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Hey Dakka! I have been playing 40K for a while now and am thinking about ditching one of my 40K armies to pick up a Fantasy army. I'm not entirely sure how much money I will be able to get for my IG but that doesn't make too much of a difference overall. I need some help with knowing what point value is "typically played" (for 40K I would say 1500) as well as what a good basis of a Wood Elves list would entail. I do not want to play a tree spirit list, I'm not against having them in the list but the key is to have it be Wood Elves. I know that they are considered the worst in 8th, but I as with 40K I have played armies that "do bad" and won plenty of times. This is the race I really only show interest in and as such want to get them.

Additionally, are there any good sites or guides that give a quick overhaul of how to play Fantasy? Thanks everyone!

The average game size is 2400 points.
As for what you want in your army, it is up to you. I like eternal guard. Even though they suck. Some people like to run Drycha and some people take MSU.
As for what a wood elf army entails, I can sum it up in one word. Shooting.
Wood elves are one of the most underpowered armies in 8th, but that in no way means that you will do badly with them. It means that you have less flexibility to make a competitive list.
I'm not sure about any sites that give a quick overhaul of how to play, but I think the best way to learn is to get the rulebook. It will have all you need in it.

thedarkavenger wrote:
The average game size is 2400 points.
As for what you want in your army, it is up to you. I like eternal guard. Even though they suck. Some people like to run Drycha and some people take MSU.
As for what a wood elf army entails, I can sum it up in one word. Shooting.
Wood elves are one of the most underpowered armies in 8th, but that in no way means that you will do badly with them. It means that you have less flexibility to make a competitive list.
I'm not sure about any sites that give a quick overhaul of how to play, but I think the best way to learn is to get the rulebook. It will have all you need in it.

Wow that is a lot of points! How many models would be a 2400 point game? And yea, I figured they would be like Tau or my BT. The lists are a bit more straight forward but you can still win with logic decisions/playing. Also I do like Eternal Guard a lot and I know that they aren't all that great. However they seem to make great tar-pit units? I was thinking of running them with what I have heard referred too as a "machine gun lord" where you buff him up for archery?

 Farseer Mael Dannan wrote:
Wow that is a lot of points! How many models would be a 2400 point game? And yea, I figured they would be like Tau or my BT. The lists are a bit more straight forward but you can still win with logic decisions/playing. Also I do like Eternal Guard a lot and I know that they aren't all that great. However they seem to make great tar-pit units? I was thinking of running them with what I have heard referred too as a "machine gun lord" where you buff him up for archery?

The model count varies. My dark elves have 139, and my skaven have 261. Whilst ogres have less than 100. Wood elves in the right hands can be quite effective. Eternal guard aren't seen that often as they compete with glade guard which are one of the best units in the book. The machine gun lord is meh. I would rather take a level 4 mage. Although it depends on what you want from your lord. Generally the Spellweaver is the better choice.

The best thing to do, is write a list and get advice on where to take it.

thedarkavenger wrote:

 Farseer Mael Dannan wrote:
Wow that is a lot of points! How many models would be a 2400 point game? And yea, I figured they would be like Tau or my BT. The lists are a bit more straight forward but you can still win with logic decisions/playing. Also I do like Eternal Guard a lot and I know that they aren't all that great. However they seem to make great tar-pit units? I was thinking of running them with what I have heard referred too as a "machine gun lord" where you buff him up for archery?

The model count varies. My dark elves have 139, and my skaven have 261. Whilst ogres have less than 100. Wood elves in the right hands can be quite effective. Eternal guard aren't seen that often as they compete with glade guard which are one of the best units in the book. The machine gun lord is meh. I would rather take a level 4 mage. Although it depends on what you want from your lord. Generally the Spellweaver is the better choice.

The best thing to do, is write a list and get advice on where to take it.

Yea I guess I need to just spend more time reading into it and researching. Thanks!

The machine gun lord is pretty bad. 180 pts minimum for 4 BS6 shots.

 Amaya wrote:
The machine gun lord is pretty bad. 180 pts minimum for 4 BS6 shots.

Really? I had been told he was good, oh well. Can you bring 2 HQs?

There are no 'slots' as in 40k.

At most 25% of your army can be Lords. At most 25% of your army can be Heroes. At a minimum 25% of your army MUST be core. At most 50% of your army can be Special. At most 25% of your army can be rare.


Most fully kitted Lords cost over 250pts so at most you can bring 3 of them at 3000 pts. Heroes range from 50-200 so you can bring several of them.

 Amaya wrote:
There are no 'slots' as in 40k.

At most 25% of your army can be Lords. At most 25% of your army can be Heroes. At a minimum 25% of your army MUST be core. At most 50% of your army can be Special. At most 25% of your army can be rare.


Most fully kitted Lords cost over 250pts so at most you can bring 3 of them at 3000 pts. Heroes range from 50-200 so you can bring several of them.

Thanks!

There are no most 'typically played' points value across the board like there is for 40k, it depends on two things, the size of your local tables and the pockets of your opponents.
Here where the pockets are ok and the tables are 4x4, 1500-2000 is the most common, with 1000 and 1250 filling the gap.

I play wood elves mate, at least I played till 6th Ed came out. I can give you some advice on what works or not
If you write down what you have and what you can afford.
My personnal opinion with woodies apart from being a beautiful army is they are deserted and underpowered than any other army out there.
Them and Bretts. But i always preferred armies that you have to think and win than armies than win by themselves.
So, anything you need just ask for advice.

Buy the book, then read, then find out what models you like and what type of WE army you would like to play.

Not trying to sound rude to the OP, but topics like this always coming up, "Looking at Fantasy" or "Looking at X army", where not here to carry you through the whole game. When I first got into this game it was in third ed and the way I picked my army was down to models and lore, then I bought the army book and rule book, took it home, wrote down an army list which I thought was good for their current book and the current rules. Bought models, painted them, then played.

Never looked back.

Poppa bear +1
I did exactly the same thing. I looked at the armies, I liked WE,
Bought two battalions then everything I liked, makes two treemen by myself,
Bought almost everything even some things don't work.
IMO all the wood elf range is beautiful apart from treemen and treekin.

avedominusnox wrote:I play wood elves mate, at least I played till 6th Ed came out. I can give you some advice on what works or not
If you write down what you have and what you can afford.
My personnal opinion with woodies apart from being a beautiful army is they are deserted and underpowered than any other army out there.
Them and Bretts. But i always preferred armies that you have to think and win than armies than win by themselves.
So, anything you need just ask for advice.

I am interested in them because they aren't top of the tier. My IG for 40K are actually a bit boring because they are so easy to win with.

Poppabear wrote:Buy the book, then read, then find out what models you like and what type of WE army you would like to play.

Not trying to sound rude to the OP, but topics like this always coming up, "Looking at Fantasy" or "Looking at X army", where not here to carry you through the whole game. When I first got into this game it was in third ed and the way I picked my army was down to models and lore, then I bought the army book and rule book, took it home, wrote down an army list which I thought was good for their current book and the current rules. Bought models, painted them, then played.

Never looked back.

I know you are not trying to be rude and in reality I was hoping for a guide that would teach a 40k player to play Fantasy. I can understand if that doesn't exist. However, I know I would have to invest $400 to get a good army up and running just as in 40k, and going in lock and stock without some research isn't quite my style.

 Farseer Mael Dannan wrote:
I know you are not trying to be rude and in reality I was hoping for a guide that would teach a 40k player to play Fantasy. I can understand if that doesn't exist. However, I know I would have to invest $400 to get a good army up and running just as in 40k, and going in lock and stock without some research isn't quite my style.

It is just that we are really bored of I want help getting into X army threads. Every other thread seems to be on that topic. If you want to learn fantasy, you need an army book for the profiles, magic cards/rulebook for the rules and dice for rolling purposes. Other than that, it is just setting up alternate units rather than your whole army, and 2d6 magic phases. There. You can now get into fantasy

This may be mind-boggling to people, but you are all aware that if you know you're not going to like a thread because of the title... you don't have to read it?

Mind = blown.

Man WE are not only below top tier, they are below average...
I still think against people who play what's strongest between the armies.

 Farseer Mael Dannan wrote:

thedarkavenger wrote:
The average game size is 2400 points.
As for what you want in your army, it is up to you. I like eternal guard. Even though they suck. Some people like to run Drycha and some people take MSU.
As for what a wood elf army entails, I can sum it up in one word. Shooting.
Wood elves are one of the most underpowered armies in 8th, but that in no way means that you will do badly with them. It means that you have less flexibility to make a competitive list.
I'm not sure about any sites that give a quick overhaul of how to play, but I think the best way to learn is to get the rulebook. It will have all you need in it.

Wow that is a lot of points! How many models would be a 2400 point game? And yea, I figured they would be like Tau or my BT. The lists are a bit more straight forward but you can still win with logic decisions/playing.

Oh you poor, poor, sad panda. You are going to be so very surprised by 8th ed fantasy. There was a time (6th/7th ed) when tactics mattered. That if you weren't facing demons, decisions like positioning, movement, and what spells to cast when made a difference. 8th ed is more about dice rolling. Whomever rolls the most dice wins. Sadly WE can't muster the amount of dice needed due to overcosted models and an armybook that was weak in the edition it came out, to say nothing of how it has aged.

Also I do like Eternal Guard a lot and I know that they aren't all that great. However they seem to make great tar-pit units? I was thinking of running them with what I have heard referred too as a "machine gun lord" where you buff him up for archery?

They are terrible tarpits. They cost too much and will evaporate on the first charge. Oh sure, out of your unit of 30 (420ish points base) you might have 3 left after the enemy charges you, and those 3 are stubborn, but on your turn those few models will die and you will have nothing to counter attack with. Maybe their sacrifice bought you a turn of backing away slightly, but after they kill the rest of your unit, they just reform to face the rest of your lines and continue to munch. Treemen or Kin make better tarpits. They're tough, they stomp, they have ward saves, and if you get a Beasts or Life mage, they will stick around for nearly ever. It still doesn't help your other units much, but the trees can usually hold their own.

I hate to say it, but WE should not be your starter army. Not unless you are a masochist. And I'm not saying that because they are a "challenging" army to play. They are just BAD. The disparity between your level of skill and your opponants for you to win reliably when they field any 8th ed army (and most of the remaining 7ths) approaches Chessmaster vs 3rd grader. (Even then the notion of winning "reliably" in 8th ed is laughable)

 Nagashek wrote:

 Farseer Mael Dannan wrote:

thedarkavenger wrote:
The average game size is 2400 points.
As for what you want in your army, it is up to you. I like eternal guard. Even though they suck. Some people like to run Drycha and some people take MSU.
As for what a wood elf army entails, I can sum it up in one word. Shooting.
Wood elves are one of the most underpowered armies in 8th, but that in no way means that you will do badly with them. It means that you have less flexibility to make a competitive list.
I'm not sure about any sites that give a quick overhaul of how to play, but I think the best way to learn is to get the rulebook. It will have all you need in it.

Wow that is a lot of points! How many models would be a 2400 point game? And yea, I figured they would be like Tau or my BT. The lists are a bit more straight forward but you can still win with logic decisions/playing.

Oh you poor, poor, sad panda. You are going to be so very surprised by 8th ed fantasy. There was a time (6th/7th ed) when tactics mattered. That if you weren't facing demons, decisions like positioning, movement, and what spells to cast when made a difference. 8th ed is more about dice rolling. Whomever rolls the most dice wins. Sadly WE can't muster the amount of dice needed due to overcosted models and an armybook that was weak in the edition it came out, to say nothing of how it has aged.

I disagree completely. Fantesy is still a very tactical game, and 8th is infinitly superior to the utter screwfest that 6th and 7th were.

You want a completely broken magic system that is nothing but rolling dice? 7th edition wizard spam armies were just that. Spells weren't as individually powerful then, but when you have 25+ power dice you could just cast and cast and cast and cast....


That said, WE arn't a good army right now. But thats because their book was written to be very dependent on all terrain blocking line of sight and slowing enemy models down. And they also relied on partial victory points too.

Now that Skirmishers actually have to rank up and a forest doesn't give anything but cover they became very squishy.


The WE book was destined to flop. It was too tied to the terrain and victory point system the previous editions had.

I can't say I feel bad because Terrain was stupid previously. A forest basically was impassable unless you were a skirmisher or could move through without penelty.

Partial victory points was another part that just slowed the game down, it just had to go.


All Wood Elves need is a new book.

Specifically, maybe the ability to shoot multiple times with their bows naturally. Forest Spirits need to be tougher. An overall point readjustment will help too. Maybe give them an actual ranked Melee unit too.

And who managed to get over 20 dice in a magic phase? Oh yeah, Demons... My VC were built for magic and I could muster 14 when I went crazy for it. DE could do it MAYBE when they rolled really well on Power of Darkness, and Skaven I think, but had to pay for each one shot Power Die.

High Elves too. They have several items that give additional power dice.

im about to get wood elves also but doing a dryad/ treekin army. although my army is going to be all converted into wolves and such, i usually go for armies for storyline and looks no matter if they are good or not. Ive never been one of those guys that cares to win or not but just for the fun of it.