High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)

In Warhammer Fantasy, the High Elves are the original elves and lived on their home circle island/continent/atoll Ulthuan where they sang, built statues and temples, rode monsters into the sunset and out of the sunrise again, and all other things one would do in a perfect paradise made just for them. Then it all went to shit. This is because the Old Ones didn't close their goddamned warp gate thingy-majigers, or lost a war against Chaos, or it's all according to plan, or whatever. Chaos flooded out like a pierced beer can into the world and were going to destroy it without a problem. The first Phoenix King, Aenarion, got his shit together and closed the gate thereby saving the world. Then a bunch of shit happened Eventually his son Malekith got butthurt over not being picked the next king over some guy named Bel Shanaar and started the Dark Elves. Because the Dark Elves actually knew how to fucking fight they pushed really far into Ulthuan, but then Caledor the first came and Cosgrove'd Malekith back to the northern reaches of the New World (which apparently means Americans are Cenobites). Caledor the second pissed off the Dwarfs, ensuring things happen they way they should in fantasy settings, with Caledor II dying in the process. Then Malekith came back and fucked shit up good so the High Elves elected Caradryel who realized that keeping colonies and making war on Dwarfs when you're about to be wiped out is stupid and ordered all non-Dark Elves to come home and defend the motherland, but the colonists who discovered pot and treefucking said 'Fuck It'and retreated into the woods, becoming Wood Elves. At this point the High Elves are a dying race where every citizen is a soldier because there's so few left they can't support a standing army (although they still have high enough birth rate to make up for losses). They're still the strongest force in the world, and if they get wiped out then grim and dark Warhammer Fantasy becomes grimdarkness of Warhammer 40k. So yeah, they're kind of important if you aren't playing Daemons or Warriors of Chaos. Of course, most High Elves are douchebags and most of the rest of the world is too, so don't worry: everyone has a reason to fight each other.

New army book

8th edition High Elf book is out, and the summary is that while some notoriously overpowered things (Teclis, Book of Hoeth) were nerfed, they weren't nerfed into the ground. Better yet, with the light and medium cavalry being core again and the points and powers adjusted, the only thing that's still (relatively) useless is Shadow Warriors (although even they can be made viable at times) and possibly Eltharion. Matt Ward wrote the new book, but has unexpectedly not had the fluff raped or had characters made rapists. Females were even (re)added, the Everqueen and her servants! Overall, we got off very well and are possibly a bit stronger than before. But what did you expect from the only Fantasy army with Marines?

History

High Elves measure time in a retarded way, and 99% of the time everyone goes by the reign of the Phoenix King during that period. Some eras are shorter than others as a result.

The Golden Time

Golden Time was before the Phoenix Kings. There isn't much fluff on it, as it is supposed to be the lost age of myth. Only that Ulthuan's kingdoms were run by the Everqueen alone who lead out a positive if hippy-driven jive. Then the warp gates at the world poles collapsed and chaos came, which immediately came after the Elves and fucked their shit up. The Everqueen's magic was mostly for peaceful shit and her soldiers had never faced anything worth mentioning before. The High Elves prayed to their head god, Asuryan, to help them.

Aenarion, the Defender

Aenarion was a world traveler, back in the days when that meant something. He heard some crazy shit was happening at home so he went back, and shit was way more crazy than he heard. Everyone figured the world was ending, and everything that had ever been was pretty much being turned to Swiss cheese by Slaaneshi Daemon cocks while the Bloodthirsters/letters stood back and called them faggots. So Aenarion went to the Shrine of Asuryan to pray. But, as typical of gods, they didn't do a god damned thing (primarily since every god who wants to do good also has an opposite who will fuck things up, so there's a permaban on screwing with mortals apparently which gives Asuryan more time to sit on his ass and contemplate his naval). Aenarion said fuck it and jumped into Asuryan's sacrificing fire, thinking that if he jumped in his god has to do fucking SOMETHING or else it'd be a way to an hero and not be around for the heresy that was to come. However, Asuryan actually DID get off his ass for once (kind of) as Aenarion was imbued with the power of Asuryan. He went outside the shrine, saw some Daemons, and fucked their shit up good by one hitting the biggest Daemon he saw and taking it's weapon to kill the rest before Slaanesh could even jizz in his pants. Elves all over suddenly saw someone with balls and promptly started cosplaying him, and because all elves look alike Daemons started taking psychology checks every time they saw pointy ears. Caledor the Dragontamer, who was like the first Teclis (but not anemic) swore fealty to Aenarion and gave him the death star plans to fucking over Chaos by making a black hole of magic somewhere so Daemons couldn't menifest in the world. Soon everyone else asked to be on team Aenarion and gave him whatever shit they had that wasn't full of cockholes until the elves decided there'd be two rulers of their race from that point on, the elected king and the hereditary queen (one of the perks to being king is he bangs the Everqueen for a year until she gets a daughter to inherit the throne after her, but after that point they go back to their spouses and pretend it wasn't the best year of their life). However, Chaos attacked Avelorn where the Everqueen lived, and killed her in a way that is apparently beyond description, and her children were lost. Aenarion was pissed. So he went to a far off island and drew the sword from the stone. Except this sword was the Widowmaker a sword of Khaine. Khaine is kind of like Rule 63 Khorne but with a penis, and unlike in 40k where he's a giant robot the Eldar use to fuck shit up, he's pure douchebag unleaded and likes fucking with elves more than Daemons do. So the sword, which apparently shapeshifts to whatever kind of weapon you'd like to use the most (Aenarion gets points for the damn thing not turning into a katana or something else stupid) curses you to a really bad fucking end which follows your entire line. Fun, huh? So Aenarion sets off to get it, and along the way everyone from his butler to all the elf gods, INCLUDING Khaine, and even the ghost of the Everqueen tell him he's about to go full retard. He nabs it anyway, and promptly goes apeshit by transforming into a trap version of Kratos. The most fucking crazy of the elves follow him to the westernmost part of Ulthuan where he forms a new kingdom built on bloodletters and severed Slaaneshi cocks. Along the way he rescues a witch named Morathi from some Slaaneshi fighters and promptly marries the chick (whether or not she was pregnant beforehand isn't known, but she gives birth to a son he names Malekith). The Nagarythe court becomes all kinds of fucked up, to a degree nobody knows about fully. Caledor, sick of waiting for the torture orgies to end, packed up and went to actually finish beating Chaos. Aenarion was about to go full retard and start a civil war in revenge for not participating in said orgies, but then the biggest Chaos invasion ever seen set up on the other side of the map and everyone knew everything was fucked 40k style. Caledor and his bros turned an island in the middle of Ulthuan into a magic drain, but it put them outside time forever in an I Have No Mouth and Must Scream kind of way (although Caledor exists outside it immortally making sure nobody buttfucks the mages while they're standing there in magical amber). However, Aenerion got a mortal wound during a faceroll against the four Avatars of the Chaos Gods themselves. So he ran back to where he got The Sword of Khaine and puts it back in the rock. From there, his body is never found. He's presumed dead, unlike everyone else that kind of thing happens to. For three days Ulthuan gets the New Orleans treatment from the weather, and most of the elf race dies. But then it turns out the children of Aenarion and the Everqueen lived! Her last act was to make some unknown deal with nature, which resulted in Dryads being bros with elves and carrying the kids away where they'd be safe. Her daughter Yvraine succeeded her as the Everqueen, and her son Morelion played it smart and chilled in his sister's court where he married one of her maids. Thanks to Aenarion's dick move with the sword however, every one of his kids has had to roll a WILL save every decade to not go full retard and go get the sword again.

Bel Shanaar, the Explorer

A picture of Malekith after Bel Shanaar was named Phoenix King

So a year after Aenarion died, the Princes of Ulthuan started deliberating over who to elect to be the new king. Malekith, who had become a badass Fighter/Wizard and knew how to cheat at chess, was the top candidate from an outside perspective. But since Nagarythe torture orgies weren't exactly socially acceptable, nobody was too keen on the idea. Also Yvraine, one of the kids that the Dryads saved was the new Everqueen and was Malekith's half sister. The Council thought it would be a bit fucked up since by law they had to produce a daughter (despite the fact that law was passed like five minutes ago in elf-years) who would be the next Everqueen and they didn't want an Everqueen who had two left hands, extra toes, and no chin. Now he was a known as a whiny little fuck head who had the emotional stability of a sack of rats in a burning meth lab, but pinkie swore that he just wanted to be king because it'd make his pappy proud, but he'd be alright with not being picked. So naturally they elected a war hero who was known for not wanting to slap his dick on everything for his own glory. Morathi went ballistic about her son (who she may or may not have been fucking at this point) not becoming king, but Malekith tried his hardest not to cry and went as far away from Ulthuan as he could by becoming an explorer like his father. He took all his whining over to the New World and set up a bunch of colonies, went Orc hunting on safari, and discovered Dwarfs. Bel Shanaar visited the Dwarfs too, and signed a peace treaty that was supposed to last for the entirety of the history of the two races. Yeah, we know how well that went, especially since Malekith was appointed ambassador. The elves reconstruct Ulthuan and repopulate it (in other words, an enormous amount of time passes). It's about this time that the Cult of Pleasure begins to appear. It was a Slaaneshi cult that was into crazy Slaaneshi things like sacrifice, torture, and wearing fursuits. Malekith came home to stamp that shit out since it was supposedly based in his home kingdom of Nagarythe. He found out his mother, Morathi, was a member and when he confronted her about it she revealed she was the founder and high priestess. Which overall wasn't much of a surprise to anyone. He turned them all in to everyone's surprise but then had the message spread that a meeting was needed at the shrine of Asuryan immediately to discuss how awesome he was for turning them in, so survival of the smartest went into effect as the Princes who didn't have much going on upstairs went, as well as Bel Shanaar since he had no choice. Malekith had the doors sealed, then told everyone Bel Shanaar was a furfag and poisoned him before he could say "wut?" then turned around expecting to be made Phoenix King on the spot. The Princes immediately moved to hold a vote on whether or not Malekith should investigate himself for being a cultust, so Malekith assured them everything was cool and walked into the sacrifice pyre like his father did. Asuryan was disappoint. So after coming back as a piece of elf-shaped bacon his followers killed everyone, and took off running back to Nagarythe where they sealed him in some body armor to keep his dumbass alive, complete with removable codpiece at his mother's request. That's when Malekith becomes the Witch King. What a douche.

Caledor I, the Conqueror

Prince Imrik never liked Malekith. As a result he was one of the only Princes not at the Shrine when Malekith killed everybody, and since he was Caledor's son he took on that name in honor of his ancestor. However, despite how much he and a bunch of other High Elves didn't like Malekith lots of elves loved him. So a super fantastical fun Civil War started. It went back and forth, but lots of important folks turn to Malekith's side. Hotek, a priest to the elf god Vaul, stole the super awesome Hammer of Vaul and runs off to join Malekith. This is probably around the time the Ring of Hotek is made, which took a lot of Douchebaggery to form. The elves of Nagarythe went so evil, they started worshipping Daemons and renamed themselves Druchii (or as the Mon'keigh call them, the Dark Elves) to distinguish themselves from the Asur (High elves). Caledor fought really hard, and chased a lot of Dark Elves back to Nagarythe itself. That's when Malekith pulled a 'Just as Planned' and started to mess with the Vortex in the middle of Ulthuan, which caused a lot of the Nagarythe to panic and rejoin the High Elves. What Malekith's wizards planned to do is tear a hole directly to the realm of Chaos, where the Daemons would for some reason not rape them and eat their souls and instead help them and salute Malekith as God Emperor of Elfkind (kids, don't do meth. You make decisions like this). What it really did is sink most of Nagarythe, and lots of the kingdom to the south Tiranoc (where Bel Shanaar was from). The world was rocked so hard, the Dwarfs felt it and decided to make a bone and cat leather mural of it. Laughing, the majority of the Dark Elves load up in their ships made out of mountains (don't ask how that works) and head west. Some Dark Elves remain, and continue to mess up the High Elves like the Viet Cong. Due to this, the High Elves stopped talking with their colonies in the new world due to having more important shit to do. Malekith suddenly got a boner for the Widowmaker (and he's had one ever since) and the High Elves skirmish with the Dark Elves on the high seas and on the island itself. Caledor has a series of unbreachable fortress gates erected in Ulthuan to ensure that it's a fucking BITCH to try to invade, each named after one of the possible mounts High Elves can be seen on (Griffon, Eagle, Phoenix, Dragon, and Unicorn). Caledor fights back against those bastards, pushes the last of the Dark Elves off Ulthuan, finally coming to the Blighted Island himself to give Malekith the middle finger. He stood in the Altar of Khaine for awhile staring at the Widowmaker, then went "Naaaaah" and walked away wondering what kind of faggot would actually take it. On the way back though, a freak storm hits and some punkass Dark Elf pirates ambush him and light his ship on fire. But instead of being captured, the magnificent bastard decides to jump into the ocean fully dressed in his armor. He dies, of course. But the Emo Elves didn't get him.

Caledor II, the Warrior

Caledor II was the kid of Caledor I and totally forgetting what the last son of a Phoenix King turned out like, the Princes elected him. However, as all kids are, he was a jackass. The Dark Elves shut themselves up in their home land while Malekith plotted a scheme for epic lols. About this time, contact with the Old World and the Dwarfs was reestablished. They heard there was some crazy civil war going on, but they didn't really understand why something like that would happen since Dwarf logic is "all Dwarfs do everything their fathers and the guy with the whitest beard say without question, and all fathers and white beards follow the king without question" so as far as they're concerned, the king is the voice of the hivemind. What Malekith decided to do was fuck with the Dwarfs. But not only did they attack the dwarfs, they dressed up like High Elves and stole everything that the Dwarfs would miss (so the anvils (also known as female Dwarfs), and booze). This left the Dwarf King, Gotrek Starbreaker, sending envoys back to the High Elves asking, "What the fuck, dude?" Caledor II, though, ignored them. Completely. Finally the Dwarfs began to demand stuff, which got their diplomats shaved. Gotrek swore if the Dwarfs didn't get the money equal to what had been stolen or it's price in elfblood, he'd shave himself which caused the entirety of the Dwarf race to more or less make the same oath. The largest force of Dwarfs ever seen before or since gathered and began their assaults on the Elven colonies in the Old World. This starts what is called "The War of the Beard (The War of Vengeance)". Its during this war that the item "Cloak of Beards" is created. Caledor II sends the entirety of the High Elf armies to kill Dwarfs. Both sides underestimated each other, and it was a complete loss on both sides. Dwarfs decide that all trees are evil and start clear cutting to piss of the elves, which gives some a sad but not to the extent the Dwarfs thought it would. When the Princes of Ulthuan vote to tell Caledor II he's a gigantic fuckhead, Caledor II screams like a 3 year old and tells everyone to fuck off. High Elves start using Dark Elf tactics like poisoning Dwarf water sources and desecrating shrines. After awhile Caledor II crosses the sea and tries to push the Dwarfs away from the colonies. He kills Gotrek's son and thinks he's a badass all of a sudden. At this point it's all downhill for the High Elves. Caledor II's bro gets killed by a Dwarf whose last name is changed to "Elfbane" after the feat, and the colony of Athel Maraya is wiped off the map. The Elves try and attack a few Dorf Fortresses, but are obliterated and sent scurrying back to their colonies, pursued by a single souped-up Dwarven miner. Few hundred years later Caledor II comes back and launches an attack that's supposed to kill off the dwarfs. That didn't really go according to plan. In a battle with King Gotrek himself, Caledor II is obliterated. They take the Phoenix Crown forged by all the Princes and Nobles of Ulthuan for Aenarion himself for his coronation, and heads back to their mountains. The Elves try to draw them out of the mountains but the Dwarfs refuse. Just as they're lining up to kamikaze Karaz-a-Karak, the Dorf capital, they hear Malekith is trying to rape Ulthuan. The High Elves in the Old World are ordered to get their ass back to their island, but some refuse, becoming Wood Elves (who continue to get consistently slaughtered by Beastmen and Dwarfs while fucking with Bretonnians).

Caradryel, The Peacemaker

Caradryel, wondering why the fuck everyone around him is such a fucking Double Mon'keigh.

See, while the High Elves were fighting the Dwarfs, Malekith took a bunch of his ships and invaded Nagarythe, and built a fortress there called Anlec made out of those mountain-ships. After the traditional one year mourning period ended, the High Elves decided to name Caradryel their leader since he was so unlike Caledor II. He was a shit soldier, but had a high WIS score so they figured he'd be good. Ulthuan fell under attack from Dark Elves, as well as beasties the Dark Elves brought and unleashed in the mountains that have never been wiped out (rumors that they are the inbred children of Malekith and Morathi are unfounded, but probably true). After his first proclamations came out from the Everqueen's bed, that the colonies were to be abandoned and the War of the Beard (as well as the Phoenix Crown) conceded to the Dwarfs, the Princes and Nobles started to complain. Caradryel promptly ignored them and went back to making a new Everqueen. Since he was smart enough to know he didn't know shit about war and was busy being knee deep in the best elf democracy can buy, he called on the greatest elves among the Princes to lead the armies of Ulthuan against the Dark Elves (among them the line of Morelion). Tethlis, Prince of Caledor (the kingdom, not the wizard or the two kings), became the greatest of these military minded men and put the hurt on the Dark Elves (but wasn't able to beat them fully). During this time, most of the modern High Elf military tactics were developed. Caradryel even contributed when he got the idea that maybe giving his troops shore leave instead of leaving them in place until they died at their posts was a good idea! High Elves built a giant navy and became the dominant naval power in the world, and Caradryel eventually died in his sleep, becoming the first Phoenix King to get a happy ending (y'know, not counting that first year they all get).

Regions

These are the ten main areas where army themes derive, plus colonies. Fluff paint jobs and armies tend to come from these locations and use their colors and troop choices. Although the regions are called "kingdoms" and the leaders "princes and princesses", in truth Ulthuan is a democracy where the nobility appoint the princes who function as mayors and governors, and the princes elect the king. Oftentimes the same family will hold a position through the years, but the low population of elves and rebellious youths ensure that it isn't hard to get into the family. The kingdoms are divided into the 5 outer ones that border the ocean, and the 5 inner ones that border the inner sea with a large mountain ring separating the inner and outer kingdoms. The Annulii mountains, as they're called, are a magnet for the worlds magical energy, and as such chaos mutations are not uncommon among the wildlife. Even non-chaos beasties get buffed magically to tarrasque levels and come down south for elf snacks, requiring the forces of the High Elves (particularly Silver Helms, White Lions, and nobility who want to make a name for themselves are heroes) to keep such things at bay. No living thing has ever been to the top of ANY of Ulthuan's mountains, and supposedly a realm apart from either the Warp OR the material world has it's entrance there (High Elves believe it's the domain of the gods, but who the fuck knows). All High Elf kingdom lists can include Archers, Silver Helms, and Spearmen as default in their themes. Representing one kingdom in your army, or two that share a border or values makes for a nifty looking army to show off to your friends.

• Eataine: Eataine is a lot like New York state. Miles and miles of nothing but farmland, then one fuckhuge city full of immigrants and assholes. Unlike New York City, Lothern is a glorious place that has pretty much all the wonders of the world in it (like a Civ 5 capital city on easy mode). BIG fucking lighthouse, buncha gem-encrusted gates armed that are as hard to get past as Terra is to invade in 40k with each one named for the gems in them (Emerald, Sapphire, and Ruby), fuckhuge statues of the past and present Phoenix Kings and Everqueens, and a statue of each elf god (even Khaine, who's statue is black with ruby eyes and hands instead of the marble and gems the others are made of). There's more non-elves than elves in Lothern, and it's the only place in Ulthuan non-elves are allowed to be without being labelled a "kill on sight terrorist" to elfkind. Finubar is from here, and the Phoenix Palace was relocated here upon his coronation. Although Lothern is the center of trade with the world (the ENTIRE world), the Lothern navy doesn't do much except protect the homeland and attack Dark Elves. Lothern is known for it's entertainment, lots of opera houses and theaters and museums and anything else are found there. Although Eataine's flag is a two-headed white coastal bird or dragon with a midday sun on a red background, much of Lothern has instead taken to using Finubar's family colors (and most of the sample models you can see on GW's website are in these colors as well), which is a red sea serpent or dragon rising out of the blue water on a white background. Phoenix motifs, either to symbolize Finubar or the Shrine of Asuryan, are also appropriate. One final thing of note: earlier editions mentioned that elves of darker complexion hail from Eataine. So it's the land of lovely chocolate elves, and all the assorted heresies that brings. A Lothern army contains Lothern Seaguard, Lothern Skycutters, and Lothern Sea Helms obviously, as well as Eagle Bolt Throwers (which are made mostly in Lothern and deployed everywhere). As the Shrine of Asuryan is located in Eataine, Phoenix Guard marching in an Eataine list keeps with theme. White Lions can fit into an Eataine list as they are Finubar's bodyguard, and the city would of course have more than it's fair share of mages (oftentimes in the High or Heavens schools) but the archmages are probably best left to Saphery unless they are in a leadership position. Dragon mages or archmages on dragons can fit into the list but if you're taking a dragon, it's best to use a prince instead although the bird mounts are your best choice here. Swordmasters area a great option for maintaining order amongst the mon'keigh and keeping the Cult of Pleasure at bay. Chariots of both kinds, Shadow Warriors, and the Everqueen's forces should be left out of Eataine lists. Shadow Warriors may be found in the city as counter-spies to any Dark Elf aligned traitors, but seeing them in a list is not likely. Dragon Princes may be pompous, but defending the capital of Ulthuan is incentive enough for glories to being them in. Reavers are probably too far away from home to be found here.

• Avelorn: All High Elves originated in Avelorn, and while elf bureaucrats and nobility all around Ulthuan may go on about traditions and honor and policy, Averlorn is the most down to earth traditional of the kingdoms and in a lot of ways resembles Celts. Running a Wood Elf army as an Avelorn army isn't a crazy idea, but it's important to note that while Athel Loren is a very hostile and constantly evolving place, Avelorn is a place of relative safety containing species long extinct elsewhere in the world and oddball things like unicorns and fairies and the like. That isn't to say Avelorn is without teeth, the life of the forest is tied to the Everqueen; when she's angry you might as well be taking a trip to the realm of chaos between Tzeentch and Khorne, when she's grieving the forest is as inhospitable and dead as the frozen wastes, and when she's happy Avelorn may be the only place in the Warhammer world that can rightly be called "paradise". As long as Avelorn and the Everqueen live, most of Ulthuan exists in a state of constant spring/summer even in the autumn and winter months. Most of the beasties and Chaos creatures of the Annulii come to Avelorn looking for elfkibble, but that's about as successful for them as walking into Athel Loren with a heavy rock and looking to conquer it. The Everqueen's court is constantly on the move, mostly made up of tents and large friendly Treekin with hollows in their bodies for tired elves to curl up in and be rocked to sleep by it's walking to the next court site. Buildings like baths, temples, and other things dot the entire region and are simply returned to when needed. Most of Avelorn's civilian population is poets, artists, and mages who know little of war and all compete to amaze each other and the Everqueen with their talents like chirrens presenting things to their mum on Mother's Day. Anywhere you look, there's elves eating and having sex (which for elves is like 6 hours of foreplay and a kiss) and dancing and singing and acting, all the while politics and cultural movements as important as those that happen in Lothern take shape. It's like if Tolkein went to Woodstock. Avelorn's heraldry is a red hearts on white and green. The personal symbol of the Everqueen is a silver dove. In times of invasion the artists of Avelorn quickly don their uniforms and march with perhaps more dedication than the other citizen levies, but their skill is arguable (eh, evens out and gives 'em something to talk about). For your army list, special choice troops can be run as whatever you want them to be in their stats, but substituted for things like Dryads and Wood Elves so the appearance of the army matters more than the choices in this regard. Silver Helms would march with the forces of Avelorn if Tyrion is present in the forest at the time (he's always got an entourage of fanboys). Reavers may be present as Ellyrion shares a border with Avelorn and the cultural values are similar. Cothique lies outside the Annulii from Avelorn, so Lothern Seaguard in Cothique colors are not a stretch either. Mages are a valid choice, but not as combat ready battlemages and not in the death lore. Dragons are not an appropriate choice for Avelorn lists, but the bird mounts are acceptable (gryphons over eagles for the exotic feel). White Lions may be present protecting the queen, a visiting noble of some kind, or eliminating Annulli monsters. Swordmasters and their strict discipline are not suited to be amongst Avelorn's citizens, and Shadow Warriors probably not tolerated for long in the forest or allowed in it's depths. Phoenix Guard are unlikely to make an appearance as the Maiden Guard fulfill their duties here. Dragon Princes would be here in a list with Tyrion in it, otherwise not thematic. Chariots are probably not to be found in an Avelorn list as the dense forests are not suited to their use. Bolt Throwers should be rare (no pun intended), and phoenixes kept far away. Sisters of Avelorn should be mandatory in this list. Skycutters from Cothique, or as pleasure barges being brought into battle are a reasonable choice.

• Caledor: This is the kingdom, not the characters of the same name (the first Caledor, Caledor the Dragontamer, first befriended dragons and forged some of the best magical shit the world has ever known. Whatever the kingdom was known before has been forgotten since Caledor's descendants and surviving followers renamed it in his honor). Most of Caledor is Annulii, of the volcanic variety with only enough land to live on and produce the food required to sustain the population. This has caused Caledor to always have a small population compared to the other kingdoms, so even though some kingdoms have ghost towns and manors and castles without population to fill them, Caledor has degraded little in that regard. Caledor's power waned only because the volcanoes have cooled as time went on, and as a result the dragons who siphon the heat of eruptions to keep their hearts beating started hibernating for decades, centuries, some for thousands of years. In addition the forges lack the heat they once had and less wonders are produced. Caledorians are proud bastards, the degree of prudishness and arrogance an elf has compared to a dwarf or human is the same in scale from a regular elf and a Caledorian elf. The shrine to Vaul, the smith god, is in Caledor on an island and in a volcano called Vaul's Anvil. It's there that anything worth mentioning is made (fuck your Dwarfish quality, magic metal beats mere hard metal). Although the other kingdoms have volcanoes and dragons within them, the majority of the draconic race is in Caledor and almost all dragon riding elves hail from here or trained here. The Banner of the World dragon, the bane of Daemon players, is the heraldry of Caledor; a winged dragon who's body is twisted into the shape of Ulthuan with yellow and white background (older editions depicted various things on the heraldry, like a volcano). However, unlike most kingdoms who display their kingdom's colors with uniformity, Caledorian pointy-eared bastards prefer to pick colors like those of dragons (so a unit of green Dragon Princes all hearkening to the founder of their order who rode a green dragon thousands of years ago marching beside Spearelves wearing white and red which was the color of the dragon who sleeps closest to their base of operations with a prince riding a young blue dragon but clothed in red, the color of that dragon's parent who the prince's great great great great grandfather rode during the Sundering). So whatever colors you want to field your army work due to there being no confirmations on the colors dragons naturally come in or if the different colors have different temperaments, just try to make them look draconic and avoid looking Dark Elf (at that point, might as well grab the Widowmaker and call it a day). Make them all the same color, or make every single elf bearing a different scheme at your choice. If there's a High Elf army made up of Lord and Hero choices, it's we Caledorians. Princes on dragons define us and should be seen whenever the dragons can be awakened! Archmages in the lore of Fire on a dragon are acceptable if the larger dragons cannot awake, and the Dragon Mage youths ride if none with experience available. The rest should be our Nobles and Fire schooled Mages. Anointed of Asuryan works well, if you modify him to be a priest of Vaul (make him blind, and swap the Phoenix Motifs for generic fire and things like anvils and hammers). Any core except Reavers (children on horseback, bah!) and Seaguard (no Caledorian would go to battle smelling like fish!) are fine. Those Chracian blowhards can come (if they feel like the need to see a REAL elf fight that is), but their damnable Chariots have no place outside the savage kingdoms. Swordmasters may march with Caledorians, but only as long as they make themselves useful and take arrows for our pureblooded Caledorian Mages! Leave those vile bastard elves, the Shadow Warriors, in their blighted land and let them rot there. Phoenix Guard should be remade to serve Vaul, as is proper before they come along. Of course, most of your points should be spent on Dragon Princes of Caledor! Skycutters should be grounded to make way for our glorious dragons. Tiranoc Chariots decked in the livery of a Caledorian lord can see service along Dragon Princes, but really you should be taking more of Caledor's finest instead. Bolt Throwers are for fireless cowards who shun melee, not heroes and elves such as we! Eagles are great as provisions for the dragons, but never fight alongside us. Phoenixs are acceptable, but keep those vile Frosthearts away from the dragons lest we wait another hundred years to fight alongside them again. As lovely as the womenfolk of Avelorn are, battle is no place for their delicate features; let the Dragon Princesses ride in their stead!

• Ellyrion: Ellyrion is one giant perfect perma-summer (in a good way) plain and steppe kingdom where a fuckton of horses that have the lifespans of elves are found in a constant state of divine stampeding. As a result of this, horses that elves can manage to lure away from the pack are better than any found anywhere in the world. The land itself is magic somehow; unless an Ellyrion shows you the way, the longer you walk the further you get from your destination. The Ellyrions learned anything worth knowing from the horses themselves, and the rest they figured out by running wild in the forest in barefeet. Hurting, or even talking in a mean voice to a horse get you an arrow in the head from out of nowhere in Ellyrion. As far as elves go, Ellyrion is a land of teenagers. Always doing stupid stunts for fun and excitement, quick to start a fight but slow to do anything that can be considered "fighting" other than throwing a punch after a lot of trash talk, and setting up highly transitional cliques (to be fair, this all makes them the elves most likely to be bros with mon'keigh even if they won't shut up about their newest ride's horsepower and the special name they gave it and their buddies back home). The capital city has an interesting feature. The same amount of buildings that are normally in a city, are instead all public castles with the roads being bridges made of silver between them. The water below the city is apparently ghost horses that'll rise up and gore the city and everyone in it to death if it falls to enemies (so the Ellyrions take a page out of Caradryan's book). Dark Elves like to try to raid Ellyrion for black horses, but if the amount of non-dinosaur cavalry options the Dark Elves have is any indication they usually aren't too successful. Obviously, everything-EVERYTHING-should be decorated in horse and Pegasus and unicorn motifs in an Ellyrion list. Their colors are dark blue, white, and hints of light purple. White Annulii factor into the backgrounds of their flags. If there's a High Elf list that should be full cavalry, it's Ellyrion. Leave the birds and lizards at home, all your Lords and Heroes should be on horseback. Mages should be in the High, Beast, or Life lore. Leave the Anointed at home. Reavers should be the bulk of your core, with any spare room filled by Silver Helms. Chracians are acceptable. Swordmasters stay home, Shadow Warriors have a place in this list. Phoenix Guard should be dropped, Dragon Princes are nice as a melee hammer if your Reavers get bogged down. Skycutters shouldn't be there unless you modify it to have a Pegasus team. Tiranoc Chariots are your best choice for Special. Leave the entire Rare selections out, none of them are fitting for the Horse Lords of Ellyrion.

• Saphery:

• Tiranoc:

• The Shadowlands: Welcome to Elf New Jersey, capital Elf Detroit. Formerly named Nagarythe this was the homeland of Malekith and most of the Dark Elves, and as a result it's been the front line of the war between the two for most of it's modern history. The current population is the elves of Nagarythe who stayed loyal to the Phoenix King during the war, and became more or less guerrilla revolutionaries who have suffered greatly at the hands of the Druchii. In appearance, the Shadowlands resemble every "bad place" fantasy picture ever, with tall cliffs of spiky rocks, dead black forests full of thorns and brambles, volcanoes (not the kind the Caledor dragons roost in, more like the kind tribals sacrifice virgins in), and swamps everywhere. The land itself is bitter, mostly getting the Winds of Magic the Waystones draw in from Naggaroth and all the bad shit they use magic for flowing through everything. The land isn't aligned with the Druchii though, apparently invading Dark Elf forces get picked off one by one by various things as they cross through the Shadowlands, and the trees that the Shadow Warriors make their arrows out of feel smooth but inside a Druchii body, it grows spikes to ensure that taking that thing out will HURT and possibly cause death from a shot to the knee. The people of Nagarythe aren't much different from the Druchii if truth be told, they spend a good chunk of their time thinking about ways to kill or torture THEN kill Dark Elves they find (at least they aren't slavers or Chaos-aligned though). They take no prisoners, ever, and to supplant their population they steal babies from the Dark Elves (which is what the Dark Elves do to the other kingdoms of Ulthuan every chance they get). "Eye for an eye makes YOU blind, and that's the only thing that matters" is the motto of their team. Most of the land is in ruins from the many battles and due to the magic backlash caused by Malekith wend he attempted to undo the Vortex. Most of the elven population are Shadow Warriors, the youngest doing patrols through the lands and killing any Dark Elf beasties, raiding parties, or similar hostiles they see. The experienced ones man lookout posts alongside non-Nagarythe patrols from the other kingdoms, infiltrate the other kingdoms to do counter-intelligence on Druchii spies or assassins, and the best of the best give the Dark Elves in Naggaroth a taste of their own medicine by raiding the coastlines, poisoning food supplies, and generally making the coastal towns fear the high Elves. Nagarythe troops are difficult to paint, since you want to have Dark Elf looking High Elves without them looking like Dark Elves. Old editions had generic symbols, like High Elf runes or stars on black backgrounds or themes other armies used but on black and with more subtle colors. 8th revealed the heraldry of Nagarythe is a black crow against the twin moons in a night sky. Badasses who are looking for a fight wear a lot of red and black to symbolize the violence they bring to Druchii, the rest favor black or camouflage colors. Unlike most armies here a Nagarythe-themed game would probably work best if you used Mordheim's ruleset due to the smaller scale. If you want to field a full Nagarythe army however, there's two main options. The first involves anything that can pass as Shadow Warriors, the second involves the Shadow Warriors fighting alongside the garrison of a sentry post along the shores that watches for a Druchii invasion army. Alith Anar should be included whenever possible. Characters should be left unmounted, or modifications to the mount should be made to fit the theme (turning a Giant Eagle or Gryphon into a giant crow/buzzard or a very battle-scarred version of what it is). Gear your Princes and Nobles with bows, and make their magic items high-damage close combat oriented. Mages and Archmages should be in the Death or Shadow lores (the only High Elf list where those are truly appropriate). Anointed work if themed for one of the nastier High Elf gods (not Khaine, even the Shadow Warriors don't worship him). A Loremaster can be made to work, but is better left at home. Sea Helms should be High Elf pirate captains or shore patrolmen. Unless shit REALLY hits the fan, the Everqueen and her forces would die before entering the Shadowlands. For core, go for things that can be themed as Shadow Warriors in training (Archers, Lothern Seaguard, Ellyrian Reavers). White Lions are the most likely of the main Special choices to be in the Shadowlands if hunting monsters, or if the Swordmasters, Dragon Princes, and Phoenix Guard are being sent against a Druchii invasion army. Really, you should load up all Special choices in Shadow Warriors. Tiranoc Chariots work okay thematically, but since they're not very stealthy most Nagarythe would not use them. The only rare choices that line up with the theme are the Frostheart Phoenix if you favor a "desolation" theme. Bolt Throwers are something Nagarythe would bear against their foes gladly, but don't invest in them if you could take more Shadow Warriors instead.

• Cothique:

• Chrace:

• Yvresse:

• Misc:

Army

Characters

• Tyrion: Tyrion is a total badass who doesn't give a fuck what you think about him (or a Mary Sue, depends on if you play High Elves or not). Awhile back, he was an up and coming noble in the courts and being descended from Morelion, he had a pretty substantial fortune as well as a big name to live up to. When the elves in the powdered wigs tried to embarrass him in front of the court, he usually responded with a challenge to a duel to the death. He quickly became known as a badass swordsman as well as a douche. Since people started saying he's Aenarion reborn (that might not be a compliment) he was allowed to wear Aenarion's armor and carry a sword one of Aenarion's buddies carried around on weekends if he signed them out from the Lothern Museum of Asur History, but he never gave it back and they were too afraid to report the shit missing. After adventuring around like a TES character and doing random shit for awhile, Ulthuan got clusterfucked by Daemons and Dark Elves. He heard that the Everqueen was being chased by Malekith's rapesquad and went to rescue her, killing them but got fucked right up from a poison hidden carefully in the anus of an assassin he was corpse humping after the fight, and Alarielle carried his dumbass around Ulthuan while he moaned "Bel...Dagobah system..." while running from a Keeper of Secrets. Then Teclis showed up and facerolled things. After they rejoined the Rebel Alliance rest of the High Elf forces and Tyrion was healed up, Alarielle decided he'd make a great addition to her harem. She gave him a magic engagement necklace that lets him give Death the middle finger, and the God Emperor of Horsekind Malhandir. Then he SMITE CLEAVE SMITEed 90% of the Dark Elf race personally at the Battle of Finuval Plain. Then he went back to adventuring, except when Alarielle sends a letter that she wants the cock whereupon he zips right home. He's a bit emo since Aenarion's curse makes him think about the Widowmaker like it's the ultimate sexual fetish all the time. Thinking about his brother gets his dick soft enough that he can think about Alarielle and get a boner for killing Dark Elves again. When his best bro got killed by Dark Elves, he took the dude's loli daughter as a squire and taught her how to slap around prissy nobility, brood, and /win battles. If he doesn't get wasted, he'll probably be the next Phoenix King, but since he's buddies with Finubar (also Eltharion, but Elthy is a dick to him now) he's not looking forward to it. Currently in the canon story, he's facerolling Vampire Counts lead by Mannfred von Carstein who's trying to resurrect either Vlad and Isabella or Nagash by sacrificing Alarielle and Finubar's daughter (and hence the next Everqueen, unless Finny dies soon enough for Tyrion to give Alarielle an heir). To represent Tyrion on the tabletop, at his current point in lore development his own mini and stats do nicely. Prior to Finuval Plain, a well geared Prince on foot or horseback does nicely while still using his own mini still or a custom one. A young Tyrion is best used as a champion in your Dragon Princes or your Silver Helms.

• Teclis: Tyrion's twin brother. While Tyrion's "Aenarion's Curse" manifested in being a half step away from being Gollum for the Widowmaker, Teclis was born an anemic cripple with a bad cough instead. After spending most of his life in a magical wheelchair and being tended to (AKA experimented on) by the healing mages in Saphery, he wound up very thin and weak (even for an elf) and needs regular magic healing potions as well as the magical staff gifted to elfkind by Lileath the goddess of magic herself just to keep him standing upright. Don't think he's a no good weakling though (this goes double around Tyrion who will beat your ass if he finds out you're dissing his bro without a second thought. The two have a direct emotional psychic link, and while Teclis has a good deal of patience and good humor Tyrion...does not). Teclis, Nagash, and a few Slann are the strongest magic users alive (so to speak). After spending most of his teenage (hundreds of) years among mages and learning from them, he decided on the day that it became clear Ulthuan was about to be fucked that it was now or never to make something of himself. He began to forge a magic sword underneath Hoeth (a ritual that the Swordmasters, as well as their Loremaster superiors must do to become a man (or woman)), and upon it's completion (it was a really fuckawesome sword too, called the Sword of Teclis and in ages to come will probably be an awesome heirloom item for future heroes) was awarded the magical pimp hat of awesomeness (the War Crown of Saphery) as well as the rank of Loremaster. He set out to find his brother and the Everqueen, and caught up with them right as a Keeper of Secrets was pulling off an unconscious Tyrion's pants for a sorely deserved assraping. The KoS...didn't make it. After engaging Teclis's brother, the Everqueen gave Teclis the aforementioned staff as a consolation prize, and the two brothers set out to carry the entire High Elf race in the Battle of The Finuval Plain. While Tyrion was committing genocide Paul Bunyan-style in melee, Teclis nuked EVERYTHING and dispelled every miscast. After a short magical duel between Malekith and himself, Teclis cast a spell so powerful that Malekith had to escape into Chaos itself to avoid being obliterated mind, body, and soul (how he escaped is unknown. Possibly Morathi summoned him as one would a Daemonette concubine). While Tyrion retired to the Everqueen's boudoir, Teclis decided that (in a very un Warhammer-ish way) it was the duty of those with great power to save the entire world, not just their own race. He left for the Empire, and taught humans true magic for the very first time (kickstarting the beginning of the Warhammer renaissance that is currently just beginning to take hold) by founding the schools of magic and fighting against the Daemons and Warriors of Chaos that were about to wipe out humanity. That task being complete, he set out to explore the world (apparently all great heroes are either world explorers or fuck the Everqueen. Finubar must be glorious to behold if he'd ever get a mini). Meeting the uncorrupted giants, Slann, amazons, all the minority civilizations there's never been an army for like Ind and Cathay, and even leading an expedition to see the Rift into Chaos at the north pole (and learn how to make toys!) Teclis returned home, whereupon he was made the head Loremaster. Recently Teclis was gravely injured from a bitch move assassination attempt from Morathi. Nowadays he chills in Hoeth, reading articles on the internet and feeling up Lileath's boobs on his ronery staff. To represent Teclis on the tabletop, at his current point in lore development his own mini and 8th edition stats do nicely. For a campaign where rules can be improvised, a Loremaster Teclis who has just returned home to Ulthuan after his travels is best represented by his 7th edition overpowered stats. For a pre-Loremaster Teclis, use very low base stats and equip him as a Loremaster of Hoeth generic hero while using a heavily modified mini (an archer makes a great base for this).

• Alarielle The Radiant: The current Everqueen. Her role in society is to be the head elf hippy and just be a pinup who conducts fertility rituals and the like (which is really important since it keeps elf birth rates up), however due to her insistence at being present in battles where the fate of the world hangs in the balance the courts of Ulthuan are beginning to gossip that she might be a butch (despite this, everyone around her gets a hard on for good and figures GOD IS WITH US in her presence). Since her year with Finubar is up and she had a daughter, Aliathra, by him she's now toting around Tyrion like a puppy on a leash. The Everqueen's court in Avelorn is much different from the rest of Ulthuan, being a much more Wood Elf themed vibe combined with a drop of Tolkien elf mixed in (Games Workshop can't into subtlety, Everqueen's court is an 'R' rated Rivendell that changes location in the forest periodically). At first it's hard to see the difference between this and the Cult of Pleasure, but the main difference is that the casualty rate from lovemaking is 0% in Avelorn, people bathe in exotic oils and magical water instead of virgin blood and Daemonette semen, teasing is defined by making catty remarks at group poetry readings instead of cutting away the skin over a lover/cousin's ribs at a public execution (one on every corner!), and everybody involved in the activities is pretty okay with it and respects everybody else involved as an individual. For a summary on the Everqueen's personality, picture Snow White who has a bonus Avatar State like from that one cartoon about a monk kid saving the world that /co/ faps over and rages over between fap sessions (what was it called again? Oh yeah, Batman: The Animated Series). She is so pure and Noblebright (honest to god noblebrightness in a Warhammer setting? It's more likely than you think!) she kills Greater Daemon's by just asking them to go away please (and thank you!). In one of the novels, Slaanesh's champion (before Sigvald) devastates western Ulthuan and because Morathi has been cockteasing him for years (literally, his whole reason for wiping out the High Elves is Morathi promised him he can fuck her) he spends most of his time looking for a female elf that's still alive to annihilate with his cock ("desecrate" is the exact word used in the novel for what he needs to do) but because the only way to know an elf's gender is to see their junk, most bleed out before he can get their armor off. As soon as he saw Alarielle he made a mad dash for her only for her to take his hand and forgive him. The bombshell that in Fantasy, life magic (not the kind that comes from Winds of Magic that your Archmage uses, pure life magic that comes from nature) is stronger than Chaos and consumes it is dropped. She forgives him so hard, all Slaanesh's gifts are dispelled. Slaanesh began pouring all his energy straight into the champion, and the moment the Everqueen let go of him he mutated into a Chaos Spawn that was then hacked apart by generic heroes as she entered into a Disney musical number and strolled away. She had a model in the previous editions, but her stats were horrible and she was unusable. She was later removed, but now in 8th she's back. Her old model is decent, but really her new one is the one you should be using on the tabletop. Save the old one for her daughter.

• Finubar: The current Phoenix King. Finubar is the modern day Caradryel, making all those silly "common sense" decisions that need to be made (my, what a fantastic age we live in). He doesn't really stand out much compared to the Phoenix Kings of the past, only being present in battles when shit hits the fan and primarily just keeping the High Elves alive through the most fucked up age since Aenarion's. However, there's no shortage of heroes in his era to make up for his behind the scenes work, why even the Everqueen shows up on the battlefield every so often to put the fear of mortals into Chaos. Finubar is know to be fairly likeable to those who know him, in particular the Dwarf King Thorgrim Grudgbearer has begun to consider trusting the High Elves again thanks to Finubar's politics. Tyrion was a childhood friend of his, as was Eltharion and Imrik. Korhil and him have a bromance (or possibly gay relationship, who knows) going on beyond the "bodyguard/king" relationship and Korhil regularly advises him on courses of action to take when Tyrion isn't around to point at the enemy and get behind something to avoid catching splatter from the ensuing carnage. The current Phoenix King doesn't get a model because Tyrion makes him kinda redundant since he's more on Korhil's level of power, and having the king as a hero choice ain't right. To use him on the tabletop, put one of the elves who comes with the Dragon kit on the legs of a Seamaster or else use a similar custom job. Stat him either as Tyrion or a pimped out Prince. He used to have a griffon, then a dragon, but the canonicity of either is dubious at this stage.

• Eltharion The Grim:

• Prince Imrik:

• Alith Anar The Shadow King:

• Korhil: Korhil in one word: bro. Korhil likes to get drunk, values the friendship of anyone who Finubar says is okay, he goes hunting to kill things that need to be killed instead of just to make everything think his penis is bigger than it is (like the lion pelt on his shoulder, giant rampaging lion that nobody could beat. Korhil just shrugged and took care of business), and on top of it all is so fucking huge and muscular that he makes AHHNOLD look like Micheal Cerra on atkins. Korhil fights ANYWHERE he's needed, seeing him pop up anywhere in the world alongside one of the Order aligned armies isn't too surprising. He's the head of the White Lions of Chrace (as much as any one person is in charge anyway), and the personal bodyguard of the Phoenix King and the Everqueen (the latter service is usually left to her Maiden Guard, but the White Lions serve in both capacities). He's so nice, he even helps the whole unit he's placed in cross the forest (remember kids, look both ways before crossing a glade. Sometimes Steam Tanks have trouble seeing you. Always make sure someone over 2000 years old is around when you play, and never trust strangers that smell like bacon). He dual wields giant axes the size of his body, one is magical and glow-ey and he pulls this off without looking weaboo. Overall, no matter what kind of High Elf army you're running you aren't really breaking theme to include Korhil. Korhil has had several different models over the years, and all are pretty decent. If you're running a special army that would include a young Korhil, no special mini is needed. Just equip a giant axe (not both, one was awarded to him upon becoming head of the White Lions) on any old elf (that doesn't have a lion pelt) and stat him as a White Lion, or a Swordmaster even.

• Caradryan:

• Sea Lord Aislinn:

• Princess Eldyra:

• Aliathra: The daughter of Phoenix King Finubar and Alarielle the Radiant. One day she is set to take over as Everqueen and preside over the commune in Avelorn while praying to Isha on behalf of the High Elf race and otherwise just inspiring women to forget that prior to Aenarion, they ruled the High Elf race and men took the backseat. Her first major act in the fluff was to head to meet with the Dwarfs (who she is very popular with apparently, to the point they don't even think of her as an elf!) to speak of peace on behalf of her parents. Mannfred von Carstein figured she'd make a GREAT Frank Frazetta style sacrifice and manipulated Kemmler and some Orcs into blitzing the Elves and Dwarfs. They slaughtered everyone and carried her off, leading to the Elves and Dwarfs blaming each other and threatening war. Apparently Alarielle can sense if her daughter is alive or not (which sort of makes sense, since Alarielle's soul will one day inhabit her daughter's body) and told her past and present flings, Finubar and Tyrion, to save her babby. Finubar went to make peace with the Dwarfs (possibly leading to a plot development in the Dwarfs book when it comes out) while Tyrion gathered an army and went to kill the fuck out of things like he always does. Current plot has Tyrion riding towards a MASSIVE fucking undead force with the unconscious Aliathra in the saddle behind him. She may be a vampire at this point (although the Everqueen would probably know if that was the case since vampires detect as "dead" magically in Warhammer), or be a Bloodswain (which means she'll crave Mannfred's fangs and cock until he's killed or banished). If you want to field the Everqueen in your army but want your list to be a bit more low profile and free for non-Avelorn options, taking a different mini and calling it Aliathra is a great alternative. If you're lucky enough to have the old Everqueen mini that works fine, otherwise greenstuffing some small boobs onto something else works fine too. There's no canon appearance for Aliathra, so anything goes based on how you imagine her to look like.

Generic Characters

• Princes:

• Archmage:

• Anointed of Asuryan:

• Loremaster of Hoeth:

• Noble:

• Mage:

• Dragon Mage of Caledor:

• Lothern Seahelm:

• Handmaiden of the Everqueen:

Core

• Archers: All elves of Ulthuan from butlers and maids to farmers and musicians all the way through the highest of the high high society high elves (who are sometimes high) serve in the military in some capacity, and draft cards drop on a dime when Finubar gets the chills. If they're terrible and can't afford to buy enough magic shit to pretend to be a Noble , they usually end up as a nameless faceless bowelf. While in the service of the Ulthuan army, all previous allegiances (like from said butler to the gentlemen who's manor he serves in) are expected to be left at home. They still cloth themselves in the colors of the kingdom they hail from, or the post they're assigned to, or the commander they serve under, but white is the standard color of all High Elves and usually on the uniform somewhere (with blue, red, or both to accompany it). The best archers are put into elite archer divisions and given light armor to wear (as opposed to just their uniform/red shirt), otherwise once they've seen enough action from afar or been trained enough that they can be trusted to be a bit more disciplined in the face of death, they graduate to be Spearmen.

• Spearmen: Mostly archers who have earned the right to be armed with full armor and weapons, or guys with really shitty aim who have finished their time fetching the REAL archers water and more arrows. While you're looking at the acceptably competent chumps of the High Elves here, each of these fuckers has spent several hundred years (about 1-5 years or so in mon'keigh years) in mandatory military service Israeli-style. The fruitiest among them can still out tactic, out nerve, and out discipline any other army's middle to high grade troops (fluffwise).

• Lothern Seaguard: Final tier of the red shirt elves, these guys (fluffwise only) are masters with bows, spears, and shields (compared to the ALMOST mastery the spearelves and bowelves have apparently). They hit the beach USMC style, and pave the way for all other elf forces on the attack. While the minis are called "Lothern Seaguard", any coastal force would have a Seaguard equivalent (although not in the numbers Lothern and Cothique do). Elfmarines are also the best disciplined troops among the elves (but since everyone is Ld 8 anyway, mon'keigh like you don't notice a difference). Since elfmarines are expected to get up and close into the action, they don't bother with longbows and instead rely on the idea that anything outside arms distance deserves more arrows in it, and anything too far to shoot is the spearelf's problem. "From the halls of Thorgrim Grudgbearer, to the shores of Lustria..."

• Silver Helms: Welp, the nobility needed a purging anyway. These fuckers are rich enough to own well bred horses and full armor, and when the call of war came simply organized the boy's club hunt this year to, instead of for foxes and magical flying lions and the other standard Ulthuan game, to be for whatever race is currently the enemy. Silver Helms are about as proud as a High Elf can be without being a dick to other High Elves as well. Most of the common folk look at them as the best of the best that the high Elf race can offer, most of the popular elven fictional stories and poems depict Silver Helms as the heroes who slay Daemons and rescue princesses. Most of all that you need to know is that these guys make the Bretonnian knights look humble. The High Elf race is the center of their worship instead of a "mysterious magical woman with mysterious magical fluid from a mysterious magical cup" (*ahem* Wood Elf drug dealers *cough*), and they actually believe they've already won in any given conflict they're involved in. Any kill made on the battlefield that isn't a Silver Helm kill will end up with these fuckers complaining about kill stealing at the end.

• Ellyrian Reavers: While Silver Helms are the preppies of the cavalry, the Ellyrian Reavers are the Boyscouts. Elves are notorious for being bros with horses, and Ellyrians more so than anyone. These bastards just LOOK at a horse and know it's "inner name" and whatever it's feeling and shit like being born in Ellyrion makes you a horse-whisperer. These guys spent more time outside than inside as children in dangerous forests, their houses and apartments and manors are designed to let more of the outside in that keep it out and as a result Reaver Knights make Eagle Scout Boyscouts look like germophobic city slickers. They can live off the land wherever you put them, and with absolute fearlessness go on hit and run attacks that can wipe out entire armies before they even taste melee (once again, fluff only. But if you field Reavers, imagine that the army your opponent puts on the table is a quarter of what he started with when the Reavers met him and you're just dealing the finishing blow now). Unlike most troop types where the musician and standard bearer are better trained or veterans, Ellyrian Reavers derive that status purely as a matter of "who got the most kills last battle?" and the champion is the one who is personally favored by the elf god Kurnous currently.

Special

• White Lions of Chrace: A long time ago, when Caledor the 1st was first told by telegram that he won the popular vote and the recount was expected to come in his favor, he was in the middle of a hunt. He immediately set out for the Temple of Asuryan to walk into the magic fire and be crowned King. Suddenly, a Dark Elf street gang showed up and since Caledor didn't know the right gang signs to flash, they moved in for the kill. Apparently the Chracians, who are like the elf version of hill folk, don't like Darkies in their neck of the woods because they moved in with woodcutting axes and skullfucked the assassins. They followed Caledor all the way back to the pyramid to be crowned, and Caledor immediately established them as an order of High Elf bodyguards. So now that the hillfolk were crowned CIA operatives and given a license to kill, they wandered around the kingdom protecting anyone rich and pale enough to warrant armed escort. Many of the White Lions are descendants of those original woodcutting elves who are still carrying around their logging tools as magical weapons that never need sharpening. Others are just Spearelves who have gotten enough XP to advance, and chose "White Lion" prestige class instead of going into the "Lothern Seaguard" multiclass. Either way, the trial of becoming one of their order is to travel to Chrace and kill a white lion, who's pelt they'll continue to wear for the rest of their lives. That may seem cruel, but apparently white lions aren't an endangered species. To the contrary, they breed far faster than elves do and when there's enough of them they raid villages (even animals think they can fuck with High Elves), so it's an actual legitimate concern to keep their numbers down. The white lions pelts they wear grant them a good resistance to shooting damage, and look snazzy. White Lions don't really have a set pecking order, instead they kind of wander Ulthuan killing monsters and bolstering any local armies that they find need some balls to go with their spears. As such, like that sexy beast Korhil, the White Lions can be found in a fluff-friendly way among any kingdom's armies (which is great, because they're a nice addition to all non-full cavalry High Elf lists). Usually they don the livery of whoever they're currently protecting (so if they were protecting the Everqueen green with red hearts or if following Finubar then white with red dragons coming out of blue water). Otherwise, they stick with red and white themes.

• Lion Chariot of Chrace: Sometimes White Lions of Chrace find cubs who's mother they killed. Instead of letting them go back to the wilderness, they spay/neuter them and hitch them up to chariots. Not much to say other than that, except that they can be found anywhere White Lions of Chrace go and that you DON'T want one of these on top of you.

• Swordmasters of Hoeth:

• Shadow Warriors:

• Phoenix Guard:

• Dragon Princes of Caledor:

• Lothern Skycytter:

• Tiranoc Chariot:

Rare

• Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower:

• Great Eagles:

• Flamespyre Phoenix:

• Frostheart Phoenix:

• Sisters of Avelorn:

Religion

Another nice way to customize your armies, and GW uses adding more elfgods both as a way to cheap out and have some more fluff that affects nothing so it's not really an update to the plot of Warhammer, and at the same time differentiate ass-kicking High Elves from those bitch tier losers the Eldar.

Misc Fluff

High Elves believe in the concept of duality in all things. Their language is built so that every happy word is also sad, every angry word is also friendly, and so on. Makes learning the language a bitch, makes subtleties of speech a lifetime study, and makes it so anyone can misinterpret what you're saying entirely based on their mood (and they know it too). Although in the past they only had a queen, current elves can't accept the idea of a single leader; disagreements are almost encouraged, with the fact there's a dissenting opinion being a comfort (so their political system is like a non-fucked up version of the fucked up politics in the real world (also, when you've fucked up as much as they have in the past it helps to know at least somewhere, someone is right)). Dark Elves usually disregard this aspect of elven culture (Only the Druchii deal in absolutes!) except the smarter ones, who generally think of things in terms of "having fun and alive" and "not having fun and dead". Wood Elves complicate it even further than High Elves, with there being a billion different fucking things to learn about every single word and all their aspects based on the time of day (Good morning on a Monday is a marriage proposal, good morning on Tuesday is a declaration of war, and they'll say it both days knowing full well just because they're crazy like that). The way elves keep Chaos from destroying the world is by taking the Warp energy (AKA magic) and shooting it back into the Warp since the Warpgates at the poles shoot WAY too much magic into the world (a world that has achieved magic homeostasis apparently can't manifest Daemons). They accomplish this via Waystones, which are white monoliths with inset gems and elf writing of varying sizes from small mountain through tabletop decoration. These channel the winds of magic through specific points like bodies of water all the way through the world into the Annulii and further into the center of Ulthuan. Slann used their magic to help the elves from afar erect them in the first place, but the only one who knows that is Teclis and mages loyal to him since everyone else screams HERESY when he brings it up (not that anyone has the right to purge him unless he shows up for class with a Slaanesh tattoo). Elves protect these at all costs; they've gone to full scale war to prevent Wood Elves from carving their names into them, they've saved all of Bretonnia from Daemons just to protect one (they didn't tell the mon'keigh that of course), and they've established dealings with Tomb Kings in order to erect more in order for each to be less important. But that doesn't mean people don't go full retard. Orcs see them as an insult to statues of Gork and Mork (or Gork and Mork?) and smash them every chance they get, humans think the jewels are spiffy and otherswise move them around because a giant floating elf rock in the town square really brings in the tourists, Tomb Kings remake them as statues of themselves, Wood Elves are fucking chaotic neutral morons who do stupid shit arbitrarily, the forces of Chaos and Evil usually play with them as magic-enhancing tools like altars the the like, and the fucking Dark Elves are convinced Slaanesh is their friend so destroying them all and letting the Warp overtake all reality is their idea of a good end.

Crunch

Alright, this is the fun part.

Special Rules

First and foremost, High Elves some very nice special rules. Almost all High Elf options have the Always Strikes First rule. What's even better, is that this isn't modified by the weapon speed so a High Elf with a Great Weapon STILL Always Strikes First (all you lesser races go after we've had our turns). Then, they also have "Valour of Ages" which means whenever they go against Dark Elves, they may reroll any failed psychology test, which is awesome. Many High Elf troops have the new rule "Martial Prowess" which allows models that have that rule to fight or shoot in one extra rank, which is cumulative with any other rule that lets them shoot in extra ranks (long story short, fuck you we're better and we're gonna stab and or shoot you until you believe it). Spellcasters get a rule called "Lileath's Blessing" which adds a +1 to casting attempts from the Lore of High Magic, the High Elf specific lore. Also, it used to be the case that you needed less core units and could take more rare and special units. This is no longer the case since the arrival of 8th edition, but errata from GWs website says you can have as many multiple units as you like (other armies are now limited to two identical special or rare units in games of less than 3000 points). High Elf horses can get the "Ithilmar Barding" option, which increases armor like regular barding but doesn't affect movement speed. Finally, if you wanted Flame Attacks you've picked the best army for them.

See Also

• Tactics/High Elves

References

• Warhammer Armies: High Elves; Adam Troke, Rick Priestly, Bill King; Games Workshop; 2007; ISBN - 978-1-84154-846-3