The high army is very flexible. The units avaliable are either very defensive (Archers, Spearman) or very offensive(Silver Helms, Dragon Princes). These troops mean that a high elf general can have two different strategies working at the same time, a defence and an offence. Balancing these in the right combination is the key for a winning High elf general. The high elf army is very well-equipped. High elf warriors have better movement, leadership, ballistic and weapon skills than almost any other army.This means you have a greater chance of a high elf force doing what you want. This contributes to your strategy. High elf armies are usually outnumbered because of their high point cost. So to win when outnumbered, you have to reduce the enemies ranks.To do this quickly and efficiently, you need a mass of archers. Their high ballistic skill means they can quickly thin the enemies, so that when they reach the front ranks of your spearman, the rest is just a mopping up action. The reason why you must take archers in such large numbers is because the high elves, lack long-range weapons. What about the repeater bolt thrower? I hear you say, well the repeater bolt thrower is fine for tackling large monsters but lacks the killing power of a hellblaster volleygun or even a catapult.The only problem about taking a mass of archers is that they are terrible hand-to-hand fighters. A high elf archer could take on infantry man-to-man but the ideal deployment of high elf archers is a two rank long line but infantry deployment is the more ranks the better, so if infantry gets two the archers it means a mass of troops versus a weak resistance. The same is true for fast moving shock troops such as knights. While you hardly ever encounter deep-ranked units of them their ability to charge in and kill many troops quickly plus their high armour save means the archers are decimated before they can organize a resistance. The best way to do this is to have a deep-ranked infantry unit of your own. Spearman are the best to use as they are cheap (for High Elves) and can bring an extra rank of spears to bear, because of the citizen levy rule. This means that fronk ranks hold for longer. This is the defensive side of the High elf strategy. It allows you to take a heavy toll on your enemy while taking light casualities yourself. You also have a very fast, extremely hard-hitting side aswell, which come in the form of Dragon Princes, Silver Helms and Tiranoc Charioteers. The problem is the fact they are such a mass concentration of points and will attract a disproporitionate amountof enemy missile fire, not only from bowmen but the deadly war machines. If you intend to fight a missile war do not use to many of these hard-hitting elements as they will draw a lot of missile fire, mainly because they have a lot of points. The two ways you can keep your fast-movers alive in a missile battle is to a) Concentrate your own missile fire upon there archers and war machines, which defeats the purpose of fielding so many archers or b) Charge the fast-movers directly into battle. This is the preferred option as it gets your cavalry into battle which means that it cannot get shot at and it kills your enemies troops, giving you valuable victory points. It is a good idea to concentrate the fast-movers on one, preferrably on the right, so that the fast-movers can grind through the units right-to-left while the archers sweep left-to-right. Tyrion and Eltharion and warriors with the superelf ability to slay masses of enemies while sustaining little damage themselves. Tyrion himself can slay a greater demon and because of his mount great speed, Tyrion can charge a staggering 24". Even though unwise Tyrion could engage the enemy in one turn. It is best to place Tyrion at the head of the Dragon Princes. It means Tyrion can not be singled out for missile fire or spells. And his high leadership means the unit will not break. Eltharion is a bigger problem than tyrion, mainly because of the fact that he's mounted on a War Griffon. The best place for him is aloft. The enemy will now this and make sure one of his men has Orb of Thunder, so equip someone with a dispel scroll. Bring him in to hand-to-hand combat on the round, the cavalry make contact. Magic is an area where the High Elves are unmatched. Teclis is a formidable mage, made more so by his magic items. If you have enough points include Teclis. As High Elf mages can choose magic from any Colleges but if you wish to choose from the different magic colleges only choose from two or three colleges. When choosing magic items, strengthen your weaknesses and maximize your strengths. Also tailor your choice to your opponenents army. Man to man the high elf army is unbeatable. Most high failures aren't from bad dice rolls but from the general trying to work against the flow of high elf flexibility. Don't ever try to keep High elves in set patterns because you will lose.
Army Formations for Wahammer Fantasy BattlesThe following formations are presented in a generalized way so that you can use them with different armies. Remeber to always support any formation with any artillary you have. The Horns Formation The Horns formation is a good formation for horde armies ,where you outnumber your opponent in troops. This formation is the classical encircling formation. Put your hard hitting fast troops on the flanks, and anchor your center with some good steady troops. Do not give your opponent time to change his deployment, move forward immediately, and keep your lines longer than your opponent's. Horn Formation Weighted Flank Formation. This is a good formation when you have some very hard hitting troops mixed with some good steady infantry. This is a good formation for such armies as the Empire. Best Troops Center Presented, Flanks Retarded ( A LARGE Arrowhead) This is a formation used to break the center of your enemy's line, it is not one of my favorites. Echelon Formation The Echelon formation is a good formation to use when you have superior troops, but you are outnumbered. The formation can be set up echeloned from either right or left. Set up as far to the right or left of the battlefield as you can, with your trailing flank right on the base line, this way youropponent cannot outflank. Move your fast flanking troops on the first turn of the battle to fill the gap between the edge of the table and your deployment zone. Move your presented flank forward and attack the enemy's flank, after breaking it pivot your whole army on your trailing flank, and just roll up your enemy's line. This tactic ONLY works if you have the hardest hitting troop type in the battle, or if you use a very large unit for attacking his flank.
Tactics vs. Orcs, Skaven, Lizardmen, etc. This will have to be very generalized, as I do not have the new High Elf book yet. Against Horde armies, the best tactic I have found is to deploy in the Echeloned line formation, with your hardest hitting troops (Dragon Princes, Silver Helms, etc.) on one flank. Use a good, large Spear unit to anchor the other end of the line, deployed at the very edge of your deployment area closest to the table edge, use this unit of Spearmen to pivot on, the rest of your line should alternate Archers and strong Infantry. Hit the enemy flank with your flank, break it, pivot your whole line and roll up the enemy's line. Use Shadow Warriors as skirmishing screens to slow down the enemy on the opposite flank from your hard-hitting troops, use repeating bolt throwers to support your army and to weaken your opponent's largest units, concentrate artillery and archery on the unit/units that you will be contacting first in close combat, then move down your opponent's line, concentrating fire on units as you go. Don't scatter your firepower all over the place, it is much better to concentrate on his best units or the units that you will be attacking first. Remember, your opponent will have you outnumbered, so keep your line together and protect your pivot unit, don't let your opponent break your line. I lik to use at least one unit of Ellyrian Reavers armed with both bows and spears as a reserve, because they are both fast and flexible, you can rush them to any point that needs aid. There are other, stronger troops than the Reavers, but none that are as versatile for use as a reserve. I also like to use Reavers to support my heavier Knights on the flank, set them up to the flank, and just behind your more heavily armoured Knights, move them over to fill the area that you are not allowed to set up in using their march move, then you can't be flanked, always keep theReavers slightly behind and to the flank of your other Knights, as they are there to protect the flank. Use their missile fire to weaken the unit your heavier Knights will be charging. Always use standards and musicians, in any unit that can have them use magic standards. The Great Eagle is the best deal of any monster available to any army, they're great for attacking your opponent's artillery, and his rear areas, and harrassing his magic users to keep them from casting spells at your troops, magic users can do a lot more damage than the cost of a Great Eagle, so if the Great Eagle can keep the magic user from attacking your best troops, he has paid for himself already. Unicorns make great mounts for female Elven mages. This is about the best I can do until I read the new book, but onething I do know from reading White Dwarf #209, High Elf Archery may have just passed Wood Elf Archery, that means they are very, very deadly, and you should be able to handle the large units of cheap troops your opponent will be throwing at you much better than in the past.