Tuesday 14 May 2013


Oxyotl Report 

3: High Elves… Dwarf Style!


 
Beware lest you become that which you hate



Obviously depends what we mean by “Dwarf” – are High Elves short, fat, bearded, incapable of moving and with only one phase of the game? No, they are whimsical, prancing, long haired and wear lovely white dresses. They can, however, also take to the field in a soul sapping display of firepower.


Over the games I have had with and against High Elves with the new book, one thing has become apparent: against the current Meta (as fluid a concept as that is at present given the rapid release of new books we are experiencing) they can pull some impressive gunline fun (“fun” in this context is a loosely defined term – it is believed Dwarfs have no word for this concept).


Working Meta Assumption:
Low model count shock troop armies are currently very popular (as seen with WoC) and Monstrous Cavalry remain the work horses of four of four of the most popular armies (Empire, Tomb Kings, WoC, Ogres). Vampires are making extensive use of double Terrorgheist, either supporting a hard hitting fast cavalry hammer, or a ponderous and safe infantry deathstar. Daemon Princes, Disc characters, Greater Daemons and the like remain popular. Against such things, mid to high strength attacks that ignore armour and cause multiple wounds without the risk of being hit back are obviously a Good Thing.

Not all armies will have this. There will always be paper that beats a gunline rock (thank the gods!).



The Guns of Lothern


This list is built upon a solid (or at the very least single-minded) foundation. The Rare section shapes it, and is the first to be locked in.

Rare:


Repeater Bolt Thrower
Repeater Bolt Thrower
Repeater Bolt Thrower
Repeater Bolt Thrower
15 Sisters of Averlorn
Great Eagle
Great Eagle

This provides you with not only 4 RBTs (which are now exceptional value) but also a contingent of Sisters. These, despite their shorter range and lack of mobility (seriously no idea why they are not allowed musicians) provide a great way to remove regen from Hydras/Chimeras/Trolls/Ogre units etc. as well as providing a nice source of magical attacks. The armour piercing vs. evil armies is a nice bonus too.
The great eagles are there to do what they do. Keep out of the way early on before flying out to block movement, buying the gunline further turns of shooting. An obvious 100pts to spend.


Special:


Lothern Skycutter with Bolt Thrower
Lothern Skycutter with Bolt Thrower
Lothern Skycutter with Bolt Thrower

I was not convinced by these when I first read the book. But having faced them now they are actually very useful. A 10” shooting platform not only allows you to try out for flank shots and the like, but also allows aspects of your army to spread out, limiting the risk of a rush list getting to you. It’s easy to forget they are also a flying chariot – whilst roving around taking pot shots they can also threaten large areas of the board and attack exposed units/war machines if they are not dealt with early on.


Core:


15 archers: musician
15 archers: musician
15 archers: musician
5 Reavers
5 Reavers

There is some flexibility here – but the general gist would be something like this. Three archer units keep up a constant stream of fire whilst the Reavers do basically the same thing as the Eagles - keep out of the way until they can use their Fast Cav speed to buy extra shooting turns – either with double flee fun, or by sacrificing themselves for the cause. Spears and ASF does mean that against light infantry and the like they can also do some damage if required.


The Flavour:


There are several ways to finish off this gunline to try and get the maximum Dwarf+ experience.


1 - You can bring in more high strength firepower - :

Alith Anar – have bolt thrower, will travel. The Shadow King’s BS7 Quick to Fire bolt thrower is beautifully handy.

Archmage lvl4 with Book of Hoeth – Magic Lore one of: Heavens, Metal, Death. Key here is you want to force your opponent to have to react to your ranged damage. Combined with the BoH you can force several spells off – it becomes a question of taste. Metal will help in heavy armour situations, but I would be tempted by Heavens or Death – probably death. Snipes can target the hard to get character points, Soulblight helps with shooting, even Doom & Darkness is great, with the amount of shooting in this list you will cause panic tests.

Noble, BSB with Reaver Bow and Potion of Strength. A combo you will see everywhere. 3 S5 magical shots per turn are always good. Upping it to S8 is just beautiful.

Mage lvl1 with Dispel Scroll and Ring of Fury – Magic Lore: Metal or Fire. Quite cheap, can throw out magical punishment.


2 - Or alternatively you can bring the now-fluff-choice, everyone's favourite ugly twin:

Teclis  - probably with: fireball/flaming sword, enchanted blades/searing doom, amber spear, comet, purple sun/snipe, withering/Mindrazor, dwellers, shems/banishment. Ol’man Teclis provides a nice toolbox to really get the most out of your Dwarf experience. Because of his utility (and his very own scroll), I would probably go character light with him – with just the ever reliable -

Noble, BSB with Reaver Bow and Potion of Strength to keep him company.

Fewer characters leaves more points to spend – to finish this off would bring in:

5 shadow warriors
5 shadow warriors
5 shadow warriors

Three units of shadow warriors not only bring in further BS5 shooting, they allow you to react to your opponents deployment, provide decent chaff, and can threaten war machines/weak bunkers when your opponent has to commit to coming to you.





In summary, High Elves can give the bitter, abandoned “why have we not got an army book” Dwarf player everything their heart desires, and more. Sure, High Elves have got magic and, well, movement, but when the horror of these concepts recede they can actually be quite fun. The one thing missing from the true Dwarf experience is not being able to aim “10” from the back of the general’s base” every turn – this is truly sad, but you can take the equivalent  - it’s called Death Magic.


In short, if you want to go Dwarf, go Elf.







This article may, or may not, be the brainchild of, or fully or partly funded by, the International Warhammer Association to Ban Dwarfs from the Game. All complaints should be made immediately to someone who cares a lot. :)



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