Bretonnia
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Background
The Land of Bretonnia is a feudal, traditional society where the peasants serve the knights in return for protection, while the knights are bound to militarily serve their lords in return for certain rights and titles. At the top of this feudal hierarchy is the King. Beneath the Kings are the Dukes. Beneath them is another layer of nobility - the Earls and Barons in respective order. The King, Dukes, Earls, and Barons are also each the lord of a number of Knights, who are the lesser nobles. Each Knight (including the higher nobles) has his own force of Men-at-Arms chosen from the most physically-abled peasants. In return for serving his knightly lord, each peasant is given a small tract of land for his family and can be expected to be called upon for service in times of war. The Knights' forces typically consist of the stronger Men-at-Arms and the more lowly Bowmen levies. The lands of Bretonnia are also ruled by spiritual and mystical leaders – the Fay Enchantress, her Damsels, and the Grail Knights – who are all faithful servants to the Lady of the Lake.The kingdom of Bretonnia is made up of the following 14 dukedoms: Couronne, L'Anguille, Artois, Lyonesse, Mousillon, Gisoreaux, Montfort, Bastonne, Bordeleaux, Aquitaine, Parravon, Brionne, Quenelles and Carcassonne. Each region, with the exception of Mousillon(see below), is ruled by its own Duke, who in turn has various nobles and knights that serve beneath him. The great castle of the King is in the fortified city of Couronne, traditionally the capital. The Forest of Loren is within the borders of Bretonnia but considered to be the forbidden realm of the Wood Elves.
Bretonnia is, in many ways, similar to the fairy tale-like kingdom of Lyonesse or Logres under King Arthur, with noble knights who live by a series of vows (to uphold the virtues of honor and chivalry) and beautiful damsels who are rescued by courageous, dragon-fighting heroes. However, there is a darker side; the divide between the luxurious lifestyle of the knights and the miserable poverty of the peasants is exaggerated well beyond the historical truths of the Middle Ages.
Revisions - Warhammer Fantasy Battles
Early editions
There have been two distinct stages in the development of the idea of Bretonnia. When originally introduced into the Warhammer Universe, it was a race very similar to the Empire - including many elements no longer part of the army, such as cannon and crossbows. Bretonnia was riven with corruption and was a truly dark kingdom, despite its claims to nobility. The third edition (and into the fourth) saw the introduction of the infamous foot knights, retainers, brigands, as well as peasant levies. The general air of Bretonnia also had elements of France immediately before the French Revolution, with the nobility described as wearing powdered wigs and travelling in sedan chairs.Fourth and fifth editions
While this dark concept of Bretonnia lived on in the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Games Workshop began to move away from it when the fourth edition of Warhammer was introduced. The noble elements behind the grime remained, but Bretonnia was now resplendent in shining armour. Fourth edition Bretonnia saw crossbowmen, cannons, retainers, and mounted men-at-arms and bowmen as well as knights - both mounted and on foot.
With the introduction of the fifth edition army, the knights were good and generous, and the cannon and crossbow had vanished along with much of the darker Bretonnian history. A different and much nobler king was introduced and the Bretonnian army became very distinct from that of the Empire, taking on its Arthurian flavour with special rules to protect its knights from unchivalric weapons such as guns, as well as explaining how they could continue to survive next door to a power such as the Empire. The army introduced the Foot and Mounted Squires and the Men-at-Arms were armed with either spears or halberds. Two new specialized formations were introduced, the Arrowhead formation for the archers and the Lance formation for all levels of knights.
The concept of Bretonnia since the fifth edition owes a lot to mediaeval chivalric romances. Most obviously in the fifth edition, three distinct knightly troop types were introduced: Knights Errant, Questing Knights and Grail Knights. Knights embark on quests for the Grail and the goddess of the country is the Lady of the Lake. Gilles le Breton, who unified the tribes of Bretonnia into a single nation, fought twelve battles against the Orcs - mirroring King Arthur's 12 battles against the Anglo-Saxons. Another of the legendary figures of Bretonnia is the Green Knight, based in many ways on the character encountered by Sir Gawain. However, Arthurian legends are not the only influence. The geography of Bretonnia is analogous to that of France, as its political division into duchies. The King's hippogriff is called 'Beaquis' - pronounced 'Beaky', which is coincidentally the nickname of the Hippogriff in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Sixth edition
This image of goodness and light once again acquired a tarnish with the advent of the sixth edition of Warhammer. The chivalric knights and the special rules survived, but the background grew darker with the state of the low-born peasantry being brought more into focus and the source of Bretonnian faith being called into question. Some of the newer writing hints that the Bretonnian state religion is merely a hoax or manipulation instigated by the Elven colony of Athel Loren. This concept would suggest that Bretonnian military might is little more than an expendable buffer to protect Elven interests. However, this fails to address how Bretonnian damsels can learn magic unknown to the Wood Elves or why the Blessing of the Lady and related faith-effects remain in force when Bretonnians fight against the Wood Elves.Under this latest edition the Bretonnians have re-acquired a new siege weapon - the Trebuchet, as well as a new troop type - the Grail Pilgrims. Grail Pilgrims fight with a Reliquae in a unit of 6-24 Pilgrims, not dissimilar to the 3rd edition War Altar. Pegasus Knights also appear in this edition, although again these have been seen before (in the GW game Man O'War) rather than being entirely new. Other changes are that Squires no longer fight with the army, instead their place as skirmishing troops is taken by a single unit of regular Bowmen who have been upgraded to skirmish and their place as light cavalry has been taken by Mounted Yeomen. The "Lance" formation has been modified, loosing its distinctive triangular shape in favour of a rectangle that fits in better with the rest of the game system, and Bowman can be upgraded to use flaming arrows if so desired. Symbolic of relinquishing their worldly possessions and setting out on a personal Grail quest, 6th Edition Questing Knights now set aside their lances in favour of great swords.
Mousillon remains a cursed dukedom, but this edition adds rumours abound that there is a new and sinister duke on the rise and also that the King is considering an Errantry War to cleanse the duchy.
Bretonnian forces are currently comprised of the following units (for the standard army list):
- Lords and Heroes
- Bretonnian Lord
- Bretonnian Paladin/Battle Standard Bearer
- Bretonnian Prophetess/Bretonnian Damsel
- Core
- Special
- Rare
- Special Characters
Revisions - Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
The first edition of WFRP, released in 1986, supported the original darker vision of Bretonnia, with setting notes describing the country as just as vicious and corrupt as the Empire, if not more so. The nobility was depicted as immoral, cruel, and self-interested, and politics was rife with corruption and backstabbing. This version was soon contradicted by the Warhammer Fantasy Battles army books, but remained popular with WFRP fans who mostly continued to use the older setting.
The second edition, released in 2005, brought WFRP's Bretonnia closer to the chivalric WFB version, with brief setting notes mentioning Bretonnia's virtuous knights, disdain for modern weapons, and the cult of the Lady of the Lake. This change was not universally popular with fans, however, and an unofficial ongoing [project] presents an alternate version, returning to and expanding on the corrupt kingdom depicted in WFRP first edition.
The most recent source of background material regarding the kingdom is [Knights of the Grail: A Guide to Bretonnia] in which each prior edition of Bretonnia has been used as a guide, more thoroughly than the manner typical of a Warhammer army book.
As well as the arrogant nobility and impoversihed peasantry, the anomalous place of the rising merchant class in Bretonnia is examined, including the presence of unofficial merchant 'clubs', such as the Brethren of the Lighthouse (who have a monopoly of trade within L'Anguille, the country's largest port and home to its only colony of Sea Evles, and who have watched
Marienburg gain its independence from the Empire with great interest) and the Rooster and Kettle (who deal in firearms in most of the Kingdom and, given the nobility's disdain for blackpowder, have few competitors - outside of the Brethren - in its use). The complex nature of relations between noble, merchant and peasant, external relations with the Empire, The Wasteland and other realms, as well as the issue of religion among the nobility and the peasantry can also be found. A more detailed view of the local idioms, cultural differences and points of interest in each of the Duchies are present.
However, the WFRP2 setting remains inconsistent in a number of details to the WFB background. There are differences in the history of Bretonnia - for instance the battle after which the Duke of Brionne took on the emblem of the axe has changed and the current Duke of Quenelles in WFRP has been dead for 27 years in WFB (despite 'current' time being the same in both). There are also differences in the religion of Bretonnia, such as the age at which childen are taken by the Fey Enchantress - in infancy in WFRP and before puberty in WFB.
A separate adventure supplement has been released for the afflicted Duchy of Mousillon, [Barony of the Damned], in which the rise of Mallobaude, the Black Knight and would-be claimant to the ducal throne, is detailed, along with further information on several points of interest within the land.
Sample PDFs of these supplements can be found at the Black Industries web site.
Campaign Box Sets
- Circle of Blood - campaign with scenarios detailing 5th edition battles between Bretonnians and Undead and some cardboard terrain.
- Perilous Quest - campaign with scenarios detailing 5th edition battles between Bretonnians and Wood Elves and some cardboard terrain.
Limited Edition Bretonnian Miniatures
- Le Chevalier Ermite de Malmont - French Games Day 1997
- Bretonnian General, mounted - Winter 1999 Warhammer Box & Skulz
- Bretonnian Army Standard Bearer, mounted - Included in 2004 6th Edition Army Box
External links
- [Games Workshop]
- The Bretonnia project on [Warhammer] Network
- [The Round Table of Bretonnia] - a major fan site, recognised on Games Workshop's pages and online since 1998
- [Knights of the Grail] - The official source book for Bretonnia for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, from Black Industries.
- [Barony of the Damned] - The official guide to the cursed Duchy of Mousillon for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, from Black Industries.
- [WFRP1 Bretonnia] - unofficial corrupt Bretonnia for WFRP1
- [Bretonnia map] - high-resolution map of the Kingdom of Bretonnia, as portrayed in WFRP2.
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