Support units in the High Elf army

There are many things that have an influence on the outcome of a warhammer game, but one of the most important things that enables you to achieve victory is to have each part of your army support the other parts. Especially in specialized, expensive armies like High Elves, it is crucial to support your main battle line or spearhead by all means if you want to win the game.
It is just as important to disrupt your opponent's lines of advance and thus stop him from deploying his carefully devised plan. In addition, nothing is better than to see the look on your opponent's face when you disable his March move for the 3rd time in a row.

There are many different types of support units, and in this article I will try to explain how to use each of these unit-types by covering them one by one.
Although I will only cover the high elf army, many of the tactics explained here will work for other armies in about the same way. The most important types of support for your army are:

- Supportive characters
- Magical support
- Missile support or fire support
- Scouts
- Fast cavalry
- Combat-support
- Flyers

It is important to realise what you are trying to achieve before continuing. This because these units will not make you win instantly, nor will they kill your opponent outright. Instead, you will use them to gain small tactical advantages over your opponent. This means things like gaining a position on the flank or rear of his force. All of these things are geared at gaining an 'artificial' advantage over the enemy by dividing his forces. Of coursem you will also use them to stop the enemy from doing this very same thing to you.
Keep this in mind during army composition or a game: Support Units will not earn their points back in kills during some games, don't try to make them do so just for the sake of it. There are other priorities.

Supportive characters

Many races like chaos or dwarves have the option of turning their lords or heroes in weapons of mass destruction, and even for high elves there are some lethal combinations. However, these fully decked out princes are very expensive, will lose against most equally priced opponents and will often not pay back for themselves.
Instead, you should try to equip your chars in a way that has them add things to your army that you normally would lack. A normal commander using a no-AS sword is the perfect way to give your s3 spearmen unit some can-opening abilities. A commander with the armour of the gods and a great weapon can give any high T unit a headache, and is the bane of chariots while he isn't really expensive. It is a good idea to design your chars to do a job, and not to give them any equipment you don't need. Also, a commander will often do a job that most people take a prince for, who will rarely pay back his double point cost. In this way, you will support your main battle line and save points for other things, thus giving you a larger army to command.

Magical support

It is not hard at all to use a mage like a cannon, and i doubt this part of the magic phase needs any explanation.
However, it is mainly the supportive lores that really can give you an edge (not in the least place becuase these spells often seem less dangerous than they are). The re-rolls from a spell like second sign of amul can really make a difference (Impact hits or Battle Banner anyone?), and a spell like the howler wind or rain lord can effectively destroy your opponents entire shooting phase and thus keeping your battle line intact.
The High elves have one of the best support lores to take: high magic.
High magic is capable of many things. For instance, it allows you to shut down the complete enemy magic phase (drain magic, fortune is fickle). This can be very handy, since denying your opponent the ability to support his army is as important as supporting your own.
The curse of arrow attraction can make your fire support department much more effective, and fury of khaine and the flames of the phoenix do deal damage and can be used for other things like taking away another support possibility from your opponent by destroying his fast cav.
Another very useful spell is vaul's unmaking, because it can make his very expensive lord fight with a 50-pts costing hand weapon, or make him wear a 35 pts heavy armour suit or necklace.
You can also make magic support your army in a more defensive way: one L1 mage with 2 dispel scrolls will be able to stop the enemy's most important spells for three turns when you dispel selectively. When you do this, you can also support your army in another way: leave things out! You can get 3 spearmen for that extra level, while your mage won't cast anything due to lack of power, and why take channeler when you aren't going to cast things?
Keep in mind though that some abilities or spells can be taken without having to take seer by selecting one of the other 8 lores. Since you can use all of them, you'll always be able to find what you need without having to risk a mage with useless spells.

Though it may be difficult to find the "right" supportive magic at first, simply try to look at 'gaps' in your list: is it easy to shoot apart? do you need more firepower? do you need to shut down your opponents magic phase, or do you need an edge in combat? Once you answered that question, find a spell that can help you do what you chose.
Don't try to cover up too large gaps with magic though, and look for more reliable or cheaper solutions if possible: magic can be dispelled, mages can miscast, and they cost a good 180 pts a piece when decked out too: hardly just a "cheap supportive asset"!

Missile support or fire support

Again, a branch of your army which people think can be used for pure killing. Unfortunately, its not nearly as effective as we want it to be, and therefore the following kicks into gear:
It isn't bad to kill enemy models at all, but sometimes it is a good idea to think about what to kill. For instance, 10 archers will make short work of enemy fast cav, where shooting at that huge enemy unit will have a much smaller effect on the game. Causing small units in the enemy army to panic can cause useful holes in his line. Pick your targets carefully. Use the well-known Boltthrowers to take away some points from his rank bonus, giving your main line a better chance in combat, or to take out important targets. A good idea is to leave the enemy without support units of his own but only the big and expensive main battle units, so you can attack him from several directions at once and have a bigger chance to beat them. This way, you won't have to worry about any counter-strikes from his side.

Scouts

Contrary to the units mentioned above, scouts will never be able to do some outright killing. However, there are a number of other tasks they can reform. Scouts can be used to slow down the enemy army by placing them somewhere along the enemy's line of advance (in a wood on the centre of the table, for instance). When the enemy come near, his March move is negated and a part of his army slowed down. This will give you more time to shoot at it and force panic tests, or make him attack piecemeal when he keeps moving full speed with the rest of his army.
Scouts can be used as missile screens. Due to the -1 to hit, they will suffer less hits than the screened unit, and because of they block LOS, the unit behind it can't be fired upon. Unfortunately, 15 pts shadow warriors are a bit expensive for this.
There is another trick that uses a screen: place 5 Shadow warriors in front of your spearelf unit. The enemy charges the shadow warriors, destroys them, breaks them and overruns into your spearelves. But then, that combat will be resolved in your own turn so before that combat starts you will have the time to counter-charge with a nearby unit. Below, you can see the setup before the enemy (red unit) declares its charge:


In case he tries to shoot the screen you'll still get advantages of it:

- he is wasting time and firepower by doing so
- They are shooting at long range (likely) against skirmishers, so for most races to harm them seriously or eradicate them, they must roll a heap of dice.

Take in mind this is but ONE fighting group in our army. If you also have 2 MBU SH with characters and combat support running towards his flank, what do you think he'll shoot at? You see the point.
As long as you have a single miniature left, you can make this work. A character leaving the unit (only if there are no others for the job, they are way too expensive) can even do it. It is an easy and effective tactic against most armies. A unit that needs a particular mention here is the great eagle.

Fast cavalry

When you look on the stats of most fast cavalry, they seem to be expensive, weak, without fighting power and easy to kill. However, fast cavalry is one of the most important support units in the game thanks to it's special rules: free reform, free manoeuvring and shooting while marching are invaluable. In the high elf army, fast cavalry comes in the form of Ellyrian Reavers. With movement 9, these guys can get anywhere in no time.

There are many things that reavers are capable of, but the four most important are: stopping marches, deflecting charges, harassment, and a quick charge on its time. Stopping March moves is done very easily: just move your reavers within 8 inch of the enemy's unit, and you're done. Another trick is putting them about 6" in front of enemy cavalry. Your enemy will have to choose: charge, or move around. If he charges, flee. If you get caught, this will drag his big heavy cavalry unit 16 inch over the table. If you "aim" right, this will bring him within charge range, and as you know cavalry's main strength comes from their charge. Fair trade, for only 97 pts loss on your side.

To deflect a charge, position you cav between your enemy's intended target, and his unit. Position your unit in such a way, that when he charges you he'll charge your front, and that he will face away from his target due to the wheel to align move. Make sure you can charge them in their flank with one of your units. Such a unit (or more of them) should be positioned earlier with this purpose in mind. Again, a fair trade. This move is pictured below. As you can see, most of the enemy unit is in the front arc of your unit and thus it is a frontal charge. When the enemy aligns, he shows his rear to your unit. Even if he breaks and persues the enemy unit, he likely will end up with for example Silverhelms in his rear.


Obviously, this example is the perfect version of this manuevre. Often you will only be able to gain a flank charge, even this however is most devatating against practically any enemy.

In many occasions, It will not be neccisary to actually sacrefice the unit. Fast cavalry units are great at fleeing from charges, and this now and then comes very handy. Simply bait the enemy into declaring a charge against them by placing them straight in front of his unit, perhaps at an angle to make it seem less obvious a trap.
When he charges, flee, pray to the dice gods for a good flee roll and smash your own carefully positioned countercharge unit into him in your own movement phase.



Harassment is the easiest of all things fast cav can do: equip them with bows, and shoot on any soft target that is within range. This can often be combined with a stop-march-move, and can take out enemy fast cavalry and alike out of action fast.
The last thing, strike, doesn't seem a good thing for such a badly protected, expensive unit. However, its often very useful.
It can be very useful to support a charge with fast cavalry. Thanks to their high manoeuvrability, they can easily charge in the flank or rear of an enemy unit to cancel their rank bonus while one of your main combat units does the real fighting. Also, my cavalry has been the bane of many artillery crews, archer units or lone wizards.

As you may notice, fast cav is dangerous. Therefore, one of their uses is to keep enemy fast cav at bay too. Anything you can do to him, he can do to you.

Combat support

Combat support is very easy, whether in cavalry or infantry armies. In infantry armies, the idea is that spearelves take the charge of a unit they can't deal with (easily) themselves, and that unit gets flanked by some hard-hitting support units like in the SW tactic mentioned above, hopefully breaking it.
Almost every unit in your army can be used as combat support unit, be it reavers or great eagles, but some units are more suited for this role than others due to the following factors:

- US. A unit needs at least unit strength 5 to cancel rank bonuses of the enemy unit and thus making victory more likely. Also, you have more chance on the outnumbering bonus. Keep in mind that flying units or skirmishers never cancel rank bonus!
- 2) Strength. Strength = kills and thus less kills in return. This makes you more likely to win.
- 3) Speed: if a unit flees, it is a good thing to run them down. When a unit can pursue 3d6 (when it has more than M 6) you are more likely to destroy the enemy in pursuit.

When we take the points mentioned above, the most useful infantry units for this job are Swordmasters or White Lions. They have a high strength charge, and they'll keep this during multiple rounds of combat. Unfortunately, their low armour save makes them an easy target if combat would rage on. A unit of 10-15 would do well, but they aren't too mobile so they might be unable to catch up with fleeing enemies. Basically, they are a form of HE detachment.

When using cavalry, You need different units. Because you will attack yourself you need units that are fast enough to get into position before you do. Elite infantry obviously is too slow here. Therefore, you need to use different, faster units that can get into position before you charge.
These can be used in conjunction with infantry very well too, giving you more options to support your spearelves with too:

- Chariots. They pack a huge punch for little points. Their downside, however, is that they only have US4, and thus they don't cancel ranks. Because of that, the are more useful when used in addition to another unit. By pursuing 3d6, they have a good chance of running the enemy down when they flee.
If you put a character in a chariot, It'll add even more punch and will negate ranks, though they are even more attracting targets for any S7+ weapon.
- Silver helms. They also have a high strength charge, and 5 of them have us 10 and thus they'll cancel ranks. They are more expensive than chariots, but have more staying power than them too due to their 2+ save. When you lack points and you are sure they'll be use for this only, you don't have to upgrade their AS, making them only 130 pts for a unit with full command. The also pursue 3d6 instead of 2d6, so they are more likely to catch up with the fleeing enemy and destroy them by running them down.
- Reavers. As mentioned in the Fast-cav part of the article, these are very easy to get into position. They have a good US and remove ranks, though they are easy to wound and thus will often prove to be some quite easy kills for your opponent. Take this into account, because often more CR for your opponent is not what you need. Still, as long as this is not more pts than you gain it is a very good option when you have trouble positionning countercharge units for any reason, be it terrain, skill or your opponent.

Flyers

The high elf army gets flyers in the form of great eagles, most certainly one of the most useful units in the game and the best unit in the entire army list. These are mandatory, and it would be safe to say I have fallen in love with them.
They have a great movement of 20, and can pass any obstacle or unit, and land watching in any direction. Due to this, they are useful for many things:

- First of all, you get a good statline for 50pts: a ws5, s4, I5, a2, w3,ld8 guy who can fly as mentioned above.

- March stoppers. Slowing enemy moving towards you and really disturbing him.

He can't move his whole army it's maximum range, giving you more time to shoot at it, or make them attack piecemeal if your opponent is not too bright. This is done in the same way as fast cavalry stops marches: stick em within 8" and you're done.

- They are the best war machine hunters that HE can get. A lone eagle can make almost every warmachine to cease fire. Against dwarves a single eagle will have to struggle to win, but even getting them in CC stops a warmachine from firing, allowing your army to get near relatively safe.

- Protect your own army from enemy flyers. Fell Bats, harpies and other things can easily be intercepted, thus stopping them from causing havoc in your bolt-thrower battery.

- Protect your cavalry from swarms with eagles. What I really hate are his swarms that usually try to attack my cav's flank. Eagles can easily intercept them, tie em up for the entire game and/or destroy them in most cases.

- Fearfactor: two Eagles moving to the flank of a unit often cause critical mistakes, and the winner is the general who makes the least of them. Not to mention they often draw fire and attention beyond their real danger once you opponent saw them ruining his plans once. Note that this obviously doesn't mean that they aren't a danger!

- Eagles can be used to redirect enemy units, forcing them to show their flanks to your countercharge units just like Fast Cav: Place a great eagle at an angle in the charge arc of your enemy. Make sure he'll charge your frontal zone still, or he'll pile in in a way we don't like. Then, he'll have to align with the eagle exposing its flank: about the same as we did with Fast Cavalry earlier.
Its just easier because of their increased range, lower cost, and the ability to turn them in any direction after their flight move.

If you don't have a counterstrike unit ready, you can also sent enemy units to the middle of nowhere. Its likely that they kill or rout the eagle, get an overrun move in the direction they where facing or have to persuit. This can be used to send them into a wood or other difficult terrain, or to place them in a position where they bottleneck his entire force. Its not quite a reliable maneuver, but often works nonetheless.

The moves mentioned above can be pulled off because a great eagle is a monster: enemy units charging them will have to align with them as when charging units. This means that if you place it at an angle as obvious bait for any enemy, but so that he will still make a frontal charge. This makes sure that, if he charges, he has to wheel into align, showing its weak flank to a countercharge unit. If done right, you can sometimes even achieve that if the eagle is killed or flees (very likely) you can get a rearcharge!
The same thing can be used to send enemy units to a far corner of the field, taking them out of the game for 2/3 turns before they have manuevered back to the battle.

- Of course, Great eagles can be used for any other tactic that includes sacraficial units. At 50 pts, they are the best option for almost any of these.

Lastly
Remember this is about support. Just these units or manuevres won't win you battles, it's about the combination of large units and support units in both Infantry and Cavalry armies. Though many other races don't do so, its essential for elves and those other races often would also benefit from this a lot.

In addition, remember all races have access to at least a few types of support units. These can be just as dangerous to you as yours are to him, and it's very important to take countermeasures.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or any comments at all regarding this article, feel free to PM or email me (Elthair_minathar@hotmail.com).
Regards, Elthair

Author: Elthair
Sources: Asur.org Community, especially Elmoth, white dwarf magazine, warhammer armybooks, the rulebook, my opponents & friends.

Version 2.11