# High Elves vs Dark Elves



## mahavira (Jan 10, 2010)

Extreme newb question: I have played a total of one game of WFG, and that was at least 3 editions ago (1996), but from my reading of 7E rules and the High Elf and Dark Elf army books, I have to know, even knowing it will be obsolete in a month : how can a dark elf army actually fight a high elf army? Always strike first combined with the extra rank of spears able to fight means that anything short of cold one knights will probably lose its entire front rank before getting to attack, break, and be run down. My understanding is DE are not notably better at range or magic than HE, so I am having trouble seeing how a soft shelled army like DE can counter the huge advantage of ASF and the extra rank of spears. I am positive there is an answer, I'm just too green to see it.


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## Masked Jackal (Dec 16, 2009)

That might be true for the fodder, but Dark Elves have plenty of options for dealing with HE. I think the main problem you're having here is that you're only taking into account the fodder it seems, because DE specials can absolutely murder those spearmen. Witch Elf flanking units, Cold One Chariot impact hits, and ASF Guard can all eat through spearmen pretty effectively. DE shooting is superior as well. 

http://druchii.net/viewtopic.php?t=63384

Here's a good article on DE tactics against HE, that'll give you an idea of some of the options here.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Black guard with hag graef will murder any unit the HE can put on the table, crossbowmen will actually be jumping for joy when they see they are fighting elves (but so will HE archers... and while you have more shots the archers have longer range- get close fast then smash them) and DE magic is the nastiest in the entire world with the possible exception of chaos/daemon, so while HE might be good at dispel you can normally get enough through to cause havoc...


Basically, if you stay at range then the game should be won by DE, if you get close then the DE will need good tactics or well built units to beat most HE units... tyhe big advantage (??) of fighting HE is their ASF- it means that you dont need to worry about charging them since it wont change anything. This tends to make the combats much simpler to work out.


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