WFB: Deathstars Part Three: Dark Elves Black Guard
Dark elves have two deathstars not just one. The first one is pretty common these days unfortunately. A unit of Blackguard with 2 or more characters with the unit standard bearing the banner of Hag Graef is the usual load out for this deathstar. It of course is most likely toting the Ring of Hotek on a champion or a character nearby. For a final topping on the cake a cauldron is in the army providing a ward save or some other equally nasty and annoying buff. Also consider that the Blackguard and characters is not as heavy in the victory point department usually topping off around 800 victory points in the unit.
General tactics vs Blackguard:
Avoidance: This has been covered in the first two articles and will also work versus this style of star. Dark Elves do have excellent support troops though, so it may be harder to achieve. Consider your deployment and 1st turn of movement to be crucial versus dark elves.
Shooting: If your opponent has the Ring of Darkness then never mind. However, that is not always the case. Blackguard are only T3 and even with the cauldron ward still can drop like flies to things like hellblasters, Repeater Bolt Throwers, or just shooting in general. Keep your shooting safe from Harpies and Dark Riders then blast away the Blackguard.
Breathweapons and Templates: The Ring of Darkness doesn’t work on these. Salamanders and Dragons breath is ace for killing Blackguard. My chaos dragon was able to take a unit of 17 Blackguard down to 1 with one round of double breath and bloodcurling roar.
Magic: There are a lot of spells that can be cast out of range of the Ring of Hotek and still kill Blackguard. Cleansing flare and vermintide are both able to be cast out of range for example. Bound spells are another great way to get around Hotek.
Explode Them: If your opponent ever takes the ward save off in a turn where you can hit them hard do it. Chaos Knights in the flank and 2 chariots in the front can kill a massive amount of blackguard if they are not toteing a 5+ ward save.
What do you do when you face blackguard BoLS? Have any great anti-dark elf tactics you want to share? Please post your comments.
