I'm back already. I wasn't kidding when I threatened to said I would post again. You wanted it, you got it. I want to do the next section of the Dark Elves Army Book impressions. Again, I want to stress I haven't played this book yet, or a game of Fantasy itself in almost two years so there is a good chance my impressions of the viability of units is 100% wrong. If I am wrong, please explain why in the comments so I can learn what's good more quickly.
Lords and Heroes
Dreadlord - In the last book with it's OP magic items, we had the "unkillable" dreadlord with a 1+/2++/4+regen save, often mounted on a Pegasus who causes all sorts of trouble. Now, unfortunately, it appears you cannot really craft a DL that is worth the points. Taking advantage of the 100 points of magic items is hardly worth it with such a paltry selection and it seems like there is no reason to bring this guy, unless you wanted a dragon mount which is hardly worth it. I feel a pretty big 'pass' here.
Supreme Sorceress - The level 4 wizard is a pretty obligatory choice so unless I see some reason here not to take this... nope. Give her a Sacrificial Dagger and a large unit of Spearmen, Lore of Shadow and she is good to go.
High Beastmaster - Hmmm. Stats are in between a dreadlord and a master, but it gets a free Manticore or Chariot. The selling point here is the Chariot with its Ravager Harpoon. A strength 7 d3 wound bolt thrower that can move and shoot is pretty nifty but this is quite a bit of points for that. I think I would pass.
Blackark Fleetmaster - A weird choice. Show No Weakness is geared towards a character winning challenges being part of a unit. So to maximize this, he has to be set up to win challenges by have his unit lose the fight. I'm not a fan.
Sorceress - Lowbie wizard who for 115 points can get Tome of Furion and a Dark Pegasus to unleash a Black Horror that devastates the enemy. I might not be able to find points for that in a 2000 point list, but I could see one in a 2500 list to cause chaos.
Master - This is the affordable combat character choice. Last edition I liked this guy on foot in a unit of Executioners or on a Chariot. You can't give a deathhag BSB anymore unless I'm reading this wrong, so this seems fairly obligatory in most lists to me. Perhaps not on a chariot but existing in some form.
Deathhag - I'm a huge fan of the Cauldron of Blood and what it does for your army. Frenzy is often maligned as allowing your opponent to control you, but the other side of the coin is that it allows you to dictate the flow of the game. I'm a fan.
Assassin - Playing with an Assassin is like playing with a unit that has Frenzy in a way. If you play to maximize the Assassin it becomes obvious to your opponent that you have one. The best use of an Assassin is always to kill your opponent's level 4 wizard early in the game, but most players go to great pains to keep their level 4 out of combat early so it will be pretty difficult to get that done. Really cool theme but I don't think it is practical now.
Thoughts? Comments? Questions?
