written by: Gustav Tegby-Frisk
Taken with permission of Skavenblight
"It was early morning. The first beams of the rising sun made the barren plain glow with a strange, almost unearthly light, and revealed the moment of a mighty warhost which made its way through the landscape with amazing speed. Thousands of speartips pointed towards the lightening sky, and the clattering of hooves mixed with the sound of light footsteps into a regular beat, that served as the tunes for a low-voiced, warchant - a common prayer to the elven gods of war. At the head of the army rode Elthaan, the general of the army. He was an experienced warrior and a cunning commander, old even in the ways that elves count years. Sometimes he felt the years rest heavy on his shoulder, but on a beautiful morning like this one, it was easy to forget everything that had passed, and decide to worry about the things to come later. For the moment, the present was enough. However, he didn't have the time to enjoy the view for long. Up ahead in the distance, he saw the Ellyrian Reavers that had been sent out the night before as a scouting patrol return, pushing their horses to the absolute limit. He noticed that even now, when they appeared to be riding for their lives, they lost nothing of their agility or grace. Neither did they for a moment lose the control of their well-trained steeds. The first of them, their young captain Galandial, reached the general a few seconds later. With a whispered word, he halted his horse, who stopped in the blink of an eye. - General, he said, catching his breath as he speaked, they are coming. Elthaan nodded and raised his hand to protect his eyes from the rising sun, as he looked forward, towards the hills. Already he could see the first of their enemies appear at the top of the hills. - Are they numerous? he asked the young elf in front of him. - Yes, the captain answered laconically. - I see. Prepare your men for battle. Galandial bowed his head, and then rode back to his men. The general turned his head and made a sign with his golden lance. Behind him, the whole army stopped like had they shared a single mind. The regiments immediately started to form themselves into fighting positions, the bolt throwers were put down on the ground, the knights rode forward with lowered lances, and arrows were taken out of quivers and prepared to be fired. During the time, Elthaan watched how their ancient enemies and former kin, the dark elves, rapidly came closer. He couldn't estimate their numbers, but it was clear that his men were fewer than the approaching spawn of Naggaroth. And yet, he had to lead them to victory. He looked around one last time before closing the visir and drawing his sword. It was too late for regrets now. It was too late for everything, except fighting. With a thin smile he yelled out a warcry and charged forward, followed by his army. It would be a good day to die."
THE TROOPS OF THE HIGH ELVES
High Elves in General Plus: WS, BS and Ld one point higher than average, good movement and outstanding initiative. Can fight with spears in three ranks and shoot bows in two. No movement penalty for heavy armour and shield. Feared by goblins if not outnumbered with 2:1. Enmity against Dark Elves. Minus: High point cost, especially when compared to their very average strength and toughness. No troops that differs very much from the rest (except for characters). Hated by Dark Elves. All in all: Good troops that have to be played carefully to take advantage of their strength and minimize their weaknesses.
THE STANDARD INFANTRY The standard infantry are those troops (on foot) whose characteristics doesn't differ from the "standard elf«s". They are naturally comparetively cheap (in points, but often in money as well) and you will probably include a fair number of them in your army. The High Elves generally have good standard troops and I should suggest that you take a lot of them for a number of reasons. First, they're well worth the points they cost. Second, the plastic spearmen and archers mean that you won't have to ruin yourself just to get some basic units for your army. Third, you'll need them (except the Shadow Warriors) if you want to include more than a pair of Bolt Throwers. And finally, everybody who've read the High Elf army book know that it's the citizen soldiers of Ulthuan who form up the core units of every high elf unit.
Spearmen They wore good even before, and now they can fight in an extra rank and wear heavy armour - without a movement penalty. The best is that they're just as cheap as ever (cheap for elves, anyway). Of course their strength of 3 can be a problem against troops with high toughness, and they still can die a little bit too easy, but that's problems you will have with all elves. I recommend you to always take the extra armour and get yourself a big unit of these guys (30-50 models). Include a magical banner (for example the Banner of Defiance), a musician and at least one character - maybe even the general and/or the battle standard bearer. They will both gain some protection and be very useful. A unit like this will be able to take heavy causulties (especially if you include the Crown of Command) and is the natural centerpiece of any defensive High Elf army.
Archers The cheapest High Elves you'll be able to lay your hands on. Don't buy them light armour, save the points for longbows instead. With their new special rule that enables them to shoot in two ranks, they become more manoeuvrable. They can also be given some hand-to-hand ability. Two ranks, a standard and a musician means that they for example are quite able to beat off a Wraith or a Great Eagle. If you can get a third rank on a hill behind the unit, all the better. Normally, though, I prefer to put them in rather small units, as this means you won't lose all your firepower when one of them disappears. Sometimes your opponent won't even bother with them and go straight for your bigger hand-to-hand units. If this is the case, you might even be able to attack the enemy in the flank if you've deployed carefully! Just a few words about the elven longbows. Many people have looked down on them due to their average strength of 3. What they usually forget, however, is that this is made up for by the excellent elvish marksmanship. Statistically, an elvish archer (WS 4) with a longbow wounds a target just as often as a dwarf or an orc (WS 3) with a crossbow, simply because the elf will hit his target more often (of course, his bow won't give the -1 saving modifier, but what the heck)!
Lothern Seaguards The well-armed warriors from Ulthuan's greatest city combines the advantages of the spearmen and the archers by being equipped with both bows and spears! This makes up for a magnificent unit indeed. Unfortunately, it also means that the Seaguards become very expensive for a unit with ordinary characteristics. If you employ them in a big unit, as a substitute for the spearmen unit I discussed above, you want to have as many ranks as possible, and that means that many of them won't get the chance to use their bows. An alternative is to use them primary as archers in smaller units. With three or maybe four ranks (again, try to find a good hill to deploy them on and below) only the opponent's main units will have the striking power to take them out, and it's unlikely that they will want to do that (not until they've crushed all your bigger units, anyway). If the battle is fought anywhere else than in Ulthuan, then one or more units of them should be included in your army, because there are Lothern Seaguards on almost every ship in the Phoenix King's fleet.
Shadow Warriors Though described here as a "standard infantry" unit because of their characteristics, the Shadow Warriors are in all essential something more thanks to their numerous special abilities. If you look at their equipment, you'll find out that their skirmishing, special deployment, hatred of the Dark Elves and Citizen Levy only have increased their point value by one! Make the best possible use of your special deployment! Even though they can fight if they really have to, Shadow Warriors are best at preventing the enemy from marching and pesting him with their bows (It's usually not necessary to take longbows - the Shadow Warriors will more often than not be close to the enemy the whole battle). Of course they can attack War Machine crews and other vulnerable targets as well. If you«re planning to get into hand-to-hand combat with them, consider giving your scouts light armour as well. Added with their shields, it's not a complete waste. A musician who can reform them from skirmishing to a rank-and-file formation wouldn't be such a bad idea either. Move them very carefully! If they accidentally get into a unit's charge range when skirmishing, they're history. Even though you won't always find use for the Shadow Warriors, they are obviously essential against Dark Elves. If moderately lucky and numerous enough, they'll be able to tie up powerful units on the opponent's part of the table for the whole battle. The enmity rule is good enough, I suppose, but it's still nothing compared to some good, old-fashioned hate.
THE ELITE INFANTRY Even though all elves spend parts of the year with military training, some of them have gone one step further and dedicated their whole lives to the arts of war. This usually means that they wield more unusual weapons and have better characteristics than normal elves (The exception is the Lothern Seaguards, who've chosen to train with two different weapons instead). The units with such fighters are the elven elite infantry. They form vital parts of any army, as you can expect them to perform feats that normal troopers could not carry through. However, their skills mean that they are more expensive in points, and therefore more vulnerable to heavy losses. This is especially true for the High Elves, because none of their elite infantry have better toughness than 3 (but at least the Swordmasters and White Lions get some additional protection against missiles). This means that you have to be very careful with how you deploy, equip and move them. At many times the best you can do is to get them into hand-to-hand combat as fast as possible, but as a High Elf army often is played defensively, this is not always an option.
Phoenix Guards The least powerful elite infantry, and quite expensive too. However, their background and style are so cool (I find it absolutely unbeliveable that men who have seen the secrets of time and never utter a word don't have any special rules) that the only thing I can do is to recommend you to field them as often as possible. This won't be too often though, as they spend most of their time in the Shrine of Asuryan, and it's unlikely that very many battles will be fought out there. As they sometimes guard the Phoenix King, maybe you could solve the problem by letting him be your general? Another option is to play a scenario where an elven town is attacked during a festival, as the army book states that the Guard visit such events. Well, if you do decide to use them, they'll be perfectly able to do well on the battlefield. Their haleberds give them the extra point of strength that most elves would need, and does for example counter out the Orcs' and Dwarfs' toughness of 4. Try to find units with lower WS to fight, so you hit on 3+. Their protection is sadly lacking, even if you give them heavy armour. Try to compensate for this to some degree by chosing good magic items (like the Banner of Shielding). But you will still have to field more than just a few of them if you want to see any progress on the battlefield (and it would be very uncharacteristic for such legendary warriors to be soundly beaten up, wouldn't it?).
Sword Masters of Hoeth Another troop type that was good before and only has become better. They've gained heavy armour and can cut down flying arrows - for no additional point cost. But their best ability is still that they wield their double-handed swords as fast as others wield ordinary weapons. If the Sword Masters only get a chance to fight, they're deadly and can serve as your mayor fighting unit. To make sure that they survive long enough to get that chance, you need to protect them from missiles and such. And obvious choice is the Ruby Chalice. Added with the Sword Masters own -1 penalty, this means -3 to hit when shooting at the unit, maybe combined with penalties for move and fire or/and long range... You could also give them shields, increasing their ranged armour save, but it doesn't feel very appropriate for this unit, so I don't recommend it (except for times of great need). A unit of Sword Masters should be fully equipped with extra ranks, a standard, a musician and one or a couple of characters. After that, they can take on almost anything that's roughly their size. But don't take such a well-equipped unit without including a mage with a quite high level in your army (preferably in this unit as well), though. Although the Sword Masters sometimes roam the land of Ulthuan as agents, they're unlikely to leave the Tower of Hoeth in greater numbers unless accompanied by one of its keepers, the Loremasters.
White Lions of Chrace They're skilled, they're strong, they have two-handed weapons and a trunk of special rules. The White Lions in the new High Elf Army Book turned out to be a wonderful unit indeed. To field the White Lions with the general to get an unbreakable unit is an option so good that it's hard to resist. Even better, it has style! Of course, you have to protect your commander with good armour and magic items (or Korhil) to make sure that he doesn't fall down dead suddenly, as that means that the White Lions lose their motivation and suddenly can flee just as much as anyone else. As a fighting unit, the White Lions can be extremly powerful, but to use them takes some extra planning. The first step is to choose a suitable unit to fight. The best alternative by far is to find an enemy unit with two-handed weapons themselves, because of the White Lions' superb I of 7. Because of their Lion Claw attack, the White Lions also are well suited to take on opponents with more than one W. Another wise choice would be to try to keep away from troops with more than one attack, as the Lion Leaping attack can stop most enemies from striking back at all in the first round of combat. Finally, the White Lions lose much of their advantages if they become locked in combat for more than one turn, so try to avoid those goblins whose boss carries the Crown of Command. The second step is to make sure that you're the one who charges. The Lion Rampant attack is useful, yes, but not nearly as good as the Lion Leaping. As the White Lions have a good elvish M of 5, it shouldn't be too hard to fix this. Well, once you've joined battle, all you have to do is win. As the White Lions aren't at their best defensively (T 3 and 5+ armour save), you have to make sure that you do well when striking out. With S 6, wounding shouldn't be a problem, but with, for example, the Banner of Might you can increase your chances of hitting as well. Their low T can be a problem before the battle is joined too, but luckily, the White Lion pelts give some additional protection against missiles. It's probably a wise move to equip them with shields for even better protection. Another factor that you should take into account here is the Woodsmen ability, which you can use to seek cover and make surprising moves. Finally, do remember that the White Lions are the Phoenix King's personal bodyguard. It's highly unlikely that they will show up in every High Elf battle that takes place in the Warhammer world. When they participate, there should be a sufficent explanation.
THE ELVEN CAVALRY Despite their powerful elite infantry, the High Elves' best offensive weapon probably is their cavalry. It's true that it's not as heavy as others, but they compensate for that more than well by being very fast, skilled and manoeuvrable. But because of the differences between them and their human counterparts, they should be used in another way than normal cavalry. One thing that goes for all Elvish cavalry is that they have to keep moving to do any good. If they become locked up in combat for several turns, they'll lose their two greatest advantages (speed and strength bonus when charging) and probably the combat as well, as their high point cost means that you probably won't have a lot of them (just like for the White Lions, the Crown of Command can spell their doom). Another thing you should try to avoid is devices that allow no save. With their T of 3, your expensive knights will die in droves if someone attacks them with, say the Banner of Wrath or Repeating Bolt Throwers.
Ellyrian Reavers With their skirmishing and free march move in the beginning, they have several resemblances with the Shadow Warriors, but are perhaps even more useful because of their supreme mobility and speed. Don't buy any shields, it's more important to keep them as light cavalry . Due to their special abilities, bows are unforfeitable. It might not be a bad idea to give them spears as well, to increase their hand-to-hand combat ability when charging. But they still can't bet anything but the weakest target on their own, and all extra equipment increases the poin cost for them, which already is horrendous if you compare it to their armour save and durability. No, use them in the way they're best - shoot at vulnerable target, avoid combat, prevent marching and attack the enemy in the flank once battle is joined. It's the way of fighting that the Reavers have developed to perfection ever since the days of the Sundering.
Silver Helms The "common" cavalry of the High Elves, whose ranks are made up of Ulthuan's finest nobles. They are the knights most likely to take part in all your battles, as they can be found all over the land of the Elves. They are faster than the Dragon Princes and much better fighters than the Ellyrian Reavers, can carry a magic standard and have some choices when it comes to armour. On the downside is a quite high point cost, and when you fight against troops with toughness greater than 3, you'll notice the advantage of the stronger human knights (consider letting the White Lions attack them instead). They are in quite a lot of trouble if they can't use their lances. The choice of their armour is worth thinking about. Obviously there's no point in giving them everything, as this only makes them less effective Dragon Princes (no special rules about their banner). However, it's tempting to just skip the barding and nothing else. Save of 3+, movement 9 and 8 points less per model than Dragon Princes. But it does mean that their mobility decreases, because they aren't light cavalry anymore, and loses their free turns and changes of ranks. Therefore, I recommend you to think over the role you'll give the Silver Helms in the battle. if they won't do anything but charge forward, go ahead. Otherwise (if you for example wants to slip past the enemy and attack his rear), just keep their starting equipment.
Dragon Princes In the past they rode on dragons, but now these proud warriors have to be content with Elven steeds (quite an adjustment, I can imagine). Even though I would have prefered them in the first way, they still have their uses. And besides, the models are so beautiful that you can include them for that reason only. The new army book made them somehow better (although the dream of S 4 turned out to be quite an unrealistic one indeed), as they now have a move of 8 and a free standard bearer - and best of all, they buy magical banners for half the price! An obvious choice is the Battle Banner (+D6 combat result, normal cost 100 points). If you want to give them a 1+ save, you could go for the Standard of Shielding instead. But as it only costs 25 points, it feels a little unnecessary. The use of Dragon Princes is quite straightforward - charge! If your opponent doesn't have very much artillery you could stand and wait for him at your side of the table, but in all other case get engaged as quick as possible. Armour save isn't entirely reliable, T 3 even less so, and these guys are almost as expensive as normal troops can get...
THE ELVISH WARMACHINES There's not a lot of them, but they're damn good. I recommend you to field a least a few of them in every battle, both because they're worth their points and because they're an important part of the traditional elven style of warfare.
Tiranoc Chariots In many aspects more cavalry than war machine, this deadly device is one of your mayor attack weapons. Always buy scythes. D6+2 S7 hits in addition to the attacks from the crew and the steeds (and a charge range of 18) can be deadly indeed, especially if you deploy more than one chariot and charge with all of them simultaneously. Give the crew spears to increase their strength when charging, and equip them with shields and heavy armour as well. Though not as fragile as before (when it only had one crew member), the Tiranoc Chariot can comparetively easy be neutralized by missile fire, so you have to protect it the best you can. Not much point in giving the horses barding though. Always use the opportunity to give them a magical standard (maybe the Battle Banner, if you haven't already used it for the Dragon Princes) if you can afford it. Try to include a character on at least one of them as well. After all, a chariot that doesn't break or wipe out the unit it's charging is history. To give yourself the best chance possible to use your chariot, be sure to deploy it well. A charge straight into the jaws of the enemy in the first turn may be glorious, but the chances to survive are microscopic. Instead, stay back, keep in cover and advance behind the rest of your troops. Then, when battle is joined, attack...
Repeating Bolt Throwers Well, what new can be said about them? Despite their increased cost and limited number in the new army book, they're always worth including. Always use the volley shot against units, unless they have multiply wounds, and always try to target the enemy unit with best armour save (knights are ideal). Of course it's better, but not essential, to deploy them on hills. Don't form a battery of them. The crew members won't have much chance against say a flying monster anyway, and if you deploy the Bolt Throwers on different places on the table, you opponent won't have the time to take out all of them. To lose a few is no catastrophe, they're still quite cheap. The only exception to the rule above is when you include the Everqueen. As she have the power to give one unit +1 to hit during the shooting phase, it's a wise move to put your Bolt Throwers together when she's on the battlefield.
THE ELVEN CHARACTERS The elven characters are generally speaking quite good, and can be expected to perform well in any battle. However, they suffer from a horribly high point cost. Again, their average T is a problem. Your 48-points champions are just as weak as any ordinary troopers, not to mention your Battle Standard Bearer. This means that you have to protect them in some way to make sure that they'll have the chance to do any good.
Champions Very expensive and weak, but they boost the offensive abilities of a unit. In addition, they have the useful opportunity to carry a magic item. This should always be something that helps the whole unit, like the Sword of Fortitude. Only put them in your main units, and be sure to equip them right.
Heroes Much more useful than the champions. 2 W and T 4 means that they won't die just like that, they can fight well, and provide extra Ld for troops. If you have the points to spare, use them instead of champions in your big units, with suitable magic items. The other way to go is to mount them on a monster, and give them one ward (like the Golden Helm of Atrazar) and a killer sword (Like Deathsword). An option that might be even better is to put him in a chariot. His own fighting ability in combination with the chariots can be truly devasting.
The Battle Standard Bearer 98 points for T 3 and 1 W! As his special rule is extremly useful, do take him if you have the points, but be careful. The only place that's even close to safe for him is in your main unit (usually spearmen or Lothern Seaguards), where he hopefully can survive long enough to be of value for your army. Remember that he can carry a magic item. This could help you to ensure his survival (although normally I prefer to make his banner magical instead, to help the whole unit he's fighting with).
The General Unless you use some special character, he's the best fighter in your army. However, he's also its leader, and units within 12" can use his Ld when testing for psychology. This means that it's probably not a good idea to mount him on a big monster and send him flying high in the first turn. Neither is it ideal (though better) to put him in for example a Silver Helm unit and charge forward, away from the bulk of your army. I usually try to combine both the fighting and the leader aspect of the General by giving him the command of my most offensive infantry unit. With their new rules, the White Lions is the obvious choice as this unit. Inside it, he can advance in relative safety with the rest of the army, and is still very likely to end up in hand-to-hand combat. In this role, you should give him one magic item for protection, one for attack, and one to help him in his role as a leader (maybe The Armour of Protection, The Blade of Leaping Gold and the Horn of Urgok). By the way, I always equip my general (and often my heroes as well) with a longbow. It's a matter of principles - a fighter with BS 7 should use it .
The Mages One of the High Elf army's strongest points is its mages. They have the power to on their own change the whole outcome of the battle, and are better than almost all other wizards. This is because (1) they have good spells, (2) High Magic always is dispelled on a basic 5+ and (3) the High Elf have the War Crown of Saphery. This powerful item gives you a lvl 5 mage, something that only Undead can match. Normally it's best to choose the High Magic deck instead of Battle Magic. The spells are generally better and definetly more characterful. As High Mages are allowed to draw one spell more than they will use, and choose which one to put away, you have a small advantage over your opponent there too. But there's still quite a few High Magic spells that will only be useful during specific circumstances. Therefore, it isn't a bad idea to take Teclis if you have the points to spare, especially when facing Chaos or Undead (when that Banishment spell will be soooo precious). His ability to pick the spells he wants is outstanding. Try to always include a Mage Lord, but some cheaper mages (plain mages and mage champion mages) can be a good idea as well. Their magic is just as hard to dispell, they give you the opportunity to save more magic cards until the next magic phase, and all your spellcasting won't disappear if one of your wizards die. And of course, High Elves by tradition have many mages among their numbers. Don't use your mages in H-T-H combat. They're too precious to gamble with. If you really want to control the magic phases, you can give your Mage Lord both the War Crown of Saphery and the Skull Staff. This means that he'll dispell all magic (except from necromancers with the Book of Ashur) on 2+. It's not much fair play, though (but definetly amusing).
THE SPECIAL CHARACTERS The part of the new army book that differs most from the old one is the Special Characters section. Before, it was only one page long and covered no more than 3 characters! Only the Chaos Dwarfs come even close to such a deplorable list! Now, however, things are different. The new High Elf army book contains 9 unique characters with intresting backgrounds and nice special abilities. The only problem with them are their magical items. No one of them have any choices at all - they're fully equipped and can't change anything, or even skip an item if they want to. This hadn't been a problem if it weren't for the fact that some characters are equipped with really lousy stuff. But that's after all only a minor problem. The High Elves have some good and colorful characters, and I suggest that you use them now and then.
Alith Anar The Shadow King is worth including in your army for his personal background only. He's of course at his best as a leader for any High Elf army that's fighting against Dark Elves or Chaos. But you can also field him as an independent character that increases the combat ability of your Shadow Warriors, and gives them the Ld of 10 that the general can provide them with, at least not in the beginning of the battle. Don't forget his special skirmish ability! It would for example be intresting to field him as general and put him in a big unit of White Lions. Unbreakable skirmishers could be useful indeed. But I wouldn't recommend it, as it's quite out of character for Alith Anar. He should be deployed alone or together with his Shadow Warriors. His magic items doesn't give him very much chance in close combat against other Lord characters, even though the Stone of Midnight provides some protection. If he gets into such a fight, use the power of the Shadow Crown to get him out of it again. Alith Anar is in heart and soul a Shadow Warrior, and he should fight like one (see above).