Bretonnia revived

"In days of old when Knights were bold

and paper had not been invented

knights wiped their arse on any old pole

and rode away contented"

Poetry, or what passed for it when I was a kid! When I paint Bretonnians I am also reminded of this little ditty as we literally have the two ends of feudal society, the knight and the sh*te. The good old days eh? When the nobility owned most of the land, sent their children for private education, lived in big houses and took all the best jobs while the workers struggled on and were browbeaten into subservience by the lackeys of the rich telling them it was their role in life to work and blame foreigners for their ills....er hold on!

Anyway this year has been a big one for Bretonnia becoming the poster child of the Old World relaunch and lots of Knights have passed across my desk and more in the queue as I write. As objects to paint they are really clever as they have big open spaces perfect for airbrushing and/or freehanding if you have the time and inclination.

I am not painting at the top end of commission painters and my prices dont allow me to spend the time freehanding but I feel a good standard can be found using Decals. Decals can carry a figure far better than a hasty and less than great freehand on a shield and I recommend the Greenstuffworld Feaudal sheet. For about £10 you get two sheets chock full of feudal goodness which can be used alongside the GW ones for variety.

I have also used decals on all the banners I have painted as below. If you have the time (and sre charging a lot more than me by all means go freehand, but for an effective clean solution decals cant be beaten.

Below we have a top nob, an actual baron on a pegasus and I have made the choice to do a black pegasus just to differentiate him from the ordinary everyday Pegasi the other knights are flying around on.

Common or garden Pegasi...

Of all the knights I have done this year the knightiest was the Green Knight. This was an old mini from before the fall which had been in the customers storage for years waiting for England's darketst moment or somesuch nonsense. Anyway it was old and as it was the only one I had seen I did a bit of extra freehandy bits. Nothing fancy just some swirly curly as it is called.

And while it was nice it was not my fave Green Knight. That title goes to this 3d beauty by LK miniatures from their Arthurian range. This existed years before GW decided to dive back in to the Old World and for me is superior in every way.

Damsels. Lots of Damsels in Bretonnia riding around on mystical steeds and waving cups and staffs. Four iterations have crossed my desk this year in different iterations of flowy robes. and weird staring eyes. Takes all sorts.

Once again however LK minis has knocked them all out of contention with this Lady of the lake. She has all the flowy/staring/horsey elements but also a lake and a sword. Currently mounted on a round base as was printed before "The Old World" but could easily go on a square.

A newer figure I think is this Paladin chap with strange antler helmet which can't be an optimal combat choice. Seems to have done for the Orc on the base though so obviously not too inhibiting. Nice little model, I like it.

Now we're talking, here come the proper heartbeat of society the men at arms and the Longbowmen. These are still the original plastics and are holding up well. Possibly not as crisp as the very latest GW stuff but still very nice not overly burdened with Flash or mould lines.

Last but not least the real heroes of any army - the royal engineers bringing the latest technology to bear in the noble tradition of breaking stuff. The battering ram is another recesses of the cupboard find and I suspect it doesn't even have rules in the new version. I particularly like the guy at the front who can still be found today at any builders merchants doing his best to not help diy-ers.

The same crew around a more recent, possibly forgeworld(?) resin trebuchet. The crew in both snaps are from this kit as the battering ram did not come with any crew. Decent model but for me better alternatives exist. Highlands miniatures do a really nice trebuchet while Reconquer designs do outstanding siege equipment including battering rams, siege towers and trebuchets.

I am aware that this article does not cover every unit in the Bretonnian list as can only include those that have been sent to me to paint and perhaps that is a sort of way of understanding the wider meta. Perhaps squires and grail knights are not rated at the moment by gamers.

Finally for those who are interested in printing Arthurian alternates there are several companies I would recommend. These were all creating their minis before GW jumped back in to the old world and in many ways were keeping the flame alive when GW couldnt be arsed so I have no qualms abour recommending them.

Lost Kingdom miniatures (Kingdom of Mercia)

Highland miniatures (Gallia range)

Reconquer miniatures (more historical than fantasy but knights are knights)

The printing goes ever on.