2250 High Elves (comped list)

[clangerman]

Hi folks, this is the list I'm planning to use for the next while. I mainly play in comped tournaments (9PD, no triple specials, double rares... style of thing) and the club I sometimes play at, most people take reasonable armies so should be fine there too.

Archmage (Level 4)
2x Scroll, Ring of Fury, Silver Wand
Noble Battle Standard Bearer
Reaver Bow
Great Weapon, Dragon Armour and Shield

10 Archers
10 Archers


5 Dragon Princes
Musician
5 Dragon Princes
Musician
12 Swordmasters
Champion and Standard
Lion Banner and Gem of Fire
12 Swordmasters
Champion and Standard
Banner of Balance
15 Phoenix Guard
Champion and Standard
Banner of Sorcery and Gem of Courage
Tiranoc Chariot

RBT
RBT
Eagle
Eagle

Heroes
Standard Archmage set up but from what I have tried out seems the best option. Toyed with the extra mage but have found putting another unit on the table has been more beneficial. 5 Spells has generally been enough, though I have failed to roll the big spell I wanted a couple of times, just need to learn to play around it and take a lore which has enough things I want to cast. Magic defence is quite light, I'm not the hugest fan of High Magic either (rarely has the game winning spells, but is quite a steady choice when I'm up against Daemons but not a lot else). Reaver bow carrying BSB has been gold, the bow makes me use him a lot more with the infantry, unlike the mounted Helm of Fortune + Amulet of Light set up which had me running him out too much. Its great for constantly whittling away at the small annoyance units to aid the archers and RBT.

Core
2x 10 Archers. Not a lot to say, tried Spearmen an wasn't a fan when there are elites which do the infantry job much better. Yet to paint some Seaguard but I think I prefer the archers range.

Specials
2 Units of 5 DPs evolved into that since my unit of 6 (with Banner of Ellyrion and Amulet of Light, Wraith Guard TM) just was too expensive for an annoying but rare situation. Hitty but cheap.
Chariot is mainly used for hanging round near war machines to scare off any soft flyers or fast cav, also backs up as infantry support. In some situations I've used it for suicide missions on war machines and the like.
Phoenix Guard are a nice sized block. I needed something reliable to house the Banner of Sorcery and often the Archmage. They are also the only block I have in the list and usually do a decent job of holding up stuff with the BSB nearby (esp if I whip out the Gem of Courage).
2x 12 Swordmasters (immune to fear), mainly there since I like the idea of them so painted them up first but have been serving pretty well. I don't like the small units of them so I think the slightly larger size sees they actually get to perform their task. Having them both immune to fear is pretty handy since they work great against Daemons and Undead (LD8 isn't particularly good so best not rely on it). They are shooting magnets however and this sometimes means I have to go out my way to protect them (often using magic to do so). Gem of fire is a useful little item to catch out Bloodthirsters (all 3 of my infantry blocks can be made to be Bloodthirster repellent, 4+ Ward PG Champ, Gem of Fire Swordmaster and BSB in the oher Swordmasters), its also handy to stop low level magic missiles on a unit that suffers badly from panic. Maybe one could be White Lions, not sold on them yet.

Rare
Standard. Might try 3 RBT one day.

Things I'd like but can't seem to fit
Musician for the Phoenix Guard
Amulet of Light on the Immune to Psych Swordmasters
Maybe a mount for the BSB, though I'd be tempted to give him Mask of the Merlord and leave him on foot.

[SpellArcher]

It's a nice list.

5 Spells has generally been enough, though I have failed to roll the big spell I wanted a couple of times, just need to learn to play around it and take a lore which has enough things I want to cast.

This is the beauty of the support caster, that he can pick spells to compensate if you don't roll the big'un. Solo Archmage is obviously well viable though.

Magic defence is quite light

You should be fine at this comp level if you pick and choose your dispels IMHO.

Reaver bow carrying BSB has been gold, the bow makes me use him a lot more with the infantry, unlike the mounted Helm of Fortune + Amulet of Light set up which had me running him out too much. Its great for constantly whittling away at the small annoyance units to aid the archers and RBT

Reaver BSB makes an awful lot of sense in an Archmage list. I'd consider Talisman of Loec for when you really need to kill things. This is a big advantage over Ring of Fury on this guy, that you can take an Enchanted Item.

tried Spearmen an wasn't a fan when there are elites which do the infantry job much better

There's a case for taking Spears if you want a couple of blocks. You then 'save' the pts on the second Archer unit and they are obviously cheaper than elites.

its also handy to stop low level magic missiles

Yep, bound MM's we're looking at you!