Bretonnia - The Battle Strategies

[Godswildcard]

Ok. So:
Lord with combo
hero with combo
BSB
lvl 3/ 4 prophetess
dividing the 28 knights into 3 units of 9...
throw in another unit of 9 Errants
and another unit of 9 Grail (for the tougher nuts)
2 units of 15 bowmen w/ stakes? are stakes worth it? They look nice...
Horde of Men at arms with a damsel w/ beasts or life seems pretty nice.
3 Pegasus Knights
2 Trebs.

Headed in the right direction at least?

[Wesser]

Personally I've never run Prophtesses to great effect with brets. A lvl 2 with Feedback scroll usually does the trick for me.

Consider running the archers as one. This is not a given, but the bigger the unit gets the better stakes become. 40 archers with stakes deployed as horde fares way better in close combat than men-at-arms and are at least on par with pilgrims. Ofc they cant move with the stakes meaning they are vulnerable to the flanks.

And thats before stand and shoot. My 40 archer unit is certainly given respect on the battlefield. For the same reason men-at-arms seems like an even poorer choice...

But the list there aint too shabby, I think most will agree

[jindianajonz]

This appears to be the 8th edition Bret Tactica for all intents and purposes, even if it is almost a year old.

Is there any use for a Hippogryph in a Bret army? Or is it just expensive cannon bait?

[Mechanium]

Bait, I like bret lords, but going in on a horse is just fine, also they're pricy enough as is.

[Malorian]

With a ward and a lord that can only take one wound a round it's not so bad, but it certainly isn't a tournament winning build (but then again what is for brets).

If you like it then run it, but make sure to build him in a way to survive and have peg knights to rush the warmachines and even stand in front to hopefully 'catch' bouncing cannon balls.

[N0th1ng c4n b34t 3lv3s]

Armour of the Midsummer Sun looks kinda good on a Hippogryph Lord. Plus if the enemy's targetting your Hippogryph & not the lances with their shooting it's already worth its points imo.

[Wesser]

The Hippogryph has one redeeming feature.

It's relatively small feet...

Winning with brets is always about concentrating all your energies on breaking one key enemy unit. If you send 900 pts of knights to destroy a 300 pts unit you're generally doing it right.

A Hippogryph Lord can do significant damage compared to the space it takes, but:

- Only if it's infantry so it can Thunderstomp
- Only if you can ensure it dont get hit back, aka only ever charge flanks or if you can position it so it merely corners the enemy unit


Given those limitations its unwise to spend too many points on it.

Charmed Shield
Virtue of the Joust

Those usually do the trick just fine. Spending more on his kit won't make him a lot more survivable or killy, so if he dies then it means that I've thrown him away by not being more cowardly/clever with him.

The Charmed Shield protects against the rogue cannonball in turn 1. After that it's up to me to hide him well enough and choose his combats right.


So the hippogryph can be alright, but rly aint optimal....being probably overcosted by 40-ish points

[English 2000]

Hey guys, I've been thinking of digging my Brettonians out and playing a few games with them.

A lot of what I read centers around using 2 trebuchets. I only have one.

Personally I think an army that relies on scatter dice to make infantry blocks manageable seems to be starting from a disadvantaged position already. But it seems that 2 trebuchets are generally considered the only way to whittle infantry down to a size that knights can handle.

Can Brettonians still be competitive without the pair?

[triple_double_U]

I'm building a small 750pt force alongside wood elves in a 1500pt doubles tournament. The wood elves are being built around harrassment (wild riders/eagles) and we're relying on the Bretonnians to deliver some hard and fast charges. I'm actually quite surprised in what you can get for 750 points.

But my main question is:
What would be more useful
- the extra bodies and continuing Strength of 6 Questing Knights with a champ
or
- the extra WS, A, I, Save of 4 Grail Knights? (all that will fit in rare allowance)

I like grail knights but I'm worried the lack of bodies will hurt them

I am also questioning the use of trebuchets and whether a Knightly Bretonnian army can survive without them

[Lord Anathir]

I'd get the 2nd without question. One of the most cost effective template machines around...

[Artinam]

Yes Bretonnians are more then playable without 2 Trebuchets.
They are simply a very solid, cheap choice that messes with your opponents mind if your lucky. Note that they either helped me win the game, blow themselves up turn 1 or scatter off.

I had a 1900 tournament with just one treb and the rest knights and some bowmen. It played pretty well.
For your choice, just take a lot of the core Knights of the Realm. In such small point games you want numbers over elite units. Knights of the Realm are simply very good for what they do.

[Blinder]

Without trebs you are much more reliant on your ability to dictate combat, but they're by no means required... they're just an insanely good deal in a book full of not-so-good deals. Using the points that would have bought trebs to beef up your lances and maybe add some extra low-level magic support (Sure, magic isn't all that reliable even compared to stonethrowers, but some extra wildform running around can be quite nice) makes it a bit less of a problem that you probably will be hitting most things full-strength.

As for questing vs. grail... I'm going to agree with Artinam and say "Realm." Questing Knights are kind of a trap, in that anything you're going to want the GW strength for is probably going to flatten them outright, while Grails are going to soak up a ton of your points in a small force for not enough return- they're workable at higher points when the heavier hits can make up for their inefficiency, but at smaller sizes they're surprisingly unreliable.

[fishound7]

I don't know if this belongs here or not.

So if and when Bretonnia receives a new book do you think the knights will receive the devastating charge rule?
I really hope so.

[Lantern]

Sorry fish hound, it's not the pace to be asking, but I doubt they will get devastating charge. In my opinion, they don't need it.

[Danny76]

Hey guys,

I used to play Bretts in 5th Edition as a kid and have a load of old models that I've just got back out of storage.
I'd like to make a list out of this, ideally without buying anything extra. This would be for in my local gaming group which is very relaxed so I don't mind if it isn't too competitive.
There is a Lord on Hippogryph (which I know is susceptible to artillery but I play the Empire and Ogre armies here, no one else does, so I don't worry too much about it).

The list so far is as follows:

Bretonnian Lord on Hippogryph - 310
Paladin BSB - 81
Damsel, Level 2 - 105
12 Knights of the Realm - 288
27 Bowmen, Villein - 167
6 Knights Errant, FC - 120
9 Grail Knights - 252

This is 1,323 points, so I have just under 200 to spend on items for the characters and such, plus obviously I could drop some of the stuff if items on others are more important. I'm thinking wards and such and a magic weapon on the Lord too.

Any help would be appreciated, as I'm really not sure where to go with them now..
Thanks!

[Juicy21]

Hey guys,

I used to play Bretts in 5th Edition as a kid and have a load of old models that I've just got back out of storage.
I'd like to make a list out of this, ideally without buying anything extra. This would be for in my local gaming group which is very relaxed so I don't mind if it isn't too competitive.
There is a Lord on Hippogryph (which I know is susceptible to artillery but I play the Empire and Ogre armies here, no one else does, so I don't worry too much about it).

The list so far is as follows:

Bretonnian Lord on Hippogryph - 310
Paladin BSB - 81
Damsel, Level 2 - 105
12 Knights of the Realm - 288
27 Bowmen, Villein - 167
6 Knights Errant, FC - 120
9 Grail Knights - 252

This is 1,323 points, so I have just under 200 to spend on items for the characters and such, plus obviously I could drop some of the stuff if items on others are more important. I'm thinking wards and such and a magic weapon on the Lord too.

Any help would be appreciated, as I'm really not sure where to go with them now..
Thanks!

9 grailknights are 342 points without the banner and musician.. 372 with.
you could give lessen your realms and take more Errants. Or get a unit yeomen. there pretty nice to have

[Danny76]

Oh ok, maybe I was looking in the older book..? Or miscalculated =P
More Errant could work. Could remove the heads of some of the Realms and put some Empire heads on to give a similar look..
Is it doable without the Yeoman do you think?
What should I add to the characters if so?
Anything I should add to the Hippogryph guy to make him better?