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It's been a while since I've played WHFB, not since 5th edition. But I'm getting the urge to paint, and I have some free time, and dark elves are appealing to me. Right now I have a lot of crossbowmen and witch elves, some shades (the manflayer regiment of renown), some executioners, and some characters (a couple of assassins and a sorceress). I'm thinking about getting the spearhead, cuz it has some great stuff in it and I need the book, but I won't have the cash for that until January probably. But I want to start painting now, so here's some stuff I'd like some advice on-

1. Are any of the models I have now not even worth fielding? I've heard the current army list is good, but every army has some bad units.

2. For the crossbowmen, what's a good unit size? I'm thinking around 10, but I really don't know. Also, is it worth it to give them command, and/or shields?

3. I love chariots, and I'm thinking of converting a couple. Are DE chariots good, and can they take them as regular units or just as character mounts?

Thanks in advance, and if I think of more questions I'll post those too.

All the units are worth fielding in the DE book.

Of the ones you have the witch elves are probably the weakest as they are mincemeat to cav charges.

Assassins are unbelievably brutal vs anything which has an average to no armour save they only realy struggle vs heavily armoured troops.

Shades are probably the best unit in the list.

Don't give crossbowmen champ or standard. Just the muso for the +1 to rally. The standard will be an easy 100 points for your opponent.
Unit size 10-12 seems to be very popular.

DE chariots can be good, cause fear, but suffer from stupidity. Personally I'm not a fan of them but others love them.

Witch Elves are an oddity. Due to their Frenzy, they can all too often be drawn into a combat with a less than ideal enemy unit. As Waaaagh-Gonads pointed out, on their own, Cavalry are their worst nightmare. However, a magical banner can give them Armour Piercing, making them a lot tastier against Cavalry (buckets of wounds, and halving the save chance of most...2+ is saved twice as often as 3+.) Add in a Cauldron of Blood, and things get even nastier as you can give them additional attacks, a Wardsave, or even Killing Blow.

So, why odd? They are the only unit in the Dark Elf list which, in my opinion, needs additional choices to get the absolute most out of. Everything else tends to be fairly independant.

Crossbows? I'd stick with 10. The Champion now has increased BS, making him arguably worth it if you have the points to spare, but I agree about the Standard!

Chariots are totally rock. They do need some support, if just to relieve them should you fail stupidity at an inopportune point (just stick the general near them when needed is a good idea, if not always practical)

Overall, the army is extremely fun to use. Because no one unit is particularly weak (Witch Elves are more just too specialised) you never know what you might want to take!

Well, even that standard can be useful. 20 DE crossbowmen with shields can lay down shots and reform to take the charges with a 4+ AS, and +3 ranks. Not too shabby!

20 DE crossbowmen with shields can lay down shots and reform to take the charges with a 4+ AS, and +3 ranks. Not too shabby!

15 is also worth considering for the reason above because you can reduce ranks twice for your full movement and still shoot that turn.

Thanks for all of the advice! I like the idea of using larger units of crossbowmen with shields to help in hth. I think it's funny that with the extra bonus from having a regular hand weapon and shield, they're actually tougher than spearmen.

I think I'll put the witch elves on the back burner for a while. Maybe I'll paint them up eventually, but it doesn't sound like they should be a priority.

I'm definitely going to do the chariots. I just need to get a box of knights for their cold ones.

I'm also going to convert some dark riders, but now I'm thinking of waiting on that until I get the knights to use some of their parts. Light cavalry are fun.


Are bolt throwers still good? I remember them being really nasty in previous editions.

Remember that the spearmen also have hand weapons. They have to choose to use the spears or hand weapons in the first round of each combat but if you really want that 4+ save, you can have it at the expense of the attacks.

Yes bolt throwers are still good, some people don't take them over the hydra though. That's a list dependent choice. Personally my balanced 2000 list run 2 reaper bolt throwers and 1 hydra.

so many choices, so little points. i'm thinking of running crossbow units of between 16-18 as i get off alot of shots and can hopefully survive a little combat until help arives.

assassins are good fun, bolt throwers are handy, whilst hydras are big and scary.