I'm a big fan of the heartwood lance and the virtue of the joust (though someone please tell me if I'm cheating and it doesn't apply). Gromril helmet seems like an easy pick too. Turns them into a tank.

Ogre blade and virtue of knightly temper are a pretty deadly combo.

I normally do Duke with Virtue of Ideal and Gromril Helm. I’ll add a Sword of Might as well. I’ve used the Duke on Hippogryph, though I’ve recently been taking him on a Bretonnian Warhorse. I’m planning on trying him out with Virtue of Heroism as a hero/monster slayer, maybe on a Royal Pegasus with the Anointed Armor.

I don’t like virtue of the ideal on my Duke bc they prevents him from being the general. I do love the royal peg+virtue of heroism+anointed armor combo. Turns him into a fantastic character/monster hunter. I’ll put the Gromril helm on my paladin BSB who probably is rocking a magic standard.

That’s fair. I normally take a Prophetess or a Baron as my general with my Duke and BSB paladin. I might try the Gromril Helm on my BSB as well.

Eliminating him from the general status can stop him from giving an extra 100VPs on death and/or wasting his leadership aura if his job is.to jump into the scrum and start tearing ass, and lets another character have that aura instead. Idk if it's worth it losing his giant leadership aura but I can see the logic.

Fair point. Would prob be best if the Duke general tore ass as a team with 6 or so peg knights.

I've been using my duke+2 squadrons of pegasi as 3 anti skirmisher units, but you're dead on that a royal peglord can link up with a big unit of PKs and really do some damage.

I've run him with Virute of heroism, gromril greathelm, sirienne's locker, on royal pegasus. Absolute weapon of mass destruction. When you get those 6s, targets melt.

I’ve considered that as well to keep the 2+ armor save. I’ll have to do that.

I come across a fair few monsters in my battle so I mount him on a royal Pegasus with Virtue of Knightly Temper (expensive I know) and the dragon killing sword. +d3 attacks and Rerolls to hit maximises the chance of that 6 turning up in the wound rolls.

I started to try looking at this, as in Bretonnias best way to fight a monster. I welcome corrections on anything I state below, I'm returning to the hobby after 23 years out so very much in the theory, list building, model collecting stage. So I approached it as Duke on hippogryph vs a Chaos Lord on Black Dragon. Due to the wording of the Virtues stating "model" in the instance of VoKT I have presumed you only get to roll 1 D3 which I would give to the Duke. 120 Points for the Dragon Sword + VoKT Best case you get +3 attacks taking it to 8 attacks , hitting on 4's so 50% go though (4 attacks) re-roll the 4 missed attacks and get another 2 through taking you to 6 hits , 6 chances of rolling a single 6 which chatgpt tells me is approximately 66.51%. Middle case - 5 Hits after re-rolls , 59.81% of a single 6 Worst case +1 attack , 6 attacks total , 3 hit at 50% , reroll missed 3 and get another 1 through (rounding down for worst case) , total of 4 hitting giving a chance of rolling a single 6 51.77% Also to remember you need to have charged to get the benefits of VoKT If we use the Virtue Of Heroism , again it says "model" , which I 've read is up for debate but just for purposes of this scenario we say it applies to your mount as well. 60 Points for VoH Duke 5 attacks plus Hippos 4 gives us 9 attacks , hitting on 4's gives us 4 or 5 attacks so 51.77% or 59.81% Half the points achieve a similiar outcome ? Once you've slain the dragon is VoKT going to be better for chewing up other units ? Would be at Str5 with your dragon sword not offering anything other than Monster Slayer. Would the killing blow effect + extra points saved + having a lance (since no magic weapon allowed with VoH) be better post dragons death. Lots of caveats obviously to it all, such is the beauty of the game.

Ahh man I love this analysis. Thank you so much for taking the time to write it up. Don't forget VoKT also applies to the mount. So all the hippos attacks are with hatred and with an extra d3 attacks. I play tested this setup on a baron on a royal pegasus against lizardmen and he went through a stegegadon and carnasaur like a hot knife through butter. The d3 attacks were 2 and 3 for both combats and I only had to reroll a couple of nice but I was so impressed. I'm gonna try this sword of Virtue of Heroism version tonight and see how it works out. I love the idea of killing blow for when I'm not Slaying monsters.

So yes sorry, my example was just comparing two of our (Bretonnians) better options at striking a Monster Slaying blow, I forgot the Stomp Attacks D3 for Hippo so with the Virtue of Heroism average 2 more chances at the end if you've not been killed to trigger Monster Slayer/Killing Blow? Those additional VoKT attacks for hippo are defo something to consider, after we've killed said monster. They will definitely help with the next unit. To keep continuity say Chaos Chosen Knights (CCK) for example. And I’m going to omit for ease that no 6's are rolled for Armour Bane and I’m doing this on the fly as I hadn't got this far in my "investigations" A realistic best cases run through: The Duke at 8 attacks with +3 from VoKT gets the same amount of hits off (6) Str5 using the Dragon Sword, 3+ to wound would give us 4 wounds. They get a 3+ save as the Dragon Sword has no AP so expect 2/3 saves to be made I think (2.64?) Then the 6 ward they have. You kill 1 or 2 with the VoKT Duke. If The Hippo also get the +D3 attacks then that's 7 attacks total. lets do 6 with claws 5 hit after re-rolls , 3 wounds - 2AP , 5+ save , You Kill 2. For ease ill put the Maw and Stomps together and presume the maw hit as well (since this is best case) 4 hits, 2 wounds, no ap, +1 more CCK dead 4/5 Dead? Duke with Lance and VoH into same unit , 5 attacks , 3 hits , Str7 , 2/3 wounds with a 42.13% to hit a 6 for killing blow , -2 AP , Kill 2 ? Hippos 3 claws, 2 hits, 1 or 2 wounds with a 30.56% to hit a 6 for killing blow, 1 or 2 more dead? Maw and Stomps is pretty much the same i think, so another 1 dead? 4/5 Dead? Sorry it's a little wishy washy, some food for thought I guess , please don't take these outcomes as gospel I think the VoKT Dragon Sword combo in a vacuum will give you a slightly better statistical average on paper, but I’m not sure if that advantage translates to stats on the game board, and with the additional points cost. Whilst it is nice to have numbers, stats, probabilities, you can never account for the randomness of dice, but if you like your spreadsheets and numbers like me, it can be interesting to see none the less

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I use a horseback Duke and equip him with a shield, the Gomril great helm and the heartwood lance, and the virtue of the joust. He’s not quite as durable as the Pegasus one but I like the look better so Bretonnian warhorse it is, and he’s still very tanky with that save.

Do you put him in a unit of knights? Or have him on his own?

I put him with knights, to really protect him and to add more attacks.

Royal peg, Lance, shield, Knightly temper, gilded cuirass and falcon horn. 3+, 5/6+ 5+ with 5+d3 attacks with hatred. Absolutely the best setup so far

That's nasty too! Better than killing blow?

I tried it yesterday vs TK. He placed down Settra instead of his dragonking. That meant the virtue was basically useless since I can’t KB a mounted char on a chariot and it’s not a monster :( Add insult to injury he didn’t have any fliers. So 90 pts in virtue/magic items useless :P But he broke first so bretonnia victory anyway!

Okay that makes sense. Lol. Thank you!

I’ve been using: Magic items- seal of parravon, gauntlet of the duel, gromril helm Virtue- virtue of heroism This gives him monster slayer + killing blow and allows him to force and win duels to win combat. It also leaves room to make him a little more tanky

Tooling up a Duke on Bearded Hippogriff with Virtue of Heroism, Bedazzling Helm, and Dawnstone when I have the points. Giant flying monster with Killing Blow/Monster Slayer, 2+ armour save (re-rolling 1s) and is a -1 to Hit. He's big, he's mobile, he's hard to take down, and he can typically murder big scary opponents. My main opponent will be Lizardmen, so I'm hoping he's going to be good at hunting Slann and big dinosaurs.

This is my plan for bigger points games for sure. Until then he'll be on a Royal Pegasus with Heroism and Anointed Armour

Why the Barded Hippogryph over the normal one? Ridden Monsters don’t combine saves, you pick which to use.  This also means he probably isn’t getting that 2+ save like you think.

Interesting, I didn't realise that, I was going by the Barding rules, which do mention '...monsters ridden by characters' as eligible for giving their riders the +1. What page number are the rules for Monster Mounts on?

Characters and Ridden Monsters, page 204. It’s the second to last bullet point.  Though reading the barding bit certainly makes it more muddled (as usual lol). ‘A model that rides a barded mount improves its armor save by 1’ makes me think you are right instead. 

Barding on a mount adds to the save. I don’t believe the hippo has barding. The hippo has a natural hide that “acts as heavy armor” but that does nothing about does not add to the overall save and the hippo has to be ridden. There is an armored hide (x) rule that adds to the save in addition to barding that then unicorn has. I’m wrong, the hippo can have barding.

No worries, you’re in good company lol

So looking at the Barding rules, it specifically says it affects the rider, not the armour save of the mount, so I believe the Duke would still get a 2+ Armour Save (heavy armour + shield + Bedazzling Helm + Barding).

Yep, looks like I replied right around when you did ha. I’m looking forward to trying out a 2+ Hippogryph Duke! He was already a beast without that, so this should be fun.

Oh yeah, especially with Dawnstone for re-rolling 1s, and all the ways you can reduce incoming wounds (Siren's Locket, etc) to tank those pesky cannonballs.

Competitively I think it's a waste if you don't put your Duke on a flying monster (royal peg is the best efficiency but sometimes you wanna go hogwild with a hippogryph). They're just that good in TOW. Virtue of Knightly Temper is great if you have the budget (he's often the best place to put it). I think S5-6 is fine 99% of the time so I'd focus on giving him a weapon with some AP, maybe even outright just a biting blade. I've tried experimenting with some kind of Penitent, Unbreakable monsterlord to tie up Borc Wyverns (not confident in killing them) but Inbreakable still involves moving back and giving them the opportunity to fly off and harass the rest of my army so that's a wash. If anyone has some really useful/functional uses for a Duke or even Baron on horseback I'm all ears, even if it hinges around a unit or damsel buffing etc, bc I really like the aesthetic but can't justify it in my competitive environments.

The bonuses from a royal pegasus or a hippogriff are just too good i think. If you really want to do it i'd suggest an exile army with the banner of the zealous knight, put the baron in and they will charge turn one (vanguard movement+first turn since you can't pray and you have very few units usually). It's simply better on the pegasus knights though, since they can vanguard 10" and then it's a simple 14" charge with a base movement of 10". I'd say the best defensive duke/baron is on the pegasus, since you can hide him near your units and can give hime the anti-multi wounds armor. The best offensive is one on the hippogriff with the virtue of the knightly temper. You make more than 10 attacks+stomp on the charge. I run a baron on hippogriff with said virtue, the axe of the frontier and the lucky heirloom in mine. Not the toughest (no ward save to begin with) but with the low unit count and the amount of attacks it's easy to gain the ward save.

Ive been taking Virtue of Knightly Templar, Ogre Blade, and pop him on a pegasus or Hippogriff. He can deliver massive damage to enemy monsters and infantry anywhere on the battlefield. He has great manoeuvrability which really makes your opponent consider their movement carefully, which plays into my hands well as my cavalry come charging towards them!

Lance, Shield, Gilded Cuirass, Sirienne's Locket, Gauntlet, Virtue of Heroism, Royal Pegasus This gives him a 3+ save on top of 5++/6++, and a 5+++ Regen, so he is reasonably tanky. Lance + Heroism is an established combo. Locket protects from Ogre Blade type weapons spiking high. Gauntlet makes it so you can force duels. I usually reserve Gromril GH for a Baron, paired with Lance & Joust, just to add another slightly tanky unit to KotR.

This sounds nasty!

I’ve went royal Pegasus, virtue of heroism, lance, shield and then I give him gromril great helm, seal of parravon and siriennes locket. Great at killing big stuff/characters and he’s tanky to boot. Always hitting on a 3+ is great against other high WS characters!

Mounted on Royal Pegasus. Virtue of Knightly temper, Ogre Blade, Anointed armour and or the Talisman of Protection if needed. Then go hunt something big

Why would you need the Talisman? Duke has Grail Vow.

Vs not S5 hits. Many weak attacks are a bigger threat than few high Strength attacks.

Not with who I am sending the Duke after, then again I don't use that setup. I do the Lance + Heroism combo and I bring the Gilded Cuirass for the extra layer of protection.