8th Ed. Army to Fight High Elves

[Gary_M]

In a post on the Discussion thread, I asked for advice for an up coming battle as I'm a bit of a noob.

Taking those suggestions and adding to my thoughts, I've come up with the following:

Lords
Slann, be calming cog, harmonic con, wd, book of Ashur, channeling staff, BSB, std of discipline
510 pts

Heroes
Skink priest, lvl 1, dispel scroll (prob heavens for ice shard)

Scarvet, A of D, GW, co,

Scarvet, Steg helm, luck stone, potion of foolhardiness, light armour, GW, co

404 pts

Core
2 x 22 Saurus, full command in both
10 skink skirmishes

614 pts

Special
20 TG, full command, sword of swift slaying for revered guardian and razor standard

8 cold one riders, full command
650 pts

Rare
2 x razordons each with extra snack
1 x sallie plus snack
222 pts

TOTAL 2400

Aim is to out magic the HE due to BofA and close quickly with cold ones and scarvet cowboys, Saurus to support, with skirmisher sand razors/sallie to hold a flank (probably deploy close to one edge to protect the other).

I have no idea what HE army I'll be facing but hoping the buffs/hexes and flaming attacks from wd will work out.

Opinions?

 

[Stonecutter]

High elves are ASF army wide, fight with an extra rank, have superior WS and are all T3. These are some of the more likely things you will be facing in a high elf list:

1) Frost phoenix - at least 1 and usually 2 of them. S6/T6 flying monster with 5 attacks and 5+ AS/5+ WS that makes any enemy in contact -1 strength and strike last. The strength nerfing is key as they will combo charge with other stuff in the army.

2) White lions - horde of stubborn troops with S6 (S4 + GW) & 3+ save vs shooting

3) dragon princes - elite cav with 2 attacks, ASF (re-roll to hit every round vs lizzies) and 2+ WS vs flaming

4) RBTs - 48" bolt thrower than can fire 6 x S4 AP shots instead.

5) Eagles as chaff

6) perhaps a couple flying chariots

7) Magic items - a) banner of world dragon (2+ WS vs magical attacks ) on death star unit b) Book of Hoeth - re-roll one die in each attempt to dispel/cast c) ring of fury - bound 2d6 x S4 magic missile


The main variants I have encountered are an infantry list based around the white lions with core archers or an all cavalry list where even the core troops are cavalry. Trying to out magic HE is nearly impossible due to the combination of BoWD and BoH, not to mention they are +1 to cast with high magic. Here are a few suggestions and the reasons why:

Slaan - cannot have two arcane items (channel staff and Book of ashur) - drop the book and use the points to add more TG and maybe MR2 to the unit. Also, I would consider going high magic just to have arcane unforging - the spell is a must stop for HE if you target either the BoWD or the BoH. You can always swap out for other spells in game depending on the type of list you are facing.

Heroes - look good although I might consider dropping one cowboy if points are tight. Also, a level 2 beasts caster might be useful in concert with a swapped out slaan wyssans to help offset the frost phoenix nerf of strength in a key combat.

Core - Given HE mobility, I would replace at least one saurus block with multiple skirmish skink units and also add a unit of chameleons to go after the RBTs. Non-cav HE troops are T3 with low armour saves (except white lions vs shooting) and are vulnerable to skink shooting. Skink shooting is also one of the few ways to deal with the frost phoenix.

Special:
a) TG - lose the ASF sword as the points are better spent elsewhere. The unit should be beefed up to 25 minimum and preferably 30.

b) CO Cav - very outclassed and there is no need to have a safety net for the cowboys since HE have no template shooting. Lose them for other stuff.

c) Krox - an option depending on points here or in rare. Six krox can lay waste even to a phoenix and are about the same points as the cold one bus. The S7 will get through 2+ AS with ease and S5 stomps vs T3 elves is great.

Rare:

a) Sallies & razordons - with enough skinks to handle chaff, razordons are not needed and template shooting is always nasty vs blocks of T3 elves. However, neither may be needed if you want to go the steggie route.

b) As an alternative to the krox, double ancient steg might be a good option. You can take them bare bones or with d3 wounds/impact hit. Tougher and better AS than krox, they provide extra shooting, a good road block within 12" of the slaan and can be healed back up by life (swapped out) and apothesis.

Quite a few changes to ponder but hopefully you can take some ideas, discard the rest and come up with a list that will be better able to deal with what you are likely to face in a HE army.

 

[Gary_M]

Stonecutter, thanks. I was 50/50 between wd and high magic anyway so no issue.

Feel a complete numpty about the arcane items - D'Oh!

Definitely take on board your comments and will re draw list.

May not post it until after the game though.

 

[Gary_M]

Reconfigured list:
Slann, becalming, harmonic, focus of mystery, egg, channeling staff, BSB, std of discipline.

Heroes as above, but skink priest has talisman of protection (6+ ward)

Core
25 Saurus, full command
2 x 10 skink skirmishers
16 skink cohort plus 2 Krox
657 pts

Special
25 TG, full command. Sword of battle for revered guardian, scarecrow banner (is this useful against HE eagles?)
Baby Steg, unstoppable stampede, sharpened horns
650 pts

Rare
2 x sallies plus snack for each
168 pts.

Total 2399 pts.