Magic Items and the Virtues of the Chivalric Knight For the magic items, the main focus is on weapons (notably lances), funky armor, and items that help protect your army and individuals. We tied items that bestow a ward save to the Lady’s Blessing; thus, you get an improved ward save, but only if you do not lose the Blessing! As a result, we made these items a bit cheaper than they would normally be.

The Knightly Virtues are back. There are 14 Virtues – one for each of the first dukes (Gilles and his famous Grail Companions). We see these Virtues as fighting styles. For instance, Duke Folgar was famous for his jousting skills. A Knight who follows his path (and has the Virtue of the Joust) gets to reroll his misses when charging with a lance.

The Army List
The army list has had a few more choices added to it to make the Bretonnian force a bit more varied. With the new units and the small changes to existing ones, we think that Bretonnian armies will look quite different from one another on the battlefield. Some generals may favor a more Peasant-themed army – others an all-mounted force. Some might go missile heavy, with lots of Bowmen and Trebuchets – others will look down their Bretonnian noses on missile fire.

We’ve introduced some new rules to make the army a bit more characterful. One of these is the Peasant’s Duty rule. This rule applies to all your Peasant units (i.e., any unit that is not a Knight or character). These units generally have poor fighting skills (due to years of malnutrition) and low Leadership. However, Peasants have feudal obligations to their Knightly lord and hold Knights in the high regard. Basically, if a Knight says jump, a Peasant will ask not only how high but into what mud as well. Thus, although Peasants have a lower Leadership than other humans, Peasants can use the Leadership value of any Knightly unit or character proximate to them. Of course, once the Peasants are out of view of the Knights, they will likely scamper away at the first loud bang.

Some other rules we’ve introduced for character and variation include the Impetuous rule for Knights Errant and the Blessed of the Lady rule for Prophetesses and Damsels. The Impetuous rule means that sometimes Knights Errant will charge even when you don’t want them too (as they’re so eager to prove themselves). Blessed of the Lady bestows Magic Resistance to the beautiful Bretonnian spellcasters, as the Lady looks out for those dedicated to her (in a slightly different way than the Lady’s Blessing, which they also share).

There are a few changes in the army list worth mentioning. Questing Knights are now armed with great weapons rather than lances. This decision was made very early in the project, basically to make the difference between the various types of Knights more obvious. In previous versions of the rules, Knights of the Realm and Questing Knights were very similar in appearance. When the Knights go off on their Quest, they leave their lances behind and symbolically give up part of what makes them a Knight.

In the Alessio’s updated list (published in White Dwarf 260), all units of Knights always got a free banner. We changed this rule slightly such that all units of Knights get a free Champion. It’s hard to imagine a unit of Knights with no one available to issue and accept challenges. Bretonnians live for stories of heroic individuals doing heroic deeds and thus should always be able to accept an opponent’s challenge to personal combat.

Grail Knights have had a bit of a boost, as each model in the unit can act much like a unit Champion. Every model in the Grail Knight unit has 2 Attacks and can issue and accept challenges. Grail Knights are minor characters in their own right after all! These guys are truly frightening. Having drunk from the Grail of the Lady, they are filled with supernatural power (glowing eyes, halos of light around them – the whole shebang), and they can truly kick butt.

Units of Pegasus Knights! We love these guys, and they are some of the most striking models in the fantastic new range. They are very useful in battle and are probably the best flying unit in the game. However, they are not game winners on their own, but when used in conjunction with other units in the army, they are very effective.

While some Bretonnian players might frown on the addition of a Bretonnian war machine, we think the new Trebuchet rounds out the army nicely. The way we see it, more variation is a good thing. In the distant past, the Bretonnian army had access to war machines and even Cannon. For the current version of the rules, we wanted them to have a more traditional, medieval machine. Enter the Trebuchet. Although Knights eschew missile weapons, as they run counter to the ideals of chivalric honor, Bretonnian Generals aren’t foolish. They can see the value of the Trebuchet and are happy to have their Peasant forces (who have little concept of honor) to use these mighty war machines.

That’s a Wrap
Probably the thing that we’re most happy about with the book is its overall look and feel. We think a great job has been done by all – artists, miniatures designers, model painters, writers, and production staff – to capture the spirit of the Bretonnians. The artwork, the writing, the models, and the way the book has been put together all work in concert to enhance the overall picture of who the Bretonnians are and what they are all about. Thanks to everyone we worked with on this project, especially to all the people who gave invaluable suggestions and help. We think the artists and the miniatures designers have outdone themselves yet again, and we applaud them.

We hope you all have as much fun with the Bretonnians as we have had putting the book together! May the Lady smile on you!

Back to Bretonnian Designer's Notes: Part 1