2250 Pirate Elves

[Keetoowah]

I was drawn into Dark Elves after roflstomping a pirate dark elf army with my ogres (The Purple People Eaters). I decided that I really liked the looks of the army and I wanted one of my own. It will be nice to actually have an up to date and functioning army for once, as the two armies that I own are Night Goblins and Ogre Kingdoms. So, here is my list. As I am new to DE and have no clue what I am doing, I hope that you all will help me make it better.



Heroes
Lokhir <---- Goes with Corsairs with Banner of Murder


Sorceress <---- Goes with one RXB unit
Level 2
Darkstar Cloak
Dispel Scroll


Sorceress <---- Goes with other RXB unit
Level 2
Tome of Furion
Dispel Scroll


Master <---- Goes with Corsairs with War Banner
Pearl of Infinite Bleakness
Shield
Sea Dragon Cloak
Whip of Agony


Core
Repeater Crossbowman x10
Shields


Repeater Crossbowman x10
Shields


Black Ark Corsairs x25
Reaver
Musician
Standard Bearer
Banner of Murder


Black Ark Corsairs x25
Reaver
Musician
Standard Bearer
War Banner

Harpies x7


Special
Shades x5
Assassin
Touch of Death
Manbane


Rare
Reaper Bolt Thrower x2

Reaper Bolt Thrower x2

[Auere]

I like the fluff part. Its very nice and if you paint well, the army is going to look stunning! Since you have made it into a list you must espect to do some fighting with the army. I dont know what opponents you face usually or if they run competative armies, but if they do, you could be in for a tough time.

You see, corsairs arent really that good... Its not that they are all bad or anything, but lets face it: They do not compare well to 3 point cheaper spearmen, crossbowmen, black guard or even witch elves.

Both your big blocks are 300 points and close to 500 points with characters. They are both desent however expensive anvils, but you have no hammer units to crush into the enemy once they are bugged down in combat with the corsairs. I will promise you that the enemy wont have the similar problem. They will have a unit of 5 knights standing by to crush into your flank, break and run down both regiments of corsairs. Game over.

For friendly games your list is very fun and unlikely since you have absolutely NONE of the most powerful dark elf units or items included. In friendly games I can also easely see you winning some games with your powerful shooting and desent regiments. It should be refreshing for your opponents to face a dark elf army like this. I BET they did not expect that!

But to be honest - most tournament armies can run this list down. Not that there is anything bad about getting run down some times - it keeps you on your toes and makes you want to improve. Go ahead and try it out - see if the balance fits you.

If you want to get some more power into it, you are proberbly going to have to sacrifice some of the fluff, and I dont know if you are prepared to do that!

[Keetoowah]

This is mainly a plan for the future, as I still want to finish my Ogres and O&G up. I want to get at least 1 of them to 3000 pts or more.

[Auere]

In that case there are proberbly better units to buy than corsairs. They are not that nice looking either. The CoKs are awsome - so are crossbowmen.

In case you would really like to make a themed army, a khainite army could be even more fun to assemble and paint - and vastly more effective in combat!

[Intrepid]

I like a guy who does themed lists. I like your start, too. Let me think... My experience is that Corsairs can't reliably get the charge. Maybe use one unit of 36 Corsairs than 2 of 25, to max out the SCR and give Lokhir/an assassin the opportunity to win a challenge. Then have a countercharge ready--Dark Riders or COKs, probably, or even a Master on Manticore--to win the fight and invoke the slavers rule. I like the four RBTs to soften up the enemy. With this approach, you might actually want to give up on magic and use the Ring of Hotek. That will free up some points for cavalry. RBTs to bleed the opponent, Crossbowmen on the flanks, Corsairs to take the hit and a countercharger to seal the deal. Shades and Harpies to cause havoc on demand. It isn't a tournament build but it should work fine for friendly play.

The alternative use of Corsairs is with Many Small Units tactics but that approach can't make use of Lokhir. For example, I use handbow Corsairs as outriders for my Cold One Knights to bait the enemy out of formation. It works well but I can't see basing a pirate theme on that trick.

Purple People Eater Ogres---heh! I'll rep for that.