Warning: This page is under construction

I should probably put in a basic definition of what, precisely, warhammer is. There are a few things I could put here: perhaps the most accurate is "An extremely expensive way to waste a lot of time and fill a lot of shelf space." That, however, ignores the things I like about warhammer, and doesn't tell you much. Warhammer is a game of tabletop fantasy battles: Each player commands an army of miniatures (sometimes numbering in the hundreds, especially when they're goblins) in battle, attempting to out-manouver their opponent. The miniatures have points values...better units are worth more points. A goblin, for instance, is worth 2 points, whereas an elf is worth 9. Big difference. Being a fantastic game, rather than a realistic one, they are, of course, armed with things like swords, spears, halberds, crossbows, steam tanks...Steam Tanks? Well, only if you play the human Empire. Anyway, for more details go to the Games Workshop web page, and look for it there. But be warned, should you decide to try it...a good army can cost upwards of $300, and will keep growing past the point you intended it to.

Now, my army is the High Elves. They are proud, arrogant, incredible fighters and archers, and there aren't very many of them. I tend to be out-numbered in any battle against anyone who isn't playing one of the other elven varieties. But that's ok...makes it more of a challenge. *grin* At the moment, my army consists of about 3500 points worth of miniatures, mostly un-painted. However, I mostly play battles on the order of 2000-3000 points per side, as they don't take as long. (A 3000 point battle can take 8 or 10 hours to play through...)

That's all for now.. I'll come back and make the page look nice, and maybe put some strategy tips for High Elves in later. I'll also try to get some pictures of my units, if I can.

Strategy for the High Elves

The first thing to always remember about the High Elves (HE) is that they're weak. They'll never win a shoving contest with an orc, or even with a human! They do get some compensation in their high weapon and ballistic skills, but they're still at a disadvantage against a larger, tougher opponent. They also aren't very tough: with a toughness 3, they lag behind the best troops from every other army, be they Orcs, Chaos Warriors, or Imperial Flagellants.

When I consider any army, I mentally divide it into three sections: roughly speaking, the shooty part (usually light infantry), the warriors (usually heavy infantry), and cavalry. There is, of course, some overlap -- some warriors have bows, and some archers are good fighters. There is, for most armies, a fourth category, which is that of war machines. My breakdown, and general guidelines for, the High Elves is as follows:

Archers: This army has some of the best archers in the Warhammer world. With a BS of 4 and long bows, they can be counted on to hit reliably, and at fairly long range. The disadvantages, of course, are cost (10-12 points per model) and strength. With a S3 attack, you're going to have to get lucky to hurt an armoured knight. If they are given light armour, they can hold their own against the weakest troops of an enemy army, but don't expect much from them as hand to hand troops. The High Elves do, however, have one unit of all-around excellent troops in the Lothern Sea Guard. Given my choice, I would never go into battle without them. Longbows, Heavy Armour, Spears and Shields give them a long-range attack in two ranks, hand to hand in three ranks, and good survivability. They're well worth the points.
For the non-Core units, we have Shadow Warriors and the Maiden Guard. Both are armed with bows, but neither is a standard archery unit; the Shadow Warriors areskirmishers and scouts, while the Maiden Guard are basically poorly-armoured Sea Guard. More about both later.

Hand to Hand: This is where all the elven armies suffer. The high elves have the "Citizen Levy" special rule, allowing them to fight in three ranks with spears, which is a help, but their lack of strength and toughness are a serious handicap. They do, however, have a few good units.

• Lothern Sea Guard: As mentioned before, this is a rock solid unit, and is one of your Core units. Take them in huge blocks (at least 20 of them. I have 28).
• Spearmen: Again, they're decent. Same as the Sea Guard, but no bows.
• Sword Masters of Hoeth: An excellent unit. Their two-handed swords allow them to take out high-toughness enemies, while their heavy armour gives them an adequate defense. If I didn't hate the models, I'd have a unit of 20.
• Shadow Warriors: These are iffy as a combat unit, except that they hate Dark Elves. They're also armed with bows, so they're a decent ranged unit as well.
• White Lions of Chrace: A good, solid unit, with the ability to carry a magic banner. Their cloaks give them a better save vs. shooting, and their heavy axes cause D3 wounds per successful hit. If only they weren't a Rare unit...
• Maiden Guard: I'm iffy on them. They're good fighters, and good archers, but they take up a rare slot, and they only wear light armour. The can take a magic banner, and they do fight with extra ranks, but they die very easily. The models are incredible, but I say leave 'em on the shelf.

Cavalry: Cavalry units are some of the hardest to use well, and the High Elves have lots of them.

• Reaver Knights: The typical light cavalry. They're fast, they can be armed with bows or spears, and they die quickly. Don't take them into close combat unless you have to. Possibly not even then.
• Silver Helms: One of the HE Core units, they are strong and variable. Equiped as standard, they are fast and hard hitting, but poorly armoured. Upgrading them to Heavy Armour and Shield makes them fast, hard hitting, and fairly well armoured - a 3+ save is nothing to scoff at, especially when combined with a 9" movement rate! Give their steeds barding, and they're nearly the equals of the Dragon Princes.
• Dragon Princes: A Special unit, fromt he mountainous region of Caledor, these are the heaviest cavalry the High Elves can field. With their heavy armour, shields, lances, and barded steeds, they can crush an infantry unit underfoot, and, should they get the charge, most cavalry units as well. They are, however, expensive, and I don't like the models. I'd prefer to use Silver Helms in this role, and spend my points (and Special troop slots!) elsewhere.
• Chariots: Many people don't consider these to be cavalry, but they're fast, hard hitting, and they can do some serious damage if they manage to charge. I like them - I hope to start including two in my army, and running them up one flank with a unit of Reavers as backup. D6+1 impact hits, lots of attacks at high WS, a move of 9, and a save of 5+ is pretty good for 90 points. Add to that the fact that the charioteers carry bows, and you've got a unit which is too good to pass up. Take one... or two, or three even.