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I have 4 armies. Lizardmen, High Elves, O&G, and Bretonnians. I have played about a dozen games in 8th edition now. I played 8 games with my lizardmen, and surprisingly, my favorite army in 6th edition is not very enjoyable to me. I don't like the Slann Mage Priest (I know, I know....best caster in the game and all that). I've always preferred a melee oriented army over a magic heavy army. The Oldblood, my preferred character in 6e, is so hard to do anything with that a Slann is almost required. I also hate the IN 1 of Saurus Warriors. Naturally, I do love the cold blooded, but I was just not "feeling the love" in lizardmen in 8e.
I've now played my Bretonnian army in 4 games, and I'm finding I really enjoy this army in 8e. In 6th edition, I liked Bretonnians, but did not love them because they felt rather "push button". If I charged (and I almost ALWAYS charged), I won. I also like to have infantry, even in a cavalry heavy army, and MAA just did not cut the mustard in 6e. Steadfast and some of the other rules changes to 8e bring an interesting challenge to Bretonnia. Just getting the charge is not enough now, and I LIKE that. I have some observations about my games that I thought I would post and see if anyone cared to comment or debate.
1) I love MAA in 8e. I've read many posts on this forum as well as others that indicate MAA are useless, but I completely disagree. Some of the knocks against them are that they are only leadership 5, so steadfast is not really useful. However, they do benefit from the leadership of any knight unit within 6" (and of course the general within 12"), so they almost never have leadership 5 when I've played them. It is just so easy to keep Knights in the vicinity.
Another knock is that they are too slow. The knights are already charging in turn 2, but the MAA lag behind. Again, I find this not to be that case. In my games, I've had no problems holding my knights back if needed in order to get my MAA in combat first. I'm finding that I rarely charge all of my Knights on turn 2. What I've elected to do is selectively charge on turn 2. For example, I'll charge a small unit of monstrous infantry, a small unit of archers....anything I can break on a charge. I'll often charge 2 units into it to ENSURE that I break it. The overrun that I get allows me to completely disrupt my opponents battle line and plan. The BIG units, I probably do not charge until turn 3.....after my MAA get a frontal charge and stick the big unit in place.
I almost never run these MAA in horde format. I run a 40 man unit 5 wide and 8 ranks deep. I know a day will come when horde will be better, but frankly, they are more useful to me as a steadfast tarpit than additional kills in melee.
2) I love Questing Knights. I take these guys in a unit of 9. Again, I've seen many posts that these guys are not useful. ASL + 3+ armor save is not a good combo, and this is a good argument. However, when used properly, these guys really shine. I typically use these only on flanks, or in conjunction with another block of cavalry to decimate small units. In games where I KNOW it's going to be a grind, I like these guys on a units flank. A good example is the game I just played against the skaven bell. Sure, the QK struck last, but the STR 6 meant I was wounding that damnable bell on a 4+ instead of a 6+. I also like to charge in the lance formation, and then if stuck for subsequent rounds, combat reform 5 wide by 2 deep. That way they get all of their attacks. I certainly would not want these as my main units, but they are great in support and used judiciously.
3) I prefer a level 4 prophetess to two level 2 damsels. I was taking the two level 2s (one with life on horseback, and 1 with beasts on foot.) They were quite good, and I was using the prayer icon to give the MAA the blessing of the lady. However, casting, and dispels, especially against armies with a level 4 caster, was a real challenge. I also find that the blessing is kind of cool, but not particularly useful to the MAA. The level 4 (safely tucked away into a unit of Grail Knights) allows more efficient casting and dispels. I did try a level 4 and a level 2 in the same list, but I felt it limited my army to much by utilizing so many points better spent on knights.
3) I love Grail Knights. I've seen some debate on whether to take them BIG, take them small, or not to take them at all because they are so expensive. I have found that a unit of 8 (plus a prophetess) is lethal. I love this unit guarding my flanks. When they are size 9 (and I have 3 additional blocks of knights the same size) my opponents seem at a loss as to what to target. In fact, my BSB and general, both in different units of KoTR, often draw fire AWAY from my Grail Knights.
4) I love Pegasus Knights! Flying fast cavalry. My opponents just do not know how to deal with them. They are such a nuisance, and such a concern for people. Even if they kill nothing, my opponent's distraction is well worth the cost. And against armies with artillery, they are sheer GOLD.
5) I do NOT love Knights Errant. The whole point of my army is to use my power judiciously. Being forced to charge because I fail a leadership check does not help in that regard. And taking the Banner of Errantry only compounds the issue!
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