Ok, let's try to breathe some more life into this forum. I think what Allonairre said to me in the Army List forum about how most people have either decided on what is best/worst already, or else just given up on the high elves may be true but I want to think that there are things left to analyze. There are still different sides it seems, like the split opinion on Eagles and Lothern Sea Guard.
What formations do you use for which units? I think this is a really interesting topic, since it is usually neglected in most descriptions of army lists. Basically, what it comes down to is of course that different unit formations will affect different units in different ways and most people would agree that some formations are inherently better for certain units/types of units. Of course they can always change formation by reforming, but this is still something you need to base on some reasoning.
So, why not a list? Here are some of my picks.
Spearmen: 5 wide, add models to the ranks until you reach about 30 models, then add a file and get to something like 50 until you add another file. You want to make sure you are steadfast, but after a while it becomes more effective to maximize your attacks. Never forget you can always try to reform in combat after your numbers have dwindled, in order to buff up the ranks again. In a ridiculously big unit, horde formation might be viable but it does not to much for them as you already strike in 4 ranks.
Lothern Sea Guard: A formation I like for them is 7 wide. This way, you can get 14 arrows off even while moving. You can always for up to 5 wide later when combat is coming up.
Swordmasters: These guys want to maximize frontage to ensure many of them get their 2 attacks off. I run these in a standard 7 wide formation.
White Lions: Basically, add ranks and columns at regular intervals. If you have 10, go 5 wide. If you have 12, go 6 wide, if you have 14, go 7 wide. Then start adding ranks if the unit becomes unwieldly.
Phoenix Guard: Not decided on these yet, could be run 5 wide for maximized rank bonus but they still have str 4 attacks and can cause some damage. I run them 7 wide, but might reconsider and make them 6 or 5 wide instead. I guess it depends on what you are up against. A neat trick if you are using them as a bunker is that if you run them very wide you can keep the mage away from enemies who could otherwise allocate their attacks against him/her, if you keep the mage out on the side (which you always should anyway IMO to protect against miscast blasts).
Not sure if we need to talk about cavalry, since most people seem to use small cavalry units if at all. Dragon princes work a lot like Sword Masters in this respect though - maximize frontage if you run a large unit.
How do you other people reason about these things?
What formations do you use for which units? I think this is a really interesting topic, since it is usually neglected in most descriptions of army lists. Basically, what it comes down to is of course that different unit formations will affect different units in different ways and most people would agree that some formations are inherently better for certain units/types of units. Of course they can always change formation by reforming, but this is still something you need to base on some reasoning.
So, why not a list? Here are some of my picks.
Spearmen: 5 wide, add models to the ranks until you reach about 30 models, then add a file and get to something like 50 until you add another file. You want to make sure you are steadfast, but after a while it becomes more effective to maximize your attacks. Never forget you can always try to reform in combat after your numbers have dwindled, in order to buff up the ranks again. In a ridiculously big unit, horde formation might be viable but it does not to much for them as you already strike in 4 ranks.
Lothern Sea Guard: A formation I like for them is 7 wide. This way, you can get 14 arrows off even while moving. You can always for up to 5 wide later when combat is coming up.
Swordmasters: These guys want to maximize frontage to ensure many of them get their 2 attacks off. I run these in a standard 7 wide formation.
White Lions: Basically, add ranks and columns at regular intervals. If you have 10, go 5 wide. If you have 12, go 6 wide, if you have 14, go 7 wide. Then start adding ranks if the unit becomes unwieldly.
Phoenix Guard: Not decided on these yet, could be run 5 wide for maximized rank bonus but they still have str 4 attacks and can cause some damage. I run them 7 wide, but might reconsider and make them 6 or 5 wide instead. I guess it depends on what you are up against. A neat trick if you are using them as a bunker is that if you run them very wide you can keep the mage away from enemies who could otherwise allocate their attacks against him/her, if you keep the mage out on the side (which you always should anyway IMO to protect against miscast blasts).
Not sure if we need to talk about cavalry, since most people seem to use small cavalry units if at all. Dragon princes work a lot like Sword Masters in this respect though - maximize frontage if you run a large unit.
How do you other people reason about these things?