Need a new way to play our beloved psychopathic treehuggers

[Avian]

I've been playing with a group who for the last few months have been doing an escalation. The new book came out at about the same time we moved up to 1000 points, we're now getting to the end of 1250 and about to move up to 1500 and I'm bored of my list's play style. Against opponents who know what they're doing with the WE shooting/avoidance play style it's fine, against newer players and some armies it's awful. I played two games today and won both so quickly that I felt genuinely bad, particularly against a newer HE opponent who I'd tabled by the end of turn 2. This isn't interesting for either player and I really don't want to be 'that guy' who puts newer players off the game.

So, it's time for a change. I don't want to play an army that isn't a good solid list but at the same time I no longer want to play one that presents a play style that is impossible for newer players to deal with.

The 1250 list I've been running is:

SW Lvl3: Steed, Bow, HODa, Dispel Scroll

14 Glade Guard: Trueflights
5 Glade Riders : True Flights

5 Sisters of the Thorn
8 Wild Riders: Shields, Standard
3 Warhawk Riders

8 Waywatchers

(total 1244)

As you can see this list is falling into the normal play style of heavy shooting backed up by LOTS of avoidance and assassination. Before I start looking closely at other lists I need to suss out the theory hammer of other ways to play our beloved psychopathic treehuggers.

The close combat ideas have been discussed in other threads but other than close combat and shoot and scoot how else can our army be played with at least a moderate degree of success? I'm mildly limited by models as I don't have many EG (only 15) or any WWR but I'm interested to see what people think.

[hutobega]

um 30 eternal guard with a level 3 still and throw in a glade captain BSB with hoda. from there makes 2 15 man units of wild wood rangers and 2 5 man units of wild riders... throw in some wardancers. two eagles. try something like that =P

[Cold73]

The list you have in mind now is certainly a bit more fun to play against...your opponent certainly has a few units to focus on.

If you want to get a more melee oriented army...you will need another combat unit besides the Wild Riders.
How is your gaming group with proxy? Is there someway you could proxy WWR?

[Avian]

We frequently play in store so we can't proxy there, but in casual games out of the shop it's not a problem. The other thing that I occasionally do to change things up is to play my Beastmen who either loose hilariously or win by a whisker and a blood bath. I thought about possibly getting some more EG and playing something on these lines:

Lvl3: Dispel Scroll, Seed or Rebirth
Glade Captain: Spear, Shield, Hoda, Dragon Helm
Shadow Dancer

26EG W/Full command
10 Wardancers
Treeman W/strangle roots
6 Scouts W/Hagbanes

1250 excatly

The idea is that the list presents plenty of wierd and some challenges but is not the hellstorm of shooting and avoidance that my normal list is. Opinions?

[Avian]

We frequently play in store so we can't proxy there, but in casual games out of the shop it's not a problem. The other thing that I occasionally do to change things up is to play my Beastmen who either loose hilariously or win by a whisker and a blood bath. I thought about possibly getting some more EG and playing something on these lines:

Lvl3: Dispel Scroll, Seed or Rebirth
Glade Captain: Spear, Shield, Hoda, Dragon Helm
Shadow Dancer

26EG W/Full command
10 Wardancers
Treeman W/strangle roots
6 Scouts W/Hagbanes

1250 excatly

The idea is that the list presents plenty of wierd and some challenges but is not the hellstorm of shooting and avoidance that my normal list is. Opinions?

[Rinielle]

I have been doing something very similar with my gaming group. I brought the standard shooting/avoidance/poison list and was tabling people 70-80% of the time. The other games were really close against some very good opponents but like you felt like I was coming across as 'that guy' It got really boring so I started to look at the combat orientated wood elves and I can honestly say I have had more fun in the past few weeks trying to make them work, as I have been leaving the majority of my bows at home.

I will state absolutely at the start this is in no way a power/optimal list, but I have had a blast trying to make it work.

Lvl 4 Shadow Moonstone

BSB HoD Gw Great Eagle#
Shadowdancer Lvl 1 Shadow (yes its over priced but it allows the mage to teleport with the trait) ruby ring
Spellsinger Lvl 1 Fire (or shadow) dispel scroll

10 Dryads
10 Dryads

10 Glade Guard Trueflight
10 Glade Guard Trueflight

5 Wardancers
5 Wardancers
3 Warhawk Riders
10 WWR

Great Eagle
Great Eagle
Treeman Strangleroot

So this is based on combination charges with the dryads, treeman and WWR aiming to charge the front, combined with flank charges from wardancers or warhawk riders. I have taken both the moonstone and shadow mages for uber mobility to teleport around the board and a couple of fireballs.

Again it is not optimal, because I did not want it to be optimal by definition, but has been alot of fun trying to test my ability to use it.

If I were to modify it for 1250 it would probably look like this

Spell Weaver Lvl 3 Shadow Dispel

Shadowdancer Lvl 1 Shadow

10 Dryads
14 Glade Guard Trueflight

5 Wardancers
5 Wardancers
10 WWR

Great Eagle
Treeman Strangleroot

Combat elves can be very very unforgiving! But really fun to play with

Rini

[astorre]

I've thought Wardancers backed up by Shadow magic would be good.

[Polycotton]

A unit of 10 Wardancers sitting in a Venom Wood are about as good a disincentive to charge as a unit of Eternal Guard in the same woods. I'm really looking forward to trying them out more in units bigger than five or six where I'm hoping they will actually do some decent damage.

[sunstrider]

I've thought Wardancers backed up by Shadow magic would be good.

Id say no more than dryads, but reducing the strength of the unit their engaged with is a good way to enhance their survivability. Doesn't matter that their ward sucks if they never have to roll it

[Aezeal]

I have been doing something very similar with my gaming group. I brought the standard shooting/avoidance/poison list and was tabling people 70-80% of the time. The other games were really close against some very good opponents but like you felt like I was coming across as 'that guy' It got really boring so I started to look at the combat orientated wood elves and I can honestly say I have had more fun in the past few weeks trying to make them work, as I have been leaving the majority of my bows at home.

I will state absolutely at the start this is in no way a power/optimal list, but I have had a blast trying to make it work.

Lvl 4 Shadow Moonstone

BSB HoD Gw Great Eagle#
Shadowdancer Lvl 1 Shadow (yes its over priced but it allows the mage to teleport with the trait) ruby ring
Spellsinger Lvl 1 Fire (or shadow) dispel scroll

10 Dryads
10 Dryads

10 Glade Guard Trueflight
10 Glade Guard Trueflight

5 Wardancers
5 Wardancers
3 Warhawk Riders
10 WWR

Great Eagle
Great Eagle
Treeman Strangleroot

So this is based on combination charges with the dryads, treeman and WWR aiming to charge the front, combined with flank charges from wardancers or warhawk riders. I have taken both the moonstone and shadow mages for uber mobility to teleport around the board and a couple of fireballs.

Again it is not optimal, because I did not want it to be optimal by definition, but has been alot of fun trying to test my ability to use it.

If I were to modify it for 1250 it would probably look like this

Spell Weaver Lvl 3 Shadow Dispel

Shadowdancer Lvl 1 Shadow

10 Dryads
14 Glade Guard Trueflight

5 Wardancers
5 Wardancers
10 WWR

Great Eagle
Treeman Strangleroot

Combat elves can be very very unforgiving! But really fun to play with

Rini

seems like a combat list might indeed more fun for your opponents though with this list if THEY would go heavy on archers none of your units will even reach the enemy and you can't force them to charge you since you don't have threatning archers. And I know you are nto aiming at optimal (which seems to be shooting in your group) but I'd still change a few things.
Do you really need 2 eagles next to the warhawk riders.. I think 2x 3 warhawks might be enough flying units and that 2nd unit will have more staying power and more damage (unless opponents only field huge blocks of units where they wont do much more than the eagles). I'd take the extra points needed from the dryads and put the remaining 15 in 1 unit to at least have 1 unit with some sort of rank bonus.