Post: #1

I am planning to bring back my dark elf army as it was fun way back when. The following list is what I am probably going for, I havent selected gear for the characters yet as my friend has my rulebook so couldnt compare common items. I have however allocated enough points to each character for their full 50/100 pts magic and 10/20 pts mundane respectivly. It is a 2500 point list and will most likely be fighting high elves, lizardmen, dwarfs and empire gunline.

Any Items with ## next to them I already own, but these are not fixed in the army.

Lords
Dreadlord
High Sorceress ##

Heros
Master
Master BsB
Shadowblade

Core
20 spearmen with command ##
20 spearmen with command
14 crossbowmen ##
14 crossbowmen ##

Special
10 shades ##
10 shades
20 Witch elves with command and 25pts for Hag gifts ##

Rare
2 repeater bolt throwers ##


Is there anything that sticks out and shouts WHOA!! that sucks. My main tactic will be firepower, the shades will stay our front and shoot whilst harrasing the enemy, they have very good BS so will hopefully get lots of hits. The crossbows and bolt throwers will form a line and unleash hell. The spearmen and the witches will then form my hard centre. Shadowblade will be deployed amongst the enemy line and butcher war machine crews, preventing return fire from my enemies.

I have considered a Hyrda as a sweeper but my main opponents are likely to field Teclis, Slann mage and cannons so he would probably die horribly very fast. I am also considering dropping the witches, I like them, but with all the long range stuff and no armor, they too would likely die. Would corsairs be a better bet for them or something else?

Give me some tips, I havent played this army in a long time and almost without exception lost badly when i was using them due to inexperience.[/u]

Post: #2

Hey Campbellstein,

on the first view I would not say you made any big mistakes creating your roster. If you are going for a ranged attack heavy list this is a good build to start with. I have the DE book and a few minis myself although I dont play them that often.

Anyway, here are my 2 cents to your list:
1. While shadowblade can deploy among the enemy and has a lot of killing potential I think he costs too much for what he does. For the same points you can get 2 fully kitted out normal assasins. If you really want him though, keep him, he's surely worth the try.
2. IMO the spearmen units are just too small, better make one big unit of, say, 30-35.
3. What's the point in having the Xbows 14 strong? I'd go for the MSU style and field 3x10.
4. Witch elves are very killy, indeed, but I think theyre just too vulnerable, I'd go for a unit of BG and make them a little smaller. Theyre just too expensive to just stand in the useless back ranks.
5. Hydras are incredibly good in the new edition. I understand that you feel it endangered by cannons and magic, but still, I'd never leave home without one. If it exceeds your points limit maybe try to drop one Master and just keep your combat lord, the lvl4 and the BSB

Note though that I have not played with my DE under 8th, but these are the things that come to my mind. In the end it's all up to you

Cheers, Dogmar

Post: #3

There was no real reason for 14 strong crossbows so i might split them into 3 units of 10 for the flexibilty. I will try combing the spearmen as big blocks have always done wonders for my undead.

Shadowblade was primarily for the dwarfs and empire gunline. He is pricey but could be really effective at silencing artillery. I mat use a couple of normal assasins vs a less shooty army.

I know how awesome the hydra is and would love to take one but i have fielded monsters before and they just diem its a shame really. I plan to buy one though anyway so he will get a trial.

Post: #4

Why not go the whole way and field 40 spearmen as a horde? They can receive the charge and still strike first against most opponents due to their high I.

And the thing about big monsters is that yes, they do draw a lot of fire, but then your opponent isn't shooting your rank and file.

Post: #5

Moved to the correct forum

Post: #6

I'd say too many points sunk into characters. WE are awesome (I always use them, but then I run a Khainite army), but I'd consider a Cauldron of Blood, which will make them stubborn and give you the ability to buff your units. Make the Death Hag from the Cauldron your BSB while you're at it, it's a steal for only 25pts as opposed to the cost of a master. I've never had much luck personally with Shades, though I know other players swear by them, I just don't think they do enough to justify their cost over RxBs. I'd trade in one of the units for something with more combat hitting power. If you plan on getting into DE for a while, I'd suggest hoping over to druchii.net as well, as it's the equivalent to CN for the DE online community.