Kings of War/Tactics/Elves

Why Play Elves

Perhaps you like killing an army from across the board with magic and arrows. Maybe you like dragons, ponies, being super close to nature (hippy). Perhaps you've always wanted to collect an army of creatures that look as androgynous and stunning as David Bowie. If you play Elves, you probably like all these things. Elves are a fast glass hammer army that benefits from a commander that can use their maneuverability for maximum advantage. Overall, it Is a very fulfilling army that can look stunning on the table when painted right. Seriously you could fill an entire army of dragons or a well organized phalanx, both stunning sights on the battlefield.

Army Special Rules

• Battle Hardened: All units have Elite unless otherwise noted, granting a re-roll to all to hit rolls of 1.

• Elven Sabre-Toothed Hunting Cat: Units that take an elven sabre-toothed Hunting Cat gain a 12" shooting attack that can be used once per game. This attack can be used against heroes, infantry, monsters, or war engines, which is a large swath of what you'll be facing. You get 5 dice with this attack that hit on a 4+ and wound like normal with Piercing (1). Any successful wounds then grant you the same number of dice to repeat this process until you fail to wound again. Rarely, if ever worth the points, but cool.

Unit Analysis

Hero

• Argus Rodinar: A unique hero that can't move, fight or damage the enemy in any way. He has a special spell which can inspire a single unit anywhere on the battlefield, which is very useful if you've got a unit out of range of any of your inspiring heroes. Stick him right in the corner of your deployment zone, or somewhere he's virtually impossible to reach.

• Army Standard Bearer: Your basic Inspiring hero. Can take a horse. A good source of Inspiring as this one is even cheaper than a prince, although it cannot take a Sabre-Toothed Pussycat if you were hoping for one. Stick him behind your lines and get that re-roll.

• Dragon Kindred Lord: Your big stompy flying monster, the Dragon is a highly effective. It's kinda pricey at 310 points, but if used in the right way its totally worth it. With 3+ melee, 10 attacks and Crushing Strength (3) it's pretty good in combat, but don't just charge it at the first available target, because it will get everything thrown at it, and NO unit in this game will stand up to sustained, focused attack. Don't ever let your dragon get pinned down, because its probably going to die. Instead, use it's speed and agility to fly around the battlefield and threaten your enemy, maybe shoot off its breath attack if the opportunity is there, and fly away somewhere else next turn. It may sound like an inefficient way to spend 300+ points, but remember your opponent will fear that dragon, having it land on a flank, behind the battle line or near his/her war engines (and possibly breathing fire on things) will force them to rethink their battle plan and commit forces to dealing with it, only for it to fly away out of reach in the next turn! In terms of magical artifacts, go for something that makes it more survivable such as Ensorcelled Armour, Medallion of Life or The Fog.

• Drakon Rider Lord: If you don't have the points for a Dragon Kindred Lord, the Drakon Rider Lord can fulfill a similar role for half the points (in which case try giving it The Boomstick or Diadem of Dragonkind as it it has no basic ranged attack). Alternatively, it can be used to lead a charge of cavalry and/or drakon riders, using its Inspiring to bolster other units and making a decent contribution to combat.

• Elven King: An upgraded version of a prince. For double the points of a prince you gain Inspiring. You get the same options as prince, but given that you're paying double the cost for a small upgrade you're better served just getting a prince.

• Elven Mage: The Elven bare bones caster. Comes standard with Heal (3), but can buy any spell currently in the game (except Sugre, you'll need a Tree Herder for that). Can be mounted on a horse like most of your heroes. Can also take a Sabre-Toothed Pussycat, if the spells aren't enough bang for your buck. With the customisation options with regards to spell choice, mages are a routine choice for the army. 'Naked' mages aren't really worth the 75 points they cost you, and mages with loads of spells are a waste of points (you can only use one spell a turn), so think carefully about what role you want your mage to fulfill when choosing spells. If you want them to defend against flyers and generally post a 'keep off the grass' notice, take Fireball (10). If you want to get rid of enemy heroes, take Lightning Bolt (5) and consider the Fenulian Amulet. If you want them to make other units better, go for Bane Chant (2) (and perhaps the Amulet of the Fire-Heart for the chance to heal as well as buff in the same turn). If you do just want a healer, then give a mage the Inspiring Talisman as this will also give you an extra source of inspiring, but bear in mind you can do exactly the same for 25 points less by giving an Army Standard the Healing Charm.

• Elven Prince: Your basic hero. A prince has Crushing Strength (1) and can be upgraded to take a Sabre-Toothed Pussycat and/or put on a horse. Not spectacular by any means, but cheap if you need a hero.

• Forest Warden: A smaller Tree Herder, being large infantry and having vanguard and nimble can help him have an impact in the game if he can pull a flank. If not then you are better served with a lord on chariot for a budget combat hero.

• Master Hunter: A guerrilla like elf hero perfect for your Legolas or Alith Anar fantasies, with good ranged(and piercing) and melee stats he will hit most of the time, and reroll half of his failures thanks to elite. Combined with decent survivability thanks to individual and stealthy despite his terrible defensive stats. Use him as a sniper, tanking advantage of his decent ranged stats and vanguard to get into cover and star popping shots like it's nobody's business. Overall, he is no Legolas or Alith Anar but he can fill those roles if needed. Keep in mind that he only has 3 shots(which can mean 2 wounds per shooting phase thanks to his stats), so make them count

• Noble War Chariot: The budget combat hero in case you are to poor to afford a drakon lord(let alone a dragon lord), unimpressive, but only costs 90 points and has 4 attacks, which combined with his bow and decent shooting ability can help him dent some units. Thunderous charge (2), being large cav and good Melee stats can help him be a serious threat if he can get a flank charge. Overall a decent support combat hero with ranged capabilities for only 90 points. Beware though, he has no inspiring.

• The Green Lady: This Living Legend unit has the highest Heal value in the game (8 dice with Elite). She also has 6+ defense, Regeneration (5+) is a source of Inspiring AND has Fly. On the downside, she's literally no good for anything else, you can't add magic items and she has no melee value or offensive spells. For 200 points you get a unit which is extremely hard to kill and provides excellent support to your troops. Also, if you're into your fluff she is Mother Nature, literally a god of Mantica, the only one of the Celestians who managed to hold their shit together and not be split into a Good and Evil aspect, and you've just got to take your hat off to that really.

• Tree Herder: A very solid hero/monster choice, good in combat and tough to kill. The herder is the only unit in the army that has Surge and it also has Vanguard, so if you're going down the Forest Shambler/Hunters of the Wild/Gladestalker route its a good idea to take this thing as well. If you want a combo that's virtually impossible to kill, take the Tree Herder, give it the Medallion of Life and throw in the Green Lady for good measure.

Infantry

• Hunters of the Wild: An oddball infantry choice. They have Pathfinder and Vanguard, but lose the army special rule of Elite. They only hit on a 4+, but have 20 attacks in a troop. This makes them hard hitters, but for some reason their attack increase doesn't scale decently at larger sizes. Take them in troops and use them to pursue more elite enemy units. A good use for those Wood Elf Dryads that were collecting dust.

• Kindred Archers: Your bow unit. They hit on 4+ at range, but only on a 5+ in melee. They can be taken in a horde if you need to fill a slot and are a solid choice for that purpose. Take two hordes and go second, remember to focus fire, get ready to drink tears.

• Kindred Gladestalkers: The elite version of archers. At a slight point increase you gain Pathfinder and Vanguard. Solid ranged choice, although they cannot be taken in a horde. Stick with archers unless you have a plan for vanguard.

• Kindred Tallspears: Your elf spear unit. Has Phalanx, as one might expect, but nothing else outside your army rules. They hit in melee on a 4+, which is slightly worse then Palace Guard. They are negligibly cheaper as well, but so little so that they don't really make the cut for utility while if you need a horde unit you're probably better served by Kindred Archers.

• Palace Guard: Your more generic elite infantry unit. They hit in melee on a 3+, a point better then Kindred Tallspears, and have a point better nerve. Comes standard with Crushing Strength (1) for the extra 'umph. They cannot be taken in a horde, unfortunately, but are otherwise better then Kindred Tallspears in every way, except survivability(Tallspears have phalanx, which helps against cavalry charges), though being both units elves that is not saying much.

• Therennian Sea Guard: A jack of all trades unit. They hit on a 4+ in melee, but also come with bows and the Phalanx special rule. Their nerve is also higher then usual, but unfortunately they are more expensive then any other infantry unit in the army. They also cannot be taken in a horde, meaning you'd be using them in another slot. Not terrible as they have some versatility, although only hitting on a 5+ at range is not terribly reliable. Giving them a Brew of Keen-Eyeness (+1 to Hit with Ranged Attacks) is usually a good idea tho it will make for a very expensive unit if taken in anything less than a Horde.

Large Infantry

• Forest Shamblers: Big treeman. These are not Elite, but they do have Crushing Strength (1), Pathfinder, Shambling, and Vanguard. Their Vanguard move is 12" and couples with Pathfinder, making them quite mobile for large infantry.

Cavalry

• Silverbreeze Cavalry: Shooty cav that can only be taken in troops. Nimble, so you can keep them safely out of harms way and get them where you need them to be.

• Stormwind Cavalry: The Elf list hurts for cheap heavy hitters. Stormwind have Thunderous Charge 2, so if you've not got room for more Drakon Riders, they fit the bill nicely.

Large Cavalry

• Drakon Riders: Every Elf list has Drakon riders, and was likely a reason why Fliers were nerfed a little in the Clash of Kings book. Even if you don't end up charging with them till late game, their 20 inch threat projection on some sweet sweet stats makes many a general do the peepee in the pants.

• War Chariots: A Horde of these is the same price as a Regiment of Stormwind Cav for the nearly the same statline with a slight bump to Nerve, and some bows. A Horde of Chariot's footprint is as large as Canada, however, so expect being flanked by everything on the table.

War Engines

• Bolt Thrower: Your only war engine. This one has Blast (D3) with Piercing (2) and the standard reload rules. Not spectacular by any means, but it is your only available option on this front. Both gladestalkers and archers can fill a similar role if you deploy them right, although this is cheaper and easier to reliably use.

• Dragon Breath: 15 Breath Attacks on a 90 point unit is nothing to shake a stick at. Cheaper than a troop of kindred archers, same nerve value, but with more attacks, hitting on 4+. However, unlike kindred archers, anything charging it triples their attacks as it's a warmachine, so will be evaporated the second anything gives them a sideways stink eye.

Tactics

Well, drawing comparison to the dead game, this elves try to combine aspects of wood and high elves, having access to monstrous infantry and abundant source of archers like the former, and elite cavalry and dragons like the latter. The one thing they lack is magic.Though this is more of a feature of kings of war as a whole. Yes, you have mages but these are strictly support units.

An elven army relies on 2 things: 1. The best ranged units in the game, your archer hordes will wreck havoc on anything that is foolish enough to stand without cover in front of them, making on average 5 wounds a turn to medium infantry or cavalry, and 3 wounds to heavy infantry or cavalry. Granted that might not look like a lot, until you realize that this is just one unit, and an army should have at least 2 archer hordes and 3 bolt throwers. So the number grows exponentially, meaning you can rout your opponents big beefy units before they even make it to melee. You will probably only have 2 turns of shooting, so focus fire and make them count. Also remember your mages, well mages with bane chant are a must if you run a gun-line in order to help turn the bows intro crossbows and make anything with armor fear you. Failing that give them fireballs or the circlet of blood(for blood boil). When the time comes to fix bayonets and receive a charge, then it is time for the elves other thing to make an appearance.

2. Strong cavalry and fast units, elves are murder machines when it comes to melee, granted, the lack of crushing strength in many of their units is baffling, but when you hit with a lot of attacks, the sheer volume will still dent any armor. Also their average speed for infantry is 6, which makes pulling charges and repositioning very easy. On the other hand their cavalry, particularly their monstrous cavalry, the Drakons is terrifying(and their models are terrible), lacking the traditional elves frailty while also packing quite a punch. So you can run your melee units as a counter-charge when your gunline gets compromised or go chase 2nd turn charges when after your ranged units have softened the enemy. Beware most of your units are glass canons though, so never ever get charged first.

The elven army is a mixed arms army that excels in having excellent specialized units(like every single other elf army in every single other game). Focus on letting each unit fulfill it's specific role at its fullest and for the love of Khaine make sure your army ALWAYS hits first or had decent countermeasures.