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So since my early days of encountering Warhammer (from 1990 ish, then the 4th ed High Elves vs Goblins box) I had a DREAM. And that dream was... a shooty Wood Elves army.

Not dryads, not spirits, but as many elves with bows as I could pack into it and some stag riders and wardancers and maybe a Treeman. I wanted to roll horrible numbers of dice against big ranks of enemies, and hear their despair as they got cut down to nothing crossing the table to get to my archers. I wanted to say the words "Hail of Doom Arrow". I wanted an army who could also deal with Chaos Warriors in armor, somehow. Clearly I wanted too much.

I have many questions! Since I've never played 6th-8th or AoS, what do people recommend? Are Wood Elves in a good enough shape by 6th-8th that I should hunt down the models for that?

Has any Wood Elf army ever been competitive or top-tier? Is Wood Elf shooting even effective enough to offset their low armor?

Is it worth going to AoS and Wanderers, or are they ultra-flimsy skirmishers who rely on constant tricks and movement, and I'm choosing one of the most complicated armies to use well as a total beginner? Are upcoming AoS Wanderers changes going to invalidate half the lists and models there anyway?

Is the answer to wait 3+ years for New old Warhammer?

I don't want to sink a ton of money on older models if the future is looking bright for new stuff. Sorry for all the questions, but would love it if someone could give me a "state of the Wood Elves" summary for 2020.

Welcome!

Wood Elves are one of the best armies for 6th, top-tier for sure (it was the last army book released for the edition, which already hinted on the future powercreep issues of 7th).
Require some mastery to properly exploit all their strengths, but can be unstoppable if played well.
Shooting is always going to be good, but don't overly rely on it. They play best as an aggressive army, even the archers (that can move&shoot with no downside, and get +1S at short range). Characters can have some nasty shooting equipment like Hail of Doom or Loren Bow+armor ignoring arrows. Also have quite some staying power with the forest spirits (treekin are tough!!). Their magic and magic items give them a lot of utility and ability to pull of annoying tricks.

Can't say for 8th.

In AoS, proper Wood Elves don't really exist. A good chunk already got squatted, so what remains is probably going to stick around a while. Dryads and Treemen went to be Sylvaneth, and you may find some Wanderers in Cities of Sigmar. Perhaps the Living City would be the closest thing available?

We don't know enough of The Old World project, and for now there are no signs of Wood Elves. The current map released could make them available as it's very Old World/Empire oriented.

Thanks!

Reading up on current AoS, it seems that melee is much stronger than shooting in it, so I'll likely stick with WHFB. I think I've had the old-type units and characters in my head for what I want, and Wanderers is just too far from it.

I have the 6th Army Book and really like it. I see what you mean about playing aggressively - Elven Steeds move *9*?!