Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey everyone,

I'm starting High Elves and i need some help i don't know many rules and stuff yet because this is my first WHFB army, so what units are good and what are they good at, also what tactics are good for High Elves

Thanks in advance

ok, first start by saying what you want the army to do, what you like, and how you like to play.

every tom dick and jane has their prefered way of playing different factions wargames. My way of playing high elves might be something you dont like to play; Core army withstrong leadership and well placed support.

Two - Three Units of Spearmen that fight in three ranks and two small bowmen units making the core of you force with one of the three eliet foot troops(PGuard, SMasrters, or WLions), a small shadow warrior unit for warmachine hunting, siliver helms for the heavy cav slot and bolt throwers. Add nothing but hero lvl chars with a small amunt of magic items and i have a force that looks like an army and not a-i need to womp on this army type-

tactics is eather a tight arrowhead in the center with the spearmen and the silverhelms and eliet foot unit taking up on flank or making a second line behind the first. bowmen taking a hill and the heros are placed where they will do the best support. another tactic i use is also simple, refused flank.

I play mostly campaigns and my selections are based off of that. I also think that powergaming is unsportsmanlike.

In one off games i still play forces like this because they are fun to play and im after fun and story telling over getting a crushing victory- i still love getting those but its not my driving force.

I would recommend for a start some very basic things. i will use my army for examle:

core:
15 spearmen
16 archers

special:
10 sword masters

heroes:
1 noble

rare:
1 bolt thrower.



the army is still at a basic level. i will buy a mage and a unit of silver helms when i can.

i think this kind of army list is good for starters as it allows you to use avariety of strategies.
you can either wipe them out with bows and bolts or charge them into melee.
the noble is an awesome fighter in all aspects and has high leadership.
the mage will be able to ward of enemy magic and protect your troops. you can use him also to boost the effectiveness of your ranged weapon units.
all this make about 1100 points which a good starting size. it also allows you to form a good base for when the time comes to get new units.
however if you prefer a specific style of game say in order to get more advises for other players.
hope i helped you out.

I guess I'd like to play a really elite army, I'm kinda cheesy apparently, I like named heroes and awesome units, I believe High Elves don't need many core units, true? I prefer combat to shooting as well. So what units fit that criteria? Will that army work? And how can i make it work?

ELITE!!! hell yea you came to the right army.

one 1 core per 1000 pts with you not being a big fan of the shooting phase means you drop 90pts every 1K on a min unit of spearelfs

with every last elf with the ASF rule you can do some major damage on the first turn weather charging or not

my picks going that route would have to be (1000 point starter)
Mage lvl 2 sliver wand 160
mage lvl 2
2x--15 swordmasters w/ fullcommand 510pts
8 silver helms w/shields and horn 192

you can move fast hit hard in CC as ur foot troops have 2A base, 5 spells not including the free spell per high mage leaves you owning in the magic phase agenst most armies

use terrain to your advantage as you can be shot to tiny pices very fast, you can use the silver helms for alot of roles (flank shield/hunter, small unit chaser, warmachine killer, ect)

I hope this helps

still i love spearelfs so if you want to try a core list let me know

Errrrrrrrrrrrrr, that list has no core choice.

i would swap one mage with a noble.
since you want a CC army then he would be of great use in the battle.

you could have him mounted and lead your silver helms for example.

you will also need him for enemie's heroes.

apolagies i stated it earlyer in the post so i did not think to put it again

drop 90pts every 1K on a min unit of spearelfs

and for a force like this you dont need anoble as you have the SM/PG/WL unit types

but if the enemy has a character good in close combat what is he supposed to do?

1) your list earlier comes to 661 points, so how does that come to 1100 with upgrades?

2) Swordsmasters could take one on, or use magic, or ignore the character and eat his unit with DP's for example, so many options for dealing with fighting characters, which are just as good as a noble or better often.

1) yeah with upgrades. its about 1100 points if i am correct.

2) still i would like to have a noble on my army. their magic weapons can be of great use. Besides i thought we talked about a CC army. WHY whould anybody use two mages in a starting CC army???

Couple of points:

Unless you have 11 or so points to spare, don't bother making archer units bigger than 10. You get no benefit from the extra rank unless they're on a hill, and at 11 points/model, you're over-paying for S3 shots as it is. Save the points for your Specials/Characters.

Spears - a 6x3 unit would be the smallest size I would run in any game. Ideally, you'll run a 7x3 block if you're running them at all. While I personally advocate using at least a block of spears, if you're really in a pinch for points, you can always ditch it and run min. required units of min Archers. Don't bother with min units of spears, though; They really won't be anything but lost points in the end.

HE named heroes aren't terribly over the top, with the exception of Teclis. In any event, for 1000 points, you won't be able to run him anyways. That leaves you with Korhil and Caradryan, both of whom are decent, though given the choice, I'd use Korhil over Caradryan.

General points on High Elves:
Ellyrian Reavers, Silver Helms and Shadow Warriors (to a lesser extent), are best left 'at home', so to speak. Compared to the other units, they clearly under-perform. If you want March-blocking/warmachine/mage-hunting, the Great Eagle is a MUCH better and cheaper unit to do the job. If you want heavy cavalry, Dragon Princes outclass Silver Helms for a reasonable points increase (WELL worth the extra cost).

You have the option to run fewer Core troops than most other armies. Use this option. With only T3 and little to no armor, our infantry fall to stiff breezes. Not only that, with only S3 attacks (ranged or cc) to count on, they're unlikely to dish out much damage either. Save the points for Special choices and Characters. If you're keen on making a 'fluffy' Core-centric list, by all means, go for it. Just be aware that it'll be very fragile.

Characters:
This will mostly be dictated by how you'd want to run your army. At the very least, I would always include at least one fighty noble to give extra 'oomph' to whatever unit he's in. Be aware, though. While HE heroes can dish out a fair bit of damage, they don't necessarily stand up terrifically against enemy nobles as well. That T3 can be a real handicap. If you're running a Noble in with a unit, try to make sure the unit has a unit champion that can take up challenges that may be unfavorable to you.

Depending on how magic heavy you want to go, you can go with a simple Lvl 1 caster with 1-2 Dispel Scrolls to handle basic defense, or you can get a Lvl2 Mage with various wargear to try to cause havoc during the Magic Phase.