500pts
What to buy and why
Wood Elf Battalion Box Set - $100
Paint or model one of your Glade Guard slightly differently to be your Noble, who is your General. This boxed set gives you enough to play a 500 point army and will form the basis for the rest of your army all the way up to 2500pts. While Glade Riders are not one of the best value for points, the box is good value for money and Glade Riders are Fast Cavalry. Watch Fast Cavalry 101 to learn how to use them effectively.
At 500 points, a Hail of Doom Arrow can swing games. The Dragonbane Gem is likely to never see use, but there was a spare 5 points :-)
750ptsArmy List
Noble: Hail of Doom Arrow; Dragonbane Gem. General.
14 Glade Guard: Musician.
8 Dryads
5 Glade Riders
What to buy and why
Wood Elf Great Eagle - $20
Wood Elf Battle Standard Bearer - $14 (not needed right away)
Running Total - $136
The Great Eagle is a very effective unit for many reasons, and you should read through the Great Eagle Tactica on the High Elf forum. Obviously we have different units to support the Eagle, but the points are all valid for Wood Elves too. I read this post regularly as I keep forgetting all the cool things Eagles can do :-)
With a few extra points, we've upgraded the General's armour (but still try to keep him out of combat if you can) and given one unit of Glade Guard a flaming banner in case you run into any regenerators. We'll use the Battle Standard model later, but given how cheap the Eagle is, this is a good time to buy him.
Army List
Noble: Hail of Doom Arrow; Dragonhelm; light armour; shield.
11 Glade Guard: Lord's Bowman; Musician; Banner of Eternal Flame.
11 Glade Guard: Musician.
12 Dryads
6 Glade Riders
Great Eagle
1000pts
What to buy and why
Wood Elf Tree Kin - $52
Running Total - $188
Tree Kin are the toughest rank and file troops in the Wood Elf army. In a 1,000 point game they will wreck almost any unit, pumping out 15 S5 attacks (if you count the stomps!) and can take a head on charge from all but the strongest troops in the game. Support their attacks with a flank charge from one of your other units.
No major changes to the army, but you are bulking out the rest of the points with the remainder of the models in the Battalion box. Dryads are generally more effective in smaller units, but you've probably just dropped $30-40 on some Tree Kin
1250ptsArmy List
Noble: Hail of Doom Arrow; Dragonhelm; light armour; shield.
11 Glade Guard: Musician; Banner of Eternal Flame.
12 Glade Guard: Musician.
12 Dryads
8 Glade Riders
3 Tree Kin
Great Eagle
What to buy and why
Wood Elf Spellweaver - $13.25
Box of Dryads - $35
Running Total - $236.25
Woohoo, magic! While it's possible to start using a wizard at lower points levels, Wood Elves generally need to be running a Lord level wizard in order to get the Lore of Beasts/Life, either of which is significantly better than the Lore of Athel Loren. This means that 1250 is really the first practical points level to start including one. I've selected Lore of Beasts as I find it a much more well-rounded lore than the Lore of Life, and certainly much easier to use for beginning players. Always ensure you take the signature spell (Wyssan's Wildform) as it will turn Dryads into mini-Tree Kin and Tree Kin into mini-Treemen in terms of their Strength and Toughness, the prospect of which will (and should!) intimidate your opponent. The Dispel Scroll is a great way to shut down your opponent's big spell when you need to, and is great way to help smooth out magic phases as you're learning your army. The Wizard will also function as the army's general.
The Glade Guard model that you've been using as a Noble is now going back to being a Glade Guard, and you should nab a Battle Standard Bearer model instead. He retains the Hail of Doom Arrow, but needs to buy Asyendi's Bane in order to get a bow (BSBs lose their longbow but can buy a magical one - shame we can't do the same for shields). Keep the characters in their own, separate Glade Guard bunkers, and keep both units close to each other so that they can re-roll their Ld tests. Protect the flanks with Dryads and the front with Treekin, and redirect anything you need to with Glade Riders and Great Eagle.
The extra Dryads in the box set allow you to split into multiple units of 8, which makes the Dryads much more effective at playing that harassing role. Don't forget that they are skirmishers and therefore Stubborn in a Forest, and at < 100 points per unit, they can be sacrificed if necessary to keep a large scary thing away from your soft and tender core of Toughness 3 Elves.
1500ptsArmy List
Spellweaver: Dispel Scroll; Level 4 Wizard; Lore of Beasts.
Noble: Hail of Doom Arrow; Asyendi's Bane; Battle Standard; light armour.
11 Glade Guard: Musician; Banner of Eternal Flame.
11 Glade Guard: Musician.
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
5 Glade Riders
3 Tree Kin
Great Eagle
What to buy and why
Wood Elf Lord on Eagle - $35
Running Total - $271.25
The Eagle riding Noble is the most flexible of the Wood Elf character builds, bar none. He can be used very well in close combat against war machines and chaff units, and provides an excellent supporting flank attack in any situation. As a flier, he can lurk behind your army or behind scenery and soar into the thick of things only when needed, or else zoom down a flank to get into a backfield war machine on Turn 2.
With this build he has a 3+/3++ save, and is T4 (thanks to his trusty eagle) so will likely survive most attacks and be able to deal damage back with his S6 attack. Quaffing the potion will give him an extra attack on the charge (don't forget, you have to quaff it before doing ANYTHING else in your turn), as well as making him immune to Fear and Terror in case you need to hit something scary. Don't expect him to win big fights by himself - like everything in the Wood Elf army, he works best in tandem with support (hint: Tree Kin). There are many other builds possible, and for as complete a list as you'll find I suggest reading through this thread.
1750ptsArmy List
Spellweaver: Dispel Scroll; Level 4 Wizard; Lore of Beasts.
Noble: Hail of Doom Arrow; Asyendi's Bane; Battle Standard; light armour.
Noble: Stone of the Crystal Mere; Dragonhelm; Potion of Foolhardiness; Great Eagle; great weapon; light armour; shield.
10 Glade Guard: Musician; Banner of Eternal Flame.
10 Glade Guard: Musician.
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
5 Glade Riders
3 Tree Kin
Great Eagle
What to buy and why
Glade Guard Box - $35
Running Total - $306.25
What arrows can do - skip to about 1:30 if you don't want to watch the whole scene. Yes, this is where you bolster your archers, getting up to 40 which allows you to do a lot of damage, particularly at short range. A common tactic here is to advance forward enough to get you within 15" by your turn 2, and then retreat 3" each turn, still able to shoot. That gets you between 1 and 3 turns of shooting 40 S4 shots, which will decimate most units. Make sure and concentrate your fire on a single unit until it either panics, is destroyed, or is weak enough to lose to e.g. your Dryads charging.
We now have enough extra points to give the Wizard a ward save (there are a bunch of items around the same points level, pick your favorite). You may ask why I've got standard bearers in all the archer units - this is mostly because there were leftover points. You can choose instead to add champions, change the magic items or add another Dryad or two. Remember that banners are very important in Blood & Glory, and given how squishy Wood Elves are, I tend to overcompensate with the number of banners.
2000ptsArmy List
Spellweaver: Dispel Scroll; Amaranthine Brooch; Level 4 Wizard; Lore of Beasts.
Noble: Hail of Doom Arrow; Asyendi's Bane; Dragonbane Gem; Battle Standard; light armour.
Noble: Stone of the Crystal Mere; Dragonhelm; Potion of Foolhardiness; Great Eagle; great weapon; light armour; shield.
10 Glade Guard: Lord's Bowman; Musician; Standard Bearer; Banner of Eternal Flame.
10 Glade Guard: Musician; Standard Bearer.
10 Glade Guard: Musician; Standard Bearer.
10 Glade Guard: Musician; Standard Bearer.
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
5 Glade Riders
3 Tree Kin
Great Eagle
What to buy and why
Wood Elf Treeman - $57.75
Running Total - $364
The Granddaddy of the Wood Elf army, the Treeman is a one-model wrecking machine. Once you get one, throw him into absolutely everything to see how he does. He will surprise you, and you'll learn his strengths and weaknesses pretty quickly. He'll lose combats due to static combat resolution quite frequently, but he's Stubborn on Ld8 and Ld9 if within range of your general - keep the BSB close enough to allow a re-roll too. His Treesinging ability means that no Forest is safe for any enemy unit to hide in, and Strangleroot can wipe out small units in a single shooting phase (take that, skink skirmishers!).
Like every unit in the army, he works best in tandem with others, and should be supported with flank charges from other units. Now you know why having 24 Dryads is so handy! We didn't quite have the points to fit the Glade Riders in, so I've replaced them with a unit of Dryads.
2250ptsArmy List
Spellweaver: Dispel Scroll; Amaranthine Brooch; Level 4 Wizard; Lore of Beasts.
Noble: Hail of Doom Arrow; Asyendi's Bane; Dragonbane Gem; Battle Standard; light armour.
Noble: Stone of the Crystal Mere; Dragonhelm; Potion of Foolhardiness; Great Eagle; great weapon; light armour; shield.
10 Glade Guard: Lord's Bowman; Musician; Standard Bearer; Banner of Eternal Flame.
10 Glade Guard: Musician; Standard Bearer.
10 Glade Guard: Musician; Standard Bearer.
10 Glade Guard: Musician.
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
3 Tree Kin
Great Eagle
Treeman
What to buy and why
Wood Elf Tree Kin - $52
Running Total - $416
What's better than 3 Tree Kin? How about 6 Tree Kin! I like to run this in a unit of 6 for a couple of reasons: firstly you can get a rank bonus, which can help against large units of infantry; secondly because if you flank charge you are disrupting the unit's rank bonus meaning you're much more likely to win combat. Monstrous Infantry get a maximum of three supporting attacks from a second rank, which works out well because that's exactly what Tree Kin have.
2500ptsArmy List
Spellweaver: Dispel Scroll; Amaranthine Brooch; Level 4 Wizard; Lore of Beasts.
Noble: Hail of Doom Arrow; Asyendi's Bane; Dragonbane Gem; Battle Standard; light armour.
Noble: Stone of the Crystal Mere; Dragonhelm; Potion of Foolhardiness; Great Eagle; great weapon; light armour; shield.
10 Glade Guard: Lord's Bowman; Musician; Standard Bearer; Banner of Eternal Flame.
10 Glade Guard: Lord's Bowman; Musician; Standard Bearer.
10 Glade Guard: Musician; Standard Bearer.
10 Glade Guard: Musician.
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
6 Glade Riders
6 Tree Kin
Great Eagle
Treeman
What to buy and why
Wood Elf Treeman - $57.75
Running Total - $473.75
This brings us to 2500 points which is more or less the standard points value for tournaments. The list below is pretty similar to a list I've run several times and at tournaments (you can read some battle reports here and here) with the main difference being I ran a second Great Eagle. At this point level, you have enough points in Lord choices to run the second Treeman as an Ancient, and make him (or her as it was in my case) your general - she has the same Ld as the Spellweaver, but as a Large Target her Inspiring Presence range is 50% larger which can really help your other Treeman and Tree Kin.
So what didn't make the cut?Army List
Spellweaver: Dispel Scroll; Level 4 Wizard; Lore of Beasts.
Treeman Ancient: An Annoyance of Netlings.
Noble: Hail of Doom Arrow; Asyendi's Bane; Dragonbane Gem; Battle Standard; light armour.
Noble: Stone of the Crystal Mere; Dragonhelm; Potion of Foolhardiness; Great Eagle; great weapon; light armour; shield.
10 Glade Guard: Musician; Standard Bearer; Banner of Eternal Flame.
10 Glade Guard: Lord's Bowman; Musician; Standard Bearer.
10 Glade Guard: Musician.
10 Glade Guard: Musician.
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
8 Dryads
6 Tree Kin
Great Eagle
Treeman
Almost everything that was cut was because the units selected are easier to use for beginners, or perform a similar function for more money / points.
Eternal Guard
Eternal Guard models are very expensive in monetary terms, for a unit that dies to just about everything and comes out of Special unless you are running a Highborn. To be used effectively, you need at least 30, which costs $132 at current prices, and is generally overall worse than 6 Treekin, for more points (you want to run them with at least a Noble on foot in the unit, so that they are Stubborn).
Glade Guard Scouts
Same profile as Glade Guard but never get the S4 shots at close range, which is critical today's game. Paying an additional 50% tax to lose that but gain the Scout rule is only good in specific situations. Feel free to do it - the Glade Guard models are also the Scout models!
Wild Riders
Fast Cavalry that is more expensive than Glade Riders and can't flee. They still have their place, and are excellent when used correctly, but are quite weak (Toughness and Armour Save) compared to just about every other cavalry model in the game and can easily disillusion new players. The right time to consider these guys is in point values between two and three thousand. See also Sylvos' Wild Riders tactica for ideas on how best to use these guys.
Warhawk Riders
As much as I love the fluff behind these guys, to pay 40 points for a T3 model with a 6+ armor save is a swift way for a new player to lose heart. They have some interesting rules and possibilities, but need a tactical finesse that eludes the beginner to intermediate player. Even then, they'd still be overcosted for what they do :-)
Wardancers
Play a similar role to Dryads in harassing, redirecting and holding up much larger units. Viable alternative to Dryads, especially if you like the models (and why wouldn't you?). They also have a bunch of interesting tactics that are specific to them, but again the point of this list was to provide a ramp up to 2500 points for the new player as efficiently as possible.
Waywatchers
Alas, Waywatchers used to have Scout before everyone did, and back when Killing Blow actually meant something. With everyone and their dog now riding around on Monstrous Beasts, Killing Blow is not what it was, and I'm pretty certain that Waywatchers are now the most expensive infantry model in the game, points-wise. Hopefully the new book will return them to their former glory, but now is definitely the winter of their discontent ...
Branchwraith, Spellsinger, Highborn
Spellsingers only get access to the Lore of Athel Loren, which is very weak when compared to Beasts or Life. Branchwraiths are marginally better (although overcosted if you take them as wizards) in that they can perform pretty well in combat, and can be given Spites to help the army along (Cluster of Radiants is always nice, for instance). Highborns have a great statline, but in terms of points lose out in my mind to Nobles. Any of the kitted out builds for Highborns can be done on Nobles for cheaper, with only a few specific exceptions.
Summary
Hopefully this will help you get started with your Wood Elf army. By the time you're done, you'll have spent a shade under $500 and have an army that is capable of winning against any when played right. Don't forget, Wood Elves are not Ogres or Warriors of Chaos and your main army strategy should *NEVER* be just to run right at the enemy. Play positionally, make good use of terrain (especially Forests), set up multiple charges, and don't be afraid to flee when you have to!
Thanks for reading,
~gwh