The High Elves

I'll try to sumarize the advantages and disadvantages of the Elves in general here. Feel free to add points.

Advantages (compared to most human core troops)
Higher movement
Higher Initiative
Higher Balistic Skill

Disadvantages
Everything has toughness 3, which hurts your lords and heroes
There is another, but I've forgotten it now...

High Elf wizards are also the best in the game (with the exception the the Slann mage, but at 325 pts basic, he has to be good)

I can't dispute that, Chaos are also pretty good but High magic is hard to beat.

they have the ability to give many of their champions magic items, i find this a big bonus...

disadvantage = high point cost, this would be acceptable cause well theyre elves and they are a race few in number buuuutttt DElves have units of the same stats with lower point cost, eg i think 11pts for a repeater crossbow...were its 12 points for a long bow...

difference

long bow 30"S3
Repeater crossbow 24"S3 2 attacks

Sorry Folks, but High Elves do not have the best magic. They have the best magic items and are the best at shutting down the enemies magic phase. Offensive magic is too expensive....a Lvl 4 and a lvl 2 with a few items cost some 600 points. THats not worth it.

Magic can be scrolled, Magic can be dispelled, Magic can misfire on your first time and screw up everything. Mages can be killed. The High Elves are the best at making this happen to the enemy. 20 Point Scrolls, +1 to Dispell, Fortune is Fickle, Drain Magic, Annulian Crystal, Great Eagles ( to go after the mages).

You want offensive magic, play dark elves, Tzeentch or Lizardmen.

If you want ranged killing support, take RBTs. They cant misfire, they only cost 200 points for a pair. Rbts cant miss completely, and they cant be "scrolled"

I once played Magic Heavy against this Empire guy who had 3 SCOLL CADDIES. My magic didnt do anything all game, but his forces wiped out what I had left, because the troops I took were designed as "mop em up" forces...and they couldnt compete with full strength infantry blocks with handgunner detachments.

How silly it may seem, High Elf cavalry is the fastest way to victory. Elite Infantry units like swordmasters aren't worth it in large blocks, as SU they do fine but even here SH are a better choice.

Whatever you do, use support units and many of them. Reavers, Eagles and Shadow Warriors are worth their weight in gold. More info about this can be found HERE because I am too lazy to write it down once more.

Lastly, don't waste points on needless units. Devise a battleplan, figure out what you need to pull it off, get those units and then double-check if they really are the most efficient choices. This goes for themed armies or 'pretty' armies too, though you'll be working with a more limited list or your priorities will be different ("are PG really the prettiest unit, or de White Lions look better?").

Thats what Ive been thinking all along. Looking down the High Magic list, they dont seem to be very offensive at all, and all their abilities are gearer towards shutting down enemy magic. In my opinion, DE have much better offensive magic, and much more game-winning magic, AND they all have +1 to cast! If you want uber magic army, Tzeentch, DE or even Lizardmen with a 2nd gen. slann are good. ANY army (except a pure gnoblar army) can be made magically overpowering. I dont think HE are particularly better than any other army in this field.



This post has been edited by Sammy the Squid on Dec 9 2005, 09:45 PM

It is just a matter of what is offensive magic? Vauls unmaking can be used in a defence force to weaken the enemy before he charges you battle line, but you can also put a mage on steed in a unit of helms, and just before they charge into a unit you can use Vauls Unmaking to take away magic items/ banners.

I define offensive magic as a spell(s) that have the ability to endlessly frustrate your opponent and cause horrific damage if used apropriately. Word of Pain for example. My friend BJ hates it with a vengeance after one battle (against our other DE in the group) where WoP was IF casted onto his Khorngors with BSB and General, then charged by Executioners. Well, everyone bar the characters died in the Khorngor unit, and due to their newly found WS of 1, they failed to even hit! They broke, fled and were run down. Now that hurt. Next turn, the Dragon Ogres behind were WoP'ed and the executioners barreled into them. Same result. Game winning spell. Anzipal's Black Horror or Plague is another one (though Plague can be a game winner for your opponent too )

Greetz

This post has been edited by Sammy the Squid on Dec 9 2005, 09:45 PM

Druchii havin very offensive magic? pfeh!
Sam, have you already forgotten about the awesome powers of a Grey Seer?

you forgot the low armour save and high points cost.

orcs and goblins have better magic than high elves (unless they get a miscast in which case......ouch)-have you seen the big waaah and little waaaaah?(at least i think thats how its spelt)


and with advantages u only mentioned balistic skill not wepon skill.

the disadvantage of all elves(well just the infantry) is that they are expensive and die easily-t3 and armour save 5+ are nothing compared to chaos for example.
Elite infantry should be expensive, tough and strong with a good armour save.
out of that list elves only have expensive.

This post has been edited by the punisher on Dec 15 2005, 10:20 PM

O+G magic is strong, yes, but very unreliable, it may do well one turn, but like all magic, it could turn on you the next.

Our weapon skill of 4 is on par with the average of other units out there. Brettonians, Swordsmen, Great Swords, Knights, Stormvermin, the list goes on with what is equal to our WS. Our BS on the other hand out classes all these aforementioned units, they all have 3.

Our Elite infantry is expensive, yes(compared to humans and skaven), but they are cheap compared to something like a 24 point chosen chaos warrior, which would be everything you said about elite units. The difference is that we are strong, we are some what expensive, but we lack the armour save and the toughness to keep our abilities and skills whilst retaining a reasonable point cost. If you want an army of elite warriors that are strong and everything else you've mentioned, you should be playing chaos, not High Elves.

I agree because my high elf elite units don't seem too last very long. Ive played against chaos a few times and between his troop choices and my elites.... mine got slaughtered. Elves may have all the weapon skiull and initiative they want, they are still gonna die. The fact remains that high elves don't have the toughnes too stay alive or in alot of cases the armor save wich can get rid of your prized units easily .


ive always been woudering what armies high elves have the most advantages over, ive noticed it is very balanced.