Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Warscrolls Compendium/High Elves
Your High Elves for the Age of Sigmar rules, so you can be an arrogant, snotty bastard on the battlefield while still championing good Order.
If you like the idea of being an elegant but powerful elder race with light shining out of your every orifice (or spending years in Slaanesh's gut before being spit out like Boba Fett) this is the army for you. Or if red, white, and blue with fire is appealing.
Highborn Summary
Elites everywhere, high stats, powerful characters with a lot of special rules that buff your troops, and some of the best ranged attacks in a game where ranged attacks are king. What's not to love?
Furthermore, when changes to fluff come chances are good that this faction after Sigmarines and Chaos will be getting the bulk of the lore. Dwarfs got the love and it seems more Chaos is comming after. Do not despair though.
Those who have piled into the Asur army over the years due to crunch overpowering may find themselves raging not due to nerfs, but due to every other faction getting buffed to equality. You can scream Communism and cry into a Banner of the World Dragon until you find the strength to muster on or go emo and paint your Highborn into Exile Aelfs.
Another sticking point is the army identities are gone. Aelfs live and work with round-ears and Grudge-monkeys without even a degree of raised nose, praise Sigmar and only bear the symbols of the Elf pantheon as remembrance rather than worship, and Ulthuan is space dust, probably part of Sigmaron now. Once again, old players must stick it out to stay current.
Highborn Warscrolls
Forenote: The following section will be arranged with similar units and formations being grouped together for easier reading.
This is by no means a complete guide, and focuses only on Highborn. Also due to the relatively recent release of Age of Sigmar and lack of Fantasy players remaining, most of this is based on theory. Take everything with a pinch of salt.
Named Characters
Tyrion Extremely powerful character. His sword now makes a strong ranged attack every turn with six Attacks rather than once per game, he ignores anything but strong (-2 or better) Rend and has that himself, makes all Highborn (basically the entire Highborn army) use his very high Bravery, and gets a fuckton of decent Attacks. Oh, and if killed you roll a dice and on anything but a 1 he comes back to life.
While taking 10 Nagash is still better when powergaming, Tyrion is much cheaper to buy.
As cavalry, Tyrion can be easily delivered where you need him to be.
Teclis Still a god-tier caster. Teclis can cast three spells, dispel three spells, knows any spell any Highborn Wizard within 16 inches of him knows in addition to Arcane Bolt, Mystic Shield, and his own unique spell Tempest with a cast value of 5 that deals a mortal Wound to a unit and halves all mouvements till your next hero phase. Still not enough? He adds 2 to his Casting and Unbinding rolls, and if he can roll 3 higher than the spell requirement he gets double range on it.
Take him.
Interestingly, his staff hits harder than his super special sword. Futhermore, his crippled nature did not translate to Age of Sigmar at all with decent stats and just slightly higher killing power than you'd expect a Wizard to have.
Eltharion on Stormwing He can Fly, and between his two weapons (the lance dealing a fuckton of damage on the charge) and Stormwing's special Wicked Talons and Razor-Sharp Beak the model is a killing machine pure and simple. He gets a 3+ Save against blows that only deal 1 damage, is a 1 Spell 1 Unbind Wizard who knows Arcane Bolt and Mystic Shield, and he can give one Highborn Unit per turn rerolls on Wound rolls.
Barring the ranged attack and Bravery boost, Eltharion is superior to even Tyrion.
Alarielle the Radiant Despite now being the leader of the Woodelves (Wanderers), she's still a Highborn special character option. Her ability makes highborns to ignore battleshock test if they are 16" within her and heals herself 1 wound in each of your hero phases. She can attempt to cast 2 different spells, one being her unique spell called Boon of life, a 6 casting value, 20" range spell that heals D6 wounds in a unit on a single model (!!). But wait, there's more!: Until your next hero phase, if the unit healed by this spell suffers a wound or mortal wound, roll a D6 and in a 6, the wound is healed instead.
All of this makes her a hell of a support option and the best healer of the game so far. The drawbacks are obvious: she is extremely fragile with only a 5+ save (Mystic shield could improve this but still). And now that independent characters can not join other units, you have to buy her a personal bodyguard or be very careful of how you have to deploy and move her. Fortunately, you don't have to worry about sending her into CC since her only weapon is a 2"/TH4+/TW3+/D3damage that improves into a D6 damage if you fight CHAOS units. So unless you played awful and she is the only mini you have, or you decide that the queen must put an end to your already beaten opponent, she will stay for a loooong time healing your other powerful characters (field her with Tyrion for a fluffy and hard to take down duo!) and being an annoying/high priority piece your opponent must take down.
Cavalry and Monsters
Ellyrian Reavers Highly mobile offensive unit capable of moving 2d6" in the shooting phase. Can move 14 inches, shoot 3 attacks per model, then move 2d6 inches, then charge 2d6 inches, then make 3 attacks per model. Suffers from having no rend and shitty saves. Best used harassing units, staying out of close combat and laying down a lot of arrows until it is time to Leeroy Jenkins. Take advantage of there being no rules against pre-measuring and retreat out of range after shooting every turn. Synergy with nothing - a good unit to plug into an Order army lacking mobility.
Silver Helms Your typical mid weight cavalry there 4+ hit and wound rolls can quite easlily be brought down to 3+ when charging in large groups. These guys also benefit from an improved saving re roll when up against ranged attacks meaning that against archers and artillary the number 3 is the only one you really dont want. Throw a mystic shield on them and they should be able to get into the thick of the fighting with minimal casualties.Not an overly powerful unit but a large group of these guys is certainly a solid choice.
Dragon Princes of Caledor These guys have a similar statline to bretonnian knights of the realm however they can move faster, are slightly braver and most importantly make two attacks withe their lances instead of one making them devestating on the charge. The horses are also slightly better in combat that most elven varieties.Buff them up a little and send them straight through a unit of light infantry.Also remember to take their battleshock last as if any of your other highborn units run then these guys are immune to battleshock.
High Elf Prince on Dragon
Your best monster and cavalry unit. One of the best command abilities in the game. Highly offensive and potentially durable with the Enchanted Shield. Bringing a lance and shield for the bonus to charging and rerollable saves is nice, but keep in mind that the Dragon Blade does more damage on average and the War Horn is an incredible offensive tool, giving all Highborn models an extra attack in your combat phase.
Frostfire Phoenix A hard to kill SOB who is 2W/1SV less than the dragon but that is compensated because of his awesome abilities that makes him an annoying bird that refuses to die:
-"Blizzard aura". Enemies chill and substracts 1 from wound rolls to any unit that dares to attack within 9" of your phoenix. This is a huge help to other fragile units who get the bonus just by being close to your bird. It also means you always get the bonus when charged against enemies!! (the range goes down if it gets wounded though).
-"Attuned to magic" extends his survival by adding 1sv in a 2+roll until your next hero phase each time a spell is successfully casted (wether unbound or not) within 12". OH MY. Keep your wizards close and you can potentially get many bonuses since it doesn't specify it only works once each turn.
-"Witness of destiny". As if the other abilities were not enough to keep this bird flying. You can only get this ability if you also field him with Caradryan or Anointed. This is pretty stupid because why the hell wouldn't you do this since there is not point cost in AOS? Anyway, enjoy your 4+sv each time a wound/mortal wound is inflicted.
As mentioned before, you can make an Anointed or Caradryan ride this beast. Both offer the witness of destiny ability but there is not point of choosing the Anointed since Caradryan gives the phoenix ANOTHER great ability in case he is taken down from the skies: "Mark of Assuryan" which inflicts D3 mortal wounds when killed. Also lets the miniature wield the Great Phoenix Helberd (2"/4A/3TH/3TW/-1R/1D) and the Phoenix blade that has the same profile but D3 damage.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: If Caradryan is your general, he has the standard command ability many Aelfs heroes possess: re-roll failed wounds of 1 of Highborns within 8" in the combat phase, but if the unit is Phoenix Guard, they re-roll all faild TW rolls. So... yeah. This unit is stupidly awesome.
Flamespyre Phoenix
While the Frostfire phoenix is an old durable bastard that can protect other units, its younger counterpart sacrifices this and a bit survival for a more aggressive approach, and if is what you are looking for, the Flamespyre won't dissapoint while turning enemies to ashes and coming back after dying.
First thing to note is that shares the Attuned to Magic and Witnees of destiny (if mounted by an Anointed) abilities to increase its survival. The Anointed also adds a Phoenix Halberd but the Phoenix real treat is not only during combat but also while it moves, since its "Wall of fire" ability inflicts mortal wounds only by flying over other units!!! (only one unit at the time). If this bird has no damage, we are talking about a napalm spray of D6MW moving 16" each turn but decreasing as the phoenix gets more wounds. If you are lucky, when he dies you roll a dice and in a 4+, the bird comes back with all its wounds, 9" from the unit that killed it.
Whatever version you pick depends on the role you want it to perform. The Frostfire is more of a team player who can protect and boost other units (that neat command ability), while Flamespyre has none of this but can take entire units and hard to kill enemies by its own.
Infantry
Spearmen Use these models as a proxy for Sea Guard, or if you can get away with it, Archers or Shadow Warriors - they are outclassed versus any other army's infantry. Avoid using.
Archers Bread and butter unit. Fill in your army with these and keep them close to a Sea Helm.
Repeater Bolt Thrower Useful in every army. 36" range is nothing to scoff at, and one of the few ranged options with rend.
Shadow Warriors Better than Archers. Best 1 wound unit in the game if they are near Alith Anar. Add a Sea Helm in the mix to create hilarious amounts of accuracy that practically guarantees wounds at 18"
Sisters of Avelorn Shadow Warriors need to check their privilege because these are just as good. So triggered. Neat ability: Once per turn, if an enemy unit ends its charge move within ½" of this unit, the Sisters of Avelorn can immediately shoot their Bows of Avelorn against the charging unit. Serious pain.
Lothern Sea Guard Definitely better than Spearmen. Remember there are no rules against shooting bows while in close combat, meaning they make 2 attacks on your turn. Cannot get the same range as Archers, but still capable of laying down support from 16". If you don't need the extra range and shooting power the Archers give, take these guys. If you need your Spearmen to shoot, take these guys. If you need a unit that is generally not bad at anything, take these guys. If you are looking for a unit that is great at something, look elsewhere.
Lothern Sea Helm Only useful for his pennant and command ability. The pennant gives +1 to wound rolls for all Highborn units within 8". The command ability keeps a unit from moving or charging, but you can re-roll any hit rolls, wound rolls, and save rolls until your next hero phase, which makes it incredibly useful for the glass cannons that are inevitably surrounding you.
Troll strategy on skycutter: Pair up with Neferata to make your best unit fly and use the command ability to let him run and charge in the same turn.
White Lions of Chrace Pretty good monster hunters, which is fitting seeing as how every one of these warriors has to straight up murder one of the regiment's namesakes and wear it as a fucking magical cloak. Also pretty durable, for an elf unit. Their magical cloaks let them re-roll 1s when being shot at in the shooting phase. And 'Unflinching Courage' allows you to roll a D6 every time a White Lion flees after an unsuccessful battleshock test. On a 4+, he grows a pair and rejoins the fight. And if Korhil is nearby, the unit can reroll failed hit rolls of 1. If Korhil uses his command ability on these guys, a unit of 10 of them attacking a monster unit is throwing out 21 attacks, re-rolling hits (which hit on 3), wounding on 2+ and a -1 rend. Scary.
Removed Options
The following choices can no longer be fielded, and share a profile with an existing model.
- Anointed of Asuryan can no longer ride Flamespyre or Frostheart Phoenixes to become two profiles, instead the character counts as an upgrade to the mount giving them certain perks but retaining the base stats of the Phoenix. If the Phoenix dies, both die.
- Nobles no longer exist. There are only Princes.
- Archmages no longer exist. There are only Mages.
- Nothing can mount on Eagles anymore. Eagle models with riders count as Wood Elf models, or unmounted.
- Ashtari no longer exists. Caradryan can only be fielded on foot or used as an upgrade to a generic Frostheart Phoenix.
- Eagle Claw Bolt Throwers are now Repeater Bolt Throwers (identical to the one on the Skycutter).
- Eltharion can no longer be unmounted. Stormclaw is default.
- Korhil can no longer crew a Lion Chariot.
- Chrace has been dropped from the name of Lion Chariots. They are now White Lion Chariots.
- Nothing can mount on Tiranoc Chariots anymore except the stock crew.
Formations
Glittering Host A simple Core and character list using one Prince, two Units of Spearmen, two Units of Archers, and one Unit of Silver Helms. Gives them Valour of Ages which is a Battleshock reroll if the Prince is alive and near, and Martial Prowess which allows another unit from the Glittering Host to make attacks on the same target with the first after it finishes (with no specified range, allowing the Silver Helms to rush into a fight and the Spearmen halfway across the map to somehow get licks in) .
Dragon Host Field any three Highborn Dragons, excluding Imrik, and they gain Dragonfire Conflagration which allows all three to torch the same enemy in a combined breath which deals fuckloads of damage and can obliterate almost anything if you get lucky on your rolls. Ancient Dignity lets you reroll any Hit Roll of 1. Dragon Host is a very powerful force, and if you can afford the models is very much worth considering.
Althran Stormrider's Host The Island Of Blood High Elf force, consisting of Althran (Prince on Gryphon), Caladris (Mage), one Unit of Ellyrion Reavers, one Unit of Swordmasters of Hoeth, and one Unit of Lothern Seaguard. Bonds of Friendship gives Althran and Caladris rerolls on Hit, Wound, and Save rolls. Heroic Valour gives all the models in the group 1 extra point to Bravery while Althran is still alive. All of the component forces are very good options, the buffs to the Mage and Prince are very good, and its very easy to get the models making it a good thing to have in any given Highborn army.
Army Building
Bad news: the Island of Blood is not avaliable anymore on GW website. Goods news: internet exists, so you only have to search on ebay, amazon and many others who still offer this excellent box that gives you a Prince on gryphon, a High elf Mage, 5 Ellyrian riders, 10 Swordmasters of Hoeth and 10 Lothern Seaguard. You can sell the skaven to other player or even find a seller who offers only the Aelfs minis. Don't forget to download the also very good Warscroll in order to get special rules for these units.
Now, and because many players felt disheartened after what they did with WH:FB, you cand find excelent bargains of webstore exclusive characters, monsters and even complete armies by half of their value. In short: building yourself a Highborns army is easier and cheaper than ever (until they get some of GW love and get new minis).
Wacky Rules
- Ancient Dignity
Pretend you're a stuck-up asshole who doesn't show emotion outwardly for a group of three Dragons to gain rerolls on Hit rolls of 1.