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What would be the best lord/ hero to use for my High elf army because I've tried mages and nobles/princes but have been utterly smashed in all of my battles so what should I do?

Mages are certainly the best and competitive choice.

You've got Mages that can access any Lore, to best suit your army's needs (although most stick with the same few lores), an extra +1 to Dispel, access to a spell that can make your opponent's Magic phase tougher for him, an excellent Mage-Bunker in the Pheonix Guard and a host of brilliant magic items such as the Silver Wand, Book of Hoeth, Forliath's Robe and the Banner of Sorcery to augment our casters.

Sold yet?

What was Your list exactly?

1st list: Noble with longbow
15 archers
8 silver helms
12 swordmasters
repeater bolt thrower
797 points in a 800 point battle

2nd list: level 2 mage
15 archers
5 silver helms
15 swordmasters
repeater bolt thrower

High and Dark elves struggle at 1000 points or less, as most of our goodies are expensive. I.E. a book archmage will run you up about 360 points and the pendant lord will be 295. Once you hit enough points to run the book mage you should do better. But at low points try a noble with the armour of caledor and a sword of might in a block of lions or swordsmasters.

Fist of all, HE strugle at low points games. What was the lore for the mage, btw? Bolt throwers should come into play only in larger games - do not take them in games under 1000. Take an eagle or two instead. Drop silverhelms or take Dragon Princes instead, if You are inclined towards cavalry. Either take the spearmen or two units of 10 archers.

Try something like this
Mage Level 2 Wizard
Silver Wand
Lore of Shadow, Life or High Magic.

Core
21x Archer
Banner of Eternal Flame
Mage joins archers

Special
14x Sword Master
Razor Standard

15x White Lion

Rare
Great Eagle
Great Eagle

Dropping one eagle should allow You to take Sorcery Banner.

CainTheHunter wrote:
Bolt throwers should come into play only in larger games - do not take them in games under 1000.

I would disagree. Bolt throwers are not worth taking at their current points cost. If they were 10 points cheaper, maybe. But currently, eagles are far superior.

CainTheHunter wrote:

Mage Level 2 Wizard
Silver Wand
Lore of Shadow, Life or High Magic.

Core
21x Archer
Banner of Eternal Flame
Mage joins archers

Special
14x Sword Master
Razor Standard

15x White Lion

Rare
Great Eagle
Great Eagle

This is pretty much what I would run. Other than dropping the standard off the swords masters and adding a musician to them and the lions.

Yeah, swordmasters probably do not need Razor banner - some minor tweaks here and there and it should work on the table, if done proprly
Actually, RBTs have some uses - for example, they serve as a great distraction unit. Place an eagle in the centre, then RBT in one corner and second eagle in the other and the oponent can only guess where Your main units will be deployed and he has already placed down three of his units.

CainTheHunter wrote:
Yeah, swordmasters probably do not need Razor banner - some minor tweaks here and there and it should work on the table, if done proprly
Actually, RBTs have some uses - for example, they serve as a great distraction unit. Place an eagle in the centre, then RBT in one corner and second eagle in the other and the oponent can only guess where Your main units will be deployed and he has already placed down three of his units.

Can't High elves take 3 eagles? And swordsmasters are similar to black guard in principle. Keep them as cheap as possible. The only upgrade they need is a musician. And take a champ to carry the skeinsliver if anything. White lions should carry the banner of sorcery on account of them being stubborn, therefore less likely to run away.

Yes, HE can take 3 or even 4 eagles, but RBT has that psychological impact that everybody usually wants to shoot at it or destroy it, so they keep redirecting their units and attention towards it. I see the RBT as a sort of area interdictor - everybody is careful to enter into its range and arc of fire and sometimes if can get attention from a unit which is more expensive than those 100 points, and if this unit is light cavalry or skirmishers then I can even divert an eagle towards them to keep them busy and keep the RBT shooting for another turn or two. I fully agree that RBT is not that great but it still serves as weapon of psychological warfare . As regards the banner of sorcery it's either white lions or Phoenix Guard, sure they are not stubborn, unless joined by stubborn IC, but they have that 4+ ward save.

Thanks for all the help people I will give each of those things ago and let you know how they turned out

RBTs give the HEs range simple as that its hard to hide from a 48" range and combined with shadows wither spell they suddenly become viable. Yes they are over priced but sometimes you just gotta suck it up and pay the points for a capability in your army if you have no other option.

Eagles are cheap and great but actaully require some skill to use and the simple fact is that most folk dont know how to redirect or set up a double flee (read your fething rule book guys FFS)

Also, nobles at 1000pts aren't a bad general if you want to try no magic. The thing is HE characters are killy, but very squishy. Just use all 50pts of magic items on defense (I usually take armor of caledor [2+ save] and guardian phoenix [5+ ward]) and a great weapon. He gives ld 9 bubble and also hits pretty hard. In slightly bigger games when you can take more characters make him a BSB and you're set.

At 1000 pts I love a lvl2 fire mage! Our magic phase is usually so good that you need to capitalize on your strengths. Plus fire magic at this level is amazing! Put him in a small unit of archers, backing them up with spears, WLs/SMs, drop in an eagle or a bolt thrower and you are good to go! I think ignoring the magic phase is never a good idea as a HE. It is our bread and butter and we need all the help our t3 s3 elves can get.

furbyballer wrote:
At 1000 pts I love a lvl2 fire mage! Our magic phase is usually so good that you need to capitalize on your strengths. Plus fire magic at this level is amazing! Put him in a small unit of archers, backing them up with spears, WLs/SMs, drop in an eagle or a bolt thrower and you are good to go! I think ignoring the magic phase is never a good idea as a HE. It is our bread and butter and we need all the help our t3 s3 elves can get.

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Yeah I guess, BTW I made a 1000pts List that had an Archmage as my only hero but he had the silver wand Upgrade would you guys agree that that is the best option for my army?

 Guardsman76 wrote:
Yeah I guess, BTW I made a 1000pts List that had an Archmage as my only hero but he had the silver wand Upgrade would you guys agree that that is the best option for my army?

At 1k you would be better off with a level 2 with an extra spell.

but an archmage with silver wand gets four spells a level 2 mage with silver wand only gets 3 so it gives me more chance to get a better spell in my chosen lore doesn't it?

 Guardsman76 wrote:
but an archmage with silver wand gets four spells a level 2 mage with silver wand only gets 3 so it gives me more chance to get a better spell in my chosen lore doesn't it?

A level 4 is quite likely to get all the spells in he wants without it. and he fills up all your lord points. You should start taking archmages at 1.5k+

Seerstaff allows You to get exactly those spells You want.

I would take a L2 with silver wand or take a L2 with with seerstaff as stated above. A L4 is too many points in a 1000 pt game. Hope that helps man.

Dan

Thanks guys,
I had a game today were I used a L3 Mage with an extra spell and I won a 1000pt game against chaos so I've found my best but thanks again guys for all the guidance

Congrats on the win. Glad we could help.

Dan