Editing Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/Wood Elves (section)

==Units Analysis==

=== Named Characters ===
* '''Orion:'''
* '''Ariel:'''
* '''Drycha:'''
* '''Naestra and Arahan:'''
* '''Durthu:'''

=== Lords & Heroes ===
* '''Wood Elf Highborn:''' The combat lord of the army. Various good builds do exist. Mounted on a Dragon, doesn't need much clarification. A Highborn makes the Eternal Guard core and the Guard is stubborn when a Highborn or a Noble is with the unit. With Rhymer's Harp (5++) can be made a pretty solid bunker, although expensive one. Also worth of mentioning is a Wardancer Highborn.
* '''Spellweaver:''' Basic lvl 3/4 wizard. Can use Lores of Beasts or Life besides Lore of Athel Loren. Their High cousins have the +1 for all dispel rolls but interestingly Wood Elves have propably the best defensive magic item in the whole game: Wand of Wych Elm. More in the magic items entry.
* '''Treeman Ancient:''' I can't find any reason ever to use your lord slot for a Treeman, besides fluff. 
* '''Wood Elf Noble:''' There exists so many builds and uses for them so it is very hard to imagine any list wouthout at least one of these. If you are bringing a treeman (or MEN), a BSB is very useful. Treemen lose combats often because of static combat resolution, without taking wounds. Stubborn+bsb=lul.
* '''Spellsinger:''' Basic wizard. Always bring at least one as a scroll caddy. Or to boost your spellweaver. Can use only Lore of Athel Loren.
* '''Branchwraith:''' Can boost nicely your dryad unit. Also she can be very powerful in anti-magic for a hero: take that wizard level and A Cluster of Radiants. Two dispel dice is always very nice. If upgraded to a wizard, can use only Lore of Athel Loren.

=== Core Units ===
* '''Glade Guard:''' Basic archers of the army, but are also the only ones that shoot S4 at close range. Not very outstanding but almost always there is a slot for these guys. Take 10 to hide your wizard.
* '''Glade Guard Scouts:''' Not an unit per se technically but in practice Glade Guard upgraded to Scouts is a completely different unit. Loses that nice short range S4 and gain scouts and skirmishers. You can't have more units of Scouts than basic Glade Guard. Basic skirmishing scouts. 
* '''Glade Riders:''' Not bad but why to take them when much better choices are available? Maybe in some full cavalry army. They are not ItP so they can flee. Wood Elves lack of baiting units, these can perform this task nicely. Glade Riders and Warhawk Riders are the unofortunately the worst units in this army but still usable.
* '''Dryads:''' Incredibly hard to pass up. 5+ Ward, Immune to psych, cause fear, magic attacks, a vicious statline. Unlike their larger kin they're not flammable, not that it matters. One word of caution, they don't get rank bonuses. Friends don't let friends charge alone. Always give them the support of another unit or they will lose due to static combat res and break(yes immune to psych still means break tests). Also a good target for The Twilight Host
* '''Eternal Guard:''' Only core if you have a Highborn. Stubborn if led by a Highborn or a Noble. Opinions divide on these lads. FinAnon has never used them, and doesn't believe in Wood Elf armies created around blocks. Some people disagree and have performed well with block armies. It is true that Eternal Guard die very easily if targeted with any kind of missile fire or magic missiles. The main idea in using these is that the enemy does have so many more critical targets approaching and the Eternal Guard can march forward without harassment. If that treeman is still alive and can combicharge flank as the block charges front, congrats on winning. And even without support, if the hero is still alive, you are not prone in running away.

=== Special Units ===
* '''Wild Riders:''' Oh boy they hit HARD! And they are Fast Cavalry, Forest Spirits and they get +1 attack for every combat round they didn't charge. And with elven initiative it is almost guaranteed to strike first. Wild Riders also have "natural" 6+ Ward. On the downside, they'll die very quick, especially against daemons or other magical attacks. Not a bad choice!
* '''Warhawk Riders:''' T3 W2 no saves of any kind. they are weak. If you know you are playing against chaos and you have some anti-magic to counter those missiles surely targeted against them, they CAN be useful, as flyers always. But they doesn't fit never in any tournament lists. The worst unit in the whole army, but still usable for the whole army is good.
* '''Wardancers:''' Wardancers are able to hit very hard, especially when charging. If they use +1 Attack-dance, they are able to beat even fully ranked close combat units which have 5 static combat resolution! MR(1) helps to dispel all nasty magic missiles but watch out for missile fire. Also charging tarpits can be a very bad idea. For example a big unit of Grave Guard, Wardancers will most likely to win the first round. But after that they have no S4 and the Wights will strike back.
* '''Tree Kin:'''

=== Rare Units ===
* '''Great Eagle:''' Great redirectors, a solid choice. A treeman is absolutely the number one rare choice but if you think Scouts are enough and you are ready to skip Waywatchers, then taking an Eagle is propably a very good idea. Unfortunately Wood Elves can't take 2-in-1 like their cousins in Ulthuan.
* '''Treeman:''' The most solid thing in the whole army. Does have a ranged attack called Strangle Roots and does cast Tree Singing as a bound spell. Take at least one. Strongly recommended to discuss with your opponent about using the Strangle Root-attack for Stand and Shoot charge reaction. There exists an official FAQ in which it is allowed to use but it was published after the 7th edition was the official edition. The wording of the Stand and Shoot is enough similar in 6th and 7th to conclude that it should be allowed but to avoid any quarrels, discuss. A Treeman can withstand an enormous amount of hits. T6, 3+ and being a Forest Spirit makes treemen extremely durable. Being stubborn means that losing combat to static resolution doesn't matter that much. But Ld being only 8 means that 5/18 of break tests will still fail. And this is why sacrificing one of your hero slots for the BSB is propably a very good idea. Now your treeman should be able to hold enemy battleline long enough to distrupt all the plans and sometimes even win all the combatants.
* '''Waywatchers:''' I've seen them used like a war machine in that they sit in a forest spitting out shots and forcing enemies to send in significant chaff to tie them up due to ten attacks at I5, due to two hand weapons. Also never ever forget their Lethal Shot ability, arrows with Killing Blow. They didn't seem cost-effective in that role though. The same points gets you a minimum unit of warhawks who have more mobility, slightly more wounds and perform multiple roles. 6th Edition doesn't grant access to the all Lores so you can't assist their shooting by weakening the enemy.