High Elves: Brainstorm #5

Where are my dragons?!

Disaster has struck.  I will not be getting my book or minis anytime soon because of GW stock shortages in North America.  I don't know what the case is, but it seems like the same thing happened with Tau.  Damn the luck.  Regardless, here's the final part of the book review as we close to release date.  I'll probably release one more article tomorrow detailing army lists because I won't have my frozen turkeys to put on the table! FFFFFFFFFFFFF

Special Characters

Tyrion - 3/5
Well, I don't have much to say here.  He's still really well armored, fast as all hell and can take a lot of damage.  The real solid thing is that he's now off a monster base and his rules have been cleared up.  With a 18" IP, he's a pretty solid general on the battlefield.  However, you're paying an awful a lot of points for someone who puts out barely enough damage over a S7 Prince.  A little bit of a shame for the greatest warrior in the known world I'd say.  Sure, he doesn't really die, Sunfang needs to do a little more than just shoot out a S4 breath attack once a game.  D3 wounds or something man.

Teclis - 3.5/5
I am a bit sad.  Why?  Because my favorite SC in all of Warhammer have been nerfed into the dirt.  I'll say it flat out:  I'd rather see Teclis stay the same and be banned in every single comped game than to see him like this.  Overall, not bad terrible because they lowered his price and made him a Lv.5 Wizard.  His staff has completely changed so instead of being a one-man magic phase, he's now a second-string Slaan who becomes even punier after one round of good magic.  His spell flexibility has changed a lot; gaining either Loremaster High Magic with +6 to cast due to Lileath's Blessing, or 8 spells from each of the 8 lores.  Oh, and he also keeps his Scroll of Hoeth so you can have two scrolls in your army if you take him and a supporting mage.  Overall, not bad.. but for 450 big ones, I will pass on Teclis in this edition.

Alith Anar - 3.5/5
For his new points cost of 250, Alith is worth looking at.  His BS7 and S7 D3 wounds no AS Quick to Fire Moonbow at 36" is something really special.  Shadow Crown gives him and his unit Swiftstride, Stone of Midnight provides Alith with a 4+ Ward and enemies shooting at the unit suffers -1 to hit.  The only thing I wish is that they gave him a Great Weapon, or in fact, gave all Shadow Warriors Great Weapons.  As fast as he is with that I9 ASF, he's still swinging with a regular hand weapon.  Boo..


Eltharion the Grim - 3.5/5
Overall, not bad I'd say.  Stormwing now comes with ASF and Eltharion is still a slightly buffed up Prince.  S6 no AS from Fangsword, MR1 and counts as Lv.2 Wizard that can use any of the 8 lores.  His helm gives both him +1AS and 5+ ward to him and Stormwing.  Not the best, but definitely not the worst.  Griffons have improved slightly because of their points and such, and Stormwing is definitely a stronger Griffon with his stats as well.

Korhil - 3/5
I can't say I'm too happy with what they did to Korhil.  Everything stays the same minus the fact that he's now 10 points more expensive.  I was really hoping he would get something to compensate the fact that he's a SC with only a 4+ AS and is supposed to be in close combat.  I don't get this philosophy.. at least make him dangerous enough to threaten everything with HKB or give him a dodge save.  Even with Stubborn, I can't justify ever taking him over someone more armored.  A shame because I really like the model/character too.

Caradryan - 4/5
Saw a minor points decrease, a few nerfs, but generally makes up for it with the fact he can take a +1A Frostheart Phoenix named Ashtari as a mount.  He's now MR1 but gains ItP and 4+ Ward via Witness to Destiny.  His Halberd still kicks ass with D3 wounds S5 Flaming, but his suicide trick is now D3 wounds no AS instead of D6.  I guess GW was tired of him purposely dying to a Chaos Lord and making back double his points.  Regardless, his ability to take a Ashtari in the Hero slot makes him a great choice.  With MR1 on Ashtari's 5++, we're looking at a solid 4++ vs. MMs.

Alarielle - 4.5/5
I'm going to flat out say it:  She's really damn good.  She gives the entire unit 5+ ward vs. non-magic attacks.  Her entire unit is Immune to Fear and Terror and deal magical attacks.  And she can mix and match her spells from Life, Light or High Magic.  She still needs to roll for those spells.  Let's face it, she has a bunch of other special rules that changes the army dynamics immensely.  She unlocks a magical banner that gives spell cast from Lore of Light and Life +4 to cast.  An item that gives +1 to hit on all shooting and CC for the remainder of the turn.  Can once a game pop her staff to allow her to cast a spell she already cast that turn.  And she heals a friendly character every one of her movement phases.  Just loaded with rules, some for fluff, some for use, but all of which are all quite good.  Shit, she even has HKB vs. Forces of Destruction with her beastly 1 attack.  For a little more than an AM with Book of Hoeth, she's definitely the best SC in the book.

Magic Items

Blade of Leaping Gold - 1/5
Trash, really?  You wasted one of our magic slots for this?  At 70 points, I can't even buy any good combo pieces off it and take protection for my lord-level character.  +3 attacks and 6s ignore armor, whatever man.

Star Lance - 4/5
For 30 points, this is a strong buy.  The fact that you can use a GW after you charge is only icing on the cake.  +3S no AS and you get your nice ASF re-rolls, this is a mounted Noble/Prince's dream weapon.  Solid for the points and allows you to stack on more defensive gear.  Something you actually need in today's meta.

Reaver Bow - 4/5
It's really cheap and it's good.  Shoots from 30" away, is a +1S bow with Multiple Shots 3.  Pop a Potion of Strength and have it it man.  Everyone can be like Alith for a turn, sorta.

Shadow Armor - 1.5/5
Light armor sucks man.  5+ AS, Scouts, Strider.  I'm really excited.  Still better than Blade of Leaping Shit.

Armor of Caledor - 4/5
2+ AS, 6+ Ward, Fireborn 2+ ward vs. Fire.  Not a bad item and it will see play on every single important walking dude.  This gives us two 2+ AS to put on our guys, and arguably the BSB's/Loremaster's best friend.  Solid all the way through.

Shield of the Mermrym - 3.5/5
Strong defensive choice, gives you a 4+ Parry and is dirt cheap.  You can't use a 2H weapon with this, but if you're taking a combo piece like +3S Sword + this, it's not a bad idea.  Allows you to equip things you otherwise wouldn't because it's a ridiculous way to offer a pseudo-ward in close combat.

Golden Crown of Atrazar - 4/5
I don't know about you guys, but I like this little piece.  It's incredibly cheap and gives you a 2+ ward vs. the first wound taken.  Great if you don't want to spend points on a more expensive ward, and allows you to escape KBs, multiple wounds or some other unforseen action on your mage for example.  The price is the big seller here.

Moranion's Wayshard - 2/5
It's pretty expensive for something I'd rather see in the Wood Elves book.  Gives a unit of 30 Spears or Archers Ambush and he must be in that unit.  Sure, I guess you can do something crazy with it, but that demands that you do something crazy.

Khaine's Ring of Fury - 4/5
It's cheap, it's good, and it has Soul Quench Bound Level 3.  A great offensive tool that when cast, activates the Shield of Saphery Lore Attribute.  Sounds like a good deal man.

Gem of Sunfire - 1.5/5
A pretty limited once per game item.  Sure, all of your flaming attacks (including your mount) does +1 to wound, but are you Tyrion?  Or maybe someone who's in a unit with the Flaming Banner?  This just screams Dragon Mage to me and you all know how I feel about that flying poopsicle.

Cloak of Beards - 2.5/5
First of all, why are you not +1AS?  It gives you Fear, which is cool.  Terror vs. Dwarfs, which is great, but I hate it when you hate on a particular enemy.  In turn, Dwarfs gain Hatred vs. you because you're wearing his grandfather's scalp on your face.  Seems a little mean when you can just challenge someone from the Dwarf army and if he's stupid enough to accept, at the start of the CC phase just roll a 4+ for each of his runic items to be destroyed.  Sounds beardy.  GET IT?

Book of Hoeth - 4.5/5
This is a really great item.  You will see this on every single Loremaster or Archmage from now until the next book.  It allows you re-roll a dice from each one of your casting and dispelling attempts.  Do you know how many spells you can push out now and escape broken concentration at the same time?  It's just insane how much versatility this item has.  The best part is that you can fit this in with a 2+ AS on the Loremaster or 4+ Ward on the AM.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Banner of the World Dragon - 5/5
One of the best magic items in the game.  Can be taken on all of our Elite choices pretty much and allow for absurd polar imbalances vs. particular armies (Daemons of Chaos).  Your entire unit gains a 2+ ward vs. all magic spells, attacks and weapons.  Yes, you can tank whatever magic weapon your opponent brings with even the puniest of Elves.  It's extremely powerful vs. armies that have a lot of magic missiles, magic attacks and magic weapons, but it's pretty worthless if your opponent takes none of those.  A poorly designed item I'd say, but it'll see play in almost army list that's not banned because of its points-efficiency and matchup potential.