Dark Elf advice please

[redrio]

hey, I've been playing 40k for 15 years but never played Fantasy... It's a bit of a shame really, so I'm branching out and want to play DE.

Looking for advice on what to take/avoid...?

I don't want to be all beardy and stuff, as I'm mainly a hobby gamer rather than tournaments, but I do want a list that is capable of winning games.

Advise me, please......

[icecube]

Why don´t you start by telling what you want out of the list, like mass shooting, magick phase domination, close combat ? Then it´s easier to help.

[redrio]

mostly combat, I want to avoid magic if possible (don't like it) and some backup shooting. Was thinking a couple of 10 man crossbow squads, a reaper or 2, a hydra, some blocks of spearmen and some cold one knights then characters and assassins

[Confuddled]

Um. Well, it really depends on you – there really aren’t any BAD close-combat units in the Dark Elf list per se.

Its worth noting, however, that Dark Elf armies have the potential to concentrate purely on combat characters, trusting in the Ring of Hotek and numbers to compensate for enemy magic.


For instance, a list optimised for close combat might look something like this:



Master, Army General, Armour of Darkness, Ring of Hotek, Manticore, lance
Master BSB, heavy armour, shield, sea dragon cloak, dark steed, Standard of Hag Graef
Assassin, Rending Stars, Manbane

2x5 Dark Riders, musician
3x5 Harpies
12 Crossbowmen, shields, musician

6 Shades

21 Executioners, full command, War Banner
21 Black Guard, full command, Banner of Murder

2 Hydras

Comes to just about 2230 points


General shuts down enemy magic, either by staying near key units OR flying up to buzz the other guy’s mages.

Master probably hangs with the Executioners, with the Black Guard right next to them – they just march straight down the centre and DARE anyone to charge them.

Hydras support the flanks.

Crossbowmen stay home to mind the store and shoot up the light stuff (fast cavalry for instance)

Harpies and Dark Riders ride out to distract anyone trying to block the big guys.


Still some glaring weaknesses (movement spells could be a pain), but you’ve got a heck of a close-combat punch that you can just ram down the other guy’s throat -



It would help, however, if you listed your expected point value – all this is pretty pointless if you’re planning on fielding a 2000-point list, for instance.

[icecube]

If you´re starting a army, why not start with smaller point totals like 1250 or 1500 points? I´d say allways take atleast one unit of harpies, one unit of dark riders(as an modelling tip: get some wood elf glade riders and use their legs and the leftover corsair parts from a darrk elf battalion to makee them.) Other than that, if you don´t want magick, take the ring of hotek and maybe a scroll caddie. Then take some good CC power (executioners or black guard). Also, to me atleast, one of the best things in the army book is the claudron of blood and it works really well with executioners and black guard.

[elrodogg]

If you´re starting a army, why not start with smaller point totals like 1250 or 1500 points?

I would very much recommend against this. You should play at 2000-2250, that's the ideal level of the game and where the game is designed to be played.

Everything you mentioned that you want in a list is viable. Really, just start painting. DE spears, rxb's, hydra and repeating bolt throwers are all completely viable. Lots of folks (including myself) aren't the biggest fans of cold one knights, but do love cold one chariots (because of the smaller frontage for the same hittiness and for fewer points).

A good list can be built around the following backbone (which fyi is my general build). It will be versatile and fun to use.

2x20 spears w/ full command
2x10 repeating crossbows w/ shields and musician
2x5 dark riders w/ musicians and repeating crossbows
2x5 harpies
Repeating bolt thrower
Hydra
2x Cold One Chariots

From there you can branch out (that's only ~1400 of the 2250 you have to spend). When you go for fighty characters, you should have at least one mage with 2 dispel scrolls and a hero with the ring of hotek, as you will need magic defense.

If you want a faster list, you can add your two units of cold one knights, a hero on a dark pegasus and a lord on a manticore. You would have 2x flying units, 2x chariots, 2x fast cav, 2x heavy cav, 2 flying heros. Ace.

If you want a gunline, it's easy to add another RBT, some shades and more dark riders with rxb's.

If you want a fighty infantry list, then add black guard and/or executioners and some assassins.

In any case, I would start by building a base block of troops that looks similar to that, as you'll end up using 90% of it an almost all your lists.

[jamesTFL]

get yourself some black guard (give them the banner of hag graef), at least one assassin, shades, and harpies. as well as the already mentioned RxBts spears and hydras. I'd put the ring on the black guard champ, and take a dreadlord rather than the level 4 sorc.

Dark elfs are one of the hardest lists out there. If you want more specifics let me know.

[redrio]

cheers so far everyone.

I have made a start on them now, first purchase was 32 warriors and a reaper; get some core troops out the way before touching anything exciting. Since I'm a fantasy noob (it's embarrassing!) I had overlooked the ring of hotek in favour of more destructive items like sword of ruin, but it's really a must have since I'm avoiding magic.

Trying to take off my "40k hat" and get into the fantasy mindset before I finalise the list

[Joker's Wild]

I could write for a while giving you advice on Dark Elves.

But since you picked up some models, I figure we'll start there.

I personally take 1 unit of 20 Warriors with full command and shields. I take the Banner of Murder as it allows the Spear-men to actually do some damage. The most important part of this unit is the assassin you hide there. Give him manbane and rune of kaine for max utility. You could also make an argument for killing blow, but I already have a cauldron in the army to put killing blow there if needed, so I stay with volume. Don't forget he'll also have armor pen. from the banner. Try a unit just like that and you won't be disappointed.

I'd then make the other 12 guys crossbows. 10 normal guys, a musician, and a champ. That gives you several ways to build the unit. I personally never take a banner on these kinds of units. Almost no one does. Always give them shields. It gives them a 4+ save in combat.