Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Dark Elves

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Unit Analysis

Lords & Heroes

Named Characters

• Malekith, the Witch King: It's good to be the King. Malekith cots 600 points vanilla (keeping him out of games under 2500) but you get your moneys worth for it. He's a Highborn with higher WS, S and T. He's also a level 4 Wizard (who has to use Dark Elves' special lore), magic armor that gives a 2+ ward against mundane attacks and makes him immune to multiple wounds and being killed outright, a magic weapon that lets him break enemy magic items (allowing him to get rid of those pesky magic weapons that can harm him), a shield that gives him Magic Resistance (2) and causes magic spells aimed at him that are dispelled to rebound for an S6 hit on the wizard per dice, a crown that gives him an extra power and dispel dice per phase and he makes all Dark Elves within 12 immune to Panic. And he still has hatred and comes with Immune to Psychology. Exhale. He costs a bucketload but can easily turn entire games around. His mount options include Cold One (mediocre), a Cold One Chariot with a 2+ save (quite good for smaller points games) and a Black Dragon (requires a game of 4000 points or more and you don't get ANY other Lords, but can wreck entire units on it's own). Malekith is an expensive powerhouse. The combination of killer stats, great special rules and magic items and being a powerful caster in his own right make him more than worth his rather expensive entry cost.

• Morathi, the Hag Sorceress: Morathi is a little schitzo about her role. Her abilities and stat increases seem to indicate that she's intended for combat, which is the exact opposite place from where you want her. She's also more expensive than a regular level 4 Sorceress and she doesn't get enough for it. If you're in a big points game and you want to have more than one Level 4 with the Dark Elf lore, then her ability to take all the spells in Dark Magic might be worth it, but you should really be taking Fire or Death in larger points games. Just take a regular Level 4 Supreme Sorceress. She also has the honor of being the only model who actually shows her tits. Actual, unobscured (aside from the boob-holders that look like they're straight from a Korean MMO) honest-to-god breasts, with nipple and all. If someone actually uses Morathi, there is a rought 95% chance they use her for this very reason.

• Crone Hellebron: Hellebron is a fundamentally ideal combat lord. Okay, she costs 100 points more than fully kitted out Highborn and comes with no protection. But she has I9, comes with 6+D3 S10 poisoned attacks (essentially guaranteed to wipe out an entire rank), forces the enemy to take an LD test or lose 1 WS, comes with Witchbrew (perfect for a unit of Witch Elves) and makes Witch Elves Core. Oh and she and any unit she's with auto-dispel the first spell cast at them EVERY phase on a 4+. Yeah. She can also take a Manticore or come with a Cauldron of Blood, but neither of those are something you want her to do. Put her in a unit of Witch Elves and send them charging into the enemy.

• Malus Darkblade: You've read his books, now put him on the tabletop. He costs nearly 300 points and has a couple nifty abilities, but overall he's too expensive for his stuff. Using Tz'arkan makes him more powerful, but gives him a 50% chance of hacking his unit apart. Not worth it.

• Shadowblade: Ehh. Almost double what a properly kitted out Assassin would cost. His hiding in the enemy unit is fun for trolling, but situational and dangerous for him. Even if you get him to reveal himself when he needs to, where he needs to, if he gets killed he could just as easily damage your own unit, which keeps him from being set up like a regular Assassin. Take a regular Assassin, more bang for your buck.

• Lokhir Fellheart: An effective enough combat hero, if a bit on the pricy side. One of his abilities is something anyone can do now and he can get an absurd number of attacks, but the extra hundred points for no stat upgrades means he's kinda limited. A master is probably better.

Generic Characters

Note: While named characters are judged against their generic counterparts, generic characters are examined based on their role in your army. NOTE: No Master or Highborn's Armor Save should EVER be below 4+. It costs less than 10 points to give them Heavy Armor and Sea Dragon Cloak which instantly gives them a leg up on 99 percent of most enemy heroes and lords.

• Highborn: Your workaday combat lord. He's cheap and effective and can be highly nasty when given the right equipment. A fun combination is Cold One, Armor of Living Death, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak and Pendent of Khaeleth, which makes him nigh-unkillable (low S attacks will get repelled on the 1+ armor save, high strength will get knocked out by the silly-ward). There are many equipment options that will be covered in the equipment section. Overall, he's cheap with some good stats (WS7 and I8 is nothing to sneer at) and he can be quite effective in the right circumstances. Just don't put him in fights he can't win.
• Supreme Sorceress: Supreme Sorceresses (and Sorceresses for that matter) excel at one thing: Blasting the almighty crap out of everything. You can fling absurd amounts of dice around if you're unafraid of miscasts and have access to some impressively destructive Lores. The Dark Elves signature Lore consists of almost nothing but ways to blast the shit out of people. Aside from that, Fire can be fun and Death is good for some targeted hero killing. Bringing a Level 4 Supreme Sorceress will almost always pay off.
• Sorceress: Sorceresses are cheap and effective. Level 1s can bring a small effective spell to the table (Notable Dark Magic's signature spell is one that shooting heavy armies HATE!) and bringing a level 2 could provide valuable support when things go tits up for your Supreme Sorceress. Not as powerful as a Supreme but well worth taking.
• Master: Masters are among the best cost for ability heroes in the game. He has no special abilities beyond Hatred, but his WS and I make him powerful for a hero and did we mention he's only 80 points and can ride a fucking MANTICORE? Yeah, this guy can hit 'em where it hurts for cheap. Also the better option for a BSB.
• Death Hag: Death Hags cost 10 points more than a master for 2 hand weapons, Frenzy, Poisoned Attacks aaaand...the loss of any kind of saves beyond a 5+ for 30 points. Not batting 1000 here. And the gifts of Khaine do not compare well to the Magic Items.
  • Cauldron of Blood: If you're taking a Death Hag for any other reason than to take this motherfucker, than you're an idiot. 110 points for a model that can wreck anyone's day within 24 inches and makes all Khaite models stubborn within 12. Perfect for a defensive army.
• Assassin: Assassin's are not heroes but there's no better place to put them, so deal with it. Assassin's when kitted out right, can end the life of any Hero and most Lords. It's frankly ABSURD WS and I mean that it can put the whammy on anyone dumb enough to get into close combat with it. And here's the kicker, because of the Hidden rule, people don't know if they're getting into combat with it. Very good in either your rank units (to help them hold up when a powerful unit tries to use them) or in your flank units (to up your kill count when you charge). We'll talk about setups later during the magic item discussion, just remember that Assassins often end up on suicide detail after a round of combat or two. Oh and don't forget to write down what unit it's in, or people will accuse you of cheating.

• • Mount Options:
    • Dark Steed: The cheapest option, but not really worth it. M9 will put him out away from the rest of the army, except for Dark Riders, but why would you want a character to join them?
    • Cold One: The traditional mount of a Highborn/Master and with good reason. M7 is quite reasonable, stupidity is unlikely to cause problems at LD9 and S4 and +2 to armor saves are always nice. If you want a mounted hero without shelling out for a big expensive mount, this is where to go.
    • Dark Pegasus: Pegasi are in an awkward position in this book. If you want a flying mount, there are better places to go that don't get killed whenever a unit of Longbow armed humans or up gets it in their head that that Dark Elf bearing down on them doesn't mean them any good. But with T4 and only 3 wounds, pretty much any concentrated shooting can take them out and they don't really have the power to make up for that.
    • Manticore: Don't have the points for a Black Dragon, but want something big and scary? Then come on down to Beastmaster's Manticore Emporium. The inbetween option and a damned good one at that. If you want people to cry cheese, try mounting your Master on one of these.
    • Black Dragon: A middle tier Dragon (better than Sun Dragons and Manticores but not as good as Star Dragons and Greater Daemons) who's effectiveness is often linked to how good the rider is. A powerful mount, perhaps a tiny bit overpriced, but worthwhile. We will cover what items to take and not take later, but a remember that your Dragon is huge and scary, so it will be getting shot at by everyone who doesn't want to see it crashing into their lines. Keep it out of sight of cannons.

Core Units

• Dark Elf Warriors: The mainstay core unit of any Dark Elf army. Lucky for you, they kick ass. A solid statline (high M, WS, BS, I and LD, average everything else) for 7 points (it's always 7 points, you ALWAYS give them shields, doubles their chances of surviving an S3 hit). Cheap command, access to a cheap magic banner. Take them in large units, these are the units you use for receiving charges, they'll need the extra ranks to absorb the hits.

• Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen: The other mainstay core unit, and again they kick ass. Between good range, armor piercing and multiple shots, these guys shred light to medium armored units like they're not even there. Have them concentrate fire with Bolt Throwers and Shades (if you have them) to damage your enemies important. Again, you always give them shields, as they will be absorbing a lot of S3 and S4 return fire.

• Black Arc Corsairs: The updated army book kinda left Corsairs without a home. They cost 3 points more than a Warrior with Shield for no stat upgrades. Sea Dragon Cloaks and 2 hand weapons make a little more resistant to shooting and a little better on the charge, but rank-and-flank tactics means that your core units are going to be absorbing charges rather than charging. This also applies for the otherwise nifty Slaver special rule. Small units might work okay as flanking units, but Witch Elves do the same job better for the same points. They're not bad, by any means, but there are better options available to you.

• Dark Riders: Fast Cavalry got heavily nerfed under 8th Edition and therefore the otherwise useful Dark Riders don't work as well as they might. They're still good war machine hunters and great for filling out your Core Points (which the otherwise more useful Harpies don't do), but as with Corsairs, there are better choices.

• Harpies: Harpies are ideal War Machine/Lone Wizard hunters. Cheap? Check. High number of Attacks? Check. High Initiative? Check. Flying? Check. Don't cause Panic in other units? Big check. If there's even the slightest chance of you facing an army with some war machines, take these guys. And even if you're not, they're great at drawing units out of position (Frenzied units HATE these guys), disrupting enemy lines and even do an okay job at flanking and assisting in a big melee in a pinch (don't rely on them for this, there's a chance they could take their wounds in combat back). A very good choice under any circumstances.

Special Units

• Witch Elves: Witch Elves are the first in the series of nasty flanking units. They have an absurdly high volume of attacks (20 poisoned attacks for 2 ranks), high Initiative and cheap. Banner of Murder is tailor made for these guys and you can't go wrong with Witchbrew. Be careful with them though, they're about as hard to shoot to death as Goblins (more resistant to Panic though, thanks to Frenzy) and are easily led out of position. Use them by all means, but be careful.

• Shades: Shades are left out in the cold by the new rulebook. They're very expensive (most expensive infantry in the book) and don't function as well as they did last edition. A unit of 5 can still be worthwhile for drawing units out of position and hunting war machines, but they're not anyone's first choice for a special choice.

• Executioners: Chaos Warriors getting you down? Brettonians resisting all your attempts to move them? Need someone with high Strength to knock out a monster? Then take Executioners. High Strength and Killing Blow make these guys a powerful flanking unit, just don't try to use them as a rank unit and if you want to take BSB (for Banner of Har Garneth for example?), remember it has to be a Death Hag.
  • Tuaris of Har Garneth: One unit of Executioners can take him as a Champion. He costs 15 points more than a Master and has weaker stats. His weapon is nifty, if a little redundant and his abilities are okay, but the problem is his main ability only works when he kills someone in a challenge and with only 1 wound, a 5+ armor save and ASL, most heroes (and a solid percentage of unit champions) will probably be able to knock him out before he strikes. Skip him.

• Cold One Knights: A good enough flanking unit when the chips are down and can even charge smaller units head on in a pinch. Cheap Heavy Cavalry is always welcome, even if Heavy Cavalry took the hard end of the nerfstick in 8th edition. It helps that their models are GORGEOUS (they ride fucking DINOSAURS) and they have an exceptionally brutal statline, with LD9 more than making up for Stupidity. Worthwhile.

• Cold One Chariots: Quite good as far as Chariots go. It's highly resistant to damage and while, once in a while Stupidity will prevent you from making that charge you need to, it's low cost and high LD keep that from happening too often. Keep it someplace it can't be charged and use it to flank in a tight moment. Not precisely the Black Coach as far as Chariots go, but can be extremely useful.

• Black Guard: The only Rank choice that isn't a core choice. They're easy to damage unfortunately and their unit sizes are limited, but they hit hard (15 always rerollable S4 attacks for 2 ranks) and they. Do. Not. Break. For a 15 point magic banner from the main rulebook they can be LD10 Stubborn and there's nothing funnier than giving a Tower Master the Ruby Ring of Ruin. Highly recommended.
  • Kouran of the Black Guard: Like Tularis, one unit can take him as a Champion. Unlike Tularis, he's actually worth it. 5 points cheaper than a Master with all the Black Guard trimmings, 3 S6 attacks and he's harder to hit than Tularis. Oh and did we mention that he makes his unit of Black Guard fucking UNBREAKABLE? Definitely something you're going to want to help your Black Guard hold out.

Rare Units

• Reaper Bolt Thrower: Often gets ignored in favor of the more flashy and powerful other rare choice, but a solid choice in it's own right. As will all Bolt Throwers it's good at taking out Heavy Cavalry and low wound monsters. Unlike all other Bolt Throwers (except for High Elves, who have the same exact unit) it can also be pretty good at taking out infantry. Stick it next to your Repeater Crossbowmen and help them shred units one at a time.
• War Hydra: Any bitch-fest about Dark Elves will bring up these guys, usually 2 or 3 times. It's easily the best unit in the army and high in the running for the best cost-for-ability units in the goddamn GAME. 175 points. 7 attacks. 5 wounds. S and T 5. 7 attacks. Hatred. Thunderstomp. A breath weapon with S equal to it's remaining wounds. Did we mention 7 attacks? Also 2 S3 armor piercing guys with 3 attacks each, who literally CANNOT die until the Hydra's bought it. This thing EATS. UNITS. Your ultimate flanking unit and you can take 2 in a 2000 point game if you want to drink your opponents tears.

Building Your Army

Buying Your Army

Dark Elf Warriors and Crossbowmen are the mainstay of your army. Treat them like it.

Black Guard and Warriors make great supporting Ranked units. Witch Elves and Executioners are great flanking infantry. Cold One Chariots and Cavalry are good too and are generally cheaper, but they don't generate as much static CR.

War Hydras are brutal, under any circumstances but are best charging on the flanks. Harpies and Dark Riders make great disruption and drawing units. Crossbowmen and Bolt Throwers are great for softening up important enemy units.

Shades, Corsairs are limited in usefulness and there are generally units that do the jobs they do better.

Build accordingly.

Tactics

Say it with me: Rank. And. Flank. Draw your enemies onto your big ranked units (usually Warriors and Black Guard, though Corsairs and Executioners can work in a pinch), hold out for a turn and then charge them on the flanks with the big scary units. Dark Elves do this better than any other army in the game. Their Ranked units have high enough WS, I and LD to hold out for a little while and their flanking units hit brutally hard. They also have units that are exceptionally good at drawing enemy units out of position and just generally causing problems. (Harpies do this job exceptionally well, but Shades and Dark Riders do okay).