Fluffy High Elf Warband

So, many times I've read about "Elves has nothing to do in Mordheim" from voices of various aggrevation. However, I really think it cant be too hard to make good fluff. So, I sat down and started scetching on a warband. This is what I came up with. It is far less "shooty" than most other elf warband examples, and has some good spells. In addition, the champion choices are multifaceted, and two High Elf warband will often not look the same. Comments?

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1MYcpnmiXyIUKoat4C_4M7JzsC_oIRenzplOhSo6SrE8&hl=en&authkey=CL6in7kM

(Its Google Docs. If it doesnt work, tell me and I'll paste it here instead)

Its also om my site:
https://sites.google.com/site/denofdamnation/warbands/high-elf-warband

Opheliate wrote:

Comments?

Looks good. Not sure about the cost of High elf warriors though, maybe should be 45? Those are very good stats, you know... Perhaps some kind of limitation on number of shooty models? Missile weapons not available for everyone?

Opheliate wrote:

(Its Google Docs. If it doesnt work, tell me and I'll paste it here instead)

Didn't work for me. But the other link did though.

Well, my idea was that since the champions are close-combat specialists, this would limit the shooty-killy a bit. And yes, I am in favour of increasing the costs. I always thought the elf warbands out there had a little too cheap units compared to their superhuman stats.

I was thinking of maybe switching the novices for marksmen (0-5 marksmen, same stats as warriors, but can use elven bow, which then the warriors would not be able to)

To not have an elf be able to use a bow doesnt seem to fit, though.

Suggestions?

Opheliate wrote:

To not have an elf be able to use a bow doesnt seem to fit, though.

Suggestions?

I agree. Elves should have access to bows.

folketsfiende wrote:

Opheliate wrote:

To not have an elf be able to use a bow doesnt seem to fit, though.

Suggestions?

I agree. Elves should have access to bows.

From a Goblins point of view, Elves shouldn't have access to air, but bows are in character for the Pointy Eared Ones.

Rules-wise they could be treated as Reiklanders with a +1 BS &, rather than the addtional range of LD, give +1 M.

Well, heres the thing. I do not want to make them specialized in ranged combat (thats wood elves, and shadow elves, IMO). If they end up having more BS than WS, people are going to go for the shooty-killy warband anyways, and thats something I wanted to avoid. The High Elves are primarily mages, with some great melee elites (white lions, swordmasters, etc) and therefore the ranged combatants should not be more abundant than with any other warband. Having a Ws AND Bs of 4 means that the elf warriors are good in both, but restricting them from all other ranged weapons than the bow, longbow and elf bow might not be enough to decrease the arrow-death-ratio.

This is a hard nut to crack. Maybe revise the henchmen all together? Warriors, Novices and Marksmen, where the marksmen will have access to the Elf Bow, and also maybe start with a skill of some kind (Eagle Eyes???)

I agree on your appraisal of the Wood Elves/Shadow Warriors as missile weapon specialists. SO...you might draw on one of the close combat groups as the primary source of War Band members; e.g., a White Lion hero is off on some ineffable Elven Quest with a few of his loyal comrades & a small group of volunteers from other elements of society...add an Elven Ranger or two for some limited missile support & a Mage for guidance & some magical mayhem, but mostly a cadre of White Lions.

Coming up with some esoteric quest that ONLY an Elf could possibly understand might be some fun to come up with...or not .

Wow, thats a challenge

Does the elves have like a holy grail to hunt for ?

I like The Grail idea; perhaps, A Lost Chalice of UNIMAGINALBLE Power/monetary value that will restore the vitality of the Elven Race or some such thingy...rather like THE MOST FABULOUS OBJECT IN THE WORLD from Time Bandits.

Sounds awesome! But not really realistic, perhaps... but then again, Ratmen and Dancing Bears having a grudge match in a mdeieval Chernobyl isnt either

The ultimate romance of a Noble Quest is striving against INSURMOUNTABLE obstacles, facing UNTOLD dangers, challenging UNCONQUERABLE foes in search of some goal that may not even exist...in the background The Impossible Dream from The Man from La Mancha.

you could reduce the stats of the warriors and then choose an aspect for the warband rather than the individual champions and all models in the warband apart from the novises (and possibly the mage) would have the bonus.
so warriors could start at WS and BS 3 but have one increased depending on their warbands aspect.

But the aspect thingy is there just to make some more diversity for a warband that often just aims and fires. And the idea of a warband built uo around an aspåect (White Lions, as mentioned by DeafNala), would not fit the fluff I aim for. A lord or noble, who owes it to his people, his home, his family to lead a contingent on a quest seems far mote fitting (IMHO). And of course, with him, he could want a body guard (white lion) expert swordsman (hoeth) or a diciplined avatar of war (phoenix guard).

Maybe I should decrease the warband size to just ten? That way, you have at least a third close cobat specialists (champions and leader), and may be forced to take two or more close combat oriented henchmen as well, or else be totally outwieghed in close co mbat against such warbands (dwarves, greenskins, etc).

Four Heroes - Two or Three melee specialists (four if the leader chooses to be swordy and not shooty)
Three or two melee henchmen to fill out the ranks of melee
Three or four archers (the rest)

Or would a smaller warband size still not hinder ppl from taking all archer warbands???

I'm afraid that no matter how you write up the rules for the War Band you'll always find "One of Those" kind of gamers that will merrily pervert the spirit of the rules in order to gain an advantage on the table top. The key to playing within the spirit of the game lies in your choice of fellow gamers.

Yeah, and I guess im blessed in that respect. All my fellow gamers are pretty hardcore fluff. But I still would like to see if there is a way to make the rules so that they WONT be abused.

I think to try to increase the price of the leader, I would put him at 80 gp maybe more.

The Henchmen I would also increase the cost as well, maybe 5 to 10 gp each.

I think the main problem that everyone has with elves, is that they are good at everything, and they have no flaw. So for example Dwarves are tough, but slow. Orcs tough but they fight themselves. Skaven there are a lot of them, but they are cowardly. Humans are average, but have no flaws. Elves are faster then most races, more agile, better WS, BS, and leadership. They have average S & T, so no real flaws.

So when you try to peg Elves to any other race you are like humans but better, and have no flaw.

If I were to reenvision Elves I would try to decrease their Toughness to 2 and have a 3 toughness maximum for Henchmen and their Young Bloods. I would also look into increasing the price, and maxing their wounds at 2.

I do like that the cannot have strength skills fluff wise, but that almost means that you are forcing them to go ranged.

Another Idea might be to limit them to 10 models.

Well, fluffwise, they ARE better at everything. Which is why I just came up with the wonderful idea of letting them start with more Xp than normal. Maybe even the henchmen? Hows THAT for fluff!

perhaps add a frail rule which makes them easier to take out of action. perhaps 1=knocked down, 2-3=stunned and 4-6=out of action.

That actually sounds like a good idea! Coupled with more cost and more starting Xp, we might just have found something here