggest leaving these guys at the stable to wait for a horse unless you really want to build around them. 

Men-at-arms are next and they’re exactly what you need from the main populace of Bretonnia, a big cheap roadblock willing to lay down their lives so that their noble lords may have but a single second more to have the perfect charge, and doing so gladly. Incredibly cheap and oddly sturdy, it will take more than once charge to fully break a large unit of Men-at-arms. Something to note about the Men-at-arms is that they are able to take two champions in a single unit, which allows them to make challenges against dangerous characters that would otherwise destroy whole units over a few combat rounds. The Grail Monk in particular can hold on a Blessed Triptych (fancy words for a holy painting) and his love of Bretonnian romance-era artists grants the unit Stubborn, but this is difficult to use against a savvy opponent, because if they manage to bonk the Grail Monk before combat resolution comes, the unit will no longer have Stubborn. The whole unit is equipped with the unique weapon Polearm, which is a mix between a halberd and a spear, so make sure you use each mode when required. 

Peasant Bowmen are not really how they used to be. In times long past, you’d see large units of these not-so-sharpshooters sitting behind large wooden stakes in the ground. But now they can take Skirmish rules for free, comes in cheap, and they fit into your minimum peasant unit requirement. In a full cavalry army you’re likely to see a small unit of 10 of these guys to just fill the space, but they can be used very well at creating space for knights to get better charges, and to waste the time of dragons. None of the upgrades this unit has options for are particularly worth it as they do their job without them, but if you’re short on core minimum requirements there’s nothing wrong with throwing a champion here to absorb character charges. 

Yeoman Guard are our first Exiles Army of Infamy inclusion and what an inclusion they are! Only a single point more expensive than your Men-at-arms but what an upgrade they get. They gain a Weapon Skill and a Leadership, lose Levies, gain Veteran, and can take a magic banner worth 25 points (It will be War Banner, no questions here). The unit can also choose to forgo Polearms which would cost them another point, or they can just take Spears or Halberds for free. Halberds are rarely used for these types of units so taking the free spear is a great upgrade in efficiency. If you’re in the business of playing Exiles then you should certainly take a look at this loyal lot. 

Special Choices

Battle Pilgrims are first in the Special slot and they’re a bit of a strange one. They are positioned to be Core by looking at their profile, as they don’t attack very well, they are not particularly tough, and they cost an eye-watering 8 points per model. Surely they have some special rules that help them compete? Unfortunately not really. While they have Hatred (all enemies) they also have WS2, which means a reasonable amount of the time they’ll be hitting on 5s, which even with a reroll is not good at all. They also don’t have any weapon options so they’ll be doing all this with a simple hand weapon. With the Grail Reliquae they get the option to be unbreakable with a Grail Vow knight around but in reality they will just die to nearly any other unit out there. This is fine when you’re talking about minimum required units of Core that don’t cost all that much, but when you’re losing 8ppm special choice slot models it stings a bit more than it should. The Crusade Army of Infamy can slot these in to the Core selection which makes them much more palatable, but even then they’re a bit expensive for what they are. 

Now maybe you’ve got some peasants but they’re a little slow on foot, and you don’t want to let them ride a really good horse. What can you do? You make them Mounted Yeomen and give them a crappy horse of course! However, there is nothing crappy about this plucky unit of riders, as for their points they are crammed with special rules and great options. One of the few units in the entire game that get access to the Feigned Flight special rule, these are masters of drawing enemy units out of position safely. They can be upgraded with shields and light armour for a reasonable save, and come with both shortbows and cavalry spears. Other rules that good fast cavalry get are also here such as Skirmish and Reserve Move, and this short stack of rules combines to be much greater than the sum of its parts. A notable use of such a unit is a wizard on a regular horse with some kind of magic missile, to move forward and fire it and move back to safety, which also never fearing long distance charges as the Feigned Flight rule makes it usually free to Flee react. Notably Core in Exiles Army of Infamy, which is a fantastic way to pad out the minimum requirements.

Questing Knights are another one of the “miss” units in the faction. Unfathomably cool, they are unfortunately placed in the middle of a battle of efficient vs power. They come in at a mid level points cost, and output a mid level of damage. Neither of these are really required in this faction usually, so they often get left behind where their poor old metal pewter bodies can’t break. If they were Core you’d see them in every game, or if they had something more unique about them rules-wise you might see some strategy emerge with them, but really the only unique thing about them is that they lost Counter Charge along with their lance, which is just disheartening. 

Squires are your kingmakers, I have found. The only Scout unit in the main book and it does exactly what you want your distracting Scout unit to do; cost very little. Basically a Peasant Bowman that costs a little more, you’ll want to use these to Scout forward and block lanes of attack from your enemy and get in the way of firing lines of ranged attacks. They can also be used to help cut off avenues of escape for fleeing enemies and cause perilous retreat tests when positioned well. Just a great little unit that I never leave without, and usually in pairs. Two units will be all that you’ll ever need, and the Crusade Army of Infamy gets them in Core! 

My lords, my ladies. And everyone else here NOT sitting on a cushion. Today you find yourselves equals for you are all equally blessed. You are able to bear witness to the power of the Pegasus Knight. 55 points of flying, charging, multiple wound goodness that roams the skies. This unit is likely the best in the faction and you can see it just by looking at the profile. Each Pegasus Knight comes down from the heavens with four attacks per model on the charge, two at S6, two at S4, and has Skirmish as Monstrous Cavalry, which means a 360 degree sight arc so they can charge in all directions. Insanity. But it doesn’t stop there! The unit can take a 50 points magical banner, and each type of army has its own way to really push these guys above and beyond. Grand Army can give them Chalons or Errantry, which makes them immune to stand and shoot or get extra strength when charging, Exiles can give them the Vanguard special rule, and Crusades can give them Frenzy. Each of these options are all fantastic and showcase different aspects of what makes this unit good. Take this unit and never look back. 

Rare Options

The Rare options for Bretonnia change a bit depending on which army you’re taking, but overall there is only a limited selection here. Each has its place, but none are bad. 

Grail Knights occupy the top spot in terms of Rare slot options, as they are exemplars in what a knight of Bretonnia should be. They hit the hardest of any non-monstrous Cavalry in the game and come with a bunch of options to buff them up as the champion can take Virtues. While the Pegasus Knights have some bulk to go with their power, the Grail Knights are pure power. Don’t expect them to weather much ranged fire, but this unit charging into nearly any non-character should net a winning result. A notable option for this unit is to equip the champion with the Falcon Horn mentioned later, as to free up magic item space on your characters. You can elevate the prowess of this unit even further with magic banners such a Crusader’s Tapestry from the Arcane Journal which gives them Frenzy, which makes the units charge hit so hard that the only units that will survive it are riding on the backs of dragons (or can call you a coward and force a 1v1 via challenge). 

Now, if only we could utilise a contraption that is able to propel an object that weighs roughly 80-100kg over, say, 300ish meters. By the Lady! We do! The Field Trebuchet is here for all your niche meme needs, but only one version. In past times we would be able to use a Blessed version and a standard version, but it seems all the Trebuchets in The Old World were blessed, as the damage profile matches that template. While being the hardest hitting stone thrower in the game, the Field Trebuchet is a tough unit to make work for Bretonnians. There are no engineers or runes to help with misfiring, and the cost is somewhat high for a stone thrower in general. Even though this is certainly a fun piece of kit, it’s in your best interest to not expect too much from it, and if it does do good damage, consider yourself… blessed. 

Border Prince Brigands up next, and these wandering vagabonds are what allows Bretonnia to function in a semi ranged capacity. Able to take a blunderbuss or crossbow, among other melee weapon options, the Exile-exclusive Brigands will function as your core ranged if you want them to. The main downside to this is that it actually eats into your rare allowance, which is not where you want BS3 crossbow troops to be. The main use of these bad boys and gals is to give them an oversized shotgun in the form of the blunderbuss, give them Skirmish, give them Scout, and have them go as close as possible to a soft as possible. What you’re looking to do here is to walk into their blunderbuss range of 12 inches and blast whatever is in front of them, then when they get charged by what is left, to blast them again. This usually deals with any lightly armoured light cavalry or low wound monsters. They won’t last long after that but they have a mission and by the Lady they’ll get it done. Buyer beware; they are Impetuous, so a canny opponent will try to force them into a fight you don’t want to take, but since this will only happen 50% of the time then sometimes you’ll just get to blast your blunderbuss again! 

Border Prince Bombards are the real deal when it comes to ranged firepower in the Exiles army of Infamy. At the same price as your Trebuchet, these proto-cannons are similar enough to Great Cannons that they are worth taking in nearly every Exiles list. The reason they are more reliable than the Trebuchet though, is that their special misfire table will often leave them able to fire the next turn and will rarely hurt their chances of hitting. They even get to just fire the shot anyway on one of the results! This mitigates the need for engineers or rerolls, which is the main problem of our other war machine. A full shooting Exiles army will likely include two of these and two Trebuchets, and both will contribute nicely to a wasteland gunline. 

Special Characters

The Green Knight is the epitome of Bretonnian spirit, but he acts quite differently to most of the army. While the main army wishes to charge down the middle of the field and crash into the front lines, the Green Knight‘s goal is to charge from unexpected angles to the flanks of units or to the backline war machines that are hiding from your other knights. A competitively priced model, the Green Knight is often a very swingy unit that can fall flat or destroy entire units. As he does not count as a Duke or Baron, he can often be taken as a second Duke-level threat that can keep coming back to life over and over again. Of all the special characters the Green Knight is likely the strongest pick, and has the most use against the most enemies of our fair Bretonnia. Keep in mind, though, that a lot of his toughness comes from being Ethereal, so make sure you don’t get shot by a random unit of Sisters of Avelorn! 

Sir Cecil Gastonne, the Wyrm Slayer is all that is wrong with Bretonnia. A tragic story of a single knight’s hubris and ego has landed this character with some of the most unfortunately laid out special rules and stats in the book. He’s not too bad compared to some other factions’ foot characters, but in Bretonnia he just doesn’t really fit anywhere. You’re likely better off creating your own Baron with custom Virtues and items to get a more interesting combat character. A Baron with Virtue of the Ideal alone will bring them very close to Sir Cecil in terms of combat ability. Having Monster Slayer while also running around without a horse is the final nail in the coffin here, as any monster worth killing will obviously just avoid fighting him for the entire game

Ah, Lady Elisse Duchaard. We all know you want to use this special character because of the wonderful model presented to us, and fear not, because she’s pretty good! Lady Elisse has a pretty straight forward goal; to stop enemy spellcasters. She is only level 3, but dispels as a level 4, and will dispel on any double. She is likely the best dispelling character in the game and will often net dispels out of nowhere even against really high casting values, such as the Mortuary Cult from Tomb Kings can put out. Due to only being level 3 she will only know three spells, but her ability lets her take two signature spells, so you actually have a more specific selection. You’re likely to roll on the Lore of Elements (her only lore option), take the one good spell you rolled and turn the others into Gift of the Lady and Lady’s Wrath. She also has a sneaky third ability that makes all special rules and magic items that use leadership take a -2 to the check to do it. This can stop things like Arise! from the Tomb Kings, or even an opposing Falcon Horn, but having her as the General is the best way to use this. A great model, and a good fit into any Bretonnian army. 

Virtues

Virtues have been a part of the Bretonnian way of life for a long time now, and they’ve made a triumphant return in The Old World. Allowing for many different combinations for your combat characters and creating unique builds for custom characters. Some Virtues can even make their way to unit champions and can be the wellspring of a tonne of variety between Bretonnian armies. 

Virtue of Knightly Temper is first up, as the most expensive choice, and rightly so. No other Virtue gives this amount raw power. Gaining extra attacks and rerolls is usually reserved for the magical weapons you carry, but these effects being gained without using up that resource is invaluable. Commonly combined with Ogre Blade, you’ll find yourself clearing our waves and waves of troops of all shapes and sizes with this combination. A particularly strong Baron build is combining the Frontier Axe from the Arcane Journal with this Virtue, which allows for a large amount of points to be dedicated to defence as well. 

Virtue of Heroism is second, and I would wager it is an even more commonly taken Virtue than Knightly Temper. Allowing Dukes and Barons to punch up into many monster characters is an incredible tool, and being able to cram as much defence on that character as possible makes this Virtue feel like an inevitable time bomb. Your delivery method of choice is usually something that flies, and if a character is crammed to the gills in defences, it’s only a matter of time before they find their target and slay it most righteously. A personal favourite of mine, I like to combine this with the Bedazzling Helm or the Gromril Greathelm, and tack on some immunity from multi-wound in the form of Sirienne’s Locket. 

Virtue of Stoicism is a bit of a miss here, as you never want to be planning on losing a combat. Not only that, but a simple reroll for the cost of 55 points does not sound all that appealing, especially when all of the models that could take this Virtue will have Stubborn most of the time. 

Limited to characters only, Virtue of The Penitent gives Unbreakable at the trade of not joining a friendly unit. This has some use on really tough characters that are built to never take a wound but could potentially lose a combat with static bonuses. Some build with Gromril Greathelm and a cheap one-handed magical weapon could see good play but mostly only into blocks of tough infantry that you just want to keep in one spot.

An often overshadowed Virtue, Virtue of the Ideal comes in at a modest 45 points. For those points you get increases to Weapon Skill, Initiative, Attacks, and Leadership, allowing for a Leadership 10 character, but since they can’t be your general or join a unit, it’s only really for them. This character can still be the Battle Standard Bearer, but this Virtue will likely see best use on flying Barons that are trying to pretend to be a second Duke. This character will have to lean heavily on its magical weapons to get the most out of that extra attack as well, so it can be a challenge keeping this type of character alive. 

Virtue of the Impetuous Knight is an incredibly interesting Virtue. One of the few Virtues that applies a buff to a unit, this Virtue is likely at its best not due to a character, but due to the unit that character will join. Another good avenue for this Virtue is to put it on a Grail or Questing knight champion, which will buff the unit without having to invest in a character. 

Virtue of Audacity is another somewhat miss. One of the stand out features of Bretonnian characters is their high weapon skill, which means you’re likely only going to want to take this on at most a Baron, to try and win an underdog fight. There could be a world where a Baron takes this Virtue and combines it with a Monster Slaying or Killing Blow weapon to try to leverage their slightly lower Weapon Skill, but it’s a bit of a gamble into an open field where you may not know your next opponent. 

Virtue of Purity has mostly only one use, and that is in an Exiles Army of Infamy to give a Baron their ward save without having to win a combat first. Outside of that, you’re likely to glaze over this one. 

Virtue of Duty opens the door for a very specific build that is becoming more and more popular. The Virtue bestows an additional point of combat resolution at the price of not joining units or being the general, but when combined on a Paladin with the Battle Standard and a War Banner magical banner, they can fly around the battlefield with the same static combat resolution as a ranked up unit (+3). A Gromril Greathelm on this character will often be all the defences it needs to get stuck in to any infantry unit that has a champion and survive, just make sure you give them a Gauntlet of the Duel to force the challenge, and a Grail Vow to give them Stubborn. 

Virtue of the Joust is a wonderfully thematic Virtue that is a nice cheap option for a budget character. The only way to reroll a wound roll in the entire faction, this can help with the dastardly rubber lances. When combined with the Crusader’s Lance from the Arcane Journal, a character can reroll both hits and wounds on the charge, which can be quite powerful into the right targets. A Duke with this combination will have 6 attacks (from Furious Charge which the lance also gives) at weapon skill 7, strength 7, and re-rolling hits and wounds. Another solid use is for a Grail Knight champion to cheaply increase their output. 

In a similar vein, Virtue of Confidence gives re-rolls to hit when the user is in a challenge. With the existence of the Gauntlet of the Duel, this is a reliable way to get those juicy re-rolls that mitigate variance in your output. Another welcome Virtue for the Grail champion, this cheap option is usually worth more than two peasant bowmen. 

Virtue of Noble Disdain is again in the re-roll tent, but this time only against enemies that use missile weapons. As they should, all missile users should fear this Virtue, but what counts as a missile weapon is a bit broader than one might expect. Due to FAQ rulings, a breath weapon is a missile weapon. This means that against all types of dragons and a fair few other monsters you can gain re-rolls to hit. This has a good amount of play with weapons that grant Monster Slayer, to provide a cheap answer to monsters, where you might not want to splash out on Virtue of Heroism. 

Virtue of Discipline comes in as a super cheap option to make sure any unit always marches. If you’ve got 5 points over it can be a reasonable investment on a unit champion, but you’re unlikely to want to use this on a character. 

Virtue of Empathy comes in as cheap as it can be without being free and allows for combinations that are usually not allowed. This would be a unique interaction allowing knights to join the peasant units, but the Exiles Army of Infamy fixes this issue entirely due to its Vow. The Exile vow does not have a restriction on joining peasant units, and so every Exiles character has the option of doing what this Virtue does. Taking this Virtue also locks you out of any other Virtue options, and that is half of the point of your Bretonnian character to begin with, so this one is usually skippable in favour of just running an Exiles army. 

Lore of the Lady

The Lore of the Lady has been given three spells to choose from, a defensive buff, an offensive buff, and a damage spell. As unique lores go, this is definitely one of the best. All three spells are usable and The Lady’s Wrath is always a good fallback if you’re not sure which one to pick. 

The Lady’s Gift is your first choice and is the best generalist signature spell. Giving out regeneration while not having to stay in the unit is a great buff, as your wizard can cast this on a nearby unit at the start of the game, and just let them go gallivanting around the battlefield until they need it refreshed due to a very rude enemy who managed to roll an 8+ on their fated dispel. 

The Lady’s Wrath is your offensive option here, but it requires your caster to stay within the unit. This is the type of spell that is best used on a wizard that will try to use Shield of the Lady to hide from harm, and one that is confident being in the dispel range of enemy spellcasters. While the buff of +1 strength and an additional ap is nice, it can sometimes feel like not enough or that some of it is wasted. For example, Grail Knights welcome the additional ap reduction, but going from strength 6 to 7 is not important in most scenarios. Against T3 armies like the Elves, it’s rare that the strength increase will matter all that much. Unlike the Daemonology buff spell this one does not give an extra attack, which would really make this spell something to write home about. 

Burning Gaze is the last spell on the list and if you’re wanting to stare at your opponent so hard they die then *look* no further. Oddly not a flaming attack, Burning Gaze is basically a warp lightning effect without the variance in strength. Removing armour saves can be incredible against units of armoured knights, and that is who this spell is designed to shoot at. You’re wanting to aim this down the flank of some Dragon Princes in an ideal world, but due to having to position your wizard in precarious spots to make this happen, it can be a tall order to get true value from this spell. Still, it’s another damage option as a signature spell, so it’s not to be entirely ignored. 

Magic Items

Weapons

Before we get started here, the best weapon in the faction and probably in the game belongs to the Bretonnians and nothing else really comes close. The Frontier Axe from the Arcane Journal is the best weapon that points can buy and after seeing its effects and cost, you’ll understand why. So lets dive in and start at the most expensive first. 

Sword of the Quest comes in as the most expensive item a Bretonnian can buy from the main book at 70 points. This is not a bad weapon, but sharing a similar points value to the Ogre Blade you can see all the parts where it falls over. You get a very desirable effect with the Multiple Wounds (2), but having to deal with Strikes Last and also being two-handed is usually enough to say no to this. The Strikes First side of this weapon is nice, but ultimately just a 1 handed halberd in effect. 

Sword of Heroes comes in next, and it’s mostly just a Dragon Slaying Sword with an additional effect to always wound on a 5+. That 5+ wound effect doesn’t let you Monster Slayer on a 5, only a 6, so keep that in mind when using this. It’s also too expensive to give to a Paladin so its uses are less than that of the Dragon Slaying Sword. 

Another big cost weapon is the Crusader’s Lance, which is only able to be taken in a Errantry Crusade army. A lance at its base, this weapon builds on that profile with Furious Charge, Hatred, and an additional armour bane point. If getting re-rolls to hit were a rare ability then this lance could see a lot of play, but due to 4 different Virtues giving re-rolls to hit, as well as the common item Paymasters Coin, the Hatred here is just not best-in-class. However, this item is perfect for that second or third combat character that wants to just do as much as possible on the charge, so do not sleep on this item in the hands of a Virtue of the Ideal Duke or Baron. 

The Heartwood Lance follows up the previous lance at a slightly reduced cost. The throughput of this weapon is slightly less, and is basically just an improved lance. Letting your Duke hit Strength 8 can be quite tempting, but a regular lance that doesn’t count against your item allowance is likely more appealing. 

The Morning Star of Fracasse is next and, outside of sounding like something Bugs Bunny would say, this is a mostly countering weapon. It lets you disenchant enemy magic weapons so that they have no effect, but part of the problem is that you need to actually cause an unsaved wound to the target to do it. If this was just on a hit or wound then it could certainly see more play, but as it is at 40 points it’s just too much for this type of effect that will only rarely see any actual use. 

Frontier Axe. The best weapon in the game for my money, this stack of power comes in at a blistering 30 points and gives +2 Strength, -3ap, and Multiple Wounds (2). Requires two hands as its only downside, but more than makes up for it with this absurd amount of power in so few points. Being exclusively in Exiles, and thus off limits for a Duke (due to Exiles not having access to a Duke), is the only reason this item is not on everyone’s lips as an item to nerf/ban. Combining this with Virtue of Knightly Temper is the premium selection, but it also works perfectly fine with Virtue of the Ideal and a Paymaster Coin. Dragon Ogres got you down? Frontier Axe. Characters causing you trouble? Frontier Axe. Chariots making you sad about Monster Slayer and Killing blow? Frontier. Axe. If you’re in the Exiles army, take this weapon and make it sing with the cries of your enemies. 

Sword of the Stout Hearted comes in next and this is a similarly low priced item that has a good chunk of power. Not as strong as the Frontier Axe by any means, but this little sword is made for a cheap strength upgrade and gives Immune to Psychology to boot. A good selection if you want to use Spectral Doppelganger on your wizards. 

Armour

A few good selections here, Bretonnians get away with another amazing single item in this category in the Gromril Greathelm. 

Gilded Cuirass is the first and most expensive unique armour, and it’s pretty good, but expensive for the effect. Other factions such as High Elves get a 5+ regeneration for 20 points as a common item, while this one is 60 points for the same effect, because the character you buy it for will have heavy armour anyway. This armour’s best owner is one on a Hippogriff, to really leverage that damage reduction. 

Anointed Armour is next, and this provides the most instant death protection available to the knightly throng. Giving immunity to Killing Blow and Multiple Wound, this is limited to Infantry and Cavalry and Infantry only, which means you’re likely to be on a Royal Pegasus. You need the Grail Vow to activate it, but being immune to instant death is usually a good thing. It would be a more common pick if it were not for other more modular builds. 

Gromril Greathelm is the best armour we have access to and is the reason more of the other items do not get taken. It lets you push your save up to a 2+ and then lets you reroll 1s. This item makes you wonderfully tough and provides all but immunity to small arms fire. Take this item on someone you just really don’t want to die, and you’ll be surprised how often they escape death. 

Ironspike Shield is limited to the Exiles army list, but for 20 points it can provide a shocking amount of damage when attacking large amounts of enemies. You’d ideally want the enemy to strike before you, so it does quite well on a character that got charged, but due to not taking any other armour you have to survive the strikes for it to be worth it. As this triggers on hit OR wound, it can occur quite a lot. 

Talismans 

A good selection of items once again, the Talisman section sees a few key items that are required to help the Dukes and Barons of the world get the most out of combat. 

Grail Pendant is unfortunately not one of those good items, as it is single use only, limited to the Grail vow, and only works on a 2+. You likely skip this item in favour of some of the other upcoming ones. 

The Mantle of Damsel Elena is cheap, but poison is not widespread enough to worry about this all that much. If Skinks become your local meta, then you’re going to want to pack one of these, but outside of that it’s not an issue. 

Sirienne’s Locket is the real deal though, providing immunity to Multiple Wound effects it really plugs the holes that a combat lord might have. Taking this plus Gromril Greathelm provides a really difficult to damage character, with only Killing Blow answering the question cleanly. At 25 points its just easy to fit in many builds so always keep it in mind when crafting a combat character. 

Lucky Heirloom is an Exile’s only item, but it’s a common item that you can take on as many characters as you wish. providing a re-roll once per turn for saves, wounds, and hits, this item can be integral in confirming Killing Blow or Monster Slaying opportunities. It also lets you do a clutch save when you might otherwise die, so again, always keep this in mind when making combat Barons for the Exiles. 

Magic Standards

The best banners here tend to be the cheaper ones, with one notable exception. There are a few options that don’t really line up with how Bretonnians want to play, but they offer unique benefits that can be considered depending on how the meta in your area looks. 

Banner of the Lady’s Grace is our first option at 75 points from the Arcane Journal, and it’s unfortunately our worst. Ignoring modifiers to leadership is great when it occurs, but abilities that key off a modified leadership are limited to the undead factions for the most part. The price being as steep as it is firmly closes the door on this option. As a key note here, this does not affect break tests in the way you want it to, as those rolls take modifiers to the roll itself, not the leadership characteristic.

The Valorous Standard is next and for many of the same reasons as above, we probably won’t be taking this banner. Don’t plan to lose any fight you’re in, and it’s likely you’ll have Stubborn anyway. 

An interesting selection next with the Conquerors Tapestry, as it only matters at the end of the game. Thus type of banner is best used on a unit that you’re certain will clear up units with standards often. A potential pick up for Pegasus Knights or Grail Knights, but your opponent can see it coming anyway, so it can be hard to leverage. 

The strongest power output banner is up next, with the Crusaders Tapestry. Granting Frenzy is an excellent way to boost damage output, and on units like Pegasus knights and Grail Knights can really push them to insane levels. Always beware taking items such as this though, as you’re one fast cavalry bait away from death at all times. 

Errantry Banner is another odd one, as Knight Errants can’t take it. Nevertheless, this banner can be useful on units like Pegasus Knights again to give the mounts some extra oomph, without having the dull downside of Frenzy. 

The best banner we have is an Exile only banner in the form of Banner of the Zealous Knight. Giving any unit with high movement Vanguard is always a good choice, but a unit of Pegasus knights with this banner is very difficult to play around. Getting in to your back line early is a nightmare scenario that will force your opponents to change how they deploy if they’ve seen the power of this item before.

Banner of Honourable Warfare is up next and it’s a sneaky contender for a great item. For much the same reason as the Virtue, rerolling against missile wielding units can mean a unit of knights defeats a monster they had no business defeating. Keep an eye on this one, it’s my current favourite for Pegasus knights. 

And our last banner I’d the Banner of Châlons, which does allow stand and shoot to be used against the unit. Great for grails and Pegasus knights alike, this is the go to banner for a lot of players for those units. 

Arcane

It’s hard to overshadow the basic Lore Familiar here, but a few items give it a shot and some manage to take the spot away from it. 

Heart of the Wild feels like a Wood Elf item and plays like one too. We can’t drop our own woods however so unless your setup has a lot of natural features this one is probably a skip.

Diadem of Power is a Errantry Crusade only item and is best suited on a Battle Magic wizard. It’s a bit contentious if this applies to Ruby Ring of Ruin so check with your opponent first to agree on how to play this. There is a magic missile in the Lady Lore so there is always at least one option here, but without being able to choose fireball and pillar of Fire directly, this jewellery likely stays in the cabinet. 

The Silver Mirror is one of those items that seems really cool but is just difficult to use. Being a one use item for 35 points is a difficult position to argue from, so it’s unlikely to see a place in most lists. 

Sacrament of the Lady is a common item that functions like a safe power scroll. Adding a flat 2 to your cast roll can be important for certain tasks like making sure a The Lady’s Gift cast is on a 10+. Without this plan though it’s hard to make space for. 

Prayer Icon of Quenelles is the item most likely to steal the spotlight from the Lore Familiar. This is due to the importance of dispelling in The Old World, and gaining a +5 at 27” is a fantastic improvement. 

The last arcane item is the Flamestrike Wand. A cheap one use Fireball, what’s not to love? Being an Arcane item is a little restricting, as well as only being taken in the Exile army. However, Exiles gain cheap wizards in the form of the Outcast wizard so if you’ve got the space this is a tidy little item. 

Enchanted 

Viewer trigger warning: You may see talk of a certain item that you hate beyond all measure here. If you’ve ever been taken out of the skies by a Bretonnian player then you might want to skip this section. For those with a morbid curiosity about the despair of others, read on. 

Falcon-horn of Fredemund. The name that all Gyrocopter users recoil from, and an item that can win you the game before it begins. For those unaware, this item lets you take a Leadership test to stop all enemy flying. It can be used every turn and costs 40 points. A simple yet titanic item that warps the game so that it is on the mind of everyone who dares take more than a handful of flying units. Always find a spot for this in your lists for events, but for friendly games maybe give your lungs a rest. 

The Seal of Parravon is a much more humble item. This lets you always hit on the roll of a 3+, and can be a key part of getting Virtue of Heroism or any Monster Slayer to trigger. Best used on Barons that want to punch up on bigger Lords. 

Antlers of the Great Hunt is a lovely little item that fits on a lot of our unit champions. Gaining Move Through Cover is a great bit of additional kit to help run down a terrain filled flank. Take it if you expect a lot of woods!

Crusaders Clarion occupies a strange space here, as it allows horses to hit sort of like Pegasus mounts. It’s only on the charge, only warhorses, and only the Errantry Crusade. A lot of restrictions to get a handful of low ap attacks to hit at strength 4. Only really usable for Knights of the Realm, but there are better items for them.

Wyrmbreath Vial is for Exiles eyes only, and allows a one time use dragon breath weapon. Good at softening up a block of infantry before inevitably getting charged. Make sure you’re not putting yourself in too much danger to use this! 

Our last item is the Gauntlet of the Duel, and what an item it is! For 5 points, this common item locks your opponent into challenges with you. An amazing item to tack on to an already powerful combat lord to ensure he always gets his prey or avoids the dangers of getting mobbed.

What’s Next

So with all that said, lets dive into some lists and how they might play. I have played quite a bit of The Old World and nearly all of it as Bretonnians. They are my favourite faction to play and to me there are two strong lanes to take your knights, so we’ll cover both here. 

The first list looks pretty normal at first, but it is the product of small tweaks and changes over many games; an evolution of the mounted battle and has only seen two losses over the course of its metamorphosis. It’s quite a powerful list that can be a little bit too strong for some metas, so if you’re looking to leave a little bit of space for experimentation and you want less bleeding edge strength, think about reducing the Pegasus knight unit numbers, and perhaps creating a single block of Knight of the Realms to fill core. 

Kingdom of Bretonnia - Grand Army - 1998pts

There is not much wiggle room in this list and everything has its place. The Falcon-horn is firmly in the Grail Guardian’s hands, the Battle Standard Bearer is a tank that breaks ranked units, the Duke takes down everything bigger than himself, and the wizard will clean up points left and right. Your wizard will likely be taking Fireball, Pillar of Flame, Arcane Urgency, and a signature spell of your choice in most games, and she is mostly there to clean up chaff, skirmishers, and lightly armoured things and stay out of dispel range of the enemy so that Pillar of Fire can do its business. 

Turn 1 will likely see the Pegasus Knights rocketed into the enemy backline with Arcane Urgency, and with all the scouting Squires it can be hard for the opponent to move effectively. A very sharp list that will give a strong competitive game to any force it will face. 

Next up is a little Exiles list that I have played with and like the look of. It attempts to use more ranged options while also keeping some of the knightly aspects alive. The gimmick here is to have no wizard at all, and to just go even more full send at the enemy lines to keep your cannons safe. 

Kingdom of Bretonnia - Bretonnian Exiles - 1997pts

In a similar vein, the Pegasus knights are looking to run up the board ASAP with their banner that gives them Vanguard, and the Brigands are going to be on the hunt for something to blast. The Baron on horse will be joining the Yeomen as a source of additional wounds and he also gains some of their abilities such as Feigned Flight and Reserve Move while he’s with them. This Baron is in possession of the legendary Frontier Axe and will cleave through a lot of enemies before falling, even with his paltry saves. 

Final Thoughts

So that’s that! All of your knightly goodness wrapped up and laid out in the open. If you were looking for ways to best the knights of Bretonnia, I hope you’ve found what you’re looking for, and if you were just seeing if Bretonnia were right for you then I hope you do not choose… poorly. Please leave a comment below with any great combinations and tricks you’ve found with Bretonnia that may have been glossed over here, and how you’ve enjoyed running down your foes on glorious horseback! 

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