Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Warscrolls Compendium/Bretonnia
From 8th edition to Age of Sigmar, the generic knights of the round table got largely buffed changing from an arguably unplayable, uncompetitive faction into one of the best, capable of easily gaining a 1+ to hit ranking in the top 3 for archery and possibly the best protective magic in the game.
However despite this massive improvement, Bretonnians are due to be subsumed into the free people so potential buyers should wait. As of 26/03/2016 Bretonnia has been removed from the Games Workshop product line and is no longer a supported faction. Age of Sigmar will be receiving a point system and according to the Facebook page of Age of Sigmar all warscrolls will receive points INCLUDING BRETONNIA, and Tombkings. With the introduction of the 2017 General's Handbook Bretonnia will no longer be receiving points, however we will be given our own rules pdf of to the side some time "soon". The changes weren't good. :(
As of 23/07/2019, Bretonnians are only playable in Matched Play with outrageously expensive units, and since they're Warscroll Compendium obviously they aren't tournament legal. However, rejoice! 2019 General's Handbook includes Bretonnians... they aren't updated. But they do come with the book, and therefore you can use your chivalrous French dudes without having to show your opponent ancient texts saying it's okay.
Bretonnia Summary
If you wish to play a hard hitting fast faction, reliant on charging first, chalice in hand (no you do need this), with surprisingly powerful peasantry supporting from range then Bretonnia is for you. The same applies if you prefer an Arthurian force of Brittanic knights, with named characters even directly taken from the legends such as the Green Knight.
Old players sticking with Age of Sigmar will be glad to note that Bretonnians keep their previous charm despite losing their hallmark charging formation, making up for it with easier rules and small caveats which benefit units. None of the models have been changed yet so Bretonnia players can still use their beautiful forces.
Bretonnian Warscrolls
The below list will be organized as GW tries to organize all armies, into Leader/Battleline/Other etc etc This is by no means a complete guide. Also due to the squatting of the army and the lack of Bretonnia players, this is mostly my experience combined with a heaping dose of Mathhammer.
Leader
King On Hippogryph: A good, if incredibly expensive, leader choice. He auto-passes Battleshock for all BRETONNIAN units within 24 inches, meaning the peasantry near him will be able to hold the line, and you won't have to babysit them with a Noble Champion. His shield re-rolls save rolls of 1, but it's fun tool is that you can try to dispel 1 spell per turn. He also gets the re-roll failed hit rolls if the target is a HERO or MONSTER, just like Grail Knights. But there's three reasons you should look at this dude: First, he can heal D3 wounds during your hero phase and he starts with 10 wounds. Second, he's pretty maneuverable with a 14" move (before taking wounds) and FLY. But the third and biggest reason is that he has a very, very nice amount of damage (8.55 damage on average before saves) - with rend! His Hippogryph's Razor-sharp Beak has -2 rend and D6 damage, with -1 rend on both his other weapons. Seriously, he is the only unit with -2 rend on any weapon, and taking an Order artifact only makes him better.
Enchantress: A spell-casting, Lady-serving woman for your Knights to fight for. She can cast two spells and dispel one, and her Chalice of Potions ability means she can re-roll a failed casting roll (unless it's a two). She should normally be casting Mystic Shield on whatever you need to stay alive, whether it's Men-at-Arms holding off the enemy or your Knights who need to survive the return attacks after charging. She isn't terrible in combat either, with decent weapons and auto-shitting a mortal wound on an enemy unit within 3" if her 2D6 roll is higher than their bravery. A good choice to buff your army for only 160 points, make sure she keeps up with your Knights, but try to keep her out of combat for your own sake.
Sacred Protector: A nasty, brawling, resurrecting Bretonnian Lord. Beautiful. He has to start in reserve, and needs a 4+ to deploy, but when you roll that 4+ you place him anywhere but 9" away from enemies. His damage is respectable, but his strength is that he is stupidly fucking strong. Seriously, 5 wounds is standard for Bretonnian Lords but he has a 3+ save that isn't affected by rend, and if that doesn't work he negates the wound on a 6+. That includes mortal wounds. For 200 points, you get a deep striking surgical wall that can tie up a back-line artillery unit until it dies, or be a nasty roadblock for an enemy deathstar. For the same cost as Peasant Bowmen, he's pretty damn good!
Bretonnian Lord: A mainline mounted general, who should probably be your general if you aren't taking the King on Hippogryph. He has 5 wounds with a 3+ save, does 6 damage on average before saves, and his Lord of the Realm command ability lets you re-roll failed charge rolls for Nobility units within 15". A very solid choice, who can be kitted out to fill a couple different roles. Give him a Pegasus if you want him to be faster and hunt back-line units, or leave him on the horse and put him in the thick of it. Give him the Obstinate Blade relic to give your Knights the edge they need, and maybe the Inspiring command trait if you want a budget King on Hippogryph for the peasantry.
Noble Champion: The anti-Battleshock peasant booster. An auto-include if you have peasants but aren't taking the King on Hippogryph, he is basically a support character as he lets friendly PEASANTRY units within 6" use his bravery of 7 for Battleshock tests. He can also be charged into the fray to help your Men-at-Arms or hold off an enemy unit long enough to rescue your Peasant Bowmen, but otherwise he's worth more alive.
Noble Standard Bearer: A strange choice, but he lets you re-roll Battleshock tests for NOBILITY units within 12"". Skip, your Knights of the Realm should not be taking Battleshock that often, and your Bretonnian Lord/King/Banner upgrade should be with them anyway... why do you need this?
Damsel: Comes on foot, horseback, or Pegasus-back. She's less cast-y than an Enchantress, but can still cast/dispel one spell. Her unique spell, Divine Blessing, is basically a 6+ Feel No Pain for PEASANTRY, or a 5+ Feel No Pain for NOBILITY. She can also heal 1 wound allocated to a BRETONNIAN model within 6", and Knights Errant re-roll ones if they begin the turn within 18" of her. Altogether much more of a support character compared to her big sister the Enchantress, but if you can't have both (which would be ideal) then there's an argument to be made for just taking the Damsel. She's also pretty cheap at 100 points, which means a lot in a point-heavy list like Bretonnia.
Battleline
Knights Errant: Young and inexperienced Knights. These guys are all 2 wounds, 4+ saves, with decent weaponry. Their Pendant Lances and Blades will do two attacks at 4+ to hit, 4+ to wound, no rend and 2 damage on the charge. And seriously, no Knights should be in combat after the charge. The Knights Errant do 10.16 damage on average, or 11.16 if you re-roll ones using their Eager to Impress ability, requiring a Damsel within 18" at the start of the phase. Their Knight's shields let them re-roll save rolls of one. These guys are also 20 points cheaper than Knights of the Realm, but their Bravery is a 5 compared to the Knights of the Realm's 6. These guys are more efficient in smaller groups, but don't forget your Damsel (and maybe a Banner Bearer).
Knights of the Realm: Actual, full Knights. These guys have the same base stats as the Knights Errant. They have 2 wounds, 10 inches of movement, and Pendant Lances and Blades. However, their special ability is different, and their Bravery has increased to 6. Their special ability is Massed Cavalry, meaning they can re-roll ones if they have 10 or more models. Unfortunately they cost 220 points per eight models but each group of eight dishes out 12.16 damage on average. Doing some Mathhammer, their Massed Cavalry would increase their damage output by 2.67, meaning a group of 16 does 26.83 damage! A great investment, although at lower point values this would put a strain on you. Definitely more efficient in groups of 16, but they also don't have to take a Damsel with them to be useful.
Men-At-Arms: Basic peasant infantry. They each have 1 wound, a 5" movement, 6+ saves, and 4 bravery. Yeah, not good. But they're the chaff to the Knights wheat, and they're pretty good at it. Their Tower Shields ability lets them add 1 to save rolls if they don't move, while the Rowdy Mob ability means they add 1 to hit when they have 20 or more models, and add 2 to hit when they have thirty or more models. With this in mind, its (usually) better to run them in larger groups. They won't be dishing out crazy amounts of damage, but that isn't their job. Their job is to hold units in place while your Knights retreat, or to defend your Knights while they run down an isolated enemy unit. At 120 points they're also your cheapest Battleline option... unfortunate, considering these guys are surprisingly rare and expensive second hand. Make sure to get at least one unit of them, but with two units you have a lot more options. Two units of 16 for a cheap Battleline tax so you can load up on Grail Knights and trebuchets? Or one group of 32 to really bog down the enemy and protect your feudal lord? It's up to you.
Other
Questing Knights: Elite mounted monster slayers improved from the previous Knights. Does what it says on the tin. Weaker vs. common troops (an average of 1,38 damages per model due to no charge bonus) but against monsters they are back to the average 2,27. Better skip... However they do have a rend and against monsters they are the best since they do the same damage overtime as the charge which against a monster is 2,27. But often a unit of at lest ten knights of the realm can take out the monster on the charge. Recommended against monsters due to doing constant damage overtime, but against infantry knights of the realm beat them out.
Grail Knights: Powerful elite cavalry, who do best if you charge while you hold a cup saying "For the Lady" (Monty Python quotes may count).Can end up getting a 1+ to hit and are otherwise the best cavalry in your army. Do not come with champions. On charge they do an average of 2,27 damages per model (half of them at -1 rend), so keep them charging. They are flat out the best knights Bretonnia. Grail knights do just as much as a large unit of Knights of the Realm, except they they can reroll to hit (including the horses) and they also have a rend. However after the charge (like all other knights) Questing Knights beat them out in damage.
Pegasus Knights: Fast flying cavalry. They have less attacks for wounds (again, an average of 2,27 damages per model) but can attack twice on the charge and are reasonably tough. Either you can keep them as warmachine hunters or make an army around them. They are very fast moving so you can somewhat reliably get a turn one charge with them when your bring a trumpet bearer and especially if you have a lord allowing you to reroll your charge. Have used these in every AOS game and they haven't let me down. Outstanding on the charge and due to them being 4 wounds each can take a charge from big hitters as well. Tag team them with Stormcasts and Extremis Chambers to really hurt someone. Vexillors Deepstrike banner on a squad of concussors then charge both concussors and Pegasus Knights into the same Unit. Concussors strike first to stop pile in moves then Pegasus Knights pile in twice to really hurt a deathstar unit.
Peasant Archers: One of the top 3 Archers in the game. Once per game they can alpha strike something, shooting 3x or 4x more arrows at 20 models, allowing 2 units to reliably wipe Nagash off the board. Also come with relic bearers as well as spikes and braziers helping them to ward off attackers and do more damage respectively. They do an average of 0,29 damages per model with their bows and an average of 0,16 wounds with their skinning knife. Their arrowstorm compensate for that (1,16 damages per model) but you have to use it as soon as possible. An excellent choice compared to the Men-At-Arms, the only downside is less save (6+ vs 5+ if they stand still, and they MUST). Get 25 of them, add a Paladin nearby, sit back with your 4+ to hit and to wound with the option to reroll woulds of 1 and a one use only 104 shots. (Remember, the leader makes 2 shots with the longbow, not 1.)
Mounted Yeomen: Peasant mounted Archers who get a free move. They just about work as low wound warmachine hunters but suck otherwise. Nope, if you manage to keep a paladin near them (pretty difficult actually, could be a good idea to have a Paladin Standard Bearer with them) they can do up to 1,1 damages per model per turn (0,83 without, same average than Men-At-Arms), wound per wound better than chaos knights. ALWAYS charge on the first turn with them, and then keep charging. Ah, also take 10, not 5 because you have to defeat the enemy unit on the first round, otherwise you will lose the save bonus.
Battle Pilgrims: Urm, elite peasants? Get buffs for keeping alive their special champion, the Grail reliquary but really aren't that great. With an average of 0,33 damages per model they are the weakest foot troops of the army, but at the same time the most resilient (44% save vs 33% of the second runners).
Artillery
Field Trebuchet: A surprisingly good unit, although the model is getting harder to find. Their crew is weak (obviously) but the real meat of the Trebuchet is, well, the trebuchet. A long 48" range, though it can't shoot within 12". Before you roll to hit, you roll a dice; if the result is lower than the number of models in the unit you are targeting, it's an auto-hit. It sounds complicated, but basically any units with more than six models are automatically hit. It has two attacks with a 3+ to wound, but the great part is the -2 rend and D6 damage. It does something like 4.6 damage on average, accounting for the unusual hit rolls. If the enemy is hiding, you can arc the shot (being able to shoot without line of sight but taking a -1 to hit modifier), although the usefulness of this is debatable. All in all, as long as you keep this thing protected it should be able to make back its 220 point cost, especially as it's one of two units with -2 rend.
Army Building
The armies in this section are mostly theory, but there are some that are actually practical to convert/buy second-hand.
The 1000 Point Battalion Box
This army is made using the Bretonnian Battalion box and some of the most common conversions/loose models you can find: Noble Champions.
- Bretonnian Lord on Pegasus (Leader) (140 points) - Noble Champion (Leader) (80 points) - 8 Knights of the Realm (Battleline) (220 points) - 16 Men-at-Arms (Battleline) (120 points) - 3 Pegasus Knights (Other) (200 points) - 16 Peasant Bowmen (Other) (200 points)
For a total of 960 points and ~$400, you too can have a Bretonnian army! This is a good base to expand your army in any direction you want/can find/can afford. General tactica is as follows: Keep your bowmen in range, and remember to use the Arrowstorm ability and their braziers/stakes. Your Men-at-Arms and Noble Champion should move together, with their main goal being to isolate a unit for your Knights of the Realm to charge over and over again until it's dead. Seriously, just throw a wall of peasants between that enemy unit and the rest of the enemy army. Your Bretonnian Lord and his Pegasus Knights should go wherever needed using their fun 16" FLY, either charging in to finish off weakened units or destroy back-line Artillery and support characters. As for traits and relics, the Obstinate Blade is probably one of the most useful (extra rend never hurts) but both of them are up to your individual play style. Don't forget Realm of Origin relics!
Catch me if you can
This army use a very simple tactic and at 60 wound it's really balanced.
- 1 paladin
- 25 bowmen
- 10 mounted yeomen
- 1 field trebuchet
Put your paladin, your bowmen and your trebuchet as far as possible from your enemy. Deploy your mounted yeomen as close as possible to your enemy. Charge their warmachines/heroes/small wounds units with the cavalry while hitting hard with all the ranged attack. Once they are done with the yeomen let them go near your archers and shot an arrowstorm. Smile.
A variation of this concept could be substitute 5 bowmen for one Paladin Standard Bearer that will improve the Mounted Yeomen.
Hear my neigh!
Want some OP cavalry rage at 60 wounds?
- 1 bretonnian lord
- 1 damsel of the lady on pegasus
- 5 grail knights
- 14 knights of the realm
- 3 pegasus knights
One simple rule: charge! Oh and don't forget that you can always make a retreat move in order to charge again next turn.
Any variation on that list is purely cosmetic since, in the end, all the knights if well used are equally powerful. This is maybe the most balanced list (due to the flyer and the not-so-many grail knights).
Extra Advice
-You might want to give your opponent first turn so that they move up and you can then move full ahead and charge turn one.
-Do what ever you can to not be charged before you can charge. Don't be charged. Knights do lots of damage when they charge but afterwards their damage potential drops of significantly.
-Paladins are a must in your army when bringing the peasantry. If you don't have a paladin your peasants will continue to have their lousy hit rolls and miss more than they hit. Furthermore they buff your nearby peasant bravery when they bring their banners, which their is no reason not to.
-ALWAYS BRING A TRUMPETER FOR THE KNIGHTS. Seriously having a trumpeter greatly helps your chances of making a charge. Nothing is worse than having your important game changing unit of knights fail their 5in charge and lose the game.
-Peasant bowmen. These guys are great. They can once per game triple their shots or quadruple them if you have enough. having a unit of 20 will fire 84 shots hitting on 4+ for paladin, (why would you not bring one), and wounding on 4+ rerolling 1s. Having massed fire of them like 40 can instant gib many heavy units or severely cripple them allowing other thing to deliver the death blow.
- Bringing King Louen Leoncour is not often a bad idea. He makes your entire army immune to battleshock. This is huge for your peasants allowing your to ignore that horrible bravery of 4 and especially helpful for your knights for when you lose 4-5 knight in a round of combat and then 4 more run away. He functions as an acceptable monster hunter being able to kill a giant with some luck or severely crippling it. However don't let the enemy cut him off from your army even with his quick regeneration and good save he can still fall from large amounts of reasonable fire or infantry.
External links
Rules are here [1]
Want to convert your Bretonnians to round bases? Here's a chart [2]
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