Do you love Elves and crazy Legolas trick arrow shots? If so then Wood Elves er Aelfs, er Wanderers may be for you! Come see your first 1000 points!
This getting started army is for people who love arrows, particularly of the wood elf (Aelf) make. Built around your main battle lines of glade guard archers and buffing them to take out or soften hard hitters at range. Starting with the backbone you will need a unit of 20 glade guard and a unit of 10 glade guard. Older models work fine and ebay currently has them going for around $10 for 10 (the old archer model).
- 20 glade guard (240 points) Battle line 1 of 2
- 10 glade guard (120 points) Battle line 2 of 2
Glade Guard: Move 6, 1 Wound, 6+ Save, and Bravery 6. They have a shooting attack of 20 inches, with 1 shot each, hitting and wounding on a 4+ for 1 damage. With a melee attack that is hitting and wounding on a 5+ for 1 damage. If the unit has more than 20 models and no enemies within 3 inches they add 1 to all hit rolls in the shooting phase. Once per battle their shooting attack can be -3 rend, but needs to be declared before dice are rolled. Finally the leader gets a bonus shooting attack, the banner adds 1 to bravery (2 while in cover), and the horn blower lets them re roll run dice.
Coming in at 360 that covers both of your battle lines, so we will round out this force with some leaders to run the show. Luckily even new all these guys are cheap (nomad prince is $20 new), and even cheaper used (spellweaver is $10 and battle standard bearer is $20)
- 1 Nomad prince (80 points) leader 1 of 4
- 1 Glade Captain Battle Standard Bearer (80 points) leader 2 of 4
- 1 Spellweaver (100 points) leader 3 of 4
Nomad Prince: Move 6, 5 Wounds, 8 Bravery, and 4+ Save. He has a shooting attack at range 20 for 1 attack, hitting and wounding on a 4+, for 1 damage. Then his spear has range 2, 4 attacks, hitting and wounding on a 3+, with -1 rend, for 2 damage each. If his shooting attack wounds a model they suffer a -1 to hit rolls for the rest of the game. He can re roll his failed save rolls, and finally his command ability lets you reroll all hit rolls of 1 for wanderer units within 8 inches of him.
Spellweaver: Move of 6, 6+ Save, 7 Bravery, and 5 Wounds. They either fight with fists with 3 attacks, hitting on a 4+, wounding on a 3+ for 1 damage. Or use a staff with range 2, 1 attack, hitting on a 4+, wounding on a 3+, -1 rend for D3 damage. Once per game she gets an automatic unbind no roll needed. Finally her unique spell casts on a 5 and lets you return D3 slain models to a wanderers unit.
Glade Captain Battle Standard Bearer: Move 6, 7 Bravery, 5+ Save, and 5 Wounds. Has a 4 attacks, hitting and wounding on a 3+ for 1 damage. If killed the glade captain immediately piles in and makes and attack. His banner when planted (can’t move then) has a range of 18 and on a 4+ ignores any wound or mortal wound from spells that hit a wanderer unit.
These are all great support leaders, but you need something to get in the way of the opposing force and let your archers do some damage, and that is what Eternal Guard are made to do. With the Sisters of the Thorn buffing them and shooting overhead they should be able to hold their ground for a turn or two. These are the expensive component of the army though as there is not much of a used market for them. (Two boxes of 10 eternal guard $30 each, 1 box of sisters of the thorn $30)
- 20 Eternal Guard (160 points) no unit type
- 5 Sisters of the Thorn (220 points) no unit type
Eternal Guard: Move of 6, 1 wound, 5+ save, 7 bravery. They have a spear attack with range 2, 1 attack, hitting and wounding on a 4+, for 1 damage. If you choose not to move them they can add 1 to all hit, wound, and save rolls. Also they can re roll failed save rolls of 1, or if they are in cover 2. Finally the leader gets 2 attacks, the standard adds 1 to their bravery (2 if in cover), and the horn blower lets you re roll run dice.
Sisters of the Thorn: Move of 12, 2 wounds, 7 bravery, 5+ save. They have a shooting attack at range 9, 2 attacks, hitting and wounding on a 4+, with -1 rend, for 1 damage. Then 2 different attacks in melee the first being a staff attack. With a range of 2, 1 attack, hitting and wounding on a 4+, for 1 damage and the stag attacks with 2 attacks, hitting and wounding on a 4+ for 1 damage. Their unique spell is the shield of thorns that lets a unit re roll failed save rolls, and on a 6 it cause a mortal wound. If they have 10 or models you add 1 to the casting and unbinding rolls. Finally the leader has 2 staff attacks, the horn blower lets you re roll run dice, and the standard adds 1 to bravery (2 if in cover).
Tactics: Basically use your Nomad Prince to buff your 2 units of glade guards shooting attack, and take out the opponents heavy hitters with the -3 rend attack. 30 shots at -3 rend with a 20 inch range is going to ruin any models day. Then using your Spellweaver you can either bring back some dead models (keep that Glade Guard unit at 20 if you can) or cast mystic shield on your entrenched eternal guard. Layer that with the Sisters of Thorn spell and they now have a 4+ save adding 1 to the rolls, re rolling 1 (2s if in cover with a 3+ save then) and then re rolling any failures beyond that because of Shield of Thorns. Oh also each 6 is a mortal wound on the attacking unit. Finally your Standard Bearer should just be sitting back with that standard planted to give your army a 4+ save against all wounds from spells.
Coming in at exactly 1000 points this is a great army for a variety of difference scenarios with a high model and leader count. The cost is not too bad either as most of these models are older so the used market is pretty good for them. If you can find a good deal on the Eternal Guard and Sisters of the Thorn you might even be able to keep it under $100.
More of Your First 1,000 points
About the Author: Travis Perkins
An avid homebrewer and Detroit sports fan (yes even the Lions). I am new to the world of wargamming and very much enjoying the journey. If you have any suggestions or comments feel free to comment on the article or email me at perki116@msu.edu
