Editing Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/High Elves (section)

== Tactics ==

=== Know your Weaknesses and know your Strengths ===
High elves are very easy to kill, High elves have small armies and high elves do not fare well 1 on 1. This bitter reality means that your army does not like getting shot at and does not like long combats of attrition or static combat resolution. It is important that you have some hard strikers with support but you can also not put too many points in individual units or otherwise you will easily be flanked or your units cherry picked by focus fire. Mobility is your big advantage so use it and shooting / magic will help taking care of hard enemy targets.
In most cases you will also have to make a decision where to attack and where to sacrifice units to slow down / diver the enemy - you cannot afford to strike everywhere at once. Reavers and eagles are the perfect bait or sacrifice for strong enemy units. Also every enemy war machine taken out on turn 1 (Repeater Bolt Throwers, magic) or turn 2 (cavalry charges or eagles / griffon lord) is a win. Strong enemy shooting can take out your best units easily by turn 2 - 4 if you don't look out.

As stated prior, the other big weakness of high elves are their costs. It means your armies must be thoroughly thought through and you cannot afford slack. Every unit needs to fulfill a purpose and fit the play style strategically and tactically (aka the need to use them right in battle)

=== Army compositions ===

* '''Fire and Flames:''' One way of winning with the high elves is pure ranged damage. The high elves cannot create a large gun line but they can mutually support repeater bolt throwers and strong magic. Key is to maximize fire and focus. Curse of arrow attraction and repeater bolt throwers and the bow of the seafarer or hunting bow are an extremely powerful combination. However, going 1 archmage, 2 mages with a combination of lore of heaven, high magic and lore of fire and 4 bolt throwers will set you back at least 1000 points so the more interesting aspect is the rest of the army. Also make sure your magic phase goes well by getting rerolls first and your lvl 4 archmage should protect himself against miscasts. How can you survive with so few points for units left? You will have to invest in redirectors and slowing enemies down by sacrificing some cheap units and high elves do not have a lot of them. Ellyrian reavers are a key unit here. Bring at least 2 units of 5 and think about investing in a noble on a giant eagle for further disturbing the enemy. Otherwise, create a big block of stubborn spearmen with your noble in them to hold the line in one spot. Offensive striking units like silver helms or chariots are probably wasted points here and be prepared to win by throwing all your melee units under the bus if the enemy is aggressively pushing you. This is the best HE army against any possible enemy. Just be aware that the first 2 turns the enemy will have scrolls to block your most important spells so if you rely on one (arrow curse for example) you might want consider to have two mages who bring it.

* '''Cavalry Dominance:''' Another good army composition is a heavy focus on cavalry. The classic approach is a bunch of silver helms and possibly dragon princes supported by reavers and mounted heroes for an all out rush. Add a lvl2 mounted scroll bearer, 1-2 eagles and 2 repeater bolt throwers against heavier stuff and you can dish out a lot of damage. A prince on a griffon might also fit the list nicely in case your knights encounter difficult to kill opposition. Such a list is effective in most cases by brute force but against some enemies you might still not be able to dominate the whole frontline and here is where cavalry and movement really shine. you can very easy use your cavalry units (especially reavers) to reposition your army and shift your attack focus while at the same time retreat in other places. Attacking your enemy weak spots while avoiding / redirecting / locking his strong units is what you have to do to win against strong enemy armies. Don't be afraid to sacrifice one or even two of your units if it takes out high priority targets that can destroy your strategy (like hellfire volleyguns...). Once your enemies shooting and quick units are neutralized, you can almost control the battlefield at will. Eagles play an important role here simply because you get 2 fast units for one rare slot and 100 points and you need a lot of small fast units. For your silver helms I would personally get three groups, 2x8 and 1x5 with the battle banner so that enemy focus fire taking out a unit will not hurt so much. Nobles on steeds or eagles are great for the list but a case for more magic power can also be done to control movement even more and dish out ranged damage once you circle around your enemy but I prefer a straight brute approach. This army is great against most enemies but be careful with the undead and unbreakable (aka braindead) units who wont run away from your charges and with Bretonnians a stand off while you shoot and fly around them is preferable to a quick joust.

=== Synergies ===
Just some overview on stuff that works well together. In the end you have to built your own lists and adapt them to the challenges ahead so knowing synergies is helpful.
* '''The difficult Terrain Squad:''' Cavalry + White Lions + Shadow Warrior. Your cavalry units can take the banner of ellyrion making difficult terrain passable. Be aware of the 2-inch view restriction in forests though. White lions can also go at least through forest without movement penalty and your shadow warriors can also pass through difficult terrain and even use forests to get setup out of sight of the enemy. White lions and shadow warriors are not recommended units but if you anticipate a lot of woods you can think about the synergy. Otherwise just use the banner and support the surprise attack through the woods (don't forget the 2-inch visibility - don't lose 2 turns by being in the woods) with a flyer
* '''Arrow Curse, Sign of Amul and Repeater Bolt Throwers:''' Marginalizing chance of failure is one of the best strategy to win. There are many ways too it and several reroll possibilities for strong shooting is very powerful. The Arrow cures means rerolls to hit, the Sign of Amul rerolls can be used for wounds or in case the Arrow Curse does not come through. If both hit then using regular bolts from your bolt thrower become much more feasible and will be devasting against armored targets and monsters. Watch your enemies cry over their generals on mounts and best units when 4 repeater bolt throwers focus on one target with rerolls. 
* '''Magic Battery with a twist:''' A common tactic for all magic offensive armies - focus your efforts on your lvl 4 mage and make him as reliable and strong as possible. Your other mages act more as batteries but HE need to be a bit more creative here. The HE do not have a reroll magic dice item which makes them more prone to miscasts so your priority is to have the staff of strength (ignore first miscast) and casting Sign of Amul for rerolls to avoid an unfortunate end of the magic phase (or for your archmage). You can give the magic banner to one of your units to get another W3 dice each magic phase and get the staff for the +1 to cast (both staffs are arcane items so can be combined). One of your Lvl1 or Lvl2 mages should also cast the Sign of Amul and use the ring of Corin to get the enemy to commit more dispel dice. Make sure with the wise title and silver staff that you get all the spells you need for two of your mages since the elves do not have an item to enable your LVL4 to cast a spell twice so important spells need to be on two of your mages or otherwise your enemy will easily defend against them for two turns with scrolls.
* '''The flying Circus''' HE can for 520 field 4 flying nobles with 4+ save and greatweapons on giant eagles. In reality you probably want some magic items in there and maybe a mage in there is better but HE still can field a lot of flying heroes for a lot of strong striking where you need it. Add in another 2 great eagles and you will totally dominate movement with 6 flyers and enemy war machines will be gone by turn 3. To take on larger enemy units you will need support from regular troops or focus of several flyers at once but with 1400 points left at 2000 you should be able to field some blocks / cavalry. Biggest issue with this list (and why I have never even seen one) is the lack of models to portray heroes on great eagles. Lotr Great eagles might be a way out and the Griffon Lord from the 8th starter sits on such a small Griffon that I think its feasible to field it as a great eagle instead. Otherwise Wood Elf warhawks combined with High Elf mounted heroes can work. 
* '''No Fear''' Playing against the undead fear and auto-break are your biggest enemies. HE have a lot of options dealing with it though and interestingly your cavalry only army might perform worse than a more traditional infantry army. The Lion Banner and Banner of Balance are your first choices but also your Lord on a Griffon will not be affected and against undead you might even consider bringing Phoenix guards due to their fear immunity and lack of enemy shooting. Additionally the banner of arcane protection will be melting undead troops on contact. In general fighting undead negates the HE weakness against shooting (Yes Tomb Kings can somewhat shoot but str.3 hits and some overpriced catapults shouldnt worry you too much if you can block their magic) and make your movement strength shine even more. Bring dispel dices (annulian crystal!) and the aforementioned banners for your infantry and you will have a good fighting chance. If your cavalry army is fighting the undead try to get as many combined and side charges in as possible.


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[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics]]
[[Category:Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition]]