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Hello all,

First attempt at building a 3000 point DE army. I'm trying to go with a monster theme. The idea is to use magic and ranged weapons to reduce enemy blocks, then use a combination of warriors and monsters to wreck havoc. I haven't played a game of fantasy in a long time, so all feed back is appreaciated.

Thanks,
Mike K.

1 Dark Elf Highborn @ 545 Pts
General; Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Sea Dragon Cloak; Hate High Elves
1 Black Dragon @ [320] Pts
Causes Terror; Flyer; Large Target; Scaly Skin
1 Draich of Dark Power @ [50] Pts
1 Crown of Black Iron @ [35] Pts

1 High Sorceress @ 350 Pts
Level 4 Upgrade; Hand Weapon; Hate High Elves
1 Darkstar Cloak @ [20] Pts
1 Dispel Scroll @ [25] Pts
1 Dispel Scroll @ [25] Pts
1 Seal of Ghrond @ [25] Pts

1 Sorceress @ 170 Pts
Level 2 Upgrade; Hate High Elves
1 Wand of the Kharaidon @ [40] Pts

1 Sorceress @ 180 Pts
Level 2 Upgrade; Hate High Elves
1 Staff of Sorcery @ [50] Pts

1 Dark Elf Noble (Battle Standard Bearer) @ 99 Pts
Hand Weapon; Heavy Armour; Battle Standard Bearer; Hate High Elves

10 Dark Elf Warriors @ 115 Pts
Musician Mus; Hand Weapon; Repeater Crossbow; Light Armour; Hate High Elves

10 Dark Elf Warriors @ 115 Pts
Musician Mus; Hand Weapon; Repeater Crossbow; Light Armour; Hate High Elves

19 Dark Elf Warriors @ 185 Pts
Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield; Hate High Elves
1 Lordling @ [18] Pts
Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield

19 Dark Elf Warriors @ 185 Pts
Musician Mus; Standard Bearer Std; Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield; Hate High Elves
1 Lordling @ [18] Pts
Hand Weapon; Spear; Light Armour; Shield

6 Dark Riders @ 151 Pts
Musician Mus; Hand Weapon; Repeater Crossbow; Spear; Light Armour; Fast Cavalry; Hate High Elves
6 Dark Steed @ [0] Pts

6 Dark Riders @ 151 Pts
Musician Mus; Hand Weapon; Repeater Crossbow; Spear; Light Armour; Fast Cavalry; Hate High Elves
6 Dark Steed @ [0] Pts

1 Reaper Bolt Thrower @ 100 Pts
Hate High Elves; Repeater Bolt Thrower
2 Crew @ [0] Pts
Hand Weapon; Light Armour

1 Reaper Bolt Thrower @ 100 Pts
Hate High Elves; Repeater Bolt Thrower
2 Crew @ [0] Pts
Hand Weapon; Light Armour

1 War Hydra @ 245 Pts
Veteran War Hydra; Causes Terror; Large Target; Scaly Skin
2 Apprentices @ [0] Pts
Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Hate High Elves

1 War Hydra @ 245 Pts
Veteran War Hydra; Causes Terror; Large Target; Scaly Skin
2 Apprentices @ [0] Pts
Hand Weapon; Extra Hand Weapon; Hate High Elves

Total Roster Cost: 2936

Mmm. First off, note that there aren't really rules for hydra variants. Those were published in a long-ago White Dwarf and never caught on, so I wouldn't expect to use them without my opponent's permission. Especially not in a tournament situation.

Drop the 'veteran war hydra' and get 50 points back.

Next: Big blocks of spears are not what DE do best. You need to pretend you are fog- feint, feint, draw the enemy out of position. They seek you here, they seek you there, and then you pile in and crush a unit in a totally unfair 3-on-1 fight.

BSBs are no good unless they are taking a nice magic banner, and besides, he needs a Sea Dragon Cloak, but it's a moot point because he is a big waste- don't bother with him. Take another sorceress.

Speaking of sorceresses, why waste points on the dispelling staff? Dark magic is nasty, brutal and short-ranged; your opponents are justly afraid of it. Let them stock up on the dispelling stuff, you take power stones so you can get those nasty spells off when you need to.

Finally the Highborn needs a shield, for when he's being shot at. And he should take the Mystic Shield of Light rather than the Crown of Black Iron, unless you know for a fact that you'll be facing light or high magic.

Naturally, this is contingent on the models you have... .

Highborn on Black Dragon
Heavy Armor, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak, Repeater xbow
Draich of Dark Power, Heart-stone of Darkness 573

High Sorceress on Manticore
Lvl 4
Darkstar Cloak, Mystic Shield of Light, Wand of the Kharaidon 545

Sorceress
Lvl 2, Dark Steed
Power Stone, Ring of Hotek 187

Sorceress
Lvl 2
Power stone, Seal of Ghrond 180

Sorceress
Lvl 2
Power stone, dispell scroll 180

12 Warriors
repeater xbow, shield, musician 149

10 Warriors
repeater xbow, shield 120

10 Warriors
repeater xbow, shield 120

6 Dark Riders
repeater xbow, musician 151

6 Dark Riders
repeater xbow, musician 151

Reaper Bolt thrower 100

Reaper Bolt thrower 100

War Hydra 220

War Hydra 220

2996 points, 13 power dice, 7 dispell dice.

4 terror-causers, 2 of which fly. Both the flyers' riders have ranged weapons, so they can use Large Target to their advantage.
They get across the table, one to each flank, and start trying to force Terror tests as soon as possible. The mounted sorceress goes around the flank with one unit of DR, then tries to stay close to the enemy casters without engaging so the Ring of Hotek can do its thing. If your high sorceress ever gets into close combat, make sure the enemy rolls to hit and to wound one attack at a time, so the Mystic Shield can kick in and save her. The missle troops concentrate fire on one unit at a time, trying to cause panic that the flyers can exploit.

As far as lores go, I'd give the high sorceress and one Lvl 2 (probably the mounted one) Dark Magic. One Lvl 2 would get Death, hoping for Doom & Darkness. The last Lvl 2 would get Death or Shadow, hoping for Unseen Lurker and Pit of Shades.

If I drop the spear blocks, what should I replace them with? More fast cav or more crossbowmen?

I can see your point about the BSB. He was included to help anchor the spearblocks for cheap. But if I drop the spear blocks then I don't need him anymore. And the idea of more magic is useful.

More fast cav, definitely.

6th ed. Dark elves got hit with the neft-bat pretty seriously, and there was no way they could handle a stand-up fight, the way they could in 4th or 5th ed. But we got core fast cav, and it almost became a joke, it was so predictable... all core choices = Dark riders. Special choices = CoChariots (x2), 14 executioners + Banner of Murder, and shades (x2). Rare choices = max Reapers. Shades to march-block and drop enemy war machines or stupid lone enemy casters. Reapers to tear up units at long range. Executioners to act as can-openers vs. enemy heavy cav. Cold One Chariots threaten the front of the enemy, Dark Riders bait & flee, drawing the enemy out of position so that the execs can hit them in the flank, and one or both chariots can go in as well.

The new DE army book is only a few months away (August, for the patient souls), and chances are the army will get a serious revamping. Possibly even a return to its stand-up fight roots. So I wouldn't invest a lot of money in DE at this time.

I'm just in the initial steps of developing the list I want to build. I've decided that once I go back to fantasy, I want to maximize the fantasy elements while still building a competitive list, hence the emphasis on magic and monsters. I'll probably end up waiting for the new book before buying anything.

Thanks for all the help,
Mike K.