Meet The New Bully

So just how strong is the new Dark Elves book?

If you read international WHFB the answer is quite clearly………….very.

Obviously there are an enormous number of variables to consider – victory conditions, scoring system, use of scenarios, acceptability of Special Characters etc. – but the maddening throng are labelling Dark Elves as “the Next Big Thing”.

So why is that opinion emerging?

Well first and foremost it is the new unit – Doomfire Warlocks. Not only are they Fast Cavalry, they also have two poisoned Strength 4 rider attacKs, a 4+ Ward Save, they are also magic users with little or no downside. One spell is Doombolt (and tbh I think the casting value is sufficiently high to reflect its damage output) but the jewel is the second spell, Soulblight. Combined with the Fast Cavalry rule it is easy to get this unit where required to get a bubble Soulblight off at the crucial time. The Horror-esque casting mechanic just makes things more of a risk free option. They also function as a Level 2 caster for magic defense.

So the Warlocks are attracting a lot of heat. Most competitive lists you’ll see two units of 5, all for the not so princely sum of 125 points per unit. For the real adventurous there is an opportunity to create a bus with characters bringing MR2 capability to deliver a 2+ Ward Save against Magic Missiles, DD spells and the like.

But before you go looking under your bed for Warlocks, remember they don’t come unaccompanied. The darlings of 7th Ed, Shades, are still there providing scouting, skirmishing firepower with ASF combat ability. Repeater Bolt Throwers have re-emerged – why wouldn’t you at 70 points – being cheap enough to be expendable. Dark Riders provide more Fast Cavalry (and mobile firepower) while access to magic lores has been expanded so DE can utilise all the eight main colleges. Of course it is hard for them to go past Death and generally your Sorceress will be sniping like a bitch!

If you haven’t got six units of Dark Riders (yet) then you can use Witch Elves to fill out your Core. These little ladies work as throwaway MSU units or Cauldron-ed and Hellebron-ed up to give you a hammer. And not a nice hammer but a filthy, scratchy, poisoned hatchet!

To round it out you get two high end Special Characters with the afore-mentioned Hellebron and the Mother of Tears, Morathi (+8 to cast, gazooks). These are backed up by your amount of 1+ AS, ASF, Pegasus-riding, Great Weapon-toting characters.

And don’t get me started on the Medusa……”those things are broken”*

So no wonder every bandwagonner from Te Atatu Peninsula, Tauranga, Linton, Otaki to the deep South in Invercargill is jumping on the Pain Train! Hang up those Daemon Princes, disperse that Skink Cloud, put the Phoenix back in the freezer, take the book back to the library…..Dark elves are where it’s at!

* The immortal phrase uttered by NZ ETC player Mal Patel at Ruination.