The Dark Elves - Army Tactics

Army Strengths

  • The dark elves have an excellent array of elite infantry and cavalry in the form of Elf spearmen, warriors and cavalry. All of these troops have good armour, melee skill, strength, speed and morale.
  • Dark Elf missile fire is versatile and deadly. Their longbows have missile skill 3, range 27” and strength 2. They are ideally suited to cutting down enemy elite troops at long range. They also have an advantage in a missile duel as they far outrange most other missile troops. When the enemy are in closer range, the double crossbows can unleash a devastating volley of high strength attacks. Each elf with a double crossbow fires as well as two human crossbowmen. Most deadly are the Night Hunters that fire at skill 3 and infiltrate.
  • The Dark Elf army has some of the most deadly melee infantry in the game. Their berserkers have 3 skill 3 attacks per base and can devastate even elite units in a single turn. The Assassins have melee skill 4 and inflict d3 wounds with their attacks and are deadly against cavalry and monsters. They also infiltrate and shoot darts that also do d3 wounds and can therefore be a nasty surprise to flying monsters.
  • Dark Elves have access to very cheap slave units that are ideal targets for chaos, fire and death magic spells. Spells such as flame breath, berserk and aura of chaos can turn a cheap unit of slaves into a powerful threat. Similarly, spells such as dark channelling can turn slave units into inescapable tar pits for your enemy’s best troops. As each slave dies, a fresh skeleton warrior rises to take his place.
  • Dark Elf characters are powerful warriors. Their lords have evasion 2 and morale 11.

Army Weaknesses

  • Elves are expensive in points and even with units of slaves; the Dark Elf army will rarely outnumber its opponents.
  • Many of the Dark Elves’ best troops such as berserkers, Night Hunters, Mounted Night Hunters and Assassins are extremely expensive and lightly armoured. Their loss will usually be a huge blow to the Dark Elf player and will therefore need to be used carefully.
  • The Dark Elf army lacks any truly heavy cavalry. None of their cavalry have armour over 3. In addition, their most useful cavalry unit, the mounted Night Hunters are an elite choice.