The Grail Knights are the epitome of the Bretonnian ideal of chivalry, warriors of immeasurable prowess and exemplars of courage, virtue, and noblesse oblige. Arguably the most devastating heavy cavalry plying their trade in the Old World, these are literally the last living saints your average devotee of the Dark Gods wants to meet out on the battlefield.
As you can see, with a Weapon Skill of 6, 5 Initiative, and 2 Attacks, this band of brothers are a truly terrifying proposition – but their stats aren’t the full story. With heavy armour, shields, and barded Bretonnian Warhorses, they have a save of 3+, while the lances give them +2 Strength on the turn they charged, and Armour Bane (1).
This is a Universal Special Rule (USR), just one of about 75 in the game. This seems like a lot at first glance, but this new system simply collates a lot of special rules that once lived in several places – things like Psychology, unit coherence, or Monster rules.
Close Order is a good example. In the past, you just had to know that units that weren’t skirmishers or fast cavalry operated in ranks and files – what we now know as close order. Now every unit has all its formations listed as a USR, calling this out and clarifying. Likewise, Stomp attacks were once listed under the Monster rules, but now as a USR it’s possible to be more deliberate with which monsters have the rule, and which don’t. And it’s also easier to remember you’ve got a Stomp in the first place!
Beyond USRs, there are also rules that only govern units from a single army, which are collected in the relevant army lists, and even a couple of rules that are unique to a particular unit. These are listed on individual profiles. With that in mind, let’s find out exactly what our Grail Knights are capable of.
Special Rules for the Lady
The Blessings of the Lady is an army-wide rule for the Kingdom of Bretonnia. Instead of rolling to see who goes first, a Bretonnian army may instead kneel to pray for the protection of the Lady of the Lake. This grants a 6+ Ward Save (invulnerable save) against any wounds suffered, or 5+ against wounds of Strength 5 or higher. Of course, this blessing can be lost by besmirching one’s own honour – either when a unit flees, or a character declines a challenge.
Close Order we have covered already. Counter Charge is effective against Monsters, Cavalry, and Chariots – if our Grail Knights are charged by units such as these from a longer distance than their attacker’s Movement characteristic, they can spur their horses D3+1” in response – both parties count as charging, and Initiative then comes into play.
Finest Warhorses is another Bretonnian-only rule – such is the quality of these noble steeds, you may reroll any 1s when you Charge, Flee, or Pursue before discarding any dice. If their First Charge of the game makes contact, the target unit loses its rank bonus until the next round of combat. Lance Formation allows Bretonnian Knights to form their signature devastating charge formation – offering them a choice between this and Close Order.
Living Saints is a great example of a unique special rule – these Grail Knights are such mighty warriors, that they can individually issue Challenges to enemy characters. Goblin Bosses watch out! Swiftstride adds a further 3” to your maximum charge range, and +D6” to any given charge, flight, or pursuit.
Finally, the Grail Vow provides further benefits: they are unaffected by Fear and Terror, they fight with Magical Attacks, and the first time they fail a Break test, they may automatically Fall Back in Good Order.
On top of that, you can load up on even more abilities with Magic Items and a Knightly Virtue for the Grail Guardian who leads them, or a Magic Banner. Grant him the Virtue of the Impetuous Knight to extend your charge range – at the risk of Impetuously charging towards the foe, the Dragon Slaying Sword to make him a Monster Slayer, or the Blazing Banner to add Flaming Attacks.
Universal Special Rules provide the variety, character, and granularity you need for a realm as violent and varied as the World of Legend. Elite units such as Grail Knights generally have the most USRs, but even the lowlier likes of Bretonnian Squires have a few tricks up their sleeves: Move Through Cover, Open Order, Peasantry, Skirmishers, and Vanguard – but to find out what these do, you’ll have to complete your Questing Vow of buying the Warhammer: The Old World rulebook when it goes on pre-order some time in the new year…
