Athel Loren - Bretonnian Border Patrol Warband

[StyrofoamKing]

BRETONNIAN CHAPEL GUARD WARBAND

Special Rules: Chivalry
No Knight may ever use any missile weapon at all, with the exception of Holy Water.  Likewise, they will never use any drug or poison.

Lord’s Boon: Every Knight, either at warband formation or upon later recruitment, is likely to start with some sort of boon from the baron, marquis, or similar lord he serves.  Each Knight may, upon purchase, start with ONE of the following items, which is bought at half cost: a Warhorse, Light Armor, OR Heavy Armor. This item may not be traded, given to another warrior, or sold.  The warrior may set it aside and choose not to use it, but no Bretonnian warrior would dare use a boon item from another lord, even after the warrior’s death. At the warband's start up, only 1 Warhorse may be purchased by the warband.

Virtue of Purity: No Knight will ever break from a combat while they are able. They are immune to All Alone Tests. However, they may not voluntarily break from combat, unless he is knocked down.

A Bretonnian Chapel Guard Warband must include a minimum of three models. You start with 500gc to buy your initial warband.  The maximum number of warriors in your warband may never exceed 15.

Hired Swords: Bretonnian Warbands may hire the following Hired Swords: Arabyan Merchant, Bard, Beast Hunter, Dwarf Pathfinder, Dwarf Treasure Hunter, Elf Mage, Elf Ranger, Freelancer, Halfling Scout, Human Scout, Kislev Ranger, Mule Skinner, Nomad Scout, Ogre Bodyguard, Pathfinder, Road Warden, Runesmith Journeyman, Wood Elf Alter, and Wood Elf Hunter,

STARTING EXPERIENCE
A Questing Knight starts with 20 exp.
A Damsel starts with 12 exp.
Knight Errants start with 8 exp.
All Henchmen start with 0 exp.

KNIGHTS EQUIPMENT LIST
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
Dagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1st free/2 gc
Mace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 gc
Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Broadsword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc*
Double-handed weapon . . . . . . . . . 15 gc
Morning Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc
Flail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 gc
Lance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 gc (Not Questing Knight)

Armor
Light armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 gc
Heavy armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 gc
Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Kite Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc*
Helmet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc (Not Knights Errant)
Warhorse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 gc
Barding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 gc

Miscellaneous Equipment
Lucky Charms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 gc


BATTLE PILGRIMS LIST
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
Dagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1st free/2 gc
Hammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 gc
Axe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Short Sword  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc*
Sword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Halberd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Spear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc (Squires Only)
Double-Handed Weapon . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc

Missile Weapons
None

Armor
Light armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 gc
Helmet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Buckler. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Shield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Horse.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 gc (Squire Only)
* See Special Equipment

BOWMEN EQUIPMENT LIST
Dagger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1st free/2 gc
Hammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 gc
Axe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc
Short Sword  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 gc*

Missile Weapons (Bowmen & Squires only)
Bow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc
Longbow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 gc

Armor (Bowmen & Squires only)
Light armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 gc
Helmet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 gc


SKILLS
Questing Knight: Combat, Academic, Strength, Speed, Special
Damsel: Academic, Speed
Knight Errant: Combat, Strength, Speed, Special

HEROES
1 Questing Knight - 75gc
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4  4  3 4 3 1 4 1 8
Weapons/Armor: A Questing Knight may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Knights Equipment list.
Special Rules:
Leader
Knights Virtue / Chivalry / Lord’s Boon
Ride: A Questing Knight automatically has the skill 'Ride Warhorse'.
Skills: Combat, Strength, Acad, Speed, Special

0-1 Damsel – 35gc
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4  3  3 3 3 1 4 1 7
Weapons/Armor: A Damsel may be equipped with hand to hand weapons chosen from the Bowmen Equipment list. She may not wear armor.
Special Rules: Prayercaster. The Damsel starts with one spell from the ‘Prayers to the Lady’ Prayer list, and may learn prayers from it as detailed in the Magic Section.

0-3  Knights Errant- 35gc
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4  3  3 3 3 1 4 1 7
Weapons/Armor: Knights Errant may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Knights Equipment list.
Special Rules:
Knights Virtue / Chivalry / Lord’s Boon
Impetuous: Whenever a Knight Errant charges, he is Immune to Fear. Also, if a Knight Errant is within charge range of an unengaged opponent that is not knocked down or stunned, he must pass a Leadership test or he will involuntarily charge the opposing model.  If several unengaged opponents are within range, you may choose which he charges.


HENCHMEN
0-5 Squires 25 gold crowns to hire
Knights are served by their Squires, commoners who ride to the hunt with their master, and who accompany him to war. They are chosen from the fittest and youngest of a Knight’s retinue, and they are trained and schooled by the knight himself. If a squire performs some great deed or service to his master he may even be raised to the ranks of knighthood!
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
 4  3     3   3  3 1 3 1 7
Weapons/Armor: Squires may be equipped with weapons and armor chosen from the Battle Pilgrims AND from the Bowmen Equipment lists. A Squire may not ride a horse unless the Questing Knight and any Knight Errant in the warband are riding warhorses.
SPECIAL RULES: Knighthood – When a Squire receives ‘TLGT’, you may choose one of two options: to have him remain a Squire, or to have him become a Knight.  If you choose to keep him a Squire, he may choose two skill lists from Combat, Academic, Strength, or Speed, and retains the normal equipment tables.  If you choose to make him a Knight, he immediately gains the rules/bonuses ‘Chivalry’ and ‘Virtue of Purity’, instead of rolling for an immediate advancement.  The new knight may learn Special Skills, in addition to two other skill sets, but must immediate switch to new Knight Equipment list. The new knight must forsake all missile weapons, and cannot use them.

0-5 Battle Pilgrims - 35 gc each
Battle Pilgrims are zealous peasants that will guard the remains of a dead Grail Knight, and keep vigil over any chapel that houses it.  If the chapel is secured by a heavy watch, small numbers of the pilgrims will allow themselves to follow a Questing Knight in his journeys, as he secures the forests and glen around the gravesite.
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4  2  2 3 3 1 3 1 8
Equipment: May use any items from the Battle Pilgrims Equipment list.
Special Rules:
Low Caste: Battle Pilgrims are peasants, and while they are not stupid, there is a glass ceiling to what they can attain in Bretonnian society.  Low Caste henchmen learn experience and advance as normal, but reroll any results of ‘That Lad’s Got Talent’, and may never become heroes.
Hatred: Battle Pilgrims suffer Hatred against all of their enemies, seeing them as enemies and heretics to the true Lady’s cause.
Stubborn: Battle Pilgrims reroll all failed Leadership rolls once.

0-7 Bowmen - 20 gc
M WS BS S T W I A Ld
4   2   3  3  3 1 3 1 6
Equipment: May use any items from the Bowmen Equipment list.
Special Rules: Low Caste
Bowmen are peasants, and while they are not stupid, there is a glass ceiling to what they can attain in Bretonnian society.  Low Caste henchmen learn experience and advance as normal, but reroll any results of ‘That Lad’s Got Talent’, and may never become heroes.


SPECIAL EQUIPMENT
Broadsword - 15gc, Common
Range: Combat, Strength: User +1S
Special Rules: Difficult to Use, Strike Last
Difficult to use: A model with a broad sword may not use a second weapon or buckler in his other hand because it requires all his skill to wield it. He may carry a shield or a kite shield as normal though.
Strike last: Broadswords weapons are so heavy that the model using them always strikes last, even when charging.  Just like a Double-Handed weapon, learning the skill 'Strongman' negates 'Strike Last'.
Note: Even though 'sword' is in the name, a broadsword CANNOT parry. It does count as a sword for the ‘Expert Swordsman’ skill.

Short Sword- 5gc, Common
Range: Close Combat; Strength: As user; Special Rule: Parry, +1 Enemy armor save
SPECIAL RULE
Parry: Short Swords offer an excellent balance of defense and offence. A model armed with a sword may parry blows. When his opponent rolls to hit, the model armed with a sword may roll a D6. If the score is greater than the highest to hit score of his opponent, the model has parried the blow, and that attack is discarded. A model may not parry attacks made with double or more its own Strength – they are simply too powerful to be stopped.
+1 Enemy armor save: Short Swords are not the best weapons to use for penetrating an enemy model’s armor. An enemy wounded by a short sword gains a +1 bonus to his armor save, and a 6+ armor save if he has none normally.
NOTE: A Short Sword counts as a sword for the ‘Expert Swordsman’ Skill.

Kite Shield- 10gc, Common (Bretonnians only)
ARMOR SAVING THROW
Save: A model with a kite shield has a basic save of 5+ on a D6 while on foot, and 6+ while mounted (or, if the model is already wearing armor, as +2 on foot, and +1 save while mounted). This cannot bring a save over 1+.

KNIGHTLY SKILLS
Only Knights may take ‘Knightly Skills’.

Reknowned Virtue– The Knight may learn one Virtue from the original Bretonnian virtue list. ‘Reknowned Virtue' may only be taken once.

Shield Bash – Each turn, the Knight may make an additional attack with a shield or kite shield.  Treat the shield attack as a club.

Bulging Muscles- Gains the +1 Strength from Flails and Morning Stars after the first round of combat.

Untiring - The Knight ignores movement penalties for wearing armor while on foot.  In addition, strength, axes, critical hits, and similar modifiers cannot reduce the saving throw lower than 5+, nor will it be ignored by any non-magical means.


LADY’S PRAYERS
1 – The Good Lady’s Favor – Diff: Auto
All of your heroes count as having Lucky Charms for this battle, and ignore the first hit against them on a D6 roll of 4+.  If they already own Lucky Charms, they ignore the first hit on a D6 roll of 2+.

2 - Blessed Protection Difficulty 8
The Damsel and any Bretonnians within 6" of her gain a ward save of 4+ against the effects of spells or prayers.  Test each shooting phase: on a roll of 1 or 2, the spell dissipates.

3 – Floodgates of Courage – Difficulty 7
Any allied warriors within 8” of the Damsel (as well as the Damsel herself) may reroll any failed Leadership tests once.  If the Leader is within 8” range, the Rout Check may be rerolled, if the first roll was a failure.  This spell lasts until the start of your next Shooting Phase.

4 – Lady’s Scorn – Difficulty 5
Anyone attempting to shoot at the Damsel must first pass a Leadership test, or else they are unable to fire this turn.  This includes Silver Arrows, Crossbow Pistols, Hand-to-Hand Pistols, and Template shot weapons that she is within the path of (like Blunderbusses.) This spell lasts until the end of the game.

5 – Elixir of Life – Difficulty 6
Any one model within 4” of the Damsel (including herself) may be healed.  The warrior is restored to his full quota of Wounds. In addition, if any friendly models within 4” are stunned or knocked down, they immediately come to their senses, stand up, and continue fighting as normal.

6 – Guiding Vision – Dif 6
With the aide of the Damsel, the Lady guides one of her warriors with a Blessed Vision of what’s to come. He may use this rare knowledge to destroy his foe, or save his own hide.  For the duration of the turn, one hero or henchman may re-roll 1D3 dice rolls and +1 or -1 to the result.

[StyrofoamKing]

Why fix it? Here's my thoughts:

Protection: I'm not a fan of the current 'Prayer' rule for Bretonnians. I know it's taken straight from the Bret WFB army, but it doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the Mord setting. I mean, Sisters of Sigmar don't start with a default 'Sigmar Blessing' bonus, nor do Possessed have a 'Chaos ward' effect.  So, to me, the protection comes in two forms, both slightly less 'divine':  1, a Damsel who has spells of a solely protective nature.  Whether it's herself or her teammates, she has an array of spells to ward them from harm.  The only spell that makes her 'offensive' is the Scry ability, which lets another warrior reroll their attack rolls (which can also be used defensively, too.)  And just like Sigmar, the Horned Rat, or any other deity, if you roll snake eyes on the difficulty roll, the blessed Lady ain't listening.  2, the Lucky Charms, which can be bought without rarity rolls at start up.  To me, nothing says 'knight' like a maiden's favor, or maybe a holy item of their faith.  It's a small bonus, but saves you rarity rolls later in the campaign.  And again, it's mundane rather than from 'on high'.

Armor/Mounts:  I decided to make Warhorses and/or Armor half price for Knights at start up, making it quite possible to load up on armor from the get go.  If a knight is outfitted with gromril later, however, he can't just 'cash it in' later. It's dear and personal to him.  Even with the discount, the amount of money saved is only 115, not much higher than the Marienburgers.  If that's too much, maybe we'll just reduce it 10-15gc each at start up.

Shields/Weapons:  Shields are very 'knightlike', and I wanted to promote their use. Dual wielding doesn't fit the style, hence the Kite Shield (which, only helps them on the ground. If your group already plays with shields giving +2 armor, then remove them from the list.)  Likewise, the knights need good items that can be used with shields: hence the item, the Broadsword, and the addition of 'Bulging Muscles', making Morning Stars worth taking.  Both of them can only be used with shields, making a powerful warrior (even if he's making fewer attacks.)  (Oh, and to nip the question 'why not take Mighty Blow instead of Bulging Muscles', the answers are: A, in case you have a promoted squire who doesn't have access to Strength, and B, so that a warrior who takes both has +2 St instead of +1.)

Choice of Heroes and Henchmen:  Unlike the original Bret warband, which had 6 heroes and only peasant henchmen, I liked the idea of Knight heroes (with a damsel), and squire henchmen.  The heroes are very tough compared to most heroes, but they are not cheap (even with the half-off armor.)  Likewise, their peasant henchmen are cheap as heck... but they have no strong henchmen, nor can their peasants become heroes and swell your Exploration rolls (it also cheaps the caste system in place, with the dirty commoners never becoming real leaders.)  Which is why Squires are the perfect middle ground: they can fight as well as Men-at-Arms, but can shoot like Bowmen; they can become Knights, or stay a half-appreciated middle-class heroes.  Very versatile for their cost.

Let me know what you think.

Master: I know you we were originally talking about a Three-Setting Bret band (like the Mercs), but I think for simplicities sake that we should keep it to one for the moment.

[ANSWER_MOD_DABANK]

Styro: Hey, not sure a Damsel would be out on a border patrol. She might need another name like Enchantress or prophetess of the lady of the lake.

A border patrol would conjur thoughts of a rugged group of men, you know like Custer's 7th Cavlary, roaming around the fringes of their realm and making sure no one was intruding.

[StyrofoamKing]

Ah.  Well, another possible title was 'Chapel Guard'... but didn't want to make it sound like the Damsel's in th lead.

[ANSWER_MOD_DABANK]

Remember when Warhammer Skirmish came out like 8 years ago?  Did they have a name for that scenario that involved Bretonnians on that bridge? Yea, a damsel would be hard pressed for a border guard squad/warband.

[Lex]

name her: Wanton Wench......   

[StyrofoamKing]

No! Bad Lex! Bad! Sit!

Well, I wanted to give them another name other than 'Bretonnian Warband', for as much as I think the current Bret warband needs some work, I know I'll never truly replace it.  Hence the idea of an alternate name, to distinguish it from the REAL one.

Fluffwise, a Border Patrol makes sense for an Athel-Loren Campaign setting, but the Damsel/Enchantress doesn't really belong.  So, 'Chapel Guard', or 'Knights of the Realm', or something to that effect.

[Master]

I like it...

I really do, there are some point though:

Knight Errants in WHFB only have a ws of 3, should our knight errants have something to match that? Also, they never wear helmets (because it messes with their hair) and they are impetious, should we include this?

The knight of the realm has stats to match a questing knight, perhaps his name should resemble that? (which would then disallow him from using a lance).

I like the idea of cheap armour/horses however I think it should also be possible to take any sword at half price.

I like the damsel, even though I still fail to see why she is more trained in combat than a regular bowman. Also 40gc is a little much, the necromancer is just 35 so I think she should be that too.

I'm tempted to use this as the base for our bretonnian warband and then add three different bonuses like the mercs, this is because I think it is on par with regular mercs as is and therefore could use the boost of something more, it doesn't need to be anything fancy, however I also really like it as it is.

I like the squires.

[StyrofoamKing]

Quest/Realm Knight:  Oh, is it closer to a questing knight? I'm stuck in 5th Edition. If it is a Questing Knight's stats, it works even better for a Chapel Guard.  Know any Questing bonuses?

Errant: WS3 is fine. If so, deduct another 5gc from the price.  If they are Impetious, remember how the exact rules?  Have to charge any opponent? Take a leadership test, or forced to charge? (A mixed bonus... immune to fear is they impetuous charge.

Cheap: Well, Swords aren't that too expensive. Supposedly, the old 5gc swords on the old list were a typo.

Damsel: 35gc it is (I must have been looking at the Warrior Priest.)  As far as the stats, it is explained by the power of her faith... the peasant doesn't believe, and so his mind is the handicap, not the body... (just made that up... convincing?)

Three-part:  I don't think it NEEDS it. If not, maybe the price discount is one of the three bonuses.  Maybe Strongman is the default for one of the other two, maybe Sprint is the final bonus.  Speed, Armor, or Strength.

[Master]

If knight errants in WHFB are within charge range of an opponent than they must pass a leadership test or charge. In addition they are immune to psychology while charging. Perhaps this should apply to all targets as the valiant knight storming after a giant rat might seem a little weird.

Questing Knights in WHFB may re-roll all failed psychology tests, this translates well to the immune to all alone we have. No questing Knights can carry a lance, as a lance is a symbol of servitude.

Damsel, well ok WS & Bs 3 it is (she has that in WHFB too so it's fine with me, I've just always found it very weird that a girl who has been taken away from childbirth to learn magic by some weird dryad/elves is quite good at fighting).

I agree, it doesn't need the three-part yet, might need to look at what power level the other bands in this setting will be around.

The idea of giving refunds for swords was mainly fluff, I'd imagine a noble warrior gifted with a sword more often than with an armor.

[StyrofoamKing]

Errant: Cool. Were they only immune when they Involuntarily charged, or at all times?  Either way, it sounds great. Roots them at 35gc, I think (one WS less than a Champion, but with at least 5gc of Psych bonuses.)

Questing Knight: No lance. Awesome.

Damsel: No clue. But if was raised by elves and dryads, it makes all the more sense that she'd convince the group to venture towards Athel Loren in its time of need.

Swords: Well, I think a Sword was a gift.  The armor was a rental.  (I mean, a suit of armor back then was as much as a sports car... it was definitely a gift or a loner from a noblemen.)

[Master]

In WHFB knight errants are ItP when they charge, no matter whether they were "impetuous" or not when charging.

I agree with damsel being fine now.

A thing I got to think about is that if I wanted to powerplay this warband, and I had the lady's scorn, I'd get warrior wizard and loads of armor for my damsel, and something to ride, so she could ride ahead, casting that spell and thereby be pretty hard to shoot down, but if we don't think about this it is quite fine, perhaps instead it should only affect a knight within 6" so you don't want to put your damsel first into combat, and you want to protect her instead.

Guiding vision is quite good, but well, OK by me, they have no damage spells.

You've kindda convinced me on not doing the three-part, they are good and flavorful as they are.

(I also like the idea of rental armor: it's almost like buying used cars where the seller tries to give you something that wont work, and you want something that wont screw you over when you are standing out there surrounded by living (read: evil) dead.)

[StyrofoamKing]

Immune to Psych when charging. Cool.

Damsel: glad you like! 

Lady's Scorn: to be honest, it's not the GREATEST spell.  Putting it on a knight within 6" might improve it, though I'm not sure if it would need to be dif 6 for that.

Offensive spells:  Yeah, they didn't seem quite... right.  Guiding Vision can help on the offensive (considering it only works for this turn... most likely, it will be used on attacks, and the occasional save.)

The other option is to make 'Lady's Scorn' difficulty 7... if they fail the ld test, they are hit with the missile they attempted to shoot on a X+. (2+? 4+?)

[Master]

If they are hit on x+ with Lady's Scorn, it will give way too many dice rolls, making the game much less smooth.

Lady's Scorn dif. 6, target a knight within 6" or the damsel herself?

[StyrofoamKing]

Scorn: Diff 6, targets Damsel or Knight within 6".