Deep-Sea Elves Tactics

Deep-Sea Elves
Setting:	Age of Fantasy
Games:	Age of Fantasy, Age of Fantasy: Skirmish, Age of Fantasy: Regiments
Species:	Elf
Version:	v2.50

Note: as v2.50 is in constant development the following might not be accurate.

Why Play Deep-Sea Elves

Pros

• Plenty of Strider to deal with terrain

Cons

• Pretty poor defenses
• A lot of heroes can't hold up in a fight

Special Rules

• Constrict: When an enemy rolls a 1 to block this attack, they suffer an extra hit.
• Distortion Drummer: Once per activation, two friendly units within 6” get Stealth next time they are shot at.
• Divine Navigator: The hero and its unit get the Ambush special rule.
• Ethereal: Counts as having Stealth, Strider, as well as Regeneration against non-spell attacks. Note that this stacks with the actual Regeneration rule.
• Lantern of Souls: The hero and its unit get the Constrict special rule.
• Quick Shot: This model may shoot even after using Rush actions.
• Soul Collector: Once per activation, two friendly units within 12” get +1 to their next morale test.
• Tide Master: The hero and its unit get +1 to hit rolls in melee.

Magic Spells

• Power Tide (4+): Two friendly units within 12" improves the AP of their melee attacks by +1 for the next turn.
• Sea Storm (4+): Enemy unit within 12" takes five hits. Not much, but it can dent a herd.
• Darkest Abyss (5+): Two enemy units within 12" takes -1 the next time they shoot. This can help confound gunlines or hamper some artillery.
• Erode Soul (5+): Enemy model within 12" takes an AP(4) hit. It's pretty much a guaranteed hit, enough to fell a hero on their last legs.
• Crushing Pressure (6+): Two enemy units within 6" take six AP(1) hits - giving them an edge over armored infantry.
• High Tide (6+): Two friendly units within 6" gain Flying for their next activation, letting them ignore terrain for the next charge.

Unit Analysis

Heroes

• Deep-Sea King: Your one and only beatstick. With a 3+ quality and 4+ defense, he's the only one that can actually take a hit and throw one back. He's also the only one that can pick whatever weapon he wants and can buy Tide Master in order to bolster fellow units while also fighting.
  • Mounts: The king's got the most mounts available. The closest to a horse he can have is the electric eel, which not only makes him fast but also provides Furious and an AP 1 attack to annoy the enemy. The sea-wyrm gives extra wounds as well as some extra attacks. The Deep-Sea Dragon provides your massive price hike in a steed, boosting defense and wounds as well as serious power but no boost in mobility.

• Guard Champion: Your supposed champion isn't really much more than a cheap filler hero - With only a 5+ in quality and defense and little else to offer, their only purpose is being cheap. Their only mount option is te giant frog, providing slightly better defense and wounds as well as the extra attacks.

• Spirit Caster: Your basic wizard. They aren't meant to fight, only to cast spells behind a crowd.

• Spirit Render: The closest thing you got to a beatstick short of the king. While still flimsy as hell, this guy's got a few AP 1 attacks from a hook as well as a swordfish for a Deadly 3 attack made to murder heroes and Tough units. More important though is the Lantern of Souls, a special ability that triggers any time the render or their unit wounds an enemy unit and spreads temporary 4+ Regens to nearby allies. Considering how flimsy most of your army is, you'll be needing this.

• Spirit Ledger: Comes with a barrage of attacks thanks to a pet octopus. Their special rule is the eponymous Spirit Ledger, a buff that grants the attached unit's +1 to melee hits and morale checks. This can help a unit be more of a threat.

• Spirit Scryer: It has a swarm of metal piranhas for several AP 2 attacks, allowing it to nail a some more durable targets from a decent range. Divine Navigator requires a bit of set up, but it can provide some unexpected payoff. Being Ambush with a temporary Fast perk after arriving, this means that the unit can pull of some really long charges from a surprise angle that nobody saw coming.

Infantry

• Sea Guard: Your basest infantry, very prone to collapsing when confronted with even a stiff breeze. For this reason, you should be very precise with placement and using the Spirit Render's ability to protect them.
• Octopus Guard: Slightly better defended with a 5+ and Stealth. Though unable to pick up any new weapons, they give you more attacks than dual wielding Sea Guard.
• Sea Servants: Elite guards with 4+ quality and a 5+ defense, though this also means that their weapon options are costlier. Their special rule is Blows of Grace, a special rule that lets them pick between either another attack or +2 to AP each turn they fight. Both of these are dangerous by themselves, and with the right weapons can prove even devastating.
• Sea Reavers: The archer version of the Sea Servants. Each one comes with a bow for long-ranged firing, but they can also buy crossbows for even longer range and Rending. Their special rule is Shots of Grace, which allows them to pick between either another shot or +2 to hit each turn. Unlike the servants, the use for these buffs is more dictated on which enemy you're facing and how much you need those shots to land.
• Depth Horrors: Slightly better defense than the Sea Servants and they get Tough 3 in exchange for Blows of Grace. Unfortunately, their weapon options are a bit more costly with exception to the cheaper halberds.
• Giant Crabs: Not exactly the biggest enemy crabs you'll ever face, but that 3+ defense makes them a pain to deal with. Ambush also makes them a good surprise to crush monsters or enemy artillery, especially with a Spirit Scryer to boost them.
• Water Elementals: A more direct sort of wall. While the crabs can arrive in a bad angle, the elementals march forward, protected by Tough 3, a 4+ defense and Regeneration protecting them.

Cavalry

• War-Eel Riders: The eel makes for an impressive mount, providing Fast, Furious and an extra attack with AP1, which the riders won't get even if you buy lances. In addition, their upgrades can give them some special functions, with Electric Barrier granting Stealth for some extra protection and Electric Blast giving a mid-ranged shooting attack to harry the enemy.
• Sea-Wyrm Riders: While they lack Furious like the eel riders, these guys are tankier with Tough 3 and provide some more dangerous attacks at AP1. That said, this is all they will be able to provide since their setup is entirely static.

Monsters

• War-Shark Riders: A bunch of elves riding on a shark, though it's better to treat this unit as a small monster. The pack's protected by a welcome 2+ defense, while the shark provides some serious pain with Fear and some AP2 attacks. On top of this, you can also make it a small artillery platform by buying either the harpoon launcher to nail monsters and heroes or the net launcher to cut down mobs.
• Giant Kraken: A large pile of wounds and attacks, all at AP 1 to cut through armored infantry. The kraken is a simple beast that works best when dealing with hordes, though it can probably put up a fight against enemy monsters.
• Giant War-Turtle: The turtle is deceptively destructive. Despite its appearance, it's packing Furious and Impact 6 as well as several attacks that can rip through armor at AP 2. You can also buy some other upgrades, including a devastating Chomp attack for felling monsters, harpoon launchers if you wanted to kill monsters from afar, and the Distortion Drums. These drums are special in that they provide Stealth for two fellow units, which is vital considering how squishy your troops are.
• Great Elemental: A larger elemental, made to drown crowds in small blasts. Though it lacks any shooting, a 2+ save with Regen and Strider allows it to close in with the competition with little difficulty. What you should beware is the enemy throwing their own monsters, which would be the elemental's greatest weakness.

Artillery

• Great Harpoon Launcher: The big draw of this is that it's able to shoot down monsters from across the board. With AP 2 and Deadly 3, it can make short work out of all but the most durable of them.

List Building & Tactics

General Advice

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Tactics

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See Also

• Deep-Sea Elves
• Deep-Sea Elves Quickplay Armies
• Age of Fantasy

Deep-Sea Elves
Overview - Tactics - Skirmish Tactics - Miniatures - Quickplay Armies - Skirmish Quickplay Armies

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