Demian said:
To summarize:
- Dire Wolves are in.
I'm not sure why, even glade guard can shred wolves with ASF before they can do damage, combined with superior WS and a stand and shoot.
- Zombies are more than in. They are it!
Why must fate conspire to make me paint 200 of these guys? :,(
- Vargheists are in. The most dangerous to them I believe.
Solid, but same problem I see with Dire Wolves, between S&S and ASF elves, they're going to be less killy than they usually are. They can take small GG blocks, but expect to lose one or two before getting your hits in.
- Spirit Hosts get a really hard time against WE. But they are so fantastic against almost everyone else! These babies yet hold promise. They are swarms and the focus of many magical shots. Spirit Hosts are still in
True enough. Paradoxically, since WE rely on shooting to kill, they can't use it to clear out
chaff the way the rest of us do.
- Hexwraiths suffer from the same as Spirit hosts, only that it is a much costly Unit and much easier to shoot down. Sadly, Hexwraiths are out.
Hexies will die. Even if we keep them out of the way of Glade Guard, they'll collapse to a single Hail of Doom arrow.
- Grave Guard are our main damage dealers, infantry-wise. They are best used with Great Weapon against many other armies but WE. If you field them in an all-comers lists they will be shot down quickly, and take up a lot of your army points. They are out. (however, if you prefer to field them with Sword&Shield, as a small anvil, then they are in)
Not so sure, the combination of Toughness and Wound density are going to make them more resisting than most options. We can probably keep up with the losses by spamming invocation. It's easier if we roll Gaze of Nagash, because the opponent will have to prioritize dispelling it.
- Corpse Cart is... never in. Against the other Elves it's not so bad, yet against everything else is just subpar.
Not so sure. An ASF buff on skeletons, HW/S GG, or Ghouls denies Elves badly needed rerolls. And they're not going to prioritize shooting it down.
- Fell bats could be in, but you'd need to field them with 3-4 bases. If you like to use them as redirectors, then I guess they could be of some use against WE. Providing hard cover for a turn is never a bad thing. Summon Creatures of the Night's power becomes very appealing here!
They'll die before they get any hits in. Glade Guard can shred them in CC.
- Bat Swarms also could be in, but they usually bleed CR and provide little bonuses against other armies (since our troops are designed to take punishment before inflicting it, being so numerous).
Not sure they can help so much here. WE don't have a unit like Phoenix Guard or Witches it's vital to deny rerolls too, so the corner charge helps less. Having a flying charge vector can be nice, but waywatchers can shred them.
Crypt Horrors are in. High T, a Regen save. These guys can go down, but they can also be raised quickly. They need concentrated fire to be shot down, and that's why you field them behind chaff, so they can get to the tiny elves and squash them.
They can definitely be a help here, but watch out for Starfire arrows: +1 to Wound and Flaming vs Destruction. Followed up by poison, and you may lose 2 of these guys around.
Black Knights: the main target of expert archers. They may be soft against that kind of shooting, but by no means they are useless. Also, they are fielded in almost every list, so we must find a way to play them. One thing I'm thinking of is leaving the Unit with the Vampires, allowing them to regain their Spectral Steeds, and use the scenery to your advantage. Surely, there won't be only Forests in the field, but some buildings as well where they can advance safely. Using them in great numbers is also not so bad. Johnny goes 13-15 of these bad boys and those are not wasted points.
BK bus is a death star, and at full strength 20 Waywatchers will drop 4 a turn. Count on raising 3 back with spammed Invocations.
If your opponent can get the withering off, that can jump to an entire 6-9 killed a turn. This is going to be very tough for us, since if this block dies, we lose.
- Terrorgheists are the most common competitive choice here and we must be able to use them, even against such odds. Elves are difficult to scream at, because of their high Ld. You may want to deploy some Vargheists next to it/them, to hunt down shooters as soon as they approach him (from 16'' to 30'' distance). Since most Elves will prefer to shoot from the trees, then you can focus your Vargheists on the Forests and know the other archers will not fire as many arrows as they would from within the trees. Waywatchers can hurt those guys, but if they are not within a poison forest, they will have a difficult time hurting it.
This guy will be an arrow cushion, but his screams aren't useless. Focus them on Wild Riders, because a decent roll can kill a few and he's one of the few that can follow elusive fast cav.
- Blood Knights are never in in most games, yet they are also not completely useless. You can build a Blood Knight list and do well against other armies, probably not as good as with Terrorgheists. Against WE, only Waywatchers pose threat. The Arcane... splinters? (the -3 AS arrows) are also a concern, but I don't think most WE players will field those, being so costly and having much better units who can shoot at armoured targets.
Even with Flag of Blood Keep... they're too expensive. Waywatchers will drop them by just pouring right through the ward save.
- Black Coach is also never in in most armies, but it is also never useless, just sub-par to Terrorgheists and Mortis Engines (the Coach provides with less synergy). I believe it to be an optimal piece, along with Vargheists against WE, but more testing is needed.
Black Coach will be one of our best tools against WE, but again, Watch out for shadow spells. Let them Pit of Shades this guy if it means saving dice to stop the withering.
- Mortis Engines are usually in lists that play with massive infantry, such as Grave Guard, Crypt Horros and Ghouls. They have high T and a Regen save, and like Horrors, will be the target of most enemy shots, however they were there to provide support anyways. If you need to sacrifice them in order for you to gain 2 turns worth of march moves, then your army is on the other side and engaging in combat. They are in
They're very expensive, and WE have effective access to flaming shots when they need it. Still a good option, since they force certain parts of your opponent's hand, but keep in mind that it's a risky proposition.
- Coven Throne: it could be in. His Battle of Wills effect is not wasted as with Warmachines, but it's also very unreliable. Still, lowering by 1 their BS is never bad, and with so many archers distributed around the field, some may not be in range of their General's IP. It could work.
If this works, it'll be the killing power of the chariot, not the gimmick ability that never helps.
- Lore of Shadows is also VERY important against these elves. Reducing BS is a must to halt them, so you are a little more "free" to cast your other spells, like IoN, VDM. I always field Shadows with a support caster, and always use Miasma. The Cursed Book is also nice to have. All it's spells work against WE.
This is all I got so far!
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UK or USA. Both of my Wood Elf buddies read the rule for it and burst out laughing saying, "Yeah...won't be using that." 
for his work on the Dark Elves. I think it is a truly balanced book with good and bad. I just wish the guy was not so hit and miss and also was a better writer so that his rules would not generate so many arguments.
