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So there have been a bunch of threads on here about Wood Elves recently, and I've been trying to figure out a relatively low cost army to start, but kept going between a bunch of choices. I kept gravitating towards Dwarfs but no magic really is a downside for me, though everything else I like about them, though maybe not the many colours and not a lot of surface area, plus them being half beard. I hadn't even considered Wood Elves because of all the bad I've heard about them. But the threads, and me watching a WE player playing one of the GW employees who was using HE I now know I want to play them. I just really like their look and the way I think they play, which I'm not 100% sure of yet.

So I bought the codex and the finecast highborn (which has 0 defects! just a little flash and mould line to clean). I was thinking of getting 2 of the battalion, but I have no idea what else to get since this would be my first army technically (my actual first army is the 2 sets of IoB skaven I decided I want to leave sitting for a while). How many points would 2 battalions give me roughly? will I be using everything from both? What should I get next, I was thinking of getting a spellsinger or 2 but no idea what else.

I also wanted to get my transport for them either now or after. I was thinking of the GW case, but I'm not sure if I should get the 3 tray one or the 6 tray one, probably the 6 tray one since 2 battalions seems like it would fill 3 trays on their own. I'm not sure what to get if I get it from someone like battlefoam since you have to consider the loadouts and all that.

Well, that was a bunch of rambling, hopefully it's not too confusing and I'll get some responses.

Good luck I hope you like the treekin models because you will be buying alot of them if you want to compete/not loose every game.

Wood Elves have been the most shafted army since 3rd edition, though I think their last revamp made them good, but then 8th edition screwed over skirmishers. My buddy plays them, and he is really good with them. You gotta play them with a theme and hope the theme works. Most of your units have no armor, and your rank and file troops are expensive compared to everyone else's points wise. I have always liked Wood Elves though. There is a spell that allows them to teleport from any one set of woods to another, and remember you always get to deploy and extra set of woods in your deployment zone. This is huge and can really affect the game if played right.

I have also seen Wardancers (albeit rare occasions) death blow Lord characters before.

Ok, so I'm probably only going to start with one battalion right away unless I can find something as cheap as Wayland shipping to Canada for not much. 2 battalions from them is $140CDN whereas 1 from GW is $110CDN.

I could have sworn Wayland said they were still selling to ROW, which includes Canada but their page they give for ROW has nothing on it. The checkout reaches payment before I stopped because I didn't want to lose money if it doesn't work. Anyone know what's going on with that? Because I would pull the trigger almost instantly on that price if I could.


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Also the 6 tray case is $80CDN instead of $120CDN. Also the prices online won't be taxed, at most I'll get the PST which still makes it cheaper than full price with GST & PST.

It's not a spell that teleports you, it's a one use only magic item. But yeah, you'll want to take that just about every game. Your troops will be overcosted, bad. You can make up for this a bit by trying to fight all your combats in wooded areas to get rid of your opponent's steadfast. Always use Treekin, they are sick. If you don't believe me that WE are overcosted, then perhaps this will change your mind...from one battalion, you're already almost at 1000 points. And it's not very scary looking...but at least they're cheap to start up. XD

They are quite wimpy my friend is good at using them he uses tree kin tree men a lord on a dragon some shooty lord and a killy lord and tree kin muahaha I like lighting them on fire but ya if you fight them in the woods its quite a pain.

Spell weaver is quite good he seems to give good support.

The hail of doom arrow can wipe a unit if done properly. Wood Elves require a theme (usually shooting) and sound tactics to win. It is not impossible but you will always be fighting an uphill battle. If anything I think that the fact my buddy has played Wood Elves so long it has actually made him a better player. Since he really has to run with certain tactics and a limited list. Where as I can just sort of toss an army together and play on the fly.

It's do able, but really hard. I wish you luck.

I've heard that a Tree/Wood Spirit list is really good (sorry, can't quite remember the name), just avoid fire.
Always avoid fire.

Dwarf cannons will mess up your day since they can make those things flaming but ya avoid fire haha.

So I think I'll be doing my first purchases this week.

Obviously I'm getting the battalion. I have a highborn with great weapon (which I have been advised by the GW employee to say is a fancy spear instead and not use it as a great weapon) and the army book.

I'm going to get a spellcaster or 2. But I have no idea if I'll use them both as heroes or one as a hero or one as a lord. Like I said, this would be my first army, I'm not sure if I should wait on the second one for when I get the second battalion at some point.

I'm for sure getting the BSB, since every thread about every army says to have one right away.

The only other thing I would guess would round out thist force wold be some tree kin?

C&C very welcome.

Have you tried thewarstore.com? They sale at a 20% discount & are in New Jersey I think so maybe the Canadian thing won't be an issue for them?

I know there is WE bat reps on youtube to help you along, as well as there's asrai.org- the unofficial WE forum.

I know I've read on forums some people swear they still murder people with WE so there's hope. I actually plan to do a Comanche (indians) theme with them as soon as I paint the rest of my guys.

Yes but shipping may kill it as well as dealing with any finecast "errors".

Hmmm I tend to remember shipping is $5US- but not sure about you. They also do not carry finecast at all so...

Still could grab the battalion though!

True, and the US price is much lower than the Canadian one, even though our dollar has been killing yours the last few years. I may be able to get two. Though then I would seriously have to consider investing in their 6-tray case, it'll probably be slightly more than the 3-tray one is here. XD I'll be waiting for warstore's excel document tomorrow.

No advice on the other part of my purchasing?

Spell weaver is good lots of magic and well it depends what points level you play.

You could try playing wood elves online first, see how it works out, figure out what models you want before putting down cash for them.

www.universalbattle.com

That website is odd and doesn't seem to represent WHFB properly. It looks like you basically build the army stats yourself. That doesn't sound like a good way to practice.

I collect wood elves, so I fully support you. However consider this: most people think that wood elves will be updated after ogre kingdoms, so maybe buy just one battalion, and your leader, then wait for a month or 2 before buying any more, incase something on dakka gives us some solid rumors. Just a suggestion, but I like to play it safe.

-Orange

Edit:
That website is odd, but I tried it, and someone made their own overpowered model, and thrashed me

I wish they would be back to their old marketing, waiting for rumors is a pain in figuring out what's real or not. >_< Also I've been having trouble finding the rumors.

So I ordered the BSB and one spellsinger (the female casting one). I wasn't sure whether to get more than one or if I did to get another spellsinger or a branchwraith. At what point values should I have more than one spellcaster?

Is it easy to try switching a list from the Lord is a noble and Hero is spellsinger to the Lord is a spellweaver and Hero is a noble, basically switching which model is the Lord and which is the Hero.

Also, why should I hold off on the battalion? If GW has shown anything from its first 2 8th edition they love to reduce the battalions by a few models. Have their been rumors of new models for the stuff in the battalion?

I was thinking of ordering 2 battalions and the GW 6 tray army case from warstore since it's way cheaper than here (not factoring whatever the shipping costs, hopefully not a lot).

Portaljacker wrote:That website is odd and doesn't seem to represent WHFB properly. It looks like you basically build the army stats yourself. That doesn't sound like a good way to practice.

Erm what? Of course the site doesnt contain stats for the warhammer models, that would be illegal.

It gives you generic models but you still need to use the rules out of your rulebook. What were you expecting?

Yes, but that allows other users to easily cheat.

And people in real life can't cheat by falsely declaring stats or rules?

Funny how treekin were next to useless in 7th edition...

I digress - you can make tree kin from dryads and some greenstuff -

something thus :

Anyone on my unanswered questions?

Portaljacker wrote:I wish they would be back to their old marketing, waiting for rumors is a pain in figuring out what's real or not. >_< Also I've been having trouble finding the rumors.

So I ordered the BSB and one spellsinger (the female casting one). I wasn't sure whether to get more than one or if I did to get another spellsinger or a branchwraith. At what point values should I have more than one spellcaster?

Is it easy to try switching a list from the Lord is a noble and Hero is spellsinger to the Lord is a spellweaver and Hero is a noble, basically switching which model is the Lord and which is the Hero.

Also, why should I hold off on the battalion? If GW has shown anything from its first 2 8th edition they love to reduce the battalions by a few models. Have their been rumors of new models for the stuff in the battalion?

I was thinking of ordering 2 battalions and the GW 6 tray army case from warstore since it's way cheaper than here (not factoring whatever the shipping costs, hopefully not a lot).

To be honest, check ebay first. My buddy just bought a 3,000 point High Elf Army for $190 and I just bought a 2500 point Ogre Army for $300, and I saw a huge Skaven Army on there the other day for $290 and it had 3x $50 war machines in it. There are some really good deals on ebay and I see Wood Elf stuff all the time.

Unless you don't care how much money you spend and want the newest models. I use my models from the 80s still, and they still work. One thing I really like about war gaming compared to other hobbies, the models for the most part never go obsolete.

It's been mentioned above: but check out Asrai.org
Lots of WE experience over there ^^.

Have fun with it but as someone mentioned, don't go too overboard blowing your cash on models. We're due an update so don't go for too many metal models I'd say!

And as always, ebay first if you can! I just got a Finecast Orion (unopened) for £9.99...

With regards to your queries:

1. Note that a Spellweaver is a Lord and a Spellsinger is a Noble - the models are interchangeable, but the stats aint A Hero is a Noble, whereas a Lord is...well a Lord.

2. The Battalion box is a good starting point. But depending on your theme the Glade Riders will likely be useless. It would give you a good core though. A LOT of lists seem to operate on high amounts of Dryads.

Hope this helps, as before, check out Asrai.org Keep the points low to start with, get your Noble and Core sorted and build from there.

Niall.

Welcome to the Asrai! People will tell you that Wood Elves suck, but when played tactically they do just fine. Last weekend I beat an Empire army (barely) and a Dark elf army with my Wood Elves, and on paper their armies looked much better.

I know you asked earlier about the wizard - lord vs. hero, so I wanted to answer that. If there are enough points for her, I always take a Spell Weaver (lord) because of the better lores and better defense. Most will build her with either the Wand of Witch Elm or a dispel scroll. She is for defense, you have an expensive/model army with poor armor saves, she is there to protect you from the most dangerous phase in 8th - Magic.

I would echo the sentiment that treekin are ace and tell you that I have had undo luck with the glade guard. I would totally advise you to experiment with glade guard.

Also great eagles and treemen really help.

Since you are buying a battle standard bearer, just FYI the "standard" build for him is Hail of Doom Arrow, Aysendi's Bane (to shoot said arrow), Dragon helm and light armor - 142.

I have a weakness for Wild Riders but could not in good faith suggest getting too many of these, but with the battalion box you are getting the nearly worthless glade riders, so you may want to use them as "counts as" wild riders.

I wish you good luck, suggest you check out Asrai.com, and assure you that you will even find Wood Elf players here on Dakka. Cheers!