Bretonnia: Warhammer Army Project, 8th Edition Tactica

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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 affects a single unit which 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 for each unit, 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).

Virtues of Bretonnia

  • Virtue of Heroism: Same as before except now it has a price tag of 50. Eh, I see its uses but I'd generally tell you to avoid this.
  • Virtue of Stoicism: The older one lets you reroll failed Break tests whilst this one gives you Cold-Blooded. Both cost the same and whilst this one is an improvement, you won't find much use of this except against armies that rely heavily on Fear and the like.
  • Virtue of Knightly Temper: You get a 5 point discount and you're allowed to take magic weapons with this one compared to the old. A nice Virtue made even better, always consider taking this.
  • Virtue of the Impetuous Knight: Again, you get 5 points taken off AND you add D3" to all your charges this model is involved in, not just D6 for the first. Combine this with Steed of the Lady and scare the pants off your enemy as your knights move halfway across the board to trample their units into the ground. Just remember, this only helps you get IN to combat, it doesn't help any further so be sure you have good combat gear or a spell on this guy if you intend to fight something nasty.
  • Virtue of the Ideal: Oh look, another 5pts discount, nice. Otherwise, its the same as before. He'll act as a nice challenger especially with Doom of Dol. Just keep him away from your peasants, unless you want them running when the enemy so much as breaths on them.
  • Virtue of Audacity: Exactly the same as before. But now with the Lore of the Lady, this Virtue has even less viability then before. The Virtue itself is fine, its just situational.
  • Virtue of the Penitent: This one may be 15pts cheaper, and you now can take mounts and magic items, but this Virtue is still lacking in usefulness. He becomes Stubborn with the stipulation he cannot join a unit for any reason...skip this unless you have a VERY specific strategy in mind.
  • Virtue of Duty: Another Virtue with 5pts taken off and this is no longer a One per army Virtue. Certainly not bad and when your knight units are trapped in a long drawn out fight, every bit helps.
  • Virtue of Confidence: No points reduction here but with Doom of Dol and a Magic Weapon that raises Initiative a character will rip and tear through nearly anything that it can drag into a challenge.
  • Virtue of the Joust: You want another Virtue with 5 points taken off? Here ya go. Even still, a bit lackluster but not without its uses.
  • Virtue of Purity: Another 5pts taken off...I'm seeing a trend here. Knights now have a constant 5+ Ward Save. Grail Knights however now gain a constant 4+ Ward...for 15pts...certainly not something to put your nose up to (however, if you're only wanting a 4+ Ward, take Talisman of Protection instead. The Grail Vow itself is 35pts and this is 15 for 50pts in total for something you can take for 45pts. If your actually using the Grail Vow to take other things, go ahead and tag this on him).
  • Virtue of Discipline: Sorry, no points slash here. This Virtue had little use and it still does; some things never change I suppose. Generally stay away from this unless you know you're fighting against a horde-reliant army.
  • Virtue of Noble Disdain: Well...another Virtue with 5 points taken off won't hurt. Otherwise, the same as before but with this version of the Lady's Blessings, you have a nice little synergy going on. What it's meant to do, it does pretty well.
  • Virtue of Empathy: What? You expect a 5pt discount to a Virtue that's already dirt cheap? Get the hell out of here you piss poor peasant. Same as before except if you take this on your General, they use his Leadership in a large 18" bubble. If you're heavily peasant reliant, this is a near necessity. Otherwise, its pretty meh.

Overall changes, positive. Though your new Lore does make some things less viable (if your bring magic users to begin with, of course) and a lot of Virtues do have 5 points taken off, giving you a couple more points you can put towards something else.

Blessed Heirlooms of Bretonnia

  • Silver Lance of the Blessed: Same except for the following: This one forces successful enemy armour and Ward saves to be rerolled but if the wielder of this Lance flees for any reason, the Lady of the Lake bitch slaps him with D6 hits that are Flaming and Strength 4 with Ignores Armour Saves! Even more killy than before, but be sure you never ever put this guy in a combat you think he won't find victory in or he will pay for it...
  • Sword of Heroes: You get an extra tax of 5 points but you also get +2 Strength instead of +1 against foes with T5 or better. Synergized well with Virtue of Audacity, though this combo will have to be against a specific foe to be worth it; so avoid taking this in a general list.
  • Sword of the Lady's Champion: Hey, hey, hey! 10 points taken off and everything else stays the same, nice. Against high Toughness armies, this 30pt wrecker will ruin the days of Lizardmen/Ork/Ogre armies and allow you to cut down their dragons/monsters like anything else. Just be sure to take some good Armor or Talismans (I recommend taking this with Virtue of Purity as both are only 45pts, and you can still take more defensive gear).
  • Cuirass of Fortune: An extra 5 points are tacked onto this one. But, you also get to reroll To Hits of 1 and Armour Saves of 1 as well as the natural reroll To Wound rolls of 1. A good, general piece of equipment (excellent to take with Sword of the Lady's Champion and Virtue of Purity).
  • Sirienne's Locket: Twenty points reduced from the old, but still not all TOO useful. You still only have 3 wounds (2 if on your Paladin) and your still affected by Killing Blow and the like. Generally, not something I'd recommend but I can see this working in a specific strategy.
  • The Silver Mirror: An extra tax of 5 points...must have come from the Virtues. You use this on a spell that is specifically targeting the magic user wielding this and its unit. The enemy can stop the spell being bounced back to them by using Dispel Die or Power Die. This magical item can only be used once and can't be used on spells that have Irresistable. However, this baby does have its uses. Example: A Slann Mage Priest has already cast 3 spells for the turn and now he's attempting to use Fiery Convocation on your giant block of Men-At-Arms that have a Level 1 Damsel. He used the remainder of his die to sucessfully cast it, but your Damsel just so happens to have the Silver Mirror. The Slann has no more die to even try to dispel his own attack and his Temple Guard along with him are set afire AND he must use future Power Die later on just to dispel it. For spells that affect an entire unit and have a high casting value, this is the perfect counter. Just be sure to engage your Troll Face before hand for maximum levels of Lols and Rage.
  • Chalice of Malfleur: Exactly the same as before. Still pretty meh. If you do take this don't and I mean don't put this on your Level 4 Prophetess. No reason to risk your best magic user to get one Dispel Die.
  • The Ruby Goblet: 5 points shaved off this one, otherwise the same. But, with the new Blessings of the Lady leaving you more vulnerable in Close Combat, this is worth taking if you have plans on taking on big baddies.
  • Tress of Isoulde: Another item with 5 points reduced in price, otherwise the same. Combine this with Doom of Dol and it'll feel like your making the enemy roll for their Anal Circumference. 'Nough said.
  • Banner of Defense: Essentially gives whatever (knight) unit that has it, a 4+ Ward against ranged attacks (including magic missiles). So long as they having Blessings anyway. It's only 25 points...take it...take it and ruin the relationship you have with your best friend who just so happens to field an Artillery heavy Dwarf army...go ahead...

Special Characters

  • King Louen Leoncoeur First off, the guy is now 375 points. His previous, hefty as hell price of 728 left him all but ignored and for good reason. Characters at half of his score could still beat and kill him, making him impractical altogether and only worth taking in fluffy or fun games. With his price reduced by 353 almost half of the original, that in itself reawakens the posibilites to a worthwhile character. First off, his stats: The new Louen has Leadership 10 (kinda strange that a king imbued with mythical powers wouldn't already have that in the first place) with no other changes to base stats. Beaquis on the other hand loses 1 wound and attack.

Magical Items: The Lion Shield remains the same. The Sword of Couronne, instead of +1 Strength, receives re-rolls failed To Hit rolls. The Crown of Bretonnia gets a small change in that all friendly units within his Inspiring Presence are automatically Immune to Panic, not just to everyone within line of sight. However, he gets a completely new piece of armor called Armour of Brilliance; counts as Heavy Armour and all enemies suffer -1 penalty to all To Hit rolls (close and ranged both) this affects his mount as well. Honestly, that's some serious bling bling he's got going on. A sword that blinds people up close, a crown so shiny it inspires people and now armour that straight up blinds people when they look at him. Louen's officially the new pimp Lord of the Old Worlde.

Special Rules: The Lady's Champion rule remains the same except for different wording.

Now, this is where the two characters branch off coniderably. The old Louen also has The Puissant Virtue which allows him to reroll failed To Hit and To Wound rolls in challenges and counts as having a 5+ Ward. He also has the Beloved Son of Bretonnia which means if he's removed as a casualty, all Bretonnian units must take a panic test and then on become Stubborn. And finally, The Army of the King which removes the 0-1 restriction on Grail Knights and Men-at-Arms and Bowmen become special choices.

The new Louen only has The Virtue of the Lionheart. This lets him roll a D3 at the beginning of every close combat phase and the result is added to his Strength statistic for the phase. Now, the old Louen only has rerolls to hit in challenges whilst the new Louen has them constantly with his new pimped out sword that shares the same name. And while he won't be able to reroll failed To Wound rolls, he does have the D3 extra Strength when he fights as well as The Armour of Brilliance which helps considerably since he's riding a Monster. All in all, this new Louen is a major wakeup call. Hell, his cost being cut in half should be enough but now his survivability is aided by the fact he has a constant -1 To Hit on him at all times. Can he be competitive, I currently see no reason why he couldn't (though I still haven't had an opportunity to actually use him, mind you).

  • The Fey Enchatress Stat wise, the only change is Silvaron has been reduced to 1 Wound from 3. So be sure to keep her out of combat...I don't care how much you want to see a Unicorn impale an enemy don't taker her into combat. Magic wise, the newer one got kicked a bit. Instead of being able to use all 8 basic lores and having +2 to cast rolls for spells in the Lore of Life; she now gets to use the Life, Beasts, Heaven, Light or Lady lores whilst adding +2 to her cast rolls for Life and Lady lores. If you loving using the Enchantress because she's the only one that can use the Lore of Shadows or Death, you won't like this one. Otherwise it should be fine since the Lore of the Lady is very good for a Bret army (obviously).

Special Rules: The Supreme Aura of the Lady and Favour of the Fey remains the same. For the Blessings of the Lady, the older rules say you no longer have to pray to get the Blessings (something the new army already has without her) and any unit she's joined with gains a constant 5+ Ward Save. For the new rule, units that join her also get a 5+ Ward whilst Grail Knights get a constant 4+ Ward Save...you know what...take her into combat...with a unit of 9 or more Grail Knights. The older rules also have Spiteful Glance, only getting 1 more wound at most but not that bad.

Silvaron's Rules: The older one has a 5+ Ward, +2 Strength on the charge, Magical Resistance (2) and his attacks count as magical and cause fear. The new one only gets +2 Strength on the charge and Magical attacks. The advantages for the old one are kind of meh to begin with since you don't want her fighting either way.

Magical Items: The Chalice of Potions is changed only in that the lore used changes from Lore of Heavens to Lore of the Lady. Really a preference choice here. The Girdle of Gold remains the exact same as well as the Toad Familiar. Finally, the changes in prices in minimal; the new is 510 compared to 545. This price seems to adjust only for the less usefulness of Silvaron and the Enchantresses' fewer choices in Lore; the older one is a bit better for a bit more and the new is bit more focused for a bit less. Both are pretty good but if you plan to use the new Enchantress, use a Grail Knights unit as her bunker to keep her safe (and they get that juicy, constant 4+ Ward). Overall, not bad though still just a bit on the pricey side.

  • The Green Knight Both cost the same, 275pts. Stat wise: the new is slightly better with Ld 10 for the knight himself and an extra attack for the Shadow Steed. Other than that, he remains exactly the same (with a few rules worded slightly differently, but there's a big difference between 6th Edition wording and 8th Edition; they all still result in the same way) Is he worth it though? In smaller games he's really fun and its debatable if he's competitive in smaller games. In larger games, he's a fun character but not for larger competitive games.
External Links

The Project's website

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