Tactics for
This file is ©1997 by Doran Amos.
It was last updated on the 13th April 1997.
When playing with Wood Elves the most important thing is to remember is that Wood Elves can rarely win by just taking the enemy head on with no fire support, hoping to smash through the enemy lines in a flash. The Wood Elves are definitely not an army for beginners. To win with them you need to use more advanced tactics. The Wood Elf fighting force is like a finely crafted sword; deadly if used properly, unlike the more huge and heavy sword of the Empire. To win with the Wood Elves you must combine all aspects of your army together in a concentrated effort, but don't just charge in pretending Glade Riders are Chaos knights and virtually unbeatable in combat. Support your close-combat units with archers, scouts and waywatchers and attack enemy artillery with your flyers or use them to charge the enemy from an unexpected position, the rear, causing them to take a panic test and increasing your chances of winning the combat. A final note - use woods to your advantage: mount attacks through them, retreat through them and laugh as the enemy takes ages to pass through the woods!
Glade Riders
Don't bother giving them much armour, give them a 5+ save so they count as fast cavalry, they are not really suited to be heavy shock troops. I usually take lances against Orcs, Dwarfs, Chaos, etc. or anyone whose base troops have T4 to bolster my S to 5, giving me 3s to wound. Against more puny opponents with a toughness of 3 or less however I usually take spears: S4, 3s to wound, though lances might be a good idea, offering the chance of an easy 2s to wound roll. It is often quite useful to give them a magic standard, depending on whether they are proving weak in a particular area. I very rarely use them in head on charges, prefering to either use a more expendable unit (though no units in the Wood Elf army are expendable), and use the Glade Riders to charge to enemy in the flank or rear if they can make it (which they might be able to: 18" charge, fast cavalry). Sometimes you can use them to charge a weaker unit on their own, once again charging the unit in the flank or rear to improve your chances of winning the combat.
Scouts and Waywatchers
These are great troops. Hiding in woods they can cause untold troubles to your enemy, messing up their advance and making them weaker for wardancers or glade riders. The waywatchers should be used if your scouts keep getting wiped out before they've done hardly any or no damage to the enemy. With their traps and 4+ spotting rule, they are much harder to kill than scouts (besides, they have excellent models!). Scouts are cheaper and just as good, but that bit more vunerable than waywatchers. Anyway, at the start of the game hide your scouts/waywatchers in some woods which will allow you to shoot at the enemy for the longest possible time in they game. Then, it's simple. Just keep them there and weaken whichever enemy units you choose. If your opponent tries to avoid them then they've done a good job and messed up the enemy's entire battle plans!
Great Eagles
Use these mighty birds to take out your enemy's artillery. Few war machine crews can stand up to great eagles and they can reach the artillery in either one turn, if artillery is within 24", or two turns, if they have to fly high. After this they are in an extremely good position. They can charge enemy units in the rear and cause huge amounts of damage. You can do this straight away if you are facing an army that has no artillery in or feel that your enemy cannot cause you any harm with the artillery he has. They are great in combat and can support any of your units on they battlefield because they can just fly to where they are needed. A bargain at only 75 points.
Archers
The core troops of the Wood Elves. They are exceptionally skilled bowmen, being able to shoot 36" inches with their bows. This means that you can just about keep them at the back with their large range, and use them to soften units up or even maybe destroy a unit (certainly if you have 60+ of them). Use stepped hills to allow you to have 2 ranks of archers and fire with both ranks. They are not terribly weak in combat, with WS4, but it is very advisable to avoid combat whenever possible, certainly don't intentially charge in to hand-to-hand when there is no need to! Use as many as you feel like using - if you're more of a hand-to-hand general use less archers, if you're more of a shooting general take loads of archers.
Glade Guard
Glade Guard are for a purely defensive purpose only. If you use them to charge the enemy they lose the bonus of the spears and are merely skilled humans. If, however, you use them in a defensive role they get the bonus of the spears, which can often win them the combat, particularly against unskilled opponents like goblins. I usually give them both light armour and shields, which makes them much harder to kill so they survive the initial attack of the enemy (remember they charge you, so you'll be striking last). Take large units with a frontage of about 6 and 4 ranks. I know that costs quite a lot (especially since they have shields and light armour), but this unit is going to stop all but the mightiest challengers! I usually use them to guard my archers, making sure they can do their proper job. If you're allied with someone like Dwarfs or Empire, then it might be a good idea to use a solid unit like this to guard the artillery, but only in addition to a missile unit. Overall, keep them back, just in front of your archers and don't charge. If your enemy isn't charging you, then your archers can rain their deadly fire on the enemy the entire battle! Don't be afraid to engage any unit, just make sure your archers stay safe.
Dryads
Dryads are excellent troops, best taken in units of around 10. You'd be suprised how much damage even a small unit like this can do. They should be in the front line, getting in to combat as soon as possible, but don't try to take on more than one unit at a time. As always, it's very useful if you can charge a unit in the flank or rear. Against 'standard' troopers of most armies they are exceptional. The Willow Aspect makes it so the opponent can't attack at all (that's for most standard troops who only have one attack), but remember to position them when you charge so they are only fighting one opponent each. If the opponent is many in number with T3 or less then the Birch Aspect is a good option. For example, you can kill three gobbos per Dryad (3s to hit, 2s to wound and probably kill)! Generally very useful against all 'standard' troops. I use the Oak Aspect if I'm taking on very hard opponents (high toughness, high save or both). They can wound the target more easily, and get wounded less easily by the target. Well, generally, get stuck in and remember to use the right aspect. Many a time have I cursed under my breath when I realise if I'd have used a different aspect I could of saved my unit! But, over time, you should become excellent at using the right aspect at the right time.
That's all for now (again), but coming soon: tactics for Treemen, Wardancers, Chariots and Warhawk Riders.
Last updated- 13/4/97.
This web page was created by Doran Amos - gorselands@btinternet.com