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It has been a long while since I played my HE and I would like to get back into them and start building a competitive army that would do good in tourneys. Most of the tourneys around here are 2-3k points. I have a few questions as to what you all think on a few things.

I know a good amount about most of the lords and heroes but what are your thoughts on the following:
1. Tyrion
2. Eltharion (Liking the idea of running him on foot with a block of fighters)
3. Caradryan (I like Phoenix Guard but have never tried him out)
4. Korhil (I feel that he would be good to lead either my block of White Lions or just help out some Spearmen/Sea Guard)
5. Dragon Mage

Core:
1. What is the best choice to take (I have always just used Spearmen as I haven't really liked the others, but would like to know what would be best for competitive)

Special:
1. I use a block of Phoenix Guard to babysit my Mages and keep them safe
2. White Lions (The other HE player around here says I should use a block of 30-40 White Lions, is that a good choice?)
3. Are there any other special choices that I should really look into getting?

That is pretty much all my questions, but I would like any other comments or advice you have as to what I should run in a list.

Now I haven't played WHFB in a while now, so take these with a pinch of salt.

Tyrion - He's pretty good, but nothing near as good as his brother Teclis, if you're going for competitive.
Eltharion - He packs his own punch, but overpriced, imo. Tries to give you the compromise between Tyrion and Teclis, but doesn't really prove any good.
Caradryan, Korhil and the Dragon Mage - I think you'd be better served with generic characters. Caradryan's Kill curse is ok but anyone who knows him will run away real fast from him.
Korhil - Cheap, but I'd trade him over for a generic BSB
Dragon Mages - The Dragon is a bit squishy and the unit overall is quite pricey. That being said, it rules at low points games but at 2-3k? Grab a Prince and a Star Dragon. Suffers from the same problem as Eltharion, imo.

If ya want competitive, Teclis is your man... elf... thingie!

Core:
Spearmen are very, very solid and the most cost effective Core you have.

Special:
1 - PG's rule the Triad of special infantry units that HE's have, imo, merely on account of their sheer raw survivability that their Ward grants them. Couple that with Superior Initiative (even for elf units) and LD and you got yourself a winner.
2 - White Lions are good (not as good as PG imo) but remember that they are very expensive at 15pts a pop. I'd say try ou a unit of about 20, and aim them at heavy cavalry/big monsters.
3 - Sword Masters have potential to dish out catastrophic damage but they are horrendously vulnerable to magic and shooting. You must invest in protection because they WILL be focus fired if your opponent has any idea of their potential. 15 WS6 S5 Attacks are not to be left wandering all by themselves. Lion chariots are very good to deliver the flank charge you need to break your other expensive special unit's foe in order for it not to get bogged down.

Anyway, those are my two cents.


Edited for clarity.

For the specials, Teclis is obviously the best, but you will most likely be called TFG, even in some tournaments.

Tyrian is just overcosted for what he does (regen+ward doesn't work, and it's not possible to get a look out sir for him since there is no monstrous cav unit in the book).

Caradryan and Khorhil aren't bad choices (as long as you have a BSB already). Note, that its best to put caradryan in WL, and khorhil in PG (funny how that works).

Avoid the dragon mage unless you really really want to use him.

For the core, I do like spearmen the best. 1 or 2 units of small archers are nice though, for mage bunker and chaff clearing. Note, our core isn't very good compared to everything in special, so almost every list only takes the bare min of 25% core.

For the best units, the 3 elite infantry (PG, WL, SM) are probably the best. I tend to like DP as well for the speed, and Eagles are ALWAYS good. A lvl4 and BSB is also very solid for characters, due to how much stronger magic is now, and the BSB will save your hide many times over. Also, avoid shadow warriors, and silver helms are sub-par unless you use them as a Cav bunker for combat characters.

Oh, and Ulthuan.net has some very good info, especially if you want to look into tournaments.

 Texx wrote:

Oh, and Ulthuan.net has some very good info, especially if you want to look into tournaments.

+1

Thank you all for your input as it will help me greatly pick what i want to get for the next tourney.

Tyrion > Telics, but both are good. Telics is just a lot of points (as is tyrion) and you can get a compairable wizard for a lot less, or a great fighter. You miss out on a breath attack with not taking Tyrion but if thats the selling point for you, you are looking at it wrong.

Eltharion, hit and miss.

Caradryan is really the only named hero I like from the high elf book atm, pheonix guard are way better than sword masters and white lions.

Korhil, waste of point's (I know I know most people love him and white lions but, pheonix guard are better) however ; can be really disgusting on a chariot, but that again comes into a lot of points down the drain for not many wounds and it will be heavily targeted by ranged attacks.

Dragon mages are awesome, but the point cost makes it not worth it in games under 4,000 point's.