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Hey I need some advice on how to build a wood elves list. I'm new to fantasy but fairly seasoned in 40k and Lotr. I'm planning on building a 1000 pnt army to get me started and wanted to share list and tactics ideas before i buy anything.
I'm not looking for an OP win all the time list, something thats fun to play but won't lose every time plus 1.

Spell weaver- lore of life
dryads x8
eternal guard x10
glade guard x20-musician, standard
wild riders x5- musician
waywatchers x5

i'm completely open to suggestions/advice/changes to this list. its about 939 pnts which i plan on spending on items and such though still getting to that in the rules.

on the note of the waywatchers, i was thinking of taking scouts and sticking the spellweaver in with them, but waywatchers killing blow and the 25" range sounds too tasty. in this case i think the spell weaver is best not put in this group since it is pricey points-wise.
I guess the general consensus is wild riders > glade riders >= warhawks (?) but i also hear people going on about 8th cavalry getting the nerf bat. I have a 6th ed rulebook to get the general rules down, so i can't quite speak to thoughts on current cavalry just yet.
the glade guard i think look really awesome and i'm excited to field them. i think people generally go the way of an army of trees, but i want to make the glade guard work.
the eternal guard, when i first saw these, i almost cried rainbows, i'm excited about these guys both as models and for the rules. it seems like they may be more effective in a 20-30 group with a noble or highborn to make them stubborn, and i would be cool with it if someone found a way to make it happen.
the dryads are really cool models in my opinion too... generally i like all the wood elves, i remember when they came out, i almost started playing fantasy but i had a stable relationship with lotr, so i did that instead. ah nostalgia, back on point, these are the cc machines with boobs. from what i've read on several sites and glancing over the rulebook briefly, they are like grey hunters are to space wolves, right? i mean in terms of cost effectiveness, not shooting bolters and running in with chainswords.


i'd really appreciate any advice you guys can give me.

Jumping into Wood Elves is both exciting and challenging at the same time. They've got some of the best models available but since 8th edition have taken a major hit in terms of overall power.

There are two types of armies and you've already touched on one. The Tree Army focuses on blocks of Treekin, Treeman, and swarms of dryads protected by Eternal Guard to provide the ranks needed to break steadfast. Really not too competitive because most armies simply do the same thing better. Wood Elves cannot grind the combats they need to win.

The second, and in my experience the better after you get the feel and grasp of the army's strengths is MSU. Put down 60-70 glade guard in blocks of 10, takes 4-5 units of 8 dryads, add some scouts, eagles, and wild riders to act as chaff and redirectors and away you go! Once you have a feel for constantly moving and sacrificing portions of the army for the overall effort it becomes a blast to play.

You want to make Glade Guard work at 1k? Easy, take loads of them!

I'd actually recommend Beasts over Lore of Life. Beasts has the offensive potential with amber spear, controls the movement phase with Curse (stops hordes in their tracks.) Makes elves and trees more durable through Wyssans, and can have some fun character bufffing spells.

I don't have my book on me but i'd look into:

Lvl 3, Beasts w. a Scroll
BSB w. Hail of Doom Arrow, and a Ward Save

4x10 Glade Guard
2x8 Dryads
2x5 Wild Riders
2x Eagles

That should be pretty close to 1k. Drop Wild Riders if over.

~Cal

unfortunately, trying to fit all of that into 1000 points isn't going to work. the caster lord alone is nearly 1/4 of your army, and that's too much to spend at 1k.

i'd go with a few groups of glade guard with musicians (so they can quick reform and have a greater chance of rallying when they inevitably flee from things), the two groups of dryads (someone has to fight people), one or both eagles (sound investment, probably the most potent thing in the book as far as cost v/ usefulness goes), and perhaps some wild riders for flanking and general punch. depending on circumstances you could also go with wardancers as a suicide assassination team to charge their general and try to blend him with killing blow attacks (depending on what sort of general he is - anything really ferocious like a vampire with ASF, or ASF in general, will smoke wardancers before they can swing).

keep the dude with the HoD arrow your general (not as a bsb), since you need someone to lead your army. casters at this point total are too pricey imo, and honestly most people aren't going to be packing too much heat at 1k. if you really feel the need for one, i'd go with a lvl 1 or 2 with a ruby ring and perhaps calaingor's stave if you feel like slinging forests around the map and trying to lure your opponents to fight in them.

i'm in an escalation league myself and trying to come up with 1k lists for wood elves that work has proven annoyingly hard, even with foreknowledge of who my opponents are going to be.

i wish you the best of luck in your games! wood elves take some getting used to because they are expensive, rather flimsy and rely heavily on effective movement and soundly winning any melee they engage in with a crush of attacks through multi-charging. if you can get past the steep learning curve, you'll be all set to have great fun annoying your opponents to no end with clever movement, redirection, and general hijinks, and perhaps even killing their guys and winning!

Stick to as many trees as you can. For the most part woodelves are played best with as few elves as possible. Their units are extremely overpriced with the newer rules and when compaired to other armies. Glade guard are the only elves I really use just because once they are at short range of bows they are AWESOME!.

Scouts are way too expensive and don't get the s4 arrows. Wardancer's never survive a shooting phase. Warhawks are fairly good, though war eagles are the best choice to hunt warmachines and archers. Eternal Guard are very attractive on paper IMO, however they dont hold up in combat due to the point cost. They will always be outnumbered by units with compairable stats, that cost around half the amount of points.

Treeman ancient cant be justified due to the extra point cost over a regular treeman for +1 leadership. Waywatchers are a waste of points. The killing shot is nice but they are like 35 points for 1 arrow shot, and no armour. They are hard to hit with arrows cause of the -1 to hit for being who they are then the skirmish rule, but they get sliced through by almost anything.

Lastly dryads are great in MSU tactics, I generally use 10 in a unit but 8 is all you need for each unit. Since most of the time 6-7 is all that can get in base contact to fight and supporting attacks are what ever with them. You will be looking to melee with them in a forest anyway so they dont run.

A lot of interesting advice on here, not all of it has worked the same as my games though. Who you will be playing regularly will be VERY important. Build your first list towards them.

First of all, if you are in a high magic environment, you will need a Spellweaver, even at 1000 points. The base lore of wood elves is very inconsistent and you really want the lore of beasts.
At 1000 points though level 3 is good enough. You will be tempted by the wand but take the scroll.

As stated before there are two main builds for wood elves: msu and e. guard/spirits. I have had better success with guard/spirits.

If your area is full of big blocks with a few outriders, msu will win for you as redirecting the big blocks and taking the small stuff is all you need. Msu is really for people who enjoy the movement phase, unusual tactics, and out thinking their opponent.

the Eternal guard (I call them e guard)/forest spirit list is for people who enjoy high magic and busting face. I know it sounds like it does not work, but I have beaten several armies with it that have better ranked units on paper. However, for it to work you have to remember the following:
1) E guard are your only anvil
2) Beasts is your only lore
3) treekin and treemen do most of your killing
4) you MUST kill enemy casters ASAP, suicide your wild riders and kill the mage

Basically you put the caster and BSB + one additional hero in the e-guard to give them stubborn. When combat hits, the extra noble makes way and your beastweaver (with harp) hides in the second row. Then you cast the beasts spells that matter (the base spell and the one that pumps up all characters).

Even at 1000 points you need a minimum of 20 e-guard to make this kind of list. At 1000 points try to get more glade guard than dryads. They actually support your anvil better. The challenge at 1,000 points is buying the treekin IMHO.

Good luck whatever direction you go.

Thank you for all the advice guys, how does this revised list look?
spellweaver(lore of beasts)
8 dryads x2
10 eternal guard
10 glade guard
treekin 3
5 wild riders

or

noble HoDA
8 dryads x2
10 glade guard x4
5 wild riders
great eagle

I guess I should really try playtesting these and deciding what style of play I like, but any advice for one of these lists against lizardmen and empire? also most likely high elves

In your first list you have eternal guard without a noble in them so they are not stubborn, I think you should wait on e-guard until you play higher points.

If you switched them out for 10 more guard, I think you would have a lot of fun with that list. Have fun and good luck!