Very true, and they can be destructive in both combat and other ways.

I can say this as a high elf player, I have never lost with them. Not that I'm a tournament player but they can be very deadly and very useful if played correctly.

I like the high elite status, that they bring to the table, but if you don't like them you don't like them, you don't have to bash them in front of others who like them.

Just keep on going on with the forces you like.

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Who ever said swimming was easier then running never swam a 400 I.M.

I have won over 3/4 of my tournament games and an even higher rate outside of tournaments with my high elves.

Things that make them rock in looks
1) poses of bows (who look way better than wood elf bowmen high fiving) and spears (who look rock hard)
2) poses of heroes (gilgalad, glorfindel, twins, arwen, gildor, erestor)
3) Rivendell knights
4) Banners look really cool


In game terms
1) probably the best all hero army outside the white council n fellbeasts
2) Rivendell knights - best cavalry ever
3) Kings guard F6, neutralises spider queens, beats nearly all the heroes of evil and around 2/3 of the heroes of good
4) People dont put enough terrain down. Therefore elite armies struggle. if you read the book and note the 1/3 of the table should be scenary, and make sure some is trees then high elves can anchor on some woodland. Have it's heroes flank THROUGH the woodland using woodland creature and then you murder your opponent.
6) Most evil heroes who epic strike vs the HE heroes will only beat them 50% of the time. In the case of mounted gilgalad... very rarely does he ever need to epic strike thus has more might to create 6's or wounds or charges. While the opponent is trying to might every thing.
7) Erestor suddenly gaining TERROR
Loads of might, so you are not tying anyone up for long

Disapointments
1) Banners are over priced. The premium paint for F5 is then neutered by having a banner in your hand and not having many people to protect it.
2) Stormcaller not having wrath any more...but new players can still find him useful
3) No shield n sword model

As with most things SBG. If you just do a shield wall and expect them to win you are a terrible misguided with how to win a game.

I may make some photos of different tactics you can use at some point but then I dont want to give too much away lol

^ yeah thats true



Thing is ive tried them and I always find them to fail. I always find their regular troops break in the lines all the time. I know Elrond and Glor are beasts.

And the lack of variety kills armies.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

Would you be willing to expand on some strategies without giving too much away? Pleeease?

I want to make my High Elves work. They are the army I struggle to play the most so any advice from an experienced player like yourself would be great

A few questions on what you have already noted.
- Can you play Rivendell Knights as a single warband or would you need an entire all mounted army to justify them?
- Given the awesome F6 of Kings Guard would you always recommend Gil-Galad in any high elf list because of this upgrade?

Some great points there Cerial Theif,

To be honest its become apparent to me that the opinion of high elves on this forum is not great, I was pretty tempted to write an article on how to use them, from my experiences, which admitidly are from a while back. Perhaps we could collaborate on a tactical guide.

Plus debating these things here gets people thinking about how to use their armies better .

One thing though Cereal, I'm surprised you find their banners over costed. With the high fight value the benefit from it the most and at its current costs its 10pts cheaper than in the old days.
In my opinion you should never take high elf infantry without a banner.

loving the username lordofthebrownring!!!!

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Over the field rang his clear voice calling: "Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world's ending!"

I imagine it depends on what you're facing. From F5 to F6 is far less useful than F3 to F4, for example. At F5 you're probably out-fighting most evil troops already, so F6 is overkill unless the enemy is fielding a lot of F6 monsters, or something.

Most of the time I think the upgrade is probably not worth it.

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I dont have time for a full response but I will give you some ideas on how I think.

F6 troops means your troops beat their heroes. So you can just shield vs their captain. While your hero eats their troops.
Or say they have monsters you can send a load of F6 guys vs it knowing if one gets drawn off or transfixed you are in accendency.
F6 means spider queen is wasting might vs troops before fighting glorfindel.

I never make EVERYONE F6 (more men is often better). Usually spear n shield dudes and a couple of shield dudes.

This is why I love the Galadhrim Guards. They are basically King's Guard with -1D but have a pike. They can still shield with their pikes (special rule), but they cost less while serving more tactical roles. In fact, the entire Galadhrim army is basically high elves with D in the sweet spot, giving you more value per point spent. The only reasons to take high elves are heroes and theme.

I dunno Wha, I feel D5 is only sweet in the good vs evil game. But in blue vs blue I'd say D6 is where it is at. So many good armies are S3.

True, but I don't play blue on blue

Yeah thats why I like them. Theyre good on stats and they look just as cool in their own way.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

you're all saying the same thing in different ways, so a quick summary.

1. No single army "sucks" in lotr sbg, the hobbit, or wotr. All these armies experience excessive play testing in the GW HQ, and they make sure they have a good win/loss ratio against all the other armies in middle-earth. it all comes down to the battle strategies of the participating players.

even my lowly goblin armies have managed to destroy legions of high elves with the right strategy. I even have fond memories of a single solitary goblin shooting an awe inspiring shot that sent a mumakil in a psychotic rage around the field and eventually off the side of the board!

2. it all comes down to the choices you make as the brains behind your army, the flexibility and combinations of strategies that you use, miniatures being in the right place at the right time, and of course... the roll of the dice.

3. all that matters is you have a great time as you enjoy the thrill of battles and the memories you share with those you battle with.

p.s. when you do make the battle strategy forum, try not to give all our secrets away....

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2014 Oathtaker (5 Points)

My WIP
http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=27391=50&t=27391

Well its more of a problem for the guys in England who all see each other at the GBHL and stuff lol but I dont think even if people do give away some tips, it will ensure their failure.

Always changing battle on the go!

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

To chime in on the king's guard upgrade, I personally think that if it made them have 2 attacks rather then fight 6 it would be far more usefull, as it is I use it on only acouple of guys, and even they suffer from the problem of high costs but only one attack.
I'd say that they are not as powerful as wood elves or dwarves, but that is mainly because even before the HOBBIT those two both got an huge preportion of the lotr releases, especially considering we only saw their princes in the films (counting the Galahadrim as seperate), whilst both Numenorians and high elves have not exactly gained much since the fellowship, the most notable additons being the knights of Rivendell and Erestor. Even so, they are decent, nad can certainly hold their own, with troops that can tie up wraiths and heroes that can feasibly kill trolls.

the best strategies are always changing, because you always have to change them in the blink of an eye.

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2014 Oathtaker (5 Points)

My WIP
http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=27391=50&t=27391

Whilst in small games High elves will feel the pinch from low numbers, there captains and Erestor have a good chance of munching through most things present at low points levels.

Because they are AWESOME!

That's really all that needs to be said

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Backlog Oath taker 2014: 6 pts

WIP: Riders of Rohan
Backlog: 63

Elves: 210
Numenor: 392
Mordor: 524

It's funny...when I first got started in SBG High Elves were one of the toughest armies and very popular locally and here. When FotN came out I jumped on the Wood Elves because NO ONE played them. Everyone thought the D3 was too weak and they didn't have some of the tougher Heroes. No one else played them locally and for several games I was getting slaughtered by our typical Uruk Hai, Mordor and Moria forces. Then I started to work out how to actually leverage them. I even took my WE army to Games Day 2006(?) in CT and took second in battle points...the only WE army there that year I might add. Now everyone and their grandma seems to play WEs...they are getting all kinds of new attention with the Hobbit...and it's just not as unique of a force any more. Now it seems getting into a High Elf army would be the exception rather than the rule and I'm tempted to do so.

I think one of the key issues is that GW has pretty much ignored the original Good forces (High Elves, Gondor, Rohan) over the last several years in favor of revamping or boosting up some old Evil armies and introducing newer forces. The High Elf stat line was pretty solid for the points "back in the day" but is just meh now. Bow fire has been nerfed and they lack S4+ punch needed to get through what has become higher typical defense while in melee. Their own defense is not as special any more either.

But there is some very good discussion of their pros above. And you can often find old armies of them being sold off at good prices. If you like them because of the models, the books or the films (and it sounds like you do) then you can build and play a solid army with them and once you get used to it I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you aren't excited about the concept of playing High Elves to begin with, you're just better looking for another force.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

This, a hundred times this, the sheer amount of new stuff, especially stuff with new special rules that has been released for evil and a few other good forces is amazing, defence 6 is not that great it seems almost every evil faction has access to either spammed fury or burely.
Though tbf Galhadrim and dwarves got a lot of post movie love as well, and the stormcaller's rules kind of reflect they only added it into the High elf list as an afterthought.