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I play VC already and have a small Dwarf army, but recently my enthusiasm for both armies has dwindled. I love my Dark Eldar for 40k but my group mainly plays Fantasy. I know that logically Dark Elves are the first thing i should think about, but honestly i don't know much about them. What army best plays to the Dark Eldars strengths of Speed and Agility?

Any elf army should be a high priority. High Elves, Wood Elves and Dark Elves are good choices. Avoid armies like Lizardmen with slow choices and avoid horde armies. I would suggest straying away from men and Chaos because of their movement speed issues.

Yeah, that is kind of what i figured. How do Wood Elves and Dark Elves play? One of my friends already has a High Elf army so i wouldn't want to go that route.

Drake118 wrote:Yeah, that is kind of what i figured. How do Wood Elves and Dark Elves play? One of my friends already has a High Elf army so i wouldn't want to go that route.

Wood elves are primarily shooty, they have some good combat units like Treekin and they require alot of finesse to play right. Their book is out of date. It is very hard to play as a Wood Elf player. Dark Elves have the potential to do well in all the phases, they have Great Magic, Pretty Good shooting and awesome combat abilities. You have the bonus of Hatred which is both a good and a bad thing. Overall, the Dark Elves are a really good army. The main problems with both of these armies are they are both really fragile like Dark Eldar. Dark Elves are the more competitive choice while Wood Elves are the choice you want if you want a good challenge and you really do not care about winning whatsoever. Though, fluff wise, it would be more fun for you and your friend if you pick Dark Elves because of the special rules in both Army Books when you fight each other.

Hatred has no real downside anymore

I think that if you're looking at a Dark Eldar-style, you'll be more interested in the actual list than the army its made of. Most Fantasy armies are built around infantry blocks, differentiated by cost and rules, and so none of the typical army builds will give you that playstyle. The vast majority of them are infantry-based.

I think what you're really looking for is the speed and power, rather than the elfishness. In Fantasy terms this really means a mounted army. Most armies can accomplish this and so I think it would be more helpful to look at what type of Cavalry you like, rather than the actual race.


Beastmen- Can do an army based around Centaur and Chariots. Extremely heavy melee but no real staying power and a total lack of ranged ability. Some monster options, if weak.
Dark Elves- Dark Riders are light cavalry which run rings around the opponent, blasting them down and harrassing with Crossbows. These are supported by Chariots, Heavy Dinosaur cavalry and the mighty Hydra.
Orcs & Goblins- Wolf Riders are cheapy-cheap and make good harassment units. Boar Boyz provide affordable shock cavalry and you have lots of outlandish units like Squigs, Spiders or Trolls to kep up with the line. Also has access to a devastating amount of cheap artillery if you fancy it.
Empire- A 'heavy' version of Orcs & Goblins really. The army would be based on extremely well-equipped Knight units, supported by light shooters and heavy artillery. Also has the fun options of Demigryphs, Steam Tanks and Griffons.
Tomb Kings- Based more around Chariots than Cavalry, with a lot of supporting monsters. Fields very nice 'all-rounder' units and some nice 'wacky' elements, along with a very strong ranged element.
Vampires- A bit unusual, but you can have an extremely fast core of Wolves supported by Knights and monstrous infantry. Also have the wonderful Terrorgheist, Throne and Engines to look at for support units.
Wood Elves- Utra-light and very expensive, the Woodies are almost entirely a Hit & Run army. Probably matches the playstyle the best, although most people will agree they are very weak currently. Still, if you like a challenge, it's fairly close..

Mozzamanx wrote:I think that if you're looking at a Dark Eldar-style, you'll be more interested in the actual list than the army its made of. Most Fantasy armies are built around infantry blocks, differentiated by cost and rules, and so none of the typical army builds will give you that playstyle. The vast majority of them are infantry-based.

I think what you're really looking for is the speed and power, rather than the elfishness. In Fantasy terms this really means a mounted army. Most armies can accomplish this and so I think it would be more helpful to look at what type of Cavalry you like, rather than the actual race.


Beastmen- Can do an army based around Centaur and Chariots. Extremely heavy melee but no real staying power and a total lack of ranged ability. Some monster options, if weak.
Dark Elves- Dark Riders are light cavalry which run rings around the opponent, blasting them down and harrassing with Crossbows. These are supported by Chariots, Heavy Dinosaur cavalry and the mighty Hydra.
Orcs & Goblins- Wolf Riders are cheapy-cheap and make good harassment units. Boar Boyz provide affordable shock cavalry and you have lots of outlandish units like Squigs, Spiders or Trolls to kep up with the line. Also has access to a devastating amount of cheap artillery if you fancy it.
Empire- A 'heavy' version of Orcs & Goblins really. The army would be based on extremely well-equipped Knight units, supported by light shooters and heavy artillery. Also has the fun options of Demigryphs, Steam Tanks and Griffons.
Tomb Kings- Based more around Chariots than Cavalry, with a lot of supporting monsters. Fields very nice 'all-rounder' units and some nice 'wacky' elements, along with a very strong ranged element.
Vampires- A bit unusual, but you can have an extremely fast core of Wolves supported by Knights and monstrous infantry. Also have the wonderful Terrorgheist, Throne and Engines to look at for support units.
Wood Elves- Utra-light and very expensive, the Woodies are almost entirely a Hit & Run army. Probably matches the playstyle the best, although most people will agree they are very weak currently. Still, if you like a challenge, it's fairly close..

Vampires and Tomb Kings are too slow for his liking. Same with Orcs and Goblins. I think what he meant by speed is high Intiative and high Movement. So that leaves Empire and Beasts out of the race.

If you want an army that is fast and tactically agile... Ogres.

It sounds like Dark Elves may be where you wanna lean towards. If you are looking to try something a bit different though (fluff wise and look wise) you may want to try a different army. Wood elves would be worth while to hold out and wait for an update. They have beautiful models and sculpts, and their fluff and units are very unique and very cool. Problem is it's been 10 years since they have been updated, so wait on them.

If you are still looking for speed and hard hitting yet similarly fragile to dark eldar, but don't wanna fall into redundancy of elves, take Mozzamanx advice and try out something different . Most wont be as fast as the elf armies, but what they lose in a little bit of speed they make up for in some extra toughness, yet still keep lower armor saves in some cases. They typically replace crappy armor saves with ward saves of 5 or 6+, so that can be a nice reminder of playing Dark Eldar. You can still have a hard hitting, fast force , but you dont need to get stuck with toughness 3 and 5+ armor saves across the board.

Greatest thing about fantasy is it's not nearly as grim and depressing as the 40K universe in some ways. Maybe try a fun army like Orcs and Goblins. They can vary from being all foot troops to all calvary and flying at times, including some of the coolest and most unique units in the games, like squig herders, giants and fanatics. They get some funny rules too, so its nice at times to have a very fluff centered army.

Just some thoughts. Good luck!

I think that rockerbikie pretty well gets where i'm coming from. Mozzamanx has some really good advice as well. I think i will go with Dark Elves and and use his advice. Thank you everyone.

Ok, follow-up question. What is so great about Dark Riders with crossbows? Wouldn't the crossbows Move or Fire special rule hinder their mobility?

I play Dark Eldar in 40k. I play Dwarfs in WHFB... They are polar opposites to each other.

However I do plan on playing DE in WHFB as well. Just because they are polar opposites to my Dwarfs =]

I like to keep my play styles as far apart as possible so I can play with what Im in the mood for that day...

Drake118 wrote:Ok, follow-up question. What is so great about Dark Riders with crossbows? Wouldn't the crossbows Move or Fire special rule hinder their mobility?

Repeater Crossbows used by Dark Elves are different to Crossbows other races have access to.

marielle wrote:If you want an army that is fast and tactically agile... Ogres.

How true.

Krellnus wrote:

Drake118 wrote:Ok, follow-up question. What is so great about Dark Riders with crossbows? Wouldn't the crossbows Move or Fire special rule hinder their mobility?

Repeater Crossbows used by Dark Elves are different to Crossbows other races have access to.

This. Dark Elf Repeater crossbows are not Move or Fire. They have one less strength than a normal crossbow (S3 as opposed to S4) but have Multiple Shots and Armour Piercing to make up for it. So you shoot twice as many shots (and mathematically it is always advisable to use multiple shots over single ones), need a slightly higher dice roll to wound but inflict the same armour save modifier.