The Sisters are a pretty decent ranged unit, providing the High Elves with their only non-war machine ranged unit that stands a chance against armour. It is unfortunate that the bows only have a range of 24″, but I guess that you can’t have it all. So, BS 5 with Strength 4, magical, flaming bows that are armour piercing against bad guys.
![eagle claw bolt thrower eagle claw bolt thrower](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/07vMj5eB0D0/maxresdefault.jpg)
Sisters of AvelornĬould these be considered Maiden Guard? If so, they are back after their 3 (?) book vacation. I expect to see these more than the Flamespires due to their increased statline and support abilities. The Frostheart is pretty solid and becomes a great addition to the High Elf list. Also, it helps to keep your Toughness 3 elves alive when the Phoenix is supporting them in combat. 1 Strength when you are attacking a Toughness 6 creature is not very welcoming. The Blizzard Aura is the big deal because it lowers the Strength (this is the big deal) of enemies in base contact and gives them Always Strikes Last (not generally as big of a deal since High Elves usually strike before their opponents). He receives a 5+ armour save (anything that doesn’t negate the save will need 6s to wound anyway due to his Toughness) and the important Blizzard Aura. He loses the ability to come back to life if he has died, and can’t do damage by just flying over an enemy, but he has his own nice rules. Only 15 points more than the Flamespyre, and almost all of his stats (not Initiative) are a point higher. These guys are the old new (old version of a new entry in the list).
![eagle claw bolt thrower eagle claw bolt thrower](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/30193675/50554233-5704ed80-0cb7-11e9-8292-7f47f7f62bbd.jpg)
Overall, I have to admit, that he’s probably not as good as the Frostheart, but I still like him. I will admit that it most likely won’t do massive damage, but at least he can still have a use if you don’t want to commit him to combat. He can fly over enemies to do some Strength 4 hits. One thing that I really do like about this guy is that he doesn’t have to be in combat to cause damage. Sure, it’s not a very good chance, but some chance is better than no chance. The Flamespyre has a couple of other tricks, like the potential to be reborn if it is killed. So, 1/3 of the time (or 1/2 if the winds are favorable), they will ignore the wound altogether. They also have the very important (in my opinion) ward save. They’re roughly around the statline of a Sun Dragon and can receive a stat bonus based on your Winds of Magic roll. Also, I guess that I have been with school of thought that they are fire birds, so I like the idea of the Flamepyre over the Frostheart. In case you haven’t noticed, I like phoenixes, so I was very excited when these models showed up. These guys are the new hotness (lame joke, I know, but believe me, I thought of so many) I might try out a unit of 3 eagles sometime, as I could see them being a decent threat, but I’m thinking for now that they will remain ‘units’ of one. Maybe the upgrades will be useful if they are added to a unit of eagles, but then the eagles start becoming a little expensive. Is it really worth 10 points to let your eagle to hit first or potentially re-roll its 2 attacks? What about 5 points for the 2 Attacks to have Armour Piercing? There might be times when these upgrades are nice, but I will most likely keep the eagles cheap. With that in mind, I like to keep them cheap. They can help to buy an extra turn for your fighting blocks, too. The eagles are great at getting in the way or running down fleeing troops.
![eagle claw bolt thrower eagle claw bolt thrower](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fPjX4TXHGHM/hqdefault.jpg)
Oh well, maybe I will give them a try in a unit sometime. I only just recently purchased my 2nd pair of them right before the new book came out. It really is too bad that you can’t take the 4 single eagles anymore. Also, you can give the eagles Armour Piercing and/or Always Strikes First upgrades. However, they can now be taken in units (if you so desire).
![eagle claw bolt thrower eagle claw bolt thrower](https://i.imgur.com/6biUL09.png)
It is also nice that you can still include 4 of them in a lower points list. The bolt throwers offer superior range and the utility of either the single shot with no armour save, or the multi-shot for more lightly armoured targets. At least the cheaper points cost makes their loss easier to deal with. It is unfortunate that they only have 2 Wounds, because they are extremely vulnerable to enemy ranged attacks. With a 48″ range and the only High Elf ranged weapon that can somewhat reliably penetrate armour, they are kind of a special unit. Since I never owned any bolt throwers before the switch to 8th edition, I haven’t used them before. The two choices from the old book have been joined by three new entries. Now we have reached the final section of the High Elf book.