7th ed. High Elf Balanced List Tactica: by Noble Eltherion

Discuss your tactics for the 7th Ed army book here, together with tactics for other races.

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Eltherion
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7th ed. High Elf Balanced List Tactica: by Noble Eltherion

#1 Post by Eltherion »

I will start by saying that a balanced list in the case of High Elves is not a weak list and is also very fun to play. Probably very frustrating for your opponents however.

I would also like to state that this style of play doesn't suite all players.

1.0 Army Composition
This type of Army is good in all 3 phases i.e: Magic, Shooting & HtH Combat. One of the strengths of this style of list is that there aren't any super expensive units or characters (apart from the Lord or General) and therefore the points are spread quite evenly in the army list.

1.1 Characters
This list works best with no special characters like Teclis/Star-dragons because that would create a target of too many points in the one place/unit.

Two of the Special characters that could work in this style of list would be Korhil (great for points spent) & Caradryan. However I am going to focus on non-Special Characters.

As mentioned earlier a strong Magic Phase is required so an Achmage & a Lvl 2 Mage can provide this.

We could debate the best builds but here are 2 I have used with success

Achmage: Bow of Seafarer, Scroll, Silver wand (5 out of 6 spells), you can certainly swap out the bow for the Ring of Fury (see Noble build for this list) & Scroll, however this weakens the shooting phase a bit.

Lvl 2 mage Seer Staff, Scroll. This is a more common build and probably the most efficient.

The Lores of Magic these 2 casters choose is enemy dependent and is a crucial part of this armies success. For example if facing a really strong Magic Army then taking High Magic on both Mages with 2 chances of Drain Magic will really help.

The important thing is that the Lvl 2 caster supports the Achmage's spells. So when fighting DE's with Cold & Hydras I would take Lore of Beasts on the Lvl 2 Beast Cowers & 1 other. While the Achmage could go High Magic or Lore of Fire, or even Lore of Metal.

The other 2 characters I take are Nobles and these guys enhance the HtH, magic & Shooting of this style of Army.

Noble GW, Reaver Bow, Gem of Courage (important for leadership boost)
Noble BSB decked as a Dragon Prince, Ring of Fury (24" range very useful with DP's which can pick their fights).

If you swap the Ring of Fury to the Achmage then you can either tank up the BSB for Combat or give him the Radiant gem.

1.2 Troops (2-2500pt list)
Core
2x Bows for the base shooting support (these combine well with RBT's and Magic Bows)

Special
Hammer units (if needed)
Dragon Princes x2 (Lion Standard & Banner Sorcery)
Lion Chariot
SM's Banner of Balance

Baiters/re director/March Blockers
Tiranoc Chariot
Shadow Warriors ( a lot of people don't like these guys but they are here firstly as scouts and therefore help to get the first turn & also provide more shooting support

Rare
3 RBT's (key to Shooting Success)
Eagle Baiter/re-director/march blocker

2.0 Tactics
2.1 Deployment
Deployment varies quite a bit depending on who you are facing and the Terrain in place. However some of the general tips are as follows.

The first units to go down tend to be the bows and RBT's, then Eagle & Tiranoc, Lion Chariot and lastly DP's and SM's. The RBT's are usually best spread out so that only 1 can be taken down at a time. Take advantage of hills and cover to give these weapons a good line of sight.

Generally a spread out deployment works best with a DP on each flank but this is situational. One of my DP's is set up to kill wraiths so if fighting VC's this might go down last opposite the biggest Ethereal unit.

Baiting troops like the Tiranoc I tend to place centrally while the eagle can be almost anywhere remembering these guys are largely to hamper enemies advances and direct key units away from your main battle line, or setting up flank charges for Lion Chariot & DP's

The SM's are primarily in a defensive role to guard Archers War Machines and Mages. I deploy them behind an archer unit which acts as a screen and due to the ItP the archers can flee back through the SM's. Don't deploy SM's in front of heavy cavalry if you can help it Str5 doesn't scratch the 2+AS's that well.

Think very carefully re Characters deployment. My BSB usually goes with one of the DP's which isn't always ideal. Achmage fairly central near SM bodyguard. I usually deploy the Mages in with a War machine. The Noble with a bow can either go in with some archers or run with the Shadow warriors.

Be prepared to move your characters (on foot) to safety as their survival is crucial to winning the game.

2.2 Combat
If given the opportunity to go first take it so that you can get the first round of Magic & Shooting off and if playing a non shooty list advance baiters and position the DP's in favorable positions.

Let them come to you. The idea of this style of army is to sit back and counter charge the opponents troops as required. The mobility of the Chariots, DP's & Eagle make it difficult for the opponent to advance safely. The idea is to slow the enemies advance as much as possible to allow longer for the magic & Shooting phases to have an effect.

However there are certain opposing armies which might require you to take the offensive at least on one of your wings (eg: Demons with heaps of Horrors 26-28pd).

Using the strong Magic Phase followed up by shooting take out the troops that are likely to hurt you first. So key targets might be enemy War Machines, and flyers or other fast troops. Slowing down and baiting/re directing enemy Monsters is also very important. This is where Beast Cowers is so great vs. many of the new armies, an extra round of shooting on a Hydra/Dragon/Giant/Cyclops for example could mean its death. Large targets are one of my first shooting priorities as they are easier to hit & with Curse of Arrow Attraction even Bowmen can do damage.

The key to Magic & Shooting success is to try and finish a unit off a unit or at least cause it to have a Panic Test vs. Low leadership armies such as Green skins or Ogres.

Don't forget you can start your Magic Phase with the Ring of Fury to draw out dd and prevent a possible miscast.

As the opponents main Battle line approaches harass it from the flanks and when the opportunity arises charge!!! especially flanks. Even bowmen aren't bad as a flanking force vs T3 or T4 troops.

2.3 Endgame
Like a game of chess the endgame is important.

Sometimes it is better to preserve the troops you have left and grab some table quarters for extra points. Magic and Shooting are still your friend at this stage so don't go into HtH unless its a certainty (even with bad dice).

Good luck and happy hunting.

Hope this has been helpful Eltherion.
2008-2013 Wins:Draws:Losses
7th Ed High Elves 18 : 9 : 4 Bargle Con I, Best General, 3rd Overall
New High Elf Book 16 : 1 : 5 Bargle Con II, 2nd Overall, Conviction 2nd Overall & Best Sportsman

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Musashi
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Re: 7th ed. High Elf Balanced List Tactica: by Noble Eltherion

#2 Post by Musashi »

1. The truly balanced list has two units each of LSG, RBT and GE (at 2K).

2. There would be one unit each (at most) of any elite unit.

3. Special characters cannot be included.

4. Our magic items become OTT only in the way they are utilized, and I prefer to go for the jugular.

5. No Dragons.
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Re: 7th ed. High Elf Balanced List Tactica: by Noble Eltherion

#3 Post by SpellArcher »

Eltherion wrote:Characters
I think Archmage plus BSB at 2000pts maybe add in Seermage at 2250. I think four characters means not enough troops. I also think Prince,BSB,Mage is viable.
Eltherion wrote:Core
2x Bows
I like a Spear Block, good BSB bunker and combat support. LSG are good too.
Eltherion wrote:Rare
3 RBT's
You can get away with two if you run a magic bow. The second Eagle is very helpful.
Eltherion wrote:Be prepared to move your characters (on foot) to safety as their survival is crucial to winning the game
Agreed.
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