Warhammer/Tactics/6th Edition/Wood Elves

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Why play Wood Elves?

Because you are an annoying motherfucker who wants to avoid close combat for the most of the game and then suddenly declare multiple charges to the enemy's flank or rear. Wood Elves can be a very irritating opponent but this army has it's downsides too. Static combat resolution is rare so sticking in prolonged combats is usually a very bad thing. Skirmishers, fast cavalry and loads of special rules makes this army fun to play.

Army Special Rules

• Asrai Archery Wood Elves don't suffer the -1 to hit penalty for moving and shooting.
• Forest Walkers Wood Elves don't suffer any movement penalties in woods.
• Woodland Ambush In Pitched Battles Wood Elves can place an extra wood of max 6" diameter in their half of the table.

Also this army includes 16 more special rules which are handled later in the units section except this one. Wood Elf army list includes many units which are Forest Spirits.

• Forest Spirit: Can't join non-Forest Spirits and vice versa, 5+ Ward which does not work against anything magical, all attacks are magical and Immune to Psychology.

The Lore of Athel Loren

Wood Elves have their own unique lore which is mandatory to spellsingers. Spellweavers can choose also lores of Life and Beasts from the BRB. Lore of Athel Loren lacks of direct damage spells. If the scenery contains at least two woods, this lore should be effective.

1. Tree Singing: 4+ to cast, range 18". Can be used either to move wooden terrain piece D3+1" or to inflict D6 S5 hits to an enemy which is at least partially inside a wood (this effect has unlimited range!). Also treemen cast this spell as a bound spell with power level 3. This spell can win games. Your opponent's tears will flow after a wood moves directly in front of his Grail Knights or Chosen Khorne Knights. This spell can crumble your opponen'ts battleline completely with ease. Alternatively if your opponent has sent some suckers in the wood to prevent moving it, you can obliterate them with this very same spell!
2. Fury of the Forest: 6+ to cast, range 18". Inflicts D6 S4 hits to an enemy and if the target is within 6" of a wood, then the strength is increased to 5. Nice spell.
3. The Hidden Path: 7+ to cast, range 18". Makes friendly unit ethereal until caster's next magic phase, so can move through any terrain with full speed. Since Wood Elves move through woods without penalties all the time, this is mostly useless spell. The ethereal effect can be nice.
4. The Twilight Host: 8+ to cast, range 18". Makes the target cause fear. Already fear causing target causes now terror. Dryads can enjoy this.
5. Ariel's Blessing: 9+ to cast, range 18". The target unit gains regeneration until caster's next magic phase. Solid. Basically it is second 4+ ward in most cases. This is very good for all your combat units, propably only treemen would not need it. If your treeman is targeted by loads of cannons or bolt throwers, this helps in that case too. Screaming Skull Catapult and dwarven war machines with the Rune of Fire negates both regeneration and ward save so beware of these.
6. The Call of the Hunt: 11+ to cast, range 18". If cast into combat, the target gains +1A. If not in combat, the target moves 2D6" towards the nearest enemy and may charge with this special move. First you move your treeman in the wood, then you move that very same wood towards enemy and then you'll charge with this spell! At least in theory. But even the threat of the Wood Elf player doing this can very easily eat some dispel scrolls. As with all the movement spells, this can be a game-winner.

Magic Items And Spites

We are trying here to highlight the key and crucial magic items in the list, I'm sure there will be several good ones not mentioned. Note that Wood Elves have magical arrows and if not otherwise stated, those can be used with magical bows. Spites are not technically magic items and therefore immune to Vaul's Unmaking and similar things but they work otherwise like magic items.

• The Bow of Loren: 35 points. The bearer can shoot as many times as is his number of attacks without any multiple shot penalties. Can be extremely devastating with proper magical arrows against some armies, for example shooting Starfire Arrows (any casualty causes a panic test) to night goblin unit. The Bow combined with magical arrows costs much and the situations where it works are quite specific so this item can't be recommended for tournament lists.
• Blades of Loec: 35 points. Wardancer character only. Can re-roll any failed rolls to wound. If you are taking a Wardancer Highborn, this is a must. If only a Noble, there might be other items which can be more useful, Moonstone for example.
• Asyendi's Bane: 10 points. Longbow, re-roll hits but if the second hit is also off the target, the bearer suffers a S3 hit. Propably the best way to get a bow to your Battle Standard Bearer. The BSB loses his longbow but taking magical bows is allowed. Also your BSB can take Hail of Doom Arrow with this bow. Fortunately HoDA ignores all the effects of magical bows so combining those items is not suicidal.
• The Helm of the Hunt: 20 points. 6+ Armour Save, +1 A and +1 Ws when the character charges. Take it for your Highborn or Alter character.
• Stone of the Crystal Mere: 30 points. Wood Elves lack of proper normal ward saves. This item gives 3+ ward, which also applies for the mount, but it is destroyed when the save is failed first time. Can be very nice and cost-effective. Can be.
• Stone of Rebirth: 30 points for another tricky ward. 2+ ward when the bearer is reduced to one wound. Doesn't help against killing blows or cannon balls but on the right day can be ridiculously effective.
• Moonstone of Hidden Ways: 35 points. The bearer and any unit the bearer has joined can teleport from wood to wood at the end of the move phase. Also gives free reform during that teleport. Can ruin your opponents battleplan very quickly. Works best with Wardancers. One use only.
• Hail of Doom Arrow: Splits to 3D6 magical S4 arrows and this beauty is only 30 points. If you are playing Weed Elves without this, you should sell your army instantly. One use only.
• Wand of Wych Elm: This arcane item is 55 points so only lord level caster can use it, and that is very easy to understand why! It allows the bearer re-roll ANY dispel attempt. Without university courses of propability theory one can understand how much it helps magic defense. Unfortunately this item does not provide any dispel dice more so a Branchwraith with A Cluster of Radiants to support defensive magic is pretty much necessary.

Wood Elves use also small forest spirits which are called spites. All characters can also choose these unless otherwise stated. All spites cost 25 points unless otherwise stated.

• A Blight of Terrors: 50 points for terror. Skip it.
• A Befuddlement of Mischiefs: Bound spell power level 3. Magic missile which causes the target become stupid in its next turn.
• A Murder of Spites: +D6 attacks in close combat. Bearer's Ws, I4, S2. Magical poisoned attacks.
• A Muster of Malevolents:
• An Annoyance of Netlings: In a challenge the enemy needs 6 to hit. Extremely useful for highborns. Elven toughness is a bad joke and this prevents 5/6 of hits.
• A Resplendence of Luminescents: All attacks of the bearer and any unit he has joined are magical.
• A Lamentation of Despairs: Bound spell power level 3, one use only. Any model on the battlefield may be targeted. Must pass Ld test or suffer D3 wounds that ignore armour saves, ward saves and regeneration.
• A Cluster of Radiants: Adds one dispel dice to pool. Must have... but only treemen and branchwraiths can take it.
• A Pageant of Shrikes: A surprise sniper shot? One of those items that really only works if you're playing with hidden magic items and even then it's a single S4 hit.

Kindreds

Wood Elf characters can be members of different kindreds which basically means that your character becomes very much upgraded version of some specific kind of warrior of your army. The cost of being of some Kindred does not come from magic item allowance.

• Wardancer Kindreds: Highborn 50 points, Noble 30 points. Your character becomes almost unstoppable killing machine. The amount of attacks is ridiculous. A choice to recommend for your Highborn. Give him Blades of Loec, An Annoyance of Netlings and Moonstone of Hidden Ways and enjoy your opponent's tears.
• Eternal Kindreds: Highborn 10 points, Noble 5 points. Fucking useless shit. Skip.
• The Alter Kindreds: Highborn 35 points, Noble 25 points. Your characters movement is increased to 9 and attacks is increased by 1, can't ride, can't be the general nor join units. The fastest motherfucker on the field. Dies very easily but can be very useful. Great weapon, shield, light armout, The Helm of the Hunt and Hail of Doom Arrow makes a nice hero.
• Scout Kindreds: Highborn 25 points, Noble 15 points. Skip.
• Wild Rider Kindreds: Highborn 50 points, Noble 35 points. Not worth of the points and you'll have other uses for your characters. Skip.
• Waywatcher Kindreds: Highborn 45 points, Noble 35 points. Could be devastating if Lethal Shot can be used with magical bows (=The Bow of Loren). Skip.
• Glamourweave Kindreds: Spellweaver 20 points, Spellsinger 20 points. The wizard becomes a Forest Spirit. Must ride an Elven Steed or a Unicorn. Useful only if you are playing Forest Spirit-theme army.

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.

Tactics

Treemen are stubborn. They will lose easily to static combat resolution so keeping the BSB near will make them almost Unbreakable. The propability to fail Ld 8 test two times in a row is 7,7%.

Wardancers hit hard. VERY hard. And if supported with a character, they'll kill pretty much everything except big blocks and even against blocks, they are not in a hopeless situation. But taking charges is not their thing.

Know your Weaknesses and know your Strengths

Unlike the fluff says, the most effective weapon of the Wood Elf army IS NOT shooting. The thing in this army is it's mobility.

Army compositions

The most notorious power build includes a Highborn on a Dragon, a BSB to keep your TWO Treemen fighting, a scroll caddy, two units of Dryads, one unit of Glade Guard, Wardancers and Wild Riders. The Highborn should carry Stone of Crystal Mere, The Helm of the Hunt and maybe some weapon. The BSB should carry Asyendi's Bane and Hail of Doom Arrow. This an extremely powerful combination so it can't be recommended for casual play. Dwarf war machines could be the demise of this army, flaming bolt throwers are the nemesis of treemen.

FinAnon has performed well in 2k games with a Spellweaver and a Branchwraith providing total six dispel dice. Spellweaver will carry The Wand of Wych Elm. Six rerollable dice usually is enough to effectively cancel opponent's magic phase. Two other hero slots could be filled with heroes you prefer. A Spellsinger if you prefer magical dominance, an Alter, or a BSB are all potential choices.