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

====Faction Counterplay====
*'''Beastmen''' - The only other faction that can consistently keep pace or even outrun your in a flat out foot race. Beastmen are very much a rush faction and will do their damndest to close the gap between your forces; something you should take every measure to prevent. Eternal Guard or Tree Kin are reasonable front line screens and have a natural affinity for fighting against the Beastmen's larger units, like Minotaurs, while Wardancers can quickly butcher a majority of the infantry they tango with. Just make sure none of your damage dealing units ever take a head on charge. Beastmen have a very notable weakness that you can exploit; a near complete lack of armor and relatively limited missile units means that they'll be taking the full force of your ranged assaults. Hagbane Glade Guard/Riders not only deal respectable damage to the beastmen units, but the application of poison helps your footbound infantry catch up to and slaughter their infantry with considerable ease. In a cavalry face off, these Hagbane missile units can slow down opposing Centigors for your Wild Riders and Great Stag Knights to deliver crippling blows with a few cycle charges. Lastly, Waywatchers and Deepwood Scouts (swiftsilver) are fantastic character or monster hunters who can pop up behind enemy lines and burst down Bray shaman, Giants or Cygors.

*'''Bretonnia''' - Make no mistake, Bretonnian cavalry is beyond your league. Though Wild Riders and Great Stag Knights have impressive charges of their own, they cannot remain engaged in a fight. This isn't really a problem for Bretonnian cav, who have the stats and tools to remain in a fight and still come out on top. The two biggest units to watch out for are Questing Knights and Grail Knights. Though they specialize primarily against armored units, Questing Knights will easily catch up to and slaughter a majority of your infantry in quick order. Grail Knights are the swiss-army knife of the faction against you; with magical attacks as well as an anti-armor and bonus against large, these guys are tailor made to chop down your tree units. It's less than ideal, but try to box them in or screen them with Eternal Guard, who will at the very least hold them off and allow your vulnerable missile units to reposition or support them with anti-armor fire. If you can at least pin them in long enough, Wardancers with Spears can do impressive damage against them despite their armor. As far as the peasantry goes... you have nothing to worry about. Your archers will absolutely dominate theirs in a firefight and literally any of your infantry options will win against theirs.

*'''[[Total_War_Warhammer/Tactics/Chaos_Dwarves| Chaos Dwarfs]]''':

*'''Dark Elves''' - Fortunately, much of their AP ammunition and melee specialization goes to waste in this matchup. Even better, their lack of firing range means you can often fire off several volleys before they can, even with their missile chariots. The best of news, their heavy cavalry is among the worst in the game, and is hardly able to keep up with yours. Not to be confused with their light cavalry, which is actually quite capable and the most picked flavor of Dark Elf cavalry. Black Ark Corsairs, Witch Elves and Sisters of Slaughter are particularly feisty in melee combat and are the best suited to dealing with your kind, so try to wear them down at range before you contest them with Wildwood Rangers/Wardancers. Dryads and Tree Kin are not recommended units to bring in this matchup; they're too slow and the Dark Elf emphasis on AP will shred them before they so much as take a step out of the woods. Keep an eye peeled for when Murderous Prowess procs and do everything you can to avoid engaging the Dark Elves while it's active; the offensive bonuses can easily turn a losing engagement into a winning one for them and you definitely aren't suited to DPS race another glass cannon faction.

*'''Dwarfs''' - This used to be one of the most unbalanced and memeable matchups in Mortal Empires, but with the addition of Throt and the thots, it's gotten much more even. Don't bother too much with shooters here. Running around shooting for what feels like hours is super boring, and you'll also probably lose. Instead, lean into the melee rush. Your Wardancers and Wildwood Rangers should be able to deal with Dwarf Warriors and Longbeards, but remember, you have to respect the tankiness. Your higher-tier infantry WILL beat Longbeards, but it will take way too long to be cost-effective, and shooting at them just isn't cost-efficient. If your opponent tries to artillery box with Organ Guns, Naestra and Arahan can sit back and trade with their artillery all day, leaving the rest of their army open for your fast rush build to stomp on. Drycha with her dryad summons and lore of shadows is also a great choice. Tree Kin and Treemen are a wonderful bastion to center your army around, but you will ''need'' to take out any Irondrakes the opponent may have fielded before you commit them to battle. The Firebark Elders RoR can help mitigate this fire weakness. Bladesingers will soon become excellent beard-cutters once the magic-resistance only applies to spell damage as opposed to magic attacks, giving you a much needed way to carve through Dwarf armor. You're really gonna want to watch out for Bugman's rangers. With their regeneration and charge defence, they are a unit type that has everything you hate dealing with, and shutting them down quickly is quite difficult. Lost Sylvan Knights can be rockstars in this matchup IF you bring them at the right time. Dwarf rune magic is pretty much a hard counter to them, but if your opponent doesn't bring rune magic, they can swing the battle for you.

*'''Empire''' - That artillery... is going to be a problem. A rather shocking array of long range artillery well suited for every occasion will make any frontal assault all but suicidal. Play to your strengths; try to flank and ambush weak points in empire lines. Stay on the move and don't give their missile infantry a chance to set up and fire. If you can, vanguard deploy cavalry or dryads in a position to shut down careless artillery placements so that your archers can start picking apart empire [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder]] before ''they'' can get into range. Great Eagles are also fantastic for this purpose, just make sure you keep an eye on any halberds that might be standing by. Otherwise, Wardancers and Bladesingers thoroughly outclass Empire infantry if they can make it in safely, though don't expect them to get out unscathed.

*'''Greenskins''' - Little to no armor? Check. General lack of anti-large? Check. Relatively sluggish frontline? Also check. You have a lot of things going for you in this matchup, but that's not to say Greenskins aren't able to give you a damn good fight. Goblins and Goblin Skirmishers will be a bitch to deal with; exceedingly numerous, nimble and accurate with their bows and ultimately disposable if you pin them down, they'll often distract or whittle away enough of your forces that the Ork Boyz about to crash into your lines will be able to deal some serious damage. Dryads are solid counters to the non-armored Boyz, though you'll want Wildwood Rangers or Bladesingers to deal with Black Orks. Your Cavalry is well suited to deal with the Greenskins, but only if you continuously cycle charge with them.

*'''Grand Cathay''' - Yet another defensive [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder]] faction. Your air force does outclass Grand Cathay's in a skirmish and you can easily take down their Skyjunks with Great Eagles or Forest Dragons (something you'll want to do if you don't want fiery hot death spewing from it), but the same can't be said for the rest of their artillery. Grand Cannons will be very problematic for your forest spirits and surprisingly difficult to pin down due to their speed while Fire Rain Rockets put out enough anti-infantry firepower to make Hellstorm Batteries blush. Your missile cav will prove quite valuable at outmaneuvering and outranging most of the [[Gunpowder (Warhammer Fantasy)|gunpowder]] and can generally keep away from Grand Cathay's own lackluster cavalry selection, though just make sure you don't directly charge into any braced infantry with your cavalry; flank them or charge them with less valuable units like Dryads or Eternal Guard before sending in your heavy hitters.

*'''High Elves''' - High Elves share many of the same strengths you do. Their Sisters of Avelorn can very nearly match Waywatchers in ranged dps while their weakest dragon, the Sun Dragon is comparable to your Forest Dragon in stats. Also, their units have a durability yours simply can't match, a large part of which is their Martial Prowess. Worse, many of their units come with a 55% block chance against missile fire, which can be incredibly potent against a faction such as yours that relies heavily on missile fire. Fortunately, you have an advantage that can help negate both of those difficulties: your speed. Wood Elves are the best skirmish faction in the game, use that to your advantage. Take some ranged cavalry to circle the enemy or vanguard deploy some archers behind enemy lines and shoot their infantry in the back to ignore those pesky shields. Remember that Waywatchers don't duel other archers very well due to their low model count, save them to shoot at large targets or lords. If your enemy is smart they won't try to contest the air, if they're not shoot their dragons and phoenixes out of the sky with a combination of Prey of Anath Raema (so you'll probably want to take female glade lord as your lord) and waywatcher fire. Either way you should be able to field some flying units such as hawk riders which you can use for more skirmishing. Remember that if possible you don't want to engage the enemy in melee until their units are at half health and their Martial Prowess is gone. The new DLC units are quite effective against the High Elves, Zoats are strong anti-cavalry and Bladesingers can blender High Elf infantry, especially if Martial Prowess is lost. Don't bring tree spirits unless you're willing to invest in Firebark Elders because the High Elves have a ton of sources of fire damage. Branchwraiths might also be a poor choice as the High Elf Fireborn RoR can kill a Branchwraith in seconds.

*'''Khorne''' - Probably one of the easiest matchup's you'll have. the majority of your units will be able to just outrun anything short of khorne's cavalry and furies. bring fast skirmishers and a good deal of anti-large to counter cavalry play and take Khorne on a map-wide kiting run.

*'''Kislev''' - Bring some spears and some Tree Kin because cavalry is likely going to be the name of Kislev's game. Keep an eye out for any Ice Guard; while Kossars and Streltsi will not pose much of a threat (at range) the Ice Guard are quite capable at any range and will be very adept at scything through your forest spirits if you give them the opportunity. If you can contain them and any Ice Witches, your Tree Kin will be pretty well set to hold back any Winged Lancers or War Bear Riders trying to get at your backline. Use Eternal Guard and Spear Wardancers to mop up any such cavalry and you should be golden.

*'''Lizardmen''' - While you will have absolutely no issues outrunning and kiting Saurus and Kroxigors, you should take a caution against Skink units. They might be cute little lizards who deal relatively minor damage against most other factions, but you're not most other factions. Since a majority of your infantry is unarmored, you'll be taking the full brunt of their little assaults and they're one of the precious few infantry units that can reliably keep pace with yours and even outrun a fair chunk of your own frontline formations. Additionally, Skink Skirmishers and Chameleon Skinks will prove shockingly effective at whittling down your unarmored forces with poisonous missile fire while proving to be a frustrating target in turn due to their lose formations and (for Chameleons) ranged damage resist. Lastly, you will want to take an extreme care around Fire Slann and Salamanders, who will be the ''bane'' of your Tree units. If you can shut down their fiery assaults, Tree Kin will prove a reliable walling unit to hold down and defend against Saurus frontlines and can even resist the onslaught of their varied monsters. Your cavalry will also prove extremely effective against the Lizardmen with their superior speed and devastating charges; there's precious little the Lizardmen can do if they can't pin down your Wild Riders/Great Stag Knights.

*'''Norsca''' - The general disdain for armor among Norscans makes dealing with them at range substantially more viable than their heavily armored cousins (WoC), though their higher speeds and more prolific monsters will prove troublesome should they manage to catch up to you. Anti-Large is a must in some flavor (not that it's particularly hard to come by for you).

*'''Nurgle''' - This is... a very painful matchup. For Nurgle. The only thing Nurgle can do to your skirmishers are Furies and Ku'gath if your opponent brought him. Even Nurgle's cavalry will take a borderline eternity to cross the field, so take your sweet time to line up your shots. Starfire Shaft Glade Guard or Swiftsilver Deepwood Scouts can put out a lot of damage to basically everything Nurgle has to offer. Glade Riders with Hagbane Tips are an excellent skirmisher unit; fairly cheap missile cav with access to poisonous, magical arrows to just ruin the day of anything trying to trudge across the field. Try to avoid melee for as long as you have any ammunition left, there's no sense letting Nurgle deal any unnecessary damage to your forces. When it comes time to close the distance, Tree Kin and Eternal Guard make pretty decent walls. Bladesingers with their magical attacks can carve through Nurgle's blubbery forces with relative ease and should be considered for your elite core.

*'''Ogre Kingdoms''' - Under no circumstances are you to try to meet their charges head on; any non-Tree Kin infantry that tries will get utterly demolished before the ''actual'' fighting begins. Instead, divide and conquer; Ogre Kingdoms are going to generally have a lower unit/model count than most other armies, so every dead ogre adds up fairly quickly and they can't be everywhere at once. Spread out your forces so that even if they manage to pin down some of your units, you still have reinforcements ready to reposition and hit them where it hurts. Additionally, their relative lack of armor means your abundance of ranged units can soften them up significantly before they get close. Tree Kin, with their expert charge defense, melee resistance and high melee defense stats, are one of the few units that can safely stop an Ogre charge in its tracks. Follow this up with some Eternal Guard to further tie them down.

*'''Skaven''' - Other than the High Elves, if any other faction can rival you at range, it's the Skaven. Between their Jezzails, Ratling Guns, Poisonwind Globadiers, Plagueclaw Catapults and Warplightning Cannons, Skaven have a gun for every conceivable job. You on the other hand, have virtually no armor and shielded units are few and far in between. Thankfully, many of your archers still outrange their missile units and so long as you don't allow yourself to get backed into a corner, you shouldn't have too much issue kiting their slightly slower ranged infantry. Dealing with Skaven artillery will always be your first priority; Great Eagles or Wild Riders/Great Stag Knights can swiftly slip behind enemy lines and shut down artillery long enough for your archers to set up and deal some damage. In general, your melee infantry shouldn't really be too bothered by theirs; Skavenslaves and Clanrats are a mere nuisance to your considerably more "elite" infantry, though don't get complacent; even Skavenslaves can deal not inconsiderable damage to your unarmored elves and, like all chaff infantry, their main value lies in simply tying your guys down. Key Skaven infantry to watch out for are their Plaguemonks and Death Runners.

*'''Slaanesh''' - The only faction that can definitively claim to be faster than you... and at least in this matchup, that doesn't necessarily do them too many favors. Much of the Slaaneshi roster is geared to fight armored opponents, which thankfully (in this particular case, at least), you generally aren't. Having said that, Slaanesh isn't without claws or teeth; if you want your Waywatchers or Glade Guard to get any work done, you're going to need to screen them diligently. Slaanesh lacks much in the way of range (effectively non-existent ranged roster) or armor (...it's Slaanesh after all), so you can get some serious work done from afar if you can keep his/her chariots, cavalry and/or daemonettes from scything through your backlines. Hawk Riders can also serve you quite well in this matchup, as once you clear out any potential furies from assaulting them, they'll be virtually uncontested while they rain arrows down upon the backsides of those horny, horny daemons. You'll want to take the ever vigilant Eternal Guard to combat enemy cavalry/chariots and as general damage sponges while Wardancers can mop up any infantry currently engaged with them. Bladesingers in particular will be more than a match for Slaanesh's infantry if you permanently activate their dance skill to get more raw damage and the expense of armor piercing.

*'''Tomb Kings''' - An unpredictable matchup. Their frontline will be slow, and much of it can be whittled down with skirmish tactics before your own melee units will even need to engage them. Ushabti Great Bows pose a serious threat to the Wood Elves as they can steadily fire upon your Lords from afar, especially Orion and Durthu whose large model sizes makes them much more vulnerable, as well as outranging the Sisters of Twilight by a considerable margin. Faster constructs such as the Warsphinx and the Necrosphinx puts a great damper on the skirmishing tactics which Wood Elves mainly rely on, being capable of chasing down kiting units such as Deepwood Scouts and Waystalkers. Keep the Tomb Kings player on their toes with a good mix of Cav, ranged units and anti-large spear units, making sure to avoid engaging their frontline units in melee until absolutely necessary due to their fear effect putting you at a disadvantage.

*'''Tzeentch''' - First; leave anything with bark for skin in the woods; trying to mitigate the sheer amount of flaming, magical damage at Tzeentch's disposal is impossible. Instead, you're going to want a dedicated cavalry build; Tzeentch relies heavily on cycle charging and keeping out of extended fights. Use your superior speed to prevent any daemons from escaping. Once you manage to pin any particular units down, Wardancers and Bladesingers will dominate anything they come into contact with. Of course, you'll want to have a few archers contest/discourage any Horrors attempting to line up some shots of their own if only to further soften them up for your melee kill squads.

*'''Vampire Coast''' - Look out for artillery. If you can do that, this matchup can become modestly easy; Vampire Coast infantry is rather slow and you easily outrange all non-artillery missile units they can bring to bear. So long as you're careful with your positioning, pick your engagements and keep two steps ahead of them, you can pick apart much of their gunlines before they can get a chance to return fire. Once you do so, Wardancers with Spears and Eternal Guard are pretty suited towards dealing with the bigger monsters they might have.

*'''Vampire Counts''' - One of your best matchups. VCs have a tough time handling your skirmishers since they don't have any ranged units or light cav. They also have a tough time handling your forest spirits. Treemen/treekin can easily smush skeleton spearmen and shut down blood knights with their charge def vs. large. If you really want to be an asshole, take Sisters of Twilight/hawkriders, park them on top of enemy, and pick away at their key units while they impotently shake their fists at you. VC lords are frequently put on flying mounts such as Hellsteeds and Zombie Dragons. An excellent strategy against these picks is to expose archer units in hopes of baiting the VC Lord in before trapping him or in place with the female Glade Lord's Prey of Anath Raema ability. As long as Dire Wolves and Vampire Cav are kept far away while this commences, a full back line of archers can easily whittle the VC Lord down within the sixteen seconds of Prey of Anath Raema, especially given its twenty percent missile resistance debuff, thereby automatically securing your victory.

*'''Warriors of Chaos''' - A heavily armored melee faction with virtually no ranged options, you won't have much trouble keeping your distance from a majority of the WoC roster. The problem is, between their heavy armor and shields, Wood Elves had a bit of trouble actually dealing with their front lines until recently. Though Wildwood Rangers are reasonably decent at facing them in combat, the addition of Bladesingers has given Wood Elves a very strong melee-oriented answer for all that bulk. When properly supported, Bladesingers can and will carve a path of death through Chaos front lines, especially if you have anti-armor missile support from the flanks. Eternal Guard, as ever, are the best screening unit you can ask for against enemy cavalry while Tree Kin are a bit more suited to holding back the tide of enemy infantry while your Bladesingers get into position. One major issue you'll need to keep in mind; if the WoC brought a Hellcannon, you will want to prioritize that before anything else. WE have no direct artillery to answer them in kind and with virtually no defensive statlines on most of your units, Hellcannons can deal terrible damage to a majority of your roster if you let them fire at you uncontested.

*'''Wood Elves''' - Oh boy, fantasy guerilla warfare. If you're facing other fleshy wood elf infantry, don't expect a straight up fight. Try to outflank and shut down their archer units to force them into a more direct confrontation and shut down their healers to prevent them from shaking off the damage you deal to them. Try to save your magical arrows for any Trees looking at you funny.