HE rumors on some points cost

More stuff.

Source #1
Spears: same
Archers: 5 Skaven Slaves, half a slave for light armour
PG: same
Swordmasters: 6.5 slaves, great weapons (don't re-roll)
Dragons: 117.5 slaves ;150 slaves ;195 slaves
Griffons: 75 slaves
Heroes may ride Griffons
Prince: 70 slaves
Mage: 42.5 slaves
Archmage: 92.5 slaves
Additional magic levels: 17.5 slaves (contradicts another report from an apparent book owner, probably just a mistake in typing)
Shadow warriors: Cannot have additional weapon

Source #2
Core: Spearmen 8 (+1 shield).
Archers 10 (+1 LA)
LSG 11 (+1 shield)
SH 21 (+2 shields)
Reavers 16 (+1 to substitute spear with bow; +3 to get bows in addition to spears)

Special: Tiranoc 70
Lion Chariot 120
Skycutter 95 (+25 to substitute one crew member with Eagle eye BT)
SM 13
WL 13
PG 15
DP 29
SW 14

Rare: fire Phoenix 220
Frost Phoenix 235 (IIRC)
Eagle Claw BT 70
Great Eagles (in 1+ model units) 50 (+5 penetrating strikes, +10 ASF)
Sisters of Avelorn 14.

Prince 140, Noble 70, Mage 85 (?), Archmage 185 (??). Something like that.

Source #3
Here we go:

Basic:
Spearman: 9
Archers: 10
Seaguard:11
SH:21
Erillyon: 16

Especial:
PG: 15
DP:29
Flying chariot:95
Tiranoc Chariot: 70
WL:13
SM:13
Lion Chariot:120
SW:14

Special:
BT:70!!!!!! (Up to 4)
Giant Eagle: 50
Phoenix: Fire 225, Ice240
Sisters of Avelorn: 14 (Don't know the name in English, i'm spanish)

Prince:140
Archmage:185
Asuryan Commander: 210
Loremaster:230
Korhil: 150
Caradryan:170
Noble:70
Mage: 85
Dragon Mage: 350
Lothern Hero: 100
Maiden: 95

High Elves: Brainstorm #1

Getting pretty excited man.

With High Elves rapidly approaching, I wanted to make a blog post every day until the book comes out this weekend.  These posts will hopefully capture your interest in the army and expand your mind along side mine.

Like I said before, I'm looking at 2 key playstyles with High Elves in their new book.  Those playstyles are the Dragon Lord and the Mage Lord.  To give an idea of the direction I want to go in, I'm going to post up some rough hypothetical army lists.

Dragon Lord
Prince on Star Dragon ~625
Lv.2 Mage, High Magic, Scroll ~160
Noble BSB, Dragon Prince ~175
11x Dragon Princes, Banner of World Dragon ~410
Core of Archers and Ellyrion Reavers ~625
2x Ice Phoenix ~480
2x Great Eagle ~100

Mage Lord
Lv.4 Archmage, High Magic, Book of Hoeth ~315
Lv.2 Loremaster, 2+ AS, Scroll ~250
Sea Helm BSB, 2+ AS, Luckstone ~150
30x Sea Guard, Eternal Flame ~625
+rest of core with Archers and/or Reavers
30x White Lions, BotWD ~470
5x Dragon Princes, Musician - 160
Ice Phoenix ~240
4x RBT ~280
2x Great Eagle ~100

Both of these lists are above the 2500 points window, but that's because I want to give you the best case scenario.  The prices I've listed are pretty ballpark, some we know like the 12pt LSG, the White Lions are rumored to be 13pts a piece, and I'm using a lot of the old values for our heroes/lords.  The Loremaster is complete guesswork, but to give you an idea, the current Prince is 150 points with full SoA benefits.

Alright, let me take you behind the scenes of these two lists and show you what I want to do.  I'll start with the Dragon Lord.  I'm sure as the week goes on and people all around the world gets their books, I'll be able to get a better picture on the points allotment and will adjust as we go.


The Dragon List

First thing's first, the Star Dragon scenario has changed a bit.  We no longer get SoA so we're no longer tooting around a Great Weapon all the time.  However, rumors point to the Star Lance (+3S, no AS) allowing you to use a Great Weapon after you've charged with the SL.  That's pretty cool.  With the current knowledge of the items available to us, I'm going to go with Star Lance, OTS, 4+ Ward.  Extra points will buy a GW most likely, otherwise I'm fine with just that.  The Star Dragon himself is now T7, so I'm really happy that they made that change.  If you guys remember what I hypothesized before, you'll know that they brought all the dragons up to Storm of Magic status.

Along side the valiant Prince and his Star Dragon rides the Dragon Princes of Caledor with the Banner of World Dragon.  I'm hoping for a points decrease on the DPs, but if that doesn't come, I'm fine with that too. The big thing here is the Banner of World Dragon for 50 points.  That means a unit like the Dragon Princes can carry it, as well as all of our Elite infantry (if things remain unchanged).  This gives them an edge over the Silver Helms and frankly, one of the only reasons to take the DPs over SHs.  With Martial Prowess giving full advantage the SHs, the DPs have a more defined role:  2+ ward vs. fire because of Fireborn, 6+ ward comes built into Dragon Armor, and the ability to wield one of the strongest banners in the game.  The current rumors gives the Banner of the World Dragon a 2+ Ward vs. all wounds caused by magic spells, weapons and attacks.  This is huge because it essentially allows our DPs to challenge walk through most lords/heroes and spells and not worry.  Unfortunately, the banner does not work vs. the likes of Dwellers or other unsavory characteristic tests.  No worries though, the Banner also gives all Dragons within 12" of it Stubborn.  There's just no chance a Ld.10 Prince is going anywhere with a BSB re-roll + Stubborn.

In front of the Dragon Princes are the key to this list; the beloved Ice Phoenix.  You can quote me on this when I say that the Ice Phoenix will single-handily change the meta.  It's to a point where 2x of them will see bans from multiple comps because of how good they are.  For 15 points more than Fire Phoenix, you get a crapton of stat improvements, including T6 and an extra Wound.  This is huge because it not only gives the Ice Phoenix durability, but when combined with its Blizzard Aura, it essentially makes the bird T7 in close combat.  The reason why I say the Ice Phoenix will change the meta is because Blizzard Aura gives units in BtB with it ASL and -1S.  The ASL part is huge because it negates the greatest strengths of some killy characters.  VC Blenderlords will suffer from this the most because they take a double whammy in -S and losing Quickblood bonuses.  ASL also gives our combo-charges more meaning; allowing our WS7 S7 I2 Dragon to strike first with its 6 attacks, and also allowing our Phoenix to bash in his attacks as well.  This combined with the threat range of a flyer makes the Phoenix ideal at supporting any charge in the game.  As if the ASL wasn't good enough, the -1S makes the Phoenix himself T7 in CC, the Star Dragon T8 and the Dragon Princes T4.  It's a pseudo-buffer that negates the primary weakness of High Elves:  Low Toughness. This combined with the fact that the Ice Phoenix still benefits from his natural 5+ AS and 5+ Ward, but depending on the role of the magic phase, he might become even better (or worse on 1-2).

The rest of the list is pretty explanatory.  I would like to try 2 things in this area:  Shooting heavy and mobility heavy.  I currently own 2x 5x Ellyrion Reavers, but I have a crap ton of archers.  Shooting, ideally, will compliment this list the most because it removes chaff that would otherwise hinder our combo-charges.  Ellyrion Reavers with Bows and Archers should be able to take care of this issue.  Otherwise, a unit of 30x LSG in 3x10 formation can put out an enormous amount of shots due to Martial Prowess to a point it can't be ignored.  The same could be said about 15x Archers in 5x3.  I can easily see most core elements composing of 3-4 Ellyrion Reavers and the rest being 10-15x Archers.  The idea is to present multiple drops to your opponents allow you to line up your more powerful elements (Eagles, DP, Phoenixes, Star Dragon, in that order) to his.

Lastly, we have the Lv.2 supporting Mage using High Magic.  Offensively with +3 to cast due to Blessing of Lileath, I plan on using him to dispel spells where needed, give back wounds via Apothesis, or buff up the WS of certain units into -1 hit range.  Both the Phoenix and Star Dragon is WS6+, so a few points in the right direction can bring them to WS9, the sweet spot for WS4 and under whereas even a single successful cast can put them out of hitting range of WS3 base troops.  Spells I would like to see are Apothesis and Hand of Glory for sure.

The Mage List

On the other side of the spectrum, we have a magic heavy and shooting heavy list in the form of the Mage Lord list.  Ideally, we are able to take the Lv.4 with High Magic and Lv.2 Loremaster in the same list.  The Loremaster can then double up with the Sea Helm to provide us with Noble-ish fighting prowess as well as having a good magic phase.  I chose High Magic for my Lv.4 because it gives us flexibility and coverage, and that fact I want to take advantage of Lileath's Blessing (+1 to cast for High Magic).  However, that's still up in the air because I can always look at more specific lores since the Loremaster himself gives us enough flexibility.  Shadow is always a good option, but then again so is Light.  If I want to take Light, I might look into a Lv.1 supporting Light Wizard just so he can carry the scroll while the rest of my guys do the serious work.  The main benefit of that is having a S6 Banishment; which vs. most armies is considered a must-dispel spell.

Now, let's take a look at the spell flexibility of the Loremaster:

Fireball - Pumpable MM.
Wyssan's Wildform - +1S/+1T augment, super good sig, good in EVERY situation.
Spirit of the Forge - That's right. Enough said.
Burning Gaze - Kills Ethereal, just another Fireball, but better vs. Undead.
Earth Blood - 5+ Regen, good every time minus flaming attacks.
Iceshard Blizzard - Hex, -1 to hit and Ld, low casting cost, super good every time.
Melkoth's Mystifying Miasma - Shadow sig, good every time.
Spirit Leech - We even get a snipe.

All the MMs and Forge are conditional, but solid spells.
Every augment is great, every hex is great.
In short, there are just no bad spells. And to have them all? Unlimited flexibility and spell supremacy. Most of these spells you can throw 2 dice at, every time, that's 8 spells that's being cast off a Lv.2.
And the best thing? Effects stack. -1 to hit from Iceshard with Pha's? Nerf his WS via Miasma + buff ours with High Magic. +1S/T combined with Ice Phoenix's ASL and -1S? Amazing.

The rest of the list should be pretty explanatory.  Fill in the rest with shooting elements and solid infantry blocks.  Depending on the points of the Phoenix Guard, I might bring them a long too.  A solid unit of LSG combined with RBT supporting fire will give the army a huge edge in the magic/shooting phase.  I've always viewed magic as an addition to shooting, and if the points cost of the units are cheaper than usual, I'll be bringing along even more bodies on the battlefield.

Let me know what you guys think.

Huge High Elves info dump

Boom.

By me.. with special thanks to my lovely wife and her iPad.

Now I'm not sure why GW has decided to post a free sample of the book that contains almost every rule, but here it is.

I'm writing this as fast as I can because I have a plane to catch at 6am.. Please excuse the rapid, frantic testing..

Everyone has ASF, Martial Prowess and Valour of Ages
Mages get +1 to cast High Magic now instead of +1 dispel, called Lileath's Blessing
Dragon stats are..
Sun Dragon - 5s, WS5, T5 S5, W5
Moon Dragon - 6s, 5 attacks Ld.8
Star Dragon, WS7, S7, T7, 7 wounds, I2, 6A, Ld.9
Everyone has 3+ AS, Terror

Flamespyre Phoenix = 225
WS5 S5 T5 W5 I4 A3 Ld.8
Monster
Special Rules:
Attuned to Magic - 5+ ward and close combat attacks are magical.  in add, when rolling to determine the strength of the winds of magic, compare the highest d6 rolled with the table below and determine the effect.
1 = ward is 6+ instead
2 = phoenix has -1 s
3 = phoenix has +1I
4 = has +1A
5= +1S
6=ward 4+
Fireborn - 2+ ward vs. wounds caused by flaming attacks
Flaming Attacks
Fly
Large Target
Phoenix Reborn - as soon as he loves his last wound, remove the model and place a phoenix reborn counter to mark the centre of the death spot.  at the end of the turn roll a d6 for each phoenix reborn counter and consult the table.  1-2 dead forever, 3-5 centre a large round template over the center, all models friendly and foe suffers s4 flaming, the counter remains in play, roll at the end of next turn, yours or oppos.  Rise from the ashes on 6+, place him anywhere within 6" of the center, at least 1" away and remove marker.  He is back with d3+2 wounds.  If you have a rider, he dies with the phoenix, or he returns with the phoenix.  If the phoenix died with a rider on him, add +1 to you roll.
Terror
Wake of Fire - if he moves over one or more uneganged enemy units, choose one of those units - that unit suffers d6 s4 hits plus d3 per rank after the first. flaming,

Frostheart Phoenix = 240
WS6 S6 T6 5W I3 4A Ld. 9
Attuned to magic
blizzard aura - any enemy UNIT in base contact with him has ASL and -1S
natural armor 5+

Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower = 70 points
2 Sea Guard crew
Rare, can take up to 4

Great Eagles 1+ = 50ppm
Entire unit can get Swiftsense = ASF for 10ppm
Shredding Talons for 5ppm = AP

Tyrion = 410
WS9 BS7 S4 T3 4W I10 4A Ld.10
Sunfang = same +3S flaming, S4 breath once a game, magical
Dragon Armor of Aenarion - 1+ AS, 4+ ward and Fireborn 2+ ward vs. fire
Heart of Averlorn - MR2, if he dies, roll d6, on a 2+ he negates the wound and the heart is destroyed
Defender of Ulthuan - 18" presence

Teclis = 450
T2 3W Ld.10
Sword of Teclis - wound on 2+ no AS
Moonstaff of Lileath - one use only - you can either choose to add a bonus power die to each casting attempt, of if teclis suffers a miscast, the miscast is ignored.  In either case, Teclis' S and T are both reduced to 1 for the remainder of the game ROFL
Scroll of hoeth - one use only - same
Warcrown of Saphery - Increases his Wizard level by one, so he's a Lv.5 wizard technically
Teclis does not generate spells, he either knows all of the spells from High Magic or can choose one spell from each of the 8 lores (yes, chooses)
Lileath's Blessing - +1 to cast from all lore of high magic

Magic spells:
Apotehosis
5+ augment 18"
immediately regains 1 wound, 10+ for d3 wounds.  Regardless of how many wounds gained, you also gain Fear.

Arcane Unforging
13+, direct damage with 24" single enemy model.  Suffers a wound on a dice grear than or equal to unmodified armor save.  No AS allowed.  Reveal to the caster all magic items, if you have more than one, randomly select one and its destroyed on 2+.

Drain Magic (sig)
cast on 7+
friend or foe within 18"
friendly augment, hex on enemy
all RIP spells affecting the unit are immediately dispelled, and affects of all other spells on the target unit immediately come to an end.  Can be all units within 18" for 14+.

Fiery Convocation
Cast on 19+
RIP
Direct damage 24".  every model takes S4 flaming, at the end of every subsequent magic phase, every model suffers S4 flaming.

Hand of Glory 5+
augment 18"
Target's WS, BS, I or M is +d3.  You can choose all for 10+.

Shield of Saphery (lore attribute)
Each time a spell is succesfully cast, the caster and his unit immediately gain +1 to their ward save to max  of 3.  If you don't have one, 6+.  Stacks.

Soul Quench (sig)
cast on 8+
magical missile, 18", 2d6 s4 hits, or 4d6 s4 hits, 16+

Tempest 12+
direct damage.  large round template within 30" of wiz, scatters d6.  All models hit suffer s3 hits (models flying is s4).  If a model suffers any unsaved wounds, it suffers -1 to all hit both shooting and cc.  Those that do not use BS needs a 4+ to fire.

Walk between worlds
cast on 8+
augment, 24+
Gain Ethereal and can immediately move to 10" as if it were remaining moves sub-phase.
Can make it go 20" + Ethereal on a 16"

Purchaseable magic items

Blade of leaping gold - 70 points

Star Lance - 30 points, +3S, no AS

Reaver Bow - 20 points
+1S, volley Multiple shots 3

Armor of Caledor for 50 points

Shadow Armor - 25 points, 5+ AS, Scouts, Strider

Shield of the Mermrym - 15pts, shield, unless he's using a weapon that uses 2 hands, he has parry 4+, can be used with a magic weapon

golden crown of atrazar - 10 points, talisman

Moranion's wayshard - enchanted, 50 points.  Models on foot only.  Has ambushers special rule.  He can give archers or Spearmen up to 30 units in size the same immediately before deployment.  He has to join that unit if he does.

Kharine's Ring of Fury - 25 points

Gem of Sunfire - 20 points

Cloak of Beards - 10 points

Book of Hoeth - 55 points

Banner of World Dragon - 50 points - SO FUCKING GOOD WOW

Random Magic Items and other special rules:

Warrior mage - First spell generated by dragon mage is always flaming sword.

Windrider - Sea Helm on Lothern Skycutter has 4+ ward against shooting attacks.  Can also re-roll dangerous terrain.

Witness to Destiny - 4+ ward (assuming this is anointed)

touch of the everqueen - her close combat attacks vs. forces of destruction have HKB.

The shieldstone of Isha - Talisman, the shieldstone of isha grants Alarielle and her unit a 5+ ward vs. any non-magical attacks.

Stave of Averlorn - one use only, arcane.  It allows Alerielle to immediately attempt to cast a spell she already cast that phase, even if failed or miscast.

Stone of midnight - Alith 4+ ward, enemies suffer -1 to hit when shooting against Alith or his unit.

Swooping Strike - a model upgraded has Devastating Charge and +1S on the turn he charges.

Talisman of Hoeth - Eltharion has MR1, counts as a Lv.2 Wiz, who uses spells from any of the 8 lores.

Mark of Asuryan - If Caradryan dies, d3 wounds no AS.

The moonbow - 36" S7 D3 wounds quick to fire, no AS.  dark Elves suffer -1 ld.

Naval Disipline - If a unit containing at least one sea helm is successfully charged during the movement phase, it can attempt to change formation immediately after your opponent has moved all of his charging units.  To do so, the unit must take a Ld. test.  If passed, immediately combat reform.  A unit cannot use this if made a Flee! or stand and shoot (doh!).

Pelt of Charandis - Korhil counts his AS as one higher vs. CC, 2 points higher vs. non-magic shooting.  Poison does not auto wound, wound as normal.

Phoenix Blade - +1S, flaming, d3 wounds, Caradryan's.

Quicksilver Shot - Models shooting attacks have quick to fire as do all sisters of averlorn and high sisters in the same unit.

Reckless - Dragon mage +2 to cast from lore of fire (cumulative with other bonuses), never receive bonuses to dispel.

Repeater Bolt Thrower - same, normal Bolt thrower or 6 shots, S4 AP.

Shadow Crown - Alith and his unit have Swiftstride.

Helm of Yvresse - +1 to Eltharion's AS and gives him and his mount 5+ ward.
Horn of Isha. enchanted. one use, can be used at the start of one of your movement phases.  For the remainder of the turn, all models in the unit receive +1 to hit on all shooting and close combat attacks.

Ilthilmar Barding - No movement penalty barding

Khaine's Ring of Fury - BL3, enchanted, Soul Quench from Lore of High Magic. 18" 2d6 S4 hits

Lileath's blessing - Models with this special rule gain +1 to cast when using High Magic

Lion Cloak - models wearing a lion cloak adds +2 AS against non-magical shooting attacks.

Gem of Sunfire - Enchanted. One use only. All bearer's spells, shooting attacks, close combat (and his mounts) have +1 to wound, provided they also have the flaming attacks special rule.
Golden Crown of Atrazar - Talisman, one use.  2+ ward against first wounding hit by wearer.

Armor of Caledor 2+, 6+ Ward, Fireborn special rule - 2+ ward vs. flaming
Banner of Averlorn - Spells from Lore of Light and Life by a friendly unit containing the banner are +4 to cast.  If Alarielle is slain, this is immediately lost.
Banner of World Dragon - 2+ ward vs. all wounds caused by spells, magic weapons, and magical attacks.  Furthermore, all dragons within 12" of the World Dragon have Stubborn.
Blade of Leaping Gold - +3 attacks, any roll to wound of 6 ignores AS.
Book of Hoeth - Allows the user to re-roll a single dice from each of his casting or dispel attempts, results of 6 cannot be re-rolled.
Cloak of Beards - Enchanted.  Cause Fear.  Against Dwarfs, cause Terror.  Dwarfs gain hatred vs. you.  At the start of each cc phase, roll d6 for each magic item carried by each model from warhammer dwarfs in base contact with wearer.  On a 4+ the magic item is destroyed and cannot be used..etc.

Deflect shots - 6+ ward against non-magical shooting attacks
Dragon Armor - 5+ armor, 6+ ward and Fireborn Special rule.

Dragon Fire - A dragon's breath weapon is S4, flaming

Eagle Eye Bolt Thrower
24" S5 Multiple Wounds D3, no AS

Fangsword of Iltharion - +2S, no AS caused by Fangsword

Boon of Isha - All models in the Everqueen's unit are magical.  Her unit is Immune to Fear/Terror.

Blessings of Ausryan - all models that contain an anointed of Asuryan havea  6+ ward save and is ItP.
Blood Oath - Ethlarion gains +1 to hit vs. Grom.

Chaos Bane - At the start of each of Allerille's magic phase, before rolling for winds, every unit with the demonic special rule within 12" of her suffers d6 s4 distriubuted like shooting.  However, she suffers -d3 penalty to her casting attempts if there is one of more models with demon within 12" of her.

Chayal - +2S, Paired Weapon, Killing Blow

Bow of Averlorn - 24" S4 Arrows of Isha, Flaming, Volley Fire
Arrows of Isha - magical. -1 AS against wounds caused to forces of destruction

Holy crap new HE rumors!

Dragons with wizard levels what?!

The source claims he has the book.  I will be updating this thread with new info as I find it!

Source #1

- Imrik is in the book and it rides a dragon with next attributes:

15,9,0,8,8,1,7,9 Saves:2+/5+, S5 template, Lvl 2 mage

- All dragons can choose Lore of Fire

- Banner of the World Dragon remains

- Book of Hoeth is renamed (same cost). Gives irresistible force with doubles and Loremaster

- There is an expensive weapon that gives +3S

- Dragon Mage wears dragon armour

- No dragons on rare units

Source #2
From sample army book

Teclis - down 25 points - can take all spells from a lore of magic or can take 1 spell from each lore
Tyrion - up 10 points but now cav -

Seaguard - drop 1 point

Bolt throwers - drop 30 points - no stat changes

Eagles - same points but can now be taken in units and have 2 upgrades available - Swiftsense and Shredding Talons

Flame Phoenix - WS5, S5, T5, W5, A3, L8 - 225

Frost Phoenix - WS6, S6, T6, w5, A4, L9 - 240

Star dragon - WS, S,T,W - all 7
Moon dragon - all 6
Sun dragon - all 5

Huge HE picture dump

Pics removed

HE rumors trickle in

Damn I'm good.

Source #1

I don't know if this has been said, so...

Sea Helm provides his chariot with a 4+ invul save. If he joined a unit, it can make a free regroup after it has been charged (!)

Annointed is a pricy Lord with a 4+ invuln save

Frostheart Phoenix gives enemy units in b2b -1 strength and always strikes last

Flameheart deals d6 s4 hits to a unit he flies over , and d3 hits per every aditional rank the unit has. It can ressirect with full life.

Skycutter has s5, t4 and 4 wounds

Can have a s5 bolt thrower

Less then 100 points

Shadowwariors drop in points

Swordmasters, white lions, archers drop in points. Wl and sm more then archers. Lion chariot and bolt thrower drop significantly in points.

Loremaster is quiet expensive

Allarielle is a S4 mage, grants her unit a 5+ invul against non magical attacks, can heal herself or anither character, may grant +1 to hit for 1 turn (cc and ranged), all allied witards which use lore of life or lore of light get +4 on casting

Some confirmed HE rumors from the WD

Get hype!

UPDATED WITH MORE INFO!
Just rehashed stuff for the most part.
from Jossy's blog.

Source #1
Well this is more than a rumour roundup, its more a confirmation of what we will see in the new book. I've left the extortion rates in another post (read - prices)

Gone: Speed of Asuryan...

It is replaced with Always Strike first!
Martial Prowess and Valour of Ages remain

Deflect shots: Models with this special rule have a 6+ ward save against non-magical shooting attacks that do not have a template

Swordmasters of Hoeth and Loremasters of Hoeth have this rule

Loremaster of Hoeth:
M5 WS6 BS4 St4 T3 W3 I7 A3 Ld9
L2 mage. Does not role for spells, instead it automatically gets the signature spell of all the 8 battlemagic lores

White Lion Chariot is stubborn, but only the charioteers get ASF

Dragon Mage stats are unchanged.
Reckless special rule grants them +2 to cast spells from the lore of fire instead of extra dice. Can wear Dragon Armour

Known magic items:
Khaines Ring of Fury
Gem of Sunfire
Banner of the World Dragon

Magic
2 Signature Spells:

Drain magic, 7+ to cast. Cast on any unit (friend or foe) as an augment/hex within 18". All RiP spells are immediatley dispelled, and the effects of ALL other spells on target unit immediately cease! Boosted to effect all friend/enemy units within 18" on a 14+

Soul Quench, 8+ to cast, 2D6 St4 18" range, 16+ 4D6 St4

Spells:

1. Apotheosis, augment 5+ to cast, target immediately regains a lost wound. boosted 10+ regains +D3 wounds. Target gains fear until next magic phase.

2. Hand of Glory, augment, 5+, 18" range, WS, BS, I, or M (you choose) increased by D3. Boosted 10+ increase all listed characteristics (roll one D3 for all)

Lore Attribute: Each time a spell is cast, the caster and his unit gain +1 to their ward save (to a maximum of 3+). Models with no ward save gain a 6+

Known army composition:

Rare
Flamespyre Phoenix
Frostheart Phoenix
Sisters of Averlorn
Eagle Claw bolt thrower

Special
Swordmasters
Lothern Skycutter

Core
Silverhelms
Ellyrian Reavers
Spearmen
Archers

Lords
Loremasters of Hoeth
Annointed of Asuryan

Heros
Dragonmages
Mages
Sea Helm
Handmaiden

Flamespyre Phoenix comes back to life on a role of 6+. It requires a marker to be left in place so this either happens at the end of the turn/next magic phase or every turn. It deploys within 6" of the marker. Gains special abilities based on WoM rolls (owners turn determines). One result is 4+ ward save. Has flaming attacks and a special rule 'Wake of Fire', which means units it fly over take damage (in the battle report in WD it did 6 wounds to leadbelchers). It has at least 4 wounds.

Frostheart Phoenix are just old Flamespyre Phoenicies

Both types can be ridden by an anointed of Asuryan or by Caradryan

Theres a special character/unique Phoenix called Ashtari. I think its the mount for Caradryan

The Flamespyre kit can build a foot version of an anointed of Asuryan

Lothern Skycutters
3 variants: Eagle eye bolt thrower, trio of Lothern Sea Guard, or mount for new character type Sea Helm. They are pulled by a Swiftfeather Roc, which is a huge giant eagle.

Maidenguard are rares with magical flaming bows. They have the wychfire special rule (lets hope its not like DoC). They are not handmaidens!

Handmaidens are now new character option in hero

Shadow Warriors are still special and still have the skirmish rule

Mat Ward is the author of Warhammer High Elves new army book!


Source #2

Friend posted this in the HE forum on LO

Just got the new White dwarf

Quick overview:

Loremaster: Level 2 mage, don't generate spells as normal, but knows all signatures spells from the 8 BRB lores

Units got the ASF rule still, but nothing about it overruling normal rules, so swordmasters and white lions will strike on ini, but no rerolls

Swordmasters got a 6+ ward against non-magical ranged attacks

Shield of saphery is lore attribute

4 other spells are Drain magic (signitaure), soul quench (also says signitaure.....), aptothesis and hand of glory. Text is very small, so hard to make out what it says, but I think soul quench is a magic missile with 2d6 str 4 hits on 8+, can be boosted to 4d6 hits on a 16+. Hand of glory is a reversed miasma. Boost either ws, bs, move or ini by d3 on a 5+, can be boosted (seems damn good). The other 2 I can't make out, nor the lore attribute

In the battlerepport, Matt Hutson is using an annonited of Asuryan (dunno if that's a fancy name for a prince or if he's got some special abbilities) and a loremaster.
Heroes are a dragon mage wearing a dragon armour (ooooh yeah) with a gem of sunfire, as well as a level 2 with Khain's ring of fury

Core troops are: Spearmen, archers, Silver Helms and Ellryian reavers (big ooooooh yeah on those 2)

Specials are : swordmasters and lothern skycutters (flying chariot thingies with eagle eye bolt thrower (note that it's not an eagles claw)

Rare are: flamespyre phoenix (other is frostheart phoenix, his Annointed rides on), 2 x eagles claw and 10 sisters of avelorn (girls with magic bows)

Oh and seems the BSB that's pictured isn't an individual pack, but can be assembled from the Lothern skycutter if you don't use one of the options


Will write more when I've had time to read the repport


edit: Forgot, the swordmasters are carrying the banner of the world dragon in the repport

edit edit: Phoenixes are affected by the winds of magic rolls in some way (he got a 4+ ward in the first turn) and can ressurect on a 6 if it's killed, leaving a marker where it died (he got it straigth away, so dunno if you leave the marker in place or if you only get one shot at it). Not much about the magic bow ladies, but in the afterbattle thoughts, Andrew kenrick (I think his name is) remarks on flaming shots, guessing they might be magical and flaming, but this is purely guesswork on my part. Seems it also got a "wake of fire rule" causing damage to units it moves over (makes sense I guess)

Handmaiden of avelorn is out, as is a new everqueen model, but you already knew that Nothing on wheter the handmaid is a character or not

Valor of ages is in, but nothing about what it does

Units seem to have martial prowess as well, but nothing on that either

The first spell a dragon mage generates will always be flaming sword, so seems he can default to a fireball spell with the other one should he wish it. He recieves no + to dispel and has a +2 to cast spells from lore of fire (recklessness)

Lion chariot is still T4 and 4W and a 4+ save (makes me cry). Got stubborn (can't remember if it used to have this as I never used it)

Khaine's ring of fury seems to be a bound spell with a Magic Missile (no real surprise there I guess)

Oh and a uniforms and heraldry book is out along with the rest as well


Source #3 - myself (HERO)

Ogres in BR (~3200 points):

Tyrant, GW, Arm of destiny, iron cursed ikon
Butcher lvl 2, hellheart
Firebelly, GW
Bruiser BSB, Rune maw, Heavy arm

10 ironguts, standard with std of disciplin
2x5 ogres musician and ironfist
36 gnoblars with trappers
4 mournfang, HA, Ironfist, musician standard
8 leadbelchers
Gorger
scraplauncher
ironblaster
Giant
Stonehorn w. harpoon

HE in BR:
Frost Pheonix with lord on it
Loremaster
Dragon Mage with Dragon Armor

Core
8 SH
5 Ellyrian Reavers
16-20 Archers
32 Spear Elves

Special
20 Swordmasters with Banner of World Dragon
2xFlying Chariot with RBT

Rare
Fire Pheonix
2xRBT
10 Sisters of Avelorn

With this, I give us..

~150 for ea. flying Chariot
~220 ea for each Phoenix
~200 for the Lv.2 Loremaster (with very few items if any)
~200 for the Anointed of Asuryan (with very few items if any)
~160 for 10 sisters for 16ppm.

Of course, this is looking at only a +1 or -1 points change across all of our current KNOWN models. I'm also thinking Banner of World Dragon will be either: 50-point Banner, or 55-60 point banner specific to Sword Masters ala Flag of Blood Keep for Blood Knights.

Source #4

Ok some "Rumors" for you guys:

SOA is now normal ASF
Flame Spire Phoenix does D6 + D3 per rank S4 hits
Frost Phoenix gives ASL and -1S to enemys in cc
Lothern Sky cutter(T4) can equip bolt thrower with S5
SM and WL get cheaper (favorite number of any rat) = 13pts
Sisters of averlorn 24" S4

NEW High Elves rumors from WD!

Straight from the WD it seems..

Source #1 - Source says from the WD

Some rumours for you all.

New Sea Guard character type. Can ride flying chariot
Hoeth Loremaster is a Lord choice and is L2 mage that knows all signature spells from battle magic.
Phoenix gets buffs based on winds of magic. If it dies, comes back on a roll of a 6
Reavers and Silverhelms core
Bolt throwers are rare
High Elf lore attribute "Shield of Saphery" grants 6+ ward save, if you have a 6+ ward save already it increase by +1
White Lions and Swordmasters still have ASF...
Phoenix can be ridden or unridden. Flame Phoenix is anointed of Asuuryan, Frost is anointed of Caradryan
Sisters of Averlorn, magic bows.



Source #2

I have contacts that have confirmed 2 things for me

A. Lord level lordmaster is in the game in some capacity(knowign 1 of each lore which is sig)
L2 wizard high elf hero stats but 3 wounds.

B. Looks like ASF is staying contary to all rumours, however whether it is speed of asuryan style with great weapon im yet to find out, however i highly doubt it and think it will flick to initiative order rather than asl. Looks like great weapons in initiative order. Also new rule partial prowess across the entire army!

C. Lothern Sky cutter chariots are the new chariot pulled by a swift feather rock! Eagle eye bolt thrower on back (possibly an upgrade)
can be a character mount for new character Lothern sea helm which is the guys you have seen with bsb in rumour sections. This guy can alos be on foot and or armed with trident.

D. Sisters of averlorn are rare choice with magical bows using wytch fire.

E. High elf core will be reavers and silver helms and high elf militia(i dont know details of this)

F. Sms and Dps WLs(characian hunters) same stats have no idea if they have extra armour or not yet.

G. Flame Spire Phoenix does a slash attack, wake of fire (like abomb it can get back up), soem type of ward, attune to magic rule.

H. Lion chariots same stats will be stubborn.

I. Shadow warriors plastic kit sold in 10s.

J. Anointed of Asuryan is character that can ride phoenix.

K. Banner of world dargon possible without bsb though i dont know what it does.

L. Sms 6+ ward possibly only vs shooting

M. RBT still in rare

N. Everqueen has an upgrade or a second character is called her hand maiden appears to be a body guard

O. High magics

Lore attribute you gain +1 to ward saves

signatures *2
Soul quench 8+16+ 18 inch
2d6/4d6 s4 magic missiles
Drain Magic is an augment and hex 7+ remians in play (not sure on details)

Spell 1 Apothesis 5+
single model 18inch
recovers a wound or boosted 12+D3 wounds

Spell no? Hand of glory5+/10+
Increases ws,bs,i,m by 1 or d3

Sorry thats all i have
Thats all I have guys hope that helps confirm or dispel some rumours, watch this space if you want the truth.


Source #3
FACTS:

1) High Magic Lore attribute is 6+ ward save on friendly units if you cast a spell on them. If your already have a ward save, this gets better by 1 point.
2) Stubborn Lion Chariots.
3) Frost and Fire phoenixes can go alone. BUT frost phoenix can only be ridden by Caradryan and fire phoenix by the Anointed of Asuryan.
4) Loremaster of hoeth is L2 Lord option with WS6 W3 A3. Knows all signatures from rulebook.
5) New Lothern Sea Guard hero character. He can ride a flying boat.
6) New Lord option: Anointed of Asuryan. He can ride a fire phoenix.
7) Silver Helms go core.
 Sisters of Avelorn will have magic bows (but we do not know if any other bonuses)
9) Three army rules: Speed of Asuryan, Valor of Ages, Martial Prowess. We do not know yet if they remain the same or they have changed (apparently the latter option).
10) Flying boat name is Skycutter. LSG hero can be built on foot or as a crewmember from the Skycutter sprue. Phoenixes' names are: flamespyre/frostheart; Anointed of Asuryan and plastic Caradryan can be built either mounted or on foot from plastic sprues of phoenixes
11) Deductions: Phoenixes WON'T be MC, for they go either alone or are a hero mount. You may expect heros from other regions (avelorn, caledor, chrace)

All those things can be already considered facts, AND they are today's leaks all of them.


Source #4

New Range Items

Warhammer: High Elves
· 96 page full-colour, hardback Warhammer armies book written by Mat Ward.

High Elves Flamespyre Phoenix/ Frostheart Phoenix
· This box contains a multipart plastic kit that makes either a Flamespyre Phoenix or a Frostheart Phoenix, two completely new monster miniatures for Warhammer, along with two mighty warriors of renown that can ride them.

High Elves Lothern Skycutter
· This completely new flying chariot is a multipart plastic kit that can be assembled in one of three different ways. Either as a flying chariot drawn by Swiftfeather Roc, upgraded to include an Eagle Eye Bolt Thrower or a mount for a Sea Helm a new High Elf Hero.

High Elves Shadow Warriors/Sisters of Avelorn
· This box contains a multipart plastic kit that makes either ten Shadow Warriors armed with Longbow and Sword or 10 Sisters of Avelorn, a new High Elf unit armed with magical Bows of Avelorn.

Loremaster of Hoeth
· This clampack contains a new High Elf warrior mage, the Loremaster of Hoeth as he charges into battle casting a fireball spell on a sculpted base.

Repackaged High Elf Battalion
· Contains 20 Spearmen, 20 Archers, 8 Silver Helms and a High Elf Chariot (that can be assembled as a Tiranoc Chariot or a Lion Chariot of Chrace).

Uniforms and Heraldry of the High Elves Book
·72 page full-colour, hardback Uniform and Heraldry guide detailing the colour schemes, crests, banners and blazonry of the ten realms of the High Elves.

New Finecast Releases

Alarielle the Radiant
· A clampack that contains one highly detailed Citadel Finecast resin miniature sculpted by Edgar Ramos. Alarielle is the Everqueen of Ulthuan her miniature strides forward with roses bursting to life beneath her feet as she strides over a piece of Chaos Warrior armour.

Handmaiden of the Everqueen
· A clampack that contains one highly detailed Citadel Finecast resin miniature sculpted by Darren Latham. The Handmaiden is a warrior champion of the Everqueen

Available While Stocks Last
These Items are highly limited, please request the quantity you require and we will supply you as close to this number as we can.

Warhammer Battle Magic: High Elves
·Eight cards that define the unique effects of High Elf spells and are great to help keep track of the spells used by each of the wizards on the battlefield.

NEW High Elves pics! AGAIN!

Pics removed

One million views

Brace for impact.

Thank you all for all your support thus far!  I opened shop as a one-man writing team a little over 3 years ago.  It's been good times and smooth sailing.

Looking back through all my articles, I would say I developed as a writer quite a bit since I first started.  I read some of my earlier pieces and I'm like god, did I write this shit?  I've taken a little more time with articles these days, but I still make some mistakes.  Oh well.

Next month is High Elves and the month after is Eldar.  Be prepared to be spammed with rumors, reviews, games and battle reports!  To celebrate, I'll share with you my favorite 40K art to date.  There's just nothing manlier than an Assault Space Marine rearranging your face on the charge.

PS - I've been playing Age of Empires 3 on my spare time, the game's amazing.  I was really good at it too!

Sample Tau list

For the Greater Good!

I've only had the codex for a couple of days, but here's what I drew up:

Here is the list..

1993
14 kp

HQ:
Commander - 155
Shield Generator (4+ invul)
Flamer
Airburst Fragmentation
Targetlock
Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite

TROOP:
12x Fire Warriors (Sash'ui) - 208
Devilfish
Twin-linked SMS

12x Fire Warriors (Sash'ui) - 208
Devilfish
Twin-linked SMS

12x Fire Warriors (Sash'ui) - 208
Devilfish
Twin-linked SMS

ELITE:
3x XV8 Crisis Team = 126
Twin-linked Missiles

XV104 Riptide - 185
Ion Accelerator

XV104 Riptide - 185
Ion Accelerator

FAST ATTACK:
10x Pathfinders (Shas'ui) = 121
Blacksun Filter

HEAVY:
3x XV88 Broadsides (Shas'vre) = 205

Hammerhead = 146
Blacksun Filter
Twin-linked SMS
Submunitions
Disruption Pod

Hammerhead = 146
Blacksun Filter
Twin-linked SMS
Submunitions
Disruption Pod

Aegis Defense Line = 100
Quad-Gun

The army explained:

The general idea is to deploy the Aegis Defense Line defensively and have the Commander and the Crisis Suits he joined "man" it.  The Devilfish holds the Tau Warriors inside, ready to deploy any time the enemy comes close to threaten points.  In the mean time, they join in long-ranged firepower support with Burst Cannons and Twin-Linked SMS.  Twin-linked SMS are all over this army and they're quite insane.  Heavy 4, twin-linked, S5 AP5 Ignore cover for each system.  The Hammerheads with their Blacksun Filters have Night Vision, and with Disruption Pod gives them a 4+ cover Jink if they move at all.

Pathfinders Scout and apply their tasty markerlights to everything, increasing everyone's BS at the target unit and/or stripping away their cover save.  This makes them really easy targets for the XV88s and XV104 Riptide's heavy weaponry.  Ion Accelator on the Riptides gives them a lot of flexibility.  Standard shots are S7 AP2 Heavy 3, you can choose to overcharge them for S8 AP2 Large Blast but Gets Hot, or you can Nova-charge them for S9 AP2 Ordnance, Gets Hot, Large Blast.  It's to note that the XV88s not only have twin-linked S8 AP1 rifles, but they also have Twin-linked Smart Missile Systems.. you know, those thing that are S5 Ignore Cover.

Anti-air comes in the form of heavy-focus fire and the Aegis Defense Line.  With the number of heavy ordnance you have flying around the battlefield, I have no doubt that Tau will deal with flying threats without much issue.  If needed, you can always change meta specifics for more crueler warfare vs. flyers specifically.  Almost everything in the army have the option to buy Skyfire, but it's a little heavy in points.

To top off the funny, the Commander can choose to forfeit his shooting in his round to allow his squad to shoot twin-linked S7 missiles that Ignore Cover.  Of course, should the enemy flyer come in on their turn, he can just Intercept with a BS5 Quad-gun.  Target Lock (essentially split fire) allows him to redirect his Airburst Fragmentation weapon to horde units that might threaten the Greater Good while the rest of his squad engages armored threats.  Airburst gives you a S4 AP5 Large Blast, Ignore Cover, Barrage weapon lol.  The amount of anti-armor in this list is gigantic, but the weakness to hordes have also been nullified due to no less than 5 templates:  1 from the HQ, 2 from the Hammerhead's Submunitions S6 AP4 Large Blast, and 2 from the Riptides S8 AP2 (or S9..).

Damage wise, we're looking at...
40x BS3 twin-linked S5 missiles that ignore cover
2x S10 AP1 BS4 shots from the Hammerheads, or 2x S6 AP4 pie plates
6x S7 AP2 shots from the Riptides, or S8 AP2 pite plates
6x S7 bs3 twin-linked missiles that ignore cover
3x S8 AP1 bs3 twin-linked shots from the broadsides
...a bunch of markerlights
...and not counting the Pulse Rifles from the Fire Warriors or the Burst Cannons from the Devilfish.

And no, I will NOT be going Tau :)  Eldar in June.
Let me know what you think of the list!

The Dragonlord and the Archmage

Trying to keep sane for one more month..

The two playstyles that I adhere most to when playing my High Elves is the Dragon Lord, and the Archmage.  Both playstyles can win you games, and they're both radically different from one another.  The Dragon Lord focuses on the Prince on Star Dragon.  With the new book coming, it's safe to say that things will be completely different than what we have now.  I've made an earlier prediction that we won't see a 4+ equivalent armor similar to Gromil, instead we'll have Lion Cloaks that'll give us +1AS.  The important thing to note is that all of our magic items will change.

What excites me the most is that the Star Dragon will probably see a statline adjustment to match that of the Greater Dragon from Storm of Magic.  We're talking about T7 here folks for 20 points more than the Star Dragon is right now.  Everything else is the same.  What further stands out is the fact that the normal Dragon, which is obviously the equivalent to the Moon Dragon is 300 points.  You know what's stopping High Elf players from taking this one?  The fact that he only has a 4+ AS.  Fear not, all the dragons in Storm of Magic have 3+ Scaly Skin and I bet all the money in the world HE will get the same treatment.

The only thing I'm not sure is how GW will work out the breath weapons.  I can perfectly see the Sun Dragon having S4 Flaming, but what about the Moon and the Star?  Perhaps S3 Breath ASL for Moon and Storm Dragon-equivs for the Star Dragons?  Doesn't sound right.  I'm thinking they'll just be more powerful versions of the same breath, or maybe we'll see GW invent something completely new and unseen.  All I know is, Forest Dragon is obviously Wood Elves, Black Dragons obviously Dark Elves, and well, only Frost and Storm are left.

Regardless, I'll be bringing my Dragonlord to the field again.  My list will have a Prince on Star Dragon, either Nobles on Phoenixes, smaller Dragons or maybe even Griffons, or if rumors hold true and we see a Warrior-Mage, I'll bring him on a Dragon too!  Add in 2x Phoenixes in the Rare slot and fill the rest with cavalry, Archers and Eagles, I'm pretty sure my entire army will be fast and mostly flying.  I can't tell you how excited I am to field this army right now.

After I gorge myself on experimental dragon lists, I'll probably delve right back to magic-heavy lists.  I was a big advocate of fighting fire with fire, so I promoted the use of Teclis/Book vs. other people's beardy armies.  For that, I get quite the flake over at Ulthuan.net.  That's fine though, because as long as they rock their ETChammer and different comps, they're playing a different game than me.  I look at building army lists with double Stank, Hydra, Gutstars, 2x Iron Blaster, Mourfangs, 2x Skull Cannons...etc in mind.  For this reason, all my army lists are hard lists with min-maxed potential.  I'll talk about how all this affect Dragonlords in tomorrow's post.

If prices don't change from what we have now, my army will pretty much look the same.  Several blocks of infantry, Spearmen, supporting Archers, Eagles, pretty much a balanced, toolbox army.  To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, here's my go-to list at 2500.

2492
11 deploys

LORDS:
Lv.4 Archmage (Annulian Crystal, Robe, Dragonbane) = 350
Lore of Shadow

HEROES:
Noble (BSB, GW, AoC, Dawnstone) = 168
Lv.1 Mage (Sigil) = 140
Lore of High Magic

CORE:
41x Spearmen (FC, Discipline) = 409
10x Archers = 110
10x Archers = 110

SPECIAL:
19x Phoenix Guard (FC, Banner of Sorcery) = 365
23x White Lions (FC, Eternal Flame, AoL) = 400
5x Dragon Princes (Musician) = 160
6x Sword Masters = 90
6x Sword Masters = 90

RARE:
Great Eagle = 50
Great Eagle = 50

Note that there is no Book or Teclis in there.  This is under the impression that the dude I'm playing is not a total cheesehead and I don't need to bring out the big guns.

You know what's the funniest thing about this list?  Check out my 8th Ed. VC list:

2498
12 deploys

LORDS:
Lv.4 Vampire Lord = 548
Lore of Vampires
Quickblood, Red Fury, Beguile
Heavy Armor, Shield, Barded Nightmare
Dragonhelm, ToPreservation, Ogre Blade

HEROES:
Lv.2 Vampire = 263
Lore of Death
BSB, Aura of Dark Majesty, Beguile
Heavy Armor, Lance, Barded Nightmare
Enchanted Shield, Scroll

CORE:
40x Zombies (Musician, Standard) = 130
37x Ghouls (Ghast) = 380
5x Dire Wolves = 40
5x Dire Wolves = 40
5x Dire Wolves = 40

SPECIAL:
12x Black Knights (FC, BoSwiftness) = 357
5x Hexwraith (Hellwraith) = 160
Spirit Host = 45
Spirit Host = 45

RARE:
Terrorgheist = 225
Terrorgheist = 225

You can truly see the age of the High Elf book when you compare it to something like this.  If I ever faced my own VC list with my HE, I'd probably just shit bricks.  There's very little I can do vs. this kind of army.

Damn the Tau.. bring on the Eldar!

Give them to me.. NOW!

The current rumors point at May being High Elves and Eldar being June or July.  I must say, I've been pretty excited to get back into WHFB for a while now.  I'm getting my Vampire Counts up to speed and now I'm just looking forward to get some of those HE Phoenixes.  When Eldar drops by, I know for a fact I'll be getting the book and incorporating some Eldar into my Dark Eldar forces.

For all those who play Dark Eldar, have you ever thought which combination will suit you better?  Do you go Eldar primary with Dark Eldar support?  Or do you do Dark Eldar with Eldar support.  Personally for me, I think Dark Eldar primary is the best way to do it.  Here's why..

Dark Eldar gives you access to Poison weapons, something the Eldar will not have.  Dark Eldar is also bound to bring more lances; more specifically, moving lances.  If you look at Eldar's selection of units, most of them are designed with very specific modes roles in mind.  That's why they have Aspect Warriors in the first place!  The Elite slot provides you with dedicated CC in the form of Banshees and Striking Scorpions, and powerful anti-tank in the way of Fire Dragons.  Fast Attack, I'm god honestly hoping for the Nightwing, or the War Walkers to be moved to FA.  For now, Warp Spiders as a big support unit is pretty tempting, but mind you Dark Eldar also has access to Scourges and Reaver Jetbikes.

The big thing that Eldar will bring is the Farseer.  It gives you plenty of spells to cast, magic protection (hopefully a 24" Runes of Warding), and access to the Divination lore.  Best of all, you take this HQ on a Jetbike and now you can take your scoring Guardian Jetbikes as a bodyguard.  This automatically frees some of your Wych slots in exchange for Banshees perhaps.  Should the Nightwing make an appearance, DE players might also think about dropping their Voidraven for a Nightspinner in the heavy slot to go with your Ravagers.  Should all else fail, you'll always have War Walkers in that slot.  I hear they go quite nice with Prescience!

High Elves in May and Eldar in June.  Keep an sharp eye on this blog in the next couple of weeks, it will be exploding with info as these are my primary armies.  Oh, and also look out for Vampire Counts stuff and a Tau army book review.

My predictions on the HE army book

Put on that designer's hat and eat some crow!

Here's what I think we'll see in the book.
Keep in mind that the rumors are already out and about, and people say those are actual playtesting rules.  Whether or not they're several iterations of the rules bundled together, or all the rules from who knows when remains to be seen.

Now that we know the general direction of the book, I would like to make some predictions:
Special Rules for the army is Martial Prowess, 6+ Parry regardless of the weapon you're holding, and ignore ASL/negative shooting modifiers.

Based on these rumors, I'm willing to bet we'll see Martial Prowess and 6+ Parry in 1 rule (Martial Prowess), and Ignore ASL/shooting mods with another Special Rule, Elven Weapons/Dexterity?  That's two army-wide special rules.  If the Elven Weapons rule applies, I'm willing to bet it'll be standard across all three Elven armies:  Dark Elves and Wood Elves included.

Assuming we get all three of these special rules, I'm expecting the cost of the army to not change much at all. Sword Masters are supposedly getting "stances" similar to Wardancers, White Lions are supposed to get some kind of bonus vs. monsters (see Empire's Monster Hunter dude), and Phoenix Guard will be Unbreakable with MR and a ward save (not sure if 4+ anymore).  There's a rumor out there that Spears and LSG will be able to take Heavy Armor, and that Archers will have Light Armor.  With this in mind, I'm guessing the prices will stay the same, or 1 point cheaper at max.  If there's some special rules missing, we'll probably see 2 points reduction max.  If anything, heroes will see their points reduced more than anything.  None of our army-wide special rules really benefit the heroes, not even the Parry save one because most will have better ward saves.  I expect the prices to fall to make room for more expensive/better mounts.

Another rumor that's been circulating is that there'll be an Ithilmar Armor; something similar to Full Plate Armor, Chaos Armor or Gromil Armror, so 4+ AS.  I don't think we'll see this because it conflicts with Dragon Armor, step on other army designs, and I don't think we'll need it.  I expect Lion Pelts to be an option, and it'll act the same way as DE Sea Dragon Cloaks (+1 AS, +2 vs. shooting).  That way, we can get Dragon Armor and take Lion Pelt and obtain the same bonus.  What I do think will happen is Ithilmar Barding, which is simply a barding option that allows our steeds to move at full movement.

Our core choices will be expanded, so I'm willing to bet we'll see Ellyrion Reavers in core, possibly Silver Helms and Shadow Warriors.  Out of all those choices, I'm betting on Ellyrion Reavers the most.  In terms of our Dragons, I fully expect them to be normalized with the Storm of Magic book.  Sun Dragon will have Lesser Dragon stats, Moon Dragon will have normal dragon stats, and the Star Dragon will be a Greater Dragon, complete with T7.  All three will see 3+ Scaly, prices will be similar, and who knows, different breath options as well since it already exists in the Storm of Magic book.  The HE Griffon will probably also see a statline to match that of the Empire's Griffon (-1I, +1S and W + points reduction to 170), but it might just keep the I5 for -1S because the Empire book did say specifically that their Imperial Griffons are bred to be bigger and better.

Magic item wise, everything that's in the 8th Ed. BRB will replace similar items in the HE book.  Guardian Phoenix (5+ ward) is gone,  Armor of Caledor (2+ AS) is gone, you know, everything similar will take a hike.  Certain magic items will be rolled into returning Special Characters.  Imrik will once again pick up his Star Lance, Armor of Caledor, Dragonhorn, and the White Sword might go on that rumored Swordmaster Mage.  Book of Hoeth will probably disappear and/or get rolled into Teclis.  What will remain are those magic items unique to High Elves.  Vambraces of Defense, Banner of World Dragon, Battle Banner, Ring of Corin, you know, things that are truly unique.

Lastly, I want to talk about the Phoenix and the Flying Chariot with Bolt Thrower.

For the Phoenix, I'm thinking stats greater than an Eagle, but less than a Griffon, with overlapping stats of such.
T5 and 4-5W sounds about right. S4 more likely, maybe S5. The damage will primarily come with its abilities.  I would say the Arcane Phoenix would be a good guideline in what we'll see.

Fly and Terror I would imagine, with a Ld.9 as it's a Phoenix Guard riding it. Phoenix Guard will definitely have a Halberd.
Protection wise, here's where I think we'll see a 5+ or even a possible 4+ ward. I'm thinking it's going to be 5+ though, because 4+ seems a bit too generous on a flying MC.
I expect to see Magic Resistance as well.

Final estimated statline?
WS5 S4 T5 W5 I5 A4 Ld.9, 5+ Ward, Flying, MC, Terror, Magical attacks

Now, what do they actually do? Judging by the fact one is Fire (Moltres) and one is Ice (Articuno), and the rumors that they drop templates, I'm thinking this:
Place a template over whatever they fly over. It'll scatter D6 most likely. Picture a giant Phoenix flying over you flapping its wings, omg fire it burns or holy shit freezing cold man.
Fire will see a S4 small template, flaming of course, but Ice will see S3 Armor Piercing and it'll make the unit ASL. We might see D3 wounds like a Stonethrower, but I'm not even sure about that. I'm pretty sure it'll just be like a S4 flaming or S3 ASL blast and that's it.

I think Ice and ASL goes pretty hand in hand in fantasy. A good gauge will be the Storm of Chaos Dragon breaths, the Thundertusk from Ogres, and Yhettes from the same book.
Ice Dragons produce breath that's a S3 breath weapon and makes the unit ASL. (Storm of Chaos)
Dragonhide Banner (Ogres) is the same exact thing.
Thundertusks have Numbing Chill (Ogres), which makes all units within 6" of it ASL.
Yhettes (Ogres) make it so models in BtB have -1 to their WS.

So how does the Phoenix do damage in close combat?
I think it erupts at the beginning of the combat phase if you're in BtB. It flutters its wings, shit happens to the enemy.
Models in btb with the Phoenix take S4 flaming hits, or S3 AP hits and ASL. Something along those lines.
If the Phoenix charges, I'm hoping for impact hits with said modifiers. I doubt this one personally because it overlaps with the whole "erupts in the beginning of each combat phase kinda thing".
And like all good Phoenixs ever, if the Phoenix dies, on a 5+ it comes back to life and erupts again, possibly a stronger variation of its initial eruption. Pretty similar to that of the Arcane Phoenix from MA, but I'm having difficulty seeing how a giant bird can do its damage otherwise. It can't "breathe fire/ice", that's the realm of Dragons. What it can do is flutter its wings to create a Icestorm or Firestorm.

I can't see either birds above 250, so I'm pricing both at 200.  Judging by the pic in that the dude riding the Fire Phoenix, we can probably expect Heroes/Rare choices.  It's been done in the past in the form of Stonehorns (Hunter rides it) and Terrorgheists (Ghoul King0, but it's Rare.  I think it's more likely a Rare choice simply because the lord/hero slots might get croweded, especially if the new book allows heroes to take the Sun Dragon and make Dragon Mages better.  You gotta sell those Dragon models too you know..  Who cares, here's hoping for S5 firestorms lol.

Now.. What about the flying boat Bolt thrower?
I'm expecting, Flying of course, carried by a single Great Eagle (same stats), crewed by 2 bros with bows and Spears (looks like LSG), and has a Bolt Thrower attached.
Bolt Throwers, I expect the same S6 D3 wounds, or repeating option for 4 shots S4 -2, ignoring multi-shot. However, I do expect to see BTs being 50 points each with a 2:1 option.
But enough about the RBT, let's talk about the Chariot.

As much as I'd like to see T5 Lion Chariots with 3+ AS, I don't think it's going to happen. T4 4+ seems to be the standard, so let's go with that for now.
Impact hits of course, and I'm estimating ~150 points for it. That's 50 for RBT, 50 for Eagle and I'm thinking 50 more for the utility.

That's all I have for now.  All these go under the assumption that I'm leading the design of the High Elves book.  I can't wait till May to see if my predictions are correct.

Some rumored HE rules

Damn that's a nice helm.

Some rumors on the new High Elves..

GENERAL SPECIAL RULES:

-NO ASF or Valor as we know it today.

-Elven Dexterity: units with this rule can use parry save when wielding any weapon, even if mounted (some units may use it against shooting or even if mounted).

-Special rule for rolling an additional dice on chase an remove the lowest result (or four dice removing two lowest dices to swift stride).

-IaC: more than fucking around, there are chances that the general may somehow help, dependin on region/power chosen it benefits some units.

SPECIAL RULES ON WEAPONRY:

-Elven Weapons: no penalties on two-handed or moving&shooting (there may exist extra bonus on elite units). (Translator says: in the beginning I thought of SW, but maybe maidens are also here).

-Ithilmar armor: no penalties when moving, +1AS on heavy armor (only on elite units).

-Dragon Armor: 3+ armor save against flaming attacks.

-Lion Pelt: Can also be used in CC.

MAGIC SPECIAL RULES:

-Elven Mages: +1 to dispel and can repeat channelings.

-High Magic: More powerful spells and representing the 8 lores of magic. It is said that there is one that gives life back to a dead character and other one specific against Chaos and "Bad" armies. They will be the most powerful sorcerers until Lizards get renewed after summer. Some rules will be shared with them.

SPECIFIC RULES ON UNITS:

-Martial Prowess: Elves fight and shoot with a extra rank (not specified, but this could be armywide).

-Spears and LSG: heavy armor and shield option.

-Archers: Light Armor.

-SHs: Heavy armor. Cheaper.

-Ellyrian Reavers: Same.

-T-Chariot: Same, cheaper.

-SMs: Parry save against shooting, Swords of Hoeth, Paths fighting.

-White Lions: Lumber Axes, Stubborn, Forest Stride.

-Phoenix Guard: Know their destiny (unbreakable), Magic Resistance, Ward Save. (maybe something about flaming attacks).

-SWs: Stalkers (?), Night Warriors (?).

-DPs: Caledor Proudness, all the rest remains the same.

-Lion Chariot: Same, cheaper.

-Flying Chariot: RBT on top of it, crew with elven weapons.

-RBT: cheaper, better.

-Dragons: Will of the Dragon (mix of 5ed. rule plus communion with rider that makes them share some rules). Super Dragon (Caledor Dragon?) may be wizard too.

-Phoenix: May be consecrated to Asuryan or another God (Phoenix alone or in a shrine?)

-Fire Dragons (MC): same as dragon princes, beast mounted is better than eagle but worse than a hypogryphe. Fly, 1+AS. Rare.

-Maiden Guard: Avelorn Mirror (?), Deadly in CC (?) (Translator says: I think no one knows what they'd do. I thought they would not exist, thought this was a wishlist... Maybe it's just a unit upgrade after all...).

-Warrior-mage (different from dragon-mage): Hoeth disciplines, fighting magic (guy was convinced one of them would be Belannaer).

REMEMBER: All this are rumors. Cheers

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My thoughts:

Personally, I don't think we'll see this Ithilmar armor.  I think instead we'll see Lion Cloaks being the same as DE cloaks.  +1AS in general, +2 vs. shooting.  I do think we'll see Ithilmar Barding options on our steeds though.

Martial Prowess on all of our units, combined with 6+ Parry regardless of weapon, and ignoring ASL/moving and shooting modifiers will be great.  The delta damage range for attacking in extra ranks is much greater than the consistent ASF damage, but we can also see some rubber lance syndrome at times.  In addition, the 6+ Parry just adds another layer of protection for our units, and it's defensive in nature so it'll work nicely with the High Elves' current design philosophy.

With these rules, I expect to see no more than a 1 point drop on our units.  That means 8 point Spears ,14 point elites.  Heroes will most definitely get cheaper because of the loss of ASF and the fact most of army-wide rules do not benefit them at all.  However, the mention of Intrique makes me think they'll have province buffs of some kind of mitigate this.  If that's the case, then they'll probably only see a few points shaved off than current.