Lowborn Champion



Once again, I was thinking about the difference between the common-folk and the Knights in 6th Edition Bretonnia. I decided to create some rules for those common-folk who fight for the cause of Bretonnia despite their Lowborn bloodline. I imagine these individuals as poor, ill-equipt men whose real skills lie in their ability to lead those not of noble birth in defence of their fields and homes, when the Knights are either not able, or not willing, to aid them in their plight.

Once more, Lowborn Champions, whilst somewhat playtested by me, are by no means fully balanced. Also, these are purely fan rules and are not supported by Games Workshop, so you'll need your opponent's permission to use them in battles.


LOWBORN CHAMPIONS:



Catagory: Hero
Cost: 40 points
Statistics: M(4) WS(4) BS(4) S(4) T(4) W(2) I(3) A(3) Ld(8)
Starting Weapons and Armour: Hand Weapon.
Options: May be given an additonal Hand Wepon (+3 pts), or a Great Weapon (+3 pts). May be given a Shield (+3 pts). May be given Light Armour (+3 pts). A Lowborn Champion may also be given a Shortbow (+2 pts) or a Bow (+4 pts).
Special Rules: Lowborn, Champion of The People, Impoverished.
LOWBORN: Lowborn Champions are not of noble blood and therefore most Knights would be loath to be led by somebody of such low birth. Lowborn Champions may never join a unit of Knights of the Realm, Knights Errant, Questing Knights or Grail Knights.

CHAMPION OF THE PEOPLE: Unlike other Characters, Lowborn Champions may join units of Peasants and Militia, and those units may use his Leadership for Leadership tests. In addition, if a Lowborn Champion is your Army General, Peasants do count towards the minimum Core units needed. If a Lowborn Champion is your General, Knights of the Realm and Knights Errant become Special choices and it is not nessacary to take the Paladin Battle Standard Bearer usually required for a Bretonnian Army.

IMPOVERISHED: Like all common-folk, Lowborn Champions live a hard life, living off the land and putting all of the little money they don't spend on food and clothing towards buying farming tools and other things they need to make a living. It is therefore very rare for any of them to have an item of any real value (besides average weapons) in their possession. Only one (1) Lowborn Champion in your army may have a Magic Item of any type. The chosen Lowborn may only have one Magic Item, and it must cost no more than 25 points.


It is not only the Knights of Bretonnia who show great courage and fortitude in warfare. When unexpected attacks occur and the local Duke's forces are too far away to lend aid, it is often up to a town's most heroic and intelligent member to gather the citizens into a fighting force, to hold back the darkness that threaterns their lives and homes.

Handling Lowborn Champions:

Lowborn Champions are, compared to Paladins, not worth the points that they cost. Badly armoured, poor Weapon Skill for a Character and bad selection of Magic Items are all downsides to the Lowborn Champion. However, they do have their uses. A Lowborn Champion armed with a Great Weapon and Light Armour (costing 46 points), and joined by a unit of 20 Peasants with two Hand Weapons and full command (costing 65 points) creates a unit costing no more than 101 points. These units are not the toughest guys in the game, but can sure pack a punch if not taken care of.

For example, the said 101 point unit that was described above (Great Weapon and Light Armour armed Lowborn Champion who has joined a 20 strong Peasant unit with two Hand Weapons and full command group) can really do harm to careless units if used well. With many WS2 S3 attacks and 3 WS4 S6 attacks, they could do some serious harm to any infantry who leaves their back or sides open to a charge.

On the other hand, a unit of 20 Peasants (with full command) armed with a single Hand Weapon and a Shield and joined by the previously mentioned Lowborn Champion, will have a moderate Armour Save (5+, due to Hand Weapon and Shield) and be able to sap up quite a bit of damage before going down when taking Break tests with the Leadership of 8 that the Lowborn Champion gives them.

Lowborn Champion Miniatures:

Finding models to represent your Lowborn Champions depends really on how you plan to arm them. Hugo le Petit, an older miniature that is part of Bertrand's Brigands (a special Bretonnian unit from earlier editions, who was led by Bertrand, a Robin Hood-esque character) would make an excellent Lowborn Champion armed with a Great Weapon. Bertrand himself would make a good Lowborn Champion as well.

The best way to build a Lowborn Champion, however, would probably be to convert one. Just remeber that he (or she) is a ragged warrior who should be suitably dirty and ill-kempt.

Army General VS Peasant Leader:

The two best ways to make use of your Lowborn Champions is to either use them as Army General, and take most, if not all, of your Hero choices as other Lowborn Champions, or to use one or two of them to lead your Men-At-Arms or Peasants when a Paladin or Duke is in command.

If you use a Lowborn Champion as your Army General, you will have to be careful because he is fragile, with a horrible Armour Save (4+ at maximum) compared to Paladins or Dukes, and all of his statistics, except Leadership, are pretty below average for a Hero level character. The plus side of using a Lowborn Champion as General is that you have somebody who can lead the foot troops for a cheap price, and give your infantry a fighting chance against more powerful enemy infantry. Lowborn Champions are also effective in larger numbers, so you can have 2 Lowborn Champions (for about the cost of 1 Paladin) leading a unit of Men-At-Arms. A dangerous oppoent.

On the other hand, Paladins and Dukes make much better Generals, but almost always go charging off with the Knights, leaving the Men-At-Arms and Peasants slogging along behind to guard the backs of the chivalrous Knights. A well-placed Lowborn Champion could improve the chances of fighting back the enemy, leaving your Knights to bring justice Bretonnian-style to the ranks of the enemy.

If you have any comments on the Lowborn Champion, or have any questions, just Email Me. Have fun!

You may find a Battle Report featuring Lowborn Champions Here.

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