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"Welcome, young Gentlemen. The class today will be on the Dark Elves and their fell tactics and creatures. Now listen up, as I do not like to repeat myself, and you will be quizzed on this before the class ends and the results of that quiz reported to your superiors and the Emperor. Now be quiet and listen so I can get this over with and go back to my important studies...."
The Dark Elf race was born in war, a conflict that has continued for more than 5000 years. The roots of this terrible war lie with one being, Malekith, the Son of Aenarion, the first of the High Elf Phoenix Kings, and the mysterious and beautiful Seeress Morathi. He grew to be a mighty warrior and a great sorcerer. What no one knew was that Malekith had been secretly experimenting with the power of Dark Magic, and that his contact with its evil energies had corrupted him and created in him an overwhelming desire for supreme power. Due to the changes in Malekith's appearance and behaviour caused by his experiments with the Dark power, he was passed over for Phoenix King upon Aenarion's death and the crown of the Phoenix Kings was given to Bel-Shanaar.
Malekith finally claimed that Bel-Shanaar was a secret worshipper of the Chaos Gods, and then had him poisoned. Believing that all he now had to do was crown himself the new Phoenix King, Malekith marched into the Sacred Flame of the god Asuryan, the final test that each Phoenix King has to pass to prove their worthiness for the crown. The Flame of Asuryan would not suffer his polluted body to pass through it. Horribly scarred and burned, Malekith was cast back onto the side of the platform he had entered from.
Malekith and his followers fled to their stronghold in the mountains to the north of Ulthuan. Leaderless, the Elves did not purse. Frantic consultations were held and it was decided that the third Phoenix King was to be Imrik, who upon his succession took the name Caledor the first. Civil war raged throughout Ulthuan. It was a period of great confusion and conflicting rumour. Brother fought brother. In the far realms and colonies no one knew who the true King was, some spoke for Caledor, some spoke for Malekith. War raged, the two sides evenly matched. The followers of Malekith were numerous and well versed in sorcery, being descendents of those grim Elves who had followed Aenarion after he took up the Sword of Khaine. There were no fiercer warriors among Elven kind.
Malekith himself recovered his strength and called his armourers to him. With the aid of the sorcerers he had trained in the Arts of the Dark Magic, and Hotek, a renegade priest of Vaul, he forged a great suit of black armour, which would lend strength to his withered and fire-blasted body. To the brow of its great horned helm was welded the Circlet of Iron. On the day of its creation, he had his armourers fuse the suit directly to his body.
From this great conflict were born the Dark Elves of Naggaroth. These fell warriors in battle prefer to use guile and cunning to defeat their enemies, rather than pure brute force. Dark Elf armies have large numbers of the infamous Dark Elf Scouts and Dark Rider cavalry. These troops range ahead of the main army, spreading fear and confusion and reporting back with information on the enemy's deployment. If at all possible, the Dark Elves will use this information to draw the enemy into a trap or ambush.
Although the majority of Dark Elves are warriors by nature and inclination, this is not true for all of them. The Dark Elves are a race touched by magic power, and Dark Elf Sorcerers have become the ultimate masters of Dark Sorcery.
The Dark Elves worship the Bloody-Handed God, Khaine, or Khaela Mensha Khaine, as he is known in the Elven tongue. He is the Elf God of War, Murder, Hatred, and Destruction. He is the Destroying God, who represents to the Elves the fact that in order for there to be life, there must also be death. In order to have peace, there must also be war. In order to have happiness, there must also be suffering and sorrow. In order to have love, there must also be hatred and murder.
For the Dark Elves, there is only one god, Khaine, because in their lives there is only death, war, suffering, hatred and murder. They have no time for life, peace, happiness or love, and thus no time for the Elven Gods that represent these virtues. The Dark Elves have given themselves entirely to the worship of Khaine. They let their dark sides control their lives and actively seek oppurtunites to cause death and carnage. They revel in their wickedness and gratify it at every oppurtunity.
Within Dark Elf society, there are a number of religious cults commited to the dark rites of their god. Of these, the Witch Elves are by far the most numerous and renowned. They worship Khaine's warlike aspect, taking frenzied joy in the destructiveness and mayhem of bloody battle. They are the brides of Khaine, beautiful but deadly, cruel and uncaring, their bodies leath and strong.
The Dark Elves raid out of Naggaroth on the great Black Arks of Naggaroth. These great floating fortresses, which were at one time built upon mountains of solid rock, and are now the scourge of the seas. They are held together by titanic binding enchantments that allow them not only to float but to be navigated. They are the mightiest seagoing vessels in the Warhammer World. They are enormous sinister floating fortresses, covered in eldritch carvings which are painful to behold.
The Black Arks range across the oceans of the Warhammer World, bringing fear, terror and destruction with them. They make raids to capture the great many slaves used by the Dark Elves either to carry out the multitude of menial but vital tasks that no self-respecting Dark Elf would ever deem of performing or to serve as the living victims of the hideous rituals the Dark Elves carry out to honour Khaine.
All Dark Elves are subject to the rules for hatred when fighting High Elves. They also cause fear in Goblin units, unless the Goblins outnumber them 2 to 1. Both of these rules can be used to advantage.
The following is taken from a captured Dark Elf tactical manual brought to these halls through the daring and sacrifice of our agents.
Dark Elf General
Your army must include a general to lead it. I would equip him with heavy armour to improve his survivability.
Dark Elf Battle Standard
The Dark Elf Battle Standard is very important to the army, and you should give it a magic standard chosen to give the most aid versus the opponent you are facing, so give some thought to this.
Dark Elf Heros
The Dark Elf Hero is used much as any other hero to strengthen units.
Witch Elf Heros are very useful frenzied killing machines, but remember, they only have a Toughness of 4. I normally give Witch Elf Heros a magic sword that gives multiple attacks and/or magic armour or protection items.
Dark Elf Champions
Dark Elf Champions are used as are any other Champions, and are always part of their unit and armed as such. Dark Elf units need Champions, less for Leadership than most armies' units, but they are still useful for their higher WS and BS, also for the magic item they can have.
Dark Elf Sorcerers
Dark Elf Sorceres are the supreme masters of Dark Magic. Dark Magic spells are always dealt first to Dark Sorcerers, before any other wizards recieve their spells. This means a Dark Elf Champion Sorcerer would be dealt his two spell cards before a Necromancer Sorcerer Lord recieved any of his four spells, even though the Necromancer is higher level. Dark Elf Sorcerers have at their disposal some of the best ranged attack spells available. Use their spells to attack and weaken the enemy's best units and/or characters so that your units will have an easier time dealing with them. Use them as support for your units and other characters. Don't go off with them and try attacking the enemy with them alone.
Dark Elf Assassins
You can hide one of these guys in any one of your units of infantry, and they can pounce upon the leaders and characters in your enemy's units as the regiments clash in combat. They have a special poison attack, they may attack any enemy model that they are placed in base-to-base contact with, which you can do by removing a normal figure from your front rank and replacing it with the assassin. They always get to attack first, even if the enemy charged. the Assassin then becomes a permanent part of the unit, and may not leave it, continuing to fight in the front row of the unit.
Cold One Riders
Cold One Knights have a high WS, and they ride the ferocious, but rather stupid, Cold Ones. They are armed with sword, heavy armour, and shield, and you should give them lances. Due to the thick hide and size of the Cold One, they get a +2 modifier to their armour save instead of just +1. Cold Ones also cause fear, and are subject to stupidity until they have been in battle. To overcome the stupidity, I give them the Blood Banner. With a move of 7 and a charge of 14", they make for fast hard-hitting heavy cav that you can also give a Repeating Crossbow to if you wish, but I have not found it very useful for them. I use them to make attacks once a critical point has been found in the enemy's battle line, and/or as my main strike force.
Dark Riders
These are some of the best light cavalry in the Warhammer World. They are only equaled by the Wood Elf Glade Riders. Some would also say the Reaver Knights, but I consider the Reavers move medium cavalry than light. The Dark Riders' job is to sow confusion, strike the enemy with missile fire, and make flank attacks. They can also use their fire and flee many times to draw enemy units into an ambush. This doesn't always work, but when it does, it can have extreme results.
Executioners
The Executioners wear heavy armour and are armed with double-handed axes that cause d3 wounds with each hit, which means they can be devastating heavy infantry. I use these in solid blocks of at least four ranks deep. They can have a magic standard, which I would give them.
Black Guard of Naggaroth
These are some of the best halberdiers that you will find, if not the best, which I think they are. Use them in large units of 24+ formed up four ranks deep to give them the rank bonus. A magic banner chosen to increase the Strength that they hit with or to increase their combat results will make this a very powerful unit.
Dark Elf Crossbowmen
The Repeating Crossbow can be used to fire two shots per round instead of one at a -1 to hit. The problem with the Repeating Crossbow is that it is only a Strength 3, not a S4 like a standard crossbow. They may also choose to fire once or twice if they stand and shoot against a charging enemy. Remember that if you fire at long range you will also take a further -1 for range.
Dark Elf Warriors
Dark Elf Warriors are armed with a sword and wear light armour. You should always give them a shield to increase their survivability. They are basicaly swordsmen and they can be used in large regiments in deep ranks in the line, but my preferred use is in smaller units stationed slightly behind and to the flanks of such units as Black Guard or City Guard and used in a supporting role to engage the enemy unit's flank after my larger unit has made contact with the enemy unit's front.
City Guard
These are basically Spearmen wearing light armour that can be given a Repeater Crossbow instead of their spear at +2 points per model. You can combine Repeating Crossbows and spears in the same unit. You may place crossbows in the front rank with spears in the second rank and the second rank spears can fight from the second rank across the shoulder sof the front rank Repeating Crossbowmen. With this formation you should remove casualties from the front of the unit and fill in resulting gaps with models from the rear rank due to the difference in armament of the ranks. One way to overcome this is four ranks alternating crossbowmen, spearmen, spearmen, crossbowmen, so that you have crossbowmen in your front and rear rank. This can be a very useful unit to support your other line units.
Witch Elves
Witch Elves are frenzied, they are armed with two hand weapons, which will give them three attacks, their weapons are coated with deadly poison, which increases the Strength of their attacks by +1, and of course, they hate High Elves. These are useful for making quick, savage attacks on enemy units, but take care to weaken the enemy units first and don't let the enemy be the one to do the charging. I like to give them a banner that will increase their combat results, which makes them an even meaner unit.
Dark Elf Scouts
They have a BS of 5, good Initiative, they may deploy infiltrated, they may skirmish, they have no penalty for moving through rocky or hilly terrain. I would give them light armour to help increase their survivability. I use several of these units in a battle, set up in such a way as to cause the most disruption and havoc possible in the enemy's lines.
Black Ark Corsairs
I give these units an extra hand weapon and often a Repeating Crossbow. With their Sea Dragon Cloaks giving them a 5+ save that is not modified by Strength of the attacker, they make for very good infantry and I usually form them in large units 4 ranks deep and give them a magic standard to increase their combat ability.
Dark Elf Spearmen
These are basic Elven Spearmen and are only useful in large units for standing in the line of battle.
Harpies
Harpies fly, they have 2 Wounds, but they have poor Leadership and they may not have any characters, standards, or musicians. They cannot even be led by any character. Harpies can be useful as harassing troops, but they are very unreliable.
The Cauldron of Blood
The Cauldron of Blood is an ancient gift from the god Khaine himself, it is redolant with magic and the power of blood sacrifice. The Cauldron is attended by a Hag Queen, who constantly stirs the bubbling contents, and two guardians who fanatically defend the relic against all attackers. The Cauldron itself cannot be harmed but the Hag Queen and the Guardians can be. Hits are randomised between the Cauldron, the Keeper, and the Guardians. The Cauldron has a Move of 5, which means it can keep up with the standard Dark Elf infantry.
The usefulness of the Cauldron is in its abilities to turn any Witch Elf unit within 18" into frenzied, blood lust-driven troops. The effects of this is to increase the effects of the Witch Elves' frenzy so that their attacks are tripled rather than only being doubled as would normally be the case in the first round of combat fought by the Witch Elves. In addition, the magic properties of the Cauldron will protect the Keeper of the Cauldron, the Cauldron's Guardians, and any other Witch Elves that are nearby. Roll a d6 for each Witch Elf within 18" of the Cauldron that is slain. On a roll of 6, the Witch Elf is saved by the magical properties of the Cauldrona nd is not removed as a casualty. this is a magical, rather than armour save, and ignores any saving roll modifiers, and will even apply against attacks that do not normally allow any savings roll.
The Cauldron is very important to the Witch Elves and should never be in the front line but should be instead posted slightly behind the Witch Elves where it will give them its benefits and yet be protected from harm.
Repeater Bolt Thrower
The Dark Elf Repeater Bolt Thrower is cheap even at 100 points. They can have a devastating effect on the enemy, laying down a withering flight of bolts.
The Dark Elves have a good choice of monsters to choose from, and it is one army that should make use of them. There is only one that needs special mention, and that is the War Hydra.
War Hydra
Dark Elf War Hydras have been extensively trained and toughened for battle by a highly skilled Dark Elf Beastmaster. Because of this, its characteristics are higher than those of the Hydra described in the Warhammer Bestiary (in the Warhammer Battle Book), and there are some changes to the breath, fire, and scaly skin rules. The War Hydra causes terror as described in the Psychology section of the Warhammer rulebook. You should familiarize yourself with the breathe fire rule in the Bestiary section of Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves and the scaly skin rule in the same section. At 225 points, with its better WS and Ld than a normal Hydra, it is definitely a good deal points-wise.
The Dark Elves have several very good special characters, and they are very useful to strengthen your army and to give variety and purpose to it if your opponent allows them.
The Witch King of Naggaroth
If Malekith is taken, he must lead your army. Malekith has very good magic items, even if good is an oxymoron when speaking of Malekith, for he is pure evil. He rides in the Black Chariot, which is an awesome scythed Chariot pulled by two Cold Ones.
He wears the Circlet of Iron, which gives him an additional 1 point of magical power each magic phase that can be combined with power cards to cast 2 or 3 point spells. It may also be used as a dispel, treated the same as a dispel card from the magic deck.
The Witch King's Armour confers a 3+ save, which may be combined with shields, mount, and barding, as any other armour, it also gives a -1 subtracted from any opponent's to hit rolls, from hand-to-hand or missile attacks. It does not affect his ability to cast spells in any way.
Spell Shield: This works just as it is on the card in Warhammer Magic.
The Destroyer: If the Destroyer hits a foe who is carrying any magic items and/or who is able to cast spells, the Destroyer will steal their power on a roll of 4 or more on a d6. Take one spell or magic item at random from the enemy character. The character using the Destroyer can use the newly gained power from now on until the Destroyer steals another card.
Special Rules: The Witch King is a Sorcerer Lord and has a Magic level of 4. He is immune to all psychology. The Witch King causes fear.
The Witch King is a very poweful character, and can destroy many characters on his own. He is best used for his magic ability and his Leadership.
The Beastlord Rakarth of Karond Kar
The Beastlord rides a great Black Dragon named Bracchus into battle, from Brachhus' back he wields the Whip of Agony and carries an enchanted shield and wears the armour of fortune.
Special Rules: Beastlord Rakarth is a Beastlord and is an expert at controlling wild monsters and making them do his bidding. If he wins or draws a round of hand to hand combat, then any monster he was fighting will come under his control. Rakarth may not use this ability against any monsters being used as mounts for characters unless the character riding the monster has been killed. If Rakarth is killed, then any monster under his control will revert to the control of their original owner.
Rakarth can be used to strike behind your enemy's lines at their sorcerers, characters, and war machines. He can also be used to attack unridden monsters and take control of them, a very useful ability.
Morathi, the Hag Sorceress
Morathi is a sorcerer lord with a magic level of four. She is allowed to take spells from either the Dark Magic or Slaanesh spell deck. She rides a Dark Pegasus and she is armed with the Dark Sword. She wears an Amber Amulet, and carries a Power Scroll and Dispel Scroll. Due to her ability to use Slaanesh spells, she can be a very dangerous sorceress and makes great support for your other sorcerers and characters.
Kouran, Captain of the Black Guard
You have to include a unit of Black Guard of Naggaroth to include Kouran. For his points cost, Kouran is a very good character. He carries a Blade of Ensorcerelled Iron, and wears Armour of Meteoric Iron.
Crone Hellebron, the Hag Queen
To include Hellebron, you must include one unit of Witch Elves. She always fights in battle mounted on the back of a Manticore, and Hellebron may be the army general if you wish, or she can be included as an additional character. She is a very powerful but very exspensive character, costing 552 points. She carries the Deathsword, Parrying Blade, and wears the Amulet of Fire. She also wears light armour. She is frenzied. Hellebron is an exception to the rules and she carries two magic swords and she can use both of them in hand-to-hand combat at the same time. Like I said, she is a very exspensive character, but she can be devastating to your opponents.
Tullaris of Har Ganeth
You must include the Har Ganeth Executioners to include Tullaris. Tullaris wears heavy armour, carries the Executioner's axe, and has a Black Amulet. For his 223 point cost, he is a little on the high side for his abilities, and he is not one of my favourite characters. If you use him, he must lead the Executioners.
Shadowblade, Master of Assassins
Shadowblade, for 150 points, is a truly monstrous character. He is one of my favourite Dark Elf characters. With his WS 10, BS 10, Initiative 10, and Ld 10, plus his magic items and special rules, he can kill most things. He has the Heart of Woe, and a Potion of Strength that increases his Strength +3 for one turn.
He also has the ability to infiltrate an enemy unit, taking the place of one normal trooper. To do this you roll on a special chart. But be forewarned that if you do this and he is discovered, he may not be used in this battle, and your opponent scores Victory Points as if he had slain him.
The Dark Elves must use their speed and missile fire to advantage if they are to win. They have many troops with good WS's and BS's, but they are Elves, and they are fragile, with only a Toughness of 3, so you must strike fast and strike hard. They have good, fast infantry, which I use in large blocks to compensate for their low toughness. My favourite tactic, when I can get away with it, is a wheeling oblique line.
I use my Scouts to delay and disrupt the enemy wherever I can. I like to set up my Scouts where they have a good line of fire but are protected by cover and kill as many of the enemy with missile fire as possible. After the enemy has been weakened, the Scouts can attack from these positions any unit that is vulnerable. Remember, though, the Repeating Crossbow only has a Strength of 3 and no armour save modifier, so it is best when fired at Toughness 3 troops.
Though the Dark Elf army can put out a lot of missile fire, you cannot generally win a battle with missile fire alone. This is where your Cold One Riders, Black Ark Corsairs, and Witch Elves come in, as shock troops used to Break enemy units and roll up the enemy's line. It is best to concentrate you main attack on one area, preferably a flank of the enemy's line, and destroy or Break his units one after the other, rather than trying to fight all of his units at one time. Remember, you have a hard punch, but not much staying power, so you must deal with each unit quickly, preferably on the very first round of combat, and take the initiative, don't let the enemy be the one to do the charging. Witch Elves should be backed up by the Cauldron of Blood, and your Cold Ones should always have the Blood Banner.
Your line troops are your City Guard, Warriors, and Spearmen, supported by your Crossbowmen. I like the City Guard for use in the line due to their special formation where you can have crossbowmen firing and have spearmen in the same unit fighting, which gives you effectively 2 ranks fighting if they get into hand-to-hand. I use small units of Swordsmen held back slightly on the flanks of my larger units to make a secondary strike onto the flanks of my opponent's units once they are engaged with my main units in hand-to-hand.
I use Dark Riders for flank attacks and mobile missile fire for hit and run missile attacks on my opponent's units.
I also use some Scout units as skirmishers to screen my more exspensive units until they can get into position to charge the enemy.
I try to hide Assassins in units where they can do the most damage, ie units that will be engaging enemy units containing characters, and/or very strong enemy units. Remember your Assassins may only be hidden in ordinary infantry regiments of Dark Elves, not Scouts, and not any mounted regiments, so you must pick a unit that will get engaged, or your Assassins will do nothing for the complete battle.
For the Dark Elf army, to do well your wide variety of troops must be used to support each other and to fulfill a specific task that you have assigned to them. You cannot just charge across the battlefield and hope to win. It takes thought and planning to win a battle with the troops available to a Dark Elf General. If you use them correctly, taking advantage of each troop's strength and covering their weakness through the use of speed and maneuver, the Dark Elf army will win many battles for you. Remember, the key words are Speed, Maneuver, and Cunning. Make your opponent think he knows what you are going to do, and then do something else entirely.
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