Librarium Online Forums banner

Starting Dark Elves Need Help...desperately

1K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  DavidWC09 
#1 · (Edited)
I'm a 40K player and I have been wanting to play fantasy for a while. I picked up the Dark Elves and High Elves books yesterday and I just love both of the armies. I will be playing one of them. I would like to know the strong points and weak points of the Dark Elves army and what units are worth it and what units are not. I'm going to be spending $400 on either Dark Elves or High Elves so any help would be awesome. Thank you!!!

EDIT:TYPOS
 
#2 ·
DE:
-pros: great Core choice fast cav. Cheapest elf core infantry. Good at casting, reasonable shooting. Access to lots of nasty monsters. Great models, much better than HE IMO.

- cons: the elite infantry are only useful in specific situations, the magic items and magic lores available are limited. Characters are fragile compared to those of other races (as with all elves). Heavy cavalry have stupidity rule, and are comparatively slow and expensive (but powerful and fear causing).

As for unit selection, that depends on what kinda army you want. The major choices are MSU (mixed standard units, mostly close combat infantry with cavalry and artillery support), Monster (lotsa monsters with emphasis on hard hitting and speed), and shooty (tons of shooting and magic). Mixes on these can also be used.
 
#3 ·
I was thinking of using lots of Dark Riders and lots of the Warriors for the Core units And using a Lv4 Sorceress backed up by 2 Lv2 Sorceress(s). I think that would generate enough power dice and dispell dice to handle magic. As for everything else I don't know. This game is all Greek to me and I have no clue as to what I am doing. I'm not a big fan of the Cold Ones (I don't like the way that they look) and I will never use a model that doesn't look good to me. I've also heard rumors about GW coming out with a new army book and new models for the Dark Elves. Is this true? If it is could you please give me some sort of timeline or something like that. Thanks for the advice.
 
#4 ·
Lots of Dark Riders and warriors will probably serve you well, it is basically what my army will be as it expands (I've got 1000pts painted now). Your sorceresses will be fine for magic, although you may get some grumbling for using that many mages.

I used to dislike the Cold One Knights a lot due to their rules, but having played a few games with them I really like them. But if you dislike the models, not much to be done. You could try using Lizardmen Cold Ones instead of Dark Elf Cold Ones, the models are a little better.

Dark Elves came out fairly early in 6th ed. and are probably going to be updated pretty soon. The candidates for next update include HE, DE, and Vampire Counts, but I have no idea which one will come first.

Good luck deciding. I've played HE and DE, and I found I dislike the HE infantry too much to play the army. Also I hate the giant conical helmets of the HE, they just look clownishly large to me. But HE are probably easier to play than DE, cause their cavalry doesn't have stupidity, and is core.

Koosh
 
#17 · (Edited)
Dark Elves came out fairly early in 6th ed. and are probably going to be updated pretty soon. The candidates for next update include HE, DE, and Vampire Counts, but I have no idea which one will come first.



Koosh
vampire counts from what i know of is next, and dark elves shortly after but don't quote me on that another group of guys that might interest you are mangels manyflayers. they are dogs of war but you can use them as a special choice in dark elves. just search them on google and youll find the rules on GW's website

and personally i think that you should have corsairs and use warriors for bowmen, corsairs work really well.
 
#5 ·
I prefer the HE to the DE for a number of reasons.

1) Awesome magic, the HE are the muts nuts when it comes to the magic phase:)

2) Great spearmen. Ok they're expensive, but they're a great defensive unit.

3) Chariots. The speed of the chariots is their greatest asset IMO, a combined charge can be harsh

4) Core cavalry. Always nice ^_^

Maybe I'm just not a fan of the DE, although they're both very good!

Ciao

Stonehambey
 
#6 ·
if you're waiting for the new dark elf armybook you'll probably looking at mid-late 08 at earliest (my own speculation), so it's up to you if you want to wait.

I play a shootly and magic heavy army and works fine for me. If you're after nice looking models then corsairs, executioners, witch elves, black guard and boltthrowers are the best looking models in DE range IMO. All above models except black guard and witch elves are widely used, the other more used units are warriors, dark riders, shades and cold one knights.
Warriors are easy to convert because they're all plastic, requires lots of time and greenstuff though.
Dark Riders are harder as the models are from 5th ed and all metal (except horses). My recommendation is to use WE Glade riders model and file down any leafs and such, then mailorder crossbows and attach them, then greenstuff mantles and other cloth to make them look more dark elfish.
Shades looks OK and wouldn't require a lot of work if you want to make them look better.
Hard to make good looking Knights though... if you really don't like the model then bummer.

The first 1000pts will mostly consist of core units and characters... and maybe one special/rare unit. It's when you come towards 2000pts that you'll have more special/rare units. It's because DE core units is so darn good and cheap for what they do so you don't really need anything else. As far as character goes I've to say that the sorceress and high sorceresses are great characters, before one had little reason to choose high sorceress but now with the 7th ed rules you'll need a high sorc to ensure the success of those spells that require high cast rolls. But I'd advice to give the combat chars a try too as they're fun to play with, the assassin models looks good and the noble/highborn models are as good as you make them to ;).

At last here's some general tips when playing DE:
- sorc on cold one is a big no no
- boltthrowers are great so abuse them!
- abuse DE core as they're very good.
- dark riders should always have crossbows and musician. Standard and herald are no no's.
- Most DE units can be used as flankers, if that's the case then have them in smal units.
- the Highborn have the highest Ld in the game... so it's one good reason to have one as army general.
- there are two typical warrior setups: 1. spears + shields + full command with a unit size of 20+, 2. crossbows + shields + musician with a unit size of 12+ (my advice 12-15, and I have my sorceresses on foot join them for protection).
- you'll probably will sooner or later require to use the uglier models as all DE hard hitters are ugly models (Cold one knights, chariots, hydra, manticore, dragon), otherwise witch elves are very good but because they are SO fragile plus frenzy that they arn't used as much as the other hard hitters.

hope all this rant help you...
 
#7 ·
Without going into great detail, I would say HE's have a definate edge over DE's. Atleast on paper anyway. The magic is stronger, their cavalry are faster & not stupid, & their magic item list is vastly superior to the crummy DE item list.
And HE's are probably only going to get stronger with the new army book coming out.

So, if winning is an important factor for you, I'd honestly have to say go with HE's.

Theres also the important factor of when the armies are being redone. If you started a DE army now, you would probably finish it just in time to have it outdated by new models.. where as HE's are being re-done very soon.

I know it may seem like heresy to turn you towards HE's, but Im just telling it like it is, unfortunately. :(

Cheers
 
#8 ·
For my own part, I never chose DE for winning games. I have a Vampire Counts army for that :shifty:
The reason why i Chose DE as my second army is simply because it's so fluffy. IMO most of the models look great (maybe this is because i compare them to my VC models, but anyway) with a few exceptions like the Hydra.

DE are evil, sneaky and murderous. All the models are sculpted with a sneer on their faces, and a fully painted DE army looks like it means business. Since you are a player who would leave a good unit at home because they don't look good, it doesn't sound like winning is the most important factor for choosing an army for you (three cheers!). To me you sound like a DE player:yes:

There is also the fact that if you choose HE, Khaine will curse you with foot fungus and baldness.

Good luck!

-Paz
 
#10 ·
Why would I get grumbling for using 3 mages? Is this considered overpowering? Also I thought the Dark Riders were Core Units. I don't have the army book in front of me but I was pretty sure they were. Also are Dragon mounts worth it?
 
#11 ·
Some players consider 3 mages overpowered. They are a valid option, and an opponent could easily counter them with mages of their own, but be aware you'll probably get some grumblers.

Dark riders are core.

I don't like dragons cause I've had bad luck against artillery. Other people swear by them. Depends who you are playing, I guess.

Koosh
 
#12 ·
Are the Dark Elves decent at magic? From what I have been reading in their army book and the 7th edition rulebook they seem like they are. I guess I will find out tonight the owner of the games store up here is going to play a 1,000 point game with me tonight to help me out understand the rules and everything (A LOT DIFFERENT THEN 40K) Any suggestions on an army list for Dark Elves @ 1,000 points.
 
#13 ·
Dark elves are good at casting, but have a limited selection of spells to choose from. They only get three lores, and I always take death magic for lvl 2 casters.

To be cliche, there are several 1K lists here:
http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/dark-elf-army-lists/

Mine is up there (adventures in 1K dark elves) as are several others. That'll probably give you more info than anything I could respond with in a single post. I've had reasonable success with my list, but I'm using the COK that you don't seem to like.

Happy hunting,
Koosh
 
#15 ·
Dragons are worth it in my opinion. You need to be prepared to build a large army though. I normally take one at 2500 (basically build a 2000 point list then add the dragon lord).

People say they never make their points back, but Ive had games where its killed around 750 points worth of enemies. So far it has never fallen either..
Most importantly, they are just so fun to use! and what is a game about? fun :D

There are downsides, since the dragon takes a hero slot you cant take a nasty amount of magic if you want a dragon, its one or the other, not both.

Wait for HE's to be re-released before you get one though (if you do), I think theres a new one coming :w00t:

As for a 1k list, something like:
-noble (in spearmen)
-Lvl 1 sorceress + seal of ghrond (in crossbows)
-20 spearmen
-5 dark riders with crossbows
-10 crossbows
-1 chariot with spears
-bolt thrower

Fairly balanced and gives a wide variety of units, excellent for learning all the different rules.

Cheers
 
#16 ·
So everyone is probably going to be upset :O But I played a 1,000 point game last night with the Wood Elves instead of their Dark Kin and I love the Wood Elves. PROS: I don't have to wait forever and a day for their new models to come out (b/c they already have) and I don't have to do the same for a new army book. CONS: I don't get to play the army I orginally wanted to but oh well I love the little Woody guys......ok that sounded totally wrong. Thank you all for your help.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top