| “ | A hippogryph is no easy prize, but its power in battle makes the effort to tame one worth it. | „ |
Royal Hippogryph Knights are a 
Bretonnia melee cavalry introduced in Total War: Warhammer with the Bretonnia (DLC).
Recruitment
Unlocked with: Royal Menagerie
Description
Taming a hippogryph presents a challenge that many Bretonnian Lords cannot turn down, and this has made them into much sought after steeds. To successfully do so, the animal must be captured and broken at a very young age but, given the relentless territorialism of adult hippogryphs, acquiring a chick or an egg can prove a dangerous proposition indeed. Occasionally, the task of appropriating such a beast is given to a Knight Errant as a way of proving himself. More often, a duke will find suitable 'volunteers' from among the peasantry, promising a huge reward to any survivors that return with a healthy, young hippogryph.
Attributes
- Flying Monstrous Cavalry
- ▲ Armoured: Armoured units can block damage from any source apart from Armour-Piercing damage.
- ▲ Living Saints : Knights who have sipped from the Grail are elevated above mere mortals; they truly are what is best in men.
- ▲ Armour-Piercing: The damage of armour-piercing weapons mostly ignores the armour of the target, making them the ideal choice against heavily-armoured enemies. They are often heavier and attack at a slower rate though, making them less efficient against poorly-armoured targets.
- ▲ Causes Terror: This unit can cause terror, making its melee target rout for a short time. Units that cause terror are immune to terror and fear themselves.
armour-piercing weapons mostly ignores the armour of the target, making them the ideal choice against heavily-armoured enemies. They are often heavier and attack at a slower rate though, making them less efficient against poorly-armoured targets.Strategy
Royal Hippogryph Knights are extremely powerful and are Bretonnia's most expensive flying unit. Considering the cost increase compared to Royal Pegasus Knights in both multiplayer and campaign, a comparative analysis will be helpful:
- Royal Hippogryph Knights are monstrous cavalry with far higher mass and health per model, but far fewer models per unit.
- They have a slightly higher Melee Attack, making them the best flying melee fighters on Bretonnia's roster (in terms of stats).
- They cause terror and fear, which is very useful against low-leadership factions.
- They have significant armour-piercing damage.
- They do not have the benefit of a shield which the Royal Pegasus Knights have and should therefore be particularly wary of enemy missile fire.
- They lack the Bonus vs. Large of the Royal Pegasus Knights.
- They are quite fast, but not as fast as the Royal Pegasus Knights.
These differences mean the Hippogryphs are more of a generalist unit than the Pegasi, which excel at the more specific task of hunting down enemy large units. Although the Royal Pegasus Knights benefit from a Bonus vs. Large and are therefore very efficient for this role, the Hippogryphs may still objectively (but likely less cost-effectively) outperform the Pegasi against well-armoured large units due to the massive difference in armour-piercing damage. However, the fear/terror plus the mass of the Hippogryphs makes them particularly effective at dispersing groups of enemy infantry then flying out before they get caught. Their very high Weapon Strength, most of which is armour-piercing, also enables one-hit kills against most infantry and makes them generally very effective against amoured foes.
Royal Hippogryph Knights also synergize better with the Lore of Life than the Pegasi do due to their higher health per model (when a model dies it can no longer receive healing, so the higher health per model of the Hippogryphs means they are more effectively able to heal before death). One could also use the Lore of Heavens to debuff enemy flying units when going up against factions like Dark Elves, High Elves, or the Empire, but it is unlikely this unit will need much help.
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