Editing Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/High Elves (section)

===Rare Units===

* '''Repeater Bolt Thrower:''' None of the Rare Choices are precisely blue chip units, but Repeater Bolt Throwers are an alternative answer for high toughness and 2+ armour saves if you haven't brought along White Lions. It does have good range, and it is your only war machine, and now that each one is 30 points cheaper it's a lot less painful setting up a defensive position on your side of the map. It does however depend upon lots of protection to be effective as it is a primary target for magic and shooting, and only has two wounds. T7(!) can offset a lot of that though, and combined with Archers they can cause a lot of damage, or with Lothern Seaguard to pump out some hits and be ready for when the enemy reaches you. They're more resistant to shooting than Eagles and can probably cause more damage long-term. Not a great unit, but if you're in the mood, they don't generally hurt. Concentrate fire to bring down big things like monsters and characters, volley fire to eliminate enemy chaff and infantry blocks. 

* '''Great Eagle:''' Used to be the only chaff the High Elf army had, but now you've got Reavers and Silver Helms as options in this respect as well. At a mere 50 points (65 after upgrades), it's easy to field a couple eagles in any game higher than 1500. These guys are still the champions of war machine hunting, redirecting, and mage hunting, but they die easier than Silver Helms and it's hard to argue with the Reavers having a ranged attack on top of that role so the primary use of the Great Eagle is now to do the same role but save points (a group of 5 Reavers without bows would cost 80 points and with bows would cost 95 points, a group of 5 Silver Helms with Shields would cost 115, and all 3 choices fulfill the same role to different capacities). With T4 and W3, they're kinda survivable, but don't expect them to survive through the end of the game. They are the ultimate sacrificial units in the chaff slot, and can usually slow down other units and kill at least their points worth, with their two S4 attacks coupled with ASF and Armor Piercing. A unit of Shadow Warriors can fulfill it's role to an extent as well, but Eagle are still preferred. 

* '''Sisters of Avelorn:''' The amazons are closing in. This is the strongest shooting unit in game, the Phoenix Guard of PEWPEW. They have flaming arrows that hit at S4 and cause a -1 armor save when you fire on the Destruction-aligned armies, and all that with BS 5. Volley Fire is an option as well. For 14 Points this is a deal and they can shoot out of 3 rows and reduce everything in 24 inches to a burning pile of whatever. When coupled with a Handmaiden giving them fast shooting they are even better, because running without penalty to shoot is always a boon. If you've taken the Horn of Isha, you get one turn of every ranged attack having +1 To Hit to make those arrows even stronger. (Also, they're sexy.) Still they are only as tough as normal archers so don't except them to take much punishment. Protect them with Spearmen, Phoenix Guard, White Lions, or keep them out of harm's way and fire ahead of the Silver Helms.

* '''Flamespyre Phoenix:''' If you're taking the Flamespyre Phoenix, you should really scroll up and read the section for it as a mount for an Anointed of Asuryan. That's really how you want to play it, otherwise the Frostheart is what you are looking for.  
** '''Alternate Opinion:''' Taking an Anointed on a Flamespyre Phoenix is actually a massive waste of the Anointed. You are paying an extra 210 points for a rider who is completely useless when the Phoenix is doing flyby burning, which is how you should usually be using it. An Anointed isn't gonna help the Phoenix fight anything except stuff the Phoenix is already qualified to fight, so you're basically paying those 210 points (plus any magic items you want to give him) to get +1 to his resurrection rolls. Never mind that A: when the Phoenix bites it so does the Anointed, B: you're wasting the Anointed ability to grand a 6++ and ItP to a unit and C: it means that the 225 points for the Phoenix come from Lord choices instead of Rare, which is bad because you need your Lord points. Just take the Flamespyre alone and concentrate on flyby and charging smaller units.

* '''Frostheart Phoenix:''' When you get old, you get cold more often it seems, this is especially true if you were a fricking blazing Phoenix, since you become a freezing Phoenix. It is tougher and stronger than its younger version but can't drop napalm and loses its "I'll be back" ability. So it costs a fraction more and if you want to have your monster stay alive instead of maybe coming back to life this is your choice. Has 5+ natural armor, which is decent. Causes Terror, which is great. Its chilling aura is insane. It bestows ASL, but more importantly it also gives -1S to all UNITS in base contact. For all intents and purposes (almost) it has T7 in combat and if it assists another elven unit that unit will experience the joy of Pseudo T4... an insanely good monster. Although it can pull chaff duty, that's really not where you want it unless you're just looking for more time to fill the enemy with arrows and bolts. Frosthearts should be with your main force, hitting whatever needs to be weakened the most after it's already in a fight with your anvil force.