Greetings everyone,

I recently picked up this game, after being introduced to it by a friend.
After a few practice games, with different armies, the opportunity presented itself to buy a huge ammount of High Elves in very good condition, for less then 50% of market value. Since I have always been a fan of Elves (if they are in a game I tend to play them) this was a no-brainer

As it is I have access to a lot of troops, including some heroes, elf command, rivendell knights, ... and I am trying to make my first 500 points army.

Things I have:

Gil-galad foot and mounted
Elrond foot and mounted
Twins foot and mounted
Elf command (Captain and banner)
4 boxes of Rivendell Knights set
and more than enough of every basic model (warrior, bows, shield and spear, ...)

I was thinking of building my first 500 point list as so:

Warband 1:

Elladan and Elrohir with Heavy armor
3 High Elf Warriors
2 High Elf warriors with Elf Bow
6 High Elf warriors with Shield and Spear

Warband 2:

High Elf Captain with Shield
6 High Elf Warriors with Elf Bow
5 High Elf Warriors with Shield and Spear
1 High Elf Warrior with Banner

for a total of 26 units and 500 points exact.

Since I don't have any of the cheaper heroes (Erestor, Stormcaller, Arwen, ...) I thought it best to make the army like this.

Any tips are welcome, I am very new to the game and just used an army builder Excel sheet I got from a friend to play arround with possible setups.

Tnx in advance

PS: apologies if this should be in another section of the forums, I haven't had a chance to browse everything.

After some more tinkering with the army builder I came up with the following list, wich also seems very interesting to me:

Warband 1:

Gil-Galad with Shield
4 High Elf Warriors with Elf Bow
7 High Elf Warriors with Spear and Shield
1 High Elf Warrior with Banner

Warband 2:

Rivendell Knight Captain with Shield
5 Knight of Rivendell with Shield

This comes to 500 points, gives me 10 shooting units (Knights don't count towards bow limit) and a charging force of knights.

Downside is that it puts me down to 19 units in a 500 points force, wich seems like waaaaay to low a number.

Welcome to the forum and the hobby. You've picked a tuff army to work with at lower points elves. What you've got is certainly viable however. High Elves are tuff to work with in board control scenarios at lower points levels but if you stick to the body counting ones to start with you ought to fair pretty well.

_________________
"Draw your sword with a heavy heart, but swing it with a heavy hand"

The twins are good. I really like them Gil Galad is also very good, and pretty hard to kill. The force you have presented is a good starter force. It has a bit of everything and will help you learn the rules. As time goes on, look into some of those cheaper heroes. Welcome to the forums!

I would recommend the Twins over Gil Galad: the three extra Might will win games when your opponent has run out. Also, many evil armies will have Nazgul(s), even at this low points level, and they will focus their Transfix on neutralizing your heavy hitter: better to have two instead of one.

I would not recommend the banner. You will win most fights anyway with your superior Fight Value. At only 500 points, I would get your numbers up--especially if you go with some of the most expensive cavalry in the game.

Strong army: enjoy!

I prefer your first list to your second, but taking Gil-Galad vs. twins is a matter of preference. There are arguments for both. I'd probably lean twins for 2 models and the extra 3 points of might, but Gil-Galad is great as well.

Rather than Rivendell knights, which cut your numbers rather significantly at 500 points, I'd put your leaders/captains on horse instead. It gives them that much more movement and combat power.

I disagree about not taking a banner. I think you need it, to help ensure that your high fight value comes into play. With Elves, you'll be outnumbered a lot, but if you maintain a solid shield wall formation, with a banner backing it up, you're going to win most fights when the lines clash. Elves are incredibly good at grinding shield wall to shield wall. But you want the banner to help protect against dice variance.

Welcome to the Game!
Like many people will tell you, there is no perfect army list. It's more important to know the kind of play style you prefer in these kinds of games and build an army that suits you. That being said, here are some other thoughts:
1. 500 pt games make it difficult to bring a mighty hero, so go with the twins or Captains. I also like Erestor and Arwen at this point level. When you get to 700+ points, start thinking about Gil-galad or Elrond or Galadriel.
2. Mounted heroes are awesome. An extra ten points for the increased mobility is worth it.
3. Rivendell Knights are super expensive to field. If you do field them at 500 pts, go with a Captain. I wouldn't charge up the middle at 500 pts because you don't have a lot of models on the board. You'll have to skirmish and play a slower game. Hate for you to lose your preciouos few knights and get broken
4. Don't mess with a banner at 500 pts.
5. If you like elves and will play at 500 pts consistently, check out other elf models (wood elves etc). However, many tournaments are at 700+ points.
6. If you like Rivendell Knights, try and build a force that has Lindir and Elrond. There is some nice synergy there. Check out the abilities that Lindir provides Elrond to see what I'm talking about.

Paul Rozumski
DCHL (DC Hobbit League)