Want to start playing High Elves but not sure which units are worth it?
Here’s a tierlist of High Elves for The Old World 1.5, because some units have improved and others have dropped off hard with the rules update and the introduction of new secondary missions and summer 2025 maps.
🔥 Flame Phoenix in Old World: complete garbage
The Flame Phoenix makes no sense. It’s a monster whose only positive traits are Fly + Large Target, which is a strong combo of rules. The problem is it has nothing else going for it. Its resurrection rule is completely anecdotal, and its statline is honestly awful. So if you want a Phoenix… you’ll have to look at the Frostheart Phoenix, which I cover later.
🎯 Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower
After testing them extensively, I think they’re really underwhelming. Maybe in a Dark Elves list they could work, since they have far fewer good options to choose from — but that’s not the case here. You’ll basically never use the multi-shot mode, since that was nerfed and the single shot was buffed (S6). It costs 80 points to do almost the same thing a Goblin bolt thrower does — and that one costs 45 points and still doesn’t see play.
Straight to the bin — not worth taking. But I do think it will get buffed eventually in a future FAQ.
🐉 Outclassed monsters: Merwyrm and Frostheart Phoenix
The Frostheart Phoenix is better than the flame one, but it still gets overshadowed by the Star Dragon. Even though it’s cheaper, it has less staying power and hits softer.
The Merwyrm is the same — and on top of that, the model is awful. It also lacks Fly and has lower movement. So even though it’s more expensive than the Phoenix, if I had to choose, I’d still rather take the Phoenix.
🦁 War Lions as redirectors
War Lions have two main uses. They’re great as cheap redirectors — just like Chaos Warhounds. By lining them up one in front of the other, they form a marching column and can move (after their vanguard move) up to 24”, covering a total of 32” at the end of your first turn.
Some people also use them to hit armoured targets, since they have Cleaving Blow (ignore armour and regeneration, but not multiple wounds — not to be confused with Killing Blow), Weapon Skill 5, Strength 4 and two attacks. Against most cavalry, they should be scary. But each model only has one wound and Toughness 4. So they’re easy to kill, whether by shooting or magic.
You might like them or not — but the biggest issue with this unit is that you need to take a regiment of White Lions (which, in general, you won’t want to do).
🛡️ Chariots in Old World: Chrace and Tiranoc
The Lion Chariot is overpriced for what it does. It only deals D6 impact hits on the charge. It has a 4+ save, T4 — which is not acceptable for a chariot that costs this many points.
So what’s the upside? It gives you Devastating Charge in a combo charge, but I’d rather get that effect from another unit I’ll describe later.
Tiranoc Chariot: in my opinion, better than the Lion one. It has Swiftstride, it’s cheaper, and according to the FAQs, it can be used as a character mount and placed inside a cavalry unit, for example. So we can use it to give the character extra wounds and keep it protected inside the unit, using the character’s 3+ armour save.
As a standalone unit (not as a mount), I don’t really see the point.
Even as a mount, it ends up overshadowed overall, because most High Elf characters — in fact, almost all of them — end up getting eclipsed by the Star Dragon one way or another.
Lothern Skycutter
Hits harder than a Great Eagle, but serves the same role and costs 30 points more. So I prefer the Great Eagle, because when you need to sacrifice it — which is one of its uses — it doesn’t hurt as much.
⚔️ Shadow Warriors
Would they be viable as Core units? Maybe. But they aren’t. They’re just a weak, overpriced unit, and there are others in the army book that do their job better. Out.
White Lions, Phoenix Guard and Swordmasters in Old World 1.5
I wouldn’t take any of them. Why? Because they don’t count toward holding objectives as they’re not Core units, and they’re very expensive.
If I had to choose one, I’d go with the Swordmasters, because against most units they strike first or simultaneously — even when they get charged — thanks to their high Initiative.
I don’t know, I like them in units of 7 for that job, but honestly, they’re not meta.
🐎 Dragon Princes of Caledor and Silver Helms
Dragon Princes are very interesting, especially now that Impetuous no longer forces them to charge on 4+. They also have high Leadership and the Drill rule, which means they can enter March Column and cross the whole table in a single turn — and then hit you with a charge. They also hit hard and have a 2+ save. Of course, they’re an expensive unit, but if you play them carefully, they can perform very well. That said, they’re not indispensable.
Silver Helms — I really like them. I know some people don’t, because they don’t have a 2+ save and they don’t hit as hard… yeah, fine. But why do I bring them? Because they have Devastating Charge, can include a Champion, and have solid movement. That means — with a 3+ save — they take few casualties when charging, and combine very well with a Dragon charge: the Helms can take the challenge with their champion, so the Dragon can hit the unit freely and its thunderstomp doesn’t go to waste.
Wonderful and effective unit.
🪶 Great Eagles in Old World
Depending on your strategy, they’re incredibly useful. They can be sacrificed. They have multiple roles — and they do all of them well.
They can redirect, rally thanks to Ld8, and march again to keep disrupting the enemy. They can be sacrificed to force an enemy’s facing into a more favourable position and then countercharge. They can sit behind a unit to block fallback space and keep it stuck, or let an ally flee over them without risk of being caught. They can hunt war machines, support units or mages.
All of that for 60 points. Fantastic.
🏹 Core Infantry
High Elf Spearmen are the cheapest Core unit. They’re fine for forming a large block to hold an objective where you expect some messy fighting. Some people dislike Sea Guard and prefer Spearmen. Personally, if I can afford it, I upgrade them to Sea Guard in Old World 1.5.
Sea Guard: A bit more versatile. If the objective they’re holding becomes empty, at least they can keep shooting. They’re interesting.
They also deal more damage in combat, since the wounds caused by Stand and Shoot count toward combat resolution, and they always get to Stand and Shoot and then strike back with Initiative 6 in the first round.
Elf Archers: I personally love them, but I see many players running lists without them. They can hold a deployment zone objective while constantly contributing to the battle by shooting. The issue with them is that, at such long range, if you’re playing against an army with lots of units, they may not have clear lines of fire and the enemy could always benefit from cover.
🧙 Ellyrian Reavers: the mobile mage bunker
A unit I really dislike. I don’t think light cavalry has the impact it should. That said, many people run them as Core in their army and use them as a mobile mage bunker.
It’s a valid option.
Having a mage on horseback with M9 casting magic missiles definitely has a place. And they can still score.
Just don’t pay for the short bows — they’re expensive and never do anything. At least try to keep the unit as cheap as possible.
🎯 Sisters of Avelorn
They can be made Core. They used to be taken like a death star when used as Core, but that doesn’t really make sense anymore.
As a Rare unit, they’re very solid. It even makes sense now to give them an ambushing unit, in case you’re playing a supply train mission and your opponent has no way to stop a unit coming from behind.
It’s a unit that shoots really well at basically anything. You can’t just charge them with whatever — they strike first and can wipe, for example, a light cavalry unit with their Weapon Skill and Stand and Shoot.
They can include a Champion. So if they get charged by a Dragon or a character, they can hold out for one turn while waiting for a countercharge — just by sacrificing their champion. On top of that, as always, they can take the Bolt Thrower Bow, which some people still like even after the nerf — especially those of us who still stand by the Ruby Ring of Ruin.
I’ve yet to see a single High Elf list that doesn’t include this unit. That’s why it stays at the top.
📌 Conclusion
Even if many of these High Elf units have dropped out of the current Old World meta, it doesn’t mean they can’t find their place with the right strategy or in specific missions. This tierlist is meant to give you a general idea and help fine-tune your list (I personally like the Noble on Chariot and the Noble on Horse with a 2+ save and the 3-shot S5 bow — and they’re not meta either). That said, if you’re building a competitive list, you’d better know what’s worth bringing, what’s not, and what’s only good for sitting on a shelf.
If you want to keep improving your High Elf list, I’ve written plenty more posts on this army that will definitely help.
For free.
Right here.
🍺 THE BEST DWARF INFANTRY WARHAMMER THE OLD WORLD (2/2)
Jade Fleet of Cathay in Old World: Rules, Magic Items and Combos
Core Cavalry in Old World 1.5 Is it worth?
If you think there’s an error in the post, feel free to reach out at theoldwarrior@theoldwarrior.com, and I’ll review it. Hope you enjoy ToW!