Basic Tactics for The Beginner

Few people have the time or the inclination to read a unit by unit rundown of an entire army, especially when you might not understand what they are getting at. What most people need is a small list of a few ways to get the most out of their High Elven armies. Here a few tactics, tips, and common sense that will help you on the High Elf learning curve.

1. Spears are not good alone
Basically, spears are not too be trusted to hold the line unless you have 1 of these 2 things; A Battle Standard Bearer nearby (so they can re-roll failed break tests) or a Lion Guard honor hero in the unit making them stubborn. On paper spears look like an excellent ‘holding’ unit, but will generally break to most heavy cavalry and elite infantry. However they are excellent vs. large units of weak troops, such as goblins and to a lesser degree empire infantry.

2. Archers Stink Regardless
Archers stink. No two ways about it. If you want the ability to reach out and touch your enemy, invest in a few RBT’s and a couple of mages. Archers are not worth it, ever period. They are however not game ruining if fielded.

3. Flanks win Games
They do, and luckily High Elves are excellent at reaching enemies flanks. Cavalry works well, as do Characters in chariots (giving them unit strength 5 and the ability to negate ranks). Elite infantry are also excellent at getting into the enemies flanks, with the White Lions ‘woodsmen’ special rule coming in handy. Opponents often will use a wood to anchor their flank so you have to fight them one on one. White Lions can get around this by simply marching into it, but leaving one model so that he can see out.

4. Magic is best in support
If all you’re interested in magic is the ability to fry your opponent’s troops you’d be better off with 4 RBT’s. Point for Point shooting units and Artillery are better at damaging the enemy then mages. The scariest and most effective way to use mages is to use them to Move your troops into flank charges (Unseen Lurker) or to ruin your opponents abilities (Fortune is Fickle and The Rain Lord). Generally this is the better way to spend those points.

5. Eagles are Good
Point for point the Eagle is the most effective model in the high elf army. They can march block (get within 8” of the enemy), hunt war machines, bait the enemy (get them to charge you and thus exposing them to vulnerability.

These are simply some common sense things, here are some general guidelines to High Elf armies.

1. Forming a spear wall
Your spear wall is generally what your enemy will aim for. He moves his units towards it; you move your wall towards his units. This is where the main fighting takes place, and is where your opponents big units will line up opposite against. Generally 2 units of 20 Spear Elves with full command (running you about 500 points) will do well here if you have a BsB (Battle Standard Bearer) or lion guard honored commanders. Basically this is your “army” everything else is supporting it, characters, magic cavalry and skirmishers and war machines are all supporting it in various ways.

2. Making the enemy come to you
Generally you want the enemy coming towards you. This gives you more time to target his units with RBT fire and magic while your flankers get set up. Generally his army will come to you, if you have a pair of level 2 Mages and an RBT or two. Any less then that, and you may have to advance. Don’t be scared to advance though, standing around while your opponent shoots you is no fun at all.

3. Controlling the Flanks
It is best to have control over the flanks so that your flankers can target the enemy’s rear and flanks. Sometimes all you have to do is make sure your enemy can’t flank you, especially if playing a “hoard” army (Night Goblins and Skaven spring to mind) Sometimes all it takes is 1 unit of fast cavalry to control a flank, other times it takes the power of a dragon rider. There are two ways to control a flank, area denial, and cavalry charges. Area Denial involves using the threat of something to dismay the enemy to attack that flank. An RBT and a Chariot are great at Area Denial. The RBT threatens anything that heads that way, and then the Chariot can charge then before they can take out the RBT. Attacking the flanks generally means using Cavalry to first take out the opponents flanking forces, and then threaten his Main Battle Line unit’s flanks.

4. Setting up a strong Magic Phase
You can expect most armies in a tournament setting to have decent magic defense, but it is fairly easy, and cheap in terms of points to enact. First off you’ll need a minimum of 2 level 2 mages. These should be embellished with both Rings (on Commanders Preferably) and the Banner of Sorcery, on a unit of Dragon Princes or a Mounted BSB is best as that way it has the best survivability. Generally you should have the Seer Honor on one mage as well as channeler, that way he can pull off all the big spells, even though he’s only a Level 2. He will be your main casting wizard and should generally choose a powerful lore, High Magic and The Lore of Death or Shadow would be my choice depending on your comfort with using the spells. Your other mage should choose a lore where he is almost guaranteed to get a decent spell that is in his casting range (Heavens and life are probably best). During the Phase you should generally have three segments. In the first segment you cast those spells that don’t “really matter” but are useful and potentially harming (magic missiles and damage spells mostly). In the second you use your bound spells to hopefully get rid of Dispel Dice. In the Last phase you cast your very important ones (Game Winners like Unseen Lurker) and Remains in play ones. Generally only take one remains in play spell on your ‘main casting mage’. The segments can switch around. Sometimes it is wise to do your main spell first, and then when your enemy has wasted too many dice on it, you can surprise him with a very destructive magic phase, if not a subtle one. This generally works best once your opponent has run out of scrolls.
Remember to protect your mages. Once combat is joined it is easy to forget about them, but always keep track of them as they can come in handy blasting fleeing units down to below 25% unit strength.

5. Getting into your enemies flanks without breaking first
The easiest way is to hold the enemy in place with a unit of spears then next turn charge the enemies flank. Occasionally this works well, but sometimes the enemy will just ride over your spears. In this case the best method is to place a small unit in front of your spears. When the enemy charges he breaks them and either stands still or pursues into your spears. This means that next turn you can charge a unit into the flank before combat starts, which gives your units the edge.
Other good ways are using Unseen Lurker or The Wolf Hunts spells to get into the flank. Be warned. Sometimes it’s better not to charge the flank. If the enemy will kill a lot of you or reduce you to below unit strength 5 you are generally just giving your enemy combat resolution points, which you cont want him to have.

Now here are a few little tips for making a High Elven army. Few of them will win you the game, but they help.

You can take an ‘invulnerable’ prince by giving him a barded steed, enchanted shield, heavy armor, vambrances of defense, helm of fortune and a lance. He can go toe to toe with most things in the game and survive. Try getting rid of the helm of fortune and taking the Talisman of Saphery. Then he really is invulnerable. Try putting him in an infantry unit and watch your opponent shoot hundreds of arrows at him and nothing happens. He will be laughing at how stupid you are to have your Prince in such a dangerous position, and laugh as your prince takes a cannonball to the chest and comes up smiling.

Taking many level 2 Mages with seer and power stones is a nasty strategy. 4 Flames of The phoenix on a unit simultaneously is nasty, so is charging a unit on all sides with unseen lurker, or calling down 4 comets at a time. A particular favorite of mine is casting flaming sword of Rhuin on all four mages, Nasty, especially versus Dryads or Treemen.

4 RBTs can really surprise an opponent who has gotten used to one RBT and 2 Eagles.

A combined charge from three chariots can break most units.

A Lord with Shadow Armor and Bow of the Seafarer is excellent at hitting the enemy where it hurts.

And thus ends basic tips for beginners. My hope is that you have learned something, and more importantly that you will use it to defeat our enemies.

Sincerely
Rustoof