Basics of Bretonnia troops and heroes: Description and possible uses of them.

Bretonnia Basics

Heroes in General:

Bretonnia get's character heavy quicker then most armies,
This is because we need to take a BSB, but remember character are support for the troops.
Troops will win the battle for you.
Tooled up Heroes are nice but can become quite a pointdrain...

Bretonnia needs to field a BSB.
Some think it is a waste because, knights need to break other unit on the charge and not get stuck in prolonged combat.

But since we have no say in that matter, we are stuck with the compulsory BSB.
We can keep him as cheap as possible, put him in a Knightly unit and use him as a glorified  unit standard bearer.
The unit gets some more attack be it at a lower strength.
Of course a Sword of power could remedy that if he joins a KOTR unit but we are talking cheap here..
Since the 7th edition the BSB's banner and the unit Standard stack, this gives an extra +1 on combat resolution which can be used quite effectively.

Tooling up the BSB:

Note: If you give your BSB a magic banner, you can also give him a Virtue.

The Banner of the Lady: negates rank bonuses, but high cost for a maximum bonus of +3 CR.
Of course against empire with their rankbonus doubling Griffon banner it is more effective.
A unit charging the flank of the unit does the same.

Warbanner and virtue of duty:

You get +2 CR for about half the cost of the Banner of the Lady
Quite a favorable choice if you look to point/effectivity ratio.
At least as long as you keep your general alive.

Virtue of Empathy:

If you keep him close to your M@A units they become quite respectable troops.
Decent leadership and rerolling Breaktest are great and come at low cost.
Do not place the BSB in a unit that comes into combat if you can help it.
A wise opponent will try to kill him fast while in combat.

On foot he is no more difficult to target with shooting/magic then on horse back, so dropping the horse is not recommend, and he has also a lower AS.
Not good
On horse he is more mobile and has a better AS.
You could hide behind a unit of peasants from shooting or behind LOS blocking terrain.

Beware of cannons though they can and will target him.

Also with magic he can be killed with certain spell that do not require LOS

Bretonnian Lord and Paladins

Bretonnian Lord on Pegasus, great if you want more PK units, otherwise keep clear of the pegasus with your Lord. He can't join PK units and is thus more vulnerable to magic and shooting.

If you want a Loner on Pegasus, think about a paladin with virtue of the ideal, gives him almost Lord stats but cheaper.

Bretonnia Lord on a Hippogryph, the only terrorcauser we can use, it's a large target and has no armoursave.
it is quite vulnerable to shooting a magic, and of course to poison...

The Bretonnia list has many options to enhance a Lord or Paladin be it magic items or virtues.
There are many combinations that can make them specialists.
Virtues and Magic items must be paid from the characters magic allowance.

Prophetess and Damsels:

Put them on horseback and join a Knightly unit.
This gives the knightly unit some Magic resistance and keeps your Damsel quite save from most magehunting tactics.
Most of the time barding is not worth the points unless you place them in a small unit.
One of the few options to keep her on foot is the Verdant Heart.

For using the Lore of Heaven you need a prophetess

Potion sacre it looks like a usefull item until you read the description.
You must use it before casting.

Chalice of Malfleur, can be usefull, but is it worth the risk?
1 Wound on a Damsel is half her VP for your opponent.

Dispell scrolls great stuff.

Power stones great stuff if you go magic heavy.

Sacrement of the lady: Not usefull anymore in the 7th edition 

Silver Mirror tricky item, is 1 high strength hit worth the extra points you pay over above the price of a dispel scroll?
With the new Miscast table it has become a better choice with the 7th edition.
And since 1 wound allready gives half VP on 2 wound character this item has increase in usefulllness