(Re)building my Dark Elves: don't know where to start

Discuss the art of war for the Dark Elves and the inferior races that dare to oppose them here.

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Nutty
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(Re)building my Dark Elves: don't know where to start

Post by Nutty »

Hello Everyone,


First of all I hope I posted this in the right place. But I could really use some pointers when it comes to rebuilding my army.

A couple of years ago I came back to the hobby after a long break and decided to start a Dark Elf army, sadly I never got to play it as the fantasy scene in my area was... gone. So I ended up boxing up my models and starting 40k instead.

Recently there has been an increasing ammount of fantasy battles at my local gaming store (8th edition/9th age) and I decided to dust of my elves. Most of my models have fallen apart and some never got built/painted in the first place. So I've got some work to do before I can field an army, and frankly I don't know where to start.

I have a fair ammount of miniatures to work with:

Lords/Heroes:
1x dragon (the new kit so it can be ridden by a dreadlord or a Sorc)
1x Morathi on pegasus
1x master on cold one
1x master on foot
2x sorc on foot
2x assassin.


Core:
80 warriors (most are broken so could become any of the three choices)
19 (metal) corsairs with full command (I appear to have lost one)


Special:
5 cold one knights with full command
3 reaper bolt throwers
1 hydra
20 black guard
10 shades (manflayers)
5 harpies

Rare:
-

Unbuilt:
10 darkriders/warlocks
1 chariot (cold ones or steeds)
Bitz to make ~10 shades

---

Looking at Dark Elf lists online I see a lot of Witch Elf/Executioner hordes supported by a Cauldron, or armies that mainly built up out of cavalry units. Although I can see the appeal those builds have; I don't have the models to run them (nor the money to buy them at this time) and I'd like to build an army using the models I have on hand.

Would it make sense to field a horde of spearmen and buff them with magic? They seem "cheap" enough to be fielded in large numbers, and have a decent looking statline. Mindrazor looks like it will turn them (or any elven unit) into something vicious, but the "smaller" buffs from Dark Magic or the rulebook lores could be usefull too. Or am I better off abandoning that idea (I'm sure it has been tried before) and stick with minimal core; some crossbowmen, and/or dark riders. Spending more points on special choices and lords/heroes?

Furthermore I was thinking of building the chariot as a Cold One chariot, so that I can use the steeds as alternative mounts (convert on to a pegasus, and leave the other as is) giving me a bit of flexability for my hero choices as I can stick the riders that come with the dragon kit on them.

Most games are played at 2000 points as most players are still a bit rusty when it comes to rules & maneuvering so the games are played at a pretty slow pace. And I would love to hear which direction you would take building an 2000 point army with the models I have on hand.

The armies I've seen in my gaming group so far:
Ogre Kingdoms: big units (9-12) of ogres supported by small units of mournfang cavalry and leadbelchers
Vampire counts: lots of medium sized zombie units & grave guard, corpse carts, and a whole lot of Magic
Bretonnia: two hordes of men at arms, two big knight units, pegasus knights, and a trebuchet
Dwarves: a gunline army with loads of cannons and organ guns

Thanks for taking the time to read my post, and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Vulcan
Malekith's Best Friend
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Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 12:13 am

Re: (Re)building my Dark Elves: don't know where to start

Post by Vulcan »

Before we can advise you, we need to know if the local scene is still playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles (and what edition), or have they moved on to the 9th Age rules. The two are quite similar (9th Age being, in it's most essentials parts, WFB with the serial numbers filed off), but there are large differences in the army books.

Especially for DE, who were one of the powerhouses of 7/8E WFB, and are thus far distinctly among the weakest armies in 9th Age.
Nutty
Slave on the Altar
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:20 pm

Re: (Re)building my Dark Elves: don't know where to start

Post by Nutty »

Vulcan wrote:Before we can advise you, we need to know if the local scene is still playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles (and what edition), or have they moved on to the 9th Age rules. The two are quite similar (9th Age being, in it's most essentials parts, WFB with the serial numbers filed off), but there are large differences in the army books.

Especially for DE, who were one of the powerhouses of 7/8E WFB, and are thus far distinctly among the weakest armies in 9th Age.


Whoops my bad, it's mostly 8th edition as that's what most people seem to fall back to. I hear a lot of people talking about giving 9th a try, but it hasnt caught on quite yet. In the end I'll probably play both, but for now 8th seems to be the rules we are using.
jtrowell
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Re: (Re)building my Dark Elves: don't know where to start

Post by jtrowell »

If your local community is not already set for a game and looking for a supported alternative to 8th edition, have you looked at Kings of War by Mantic ?

As someone once posted, if you liked 8th edition for its over the top complex rules 9th age might be for you, while if you liked it *despite* them then KoW might be for you. ;)

Of course, having opponents is a prerequise for any wargame, so if your comminuty is already fixed to 8th edition or 9th age then go with them, I am only presenting an alternative in case you weren't already aware and your community was still not sure of what they wanted
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