Maiden Guards?

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Live_waaaaagh
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Maiden Guards?

#1 Post by Live_waaaaagh »

Hi all,

Being a new high Elf player, I'm seeking the wisdom of those that have played High Elves longer than I. I saw an old box on ebay that was selling Alarielle and their 10 maiden guards. Are these real? The 8th edition book has no maiden guards ( or does it, and I'm missing it?) There's the Handmaiden hero character but certainly not a unit of maidens. Sisters of Avelorn are a different unit altogether.

Do the maidens have rules? Any information would be appreciated!
SpellArcher
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Re: Maiden Guards?

#2 Post by SpellArcher »

Hi LW.

There are no 8th Edition rules for Maiden Guard as such. They've kind of been replaced by the Sisters and Handmaiden. There are also rules for the Banner of Avelorn and Horn of Isha of course. Some players use the old Maiden Guard models as LSG, Spears or even Phoenix Guard. I doubt anyone would object to using the models as Sisters because spears would only make a difference if the unit was four or more deep.
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Prince of Spires
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Re: Maiden Guards?

#3 Post by Prince of Spires »

SA is correct. Maiden guard (and Allarielle) are an old unit (from 5th edition?), which disappeared somewhere along the way. They "returned" in 8th edition as Allarielle, the handmaiden and the sisters.

So the models you saw on ebay are (probably) real. And you can use them as different things as SA mentions. They tend to be pretty expensive on ebay. So if you find a cheap unit and like them then I would say go for it

Rod
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Re: Maiden Guards?

#4 Post by Luna Guardian »

All that can be said has been said, but that being said the models are beautiful and I have been using them as Spearelves since the 6th edition. If you're playing with friends I don't think there should be any objection to you making up new and updated rules for them, you could use these as a starting point:

Handmaidens of the Everqueen: 16 points each

Profile------------M-WS-BS-S-T-W-I-A-LD
Handmaidens----5--5---5--3-3-1-6-1--9
High Sister-------5--5---5--3-3-1-6-2--9

Upgrade one model to Standard Bearer 10 points
Upgrade one model to Musician 10 points
Upgrade one model to High Sister 10 points

Weapons/Armour: The Handmaidens wear light armour and carry Hand Weapons, Spears and Long Bows.

Special Rules: Valour of Ages, Speed of Asuryan (see High Elves book page 43)

Immune to Psychology: So long as the Everqueen is in the unit they are Unbreakable.

Ward Save: While the Everqueen is in the unit, the entire unit has a 4+ Ward Save.

Hatred: If the Everqueen is killed, then the Maiden Guard will Hate all the enemy for the remainder of the battle.

Martial Prowess: High Elves armed with Spears fight with one extra rank to the front only.

Blades of Isha: Melee attacks made by a model that has this special rule are magical attacks. Models from Beastmen, Daemons of Chaos, Dark Elves, Orcs and Goblins, Skaven, Vampire Counts, Warriors of Chaos, Chaos Dwarfs suffer -1 to their armor saves.

Options: The Handmaidens may carry a magic standard. This will always be the Banner of Avelorn. The musician may carry the Horn of Isha.

The Banner of Avelorn: 25 points
Any enemy wishing to charge the Handmaidens must pass a Leadership test first. If the test is failed the chargers stand in their place, transfixed by the magic. The Handmaidens must declare their charge reaction before the test is made.

The Horn of Isha: 25 points
Once per battle, at the beginning of either the hand-to-hand combat phase or the shooting phase, the High Elf player may declare that the musician will blow the Horn. This will allow the Handmaidens to either fight with an extra Attack in the close combat phase, or allow them to shoot twice in the shooting phase.
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elendor_f
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Re: Maiden Guards?

#5 Post by elendor_f »

Prince of Spires wrote:SA is correct. Maiden guard (and Allarielle) are an old unit (from 5th edition?), which disappeared somewhere along the way. They "returned" in 8th edition as Allarielle, the handmaiden and the sisters.

So the models you saw on ebay are (probably) real. And you can use them as different things as SA mentions. They tend to be pretty expensive on ebay. So if you find a cheap unit and like them then I would say go for it

Rod
I just wanted to quickly chime in, Maiden Guard and Alarielle first appeared indeed in 5th edition (when Tuomas Pirinen was the main author of the army book :D).
They didn't appear in the 6ed army book but they got official rules for 6ed in the Warhammer Annual 2002, which are similar to what Luna posted.

I also wanted to ask, is it me or the Handmaiden miniature (http://www.warroomgaming.com/wp-content ... iden01.jpg) is pretty difficult to find on eBay?
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RE.Lee
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Re: Maiden Guards?

#6 Post by RE.Lee »

Well it was only available for a pretty limited time (8th ed) and was one of the few models available only in finecast, which wasn't having the best press at the time. The rules also sucked I guess (no option for BSB killed it for me), so despite a really nice sculpt people just didn't buy her. Incidentally she was also super easy to proxy using the old Maiden Guard models, which this thread is all about :wink:
cheers, Lee

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elendor_f
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Re: Maiden Guards?

#7 Post by elendor_f »

Pity, because I really like the miniature and she can be Prince/Noble on foot anyway (no need to actually take the Handmaiden honour or whatever special rule).
I guess I'll continue to fish for her :lol:
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"Sounds like a clever man," said Jenkins.
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Re: Maiden Guards?

#8 Post by SpellArcher »

elendor_f wrote:they got official rules for 6ed in the Warhammer Annual 2002
I'd forgotten that.
RE.Lee wrote:The rules also sucked I guess
She can be OK in certain lists, Justin Burgy's US Masters-winning army had one. The BS7 plus Quick to Fire means she makes good use of the Reaver Bow/Potion of Strength combo. It'd be interesting to see her in a substantial unit of Sisters because she gives them Quick to Fire too of course.
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