Librarium Online Wood Elf Tactica (WiP)

[Cyric the Mad]

The Eternal Kindred - Red-Headed Stepchildren
Contributors: Skarsgard, DavidVC04

Strengths

• Cheap
• Extra attack
• 5+ Armor Save

Weaknesses

• Severe limitations on magic items
• Limited use

Uses & Composition
This kin is not recommended for a Highborn. It should only be considered in games were points are tight. The upgrade gives modest armour save and the ability to fight as if armed with two close combat weapons. The trouble is that you cannot purchase any magic weapons or armour. The Merciw’s Locus is a perfect companion for this kin as it negates the strength bonus from any weapon.

Talismans:

• The Amaranthine Brooch- excellent item as it provides a ward save against mundane attacks
• The Stone of Crystal Mere – true ward but can be lost
• The Fimbulwinter Shard – makes them harder to hit
• Merciw’s Locus – opponent doesn’t get strength bonus from weapon

Enchanted Items:

• The Moonstone of the Hidden Ways – can get the unit to where it needs to be
• Hail of Doom Arrows – Kin doesn’t lose their bow so this item can add a little extra shooting punch from an unexpected source
• Elynett’s Broach – Re-roll those failed psychology checks

Spites:

• A Murder of Spites – extra punch in combat
• Annoyance of Netlings – allows the character to protect their unit by challenging enemy characters and taking them out of the equation

Tactics
A limited character that can be used to join Eternal Guard units and give them a little more punch. Realistically only of use in smaller games. However, four strength 4 attacks are not to be sneezed at, combined with Amber Pendant you can guarantee a few attacks at the enemy before they strike. Other magic item combinations that can be of use:

1. Eternal Noble with Amber Pendant – Enemy in contact strike last. Great against low toughness and lightly armoured troops.
2. Eternal Noble with Merciw’s Locus and Hail of Doom Arrows – Good support character.
3. Eternal Noble with Fimbulwinter Shard and Murder of Spites – Harder to hit and lots of attacks back.
4. Eternal Noble with Merciw’s Locus and Annoyance of Netlings – Great for taking out characters that rely on their weapons for strength bonus.

This much maligned kin doesn’t provide bonuses that the other kin do but with some clever selection of items (you can only take 3) you can have a relatively cheap character that can provide a few surprises for your opponent.

[Cyric the Mad]

Skaw the Falconer - Love Your Pets, But Don't Love Your Pets
Contributor: ArchonFarseerGuy
The rules for Skaw are available HERE

Strengths
Speed: This guy can move around the board very quickly, and can cavort difficult terrain without penalty. With his speed and mobility, he is very easy to charge with.
Attacks: Against small units, he really comes into his own. Skaw has no less than 7 attacks, making him a frightful killing machine.
Ability to get into combat: With a 4+ Armour Save against shooting, and counting as a character, he will often be able to close the gap when he want to.
Shooting: Not game-winning, but not to be sneezed at. Three S4 shooting attacks that always hit on a 2+ could kill enough to swing that Panic test or destroy the last of those pesky Fast Cavalry.
Combat: Like most other WE units, Skaw cannot easily fight combat on his own. However, when he is in combat, he always strikes first

Weaknesses
Vulnerability:Watch out for Artillery of any description here, which will kill Skaw easily. Also, try not to get in front of any missile units unless you're behind hard/soft cover. Likewise be careful about attacking buildings. I once lost him to a unit of 10 Chameleon Skinks in one turn because my opponent got lucky with his return attacks (they were in a building so they could have 10 of their number strike), as he has no armour except the Feather Cloak (which works solely at range).
Special Character: Because of his Special Character status, you need your opponent's permission to use him, which I no longer expect to get (my opponents hate him).

Tactics
Skaw is a Wood Elf character. DON'T expect him to last long to attacks and DON'T use him unsupported (with a few exceptions). He can dish out lots of damage but can't take it in return. Just remember this when using him.
Alter:As an Alter Noble, all tactics that apply to them apply to Skaw. See DavidVC04' great article here
Warmachine Hunting: At M9 and a lot of attacks, there's almost no-one in the entire game who's better in this job than he.
Cat-and-mouse: He can easily avoid charges, allowing him to skp merrily around the board whilst his hawks do the damage (actually a very good tactic if you can take out an enemy unit whilst your at it).
Character Killing: The Whip of Skaw says it all. He will almost always beat any lone characters in combat (or shooting for that matter). Even if they charge, he should still come out better off (just don't tell your opponent that he strikes first until he's in combat). Against Tomb Kings or vampire Counts, he can be a game winner. take out the General/Heirophant/both and watch the fun!8Y
Support: An obvious Wood Elf tactic, but remember that he could easily do enough wounds to not only swing the combat in your favour, but also to force them to flee.
Elimination: I hate facing Detachments (Empire, if you don't know), so what can I do? Enter Skaw. He should be able to take out any combat detachments in one or two turns. Those Spearmen aren't so scary once the Free Company can't flank charge. Same goes for missile detachments, just try not to take on more than 5 shots (even 5 shots may be pushing it). Facing any small units, he does extremely well (as in, 10 models or less, but please use some common sense here- don't charge 10 Knights).

[Cyric the Mad]

The Lore of Beasts
Contributors: Skarsgard

General Tips
The Lore of the Beasts has a variety of spells that can add much needed flexibility to the Wood Elf magic phase. Unfortunately, this lore can only be used by a Spellweaver. It encompasses direct damage, support and movement spells with 9+ being the highest casting roll required. There is only one remains in play spell so remember to cast it last.

Remember that your opponent can dispel your spells. This is an obvious, but crucial point. Don’t pin entire strategies on casting a spell, as a skilled opponent will see what you’re doing and react accordingly. Dispel Scrolls can really put a spanner in the works. Magic is a weapon, a support tool, and often a distraction for your enemy. Don’t expect it to win games. Have a backup plan.

Spell Summaries
The Bear’s Anger: Augments a characters fighting abilities.

The Oxen Stands: Rally fleeing troops.

The Crow’s Feast: Magic missile equivalent.

The Beast Cowers: Can hamper enemy cavalry and monsters.

The Hunter’s Spear: Magical Bolt Thrower.

The Wolf Hunts: Moves a unit towards the nearest enemy.

The Bear’s Anger
This is the only remains in play spell in the Lore. It has relatively short range and the target of the spell must not be mounted and can only be US1. What it does is increases the fighting ability of the character but denies them the use of weapons and shields. It can be cast on a unit in combat so you can lend direct support to the ongoing combat. Best candidate for this spell is the Branchwraith as they do not use weapons and have no shield. This turns the Branchwraith into a veritable monster with Strength 6, Toughness 5 and 6 Attacks. Just remember to cast this spell last as it is a remains in play.

The Oxen Stands
This brilliant spell allows you to rally troops anywhere on the battlefield. The best part of this spell is that ignores the rule stating that a unit can’t rally if it has fewer than 25% of its original strength. So this can be used to rally the last member of a 30 man Eternal Guard unit and preserve half the victory points for that unit.

The Crow’s Feast
A magic missile spell that has more attacks at a lower strength. This is great against low toughness units as it can potentially do 12 wounds. It can conceivably force a panic check on its own. Best used against lightly armoured small units like fast cavalry or flyers and ethereal creatures.

The Beast Cowers
I cannot get over how good this spell is against enemy cavalry, swarms, chariots and monsters. It can be used in two ways. First, it can force the mounts, creatures, and monsters to not attack in combat (riders unaffected). This spell can be cast into close combat and it can stop monsters like Dragons, Griffons etc from attacking. The second use of the spell is even better. If cast on one of the above target units that unit cannot move until the end of their next movement phase. This can force a unit of cavalry to sit put in front of your glade guard for another turn of shooting, or stop a Dragon Lord from charging you in their next turn. The unit is still able to flee but.

The Hunter’s Spear
A magical bolt thrower. Best used from a highly mobile platform (mounted Spellweaver) so that you can target exposed flanks of cavalry units. This spell ignores armour saves and does D3 wounds, makint it perfect for Ogres or swarms.

The Wolf Hunts
Similar to The Call of the Hunt but with some differences, this spell can only be cast on cavalry, swarm, monster, or chariot units, and they must have an enemy unit in LOS otherwise they won’t move. If this spell is cast, the target unit can make an extra random move towards the enemy unit. If this movement brings the target unit into contact with an enemy, then the target unit counts as having charged. This spell is a great way of getting Treemen and Wildriders into combat after getting them into an advantageous position.

[Cyric the Mad]

The Lore of Life
Contributors: Skarsgard

General Tips
The Lore of the Life has a great synergy with the Lore of Athel Loren; a lot of the Lore of Life spells are somewhat terrain dependent. This lore cannot be taken by anything other than a Spellweaver, so access to it will cost you a fair amount of points. It encompasses direct damage, support and healing spells with 8+ being the highest casting roll required. There is only one remains in play spell so remember to cast it last. One of the big things that have changed is that the spells aren’t wholly terrain dependant. They also work in close proximity to the caster. This Lore is best used against defensive armies that may sit back on hills and try and outshoot you.

Remember that your opponent can dispel your spells. This is an obvious, but crucial point. Don’t pin entire strategies on casting a spell, as a skilled opponent will see what you’re doing and react accordingly. Dispel Scrolls can really put a spanner in the works. Magic is a weapon, a support tool, and often a distraction for your enemy. Don’t expect it to win games. Have a backup plan.

Spell Summaries
Mistress of the Marsh: Can slow down an enemy unit.

Master of the Wood: Similar to Fury of the Forest.

Gift of Life: Healing spell.

The Howler Wind: Can protect from enemy shooting.

The Rain Lord: Make enemy shooting less effective.

Master of Stone: As Master of Wood but better.

Mistress of the Marsh

This spell can greatly reduce the movement of an enemy unit. If the enemy is close to a terrain piece that contains water or close to the caster the casting of this spell will reduce their movement by half. There are two good ways to use this spell. First, this spell can be used to stop the enemy unit from charging yours. Second, it will reduce the flee roll by half of a unit you are planning on charging. This spell doesn’t affect flyers or ethereal creatures.

Master of the Wood
This is a damage-dealing spell that causes attacks to an enemy unit close to the caster, or close to a wood. If the unit is in a wood the damage is greater.

Gift of Life

If cast, this spell can heal any model within short range (including the caster), no line of sight required. In terms of a ridden monster, you may heal either the monster or the rider. This spell can be devastating to an opponent. For example, if your enemy has reduced a Treeman to one wound, and this spell brings it back up to full wounds, it can be very frustrating for your opponent. This spell can be cast on units in combat.

The Howler Wind
This is a great spell against a shooty opponent. Friendly units even partly within a short range of the caster cannot be targeted by shooting of strength 4 or lower. Warmachines are not affected.

The Rain Lord
This is another spell that works against missile units. The Rain Lord is fantastic since, once you have cast it, the effects last the rest of the game. Units that are “soaked” suffer penalties to hit, and armour-piercing weapons suffer a greater penalty. Weapons that don’t fire using a ballistic skill (cannons, etc.) can only fire 50% of the time.

Master of Stone
This spell has the same effect as the Master of Wood, except that it is tied into a terrain feature identified as high ground, rocky, or ruinous. The strength of the attack is higher as well. As with Master of Wood, units within the applicable terrain feature suffer an even stronger attack.

[Cyric the Mad]

The Wardancer Kindred
Contributors: Cyric the Mad
Strengths

• Can dish out tons of attacks
• Shadow Dances of Loec - a favorite of Wood Elf players everywhere. Always more effective if you, the player, engage in some interpretive dance when you declare their use
• Wardancer Weapons
  **A common question about this kin is "Can I use a great weapon to get its strength bonus. The answer to this question is, unfortunately, no. The Wardancer Weapons are your weapon, as it says in the description that the rule covers a variety of weapons in the hands of a wardancer.
• Talismanic Tattoos
• Immune to Pyschology

Weaknesses

• No armor - magic or mundane
• Limited access to magic weapons

Uses & Composition
The Wardancer Kindred works well on either a Noble or a Highborn. Taking this Kindred can easily turn your character into a killing machine, but it places upon him the same cautions and restrictions as regular Wardancers.

It is highly recommended to include this character in a unit of Wardancers. Doing so offers him some ablative shielding, and he can vastly increase the killing power of your Wardancers. If he is included in a unit of Wardancers, I’d recommend including a Bladesinger to accept those troublesome challenges. While your Wardancer Kindred should be able to take on most challengers in single combat, sometimes his attacks are more sorely needed elsewhere.

Weapons:

• The Blades of Loec – Your only option, really. While the higher Strength of a character may cause you to question its usefulness, being able to count on your Wardancer kin to dish out the wounds is always a good idea.

Armor:
· None Available

Talismans:

• The Amaranthine Brooch- excellent item as it provides a ward save against mundane attacks
• The Stone of Crystal Mere – true ward but can be lost
• The Fimbulwinter Shard – makes them harder to hit
• Merciw’s Locus – opponent doesn’t get strength bonus from weapon. Remember, however, that this item also prevents your Wardancer from getting his bonus strength from his Wardancer weapons, though all other benefits, and those from his dances, are till conferred.

Enchanted Items:

• The Moonstone of the Hidden Ways – can get the unit to where it needs to be. This is a favorite item in a unit of Wardancers, since having them show up behind your opponent can be a big help.

Spites:

• A Murder of Spites – extra punch in combat
• Annoyance of Netlings – extra protection in a challenge

Tactics
Wardancer is a favorite kin for heroes and lords. Adding a Warancer kin to your regular Wardancers creates a truly elite unit that your opponent will be forced to pay attention to. As mentioned, the two favored magic items for this Kin is the Moonstone of the Hidden Ways, and the Blades of Loec.

While I do recommend a Bladesinger to soak up some challenges, don’t be afraid to use this Kin to go after enemy characters. With a Whirling Death dance and 4 or 5 attacks on the charge, your Wardancer can easily hold his own in a challenge.

[Cyric the Mad]

Glade Guard
Contributors: Cyric the Mad

Strengths

• High ballistic skill
• May move and fire with no penalty
• S4 arrows at short range

Weaknesses

• Frail - Toughness 3
• No solid CC ability
• No armor save

Unit Options and Composition

Unit Size: As with most Wood Elf units, the minimum size of 10 is usually ideal for Glade Guard. The goal with this unit is to bring the maximum amount of ranged attacks to bear on your opponent, so avoid multiple ranks unless you have a hill in your deployment zone.

Champion: This option really isn’t worth it. One arrow at +1 BS won’t be useful often enough to justify the points.

Standard Bearer: Leaving this option out may result in low Comp scores at tournaments, but other than that it is strongly advised that you leave the banner at home. If you Glade Guard see combat, the +1 CR won’t matter enough. In all likelihood, this option translates to 100 free VP’s for your opponent.

Musician: This is widely considered to be a must for Glade Guard. More often than not, your Glade Guard will flee at some point during the battle – either from a charge or from combat. Wood Elves have high leadership, but a little insurance is never a bad idea.

Characters: One reason to add a character to a unit of Glade Guard are to bolster the ranged strength of the unit – for example:

• Noble or Highborn with Bow of Loren and Magic Arrows
• Noble or Highborn with Hail of Doom Arrow
• Noble or Highborn with Resplendence of Luminescents (A particularly nasty trick against Daemonic Units or Forest Spirits)
• BSB with Aech – The Banner of Springtide (which can help turn your opponents “easy charge” into a hail of S4 Arrow Death).

Alternatively, you can put Spellsingers and Spellweavers into units of Glade Guard to give them some added protection.


Tactics/Roles
Fireline – S4 Arrows make an advancing line of Glade Guard an immediate priority for your opponent. Two or more lines of Glade Guard marching toward the enemy is more than enough of a threat to get his attention, so use this to your advantage. As soon as your Glade Guard are within short range, it is usually best to stop, or begin moving backward if the enemy is coming toward you.

With this tactic, you will almost always flee from charges, so make sure you have flanking and support units ready to jump in. A favorite trick is to advance Glade Guard in front of Dryads or Wardancers, through which the Glade Guard will flee when the time comes.

This unit simply cannot stand up to most other units in close combat. As such, you must remember that if you commit them to combat, assume they will be defeated and overrun. However, if you think you can sufficiently damage an enemy unit on a Stand and Shoot reaction, then the sacrifice of your Glade Guard may be worth it.

When combat is joined, Glade Guard can, occasionally, bolster combat with a flank charge, but more often than not, your Glade Guard will shift their focus from fireline to VP-denial. That is, do your best to keep them over 50% strength, but don’t be afraid to use them to shoot down fleeing or otherwise isolated units.

Deployment
Units of 10 or so Glade Guard are typically deployed in a single rank of 10 models, which enables every member of the unit to fire. If the terrain favors you, feel free to create a ranked unit, but always be aware that the cost of Glade Guard models means you almost need them firing from turn 1.

It is important to note that lines of 10 Glade Guard can fill your deployment zone quickly, so always take this into account when choosing your force. 50 archers may look good on paper, but when you deploy and find that only 20 of them can fire, things begin to look bleak.

Threats
Most enemy CC units will tear your Glade Guard to shreds, so keep them protected, or at least keep the enemy away as long as possible.

Without any armor this unit can fall to enemy ranged attacks. However, unless you are facing opposing longbows, you can typically stay out of range for at least a couple of turns.

Enemy magic will quickly annihilate this unit as well.

[Cyric the Mad]

Magic Items
Written by Skarsgard, with contributions by DavidVC04 and Churchic

Common Magic Items

• Sword of Striking
  Could be good in the hands on a character designed to take out rank and file troops. Potentially hitting on a 2+ is very alluring.

• Sword of Battle
  Not happy with your Alter Highborn having only 6 attacks on the charge, why not make it 7? As the Wood Elves have other ways of getting an extra attack, this item probably isn’t that viable.

• Sword of Might
  The addition to strength and the ability to combine with a shield can give you almost the same killing power as a great weapon wielder with an armour save bonus.

• Biting Blade
  Very cheap way of reducing opponent armour save and getting a magic weapon into the list. The only problem with it is that for a mere 10 pts more you can have a Sword of Might and get a strength bonus.

• Enchanted Shield
  Due to it not being able to combine with magic armour anymore this item is competing with all the magical armour is the Wood Elf list. Still a good way of improving your armour save if you’re not using a greatweapon or magic armour.

• Talisman of Protection
  Fairly expensive for what it does. Wood Elves have no shortage of items granting ward saves so this item is competing with a lot of good items that don’t cost too much more.

• Staff of Sorcery
  The bonus to dispel is a lot to pay for. For the same price you can get two scrolls and almost guarantee a dispel. However, a list with a lot of dispel dice may consider this item.

• Dispel Scroll
  Pretty much a must for any list. The chance to get rid of that spell that is about to wipe out half your army is too good to pass up.

• Power Stone
  This item can give magic heavy armies extra punch for those magic phases where you want to overwhelm your opponent. Not really a good idea for a list light on magic offense.

• War Banner
  Effectively another guaranteed wound towards combat resolution. Works really well on a unit of Wild Riders.

Magic Weapons

• Spirit Sword
  Advantages: Can kill low leadership multi wound models quickly.
  Disadvantages: Can potentially backfire, a bad roll can cost you your highborn.
  Uses: Great against creatures like Ogres and Trolls. Can only be used by Lord level character. Best used by an Alter character that can deliver the Spirit Sword to where it is needed.

• Daith’s Reaper
  Advantages: Allows re rolls of the hits and armour saves. Can be used by Hero or Lord level character.
  Disadvantages: Not so good against characters and heavily armoured, high toughness units.
  Uses: Great against rank and file troops with light to medium armour. Will work best on Lord level character as you can get other items that boost the number of attacks available.

• The Bow of Loren
  Advantages: Allows the character to fire more than one shot, can be combined with magic arrows (unless explicitly stated otherwise)
  Disadvantages: Still only strength 3 and really needs magic arrows to work to full effect, hence requiring a Highborn for it to be best used.
  Uses: Alter Highborn is by far the best user of this bow, combined with Arcane Bodkins or other magic arrows it can be a menace to heavy armour units. Combined with Starfire Arrows the Highborn can force a panic check on a unit of any size.

• Blades of Loec
  Advantages: Re rolls to wound and can be used by Wardancer Kindred.
  Disadvantages: Can only be used by Wardancer Kindred.
  Uses: Hero or Lord level Wardancers can use this to enhance their killing power as it can be combined with the Dances of Loec.

• The Dawnspear
  Advantages: Can protect models in the unit from counterattack by making them harder to hit, counts as a spear.
  Disadvantages: Need to wound to get the benefit.
  Uses: Best for mounted characters. As you need to wound to get the benefit it is best used against rank and file troops which are a lot easier to kill. Wildriders as a combat unit probably benefit best from this weapon.

• The Spear of Twilight
  Advantages: Potential to kill heavily armoured, multi wound models (not monsters) with one blow.
  Disadvantages: Need to roll a 6. Less useful against rank and file troops.
  Uses: Hero or Lord level characters can use it well, Alters are probably best with it as they get the extra attack, can be combined with the Helm of the Hunt for even more attacks.

• The Callach’s Claw
  Advantages: Can add additional negative modifiers to enemy leadership check if they lose combat.
  Disadvantages: Will only be strength 4 and requires you to win the combat in the first place to get the benefits of the weapon.
  Uses: Probably best against light armoured units with low leadership to start with. Hero or Lord level characters can use it.

• The Hunter’s Talon
  Advantages: Can pick out any enemy character and as a magical attack can affect ethereal creatures. User can fire at a separate target to his unit.
  Disadvantages: Still only a strength 3 attack.
  Uses: Perfect for a sit back leadership boost character, even better if combined with A Pageant of Shrikes as then you have 2 attacks that can target characters. Both Hero and Lord level characters can use it.

• The Sword of a Thousand Winters
  Advantages: Can reduce the combat effectiveness of multi wound creatures.
  Disadvantages: Have to wound the creature in the first place and requires failure of toughness test which is fairly unlikely for most multi wound creatures.
  Uses: Ironically very good against Wood Elf characters, their lack of armour and low toughness makes them prime targets. Mages are the best target of this weapon as they can be fairly easy to wound and generally have a low toughness.

• Rageth’s Wildfire Blades
  Advantages: Very cheap, give you an extra attack and burning attacks.
  Disadvantages: Cannot benefit from shield.
  Uses: Great against Forest Spirits and other creatures with limited ward saves. Good for Scout Kindred characters as they cannot use a great weapon anyway.

• Asyendi's Bane
  Advantages: Re roll to hits, including spites
  Disadvantages: Only strength 3, if missed you can potentially wound the user.
  Uses: Best use of this weapon has been on a BSB with the Hail of Doom Arrows. This is a now a legal tactic.

Magic Armour

• The Oaken Armour
  Advantages: Grant regeneration ability.
  Disadvantages: As a Light Armour it prevents you from getting other magic armour. It cost is also prohibitive.
  Uses: Best on Lord level characters, Wildrider Highborn is best candidate as the regeneration can help against attacks that bypass the Forest Spirit save.

• Railarian’s Mantle
  Advantages: Grants a true ward save for the character.
  Disadvantages: Must be within 6” of a wood to get the benefit so very limited considering how expensive it is. Also counts as light armour so prevents you from using other magic armours to improve your save.
  Uses: Best for Lord level character that will be sitting back around a forest and sniping at enemy units. For example, one that uses The Hunter’s Talon and a Pageant of Shrikes.

• Armour of the Fey
  Advantages: Armour save and a ward save for a relatively small price.
  Disadvantages: The ward save is limited to magical close combat attacks. Once again, prevents use of other magic armours.
  Uses: Best on Hero or Lord level Wildriders as their Forest Spirit save is negated by magic weapons and the Armour of the Fey can then be used.

• The Helm of the Hunt
  Advantages: Provides armour save bonus and combat bonus for small price.
  Disadvantages: The bonuses only apply on the turn you charge.
  Uses: Very versatile item can be used by Hero and Lord level characters. Most commonly given to a character with a great weapon and the Hail of Doom Arrows.

• Brairsheath
  Advantages: Makes a character hard to hit with shooting.
  Disadvantages: Need to stay in woods for best benefit. No effect against weapons that don’t need to roll to hit or hit on unmodified numbers. For example cannons and Tomb King archers. Characters on foot only.
  Uses: Best used by a Lord level character with the Bow of Loren as you can stay relatively safe from shooting and snipe more effectively.

Talismans

• The Rhymer’s Harp
  Advantages: Grants bearer and unit a ward save and movement advantages.
  Disadvantages: Can only be used by Lord level character and only viable on certain units.
  Uses: Works best on Lord with a unit of Eternal Guard as it makes them more survivable. Of limited use on any other unit, can be used on large Glade Guard unit but not recommended.

• Amaranthine Broach
  Advantages: Grants a good ward save fairly cheaply. Can be combined with Armour of the Fey and other magical armour’s that grant ward saves.
  Disadvantages: Ward save limited, cannot be used against magical attacks.
  Uses: Best on a character going up against rank and file troops as enemy characters may have magic weapons.

• Amber Pendant
  Advantages: Makes enemy models strike last, so even if armed with a great weapon and charged, the character will get the jump on the enemy unit. This pendant also negates Always Strike First. Don't screw up and let a chariot charge you, but don't be afraid of High Elves. Combined with the Annoyance of Netlings and a Great Weapon, it's almost unfair.
  Disadvantages: Can only be used by a model on foot, but an alter more than makes up for that limitation.
  Uses: Hero or Lord level characters can use this item to get attacks in first and protect themselves or their unit from attack. Alter Highborns with greatweapons are a good candidate for this item as is any character armed with a greatweapon.

• Stone of the Crystal Mere
  Advantages: Provides a true ward save to the bearer and their mount.
  Disadvantages: If the save is failed the item no longer works.
  Uses: Any character wishing to have a true ward save. Characters mounted on monsters can make their mounts more survivable. No effect on Elven Steeds. Particularly nasty in conjunction with a Dragon.

• Glamourweave
  Advantages: True ward save against shooting and magic missiles. Also forces enemy models attacking in close combat to pass a Leadership test or hit the bearer on 6’s.
  Disadvantages: No ward save in close combat.
  Uses: Characters using ranged weapons or ones that cant join units are good candidates for this item. Especially an Highborn with the Bow of Loren, Briarsheath and the Glamourweave.

• Stone of Rebirth
  Advantages: Effectively a 5/6 chance of getting an extra wound.
  Disadvantages: One use only and then it expires. Fairly expensive for what it does.
  Uses: Recommended for Lord level characters only as the cost of the items means that a Hero level character will have limited uses.

• The Fimbulwinter Shard
  Advantages: Makes the bearer and mount harder to hit in combat.
  Disadvantages: Forest spirits too close to the bearer suffer from stupidity, which in a Wood Elf army could be disastrous.
  Uses: Combat characters with monstrous mounts benefit most from this item. Especially ones mounted on flyers as they can avoid getting too close to Forest Spirits and still be effective. Not good for Wildrider characters.

• Merciw’s Locus
  Advantages: Attackers get no weapon based strength bonus when fighting the bearer.
  Disadvantages: The bearer doesn’t get the benefit either.
  Uses: This item is best used by a character using a magic weapon that provides not strength bonus, Daith’s Reaper as an example. Attacking greatweapon wielding units like Greatswords is the best use. Can give you the edge against charging cavalry, especially with the Daith’s Reaper.

Enchanted Items

• Wraithstone
  Advantages: Reduces enemy leadership.
  Disadvantages: Very high cost and relatively short range for the effect.
  Uses: In conjunction with a Terror causer can cause panic in enemy ranks. Can be used in conjunction with a Blight of Terrors or a Treeman/Dragon to achieve this. A Dragon rider with the Wraithstone increases the chances of enemies fleeing from his mount.

• Hagbane Arrows
  Advantages: A magical attack that can potentially kill an enemy model outright.
  Disadvantages: Requires a successful wounding and failure of a toughness test for it to work. This makes it usefulness limited. It is also one of the most expensive magical arrows.
  Uses: Best used against low toughness, multiwound models. The Wood Elf Alter characters are probably the best target for this arrow.

• Moonstone of the Hidden Ways
  Advantages: Allows a unit to effectively re-deploy during the game and outmaneuver enemy units.
  You can legally use it at the end of opponent's move phase and can remove a unit from combat with it.
  Disadvantages: Requires two sets of trees in advantageous positions to be of use. Unit must be fully inside the woods. One use only.
  Uses: Wardancers characters can use this item to get their units behind enemy lines. Can be used to get Glade Guard into a good position but effectiveness depends on the size of the woods available.

• Hail of Doom Arrow
  Advantages: Can get a lot of strength 4 shots at the enemy forces, the attacks are magical.
  Disadvantages: One use only and random number of arrows is generated.
  Uses: Best on Noble and Highborn characters due to superior ballistic skill. Can be used to wipe out a depleted unit or remove a small fast unit from the game. Ideally, wipe out a small unit with unit strength greater than 5 to force panic checks in the enemy forces.

• Starfire Arrows
  Advantages: Can force panic checks with only one casualty, magical attack.
  Disadvantages: Not really effective against heavy armour or high toughness troops. Very limited against mutli wound creatures.
  Uses: For best results combine with the Bow of Loren and use the character to snipe at units by themselves and force panic checks.

• The Horn of the Asrai
  Advantages: Can force and enemy unit into a disadvantageous charge.
  Disadvantages: Requires failure of Leadership test and the unit must be in charge range to be affected. Also, one use only.
  Uses: Ideal on a fast moving unit that can get close to the enemy forces and can get away quickly i.e. Glade Riders with a character attached. Can also be used by characters in Eternal Guard units to force charges. A great item to pull enemy unit out of position and can really annoy units that have move or fire weapons.

• Arcane Bodkins
  Advantages: Enemy gets no armour save against this arrow, magical attack.
  Disadvantages: Only a strength 3 attack so of limited use against high toughness models.
  Uses: Best use when combined with the Bow of Loren to get more attacks. Great at taking out cavalry and similarly high armoured units.\

• Elynett’s Broach
  Advantages: Bearer and unit get to re roll psychology tests.
  Disadvantages: None really apart from the fact that Wood Elf units tend to have fairly high Leadership as is.
  Uses: Good to keep those large units from fleeing from Terror tests and panic checks.

• Dragontooth Arrows
  Advantages: Can cause a model to become stupid of wounded.
  Disadvantages: Only works on multi wound models. Requires wounding attack from a strength 3 arrow.
  Uses: Can be used on units like Ogres. Not effective against most armies.

• Gwytherc’s Horn
  Advantages: Makes bearer and unit Immune to Psychology for a turn.
  Disadvantages: One use only. A lot of Wood Elf units are already Immune to Psychology so fairly limited in use.
  Uses: Some characters are not Immune to Psychology so they are a good candidate for this item in those situations when they simply cannot afford to fail a psychology test. Can preserve large units of Glade Guard, as an example, that may have to face Terror checks the next turn.

Arcane Items

• Wand of Wych Elm
  Advantages: Allows any dispel attempt to be re rolled.
  Disadvantages: Can only be used by a Spellweaver. Need to have a large amount of dispel dice to make it worth while.
  Uses: Best used in a magic heavy army where you will generate a large amount of dispel dice anyway.

• Calaingor’s Stave
  Advantages: Increases the effectiveness of treesinging and allows the user to cas more than one treesinging.
  Disadvantages: None
  Uses: A level 2 or higher caster is required to get the best benefit from this item. It allows the user manipulate the battlefield. In the hands of a level 4 it can be devastating to the enemy as you can cast it up to 4 times.

• Divination Orb
  Advantages: Can give you extra dispel dice in certain situations.
  Disadvantage: Likelihood of the enemy using four or more powerdice is slim and if it does happen the addition of an extra dispel dice may not do anything.
  Uses: In a magic heavy army fighting another magic heavy army it can be of benefit but this would be fairly rare.

• The Deepwood Sphere
  Advantages: Can do a lot of damage to enemy models in woods. Increases effectiveness of the Treesinging spell.
  Disadvantages: Requires caster to be in the same woods as an enemy unit to really hurt them. Most opponents wont go into a wood when playing Wood Elves therefore really affecting the items usefulness.
  Uses: Best used against single wound models, light units sent to kill the user. Forcing units to pursue into woods and then move the caster into the same woods during the movement phase is a good way of overcoming opponent reluctance to get into the woods. A mounted caster could do this best.

• Ranu’s Heartstone
  Advantages: Can prevent a miscast or failed dispel attempt.
  Disadvantages: One use only.
  Uses: Any caster can benefit from this item (apart from Branchwraiths).

Magical Standards

• The Royal Standard of Ariel
  Advantages: Allows bearer and unit to cause fear, in addition grants magic resistance to nearby units.
  Disadvantages: Very expensive and can only be fielded by a BSB.
  Uses: As forest spirit units cause fear as it is the only unit that would realistically benefit from this standard is a large unit of Eternal Guard. The will also give magic resistance to the unit and any nearby flanking units.

• Gaemrath – Banner of Midwinter
  Advantages: Makes a unit unbreakable for those times when you cannot afford to fail.
  Disadvantages: The way the banner is used prevents you being able to charge, so a cagy opponent will simply ignore the unit for a turn. The banner is a one use only as well.
  Uses: Due to its method of use the banner can be difficult to employ in a useful manner. Although the unbreakable rule provides other benefits it pays to be careful when you use it.

• Faoghir – Banner of Dwindling
  Advantages: Enemy units that break from combat roll one less dice to flee.
  Disadvantages: Has no effect on units that “flee” as a charge reaction.
  Uses: Perfect for Wildrider units fighting other fast moving units. Also, anvil units like Eternal Guard can put it to good use. The Eternal Guard hold for a turn and then when their flankers win the fight the enemy unit will find it very hard to get away.

• Saemrath – the Banner of the Zenith
  Advantages: Unit marchblocks all enemy units within 12”.
  Disadvantages: None.
  Uses: A unit of Glade Guard upgraded to Scouts make great use of this Banner as their scouting deployment means they can get close enough to marchblock many units at once.

• Aech – the Banner of Springtide
  Advantages: Unit may Stand and Shoot as a charge reaction even if the enemy would normally be too close.
  Disadvantages: None.
  Uses: Units of Glade Guard can obviously benefit from this. Another sneakier use is a BSB with the Hail of Doom Arrows and Asyendi’s Bane using the stand and shoot reaction from a unit that normally cannot shoot, like Eternal Guard for an example.