Machiara's Wood Elf Tactics vs. Brettonians
In my opinion the Brettonians are, along with Chaos, one of the most difficult armies for a Wood Elf general to match up against. The nature of the Brettonian army, and in particular their ability to use the lance and arrowhead formations, creates problems for which a Wood Elf army is hard pressed to find a counter. This article will look at each army's advantages, discuss the effectiveness of various Wood Elf troop types against Brettonians, and finish off with some practical battle tactics.
It's important to keep your opponent's strengths in mind when creating your army. A victorious general in Warhammer is one who plays to his own strengths while keeping his opponent from doing the same.
1) The Lady of the Lake. The watery tart is the first problem you'll have to deal with when creating your army. Since only 50% of your archers will be able to shoot, it's almost like they cost twice as much. However, not only do you have to deal with the Lady, but also . . .
2) Armor Saves. All of the Brettonians' main hand-to-hand units have a 2+ save, and you can bet that one will carry the Standard of Shielding for a 1+ save. This is difficult to punch through with archery, even with the Wood Elven -1 save modifier. It's even more difficult to punch through in hand-to-hand with base strength three . . .
3) Lance Formation. Rank Bonus. They have it, we don't. Not many units in a Wood Elf army can take a charge from a lance formation and live to tell the tale. And you can't negate the rank bonus through a flank charge, only a rear charge.
4) The Arrowhead Formation. By Isha, those cheap and plentiful human archers are almost our match when they band together thirty strong in the arrowhead formation! This creates horrible problems for Glade Riders, Chariots, Wardancers, and anyone else with low toughness and poor saves. Wait, that's everyone! ;-) Except Dryads.
5) Cheap Characters With Great Virtues. Virtues are like extra, cheap magic items. Most Brettonian characters (Knightly Temper, anyone?) will outfight your much more expensive characters because of the virtues.
6) Cheap Mounted Screens. Perfect for screening Knights from Infiltrators, Chariots, and other bothersome Wood Elf units. Brettonians can have a screen of five mounted squires for fifty points if they skimp on equipment. You can't even buy two Glade Riders for fifty points . . .
1) Chariots. These are one of the few things that the Lance Formation will have to respect. With the 18" charge, we outrange the knights and force them to redirect from the charge arc of the Chariots. A must have for any Wood Elf army against Brettonians.
2) Mobility. The lance formation has a very limited charge range, and most Wood Elf units are very fast and very maneuverable. It is easy to get out of the charge range of one lance. Unfortunately, it is much more difficult to avoid multiple lances . . .
3) Free Movement Through Woods. Brettonians flounder in woods just like everyone else (4" move). You can use the woods as a "tarpit" to bog down Lances or as a staging area from which to launch your attacks.
4) Infiltrators. Scouts and Waywatchers can prevent march moves from turn one if you can set them up the right way. They can also threaten that Lance-destroying rear charge, and so cannot be ignored by your opponent.
5) Shadow's Coil. You can stop a lance dead in it's tracks with Shadow's Coil, which makes Wardancers a key part of your strategy.
6) Treeman. If used correctly, a Treeman can be extremely useful against the Brettonians. The "rooted to the spot" and high strength attacks are great. Unfortunately, he's also the prime target for the Tress of Isoulde . . .
[(recommendation)/(A x B)], where A is the number of units recommended and B is the number of troops in each unit.
Chariots [Yes/2+]: See comments above. Chariots are the only thing in the Wood Elf list that can outcharge and outhit the Lance Formation. They are essential.
Glade Riders [Yes/1-2 x 6-7]: Glade Riders are valuable for outmaneuvering and drawing out the lance formation. Unfortunately they are very vulnerable to the Arrowhead formations so try to keep them skirmished and at least 15" away from the Brettonian archers (who will hit on sixes). Give them light armor for a 4+ save and you shouldn't have a whole lot to worry about. Glade Riders can be especially useful to feign flight and bring an important lance within charge range of the Chariots.
Warhawk Riders [No]: There just isn't anything for these guys to do. They can't take away rank bonus because as fliers they always count as charging from the front. They can't take on the arrowheads because of the intimidating stand and shoot and the (most likely) +4 combat resolution (standard and rank bonus). There are better things to spend points on.
Wardancers [Yes/1-2 x 6-7]: Shadow's Coil is the key. You should always give one unit a Champion with the potion of the strength so he can use Whirling Death to get four strength seven attacks in the second round of combat. This will make sure that the Wardancers aren't just combat resolution and might even get them to stick around for another turn of Shadow's Coil.
Glade Guard [Probably Not]: If you want to go with the huge unit of Glade Guard with appropriate characters and Banner of Defiance, it might work to beat off the Brettonians, especially if you screen it properly. However, the combat resolution from a Brettonian Charge against these guys if you screw it up will be an ugly thing to behold. For the adventurous or tactically confident only.
Archers [Yes/2-3 x 9+]: Archers aren't as useful against the Brettonians but they can still take the edge off that rank bonus. Remember to concentrate fire.
Waywatchers [Yes/1 x 6]: See above. Stopping the Brettonian march is key!
Scouts [Yes/2 x 6]: These guys can charge and defeat lightly armored squires. Probably better to shoot at them, though (remember the Lady doesn't care about bowfire at commoners).
Treeman [Yes/1]: See above. Keep him in the forest until a charge opportunity presents itself.
Dryads [Maybe]: I'm not so keen about Dryads against Brettonians. Although the Willow Aspect is great against the knight's charge, the tree spirits will still have a hard time dealing with that +4 combat resolution. And since almost every Lance Formation comes standard with a Champion and Hero, who normally wield Weapons of Destruction (tm), they're easy to lose.
Although many Brettonian players take the Unit of Doom (tm), containing the general with Tress, etc, a hero, champion, Battle Banner, you name it, smart Brettonian players will not. It's too easy to run, say, a Glade Rider unit up to the Unit of Doom and keep two or three Chariots 14" away and a Treeman a little closer. The Unit of Doom will charge the Glade Riders and destroy them. You will charge in with Chariots and Treeman and do an ungodly amount of damage. Make sure the Treeman isn't in base contact with the Tress-wielding character. You will win this combat, break the unit, and run it down. Even the Battle Banner bearer will be dead after your 2d6 + 4 (probably around 11) strength seven (-4 save) impact hits. And don't forget the Treeman's four S6 attacks! Game Over.
Smart Brettonian players will take three or four evenly powered lances with a good chunk of points invested in archers and mounted squires. The squires will screen the knights from your archers who aren't on the hill and also from your Chariots. The lances will maneuver so that their charge arcs overlap, making it difficult to move out of the way once the screens move out of the way or fall to missile fire. Even a medium-powered lance will overpower most of your troops in a one-on-one contest.
Wardancers can really shine here. They can run up to the mounted squires and kill them. The squires will probably not be able to fire but even if they do they will have moved and will have an additional penalty for the Wardancers' formation so they're hitting on sixes even at close range. If you have a couple of units of Wardancers you can then use them to screen off lance formations while you maneuver your Chariots for the charge. Scouts can also maneuver from their hiding places to threaten rear charges.
I cannot stress enough that you must use the woods to your advantage! Place your wood in the center of the board to force the Brettonian to move around it and to provide yourself with a staging area for your troops. The Brettonian is then faced with a dilemma: if he charges you in the woods he gets one or more lances stuck there while you run away with the charged unit and possibly countercharge with others. If he doesn't charge you in the woods you have a free base from which you can launch your attacks. In addition, he'll probably have to split his lances to go around the wood which will make it easy for you to defeat them in detail.
It is worth taking a fitted-out hero on a Griffon or some other flying mount to counter Brettonian fliers. Nothing rains on your parade like getting a Chariot charged from on high by some terror causing beastie. The Sky Arrow of Naoler can also be fun if you're not exchanging army lists or vetoing magic items. Control of the skies is important; invest some points here. Putting your general on a Warhawk for an extra twenty points would round out the aerial domination.
Brettonian magic is nothing to be scared of, but he can get a lot of cheap level one mages with Dispel Scrolls (I have seen this quite a bit). The best bet is probably to go defensive with the standard level two skull staff and rod of power wielding mage and beat him on the battlefield. However, a stalling strategy and a lot of points invested in magic can occasionally produce dramatic results.
Anyhow, these are my thoughts on dealing with Brettonians. Comments and criticism welcome; write thacker@fuller.edu with your thoughts.