Dark Elves

Over five thousand years ago a great civil war erupted amongst the Elven Kingdoms on the island-continent of Ulthuan. Upon one side were the supporters of the Phoenix King whilst upon the other were the supporters of Malekith Lord of Nagarythe. Malekith was the son of Aenarion - the first and greatest of the Phoenix Kings - and his mother was a powerful and influential sorceress called Morathi. Many fair- minded Elves believed that Malekith was the rightful heir to the Phoenix throne. They remembered that he had fought valiantly against the daemontides of Chaos and his noble appearance recalled that of his mighty father.

Morathi nurtured a huge ambition to rule and her son was to provide her with the means to achieve power. She was prepared to go to any ends to realise her ambitions and was fearless and proud even in the face of the gods themselves. She was also skilled in all the arts of magic and especially in the lore of daemons and all manner of necromancy. Unbeknown to the common folk, Her mastery of the dark powers earned her the admiration of many who believed that such forces could be harnessed and used to empower the Elves. Her followers grew in number and she became so bold that the forbidden gods were worshipped openly in the temples of Nagarythe and many flocked to join the new cults.

Thanks in part to his mother‘s efforts Malekith‘s cause prospered even as darkness and corruption spread amongst the elves. As Malekith‘s influence grew he came to believe himself indestructible. So certain was he of his divine destiny that he decided to pass into the flame of Asuryan to prove his right to rule.

By this rite the greatest of the Elven gods grants power and divine authority to the true kings of Ulthuan. But the Elven gods were not bowed by Morathi‘s power and the flame rejected her son. Malekith was not killed, but his body was badly burned and afterwards he made a suit of black armour that he wears to this day. Seriously weakened, blackened of body, his mind warped by pain and resentment, Malekith gave up all pretence of rightful lordship and chose instead to impose his will by force of arms alone.

The long, bitter and bloody war that followed became known as The Sundering – for its result was to divide the Elf race. From then on the High Elves of Ulthuan, the Wood Elves of the abandoned Elf colonies in the Old World, and the Dark Elves of Malekith would develop separately. The Dark Elves were eventually driven out of Ulthuan. The land of Nagarythe and a great part of the other western lands of Ulthuan were torn apart by great magical upheavals as the rival sides battled for supremacy. Nagarythe finally sank beneath the waves. Malekith and his supporters fled to the northern part of the New World where they founded their own kingdom in exile upon the borderlands of Chaos. This they named Naggaroth - which means Land of Chill in Elvish.

From his icy realm Malekith broods over his lost kingdom and weaves dark spells against his enemies. His ships harass those of the High Elves, his raiders harry the coasts of Ulthuan and the Old World, whilst his generals plan to return to their homeland and win the Elven Kingdoms for their dark master. In the land of Naggaroth the Dark Elves raised temples to all manner of blood-thirsty Daemons. Witch Elves roam the night searching for sacrifices, breaking into home to steal away children, and murdering those foolish enough to walk abroad beneath the stars. Under the evil gaze of Morathi thousands are sacrificed upon the altars of Khaine while to this day she preserves her unholy youth by bathing in the blood of innocents.

Dark Elf army selector

Troop	Type	Attacks	Hits	Armour	Command	Unit size	Points per unit	Min/max	Special
Spearmen	Infantry	3	3	5+	-	3	60	2/-	-
Crossbowmen	Infantry	3/2	3	6+	-	3	75	1/-	*1
Witch Elves	Infantry	5	3	0	-	3	70	-/2	*2
Dark Riders	Cavalry	3/2	3	6+	-	3	95	-/3	*1
Cold One Knights	Cavalry	3	3	4+	-	3	130	-/3	*3
Harpies	Monster	2	3	6+	-	3	65	-/1	*4
War Hydra	Monster	6/2	4	4+	-	1	125	-/1	*5
Bolt Thrower	Artillery	1/3	2	0	-	2	55	-/1	*6

General	General	+2	-	-	10	1	155	1	*7
Hero	Hero	+1	-	-	8	1	80	-/1	-
Sorceress	Wizard	+0	-	-	8	1	80	-/1	-
Manticore	Monstrous Mount	+2	-	-	-	-	+80	-/1	*8
Chariot	Chariot Mount	+1	-	-	-	-	+10	-/1	-
Cauldron of Blood	Chariot Mount	+2	-	-	-	-	+15	-/1	*9

Special rules

1. Crossbowmen and Dark Riders: These units are equipped with the repeating crossbow. These units shoot once at ranges up to 30cm and twice at ranges up to 15cm. A unit of three stands would therefore shoot 6 Attacks at a target within 15cm and 3 Attacks at a target at greater ranges. Units may shoot at enemies that charge them - in which case they shoot 1 Attack per stand regardless of range.
2. Witch Elves: A unit of Witch Elves always uses its initiative to charge an enemy if possible and cannot be given orders instead. Witch Elves never use their initiative to evade. The unit cannot be driven back by shooting and never roll for drive backs. If victorious in combat they must pursue or advance where possible. Witch Elves are unaffected by enemies that cause terror in combat and do not suffer the usual -1 Attack modifier.
3. Cold One Knights: Such is their unthinking instinct to take a bite out of anything that passes, Cold One Knights has an Attack value bonus of +1 in the first round of each combat when fighting to the front, i.e. the Cold One Knights’ stand has to touch the enemy in arc of sight with its frontal edge and/or frontal corners (including contact by frontal corner only). For the same reason Cold One Knights cannot form brigades except with other units of Cold One Knights.
4. Harpies: Harpies are based facing the long edge of the base in the same way as infantry, rather than the short edge like other monsters. Harpies can fly. A unit of harpies cannot be joined by a character.
5. War Hydra: War Hydras are so aggressive that they cannot be included as part of a brigade not even with other War Hydras. They cause terror in their enemies. The War Hydra can breath fire with a range of 20cm and 2 Attacks that are worked out in the normal way. Once all hits have been struck for that round, and assuming it has not been slain, the War Hydra automatically regenerates 1 hit that it suffered that round. A hit that is inflicted and subsequently regenerated still counts towards the results for that round.
6. Bolt Thrower: Dark Elf Bolt Throwers are Elven Bolt Throwers.
7. General: Dark Elf commanders are masters of manipulation and cruelty - this makes them uncompromising in their dealings with subordinates! If a Dark Elf Hero or Sorceress rolls a double 6 when issuing orders then the General must either lose 1 level of Command value (ie drop from 10 to 9) or execute the failed underling - in which case the character is removed as a casualty but does not count towards the enemy‘s victory points. In addition, if the General rolls a ‘blunder‘ (ie a double 6) then the General automatically loses 1 level. Regardless of these penalties a General can only drop 2 levels (to a minimum of 8) after which all subordinates who blunder are executed and any ‘blunders‘ rolled by the General merely end the phase as normal.
8. Manticore: Generals, Heroes and the Sorceress can ride a Manticore. The Manticore can fly increasing the rider‘s movement to 100cm. An extra +2 Attacks are added to those of the rider. A unit joined by the character causes Terror.
9. Cauldron of Blood: A Sorceress can have a Cauldron of Blood. A Sorceress with a Cauldron of Blood suffers a movement reduction to 30cm. The army can only ever include one Cauldron of Blood and it can only be included if there is at least 1 unit of Witch Elves in the army. The Cauldron of Blood adds +2 Attacks to the Sorceress and can be used to add +1 to the Sorceress‘ dice roll to cast a spell once per battle. The player must announce that the Cauldron of Blood‘s spell bonus is being used before rolling the dice to determine if the spell is cast.

Dark Elf spells

Doom Bolt

5+ to cast Range 30cm

A bolt of pure malicious darkness arcs from the Sorcerer‘s fingertip and stabs towards the foes of the Dark Elves.

Draw an imaginary line 30cm long from the Sorceress‘s stand in any direction you wish. The line will pass through any intervening units but not beyond terrain that would normally stop a missile shot, eg over the crest of a hill, more than 2cm of woodland, and so forth.

Each unit under the line takes three shooting attacks worked out in the usual way. Note that this spell can easily effect several units and will affect all units that fall beneath the line (including your own). Unengaged units can be driven back by a Doom Bolt as with ordinary shooting (even including friends). Engaged units cannot be driven back by the Doom Bolt but carry over any hits scored into the first round of combat; any hits scored count as having been struck in the combat itself.

Black Horror

6+ to cast Range 50cm

A whirling vortex of dark enemy surrounds and drags its victims into the infernal realms of Khaine the Lord of Murder.

This spell can be cast upon an enemy unit the Sorceress can see and which is not engaged in combat. The units suffers 4 Attacks with no saves for Armour. A unit that takes hits from the Black Horror is not driven back as a result - the whirling vortex sucks its victims down affording them no chance to avoid it.

Dominian

4+ to cast Range 60cm

Upon invoking the curse of the foul god Khaine an unnatural and unbearable agony suffuses the body of his foes.

This spell can be cast on any enemy unit within range regardless of whether the Sorceress can see it or not.

The spell takes affect until the end of the opposing player‘s next turn.

Whilst the spell lasts the unit cannot charge and if engaged in combat will not pursue or advance. Even units that are otherwise obliged to charge, pursue, or advance will not do so if affected by Dominion.

Soul Stealer

5+ to cast Range N/A

Invoking the daemons of the abyss the Sorcerer tears the very souls from his enemies.

The Sorceress can cast this spell if she has joined a unit in combat. The spell can be cast on any single enemy unit that is touching the unit the Sorceress has joined.

The target unit takes three attacks worked out in the usual way. Targets get no armour saving throws when they suffer hits from the Soul Stealer - all Armour values count as 0. Any hits scored are carried over into the first round of combat and count as having been struck in the first round for purposes of working out combat results.