All Things Elves!

Foreward:  This article is almost as good as a youtube video. I do not own a webcam but if you do run a channel and want to put your opinion on this article, feel free to.

Elves:

This article is focusing on my opinion on the nature of the 3 elven races in fantasy, Wood elves, Dark elves, High elves, and the two elven races in 40k, Eldar and Dark Eldar. Contained in this article will be secrets to if you want to play one of these elven races in competitive tournament play, as well as if you are trying to find out what the best elven race for your play style.

What is an elf?

If you are new to the warhammer world your asking yourself, well what classifies you as an elf. Is it the pointy ears on the model? is it the fact that the book says elves on it? The answer is quite obvious.

In the warhammer fantasy realm, an elf is classified as having an above average movement value (to represent their fast nature) as well as an above average initiative (also representing their quick nature in combat) They are usually strength and toughness 3 (representing they are still fragile) with some of the more battle hardened elves getting up there in terms of strength and toughness.

In 40k with all the movement values for the basic troops being equal, an elf is classified by its higher than average initiative, as well as the speed to which it's vehicles move, as well as it's fragility. They are also strength and toughness 3 which can be a problem in a world of space marines with strength and toughness 4.

The fantasy realm has 3 different "variations of elves" You have your Wood elves, Your Dark Elves, and your High elves. Each of these have their own flavor and play style which will be covered later on in this article.

40k Just has the two versions, the Eldar, and the dark eldar. These intermix fluff from all 3 of the fantasy elven races and just changes elf to eldar. their basic philosophy still remains.

Fantasy Elves:

Wood elves:

Wood elves are the oldest of the elven books. their design scheme is based around moving and shooting and dancing around the enemy, their combat units consist of trees and they feel very druidic.

They have a problem in this current edition that is based around the fact that their book was written for 2 editions ago. They can not take full advantage of the rules in 8th edition as well as several changes to the generic rules via FAQs. They also die in droves if gotten into combat due to if the unit they are fighting is not destroyed, remaining models can "strike back" causing them to just crumble and die. They are also all over priced when it comes to points total.

There is hope that they will be getting a new book soon in the year 2014, but unless your name is Tom Richards, play in the european tournament scene.. I would stay far away from them

Dark Elves:

Dark elves are the second oldest elf book, coming out in 2008/2009. It is also my army that I know and love. The Design scheme around the dark elves relies on balance and synergy as well as every model in the army having Hatred (re roll failed rolls to hit in the first round of combat). They also have the hardest hitting elves outside of the hero choices (cold one knights with str 4 and toughness 3) as well as monsters that make everyone cry (the hydra/Pegasii). They also have some tricks in their army as well, one being a reverse ward save, as well as being able to roll as many power dice to cast a spell that they want as they are not limited to the 6 dice per spell attempt. They also can add extra dice by killing a model in the unit if the wizard has a certain item. They have excellent shooting in the form of repeater xbows and their core units are still the cheapest elves out of the group.

They have a problem in this current edition as well. They are still priced for the old editions and rely on magic(shadow in particular) more so than the other elven races. This can cause some issues due to the fickle nature of the winds of magic.  I can not tell you how many times I needed to get off a mind razer in order to stand up to an opponents hammer/anvil unit, only to not get it off. They also die in droves with the average armor save of non lord/hero characters being a 5+ with little to no access to a ward save (outside of a 225 point cauldron of blood on one unit) They are the glass in the glass cannon, although their damage output when all the synergies (cauldron, spells etc) hit turn them into tactical nukes in your opponents army. They were one of the armies for the longest time that people hated to fight against, but this hatred has subsided with subsequent releases of other 8th edition armies.

They are rumored to be getting a new book in october(which I will buy and completely dissect here when it's released) and I hope that not only do they retain the competitiveness of the old book, but also new toys to play with.

High Elves:

High elves are the newest book in the line of elves. The design scheme around the high elves focuses on medium mass units (with their marital prowess rule causing them to fight in an additional rank) as well as focusing on ward saves(through the lore attribute of high magic) as well as hard hitting monsters. They also have always strike first, which means that they will strike before you, even against other elves. this in turn gives them access to a re-roll to hit on every round of combat if their initiative is equal to or higher than yours (which unless fighting other elves, is always)

I would go into the problems they have in this edition, except that, with this being a new book, there are no problems with the book. It's beautifully written, the whole book synergizes real well with itself, and there is no "one list to win them all". There are some units tho that can be tough to deal with (phoenix guard/Frostheart phoenix/Any unit with banner of the world dragon vs your all magic attack army) but overall the variations on the lists are what makes me have hope for my dark elves. Want to run a monster mash list with dragons? You can do it. Calvary list? ok. Doing wood elves better than wood elves? Of course! The possibilities are endless and there are no bad units if you look at them individually. There are some that are only bad when you compare them to what you want to do to fill the slot, and that's never a bad thing!

Ranking the elves for competative play:

These rankings are assuming the same level of generalship.

The first one is the high elves. They are the new book on the block, but they also are designed for this edition in terms of its points cost, and flexibility. there are no bad army builds and it's ability to make a super competative list without looking like a dick is just amazing.

A close second is my dark elves. They do have their issues, but over all there's no bad unit. There are some units in the book that you HAVE to take(Cauldron of blood bsb) to be competitive tho, which is a major issue I have that will hopefully be cleaned up in the new book.

I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry wood elf players.. your better confined to hiding in a corner and crying because your army book is not competitive in this current edition. There is a good double flee list, but even that is one dimensional and boring.

40k:

Note: I am only focusing on the army as a whole, Allies will not be mentioned

Dark Eldar

This is the army that I have played for the longest time in 40k, back when the book was 12 years old. Their strength relies on hard hitting poison shots, as well as its high mobility. The army is very fragile with the common jokes about the vehicles being tissue paper with nuclear reactors strapped to them. They have excellent close combat units and are relatively cheap.

The problem they have in this edition, and the reason I have currently shelved them and gone on the bandwagon of another elf army (see recent blog posts) is that they are TOO fragile with not enough cannon. They can not take on air effectively and their anti tank capabilities die to fast. They have ONE competitive build that can even stand up to armies  in the current 6th edition meta..

Eldar

Newest codex. Their design philosophy is lots of effective shooting, with synergy and flexibility (notice a theme?) as well as tough to kill skimmer tanks.

There are no downsides I can currently see from my observations of recent games of 40k. It might be a new codex syndrome, or the sign of gw's increasing focus on building books that synergize well within itself, but there are no bad army builds. You can literally throw the units on the wall with upgrades and make it effective. I forsee the popular "serpent spam" will cause many a people fits.

Rankings:

Eldar are obviously the most competative of the two. I forsee them to win a majority of tournaments even after people get over the new codex smell..

Dark eldar need work that only a new codex can provide. It has one tournament build and even that one can be boring to play against most of the top tier armies.

Conclusions:

When it comes to picking your elven army in each of the gaming systems you have to focus on what you want the army to do, and the fluff behind it. Each have their strengths, each have their weaknesses, but over all, being an elf is fun!