TACTICS
Machiara's Army Philosophies and
Tactics: Wood Elves
By: Todd Thacker
Welcome to what will hopefully be a series of
discourses on the philosophy and tactics of the different Warhammer races.
"Wait," I hear you say, "this is just a redo of Longsword's
Tactica." Perhaps. I'm hoping to go beyond Longsword's work with my
"Philosophy" introduction to the tactics section that will hopefully
give readers a taste of that particular army's tactical "flavor."
Of course, I am not the god of tactics and I am sure many of you have differing
opinions on what the philosophy of a particular army should be and how
to use the troops available to that army in the most appropriate manner.
I am starting with the Wood Elves because they are my favorite army and
the army I play most; hopefully I have something worthwhile to say about
how to use them. :-) Anyhow, on with the Tactica . . .
Wood Elf Philosophy:
Introduction
Perhaps the greatest asset available to the Wood
Elf general is the speed and flexibility of his army. Wood Elves are masters
of infiltration, maneuver, and fighting battles on their own terms. In
fact, if the enemy dictates the battle to the Wood Elves, the Elves will
almost certainly lose. Wood Elves have very few "hard" units
that can win a combat all by themselves and those troops who do well in
combat (Dryads, Treemen) have no rank bonus and, in the case of the Treeman,
not enough attacks. The Wood Elves must use their speed to concentrate
their forces at the decisive part of the battlefield, overwhelming outmatched
enemy units.
There is some difference of opinion among Wood
Elf generals about whether your army should be an "assault" army,
prepared to defeat the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, or an "archery"
army, designed to stay away from the enemy, avoid the enemy's most powerful
units, and punish less powerful units with a high volume of missile fire;
I will therefore address both options.
The Assault Army
There should be no debate about the following
point, however: if your units are engaged in a protracted combat, you will
probably lose. Certainly there are exceptions to this rule, but normally
Wood Elf units stuck in a protracted combat are no longer dictating the
course of the game, and will therefore be forced to fight the battle on
the enemy's terms. This is a certain path to defeat.Wood Elf armies, therefore,
must maneuver so that at least two units hit the target enemy unit when
a charge is declared. Removing the rank bonus of large enemy formations
is a combat imperative . . . if this does not happen you will have a difficult
time breaking the unit quickly and will lose the strategic initiative.
The Strategic Initiative,
or "Dictating the Battle"
A brief digression: when I speak of "strategic"
matters, I am referring to the grand sweep of the battle; when I refer
to "tactical" matters, I am speaking of actions concerning specific
units on the battlefield.
What does it mean to "dictate the battle"
to an opponent with your Wood Elf Army? It means that you select your army,
deploy, and maneuver with one thought in mind: obtaining tactical superiority,
preferably overwhelming tactical superiority, at a critical point in the
battlefield.
How is this accomplished? With the infiltration
and movement abilities of the Wood Elves, an able general should be able
to prevent march moves of key enemy units, to maneuver his designated main
combat units to advantageous positions (normally so that at least one unit
can flank or rear charge), and to eliminate or immobilize the enemy's fast
response and flank defense forces.
To accomplish this goal, the Wood Elf general
must carefully choose the units he wishes to bring to the battlefield.
There are four different categories of troops you can bring: Assault Troops,
Fast Troops, Missile Troops, and Infiltrators.
Assault Troops
and How to Use Them
Assault troops consist of Chariots, heavily armored
Glade Riders, Treemen, and Dryads. Wardancers can also be placed in this
category, although they are sort of a category unto themselves (more on
this later). Since you are creating an assault army, you should take at
least two different types of assault units; one unit of these should normally
be Dryads.
Why Dryads? Some Wood Elf generals on the list
have sworn off Dryads, claiming that the tree spirits have never been effective
when used in battle. To some extent, they have a point; Dryads will probably
not be able to win a protracted combat with elite, ranked and armored enemy
cav or elite, ranked and armored enemy infantry. The 35 pt. cost of a Dryad
prohibits a Wood Elf general from fielding large units with ranks.
The Dryads' inability to take a magical standard
is also a disadvantage (if the enemy has the Banner of Defiance they will
almost certainly break), as is their inability to have a champion to keep
hefty enemy characters from wiping out the whole unit.
However, the Dryads are one of your two "stick"
units (along with Wardancers), and they hit harder than their graceful
but weak combat brethren. A "stick" unit, as I use the term,
means a unit which can "stick" an enemy unit in place by successfully
receiving a charge while you maneuver for a flank or rear charge. Here's
how to do it: you maneuver your Dryads to a position where your enemy must
either charge them or avoid them (and an enemy unit that takes the avoidance
tack is already out of the game, plus it exposes a flank to charge by your
Dryads). Your flank unit positions itself for a countercharge on your turn.
On your enemy's turn, the Dryads are charged, use willow aspect, and probably
draw or win the combat. In your turn, you flank or rear charge with your
fast unit (often Glade Riders) and use Oak or Birch aspect with your Dryads.
You eliminate the enemy rank bonus, gain the +1/+2 bonus for the flank
or rear attack, and probably deal out enough damage to break the enemy
unit. Wardancers work better in the "stick" role when facing
powerful enemy with more than one attack (Witch Elves, Dragon Ogres, you
know the type) because "Shadows Coil" guarantees a drawn combat
during the "stick" phase, instead of merely taking away an enemy
attack.
Treemen are great models, and they strike fear
into the heart of the enemy general, but at 280 points you are well advised
to think about exactly what you're expecting to get out of these wooden
warriors. On the positive side, a Treeman is impervious to Str 3 missile
fire, causes fear, and has an incredible strength and toughness (rare in
any elven army). However, your Treeman will be eaten alive by most enemy
generals. Your Treeman also suffers from an often overlooked problem .
. . he doesn't have enough attacks. Four attacks, even with a Treeman's
ridiculously high weapon skill, are not going to break a unit of any respectable
size; it is easy for your Treeman to spend the whole game killing 2 or
3 two-and-a-half point goblin warriors a turn while your opponent's good
units proceed to engage the rest of your army. The point is: never use
your Treeman as a lone warrior. He _must_ be a part of an assault team;
preferably including a fast moving Glade Rider unit who can take away rank
bonus. Whether you use Glade Riders or not, having a support unit available
who can take away rank bonus from your Treeman's opponents is vital if
you plan to use him to maximum effectiveness in the battle.
Chariots are fast becoming my favorite Wood Elf
assault unit, with the emphasis on "fast." An 18" charge
range that hits for d6+2 Str 7 hits is something _any_ enemy unit will
have to respect, even heavily armored troops that your army normally struggles
to even damage. By including a chariot you can funnel your enemy's advance
away from the machine's charge arc and force him to spend inordinate amounts
of time trying to immobilize the chariot so that he can move within charge
range of your slower and more vulnerable units. If you can charge an enemy
with the chariot in combination with a flank charge by, most likely, Glade
Riders, that enemy unit _will_ break, especially if your general is riding
in the machine. One plus to putting your general into the chariot is that
you can toss defensive items in there to protect your investment . . .
Talisman of Ravensdark for flyers, Spellshield or Banner of Arcane Warding
for magic, Armor of Protection or Black Amulet in case you're challenged
by a Vampire Lord . . . you get the picture. With a chariot-riding general
as the "hammer" of your assault force, you will normally be able
to get the charge every time, and break the enemy most of the time. Just
remember to screen it from missile fire, right? :-)
When you're equipping your chariot, always take
all the extras you can (except for barding . . . this will just slow you
down and eat up points; not worth it for the 6 save); why be miserly if
you're springing for such a powerful engine of destruction?
Fast Troops
and How to Use Them
The Wood Elf general has two basic units of "fast
troops": Warhawk Riders and Glade Riders.
"Fast Troops" are troops that either a) attack enemy missile
screens and flank defense forces to clear the way for your assault team
(normally Warhawks) b) attack enemy war machines (normally Warhawks, but
Glade Riders have been known to get back there as well), or c) join an
assault team as the fast-moving flanking component (exclusively Glade Riders).Enemy
flank screens are, by definition, not their best units.
Your Warhawks, with the flying charge, weapon
skill five, and spear bonus for strength four, should be able to wipe out
enemy flank screens in short order, especially if you put a character in
there for extra combat resolution. Of course, some flank screens are more
difficult to remove than others (Empire flagellants, Dwarf Slayers) because
they don't break. These are units that you're going to have to eliminate
completely or avoid (easier in these cases because the Empire can only
have one unit of flagellants, and Dwarves are so expensive that they normally
only have one unit of Slayers). Many times your opponents will put these
"elite screens" out front of their main battle line, the better
to protect their core units. All the better for you . . . you'll roll their
flanks. If one of these units does wander out on the flanks, take heart:
they don't wear armor so concentrated missile fire should soften them up
nicely.
Once your Warhawks have cleared the way for your
assault team, they can move on to enemy missile troops or war machines
(sometimes your opponent will use his war machines as his only flank screen
. . . Dwarves and Empire [again] are the normal culprits, so you can skip
directly to this part).
When using Warhawks in this role, I normally
fully armor my riders and give them a spear to clock in at a fairly hefty
38 pts. But we're elves . . . expensive basic troops are the name of our
game, right? :-) Now you're ready to move your in your assault team.
Your Glade Riders are incredibly expensive, but
incredibly useful as flank/rear chargers. I normally give them at least
a lance and light armor, and deploy them in skirmish formation . . . this
makes them less susceptible to missile fire with a -1 to hit, 4+ armor
save but still allows them full freedom of movement because they're skirmished.
Some like to give them longbows, and if I'm feeling generous I'll do this
as well . . . but it is not totally necessary (6 pts a model is pretty
steep, and you'll top out at (ouch!) 43 pts a model). Your models will
still have the 18" march (and still march even with enemy within 8"),
so you will be able to avoid any combat you don't want to fight, except
with flyers or Steeds of Slannesh. As outlined before, your Glade Riders
should support your main assault unit by conducting a coordinated charge
on your turnor a countercharge against an enemy unit engaged against one
of your "stick" units. A brief note: if your Glade Riders are
engaged in a combat they can't handle, remember feigned flight! Often it
can be the difference between destruction and setting an enemy unit up
for a murderous countercharge.
Infiltrators
and How to Use Them
As a Wood Elf general you have, without doubt,
the best scouts in the game in the form of Waywatchers. These crafty elves
should -always- be deployed in the forest to take advantage of their many
special abilities. If you have Waywatchers in a wood, they should effectively
deny access to the enemy because of your traps. If your enemy decides to
charge your Waywatchers, let them (assuming they can even see them). I
fondly remember the time a frenzied Khorne general hit the Impaler when
forced to charge the Waywatchers . . . may he rest in peace :-)). Always
flee, though . . . your Waywatchers (and Scouts) aren't up to fighting
enemy in hand-to-hand combat. For all their effectiveness, my opponents
always seem to devote a disproportionate amount of time and effort to taking
out the few of these 18 pt warriors that I field . . . All the better for
you (as an added bonus, talk up your Waywatchers before the battle . .
. you have my permission to use the Khorne Warlord story :-).
If you're lucky, your opponent will spend all
sorts of missile and magical fire trying to get rid of these guys.)
Scouts, on the other hand, should be deployed
to inhibit enemy movement. They are as expendable as elves can be (even
at 16 pts) so don't worry about losing them if they slow down key enemy
units for a turn (two would be fantastic, but is difficult to accomplish).
Once I deployed a group of Scouts behind a hill in front of the main Skaven
battleline . . . the poor rats hardly even made it over to my side of the
table before being destroyed by arrow fire and a huge flank sweep by my
assault team. The Scouts died, but they were about the only Elves who did
and they managed to stop the Skaven from advancing for two complete turns
and part of a third . . . they are certainly in the Scout Hall of Fame
back at whatever glade the Scouts receive their training. :-)
A not-so-troublesome side note is the problem
of enemy scout teams. This should not be a terrible burden because your
scouts (WS 5, BS 5) should be able to beat any other scouts in missile
or hand-to-hand combat. The only really problematic group of enemy scouts
are the Dark Elves with their repeating crossbows. You'll just have to
charge them and win hand-to-hand combat (they get to fire but they are
-1 stand and shoot -1 cover (probably) -1 skirmish -1 repeaters) so they
will hit on 5s if they take one shot or 6s if they take two. So the Dark
Elves will probably kill one of your scouts. If I'm going up against enemy
scouts or going to a tourney I always take a scout champion with a cheap
sword (usually leaping copper) for these sorts of situations, so that I
can insure a victory in the h-t-h combat phase.
A brief note on unit size for infiltrators: I
like units of six because they are small enough to use effectively but
large enough to threaten a flank charge to take away rank bonus even if
the enemy by some miracle has killed one.
Archers
and How to Use Them
One reason I prefer an assault army for my Wood
Elves is the inherent unpredictability of my missile troops. However, even
in assault armies I try to take at least thirty bow-wielding Elves simply
because I feel that it is in flavor for a Wood Elf army. Archers are very
cheap at 11 pts (stop laughing Goblin players) and you can take a good
bunch of them for around 300 points. I personally like to field three units
of nine (with six Scouts and six Waywatchers that makes for 39 bow-armed
Elves). . . that way the enemy has to kill three archers to cause a panic
test. Also, a unit of nine is just unattractive enough to make your enemy
think twice before charging one . . . is it really worth it to put a turn
of two of the game into wiping out a 99 point unit? Unless he's threatening
you with Wolf Riders, probably not.
The key to archery is concentration of fire.
Don't shoot one unit at Unit A, one at Unit B, and one at Unit C. Shoot
them all at one unit and cause a panic test! I remember one time when I
routed 10 Brettonian Knights of the Realm off the table on turn one because
of panic (hehe), even with the accursed Lady of the Lake interfering as
she normally does, the watery tart. Lesson to Brettonian players: Take
Questing Knights.
With 39 bow armed Elves (and more if there are
bowmen in your chariot or you bow-armed your Glade Riders . . . hey, wasn't
this supposed to be the -assault- section?) you should have a decent chance
at causing 25% casualties on enemy units every turn. Just choose your targets
judiciously . . . you're not going to panic that unit of 60 Skavenslaves
so why even try?
Wardancers
and How to Use Them
I have seen many generals on the list with units
of Wardancers 10-12 strong. In my opinion, there is no reason for this.
If you're going to take 10-12 Wardancers take two units of five or six
. . . they're much more effective that way. My normal unit size for Wardancers
is seven . . . six and a champion. If there are any more you waste Wardancers
who won't be able to take part in the combat due to lack of frontage .
. . 20 pts+ down the drain. I like to give the champion the potion of strength
so that my Wardancers can be the "ultimate stick unit," like
so: Enemy charges Wardancers, who use Shadow's Coil. Draw. Wardancers attack
back in my turn using Whirling Death (+1 attack) and Champion drinks PoS
for 4 WS 6 Str 7 attacks. Hopefully the Wardancers win or draw this combat.
Then shadow's coil again during the enemy's turn. You've stuck them for
one-and-a-half turns! Chances are when the enemy untangles itself it will
find that it is in a _very_ unpleasant tactical situation, :-), or at least
this unit is immobilized while your assault team cleans up the rest of
his army.
The "stick" strategy is only necessary
for heavily armored or tough units. Wardancers are more than able to handle
T3 lightly armored troops by themselves (Witch Elves excepted) with minimum
or no casualties. However, their relatively slow movement prevents them
from getting out front of the assault team to clear out flank screens,
etc. so don't try to use them this way or you'll just slow yourself down.Don't
forget that your Wardancers can move at no cost through difficult/very
difficult terrain and that they can jump over intervening units. This can
surprise your opponent because they are so used to thinking of units as
"blocked" from charging if they are behind friendly units. Most
effective against enemy units on hills because you can see them even if
you're completely behind the friendly unit. I normally use this to charge
out from behind Scouts or Waywatchers into vulnerable enemy units.
So, to sum up. Wardancers can be used as either
the "stick" unit in the assault team or to deny your "weak
side" to enemy units in conjunction with Waywatchers or Scouts. It
should take the enemy almost the whole game to engage anyone of consequence
if he attacks through the weak side, because there's no one there besides
Wardancers and Waywatchers (hehe, this is very frustrating for your opponent)
and they are very hard to engage decisively, if at all. One game I spent
two turns moving my Wardancers around so that my opponent's main block
of Clanrats couldn't march. It completely screwed up the entire Skaven
advance . . . needless to say my assault team took the army apart piecemeal,
and the only units left on the board were a band of fleeing gutter runners.
:-)
The Archery Army
From what I understand the "archery"
(or "missile") army is the most popular way to play Wood Elves.
Although I tend to favor an "assault" style army (see my previous
post) I do try to vary my style so I don't become too predictable for my
regular opponents (this is, by the way, extremely important if you are
part of a gaming group, or even if you just play a number of friends all
of the time. You need to vary your plan even if you've come up with what
you feel is the "best" strategy for your army, or your opponents
will pigeonhole your playing style and design their armies to defeat it.
It is much better to keep them guessing).
The "archery" army, then, is heavily
dependent upon its missile troops (obviously) and is designed to avoid,
rather than win, hand-to-hand combats. The goal is to shoot up and panic
your opponent's light forces while forcing their "core" troops
to either chase your fast troops around fruitlessly or else put themselves
hopelessly out of position by engaging a small, sacrificial portion of
your army.
Missile (including Fast Missile)
Troops and How to Use Them
An "archery" army's main weapon is,
of course, its missile troops. You should field as many archers as you
can get your hands on in units of nine. Why nine? Because it takes three
casualties to make a unit of nine panic from missile fire and if you make
units any bigger they become too unwieldy, in my opinion. Don't make the
mistake, however, of taking more archers than you have deployment zone
. . . you can't count on getting a hill and you want all of your archers
to be able to fire from turn one.
You should arm your Warhawks with Longbows and
use them as extremely fast-moving harassers. Land them within 8" of
as many enemy units as you can to keep your opponent from marching (eliminating,
or at least limiting, march moves is one of the main strategic objectives
of the archery army. If the enemy can't march, it can't get across the
table to charge your archers, or anything else). Warhawks as missile troops
should have longbows and that's it. Never, ever, ever take these troops
into combat, they will die horribly. I mean it. Don't even think about
it. Ever. :-)
You should have at least one, preferably two
bow-armed Glade Rider units with the same goal. Harass, Harass, Harass.
Prevent march moves. Irritate the opponent into charging them. If your
opponent turns a unit to try and go after your Warhawks or Glade Riders,
it's out of the game (it will never get to your archers), your Riders or
Warhawks have done their job. You can proceed to ignore that unit (and
get out of its charge arc). Few opponents have the steely determination
to ignore your (very irritating) troops, but some will. So be it. Just
don't let them march.
Glade Riders are also very good at making frenzied
units charge them. By all means, if your opponents take frenzied troops
make them chase your Glade Riders around the board, away from your troops
and hopefully right into the path of their other units' advance. I see
many Orc pages on the web talking about how "'ard" their savage
Orcs are.
Sure they're tough, if they ever see combat.
Which they won't because you've panicked their screening troops with missile
fire and then forced the Savage Boyz to charge your Glade Riders. :-) Anyway,
more on these types of Glade Rider tactics in the "assault troops"
section.
With bow-armed Glade Riders, Warhawks and Infiltrators
supporting your archers, you should have a truly mind-boggling amount of
dice rolls to make in the missile phase. I have had 85 bowshots in a 2000pt
game (45 archers, 12 scouts, 6 waywatchers, 12 bow-armed Glade Riders,
6 bow-armed Warhawks, and a General with the Bow of Loren), when I shot
the Hail of Doom arrow it was near 100. I've heard rumors of Wood Elven
armies with over 100 bowshots in a 2000ptgame. All this missile fire will
frighten your opponent; even big toughness and good armor will have a tough
time taking on this many shots. You should be able to massacre one unit
a turn if you concentrate fire; at the very least you will make the unit
take a panic test, at best you will completely eliminate it (I once shot
all 27 Clanrats out from behind the Skaven army general and Battle Standard
Bearer. They panicked, of course :-)). Remember, the key is to -concentrate
fire-; don't violate this rule unless a portion of your troops lack LOS
to the target, or you have another -very- good reason (and it better be
good :-)), like it's the first turn of the game and 85 shots is too many
for a measly screening unit or you're shooting up war machine crews with
your Infiltrators.
If you get a bunch of forests, put all but one
in your deployment zone. Hide your archers in them. This protects your
archers from a) nasty flying creatures and b) chargers. Why chargers? Because
if you deploy 2" back in the wood the chargers will have 2" added
to their charge distance for difficult ground. . . they might fail their
charge.
In addition, if the charging unit makes it through
your hail of fire they will probably break the unit and run off through
the forest, chasing your unfortunate archers (who will be cursing your
Warhawks, Glade Riders and Infiltrators the whole way for not doing their
jobs). This is fine because the cost of a 99 pt archer unit is well spent
getting your enemy's main combat block stuck in a forest. Let's see, two
or three turns to get across the board, one turn to charge, one turn to
reform, more than one turn to move back to where they can see anything
at all because they are prohibited from marching and are at half movement
in difficult ground (even Brettonians will only move 4") . . . this
unit will never see combat again. As I said, 99 points well spent.
Infiltrators
and How to Use Them
An archery army should take one unit of Waywatchers
and two or three units of Scouts. This should give you the edge in infiltrators
and will also leave you with plenty of units to cause trouble with. As
I said in the previous section, use Waywatchers to deny access to a wood
and use your Scouts to prevent marches and just make nuisances of themselves
in general.
Other than that, look at my notes on Infiltrators
in the "assault army" section. There's not a whole lot of difference
in how they're used.
Assault Troops
and How to Use Them
Ahh, the delicate matter of using assault troops
properly in a missile-based army. This is the time when Treemen really
come into their own. I can hear your cries now, "What, a Treeman in
an archery army? Isn't that a little out of character when you recommended
that I not even take them in an assault army?" The difference is that
Treemen, with their "rooted to the spot" ability, are excellent
unit stoppers, which you need in an archery army, while being only so-so
unit destroyers, which you need in an assault army. Few things are better
than a Treeman for stopping that huge ranked unit of Str 3 troops that
is scampering your way. Arm your Glade Riders with lances and threaten
a flank charge to take away rank bonus. . . that'll make your opponent
think twice about where he moves his units. Another impressive attribute
of Treemen is their T7 . . . you can fire into that combat with impunity.
Who cares if you accidentally hit the Treeman? Not him; T7 ignores Str
3 hits.Glade Riders can perform dual roles; arm them with longbows for
their missile harasser function, arm them with lances for a real flank
charge threat. I'd use them skirmished in units of six or seven . . . give
them light armor if you have the points but it's not absolutely necessary.
Remember the "feigned flight" function of Glade Riders . . .
if the enemy does charge you you can take them even farther out of position
by using this tactic.
Wardancers are great "unit stopper"
troops . . . what stops units better than "Shadows Coil?" The
best place for your Wardancers is directly behind your line of archers
. . . that way they can leap over the archers into combat with units who
foolishly moved within their charge range (remember to keep one Wardancer
off to the side of the archer unit so he can see the opposing unit). If
the opposing troops have a long charge range (Brettonians!) then just move
in front of the archer unit to receive the charge . . . try not to block
too many lines of sight when you do this.
Your Wardancer units should be small, 5-6 models
. . . their job is to stop the unit, not kill it. This will let you field
more than one unit. Two should be enough to cover 4-5 nine-elf units of
archers. Make one into a "super-stick" unit; include a champion
with the Potion of Strength (see the assault section for details) . . .
include a champion with the other one too, if you have the points . . .
Heart of Woe is a good item for him if you don't mind being accused of
cheese. :-) If you have a Glade Rider unit free, charge the stuck unit
in the flank or the rear and break it (ack, my assault tendencies are coming
to the fore . . .).
Dryads can also be excellent "unit-stoppers"
if you're facing troops with one attack, such as Fleshhounds (hehe, the
stories I could tell . . .). If you take Dryads, position them between
two units of archers and move them out to cut off the enemy's axis of advance
when they stray too close. Dryads in this function are pretty specialized,
though, and not something I'd put in an army if I didn't know the opposing
army or my opponent (e.g., in a tournament).
The much-maligned Glade Guard can actually be
useful here, although I put them in the "assault troops" category
only because they don't fit in anywhere else . . . these well-meaning spearelves
aren't up to assaulting any but the most rank of rank-and-file enemy troops.
They can, however, be useful for receiving a charge . . . give them the
Banner of Defiance and a +3 rank bonus (for a grand total of +7 combat
resolution), put your general and a champion in there with appropriate
items, break the enemy and have a lone Great Eagle wandering around somewhere
close who will finish off the fleeing fighters with his 24" charge
in your turn (evil grin). This plan is both expensive and risky so I don't
really recommend it, but when it works it is a thing of Elven beauty (not
something that my Orcish readers could appreciate, the brutish gits ;-))
and you can taunt your opponent about how you beat him with nothing more
than archers and ranked spearelves, if you're that kind of person (only
do this to good friends or if you are big :-)).
Chariots can be very effective in an archery
army, as long as enemy missile troops are unable to fire at them. Fortunately
for you the enemy is probably sending his troops right up the center after
your archers, etc. so line of sight will be blocked unless opposing missile
troops are on a hill. Even if they are on a hill, your chariot has such
a long charge range (18") that you can afford to deploy it further
back in the deployment zone, out of range of the enemy missiles (war machines
are a different matter; but that's what your Great Eagles and archers are
for :-)). Optimum placement for a chariot is either right in the middle
of your battle line, forcing a redirection of the central blocks of enemy
troops (unless they feel they can take the d6+2 str 7 impact hits) or on
a flank, forcing enemy fast troops to think twice about hitting that side
of your battle line.
Putting it All Together
The point of an archery army is to spread the
points around so that there is nothing really "worthwhile" to
charge, i.e. no "core" unit that if broken spells the end for
your battle plan (and your army). The only units in your army that venture
above 200 points should be your Glade Riders, your Treeman, and maybe your
Warhawks . . . all units that you wouldn't mind your opponent charging
anyway :-). Glade Riders are so fast that nothing short of flying troops
will be able to engage them . . . put your general in here (if he's not
in with the spearelves), give him the Bow of Loren, and watch the enemy
try to kill him.Of course, your enemy could have a squad of flying troopers
(Harpies, Terradons, etc) or a character loaded for bear with powerful
magic items mounted on a big, nasty, flying beastie. This is a real weakness
of an archery army and one that you'll have to take steps to neutralize
. . . use the Sky Arrow of Naoler, a squadron of Great Eagles (three should
do the trick), Talisman of Ravensdark, Scarecrow Banner . . . you know
the drill. The beastie rider will almost -have- to charge your general
(he's in one of the only big-point units out there . . . your opponent
has to justify his investment), so give your general the Talisman or the
unit the Banner (or both) and watch the beastie die. :-) Use whichever
option appeals to you; just be prepared to counter fliers.
Setup, both of terrain and of units, is vitally
important to an archery army. Put your harassers out on the flanks or get
them there as soon as possible so that you're not blocking line of sight
for your archers. Line of sight is, obviously, incredibly important for
an archery army . . . you don't want a lot of terrain blocking your fire
lanes. If there is terrain, put infiltrators in or behind it to slow enemy
units and hopefully divert them into the approach (fire :-)) lanes that
are clear and open.
Characters and Magic Items
The Mage and a bit of Magic Philosophy
[that's Philosophy of Magic, not
a Magical Philosophy :-)]
As you might have noticed from the advice I gave
in the previous two sections, I put a high premium on troops and don't
care much for magic. I like to take defensive mages and have my troops
win the battle for me; offensive magic rarely figures into my battle plan
(if I do get a spell off I consider it a bonus). In my opinion, magic is
far too unreliable (w/Drain Magic, Dispels, etc.) to justify the cost of
a high-level mage decked out with the requisite four powerful items, especially
for Elves. Some races are well-suited for offensive magic phases; Wood
Elves are not one of those races.
Having said that, I admit that magic can be fun
(when it works) and that it is important to take a high-level mage now
and then to keep your regular opponents guessing. Besides, many of you
probably disagree with me and think high-level Wood Elf Mages are the best
thing since the Hail of Doom Arrow. :-) So I'll discuss both the offensive
and the defensive mage.
The Defensive Mage
[That's a Mage who stops enemy spells,
not one who's insecure and takes everything the wrong way :-)]
The standard defensive mage for 2000 pt games
is either a mage champion with the Skull Staff and Rod of Power or a master
mage with the Skull Staff, Rod of Power and a Destroy Magic Scroll. Give
an archer unit the Banner of Sorcery and then lurk your mage deep inside
a forest near the archers. The forest deployment prevents the mage from
being charged (even by flyers) and, for 181 points in the case of the mage
champion, you have real good chance of shutting down your opponent's magic
phase.
Many generals refuse to go to battle without
a Dispel Magic Scroll, and would recommend taking such a scroll over the
Rod of Power. I cannot agree with them. The Rod of Power (a 25 point item!)
gives you, in all probability, an extra three power cards during your opponent's
turn that you have no chance of losing, since you only test for card loss
from the Rod at the beginning of -your- magic phase. Three extra magic
cards every turn is an incredible advantage that, when combined with the
Skull Staff, should see off most if not all of your opponent's spells.
The Dispel Magic Scroll can guarantee you one
dispel when you want it, true, but in my opinion the Rod of Power's turn
after turn contribution to your magical defense far outstrips the DMS'
usefulness.
A Mage Lord is a very nice defensive mage in
large point value games because he can use High Magic, which turns all
of your power cards into dispels (a very handy ability any time). Keep
in mind that this is not cost effective unless you are playing a battle
of at least 3000 pts, probably becoming a mandatory take around 3500-4000
pts. Give him the Skull Staff, Rod of Power, Destroy Magic Scroll, and
Dispel Magic Scroll. Trust me, if you keep the Banner of Sorcery within
12", your opponent will be lucky to cast anything at all.
If you're playing with a defensive mage, don't
give in to the temptation to cast spells in your magic phase unless you
have Total Power or six magic cards in your hand. You should always save
four magic cards from your phase, one with your mage and three in the Rod.
If you try and cast spells, then a) they'll probably be dispelled and b)
you'll get roasted in the next magic phase because you don't have enough
cards for defense. You Have Been Warned. :-)
The Offensive Mage
[That's a mage who you use on offense,
not one who's personally offensive.]
There are a hundred-and-one ways to use your
mage to attack the enemy, so feel free to be creative. In very general
terms, there are two incarnations of offensive mage: the Hand-to-Hand mage
and the Mystical Attack Mage.
A Hand-to-Hand Mage can go one of three places:
on a Steed, on a Warhawk, or on a Chariot. I personally favor the chariot
since it has extra defensive value, great range, and intimidating attack
capability, but don't let this stop you from putting her on a Steed or
a Warhawk if this fits in better with your overall plan. The key is to
give your Mage good mobility so that she can take her spells and her hand-to-hand
prowess where it can do the most good and avoid big nasty characters that
might be able to kill her.
Your Hand-to-Hand Mage should be the highest
level that you can afford, with all the combat items you can give her.
A personal favorite is the Skull Wand of Kaloth (instant death is always
nice), which works especially well on things like Trolls, but if you don't
take the Wand definitely take a fairly powerful magical weapon. You'll
also need a ward, and you might want the Cloak of Mists and Shadows (although
this is a little counterproductive if you plan on attacking in close combat)
or the (much preferred) Ring of Darkness for an extra level of protection
from non-magical weapons. Believe it or not, a Hand-to-Hand Mage Lord is
a great place for the Crown of Command . . . just don't put her in a skirmished
unit (like Warhawks) that can't use her leadership.
The focus of the Mystical Attack Mage, conversely,
is to stay out of hand-to-hand combat and inflict as much magical damage
as possible on the opposing troops. A Mage Lord is almost mandatory if
you plan to use your mage in this fashion; you want to have the best chance
you can of fighting through those dispels.
One of my favorite tactics is to put my mage
on a Warhawk (or give her the Cloak of Mists and Shadows), equip her with
the Skull Staff, the Ring of Corin plus whatever other spell-like objects
I can find (Staff of Osiris is good, although Staff of Flaming Death never
expires) and proceed to run around negating all those irritating enemy
magic items (Black Amulet, Tress of Isoulde, Carstein Ring) that you wish
your opponent hadn't brought to the table. Aside from being a great "magic
scout" (you find out what all the enemy's magic items are within 12"
of the Skull Staff), this Mage should also be able to burn through your
opponent's dispels because you have two or three "free power"
castings (Staves, Ring, plus Potion of Knowledge or Book of Secrets for
a free spell if you took it). So hopefully you'll rule the magic phase
and your mobile mage will be able to get in the best position to toast
as many enemy as possible.
Other Characters and Their Items
["Where Should I Put the Hail
of Doom Arrow?" or
"Things I Didn't Mention in
the Assault or Archery Sections"]
There is one item that should be in every Wood
Elf Army: the Hail of Doom Arrow. Why? This is the sole "Wood Elf
Only" item in the game, and it's a magical arrow, for the love of
Isha, what could be more in character? The second reason is because, well,
it's awesome. If you're already a Wood Elf General or you've played against
Wood Elves, you know this. If you don't, just take my word for it.
I give the Arrow to one of two elves: my Glade
Rider Champion or my Scout Champion. I favor giving it to a Glade Rider
Champion because he can ride around missile screens and punish that valuable
enemy unit that your opponent thought was safe from arrow fire (mwahaha,
the fool! :-)). The only drawback to putting it with the Glade Riders is
that they are your premier flank/rear attack unit, so you'll always want
to be moving them out of charge arcs and into position for flank charges;
you might not get a clean shot off (if only they were expert riders! <sigh>
They should be for their cost).
The Scout Champion might be able to deploy in
a position to hit the enemy unit that you're targeting on turn one, but
he might not. It's also easy for your opponent to screen Scouts from the
rest of his army . . . so I normally go with the Glade Riders.
One place you never, ever want to put the Arrow
is with your Waywatchers. Why? Because Waywatchers need to deploy in the
forest to be most effective, and there's no guarantee that your opponent
will be helpful and set his target unit up near the forest. So you will
be left with two bad choices: a) deploy your Waywatchers outside the woods,
or b) shoot at some less important/vulnerable enemy unit. So if you're
deploying it with Infiltrators, deploy it with your Scouts.
On the subject of characters, I don't like to
take heroes. They're just too expensive; at 104 points, I could take two
champions and have eight points left over. I usually put a champion in
with my scouts (with a cheap magic sword to take on other infiltrators),
my Glade Riders (carries the Hail of Doom Arrow, gives them a combat boost),
my Wardancers (Potion of Strength), and my Warhawks (for the combat boost
against skirmish screens and the like).
Champions are great because a) they're cheap
(in a relative sense), b) your opponent is scared of them because they
might be carrying the Heart of Woe or the Black Gem of Gnar, and c) if
your opponent does catch your unit with a nasty character you can challenge
him and not lose your whole unit. Sure you'll break, but chances are you'll
outrun the pursuers and your unit will rally later. Some Wood Elf generals
don't like champions, which is fine. In my opinion, four champions add
much more to my combat effectiveness than two heroes, especially since
I'd feel compelled to give my heroes more expensive items to keep them
from dying.
Conclusion
Well, that brings to a close my Philosophy and
Tactics: Wood Elves. If you have any questions, problems, ideas, etc. please
feel free to e-mail me (thackert@uchastings.edu). Encouragement is always welcome, of course; it's the
main reason I do things like this! :-)
I hope this has been a helpful discourse for
both the newbie and the experienced Wood Elf general . . . if it hasn't,
I'm sure someone will let me know. :-) Anyhow, until next time, may your
arrows fly true!
Loren Forever!
Todd M. Thacker
Lord Aewyn Machiara
"Defender of the Glades"
Wood Elf Warleader