Hi.
I have been gaming a few years and have always played an evil army but I became tired of painting hordes of filthy orcses and wanted to try out something totally different. Drastic action was taken and I have just sold my entire evil collection on a popular online auction site.

So after amassing an army worthy of mordor I now find myself back at square one. I have no pieces left and am hoping to make a fresh start on the light side this time.

Me and my gaming friends must have tried peice from pretty much every faction except elves so I think this may be my new choice.

I have been examining the source books and am tempted by the lothlorien and mirkwood elves.

But before I buy anything I would like to get your suggestions on where to start.
Iv read a few articles on here but still can't decide what to include In my force.
Wood elves stats seem a bit lame but then I read things such as spears improve them a great deal but I don't see how.
Also rumil is mentioned a lot, what makes him a good choice.

Look forward to you thoughts.

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Gil Galad and his kings guard upgrade are vital for fighting op stuff like Reavers. Rumil is the dirt when it comes to holding a battle line (and is v cheap for what he does). Thranduil and his royal guard upgrade makes wood elves even better skirmish troops. Sadly i use legolas almost every game to help snipe thigns like ringwraiths/shades/heroes, he is very good.

Protectress Galadriel is handy, what with her making allies invulnerable to shooting, and making an evil broken army run pretty much instantly. However, her inability to lead a warband isn't very nice - especially when elf armies are low on numbers as it is.

All that said, i rarely play a good army compreised of one faction, Tolkein's message is that strength lies in unity, so my good forces are always alliances.

I would be tempted by something completely fresh! If you can wait until G.W. release a brand new Mirkwood army. We may see a mounted Thranduil before the year is out, as well as certainly Tauriel, Legolas etc.

However top of my personal list are the Rivendell Knights.

The reason is the their special shielding rule, you get to roll extra dice. You may not wound, but you can't be killed if you win. I can't tell you how often that has been useful to hold a gap until reinforcements arrive, or just cause a tangle with its ZOC. Spears are pretty much a "must-have" piece of equipment, and the WE spear is doubly so. Throwing daggers are also hugely useful, IMHO. Nothing lame about WE at all. Consider some Sentinels as well, useful for pushing targets into a TD or bow gauntlet.



If you have the sourcebook, his rule is pretty self-explanatory. You can easily put him up against a Mordor Troll or even a MT chief, especially if backed up by pikes. Cave Trolls become jokes.

If I had a standard favorite army pattern for Lothlorien it would be: 1/3rd WE bows; 1/3rd Galadhrim with shields and spears, or Guards with pikes; 1/3rd WE with spears and throwing daggers. And there are enough named heroes that bring good things to the table that, other than a stormcaller, there is no need to take a generic.

I also really like the pikes, but you need a lot of them now that they can't support a spear supporter...at least 6 or none. With their shielding rule (just like WE) and higher Fight and Courage, they can easily hold off anything up to a Cave Troll, and charge and take on wraiths with ease.

Just looked at the sourcebook again, rumil is pretty awesome. And I see how the we spears could be useful now, makes up for their low def.
I'm just looking at sentinels at the min and they do seem good but would you ever play more than one? It's just that the blister has three and not sure if they would all be used.

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Just MHO, but I find one Sentinel frustrating, since Courage rolls can be passed with reasonable odds. Under 500 points I don't bother, I'd rather have my warrior count up. But 2 at 750 and 3 at 1000 isn't unreasonable.

I rarely take less than 3 sentinels in a 750-1,000 Lothlorien army, as they tend to have to a negligible effect. I tend to use them to keep enemy monsters and heroes from getting to the wood elf ranks (unless they can be moved close and immobilised early), and having several attempts is worth it. They are particularly use full at bringing in enemy cavalry within charge range,so that they can be knobled. There two attacks particularly when supported make them seriously useful when the enemy get to you. Make sure that you target any enemy shaman and horn blowers as a priority to deprive them of the +1 to Courage bonus or effects of Fury, and Galadriel Protectress of Lothlorien works well due to her -1 to enemy courage modifier, making enemy troops very rekuctant to take her on.

I also wouldn't overlook a fully armed and armored Celeborn. If you are playing a 750+ points game he is an effective champion, his Aura of Command and 7 Def make him a great rally point for an army and he's a 3 attack, wound, might, will, and fate character. There's not very many of those, obviously.

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Bizarrely I havn't tried using him yet! I think that the spirit of wood elves tactics are to keep them at at arms distance and pelt them for as long as possible, and to put the boot in (charge) at a critical moment of your choosing utilising throwing weapons, with monsters and enemy heroes moved away from the action. Most orcs will melt away when broken when in range of Galadriel protectress of Lothlorien if you can engage or move their leaders away.

Some interesting comments here. Think I'm starting to get a good plan of what I need. Thanks guys.

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Really, you need:
Rumil
Legolas
Thranduil
Haldir
Stormcaller (Although very expensive in £24 set)
Celeborn and Galadriel (Optional)

A few boxes of Wood Elf and Galadhim Warriors
A blister of sentinels

lordelrond, you have just named every hero in the wood elf section You only need the top 3 of your list. But I take the others for variation.

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Oh. But they are all very good.

Legolas is an excellent head hunter of orcs etc, if you can use him to knobble the leaders orcs will more likely flee than battle field than not, if left without stand fasts to keep them in place post break test!

Ok so I'm gunna go for the sentinels, I think rumil is a must possibly armoured celeborn and a couple wabands of wood elves to get started. Later I hope to add galadriel with some galadrhim warriors.
My opponent will most likely be made up of high def pieces, combination of womt and dwarves probably. Any tactical advice?

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Ah, in that case I'd think twice about the Sentinels. We don't play blue on blue so I didn't think of it. But that extra courage, especially with dwarves, changes the efficacy of Sentinels considerably. Higher def means you'll want a few blades to go 2H with...

Well I think I have to get the sentinels still purely because they look so cool. I was planning on getting wood elves first but due to a recent eBay bargain my first eleven purchases are six metal galadrhim archers. I'm also considering a great eagle as an ally, mainly for the cool factor, but not sure if it would be a good choice points wise. We usually play 500 to 750. What are your thoughts?

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Just noticed your last question had never been answered, i personally wouldnt take the eagle. Dwarves are my main team and I fight elves a lot, ive never lost against the elves. And to be honest youre gonna have an uphill battle. Keys to beating the dwarves are this:

1. Ranged Attacks. Your bows are flat out better than the Dwarvern ones you are facing, use your ranged advantage as much as possible.
2. Maneuverability: Your elves are faster than the Dwarves you are facing, only by an inch but obviously that can build up over successive turns. Try to force your opponent to come to you and to make him make had decisions such as having to split formations or else be flanked, things like that.
3. (Maybe the most important) Cavalry: Dwarves have no Cav, Use your Cav to force your opponent to react as listed above in #2. Keep them near your infantry to support them, especially as if you knock the dwarves to the gound your life becomes much easier.

Also remember your Elves are at a major disadvantage defensively so straight up full forces clashing will be the last thing you want, you have a higher fight value and courage but the differences are so minimal that I believe they are far outweighed by the lower defence.

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This is where throwing daggers shine, since you can move full, keeping out of range but still shooting...and shooting at 4+ the whole time...

Hi, thanks for your thoughts.
Think I will leave the eagle for now at least. Need to spend my pennies on some decent elves first. Great point on the tds. Will defo be making use if those.

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