Army list design
First thing to do naturally is to think about what kind of army you are supposed to play. Many people have said that High Magic is lore that you need to have your army build upon. I will analyze first pretty much every choice we have and how they would work with the High Magic heavy list.
Index for this section
- Main and Support Characters
- Main Combat Unit
- Support Units
- Making the list
Main and Support Characters
Game size might needed to be adjusted depending are you playing with vanilla 25% lord / hero allowances or with FAQ/Errata v.1.9 50% allowance.
Casters:
Archmage -
Yes
This little fellow is the workhorse of this strategy. I would say that in every single list that wants to use High Magic as ward save boost you should have Level 4 archmage with Book of Hoeth (even alongside some other caster). This archmage is going to venture deep in to enemy lines so he will be needing protection. People might consider that having ward save is good choice here and it certainly is, but I would dare to say that Fencer’s Blade is by far most effective combination with high magic. Remember that when played right the Archmage is going to get ward save due the lore attribute. You still have enough points to add golden crown to the extra protection for the mage. Naturally if you go on horses barding is ofc advisable to take.
Build for Archmage (310 points)
- Level 4 Lore of High Magic
- Book of Hoeth
- Fencer’s Blade
Optional:
- Golden Crown of Atrazar (I usually give this to my BSB)
- Ironcurse icon
- Talisman of Endurance (or preservation for pretty much guaranteed 3+ ward every turn)
There is also one other build (what I would never consider) but if the Archmage would be fielded with Star Dragon you could make the dragon more powerful with the mage and like before giving fencers blade / talisman of endurance / ironcurse icon to mage, book of hoeth could be. But as said I would never do it, but it might work atleast to some extent.
Mage -
Maybe
Support mages are commonly seeing in many list if nothing else then as scroll caddies. I don’t use support mages too often and mainly due the fact that I am usually trying to keep character points to the minimum. Mages can be used in few different ways.
Support with totally different lore such as Shadow for miasma, searing pain from lore of metal etc. They also works as fail safe system for broken concentration.
Use as High magic to increase the chance of Archmage getting augments. Usually needs to be upgraded to level 2 for this role. With High Magic it is great that if you happen to roll two augments for the support mage then you can still choose two signatures with it. Depending how you guys rule the drain magic and lore attributes, it is possible to have low level caster as fail safe for your combat unit and drain magic can work wonders as you are guaranteed to have it. This works pretty much the same way as using Light council and trying to get Banishment for the Level 4.
Lower level mage can be used to generate more dices for low winds of magic phase with Forbidden Rod (only if using Banner of the World Dragon) and power stones.
Loremaster -
No
Allthough great character Loremaster doesn’t directly benefit this strategy and loremaster is pretty much the one who demands the book of hoeth for himself. I am not saying this wouldn’t be good help as it really would give lot of extra tricks to be used, but in High Magic heavy list you don’t probably have the points to have him around.
Dragon mage -
No
Simple no.
Alarielle -
Yes
My original High Magic bunker was based on Alarielles build. Shieldstone of Isha + Banner of the World Dragon + High Magic is really awesome. Star of Avelorn is excellent item to keep your mages alive and Stave of Avelorn gives reliability to the list. Still even Alarielle has crucial flaw and that is low winds of magic phase. One neat detail about Alarielle is that she has build in WS 6 and LD 10 so she makes good general. This means that most of the enemies that she is going to see will be hitting her on 4+. Also never forget immunity for fears and terrors, so you don’t end up losing the battle for some god awful terror test. One thing what you should always try to use as mind game trick is that she has Heroic Killing Blow against forces of destruction and just mention this to your opponent and taunting him. Mathematically not very reliable with only 1 attack, but sometimes it is enough to get the job done.
If you go in Alarielle road I would still suggest adding level 4 with High Magic and Book of Hoeth to the same unit. I would give Alarielle single spell from high magic (for little bit failsafe) and then make a decision between lores of Life and Light. I would probably go for lore of Light. However with vanilla lord allowance rules you need to ramp up game size to according to fit. But with 50% no problem.
Teclis -
No
I haven’t personally tried this up. With loremaster ability and really neat scroll to almost guarantee for one turn that you would get 3+ ward save when needed and +6 modifier is really sweet! Reason why I haven’t went for Teclis road is that he is fairly expensive character for this tactic and his abilities doesn’t directly improve this strategy. Compared to Allarielles 5+ ward and immunes to fear and terror. Thirdly Teclis is and will be weak in CC and much harder to protect because he cannot be equipted with protective gear. Finaly since he doesn’t have build in Book of Hoeth that is almost essential here. If Teclis would have build in BoH I would use him more often.
Eltharion the Grim -
Maybe
He doesn’t directly contribute to High Magic list, but he is fairly decent CC character with 2 support spells from the 8 brb lores. Incase if you insist having a support mage (not a scroll caddy though) Eltharion might be good choice for little extra cost he can give much more punch to the list.
Support Character
Well now lets see other character choices to be used with High Magic
Anointed of Asuryan -
Yes
Anointed is pretty much build for this strategy. His Blessing of Asuryan ( 6+ ward for his unit) and Witness to Destiny (4+ ward) works really well. Incase you are not using banner of the world dragon the build in Magic Resistance (2) will give you more than enough protection from regular spells. And never forget that he causes fear so make your opponent do the tests. He is bound to fail every once and a while. And never forget that Anointed gives immune to psychology to the actual unit, so guarantees that you will not panic or flee in terror. As his defences are really good all ready you probably are best of giving him more killing power in from of Giant Blade or Sword of Bloodshed. This choice is probably dependable of the opponent and what special choice you are taking for your ward bunker. Perhaps with White Lions you could go for bloodshed for more attacks if you are facing numerous enemies and with swordmasters giant blade or whatever. Even butt naked Anointed is great so bring it on. Adding something like enchanted shield, glittering scales, crown of command, featherfoe torc, armor of caledor / silvered steel or something like that. Depending on the enemy pretty much. You can also make him wield Fury ring to get another insurance to get more ward while advancing to enemy positions. Naturally if you run with Alarielle Anointed doesn’t give much more for the list.
Noble -
Yes
Battle standard bearer is pretty much mandatory. I usually go for maximum defence and something like Dragon Armor, Shield of Merwyrm + Crown of attrazar are good items to go for. I usually add fury ring for him. On mounted army naturally mundane armors to maximum and barded steed.
Sea Helm -
No
I used Sea Helm in my early games when 8th game. One of the reason was attraction to new cool Naval Discipline. There were times when Sea Helm really earned the points and it actually isn’t too bad choice as you can use his ability to “bluff” opponent to take “easy” flank charge. It could work, but rather big investment when you could just place those points somewhere else.
Handmaiden -
Maybe
In totally different list what I would play on bigger unit of Shield of Saphered Sisters, I would always field Handmaiden for quick to fire tricks. But I don’t
Prince & Tyrion & Alith Anar & Korhil & Caradryan -
No
Eventhough most of them are good at fighting and can increase damage output of the unit II would suggest leaving these choices home in this strategy as they tend to cost too much and with the guide I am writing you are most likely not going to need the extra punch as much as you are going to need elven bodies.
Main Combat unit
Now from this category you are going to make the choice what is going to be the main unit to be augmented by High Magic. Basicly the unit where you will place the workhorse Archmage with Book of Hoeth. We could deploy wizards on units of Spearmen, Archers, Seaguard, Silver Helms, Ellyrian Reavers, White Lions, Swordmasters, Shadow Warriors, Phoenix Guard, Dragon Princes and Sisters of Avelorn. Obviously some are better choices than others, but there is also difference in performance depending on game style. Ideally the main unit will be strong hitting that can tackle most threats in the game. Secondly having a access to at least 50 point unit banner important too.
Core: -
No
As we all know we have to add core to this list. I wouldn’t never consider making our core unit enchanted with Shield of Saphery. Reason is simple that High magic would turn that core choice into High End Anvil, without enough punch to actually destroy your enemies. Secondly core units have weaker statline and cost less. High Magic allows you to save wounds so with higher costed elites the “saves” are worth more than in core.
Incase you still would like to try this out on core choice I would personally think that spearmen benefits the most from it at then Silver Helms. Due my aggressive playstyle shooting couldn’t work for me as I tend to march forward as fast as possible, but in away gunline unit it could be used as extra protection against enemy shooting and finally when those weakened warriors manages to get in close combat it would turn the archers / seaguards to sturdy anvil.
White Lions -
Yes
These are by far my chosen ones. They have all the ingredients to work with this strategy and they are (imo) low priced choice compared to many other choices across other armies also. I would always use Banner of the World Dragon with them. They will become really strong unit that will be hard to remove with regular magic or shooting. Having 3+ armor save against mundane shooting and 5+ armor and 2+ ward against magical attacks they are not likely to die before you get in close combat. Also str 4 makes them survive The Dwellers Below better than normal elves does. With stubborn they can hold if you are outmaneuvered by bad flank charges and strength 6 is something that can tackle most of the units any other armies can field.
Swordmasters of Hoeth -
Yes
I love (or perhaps loved) swordmasters during 7th and they were my choice due speed of asuryan. Swordmasters have three advantages compared to White Lions. First Extra attack will help tons when you are flank / rear charged to nullify the negative effect in combat resolution. Secondly swordmasters ws6 is rather rarely seen and it means that they will be hitting most of times on a 3+. Thirdly they are far better choice against big cheap ranked units. Like skavens, Goblins, Zombies, Skeletons, men at arms, halberdiers etc, for obvious reason that usually those cheap units are T3 and with low armor save so the extra str doesn’t help much. They have however one really really important feature that needs to be agreed before the game that how does Deflect Shots and Shield of Saphery work? I all ready addressed this problem in the rules section, but if your opponent / tournament / local gaming club rules that only the conditional save will increase Swordmasters will automatically drop out as a choice.
Shadow Warriors -
No
I have tempted to try Shadow Warriors as regular mage bunker. They would have good advantage over our normal archer / phoenix guard bunkers that they can evade much more easily and you could use the units movement to your advantage when casting spells. Real problem here is that Lore of High Magic actual spells doesn’t tend to have great impact on game and only to increases this “elite” bunkers ward seems little useless. Thus I would cross this over.
Phoenix Guard -
Maybe
Phoenix Guard are imo the best infantry choice in 8th edition when you consider point cost of 300-400 and with all cornering perspective Fear, ld 9, I6, halberd, 3 rank hitting, 4+ build in ward for only 15 points each... Just wonderful. One would easily think that ok, this is the best choice as I only need to cast one High Magic spell and buff who unit is 3+ ward. Well this is true, but deploying 300 point archmage with Book of Hoeth in it, would pretty much guarantee the +1 ward here, but it wouldn’t have much more impact on the game. Secondly Phoenix Guard doesn’t have much punching power with str 4. Thus regular lvl 2 support High Mage might be more Phoenix Guard material. I will say that Phoenix Guard isn’t the
main unit for Shield of Saphery.
Dragon Princes of Caledor -
Yes
I haven’t used Dragon Princes much, but seems that many other High Elven players prefers them. I also have tried them with my latest games (games 80. and 81.) and they worked like a charm. They have very ideal properties to make this tactic work. 2+ Armor save is good, it protects really well from small str attacks. Build in 6+ ward means that you don’t have to get that many succesful cast to have good ward save. There is no way of adding mounted model that would give regular ward save (Alarielle and Anointed) thus Silver Helms doesn’t work for this role as well. Also Never forget 2+ ward against flaming attacks. With extra attacks and steeds all though in str 3 (unless you charged) increases ability to push more strikes in flanks and rear. If you go bigger unit it will have huge footprint and wheeling it around can be rather hard to achieve. On the other hand this unit would become one of the toughest Anvils to beat for your opponents when combined with Shield of Saphery. Especially against skavens dreaded 13th cavalry is immune.
Sisters of Avelorn -
Maybe
Shooting doesn’t fit my play style, but I have toyed with idea having biggish unit (about 30 bodies) with Hand Maiden (for quick to fire), BSB with Banner of The World Dragon, Allarielle for support and Archmage for shield of saphering. Hand of Glory with extra BS would turn this unit really powerful and they could lay waste from distance and survive against magical and shooting attacks, and in combat they would be more anvils due ward save than hitters. I would also place smaller units of swordmasters / white lions for flanking purposes. I will probably test this out some day, I also am little disappointed that they don’t have ability to have full command. Unit of sisters would be ideal to carry Banner of Avelorn. WIthout Musician swift reforms are not option and with only 5 movement you cannot wheel bigger unit enough to make it. Smaller units of 5 with 2 wide formation have no problem turning around with movement of 5. Perhaps it could work, but in this guide I will not address this idea more.
Support units
I will not go them one by one, because that is not the point. 2 to 3 small units of Reavers / Eagles / shadow warriors are pretty much mandatory to redirect and stall opponent. Small unit of silverhelm to tackle opponent chaff. If you took the best infantry choices for this tactic (White Lion or Swordmasters) You should have Phoenix Guard advancing and protecting the flank of the main unit. Other flank should be protected by spearmen or silver helms, or another Phoenix guard unit. If you go with Dragon Princes I would probably add Silver Helms to their companion. Frost Phoenix is really good choice for us in any list (not just here) but especially our Great Weapon elites like it. Archers / Bolt Throwers / Sisters are good to clear chaffs. You don’t usually have to tender the opponent strongest unit with shooting as the main unit augmented with High Magic ward can tackle it,
Making the list
The design will have four aspects and main roles how to build your army especially regarding using the High Magic.
- Main Combat units
- Main character
- Support character
- Support units
First thing to decide is to choose the Main Combat unit and start to build rest of the list around it.
Main Combat unit
I have identified 3 choices for this role. White Lions, Swordmasters and Dragon Princes. (Perhaps Sisters of Averlorn for whole another strategy)
Regardless what you choose you should always buy Full Command for them and add Banner of The World Dragon in to the unit. Now Unit size is really important factor. People might think that ok, I am investing huge ammount of points in characters to support one unit so that unit has to be really big to be worth it. I say immediately out loud that this is WRONG. Sorry for caps, but plain and simple resist the urge to push the total point cost of the unit over 1 / 5 ( in 2400 it would be 480 points) of total points of the army and probably keep something like 600 - 800 points maximum number of points spend in this unit. There is three main reason for this:
Firstly this unit can be avoided by enemy chaff and it doesn’t matter do you have 40 - 50 infantry or 25+ cavalry or 25 infantry or 15 cavalry with such character support your opponent will try to chaff it up. Spending less resources here means his chaffs doesn’t deny as much points and it allows you to have more points on other side.
Secondly Final Transmutation will kill 1 / 3 of the units models as Dwellers will kill 1 / 2 if you use Swordies or Dragon Princes and 1 / 3 with Lions. Against Dreaded thirteen increased body count however would be better and dragon princes are immune that effect.
Thridly when this strategy works right you don’t need more models to eliminate your opponent forces. From experimenting units of 25 - 30 I think 27 has being ideal number.I have so far tried once Dragon Princes (game 80.) so I don’t have much experience what would be good size for the unit, but perhaps 15?.
Main Character
Basicly there is thee option Archmage, Alarielle or Teclis for foot Main Combat unit and for mounted there isn’t any other choice than Archmage. I say that in 9/10 times Archmage should be used as the main character. Perhaps only exception is lower point games where Alarielle would be more cost effective. Archmage is also good pic due the fact that many tournaments and gaming clubs ban the use of special characters.
Main Character will always be deployed in the Main Combat unit. If possible don’t make the Main Character your general as it will be even more reason for your opponent to kill him due extra 100 victory points.
Book of Hoeth and Fencers Blade are great items to have with Archmage. With good support character buying separate ward save isn’t as effective as Fencer’s Blade.
Support Characters
Main Combat unit Support Character
There is two options for High Magic support characters for the main combat unit. Alarielle and Anointed. As with main character in lower point game Alarielle will be good choice as she will act as both. Anointed on the other hand is pretty much the Main Combat units support character and should always be made as General if possible. Annointed doesn’t need much magical items to be efective in this strategy, but giving him defense, strength or attacks can work wonders. If your main combat unit is Swordmasters then you can give Anointed Crown of Command for extra surviability.
Battle Standard Bearer
BSB is pretty much mandatory. However BSB shouldn’t be deployed inside the Main Combat unit. Two reasons. Main Combat unit doesn’t need the extra input BSB will have but they only need the reroll to LD tests. Secondly placing a juicy 200 - 300 victory point character inside a unit filled with characters will be making it much more potent target for any mass killing spells (Final Transmutation , Dwellers Below , Dreaded Thirteen). I usually field a Phoenix Guard unit in flank guard duty and BSB is very good in that unit as the actual unit will benefit from BSB more than the Main Combat unit would.
My BSB build is pretty staple Dragon Armor, Shield of Merwyrm, Fury Ring and Crown of Attrazar. During the early turns casting the bound spell will increase the whole units ward to 3+ (well 5+ for Noble against magic / shooting) and 3+ in close combat. If you would like to have the second level 2 High Mage around in that unit then You could probably go for Great Weapon build and some Ward from endurance or preservation / armor of destiny.
Mounted BSB gets better protection.
Support mages
Choices are normal mage, Alarielle (when you have Archmage as high magic) use Alarielle for Light or Life, Eltharion and Loremasters. I don’t use them but they can be fielded. If you go for High magic with them then placing them inside the Main Combat unit for fail safe ward boost.
Support Units
There are numerous support units that will have vastly different roles and I think each (or perhaps most) of the roles should be assigned. Some roles are overlapping and may change during the game. In design table you should always have clear idea why you made some choice and what do you expect to
Flank Protectors 1-2 slots to fill
Flank charges are really bad for any units and our Main Combat unit is no different. In a game less than 2000 I would say that only 1 unit is needed for this duty. In a game between 2000 - 3000 I suggest of fielding Elite Flank Protector and Cheap Flank Protector. In bigger games I would field two Elite Flank Protectors. How the flank protector will work is either as bigger ranked military unit that can hold against a charge, stubborn small unit that can take one charge and hold or as redirecting chaff that tries to deny enemy flankers.
Cheap Flank Protectors are 30 model strong Spearmen, Small unit of Silver Helms, Reavers. Due my playing style shooting units (with exception of shadow warriors or bowreavers) cannot perform this duty cannot perform this duty as my main combat block is going to march forward pretty aggressively. But in more defensive playstyle unit of archers can work as this also.
Elite Flank Protectors are White Lions, Phoenix Guards or Dragon Princes. (or bigger unit of Swordmasters).
I tend to use Phoenix Guard as my first Flank Protector. I have grown fond of using 22 models Full Command and Razor Banner with the BSB. I don’t remember a game where they couldn’t fulfil their duty. When the BSB is off you should always try to keep the Main Combat unit within range of the BSB, but sometimes this isn’t possible.
As a second flank protector (or also chaff clearer / hammer ) I use Silver Helm dart. The dart cannot take reliably charge inside as it will break easily, but it can be used as more offensive and proactive flank protector.
I haven’t tried with my usual High Magic build White Lion Cubes as flank protectors (mainly due the fact that I don’t own that many White Lions, but with 130 points they could do wonders in 3 wide formation and also increase good amount of combat resolution with flank charge.
Chaff clearers 1-2 slot fills
In less than 2000 point game one dedicated chaff clearer is good. Allthough I tend to use the Silver Helms as flank protector and chaff clearer it fills half both duties.
For purpose of this strategy this role means clearing chaff that can harm the Main Combat unit. In other words priority 1 is to destroy targets that could redirect the main combat unit. Chaff clearers themselves are expandable so focus on supporting the main combat block and accept the loss of clearers if needed.
Archers, Reavers, Silver Helms, Dragon Princes, Bolt Throwers, Chariots, phoenixes, sisters of Avelorn and Shadow Warriors are excellent chaff clearers. Shadow Warriors will get an extra medal for being able to deny opponents vanguards. Naturally this depend lot of the armies you are playing against, but in general try to focus shooting to clear units in front of the Main Combat block and Close combat clearers to flanks. Reason here is that you don’t want to risk having your own unit chaffing you up. Worst case scenario they will flee in panic in the middle board right in front of the Main Combat unit and deny their action.
Combat Hammers 0-1 slots to fill
Combat Hammers are unit choices that can generate more combat resolution to the fight than they give. Units like Silver Helms, Dragon Princes, Swordmasters, White Lions, Chariots and phoenixes are such. This role is actually more dedicated for the Elite Flank Protector than to actual Main Combat unit as it will have most likely positive combat resolution ratio. Especially Phoenix Guards would like having a chariot / Swordmaster / Silver Helms etc taking care of them. Hammer doesn’t need to be big unit and usually is much better to be as small as possible. Having small unit of silver helms making flank charge when Phoenix guard is tanking can turn the battle tide easily around.
Chaff 1 - 3 slots to fill
I would say that almost in any High Elven army regardless of the size of the game one unit of reavers / eagle should be fielded. I tend to use 2 dedicated chaffs (nowadays I have turned to use spear reavers as I tend to just sacrifice them in early turns) I could make another similar guide about Chaff usages, but in short they are needed. When you are deploying your chaff try to figure out specific task that you want to perform with them. For example.This unit will be used to redirect that unit, this unit will be used to hunt those war machines, this unit will just go harash behind enemy lines to invoke march tests etc. In this list chaff should have priority to aid Main Combat units performance with any means necessary and secondly aid others. One important thing is that sometimes any unit can change to chaff, so don’t hesitate to use even little bigger Silver Helm unit or phoenix when it is needed.
Secondary Mage Bunker 0 slots to fill
I only mention this because many Tomb King players uses this kind of role to give their precious Hierophant little more chance of surviving the battle. This would be viable if you use lore of shadows smoke and mirrors tactic. Secondary bunker would be most likely archer units in the middle right behind the Main Combat unit. Second situation where this could be used is when the Main Combat unit is out of battle and would be in danger of being destroyed in following turn. Pretty much any unit can fulfil this duty if needed, but to have one dedicated isn’t probably worth it.
Summary
So quick summary how to build the list and what kind of roles you intend for them to have. But never stick with the original role just because you thought it during design phase. Always change the unit purpose when needed.
Lords
- Main character (Archmage Book of Hoeth + Fencers Blade), Alarielle or Teclis, 300 - 400 points
- Support Character for Main combat unit (Annointed with offensive wargear or Alarielle) 250 - 350 points.
Heroes
- BSB with defensive build, deployed inside unit that protects the Flank of Main Combat unit. about 150-180 points
- Lesser mages for possible scroll caddies or utility spells. No more than 1 / 10 of the armys total points.
Core , try to keep core tax in minimum
- Chaff, 1 - 3 units (basicly reavers with bows or spears, but I advice against both). Use about 1 / 10 of the armys point as chaff.
- Cheap Flank Protector 1 unit (spearmen or Silver Helms) about 200 - 300 points.
- Chaff clearers, 0 - 2 units. (archers or silver helms) 1 / 10 of armys points as chaff clearers
Special
- Main Combat Unit ( White Lions, Swordmasters or Dragon Princes) unit point cost maximum is 1 / 5 of the total points in the list
- Elite Flank Protector ( Phoenix Guards, White lions) About 300-400 points
For any remaining points, add combat hammers / chaff clearers.
Example list 2400 point.
Lords
Anointed of Asuryan, Giant Blade Enchanted shield, Luckstone General - 280 points
Archmage, Level 4, High Magic, Book of Hoeth, Fencer’s Blade - 310
Heroes
Noble, BSB, Dragon Armor, Fury Ring, Shield of Merwyrm, Golden Crown of Atrazar - 155
Core
15 x Archers - 150 points [Chaff clearers]
5 x Ellyrian reavers with bows - 85 points [Chaff]
5 x Ellyrian reavers with bows - 85 points [Chaff]
12 x Silver Helms, shield musician - 286 points [Flank Protector / Combat Hammer]
Special
20 x Phoenix guard, Full Command, Razor banner - 375 points [Elite Flank Protector]
27 x White Lions, Full Comman, Banner of the World Dragon - 431 [Main Combat Unit]
Rare
Frosthearth Phoenix - 240 [Chaff Clearer / Combat Hammer]