Dealing with 2250 points High Elf

[Ecce Homo]

Heyho (the noddy oh),

I'm playing a 2250 point High Elf army the coming friday. Having no experience with this army yet, I figured that it would be appropiate to confront you:Vampire1: with a bunch of questions.

Such as, what to expect?

Which rare units work the best?

Which special units work the best?

How does the much feared High Elf magic work?

Should I go combat heavy or magic heavy?



Much love, and all the beast,

Ecce Homo

 

[Lord Fear]

The big thing, that even caught out one of our top players at the GT the other weekend, is the existence of a cheap Enchanted Item- the Amulet of Light, which can be taken by the champion of any elite unit, that grants magical attacks to the unit. So if you have Wraiths, beware! Also note that most fighting characters, and their Dragon Prince cavalry will all be immune to fire attacks- including any monstrous mounts, so don't take Balefire Spike or Hellfire Banner unless you think you can avoid them fighting the enemies immune to fire. As all High Elves have Always Strike First, the Nightshroud is brilliant on any combat character.

As for the enemy army, you can expect a few different types of build. In no particular oder:
1) Magic-heavy. This could mean Teclis if your group allows special characters, who gets IF with casting rolls that meet the value of the spell and contain doubles (i.e. 2-2-5-6 is IF for Wall of Fire which needs 12+, but 2-2-3-3 would not be). Or else it could just be an Archmage, probably with a bound magic missile, with support mages, possibly including one on a Dragon. Just let him blast your inconsequential blocks of troops and protect your heavy-hitters and you'll be fine. He'll probably put a lot of effort into Drain Magic, which should only worry you if you absolutely RELY on invocation/ Danse-spamming.
2) Star Dragon lists. Usually either with a BSB containing Battle Banner (+D6 to combat res!) and a caddy, or 2 level 2 Mages, so not impressive magic. Try and bog down the Dragon with two or more units containing champions, and he'll be stuck forever most likely.
3) More balanced lists- will contain a mix of infantry and cavalry, and probably a Prince. If they have a Prince on foot, be very careful, and he will probably have Killing Blow and an item for re-rolls, so will be able to kill your Lord very easily with his ASF.

Remember that with their ASF fighting them can be difficult. A Black Coach with its impacts and high toughness/ ward can do very well against High Elves, as can Wraiths as long as you avoid their magical attacks. Hope that's help for a start!

 

[Ecce Homo]

What about shooting, anything nasty to expect?

Also, any suggestions on which units not to take?

 

[Lord Fear]

Nothing to worry about with shooting, some Bolt Throwers and some Archers, nothing special. Units that usually hit hard but can't take damage aren't very good. In my other armies, this means Squig Hoppers and Marauder Horsemen can't fight the enemy well, but in the undead army has nothing that needs to worry about that. Dire Wolves might struggle to beat warmachine crew though...

 

[Jnr]

(You should expect the star dragon) I use both armies and I would recommend you use wraiths. They have limited access to magical attacks, only champions and characters. Use units of 7 dire wolves with camp to make no fly zones for his dragon.

Sword masters are one of the strongest combat units in the game. Even your blood knights should be kept away from them. The best way to deal with them is characters with nightshroud, wraiths or a black coach.

Phoenix guard are used as a unit to hold enemy units on the spot. They have a 4+ ward save so even your strongest unit will have much problems breaking it on turn one.

White lions are stubborn and hit hard. Keep away from them, they have the ability to deal with every of or units, except wraiths.

DPs are very mobile with a march of 16" and the possible ellyrion banner which allows them to move trough terrain. They hit hard and when a bsb joins them you know it has the battle banner.

 

[Munkey]

Watch out for multiple spamming of Drain Magic. This can be a real killer. If successful once, you will be neheking on 6s, twice and it will be damn near impossible.

 

[Campbellstein]

I find high elves are a the most difficult of my opponents to beat, they have some really nasty units throughout their army and have something to counter pretty much everything they have.

My opponent has a magic orientated army list with lots of mages and an archmage, I am also magic heavy, unfortunately his soildiers are much nastier than mine. Was fun when his level 2 wizards were introduced to my equivalent level 2 wizards though, he assumed that ALL spell casters were wussy little girls, now he knows.

 

[Trez]

how does a prince have KB btw?

 

[Aspiring Executioner]

Through a magic weapon which I think is the White Sword, about 40 points or something. Gives +2 strength and KB.

 

[Sweeney Todd]

I won't be too worried about that sword though. Only characters on foot may take it, meaning they might not have the movement to really use that sword.

As mentioned before their elite infantry are a problem, especially White Lions and Swordmasters in units of 20+. With the Lion Banner either unit can become immune to Fear and Terror too. Blood Knights are not recommended, unless you're using a death star unit.

 

[Trez]

yea ur right...i feel like the biggest moron in Ulthuan right now as High Elves are my primary army lol i musta been in the clouds when i read this or something...but yea i have never touched the thing as well...i would say use zombies well against high elves...GG with hand and shield for a better armor save...going to need something for the RBTS (they are a nuisance) Because of the Low Toughness and overall love AS on most of their Infantry units i think a harassing style Vamp Lord would work great, just flank a unit already stuck on ur Zombies and cake = ) hope this helps a lil lol

 

[Mikael.K]

I would be more afraid of eagles than RBT´s. RBT casualties can always be re-raised while eagles are really annoying since we lack shooting. Eagles are nasty vs infantry armies (like my own :mrgreen. Something to keep an eye(socket) on.

 

[Campbellstein]

eagles are very nasty, they are skilled assasins and love the taste of mage blood. It is not quite as scary because most of our mages are vampires, but necromancers beware.

 

[Mikael.K]

Our vampires can handle themselves. I would be more worried about eagles re-directing abilities. They can make our units go into places they dont want to or simply not move at all.