1000 points of High elven blasters

[stijnq]

Fantasy Army: High Elf

Well hello everybody,

I made this list hoping it would be fun for both players.
Another thing I wanted to try is to have a one man magic phase, but one my opponents have to fear; without being over the top and boring.
So without furder ado, here's the list:

Mage: level 2, Ring of Corin, Ruby Ring of Ruin, Dragonbane Gem
HERO: 185

10 Archers: Musician 115
12 Archers: Musician 137
CORE: 252

14 Phoenix Guard: FC, Banner of Sorcery 290
5 Silver Helms: Shields, Musician 123
SPECIAL: 413

Eagle 50
Repeater Bolt Thrower 100
RARE: 150
Total: 1000 points

One small point: can a character have 2 bound items? Thought it wasn't allowed, but can't find any rule saying this. Anyhow, if it is forbidden, then the ruby ring moves to the Phoenix Guard champion, so it's no biggie.

The thing i'm most uncertain about is the lore for my mage.
The options:
1) High magic: Curse certainly will be useful, Flames is good against hordes+it's RiP, Fury of Khaine: more blasting power ain't bad, the ward from Shield is good. Only vauls ain't that useful; because of the low points value there won't be many magic items, and i have the ring of corin. Two other plusses are the low casting values and free drain magic. One thing i'missing is something to deal with heavy armoured units.

2) Death magic: the spells i like here are 0,2,3,4. Character sniping or damaging monsters might come in handy, cause i think the list might struggle with this otherwise. Soulblight+lots of range needs no explanation and -3Ld is lovely for panic checks. Number 1 is kinda useless and i think the casting costs for 5 and 6 are a bit high for a lvl2

3) Metal: what i'm looking for here is the standard spell, fills in a weak spot of my list in being able to deal with heavy armoured units. the other spells i like are 1,2,3, cause they fit well with the shooting in my list. Number 4 is there only to switch for 0 and 5 &6 again i think the casting costs are fairly high.

So please tell me what you think

[Marmaduc]

Just a couple thought based on my personal experience:

Yes, in this case your character can have two bound items as one is an Arcane item and the other is an Enchanted Item.

Death - Not so good for you here. Very short ranged and your caster don't wanna be anywhere near combat. -3Ld is good but as for Panic checks with just some S3 archers and one RBT you aren't going to generate enough wounds on either hordes or heavy armor to cause one until mid- to late-game when you are going to be stuck in anyway.

You mention that the lack of Magic Items is a reason against High Magic. I think that the Ring can be a devastating addition but if the case against Vaul's is strong enough to doubt High magic than perhaps drop the Ring and get a different Arcane Item altogether. Silver Wand for an extra spell, Dispel Scroll for magic dominance, or the Jewel of Dusk for more power dice are all cheaper.
High Magic has lots of excellent general advantages and is a better choice than the other two. Not just Drain Magic, but also the RIP flames spell can be used together to force the enemy to use up power dice quickly on his or her turn.

Metal is probably your weakest choice, ironically. Light is generally better suited to HE because the basic spell can be boosted to S6 (normally 2+ wound and -3AS) and flaming which is great for both cavalry and monsters (plus an extra D6 attacks on demons and undead). It also has an anti-warmachine spell, a movement and extra A spell, and a RIP spell to restrict all actions by an enemy unit (even spell casting from bunkers!).

Fire should also be in consideration if only because of the ring. The Kindleflame ability is a tremendous boost for low level casters.

Shadow is also a great Lore for HE. Mindrazor is supreme but is difficult to cast and will be dispelled above all others, a fact that you can use to your advantage to sneak through the bound spells!

Your mage doesn't need the Dragonbane gem unless you expect to see a lot of Fire lore or breath weapons. The Look Out, Sir! save should protect him from general spell and missile attacks.

With just one level 2 caster you don't really need the Banner of Sorcery. You are going to have plenty of turns where you don't have the right targets or spells to use and both rings have just 24" range and need only 1 die to cast (if you take Fire lore then you can also get +D3 casting) so the D3 dice from the Banner aren't really needed as much as the points you have invested in it!

What you do need, however, is more Phoenix Guard. Replace the BoS with the Banner of Eternal Flame, drop the Gem and maybe a ring and get more of them.

[stijnq]

So after some thought, I have 2 options for changes:

1) -Banner of Sorcery
+ Gem of Courage
+Banner of Eternal Flame
+ 2 Phoenix Guard

2) -Banner of Sorcery
+Amulet of Light
+Gleaming Pennant
+ 2 Phoenix Guard

So both options cause no difference in points. For the moment i'm leaning more towards option 1, because I think Flaming attacks will be more useful than magical attacks. By dropping the Banner of Sorcery i get the points for flaming attacks, another 2 bodies and an insurance for a potential crucial break test.
Concerning the Dragonbane Gem, these are just the last 5 points of the list that i couldn't find a use for, so if I find a good option, dropping it is no problem.

Then the lore: I think your argument of the short range for death ain't valid, all spells i want can be cast at 24", the only spell that's short range is Fate of Bjuna. It will only happen in a few games that i roll bad for spells that i can't swap it for Spirit leech.
Also for Metal, Light number 0 might be better, but i also like the buffs and hexes, as well as final transmutation against hordes. Although I now also consider Light. Thanks for making the decision harder =)
Guess I'll have to try a few games with all the lores and see what i like best.

Thanks already!

[Marmaduc]

On Death, you're right, but the other Lores can boost spells out to 48", which is a better compliment to the 30" longbows and the 48" Bolt Thrower.

[stijnq]

Point taken =)

[stijnq]

So after a game, I made some changes, the list now is as follows:

Mage: level 2, Lore of Metal, Ring of Fury, Silver Wand 185
HERO: 185

I changed the loadout of the mage: Ring of Fury instead of ruby ring of ruin, because it packs more punch, so opponent might be more willing to spend dispel dice on this and if it goes off there will be more damage. Silver wand so i have a better chance of getting spells I like. I chose Metal, because now i've dropped the RBT, so i feel i really need something vs armour, plus last game, against Brettonians, it worked pretty well, decimating a unit of knights with 1 searing doom cast and the blades of aiban helped my archers

10 Archers: Musician 115
13 Archers: Musician 148
CORE: 263

Here I added 1 archer to the bigger unit, but just because at the end i had 15 points left, but not enough special allowment for another Phoenix guard. What would you guys think is best: 10+13 or 11+12?

17 Phoenix Guard: FC,Gleaming pennant 290
5 Silver Helms: Shields, Musician 123
Tiranoc Chariot 85
SPECIAL: 498

Changes here: Beefed up the phoenix guard to 17, Gleaming pennant instead of flame banner, for rerolling that one crucial test and i should have flaming magical attacks with metal. Other, biggest change of the list: Tiranoc chariot instead of RBT, for more mobility and extra punch in combat. It just felt wrong i couldn't do alot after both armies closed in on eachother, with the chariot i should be able to do more then

Eagle 50
RARE: 50

Dropped Bolt thrower because it did nothing all game and it's overpriced

Total: 996 points

[SimaoSegunda]

If your plan is to sit back and try to blast the enemy, have you considered Life magic? It's quite well suited to a defensive playstyle.