Bretonnia: Warhammer Army Project, 8th Edition Tactica
Bretonnia: Warhammer Army Project, 8th Edition Tactica
Created by Mathias Eliasson, this project was a homebrew attempt at giving many of the nations and factions that never got Armybooks of their own (and those left behind and never got one in 8th Edition) such a thing.
Why Play WAP Bretonnia
You love playing as Bretonnia but you're tired of only having mounted Knights and dirty peasants as your whole army. Not only is the roster expansion of the army fluffy (except for a unit or two), you get your own Lore and several reductions in points (Pegasus Knights have 10pts cut from their base cost). Not to mention a few other buffs and changes that are arguably better/worse than the original. Overall, a nice homebrew of Bretonnia except for the reduction of the number of Heirlooms specific to Bretonnia.
Army Special Rules
- The Lance Formation: Basically the same as before, except now the front row receives Devastating Charge; may be a small bonus but it definitely helps.
- Vows & Peasant's Duty: All the same except that the Grail Vow gives Characters +1 to Leadership and they cost more to give to Lords & Paladins.
- Blessings of the Lady: First off, the army prays automatically. Nice. Also, instead of acquiring a 5+ Ward Save against attacks with Strength 5 or better, you get a 5+ Ward against ALL missile weapons (including magic missiles). Whilst this gives your knights a better chance of getting into combat, especially against shooty armies (looking at YOU Dwarves), they're also less protected when they actually get into combat against those more dangerous units/characters. Up to you to decide if this exchange is good or bad. You lose the Blessing in the same ways as before.
The Lore of the Lady
- Lore Attribute: Favour of the Lady: When you cast a spell on a friendly unit, that unit can reroll 1's for Ward Saves. Eh, not bad. Works well with The Lady's Virtue of Valour to give that Lord of yours trapped in a challenge against a Chaos Lord a bit more survivability.
- (Signature Spell) Steed of the Lady: Casts on a 5+. Its an augment only for mounted knights with a range of 18"; the upgraded version is 8+ to cast with a range of 36". The target unit acquires a Movement Characteristic of 10 and becomes Ethereal for the purposes of movement. Since actually making the charge is crucial for any Bretonnian army focused on knights, the Movement 10 is definitely welcome and the Ethereal just helps ensure that buildings and blocking units don't stop you from getting to your target. A nice spell, especially for Bretonnia but certainly not a game breaker.
- Mist of Chalons: Casts on a 6+. It's an augment that affects all friendly units within 8" of the caster. The upgraded version is 12" for 9+ to cast; Remains in Play either way. Enemy units targeting those units affected by this spell have an additional -1 to their To Hit rolls. Combine this with the new Blessings of the Lady and your enemy will have a really hard time trying to whittle you down with their shooty units. Again, a nice spell for Bretonnia since you want to ensure your charges have as much power as possible but again, nothing to rave about.
- Doom of Dol: Casts on a 7+. Hex spell with a range of 18". Upgraded version is cast on a 10+ with a range of 36", Remains in Play either way. Select an enemy model and a friendly champion or character (must be a knight) that are both within the range. Whenever the friendly model targets the enemy model, the friendly model will wound them on a 2+ with Ignore Armour Saves to boot! One of the areas Bretonnia is lacking is in challenges, and this alone will pretty well scare any enemy general from attempting to kill your own. Excellent for area denial (who in their right mind will send their general/monster/critical model against this guy? Hell, going against a unit champion can be a risk with this spell.) But, this alone does not ensure victory. An enemy with high Strength and Initiative will still be able to kill you before you even have a chance to strike. It's a very nice spell, but don't expect this to work consistently on unit Champions nor save your general every time you use this.
- Beguilement of Blondel: Casts on a 9+. Hex with a range of 12" for all enemy units. Upgraded version is 18" for 14+ to cast, Remains in Play either way. All enemy units within the range have to take a Leadership test. Should they fail, they count as having failed a Stupidity test. If in Close Combat, they have their Weapon Skill reduced to 1. Each round, for as long as this spell remains active, all enemy units within the radius, must take the leadership test. Eh, against Dwarves and the like, this is pretty well useless. Against armies like Skaven, this will help. Not too helpful, but WS 1 is a welcome boon against any opponent.
- Wrath of Righteousness: Casts on a 10+. A Direct Damage spell that affects all enemy units within a 12" radius. Upgraded version is 19+ to cast with an additional D6 hits per unit. At the base level, this causes all enemy units affected to suffer D6, Strength 4 hits with -1 Armour Save. When only affecting one unit, don't risk doing the 19+ Version unless you really think it'll be worth it. When affecting multiple enemy units, this spell can be really fun but don't think this will save your lone KOTR unit being surrounded by that block of 50 Clanrats and flanking Rat Ogres. A decent spell but with 19+ to cast for 2D6 hits, this can cost you an entire Magic Phase for just 2 S4 hits...use this only if you're sure it will have a good bang for its buck.
- Spiteful Glance: Casts on 11+. Hex with range of 12". Upgrades version is 18" for 16+ to cast. Your wizard targets an enemy character whom your model has line of sigh to. That model must take an Initiative Test or else be turned into a frog and removed immediately as a casualty. On its face, its a good character sniper spell. However, almost all good characters have an Initiative of 5 or better. Target those wizards, BSB's or characters weighed down with magic items with I4 or worse (Oldbloods and pretty much all Lizardmen characters except for Skinks come to mind) and this spell should do you good for what it does.
- The Lady's Virtue of Valour: An Augment that casts on a 12+ with a range of 12". The upgraded version affects all friendly, units within 12" with a cast of 24+. Roll a D6, and the affected unit(s) add +1 to their statistics for a turn with the following results:
1: +1 Weapon Skill 2: +1 WS & Initiative 3: +1 WS, I, & Strength 4: +1 WS, I, S, & Toughness 5: +1 WS, I, S, T, & Attacks 6: +1 WS, I, S, T, A, & Leadership. A very good spell, that...when used right ( and with the proper rolling luck)...you'll tear through that enemy your charging like a Bretonnian Hippogryph tearing apart a Goblin. A 9 man unit of Grail Knights rolling a 5 for this spell gives you 25 attacks at S7, I6, WS6. You won't be able to tear through that giant block of Clanrats, but against units like Chaos Warriors...you'll get your moneys worth. In the description its implied only knights are affected by this spell...but the actual rule says no such thing. Take that as you will. On the charge and with a large enough result, knight units will see this spell used at its best, but remember it is a D6 results..and your charge upon which could hinge your victory could only be aided with something that might not help it in the smallest way. Still, this spell has excellent potential in the Bretonnian army.
Overall, this Lore really well compensates for many of Bretonnia's weaknesses and you should always consider taking this unless your running a peasant army (for whatever ill-found reason).