I have a very simple reason to explain why I wrote this list. The High Elves are one of the most ancient and detailed warhammer races and it seems to me a pity that they should not have an armylist to back up their glorious history. While the 3rd edition Elves were extremely powerful, the 4th edition ones were seriously underpowered. Their infantry was mediocre relative to their points cost, they had nearly no special rules (even though this isn't important... even unnecessary), their cavalry was seriously overpriced with only the Repeater Bolt Throwers worth buying. When 5th Edition arrived the enemies were even more powerful following the incomprehensible GW trend towards promoting power-playing though condemning it in WD. Dark Elves hated them, a dwarf was a match for any elf and their expensive knights were inferior to human ones. The bowmen were outmatched by Wood Elves, their mages by Undead and their skirmishers (the 'elite' Shadow Warriors) couldn't infiltrate. The only way to win predictably was to be a very good player or to cheat/power-play.
Then GW decided to 'boost' them and in doing so took all the fun of playing them out of me. The new models looked like shit and the old models which WD boasted could be recast on order 'unavailible' from Mail Order. The book was the same except for a few pictures of poncy High Elf nobles(faggots) riding horses which counted as having barding with a ridiculously thin leather strap 'round its butt and a tiny piece of scale mail. They certainly messed up the look and added a few little scraps of fluff about combs and very short summaries of the Elf divinities scattered 'round. It probably took 5 minutes and a lot of money.
The so important special rules transformed White Lions into ballerinas and spearmen now fought in 3 ranks with those stupidly short spears and archers who were good enough to fight in 2 ranks-what an innovation!(though Bretonnians do much better with no direct line of sight and all shooting). I recently noticed that the 'special' rules were no longer that 'special' because Dogs of War fight in four ranks and strike first which goes to show how mucked up Warhammer is. O.K. they were more powerful and some things were quite good, for example the Maiden Guard were alright and the special characters were welcome(though they buggered up Eltharion and Teclis). By the way, where did the most flexible unit the Elf Warriors go?
However the old Elves had left and left their place to their poncy, decadent successors who still wore dresses but disgusting purple ones and wore pink and green plumes in their helmets.
I decided to heavily modify the Elf books to create an army which was RELATED to the rest of the book and that would give the valiant defenders of Ulthuan a chance against the infinite perils of the Warhammer World. I will briefly summarize the changes thet I have made to special rules and each regiment.
General Special Rules: No new ones apart from the old ones about dragons because that is alright. Ithilmar may now only be given to characters who could afford such armour which cannot be common otherwise everyone including archers(which would be useful) would have it. It is no longer a special rule and must be bought(5 pts). Elven Enmity has changed because it was not powerful enough in front of a frothing horde of suicidal Dark Elves who reroll hits on first charge and are nearly unbreakable. To counter this the High Elves now make unmodified Ld tests on 10 to represent their determination and steely 'hatred' of Dark Elves. They do not all hate them so much as to gain the rule though whatever the book says, you would not be gentle to Chaos tainted killers who have probably murdered most of your family and nearly destroyed Ulthuan several times. The High Elves are determined to kill them though they do not let the violent aspect of themselves take over as the Dark Elves do, thus do not get re-rolls on first charge. Reread the Battle of the Waves(Tethlis, year 303) and the other battles if you don't agree with me.
The citizen levy is no longer though City-Guard use the spear rules because they have long enough spears. I often wonder how a guy standing behind two others(or more depnding on what scale you use, 1:10 according to the Rulebook) can stick his spear out and prod an enemy with no penalties whatsoever. However if you firmly plant your 10 ft spear in the ground and wait for the enemy to charge you stand a better chance. I gave no bonuses for enemies impaling themselves on sharp spear-points in fear of making them overpowerful. Mage Lords may now lead your army becaus I see them as just as skilled as Generals(renamed Elf Lords) in tactics, coming from the White Tower of Knowledge. I actually use any model, even R&F as general, because in my view you don't need the fighting capabilities of an Elf Lord to be able to command an army(though its unorthodox and I don't expect you to do the same).
Ellryian Reavers: Renamed Reaver Knights(as originally) because of the fact that they do not all come from Ellryion though many do(I don't think a Chracian would enjoy being called an Ellryian). I thought the old Reaver Knights were useless becuase they couldn't even skirmish. However Reaver Knights are Knights and not Glade Riders because they are ligh cavalry, not mounted bowmen so they may no longer fire and flee. They deploy 6" forwards instead of a march move because this rule is more widely used and I think only Dark Riders get the march move. They may skirmish quite appropriately for light cavalry and may move and fire as the background says that they perform amazing stunts on horseback. This is not free and is included in the price of the bow as sword and spear wielding Reaver Knights do not benefit from it therefore shouldn't pay.
Silverhelms: are like the 4th edition ones and should look like them if you want to keep the style. They may not take heavy armour because they are medium and not heavy cavalry.
Dragon Princes: are quite different from rhe originals. They were always underpowered and overpriced(a Knight of the Realm was better and cheaper). Renamed Dragon Lords because 'Prince' only applies to the priviledged few who are descendants of the first warriors who were gifted suits of armour made by the Smiths of Vaul during the Time of Chaos. You need to actually still possess the armour to be called Prince according to the Guide to the Warhammer World and therefore the Dragon Princes are Lords instead. They have higher leadership to prevent ridiculous situations wherein the cream of the Elf nobility flee from Goblins. This represents their legendary pride and the courageous and warlike spirit of the descendants of great warriors. They gain +1S whe using their massive longswords or bastard swords as they appear to be in the picture. Those swords look massive and heavy enough, combined with the warlike life-style and considerable strength of the knights to give a strength bonus. I did not give Dragon Lords +1S in their stats because that would give them S6 when charging which is excessive and the swords or your ow strength should not help you when you are using a lance. They are rich and powerful knights and may take ithilmar armour instead of heavy armour. They may also carry 2-H swords because I feel that this is in the style of the Dragon Lords and there is a picture of elves in heavy armour wielding two-handed weapons and a guy on a dragon above them(p.14 old book, p.72 new book). It seems to be a picture from the Time of Chaos. They do NOT get a free Standard because this is stupid. Points were invented to be able to field fair, equal armies so free stuff doesn't make sense.
Tiranoc Charioteers: were nearly untouched except that they now hate Dark Elves as in the book and may take more men, steeds if you can find an alternate model for a bigger chariot(I once saw an old GW 5 man chariot but lost contact with the guy who wanted to sell it). I gave the riders more options to represent the wargear of a tiranoc noble. It is obvious that they would hate Dark Elves because nearly all their once-powerful kingdom was destroyed by the Sundering and they regularly fight Dark Elf raiders. It confirms this in the Tyrion story and background. Charioteers are only the nobles though so if you want to start a tiranoc army you could give the spearmen and other troops hatred of Dark Elves as well.
Lion Guard: are totally changed. They used to be cool in background but crap in combat. They had little armour, struck last and had LD 8. The new ones were too powerful and out of character, being unbreakable if your general was in it. They seemed to all be Chracians with woodsman axes and skills and stupid dances and stuff. The regiment was founded by Chracians but is not entirely chracian. Instead of special rules I increased their armour and gave them the option of using 2-H Axes or simple hand axes. It is obvious to me that the Phoenix King would heavily armour his finest troops and bodyguard. To stop them from falling like flies after a volley of arrows I gave them heavy armour(which it looks like on the old models), a shield and thir visibly thick and tough pelts which give them +1AS and making Lion Guard the Elven counterpart of Ironbreakers. Noone ever took them before because of their 2-H Axe handicap. Now they may choose whether to use their big 2-H War Axes against tough or heavily armoured enemies or a light battle-axe against hordes of greenskins and Skaven which can be despatched with a single blow. Instead of being unbreakable with the general and LD 8 without, they now have LD 9 all the time. They do not fight any better with the general anyway because the general is not usually Finubar the Phoenix King. they are HIS bodyguard ONLY so the unbreakable special rule would only apply when he leads them(more proof of bullshit and background manipulation by GW). If another character is leading them I would suppose that they re a detachment of Lion Guard under a commander or whatever but not his flaming bodyguard(imagine if all nobles had a Lion Guard). Lion Guard was used because it is clearer than White Lion which is he name of a monster or any accepted chracian hunter. It also sounds better and gives a better image.
The Phoenix Guard will be laughed at no longer. They used to be the joke of the High Elf army. Chosen warriors, marked by Asuryan, who have seen the Book of Time and have therefore experienced all the horrors that have been and will be and who fight in deadly silence only have LD8? I think not. I gave them leadership 9 and immunity to psychology to represent their divine presence, sheer willpower and the fact that if they know everything including their own deaths and the end of the world, how can they be afraid of a skeleton? I thought that giving them unbreakability would be too strong though realistically they should. They cost much more and wear heavy to start with(not the expensive golden armour that 'Eavy Metal gives them) as is shown on the figure. Sword Masters: are nearly the same except that they cannot wear heavy armour or carry a shield. This is because it would be very impractical for for the lightning fast attacks and isn't in character or shown on the figures or pictures. They may deflect shots to prove that they have initiative 7.
City-guard and Sea Guard: City-guard are not mentioned in the book. They are professional soldiers(which are mentioned) who defend the Realms and cities of Ulthuan. I got the idea from Lothern Sea Guard which is what they are. Lothern Sea Guard have been replaced by City-guard and Sea Guard(marines). City-guard defend Fortresses and city walls while Sea Guard spend their time in boats or in other lands on expedition. Basically City-guard are better trained and equiped spearmen and may have bows and have special movement. City-guard have nearly the same rule as citizen-soldier spearmen did and can form a defensive block to use their extra long 10 ft spears made for fending enemies off walls(as mentioned in background of Lothern). However they may not charge and fight in 2 ranks because tehy would probably stab each other in the back in doing so! Only two regiments are allowed. sea Guard are proficient in the use of both bows and spears and may skirmish to represent the multitude of different roles they are used for when on land skirmishing rule to represent their experience of hectic sea battles on moving ship decks.
Spearmen, Archers and Warriors: Spearmen and archers are as they were in 4th edition and warriors are back. These do not need to pay 2 points for the classic combination of spear and extra sword. They just buy spears and the warriors in the first ranks fight with a spear in one hand and a sword in the other while their friends behind use the spears. Only one of these 'base' regiments may carry a magic standard.
Rangers and Shadow Warriors: I used to be puzzled about why the only skirmishers in the Elf army were elite Shadow Warriors. Did the Elves' only infiltrators come from Nagrythe? This is a bit absurd. I read the Eltharion story and it mentions Rangers several times, as local scouts rescuing Eltharion's father and ceaselessly ambushing the goblins. This fits the Elf army quite well. They are local scouts or warriors employed by the lord of the region to patrol the forests, spy on enemies and harass them along the way. With this at least you can field more than one regiment of infiltrators.
Maiden Guard: are unchanged because I don't know overmuch about them and I don't use them anyway. I would suggest only using 10 RnF models because there are only a hundred of them and according to the Warhammer Rulebook 1 miniature represents 10 individuals. You must have the Everqueen to be able to field them.
Treemen: are mentioned in the Avelorn section. You may access them through the Everqueen. Same rules as Wood Elf ones for sake of simplicity. Dryads could be an idea...
I have somewhat changed the War Machines section.
Repeater Bolt Throwers: may only shoot multiple shots(The bolts are too small for S5 and I don't think shooting 1 bolt instead of 4 would make a great difference). It always puzzled me to see a Repeater Bolt Thrower with ten bolts but which only shoots 4 a round. However you now shoot 5 bolts a turn. You will notice that there are two rows of bolts. As I see it, every turn one row is fired and the other one is reloaded. You have the option of loosing off all your bolts in one turn(all 10) but you must spend the next turn reloading. In numbers this can be destructive. You may also have normal Bolt Throwers or Dart Throwers as they are mentioned in the background.
