| It's all in the small print. Honest. |
I'm going to look at this list with respects to how it works together, and how it performs in each of the phases and in deployment. It's kind of a whistle stop tour so hold onto your hats folks.
| After looking at this picture for a while he now looks like he's about to fall over backwards... |
Lvl2 Mage - Lore of Shadow
- Silver Wand
- Gem of Courage
Core
15xSea Guard -Full Command
-Shields
- Banner of Eternal Flame
10xArchers
Special
15xPhoenix Guard - Full Command
-Gleaming Pennant
5x Shadow warriors - Shadow walker
Rare
Repeater Bolt Thrower
Great Eagle
Synergy: No real complaints about this. It's a small army, possibly even for Elves but I find the Phoenix Guard and Sea Guard make a fairly solid fighting base, particularly with magical support. Regrettably the other units are there to die, but that's to draw enemies away from the real fighting base - the Sea/Phoenix Guard.
Deployment: Ok 5 drops isn't great. If my opponent hordes up I can equal or perhaps best him, but it's unlikely. Ideally I would have more Eagles for drops. A refused flank can work well with the Archers, Eagle and possibly RBT on one flank and the rest on the other. It's risky and not very High Elf but it has worked.
Movement: Yeah. Movement...I usually assign redirecting to the Eagle, Shadow Warriors and Archers. In that order. The Eagle is marvelous, with fly it can get right in the face of something big and scary to send it out the way for a turn. Apart from that and the Shadow Warriors (who do the same thing only not as well) it's fairly static sadly. The Sea Guard generally sit (stay...) to volley fire, though it is only 3 more shots...maybe some horsies are needed.
Magic: Well well well...magic. When it works it is sweet. I had resignations about leaving my beloved High Magic at home but the lore of Shadows is fantastic for Elves. It really needs a post all to itself to explain the whole thing. In general, I keep the hexes, or swap for them. The 'Pit' and the 'Pendulum' (...little nod to literary works there) are usually lower priority to 'Enfeebling', 'Withering' and the amazing 'Mindrazor' (who is coincidently not a superhero). Only problem is that it's 1 lvl2 wizard. It's not a strong magical presence but I'm not sure how to rectify that what with their cost. A Lvl 3 with no upgrades perhaps?
Shooting: BOWS! Lots of bows! 28 s3 shots + the bolt thrower. So actually a medium amount of bows, but as most stuff shoots it's quite a shooty army. The Sea guard usually go first to take off any regen that needs to be gone and then it's target priority. Choice here is focus fire, or remove rank bonus. Needs more research. Overall the low strength isn't great but becomes ok with 'Enfeebling'. If I get it.
Combat: Now, having chosen Pheonix Guard over Swordmasters or White Lions I've lost a lot of hitting power. The Guard are more defensive though, and can hold their own (pennant is there because I cannot roll LD checks to save my life...or theirs) for a few rounds but usually need support against tough-ish opponents. They need to work together with the Sea Guard who have a similiar problem (except they're even squishier). Again combat relies on magic to beat tough opponents, but is fine against most things.
What could be better: Well looking back it performs well in most phases. I feel however I could tweak it to make it better. More eagles + sea guard - archers perhaps. I also think it relies on the Mage too much. One poor magic phase and sad faces all round.
I'll come back to it when I've been able to get a few more practices in with it and see if it can be improved from there.
Any thoughts are welcome.
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