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I've managed to sort out a list that I am generally quite happy with. It's not the most competitive list out there, but it is a lot of fun and is mostly for the modelling opportunities. However, I've noticed that there is a philosophy that in order to stand a chance against a variety of monsters and high-AS units out there the Elves really need to bring the firepower of a Bolt Thrower.

Here's the first list that I am pretty content with, and then there's a second list that I've had to cut a fair amount of stuff to squeeze the BT in. Which list to you prefer/think will do better on the battlefield?

Both lists may drop a single Silver Helm in order to take a magical banner (Warbanner/Arcane Protection/Lion Standard depending on points)

No Bolt Thrower

Lords

Eltharion the Grim: Fangsword of Eltharion, Longbow, Heavy Armour, Helm of Yvresse, Talisman of Hoeth.
285
Fielded on foot. I wanted a combat character on foot, and since the Elven magical weapons by-and-large suck I opted for the special character. Helm is a counts-as shield for my Aeneas character. Can take Lore of Shadow to help him get around the battlefield or Lore of Metal to help against enemy Knights etc. Probably joins Seaguard early in game to give them more oomph, then joins a more combat-oriented unit like Swordmasters, Spearmen or Lions.

Heroes

Mage: Level 2, Ring of Fury & Chariot.
260
Very fun with Lore of Fire to roll around blasting things; or takes Lore of Beasts if enemy is monster-heavy or takes Lore of Life if shooting-heavy as both are useful and easy-to-cast.

Mage: Level 2, Jewel of the Dusk & Dispel Scroll.
170
Scroll for defence, takes either High Lore for more magical defence/unit buffs or Lore of Metal if the enemy is knight-heavy. Joins White Lions for protection.

Core

21 Spearmen: Musician & Standard Bearer.
204
With ASF and no Characters joining the unit I didn't see a need for the Champion. 7x3 or 5x4 depending on whether I want attacks or resolution.

21 Spearmen: Musician & Standard Bearer.
204
More is better.

10 Seaguard: Shields & Standard Bearer.
140
I have archers modelled in Light Armour with a Standard Bearer, and it seemed sensible to upgrade them for a mere 2pts so they are actually combat-capable and less likely to lose the banner. They're archers with combat ability rather than a combat unit with ranged options.

Special

13 White Lions: Champion & Standard Bearer.
219
Deploy 7x2 when Mage attached. Champion to accept challenges instead of Mage and to make up for loss of WL in front rank due to character.

5 Shadow Warriors.
80
Vague Nagarythe theme so included. Also useful for taking out warmachines, march-blocking etc.

5 Shadow Warriors.
80
I really don't like enemy warmachines.

7 Silver Helms: Shields & Champion.
177
For modelling more than anything (think Trojan Cavalry from Troy). I could take 5x DP with Champion but they can't take any casualties before losing the ability to deny rank bonuses. Also can't take them if I want to opt for a magic banner, as the unit is then too expensive.

5 Sword Masters: Bladelord.
87
Hang behind line for breakingthroughs. Also offer great support for Seaguard and a retinue for Prince in emergencies. Again mostly for modelling, am making my own.

Tiranoc Chariot.
85
Quintessential Greek fighting platform.

1991 points (9 left for not-a-lot).

82 Infantry, 7 Cavalry & 2 Chariots. 91 Models.

Spears & Lions form a fighting line. Seaguard block LOS to Swordmasters and act as a flank-guard, whilst Silver Helms and Chariots attack up the other. Shadow Warriors behind enemy lines if terrain is good for scouting, or act as a skirmish-screen for my combat blocks and add to ranged firepower. The ability to take 2 Mages with Lore of Metal and a third with something to stop enemy shooting/attack larger units makes up for my lack of Bolt Throwers, though I do have issues against large targets, whom I have to target with Eltharion and the Knights, and as much shooting as I can spare.


With a Bolt Thrower

Lords

Eltharion the Grim: Fangsword of Eltharion, Longbow, Heavy Armour, Helm of Yvresse, Talisman of Hoeth.
285
This time joins White Lions to bump up numbers for the formation.

Heroes

Mage: Level 2, Ring of Fury & Chariot.
260

Mage: Level 2, Dispel Scroll.
155
Casting slightly weaker.

Core

18 Spearmen: Musician & Standard Bearer.
177
Now deploy 6x3. Not as good for rank bonus and is weaker to enemy retaliation due to less men.

18 Spearmen: Musician & Standard Bearer.
177

12 Seaguard: Shields & Standard Bearer.
166
Slightly more shooting ability here, and better in combat too.

Special

12 White Lions: Standard Bearer.
192
Must be joined by Mage and Prince for 7x2 formation. No Champion as Prince can fight challenges instead of Mage.

5 Shadow Warriors.
80

5 Shadow Warriors.
80

6 Silver Helms: Shields & Champion.
154
Smaller unit, can't take as much damage.

5 Sword Masters: Bladelord.
87

Tiranoc Chariot.
85

Rare

1 Bolt Thrower.
100

1998 points. 77 Infantry, 6 Cavalry, 2 Chariots & 1 Warmachine. 86 Models.

Operates largely the same as last time. Obviously this list has much less infantry, though the shooting power is improved it comes at a cost of combat potential; but the BT allows the Prince/Mage to muck around with other lores and not rely on Lore of Metal to take on Knights/Monsters. The BT also gives a unit that stays still and forces enemy Warmachine hunters etc to go for it (which is both a benefit and a drawback - it'll draw flanking units away from my Infantry, but it means that those units have a target they can competently take out as it's the only static thing in the force).

++

So, which of these lists do you think is going to be more effective? Do you think I should stick a Magic Banner into either list, or go with the slightly-larger unit of Cavalry each time? I know neither list is competitive and could be improved at the expense of modelling, but which of the two is least-worst (as it were)?

Well I am going to go through your first list, and some of your comments and give you my own advice, and correct some bad info you had. . .

I personally don't like Eltharion, a good change would be Caradryan, and Korhil, that does cost you 30 more points but then you can make a unit of spearmen, or the modified sword masters alot stronger. . . Make Caradryan the general since he has a ward save and if they kill him, they lose a d6 wounds with no armor save. . .

Drop the Sea Guard, they are very overpriced and 10 men with strength 3, and light armor with spears is not a combat unit. . . 140 points redeemed

Silver Helms are horrible, just take dragon princes if you want close combat cavalry, and remember Cavalry is Unit Size 2 each so you would take away ranks as long as you had 3 left. . .

Sword Masters with only 5 in a unit, get crushed by shooting, either use 14 to 15, or drop them completely.

You can use the points from the dropped sea guard, and the sword masters to get 2 repeater bolt throwers, and upgrade Eltharion to Caradryan, and Korhil, or just add 9 sword masters to the unit. . .

One bolt thrower rarely does good. It needs to be VERY lucky to do something important in the game like kill a monster before it does its damage, etc.

Citadel97501, that's a good point about the Silver Helms. The Dragon Princes are much better, but I can have more of the Helms which makes them a little more resilient to enemy firepower. The issue is I'd like a large block of cavalry to look menacing, and the Princes are too costly...yet they'll be more effective in fewer numbers, except against bowfire/bolt-throwers.

The Swordmasters are probably going to stay - I can do a lot with their points, but they've been working alright so far. They hide behind the Seaguard so the enemy struggles to get LOS to them - and if they are shooting at them fro ma hill, or casting magic from a large target, I'd rather they aim at the ~90pt slow unit than my Spears, Lions or Chariot-mage. Often they aren't targeted because we lack a lot of hills in the local area

Eltharion stays for now. I really want to run a Prince on Foot as a part of my theme, but I can't find a useful set-up from the normal High Elf magic weapons list - they all either leave him vulnerable (requires 2 hands denying shield bonus, or expensive so can't get the better armours) or just don't have the oomph (most have nice abilities but either aren't strong enough to get an effective number of wounds (Blades of Gold) or can wound but don't get through armour too well (Sword of Hoeth, Foe-Bane). Eltharion is fairly balanced, a sword that is brilliant on the charge (Str6, no AS), his armour is OK (4+/5++) and his access to Magic allows him to enhance his abilities in various ways (Steed of Shadows, Second Sign, Lore of Metal). If I could find a Prince that was a competent fighter whilst on foot I would replace Eltharion with him (as he'd likely be cheaper).

Here's a slightly re-worked list, which has altered where my infantry is located. I've added an extra Silver Helm (which gives the points to allow them to be swapped for 5 Dragon Princes + Champion) and a few more Seaguard, as well as making one mage a little more able in terms of casting ability.

A number of people have said the same as Spellbound, so I've decided not to bother with the Bolt Thrower, as without two it's just not enough.


Lords

Eltharion the Grim: Fangsword of Eltharion, Longbow, Heavy Armour, Helm of Yvresse & Talisman of Hoeth.
285
I'm really hoping to use Lore of Metal to boost my combat potential against tough, fast-moving enemies like Bretonnians and Chaos Knights; and Lore of Shadows to have access to both Steed of Shadows and ideally that spell that reduces the enemy to WS1 (I think that's in Shadows and not Death). This would make him pretty brutal against enemy units.

Heroes

Mage: Level 2, Hand Weapon, Ring of Fury & Chariot.
260

Mage: Level 2. Hand Weapon, Jewel of the Dusk & Dispel Scroll.
170
This time carries a Scroll to stop the most threatening enemy spell, but also gets a boost to his casting powers, useful in an army that might be short on casting dice.

Core

21 Spearmen: Musician & Standard Bearer.
204
Champion dropped because 1) in a Greek phalanx there was no room for personal heroics, the unit had to stay together and 2) I was short on points, and since characters are unlikely to join the unit I didn't see a need for one!

21 Spearmen: Musician & Standard Bearer.
204

13 Seaguard: Shields & Standard Bearer.
179
Posed like the Myrmidons from Troy - front rank 7-strong with shields raised, back rank of 6 posed as shooting. This gives me 7 shots a turn at normal units, 13 at larger units or I can form a single line with the option of reforming into a block like this in-game, depending on space available. Going to be fun to build.

Special

13 White Lions: Champion & Standard Bearer.
219
Joined by Mage for 7x2 formation, can be joined by Prince for 5x3 formation. Champion to take challenges for Mage and to make up for the lost Str6 attack from the front-rank Lion the Mage replaces.

8 Shadow Warriors.
128
Now a single, larger unit. Same roles as last time.

7 Silver Helms: Shields & Champion.
177
To be modelled as the Trojan cavalry from Troy. Champion to represent Hector on a small-scale (can't afford a proper Hero). I could field Dragon Princes instead, but then the unit is only 5-strong.

5 Sword Masters: Bladelord.
87
Mainly for the modelling, as shown above. Led by the Noble model with the large sword and shield.

Tiranoc Chariot.
85

1998 points; 83 Infantry, 2 Chariots & 7 Cavalry = 92 Models.

As I say, the biggest issue for me is the Silver Helms vs Dragon Princes debate. They';ll be smaller so more vulnerable to shooting/psychology checks. This is the one thing I'm not sure on - a big block of Silver Helms looks much, much better thematically (who doesn't like the sight of a horde of cavalry bearing down upon them); but the Dragon Princes perform batter on the table-top. What do you reckon I should do?

Eh, 7 Silver Helms does not a big block make. It's not enough to get an extra rank, either. For 3 points more, a unit of 6 Dragon Princes would do MUCH better and have roughly the same survivability.