High Elves
That of the Asur - which other races call High Elves - is a very ancient people who settled on the island of Ulthuan millennia before the advent of Sigmar, founder of the human Empire.
While at its peak the High Elf civilization was among the most prosperous in the world, following numerous Chaos invasions on their island and the split that gave rise to the Dark Elves, this haughty and arrogant people now face one of the darkest periods of decline.
The armies of the High Elves are made up of highly trained and highly disciplined units, supported by some of the noblest magical creatures indigenous to the island of Ulthuan. Unfortunately, not many valuable generals remain leading the Asur, and their economy is not strong enough to allow them to maintain large contingents of troops.
Strategy in the Campaign
Characteristic traits of the faction:
- Influenza:
The Asur are disunited, a jumble of warring kingdoms, only formally under the authority of the Phoenix King Finubar of Lothern. At his court, ambassadors from all the Asur kingdoms gather to practice sophisticated intrigues against their enemies.
Each High Elf faction has a score of influence, a value that represents the ability of this faction to exert diplomatic pressure to alter the relations between the factions, and ensure the loyalty of the most talented characters in life to their cause.
Influence is obtained through hero actions, dilemmas, rituals or special buildings.Through a panel located at the bottom right of the campaign map view, it is possible to implement court intrigues between factions in the game: through a payment in influence points, it is possible to strengthen or crack the relationships that two factions have between them, in order to create alliances or make their enemies fight each other. Another very important use of influence is to help recruit the best heroes of the new world. Some recruitable lords and heroes will enjoy incredible character traits and will have, in addition to the usual cash cost, also a cost in influence. The greater the influence required, the better the bonuses the hero will have. On the other hand, heroes who do not require influence will often have important penalties from which to keep away, if possible. - Elven espionage:
Elven traders bring back everything they learn on their travels with great precision.
All regions controlled by trading partners will be visible for the duration of the treaties. - Martial prowess:
The Asur are eternal creatures, who have had the opportunity to train longer than any human.
Each unit of High Elves (not their creatures, and with the exception of chariots) gains a huge bonus to their melee attack and defense skills as long as their health is greater than 50%. Elite units have a similar ability that offers even greater bonuses under the same conditions. - Special Faction Rules:
Support from the people
Unlike other factions, maintaining a high public order grants increasingly important advantages. A public order below zero, on the other hand, will lead to penalties.
Army Mode:
- Marching
- Ambush
- In the camp
- Lileath's Blessing (Channel)
Recruitment Mode:
- Local
- Global (when in a Settlement or Camp Mode)
Settlement conquest mode:
- Occupies
- Raid
- Raze to the ground
Initial game phase
At the beginning of the campaign, the Asur immediately enjoy a simple and reliable combination of spearmen and archers able to maintain their position for a long time, dealing mainly damage from a distance. The Asur economy will not allow at first to recruit many armies, and it will be necessary to choose one's enemies with great care, in order to maintain a relationship of economic-military superiority during conflicts. After having conquered the territories of a hostile faction, it is good to make them self-sufficient and productive as soon as possible, so as not to go back from the front with their troops to quell revolts.
As soon as you have a chance, it is advisable to send a hero to explore the regions beyond their borders, in order to find trading partners with whom to start immediately profitable exchanges, on which much of the economy will later be based.
Development
When your finances can keep a couple of well-equipped armies, you can set your sights on better-defended cities that are home to strongholds or commercial resources. While relying on a very solid army, not having buildings capable of ensuring significant income throws the maintenance of the entire military sector into precariousness. It is necessary to carefully consider which territories to occupy. One misstep could cause a quick reversal of your regional hegemony and you could suffer irreparable damage.
Final phase
When you master vast territorial portions and unlock the last few units, you will be able to face any army with your head held high. Your highest ranking lord should not fear confrontation even against legendary lords, as long as he has been equipped with the types of units suitable to face the most powerful forces of the opposing faction.
Lesser Lords can be used to patrol internal borders, to prevent too deep penetration of enemy contingents that could raze some of your settlements.
Try to defend your trading allies as well, so that they provide you with the funds for your progress.
Battle Tactics
Strengths:
- High quality infantry, effective immediately and in every department
- Excellent missile infantry
- Great flying monster options
- Good knowledge of magic
Weaknesses:
- Limited artillery park, no firearms
- No monstrous infantry
Use the High Elves
The main line of an Asur army relies on an incredibly disciplined and resilient, albeit mostly shieldless, infantry. The first moments of the battle will serve to replicate those of the opponent with your own maneuvers, to break the enemy charge against your direct counter in each sector.
In the rear you can find, alternatively, two shooting formations: archers or ballistae. Archers are less fragile, especially in the armored version, while ballistae, less maneuverable and slow, can also shoot against enemy monsters or generals, even eliminating them before the fight.
If you want to compose a formation that is more offensive than defensive, the missile units can be replaced entirely with cavalry, guaranteeing speed and maneuverability to the formation.
Among the flying units you can choose between eagles, phoenixes or dragons. The decision will basically be dictated by your budget and the level of progress of the military infrastructure, but it is good to consider that the breath of a dragon inflicts very serious damage and can also be used against single characters.
Confronting the Asur
Confronting an Asur army on their terms will at best result in a very expensive victory, and AI often matches two lords at a time. A war against this faction must include a discrete strategy and, if the territory allows it, also ambushes. Depriving them of their strongholds will guarantee a good advantage, weakening the economy and forcing them to play as attackers, devaluing their defense and their shooting from distance.
In battle one must not be caught unprepared. If you are fighting as attackers, you must not go head-on towards their formation. Try to outflank the missile units and disrupt their main line. While the opponent may have ranged superiority, they are unlikely to have piercing fire, so armored cavalry or armored monsters could lead to a victorious conclusion.
Numerical superiority is very important to dilute the flow of arrows and do enough damage to lose the martial prowess bonus. To this end, it is also advisable to mobilize the artillery against the higher tier infantry, in order to make them less dangerous and neutralize their martial prowess.
Best Units
- Sword masters of Hoeth
The highest level of sword infantry. In addition to good armor and excellent parameters throughout the melee sector, they cope with the lack of the shield with the ability to deflect arrows with the broadsword. An indispensable piece for any elite army.
- Guard of the Phoenix
Arguably the best infantry unit in the game, the phoenix guards are heavily armored, great in combat, scary, and enjoy 30% physical damage resistance. In addition to being absolutely lethal against large opponents, they are also able to be competitive against swordsmen. An absolutely decisive unit in battle.
- Dragon Princes
Among the best heavy cavalry units in the game, what makes each Dragon Prince unique is their 70% resistance to fire damage, allowing them to head-on a war hydra, a dragon not in flight, or units. armed with fire damage. Furthermore, all their parameters are very valid, and they only sin, like all their counterparts, in speed and number.
- Fenice
Along with eagles, phoenixes are among the non-heavy flying monsters available to the High Elves. They are not overly resilient, but can easily evade ground units to neutralize missile units or artillery.
While the Glacial-Hearted Phoenix has increased armor, its fire counterpart has extensive area bombardment and has a chance to rise from its ashes with half its life if it takes lethal damage.
- dragons
The noblest people attract the noblest creatures to themselves. The Asur have three units of dragons, of different tiers, which can be gradually unlocked with different buildings.
Their cost, gradually increasing, is consistent with the improved statistics. Even the less strong is very competitive in the clashes between monsters and will hardly lose an air combat. All three types also feature a breath attack capable of dealing heavy damage to both single units and multiple stacked units.
- Keeper of Knowledge
An emblem of elven culture, the Keepers of Lore are an order of highly trained warriors capable of mastering the rudiments of magic.
Being heroes of this faction alone, in addition to their contribution to the army in the campaign, they can be sent as support in an army that lacks a wizard or a dueling hero. Clearly they won't be as efficient as these in a specific field of expertise, but they remain versatile and worthy of respect.
Continue reading with the next article Focus 2: Dark Elves
Go to the previous article Part 8: Rituals
