General Tactics

When considering the strategy of any Warhammer game that you may play, regardless of which army you choose to lead, there is one main idea behind it all that will help considerably to win: know why you have your units on the board.
It is often the case that a general will just put any unit on the board and leave the rest to chance and circumstance. If you know why your units are there, and what their job is, then you're far better off. For example, suppose a High Elf army is facing a Chaos army which is in a position of defence. All the units of Chaos are set up behind barricades which make hand to hand combat pretty much useless. Now, suppose the general of the High Elf army has brought a unit of Dragon Princes. They are a formidable unit but in this situation they're pretty much useless. Now the general has wasted precious points on a unit that can't be deployed effectively. This goes for any army. For the Bretonnians especially, you don't want to be wasting points on units that you think won't do anything. Let's focus on what we can do with the Knights and heroes of Bretonnia.
The very first thing to consider after deployment on the field is whether to use the Lady's Blessing or not. This decision is not as hard to make as one would think. For merely giving up the chance to go first, your enemy's entire army is put under a powerful curse. Any war machines that the enemy wishes to fire must first roll a 4,5, or 6 to be able to shoot at all. Secondly, all missile troops who wish to fire at any unit of Knight must also take the same test. I ALWAYS use the blessing unless by some happy chance the enemy doesn't have war machines. I usually ignore missile troops since the knights have such a low save. I don't bother protecting my commoners either because that ties up too many points which could be spent on awesome Bretonnian heroes and virtues.
When I design my army to however many points the limit is set, I always give myself at least 50% worth of Knights of some kind. For smaller battles (around 1000 pts.) I choose the Knights of the Realm. I tend to use Grail Knights for larger battles since their Grail virtue makes them immune to psychology. This main unit should be at least 10 models strong, including a standard bearer, musician and champion. The purpose of this main unit is to break the most powerful unit of the enemy's. You must focus your best unit against that of the enemy.
Despite the awesome armour save that Bretonnian Knights get (2+ usually) dubious things like war machines will make short work of your cavalry. You also want to have a contingency plan if the Lady's Blessing fails you. (And it will, trust me!) At 39 points a knight, you don't want to be losing any men until you get into hand to hand combat. To get rid of these war machines, send mounted squires along the flank of your force, hopefully through some cover. A small unit (5 - 10 max) should be able to tie up any war machines that would otherwise cause you grief. Squires on foot are also a good option as they can skirmish (like mounted squires) and can get to places that the Knights can't.
With your main unit of Knights, you should also send a second and (if you can afford it) third unit of knights to protect the flank. The job of these units is to fend off any danger that may approach your main unit or to support the main unit if it gets bogged down in a slug fest. Remember that your Knights have awesome hitting power but after the first round, that strength of 4 doesn't really seem like much. If your main unit does get stuck, use this second unit of 6 - 10 knights to charge the flank.
Archers aren't all they're cracked up to be. With a BS of 3, they tend to miss....a lot. If you do include a unit, leave them unarmoured and get a unit of at least 10 (15 is better). With two units of 15 you should be able to hit a couple guys before your knights engage the enemy. Throw these archer units as far forward as possible and put them in the arrowhead formation. These guys need all the help they can get. Don't move the unit and prey the 30" range will help you.
Spearmen and men-at-arms are pretty much useless in the Bretonnian army. I've tried several times to incorporate them into my army and every time they end being a waste. I've tried to use this unit to tie down other blocks of infantry that may try to flank my knights, but they're usually too slow. When your knights move 8" normally, they tend to leave the commoners behind. In this case, I leave them to defend the archers and the knights' backs from any enemies that may try to sneak around. You can buy them at either at the basic 5 pts per model and get a huge load of them or equip them with spears/halberds, shields and light armour to give them some staying power. If you're really into having a unit of infantry then investing in a knight hero to lead them would be a good idea. This will increase the unit's fighting potential by a fair degree.
It is my motto that Bretonnians should just stick to swords and shields. The mages available to the army just don't appeal to me since they are so weak and they only have battle magic. If you're really worried about the enemy's magic then get at least a level 3 mage. She should be mounted if you can get it and she should ALWAYS stay behind the other units otherwise that'll be the fastest 190 points you ever wasted. If you manage to get any good spells and if you manage to get her into a position to use that magic, all the best to you. Personally, I stay away from magic and load my units up with magic dispelling items and virtues.
Bolstering your main unit of Knights with your general, battle standard bearer and a hero will almost guarantee you victory against any unit you may face. With three characters at your disposal, be sure to make the most of the virtues that are available to you. Knightly temper is always a good one to take. The virtue of Purity is also an amazing ability that is definitely worth the points. Other virtues you may consider are the Knightly Ardour (countercharge ability) and the virtue of devotion (immunity to magic). The last virtue mentioned is a great one to give a hero on a pegasus so he can chase down enemy wizards without fear of being victim to their spells.
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Tim Wickstrom
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Last updated October 17, 2000