question!

[Sedenko]

Hi therer, i have just finished a 2,000 point warriors of chaos army and am thinking about dark elves, for the simple reason that i love the models and the background. I am a newbie to warhammer, are the dark elves good for a newer player and how do they play.

Any help appreciated!

Thanks

[Calisson]

Did you give a look to the hyperlinks to be found in the D.R.A.I.C.H. thread, top of the tactics forum?
There are some helpful threads to be found.

[Sedenko]

thanks i did not see that, i will check it out now!

[Tethlis]

Dark Elves are truly a joy to play, but will take some getting used to.

Like all Elves, they rely on utilizing speed and hitting power to offset their fragility and expensive point cost. You'll hear the term "glass cannon" thrown around when referring to Dark Elves, meaning that we hit with all the focused destructive power of a cannon, but don't have much fragility to withstand punishment.

Now, I don't think that's a perfect description, because one of the major advantages of Dark Elves is their strong unit variety. We have durable monsters, tough chariots, hard-hitting heavy cavalry, skilled elite infantry, basic cheap cannon fodder, powerful magic, voluminous shooting, fearsome combat troops, and specialized skirmishers. The beauty of Dark Elves is in using these disparate factors to implement your tactics, with all these different unit types working in concert to achieve your overall goal. We don't have the numbers or durability of other races, so we need to compensate by moving quick, hitting hard, ripping the guts out of our opponent, and fighting the battle on our terms.

That being said, the army takes some getting used to, because it's not very forgiving of mistakes. If you like a versatile force capable of dominating any phase of the game, or an armybook that features an endless variety of effective units that must work in concert to be effective, then Dark Elves are the right choice.

[Blaznak]

And don't get too concerned when people say they are tough to run.

They are FUN to run. I've never had problems with them when I focused on that rule. Now, if you want to master DE armies you will become a terror at your local game store because they are pretty effective in the hands of an expert (I am not that).

But, as mentioned above, read the lists and DRAICH and you will be will on your way.

[Dangerous Beans]

Amen Tethlis and Blaznak!!! Well represented!

@sedenko - you've hit the nail on the head as to how to REALLY get the most satisfaction out of an army: creative imagination of the background and how the models go to represent this. Good lad - truly we are blessed with AWE inspiring models!

Beanz

[Red...]

Dark Elves are often described as a glass cannon.

In 7th ed, that manifested itself in that they were at risk from: missile fire, magic and being charged (striking second, with just one rank and toughness 3, AS 5+ is not good at all).

In 8th ed, that manifests itself as being even more at risk from missile fire and magic, and getting bogged down in long combats against tough or innumerable foes (that block of 50 5 point orcs with choppas (S4 for first turn) is going to do you lots of damage, no matter how much you do to them first). Being charged is now less of an issue, as we generally strike first due to our high initiative, although getting the charge still helps!

[Spiralout]

I cant say for definate having not had much experience in WHFB, but they strike me as being very similar to Eldar in 40k - if you can get the assault on your opponent, it can be devestating. Things like Cold One Knights pretty much need the charge because of their lances. They're definatly an army that needs to work in synch with itself though - if you get charged and bogged down, it'll hurt. If, however, you have unit X perform a charge after its target has been softened by unit Y, it'll work in your favour. The aformentioned Knights benefit a lot from this, as they only get their lance bonus on the turn they charge.

As others have said, fun is the key to playing the DE - if you get a miscast and kill some of your own guys, so what? The Druchii mindset would be something along the lines of "no big loss", so while you can't throw troops away like, say, Skaven can, don't be too concerned with trying to overly protect your units. Support them, plan their roles and have fun, and you'll be well on your way.

[Meteor]

Get use to models dieing in droves is my comment, you'll notice right away that DE aren't as sturdy as Chaos so we can't solo a unit nor stand up to a beating.