2d4chan - User contributions [en]

Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/The Empire

2026-06-18T17:03:53Z

Zambula: /* Named Characters */ Added details of some Special Characters.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

==Why play The Empire?==
The army of [[The Empire|the Empire]] is easily the most versatile army of the whole game. The Empire can field full magic list of 12 power dice and some bounds AND take along four great cannons and two helblasters in 2000 points game (without any magic items one level 4 wizard, three level 2 wizards, four cannons and two helblasters is 1145 points). Or you can field full knight army. Or whatever you ever want. On the contrary, imperial troops are not as fast as elves, not as tought as ogres, not as numerous as skaven, not as killy as chaos etc. but in the Empire army can always be found something against every opponent.

==Army Special Rules==
* '''Detachment system:''' The Empire army uses the detachment system. Basically detachments are small support units of a parent unit. The detachment can charge along the parent unit or counter-charge a charging opponent. A detachment will charge to flank of an enemy if possible which is usually ridiculously effective. Unfortunately the role of the detachments is normally to be the cannon fodder since your opponent propably understands the effectiveness of detachments. On the other hand, your opponent has to use his precious power dice or mundane firepower to decimate very cheap units which don't even cause panic.

==The Imperial Armoury==
* '''Cavalry hammer/White Wolf hammer:''' +2S on first turn when charging, otherwise +1S. Requires two hands. Original name was the Cavalry hammer but in the Middenland Army list in Storm of Chaos that same weapon was used by infantry and therefore that alternate name.
* '''Full Plate Armour:''' 4+ save.
* '''Empire Handgun:''' 24", S4, move-or-fire, armour piercing. On the first shoot +D6" of range. The short range is still 12".
=== Experimental Weapons ===
These are used only by engineers or the champions of handgunner regiments or pistolier regiments.
* '''Hochland Long Rifle:''' 36", S4, armour piercing. Can be used to target any visible target, the normal targeting rules doesn't apply. Even characters in units can be targeted. -1 to hit when the special rule is used.
* '''Repeater Handgun:''' 24", S4, armour piercing, 3 x multiple shots.
* '''Repeater pistol:''' 8", S4, armpur piercing, 3 x multiple shots. Can be used in close combat.

==Magic Items==
In the Imperial vaults there is loads of magic items and here is covered just a few of recommended ones.
* '''Dawn Armour:''' Your general or some other combat hero will propably have 1+ armour save and ability to re-roll those saves is normally a pretty fucking good thing.
* '''Holy Relic:''' 4+ ward for 45 points. Simple and good.
* '''The White Cloak:''' 5+ ward for 30 points and immunity to cold based attacks. The special rule is worth of nothing but fortunately you are paying only for the ward. Simple and good.
* '''Griffon Standard:''' 50 points for double rank bonus in close combat. Unit of 20 state troops can be practically invincible with this banner. Unfortunately a unit of state troops can take this banner only if your general is an Elector Count and the only other ranked troop which can take this are the very expensive Greatswords. Battle Standard Bearer is of course an option. The unit carrying this banner can't pursue. Overall this is an extremely good magic item and try to find space for it always.
* '''Steel Standard:''' 25 points, +D3" to charge move, failed still only 7". For its price strongly recommended.
And here is the rest
* '''Runefang:''' 100 points for making all hits wound automatically and no armour saves allowed. Normally it would be extremely good weapon if not the fact that it costs 100 points and only Elector Count can wield it. It's risky to say the least
* '''The Mace of Helstrum:''' 65 points for instead of making normal attacks, you can make one with S10 and multipule (D6) wounds. It can be an okay low WS monster deleter if you give it to your Templar Grand Master, but against anything with high WS it's too risky.
* '''Sword of Fate:''' 50 points to nominate one monster (must be large target) or character at the beginning of game. Against chosen target this weapon wounds on 2+, no armour saves allowed and causes D3 wounds. If you can manage to get to your target then it's pretty good. Can be neat on pegasus flying assassin captain, but a bit pricy.
* '''Sword of Sigismund:''' 50 points for +1S and always strikes first. If you're fighting against elves or skaven which rely on their speed to reduce damage then it can come in handy as those factions don't have good toughness or saves. Against any tougher opponent it might lack punching power (you'll have WS6 S5 A4 at best with this weapon keep that in mind).
* '''Sword of Righteous Steel:''' 45 points making bearer hits on 2+ regardless of WS. Can be hilarious if you combo it with Speculum and charge into biggest enemy lord, other than that not worth it imo.
* '''Sword of Power:''' 40 points Great weapon but without striking last drawback. Not bad if you're fighting low initiative factions like Orcs or Ogres or Lizardmen but cost a bit (40 points).
* '''Hammer of Judgement:''' 35 points for making models hit by this weapon take a leadership test. If they fail they suffer wound with no armour saves allowed, if they pass you roll to wound and save normally. Way too random to actually use it and almost useless if you're fighting close enemy general.
* '''Dragon Bow:''' 30 points Bow with 36" range and S6. Can be pretty neat to soften enemy monsters before they get close, but with only 1 shot it ain't gonna do much. Once again captain on pegasus can be an interesting option with it.
* '''Sword of Justice:''' 25 points allows bearer can re-roll failed wound rolls. Not completely tragic and can be an okay weapon in smaller point games.
* '''Wyrmslayer Sword:''' 20 points to make bearer always wounds on 4+ (unless hit strength would make it less) and large targets loose their scaly skin save against attacks made with this weapon. Maybe if you expect to run into a Lizardmen force with 3 dino's it can pay for it's price, but cannons are better at dealing with those anyway.
* '''The Gilded Armour:''' 50 points Heavy armour + Opponent must pass Strength test before trying to hit you. Bad because of it's price and randomness
* '''Armour of Tarnus:''' 35 points Light armour with 5+ ward save and allows wizards to cast spells while wearing it. Not bad for it's price and allows your wizards to have 4+ save on barbed horse which is something.
* '''Shield of the Gorgon:''' 35 points Shield which makes one opponent of your choosing to loose 1 attack. Too expensive for it's price and using up a magic armour slot.
* '''Armour of Meteoric Iron:''' 30 points for 1+ save. If you want to deploy foot-slogging melee characters then it can help them survive combat tremendously + allows you to use weapons which require two hands without worrying about your save.
* '''Bronze Shield:''' 25 points to completely ignore first hit character suffers. Skip.
* '''Helm of the Skaven Slayer:''' 20 points for +1 save which can be combined with others (this + plate armour + barbed horse + shield with hand weapon = 0+ save) and the wearer causes fear in all models from skaven army. Good against skaven, meh against anything else.
* '''Shroud of Magnus:''' 60 points talisman which gives you 5+ ward save and model wearing it is completely immune to Dark, Chaos or Skaven magic even if cast with irresistible force. If it gave this effect for entire unit or at least mount too then it would be interesting option. As it stands it's way too expensive.
* '''Jade Amulet:''' 50 points to completely ignore first wound bearer suffers. For that price? Pass.
* '''Sigil of Sigmar:''' 20 points for additional dispel dice against spells which affect wearer or the unit he is within. Not bad if you expect a lot of magic from the opposition.
* '''The Crimson Amulet:''' 20 points 6+ ward save which also makes the wearer pass all characteristic test except those based on LD. It's way too situational to come in handy and if you want 6+ ward save just take Talisman of protection which gives 6+ ward but for 15 points instead.
* '''Grey Wand:''' +1 to all casting rolls for 50 points. Simple, effective and a bit costly but not bad.
* '''Seal of Destruction:''' Super dispel scroll which makes enemy wizard completely forget their spell on 4+ for 50 points (bound spells are forgotten on 6+). Is this thing better than 2 dispel scrolls for 50 points? If you can roll 4+ then yes, but it's a gamble.
* '''Rod of Power:''' For 45 points you can store up to 3 power dices from your pool instead of using them. In next magic phase you roll a dice and if the result is higher or equal to number of dices you've stored then you get to use them. If you roll below then they're lost. Saving up your magic dices to have more of them in next magic phase isn't terrible idea, especially if your wizard can't even use them all in one magic phase. An interesting option to be sure.
* '''Luckstone:''' Once per battle your wizard can re-roll dice used to cast/dispel a spell for 25 points. If you can afford it for your wizards then it's pretty good.
* '''Crystal Ball:''' It's a really interesting one. For 25 points your opponent must always reveal any secrets involving all units within 12" of wizard holding it. It means any magical artifacts his characters can hold, any disguised assassins, fanatics etc. he doesn't normally have to tell you. Depending on whether or not you and your friends actually tell or not what is in your list, it can be really useful or completely useless.
* '''Wizard Staff:''' 15 points to allow wizards to use one more power dice than their power level allows them too when casting a spell. It's only useful on low level wizards, since your level 4 wizard lords can use up to 5 magic dices already and why would you even need more than that?
* '''Laurels of Victory:''' A 70 point artifact which makes each wound your character dealt count as 2 when you're working out combat resolution. Expensive and those 70 points could be used to give your character magical weapon/armour etc. Additionally only really Templar Grand Master can use it somewhat effectively, since Elector Count is stuck with WS5 S4 A3.
* '''Rod of Command:''' 50 points to make your unit pass first break test required even if normally they wouldn't be able to. A bit niche dare I say item. If you could decide when you want to use it then it would be better, but as it stands it can maybe be useful against lots of fear causing factions.
* '''The Silver Horn:''' 45 points level 5 bound spell which makes all your units on the battlefield rally. Pricy and might not come in use all that often depending on your army and playstyle.
* '''The Orb of Thunder:''' Level 4 bound spell which forces all flying units to use their regular movement instead of flying for 40 points. If you expect a lot of flying units then certainly useful, but pretty low power level so might not go off if your opponent decides to store some dispel dices or dispel scrolls.
* '''Aldred's Casket of Sorcery:''' Item which makes you steal one randomly chosen enemy wizard spell and then you can cast it and completely remove from game. Power level of spells is equal to that required to cast normally and you can release them all at once if you want to. Well, for 35 points it's not THAT expensive but the question is can you actually deliver your character near opponent wizard to make use of it?
* '''Icon of Magnus:''' 30 points which makes wearer and unit he is with ignore fear caused by fear causing units, and reduce terror from terror causing units to only fear. Not bad if you're facing lot's of fear causing units.
* '''Ring of Volans:''' 30 points one use only bound spell which is chosen randomly from one of lores from rulebook of your choosing and is cast with power level normally required to cast said spell. Depending on spell you get it's either crap or a steal. Are you feeling lucky today?
* '''Doomfire Ring:''' 25 points bound spell with power level 3 which you can cast every magic phase. What spell is it? It's shittier fireball cause only range 18" and S3 D6 hits. Not really worth 25 points imo.
* '''Van Horstmann's Speculum:''' Do your characters get constantly shit on by opponents characters with superior stats? Are you fed up of mediocre stats of your humans? Well then this Speculum is for you. For 25 points at the beginning of challenge you swap your S, T, I and A with character you're currently in challenge with. It's hilarious if you manage to catch someone big and beat them to death with their own stats. Combo's really well with Sword of Righteous Steel to negate any to hit penalties from having mediocre WS.
* '''Imperial Banner:''' 100 points to make all of your units with at least one model within 12" of this banner re-roll all psychology tests and tests to avoid pursuit. Really expensive for not that amazing effect.
* '''Banner of Sigismund:''' 60 point banner making unit holding it stubborn. Pretty good effect but a bit pricy since you'll need captain to hold it for units.
* '''Banner of Ulric:''' 50 point banner which gives your Knights of the White Wolf weaker fear. When your knights charge, enemy has to pass a leadership test or they hit knights on 6s in combat + when opponents wishes to charge you he has to pass a leadership test or will remain stationary in that movement phase. Units which ignore fear ignore this effect as well. Not as powerful as fear, and on charge your knights have a good chance of killing enough opponents to survive getting hit back. However it can somewhat screw up opponent game plan when his units won't charge your knights.
* '''Banner of Valour:''' 40 points banner to ignore panic. I guess okay? Nothing amazing and it's not immune to psychology which would be much better.
* '''Standard of Arcane Warding:''' 40 points banner which gives you 2 additional dispel dices against spells which would affect unit holding it. Useful against magic heavy factions.
* '''Banner of Duty:''' 10 banner that allows you to re-roll failed Rallying tests. It's cheap, but they're better banners out there.

==Units Analysis==
=== Named Characters ===
* '''Karl Franz:''' The Emperor of the Empire, it may ride a Griffon into battle, and it may use either his runic fang or the warhammer of WARHAMMER.
* '''Valten:'''
* '''Luthor Huss:'''
* '''Balthasar Gelt:''' The Supreme Patriarch of Altdorf Colleges of Magic (or Vietstalia war veteran, depending on whom you ask). Balthasar Gelt is lvl 4 wizard and knows all lore of metal spells so you don't have to roll for them. Gelt rides to battle on top of his pegasus and posses 3 (technically 4) magical items to aid him in battle. 1st one is Al-kahest (which actually isn't listed as magic item but as his special rules) Gelt can either throw it in shooting phase as if he was throwing knives. This attack has range of 6", wounds EVERYTHING (ethereal creatures and war machines too) on 4+ and allows for no armour saves or you can make Balthasar drink it instead, which restores 1 wound to him or his mount. 2nd one is Staff of Volans, it allows Gelt to change one of dices from casting/dispelling roll to be 1 number higher, meaning that Gelt can roll irresistible force on 5-6 (you change 5 to 6) and requires 3 one's at least to roll a miscast making him much more reliable wizard. His 3rd magical item is Gleaming Robe which gives Gelt and his mount 3+ ward save against any ranged attacks (templates and magic missiles included) and 4th item is Amulet of Sea Gold which pretty much gives them both magic resistance 1. All of that for 450 points which may seem a lot, but fully kited out Wizard lord on pegasus would cost you 360 points so not that big of a difference. Gelt if you can position him well can be a nightmare to deal with thanks to his survivability and is very reliable wizard. Definitely one of the better one's in game and one of better named characters in general.
* '''Boris Todbringer:'''
* '''Valmir von Raukov:'''
* '''Volkmar the Grim:''' The ''Papamobile'' that creates a bubble of Immune to Psychology to all the units in 12", except that they will hate Skaven, Undead and Chaos. Combine it with the ''Greatswords'' (who are ''Stubborn'') and you get the definitive bane of the undead.

=== Lords & Heroes ===
* '''Elector Count:''' The weakest combat lord in the game but also the cheapest. If your general is an Elector Count, one of your state troop units can have a magic banner (=Griffon Standard) which can be extremely useful. The only lord which can ride a griffon which is the only source of terror in the whole imperial army. Unfortunately griffons tend to attract a shitload of missile fire and T5 W4 doesn't last very long.
* '''Templar Grand Master:''' As Elector Count is perhaps best suited for defensive approach, Templar Grand Master is made for offensive lists. A Grand Master has +1 Ws, A and I compared to an Elector Count, comes always on a barded warhorse and has by default full plate armour, shield and lance. If the Grand Master is assigned with Knightly Orders, it makes the whole unit immune to psychology which normally is an extremely good thing. Sometimes it can backfire horribly. If you are planning full knight army, a Grand Master is your choice.
* '''Wizard Lord:''' No special rules of any kind, can use any of the eight lores of magic in the BRB. As almost all the other wizard lords of different races, this fellow comes by default as level 3 wizard and can (=will) be upgraded to level 4.
* '''Captain:''' Almost as good fighter as an Elector Count, lacks only one wound and one point of Ld. Basic hero without any special rules. Can ride a pegasus which can be nice war machine hunter or lone wizard hunter. Can be given the battle standard.
* '''Battle Wizard:''' Level 1/2 wizard, can use all the lores of BRB.
* '''Warrior Priest:''' Adds one dispel dice and can use prayers which work like bound spells. A nice combination of might and magic. Can be used to lead regiments to battle and gives to the whole unit hatred against Chaos, Skavem and Undead.
* '''Master Engineer:''' An okayish ranged hero (though Captain is better at shooting). The main benefit he gives you is that he allows you to re-roll artillery dices for mortars and great cannons making them less likely to missfire. He also serves as additional crewmen for war machines so helps them work longer and can shoot if you haven't used his re-roll ability. Take maybe if you don't want to take Heavens wizard, but other than that I don't think guys worth it really.

=== Core Units ===
* '''Swordsmen:''' Your basic empire infantry. They can potentially survive somewhat long thanks to their WS4 and 4+ save but don't expect them to win combat by killing opponents since they only have 1 S3 attack. Take them in big units to get good static combat resolution and use them as parent units for your detachments.
* '''Spearmen:''' Pretty similiar to previous unit, however they trade their hand weapons for spears and have WS3/I3 instead of WS4/I4 which swordsmen have. This means that not only they hit less often but also get hit more often and have worse armour save than previous unit. It's the price you pay for being able to attack in 2 ranks, but you gotta ask yourself, do you really expect them to kill anything with S3 attacks? Maybe against skavens or other light factions they can kill something. Pass for me.
* '''Halberdiers:''' Just like spearmen traded their hand weapons for spears and worse WS/I, Halberdiers traded WS/I and hand weapon for (you've guessed it) halberds. With S4 they can actually kill something but they still suffer from having only WS3. They can be used as pretty good detachment unit to counter-charge or charge with it's parent unit and actually use said S4 attacks. Other than that I wouldn't take them but light wizard can help them by reducing enemy WS making it easier for them to land a hit.
* '''Handgunners:''' Pretty underwhelming from my experience. BS3 and having only 24" weapon (bonus d6" for shooting for the first time doesn't increase your short range) means that you'll hit for the most time on 5+ which is far from good. They are however cheap (as most empire infantry units are) and can be pretty okay detachment for your parent units since there is really no point in bringing them in big units. Unless you're playing against elves and are worried about panic from shooting casualties. One thing worth to mention is that their sergeant upgrade gets BS4 and access to experimental weapons which can either make him like 3 regular handgunners with repeater handgun or try to snipe enemy characters hiding in units with Hochland long rifle. Not that you have very high chance of succeeding in it, but you might as well give it a shot (heh).
* '''Crossbowmen:''' Handgunners but with crossbows. Not really much to say about them (other than they can't use experimental weapons), if you know how to use handgunners you know how to use crossbowmen since both perform pretty much same role, expect crossbow has longer range (30" compared to 24") but lacks armour piercing (so only ap-1 instead of -2) meaning that they are better against factions that have poor armour save's.
* '''Archers:''' Handgunners but with bows plus they're skirmishers so they're a bit harder to hit in ranged combats. One unit in army can be upgraded for 2 ppm to huntsmen which gives them longbows instead of bows and makes them scouts, but locks them in unit size of 5-10. I'd advise taking 1 unit and upgrading them to huntsmen for war machine hunting and disrupting enemy marches.
* '''Free Companies:''' Your cheapest melee infantry (5 ppm) and for a reason too. They have pretty regular human stats (M4 WS3 BS3 S3 T3 W1 I3 A1 LD7), no armour saves and use two hand weapons in combat. Use them only for detachments to charge with parent units or counter charge. That way they can turn tides of combat pretty easily and even if they die, so what?
* '''Knightly Orders:''' Heavy cavalry with natural 1+ save (plate armour, barded horse and shields) equipped with lances meaning that they can survive quite a lot of regular attacks. They're allowed to carry magical banner up to 50 points too which is nice. You can also upgrade 1 unit for 3 ppm to knights of the inner circle making them have base S4 which makes them even deadlier. Good unit overroll, definetly take them.
* '''Knights of the White Wolf:''' Pretty much same deal with previous unit, however they're locked to 0-1 option and use Cavalry hammers instead of lances making them a bit more expensive. Cavalry hammers give user +2S on charge and +1S normally, so even if your knights get charged there is a good chance that not only they'll survive but also hit back making them more forgiving choice of the 2 cavalry core's.

=== Special Units ===
* '''Greatswords:''' Somewhat heavy infantry. They are pretty comparable to swordsmen since both units have WS4 and 4+ save (though swordsmen only in melee while Greatswords always), however Greatswords are using you've guessed it, greatswords! Meaning they have +2S and strike last making them hit at S5 which isn't bad. They also have Ld8 and are stubborn, plus can carry magical banner up to 50 points making them good choice for Griffon Standard. Just like with all Empire infantry units, they win combat mostly by having good static resolution, instead of high killing potential.
* '''Pistoliers:''' Fast cavalry which is equipped with 2 pistols which gives them nice shooting phase (though still only BS3). Marksman can replace his pistol with repeater handgun or repeater pistol and has higher BS too so not a bad idea to give him fancier weapon. Pistoliers have one additional trick up their sleeve which is that they're allowed to fight using 2 weapons and since they have 2 pistols each they have 2 S4 armour piercing attacks on charge so they can hit pretty hard, but WS3 only.
* '''Great Cannon:''' Your dedicated monster/war machines deleter. Shots from cannon are resolved at S10 no armour saves and multiple wounds D6 making it excellent at removing any monster threats such as dragons, giants, war machines etc. with which you can't really deal with otherwise. Always including at least 1 in army isn't a bad idea.
* '''Mortar:''' Stone thrower but lower strength making it worse than regular stone thrower. It can only really deal with infantry and it's not even that good at it so I wouldn't bother taking it. Especially since it also sits in special slots where you have better options.

=== Rare Units ===
* '''Flagellants:''' Your only melee infantry unit that has a chance to win combat by killing opponents. At least in 1st round. Flagellants are crazed, which means they are immune to psychology, unbreakable, pass automatically any leadership test they are ever required to make, cannot flee, always pursue and can't ever be joined by characters, they also don't wear any sort of protection. They have WS2 which is terrible since they'll pretty much always hit on 5+ or 4+ at the very best (though light wizard can help them) but they also have 2 attacks and are using flails, so each flagellant in 1st melee round throws 2 S5 attacks. Against opponents with WS4 they won't probably do much, but anything else really doesn't want to fight them.
* '''Helblaster Volley Gun:''' The main question about this machine is: Is the misf.. sorry the artillery die your friend? Can be extremely effective or can blow up instantly. The problem with it is that it rolls 3 artillery dices and you cannot re-roll them with your engineer hero meaning that it's a bit dicey unit. I personally wouldn't bother taking it, unless I have heavens wizard in my army for that sweet d3 d6 re-rolls. Unfortunately Second Sign of Amul doesn't allow the player to re-roll the artillery die (it is unambiguosly D6, not any special die allowed to re-roll) but re-rolling the die on the misfire chart could easily be even better.
* '''Steam Tank:'''
== Alternative Army Lists ==
=== Cult of Ulric ===
=== Army of Middenland ===
=== Kislev Allied Contingents ===

== Tactics ==

=== Know your Weaknesses and know your Strengths ===
Empire (as expected) is a "Jack of all trades master of none" type of army, meaning that you can try almost any playstyle with the Empire, but they'll never truly excel at it unlike other races. However even though they are jack of all trades, they still do some army compositions better (like heavily focusing on ranged combat) than others (heavily focusing on melee infantry combat) and don't have access to some (mass fear type of army).

One thing that Empire player should understand is that your melee infantry isn't usually gonna do amazing damage, no matter what you do. They're all locked at 1 attack only for the most part and if they somehow have more it's usually WS3 S3 so that won't do much damage anyway. How does your empire infantry can win combat then? By static combat resolution. Your guys are cheap, you can bring usually more state militia than enemy can bring his core units for the same price. Sure, chaos warriors will completely destroy any state militia in combat, but can 10 chaos warriors do enough damage to chew through 20-25 militia? Assuming you've bought command squad, each turn you get +5 to combat resolution so chaos warriors are put at high disadvantage every combat round. Add to that the fact that you can charge flank with detachment of Halberdiers or Free Company and suddenly you're making them test for panic and get additional points to combat resolution. Hell you might even kill 1-2 bastards on charge.

As you can see, Empire prefers quantity over quality in their troops (at least if said troops aren't knights or greatswords or flagellants) which also stretches to ranged combat too. Yes, your crossbowmen and handgunners are gonna hit on 4+ at best most of the time, but you can bring a lot of them and with enough of them you might even break you opponent before fight properly starts. Bunch of handgunners/crossbowmen backed up by Great Cannons and you can completely blast them away if there isn't lots of terrain. Throw in some huntsmen and pistoliers for additional frustration.

If you actually want to play melee focused Empire army then you'll have to spam Knights and pistoliers. Knights are excellent core choice and on charge they can do a lot of work with WS4 S5(6 if you've upgraded to inner circle) + they'll likely survive being hit back, since they're wearing full plate armour on barbed horses with shields. Knights of the White Wolf can even be used as anvil type of unit, since thanks to their hammers they'll hit with WS4 S4(or 5 if inner circle) even if they didn't charge which still is way better, than what your infantry can do. And while knights charge head on and tank most things, pistoliers do flanking charges with up to 2 S4 ap attacks which will likely make your enemy suffer.

I'd say the armies against which Empire struggles most are those which focus heavily on fear and terror. Because pretty much no Empire unit (besides knights but only if you take certain lords and flagellants) have easy access to immune to psychology rule. At best you can stay inside your LD9 aura's of Elector Count/Templar Grand Master, but once you start loosing combat against foe's with higher Unit Strength you ain't gonna stick for a while. Against non-undead factions you can counter that by simply trying to blast them as much as you can before they get close, however against undead you can only hope that your guys are gonna win combat.

=== Army compositions ===

=== Synergies ===

{{Warhammer6th_Tactics_Races}}
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics]]
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition]]

Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/The Empire

2026-06-18T16:59:06Z

Zambula: /* Named Characters */ Added a few official characters from the 6th edition. I will expand later.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

==Why play The Empire?==
The army of [[The Empire|the Empire]] is easily the most versatile army of the whole game. The Empire can field full magic list of 12 power dice and some bounds AND take along four great cannons and two helblasters in 2000 points game (without any magic items one level 4 wizard, three level 2 wizards, four cannons and two helblasters is 1145 points). Or you can field full knight army. Or whatever you ever want. On the contrary, imperial troops are not as fast as elves, not as tought as ogres, not as numerous as skaven, not as killy as chaos etc. but in the Empire army can always be found something against every opponent.

==Army Special Rules==
* '''Detachment system:''' The Empire army uses the detachment system. Basically detachments are small support units of a parent unit. The detachment can charge along the parent unit or counter-charge a charging opponent. A detachment will charge to flank of an enemy if possible which is usually ridiculously effective. Unfortunately the role of the detachments is normally to be the cannon fodder since your opponent propably understands the effectiveness of detachments. On the other hand, your opponent has to use his precious power dice or mundane firepower to decimate very cheap units which don't even cause panic.

==The Imperial Armoury==
* '''Cavalry hammer/White Wolf hammer:''' +2S on first turn when charging, otherwise +1S. Requires two hands. Original name was the Cavalry hammer but in the Middenland Army list in Storm of Chaos that same weapon was used by infantry and therefore that alternate name.
* '''Full Plate Armour:''' 4+ save.
* '''Empire Handgun:''' 24", S4, move-or-fire, armour piercing. On the first shoot +D6" of range. The short range is still 12".
=== Experimental Weapons ===
These are used only by engineers or the champions of handgunner regiments or pistolier regiments.
* '''Hochland Long Rifle:''' 36", S4, armour piercing. Can be used to target any visible target, the normal targeting rules doesn't apply. Even characters in units can be targeted. -1 to hit when the special rule is used.
* '''Repeater Handgun:''' 24", S4, armour piercing, 3 x multiple shots.
* '''Repeater pistol:''' 8", S4, armpur piercing, 3 x multiple shots. Can be used in close combat.

==Magic Items==
In the Imperial vaults there is loads of magic items and here is covered just a few of recommended ones.
* '''Dawn Armour:''' Your general or some other combat hero will propably have 1+ armour save and ability to re-roll those saves is normally a pretty fucking good thing.
* '''Holy Relic:''' 4+ ward for 45 points. Simple and good.
* '''The White Cloak:''' 5+ ward for 30 points and immunity to cold based attacks. The special rule is worth of nothing but fortunately you are paying only for the ward. Simple and good.
* '''Griffon Standard:''' 50 points for double rank bonus in close combat. Unit of 20 state troops can be practically invincible with this banner. Unfortunately a unit of state troops can take this banner only if your general is an Elector Count and the only other ranked troop which can take this are the very expensive Greatswords. Battle Standard Bearer is of course an option. The unit carrying this banner can't pursue. Overall this is an extremely good magic item and try to find space for it always.
* '''Steel Standard:''' 25 points, +D3" to charge move, failed still only 7". For its price strongly recommended.
And here is the rest
* '''Runefang:''' 100 points for making all hits wound automatically and no armour saves allowed. Normally it would be extremely good weapon if not the fact that it costs 100 points and only Elector Count can wield it. It's risky to say the least
* '''The Mace of Helstrum:''' 65 points for instead of making normal attacks, you can make one with S10 and multipule (D6) wounds. It can be an okay low WS monster deleter if you give it to your Templar Grand Master, but against anything with high WS it's too risky.
* '''Sword of Fate:''' 50 points to nominate one monster (must be large target) or character at the beginning of game. Against chosen target this weapon wounds on 2+, no armour saves allowed and causes D3 wounds. If you can manage to get to your target then it's pretty good. Can be neat on pegasus flying assassin captain, but a bit pricy.
* '''Sword of Sigismund:''' 50 points for +1S and always strikes first. If you're fighting against elves or skaven which rely on their speed to reduce damage then it can come in handy as those factions don't have good toughness or saves. Against any tougher opponent it might lack punching power (you'll have WS6 S5 A4 at best with this weapon keep that in mind).
* '''Sword of Righteous Steel:''' 45 points making bearer hits on 2+ regardless of WS. Can be hilarious if you combo it with Speculum and charge into biggest enemy lord, other than that not worth it imo.
* '''Sword of Power:''' 40 points Great weapon but without striking last drawback. Not bad if you're fighting low initiative factions like Orcs or Ogres or Lizardmen but cost a bit (40 points).
* '''Hammer of Judgement:''' 35 points for making models hit by this weapon take a leadership test. If they fail they suffer wound with no armour saves allowed, if they pass you roll to wound and save normally. Way too random to actually use it and almost useless if you're fighting close enemy general.
* '''Dragon Bow:''' 30 points Bow with 36" range and S6. Can be pretty neat to soften enemy monsters before they get close, but with only 1 shot it ain't gonna do much. Once again captain on pegasus can be an interesting option with it.
* '''Sword of Justice:''' 25 points allows bearer can re-roll failed wound rolls. Not completely tragic and can be an okay weapon in smaller point games.
* '''Wyrmslayer Sword:''' 20 points to make bearer always wounds on 4+ (unless hit strength would make it less) and large targets loose their scaly skin save against attacks made with this weapon. Maybe if you expect to run into a Lizardmen force with 3 dino's it can pay for it's price, but cannons are better at dealing with those anyway.
* '''The Gilded Armour:''' 50 points Heavy armour + Opponent must pass Strength test before trying to hit you. Bad because of it's price and randomness
* '''Armour of Tarnus:''' 35 points Light armour with 5+ ward save and allows wizards to cast spells while wearing it. Not bad for it's price and allows your wizards to have 4+ save on barbed horse which is something.
* '''Shield of the Gorgon:''' 35 points Shield which makes one opponent of your choosing to loose 1 attack. Too expensive for it's price and using up a magic armour slot.
* '''Armour of Meteoric Iron:''' 30 points for 1+ save. If you want to deploy foot-slogging melee characters then it can help them survive combat tremendously + allows you to use weapons which require two hands without worrying about your save.
* '''Bronze Shield:''' 25 points to completely ignore first hit character suffers. Skip.
* '''Helm of the Skaven Slayer:''' 20 points for +1 save which can be combined with others (this + plate armour + barbed horse + shield with hand weapon = 0+ save) and the wearer causes fear in all models from skaven army. Good against skaven, meh against anything else.
* '''Shroud of Magnus:''' 60 points talisman which gives you 5+ ward save and model wearing it is completely immune to Dark, Chaos or Skaven magic even if cast with irresistible force. If it gave this effect for entire unit or at least mount too then it would be interesting option. As it stands it's way too expensive.
* '''Jade Amulet:''' 50 points to completely ignore first wound bearer suffers. For that price? Pass.
* '''Sigil of Sigmar:''' 20 points for additional dispel dice against spells which affect wearer or the unit he is within. Not bad if you expect a lot of magic from the opposition.
* '''The Crimson Amulet:''' 20 points 6+ ward save which also makes the wearer pass all characteristic test except those based on LD. It's way too situational to come in handy and if you want 6+ ward save just take Talisman of protection which gives 6+ ward but for 15 points instead.
* '''Grey Wand:''' +1 to all casting rolls for 50 points. Simple, effective and a bit costly but not bad.
* '''Seal of Destruction:''' Super dispel scroll which makes enemy wizard completely forget their spell on 4+ for 50 points (bound spells are forgotten on 6+). Is this thing better than 2 dispel scrolls for 50 points? If you can roll 4+ then yes, but it's a gamble.
* '''Rod of Power:''' For 45 points you can store up to 3 power dices from your pool instead of using them. In next magic phase you roll a dice and if the result is higher or equal to number of dices you've stored then you get to use them. If you roll below then they're lost. Saving up your magic dices to have more of them in next magic phase isn't terrible idea, especially if your wizard can't even use them all in one magic phase. An interesting option to be sure.
* '''Luckstone:''' Once per battle your wizard can re-roll dice used to cast/dispel a spell for 25 points. If you can afford it for your wizards then it's pretty good.
* '''Crystal Ball:''' It's a really interesting one. For 25 points your opponent must always reveal any secrets involving all units within 12" of wizard holding it. It means any magical artifacts his characters can hold, any disguised assassins, fanatics etc. he doesn't normally have to tell you. Depending on whether or not you and your friends actually tell or not what is in your list, it can be really useful or completely useless.
* '''Wizard Staff:''' 15 points to allow wizards to use one more power dice than their power level allows them too when casting a spell. It's only useful on low level wizards, since your level 4 wizard lords can use up to 5 magic dices already and why would you even need more than that?
* '''Laurels of Victory:''' A 70 point artifact which makes each wound your character dealt count as 2 when you're working out combat resolution. Expensive and those 70 points could be used to give your character magical weapon/armour etc. Additionally only really Templar Grand Master can use it somewhat effectively, since Elector Count is stuck with WS5 S4 A3.
* '''Rod of Command:''' 50 points to make your unit pass first break test required even if normally they wouldn't be able to. A bit niche dare I say item. If you could decide when you want to use it then it would be better, but as it stands it can maybe be useful against lots of fear causing factions.
* '''The Silver Horn:''' 45 points level 5 bound spell which makes all your units on the battlefield rally. Pricy and might not come in use all that often depending on your army and playstyle.
* '''The Orb of Thunder:''' Level 4 bound spell which forces all flying units to use their regular movement instead of flying for 40 points. If you expect a lot of flying units then certainly useful, but pretty low power level so might not go off if your opponent decides to store some dispel dices or dispel scrolls.
* '''Aldred's Casket of Sorcery:''' Item which makes you steal one randomly chosen enemy wizard spell and then you can cast it and completely remove from game. Power level of spells is equal to that required to cast normally and you can release them all at once if you want to. Well, for 35 points it's not THAT expensive but the question is can you actually deliver your character near opponent wizard to make use of it?
* '''Icon of Magnus:''' 30 points which makes wearer and unit he is with ignore fear caused by fear causing units, and reduce terror from terror causing units to only fear. Not bad if you're facing lot's of fear causing units.
* '''Ring of Volans:''' 30 points one use only bound spell which is chosen randomly from one of lores from rulebook of your choosing and is cast with power level normally required to cast said spell. Depending on spell you get it's either crap or a steal. Are you feeling lucky today?
* '''Doomfire Ring:''' 25 points bound spell with power level 3 which you can cast every magic phase. What spell is it? It's shittier fireball cause only range 18" and S3 D6 hits. Not really worth 25 points imo.
* '''Van Horstmann's Speculum:''' Do your characters get constantly shit on by opponents characters with superior stats? Are you fed up of mediocre stats of your humans? Well then this Speculum is for you. For 25 points at the beginning of challenge you swap your S, T, I and A with character you're currently in challenge with. It's hilarious if you manage to catch someone big and beat them to death with their own stats. Combo's really well with Sword of Righteous Steel to negate any to hit penalties from having mediocre WS.
* '''Imperial Banner:''' 100 points to make all of your units with at least one model within 12" of this banner re-roll all psychology tests and tests to avoid pursuit. Really expensive for not that amazing effect.
* '''Banner of Sigismund:''' 60 point banner making unit holding it stubborn. Pretty good effect but a bit pricy since you'll need captain to hold it for units.
* '''Banner of Ulric:''' 50 point banner which gives your Knights of the White Wolf weaker fear. When your knights charge, enemy has to pass a leadership test or they hit knights on 6s in combat + when opponents wishes to charge you he has to pass a leadership test or will remain stationary in that movement phase. Units which ignore fear ignore this effect as well. Not as powerful as fear, and on charge your knights have a good chance of killing enough opponents to survive getting hit back. However it can somewhat screw up opponent game plan when his units won't charge your knights.
* '''Banner of Valour:''' 40 points banner to ignore panic. I guess okay? Nothing amazing and it's not immune to psychology which would be much better.
* '''Standard of Arcane Warding:''' 40 points banner which gives you 2 additional dispel dices against spells which would affect unit holding it. Useful against magic heavy factions.
* '''Banner of Duty:''' 10 banner that allows you to re-roll failed Rallying tests. It's cheap, but they're better banners out there.

==Units Analysis==
=== Named Characters ===
* '''Karl Franz:'''
* '''Valten:'''
* '''Luthor Huss:'''
* '''Balthasar Gelt:''' The Supreme Patriarch of Altdorf Colleges of Magic (or Vietstalia war veteran, depending on whom you ask). Balthasar Gelt is lvl 4 wizard and knows all lore of metal spells so you don't have to roll for them. Gelt rides to battle on top of his pegasus and posses 3 (technically 4) magical items to aid him in battle. 1st one is Al-kahest (which actually isn't listed as magic item but as his special rules) Gelt can either throw it in shooting phase as if he was throwing knives. This attack has range of 6", wounds EVERYTHING (ethereal creatures and war machines too) on 4+ and allows for no armour saves or you can make Balthasar drink it instead, which restores 1 wound to him or his mount. 2nd one is Staff of Volans, it allows Gelt to change one of dices from casting/dispelling roll to be 1 number higher, meaning that Gelt can roll irresistible force on 5-6 (you change 5 to 6) and requires 3 one's at least to roll a miscast making him much more reliable wizard. His 3rd magical item is Gleaming Robe which gives Gelt and his mount 3+ ward save against any ranged attacks (templates and magic missiles included) and 4th item is Amulet of Sea Gold which pretty much gives them both magic resistance 1. All of that for 450 points which may seem a lot, but fully kited out Wizard lord on pegasus would cost you 360 points so not that big of a difference. Gelt if you can position him well can be a nightmare to deal with thanks to his survivability and is very reliable wizard. Definetly one of the better one's in game and one of better named characters in general.
* '''Boris Todbringer:'''
* '''Valmir von Raukov:'''
* '''Volkmar the Grim:'''

=== Lords & Heroes ===
* '''Elector Count:''' The weakest combat lord in the game but also the cheapest. If your general is an Elector Count, one of your state troop units can have a magic banner (=Griffon Standard) which can be extremely useful. The only lord which can ride a griffon which is the only source of terror in the whole imperial army. Unfortunately griffons tend to attract a shitload of missile fire and T5 W4 doesn't last very long.
* '''Templar Grand Master:''' As Elector Count is perhaps best suited for defensive approach, Templar Grand Master is made for offensive lists. A Grand Master has +1 Ws, A and I compared to an Elector Count, comes always on a barded warhorse and has by default full plate armour, shield and lance. If the Grand Master is assigned with Knightly Orders, it makes the whole unit immune to psychology which normally is an extremely good thing. Sometimes it can backfire horribly. If you are planning full knight army, a Grand Master is your choice.
* '''Wizard Lord:''' No special rules of any kind, can use any of the eight lores of magic in the BRB. As almost all the other wizard lords of different races, this fellow comes by default as level 3 wizard and can (=will) be upgraded to level 4.
* '''Captain:''' Almost as good fighter as an Elector Count, lacks only one wound and one point of Ld. Basic hero without any special rules. Can ride a pegasus which can be nice war machine hunter or lone wizard hunter. Can be given the battle standard.
* '''Battle Wizard:''' Level 1/2 wizard, can use all the lores of BRB.
* '''Warrior Priest:''' Adds one dispel dice and can use prayers which work like bound spells. A nice combination of might and magic. Can be used to lead regiments to battle and gives to the whole unit hatred against Chaos, Skavem and Undead.
* '''Master Engineer:''' An okayish ranged hero (though Captain is better at shooting). The main benefit he gives you is that he allows you to re-roll artillery dices for mortars and great cannons making them less likely to missfire. He also serves as additional crewmen for war machines so helps them work longer and can shoot if you haven't used his re-roll ability. Take maybe if you don't want to take Heavens wizard, but other than that I don't think guys worth it really.

=== Core Units ===
* '''Swordsmen:''' Your basic empire infantry. They can potentially survive somewhat long thanks to their WS4 and 4+ save but don't expect them to win combat by killing opponents since they only have 1 S3 attack. Take them in big units to get good static combat resolution and use them as parent units for your detachments.
* '''Spearmen:''' Pretty similiar to previous unit, however they trade their hand weapons for spears and have WS3/I3 instead of WS4/I4 which swordsmen have. This means that not only they hit less often but also get hit more often and have worse armour save than previous unit. It's the price you pay for being able to attack in 2 ranks, but you gotta ask yourself, do you really expect them to kill anything with S3 attacks? Maybe against skavens or other light factions they can kill something. Pass for me.
* '''Halberdiers:''' Just like spearmen traded their hand weapons for spears and worse WS/I, Halberdiers traded WS/I and hand weapon for (you've guessed it) halberds. With S4 they can actually kill something but they still suffer from having only WS3. They can be used as pretty good detachment unit to counter-charge or charge with it's parent unit and actually use said S4 attacks. Other than that I wouldn't take them but light wizard can help them by reducing enemy WS making it easier for them to land a hit.
* '''Handgunners:''' Pretty underwhelming from my experience. BS3 and having only 24" weapon (bonus d6" for shooting for the first time doesn't increase your short range) means that you'll hit for the most time on 5+ which is far from good. They are however cheap (as most empire infantry units are) and can be pretty okay detachment for your parent units since there is really no point in bringing them in big units. Unless you're playing against elves and are worried about panic from shooting casualties. One thing worth to mention is that their sergeant upgrade gets BS4 and access to experimental weapons which can either make him like 3 regular handgunners with repeater handgun or try to snipe enemy characters hiding in units with Hochland long rifle. Not that you have very high chance of succeeding in it, but you might as well give it a shot (heh).
* '''Crossbowmen:''' Handgunners but with crossbows. Not really much to say about them (other than they can't use experimental weapons), if you know how to use handgunners you know how to use crossbowmen since both perform pretty much same role, expect crossbow has longer range (30" compared to 24") but lacks armour piercing (so only ap-1 instead of -2) meaning that they are better against factions that have poor armour save's.
* '''Archers:''' Handgunners but with bows plus they're skirmishers so they're a bit harder to hit in ranged combats. One unit in army can be upgraded for 2 ppm to huntsmen which gives them longbows instead of bows and makes them scouts, but locks them in unit size of 5-10. I'd advise taking 1 unit and upgrading them to huntsmen for war machine hunting and disrupting enemy marches.
* '''Free Companies:''' Your cheapest melee infantry (5 ppm) and for a reason too. They have pretty regular human stats (M4 WS3 BS3 S3 T3 W1 I3 A1 LD7), no armour saves and use two hand weapons in combat. Use them only for detachments to charge with parent units or counter charge. That way they can turn tides of combat pretty easily and even if they die, so what?
* '''Knightly Orders:''' Heavy cavalry with natural 1+ save (plate armour, barded horse and shields) equipped with lances meaning that they can survive quite a lot of regular attacks. They're allowed to carry magical banner up to 50 points too which is nice. You can also upgrade 1 unit for 3 ppm to knights of the inner circle making them have base S4 which makes them even deadlier. Good unit overroll, definetly take them.
* '''Knights of the White Wolf:''' Pretty much same deal with previous unit, however they're locked to 0-1 option and use Cavalry hammers instead of lances making them a bit more expensive. Cavalry hammers give user +2S on charge and +1S normally, so even if your knights get charged there is a good chance that not only they'll survive but also hit back making them more forgiving choice of the 2 cavalry core's.

=== Special Units ===
* '''Greatswords:''' Somewhat heavy infantry. They are pretty comparable to swordsmen since both units have WS4 and 4+ save (though swordsmen only in melee while Greatswords always), however Greatswords are using you've guessed it, greatswords! Meaning they have +2S and strike last making them hit at S5 which isn't bad. They also have Ld8 and are stubborn, plus can carry magical banner up to 50 points making them good choice for Griffon Standard. Just like with all Empire infantry units, they win combat mostly by having good static resolution, instead of high killing potential.
* '''Pistoliers:''' Fast cavalry which is equipped with 2 pistols which gives them nice shooting phase (though still only BS3). Marksman can replace his pistol with repeater handgun or repeater pistol and has higher BS too so not a bad idea to give him fancier weapon. Pistoliers have one additional trick up their sleeve which is that they're allowed to fight using 2 weapons and since they have 2 pistols each they have 2 S4 armour piercing attacks on charge so they can hit pretty hard, but WS3 only.
* '''Great Cannon:''' Your dedicated monster/war machines deleter. Shots from cannon are resolved at S10 no armour saves and multiple wounds D6 making it excellent at removing any monster threats such as dragons, giants, war machines etc. with which you can't really deal with otherwise. Always including at least 1 in army isn't a bad idea.
* '''Mortar:''' Stone thrower but lower strength making it worse than regular stone thrower. It can only really deal with infantry and it's not even that good at it so I wouldn't bother taking it. Especially since it also sits in special slots where you have better options.

=== Rare Units ===
* '''Flagellants:''' Your only melee infantry unit that has a chance to win combat by killing opponents. At least in 1st round. Flagellants are crazed, which means they are immune to psychology, unbreakable, pass automatically any leadership test they are ever required to make, cannot flee, always pursue and can't ever be joined by characters, they also don't wear any sort of protection. They have WS2 which is terrible since they'll pretty much always hit on 5+ or 4+ at the very best (though light wizard can help them) but they also have 2 attacks and are using flails, so each flagellant in 1st melee round throws 2 S5 attacks. Against opponents with WS4 they won't probably do much, but anything else really doesn't want to fight them.
* '''Helblaster Volley Gun:''' The main question about this machine is: Is the misf.. sorry the artillery die your friend? Can be extremely effective or can blow up instantly. The problem with it is that it rolls 3 artillery dices and you cannot re-roll them with your engineer hero meaning that it's a bit dicey unit. I personally wouldn't bother taking it, unless I have heavens wizard in my army for that sweet d3 d6 re-rolls. Unfortunately Second Sign of Amul doesn't allow the player to re-roll the artillery die (it is unambiguosly D6, not any special die allowed to re-roll) but re-rolling the die on the misfire chart could easily be even better.
* '''Steam Tank:'''
== Alternative Army Lists ==
=== Cult of Ulric ===
=== Army of Middenland ===
=== Kislev Allied Contingents ===

== Tactics ==

=== Know your Weaknesses and know your Strengths ===
Empire (as expected) is a "Jack of all trades master of none" type of army, meaning that you can try almost any playstyle with the Empire, but they'll never truly excel at it unlike other races. However even though they are jack of all trades, they still do some army compositions better (like heavily focusing on ranged combat) than others (heavily focusing on melee infantry combat) and don't have access to some (mass fear type of army).

One thing that Empire player should understand is that your melee infantry isn't usually gonna do amazing damage, no matter what you do. They're all locked at 1 attack only for the most part and if they somehow have more it's usually WS3 S3 so that won't do much damage anyway. How does your empire infantry can win combat then? By static combat resolution. Your guys are cheap, you can bring usually more state militia than enemy can bring his core units for the same price. Sure, chaos warriors will completely destroy any state militia in combat, but can 10 chaos warriors do enough damage to chew through 20-25 militia? Assuming you've bought command squad, each turn you get +5 to combat resolution so chaos warriors are put at high disadvantage every combat round. Add to that the fact that you can charge flank with detachment of Halberdiers or Free Company and suddenly you're making them test for panic and get additional points to combat resolution. Hell you might even kill 1-2 bastards on charge.

As you can see, Empire prefers quantity over quality in their troops (at least if said troops aren't knights or greatswords or flagellants) which also stretches to ranged combat too. Yes, your crossbowmen and handgunners are gonna hit on 4+ at best most of the time, but you can bring a lot of them and with enough of them you might even break you opponent before fight properly starts. Bunch of handgunners/crossbowmen backed up by Great Cannons and you can completely blast them away if there isn't lots of terrain. Throw in some huntsmen and pistoliers for additional frustration.

If you actually want to play melee focused Empire army then you'll have to spam Knights and pistoliers. Knights are excellent core choice and on charge they can do a lot of work with WS4 S5(6 if you've upgraded to inner circle) + they'll likely survive being hit back, since they're wearing full plate armour on barbed horses with shields. Knights of the White Wolf can even be used as anvil type of unit, since thanks to their hammers they'll hit with WS4 S4(or 5 if inner circle) even if they didn't charge which still is way better, than what your infantry can do. And while knights charge head on and tank most things, pistoliers do flanking charges with up to 2 S4 ap attacks which will likely make your enemy suffer.

I'd say the armies against which Empire struggles most are those which focus heavily on fear and terror. Because pretty much no Empire unit (besides knights but only if you take certain lords and flagellants) have easy access to immune to psychology rule. At best you can stay inside your LD9 aura's of Elector Count/Templar Grand Master, but once you start loosing combat against foe's with higher Unit Strength you ain't gonna stick for a while. Against non-undead factions you can counter that by simply trying to blast them as much as you can before they get close, however against undead you can only hope that your guys are gonna win combat.

=== Army compositions ===

=== Synergies ===

{{Warhammer6th_Tactics_Races}}
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics]]
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition]]

Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/Bretonnia

2026-06-18T13:11:47Z

Zambula: /* Named Characters */

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

==Why play Bretonnia?==
Bretonnia delivers on the feeling between crunch and flavor of playing an army of knights. Powerful in their strenghts, but with a few drawbacks to represent the honourable oaths that your characters take to battle.

Pros:
*A range of detailed 5e and 6e minis (most of them sculpted by the Perry brothers) that deliver on the "fantasy arthuric knight" archetype, with the possibility to use more historical miniature ranges if you are having trouble finding what you're looking for.
*Powerful cavalry and interesting tricks to perform with morale between knights and peasants.
*Grail Knights give a run for their money to other elite cavalry units, with arguably some of the best stats in the game.
*Highly customizable characters and units for fluff purposes, thanks to the Virtues which grant additional effects beyond magic items.
*One of the armies where ward saves are more prominent (albeit only 6++/5++). Still, army-wide ward saves for your knights will save your bacon more times than you might think.

Cons:
*A well painted army of Bretonnians can take a lot of time to put together by virtue of individual heraldry on each knight.
*Bretonnia really is an hyperfocused army with a single plan: field cavalry and deliver devastating charges. No ifs, ors or buts. This is a cavalry army, with infantry and ranged support.
*Army that quickly loses steam after charges, having few units (pilgrims, questing knights and grail knights) that perform well in prolonged combats.
*Character's aren't at the top of the power scale, although the Virtues help. A Bret Lord can fight a Chaos Lord but might need some thinking to even the odds.
*No magic supremacy, and outside of the Fay Enchantress, limited to Heavens, Life and Beasts. Cannot compete on the same field as HE, Lizardmen or VC.
*Lacking in the monster department, with Pegasi and Hippogryphs as the only options. Still, they benefit from the Blessings' Ward Save, being one of the very few monsters with native ward saves.
*Limited ranged options (bowmen and trebuchet).
*Everything is OOP. Call your recaster if you want to play with the soul-infused original minis.
*If you play with historical elizabethian knights in full plate barding I'll find you and break your kneecaps.

==Army Special Rules==
'''Lance formation'''
Bretonnians use an unique formation for their (non flying) knights called lance.
Any knightly unit in ranks of three models wide is considered to be in lance formation.
They get rank bonus for those ranks and in a charge all the models in the sides can attack too on a turn in which they charge.
So 3 x 3 unit of knights, nine models, all but two can attack on charge. Characters must be placed in the front rank, except damsels and prophetesses, which can take a safe spot in the midst of knights (middle spot in second rank). As an exception to usual rules, command groups can be placed on second rank and still benefit from banner, in case three characters take the whole front rank.

'''Vows of Bretonnia'''
Bretonnians go to battle undertaking certain vows of honour, which grant some benefits to the units that take them.

Keep in mind that Vows work in a hierarchical scale: characters from a lower Vow cannot join units with a higher Vow, but characters with a higher Vow may join units with a lower one.

*The Peasant's Duty: Not really a vow per se, but enables your low Ld Peasant units to use the Ld value of a non-fleeing knight within 6". Going from Ld5 to Ld8 or 9 is a great boon to keep your backline in place when things start to go awry. Additionally, their dirty banners don't confer additional VP for being captured in combat.
*The Knight's Vow: The baseline Vow for all knight units and characters, allows them to ignore ''panic'' tests caused by friendly Peasant units. Really good to prevent your expensive Knight units from fleeing, and allows you to use Peasant units as screens safely, knowing that their fleeing won't cause trouble for your Knights.
*The Questing Vow: Second tier of Vow, allows Knight units to ignore ''panic'' tests caused by friendly Peasant units, and may re-roll Psychology tests. Forbids the use of a lance of any type, magical or mundane.
*The Grail Vow: Third and last tier, gives the unit Immune to Psychology and turns their weapons magical. The unit or character with the Vow shall always start the game with the Blessing of the Lady active, even if your army didn't pray.

'''Blessing of the Lady'''
Before any game, the Bretonnian army may kneel to pray and every unit of knights and characters will gain the Blessing of the Lady. Doing this will automatically concede first turn to your opponent, and so you will always go second (unless you field the Fey Enchantress, which automatically grants you the Blessing).

The Blessing is simply a 6++ ward save, 5++ if the attack is strenght or more.
Unfortunately the Blessing can be lost: either by fleeing for whatever reason or by refusing a challenge (in any case in which a knight character could accept a challenge, if no character accepts the challenge, all Bretonnian units involved in the combat lose the Blessing instantly.
*You basically '''always''' want to play with the Blessing activated, so you'll always go second. This isn't bad per se, since an advancing enemy could be exposing itself to turn one charges by your knights and flying units.
*The Fay Enchantress always gives you the Blessing (and an additional bodyguard Grail Knight unit beyond its usual 0-1), so consider taking her if you want to go first and retain the Blessing benefit.
*Keep in mind that [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder]] weapons (Empire, Dwarves) are the bane of your knights. At S4 and Armour Piercing, your knights will be saving at 5+ with a 6++ ward. One of the few instances in which you can consider forgoing the prayer if you can go first, trying to get turn 2 charges if possible to reduce shooting enemy turns.

==Virtues of the Chivalric Knight==
Virtues are one of the factors that makes Bretonnian characters special and flavorful. Each provides a passive bonus for a cost, similar to Chaos Marks. Since they are limiting in some cases, and others bear special mention for certain character builds and purposes, we'll list them in detail. It should go without saying, but only Paladins and Lords may take Virtues.

Keep in mind that the same Virtue may be taken by different characters in the same army. Since Bretonnians are individualist posh cunts, this further increases the cost of each additional duplicate (So the first character with Virtue of Empathy would pay 10 points for it, the second one 20 points, and so on.)
*Basically turns any Virtue above the 20 point mark into an overpriced purchase. Virtue of Discipline has some merit as a good duplicate Virtue for its increased price, but not much else.

Keep in mind that Virtues take points allotment as magical equipment (So paladins are limited to 50 points total, and lords 100 points total, including Virtues and Magical items).

*'''Virtue of Empathy 10p. -''' a Virtue which allows you to field your character ''on foot'', instead of being forced to purchase a mount for him. Cheaper than a barded warhorse by 4p, but that's not why you take it. A knight with this Virtue which is not your General (so it will almost always go to a Paladin) extends his range of Ld bubble to peasant units from 6" to 12". A cheap paladin with this Virtue will help you anchor your battleline whilst your knights charge forward to wreak havoc, preventing units fleeing from terror or panic thanks to his high Ld 8. Take it on a mounted knight to accompany units of peasants around the field, or an on-foot knight in a unit of Men-at-arms for a surprisingly effective infantry unit.
**Albeit seemingly useless at first, this virtue allows you to skip purchasing Peasant champions to keep morale. These are almost always prohibitively expensive and lacking in stats.

*'''Virtue of Discipline 15p. -''' enemies don't gain +1 for outnumbering in a combat in which a character with this Virtue is present. A good cheap virtue to even the odds against big infantry units, which will almost always outnumber your knights.

*'''Virtue of Purity 20p. -''' Always grants the Blessing of the Lady to the character, even if the army didn't pray, and also makes the Ward save a 5++ flat against all attacks. A bit of a dud at first glance, could potentially be useful if you are up against a lot of s4 AP attacks or other defensive magic items are already taken.

*'''Virtue of Noble Disdain 20p. -''' ''Hatred'' against all enemies using missile weapons, including war machine crews. Also grants immunity to Panic by 25% casualties. Not bad for a Paladin on pegasi hunting backline enemy units. Secondary effect is also very useful to keep a pegasi knights unit on the field when suffering losses.

*'''Virtue of Confidence 25p. -''' The Knight must always issue and accept challenges when possible. Grants re-rolls to all failed rolls to hit and to wound. Very good, obviously this goes on a challenge-focused character.
**This will be discussed further below, but this author is of the opinion that challenging characters (Big expensive Lords with armour-ignoring weapons, usually on the 250+ side of points) are a bit of a points waste, since ideally they'll want to bash themselves with other big challenging characters with killer rules. The result is a more or less equal chance of killing or being killed, which is not a reliable way to spend so many points on.

*'''Virtue of the Joust 25p. -''' The knight may re-roll failed rolls to hit when charging and using a lance (including magical lances). Solid Virtue, combos well with the Heartwood Lance for re-rolls to wound too, albeit the 60 point tag will limit this build to Lords.

*'''Virtue of Duty 30p. -''' Only one of these per army, may not be taken by your General. So long as your General is alive, grants +1 to combat resolution in any combat in which the character is present. Basically an additional battle standard, this virtue is '''fantastic''' on your BSB.
**You may take it on your BSB with a morningstar and the War Banner for a flat +3 combat resolution, which really tilts the scales in your favor to win combats and break enemies on the charge.

*'''Virtue of Audacity 30p. -''' Against enemies with higher Strength than himself, the Knight re-rolls failed rolls to hit and wound. Since most of the Chaos and evil armies will sport higher Str than the humble human statline, this isn't too bad to take on a properly kitted character, and doesn't limit your options on magical weapons.

*'''Virtue of the Impetuous Knight 35p. -''' The Knight and his unit adds +D6" to the first charge they declare. A bit too expensive for it's one time use, could be good to setup a turn one charge but otherwise a bit swingy.

*'''Virtue of the Ideal 35p. -''' If you want to field a Lancelot du Lac expy you take this Virtue. Turns a Lord into a combat monster with +2WS, +1 Initiative and +1 Attack, forbades the character from being your General, and any other units using his Ld and within 6" substract -1 to their Leadership.
**This Virtue wants to be on a Grail Vow Lord with an armour-ignoring weapon. Give him ways to ensure hits and re-rolls (with Heartwood Lance and Cuirass of Fortune, for example) and enjoy the ensuing carnage. He will murder armoured troops and characters alike.
**The Ld debuff can be sidestepped by putting him in a Grail Knight unit, being Immune to Psychology. Keep him away from other knights, and you're good to go.

*'''Virtue of Stoicism 35p. -''' The Knight and his unit re-roll Break tests. Although a bit expensive, helps in keeping your units on the field if you are far away from the BSB. One of the worst Virtues.

*'''Virtue of Heroism 40p. -''' Grants Killing Blow '''only''' against Large targets. Forbades the usage of magical weapons. Although a bit expensive and situational, one of the most flavorful and cool Virtues in the book.
**Albeit risky, you'll usually want this one on a Paladin on pegasi to go monster hunting. A bit fragile, but a better investment than an expensive Lord trying to make back his points.

*'''Virtue of Knightly Temper 40p. -''' one of the most expensive Virtues, and an absolute gamechanger for Lords. Turns wounds delivered by a charging character into extra attacks (so a Lord with 4 Attacks could reach a potential of 8 attacks on the charge). Requires building your character accordingly with the right magical items, but VoKT Lords can be absolutely terrifying on the charge. Mind that you cannot use magic weapons with this Virtue.
**Magical items that combo well with this Virtue are the Cuirass of Fortune (to ensure wound re-rolls) and Tress of Isoulde (for a round of character or elite unit combat). Give that to a lance-wielding Lord and enjoy the devastating charges.

*'''Virtue of the Penitent 40p. -''' Makes the character ''Stubborn'', but he cannot join units, use magical items, or ride Pegasi nor Hippogryphs. Probably the worst Virtue, and expensive to boot. Add the ''Grail Vow'' and you will have a knight that is both ''Stubborn'' and ''Immune to Psychology'' with magical attacks, flavorful if you want to play a Penitent Lord that'll refuse to leave combats till he is killed.

==Magic Items==
As an exception to regular magic weapon rules (which must always be used before mundane equipment), Bretonnian characters with a mundane lance '''will''' use it in a turn in which they charge, and then switch to their magical weapon for subsequent combat rounds, if they have any. Magical lances will be used in all turns, regardless of other equipment the character may have.
*This rule is a good way to diversify your equipment choices, something characters from other armies cannot do. Equipping a character with a lance and a cheap magical weapon will ensure that he can keep delivering wounds if his unit gets stuck, something that can prove essential in prolonged combats.

=== Common Magic Items ===
Some of these bear mentioning as specially valuable in the Bretonnian roster.
*'''Sword of Might 20p -'''good on characters on horse that go in units. +1S helps you keep the wounds rolling when the initial charge fails to break the enemy, and it's then when your characters must pull the weight of the unit and help win the fight. Ideally this weapon should go to a paladin or BSB with nonmagical banner.
*'''Sword of Might 15p -''' Grants Armor Penetration (-1 to saving throw). can work as a similar purpose as the Sword of Might, in case it has been already taken by another character. Again, good for a secondary paladin.
*'''Enchanted Shield 10p -''' A +2 to your armour save is a very good deal for its price. Good on all manner of characters, but usually your Lord will have a better magical armour.
**You cannot give this to your BSB, no matter what you found in 2000s WHFB forums. It is a Shield, which a BSB cannot take by mundane means, thus losing access to it. Same with the Orcbane Shield and Grail Shield.
*'''Dispel scroll 25p -''' Scroll caddy damsels are a must in any army. Get one lvl 1 Damsel with one or two scrolls, specially since you are not in the "big league" of magic armies, and you'll be forced to play on the defensive most games.
*'''War banner 25p -''' +1 to combat resolution. Give it to your Questing Knights or Grail Knights, since those are the units that can get stuck in combat for prolonged rounds, and it gives them an edge to win and not depend too much on characters.

=== Magic Weapons ===
*'''The Silver Lance of the Blessed 65p -''' Cavalry lance that auto-hits so long as your hero retains the Blessing. Good, but expensive, and you have other ways to obtain re-rolls. The fact that you can lose the effect if you lose the Blessing is also pretty iffy for such an expensive weapon.
*'''Sword of the Quest 50p -''' Good old Armour Ignoring weapon. May be used as a hand-weapon together with a shield, or as a two-handed weapon in case you need more Str to wound your target. SotQ may only be given to a hero with the Questing Vow. Excellent, and the cornerstone of all duelling Questing Lords, together with Virtue of the Ideal or Virtue of Confidence.
*'''Sword of the Lady's Champion 40p -''' Always counts the bearers Strength as one higher than the targets Toughness, and modifies armour saves accordingly, effectively always wounding on 3+. Only for characters with the Grail Vow. A good weapon that can surprise high T opponents such as monsters or Chaos Lords.
*'''Sword of Heroes 35p -''' Your monster-killer weapon. Against T5 or more, bearer gains +1Str and each unsaved wound turns into 1d3. Give it to a cheap Paladin for a scary monster hunter hero.
*'''The Heartwood Lance 35p -''' An excellent weapon, which allows you to re-roll wounds in '''all''' combat rounds, not just on the charge. Good on a Paladin or a properly built Lord with the Virtue of the Ideal.
*'''Birth-sword of Carcassonne 35p -''' An okay-ish weapon, +1Str and forces enemies to re-roll successful armour saves. Not bad, but not as good as The Heartwood Lance.
*'''Morningstar of Fracasse 25p -''' The most despised magical weapon in your repertoire. +2Str on the charge, and if the enemy hit has a magical weapon, roll d6 for each hit suffered (not wound). On a 4+, his magical weapon is destroyed. Give it to a cheap Paladin in a unit and send him against big heroes to reduce their threat significantly.
*'''The Lance of Artois 25p -''' A lance that grants +2Str as per usual, and also Killing Blow on the turn the character charges. Scary, but losing the buff after one turn makes it unreliable. Unless you can direct it towards a lonely hero that cannot refuse your challenge, or you bring the Gauntlet of the Duel, leave it at home.
*'''The Wyrmlance 20p -''' Humble Wyrmlance, acting as a regular lance that once per battle allows your hero to spit a Str3 flaming template. Can be of some use on a flying Paladin on Royal Pegasus to hunt skirmishers and beasts, or dryads.
**After your use the template, the lance remains engulfed in flames, granting Flaming Attacks. Good against Trolls and mummies.

=== Magic Armour ===
*'''Gilded Cuirass 55p -''' A regular heavy armour that grants Regeneration (4+++). Stacking another save on top of your Blessing Ward save can make your Lord extremely resilient. Expensive, but very good. Only for characters with the Grail Vow.
*'''Armour of the Midsummer Sun 45p -''' The armour that Hippogryph Lords '''must''' buy. -1 to ranged attacks to both user and mount go a long way in protecting monsters, which are already penalized for being a Large Target.
*'''The Grail Shield 35p -''' Upgrades your Blessing ward save to 4++, and counts as a regular shield. Really good on duelling Lords. Only for characters with the Grail Vow.
**It was FAQ'd that the upgraded Ward save does not extend to mounts. Refer to the Armour of the Midsummer Sun for your Hippogryph-protecting needs.
*'''Gromril Great Helm 30p -''' Really good, has a similar effect to the Enchanted Shield. Effectively granting a +1 to your armour save that can be stacked with mundane heavy armour, shield and barded mount, this takes your hero to 1+ armour save territory, and allows you to re-roll failed armour saves.
**The Enchanted Shield is more cost-effective, but if it's already taken, the GGH can help improve another hero armour save.
*'''Armour of Agilulf 25p -''' Heavy armour which includes a shield (so the cost of the armour is a better value on Lords, since their shields are more expensive) and grants WS 10. A good armour for duelling purposes, but your hero will be lacking on the defensive side. Do not take it with Virtue of the Ideal, as it already upgrades your Weapon Skill to a more than respectable WS8.

==Units Analysis==

=== Lords & Heroes ===

* '''Bretonnian Lord:''' Powerful combat heroes, Bretonnian lords equipped with the right combination of items and virtues are more than capable of squaring off against Lords of other armies. Be mindful that their human statline puts them at a disadvantage against monstrous lords like Chaos, Beastmen, Orcs or Lizardmen, to name a few... but Bretonnians usually have a trick or two through a well-chosen Virtue to give them an edge in combat. If things go awry, challenge with your humble unit champion, and let your Lord slaughter enemy troops.
** Of note, you can spend a fuckton of points into your Lord, but usually the best combination of cost-effective lords will be around 250 points. More than that, it can be very hard for them to earn their points back.
** Bretonnian monsters are nowhere near the potential HE dragons, but they have something most other lack: a Ward save. By virtue of being the mount of your Lord, his Royal Pegasus or Hippogryph gains a 6++ (5++ against S5 or more attacks). This can help, with some luck on your side, to stop cannonballs and other usual methods to kill monsters, but you shouldn't rely on it too much. Try to hide from dangerous threats and deliver flank charges where needed.
** Of the two, the Royal Pegasus is the most justifiable mount. With 3W and S4 attacks, it isn't too bad for 50 points. Include the Lord in a unit of Pegasus Knights and you have a terrifying unit all by itself.
** At 200p, the Hippogryph has a below average monster statline that can be easily singled out and deleted by warmachine fire. It is a very tough sell for your lord, who will be more protected inside a knight unit. If you do take a Hippogryph, give your Lord the Armour of the Midsummer Sun for extra ranged protection.

* '''Prophetess of the Lady:''' Prophetesses are your Level 3 (with option of Level 4) wizards. Not a bad pick for a support Lord instead of a purely focused combat one, but try to keep her cheap. You are not on the big league of magic armies, and if you want a great caster Lord, you'd take The Fay Enchantress.
**Mind that Aura of the Lady grants Prophetesses and the units they have joined Magical Resistance (2), very useful to protect big units of knights against magical spam.
**They have access to Heavens, Life and Beasts, and honestly, Beasts is probably the winner of the bunch here, by virtue of Life being somewhat limited to on-field scenery and Heavens being a directly offensive lore, in an army which needs supporting spells.
**Beasts powers include The Oxen Stands, which can help prevent fast-moving mounted units from fleeing the battlefield. Of special note is The Wolf Hunts, granting an extra movement/charge phase to a unit can help bring your knights into combat after a failed charge.
**Heavens mostly includes differents forms of ranged attacks, but Portent of Far can be a powerful buff to a large charging knight unit, ensuring hits and wounds.
**Life's The Howler Wind and The Rain Lord can help you protect your army from ranged attacks (TRL helps specially against the dreaded gunpowder weapons). If you can soak an organ cannon, you can rest easy, as you have effectively reduced its threat by a substantial amount.

* '''Paladin:''' Your bread-and-butter, multipurpose cheap heroes. At 60p. they already have stock heavy armor, which makes them similar to an Empire Captain if not for their native Ward Save thanks to the Blessing. Each one of them should fulfill a purpose in your army, and how you equip them is essential. Giving a Paladin the right Virtue and weapon can turn him into a very interesting character.
**You '''must''' take one Paladin as BSB. He does not count toward your hero limit, and the BSB upgrade is free. One of the best perks of the Bretonnian army. Give him a horse and a magical weapon, plus the Virtue of Discipline, and send him into the thick of the fight together with a big lance. He'll help you keep units in place, and tip the balance towards your knights in fights.
**The most typical mounted Paladin is built towards ensuring wounds during combat on a charge whilst within a knight unit (With the Heartwood Lance) or helping your units in prolonged combats (Questing Paladin with greatsword or a similar role). These should be kept cheap, with a single magical item at most.
**A "foot paladin" with the Virtue of Empathy can also work in a big unit of infantry. Give him a two-handed weapon and keep him cheap, and he'll keep your peasants in line whilst killing in the frontline.
**There are multiple uses for a Paladin on a Royal Pegasus. You can give him the Wyrmlance for a cheeky quasi-gyrocopter flushing enemy bowmen with his flaming breath attack, or give him the Virtue of Noble Disdain to accompany a unit of Pegasus Knights on harassing duties.

* '''Damsel of the Lady:''' Damsels are your Scroll caddies, you should always include at least one with one or two Dispel Scrolls. The same rules for Prophetesses apply here, but they should be even more focused on support than their more powerful mistresses. Try to keep them cheap.
**As with the Prophetesses, Damsels grant Magic Protection (1) to any units they join, a good way to keep valuable units protected from enemy magic.
**A lvl 1 Damsel of Beasts can be a very reliable way to ensure your units remain on the field if they fail their break tests.

=== Named Characters ===
* '''Louen Leoncouer, King of Bretonnia:'''
* '''The Fay Enchantress:'''
* '''The Green Knight:'''
* '''Sir Amalric of Gaudaron:'''
* '''Tristan and Jules:'''
* '''Tancred, Duke of Quenelles:'''
* '''Bagrian:'''

=== Core Units ===
* '''Knights of the Realm:''' Must have 1+ in the army.
* '''Knights Errant:''' "Must" have Errantry Banner
* '''Men-at-arms:''' Cheap and doesn't cause panic. A very useful unit in supporting role. One nice trick is to give them Blessing with Prayer Icon of Quenelles. With full ranks they should be able to withstand almost all chargers. Warriors of Chaos either Chosen or with Mark of Khorne are the only real threats, besides Bretonnian Knights in case of civil war.
* '''Peasant bowmen:'''

=== Special Units ===
* '''Questing Knights:'''
* '''Pegasus Knights:''' The star of the army list. They propably won't win the game for you but they'll harass the enemy, block march moves, hunt lone wizards and war machines. An amazing unit. Also never ever forget their ground movement of 8". Being skirmishers they can't be marchblocked. They can gallop in forests without problems with their 16" charge.
* '''Mounted Yeomen:'''
* '''Grail Reliquae and Battle Pilgrims:'''

=== Rare Units ===
* '''Grail Knights:''' They are EXPENSIVE! Being 38 points each, losing this unit will be a huge blow. On the other hand, they will provide ridiculous amount of damage with their A2. Only huge blocks of enemy charging to flank or rear could be relatively sure to win a combat against these.
* '''Field Trebuchet:''' A very cheap and effective stone thrower. If you are planning to win, I'd highly recommend taking these.

== Alternative Army List ==
Bretonnia got their own variant army list in the Storm of Chaos book, focusing on Knights Errant. The Knights Errant become mandatory and their juvenile fervour makes you play like if you had Orcs riding barded horses.

== Tactics ==

=== Know your Weaknesses and know your Strengths ===

=== Army compositions ===

=== Synergies ===

{{Warhammer6th_Tactics_Races}}
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics]]
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition]]

Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/Bretonnia

2026-06-18T13:08:48Z

Zambula: /* Virtues of the Chivalric Knight */

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

==Why play Bretonnia?==
Bretonnia delivers on the feeling between crunch and flavor of playing an army of knights. Powerful in their strenghts, but with a few drawbacks to represent the honourable oaths that your characters take to battle.

Pros:
*A range of detailed 5e and 6e minis (most of them sculpted by the Perry brothers) that deliver on the "fantasy arthuric knight" archetype, with the possibility to use more historical miniature ranges if you are having trouble finding what you're looking for.
*Powerful cavalry and interesting tricks to perform with morale between knights and peasants.
*Grail Knights give a run for their money to other elite cavalry units, with arguably some of the best stats in the game.
*Highly customizable characters and units for fluff purposes, thanks to the Virtues which grant additional effects beyond magic items.
*One of the armies where ward saves are more prominent (albeit only 6++/5++). Still, army-wide ward saves for your knights will save your bacon more times than you might think.

Cons:
*A well painted army of Bretonnians can take a lot of time to put together by virtue of individual heraldry on each knight.
*Bretonnia really is an hyperfocused army with a single plan: field cavalry and deliver devastating charges. No ifs, ors or buts. This is a cavalry army, with infantry and ranged support.
*Army that quickly loses steam after charges, having few units (pilgrims, questing knights and grail knights) that perform well in prolonged combats.
*Character's aren't at the top of the power scale, although the Virtues help. A Bret Lord can fight a Chaos Lord but might need some thinking to even the odds.
*No magic supremacy, and outside of the Fay Enchantress, limited to Heavens, Life and Beasts. Cannot compete on the same field as HE, Lizardmen or VC.
*Lacking in the monster department, with Pegasi and Hippogryphs as the only options. Still, they benefit from the Blessings' Ward Save, being one of the very few monsters with native ward saves.
*Limited ranged options (bowmen and trebuchet).
*Everything is OOP. Call your recaster if you want to play with the soul-infused original minis.
*If you play with historical elizabethian knights in full plate barding I'll find you and break your kneecaps.

==Army Special Rules==
'''Lance formation'''
Bretonnians use an unique formation for their (non flying) knights called lance.
Any knightly unit in ranks of three models wide is considered to be in lance formation.
They get rank bonus for those ranks and in a charge all the models in the sides can attack too on a turn in which they charge.
So 3 x 3 unit of knights, nine models, all but two can attack on charge. Characters must be placed in the front rank, except damsels and prophetesses, which can take a safe spot in the midst of knights (middle spot in second rank). As an exception to usual rules, command groups can be placed on second rank and still benefit from banner, in case three characters take the whole front rank.

'''Vows of Bretonnia'''
Bretonnians go to battle undertaking certain vows of honour, which grant some benefits to the units that take them.

Keep in mind that Vows work in a hierarchical scale: characters from a lower Vow cannot join units with a higher Vow, but characters with a higher Vow may join units with a lower one.

*The Peasant's Duty: Not really a vow per se, but enables your low Ld Peasant units to use the Ld value of a non-fleeing knight within 6". Going from Ld5 to Ld8 or 9 is a great boon to keep your backline in place when things start to go awry. Additionally, their dirty banners don't confer additional VP for being captured in combat.
*The Knight's Vow: The baseline Vow for all knight units and characters, allows them to ignore ''panic'' tests caused by friendly Peasant units. Really good to prevent your expensive Knight units from fleeing, and allows you to use Peasant units as screens safely, knowing that their fleeing won't cause trouble for your Knights.
*The Questing Vow: Second tier of Vow, allows Knight units to ignore ''panic'' tests caused by friendly Peasant units, and may re-roll Psychology tests. Forbids the use of a lance of any type, magical or mundane.
*The Grail Vow: Third and last tier, gives the unit Immune to Psychology and turns their weapons magical. The unit or character with the Vow shall always start the game with the Blessing of the Lady active, even if your army didn't pray.

'''Blessing of the Lady'''
Before any game, the Bretonnian army may kneel to pray and every unit of knights and characters will gain the Blessing of the Lady. Doing this will automatically concede first turn to your opponent, and so you will always go second (unless you field the Fey Enchantress, which automatically grants you the Blessing).

The Blessing is simply a 6++ ward save, 5++ if the attack is strenght or more.
Unfortunately the Blessing can be lost: either by fleeing for whatever reason or by refusing a challenge (in any case in which a knight character could accept a challenge, if no character accepts the challenge, all Bretonnian units involved in the combat lose the Blessing instantly.
*You basically '''always''' want to play with the Blessing activated, so you'll always go second. This isn't bad per se, since an advancing enemy could be exposing itself to turn one charges by your knights and flying units.
*The Fay Enchantress always gives you the Blessing (and an additional bodyguard Grail Knight unit beyond its usual 0-1), so consider taking her if you want to go first and retain the Blessing benefit.
*Keep in mind that [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder]] weapons (Empire, Dwarves) are the bane of your knights. At S4 and Armour Piercing, your knights will be saving at 5+ with a 6++ ward. One of the few instances in which you can consider forgoing the prayer if you can go first, trying to get turn 2 charges if possible to reduce shooting enemy turns.

==Virtues of the Chivalric Knight==
Virtues are one of the factors that makes Bretonnian characters special and flavorful. Each provides a passive bonus for a cost, similar to Chaos Marks. Since they are limiting in some cases, and others bear special mention for certain character builds and purposes, we'll list them in detail. It should go without saying, but only Paladins and Lords may take Virtues.

Keep in mind that the same Virtue may be taken by different characters in the same army. Since Bretonnians are individualist posh cunts, this further increases the cost of each additional duplicate (So the first character with Virtue of Empathy would pay 10 points for it, the second one 20 points, and so on.)
*Basically turns any Virtue above the 20 point mark into an overpriced purchase. Virtue of Discipline has some merit as a good duplicate Virtue for its increased price, but not much else.

Keep in mind that Virtues take points allotment as magical equipment (So paladins are limited to 50 points total, and lords 100 points total, including Virtues and Magical items).

*'''Virtue of Empathy 10p. -''' a Virtue which allows you to field your character ''on foot'', instead of being forced to purchase a mount for him. Cheaper than a barded warhorse by 4p, but that's not why you take it. A knight with this Virtue which is not your General (so it will almost always go to a Paladin) extends his range of Ld bubble to peasant units from 6" to 12". A cheap paladin with this Virtue will help you anchor your battleline whilst your knights charge forward to wreak havoc, preventing units fleeing from terror or panic thanks to his high Ld 8. Take it on a mounted knight to accompany units of peasants around the field, or an on-foot knight in a unit of Men-at-arms for a surprisingly effective infantry unit.
**Albeit seemingly useless at first, this virtue allows you to skip purchasing Peasant champions to keep morale. These are almost always prohibitively expensive and lacking in stats.

*'''Virtue of Discipline 15p. -''' enemies don't gain +1 for outnumbering in a combat in which a character with this Virtue is present. A good cheap virtue to even the odds against big infantry units, which will almost always outnumber your knights.

*'''Virtue of Purity 20p. -''' Always grants the Blessing of the Lady to the character, even if the army didn't pray, and also makes the Ward save a 5++ flat against all attacks. A bit of a dud at first glance, could potentially be useful if you are up against a lot of s4 AP attacks or other defensive magic items are already taken.

*'''Virtue of Noble Disdain 20p. -''' ''Hatred'' against all enemies using missile weapons, including war machine crews. Also grants immunity to Panic by 25% casualties. Not bad for a Paladin on pegasi hunting backline enemy units. Secondary effect is also very useful to keep a pegasi knights unit on the field when suffering losses.

*'''Virtue of Confidence 25p. -''' The Knight must always issue and accept challenges when possible. Grants re-rolls to all failed rolls to hit and to wound. Very good, obviously this goes on a challenge-focused character.
**This will be discussed further below, but this author is of the opinion that challenging characters (Big expensive Lords with armour-ignoring weapons, usually on the 250+ side of points) are a bit of a points waste, since ideally they'll want to bash themselves with other big challenging characters with killer rules. The result is a more or less equal chance of killing or being killed, which is not a reliable way to spend so many points on.

*'''Virtue of the Joust 25p. -''' The knight may re-roll failed rolls to hit when charging and using a lance (including magical lances). Solid Virtue, combos well with the Heartwood Lance for re-rolls to wound too, albeit the 60 point tag will limit this build to Lords.

*'''Virtue of Duty 30p. -''' Only one of these per army, may not be taken by your General. So long as your General is alive, grants +1 to combat resolution in any combat in which the character is present. Basically an additional battle standard, this virtue is '''fantastic''' on your BSB.
**You may take it on your BSB with a morningstar and the War Banner for a flat +3 combat resolution, which really tilts the scales in your favor to win combats and break enemies on the charge.

*'''Virtue of Audacity 30p. -''' Against enemies with higher Strength than himself, the Knight re-rolls failed rolls to hit and wound. Since most of the Chaos and evil armies will sport higher Str than the humble human statline, this isn't too bad to take on a properly kitted character, and doesn't limit your options on magical weapons.

*'''Virtue of the Impetuous Knight 35p. -''' The Knight and his unit adds +D6" to the first charge they declare. A bit too expensive for it's one time use, could be good to setup a turn one charge but otherwise a bit swingy.

*'''Virtue of the Ideal 35p. -''' If you want to field a Lancelot du Lac expy you take this Virtue. Turns a Lord into a combat monster with +2WS, +1 Initiative and +1 Attack, forbades the character from being your General, and any other units using his Ld and within 6" substract -1 to their Leadership.
**This Virtue wants to be on a Grail Vow Lord with an armour-ignoring weapon. Give him ways to ensure hits and re-rolls (with Heartwood Lance and Cuirass of Fortune, for example) and enjoy the ensuing carnage. He will murder armoured troops and characters alike.
**The Ld debuff can be sidestepped by putting him in a Grail Knight unit, being Immune to Psychology. Keep him away from other knights, and you're good to go.

*'''Virtue of Stoicism 35p. -''' The Knight and his unit re-roll Break tests. Although a bit expensive, helps in keeping your units on the field if you are far away from the BSB. One of the worst Virtues.

*'''Virtue of Heroism 40p. -''' Grants Killing Blow '''only''' against Large targets. Forbades the usage of magical weapons. Although a bit expensive and situational, one of the most flavorful and cool Virtues in the book.
**Albeit risky, you'll usually want this one on a Paladin on pegasi to go monster hunting. A bit fragile, but a better investment than an expensive Lord trying to make back his points.

*'''Virtue of Knightly Temper 40p. -''' one of the most expensive Virtues, and an absolute gamechanger for Lords. Turns wounds delivered by a charging character into extra attacks (so a Lord with 4 Attacks could reach a potential of 8 attacks on the charge). Requires building your character accordingly with the right magical items, but VoKT Lords can be absolutely terrifying on the charge. Mind that you cannot use magic weapons with this Virtue.
**Magical items that combo well with this Virtue are the Cuirass of Fortune (to ensure wound re-rolls) and Tress of Isoulde (for a round of character or elite unit combat). Give that to a lance-wielding Lord and enjoy the devastating charges.

*'''Virtue of the Penitent 40p. -''' Makes the character ''Stubborn'', but he cannot join units, use magical items, or ride Pegasi nor Hippogryphs. Probably the worst Virtue, and expensive to boot. Add the ''Grail Vow'' and you will have a knight that is both ''Stubborn'' and ''Immune to Psychology'' with magical attacks, flavorful if you want to play a Penitent Lord that'll refuse to leave combats till he is killed.

==Magic Items==
As an exception to regular magic weapon rules (which must always be used before mundane equipment), Bretonnian characters with a mundane lance '''will''' use it in a turn in which they charge, and then switch to their magical weapon for subsequent combat rounds, if they have any. Magical lances will be used in all turns, regardless of other equipment the character may have.
*This rule is a good way to diversify your equipment choices, something characters from other armies cannot do. Equipping a character with a lance and a cheap magical weapon will ensure that he can keep delivering wounds if his unit gets stuck, something that can prove essential in prolonged combats.

=== Common Magic Items ===
Some of these bear mentioning as specially valuable in the Bretonnian roster.
*'''Sword of Might 20p -'''good on characters on horse that go in units. +1S helps you keep the wounds rolling when the initial charge fails to break the enemy, and it's then when your characters must pull the weight of the unit and help win the fight. Ideally this weapon should go to a paladin or BSB with nonmagical banner.
*'''Sword of Might 15p -''' Grants Armor Penetration (-1 to saving throw). can work as a similar purpose as the Sword of Might, in case it has been already taken by another character. Again, good for a secondary paladin.
*'''Enchanted Shield 10p -''' A +2 to your armour save is a very good deal for its price. Good on all manner of characters, but usually your Lord will have a better magical armour.
**You cannot give this to your BSB, no matter what you found in 2000s WHFB forums. It is a Shield, which a BSB cannot take by mundane means, thus losing access to it. Same with the Orcbane Shield and Grail Shield.
*'''Dispel scroll 25p -''' Scroll caddy damsels are a must in any army. Get one lvl 1 Damsel with one or two scrolls, specially since you are not in the "big league" of magic armies, and you'll be forced to play on the defensive most games.
*'''War banner 25p -''' +1 to combat resolution. Give it to your Questing Knights or Grail Knights, since those are the units that can get stuck in combat for prolonged rounds, and it gives them an edge to win and not depend too much on characters.

=== Magic Weapons ===
*'''The Silver Lance of the Blessed 65p -''' Cavalry lance that auto-hits so long as your hero retains the Blessing. Good, but expensive, and you have other ways to obtain re-rolls. The fact that you can lose the effect if you lose the Blessing is also pretty iffy for such an expensive weapon.
*'''Sword of the Quest 50p -''' Good old Armour Ignoring weapon. May be used as a hand-weapon together with a shield, or as a two-handed weapon in case you need more Str to wound your target. SotQ may only be given to a hero with the Questing Vow. Excellent, and the cornerstone of all duelling Questing Lords, together with Virtue of the Ideal or Virtue of Confidence.
*'''Sword of the Lady's Champion 40p -''' Always counts the bearers Strength as one higher than the targets Toughness, and modifies armour saves accordingly, effectively always wounding on 3+. Only for characters with the Grail Vow. A good weapon that can surprise high T opponents such as monsters or Chaos Lords.
*'''Sword of Heroes 35p -''' Your monster-killer weapon. Against T5 or more, bearer gains +1Str and each unsaved wound turns into 1d3. Give it to a cheap Paladin for a scary monster hunter hero.
*'''The Heartwood Lance 35p -''' An excellent weapon, which allows you to re-roll wounds in '''all''' combat rounds, not just on the charge. Good on a Paladin or a properly built Lord with the Virtue of the Ideal.
*'''Birth-sword of Carcassonne 35p -''' An okay-ish weapon, +1Str and forces enemies to re-roll successful armour saves. Not bad, but not as good as The Heartwood Lance.
*'''Morningstar of Fracasse 25p -''' The most despised magical weapon in your repertoire. +2Str on the charge, and if the enemy hit has a magical weapon, roll d6 for each hit suffered (not wound). On a 4+, his magical weapon is destroyed. Give it to a cheap Paladin in a unit and send him against big heroes to reduce their threat significantly.
*'''The Lance of Artois 25p -''' A lance that grants +2Str as per usual, and also Killing Blow on the turn the character charges. Scary, but losing the buff after one turn makes it unreliable. Unless you can direct it towards a lonely hero that cannot refuse your challenge, or you bring the Gauntlet of the Duel, leave it at home.
*'''The Wyrmlance 20p -''' Humble Wyrmlance, acting as a regular lance that once per battle allows your hero to spit a Str3 flaming template. Can be of some use on a flying Paladin on Royal Pegasus to hunt skirmishers and beasts, or dryads.
**After your use the template, the lance remains engulfed in flames, granting Flaming Attacks. Good against Trolls and mummies.

=== Magic Armour ===
*'''Gilded Cuirass 55p -''' A regular heavy armour that grants Regeneration (4+++). Stacking another save on top of your Blessing Ward save can make your Lord extremely resilient. Expensive, but very good. Only for characters with the Grail Vow.
*'''Armour of the Midsummer Sun 45p -''' The armour that Hippogryph Lords '''must''' buy. -1 to ranged attacks to both user and mount go a long way in protecting monsters, which are already penalized for being a Large Target.
*'''The Grail Shield 35p -''' Upgrades your Blessing ward save to 4++, and counts as a regular shield. Really good on duelling Lords. Only for characters with the Grail Vow.
**It was FAQ'd that the upgraded Ward save does not extend to mounts. Refer to the Armour of the Midsummer Sun for your Hippogryph-protecting needs.
*'''Gromril Great Helm 30p -''' Really good, has a similar effect to the Enchanted Shield. Effectively granting a +1 to your armour save that can be stacked with mundane heavy armour, shield and barded mount, this takes your hero to 1+ armour save territory, and allows you to re-roll failed armour saves.
**The Enchanted Shield is more cost-effective, but if it's already taken, the GGH can help improve another hero armour save.
*'''Armour of Agilulf 25p -''' Heavy armour which includes a shield (so the cost of the armour is a better value on Lords, since their shields are more expensive) and grants WS 10. A good armour for duelling purposes, but your hero will be lacking on the defensive side. Do not take it with Virtue of the Ideal, as it already upgrades your Weapon Skill to a more than respectable WS8.

==Units Analysis==

=== Lords & Heroes ===

* '''Bretonnian Lord:''' Powerful combat heroes, Bretonnian lords equipped with the right combination of items and virtues are more than capable of squaring off against Lords of other armies. Be mindful that their human statline puts them at a disadvantage against monstrous lords like Chaos, Beastmen, Orcs or Lizardmen, to name a few... but Bretonnians usually have a trick or two through a well-chosen Virtue to give them an edge in combat. If things go awry, challenge with your humble unit champion, and let your Lord slaughter enemy troops.
** Of note, you can spend a fuckton of points into your Lord, but usually the best combination of cost-effective lords will be around 250 points. More than that, it can be very hard for them to earn their points back.
** Bretonnian monsters are nowhere near the potential HE dragons, but they have something most other lack: a Ward save. By virtue of being the mount of your Lord, his Royal Pegasus or Hippogryph gains a 6++ (5++ against S5 or more attacks). This can help, with some luck on your side, to stop cannonballs and other usual methods to kill monsters, but you shouldn't rely on it too much. Try to hide from dangerous threats and deliver flank charges where needed.
** Of the two, the Royal Pegasus is the most justifiable mount. With 3W and S4 attacks, it isn't too bad for 50 points. Include the Lord in a unit of Pegasus Knights and you have a terrifying unit all by itself.
** At 200p, the Hippogryph has a below average monster statline that can be easily singled out and deleted by warmachine fire. It is a very tough sell for your lord, who will be more protected inside a knight unit. If you do take a Hippogryph, give your Lord the Armour of the Midsummer Sun for extra ranged protection.

* '''Prophetess of the Lady:''' Prophetesses are your Level 3 (with option of Level 4) wizards. Not a bad pick for a support Lord instead of a purely focused combat one, but try to keep her cheap. You are not on the big league of magic armies, and if you want a great caster Lord, you'd take The Fay Enchantress.
**Mind that Aura of the Lady grants Prophetesses and the units they have joined Magical Resistance (2), very useful to protect big units of knights against magical spam.
**They have access to Heavens, Life and Beasts, and honestly, Beasts is probably the winner of the bunch here, by virtue of Life being somewhat limited to on-field scenery and Heavens being a directly offensive lore, in an army which needs supporting spells.
**Beasts powers include The Oxen Stands, which can help prevent fast-moving mounted units from fleeing the battlefield. Of special note is The Wolf Hunts, granting an extra movement/charge phase to a unit can help bring your knights into combat after a failed charge.
**Heavens mostly includes differents forms of ranged attacks, but Portent of Far can be a powerful buff to a large charging knight unit, ensuring hits and wounds.
**Life's The Howler Wind and The Rain Lord can help you protect your army from ranged attacks (TRL helps specially against the dreaded gunpowder weapons). If you can soak an organ cannon, you can rest easy, as you have effectively reduced its threat by a substantial amount.

* '''Paladin:''' Your bread-and-butter, multipurpose cheap heroes. At 60p. they already have stock heavy armor, which makes them similar to an Empire Captain if not for their native Ward Save thanks to the Blessing. Each one of them should fulfill a purpose in your army, and how you equip them is essential. Giving a Paladin the right Virtue and weapon can turn him into a very interesting character.
**You '''must''' take one Paladin as BSB. He does not count toward your hero limit, and the BSB upgrade is free. One of the best perks of the Bretonnian army. Give him a horse and a magical weapon, plus the Virtue of Discipline, and send him into the thick of the fight together with a big lance. He'll help you keep units in place, and tip the balance towards your knights in fights.
**The most typical mounted Paladin is built towards ensuring wounds during combat on a charge whilst within a knight unit (With the Heartwood Lance) or helping your units in prolonged combats (Questing Paladin with greatsword or a similar role). These should be kept cheap, with a single magical item at most.
**A "foot paladin" with the Virtue of Empathy can also work in a big unit of infantry. Give him a two-handed weapon and keep him cheap, and he'll keep your peasants in line whilst killing in the frontline.
**There are multiple uses for a Paladin on a Royal Pegasus. You can give him the Wyrmlance for a cheeky quasi-gyrocopter flushing enemy bowmen with his flaming breath attack, or give him the Virtue of Noble Disdain to accompany a unit of Pegasus Knights on harassing duties.

* '''Damsel of the Lady:''' Damsels are your Scroll caddies, you should always include at least one with one or two Dispel Scrolls. The same rules for Prophetesses apply here, but they should be even more focused on support than their more powerful mistresses. Try to keep them cheap.
**As with the Prophetesses, Damsels grant Magic Protection (1) to any units they join, a good way to keep valuable units protected from enemy magic.
**A lvl 1 Damsel of Beasts can be a very reliable way to ensure your units remain on the field if they fail their break tests.

=== Named Characters ===
* '''Louen Leoncouer:'''
* '''The Fay Enchantress:'''
* '''The Green Knight:'''

=== Core Units ===
* '''Knights of the Realm:''' Must have 1+ in the army.
* '''Knights Errant:''' "Must" have Errantry Banner
* '''Men-at-arms:''' Cheap and doesn't cause panic. A very useful unit in supporting role. One nice trick is to give them Blessing with Prayer Icon of Quenelles. With full ranks they should be able to withstand almost all chargers. Warriors of Chaos either Chosen or with Mark of Khorne are the only real threats, besides Bretonnian Knights in case of civil war.
* '''Peasant bowmen:'''

=== Special Units ===
* '''Questing Knights:'''
* '''Pegasus Knights:''' The star of the army list. They propably won't win the game for you but they'll harass the enemy, block march moves, hunt lone wizards and war machines. An amazing unit. Also never ever forget their ground movement of 8". Being skirmishers they can't be marchblocked. They can gallop in forests without problems with their 16" charge.
* '''Mounted Yeomen:'''
* '''Grail Reliquae and Battle Pilgrims:'''

=== Rare Units ===
* '''Grail Knights:''' They are EXPENSIVE! Being 38 points each, losing this unit will be a huge blow. On the other hand, they will provide ridiculous amount of damage with their A2. Only huge blocks of enemy charging to flank or rear could be relatively sure to win a combat against these.
* '''Field Trebuchet:''' A very cheap and effective stone thrower. If you are planning to win, I'd highly recommend taking these.

== Alternative Army List ==
Bretonnia got their own variant army list in the Storm of Chaos book, focusing on Knights Errant.

== Tactics ==

=== Know your Weaknesses and know your Strengths ===

=== Army compositions ===

=== Synergies ===

{{Warhammer6th_Tactics_Races}}
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics]]
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition]]