Point for point on high elves IMO:
1. Elladan and Elrohir: two heroes much better than captains for less than 2 captains! 3,2,2 each gives them some seriously powerful heroic abilities and the opportunity to have 3As each is amazing. Only downsides are that they have to lead the same warband and the unbreakable bond special rule.
2. Gil-Galad: the best hero available to the good side, except for Boromir otWT
![Boromir :boromir](./images/smilies/boromir.gif)
(Aragorn
![Aragorn :aragorn:](./images/smilies/aragorn.gif)
suffers from lack of D, horn, shield and that mostly, he can only use one might a turn, and can't lead any troops, but that's another story). With his insane fight value, enemy heroes will more often than not waste their might by heroic striking and still not getting up to F9 or 10. With Aeglos, which is like a 2 handed weapon with burly, he can wound anything pretty easily (Can you feint with Aeglos? I'm not sure myself. It is a spear, but it has a long blade on the end). Feinting is ideal most of the time for him, as the -D3F won't be able to take him below the F of your opponent. An armoured horse is always a good investment for him, just keep him in cover until the lines close in more, or, as with all powerful mounted heroes, they won't be powerful mounted heroes anymore, just powerful heroes lol! His only real weakness is his lack of fate, but this is negated when you give him a shield and suddenly he is D8 (6/4 for s3). He also has 3s in all the right places (apart from fate). A great hero and about level with the twins for me, but I had to put one of them first!
P.S. Sorry for the essay about Gilly.
3. Erestor: D7, 3F, re-rolls in combat or with throwing weapons? Yes please! Erestor is a beast at pretty much everything. He seems to survive most games for me, but, as with all high elf heroes, they all have their limits, and it is easy to over-estimate them, and they will be trapped/ swarmed and there are only so many times fate and a high D can save you. His only real weaknesses are that he lacks might, so it's best to use him in an army that has a hero with 3M in (would have to be one of the big 4 for high elves, but I've found that he works best either with the twins or Arathorn, as I ally in GC from time to time).
4. Glorfindel, Lord of the West: Has all of the 3s in the right places (A, W, M, W, F), an amazing fight value, and D7 and resistance to magic if you give him the Armour of Gondolin (which you should). Give him Asfaloth, but only if you know you aren't up against bows or if you know you can keep him in cover most of the time (same problem as Gilly and all other amazing mounted heroes). And, like Erestor, he has a tendency of not dying, which is always good.
5. Arwen: For me, the remaining heroes are ones I try to avoid taking.
Arwen dies too quickly in CQC, but if you give her an Elven Cloak, she will at lest get to CQC. Natures wrath and F6 is all very good, but when you think that she'll be used mostly as a cheap hero to lead a warband, or as a caster, she is outmatched by the Galadhrim Stormcaller, who has an extra spell, higher D, and the ability to regain will.
High Elf Stormcaller: I haven't given him a number, as he isn't a named hero, but I thought I might as well put him in his place in the order as then I'll have done the complete set. In my mind, he is definitely inferior compared to the Galadhrim Stormcaller 90% of the time! but this Stormcaller can give everyone around him more will, which helps rather a lot if your name is arwen or elrond or if you are trying to resist spells, but Lindir does both of these things better, although he isn't in Erigion and Rivendell. Call Winds is an under-estimated spell (but it isn't in my area anymore, I wonder why?...). it is best like a wood elf sentinel's song is used- to blow away powerful models, such as trolls, or banners, although it is different in that you can't move them towards you to slaughter them, but it can be resisted, so it is best not used in heroes.
6. Círdan: Cirdan's stats look dreadful on paper, but, in a game, his spells can be extremely powerful, even over-powered if you pass the aura of dismay roll first time (looking at you here, GBHL James). But, he has 1 fate, might, attack, D4 and is unarmed, so you have to keep him away from like everything as he will drop even more easily than a fly if exposed (more like a rock dropped from the Empire State Building). And is practically useless if he fails his spells.
High Elf Captain: Much cheaper than Elrond, and better in CQC and more survivable than Gildor, but still over costed compared to other captains and especially Rivendell Knight Captains. Remember that he is basically only a normal captain, don't over-estimate him, and give him a shield for when things get messy. I only ever use them if I need a hero at this points cost and I have already used Erestor.
7. Elrond: Elrond is in 7th place, unless you also take Lindir, in which case he's like 4th or 5th. He is undoubtedly an amazing hero, but he cost too much in points. Give him armour and a horse if he is leading knights. The thing with being a caster and a warrior is that you can cast if you get charged first. This is the second big problem with Elrond. However, he has 3s in all the right places, high fight, but not overly high for an elf hero and D7, which you'd think would give him good survivrability, but, as he cost so many points, he is either fed a warrior a turn or killed by arrows (like how the Persians fired them at Thermopylae, although, unfortunately, fighting in the shade won't work in this occasion. You look at Elrond's stats and you think wow, then you look at his points cost and you think he's ok, but then that the warrior/spell caster hybrid doesn't usually work, and he becomes a bit of a points drink, although he is still worth it with Lindir I think.
8. Gildor Inglorion: Some people think that Gildor is amazing, but I think he is rubbish. He has an Elven cloak, do he won't be killed by bow-fire, and he can immobilise powerful stuff and he can move 8" but he is almost as weak as Círdan in combat and is supposedly a combat hero. The thing is that he has 1 might, D4 and 1 fate, so he is near to incapable of heroics and will die extremely quickly for a model of such a points cost. He seems to always get killed by regular troops in combat, as the three things that he lacks are the 3 things that really stop him from dying.
9. Elrond, Master of Rivendell: Foresight and Wrath of Bruinen are cool, but are they really worth an extra 45 pts? IMO, no. He has a low defence for such a high costing model, and suffers from the same problems as normal Elrond- that Gilly and Glorf are better at fighting and that arwen or a Stormcaller are better for spells.
This has taken me nigh on 90 mins to write, so to anyone who is reading this, thanks for reading to the end, and just one person reading all this will have made it all worth it.
EDIT: Elrond, Gilly, Glorf, Gildor and Erestor all cause Terror, which is good as it means that it is easier for you to pick your fights as you are less-likely to be charged. Especially useful if said hero is mounted.
Thanks,
LordElrond