With 8th Ed. on our doorstep, we must prepare ourselves for the trials of fire ahead. The absolute worst thing you can do when going into a new edition is to march forward blindly and seeing where fate takes you. I don't know about you guys, but I don't like it when my Elves die. In fact, it offends me because it's my fault they're dying. The entire point of spending ridiculous amounts of time taking them out of their cases and putting them on the table is to kill some face, and I intend on doing that to the fullest.
Now, I already listed the units that I think will be superior in 8th Ed in my previous articles. I don't want to go over and explain everything all over again, but I will for the sake of time (and memory) write them all down here. Just like my competitive Blood Angels unit bucket, I also have a competitive HE bucket. It looks something like this:
Teclis
Archmage, Book of Ashur [or Hoeth, depending on lore]
Korhil
Caradryan
BSB, either on foot or mounted, with a good amount of protection
Prince, Star Dragon, Great Weapon, AoC, Vambraces, in larger games
Lv.1 Mage with Annulian Crystal
Lv.2 Mage with Seerstaff of Saphery
30x Spears in FC
30x LSG in FC
24x Phoenix Guard in 6x4 in FC
24x White Lions in 6x4 in FC
11-12x Dragon Princes in 6x2 in FC (varied size depends on BSB)
Lion Chariots
Great Eagles
Here are some of the units I want some solid playtesting with:
Ellyrion Reavers - Vanguard and harassment sounds tempting.
Sword Masters - T3 5+ saves with the enemy stepping up and I'm not Stubborn is bad news.
Repeater Bolt Throwers - 2W, no randomization and wounding on 6s worries me.
And here are the units that are so terrible I erased them from my head:
Silver Helms - Dragon Princes are better in every, single, possible, way for the price.
Shadow Warriors - With the new Skirmish rules in effect, even less reason to take them.
Alright, now that I my bucket, let's build some lists for the hell of it. For now, I'll build 2 lists; one at 2000 points and one at 2500. I heard from reliable sources that the games will be 2500 for Throne of Skulls, but 2k just seems like a much easier number to work with. Regardless, it doesn't really matter. Since High Elves have to invest in 500/625 points of core, they are no longer the "elite" army that they were in last edition. Keep in mind that I'm going to use the standard army construction limits until the FAQ says otherwise.
Now let's take a look at my first list!
1999
Lv.4 Archmage (Book of Ashur) = 330
Noble (BSB, GW, Armor of Caledor, Guardian Phoenix) = 168
Caradryan = 175
22x LSG (FC, Banner of Eternal Flame) = 321
20x Spears (FC) = 205
20x Phoenix Guard (FC, Standard of Blades) = 375
23x White Lions (FC) = 375
Great Eagle = 50
The BSB is pretty much mandatory now in all army lists now. The option to re-roll all leadership checks is absolutely vital when taking any test. I gave mine the best possible armor saves while being on foot: 2+/5++ with a Great Weapon is as good as you're gong to get. My 526 points of Core takes me into the 25% zone and provides me with mixed shooting and Spears. My two big special units consists of Phoenix Guard and White Lions. Caradryan will sit comfortably in the White Lion squad for that wonderful 4+ ward vs magic and provide them with a little bit of fear. The BSB will sit inside the Phoenix Guard with my Archmage and they'll be the center of my army. Standard of Blades on the Phoenix Guard gives them Armor Piercing (might take a Banner of Sorcery, needs testing) attacks and Banner of Eternal Flames makes all my LSG's attacks count as flaming. Even though I'm still undecided to what magic lore I'm going to take with my Archmage, I'm mostly leaning towards Lore of Metal and Shadow. My metagame around here is fairly mixed but two armies standout like a sore thumb: Skaven and Warriors of Chaos. While the Lore of Metal is great for WoC, Skaven, not so much. I would much rather take another lore vs. them. I guess if anyone's going to shoot me, I can just Glimmering Robes all my White Lions and give them a ridiculous 1+ save vs. shooting. Seeing 4 fat blocks of Elven infantry on the field would make anyone proud.. although I'm not really digging the lack of Dragon Princes or fast attack.
2498
Teclis = 475
Noble (BSB, GW, Armor of Caledor, Guardian Phoenix) = 168
Caradryan = 175
30x LSG (FC, Banner of Eternal Flame) = 425
20x Spearmen (FC) = 205
20x Phoenix Guard (FC, Banner of Sorcery) = 380
24x White Lions (FC) = 390
2x Lion Chariots = 280
At 2500 points, I upgraded my Lv.4 to High Loremaster Teclis and increased the number of units by just a tad. The 625 point lock on my core is really killing the way I played the game last edition (min core, max specials), but I think this change was for the better. 30x LSG in a 5x6 formation with Banner of Eternal Flame, support Spears and 2x Lion Chariots for some good ol' face-eating, counter-charging action. The S6 on the White Lions even when they're mounted really kicks some ass. 20x Phoenix Guard like before, but I decided to go with Banner of Sorcery just for Teclis because it should give him at least an average of 11 PD to unleash every turn. The White Lions are always amazing in their 6x4 formation and Caradryan will make sure the unit is well protected.
The biggest things to note here is the lack of serious shooting on my part. I'm not entirely sure how it'll work out for me because I enjoy having a few Eagles and RBTs in my army. It just feels a lot safer with them around. Too bad the 625 points in core chokes my former "elite" army to death in terms of points spent. I wonder if the errata will lift some of these restrictions for us? Our entire army book in 7th was designed around the fact we had 1 less min core than everyone else so we can max out on specials and rares. I mean that's why the book was 0-2 core, 0-6 specials and 0-4 rares right? I'm dying to see that damn FAQ. If I get too pissed off, I'm just going to Purple Sun people in the face with Teclis repeatedly.
Comments, questions, concerns, your-list-sucks, or post your own lists, it doesn't matter. Let me know what you plan on doing with your army in 8th.
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