WHFB TACTICS:
High Elves

• Army Analysis
• Army Tactics
• High Magic
• Vs. Dwarves

HIGH MAGIC
OR, HOW TO WIELD POWER

This is an article of how to use the High Magic deck as effectively as possible. I feel that the sceptre of the most powerful magic-using race has shifted to the Skaven and the Undead, but there are still quite a lot that High Elves can do to thwart them.

High Magic

High Elf Wizards have few very useful rules that every Sapherian General should remember. First of all, High Elves draw their spells first. Perioid. When you need either a High Magic or color spell you can guarantee that you get it. Lvl 5 is enough that you can have any High Magic spell you want.

As a High Elf Lord, you really must know all your choices. Study the Color decks carefully, and think of the best uses for them -- though in the end of the day, many players (and I) prefer the High Magic.

In the beginning of the magic phase, plan carefully what you want to do, and then decide whether you will change any power cards or not. On many desperate ocassions I have traded all my power cards and received Total Power in exchange.

A great many players equip almost all of their regiments with anti-magic items, so it is not so rare to see a game where no offensive spells pass either player`s defenses. This is the hour of the High Magic: many of its spells are of a defensive nature, so that Amulet of Fire is of no use against it.

Magic Items

Since all good guys can ally with each other, I happily forget all the hatred between dwarfs and elves. Runes are simply too useful. As an Elven lord I never neglect a chance to find a runesmith with three Runes of Spellbreaking. This gives my mages a chance to lay their hands on something far more useful than those boring old dispel scrolls. I favor Skull Staff, Chalice of Sorcery, Rod of Power, War Crown of Saphery, Spell Familiars, Wand of Jet and Book of Ashur as my principal magic items.

My choices are based upon following:

• Skull staff is the best bargain anywhere to be found. For 35 points, you get +1 to dispels and 12" scan of magic items.
• Spell familiar is a very useful thing for mages, though elves suffer a bit from its lower M. It can really slow down elf infantry regiments.
• I prefer Spell familiars over others, since the effect is very straightforward. It is especially useful for high-level wizards, since the spells gained are hard to dispel and come from a wide selection of spells.
• Book of Ashur steps in the picture if I think I need a couple of lvl 5 mages. This is a rare day, though, since Book of Ashur is expensive (150 points) and battles larege enough to field so many Mage Lords come only so often.
• War Crown of Saphery is almost compulsory in the eyes of many, and I also go to battle with it if the game is at least a 3000-pointer.
• There is no going around the fact that High Magic spells cost quite a bit of power to cast, so it is here where Rod of Power enters the picture.
• Since on the early turns of the game most spells are out of the range, it is a good idea to store the surplus power cards so you can use that Assault of Stone once in range.
• Wand of Jet and Chalice of Sorcery serve a similar role, only better. They allow you to cast the spells you need by providing extra power. The only downside is that Chalice can murder your mage, and more often than not the Wand loses its power on the first try.
• To balance out the risk involved when using Wand of Jet, I often hunt for the Portent spell. I cast it in the beginning of the Magic Phase, and since it is only a 1-point spell, the enemy rarely bothers to dispel it. It gives me a chance to modify any single dice roll, so I can use my Wand safely and lower the cost of every spell used on that Magic phase.

If your gaming group has decided that the shadow armor affects chariots, this gives you a character mounted on a chariot with the ability to move through woods, over hills, and so on. Highly commendable.

About the spells:

CORUSCATION OF FINREIR	Called the weakest High Magic spell by many, there are still plenty of things you can do with this spell. As it gives an immunity from missile attacks, it makes your wizard immune to those nasty War Machine hits. In addition, used in conjunction with the Tempest, the wizard`s newfound manoeuverabilty with this spell allowes the relatively safe use of this spell, since you can fly away from your own war machines and archers. I have now and then mounted my mage on a Manticore or even a dragon and charged my opponents while this spell was activated. As your opponent can`t attack back from the ground, you can freely let them have it. Especially useful against dwarfs, who do not have flyers to chase the offending mage away.
ASSAULT OF STONE	The most feared High Magic Spell of all, Assault of Stone is a deadly spell indeed. If you use the conventional set-up rules, make sure that there are plenty of hills on the field. Remember that one of the best things about Assault of Stone is that any dispel item(s) held by enemy units won`t save them since the spell affects a hill, not the target per se. It is of particular use against dwarfs who very often deploy on hills and are too slow to really out-manoeuvre even a hill...
FIERY CONVOCATION	Very nice spell, if you manage to cast it early on the game. It is as good as other 2-point spells in first round, causes fire damage, and gets more powerful if it is not dispelled. Of particular use against mummies, who are dead hard, receive double wounds, and are slooooow so you have several chances to try and cast this spell against them when they get in range.
DRAIN MAGIC	You can base your whole strategy around this spell! It can effectively take out your opponent`s magic altogether. I use it primarily against the Undead -- thus, it has a dual use of denying the Necromancers of their horrible spells and slowing the Undead down (even further) because they cannot benefit from Vanhel`s Dance Macabre. Just be sure you have right tools for the job! Equip your Mage Lord with War Crown of Saphery (to guarantee that you get this spell), Skull Staff (an item I always take, just too good for 35 points, especially in the hands of lvl 5 mage) and Wand of Jet plus Chalice of Sorcery to ensure you have enough points to cast this 3-point spell.
GLAMOUR OF TECLIS	An extremely handy spell -- long range, cheap to cast, and quite effective. Glamour is an excellent spell for a defensively-minded Elf Lord, as it slows the enemy down so you have additional chances to shoot at them. If you get the control of the opposing unit, think very carefully how to use them. Check out whether the unit is fast cavalry or not. Can they be changed to/from skirmishing/skirmishers? I once gained control of an extremely powerful Wolf Rider unit. I changed them into a skirmishing form and charged with them in the next turn. Because they lost their rank+standard bonus, I broke them and cut them down! Remember to recover this spell when it is no longer required -- it is of no use to hold that regiment of Mummies in the other end of the Table, if a unit of Chaos Knights are charging your own lines. Do not cast this on archers. They have no reason for moving, and this spell does not hinder shooting. If you ever see a lake within the range of the unit you have control of, move them straight to it! 2D6 Wounds with no save and 1D3 for characters! You may also move a chariot to some rough terrain and cause it D6 S6 hits.
BANISHMENT	A straighforward spell. Chaos and especially Undead fear this spell more than anything else. The only problem is that your opponent is liable to get many chances to dispel it, since units often have some kind of protection against magic. If you get the total power, consider using it on this spell.
APOTHEOSIS	The much beefed-up version of the Jade Casket spell. I quite often equip one High Elf hero with appropriate magic items and mount him on an elven steed. This way my resurrected hero doesn`t become a cripple when he returns to the fray. In fact, he is more powerful than before because he causes fear. I have, of course, used Apotheosis to resurrect many other things -- Dragons, Runesmiths, Gotrek, and especially High Elf Prince Tyrion (who is about the best target for this spell).
HAND OF GLORY	One of the best spells, but using it requires a good bit of planning. It can be used to rally Dragon Princes (who get to charge on their next turn, unlike with the succesful rally test), annoy Undead, and boost and protect your less corageous allies such as Men. Remember to use that LD 10 for everything, spells, panic, etc.
DEADLOCK	The short range of this spell severely limits its effectiveness. I don`t want to be within 12" of a Vampire Lord for any reason! When you use this spell, use it with foresight. Use the deadlock on the best possible target you can find. Spells I try to deprive my opponents of are such things as Plague, Wind of Death, Vanhels Dance Macabre, Curse of the Years, and Purple Sun of Xereus. The items I try to wring from my opponents include the Sword of Destruction, Morgor the Mangler, the Black Amulet, and, of course, the monstrous rune-weapons. Deadlock the Valaya`s Battle Standard and those dwarfs are in trouble!
TEMPEST	A very tricky spell indeed. On the one hand, it is an excellent way to hold up the enemy, but on the other hand, it can maul your own Repeater Bolt Throwers down and make a mess of your archery tourney. If you manage to get your wizard on your opponent`s side of the table, bomb away, and you`ll probably win. Watch out that some Chaos sorcerer doesn`t nab this spell! It could cause your worst defeat in ages...

-Longsword

In a couple of the battles we played, I was the High Elves playing the Dwarves, and I'll tell you some of the things I did.

(OK, we did not use magic in this scenario because my nephew did not know the magic rules.)

• I got 2 repeating bolt throwers, these things are great. The wounds get no armour save, so I was able to shoot up units with heavy armour+shield with ease.
• I got the swordmaster of hoeth, the phoenix guard (both to get the high strength against the toughness 4 dwarves) about 20 men each.
• I got 2 units of Lothern (spelling?) Sea Guard (20 men each) I armed them with bows, and a musician. Basically, they were in long thin rows to shoot up the dwarves, then reformed to deep ranks right before they got to hand to hand with the dwarves.
• I also got 2 units of longbowmen (10 men each).

Basically, the bolt throwers wreaked havoc on the dwarves best unit (ironbreakers) , and the sea guard and longbowmen trimmed down the other dwarven units.

The biggest mistake I made was to send the swordmasters against a unit of dwarven spearmen. Even though the swordmasters struck first (because of high initiative and no swing last due to 2-handed sword) and would kill the first rank of the dwarves, but the 2nd rank of the dwaves would kill 1-2 elves in return (due to size of dwarf unit I could not afford this loss).

The phoenix guard traded blows with the iron breakers, and held their own. If the Iron breakers had not suffered at the hands of the bolt throwers, the phoenix guard would have been lost.

I finally won the battle when I charged the iron breakers from the side with a reformed (deep ranks) sea guard, and charged the manticore into the side of the dwarven spearmen (to save the much cut-up swordmasters).

Again, my lessons:

• Strength and toughness are everything, boost them with magic items when you can.
• The more modifiers you can get on a break test, the better. The extra elf spear ranks made the elves when hand to hand combats they should have lost, and made the break test roll so bad for the dwarves that they could not make it.