Chevaliers de Lyonesse

Chevaliers de Lyonesse is a playable subfaction of Bretonnia introduced in Total War: Warhammer II. It is led by Repanse de Lyonesse and can be found on the northern shores of Araby.

Bretonnia is the largest and most powerful nation of men in the Old World, after The Empire. They are less technologically advanced than their neighbours, but are sheltered and protected by their geography. These knights from Lyonesse are on a holy errantry war far from their homelands. Bretonnian society has a strict division between the nobles and knights, and the lowly peasants who often live in squalor. The race is strongly based on arthurian legends and medieval France. Their armies consist of more numerous, cheaper peasant units fighting alongside a variety of powerful knights.

How they play
A summary of Bretonnia gameplay:


 * Units: Strong knight cavalry, backed up by cheap peasant infantry. Plenty of flying units.
 * Regiments of Renown: These are unique, more elite versions of regular Bretonnia units.
 * Chivalry: Noble actions provide faction-wide bonuses, while acting unchivalrously incurs penalties.
 * The Green Knight: A unique hero unit that becomes available to summon after reaching certain thresholds of chivalry.
 * Peasant Economy: Peasants both work the land, and also fight in armies. Recruiting too many peasant units hampers your economy.
 * Lance Formation: This special formation, unique to Bretonnia, allows their cavalry to pierce through enemy lines.

Background
""Repanse de Lyonesse, or the ‘Damoiselle de Guerre’ as she is known throughout Bretonnia, is a revered knight of the Chevaliers de Lyonesse. Armed with the mighty Sword of Lyonesse and fighting beside her trusty paladin companion, Henri Le Massif, she embodies the unrelenting crusading spirit of her brethren.""

Repanse de Lyonesse was a famed Bretonnian Paladin who later became the Duchess of Lyonesse. She was known as the "Damoiselle de Guerre" or "Damsel of War."

She commanded an elite Bretonnian army known as the Chevaliers de Lyonesse, famous for saving the land of Bretonnia on numerous occasions. Now, she travels to the lands of Araby, where the strongholds of the Entranty orders are under siege from the hated unliving. In the name of the Lady, the greatest daughter and Damsel of Bretonnia goes to war in desert sands of Nehekhara, where the tyrants of the sands await their judgement

Lord choices

 * Repanse de Lyonesse

Faction effects

 * Control +3
 * -50% Upkeep for all Heroes
 * Melee defence +8 for Questing Knights
 * -80 diplomatic relations with Vampire Counts, Vampire Coast, and Tomb Kings
 * Repanse starts with a legendary Paladin: Henri le Massif

Lord effects

 * See Repanse de Lyonesse

Additional starting units

 * Knights of the Realm
 * Questing Knights
 * Foot Squires

Start position

 * Eye of the Vortex


 * Coast of Araby


 * Mortal Empires


 * Coast of Araby

Starting agreements
Mortal Empires:


 * War with Strygos Empire

Diplomatic traits

 * -80 with Vampire Coast,Tomb Kings and Vampire Counts.

Strategy
The goal of the this faction is clear: destroy all Undead. Fortunately you are surrounded by them and fellow Bretonnians. Repanse is able to confederate the nearby Bretonnian factions after attacking nearby Undead factions. After destroying your initial threats, you should focus on consolidating the northern part of the Southlands. Wipe out Arkhan, confederate Bretonnians, (I can recommend making friends with Greybeard's Prospectors, but it can go either way). Take down Snikch and Tiktaq'to if they become problematic, but Settra and the rest of the Tomb Kings are your mid game goal. After that the world is your oyster.

In terms of play style, Questing Knights gain a solid boost to their melee stats under this faction, public order is slightly easier to manage, Heroes are less expensive, and all Undead hate you. Notably, Henri is an absolute beast and can tear apart most units when fully levelled. He offers a significant anti-large that teams up nicely with Repanse herself.

A handy tip with playing this campaign is to keep a Grail Reliquae in each of your armies to counter the Fear trait that is on almost every Undead unit. It makes it a lot easier to manage battles as peasant units won't end up scattering everywhere because they're flipping between breaking thanks to stacked Fear/Terror debuffs, and rallying because they're outside of the debuff range and haven't take many casualties.