New Shinys!

Seriously, where can I buy one of these models?

So the internet has been flooded with pictures of the new High Elves and frankly they all look gorgeous, even  the Flying Chariot, which I'll be honest, I never thought could never be better than a giant turd... I can't wait to flood my desk with new shiny toys!!!

Alongside this we've been given what seems to be a rundown of the overall layout of the book. A few things stand out to me:

• Reavers are still Special. BOOOO!!!! However Silver Helms and Tiranoc Chariots are now core so that's what High Elf core choices will look like. I can't imagine taking anything but 2-3 chaff Helm units supported by 1-2 Chariots and maybe a Bus, unless something crazy happens to Spears/Archers.
• Phoenix Guard to Rare. This does support the rumours of them getting Unbreakable, but I'm surprised they are moving them as the balance between them, Swordmasters and White Lions was fairly close to perfect in the last book imo. They'll need more boosts than Unbreakable though to justify taking them in this world of 1+saves.
• Riderless Phoenixes in Rare, and possible Dragon Princes on some kind of Monstrous mount. I was worried that Phoenixes might just be a character mount, but happily that's not the case. I somehow doubt the latter option will happen though as I feel we'd have seen models by now due to GW not releasing rules without models these days and not tending to be especially subtle about beautiful new models when they have them. 

Anyway, lets look through the new models, shall we.

Alarielle is back!

So lets start with the return of the Everqueen. Great news but I prefer the old model thanks, I just really don't like the head gear to be honest. Otherwise the model is lovely. Hope her rules are as awesome as they used to be. Die Daemons, Die!!!

Ninja Mage!! 

Some kind of Warrior Mage. Is this the return of Belannaer, or just a new hero class (hopefully both!)? The model looks cool, with a nice action pose. Of note, is the armour matches the plastic IoB Swordmasters, so clearly related but in what manner is the question. It would be pretty nice to have a mage that doesn't need to hide in a bunker at the back.

BSB Special character?

Probably my favourite model of the lot. Loving the power stance! Supposedly a Seaguard special character, with vague rumours of it being the Phoenix King himself. I seriously doubt the latter, as I can't see the King holding his own banner... but would be interesting to see a SC that might make Seaguard useful. I'd guess he'll get some kind of ambush rule or similar to represent ships landing behind the enemy forces or something.

Girls just wanna have fun?

My second favourite release. Captain of the Maidenguard maybe? I just love the fact it seems you can go heavy Avelorn theme in the new book. She'll fit nicely into my Maidenguard to.

Yay, they're back!

About bloody time! Look great with the bows, and should fit in with the old ones too, if you organised the unit with Bows in front and Spears supporting from behind. I'm intrigued to see what their supposed Water Bows do and hopefully they won't just end up as overpriced bowmen with similar effectiveness. Hate to see them go the way of Hellstriders, but GW doesn't have a great track record in pricing units with similar battlefield functions...

Well they can't get any worse can they?

Lets note the most important thing here, the champion has two swords. TWO SWORDS, PEOPLE!! Maybe they'll actually be able to do something this version! They've also wandered into Core which provides the interesting option of heavy scouting High Elf armies to mess with deployment. I look forward to them being ridiculous broken to make up for last edition.

Flap flap, Mutha Fucka!

So finally confirmation that we can take unridden variants, yay! I forsee my Rare having two at all times, because, yelling "FLAME ON!" is why. The models are really nice imo, apart from the god awful wing joint that stands out like a sore thumb. I thought GW were past this kind of basic design flaw, but oh well, I'd bet a number of companies will have beautiful  (and cheaper) alternates within a month or two.

And finally:

Seriously, the Eagle Workers Union really needs to sort their shit out.

I really want to hate this model, as lets be honest, the concept is a bit silly, but goddamn if GW hasn't made it a winner. The Eagle is great, and the chariot also looks sleek and elegant, like a beautiful yacht of the skies. I think they really channeled Battlefleet Gothic Eldar in the design and it really worked. Hopefully the rules back it up, but it doesn't look like there's a warmachine of any type on either picture of the Chariot that I can see? I'm also not sure how anyones supposed to fight combat from the back but hey, magic did it!

Overall I'm pretty damn happy with the upcoming High Elf release and can't wait for it hit the shelves. Sadly between this and my newborn Tau army, my savings are feeling very unloved right now... ah, screw it!