|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:30:46 GMT
This thread will be a compilation of several guides created by/from the below players/sources. Most views expressed are theirs and I have attempted to blend them into a coherent document and added a few thoughts where I thought pertinent. My recent experience with Bret’s is very limited so feel free to point out any issues/mistakes you come across. After the first post, I won't attribute sections to individual creators. The below list has links to the individual posts in the thread List of Posts Post 1 - Recognition of contributors, list of posts and introduction to the guide and Bretonnia Post 2 - Army Special RulesPost 3 - Bretonnian Characters (Special, Lord and Heroes) Post 4 - Tactica on CharactersPost 5 - Core ChoicesPost 6 - Special ChoicesPost 7 - Rare ChoicesPost 8 - Knightly Virtues and Magic ItemsPost 9 - Army Construction and DeploymentPost 10 - Opening TacticsPost 11 - Midgame TacticsPost 12 - Endgame TacticsPost 13 - Sneaky Tricks and TacticsPost 14 - Buying your armyPost 15 - Greg's Bretonnian OverviewPost 16 - Luke B's Bretonnian ReviewSaint of Virtue on the Round Table www.roundtable-bretonnia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=710&Itemid=26&limit=1&limitstart=0 Jen A (aka The Dice Bag Lady) on Bell of Lost Souls www.belloflostsouls.net/2014/10/wfb-lets-talk-bretonnia-part-1.htmlAzeebo on Miniwargaming www.miniwargaming.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=101475 14dChan Review (multiple contributors) 1d4chan.org/wiki/Warhammer/Tactics/8th_Edition/Bretonniagregwarhamsters (from this forum) eefl.freeforums.net/thread/1029/bretonnia-overviewIntroduction to the guide by Saint of VirtueThis is a guide to help people get more from their armies. I wrote this to help people get a quick overview of how to play a better game by giving some tactics and discussing how each of the phases of the game should be played. It is my hope that this helps new players get their footing in the game and hopefully become a better player capable of competing even at a tournament levels. I also hope that it can serve as a bit of a reminder to old veterans to help raise their level of gameplay and show that things can be very deep and complicated. What this is not intended to do is to be an absolute word on all things Bretonnia. This is to get your foot in the door and give you a solid base on how to play the game. It is YOUR job to take the army and make it your own. Do not let this trap you into just playing what I recommend. Take some tips but develop your own tactics. Play your game, not mine. Lastly... Have fun! We are playing a GAME. Games are supposed to be FUN! Why Play Bretonnian - Jen A Bretonnians are a tactically unique army with impressive models, interesting fluff and a fun playstyle. They currently have the most workable cavalry in the game but their units tend to run either overpriced (Knights) or under powered (Peasants). Still they're not as under-powered as some armies and if you can get them to work they will run roughshod over the competition: the army is highly mobile, most units have excellent armour and a ward save, characters are cheap and the magic items can make characters or units really, really good at something. The army itself has evolved over the years from a rather straightforward charge-focused army to a combined arms force with cheap but effective shooting to wither down the enemy, knights who can outlast weaker infantry but have a potent enough charge to destroy smaller elite units when working together, as well as characters and specialized units to deal with the threats the knights cannot easily handle. Finally, they are regular humans who discard the technology of the empire and instead fight with faith and chivalry. And that is pretty badass. General OpinionsI don’t know about most areas, but I do know how people here feel and the press about using Brets is not usually positive. Many people dismiss them out of hand, and I’m told it is for one of several reasons: “They’re outdated”, many of the models are metal and therefore expensive, and they are not competitive. I am here today to tell you differently. You’re Wrong: Here’s Why
Unlike most armies you cannot simply read the Bretonia book and sit down to play it and expect to smash face and win. It just doesn’t work that way. Bretonians can smash face with the right tactical decisions–as has been proven by 2014 Gottacon winner Kasra, and UK Bretonnian player Tom Hales. Kas and Tom have done it by genuinely winning events with their Bretonnians. Top tier players in our local meta have read the book, fiddled with the army lists and think that just because a list looks good on paper that it will work on the table. So I lent them my army. They took my army list, Kas’ list, even Tom’s list and lost because they forgot that the lance swings so wide, that the casters have special places in the units and assumed that knights were the only way to build an army.They got held up by their own units, terrain and even enemy units because they failed to realize just how different Bretonnians are from Empire or other knight heavy lists. If you’re going to play Bretonnians you can’t forget those things, they are far too important. If Kas and Tom can win respected tournaments with them (and Tom did it regularly year after year after year) then so can other people. Just remember that you’re not going to do it on the first try. Let’s talk about the Existing Book
Written in 2003, the current Bretonnia Army Book is the oldest in Warhammer. The units, characters and special characters were thought to be amazing and caught the attention of every fan of King Arthur that plays Warhammer. The parallels to history and to the ideal world of Arthur Pendragon were part of what drew me to the Brets myself. I like how Wikipedia describes it: Bretonnia is a throwback feudal nation that relies on its haughty knights, heraldry, and their mysterious patron for military strength. It is similar to the French armies before the Hundred Years’ War, combined with a heavy dose of Arthurian Myth.
Bretonnian armies rely on powerful charges from their many heavily armed and armored knights in order to achieve victory. Bretonnian knights are arguably the best heavy cavalry in the game, along with being the most varied. Bretonnian armies can also contain cheap and expendable units of unskilled peasants to serve as fodder.[1]
Barring the reference to the French, because that held no interest to me whatsoever (and still doesn’t) I would agree that this is a pretty accurate description of what the Brets are. And that statement that Bret knights are the best cavalry in the game…yes I would certainly agree with that. In recent gaming I have been using my Empire army…do you know what I missed most? My knights. Knights from other armies my have 1+ Armor Saves and their stats might be different, but in the end (I hate to say it) the Lady protects and my variable Ward Save and my Lance formation are two things I have learned I just can’t give up on my knights.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:31:01 GMT
POST 2 - Army wide Spcial Rules
The Lance Formation
The Lance Formation is what makes Bretonnia so iconic. No other fantasy army has a rule that is so central to the army, and so visible. You could use alternative models for your Bretonnia army, and the moment you lay down your knights 3 wide, everyone will know what army you play, and will fear the charges that are to follow.
How I LOVE Lance formation…and how I hate it when people play it wrong and how I feel bad when I face someone who does not understand the benefits of the Lance formation.
First off to explain what it is:
The Lance formation gives Bretonnian knights the opportunity to deploy in ranks of 3. Why on earth would someone want to do that? How good of you to ask, here’s why:
• every 3 knights counts as a full rank (15 knights is 5 ranks for steadfast instead of the 3 other armies get)
• Characters must be placed in the front rank, displacing unit champions, musicians and standard bearers (thus protecting the unit itself from being attacked from frontal assaults)–musicians and standards function as normal even if they are not in the front rank
• Great protection for the casters! — Damsel or Prophetess may be placed in the center of the second rank instead of in the front (if multiple casters in one unit they go in the center of the third rank and so on)–pay attention though because if her rank falls below 3 models she must move to the front
On the turn the Lance formation charges:
…all models in the front rank fight as normal. In addition to this, every Knight model in the flanks of the unit is allows to fight as long as they are directly behind a model in the front rank which is engaged in close combat (See Diagram 1 on page 40 of the army book)
Translation: if a Bretonnian knight charges all the knights on the flanks get to attack at full not as if they are supporting attacks.
• enemies can only attack models in the first rank but all the knights in the outside ranks get to attack
• Champions and Characters in second or third rank get to “attack as normal” meaning at full attack value
• only the front rank can issue or accept challenges
Though I love lance formation, Bret players everywhere tend to forget it is an option not a mandatory formation. If you would rather rank up the way other armies do then by all means go for it!
Blessing of the Lady
Read page 44/45 of the Bretonnian book for the full run down of the fluff but the Lady is paramount to Bretonnian religion and any knight worth his salt worships the Lady, trusts in the Lady and believes in the Lady and therefore has the option of Praying to the Lady before battle.
There is a lot of confusion about the Blessing so let’s take a minute:
• You pray before the battle begins but after both players have deployed their armies –you have no idea how many people think that praying is done in place of the Brets first turn.
• If they Pray a Bret’s opponent chooses whether or not to take first turn
• The blessing affects units and characters that have the Knight’s, Questing or Grail Vow, as well as Damsels and Prophetess
• The blessing also affects the mount (crucial when you think about taking a Hippogryph or Royal Pegasus)
• Blessing is a 6+ Ward Save against any attacks and changes to a 5+ Ward Save against attacks of S5+
And YES you can definitely lose the Blessing:
• if the unit or character flees
• if a challenge could have been accepted and was refused the entire unit and all characters in that unit lose their Blessing
There are days where fleeing or turning down a challenge make the best sense, I used to have such a hard time with the idea because that 6/5+ Ward Save has saved me so many time, but I have been learning that sometimes it is worth it to drop it in order to save your own hide!
The Duty’s and Vows
Chivalry demands that a Knight take his/her Duty and Vow very seriously. To that end this book goes over the details of those Duty’s and Vows that are granted each level of Knighthood.
The Peasant’s Duty: Models with the Peasant’s Duty may use the Leadership of any non-fleeing Knight within 6″ of them. Unit Standards in units with the Peasant’s Duty do not confer any additional Victory Points if they are captured.
The Knight’s Vow: Knights with the Knight’s Vow may ignore panic caused by friendly units and models with the Peasant’s duty.
The Questing Vow: Knights with the Questing Vow may ignore panic caused by friendly units and models with the Peasant’s Duty, may re-roll any failed fear or terror tests (the errata changed this, as it was previously any psychology tests), and cannot be joined by characters with the Knight’s Vow. Characters with the Questing Vow cannot use a mundane or magical lance.
The Grail Vow: Any model with the Grail Vow always starts the game with the Blessing of the Lady, regardless of whether or not the Bretonnian army prays. All attacks made by models with the Grail Vow count as magical, though this does not affect the Knight’s mount.
As you can probably guess these add their own flavor and tactics to a game.
NOTE: An often forgotten fact is that while a Character with the Grail Vow may be put in a unit of Realm Knights, a Character with the Knight’s Vow may not be put in a unit of Questing or Grail knights, etc.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:31:15 GMT
POST 3 - Bretonnian Characters
Named Characters
The Green Knight - 275pts
An ethereal unit with M8, decently killy for price and with the ability to teleport. 2+ armour and the ward means he's reasonably tough against magic attacks too. Can lose wounds via combat resolution but he can also return each time (House rule: if you don't resurrect him with the immortal words "tis but a scratch" he is immediately removed from play). So why isn't he a no brainer? The issue with him is that he excels at killing things Bretonnia can usually handle well (cavalry and monsters, basically: things without static combat resolution) but sucks at killing the things that usually give you trouble (massed infantry, though his Terror may help). He has his niche, but he shouldn't be a first pick. It is worth noting that he may have some use as a warmachine hunter also if there is a wizard skulking around he can pop out of the nearest puddle murder them and then dash off into the nearest hedge.
The Fay Enchantress - 545pts
She has an incredibly high price of entry and given that one of the major advantages of a Prophetess is they're cheap, it's not usually worth it. On the other hand: +2 to cast Lore of Life is a great bonus, she grants 1 extra power and dispel dice every magic phase, she drops a random Lore of Heavens spell for free every turn and has a multitude of special abilities (fear, automatic blessing for your army,...). If you can pay for her unreasonable price of entry at say, 3000 points and up, she could easily be worthwhile. Not a great choice however.
King Louen Leoncoeur - 728pts
Costs well over 700 points when you put him on his hippogryph Beaquis. For all his cost, he doesn't do enough, especially against troops that have a decent leadership. He also does silly things to the rest of your army and usually not things you want to happen (eg. the entire army takes a panic test when Louen dies). Plus, for all of his cost, he'll get knocked out by someone who costs about 2/3rds of what he does. He may be fun to field against another hugely overpriced named general, but in terms of winning a battle: skip him.
Generic Characters
Bretonnian Lord - 110pts
We start our unit guide with the Noble, Mighty and Virtuous Bretonnian Lord. This man comes barring an impressive stat line, a low cost and a plethora of uses. Between mundane items, magic items and virtues, your humble Lord can be kitted out to deal with Monstrous Twin-Headed Dragons, endless hordes of vermin and even the mightiest Heroes the world has to offer. Truly, these men need no introductions...BUT I GAVE THEM ONE ANYWAY!
Pros
• Impressive Statline • Built in Ward Save • Naturally Strong and Tough • Has access to both regular, Monstrous and Monster mounts • High Leadership • Cheap • Lots of roles • Can remove the 0-1 limit on Pegasus Knights
Cons
• Not as strong as a Chaos Champion, tough as an Orc or fast and skilled as an Elf...aka he is only Human • His mount is mandatory, yet must be purchased at addition cost • Some equipment cannot be purchased without certain Vows • May prevent proper Magic use due to sharing a the Slot • His points cost can quickly Sky-Rocket • His death is major blow to your efforts on multiple fronts, making it somewhat difficult to risk his life to fulfill his role on the battlefield
Alternative View
Basic combat Lord, nothing special. Magic equipment and Vows will be discussed elsewhere, but just be aware that any Lord or Hero you take should be kitted out for bear, as he can't refuse challenges without losing the Blessing of the Lady. If your enemy is aware of it he can and will use it to kick your Lord's head in, so he needs to be ready to resist challengers. This guy's basic function is to provide a LD 10 leadership bubble (give his unit the banner of discipline), so he has to have good survivability. After that, there are many options available to him, but favour character (and monster) killing potential over rank and file murdering, because the only other unit capable of damaging combat heroes/lords consistently is one of Questing Knights, and they are too expensive to lose against things that outright ignore their armour.
Mundane Equipment
Lance - 6pts
The staple of any Knight is the Lance. The +2 Strength is a massive boost, bringing your humble Lord to an impressive Strength 6. The effect is lost after the first round of combat however, and will not take effect if you do not charge.
Morning Star - 3pts
Another classic item, this also gives your character +1 Strength, however it does not require the charge for it to take effect and still only lasts one round. It is cheaper, but not as potent.
Great Weapon - 6pts
Great Weapons seem like the best option at first, as they give you a constant +2 Strength, however the drawbacks are massive. First and foremost, is the cost. You must purchase the Questing Vow if you want to wield such as weapon, and this elevates the cost of the weapon to almost 20 points. It also reduces your initiative to 1, as opposed to 6 and finally, you cannot use a shield reducing your odds of survival considerably.
Shield - 3pts
Naturally the shield is a must have choice if you’re are bringing a Lord, as the +1 to your armour save is invaluable.
Barded Warhorse - 21pts
This is a compulsory upgrade unless you are riding one of two monsters. The benefits are +2 to your armour save, and since you are riding a Purebred Warhorse, you do not get the penalty to movement...brilliant. It may be compulsory, but it is still pretty damn good.
Royal Pegasus - 50pts
The Royal Pegasus can be a great addition to your Lord as it not only increases his combat prowess, but also maximises his movement value, combat prowess and even allows you to bring more than one unit of Pegasus Knights. It is also rather cheap. The drawbacks are a reduced armour save compared to a Horse and the fact he now suffers the same issue as any character on a monstrous mount, they are target numero uno for every man and his pet cannon
Hippogryph - 200pts
This mighty beast is strong, tough and very expensive, almost the same cost as the lord himself. Unfortunately, it is far too expensive to be run effectively in most cases, being 4x more than a Pegasus, and certainly not 4x more powerful...not even close in fact. . It can do alright against basic units, but so could a bodyguard unit of Knights of the Realm that cost about the same. Nevermind that your EXTREMELY expensive Lord now has a target on his head the size of a 'worth 500 or so victory points' sign and that almost any other monstrous mount, from Manticores on up, will rip your Hippogryph's head off. Skip it. Except if you're playing just for fun. Then grab it.
A note on monstrous mounts: Remember that they get the blessing of the lady as long as the rider has it too. While this doesn't make them any more decent in melee combat, if you want to troll your trigger happy dwarf/empire opponent, get a couple of bowmen, place them in front of the lord, and get him the insignia of the quest. Then watch him scream as two cannon balls are stopped by the fences and the third one triggers insignia of the quest. Bonus points if the ward saves the monster too. Again it isn't a competitive choice, but it's worth doing at least once for the amount of miniatures that will get thrown in your direction.
Builds
These are the 4 builds i have used in the past and have worked wonders. These are not the ONLY builds available, but are solid starter builds that can be used in friendly and competitive matches in equal measure.
Speed Bump
Sirenne's Locket Crown of Command Gauntlet of the Duel Shield Morning Star Barded Bretonnian Warhorse
This is one of my favorite builds. He is somewhat cheap and can hold units in place for a long time thanks to his high Armour save, ward save, stubborn, the ability to challenge a champion to stay protected as long as possible and the fact he can never lose more than 1 wound a turn. Very hard to shift once he has hit.
All Comers Generic Lord
Virtue of heroism Sword of swift slaying Gromril Great Helm Potion of Foolhardiness Barded Bretonnian Warhorse
This guy can handle himself in any situation. He has Heroic Killing Blow, letting him kill monsters, monstrous infantry etc. with ease, a 1+ re-rollable armour save, always strikes first at Initiative 6 and an additional attack once per game when charging. He can mow down characters, monsters, infantry and cavalry whilst keeping your army in line and staying alive.
Assassin/Monster Hunter
Sword of Strife Virtue of Heroism Charmed Shield The Other Tricksters Shard Royal Pegasus
This guy is clever, in that he is good at killing characters and monsters in equal measure. Dont you HATE 3++ saved enemies, or those annoying Hydras running around? Well not anymore! This guy is killing blowing you right in the face, and forcing you to reroll those ward saves...brilliant! To keep him fighting fit, you are going to need some cunning to avoid cannons. To do this, a simple investment in Archers will suffice as their stakes will deflect the first cannon coming your way. Your charmed shield will stop the second, and before the 3rd, well you’re in combat. Simple, and effective.
Infantry Slayer
Virtue of Knightly Temperament Cuirass of Fortune Potion of Foolhardiness Lance Shield Barded Warhorse
This guy is somewhat of a beast. With 4 attacks basic, +1 for his potion he is dealing some heavy damage when he charges. Then, his Virtue kicks in, which for every wound (before saves are made) you gain another attack! Since he is S6, he is wounding nearly everything on a 2+, and just in case he rolls some 1's, your armour lets you re-roll. The potential for 10 attacks on the charge is one that cannot be underestimated and is useful not just on a horse, as it can be applied to any of his mounts with great effect. He also has 35 points of magic items available to spend on anything (other than magic weapons) giving him some flexibility.
Conclusion
The Bretonnian Lord is a great character, he can be specialised to an extreme degree, or be kept as an all comer and still perform well. He is well worth the investment.
------------------------------
Prophetess of the Lady - 190pts
Like most armies, we have access to a Level 4 wizard. This is it. She has access to 3 potent lores, comes with magic resistance and is relatively cheap to boot. She is a must have in any Bretonnian List.
Pros
• Low cost • Level 3-4 Wizard • Magic Resistance • Can be hidden when placed in the Lance Formation • The Lores of Heavens, Beasts and Life are all powerful additions to your army • Can be squeezed into a 1000 point list fairly easily • Decent Leadership • Best defense against enemy magic • She can win you games with well-timed use of her spells
Cons
• Even for a wizard, her stat line is terrible • Limited selection of Lores • Unless placed in a Lance, she is vulnerable. • When placed in a lance, she is a ticking time bomb • The Winds of Magic are fickle, making her somewhat unreliable
Alternative View
Prophetesses are your basic Lord level caster so all the usual rules apply: Always tick up to Level 4, protect her in a unit, usual shit. What's important to understand is that you are not, repeat NOT, High Elves, Tzeentch Chaos, Vampire Counts, etc. You can mount a solid defense and do okay on your own casting, but don't try to out-magic the big guys. Still, this gal's cheap and effective for her cost. They get the ward save from Blessing of the Lady just like your knights, plus an additional magic resistance(2). Lore of Life is a favorite, though Lore of Beasts can be used to create some nasty tricks if you build your army appropriately.
Mundane Equipment
Warhorse - 15pts
The Prophetess is too expensive to leave in the hands of our unreliable foot troops, therefore her place is with Knights. When mounted, and in a Lance Formation she is not placed in the Front rank, but can still cast spells as if she has full visibility. The downside is that a miscast can wipe out your expensive knights, so you must use caution.
Barding - 6pts
This is an expensive upgrade, and one that is simply not needed. The Lance will protect you better than any armour upgrade, so this is just a waste.
Royal Pegasus - 50pts
Flying wizards are popular nowadays, especially in armies like Dark Elves where there aggressive magic can be used to full effect. The Prophetess is not really capable of performing in such a manner, therefore her uses are limited to supporting your army from a fast moving mount. This is very useful, however the draw backs are the same as the Bretonnian Lord, the difference however is she does not have impenetrable armour to defend her making her an easy target.
Magic Lores
Lore of Beasts
This is a powerful lore to bring to battle as its Signature Spell is one of the best in the game. The ability to raise the combat prowess of your units is a great boon, but outside of this one spell, the lore has very little that greatly benefits the Bretonnian cause. Whilst you can massively increase the power of your characters, this is not a certainty. A lore much better suited to a lower level wizard.
Lore of Life
This is an amazingly powerful lore, that unlike the lore of beasts, can be used on Wizards of all levels. The trump card for the lore of Life however, is its power to ignore miscasts. This keeps your lance safe from explosions, which is always a good thing. Furthermore, increasing the toughness of your expensive units to unparalled levels combined with the high armour value makes your troops very hard to shift. Finally, being able to raise your knights from the dead is almost game breaking in and of itself.
Lore of Heavens
Whilst i love the Lore of Life, I often find myself drawn to the often overlooked Lore of Heavens. Beasts is pure aggression, Life is pure defense and Heavens sits perfectly between them providing both. With spells like Harmonic Convergence to remove rubber lancing from multiple units and Wind Blast to ensure you charge your enemy combined with the much feared Comet of Cassandora and 2 powerful magic missiles, you have a lore that can handle any situation. On a side note, Bretonnian Knights have a 2+ armour save, Harmonic Convergence lets you re-roll 1's for armour save, so long as you are fighting weaker foes...which is what causes this army the most grief, you essentially get an army wide re-rollable save! Brilliant!
Builds
There are no builds for a prophetess, you simply give her the magic items you feel will benefit your cause from the Arcane sections. There are no wrong answers in this case, since the real decider is the Lore you pick. Consider giving her the crown of command, as that will free up points for your lord to kit himself for bear and due to her position in the unit, it will make removing stubborn almost impossible!
Conclusion
Whilst the Bretonnian Lord is a powerful choice, he pales in comparison to the Prophetess. She is an absolute must have in any army of almost any size.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hero Choices
Paladin - 60pts
You are required to have at least one Paladin to act as your BSB. Apart from that, they're a solid combat Hero but be careful taking too many for unit babysitting. Remember, like the Bretonnian Lord, if they ever refuse a Challenge, the ENTIRE UNIT, ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHERS IN THE COMBAT, loses Blessing of the Lady, so you need to kit them out for combat, because with their basic statline, a lot of Heroes can kick their skull in (Empire, Beastmen, Skaven and Wood Elves are pretty much the only ones you don't have to worry about, and even Beastmen and Skaven can be threats under the right circumstances). Remember that with the lance, most units are forced to allocate at least two attacks to your paladin: this is usually to your advantage.
Pros
• Very cheap • Impressive stat-line • High leadership • Built in Ward Save • Hard to kill thanks to naturally high armour • Can be used to fill any gap in your roster • Can instantly kill dragons, and slaughter infantry in equal measure • BSB upgrade is Free
Cons
• Mandatory BSB makes him a bit of a points sink in low point games • If a BSB, he cannot take a mundane shield making him slightly squishy • It is easy to go overboard and take too many paladins, possibly damaging your war effort • Still just a human • Mount is NOT free, and as always, mandatory
Mundane Equipment
Lance - 4pts
The staple of any Knight is the Lance. The +2 Strength is a massive boost, bringing your humble paladin to an impressive Strength 6. The effect is lost after the first round of combat however, and will not take effect if you do not charge.
Morning Star - 2pts
Another classic item, this also gives your character +1 Strength, however it does not require the charge for it to take effect and still only lasts one round. It is cheaper, but not as potent.
Great Weapon - 4pts
Great Weapons seem like the best option at first, as they give you a constant +2 Strength, however the drawbacks are massive. First and foremost, is the cost. You must purchase the Questing Vow if you want to wield such as weapon, and this elevates the cost of the weapon to almost 20 points. It also reduces your initiative to 1, as opposed to 6 and finally, you cannot use a shield reducing your odds of survival considerably.
Shield - 2pts
Naturally, the shield is a must have choice if you’re are bringing a paladin as the +1 to your armour save is invaluable. Your BSB cannot take a mundane shield however!
Barded Warhorse - 14pts
This is a compulsory upgrade unless you are riding a Pegasus. The benefits are +2 to your armour save, and since you are riding a Purebred Warhorse, you do not get the penalty to movement...brilliant. It may be compulsory, but it is still pretty damn good.
Royal Pegasus - 50pts
The Royal Pegasus is actually a great choice for your Paladin. There are two reasons for taking a pegasus (and always on a paladin, never a lord). The most obvious one is to give him a bit more of a punch: the horse has 2 S4 attacks and Stomp (the lower armour, 3+ instead of 2+, is mostly compensated by 3W instead of 2W, especially with lore of life). The other is to get yourself a wizard killer: a paladin on a pegasus, equiped with the gauntlet of the duel, can fly over the enemy, strike a mage's bodyguard and then force said hapless mage into a challenge (after killing the unit champion). He will then either flee combat or die, but it will be worth it for you either way, since dominating the magic phases is so important. And don't let your opponent trick you: even if you aren't in base contact with the mage directly, he will be forced to accept the challenge so long as he is in the unit in combat with the paladin.The downside of course, is that a Paladin cannot take as many fancy items for protection, the plus side is a much more expendable speed bump and monster hunter.
Builds
Here are 7 builds, all of which are effective in their roles. As always, these are just a selection of potential builds, and can be expanded to better suit your army.
Speed Bump #1
Crown of Command Enchanted Shield Morning Star Royal Pegasus
This guy comes with 3 wounds, 2+ armour save and stubborn. Being so fast, he can hit a unit head on and likely hold them in place for a long time. He is also pretty cheap, making him super expendable.
Battle Standard Bearer #1
Battle Standard Bearer Warbanner Virtue of Duty Barded Warhorse
This is a combat res MONSTER since he is generating +3 per turn until he dies. Having a lance lets him aid his fellow knights in combat, but he cannot have a mundane shield so only has a 3+ armour save making him quite squishy.
Battle Standard Bearer #2
Battle Standard Bearer Enchanted Shield Virtue of Duty Barded Warhorse
Whilst a BSB cannot take a mundane shield, he can still take a magic shield. As a result, this guy packs a mighty 1+ save, and still generates +2 combat res a turn. Since he will be in with a unit of knights, who can take magic banners anyway you can still gain the Warbanner from his unit making this guy the best option for a BSB in my opinion. You also have points remaining to add in a magic sword like the Sword of Might for the additional strength, or a super cheap sword to tackle things like Ethereal units..my personal sword of choice is the Shrieking Blade.
Monster Hunter #1
Lance Enchanted Shield Virtue of Heroism Royal Pegasus
Another strong, cheap and expendable character. With 3 attacks inflicting Heroic Killing blow, he is not as impressive as the lord variant but significantly cheaper. He is coming with a 2+ armour save, and being naturally strong and tough can be used to nail monsters, but also to aid in infantry combat where needed.
Monster Hunter #2
Lance Shield Dragon Helm Virtue of Heroism Barded Warhorse
This guy is best suited in a unit of cheap, expendable Knight Errant usually with the Banner of Eternal Flame for monster hunting. This guy not only helps keep their impetuous in check, but also has the added benefit of being super tough, and still retaining his monster slaying potential. A match made in heaven.
Line Breaker
Virtue of Knightly Temper Potion of Foolhardiness Lance Shield Barded Warhorse/Royal Pegasus
This is a weaker version of the Lord Infantry Killer, however due to lower points cost he can be considered more desirable...but a lot less reliable. Coming in with a maximum of 8 attacks before his mount, he can quickly turn the tide of a battle. When mounted on a Pegasus he becomes even deadlier, but his cost does increase somewhat, and his defenses drop. If points are low, and you can fit in the lord version, this guy will perform admirably.
Conclusion
I love the Paladin. With his endless combinations and low point cost makes him the envy of the old world. Few armies can match the sheer awesomeness of a well equipped paladin...be wary however! You do not want to over spend on heroes, as this can quickly lead to your demise.
------------------------------
Damsel of the Lady - 70pts
Damsels are the lower level wizards of the Bretonnian army, as a result you don’t expect much from them. Unlike a level 4, which you expect to aid your entire army, a level 1 or 2 is more about supporting a small area of the battlefield. Cheap and good for beefing up the LD of your background Peasants. Benefit the most from Lore of Beasts, always tick up to Level 2. They also get the ward save from Blessing of the Lady, along with magic resistance(1) that can't be lost. Scroll caddying and item bearers are fine. As with above, don't get drawn into a big magic duel with any of the magic-heavy armies, they can and will outcast you. But Damsels are still a damn (HAH) fine choice. While you usually want them in a lance of knights for support, they can be placed in a unit of Men at Arms or even Bowmen if you intend to roll power dice left and right for miscast damage control (M@A are preferred and normally with the Prayer Icon to give them a ward save). Another note: it's usually a good policy to have the damsel take the same lore as the prophetess and roll for spells first, so you have the spells you need on the prophetess (mainly throne of vines if you pick life).
Pros
• Surprisingly cheap coming in at 115 points at level 2 • Access to 2 potent lores of magic • Perfect for carrying the cheap, but still important Arcane Items such as Dispel Scrolls • Average leadership is still better than our peasantry • Magic Resistance as standard
Cons
• Pathetic statline • Only Leadership 7 which makes her a terrible general in lower points games • No access to the Lore of Heavens • Level 2 makes it less likely to roll good spells, making her a risky investment
Mundane Equipment
Warhorse - 10pts
A Damsel on horse is not a bad choice, however it is not what I would call a must have upgrade. I find having them hanging around units of Men-at-arms as opposed to knights. That being said, she gains significantly more protection in a Knight Lance.
Barding - 4pts
This is an expensive upgrade, and one that is simply not needed. The Lance will protect you better than any armour upgrade, so this is just a waste.
Magic Lores
Lore of Beasts
Whilst i would argue the Lore of Beasts is the weakest lore for a prophetess, it is easily the most reliable and game changing when used on a Damsel. The signature spell alone can make or break a combat, and has enough range to aid units up to 2ft away. If you are a level 2, then you have a mixed bag for your second spell, however there is always that chance for Pans or Savage to pop up, which will cause some serious havoc.
Lore of Life
I am a big fan of the Lore of Life, but I am not convinced it is a lore worth investing in with a Damsel. With only 2 spells, the sig being a bit crap and the odds of getting the combo of spells you REALLY want being so low, it is just inferior to the Lore of Beasts in this case. The lore remains strong thanks to its lore attribute and the strength of the spells on offer, but I would certainly take Beasts over it.
Builds
Scroll Caddy
Dispel Scroll Level 1-2
The scroll caddy is your basic dispel scroll carrying low level wizard. They are insanely common, and can save your rear from a difficult magic phase.
Giver of the Blessing
Prayer Icon of Quenelles Level 1-2
This is my favorite build, and is a common sight in many Bretonnian lists as it can massively increase the power of your Men-at-arms. Combined with something like Wyssans Wild Form, and you turn a massive pants unit, into a unit that can do some serious damage and take it in equal measure.
Conclusion
You are going to want at least one Damsel in any list, and that Damsel should be packing the Prayer Icon every time. Whilst not as powerful as a Level 4, they can still hold their own and fill positions a level 4 could not effectively do. I would maybe push to 2 Damsels in a larger army, however more than that maybe a bit overkill.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:31:27 GMT
POST 4 - Tactica Characters.
The first thing to talk about is how to prepare the character. Looking at combat characters first. The first thing you need to ask yourself "Where do I want this guy to go?" Then laugh and ask yourself "What do I NEED him to do?" This highly depends on where he is being placed. Most often I find that he is either in KOTR or KE. Often what is needed is the ability to cover for the core knight’s weakness. What is their weakness? Subsequent rounds of combat against well armored opponents. Because of this I find the best way to equip the character is with strength boosting items like: Sword of might, Ogre blade and the Birthsword of Carcassone. All are a reasonable point cost for at least a sustained Strength of 5.
Just by adding a simple character you've turned a prolonged fight that would likely go against you to one that is very winnable. The character will contribute about 2 kills to the combat per turn, this helps grind down the enemy as well. It adds the killiness of a reasonable combat unit to the good armor of our knights to create a lethal combination. We don't lose many models due to the great saves and we are killing a few back. By this simple addition more tactics are revealed to us as well. Now when we get stuck in it isn't just to stay there till the rest of the army wipes up it's to win it. 25 man blocks are valid targets again. The charge will hurt and then the character will drain them to nothing.
Against enemy characters the boosted strength is also quite handy. Low armor saves are popular these days and anything to reduce it is handy. However if you are worried that you may face a character you must see to your own defenses. Dragon helm, and the enchanted shield are both cheap items to give you a 1+ save. A save of that caliber is hard to shift not to mention the ward save on top of it. If you feel the need go with the gromril great helm for the same save but now it is re-rollable. You could also take the Dawnstone for a similar effect. However the gromril ends up being cheaper by 5 points. So if you have two characters you can give them both that awesome save.
If the character is going to join some Questing Knights then he doesn't need to worry about covering for high strength attacks. Instead he is either worried about providing the high initiative to kill before getting struck or about providing some horde killing to the unit. Either way, boosted strength doesn't hurt and neither does defense. The only difference here is I would consider taking things that grant extra attacks instead of just strength. Sword of Battle, Sword of Strife and even the virtue of the ideal are good choices. (Did you know with a lord we can get 8 attacks at WS8, I7, S4, with the right gear?)
The tricky part is balancing survival with damage. Without damage there really isn't a point to taking them, without defense they are free points. You also want to make sure that they have defense in the way of units so I try to limit myself to at most one character per unit. If you have more than one in the unit then it is just a huge bullseye and may well spell the end of the unit. Keep your army points spread out so the loss doesn't hurt as much.
The epitome of damage vs. survival is the magic users. Our damsels are very well protected in our knight units but it brings a lot of risk to the knights riding with her. For her it is survival of those around her. If placed in peasants then killing them hurts less but they are far more exposed. For them it depends on what you wish for them to do. If I intend to spam Dwellers Below with max dice then damsel with M@A it is! If she is there for support spells then in the knights she goes.
I personally like to field two. One level 4 and one level 2. Casting from the same lore. This helps me choose where my spells are going and basically guarantees that I have the spells that I want somewhere on the field. It also give me variety so I can choose whether to support or go for damage. When using the lore of life and in a unit of peasants don't be afraid to throw 6 dice at a big spell and hope for irresistible force. Often the sacrifice is worth it and when she casts again she heals a wound before the 2nd miscast hits. This way you have only to fear the instant death result. Even in Knights consider throwing a lot of dice into a spell if you think the sacrifice would be worth it.
For magic items on these wizards I stick with support items. Dispel scrolls and the like. Things that I've liked to play around with are. Prayer icon to grant M@A the blessing, (already mentioned) Chalice of malefure with lore of life in case they get hurt, extra dispel dice doesn't hurt. A sneaky trick is to combine the feedback scroll with the silver mirror. You've got a decent chance of wiping out enemy wizards with the total amount of defensive punch you've got. Once again survival vs. damage. I HIGHLY recommend a lvl 4 prophetess if at all possible. Even if you must make her bare bones take her. The bonus 4 to dispelling means you have a chance in the magic phase.
For the lord that will be your general I recommend survival over damage. He provides valuable leadership and is worth an extra 100 points if killed, however if it is a lord he can bring the hurt as well. A favorite tactic of mine is to join him to a unit that has the banner of discipline for a whopping LD10 to spread around my army. Know where he is needed. It often is in the middle of the battle and is determined by his equipment. If you built one tough to kill get him stuck in with things that won't break him. If he is stubborn due to crown of command definitely get him in and stuck. Our characters are often safest when engaged with weak enemies. There are a couple ways to have this guy kitted out.
The first is the unmovable wall. Gromril, Crown of command, +35 points of whatever (I say birthsword). Stubborn, with a1+ rerollable, Armor save? And the unit he's with gains this stubborn benefit? Yes, please. He is true points denial surviving and dealing a bit of damage. Few things can shift him. If you are worried about heavier things like characters and monster and are less worried about troops change it a bit. Virtue of Heroism, Crown of command, Dawnstone. 2+ re-rollable save while stubborn with killing blow against the world. Decent... decent...
There are many different get ups used for Generals and lords. We have a sticky thread for just that purpose, I won't ramble on about others that have been done to death I'll just share what mine has.
In all honesty he is the one character that I personally lean towards fluffy with. Mine has the Virtue of heroism, Gromril great helm, and Sword of swift slaying, (Or the sword of striking depending on mood.) I have him hunt down other characters and monster to killing blow them. He's quite tough to kill too. Is hunting down the biggest enemies on the field the safest thing to do with your general... Nope, but it is fun to have the heroes challenge the big things.
Another special character that we are required to take is a Battle Standard Bearer. I will confess. I. LOVE. THIS. GUY. I used to swear that he was the heart of Bretonnia before the new rules. Guess what? Nothing has changed. If anything being able to re-roll any leadership check means that he is worth even more. This man can keep your army in the game when all hope looks lost. As such he should be where the fighting is thickest. Preferably just out of reach of other enemy characters that could kill him.
As a key central part of the army a lot of his power comes from him not dying. I recommend the enchanted shield (cause we can now) for a 1+ save. Hard to kill = good. Then after that it is your choice to balance survival vs. damage. I run mine with Ogre blade and enchanted shield. This means that he often adds about 3 combat resolution to any battle, 2 from kills and 1 from being a BSB.
The greatest danger for the BSB is to end up fighting something that can kill him easily. Enemy characters and Monsters come quickly to mind. Even against many enemy hero level characters he has a bit of an edge because of his good saves being almost for free. So don't be afraid to put him in the thick of things as long as it's reasonable. He does die instantly if the unit he is in breaks so you have to choose your battles a little more carefully then with the general.
A key thing to remember when picking your characters is variety. You must be able to respond to all threats. The best way to do this is to have a little bit of everything. You don't want to neglect your magic in this meta game nor the leadership aspect. Used correctly characters alter the entire face of your army granting you powerful tactics.
The characters I usually field:
LORD with equipment described above.
BSB with equipment described above.
Damsel lvl 2 Prayer Icon. Lore of Life
Prophetess lvl 4 on horse. Chalice of Malefur. Lore of life.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:31:39 GMT
POST 5 - Core Choices
Knights Errant - 20pts each
Right off the bat Knights Errant seem like an ok cavalry choice, but nothing special. On closer inspection, the Knights Errant become extremely useful in one specific area, and that area is Monster Hunting. Coming in with Immune to Psychology on the charge as standard, and the ability to take a magic banner and the relatively low asking price, they far exceed what other knight units can do in this area.
Pros
• Our cheapest Cavalry unit • Strength 5 on the charge • Able to take a magic banner • 2+ Armour Save • Built in Ward Save • Lance Formation • Immune to Psychology on the charge • Effective monster hunters
Cons
• Impetuous makes them somewhat unreliable • Average leadership is a worry, but somewhat negated when charging • Off the charge, they are painfully weak • Initiative 3 is painfully low • Toughness 3 forces more armour saves than you would like • Needs additional support to break enemy units
Command
Like all our Knight units, we get free unit champions which gives us a free attack essentially, which is nice. When it comes to other command options, you REALLY want to take everything. The Standard Bearer not only increases your combat res, but allows you to buff up with a magic banner such as Banner of Eternal Flame. The musician lets your rally easier should you ever flee, but the biggest buff is the free reform as the Lance Formation is incredibly unwieldy.
Tactics
Monster Hunters
I tend to use my Knights Errant as Monster Hunters since they are cheap, ignore things like Terror and hit as hard as any other human knight. To do this, you take a unit of 9+ with the banner of eternal flame. This is key as it removes dastardly things like Regeneration and is handy against things like Treekin, or Treemen who are flammable. If no monsters are available, this unit is still great to have since you can tackle things like monstrous infantry with regen, or even used to support other knight’s charges.
Errantry Banner
I dislike this banner, simply because i feel the negative far outweighs the positive. For a -2 to your leadership rolls when testing for Impetuous you gain +1 strength when charging, which stacks with your lances making you Strength 6. Unless you babysit your unit, you are risking your Knights Errant doing nothing all game. The inability to operate independently is massive turn off for me.
Alternative view on the banner - While their Impetuous rule looks bad on the face of it, there are VERY few situations where you don't want these guys charging, and even if you do get pulled into a bad charge, you can usually do okay so long as you don't get flanked. The banner ensures you can make the maximum impact when you DO charge.
Conclusion
I love Knights Errant. One unit of them is a solid investment since they are cheap, and therefore expendable compared to your more senior Knights. You will be throwing these guys into risky situations that you would never dare send a unit of Grail Knights, and that alone gives them a thumbs up from me. Everything else just sweetens the deal. Be warned, like all of our knights, an unsupported charge into rank and file units will see you bogged down by steadfast, and eventually destroyed.
Alternative view
First off what makes this unit different then the Knights of the Realm? They are cheaper, have a lower WS, a lower leadership, and are frenzied on the charge without the extra attack. So in my book I count one advantage: Cheaper; and one that could go either way: Frenzy charge. I often find that the disadvantages to this unit are not worth the fact that they are cheaper by 4 points. I know some people swear that the immunity to fear and terror is priceless. It is nice, for a turn. Most things that cause fear are also unbreakable, then the lower LD comes around and says they're WS 1. So why take them? Aren't KOTR better at everything? Well in order to get the FULL value out of the Knights errant you need to consider the magic item section. They have a banner that has been tailored specifically for them.
I never field a unit of Knights Errant without the banner of errantry. This limits me to one per army and in essence means that they cost about 22 points per model which is still cheaper than KOTR. It gives them the hitting strength of grail knights on the charge. It is due to this lone banner that their purpose tends to be drastically different than that of the reliable KOTR. It makes them more likely to go flying off after the enemy.
Once again let us look at their strengths which are similar to the KOTR. They are pretty tough to kill. Good armor and the blessing make them tough to shift. That's where the survivability ends however, they suffer against the more elite infantry of WS 4. Being hit on 3+ adds up quickly. Also only hitting on 4+ (Usually) against most hordes means that they will kill less, which in turn makes them less valuable at breaking after the charge. In fact the only infantry that I recommend charging with Knights Errant rather than Knights of the Realm are the ones that are elite enough to have WS 5. This is where cheaper comes in, you lose less points when you would have lost the same number of models.
Where I find they shine the most is rather fluffy. Monsters and other large targets fear the boost in strength to 6 far more than WS 4. Giants can be hit and reliably wounded about 4 times in one turn of combat with a single lance of 9. Once again they enemy is reduced to just their attacks. No stomp or thunderstomp. At the higher strength the very annoying Hydra gets no armor save, this helps offset the hatred first round. Not only are their lances more effective against large monsters but the higher strength also means that monster infantry is a little more scared of them. (They score NEARLY identical wounds to KOTR)
The higher strength also means that they often hurt other heavy cav better than the KOTR. Most heavy cav pack at least a WS 4 so the higher strength is useful. The problem with this tactic is that if the enemy is within 20 you may try to make a nearly impossible charge and end up close enough for them to counter charge. Which will likely hurt. Their unreliability hurts them here. Also due to the unreliability of Knights Errant I do not recommend putting character that you don't want to lose in the unit.
Now what I find their greatest tactic involves losing them. I have often referred to them as a "Fire and Forget Missile". Since I know they will charge at SOME point I just ram the unit into the single most dangerous unit in my foes army. And by "dangerous" I mean dangerous to my army not on a unit to unit basis. This often involves a powerful wizard in the other unit. On the charge they should remain in combat and may even win. After that you simply hope they stay locked in combat for as long as possible so keep the BSB and General near. If it is a wizard then the knights just may kill it or wound it severely. That's their points back right there. After that it's just bonus what they do. I find the greatest part is the dilemma that it puts the enemy player in. If he leaves them alone the KE may very well do enough damage to kill a wizard, or break the unit especially if it was just a mage bodyguard unit. If he decides to flank them he exposes his side and rear to the rest of our army. If he chooses the 2nd option... Your unit is most likely dead but the game may have just been won. And all for less than 250 points of KE. It is surprisingly reasonable to field them at 12 strong if you plan on doing this. Harder to shift with the extra rank means that your foe has a bigger dilemma. If you think this is worth the cost of 10 peasant bowmen is a matter of preference.
At the end of the day the key to using Knights Errant effectively is in the deployment phase. Deploy them across from what you want them to fight. Otherwise they will end up fighting what your foe wants them to fight which is bad for you. They MUST have a plan at the beginning of the fight. Are you going to try and run the flank? How about Right into the gut? Are they monster hunting? All of this MUST be decided when they're placed on the table. Just make sure to keep your throwaway unit cheap enough to throwaway.
How I field them: One unit, 9 strong, banner of Errantry and Full Command. Either they Monster hunt, flank or suicide.
What are they good for? Supporting charges, Killing monsters, Distraction, Sacrificing themselves.
What are they ok at? Combined charges, Elimination of fire support, Killing Cav.
What are they bad at? Prolonged fights with foes. Armor piercing weapons, Staying in one place!
------------------------------
Knights of the Realm - 24pts each
These guys are 4 points more than your Knights Errant, however those 4 points are well spent. Knights of the Realm are more reliable in every conceivable way, and will be the mainstay of your army. Whilst not as...'specialised'...as the Knights Errant, Knights of the Realm can handle most units well and their thundering charges will strike fear into your foes.
Pros
• Still somewhat cheap • Weapon Skill 4 • Leadership 8 • Strength 5 on the charge • Able to take a magic banner • 2+ Armour Save • Built in Ward Save • Lance Formation
Cons
• Off the charge, they are painfully weak • Initiative 3 is painfully low • Toughness 3 forces more armour saves than you would like • Needs additional support to break enemy units
Command
Like all our Knight units, we get free unit champions which gives us a free attack essentially, which is nice. When it comes to other command options, you REALLY want to take everything. The Standard Bearer not only increases your combat res, but allows you to buff up with a magic banner such as Conquerors Tapestry. The musician lets your rally easier should you ever flee, but the biggest buff is the free reform as the Lance Formation is incredibly unwieldy.
Tactics
Let's look at the stats. Decent WS. Average everything else. Well, stats are not where they shine. In fact it shows a glaring weakness to spells such as "Purple Sun of Xerxes" and 'the Dwellers below". Both such spell ignore the greatest strength about knights of the realm which is our armor. They key component is the WS here. It means that most of the large chinsy horde units are hit on 3's. This contributes to the hard hitting power of the lance on the charge where we inflict most of our damage. However in this day and age this alone is seldom enough to break heavy infantry units. Other Cav stand less of a chance if we charge and it is almost certainly a death sentence or at least a break sentence due to the basic resolution of 4 going in. Even the mightiest knights in the game would think twice about letting themselves be charged. Where our knights really shine is in the survival section. The heavy armor combined with the blessing of the lady means that most things will have a heck of a time killing them. Or more specifically... ALL of them. If even one survives he can run away to deny the opponent valuable VP. Also one model is all you need to flank so even 1 knight can be effective.
When combined with other units they can contribute much needed kills to a combat. I highly recommend flanking with them for extra resolution. When it comes down to it Knights of the realm are our masters of combat resolution. Hard to kill, reasonable point cost and the ability to cause actual damage all contribute to this. One thing to consider is that even without lances they get a grand total of 10 S3 attacks, (as an interesting note this is the same amount of attacks a normal infantry unit 5 wide gets minus champion). This is usually enough to cause a couple kills. Combine this with the static ranks and you have a unit that is often quite hard to shift. Because of this advantage I do not recommend fielding units smaller than at least 8 knights + character. Basically you get the same number of attacks as the foe but you have better armor and often better WS. This often adds up to a winning fight.
With the advent of hordes and the return of larger units even a unit of 12 is possible and decently effective. Will this break units that are 10 deep? Not immediately but unless the unit is unbreakable there is a decent chance of breaking it eventually through sheer perseverance. Elimination of the enemy general and BSB will certainly aid this endeavour. A common tactic of mine is to charge an infantry unit about 25-30 strong head on. Consider the lances on the charge as bonus kills and models you don't need to eliminate to remove steadfast. Also due to the small frontage only 5 models will ever be in Base to base contact. This limits the number of counter attacks that will be received taking a full 30 attacks from a horde to a mere 15.
I list them as decent at fighting monsters because they are cheap(ish) and due to the survival rating of these knights they often will win combat, so barring stubborn they may break the foe. Also due to being Cav they are immune to Thunder stomp and stomp. So just the base number of attacks against WS4 and 2+ armor 5+ ward saves. Think that can break 3-4 combat res? Not often but if the monster stays you may certainly be in trouble.
They also are quite good at being a character delivery or survival service. Being difficult to kill means that they provide needed bodies to protect the valuable characters. They can make sure that the lord gets in to cause damage or that the Prophetess stays alive. Make sure not to make the unit too expensive by putting more than one hero in it because then it is just a target and will draw TOO much fire.
My personal recommendation for this unit is 9 strong. Any less is ineffective, any more is just extra bodies though another rank may be nice and would certainly have its uses. I prefer to keep my units rather cheap, Around 250 as opposed to 325. That's a whole unit of Peasant bowmen. Also run them in tandem with the rest of the army, they only should be alone in small games. I run them straight up the centre to bog down and injure the expensive enemy units that live by numbers, or they target units with squishy characters because their loss doesn't mean the game is gone. At the end of the day THIS is the unit I rely on.
What are they good for? Supporting charges, Holding up things, Elimination of fire support, Bodyguard.
What are they ok at? Combined charges, eliminating targets, Threats, Killing monsters.
What are they bad at? Prolonged fights with powerful foes. Armor piercing weapons.
Finally, be aware of your limitations. Knights of the Realm may be powerful, but they do have their weaknesses. Infantry such as Blood Letters are not only more skilled, but stronger and more importantly FASTER than you. If you start losing knights before you can strike, you will be in a sorry state. Units like Tomb Guard have Killing Blow, which will completely bypass your armour making you vulnerable. Knowing what you can beat in combat is key to survival. Why send a 15 strong lance into a horde of grave guard when you could send them into skeletons containing their general etc. etc. Always be aware that the easy charge is not always the best.
Conclusion
Knights of the Realm are a powerful force on the battlefield, but like all cavalry need support to win, whether this is via the use of more lances, or ranks of infantry. These are your bread and butter knights, capable of tackling any foe and should be used as such as other knight units are incredibly specialized in their roles in comparison.
------------------------------
Men-at-arms - 5pts each
And the first of our lowborn units. Once again stats leave something to be desired but 3 dramatically stand out. WS, LD and the low point cost. Again average I and low S show a weakness to certain spells which are the most effective way of killing these guys. The biggest thing this unit has is the incredible cheapness of this unit, followed by the equipment. This unit is our only viable horde unit and they are decent at it. They are packing decent armor, for light infantry, (which is better against shooting) and with halberds they pack a decent punch. Never underestimate the power of large amounts of S4 attacks.
Pros
• Cheap • Free halberds equates to constant S4 attacks! • Can be horded or bussed to great effect • Perfect unit for a Prayer Icon • Peasants Vow helps keep their leadership in check • Initiative 3 • Despite low Weapon Skill, they can tackle enemy Rank and File troops effectively • Can help break steadfast • If your standard is captured, it doesn't give up any additional victory points (edit: I guess no one cares about some moth eaten rag of a banner - knoffles)
Cons
• Weapon Skill 2 • Seem SLIGHTLY over costed for their stat line • Low armour and toughness • They do NOT have access to the blessing by default • If not supported, they will flee from just about anything • Can actually lose you multi-charge combats since they are so squishy!
Equipment
Men-at-arms come with light armour, shield and halberds as standard. This is great, but you can optionally upgrade to bring spears. I do not think this is a worthwhile investment since you sacrifice your reliable strength for more WS2 attacks and a slightly increased armour save. Not my cup of tea personally.
Command
You always want to pack a Musician for reforming, rallying and winning draw combats and taking a standard will increase your chances of winning combats AND go towards your blood and glory totals. The champion depends on your unit’s layout. I always put a Damsel with Prayer Icon with the unit, so a champion helps protect her. Otherwise, I would probably not take him.
Tactics
As our "go to" infantry unit in a non-infantry army I've found this unit to be rather unique. Want steadfast? Go here. Want ranks to break enemy units? Here again. The problem? They're not all that good at it... By themselves. Their own Leadership will seldom keep them around so a nearby knight unit must be nearby to herd the peasants and keep them in the fight. The knight unit must also stay nearby to prevent panic tests. Since they are slow compared to the rest of the force. This may present problems with the knights going ahead. The other problem is people tend to avoid them in favour of attacking the knights, if they can't get in combat steadfast does nothing.
They do not fare well when fighting other horde units. Most others are cheaper and can afford more bodies which lends itself to the M@A losing and breaking as soon as anything else comes their way. Combine this with most enemy units avoiding them and having lots of extra ranks doesn't not help this unit all that much. Most infantry of the same size will cut them down without a second thought. Fortunately if you're fighting an infantry unit you should be much bigger.
A key thing about M@A is being able to take hits and lose people without you caring. I often laugh when my M@A suffer casualties and mock my opponent if he missed any swings. Because of the need to be able to take wounds I highly recommend fielding units with more ranks than they need. I recommend you go for 5 ranks, 6 at most, in their typical formation be it normal or horde. They are cheap enough that the bodies are useful but make sure you don't spend too much on a unit, Keep them cheap so if they break you don't lose much. In fact name one peasant Bob and challenge your foe to kill him.
As for damage output there are 2 formations I recommend. The first is 7 wide, the second is full blown horde. At 5 deep this is 35 and 50 M@A respectively. The first formation grants you an impressive 14 attacks to the front because just about every unit will be frontage 5 and the extra attacks from being frontage 7 instead of 5 helps counter the poor weapon skill. It has a wound absorption of 21 before attacks are lost. 22 before they have no ranks. This I find to be a cheap but effective unit that is more designed for direct damage. It works great for supporting your flanks or even throwing it in to bail out knight units. I consider it a great unit to work as your reserves. This plays perfectly into the fact that they are slower. By the time they catch up they're needed. This plays into more aggressive strategies very well. If you are playing defensive you could also keep them in the flank and act like they will flank any enemies that charge.
As for the other formation, horde, it certainly is not practical to consider flanking. This unit packs a whopping 30 attacks against a frontage of 8 or more. It has a wound absorption of 20 before attacks are lost and 35 before all ranks are lost. And even if you suffer down to there you can reform to absorb even more. The extra attacks from a large frontage are often lost since you usually should not be fighting a horde, but you do gain an extra 7 swings on average. Decent. And if they decided to field frontage 7 wide for the previous reasons I mentioned... You get 27 swings to their 14. This is ideal for destroying enemy units, almost double the attacks received. The benefit of this formation is you often can out muscle non-horde infantry provided that they do not have a WS5 or higher. Since the unit tends to be unwieldy again deployment is key. Get them where you need them and keep them there. This is a unit that I tend to keep near the middle for leadership purposes, as well late game damage.
Another great use for them is in late game enemy units should be weakened enough that even elite units with powerful characters will not be able to break the large unit which will often be untouched. Even enemy hordes are fightable if you've dropped a couple rocks into the middle of their lines. What this means is that while your knights are great early turn fighters before they've lost enough wounds to neutralize them, your peasants are excellent late game fighters where they can capitalize on enemy units that have lost too many wounds. There have been many times where things look bleak until my M@A hit and then the day swings in my favor. Keep them near the enemy but don't commit them unless you need them to grind the enemy down, are capable of doing just that and the enemy won't annihilate them.
It is unlikely that the M@A will draw a lot of fire with knights still on the table and if they do, well your knights are not getting shot at. Still a key thing about the M@A is the ability to take wounds. As such anything that can be done to improve it late game when they reach combat helps. Stat boosts are especially effective, but perhaps the easiest thing is to give them the blessing. This is done by adding a damsel with the prayer icon to a unit. This improves the unit’s survivability by a lot. (The ruby goblet, while not as potent, can give a similar buff to a second unit. Without either, you are better off just taking knights). Which leads me to comment on the effectiveness of a damsel in a M@A unit.
She won't be killed by shooting of course and most magic won't touch her. But compare this to a damsel in a knight unit. If the damsel miscasts in knights it could kill a full 8 models in base to base which is most of the unit. If she miscasts in a unit of M@A if she is correctly placed on a corner the damage is 3 peasants in base to base, 8 if it's the template and who cares if they all die? This lets you cast with less fear of a miscast, it causes much less damage to your units. With magic being as powerful as it is being able to try and get an irresistible force can be a powerful tactic. More on this in the Damsel section.
If they have the blessing then this becomes a legitimate combat unit, at full strength capable of fighting just about every unit out there. I highly recommend getting them stuck in with units that are packing great weapons. Several monsters also suffer against the M@A with the blessing though peasants are stomped and thunderstomped good and dead. For the most part though they just become better at what they did before just don't overextend them. Though they do become better at holding the line.
How I run them: 50 strong. Banner, musician, damsel to give them the blessing and to miscast for pure damage.
What are they good for? Supporting charges, late game heroics, taking hits, wearing down foes.
What are they ok at? Combined charges, Stopping charges.
What are they bad at? fighting bigger hordes, fighting high WS things.
Conclusion
Men-at-arms are great. You can win games without them, but you are going to struggle. They are cheap, effective and a worthwhile investment for anyone who plays Bretonnia.
------------------------------
Peasant Bowmen - 6pts each
Peasant Bowmen are one of only 3 ranged units we have available, and for their points they are not bad. Coming with long bows, a free piece of terrain per unit and the cheapest flaming attack upgrade i know of, these guys are a real steal.
Pros
• Longbows give you a massive 30" range. This lets you out-shoot most other units • Cheap • Free terrain • Super cheap access to flaming attacks • Can be turned in Skirmishers • Great for redirection and war-machine defense • Ideal for clearing out chaff who will try to block your lances from connecting
Cons
• As a whole, shooting is less effective than close combat • Low leadership, and the high likelihood of being out of a knights bubble makes them very vulnerable • BS3 is not that great, leading to many missed shots ESPECIALLY when moving • S3 shooting is not all that effective when it comes to actually whittling down bigger units • Free terrain piece is destroyed if you move, meaning you have to plan ahead when you deploy them • No armour, however can purchase light armour for a low cost per model
Equipment
Braziers - +5pts
For 5 points per UNIT you are getting flaming attacks. This makes your bowmen super good when it comes to laying the hurt on monsters, flammable targets and hitting units hiding in buildings. Don’t forget the braziers will also cause fear in cavalry and warbeasts. The cost is low enough that you cannot afford to not take this upgrade on every unit.
Light Armour - +1pt
A 6+ armour save is nothing to write home about, and with no option for shields to defend against ranged attacks this simply is not worth the investment.
Command
For the most part, you don't want to be investing in a command group, but if you are low on banners, then slapping on a standard for Blood and Glory is not a bad idea. If you are using Skirmishing Archers then a musician maybe worth the investment, but never take a banner on such a unit as they tend to be used more aggressively and are not likely to live.
Tactics
This section is split into 2 separate sections. Rank and File and Skirmish, and correspond to the unit type you choose when making your army.
Rank and File
Your rank and file Bowmen have some pretty major roles to play on the battlefield. Like i said earlier, you absolutely need the Braziers since they are so darn handy. This alone, turns them from a below average archer unit into a below average archer unit that can lay down the pain on a 300 point treeman. When you are choosing your targets, aim for things with regeneration first. Your goal is not to kill them, only to inflict a single wound. You then follow up with a Trebuchet to the face to finish them off with their regeneration is removed. Secondary targets will be things that are flammable, whilst they are rare hitting a treeman or a unit of treekin with a few flaming arrows could land you with some easy kills helping the war effort. You also have your chaff hunting. Chaff is one of Bretonnia’s greatest bane, as it can block your lances from charging, remove support from aiding your lances and get behind your lines and hit your war-machines. Luckily for us, most chaff is low toughness, low armour and small in numbers...in other words: Easy prey. Finally, setting buildings ablaze. You can wreak havoc on units camping out in the Watchtower thanks to all those lovely re-rolls fire attacks give you...make the most of it!
Bretonnina has its primary fire support provided by these guys. Surprisingly cheap, they come with the range but lack power to crush many targets. I'll cover their target priority in the shooting section. If you take a unit of these, go into the battle and expect them to kill nothing. Through sheer kills they seldom will earn their points back but that doesn't mean that they are not worth taking.
It used to be just a gimmick and in many ways it still is but defensive stakes have now turned out to be much more useful than at first thought. They count as a fence according to our FAQ. This means that the bowmen have deployed soft cover for themselves and units behind them. In essence... This means that any unit shooting at peasant bowmen has a -1 to hit. Let me explain what that means a bit more. Elves shooting at Peasant bowmen basically have the same BS. In fact the average BS 3 model will only hit on 6's if you keep them at long range. Combine this with the overall cheapness of the unit and they can reliably win most ranged duels. I don't think I need to mention how much the units behind appreciate the fence too.
It gets better too. Stakes are still fences, which are obstacles. Any Cav unit, Monster Cav or Chariot has to take a Dangerous terrain test if they charge our peasants, this could flat out kill a chariot. And it gets better still! In the first round of combat enemies suffer a -1 to hit in close combat. It just means they hit on 4+ due to the poor WS but that's better than nothing. I personally find the dangerous terrain test is a dramatic deterrent. Most effective bowmen hunting units are Cavalry 5 wide, they may very well lose a couple models before the fight even starts and for cheap bowmen that's their points back right there. It also may reduce the damage taken by enough so that the Bowmen may stay in combat that round and are able to be saved in the coming rounds. Not only that but if you gave them braziers they cause fear in cav as well.
Which brings me to unit size. I have only found 2 sizes to be effective at all: 10ish and 20ish. I'll talk about the 10 first. What I mean by 10ish is that you could bump it up to 12 or even 14 if you have a few points floating around. The principle is that it's two lines of models, just don't make it too big. Peasant bowmen are the only unit that are effective when bought cheaply. Take 10 M@A and you can't do anything... but 10 Bowmen on the other hand can still do their job.
The job of the smaller unit is twofold. Fire support is nice but not very damaging. Where this unit comes into play is as a deployment. It's a cheap unit that helps you see where your foe will be deploying. In fact I rarely put any upgrades with the smaller units just to make sure they stay really cheap. Knowing what is where before you get to the power of your army is a wonderful advantage. And after deployment they still can deal damage with their bows. I like to deploy these at the far edges of my flanks.
The reason behind that is, most people don't consider them a very great threat. Rightly so. But they will either ignore them or have to send far too much after them. Either situation is a win in my book. If they are ignored that is 60 points that your opponent didn't kill so just by staying alive the peasants have done their job. If your foe sends things after them well that's one unit that is not bothering your knights for a few turns. It also would have to be a considerable force to truly shift the peasants. A small unit of fast cav won't cut it anymore. Even if you do lose them it's not a big deal. They're dirt cheap and unlike the bigger unit they function quite well as a throwaway unit.
As for the big unit it works a bit differently than the small ones. It is deployed with actual ranks usually 4 deep. Keep in mind there is nothing stopping it from expanding for more shots if there are no threats. This unit can still be deployed on the flanks but one thing has changed. It is now a decent threat. It becomes more likely that units will be sent after them but it also becomes more likely that they can handle it. You also lose 5 shots a turn when ranked up that wouldn't be lost in two units. I do recommend a command on this unit, at least a banner. A unit this size can actually be deployed in the middle of the forces and have a chance of survival. In essence you have changed the means of survival that the bowmen have.
The smaller units survive because they are not a great threat and are thus ignored. The bigger unit requires that an actual combat unit be sent after them and if you deployed correctly it will have to get through your powerful knight units. Not only that but who would bother sending a combat unit after bowmen when there are the knight units around? Once again the fact that they don't cause much direct damage plays into their favor. It's just the bigger unit does cause more damage and may attract more attention.
Speaking of attention, keep the big unit near the knights. The little units are not as critical to keep nearby since they draw less fire. As for actual characters the only one I would even think about recommending for joining the bowmen would be a damsel for many of the same reasons that she would be deployed with M@A. She works best when deployed with the larger unit since the smaller ones tend to die to quickly and with a damsel they become a valid target. It is not unheard of for the damsel to grant the blessing to the M@A and then run to the bowmen. With the bowmen she is surprisingly safer since the unit is trying to avoid combat. It can be risky to keep your fire support with your magic but it also can work well.
As for deployment this ties into the last option for the bowmen. Skirmish which I would only consider for a small unit. Since the stakes grant you the same defense against shooting why take it at all? Only 2 reasons. The first is if you intend to move and shoot. The second would be if you intend to place them into forests. In a forest they gain steadfast. I still counter with "If they're in combat they're dead." So the only real reason would be move and shoot. Which I find rather useless more often than not. They already have long range and if there are no targets in range then advancing is quite safe for them. So I honestly can't recommend having a skirmish unit.
So without skirmish the best places to deploy are in buildings. They are steadfast in there and have wonderful protection. The second would be smaller units on the flank angled slightly inwards so they can cover more of the center field. The benefit being that this position is almost always useful and can be done early on in the deployment stage. Larger units I recommend more centrally based. Also a unit in between the Treb and enemy fire support never hurt either. Since the Treb is taller and can fire over the archers but it is still behind a fence and becomes harder to hit.
How I field them: At least 3 units of 10 no upgrades.
What are they good at? Being ignored. Being Annoying. Seeing Deployments.
What are they ok at? Shooting to remove ranks. Shooting to cause panic.
What are they bad at? Fighting. Passing leadership checks because units flee through them.
Skirmish - +1pt
Skirmishing Archers, whilst capable of doing many of the things your rank and file unit can do, are much more suited to sneaking around and causing general mischief. Being skirmishers, they are harder to shoot at, making them tricky buggers to get rid of and with the addition of being able to March and Shoot is just snazzy, giving them a whopping 38" threat zone. They can also take Braziers...oddly enough...which lets them tackle monsters and whatnot should you wish it.
Being skirmishers, you are more inclined to move up the board than not, so as a result you tend to be much closer to the enemy. This is where charge redirection comes into play. Simply pick a target, preferably a deathstar of some kind and stand in front of it like this:
B = Blank Space A = Archers E = Enemy
E E E E E B B B B B B B B B A A A A A A A A
This FORCES the enemy to charge you, or reform to avoid you. Both options massively restrict his movement, but if he does opt to charge the following happens. He MUST charge your flank, this means you are likely going to die, but who cares? This also leads to him either overrunning into a position that is of no use, or reforming and moving exactly 1" that turn...this is well worth the sacrifice if you want to buy some time to deal with death star units etc. This is made EVEN better with Frenzy, as the enemy could be forced to charge, and will be forced to overrun! This is just win win. Games can be won as a unit of frenzied chaos warriors spend 1 turn killing a unit then overrunning somewhere useless, 1 turn reforming, 1-2 turns marching back into position and by the time they charge, the game ends. Job done.
Conclusion
Archers will rarely kill much by themselves, but are incredibly cheap and fill a vital role in any army. I recommend 2-4 units of 10 in most lists simply because they are so handy to have around. You will rarely, if ever, use them as skirmishers but remember that they do have the opition.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:31:52 GMT
POST 6 - Special Choices
Questing Knights - 28pts each
Heavy Cavalry by definition, tend to be an elite unit. This being Bretonnia, we actually have Elite Elite units...and Elite Elite Elite units (to be discussed later on). Questing Knights are one of these units, and as a result they have an increased stat line, increased points cost and in some cases...less weaknesses.
Pros
• Forgo the Lance for the reliably hard hitting Great Weapon • Strength 4 basic makes them more powerful than even a charging Knight of the Realm • Can take a magic banner • All but immune to Fear and Terror • Built in ward save • Lance Formation • 3+ Armour Save • Can operate somewhat independently
Cons
• Being I4 is completely pointless since you always strike last • YOU ALWAYS STRIKE LAST • You cannot use a shield, making you the softest of all our Knights • Characters cannot join the unit without taking the Questing or Grail Vow themselves • No real role to play that other units cant do for less • Really expensive
Command
As with all cavalry, you really want to go with a full command group. This gives you extra goodies like free reforming and magic banners and of course, stronger static resolution. It adds to the points of your already expensive unit, but it is well worth it.
Tactics
These guys have very specific roles in combat, and are especially good against certain armies. The most obvious role for them is hunting the big gribblies that litter the fantasy world. Your high strength, near immunity to fear and terror and impressive weapon skill means you can down even the nastiest of monsters in one fell swoop. If you fail to kill it on the first round, you are STILL S6 round 2 on wards, which is something none of our knights have: Staying power. Annoyingly, this is also what they lack since they have less armour than even our basic knights due to the complete lack of shields. Another problem with their armour is they always strike last, leaving them vulnerable to the high strength of most monsters. Knights Errant are usually the superior choice.
Questing Knights are very handy when it comes to fighting the Undead thanks to their Fear and Terror rules. Nothing is worse than your Knights Errant getting punked by skeletons turn 2, or your Knights of the Realm fleeing from a Terror causer. Undead have another, more common trait: Weak units. Weak units (S3) are great for all our knights, but Questing Knights excel against them since they can hit hard every turn and not get bogged down. naturally, you want to be avoiding the stronger enemies since your armour wont hold out as well...strangely making your cheaper knights better at killing elites...
Conclusion
Questing Knights are a strange choice. They are expensive, fragile but very hard hitting. If you find yourself fighting a lot of weaker enemies (humans, skaven, elves, goblins etc etc.) then they are certainly worth a look, otherwise they are just not good enough to really take
Alternative take
For just a few points more than a KOTR. You get a special unit! A boost to both Strength and Initiative comes with the 4 points as well. While the Initiative is wasted with the great weapons it does provide a bit more resistance to spells like Purple Sun of Xeres. In some situations this is a great help but I would consider it more of a bonus. As well as the shield it grants the boost to the Armor Save but only against shooting.
I miss the days when I could use the hand weapons now you are forced to use the great weapons. Without the shields and the disadvantage of striking last in CC these knights are the squishiest in our army. Still they also hit the hardest in subsequent turns or if they are charged. This makes them a high risk, high reward unit. Since they strike last and are squishy if you want to get your full attacks out of them there are 2 decent sizes that I've found 9 or 10. Any less and they start losing attacks when they get hit.
9 is in the typical lance formation. Here they seek out targets that are stubborn and few in number. Another popular target is units that basically ignore armor saves. Might as well hit hard if you're going to be losing knights. The whole principle behind them is that they are reliably heavy hitters if they can survive the attacks. So low (or very high) Strength and high Toughness are ideal targets. They hit rather well and will grind down any target that is simply just there to hold you up. Don't go into a fight that they can't win due to sheer numbers and they should do fine.
The other formation is 10. it also happens to be the only time you will ever hear me suggest to field a unit outside of lance formation, 5 wide 2 deep. This maximizes the sheer amount of damage you can cause. This unit works best as flanker, hit the side, so few counter attacks hit them and just bring the foe down. This unit can cause a lot of damage and often will sacrifice themselves to bring something powerful down to a more manageable, killable, size.
Sacrifice is key for both of these units. Take it for granted that they are going to die. Your goal is to take down as many with them as they can. Is a command needed? If you feel that need and have some points go ahead. The 9 strong unit is admittedly better at staying in combat due to the ranks. I would field them based on what you need them to do. 10 strong is better for pure damage and you should bring them if your army is lacking hitting power. 9 strong is good for a more all-purpose unit. It can deal all sorts of purposes, it'll stay longer, can double as a breaking unit and its damage output is similar to the bigger unit.
Granted the use of the Questing vow lets you fight fear causing units with more reliability. So you can have them stray away from the general and fight undead on their own. Of all units Questing knights are the best for solo missions without support. Few units will charge them lightly because the return damage may render the unit useless for the rest of the game. They are strong enough to cause serious damage unchecked but they are pricey. If you can keep them out of serious trouble then this unit can actually run around and win the game while the enemy tries to either respond to the unit or makes themselves vulnerable to rest of your knights.
Questing knights occupy a very strange position. They are too threatening to ignore and yet not important enough to dedicate a serious combat unit against them without it being serious overkill. This creates a dilemma that your foe has to deal with. Use the confusion to your advantage.
Speaking of confusion, everyone knows that the way to defeat Bretonnia is not let our knight’s charge. However QK are unique in that they fight just as well if they are charged. Especially in the 5 wide formation there is NO disadvantage to being charged. This is our unit that can be attacked and succeed just as well. This leads itself to the tactic of placing the unit in front of enemy units at a specific angle. If they charge you not only do you deal decent damage in return but if your knights do break you have chosen the overrun, which is an advantage. Also this allow your unit to threaten many units at once if your foes doesn't want to fight them.
Questing knights I list as the most likely to break of our knights. My reasoning behind this is quite simple, they are the easiest to kill (for knights, still pretty hard to kill.) Though their damage is higher they can lose their ranks and numbers and be worn down quicker. Without the ranks breaking is easier though still quite difficult. The lower armor save really hurts against lots of lower strength attacks from, for example, spearmen or hordes. Both of them also have large amounts of ranks which also makes it easier to break the QK. Just don't consider "Easiest of our Knights" for actually "easy overall". If you can keep these guys away from the knight killers your foe will field, (which hurt QK more than other knights) they should perform quite well.
How I field them: Full Command 9 strong.
What are they good at? Causing problems, Solo quests, Pure damage.
What are they ok at? Flanking, Hurting High toughness units, prolonged combat with average units.
What are they bad at? prolonged combat with hordes. Taking lots of low S hits in CC
------------------------------
Pegasus Knights - 55pts each
Pegasus Knights are one of my favorite units in the Bretonnia Army Book. They combine everything a knight can do, with the speed and grace of a flying unit. These guys pack a serious punch on the charge, are reliable off the charge, are super-fast, pretty tough and even come with Initiative 4 and multiple wounds. The single most expensive knight unit in army book. You can't take them without being at least 165 points! They used to have a whole army theme named after them, Royal Air Force. In the new rules the air force is less effective but the unit is still quite powerful.
Pros
• Extremely mobile • Fast Cavalry • Skirmishers • Built in Ward Save • Multiple wounds • Toughness 4 • Initiative 4 • Weapon Skill 4 • 3+ Armour save • Each model has 4 attacks (1 lance, 2 Pegasus, 1 stomp) • Can operate effectively with minimal units • Can be used to take out an enemies back lines, and support your Lances with rear charges • Magic Banner
Cons
• Expensive • One of the few Monstrous Cavalry with only 2 wounds a model • Unlike regular knights, they cannot handle solo combat against ranked up infantry • Characters cannot join them! which is an annoying oversight • One unit per army, unless you have a Pegasus Lord
Command
For me, a Full Command is not needed for Pegasus Knights and can be cut out if you are low on points. The benefits of having one however is that the champion makes them extra killy, the musician lets you rally and break ties whilst the banner negates the enemies banner.
EDIT: If you are taking them in small numbers definitely skip the banner. If you flee from combat you immediately lose that model!
Tactics
Pegasus Knights, like all fast cavalry, are designed to wreak havoc, be an annoyance and take down vulnerable, yet expensive units such as archers, wizards and war machines. Their incredible strength, uncommon for their unit type, allows them to tackle these targets with ease, and not even Dwarfs can survive their onslaught.
A unit of 3 Peg knights can hit a bunker unit and easily take down wizards and BSB's. In the case of Skaven or Goblins, you can even take down a General. That same unit of 3 can easily wipe out archer units and warmachines and when everything is all said and done, you can swoop around and smash through the rear of enemy units to support your lances.
The question is, how can you reach these targets? Simple, you can fly. Being able to fly lets you cover massive lengths of the board in one fell swoop, and with the addition of Vanguard, you can easily get behind the enemy turn one...and if you are ballsy enough, get into combat turn one. Since one of your main targets is archers, being Skirmishers really adds to your survivabilty making you all but immune to their stand and shoot reactions.
As mentioned earlier, the Conquerors Tapestry is incredibly handy when it comes to Peg Knights since you get double victory points when capturing enemy banners. Since you are going to spend a lot of your time hitting weaker units hiding out back, there are plenty of opportunities to steal some.
Your army as a whole hates Chaff and enemy fast cavalry. Pegasus Knights being as tough, and strong as they are, can easily handle these units. Whether or not you want to divert your Peg Knights to handle such units is up to you, since Archers are also effective hunters of these things.
Conclusion
I would consider Pegasus Knights a must have unit in any army. Their incredible resistance to damage, massive speed and strong attacks make them one of the most effective units we can take. Just remember, unlike our regular knights they should never be engaged with large units alone, but are ideal for delivering the killing blow to a drawn out combat.
Alternative View
As flying cav they gain the same bonuses as fast cav. I find the biggest advantage is the vanguard rule. This gives you a 12" move before the game begins. You can't charge if you go first but when was the last time you prayed and went first? This advanced deployment means that you can have a unit half way across the table now. And give yourself another 18 inches for charge. Basically you've cleared the entire table.
Because of this the Pegs make perfect Artillery hunters. They may very well get the first turn charge and they have plenty of power to destroy even dwarf warmachines. Deploy them directly across then charge, kill, turn and repeat. Less warmachines means less things that can hurt our knights.
They are also quite tough to kill with the T4, 3+ AS and 2 wounds a pop. Simple shooting is not very effective. They are skirmishers which makes them harder to shoot. Even after that they have those saves. They can take a hit rather well and even if one can make it to the back lines it can kill those warmachines.
This plays into the Peg Knights greatest strengths. Hitting things in the Back. Without command if they charge things in the back they have a resolution of 3. Plus kills. The highest Static resolution is 4 without characters or magic. They obviously won't break anything because of steadfast but if another unit of knights is in trouble... They make a wonderful bail out unit.
in combat Each Pegasus puts out 3, S4 attacks, one of which is a stomp in a bare minimum unit that's 12 attacks not counting the knights. Pretty respectable, and decent at grinding things down. If there is no other need for them they can do grind down work. Also they are quite capable of engaging fire support units with that level of combat power. Anything without ranks must be careful around the flapping knights. Pegasus are great at hunting down other units that other knights would be considered serious overkill against. things like Fast cav and enemy fast, light units are also valid targets Since the Pegasus have a chance to catch them as well as capable of killing them in combat.
Other than warmachines and fire support units there is nothing that the Pegasus knights should engage head on without support. Without ranks to support them they will get bogged down and eventually killed or broken. This is the weakness of the peg knights They lack any sort of Static resolution.
Another advantage is Pegasus actually have the feigned flight rule. This means that fleeing is a valid tactic if you think the losing the blessing is worth it. If there are few cannons then it may be worth it. Flee then move your 20 inches over the foes. Aim so you get a line straight down their flanks. If you can do it without losing the blessing that would be better but it is an option that should not be forgotten.
All in all Pegasus Knights are well worth taking. They are the epitome of speed and power. The problem is that they are quite pricey. Because of this there have only been 2 unit sizes that I've seen to be effective. The first is the bare minimum 3. The other is 4 or 5. The first is good because it's cheap and still effective however they are a little weak due to lack of wounds. The larger unit gives you extra attacks and if you are 5 strong then you can take a casualty without a panic check. When it comes down to it your choice for size is preference. Whether or not you want them to be cheap and a touch more fragile or shell out the points to make them more powerful.
The subject of command for the pegasus depends on how you approach them. If you want to keep them cheap(ish) then leave the command out. If the unit gets bigger than consider taking some command. It'll help counter the disadvantage of no static resolution and make them a bit more versatile.
If you are willing to risk them then they make an excellent unit to charge into a wizards bodyguard. Direct every attack you can at the wizard to drop him. On the charge you may even stay in combat for another round to almost certainly drop him. This works well since many wizards bodyguards are units that are not true combat monsters. Killing a wizard is well worth the sacrifice of the unit and it is not always a pure sacrifice. If they do break which they will eventually happen if it is a full ranked up unit they may very well escape due to swiftstride. Rally and continue to cause damage in the foe.
How I field them: 3 Pegasus Knights.
What are they good at? Causing problems, Warmachine hunting, light unit hunting.
What are they ok at? Flanking, bailing out other units, grinding average units. Being hard to catch
What are they bad at? passing panic checks, being cheap.
------------------------------
Grail Reliquae - 118pts (+9pts per model)
The Grail Reliquae are a very strange special choice. Not only is it somewhat expensive, it comes with an abyssal stat line, some redundant rules and have a general sense of "Meh" lurking around them. Their only competitors are the Men-at-arms, so surely they guys have to be good right? RIGHT?
Pros
• Our only infantry to come with The Blessing as standard • Leadership 8 • Stubborn • Hatred • Counts as a command group • Our only infantry unit that will hold until the very last man • Light Armour and Shield make them fairly resilient • Your standard can never be dropped or captured
Cons
• Pretty expensive • No Halberds • Weapon Skill 2 • The Blessing is useless unless you are being hit by S5+ • The unit has a size cap, this massively reduces their effectiveness as an Anvil • Men-at-arms do the same thing, for less, and hit harder
Tactics
The relique has 2 main things that make it stand out above the Men at Arms. The first is that they are Stubborn with a knights Leadership. The second is that it gains the blessing. Is it worth paying almost double the price? First let me say that taking this unit in large numbers is rather ineffective for the points. Sure you could field a horde unit of these guys but why? If you need numbers you get more with the M@A, same goes for ranks. So I don't recommend taking more than 3 extra dudes in the unit and you could even field it a base size if you don't mind relying on stubborn.
Well let's look at the blessing. It is nice to have this blessing on infantry. It doesn't stack with the parry save so it really just gives the higher save bonus and a save against shooting. However if you take more than 23 guys then it' cheaper to take M@A and a damsel with the prayer icon. Once again cheap helps. These guys are not going to reliably kill anything and with kills being so important these days. Keep them cheap so you can buy units that will actually kill things.
Now let's look at stubborn. It is better than steadfast certainly. Alone and unsupported they will break and run. LD8 isn't great when you have to roll it many times over. So this means that you need to keep them supported by the BSB or general if you want them to stay put with any sort of regularity. This really isn't different then the M@A.
This unit is what is known as a tarpit. Your foe hits the unit then stops and hopefully stays there for the rest of the game. However this contradicts the keep it cheap principle. If you keep it cheap you seldom have the wounds needed to truly hold up a powerful foe. So where does this leave you? It leaves you with the medium units.
To clarify, this unit will not kill anything. It lacks the power to punch through armor and it doesn't have the number of attacks to grind something down. Its chief virtue lies in it being stubborn and somewhat difficult to shift. Treat them as movable terrain to stick your opponents in. As such the only things that the Relique needs to truly worry about are getting stuck in with units that cause lots of wounds, enough to kill them all for the rest of the game. Hordes, units with spears blah, blah blah we all know that list. To minimize damage what you could do is run it with a frontage of 2. You reduce the number of attacks against by on average 1 front rank model.
How you use this unit is quite simple. You track down the enemy unit that for some reason or other you don't want to deal with for a bit of time. Then get stuck in. Then you wait long enough for the knights to bail it out with a flank charge or something. Since this unit is only average speed in the game you often have to force the issue.
Perhaps their surprise use is the "bailout". If a knight charge doesn't fair as well as you'd hoped. and they get stuck in and are being ground down... Chuck this unit in there. Let the knights break, this unit should still be there due to stubborn. It will eventually die but you've saved your knights from possibly being run down. If the knights rally you've saved at least half their points and perhaps all of them if you can save the relique before the game end. Just keep this unit back when all the charges happen and next turn send it in to the ones that look like they're going sour.
As a bit of a funny thing to do... Field them in frontage 4. You get no ranks. You know this and your foe WILL notice this. If he decides to take advantage of the unit with no ranks since it should break easily, nail the foe in place with stubborn. Finish with knights. Is it being deceptive? Sure. Does it work on people who know our army book? Not really. It is nice to use against people who consider themselves great generals and wish to pounce on weakness. Seeing a unit "mis-deployed" like that either sets of bells of opportunity, or in the more experienced players case alarm bells. You have to be able to judge your foe to use this correctly and don't expect it work more than once but it is good for a laugh.
How I field them (When I do field them): 3 extra pilgrims.
What are they good at? Being stubborn. Holding up things for you to deal with later.
What are they ok at? Bailing out other more expensive units
What are they bad at? Being cheap, hurting things
Conclusion
The Grail Reliquae is simply not worth the points you pay. Everything they do, can be done by Men-at-arms cheaper, and more effectively. If they came without a unit cap, the option for Halberds and an increased Weapon Skill (even WS3!) they would be worth a look, but as they are right now, you would do better to spend your points elsewhere.
Alternative View
Perhaps my personal favourite unit in the entire army.
Battle Pilgrims are fanatical people (usually peasants) who follow Grail Knights around. They collect anything, and I do mean anything, cast aside by a Grail Knight believing that these items bear the Blessing of the Lady. They will follow the Grail Knight no matter what happens and in all weather. They’re so crazy about their faith that it is rumored that there are Knights who were not fully dead yet were crushed under the pilgrims as they scavenged. The body of a Grail Knight is the most prized of all possessions.
And so the reliquae is the body of some dead Grail Knight raised high and carried in homage, prayed to and treated as though it were a living knight.
Battle Pilgrims, because of their fanaticism are a little different from normal peasant units.
There’s two stat lines to think about: the Relequae and the Pilgrims. This is taken from page 52 of the army book:
Grail Reliquae: This holy shrine is placed in the centre of the front rank, just like a Standard Bearer or Musician. If the unit reforms, the Reliquae is always moved to the front rank again. The Grail Reliquae has a 5+ Armor Save. In close combat, this save is increased to 4+. The Reliquae counts are both a Standard Bearer and Musician. While there are rank and file Battle Pilgrims remaining in the unit each wound caused against the Reliquae will result in one regular rank and file model being removed. Only once all the Battle Pilgrims in the unit are removed does the Reliquae itself start taking wounds. In addition, the presence of the Grail Reliquae means the entire unit will be affected by the Blessing of the Lady if the Bretonnian army prated at the start of the game.
At 6 wounds, the Reliquae otherwise shares at a stat line with the rest of the Bretonnian peasants.
The Battle Pilgrims also share a stat line with the other peasants but also have the Hatred and Stubborn special rules.
They are a 0-1 Special choice, but if you have a maxed unit with the Reliquae and 24 pilgrims I have found they are an amazing little bunker that isn’t removed from combat very easily–I wish I could take 2!
------------------------------
Mounted Yeomen - 15pts each
Imagine a humble peasant being elevated to a rank that many believe to be the first step to knightdom? Despite the notion of it all being a complete fabrication to keep hope alive for the poverty struck Bretonnian masses, such peasants do exist in the form of Mounted Yeomen. Mounted Yeomen are a strange bunch, they come well equipped at a reasonable price and perform all the duties Fast Cavalry should perform. Their biggest issue, leadership aside, is that they are in direct contention with not 1, but 2 units that are just as good as they are, if not better.
Pros
• Our cheapest mounted unit • Comes with a spear and bow as standard • The only Peasant unit to have WS3 • Fast Cavalry gives them a bucket load of uses
Cons
• More than twice as expensive than Skirmishing Archers • Are in direct competition with Pegasus Knights • Low leadership means they are running the moment things go south • Combines the uses of Archers and Pegasus knights, but does neither particularly well • Will lose in combat, and will do nothing at a range
Command
Apart from maybe taking a musician, you want to keep these guys as cheap as possible.
Equipment
Light Armour - +2pts
Whilst it gives you +1 to your armour, you lose everything that makes you worth taking as it removes your Fast Cavalry status.
Shield - +1pt
Again, +1 to your armour save but this time you do not lose your Fast Cavalry rules. I would still avoid simply because these guys are not meant to survive, so keeping them cheap is vital.
Tactics
Mounted Yeomen would normally be a unit I would jump all over and love for eternity (anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE Fast Cavalry). However when they are contending with Pegasus Knights...well...they simply do not hold up. That being said, they do have their advantages.
Being so cheap, you can take a unit of 5 for 75 points. This unit is essentially a part of your Chaff. Chaff being units that are there to distract and annoy, not kill and maim. Having a few units of these guys as throw away units is not a bad idea, since they not only add additional unit drops letting your deploy advantageously, but lets you get in the way of the enemy across multiple fronts.
To aid in this, they have incredible turn one speed, being able to vanguard into position and really get on your enemies nerves. For an example of how to do this, refer to my Skirmishing Archers section of my Core.
What's more, since they are cheap you can put them in situations you would never dare placing your valuable knights, but this is where there next competitor arrives. Skirmishing Archers, whilst not as fast, are more survivable due to superior numbers and the skirmish special rules, can take flaming arrows for cheap and are not in the Special Section, therefore not limiting your use of Questing Knights etc.
Conclusion
Mounted Yeomen are not a BAD choice, they are actually pretty good fast cavalry for their points. But when you consider your access to other, similar units it becomes difficult to recommend them. Simply taking a combination of Pegasus Knights and Skirmishing Archers will net you the same results, and then continue to achieve even greater glories.
Alternative View
Ah mounted yeoman... Another unit which has fallen a ways since the previous edition. This is due to the introduction of the redirecting of charges. They have gained vanguard... with limited success. Still they are worth taking if you've got some spare points.
They have bows, but since they're taken in small numbers the fire power is negligible. They have spears but aren't very powerful fighters. They can take shields and light armor, but they aren't armored. They can do everything but not very well. So what in the Old World are they good for?
First let's look at the Vanguard rule. Free 12" move before the game begins. If you don't go first you can charge, and when was the last time you went 1st? It's nice, you can almost certainly get a first turn charge if they deployed in front of something that was deployed on the line. Now the problem with this is that it takes them out of the knights leadership range and the general is the only thing that can boost what passes for their leadership. The only unit that may still be in range is the Pegasus Knights.
Now while I praised this tactic for allowing Pegasus Knights to kill warmachines, it does carry over to these guys. While not as powerful as the pegs they still can pack a punch big enough to drop most warmachines. With horse attacks and spears they can present a problem for the average warmachine. Do not consider charging them into a fire support unit from the front however, the stand and shoot reaction will end them.
Being able to redirect with a passed leadership test means that the only benefit feigned flight really gives them is that now you know exactly how far the unit is charging so if you are a safe distance behind you have a good counter charge. Provided of course that the fleeing unit doesn't get in your way.
Now you are left with the problem of a combat or ranged unit that doesn't have the punch to be effective. You can add more models to boost damage but if you take a unit of 10... You might as well take the pegasus knights which are superior in every aspect except not causing panic in friends.
Honestly that's where I have issues with mounted yeoman. Pegasus knights are superior in all aspects (save ballistic skill), save price. When redirecting was more game changing Mounted yeoman were a must have but now they struggle to find their place against the more powerful pegasus knights. The only benefit is that you get a bowshot every turn. If you want bowshots... Take Peasant Bowmen.
They are a touch pricey but you can sacrifice this unit by having them run down at the edge of the battle. This sacrifice will lead the unit chasing them down to the edge of the combat field and hopefully out of the fight.
What does work however is running them in tandem. Peg knights draw a lot of fire while the Mounted yeoman can sneak in and finish off the foes warmachine while any surviving pegs can drop other targets. This I believe is there greatest strength. They work as a team with one drawing fire for the weaker unit. Just in case you may consider buying some shields. For such a cheap upgrade having that extra save may be well worth it and save a guy from time to time.
If you wish to take them as cheap units, take two units and run them together for the same reason you would take pegasus knights. Warmachine hunting, chinsy unit hunting. You can run circles around your foes with this unit. A rear charge can bring 3 combat resolution plus kills many units don't wish for this so they turn to face the Mounted Yeoman. Repeat process and since they can shoot as well they excel at this little dance of death.
If you wish to bring them up to 18 points a pop to try and turn them into a combat unit. Consider taking a unit of 10 with full upgrades. This unit is cheaper than a similar unit of knights with a lot less survivability. It puts outs some decent firepower in the shooting phase and almost a decent bit of combat. This is a "jack of all trades" unit that can do anything, just nothing as well as the dedicated units. Still they basically cost a unit of knights and they've lost the fast cav rule.
For an all peasant unit they are a tempting target and in higher point games this unit would be worth taking since it would be ignored in favor of shooting the knights. Deck it out with full command and you've got a good flanking unit. Often ignored and potent enough to kill support units they still have firepower in shooting. 10 point blank shots hit as well as long range shots from bowmen.
How I field them (When I do field them): 5 with shields
What are they good at? Being annoying. Killing warmachines and similar units. Working with pegs.
What are they ok at? being able to do a bit of everything. Dancing around other units.
What are they bad at? Being good at things. Taking hits.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:32:06 GMT
POST 7 - Rare Choice
Grail Knights - 38pts each
Grail Knights are our most expensive, most powerful and most Elite cavalry unit. Whilst essentially the same as all our knights in terms of survivability, a full lance charge will decimate units even without support. But are they worth the massive points investment?
Pros
• 2+ Armour Save • Built in Ward Save • Lance Formation • Can take a Magic Banner • Weapon Skill 5 • Initiative 5 • 2 Strength 6 attacks a model • Immune to Fear and Terror • Magic attacks as standard • The blessing is always active, even if you do not pray • The entire unit can accept challenges • Off the charge, they are statistically the same as a Questing Knight
Cons
• Almost 40 points per model • Still only Leadership 8 • Still only toughness 3 • Will die just as easily as even our Knights Errant for twice the cost • To have characters join, you are going to need to buy them the Grail Vow • Like all cav, they do suffer from round 2 • Each knight lost is a massive hit
Command
You do not have access to a champion, however that is not important since the entire unit acts as champions. If you are taking Grail Knights, you may as well pick up the Musician and Banner as they are cheap and, as always, helpful.
Tactics
Grail Knights are limited by their points. They are so expensive, you almost don't want to get them engaged in combat in case the dice do not favor you. In an ideal world, these guys should be slaying monsters, elite infantry and monstrous cavalry. The chances of you actually dedicating your Grail Knights to such task is very low, and for good reason. Other knight units do exactly what they do for less, so why risk your unit? Well, once you throw away your shroud of Coddling +1 you begin to see why these guys are ALWAYS the better option when it comes to charging such targets. There increased stat line is a massive boon as you are hitting more, hitting harder, getting more attacks and striking first. You can decimate enemy heavy cavalry that would otherwise bog your lesser knights down, you can destroy monstrous cavalry who would normally eat you for breakfast and Elite Infantry just crumble to your might.
Their other use is mass infantry slaying since they are getting more attacks per model and with the Lance formation, they are not losing attacks after the first rank which is great. A unit of 12 Grail Knights will be dishing out 19 S6 attacks at Initiative 5 (as opposed to the I3 of our other knights), which is awesome. Once the second round begins, you are still getting a fair amount of S4 attacks giving you some nice sustainability.
Interestingly enough, Grail Knights are actually rather effective at clearing out the Watchtower, although this is a last resort since you are at a massive disadvantage once dismounted. Your naturally high strength and Initiative with multiple attacks per model means you can mince lesser units who would traditionally start in the tower.
Finally, Grail Knights are our only reliable source of Magic Weapons. The entire unit comes with them as standard making them amazing counters to the Ghost Slaan, Hex Wraiths units of a similar nature.
Conclusion
Taking Grail Knights is always risk, they are no harder to kill than our other knights so getting them into combat quickly is an absolute MUST. If you spend too much time fannying around, you will get hit by magic and ranged attacks and eventually your guys will start to fall. Your gut instinct is to protect them, ignore it and send them into combat (support as always, is a great help)...you won’t regret it.
Alternative Take
The number of times that these guys have won me games is amazing. They are the most potent of our knights but also the most expensive knights barring pegasus knights. A unit of these is about 150% the price of the more basic knights. Expect to spend nearly 400 points on these guys. But with the high stats they are much more resilient to the instant death spells.
On paper they die just as easily as any other knight but don't let that deter you. That are still rather tough to kill as are all of our knights. However if there was a unit you wanted to protect against shooting it would be this one. This is due to the overwhelming power these guys pack on the charge. If there ever was a unit that required the charge to get the most I find it to be this one. A charge from 9 of them grants you 15, S6 attacks and 7, S3 at WS 5 and Initiative 5. OW. Few things can take this without losing at least a rank. Aimed at a WS 4 unit... That is about 10 dead guys. A full 2 ranks.
If the foe doesn't break then they still provide 9, S4 attacks. This is respectable but it is wasting their true potential. My preferred targets with grail knights are units that will not be getting steadfast, or at least won't be getting steadfast after I hit. You will have to determine if you think you will lose a knight to the counter attack or not. Weak units most likely will not, but even if they do kill one knight, so they are still steadfast, you have staying power against them and will grind them down so don't fear too much. Obviously you should expect to lose a knight or two if they are armed with great weapons or flails. Even halberds can pose a decent threat but even the great weapons with 10 attacks only on average kill 2.
In the new meta game shooting units have become a little less common and huge blocks of infantry rule the day. This is both good news and bad news for the grails. It's good news because they have a better chance of surviving and it is almost bad news because they can't break a large ranked up unit to start the game. This current trend is more beneficial to the grails than harmful. It allows them to take a less protected position on deployment.
The two most useful places to deploy grail knights are dependent on what you want them to do. If you go into a battle with a plan then deployment should not be a problem. If you wish to run them up the center then an early deployment will force a foe to show his hand and whether or not he dares to face you head on. If you wish to flank them then a far deployment is best done later on. Each has their own tactics.
The head on mid charge is best done when the opponent has placed units that are entirely designed to slow down and hold your knights in the middle, while he plans to win by flanking after you get stuck in. While an average unit of 25 may be enough to slow down the average Knight of the Realm unit it isn't enough to stop a full grail knight unit with perhaps a touch of support. The principle behind this is that if you break a hole in his lines and now you have a bunch of tempting rear charges to break enemy units. The enemy will have to respond to you being behind him. This simple move can wreck an entire plan and force the enemy to reveal valuable flanks which will can give you the victory.
The flanking grail knights work under the principle that most enemy units placed to stop them will be swept away under their power. This leaves them basically unstopped on the flanks where they will run and try to collapse the sides and break everything in on the foes units. Once again the opponent must react to them or simply be overwhelmed by the power of the grail knights. However if you intend to flank with this unit you have to know where the battle line has been drawn. This requires the grails to be placed near the end of your deployment.
Either way a big thing that the grails have is the ability to take on a unit that would stop a unit of KOTR or even QK because they probably won't stop a unit of grails. Often times people deploy a unit across from one of your units that they think will defeat yours. The grails provide trump to these situations. People seldom expect near double the number of attacks at the high WS and higher Strength of the grails.
Consider using the "bait and swap" technique. Place a unit of knight of the realm across from a unit that they would be stuck against and be ground down. When your foe fails to provide adequate support since he knows he'll win that fight have the grail knights cross in front of the Knights of the realm who cross behind and deal with the enemy that was supposed to fight the grails. This works well because what people often put across from the grails are units designed to tar pit them. The KOTR can sit there and be stuck in while the more powerful grails are free to cause all sorts of problems with the foe.
This simple ability to cause problems is one of the grails greatest strength. Not just damage, though they are good at that. Not to mention that people that have played Bretonnia fear the grails. They really do. People will avoid the grail knights unless they have a stubborn unit of a truly rock solid unit. Both of which the grails should be avoiding. Don't be surprised if people overreact to the unit and respond far more than what is needed.
If this happens don't panic. This is extremely beneficial to you if you take advantage of it correctly. If they overreact then they often will be out of position. If they are focused on the grails then they are ignoring the rest of your army. In this situation consider not attacking with the grail knights at all. Keep them in a threatening position and while he prepares for the charge herd him into a poor defensive position. When he's there he should be easy pickings for the rest of your knights.
One disadvantage of the grail knights is the inability to flee from charges. This can really hurt if you aren't prepared for it. Due to this the grail knights should not be in the very front of the army. Keep them a touch behind another unit if there is any risk of them being charged by something threatening. Usually keep your distance and use the better movement to be dangerous beyond the enemy charge range.
As for being able to challenge with any model this has its benefits and its disadvantages. The disadvantage is that a weak character can challenge and avoid the full brunt of the unit. The advantage is that you can challenge and avoid the full brunt of the character. This may not seem like much but suppose he was on a dragon then he only kills one model a turn as opposed to 3 or 4. This lets you tar pit dangerous things until you can get support and your monster killers in. Consider this a last option for dealing with powerful characters.
On the subject of characters... I dislike putting combat characters in the Grail knights. They are plenty powerful without adding in the often overkill combat Lord or Paladin, not to mention it costs valuable points since they must have the grail vow. I do however often field a damsel or more likely the prophetess in the unit. This is dangerous due to the miscast chance killing every grail knight and it has happened a couple times. The reason why I field a wizard in the middle of the unit is that her Magic resistance helps remove the grail knights from the valid magic target section. With the prophetess they are getting a 4+ and often a 3+ ward save against magic. With saves like that people seriously reconsider casting magic at them. It's a win/win situation. If they cast magic at them it is greatly hampered, if they don't then the most powerful unit in your army must be bested in combat. In order to help reduce the risk of killing my own knights I make sure to be using throne of vines for any serious magic mayhem. Also if she has regrowth... I'm healing my grail knights whenever one gets downed.
I also recommend having a warbanner with them. They are still a fire magnet and having the extra resolution can help negate losing a rank. Don't be confined to a single banner though there are many banners that they can wield well. On the subject of size you can have a unit as small as 3 but I find it more a waste of points except in small games. Same goes for 6. Take them as the typical 9 man unit. Any more than that and they become far too expensive. You still need to be able to overcome the loss of the unit if worse comes to worse and when the unit costs a giant chunk it becomes that much harder. Any less than 9 and they will struggle to break anything due to steadfast.
How I field them: 8 strong. Full command with warbanner.
What are they good at? Most things. Overwhelming units.
What are they ok at? Prolonged fights. Being more powerful Knights of the Realm,
What are they bad at? Being cheap. Fleeing.
------------------------------
Field Trebuchet - 90pts
The Field Trebuchet is our 3rd, and last ranged unit. It is also our only warmachine, which really puts it on the spot. Luckily the Field Trebuchet is not only a great warmachine, it is also the best Stone Thrower in the game second to none.
Pros
• Comes in at a reasonable price • Packs 4 wounds compared to the usual 2-3 • 60" Indirect Fire • S5(10) blast as opposed to S3(9) • Can decimate units in the Watchtower • Can hit up to 21 models a turn! • Can kill Monsters with ease • Can be used to snipe characters • Effective against light, medium and heavy infantry
Cons
• It cannot move once deployed • Manned by Peasants resulting in low Leadership and fighting ability • Has a chance of blowing itself up • Not the most accurate of devices • If it is charged, it may as well be removed • Cannot hit enemies within 12" of it • Cannot deal with regeneration alone • Does not ignore armour saves, making it unreliable against cavalry
Tactics
The Field Trebuchet is a brilliant piece of machinery capable of unspeakable amounts of damage to infantry thanks to its Strength 5 blast. So as you might expect, these are its primary targets. Landing a stone on a unit of Chaos Marauders, Empire State Troops, Goblins or anything on a 20mm base will almost certainly kill off 20 or so models...which is a HUGE chunk of a unit. Hitting orks and units of that nature will still land you 10 or so kills, which is also very nice.
Monsters can also be great targets, especially when you don’t want to risk losing your Knights or Characters fighting a Hell Pit or Hydra. The downside of course, is the Trebuchet does not have flaming attacks, making it unreliable at best. Luckily, we have the wonderful Peasant Bowmen who will lend a hand prior to the launching of rocks, hopefully removing the pesky saves. Being a Strength 10 centre blast also has its advantages over your typical Strength 9. Tomb King Sphinx come in at a whopping T8 making it a 3+ affair for most Stone Throwers. Our Trebuchet is almost 2x as likely to inflict a wound in these situations, which is brilliant.
Finally, those awkward games when you roll up Watchtower getting you down? Well not anymore! With the power of the Trebuchet, you can make enemies cry as you smash them with D6 S10 hits a turn! This completely removes their armour and will cause massive losses all game long.
Throughout this segment, I have referred to the Trebuchet as a single entity. This is actually not the case as you can take 2 per game, and 4 in games over 3000 points! Not only does this double your killing potential, but reduces the chances of missing your target and if one goes down to a misfire or an ambush, then you still have no.2 for at least another turn or 2.
Conclusion
For under 200 points (less than a decent Lance of Knights!) you can take 2 Trebuchets, these are almost a must take. Be wary of their unpredictable aim and low leadership however, as this can really put a halt to your plans of domination.
Alternative Take
First off deployment is key for a unit that can't move. On top a tower, hiding in trees. Someplace that is hard for the enemy to assault. I often find that smack dab in the middle of the army is a safe deployment. After all who wants to fight through the centre of an army? Either that or one on each flank with a touch of support to prevent fast cav. Also enemy shooting is surprisingly effective so at the edge of the table is preferable.
Second is the effect that they have on your foe. They force him to spread out his army or risk them causing more damage. And forcing out units is how our knights can eliminate them one at a time. It is this threat that I think is the most valuable thing about the trebuchet.
One thing that should never be underestimated is how much the foe will try to destroy these pieces of artillery. If they are dedicating too much to kill the trebuchet, let them. After killing the trebuchet the enemy is exposed to a counter attack. Just make sure that it is worth it.
Also I recommend taking more than one in case they do manage to blow themselves up. Personally I think that they are almost required in these days. They hit hard but also force people to respond to them which often gets an advantage in your favor.
Also special note must be noted about the ability to kill giant monsters. D6 wounds is not to be underestimated.
How I field them: 2 trebuchets
What are they good at? forcing enemies apart
What are they ok at? Doing damage, killing monsters
What are they bad at? taking hits and fighting.
------------------------------
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:32:17 GMT
POST 8 - Magic Items
Vows of Bretonnia:
These were covered in an earlier post. Note the cost of the upgrade Vows (Grail and Questing) do not count towards your magic item allowance .
Virtues of the Chivalric Knight:
Virtue of the Penitent (40pts):
Grants Stubborn. Oh boy, a more expensive crown of command that doesn't allow you to join units or take additional magic items? Yeah, skip it.
Virtue of the Knightly Temper (40pts):
For each attack that hits and wounds (before saves) on the turn he charges, grants an additional attack. A bit on the pricey side, but on a Lord, this one could really help you stack up the casualties. This is one of those virtues that can be really effective, but you need to build your army around it. With the savage beast of horros, you are looking at a lord that will kill 8 or more models on the charge, or an enemy general if you took the tress of Isoulde. This makes your lord excellent at obliterating small elite units like chaos warriors, characters and, most importantly, if you give him a morning star he becomes one of your best solution to dealing with units in buildings. Just remember that if he doesn't get the charge, well, you've spent 40 points for nothing. One of the few charge-only "items" that can be recommended.
Virtue of Heroism (40pts):
Grants Heroic Killing Blow (HKB). Received a righteous buff in our FAQ. upgrading killing blow to HKB and we can now take magic weapons with it. This is a great way to not rely solely on trebuchets to deal with the toughest nasties while still providing a bonus against enemy characters. Take note that your lord is also the general of your army, not a killing-blow delivery system: builds like the armour of agilulf + sword of striking may seem fun, but if your lord does not survive long enough to kill the enemy then there is no point in bringing him.
Virtue of Stoicism(35pts):
The Knight and any unit joined, may re-roll failed break tests. Good for a flank unit that will be out of the range of your BSB. Mainline units should be in range of your BSB, so use this guy for peasants in the flank (assuming the enemy does not have template weapons), if at all.
Virtue of the Ideal (35pts):
The knight gains +2 WS, +1I and +1A. He may not be the general and any friendly unit/model with 6" takes tests at -1LD. Make your guy a chaos lord/exalted hero without the strength, toughness or armour in exchange for making his unit and all units near him more likely to break from a fluffed round of combat. He can't be the general either. It can work (namely on a paladin on a pegasus), but in most cases it's a pass.
Virtue of the Impetuous Knight (35pts):
Adds +D6" to the first charge the knight or his unit make. Not a bad choice, not bad at all. Remember, if you don't get the charge, you're probably fucked, so anything that helps you get the charge is good. If your opponent moves up turn 1, this could help you get a Turn 1 Charge, which is always funny.
Virtue of Audacity (30pts):
May re-roll hits and wounds against any enemy with a higher strength than the knight. Since the base Strength for a Bretonnian Hero/Lord is 4, this is only going to be worthwhile against Monsters and really nasty units (you wouldn't even get it against most Monstrous Infantry). That said, it works wonders against many lord-level characters that would otherwise give you trouble: chaos, lizardmen and vampires mostly, as well as dragon-mounted elves. Don't expect it to be of use every game, but it can be a lifesaver.
Virtue of Duty (30pts):
As long as the general is alive, the model adds +1 to the combat res' of any fight he is a part of (cannot be taken by a general). Once you've gotten the charge, you need to break the enemy and a free point of static CR (as long as your general is breathing) is always worth 30 points. That said, giving your paladin a better weapon so he inflicts more casualties usually does the same.
Virtue of the Joust (25pts):
The Knight can re-roll failed rolls to hit when charging and using a lance (incl. magic lances). Decent choice and not too pricey, can be combined with items like the lance of artois to make your charge more deadly. The thing is, Bretonnia needs help AFTER the charge, so you have better choices out there.
Virtue of Confidence (25pts):
The Knight must always issue challenges and accept them if possible. In a challenge, he may re-roll all failed to hit and wound rolls. Challenges are a place where Bretonnian Lords/Heroes need improvement, but I can really see this one coming back to bite you when you end up in combat with a Tyrant kitted out for Bloodthirster. Or waste all your lord's attacks on a champion that keeps coming back thanks to healing magic. It can be excellent, but it can also be exploited by some armies. The problem tends to be that in friendly games your opponent knows he can exploit you. In non-friendly games challenge heroes will murder the shit out of your lord and use his ribcage as an attractive toast rack. That makes paying anything for a challenge specific (and double edged) bonus has a hard time justifying it's cost.
Virtue of Noble Disdain (20pts):
Knight hates all enemies using missile weapons (incl. warmachines). Any unit he joins, ignores panic tests caused by suffering 25% casualties (incl. shooting, magic etc.). Good for a Paladin on Pegasus who you want to go War Machine/Shooting Unit hunting.
Virtue of Purity (20pts):
The knight always starts with the blessing and always gets a 5++ ward no matter the strength of the attack. Well it's paying 20 points to up his Ward save from 6+ to 5+. Probably not worth it. Alternate take: Considering the fact that other armies have to pay 30pts. for a 5+ ward (ie the talisman of endurance) this isn't that bad. If you're playing a smaller game this could be worth while if you have 20pts. to spare. This is also pretty good if you're not planning on praying.
Virtue of Discipline (15pts):
As per the FAQ. THIS CANNOT BE TAKEN IN 8TH EDITION
Virtue of Empathy (10pts):
Knight may be fielded on foot. In addition, peasants can use his leadership if they are within 12" rather than 6". Very questionable. You never want a paladin on foot: their stats are just too crappy and they will become free points for the enemy without the 2 extra armour from being on a horse. So the only reason you'd take it is if you want to help peasants who are away from the General or BSB (who both have 12 range to their abilities already). That basically means it will only find use helping archers/trebs who are dead if they get sneezed at anyway.
Alternate Take: One way I have seen this ability used effectively is to grab it for the army's standard bearer, shove him in a gigantic nest of Men-At-Arms, and give him the Ruby Goblet. The result is this bizarre nightmare of an Infantry unit that for under 300 points consists of 31 models and will consistently refuse to get off a fucking terrain objective. While pricey and gimmicky, there's something to be said for a unit capable of soaking that much fire and causing that much aggravation for the enemy formation, though it depends entirely on your own army setup.
Magic Weapons:
The Silver Lance of the Blessed - 65pts:
+2 STR and if the model has the blessing, then all attacks automatically hit on the charge. Holy Lady, look at that price tag. On average, you are hitting with two more attacks while not boosting your ability to wound/ignore armour for an outrageous amount of points. Losing this item if you lose the blessing doesn't help at all either. Like the Virtue of Knightly Temper, it has some great synergy with the Savage Beast of Horros, and it is in fact more reliable as it works every turn, but for the same price you could get the aforementioned virtue and the Tress of Isoulde. Or a sword of bloodshed which would provide more damage against non-hero enemies.
Sword of the Quest - 50pts (Questing vow only):
The sword ignores armour saves. Can be used as a hand or great weapon. The mandatory "ignores armour" item of your army. It costs the same as the one in the Big Red Book, but the key here is that you can use it either as a one-handed weapon or a two-handed weapon, so it provides a good deal of versatility. An absolute joy to have against dwarven lords and the like. A Lord with this and the Gromril great helmet is equipped to deal with most things by either tanking (using a shield) or obliterating (using the weapon two handed).
Sword of the Lady's Champion - 40pts (Grail vow only):
The user always counts their strength as 1 higher than the opponents toughness. This increase, counts towards armour modifiers. An alternative to the virtue of heroism. Instead of being an all or nothing deal, this weapon allows you to reliably wound everything, so it can be used along with a knight charge or a trebuchet shot to deal with the most resilient monsters. Unlike the virtue of heroism, it is of little use against common soldiers (even against dwarves it's just an overpriced sword of might), and most lords immune to killing blow will blast you to kingdom come if you don't have a weapon specifically made to kill them (tip: this one ain't it). A decent weapon for dealing with monsters and very tough characters and while it can be better than the virtue of heroism in very specific instances, it's not as good overall.
Sword of Heroes - 35pts:
Against enemies with a T5 or greater, the bearer gets +1 Str and each unsaved wound becomes D3. Hmpf. Your third and final choice for dealing with high-toughness enemies and not nearly as good as the others. While it can be hilarious against T5 characters if the lady is on your side (as instant kills always are), not only does it not help against most enemies (like the other two do), but it is nigh-useless against really tough monsters. With the savage beast of horros or even a modest potion of strength you may very well kill even a star dragon in one turn of fighting. The problem is that unlike the virtue of heroism, there may be many games in which it will do nothing (even the sword of the lady's champion is nearly guaranteed to give you at least +1S in near every battle).
The Heartwood Lance 35pts:
Bearer gets the normal +2 Str on the charge and can re-roll failed to wound rolls. Decent choice, makes your lord more deadly on the charge for a decent price, especially if coupled with items or virtues that allow him to hit more often. That said, during the charge against the rank and file, and even most characters, the cuirass of fortune does the same for a lower price, so this is only a better alternative in subsequent rounds of combat (when you are unlikely to wound on a 2+) or against tougher enemies. Works nicely with the virtue of heroism, if you don't mind skipping on defense.
Birth-sword of Carcassonne - 35pts:
Bearer gets +1 Str and opponents must re-roll successful armour saves. An all-around good choice. The extra strength is always welcome after the charge and the armor save reroll is not too bad either. Of course, if you know the enemy will only have 5+ armor saves, you are better off buying a sword of might or the like, but if you are running an all-comers list this is a good item to take, if only to help against characters who will likely have a decent (and possibly rerollable) save.
Morning Star of Fracasse - 25pts:
Bearer gets +2 Str in the first round of combat. If you opponent has a magic weapon, roll a D6 for each hit and on a 4+ the weapon is destroyed. A personal favourite and an absolute must when dealing with many enemy lords. Since your lords and paladins have a pretty good armor save and a ward save on top of that, usually the biggest threats against them are magic weapons that ignore armor or offer killing blow, and you can nulify these (usually much more expensive) items for only 25 points. The +2S in the first round of combat is always welcome too, since it works even if you are charged. Just make sure that you either strike first (hint potion of speed hint) or that the enemy character cannot kill you in round 1 (yeah, some of them can do that if you don't take care in with your defense/buff your character with magic).
The Lance of Artois - 25pts:
Bearer gets the normal +2 Str on the charge. In addition they get Killing Blow (KB). Killing blow on the charge for only 25 points. Works best if you have multiple attacks obviously and if you can reroll misses (hint virtue of the joust hint). Same problem as all items that are useful only during charges. Really not much else to say.
The Wyrmlance - 20pts:
The bearer gets +2 Str on the charge (that counts as flaming). It also grants a one use S3 breath weapon (that can't be used in combat). It is a cheap source of a breath weapon that, sadly, cannot be used in close combat. However, it can work great in either a paladin on a pegasus or your battle standard bearer (who cannot take mundane lances, or any magic items if they take a magic banner) to mess regenerating units up: as long as he gets one wound in, the other knights, who strike later, will ignore regeneration as well.
Magic Armour:
Gilded Cuirass - 55pts (Grail vow only):
Heavy armour that grants a 4+ Regeneration. You have to pay a bit more than most of those who have an equivalent item in their armies. Since regeneration no longer stacks with ward saves, ignore this and skip right ahead to the grail shield.
Armour of the Midsummer Sun - 45pts:
Heavy armour that imposes a -1 to hit with missile weapons and in combat. Way too expensive on the average lord or paladin. That said, if you plan on taking a monstrous mount for some reason (there is no reasoning with you, is there, you just want to field that hyppogryph), THEN it becomes worth its points, as it will help protect your mount too.
Edit: This won't impact cannons, stone throwers and there is an argument that war machines that use BS to hit won't be impacted by this armour.
The Grail Shield - 35pts (Grail vow only):
A shield that combines with other armour as normal. The ward from the blessing increases to 4+ against attacks of ANY strength. Upgrades your ward save to 4+ against all attacks for a very good price. If you want to boost your general defense, this (and the item we will get to next) are your best choices. There are two problems though: first, your save is already 5+ base against most powerful attacks (so you are paying for a somewhat small upgrade), and second, you have to take the grail vow, which does not cost against magic items points but does mean two less knights in the army.
Gromril Great Helm - 30pts:
Adds +1 to your armour save and allows re-rolls of failed armour saves. One of the best items in your armory, period. It allows you to have two characters with rerollable armor saves. Combine it with the crown of command and enjoy your enemy's tears. If you take this and the Morningstar of Fracasse you can hold characters on dragons for the whole game (especially if there's someone with the lore of life nearby) and even kill them if you take the virtue of heroism.
Armour of Agilulf - 25pts:
Heavy armour and a shield (grants a 4+ save). It also grants WS10 to the wearer. An interesting item. Most enemy combat character will hit you on a 3+ while you hit them on a 4+. Now you've turned the tables around. You've also made yourself more resistant to melee attacks of non-elite infantry and cavalry (and heck, even some monsters). And for a low price too. Essentially, a compromise between offense and defense, don't expect it to be as good at deflecting blows as the gromril helmet, but in exchange it will help you kill things dead. As a side note, the Armour of Agilulf is far more useful when used on a paladin.
NOTE: a BSB CAN take this armour as in 8th, as you don't need to be able to take a mundane armour item in order to take a magic armour item. This is a previous edition restriction.
Cuirass of Fortune - 20pts:
Heavy armour that allows the wearer to re-roll wound rolls of 1. Pretty good. It's cheap, and on the charge it's basically a reroll failed wounds. Really, the only reason this item doesn't shine is Bretonnia has other very good choices in this category.
Orcbane Shield - 15pts:
A shield that causes any orc and goblin unit within 12" to fail their animosity test on a 1-2 instead of a 1. Take it if you are facing orcs, don't take it otherwise. Simple, no?
Talismans:
Sirienne's Locket - 55pts (Lord only):
The bearer can only suffer one wound in any one phase from a non magical attack. Lords only. Far too expensive. It seems like a good idea, but really the gromril great helm would do the same or better in 90% of the cases. The only way this thing can justify its points is if you decide to have your lord parade alone in front of a cannon to take shots instead of your unit. And even then, your opponent will fall for it exactly once, so you are saving at most two knights... which are cheaper than this item.
Token of the Damsel - 35pts (Lord or Paladin only - one use):
Against the first wound suffered, the bearer gains a 2++ ward. One Use Only. Meh. Can help you against a cannon ball or something, but are you really willing to spend 35 points to prevent the first wounding hit before knowing if your armor or regular ward save would remove it anyway?
Insignia of the Quest - 30pts (Questing vow only):
Grants a 3++ ward save as soon as you hit 1 wound. For 30 points? Hell yes! Also, nothing prevents you from healing those wounds afterwards. The only problem here is that it requires the questing vow, which prevents the use of lances, but otherwise this is a great item. This is one of the few items that actually works better on a paladin, as he will reach the 1 wound faster and your lord will likely want less risky (although not as balls-out powerful) defensive items.
Braid of Bordeleaux - 25pts (one use):
One use only. When activated, the bearer increases his LD by 1 until the start of the players next turn. In additional the bearer and his unit can move across any river, marsh, lake (or other water feature) without penalty and will benefit from soft cover whilst in it. Too situational to be recommended. It can help you get a charge you otherwise wouldn't be able to (and if you charge a ranged unit they will have a hard time hitting you if they stand and shoot) and the bonus leadership can be handy. But, again, too situational.
Dragon's Claw - 25pts:
The bearer gains a 5+ ward against any strength attack and also a 2++ ward vs flaming attacks. Like the virtue of purity, only for 5 more points you also get immunity to fire. This one might actually be worth it if you don't have anything else to spend your points on (how did you do that?) due to the amount of breath weapons and flaming attacks in this edition. FAQ states it no longer grants immunity, but a 2++ ward save vs flaming attacks. The dragon helm in the book is 15 pts cheaper, grants extra armor, and doesn't lose effectiveness if you lose the blessing. So unless you really love virtue of purity, skip this.
Mantle of Damsel Elena - 20pts:
Poisoned attacks do not wound automatically against the bearer and the special rules for Killing blow have no effect on the bearer either. The Morningstar of Fracasse usually does the same and then some for only five points more (edit: not sure about this statement as quite a few KB rules are on the units/characters not weapons). The Mantle does protect you against the few killing blows that don't come from magic weapons and from poison, so it's not a bad item by any stretch (it costs about as much as items that grant immunity to killing blow in other armies). The problem is that it will not make your defense by itself and may leave you with too few points to spend on offense, but it's always fun to have a lord hold a horde of grave guard or bloodthirsters for a game.
Enchanted Items:
Falcon-horn of Fredemund - 45pts (One use):
One use only. Until the start of the bearers next turn, no enemy unit may fly. Another one of those "what were they thinking?" expensive items. Now, it is true that flyers are faster than your knights, but remember that they are usually either too weak to deal with our knights or, if they are too strong (think star dragon), they are incapable of breaking you since you are steadfast and will have something akin to a 5+/5++ save. Not to mention you have the virtue of the impetuous knight, which is cheaper and works against non-flyers. This is not to say this is not a solid choice if you have points floating around and it can really mess an opponent's plans, but never take a hero just for this item. (The Horn made more sense back when the army book was written, at that time all fliers moved 20 inches instead of 10, but couldn't march, and as charging wasn't randomised then they could pull of 20 inch charges. Then add in that most fliers had infantry level ground movement and you can kind of see where they were coming from. Still very situational even then). Edit: Also expect some git like opponent to argue it says 'unit' so doesn't impact his unkillable disc rider.
Holy Icon - 40pts:
Gives Magic Resistance (3). No. If you want protection from hostile magic, get one more damsel, as this item is far too expensive. A paladin with this costs almost as much as 6 (!) errant knights while having far less hitting power and sustainability. That leaves the lord, since he has a higher budget. So now you have a lord more resistant to magic, except you'll likely have to keep him out of combat against serious opposition (even some combat heroes) since he just spent half of his magic item points on this item. And we are not even taking into account how nerfed magic resistant got this edition. So no, avoid like the plague. Considering the fact that the paladin is a mandatory "choice" and you WILL be taking one regardless, the holy icon really only costs as much as 2 knights errant, not 6. The holy icon is also much cheaper then taking an extra damsel (30 points cheaper in fact). It's not the best enchanted item out there, but it can be useful.
The Ruby Goblet - 30pts:
Takes effect from the first magic phase after the bearer, or his unit, take a wound. From that moment on, the bearer and any unit he is in, cannot be wounded on better than a 3+ from non-magical sources. A potentially interesting item. Since your knights have elven toughness this item is more useful than it would be for, say, chaos, but it is held back by the fact that it requires you to lose models for it to take effect (although you can always use regrowth later). This means that it would only get its points back in a very large lance or in a unit of men at arms, but unlike the prayer icon of quenelles, in order to get the benefit on the unit the damsel would have to follow the unit to combat, which will likely lead to painful results for you. On the other hand, it can be used to troll gunline armies and turn the tide against great weapon wielding units.
Mane of the Purebreed - 25pts (One use):
One use only. Confers +1 Str to the bearers horse and the horses in the bearers unit the first time they charge. You know you are playing Bretonnia when you have an item that boosts not your soldiers but your horses. This is an interesting item. In a typical lance against most infantry, this item will on average get you one or two kills. This is not enough to earn its points back, but the edge in combat resolution may be what you need... assuming you are able to remove steadfast in a single charge, which will not likely happen unless the unit in question is of Grail Knights or a 12-15 men lance. Thus, it competes with the more reliable virtue of duty, and should only be taken in the two cases above.
Edit: If you take this, consider having the Virtue of the Impetuous Knight in the unit as by the wording, you don't get to choose when to use this and if you fail the charge, you will have wasted the points.
Antlers of the Great Hunt - 25pts (Lord or Paladin only):
The Lord or Paladin (and his unit) may roll an extra dice when pursuing and choose the highest 3 (two if on foot). Not really needed, you can usually catch enemy infantry anyway and if you need to use this to catch enemy cavalry you have to consider if you are not getting too far away from the main battle line. Not a terrible choice, but you can do better.
Tress of Isoulde 20pts (One use):
One use only: Nominate one enemy model at the beginning of any close combat. The bearer hits that model on a 2+ regardless of any other modifiers. Fun little item. Since Bretonnian WS is not very high, you will hit most characters on a 4+, so for 20 points you are basically doubling your hits for one turn. As mentioned before, it combines well with the virtue of knightly temper against a single target (whatever it is you are targeting, 4 hits at S6 that generate additional hits BEFORE SAVES will hurt). While it only works for one turn, it does not have restrictions like the virtue of the joust and the virtue of confidence (which basically do the same in certain conditions), so whether you take it or not is a matter of preference (and if you have not used those up in another character). Extra points if your unit has the razor standard (Bye bye monster/any lord without a 3+ ward save).
Gauntlet of the Duel - 10pts:
Interesting item combined with the virtue of confidence. While this seems like a pretty fun combo, the problem with it (and to expand a bit on the aforementioned virtue) is that not only can you get stuck facing a big bad while the rest of your unit does nothing, but you have no control on who accepts the challenge. If the unit has a champion, well you just wasted your uber lord/paladin's charge killing a miserable champion. This is extra fun if your opponent can restore wounds to the unit. It can be put to great use, just don't count on it to always work.
Arcane Items:
Silver Mirror - 40pts:
Works in the same way as the dispel scroll. In addition, the enemy wizard who cast the spell suffers a Str 6 hit. Like the feedback scroll, only better (unless a truly enormous amount of dice were used, and even then this item has the advantage of dispelling besides dealing damage). Sadly, you cannot take two to troll your opponent, but this is a great item as long as you have some way of dealing the remaining one or two wounds (a trebuchet, archers or yes, a feedback scroll). If you do not, then this item is still useful to have two auto-dispels per game, which can really ruin the day for some armies (a vampire player who is suddenly unable to resurrect a single warrior for a turn may well have to rethink his game plan and force his hand).
Sacrament of the Lady - 40pts:
As per the FAQ. THIS CANNOT BE TAKEN IN 8TH EDITION
The Verdant Heart - 40pts:
Any wood the bearer is in, counts as difficult terrain for any enemy model. In addition, the bearer gains +1 to cast spells from the lore of life. A fun item, but sadly very expensive. Our FAQ says it only effects enemies now, so that's a plus (it would be kinda ridiculous otherwise) and in the right circumstances can be a real thorn on your opponent's side (is he really willing to risk a unit to kill a bunch of archers with a damsel/prophetess? And, if he is, isn't that an advantage for you?). The +1 to lore of life spells is fun too. But again, it costs a lot and requires the terrain to be in your favor, but it can make your bunker all the more fun.
Prayer Icon of Quenelles - 25pts (one use):
One use only. Can be revealed at any time. The bearer and the unit they are with, immediately gains the blessing of the lady. This can allow a unit that has lost it to regain it. The good stuff. Have you ever wanted to turn your men at arms into a true combat unit? Then this is where you should go. As long as you have a big enough unit (why yes, even horde), they WILL hold anything with 5 or more strength. Since they will survive long enough to attack back, they will also hurt whatever bastard dares to attack them (never underestimate an absurd amount of S4 attacks). A very, very solid item for a good price. They also become better at dealing with lots of low S attacks, but in this case you should take spears instead and the item isn't as effective (6+ instead of a 5+ save), but remains decent. Edit: The secondary effect of allowing a unit to regain the blessing is often ignored. Admittedly this would be very conditional but could be useful if the unit had fled or a character refused a challenge.
Chalice of Malfleur - 20pts:
In an enemy magic phase the bearer rolls a D6. On a 1 they suffer a wound, with no saves allowed (incl. wards), on a 2-6, they gain an additional dispel dice. The roulette of dispel. While it does not guarantee a dispel like the scroll does, it works every turn, so it has the potential of being far more useful for a lower price. It also has the potential to kill you. So yeah, take this if you are confident the Lady will be with you. (Edit: if you take lore of life, you can just heal this back up every turn).
Potion Sacre - 10pts (One use):
One use only. This is used before rolling to cast or dispel a spell. After rolling, the player may add +1 to the result of one dice. This may cause irresistible force or prevent a miscast.. Cheap, and you can never argue with cheap, can you? Since it can no longer prevent a miscast, it is not as high a priority as it once was. Still, the chance to turn a normal spell into an irresistible force (or a failed spell into a successful cast) is very good, even if you can do it only once per game. Take it if you can spare the points.
Magic Banners:
Banner of the Lady - 100pts:
Any unit in base contact with the unit does not combat bonus for ranks. Too expensive. +3 (at best) bonus in combat resolution is not worth 100 points especially since it does not remove steadfast. It might be fun from time to time in friendly games but should be avoided in tournament lists.
Valorous Standard - 50pts:
The unit rolls 3D6 for all leadership tests (discarding the highest). Don't bother. It's too expensive and you already have good leadership: just keep your units near your bsb and you will do fine.
Banner of Defense - 30pts:
Models with the blessing gain a 4+ ward against all missiles (including magic) with a Str of 5 or over. Not a bad choice for a unit of Grail Knights, or for your Battle Standard Bearer if you don't have any Grail Knights. Artillery is a big threat to knights even with the blessing and anything you can do to lessen its danger until you charge is welcome. The problem is that you already have a 5+ save against artillery, and against magic missiles you're better of getting a damsel. Still, far from terrible.
Twilight Banner - 25pts:
One use only. Can only be used in the remaining moves segment (so not when a unit charges). The unit can move through any terrain piece (impassable or not), as long as it finishes its move clear of the impassable terrain. No, not a statement that you love horrible movies and books. It is, in fact, a rather nasty banner that will catch many players by surprise: few people expect twelve knights to go through impassible terrain and right into their army's flank. If you have the spare points, take it.
Conqueror's Tapestry - 25pts:
For every standard captured by the unit carrying this standard, you get double victory points. If this standard is captured, the opponent gets 50pts not 25pts. For its cost this is a great banner, and on a unit of grail knights it can really help you get the extra edge you need to win. Still, banners that actually help you win combat take precedence.
Errantry Banner - 20pts (Knights Errant only):
All Knights Errant in this unit get +1 Str on the charge but also suffer -2 to LD on all impetuous tests. If you take knights errant and don't take this, you are doing it wrong. True, their initiative is not great, their WS is not great, but their high armor and the blessing and the lance formation (which ensures low frontage) means that at least a few knights will get in S6 attacks. That's enough to ignore the armour of most infantry and wound on a 2+. A must have.
Banner of Châlons - 10pts:
The enenmy cannot stand and shoot against a unit carrying this standard. For its price it is incredibly effective, as it will help stop armor piercing ranged weapons and if you save even one knight you are earning your points back. Another recommended choice.
BRB Magic items
I won't cover these here. Just note that some of these are listed in the Bretonnian Army book and as such some cost more and some cost less than the BRB and you have to use the points value in the Army book (An example is the Enchanted Shield is 10pts in the AB vs 5pts in the BRB).
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:32:27 GMT
POST 9 - Army Construction and Deployment
ARMY CONSTRUCTION
So now that you have a decent idea of the uses of your units, let's look at creating an army list.
The first things that are needed are: a unit of Knights of the Realm, a general and the Battle Standard Bearer. I like to kick things off with a unit of 9 Knights of the realm, 8 if you plan to have a mounted character join them with full command. It is a very balanced unit that will be able to cover for anything.
The others depend on the point level of the game. I personally recommend a lord for your general if at all possible. The extra leadership goes a long way. A BSB is a standard and was already covered in the characters section. Once you have decided on the characters you should also have a bodyguard for them. The key thing is to keep the bodyguard consistent with the characters ability. You don't want a combat lord wasting his talents in a unit that is often fighting fire support units as an example. And you don't want your pricey wizard in a suicide unit.
When creating an all comers army list you should bring a counter to everything that is dangerous to our knights. Consider the big things that may be everywhere. Warmachines, Fast enemies, Powerful magic, powerful infantry blocks, Monsters and ranged units. These are the big things that our army should be prepared to deal with. Keep in mind that some may already be countered by the characters and their bodyguards.
Try to keep a decent balance between dealing with all the threats. You don't need to go overboard to prepare for them just make sure you have what you deem to be enough. You can only learn what is enough by experience. Do you need a unit for thing? Not really, several things can pull double duty. Pegasus knights for example can deal with ranged units and war machines. Be prepared however since defeating your counters is often your enemies top priorities. For Pegasus Knights again, warmachines and shooting units often try to take them out before they can do their damage. So be prepared for that, either by redundancy or by support.
Once you have prepared units to deal with the threats mentioned then you must put some extra so you can play all phases of the game. Make sure you can Shoot, cast Magic and Fight. Often this is already taken care of by preparing to fight the previous things but in case it's not you should make sure that every aspect can be played. I also recommend a bit of a balance too. If you put too much into any one category you risk losing simply because what you face negates that category. Spread your points around some, it doesn't have to be an even split but keep it active enough to participate. I use about a: 60% combat, 20% shooting and 20% magic support, spread. This lets me have enough shooting to be effective, enough magic to be effective, and enough combat to hopefully crush the things that pop up.
If you have an overarching plan then every unit should play into that plan. Use any extra points you have left to make your army work better. As an example, Many units perform best when they can be deployed after seeing the foes deployment. To help see others deployment you could take several small archer units and place them first. This also boosts your shooting ability. Pulling double duty is always welcomed.
Every unit should be able to contribute something to the overall battle plan. This doesn't mean that it will contribute a lot to every battle just that it could contribute. For example peasant bowmen seldom deal much damage to warriors of chaos. This doesn't mean that I should never take them in an all comers list because as a counter they deal a decent amount of damage to high elves. Since they may be less than stellar in one match make sure the lack of action won't lose you the game. This is done by versatility, double duty, and not letting any single unit get too expensive.
You should note that there is a lot of freedom in creating an army list. This is because as long as you follow a few simple rules you can take anything you'd like. In fact take any unit that you find works well for you. Sometimes having experience with a unit is more important than anything else. There are still some basics but don't be afraid to break them if you must. The basic rules in essence are:
Cover your weaknesses,
Play all phases of the game,
Don't let anything get too expensive,
Don't pin your hopes on one unit,
and have a plan going in.
Deployment
Tactics for deployment are believe it or not just as important as tactics for any other aspect of the game. By seeing where your foe wishes to go and where he places certain units one can determine his battle plan and be prepared to counter it. Interestingly enough there are only a few different battle plans that can be used, all of which are easy to determine.
The first is the most obvious and usually only used by either small but powerful armies or rookies. This tactic is best described as the CHARGE!!! Tactic. Though I personally like to refer to it as the Waaagh! tactic because it is very orky. In essence they line up across the table and double time it as fast as they can across to hit you in the middle of your lines. Break it and just try to fight everything nearby. The key to seeing if your foe is doing this is if his most powerful units are placed in the middle of the enemy army. To counter this you can flank around him and avoid the potent unit in the center while killing the rest of his army. Whittle down his giant unit because that's what he is counting on to win the game.
The second is often called the hammer and anvil. It is in essence attack by a flank. It even doubles as a flank denial at times. This is common for armies that have decent powerful infantry while cav are expensive yet powerful. A large unit is deployed centrally that is designed to hold you up while faster or more powerful units sweep your flanks in. This works best if there is a weak flank so if you suspect your foe of doing this deploy a worthy counter unit to the flank or deploy anything valuable on the opposite flank. Characteristics of this tactic is a stubborn or tough unit in the center with either fast or heavy hitting units on one flank.
The third is a double flank threat. It is very similar to the hammer and anvil except fast or powerful units are deployed on each flank. This threatens to envelop you while the center simply holds. Fast units sweep your backline of support while the heavier units collapse your flanks. This is characteristic of armies that have ready access to powerful cav, and mediocre horde infantry (sound familiar? It should) It is on occasion preformed by pure infantry with hard hitting units on the flank and tough units in center. To defeat this you can either match them strength for strength, block a flank and overwhelm one side, or even risk punching through the likely weak center. A Symmetrical deployment is a common characteristic of this tactic. Tough in center, power on edges.
The fourth and final is the castle. This blatantly says "Here we are, we out gun you and will shoot you dead enough so we can fight you when you get here". This tactic is typical of dwarfs and other armies with an abundance of warmachines, shooting or occasionally magic. First off... I hate this tactic, it generally turns out to be a boring game of "How many made it in to combat?". There are two ways to deal with this tactic, the first is try and outrange them. Our missile weapons have a very long range, greater than the handguns which is the typical thing that would worry our knights. The other tactic is just get in there as fast as possible and have all of them hit in one weaker area. If you're in combat then they are not shooting at you. You can tell this tactic because they will deploy in a half circle around their warmachines, or a line if it's just plain shooting.
Now that we know what we are up against which ones work well for us? The answer is all but the last one. A well balanced Bretonnian army can play the triple threat of all three decent aggressive tactics. An interesting thing is that what defines our basic knights the most is a joined character. Characters are joined last giving us the ability adapt to the battlefield at the very end. Do you want that stubborn guy in the middle to anchor things? Or as a flank denial? Well you often get to pick at the end.
The biggest thing about deployment is forcing your opponent reveal his plan before you reveal yours. This gives you the advantage of being able to create favorable matchups or overwhelm a certain part of his army. Of course he is often trying to do the same to you. This is why certain cheap units are taken, peasant bowmen for us, so we have a chance to figure out what they're doing because of this I recommend never placing first if possible. Let your foe place first if you win the roll off. Since we pray to the lady there is no bonus for placing the army first. Watch and prepare to counter them.
Since determining strategy is such a big thing placing your biggest most powerful unit as soon as possible is more likely to give away your plan and ruin your day. Keep your own plan as hidden as possible for as long as possible, the less your foe knows about your plan the more likely he is to make a placing mistake and grant you the advantage. I often deploy everything else before I deploy a single knight unit. This includes trebuchets and M@A (Which I tend to place in the center due to its staying power). The days of riding forth and right through an enemy are gone, adapt by finding weak points that you can hammer through. These are found in the deployment so it is important to get it right.
If you don't get the chance to see their deployment prepare yourself for a quick response deployment. Our knights are fast enough to redeploy on the first turn if placed close together. It gives you a weakness to template weapons but after the redeploy you should have enough space so that it doesn't hurt too badly. Whatever you do don't deploy so that's it obvious what you're doing unless you plan to use the incredible speed of the knights to redeploy. This can change an attack by right flank that he is expecting to an attack by left flank where he is weak. This is why I deploy cheap bowmen first. They are cheap and reasonably effective wherever I place them so it reveal little about my plan while I get to see his plan.
And being able to redeploy quickly is our greatest strength in the deployment phase no one quite knows where we will be striking and as such must defend all flanks. That is nearly impossible to be effective if you throw your full might against one side. Keep this in mind when you deploy, most other armies are infantry based and as so can't keep up.
The next important thing to consider is your battle line. This is the line that defines where your effective control of the battlefield is. If this breaks you may be in serious trouble so keep it consistent. A nice fluid line that shows where you have control is ideal. If your battle line begins to look like a circle that's called collapsing the battle line and is generally bad to have happen.
With Bretonnia one of my favourite tricks is to have 2 battle lines. One on each flank. They work separately to try and force a foes battle line to break. It is dangerous if they try to totally engage one side but often they can't afford to ignore the other side. If our army wasn't as fast I would not recommend this tactic because we often need the speed to avoid dangerous things that half our strength can't deal with.
Obviously I can't give any solid advice on a phase that depends mostly on your opponent but I will say have a plan of your own going in. Place following that plan until it is determined that your plan will not work, hopefully this happens before the end of the deployment.
I myself run a heavy double flank attack going in. Grail knights on one flank, two KOTR on the other. My general with his KOTR and M@A in the middle, With the general closer to the knights he gets a leadership spread and doubles up with the BSB in a KOTR unit. Though those often switch due to enemy placement. I find it surprisingly effective, since he usually only has one unit that can deal with a knight charge and they tend to wish to fight the grails which leaves my other strong flank the ability to sweep right through. If he charges forward M@A rank up for steadfast and with the BSB and general nearby they are not going anywhere. Leaving the rest of my army time to mop up or weaken the dangerous units with range. It hasn't failed me yet and I doubt it will since if it looks like it won't work I change it, since I have the multiple bowmen units I usually get to see the enemy plan.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:32:42 GMT
POST 10 - Opening Tactics
OPENING TACTICS
The battle is often broken down into 3 distinct sections. The first is the opening. This consists of usually turn 1 and 2. This is where we force weaknesses and inflict damage to make difficult units killable. I shall break down each section based upon the 4 major aspects of Warhammer. Movement, Magic, Shooting and Combat. Keep in mind that most of the opening is simply determining what can be killed by what and getting the correct units into place. A lot of this is determined by your deployment. Good deployment leads to a good opening.
Opening Movement
The opening movement phase generally consists of moving around to weaker spots getting units to where they are most needed. As well as faster units trying to get in to combat to eliminate different threats. In the opening phases move your knights around to locate weaknesses in formation. Stack the forces in your favor on one side, get favorable matchups. This is also when we must also eliminate fast units that threaten our back lines while our fast units try to eliminate enemy back lines.
This first turns also reveals the plans that were put into place during the deployment. If you were able to correctly predict and counter deploy to the enemies strategy then you have the advantage. Press the attack on the advantage you've gained. Hit the weak spot quickly and with great force. Don't ever over extend yourself and keep a fluid battle line. Force him to react to you if you have the advantage in movement.
If you were not able to deploy to create a weakness and instead have a disadvantage yourself you must quickly remedy that. Use the great movement to redeploy correctly to counter the situation and don't worry about how silly the movements may look. I've had crisscrossing knights before and it worked out well enough at the end. Point is make sure you've matched your rock with his scissors before you consider going on the offensive. Better to wait a turn and enter combat prepared then to enter early and lose a flank later on.
At the end of turn 2 you should have your plan put into action with no backing out. Your fate will be sealed after the opening so treat it seriously. Very seriously.
As an important note if you successfully defend your back lines and fire support from the enemy fast units then a great luxury is now yours. You now out gun your foe. This is the goal of opening movement battles. Have more fire support than your foe. If you are unlikely to achieve this then consider getting into combat quickly. This is often the case when the foe castles in the corner. Against the average opponent combat should not be needed this early and it is often desirable to avoid it on a large scale for a while.
While the bulk of your forces have their future determined by your plan keep your fast anti-support units like Pegasus knights and Mounted yeoman in mind. It is their goal to help you achieve having a greater fire support base. Obvious targets are war machines and ranged units but do not forget the wizards.
When determining targets for your anti support units make sure you determine a valid threat level. A threat level determines what you would sacrifice to destroy the enemy unit. An archer unit is a low threat and usually I don't even have to deal with it, a cannon is a moderate threat, I would certainly risk my pegasus to destroy them. A level 4 mage may well swing the battle in his favor and I would sacrifice a whole knight unit to eliminate them quickly. Once you have determined the threat, act upon it. Destroy high level targets first and quickly, moderate are as soon as reasonably possible and low are when you get around to it.
In movement you must respond to these threats as they arise. The biggest threats to neutralize in the opening are things that have either powerful shooting or magic. Eliminate these threats quickly and the game will become yours. Also keep your advantage pressed if you have one don't let up the pressure if you have an advantage and eliminate enemy fire support. These should be your main goals of the opening movement.
Magic
Magic for Bretonnia in the opening tends to be long range damage spells. Buffs are not as important is dealing damage here. As such the main thing is target priority.
Light magic missiles are best targeted at fast enemy units and enemy fire support. You are trying to eliminate entire units to further protect your fire support base. If you can kill a whole unit near others do so and aim for panic checks in nearby units. Multiple light missiles is one way to use the early magic phase. Also consider some remains in play spells.
Heavy magic attack spells should best be targeted at large units. If you have the dwellers below try to target units that have characters, especially wizards. They may very well die to it. It is also a reasonable risk to attempt irresistible force for such powerful spells. Especially if you are casting from the lore of life since you can heal your wounds later on. Be wary if you suspect your foe of having a feedback scroll.
A lot of early magic is trying to determine who is more effective in the magic phase. Can you shut them down or are they shutting you down? Since it is so early in the game you should use this time to try and pull out dispel scrolls and other one-time use magic defenses. The best was to go about doing this is using big powerful damage spells. If it goes off irresistibly then you cause damage, sometimes severe, if it doesn't and they scroll it then they are defenseless later on in the game.
Magic defense is best spent determining what you can take and what you can't. Enemy spells will be cast, just do your best to make sure that they are not devastating spells. Light missile spells and buffs you usually can safely let go. In fact if you can make them cast a buff by placement of threatening knights consider that a victory for you. If at all possible try to save any dispel scrolls you have through the opening phase. Unless it looks like you will eliminate their wizards early of course.
Personally I recommend either big spells against well armored foes or weak spells to eliminate enemy artillery or fast light units.
Shooting
Shooting functions much like the magic phase. Bowmen target light fast threatening targets to our back lines while the trebuchets target large blocks on infantry and other high priority targets. In this case it is usually better to fire the heavy weapons first.
Hopefully the threat of the trebuchet also spreads out the enemy a bit so of all the targets to consider pay special attention to the ones that stay close to other units. The more divided the enemy army the greater our army stands together. And since it stands together it can pick apart the dispersed army.
In some circumstances the biggest threats are flying monsters. Trebuchets were designed to drop these suckers. Any and every rock possible should be spent firing at flying monsters like dragons. These are the bane of our existence and should be dealt with quite quickly before they ruin our day.
However certain tactics come into play since shooting is done one unit at a time. If the aforementioned light units are taken out of the picture (or never existed) what do these units fire at? The answer is that they: try to support the combat, cause panic and eliminate.
Speaking about the last first, eliminate. Very few targets will be eliminated by bowmen alone however a Large target may be on its last wound after the trebuchet hit. It would be wasteful to spend an entire trebuchet shot at the same target so spend some bowmen. That plucky shot has downed many a giant and even a couple dragons. Finish the job with the cheap bowmen. The only other target that may be eliminated is warmachines. A 6 in the right spot means a dead crew and after a couple of volleys reduced power for the warmachine and possibly death.
Cause panic is the next one. This is simple and known to many generals already, if you can get a unit to take a panic check you might not have to worry about it anymore and it might just take a few other units with them (Skaven and gobbos anyone?) in their path to flee. Simply pick out targets that are lightly armored with few numbers. You can also fire at large units that the Treb didn't quite bring to a panic check.
Lastly support the combat. Fire to remove a rank off that unit, soften the blow, reduce the chance for steadfast. If you have a choice fire at units that will be in combat sooner than later. Hit the targets to whittle them down for the inevitable midgame damage.
Shooting is very much a situational thing. This phase you have to play by ear.
Combat
There should be a minimal of combat. Most combat is either overwhelming or delaying. Support units should be easily overwhelmed by what is sent against them. After combat you should be prepared to redirect down flanks or get to a safe area.
Overall combat is very light at this time in the game. Usually your fast units slicing through his support and your other units stopping his fast ones. A key thing to be careful of is that you don't have to pursue his fast units if you think it will put you in a disadvantageous place.
Fast stubborn units can also delay entire units to allow the rest of your army a chance to break the unit later.
Final Thoughts
The opening is where games are decided. Eliminate the greatest opening threats that you can as quickly as you can and don't be afraid to sacrifice to do it. Make sure you use speed to get the foe off balance and keep him there. This is where you must force your foe to dance to YOUR tune. If you have a strong opening the rest of the game will fall into place.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 14, 2018 6:32:57 GMT
POST 11 - Midgame Tactics
MIDGAME TACTICS
This is where serious battle is joined. You put your plan against your foes and see who comes out on top. You've done some damage, hopefully you've won the support battle, you've seen your foes plan and hopefully out maneuvered him. This is where surprises are revealed and battles are truly decided. One note is if you have won the support battle already by turn 3 there is no need to enter this phase while you still can whittle down your foes with magic and shooting while maintaining a strong position. Some games I don't enter here until turn 5 when the enemy has been shot nearly dead. Other games I can skip this phase all together and go straight to end game if I control the support lines.
Movement
Bring the lance home. Get into combat with what you can kill and avoid or hold up what you can't. This phase is often quite short and involves charging or pulling back.
If you have a unit where you want it... Kill it. Charge it. Break it. Run it down. No mercy. If you don't have a unit where it is easily killable you have a few choices. Force it, bait it, stall it, and avoid it.
Force it is just that. You charge in anyways. You may not kill it on the charge but you have the power to grind it down. Be careful with this tactic while it may grant you the victory over the unit in time, you must be careful to prevent the enemy from bringing more into the combat that could sway the tide. If you will kill them eventually and they have no support this is the tactic to use.
Bait it. You lure the unit further away from the main force so that it is isolated. Once it is without support it should be easy pickings. Make your knights retreat a step or two, try to bring the unit with you. If you fall back your foe may think that he has a chance to defeat you and follow. Once without support hit him hard and fast. The problem with this tactic is it is based on deception and your foe may not fall for it.
Stall it. You may be able to charge and inflict damage but have no chance of breaking or being broken by it. Often this is those pesky ranked up units, steadfast units. In order to prevent them from having free reign across the board you lock them in combat. Then you have a tickle fight for the rest of the game. Or until you get support to bail them out. This is best used if you are certain that you have support nearby.
Avoid it. If your foe has a deathstar unit running around that you have NO hope of breaking... Avoid it, but don't just send nothing after it. Keep a unit threatening it at a long charge range if possible. This makes your opponent think that you are just trying to whittle him down before combat (which is true) and makes him likely to advance and chase the threatening unit around. It's bait that should never be caught. It keeps his biggie out of action until you are ready for it.
That are the 4 basic things that your battle line may be doing but what about your support? Your pegasus knights have swept the back lines so now what do they do? They add things to any of the previous tactics but most likely the break it philosophy. Unsure if a unit will break if charged? Have the pegs charge in the back as support. Special mention must be made to how wonderful they are at avoiding and baiting targets. Best unit for baiting and playing cat and mouse in our army. Also they make good bail out units if they can get a rear charge.
Magic
Well when you've got your knights stuck in and are ready for the magic phase it is time to change magic tactics. Instead of just causing the damage the focus has shifted to support. Keeping our guys alive and making sure the enemy gets hit harder are now key.
I find the lore of life spells to be better in the opening but I find the lore of beasts to be better in mid game. It has superior support magic. It makes your knights hit harder and live a touch longer. Anyways your spells should be simple here. Buff and more buff.
Since the lore of beasts has such an awesome signature spell you can have more than one of them in your army. If you have this spell, spam it with as few dice as possible. Often now is not the time for a miscast. As an exception... if you have a damsel in combat... Throw the dice to try for the miscast. There's a good chance it will hurt them more than you.
After you have exhausted your buff spells check if you have any hex spells. Cast them in any combats you are worried about. It's like buffing your guys indirectly so they are useful as well.
The key thing to consider here is which support magic MUST you get off? Cast that one last with the most dice possible. If you're lucky you have drained your foes dispel dice and he can't stop it. If he is saving dice to dispel you throw a bunch of dice at it to finish things off.
As an example: I have three wizards, 2 beasts and one life. I really, REALLY, want to get off the +1 S and +1 T spell on a unit of Knights of the realm because I am worried that combat might go poorly. I first try to cast it from one beasts wizard at bare minimum needed for it to go off since they both know this spell it's safe to try this. It's me testing to see if he views the combat the same way. He throws his dice to dispel it. I realize that he considers this combat iffy as well and wants to help his unit survive. I have enough dice remaining to try and cast about 2 more spells, say 6. I try to cast flesh to stone on two dice. I am testing to see if he will dispel this so his damage is greater against me. If he throws dice at it, I have more dice to cast my final spell than he has to dispel. If he doesn't I have at least one buff off and a legitimate chance of casting the second one with 4 dice.
That's just an example of how this magic phase is a struggle to get the vital spell off where it is needed.
Shooting
Your targets have now become either units that are being baited or avoided. Preferably the later. Honestly with the amount of combat that should be going on you have very little targets.
Aim at units that are too powerful and that you are avoiding. If you are unable to do that generally the best thing is to shoot at valid targets. Even the Trebuchet. Special mention must be made of the ability to drop units to 25% or below. If you have that chance jump on it. They only rally on snake eyes at 25% so they are effectively killed.
Your shooting phases are likely to be light or nonexistent. Don't fret they should have done their job already and they'll get targets soon.
Combat
Here is the meat of what you will be doing. Since this is a subset of the movement phase it is likely that most of combat is just running itself. In fact there are only two aspects of combat that you can control. Directing attacks at characters and challenges.
Allow me to draw a distinction between characters. Soft, medium and hard. Soft characters are ones that will not do much to you and are easy to kill, like wizards. Medium have threat potential but not great and mediocre armor, I put Battle standard bearers here usually. Hard are just that. They will inflict damage and it will be tough to penetrate the armor.
I only recommend directing attacks at soft and sometimes medium characters. Avoid hard characters unless you can punch through his armor with your character. Wizards are great squishy things that you want dead, feel free to direct any attacks at them and similar characters. Medium characters deserve attacks on the charge and from your own characters. You need that boost of strength to puncture armor usually. if you can drop a BSB that's a great help to you. Of course directing attacks may come at the price of inflicting less wounds on the unit. Less wounds means less likely to break. If you are close to removing steadfast and the character doesn't confer stubborn then ignore him. Kill his unit and make him test on snake eyes. Soft characters are the exception since they often are very easy to hurt, only direct enough attacks to kill them and no more, your horses can pick up the slack after the knights.
As for challenges I will narrow it down to 2 circumstances. Character in the unit and no character in the unit. If there is no character in the unit... Challenge with your unit champ. You may wonder why I suggest swapping a possible 3 kills for 1; it's quite simple. My unit champs seldom inflict more than one wound and reducing the counter attacks against the unit is quite beneficial.
If he has a character that is squishy in the unit challenge don't bother to challenge if you have a character or the unit champ in contact with his character, direct your attacks at the squishy character since they often are easier to kill. This way even if you fail to break them you've gained points for the character. If you are worried about them having steadfast and a single kill may make the difference then it is possible to direct the full attacks at the unit but this is a rare occurrence.
If there is a medium character if you have a character in contact with him don't challenge but direct all attacks at him. If you just have a unit champ ignore him. If your character is not in contact with his, challenge with your character. You should easily wipe out his champ that he will accept with. If you are still in combat issue another challenge and kill his character. Once again characters are often worth a large chunk of points
If he has a rock solid character challenge with your champion. Hopefully kill the champion that accepts and then challenge again. In essence you sacrifice your champion for a turn to keep more of your unit alive. In essence you want his rock solid fighting character wasting his power against your simple champion.
One thing that I have noticed is that hard characters tend to run in hard units, medium in medium and soft in soft. I have never figured out why. Occasionally I see a soft in a medium but it is rare. This helps us overwhelm the soft and medium units since characters are the number one danger to our knights. Against the hard units our goal is to simply survive.
As to whether you should pursue or not. I recommend pursuit unless they are below %25 unit strength. Not only do you get 25 victory points for their banner but you often will kill the whole unit.
Final Thoughts
Midgame is where most serious combat and hence serious damage. Most of what happens here is based on the opening but it is still important to do it right. Eliminate things you can and try to hold on till you can deal with things that you can't break.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 15, 2018 8:29:52 GMT
POST 12 - End Game
ENDGAME
When you enter this area of the game it is important to take stock of where you are. There are 3 different places you may be. You may be winning handily, you may be close, or you may be losing. Each area requires different tactics.
Movement
If you are winning you have two options. Avoid the enemy or finish them off. Avoid them is quite obvious. You just do not engage in combat and pull your units out of range of the enemy. This is definitely the safest of the options. Not terribly exciting but it is effective. It isn't terribly effective if there is a lot of shooting in your opponents lines. It is the simplest thing to do though just avoid anything left.
I recommend this if your knights are badly damaged with only one or two guys left. It is called points denial and it keeps a win from becoming a loss. If you still have more than 25% in your unit don't be afraid to flee with an attempt to rally. It is often better to flee and attempt to rally then to try and outfight something you can't outfit.
The other thing that your units can do is what I call mop up. This is designed to turn a win into a crushing victory. Basically you hunt down the units that are almost dead and turn them fully dead. Again if they are less than 25% then you probably don't need to hunt them down. Chase down the units that are dinged up with the units that are not dinged up badly.
It is a little more risky because your dice may betray you but it can turn a normal victory into a crushing victory. Basically these two tactics are your big options. Avoid or destroy. Avoid the difficult enemies and crush the weaker ones.
If things are going badly for you have two options. One is try to turn it around and the other is to simply survive. During a friendly game I say go for broke and try to turn it around. This is where the odds are against you but you are still going to try and crush enemy units. Aim as much of your army as you can against single units. Do as much damage as possible but keep your forces together to consolidate the force that you have left. If you have enemy units that are almost dead finish them off first, unless their points won't bring you back into the game.
If you are in a tournament setting with different levels of victory then you are simply trying to survive oftentimes to save points. In this circumstance you should keep your units alive and aim for objectives and the points. So use avoidance tactics. Denying your foe points is often a big thing during tournaments and keeping your own points as high as possible. Do this by hitting what is safe to kill and avoiding what may defeat you.
If things are close the game becomes more difficult. First thing to do is take stock of what shape you're in. If you're in healthy shape, or if you're completely banged up. If you're in bad shape consider using the avoidance tactics and settle for a draw. If you are in rather healthy shape it's time to hit as much as you can to get the edge. Aim for the weaker units and avoid the stronger units. Take out the units enough to get ahead and play it safe. Aim for the weakened units that should break easily. Then know which units you can lose in order to kill more than you lose. If you can lose a trebuchet to kill a 200 point unit consider it a fair trade.
Also do not forget objectives in certain scenarios. Move units that are not busy surviving or killing to take objectives. Bowmen are a valid choice for this tactic.
Magic
Magic has gone round in complete circle. Once again our magic has become elimination of enemy units just as it was in the opening. If a unit is fleeing and close to 25% bring them below that so that it becomes almost impossible to rally. See the "opening" phase for more information on elimination of enemy units. The biggest difference is that your targets are no longer just small fast units.
It is now the units that are closest to death that are your targets. Also consider the point value of what you're zapping magically. If you have the remains of a unit that cost 400 points, and the remains of a unit that cost 200 points... Aim for the most expensive unit that is likely to be killed.
If you can get a unit running there is a chance it won't stop. Aim for panic if elimination is not a valid option. Once again I believe that it's gone around to fighting like in the opening. I do NOT recommend throwing more dice than needed to cast a spell. A miscast could well cost you the game. In fact if you don't have any targets that are weak enough to be killed; don't cast spells. Don't risk your wizard.
For magic defense it is preventing the magic missiles and other damaging spells from going off.
Sorry this section is short but it is likely that most wizards are either dead or are trying to prevent themselves from dying.
Shooting
Shooting is almost identical to magic except no worries about a miscast. Shoot to eliminate units or to prevent rallying.
If you are out of range use your peasant bowmen to take objectives. This phase has reduced efficiency except for elimination and prevention of rallying in this phase. Occasionally panic checks can be caused and they can give you some points but they are unreliable at best.
Combat
Combat should be completely overwhelming of the foe in this stage of the game. Give them no chance to survive.
If large dangerous combats cannot be avoided then do whatever you can to defend the characters that might be in the unit. If the enemy unit doesn't have a character but might be dangerous to yours, challenge with the character to reduce incoming damage. Now your character is simply interested in survival. If the enemy unit can't hurt the character easily but the unit might be threatened (like spearmen) Don't challenge. Let your character absorb the attacks to protect the unit. Do the best thing to keep the most of your units alive.
Keep everything possible alive while killing everything possible while in that confine. Take survival over damage if at all possible.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Here the game has usually been decided before hand and it is just mop up for one army. The trickiest part is keeping your victory in hand. If you're losing it's an uphill fight to bring it into a draw. If it's close then you have to make a choice, settle for a draw or try for the win. Settle for a draw if your position is inferior and aim for the win if your position is superior.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 15, 2018 8:30:02 GMT
POST 13 - Sneaky Tricks and Tactics
SNEAKY TRICKS AND TACTICS
Despite being the honorable knights we still have a sneaky trick or two that we can pull out. Sun Tzu stated that "All warfare is based on deception." These tricks deceive our foes and catch them off guard. Even the simplest of tricks can throw a huge wrench in the foes battle plans. Feel free to use some of my more common tactics and to develop your own. There are more advanced tactics out there but what kind of magician reveals all his secrets?
Well protected wizards. The damsel is arguably the best protected wizard in the game. Our magic users are all but safe against anything but themselves. Lore of life will also heal them if it goes off. By keeping at least one wizard safely tucked away in a knight unit we can benefit from her dispel ability and earning her worth by defense. If in a unit that miscasting will not terribly damage them, M@A for example, feel free to throw many dice at the spell since the next lore of life spell you cast will heal you from the likely wound you will suffer. Also our blessing is still on the ladies to help save some of those wounds.
Cheap heroes. 80 points gets us a 2+ save, the blessing, a lance and T4 with 2 wounds. This characters are in essence unit champs on steroids and can help add survivability to an unit. We get our ward save cheap and our 2+ save is cheap as well. A chinsy guy can well throw the battle in your favor.
The Virtue of Heroism. People know about this and fear it. It is our great equalizer. You can drop just about anything with this ability. Just having it nearby lets you negate certain large threats allowing you to focus your fire on other targets. It is dangerous to characters and dragons alike and it always has a use. It is rare to find an army without this virtue and there is a reason. It's incredible for messing up enemy plans. They may put a lot of faith in monsters and the virtue just kills them outright. Often times monsters are one of the fastest things in the enemy army and dropping them gives our knights an advantage in the speed department. Most people put some serious points in the damage output of monsters and rely on them for damage. Remove that easily in one attack and it demoralizes the foe.
Fake charge. Everyone knows Bretonnians charge right? Prepare a charge into a flank and then "forget" to charge. It gives them a chance to redeploy to face you, leaving their other flank open to a different charge. You can also just lead a unit around like this while you whittle it down to make your victory more certain. I like to use this one early so I can wear down units to make my charges more certain. Just sit right outside of their charge range and wait for the right moment.
Battle line shift. A personal favorite here. Move 16 inches with every knight unit as far to one flank as you can. You have basically shifted your line from in front of the foe to their flank. They seldom have enough on the flank to deal with an entire force of our army and it will take too long to redeploy. Their flank guards vs. our flank with support from our main force. Those are good odds for any Bretonnian, if used correctly this can be a game changer and can win you games.
Through the center. If there is a unit that you can break mid lines go through it and reform so that you are facing the back of an enemy army. He seldom will want the force of bretonnia hitting him in the rear and he will be forced to reform to have you but that leaves his back opened up to the majority of his army. There is no winning situation for this and he will be in trouble no matter what he does.
The hero wall. Since we have the smallest frontage of any unit we could place a unit with three characters in the front. This means that no matter where we are fighting they will be fighting characters and can't harm our unit of knights by normal means. Since our normal knights are obviously weaker than characters this preserves the unit while allowing them to contribute supporting attacks. Due to the higher strength of Questing knights they are perfect for this. The only problem is that you have a LOT of points in one unit and if there is a counter to the unit then you are in trouble.
Character on the edge. When I place my characters in my knight units and my M@A I place them on the edge. Wizards in M@A will receive fewer attacks against them from smaller units since they must align so the maximum number of models are in base combat. The wizard will only be corner to corner with one model so only 2 will normally be able to attack. For knight characters (and unit champs) I place them on the edges. If I challenge with them then the enemy will lose some attacks because they can't target him. Also if wizards or other characters are placed on the edges of enemy units I at least get one model with multiple attacks going against him.
ENEMY TRICKS
So you're playing Bretonnia and are being an upstanding gamer. You play by the rules, sure you may mess some of them up but it's only by honest mistake. There are some people that don't play like that and find the best way to win is to try to catch you off guard by bending the rules in their favor. SHAME ON THEM!!! If they can't win by their tactics they don't deserve it. Let this serve as a warning to all gamers of some of the tricks that can be used either intentionally or unintentionally to cheat the system. Most importantly... If it sounds odd... ask to see the book or the army list.
"Funky movement" Some people will move units without measuring. I myself am often in this category. I find little need to measure out anything when I move less than 10 inches or so. With knights that move 16, this isn't a big issue. The issue comes from people moving units near their maximum range and not measuring. Did that unit move its full 8 inches? Maybe it was a little more, You can't quite tell. I had one foe who moved his guys a full 10 inches towards me when they where movement 4. He moved them just that little bit extra to march block me. I called him on it because I had measured from my knights to him earlier and knew the distance.
Also be careful of the "sliding" tape measure. What happens is they start to move the unit and the tape measure moves with them for an inch or so. Sure it happens, sometimes the tape measure will move a bit when measuring but some people do this on purpose. Best way to avoid this is to give them a spotting finger. Place your finger where he is going to move too before they start moving the unit. It is easy to do, good players often will thank you for the sporting gesture and the bad ones start to fume.
"Oh... I forgot that" This comes up with the negative rules a lot. Often it is simple oversight but make sure you keep it in mind. Does that model suffer from stupidity? Make sure he rolls it. Animosity? Better be rolling it. Fighting a fear causer? They should be taking fear checks each turn. Archeons sword hits a friend on a 1 to hit. These little things help balance the game and if they forget it; it tips the scale to their favor.
"Magic item shuffle" So you are facing two enemy units that are identical except for the warbanner in one. Make sure the warbanner stays in that unit and doesn't hop around. Characters are the easiest ones to mix up. You see two characters over there, both are the same type. One is dangerous to your knights and the other is dangerous to your peasants. Some people will switch the characters to their benefit. Or others will switch their magic equipment depending on what they are fighting. If it seems suspicious call them out on it. Ask to see the army list. Ask to see the army book if a magic item seems too powerful. This can be a very difficult one, basically impossible in fact, to catch if you are playing closed list. If you are not make sure you know which unit has what when it is placed.
"Crazy dice" Not all cheats with dice are by having bad dice. The key thing to watch out here for is for the foe to be consistent. Does he re-roll all the cocked dice? Or just the ones that are missed and tap the table for the others to lay flat? If he is doing that make sure he re-rolls the ones that were being tapped. Another sneaky trick is not saying what the die roll is for. I've seen some people casually roll dice on their side of the table while they wait, which is fine, but when they are rolling and suddenly interject with "Passed the panic test" You should question it: did he roll several times and then say it or did he point and then roll? One smells like a cheat the other is fair, keep an eye out for these things. Another one is rolling for leadership tests in a combined combat. If he failed the test did he declare which unit was taking the test before he rolled? Same goes for passing the test. One opponent I played failed all but his most expensive units break test. Not uncommon but the thing was he declared what unit was taking the test after he saw success. Make him declare before rolling or have him randomize which ones passed the test.
"Doesn't count" This one goes to the saddest of players. You have done a roll that you clearly declared what it was for and it is the time for it. However something "distracting" catches the eye of your foe and he looks away as you roll. He turns around looks at the roll that you made and dislikes it. "Sorry I wasn't paying attention. Could you roll that again?" This would invalidate a perfectly good roll. I know sometimes it is genuine but still asking for a re-roll of a good roll is a sneaky trick. If possible I do not roll if they are distracted. If I see they are distracted when I am rolling the dice I refuse to touch the rolled dice, I actually put my hands behind my back, until he gets to see the roll. Hard to say I did anything to the roll when my hands are behind my back. That and I ask someone nearby to verify my roll if I must roll when they are busy. That way I have a witness to back me up when I say I didn't touch the dice.
These are just a few ways people will try to cheat you out of a rightful victory. Be wary and don't be afraid to ask about certain things. Good players don't mind the question and it may save you the game against the bad player while you besmirch his reputation forcing him to shape up. That is a kicker, if someone is found to be cheating people will forever be on their guard against him which forces him to play a fair game.
|
|
|
Post by strutsagget on Sept 15, 2018 16:19:17 GMT
Wow, 12 parts. The ambition alone is worth 12 likes.
|
|
|
Post by knoffles on Sept 15, 2018 19:17:38 GMT
POST 14 - Buying your armyUnfortunately GW stopped selling the noble Bret's many moons ago so now you have to make a choice in constructing your army. 1) You can source GW originals off ebay or other such second hand markets. More often than not resellers have wacked up the price to stupid levels and there is currently still a large interest so be prepared to have to wait for bargains or bite the bullet and pay through the nose for them. 2) There is an alternative for those who love mass conversions for themed armies and that is the "Legion of the Grail Damned" route. Basically you can use a large chunk of the Undead models from Mantic Games' Kings of War game as undead Bretonnians, they're way fucking cheaper than GW prices, they look very similar to French Medieval armour designs and the models can cover most of your unit types: the Trebuchet, Grail Reliquary, Pegasus Knights, Lords and Prophetess/Damsels of the Lady are the only ones you can't do, or rather you can but the model designs look less like fallen from grace and more like actively embracing the dark side. As a bonus the yellow and black colours of Mousillon looks very cool 3) Another route for obtaining cheap knights is from the many companies that have jumped in to fill the void left by GW. Fireforge games:fireforge-games.com/ They do; Teutonics (KOTR or Grail knights), Templars (KOTR or Errants), Mounted Sergeants (Yeomen) and Sergeants on foot (MaA/Bowmen as each pack comes with 24 crossbows). They also have Albion Knights (KOTR) and Peg knights and currently have a forgotten Realms Kickstarter that adds further foot and mounted options. Each box has decent size units (12 knight per pack and 48 infantry per pack), what makes it even better you say? They are also PLASTIC and come with a fuckton of extras for conversions (Questing knights?). All in all a perfect way to say pluck you GW! Although smaller than current GW plastics (what isn't?) they do scale perfectly with OOP Bretonnians (the ones from the 5th edition starter box). Norbo Miniatures:www.norbaminiatures.com/gb/3-miniatures?armies=bretonThey do Grail Knights, Questing Knights, Grail Relique & Pilgrims, Two types of Trebuchet, Peg Knights, Fey Enchantress, various heroes and foot knights and foot questing knights (though the last two are not units in 8th ed.). One thing I will say is that their delivery can be shockingly bad. Expect to wait between 2-4 MONTHS for delivery of your order. This is both from personal experience and from repeated posts made by members of the 8th FB group. I can't complain about the miniatures though. As close to recasts of some of the GW bits you'll get outside of China... Mom Miniatureswww.momminiatures.com/They have started to expand their range (or Hijos Del Leon as they call it. No idea what that is in Spanish) and now have: A trebuchet, Several Heroes on foot and foot spear (that can be used at men at arms. They also have a unit of knights under their Hijos Del Grifo (something of the Griffin i'm guessing). They are styled more as Empire Knights but no reason they can't be used. Mom are reliable and one of the cheapest price per models you can get. Gamezonewww.gamezoneminiatures.com/tienda/es/50-caballeros-feudalesHave a good range of both knight and peasant units under the caballeros-feudales title. There are alternative knights under their Imperio (Empire) range. 3D printing.I’d be remiss not to have gone back to this post and add to it to mention the plethora of 3D prints now available from a number of excellent companies. Lost miniatures - Kingdom of Mercia range. Highland miniatures - sells really nice Bret and Empire alternatives. Last Sword - though these are really Empire and Middenheim alternatives. These can be purchased from eBay or better from a number of Etsy stores, if you don’t have your own printer.
|
|