As a High Elven general you do not have many options, but those that you have are all very tempting. When you review your choices you must be very restrained. Since all of the elven troops are expensive you have no extra points to spend on this and that, you must get the right troops to do the job. As I have painfully discovered, although 30 Sword Masters or 12 Dragon Princes sounds like a good idea it is not. This is because the elven army is not a power-army. The troops just are not strong or tough enough to survive a power struggle or a war of attrition. What they do excel at is using their high movement, leadership, and magic attributes to win the battle through a "back door". What I mean by this is using flank attacks, ganging up two to one, and picking the right troops for the job. I have read other tactics articles, and know that people will disagree with me, but here is what I think anyway. Dragon Princes- They are fast, hard hitting, and most importantly get a free standard bearer and a magic standard at half cost. I always get a magic standard for them, and it is usually a banner that boosts the shock ability of the troops. Although they are the hardest hitting in the army, they are still only average by the standards of other races. I never go to battle without them. Silver Helms- If I take these guys it is as fast, hard hitting cavalry whose job is to support other units. I have never seen them do well against even a moderately tough opponent, I use them to break enemy units that are already in combat with my troops. Reaver Knights- These guys are good fielded in small units, and can fill certain battlefield requirements. They are good at moving very quickly behind the enemy line to destroy war machines, stop march moves, and kill the odd thing. If using these troops be very careful to not get into combat, and to stay in cover because even the weakest enemies can do some damage in combat and shooting. Sword Masters- The best infantry that the high elves have. They have high strength, initiative, and mediocre armor (which is good for high elves). Try not to field units larger than 20 models (preferably 16) or you will fall into the trap of having units that are too large, and costs to many precious points. White Lions- These are good solid, and hard-hitting infantry that have one flaw-they always strike last. Their skills make them much tougher, but these are not enough to totally tip the balance in their favor. To make these troops less susceptible to being attacked you should give the unit the Standard of Shielding, or the Ruby Chalice, or the Sword of Swift Slaying. The only problem with this is that it makes the unit very expensive. (I once saw 20 strong sarus warriors with hand weapons loosing to a unit of 12 witch elves because the elves killed the entire front rank each turn. If T4, 4+ save can't stay alive without magic, neither can wimpy elves.) Phenix Guard- Hmmm... how many points a model to get what? These guys are not worth it. To many points to get what the unit offers. It's a shame too, because it is a great model. Move to the next troop type in the list. Spearmen- Very good in small units (12 models) if they are used as a stop gap, but don't plan on taking over the battlefield with these guys. Their low strength stops them from being effective against tough opponents despite the fact that they have many attacks. I use them if I think that my archers will be threatened by enemies, if the archers are not threatened (such as when facing dwarves) they are better left on the shelf. Archers- Always take these no matter what (I disagree!!--Ed. They are most effective if there are a total of about 30+ on the battlefield, and they concentrate their fire on one target. I never take light armor, it is a waste, and only take longbows if the enemy is particularly fast, or if they also have shooting troops. Even though it is not in the spirit of the game if you get 20 archers that's 200 points total which means that you miss that next VP (if the unit is destroyed) by one point. Lotherin Sea Guard- I usually don't take these troops because I do not think that the extra points are worth it. In my experience trying to combine a fighting unit with a missile unit doesn't work (I either advance and loose my good to hit roll, or sit and never get into combat). If I want to give my archers some close combat punch, I would rather put a chariot nearby my archers. However, they are very flexible, and can be extremely useful, the choice is yours. Bolt Throwers- Always take three of the wonderful machines (as long as you don't mind the smell of cheese...-Ed), as they are good at killing just about any troop type. There is not much to say about them other then don't let the enemy kill them, and always shoot multiple bolts. Tiranoc Charioteers- These have tremendous hitting power at a low points cost, and can be devastating to the enemy. However they are very fragile, and you should always get the extra crew and steeds. On the field try to keep them in cover as much as possible until they charge. If you want to get one you are usually better off getting two or three. This virtually insures that at least one will hit a target, and that when they do hit they will almost certainly break. Great Eagles- Try to take at least one or two of these so that you can guard you war machines, and attack the enemies war machines. They are worth it at 75 pts/model, and are easily the most flexible force in your army, able to attack war machines, support other units in combat, stop enemy marches, etc. Tactics Once you are familiar with your army you must form a plan, because a High Elf general without a plan is a short lived one. The problem with developing a plan for a High Elf army is that it has the fastest cavalry in he game, but depends on archers that need to be anchored in your deployment zone. Over the years I have found two strategies that combine the shooting & charging tendencies of the army. First is an oblique line, second is a what I call a baited trap. Oblique Line This is a fairly common tactic, and has many different forms. It is also the easiest tactic to use with the High Elven army. Essentially, you just put your cavalry to one side, your archers to the other, and your infantry in between. The cavalry and infantry advance and charge, break the enemy, and wrap around the back of the enemy line. On the other side of the battlefield the archers, bolt throwers, and mages unleash all of their firepower on the enemy. If the firepower is not enough to break the enemy, than spearmen can receive the charge, and hold out long enough for the cavalry to come to the rescue. If this tactic is used success depends on a few key factors-the cavalry breaking the enemy, and the archers holding off the enemy. If the cavalry gets stuck in a long combat, the archers will probably be destroyed. If the enemy reaches the archers too fast, then your line will be broken, and you are in trouble. To ensure that the cavalry defeat the enemy there are several things you can do. First, give them some potent magic items to help in combat. Second, put the general and the army standard bearer in the unit. Third, have another unit shadow the Dragon Princes toward the table edge to stop them from being flanked, and to charge any enemy that the Dragon Princes are fighting. Silver Helms and Tiranoc charioteers do this job well. With the combined weight of Dragon Princes and Silver Helms against them, the enemy should fail the break test after the first round of combat. Once the first unit is broken the dragon princes should be able to break most other units by charging them in the flank. Once the process is completed the enemy should be destroyed. The problem with this tactic is that it relies heavily on one unit, the Dragon Princes. If the unit should be struck by magic, stray missile fire, or if they end up charging a unit that has the crown of command then your army is probably dead. By putting so many points into this one unit of dragon princes you weaken the rest of the army, and it simply cannot withstand an attack. Baited Trap This is a tactic that I have developed mostly myself, though some tips did come by studying white dwarf magazine. The idea behind the tactic is that your army sits, waits, and shoots until the enemy is close to your army. Then you can charge with your Dragon Princes, chariots, Silver Helms, infantry, and anything else so that each of the enemy units is facing two of your units. Since the enemy was softened up by your missile fire they should be fairly easy to break. The points value of each unit should be about the same. Because your army is more spread out points-wise there isn't any one thing that will make or break your army. This means that there are many small things that you can do to make your tactic work better. One of these things is to make use of the terrain. Hide as many of your cavalry units behind trees, buildings or hills so that they have cover until the enemy is close to your line. Since you know what the terrain looks like you can make a very good guess about where the enemy will come from so you plan for it. To make this tactic work better, it is a good idea to slow down the enemy, so that you can shoot more. Do this by choosing a mage that has white magic. You can also improve your chances by taking magic items that have bound spells such as the banner of wraith, the doomfire ring, the staff of orsis, etc. Also, make your charging units able to punch harder. Give them things like the potion of strength, or the war banner. Be careful not the concentrate too many points in one area. If you do this and an enemy routes your troops, then you are in serious trouble. The main flaw with this plan is that you will not be very prepared to handle superman units. If a unit of 20 savage orc boar boyz led by a general that has the crown of command comes along, your archers and bolt throwers will probably not damage them much, and you chargers will be beaten. To help stop this I like to take a general on a monster, usually a manticore. I arm him with the Sword of Destruction, so he can easily kill any characters no matter what equipment they have. Having him in the army insures that you can handle super characters, help a unit fighting an enemy that is too powerful, and most importantly allows you to put some muscle where it is need most, quickly. Conclusion I don't know any elven general who can say that they consistently win through brute force of large units. It doesn't work. The troops just cost too many points to waste on large units that are designed to adsorb casualties. The only way to win is to use elven mobility, magic and leadership to find the "back door" to an enemy army. The ideas that I have discussed above are not written in stone, they are just there to give you ideas, so that you can develop tactics on your own. And don't forget that these tactics don't always work, depending on what your enemy does. Lastly, when you go to play, remember that you are doing this stuff to have fun, so do it!