Bretonnia

Bretonnia has grown into a powerful and influential nation under the leadership of its proud King Leoncour. At the capital of Couronne the greatest knights gather to attend their king and to accept from him such heroic quests as he chooses to set them. To the knights of Bretonnia honour is everything and it is an undoubted fact that a knight would sooner die than bring dishonour upon himself or his lord.

The realm of Bretonnia is not as ancient as that of the Empire. For many hundreds of years the various tribes that inhabited this region fought amongst themselves. Many were little more than brigands who roamed the land pillaging and looting at will. Implacable rivals vied for power whilst raids and wars despoiled the land. This long period of anarchic conflict ended with the founding of the nation under the visionary warlord Gilles Le Breton. Not only did this great warrior subjugate all the other powers in the land but he instigated the laws of chivalry that were to bind them to a common purpose. The wars of internal strife were ended with a blow of the sword and a new nation and a new vision arose from the battle‘s mire.

The laws of chivalry govern Bretonnian society to this day informing alike the high ideals of the knights and the simple coda of the peasants. Because these laws are now so old - and because they have been re-interpreted and occasionally misconstrued over the years - many now appear quite bizarre or pointless. However, the Bretonnians make a great thing of enforcing these laws nonetheless. For the most part they describe the feudal status of different classes, rights attaining to the ownership of property, definitions and distinctions within the strict social order, and the duties and responsibilities due to each class from the others.

Much heed paid to proper modes of address between the classes, to the means of settling petty priorities between folk of comparable standing, and to the many special forms of respect owed to superiors of distinct ranks. All this serves to keep everyone in their place especially the peasantry – who are inferior to everybody and quite right too.

The nobles of Bretonnia aspire to the high ideals of knighthood and train from early youth in the arts of war. They are skilled and hardy warriors who live to fight. They frequently engage in fiercely competitive mock battles and tourneys between themselves. Knighthood is an honour and one that can only be earned by the performance of heroic deeds - such matters usually involve slaying troublesome monsters, destroying roving bands of Orcs, and suchlike. During their lives Knights will often undertake further adventures and may be compelled to fight powerful enemies as a form of penance or spiritual journey. Knights acquire honour and rise in status as a mark of their heroism, talking priority over lesser Knights and earning certain privileged titles and badges of honour.

The most renowned of all Knights are those who quest for the Grail of the Lady of Bretonnia. The Lady is the protective deity of the nation and its rulers. She is said to have aided Gilles le Breton by appearing before him on the eve of a great battle. The Lady bade Gilles drink from her grail which he did unhesitatingly. As he drank the Lady vanished and Gilles, now suddenly sure of what he needed to do, went on to destroy his enemies and become king. Since that time the Bretonnians have built many shrines to The Lady. The greatest deed a Knight can undertake is to search for the Grail of The Lady - the damsels of The Lady grant this quest only to the bravest and most strong hearted for few who begin the quest are ever fated to succeed.

Bretonnian army selector

Troop	Type	Attacks	Hits	Armour	Command	Unit size	Points per unit	Min/max	Special
Bowmen	Infantry	3/1	3	-	-	3	55	-/-	-
Men-at-arms	Infantry	3	3	6+	-	3	45	1/-	-
Peasants	Infantry	3	3	-	-	3	30	-/4	*1
Squires	Cavalry	3/1	3	6+	-	3	90	1/4	-
Knights	Cavalry	3	3	4+	-	3	110	1/-	*2
Grail Knights	Cavalry	3	3	4+	-	3	120	-/1	2, 3
Pegasus Knights	Monster	2	3	5+	-	3	80	-/1	2, 4
Trebuchet	Artillery	1/4	4	-	-	1	100	-/1	*5

General	General	+2	-	-	9	1	125	1	-
Hero	Hero	+1	-	-	8	1	80	-/2	-
Enchantress	Wizard	+0	-	-	7	1	45	-/1	-
Unicorn	Special Mount	+1	-	-	-	-	+15	-/1	*6
Pegasus	Monstrous Mount	+1	-	-	-	-	+15	-/1	*7
Hippogriff	Monstrous Mount	+2	-	-	-	-	+80	-/1	*8
Grail Reliquae	Special Bonus	-	-	-	-	-	+60	0–1	*9

Special rules

Army rules

Feudal Society: The Bretonnian army is essentially an army of Knights and it is the Knights’ contribution to the battle that counts - never mind the pot-washers and clod-breakers. To represent this, the Bretonnian army calculates when it must withdraw from the battle in a different way to other armies. Instead of counting all of its units at the start of the game, count only the number of units of Knights, Grail Knights and Pegasus Knights. Once the army has lost half or more of its units of Knights/Grail Knights/Pegasus Knights it must withdraw.

Special rules

1. Peasants: A unit of Peasants suffers an additional -1 Command penalty when given an order. However, this penalty is waived if the Peasant unit is part of a brigade that includes at least one non-Peasant unit. Peasants cannot use initiative to charge - though they can use initiative to evade as usual. Peasants are able to make supporting charges. When they charge they receive no bonus attack modifier for doing so.
2. Knights: A Knight unit will always use its initiative to charge an enemy if possible and cannot be given orders instead. They will never use their initiative to evade. Knights are unaffected by enemy that cause terror in combat and they don’t suffer the usual -1 Attack modifier.
3. Grail Knights: If the unit of Grail Knights is charging against an enemy in the open it receives an additional +1 Attack modifier in the same way as chariots and monsters.
4. Pegasus Knights: Pegasus Knights can fly.
5. Trebuchet: The Bretonnian Trebuchet is one of the mightiest and most excellent stone throwers that are built in the Old World. At first it was designed to help the noble knights with the sometimes coming up and messy sieges that had to be done but later was adjusted to be used in field battles too. As the Trebuchet is so gargantuan, it uses a 40 x 60mm base, with the short edge being the front.

To represent that the Trebuchet is such a bulky warmachine, which takes time to assemble and disassemble, the Trebuchets can move but cannot shoot in the turn it moved.

If a Trebuchet is driven back more than 10cm by shooting it is destroyed (drive backs of less than 10cm are simply ignored). If it is forced to retreat from combat it is also destroyed like any other artillery. A Trebuchet is not affected by Gerroff!!! spell.

The Trebuchet has a shooting range of 80cm. Fortified units count as defended and defended targets count as in the open. No armour roll is made when shot at by a Trebuchet.

The Trebuchet may not shoot at charging enemies.

The Trebuchet can shoot at targets that it can see as for all other artillery, and it can shoot over the heads of friends and obstacles on lower ground just as can other artillery.

Shooting Blind: If there is no target in sight a Trebuchet may instead shoot at the nearest enemy unit in range it cannot see. When Shooting Blind it always hits on 6+ no matter if the target is in the open, defended or even fortified.
6. Unicorn: Only an Enchantress can ride a Unicorn. The Unicorn adds +1 to the Enchantress’s Attacks. Once per battle the Unicorn’s magical power adds +1 to the dice roll when casting a spell. The player must announce that he is using the Unicorn’s magic before rolling to see if the spell works.
7. Pegasus: The Pegasus can be ridden by a General, Hero or Enchantress and adds +1 Attack to the rider as well as allowing the character to fly.
8. Hippogriff: Only a General can ride a Hippogriff. The Hippogriff can fly. A unit joined by the General on Hippogriff causes terror.
9. Grail Reliquae: This sacred item can be given to one unit of Peasants only in a whole army. This unit and all Peasant units touching it become Grail Pilgrims (for as long as they keep contact). Grail Pilgrims are immune to terror, don’t get the -1 Command penalty and get +1 Attack (they still keep the restriction that they don‘t get +1 Attacks for charging in the open), they have to attack by initiative if possible and cannot be driven back or confused. Before taking any specific action with a Peasant unit check if they are still touching the unit carrying the Grail Reliquae. If they do so they count as Grail Pilgrims - if not they are simple Peasants.

Bretonnian spells

Shield of Combat

4+ to cast Range N/A

The enemy’s blows are magically deflected by unseen forces and cause no harm.

An Enchantress can cast this spell upon a unit that she has joined. The spell lasts until the end of the opposing player’s following turn.

The unit can re-roll any failed armour rolls during the Combat phase. This does not include hits suffered from enemy missile fire during a charge, as these are deemed to be shooting hits and are encompassed by the Aerial Shield spell.

Note that only a single re-roll is permitted regardless of what other factors apply. It is never permitted to re-roll a re-roll in any circumstances.

Eerie Mist

4+ to cast Range 30cm

An eerie mist rises about the enemy unit stifling the sights and sounds of battle.

This spell can be cast on any enemy unit within range regardless of whether the Enchantress can see it or not. The spell lasts until the end of the opposing player’s following turn.

The unit cannot use its initiative. Any order given to the unit, or to any brigade of which it is a part, suffers a -1 Command penalty.

Aerial Shield

5+ to cast Range 30cm

The enemy’s missiles sparkle in the sunlight and vanish magically in mid-air causing no harm to their target.

This spell can be cast on a friendly unit whether the Enchantress can see it or not.

The spell lasts until the beginning of the next Bretonnian Shooting phase.

All enemies that shoot at the enchanted unit get -1 on shooting rolls. But keep in mind that regardless of all other circumstances the shooting may never get worse than 6+. So even if the enchanted unit is fortified all enemies still hit on 6+.

Lady’s Favour

5+ to cast Range 30cm

A vision of The Lady appears to lead the Bretonnians into the midst of battle or away from danger.

The spell can be cast on any unengaged friendly unit within range regardless of whether the Enchantress can see it or not. The spell affects only a single unit, never a brigade and there is no supporting charge possible..

The unit can be moved just as if it had received an order in the Command phase. Character stands that have joined the unit will not move with it: they remain where they are.