So after my first three games with the High Elves and having used a handful of units, I thought I’d write my thoughts on them as an army. This is basically going to be a list of un-connected observations and notes, and I might try to tie it all in at the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Army Special Rules<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a handful of special rules for the High Elves that are worth noting. Elven Reflexes<\/em><\/strong> gives you +1 to Initiative in the first round of any combat. This is incredibly powerful and can often mean that elite units are attacking before enemy units, even when<\/em> they have been charged. It’s worth noting that the recent FAQ on lances make it clear that if a unit Gives Ground and then is followed up, or Falls Back in Good Order and is pursued, this is not<\/em> a new combat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ithilmar Weapons<\/em><\/strong> is the High Elf version of a buff to regular hand weapons. Many armies have some equivalent of this; a rule that makes a single, non-magical hand weapon slightly better. Elves get to reroll 1s to hit and Warriors of Chaos, Dwarfs, and Tomb Kings get AP -1. What’s noteworthy for High Elves is that there are no units that you want to have in combat that are just equipped with hand weapons; ranged units, cavalry the turn after they’ve charged, and mages are about the only ones to benefit from this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps one of the best rules for the High Elves is Lileath’s Blessing<\/em><\/strong>, which allows a wizard to reroll a single failed casting roll once per turn. High Elf magic continues to be a powerhouse and this reliability really adds to their potency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Individual Units – Core<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s start of by eating our vegetables and looking at Core units. For my first game, I took a unit of 17 Lothern Sea Guard<\/em><\/strong> as the whole Core allotment. The idea of having a block which is both decent in combat and decent at shooting was appealing. Their Naval Discipline<\/em> allows you to stand and shoot and redress the ranks as a charge reaction, which is very strong. I’d seen lots of talk about the value of having the Razor Standard on them which gives Armour Bane -2, but I failed to roll an entire 6 to wound for the whole game, so YMMV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I ran a couple of blocks of Archers<\/em><\/strong> in my next list and they’re not what they once were, but they’re still just fine. The big change is firing in multiple ranks, so I ran them in one rank of ten. There’s a change (read: nerf) to ballistic skill shooting that I’ll touch on in a later post also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ellyrian Reavers<\/em><\/strong> feel useless compared to the Fast Cavalry shenanigans in 8th. I’ve found so far that they can’t kill much with their bows, they’re not as good in combat anymore and can’t move as fast either. It’s possible I’m playing them wrong as the changes to skirmishers could make them powerful, but I’m not excited so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silver Helms<\/em><\/strong> feel very<\/em> good so far. The charge ranges for cavalry and the ability to get a few buff spells on them makes them quite potent on the charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Individual Units – Special and Rare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I only had the one game with my Swordmasters Of Hoeth<\/strong>, and I really didn’t feel like they did much, but they were drastically outmanoeuvred. I think if you can get them into combat, they really are incredible. S5 AP -2 attacks at Initiative 7 in the first round without charging<\/em> is no joke. They still die to a stiff breeze, so it takes some expert piloting, but I’d like to try them again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dragon Princes<\/strong> are very, very strong. They are understandably and rightly in the conversation for best cavalry in the game. Incredibly high Initiative, Weapon Skill and Movement, an amazing save and even a second bite at the apple with a Ward Save. The fact that they are Impetuous seems like a big miss from a flavour point of view. A unit being both Impetuous and Drilled feels oxymoronic. I can understand the argument that they’re eager to show their prowess as haughty, young nobles, but they are also elite warriors. From a rules point-of-view, it can be a liability against a skilled opponent, but I think they’re still worth taking. As was always true, a single wound for 37 points makes things a bit dicey. Losing one hurts<\/em>, but I think they’ll be a frequent feature of my lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I really like Shadow Warrior<\/strong> models, particularly my old metal ones, but I really don’t think they are worth taking in The Old World. They’re not much better than basic archers. They are a little better at shooting and can scout, but it’s quite hard to get them around behind into any soft targets. They feel like a Wood Elf unit in a High Elf army, but they don’t have the benefit of the Wood Elven arrows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I only took one in my first game, but if anything, the Great Eagle<\/strong> feels better than ever. They’re just so versatile. A 60-point, Fly (10) skirmishing monster that is quite good in combat. It’s great against lone characters and war machines, as well as being able to just get in the way and gum up the charging lanes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conversely, I was sort of underwhelmed by the Frostheart Phoenix<\/strong>. Once the plague of 8th edition, the phoenix feels really toned down this edition. It lost the strength-reducing part of its Blizzard Aura<\/em>, no longer causes Terror, lost Thunderstomp and even the Attuned to Magic<\/em> special rule has disappeared. It wasn’t killed in either game I played with it; indeed, I think it only lost 1 wound across the two battles, but it also can’t kill anything. It feels expensive for what it brings to the battle. It’s a valuable support unit, but you can’t just slam it into the enemy and expect good things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last up for rare units, it’s time to pour one out for the Eagle-Claw Bolt Throwers<\/em><\/strong>. As I touched on in the recap of my second game, these feel expensive for what they do. The Rapid-Fire<\/em> special rule is almost never the correct option now, but you’re still paying the points to be able to choose. They’ll probably still fit in my list occasionally because S6 shooting is rare and powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Characters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Prince on Lion Chariot<\/em><\/strong> was underwhelming. He got killed before combat in the first game (Magic Missiles, Fanatics and Bolt Throwers), and while he got into combat in the second game, he wasn’t as deadly as I’d hoped after the first round of impact hits. I did charge him into a unit of Hammerers, so perhaps that’s user error. I think this could be a strong way to bring a Prince, but I’m not sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Noble Battle-Standard Bearer on Griffon<\/em><\/strong>, particularly with the Pure of Heart Elven honour was amazing. It’s a very fast unit and having both Inspiring Presence<\/em> and Hold Your Ground<\/em> in an 18″ bubble is great. He causes Terror, is lethal and relatively resilient. He feels like a strong character to bring without bringing the dragon boogeymen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly the Archmage<\/em><\/strong>. Unsurprisingly these are great. I don’t have much insight here except to note that putting them on a horse and running them around behind units seems to be just as good as putting them in a bunker unit. So after my first three games with the High Elves and having used a handful of units, I thought I’d write my thoughts on them as an army. This is basically going to be a list of un-connected observations and notes, and I might try to tie it all in at the end. Army Special […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-old-world","category-wfb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139,"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions\/139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigeo.sainsbury.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} I think I might even try putting one on a great eagle next time to get 180-degree line of sight.<\/s> Having just checked again, Great Eagles are Close Order<\/em>, so this won’t work. That’s disappointing. Dark Elf Sorceresses on Dark Pegasus seem great, and it’s a shame we don’t also have a flying, skirmishing wizard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"