Bretonnia

Bretonnia appeared as a full faction in the late 90s and became my first tournament army at that time. The figures – and paint jobs – are ancient with only a small number of additions/corrections over the years. When I had to restore paper banners or parts, I tried to stay true to the original style. No colour printer or fancy decals for teenage me back then! Only the bases were updated some 30 years later with grass tufts. It’s a classic army sadly overtaken by the progress of history.

 Lords and Heroes

The Bretonnian army of the 90s didn’t come with a lot of character figures but my collection still has a decent selection. Legendary leaders include Respanse de Lyonesse, Morgianna Le Fay, and the mighty Green Knight – all featuring the best paintjob I was able to muster in the 90s. Actual games were played with the more my Lord – the Leon Leoncoeur rider mounted on an old Battlemaster horse – accompanied by a Battle Standard Bearer and Paladin on Pegasus to shut down cannons and Battle Standard Bearer. The Standard Bearer is a conversion of an Empire Halberdier Champion and carrying heraldry of my own family (printed and painted in the 90s…). I also have some Paladins on foot which never really got used, but look pretty, including one from the very earliest release of Citadel figures. Finally, we have some Damsels and my version of “Merlin” based on an old Empire Grey Wizard.

Knights

Knights are the obvious centrepiece of the Bretonnian Army and my force includes some of each type. The Grail Knights are some of the very few figures in my collection not painted by me. They were a teenage birthday gift from one of my gaming buddies and truly ahead of their time! Add to this a unit of Knights of the Realm, some first generation Questing Knights – before they received big swords – and some young Knights Errant.  

Squires

A unit of huntsmen squires can infiltrate terrain, while mounted squires can chase away charge re-directors – critical in 90s tournament play – and look almost knightly.

Peasants

Peasants are pretty useless but the figures are nice so my force had to have some of them. Two units of 20 Men-at-Arms with spears and halberds offer some staying power on the main line. Two units of Bowmen can take out smaller skirmish units, though they were much more useful in the wedge formation of the 90s.

Later additions to the army are some Grail Pilgrims and a Trebuchet to crush enemy elite troops that might pose a threat to the knights.