Sir Hillier's Crusade a tactics article on the use of my 2000 point army.
First let me preface this by saying that as everyone’s level of skill or tactical style is very different and that this should in no way be taken as the only use of these forces, merely my own after years of testing in the field. That having been said let’s proceed!
This army list and its uses have been evolving to its current state since my early days in 5th edition. Times have changed and as the list evolved so did the back-story until it reached it’s current form. This list is a crusading force made from the choices on the Errantry war list from the Storm of Chaos. A list some disapprove of but I have always liked the style of the Knights Errant. They can charge when you don’t want them to but when they do they almost always make a good show of it and if you don’t want them to charge, stay far enough back until support arrives. I must say though that I almost always want to charge anyway. Well, on then to the list:
General:
Sir Hillier (Bretonnian Lord) @ 244 Pts
Great Weapon; Heavy Armour; Questing Vow,
Virtue of Confidence
Gauntlet of the Duel
Insignia of the Quest
Gromril Great Helm
Rozinante (Warhorse)
Sir Hillier is a questing knight and the leader of this force which followed him in the great war against Chaos. He hails from the part of Lyonesse that was once Mousillon and took his family name when he was knighted and embarked on his quest to clear the name after his father, albeit mislead, backed the wrong side in the battle for Albion. He consequently, seeks out the strongest foes on the field to challenge them to personal combat and is equipped to that end. His virtue and the gauntlet see that the enemy must face his challenge and the rest of his equipment is designed to provide survivability should the challenge not go well. He leads a 10 man unit of Knights Errant along with his wife, Lady Abigail.
Heroes:
Lady Abigail (Damsel of the Lady) @ 164 Pts
Magic Level 2; Lore of Life; Barding
Chalice of Malfleur
Dispel Scroll
Aintree (Warhorse)
Wife of Sir Hillier and companion on his quest. She is there to provide magical defence for the army. Chiefly by providing his lance of knights with her +1 Magic Resistance but also with her dispel scroll and chalice she can handle the most harmful spells the enemies throw. For her I chose the lore of Life as there is always terrain around to use against my opponent and the chalice to provide more dispel potential than another one-shot scroll. Thus the scroll is saved for that truly devastating must-stop-spell and the dispel dice are used to stop the rest as necessary. (White Dwarf articles on The Art of Warhammer cover the use of dispel dice far more eloquently than I so I’ll not repeat that information here)
Lady Margaret (Paladin) @ 94 Pts
Heavy Armour; Battle Standard Bearer; Knightly Vow
Virtue of Noble Disdain
Angel (Warhorse)
The army’s Battle-standard bearer and wife to Lord Maeven. She leads an eleven man lance of Knights Errant and assists them to ignore panic from shooting or magic with her virtue as well as providing rerolls to break tests.
Lord Maeven (Paladin) @ 115 Pts
Lance; Heavy Armour; Shield; Knightly Vow
Virtue of the Ideal
Zeke (Warhorse)
Elder brother to Sir Hillier. The taint of Mousillon, still in the family rests stronger on him, consequently he hunts alone as the others are uneasy around him. Maeven is the mage and warmachine killer of the army. He rides up a flank staying near terrain until he is in range of his quarry. (I had thought in the past of mounting him on a pegasus but I found that for the extra 4" of movement just wasn’t worth the points as in his role he can well handle what he’s sent after)
Sir Bron (Paladin) @ 72 Pts
Heavy Armour; Shield; Knightly Vow
Virtue of Empathy
Youngest brother to Sir Hillier and Maeven. With Maeven leading the family affairs and Sir Hillier the martial side of things Bron has always felt closer to those under him as his father already had the traditional "heir and a spare". Bron assists the peasants in the army staying close to them to provide leadership and when necessary his sword to pack an extra punch in combat.
Core:
10 Knights Errant @ 221 Pts
Lance; Heavy Armour; Shield; Musician; Barding; Knightly Vow
#Errantry Banner
Sir Jean (Cavalier)
10 Warhorses
Sir Hillier’s unit lead by his sister who masquerades as a knight so she can fight. This unit is lead by Sir Hillier and Lady Abigail and is sent after the strongest of the enemies troops, or occasionally against the weaker infantry where it can punch through and wreak havoc in the enemies rear areas.
11 Knights Errant @ 241 Pts
Lance; Heavy Armour; Shield; Musician; Barding; Knightly Vow
#Errantry Banner
Sir Eduard (Cavalier)
11 Warhorses
Lady Margaret’s unit. It essentially fills the same role as Sir Hillier’s lance of ten staying close enough to provide rerolls to both lances.
12 Knights Errant @ 283 Pts
Lance; Heavy Armour; Shield; Musician; Barding; Knightly Vow
#Errantry Banner
Sir Keith (Grail Knight Champion)
12 Warhorses
This unit, lead by Sir Keith an older Grail knight of many battles, also has the task of dealing with the enemy’s harder troops. More often in a support role for the other lances as it has no hero to provide additional punch on the charge.
20 Men of St. Martin (Men-at-Arms) @ 127 Pts
Light Armour; Shield; Standard; Musician
Gerrard (Yeoman Warden)
This unit anchors one flank of the bowmen and will engage light threats if necessary. This unit is always deployed 5x4 to provide maximum rank bonus and with the standard has +4 to combat results before a blow is struck.
12 Shire's Bows (Peasant Bowmen) @ 92 Pts
Longbow; Standard; Musician
Michael (Villein)
These 12 archers are there to harrass light units as they approach, pick off enemy characters that step where they shouldn’t and provide some protection for Bunyon’s Hedge-trimmer...my trebuchet. The reason it also contains a standard and musician, contrary to the practice of many, is that as I fight against Skaven often they can skitterleap behind me and attack from the rear. I have found it useful then to reform into a fighting formation where the rank bonus and standard can mean the difference between a dead assassin or a dead bow unit.
Special:
6 Mounted Yeomen @ 103 Pts
Spear; Bow; Shield; Musician; Fast Cavalry
6 Warhorses
A new addition to the force replacing another unit of Men-at-Arms with halberds. This unit is designed to copy Maeven’s role of riding up the flanks to harrass warmachines and lone mages. It can also serve as a screen in cases where I may face such things as enemy fanatics. It will rarely ride into combat alone so no standard or warden is required but the musician is useful for assisting in attempts to rally after fleeing.
Rare:
1 Grail Reliquae @ 154 Pts
+10 Battle Pilgrims
Light Armour; Shield
A mixed unit of clergy and military from a Grail Chapel in Lyonesse this unit performs in a similar fashion to the Men-at-Arms, anchoring the other flank of the bowmen and engaging approaching enemy units (if any slip past the knights). Also deployed 4x4 to maximize combat bonuses
Bunyan's Hedge-Trimmer (Field Trebuchet) @ 90 Pts
4 Peasants
A trebuchet made by a local craftsman in Lyonesse it is hauled wherever the army goes in case of sieges or large blocks of enemy infantry. While the range guesses are quite accurate and I target areas where there are large concentrations of enemy units in the hopes that even a drift will cause the maximum possible damage to the enemy, if there is a forest on the field this trebuchet will almost invariably hit that instead. Hence it’s name
This nets a total force of 90 models with the following break-down:
Heroes: 34%
Core: 48%
Special: 5%
Rare: 12%
Magic: 10%
As for deployment. I will typically follow one of a few patterns. The most common finds my trebuchet on a hill with the archers in front flanked by the men-at-arms and reliquae with Bron nearby to provide leadership/combat ability. The knights are divided two lances on one side, one on the other as close to the centre as possible with Maeven and the Mounted Yeomen on opposite flanks. I will, however, alter this to suit the terrain of the table I am playing on. Basically I ensure my archers and trebuchet have the best possible field of fire that I can manage as I do not intend them to move, ideally, and I form the knights where the greatest threats are or where I feel terrain can be used as bottle-necks to slow the enemy horde. And I always pray...who doesn’t want a free 6+ ward save at the expense of my enemy going first and indicating to me what his skill level and potential plans are by his movement....Movement that brings him closer to my lances. ;) Once the battle is underway, I make sure to stick to the roles I have assigned for my units and make certain the right units are in the right place when I need them to be. That being said "no plan survives contact with the enemy" so I always make certain to remain flexible and keep my eye out for opportunities...and traps.
Well, there you have it. Simple yet effective. I had toyed with the idea of pegasus knights, questing knights or grail knights but I feel that none of them quite fit the style I was going for of a mostly core force. And as I feel Questing and Grail Knights are best kept to games above 2500 points. Why pay so many points for knights when my core, 20 point knights will perform the required function just as well? Again, not an all out law of army composition, just the one that best suits my style of play.
Thanks for your time,
-Sir Hillier
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