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Hit and Run. For every unit. Or maybe just most of them (Treekin, Treemen, and Eternal Guard come to mind for various reasons).

It's not that great an ability; you get into combat, you fall back. If you won the combat, there's not much point to falling back. If you lost, you'll most likely lose again. This idea would make it harder to nab points for Wood Elf units, since they'd be constantly falling back and rallying, but you could still push them off the table.

I think it would really help the whole feel of the army; the ambush/sniper thing just isn't cutting it in 8th. Units are often quite big. The emphasis is on bringing models that pack the most wounds or attacks/point. Having ten arrows land dead between the eyes of ten of your enemies is nice. But it's cold comfort when they're fifty guys coming at you. Here, we can see blocks of Glade Guard shoot, lose combat, fall back, shoot again, lose combat, etc.
You'd be able to draw out your opponent's units, sort of, while keeping the shooting phase a little more viable.

But I ask you, Dakka: how can this idea be twisted and broken?

I think it could be quit broken as you can now have stand and shoot then hit and run shoot then stand and shoot.Repeat untill either your unit or the enemies is totally wiped out.

Well, you'd only get a Stand and Shoot! reaction if you flee far enough, but that's not too hard now, I suppose.
But with that in mind, I don't think this idea should be combined with the suggestion that Asrai Longbows should be Quick to Fire...

But...I mean, so a unit of Glade Guard can Stand and Shoot!, flee, shoot, Stand and Shoot!, etc., so what? I just...see that as a way to make them more useful beyond the moment they get locked in combat. And with T3 and no armour, I'd say they're still going to die at a marvelously rapid pace for 12pt models.
Either they die or their enemies die, or they get chased off the board. Not so different than regular combat, no?

Wild Riders should have this rule, certainly. Tree Kin and Treemen should not. Dryads MAYBE. Wild Riders should also have Furious Assault (or whatever they're calling it now a days) to represent the viciousness of their attacks. If theyre going to be glass cannons, we may as well let the cannons hurt a little bit.

Dryads should have Hatred per their fluff. Treekin and Men? Hmm, not so sure. If the Dryads had something that went along with their lore ability to appear as beautiful women before turning into vicious, wooden taloned harpies, then that would be cool, but likely over complicated for a core troop.

I like the idea of replacing the forest spirit save with a 6+, 5+ and 4+ regen on the dryads, treekin, and treemen respectively. (or 5+ for dryads and 4+ for the big guys.) This would make fire the potent weapon it SHOULD be against WE.

I like the idea of the lore of Athel Loren having a spell that allows you to change woods on the board to a type of your choosing (allowing for board control) or adding poison, hatred, or the afore mentioned Hit and Run rules.

If one wanted to bring back the idea of WE being a MSU elite ambushing army, we should give them a rule where they hit harder when striking from the flanks or rear. Armor piercing, Steadfast denial, or mor easily negated ranks could do well in this regard. In fact, seeing as how Steadfast is one of the major banes of the WE this edition, perhaps the introduction of this would help considerably. I don't consider it too over powered: the WE must needs still WIN a fight to take advantage of it.

Hit and Run would also give them a reason to advance up the field, get into the face of their enemy, knowing that when they're charged they have the space behind them to flee, regroup and fire again. I quite like the idea, though I'd have to see it in play to know if it was to play against.

I also think the "Fire and Flee" rule would be tops for Glade Riders, Scouts, Way Watchers, or Warhawk riders.

I actually like the idea of gnarled limbs reaching through the canopy above, dragging foes through the underbrush. Then, once the screaming fades, all is silent once again.

I think Treekin and Treemen could have the Hit and Run rule without it being too big a stretch, but that's mostly because I'd rather see things simple than complicated. Still, a rule for these two that basically says "they don't have Hit and Run" wouldn't be too hard to deal with.

Does anyone foresee any serious problems with this idea just yet? I'm waiting for the "oh, I'd just take this unit with this character with this item, and C-C-C-Combo Breaker!" But if not...awesome.

I'm more in favor of a blanket fast-cav/skirmisher hit and run than all WE units.

(repeat from a recent post) here in Southern WI - Norther IL, the WE are doing pretty darn good at tourneys and FLGS's. I'm more concerned with fixing some of their broken units than a blanket army rule or upgrading the already nasty tree-kin, imo.

After going over things, I think that the following units, at the least, would not have the rule:

- Eternal Guard
- Wild Riders
- Treekin
- Treemen