The wait is over followers of Asuryan, the High Elves once again have a new army book!
First off, the new book itself is 96 pages long, and written by veteran game designer Mat Ward. This is also the first time I think an army book or codex featured credited playtesters!
It’s the second army book release for Fantasy in 2013, once again with a $50 MSRP.
This book re-introduces the High Elves with a few new options and units but keeps their play style once again as a primarily magic heavy army (although some units like Teclis were slightly nerfed).
There was also a slight shift in unit composition, with several units making the move to “Core”. Another army wide change was that every unit gained the “Martial Prowess” special rule and can now fight in three ranks!
The book itself is divided into six sections; “The Lords of Ulthuan” (fluff section), the Unit Entries in the “The Glittering Host”, followed by the “Lore of High Magic” where the new High Elf magic spells are covered. Next up is “Vaul’s Forge” where all the magic items for the book are cataloged. “The Glory of the High Elves” is the obligatory painted model showcase to inspire us, and finally “High Elves Army List” covers all the unit entries.
Overall the fluff accounts for “the norm” of about 30 pages before sliding into the “Glittering Host” section that summarizes all the new unit entries, and their individual fluff. Like I said above a ton of existing units changed organizational slots, to be sure to double check those before building any new army lists.
I also really enjoyed the break down of each Phoenix King’s reign, and the larger section all about the current era under the reign of King Finubar.
After the magic item and spells lists are, of course, a full color spread of painted minis to inspire us all, in the “The Glory of the Elves” section.
The army list itself takes up the last ten or so pages. This is where you’ll find all the points and options that “Chosen of Asuryan” can take (that’s not the name of the section, they just kinda called it “High Elves Army List” which I think is a injustice to the venerable topic).
To be perfectly honest I don’t really remember if Alarielle the Radiant was in the last book, but she is in here now (along with her maiden guard and the new “Sisters of Avelorn” unit).
Like I stated in the opening the whole army gained the “Martial Prowess” special rule and can now fight in three ranks as well.
High Magic seems at first to be a great mix of spells with unique benefits which may make the High Elves very versatile in the long run!
Of course GW added a few new units as well that I’ll be covering in a different article shortly.
Get the visual skinny, and some full color lovin’ on the new High Elf Army Book by clicking play on my video reviews below!
And if you’re curious about the contents of all the new Elf model kits (like the new Lothern Skycutter), checkout my video reviews on them as well, for a great look at the new bits and some cool conversion ideas.
Happy Modeling! -MBG
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
Bio: Virginia restless, miniature painter & cat dad. He blames LEGOs for all this, as there was something about those little-colored blocks that started it all. Spikey Bits sprung from Rob staying motivated to hobby on his backlog of projects, while sharing his knowledge with others during the early blogging era.
LEGO maniac and scale model hobbyist in the 80s turned miniature wargamer and trading card player ever since. He’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition), but Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and minatures made of pewter and resin.
