>Knights are the backbone of the Bretonnian army So how many

Probably one for every dozen or so peasents and half a dozen men at arms, iirc the knights were supposed to bring them along to the army like the rest of their 'equipment', although the plebs were more likely to be sent on garrison/patrol/scout/latrine digging duty so the proportion of knights on the field of battle would be a little higher.

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>>48669678
>knights the backbone of the army
Let's analyze this using human anatomy and cultural understanding of idioms.

First of all, this would imply knights are the bravest, or at least braver than most, i.e. showing real backbone. It also has serious implications for army formations

>>48669826
>backbone
>n.
>3. The main support or major sustaining factor: the backbone of a thesis.

>>48669861
>thesis
Yes, and all the knights would be master scientists/theoreticians, and be capable of educating any peasant and xeno they come across.

>>48669882
The part after the semi colon is an example of use rather than part of the definition.

>>48669882

Do you even modern major-general? A Bretonnian Knight should be able to quote all the poems and songs of his people while cleaving a Wood Elf in twain.

>>48669911
And?

>>48669678
As much as the Wood Elves allow them to have.

None anymore since GW squatted them.

>>48669678
The ordinary knight would have 4 fighting retainers to bring on campaign, wealthier knights more. This constituted a lance, though generally the knights would fight as one unit with their squire supporting them by providing fresh lances, alerting the knight to other foes, and allowing them to take their horse if the knight's horse should be killed underneath him.

>>48669678
A few hundred.

>>48669678
>typical army
Depends on the army size.

>>48669912
A bret killing a wood elf is like a swede killing a somali.

>>48669912
I am the very model of a modern major Nobleman
I've battled Chaos forces, both Beastmen and Barbarians
I know the names of all the gods from The Lady to Asuryan
The ways that they are worshiped by the elves and the Brettonians
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters of the magical
I understand the theories, both the orthodox and radical
With gossip from the royal court I am teeming with a lot o' news
With many cheerful facts about the plotting of the Dukes

>>48669678
Thousands of knights, they have more knights than any society ought to be having. In one battle against chaos they brought 10,000 knights to one battle, and thats before 8th edition bumped them up to having at least hundreds of thousands

>>48671548
Beastman and Barbarian'
worshipped by the elf and the Bretonnian'

with gossip from the royal court I'm teeming like a harridan
of many cheerful facts about the princess or librarian
my oaths I'll keep to peasant and agrarian
for I'm the very model of a Nobleman Bretonnian

War of the Beard happened after the sundering, so gimped, colonial HE troops lost to the Karaz Ankor in it's prime

what if the HEs in their Prime (pre-sundering) went up against Karaz Ankor in their prime?

>>48669826
I wonder if such a formation would be viable IRl.

>>48669678
how many points?

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>>48671548
>>48675450

>>48675863
>what if the HEs in their Prime (pre-sundering) went up against Karaz Ankor in their prime?
This is pure speculation, but the HE would certainly fought way better. I don't like discussions that go "my favorite faction would beat your favorite faction under those made-up conditions!", so let's say they would exhaust each other until a draw.

>>48675863
>this is now a random warhammer fluff questions thread
The HE would have had their best, most battle hardened troops from Nagarythe, along with Malekith as leader. Without the losses sustained from the sundering the elves would have had greater numbers than the dwarfs, and would have won more on the field of open battle. They still would have been fucked once they tried besieging the dwarf holds though, which could easily reinforce each other thanks to still being connected by massive underground highways. The war probably ends with the dwarfs retreating back to their holds but not being fully extinguished.

>>48673867
Surprise, Fantasy Writer have no sense of scale.

>>48669826
>pelvis doesn't use spears and missile weapons

>>48676949
Surprise, fantasy doesn't have to play by real life rules

How strong are Grail Knights supposed to be in fluff?

A king has knights, lords also have knights, lords pay fealty to the king therefore their knights also pay fealty to the king. A king rules over a commonwealth, lords also rule over their own commonwealths, knights also possess much smaller commonwealths in the forms of fiefs; the lord rules over their knights' commonwealth, the king rules over the lords' commonwealth.

Notably, a knight is usually only chosen for having served a purpose or exerted some prowess to earn the favor of their master. However, if we were to assume that a knight would rule over a commonwealth of 15-50 people, a lord 50-500 people and the king 500-5000 people, then assume that at least a quarter of that were capable of service, we would see roughly 1300 men in service and 10-20 knights among them.

The knights were the backbone of the army, not only for their physical prowess, but their knowledge of combat as a whole. They would effectively be the sergeant-at-arms of the battlefield, where the kings and lords would serve as the generals of command.

>>48680486
Is this about bretonnian Knights or real life Knights?

If we take that saying as it's used currently in military forces, "The NCO(non-commissioned officer) is the backbone of the X(Marine Cops, Army, Navy, Air Force)," then I'd say that it's roughly one knight per 13-15 junior enlisted(peasants and man-at-arms) and 3-4 knights per officer(commanders).

Not sure how many that would be in a typical Brettonian army though.

>>48680557
Must be Bretonnian knights because holy shit that's wrong for real life knights.

>>48680955
It's wrong for bretonnian Knights too, which is why I was confused. Maybe it's the Knights in his own setting?

>>48671548
Heretic there is but one Goddess!

>>48680486
Dude a king of 5000 isn't a king he's a Lil bitch

>>48682770
Even the Bertonian nobility and maidens know that there are other gods, worshiped elsewhere. The Lady is THEIR goddess however. Do you even patron gods in a polytheistic world?

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There are going to be a lot of knights.

First off, you have to understand that beyond the very skilled/magical Grail Knights and Questing Knights, there are still two more general ranks of knighthood - Knights-Errant and Knights of the Realm.

The Knights of the Realm are literally nobles who have earned a plot of land, all the way from the highest Duke to the lowest Lord, with dozens of other titles. And since nobles will rarely ever disgrace themselves by fighting on foot, you can guarantee that they - and any knights they bring with them - will fight as armored, mounted warriors.

And then you bring in the Knights Errant, which are young-ish men who have yet to prove themselves in the odd meritocratic twist that any noble should have proven themselves worthy in combat. Bretonnia goes through these by the truckload, since they're eager to fight and aren't experienced enough to avoid dying, but they also fight as armored cavalry - and there are going to be a bunch more of these than the nobles, since they make up just about every son of decent birth and aspiring man of high-enough money or status.

So you have all that, plus any Grail Knights or Questing Knights that decided to come along. And that would make up the main of your fighting force, with Men-at-Arms and Archers really only there to add to the numbers. At best, you've got some Yeomen serving as light cavalry.

>>48682770
That's stupid and you're stupid. The Lady is just the main goddess, in the same way that Sigmar is, but peasants aren't even allowed to worship her. The rest of the Old World pantheon is still popular, especially Morr, Taal, and Manann.

>>48682770
The last time someone tried to preach monotheism in warhammer, Khorne sent his daemon hound karanak to fuck them up. To say there is only one true God I. Warhammer is a sure way to insult the very real chaos gods, perhaps even some of the other gods as well

>>48685315
This is why I love Bretonnia in the Warsword mod for Mount and Blade. Get a metric fuckload of knights supported by some peasant swine to soak up gunfire, then you hit them with the knightbus and drown them all in armored bodies.

>>48685367
So they are easy mode?

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>>48685367
I find Bretonnia tough to work with in that mod, honestly. You get all the rogue mercenaries wandering around that are tough even at higher levels, plenty of wandering bandits, and less of the easier beastmen, skeletons and goblins that the Empire gets, and also far less cities and villages, with the skaven getting crammed right up to the south, and nothing good to the north.

The knights are great, and can pack a surprising punch. But it's hard to get a decently sized force without at least starting with the Empire to build up your strength. You start in Bretonnia, and you really get to feel what it feels like to be a peasant.

>>48685460
Bandits are easy to get rid of. I even once solo'd a Chaos caravan and slew 15 chaos knights in the process, along with tons of marauders. You just need a horse, a lance, and how to kite.

>>48685516
Ugh, using a horse really does feel cheap. You don't even need a lance, you just gotta be good with aiming your melee attacks and getting to speed. Can't deny it's effective, but the mod forcing me to start off without a horse has given me more respect for the footslogger.

Also, that just leaves me alive and all the mooks and peasants dead. At best I get some knocked unconscious that might learn from the experience of me saving their asses.

>>48669678
As many as the elves let them keep.

>>48685315
Brets are, first and foremost, forever cucked by their elvish slavemasters. Everything beyond that is wankery over their own servitude.

>>48677148
surprise, the effect of ignoring any real life rules is fantasy that feels riddiculous and can't uphold even basic suspension of disbelief