2000pt Tournament list Aelfs (High Elves)

[DrEmrys]

Hello guys, hope you can help me.

After many years without playing, with little time and motivation… now that the rulesets with AoS looks simpler I decided to give myself a last chance to see if I can get hooked. I have unassembled and some boxes like new of high elves that never used and I thought that before selling them and get very little in return, it would be good for me to assemble them, paint them and join a local tournament to see if I enjoy playing before starting a new AoS army (I like the stormcast eternals and the ironjawz a lot).

I would like to have your help in creating a good 2000pt list with what I have got (never played a tournament btw!) while I buy the generals handbook and start to read it. I know there is a limitation on 3 battlelines and I wouldn’t mind getting 5 more Reavers, but I would like to avoid purchasing anything else.

This is what I have got:

-          Box of HE dragon (unassembled)

-          Box of Flamespyre/Frostheart phoenix (unassembled)

-          Box of Shadow Warriors/Sisters of Avelorn (unassembled)

-          2 boxes of latest Phoenix Guard (unassembled)

-          1 Prince on Griffon (from IoB set)

-          2x10 Sea Guards (from IoB set)

-          2x10 Swordmasters (from IoB set)

-          2x5 Ellyrian Reavers (from IoB set)

-          2 Mages (from IoB set)

Using the warscroll builder, I came up with something like this:

LEADERS

Archmage On Dragon (360)

Anointed Of Asuryan On Flamespyre Phoenix (280)

High Elf Prince On Griffon (220)

UNITS

Ellyrian Reavers x 5 (160)

Ellyrian Reavers x 5 (160)

Ellyrian Reavers x 5 (160)

Phoenix Guard x 10 (200)

Phoenix Guard x 10 (200)

Swordmasters x 10 (200)

TOTAL 1940/2000

What do you guys think? Thanks in advance

[Blish]

I'm still only a few months in to this, so may not know what I am taking about, and I don't really answer your brief as my ideas involve buying more, but here are some ideas:

• I get the same out of the Drakeseer as I do from Archmage on Dragon. Same model but 20 points cheaper, leaving you 80 points spare if you did change your mind about buying more models (like, 10 Spearmen or 1 Mistweaver).
• I like having at least one big unit to absorb damage and stick around longer. I run 20 Swordmasters as a unit and they are a pain to the opponent. I'd suggest combining some of your small units.
• "Synergy" seems to be what wins the game, and High Elves have it tough with not many buffs. My dragon is useless without a Loremaster standing behind it with Hand of Glory spell. You could convert a Loremaster: Cut off the Swordmaster musician's horn and replace with a sphere of greenstuff.
• Ellyrian Reavers are good fun for causing trouble, harassing units and taking objectives. They haven't done well in combat for me and they are a bit pricey for the role they fill in my opinion. Three units might be overkill, if you have another battleline option you can buy and take.

 

[Blish]

If it is of interest, I'm having fun with my current list:

Leaders
Tyrion (260)
Drakeseer (340)
Loremaster (100)
Tenebrael Shard (120)
Mistweaver Saih (80)

Units
Swordmasters x 20 (400)
Ellyrian Reavers x 5 (160)
Ellyrian Reavers x 5 (160)
High Elf Spearmen x 10 (80)
Dragon Blades x 5 (160)

War Machines
High Elf Repeater Bolt Thrower (120)

Current strategy that seems to be working... or at least it is a lot of fun:

Tyrion and Drakeseer hit really hard. I launch one after a big target, with Loremaster behind it with the Hand of Glory spell, and one after some small units. Both attack in shooting phase and combat phase and can do a lot of damage early on.

Swordmasters come in behind and mop up/tie units down. The Mistweaver is pretty resilient and a cheap way to give Swordmasters a Mystic Shield.

Bolt thrower never does much, but opponents are always afraid of it. It can help manipulate their deployment, and also is good bait. My opponents always send something big to go after the bolt thrower, last game it was a Daemon Prince, which means that there is one less thing out there to check Tyrion and Drakeseer's rampage. I surround it with spearmen, to bog down whatever the opponent throws at it for a turn.

Ellyrian Reavers prance around, moving, shooting and then moving away again. I keep them safe and use them late in the game to grab objectives.

Dragon Blades are there to fill in whatever gaps, react, protect a flank, or loop back to finish off whatever went after the bolt thrower.

The Shard is there to go and kill whatever is buffing the enemy units, like Bloodsecrators (sometimes with the Loremaster's spell for help).  

I only win about 50% of the time, but even when I lose it is good fun.

[DrEmrys]

Thank you both for the suggestions. Lots of useful info!

I wouldn't mind to grab a Loremaster, and it seems logical to make units bigger. In your opinion, what has it been more useful to your games, swordmasters or phoenix guard?

I will wait to see with the release of the Spire of Dawn how the battallion looks like. Maybe there are some interactions between swifthawk units and the swordmasters

[Tizianolol]

I can suggest to play annointed on flameslyre! Remember until now you have no pay them annointed..its cheap, and he got so mutch sustain..(when you use his ability to fly on the enemy unit ,you can end your movement up the enemy unit, so you have to place annointed at 3" from enemy unit, that mean you can try istant an easy charge for 3") 

my english is bad,i hope you understand the idea:)

[Blish]

15 hours ago, DrEmrys said:

In your opinion, what has it been more useful to your games, swordmasters or phoenix guard?

I have Phoenix Guard models, but I have never actually played them. I often play pure Eldritch Council in 1000pts games, so I am used to Sword Masters, and I don't like the aesthetics of Phoenix Guard so don't include them in bigger games.

But I think Phoenix Guard are better. The Witness to Destiny ability and 2" range makes them superior.