"Bretonnian armies look amazing – but painting every knight with a unique heraldry can be a daunting task."
I think this is part of the reason so many people didn't play Bretonians.
"But in the era of the Old World that we’re looking at, it’s not uncommon for knights to be part of a regional army. An army’s general would be a Duke or a Baron, and the whole army’s heraldry will reflect their personal heraldry in some way.
Each Duke rules one of the 14 Dukedoms, and their heraldry is the symbol of that realm. Barons serve the Dukes, ruling smaller regions. A Baron’s heraldry features themes that match their Duke’s, but differ in details (such as the pattern on the field or the exact nature of the device).
The core of the army – Knights of the Realm (on foot and mounted), Knights Errant, Pegasus Knights, and all peasant units – wear the heraldry of the General."
“The knights and peasants that make up the army of Brionne all proudly wear the heraldry of their Duke – a white battle axe upon a quartered field of red and black,” explains Rob, one of the designers. “While in the past Bretonnian knights would have all worn different heraldry, we wanted to convey the idea that most Knights of the Realm are minor nobles in the service of a great lord. This has the added benefit of giving the army a unified appearance on the tabletop.”
1. I'll be interested in hearing the new lore explanation for this. Previously, as explained, each knight had their own heraldry, and each peasant wore their Knight's colors. So does this mean that historical Bretonnia was more united/centralized than in the future?
2. On that note, the whole point of a Bretonnian army is that it was eye blindingly colorful. To have such a uniform scheme seems to defeat the purpose of playing Bretonnians.
Regardless, as they clearly state, painting up a colorful army is not out of the picture. It just means it's not going to be lore friendly. Which is kind of a bummer.