# Themed High Elf Sea-Faring Army



## forestreverie (Sep 10, 2009)

Hi Guys, I'm a big fan of themed armies and I want to really go to town on this one. I'm hoping to have this army started by the end of the year and finished by the end of 2010. 

I've taken inspiration from the Storm of Chaos alternative army list, as well as a few High Elf stories (If anyone has White Dwarf 279, theres a story about Eltharion leading a raiding party of High Elves to Naggaroth....Awesome stuff)

I'll say straight away that I'm more into the army building than the actual gaming, so if the army isnt very tactical (or even legal) then thats why.

I haven't got the newest Army book yet, so im not too sure exactly how many points this is or how many of the special units I'll be able to use in one game, but this is what I hope to have painted up. 

Also, when people say High Elves have more special choices, do they mean they have more special slots per 1000pts than other armies? (like bretonnian heroes), or just that they have more special unit options? (Or Both?) 

Lords

Sea Lord (High Elf Prince)

Heroes

Commodore (High Elf Noble with Battle Standard)

Mist Mage (High Elf Mage)

Mist Mage (High Elf Mage)

Core

16 Lothern Sea Guard
16 Lothern Sea Guard

Special

5 Dragon Princes
8 Silver Helms
8 Silver Helms
8 Sea Rangers (Shadow Warriors)
8 Sea Rangers (Shadow Warriors)

Rare

Repeater Bolt Thrower
Repeater Bolt Thrower

The core of the army is based around 2 battallion boxes.

The Mist Mages will be the Female Wood Elf Spellsinger Models, One with Lore of the Heavens, One with the Lore of Life, possibly being promoted to Storm Weavers (Archmages) later on.

The Sea Rangers will be a mix of High Elf and Wood Elf Glade Guard parts, although the Glade Guard seem to be a lot smaller in propotions...

I'm thinking about converting the Silver Helms into Ellyrian Reavers (with leftover Glade Guard Parts and Glade Rider Steeds) and of course, more Lothern Sea Guard units!
If anyone has a more sea-faring name for the reavers, feel free to shout... all I could come up with was Sea Reavers or something like that (Wave Riders just made them sound like surfers or something). 

On that note, If anyone can think of any better names for the Silver Helms or Dragon Princes (I'm not too keen on "Commodore" either) then input would be greatly appreciated! :good:

I've not decided on a colour scheme yet either, I wanna go for something murky, yet still High Elvish... I thought about brown robes, deep purple for lining, sashes etc. and green for Dragon Armour, but i thought that would look too Dark Elvish (I think the green and purple echoes Cold One Knights).

Any suggestions, comments or questions welcome, especially if you've done something similar, or have a themed army of your own!


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## forestreverie (Sep 10, 2009)

Just looking through some old White Dwarfs I saw the old metal Dark Elf Corsairs, I'm Thinking head-swap, and White Lions rules... only not they're not White Lion pelts, they're Dragonskins, Green Dragons or something like that.

Now I just need to find some way to get my hands on the models!

Any suggestions?


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## Jester12 (Jun 18, 2009)

Bolt throwers are a big part of a sea faring army. In the fluff they mount them to the ships as their main weapon to take down enemy ships by punching holes in enemy sails. Perhaps go with the max amount of bolt throwers. As for the corsair idea I like it. Try a few out and get some pics up. Wish I could help as I do have about 40 of the old corsairs but I currently still use them. Maybe I'll let you know if I decide to get new ones. As for the overall list may I suggest converting those silver helms into dragon princes. DP's are significantly better but are extremely expensive but 16 of them from the battalions could give you 3 units of 5 which is probably the ideal unit size for them anyways. Good luck and keep us updated.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Certainly fill out all the rare choices- either bolt throwers taken from the ships or great eagles for scouting the wide oceans/coasts.
I dont think it would hurt to have more sea guard either- 3 ranks of sea guard spread accross the field with many bolt throwers behind, DPs raking a flank and great eagles march blocking everything in sight... makes for a nice 'gunline' army especially if you throw in a prince and a couple of mages for Ld boost and magic (especially if you can get courage of aenerion off just before the enemy charges).


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## forestreverie (Sep 10, 2009)

Bought some Dragon Princes from Games Day yesterday, the guy only charged me £25, so i bought a lord Box as well! and even better, on the coach back, we did a quiz, and the guy who won, won some Shadow Warriors he didnt want, and let me have them for free!

I've also managed to scrounge enough Cold One Knight spare bits to put together a unit of 7 Ellyrian Reavers / Silver Helms with full command 

I will definately look at adding some more bolt throwers when the other stuff is done, thanks for the suggestions.

Also; Jester12, if you like the look of the new Corsairs, i could buy a couple of boxes and arrange a trade if you like? no worries if you want to hold on to the metal guys though, (I know I would)

Now that I Have some Models, does anyone think I should start this thread up as a blog?
would people like to see that?
If I did I'd need some help with uploading pictures and stuff like that, as I'm pretty new to heresy-online. 

thanks guys, keep the comments coming!


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## forestreverie (Sep 10, 2009)

I now have:

1 Mounted Prince
1 Battle Standard Bearer
1 Storm Weaver / Mist Mage

16 Spearmen

5 Dragon Princes (Command)
7 Ellyrion Reavers (Command, but no horses)
3 Shadow Warriors

I'm also bidding on 5 classic waywatchers (which will be used as shadow warriors) on ebay, and thinking about some great eagles too.

I'll Get 2 Battalion boxes on or after xmas and that'll be the main part of the force done.

Please everyone, let me know if this is something you would like to see as a project log?

if so i'll get on it right away!


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## forestreverie (Sep 10, 2009)

Just ordered my first battalion, should be here by friday 
Then I'll move over to the Project Log area.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Just thiking that if you're doing a Sea Faring army - Horses are a nogo. Horses and Ships don't mix - r.e Crusades, Spanish invasion of the Aztecs, Spanish Armada, Napoleons English invasions, for example. 

What about White Lions, changing the Lion skins to Dragon Skins?

About the only cavalry they'd have is a few Ellyrian Reavers.

Take a look at old sea raiding forces - the Danes and the Portuguese, for example. They didn't have fantastic cavalry but until they landed, and secured a lasting beach head (i.e York, or Lindasfarne), they didn't bother bring cavalry across due to the time it takes to get them on land.


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

Um... crusades took heavy cavalry, the spanish relied upon their horses when fighting the aztecs and what English invasions by Napolean?


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Wrong - the Crusades weren't all "knights and shit yo!". It was mainly knights, and barons, etc, who brought along their entire hourseholds and men at arms.

It was around 1 in 5 men who actually rode a horse, and of those who rode, only about one in 10 was actually a true knight.

In addition to making only short sea crossings, and not very frequently. It was mainly from Marseille to Malta, or Palermo, to Crete, to Cyprus, to Antioch, or Jerusalem. All very short crossings - and none of them prolonged.

The spanish relied on their very few horses to turn the tides - particularly their mounted musketeers. However, they only rarely came across, and it was mainly due to the breeding that was taking place actually in the camps and towns made. Much of the fighting was done on foot, with pikes and muskets.

Napoleon struggled to create a force that would be able to quickly traverse the channel and place his cuirassieurs, lancers and dragoons into Britain. The logistics of his Highly trained, battle winning Heavy Cavalry were too large to counter the redcoats mustering to defend themselves, provided that they could get their without being sunk by the british navy.

Not to mention if you're a Sea Guard, and you're countering raiding forces, and pirates, won't having a horse in your hold mean that you're tied to being near land, OR creating a ship that's too large for sense, AND risking it going lame?

No - Horses on ships are a bad idea..


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## Tim/Steve (Jan 25, 2009)

RRRRRiiiighhhhhttt... you back on planet sane now Vaz? You kinda went off on one there.

Never said any of those forces was all horse based (anyone who hears me say 'yo' for any reason at all except derisively has my permission to shoot me)... 

I think Cortez is a decent enough anologue for the HE raiding force: sure he has ground troops but he also had mounted cavalry to act as shock troops, which is exactly what HE use their cav for. We arent talking about ship-to-ship combat or long journeys just a raiding force (presumably doubling as a defensive rapid reaction force) which would have the time to land, unload horses and then carry the raid on in


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## forestreverie (Sep 10, 2009)

I had actually thought about this quite a lot... the main reason for the silver helms being included is that they come in the battalion box... but i think the Dragon Princes could work if you think along the lines of Sea Dragons....

I've actually been working on the fluff today, and here's what ive got so far.

My Army will be an independent High Elf force which is constantly active, launching raids on the unsuspecting coastal towns of its enemies and causing general disruption from their small fleet of Dragonships and Hawkships. 
As the General is from Caledor, the force will have as many visual links and references to dragons as possible, especially Sea Dragons (cue Dragon Princes). 
The Army will favour surprise attacks, preferring to kill as many enemy warriors as possible at range, before the enemy have a chance to counter-attack effectively.

The General – Sea Lord Calrohir, is a bitter Elven Prince who wants to take more direct action against the enemies of Ulthuan, and to regain the fading glory of Caledor by disrupting potential invasions before they have a chance to begin. This has earned him the title "Calrohir the Belligerent".

Accompanying Sea Lord Calrohir is Celestriel the Seer, a Mage with the power to glimpse the future, and direct Sea Lord Calrohir’s forces to engage potential invaders before they have gathered their full strength. (Lore of the Heavens) 

The second spell-caster, Arianna Stormweaver, is a powerful Mist Mage who can manipulate the oceans, whether to give speed to Sea Lord Calrohir’s fleet or to summon storms upon their enemies. (Lore of Life) 

Lastly – Bellerion the Navigator. Younger brother of Sea Lord Calrohir. Bellerion is a great sailor and navigator where his brother is a great warrior and tactician. He directs the fleet and carries the battle standard to battle

I haven't actually decided on these names yet, but they'll do for now (suggestions more than welcome).

I think they will be based at a port outside Ulthuan; (the Fortress of Dawn or the Citadel of Dusk maybe?) and are more of a coastal raiding party than a defensive coastal patrol, and have a port to come back to after every conflict, rather than being at sea for months at a time. which seems more likely to have cavalry.


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## forestreverie (Sep 10, 2009)

Reading that through, Ellyrian Reavers seem like a much better choice, so maybe the Silver Helms will be receiving a little conversion work...


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