so I shouldn't have a separate warband of archers that stays behind? I think i'll go for Legolas, Thranduil and a stormcaller

If i do plan on bringing some allies could anyone tell me how good these guys are please

High elves as troops
Elrond
Arwen
Glorfindel
Erestor
The Twins
Cirdan
Gildor
Gil-Galad
Galadhrim as troops
Rumil
Haldir
Celeborn
Galadriel (are there 2 versions as there is in WOTR)
and captains for both of these groups

Jury's out on whether to have mixed war bands or have all your archers in one. With the new deployment rules, you could end up with your archers all too close, and your warriors further back. However, having them all together makes it easier to volley (though volley is less useful now). Personally I would mix them unless I had a specific goal in mind.

As for your list of profiles for commentary, there's not a weak profile in there, the only difficulty is cost and how you want to use them. Here's the thing about SBG that seems different, based on your questions and from what I've read about WotR: SBG is a very balanced system, and for the most part you can field just about anything and make it work as long as you know how to use it. So you're better off just picking a theme or a model you like and build around that.

If you're already fielding Legolas and Thranduil, you have plenty of high-level potency, you're probably better served by a mid-range hero (e.g.: Erestor, Gildor, Arwen, Cirdan, Rumil, Haldir, depending on whether you want more magic) + whatever warriors you can fit. You could take the Twins, because they can plow through normal warriors and feeble non-elf captains, but it's best if you keep them away from magic users and monsters because to do their job they have to practically rack up an enemy war band each in kills. In contrast, Glorfindel is best against wraiths and other monsters if you give him his special armour. He can also hold his own against normal warriors, but there's only one of him.

I've been preferring Galadhrim to high elves, partly because the models have a more sensible equipment distribution, and are more easily converted. With high elves you need a pile of metal models to get shield + spear, and a pile more to convert to sword + shield. If you are facing a lot of S4 troops, the D6 of high elves with shield is no better than the D5 of Galadhrim. And if the archers are in the back, it's nice to save points and field wood elves with bow + spear, rather than high elves that come with heavy armour. Finally, Galadhrim give you pikes, and I can't overstate how useful they are.

thanks, just quickly why are pikes so useful

A line of spearmen doubles the amount of attacks the people on your frontline have, a line of pikes behind the spears triples it, all while still only risking the loss of the men on your frontline. For elves this is especially useful because you have a high fight value, meaning you will win most fights in a tie-break situation.

EDIT: There are 2 different Galadriels in sbg, one is a combat model that can shield your troops from arrows, the other is a spellcaster whose main pro is restoring the vitality of heroes, the latter option is only really useful for big armies.

In a recent thread, which I can't find now, your odds of winning a fight are drastically improved the more dice thrown in a fight. Even matched dice for dice (say an uruk supported by spear + pike, vs elf supported by spear + pike), your odds are better than if you just had a single uruk vs a single elf. This is because your odds of rolling a 6 increase as you increase the dice pool, and a 6 wins automatically. It's like compound interest...

The pikes are pricey, and you don't need them everywhere, but having 6 or so in 700+ points is probably a useful ratio.

with the pikes should I put 2 in each with warband or but them in one that is suited to taking on larger foes like trolls

also could you explain the rules/stats/wargear option for

Glofindel
Rumil
Haldir
and would these be a good selection of heroes

Spread the pikes out in 2 or 3 warbands.

Haldir and Rumil are good, especially Rumil 'the slayer'.

We cannot disclose stats etc here, its illegal, some of the stats are on GW, and all the elves are in the Free Peoples book.

_________________
"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

2 pikes per warband probably wouldn;t make a huge difference besides slightly increasing the momentum of that warband, whereas if you put them all in one you would have a warband that could take care of their foes quite quickly then move on to the next enemy.

As for the heroes you listed.
Glorfindel is an uber hero, he is a beast at close combat and is one of the few models in the game with fight 7, meaning he will win almost any tiebreak situation. Very sturdy choice but quite pricey, put him on horseback to get the most out of him.
Rumil is really good, he forces enemies to re-roll 6's meaning he is very potent at slaying trolls and other monsters, as well as holding out with relatively little support thanks to his shield. You get the most for your points with him imo.
There are two haldir's; the most popular is just the regular one, who is a competent fighter and has notable ranged skills, being allowed to shoot twice instead of the regular once; combine this with his versatile equipment options (elven blade, heavy armour, elf cloak) and he is going to be useful anywhere on the field. The other haldir is like an armoured version of the above, but performs well when near aragorn or theoden, and can do a sort of suicide strike when he dies against all enemies nearby.

I'd go for Rumil, as he is the best for his points. Glorfindel is better than him, but is very expensive pointswise :/ His armour is useful for negating spells, meaning commonplace enmies like ringwraiths lose their bite against ol' glorfy. Haldir is good and all but is just a bit mediocre tbh.

Ok then I'm planning on taking this at the moment:

Glorfindel to act as a leader/main hero with his armour not on horse (wouldn't he either get to far ahead and attract to much attention as the only mounted model) and the pike armed guys to be a sort of 'shock attack' unit

Rumil and a mixture of spear and sword armed Galadhrim to be the main group within the army

Haldir w/ bow ans elven cloak with some wood elf warrior with bows but as people have voiced concern I could get a different hero (any suggestions welcome) and then mix the archers between this warband and Rumils

A Generic Caption or two could come in handy, you shouldn't try to rely entirely on named heroes.

Rumil should have pike support.

Glorfy isn't in the same list as the pikes, as far as I know.

_________________
"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

I was planning on allying in Glorfindel what is wrong with my shock troop technique, I was planning on taking Haldir to go with the archers because of his special rule but I could mix the archers and use a captain instead

If you want to group the archers together they could just get sprung on by another warband in some scenarios :/ Definatley put Glorfindel on a horse, in sbg being mounted means you can move UP TO 10", so he does not have to rush ahead, that would be a waste of points. Put him on horse because in sbg if someone charges on horseback against infantry their dice pool to wound becomes +1 their normal and then doubled. A mounted Glorfindel will kill about 3-4 models per turn, and maybe even more if you choose to call heroic combats etc. If he's on foot he might kill 1-2 a turn if your lucky and will not be able to get to where he is most needed whereas on horseback he can quickly back up all of your fronts.

Is given how good you say cavalry are worth taking some Galadhrim Knights

Also a hero on foot is an easier target than a mounted counterpart, the lack of speed and maneuverability means that even in a 'favorable' situation, you will still probably get surrounded eventually. If your forking out for the Glorf, he may as-well be fully kitted out!

Depends, i'm no expert but from what i hear Galadhrim knights are overpriced compared to riders of rohan, but i would probably still warrant them as being useful. There is a difference between a mounted hero and a mounted soldier, a mounted hero will get 4 attacks to win the fight AND have higher fight, meaning they will probably win, even if against a similar number of dice, a soldier on horseback will get 2 attacks on the charge, and often face more dice, meaning they could quite quickly get skewered. mounted Glorf also has 3 attacks incase he doesn't charge, which is more than enough to hold off most foes, a mounted trooper does not, they have 1, meaning a decent captainwill mess 'em up. HOWEVER cavalry is very dangerous and more than capable of paying its points back, if i were you, i'd atleast try them out but a mounted 3 attack hero like Glorf is a force to be reckoned with regardless of support. Alot of tournaments are won with all-hero mounted forces, the other day my eomer wiped out a good 12 harad archers, 8 pikemen, and a half troll without any support and he is considered far less effective than glorf.

thanks for the info if i were to take Knights how may do you think i should take and if not should I still do the Glorfindel pike combo (can a pike back up a horse?)

Depends really, 6 is probably a good number of cavalry to start with, that way they should pay their points back without wasting alot of your points if they don't. I'm not sure if a pike can back a mounted model up, i don;t think so, i think you have to back up a same sized base model. No matter where you put mounted Glorf have him attack the flanks/rear of the enemy unit to reduce their spear/pike support; doing this should be easy (i think his horse has a 12" move) and would probably be better suited to help a warband without pikes, as the pike unit should be fine whereas other unit will need the help.

so my army will either be

Glorfy with 6 knigths

Rumil with pikes

Galadhrim Captain with Galadhrim archers

Or

Glorfy with Pikes

Rumil with mix

Captain with bows

Or

should I mix the archers in

If the pikeman has a 40mm base, he can back up a cavalry model, but I doubt you can find any pikemen that do, the closest thing is a Cave Troll.

I wouldn't take Galadhrim Knights if you are new to this, you have to be very good with them to earbn their pts back.

Glorfy can handle it on his own if you prefer.

EDIT: Mix the archers in.

_________________
"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

so army list

Glory + everything with main main group with archers and maybe 2 pikes (or maybe knights once I've played for a while and better understand the rules)

Rumil with rest of pikes and swords and spears no archers (to be heavy close combat formation with Rumil to kill captains banners shamans etc.)

Galadhrim Captain with spears, sword and archers

Glorfindel is not a Galadhrim hero, he can only lead high elves. You need a Galadhrim hero to lead your knights.