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by Dave Tryon
with the release of the new book and army. I have the privilege of a friend in a far away land that happens to
supply me with the odd limited or hard to find fig or the occasional pre-prerelease book, and to him I give
thanks. But I digress, on with the show.
There are quite a few pages of history and full color splendor that is ‘eavy Metal painted figs. Good overall
with some handy advice on schemes and heraldry.
THE OLD
Many of the basics of what the Bretonnians are remains unchanged. There are loads of knights with their
respective virtues and an unusual formation. Errant, Realm and Questing Knights are immune to panic not
caused by other knights/characters. Grail Knights are immune to psychology. The Lady’s Blessing is still
around, but can be lost. Battle Standard Bearers are a requirement and a “free” extra character. Men-at-
arms and archers have been reduced statistically, but are still useful. No more foot squires, but the Mounted
Yeomen (squires) are still there. But you don’t really want to know about all that, what you really want is….
THE NEW
The updated “Grail Vow” includes the Blessing at the start of the game (even if you don’t pray) and the
benefit of all attacks counting as magical. And Grail Knights are essentially a unit of champions (2 attacks
each) as they can each accept and issue challenges (a rule called “Living Saints”). The “Questing Vow”
now allows re-rolls on failed psychology tests and Questing Knights are armed with great weapons. No
magical or mundane lances for characters with this Vow either. There is a new rule for the commoners called
“the Peasants Vow” which lets them use the leadership of any Knight within 6”. A very cool and useful rule,
especially when you realize that the almost all commoners have a Ld of 5.
The Blessing of the Lady confers a ward save to all Damsels and Knights (and their mounts as long as the
rider is affected). The save is 6+, bumping to a 5+ against S 5 or higher attacks. You can lose the Blessing
in either of two ways: The unit or character flees for any reason (including breaking) and if you refuse to meet
a challenge. If you refuse a challenge then all units/characters involved in that combat lose their Blessing.
The Lance Formation is a more standard shape now, with the exception being that it only has to be three
models wide to garner a rank bonus. So a unit of 12 Knights in a 3x4 formation will get the full +3 to their
combat resolution for ranks. Another change is that the Knights on the edge of the formation only get to fight
on the turn they charge. This, combined with the enormous flank (oh yeah, they have flanks now too) means
that the Bretonnians are even more of a “shock attack” army with a lot of reliance on breaking an opponent
on the charge. You can still protect your Damsels in the middle of the Knightly units.
The new units (didn’t think I was ever going to get here, did ya?) are the Grail Reliquae, Pegasus Knights and
the Field Trebuchet. The Reliquae (the “pilgrim” unit) is a 0-1 special choice that consists of what are
basically Grail Knight groupies. They follow around Grail Knights collecting and revering anything associated
with them. The most highly prized object is the body of a fallen Grail Knight. In game terms they have
Hatred, are Stubborn and have the Peasants Vow (though with a Ld 8, this is not as useful as with the other
units). Pegasus Knights are another 0-1 special choice, although the 0-1 restriction is lifted if your general is
a Lord on a Royal Pegasus (Bretonnian for a Pegasus). They are “flying cavalry”, which gives them a unit
strength of 2 each and they gain a +1 armor save for being mounted. They are not the same as a character
on a Pegasus as the model has a single Toughness and Wounds value (4 and 2 respectively).
Nothing too fancy about the Trebuchet – just a stone thrower with a strength of 5, range of 12”-60” and it
can never be moved (but may pivot on the spot to target).
There are 14 Virtues, ranging from 40 down to 10 points. More than one character can have the same
Virtue, but you must pay extra points (second repeat costs double, third triple and so on). A few of my
personal favorites:
Knightly Temper- each attack that hits on the charge allows an extra attack
Heroism- Killing Blow against large targets
Stoicism- the Knight and any unit he has joined may re-roll failed Break tests
Audacity- against enemy with a higher basic strength re-roll failed to hit and to wound
Empathy- Knight may be fielded afoot and if not the General Peasants vow range 12”
There are some nice Magic Items, most of them being in the Armor and Weapons categories. There is the
potential to get some nice item combinations (like a 1+ save and regeneration, or a 0+ re-rollable save and -1
to hit). The big let-down is in the Banners listing. There are only 7 to choose from, and only one or two that
are really very useful.
In addition to the mandatory Battle Standard Bearer, the characters are limited to a Lord, Paladin,
Prophetess of the Lady and Damsel of the Lady. The Prophetess is limited to the Lores of Beasts, Life and
Heavens. The Damsel may choose from either Beasts or Life. In addition, the sorceresses have Magic
Resistance 2 and 1, respectively.
A few other new rules are:
Impetuous – If a unit of Knights Errant did not declare a charge, but are in charge range you must pass a
Leadership test in order to keep them from charging. If this test is failed they must charge and for the rest of
that turn they (and any character who joined them) are immune to psychology.
Defensive Stakes – Peasant Bowmen have (for free, standard issue) defensive stakes that are set up at the
start of the game, the same base width as the front of each unit. When charged (the enemy measures to the
stakes, not the archers) no enemy gains any charge bonus. No +2 S for lances, no impact hits for chariots,
great weapons strike last, etc. Special attacks that require a charge to work may not use their special rules
(like the Bone Giant’s Furious Assault). In addition, the charging unit does not count as charging (use
initiative, roll in the case of a tie). Characters may join and leave the unit freely, add a stake base as
necessary. If you move the Stakes are lost. Also, you may trade the Stakes for the ability to Skirmish for +1
point per model.
Purebreed Warhorse – Bretonnian Warhorses do not suffer the -1 movement penalty for barding.
I have played a few games with the new list, and I have to say that the Bretonnians are an army to be
reckoned with. My list was very generic, with hardly any of the fancy bits that are in the new book. As
expected they were devastating on the charge and, the good armor saves combined with the Blessing ward
save made them fairly resilient. A shooty Bretonnian army is nearly an oxymoron, but is a possibility with the
new list. I personally like the Trebuchet and have had a fair amount of success with them. The drawback is
that it’s the other rare choice competing with Grail Knights. This will limit the number of Trebuchets as most
players will probably want a unit of the Grail Knights.
With the new rules and new choices I think this army is now on par with the others in the Warhammer World
and I think that we will all see quite a few more Bretonnian armies charging across battlefields everywhere.