D.R.A.I.C.H. - Druchii for the beginner

How to beat those cowardly High Elves?

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D.R.A.I.C.H. - Druchii for the beginner

Post by Calisson »

Welcome to you, new Druchii general.

This thread is designed for new DE players (including former ones who want to resume), who play already Warhammer with another army.

If Dark Elves are your first army and you are discovering the game Warhammer, you should better read:
D.R.A.I.C.H. For true beginners: Druchii for the Newbii

It is created in order to replace a collection of a dozen of threads, each of them telling a couple of interesting opinions, which links are resumed at the end.
Most of the texts below were not written by me, but by other helpful D.netters, I just copy/pasted, mixed & sorted them out below for convenience.

1.Welcome!
In Druchii.net, you will find a lot of advice to help you get the most of the DE.
First, you can ask some specific advice by crating a specific thread, there are usually a lot of friendly and useful answers.
Second, the D.R.A.I.C.H. is a collection of past helpful threads, including some well written comprehensive articles, in which you will find a lot of experience.

This helpful spirit was vital in the times of the previous army book, when the DE were not competitive compared to most other armies.
Fortunately, this helpful spirit has survived with the coming of the refitted DE, with which victory has become easier to obtain.
With you, the site is getting one more member, hopefully soon you'll be one more helpful hand for future newcomers.
Keep that spirit alive!


2.What is the feeling of the 7th ed Druchii?

One new Druchii player noticed:
Black guard. Hm. Tricky. They have good profile and are fine elite troops, but just die too quickly due to low toughness and AS.

That is actually the idea behind (Dark) Elves in general. Low toughness, low armor saves. Fragility is keyword here. We don't like to get hit on. Shot at. Targeted by the forces of magic. In fact, we don't like it at all when we get the same treatment that we reserve to our enemies.

In other words, your strengths as a Druchii are : mobility (high Movement), speed (high Initiative), impact (chariots, cavalry, hydras, Black Guards, Executioners, Corsairs). Be it in close combat, shooting, or magic, it applies to all categories. Hit, but don't get hit back. Long-lasting combats are your worse nightmare.

We are fragile, but that is why we have Core units (!!!) like Harpies, Dark Riders, and Corsairs (in small units) with RHB. Screening, redirecting, frenzy-pulling, harassing, march-neglecting, mage-hunting, the list goes on!


Be aware that Dark elves are not an easy "plug & play" army. They can be very powerful, but only if you have the skill to make the best of them.

1.Versatility.
Everyone knows that Bretonnians charge with their heavy cavalry, dwarves shoot with their cannons, Vampires Counts raise undeads. What about Dark Elves?

Versatility is key with Dark Elves. You can pick up almost any playstyle, there will be a DE army for you. We can shoot and run around like a wood elf, or alternatively build much more 'in your face' combat armies. The Druchii offer potential that no other army can - we are excellent at every phase, you just have to play nasty to make sure your opponent knows this!

However, not anything will work without some careful balance and clever tactical skill. DE either win big or lose big. Overall the army is fragile (barring the hydra) but with great options.

2.Strengths
Base model: Base Ld is 8 and our base BS and WS is 4, which is a lot better than most.
Army composition: We have special to rival the HE, and much better core troops...

If you want a balanced list with a mix of magic, shooting and close combat, then DE do that naturally, with only Demons of Chaos being potentially better at it.
If you like lots of small units and cunning plans, then DE do that better than anybody.

Magic: We have the best non chaos magic. If you like magic, then a heavy DE magic list will be able to overpower just about anybody.
Shooting: We have the best core shooters. Nice warmachines.
Agility: Our units are faster than most, with M5 infantry and M9 cavalry. The beauty of DE is their speed and manoeuvrability. We have the best fast cavalry, which is also core. We have core flyers.
Psychology: We have more terror causing monsters than anybody else
Melee: Although with the appearance of Warriors of Chaos, we are not the premier close combat army any more, hatred and BS4 makes this army very good in quick melees. You'll actually find that fast hitting DE armies are probably the best out there

3.Weaknesses
Not resistant: T-3 so we are weedy.
Not strong: Mostly S-3 but many of our special choices and characters are S-4.
Not ITP. Only the BG are immune to psychology and stubborn normally. Witches are frenzied and Khainite become stubborn within range of the cauldron.

4.Nasty play
Do you know Nelson's ship tactics "never mind the tactics, just go straight at 'em"? You'll find out that it's hard to play a "Geronimo style" army with DE, but it's not impossible though! Be aware that you will have trouble playing Dark Elves that way.
Instead, never fight fair, never accept unfavourable charges/challenges, and if you don't have advantage - don't fight the opponent's fight.
It often boils down to a single thing - never be afraid to say "flee" as charge reaction.

5.How long to get the feeling of the army?
Ages... Players have been playing for more than 7 years and still learn with every battle fought... Druchii are the most enjoyable army to use because there always are new things you discover...
The better you know the rules, the better you are at playing. Just keep reading the rulebook until you dream about the rules non stop... its worth it (even though the dreams are annoying).

6.An overview of DE, by Khel
The Dark Elves are a difficult race to play with at some moments. Not because of their rules, but because of the armies they have to face and how they must rapidly adapt their lists and units to counter enemy lists. It may feel at some points as if you'll never win with Dark Elves, but once you start thinking strategically and get your charges and flees going in the right order, you'll think you're unstoppable. :P

One thing you must get use to when playing with any elf army is that they will be expensive point wise, and extremely squishy. But in my opinion, their elite side outweighs the expensive, squishy points. They are designed to completely break units on the charge and aren't always built for pro-longed combat.

Shooting and Magic is great with Dark Elves, we can produce a large mass of shooting throughout our core with Dark Elf Warriors, Corsairs and Dark Riders. Our magic is another story however.

With our magic, you either have to go full force into the magic phrase or not at all. We can produce one of the largest amounts of PD (power dice) in Warhammer Fantasy with items such as the Sacrificial Dagger. So in essence, magic wise, Dark Elves brutally crush enemies in the Magic phrase by making them spill their Dispel Dice without any effect. And I haven't even gotten started on our magic defence! :)

Units which are most common in Naggaroth would definitely be Black Guard. The 7th edition Black Guard are killing machines combined with a few odd assortments such as the Banner of Har Graef (which gives us ASF). Another common item to go with the Black Guard is the Ring of Hotek. This nifty little bugger makes a 12" bubble of magic defence around your unit which also covers fellow Druchii units within the 12" radius. Any magic that is cast or targeted within the 12" miscasts on the roll of any double. This effects Friend and Foe however, so you must be careful with your own Sorceress who are casting around the Ring of Hotek. But due to our great mobility and positioning we have access to, this is rarely a problem once you get to grips with the Ring. It has actually become quite a notorious item and our enemies have already caught onto the RoH.

I'm not sure what else to say about what is most common in the Dark Elf lists, seeing as lists are quite varied. If I was to say another unit however, I'd say Dark Elf warriors and/or Dark Riders.

If you're wanting to get started with Dark Elves, I suggest you read the army book first and see how you like them and if they're your style. If they are, I'd suggest buying lots of warriors and corsairs to start with. They'll be your main part of your core army list.
Dark Elf warriors make many things. E.g. Crossbowmen, Flankers, Screens, Tar Pits (slowing down enemies), march blockers, your good old fashion spearmen and much more!
For special, I'd suggest strongly to invest in some Black Guard and BG command. Next would be some Cold One Knights for our hard hitting (stupid) cavalry. Next would be up to you. You'd have choices such as if you're going to buy Reapers or Hydras. Executioners or Witch Elves etc.
Last edited by Calisson on Thu Jan 14, 2010 1:25 pm, edited 7 times in total.
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Post by Calisson »

3.Re-born DE player – Druchii after the overhaul.
In 6th Edition the Dark Elves were without a doubt the most difficult warhammer army to get to grips and had a reputation for this! Now that we have a 7th Edition book a lot has changed - many of the gripes and troubles we once had have been remade to give us a very powerful army. As has been said before though - we are still elves: our numbers are few and we have little in the way of armour - this means we are quickly and easily punished if we let our opponents take advantage of these weaknesses: shooting and magic being the most obvious ways to take the dark elves down.

What you'll notice first when you go to rework your old lists is... you can afford more stuff. Almost everything in your list except for Harpies are cheaper now, and those Harpies are now Core.
In case you hadn't noticed, we now Hate everyone, and we go on Hating High Elves even in subsequent rounds. Of course, now those jammy bastards alway strike first.

One L2 doesn't achieve what it used to, for the most part. They've got slightly more powerful, yes, but the game has changed around them. Daemons, Vampires and to a certain extent Lizards have come along with enormous magic potential, and now you find your L2 will be needed for defence, and may never actually get a spell off. We now have the Ring of Hotek to help, and Null Talismans, just 15pts for MR1 and they can multiply like Dispell Scrolls, they stack, and they are not even Arcane. Seal of Ghrond is no longer the must have it was.

The Hydra is both cheaper and considerably better. Basically as it was, plus M6, Eternal Hatred and Regeneration!!1eleventy, and minus 45pts. Nice. In fact two Hydras is considered somewhat cheesy, whereas back then - my goodness, fifth edition - you were almost gimping yourself.

There's two big reasons why Manticores stay on the shelf. Loads of things are ItP these days, for one, and you take a Leadership test or go Frenzied, for two.
Dragons are viable indeed. In our case that has a lot to do with the Eternal Hatred rule, and with better equipment for the Dragon's hat.
(thanks Layne for the big quote).

4.If you're coming from 40K
[Cal'Mihe]
For tactics, the overall concept that you need to start thinking about is that WHF places its "threat" later than W40k, and plays more reactionary than the general 40k game.

Basically, in 40k each unit has generally a quite long area of threat. The vast majority of units have guns with ranges around the 12"-24" mark with heavier weapons having correspondingly bigger areas that they can threaten. This means that a unit can be an effective fighting force even though it is placed far away from the centre of fighting.

Not so in WHF, where the majority of the battle is decided in melee, and units are quite restricted in whom they can threaten, mainly due to the movement, line of sight and charge rules.

This also leads to the concept of hammer/anvil units and combos, which are not really relevant to W40k (except in a few cases). This concept centres around the fact that units are generally more deadly on the charge than they are on the receiving of it, and the difference between Active Combat Resolution (ACR) and Static Combat Resolution (SCR).

A unit with many models in a tight formation has a very high Static Combat Resolution, with banner, outnumbering of their enemies, rank bonus, the normal SCR for a ranked infantry unit of 20 models is 5. This means that in order to overcome this flat and static bonus, an opposing unit would have to cause 5 casualties while suffering none in return in order to even force the combat to a draw.
Generally, units which have high SCR also have low ACR and vice versa. Units (such as the cold one knights) which are very very deadly on the offence and can easily wipe out 4-5-6 enemies on the charge, come at a high points price and so are difficult to field in large enough numbers to gain a high SCR.

This leads to the concept of hammer/anvil units.

You have ACR focused units (your cold one knights) which are capable of generating high numbers of casualties.
And you have big blocks of cheap infantry (such as your spearmen or corsairs) which have a high SCR and needs to be devastated in combat in order to lose.

If you are capable of tactically tieing these two things together, bringing both your ACR unit AND your SCR unit into the same combat, you have successfully stacked the odds in your favour very very highly.
One unit is the anvil (SCR) the other is the hammer (ACR)

Lastly, realise that the number of dice being rolled in WFB is overall less than in 40k
It is not uncommon for units of 20 models each to only have 5-6 attacks to direct at each other.

5.Beginner in WHB - Druchii for the Newbii.
There is a specific thread made for you . You'll find there a couple of tricks which should speed up your learning process.
Click on the hyperlink => D.R.A.I.C.H. For true beginners: Druchii for the Newbii
Last edited by Calisson on Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by Calisson »

6.Buying your first models.

The first thing you should buy is: 1 Army Book.
The battalion box is a good start, with 20 corsairs, 28 warriors and 5 cold one knights. The battalion is missing some shields so you will only have 12 for your 28 warriors. A good idea is to make a unit of 10 crossbowelves with shields and just a musician. The 18 remaining warriors can remain shieldless, but will get the full command.
All you need to do is add a character, either a sorceress or a master and you can start.
What is missing is some agile units. 2x5 Harpies and/or 2x5 Dark Riders and your good to go for a ''learning army''.

Here's a quick 500 Beginner's List that works really well.
Heroes:
Master: Sword of Might, Heavy Armour, Shield, Sea Dragon Cloak
Core:
5 Dark Riders: Repeater Crossbows, Musician
15 Warriors: Shields, Standard
10 repeater Crossbowmen
7 Harpies

7.Planning to expand your army.

After a couple of battles, you'll get the feeling of your new army. Then you'll want to add some more models, but you may hesitate: are they worth?
Basically all units and Characters are viable in the current book. That's the beauty of Dark Elves... the entire army list is pretty decent.
Decide what kind of army appeals to you. Massed infantry full of Spears, Rxb`s, elite Black Guard, supported by RBT`s, and infiltrating Great Weapon armed Shades; all Cavalry with loads of Dark Riders (with Shields as an option they can be Medium Cavalry now), Cold One Knights, and Chariots ?; Monster mash with Dragonlord, Manticore Master, Dark Pegasus, Cold Ones galore, two Hydras, and flocks of Harpies ?; Khainite theme with hordes of Witch Elves, Executioners, Assassins and Hags ?; or a mix of the above ?
That's the trouble with the new Druchii, were spoilt for choice. There are endless effective configurations. Just decide what you really love the feel of and field them.
But don't spend too much points on heavy cost units like CoK, special characters and assassins. Although CoK and assassins are good, they suck unless you can back them up with real force.

All units are good, none is must-have.
This is not true for magic objects: none is must-have although some get close; but some are must-avoid.

It does not mean that any army build will work!
For example, an army all-Khainite or all-corsair will be hopeless in some situations.
Dark Alliance would emphasize about the balance of the army; however, some very unbalanced armies seem to be successful as well.

The character of the army comes from harpies, dark riders and shades. Pretty much any DE army has at least one unit of either one per 1000pts, preferably two. These agile troops help you to shape the battlefield to your needs and your wishes, and to deny the opponent such ability. Don't take only these light troops! You need also someone to win the battle.

With hatred, our melee troops can be very aggressive. Plenty of choice there. Some people use only melee troops. But some others don't take any.

If you don't like much melee, then magic & shooting can do marvels, but are always much better off when backed with some melee ability to finish off the enemy.
Our magic can be incredibly powerful. But you can go without as well. Our shooting is good. Some don't take any shooting.

There is also the option to outmanoeuvre the enemy, select your fights, deny easy victory points. This is usually important for your army. However, some people remain infantry-only.

With our excellent troops, we can go character-light. But we have the option to be successful with half of the army invested in characters! Assassins are great for that!

Overall, the DE are incredibly versatile.

To sum up, to ask for an essential Dark Elf unit, is to ask for essential ice cream. The best way to build a Dark Elf army, and a dessert for that matter, is to pick what you like, and then add things that complement it. In the Dark Elf army, as has been noted, DR and Harpies go good with everything. They are like chocolate and strawberry topping.
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Post by Calisson »

8.Review of units.

There is no such thing as the ''must have'' unit in the army. There's no ''must have'' items either.
Units that seem to stick out as near staples that maybe you might want to try:

Characters.
Leave special characters back on the shelve. They wont win you any battles.

Assassins are good, and while our melee characters are nothing special in combat, they can be remarkably tough.
Dragon is excellent in 2k games, yes, but it's a big nasty game winning model. If it doesn't win the game for you, you most likely lose. This does not mean that it has to destroy your enemy single handed; it could mean that your enemy wastes six turns trying to kill the Dragon while your Knights and Hydra take them down.
Manticore is more difficult because it has no armour and can be frenzied. Without armour, you need to manoeuvre it carefully to keep it alive, and then it might just dash off and do something silly without your permission. So it is of course much cheaper than a Dragon, even though it isn't much less dangerous to your enemy.

With magic, 1 sorceress is a mere magic defence, 2 sorceresses are competitive and 3 are dominating. DE magic is rather wonderful, so you can definitely include that.
A hero is not mandatory: you can give 25pts of magic to your Dread Knight now and turn him into a mini-master.
And for Khaines sake don't ever put a Sorc on a cold one or in a cold one unit for any reason: Supreme Sorc on Cold One : if the thing goes stupid, she can't cast. That's a lot of magic you won't be using. Theres 2 viable mounts for Sorcs: Horse and Pegasus.

Core.

Dark riders are in 99% of the list the one unit that is always in. Same goes for harpies.
Harpies - Now no longer take up Special slot and rather effective as points fillers

DR - No new awesomeness, they seem to be always useful. They are arguably our best core choice. Wood Elf Glade Riders provide cheap and beautiful alternative models.
DR's are very common particularly amongst veteran DE players but I think that has just as much to do with 6ed as it does with their strengths. (we learned to love them or get slaughtered)
Well now, it depends what you mean to do with them. If you wish to use them as a purely sacrificial unit, then you leave all upgrades behind. For all other purposes, I'd say take the bows and a muso. Bows for psychological effect; people hate being shot at, and only the steeliest foes can find it in their hearts to ignore Dark Riders in my experience. And the guy who's shooting, magicking or charging your Dark Riders most likely isn't shooting or charging your big monsters, or your expensive deadly special choice infantry. When you're getting near you points limit, here's one place where you can save some points if you need them.

Repeater Crossbows are excellent, lots of shots over a small frontage. Put Shields on them, and you have one of the most versatile units in the game. Armour Save 4+ in CC with Hand Weapon and The only thing is against some enemies, those with high T, good saves, they will under-achieve. You just got to adjust your expectations in such situations, and then adjust you plans accordingly. If they can't shoot your enemy down, they can still get a flank charge, or be used as a sacrificial unit, or a screen, whatever you like. With their shields up they can be surprisingly difficult to get rid of.

Special.

BG - They are truly the elites. Awesome unit! Whatever your plan/style of play then Black Guard are amazing.
On the defensive they're Stubborn Ld 9 and immune to Psychology, virtually unbreakable (you can even make them unbreakable with Kouran).
On the attack they can re-roll all failed rolls to hit in every round of combat and they have 2 attacks each. With a frontage of 7 that's 15 attacks a turn with re-rolls to hit. Sure they're only S4 but give them the banner of murder then the armour save modifier will be -2 not just -1. That'll cut through virtually anything! Plus the models are just awesome. Black Guard with the Standard of Hag Graef (unit always strikes first) are becoming a bit of a no-brainer in most Dark Elf armies currently.
Black Guards are one unit that really does do exactly what it says on the box. They stop your enemies' charge in most cases, and in some cases will even rout it. If you can get your Black Guards to hold an enemy in place, you can put your Execs or Riders or Crossbows into the flank, chariots too [though they aren't US5 unless a character rides].

Knights - we love them and we hate them. One of the cheapest heavy cav units in the game, yet also one of the most dangerous. Seems kinda broken, but it's the stupidity that does it. They're still our most expensive troops, and it hurts to lose them, doubly so when they stumble forward and lose themselves. You can mitigate this by giving someone in the unit the Crimson Death, or the Hag Graef banner. If you feel inclined to use the Hydra Banner, use it here. Both riders and mounts get the extra attack, and it works wonders. Of course, you need a BSB, and then your unit begins to get expensive...

Shades - since you already have some Riders and are on the way to getting Harpies, I'd say these guys will want their greatweapons. Their shooting really isn't that scary, to those who know, but like Dark Riders, it's really really annoying. With their greatweapons, though, they can put in quite a nasty charge. You don't want to put them in combats that won't be won in the first turn - in round two most anyone can kill them.

The Khainite troops need very careful play. Game winners if you get it right, expensive flops if you don't. They're both fragile, both expensive, and enemies just loooove to shoot them. Both need to get the charge to win. The Witches don't really need the Cauldron, just good screening so that they charge only when you want them to. The Execs mostly will need the Cauldron for the extra attack, or else they don't hit quite hard enough, get attacked back, and being a small and fragile unit generally, will ten to get overwhelmed. They rely on active combat resolution, so give it them with Cauldron. Without the Cauldron, they'll do OK as a flanking unit. A plan that involves these units succeeding involves Harpies and Dark Riders dying to set up a favourable charge, usually. And to keep them from getting shot at too much, by getting shot at themselves.

Chariots are slow, but not much slower than your infantry. They work best combo-charging with infantry, so it's OK that they're slow. In such a situation, the Chariot provides your active CR, the infantry your static CR, and together thy pretty generally run over the top of most things. Trouble is, like COK, for all their danger, they're a relatively cheap chariot because of stupidity. You'll love them and hate them.

Rare

Hydra - A7 S5 also a S5 breath. At 175 pts. for a Regenerating, Fire Breathing, hard hitting, move-as-a-skirmisher (no penalty through woods and other difficult terrain), Teror causing...you can`t go wrong. Opponents will hate and fear your Hydra guaranteed.

A reaper bolt thrower just because it causes lots of damage and generally makes your enemy panic; high strength, long range shooting, lovely! .
You could get a hydra as they are good all around or you could get 1-2 bolt throwers. Either is a good choice.

Hydra and RBT reliable choices. Both are flexible and dangerous, and can afford to be lost, the RBTs because they're not so expensive, and Hydras because it takes so much to bring them down. Whatever killed you Hydra didn't kill your Khainites.
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Post by Calisson »

9.Building your army.
[Desert Icon]

1. First of all , for that firebase you're looking to have, you'll need Repeater Crossbowmen. These guys are solid, have a good range, a decent punch, and can handle themselves well in combat if you give them shields. Furthermore, they're annoying , and can cause a lot of damage if they're left alone to fire at will. Usually, 2 units of 10 of these are perfect for the duty of shooting. Unless you're planning to go all-out shooting with only a few counter-punches, you're better off only taking 2 of these. Apply shields as necessary, if you feel they need some shooting or close combat defense!

A good choice would also be Shades, as they can scout behind the enemy lines and disrupt formations with their shooting. They ain't cheap, but you won't regret spending those points when they knock off some expensive mages or destroy a couple of war machines!

The idea is to pepper their support troops, their war machines, their infantry blocks, and pretty much anything that can be vulnerable to massed strength 3 shots. The Armor Piercing rule that they have is excellent for dealing with these threats, and helps out your efforts that much more! When the enemy gets close, these units can support charge in the flanks and add their respectable fighting qualities to the fray. Shades are especially effective if you equip them with great weapons! Strength 5 attacks aimed at the rear of any enemy unit most definitely will not make your Shades any friends, but these guys weren't very personable to begin with. Remember not to toss Shades or Crossbowmen into head-on combat if you can avoid it, because they won't last very long without support!

2. For that magical punch , you'll need our trusty Sorceresses! If you want some effective magic, you can't beat having a Level 4 Supreme Sorceress, and maybe a level 2 Sorceress. These two in tandem can dish it out well, and will make sure that the enemy can't ignore them! Equip them with the Lifetaker (Magic Weapon), a Sacrificial Dagger, a Dispel Scroll or two, or any other magic items you want so they can cause even more shenanigans upon your foes.

If your army is going to be mostly static (i.e., hang back and wait), then they're fine hiding in some of your other units for protection. However, if you aren't gonna sit back and wait for them to come to you (i.e., take the annoyance to them), then they're better off with some mode of transportation. The best option by far would be the Dark Pegasus, as it can fly, but an excellent second choice is the Dark Steed, as it is cheap and moves fast (and gives the ladies an armor save!). Having either of these, they can zip in and out of tight areas to use close-range spells or zoom out of the way of an incoming nastiness and avoid being turned to monster chow.

3. To keep these guys alive , you'll need some sort of infantry blocks that will be able to take a charge, live long enough to hold, and keep the enemy in place for you to counter-charge with something particularly interesting of your own. Taking into account costs, abilities, and effectiveness, there is no better unit in my eyes for this than our trusty Spearmen. Dirt cheap, these guys know how to hold a line and make it look good (although Elves in general do tend to come off as a bit... flashy). A block or two of these guys is perfect for giving you numbers, and they can hold their own in combat against unpleasant things more often than not. Give them something like a Warbanner, park them in front of something you don't want running off, and brace them for impacts. Just make sure they don't get hit by anything too nasty, because...

...For things like that, you'll want to enlist some Black Guards. These guys are the elite of the elite. They'll pretty much hold whatever the enemy throws at them in place for at least 1 or 2 turns, giving you more than enough time to spank them in unfortunate places. That aside, the fact that Black Guards are immune to psychology, stubborn, and have Leadership 9 is something you don't want to miss out on. Plus, they can dish it out as well, especially if you give them a Banner like the Banner of Murder (Armor Piercing) or the Banner of Hag Graef (Always Strikes First). You can be guaranteed that if you use these guys, and use them to their fullest potential, you won't be disappointed. These guys scoff at danger, and even though they're skilled at being killed (seriously, these guys drop like flies in a frog-infested pond), they will do their job.

4. For that special touch , which is very much needed in an idea like what you're proposing, you'll crave for the attentions of that special somebody. In this case, you should be looking up Cold One Knights! They can give your enemies some hurt, that special kind of hurt you can't buy in stores (well... technically you can buy it in stores, buy some Cold One Knights!). Placed strategically on the flanks of your big blocks, they can charge in and save the day while you're holding a particularly scary unit in place, and use Fear to auto-break enemy units. Combine a unit of these guys with a Master Battle Standard Bearer, and give him the Hydra Banner, and you'll have a devastating unit that can win combats on its own! Always add in full command if you can help it; a magical banner, a small magic allowance, and an insurance policy in case you don't outright crush the enemies you charge are a good idea to have.

Other units that work well here are Witch Elves and Executioners, although these units are situational and their use is really dependent on your style and what you're fighting! For example, Witch Elves are ridiculously effective against medium to lightly armored infantry, cavalry, and heroes, and great against anything with a high Toughness. Poisoned attacks, and a champion that can take special abilities, can really ruin your opponent's day. Just remember that they're not that effective against heavily-armored foes, and they'll be pushing up daisies if anything (short of Gnoblar shooting) is sent their way. Executioners on the other hand, if applied correctly, can lay waste to heavily-armored units with their great weapons and their killing blow special rule. Placed at the flanks of your blocks, they'll guaranteed cause some trouble, though if you don't win the combat first round, they'll have trouble staying alive since they'll strike last!

10.Threads used for inspiration.
The following threads were the source of inspiration for the present one.
You'll find the authors of what is written above (the real ones!) and some wisdom that I did not dug out.

This part of the D.R.A.I.C.H. was once claimed by izirath
........................................D.R.A.I.C.H. - Druchii for the beginner

Beginner's calls for help (and replies)
***previous ....................A Beginner's Guide to Army Selection [work in progress] - and the comments: Comments on the Beginner's Guide to Army Selection
........................................Serious Help Needed for New Player
........................................Tactic Adivce PLease for a New Player
........................................How to start [Beginner]
*.....................................How long to get the hang of playing DE?
*.....................................101 Tips For Fantasy
........................................New DE Player looking for Help
*.....................................Neccessities in an army list
........................................New to Warhammer
........................................Help on army choices
........................................Spearhead or Battallion?
........................................new member and so many many choices
........................................My first tabletop army
........................................Essential Dark Elf Units.
*.....................................Nooby advice - Got models...now what?
........................................2250pts DE
***.................................Druchii for beginners - scratch what to do with a battalion box: build an army and learn how to use it. This thread is developed by DA himself!
........................................New to the scene.
........................................DE starter setup
........................................500 point w/Hydra?
........................................beginning druchii
Winds never stop blowing, Oceans are borderless. Get a ship and a crew, so the World will be ours! Today the World, tomorrow Nagg! {--|oBrotherhood of the Coast!o|--}
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