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So I'm starting High Elves and was thinking of putting together an army based around sword masters. I was just wondering what a good course of action would be, are the swordmasters good, things like that.

Welcome to the High life! (*groan*, I know, but I couldn't resist!)
First off, swardmasters are absolutely amazing in close combat. IF they get there. Shooting is your enemy, templates are the worst. Life magic softens the blow somewhat as you can regen some of their models. They will be a fire magnet, so be warned.

Also shield of saffery is your best friend

ok ok I'll put together an army list and post it in the other forum look for it in about 45 minutes or so.

Where did it go on the other forum looks like you deleted it. Remember they are a special so you can only take max of 50% of specials in your army, you'll need core to fill it out, I recommend archerers.

>Archers
>20 man squad costs 220 pts
>Causes an average of 5 wounds at long range against t3 units

Im still learning how to play the game and I recived a bunch of flames for a list that was written up wrong thats where it went, if you wanted to see a copy I'd be happy to post it though its kinda embarassing. I am currently reading both books a little better but ive always learned through questions and experience better so yeah any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks and peace.

Just to add... I know its common place because of the IoB but how good is the Prince on the griffon? Worth putting in an army?

Basic things to keep in mind if you're going to focus on Swormasters:

While they'll probably chew up anybody they get in close combat with, they need A LOT of support.

Magic is your friend. 1-2 Mages throwing around Shield of Saphery on these guys will go a long way in making them more survivable (T3, 5+ will see a lot of dead swordmasters).

You need to whittle things down before you get in combat. Shooting units aren't too bad to take. Archers or LSG can provide decent amounts of shooting that in concentrated amounts can reduce enemy blocks a decent bit. Curse of Arrow Attraction becomes a nice secondary spell to have.

Ideally, you want units of Swordmasters to be ~12-20 models per unit, just to make sure _some_ make it into CC. Unless you're putting in a character in the unit, you can probably save points and forgo the champions, though throwing in an Iron Curse Icon or other utility magic item can help.

A Life Archmage can help out a lot.

Re: Griffons - no, they're not very good. As it is, griffons cost far too much for how vulnerable they are, and more often than not, you'll end up with a Prince that's stuck by himself on foot somewhere on the battlefield. Not recommended unless you have a particularly build you're REALLY anxious to try out.

I use only archers for core choices in my Swordmaster army. They provide great support. By themselves they aren't that impressive, but that's what magic is for. High Elves mitigate their weaknesses with magic. Try High magic some time. Curse of arrow attraction with 60 - 70 archers focusing on units will mess them up. Couple that with The Withering from Shadow and you'll see models dying in droves.

Don't under estimate Flames of the Phoenix either. It's a great horde killer by itself and coupled with The Withering it's murder.

Shield of Saphery is a no brainer.

I don't take big blocks of Swordmasters I take tons of little ones. Anywhere from 5-7 models each, depending on pts size of the game. The trick is to maneuver them into flanks and rears. You'll have 10-14 attacks on the flank and they'll have like 3-5 maybe a few more. They won't get parry saves either. It's pretty intense. If you're worried about losing them to shooting, bring a lvl 2 life mage with the seer staff and choose regrowth and the signature spell or flesh to stone.

my 2 cents.

The griffon is a turd.
30 points more you get a sun dragon, which is
+1T, +1W, has a breathe, and 5+ armor. You do lose 1 point of init.



-Matt