Dark Elf Tourney Team - Skill Choices?

Pipey · Post by **Pipey** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 7:15 pm

Hi folks,

Building a Dark Elf team at the moment with a view to using it mostly at
TR110 tourneys.

Pretty sure what I'm going to do in terms of team selection (11 players, 2 RRs and lots of positionals) but not 100% sure what skills to take or what order to take them in.

Was thinking of pretty basic choices such as:
Block on both Witch Elfs
Leader on a Runner
Dodge on as many Blitzers as possible...

(In more or less that order)

Is Kick essential, bearing in mind DEs not quite as mobile as other Elfs and Skavs? Is Strip Ball any use? And if a double is available, what are the best options?

Any DE tourney veterans out there got any sage advice?

Cheers,
Pip

PS - any ideas on alternative colour schemes to black? Seems a bit predictable and I also find black very hard to work with.

Odium Khan · Post by **Odium Khan** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:04 pm

I love the old Dark Renegades' red and green (see Horekim's posts for excellent re-vamps) and also the Khaine's Killers (although hm, that was pretty black). And you can't go wrong with blue and yellow (unless we are talking world cup football). I have seen some pretty decent colour schemes using cold blues and/or greens, brightens up the overall impression. I think typical Khornate colours would work as well.

As for your other question, I have found enormous use of kick with LRB5 DE in tourneys, however I don't start with it normally. I don't like the runner positional personally (might use one if I have 10k left over and not too many other AV7 positionals) so I tend to waste a double on leader if doubles are a viable alternative in that particular tourney. Otherwise yes, blodge is the way forward. Boring and effective.

mattgslater · Post by **mattgslater** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:21 pm

I'd go with a warm/cool contrast and a light/dark contrast (in either order) using colors that are either dark and broody or bright and unpleasant, possibly with a metal or with detail only in black; with Dark Elves' team color schemes and uniforms, I think of "jarring" and "hard to look at" as a compliment.

Some possibilities:

Dark Gray and Lavender
Fuchsia and Chartreuse
Lime-Green and Burgundy
Mustard, Sea-Blue and Silver
Light Gray, Moss-Green and Copper
Chartreuse, Dark Gray and Gold
Lime-Green and Violet
Violet and Pumpkin-Orange
Lime-Green, Yellow-Orange and Black
Cobalt and Puce
Moss-Green and Puce
Cobalt and Candy-Apple Red
Burgundy, Sea-Blue and Gold
Burgundy and Lavender
Burgundy and Light Gray
Vermillion and Indigo

PianoDan · Post by **PianoDan** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:32 am

Hi there,
in terms of your team, you could consider a multi-block assassin. You'll find it particularly devastating against low av teams and works quite well if you get grab for a blitzer or two.

Grogmir · Post by **Grogmir** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:40 am

I won all three games at conflict with this Dark Elf line-up.

2 Witch Elves
3 Blitzer’s
6 Line
3 ReRolls
1 FF

Had skill choices after game 1 and game 2 and I took Block on the WE’s and I wouldn’t change that.
The reason I took 1 FF rather than a Runner is that I wanted the chance to win extra ReRolls. Runners – unlike other ‘ball handling’ posentials don’t give you any reroll skills, I was also didn’t want too many AV7 players on the pitch as you are already vulnerable with only 11 players.

However if I was playing in a longer tourni with 6 games I would take a runner and have leader as the third skill choice.

Assassins at 90k have no place on a tourni DE team IMO.

Grogmir

Pipey · Post by **Pipey** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:07 pm

Odium Khan wrote:... you can't go wrong with blue and yellow (unless we are talking world cup football). I have seen some pretty decent colour schemes using cold blues and/or greens, brightens up the overall impression. I think typical Khornate colours would work as well.

Hmmm, Khornate colours could be just perfect. Something a bit different but still appropriately menacing and nasty!!

Perhaps something like the burgundy/gold combo...

I will give kick a try out but I'm still not convinced DE have the manoeuverability to charge after a deep kick and then recover if Plan A doesn't work out.

Piano_Dan - since Multi-Block doesn't work with blitzes, I think it's very limited with assassins - pretty unlikely two wardancers are going to end their turns stood next to one! More inclined to agree with Grogmir that the assassin is not such a great tournament option.

Grogmir I see you have opted for 3RR but only 3 blitzers. My lineup of choice would be 2WE, 4 blitzers and a runner (taking leader first up). Having a 4th MA7 + block is the best option IMO.

Grogmir · Post by **Grogmir** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:13 pm

Grogmir I see you have opted for 3RR but only 3 blitzers. My lineup of choice would be 2WE, 4 blitzers and a runner (taking leader first up). Having a 4th MA7 + block is the best option IMO

.

Just my way Looney - at that level (TV) DE's don't have any 'free' rerolls so I think the 3rd is really important, others will disagree (maybe rightly so) but it worked ok for me!

Pipey · Post by **Pipey** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:19 pm

OK probably go for:

2 Witch Elfs
4 Blitzers
1 Runner
4 Linemen
2 RR
1 Assistant Coach
1 Cheer Leader

Skills:
Block on both Witch Elfs, Leader on the Runner, Kick on Lino, Dodge on Blitzers (as many as poss)

Deep red and brass colour scheme (using mainly 2nd ed figs).

Coming to a tournament near you!!
(err well when I get the models painted...

)

stick_with_poo_on_the_end · Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:45 pm

i would take the same Pip,

however would drop a lino for an assasin. I know they are a bit "daisy" but are a huge distraction and handy against pesky blodgers.

Leader,
Block on the 2 ladies
then dodge all the way.

Pipey · Post by **Pipey** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:50 pm

Thinking it might be worth blocking up the birdies first then leader after. Yeah assassin is a daisy and also minor liability with AV7, but could be great vs. War Dancers and the like.

Need some practice to see how it works...

Cramy · Post by **Cramy** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 4:45 am

Loony Toadquack wrote:Thinking it might be worth blocking up the birdies first then leader after. Yeah assassin is a daisy and also minor liability with AV7, but could be great vs. War Dancers and the like.

Need some practice to see how it works...

There are a few threads that discuss how to use the Assassin. Don't underestimate the Shadowing skill. It is often more useful than Stab.

wesleytj · Post by **wesleytj** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:30 pm

For TV110 I'd do something along these lines:

2 Runners 160K
2 Witches 220K
4 Blitzers 400K
3 Line Elves 210K
2 RR 10
1 FF/CL/AC

For Skills, I'd do Block on both Witches and Leader on a Runner for sure.

After that, you can mix it up a little depending on your play style. I like Sure Hands on the other Runner to help with pickups and prevent Strip Ball nonsense. I also like Leap on a Blitzer to create havoc with the other team's planning. Kick is also great on a line elf, but Dodge, Tackle, and Dauntless make other great Blitzer skills, depending on opponents.

Assassins are OK against some opponents, and worthless against others. Nice to have when you have a bench on a league team, but don't belong on a tourney team unless you KNOW there are going to be tons of Elves, Rats and Zons there.

Pipey · Post by **Pipey** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:20 pm

Cramy wrote: There are a few threads that discuss how to use the Assassin. Don't underestimate the Shadowing skill. It is often more useful than Stab.

Hmmm I don't really get this.

The way I see it is this - the kind of players you would want shadow are fast and agile (and olw Str) and are not likely to struggle to escape vs. MA6.

If you try to shadow slower, higher Str or skilled players you'll just get smacked! (AV7 + no skills = injury please

)

Cramy · Post by **Cramy** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:44 pm

Loony Toadquack wrote:
Cramy wrote: There are a few threads that discuss how to use the Assassin. Don't underestimate the Shadowing skill. It is often more useful than Stab.
Hmmm I don't really get this.

The way I see it is this - the kind of players you would want shadow are fast and agile (and olw Str) and are not likely to struggle to escape vs. MA6.

If you try to shadow slower, higher Str or skilled players you'll just get smacked! (AV7 + no skills = injury please )

Arggh. I just wrote a nice, well worded reply, and lost it. Darn. This will be shorter then, and not as nice ...

Against fast agile teams, the threat of the shadowing working may cause the opponent to question if they should dodge or not. And they may dodge later in their turn as well. Your opponent may end-up using their blitz to move you Assassin away (Side Step is your friend) instead of blitzing your WE. If he does nothing, he will get stabbed next turn. All good for you.

Against bashy teams, then it is more difficult. On defence, I position my Assassin to be behind some other elves, and slow down the cage advance. Once the opponent is running out of time and has to break through, position the Assassin to be in the path between the the ball carrier and the EZ, but not blitzable. Force the ball carrier to try to dodge around the Assassin, or take a more round-about route. This can work even better with two Assassins, but you probably can't afford to take two Assassins to a tourney. On offence, the Assassin is not that useful.

I have found the Assassin useful at tourneys when used as above.

TuernRedvenom · Post by **TuernRedvenom** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:53 pm

Best use I've seen so far is to let the assassin mark prone players. Either they blitz the assassin, stay down or get up and face the stab. All of those are pretty good for the de player.
Shadow doesn't work so very often but sometimes it can make the difference. I've seen good dark elf players post their assassin next to players, like orc or norse blitzers, in critical spots where that simple 3+ dodge for a score or a sack suddenly isn't that simple any more.

That said I still wouldn't take an assassin in a tourney, chances are he's off the field before he's of any use.