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Friday, July 15, 2011

New army project: Wood Elves

I mentioned sometime ago that I've been planning a few new armies, as I'm finally approaching the final remaining models of my Orcs & Goblins. I had planned to do Dwarfs next, as I have an army box lying around, but I'm not really feeling the inspiration at this time. Instead, I'll be working on my Wood Elves next, where I'm intent on proving the nay-sayers wrong and succeed with a modified MSU-army instead of the dual Treekin/Mass Glade Guard armies that you usually see in 8th edition. The theme will be The Summer of the Wild Hunt, with an army centered around a large-ish unit of Wild Riders, flanked by other mounted, swift moving troops. I'm looking to set up angles where I'm able to combo charge from several directions at once, rather than fighting "fairly" like my Orcs tend to do.

I'm really looking forward to start assembling and playtesting the army, as it will provide a welcome break from the horde of green I've been painting ever since I started in this hobby. The army that I'll be building features closer to 2800 points rather than 2500, which leaves me with the option to swap out a unit for another depending on what I feel is the most effective. Read the army list I have in mind directly after the jump.

Spellweaver, level 4, Lore of Life
Rhymer's Harp, Dispel Scroll
With such a fragile (yet mobile) army I believe the Lore of Life is the better choice for me. Flesh to Stone is an excellent augment to ensure my Wild Riders survive the retaliation of enemies, and Regrowth is of course excellent at all times.My Spellweaver will join up with the Glade Guards in the back, and provide the unit with a 5+ ward save to ensure they last longer.

Spellsinger on Elven Steed, level 2, Lore of Athel Loren
Glamorweave Kindred, Moonstone of the Hidden Ways, Scroll of Shielding
For the times when I want an even more sneaky, ambushing army, my Spellsinger will ride alongside the Treekin or the Wild Riders and meet up in a forest, afterwards they'll both appear in an empty forest in the rear of the enemy army. It's situational for certain, but a fun tactic to employ at times.

Noble, Battle Standard Bearer
Razor Standard, A Respendence of Luminescents, An Annoyance of Netlings
My BSB will also go with the Glade Guards in the back, and will make sure their arrows are Armor Piercing as well as Magical for added shooting benefits. If something nasty charges in (which I hope they won't) I can challenge with the Netlings and survive for a while.

Noble on Elven Steed
Wildrider Kindred, Dragonhelm, Hail of Doom Arrow
 A Noble leading the Wild Riders will make for an even more hard-hitting unit for those devastating flank charges. The Hail of Doom Arrow is of course an excellent weapon that you almost have to include in your army for that key shooting phase, and the Dragonhelm will allow my Noble to charge into battle with a unit where I know there are flaming attacks present, hopefully tieing them up while my flammable units battle the rest of the enemy army.

20 Glade Guards
Full Command, Banner of Eternal Flame
I feel a unit of 20 makes for a good bunker for my Spellweaver and BSB, anchoring the line in the very back of the battlefield, while firing Flaming arrows to take out Hydras, Abominations and Trolls, along with the added benefits of the BSB in the unit. 

x2 5 Glade Riders
Standard Bearer, Musician
This is perhaps the most unorthodox unit choice of them all. Lots of people curse at Glade Riders for being overpriced and not as useful as they once were, but I'm still convinced that they can play a vital role in my army, since I'm sticking with a slightly MSU approach with plenty of shooting and mobility. You need two units though, rather than one, making it easier to bait and flee from an enemy that tries to redirect into a fresh enemy when the first of the Glade Riders elect to flee. With their excellent leadership, they should be able to rally without problems. Also, to give me more Banners for vitality scenarios, I'm giving them both a banner to ride around with, since they shouldn't be losing it at any rate.

12 Dryads
The first of my Forest Spirits, Dryads is a no-brainer choice for the Wood Elves I feel. In particular in combation with the Life spells, Dryads in a forest can be a pain to defeat. I think 8 are too few for what I want them to do, while 12 is a good number.

9 Wild Riders of Kurnous
Standard Bearer, Musician
Quite a few people don't like Wild Riders any longer, prefering instead another unit of Treekins, but as I'm fielding a very mobile army I'd like to give them a shot. Joined by a Noble, they can tear up a unit when charging them in the flank while my Forest Spirits are fighting them to the front. I'm a bit torn on whether to bring a Warbanner, or perhaps a Banner of Swiftness to make them march 20" as fast cavalry. That's almost like flying!

6 Wardancers
The suicide sniper unit, or flankers if the opportunity presents itself.  At initiative 6 and all their crazy dances, this tiny unit can charge into infantry units where Wizards are hiding and take them out with a killing blow.

6 Treekin
Hands down the most effective unit in the Wood Elf army. Imbued with Life spells, these trees will fight the enemy to the front while my Wild Riders go around the side. As an added bonus, their finecast models look really nice and will be a joy to paint, I'm sure.

Treeman
No Treekins without a Treeman as their sidekick. He will do much the same job as the Treekins, but with higher toughness and S6 Thunderstomps he's able to take on different enemies (while also having to stay away from some where the Treekins will gladly go in).

x2 Great Eagles
Another no-brainer choice, for a unit as mobile and fragile as mine, Eagles are vital in redirecting and hunting war machines.