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Hey guys.

I have a little problem... i've narrowed down a secondary army choice between the two elven armies. This is going to be from a collectors point of view.. i want to put 110% into the army.. so i went online to decide on which models i preferred. I really cant make my mind up. i've given myself a headache trying to decide. In some ways i prefer the high elves, in others dark. i really dont think theres one over the other.

So i suppose the secondary aspect would be Ease? Is darker an easier colour to paint then light? i remember when the paints had twist caps and you couldnt for the life of you get white to stay on. so i assume with the newer paints its not an issue.

another point, maybe a contrast to my empire? i was adamant that i would get high elves to team up with my friends wood elves for friendly 2's games... but then i hate wood elves... and i could always use my empire?

Lastly how the armies play? I'd love an army that can choose any unit and make it work, so the army with the most viable lists that you can make from it would be great? i love the idea of the destructiveness of Dark elves, especially their magic. But then i love the synergy that high magic brings and Alarielle is from what ive been told one of the best synergistic and strongest casters in the game? +8 to a unit with a banner?

Any help would be greatly appreciated guys

Maybe go with War of the Beard era elves; High Elves with some Dark Elves as Nagarythe elves and Wood elves as Avalorn/Old World elves gone native. Pick all the minis you like best and find a way to fit them in.

At least, that's what I am doing.

Dark or high... Wait?
9th edition is supposedly behind the corner (about 3 months away, afaik), and no one knows what's going to happen to existing armies.

Host of the Eternity King! Pick the models you like from both armies.

The way the rumour mill is shaping up I don't expect there to be a difference come 9e.

The latest Warseer rumor is there will be three levels in 9th:

Post-apocalypse - which will be a skirmish game

Apocalypse - Formalized End Times rules.

Pre-Apocalypse - the world before End Times; basically a normal edition update.

Now as to which army to choose... well, from a collector's point of view I'd give it to the Dark Elves. Everything in their range has been updated pretty recently. High elves still have their monkey-handed core plastics from 8th edition. And if there's some High Elf models you like, it's not terribly hard to convert them to Dark Elves.

Of course, one could always just pick and choose the models you like and paint them; if you're not going to play the game it doesn't matter at all.

Thank you for the responses! It's really helping and I have to agree with vulcan on almost everything. I will be gaming with them also! So I think I'll try and factor in as much as possible.. I like the way dark elves are combat heavy... whereas I think high elves are similar to my empire in that they are quite good at everything

 Andy140491 wrote:
Thank you for the responses! It's really helping and I have to agree with vulcan on almost everything. I will be gaming with them also! So I think I'll try and factor in as much as possible.. I like the way dark elves are combat heavy... whereas I think high elves are similar to my empire in that they are quite good at everything

I would seriously consider kitbashing your elves to be workable with either army. I did it with my TK/VC force, and am quite happy with the results. Basically allows you a large amount of overlap in terms of models that can be used with both armies. That way if - like me - you're the sort of person who likes having one army with a consistent paint scheme that you're really happy with, you have a lot more leeway to just keep growing your army more and more to include models from both ranges. Not to mention that the End Times (depending on how accurate rumours are that it's being kept around) allows you to run a combined force anyways. Why not take that all the way to the end zone?

For instance, shouldn't be too hard to make models that can double as reavers or dark riders, execs/white lions. Both armies have spearmen. Both armies have bolt throwers.

That's a really good idea! I'd love have the patience and enthusiasm to do something like that but I think I'm more an elitist and would just like to collect the one pure army.

So I suppose it would have to boil down to

1) rules (as different to Empire as poss)
2) Ease of painting

It's so difficult to choose between two armies that I like the look of. That's what people always say right? Choose which one you like the look of most??

Well one way to look at it is you already have an army that is considered the "good guys" why not roll darkside? Dark Elves have a much more sinister and chaotic look to them than the noble high elves do. Plus the dark elves have true monsters in the form of Hydras, Manticores, Kharbydiss, and Medusae. They are pretty much the polar opposite to the empire. I wasn't able to make the choice so I have both armies and wood elves too, mainly because I love elves.

Emo South Park kids with cigarettes or pot. Hmm, tough call. Both are bad. Oh, wait, you meant elves. Wait til 9th. If you can't wait, find a friend with a mallet to help you sleep through until 9th hits.

This poll needs a "both" option for Host of the Eternity King.

Then you can use both in the same list.


In any event, come 9th, it is highly likely that there will be no dissension of the Elven race into three sub-sects anymore. It's just going to be "elves", no more high / dark / wood.