Surprised this wasn't already a topic.

I'll be going up against Wood Elves for the next couple months, and after reading through the Army Book for the Wood Elves it seems I'm outmatched.

With superior range, good elite units, strong characters, and an abundance of Ward Saves, what is the best way to deal with the Wood Elves?

(And 8 months later...
...a wood elf player smiles sadisticly...)

Pretty much says it all. Wood elves are probably an even worse match up for beasts then daemons or undead. They do everything we do only better and the get shooting too. This eternal rival thing isn't so good when one side kicks the others arse.

Advantages we have over WEs.

Chariots
super Herds
Hounds

Our advantage really comes down to we can run away and they can't. Thats pretty much it. Well that and chariots do impact wounds which really hurt skirmishers.

As tactics go i advise a two fold approach. bait them into coming out of the woods and then run them over with chariots or super herds. If they don't come out of the woods though you are in trouble.

Items i like
Pelt of the dark young magic resistance allows you to go into the woods after them. one of the few ways to do that and still have enough models to fight.

Mark of nurgle (fear)
Mark of khorne on chariots (dispel dice)

Other then that the list should probably be a fairly standard superherd force. Ambushing is pretty pointless though. Anything that does come out either gets shot up or has todeal with superior skirmishers like dryads or wardancers.

Oh if you get the chance it is sometimes worth charging a chariot into the woods. Likely it will live through it tto do its impact wounds. Well worth the exchange in most cases.

Oh and I forgot the nastiest way to win. Morgor nothing like killing things hiding in the woods... Plus spawns are just annoying for wood elves to get rid of.

Mark of khorne on chariots (dispel dice)
--this is probably the worst to use vs a good wood elf player

regular chariots work as a charm though - just watch out for those M9 characters that go smash everything when your not watching out:p

Big herds; good spells; can do an awfull lot;

slaanesh rocks:

-tillitating illusions :P best spell ever - drag out mages from the forest :o towards you minotaurs :lol:
-that frenzy spell that does d6 str3
-characters hitting units
...

1st: Don´t you have to put the marker within LOS of the mage? If in a wood it won´t help much then, because it will just move the mage 2", wich it can move back with the remaining movement.
2: This one is actually nice, especially since it can force the opponent into charges where you bait!
3: Do this work against characters wich are ITP? Either way, the hardest hitting WE characters I see are treemans and alters, wich never joins units. :(

I have never had a problem fighting woodelves...in fact i think the only time i lost was in a 500 pt game. I always used ambush on them, preyseeker and horn are a great combo to get behind his archers. Hounds to screen shooting followed up by ogres, minos herds and centigors to hunt them down. The higher T units we have really saved me against shooting, plus centigors move through woods ability really makes them awesome against WE. Wardancers are hard to beat 1on1, but thier low T means almost our whole army wounds on 2s and 3s. Also, i loved fielding a giant with mutant monstrousity against them as he drew a lot of fire, but at only S 3&4 shots they couldnt wound him, especially with the 5+ save. i liked using shadow and beast lore against them for the extra movement spells. Movement spells like wolf hunts(for centigors) and wild call, shadow lurker(i think thats what its called) on our beast herd means we have two units who wont take a movement penalty moving into the woods and once in, he cant shoot you unless your 2in from the edge of the forest. Use the forest against them, that whole 2in LOS inside forests really does a good job of hiding us from shooting

its within your line of sight (no mention that it's the enemies...)
-also works on annoying units, a flank of some treekin anyone?

as for the characters, i find it easier to deal with a treeman then a 18"moving single character with7 str6 attacks and 360°line of sight - its a mobile heatseaking missile if you don't have any ranged.

the "unit cant attack/move/cast + is hit automaticly" is one of favourites (though that one doesn't work on ItP)

All things considered I will take a khorne marked chariot against wood elves, but I have no problem charging into a wood with my chariots. Yeah it stings, but in all likelyhood i wasn't going to have anything to get them out of there anyway.

Actually if you wanted to disagree with my advice you should have hit the hounds bit. I love hounds, but often times they are a disadvantage against wood elves. They cause annoying panic tests when the unit is killed so you have to use them sparingly and in controlled locations. Still they do work and are still a useful unit.

"Mark a point in the tabletop and within the unit´s line of sight.." I am pretty sure they mean the targeted unit, because it would be pretty weird if they started calling the sorceror "the unit" in the middle of a spell. :)

indeed, you're right :P still handy spell vs almost anything and inloads of situations

WELF's are a tough nut to crack for the beastmen. Generally leave the bulk of chariots and ranked units at home - massive herd overload combined with the Slaanesh mages?

keep the chariots... Chariots are the best way to beat wood elf skirmishing units. Herds are actually a handicap against wood elves even large units with a banner still get squishd by dryads or wardancers. Both are far superior and skirmisher on skirmisher battles just mean that every model in their unit gets to fight. Chariots on the other hand limit the models in contact and do impact wounds that work wonders against low armor save troops.

Herds are good for three things. Running off harassment troops, going after archers and housing characters. Skirmisher on skirmisher battles though should be avoided.

From the other side of the table:

Herds only really have problems against wardancers and dryads though. 360 LoS is a real threat to great eagles, warhawk riders, gladeriders, scouts, waywatchers, and any lone characters. Basically, herds limit the WE player's mobility and make excellent charge bait.

Beleive it or not, I'm actually terrified of Khornegors. Anything with ItP is a wood elf player's worst nightmare. I find myself dedicating most of my charges to Khorne marked units and herds.

And my god don't get me started on spawn. So much work to do for so little points!!

I very much like chariots - but the problem with using them against WELF's is all the terrain in the way. The WELFs have the ability to add an extra "tree" section - and then has the magical ability to move the "trees" around. Given that chariots do not fair so well with moving through trees - its why I suggested leaving the bulk of them at home (bring at least a pair though).

Herds with magical / fighting characters seem to do me well against them though.

BE VERY CAREFULL, since we don't rank 5 wide vs small frontages; the 18" charging highborn with multiload of attacks easily dispatches of herds... !

If you can force the alter highborn to charge/overrun something he doesn't want to, and possibly get a counter-charge, feel free to make that sacrifice. This match is all about divide and conquer.