AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Rosies184 »

I played my first game against my husband's nurgle daemon list using 2 branch wraith and 1 dryad unit of 12 against a Herald of nurgle with 6 nurgling bases. I pretty much tabled him turn 2 after summoning a couple units of dryads that charged out of the woods right away since there seemed to be no restriction on that. It was just a 2 X2 table and when his Herald tried to retreat to summon himself I killed him with arcane bolts. I think guardians of the deep wood could be pretty good...

I also have like 10 space wolf fenrisian wolves I'd like to use as hounds... I wonder what elves to mount on thunderwolves... more wizards seems like a good choice.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Hyarion »

Guardians of the Deep Wood is pretty good, but it has no ranged component. Fortunately Daemon lists usually don't either.

You might want to look at Sisters of the Thorn if you need more mounted wizards, they are pretty good.
Also bear in mind that we are about to get a whole slew of new units with the official Aelf release.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Merlin Elf friend »

Hi Hyarion,

Any educated guesses on when (the release date) and what these units maybe, as I am trying to decide on whether to buy the AoS starter set or wait for some NEW aelf units.

Thanks in anticipation Merlin ef.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Hyarion »

Educated guesses? No clue, but if I had to put on my glasses to read the tea leaves that I ground up using my magic 8 ball..... probably the last week of july. They need to keep up the pace of new releases to keep interest up for all of the people who don't play chaos or space mar... stormcast eternals (sorry, couldn't resist). But they also need to let people who are going to spend have enough time to spend before they get distracted by other shiny things.

It could end up being mid August if GW decides to release the entire Stormcast Eternal army as a whole first, but I would consider that unlikely because they should know they are going to get more bang for our buck by folks buying a starter Aelf/Dwarf/Fimir/Skaven box than just rounding out one or two armies.

Initial rumors said 3 months of Age of Sigmar releases, then back to integrating 40k into the release schedule. So how much will GW release now? I haven't heard what the release timeline is for November either.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Merlin Elf friend »

Thanks for the "Tea Leaf" reading Hyarion, I have also heard that there is likely to be about three months of AoS releases.

There was a rumour of either something new for the Sylvaneth or a new Dark Elf character, I wouldn't mind some generic Aelf Chariots either, seems my hopes for a Unicorn Unit of some kind won't happen (unless they are now going to become part of the Sylvaneth - Alarielle on a Unicorn might be cool).
The other unit I thought of was Durian/Dwarfs on lava beasts, this was mentioned in one of the recent White Dwarfs' as part of the new fluff for AoS.

Thanks M.ef.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Gwill_of_the_Woods »

I wouldn't be surprised if they actually expanded the Sylvaneth, making them a bit more of an independent army. I think it's interesting for Aelf Wanderer effects don't cover the Sylvaneth and vice versa.

I was chuffed that they included an updated Orion in the Warscroll Compendium, and the addition of Hounds. I am totally going to use Fenrisian Wolves as Hounds.
Bring the 2 included hounds with him but then summon the Wolf packs. Apart from the obvious Wild Rider & Hounds, I think his "King in the Woods" command will really benefit the Wild Wood Rangers as they wound on 3's, so to re-roll 1's they'd be beasts.

I get the impression that they are also adding rules dependent on which realm one is fighting in. I saw something about the realm of fire, wizards acquiring fire ball spell and fire geyser terrain. Maybe we'll get a pretty cool life one.

Looks like the Treelord/Treelord Ancient "updates" have exactly the same stats/rules/write up as Treemen/Treemen Ancients.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by gmaleron »

So I have played a few games with my Wood Elves and have found some comparison of units that seem to work the best for us, I have not used the entire miniature range for Wood Elves as of yet but from what I have played consistently over a few games:

Glade Guard vs Waywatchers: Waywatchers IMO are the better of the two, even with the Glade Guard's -3 turn of rending shooting. Over the 10 or so games I have played I have found the Waywatchers to outshoot the Glade Guard every single time except one where a few lucky volleys of -3 rending hurt an Ogre Stonehorn to where my Treeman could finish it off in combat. Fast shot is great, especially in a big unit of x20 or more Waywatchers where your bound to get several 6's and potentially more.

Eternal Guard vs Wild Wood Rangers: Honesty to me this is a pretty even contest as I have found both to perform exceptionally well in different roles, however I will lean slightly in the Wildwood Rangers favor as their damage output has been quite satisfying to say the least. I would have to say if you are playing a more defensive army then Eternal Guard would be a great choice, their "Forest of Boughs" Phalanx makes them pretty durable and hit decently well. However if you are wanting to play aggressive and hard hitting then Wildwood Rangers are your go to guys, especially against monsters. A squad of x20 of these bad boys took down a Giant in a single round of combat thanks to their D3 damage against monsters.

Treemen, Dryads and Branchwraiths: Easily the best thing in the book I have experienced, especially when utilizing the Formation. I took the Deepwood Formation along with several Squads of Waywatchers up against the new Sigmar guys and absolutely trounced him thanks in a large part to the Sylvaneth Wildwood. My Waywatchers focused on his casting and shooting units first while forcing his ground forces into assaulting through the trees, needless to say he got slaughtered and actually mentioned how the forest was "OP". Honestly would only recommend this Formation if you are playing certain armies, in particular those that have an answer for it because some forces will really struggle against this.

I have actually heard a rumor that the Forest Spirits (Sylvaneth) might become their own army and become listed under the "Destruction" portion of the Faction Organization. To me that makes a lot of sense as they are basically just rage given form and will attack anyone that enters their domain, especially with the lack of synergy with the Wood Elf forces.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Merlin Elf friend »

Garmaeron, thanks for the insights, I will definitely go Treeman/Dryads and maybe some TreeKin with a largish unit of waywatchers for ranged support.

Anyone have any experience relating to Reavers vs Glade Riders, I think I have read one post giving the edge to the reavers - thanks.

Regarding the Sylvaneth I can see them becoming an independent army but still under "Order" as they are lead by Alairelle. They could get some penalty for being a mistrusted ally, same with mixed a DarK aelf/High aelf list when the rules get expanded. Can't wait to see what is in the AoS hardback book - hoping to get an insight of the way things are going before purchasing any more models.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Nicholas Nitro »

Wildwood Rangers vs. Eternal Guard vs. WarDancers

First I'll explain the situational differences between the units, then I'll make a model to model comparison.

The Wildwood rangers were a unit I ignored in 8th. I had bought 20 models, but they never saw more then a primer coat. Now they're much better. They have 2 attacks, 3+ to hit, and 3+ to wound, and they do d3 damage to monsters. The 5+ save means they can be killed by almost every enemy unit, but at least they can dish out some damage. I rate them as the weakest of the three units.

Eternal Guard are another unit I neglected in 8th edition, but am now a big fan of. They don't have damage output of the Wildwood Rangers or the Wardancers, but they have defensive options that make them uniquely valuable. They have a basic 5+ save, but can reroll saves of 1 with the glade shields. They really become impressive when they bunker for archers and casters. If you can place them within cover, use the 'Forest of Boughs' special ability, and have a caster use Mystic shield on them, the basic 5+ save becomes the equivalent of a 2+ save, making them arguably the best defensive line in the game. The only thing that is less then desirable about them is that the circumstance you need to create inorder to get that 2+ save limit your play style to a more 'dwarfish' tactic of bunkering down to protect the archers. If you need to move across the board to attack a siege weapon, the Eternal Guard defense becomes similar to the Wildwood rangers(with lower damage output).

The Wardancers are my favorite melee unit now. The dances are a great way of making them good at different tasks, while still leaving them vulnerable to bad decisions. The 'Whirling Death' dance makes them as dangerous in combat as the Wildwood Rangers(except against monsters), and the 'Shadow's Coil' dance makes them almost as defensive as a bunkered-down unit of Eternal Guard, and without restrictions to movement.

In the end the best strategy is probably to combine the use of all three for specific tasks. Wildwood Rangers are best for monsters, Eternal Guard are the best for protecting archers, and War Dancers are the best at combining defense and damage. If I could only pick one it'd be the War Dancers.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Q10fanatic »

Don't forget, Eternal Guard in cover and using Fortress of Boughs gets to add 2 to their save and re-rolls 1s and 2s; functionally a 3+ re-rolling failed rolls without needing to cast a spell. Add the Shield of Thorns spell from the SotT and any roll of 6 or more (natural rolls of 4 with the +2) causes a mortal (unsaveable) wound.

If something causes 6 wounds, EG in that situation would save 5, take 1, and cause 3 wounds back. EG have solved close combat.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Nicholas Nitro »

Your'e absolutely right. The only trade off is that the EG are kind of stationary if you want to get full use out of them.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by PensivePanther »

Do to procrastination, my wood elves are still not ready for the table. I wanted to hear about the warscroll that lets your army ambush. Can someone share their experience using it? Is it as good as it sounds?

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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Nicholas Nitro »

Yeah, the Wander Host is a formation that lets you ambush on your first movement phase. You have to be within 6" of a board edge, and at least 9" away from the nearest enemy unit. It is an extremely useful tactic, and you can apply it to your entire army(if you only field the units described in the rule), or use it to take out siege weapons before they shoot. The only disadvantage is that your ambushing units are off the board during the hero phase... so you miss out on command abilities, spells, wardancer dances, EG's forest of boughs, and every other 'hero phase' ability.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Yojimbo »

Played my first game of AoS t'other night. Has anyone tried glade riders yet? They are really strong getting two attacks with their bows and being able to shoot after running (with a 14" move). Took a unit of 14. They were awesome until they got into combat.

The other big winner was the Durthu and two branchwraiths combo. Being able to summon forests and dryads each turn was a really strong synergy and... Dryads are actually OK now!!! Take them off the shelf the Sylvaneth are back!
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Avalon101 »

The standout unit for me so far has been treemen. They can take so much damage, and really dish of out! Ive found that the ancient loses out to the standard teeman because its all about those sweeping blows!

I'm a bit disappointed at our heroes command abilities, really do not care about extra charge range. Araloth seems worth taking for the potential extra pile in though.

I always loved the movement, shooting and magic phases the most in 8th Ed. Now that your opponent can have 2 turns in a row and potentially deny you these three phases, combat is much more important because you can at least still attack back.

Not sure I want a combat heavy wood elf army, but it seems to be the best turn to be good at...
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by DocDropPod »

Anybody else notice the Glade Lord on a Great Stag has Bravery 7 while every other Glade Lord has Bravery 8?

Intentional or typo?
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Duraska »

DocDropPod wrote:Anybody else notice the Glade Lord on a Great Stag has Bravery 7 while every other Glade Lord has Bravery 8?

Intentional or typo?
I think that's a typo, but it doesn't really make a difference because single models never take Battleshock tests anyway.

I've also noticed that in the Wandering Host formation they say it includes a spellSINGER which we only have rules for the spellWEAVER now. So I would chalk things like this up to GW rules-writers being their typically lazy selves.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Baardah »

A little question about magic. Can spells like mystic shield be stacked? So if you have 3 casters you could bring the save from 5+ down to 2+?
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by overtninja »

Jury's out on stacking casts of Mystic Shield. Some people conclude that you can do so, but others posit that casting the spell gives the unit the Mystic Shield effect, and additional castings on the same unit won't do anything because the Mystic Shield effect is already on the unit.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the idea of bringing so many casters that you can give a unit a 1+ auto-succeed save, but I suspect it's something you'd have to try out and see if it's overly punishing in your games. I suspect such a strategy would leave so much of the rest of your field open to attack (including the casters themselves) it might be okay, since putting all your eggs in one basket like that is a huge gamble - such an invincible unit could still be chaffed into uselessness.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Nicholas Nitro »

Stacking multiple effects seems out of spirit with the game.
Take terrain for example, you can build a wall that runs through the woods and claim cover from either, but if you're in the woods and behind a wall you're still just 'within terrain' and you only get the +1 to save. The wall might be tall enough to break line-of-sight, but adding that doesn't count as 'stacking.'
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by overtninja »

I read the rules up again to cross-reference things, and it would appear that in all cases bonuses from the same source never stack - be it terrain, ability buffs, or otherwise. The only way to stack bonuses is if each bonus is from a different source, with a different name, even if the effect is the same - and many armies allow for composition that intentionally stacks bonuses to allow certain units to act with extreme potency.

I would personally play without stacking Mystic Shields - though multiple wizards would still be useful, especially if they were different sorts - a Branchwraith and a Spellweaver for instance.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Merlin Elf friend »

I have found that using "OUR" two types of wizard can be very useful, I have been running a mixed force, so as wizard abilities can only be used on either the Wanderer OR Sylvaneth (depending on wizard type), tend to use Treeman Ancient with Branchwraith support for my Dryads and (new favourite unit) Treekin; with a Spellweaver on Steed to support my ranged unit(s), usually Waywatchers. I usually play games in the 7-10 War Scroll bracket; if playing 5 WS or less then I usually go for a Sylvaneth only force.

Hope this helps Merlin Ef.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by popisdead »

My guess is you would have rage quit had you played Ironguts :p
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by popisdead »

overtninja wrote:Jury's out on stacking casts of Mystic Shield.
I thought I read somewhere you can stack modifiers. Someone on twitter posted a quote of it. It could just be someone quoting some random forum post.
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Re: AOS Wood Elf units, strengths/weaknesses

Post by Nicholas Nitro »

Stacking modifiers is still a little different from stacking the same abilities, isn't it?
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