I got a chance to play against the new Wood Elf book last week. I had 2000 points of Dwarfs, and played against two Wood Elf players, each with 1000 points. For the purpose of this battle report, I will treat them as a single opponent.

The scenario was Watchtower, and I rolled hatred for their whole army (though I think I forgot about it as often as I took advantage of it). We forgot that one player starts with control of the tower until after most of our armies were deployed, so we decided to keep it as neutral to begin with.

My List:

Runesmith, General. Shield, Rune of Spellbreaking II and Rune of Stone. Deployed with Longbeards.
Runesmith. Shield, Rune of Spellbreaking and Rune of Stone. Deployed with GW Warriors.
Thane, BSB. Shield, Master Rune of Grugni. Deployed with GW Warriors.
Master Engineer. Shield, Brace of Pistols, Rune of Stone. Deployed with Quarrellers if possible, otherwise with Organ Gun.
25 GW Warriors, full command.
25 Longbeards w/ shields, full command, Rune of Stoicism.
19 Quarrellers w/ shields, musician and standard.
Grudgethrower, Rune of Forging, Rune of Accuracy
Cannon, Rune of Forging, Rune of Burning
Organ Gun (Entrenched), Rune of Accuracy
Flame Cannon, Rune of Forging, Master Rune of Disguise

Their List:

Glade Lord, General. Arcane Bodkins, Hail of Doom Arrow
Lvl 4 Spellweaver, Lore of Dark Magic, Asrai Longbow
Waystalker, deployed with one group of Waywatchers
10 Glade Guard, full command and Hagbane arrows
10 Glade Guard, full command and Arcane Bodkins
10 Dryads, champ
10 Dryads, champ
5 Glade Riders, full command
3 Treekin, champ
9 Deepwood Scouts, Champ and Hagbane arrows
5 Deepwood Scouts, Champ
3 Warhawks, champ
5 Waywatchers, Champ
5 Waywatchers, Champ

I might add some diagrams later, but for now I'll describe the board (from my side's perspective). The watchtower was surrounded by fences and hedges and flanked by large impassable rock formations on either side. I had a lava pit (we counted it as impassable terrain for ground troops and dangerous terrain for flyers) in the center of my deployment zone directly across from the tower, and a pair of hedges (soft cover when occupied, block line of sight when not) on my right. The Elgi had one Citadel Wood on the left side of their deployment zone at the start of the game, and added another one to the right of the tower as per their army special ability.

I deployed my warmachine park with Master Engineer behind the lava pit, facing the tower. To its right were my GW warriors with Runesmith and BSB, and a little further right (slightly back) were my Shieldbeards with my general, in range of the Grugni bubble. To the left of the warmachine park were my Quarrellers. I deployed such that scouts couldn't deploy in my left corner, but not in my right corner (I figured my massed infantry were enough of a deterrent. I was wrong!).

The Elgi deployed Dryads in the center, facing the tower. Tree Kin were deployed on the right board edge to sneak past the impassible rocks, out of line-of-sight. Glade Guard were deployed in the woods on the left side of the board (hagbanes had line of sight to my war machines, arcane bodkins had line of sight to my quarrellers). Warhawks were deployed out of line-of-sight behind the impassible rock on the left side of the board. The wizard, general, and the 5 vanilla Deepwood Scouts were deployed out of line of sight in the right forest. The poison Scouts and all of the Waywatchers, including Waystalker, were deployed deep in my zone on the right flank, using hedges as cover where possible. Despite me finishing my deployment sooner, they still got the first turn. Arrow of Kurnous tried to put a wound on my general, but failed.

Elgi Turn One

The Glade Guard moved forward to get in range of my warmachines and Quarrellers respectively. All the rest of their army save the Scouts and Waywatchers in my zone moved forward. Warhawks remained out of sight. Magic was a wash, but the poison Scouts and Glade Guard managed to put a couple of wounds on my Flame Cannon and one wound on my Organ Gun. The arcange bodkin Glade Guard managed to kill one Quarreller. Their general unleashed the Hail of Doom arrow on my Longbeards and killed 6 of them - ouch. The Waystalker tried unsuccessfully to snipe my general, but the rest of the Waywatchers managed to take down a couple more Longbeards.

Dawi Turn One

I swift-reformed my infantry and moved toward the Waywatchers in the corner. With nowhere to run, I'm sure they were feeling very nervous at this point. My Quarrellers tried a long shot at the arcane bodkin glade guard, but didn't make any wounds. My Flame Cannon got a nice shot off at one group of Waywatchers, toasting four of them. The regular Cannon knocked off one of the poison Scouts (all juicier targets were behind fences and hedgerows, which we had agreed would stop cannonballs). My Grudgethrower took a shot at one of the skirmishing Waywatchers and scored a direct hit, but only one other Waywatcher was covered by the template, and he survived. My Organ Gun took aim at the poison Scouts and... 18 shots at BS 5, thanks to the Engineer and Rune of Accuracy! A couple of good rolls later and there weren't any Scouts left to pick up the pieces.

Elgi Turn Two

With the Glade Guard now in place, my enemy could shoot my war machines and Quarrellers to death with impunity at long range. But to hurry things along, they marched their Warhawks just behind and to the left of my Quarrellers, out of sight of any of my warmachines. The Treekin continued their march down my right flank, with the 5 vanilla Deepwood Scouts (joined by the wizard) close behind them. The Glade Riders showed up right behind my warmachine park and set themselves up for a charge on my Grudgethrower. Magic thankfully did nothing again, but shooting made up for it: 2 dead Quarrellers, the Flame Cannon and regular Cannon killed, a wound on my Organ Gun, a wound on my general from the sniper, and another couple of Longbeards.

Dawi Turn Two

My Longbeards attempted to charge the lone Waywatcher, who very nearly fled off the board. My GW warriors failed their charge on the Waywatchers and Waystalker in the corner. My Quarrellers reformed into combat formation, facing the Warhawks. The Grudgethrower scattered wide on a shot against the poison Glade Guards, but my Organ Gun rolled 20 shots at close range against the Glade Riders that had just showed up. Boom, cloud of red mist, and they were gone.

Elgi Turn Three

In retaliation for the massacre of the Glade Riders, the Warhawks decided to charge over my Quarrellers and into my Grudgethrower. Seeing that the war machines were pretty much tied up, the Dryads hurried forward to put themselves between my infantry and the tower. The hagbane Glade Guard marched into the watchtower and the Glade Lord positioned himself beside it. The arcane bodkin Glade Guard shuffled forward, and so did the Treekin and the scouts with the Wizard. On the right flank, the lone Waywatcher found himself alone in front of my Longbeards and bravely ran away, back towards the Elgi's side of the board. Magic finally resulted in a successful spell (Soul Stealer, I think), but I used a spellbreaker on it. Shooting didn't do much this turn beyond killing off my general with the sniper (taking my final spelleater with him) and maybe another Longbeard. The Warhawks predictably shredded my Grudgethrower crew and overran into the Organ Gun.

Dawi Turn Three

My Longbeards were smelling blood by this point, declaring and succeeding their charge on the Waystalker and his cronies. My GW Warriors again failed their charge. My Master Engineer charged into the scrum with the Warhawks, hoping to delay the inevitable, and my Quarrellers (thoroughly dizzy) reformed again to face the Warhawks. In combat, the Longbeards broke the Waystalker's unit like matchsticks for minimal casualties, sending the Elgi running off the board while they reformed to face the oncoming Treekin. Despite the Warhawks having all of their charge bonuses, they were only able to kill the Master Engineer, while the remaining crewman put a wound on them for spite.

Elgi Turn Four

The Treekin succeed in a relatively long charge against my Longbeards, and the Dryads start maneuvering into my zone. With no more magic defense remaining and some good Winds of Magic rolls, the Wizard started to have a party with my GW Warriors, successfully casting about one spell per turn. Between Bladewind, Soul Stealer, and Black Horror, I don't recall which was successfully cast each turn, but I usually succeeded in dodging or dispelling two out of three, thanks to some very lucky characteristic tests, high toughness, and Magic Resistance from the Runesmith. Most successful casts only managed to give me a couple of wounds.

I should point out that by this point in the game, despite about a score of opportunities for a ward save against shooting from the Grugni banner, I didn't have a single successful save until this turn. From this point onward, it began to pay for its points!

The Warhawks finished off the Organ Gun, but had to stay put. The Treekin and Longbeards settled in for a long slog, with the Longbeards slowly getting the better of them thanks to Hatred, high armor, superior weapon skill, and parry.

Dawi Turn Four

At this point I only had 6 Quarrellers remaining, about 14 Longbeards, and about 21 GW Warriors (plus BSB and Runesmith). My GW Warriors were facing the flank of the Treekin and my Quarrellers were facing the Warhawks feathery heinies. Two units of Dryads stood between me and the tower, which had a unit of hagbane Glade Guard in it, plus their Glade Lord. Things were looking grim. It was time to go on the offensive.

I declared charges with my GW Warriors on the Treekin's flank and my Quarrellers on the Warhawks. The GW Warriors rolled double ones, failing an 8 inch charge! The Warhawks elected to flee from my Quarrellers and got away... That was okay with me, because it meant they couldn't charge my warriors in the rear next turn. My Longbeards took a few casualties, but put a wound on a Treekin in return and stuck fast.

Elgi Turn Five

Both units of Dryads tried to charge the flank of my GW Warriors, but one failed. The Warhawks reformed and peppered my Quarrellers along with the Glade Guard, to no effect. My Longbeards added another wound to the Treekin, losing a couple of Dawi in return. The Dryads lost their combat with the GW Warriors handily, allowing me to reform to face them and expand my frontage to 6. 18 GW Warriors left.

Dawi Turn Five - The Big One

At this point, I saw a small glimmer of a chance for victory. My GW Warriors were now facing the tower, and had some decent protection against the Elgi arrows and magic. If I had another turn after this one, and if I could make a bee-line for the tower and make it there with enough bodies still standing, I could probably take it. My Quarrellers fired on the free unit of Dryads at short range, killing two of them. My GW Warriors broke and caught the Dryads in combat with them, moving forward 10". Nothing was now between me and the tower, and only 12" to go!

This turn, my Longbeards really showed their stuff. They killed one of the Treekin, broke them, and caught them on the pursuit, with only two Dawi remaining in the unit!

Elgi Turn Six

We remembered now that we were supposed to be rolling each turn to see if the game continued. The roll favoured me. The show goes on!

The Warhawks didn't like their chances at tying up my GW warriors in close combat, so they flew in front of my unit to try and redirect me away from the tower. The Dryads reformed to face my warriors rear. Another handful of casualties to magic and to arrows, but still about 14 GW Warriors plus characters left. The Scouts managed to pick off one of my two remaining Longbeards.

Dawi Turn Six

I charge and obliterate the Warhawks, reforming to face the tower again. My Quarrellers charge the Dryads in the flank, break them, and run them down. My Longbeard champion, no longer stubborn, charges the scout unit and puts a wound on it, surviving everything they throw at him, winning the combat but failing to break the unit.

Dice roll - one more turn!

Elgi Turn Seven

The one remaining Waywatcher tries to insert himself between me and the tower to force another redirect. Another handful of casualties to the GW Warriors, knocking them down to 10. Longbeard sticks around in combat, but doesn't manage any more wounds.

Dawi Turn Seven

My GW Warriors march past the Waywatcher. My Quarrellers miss all their shots at the lone Waywatcher. My last Longbeard finally goes down in combat.

Dice roll - game over. Elgi are still firmly in control of the tower, but their trousers are a deeper shade of brown than when the game started. If I had one more turn, they would likely have made a last-ditch effort to redirect me or tie me up in combat, but I was then so close to the tower that I doubt they would have been able to do much.

Closing Thoughts

The dice were as fickle as ever. I had some great luck (organ gun shots, ward saves in the latter part of the battle, poor winds of magic rolls in the first half) and some terrible luck (failed short-range charges, ward saves in the first half). I think the same could be said for the Elgi, who had some pretty terrible shooting during the latter part of the battle.

The only war machine of mine that made back its points was the Organ Gun. I would have been happier with two more of them instead of the Flame Cannon and the Grudge Thrower! Then again, a little bad luck and they might not have done much better.

That said, Entrenchment and Master Rune of Disguise didn't really help me that much. At the end of the day, war machines are still 130-190 points for a model with three wounds, which massed poison arrows can easily deal with at long range. I could have traded all four war machines for another two 25-strong GW Warrior units. I seriously doubt he would have been able to deal with another 50 wounds on the table, unless he had brought a lot more magic.

In hindsight, I should have marched on the tower earlier instead of wasting time with the scouts in the corner. I just didn't expect to have such a cakewalk in close combat, and figured the Waywatchers would make me regret letting them live for a few more turns.