Written by QuiGonJinn, with added commentary supplied by tomahawk, Skaveslayer, and davieste.

If you have come to this Tactica, you are looking to learn about the best way to use Virtues with your Paladins and Lords. This guide will not list the rules, nor points totals, but it will provide you with a tactical and competitive look at each Virtue.

Virtue of the Penitent: Useless. No magic items, have to be on a horse, and the only thing you get from it is your basic Ld, but if you're dead, that's nothing special.
The only use that you can get out of this is by taking the Grail Vow and sending him at a block of weak, fear causing, combat units that you can feasibly hold up for turn after turn.^T
 

Virtue of Knightly Temper: It has its uses, but the restriction on no magic weapons hurts it. Expensive as well, so if you are giving this to someone, you really need to make sure that they are hitting and often. Isoldue's Tress would work well with this, or The Armour of Aiglulf. But to do either you need the Lord. And there are better Lord combinations.

This virtue can be combined with the Tress to make a mess of characters too.^D

 
Virtue of Heroism: Our answer to anything big and scary enough to cause our Knights headaches. If you are taking this, kit appropriately. Most often on a Pegasus to counter any fliers they might have, and taking the Enchanted Shield to mitigate the decreased AS for riding said Pegasus. Also, the restriction of non magic weapon applies here, so no trying to get in the Sword of the Lady's Champion or the like. All you are allowed are basic mundane Lances/GW/Morning Stars/Hand weapons.

Virtue of Stoicism: Another BSB, but with no range or no combat res...Wait how is he a BSB? Seriously though, the added re-roll if your BSB isn’t around might prove life saving. It also might not. This is again, an expensive Virtue.

Virtue of the Ideal: Our stat boosting Virtue. It is still pricey, and it also prevents the Generalship, and on top of that incurs a Ld penalty, but the boosts you get from it may prove to be of use. It is situational, like the Stoicism Virtue.

There are another two uses; Pegasus Paladin for extra hitting power or for a Paladin in a unit of Knights Errant with the errantry banner and treat them like they are frenzied.^D

Virtue of the Impetuous Knight: A sneaky, underhanded way to try and get a 22" charge, but if it works, who is to blame you? I would not take this personally, as again, you get one shot at it, and if you fluff it, you fluff bad. Again, it is an expensive and situational Virtue.

However, not everyone is of this opinion. The following is supplied by tomahawk as another view of the use of the Impetuous Knight:

It's very useful to disrupt tactical experienced players who set up their main units just 1 inch beyond your charge range, for that one more round of magic/shooting, or maybe counter charge with 14 inch cavalry if you close the gap. That extra inch charge range which is basically guaranteed and can be very useful.

When you take it sometimes but not at other times, the threat of this virtue can force the opponent who thinks you have this virtue into manoeuvres he wouldn't have made if this perceived threat wasn't there.

Making a charge, which your opponent "knows" you cannot make, can be game-winning.
If opponent falls into the trap of the perceived threat, he will make errors.

If you minimize the extra distance you have to roll, the virtue will be more worthwhile.
Everything over 1 inch is gambling.
1 inch means a 100% success rate
2 inches means 16.7% chance of failure on the charge
3 inches means 33.3% chance of failure on the charge
4 inches means 50% chance of failure on the charge
5 inches means 66.7% chance of failure on the charge
6 inches means 83.4% chance of failure on the charge

A well placed gamble can win you the battle, but if the dice are against you that unit will be in Peril.
Another thing it's also good for is to catch units that will flee from your charge. In effect you reduce infantry to a 1d6 flee distance and cavalry/flyers/etc to 2d6.^T

Virtue of Audacity: Against the stronger enemies out there (and there are more than a few, believe me) this may prove to be of use. However, it is of no use against S4 opponents, and if you are going against S5+, then you should be prepared to bring along the appropriate safety measures, them being a good armour save, a strong Ward, and perhaps Regeneration as well. Also, never be too far from your fellow Knights.

Virtue of Duty: Our one per army, and there is only one model in my opinion who really benefits from it, the BSB. Couple him together with a Warbanner, and we have a static +3 CR before we even factor in unit, outnumber, banner, or ranks. However, it is only worthwhile while the General is alive and slaying, so be sure your General don't run away due to some accident or is slain because of a missed charge. Bad dice rolls will happen regardless of planning

Virtue of the Joust: Only available on the charge, though what it does is it increases your chance of hitting. Usable only on lances, so it kills any chances of a Questing Character. Though this and the Heartwood Lance brings a very nasty hit/wound re-rolls. Only available on the Lord, again, due to the total of those two alone being 60 pts.

Virtue of Confidence: This Virtue lends itself to the following Lord setup:
Lord
Barded Warhorse
Grail Vow
Virtue of Confidence
Gauntlet of the Duel
The Grail Shield
Mantle of Damsel Elena
Lance

Granted, the above is expensive, but it makes a character with the 2+ armour save, 4+ Ward, he can challenge all he wants, and the enemy can't help but accept, meaning you can do your best to obtain full OK each time, but this is best used against unit Champions. Heroes and Lords that are combat oriented will give him a hard enough time. Only do the above if you are eager to test your luck. A sub version of it on a Paladin is to take the Armour of Aiglulf and the Virtue.

Virtue of Noble Disdain: This Vow makes the character and his unit immune to running from the most un-chivalrous of weapons, and it also means that they will slay those troops with even greater contempt. Best used on a Paladin riding a Pegasus, so he can be a warmachine hunter/missile troop hunter. Be warned, you want to make sure that the enemy's static combat res is not more than what you can dish out, because if it is, your Paladin is going to be toast post haste. Or you can put this on a Paladin, stick him in a unit of Realm Knights and let the enemy have at it. No real place on a Lord, for there are better virtues, or lack of virtues, for him.

Virtue of Purity: So we get the Blessing! (pssst...Grail Vow is about the same cost, doesn't take up magic pts allowance, and does much the same thing) Though the main difference is this is the improved ward all the time. (pssst...the Dragons Claw does the same thing, but also affords you immunity of another kind for a few points more) Don't get this Virtue unless you are eager for the always 1/3 ward, which you can still lose.

Virtue of Discipline: The second cheapest Vow by points, but not so by usefulness. This Vow will help even the odds if you are the type of player to use small Knight units, with little US to try and outnumber your opponent's forces. Against units which you yourself outnumber, this ceases to apply. Also, be careful, just because they don't get their CR for outnumber, you will still run away if you are defeated by Fear/Terror units.

Virtue of Empathy: And the last but not the least Virtue. The cheapest by points, but it extends the Ld bubble he has if he is not the general, to all the peasants, and also could save you 4 points if you want to have a foot Knight. Best used on Paladins, and this virtue has no place on a Lord.
If you do not have enough peasant models to make a this Virtue is not worthwhile. Besides, with the Peasant's duty Ld boost and the General's bubble, there are enough ways to boost the peasants’ already.^S

Thank you for reading this Guide. We hope it will help you in deciding which Virtues you wish to use or experiment with.