How would you go about defeating Elves or Dwarves, Veeky Forums?

How would you go about defeating Elves or Dwarves, Veeky Forums?
I'm working on a setting where there is a war between the two races. Can you tell me how such a war would go?

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Now when Dawn in robe of saffron was hasting from the streams of Oceanus, to bring light to mortals and immortals, Thetis reached the ships with the armour that the god had given her. She found her son fallen about the body of Patroclus and weeping bitterly. Many also of his followers were weeping round him, but when the goddess came among them she clasped his hand in her own, saying, "My son, grieve as we may we must let this man lie, for it is by heaven's will that he has fallen; now, therefore, accept from Vulcan this rich and goodly armour, which no man has ever yet borne upon his shoulders."

As she spoke she set the armour before Achilles, and it rang out bravely as she did so. The Myrmidons were struck with awe, and none dared look full at it, for they were afraid; but Achilles was roused to still greater fury, and his eyes gleamed with a fierce light, for he was glad when he handled the splendid present which the god had made him. Then, as soon as he had satisfied himself with looking at it, he said to his mother, "Mother, the god has given me armour, meet handiwork for an immortal and such as no living could have fashioned; I will now arm, but I much fear that flies will settle upon the son of Menoetius and breed worms about his wounds, so that his body, now he is dead, will be disfigured and the flesh will rot."

Silver-footed Thetis answered, "My son, be not disquieted about this matter. I will find means to protect him from the swarms of noisome flies that prey on the bodies of men who have been killed in battle. He may lie for a whole year, and his flesh shall still be as sound as ever, or even sounder. Call, therefore, the Achaean heroes in assembly; unsay your anger against Agamemnon; arm at once, and fight with might and main."

As she spoke she put strength and courage into his heart, and she then dropped ambrosia and red nectar into the wounds of Patroclus, that his body might suffer no change.

Assuming standard elves and standard dwarves, I wouldn't fight the elves as it would just be like fighting another human army but better, and I'd use normal tactics on the dwarves because it'd be like fighting another human army but worse.

I guess you'd use lots of spears and such on dorfs, take advantage of their laughable reach.

Grudges and fights over shit that happened literal centuries ago

Stalemate. Dwarves are too slow, get harrassed and skirmished constantly until they can't set any foot out of their holds anymore. Elves on the other hand can't besiege dwarven holds for the lack of proper siege weapons and manpower.

Magic is the wildcard in this one.

>proper siege weapons and manpower
What makes you say that? Elves have all the wood they could need.

Well, depending on the setting, if we go by Warhammer, from which OPs pic is from, they surely don't build many siege machines with it. They can build awesome ships, yeah, but not catapults and such. At least this is how popular tropes go. If the elves come knocking with some big ass treants it's another story. But we don't wan to make the elves too overpowered, right?

I don’t think elves can take dwarf fortresses.

The elves would be stuck trying to sneak though tiny hallways patroled by angry dudes with spears. If the hallways are dwarf-sized the elves would even have to crouch.

To take the elves the dwarves would have to break out the napalm.

Think of the dwarf invasion of the elf forests like ‘nam, but with superhumans.

Assuming 5e Dwarves would have to fight a primarily defensive war as Elven soldiers would have an overwhelming advantage via needing half the rest a dwarf needs and having a movement advantage over Dwarves.
Thus any fight in the open will be to the Elves advantage, the war would be decided by the terrain and either sides ability to take advantage of it.
Not to mention Elven casters will be just as potent with twice the spells

Dwarves just need to spread the plague.

Elves have crappy con, dwarves don’t.

That's true from a crunch perspective, but I can't think of a setting where plagues really did hit the elves hard. They got healing magic and medicine and shit and actually know about hygiene.

Genocide

Well that depends on the setting, now doesn’t it.

For Instance, dwarf fortress operates on the miasma theory. That wouldn’t effect elves much.

Fire might be the only option. That or using stone mugs to pay a dragon to attack the elves.

dwraf kill elf becus dwafr is gud and elfe is suk

kill elf hahaha

Someone post the webm of that scene from the hobbit

you know the one

Elves are great at war, user. They may have fewer dudes, but those dudes are a LOT better than you.

Consider the common defensive tactic of the chokepoint, designed to keep the enemy from using their full numbers against you. Against Elves, that tactic will FAIL almost all of the time pitting 2 Elves in an enclosed space against your 10 defenders holding thst chokeplint is a fight you can expect the elves to win. They can pack more power into that small space than you can, so you WILL lose control of the chokepoint.

Elves are good enough at war that Morgoth had to INVENT DRAGONS to finally break their fortress city, because no amount of orcs or trolls or werewolves could do the job.

And elves eventually learned how to counter dragons anyway, though not in time to save that particular city.

>At least this is how popular tropes go.
Wait, which ones?

Never going to happen if the dwarfs get creative.

Imagine having to fight a bunch of pikemen in a tunnel smaller than yourself.

To be fair, those were Tolkien elves and also the dwarfiest elves of his.

>dwarves
>getting creative
Ha!
>ever using anything but axes and hammers
Ha ha!

In warhammer for instance elves only have bolt throwers, but are one of the fastest armies with many flying units as well. Dwarves have various kinds siege weapons and performed well in the lore in besieging cities and fortresses.

> tunnel smaller than yourself

Yeah. Like Moria, with its giant chambers of a thousand hearths and vaulted ceilings dozens of feet high.

Oh wait. Errr, perhaps you mean their great city in the misty mountains, big enough for a dragon to crawl around in the streets and halls?

Oh damn, I guess not that either.

Huh. Its almost as if Dwarves dont nake their cities like that, and prefer grand open spaces and impressive underground architecture to show off their skill.

Yea, but if we are talking about actual warfare, nothing stopping them from making cities like that.

Heck I could just say plump helmets exist and dwarves never have to leave, and can just seal tunnels.

>>And elves eventually learned how to counter dragons anyway
How?

>cities for civilians are the same as fortresses designed to last a war

while dwarf cities commonly have huge open space, they also commonly of super small choke points because when you make a choke point out of stone you are basically fucked

in moria and the lonely mountain take the super thin and railless stairs/bridges for example

What are you going to do? Retreat from all of your lands to a few defensible location and let the elves take your cities and treasures?

We call that 'losing', user.

No, make a breeding camp (plump helmet happy hour!) and firebomb the crap outta elf cities.

Total War. The first of the two to totally commit to war wins.

>make a breeding camp
With a gender ratio of four dwarven men to one woman? Good luck with that.

Sense when do dwarves have that gender ratio?

If anything you’d think fighting a war would fix that.

Tolkien and warhammer, though it might have been 3 to 1. I think it was also in Forgotten Realms and other standard DnD settings.

Yes, this little fact often gets either ignored or unnoticed by dwarffags. By their sex ratio is fucked.

>cities and treasure
>implying that shit wouldn't be booby trapped to hell and back
>implying anyone who decides to invade an empty dwarven city isn't setting himself up for defeat

It’s actually not by dwarf fortress standards.

And it’s a 1/3 in the hobbit movies.

2 males to 1 female.

warhammer elves do have siege weapons, reapers have explosive payloads and they have enough magic to level walls

So, can I blame that retard Caledor II for losing this war, as well as for basically starting it?

>laughingdrutchiharlots.jpg
yes

Depends on your dwarves/elves.

Honestly if its regular standards the dwarves should be fucked up fighting in the forest and the elves in the mines.

The Druchii didn't make him shave these beards.

The KoW dwarves use pikes because they were tired of getting eaten by giant eagles and shit. Although it is true that dwarves are kind of retarded for being the big fucking inventor types that they are suppose to be.

> booby traps
> against Elves that have the speed to run up falling debris and the perception to count the hairs on a rat from 10 miles away.

Thanks for all the free stuff, dwarves!

>booby traps
>not chlorine gas and miasma
>not flamethrowers

I honestly assume the elves would have no desire to take dwarf holds. They'd just flood them.

They did not. The valar did.

>close doors
>make new exits
>took the elves months to prepare
>took the dwarves a day to get around it

whfb.lexicanum.com/wiki/War_of_the_Beard

I assume you mean gondolin? The reason it stood was that it was well hidden. The dragons were around for a while already at the attack of gondolin. If you mean the flying ones, they were unleashed far later against the maiar and valar. And almost broke them if not for erendil.

Once gondolin was found it was fucked.

Or do you mean nargothrond? Likewise stood because it was hidden. Once found it was done for. Glaurung did it but never was it stated that no one else could've done it.

Burn down the forest from far away with giant trebuchets on top of the mountain

MAGICAL RUNIC trebucets

You just flood HFS

Or into the aquifer.

HFS?

Happy Fun Stuff

Or the carnival.

What the fuck is wrong with you people? Why are you missing the fact that elves live immortal lives have decades long fertility cycles. They would shit themselves over a years long war. Check and fucking mate, you elven faggots

In this case not really, it was also protected by a river or some other water. Túrin, the huge retard, wanted the elves to build a bridge, so that Melkors forces could strut in freely.

Barely any tradtional games we play around here actually have these elves, my fellow general fantasy shitposting fagget.

Oh, yea. Do you disagree then that even if not immortal, elves are still the most long lived with the lowest fertility and longest fertility cycles?
Those lovely, spindly elves lost in battle are not getting replaced any time soon, user

>decades long fertility cycles
uwotm8?

>they would shit themselves over a years long war
because there totally wasnt a 2031+ year war waged over ulthuan

At least they have a healthy male-to-female ratio across most settings. Can you give me one example of a specific setting with both races lifespan and fertility? Bonus points for sources. I know that is probably too much ask instead of just shitposting.

Try to refute any of these points:

>Forests can just be felled and burned down leaving Elves without a base
>Elves don't even have any heavy infantry or mobile cavalry to be able to last in the open field against dwarven formations.
>On mountainous terrain the dwarves are the more sure footed
>Their wealth allows dwarves to wage war for as long as required
>The dwarven holds are unassailable due to the small tunnels, spaces that can't be used by taller races
>Dwarves have got all the metals to wage war
>Underground supply trains that can't be disrupted as easily
>Dwarves can dig another hold if they lose one, there's no place for Elves to go to if the forests are cut down
Seriously, the only way dwarves could lose is that they kick Elven ass so bad that it spooks all other races to band together to fight them

>because there totally wasnt a 2031+ year war waged over ulthuan
Which totally didn't fuck over their empire and basically sentence the High Elves to doom

>Can you give me one example of a specific setting with both races lifespan and fertility?
The Witcher, for one. Get rekt, hippie

It has a card game I think, does it have a tabletop game or rpg?

Card game, TTRPG, Novels, Vidya, TV Show, Movie, Musical. About the same level of popularity as LOTR in the East

well, it certainly taxed them, hell by the end of it even the dark elves gave it a rest for 600 or so years

but ulthuan is/was still standing 3000 years after that particular war, and the elves are still a major world power

>elves live in forests
only the hippies, but good luck trying to burn down athel loren, you are going to need it

>the elves are still a major world power

>lost all of their colonies
>had their king killed who canonically surrendered and begged for mercy from a dwarf
>couldn't even get his crown back
>s-still a major world power
If you say so

Alright.
>Forests can just be felled and burned down leaving Elves without a base
You seem to think that it's actually easy to burn a forest down. Not even the americans could do it with their modern tech. Also not all elves are pure forest dwellers.
>Elves don't even have any heavy infantry or mobile cavalry to be able to last in the open field against dwarven formations.
Factual wrong, just look at the OP.
>On mountainous terrain the dwarves are the more sure footed
Oh wow, they are good in one terrain where they can sit on their ass.
>Their wealth allows dwarves to wage war for as long as required
Wealth doesn't win war. I don't think it evern won them any war. Dwarves will have as much problems replenishing their numbers as elves.
>The dwarven holds are unassailable due to the small tunnels, spaces that can't be used by taller races
You don't win wars by hiding in your basement.
>Dwarves have got all the metals to wage war
Metals don't win war.
>Underground supply trains that can't be disrupted as easily
Awesome.
>Dwarves can dig another hold if they lose one, there's no place for Elves to go to if the forests are cut down
You are more muh forest than actual elves are. If it would be this easy Tolkiens dwarves wouldn't be wandering around and warhammer dwarves wouldn't lament losing their holds to fucking goblins. Hell, I think the popular trope goes that dwarves never make new holds, they just sit in the few left while the rest falls to orcs and other shit.

>Forests can just be felled and burned down leaving Elves without a base
and underground fortresses and mountains cant sustain a large number of people without external farmland, so one ends up homeless and the other starves

>elves dont have heavy infantry
white lions/executioners/black guard/swordsmasters

>or mobile cavalry
literally all elven cavalry is mobile except the really heavy stuff, and elves have it plenty

>more sure footed
and less dexterous

>their wealth allows them to wage war as long as needed
so can elves

>small tunnels
because dwarf holds arent massive cavernous things which could house a civilization of giants with ease

>dwarves have got all the metal to wage war
so do elves

>underground supply trains cant be disrupted as easily
but are only usefull in the network established, unless you plan on invading at the speed of excavation work

not to mention that in a defensive war the elven supply trains are no worse, considering their mastery of the land and navigation

>dwarves can dig another hold
and elves can build another city

Actual numbers?

There is probably not one place in the entire warhammer world that has seen more strife over thousands of years than Ulthuan. And it's still one of the best places to live in.

They are still the world police, more important for the fluff than the dwarves, who just sit in their karaks surrounded by goblins and orcs, mumbling about grudges the whole day. I'm not seeing any dwarves put up their own vortex.

>lost all of their colonies
Citadel of dusk says hello

meanwhile dwarves lose their only cities to goblins

>had their king killed
yes

and dwarves have their kings killed by rat men

>couldnt even get his crown back
not too much of an issue, because unlike dwarves they can actually make new shit

>still a major world power
save the humans from chaos, act as world police and were the last hope of the world in ET

The Witcher games have sold around 25 million copies

>underground fortresses and mountains cant sustain a large number of people without external farmland
What are tunnels? What are mountains?
>white lions/executioners/black guard/swordsmasters
Oh, ok, so we're talking Warhammer Fantasy, the setting where the elves got defeated by the dwarves?
>literally all elven cavalry is mobile except the really heavy stuff, and elves have it plenty
I'll give you this
>and less dexterous
You don't require acrobatics when fighting in formations, laddie
>so can elves
Dwarves are the ones mining all the gold, gems and precious metals, what are elves gonna trade with, mulberry leaves?
>because dwarf holds arent massive cavernous things which could house a civilization of giants with ease
>implying there isn't a network leading up to the halls
>so do elves
See point about mining, above
>unless you plan on invading at the speed of excavation work
Look into how tunnels were used in the Syrian war
> considering their mastery of the land and navigation
Only of forests those will get cut down
>and elves can build another city
on whose land?

>Not even the americans could do it with their modern tech
Heard of Agent Orange?
>Oh wow, they are good in one terrain where they can sit on their ass
Mountains, Underground, Plains - basically anything that's not a forest
>Wealth doesn't win war
Excuse me?
>You don't win wars by hiding in your basement.
No, but that's how you protect your civilians, wealth and strategic posts
>Metals don't win war
What are gold, weapons and armor?
>Awesome
I know
>don't make new holds
source that shit

>I'm not seeing any dwarves put up their own vortex
I'm not seeing any dwarves begging for mercy from elves either

>what are elves gonna trade with, mulberry leaves?
their own Gold, gems and riches, "gleaming spires" and all that

only because they cant speak with all that orc and skaven dick in their mouth

>muh crown
Were these the last words of the dwarves while they got fucked sideways by various orcs and skaven while Caradryel decided that they had a more important enemy to fight?

>Heard of Agent Orange?
Is that a magic item for dwarven armies? Which edition?
>Plains
You can't be serious. Again you are more focusses on forests than the actual elves are.
>No, but that's how you protect your civilians, wealth and strategic posts
Again you don't win wars by defending.
>What are gold, weapons and armor?
By themselves? Useless.
>source that shit
Don't know, this is the ipression I got. I can't prove a negative, but know that Tolkiens dwarves and warhammer dwarves lost a lot of their holds while I don't hear anything about them building new one. Again, I can't prove a negative, so maybe you can come up with some new found holds from specific settings?

>on whose land?
their own

>source that shit
find a single mention of a new dwarf hold being built

they cant even retake the ones they lost, let alone build new ones

>what are tunnels
a means of transport

>what are mountains
not a good place for farmland that can sustain large numbers

>network leading up
that network seems to be fairly shit considering how many holds they have lost to fuckhueg orcs

My nigga.

“Elves are Humans, but only better in every conceivable way”. Fuck that shit. That’s boring as shit. Only Eragon had more Elf wank going on

>the only response elf-fags have is of Dwarves getting defeated by other races
Just admit your favorite elves couldn't beat the dwarves

>Forests can just be felled and burned down
Not saying that they can't, but elves have a number of ways to counter this. Ancient or primeval forests, other natural allies (including the fae, which can fuck you up and curse your shit), ironwood spells, massive ammounts of druids with regrow spells, pacts with all elementals, bunch of wizards and spellswords, not to mention treants and other animated flora, plus every neutral or good aligned critter that is a forest dweller; or lawful evil critters that happen to live in seclusion, like dragons. Again, not saying that it's impossible, but it's very hard. Not to mention elves can also flood entrances to dwarven forts, or if in great danger, sail across continents with grace and speed, while holding a massive grudge. Seriously, a few well thought plague spells would have dwarven healers too busy to do anything else.
>don't even have any heavy infantry or mobile cavalry
Celestial unicorns, alicorns and pegasi means that they have a decent cavalry much faster than dire boars or griffons (which would have to be ridden by human mercenaries most likely), plus the ocassional good aligned dragon and storm elemental means the elves have air superiority.
>On mountainous terrain the dwarves are the more sure footed.
Yes, but dwarves would have to leave the mountains to wage war on the elves, unless they're fighting in a mountainous forest, which basically makes this advantage nil. Dwarves could tunnel below an elven citadel but it's unlikely some knife eared king hasn't thought about it and took meassures against it, for example, by using scry spells, heat spells, alarms, explosive runes, and protections against dispel and disruption.
>Their wealth allows dwarves to wage war for as long as required
YES, but clan infighting has a very chance of making them renounce to any prolonged campaign. Their problem is not money or logistics, is pollitics.
>The dwarven holds are unassailable due to the small tunnels
Cont'd.

Was that really a post that someone would reply to?

but chaos did beat the dwarves, chaos beat everyone

thats literally what they are in tolkien too, aside from the "humans are gods favorite" thing

Yes user, the asur couldn't beat the dwarves on the dwarves own continent after the asur got their own homeland torn apart in a civil war, also while being led by their worst phoenix king in history. Which was also after the asur got their continent ravaged by demons and then saved the world. Dwarves can pat themselves on the back for that and that the asurs new, smarter phoenix king decided that defending Ulthuan was more important. Not saying that otherwise the asur would have won, but the war didn't end with Caledors death, it ended with the attack of the Druchii and when Caradryel made peace.

I mean, what are you expecting? All you muttered was muh crown.

Mind you, KoW Elves have motherfucking flamethrowers. Dragon Breath is nasty.

>The dwarven holds are unassailable due to the small tunnels.
Yes, but those tunnels are most effective for defense, you don't win a war by turtling. Elves could as easily animate cloudkill, killer roots, or use air spirits to vacate the tunnels of oxygen, leaving the dwarves very much under siege by forcing them to seal most of those tunnels. I'm not saying that they could take easily a dwarven fort, but those aren't perfect defenses either.
>Dwarves have got all the metals to wage war
>Underground supply trains that can't be disrupted as easily.
Elves parties both of normal and dark elves can tame and use rust monsters both in battle and alchemical experiments. Eventually you're going to have just a small percentage of adamantite clad dorfs fighting on the frontlines while the rest of of the fort is downgraded in terms of equipment, or in constant need to resupply. This would slow the trains, moreso because of the afforementioned techniques to deal with tunnels.
>Dwarves can dig another hold if they lose one, there's no place for Elves to go to if the forests are cut down
Again, elves can sail anywhere and take isles the dwarves wouldn't, they can even float forts and have the ocassional mad wizard float huge tracts of land; dwarves are limited to a continental mass and near isles by using bridges, since the logistics of under oceanic tunnels may prove to be slightly too big for their logistics to complete in a reasonable ammount of time. Most likely the dwarves would take a continent, sit on it and party while the elves put a massive curse on them and settle in another land maybe becoming half elves or dark elves. If faced with certain extintion, elves could possibly be the first ones to reach the moon or get a foothold in an outer plane.

>“Elves are Humans, but only better in every conceivable way”. Fuck that shit.
But the thing is, that's how the myth goes. They weren't garden gnomes, they weren't fuckheads that live like smurfs, they were warriors born from the first giant's corpse, transmuted by the gods and the wisdom they consumed. The only reason they weren't Mary Sue as fuck is because the story was not about them.

So if I understand how you do this correctly?

>Race I like: Most powerful depiction.
>Race I don't like: Least powerful depiction.

I don't really see how dwarves can win, myself. Short fat men are incredibly vulnerable to heart attacks from delicious Keebler cookies and if 90s comic advertising taught me anything, snack goods make you invincible.

Myth dwarves dude, not real ones.

The first posts were somewhat reasonable and even until a dwarffag had to reeeee at elves. Again.

reeeeing at the elves was a jest meme, born from dwarf fortress users. Dwarves were more interesting because of their limitations and relatable goals. Becoming immortal is a real thing there, so is going for adamantium. It's understandable why they were picked for a legendary setting. Elves were haughty insufferable tree huggers there, so it was justified.

The problem came when boardpurityfags pushed DF content away, the memes were ours and remained here as part of our culture, but their substrate was no longer posted. Summerfags saw this but had no context to go by, and so we're currently here.

>Elves.
>Using wood.

>Forests can just be felled and burned down leaving Elves without a base

The elves in the OP don't even live in forests.

>Elves don't even have any heavy infantry or mobile cavalry to be able to last in the open field against dwarven formations.

I'm sorry, what? The elves in the OP - probably some of the most influential high fantasy elf depictions ever - are known for having some of the best and tankiest cavalry in the world.

>On mountainous terrain the dwarves are the more sure footed

Why? If elves are more dexterous and have supernatural balance, they're going to be more sure-footed everywhere.

>Their wealth allows dwarves to wage war for as long as required

Same goes for elves bruh.

>The dwarven holds are unassailable due to the small tunnels, spaces that can't be used by taller races

Almost all dwarf holds in fiction are cavernous halls, not gubby tunnels.

>Dwarves have got all the metals to wage war

It's not about having all the metal, it's about having what you need.

>Underground supply trains that can't be disrupted as easily

Sure, but they're not exactly going to be spreading a complex newtwork of secure supply tunnels at speed. Those things take time.

>Dwarves can dig another hold if they lose one, there's no place for Elves to go to if the forests are cut down

Didn't we just establish that elves =/= forests?

Alright, let's count all the elves that don't use wood
>Bosmer
But only of their homeland
>DF elves
...

you are correct, they use metal

Depends on the setting, as what a dwarf or an elf is can radically change. But considering how much uncreative faux-Tolkien shit there is out there I'm going to assume the following:
>Elf: Lithe, tree hugging hippies who use bows and arrows even though these weapons are made from trees
>Dwarf: Short hairy Scotsmen who live in mountains and use axes and are good smiths

Given these facts, their modes of warfare are readily apparant: elves will seek to keep the distance between them and the enemy as great as possible, while the dwarves will want to get as close as possible as fast as possible. Their weaponry also does NOTHING to compensate for how short they are, so the elves can use hit-and-run tactics and win handily.

Now let's assume the dwarves are actually intelligent. In that case they'd swap in their axes (why even have them if they don't cut down trees? Don't they live in mines?) and swap them for pikes or other polearms, with maybe a shortsword or military pick (they're miners, remember?) as a side arm. This allows them to form nigh unbeatable phalanxes that compensate for their short reach: they can now hit the enemy without the enemy being able to hit them. That still makes distance a problem. Short and stubby arms don't really help with powerful bows that require a high drawlength, so instead the more densely muscled dwarvs would use crossbows with insane drawweights. This allows them to rain deadly barrages on the enemy, more or less forcing them to close the distance. Their pikemen would need to have shields for this to be truly effective, so they can better survive the enemy shooting back.

Now the only weakness the dwarves have is manouverability: crossbows fire slower than handbows, and phalanxes have a hard time turning. Guess what advantages the elves haven't lost? Now the fight is more even, but this time my money is on the dwarves.

Hippies don't mine.

It only took the entire Dwarven population dwindling immensely due to the War of the Beard as well as one of the most unbeatable forces in the world to bring the Dwarves to their knees. The Elves lost because their king decided to shave the wrong Dwarf.

The elves 'lost' because Malekith attacked and they decided fighting him was more important than keeping their colonies.

The dwarves could barely beat a bunch of colonial fiefs propped up by the worst Phoenix King ever.

>It only took the entire Dwarven population dwindling immensely due to the War of the Beard
So, the high elves put up a good fight then?

The elves lost because Gotrek Starbreaker killed the ruling Elven king and shamed the entire Elven population, and also finally settling the grudge.