All About the Wave 8: Elves.

[LittleEllzie]

First off, this is my first post so, please excuse the noobness)
I'm curious as to what your guy's favorite strad. Is using the Wave 8 elves?
What other figures do you like to use with them? Etc. etc. Anything about them, put here!

[lefton4ya]

Welcome LittleEllzie! There is a lot on this site, so feel free to poke around, and don't be shy: we are a generally friendly bunch. I highly recommend when looking for specific things to use the Search function at the top of the page and click on advanced search and change "Search Entire Post" to "Search Titles Only" In this case you probably never would have found it though as you would have to search for Elven and I remember helping 3 or 4 people in the past looking for Elvish strategies not thinking to search for Elven, so don't worry it would stump an experienced person here and not just a "noob". Anyways, read How to choose, and use, the Elven Army which answers your question.
To put it succinctly, there is a 3 different options for Elven/Elfen armies:

• Elf Wizard Pod, consisting of Ulginesh, Emiroon, and as much other heroes as you can afford. Basically keep them huddled in a mass and move as a group to bolster their defense.
• Elf Squads: 3 or more squads of either Warriors of Ashra or Aubrien Archers, maybe with one or two Elf heroes as support, although Raelin is good with either, Krav Maga or other unique ranged hero or squad is good with WoA, and Venoc Warlord is good with Aubrien Archers
• Elves as ranged support: Basically a mostly melee non-elf army that has one or two ranged elves in it: namely Sonlen, Syvarris, Jorhdawn, or Chardris, or maybe Kyntela Gwyn if you have 20 points leftover, especially with the Valiant 4th Mass.

Also, check out the C3V's Haduc, and also my Competitive Unit Alters, for which I have slightly tweaked versions of all the elves to make them a lot better, mostly by adding Evasive 1 to almost all the elves, as elves are usually outgunned by an army with a lot of range.

[LittleEllzie]

Many thanks!

[IAmBatman]

Ulginesh is probably my favorite Valhallascape Unique Hero. I love how he puts the "Hero" back in Heroscape by letting you comprise decent armies of all Unique Heroes. He was definitely a huge inspirational touchstone for how C3G Superheroscape has developed (I'm looking at you, Professor X!).

His sculpt is pretty cool too.

[Cleon]

I used to think the Elves (heroes) were not competitive, but after playing them seriously they're actually pretty decent. There's one rule of thumb, though, I feel - Raelin. Raelin gives them their desperate survivability, which is huge because once one Elf hero falls it hurts you enormously. The great thing is it's ridiculously easy to keep them in Raelin's aura and keep Raelin where the opponent can't get to her (depending on map, of course).

I'd say the core of the army is:

Ulginesh 150pt.
Raelin 80pt.
Jorhdawn 100pt.
Chardris 90pt.

This gives you the necessary base of networking with Ulginesh and survivability with Raelin. And Jorhdawn and Chardris are your power.

Unfortunately with Elf Wizards, each of the necessary ones are pretty pricy and doesn't give you a lot of room. In 500pt. you only have 80pt. left, and I wouldn't bother trying to run it in a 400pt. or 450pt. format, there's just not enough room. Even 500pt. isn't that comfortable, I feel a 530pt.+ format is more appropriate. But, fortunately Arkmer and Kyntela Gwyn are cheap:

Ulginesh 150pt.
Raelin 80pt.
Jorhdawn 100pt.
Chardris 90pt.
Arkmer 50pt.
Kyntela Gwyn 20pt.

That about rounds it for 500pt. (just add Isamu or Otonashi)

If you're looking for a bit less reliance on Jorhdawn/Chardris I'd add Marro Warriors instead of Arkmer, but still keep Kyntela Gwyn.

Emirroon is a cool unit, but I don't advise using him with the Elf Wizards competitively. Unless you're playing in a crazy high point format like 700 or 800pt. or something, he's not worth the points (even then you probably need more power to go up against other armies of that point value). You should spend the 80pt. on Raelin for the much-needed survivability.

In a bit higher point format, like 530pt. or 550pt. or something, you have some cool options for backup power, like the Krav or Nakitas or Stingers x2. Or both Arkmer/Marro Warriors. A Hydra would actually be really nasty circling around the pod protecting against a melee army (as it like always is).

I think the perk that comes with the Elf Wizard build is it doesn't mind going very, very slow. Let your opponent come to you, even if you're not in the most ideal spot on the map. It's better to keep your pod methodically together, and Raelin nicely behind the Elf pod, but still in helping range. You can take wounds from the Wannok glyph, or them gaining position, just make sure your unison is alive and apparent.

I've never tried a bunch of rats (deathreavers) with the Elf Wizard pod in place of Raelin for protection, but I imagine it will be troublesome for Jorhdawn.

I hope this helps!

[TREX]

My one brother used an elf wizard army at his last tournament and got creamed. I beat him also with my army. Biggest downfall is they have to stick close together and they have low defense/survivability. So as cleon says maybe raylin could make them do better.

[Cleon]

Originally Posted by TREX

My one brother used an elf wizard army at his last tournament and got creamed. I beat him also with my army. Biggest downfall is they have to stick close together and they have low defense/survivability. So as cleon says maybe raylin could make them do better.

What build did he run exactly?

Yeah, and there are definitely some match ups that will be troublesome because of the ideal 'clump' strategy, like Zelrig or Deathwalker 9000. Syvarris or Laglor-builds would also be annoying to face because they can outrange you, and you're not very mobile.

[TREX]

@Cleon , I'm pretty sure he ran this build:

Ulginesh,150
Arkmer 50
Haduc 100
Emiroon 80
Jordahn 100
Kyntela 20
It has been awhile though.

[TheAverageFan]

Originally Posted by Cleon

Emirroon is a cool unit, but I don't advise using him with the Elf Wizards competitively. Unless you're playing in a crazy high point format like 700 or 800pt. or something, he's not worth the points (even then you probably need more power to go up against other armies of that point value). You should spend the 80pt. on Raelin for the much-needed survivability.

I think Emirroon is underrated. He's the one that bridges the gap between the Wizards and the other Elves, should you be running Syvarris, Sonlen, Elaria, or any squads. Of course Raelin is hard to compete with for the same points, but still.

~TAF

[Cleon]

Originally Posted by TREX

@Cleon , I'm pretty sure he ran this build:

Ulginesh,150
Arkmer 50
Haduc 100
Emiroon 80
Jordahn 100
Kyntela 20
It has been awhile though.

Haduc's a really great option, and if C3V is allowed then I'd include him as a staple. (Because LittleEllzie is new I didn't want to add confusion talking about C3V)

Still, I'd spend Emirroon's points on either Raelin or other fire power.

Originally Posted by TheAverageFan

I think Emirroon is underrated. He's the one that bridges the gap between the Wizards and the other Elves, should you be running Syvarris, Sonlen, Elaria, or any squads. Of course Raelin is hard to compete with for the same points, but still.

~TAF

Emirroon isn't that bad at what he does - bring the Elves together. But my advise is if you play the Elves slowly, you can always keep them together nicely. I just think the 80pt. should be spent on other things that the Elves desperately need.

I like your last sentence, though. I don't want to sound like if you're spending 80pt. on a figure and it's not Raelin, then it's bad. That's a close minded thing you could say with any army. However, in this case, I really think you need her. That extra defense is key.

[TheAverageFan]

It's true. Actually, what I forgot to mention, Emiroon is the best of the bunch to go without the others (Arkmer is also great). He's good in a non-Wizard Elven army too, so maybe that's where he fits in best, at least when trying to be mobile.

~TAF

[vegietarian18]

I've been playing Elves a bit in this Classic League. I was forced to not play Emiroon because of the point total and restrictions on what figures could be brought (essentially, I have Morsbane instead of Emiroon in an otherwise standard full wizard build).

I actually am starting to think Emiroon is not worth the points at all. He just doesn't offer the actual damage that other Elves can. Yes, having your Elf pod teleported into place is convenient, but I don't think it really contributes much to your win condition. It can actually often be a downside; quite often with the Elf Wizards you want to abuse their range and you can't really do that if you are teleporting towards your opponent! In addition, his offensive power once in battle is worse than every single Elf besides Kyntela, and he's pure melee. I just don't think the +5-10 defense dice you may get throughout the course of the game thanks to Emiroon's teleportation power is worth the 80 point price tag.

I think in every single matchup having Raelin or two squads of Rats would help the Wizards more than Emiroon ever could.