Dark Elves, First Impressions

First impressions mean everything!

Notes from my first game vs. High Elves with DE.

• I made a couple of mistakes this game, mainly from rules and some from just being dumb.
• 3 turns into the game and I remember to channel with my warlocks
• First 3 rounds of combat I forgot about murderous prowess, although not too much combat happened
• First round of the game I took 2 wounds on my SS because of miscast and power from darkness rolling a 3 on d3. Also, it effects only the sorcs unit hmm... that limits its use quite a bit I think
• I think a big unit of witches isn't good, too many points that can be redirected and forced to overrun is not ideal
• Executioners rock, keep them, but I need to remove the banner of eternal flame from them
• 4x RBT rocks, keep it, maybe even drop it to 3 to free up points to take more units
• Warlocks are fine, I just need to remember how to play them correctly, lost a unit early due to turn1 charge from Frostheart. It was a misplay on my behalf.
• Monsters having to be within so close of the general because of leadership is a bit of a letdown, really limits their mobility since they're just monsters with no Swiftstride
• Didn't get to experience Dark Magic as much as I wanted. Tome of Furion is decent, but I think it's unneeded. Will be replacing with a scroll.
• As predicted, Frosthearts just kill everything I have. They out-range and out-fight everything that I have except for Executioners, and even so they do massive damage to them.
• My Hydra died instantly to a Giant Blade Prince with Star Lance Noble. He made a long charge I wasn't prepared for and before you know it, he overruns into my back lines.
• Leadership 6 on monsters is just pretty terrible. Even with good play via hammer and anvil, I can't risk losing combat at all with them.
• Need more playtime for Dark Magic, but I was surprised that Black Horror didn't do more damage on his Silver Helms. First round I threw it at the bus and I hit the entire unit, with Prince and Archmage failing their LoS. Unfortunately, they passed both of their saves and it was a good time while only losing 4 SH. Grrrr.
• Monsters do NOT hate High Elves. Speaking of which, do Hatred: High Elves affect the Frostheart? I'm sure it does because I'm assuming High Elves means Army Book: High Elves.
• Frankly, I just played poorly this game in addition to it being my first game with the new book.

I ran with the following list:

2499
11 drops

LORDS:
Lv.4 Supreme Sorc, Tome = 245
Dark Magic

HEROES:
Master BSB, 1+ RR, SoMight = 155

CORE:
34x Witch Elves, FC, Razor Standard = 449
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110

SPECIAL:
30x Executioners, FC, Eternal Flame = 400
4x RBT = 280
Hydra, Breath = 180

RARE:
5x Warlocks = 125
5x Warlocks = 125
K-Beast = 160
K-Beast = 160

Some tweaks after the game:

I decided to drop the Hydra, the I2, the price and attacks just aren't worth it imo. I added Shades with GW as a super scout, distraction, damage unit and upped the Executioners a little while dropping the Flaming Banner. My core is now normalized with 3x Dark Riders with a 6x4 unit of Witches. If they die, I know their points went to good use. Kept everything else the same while dropping the Tome on the Supreme Sorc for a Scroll. I'm going to mess around with Dark Magic a little bit more, but on first glance it, it seems that I rather have Shadow (same as High Magic).


Won game 2 vs. HE, but he didn't take a Frostheart.

Game #2 just ended up with me shooting his knight bus to death and killing his Prince with no AS bolt thrower to the stomach.

What I did take away from is...

• He 6-diced Fiery Convocation and killed literally 22 of my 32 Executioners ROFL. It's like a thousand mouths cried out in pain.
• K-Beasts was ready to charge next round, Witches lost combat, broke, got caught and died, then K-Beasts panics off the board. God damn out of leadership bubble and the dude goes running away like a little girl. Jeez man, are these guys even worth it?!?!
• Gotta bring Repeater Bolt Throwers and at least 4 fast cav drops. My unit of 10-12x Shades have been dominating in the games I've been playing. They put out an epic ton of shots and they're very accurate. Those charging them are going to eat S5 GWs in the face at I5 too. Not sure if 200+ points worthy, but I think they're better than Sisters of Slaughter in terms of army placement.
• Still running with just a Lv.4 with a Scroll. Not sure if worth it right now, but she's been doing fine in the Executioner unit.

New list in tow:

2496
11 drops

LORDS:
Lv.4 Supreme Sorc, Scroll = 245
Shadow

HEROES:
Master BSB, 1+ RR, SoMight = 155

CORE:
30x Witch Elves, FC, Razor Standard = 405
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110

SPECIAL:
30x Executioners, FC, SoDisc = 405
12x Shades, GW = 216
4x RBT = 280

RARE:
5x Warlocks = 125
5x Warlocks = 125
K-Beast = 160
K-Beast = 160

Just played game #3 with the list right here.  Once again, against High Elves and with the newest revised list (above).

• Anyways, my buddy charged a unit of Witches from the front with a Star Dragon and Frostheart. Frostheart takes 7 wounds from poison and dies and Star Dragon gets challenged out and loses combat by 5. General breaks and gets ran down by Witches, lol.
• K-Beasts kind of just sat back again because I'm not sure how to use them yet. They're really slow if you think about it, only averaging 13" on the charge due to monsters and not having Swiftstride.
• I've basically been moving them on the sides of my Executioner unit, and a little bit behind so the Executioners can take the charge first. They're basically two guard dogs from under the sea. Not the best units from what I've seen so far, but with 5 attacks at S7 WS5 I4, they're not too bad.
• Shades are pretty fantastic even though they didn't do much this game. Just having them in the game makes me less worried about Warmachines shooting me in the back, or armored knights coming down the ally. Those are a lot of BS5 S3 AP shots raining down..
• I will probably stay with Shadow for now. Having poison I6 ASF Witches with Mindrazor is just godlike. I can't see any reason to take anything else... unit size will go back up to 30 with Razor Standard.

I leave the day with 2-1 vs. HE, mainly because I played like a tard the first game.

However, this is something I want to try really, really soon.

2496
10 drops

LORDS:
Crone Hellebron = 310

Lv.4 Supreme Sorc, Scroll = 245
Life

HEROES:
Master BSB, 1+ RR, SoMight = 155

CORE:
30x Witch Elves, FC, Razor Standard = 405
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110

SPECIAL:
28x Executioners, FC, SoDisc = 381
3x RBT = 210

RARE:
5x Warlocks = 125
5x Warlocks = 125
K-Beast = 160
K-Beast = 160

Life spam with Beasts in tow and +Toughness on Witch Elves. Hellebron kills everything because she's a god damn murder stick. WS7 I9 ASF, S10, 7 +D3 attacks base because she has Super Frenzy, re-roll 1s to wound and Poison. All units taking Fear checks with her are -3 Ld. on check. Armored targets beware, you have nowhere to charge. Just keep Hellebron safe on the corner of a unit where the least amount of attacks can get to her, smart use of make way and challenges.

Dark Elves: Brainstorm #2

Calm down pirate guy, no one will take you.

The big question for today would be:  To Cauldron or not to Cauldron?  There are some plus and minuses for both and frankly, I'm not sure which is the right route to take.  Shall we examine this a little bit closely?

Cauldron with a naked Hag is 275, so if you buy this thing you might as well make it 300 with the BSB.  If you want to take Warcry on her (which you prob should), it'll cost more, and if you want WS10 with Fencer's Blades, it'll cost even more.  The layout I had yesterday only had Fencers with the BSB for a total of 335 points.

Here's what the Cauldron does:
+Allows all MODELS with the Murderous Prowess rule to re-roll ALL to wound rolls within 6"
+Gives Witches 5+ ward as well as having 4+ ward on itself
+Drastically increases the damage Witches because it'll be re-rolling wounds
+Comes with a bound level Frenzy spell

-Really expensive if you think about it
-All your RBTs will be in the same location if you're looking for the re-roll wounds bonus
-If you put it in the Witch unit, it'll make the unit very large and unwieldy
-Pretty much naked BSB in the form of the Death Hag that you can challenge out
-The Cauldron itself has 2 Witches and a Death Hag, so you get less attacks overall

Alright, there it is.  Just to put into perspective on the price of the Cauldron, I'll throw out another list that you guys can see.

2499
11 drops

LORDS:
Lv.4 Supreme Sorc, Tome = 245
Dark Magic

HEROES:
Master BSB, 1+ RR, SoMight = 155

CORE:
34x Witch Elves, FC, Razor Standard = 449
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110

SPECIAL:
30x Executioners, FC, Eternal Flame = 400
4x RBT = 280
Hydra, Breath = 180

RARE:
5x Warlocks = 125
5x Warlocks = 125
K-Beast = 160
K-Beast = 160

By dropping the Cauldron entirely, I am able to take a 1+ re-rollable BSB and a Hydra with the S4 breath attack.  That increases the durability on my army flag, gives me another monster, and gives me another drop. Even with the Hydra gone, I get pretty much any unit in the book because you've hit that sweet spot for extra points.

What do you guys think?  Cauldron or no Cauldron?

Dark Elves: Brainstorm #1

Now it's time for Dark Elves..
Drawings by Aicanor

Let me breakdown and analyze what we have here in front of us:

2499
10 drops

LORDS:
Lv.4 Supreme Sorc, Tome = 245
Dark Magic

HEROES:
Hag BSB, Fencers, Cauldron = 335

CORE:
34x Witch Elves, FC, Razor Standard = 449
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110
5x Black Riders, Shield, RXB, Mus = 110

SPECIAL:
30x Executioners, FC, Eternal Flame = 400
4x RBT = 280

RARE:
5x Warlocks = 125
5x Warlocks = 125
K-dyss = 160
K-dyss = 160

Running as light as I can on lords and heroes so I can squeeze in the good stuff into the list while giving us enough shooting and chaff clearing so we can negotiate the board better. In this list, you will see Warlocks, RBTs and Black Riders as key units to kill, harass and destroy enemy chaff and warmachines. I haven't decided exactly what I want my Supreme Sorc to hold, but for the first couple of games, I'm going to take Dark Magic. It's one of the most exciting things about the book and I want to truly give it a few games before I rule it out for another lore. Since Dark Elves already have Dark, Shadow and Light in their arsenal, it's only a matter of time before I default back to trusty ol' Shadow lore.

Regardless, I'm packing a lot of points in the BSB section through the Hag BSB. She's chilling with Fencer's right now because WS10 will give her a little bit of protection while keeping her hitting hard with +1 attack. The Cauldron itself is pretty nasty since the current wording of the thing allows all models with Murderous Prowess within 6" of the damn thing to re-roll ALL wounds. That means those lovely 4x RBTs will be chilling hard next to my Witch Elves looking for targets prowling around the map. Once I'm happy that the board is mine and I control the movement phase of the game, I'll launch my army forward with Executioners, K-Beasts and Witch Elves. Constant harassment with Warlocks and Black Riders should buy me good time and help me win fights vs. other chaff. Warlocks are especially dangerous because they both come with Soul Blight and Doombolt, and because they're treated as Lv.2 Wizards, they can help channel and shoot off boosted versions of the spell. With a 4+ ward and not too shabby in combat, I think they're going to be popular choice vs. a lot of armies out there.

To key to this list is: Control the movement phase, win the chaff war, and crush everything with your main killing blocks + K-Beasts in support.  The biggest question would be:  What is the best lore to use in all-comers Dark Elves?  I always default to Shadow but I'm all ears!

More Dark Elves stuff from the book

Interesting stuff..

Copy and pasted from Druchi:

I was wondering about the following:
- Can DH provide witchbrew to any unit?
Yup, witchbrew affects her and the unit she is in.

- Do execs suffer from same "madness of khaine" as WE?
No.

- Sorceresses can ride DS/CO/pegasus, and, for Lvl3/4, manti & dragons?
Supreme S - DS/CO/DP/Manti/Black D | Sorceresses - DS/CO/DP.

- is there any such generic character as Corsair character, Executioner character, Black Guard character?
The only one is a Black Ark Fleetmaster. Only Kouran and Tullaris for the others.

- Who can be BSB? Master, DH? Even DH riding a COB, or master on COC? Cost of DH?
Both Masters and DH can be BSB and I don't see anything saying they can't take a COC or COB if they are the BSB. Base cost for the DH is 85 pts.

- COC still a mount? What cost? Is Scrunner a mount too, besides for the Beastmaster?
Yes it is and it costs 120 for mount. The scourgerunner is only available has a mount for the High Beastmaster.

- Shadowblade special rules? pts? (see GW: Able to hide within regiments on the battle field, and even move between them, no opponent can predict when or where he will strike.)
Shadowblade costs 245 pts and for is special rules:
- Dance of Doom: 5+ ward save
- Master of Disguise: can deploy using the Hidden special rule. He can change which unit he is
hiding in at the start of any movement or close combat phase. If an opponent has an ability that
forces you state that there are hidden models within a unit, you only need to say that Shadowblade
is hiding within a unit, but not which unit he is currently within.
- Has the 3 poisons
- Heart of Woe: Enchanted item. if he is slain, centre the small template over him before taking the model.
Every model touched by the template takes a S3 hit.
- Potion of Diabolic Strength: Enchanted item. One use only. At the start of any player's close combat phase,
after revealing the assassins, he gets +4 strength until the end of the turn.

- Manticore rules / upgrades?
It has fly, killing blow, large target and terror. Also, uncontrollable: at the start of each friendly turn, take a Ld test. If failed, it gets frenzy ate the start of the next turn.
upgrades - blind rage: +D3 attacks but enemies attacking her receive a +1 to hit.
iron hard skin: scaly skin 4+

- COB movement?
M5

- I understand that one of each of the following can take a 25pts magic banner: swords, spears, corsairs, RXBmen, WE. Correct?
All of them can take a 25 pts magic banner besides the WE that can take a 50 pts banner.

- What about magic banner for DR?
No magic banner for them.

- BG can take a magic banner up to 25 or 50 pts?
Both BG and the sisters can take a 50 pts magic banner.

- Minimum size of DR, COK, shades, harpies is 5?
Yes.

- All command groups are 10/10/10pts? Which ranked units cannot take part of the command group? (harpies = none, shades = only chap?).
Yes and shades can have musician and standard bearer.

- Is there any change for COC besides 2 attacks per CO? pts?
The same, only 1 attack more per CO and it costs 115 pts.

- Scrunner has D6 impact, or D6+1? What is the crewmen's BS?
impact hits from the scourge are D6. The BS is 4.

- Scrunner dragging a monster, does it make the monster face the scrunner, or does it leave the monster parallel to previous position?
It says: " it is immediatly dragged D6" towards the firer..."

- Did stats & rules of RBT remain same as before, except pts?
Same has before, but are now special and cost 70 pts.

- Can warlock channel PD? Is it the champion who is a Lvl2 caster?
Nothing says they can't, they point out that they work like pink horrors. All unit is considered. When you do the spells you nominate which one
is doing it because of line of sight and all that.

- K-yss confirmed NOT to be a sea creature?
Yes

- Are the models of handlers on K-yss and hydra only for presentation, but having no effect in the game whatsoever?
Only for presentation.

- Medusa's srhine pts? Range of its ranged attack? Impact hits 1D6? Movement?
Costs 175. 12" range. Movement 5. D6 impact hits.

- Do sisters have a shield? What is their armour save?
Yes they have and it's all they have. They do get a 4+ ward but only in close combat.

Hellebron, 310 points
5,7,7,4,3,3,9,4,10
ASF, Frenzy, Hatred (HE), MP, Poisoned Attacks
Gifts of Khaine:
Cry of War - Fear, all fear tests are taken @ -3 in base contact with her unit
Rune of Khaine - + D3 attacks
Witchbrew - Hellebron and her unit gets frenzy. If they already have it, they get +2 attacks
Magic items:
Deathsword & the Cursed blade - Paired weapons. Hits are @ S10, If a model rolls a 1 when rolling to hit you in CC, they get a S4 hit
Amulet of Dark Fire - +4 to dispel spells targeting Hellebron or her unit

Edit:
- What are the effects (and range) of the Cauldron?
- What is the cheapest load out for a DH and cauldron?
- What wardsave will be granted to Assassins in the same unit?
- what wardsave will other characters in a unit of Witch Elves?


Fury of Khaine, bound spell 3+
Frenzy special rule to one unit within 12" (grants +1A to alread frenzied units, not cumulative with witchbrew)

Strength of Khaine
Grants re-roll to wound to all friendly models with MP within 6" (yes models not units)

Naked DH + Cauldron 275p

6++ to assassins and non Dh characters

K-Beasts Feast of Bones is only against the MODEL, meaning all attacks have to go against a particular model, and if they all hit, he then gets D6 S7 auto-hits.

Aka, it's ass.

Edit:

A naked death hag costs 85 pts. and she's a hero. 

Witchbrew is 30 pts.

She may take a single magic weapon worth up 50 pts. and that's it.

Witchbrew - quote: "This model, and all models in the same unit, have the frenzy special rule. If they already have frenzy, that frenzy grants +2 attacks

instead of just +1, but the unit suffers a -3 penalty ti Ld when testing not to declare a charge."

Fury of Khaine does the same but in the end of its description it says that it is not cumulative with witchbrew.

Edit:

How about the Blood Wrack and the Medusa?

We know a bit about it, that it gives a unit in 6" a leadership bounus and takes away a leadership to enemy units in 6", but does it do anything else? Like does it amplify the Medussa's power at all? Also does it also have to be brought in with a hero (like the medussa) or can it be brought in as a rare or special choice?

You can take the Medusa alone but if you take a bloodwrack she's coming along with it

It has scythes (has does the COB) ASF, MR (1) terror. Aura of Agony: gives +1 Ld to all DE in 6" and -1 to the other armies at 6"

Avert Your Gaze!: start of close combat, before challenges, models in base contact must pass a I test or take a S4 hit with KB and no

armour saves, it counts as a magical attack. Blooswrack stare: range 12", S4, KB and multiple shots (4). When rolling to wound, substitute

the target's T with it's I value. No armour saves allowed.

NEW Dark Elves stuff from the book!

RIDICULOUS INFO INC!

RULES, UPDATED 8:29am PST

For assasins and Death Hags:
Are gifts of khaine supressed or is there a list in the book (and of course can you write/picture it?)?
looks like i shall write here rather than post pics, maybe its safer for me :P
now assasin and hag use different things, former is 3 kinds of poison, latter is 3 kinds of gift. and remember hag can only take 50pts magic weapon, while assasin have access to 50pts magic items. for normal characters, they can only take one from the three. shadowblades and hellebron have all 3 kinds at the same time.
poison:
black lotus: for each unsaved wounds suffered by the character, he got a cumulative -1LD
dark venom: KB
manbane: +1 bonus to wound rolls

gift:
cry of war: fear, and all fear test made by the enemy unit in base contact with the hag suffer -3LD
rune of khaine: this model gain +D3 attacks
witchbrew: she and her unit get frenzy. if they already have frenzy, they become super-frenzy with +2A. but the unit suffer -3LD when testing not to charge.

Can I ask a background question please? What's the relationship between DEs and Slaanesh now? Does the cult of Slaanesh exist in fluff? It looks like the warlocks have something to do with Slaanesh from the captions in the pics, but I can't make it out.
sry i havent read the background. but one thing for sure is the warlocks have been cursed by malekith, if they dont find and kill the innocence, their souls will be taken by slaanesh. so they have to kill and satisfy the dark prince all the time for survival.

hydra regen works on wounds lost that turn or all she lost erlier and havent regenerated yet? And it works only in our turn or enemys too? Could You please rewrite wording of this rule?
Whats the cost of harpies, do they ve any special rules like no panic ti other DE?
Still 2 RBT per slot?
All lores for small sorcerress (2lvl) too? Is she 80pts?
for hydra, it's regaining wounds happens at the end of your turn only. RBT is one per slot, but it's special and you can take four. it's strange but certain. small sorcerer can also take 8 lores. and she's 80pts. for harpy, they're special, 15pts and do not have any special rule except for fly.

Whats about the rules of the Black Guard? Do they have changed? Does a Assassin gets mundane armor? Whats about the stats and rules of the cauldron. Does it have a 4+ Ward Save and does the hag get it aswell? Thanks!
the bg have eternal hatred to all enemies, that means reroll all failed rolls to hit every round. they keep other rules in 7E.(warrior elite took place by eternal hatred) assasin do not have access to armour, and cob has a 4+ ward save itself; it can give the hag and witch it joins 5+ ward save, other units a 6+ ward save.

Four more questions. Does the missing of an armour-option mean, that an assassin cannot get a magic armor aswell? Do Assassins count against the heroslotlimit? Is the Sea Drake Cloak avaibel for all characters- or just for corsairs? Are the Hydra and the Karbdyss watercreaturs?
no he cant; yes he does; yes the cloak is available to dreadlord and master; no they dont have sea creature rule.

That's a potentially solid debuff. What's the Ld of the beasts?
hydra is 6445552(3+remaining wounds)6, 160pts, 4+AS, 20pts for flame breath and 20pts for a 8'' shooting with multiple shots=remaining wounds, s=remaining wounds. kharibdyss is 650755456, 160pts, 4+AS, poison attack, abyssal howl(reroll successful ld test), feast of bones(if all attack hits, auto hit D6 S7 hits afterwards.)

Thank you for your enthusiasm Zhangyi. Do you mind if I ask you about how sea dragon cloak changed in this edition?
well it's now a 5+ scaly skin.

Just guessing now that zhangyi has left, but given that the scroungerunner's cost includes the bolt thrower, I'm quite sure the High Beastmaster can man the bolt thrower.
yes, he takes place of one crew. he get bs7.

Thanks....what are the rules for the Fleet Admiral and the Beastmaster characters?
they're both lord choice. fleetmaster is 155pts with 566433739. he has two hand weapons, light armour and sea dragon cloak. can take 50pts magic items. have a special rule called show no weakness that if he's fighting in a challenge or killed a character and still alive, the unit he joins become unbreakable till the end of that turn. high beastmaster is 300pts which must take a manticore or scourgerunner chariot by free. his 577433839 with spear, light armour and see dragon cloak. can take 100pts magic items. have a special rule called beastslaver that at the start of each of your turns, choose a friendly monster within 3''. that monster get +D3 A till the start of your next turn.

Hydra and Kharibdyss
and one more thing... hydra and the kharibdyss both are monsters now, without handlers. though u can see two on their base, they're nothing about them in the rules.

Magic items aren't that great but everything else seems awesome. Is malus the exact same? What's the pricing on sorcereress and lords?
he's been changed slightly, now the daemon gives him +1 to WS,S,T,I and frenzy. any to hit roll of 1 hit a friendly model in base contact. supreme sorcerer is 185pts with lvl3, dreadlord is 140pts. sorcerer is 80pts with lvl1.

Rules for kuran and tullaris?
kouran 596432739 join bg and make them unbreakable. have a +2s crimson death, and a 5+AS with armour of grief which make a S5 hit every time an opponent hit him. tullaris 566432739 join ex and make them frenzy. have a magic great weapon which called the first draich that gives him 5+KB

Are they champions or moved to hero slots?
moved to hero slot, u see they have w2 both.

Hydra Regen how specifically does it work ? Thank for answering all my questions by the way!
at the end of your phase if it still alive, u roll the number of dice equals the lost wounds. every 4+ it regain a wound.

This is nuts! If I don't go WE I may go with these girls and march and charge them up the field before they can get shot to pieces. Are they khanites and do they get the same bonuses from CoB as WE's?
no they're not brides of khaine, they're arena fighters. COB can give them 6+ ward save if join them... but still if they're 6'' within COB they can reroll all the failed rolls to wound. and COB have a bound spell can make them frenzy.

Which special characters are in, which are out?
they stay the same. no new special characters.

What does the magic item section look like, Do I still have access to the Hydra Banner (fingers crossed)
from my first glance they're not as good as HE. only 10 items, including one 100pts nearly useless sword(hydra blade, +D6 A, every close combat phase u must make a -2LD test or suffer -5WS, but gain HKB.) and one 100pts useless banner(banner of nagarythe, the unit take it will unbreakable). hydra banner is not there any longer, so does the banner make cosair frenzy.

Does Malekith get cheaper? Don't need points just wondering.
yes, he's only 510pts on foot. didnt change much of his rules, now the circlet grants him an bonus dice if failed his casting/dispelling attempts once per magic phase.

points and options for black guard and cold ones pls. Also what does the medusa chariot thing do?
BG=15pts, EX=12pts, cold one knight=30pts. the chariot make units from this book in 6'' +1LD, and all others -1LD, called aura of agony.

Witch Elves keep poison? How does Power of Darkness work? Available lores?
yes they keep poison. power of darkness is one of the two signature spell, which cast on 8+, target the caster's unit. all models in unit get +1S until the caster's next magic phase, and recover D3 casting dice, if you rolled 3 dice, the caster suffer a wound that cant be saved by armour. dark elf have access to all eight lores this time, cheers.

can you list the magic items and new spell lore. Do executioners still have Killing blow or are they now D3 wounds
still KB, not D3 wounds.

rbt and handbow rules? what about the bleakswords? any rules for them? What about shades? do they still have options for great weapons?
rbt is now special and 70pts, u can take four.(yes four) handbow become 12'', the rest stay the same. bleakswords have no other rules have to be metioned, 9pts. shades is 16pts, hand weapon and repeater crossbow, no armour. u can take great weapon or two hand weapons by 2pts/per model.

hows the assassin looking ? Manbane ? Repeater Bows armor piercing ?
90pts with poison attack. can get two hand weapon or a handbow. access to 50pts magic items and one of three poison. one is to wound roll+1, one is KB, the other is if u wound a model, his LD-1 for the rest of the game.

Is there a sac dagger and pendent?
yes the dagger is there. no pendent.

sac dagger
everytime when u cast a spell but before dispelling, u can use the dagger. remove a man from the unit, and roll a D6, 4+ u get an extra dice and must be rolled and add to the result, then opponent try to dispell. if u roll 1-3 then u can try the dagger again and again until you get a dice, or you can simply give up.

WE Initiative?
they're I6

what's the chariot with RBT do ? is it special or core ? thx for the pictures and information!
it's my pleasure:P it's special, cost 150pts, profile is S4 T4 W4 with 5+AS, M9, two crew with spear and repeater crossbow. it has a harpoon launcher, like a bolt thrower but far more powerful. it's S7, 24'' range, and cause D3 wounds. if a monster suffer any wounds from it, the monster will be dragged D6'' directly towards it. if D6>3, the monster suffer another wound with no AS.

What would you say is the best magic item the DE's got? The dagger sounds pretty nice, how much does it cost?
25pts. DE have some "OK" items IMO, but i cant tell which is the best. wait for me to post them.

it looks like the Dark Riders now have shields? Is this a default now, or still an option which causes loss of Fast cav?
it's an upgrade with 1pts/per model. DR can have both light armour and shield without losting fast cavalry.

DE sorcerer cast dark magic gain +1 bouns in casting value. it's called HEKARTIS BLESSING

Warlocks:
they're fast cavalry in rare with state 544431528, and M9 on horse. 25pts/per model. they only have hand weapon, but have 4+ward save except for wounds caused by model with mark of slaanesh or daemon of slaanesh. they're considered to be level2 wizard which is used like pink horrors. +1 for casting value for each extra rank except the first, to a max of +3. they know 2 spells, one is doombolt from DE army book(see #2221), the other is soulblight from lore of death. great unit.

I'm afraid to ask but... how much for a Dark Rider?
16pts per model with light armour. 1pts for shield, 3pts for crossbow.

what's the basic warrior cost ?(without spear , shield , RXB ..)
shield is auto. spear is another auto. 9PTS for spearmen and swordsmen.RXB is 12pts without shield upgrade(+1PTS)

Last masochistic question: Sisters of Slaughters?
they're rare choice with very impressive state 564331629. 15pts/model, with shield and hand weapon. can have a magic banner up to 50pts. 4+ward save in close combat, and every close combat phase it can choose an enemy unit in base contact. they lose parry and rank bonus in combat result.(still can steadfast). if any enemy model in base contact with them have highter WS or S(before weapon matters), they get +1 to hit and wound rolls.

WHFB Army Rankings

This is going to be good.

Haven't done one of these for a long time, so I figure why not, let's start up a discussion.  I've been playing a good amount of games lately with my Daemons army and before that, I played the crap out of High Elves.  Without further ado, let's get down to it.

S-Tier - Warriors of Chaos, Skaven
Tier1 - Vampire Counts, Ogre Kingdoms, Dark Elves*
Tier2 - High Elves, Lizardmen**, Orcs and Goblins, Empire, Daemons of Chaos, Dwarves
Tier3 - Bretonnians, Wood Elves, Tomb Kings, Beastman

Dark Elves are in limbo right now because they're getting a new book very soon.  Right now, they kind of ridiculous.  Lizards are still very new so they currently have no solidified tournament results, but I'm expecting them to sit in Tier2.

Let me explain some of these:

• Warriors of Chaos stand on the view top of the pyramid because they have some of the best units in the game.  Arguably the best core selection, strong monsters, powerful magic and ridiculous lord/hero builds.  There's several powerful builds and they have the strongest showing in several tournaments.
• Next comes Vampire Counts and Ogre Kingdoms.  Vamps have their scream lists and blenderlords, Ogres have their cannons, chaff and the fact that the book is just very solid.  If you think about it, both of these books are very well-designed internally.
• The next tier hangs pretty comfortably as a fairly balanced lot.  High Elves actually have a very well-designed book internally, but lacks external power.  The rest of the armies here either have one or two things going for them, or answer specific things in the meta that prevents other armies from ascending.
• Tier3 simply means there's very limited builds, poor power, or a mix of internal balance issues that's keeping it from being competitive.

Alright folks, the floors open.

New Dark Elves cover and rules

Look at this badass.

Looks pretty epic to me!

Got some infos on the new stuff today:

• Kharybdis is WS 5, 5A, S7, T5, 4+AS. If all attacks hit, it deals an aditional d6 s7 attacks
• Warhydra is s5, 5wounds. A is equal to number of remaining wounds +3. its a special choice
• RBB (?) is switched to special
• Crossbowmen retain the option for shields
• Bloodwrack shrine and cob are a chariot, which may narch and join units. Cob has a bound spell for frenzy and grants the unit he joins a 6+ ws (5+ in case of witchelves)
• Bloodwrack medusa has a 4 shot s4 shooting attack wirh killing blow, and is monstrous infantey (s and t 4)
• Models in b2b suffer a s4 hit with killing blow if they fail an i test
• Sisters of slaughter gain a bonus to hit and to wound if their opponent has a higher ws ir strength. Their 4+ ward save only applies in close combat. They negate enemues ranks for combat resolution. 
• It was hinted that black guard and executioners will be more expensive.

NEW PIC INC:

New Sisters of Slaughter art?

UPDATE:
Pre-orders are up!
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/armySubUnitCatsLarge.jsp?catId=cat440004a&rootCatGameStyle=wh