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Have the nature loving Wood Elves really gotten a major glow-up in Warhammer: The Old World?
For a while now, Wood Elves have been considered a lower-tier army. After some early success, nerfs, and a lack of good buffs, they saw them drop down in the game standings. Globally, they have about a 42% win rate for the life of the game. Which isn’t great. However, recently they’ve seen a bit of an uptick, and people are starting to give them second looks. So let’s take a look at what’s changed, and if they are good now.
Buffs, Buffs Baby
Over the last few FAQs, Wood Elves have seen a steady march of small but impactful balance buffs. Here and there, units have gotten cheaper, making them more viable. Some of their units have been able to come in smaller sizes. And recently, a few units have gotten some pretty major buffs. Wardances, Dryads, and Treekin have all gotten stat increases, and Dancers and Dryads gained furious charge. These make some overlooked units suddenly seem a lot more attractive.
On top of that, Wood Elves have, for the past couple of FAQ managed to avoid major nerfs. Warhawk riders, for instance, kept 360 LOS while Pegs and Gyros lost it. Thus we have seen a steady bit of Wood Elves improving while other top armies got a bit worse.
Meta Trends
We’ve also just seen the meta change a lot. Some of these have really helped out Wood Elves and their ability to build fast shoot-y MSU armies. We’ve seen a lot more Deathstars going around, and in particular foot Deathstars. Fast MSU armies are pretty good at getting around these and preserving points while whittling down the enemy. A lot of armies with lighter armor have also been showing up, which Wood Elves can have a great chance against. The general meta changes and buffs have helped them play a bit better.
Strong Shooting Lists
Wood Elves are, of course, masters of shooting lists. One example of those is the list Todd Silber ran to take 4th place at Adepticon in March. This is a pretty classic shooting MSU army that was doing well even before the latest FAQ. It really leans into the MSU side. It’s also good at objective play with lots of fast units.
=== Wood Elf Realms [2000 pts] Warhammer: The Old World
-Characters -253 pts
-Waystalker -118 pts – Hand weapon – Moonfire Shot – General – Sword of Sorrow
-Waystalker -135 pts – Hand weapon – Arch-Lightning Rod – A Resplendence of Luminescents
Core Units -1101 pts
-14 Glade Guard -186 pts- – Hand weapon – Asrai longbows – Hagbane Tips – Lord’s Bowmen – Standard bearer – Musician
10 Glade Riders-233 pts – Hand weapon – Cavalry spears – Asrai longbows – Reserve Move – Arcane Bodkins – Glade Knight – Standard bearer [Banner of Midsummer’s Eve] – Musician
10 Glade Riders -208 pts – Hand weapon – Cavalry spears – Asrai longbows – Reserve Move – Trueflight Arrows – Glade Knight – Standard bearer – Musician
12 Deepwood Scouts -192 pts – Hand weapon – Asrai longbows – Arcane Bodkins – Lord’s Bowmen – Musician
12 Deepwood Scouts -192 pts– Hand weapon – Asrai longbows – Arcane Bodkins – Lord’s Bowmen – Musician
5 Glade Riders -90 pts – Hand weapon – Cavalry spears – Asrai longbows – Trueflight Arrows
Special Units -152 pts
10 Deepwood Scouts -152 pts – Hand weapon – Asrai longbows – Trueflight Arrows – Lord’s Bowmen – Musician
Rare Units -494 pts
12 Waywatchers -228 pts – Hand weapon – Asrai longbows – Veteran – Arcane Bodkins
12 Waywatchers -228 pts- Hand weapon – Asrai longbows – Veteran – Arcane Bodkins
1 Wood Elf Beast Pack -19 pts – 1x Deepwood Hound [Hand weapons (Claws + fangs – tusks – teeth)]
1 Wood Elf Beast Pack -19 pts – 1x Deepwood Hound [Hand weapons (Claws + fangs – tusks – teeth)]
Winning Newer Events
More recently, Aidan Higgins won the Edinburgh GT with Wood Elves. This event had some top players attending it, and Wood Elves were able to jump even some strong Cathay lists (though the event did comp Cathay a little bit). Aidan’s list used the most recent FAQ, and you can see that it takes advantage of a lot of the changes.
Wardancin [2000 pts] Warhammer: The Old World, Wood Elf Realms,
Characters -898 pts
Spellweaver -279 pts
Wizard [Level 4 Wizard] Elven Steed Lore Familiar Heartwood Pendant Ruby Ring of Ruin Lore of the WildsGlade Lord -499 pts
Great weapon Light armour Asrai longbow General Forest Dragon Armour of Meteoric Iron Talisman of Protection An Annoyance of Netlings A Resplendence of Luminescents Aspect of the CatShadowdancer -120 pts
Spear of Loec Level 1 Wizard illusionCore Units -516 pts
10 Glade Guard -110 pts
10 Deepwood Scouts -146 pts
Trueflight Arrows Musician6 Glade Riders -114 pts
Cavalry spears Asrai longbows Reserve Move Trueflight Arrows10 Deepwood Scouts -146 pts
Trueflight Arrows MusicianSpecial Units -567 pts
3 Tree Kin -160 pts
2 Tree Kin -109 pts
10 Wardancers -207 pts
10x Additional hand weapon Bladesinger Standard bearer [Monster Hunter’s Tapestry]5 Wardancers -91 pts
5x Additional hand weapon BladesingerRare Units -19 pts
1 Wood Elf Beast Pack -19 pts
This list makes heavy use of both Treekin and Wardancers. These units got big buffs in the new FAQ. From this list we can see that they are already having an impact on the game and lists, and that’s pretty cool.
So Are They Any Good?
So is the army good now? Well, to a degree, yes. A lot of players have been giving Wood Elves another look, and the competitive scene is playing around with a lot of lists. I think the days where you might go a few events without seeing any Wood Elves are gone. They are certainly in a much better place than they were. We’ve seen more and more lists do well at events and even win. Above we’ve looked a couple examples, but there are more out there.
But I think it’s a little too soon to call them a real top-tier army. Yes, they won in Edinburgh, but that was only a single event. It just hasn’t been long enough for the newest FAQ to fully sink in. On top of that, they remain a pretty high-skill list to use. A lot of players will try out the army and just not have the success they are looking for. Overall however this is a faction to watch and one that is a much better place than it started the year.
Let us know what you think of Wood Elves, down in the comments!
Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers Warhammer: The Old World, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe mourned over loss of WFB for its entire hiatus, but has been reborn like a gaming phoenix with Warhammer: The Old World.
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