Wildwood Rangers

[Gogery]

Hey everyone! I was curious about Wildwood Rangers, as I prefer a more mixed/balanced army rather than one mostly focused on shooting, but can't seem to find very much information about them on the forums. So, what does everyone think of them? Do you use them or not, and why? What unit size if you do? Have you had good or bad experiences with them, etc. I'm not quite sure what to make of them myself.

[Phil Rossiter]

I tried a unit of 20 (7-wide) and they did OK. The S5 and extra attack vs Fear-causers meant they held up well against the stuff like Demigryphs they had to fight. Might not be so good vs infantry, especially elves. Hording them looks like a good idea so they all get to fight and the extra bodies are good because they die fast. I don't trust small units of them in a normal army but an MSU combat list might just work.

The reason I've dropped them is they are Special. I've gone back to Eternal Guard because that means I don't have to fill my Core allocation with slow stuff that is vulnerable in combat. Those 255pts for the Rangers are also very welcome for other things I want to take.

I ran a Life lvl4 with them as I thought they'd need the buffs but if your other troops (archers, Wild Riders) put pressure on early the Rangers may not be a priority target for your enemy. My feeling is though, that Rangers are good going forwards, in an army built for that. I just think Wood Elves are an army where you need the flexibility to back off at times and EG are better for that.

[Aezeal]

I think rangers can certainly be worth it if you can get them against the fear causing enemies.
I think either a unit of 10 or a real ranked up unit can work though the latter might have more difficulty getting in combat with the right unit. The enemy will realize that against certain units they will be putting out 2x more damage which is a BIG incentive to tie them up or kill them with any other unit. If you use them as "death star" you will probably be less maneuvarable and have less support.
If they are a unit of 10 (MSU) they might get into the flank of a unit that is tarpitted (I assume you'll have either EG or a treemen for that job next to them in this case) they'd deny ranks which would be nice.
The only thing is that WR could do a bit of that too.. and WR would put out more damage on the charge and certainly be easier to get into the flank>

While you probably won't have ranks on the WR (or theyd be way more expensive than 10 WWR anyway) they damage out put and maneuverability from our (a bit OP) wild riders is just so good I'd take those anyday.
The WWR aren't bad.. but the WR are just so good I'd prefer them in nearly any situation even if they can't negate ranks.

[Granitebeard]

See I face a lot of undead and deamons, so to me, I like them a lot. I would like to have of 20 my self. Maybe I will dumb/split them down to smaller units. I figured units of 6 or 7 wide would be best. They are one of those things where you have to go at what you want with them. So they can help decide what you are going to do with the rest of your army. While not having any game with or against WE, I think they would preform well against most current armies in any respect.

[astorre]

The big problem with them is that they need support. Some ways to get this are:
1. Acorn, make fear causing woods.
2. Lord with stubborn crown, or Araloth.
3. Magic. I think they can do better with robes/blades from metal or light buffs to be harder to hit and pass all leadership tests. Life is OK too if you run a huge unit, I mean like 50 of them with MR3 and you can be sure your investment won't run off the table.

[astorre]

I had an idea for Swedish to run 40 of them with a light council bunkered in some wardancers just behind. 2 units of wild riders, some waywatchers, and trueflight core to remove chaff. I just don't have the models

[Phil Rossiter]

Under the old HE book, a unit of 10 White Lions was a useful tool, found in various lists. Now, you only see this unit in a true MSU list. Previously, it had true ASF, which meant it re-rolled to hit with those Great Weapons. More, it went first and other elves didn't have ASF. There is a lot of powerful I5 stuff in the game (WoC etc) and the unit doesn't take a chunk out of that before it strikes anymore. It's even worse against elves. The same logic applies to Rangers. I believe they need more bodies to cope with that initial impact because they are a grinding unit, not a missile like Wild Riders.

[Gogery]

Hmmm. It doesn't seem to make sense to use them as support chargers in small units since Wild Riders outclass them in firepower. Also, in cases where they would be overkill to use, I feel like 5 wardancers could be effective for cheaper than 10 WWR.

Do you think that they would have a use as a monster hunting squad in a small group of 10 without command? Only 110 points for 20s5 (EDIT: 15!) attacks at a good weapon skill. ASF with our Initiative would allow us to hit before most, if not all monsters, even with Great Weapons.

Also, what about as a large infantry block who goes after s5+ enemies? Against strength 5 and up, they die at the same rate as eternal guard, costing one point less if you take shields on EG, and dealing a bit more damage, but coming from the special category rather than core. Another thing I've thought about is putting a branchwraith with them if they can be used for this role to give them regen.

Do you think either of these could be effective/worth it?

[Phil Rossiter]

Which monsters were you thinking of hunting with them Gogery? To my mind, as soon as you put a block of Rangers on the table you've committed yourself to fight. That's the big difference with EG. Branchwraith good but ironically, not so much for Earthblood I found.

[Gogery]

Honestly I'm not sure. No one around where I live plays other than my dad and brother, who I usually lend one of my armies (Lizzies and WE, my brother used to collect O&G), so I'm not familar with the stat lines of any other team's monsters. I think 10 could take out a bastiladon or regular steg if your opponent allowed you to get to them 1v1 for some reason, but against a treeman, ancient steg, or carno, im not so sure. Probably weaken them at best, but is it worth the sacrifice with shooting and magic around to finish them? Or is it better to just depend on these and good ol' treewhack to get the job done?

Also, I think they could be good if you can catch monstrous infantry with them. They'd beat Kroxigors quite handily (again if you can catch them). At worst, they could probably zone out certain units from coming close since they get a bonus against them.

Also, could I ask you to elaborate on what branchwraiths are good for?

[Rafiki]

Used them in one game, i do like that they still get to fight before most of the opponent can hit you, because they default to their initiative.
And they took down a group of terradon riders, and held against two unit of undead at the same time(one was a swarm and the other some flying things that gave them always strike last, had to point out for my opponent that i would still strike first then he ).

they are still squisy and their special rule only works for the front rank, so 10 in a 5x2 formation would only get 15 attacks not 20 as Gogery wrote.
Since the second rank only gets one supporting attack per model, no matter if the second rank had a thousand attacks or not.

[Gogery]

Yes, I realized my mistake after I had posted considering there won't be room to run them 10 wide against a monster! Been thinking along watchtower lines too much lately.

[Phil Rossiter]

The trouble is, most monster bases are 50mm wide, which means you only get four models in contact, so 12 attacks. Might work against some but Thunderstomp will reduce them pretty quickly. Maybe worth a try.

Branchwraiths give you a Channel. The spell (Flesh to Stone is great if you can roll it) gives you Lifebloom. You can use her as a close-in redirector. You can charge her out to remove enemy light troops. With a spell like Savage Beast she's a killer.

[Gogery]

True, and 12 attacks really won't cut it for that I'm thinking. Might have to proxy a squad of 20 next time I play and see how I like them as a block myself.

[darksaga]

Meant to stand in 3 ranks in a fear causing forest unless you are facing somebody that is causing fear all around.

[The Peacemaker]

Hey everyone! I was curious about Wildwood Rangers, as I prefer a more mixed/balanced army rather than one mostly focused on shooting, but can't seem to find very much information about them on the forums. So, what does everyone think of them? Do you use them or not, and why? What unit size if you do? Have you had good or bad experiences with them, etc. I'm not quite sure what to make of them myself.

Dryads are better than wildwood rangers. That is how bad wildwood rangers are.

[Phil Rossiter]

Rangers do some jobs (Monstrous stuff) quite well.

The problem is in making them work with other elements in a competitive list IMHO.

[Firelupus]

I find a unit of 25-30 WWR works well in my list, with razor standard and a life mage for +2-4T makes them durable, it also helps them being in any wood as rerolling 1's to wound help.

For me they are an auto include.

[Sceolan]

The problem is they can't take the razor standard.. Without a squishy BSB.. They are the only source of constant s5 attacks we have though..

[tomrobo23]

Hey everyone! I was curious about Wildwood Rangers, as I prefer a more mixed/balanced army rather than one mostly focused on shooting, but can't seem to find very much information about them on the forums. So, what does everyone think of them? Do you use them or not, and why? What unit size if you do? Have you had good or bad experiences with them, etc. I'm not quite sure what to make of them myself.

Dryads are better than wildwood rangers. That is how bad wildwood rangers are.

Hang on there, Wildwood rangers are useable, they have a role. Dryads are the single worst unit in our book by a large margin. Any unit capable of kicking out a lot of attacks at s5+ has a use. Moreover they're ws5, ld9, ItP and with full command and magic banner access. Plus they're on 20mm and you can put characters in the unit itself rather than on the edge. All that for 11 points is pretty average compared to their counterparts. But dryads are the same cost and have t4 with a half decent number of attacks with hatred, but they're s3 so they are pretty much automatically rendered useless as a combat unit.

[nXken]

Dryads are core... have 2 attacks, hatred and ... aren't their attacks magical?
+ they cause fear
+ forest spirit

I kinda like them...

Keeps the special open for WR

[Phil Rossiter]

If running a block of Dryads, I agree with Tom that S3 is just not enough because even Wildformed, that's only a -1 to AS. Mindrazor's worth a look with the Hatred IMHO. Power Scroll maybe? Or the unit of ten that redirects, clears skinks etc.. Again though, these units cost you flexibility compared to the alternatives I feel.

[popisdead]

The problem with them is the lack of re-rolls. And Eternal Guard are a good choice.

[Gogery]

Every time I see someone say "Eternal guard are a good choice" as a reason to not take WWR, I cringe a little . I don't think it makes very much sense for you to use them to fight the same enemies. I wouldn't send my s5 WWR at the same thing I'd send my s3 EG to fight. Also, I see no reason why there's something wrong with taking two combat blocks, more of a playstyle thing since you sacrifice ranged firepower for melee. Take two and you can pick your targets based on what they would be best against, not just what you need to stall most as you have to do with a single block.

[pliny]

I certainly hope they are not as bad as people say - I just ordered a box to try on my son's Skaven. I figured 15 S5 hits had to be a nice cheap ItP alternative to WR for finishing off rat ogres, HPA or doom wheels that are damaged by missile fire. Nice models too.