[Wiccus]

Prince (with Sword Masters)
- Armor of Caledor
- Vambraces of Defence
- Potion of Foolhardiness
- Great Weapon
=247pts

Archmage (with Flame Banner Sea Guard)
- Lvl 4
- Book of Hoeth
- Lore of Life
=360pts

Noble (with Phoenix Guard)
- BSB
- Helm of Fortune
- Sword of Might
- Dragon Armor
- Shield
=158pts

25 Lothern Sea Guard
- Shields
- Full Command
- Banner of Eternal Flame
=360pts

25 Lothern Sea Guard
- Shields
- Full Command
=350pts

26 Sword Masters
- Full Command
- Banner of Sorcery
- Amulet of Light
=485pts

24 Phoenix Guard
- Full Command
- Razor Standard
=435pts

Great Eagle – 50pts

Great Eagle – 50pts

I'm hoping that this list will be able to deal with most armies. Lore of life can turn my squishy as hell elves into untouchable juggernauts. I have a very good challenge character and what I believe to be a very solid battle line. I however know nothing about HE and this is my first list I have written for them. Any HE veterans have any advice for me?

 

[Orochi]

So to a 2.5 k battle, you're bringing just over 100 models organised into 4 blocks of infantry.
No war machines.
No flanking units.
No cavalry.
No monsters.

You're looking to get out-manuvered and suffer intense damage from shooting. As the only unit with any real protection is the Phoenix guard.

A unit of reavers would be such a good addition. You really need that mobility, as for an Elf army, this is very slow. And armies that focus on blocks of infantry such as Dwarves and Chaos will eat you for breakfast.

 

[Wiccus]

I don't see what reavers would really add to the list. They seem like they are kind of spendy and are just as squishy as the rest of my troopers who can actually pack a punch. Sword Masters and Phoenix Guard shouldn't really need flanking units as Sword Masters kill pretty much anything they touch and Phoenix guard are tough as nails. I had thought of taking a unit of Dragon Princes to take out enemy support units but that would require me dropping some bodies from my blocks or a character which I don't feel too comfortable with. Of course I have never played a game with them yet so I could be completely wrong.

 

[Lord Sven Kittyclaw]

Well, this list is a dangerous thing, your characters are powerful. I would say if your worried about flankers, then deploy the sea guard on the flanks, also how are you going to deplay them? Becuase if they were 30 strong then you can deploy them 15x2 for shooting all the way to the front, then take the charge, stand and shoot, swift reform, and kill the enemy with 21 spear attacks.

 

[Wiccus]

that was the idea. the sea guard would be in two ranks until they were about to be charged then I would shuffle them into 5 ranks of 5 so they can be steadfast and have a bunch of attacks.

 

[olderplayer]

You could cut the size of the core units a bit and drop some champions for points. I keep struggling with the issue of the ability to shoot with Sea Guard as opposing to the lower cost of the spearmen. Figure that the Sea Guard with get, at most, two rounds of shooting off in an average battle, even if averageing a 50% hit rate and shooting models with T3 and 5+ AS worth 7 points each, one can only expect a Sea Guard to kill an average of .33 models per battle for a value of 2.67 points for an extra cost of 4 points. If fighting clan rats or slaves or Orc Boys, the math gets worse because the models cost significantly less than 7 points or are tougher to kill. You might run one larger unit of Sea Guard with a second larger unit of spearmen to boost the model count in core and run as close to min core points as possible.

You really need something faster and mobile beyond the eagles to go after war machines. Two eagles die too quickly to shooting in my experience unless supported by some cav or something else. Although RBTs are not as valuable as in the past, they can still be essential for shooting something.

Agree with the choice of Life as the primary lore for HE. Light has some spells that are more redundant for you than life, where Life allows miscast protection, increased toughness, regrowth, and some decent damage spells plus the ability to restore wounds on the mage.

I'd be concerning with the mage with the sea guard. The Book leaves the mage with no protection beyond what the unit provides. Sea Guard That unit is more likely to be shot up. Running with the Phoenix Guard has the ward save benefit of the guard unit.

I'd look at beefing up the Prince and replacing the Potion (one use only and only devastating charge on an unmounted character) with the Icon that gives a 6+ ward save to war machine shooting to protect the unit or one of the other enchanted potions.

Realize that the Sorcery banner plus the threat of 2 S5 ASF attacks per round of combat (WS6, I5) will make the swordmaster unit a natural target for shooting and magic attacks. Unless you are consistently successful in boosting the toughness of that unit, it can die too fast for that banner. For that reason, I often put that banner with the phoenix guard unit (which has the ward save benefit) and it give that unit magic resistance and some shooting protection (even 5 points for the Icon with the 6+ ward save against war machine shooting is a points cost effective item for protecting that unit).

In order to ensure that all desired Life spells are obtained and to boost magic defense, my preference has been to add a mage with life with the crystal. The two RIP spells of Throne of Vines and Shield of Thorns often need to be dispelled by opponents and are often dispelled in the opponent's magic phase (lower dispel cost and avoids the Book casting with IRF) leaving the remaining power dice pool of the opponent depleted by the dispel requirements and the -1 PD by the crystal plus you get +1 PD. As long as the mage is protected, the crystal and extra life spells combined are worth the cost of the mage.