High Elves, 2400 point army

[W.J.J.O.]

Fantasy Army: High Elf

Here's my new HE army I plan to test next week.

Lords and Heroes

Archmage
-Lv4 wizard
-Book of Hoeth
-using Lore of Shadow/Life/Heavens
360 p.

Noble
-BSB
-great weapon
-Armour of Caledor
143 p.

Core

35 Spearelves
-full command
340 p.

22 Archers
-musician
-standard bearer
-Banner of Eternal Flame
267 p.

Special

14 Phoenix Guard
-full command
-Banner of Sorcery
290 p.

21 Sword Masters of Hoeth
-full command
-the Skeinsliver
370 p.

20 Sword Masters of Hoeth
-full command
330 p.

Rare

3 Repeater Bolt Throwers
300 p.

Total points value of the army: 2 400 points

Archmage joins the Phoenix Guard, which will act as a bunker for him and the Banner of Sorcery. Banner provides power dice and, because of Book of Hoeth, my magic phase will most likely be more or less brutal for my opponent. I haven't yet decided the Lore for the Archmage but I'm leaning towards Shadow. If I choose the Lore of Shadow, I hope I get at least The Withering and Mindrazor when rolling my spells.

I'll have BSB join the spearmen unit. I'll deploy them in horde formation (10x4), have them go on offensive and, when they hit an enemy unit, Mindrazor them and perhaps use Mystifying Miasma or The Withering if needed on my opponent's unit. Result: total slaughter.

Archers with flaming attacks -banner are there to counter units/monsters with Regeneration or Flammable special rules. I plan on using The Withering to lower the toughness of the unit I intend to shoot at with my Archers or Bolt Throwers.

Both Sword Master units are deployed to the flanks 9 models wide. The Skeinsliver, carried by Bladelord, is there to help me get the first game turn because it's important to seize the initiative at the beginning of the game if you are playing with High Elves.

What do you think? Is this list solid enough, should I drop off or change something, or keep it like it is now?
Comment, please. Any advice or tips are appreciated.

- W.J.J.O.

[Morax]

I don't often like to comment on Book/Teclis lists and so I won't venture too much on the list as a whole. Ultimately any Book/Teclis list revolves around the magic phase as it will do exactly what you want it too 9/10 times. The only real distinction between Book and Teclis lists is reliability. Teclis has loremaster and an additional d3 power dice per phase and an additional d3 dispel dice per phase. There is nothing you can do about the d3 power dice. There is little you can do about the d3 dispel dice. Loremaster, on the other hand, can be almost gotten with a Level 2 back-up wizard with seerstaff. Choose the one spell you don't want your level 4 book wizard to have and one useful spell before rolling the level 4's spells. When roll the level 4's spells you will almost always get all the spells you want to get. The additional point cost for this reliablity may be seen as a bit steep, but when you are already investing 400+ points in a single phase, and it is so central to your game plan, reliablity is essential.

[W.J.J.O.]

Morax: The reason why I didn't include Teclis is the new rule at the gamestore I play: "No special characters allowed". This means that Teclis along with other special characters are banned and nobody can't use them.

[EcoWarrior]

you are taking to many full commands unless you have specific plans for them ? imo if you are going swordmasters you need life spells to keep them up. The pheonix guard witht he sorc im guesisng? Thats one expensive bunker when you could have nearly 30 spearmen instead. 22 archers is kinda usless, i'd rather have more spearmen or swordmasters not to mention the flaming attacks are nice but wont your swordmasters chop the **** outa stuff in combat even if it has regen? get rid of the bolt throwers they suck excuse the language... take 3 eagles instead for redirecting and use those extra points somewere else were they will serve you well.

[W.J.J.O.]

I base my armies on my gaming experiences and I have noticed that full commands actually help you a lot in different kinds of situations so I'm keeping them on the list. The Phoenix Guard unit is a good bunker because of their 4+ Ward save and they are able to carry Banner of Sorcery. And Bolt Throwers don't "suck", as you so elegantly put it, they actually work wonders if you use them correctly, so I'm also keeping them on the list.

You make good pointers here and there, but I'm not going to change anything just yet. Thanks for your opinion, however.

[thrawn]

bolt throwers don't suck true, but they are not much above sucking. i'd rather take 6 great eagles everytime over 3 bolt throwers.

i agree with morax, the book of hoeth and/or teclis is basically broken and won't win you a good sportsmanship award anytime soon.

however, if your going to use the book, take out a bolt thrower (i would say all three but you obviously like them) and take another mage. if you take life (which i suggest with all that expensive infantry) then your going to need at least one killy mage. try death.

my 2 cents.

[Morax]

Morax: The reason why I didn't include Teclis is the new rule at the gamestore I play: "No special characters allowed". This means that Teclis along with other special characters are banned and nobody can't use them.

Not including Teclis is fine, the Book is a more sportsman like selection but not by much, but you still need to make an effective use of what you are including. You are bouncing between shadow, life and heavens for lore selection, lets take shadow for example. What happens if you roll a 1 a 2 a 4 and a 5 for your spells? No Mindrazor for the speamen makes them a rather expensive block that won't kill very much, even with withering. Take the same spell selection but with a level 2 with a seerstaff. When determining your spells at the beginning of the game, you declare you are going to do the level 2 first. Then you declare that he is equiped with the seerstaff so you choose his spells. Opt for Mystifying Miasma and Steed of Shadows. In your list the Steed is next to worthless but taking it on the level 2 ensures you won't be stuck with in on the level 4. You will also have a good fall-back spell if the level 4 goes and takes a dirt nap in the form of Mystifying Miasma. Your list will be much much more reliable by being able to pick and choose which spells from the lore of your choice the level 4 knows.

[W.J.J.O.]

I don't understand why almost everybody makes a scene when somebody's actually using Teclis or Book of Hoeth, it isn't really such a big issue.

I don't have any Great Eagle models, converted or not, so I cannot use them in my armies.

Thanks for comments and opinions, I really appreciate them, but I think I need to field test this list before making any decisions concerning the possible changes in the army build.

[Juicy21]

I don't understand why almost everybody makes a scene when somebody's actually using Teclis or Book of Hoeth, it isn't really such a big issue.

I don't have any Great Eagle models, converted or not, so I cannot use them in my armies.

Thanks for comments and opinions, I really appreciate them, but I think I need to field test this list before making any decisions concerning the possible changes in the army build.

its just not really fun to play against. teclis ore book of hoeth... i found that after switching from high elves after 5 years of playing them to bretonnian/empire .. at my gamestore high elf players just wont take it anymore cause even they found it not that funny to play with ore against. there are many other interesting combo's..

i still love 2 bolt trowers at this point lv. but eagles are just awsome.. they clear those nasty redirecters and warmachines like a boss

[Bring_Back_Chaos_Dwarfs?]

Repeater bolt throwers sometimes get slammed a little. They are a little too expensive points wise for normal games (I think even in 7th, some were saying they were too expensive, but I took two regardless). But at higher points games, you can afford to take them. The Withering w/ three throwers (18 s4 armoring piercing shots @ BS 4) will do pretty well. Is it worth 300 pts compared to 300 pts of white lions or swordmasters etc. ? Weelll the bolt throwers are more compact, are separate targets, have range so can do damage from turn 1 and every turn there after. So yeah, that's decent. However, as stated above, have your great eagles covered before the bolt throwers. The eagles will give you the breadth you need to out maneuver and deal with your opponents chaff and death stars.