Editing Total War Warhammer/Tactics/Wood Elves (section)

====Melee Infantry====
*'''Eternal Guard''' - Eternal Guard are the closest thing to a defensive front line unit you have. Available shielded or unshielded (you should ''always'' take shielded Eternal Guard, precious other units in your army resist ranged attacks), these stalwart warriors are in that perfect twilight zone of being cheap and somewhat expendable while also remaining rather competent combatants capable of holding their own against other units above their weight class. Though they'll often lose in drawn out fights against stronger, higher tier melee infantry, they can pin them down long enough for your archers or dryads to flank and make up for their sub-optimal damage output. Eternal Guard, being exclusively armed with spears, are excellent anti-cavalry/monster screens and, when braced, can easily halt enemy charges in their tracks. No matter your focus, be it cavalry, missile units or treemen, you'll want your line held by a few of these guys. They don’t hold up to elite infantry well though, late game may want to replace with treekin, who are much more durable generally. Take note that they are AP spearmen with access to shields, which is incredibly rare. probably the best of the 3 elven races spearmen units for this alone. they wont get a lot of kills but can do okay even against heavily armored infantry.
**'''Winterheart Guards (RoR)''' - Eternal Guard, only with charge defense against everything, an encouragement aura for nearby allied units and ''unbreakable''. These guys will hold the line until the bitter end, something they'll ensure takes a long time due to their increased defensive stats. You'll want these guys somewhat centrally located in your front line to ensure their leadership buff affects as many Eternal Guard as possible.

*'''Dryads''' - The first of your treekin soldiers. If eternal guard are your chaffy anvil infantry, dryads are your chaffy hammer infantry. Dryads are decently fast, deal magic attacks, cause fear, are immune to psychology, and have vanguard deployment. They lack anti-charge, anti-large, and anti-armor so are best used to mulch other T1 infantry, particularly ones like clanrats and goblins that are susceptible to fear. In multiplayer, they form the backbone of a wood elf rush army, you can vanguard deploy an entire front line of dryads and blitz your opponent before he can react. In campaign, you'll want to phase them out after the early game unless you're playing Drycha or Durthu who can aspect upgrade dryads to be anti-charge frontline tanks, low AP infantry shredders, or speedy glass cannon kan openers. Drycha in particular can make dryads endgame worthy (see the entry for malevolent dryads below).
**'''Wraiths of the Frozen Heart (DLC, RoR)''' - These dryads have been gifted with attacks that freeze and slow their targets, helping to ensnare and lock down enemies.

*'''Wardancers''' - These lovely ladies serve as dedicated infantry blenders, a role they share with dryads. They have superior speed + melee stats to dryads but lack the vanguard deployment, magic attacks, and fear that dryads have. Minimal defenses means you should use them as fast skirmishers, they won't do well engaging beefy front line units in a fair fight. That said, they have an active skill which decreases their melee attack and increases their melee defense which allows them to flip roles from damage dealers to melee defense tanks. Use it when you want them to buy time while another unit rear charges their opponent or shoots them to death. In campaign, you'll want to phase them out for spear wardancers and bladesingers after the early game.

*'''Spear Wardancers''' - Wardancers who specialize against large foes instead of infantry formations. Where regular Wardancers simply appreciate having Eternal Guard tank the hits, Spear Wardancers actually synergize with them extremely well due to their shared offensive niche. Just like the regular Wardancers, have the Eternal Guard intercept cavalry or monsters before sending these gals in. Spear Wardancers have an activated ability that grants them additional missile resistance at the cost of melee defense. Turn it on when they're running around your flanks eating the occasional volley from enemy skirmishers and turn it off when they close to melee. Like halberd infantry, they have increased AP damage and can hold their own vs armoured elite opponents.
**'''Loec's Tricksters (RoR)''' - If you thought regular Wardancers were glass cannons, you haven't seen these ones at work. This regiment of renown exchanges the normal Spear Wardancer activated ability in exchange for one that pumps up their melee attack in exchange for their defense (literally the opposite effect of the regular Wardancers ability) which, when combined with the addition of Frenzy, makes them do ''obscene'' damage to large units. Unfortunately, this also means that a stiff breeze will slaughter them to the last. Hold these ladies in reserve for a critical fight, such as engaging the enemy lord or a key monster in their army and support them with magic to make sure they survive the ensuing melee.

*'''Wildwood Rangers''' - The Wildwood Rangers have an... interesting role. Previously, they were your only dedicated source of melee armor piercing damage, which they deal a lot of, but they also only specialize against large targets. While these two perks often work fantastically against monsters and cavalry, it tends to pay off less on the armored masses you may often find yourself against. They still hold a somewhat viable niche if you expect to face armored cavalry/monster armies like the Lizardmen or Bretonnia, but they are thoroughly outclassed by the new Bladesingers against all forms of infantry.
**'''Wardens of Cythral (RoR)''' - Take the Wildwood Rangers, give them silver shields, armor sundering and a ''beefy'' charge defense against large targets and send them on their way. These guys are better suited to prolonged fights against large foes than Spear Wardancers, particularly because they have actual stats in their defenses. With support, these guys can chunk most armored targets relatively well in good time.

*'''Bladesingers (DLC)''' - At first glance, you'd assume these fiery redheads are just reskinned Wardancers. You wouldn't necessarily be wrong to assume that, but you will pay dearly if you underestimate them for that mistake. These ladies are your elite melee infantry and ''butcher'' anything not horse-sized or larger due in no small part to a combination of magical attacks and high armor-piercing damage. Bladesingers also have the ability to "turn off" their armor piercing damage modifier to give themselves a raw damage buff, letting them effectively cut down virtually any flavor of infantry you could throw them at. You can switch between the two modes at will, unlike Wardancers, so they are exceptionally flexible for how killy they are. The main drawback is exactly what you'd expect from a bunch of half-naked ladies; their defensive stats are hot tish. Though they have access to Dodge and a decent melee defense, they will still die in droves if targeted by archers or charged by enemies above their weight class. None-the-less, having at least one squad of these fine warrior women is strongly recommended against literally any army that fields frontline infantry.