Empire vs Bretonnians

Empire (Me) Vs Bretonnians (Chris A.)

Game Size: 750 points

Scenario: Open Battle

Restrictions: No Level 4s, No Magic Items

Edition: Warhammer The Old World 1.0

Month and Year: Apr 2024

Event: Escalation League at Mighty Meeple

With my 500 point games going swimmingly in our escalation league I was HYPE to play more games - my first match in the 750 point games would be against non other than Chris A. - someone who I had never played before but showed up with a great black and yellow color scheme Bretonnian army.

This game would mark one of my first time using a Wizard!

Empire:

General w/ Great Weapon, Pistol, and Full Plate
Captain with Full Plate and Battle Standard
5 Empire Knights with Command
Roughly 30 Halberdiers with Command
10 Free Company as Detachment
Level 2 Wizard of Pegasus with Daemonology
5 Outriders with Marksman with Blunderbuss and Musician

Wood Elves

Paladin (General)
Level 2 Damsel on Horse
24 Men at Arms with Command and Grail Monk
5 Knights of the Realm with Command
6 Knights Errant with Command
3 Pegasus Knights with Command

Deployment

Guess who did not take a picture first turn?!? This guy - I immediately started moving my guys up the board before taking a picture - at the end of turn one I did manage to take a quick picture though.

First off the store was crowded this day and we ended up playing on a very narrow 3x4 board (basically the 6x4's were split in half) which greatly diminished the benefits of fast movement - overall probably a sight negative for my opponent but also limiting for my army with three mounted units.

Regardless he deployed Pegasus Knights on my left flank with Knights Errant, his Damsel and the Men at Arms in the center of the field. On my right he posted up his Knights of the Realm with his general.

Deploying opposite of him I ended up deploying the Outriders on a Hill with my Halberdiers and detachment in the center. On my right flank I deployed my Knights and kept my wizard out of line of sight from the Damsel by deploying him behind the ruins.

Into the breach!

First Turn

Chris decided that his Bretonnians would wisely pray for the Lady's protection in turn one handing the first turn to my army. I moved up slightly with the majority of my army and unleashed my brand new Wizard by unleashing The Summoning on the Knights of the Realm with general. In an amazing display of luck - three knights were killed and the unit failed their panic check!

In return Chris's damsel killed five halberdiers with a Wind Blast! Who would have thought the that Empire vs Bretonnian matchup would start off as a duel of Wizards.

The Mid Game

Turn Two

Wizards continued to dominate turn two - the Knights of the Realm with the Bretonnian general failed to rally and fled off the table! While my Outriders managed to kill two of the three Pegasus Knights - the last one completed his charge. In return the Damsel killed another five halberdiers with a second Wind Blast.

Additionally the Knights Errant and Men at Arms charged into my Free Company screen - at this point I am thinking my army is in a strong position having almost neutralized the best threats of my opponents army.

The enemy general has fled!

As expected the Knights Errant and Men at Arms scattered my Free Company Detachment - unfortunately for me the Knights Errant ended up in my backfield while the Men at Arms stopped right infront of my Halberdiers.

The Bretonnians strike back, keeping heart even though their general had fled the field.

Turn Three

The Pegasus Knights managed to eliminate all but a single outrider - the unit managed to hang on for a bit because the Marksmen managed to challenge to the Pegasus Knight Champion, but eventually the unit was reduced and the Outriders Fell Back in Good Order (FBIGO) even though only one remained. The Halberdiers managed to charge the Men at Arms but unfortunately only killed a few and combat was a draw!

On my right flank I moved my wizard to challenge the Damsel in the open field and was surprised to find out that Damsel's have Magic Resistance (2). I imagine that my wizard felt like Gob from arrested development:

Finally on my far right flank I reformed my Knights so that they would be ready to accept a charge from either the Pegasus or the Knights Errant later in the battle.

The battle hangs in the balance!

Turn Four

My Wizard was punished for his huge mistake and outdueled by the Damsel - he was Wind blasted off the table. My Halberdiers managed to defeat and run down the Men at Arms but they had been severely reduced by this point and were down to a measly 10 personnel including characters.

Chris widely utilized his Pegasus Knight to finish off the final Outrider and reformed his Knights Errant to prepare for a face off against my Knights.

Let's get readdddyyyyyyy for some Knight on Knight action in Turn Five

Late Game

Into turn five the game still hung in the balance. Although the Damsel had eliminated my wizard she was not able to escape my Lord with a pistol - he managed to shoot her over two turns and eliminate her (notice that I had turned my unit into marching column to get the General up front.

On the right flank my Knights Fell Back in Good Order (FBIGO) against the Knights Errant after losing combat. Looking at the images I think the only reason they lost was because the Knights Errant Champion defeated the Empire Knight Champion with a point of overkill (otherwise the combat was a draw with three killed models on both sides).

Coming down to the wire:

Empire models left 12

Bretonnian models left 5

Final Turn

The end of the game ended up with a few key things:

Empire Knights being eliminated by the Pegasus Knight
Before dying the Damsel managed to kill a few more Halberdiers
Knights Errant charged the Halberdiers and eliminated the unit

The below images are how the game ended. In retrospect we may have played an additional turn because . . . we were having a blast and forgot to keep track of turns.

The game ended with the Knights fighting the characters (I think they killed them but I can't even remember). After tallying it up it ended up being a narrow loss for me - the Bretonnians capturing two of my banners was the difference between a defeat and a draw. I believe the final score was like 700 to 500.

End Game Summary and Lessons Learned

WHAT A GAME! Honestly every game I have played against Bretonnians has been a thrilling blast. Except Wind Blast - wind blast was not a good time for my halberdiers. My big lessons learned were:

Do not try to Wizard duel a Damsel with an Empire Wizard - her higher magic resistance puts her at a slight advantage.
Take the time to finish off units - Chris managed to clean up my depleted units - if he hadn't the outcome could have been substantially different. My inability to kill his Pegasus Knight allowed him to pick up around 200 points from my Knights and Outriders. In conjunction with this it may behoove me to bring a unit like Pegasus Knights - maybe Captain on Griffon or potentially a Grand Master on Pegasus.
Panic!!! - The enemy general panicked off the table - make sure you make enemies take panic checks when necessary. Also remember that Empire units with a Captain or General are immune to panic. As amusing mannerism - I like to remind my opponent every time that I would have taken a panic check but tell them that I am immune to it.

Men of the Match

Although he was outdueled my Wizard on Pegasus did manage to defeat the enemy general and Knights of the Realm.

Final Tally

Empire VP: Enemy General Killed, Paladin, Knights of the Realm, 25% of Pegasus Knights, Damsel, Men at Arms
Daemon VP: 2x Banners Captured, Knights, Outriders, Halberdiers, Battle Standard Bearer, Free Company

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