Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/High Elves

Why Play High Elves

Because you like Elves. And winning. High Elves win a lot. They have a BRUTAL magic phase, solid infantry choices, a variety of savage monstrous mounts and a solid shooting phase. Oh and did we mention that they have Always Strikes First, to a man, which combined with their high Initiative means you are essentially always getting rerolls and according to their FAQ, this is unaffected by Great Weapons. it is now only normal ASF, which means Great weapons strike at normal Initative, for once thank you Matt Ward (or be at least one thing forgiven to you).

Don't think they're a cinch to play though, they're not THAT overpowered. Low Toughness, light armor and high cost units means that they have to be played well. But if you play them properly you will utterly buttrape the competition. An army for people who like gorgeous models and want to play a tactically fulfilling army without being hideously underpowered. An army, in short, for the exact kind of people who like Warhammer Fantasy.

In addition, NEW ARMY BOOK IN MAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Written by Matt Ward... Oh yeah... Rumors nothing, it's up for pre-order. Mr. Ward is the writer.

Unit Analysis

Lords & Heroes

Named Characters

Note: Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can pretty easily emulate most named characters from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, a few named characters do have abilities and wargear or wargear combos unique to them, so if you absolutely need to have them, go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

• Tyrion, the Defender of Ulthuan: Tyrion is an expensive close combat beast, and that's what you want him to be. Between ASF, WS9, I10, 4 attacks, S7 and a breath weapon, he can pretty much wreck an entire unit on his own, and with his 1+ armor and 4+ ward he will just not die. However, he's kind of lacking outside of that, and at that level of points, you might as well just take someone on a Dragon and he can't do TOO much that a tricked out Prince couldn't do just as well for less. He's fun, but competitive lists tend to prefer his brother. In addition he can readily join a unit of silver helms or dragon princes and then really ruin someones day in larger games.

• Teclis, the Loremaster of Hoeth Teclis got heavily nerfed in the last book (which was realy necessary). He is still a powerfull mage being Loremaster on White Magic, or having one spell of each normal Lore. If he choose White Magic he gets a +6 on every cast so he can cast nearly everything with one or two dice. Other than that he is still a weak elf (with the option of beeing even weaker) and no save so at least cram him into something that won't see cc and can protect him at the same time (not easy).

• Alith Anar, the Shadow King: Alith is overshadowed by the numerous better choices available. He's got a solid shooting weapon, some good abilities, and a nice statline, but he's nowhere near as good as the other Lord choices, and his abilities are Dark Elf specific (not to mention that Hatred isn't as useful in 8th). If you know you will be fighting Dark Elves, he might be interesting, but if you really just want a cheap shooting Lord, run a regular Prince with the Bow of the Seafarer.

• Elatharion the Grim, Warden of Tor Yvresse: Elatharion is a fucking badass blind swordsman who lost his eyes after raiding Naggoroth DERP RETCON! Ahem. Elatharion is a solid fighting Lord, who is perhaps a tiny bit too expensive for his own good. He's also a Level 2 Caster who can grab any lore from the Rulebook (Beasts and Death work well), but that's a job you generally want to split between combat Lords and Casters (Never mind that, for his cost, you can grab a Lord AND a level 2 Mage, albeit with no equipment). He can also ride his enhanced personal Griffin, but at that points level you might as well take a Lord on a Dragon. As with Alith, he's a good enough Lord who's mostly overshadowed by how much you're paying for him and how much better the other two lords.

• Caradryan, Captain of the Phoenix Guard: Caradryan is a good fighting hero who seems to be paying an absurd amount of for his 4+ Ward Save and Magic Resistance (3) (which is almost worth it to see a unit of Phoenix Guard get a 1+ ward save against wounds caused by magic). His magic weapon is FANTASTIC against trolls and other regenerating monsters and he himself is not too expensive, especially since he discourages tricked out Lords/Heroes from coming after him with his dying ability. Not the greatest Hero in the world, but kinda fun and a great bodyguard.
  • Also, can now ride the Frostheart Pheonix. Coming soon.

• Korhil, Captain of the White Lions: Korhil's advantages are as follows: He's cheap (140 points, only 5 points more than a level 2 Mage with no equipment) and he's Stubborn and thus grants this to any unit he joins. Those two reasons are reason enough to take him, especially if you want to dump him in a large Spearmen unit. He's reasonably killy on his own merits (S6 and Killing Blow) and survivable enough. Not someone you want to rely on to turn the game around, but good enough.

• Alarielle the Radiant: The Everqueen is back bitches, and she is a Lord level wizard which can choose from High Magic, Life Magic and Light Magic, so all those goody goody magic Lores. She can combine those however she wants but can't choose her spells just the tables you're throwing on. Mostly a defensive charakter, she makes her Unit so heoric that they won't be scared and gives them a 5+ wardsave. Also she heals one friendly char for 1W each round, and needs to target anyone else if available before herself since she's nice and all.

While she's at it she has only one attack but against the bad guys this is heroic killing blow with ASF, so it would be really laughable if ... lets say she slays a Greater Demon with this, but highly unlikely. She also gives options to generic heroes, the BSB and the handmaiden may carry stuff for her, like a Standard which gives you +4 on every cast of Life and Light magic.

Generic Characters

Note: While named characters are judged against their generic counterparts, generic characters are examined based on their role in your army.

• Prince: Princes personify everything about the High Elves: Fast as hell, kickass in close combat, can take a variety of special stuff, about as hard as wet tissue. Be sure to give this guy an armor or ward save, or else he will get his ass killed. Aside from that, he's a brutal close combat Lord (WS7, I8, ASF) and properly kitted out there's very little this guy can't kill. Also, Dragon Armor lol's at flaming attacks and breath weapons but now costs a bit more than 3 points more, but you do get a 6+ ward now , so it's always worth the extra investment. Look for the variety of killy options down in the magic weapons.

• Archmage: A fantastic caster. Access to all 8 Lores, plus High Magic, means he can literally be designed to do whatever you want, though the preferred option is Lore of Life. Also remember that as long as he's on the board (along with his little brother the Mage) you get +1 to cast High Magic, for a total of +5 when channeling it through a Level 4 Archmage. Like with the Prince, he has access to some of the best magic equipment in the game. An absolute must.

• Loremaster of Hoeth: A new Lord choice and mostly the same as a Swordmaster. But is also a level 2 Mage with ALL 8 normal magic Signature Spells. This gives him great diversity, and he is also not bad in combat (but frail, as he only has a 5+ armour save). Think about it the Signature Spells are nowhere near bad (ok most of them are not) and you're getting all of them! Three magic missles, a direct damage spell, a 5+ regen spell AND a useful hex and augment spell. Oh did I mention he can also hold is own in close combat? Also get all the lore attributes which are pretty handy, like casting spirit leech to trying to get more power dice from killing someone... Definitely a solid choice.

• Noble: A great fighter for his points, but if you have the points you really should be taking a Prince (who's only 65 points more). The main reason you take a Noble is because he can be a BSB or if you're low on points (either overall or in the Lord Choices) in which case, he'll serve. He's best as a BSB and you DEFINITELY want a BSB.

• Mage: Unlike the Noble vs. Prince the difference in points is big that you might want a Mage, and it's always nice to have a backup Mage to add +1 to your dispel rolls. Can also be kitted out for a different role than your Archmage based on his Lore . A solid choice.

• Dragon Mage: That's right, we even have HEROES riding Dragons. The Dragon is fairly squishy (for a Dragon) and the model as a whole runs on the pricy side, but the Hero Level Dragon and the sheer power of the Mage on top make up for a lot of that. Flaming Sword of Rhun is actually worthwhile in this edition and the Mage himself can put out an incredible amount of firepower. Note that you should never ever use the actual amount of dice you need; Figure out how much you need and then take one less, it'll give you more mileage. Can be a game breaker at lower points, but tends to get irrelevant once it becomes possible to grab a Prince on Star Dragon. Also, beware as they can only take the Lore of Fire. As Dragon Mages now have access to Dragon Amour, they have acess to Magic armour. Dragon Mage Dragon Armour + Enchanteed shield makes for a 2+ Wizard.

• Handmaiden of the Everqueen: The main Valkyrie in a horde of amazons. You will only play this character with a group of maidens as she gives them (and only them) Quick to Fire. Put the Reaver Bow on her for 3 BS7 S5 quick-to-fire shots.

• Anointed of Asuryan: Lord choice Phoenix Guard member with magic resistance and option to ride a Phoenix (no one else can). Since he already has a 4+ Ward save a heavy armor and a halberd he needs nearly no equipment at all. When he rides a Flamespyre Phoenix he will return from the dead more often and will even ease the burden on the Phoenix in case of shooting (since he will absorb a few hits).

• Sea Helm: A new hero for the High elves giving them new abilities, as he allows his unit to reform directly after they were charged, as long as they didn't shoot or fled (duh). This means no more easily flanking your Units, and taking into account that every High Elve Unit can strike out of 3 rows to the front, this - for measely 100 Points - becomes realy important.

• Mounts:
  • Elven Steed: Since Ithilmar Barding stopped subtracting from movement, you should probably always upgrade to Ithilmard Barding. it adds armour save and DOES NOT make the M9 steed any slower. I can't see any reason not to pay a few measly points for that.

• • Eagle: Eagles are the halfway point between Horses and Monsters and are generally not worth their time. T4 and 3 wounds means they crumble when a shooting unit so much as looks at them funny. Still, if you're in a weird mood, they're cheap (50 points) and good at delivering a Hero into a unit he wants dead. Still probably not worth it. In the 8th edition they have mainly found their niche in war machine harassment, targeting crew members who thought they were safely behind the battlelines, though they are still uncommon and not often used. You can however, but a Noble with the reaver bow on one of these for a fast, shooty unit that has an extra wound.

• • Griffon:
    • Good News they're WAY cheaper than Sun Dragons (150 points vs 235) with only different is the Sun Dragon one more one wound (and a flame attack)*cough* and the minimal difference of a 3+ AS which makes Dragons durable and Griffons die horrible by bows and such. *cough*

• • Sun Dragon: The mini-Dragon. Still a Dragon, still kick-ass. Good for if you're short on points (as unlike the upgrade from Griffon to Sun Dragon, the 70 point entry level for each tier of Dragon actually does matter). Probably on the level of a Manticore. The manticore's stats are actually almost identical to the griffon, so the Sun Dragon outclasses it in T, W, armor save and firepower.

• • Moon Dragon: The medium Dragon, same power level as most Dragons. This is the highest tier of Dragon an Archmage can take, if you care, and still capable of killing almost anything that gets in it's way. A good all around choice.

• • Star Dragon: The highest tier of Dragon and probably the most brutal Monstrous Mount in the game. With WS7, S7, T7 7 wounds, 6 attacks, a Strength 4 breath weapon and a 3+ armor save, this guy, with a properly tricked out mount, can probably rip the head off of anything stupid enough to get in it's way without tipping the odds. It can tear apart almost anything. Giants, K'daii Destroyers, and other dragons will all be killed if faced by a Star Dragon. Beware the I2 though and be aware that everyone and their dog will be gunning for it. Don't let it get bogged down in a head on collision with a large unit; Yes it probably can't do any real damage to the Star Dragon, but it'll be stuck there all game and probably get flanked. Have him charge down small units, flank big units in conjunction with a frontal assault, hunt down enemy monsters. Unless it gets hit by a cannonball, something is going to die when a Star Dragon gets involved. WORD OF WARNING: Some combat Lords from melee-heavy armies (Warriors of Chaos, Ogres, Daemons etc) have weapons and gifts and things that are designed to bring down dragons, and a Chaos Lord with a magic weapon and a nice mount can cut the head off a Star Dragon before it can lift a claw.

• • Skycutter of Lothern: Your Option for the Sea helm, but don't take it, cause his main power is buffing your troops and he's good at it.

• • Flamespyre Phoenix: So finaly the High Elves get their Coverbeast to play. It's flaming hot and doesn't fear Fire and comes with average stats for a Monster. It only has a 5+ ward save, but this is more than a Giant has or a Dragon has against cannons. It gets stronger with magic (albeit on a chance of 1/9 it get's weaker) and can make flying attacks like the chaosmantas. Since it's a Phoenix it can be reborn on a 6 or explode on a 3+ if it has died, with the chance getting better by one when its ridden by a Anointed.

It lacks the power to realy take out a big unit on it's own but can possibly be good at war machine hunting and killing of survivors. With a Anointed it gets powerfull enough to flank units and at least have a chance.

• • Frostheart Phoenix: When you get old, you get cold more often it seems, this is espacially true if you were a fricking blazing Phoenix, since you become a freezing Phoenix. It is tougher and stronger than it's younger version, and gets an 5+ armor save and a chilling aura, but looses his "i will be back" ability. So it costs a fraction more and if you want to have your Monster stay alive instead of coming back to life this is your choice. Its chilling aura is insane. It Bestows ASL (which is a bit pointless versus elves), But moreimportantly it also gives -1S to enemies in base contact. For all intentsn 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. Probably much better without a rider.

Core Units

• Archers: A good unit overall. Longbows and high BS give them a good range and a solid ability to damage small lightly armored units (don't count on them to do too much to heavy armor). They work really well in 2 or so groups of 10, especially when combined with Repeater Bolt Throwers (you should generally concentrate fire). High WS, I, and LD along with Always Strikes First allows them to resist attempts by small units of light cavalry (it'll take more than a unit of Mounted Yeomen to deal with these) but you shouldn't be counting on them to do combat duties. Players are split on whether to take Light Armor: On a 10 man unit, not taking Light Armor could deny you an 11th model, but if you want to keep your model count low, Light Armor does make them marginally more survivable. Don't bother with Command beyond Musician. Just a side note, Archers having Longbows is superior in range to Lothern Sea Guard having simple Bows, and this can make a world of difference when trying to outrange certain weapons such as Dark Elf Repeater Crossbows (hold that thought until the new Dark Elf codex comes out... bwahahahaha!)

• SpearelvesSpearmen: Spearmen got a definite boost in 8th, with the new rules for Always Strikes First and the rank rules (allowing them to strike in 4 Ranks, 3 on the charge). A common formation for them is 5 ranks of 6 for a total of 30 models, giving you a total of 24 attacks (25 with Champion) and 7 wounds required before they start losing attacks for a total of 295 points with Command. Although if you're feeling saucy, you could take a 565 points, 60 man Horde which gets a total of 50 attacks on the front. Ultimately, there's always room for these fantastic infantry units in your army. The anvil of most "hammer and anvil" strikes for High Elf armies.

• Lothern Sea Guard: Lothern Sea Guard get a bad reputation, which not entirely deserved. They cost the same as an Archer with Light Armor, have spears and light armor, can take a shield for an extra point and have bows instead of Longbows. As such they tend to be regarded as overpriced, but they're a solid defensive unit, that can pump out an okay shooting round and actually do okay in combat. With shields, they're also much more resistant to S3 and S4 attacks and they still have all the Spearmen special rules. Not a blue chip unit, and not as good as Spearmen, but good enough. Lothern Sea Guard above the other two Core choices that we have have to be played the most wisely, as they can only get so many shots in before having to reform, etc. In any case, the high price of each Lothern Sea Guardsman makes every single loss taken more costly than if an equivalent Spearmen had bought the farm. Take and use with discretion

• Silver Helms: Indications from the GW site seem to tell us that these guys are moving back to Core, which could make them playable again. Under the 7th edition book, they're a Special Unit so they're not really worth it, but as a Core unit... LET THE JOYOUS NEWS BE SPREAD! THEY ARE CONFIRMED AS CORE UNITS!

• Ellyrian Reavers: The GW site seems to indicate that these guys are moving to Core under the 8th edition book which, combined with Eagles, Dragon Princes and the newly arrived Flying Chariot and Phoenixes (plus those regular Chariots I guess) could allow for a much more mobile army. Stay tuned for further updates. Now they ARE confirmed as Core Units.

Special Units

NOTE: Under the 8th Edition FAQ, there is NO LIMIT to the number of any given unit you can have in any army. This only comes to play in large games, or if you're trolling and want to take 10, 5 man units of Phoenix Guard (it also matters A LOT for Bolt Throwers, but that's for the Rare unit section). Still, something to remember.

Other than that, while your Core units are used to create the core (ha) of your army, these guys are where get the guys who do most of the damage. Don't be afraid to shamelessly spend absurd amounts of points in your special choices. If you need something dead, and you're not in a big enough game to bring a Star Dragon, this is where you look.

• Swordsmasters of Hoeth: Swordsmasters are a depressing unit. In any (literally any) other army, they'd be a Blue Chip unit, something to never leave home without. After all, 15 WS6 S5 attack for 2 ranks at I5 points a pop and High Elf ASF? What's not to like? Well you see, in the High Elves book, there are three 15 point-per-model infantry units and they're easily the weakest and the reasons aren't hard to gauge. At T3 and only Heavy Armor they are as hard to wound as tissue paper and don't have enough power-for-cost to make up for it. But, if we're being entirely fair to the unit and taking them on their own terms, they're not all bad. If you're careful with them, small units of them can make devastating flanking units, with most players taking them as bare 10man units or 14man 7-across units. They can cause some ridiculous damage under a lot of circumstances, but just be careful with them, one good Magic Missile or enemy shooting phase can mean you spent all those points on nothing. There is also one way to make them really really good. Run a 30 man horde. Stick a life level 4 or Teclis in. Enjoy your opponent's tears while your T7, regenerating, regrowthing units pumps out 41 S5 attacks to the front. Another perspective is that they're valuable used in conjunction with Phoenix Guard or White Lions. Shield of Saphery gives them an affordable 5+ ward (assuming you take High Magic on a mage), and with the Phoenix Guards' 4+ ward and the White Lions' 3+ against shooting your opponent will likely have to choose between bad options here. Sure, they may kill your Sword Masters with enough magic missiles or shooting, but your other special unit will be about to wreck their flanks and all it will have cost you is a few power dice.
  • Update: Well they're cheaper at 13 points and come with a 6+ ward against normal shots so that's better-ish plus the new Martial prowess rule means they get to attack with three ranks meaning the sheer amount of s5 attacks would kill most things.

• Phoenix Guard: Phoenix Guard are not only the best unit in the High Elf army, they are probably in the top 3 best units of the game, period. 15 points for WS5, S4, I6, LD9, Fear causing, Heavy Armored, ASF motherfuckers. Wait that doesn't sound good? Oh they also have a 4+ Ward Save, standard. Yeah, there you go. These guys can get hit in the face by a cannon ball and just shrug it off, and they've got enough killing power to actual give back. Be sure to give them a solid bit of static CR, because LD9 does not make them immune to failing their break test (BSB works well and will be difficult to kill inside that unit). Either put them in horde formation, or make them very deep to take away steadfast. There is no High Elf army that doesn't have room for these lads.

• White Lions of Chrace: White Lions are the middle child of the three 15 point High Elf infantry. Better than Swordsmasters, but worse than Phoenix Guard. Still, they do pump out S6 ASF attacks, they are much more resistant to shooting than Swordsmasters (with a 3+ save against shooting) and they can dive through cover and, best of all, they're Stubborn, which means even a rank of 5 can hold out against lots of static CR. They end up being the jack of all trades of the three, operating just as well as a defensive ranked unit as an offensive unit. Also with S6 and High Elf ASF, 2 ranks of them is enough to make most monsters cry (send them up against that Giant your opponent is so proud of and watch him cry as they hack out his kneecaps). Take them in big units with the banner of eternal flame. They're very good as far as heavy infantry goes, and well worth your time.

• Dragon Princes of Caledor: Dragon Princes hit harder than any unit has a right to with two attacks and while heavy cavalry has generally fallen out of favor these guys remain popular due to the ubiquity of flaming attacks and breath weapons (although they are no longer immune, they merely get a 2+ ward save against it). Therefore, if you Daemons of Chaos opponent likes Tzeentch and it's flaming attacks, take these guys and see him cry. If you're playing a defensive list, they're probably not worth your time, but offensive lists can generally find a place for them.

• Shadow Warriors: These guys are absolutely the worst units in the entire High Elf army. They can't fight, they can't shoot any better than archers, they are overpriced, AND they skirmish. Only take these trash units if you really want to lose. And your opponent has Beastmen.

• Tiranoc Chariot: Like Silver Helms and Swordmasters, these aren't bad on their own terms, but when compared to the other major option for Chariots, which is better in nearly every applicable way. Still, Tiranoc Chariots aren't bad and if you're in the mood for a cheap chariot, this is for you. This is also the only Chariot that a High Elf character, but that's generally a bad idea. They are also very adaptable with bows, spears, and very good movement. It should be noted that High Elf Chariots are among the most reasonably priced (money wise) units that GW has.

• White Lion Chariot: This is what Tiranoc Chariots suffer when compared to. With S6 crew, 4 S5 Lion attacks and an extra armor save, White Lion Chariots are pretty brutal when they hit right. As with all Chariots, if you're playing defensively they won't help much, but they really work fantastically on the charge.

• Lothern Skycutter: It's a flying Tiranoc chariot. Three words: Flying Bolt Throwers!

Rare Units

Rare units are unique in that, unlike most other armies, only one of them is particularly important. They can both find use in a variety of situations, but the Special Units is where the power comes from. Still, if you're short on points and you see a hole in your army that either of these units can fill, they can help.

• Repeater Bolt Thrower: Neither of the Rare Choices are precisely blue chip units, but Repeater Bolt Throwers are the more reliable of the pair. It does have good range, and it is your only war machine, but it is still a bit overpriced and depends upon lots of protection to be effective. Also, it is a primary target for magic and shooting, and only has two (Derp three) THE SO-CALLED DERP IS RIGHT, THEY ONLY HAVE TWO WOUNDS NOW. T7 can offset a lot of that though, and combined with Archers they can cause a lot of damage. They're at least 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.

• Great Eagle: The only chaff the High Elf army has. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Eagles are a High Elf's best friend. At a mere 50 points, you should be fielding at least a couple eagles in any game higher than 1500. These guys are the champions of war machine hunting, redirecting, and mage hunting, filling in a role that no other of our units can do nearly as well. With T4 and W3, they're even kinda survivable, but don't expect them to survive the game. They are the ultimate sacrificial units, and can usually slow down other units and kill at least their points worth, with their two S4 attacks and stomp. I can't say how important these units are to a good High Elf player.
  • Some or all of this may no longer be the case when the 8th edition book hits, as we now have a Flying Chariot, 2 Phoenixes (which I think might fly, based on the giant ass wings) and 2 Cavalry units in the Core section. But on the other hand, the Eagle could still be the best at it's particular job. So...stay tuned?

• Maiden Guard of Avalorn: The amazons are closing in. This are probably the strongest shooting unit in game. Having flaming arrows S4 with -1 armor save when you fire on the bad guys, and all that with BS 5. 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 nothing bad.

Still they are only as though as normal bow(wo)men so don't except them to take much punishment.

• Flamespyre Phoenix: So finaly the High Elves get their Coverbeast to play. It's flaming hot and doesn't fear Fire and comes with average stats for a Monster. It only has a 5+ ward save, but this is more than a Giant has or a Dragon has against cannons. It gets stronger with magic (albeit on a chance of 1/9 it get's weaker) and can make flying attacks like the chaosmantas. Since it's a Phoenix it can be reborn on a 6 or explode on a 3+ if it has died, with the chance getting better by one when its ridden by an Anointed.

It lacks the power to realy take out a big unit on it's own but can possibly be good at war machine hunting and killing of survivors. With an Anointed it gets powerfull enough to flank units and at least have a chance.

• Frostheart Phoenix: When you get old, you get cold more often it seems, this is espacially true if you were a fricking blazing Phoenix, since you become a freezing Phoenix. It is tougher and stronger than it's younger version, and gets an 5+ armor save and a chilling aura, but looses his "I'll be back" ability. So it costs a fraction more and if you want to have your Monster stay alive instead of coming back to life this is your choice.

Building Your Army

Buying Your Army

• The key to getting a nice cheap army is the island of blood. For one hundred dollars, you get a decent of elves, and some Skaven as well. And did I even mention the rulebook, templates, and artillery dice? Buy two of these treasure troves, then sell the Skaven packaged with the rulebook. With that alone, you can probably recover the costs of the boxes. After that, you get 20 Lothern Sea Guard, 20 Swordmasters, 10 Reavers, 2 Mages, and 2 Princes. That's the perfect start to any high elf army.

Magic Items

• IMPORTANT: All High Elves magic items are underpriced for what they do (it's essentially an army attribute). This includes the common magic items and as it states in the rulebook, the army's price for them can and will override the main books. Hence if you want a dispel scroll, it will cost you 20 points. Also worthy of note is that 4 of the Special Unit choices have access to a 25 point magic item, which is a perfect place to put support items. Moving on: 8th saw High Elves losing a couple dozen items and everything going up in price.

• Magic Weapons:

• Blade of Leaping Gold: A fairly mundane item that grants seven attacks to the Prince wielding it. In general, though, High Elves don't need more attacks; they need those attacks to actually wound. Ignores armor of to wound rolls of 6 and about 3/4th of a Princes equipment allotment.

• Star Lance: This is, as far as Lances go, a fairly nice one especially if you're combining it with Vambraces of Defense, or if you're giving it to a Noble leading your Dragon Princes. Solid.

• Reaver Bow: If you want a dedicated shooting Noble (a little more sensible than a shooting Prince) then you should probably give him this, since it'll up his killing power by quite a bit. Does +1 S now; combine it with Potion of Strength or Wyssans Wildform.

• Magic Armor:

• Shadow Armor: Turn your Noble into a War Machine hunter. Try it today. In all seriousness, if you want a unit of Shadow Warriors to go hunting War Machines, this might be worth it just to give them some combat power against serious resistance. That's a mighty big if, but it could be worth it, especially if you give him a cheapish magic weapon.

• Armor of Caledor: Doubled in cost this time around but beefed up to grant a 6+ Ward Save.

• Shield of the Merwyrm 4+ Parry Save even if using a magic weapon.

• Talisman:

• Golden Crown of Atrazar: 2+ Ward against the first wound taken, cheap enough to maybe be worth it on a Dragon riding Lord.

• Enchanted Items:

• Khaine's Ring of Fury: Completely changed this edition. For 25 pts. you get a bound magic missile that does 2d6 S4 hits and can reliably be casted with 2 dice.

• Cloak of Beards: If you and your Dwarf opponent are cool with tailoring lists, this one can be funny. Otherwise, skip it.

• Gem of Sunfire One use item that grants +1 to wound with all attacks but only if you already had the Flaming Attacks rule. Useful on a Dragon Mage and nowhere else.

• Moranion's WayshardModels on foot only; gives a unit of Archers or Spearmen the Ambusher's rule but can only have a unit size up to 30.

• Arcane Items:

• Book of Hoeth: Got heavily nerfed like Teclis and is now a nice gift for your Mage, coming at 55 Points (leaving the option for a 4+ ward save open) and gets you a reroll on one dice of a cast or ban (6s can't be rerolled). It will give you the option of throwing one dice for a spell, without fearing the 1 or 2 fail. That said, with high elve mages getting a +2 on White Magic, this can be realy important. And the option of changing miscasted or misbanned spells to casted/banned is always something to consider.

• Magic Standards:

• Banner of the World Dragon: 2+ Ward vs. all wounds caused by spells, magic weapons, magical attacks and makes ALL dragons within 12 Stubborn. This cripples the entire Daemons codex; might be Mat Wards way of saying sorry for 7th edition Daemons?

• Banner of Avelorn: Spells from the Lore of Light/Life targeting the unit with this banner get +4 to Cast but only if Alarielle is alive. Despite being under 50 pts. can only be taken by the BSB.

Magic

High Elves have access to all 8 Lores of Magic in the rulebook, plus High Magic. Unfortunately, High Magic is kind of underpowered compared to the 8 Big Ones. However, doesn't mean it's bad. It has a pair of advantages. Firstly it has good range (most of the spells have range of 24) and second, it's got absurdly low casting values (of the 7 spells available, 5 of them have casting value 8 or less) meaning a Level 2 Wizard can easily cast much of it with 2-3 dice. Combine with the Seerstaff to get what you need (favorite pair for a Level 2 tends toward Curse of Arrow Attraction and Fury of Khaine).

For the rest of the Lores, usual stuff applies. Lore of Life is a consistent favorite (nothing like watching those 5 Phoenix Guard he worked so hard to kill get back up) as is Lore of Shadow. High Elves aren't really set up for offensive Magic, outside Dragon Mages so you should generally go with support spells to protect your expensive units, rather than offensive spells.

Magic Tactics

In this section, I'll list the multiple ways to use specific Lores in conjunction with our units. Some Lores of Magic are flexible and unique, while some are more focused on specific strategies and units to make them work. Either way, you'll find use of them here.

There are two styles of magic that exist for High Elves in my opinion: Balanced and Specific.

Balanced Lores provide buffs and hexes that cover a large area of High Elf weaknesses. These lores include High Magic, Lore of Metal, Shadow, and Light. Specific Lores depend on certain army builds to bring out their true potential. These Lores include Life, Death and Beasts. I'll explain more below.

High Magic - Balanced This is a very balanced lore that's designed to assist the High Elves take on any foe. With TWO signature spells this is very versatile.The biggest spell : Fiery Convocation, burns down entire hordes if left unchecked and Arcane Unforging is a magic missile wounds like a Metal Lore missile but also randomly destroys a magic item on 2+; use this on Banner of Barrows, Flag of Blood Keep, Ghal Maraz ect cetera. Walk Between World makes a unit move 10/20 inches as if Etheral in the Remaining Move Phase, good for putting a Phoenix behind enemy lines. Oh, and did we mention the Lore Attribute of High Magic? +1 to your Ward save for the mage and unit every time a spell is successfully cast. YOU'RE FREAKIN WARD SAVE!! This means that a Level 4 Wizard running High Magic can grant most units at least a 5++ during each magic phase and you only need one spell to give Phoenix Guard the magical 3++. March them across the field and watch your opponent cry as everything and their dog tries to kill it with only 3-4 casualties a turn.

Lore of Shadow - Balanced Our most powerful lore in my opinion. It's almost as if this Lore was designed with High Elves in mind because it compliments our army perfectly: 1. Elite troops with high WS and I can be dealt with Miasma. 2. High armor troops can be destroyed by Mindrazor. 3. High strength can be robbed of their power with Enfeeble. 4. High toughness units can be dispatched easier with Withering on them. 5. Expensive, multi-wound models with low I can be destroyed with Pit of Shades.

I highly recommend this Lore as your go to lore for balanced play.

Lore of Light - Balanced This is also a very balanced Lore and very powerful against the Undead. I dare say Daemons but as long as they have Great Standard of Sundering, I'm going to just recommend fighting TK and VC. Army-wide Pha's Illumination and Speed of Light makes your entire army WS10 I10 and -1 to hit. This gives you fantastic combat potential and great protection vs. melee and shooting alike. Timewarp also allows your entire to surge forward and get into combat insanely early. Once they're in combat, the army-wide buffs allow you to win combat and take less casualties. All your units will hit things on 3s with re-rolls and you'll most likely be hit on 6s.

If you decide to go Light, having a Lv.1 Wizard with Light is also suggested. This gives you the ability to inflict fantastic damage with Burning Gaze and Banishment for very low casting values. As for most balanced Lores, feel free to take whatever.

Lore of Metal - Balanced This Lore gives you the power to break through armored units as they were butter. If you knew you were going against an army with multiple, heavily-armored targets such as Brettonian Knights, this Lore is fantastic. Another great thing about Lore of Metal is the army-wide 5+ Scaly Skin. This makes your Light Armor, Shield Spearmen pack on a 3+ armor save. Heavy armor units such as White Lions, Sword Masters and Phoenix Guard also share that lovely 3+. With this in mind, I want to talk about a very specific spell and army-build:

A large unit of Sword Masters with Enchanted Blades of Aiban absolutely annihilate things in combat. WS6 with +1 to hit means you'll most of the game on 2s. With ASF, re-rolls and Armor Piercing S5, you'll walk through troops and elites alike. Even Spearmen with Enchanted Blades plow through units like they were butter. Give it a try, I promise good results.

Lore of Death - Specific For this Lore, you mainly want to focus on the destructive capabilities of character sniping. These spells allow you to pick out BSBs, Generals and other important targets that could ruin the opposing army. VC Generals, TK Hierophants, Bretonnian BSBs, the list goes on. It goes without saying that the army-wide -1S and T allow your troops to inflict more damage and take less in return. Lastly, we have Purple Sun. That thing just embarrasses Lizardmen, certain undead armies and Dwarfs.

Lore of Life - Specific I really like this Lore and I almost placed it in the balanced section, but I want to highlight some key builds that I like a lot. For one, Dwellers is a no brainer for most players: It picks off characters, completely wrecks enemies with Elf-stats and destroys entire units of Skaven. Throw dice at a large target with low S and watch it disappear from the game: Cheesy archer spam builds beware! This, is a very defensive Lore for the most part. You have Regen, protection from Miscast, and awesome +4 Toughness to any unit of choice. Which unit in particular?

A giant unit of Sword Masters with T7 and Regen can mow through most units in the game. They are already incredibly powerful in close combat because of WS6, S5 and 2A, but now give them the T7 and Regen and things just get ridiculous. Use a small Phoenix Guard bunker with a Life Mage and Book, and spam these spells on a giant horde of SM w/ Standard of Balance and Amulet of Light. People will most certainly hate you.

Lore of Beast - Specific If the base unit spell for +1S +1T, the +3T to all characters in 12" is also pretty awesome. Unlike the Lore of Life though, this Lore focuses a lot on damage from characters than defense. Don't get me wrong, Curse of Anraheir can still hex someone down to -1 to hit. Combine this with tough Elven warriors and things look a lot brighter. Take what you would normally take and spam Wyssan's Wildform on everything. Then walk up a bunch of Princes and Nobles with White Sword/Great Weapons and hit Savage Beast of Horrors. Can you imagine the amount of carnage you can inflict with multiple characters wielding +3S and +3 attacks? I'm not sure how effective it'll be, but it'll sure make my Prince w/ White Sword a little scarier.

Tactics

Knowing your Enemy

The first piece of advice I have for newer players is knowing your enemy. There is nothing more important than this piece right here. You look across the table and you see a bunch of units you don't know, you already know this game is going to head into disaster. Very few players have the ability to asset threat, damage and power on the fly so its best you go into battles prepared. Key units like the Skaven Doomwheel, the Bloodthirster or the horde unit of Khorne Marauders with Great Weapons, all of these are important pieces on the battlefield. The best thing to do in these situations is to point across the table and ask. If the player you're playing with is a gentleman, and it's a friendly game, I hope he can tell you what each unit does. In a tournament setting, forget about it. Fantasy already takes a day and a half to set up, so it's best you do your research ahead of time.

Think of it like this: Every game of fantasy (the actual) game is a test of skill and generalship. Any good general takes the time to learn about his enemy and so should you. That's why I buy every army book GW prints. Not only is it superb shitter material, but it's also valuable information on what kind of ridiculous combos, units or special characters that might show up on the battlefield.

Understanding Your Army

I almost think that knowing your enemy and understanding your army works hand in hand. If you think about it, you spend all this time making up your army list and for what? Each army list is designed to accomplish a certain thing on the battlefield. Playing for fun is one thing, but you're also playing so your troops are victorious on the battlefield. This is why army design is crucial and how you can make the best out of your army composition.

Keep in mind that this is not advice on how to min-max your army, it's about making your army work for you. As a general of any given army, you must find a medium where you're comfortable with the units you've taken, and you understand fully how they work. The best way to do this is by assigning battlefield roles. Take Sword Masters for example, what do they do best? They generate CR by ripping up lowly troops in combat but they die as fast as a swift breeze. What's the job of Spearmen? Or Skavenslaves? To hold the line and await reinforcements, using their superior numbers and ranks to tie the enemy down.

To be a successful general, you must know your units like the back of your hand. Understand each unit's functionality and purpose, but most importantly, understand why you put them in your army in the first place.

The greatest threat to most units in a High-elf army is long combats, if you cannot break a unit you will need to minimize the amount of damage they can do back to you in the following turns. Remember your troops hit rather hard but tend to die very easily.

Deployment

I've seen many games where games are lost on deployment alone. Don't worry; hopefully these next lines of text will give you a better understanding of why deployment is so important. Picture for a second that your opponent puts down a unit of heavily armored Chaos Knights after you put your White Lions down far away from them. If those White Lions were your only defense against heavy armor, then I'd say you're in a world of shit once those Knights come crashing on your flank.

That's why you see players taking units whose sole purpose is to give them an edge in deployment. Some might be good enough to be used as re-directors or warmachine hunters too. These units are also known as chaff. Chaff is important because it allows you put these units down anywhere you want for the most part. They pretty much always go in the same place or have outrageous movement speed that they can relocate and not be troublesome for the movement of your army. Eagles can be used as chaff, Sabretusks and Fellbats for example, all can act as chaff for your army.

The key to deployment is matching your opponent's units pound for pound, literally. You don't want to put down a unit that doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell against another unit he put down right off the top. Your unit must have support, or is capable of holding the line against whatever he puts down or your side is just going to fold. The best example is the Knights scenario I presented above. You want to be able to match your opponent in deployment, or be superior to him in deployment. I call these "drops". If your army has greater or equal to the number of drops he has (total # of units he can put down during deployment), you're in a good place. This minimizes on the chance your army will be out-deployed. The person with more chaff will have more chaff that he can put down, forcing you to put down your last unit of White Lions so he can purposely drop a power unit on your flank. Unless your army is designed to fight uphill battles, you should never let this happen.

If you know you're going to be out-deployed, you should analyze which units on his side you don't want in your flanks and deploy your answers last. This is where knowing your enemy comes into place.

Analyzing The Threats

To be successful on the battlefield and during deployment, you must first analyze threat. You must understand which units on the other side of the table can cause you most harm. This is huge. Keep in mind that army scale does not equate to the harm they can cause in combat. The best example of this is a giant unit of Skaveslaves vs. a small unit of Sword Masters. The craziest thing to assume is that the unit of Skavenslaves is going to do a lot of damage on the battlefield. Sure, there's a whole bunch of them, but their fighting prowess equates to dried fish where your Sword Masters preform like a hot knife through butter.

One of the things that 8th Ed. has going for it is big creatures. If it's a big monster on the other side of the table, this is probably worrisome. If a unit is carrying Great Weapons, it's probably going to do a lot of damage. If a unit is carrying Great Weapons and is in horde formation, it's probably something you should deploy smartly against because that thing is going to fuck your shit up if you play dumb. The most pronounced threats on the battlefield are normally the ones your opponent has heroes and lords going into it. It's either going to be a caster bunker, or a frontline unit that'll do solid bits of damage.

Remember what I said about battlefield roles? Your opponent does the same thing with his army. He knows what his frontline units are, which ones do the most damage and which ones are designed to hold the line. You know his primary sources of damage and these are the ones that should be generating the highest amount of threat in your mind. You might run into scenarios where certain units don't want to be in combat at all. These are often caster bunkers or vulnerable Magelords who would hate to have an Eagle pick out his eyes. Knowing the weak points of his army can prove to be a great advantage to you during deployment and when you're playing the game. Again, understanding how the opposing army works helps greatly here.

Understanding Favorable Scenarios

Hesitation can lose you a game, but so can your ability to underestimate your troops.

Here are some examples: A scary dragon on the battlefield is not so scary when you shoot him with a billion arrows. Knights actually do quite poorly against White Lions. A small unit of Sword Masters into the side of Skavenslaves really fucks up their shit. A Spearmen unit, given enough ranks can hold a charge from most non-GW equivalents units in the game.

A lot of this might seem like common sense, but you'd be surprised how many times players second guess themselves on the battlefield. Know your army, know what each unit is designed to do (which is surprisingly easy for High Elves because everyone's so specialized), and know which scenarios go in your favor on the battlefield when paired up against any given opponent. This normally takes a lot of experience (normally horrible ones at that), for a player to figure out, but most players understand the gist of it.

At the end of the day, you should always apply a unit's actual battlefield role to do battle. You should always be thinking: The only reason I'm bringing X unit is to fight against Y units. In a game of rock-paper-scissors and random surprise Mindrazors; it still works in your favor when you know what counters what.

Predicting Combat

This is definitely more in the lines of advanced players, but after so many battles, players start seeing the same numbers. A unit of 7x2 Sword Masters hits a unit of Skavenslaves. Aside from a ton of rats dying horribly, how many Sword Masters did you lose and how much CR did you generate? What about Spears? Even if you didn't charge but was instead charged by a unit of Empire Halberdiers, how many Spearmen died and how much CR did you generate via kills, ranks and standard? What about that beefy lord-class character sitting in a relatively weaker unit? I bet he can do some serious work. I'm not saying go out there and mathhammer the life out of everything in the game, but you should have an idea how your units will preform on the battlefield.

The battlefield is a pretty unpredictable place, especially when shit like magic is involved. However, successful players have a good idea of what to expect when they throw their units into combat. For the most part, players only throw their units into combat they can win. This is why predicting combat outcomes are so important. A unit of Spearmen charging a horde unit of Marauders w/ Great Weapons in the front might not be the best choice alone, but what if you plan your magic phase to get Withering off on the unit? What if you decide to combo charge with your Spears and Sword Masters on the flank so you can use your magic elsewhere? The combat res generated from the combined charge "should" win you combat.

You see how predicting combat drastically changes the way you play the game? By assessing the battlefield and seeing the game on a larger level, you are able to make plays ahead of time. The key to being a successful general is being able to see multiple instances of this at once and analyzing which ones generate the highest amount of success with the lowest number of risk. Your ability to capitalize on this is what will take you from good, to great.

Lesser of Two Evils

Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made in order for victory for be secured. Sometimes, you just have to choose. Imagine yourself in a scenario where no matter what you do, something bad is going to happen to your army. This might be a loss of a flank, a loss of a key unit or letting a horrible spell go through. If your opponent plays it right, there should be scenarios where all of these happen at the same time. Take note here for a second about what I just said. A well-played game of Warhammer is when you make your opponent sweat over the choices he has to make. No matter what choice he makes, something bad should happen to his army. That's when you know you've made a good play.

If you have to choose, always go with the play that'll guarantee you the greatest chance of victory in subsequent rounds. This is a lot harder than it looks because you have to first let that flank fall, or that unit be destroyed so you can strike back in a manner most decisive. This is why predicting combat and understanding favorable scenarios is important. In a situation like this, always put yourself in the opponent's shoes. Think from his perspective and predict what he would do after he successfully pulled off a big play. Predict what he does and counter it to the best of your advantage. Think to yourself: If he wins big on combat there and I flee, will he pursue or will he reform? If he pursues, do I have anything that can hit him in the flank or catch him in a bad spot? If he reforms, do I have anything that can strike decisively and win combat on that unit next turn?

Don't get yourself caught up in the moment. Understand that the 300 odd points of Spearmen you just fed your opponent can equate to you combo-charging his General's bunker and send it into the oblivion, then it's well worth it. If sacrifice has to be made, it has to make its points back and more. If not, then the sacrifice is not worth it.

Magic Superiority

The first thing to understand is that a small advantage is still an advantage. This is how you should analyze the winds of magic. A successful magic phase is all about analyzing which spells your opponent can afford to let go and which spells he can't. With an Lv.4 Wizard, you have access to a good amount of viable spells. The spells your opponent can let go are often the spells you want to take advantage of. That's when why you draw a big winds round, you cast moderately but still vital spells that plink at his dispel dice. These should be all moderately dangerous to the outcome of the fight in question (which will be his main focus).

Use smaller castings of hexes and augments, because a slight advantage (what he sees, and analyzes as less important), is still an advantage (huge for High Elves). A clever mage will be able to feint the significance of a fight and get off multiple spells a turn. If your opponent lets it all go because he's anticipating Mindrazor, that's his problem because now his unit is now -WS, -T and you ASF with a better combat result. Mindrazor isn't even needed at this point. If he throws dice trying to dispel your other hexes, that's less dice he has available when you actually do through down the MR. This goes hand in hand with what I said about anticipating combat results. How badly your troops need your magic will save a lot of unneeded dice.

Redirecting focus: Say you have a unit engaged in combat and you anticipate a victory, or at least a draw result. You concentrate magic on another area of the battlefield that your opponent isn't focused on. This breaks his concentration and draws a big cloud of WTF? over his head. This happens when you see something crucial your opponent doesn't, as often times or not, players get tunnel-visioned in the combat they're in but don't grasp the wider vision of the battlefield. Hexing incoming Knights on your turn with -WS or -S will make much more of a difference than watching Sword Masters narrowly win combat vs. a flanking unit of Clanrats.

Baiting and Feinting

Fleeing from a battlefield is not always a sign of cowardice. It can also be used to bait an opponent out of position or force him into a position he doesn't want to be in. The best example of this could be a unit of Spears fleeing from a charge of Bretonnian Knights. God knows you don't to take that charge in the face so you opt to flee with your Spearmen. He now has two choices: Take a Ld. test to charge something else, or roll for the Spears. Say that you have a unit of White Lions or Sword Masters next to the Spears. Does he really want to re-direct into the Lions or SM? Or does he want to risk the charge and risk exposing his flank to the Lions?

You see what you just did here? A simple flee can put your opponent in a rock and a hard place (especially if the charge is long). Both scenarios equally suck for him so he might opt to charge at all. This is also good for you because it gives you the chance to charge his Knights next turn! And if he doesn't opt to charge, your Spears will still be there to assist in the main battle. Warhammer can be a game of cat and mouse, so it's best to know all the options available to you before you commit. If you plan on charging something, know all the possible reactions your opponent can take before investing. You don't want to be in the same shoes as the above player.

Eagles are an Elves' Best Friend

I've said it once and I'll say it again: Eagles are my MVP. First off, they are probably one of the most annoying pieces of chaff ever. They're great in the deployment phase when you can just put one down and stare into your opponent's soul. They're great ingame because they can fly boldly into your opponent's charge lanes and take one from the team; forcing them to charge them and re-position. Eagles buy you time, buy you movement and allow you to re-position your army while the Eagle re-positions your opponents. They allow you to chase down enemy chaff or flankers, help pressure warmachines and provide you with flank and rear charge CR should they survive mid-game. They act primarily as re-directors (a Frenzied unit's worst nightmare) and are the true workhorse of most High Elf armies. You can find more uses of them here.

Counter-charges and Flanking

Sometimes, the good ol' hammer and anvil is something even the experienced players forget. The concept of a counter-charge is simple: Unit #1 is a unit that can take hits - in the case of High Elves, a giant block of Spears with Steadfast CR up the ass. This is known as the anvil. Unit #2 is a unit that hits hard as fuck but dies to a soft breeze. Sword Masters are an popular choice for an hammer. Your opponent charges your Spearmen because it's the only viable target and you hold knowing that your Sword Masters (who are conveniently placed on your flank), will have a flank charge next round. Magic is invested in keeping the Spearmen alive and steadfast while the Sword Masters charge their flank next turn. Heads start rolling and combat heavily swings your way, winning you the day.

Flanking is also quite simple: Place something that has good threat range on the far sides of your army and use them as CR generators. I normally like using Dragon Princes for this type of role. Put 5 of these guys down on a wide-flank and they can be used to reliably add CR to any combat mid-field. Flanking can also be used to bypass some of your opponents' attention to hit warmachines and other units chilling in their backfield. Lastly, flanking is also good for having additional CR in combat. An Eagle charging from the far flank gives you 2 CR for just having the balls to be there. It's pretty much free CR.

Winning combat, now what?

So now that you've won combat, you have to think about what to do next. Unfortunately, most players think about this step immediately after the combat resolves. I want you to take a step back and think about what can happen even before you charge. If you charge now, and win a victory over your opponent, can you overrun into an important caster bunker in back? Does your opponent have anything that can crush your overrun if you choose to do so? Is your unit stretched too far and out of range of your BSB? Is he out of his BSB? If you push the advantage, will your advantage be negated if he engages the rest of your army while your best unit is out of position? Winning combat is important for sure, but what happens after is even more important. You must be in a favorable situation to benefit from it: The result of a successful charge should net you more success in the subsequent turns than harm.

Keep in mind that you don't have to keep going after you wiped out a unit. Check to see if the unit has been mauled enough that the only way he can rally is if he rolls double 1s. Sometimes the position you're in begs you to combat reform and stay still. If you commit anymore, you might go from crushing victory to outright defeat. Never lose sight of the bigger picture and don't over extend yourself. Unless you're Stubborn, or have a unit that's incapable of losing combined charges in the next round of combat, it's best to wait for the rest of your army. You want to be in magic support range, you want to be in BSB range and you want to be in support charge range of other units. Don't forget this.

Another thing to keep in mind is Line of Sight. If your unit can surge forward enough after winning combat that'll take him out of LoS (and thus enemy charges), this is a great advantage. It allows you to drive deep in the enemy lines and force him to turn around or suffer a rear charge from you in the subsequent turns. This also allows your main force to advance and catch him in a vice. Surely this is a good thing as even the most lackwit of generals know that enemy forces running in their backfield is bad.

Lost combat, now what?

So your beautiful charge turned into a crushing defeat, what now? Obviously, this means your unit will be running back to your lines like a whipped dog. Don't worry, you can now look into the future and analyze why you lost combat and how you can regain the momentum in the next phase of the game. Maybe something completely unpredictable happened in the magic phase that killed your opportunities in combat? This is the single biggest factor in how combats can sway. This is also something I want you to remember: Magic can greatly skew the outcome of any combat you're invested in. Think about this before you charge, and understand what magic lores he has that can shift momentum in his favor. In order for you to succeed in combat, you must dispel the magic he will use to turn combat in his favor. This is not negotiable.

After losing combat, you need to analyze several things:

Did he Overrun? If so, are you in a position where you can take advantage of his over-extension? Did he Combat Reform? If so, are you able to counter-attack next turn? What made you lose combat? Was it some beefy character or was it magic that turned the tides? How do you not lose combat again? Neutralize the beefy character (or avoid him completely) and dispel the magic that sways combat his way. Is your fleeing unit useless? Treat the game as if you're 1 down, but don't forget about the fleeing unit. Even if he's below 25%, you can still test for double 1s.

When ahead, stay ahead

The philosophy behind this concept is simple: Don't do anything stupid that'll throw away your lead. What happens most of the time when players start winning is they start playing careless. This is a sure way to lose your lead and put you behind in a game where you're almost guaranteed to win. A great example of this would be killing your opponent's Dragon Lord and 1-2 Hydras with your Warmachines first turn before they even get to do anything and still managing to lose the game. I don't know how this happens, but players get lost the ecstasy of great plays (or luck) and think now that the main threats are gone that the game is in their hands. This is the wrong way to approach a lead.

The more appropriate way to take advantage of a lead is to think: How do I get further ahead? You want to be in a position where your next step is to eliminate any and all possible ways the opponent can swing the game around. You put yourself in his position and you think to yourself: I just lost my Dragon Lord and my Hydras, so what can I do now to walk away from the table like a man? Once you think about the situation from your opponent's mindset, you counter it and deny him of it. With no victory options in sight, your opponent will have no choice but to fold. That's just how the cookie crumbles.

Post-game Analysis

Now that the game is won (or lost), you can look back and see what you can do to improve. Human beings are meant to improve; we're a race of learners and adapters. No matter how badly you just massacred your opponent or how crushing your defeat, there's always something to take away from the game. The most important part here is that you must learn from your game to improve. If you won the game, think about the scenarios you could have done better. If you lost the game, think about why you lost and which units caused the most problems. Think about all the topics that were covered above. There must be something you could have done better in the never-ending list of becoming a better general.

It's important that you discuss the game with your opponent. Talk about how the battle could have gone differently if you did this, or that. How his game could have changed if he did this, or that. Not only does this give you a better perspective on the game (and your opponent's army), but also the player you're playing against. Share your thoughts with your opponent and let him share his with yours. Criticism and advice should be taken with an opened mind. It helps broaden your perspective on other general's opinions and makes you a better-rounded player overall.