How Have the Bretonnians Changed? | Building Warhammer Armies
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- Опубліковано 18 січ 2024
- Bretonnia return to the battlefield with the release of the Old World; a kingdom of noble knights protecting the weak and doing daring deeds. Except, it wasn’t always this way - in fact, there was a time before Bretonnia even existed in the Warhammer World!
I trace the development history of the Bretonnians through 8 editions of Warhammer Fantasy, Games Workshop fiction, and games like Warmaster, Warhammer Quest, Mordheim, and more besides. Who created them and when, how did they evolve and change, and do they eat giant snails?
#Warhammer #TheOldWorld #GamesWorkshop #Bretonnia #WarhammerFantasyBattle #WarhammerFantasyRoleplay #WFRP
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Nigel Stillman's glorious 5th edition Bretonnian army book is a thing of beauty. My copy of the dreadful 6th edition book gathers dust on my shelf, never to be disturbed.
Same, I stopped using them after a game of 6th
RIP Bryan Ansell
Would be great to hear Nigel Stillman talk about Bretonnian's (and Man'o'war) as he obviously had so much influence on it all. As we know it was delayed (Rick said it was coming in the 1yr update for 4th) and then changed so much and became a launch/big box faction it must have had an interesting design story - and then that 5th edition vision stayed for 25 years and has now returned.
I remember the Stillmania articles in White Dwarf. Loved reading how he went through the stage of “I want realism so it’ll be dour red/yellow” to “this is rather dull, I want at least some colours” to “I mean it’s a bloody Pegasus, might as well use all the colours”. I remember he made his lord both bald and with a bit of a pauch as, well, he’d be slightly older.
More of this magnificent stories about our passion. Even more of bretonnian (no matter what more...); colourful knights, peasants and men at arms fighting on a bright colours boardgames against creepy and chunky enemies... What in the hell is more beautiful than that? That is the real happiness! Great work, mate.
Sorry for my english.
For a French person who is not very good at English (in fact like the majority of French people) it is a real pleasure to listen to such beautiful English. Like you said we can still find the Bretonians of WD 82 at Foundry. Lovely miniatures. :)
Pareil. Pour la Dame
It's interesting actually as I'd often heard Bret players bemoan the 6th ed book as the big departure for Bretonnia, but as it turns out it is the 5th ed book that they love that is the most unlike other depictions.
While true, it's like how we had the Showa Gozilla movies that had one tone, only for the Heisei Godzilla movies to go back and ignore all but the first movie and change the tone. With each of the other godzilla eras all being darkier and more in line with the Heisei era of movies (the second set of films.)
5th Edition was the first time Bretonia really had more than a few sentences of lore. But it was too happy for the setting and same as how the Tau in 40k had to have darkness added to them, the Bretonians needed something not perfect in the society.
There is also the Supplement "Knight of the Grail" for 2nd edition of the Fantasy roleplay, which gives Bretonnia a mix of their 5 and 6 edition portrayal.
I started Warhammer (or Tabletop in general) back in 1997 when one of my school friends brought one of the commercial leaflets to school where they briefly introduced their games at that time - Fantasy, 40k and Epic 40k. I instantly fell in love with the whole aspect of it, especially the bright, colorful Grail knight. Not long after that, we got our Starter sets for the 5th edition and went on to have fun with the game for a couple of years.
Roughly ten years later, our interest resparkled again for a time and I bought lots of the new miniatures and the second army book. I was aware that Warhammer in general changed to a more grimdark style which is it known for today, but I remember to this day that the second iteration of the bretonnian didn't actually were my style. The euphoric and optimistic phrasion, brought to life by Nigel Stillman, was gone. Instead, Bretonnia was more of a darker place compared to the empire, full of dirty peasants and an arrogant nobility who only cared for themselves and their honour. Though I still love Bretonnia to this day, I never forgot how GW basically screwed them over, to say it in a harsh way.
Over the years I learned that the army itself wasn't very liked in the studio - and it showed. Thank god for the Total War series, wo rekindled the flame and kept the spirit alive. And now excuse me, I have to paint and assemble my new bretonnian models.
Awesome retrospective btw Jordan, keep up the good work.
"I never forgot how GW basically screwed them over"
As Jordan's excellent video explains it was the Stillman goody-goodies that were the departure. The 6th Ed ones are more like what went before, I've never read that book but imagine it lacks the sense of humour of early Warhammer while otherwise taking them back to more or less what they had been and this video seems to largely confirm that.
@@ClydeMillerWynant Every version of Bretonnia has been a departure from the last. Before 5th Edition they were ancien régime France with gunpowder, revolutions, no chivalry and very similar to the Empire politically except more decadent. And the 5th Edition version lasted a good while, it was only halfway through 6th Edition when they got retconned.
The Stillman version was better by half, as a knightly meritocracy that naturally encourages questing and self-improvement from peasant upwards while focusing on small but tightly knit communities is far more unique within the grim world of Warhammer than just being another oppressive feudal realm. The grimdarkification of Arthurian Bretonnia at points makes it completely illogical that there'd be any chivalric values as core tenants when you actually read it.
It's ridiculous when the Empire's Knightly Orders feel more developed and noble than the faction supposedly focused around noblesse oblige and the chivalric code, especially when you factor in the Lady of the Lake directly ordaining the Kings and Grail Knights who are universally written to be flawlessly chivalrous leaders/advisors of the nation.
How can you give an opinion on it as if you know when you've not even read it?
@@LordVader1094 I don't want my feudal regimes to be anything other than oppressive to be honest. I like the idea of the nobility believing their own propaganda, but ultimately that only extending to their treatment of each other and that only as long as it suits. Where did the tradition of real world chivalry come from other than that?
The more decadent thing along with a different aesthetic did separate them from The Empire in 3rd Ed and old WFRP and the 3rd Ed armies were not identical even if they were very similar. Brets had four lots of elite knights including some better than the Empire's best ones and weaker infantry at least until that WD article from the video. I'd agree that they needed to be more different and that that's been achieved pretty well over the years. The system of +1 to +4 shock elites in Warhammer Armies was pretty restrictive and of course lots of fun and interesting things have been dreamt up over the intervening 30-odd years which is mostly good though some of it's over the top for my tastes.
I was up front about not having read the 6th Ed book - perhaps I'm wrong and unlike the rest of modern Warhammer it does have a sense of humour comparable to the really old editions? Beyond that it sounds like it gives an excuse to view them in 3rd Ed/WFRP terms which to my mind is much better than the 5th Ed stuff. And if that means as you say that it doesn't all fit together too well which I can easily believe then that in itself is a small price to pay!
As a WFB observer, I've always liked the look of Bretonnians knights. Horses, shiny armour, crazy colours, love it!
I would be interested to see an overview of wood elves and how the two factions relate.
Also more of these please. The real world influences and changes on how Armies are is fascinating.
Nice overview of all the wild changes over time. I'm 95% certain, though, that Bretonnia got coined for WFRP prior to GW management slapping the medieval model range onto them. Inconsistent spelling went back and forth for a while and was quite common for various terms at the time. Also, pretty much everyone pronounces Bretonnia as if it were spelled Brettonia or Bretonia. The other 5% are that the WFRP1 team were given a variant of the name to come up with lore for, but not told that it should match a 13th century Europe army.
17:35 Not with the advent of 6th edition, but more than halfway through. The Bretonnia in Ravening Hordes was still fully as described in 5th edition. Same for Mordheim's.
19:55 The one major thing you left out is WFRP2 with its two books that flesh out Bretonnia as a whole and Mousillon in particular, respectively. Knights of the Grail does a lot of heavy lifting to make the absurdly bleak Bretonnia in the WFB6 army book a conceivably functioning society. And you could've mentioned the Black Library stories from slightly before until slightly after 7th edition. And while implicitly covered, you could've stated explicitly that the Bretonnian navy in Man o' War had cannons - and that it did so because the Bretonnian army in WFB3 and WFB4 did as well.
The Bretonnians of 3rd / 4th edition were basically a historical army. There was a really nice painted studio army that appeared in White Dwarf and various colour photos, I think in the 4th edition rulebooks too? Though as the edition progressed and all other factions got their shiny new army books the Brets were forgotten about.
If you look at the army lists for 3rd and 4th (they did get one for 4th in the early 'warhammer armies' lists but never updated to an army book until 5th edition), they are basically a historical European medieval army, sort of 13th-14th century. No fantasy elements at all.
My first ever exposure to GW was that same White Dwarf issue you referenced with the Battle of Grimbal's Tomb. I was about 10 years old (or perhaps earlier) and I got it at a car boot sale. It would no doubt have already been several years old by then. I pored over it over and over again - I remember it must have been published early on in 4th edition, pre army books, and yes the Brets featured in that battle report. It had really tiny armies - the Brets had one unit of knights, one unit of light cav, and one unit of 10 foot knights. The dwarves just had 3 units of 10 infantry. I think it might also have been White Dwarf's first battle report with colour photos? Though it was written as a narrative, not the turn-by-turn game rundown that later became standard.
When I eventually got into Warhammer proper with a friend, the 5th edition was out, and he got the shiny new Arthurian-inspired Bretonnians. But I always preferred the look of the older more historical figures. Makes sense that these days I am a historical wargamer, and am only really interested in old Games Workshop stuff for nostalgic reasons!
In regards to the Perry sculpted Bretonnians available from Wargames Foundry - the ones you showed from 3rd edition were sculpted as late 15th century, so perfect for Wars of the Roses, and that's what they are found under at Wargames Foundry (the Perrys released a new more modern Wars of the Roses range about 10 years ago, with lots of plastic kits). The photos of them in (I believe) Warhammer Armies that you showed feature the heraldic banners of historical personalities from the WOTR, I think I saw the Earl of Warwick there masquerading as a Bretonnian! And the 'knights' are clearly painted as Burgundians, that flag is the arms of the Duke of Burgundy.
www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/men-at-arms
Other Perry medieval figures released by Citadel with a more 13th century look can be found at Wargames Foundry under Early Medieval / Barons Wars.
www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/early-medieval-barons-wars-the-13th-century
Though the 3rd/4th edition army that I liked so much are NOT at Wargames Foundry.
I've found some of the mounted knights in the Citadel catalogue from - these are really good historical figures! I haven't been able to locate the light cavalry and infantry though.
www.solegends.com/citcat1991b/cat1991bp233brettcav-00.htm
Thanks for the info! Now I know my original army is firmly 4th Ed. I do have a small unit of Chasseurs La Mort (mounted spearmen) which I suppose are fourth as well. Unfortunately, I can't find any info on them.
@@FlyingMonkeyDevil Oh you have an army of the 3rd/4th edition era bretonnnians? Would love to see that. Yes I was looking for pics of the mounted spearmen / light cavalry too but couldn't them in any catalogues.
I wouldn't call that range 'firmly 4th ed' as I THINK it came out during the tail end of 3rd? So was around for start of 4th to be in white dwarf and rulebook pics, but presumably as the edition progressed was forgotten about.
@charlieb4604 Yeah, I meant the infantry I have, which aren't in your pics. Mine are a little more standardized.
The cavalry I remember were somewhat rare in my area. IIRC I picked them up in Toronto in a clear 'blister box' set of four(?) With the little round label 'Chasseurs la Mort' .
The vid showed the page from the Warhammer Armies book.
Thank you for this. Bretonnia has always held a special place in my heart. They were my first army as a young lad, falling in love with Nigel Stillman's vision of Bretonnia.
I had no idea about the very early depiction with the nobility quite literally being blind to the plight of the lower orders and that being attributed to chaos corruption and I kind of love it. It's darker and probably works better for whfrp than whfb but I think it's a more interesting depiction of chaos corruption than just mutations and spikes and a penchant for black outfits. Nice video, I hope you do more.
"For Quenelles!" cried the knights as they charged
I would really like you to do a show on Soulblights and Nighthaunts and how they use to be all in one group of the undead, then Vampires and then the different t dynasties.
The undead have had a rich history and I know you would do it excellently
Bretonia was my first ever army way back in 1998! This was great breakdown of their lore and a big ol' dollop of nostalgia.
The 1991 Perry Brets are some of the best minis, sadly never catolouged. Alao there was a spin off game called Chivalry that never was published.
Lance formation: in 5th edition it was the triangle shape we all know and love, whereas in 6th they made it into rows of three. The Old World is returning to the triangle. Wonder what it was like before 5th?
It's a long time ago, but from memory I would say you didn't have to be Bretonnian to have a wedge shaped formation in 3rd Ed. It was quite messy though my friends and I may well have misunderstood the rules. There were other complicated things you could do, movement and formations generally were complicated which contributed to a slow but interesting game which was great if you could find anyone with the patience to play it with you.
Halfling Hot pot reference 😂😂 I love it ❤
So much knowledge once again. Your channel deserves to grow faster than this
You’re too kind!
Quality content, knowledge and delivery.
I can't believe I stopped watching you for five months! Your contents golden, psyched there's a backlog to get through!
Hullo Jordan, discovered your channel thanks to Peachy and the Painting Phase, been really enjoying your nerd history docos here, love getting to know all the behind the scenes and development that I was only tangentially aware of through White Dwarf, thanks for the great work and channel!
Thanks for watching!
@@jordansorcery no worries mate! You keep making them we'll keep watching!
Wow, what a ride! I had always assumed that in the first edition of the roleplaying game Bretonnia was almost a Napoleonian-looking nation, and that they had been re-branded as knights later. But the reality is far more interesting, with the colourful names and dark background of Warhammer Armies. Thanks for all these researches! ^^
"Bretonnia was almost a Napoleonian-looking nation"
It was pretty clearly a mixture of the lead up to the French Revolution and some mediaeval stuff.
It’s my superhero alias
My civilian alter ego!
That line made me laugh out loud on your video
Came here from your video Olden. Fingers crossed for tomorrow being as big a success as you’re predicting and we are all hoping!
@nerdmeister9786 Doesn't look good atm. My FLGS has already announced that GW hasn't delivered the promised Old world goods due to shortage. Mismanaged is probably be the biggest issues with the old world I'm afraid.
@@Yurt_enthusiast7same for me. No Old World joy in the US. Thanks blizzard. I’m going to confess I didn’t get the post-credits joke, but I am sick so maybe my funny bone is inhibited. Anybody care to explain?
I would like to see the High Elfs next then the Wood Elfs and Dark Elfs.
This video has carried me back to my childhood. The artwork and overview has been amazing. Thank you so much!
This is the type of content I'm interested in watching. One video for each faction in every GW game, please!
Ahhh Bretonnians, possibly my third favorite faction after Chaos and Skaven. This was a fascinating video and serves to show how little I understand about Warhammer history. I had no idea it took them so long to really become an established faction in the game. Amazing bit of history as always, Jordan.
And, yes, the Green Knight mini is truly timeless. Not picking one up back in the day will be a lifelong regret for me.
Here’s hoping the Green Knight turns up in a later wave!
@@jordansorcery Fingers crossed!
The best Fantasy lore is that which is made up and discovered by the players themselves a frame work from GW is awesome but those of us who came from DnD creating an Army that comes from a particular region in Bretonia you can create your own history behind your Army ❤
As always I thoroughly enjoyed Jordan’s sage enlightenment on this subject ❤
This is a great idea for a series. On behalf of my brother I’m honour bound to say Dwarves, but I’d really like to know more about how the Undead evolved into the Vampire Counts armies and how they have evolved and their relationship to Natasha.
my warmest compliments and thanks for your work. unfortunately there are no similar works in Italian, but fortunately the A of the third millennium also does worthy things. makes you think how what 40 years ago was 'just' a game has become a subject of study mastered by specialists! Greetings from sunny Tilea!
In future would be nice see the story of Nippon, Norse or Kislev. It's marveoulus that Bretonnia, a faction more younger than the first three, has mantain a army rulebook in the last editions (obviuos, without a update for 7th and 8th, but is always more ).
Rapscallion is my favorite warhammer unit name. It is a shame they took it from us.
I loved Battle of Grimdal’s Tomb. Loved the flavour text before and after the report.
I'd love a duel skelly episode where you cover The Tomb Kings and then the Necrons as both have a bunch of great stuff dating back to earlier editions.
This was wonderful as always!
I love these! I'm always interested in how each of the factions and armies changed in development and lore over time. I'd be very excited to hear about Orcs and Goblins! Also a coverage of Bloodbath at Orc's Drift would be cool!
that White Dwarf article was great, it was written as a short story, and I remember the Dwarves breaking into the tomb to become trapped in there, after fighting with a wight, and a troll!
I played the knight in Warhammer Quest. A great game, for the age i played it at.
I love the Bretonnians, one of my first armies! Recently pulled a bunch out of storage to strip, restore and assemble for the old world. Dont care that its the old plastic knights and bowmen, they work lol.
Not normally one to comment on videos, but first one of yours I’ve watched; absolutely brilliant video, thank you for making it!
Thank you for watching, and for the kind words
I'd love to see you cover the Eldar! 😁
Eldar I hiss at you, your missing a word it should be Dark Eldar 😂
@@Mark-nh2hs why not both? Their history and development is extremely intertwined
"Cats and dogs, elves and dwarfs, men and Bretonnians" - Felix Jaeger
Great overview of Bretonianns , love how in depth you've managed to delve from their vague origins to the fully formed army. I would love to see this applied to Orcs and goblins in a future episode. Great stuff mate!
Will there ever be a video on Brian Ansell? He's pivotal to every single oldhammer story and I'm surprised there's been no retrospectives on him yet
I am working on a video, but felt it respectful not to rush with this one. I agree, Bryan Ansell was integral to Warhammer and GW and more should be said about his incredible contribution
Quality video. Really enjoyed that
Great over view - especially loved seeing all the old references from publications I poured over as a kid.
Started reading the new TOW Bret book, it’s interesting that it feels like a more varied presentation of Bret society then one extreme of Knights are nice vs Knights are not much better then chaos that was signaled in earlier interactions of the game background.
Great history of the Bretonnians. I'd love to see a similar video for the stout Dwarfs when they make the debut in The Old World!
Great video! 'Ribalds' is also a medieval French word for a lowborn soldier! And 'villeins' goes back even further than the 16th century; you find it in the twelfth century (if not earlier) in France and England.
The earlier, pre-Arthurian version of Bretonnia reminds me a lot of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, a history of 14th Century Europe which makes France in particular seem extremely grimdark. (Endless war ravaging the countryside, plague running wild, brutal peasant rebellions, absurdly avaricious nobles, religious schisms, wandering bands of mercenaries and bandits, famine, packs of wild dogs...)
Of course it's a bliss. The False Grail Affair is yet to happen.
I’m glad the Bretonnians are getting a solid look in again. Some of the earliest lead minis I had for wargaming was the metal men at arms, archers and crossbowmen which I used for 3rd edition and AD&D battlesystem. I also had a bunch of Citadel metal knights with open helms. One box of metal knights I bought had white plastic horses which predated their other grey plastic horses.
I also noticed the change in lore over the years where they were a decadent and corrupt society who were later portrayed as more honourable versions. I enjoyed your history of the Bretonnians a lot. I only just realised I wasn’t subscribed but have now fixed that 😀
Great video, well done sir. So much nostalgia, I’d love to see more of this type of deep dive into other races, particularly Dark Elves 😜. Keep up the excellent work.
Cheers Iain! Dark Elves are an old love of mine so would definitely like to tackle them at some point!
Great deep dive, as always! I suppose if you've done Bretonnians, the Tomb Kings should be next, right? I, for one, am curious to learn more about these crypt kings and what makes them tick - or, should I say, creak?
Great video, just waiting for the 2 hours deep dive in Bretonia history
I think it's interesting that they did bring back some of the 3rd ed stuff in the border princes list, it's also great for someone who has an historical collection heavy on 3rd crusade era infantry that might get some table time
I think you forgot the pamphlet that came in the 4th ed starter box: warhammer armies. It featured army lists for every faction (much like a ravening hordes of its time) (excluding chaos dwarves, and Slann)
You’re quite right!
Charles The Third line got me to subscribe
wondered if I was the only one that caught this - no-one else seems to have commented. it was very quick and completely deadpan, just the tiniest smirk and twinkle in Jordan's eye....
Brilliant as always. Now I have to go back to my army books in french to check how i was translated...
When I dove anew into my wfrp1 rulebook and red about these brettonians utterly corrupted, I found a shame that they became so bright knights. I think it'd be far more exciting brets noblemen were sort of Chaos worshippers hiding their devotion from their powerfull imperial neighbour while they trust themsemves as great as they are able to use Chaos against their ennemies, even Chaos himself. Pretention, disguise, force over all... That should be what Brettonians could have been, always at war against orcs, elves, estalians cities, any bret sire in their way of power.
Anyway, I see that you found the same elements I did, dear master sorcerer. Well done. 😜
Each Dukedom should have been corrupted by a different power. Couronne could be influenced by the empire so you still have one mostly "pure" set of knights. But then you get a high elf influenced group, 4 different chaos themed ones, Mousillon for the vampires, a wood elf influenced one, dwarf friends who hold grudges, and they all gossip about how the other dukedoms are corrupt and only their own is still a bastion of purity.
Great video, would love to see High Elves and Dwarves covered in this fashion.
Nice retrospect! I'd love to see one about the Elves, too! (Since their history is very intertwined any flavour of them will do ;) )
My first WFB box set was the 5th Ed. box. I have lost the sheilds to many of the knights but we played so many games of fantasy battles in that time. It was a shame they lost the love of GW after 6th Ed.
Great video. I’d love to see you tackle Warriors of Chaos next!
I think it’s important to note that wfrp Bretonnia was more like late 17th /18th century France- women are described as wearing wig, riding in carriage etc. The Brian Craig stories seem to be similar too in terms of setting. So they were actually historically ahead of the Empire until Warhammer armies moved them back a few centuries and then 5th edition a bit more again.
A very good point!
Loved it!
My main opponent played Brettonia and in 6th he lost the lance form and didn’t get a new book for the remaining edition before we quit WFB. We are both excited to return to OW.
Wonderful, Jordan!
Nice one Jordan, as Bretonnia was my first WFB army (twice) this video was special. Thanks!
Both Tomb Kings and Lizardmen would be cool.
Bretonnia as a faction really could do with much more lore expansions from the Old World. The Knights of the Grail and the Barony of the Damned were great, but I'd really love some new updates relating to L'Anguille, equivalents of Crusading Knightly Orders, or maybe even Battle Pilgrim saintly cults as some inversion of the crusader theme based around some of the weirder and wackier medieval units of history. Overall I'm dying for more lore and more units
Great video, can’t wait for the other factions
This was great, I would love to see more of these.
Sir John Tyreweld... that got me. Great video, thanks Jordan!
Lol
Was just going to say the same
I love the constant silly jokes in the old lore
I started with 5th edition, that starter box was iconic, but really got more into WFB with 6th edition. One of my friends had a better Oldhammer pedigree and would describe how in an earlier edition (3rd or 4th, unsure which) that units of Bretonnian Knights could charge through units of their own peasants to strike at the enemy. He thought this was hilarious because, of course those peasants are taking massive casualties… from their own side! I’ve never seen this confirmed anywhere but it is kind of funny to think about, even if it’s probably not a great idea in practice. It’s fairly Grimdark!
I know it will come in time, but the story of the Lizardmen would be great.
In the beginning were the Frogs (Didn't think this was supposed to be about Bretonnia - Ed*) who created the world. Presumably the idea was to be different as other games had Lizardmen so why not frogs instead. There was a bit of sci-fi about it as that's what the writers were in to. The Slann were quite a big deal right from the word go, in 1st Edition there was a Slann list in Forces of Fantasy with a sample army in the Book of Battalions - The Clawed Feet of Mylkbeotl, think someone had lost the cream of the milk to some bluetits that morning. Gurrgl Greenwake then led them against The Magnificent Sven in 2nd Edition, a brilliant scenario from which everything that was any good has been written out of Warhammer lore. They didn't really have any lizards that I'm aware of up to this point apart from cold ones which some of them rode. They did have a few in 3rd Ed Warhammer Armies - apparently the Slann had destroyed their civilization way back when and these were the few remaining ones.
Sometime not long after this somebody worked out that children including grown up ones liked dinosaurs an awful lot. There may also have been a case for the view that the Slann figures never quite lived up to the artwork. It's hard to say for sure as the journey to Aberystwyth at that time was a long and tortuous one even if you had a better means of transport than a cold one so no Slann ever made it there and I never got to see them in the flesh. From the photos I wasn't overly taken with them aside from a few select figures. Never got the opportunity to buy any and presumably those that did didn't buy enough. Anyway the upshot of this was frogs out and lizards in and you end up with what you have now which is a faction much better suited than most to the kind of figures GW make these days. And along with your lizards and dinosaurs you get a giant magical toad for old times' sake.
*Sorry, had my Warhammer 1st-3rd Edition head on, couldn't help myself, no offence intended...
Awesome vid Jordan, a nice bit of history there. Now do Empire lol,
I have 6 metal Green Knights I ❤ that model so much
Only a half sentence for Brets in Mordheim?! That could be a short episode in its own right!😉
Brilliant video as always! I really miss those characterful names from Warhammer Armies - I still write my Empire lists as full of Helblitzen, Reiksgard Kanone and Hohensknechte.
I also like to think of the WFRP description as the Empire’s view of Bretonnia,and the army books as their view of themselves ;-)
Lovely seeing some of those old minis. It was all a bit vaguer back then, many of those would have featured in my Empire army of the time. I keep meaning to do a blog post on the development of the look of the Empire, through the lens of my own model collection!
I wouldn’t swear to it, but I think the first minis specifically described as ‘Bretonnian’ were some Perry Norman crossbow men, with plastic crossbows - released at the same time as ‘Empire’ ones that are now part of Foundry’s War if the Roses Range.
You missed my favourite Bretonnian. The knight with a heart of a bat. The red duke. I use love playing at the same game. Battle tactics and horse charge just with the undead. I always used the red duke on foot or a horse. 🖤🦇
Love the idea of the history of individual Warhammer armies. Knights of the Grail from WFRP (I think 2nd edition) is also a great resource for all things Bretonnia and very much doubles down on the filthy peasants theme.
Wood elves next please 🙏
Dark Elves neXt please. Thanks for the share!!
Being a Skaven and Chaos lover I would say either one of these but.... But I've also collected in the past a Small Wood Elf army and they esp in the early days not much is known about them.
What do you do after spending two days with Jordan Sorcery? Watch him on the telly of course, excellent as always.
Cheers mate!
No wars between kingdoms, no peace between classes!
The Greatest Fantasy Army (in my opinion) finally given it dues ❤ it’s what sucked he into the hobby and my descent into my plastic crack addiction 😂
Lizardmen! Curious to learn more of the early slanns
I'd love if you followed the Fleur de Lys theme and did a history of the Sisters of Battle
wow what a great channel so pleased i found you hope you do tik toks to push your subs your a real hidden gem. So many nostalgia watching this review of Brettonia the art work really took me back to my child hood ;))
Geeat video - now do Blood Angels!
Really enjoyed that - thanks!
The only (sort of) Bretonnians I've ever owned are the Knights of Origo that you mention. Unfortunately my set came as six musicians and four of Sir John Tyreweld so I've now sold them aside from keeping one of each. Loved and pored over the section of the original Warhammer Armies though and was really nice to see that army from the photos in the book again. I much prefer the WFRP and WFB 3rd Ed 'lore' to the overblown genuine chivalry schtick that came in for a while afterwards - really can't understand the appeal of that at all though there seem to be plenty of people that liked it. One thing I am surprised by is how much I'm coming to like some of the old models for the Bretonnians despite never having wanted a human Warhammer army.
Another great video Jordan! I’m currently dusting off my 4th/5th/6th edition High Elves.
Those classic iconic looking High Elves from the 4th ed starter set.
I have a heap of high elves from this era, would be super interested in a look at the pre 4th edition high elves though, I’ve always wanted Thaindon on the red dragon
They had an errantry list for Storm of Chaos I believe. And in the End Times, it was revealed that the lady of the lake was the Wood Elf Alarielle, which I thought was an interesting idea, even if it was pretty disempowering for them.
Also, I was hoping to see a reference to that famous 3-way scenario with Brets, Skaven and undead fighting over an abbey. Also I was wondering if you were going to address the conquering the new world aspect of their clash against lizardmen in 5th edition.
I adore 5th Edition Bretonnia. I wish they'd stayed.
I like the fact that the Green Knight was Michael's first model after losing his arm
My hobby hiatus started during the run of 4th edition fantasy so when I came back to the hobby and people waxed nostalgic about the green knight and the lady of the lake I was very confused. For me the main theme of Bretonnia continues to be a feudal society whose aristocracy is riven with decadence and hypocrisy. It's very interesting to have the changes and their timeline explained to me though, finally I understand the changes that happened a bit better. 🙂
A very informative and overall good and fun video. Many thanks Jordan! For your next evolution, maybe Norsca? They also have an interesting trajectory.
With that said, 5e ftw! I don't need more than that, best edition confirmed! 5e Bretonnia is very nearly the best, but there are always Chorfs and Dogs of War.