New to high elfs

[Morglum]

Hi all,
As the title suggests i'm starting high elves, what i'm planning to do is a defensive army, but using mage instead of bows. I don't have the codex, but this is roughly what i'd want.

Teclis

3 lvl 2 mages

2 x 20 spearmen

15 sword masters

2-4 bolt throwers.

I'm not sure how well it will work, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Arguleon Veq]

That kind of build works fine although you could end up finding it a little boring. You could even put the Banner of Sorcery in the Swordmasters.

Make sure to keep those Swordmasters out of line of sight though untill they are really needed.

I think you are losing out by not using Bows though. You may as well just use Seaguard with Shield, in 3 ranks of 7. Then you are still decent in combat but it adds more firepower to your army. Have 2X10 and then go 3x7 when the enemy gets close.

You could also do with a March Blocker to slow your opponent down, so I reckon you should throw an Eagle in there.

[Arguleon Veq]

I think something like this;

Teclis;
Mage; Lvl2, Jewel of Dusk, Skeinsilver [as you will want first turn!]
Mage; Lvl2 Ring of Fury.
Mage; Lvl2 Annulian Crystal.
19 Seaguard; Shield, Full Command. [2 Mages go here for 21]
19 Seaguard; Shield, Full Command. [2 Mages go here for 21]
14 Swordmasters; [2x7]
Bolt Thrower;
Bolt Thrower;
Eagle;

[Morglum]

That list looks great, i think the eagles a great idea, especially with the average march distance being 12 inches for my main opponent. I don't really need to hide the sword masters, as a mage/combat ogre army doesn't really have much in the way of ranged power.

How should i model the seaguard, as there doesn't seem to be any models for them.

Do you think i should use the "castle" deployment tactic where you put all the models in one corner with the sword masters blocking as much as they can and then the seaguard and mages a bit behind that, then the bolt throwers on a hill to see over them?

[Morglum]

Just ordered the Army Book today, so it should be arriving at the end of the week.

A small change (A.K.A massive) to the list is that I have decided to go more offensive, as looking at the movement rates of ogres and the size of the board, I will only get 2 turns at best before i'm getting charged, so i want to be more mobile. The new list of what i'll try to get in looks more like this:
Archmage on Dragon
High Elf Mage
High elf Noble (with one of those magic bow thingys)
20 Archers
10 Drag Princes
20 swords masters
2 Great eagles

[Arguleon Veq]

It seems ok to me although you will need at least another mage and the banner of sorcerery for your magic to be effective. Maybe drop one of your nobles and drop your Swordmasters to 14 [7x2] to get the points.

[Morglum]

Ok then, i got the book today, and also the prince and noble box (i love that mini, so nice to paint aswell), but as i was looking through the book i saw tyrion, and decided that i need him in an army.

Tyrion 400 pts

Noble 149 pts
Dragon armour
Shield
Star Lance
Barded elven steed

Nobel 129pts
Heavy armour
Reaver Bow

2 x 16 archers 384pts
light armour



10 dragon princes 375 pts
full command
foe bane

14 sword masters 265 pts
full command
foe bane

tiranoc chariot 85pts

2 bolt throwers.

[Arguleon Veq]

I wouldn't advise Tyrion, he really doesn't add much to the army. All he is good at is fighting other characters.

If you arent going to use Mages, tou need to start using the Loremasters Cloak, Banner of Arcane Protection and Banner of the World Dragon to at least keep your units alive from magic.

Split the Archers into 3 units of 10.

Split the Dragon Princes into 2 units of 5.

[Morglum]

Yeah, i had a little play test with tyrion, he just dosen't have enough attacks, so i'm going to go for a drag prince instead, so heres the altered list (stupidly heavy on stuff with the word dragon in it):

Prince 621pts
Star Dragon
Sword of Hoeth
Armour of Caledor
Additional hand weapon
Talisman of Prtection

Nobel 151pts
Armour of caledor
Foe bane
Barded elven steed

Nobel 141pts
Reaver Bow
Amulet of Protection
Dragon Armour

912 pts

10 Archers 110pts

10 Archers 110pts

1132 pts

11 dragon princes
standard
champion
foe bane
banner of arcane protection

12 dragon princes
standard
champion
foe bane
banner of arcane protection

2002 pts

Ok, not sure how well this list will work, but i think that because it moves so fast, it should have no trouble picking the fights, but i'll have to try it out first.

[Arguleon Veq]

Ok, a few things first -

You cant have multiples of the same magic item.

You cant take a magical weapon and an additional hand weapon. You can only use the magical one.

Load your Prince out like this -

Prince;
Star Dragon,
Great Weapon,
Armour of Caledor,
Vambraces of Defense.

Noble;
LoreMaster Cloak,
Barded Steed,
Dragon Armour,
Shield, Lance.

Noble;
Battle Standard,
Banner of the World Dragon,
Barded Steed,
Dragon Armour,
Shield, Lance.

6 Dragon Princes;
Full Command,
Banner of Arcane Protection.

5 Dragon Princes;
Full Command.
Joined by a Noble.

5 Dragon Princes;
Full Command.
Joined by a Noble.

10 Archers;
10 Archers;

That takes you up to 1838 Points. You never want to have big units of Knights like in your original list as then you are paying hundreds of points just for 1 point of rank bonus.

With those last points you could get that shooty noble, I would drop the Amulet though and give him a Great Weapon. Plus either the Talisman of Loec or the Gem of Courage, then give whatever unit he joines a Musician.

[Morglum]

Doh! Completely forgot about your first 2 points.

Prince: Looks better like this, though with the spare points, i might add the amulet of fire (if its legal), to give him a bit more chance against magic.

Dragon princes: I agree with the rank bonus point, should i give one of the squads foe bane?

[Arguleon Veq]

Cant take 2 magic talismans I am affraid. You dont need it on your prince anyway really, even the best spells will be hard pressed to get through that defence.

You could give 1 unit it. It would give them slightly more staying power.

[Morglum]

Yeah, i'll probably do that, but i've just realised that i can't add the bow nobel in aswell, as that would take it up to 5 characters, so i may add in a few shadow warriors to mess up gunlines.

Update: I've just realised how good a set up that lord is, it would take 91854 ogre bull attacks to take him (if my calcs are right, and if probability ever is right).

[Morglum]

Ok, I've been asking around a few other forums, and i've got to this:

Prince;
Star Dragon,
Great Weapon,
Armour of Caledor,
Vambraces of Defense.


Noble;
Battle Standard,
Barded Steed,
Dragon Armour,
Shield, Lance.

Kohril 280pts
Chariot

6 Dragon Princes;
Full Command,

5 Dragon Princes;
Full Command.
Joined by a Noble.

5 Dragon Princes;
Full Command.

11 Spearmen
12 Spearmen

Eagle
Eagle

Lion Chariot

It's a bit faster and the core is cheaper now, so hopefully the extra speed should help it kill just that bit more.

[Arguleon Veq]

I like it although you have no magic defence. Which will be a huge problem against Dark Elves, Daemons, Vamps and Warriors.

You will just have to be sure to assassinate enemy spellcasters early.

I am not keen on those Spearmen though. They wont do much good like that, I would drop an Eagle and make each model 10 strong and either make them Bowmen or Seaguard with Shields and Musicians.

You can afford 1 unit of 10 Seaguard with Shields and a Musician and 1 unit of 10 Bowmen with Musician.