Starting up an High Elf team

[wesleytj]

in some ways skaven and high elf teams are a lot alike...the main difference, in my mind, is that you can trust line elves a lot more than linerats. sure you lose 1MA, but you gain 1AG and 1AV. it just means you have to rely less on position players, since everyone on your team is a good player.

think about it...your basic line elf is about as good at scoring as a human catcher. ag3 with catch and dodge reroll is roughly equal to ag4 with no reroll. imo high elves have the best catchers in the game, very well-rounded players. you'll find that in MANY cases they compare very favorably to gutter runners.

of course the other main difference between the two teams is no mutations for high elves...but i think the ramifications of that are obvious.

is that more along the lines of what you were looking for?

[The Florist]

Go for block on the first two lineman, then alternate dodge and block.

What about kick? Fantastic little skill. I'd get a kicker specialist lineman first. Should be easy with all the backfield passing going on.

[Ravage]

skummy and i seem to have similar HE defensive setups, except i tend to spread out my 3 linos on the LoS (middle space, then 2 sq away to either side) and i bring my wings in one square from where he put them. I prefer to force my opponents to the widelines rather than his setup which seems to me would force players into the middle, but that's just my strategy. The middle is obviously a good force because you can surround his forces, but when i make a player go to the wings I often get 2 or 3 elves taking the long route around the back of his defenses... this not only works to split his concentration/focus of his drive (no one likes having 3 people running around your backfield in case of a turnover) but also ties up some more of his support troops and can even lead to surprise attacks by some of them hitting the back of his cage with a 2+ dodge or two to get there.

Exploit the AG4, as other people have said in the past, "anything but a 1" is the mantra of the elves. I personally would have left a thrower out as well since, again, lino development is clutch with this team.

Guard nearly 100% of the time on doubles, and pray for AG increases. An elf with AG5 is a nightmare since he can pick up balls in a TZ on a 2+, or 2 TZ's on a 3+ (remember, most teams can only pick up in the OPEN on a 3+!) Leap is great to combine with AG5, especially with strip ball for making a great cagebreaker.

You dont have the speed of the skaven, but you dont need it. the HE's can still easily score in two turns (running a man into the backfield with the ball and one or two players to support him means quite often your opponent will only get one blitz to try and knock him down) and three if something goes wrong. Dodge away from trouble (this means being in nearly anyone's TZ) but like someone above said, dont be afraid to tie up the big guns with your linos. HE lino's are expensive, but they're lino's for a reason... they should be expendable so the rest of your team can do their job.

you should definitely have a few blockers, but im a fan of dodge over block myself as far as which of the two skills to pick more. depending on how you want to play them, you likely wont be throwing many blocks yourself and should be leaving your opponent with as few per turn as possible... hopefully only their blitz. dodge will save you when you try and dodge away from trouble again in case those 1's do rear their head: and especially early in the league when not many people have block, dont be afraid to let your guys go down on a both-down result so that you can save them on the pow-bangs. both-down will end your opponent's turn typically premature, which will often leave you WIDE open spaces to play with on the field.

like people said, you seem like you have most of the tactics down - and i dont think HE and skaven ARE that different IMO. (which i know you didnt want to hear). they're just slower players who can dodge & ballhandle better, & cant take mutations.

[Skummy]

At high TR, they really are distinctly different teams. Elves will have better depth, and any of their players is a scoring threat. Getting Gutter Runners off the field means you beat Skaven, for the most part. The 8 AV and Dodge really tells at high TR compared to the poor 7 AV linerats.

Lack of RO on the Elves means you'll always be fighting for the sideline, though.

[Coach Alex]

Well, thanks a lot guys, I wasn't expecting less from you. I also appreciate the fact you compared them with skavens all the way, it helps me to understand better