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Hello everyone,

Well, after a while with my beloved Dark Elves, I've finally decided to do a second army; and, since the Wood Elves have always fascinated me, it was a pretty obvious choice!

I'm aiming for a harassing force, one that can continue to pepper the enemy with short-range pain before finishing them off in combat. At the moment, my main opponents are Chaos Warriors and Dwarves (the latter being particularly appropriate!).

I've only got the Army Book, but am planning on buying the Battalion, the Waywatcher hero model, and 10 Eternal Gaurd soon. Despite being technically employed, I don't really have much to spend on this army (long depressing story lol), so would like to try and keep it relatively cheap £-wise for now =)

Onto the list:

Noble Eradrann with Longbow, Arcane Bodkins, Eternal Kindred - 105pts
Situated with the Eternal Guard. The kindred is to add a little punch in combat.

12 Glade Guard - 144pts
Pretty obvious really - move up, shoot, move back using woods as cover, shoot, and repeat.

12 Glade Guard - 144pts
Ditto above.

12 Dryads - 144pts
Combat unit #1. If all goes to plan, I'll only commit them after the target has been peppered with arrows first.

8 Glade Riders with full command - 228
Ideally I'll be march blocking with these guys while shooting, perhaps with a flank charge if the opportunity arises.

10 Eternal Guard with standard bearer with the Banner of Dwindling - 182
Bodyguard for my noble. The Banner of Dwindling should ensure that, provided they win the combat (considering losing the full command from the Glade Riders and putting them here), the enemy will just be run down.

1 Great Eagle - 50
March blocking, war machine hunting.

Total: 997pts

My main worry here is the complete lack of magical defence, but I'm not sure what to drop to add it in.

Any help from you veteran Asrai players would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Ben.

What about this:

Noble, Alter Kindred, Great Weapon, Light Armor, Helm of the Hunt, Hail of Doom Arrow- 156
Branchwraith, Cluster of Radiants, Annoyance of Nettlings- 115
10 Glade Guard, Musician- 126
10 Glade Guard- 120
6 Glade Riders- 144
8 Dryads- 96
8 Dryads- 96
8 Dryads- 96
Eagle- 50
Total- 999

I think from your list above, the noble and eternal guard are definitely your weak link. They're not very good in combat, and they're probably not going to win (or if they do, make the enemy flee) to take advantage of that banner. This noble is a common build, but it's awesome

This would be a very similar cost to what you listed out above, just buying a box of dryads instead of the eternal guard. The dryads are awesome in combat and will provide you a lot more punch up close . They have a 25mm base rather than 20mm, so you can't usually fit more than 8 in contact with an enemy unit, anyway. I personally am trying out the branchwraith above, instead of a spellsinger, since it gives you 4 dispel dice and goes well with the dryads. You can use the Drycha model for it . If you prefer a spellsinger, you can add in a level 1 with 2 Dispel Scrolls for the exact same cost, although I don't think 2 scrolls are needed at this point level.

I would try to find (maybe ebay?) a few more glade riders so that you can have 2 units for future/larger lists . I also put the glade guard down to 10, since you'll probably want to string them out so that they can all fire (and possibly move them up to fire at close range, and then flee enemy charges through your dryads, who are immune to psychology and won't panic, who can then receive the charge or counter-charge). I would try to convert (or just paint differently) the extra 4 glade guard into waywatchers, if you can find one more you'll have a full unit . Or you could use them as glade guard scouts, although I don't see those in lists as often.

The annoyance of nettlings is really nice since it might let you tie up a nasty close combat character, and it keeps your general safe (since the alter noble isn't allowed to be your general). If you want another dispel dice, you could drop the musician, the extra glade rider, and helm of the hunt to make your branchwraith a level 1 wizard. However, I don't think it's worth the 50 points at this level. With 3 dispel dice you should be able to defend against one big spell of the enemy, which is all you should need for most things. The musician will be helpful if you decide to move at least one unit of glade guard into close range, to get the strength 4 shots (especially helpful against things like the armies you're playing against, I think). They can bait the enemy into charging, and then flee, allowing the dryads (who won't panic even if the GG run through them, since they're immune to psychology) to receive the charge, or counter-charge.

I think you will have more success with RiTides list.

Since dryads are skirmishers, they do not benefit from ranks so having more of them is not as important.

8 glade riders is hard to manuever and also don't get a rank bonus, so 5 or 6 is optimal.

The same is true for glade guard, if you were trying to burn up a few points then going over 10 is not that big of a deal.

WE are not really meant for prolonged combats so blocks of eternal guard are usually left out. They can be used in larger units to hold up enemies until you can counter charge with other units. However to get stubborn you need to add points to your unit with the cost of a noble and to have a chance at winning you need to have numbers, ranks, and command. When you start factoring in all the added costs, most people just decide to use alternate units. (wardancers or wild riders)

That alter noble is pretty nasty. At this points level the branchwraith is decent, causes fear, has the forrest spirit special abilities, can challenge and only get hit by 6's, and adds another DD.

RiTides wrote:What about this:

Noble, Alter Kindred, Great Weapon, Light Armor, Helm of the Hunt, Hail of Doom Arrow- 156
Branchwraith, Cluster of Radiants, Annoyance of Nettlings- 115
10 Glade Guard, Musician- 126
10 Glade Guard- 120
6 Glade Riders- 144
8 Dryads- 96
8 Dryads- 96
8 Dryads- 96
Eagle- 50
Total- 999

I think from your list above, the noble and eternal guard are definitely your weak link. They're not very good in combat, and they're probably not going to win (or if they do, make the enemy flee) to take advantage of that banner. This noble is a common build, but it's awesome

I do like the Eternal Guard, but with everyone I've shown this list to recommending dropping them, I'll probably leave them for 2000pts.

RiTides wrote:This would be a very similar cost to what you listed out above, just buying a box of dryads instead of the eternal guard. The dryads are awesome in combat and will provide you a lot more punch up close . They have a 25mm base rather than 20mm, so you can't usually fit more than 8 in contact with an enemy unit, anyway. I personally am trying out the branchwraith above, instead of a spellsinger, since it gives you 4 dispel dice and goes well with the dryads. You can use the Drycha model for it . If you prefer a spellsinger, you can add in a level 1 with 2 Dispel Scrolls for the exact same cost, although I don't think 2 scrolls are needed at this point level.

While I do like some of the old Wood Elf Mage models, I'm probably better off with the Branchwraith. While I don't like tailoring lists to my opponents, given that one's a magic-paranoid dwarf and the other's a Khorne-themed Chaos Warrior army, I don't think I'd be getting many spells off!

RiTides wrote:I would try to find (maybe ebay?) a few more glade riders so that you can have 2 units for future/larger lists . I also put the glade guard down to 10, since you'll probably want to string them out so that they can all fire (and possibly move them up to fire at close range, and then flee enemy charges through your dryads, who are immune to psychology and won't panic, who can then receive the charge or counter-charge). I would try to convert (or just paint differently) the extra 4 glade guard into waywatchers, if you can find one more you'll have a full unit . Or you could use them as glade guard scouts, although I don't see those in lists as often.

The annoyance of nettlings is really nice since it might let you tie up a nasty close combat character, and it keeps your general safe (since the alter noble isn't allowed to be your general). If you want another dispel dice, you could drop the musician, the extra glade rider, and helm of the hunt to make your branchwraith a level 1 wizard. However, I don't think it's worth the 50 points at this level. With 3 dispel dice you should be able to defend against one big spell of the enemy, which is all you should need for most things. The musician will be helpful if you decide to move at least one unit of glade guard into close range, to get the strength 4 shots (especially helpful against things like the armies you're playing against, I think). They can bait the enemy into charging, and then flee, allowing the dryads (who won't panic even if the GG run through them, since they're immune to psychology) to receive the charge, or counter-charge.

Sounds good. One thing I wouldn't mind your opinion on, if you don't mind, are Wardancers. Never liked the models myself, though the profile and constant recommendations (even by my girlfriend, who doesn't play warhammer =S) are slowly pushing me towards getting a unit. Would it be good to take a unit of 8, accompanied by the noble, instead of some of the dryads?

At the moment, trying to work in comments from 3 forums (that's not a complaint, I'm thrilled that so many people are willing to help!), the list looks like this:

Noble with Longbow, Hail of Doom Arrow, Eternal Kindred - 110pts

Branchwraith (Level 1) with Cluster of Radiants - 140pts

10 Glade Guard - 120pts

10 Glade Guard - 120pts

8 Dryads with Branch Nymph - 108pts

6 Glade Riders with musician - 153pts

11 Eternal Guard with standard bearer with the Banner of Dwindling - 194

1 Great Eagle - 50

Total: 995pts

Any comments/criticism are greatly appreciated!

Thanks again for your help,

Ben

Nice to see that you're getting a lot of feedback on the list! What other forums did you post it on? I've been trying to find some other good places to get more info on the woodies

Sooooo, you say you're going to leave the eternal guard for 2K, but they're still here . I would at least drop the banner of dwindling, since like I said, I don't think they're going to be scaring off too many opponents into fleeing anyway!

Awesome that you're taking a branchwraith . However, if one of your main opponents is dwarves, I guess you won't need the dispel dice. The annoyance of nettlings would be nice, though!

Wardancers are sweet, but since I play a mostly forest spirit list, I haven't had much luck with them. I think they'd be a great fit for a list like this, though!

So how about those eternal guard? Dropping them and playing with points can get you two more units of core (perhaps one of dryads and one of glade riders) or a unit of wardancers like you're thinking about, with some parts to play with (annoyance of nettlings!)

RiTides wrote:Nice to see that you're getting a lot of feedback on the list! What other forums did you post it on? I've been trying to find some other good places to get more info on the woodies

Sooooo, you say you're going to leave the eternal guard for 2K, but they're still here . I would at least drop the banner of dwindling, since like I said, I don't think they're going to be scaring off too many opponents into fleeing anyway!

Awesome that you're taking a branchwraith . However, if one of your main opponents is dwarves, I guess you won't need the dispel dice. The annoyance of nettlings would be nice, though!

Wardancers are sweet, but since I play a mostly forest spirit list, I haven't had much luck with them. I think they'd be a great fit for a list like this, though!

So how about those eternal guard? Dropping them and playing with points can get you two more units of core (perhaps one of dryads and one of glade riders) or a unit of wardancers like you're thinking about, with some parts to play with (annoyance of nettlings!)

Argh, sorry, posted the wrong list! With so many flying around, I'm beginning to lose track of which one's the latest =P Here's the latest (promise, this time!):

Noble with Longbow, Hail of Doom Arrow, shield, light armour, Helm of the Hunt - 129pts

Branchwraith with Cluster of Radiants - 90pts

10 Glade Guard with musician - 126pts

10 Glade Guard with musician - 126pts

8 Dryads with Branch Nymph - 108pts

5 Glade Riders with musician - 129pts

8 Wardancers with musician and Bladesinger - 165pts

Great Eagle - 50pts

Total: 923pts

I've also run it past WarSeer and asrai.org; it's quite hard trying to incorporate 3 different sets of ideas at once! Not that I'm complaining, mind you, it's great to have so many people willing to help =)

Interestingly, some people have been very, VERY opposed to two characters in 1000pts, as they take up so much of your allowance. I'm torn between leaving the Branchwraith in, or replacing her with another unit of dryads and a handful of Glade Guard...

I can see why people are opposed to two characters- my proposed branchwraith is 25 points cheaper than that one or you could save 50 points by dropping the level 1! You won't get anything off, really, since you can only use one spell with 2 dice... so that's only there for the extra dispel dice. 50 points for a dispel dice is hefty for 1000 points!!! So I'd drop that and just take the spites that you want.

Nice to see the wardancers in there! They pack quite a punch, but you'll really want to get the charge with them.

I would DEFINITELY drop the 11th glade guard from each unit, and give the noble the alter kindred, and a great weapon instead of the shield.

That would put you at 1000 point even . And it makes him a beast!!! At the cost of one archer in each unit? DEFINITELY

If you're very attached to the 11th glade guard, then you could make any number of changes to get the alter kindred and great weapon (no shield, since he can't use it) on the noble. A good one is the change to the branchwraith above (dropping level 1, and giving him annoyance of nettlings). It makes him viable in close combat as well (your dryads will need help, and he can tag along with them then) and gives you the points to beef up your noble!

RiTides wrote:I can see why people are opposed to two characters- my proposed branchwraith is 25 points cheaper than that one or you could save 50 points by dropping the level 1! You won't get anything off, really, since you can only use one spell with 2 dice... so that's only there for the extra dispel dice. 50 points for a dispel dice is hefty for 1000 points!!! So I'd drop that and just take the spites that you want.

Nice to see the wardancers in there! They pack quite a punch, but you'll really want to get the charge with them.

I would DEFINITELY drop the 11th glade guard from each unit, and give the noble the alter kindred, and a great weapon instead of the shield.

That would put you at 1000 point even . And it makes him a beast!!! At the cost of one archer in each unit? DEFINITELY

If you're very attached to the 11th glade guard, then you could make any number of changes to get the alter kindred and great weapon (no shield, since he can't use it) on the noble. A good one is the change to the branchwraith above- makes it viable in close combat as well (your dryads will need help, and he can tag along with them then) and gives you the points to beef up your noble!

I hate to sound ignorant, but I can't really see the advantage of the Alter Kindred I've read about combining it with the Hail of Doom arrow and using him to deal with heavily-armoured enemies thanks to his strength 6, but a lot of people have described him as a suicide unit, which seems a bit odd in 1000pts...

Never been a big fan of great weapons, but I'll give it a go - I suppose if he's around long enough to strike last with it, something's gone seriously wrong! I've also dropped the 11th guard; you're right, it'll make the units far too unwieldy. The only reason for the level 1 really is Tree Singing, but I suppose it's not really worth 50pts.

The alter kindred with hail of doom, helm of the hunt and GW gives you a lot. You have a 9" move or 18" charge, you should be able to pick the target you want and help another unit out in combat with a flank charge. While you are looking to assist you have a chance to put 3d6 shots into a unit dwindling them down before a charge. When you do charge you have 5 strength 6 attacks with the GW and since you charged and have an Initiative of 9 you will probably go first. With 5 str6 attacks you can even take on some monsters. It is all about getting the right match up for him, he is a beast. The problem is he can't be your general so you are going from a Ld 9 to a Ld 8.

I would suggest dropping all your extras for another unit of dryads too. Most of those extras are wasted points, a branch nymph gives you one extra attack for 12 points. You could get another whole dryad for that, which would give you 2 more attacks and another wound. I would also go with the nettlings too, since the branchwraith is acting as the general.

Remember to pick your fights and hit with multiple units.

It's true, I haven't personally used that noble- it's just all the rage on tha intarwebs11!1

I actually specifically don't use it for that very reason...

If you want to come up with a cool combination of noble on your own, or use him more in conjunction with other units, he can still rock the house with no alter kindred, I think. And it's cool for variety's sake, since most people are expecting the alter.

I didn't realize your total is 923! You could totally fit in another unit. Dryads are a good idea, you'd have to find 8 more models for them, though. You're close on the glade riders (only 2 short of being able to field two units).

Post up the new list when you make changes! Dropping the level 1 is a good thought, along with some of the upgrades (if the wardancers go after something nasty, sometimes it's nice to have no champion, since they can challenge your champ and avoid all the other attacks. and boogeyman makes a good point about the branch nymph) to fit in another unit.

Having more units than your opponent is important... right now you'll have to be keeping your dryads and wardancers together most likely. Another unit of dryads would let you let the wardancers act on their own, since the dryads can team up on things.

So show us your next iteration I'm curious...

RiTides wrote:So show us your next iteration I'm curious...

hehe, sorry, been busy at work, then zonked afterwards. Not to mention an upcoming tournament suddenly needing a lot more lists written in very little time...

I'll deal with that later. At some point =P For now, Wood Elves:

Noble with Longbow, Hail of Doom Arrow, shield, light armour, Helm of the Hunt - 129pts

Branchwraith with Cluster of Radiants - 90pts

10 Glade Guard with musician - 126pts

10 Glade Guard with musician - 126pts

8 Dryads - 96pts

8 Dryads - 96pts

5 Glade Riders with musician - 129pts

8 Wardancers with Bladesinger - 158pts

Great Eagle - 50pts

Total: 1000pts

I have to say, I like this. On a selfish front, not too many models ;-), on a more tactical front, it does seem to agree with the tactics you guys recommended more than my first list. I'm tempted to drop the Bladesinger from the Wardancers instead of the musician, and use the then-spare 7pts to get a Lord's Bowman for one of the Glade Guard units - small, I know, but for some reason my Guardmasters in my Dark Elf Repeater Crossbowmen units always seem to do well, so maybe it'll work for me here too. Plus, the musician is probably going to be more helpful than the Bladesinger(!).

I'm afraid I'm not going with the Alter noble. As RiTides said, he is rather popular, and I've never been one for popular combos (I use Swooping Hawks in my Eldar army, says it all really). Besides, given his vulnerability, I just don't trust myself with him. I can see him easily being picked off at range or, more likely, being forced to charge by something like the Master Rune of Challenge, and in one shot that's just over 1/7th of my army gone. Maybe I'll try him in a larger game, but for now it just seems a little bit too risky for my liking!

Finally taken the advice about the second unit of dryads ;-) As you said, that means the wardancers can go off on their own, which is probably going to be a big help now that I've got a bit more combat potential.

So yes, I'm actually feeling quite good about this list =) Still open to any ideas though!

Thanks again,

Ben

I think it looks great! The weakest link to me looks to be the branchwraith- he's rather expensive for what he's doing for you. I'll make one more push for annoyance of nettlings

Right now, he's a 90-point dispel dice, plus a slight (slight) boost in combat.

Add 25 more points to him, and he suddenly becomes invaluable in combat! Facing a killer lord? Send in the dryads! The Branchwraith can absorb the lord's attacks in a challenge, and the dryads will do well against most things (or if he's alone / mounted, they'll tie him up pretty well, while you go after the rest of his army).

To get the points for it, I'd turn the Bladesinger into a Musician like you said (much more useful imho, and won't be a hindrance like the Bladesinger might be, letting a character enter the safety of a challenge rather than face all the wardancers) and drop one Wardancer.

Alternatively, you could drop the Bladesinger entirely (not adding a mus) along with musicians from both groups of glade guard, and keep the 8th wardancer.

Since you seem to be fond of musicians (which makes sense!) I'd go with option #1... 7 Wardancers are still awesome and it lets you have musicians in all of the units that need them.

An Annoyance of Nettlings! Hoo-rah!!

RiTides wrote:I think it looks great! The weakest link to me looks to be the branchwraith- he's rather expensive for what he's doing for you. I'll make one more push for annoyance of nettlings

Right now, he's a 90-point dispel dice, plus a slight (slight) boost in combat.

Add 25 more points to him, and he suddenly becomes invaluable in combat! Facing a killer lord? Send in the dryads! The Branchwraith can absorb the lord's attacks in a challenge, and the dryads will do well against most things (or if he's alone / mounted, they'll tie him up pretty well, while you go after the rest of his army).

While I'd be a bit sceptical of a Lord in a 1000pt list, I see your point ;-)

RiTides wrote:To get the points for it, I'd turn the Bladesinger into a Musician like you said (much more useful imho, and won't be a hindrance like the Bladesinger might be, letting a character enter the safety of a challenge rather than face all the wardancers) and drop one Wardancer.

Alternatively, you could drop the Bladesinger entirely (not adding a mus) along with musicians from both groups of glade guard, and keep the 8th wardancer.

Since you seem to be fond of musicians (which makes sense!) I'd go with option #1... 7 Wardancers are still awesome and it lets you have musicians in all of the units that need them.

Yeah, I'd hope that 7 plus the dryads would be enough after the Glade Guard have done their job.

RiTides wrote:An Annoyance of Nettlings! Hoo-rah!!

Okay, okay, I relent, it's in the list ;-)

So, the near-final list:

Noble with Longbow, Hail of Doom Arrow, shield, light armour, Helm of the Hunt - 129pts

Branchwraith with Cluster of Radiants & Annoyance of Nettlings - 115pts

10 Glade Guard with musician - 126pts

10 Glade Guard with musician - 126pts

8 Dryads - 96pts

8 Dryads - 96pts

5 Glade Riders with musician - 129pts

7 Wardancers with musician - 133pts

Great Eagle - 50pts

Total: 1000pts

Thank you again for everything =)

Woo-hoo! I am personally very satisfied with the list, I think it's got a nice balance. If you face a magic-heavy army, I'd just save those 3 dispel dice for their big spell, and take the hits from whatever other magic they cast.

Which unit will you be putting the noble with (the wardancers?) and what's your plan for him? I'm curious since I don't use a noble on foot, so I haven't really seen what they can do.

I think you've got tons of flexibility and a cool, effective list here to boot . Great job!

RiTides wrote:Woo-hoo! I am personally very satisfied with the list, I think it's got a nice balance. If you face a magic-heavy army, I'd just save those 3 dispel dice for their big spell, and take the hits from whatever other magic they cast.

Which unit will you be putting the noble with (the wardancers?) and what's your plan for him? I'm curious since I don't use a noble on foot, so I haven't really seen what they can do.

I think you've got tons of flexibility and a cool, effective list here to boot . Great job!

Yeah, I was thinking of the wardancers. The Hail of Doom arrow can soften up the target, and the Helm of the Hunt helps him a bit on the charge. I'm not expecting him to tip the balance, but the extra attacks and (more particularly) arrow should help.

Thanks again for all your help, you've been fantastic =)

The list looks good. Let us know how it does for you.