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AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 09 Jul 2015, 03:27
by Duraska
Hey everyone.

Well, I'm freshly back from playing my first Age of Sigmar game against my buddy. I was Wood Elves, he was Ogre Kingdoms. I must say, there are things I like about AoS, and some things that I'm not-so-crazy about. I do miss the magic from 8th edition, and I somewhat miss the tight blocks of units and the more restrictive movement-phase rules (the swift reforms, fast-cav movement, and wheeling). In fact, I found that his Ogres moved faster than my elves (Ogre base movement is 6", while Elves appear to be 5").

Anyway, I got completely tabled. We tried to balance our forces somewhat, but I guess we didnt do a great job. Balancing based on number of warscrolls and/or model count does not seem to work. Each of his Ogre Bulls were 4 wound models that do 2-3 wounds per attack (3 attacks each), so a unit of 6 of his basic ogres destroyed a unit of 20 eternal guard.

I'm sure i did a lot wrong tactically, which is why I thought it would be interesting to start a thread and get some input from other people who have had success with the Wood Elves in AoS. I'm basically talking about the different units, and the tactics that might work with them.

I'll start with a few of my findings, but please... share your ideas and advice!

I brought:
Durthu
Mounted Glade Lord (horse)
Spellweaver (mounted on horse)
20 Eternal Guard
30 Glade Guard
10 Wild Riders
5 Sisters of the Thorn

He brought:
Butcher
Tyrant
6 Ogre Bulls
6 Ogre Bulls
6 Ogre Bulls
6 Leadbelchers

Note that, based on model count, he was supposed to qualify for "sudden death" due to how badly I outnumbered him. We ignored that and played a "normal" game and my entire army was dead by the end of turn 3. He probably lost half his army in the process.

My impression of units:

Wild Riders - Not nearly as fearsome anymore. If they get the charge they still do OK damage, but nothing like what they were in 8th edition. My buddy absolutely fears my Wild Riders (or, he did), so he made it a priority to kill them first, but he did so VERY easily. I would suggest using Orion with them, but I do not have an Orion model. They get no special rules for shields, so you don't have to model the shields on if you dont want to anymore.

Sisters of the Thorn - Again, not that amazing anymore (their save is 5+. A 5+ save means nothing when your opponent has Rend -1 on most his troops. They do have a spell called Shield of Thorns which can be pretty decent if you cast it on a unit that has at least a 4+ save. However, you could just as easily use them to cast Mystic Shield on that unit, which would give them a 3+ save. (Shield of Thorns allows you to re-roll a failed save, while Mystic Shield gives +1 to a save, both have a casting value of 6 and both work on any unit within 18").

Tonight, both my unit of 10 wild riders and my unit of 5 sisters of the thorn died after 1 round of combat. The Sisters were killed outright, the Wild Riders died due to wounds and battleshock.

Eternal Guard - They did last until the end of turn 3 in combat. And since they had bravery 7, +1 for each 10 models, they didn't lose much at all to battle shock. However, his ogres tore them apart. 4+ to hit / 4+ to wound sounds good on paper, but I guess i was rolling badly because they didn't do too much. Modeling them with shields is a MUST - you need that re-roll of any 1's during a save attempt! They would be a good candidate for ether a Shield of Thorns or a Mystic Shield spell, but honestly, I feel like WIldwood Rangers are a better choice now. Keep in mind I had 20 Eternal Guard in my unit. I think 30 would have been better, but you're pretty much giving your opponent Sudden Death if you bring units of 30 models in AoS.

Glade Guard - These were the big winner. I had a unit of 30 of them. They can now move 5" and still shoot, and they can shoot at ANYONE - even units that are in combat. Heck, if your Glade Guard are in a close combat themselves, they can STILL shoot in the shooting phase. They now hit on 4+ and wound on 4+, which is great, and they have a special rule that if you have 20+ models in your unit, and no enemies are within 3" they get a +1 to hit. That's 3+ to hit and 4+ to wound. Every shooting phase they caused about 8-9 wounds. Honestly, they did almost all of the killing for me (except Durthu). They're only 20" range now though, so you can't bunker them quite as well.

Glade Lord on a horse - he did nothing. Not much to say about him.

Spellweaver on a horse - I see no reason to bring a spellweaver on foot. Why only have 5" move when you can have 14" ? Too bad GW doesn't sell a Wood Elf Spellweaver on a Horse model, but I guess you can make one by putting a Sister of the Thorn on a Glade Rider horse. Anyway, she basically casted her "resurrect d3 wood elves" spell each turn. I rolled bad so I only got it off 2 times, but it was nice being able to bring a few Eternal Guard back to life. I could see her being used to stand behind whatever unit is fighting in close combat casting Mystic Shield on them each round. Other than that, she didnt do much (except die to leadbelcher fire).

Durthu - Besides the Glade Guard, Durthu was the only other real saving grace during tonight's match. He did VERY well, but one look at his stats and you'll realize that he SHOULD do well. He was the last unit to die on my side. Even with only 1 wound left he still was effective in combat. His "stomp" rule is amazing: at the start of each combat round roll a die, a 4+ means enemy units within 3" of him get -1 to hit for that combat round. That is super good. He hits well and his 3+ save is very good. I didnt bother with the Sylvaneth Forest thingy, so I didnt do anything tricky like warp him around the board or whatever. His shooting attack looks great on paper, but in practice (for me, tonight at least) it didn't do much. 5+ to wound is not very reliable. I would have preferred him to be a wizard again with some sort of buffing spell, but oh well.

Anyway, that's my first impressions of the units I used tonight. I'm interested to hear other people's experiences.

I'm already thinking of my next AoS game - I think I'll try bringing:

Spellweaver on horse
2 units of 5x wild riders (I really want to give them another chance)
1 unit of 5x Sisters of the Thorn (for the Shield of Thorns spell, I'm thinking cast this on a Treekin unit after the Spellweaver has cast Mystic Shield on them, that's a 3+ save re-rollable for them).
1 unit of 6 Treekin (see above, I think getting them to 3+ save re-rollable would make them brutal).
2 units of 20 Glade Guard (they're pretty darn good, any 20 models in a unit gives the +1 to hit bonus)
Regular Treeman - No idea why they get 6" move whereas TMA and Durth get 5+. They also get more regular attacks than either TMA or Durthu (until they've lost 5 wounds that is).

Parting Words:

Maybe I'm playing AoS totally wrong (in fact, I'm sure I am), but from my initial impression it seems like you're better off with smaller units made up of multi-wound models. Also, the magic is not nearly as strong as it was before for the Wood Elves. Shooting feels even stronger, so Glade Riders might be interesting (they can run and shoot, so you could move anywhere from 15"-20" a turn and stay just out of charge range of enemy units while shooting them each turn). Treemen are awesome, probably the best unit we have (IMO). I'm not sure about waywatchers anymore, moving only 5" with a small unit of archers doesn't seem that great to me.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 09 Jul 2015, 03:45
by Nicholas Nitro
:thumbsup:
The glade-guard vs. way-watcher comparison is an interesting one. If you have enough GG, they are just as accurate as the WW. If the GG have a 'pennant bearer' they can be just as brave (or more so if in cover). WW have a 3+ to hit in CC, and make 2 attacks rather then the GG's one. GG have bodkins with the best rend in the game, but they only can use them once. WW can choose to shoot with a rend of 2 every turn, and do 2 wounds rather then 1. The WW's fast-shot has 2x the output of regular GG shots.
In most situations the WW are better then the GG, but a large volley of Bodkins is unmatched by other any other archer unit. They're both winners in my book.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 09 Jul 2015, 09:11
by Rogue Sun
I think Wardancers are going to be the premiere combat infantry of wood elves. They're fast (8 inches!), have the ability to get to where they need with a 4+ save, which is further protected with their tattoos, and they can either wade through numerous squishy stuff or buff their hitting power. I see them being very powerful as a tarpit/elite unit to tie up your opponent and then rip them apart in melee and range.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 09 Jul 2015, 13:08
by Akorndr2
orion boss, glade lord on dragon just as good

but have you thought about using the formation to do all kinds of mean stuff

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 09 Jul 2015, 13:37
by Duraska
Well, over my morning coffee I re-read the rules and the warscrolls... and I definitely missed some stuff that would have helped me out.

For instance, on Eternal Guard:

- If they're in woods (or on any other "terrain feature") they count as "in cover" which gives them a bonus of 1 to their save. That means they'd be saving on a 4+. Now, imagine your spellweaver casts Mystic Shield on them, they essentially now have a 3+ (because you can add +1 to any save roll). If they have the shields they can re-roll any failed save rolls of a 1 or 2 (while in cover), so basically you have a 4+ save where rolling any dice result of a 1 or a 2 gives a re-roll.

Even better: Give them Shield of Thorns and have them use their "Fortress of Boughs" ability in the first available hero phase AFTER they've locked into combat. Sure, they can no longer move (I assume this means they cannot charge either), but they add 1 to all their To-Hit, To-Wound and SAVE rolls!. If Eternal Guard are using Fortress of Boughs in a forest with Shield of Thorns cast on them, they will now have a 3+ save, with any rolls of 1 or 2 RE-ROLLABLE!

So yes, I think a block of Eternal Guard can be VERY effective. With Fortress of Boughs they also hit on 3+ and wound on 3+. Not bad at all. And if they're in a forest they have a bravery of 9 + 1 per every 10 models. A unit of 20 Eternal Guard would have 11 Bravery, meaning they're going to probably never face losses from battleshock! :eek:

Edit: I kept saying Mystic Shield when I was talking about Shield of Thorns (the Sisters of the Thorn spell!) Duh.. sorry guys!!

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 12:09
by overtninja
If you take the mounted Lord again, give him the HoD arrow, it's still incredible and with him on a horse you can book it all over the map and get him to where he needs to to fire. In particular, I think it would be great for killing off things like casters, war machines, and other things that have huge impact on the game.

I also think that you'd really need to get some Treekin in the mix to match his brute force with brute force, but you'd probably want a Branchwraith to regrowth the Treekin to keep them going - though Durthu could also do it for you. Between the two of them, you'd have a strong smashing force to put against the ogres - especially if you can get Mystic Shield off on the Treekin too.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 15:56
by hutobega
Just so you know you don't have to "give it" to him they kind of just have it i think? IDK still reading and trying to make sense of these rules.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 16:12
by Hyarion
From what I read, only the Glade Lord on foot has access to the Hail of Doom Arrow.

Overtninja, where did you see that a mounted Glade Lord could take it?

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 16:59
by Luminith
I think if you want a solid eternal guard unit, you need to include that BSB! Have them follow behind your EG for initial charge protection, then on your next turn bough up and watch them shine :D

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 19:50
by PensivePanther
Ever since I read the shadow dancers bridge of shadows spell I've wanted to see some wild riders fly 24" + run into my friends organ gun. Or see some warhawk riders catapult 32" across the world and do the same. I can picture his face now...

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 21:59
by carrp
I'm in the minority that really enjoy AoS, as so someone with a dear attachment to my Wildwood Ranger and Ushabti models, they do more than just sit in a box now!

On our units, I was disappointed with how my wildriders performed in my last game, but it was more due to bad generalship than the models themselves. With run and charge, I can pretty much cross the table in one turn and get to my opponents soft stuff. But it would be wise to peel the main combat force away with my main fighting brick first. Also I'm picking up a stag lord for synergy.

Anyways, although flanking no longer offers a tangible combat bonus, it can still be a very effective way to use wildriders. Go behind enemy lines as if to target their backfield, and let their main fighting force crash into yours. Once they've over committed their pile ins to maximize contact with your whatever(eternal guard, etc) , crash into their side/flank and you can get maximum model contact on them, with minimal contact on your wildriders. They can only pile 3" towards the closest enemy, so if they've already spread out into your units you can pick and choose which models and how many to contact. Now you could get maybe 5 riders swinging at the enemy and only 2-3 that have to choose between riders or the same block the rest of their unit is fighting. Either your riders are safe to stab away at them, or you reduce battleshock on your anvil unit.
Just a theory.

Also mounted casters are the way to go. You want to be able to get in 18" of the enemy to dispell, especially one with summoning abilities who's content to sit in the backfield. I've found success sneaking in the back and using my 5 wound spellweaver to lock up the enemies bsb while his army is forced to march on without him. No one has committed a whole combat unit away from the main fight to go help a combat hero fight a wizard, and with 5 wounds he's a pretty good mini tarpit.


Allies are fantastic to now. Sauruses make a great anvil unit for us, bravery 10 and ignore a rend below -2

As far as balance, my friends and I go more off wounds than models. It's not perfect but it's pretty good. A unit of 6 ogres is 24 wounds, so really its worth around 24 eternal guard, or maybe 20 Wildwood rangers.

Excited to try warhawk riders now to, just have to wait to get the models in the mail

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 23:47
by Duraska
Has anyone experimented with Sisters of the Thorn and their Shield of Thorns spell? It seems really good to me...
Wood Elf Warscrolls PDF wrote:Shield of Thorns

The Sisters cause crawling brambles to burst from the ground and form a living barrier around their allies. Shield of Thorns has a casting value of 6. If successfully cast, pick a unit within 18". You can re-roll failed save rolls for that unit until your next hero phase. In addition, each time you make a successful save roll of a 6 or more for that unit in the combat phase, the attacking unit suffers a mortal wound after all its attacks have been made.
Obviously, being able to re-roll failed saves is amazing. But possibly just as good is the secondary effect of applying a mortal wound to your foe when you have a save roll of "6 or more."

So, to use Eternal Guard as an example, supposed they've activated Fortress of Boughs in a forest. Their base save is 5+. Being in a forest lets you add +1 to your save roll, Forest of Boughs lets you add another + 1, being in cover (the forest) lets you add another + 1 to you save roll.

So, during your save roll, if you roll a:
  • 1: you actually rolled 1 + 3 = 4 (failed save), so go ahead and re-roll it.
  • 2: you actually rolled a 2 + 3 = 5 (passed save), thats awesome.
  • 3: you actually rolled a 3 + 3 = 6 (passed save), enemy takes a mortal wound!
  • 4: you actually rolled a 4 + 3 = 7 (passed save), enemy takes a mortal wound!
  • 5: you actually rolled a 5 + 3 = 8 (passed save), enemy takes a mortal wound!
  • 6: you actually rolled a 6 + 3 = 9 (passed save), enemy takes a mortal wound!
So in this situation, rolling a 1 means you re-roll, rolling a 2 means you save the sound, and rolling a 3+ means you save the wound AND do a mortal wound back to your foe! That's insane!

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 10 Jul 2015, 23:51
by Nicholas Nitro
Eternal guard have a 5+ save. If you have them in a forest(+1), using Fortress of Boughs (+1), and have a spell-weaver cast Mystic Shield (+1) you can get a 2+ save, re-rolling the 1s and 2s with the glade-shield. If you wanted to cast Shield of thorns as well, you could even re-roll the successful save rolls of 2, trying for the 6.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 11 Jul 2015, 00:16
by Duraska
Nicholas Nitro wrote:Eternal guard have a 5+ save. If you have them in a forest(+1), using Fortress of Boughs (+1), and have a spell-weaver cast Mystic Shield (+1) you can get a 2+ save, re-rolling the 1s and 2s with the glade-shield. If you wanted to cast Shield of thorns as well, you could even re-roll the successful save rolls of 2, trying for the 6.
Oh boy, here we go again! :lol:

So lets look at the wording of the rule for Cover (from the 4-page ruleset).

COVER
If all models in a unit are within or on a terrain feature, you can add 1 to all save rolls for that unit to represent the cover they receive from the terrain. This modifier does not apply in the combat phase if the unit you are making saves for made a charge move in the same turn.


I see that as them saying roll your die, and whatever number comes up, you can add +1 to it to see if you made your save. I don't see that as something where a 5+ save now becomes a 4+ save and you only need to roll at least a 4. Now... that's pretty much the same thing, right? Well yes, and no. Using my example from the post above you can see there's a difference between adding the bonus to your roll (like the rules say) vs just expanding the valid save thresh-hold (i.e. a 5+ save becomes a 4+ save).

My question to you. If they did NOT intend you to roll a die and then add your bonus to it, why do they say things like "each time you make a successful save roll of a 6 or more for that unit" ? How could you possibly roll more than a 6 on a 6-sided die? I think that makes it clear they're telling you to roll the die, then add the bonus to the result of the roll. Normally, doing it either way results in the same thing, but as you can see in the case I show above, the two ways of doing it are very different.

I believe this is a real change implemented by GW in Age of Sigmar, something that is different than it was in 8th edition.

Let me know your thoughts! (I'm really not trying to be argumentitive, Nicholas Nitro! ;) Maybe I'm missing something, but I've talked about this very issue with several guys at my Games Workshop, and they all agreed that for AoS, the correct way is to roll the die, then add any bonuses and subtract any penalties, and then see if it "made" the thresh-hold. I actually used to believe it was the "old" way (a 5+ save becomes a 4+) until they showed me the difference.

I can show you an example of how it is different. An Eternal Guard is using Fortress of Boughs while in cover with Shield of Thorns on them.

Using the 5+ becomes a 3+ method:
  • Roll of a 1 or 2 is a fail (you can re-roll)
  • Roll of a 3+ is a pass, and if you roll a 6, the enemy takes a mortal wound.
Now, using a "add the bonus to the roll" method, where you keep the 5+ threshold but add +3 to the roll:
  • Roll of a 1 becomes a 4, which is a failure (you can re-roll)
  • Roll of a 2 becomes a 5, which is a pass (but no mortal wound)
  • Roll of a 3+ becomes a 6+, which passes the save and fits the Shield of Thorns text that says "a 6 or more", causing a mortal wound.
Which is right? I'm honestly not sure...

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 11 Jul 2015, 00:42
by Q10fanatic
That sounds amazing. And totally plausible.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 11 Jul 2015, 01:33
by Nicholas Nitro
I think that the most important wording in here is the usage of "can".
You can add 1 to you save rolls. If adding 1 to a roll of 1 would deny you a re-roll, you simply elect not to add it.
I should have called it "effectively a 2+ save".
As for "shield of Thorns" and it's mortal wound rule, I'd say the wording implies that you do add bonuses to the roll, rather then subtracting them from the save requirement.
Astute. :thumbsup:

One unit I've suddenly taken a liking to are the war-hawk riders. I didn't like them with 7th or 8th edition point costs, so I don't have any models. If folks are mostly balancing by wound count, I think they (and the Glade Riders) are what the old game's 'evasion' tactics will best carry over to.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 11 Jul 2015, 09:28
by gmaleron
Experience that I had today playing my third game of AoS. Now my FLGS really does not like the open ended nature of the list building so our store owner after play testing a vast number of ideas over the last week came up with these guidelines to follow:

-Measure from Bases not Model: For ease of gameplay and to cut down on modeling for advantage.
-Max of __ Warscrolls, depending on your opponents forces: We have a lot of new players starting out so this is so we wont absolutely destroy them so if someone only had x6 total Warscrolls his opponent would build a list with the same number.
-Only x3 Character Warscrolls: A good number for Characters and doesn't impede people from taking the Formations.
-Only x3 Monster Warscrolls: Same as above in regards to Characters.
-Max number of 40 Wounds per Unit: This enabled all armies to get their special abilities and potentially have a little insurance if they so wished it.

Out of the large number of games that were played tonight there were almost zero complaints about this setup (one person didn't like it we got rid of the open ended list building and the fact we measure from bases) and everyone agreed that this was definitely a much more balanced way to approach the game. I played against the basic starting box set of the Stormcast Eternals (thanks to my local store owners demo kit) with the following:

-Glade Captain BSB
-x10 Waywatchers
-x10 Waywatchers
-x8 Ellyrian Reavers
-x8 Ellyrian Reavers
-x20 Eternal Guard

Needless to say the amount of shooting in this list well, lets just say it was not very pretty for the Stormcast player. Shooting has gotten even better in this game thanks to the fact we no longer suffer penalty for range and terrain. I took Reavers over Glade Riders since they shoot 3 times needing 4's to hit and wound and after they shoot they can roll 2 D6 and move that far away. I did this all game harassing his units from afar before charging in near the end to deliver the killing blow.

Waywatchers are AMAZING! I am so happy that one of my favorite units in the game are really quite awesome, granted they don't get the one turn epicness of the Glade Guard's -3 Rending but I found having multiple turns of -2 really paid off more in the long run, especially against a durable army like the Stormcast Eternals.

My Eternal Guard for the most part did not do much the entire game except form a solid skirmish line to protect my Waywatchers. When my opponent hit my battle line they did a pretty awesome job holding the line and thanks to the BSB, getting a 4+ save against his one guy's lightning spell was pretty awesome.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 11 Jul 2015, 21:24
by Jezandu
Well I've not had many games with my wood elves yet but I'm starting to learn a few things and also how to play differently. For one thing, the game is very different, and that means we can play very differently. I did the same thing at first that I've seen most people do: put al you units in loose square shaped formations. Thinking outside the box you can for instance spread a long line of eternal guard in a horse shoe shape and protect your glade guard. Add a glade Lord with banner, spellweaver at the back and out of range from other mages and you already have a strong defence with plenty of bow fire (which is pretty strong in the new rules)

I'd agree with comments above that wild riders are strong and you need to make their charge count. By that I mean don't charge another unit in the same phase that you also want to succeed or you are left with a dilemma. Under the new rules you attack first with one unit, your opponent then can choose to attack with either the unit you've just attacked or another one entirely. This really hurt when I charged my wild riders and Warhawks riders in the first turn at different units. I attacked first with my Warhawks riders on the one flank, my opponent then attacked but decided to attack my wildriders first instead which pretty much killed them. By the way my Warhawks didn't do very well.

My tree man was awesome. Incredibly strong. Took out a dark elf hydra on turn 1. Wardancers were good and it was good to still use their dances. Big winners are still our archers whether way watchers or glade guard so still take plenty. Taking over 20 glade guard is a big must to gain the +1 to hit bonus. One thing I'm sure we are all learning is when putting out your army to whatever size, certain units work well with certain lords and have certain synergy in the army.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 12 Jul 2015, 00:32
by Jezandu
Oh and I'm still debating whether to just take a unit of Sisters of Thorn over a single spellweaver. I've also just realised weavers and sisters can summon 5 hounds per turn too...... Lovely!

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 12 Jul 2015, 02:18
by Q10fanatic
Our spell weavers can auto-dispel on top of their normal dispel. We may have the best magic defense in AoS.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 12 Jul 2015, 05:09
by LandonElf
Jezandu wrote:Oh and I'm still debating whether to just take a unit of Sisters of Thorn over a single spellweaver. I've also just realised weavers and sisters can summon 5 hounds per turn too...... Lovely!
Correct but only if you are have Hounds already present on the battlefield. ( as its their warscroll that grants the spell) This is essentially how the Undead armies work too.

Personally the Branchwraith spell is more appealing. 2d6 dryads per turn could get crazy!

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 12 Jul 2015, 09:43
by Rogue Sun
But you need a forest to summon them in, which isn't guaranteed to be there unless you take Durthu. Honestly the dogs aren't a terrible choice. 2 wounds each and fast moving means they tarpit decently.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 12 Jul 2015, 13:08
by LandonElf
Durthu is *amazing* and will likely be in all of my test armies. The other treeman rules arent exactly bad either. The 3+ save and 12 wounds alone are quite formidable.

However, notice that each Sylvaneth Forest is 2 citadel woods! After a few turns the whole dang board will be covered. Too bad I only own 4...

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 12 Jul 2015, 16:14
by Rob451
You can just take forests as they are a warscroll.

Remember to keep archers out of combat. If they get charged then counter charge with some Dryads and retreat them so they can shoot into the combat next turn. Don't do what most people do and just let the enemy grind down your army in hand to hand.

Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Posted: 13 Jul 2015, 20:37
by Daeron
Tried my first AoS game yesterday against Dwarfs. Here's my take on the game.

- We both tried the "fixed" formations in the warscrolls, using WISIWYG and minimum unit sizes (Wanderer Host for me, Clan Throng for him). That resulted in 42 models/55 wounds for me, 56/60 for my opponent - a good intro to the game.
- We agreed to measure from bases and avoid the more controversial rules, like shooting in/out/at combat, multiple musicians/standard bearers etc. I do hope they'll be FAQed at some point, at least the shooting.
- Eventually I lost everything besides the Spellweaver, but inflicted some significant casualties back (16 Dwarfs left).
- The game feels very fast and actually enjoyable. Having two turns in a row though can result in major swings in direction, and adds a random element that I don't believe was really necessary.
- "Activated" abilities. whether in my or the opponent's turn (whichever phase), feel very cool, and give an impression of constant participation in the game. That said, having no reaction when charged is really weird and opposite to this theme.
- Movement and piling in in combat felt like a chore, to be honest. With relaxed movement rules and big enough trays, or, hell, just ignoring the "skirmish" part, and keep them all ranked should fix the issue.
- Generals are beasts, as IMO it should be. But lone models being essentially unbreakable is way over the top.
- Taking all battleshock tests at the end of the turn is very counterinitiative. In bigger games one must have loads of tokens just to keep track of every unit that has lost a model.
- Formation bonuses are awesome, even though I didn't try the Wanderer Host special deployment rule for simplicity's sake.
- GW has again put unnecessary emphasis on the "specialness" of terrain. We rolled for like 8-9 terrain pieces, and ended ignoring most of their effects apart from "Deadly". Having to keep all their rules in mind will take time, and we'll probably switch to just assigning special rules.

As for WE units:
- GG are pathetic in combat, and reasonably good in shooting. Quarrelers are significantly better though.
- Spellweaver ressurecting models, and not restoring wounds, is really powerful with cavalry. She's somehow comically unable to do anything to lone heroes :D
- Waywatchers are awesome with fast shot.
- EG in small units are nothing to write home about, but taken bigger, and with proper buffs, can potentially be quite useful.

Overall, I really liked how the game played, and definitely will be trying it again. Keep in mind that at the current stage you can safely classify AoS as being in alpha, and I believe with the new campaign books the game will develop nicely. - No points is one thing I definitely don't like, so I plan to use the event pack for the first AoS tourney in September. Surely it must have some restrictions/scenarios/objectives.