Every army within the 'Warhammer' game has its own strengths and weaknesses. As a player, it is your job to discover what these are and how to use them to your advantage. Whenever possible, it is only logical to attempt to take advantage of your army's strengths while trying to downplay its weaknesses as much as possible. You would also want to try and take advantage of your opponent's weaknesses so an understanding of the other armies of Warhammer might also prove to be beneficial.
Doing research online into the other armies is certainly a sound idea. Nothing beats experience however. The more opportunities you have to play, the more experience you will gain. Not only does this allow you to put "theory into action," you also gain some insights into how other gamers use their armies and how to adjust your strategies.
The purpose of this page on the website is to outline some basic ideas into techniques for the Muster of Bretonnia. You are free to use these as you see fit or to ignore them altogether and get crushed by your opponent's fury!
The Blessing of the Lady
Unique to the Bretonnian Army, the "Blessing" allows you to forfit a chance to go first in order to strengthen the defenses of your Knights. You should always do this if possible for as the old saying goes "the best offsense is a strong defense."
The Blessing allows your Bretonnians to kneel and pray to the Lady and gain a Ward save which lasts for the entire game unless certain events occur to cancel out the Ward. Keep in mind that the Blessing of the Lady has been modified somewhat in the 6th Edition from previous editions. First of all, the Blessing only effects those units or characters with the Knight's Vow, the Questing Vow or the Grail Vow. In addition, any Prophetesses or Damsels within your muster will also be protected by the Blessing of the Lady and any mounts of any affected model. Models and units with the Peasant's Vow are not affected by the Blessing (which is another reason why I don't use many of them in my forces.)
When active, the Blessing grants all those affected models with a Ward 6+ Save. In addition, the Blessing becomes a Ward 5+ Save against all attacks with a Strength 5 or greater. This protection affects both the model and its mount, if any, and remains in effect for the duration of the game unless certain events occur which violate the sacred blessing.
If any Unit or Character flees for any reason, including breaking from combat, the Blessing is lost. In addition, if the Bretonnian player refuses to meet a challenge in a fight where a Knightly character could have accepted, the Blessing is also lost. Whenever the Blessing is lost, it is gone for only that particular Unit or Character. You will need to keep track of which models retain the Blessing and which ones have lost it. Note that certain spells or magical items can regain the Blessing on certain circumstances.
Positioning your Army
I don't think there is a hard and fast rule about the most advantageous position to place each of your units at the start of the game. However, it is important to keep a few things in mind.
Always take advantage of higher terrain whenever possible. Remember that units gain a bonus of +1 on Combat Resolution if your fighting rank occupies higher ground. Even more important, if archers are on elevated ground, they are free to use their missile weapons from the 2nd rank as well as the 1st!
Keep in mind that characters such as Lords and Heroes with higher Leadership scores can influence those surrounding them as long as the model is in the front rank of the unit (or the second rank if a wizard). Furthermore, if a unit is within 12" of the Army General, it may use the General's Leadership value if it is higher. Even better, if you a using King Louen as your General, all units within 18" are able to use his Leadership Score!
I sometimes like to put a Damsel in with the Bowmen so she can use her higher Leadership score to steady them a bit (she can flash a bit of cheesecake to keep the boys interested). I figure she doesn't need to be on the front lines anyway since her fighting ability is poor and she is still able to use certain spells and items from a distance. The presence of the Damsel increases the chances of the Bowmen passing a Leadership Test by almost 15%. Her score is even better than the Villein upgrade if you take one.
Charge!
Remember that the greatest strength of the Bretonnians are their knights and the knights are most effective when they charge. Don't hold back your knightly units if you can avoid it but rather advance them into the enemy units as soon as possible. It might also be to your advantage to sprinkle a few of the magical banners around since each unit can carry its own up to 25 point value depending on the unit. I particularly like using the Valorous Standard with the Knights of the Realm and the Banner of Defense or Banner of Châlons. If playing with Knights Errant, the Errantry Banner is effective.