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Hi, I'm new to the forum and I'd like to say hello to all fellow wargamers


Now, down to buisness... I've got some wood elves and I'd like to expand them but I don't have any (ANY) experience with them. I haven't had much experience with bows either and they seem to play a big part in a wood elf army.
I've currently got 2 elves that I'm proxying as captains; 6 spearmen and 6 archers. (and legolas)

What in your opinion do you advise I collect next I'm not to sure about legolas because I can never seem to hit with him (EVER) but I quite like the look of thranduil (is his mirkwood guards rule very effective?).

I'd appreciate some help but I've got to go now because my teacher just gave us three biographies to do in two days !!! Wish me luck!

Hello Magnuszered My brother plays Wood Elves and he's got some annoying tricks up his sleeve. He fields one warband of 12 archers and then splits them into three groups of four. He the surrounds my goons and shoots them. The fact that they're all spread out makes it hard for me to launch a fully fledged Uruk phalanx his way, so I have to just pend smaller less effective units which get whittled down by bows and have a hard fight due to often being outnumbered on arrival. A useful leader from the Rivendell army is Gildor, as he lets your archer half move become 4" at a small points cost, allowing them to shoot for longer before getting attacked. Spears can also be used to clog up areas of the battlefield with sheilding and generally slow down advancing formations, before running away as Noldorins and so escaping before striking again. This buys time for your archers, slowing down one unit while you're dealing with others. As for his elven blades, he tends to use them once my formations are broken in pairs or threes, using one or two elves to win the fight and the second or third to crack the heavy armour using their blade as a double handed weapon.

Ouch! That sounds like a nasty army! (in my mind anyway)
I like that play stile it matches the wood elf theme. Do you think that Gildor or Thranduil would be better suited to that kind of army?
Witch one of there rules is most effective in your eyes? I've never had much success with two handed weapons, is there a trick to it?
Can you upgrade warriors with both gildor and thranduil's special rules?


Thanks for replying



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As I'm starting a new army would 500 points be a better start?

Well I've never played against Thranduil but there's a big difference between 2+ and 3+, and he costs the same amount as Legolas and arguably brings more to the table, so I suppose he'd give a razor edge to your army. As for effectiveness, the Gildor rules are only really useful against predominantly infantry armies which lean towards set formations for success. If the enemy have substantial cavalry then you risk getting pinned in place and punished for not having armour. On paper, Thranduil's lot would perform consistently well, though that's only a thought. As for using both their rules, I think you can. i don't have the book at hand but I recall it says "any woodelf" or something similar so I assume so. A tip for the above tactic is when building the list, archers should get the most point spent on them; Mirkwood Guard, Noldorin Exiles, Elf bows and maybe even elven cloaks. Spearmen only need a spear and the Exiles rule while swordsmen only an elven blade and some scattered throwing daggers. All in all it balances out. I think that 500pts is a standard game, so that will probably be a good start. You won't have many elves, only 20-25, so every loss counts.

OK, thanks!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've been thinking about a 500pt army and this is what I've got:

Warband one
Gildor Inglorien

Warband two
Thranduil
five exile/guard bowmen
four exile spearmen
two exile swordsman with daggers

Warband three
Elf captain with bow
five exile/guard bowmen
four exile spearmen
one exile swordsman with a dagger
one exile banner bearer

It all makes 496pt

All of them are exiles so they can all move fast and the archers with the exeption of the captain can all hit on a 2+ including thranduil. The spearmen can tie up any enemy units that get to close and the swordsmen/captain can deal with any heavy infantry with there swords/daggers while the banner bearer supports everyone in combat.

It's my birthday today and I've been given some money so I'll go and get some models next week
I'm going to be on holiday for most of next week so I won't be able to post a reply from tomorow onward for a while.

That's looking pretty solid, although at times you may want to swap out the banner for a few more swordsmen, mostly when fighting more numerous foes like goblins. Another thing you need to bear in mind is the 33% bow limit. Anyway, have a great holiday Magnuszered

I forgot about the bow limit But at least I've got something to base a list on when I get back. Thanks, happywargamming!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've decided to make a list now so please tell me if I make any mistakes on points, I haven't got the sourcebook at hand


Warband one
Thranduil
4exile/guard bowmen
4exile spearmen
4exile swordsmen with daggers


Warband two
Captain with bow
4exile/guard bowmen
4exile spearmen
4exile swordsmen with daggers

Warband three
Gildor


All in all 498pts of elvish goodness

I just got a box of warriors and I got lucky and found an old box and so got double the current number of modals

The list looks solid, except your bow limit is still off, but it can be fixed. You just need to drop the two high elf swordsmen and get two more wood elf ones, one extra per warband. Nice one on getting the extra box too, that'll certainly add some flexability to your list making.

Magnuszered wrote:I forgot about the bow limit But at least I've got something to base a list on when I get back. Thanks, happywargamming!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've decided to make a list now so please tell me if I make any mistakes on points, I haven't got the sourcebook at hand


Warband one
Thranduil
4exile/guard bowmen
4exile spearmen
4exile swordsmen with daggers


Warband two
Captain with bow
4exile/guard bowmen
4exile spearmen
4exile swordsmen with daggers

Warband three
Gildor


All in all 498pts of elvish goodness

I like the look of the list, although personally with throwing weapons I use the same logic I use with bows, take the maximum or take non at all.
Exiles are the movement 8 elves aren't they? Personally whilst cool in theory, I don't think you will see much use out of it except on the first turn or two where you move 4" and shoot your bows.
I honestly think that you will get more by dropping exiles for daggers, drop gildor for a captain and by yourself a couple more elves, but I think you should play a couple of games first, to get a hang of your list and than decide on changes.

I'll try it out before I decide on what to do

I know nothing of elves but after seeing comments above I can guess a few things about them.

The main thing that worries me is I reckon another army may well shoot you to bits before you reach them but maybe not if your playing the new missions

Wich army's are better at shooting than the elves?!

Non merely your volume of fire mate, it looks a little low for elves, I see only 8 bow men in 500pts. For my Angmar I can take 12 for 72pts or better 12 for 60pts with goblins.

Just thoughts buddy, the whole extra move stuff sounds cool but everyone in your list soooooo expensive!

Good point

my harad is better for bows. I can have 50% bow limit and all my archers i can make 3+ so same as elves as far as i'm aware. I'm 500 pts i can have 16 bows and 12 of those are 3+ shoot value. and reroll 1's.

Could someone give me an example of a 500pts maxed out bows list please?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Or rather, how many bows are in a bow heavy list on average?

I've thought up another list I'm gonna try out

Warband one
Captain
Four bowmen
Four spearmen
Four swordsmen

Warband two
Captain
Four bowmen
Four spearmen
Four Swordsmen

Warband three
Captain
Four bowmen
Four spearmen
Four swordsmen

495

It's a bit more basic but it's more balanced overall