WOOD ELVES
SAMPLE ARMY
Following is an account of how Lonnie Mullins put together a 2,000 point Wood Elf army. This is a useful example as you can see the thought process behind assembling a Warhammer force for battle (although we admit, it is a little scary getting inside Lonnie's head!).
Lonnie has been collecting and playing his Wood Elf army for a little over five months, so he is still in the process of building up his forces. Rather than simply taking everything he owns, we asked him to make a 2,000 point army. Besides being the "standard" size army at most tournaments, 2,000 point Warhammer games will give you an evening's worth of hard-fought battle, but still leave you enough time to rub in your victory, or mull over any defeats. Now it is time to turn you over to Lonnie.
GETTING STARTED
Actually when Webmaster Dan asked me to pick out a 2,000 point force for a sample army on the website it came at a really convenient time. The U.S. Staff Warhammer Tourney is coming up in mid-January, and I'll need to make a 2,000 point list for then anyway!
ARCHERS FIRST
Wood Elves have the best archers in the Warhammer game, and I am, for sure, going to include as many of these invaluable troops as I can, so I started off with two units of these excellent troopers. At 11 points a model it is not too dear. Each unit is led by a Champion, and if I have points left by the time I'm done, I'll add a magic item to increase their effectiveness. Two units of ten archers come to 300 points (including Champions).
CLOSE COMBAT TROOPS
Now that we have some archers it is time to think about close combat. While it is nice to think that my massed archers will pincushion and stop any opposition from getting into hand-to-hand, it isn't very realistic. In fact, there are plenty of troops in the Warhammer World that arrows won't have much chance of harming - such as well armored Knights, Manticores, or worse. This being the case, it seems a wise move to outfit my army with some units for fighting hand-to-hand.
Beefed up with light armor, shields, and spears, the Glade Guard look pretty tough. To make them really hard I am including a Standard Bearer, Musician, and Champion. Total for all 15 Glade Guard is 243 points (including Champion). This comes to a hefty total of 543 points spent so far.
WARDANCERS
While the Glade Guard may provide my army with solid defensive troops, they certainly are not going to strike fear into the opposing General's heart. Now a unit of Wardancers, with their unique attack modes, will cause the foe to throw all sorts of fits. Because Wardancers cost so many points, I could only afford a small unit of five. Still, if they encounter a foe that they cannot harm, I can always rely on using the Shadows Coil dance to stall the enemy - giving me time to set up a flank charge with another unit. Total points spent, 643.
DRYADS & TREEMEN
One of the things I find most appealing about the Wood Elf Army is the overall theme and presence of Athel Loren - the magical forest realm. This being the case I definitely wanted to field Dryads and Treemen in my army.
Both of these troop types are devastating on the charge - the Dryads with their different shape-shifting attacks, and the Treemen with its straight out awesome strength! A unit of eight Dryads advanced my point total to 923 points, and the Treeman tacked on another 280 points. The sight of the gnarled monster tearing up the enemy and shredding armor like it was nothing will go a long way towards easing my mind about spending the 280 points to enlist him. Total points spent = 1,203.
NO, I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT
THE CHARACTERS!!!
Well, I've spent over half my allotted points, and I still have no General. A Wood Elf General will cost me 160 points, and that isn't including any equipment, armor, or magic goodies. I picture the General of a Wood Elf Army being mobile - able to charge to the front and attack the foe, or speed to a flank and rally any of my troops that should break and run. I will therefore purchase a mount for my leader, but how many more points should I load into this one model?
In the end, I decided to simply mount the General on an Elven Steed. The Wood Elf Hero on the Forest Dragon is a great model (and I wanted an excuse to paint it up), but it will just have to wait!
If I have any extra points left over I will look at augmenting troops with magic banners or champions with enchanted weapons, but the General of my force is top priority. After rifling through the Magic Supplement (no small task, there are literally hundreds of items to choose from) I selected an Ogre Blade - a 40 point sword that will increase my General's strength, and make him more of a hand-to-hand dynamo! I'll come back and think about magic armor if I have any points left over, but for now it is time to move on. General with equipment = 206, total points = 1409.
WHAT ABOUT A WIZARD?
Right about now, if you're an experienced Warhammer player, you're probably wondering what I intend to do about casting magic. Well, I personally wouldn't want to march to battle with my Wood Elves without at least a Mage, and as I still have the points to spend, I'm going to select the Master Mage - a powerful sorcerer with access to Battle Magic. I toyed with the idea of putting the wizard in one of my archer units, but finally decided an Elven Steed would give me mobility to ride to where his magic was most needed. Fully mounted this wizard will add another 222 points to my force, now totalling 1,631.
THE PART WHERE I WORRY ABOUT WAR MACHINES
I've been thinking about my full 2,000 point army and the kind of opposition I'm going to see during the tournament. I like my chances against other armies - I can pick off chariots and thin down enemy ranks with my archers, and the foe's really tough units will have to deal with Wardancers, Treemen, and Dryads. The only thing that worries me are war machines. Empire and Dwarf armies have some seriously dangerous gunpowder weapons, and Orcs and Goblins and Skaven can bring some nasty devices as well. I don't even like to think about my Treemen being torched by a Skaven Warpfire Thrower! Before I went any further with my list I scanned the Warhammer Armies Wood Elf book and looked over more troop descriptions.
THE ANSWER (I HOPE!)
The answer to enemy war machines literally kept me up late at night - painting that is! A unit of Warhawk Riders seemed to be just the thing. Not only can these heroic troops quickly swoop out of the sky to eradicate any threats, but the models look cool, and they really fit into my image of what a Wood Elf Army should look like.
The downside of all this is, of course, fitting the points into my major plan. For a bigger game I would add a Champion to the unit, but I just can't spare points. A unit of Warhawks with shields, light armor, and spears is 190 points. Total points spent = 1821.
ADDING SOME MAGIC ITEMS
Before I spend all my points (and I'm running pretty close now!) I want to make sure that I have properly equipped all my characters. Picking Magic items for my army is a part of the hobby that I thoroughly enjoy! After pouring over the Warhammer Magic contents I finally came up with my selections.
For my Champion of the first archer unit I selected a Hail of Doom Arrow. When fired, this magic arrow will multiply in flight (three dice worth of death!) giving this one shot a chance of laying waste to an entire enemy unit! The Champion of the second unit of archers gets the Sky Arrow of Naloer, a potent magic arrow that can be used to bring down enemy flying creatures, even if they are flying high, out of the range of normal bowfire!
To be on the safe side I'll purchase a Dispell Scroll for my Mage, In the course of my Warhammer career I have seen magic spells absolutely devastate an army, and the chance to automatically stop a spell at least once seems like a bargain at only 25 points.
That's 80 points in magic, bringing my total up to an ominous 1901. Time for some fine-tuning!
ADDING A LAST UNIT!
Well, I still have some points left over and there are several things I could do. I own large units of Dryads and Wardancers, so it would be no problem to fill out their ranks a little bit. On the other hand, I have never got around to painting up my Waywatchers unit.
Not only are these models the quintessential Wood Elf troop, but I think the ability to infiltrate and lay traps in the forests could prove quite useful in a game. The final point of persuasion was the models themselves. With their leafy cloaks and woodsy disguises I could really have a painting challenge. The Tournament starts in just a few weeks, so I think I can finish painting a small unit of five. With all their abilities, they are not cheap troop types, adding a further 90 points, for a grand total of 1,991.
GETTING ALL SQUARED AWAY
A few points over or short of the 2,000 point total isn't going to kill me, but there are easy ways to get it exact. A bow for my Mage and barding for my General's Steed will get me closer, or maybe I could find a cheap 5 or 10 point magic item. Sure, the few bowshots my Wizard fires during a game may not have any bearing on the outcome, but I have been in some matches where the final victory was so close it came down to a final saving throw die roll! You just never know!
CLEARING THE PATH TO GLORY
Well, that's my 2,000 point army. You'll have to wait to see how it does. For a larger game I would add my Orion and my Army Standard Bearer models, but alas, I could not find the room in a 2,000 point army. In the future, I'd like to add in a unit of Glade Riders, and I'm still waiting for the Wood Elf Chariot to be released.
In the meantime, I pledge to protect the Forests of Athel Loren...
BATTLE REPORT
Keep your eyes on the news for an update of just how Lonnie's army fairs in the big STAFF WARHAMMER TOURNAMENT!