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Hello All, I'm thinking of getting into Dark Elves and have done up a draft 2400 point list to collect to. I'm keen to hear what people think

Dreadlord - Dark Pegasus, Heavy Armour, Giant Blade, Pendant of Khaleth, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield
Supreme Sorceress- L4, Earthing Rod

Cauldron of Blood - BSB
Master - Dark Pegasus, Cloak of Hag Graef, Dawnstone, Shield, Halberd, Heavy Armour
Master - Dark Pegasus, Armour of Eternal Servitude,Dragonbane Gem, Halberd, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield

10 Dark Elf Warriors - Muso+Standard
30 Dark Elf Warriors - FCG
8 Dark Riders - Muso+Repeater Xbows
7 Dark Riders - Muso+Repeater Xbows

6 Shades
6 Shades
6 Shades
30 Witch Elves - FCG, Banner of Swiftness

Dreadlord: Heavy armor, cloak, pendant, soul render, stubborn crown, and dragon helm.
Same cost, but you have the same 1+ armor vs shooting, 2+ ward vs fire, and stubborn.
Instead of 4 S7, you have 4 S6 armor piercing.
You do end up with always strike last, but that isn't really an issue for this guy.
It's totally worth it to get stubborn.

Masters: decent. Haf Graef is neat with the new T4 from the pegasus. Cannons drop to S5 save -2, so you'd save on a 3+ with a re-roll vs a cannon hit.
I'm not sold on the regen master, but you might get lucky with an opponent shooting at the wrong one first.

-Matt

HawaiiMatt wrote:
Dreadlord: Heavy armor, cloak, pendant, soul render, stubborn crown, and dragon helm.
Same cost, but you have the same 1+ armor vs shooting, 2+ ward vs fire, and stubborn.
Instead of 4 S7, you have 4 S6 armor piercing.
You do end up with always strike last, but that isn't really an issue for this guy.
It's totally worth it to get stubborn.

Masters: decent. Haf Graef is neat with the new T4 from the pegasus. Cannons drop to S5 save -2, so you'd save on a 3+ with a re-roll vs a cannon hit.
I'm not sold on the regen master, but you might get lucky with an opponent shooting at the wrong one first.

-Matt

Thanks for the reply Matt. I'd rock the crown if I could but it's universally banned from being used on a character with the pendant in my country's tournament scene and that's not likely to change. I like the idea of the dragonhelm though to counter metal magic which will ruin his day.

As for the regen master, I'm not sure how to better protect him, though I considered a 4++ and charmed shield.

You are investing far too much in unnecessary characters. Running a Peg Lord and a Lvl 4 is a stretch (but viable) but then going and using two Peg Masters, neither of which is a BSB, is not a good idea at all. A large part of this edition is about infantry and you are just going to get destroyed if you don't have enough. The Masters are just going to get combat res'd to death or cannoned to death. Even your Peg Lord is unlikely to hold his own without the Crown of Command. I'd definitely drop the Masters and, if you can't take the crown in tournaments (which I presume is where you want to take this list - since you brought up the issue) I would also strongly consider dropping the Peg Lord as well.

You need a BSB. You are going to take one. I strongly recommend a Cauldron BSB. It gives you fantastic buffs and is very hard to take down.

Dark Riders are good. So are Shades. But both, really, fulfil the same role. I'd drop a couple of these units at least. Finally, give your Shades AHWs.

I'd also invest in a horde of Sea Serpent Banner Corsairs and/or some Black Guard. The points you gain from dropping the Masters and potential your Lord and some shades and/or Dark Riders should give you enough points to get one or two of these units, even factoring in the cost of the Cauldron BSB. These units are some of the strongest the Dark Elf Army has access to, so you'd do well to make use of them.

Also, your Level 4 should really be running the Sacrificial Dagger. Again, it's one of the best DE items, so you'd do well to use it. As for sacrificial ammo *ahem* I mean a bunker for your Sorceress, I'd suggest some Spearmen or some Crossbows. Personally, I like to use Crossbows since I find they're more useful when they're not being killed by the sorceress. You do have Warriors, but neither is really appropriate for such a use. 10 is too small, and you'll end up running out of victims and/or panicking the unit and/or just getting the unit shot so your enemy can get to your sorceress. 30, on the other hand, tend to be too much. You don't really want this unit to get into combat, since your sorceress will be singled out and potentially killed, so 30 Spearmen is a bit of a points sink for something that shouldn't really see combat. 20 is a good number. But that's why I like to use crossbowmen, you can just hide in a building happily shooting/sacrificing away, with no fear of either unit not fulfilling its potential.

Hope this helps!

Sneaky_Gobbo wrote:
Hello All, I'm thinking of getting into Dark Elves and have done up a draft 2400 point list to collect to. I'm keen to hear what people think

Dreadlord - Dark Pegasus, Heavy Armour, Giant Blade, Pendant of Khaleth, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield
Supreme Sorceress- L4, Earthing Rod

Cauldron of Blood - BSB
Master - Dark Pegasus, Cloak of Hag Graef, Dawnstone, Shield, Halberd, Heavy Armour
Master - Dark Pegasus, Armour of Eternal Servitude,Dragonbane Gem, Halberd, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield

10 Dark Elf Warriors - Muso+Standard
30 Dark Elf Warriors - FCG
8 Dark Riders - Muso+Repeater Xbows
7 Dark Riders - Muso+Repeater Xbows

6 Shades
6 Shades
6 Shades
30 Witch Elves - FCG, Banner of Swiftness

I'd recommend dropping the dreadlord, after a while you find that you rely on him too much. A peg hero with the pendant, full mundane kit, dragonhelm and a great weapon can do well. You need to protect the level 4 as your entire army relies on her to do any form of damage. A 4+ ward, lifetaker and sac dagger is the optimal loadout. Those masters would serve you better out of the list. In that they take up points and do nothing. Drop them for a unit of black guard with the banner of murder and a musician. No champion though. As for the core, I find that 30 warriors is a bad unit. They need mindrazor/withering to do any damage, and those spells benefit corsairs more. I would drop the unit of 30 warriors to 20, drop the unit of 10, get the 20 man unit shields and the standard of discipline and get 30 corsairs. Dark Riders work best in units of 5 and they don't need musicians as they're fast cav and get free reforms anyway.

Onto the specials. Shades work better in units of 8+ I find. Drop one unit and bring the others up as much as you can. And give them AHW. It makes them that much more versatile as it allows you to use them as a speedbump that will shred the opponent, with the right magic of course. As for the witch elves, the obvious choice is the flaming banner. But that can be a problem. To counter this, take a fire mage with a dispel scroll. No additional levels, or anything else.

Sneaky_Gobbo wrote:
Hello All, I'm thinking of getting into Dark Elves and have done up a draft 2400 point list to collect to. I'm keen to hear what people think

Dreadlord - Dark Pegasus, Heavy Armour, Giant Blade, Pendant of Khaleth, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield
Supreme Sorceress- L4, Earthing Rod

Cauldron of Blood - BSB
Master - Dark Pegasus, Cloak of Hag Graef, Dawnstone, Shield, Halberd, Heavy Armour
Master - Dark Pegasus, Armour of Eternal Servitude,Dragonbane Gem, Halberd, Sea Dragon Cloak, Shield

10 Dark Elf Warriors - Muso+Standard
30 Dark Elf Warriors - FCG
8 Dark Riders - Muso+Repeater Xbows
7 Dark Riders - Muso+Repeater Xbows

6 Shades
6 Shades
6 Shades
30 Witch Elves - FCG, Banner of Swiftness

-I'd drop the two masters. The dreadlord is going to do enough for you. He serves a pretty limited role, and does it nicely. 3 guys in that limited role will be too much.

-Maybe look at giving your sorc the sacrificial dagger instead and putting her in that unit of 30 warriors for a nice bunker. The unit of 10 could be dropped.

-I'd take those two units of dark riders down to 5 a peice. I like running two units of 5 as redirecting harassment units. Big units of these die. Small units can get around flanks better and almost always survive for me. Also, if they do die, they are less points.

-I find shades are good, but people find ways to deal with them. Also, the black riders are kind of serving the same role as them, so that many is kind of overkill. Harpies would fit into that same role. A good player will make sure you can't scout into vulnerable places, and they are pretty ineffective if you can't get into peoples flanks and harass them. I personally think 3 units is too much. A lot of people would disagree with me.

-Witch elves are fun. I'd definitely take shadow if you are running them though.

-Hydras are the best unit in the book. Running two is optimal. That being said, people complain about them.

-Blackguard are also really really good. I have never regretted taking a unit of 20.

-level 1 metal sorc is pretty decent in a DE list. The sig spell really fills a void that we lack.