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Has anyone heard anything about a new Bretonnian Codex anytime soon?

There's a new edition of fantasy rumoured around April time which looks to be a big shakeup to the game if the rumours are even a bit correct. So I wouldn't hold your breath for a new Bretonnian army book anytime soon, if ever, unfortunately.

Yeah...not only is there *not* going to be a new Bretonnian rule book, we'll be lucky if Bretonnians still exist in any recognizable form in 9th edition.

There have been rumors of a new bret book for literally years. It is eventually coming, but I wouldn't hold your breath for it.

 Freytag93 wrote:
There have been rumors of a new bret book for literally years. It is eventually coming, but I wouldn't hold your breath for it.

With the rumored 9th edition changes, I'm not sure I'd even count on seeing an actual Bret-only book ever. You might find their units in an Empire/Forces of Good army book eventually...

There's been rumours of a new Bret book for forever now, and much of their stuff recently went back up on the store in finecast. That lends a bit of hope to the notion that they might be sticking around.

As for the rumours, they're a little less cut-and-dry than people are saying. There are both rumours that fantasy is being "reduced to 6 factions." However there was previously a rumour that a "faction system" would be used to create an expanded ally system. So who knows.

Furthermore, there's a rumour of a new "heavily armorued good faction," that is essentially a counterpart to Warriors of Chaos for the realms of men. If that doesn't scream "re-tooled Bretonnia" then I don't know what does. Bretonnia as it stands is kind of bland, and most of the better attempts I've seen from skilled hobbyists includes as many third-party models as it does GW models. Generic knights aren't exactly strongly protected IP.

...now push the setting forward a couple hundred years, and turn Bretonnia into a crusader-focused army, with a bit more of the grimdark and a bit less of the "poncy parade army" vibe, and I think that's exactly what the army needed.


So we'll see. I think there's some hope yet that Bretonnia will survive as a faction, though perhaps not in quite its current form (i.e. french knights with a lazy Arthurian skin).

Bretonia is no more, its being rolled into empire come 9th.

The simple truth is, WE DON'T KNOW what's happening with Bretonnia. GW holds their cards far too close to the vest for that.

You can take about 90% of the rumours you see online and throw them in the trash for their accuracy. And 90% of what's left is still badly exaggerated and wrong in most the details.

So just relax and wait for it. We'll know when they publish the bloody books and not one minute before.

Regardless of whether you believe the rumours are true or not, the end result is the same, avoid starting a Bretonnian army, maybe consider finishing your existing Bretonnian army if it's almost finished and you're worried models might vanish and don't get too depressed if the army disappears.

Considering that Darnok's rumors about the Harlequin release came out a number of months ago and are pretty much dead-on, I suggest taking these rumors with a respectable level of belief. This isn't Naftka stuff or the like, these rumors all came from those who have provided the best rumors in the past.

I'd just be hesitant about investing any hefty sum into an army when it could be I recognizable in the next edition (assuming, of course, that you aren't just trying to play 8th with a group of friends indefinitely).

Actually it IS just like Naftka if you paid attention.

Darnok isn't the one generating the rumors. He's got "little birdies" that are giving him the information.

Whether or not the WHFB rumors are coming from the same source as the Harlequin, we'll have to see.

Well, regardless Darnok's/Harry's birdies have been right. I believe even 40kradio has said that sweeping changes are coming for WHFB. I don't even have a negative opinion about the possible future of fantasy, I just think holding off on purchases is the smart thing to do (unless you really want a kit you think may be going bye-bye).

And I DID pay attention, there's no need to be snarky.

Darnok (from Warseer) - Total rumors: (57 TRUE) / (17 FALSE) / (9 PARTIALLY TRUE/VAGUE)
Harry from Warseer - Total rumors: (39 TRUE) / (7 FALSE) / (2 PARTIALLY TRUE/VAGUE)

'Nuff said. If they were 100% right, I'd believe it more. But since Harry has End Times as a three book cycle...

I wasn't looking at buying a Bretonnian army. I bought an army back when they last re-did the codex (quite a few years ago) and was just starting to open the boxes and assemble it (backlog of models/armies to paint has been huge). I don't want to waste my time if they are going to just disappear.

It seems hard to believe that they would just eliminate an entire faction of models. Absorbing into another faction is one thing if they keep it all playable in some form, but eliminating it? I would think that an indication that the company may not last much longer.

I am hoping that Bretonnia is not completely abandoned or merged with Empire like some of the rumors are saying. Obviously as a Bretonnian player since 1996, I would be pretty pissed off if suddenly my only complete fantasy army were to become useless. I personally hope that the end times results in Bretonnia getting seriously messed up, but not being wiped out altogether. Has anybody read the fluff about Bretonnia in 3rd edition or Warhammer Fantasy Role playing? In those editions, Bretonnia is a much more dark, realistic place that has modernized a few hundred years forward to the 15th century technology is found in the Empire. The noble classes are decadent and oppressive and there is widespread unrest amongst the peasants. They have a modern Navy, a modern military, and the days of shining knights has long passed. There is no longer religious unity but rather, a whole host of religions and cults. Basically everything about the older edition fluff is superior than the bs Arthurian 5th edition/6th edition fluff.

Hopefully the end times causes some serious destruction in Bretonnia which results in the some huge societal changes. I for one would love to see a darker Bretonnia. The army list could even be similar to the Empire at the basic level with some Bretonnian flavored special and rare choices.

II really like the Bretonnian army, I think that considering the book is older than most starting players, it has held up really well.

I will be sad if it does merge with the Empire.

 Accolade wrote:
Considering that Darnok's rumors about the Harlequin release came out a number of months ago and are pretty much dead-on, I suggest taking these rumors with a respectable level of belief. .

90% of what people have gotten out of Darnok's rumours come from reading stuff between the lines that isn't actually there.

"Six factions" could mean anything. It could mean that there are only six armies, or it could mean that all existing armies remain but are "grouped" into factions in some sort of ally system. It could be like 40K marines, where chapters were spun out into their own books with "conversion kits" to specialize the generic kits for those specialized chapters. We really have no idea.

Darnok's birdies are all over the place on what this move to a "skirmish-based" system will actually mean for the game.

The rumours don't even specifically say that this rumoured skirmish system will REPLACE 9th, as compared to merely existing in parallel.

Moreover, even if Bretonnia gets rolled into Empire, that doesn't mean you can't still recreate a Bret army. So long as there are rules for knights you're golden...and there will always be rules for knights.

PirateRobotNinjaofDeath wrote:

 Accolade wrote:
Considering that Darnok's rumors about the Harlequin release came out a number of months ago and are pretty much dead-on, I suggest taking these rumors with a respectable level of belief. .

90% of what people have gotten out of Darnok's rumours come from reading stuff between the lines that isn't actually there.

"Six factions" could mean anything. It could mean that there are only six armies, or it could mean that all existing armies remain but are "grouped" into factions in some sort of ally system. It could be like 40K marines, where chapters were spun out into their own books with "conversion kits" to specialize the generic kits for those specialized chapters. We really have no idea.

Darnok's birdies are all over the place on what this move to a "skirmish-based" system will actually mean for the game.

The rumours don't even specifically say that this rumoured skirmish system will REPLACE 9th, as compared to merely existing in parallel.

Moreover, even if Bretonnia gets rolled into Empire, that doesn't mean you can't still recreate a Bret army. So long as there are rules for knights you're golden...and there will always be rules for knights.

Well of course, but I don't recall saying you couldn't buy Knights Obviously there will be a decent amount of ubiquity of old WHFB models, but I highly doubt armies will remain intact in any shape or fashion the way they are now. That box you have of Bretonnian Men-at-arms will translate well enough into whatever post-human faction comes out in 9th, but of course the unit options might be a bit screwier. I personally would avoid buying some of the big resin kits you feel obligated to buy for a good WHFB army- those trebuchets are probably not a good investment, since they're so expensive and likely to end up as a generic rock thrower unit.

The rumors to my understanding show 9th as being the system that is supported. There will probably be an attempt to smooth people's armies from previous editions into the game (though 8th vs. 9th semi-compatibility) but that will mostly be something that isn't built to last. 9th armies will undoubtedly be more effective at the new game than older armies that are either stuck to the units you have or even possibly the bases they are on (should the round base rumor turn out to be true).

I mainly look at this from the perspective of the GW vs. CHS case: GW is trying to shed anything that they can't claim full ownership of, and Bretonnia fits that to a "T." Obviously all of your old models will be able to be utilized in some form or fashion, via changing the models a bit (bases or weapons) and/or coming up with some lore for them. I just think it's mostly going to be a war of attrition for the veteran players as the game evolves away from the old system. For those who wait these few months, they will be able to avoid any of the growing pains that come with the transition.


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 Kanluwen wrote:
Darnok (from Warseer) - Total rumors: (57 TRUE) / (17 FALSE) / (9 PARTIALLY TRUE/VAGUE)
Harry from Warseer - Total rumors: (39 TRUE) / (7 FALSE) / (2 PARTIALLY TRUE/VAGUE)

'Nuff said. If they were 100% right, I'd believe it more. But since Harry has End Times as a three book cycle...

Sorry, I totally forgot about this. I fully concede that Harry and Darnok aren't always right. That is 100% true. But I STILL think it is a poor, poor idea to go dump $400+ dollars on a WHFB army, when the army will most likely play nothing like it does in two to three months (risking, of course, invalidation of a particular playstyle, army unit combinations, etc.)...unless you just don't care about hobby expenditures whatsoever, it's a bad investment with *whatever* is going on in this game. And I am fully confident that the changes to come are wide-reaching and extremely significant if GW is truly trying to save this game from the axe.

I agree with Accolade. I'm currently on a WHFB purchasing freeze until the dust settles. I've even preemptively sold off some stuff that I wasn't going to get around to in the nearish future (likely ever lol)

As for the new bret Book, I wouldn't count on it. Likely they will be rolled into 2, the "good guys" of empire, bretonnia & dwarfs and the new Spess Mahreens in Fantaseh Spess. I seriously hate spess mahreens in case you can't tell.

 Accolade wrote:
Sorry, I totally forgot about this. I fully concede that Harry and Darnok aren't always right. That is 100% true. But I STILL think it is a poor, poor idea to go dump $400+ dollars on a WHFB army, when the army will most likely play nothing like it does in two to three months (risking, of course, invalidation of a particular playstyle, army unit combinations, etc.)...unless you just don't care about hobby expenditures whatsoever, it's a bad investment with *whatever* is going on in this game. And I am fully confident that the changes to come are wide-reaching and extremely significant if GW is truly trying to save this game from the axe.

It's not even just the money, to assemble and paint even a small army will take most people a few months, by which time the rules are likely to have changed. It's annoying to be 100 hours in to a project only to have the game change on you.

On the plus side though, if the Empire, Dwarves and Brets are combined. I could possibly run the brettonian knights with dwarves. best of both worlds.

wait--what about dwarfs??

Rumors aside, what is presently known is that Brettonia has essentially ceased to exist in the fluff. As per End Times Thanquol, Brettonia has been overrun by Skaven like Estalia and Tilea and the last remnants of Brettonias military forces are presently holed up with Karl Franz in Averland, waiting to show down with Archaon.

I am appalled at how the Skaven were able to overrun Estalia, Tilea, Bretonnia, and the Border Princes without any resistance. Seemingly with the stroke of a pen, they took over all of humanity in the old world with the exception of the Empire. How the rats were able to take over four large regions populated and defended by humans for thousands of years in a short span without any explanation is the question we should all be asking. If you are going to write four entire kingdoms out of the fluff, you should at least explain how the hell it went down...

As a Bretonnia player for nearly 20 years and a longtime hater of the stupid rats, I am very annoyed at all this. I don't care if Bretonnia is destroyed, at least explain how a kingdom of knights which has been around for thousands of years suddenly falls utterly to RATS?

JenkkiMike wrote:
As a Bretonnia player for nearly 20 years and a longtime hater of the stupid rats, I am very annoyed at all this. I don't care if Bretonnia is destroyed, at least explain how a kingdom of knights which has been around for thousands of years suddenly falls utterly to RATS?

It tore itself apart in the civil war prior to Nagash's rise. Then there was Arkhan's invasion to grab artifacts from Maisontaal, which was fairly limited but still took a toll, what remained of the regular Knights went to Altdorf at the behest of Lileath (Lady of the Lake) and helped try to stop the Glottkin. What was left in Bretonnia was said to be a few Grail Knights and the poor citizenry who still hadn't recovered from the civil war and its after effects. Some Dark Elf raids from Athel Loren came sometime later, then the Skaven, unified like never before, rose up.

And brettonia was my next project!

Boo GW!

Azeroth wrote:
I wasn't looking at buying a Bretonnian army. I bought an army back when they last re-did the codex (quite a few years ago) and was just starting to open the boxes and assemble it (backlog of models/armies to paint has been huge). I don't want to waste my time if they are going to just disappear.

Good news, then. Previous editions of WFB and - even better - other fantasy battle rules systems still exist. Heck, you don't even have to use the models as Bretonnians in the Warhammer world. You could paint them up with wolves against grey and golden lions against crimson, if you liked. I know I thought about it until the Perry Hundred Year War plastics started turning up.

It's so sad to see them go (if they are), they've always seemed fairly popular. The models are fantastic, the characters are even better. Maybe it's just my love of pretty colours, idk. I fething love the Bretonnians ;-;.

 Norn King wrote:
It's so sad to see them go (if they are), they've always seemed fairly popular. The models are fantastic, the characters are even better. Maybe it's just my love of pretty colours, idk. I fething love the Bretonnians ;-;.

I'm not so sure they will be gone. Even if they are combined with Empire and so on, I could easily see them creating a supplemental codex of them down the line akin to some of the elder and marine chapters getting their own supplement in 40K, or maybe even like Harlequins recently. There are enough people out there that I believe would jump on a new book with some added flair along with some specific rules for that as a faction of a combined humans/warriors of light army.

But, regardless, it is too soon to jump to conclusions. We just need to wait for Archaon to finish his bidness so we can see what all comes of this. In the mean time, we'll just have to keep praying to the Lady to hope she pours down her blessing upon us

If there's any WFB god listening at GW HQ, it's Nurgle. And that's not blessings he's pouring on you.