Dark Elf General Strategies
By Casper Stokhuyzen
These strategies are designed to work in general, against most armies. Obviously, some of them will not apply to certain armies. The Viper strategy will not work against all but the most foolhardy Dwarf generals. Know your enemy, and then choose a plan to match. And always remember that your force should be fluid. If you stick to the plan at all costs, you will lose. These are strategies, the individual tactics may change as the battle progresses. Good luck.
The Scorpion
This plan involves the use of both fast cavalry (Dark Riders) as well as the slower shock troops (Witch Elves). It is a good idea to imagine the battlefield from above, a bird’s eye view, if you will, to help you visualise your plan.
A scorpion will grip its enemy with its claws while the venemous tail strikes and kills it. Imagine your army from above, and make sure it looks at least vaguely like a scorpion, to ensure that this plan will work out.
Firstly, the claws. These are vital. You must be able to either destroy or weaken your enemies’ flanks, or at least distract some of his units. The perfect units to do this are Dark Riders. They are incredible fast, can knock out the war machines that will chew up your army, do well in combat, and your enemy is almost certain to maneuver units to stop them.
Now you must make a choice. Do you want to hold his flanks locked in place, or do you want to drive them towards the centre of his army? Both have their merits, but both have a different effect on phase two.
Phase two is the tail. This consists of hard-hitting troops, preferably Cold One Knights, Witch Elves and Corsairs. This force must cross the distance between the armies as soon as possible. You must not end up in a war of attrition, although you can still make up for that should it happen. Your best bet is to hit units and break them. Make his front line crumble and retreat. Maybe others will panic as well.
Now it becomes clear how the claws can affect the tail. Should you keep the flanks in place, the tail must hollow out the centre of the army and then turn to the flanks and deal with them. This can be very risky, especially if the flanks break loose while the tail is still fighting in the middle. The other option is to drive the flanks towards the centre.
This is good because the enemy must fight in three directions and will take the brunt of the shock troops’ attack, rather than being strung out and causing trouble. Unfortunately, this does mean that there is a high troop density in that area, which you must then deal with somehow. If you are caught in a war of attrition there, you are in big trouble, since he can easily flank your trapped units. Again, try to break the enemy as soon as possible.
The final stage of the Scorpion is the body. This, if all goes well, will not be necessary, but should the flank attacks fail or the tail slow down and end up in trouble, you will be glad you had the body ready.
The body of the Scorpion should consist of slower, tougher units. I suggest units like spearmen or crossbowmen. They can have two functions. These both have the same effect: to relieve the tail and to deal the deathblow to the foe. If you use missile units, your action must be to move them up and then let loose with your crossbows. This will weaken enemy units and possibly break some of them.
If you choose to employ spearmen or similar units, you must charge into the units fighting your bogged-down shock troops. Rank bonus and the casualties caused should help rout them. Then engage other units in hand-to-hand and let the shock troops do the charging. From here on in it is only a matter of time, although if you must use the body to this extent, there is still a great risk that the foe will be able to drive off your army. Never, ever take risks at this stage unless you see that you are going to lose unless you charge into his strongest unit and try to break them, for instance.
Another use for the Scorpion, one that I enjoy using, is when playing with my friends in multiplayer games. Two fast players take care of the flanks while another deals with the centre. This works extremely well, especially the way we use it, ie. Dark Elves on one flank, Undead cavalry and chariots on the other, and a huge Goblin army in the centre.
Be careful to employ this strategy against fast armies, as they will advance quickly and prevent a flank attack by your troops. Slower armies such as Empire are very vulnerable to this. Dwarves are also vulnerable to the attack, but they don’t break easily, especially Slayers, so pick your fights carefully. And always use magic. Arnizipal’s Black Horror should be perfect if you are driving the enemy into a small area, while Blade Wind can weaken the large regiments before you get stuck in.
The Viper
This is a strategy well suited to the Dark Elf army list. It is based upon the principle that you wait patiently for your foe to cross the field, with your army waiting for the right moment to strike. You will need a small task force of shock troops and a great deal of archery.
You deploy your troops in a tight formation, with the flanks defended by units such as spearmen. You should be formed in a square at the back of the board. In the centre of the square should be your shock troops, Cold One Knights being ideal for this purpose. Make sure your crossbowmen have a clear field of fire, and set up your repeater bolt throwers (the more the merrier) so that they have a killing field near the middle of the field.
First, you remain coiled like the viper, your army tensed and ready to lash out, but with your archer screen defending the shock troops and whittling down the enemy. In order to maximise the Repeater Bolt Throwers’ efficiency, focus your fire. Large units are your bane, so destroy them. Cavalry must be heavily depleted if possible, and definitely make sure that war machines are demolished or slowed down by killing crew. The tight formation makes you vulnerable to cannons and mortars.
The second part of the plan requires a bit of co-ordination. You must judge when to unleash your strike force. This must be done carefully, since they will be exposed to fire and must be maneuvered. Other units must move out of the way. If all goes well, your archery and magic will have depleted the enemy’s forces, but they have no option but to continue the attack. They come close, and are pounced upon by the shock troops. It is a good idea to close ranks after you have belched forth your death-dealing soldiers, in case they aren’t as death dealing as you’d anticipated. Then you can still hold off the enemy with your block of soldiers, and the massed archery can decimate the triumphant foes.
You must not send forth troops like Dark Riders or scouts. They do nothing for the cohesion of the army, present easy, lone targets for the enemy and can divert their course into your trap. If possible, make use of scenery to funnel the enemy towards your army.
This strategy works nicely against Undead, since they have to advance and have to advance slowly. Elves are also susceptible, but make sure you are wary of Orcs and Goblins. They are difficult to kill with repeater crossbows and come in huge numbers. They also have annoying habit of showing up sooner than you had thought.
The Hawk
Your army can be incredibly flexible, and this strategy is the most vague of all. It is more of a guideline to make use of that flexibility and fluidity of your army and tactics. This works well with scenery, but on a bare field will not work and will undoubtedly lead to a massacre.
Field fast units, preferably things like Dark Riders, scouts and crossbowmen. Try not to get too tied down by war machines. Bring a Bolt Thrower or two just in case. They will counteract the entire purpose of the strategy, which is to behave like a flock of birds.
In your first turn, your force scatters. All of it. Crossbowmen should be in regiments of about five to help them wheel and move. Make use of the scenery or your small units will be hunted down one by one. Harass his units, employ hit-and-fade tactics, take out small, isolated units and never, ever get stuck in properly unless your entire army is so set up that it will win you the game in a single stroke.
It may be obvious that this is an incredibly risky strategy. It will not work against many people. You must draw the enemy towards you a bit at a time, so that your small regiments can gang up on his units sent to probe your lines. If he sets up a long line to sweep the entire field clear, you have no option but to attempt to break through the line. Muster your forces and get through and behind him. Now, you are still in trouble. You must break as many units as possible, kill his general, rear-charge units to maximise combat resolution. You must throw his forces into disarray or you are lost.
This strategy is only for those who have experience at devising tactics during the game to meet changing environments and situations. If you follow rigid plans, this will doom you. Only employ this against certain foes.