So I've reached somewhat of a dilemma, when choosing the main elf army I want to play ( I'm quite a fan of both)

So thought I'd turn to the community for some insight I'll list a few pros and cons that have occurred to me.

High Elf - pros
- Top notch heroes ( gil, elrond, twins, glorfindel)
- multiple heroes with nature's wrath
- Rivendell Knights
- upto D6 on normal trooms

Cons
- very expensive basic troops
- most named heroes are costly ( single unamed is steep too)
- very little unit variety
- to access Knights must take a hobbit variety hero

Wood Elf pros
- access to cheap elves ( well as far as elves are concerned)
- decent amount of units to select from
- good selection of great heroes for mid to mid/high cost
- F6 pikes !

Cons
- very low def overall
- Cav is very over costed
- Characters cant really slug it out with other heavy hitters ( Rumil excluded, and lack combat powerhouses in general)


Any and all help and insight would be appreciated !

honestly, I think it's up to personal taste.

While High Elves have a very limited selection of units, they have the best heroes in the game: in optimal conditions, Gil Galad can outmatch anything your opponent may throw at him. Leading the Knights should be no problem with AUJ's Elrond or Lindir. If you don't want to use Lindir, you can field a rivendell shaman to refill Elrond's will (more nature's wrath!) or to send enemies away with the Wind spell.

one thing, though: D6 is no longer a big deal. Evil forces expecially have now tons of model with S4. Against them, D5 or D6 makes little difference. And the same goes for every other non-elven force which focus on bows: S2 bows wounds D5 and D6 with six.

Galadhrim requires a total different approach to the battle. Almost every unit in the game will kill a wood elf with a 4 (Uruk captains may wreck havoc, killing with 3+), so it's more of a hit and run, guerrilla tactic: they are not made for prolonged fights. Galadhrim warriors are better in combat but, once you give them a shield, they are pretty much the same of an high elf, one point less for one less defence. Basically, wood elves get wounded on 4+, warriors get wounded of 5+.

Both forces will need Two-handed weapons to compensate the lack of S4 and multiple attacks unit, but a High Elf using an Elven blade in such a way will still be D5, while a Galadhrim warrior will be D4. which is very different when facing isengard, for example.

it's up to which fighting style you like the most. both of those forces have big pros and cons. If you don't like guerrilla tactics and want to go straight to the point, then go for high elves.

Although Wood elve are maybe more competetive, High Elves are more fun IMO. Not to say that High Elves can't win a tournament- they can, but they don't tend to as often as wood elves.
The high elves are kinda like a shield/spear wall as your main battle line flanked by the best heroes and archers in the game, which is fun to no end. Charging Gil-Galad mounted into 3 guys and the confidence to heroic combat against D4 models (as many spear men in the back rank will be) is game breaking. Gil-Galad is just awesome, the twins are probably the best foot heroes for their points in the game, and Glorfindel, although not being as good as Gil-Galad or the twins, is by no means a slouch or bad for his points in any way. Take shields on pretty much all your mainline guys, because when you're paying around 10 points for a model, you don't want it to die every time it looses a combat, like a wood elf.

It might depend on how you want to play as well. High elves play more like an army and wood elves as guerrillas and skirmishers.

Celeborn with heavy armour and a shield is pretty tough. He's pretty much the same as Elrond, but 30 pts cheaper with transfix/aura of command instead of renew/natures wrath.
Only fight 6, and he can't take a mount, but he's still a powerful hero.

Thank you all for the extremely detailed and helpful rundowns

The actual army feel is more up my alley than the skirmisher / guerilla style of game play.

How does a list generally shape up around for 500 for them? Try to field as many bodies as possible or throw down the stompiest Heroes, since out numbering is already more than likely

Gil Galad w/shield on horse
6 Elves with spears and shield,upgraded to King's Guard
4 Elves with shield
2 Elves with Elven blade (so you can have someone to wound high def guys)

Erestor
6 Elves with Elven Bow and Spear
4 Elves with Shield
2 Elves with Elven Blade

those are 493 points, but it's just an idea.
You can drop Gil Galad and add the Twins on horse and heavy armor to have 6 might instead of 3 and two good heroes on horseback. But once one is dead, the other becames a problem, so you may want also consider Glorfindel with Gondolin Armor

I'm a huge fan of woodelves. They have Rumil (who forces rerolls), Gildor who increases the movement of woodelves (I know gildor is a high elf, but I have never used him with highelves), Thranduril (LOTR thranduril) who boosts the woodelves to hit score from 3+ to 2+. Let me say that again, hit with your str 3 elf bows on a 2+! He also can cast nature's wrath for free once per game which doesn't sound like much but many turning points can be traced back to the one free use of nature's wrath.

Then there are the woodelf throwing weapons. I have killed so many creatures of shadow with a barrage of throwing knives. All of that and we haven't even touched on the magic support provided by galadriel and Celeborn (who can double as a tank when fully decked out).

As already pointed out the galadrhim warriors have also leveled the playing field you can now field cavalry, shield walls, light infantry (two-handed weapons), and the court guard who have the ability to pike and shield.

There is so much you can do with wood elves. They are so fun to play!

Well first of all, I think youre being a little bit too fair in terms of Pros and Cons. Keep in mind this is them versus each other not against all armies... Here's what I can list for the way I see it:

High Elves:
Pros-
-Epic Heroes
-Good access to special abilities i.e. natures wrath, spell casting
-Tough close combat troops
-Defense 6
-Great cavalry
-Can have basic fight 6 troops

Cons-
-Expensive heroes
-Expensive units
-Shooting weaker than wood elves
-lack of variety in entirety of army
-Several near useless heroes
-Only cavalry costs a few points over 20
-lacking stand out characteristics of some armies
-need to ally troops in to counter enemy magic
-Frequently outnumbered by many

Wood Elves:

Pros-
-Varying heroes with wide range of abilities. This includes epic heroes like new Legolas, to old Thranduils great spells, and a mix of heroes who are either cheap or can fill specific roles. Now, they have epic heroes as well as tough as almost any high elf can be.
-Legolas...
-Can defend well against evil magic
-Games most Elite archery available easily
-Can have two types of cavalry. Faster than knights of rivendell, or ones with higher fight than KOR.
-Very nice wargear options.
-Can ward off monsters or heroes with sentinels
-Can have terror(essential in elven battles)
- Guards of the Galadhrim court and their pikes
-Defense 6/bodyguard palace guard are an option
-100% bows in Mirkwood rangers
-Cheaper foot soldiers if you please
-Almost everything can shield or have two attacks if youd please....at fight 5...shields, glaives, spears, rangers CQB

Cons-
-One or two less epic combat heroes
-Lower overall defense
-Only epic heroes will keep your numbers low. Otherwise, youll have to use softer heroes.


Id say a resounding Wood Elves. In my opinion the only argument is that high elves have better heroes, and even that I would dispute because youre going over your salary so to speak with point costs with them. If choosing to compete or play for fun, Id always go for Wood Elves.

Personally the only reason I see High Elves being taken in full armies is the look, and/or lore.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

You make a seriously compelling argument lordofthebrownring

Maybe a Elven alliance is in order, to satisfy all my wants in one package

That's what I'd do. If I make an elven army I'd take about two warbands of wood elves and one of high elves for example.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

I agree and didn't consider it earlier foolishly for some reason, considering Elrond and Galadriels Ties, and so forth

Lots of cool things to think about now

I was thinking this for 500 as a rough start

Rumil
- 6 x Galadhrim  ( spear, shield) 
- 6 x Galadhrim  ( 4 elf blades)

Storm caller
- 6 x Wood Elf archer
- 4 x Wood Elf ( 3 spears)

Rivendell Captain
- 4 x knights (4 shields)