My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

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Eltherion2
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My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#1 Post by Eltherion2 »

Okies first up I changed my account I used to be Eltherion (now Eltherion2).

High Elf Cavalry Tactica 1

I thought I would do a bit of a write up on the mighty Silverhelm and why I love them in my High Elf Armies.

Silverhelms
One reason the Silverhelm is so viable now is it is in the core and therefore not competing for points in the special section of your army lists.
Secondly the Silverhelms have retained their re-rolls when striking in combat, whilst our White lions and Swordmasters have lost the re-rolls. This makes all the riders attacks quite reliable when hitting in close combat (Bretonnians on steroids) and with Strength 5 on the charge this can inflict quite a bit of damage on the right targets.

I always run them with Shields for the 2+ Armor Save and usually run 2 to 3 small units of 5 or 6 at 2.4 to 2.5k games.

Image

Recently I have been running them in units of 6 usually 2 x 3 with a Champion (10 points for an extra re-rollable attack) giving 7 ASF Strength 5 Attacks at WS 4 and Initiative 5, so they tend to get re-rolls to hit vs. a wide variety of troops. You also get 3 I4 horses on the charge and if I get caught in a grind I expand frontage to get the extra horses attacking in subsequent combat rounds (however this may also mean more strikes back at the Helms).

I don't bother with Musicians or Banners as the unit is to small and would give up the Banners too easily. The Muso while handy is generally not needed due to the ability of a 2 X 3 unit to wheel easily. Secondly the +1 to rally doesn't get used much as the Silverhelms either win combat or die in combat.

The Champion is there for the extra attack and the ability to challenge vs.a Solo character allowing the Silverhelms to tie the unit up for longer.

The Silverhelms are also quite a cheap unit so I can throw them into a combat without worrying about losing too many points.

With the change in the Metagame almost Worldwide a lot more chaff units are appearing in peoples armies and the Silverhelms excel at clearing away chaff!

Tactics

Like most cavalry units armed with Lances or Spears it is best to charge the enemy rather than be charged, but pick your targets wisely.

1. Chaff Clearing: Probably the primary role for the Silverhelms is chaff clearing. I will happily charge them into chariots, flyers, scouts, or anything else that needs to be cleared to help dictate the movement phase. Quite often defeating the chaff quickly ensures the Silverhelms either overrun into another combat or can re-position to support other troops.

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2. Board space denial/Counter Charging: Their fast speed makes them almost as fast as a flyer and they therefore have a very long threat range. This means they tend to keep flyers and other cavalry at a distance for fear of being charged by the Silverhelms. The enemy may approach your battle line cautiously for fear of being charged and this can buy more time for your Magic and Shooting to reduce enemy numbers prior to close combat.

3. Flankers: The Silverhelms also make good flankers, so charge them into the flank of an enemy unit if the opportunity arises. Enemy units already in combat to the front with your Phoenix Guard or White lions (or even Spearmen/Seaguard) will be ideal targets for these flank charges. Enemy frenzied units are particularly easy to set up for the flank charges.
Image

4. Warmachine Hunting: A secondary role of the Silverhelms is Warmachine Hunting especially if your Eagles, Reavers or Shadow Warriors are not present to do the job. Also vs. tougher Warmachines such as Dwarf Crews or Hellcannons a harder hitting unit is needed.

5. Shooting Screen: Another useful role is as a screen vs. Shooty Armies such as Wood Elves, Lizardmen, Dark Elves, other High Elves. In this situation the Silverhelms can be out front (5 or 6 wide) and either receive the damage from ballistic skill shooting or give the cover bonus for the squishy troops such as Swordmasters which can advance behind the Silverhelms and get the -2 cover bonus. However be careful the Silverhelms don't get panicked and cause panic tests in the units behind them.

6. The small units of Silverhelms can survive for a time vs. low strength infantry blocks but will lose to Static Combat resolution if caught in a protracted combat vs. larger steadfast blocks eg: Zombies, etc.. The Silverhelms can defeat smaller units of for example 10 Witch Elves, Swordmasters and Leadbelchers which won't get armor saves when the Silverhelms charge.

Image

7. Monster killers?: The Silverhelms can tie up monsters for a while and in this situation I would run the Silverhelms 6 wide to make them Steadfast (1 rank vs. monsters 0 ranks). The important thing about throwing the Silverhelms in vs. a Monster is the cavalry can't be stomped and it keeps the Monster off your infantry for a turn or 2. I have charged an arachnorok and defeated it with the +1 for charging. Something I am yet to try is maybe a mounted Hero (not the BSB) to sit in a unit of Silverhelms and help kill Monsters and high toughness troops but where to find the spare points? Magic buff and debuffs may also assist in this task (see below).

8. Multiple Charges: Obviously when talking about 2 or more units charging an opponents unit the idea is to get more attacks in a given area to improve the chances of winning a combat. The speed of the HE Cavalry in general make combo charges more easy to set up but difficult if the opponent has a lot of chaff left or is also running an MSU style army. A second aspect to double charging a unit is increasing the probability of reaching the intended target of the charge. Two small units of Silverhelms have double the chance of one of them completing the charge compared to a single unit, and this is crucial for cavalry with Lances (+2 Strength on charge). So if an opponent has a key unit I want to get rid of I will often charge 2 or even 3 units at it hoping that at least 1 of my units completes the charge.

9. Kamikaze Charges: This Tactic is for killing enemy Wizards for example a Grey Seer on a screaming Bell. So the idea is to charge the Bell and direct as many attacks as possible at the Grey Seer. So in an ideal situation this would be 7 attacks from the 6 Silverhelms hitting the Seer on 3's (5's if he has the Fencers Blades) and with re-rolls and the horses hopefully killing the Seer out right in 1 round of combat (even if the Seer has a 4+ Ward Save). Other suicidal charges may include trying to kill BSB's or supporting casters. This is a highly risky Tactic and may end up losing you a unit for no reward, but in certain situations may be a game winner.
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10. Character Delivery System: Something I haven't mentioned is the Knight bus builds largely because I play MSU or MMU style lists for High Elves. The knight bus build is certainly viable but if putting "all your eggs in one basket" you certainly need to protect this unit from Magic and Shooting. So to make the Silverhelm bus viable you can either use the BoTWD on your BSB giving the whole unit a 2+ Ward Save vs. Magical attacks or go down the Magic Resistance line with High Magic to buff the units Ward Save. Another viable build uses Lore of Life to help bring back wounds and protect the unit with Regen. I would also recommend the Ironcurse Icon for 6+ Ward Save protection vs. Warmachines, this can be further boosted with High Magic. I will try to find links for more detailed discussion of Knight Bus builds. (Note: This setup doesn't necessarily apply in the what to avoid section below). I should probably mention Dragon Princes at this point as they can have the BoTWD on their unit standard which enables the BSB to have better protective gear than a BSb in a Silverhelm bus.

What to avoid?
1. As mentioned Steadfast high Strength Infantry blocks such as 20+ White Lions, executioners, Dwarves, etc. However even with these troops the Silverhelms will do some damage before dieing.

2. Avoid troops with killing Blow such as Bloodletters.

3. Avoid Stubborn troops eg: White lions unless in small numbers 10 or less.

4. Avoid High Armour save Cavalry or Monstrous cavalry unless in the flank (even then the Silverhelms may lose and bounce off). The 1+ AS Empire Knights will make a mess of small Silverhelm units, so charge with support in these circumstances or avoid the combat altogether and re-direct the opponents unit.

5. Watch out for Doomdivers and Searing Doom (Lore of Metal) and weapons that are high strength or ignore armor saves.

6. At Leadership 8 the Silverhelms are vulnerable to Panic so try to keep them within 12"s of the armies General and/or BSB at least early in the game. This is not always possible or easy to do but worth keeping in mind. When facing Dark Elves it isn't an issue as you get to re-roll failed Panic Tests anyway.

Deployment

Like most cavalry you will usually deploy these units out on the flanks, unless using them as a screen for your main army.

1. You can load up on one flank with lots of Silverhelms supported by Dragon Princes (weighted flank) while the opposite flank may be a denied flank (Reavers and Scouts).

Image


2. A more balanced deployment with Silverhelms and Dragon Princes on each flank supported by Reavers (double envelopment).

Image

3. If facing a gunline eg: Dwarves, Chaos Dwarves, Orcs and Goblins or Empire it may be best to deploy your cavalry in lines so the cannon balls only get to kill 1 model (1 rank) per shot.

Magic Buffs and Debuffs

I thought it worth briefly mentioning how the various Magic Lores can assist the Silverhelms in the more difficult combats.

If using MSU Silverhelms you probably won't be choosing your Magic Lore specifically to assist this unit, however most Lores have spells which may assist HE cavalry in combats.

Magic Lores (alphabetical order)

Beasts: sig spell: Wyssan's (+1 Strength and Toughness), Curse Anraheir (-1 to hit)
Death: no useful buffs, cause Fear?
Fire: Flaming Sword (+1 to wound, Magical & Flaming attacks)
Heavens: sig spell Iceshard Blizzard (-1 to hit), Harmonic Convergence (re-roll to hit , wound and armour save rolls of 1), Curse of Midnight Wind (enemy unit re-rolls 6's to hit, wound and armour saves).
High Magic: Hand of glory (weapon Skill or initiative increased by D3) lore attribute +1 to ward save if caster is in unit.
Life: sig spell: Earth Blood (5+ Regen), Flesh to stone (+2 Toughness), enhanced by Throne of vines, Shield of Thorns (2D6 Strength 3 hits unit in base contact)
Light: Pha's Protection (-1 to hit), Speed of Light (WS 10 and I 10), Birona's Timewarp (+1 attack)
Metal: Enchanted Blades (Magical Attacks & Armour Piercing and +1 to hit)
Shadow: sig spell: Miasma (-D3 WS and/or Initiative), Enfeebling Foe (-D3 Strength), Withering (-D3 Toughness), Mindrazor making Silverhelms Strength 8.

Death doesn't really have any useful buffs whilst Fire and Metal are a bit hit or miss whether you get the right spell unless using a Level 4 or Teclis.

For the Cavalry Bus (Deathstar) type builds Life and High Magic seem to be stand out builds, High Magic synergising well with Dragon Princes adding to their 6+ Ward Save. Shadow also contains a lot of buffs and debuffs useful for a cavalry bus.

Conclusion
The Silverhelms are a versatile and reliable unit due to re-rolls to hit and Strength 5 on the charge. Small units of 5 or 6 Silverhelms are relatively cheap throw away units, but hard for your opponent to deal with and they will generally pay back their points if used correctly.

The Silverhelms fight well alongside Dragon Princes and Elite HE Infantry (particularly White lions:- Stubborn or PG with Stubborn Crown Character), and can be supported by Magic which may enhance the Silverhelms ability to win combats.

Other useful articles
Seredain: The Cavalry Prince http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33584
Silverhelms: http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic. ... 16#p695816
Pk-ng: Charging for Dummies http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=61728
Curu Olannon http://www.ulthuan.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=35318
Last edited by Eltherion2 on Mon Jan 05, 2015 12:41 am, edited 114 times in total.
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#2 Post by Bashtrigger »

Neatly said, seems to cover all the reasons I would take SH for, except for character delivery. A unit of SH can also be used to deliver a combat character on barded steed to a combat.
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#3 Post by Zenfrozt »

I've occasionally used them as moving cover for my swordmasters, okay so it's only soft cover but still makes it that little bit harder for my swordmasters to be shot to bits before they reach their intended target.
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#4 Post by Eltherion2 »

Bashtrigger

You make a good point the Silverhelms also are good for the Knight bus builds with characters in them, usually with Banner of the World Dragon on the BSb for extra protection. I will add info.

Zenfrozt

You also make a good point re the Silverhelms screening role vs. shooty lists. I will add above.
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#5 Post by Ferny »

Nice write up. For me a special case of 'flanking' is charging chariots/chariot cannons, which without cannons of our own can otherwise be tricky to deal with (especially in a target rich environment). They have the speed to get there and with all those re-rollable S5 attacks, charge and flank, if they don't kill it they should force it to flee.

They're golden against skink clouds too...I actually moved a unit of 5 up right in front of two columns of skinks and completely choked up their movement for two turns :).
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#6 Post by Swordmaster of Hoeth »

Hi Eltherion!

Great write up and I see that you also keep updating it all the time :) Do you plan to add some more to what you have written already? I am always very interested in some real games examples as it shows the bigger picture. It may require some time to prepare a diagram for that though, so it is simply a suggestion for the future.

You have covered the MSU SH units and added some information for SH bus regiment but what about something in the middle? have you tried 8-10 strong regiments so far? If yes, how do you find them?

All in all I really like your summary and it is very helpful for me as person who is considering using them but lacks experience in doing so. I am sure they can be great in any form you use them and it adds further to the variety of choices we have in the army book.

Cheers!
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#7 Post by Eltherion2 »

Thanks Swordmaster your input is valuable as always.

I will update as I find or remember new info :) .

I will find some links for the Cavalry bus type builds as this style of play isn't really for me, though it is certainly viable as some players have shown.

MMU I will also look for more info on as I haven't gone above units of 6 since the new HE book came out.


Hi Ferny

Ye lots of Heavy Cavalry MSU units will ruin a Skink Clouds day even with all their double fleeing tricks. I wonder if there were many HE's with MSU Heavy cavalry at Adepticon this year?
Last edited by Eltherion2 on Wed Apr 23, 2014 5:50 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#8 Post by Swordmaster of Hoeth »

I also wanted to add that the pictures make it way cooler! :)
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#9 Post by NiallCampbell »

Great write up!

As a novice HE player this is really helpful.
Can you please advise how you would plan to use the eight SH from the battalion box?
I was planning on maybe putting a mounted Noble, possibly Prince with them with full command/lances/shields etc.

I'm not sure how wide to run a bus like that.

Can I assume from your description that mounts don't grant supporting attacks, only the riders?
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#10 Post by Eltherion2 »

Hi NiallCampbell

Ye the mounts only get to attack from the front rank Strength 3 and Initiative 3 but useful vs. low toughness troops.

If running a unit of 8 plus 2 Characters probably 2 ranks of 5 vs infantry blocks, however 3 ranks of 3 could also be interesting with the 2 Characters and the Champ on the front rank.
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#11 Post by Bashtrigger »

Eltherion2 wrote:Hi NiallCampbell

Ye the mounts only get to attack from the front rank Strength 3 and Initiative 3 but useful vs. low toughness troops.

If running a unit of 8 plus 2 Characters probably 2 ranks of 5 vs infantry blocks, however 3 ranks of 3 could also be interesting with the 2 Characters and the Champ on the front rank.
A whooping initiative 4 actually! Elven steeds ftw :D
And I love the addition of the pictures

Thirdly, the whole point of taking your silver helms as your bus is that it fills up your core requirement and is a less costly to do compared to dragon princes. This means you can take a bus without actually having all your eggs in your one basket :lol: On top of that, taking your silver helms as your bus, means you can build your whole army mobile (nothing under 9 movement can be a scary thing to play against)
This is not to say that a bus with Dragon Princes doesn't also work just fine :wink:
Last edited by Bashtrigger on Wed Apr 23, 2014 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#12 Post by NiallCampbell »

Hi - thanks,

Apologies I didn't make that clear, I reckon I'd have one character in the unit along with the FC. Wouldn't want to get "Dweller'd" ;)
So nine of your fancy horsies in total :P

I reckon I'd try 3x3, Champ, Noble (or Prince depending on points value) & Std Bearer in front and rest in back.
With Martial Prowess am I correct in saying that all three ranks would get to attack with ASF? I'd be using lances for the charge combat bonus.

Presumably the benefits for running the unit wider is:

a) More horse attacks and,
b) Rank bonuses for combat res? (I'm assuming ranks of 3 don't give any combat bonuses)

Need to read your link on 'Charging for Dummies' as that will help make the decision for me I suppose!
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#13 Post by Bashtrigger »

NiallCampbell wrote:Hi - thanks,

Apologies I didn't make that clear, I reckon I'd have one character in the unit along with the FC. Wouldn't want to get "Dweller'd" ;)
So nine of your fancy horsies in total :P

I reckon I'd try 3x3, Champ, Noble (or Prince depending on points value) & Std Bearer in front and rest in back.
With Martial Prowess am I correct in saying that all three ranks would get to attack with ASF? I'd be using lances for the charge combat bonus.

Presumably the benefits for running the unit wider is:

a) More horse attacks and,
b) Rank bonuses for combat res? (I'm assuming ranks of 3 don't give any combat bonuses)

Need to read your link on 'Charging for Dummies' as that will help make the decision for me I suppose!
Wider ranks do indeed give you more attacks, but it also lets your opponent attack back with more attacks. With our squishy elves, we don't really like return attacks :wink:

Rank bonuses only count from your second rank onwards (except for steadfast, which you get from your first rank, if your opponent has no rank), so you'd need at least 10 guys to get +1 combat resolution from ranks, since for our guys, we only count as a full rank if we have at least 5 models in that rank. Monstrous things get ranks from being 3 wide though (our Great Eagles for instance if we take them in a group).

Yes you get to attack in three ranks as per martial prowess, though only with the riders. Mounts never make support attacks.

If you take a full command, that whole command will have to be in front (meaning if you are 3 wide, all your characters will have to start in second rank). You are allowed to make way as soon as the unit gets into a combat though. Do note that this is an excellent way to take a BSB with BotWD and keep him safe in second rank (just don't make way with him into combat if you're scared he might not survive your opponents attacks).
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#14 Post by Eltherion2 »

Bashtrigger

Nice catch on the I4 for horses.
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Re: My Kingdom for a horse (The mighty Silverhelm).

#15 Post by Eltherion2 »

Thought I would share some real game experiences at a recent 20 player Tourney. I won't go into detail but basically I took 2 x 6 Silverhelms with champions largely due to the comp hit for the 3rd Silverhelm unit.

Game 1 vs. Orcs and Goblins, helped kill a unit of 8 Trolls, (1 Silverhelm unit survived)
Game 2 vs. High Elves, killed a unit of Tiranoc chariots, unit of archers, (1 Silverhelm unit survived)
Game 3 vs. High Elves, both died without killing anything (0 units survived)
Game 4 vs. Lizardmen, killed Salamanders, skinks with a Mage, helped kill a second unit of skinks (0 Silverhelms survived)
Game 5 vs. Chaos Dwaves, killed 2 Warmachines, (0 Silverhelms survived)
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