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Prince: lance, ha, sh, LoreMaster, 3x DS, and Dragon.

Commander: lance, ha, sh, Pure of Heart, Reaver Bow, and Great Eagle.

Commander: lance, ha, Fusil of Conflagration, En Shield, and Great Eagle.

3x 5 Silver Helms: ha, sh, std

6x Chariots

4x Great Eagles

1995/2000

 

It appears that there is enough movement and I can use the deployment phase to determine where and how combat happens. Comments please?

You have exactly one model that has any serious combat capability on subsequent rounds of combat - the dragon, and that doesn't include the Prince riding it. If you ever fail to a break a unit when you charge (which, admittedly, you'll be doing the majority of), you're going to lose combats for failure to cause wounds with so few S3 and S4 attacks.

You have only four units even capable of negating ranks (dragon, Silver Helms), three of which are unlikely to do so with any degree of certainty.

Even a hail of bowfire can quickly destroy your chariots and eagles; cannons will own you.

A single level 1 wizard is rather... light for High Elves. 3 dispell dice and 3 scrolls will get used up very quickly (even under the upcoming new rules), and you'll soon be subject to the whims of the enemy.

How do you propose to improve the list or can HE have a strong build in the first place?

I totally understand your points on lack of rank denial though. I see it as a weakness and try to cover it through deployment. I have enough drops to see how the oppoenent will deploy so I can isolate where I'll attack (similar to a Mech Eldar deployment). There might be a need to shift on the first turn and put the dragon, SH, and chariots on one unit in hopes of breaking a flank.

As for a shooty heavy list, I don't know what to do other than feed eagles at the warmachines in hope of drawing some non-cannon fire away from the SHs.

So, how do I improve on this list without sacrificing mobility...without resorting to playing RAF again.

This is a lot like Therion's armylist from the Tournament of Champions or some such...

It's a cool list. Just pray you don't play Wood Elves or on a table with any woods on it (he'll just hide his units in there from the Chariots/Flyers).

 http://www.dakkadakka.com/Default.aspx?tabid=93&forumid=19&postid=18381&view=topic

I'd consider dropping chariots for Reavers. Get some Fast Cavalry in there to help negate ranks and harass the enemy.

Consider great weapons for your characters. I don't normally advocate giving Elves great weapons, but if a character fails to break the enemy on the first go, he's kinda screwed. Since the GW and lance cost the same and give the same bonus on the first round of combat, go with the GW.

Get rid of the Fusil for something more combat-oriented, like a magic weapon or a piece of magic armor, or even a Ward Save.

Consider barding for the Silver Helms. Musicians are NOT optional.

For your Prince, I'd suggest dumping the Loremaster and scrolls in favor of more combat gear. He needs to get stuck in (as does the rest of the army) as quickly as possible and do as much harm as possible. Give him the tools to do his job. (Especially when considering the new rules, magic won't be as much of a threat...)

Thanks for the input guys. I'm torn between the Griffon and Dragon build for the hitty character. While both are major cannonball magnets, I'm looking for something that will do the most damage once it gets stuck in.

@Manfred - do you still recommend the GW given their new rules for being mounted in 7th?

I forgot about that... Consider halberds, then. You get +1S every turn without losing your initiative. I'll be doing likewise with my Chaos characters.

Go with the dragon. While it will certainly draw cannon fire, that isn't all that common. In addition, the dragon is so much more powerful and so much more survivable. The griffon is hardly worth its points.

Like Achilles noted this is almost exactly the list that I won a big tournament with, except that I ended up going to the tournament with the Dragon instead of the Griffon. I had the Loremaster Dragon and Fusil of Conflagration on an Eagle boss (keep this item), but I had 8 chariots, one Great Eagle less, no Reaver bow and totally stripped down Silver Helms.

Thanks for the info. I do see the effectiveness of dropping goodies off of the SH, losing an eagle, and the R.Bow for more chariots. The SH provide the flank attack and then all the units can roll into the next for combat. Sorry for carbon-copying your list Therion-...

I still think VC (lv2 Strigoi) and RAF (ErWar list) pose tough match-ups for this list.

VC you can always beat if you aren't horribly unlucky with fear checks, but obviously that depends on the opposing army. The more Dire Wolves and magic they take the harder it will be. The RAF have an edge on this chariot Elf army because they're faster and even more manouvrable, but anything can happen.

I borrowed the High Elves from a friend just so that I could try them out in a tournament. Their only real weakness is that you can't easily flush units or characters out of woods, or engage units camping in difficult terrain. The power of these Elves is that the opponent will go crazy worrying about all the possible combined charges you can produce.

Am I correct in stating that main weakness opponents might(should) exploit are the SH?

As stated, this is a highly mobile force which can allow me to use the deployment phase (and turn 1-2 to shift into beneficial positions) for the charge. Given the 7th Ed. rules, I should be able to hit a flank with the dragon and/or SH, place 2x chariots on the front, and hit somewhere further down the line in a similar fashion. Then the '2nd' combat move would effectively allow me to deal with 4 units rather than 2.

If an opponent camps in the wood, I could play VP denial as well. As for the parking in difficult terrain, the dragon breath and fusil should do enough damage too. Nevertheless, I do see your point on the denial part as being a way to deal with RAF.

No infantry? Every single one of your models in 23+ points. There is no redundancy. Every unit is valuable and i believe that any shooty empire army will blow you to peices. I'll admit i haven't played many tournaments but it seems that it'll just get owned in a war of attrition.

Chariots are remarkably resistant to small arms fire. You can screen the silver helms with them, and still count on most of your chariots making it into combat.

The concept here is interesting... points denial and threat projection, with the mobility and charge range enabling you to set up devastating combination charges.

The dragon is more of points denial and psychology than power in combat, although the 20" flight charge and 6 S6 attacks can do some serious damage.

The biggest weakness is magic defense... 3 dispel dice and 3 scrolls means you really need to be careful what you counter, and a local metagame with heavy magic can leave you flat.

Yes of course magic is always a problem, except the enemy will only get to cast spells once if this High Elf army starts the game, or twice if the enemy goes first. That's why 3 dice with +1 to dispel and 3 scrolls is usually sufficient. There's no reason to play points denial with this army at all -- You charge straight ahead with everything except the flying heroes. You can put three chariots into both of the opponent's main infantry units, and two chariots and Silver Helms to a third unit, all the while chasing off enemy fast cavalry and skirmishers with two units of Silver Helms and plenty of Great Eagles. The mounted heroes you keep behind buildings and woods and cliffs, advancing as the second wave that finishes the enemy off, flaming two units and using panic and terror to your advantage before you actually deliver your first charge with the monsters. This way they don't get killed by magic and missiles.

Yeah, I completely forgot about Drain Magic... high magic really does allow for a proactive magic defense.

I'm going to have to play with this army concept at some point just to see how it works. I'm too caught up in the chess of MSU infantry armies to really understand the idea until I see it in action. I can see that it works fairly well, though.

Bottom line with High Elves: Cavalry only. After that you have a bit of flexibility.

Fusil of Conflagration and Reaver Bow are both great, I would add Amulet of Purifying Flame to the list of must have items though.

With 7th Ed I would take a look at deploying 'naked' eagles and putting the characters on chariots. You no longer take the hit if the chariot is destroyed and that chariot benefits from US5. Just a thought, it doesnt help with Fusil though as the chariot will take up much of the template area.

Dragon Princes are worth the extra 3pts, mainly for the 18" charge, though Ld9 doesnt hurt.

Consider a mage or two for your army, a mage can use the Fusil as well as a Commander.

I tend to put the Reaver Bow commander on a steed, its cheaper, gives him a better save and keeps him mobile enough. Reaver Bow doesnt need any particular angle of attack unlike Bow of the Seafarer.

One hish risk option is to take a BSB with Battle banner. This costs 198pts dressed as a dragon prince sans lance and shield. Not for usual play, but if you model up this single additional miniature it can provide a big fun change for friendly games.  

These are all just options, High Elf cavalry is the competitive High Elf list, you get a little leeway to play about with the list within this perameter so you can have some variety from game to game without spoiling your chances. Besides a bit of variety helps long term - if you overspecialise you build in weakness.