SAMPLE ARMY
Following is an account I put
together a 2,000 point Wood Elf army in one week. I have been playing Warhammer for almost three years and I started out playing Bretonnians since that is what army I got when I split on the Warhammer box withone of my friends(which I recomend not doing cause it hurts your friendship). In the summer of 1998 I started to collect and play Wood Elfs, I have been playing them ever since. Rather than simply taking everything I own, I decided to make a quick 2,000 point army. Besides being the "standard" size army at most tournaments, 2,000 point Warhammer games will give you an evening's worth of hard-fought battle, but still leave you enough time to rub in your victory, or mull over any defeats. Now it is time to tell you a story.(I wrote this article when I started and just added a couple of things that I thought would brig it together)
ARCHERS FIRST
Wood Elves have the best archers in the Warhammer game.So I started out with twenty of them . At 11 points a model it is not too dear. Each unit is led by a Champion, and if I have points left by the time
I'm done, I'll add a magic item to increase their effectiveness. Two units of
ten archers come to 300 points (including Champions).
CLOSE COMBAT TROOPS
Now that we have some archers it is time to thinkabout close combat. While it is nice to think that my
massed archers will pincushion and stop any opposition from getting into hand-to-hand, it isn't very
realistic. In fact, there are plenty of troops in the Warhammer World that arrows won't have much
chance of harming - such as well armored Knights, Manticores, or worse.
This being the case, it seems a wise move to outfit my army with some units for fighting hand-to-hand.
Beefed up with light armor, shields, and spears, the Glade Guard look pretty tough. To make them really hard I am including a Standard Bearer, Musician, and Champion. Total for all 15 Glade Guard is 243 points (including Champion). This comes to a hefty total of 543 points spent so far.
WARDANCERS
While the Glade Guard may provide my army with solid defensive troops,
they certainly are not going to strike fear into the opposing General's heart.
Now a unit of Wardancers, with their unique attack modes, will cause the foe
to throw all sorts of fits. Because Wardancers cost so many points, I could
only afford a small unit of five. Still, if they encounter a foe that they cannot
harm, I can always rely on using the Shadows Coil dance to stall the enemy -
giving me time to set up a flank charge with another unit. Total points spent,
643.
DRYADS &
TREEMEN
One of the things I find most appealing about the Wood Elf Army is the overall theme and presence of Athel Loren - the magical forest realm. This being the case I definitely wanted to field Dryads and Treemen in my army. Both of these troop types are devastating on the charge - the Dryads with their different shape-shifting attacks, and the Treemen with its straight out awesome strength! A unit of eight Dryads advanced my point total to 923 points, and the Treeman tacked on another 280 points. The sight of the gnarled monster tearing up the enemy and shredding armor like it was nothing will go a long way towards easing my mind about spending the 280 points to enlist him. Total points spent = 1,203.
NO, I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN
ABOUT
THE CHARACTERS!!!
Well, I've spent over half my allotted points, and I
still have no General. A Wood Elf General will cost me 160 points, and that
isn't including any equipment, armor, or magic goodies. I picture the General
of a Wood Elf Army being mobile - able to charge to the front and attack the
foe, or speed to a flank and rally any of my troops that should break and run.
I will therefore purchase a mount for my leader, but how many more points
should I load into this one model?
In the end, I decided to simply mount the General on an Elven Steed. The
Wood Elf Hero on the Forest Dragon is a great model (and I wanted an
excuse to paint it up), but it will just have to wait!
If I have any extra points left over I will look at augmenting troops with
magic banners or champions with enchanted weapons, but the General of my
force is top priority. After rifling through the Magic Supplement (no small
task, there are literally hundreds of items to choose from) I selected an Ogre
Blade - a 40 point sword that will increase my
General's strength, and make him more of a
hand-to-hand dynamo! I'll come back and think about
magic armor if I have any points left over, but for now
it is time to move on. General with equipment = 206,
total points = 1409.
WHAT ABOUT A WIZARD?
Right about now, if you're an experienced Warhammer
player, you're probably wondering what I intend to do
about casting magic. Well, I personally wouldn't want
to march to battle with my Wood Elves without at least
a Mage, and as I still have the points to spend, I'm going to select the Master
Mage - a powerful sorcerer with access to Battle Magic. I toyed with the idea
of putting the wizard in one of my archer units, but finally decided an Elven
Steed would give me mobility to ride to where his magic was most needed.
Fully mounted this wizard will add another 222 points to my force, now
totalling 1,631.
THE PART WHERE I WORRY ABOUT WAR
MACHINES
I've been thinking about my full 2,000 point army and the kind of opposition
I'm going to see during the tournament. I like my chances against other
armies - I can pick off chariots and thin down enemy ranks with my archers,
and the foe's really tough units will have to deal with Wardancers, Treemen,
and Dryads. The only thing that worries me are war machines. Empire and
Dwarf armies have some seriously dangerous gunpowder weapons, and Orcs
and Goblins and Skaven can bring some nasty devices as well. I don't even
like to think about my Treemen being torched by a Skaven Warpfire
Thrower! Before I went any further with my list I scanned the Warhammer
Armies Wood Elf book and looked over more troop descriptions.
THE ANSWER (I HOPE!)
The answer to enemy war machines literally kept
me up late at night - painting that is! A unit of
Warhawk Riders seemed to be just the thing. Not
only can these heroic troops quickly swoop out of
the sky to eradicate any threats, but the models
look cool, and they really fit into my image of what a Wood Elf Army should
look like.
The downside of all this is, of course, fitting the points into my major plan.
For a bigger game I would add a Champion to the unit, but I just can't spare
points. A unit of Warhawks with shields, light armor, and spears is 190
points. Total points spent = 1821.
ADDING SOME MAGIC ITEMS
Before I spend all my points (and I'm running pretty close now!) I want to
make sure that I have properly equipped all my characters. Picking Magic
items for my army is a part of the hobby that I thoroughly enjoy! After
pouring over the Warhammer Magic contents I finally came up with my
selections.
For my Champion of the first archer unit I selected a Hail of Doom Arrow.
When fired, this magic arrow will multiply in flight (three dice worth of
death!) giving this one shot a chance of laying waste to an entire enemy unit!
The Champion of the second unit of archers gets the Sky Arrow of Naloer, a
potent magic arrow that can be used to bring down enemy flying creatures,
even if they are flying high, out of the range of normal bowfire!
To be on the safe side I'll purchase a Dispell Scroll for my Mage, In the
course of my Warhammer career I have seen magic spells absolutely
devastate an army, and the chance to automatically stop a spell at least once
seems like a bargain at only 25 points.
That's 80 points in magic, bringing my total up to an ominous 1901. Time for
some fine-tuning!
ADDING A LAST UNIT!
Well, I still have some points left over and
there are several things I could do. I own
large units of Dryads and Wardancers, so it
would be no problem to fill out their ranks a
little bit. On the other hand, I have never got
around to painting up my Waywatchers unit.
Not only are these models the quintessential
Wood Elf troop, but I think the ability to
infiltrate and lay traps in the forests could
prove quite useful in a game. The final point
of persuasion was the models themselves.
With their leafy cloaks and woodsy disguises
I could really have a painting challenge. Five of them I would take With all their
abilities, they are not cheap troop types, adding a further 90 points, for a
grand total of 1,991.
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