High Elf

With all this talk about Beastmen i don't want to forget to talk about the High elves. Coming back to Warhammer the High Elves were my first choice. I love using infantry so i figured they would be fun with the always strike first. In 7th, my army was made up of units of sword masters. Get one unit into combat and it could be over. Now with everyone getting a chance to swing back I decided to go with units that have a better chance of getting into combat at full strength or staying a live in combat.

I was a fan of White Lions in 7th and i became an even bigger fan in 8th. It seems like there is a lot more shooting in 8th so i figure it never hurts to have the extra armor against it. Strength 6 is just crazy. Wounding on 2's is great. Almost every combat i have gotten my group of 25(5x5) in to they kill other infantry in groups of 9-10. While that my seem high, the 11 attacks hit on almost 10 every time with the re-rolls. The wounding on a 2+ almost all the time is great. They hit just as hard as Cav but for half the cost. You may have lost that great armor save in close combat but you get extra wounds and ranks in their place.

The Phoenix Guard is starting to grow on me for my other Elite Infantry Unit in the High Elf army. At first I was not thrilled with their power until I combined them with the Beast Magic spell Wyssan's Wildform. With their 4+ ward, this gives them even greater staying power and some killing power.

I used to love running Sowordmasters in small groups, but for me that is a thing of the past. With units getting attacks backs, you can't go into combat at half strength and expect to win. They get chewed up so easily to shooting, just like in 7th. Now the problem is they get crushed in Close Combat with other infantry.

I am all but against using Cav with the High Elves. I am not saying their's is bad. They are great. I have just found White Lion Chariots to be very powerful. In my last game vs K they knocked out one of his main infantry blocks. I took on his 450 Point Swordman unit and barely, thanks to a bad leadership test, broke them. I love the fact that they are almost "throw-away" units. If they die they die. If someone doesn't worry with them they can do good damage.

Things have change in some interesting was in 8th. I have to say Swordmasters are the worse of the 3 special infantries. If anyone out there has a good use for Swordmasters i would love to hear it!!