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.

Ok guys. I've got my first fantasy tournament coming up on Sunday (1200 Points) And I'm Playing Dwarfs. We were emailed the 1st match to who we were playing. But the rest of the games are drawn on the day. And I am facing Dark Elves. I would really like some help on how to play against this army . I've got a humble objective for this tournament. Win one game!, then if I do that, win another, and etc.

Here is my army

Heroes:
Runesmith-Master Rune of Balance, Shield, Rune of Stone
Dragon Slayer

Core:
25 Warriors-Shields, Banner, Musician
25 Warriors-GW, Banner, Musician
12 Quarallers, Shields, Banner

Special:
Cannon-Rune of Forging, Rune of Burning
Cannon-Rune of Forging

Rare:
Organ Gun

His Dark Elf Army

Lords:
Level 4 Sorceress-Dispell Scroll

Heroes:
Master-Pegasus, Heavy Armour, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield, Halberd, Pendant Khaeleth

Core:
14 Spearmen-Musician, Standard
10 Crossbowmen
10 Crossbowmen
5 Harpies
5 Harpies

Special:
8 Shades

Rare:
War Hydra

Now I've never played a Dark Elf army before, only WoC, Beasts, Ogres, Wood Elves. And I would really like to do good on my 1st game for a good kick start. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

ParatrooperSimon

Rune of burning makes a hydra sad.

Do you know what lore he is taking?

Shadow

I think you already have won the game.

The only concersn I would have is the harpys and shades your cannon will deal with the hydra and your core blocks are to big for him to shift.

Maybe try and use your dragon slayer to try and baby sit your warmachines place him behind them and out of LoS/range to his missile troops and wait for his harpys to show up and smash them when they do.

The biggest problem is that his shades can drop your dragon slayer in 1 turn of shooting so if they get in range to get a shot off you are dead.

Just practice deploying your models and remember the 1" rule with a bit of practice you can make those warmchines very hard to get at without loosing to much LoS.

Yea I had a second look at his list. Your Possibly right Jubear. The list does look a bit iffy lol. But year, cheers for the tips guys. Anymore to come would be cool ;D

Deploy your war machines in such a fashion that if the Master wants to charge someone on Turn 2, it's going to be *very* hard for it to be the Burning Cannon. Encourage him to charge the Organ Gun or the other Cannon. Getting that Hydra killed with the Burning Cannon is essential to victory.

Try making your Quarrelers into Rangers. That gives you a lot more deployment flexibility; you will have one unit that you can place in reaction to his main forces deployment and that can be huge. And if he winds up having to deploy his shades before you deploy your Rangers, you can drop them 7ish" in front of his shades (assuming he deploys them in your deployment area, of course). Then it's just a charge (one way or another) or a volley from the crossbows and those pests are out of your hair.

He's sunk far too many points into his sorceress; he doesn't have the bodies to take best advantage of the Shadow buffs. He'll do some damage, even with a buff/debuff going (with Dwarf magic defense he's unlikely to get both off), then your Dwarves will smash him.

His one offenseive weapon - the Hydra - dies to the cannon. Just fire the RoB cannon first to negate his regen, then fire the second at it to finish the job. After that, I'd use the cannon strictly to protect the organ gun, to the point of actually moving them to block potential charges. Once the hydra goes away, there are no other good cannon targets left, except perhaps whatever unit the Sorceress is bunkering in. Don't bother firing cannon at the peggy master; cannonballs bounce off the Pendant of Khaeleth.

Personally, against DE, I'd take a second Runesmith with a spellbreaker and/or spelleater rune. The Slayer will not survive the massive shooting DE can put out, which means he isn't terribly useful, while DE magic can be devastating.

While deploying and maneuvering, be aware of what a Pit of Shades might do; don't let your units get lined up where the SS can take a Pit shot down a line of troops.

Thanks for the tips Vulcan. But unfortunately I cant change my list. The list I showed above is what I have to take now. Your are about the rangers. But for 1200 points. I'll be hard pressed to be spending to many points on one unit .

The one thing about his Hydra is that. When he see's my cannon's. What I think will happen is that he will find the best piece of terrain there is on the current table. And just hide it until or if the cannon with rune of burning is destroyed. Which is good a reckon because it effectively takes that hydra out of the game

If he is hiding a Hydra most of the game then he is wasting his points IMO. Your list will be a hard struggle for his and if you get first turn it is pretty much over for him.

I think the game will come down to how well he uses his flyers and shades.

You should have his hydras no problem. The two cannons are probably overkill, since once the hydra is down, you don't have a lot of great targets.

Your deployment should hinge around trying to protect those war machines the best you can. You can't physically deploy blocks close enough to them to prevent a harpy charge if he sets it up right, but you can protect against shades and the peg rider. I'd place the dragonslayer in a position to counter charge harpies if they get into a war machine so you can clear them off. Another option is to run him out ahead in positions where they are likely to land, so he can chase them off before they even arrive (though this leaves him vulnerable to repeater fire).

You'll probably get his hydra if he doesn't hide it, but that won't hold the lead if he gets all your war machines. The harpies can be neutralized by a couple casualties courtesy of panic, if he gets too far away from his general (which he will if he's war machine hunting). This makes them worth shooting with crossbows early.

If you still have the crossbows late, try whittling down one of his small blocks to a size that will let you snipe his level 4 with cannons.

If you can get the peg rider in combat with your shield block, they are the ideal matchup, as they get the best chance to save, and bring static combat res.

Aaand, I think that about sums up what I can see in the matchup. Let us know how it goes!

Jubear wrote:I think you already have won the game.

I second this.

He has a very small amount of bodies, so you should be able to commit one unit of warriors to protecting your war machines from the shades, which will allow yuour cannons to take out his Master and Hydra. You should still have enough firepower and CC units to win any combats, provided your runelord does a good job of dispelling. You might want to take a rune of spellbreaking as back up though

To think you've already won the game is the best way to lose.

The DE is showing up with scouts and 3 flying units. It's not that tough to have these units neutralize the dwarf warmachines. With the warmachines crippled, that hydra is going to raise hell.
The hydra is plenty fast to hide for 2 turns and only come out once it is "safe".

If he selects his peg master to be the general (which he can do, both his characters are Ld9), then the flying units don't even have to win, he could hold with a loss by 1 or 2 for a few rounds, let the hydra close range into melee.

Also, level 4 vs rune of balance isn't all peachy. Dice wise, it's about even, but with a +4 vs a +2 to cast, and having power of darkness, the dwarves might be in trouble. Pit of shades, or pendulum both will cause big problems.

If you can drop the hydra early, you're in good shape, but I think this is a battle that will be won or lost in the magic phase.

-Matt

Well guys. Turns out that the Dark Elf player. Is pretty damn good. I lost 13-7 (Battle Points) and he won to games 20-0. He came 1st, I came Ninth (out of 14 People)

Though, I did blow one of my cannons on the 1st turn of my 1st BLOODY GAME!... lol all good

I unfortunately could not get any batreps or pictures which makes me sad. But I think the Vermin Tide went well for my first tournament. Top 10! No wooden Spoon for me (WoC)

1st-Dark Elves
2nd-Empire
3rd-Beasts
4th-Warriors of Chaos
5th-High Elves
6th-Not Sure
7th-Dwarfs
8th-Warriors of Chaos
9th-Dwarfs(Me!)
10th-Skaven
11th-Lizardmen
12th-Vampires
13th-Orgers
14th-Warriors of Chaos

Did you get the hydra? What was the turning point in your Dark Elf matchup?

I did not get the hydra :(. He hid it by this piece of terrain that was pretty much shaped like a hydra. I blew my cannon with Rune of Forging up the 1st turn WITH a flippen Re-roll. But hey it happens. Then he got his Pegasus Hero to come waste my burning cannon. Though I did make it flee off the table the next turn.

Without anything to kill the Hydra it seemed like the end was NI! I did get the best game against him then anyone else though (13-7) while the rest of his games where 15-5, 20-0, or 17-3