# Thinking of playing.



## Reaper12D (Feb 23, 2011)

Hello everyone,

As a fan of WH40K I thought I might also dabble in the Fantasy version. However I am at a loss of which army to play as. As of now I have narrowed my option based off of the armies which I think look the coolest and those two are the High Elves and Warriors of Chaos. 

That being said I am looking to see what other players may think and if they have any pros or cons they may be willing to share. Thanks for the support.


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## facelessone (Jan 18, 2010)

Daemons of chaos so you can use them in 40k and WFB.


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## Durzod (Nov 24, 2009)

High ekves have the adbantage of being in the Island of Blood box, making the start-up fairly inexpensive. WoC habe the advantahe that you can make a decent army with a fairly low model count. WoC pretty much don't have a shooting phase, so you'll miss out on that. They do have tyhe toughest core units in the game.

Really, it's what you want to play that counts, as well as what you want to paint.


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## Wingman (Jun 27, 2011)

Both are great armies to play and it really comes down to how you want to play them.

As far as magic goes both are really good at it. High elves have a higher movement but are generally weaker. Shooting goes to high elves but WoC also have a very unique cannon although it has a chance of breaking free and killing your crew. In close combat the high elves rely on hitting first, they also get to re-roll all missed to hit rolls if their initiative is higher. WoC rely on heavy hits and good saves or massed troops with lots of dice. 

I've played against both armies with my Dark Elves and I think both are great so it's going to be a tough decision. Look into how you want to play fantasy and what you like the feel of more. My personal opinion would be for WoC but I am a bit biased as a DElf player.


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## elmir (Apr 14, 2011)

If you have a 40k background, that should give you some insight on what playstyle you prefer.

WoC: Elite, tough as nails, hardhitting, somewhat slower
HE: Elite, rather fragile, hard hitting, rather fast. 

That's a rough guideline... You should have a good time with either of these armies in 8th. Have fun.


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## Azezel (May 23, 2010)

Durzod said:


> High ekves have the adbantage of being in the Island of Blood box, making the start-up fairly inexpensive.


This is true. However, of the models in Island of Blood, only the Swordmasters and Mage will get much use. Seaguard, Reavers and the Prince on gryphon are really sub-par units.

(Actually, there are people who swear by Seaguard and Reavers, but you really have to know what you're doing to make them work)



Wingman said:


> Both are great armies to play and it really comes down to how you want to play them.
> 
> As far as magic goes both are really good at it. High elves have a higher movement but are generally weaker. Shooting goes to high elves but WoC also have a very unique cannon although it has a chance of breaking free and killing your crew. In close combat the high elves rely on hitting first, they also get to re-roll all missed to hit rolls if their initiative is higher.


All High Elves have a special rule: Speed of Asuryan. That means that, regardless of initiative they Always Strike First (ASF). In addition, if the Elves' initiative is equal to or higher than the enemy's, they reroll to-hit.

This is not nearly so powerful as sounds, since elves are weak and have thin armour, but it is cool, and very flavourful.

We have good stats, even basic core troops are WS/BS4 I5 Ld8, and it only goes up from there. We also have movement 5 across the board.

Elves typically rely on Great Weapons. Great Weapons give the weilder +2 strength, but normally make them Always Strike Last (ASL) - however, The Speed of Asuryan overrules that so they ASF even with Great Weapons.

14 Swordmasters can kick out 22 S5 WS6 attacks that strike first and reroll to-hit. It's a beautiful thing to see.

We have perhaps the best Heavy Cavalry in the game in the Dragon Princes of Caledor


As for shooting, HE are better than WoC - but not spectacular. Our shooting options are generally overcosted and fairly lacklustre. Again, some people swear by their 'gunline' High Elves, but you need to know what you're doing.


Magic. There are eight different Lores of Magic, and each army gets access to certain ones. Elves get access to _all eight_ and their own Lore of High Magic. That gives us almost unparalleled flexability. In addition, we have a big list of sensational magic items and our ability to, for want of a better word, dick with the magic phase is without equal.

We also have Teclis, the most powerful Mage in the game. Although if you ever use him, your friends are allowed to hit you with sticks.

As for weaknesses... You'll almost always be outnumbered. Hell, last game I was outnumbered by _Ogres_, and they cost 30 points/model. Elves are only toughness 3 and with very few exceptions, Strength 3 (but we have a boatload of Great Weapons!). Our armour mostly caps out at 5+ for anyone who's not a character.

Our Core troops have good stats, but are very expensive for what they bring to the table. We are required to spend 25% of our points on Core and it hurts.

Our Mages (while good) are expensive and our combat characters are strictly average.

We can field Dragons (and it's a lovely model) but due to the way war machines work right now, Dragons are not so much fearsome monsters as big, lizard-shaped bullet magnets.


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## Reaper12D (Feb 23, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback everyone. This will definitely help me with this tough choice. Still kinda torn on which to get but I am kind of leaning towards the High Elves.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

I love my Warriors of Chaos. There are a lot of directions the army can go, and no matter what you do, you always have a core of badasses following around a god of war. 

Army choice, I think, should be more about the models you like. Particularly in Fantasy where the skill of the game isn't in writing an army list like it is in 40k, but on the tabletop itself. A bunch of one-armed goblins can beat the most hardened Warriors of Chaos army if the goblin player just outplays the Warriors-- that really isn't true in 40k anymore. 

So the real question is, which models do you like better? The sleek, clean, "pretty" feel of the High Elves in their lamellar coats, or the more rugged, 80's metal feel of the Warriors of Chaos? 

On a side note, Warriors of Chaos are a thousand and three times easier to paint than High Elves. The broad sections of armor are quick, and the models themselves have some bulk to them. There's also a lot of room for freehand stuff on the armor. The High Elves are extremely detailed and are very thin, so there's a lot of time spent picking out individual details. Think of it as painting Space Marines vs painting Eldar-- the style comparison is very similar, at least.


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## Azezel (May 23, 2010)

Come to High Elves. We have lion strangling lumberjacks. We have wizards riding dragons. we have winged hats that are, to-scale, four feet high. What's not to love?


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## Stephen_Newman (Jul 14, 2009)

Nah go to Chaos. The greatest elven dragon alive supports Chaos. There is a good reason for this. We also have a big cannon that can eat people. Whats not to love?


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## Reaper12D (Feb 23, 2011)

LoL a cannon that eats people? That sounds fun!


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## Silens (Dec 26, 2010)

Warriors of Chaos. Why? Because they follow chaos. CHAOS FTW.

< Daemons player.


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## The Son of Horus (Dec 30, 2006)

Admittedly, the hellcannon kinda sucks. It's great if you're playing against Skaven or Orcs or something where they've literally blanketed the other side of the table in bodies and you can't miss... but the second you start shooting at compact armies, you're really just looking for the hit on the scatter dice. For the points, I'd rather just bring more Warriors.


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