Friday, May 24, 2013

First Encounter With "New" High Elves

Last night I had a game against the new High Elves, piloted by local erstwhile Dwarf Tane. I was using Daemons of Chaos and so was interested to see how they would fare versus the uber-enemy.

Tane's list had a lot of the new toys - sans phoenii - and was close to the following:

Loremaster - scroll, AoC
Arch Mage - Lvl 4, BoH (Shadow)
BSB on steed

2x 10 Archers
30 Spears
5 Reavers
5 Silver Helms

21 White Lions
8 Dragon Princes - BotWD
2x 6 Swordmasters

2x Single Eagle

In the end the Daemons ground out a fairly solid victory but there were a few things that came out of the game.

We discussed later but I felt Tane erred in placing the Dragon Princes on the flank rather than in his centre where they can take full advantage of the Banner. It took them three turns to get in combat and tbh they should have been there a turn earlier.  I managed to chip off models by making them move through Dangerous Terrain. This highlighted a flaw with the HE list - the DPs need to be either bigger or cheaper. The unit size Tane had was neither cheap enough to be throwaway nor big enough to preserve damage output potential. They finally got beaten by CR from flanks, charges and ranks in second combat round after their target held first round in multiple combat. So lesson to HEs - Go Big or Go Small! Don't go medium.

Similarly the White Lions fell into the same chasm. Unit size 21 was not big enough to sustain casualties from magic to maintain sufficient threat capability. I think they need to be around 30 - with BotWD - or in "Stormtrooper" blocks of 10 models with 3 file frontage.

I was able to combat snipe the Archmage but prior to this he confirmed all my thoughts as to how scary the new book is. Personally I would go with a different lore choice - almost certainly High Magic - but understood Tane's choice. Pit of Shades is very good versus Nurgle and having Miasma twice is never bad.

All in all it was an interesting introduction - for us both - and I recommend the hilarity of a longtime Dwarf trying to deal with a 200% increase in the number of phases.

6 comments:

  1. After two games with High magic, I really don't think its as good as people have made out.

    Sure the Damage output is great but the big Problem is once you make combat there's nothing much to do with it. So the Lvl 4 sits around twiddling her thumbs for the last two-three turns while the loremaster uses all the dice. Expensive model for half a game...

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  2. I watched John Murrie get tabled against WoC last night with a similar list. The DP bus hits like a paper towel once it gets out-manuevered (tarpitted by DP)and the rest of the army couldn't handle the BSB and all the armour. I agree that it's a go huge or go home decision for either the WL or DP.

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    1. Size doesnt really matter when a Daemon Prince gets involved. Its just about how long it takes to get through them all. I've watched a Slaanesh DP (not even a Nurgle one...) go through 30 WL of mine without dropping a wound.

      Its been interesting watching people finally realise just how average the Dragon Prince bus actually is though...

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  3. Problem with the HE lists I've seen played are kind of soft. Special choices is still where it's at for HE. Banner on 30WL with Loremaster will be rather annoying and is the strongest thing in HE army.

    They really need Shadow on level 4 or more toys. or level 2 loremaster or level 1/2s spamming soulquench. 600 pts on casters who can't fight woth a daemon princes weight is a waist.

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  4. Your HE power will be unlocked by people who don't compromise efficiency for fluff or models already in their collection. They're coming.

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  5. You flatter me Pete, it was more than a substantial victory to the Daemons, a 16-4 or 17-3 to you when we finished early.

    I made some crucial mistakes. Putting the Dragon Princes on the flank dislocated them for two turns. Putting my Archmage with zero protection in the front-rank of a combat block was also somewhat sub-optimal (note to self, he's not a Runelord...). My spell selection wasn't that great either. Next time it's 6-dice Shems Burning Gaze on everything...... I think I had the tools to deal with Pete's army, I failed to use them properly.

    I really do like the High Elf book; almost all of the choices seem useful, and it's a struggle to fit in whatever you like. Though as Chaoswolf says, the power builds will emerge. My guess is a Dragon Prince deathstar with Beasts Archmage for the obligatory Wildform, supported by Phoenixes, lots of shooting and chaff. M9 Swiftstride and a 2+ Armour save brings a lot to the party.


    I still maintain that real armies don't use magic, that movement is for twinkle-toed nancymen and proper troops aren't marchblocked.

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