The High Elf Chronicler

Okay party Asur, we’re back with another installment of the High Elf Chronicler. Last time I said I’d be documenting my path to the 2025 NOVA Open GT (and the doubles event!), but what does that really mean? Do I already have an army, fully built and painted? Do I have a list ready to go? Have I played a ton of games with High Elves and gotten a lot of practice, ready to podium at the event?

The answer to all of these questions is a resounding “no!” So that’s what we’re doing here. Trying to walk my way through the questions of what list to bring and paint, what to build, and how to actually play as High Elves in The Old World.

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So let’s start with the second question, because the first question is more difficult, and I’m not even going to attempt to answer the third question in this article. What am I going to build?

Well the answer to this is: every High Elf model I own because I don’t like to have boxes of sprues laying around. I’d much rather have grey plastic on black bases sitting in my cabinet than have boxes all over, under, and next to my desk. Okay, moving on.

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Okay, so, of all the models that I have, what am I putting at the top of the to-paint list?

The answer in the abstract is I am trying to paint a cohesive, thematic, yet also competitive army that I can use to win at least one game at the GT in August. At the same time, I am going to be putting together a display board to try to get some points in the hobby category. The display board and army (in my mind) need to represent a cohesive theme as well, although I think that is a broader concept of cohesion than the units within the army will follow. I’ll focus mostly on the minis in this article and do another series on the display board.

The answer in practice is somewhat more elusive because it entirely depends on the list I’m planning to take, which I am still workshopping. By “workshopping” I mean: I haven’t played any games with anything resembling a NOVA-focused listed yet and am just tinkering on army builder websites.

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So to at least start answering this question, I have to decide more or less on an army theme. This will somewhat be influenced by the list-building restrictions put in place by the TO, and also the rule of cool, which is my guiding principle (might be why I don’t win very often).

One of the restrictions (at this point) is only one flying character with 6 or more wounds, and another is only 800 points allocated to characters rather than 1000. So instead of looking at dragons, I think maybe a griffon or something like that for budgetary concerns. Well, you know what is a sick model? The Frostheart Phoenix. It has some sweet rules (I think), it’d be an awesome project, and it can hold its own, or so I’m told (choose to believe).

Well, if I have a character on a Phoenix, then surely I should have some Phoenix Guard. What good is a noble or mage that is the anointed of Asuryan if they don’t have any trusty guardians from the Shrine of Asuryan with them? So Phoenix Guard are in. Obviously Phoenix Guard can’t make up the entire army, and thematically that wouldn’t make any sense anyway. Phoenix Guard are a small group of super elite warriors. So who else would be alongside these silent sentinels?

Continuing thematically, I asked myself, “well how are any of these elves even in the Old World?” And the answer is that they pretty much only have access to the Old World via the Sea Guard garrisons dotted around the coast. Well, this is good news for me, because not only are Sea Guard a core choice, but that also gave me the idea for my display board. I also love the Sea Guard aesthetic, so that helps. Another thing this helps is that the NOVA GT will be using some objective-based scoring. Having two solid units of infantry seems like a good way to secure objectives, in theory. We will see how it goes in practice.

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Now that I have a theme in my mind, all that’s left is really to just fill out the list with other things that make sense thematically but also are good pieces on the board. Gotta have some magic, so throw a mage in there. Infantry are a bit slow, so maybe something that rides a horse. And to stay on the Sea Guard theme, a flying chariot pulled by an eagle probably ought to be in there too. Throw in some magic items, and we end up with this list:

Is this the optimal list-building strategy? Surely not. I am far from an expert player, let alone a even good player, so if you are ultra-competitively-minded, please, please look elsewhere for list-building advice (although I think you already knew this). But over the next several months, I will be testing this list out in a variety of settings, and I’ll publish articles detailing those games and any subsequent changes along the way.

Publishing my list doesn’t bother me because they’ll be public at some point before the event anyway, and like I said, I’m not liable to win the event anyway. My goal is to have fun, make sure my opponent has fun, and to bring a fully-painted, thematic army that I can win at least one game with.

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I think that’s all for now. Next army article, I’ll explore color choices and army theme, my building process, and thoughts behind it. I’ll also take a look at what the doubles event will hold. In a separate article, I’ll dive into my display board idea.

Thanks for reading if you got this far, and blessings of Lileath upon you all!