8th Ed. Help against Dark Elves

[Sealterbloind]

I'd really like to get some advice against Dark Elves :S It's going to be a 2000 pts game, and I'd like to spend my points wisely ^^"

 

[Arli]

Dark elves have some pretty nasty things to worry about. Among those are:

Dark Elf sorceress with a dagger (or cauldron or something).
Stupid Elf high Initiative
Really good shooting (hand crossbows)
hydras

While this may only be a partial list, there may be some things that I am missing (only faced them once). I would kill the soceress as soon as possible. You may want to focus on her unit if she is sacrificing them for magic (that dagger/cauldron).

Light magic cancels their high Initiative. Stegadon impact hits kill them before they can use their high initiative.

Skirmish units can help screen the shooting. EOTG can also help against their shooting with the 5+ ward.

Hydras need to be burned to remove the regen that they get, so make sure to take the ruby ring (or use the light spell that is a magic missle).

Hope this helps. I am sure others will know more about them than I do.

 

[Ferocious]

depends what you face

horde dark elves, meaning, units of black guard, witch elves, spearmen, corsairs
sallies and stegs will preform wonder, caus they are low str (you need to stop okams mindrazor tho)


if cold one death star unit
u can make sure they never get in to contact with your fital units and DEATH snipe his unkillable pendant lord

also
a cauldren of blood is down after 2 rounds of shooting with chamo skinks, well in my case

 

[skillfull_dan]

I second everything Arli saaid.

Like lizardmen, a lot of their sneaky tricks are based on magic. They have a dark magic spell which gives them free dice, try to stop that. Also our saurus will chop up their spearman, however if they get off okhams mindrazor our boys are in trouble.

I normally take a scar vet with burning blade of chotec and a cold one. If I can double charge a hydra with the scar vet and a block of saurus (or even the scar vet by himself with buffs) the hydra will go down fast. My regular dark elf opponent has a healthy fear of scar vets now.

Also dont underestimate their shooting, crossbows in bulk can burn through a temple guard unit faster than you would expect. I cant emphasize enough how important it is to use skinks to screen any valuable units.

 

[david l]

The nastiest things the DE can field is the unkillable Dreadlord, usually on a pegasus. Typically a 1+ or 2+ armour save and effectively a 2+ ward (because nothing of low strength gets past the armour). And often Stubborn. Death magic is by far the best way to kill him, but a more typical answer is to hope to tie him up on something (stegadon or big ranked unit) before he ties up something really important, or kills your Slann.

DE can generate at least as much power dice as a Slann, usually fed into shadow magic that makes their combat troops and shooting much more effective. Hydras are one of the best monsters and the game and cost very few points. The Cauldron is a great unit buff that is shockingly hard to kill.

 

[Ferocious]

cauldren aint hard, just poison shot it enough and it will go down in a quicky =) dark elves are expensive, so getting a chamo unit behind his lines should be fairly easy

yes i know they can be shot at, but shooting at chamos, as we all recon, its a hard task

 

[david l]

yes i know they can be shot at, but shooting at chamos, as we all recon, its a hard task

Not that hard. 20 crossbows, move, single shot, 3+ hits, 2 dead chameleons, panic test. If they don't have to move (and deployment should keep chameleons away from the cauldron), its 6+ hits and 4 dead chameleons.

 

[Ferocious]

if you play your chamos that way, that the xbow men dont need to move, your doing it wrong, my opinion, and the cauldren istn that great as it only buffs one unit at the time


dark elves are a match up i like with my lizardmen

 

[Lawot]

So glad this showed up! I was just about to start this thread if it didn't already exist.

Ballpark, how many points is that Unkillable Dreadlord? I'm about to play a 1500 pt game...am i likely to see him?

 

[Scalenex]

No one mentioned Salamanders? They are great at killing armies where most things are T3. You might have to worry about them being shot up but Salamanders are relatively high toughness, skirmish, and have a proxy 5+ Ward Save from their handlers.

So glad this showed up! I was just about to start this thread if it didn't already exist.

Ballpark, how many points is that Unkillable Dreadlord? I'm about to play a 1500 pt game...am i likely to see him?

Yeah, a tooled out Dread Lord with the Amulet of Khaeleth, Armour of Darkness, and a Dark Pegasus is less than 300 points so you CAN see him in a 1500 point game.

That doesn't mean you are likely to see Chuck Norris (that's what the Dark Elf players call him). Not everyone relies on Chuck Norris and taking him in a 1500 point game precludes taking a Supreme Sorceress which is robbing the Dark Elves of someone who might be more useful.

Speaking of Sorceresses. Sometimes you might see a Sorceress on a Pegasus with the Amulet instead of a Dread Lord. Don't fret. Wtih no armor save you use Skink shooting to take her down. Since Poisoned darts are only technically Strength 3, the Ward save won't be so bad.

 

[Maazie]

Dark Elves are my main opponent, just keep in mind that they can only re-roll their missed hits the 1st Round of Combat ONLY.

For the most part I haven't had alot of problems killing them, it's been a while though since my last game, about a year... Heh.

Salamanders are great though, as someone pointed out.

 

[Sealterbloind]

Thanks everybody, please give me feedback, what do you think about this :

CORE 660 pts

25 x Saurus Warrior 330pts
- full command
-spear

25 x Saurus Warrior 330pts
- full command
-spear

SPECIAL 475 pts

10 x Chameleon Skinks 120pts

20 x Temple Guard 355pts
- full command

RARE 300 pts

2 x Salamander hunting pack 150pts

2x Salamander hunting pack 150pts

HERO 142 pts

1 x Scar Veteran 142pts
- cold one
- ruby ring of ruin
- light armour
- spear
- shield

LORD 420 pts

1 x Slann 420pts
- BSB
- focus of mystery
- focused rumination
- dispel scroll
- obsidian loadsstone
(- lore of light)

-----------------------

Scar Vet is for hunting boltthrowers and single characters, Chameleons for Sorceress and Cauldon, and Sallies for Hydras (there's going to be two likely). I'd try to cast much The Speed of Light, Birona's Timewarp and Pha's Protection.

 

[david l]

Salamanders are pretty much useless against a Hydra - one hit that wounds on a 6, and that only does 1 wound.

I think 2x5 chameleons is strictly better than 1x10.

Slann in Temple Guard with no miscast protection is risky. Even an otherwise mild miscast wipes out half your bodyguards.

I don't like the scar-vet at all. He should be in combat and thus unable to use the ruby ring. And I'd give him something to help him in combat. At least give him Charmed Shield.

 

[Lawot]

Saurus - I would drop the spears, or make a bigger unit. Dropping spears would save you 50 points.
Scar-Vet - pretty vulnerable. Losing the Ruby Ring and spears on the Saurus would allow you to give him some protection and/or hitting power.
Salamanders - only use against Hydras is to try for a Flaming wound that will allow Skinks to shoot it up - but the odds are not great there. They should rock against infantry, though.
Slann - mostly looks good to me, but I second that about the lack of miscast protection...I would trade Obsidian Lodestone for Cupped Hands.

The ones that don't start with 's' look fine to me! Maybe banner of Eternal Flame on the Temple Guard?

 

[Sealterbloind]

OK, thanks for advice! Here's udated list, is it better now?

CORE 610 pts

25 x Saurus Warrior 305pts
- full command

25 x Saurus Warrior 305pts
- full command

SPECIAL 485 pts

5 x Chameleon Skinks 60pts

5 x Chameleon Skinks 60pts

20 x Temple Guard 365pts
- full command
- banner of eternal flame

RARE 230 pts

1 x Salamander hunting pack 80pts
- extra handler

2 x Salamander hunting pack 150pts

HERO 223 pts

1 x Scar Veteran 115pts
- light armour
- enchanted shield
- burning blade of chotec

1 x Scar Veteran 108pts
- light armour
- shield
- iron curse icon
- biting blade

LORD 450 pts

1 x Slann 450pts
- BSB
- focus of mystery
- focused rumination
- dispel scroll
- cupped hands
- obsidian amulet
(- lore of light)

 

[david l]

If you aren't going to load up a fighting hero, don't take him. That second scar-vet particularly is not worth his cost. The first is a bit wimpy, but the second is pointless.

 

[Sealterbloind]

Okey, so, what's your suggestion for his options..?