new to dark elves

[hero]

hey i know i will probably get my throat cut for doing this but owe well
i am a high elf player but i have found the dark elf ways more seductive and so if it's not to much trouble i was wondering if you could tell me what makes agoood dark elf army and what to inculde / not include in my army

ok to start i am planning on getting to units of 5 black riders
a cold one chariote
noble
a unit of dark elf warriors

Thanx ( one second latter i disapeare without any one seeing me)

[Master_Bungle]

Good to see you are choosing the correct path. Well, in my little experience, I have found Dark Riders to be very helpful, especially at the following: Mage hunting, fleeing from charges to set up others, war machine hunting, march blocking, harassing enemy troops to mislead them into things that are good for you, flank charges (depending on the opposing unit....it's probably not a good idea to flank charge chosen chaos warriors...chances are you will still lose (although, of course they always flank with ranking support)). So yeah...Dark Riders are a good choice. The usual way people take them is a unit of 5 with RxBs and a musician (although, if you don't plan on fleeing from charges, then maybe a musician isn't that helpful...).
I have never used a cold one chariot before, but they tend to be really good with a noble (less chance of failing stupidity and can flank charge negating ranks...at least I think so, I believe you add a characters number of wounds to the units unit strength instead of just counting it as one...correct me if I'm wrong...). I can tell you that Cold One Knights are very good. My unit has a Highborn in it with the Gauntlet of Power (which reminds me, go to the GW website and look at alternative army lists in the Dark Elves section, and in the Cult of Slaanesh one you can use the magic items there, and in a link in L.O. in the Dark Elves there is a links page for other magic items we can use that are not in the army book). Warriors are good, but tend to play a small part in my battle plans. When given RxBs, you can have a unit of 12 (in 2 ranks), or do what I do (unit of 10 in one ranks...will lose in combat, but who is gonna argue with 20 shots ) - those are the common things to do with RxB warriors.
Other units I would recommend are Shades for war machine and mage hunting and march blocking too. Dark Elf magic is pretty good too, with +1 to cast. I normally stick to Dark Magic (or whatever it is callled ) because it helps me control the game with spells like Word of Pain, Dominion and Chillwind (the less shooting I recieve, the better!). Items I would recommend for mages are Darkstar Cloak, Wand of Kharaidon, Seal of Ghrond, Tome of Furion...
Obviously, being a High Elf player, you will recognise Reaper Bolt Throwers as a worthwhile choice...
As for most other units, I have never tried them before. Witch Elves will pretty much destoy weakly armour troops in combat, and when given a Hag with Witchbrew are just that little bit harder to break in combat. The only downside they have is having no armour and T3....frenzy also makes them a little harder to control. However, 3 poisoned attacks each is pretty damn good! Only reason they aren't in my list is a lack of room (and they don't get along with my Highborn...).
I have recently decided to try out Black Guard (but never had a chance to use them yet) but they seem pretty good...maybe better in units of 10 or so, just for holding units up.
As for corsairs....only reason I don't use them is that their models are still metal, and I don't have a money tree in my back garden.
Hope that was of some use, and good luck withyour new army!

[hero]

ok thanx a lot and my idea was to mount the noble on the chariot also i was wondering if useing warriors with spears were any good because i rarly used the high elf version

[Manu_Forti]

DE spearmen arent great and you wouldnt be expecting any/many big wins in combat by them.

However they are good "shock-absorbers" to protect missile/magic users. also good at taking charges and keeping the enemy busy for a couple of turns while u bring up some better units to flank charge (hopefully BEFORE the warriors are slaughtered)

throwing away lives like that is a pretty ruthless tactic. but being DARK elves makes that excusable. where as high elves wouldnt be expected to use such evil strategies.

So yeah, use them as explained above, just dont go charging a unit of strong & tough orcs or chaos knights etc & expect them to win all by themselves.

Dont let that discourage you. i would still reccomend taking them. i hate seeing armies with 2-3 units of dark riders as their WHOLE core choice.. what general worth his stars goes to war without some footslogging frontline grunts?!
If you only take elite & expensive units (which granted, are stronger) then you really dont have anything on the field you can afford to lose. As soon as you start taking casualties it starts to really hurt your plans. warriors give you this much needed 'expendablility'..

[Dark Pain]

Get some Executioners ASAP!

I know some people arnt very fond of them, especially in large units but i totally disagree. I find that a unit of 18 in a 1000pt battle (vs non cav army)with a BS (i know its expensive as all hell but the Nagarythe banner works wonders vs orcs).
I once played my DE 1250pts vs 2500pts orcs where i started in the middle of the table with orcs on both sides. I had 18exes with the BS and Nararythe banner and this unit literally got me ALL my points. the rest of the army got chewed up by trolls, giant, boar boyz, black orc warboss etc, but these guys made me over 1000pts of VP's BY THEM SELVES! they destroyed the boar boyz, threw of a combined charge of 2x20 orcs overrunning 1 unit, killed a shaman and a bolt thrower! all in 5 turns!!! Ok, a lot of luck, heaps of lucky 6's on armour saves, lots of high overrunning etc but it worked once! - of course now they are targets for magic and shooting and are often down to 10 modles before CC.

regards

[Master_Bungle]

Well, I don't think executioners are very good in large units. I think they make better flankers in units of 12 or there-abouts. In large units, you may end up in multiple rounds of combat because it can be hard to get a flank charge with a large unit. If they do not charge or are in a second round of combat, they will be striking last and only have heavy armour and T3...
In my opinion, they go with spearmen well (imagine 12 flanking executioners....6 WS5 (?), S5 killing blow attacks in the flank.....yes.....I don't use them, but in my opinion, they are better suited as flankers. Also, corsairs make good flankers (and cheaper ones too ).

[Manu_Forti]

well executioners are definately alot better since GW upraged their light armour to heavy armour under the army book revision. I think S5 attacks with killing blow & heavy armour is pretty damn good for only just over 10 points per model. Currently i dont have any in my lists but once ive completely finished my 2500 pt list, they are one of the units i will be buying as an option to rotate things in and out of my list. I like em

[Dark Pain]

QUOTE
Well, I don't think executioners are very good in large units. I think they make better flankers in units of 12 or there-abouts. In large units, you may end up in multiple rounds of combat because it can be hard to get a flank charge with a large unit.

Despite that one lucky battle i have know what you mean by lasting combats. They generally lose them by them selves if theres no hero with them. Yea, a unit of 12 to 15 would be a better option. Give em a musician and champion for the extra attack and they are a pretty good flanking unit.

regards

Dark Pain