Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Wood Elves

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Why Play Wood Elves

Wood Elves are one of, if not the only army in Warhammer Fantasy that lacks any sort of War Machines to root down their lines and hold them in a single spot. They're slowest units have movement 5, and most move much much faster. The name of their game is speed and maneuverability. By the end of turn 2 you can be behind the enemy lines, ready to unleash deadly co-ordinated flank charges, and against slower armies you can quite simply run circles around your enemies.

Though regarded as some of the best archers in the game, due to their strength 4 short range shots, the wood elves' greatest strength is not in their shooting. They are formidable in combat but lack staying power. You will need to use your maneuverability to ensure that you win the first combat resolution. If the elves get bogged down, their low toughness means they will be hacked to pieces.

Lastly, their magic is not the most powerful, but with forest spirits and units such as treekin bolstering their lines, regenerative life or athel loren magic can give some monsters heavy staying power to tie up more valuable and deadly enemy units, leaving the majority of the army free to maneuver at will and pick off the weaker enemy units.

The Wood Elves require perhaps the most skill and nuance to play well, but this directly translates into them also being one of the most rewarding armies to play.

Plus they're bad ass vengeful guardians of the forest, so that's pretty cool too.

Unit Analysis

Lords & Heroes

Named Characters

Note: Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can pretty easily emulate most named characters from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, a few named characters do have abilities and wargear or wargear combos unique to them, so if you absolutely need to have them, go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

• Orion, The King of the Woods: Orion is what we, in the biz, refer to as a Deathstar Unit: Incredibly expensive, requires a massive tax on your resources, can be incredibly powerful, has a laughably easy weak point for all that it took to bring him in. Orion costs 575 points, not including his hounds and screws around with your forces. He can also beat in almost anyone's face (WS8, S5, A6, I9, +2 S on the charge), comes with an Bolt Thrower and an extra pair of Dispel Dice and is Unbreakable and Unstable (with 1 less wound if you're within 6 inches of a Wood. Here's the downside: He's only T5 with a 5+ Mundane Ward, making him significantly less durable than a Treeman (who is T6 with a 3+ Armor and 5+ Mundane Ward). He will drop like a fly to high volume S4 and above attacks and god help you if it's Magical Attacks. He also has a troubling lack of Always Strikes First and will have trouble winning combats against large units (he'll probably tie or grab a minor win on round 1 and then start losing from then on). He'll also rarely see enough action to justify his incredible points cost. Don't bother.

• Drycha: Orion is fighty, the Twins are shooty, Drycha is weird. She's cheap, at 355 points, but she doesn't come with nearly enough stuff to justify even this low entry point. For starters, she's only a Level 2 caster (most Lords get laughed out of the room if they're not at least level 3) and only has access to Lore of Athel Loren. She also fucks your unit options right up (if you're not a Forest Spirit, GTFO) and while she's reasonably fighty, T4, 3 wounds and only a 5+ Mundane Ward means she's easy to drop. And while her kinda ganky Deep Strike ability seems fun, you're only guaranteed 1 Wood (IE the one you brought, sitting in your deployment zone) it's probably easier to just have them join her from the front. Don't bother.

• Naestra and Arahan, The Sisters of Twilight: Anyone who makes a 'Twins are hot' joke gets kicked out of Athel Loren. As for the girls, they can be hilarious. You don't take them to win, you take them to troll. They cost upwards of 500 points when you take them with the Dragon (never, EVER take them with the Eagle), but one Sister comes with a bow that hits with a Small Blast and the other comes with a bow that causes the hit unit to have to take a Strength test or not move the next turn. Oh and a minor thing? If either of them are alive at the end of any given PHASE (IE Movement, Magic, Shooting, Combat) then both of them get restored to full wounds. IE you have to kill them both in one phase, or they're both fine. This can get hilarious very quickly. That said, they're not exactly competitive; They're expensive and at T3 and 2 wounds, they die very easily. But if you can pull it off, bouncing them both on and off their feet is a great way to troll. And what're you gonna do, you're playing Wood Elves, not like you're in this to win to begin with.

Generic Characters

Note: While named characters are judged against their generic counterparts, generic characters are examined based on their role in your army.

• Highborn: Generic combat lord, reasonably fighty but you'll pale in comparison to most other Lords. He does however make Eternal Guard core and can be kitted out in a variety of ways to be more fighty. Plus an LD10 bubble is always a good thing. Should not be your first Lord choice, but far from a bad one.

• Spellweaver: This should be your first Lord choice. Level 4 at 250 points, a variety of magic items to make her better, and most importantly, access to Lore of Life and Lore of Beasts (both of which knock Lore of Athel Loren right the fuck out of the park). Plus she has a Longbow, which means that while she's hanging in the back with your Glade Guard, she can ping off the odd casualty herself, which is hilarious by the by. If you want a Lord choice, this is the one you should go for in almost every situation.

• Treeman Ancient: While Treemen are easily one of the best choices available, Treemen Ancients fail for a variety of reasons. First off, they're 40 points more, and all you're getting for that is 1 point of LD and the ability to use 2 Tree Singing a turn (woo fucking hoo), plus the ability to buy Sprites and spend more points on them. Plus, Treemen are in the barely used Rare points, whereas Ancients are in the highly contested Lord choices. Don't bother with Ancients.

• Noble: Blah blah blah generic combat hero blah. Blah blah blah want a Battle Standard Bearer blah. In all seriousness, the highly mobile and fluid nature of a Wood Elf army, means that you're gonna get less mileage out of a BSB than most armies, but they're still an effective use of points. Also, having one sitting in your Eternal Guard makes them Stubborn, which is always worth it's weight. And finally, if you have a lot (and I mean a lot) of points left on the table and you're worried about War Machines/Small Shooting Units, there is an amusing way to use Nobles: Load them up with Alter Kindred, Helm of the Hunt, Shield and Sword of Might. The resulting Noble will be the most effective War Machine/Small Unit hunter you will ever see (and because he'll be on foot, he'll have a 360 degree arc of sight). Not precisely competitive, but fun.

• Spellsinger: The Spellsinger has one major issue that separates her from a Spellweaver: She only has access to Lore of Athel Loren. While this isn't the worst Lore in the world, it does limit her usefulness. If you need a cheap caster, then this is probably the way you wanna go, but unless you have a specific use for the Lore of Athel Loren, it's probably not worth it.

• Branchwraith: The Branchwraith has 2 advantages: 1, she's fairly effective (WS6, S4, T4, I8, A3, 5+ Mundane Ward). 2, she's cheap. She's not gonna break 120 points unless you make her a Wizard (which you should never do, Level 1 might as well not exist). She's a cheap way of beefing up a Dryad unit, so if you're taking one (and they're not a terrible choice, just a lackluster one) you should probably stick it in a Dryad unit that's gonna end up somewhere important.

Core Units

• Glade Guard: Glade Guard are fairly overpriced for their ability, but they're one of the mainstay units of your army. Since your free Wood has to go in your deployment zone (yeah it does, read the FAQ), they can hang in there. Taken in units of 14 with a Musician they run about 174 points and can damage important enemy units and bunker down Wizards. Don't expect miracles, but a pair of units of them can help long term strategy.
  • Scouts: Just what Glade Guard need, to cost more (up at 17 points) and do less. The only thing this accomplishes for you is getting them close to the enemy and giving them Skirmisher status. This could be alright, if they didn't lose S4 shooting at close range with it. Do not bother with Scouts.

• Glade Riders: Ugh. Overpriced (24 points) and unreliable are the key words for this unit. A unit of 5 with a Musician will run you nearly 130 points and those points are almost certainly better spent elsewhere, especially if you don't need them to fill out your Core requirements (as the only jobs they do are done better in the Special choices). You should probably avoid these.

• Dryads: Dryads are cheap and effective combat troops that are let down by the new limitations put on Skirmishers in 8th edition. The inability to break ranks really hurts. But they make effective small unit hunters, they're highly mobile and can be pretty brutal in close combat. Just be careful, 1 Magic Missile can end the entire party.

• Eternal Guard: The anchor around which the rest of your army moves. They're reasonably fighty (3 ranks of 5 have 20 attacks, which is always welcome, plus WS5 and I5) and if you've taken a Highborn they're pretty much a requirement. Go with the Razor Standard like cheese and crackers. Best of all, if you can drop a Noble or Highborn in them, they become Stubborn, which can make them impossible to move. Beware, they will suffer against high Toughness or Armor Save targets, so best to let your Tree Spirits deal with them. A good choice, whether Core or Special.

Special Units

• Wardancer Troupe: Wardancers are a reasonably good unit let down by a few flaws and a fairly high cost of entry. They cost 18 points a pop and with T3 and a 6+ Ward, they're about as hard as tissue paper, but that's par for the course with Wood Elves and Skirmishers in general. What lets these guys down is the fact that because they're not Scouts, they have to start in your deployment zone, and M5 does not let them cross the board very quickly. Don't get me wrong, if they hit they can cause some serious damage, but you could very easily have a 200 points plus unit do precisely zip. So while they're not bad, they're easily the least reliable of the 3 Special Choices.

• Warhawk Riders: You think your Fast Cavalry is fast? Bitch please. These guys are troubleshooters, as they can bring down War Machines like they're not there, punch out shooting units, ping wounds off lightly armored units and even help out in large combats (this is only for emergencies though). Remember, Flying Cavalry is Fast Cavalry and Fast Cavalry can fire on the march. Their Hit-And-Run ability is funny but only useful when they're combining charges with someone and things have gone tits up. Also, don't forget, you're Monstrous Cavalry and thus get Stomp.

• Wild Riders of Kurnous: These are one of the guys who make Wardancers look bad. They're more durable (6+ Ward, 5+ Mundane Ward, 5+ Armor), move faster and can generally accomplish more. They also have a pretty damned solid statline (WS5, S4, I5, LD9) and a few amusing special rules. Even with the massive hit that Cavalry took in 8th edition, there are few Wood Elf armies that don't have room for Wild Riders.

• Treekin: Treekin are the younger brother of Treemen and should only be avoided if you have some crippling fear of winning. No I'm not kidding, these are easily one of your most reliable units. S5, T5, 3 wounds, 3 attacks, Stomp, 4+ armor, 5+ Mundane Ward. If they were Stubborn, they'd be broken. Beware they are vulnerable to Great Weapons and high volumes of S4 attacks and have trouble overcoming large amounts of static combat res, so be careful to not send them into battles they can't win.

Rare Units

• Waywatchers: I'm of two minds about Waywatchers. On the one hand they have killer BS, Killing Blow at short range and the ability to get reallllllly close to the enemy. On the other hand they are FUCKING expensive (24 points a pop) and extremely fragile. They can be competent War Machine hunters and if you can get enough of them together they can be one of your only ways to deal with Heavy Cavalry without getting a Treeman involved. If you need some help with heavy armor or war machines, then they can be worth the investment but otherwise, skip 'em.

• Treeman: The only time you should skip the Treeman is if you are playing someone who's lost a lot lately and needs a win as a pick-me-up. And they're playing Beastmen. Seriously, this is easily one of the most important units in your army. WS5, S6, T6, W6, A5, Stubborn, 3+ armor, 5+ mundane ward, Strangleroot, Thunderstomp, Tree Singing (and remember, the direct damage version of Tree Singing has no maximum range or line of sight requirements). Yeah, we know it's Flammable, but given how difficult it is to damage, that's not gonna matter as much as you think. Unless you're in 1000 points and under and therefore literally cannot legally take a Treeman, this should be one of your first choices.

• Great Eagle: And I thought it was bad in the High Elves book. At least there it's fulfilling a genuine need. Here? No logical reason to take it. It can barely handle War Machine crews or lone Wizards and against armies with lots of both, it's liable to get killed before it get there. Avoid.

Building Your Army

Army Composition

A few principles of the wood elves army -

They're okay at shooting, but not amazing. However get those shots in. They won't win the game but they'll help.

Maneuverability is your biggest strength. Use this. Fight on your terms, and don't fight when you don't want to.

Use well timed charges, and well placed charges to win combats. Run down the survivors, then bound out of reach.

It's an uphill battle with the wood elves. good luck!

With Wood Elves, get a hold of a few as many forest bases, as you can buy, as far as the eye can see there should be small miniature plastic trees. You will need these, if someone suggests lets do a fight in a city, you can beat them for being a passive-aggressive cunt trying to fuck you over. Anyone suggesting this to a Wood Elf player is being a dick.

Wood Elves require you to pretty much fight according to the terrain, if your opponent is in the open and surrounded by woods, flank him. If he is entering the woods to get to your units, move away, circle Dance Dance Revoultion the motherfucker. If he's in Woods you can fuck him with your spells and bonuses to terrain movement, while his units are slowed by the terrain and unable to get to grips with you, he's probably also retarded if he decided trying to fight Wood Elves in Woods was a good idea.

Treesinging is important as fuck. Spam this spell as often as possible, put a unit in there and you can taxi it across the board, albeit slowly (if GW actually cares about this army, they will bump it to D6 instead of D3 inches). Treesinging also means you can line up woods to create a safe passage for your units to move through. You can castle with the woods and use The Hidden Path to move units through to strike at weak points. Block LoS, fuck with charge lanes, use it to ensure that you control your opponent's movement phase as that is where the Wood Elves have the best odds of being dominant.

You may have read the phrase "Great for Flank charging" or something similar, take heed of that. Most of the Wood Elf units seriously fail to achieve anything other than losing horribly in direct combat. Because of the Wood Elf phobia of surviving you need to focus on hitting units with flank charges, religiously. With your high mobility you can get around units to hit them in the sides. Use Treekin and other toughies to stall an enemy unit so that you can get something or everything to flank charge.

Shooting is not going to win battles, but winning battles will not happen without a crap ton of shooting. The focus here is not to shoot your opponent to death but to force enough wounds to give your melee units an equal footing when they charge units. Flanking and manoeuvring is 50% of the battle, 30% of is shooting the fuck out of things and the last 20% is getting your magic on.

Magic is essential, it helps put wounds on units before they can assault Wood Elf units in close combat. It helps rearrange terrain to your advantage. Magic is like shooting here, its not going to win games but it will facilitate every single win. WE lack nuke spells like Comet of Cassandora or Pit Of Shades, instead you get a Dual purpose basic spell that casts low, and a few utility spells and one sucky for your big shot. You won't be able to out-magic Lizardmen, Tzeetnch, High Elves or other caster heavy armies, but you will able to spam low cost spells that won't matter if they get dispelled because you can cast more. Take at least 2 Wizards, with the level upgrade at all times, but make sure you have a General for leadership and asskicking purposes. Your casters should be humble like the Kung Fu Shaolin monk in those 70s movies, providing all the leg work to get shit done, but being humble about it and not trying to go for big scores, aiming to win the battle on a sensible path.

If you coming to Wood Elves from Warmachine/Hordes, the Wood Elves are basically the Circle Orboros, only sucky as they can't create forest terrain out of nowhere and pin units in the open by turning the area into a trap of Trees and death.

Tactics

Sell your army for a better one.