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I am currently collecting High Elves, because I'm a Classics student and really love the Greek battle-style that can be represented by the pointy-ears. I've gone with an army themed more towards the Aeneid (so strictly speaking Trojan rather than Greek, but same difference), but I have a dilemma about the final details of the list.

The problem is the Lord choice - in order to give him good equipment I have to cut down on certain units - usually the type of cavalry I'm including in the force, and I need to vary which magical banner I take.

None of these lists are particularly competitive, being designed for fun and with a thematic twist, but which do you think is going to be the most well-rounded force? Since the lists are largely similar I'll post them in the briefest format, with only the units that change having full descriptions.

First List

Prince: Blade of Sea Gold,Longbow, Heavy Armour & Golden Shield.
241
4+ save, re-rolling successful hits against him.

Mage: Level 2, Hand Weapon, Ring of Fury & Chariot.
Mage: Level 2, Hand Weapon & Dispel Scroll.
Noble: Star Lance, Heavy Armour, Shield & Elven Steed.

21 Spearmen: Full Command.
21 Spearmen: Full Command.
10 Archers: Longbows, Light Armour & Standard Bearer.

11 White Lions - Standard Bearer: Banner of Sorcery.
227
5 Dragon Princes - Standard Bearer.
170
5 Shadow Warriors.
5 Shadow Warriors.
Tiranoc Chariot.

Simple Lord, has Dragon Princes for combat and the Banner of Sorcery to boost the magic phase. It's the lack of protection on the Lord that made me re-think this list, that and the fact that Dragon Princes really do not fit into the background of my force (being exiled from Ulthuan and despised by the haughty courtiers of Caledor) so it would be easier to replace them with an alternate unit and use the points to bulk the character up.

Second List

Prince: Blade of Sea Gold,Longbow, Heavy Armour, Shield, Helm of Fortune & Guardian Phoenix.
259
3+ re-rollable save, 5+ ward-save.

Mage: Level 2, Hand Weapon, Ring of Fury & Chariot.
Mage: Level 2, Hand Weapon & Dispel Scroll.
Noble: Star Lance, Heavy Armour, Shield & Elven Steed.

21 Spearmen: Full Command.
21 Spearmen: Full Command.
10 Archers: Longbows, Light Armour & Standard Bearer.

11 White Lions - Standard Bearer: Lion Standard.
202
5 Ellyrian Reavers - Musician.
92
5 Shadow Warriors.
5 Shadow Warriors.
Tiranoc Chariot.
Tiranoc Chariot.

This list has dropped the combat-effective unit of Knights in favour of lighter Reavers - fear not, I haven't gone back to my old way of thinking, this time they are in there as the usual bait, re-direction and harassment units, as well as for providing a bodyguard for the Noble (so they can engage in combat if needs be, thanks to him, but are more of a "taxi"). To make up for this loss of killing power I've picked up a third Chariot, all three of which will operate in close proximity to the Reavers, which should make quite a threat to an enemy's flank.

Lions are now much more useful as the central unit in my battle-line, being immune to fear and terror. But my magic is lessened by 1-3 power dice, which may be influential.

Third List

Prince: Blade of Sea Gold,Longbow, Dragon Armour, Shield & Vambraces of Defence.
267
4+ re-rollable save, 4+ ward-save, immune to Fire.

Mage: Level 2, Hand Weapon, Ring of Fury & Chariot.
Mage: Level 2, Hand Weapon & Dispel Scroll.
Noble: Star Lance, Heavy Armour, Shield & Elven Steed.

21 Spearmen: Full Command.
21 Spearmen: Full Command.
10 Archers: Longbows, Light Armour & Standard Bearer.

13 White Lions - Standard Bearer: Lion Standard.
232
5 Silver Helms - Shields & Standard Bearer.
133
5 Shadow Warriors.
5 Shadow Warriors.
Tiranoc Chariot.

The Lord is the hardest I can get for a man on foot IIRC. He was carrying an Enchanted Shield until I realised he was over the magic points allowance, so he's now 4+/4+/4++ - so a slightly worse armour save than the Helm of Fortune fella but a somewhat better ward save. I also have a front-line cavalry unit rather than a harassment one, though I am back to fielding just 2 chariots, which may not be as fun.

The Lions not only have a standard that'll help in battle, but they've also gained two extra men to help them stick around that tiny bit longer. Again my magic is weakened by 1-3 power dice.

+++

So, which of these lists do you prefer? At the moment I am leaning towards the second one, because chariots are really fun (if a pain to build) and very Grecian, and allow me to convert some light cavalry - and as a bonus the Lord is tougher than the first list (and better the 3rd list if I'm facing mostly Str3 enemies). But it may not be the most sound list, hence I'm asking for opinions.

I like your 2nd list the best, however i will say that it might be good to just pull the Shadow Warriors, and the Reavers to get a good squad of Dragon Princes.

I would also wonder why you are using White Lions instead of Phoenix Guard? Phoenix Guard are possibly one of the toughest units in the game. They cause fear, I believe which will negate the need for the banner, and have ward saves, I think all they need is for you to get Korhil in the unit so they become stubborn, which would make them the best unit in the game.

Always Strikes First
Strength 4 or 5
5+ armor save
4+ ward save (Not sure if thats right, book at shop.)
Cause Fear (I usually use Caradryan so not sure.)

The Phoenix Guard are pretty hard, but since my list lacks Bolt Throwers I need something with more punch - the Phoenix Guard only have Str4 which isn't going to help against most monsters, whereas the White Lions have Str6 which is much more helpful.

I originally looked at Swordmasters to fulfil this role, but they are too vulnerable to shooting for my liking, so I opted for the (stronger, as it happens) White Lions.

Had I got some other, stronger units then I would be using the Phoenix Guard - I'm certainly going to take them in bigger games. Alternatively I could still run Phoenix Guard if I had the points for a larger unit - with only 2 ranks they can't overcome the big nasties (they suffer far fewer casualties that the Lions do thanks to the Ward Save, but rely on a Rank Bonus to break enemy monsters as they do so little damage).

I could always give the Lions the Banner of Arcane Protection instead of the Lion Standard to make up for the lack of the ward-save (MR2 should equal a 4+ save against most Magic Missiles) but obviously that's of little help when there's a dragon bearing down on my Spearmen.

Done some major re-working, and settled on Eltharion as my Lord. He's got most of the equipment I wanted and will help my magic phase out too.


Eltharion

Mage: Chariot & Ring of Fury.
Mage: Dispel Scroll.

21 Spearmen: Full Command
21 Spearmen: Full Command
10 Seaguard: Shields & Standard Bearer

13 White Lions: Standard Bearer & Lion Standard
6 Shadow Warriors.
6 Shadow Warriors.
5 Sword Masters: Bladelord
Tiranoc Chariot
Tiranoc Chariot

Great Eagle

++

I am considering dropping 2x Shadow Warriors in order to take an extra White Lion (so when joined by a character can deploy 7*2 or 5*3 depending on need) and having a couple of points spare for either the Silver Wand on the Mage or for an extra Seaguard (so can be 6*2 when joined by Eltharion).

I had debated dropping the Eagle. Right now it works by either hurtling ahead and backing up the Scouted shadow warriors, or (have I not been able to scout properly, and have deployed my Shadows as a screen) going on one flank with the Chariot Mage (with the other two chariots on the other flank); so it does seem kinda useful. But I could buff the Lions by another guy, and grab that Banner of Sorcery upgrade. Very torn on this - what do you think?

I am not happy about the lack of cavalry in the list, but that's more because the Helf cavalry is *all* located in the special slots. As such my Chariots take over the role of cavalry, and if I ever play larger games the points/special slots are going straight into cavalry units. I could amalgamate the Shadow Warriors into a single unit of 7-8 and drop the Eagle to grab a minimal unit of Reavers, or maybe even Silver Helms without Shields, but I then only have a single Scouting/Screen unit (which would especially be a problem if I drop the Eagle).

The Swordmasters are going to be held behind my line (either behind a spear block or behind the Seaguard depending on deployment) and used to give any unit that breaks through a bad day. I know they are incredibly vulnerable to shooting and magic missiles, but I'm hoping such a small unit will go ignored with everything else running around (and that the enemy will be tied up with Shadows/Eagle). The main reason for including them was that I had an idea for a conversion, so they're staying even if they suck

I would recommmend taking away the shadow warriors and putting in archers in there place as well as replacing sea guard with more archers so that you have people dedicated to long range shooting