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ajax98
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« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2009, 11:16:23 pm » |
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HE part 2
High Elf Rangers
Elder Blade Rangers
Light Infantry: ***
Heavy Infantry: *
Overall: ***
I like these guys a fair bit, but I find between Knights and Bowriders I don't often fit them into armies. Don't make the mistake of trying to tank or take major hits with them; these guys are a classic light infantry type, taking advantage of their maneuverability and speed to hit targets of opportunity and go into advantageous positions. They're good as far as that goes, but they're a bit overkill if you're planning on having them come in for a pinch, so I mostly only use them if I'm trying to go without front lines at all, a technique that can be successful, but is definitely difficult to pull off. I've grouped both Ranger variants in with each other because I consider the Elder Blade to be virtually perfectly costed in this case; I'll bring either Elder Blades or normal Rangers based on if I have the spare points and if I know who I'm facing; a plate faction (or lizards) gets Elder Blades while Umenzi or other Elves get normal. The main question is "do I bring either kind of ranger"; they serve exactly the same role once I've figured that out.
High Elf Bowriders
Support Fire: **
Light Damage: ***
Degenerate Endgame: ***
Causing the opponent to want to punch you: ****
Overall: *****
I included the silly "other" categories partially because they amused me, but also because the Bowriders are one of the few generalist units in this game that aren't bad, and so just listing their primary roles does them a disservice. They don't excel at any given role, but unlike, say, Ravenwood Bearkin, who don't excel at any role but will often leave you wishing they did, the Bowriders have such a huge amount of maneuverability and flexibility that they'll get to do three or four different things per game, all valuable, based on the need. The most basic is to have them give support fire as the line advances, then charge into a pinch, before finally being a devastating threat in the end game once units have thinned out enough to let them run around causing trouble. They can do a lot more than that too, though; they are one of the best units in the game for forcing the opponent to respond to their presence. If they are allowed to get free, they'll run rampant all over the opposing army, so just the threat of them threading their adorable way through the enemy line and getting into the wide open spaces behind the main lines is unacceptable to wise opponents. This means they'll often lead one or two units as good or better than them all over the place, shooting at them all the while, helping negate your numbers disadvantage. They're one of my favorite units in the game, not so much because they're one of the most powerful (though they might be) but because they reward skill, flexible thinking, and brinksmanship of various sorts that are almost always fun. In the interests of objectivity: do be careful with them. They're quite fragile, especially to six skill archers like other Elves or Longbows. They're also very expensive for their health and raw power, so if you're lacking in confidence that you understand how to use them, be aware they might be disappointing. Of course, if you never try, you'll never learn Wink
High Elf Battlemages
Support Fire: **
Drawing Command Cards: **
Overall: **
My opinion of these guys has gone down dramatically since I first started playing the High Elves. I love the unit for flavor and the elegance of the design, but it just doesn't do it for me mechanically. The problem is that it falls on the other side of the generalist category from Bowriders, for me. The attack is deeply questionable, worse than the High Elf archers by a little bit inherently, and by a fair bit given that the Archers have better synergy with most of the High Elf command cards, which add dice and so want you to have few good dice rather than more bad ones. The card drawing is quite nice, and seems great given the High Elves can be very command action hungry, but even capping out your starting command cards at six costs almost 100 points less than these guys, and they're rarely going to net you six cards. That isn't to say I'd never take them, but be very sure you know what you're doing and what you expect from them. You have to really get strong value out of both the card side and the attack side for these guys to be good, and that happens way less likely than your Bowriders will be good at both ranged and melee combat.
High Elf Knights
Heavy Damage: ****
Overall: ****
I love a unit that's completely clear about what it does, and does it well. These guys exist to plow into flanks or to charge into light to medium opposing units and butcher them. They're sort of problematic compared to Hawk Knights because 3 of their 8 points of charge power are bonus, so they're a little weak against plate wearers beyond the charge turn, but they're also cheaper and their defensive profile is way better overall. It doesn't hurt that 3*/2 defense makes them better against artillery and often better at fighting other cavalry. Really they don't get 5 stars because charging with them isn't quite as fun as charging with Centaurs. Which isn't really fair because nothing is as fun as charging with Centaurs, but that's life. (That said, High Elf Knights will actually often beat Centaurs in a fight.)
High Elf Scorpions
Artillery: ***
Really annoying to use: Angry
Overall: **
Sometimes you just need a six power shooting unit. Fair enough. I'd only use these guys if you have a really, really good reason they're better than archers, though, because all of their "Can't" clauses are really annoying. Dwarven Ballistas have all the same ones and work fine, but that's because Dwarves can barely move and so no one cares that their artillery unit is also barely mobile, whereas High Elves love to run around like ten-year-olds hopped up on amphetamines so it is pretty irksome when you've got a unit that's so clumsy and methodical. That said, sometimes you know the opponent is bringing a hydra or dragon or something and just need some way to hurl giant pointy sticks at it from a safe distance, and if that's what's going on, this is the unit for you. We Elves like to have it available, but hope we need never use it.
Celestial Guard
Heavy Infantry: ****
Overall: ***
There's not a lot to say about this guy, but I've never let that stop me. With his absurd melee attacks and hilariously high defenses, he doesn't pretend to be anything but what he is: a preposterous melee beater that will never die. And he's awesome at it! He is indeed almost immortal and will dish out quite a lot of damage, really only rivaled by giant monsters and things that get impact hits. Unfortunately I can't in good conscience give this guy more than three stars overall because while I love just how absurdly good he is, he's a staggeringly expensive unit in a faction full of incredibly powerful, staggeringly expensive units. If you're playing at a high point value, or you know there's a choke point in the terrain or otherwise will be an area you want to hold at all costs, this unit will get it done for you. Otherwise I'd worry he's just going to cost more points to win a fight that an Elder Blade Swordsman would already have won for 150 points less.
High Elf Thread Part 2: General Tips and Tactics
1. Remember what Your Army Ability Is
Precision isn't the High Elf army ability. With most factions, the checkbox ability is the big one, the centerpiece of the faction. With the High Elves, this isn't true. Precision can be handy, especially against some of the nightmare defense skill units that can come up, like Antonians, or if you just need to know that you'll have some sort of attack booster, but the real High Elf army abilities are Maneuver Mastery and Sprint, especially Maneuver Mastery. One of the reasons I consider the High Elves to be an army that rewards skill is that these two abilities are extremely powerful if used right, but also extremely easy to misuse. Sprinting in for a pinch or engagement a turn early is the basic one, and can be devastating, but it really just scratches the surface. A few that come up more often:
Defensive Use. Remember that while getting in there is nice, the combination of MM and Sprint lets you avoid engagements you don't like better than any other faction can. A MM'ed foot unit can escape from anything that moves 3.5" or less literally forever. If you also Sprint it, it can gain ground, or stay away from things with 5" move or less. (If you're really clever you can gain ground on 3.5" units without sprinting by exploiting the fact that you don't have to pay for turns and they do, but this can be hard unless you have a lot of clearance.) This means you can do hilarious things with, say, late game High Elf foot archers, who can run away from several melee units as they shoot them to death. It also means that Bowriders shouldn't ever get engaged unless you want them to barring things like Goblin Wolf Riders.
Shooting Gaps and the "Clearly Visible" Rule. Remember that you can't final rush something you can't see at the start of the M&C phase. Likewise, you can't shoot something you can't see. This means you can cut very close to (or between!) enemy units, and as long as you don't end in their front arc, they can't pin you down and have to take move and shoot if they want to shoot at you. You also take no movement penalty for moving sideways, so you can slide through gaps that you don't appear to have any right to. This is great for getting Knights or Bowriders at soft targets.
2. Balance your Roles!
Like the Hawks, the High Elves risk having an overabundance of tanking. Battle Squads are awesome and you virtually always want a few of them, but without some sold heavy hitters, you have a strong risk that all you're doing is forcing your opponent to win slowly. Good heavy infantry can do a passable job at this, and having a unit of Elder Blade Swordsmen mixed in with the Battle Squads can be a great idea, but if you don't get some sort of dedicated damage unit (usually Bowriders or Knights) you're asking for trouble. Fire support like archers can also be great, because adding weight of fire to a solid heavy infantry unit like Celestial Guard or Swordsmen can push them over the top into getting the job done in time to bail out the Battle Squads.
3. Standing Orders Matter a Lot
You should always be careful with your starting standing orders, since they are essentially one free command action for every unit in your army if you do them right, but this can go doubly for High Elves, especially units like Bowriders that you plan to use MM on with some regularity. Keep in mind what you want it to do if you don't want to spare the order for MM that turn, or what you will want it to do on the turn you stop using MM on it. Hold, Ranged, and Close (all usually with targets) can all make sense for Bowriders or Knights. Make sure you pick one with an eye to being able to save as many command actions as possible; the last thing you want to happen is to have a turn where you need to do something else with your command actions but can't because if you don't your Bowrider will charge a holding Tyrant Spearmen or something.
4. Consider Unbalancing Your Roles!
Usually making sure you have a little bit of all the roles is a quite good way to go with High Elves, but the fact that MM and Sprint are such good defensive tools can also make you better than anyone else at completely neglecting tanking and infantry. You don't have enough command actions to do this on an open board, but some terrain, including some of the Kingdoms stuff, is very constrained. If you expect the opponent to be slow moving or broken up by terrain, you can go wild and just bring archers and cavalry and hope to annihilate the opposing units one by one. I usually run an army like this with High Elf Archers filling in the cores and combat teams of Bowriders + Knight or 2x Bowriders filling in the rest. A Knight charging the front and a Bowrider the flank will see off virtually any unit in the game, and the concentrated fire of all those archery units can soften most things up enough that a Knight or even Bowrider charge will get it done alone (though Bowriders on the front are risky as they are awfully fragile.)
This kind of army really requires a mastery of all of the tricks and tactics at the command of the High Elf general: MM + Sprint to avoid unwanted engagements, how to pick battles, how to do initial orders as well as possible, knowing when to pinch in with foot archers, and so on. The rewards can be very high, however; if an opponent outnumbers you badly but will have to deal with a slow or broken advance, sometimes your only hope is to avoid protracted engagements entirely because anyone who ends up engaged for very long will get swarmed and killed. This kind of army can be a solution to that issue.
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