Wood Elf Army Lists at 2000, 2400 and 3000 points

Hi and welcome!

They look solid not sure about banners on wild riders. I have not tested that but feels I rather have more bodies as m9 is pretty fast 😁 and spears are on the charge S5 armor piercing from the beginning(not sure it stack either). I would consider flaming to deal with regen though

In shadow, I can't help loving okkams mind razor with elves even though my current goto lore is high magic.

I play so many small games that other than that I can't help

Casters

With regards to spell casters, note that blessing of the ancients only works when casting spells not when dispelling. I'm also using the Book of Ashur, it's expensive but +6 to cast is fantastic.

Waystalker

I love the waystalker but have had limited results with him (and I so want him to work). I'm currently trying out a duel waystalker in my list to see if that makes any difference. Definitely try him but don't be surprised if you end up dropping him. In your final list (3k) you may want to consider trying a Shadowdancer (in the eternal guard) rather than the waystalker but i'll add more comments around this below)

Wildriders

As strutsagget said, the razor standard gives the wildriders armour piercing but they already have it from their spears and it doesn't stack. I'd also replace this with the banner of eternal flame to give you options to mince monsters with regeneration.

2 units gives you flexibility but there is an argument for having a single unit. Be warned that they will receive a lot of attention from opponents missile troops and that is one reason why it is often recommended to field minimum units of 6-7. The other reason is to do with maximising their attacks - 20mm infantry will normally have a frontage of 5 models or 100mm. 4 wildriders have a frontage of 100mm, so if you have 2 more in the unit (6), when you charge you will then maximise the models that contact against the target unit and both these additional riders can attack as they will be corner to corner - hence why 6 is a great number to have in a unit. 7 Wildriders gives a bit of redundancy and also helps out if you are charging larger based infantry - such as Saurus or Orcs. If you go wider than 6-7 then they get too unwieldy.

Glade Guard

My only though with these is think about also giving them standards. At present your lists don't have many and if you roll the scenario Blood and Glory, the lack of standards will make it very easy for the opponent to win.

BSB

To get the most out of the Helm of the hunt you want to charge with it but he is on foot and in a unit that really wants to be receiving the charge. I'd drop this item and give him either the dragon helm (similar effects but gives him a 2++ ward vs fire rather than the +1 WS and +1A) or the enchanted shield for the additional pip of armour. Both are slightly cheaper. 

Wardancers

I like fielding units of 5 or 6. They are only 75pts for 5 (always take additional hand weapons). They are great units of chaff, though not as good as eagles due to lack of movement. They do have other uses. They work really well to assist combats, best with dedicated combat blocks (especially due to the rank stripping dance - though this can be hard to use effectively, or at the point you most need it). They are also another source of killing blow. I also like them to help hold the watch tower (if you play this scenario).

Finally a quick couple of thoughts on the shadowdancer. She is an amazing combat character and her WS and I are matched by very few characters. Run her defensively with glittering scales or as a character assassin with potion of strength (though the latter is fairly conditional and not needed if you are buffing the unit she is in). She works great with the Eternal Guard and if I take a unit of them, I find it hard not to include her. Although it will happen rarely, the potential to swop your shadowweaver with her using the attribute of the lore of shadow is priceless when you pull it off, especially when you have something nasty lined up to take out the caster


Eternal Guard
If you are giving the Wildriders the banner of eternal flame, then consider the standard of Discipline on the Eternal Guard. This will boost their LD by +1 and also the BSB’s LD (which the unit can use if he is in the unit). With stubborn, they won’t be going anywhere. Again the ideal unit size all depends on what role you want them to fulfil. Several units of 15 make amazing stubborn speed bumps. A unit of 20 can be a solid wizard bunker. Larger and it can be a great combat unit and yet another threat they can’t afford to ignore.

Of course the above is just advice and your lists look solid as they are (though I’m sure you’ll constantly tinker with them anyway just like we all do!).

There's lots of good comments already - I don't really have anything to add, I just wanted to reinforce a few of them. I think your lists are solid, but could be improved with some smallish tweaks. I definitely think you want the larger Wild Rider units of 7ish to get the best frontage and have a spare wound (they die very easily, and will be the primary target for your opponent's ranged attacks); the Banner of Swiftness really isn't needed on them - they're fast enough already.

Definitely look to include a BSB in all your lists if you can squeeze it in. Elves have good leadership, but Dwarves have better and mine have run plenty of times when I fail to bring a BSB. Your small units of Glade Guard don't need to take many casualties before they're taking Panic tests. As Knoffles said, for your 3k list BSB drop the Helm of the Hunt for one of the cheaper save boosting options, as you won't be charging.

I've played against dual level 4s quite a lot recently, and it's annoying because it's very hard to shut your opponent's magic down - but at the same time you've a lot of points invested in something that's utterly unreliable. I've had an opponent's plans ruined when he fielded some 1000+ points of wizards (End time Thanquol + Verminlord) because he rolled terribly for winds of magic turn after turn. It does happen, and that's 600 points of your list rendered useless when it does (a whole quarter of the 2400 list - I presume you're using End Times 50% allowances for Lords there?).

Shadow is great, and my favourite lore, but be aware your opponent will be saving their Dispel Scroll for that combat when you want to Mindrazor your Eternal Guard, so don't rely on that.

Final point, it's been argued that as the magic arrows are Enchanted Items, the usual restrictions on magic items apply (i.e. you can't have more than one selection of it in an army). I know a lot of people choose to disregard that, but just make sure that's the case with your opponent first.

Eagles are fantastic and one of the best redirectors in the game. They are great to ensure that you get the charge off with Wildriders. You can also quite easily use the hobbit eagles which are still available from GW.


I personally like warhawks (mainly the models - but I've always loved wood elves for fluff and model aesthetic) but I'll admit that i'm not great at using them so I'll let others comment on whether it's worth forking out to get the oop models.

I’ll add one to this regarding the wizards. In your lower point lists, how are you intending to bunker them? I’d be concerned about that personally. I saw a good number of MSU shooters there, but nothing else to drop them in for protection. What’s the plan for this?

Hi again all,

I have been getting more Wood Elf models recently, and thinking about lists some more, and have come up with 2 lists at 2400 points - 1 swiftshiver shards list and one regular list.

Wood Elves 2400 points Swiftshiver Shards

Lords

Spellweaver - 325 points
Level 4 - Lore of High Magic
Book of Ashur
Talisman of Endurance
Asrai Longbow

Heroes

Glade Captain - 154 points
Battle Standard Bearer
Armour of Destiny
Great Weapon

Spellsinger - 105 points
Level 1 - Lore of Shadow
Dispel Scroll

Core

30 Glade Guard - 490 points
Full Command
Swiftshiver Shards
Banner of Eternal Flame

28 Eternal Guard - 381 points
Full Command
Shields
Standard of Discipline

Special

7 Wild Riders - 241
Full Command
Shields
Banner of Swiftness

7 Wild Riders - 226
Full Command

Shields

3 Warhawk Riders - 135

Rare

Great Eagle - 50
Great Eagle - 50

6 Waywatchers - 120
6 Waywatchers - 120

The idea for this list is to bunker the Spellweaver in the free forest with the glade guard, and spam hand of glory. With a +6 to cast spells, they should be able to do some damage, and High magic has other spells, like Walk Through Worlds and Fiery Convocation, which are hard to ignore to keep up dice to counter a spell like hand of glory. The Glade Guard are there to whittle down key opponent units, particularly things like blocks of ranked infantry and light cavalry. They aren't there to kill the large toughness units.

The Eternal Guard, with the standard of discipline, stubborn and 4 full ranks 6 wide and a BSB, should be fairly tough to break in combat. They are the anvil for the army, with WS5 as well to make it easier to deal with hordes. For the shadow wizard, they will just be using MMM realistically, unless I get lucky on enfeebling foe. I'm thinking it could be a shadowdancer instead. As it is, its just a scroll caddy with a useful spell to slow people down. Obviously the unit is very good in forests. In terms of the BSB, I just built him for survival with Armour of Destiny, as I was finding it hard to make him survivable otherwise.

The Wild riders are the hammers to pair with the Eternal Guard. The two units of 7 that I have ended up with are so that they can comfortably take 2 casualties and still be lethal on the charge.

The Warhawk Riders and Great Eagles are flying chaff / warmachine hunters, just general distraction, redirection and war machine killy things really.

The 12 Waywatchers are there to deal with the low toughness high armour save units, like heavy cavalry, which the army otherwise struggles with outside of charging with Wild Riders. They can also shred chaff with their double shots, or small MSU units like archers etc.

Wood Elves 2400 points - No GG

Lords

Spellweaver - 290 points
Level 4 - Lore of Shadow
Talisman of Preservation
Dispel Scroll

Heroes

Glade Captain - 154 points
Battle Standard Bearer
Armour of Destiny
Great Weapon

Core

10 Glade Guard - 160 points
Musician
Hagbane Tips

10 Glade Guard - 160 points
Musician
Hagbane Tips

10 Glade Guard - 160 points
Musician
Hagbane Tips

10 Glade Guard - 160 points
Musician
Hagbane Tips

28 Eternal Guard - 381 points
Full Command
Shields
Standard of Discipline

Special

7 Wild Riders - 241
Full Command
Shields
Banner of Swiftness

7 Wild Riders - 226
Full Command
Shields

3 Warhawk Riders - 135

Rare

Great Eagle - 50
Great Eagle - 50

6 Waywatchers - 120
6 Waywatchers - 120

For this list, Shadow seemed a better option, as you can get the good spells more reliably. It also allows the Eternal Guard to sit in the forest, which makes them pretty strong, and the extra +1 to cast really helps with shadow. The hagbane tips help solve the high toughness issue that the army faces, and overall this army feels more suited to more elite opponents while the first one is more suited to armies like O&G and Skaven.

Thoughts, both in general and on the issue of a Shadowdancer hero? 

I like Shadowdancer heroes, but it's going to be more expensive than your scroll caddy, and having that second caster is probably more useful - both for the scroll, and the occasions your lvl 4 gets broken concentration early on in a magic phase.

I agree with Strut - both lists look good.