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Hi,

I recently purchased a large army of high elves and (after reading as much as I could on here) this is my first attempt at a list . I have these models along with a very large supply of spearmen, archers, and silver helms. Please let me know what you think

Prince, Star Lance, Armour of Caledor, Guardian Phoenix, Star Dragon
Archmage, Lvl 4, Jewel of the Dusk
Dragon Mage, Lvl 2, Silver Wand

10 Archers
10 Archers
10 Archers

6 Shadow Warriors
6 Shadow Warriors
6 Ellyrian Reavers
6 Ellyrian Reavers
6 Dragon Princes
6 Dragon Princes
18 Phoenix Guard, Std Bearer, Banner of Sorcery

2 RBTs
2 Great Eagles

I wasn't sure where to hide the Archmage, or if it might even be better to take two lesser mages instead?

The strategy would be to have the archers and RBTs sitting in the back to shoot, while the heavy calvary and dragons are busy being the hammer to the Phoenix Guard anvil, with the shadow warriors and reavers harrassing and the mages casting magic. Please let me know your thoughts

Thanks so much!

Hmmmmm

It's quite interesting.

You may be out-shot. Your Dragon Princes and Ellyrian reavers are small units, and though I doubt anyone could shoot them all, be careful.

Shadow Warriors are fine.

You also may not have many CC units, though that's probably just me. 1 block of Phoenix Guard, no matter how big, can be easily flanked.

Still, I'm liking the idea!

You can hide the Archmage either by himself or in the phoenix guard (unless the banner doesn't allow you to cast magic from it, I don't remember)

Been awhile since i played HE (Sold my 5000pts away)
But i would say more magic and more RBT's.
Also a unit of 20 Whitelions(if you have the models), quite pricey but effing incredible in CC.

Unfortunately I don't have the white lions models :-(. Would you prefer them over the phoenix guard?

I know I'm a little weak on magic, especially on defense (only 5 DD, I'd like to find the points to take the annulian crystal to get one more). On offense I'll have 10-12 PD, plus the "free" ones from the dragon mage. I thought I'd take lore of beasts on the archmage and use it to try to launch my calvary forward . This means he'd probably need to be near them (not near my rulebook at the moment) so I also thought about giving him a mount.

I was thinking of losing the two Great Eagles, since I have the Shadow Warriors I could use them for march blocking instead. I could turn the GEs into another RBT, or into wargear for the mages (since right now they're pretty bare!)

RiTides Nids wrote:Unfortunately I don't have the white lions models :-(. Would you prefer them over the phoenix guard?

I know I'm a little weak on magic, especially on defense (only 5 DD, I'd like to find the points to take the annulian crystal to get one more). On offense I'll have 10-12 PD, plus the "free" ones from the dragon mage. I thought I'd take lore of beasts on the archmage and use it to try to launch my calvary forward . This means he'd probably need to be near them (not near my rulebook at the moment) so I also thought about giving him a mount.

I was thinking of losing the two Great Eagles, since I have the Shadow Warriors I could use them for march blocking instead. I could turn the GEs into another RBT, or into wargear for the mages (since right now they're pretty bare!)

Yes i would, i tested them out in my first game, and since then they had a permanent spot in all my lists... ASF, Str6, Stubborn and somewhat resilient to gunfire, too good to pass up imho.

Regarding your magic... now im not a genius in the magic phase (played my old Khorne army too much ) but i always had some mage with drain magic, but beware your opponent is going to save some of his DD to dispell drain magic at the end of the round so i usually fielded two mages with High Magic/Lore. Also get atleast 2 scrolls at 3000pts

Yes drop the eagles, they are gonna get shot to bits quite fast. Add another RBT if not two. i always had 4 .
And deck your mages out with something juicy.

Here's a slight change... spearmen instead of archers, and a few dispel scrolls and a steed for the archmage instead of the banner of sorcery. Unfortunately I don't have white lions so I'll have to stick with the phoenix guard for now!

Prince, Star Lance, Armour of Caledor, Guardian Phoenix, Star Dragon
Archmage, Lvl 4, Jewel of the Dusk, 2 Dispel Scrolls, Elven Steed
Dragon Mage, Lvl 2, Silver Wand

12 Spearmen
12 Spearmen
12 Spearmen

6 Shadow Warriors
6 Shadow Warriors
6 Ellyrian Reavers
6 Ellyrian Reavers
6 Dragon Princes
6 Dragon Princes
18 Phoenix Guard, Std Bearer

2 RBTs
2 Great Eagles

3000 Points exactly! I also have the 2 eagles but not a third RBT, so I might leave them in for now. Do the spearmen help instead of the archers at all in having more CC units?

o_o no sword masters?

I love those guys

Hmm, yes I have heard that the phoenix guard are the worst of the 3 special infantry (behind sword masters and white lions) but they are the only unit that is painted (and painted well!) in the army, so I'd really like to make a list focused around them if possible!

The other models I have available are just heroes, spearmen, archies, and silver helms... not the specialty types. Darn :-/

Wow, I would not say that Phoenix Guard are the worst. They cause the least damage, certainly, but they are by far the most resilient unit, thanks to their 4+ Ward Save. If you're looking at pure damage output, then yes, they are the worst. But if you're looking for a reliable anchor unit, PG, imo, are one of the best in the game.

As far as your list goes:

Definitely drop the Eagles for more RBTs (at least one more). They're probably the best support unit HE has.

Do not take small squads of Spears - they will not be effective at anything other than dying. Take either 3 10-man archer units, or 2 archer units and a big block of 18-21 spears to make the most of their "Martial Prowess" ability.

I feel like this list is trying to do too much and trying to be competitive in too many phases - something that's never a great idea for High Elves. Personally, I'd drop the Reavers and maybe a unit of Shadow Warriors and try to fit in a chariot and/or some small units of Swordmasters to give you some extra Close Combat oomph.

With regards to your magic phase - generally, I feel that you either build around a very strong Magic Phase, or you take whatever you need to defend yourself from enemy magic.

Darn, you've got me. So I'm trying to do too much... I wanted to try to do a MSU type army- lots of small, fast units hitting hard and fast. However, since I've never played it before, I'm probably trying to cover too many bases at once.

Do you have any suggestions to talor the list in that direction? I'm willing to drop the dragon mage... I was going to convert it from a standard dragon model anyway.

I'd like to make the army using models I have, which means just these models (plus more spearmen/archers/silver helms) is what I'm working with :-/. However you've made a ton of helpful points so I'm going to mull it over today and rework it and then post a new idea

Hmm... I can't seem to get away from wanting to have magic. After playing only 40k for so long, it's the main draw of playing fantasy (besides having soldiers in nice, neat rows and formations...)

If I drop the Dragon Mage for two mini-mages and the banner of sorcery, does that help at all? I've also rewritten things based on where they would be fielded, just to make it even more confusing

Assuming the Prince, the DPs, Mages, Phoenix Guard, Spearmen, Archers, and RBT are OK... what about those pesky small units of ellyrian reavers, shadow warriors, and eagles I'd like to have? Are they all too redundant? I liked the idea of all of these units, but if they're all doing the same thing, I can't pull it off :-/

Help much appreciated! Remember I've got to stick with the models I have, though (so no white lions or swordmasters... I do have 4 standard chariots if that helps)

Prince, Lance, Armour of Caledor, Vambraces of Defense, Amulet of Light, Star Dragon
6 Dragon Princes
6 Dragon Princes

Archmage, Lvl 4, Silver Wand, Elven Steed
Mage, Lvl 2, Dispel Scroll
Mage, Lvl 2, Dispel Scroll

17 Spearmen, Std Bearer, Lion Standard
17 Phoenix Guard, Std Bearer, Banner of Sorcery

6 Shadow Warriors
6 Shadow Warriors
6 Ellyrian Reavers
6 Ellyrian Reavers
2 Great Eagles

10 Archers
10 Archers
2 RBTs

3000 Points exactly. Does swapping out chariots for the reavers help give me some extra punch? Darn it all, I'd like to use the reavers if I could, but they're probably redundant...

Also, I was going to hide the foot mages inside the large blocks (spearmen and phoenix guard). Is this a good idea, or should they hide on their own / elsewhere?

Steve you have some models in there that can easily used for swordmasters, there are old school sea guard. I used The guard alot and really liked the results. They were my tarpit unit. I personally used the giant eagles to march block because they mored farther and let me get the charge off with my calvary. I used lots of horse. Good luck they should be there today or tomarrow.

Yes, I noticed you used a lot of calvary Haha!

That's an interesting point, I may do that! Thanks for the tip

(For anyone not sure what is going on, Farseer Jenkins is the one who sold me the high elves! And there are like 50 Silver Helms in there, too )

Thanks again I am obviously itching to get my first game in and couldn't wait until they even arrived to start army-building it up

Oh man, you bought that lot? Heh, I was wondering who was going to get it.

Well, at least I know what you'll have to work with then.

Re: Reavers - as it is right now, you have 6 units of redirectors/mage/warmachine-hunters. Of those 6, the reavers, imo, are the weakest. If you dropped both units, and maybe the 2nd shadow warriors unit, you could fit in 3 chariots instead, which could provide much needed support for the Dragon Princes. Between the Dragon, cavalry and remaining "fast" units, you should have enough speed to deal with mages/warmachines.

21 spears with full command can make for a surprisingly resilient and dangerous unit. They obviously won't be able to take on heavy-armored elite units, but your enemy will really have to think twice before charging into 22 ASF attacks with +3 SCR.

Yes, I sprung for it

If I drop those 3 units (2 units of reavers and 1 of the shadow warriors) would it be better to add in the aforementioned sword masters with banner of balance (instead of adding the chariots)?

I could also up the numbers in the phoenix guard and spearmen to 21 each with the extra points.

I'm considering just dropping the last shadow warrior unit as well to make room for a noble... I'd like to mount him but I've heard using one as a BSB is good as well? I'll have 3 large blocks now if I go with the swordmasters so I'll need to commit to them!

A BSB with the Battle Banner and Dragon Prince kit (Dragon Armor, lance, Shield, Barded Steed) can be quite potent. He can easily help turn the tide in a close combat with a unit of Dragon Princes, or go for a suicide charge by himself to potentially ward off some small enemy units (Once managed to solo-charge him into a weakened unit of Dark Elf Cold One Knights and win through Battle Banner alone).