Both Tungdil and I are working on elven armies, High Elves and Galadhrim respectively.

We are having problems deciding on whether to take shields or elven blades, and seek your advice.

Taking both on the same model seems kind of meaningless. There is an option to take some with shields and some with blades, but how do you mix that up? A majority of shields, or blades, or a 50/50?

Looking at the wound chart the benefits of taking a shield seems kind of limited. Sure, for High Elves there is a benefit to be had against STR 3 opponents, who would need 6's to wound a High Elf Warrior with shield. But against heros with STR 4, there is no benefit. The opposite apply to Galadhrim, with no benefit against STR 3, but an effect for STR 4. You also get the benefit of shielding.

On the other hand, as Elves should win most fights it seems more important to capitalize on this, and opt for striking 2 handed with the blades increasing their chance of scoring a wound.

What do you guys think?

And what about 2. rank High Elves/Galadhrim with spears? Should they have shields or is that a total waste?

I tend to bring mostly shields and then have a few blades for the killing power it brings. I use the blades where I can get number to win fights or with heroes when I heroic combat.

I like having the higher defense on both groups of elves however I considering both groups of elves are not very competitive and I play fluffy stuff I not really an expert on what is the best way to bring them.

I also typically bring shields on my spear armed warriors in the 2nd rank as well because due to the numbers you bring with elves they tend to have to be in combat a lot unless you get some really good choke points.

Galadhrim spearmen should definetely have shields. You should consider the impact of S2 bows. A shield will force the bowmen to score on 6 instead of a 5+. A Shieldless Spearman is a juicy target.

Ahhh, that is an excellent point sir!

Bit embarrassed that I did not think about that myself!

Thank you!

Galadhrim won't just have better protection against arrows and S4 heroes, as many armies have access to S4 warriors as well - Uruk-hai, Gundabad Blackshields, Khazad/Iron Guard, Morannon Orcs, Helmingas and many others. Any S3 warrior with an axe that opts to piercing strike also has a 2/3rds chance of becoming S4 or S6, both cases where D4 to 5 matters. And even if it's just heroes, the extra defence is likely to be more useful than fighting with a two-handed weapon: that's something that should normally be reserved to a combat where you outnumber the opponent at least 2:1 (so that another die can be unmodified), and you won't have that often with Elves. Indeed, that's another thing where shields are great: shielding. Two F5 attacks can hold up several opponents, allowing you to concentrate on breaking through on other parts of the line.


.. and decreasing their chance of winning the fight considerably, which is the very thing Elves should aim for.

While it's definitely nice to have a few Elven blades in there to deal with high defence opponents, I'd just take 1-2 per warband. Shields are great.