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Hi guys,

I'm finally going to jump on the AoS-train with my Dark Elves. I'm planning to go with a pirate-theme, because I've always loved the plastics and this is the best opportunity to finally get my hands on them.

As far as I know, the only rules for Dark Elf Pirates are found in the legacy scrolls. I don't own the GHB, so maybe you can tell me if there's anything relevant for me in there?

I'd also appreciate any advice regarding general strategies and unit roles for this particular faction. In the legacy scrolls, they have battleshock-heavy synergies with Lokhir Fellheart, Corsairs and various abilities to lower bravery/modify battelshock tests. Is it feasable to base a whole army around that, or is battleshock easily circumvented?

Units I am planning to include:

- Realm Reavers Battalion
- Fleetmaster (Battallion requisite, can be used as a vehicle for Fellheart's command ability)
- Lokhir Fellheart (boosts the Corsairs' special ability from 6+ to 4+)
- Corsairs (a bigger unit with two handweapons and two smaller units with handcrossbows for ranged support)
- Kharibdyss (for more punch in close combat and -1 Bravery special ability)
- Scourgerunner Chariot (Ranged support and objective taker)
- Dark Riders (ranged support, objective taker and modification of enemy battleshock)
- Harpies (pick off lone targets, objective taker, synrgize with the general battleshock idea)
- Merwyrm (possibly further along the road for thematic reasons and for more punch in close combat against Monsters in particular)

The idea is to have a block of Corsairs, Fellheart, Fleetmaster and Kharibdyss to push forward and take on whatever there is in close combat. The more mobile parts will provide support with shooting, take objectives, harass isolated units and deliver their special abilities whenever battleshock is probable.

I've used the Scourge Privateers before. As a fluffy narrative army they can be fun. If your looking for more competitive they are some of the worst options in the Dark Elf army.

As far as Battlesock is concerned it is really easy to ignore. Many armies are either too high in moral (deamons), have ways to ignore it (banners or command ability), or are hoard and have 30-50 models in a unit (+3 to +5 moral). When you do get to use the Corsairs ability it's really awesome and Fellheart will let you roll it more often. Its just a matter of surviving long enough to use it.

IIRC the battalion lets one unit of corsairs charge or shoot in the command phase within x" of the Fleetmaster. It does something for the Scourgerunners as well against Monsters. It's a nice boon for the army.

Dark Riders are a nice backup to your Corsairs and combo nicely. Its too bad they aren't part of the battalion. Then neither are Harpies or the Merwyrm

The only issue you will have is if you do run the Battalion then Fellheart may not be able to actually use his ability on the Fleetmaster.

I would first ask who you'll be playing with. 99% of the regular players where I game only use the Matched Play system from the General's Handbook. Based on forum comments, this is common. You might want to ask around. If you'll be using the Matched Play rules, the GHB will be needed as it tells you which units you can take as Battleline (~Core), Leaders and Behemoths.

BomBomHotdog wrote:I've used the Scourge Privateers before. As a fluffy narrative army they can be fun. If your looking for more competitive they are some of the worst options in the Dark Elf army.

As far as Battlesock is concerned it is really easy to ignore. Many armies are either too high in moral (deamons), have ways to ignore it (banners or command ability), or are hoard and have 30-50 models in a unit (+3 to +5 moral). When you do get to use the Corsairs ability it's really awesome and Fellheart will let you roll it more often. Its just a matter of surviving long enough to use it.

IIRC the battalion lets one unit of corsairs charge or shoot in the command phase within x" of the Fleetmaster. It does something for the Scourgerunners as well against Monsters. It's a nice boon for the army.

Dark Riders are a nice backup to your Corsairs and combo nicely. Its too bad they aren't part of the battalion. Then neither are Harpies or the Merwyrm

The only issue you will have is if you do run the Battalion then Fellheart may not be able to actually use his ability on the Fleetmaster.

I guess I need to check up on how Battallions work exactly. I figured that they just provide a benefit if you take a certain configuration of units, but if I've understand you correctly, units don't interact as usual if they are not part of the same battallion.
The general idea was to play a themed force as a core and expand it with certain elements that seem useful (maybe an assassin and/or a sorceress). It doesn't have to be competitive, but I want to be able to do reasonably well against the average opponent.

Kriswall wrote:I would first ask who you'll be playing with. 99% of the regular players where I game only use the Matched Play system from the General's Handbook. Based on forum comments, this is common. You might want to ask around. If you'll be using the Matched Play rules, the GHB will be needed as it tells you which units you can take as Battleline (~Core), Leaders and Behemoths.

I'll have to go with the 99 % then, as long as the GHB allows for the general army concept.. For instance, I remember reading that corsairs are no battleline unit, which would present a major problem. I'll be playing with one or two friends in the beginning, but once I've gotten the hang of the game, I'd like to play games with other people as well, so the force should adhere to standard rules if possible.

You'll definitely be needing the GHB then. You'll need at least 3 Battleline units in a 1500-2000 point army. Unfortunately, none of the "pirate themed" Dark Elf units are Battleline unless you ONLY pick models with the Privateer Scourge allegiance. Half the models you listed don't have that allegiance.

 Kriswall wrote:
You'll definitely be needing the GHB then. You'll need at least 3 Battleline units in a 1500-2000 point army. Unfortunately, none of the "pirate themed" Dark Elf units are Battleline unless you ONLY pick models with the Privateer Scourge allegiance. Half the models you listed don't have that allegiance.

Those being Harpies, Dark Riders and the Merwyrm, I suppose? That is severely limiting. So the usual battleline units are spearmen, crossbowmen and swordsmen, right? I could field those with some corsair bits in order to keep the theme. Maybe that is the best approach after all, since it wil give me more options in terms of list building and strategy. Can I still incorporate the Realm Reavers Battallion into such an army?

The merwyrm has the 'Destruction' keyword on its warscroll, meaning that in Matched Play its not an option for Scourge Privateers.

You really need to read the GHB. It'll clear up a ton of things.

Generally speaking...

There are four Grand Alliances... Chaos, Death, Destruction and Order. You can tell which Alliance a unit fits in based on the keywords on the Warscroll. MOST of the legacy Dark Elf units will be Order. Some, such as the Merwyn, will be something else.

In Matched Play, you are limited to units from a single Grand Alliance.

You will also need a certain number of Batteline units. Some units are marked as Battleline and can always be used. Some are marked as Batteline ONLY if your army has something like the "Privateer Scourge Allegiance". This means that these models are no longer Batteline if you have even one model without the Privateer Scourge keyword.

My guess is that you should build an Order Grand Alliance army and just stick in whatever you want, while making sure you have the requisite number of Battleline units. You'll almost certainly need "non-pirate" models, but you can dress those up with pirate looking bits.

The nice thing is that since you can use models from across the entire Order Grand Alliance, you can do something like add a Dwarf Hero to be a mercenary/privateer crew member. Maybe he got hired on to handle the cannons. Or you can take a High Elf Mage to represent a passenger on a ship getting in on the action when a fight goes down. Tons of options.

Thanks for elaborating - that makes things much clearer.

Browsing through the Grand Alliance Order, there isn't much that would fit what have in mind. I know AoS has significantly changed how factions work, but I couldn't bear to have dwarfs or high elves in my army

For now I'll stick to the basic Pirate units - which is quite a lot of stuff to assemble and paint already - and see what's in store for dark elves in the future.