Dark Elves Tactics
by Weaselspit
Characters:
Dark Elf Characters are very expensive (and they die easy!--Ed.). But, you still need these. In low point battles, I usually don't use much more than maybe a General(or just a hero in like 500pt battles). Fielding a champion in every unit you plan to have in Hand to hand combat is a good idea if you can spare the points. Offsetting the high cost of Dark Elves is the naturally high leadership of the normal troops. Therefore, its not always nessacary to have a champion or hero in ever unit, like, it would be for goblins. After all, unless you really want that one magic item that a champion witch elf brings, you could have 5 more witch elves for the cost of one champion. In terms of attacks, thats 15(frenzy plus additional hand weapon) compare to 3 plus any magical item bonus. Plus, if one dies, you won't have wasted the money for that item. It all depends on how you want to make your army.
Battle Standards are a very wierd situation. I usually haven't used them until recently. They are good for giving a unit 2 magical standards, not to mention the reroll ability, but they are costly. People usually say that they are too expesive and die quickly. Well, if you can spare the points, use this to your advantage. Give them something that will make them hard to kill if your opponent has a tendency to target him with everything he's got. This will make him a VERY good distraction. Maybe put in a unit thats got a Sorcerer and/or a hero with a spell shield or Amulet of Fire so he won't get killed by spells; there are so many posibilties. I have never had a problem however with people trying to kill my battle standard. Usually, he is left alone, so he is a good choice for games that are 2500pts +. I don't see what all the complaining is about these guys dying too easily or being the target of everything (1 wound and T 3 is pretty easy to kill, don't you think? Instand VPs!!--Ed.). Why don't those people try using this to their advantage?
Sorcerers: For the 329pts it costs to buy a Lv 4 mage, you could buy at least 6 Dark Pegasi. Plus, if you beef him up alot with magical items, you could put a hero or you General on a Dragon for the same points. Using this, I hardly ever use a mage higher than 2nd level if at all. Multiple mages are usually a better choice than just one Lv 4. However, they aren't without their advantages. Although they usually are a target for destruction from your opponent, the ablility to take 4 magic items, being superior over lower level opponent wizards, and the great acess to spells. And whats with all this nagging about Dark Magic? Its great. I once played against an orc and goblin army at 5000pts. In the first or second turn I cast Anzibal's Black Horror(nicely aided by a total power) and killed his General on a Wyrven and decimated about 2 other units. Of course, his rolls were very unlucky for the General, but normal troops can't stand up to the kind of power Dark Magic deals out. The man was practically crying. There isn't a bad spell in the Dark Magic Deck. Protected correctlly, Sorcerers can be worth your while, whatever the level. If you could spend all your points on charactes, Dark
Elves, next to Chaos, I believe, would win every game if you played that cheaply. But, there are some nice combos out there for normal games. A few I like are placing a Witch Elf Hero on a Dark Steed, arming her with a potion of strength and Heart of Woe(4attacks(7 with frenzy) at S7plus 1S for the Poisoned weapon(so, S8) (sorry--is that Swiss or Brie cheese that's so heavy I could cut it with a knife--Ed. :)) And then if she dies in the same turn, the potion of strenght has brought her S to a 7 for the turn, so, just imagine what the effects would be...). This is a great kamakazie tactic for facing even the toughest opponents at a minimal cost(under 200pts!). Send her up against the toughest opponent asap and chances are, she will decimate the unit no matter what the outcome. Or, forget the dark steed and mount her on a War Hydra and give her a sword of leaping bronze or some armor if you wish to keep her around for a while.
Now, I dislike using either of these tactics due to how mad they make my opponent and the fact that I like to play with minimal character involvement. The best win is one where you one by pure tactics and you know it was the troops that won it for you and not the characters or magical items (Which is why I don't play chaos.....just a joke)
Some other things:(depending on how you wish to play the battle) Place charcacters on flying creatures. This will allow your hard hitting guys to hit anywhere. But be cautious about using them, many opponents have simple remedies for such things. Also, its not very sportsman like.
Play the traditional General. Try just having a general with no items on a Dark Steed or cold one just run around the rear of your battle line giving his Ld bonous where ever it is needed. Keep him out of combat and this is a cheap way to utilize him in small battles without breaking the bank. It also is not very unsportsman like, like it is so easy to be with characters.
If your opponent has a tendecy to use everything he has got to take out your mages, take alot of Lv 1 or Lv 2 mages and scatter them in units and on horseback. This will utterly confuse him and give you a great magic phase. Again, this is very unsportsman like and expensive. But, he won't know where to cancentrate his efforts. Like the tactic previously mentioned above, only use this one for fun in those wacky games or against chaos.
Regiments
The best part of your army. This is what you want to win the game with. Regiments are good to go no matter what. Not every Dark Elf unit must have a character/champion as Longsword said in his article. Dark Elves have naturally high leaderships, and using a champion is(shoulod be) just an added luxury. Unless you play games where the player with the most numorous and powerful magic items wins, you might consider just one General and every other model is a normal troop.
FIRST STRIKE UNITS Scouts:It is widely known that Dark Elves are extrememly good at "taking the fight to the enemy", especially on the first turn. Scouts are very good at this, but I do not recommend it. They can deal more damage just firing at short range. This way, they get more attacks with a higher chance to hit(say you had 5 scouts. If they charged, sure, they would stop the enemy, but they would only have 5 attacks at S3, and, depending on who they attacked, would usually hit on a 4+(or maybe 3+). They would get cut down by nearly anything in that combat phase. When firing, however, they have 5 S3 attacks that need a 3+ to hit plus another 5 that need a 4+). Basically, what I am trying to say is, use them for what they are for(and they are NOT heavy infantry) But due to their proximity to the enemy, it makes marching difficult, so, you need not charge to slow up the enemy and still inflict wounds.
Dark Riders: Perhaps the best Light Clavalry in the Warhammer world(Well, maybe not the only best now that they gave a clone of them to the High Elves) we have Dark Riders. Many people say using them on flanks is the best, beasue they don't work in the middle. Many people also say that using them on the flanks is too risky and never works, so, only use them in the middle as a missle screen. Well, everything works with Dark Riders. Just make sure they are backed up with Harpies or (even) scouts. If you want to charge with them, just make sure they can inflict enough damage. I usually have a unit of harpies to charge the same unit as well; the 2 units work well together. Or, just have multiple units of them on each flank, supporting each other. Also, they make very nice suppost for your scouts. They both can fire tons of well aimed missle fire, and if your scouts ar charged, they can be deadly in a charge with spears into the rear.
Dark Riders are probably the best missle screen for Dark Elves due to their mobility and skirmishing and fire and flee and Repeater Crossbows. But, think about this before you use them. It all depends on your army. The main problem is how expensive of a missle screen it is. I generally, if even using them for such a purpose, immediately turn them into traditional light cavalry after a missle screen is no longer needed.
Harpies: And last but not least of the units that can be used as a first strike weapon, we have Harpies. Only if you could get more than 1 unit of these...... I disagree with anyone who has even thought of using them as a missle screen. Yes, as most bow fire will have a hard time wounding them and killing them, there are so many other things they could be used for. Plus, as with any missle screen, there is so much artillery out there that mke missle screens useless. Harpies are much better at taking out artillery. Also, they make very nice support for Dark Riders and Scouts. A large solid block of them is always a good buy. If you are worried about their low leadership, don't be. Using them correctly will make it so you are not the one who needs to take any Ld tests.
Shock Troops
I believe that this is a very grey area for Dark Elves when it comes to what units qualify and how to use them. Nearly all units can be put under here, but as well as other places. With that being said, I will continue....
Witch Elves: Witch Elves are one of the best shock troops in your army. They are relativly cheap. If their weakness is getting shot at, don't let them be shot at. Large units of these I find worthless and, fielding tons of them very cheap and mean. But, i still love these gals. I can not tell you the best way to use them, as every way is good. Just get them into battle, big units or small. They don't need armor. If you use them correctly, there will be no opponent to fight back. And if there is, no amount of armor is gonna save them. In my eyes, they are a very one-use-force, but, it is always nice to see them last more than one round. Heroes and
Champions: only take them in your unit if you need the magic item. As stated earlier, for the cost of one champion can give you 5 more of this girls. Thats 5 attacks by the champion compared to 15. But, it is a judgement call.
Corsiars: Then we have Corsairs. These are very nice, nuff said. With thier sea dragon cloaks, one might consider them the heaviest infantry you can get as a Dark Elf. As well, they are also the most versetile. For 16 points, you can have crossbow men that can fight. For 13, they can have 2 hand weapons and a sea dragon cloak, making them an extremely nice force. Given a standard of sheilding, and they can take most any enemy attacks and still be able to pack a punch. Champions are usually a good buy for these, as are standard bearers. Any magic standard can be put to good use in thier hands. Just try to avoid things that don't allow armor saves. But, usually, this is not too much of a problem in small games. There are many tricks as well to get around things like cannons. Having just one long rank will minimize many artillery strikes.
Harpies: Harpies are also good shock troops. But, they work better the ways i have previously stated. However, if you can't take scouts or Dark Riders, you may want to reconsider how you use them. Because you can get only one unit of these, they will fight alone in those battles. And that is something you never want to do in a battle. As shock troops, they are very good at holding up a prime target so your other troops can charge. Just make sure that your other troops can get there in time, otherwise they are just a waste, as they will be torn up by more than one unit if your opponent is smart. They are also good for stopping any flanking attempts by your enemy as a unit of 12-20 will usually hold for quite a while. Now, in smaller battles, you couldn't afford that, but, remember, as the amount of points you have goes down, so does your opponents. So, smaller untis of 5-8 are good. In a 500pt battle, chances are your opponent won't have much in the way of light calvalry, so a small unit of harpies is good for holding them up. Also, Hapies are very nice at holding up an enemy who you DON'T want to fight. Multiple wounds, high toughness, and large numbers will allow you to smash up the rest of the army while the Harpies hold your opponents core unit.
Cold One Knights: These are the big boys. Use them wisely. They cost alot and are easily destroyed by enemy artillery. Their bane is handguns and blunderbusses. Make sure they get the charge. Using Harpies to hold your target is a good idea. I always have support units for these, just in case. Many people I have heard of using these wariors as protectoin for your Repeater Bolt Throwers. This is the worst idea I have ever heard. Flyers won't stop because of them. This will jut make your enemy attack them more, becasue now they can hold up such a prize as well. Aslo, RBTs are gonna die if attacked, so, whats the use of attacking a bunch of people that have already completed their purpose. Its just a bonous for them. These cold one knights have so much more potential than that. I usually don't take these unless I know I will need something big. A couple nice things to ensure victory is to take a Banner of Shielding or anything that will boost combat potential. The blood banner is good to get if you don't want to spend alot but still want a banner, but I would rather have something else because stupidity isn't a main concern, especially if you have any character with the unit.
Black Guard and Executioners: These units were made to be support units. There are so many units that would make a better core unit than either of these 2. But, the are very hard hitting. If they attack a unit already fighting your, say, city guard, they will samsh up the unit. The uses of these two units have a few differences. For one, the executioners, do I even need to mention who they should fight? The Black Guard can be used to take out anything with a high toughness or armor save. They are just a weaker but quicker version of the Executioners. Charging into Chaos Knights' and Savage Orc Boar Boys' flanks are what these guys are for. just don't get them near any frenzied troops or extremely strong troops that strike first.
Your Basic Infantry When it comes to infantry, the Dark Elves lack a lot. With Black Guard and Executioners being the heaviest you can get, it is not pretty. Since Witch Elves, Corsiars, The Black Guard and Executioners were basically covered in the previous section, there is no need to repeat it.
City Guard: The only basic infantry you will ever need, especially in those small battles. However, only use these guys on the defensive. They are otherwise useless. They can take a charge better than any other unit in your army. A unit of 20+ with shields and a standard(maybe even a magical banner) will give you the +3 rank bonus, +1 for the standard, +1 more for the Army battle Standard, The ability to stand and shoot, then fight with 2 ranks. Very nice.the only problem is thier mesely 5 or 6+ Armor save. But, their are ways to get around this.
Spearmen and Warriors: Cannon Fodder. I never take them. If you have to, I suggest using them as a missle screen. They can't pull off anything in a offensive battle that another unit can't do better, and they are still as expensive.
Crossbowmen: These make an appereance in my armies occasionally. They are your basic archers. When they do show up, they show up in large numbers. But, they can get expensive and a couple good charges and they are gone. But, why take them when you can get plenty of other things to do the trick and do it better? They are nice to have, just to have for what ever purpose. In low point games, use don't use these as they are only effective in high numbers which is impossible in small games.
Artillery
And I use the term loosely....
Repeater Bolt Throwers: A great buy at 50pts. However, since the tournement rules (actually, the army list says they cost 100) now say that these bad boys cost 100pts, you may want to reconsider. They are very good for taking out any opponent that has huge masses of troops or high armor saves. I can here the Chaos Knights and Savage Orc Boar Boys shaking in thier boots. Don't bother trying to reserve units to protect them unless you have five or more. If the get charged, they are going to die that turn, so, trying to save them is futille. Plus(at 50 pts, not 100) they a cheap enough that if your opponent is gonna spend lots of points to stop them, let him. Mass your fire(always fire 4 at a time) at 1 unit with a normal toughness and watch as the opponent's ranks disappear.
The Claudron of Blood: Although I wouldn't even consider this a piece of artillery. But, if you are playing a game where you are counting on your witch elves, this will help one **** of a lot. Its pretty obvious how to use it, so, I don't think I will explain it much further.